“I said, voice steady as bedrock. You’ll listen to my voice until your panels come back online. You understand?”
A shaky breath. Then,
“yes, ma’am.”
Richard stood in the cockpit doorway, pale and sweating.
“They they can hear you.”
“Yes,”
I said.
“And you’re helping them fly.”
“I’m helping them not fall.”
The pilot exchanged a quick look with his co-pilot, one that told me he trusted me more than the instruments.
“Civilian 79 Delta,”
I said,
“I want you to follow our escorts shadow, their breaking formation to guide you. Do not break visual contact.”
Outside, one of the F-22s peeled away from our wing and slid like a phantom into position above the distressed aircraft somewhere behind us. Richard whispered,
“They’re they’re obeying you.”
“Protocol,”
I said.
But there was more to it than protocol. When lives were at risk, hierarchy wasn’t about rank. It was about steadiness. Calm. The ability to speak when others froze.
“Turn 3° left,”
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