And I couldn't be him anymore. That's not what happened, and you know it. That's exactly what happened. No? Hollis grabbed his arm, and his grip was fierce for an old man.
You listen to me, Bennett. I read the report, the real one, the one they buried. You didn't get anyone killed. You told them the aircraft would fail, and they flew it anyway, and when it failed, you brought it down in a way that should have been impossible, and you saved four men who would have died if anyone else had been in that seat. Petrov didn't die because of you.
Petrov died because of them, and you carried it like it was your fault for nine years. The old man's voice cracked. You beautiful, stubborn fool. You carried their sin as your own. And Marcus Bennett, who had not cried in nine years, who had held himself together through his wife's funeral and a thousand humiliations and every 4:00 a.
M. Alarm felt something move in his chest that he could not stop. "His wife was pregnant, Frank. " Marcus whispered. "Petrov's wife was pregnant. " "I flew home and he didn't. " "How was I supposed to live with that? " "By living. " the old colonel said. "By living well and honoring him by being the man he'd want you to be.
Not by burying yourself alive. " He squeezed Marcus's arm. "But look at you now. Look where you're standing. You found your way back to a cockpit after all. He'd be proud of you, son.
Wherever he is, Petrov is proud of you right now. " The whole hangar was watching them, this reunion between the ghost and the man who'd mourned him. And not one person could hear the words, but every single person could feel the weight of them. And then, Harmon came back. He walked to the stage and he asked Evelyn for the microphone and she gave it to him because you don't say no to the government the day they're deciding whether to end you. "Ladies and gentlemen. " Harmon said and his voice had changed completely.
"I've just gotten off the phone with my office in Washington. I'm not able to share the details of what I've learned, but I can tell you this. He looked at Marcus. "The pilot who is about to fly this aircraft is one of the most qualified experimental rotorcraft pilots this country has ever trained. His record, the parts of it I'm allowed to see, is extraordinary.
And the safety concern that was raised about this aircraft. " He paused. "It was raised by the two people in this building who understood the aircraft best, which is exactly how the system is supposed to work. " He handed the microphone back to Evelyn. "Fly your demonstration, Ms. Carter. " Harmon said. "I think I'd very much like to see what this man can do. " And just like that, the trap door beneath Evelyn Carter's feet turned back into solid ground.