But I've been thinking about what I want to do with what's left. And I want to help you, Daniel said. not as a pilot, as someone who has been inside corporate aviation operations for 30 years and knows where the vulnerabilities are. He paused. When you build the new standards for Sterling Crown, when you build the protocol, Victoria asked you to design, I want to help you think through the operational side, the gaps that someone like Curtis Hayward knows how to find. Malcolm thought about that about 31 years of flight operations, every aircraft, every facility, the accumulated knowledge of a man who had been watching how this industry worked for longer than some of his team members had been alive.
You'd be a consultant, Malcolm said, not an employee. That suits me, Daniel said. Flat rate per engagement, Malcolm said. I don't do retainers. Neither do I, Daniel said.
Then we have a deal," Malcolm said. He hung up and for a moment he just stood in the shop feeling the shape of something that was rearranging itself. Hayes Arowworks had spent 6 weeks on the edge of losing everything. Now 11 days later, it was adding a scheduling coordinator talking to a charter company about a six aircraft audit and potentially bringing in one of the most experienced corporate aviation pilots in Texas as a consulting partner. All because a woman laughed at an invoice.
I thought about that. He would think about it in different ways for the rest of his career. At 9:15 that morning, Victoria's general counsel called. His name was Thomas Reirden, and his voice had the careful, measured quality of someone who had spent 30 years saying difficult things to powerful people without losing his job. Mr.
Hayes. He said, "I want to brief you on what you should expect in the coming weeks given your role in the documentation that produced yesterday's warrant. I'm listening." Malcolm said the federal investigation will require a deposition from you and from Ms. Kim. Rearen said, "We expect that to happen within the next 2 to 3 weeks.
You should retain your own counsel for that process." Sterling Crown will not be providing legal representation for witnesses in the federal investigation as the company is itself a subject of the inquiry. I understand that, Malcolm said. Additionally, Reirdan said, and his voice shifted slightly, not warmer exactly, but more careful like he was stepping around something fragile. There will be civil exposure. Apex Vector's principles will almost certainly pursue third-party claims as part of their defense.
Suppliers in these situations frequently attempt to shift liability by implicating contractors and inspectors who interacted with the components. Malcolm felt something settle in his gut. Not fear, just the recognition of a thing he'd known was coming. They're going to say I should have flagged it earlier, he said. They're going to say whatever creates doubt.
Rearen said, "That is the nature of this kind of defense. I want you to understand it before it happens so that when it happens, you are not caught off guard." Mr. Rearen, Malcolm said, "I have 312 pages of documentation showing exactly when I found the component, exactly what I did with the information, exactly who I notified and when." He paused. Let them say what they want. A brief silence.
Yes, Rearen said. That is precisely the correct answer. He paused again. For what it's worth, Mr. Hayes and I realize this comes from the company's attorney, so waited accordingly.
I have been in corporate law for 27 years. I have reviewed a great deal of contractor documentation in the context of safety incidents. Yours is among the most thorough I have encountered. Malcolm said, "Thank you," and hung up. I didn't feel proud.