She snapped. I found a component inside your directional flight control system that does not exist in any legitimate supply chain. He said if that component fails at cruising altitude and depending on its wear condition, it could you would lose partial directional control of a $48 million aircraft with people on board. That is not a billing dispute. That is a matter of life and death.
The line was quiet. You should have people look at your other aircraft, Malcolm said, before you worry about mine. What other aircraft? That's the question I'd be asking your procurement department, he said. Specifically, ask them about Apex Vector Aviation.
Ask them how many of your fleet aircraft contain Apex Vector components and then ask them to show you the certification documentation for each one. Another silence. I'll be at my shop, Malcolm said. When you're ready to have a real conversation about what I found, I'm here." He hung up. Victoria Sterling stood in the executive terminal of her own private airfield, her 48 million dollar jet sitting grounded on the tarmac outside.
And for the first time in a very long time, she felt something she'd nearly forgotten the texture of. She felt afraid. not of losing money, not of missing the New York meeting, afraid that the man she'd laughed at the quiet black single father in the clean shirt with the heavy binder, the one she'd offered $45,000 and a courtroom, might have been the most important. Person in the room, and she had put him out the door. Back at Hayes Arow works, Malcolm sat at his desk and stared at the wall. Rachel Kim leaned in the doorway with two cups of coffee and handed him one.
How many aircraft does Sterling Crown operate? She asked. 11. Malcolm said. How many could have Apex Vector parts?
Malcolm looked at his notes. Based on the procurement dates could be as many as five. Rachel was quiet for a moment. You know she's going to fight you on this. She might.
Malcolm said she's going to say you're making it bigger than it is to justify the invoice. She already said that. and he drank the coffee. "And I found what I found," he said simply. "What she does with it is up to her." Rachel nodded. She looked out the shop window at the parking lot at the spaces where two pieces of equipment used to sit before Malcolm had sold them last week.
At the trucks at the hanger that still had his name on the door, though for how much longer was an open question. What are you going to do if she doesn't pay? Rachel asked. Malcolm thought about Maya, about the phone call that morning, about the steady two adult voice saying, "Are we going to lose the hangar? Keep working." He said, "On what?
You've got no active contracts. I'll find something." He looked at her. I always do. Rachel studied him for a moment. You know what the crazy part is?
She said, "What? If she just paid you on Monday, Rachel said, you'd have signed the certificate and walked away. You wouldn't have said another word about Apex Vector. You'd have filed the flag in the maintenance log, noted it as a client declined resolution, and let it go. Malcolm thought about that.