He asked. Rebecca turned to him like a general receiving a messenger. "Yes, there is a significant problem. This woman has a fraudulent boarding pass and needs to be removed from the aircraft. I am an aviation industry professional.
I'm telling you this documentation is not legitimate." Marcus's eyes moved to Vivian. She gave him nothing. No signal, no nod. Not yet.
"I can confirm that both passengers have valid reservations in the system." Marcus said carefully. Rebecca's response arrived with the force of something that had been building pressure for the entire morning. "Valid reservations? Look at her.
Does she look like someone who booked a first-class seat on a real airline? She swept her arm toward the cabin. I am a platinum elite member on three carriers. I know what fraud looks like, and I am looking at it right now." The words landed in the cabin and stayed there.
Vivian breathed through them. She thought about the six complaints from Phoenix. She thought about the elderly man she had walked to gate C14 that morning. She thought about what it meant to run an airline for people who looked like her. And every room she had ever walked into had required her to be three times as sure and half as loud.
She thought, "This is the data I came to collect." And she waited. The phone came out smoothly, as if Rebecca had been waiting for this moment her entire morning. She thumbed to her social media app with practiced speed, found the live stream option, and pressed start. The small red dot appeared in the corner of the screen like a declaration of war.
"You are not going to believe what I am dealing with right now." Her voice shifted registers when she spoke to the camera. It became more theatrical, more animated, as if she had been given permission to fully become the person she believed herself to be. "I am on Sterling Sky flight 447, and I have just caught a woman attempting to steal a first-class seat with what is very clearly a fraudulent boarding pass." She turned the phone toward Vivian, who stood in the aisle with her briefcase and her composure.
"This is the fraud. She is still here. The crew has done nothing." The comments began accumulating immediately. Rebecca glanced at the screen between sentences, reading names aloud, acknowledging supporters with small nods and sharp sounds of agreement.
"Right, exactly. Someone needs to protect honest passengers." She turned back to Vivian with the expression of someone who has found their audience. "I have been in aviation ground services for 20 years. I know these booking systems inside and out.