Robert feigned surprise, blaming a scheduling error in the automated system. Nathan watched the aircraft speed climbing on the display. He said that if Daniel aborted takeoff at this speed, the jet risked running off the end of the runway. If he continued, the fault could trigger the moment the landing gear retracted. Audrey called Daniel immediately.
Daniel answered that he had received an electronic clearance carrying the chief executive's digital signature. Audrey understood in that instant that her signature had been used without her knowledge. She ordered the flight aborted. Daniel checked his speed and the remaining runway distance. "The aircraft had already passed the point where a safe stop was possible.
"I don't have enough runway left to abort," he said. "I have to take off and bring it back around. " Audrey lost all remaining trust in Robert. Nathan watched the aircraft he had once designed leave the ground, carrying the exact flaw he had spent the entire morning trying to prevent. Around them, the operations trailer went quiet, except for the low hum of monitors and the sound of Daniel's breathing over the radio. Everyone who had laughed at Nathan less than an hour earlier now stood watching the same screen he was watching, waiting for him to speak.
As the landing gear retracted, the first fault code appeared exactly as Nathan had predicted it would. The Stratos S12 climbed through 800 ft. For the first few seconds, everything appeared normal, and a few board members exhaled in visible relief. Robert immediately claimed this proved Nathan had exaggerated the danger. Nathan wasn't looking at Robert.
He was watching the fuel distribution chart. The rear tank began climbing. At first, only a few dozen kilograms. Then the rate doubled. Daniel reported that the nose was adjusting upward on its own.
Nathan explained that the controller believed the aircraft had reached cruising altitude with its center of gravity too far forward, so it was pumping fuel rearward to correct a problem that did not actually exist. Daniel switched off the automatic mode, but the system kept operating anyway. The replacement controller ran on an independent power source and ignored the shutdown command from the main display. The nose climbed further. Speed dropped.
Daniel pushed the yolk forward to bring the nose down. The stability system read his input as the aircraft becoming unbalanced and pushed back in the opposite direction. The jet shuddered. A stall warning sounded. Engineers in the control room suggested cutting all electrical power to the fuel system.