Escalation.
Now he was observing the executive culture directly through the person at its top.
He had spent twenty years learning not to generalize from one interaction.
One arrogant conversation did not prove a company suppressed engineers.
But it could make an existing pattern more coherent.
The captain came over the speaker.
"Good morning, folks."
Caleb barely listened at first.
Flight time.
Weather.
Cascades.
Arrival.
Standard.
Then the captain's tone changed.
"One more thing before we settle in."
Caleb's eyes lifted.
"I want to extend a personal welcome to Caleb Rowan, who's flying with us today."
Victoria's stylus stopped.
The cabin around them seemed to become slightly quieter.
The captain continued.
"Caleb, it's good to have you back aboard. Some of us up front haven't forgotten what you did for this fleet."
Caleb closed his eyes.
He knew the voice now.
Grant Holloway.
Of course.
Eight years earlier, during the Horizon reliability crisis, Grant had been one of the line captains supplying operational reports while Caleb's team spent winter nights isolating a maintenance failure pattern that threatened dozens of aircraft.
Caleb had not thought Grant would remember him.
Apparently he did.
The announcement ended.
Caleb looked straight ahead.
Victoria turned slowly.
He did not look at her.
A man two rows ahead twisted in his seat.
A flight attendant glanced toward Caleb from the galley.
Caleb wished he could disappear into the upholstery.
Victoria finally said:
"What was that?"
Caleb looked over.
"What?"
"The captain."
"He knows me."
"Clearly."
Caleb waited.
"From what?"
"Old work."
"What work?"
"Aircraft."
Victoria's expression tightened.
"What kind?"
"Reliability."
Now she stared.
Before she could continue, the senior flight attendant approached.
Nearly sixty.
Silver streak in her hair.
Professional smile.
She stopped beside Caleb.
"Excuse me."
"Yes?"
"When the captain said Caleb Rowan, did he mean the Caleb Rowan from Horizon?"
Caleb felt Victoria go completely still.
"Yes."
The attendant's expression softened.
"My husband was flying those routes that winter."
Caleb immediately understood.
She put one hand briefly on his shoulder.
"Thank you."
Caleb shook his head.
"A lot of people did that work."
"I know."
"Please don't make anything of it."
The attendant smiled.
"Understood."
She continued down the aisle.
Caleb reopened his laptop.
Victoria did not move.
For several minutes he worked.
Then he heard the tablet change screens beside him.
Victoria was searching.
He knew exactly what she would find if she looked deeply enough.
Horizon.
Independent review panels.
Technical advisers.
Caleb's name in old industry reports.
Then likely the Sterling Atlantic appendix.
He kept reading.
After perhaps eight minutes, Victoria stopped scrolling.
Her breathing changed.
Caleb waited.
"Caleb."
First time she used his name.
He turned.
"Yes?"
"Are you the independent reviewer on the Sterling agreement?"
The question came quietly.
No performance.
Caleb held her eyes.
"Yes."
Color left her face gradually.
Not white.