COMMANDER HARRIS: "I was aware of some documentation issues."
EVELYN: "Some?"
COMMANDER HARRIS: "I wasn't aware of the full extent."
EVELYN: "Who informed you?"
Harris closed the folder.
COMMANDER HARRIS: "I would prefer to review that information before giving you an answer."
Evelyn nodded slowly.
EVELYN: "Then I suggest you begin reviewing it immediately."
She turned toward the computer.
A new notification had appeared on the screen.
Daniel had returned to the doorway and was holding a printed document.
DANIEL: "Ma'am, I'm sorry to interrupt."
EVELYN: "What is it?"
Daniel approached and placed the paper on the desk.
DANIEL: "I found the original authorization record."
Evelyn picked it up.
Her eyes moved across the page.
Then she stopped.
The authorization had not originated from Kyle Brody.
It had come from an office directly connected to senior installation command.
And the signature belonged to someone whose name appeared repeatedly throughout the reports.
Evelyn slowly looked up.
EVELYN: "Commander Harris..."
The commander's face became rigid.
COMMANDER HARRIS: "Yes?"
EVELYN: "You told me you weren't aware of the full extent of these approvals."
Harris remained silent.
Evelyn turned the document toward him.
EVELYN: "Would you like to explain why your authorization appears on the original clearance record?"
The room fell silent again.
The second officer looked toward the commander.
Daniel took a step backward.
Harris stared at the paper.
For the first time since entering the office, he seemed unable to find the right words.
COMMANDER HARRIS: "Where did you get that document?"
EVELYN: "From your own maintenance archive."
COMMANDER HARRIS: "That record may be incomplete."
EVELYN: "Then show me the missing information."
Harris reached toward the paper.
Evelyn moved it slightly away.
EVELYN: "Don't."
He stopped.
EVELYN: "We will preserve the original."
Harris looked toward the doorway.
Outside, Thomas Reed was waiting.
Kyle Brody was somewhere in the hangar.
And the installation's command structure was suddenly facing questions that could not be answered with a simple explanation.
Evelyn placed the document inside her folder.
EVELYN: "Commander, I think we need to expand the scope of this investigation."
Harris slowly nodded.
But his expression suggested that he understood something Evelyn had not yet discovered.
The authorization code was only the beginning.
Because the next document in the archive contained a second signature.
And that signature belonged to someone who was not supposed to have any involvement in aircraft maintenance at all.
The second signature belonged to someone who had never been assigned to the maintenance department.
Evelyn Vance stared at the document for several seconds.
The name was clearly printed beneath the authorization code.
GENERAL RICHARD WHITMORE.
She knew the name.
General Whitmore was one of the senior military officials responsible for overseeing operational readiness across several aviation installations. He had spent decades building a reputation for discipline, professionalism, and uncompromising standards.
His involvement in a maintenance approval would have been unusual.
His involvement in twelve questionable approvals was something else entirely.
Evelyn slowly placed the document on the desk.
EVELYN: "Commander, I want you to explain something."
Commander Harris looked uncomfortable.
COMMANDER HARRIS: "Of course, Chairwoman."
EVELYN: "Why is General Whitmore authorizing maintenance clearances for aircraft assigned to this installation?"
Harris looked at the document.
COMMANDER HARRIS: "General Whitmore oversees several operational readiness programs. His office occasionally issues directives regarding aircraft availability."
EVELYN: "That doesn't explain why his authorization appears beneath a technical inspection approval."
COMMANDER HARRIS: "I would need to review the circumstances."
EVELYN: "You have already had several opportunities to review them."
Harris remained silent.
The second officer shifted his position near the doorway.
He had witnessed enough to understand that this was no longer a routine inspection.
Evelyn turned toward Daniel.
EVELYN: "Can you retrieve the communication associated with this authorization?"
DANIEL: "I'll try, ma'am."
He returned to the computer and opened the communication archive.
Several minutes passed.
The office remained unusually quiet.
Thomas Reed stood near the door, waiting for instructions.
Kyle Brody had been ordered to remain outside the maintenance office, but nobody knew whether he was still in the hangar.
Commander Harris watched the computer screen.
His expression became increasingly tense.
Finally, Daniel found the relevant entry.
DANIEL: "I found something."
EVELYN: "Read it."
Daniel opened the communication.
It contained an instruction sent to the maintenance department six months earlier.
The message stated that certain aircraft needed to remain listed as operational to satisfy readiness targets.
A separate note instructed personnel to complete outstanding inspection documentation before the end of the reporting period.
There was no direct instruction to falsify records.
But the language was sufficiently vague to create room for manipulation.