White falcon beneath the canopy.
Then another.
And another.
Three aircraft formed beside Flight 417.
Leo gasped.
“Mom!”
Passengers crowded toward the windows.
Maya looked at Ethan suspiciously.
“What did you do?”
“For once?”
He smiled.
“Nothing.”
The aircraft beside them rocked its wings.
Then the radio crackled through the cockpit frequency.
A woman’s voice came over the cabin speakers.
“Flight 417, Falcon Squadron welcomes Commander Maya Lin back to the sky.”
Maya stared.
Ethan looked at her.
“You didn’t know?”
“No.”
Leo jumped in his seat.
“Commander?”
Maya covered her face.
“Oh no.”
Leo stared at her.
“You’re a commander?”
“Former commander.”
The radio spoke again.
“Not anymore.”
Maya slowly lowered her hands.
Ethan was grinning.
She turned toward him.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Ethan.”
“I may have forwarded your application.”
“My what?”
“The one you filled out and never submitted.”
Her mouth fell open.
Months earlier, Maya had secretly considered joining a new international aviation safety program.
