— That’s… that’s strategically smart. Reframe it from personal to procedural. Make it about the process, not the personalities involved.
— Exactly. And it has the added benefit of being the right thing to do regardless of circumstances.
— I’ll implement that change immediately. Thank you, Chief.
He hesitated, clearly working up to something else.
— Also, Colonel Vance asked me to relay an offer. He wants you on direct tasking status for time-critical missions. No bureaucratic approval chains. No committees. No delays. When something urgent develops, you get the call first. You’d have authority to launch without standard clearance procedures.
He watched her face carefully.
— Are you interested?
Grace looked past him at the A-10—behind her crew, at the bullet holes being methodically patched, at the physical evidence of violence absorbed and survived. Twenty-four hours ago, she’d been a cargo pilot hiding from her past. Now she was being offered a position that would put her right back in the center of special operations.
The irony wasn’t lost on her.
— Can I think about it?
