Page 10 of Even If the Sky is Falling
For a moment, there was no sound, and then the speaker on the chief’s phone was muffled as if a hand was covering the receiver. When he began speaking, his voice was hushed, as if he had relocated himself somewhere more quiet or with less of an audience. “What exactly happened, Oakes?”
Griffin stepped out the front door and looked to Halley for answers. She shrugged, holding up her hand to ask him to wait.
“Sir, permission to speak frankly?”
“Granted.”
“Song is reckless, and he’s always picked last for missions because there is a ninety-nine point nine percent chance that he’s going to screw something up—”
“Now you listen here—”
“Sir, he usually fixes the issue, but he does have missteps. Most of these missteps could be prevented if he didn’t take liberties like sneaking contraband into the station. He takes these liberties because he thinks people won’t question him, being your nephew and all.” Halley bit her lip, waiting for Chief Henry to process what she’d said.
“What kind of liberties are we talking about here, Oakes? And why haven’t I been informed?”
“You know how it goes, sir. Remember when Major Heim’s daughter was assigned to lead that project to decommission the satellite and almost ended up ramming it into the space station?”
He sucked in a breath. “How can I forget? That cost us millions.”
Halley nodded. “She had no business being in that position without passing all of the required protocols, but she was advanced because of who she was. No one was going to ride her to complete her protocols because she acted like she didn’t have to. Song does the same thing. It’s not malicious, but he is well aware that he’s breaking protocol. He practically dares us to report him, and honestly, I should have. So this is my responsibility. I am to blame for what happened here.”
“Uh-huh. What did he sneak into the station, Oakes?” Chief Henry articulated through gritted teeth.
“I believe it was a six-pack of peanut butter stout, sir. From a local brewery in Boulder. A bottle was spilled in the control room, which shorted the servers and set off the warning system prematurely while also disconnecting several of our local satellites.”
“Christ almighty...” The Chief swore under his breath.
“Listen, sir. No one knows but you and the team. At the end of the day, we had a successful emergency trial, with no injuries from what I understand from initial news reports. We had a real-time look at what one of these warnings can look or feel like, and there’s no way that we would have had people take a scheduled test as seriously as they’d take the threat of the real thing. As far as anyone else is concerned, this was a secret test that allowed private citizens, businesses, first responders and government officials to get a sense of what a true, unscheduled warning will look and feel like.
“We acknowledge that it was a surprise warning test in advance of the scheduled test we were going to do next week, so we apologize and offer that it was meant to help people and businesses think through their sheltering plans from an informed perspective. We’ve rescheduled next week’s test to next month, to give folks time to make more realistic plans and prepare their bunkers.” Halley gave a wide-eyed shrug to Griff as she bit her lip and waited. Griff kept his eyes on Halley.
“Huh.”
He might actually buy it. “They don’t have to know that we didn’t plan it, sir,” she pressed, crossing her fingers as she made eye contact with Griff.
“You’re going to need to complete reports alluding to this plan. You’ll also need an explanation as to why you believed twelve hours was the right amount of time for a test.” His breathing was measured, as if he’d calmed.
“I’ll have drafts for you first thing on Monday, sir.”
“Good. And, Oakes?” His voice sounded like he held the receiver closer to his mouth to make himself more clear.
“Sir?”
“Don’t cut Song any slack. You ride him like you would any tech specialist who wasn’t carrying their weight. The next time he’s on your team—and there will be a next time—you better snatch the goodies out of his hand or youwillbe held responsible for any mishaps as the mission leader. Do I make myself understood?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” She swallowed hard, praying that Song wasn’t assigned to another of her teams anytime soon.
The line disconnected, and Halley squealed as Griff whooped and swept her up into his arms, swinging her around in a circle. Willy and Jake joined them outside, Willy looking pitiful with his arms behind his back.
Griff released Halley, and she turned to Song and Jake, a relieved smile on her face. “The truth saved us this time, gentlemen. We’ve all got jobs to return to on Monday. We’ve got flights home from base this evening, so let’s tie up any loose ends we have here so we can get back on the road. Maybe we can grab something to eat.”
Willy looked close to collapsing. Jake clapped him on the back before reaching out to shake Halley’s hand.
She held Jake’s hand in both of hers before reaching over and squeezing Song’s arm. Song bowed his head. “Thank you, boss.”
“Don’t thank me yet. Your uncle basically gave me a green light to ride you like Seabiscuit anytime you’re assigned to my detail.”
Song’s eyes widened. “You’d let me back onto your detail again?”
