“It is ugly,” Riley said. “Hairline stress all through the edge. Not enough to jump out on a lazy inspection, just enough to make the whole assembly act possessed.”
“Can you swap it?”
She gave him a dry look. “No, Chief. I thought I’d frame it.”
He ignored that. “You got a good replacement?”
“In my cart.” She wiped sweat off her temple with the back of her wrist and pushed herself to her feet. “This bird’s been trying to tell people for a month something wasn’t right. Nobody wanted to listen because everyone’s got a general visiting and suddenly the plane has to become patriotic theater.”
Continue on the next page:
