Ethan asked the employee whether the update had been processed as a voluntary change. She hesitated and looked at Robert. Robert immediately stepped between Ethan and the screen. He said the internal coding was none of Ethan's concern and repeated that the crew was working to accommodate them.
Ethan asked who had authorized the change. Robert said Clare had made the adjustment and that he had approved it as terminal manager. Ethan asked whether either of them had documented the reason for separating a minor child from her only parent. Robert's jaw tightened; he accused Ethan of trying to turn a routine seating change into a legal argument.
Ethan did not respond to the insult. Instead, he asked the gate employee not to touch the record again. Robert laughed and said Ethan had no authority to give instructions to airline personnel.
At that moment, footsteps approached from the terminal side of the jet bridge.
Marcus Bennett, Aurelia Atlantic Airlines' regional executive director, was walking toward the aircraft with two operations supervisors. He had been making an unannounced inspection of gate performance before the morning departures and had been told that one flight was being delayed by a seating dispute. Marcus expected to find an angry passenger or a confused employee.
Then he saw Ethan standing beneath the harsh jet bridge lighting with Emma pressed against his side.
Marcus slowed so abruptly that one of the supervisors nearly walked into him. For a second, he seemed unable to reconcile the plainly dressed man in the worn coat with the person he knew from private board meetings and annual strategy sessions. Then his eyes moved to Emma, to Robert's defensive posture, and to the open aircraft door. The color drained from his face.
"Chairman Walker," Marcus said.
Robert turned toward him, irritated by the interruption, but the words reached him before he could speak. His expression emptied. The gate employee froze with the device still in her hands. One of the operations supervisors straightened immediately.
Marcus stepped forward and addressed Ethan with careful respect. He asked why the chairman of Aurelia Atlantic Airlines was standing outside one of the company's aircraft instead of seated inside it.