Just as they ended these calls, a familiar figure came hurrying toward them. Richard Whitman, the gate agent who had blocked their boarding just thirty minutes earlier, was approaching with an entirely different demeanor. His previous contempt had been replaced by obsequious panic.
Ms. Jackson, Ms. Jackson, he called out, slightly out of breath from rushing. There’s been a terrible misunderstanding. We’ve arranged for a private corporate jet to take you to Boston immediately, if you’ll just come with me.
No, thank you, Mr. Whitman, Zara replied coolly. We’re waiting for direct instructions from our father. Richard’s face contorted with barely concealed rage.
The mention of their father clearly triggered something in him, but he struggled to maintain a veneer of professionalism. I understand you’re upset, but making false claims about your family connections isn’t going to help the situation. His tone shifted, becoming threatening once again now that they were alone, away from the witnesses at the gate.
In fact, making false statements about airline personnel could result in you being placed on a no-fly list. Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private. Is that a threat, Mr. Whitman? Nia asked, pulling out her phone and beginning to record.
Richard’s eyes widened as he noticed the active recording. From the phone’s speaker, Marcus Jackson’s voice suddenly emerged, as he had never hung up and had been listening to the entire exchange. Mr. Whitman, this is Marcus Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of Mid-Atlantic Airlines and father of the young women you’ve been discriminating against.
Everything you say is being recorded and monitored. I suggest you return to your gate and await further instructions from airline management. The color drained from Richard’s face as the full implications of the situation crashed down upon him.
Without another word, he turned and fled back toward Gate 32, nearly colliding with a beverage cart in his haste. The twins looked at each other, a mix of vindication and disbelief washing over them. Dad, Zara said into the phone, what’s Emergency Protocol Alpha? Marcus’ voice was grim but satisfied.
Watch the departure boards, you’re about to find out. The departure boards flickered throughout the terminal, drawing confused glances from travelers. Then, like dominoes falling, flight after flight began showing the same status update.
Delayed gate return. The announcements began moments later, echoing through the terminal. Attention Mid-Atlantic Airlines passengers, due to an executive-ordered safety protocol verification, all Mid-Atlantic flights currently on the tarmac or at gates are being held.
Passengers already boarded are asked to remain seated. We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide updates as they become available. All around them, confusion spread through the terminal as travelers consulted their phones, checked the boards, and approached harried-looking gate agents for explanations.
The agents themselves appeared bewildered, checking their computer terminals with increasing panic as more commands filtered down from above. Through their still-open phone line, the twins could hear their father issuing rapid-fire directives to what sounded like a crisis management team. I want every flight grounded, every single one.
I don’t care if they’re halfway through taxiing. Get them back to the gates. And I want the Denver station manager in my office via videoconference.
In five minutes. Dad, Nia ventured, what exactly are you doing? Exercising my authority as CEO, Marcus replied grimly. The only way to get the attention of an entire system is to shut it down.
Right now, every Mid-Atlantic flight across the country is returning to its gate for safety verification. That’s over 300 aircraft and roughly 42,000 passengers. The scale of his response left the twins momentarily speechless.
Their father had essentially paralyzed an entire airline, one of the nation’s largest carriers, in response to the discrimination they had faced. Won’t this cost the airline millions? Zara asked, suddenly concerned about the repercussions. It will, Marcus confirmed, which is precisely why it’s going to get everyone’s attention.
Sometimes the only way to force change is to hit the bottom line hard enough that ignoring the problem becomes more expensive than fixing it. More announcements echoed through the terminal as the ripple effects of the grounding spread. Connecting, flights were being missed.
Passengers were growing increasingly frustrated. The financial damage was mounting by the minute. Mr. Jackson, a new voice spoke through the phone.
This is Harold Winters, Denver Station Manager. I’ve just been informed of the situation with your daughters. I want to personally assure you that I had no knowledge of these events and I’m appalled by what I’m hearing.
Save it, Harold, Marcus replied coldly. I don’t want apologies. I want action.
I want every employee who interacted with my daughters today in my virtual office in the next 10 minutes. Everyone, check in, TSA, restaurant staff, gate personnel, all of them. Sir, we don’t have authority over TSA or the restaurant.
Find a way, Harold, because until I see all of those faces on my screen, every mid-Atlantic plane stays exactly where it is. While this conversation continued, a small group of airport management personnel approached the twins. They wore the strained expressions of people facing a crisis they didn’t fully understand.
Excuse me, the lead manager said, a woman whose nametag identified her as Patricia Reynolds, Terminal Operations Director. We need to ask you to move to a less busy area. You’re causing a disruption.
Nia raised an eyebrow. We’re sitting quietly on a bench. How exactly are we causing a disruption? Patricia’s professional smile tightened.
We’ve received reports that your presence is connected to the current operational issues affecting mid-Atlantic airlines. We need to minimize passenger anxiety by removing visible sources of disturbance. You want to remove us because we’re black teenagers who’ve been discriminated against, Zara translated bluntly, not because we’re actually disturbing anyone.
Patricia’s smile vanished entirely. That’s not what I said. This is about maintaining order during a disruption.
Let me make something very clear, Zara said, holding up her phone where the call with their father was still active. This is Marcus Jackson, CEO of Mid-Atlantic Airlines. Would you like to explain to him why you’re eyed, trying to remove his daughters from public view after they’ve been subjected to racial discrimination throughout your airport? The color drained from Patricia’s face as the implications hit her.
Mr. Jackson? The Marcus Jackson? She stammered. The very same, Marcus’s voice confirmed from the speaker, and I’d be very interested to hear why airport management is more concerned with hiding the victims of discrimination than addressing the discrimination itself. Patricia took an involuntary step backward.
There must be some misunderstanding. We had no idea. I mean, we were simply trying to- I suggest, Marcus interrupted, that you focus your efforts on gathering the personnel I’ve requested rather than harassing my daughters further.
With mumbled apologies, the management team retreated, making urgent calls of their own as they dispersed. Throughout the terminal, the situation was escalating from inconvenience to crisis. News crews had begun to arrive, initially drawn by reports of a major airline grounding but increasingly curious about rumors of a discrimination incident triggering the shutdown.
Passengers were filming with their phones, social media was lighting up with speculation, and airline staff looked increasingly panicked as they tried to manage the situation without understanding its cause. Through it all, the twins remained, seated on their bench, watching as the consequences of their simple desire to travel while black unfolded around them. What they couldn’t see was that far beyond the airport, in corporate boardrooms and executive offices, an even greater storm was brewing.
In the luxurious Manhattan offices of Mid-Atlantic Airlines’ largest investor, Victor Harrington slammed his fist on his mahogany desk as his assistant delivered the news. He did what? The assistant flinched. Mr. Jackson has implemented emergency.
Protocol Alpha, sir. All Mid-Atlantic flights have been grounded for safety verification. The stock is already down seven percent and falling.
Victor Harrington, billionaire investor and Mid-Atlantic board member, felt his carefully constructed, world-trembling beneath him. He’d opposed Marcus Jackson’s appointment as CEO from the beginning, arguing that the former tech executive lacked the right, cultural fit for the airline industry. What he’d meant, though he would never say it directly, was that a black CEO didn’t belong at the helm of a major airline.
He’d been outvoted by board members desperate for Jackson’s reputation as a turnaround specialist, but he’d never accepted the decision. Now, Jackson had handed him the perfect opportunity to rectify that mistake. Get me Lawrence Pritchard at The Wall Street Journal, Victor instructed, already calculating his next moves.
Then conference and the other board members, not Jackson, everyone else. Within minutes, Victor had spun the narrative to the influential financial reporter. Marcus Jackson was having a personal meltdown, using his authority to ground an entire airline over some perceived slight to his family, potentially breaching his fiduciary duty to shareholders in the process.
The story would be online within the hour. The board call proved slightly more challenging. Victor, we don’t have all the facts yet, cautioned board member Eleanor Kim.
I’ve known Marcus for years. He’s not impulsive. If he’s taken this kind of action, there must be a serious reason.
The reason is that his daughters couldn’t get upgraded to first class, Victor scoffed, deliberately mischaracterizing the situation. Now he’s throwing a tantrum that’s costing shareholders millions by the minute. This is exactly why I opposed his appointment, too emotional, too focused on his personal agenda rather than company interests.
We should at least hear his side, suggested another board member. That’s what the emergency board meeting is for, Victor replied smoothly, which I’ve already scheduled for three hours from now. In the meantime, we need to contain the damage by ending this ridiculous grounding immediately.
By the time the Asajita call ended, Victor had secured enough tentative support to challenge Marcus’s authority at the emergency meeting. His next call was to Stephanie Reynolds, Mid-Atlantic’s VP of Operations and his longtime ally within the company. Stephanie, I need you to handle something delicate.
Jackson’s daughters are still at Denver International. I need them isolated and contained before they can cause any more damage. What exactly do you want me to do? Stephanie asked, already booking a private jet to Denver.
Get them away from public view, offer them the VIP treatment, whatever it takes, but get them somewhere private where they can’t talk to the press or post on social media. Frame it as protection from the chaos their father has caused. If you have to just contain the situation.
Stephanie understood perfectly. Victor’s call to the Mid-Atlantic IT Director Calvin Hughes was even more direct. I need everything those girls have done today erased.
Security footage, ticket records, everything. Make it look like a system glitch if anyone asks. Calvin hesitated.
Sir, that would involve altering official records. It involves protecting this company from a rogue CEO who’s abusing his authority. Victor corrected sharply.
The board will back you up. Just do it. By the time Victor Harrington hung up his final call, a comprehensive counteroffensive was underway.
The airline’s PR team had begun seeding stories about disruptive teenagers, causing a scene at Denver International. Social media accounts with connections to the airline were questioning the twins’ character and suggesting they had manipulated their father into an overreaction. News outlets were receiving press releases emphasizing the economic impact of the grounding while dismissing the discrimination claims as unverified allegations currently under internal review.
Meanwhile, at Denver International, Stephanie Reynolds had arrived and was approaching the twins with what appeared to be genuine concern. Zara, Naya. She greeted them warmly, as if they were old friends.