Chapter 9 - The Aftermath of Accountability
The standing ovation lasted for nearly a full minute before I raised my hand in a polite gesture of gratitude and stepped back from the podium. As the applause gradually subsided and the audience settled back into their seats for the slide presentation, I walked off the stage and into the quiet backstage corridor.
Admiral Thomas Vance was waiting there by the exit, a broad, genuine smile spread across his weathered face.
"Well, Commander," the admiral said, clapping me once firmly on the shoulder. "I believe you just rewrote the entire joint doctrine on how to handle arrogant colonels in under twenty minutes."
"Just speaking the truth, Admiral," I replied, smoothing the front of my service blouse. "Though I suspect Colonel Marlowe might have a slightly different review of the presentation."
Vance let out a rich, booming laugh. "Marlowe is currently drafting a formal letter of apology that is so groveling and self-abasing it reads like a medieval petition to a monarch. Effective immediately, he's being reassigned to a desk job in a windowless basement at logistics headquarters in Kansas. Permanent change of station. Effective Monday."
I raised an eyebrow. "A desk job, Admiral? I thought we agreed ladies fly desks."
Vance chuckled heartily, his eyes twinkling with amusement. "Touche, Commander. Touche. Some desks, it turns out, are precisely where certain officers belong."
As the admiral walked back toward the main hall to handle the morning panels, a hesitant cough sounded from the doorway behind me.
I turned around to find Lieutenant Junior Grade Keira Lin standing there, clutching a leather folder to her chest, her face flushed with excitement and nervous energy.
"Commander Hayes?" Keira asked softly.
"Come in, Lieutenant," I said, offering a warm, welcoming smile. "Everything alright?"
"Yes, ma'am! Better than alright," Keira said, her eyes shining brightly. "I just wanted to... well, thank you. For what you said out there. And for yesterday at the bar. You have no idea what it meant to see someone stand up like that."
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"I know exactly what it meant, Keira," I said gently, walking over and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Because someone did the exact same thing for me, ten years ago, when I was a terrified lieutenant trying to prove I belonged on the flight deck."
Keira beamed, her posture straightening with a newfound sense of unshakable confidence. "Well... for what it's worth, ma'am, I'm sticking with surface warfare for now. But if I ever decide to switch communities... I'm definitely asking to fly Hornets."
