“You do exactly what I say, when I say it.”
I nodded.
We entered through a maintenance tunnel Aunt June remembered from “a year I refuse to discuss.” Inside, Raven Mesa smelled like dust, metal, and old secrets. Emergency lights glowed along the walls. Somewhere deep in the facility, machinery pulsed.
We found Admiral Carter in a control room, tied to a chair but alive.
His face was bruised. One eye was swollen. But when he saw Mom, he smiled faintly.
“Rachel,” he said. “Always late.”
She cut him free.
“Always ungrateful.”
He looked at me.
“Lucas.”
I stood awkwardly.
“Sir.”
He grimaced as he stood. “Your presentation was excellent.”
Aunt June rolled her eyes. “We can admire the school project after we stop the ghost plane.”
Carter pointed toward the main hangar.
“He has a prototype. Not stable. He needs Lucas to complete the interface.”
Mom looked at the monitors. A wireframe image of the aircraft rotated slowly on one screen. Sleek. Black. Almost beautiful in a terrifying way.
