A heavy splash of clear liquid instantly coated Chloe’s pajama pants, pooling darkly on the concrete right beneath her bare feet.
The air inside my lungs turned to cold ash in a single second. The tactical, heavily compartmentalized military commander evaporated inside me, leaving only a fiercely protective and terrified father.
“Captain, step out here right now,” I commanded, my voice dropping to a flat and lethal register as I unbuckled my safety seatbelt.
The pilot turned around from the open cockpit doorway with his brow heavily furrowed in total confusion.
“Is something wrong, Colonel?” the pilot asked nervously.
“Divert this aircraft right now to the nearest military airfield,” I ordered firmly.
The pilot blinked several times, completely taken aback by my sudden command.
“Colonel Carroll, with all due respect, we are currently on a very rigid flight path to our primary base,” the pilot replied carefully.
I stood up immediately and held my military tablet directly in his line of sight so he could see the screen clearly. On the display, my supreme command authorization codes glowed bright green, indicating that they were still active and legally binding.