PFC Chapter 4416 Dark Prelude (1)
Chapter 4416 Dark Prelude (1)
Chapter 4416 Dark Prelude (Part 1)
The flames of the electric fireplace flickered gently, reflecting a faint, cool light onto the leather sofa. The wine glasses on the coffee table were empty, only a few drops remaining on the rim; the bottle was nearly empty as well. Slightly tipsy, Hal leaned against the sofa, reminiscing about that exceptionally lively Christmas. The lingering warmth of that moment was still comforting, but it couldn't completely dispel the lingering gloom in his heart.
It doesn't snow in the seaside town, but when typhoons pass through in winter, the rain lashes against the floor-to-ceiling windows, the sky is gloomy, and the clouds are so thick they seem to be pressing down. Hal thinks it would be better if it just snowed properly.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Hal answered, and Carol's voice came through: "I'm sorry, Hal, you really may not be able to go back to your original position. It's not so much related to the previous accident, but rather that they're not hiring. They've even reduced the number of fighter pilots. If you don't want to fly commercial airliners, you'll have to switch to space work."
“I understand, thank you, Carol.” Hal wiped his forehead from head to toe, brushed his hair back, and said, “I haven’t been feeling very well lately, and I probably can’t handle this kind of work anymore. I’m thinking of finding a temporary job…”
“No matter what, I love you,” Carol said. “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself, take good care of yourself. Once I’m done with this busy period, we can plan a trip.”
"Okay, I'll wait for you. Goodbye."
After hanging up the phone, Hal slumped back onto the sofa. He picked up the application form beside him, hesitated for a long time, and then dialed a number: "Hello? Mr. Rodriguez? I think we can talk. Are you free now?"
After hanging up the phone again, Hal stood up, went to the bathroom, and washed his face. Looking at himself in the mirror, he touched the stubble on his chin, trimmed it again with the razor, and then put on his coat.
Just as he was about to leave, he paused, turned back, and picked up the application form. Looking at the title "Resumption of Flight Application" on the form, Hal recalled how full of ambition he had been when he received this form.
On Christmas Eve, everyone drank heavily and let themselves get drunk. The next morning, Hal was the second person to wake up after Bruce. He went to Bruce's room, knocked on the door, and said, "Bruce, I have something I want to talk to you about."
“Come in,” Bruce said gently. He seemed to have eaten another slice of the golden apple, and his appearance had become younger again, making him look less imposing, and Hal less nervous.
"It's like this. I... I had an accident before. During a test flight, I didn't perform the skills group as required, and we happened to encounter turbulence in the air, which caused the test flight to fail. This cost me my job. I didn't think it was my fault before, but now that I think about it, I was really too naive and reckless. I am 90% responsible for this accident."
Hal lowered his eyes, looking as if he were in repentance. He said, "I'm not making excuses for myself. But everyone knows I'm the best test pilot on the West Coast. I've spent decades honing myself into the sharpest aerial weapon. I don't want to ruin my life because of an accident, and I don't want to disappoint Carroll and his father."
"So you want to resume flights?"
"Yes. But I also know that after such a major accident, there is absolutely no way I can be reinstated through normal procedures. So I want to ask you for your help. I promise you that this kind of thing will never happen again."
"You don't want to visit your girlfriend and your father-in-law because you don't want them to look down on you?"
Hal shook his head and said, "Not entirely. I just feel like they might not be able to help me this time."
"why?"
“The Air Force might downsize. Or rather, it inevitably will. In that case, they certainly won’t hire a test pilot with a history of major accidents,” Hal said, sounding somewhat distressed. “The Fries family isn’t omnipotent either. They might give up on me.”
Bruce agreed with HAL's assessment. The Air Force might indeed downsize. It sounds counterintuitive, since the Air Force should be expanding its workforce if it wants to develop space work. But in reality, NASA and the U.S. Air Force are two completely unrelated agencies, while the U.S. Space Force (USSF) is an overlapping agency in between.
The problem is that Air Force pilots, Space Force pilots, and NASA astronauts are essentially the same group of people. There's only so much talent in this field; if you have more, I'll have less.
The current overall policy has reverted to a space race approach, leading to an explosive expansion of funding and personnel at NASA and the USSF. To make way for space policy, the US Air Force has had to downsize, free up funding, and send more pilots to the aerospace field instead of wasting limited resources on ground operations.
In this situation, if HAL wanted to switch to space work, even with his past major accidents, NASA and the Space Force would likely accept him—because they are indeed short-staffed. However, HAL wants to be a surface fighter pilot, which is extremely difficult due to the fierce competition.
Pilots like Hal are among the best-off people in the United States. Their employers provide them with high-level insurance coverage and exert pressure on them regarding claims, ensuring that insurance companies dare not refuse to pay out to anyone else. Furthermore, their salaries are excellent, and their benefits are outstanding. In their youth, they can serve as test pilots and fighter pilots; as they age, they can transfer to commercial aviation, receiving lifetime subsidies – their lives couldn't be more comfortable.
Meanwhile, HAL is the Fries family's representative in the Air Force, representing Carroll's family. The Fries family will do their best to support him to ensure their influence in the aviation field. However, HAL is not entirely controlled by them and enjoys a great deal of freedom. Because exceptionally talented pilots are rare, sometimes the Fries family even has to beg him for help.
That's why, even after such a serious accident, his father-in-law was still doing his best to get him out of trouble. You could say that if it weren't for the Martian invasion incident, he could have simply waited and calmed things down before returning to work, as if nothing had happened.
Therefore, Hal can be said to be the one who has the best life in the Justice League.
But just as the benefits are so good, everyone wants to live such a comfortable life. So when downsizing occurs, everyone wants to stay and doesn't want to be transferred to NASA or the Space Force.
These two organizations are not bad, but as everyone knows, space work is extremely arduous, and it's impossible to do it without a strong sense of dedication. Not to mention anything else, spending so many days on a space station involves all sorts of inconveniences, and no one would be willing to go even if you paid them.
In this situation, excellent pilots prefer to stay on the ground. This means that test pilots like HAL, who have had accidents, cannot compete with them.
The Frith family wields some power, but the other families are no slouch either. With everyone pulling in their own way, Hal's fatal accident has essentially sealed his fate. Therefore, Hal didn't press Carol further, but instead went directly to Bruce. In the current situation, only a major intervention from Wayne could potentially salvage the situation.
Hal had certainly considered going to Clark. But he knew that Clark didn't really understand the ways of high society; he would demand fair competition, and since a major accident had already occurred, he would have to pay for his mistakes.
This idea is certainly not wrong. However, Hal joined the Justice League to leverage the gang's power for his own benefit. He hadn't spoken up before because he hadn't yet made any contributions to the team. But after this battle, he felt he had performed well, making a significant contribution to Bruce's plan and the team's work. Therefore, he could naturally make demands to satisfy his own interests. Essentially, it's not about right or wrong, but rather an exchange of benefits.
Bruce clearly understood this better than Clark. So he nodded and said, "I'll talk to Schiller; he'll try to mediate. However, given the current situation, it's unlikely we can get you in directly. You'd better prepare yourself."
Hal nodded and said, "I will. If everything is alright here, I'll prepare to go back to Earth to resume training."
Bruce nodded, and Hal left. Schiller was very efficient; he found Hal before Hal returned to Earth.
The two sat by the spaceship's porthole. Schiller brought out the leftover red wine from the Christmas Eve dinner and poured a little for each of them. Hal picked up his glass and took a sip. Schiller placed several documents on the table and said, "With the president's special instructions, the Air Force and the airline dropped the charges against you. But this is only the first step. Your previous accident was too severe; your license was revoked, and you've been blacklisted. I persuaded them to remove your name from the blacklist, but you'll need to retake the license test and perform exceptionally well in your job interview to have any chance of being reinstated. Is that alright?"
"Thank God, this is a huge help." Hal breathed a sigh of relief and picked up the documents to read. Actually, his biggest worry wasn't the lawsuit—the Friss family would handle that. The most troublesome thing was the license cancellation and the industry blacklist. Without someone influential enough to help him, these two obstacles were almost insurmountable.
Hal didn't dare to hope for a direct license or a job handed to him out of thin air. He knew that being a pilot was unlike any other job; the technical requirements were extremely high. Even a pilot's poor performance on their first day could lead to an accident. And the consequences of an accident were far too severe. The economic, reputational, and time-consuming losses for both the purchasing and manufacturing parties were unimaginable.
The direct economic losses from Hal's previous accident exceeded three hundred million US dollars. And the fighter jet he test-flew wasn't even the latest model; it was only a modified export version. Other losses are incalculable. No one dares to gamble with such a large sum of money, so the review process is extremely rigorous. The fact that he's given a chance to retake the test is already a testament to Wayne's financial power.
Hal flipped to the last page and saw an application form. The data on it was both strange and familiar. He put the file away and looked at Schiller, saying, "I'll go back to Earth for retraining immediately. If all goes well, I can resubmit the application soon."
Schiller nodded and said, "Superpowers may not have a positive effect on training, so it's best to avoid using them if possible. Don't worry too much, your spot will always be reserved for you."
Hal stood up, shook hands with him, and said, "Thank you so much. I'll definitely treat you to a meal when I'm back in the air."
"You're too kind," Schiller smiled at him. Just as he was about to leave, Schiller called him back and said, "This wine isn't quite to my taste; you should take it home and drink it."
Hal raised an eyebrow, picked up the bottle, glanced at it, and said, "This is quite expensive."
"Wayne's treasures, don't waste them."
"Then I shall accept it without hesitation."