“Safe travels to headquarters, Sarah,” he said, standing tall.

“I’ll see you at the briefing Friday morning.”

“Thank you for everything, General,” I said.

I turned and stepped through the doorway, walking down the long carpeted slope of the jet bridge as the overhead lights caught the polished gold of the oak leaves on my collar.

The air in the jet bridge was warm and smelled faintly of jet fuel and damp carpet.

I stepped through the narrow door of the plane and handed my boarding pass to the flight attendant standing by the forward galley.