Page 67 of A Perfect Disaster

“Helen, your turn. What is Maika’s greatest strength?”

I take a deep breath, holding it in. I could fall back on the safe answer. But comfort is starting to feel like a cowardly way to gloss over reality.

“Maika truly understands the human factor,” I reply, feeling a sudden heat rise up my neck. “She doesn’t just direct the passengers; she reads them. She knows exactly what they need and when. She’s empathetic and decisive in a way that headquarters’ guidelines could never achieve.”

Maika remains still, but the intensity in her eyes shifts subtly. I continue, assuming I’ve left any line of retreat behind.

“In Rome, she maintained control of a group in a situation of isolation and stress. In Naples, she’s done exactly the same. Her team responds because she doesn’t treat them as mere workers, but as part of a shared identity.”

Julianne watches me, weighing the weight of my words.

“Is it difficult for you to acknowledge that quality in your competitor, Officer?” she asks.

I shift in my seat.

“No,” I reply. But my mind, sabotaged by this inertia of brutal honesty, forces me to qualify: “Well… yes. It is difficult. Not for lack of professional recognition, but because her methodology is based on intuition and heart—elements that are difficult to quantify in a performance report.”

In my mind, those words have a playful undertone, but I know they don’t for them.

Arturo jots something down quickly. Maika looks away at her intertwined fingers. And I feel like I’ve just loosened a crucial piece of my armor in front of everyone here.

“All right,” Arturo interjects. “Let’s turn the analysis around. What is the greatest weakness you see in the other?”

I look at Maika. I could say she’s impulsive, that she relies too heavily on her personal magnetism, or that she disregards safety margins. All of it would have a technical basis, but in this context, it would sound like a personal attack.

However, it is Maika who takes the risk first.

“Her weakness is that she demands absolute perfection to feel justified in her rank, when her competence is already unquestionable on board,” she fires off with a calmness that takes my breath away. “Helen works as if the slightest misstep were proof that she doesn’t deserve her position. That makes her a brilliant officer, because she audits, anticipates, and shields every maneuver. But it also makes her relentless with herself and, by extension, with those of us who work alongside her. When faced with the unexpected, her first reaction is to look for the flaw in the protocol. And if the protocol isn’t enough, she tries to shoulder the entire weight of the operation on her own.”

The impact hits me in the chest, and not because of wounded pride, but because of the accuracy of the diagnosis. Julianne and Arturo look up in unison.

“Do you think that undermines her leadership ability?” Arturo asks.

“More like… the way she delegates,” Maika concludes. “Because a leader must not only be infallible; they must allow those around them to share the burden of the problem. Helen has a hard time accepting that the team can solve any problem just as well as she can.”

I feel exposed, as if Maika had forced her way into the place where I keep my deepest doubts. There’s no trace of sarcasm in her voice; just a stark truth that leaves me almost breathless.

Julianne turns toward me.

“Officer, do you wish to exercise your right to reply?”

“No.”

Arturo nods, noting my silence as just another piece of data for the evaluation.

“Your turn then, Helen. Maika’s greatest weakness.”

She waits, maintaining eye contact, and that courage forces me to respond in kind.

“Maika relies too heavily on her ability to solve problems on the fly,” I state, weighing each word. “Her knack for improvisation is outstanding, but sometimes that tendency causes her to underestimate the structure of all the work around her.”

Maika tilts her head to one side.

“I’m not referring to the Civitavecchia incident,” I clarify immediately. “That was an external emergency. I’m talking about a general tendency. I think she’s a woman who feels too comfortable working amid chaos, and because of that, she projects the false impression that there’s no method behind her actions, even though there is. And for me… in a critical situation on board, that perception can breed mistrust among the rest of the officers.”

Arturo shows obvious interest.

“So, you’re saying that Ms. Aranda shows a lack of rigor.”