Coffee did help, at least a little. I didn't eat much, opting instead to visit the maintenance hangar so that I could check on the plane. Walking in, there was almost no sign of the holes that had littered the nose & cockpit sections. Even the windscreen seemed brand new! Probably because it was brand new, the old windscreen being too far gone. I was moving to check on engine number 3 when I heard someone call out:
"Sir, anything I can do ya for?"
I turned to see an incredibly short rabbit holding a clipboard, his uniform covered in oil stains.
"Yeah, sorry, was just checking up on the plane."
"May I ask why?"
"Uhm… I'm the copilot."
"I've never seen you before." His eyes seemed to narrow a bit. "When did you get in?"
"Two days ago." I went through my pocket and eventually found my ID, which I then showed him. "Lt. James Barkley, serial number 09861624, assigned to aircraft 42-35407."
The rabbit's eyes widened as he looked at the document.
"Oh, sorry, Lieutenant, they didn't tell me we had a fox flyer!"
He hurriedly went through the pages on his clipboard, before stopping on one and looking at me with a nervous smile. Well, at least he isn't scared of me for being a fox, just for being a higher ranking officer.
"We uhm… We patched up the holes in the nose section and replaced the windows in the cockpit section. Your crew also seems to have reported an engine failure, is that correct?"
"Yeah, we lost number 3 about 15 minutes from the target."
"Well, we took a look at it and we… we ran some ground tests, but we… it's funny, actually… we couldn't find a thing wrong!"
"That's weird…"
"Yes! It is, isn't it?" Poor guy was so nervous he couldn't stop shaking. Someone else seemed to notice that, as a taller rabbit with brown spots on his white fur stepped up.
"Pete, what do you say you go check on the hydraulic lines on 396? I'll take it from here."
"Yes, sir!" The poor fella handed him the checklist and ran off.
"What seems to be the problem, Lieutenant?"
"Well, we had some engine trouble on our last mission."
"Yes, I can see that. Says here on the report that your number 3 cut out at 20,000 ft, is that correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"Don't call me 'sir', you outrank me, Lieutenant. As a matter of fact, I should be calling you 'sir'. Now, what else can you tell me? Speed, air temperature, the whole jazz."
"We were going at regular formation speed, 242 indicated. I don't know how cold it was."
"Uh-hum…" He took some notes before looking at me again. "Now, were there any signs beforehand? Any odd noises, strange vibrations, any sudden changes in gauge behavior?"
"I uhm… I wasn't looking." I found myself staring at the ground. What kind of pilot can't keep track of a few gauges?
"I see… Not to worry, happens to the best of us… It also says that there were 5 attempts to restart the engine almost immediately after it cut out. Can you confirm that?"
"Yes, sir…I mean…"
"Rabbit. Thomas Rabbit, Chief Mechanic. Yes, that is my actual name, I know. Now, I suppose it's safe to say that those attempts failed, seeing as you landed on three engines."
I nodded.
"Right. Well, according to your navigator's report, you flew back at only 9,000 ft. Were any attempts to restart the engine made during that time?"
"No, it… It kinda slipped my mind." I said, scratching my head a bit. Shit, why didn't I think of that? Would've made landing a hell of a lot easier too!
"Perfectly understandable… Right, so there were no attempts to restart at low altitude, and if anything showed up on the gauges, no one in the crew saw it… No signs of anything wrong on the engine itself either, so I'm thinking it just choked. These engines do that every now and then. Should be good to go. Though I do recommend you and your crew can run some tests on it before takeoff, just to be safe."
"Alright, I'll… I'll do that. Thanks."
"No problem. Oh, and Lieutenant? Give 'em hell for me, will ya?"
"I'll tell 'em Rabbit sent his regards... As well as a few 500-pounders, of course!" I joked as I walked away.