Lucas hesitated.
“Previous employment.”
Mason smiled.
“With who?”
“Skyward.”
Something flickered in Richard’s eyes.
Recognition perhaps.
Lucas continued before it settled.
“The start profile is wrong.”
Richard glanced toward the jet.
“We have three diagnostic systems telling us the APU control unit is receiving start command.”
“I believe them.”
“And yet?”
“I think you have enough electrical continuity to satisfy the static check.”
“But under starter load, the contact drops.”
Mason crossed his arms.
“You’re diagnosing voltage drop by ear from fifty yards away?”
Lucas looked at him.
“I’m diagnosing an irregular start sound that I have heard before.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No.”
Lucas nodded.
“It isn’t.”
Richard exhaled.
“We already inspected the external connectors.”
“Did you load-test the specific start relay circuit during vibration?”
Mason answered.
“We followed the diagnostic tree.”
Lucas nodded again.
“That wasn’t my question.”
The younger engineer’s face tightened.
Richard looked between them.
Then Evelyn approached.
“What is delaying us now?”
Richard straightened.
“Nothing additional.”
She looked at Lucas.
“Who is he?”
“Auxiliary maintenance.”
Lucas hated the way the phrase sounded.
Evelyn studied him.
“What does auxiliary maintenance want with my aircraft?”
Lucas answered before Richard could.
“To check one connection.”
Richard turned.
“Mr.—”
“Meyer.”
“Mr. Meyer believes he heard an electrical issue during startup.”
Evelyn looked at Lucas.
“Can you fix it?”
Lucas almost said yes.
Instead he said:
“I believe I can identify whether I’m right within a minute.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“Then no.”
Everyone paused.
Evelyn’s eyebrows moved slightly.
Lucas continued.
“I cannot promise I can repair something I have not inspected.”
“For someone who walked across a restricted line with an opinion, you suddenly sound cautious.”
“I’m cautious around airplanes.”
That answer seemed to interest her.
She glanced at Richard.
“What do you recommend?”
Richard said:
“We continue factory procedure and wait for field support.”
“How long?”
“Several hours.”
Evelyn looked back at Lucas.
“And you need?”
“Sixty seconds to inspect.”
Mason scoffed again.
Evelyn heard him.
She looked at him.
“What is funny?”
Mason immediately straightened.
“Nothing, ma’am.”
“You laughed.”
He hesitated.
“It’s just that this aircraft has a highly integrated diagnostic system.”
“And?”
“Troubleshooting by sound is not exactly standard procedure.”
Evelyn turned to Lucas.
“Is he wrong?”
Lucas chose his words carefully.
“No.”
Mason smiled.
Then Lucas added:
“He is incomplete.”
The smile vanished.
“Computers are excellent at identifying failures they are designed to detect.”
Lucas said.
“Mechanical and electrical systems still fail in ways that produce valid data until the moment load changes.”
Richard looked at him more closely now.
Lucas continued.
“I am not suggesting anyone bypass procedure.”
“I’m suggesting you inspect one component with the correct manual reference.”
That mattered.
Richard knew it.
This was no longer a man proposing to crawl inside a jet and improvise.
It was a mechanic asking for a specific inspection.
Evelyn checked her watch.
“Do it.”
Richard started: