Six had not been altered.
Iven checked the governor, the output stops and the coupling Sera had named. No one had opened the sealed adjustment beneath the cover. The supply detachment had taken a working machine and kept it idle while its former work was done by human arms.
He did not find that reassuring.
Tera stood beside him while he made the unloaded run. She listened to the speed rise, settle and hold. At the first test load the governor answered cleanly. At the second it stayed within the marks on her rental card.
“Mine to connect?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She gave the instruction to her own crew. Iven stayed outside the moving coupling while they brought the drive across. The bricklayer counted the last hand strokes, waited for the automatic motion to take the load and told her people to let go together.
For an instant all sixteen workers looked as though they had forgotten how to stand without pushing something.
