The crawler climbed without Iven touching it.
Anra sat at the controls. Usto watched the running line from the marked safe place. The test load lay secured on the platform, its weight recorded against the exchange core’s actual carrying demand. Nobody had made the trial easy by calling an empty machine restored.
The right track took the incline.
Four repaired faces met the stone in their intended direction. The corrected shoe corner stayed in line. Across the other side, the renewed guide kept the left track from hunting outward as the demand rose. Engine, drive and ground answered one another without the shuddering slide Iven had watched five days earlier.
Anra brought the platform to the first stop.
It held.
She moved again, reached the upper mark and stopped under the full trial load. The ordinary brake took its designed part. The tracks remained seated. Usto checked the visible marks and gave the clear signal from outside the running path.
Iven could see the restored function answering, but waited with the crew.
