"Until the bell rings, we'll sort of pick curls of dust out of the bearings, put a drop of oil here and there, and see that the stuff is shiny--and as slippery as the devil." The operator plugged into a ringing line. "Lane," he called after listening, "the crew just dropped the drone." "Get the detector gang and tell 'em." The operator unplugged and shoved the plug into another jack. He spoke, and listened for several minutes. "Detector gang has picked up the drone," he announced to Lane. "Ring the warning bell!" The clangor of the warning bell shattered the air. Over the _tactac_ of machinery and the rumble of heavy generators, it fell on waiting ears, and from all parts of the great projector there was a general rush to hit solid ground. A huge ring of men formed a hundred yards from the machine, and Downing entered the housing. "Can we see better in here or out there?" he asked. "In here," said Cliff. "The drone won't be within a ten light-sec range when we hit it. The celestial globe, here, has been juggled up to show both drone and projector. It's rough, but the lack of definition won't bother us. We can understand what's happening--and if it happens as we expect, we'll see it go blooey and be able to reconstruct the event. Stick around." Linzete came and stood beside them. "I think the sawtooth is not of the proper shape," he suggested. "Perhaps not," agreed Lane. "But to put any sharper break on it will require another high-power driver stage. I'm hoping it will be adequate." "The recovery time may seem slow," added Downing. "But remember how much distance it controls." Linzete nodded dubiously. He was not the type to argue. If these gadget-mad Terrans were going to ruin a second-rate ship on the first try, well, they'd find out soon enough. He hoped they had a stock of radio-controlled drones. They'd need them. They had--and they probably would need them. "On target!" came the cry. * * * * * Above, the platform swung around. The projector bobbled over in its gimbals and centered on something invisible in the blue sky. The tractor beams took hold invisibly and there was a grunting of the bearings as the whole mechanism anchored itself to the core of the planet. Then the projector jumped perceptibly. It seemed to gather itself together and pounce. Then the system relaxed, apparently, for the tractor beams died and the bearings resumed their freedom. Down in the housing, the celestial globe showed a small, outdated cruiser. Speed was apparently zero, for the globe and its detecting and scanning circuits was following it, mile for mile and second by second. A range and velocity computed below the globe gave the data: Nine light-sec range, velocity sixty-six MPS.