"Three gravitors out," Morrow growled. "One auxiliary lifter, one auxiliary and one main drive gravitor. Must be a short in 'em somewhere." "We don't need the drives for a ground-test," Smith reminded him. "Cut to main lift units and let's try her out!" "Wilco." He switched off the drive knob and the twelve auxiliary lifter switches. "Stand by to rise!" The sighing wind was gone from the tail. He gripped the lifter knob in his fingertips and, turning his head, stared out at the dark floor of the workshop below. He turned the knob, cautiously. The ship rocked gently, then lifted. The floor dropped away beneath them. "Watch it!" Smitty warned tersely. The ship paused, then seemed to settle. They floated serenely, twenty feet above the workshop floor. The heavy rafters of the roof loomed close over the transparent blister. Smitty cleared his throat, nervously. "I think that's high enough!" he exclaimed. Morrow permitted himself a fleeting grin, then began to inch the knob back toward its stop. "Stand by for descent!" he warned. The ship settled slowly. The floor rose up with majestic deliberation--then paused again. "How high are we?" Morrow asked. "A little over four feet on the altimeter," Smitty replied. "Want to hold her here a while?" "I want you to climb out and see how much it alters her lift," Morrow explained. "One less passenger shouldn't affect it at all, but let's make sure." "Wilco." Smitty rose from his seat and came back toward the steps. "Jump around a little," Morrow said. "See if it rocks her any." Grinning, Smitty banged noisily down the steps and clattered back through the ship. She rode perfectly still, unmoving. Smiling his satisfaction, Morrow waited. Then Smitty walked around the bulge of the nose, on the floor below, and waved to him. Morrow waved back and, rising, moved up to the front seat. The altimeter still registered slightly over four feet. He returned to the console, sat down--and snapped off the lift knob. The ship settled immediately to the floor, struck lightly, and rocked to a standstill. Morrow clambored down the steps and felt his way back through the dark interior to the air-lock. Smitty was waiting for him as he dropped to the floor. "She checks, doesn't she?" "She checks," Morrow affirmed. "Now let's get to work on those shorted gravitors!" * * * * * The first night's tests were preliminary. They lifted the ship a few feet off the ground and flew it across the sawmill yard and back. They switched the gravitors from main to auxiliary systems. They loaded the cargo deck amidships with sandbags and flew a weight-test. They took the ship up to fifty feet and held it there until the wind, blowing them toward the trees, forced them to come down. The ship checked out in every test. They decided to make the first trial flight the next night.