The plant’s electricians helped him run a Citadel power line to the controls. First came a ground test with Tom working the controls. The ailerons flapped, the rudder turned, and the elevators moved and pivoted, all in response to his directions.
“Now for the test flight,” Tom said, after exhaustive checks had been completed. “Conditions here are a lot different from those at Fearing Island. A low-flying drone might not respond fast enough to avoid hitting a sharp rock formation or a mesa.”
“We’ll have to test it for any possible static interference that it might encounter from the operation of the plant,” his father commented.
Now the grueling air tests began. While Tom manipulated the beeper controls, the drone swept across the blue expanse of western sky. A silver streak, it darted in and out of jagged rock formations, and sliced through deep crevasses. Suddenly the robot plane heeled over, out of control.
“What is it, Tom?” asked Hank.
“These rock mesas-they reflect signals as in a television ‘ghost’ picture.”
Tom knew the drone must climb fast, as if on an interception mission.
Reaching the pinnacle of the climb, the drone regained its equilibrium.
“Whew!” Arv exclaimed in relief.
A few moments later Tom landed the ship.
STRANGE INDIAN STORY 123
“I’ll have to arrange a series of compensating directional towers for the signal,” said Tom. “We can probably have the drone in the air by tomorrow. It will be set in a pattern to fly continuously over the plant.”
Tom decided to wire the Enterprises plant for additional drones to be ferried to the Citadel.