They checked every connection, every possible item in the circuit.
"Nothing wrong!"
"Oh, now look," said the project engineer. "This isn't hell, where the equipment is always perfect except that it doesn't work."
"This is hell," announced his assistant. "The thing is perfect—except that it doesn't work."
"It worked on Venus Equilateral."
"We've changed nothing, and we handled that gadget like it was made of cello-gel. We're running the same kind of voltage, checked on standard voltmeters. We're within one-tenth of one percent of the original operating conditions. But—no power."
"Call Channing."
The beams between Terra and Venus Equilateral carried furious messages for several hours. Channing's answer said: "I'm curious. Am bringing the experimental ship to Terra to investigate."
The project engineer asked: "Isn't that the job they hooked up to use the solar power for their drive?"
His assistant said: "That's it. And it worked."