"I don't know, except that it's a piece of machinery known as an engine coordinator. It is used in large industrial plants to guide the processes of a large number of machines. In some manner the plans are scanned within the machine and the shop tools are guided in producing the equipment in the approved technical manner, which has been worked out and set into the engine coordinator. Much repetitive engineering is saved because mere rough sketches can sometimes be used to produce finished machines of great complexity. The technical details are already stored in the coordinator. Levitation and tractor fields are, of course, generated to handle materials.
"Will you please release our cargo, now?"
"I'm not so sure we want to release it," said Kennely slowly.
Tarman's face went white. "You mean you would attempt to steal it?"
"That's a rough word," said Kennely. "Say, rather, that we'd analyze this machine so that we could duplicate it. Allowing us access to these principles should be fair reward for our return of it."
"That's blackmail! This cargo was due a week ago. We're already paying heavy penalty to the Black Machine Company for nondelivery."
"I'm afraid you're being rather ungenerous. If we hadn't disturbed the box you never would have found it — so you say."
Croul shook his head and looked at his superior. "I understand now why the antique eras are forbidden. Such barbarous relationships —"
"Croul, can't we possibly work through their radiations?"
The technician shook his head. "It's almost impossible to get it into focus. We might remove chunks of the local impedimentia without coming anywhere near the cargo."