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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X, by
+Victor Appleton
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X
+
+Author: Victor Appleton
+
+Release Date: March 14, 2006 [EBook #17985]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM SWIFT AND THE VISITOR ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Louise Hope, Greg Weeks and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note:
+Illustration descriptions in (parentheses) are provided by the
+transcriber.]
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+  [Illustrated Cover with Text:]
+
+  The new TOM SWIFT Jr. Adventures
+
+    TOM SWIFT and
+    The Visitor from
+    Planet X
+
+      By VICTOR APPLETON II
+
+
+  [Spine Text:]
+
+  Tom Swift and the Visitor from Planet X
+  Victor Appleton II
+
+    The new TOM SWIFT Jr. Adventures
+    17
+
+      Grosset
+      & Dunlap
+      9117
+
+
+  [Dust Jacket text:]
+
+    TOM SWIFT AND THE
+    VISITOR FROM PLANET X
+
+    By VICTOR APPLETON II
+
+    Tom Swift Jr. and his associates at Swift
+    Enterprises wait breathlessly for what
+    may well be the most important scientific
+    event in history--the arrival of the
+    visitor from Planet X--a visitor in the
+    form of energy. But there are factions at
+    work determined to snatch the energy,
+    which Tom has named Exman, from the
+    young scientist-inventor's grasp. First,
+    a series of unexplainable, devastating
+    earthquakes threaten to destroy a good
+    portion of the earth, and Tom suspects the
+    Brungarian rebels who obviously would like
+    to capture Exman and use the space visitor
+    to further their own evil purposes.
+
+    With the security of Enterprises and Exman
+    at stake, Tom creates two of his greatest
+    inventions--a Quakelizor to counteract the
+    simulated earth tremors, and a container
+    or "body" to house the energy from outer
+    space.
+
+    If the earthquakes cannot be stopped,
+    the entire world will be threatened by
+    destruction, and the Brungarian forces
+    will conquer the earth. How Tom utilizes
+    all his scientific knowledge to produce
+    swift-action results and outwit the
+    Brungarians makes one of the most
+    exciting Tom Swift adventures to date.
+
+      GROSSET & DUNLAP _Publishers_
+      New York 10, N.Y.
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+           *       *       *       *
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+          [Illustration: inside cover
+            (Tom Swift in his lab)]
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+               TOM SWIFT AND THE
+
+             VISITOR FROM PLANET X
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+       THE NEW TOM SWIFT JR. ADVENTURES
+
+             BY VICTOR APPLETON II
+
+         TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING LAB
+          TOM SWIFT AND HIS JETMARINE
+         TOM SWIFT AND HIS ROCKET SHIP
+         TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT ROBOT
+     TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC EARTH BLASTER
+       TOM SWIFT AND HIS OUTPOST IN SPACE
+       TOM SWIFT AND HIS DIVING SEACOPTER
+     TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF NUCLEAR FIRE
+       TOM SWIFT ON THE PHANTOM SATELLITE
+    TOM SWIFT AND HIS ULTRASONIC CYCLOPLANE
+      TOM SWIFT AND HIS DEEP-SEA HYDRODOME
+       TOM SWIFT IN THE RACE TO THE MOON
+       TOM SWIFT AND HIS SPACE SOLARTRON
+    TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRONIC RETROSCOPE
+    TOM SWIFT AND HIS SPECTROMARINE SELECTOR
+      TOM SWIFT AND THE COSMIC ASTRONAUTS
+    TOM SWIFT AND THE VISITOR FROM PLANET X
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+  [Frontispiece:
+  _The raiders transferred Exman to the enemy sub_]
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+        The New Tom Swift Jr. Adventures
+
+
+                   TOM SWIFT
+                AND THE VISITOR
+                 FROM PLANET X
+
+             BY VICTOR APPLETON II
+           ILLUSTRATED BY GRAHAM KAYE
+
+                Grosset & Dunlap
+                    New York
+                   Publishers
+
+
+
+
+  [c] by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., 1961
+  All Rights Reserved
+  Printed in the United States of America
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+Chapter                             Page
+
+   1 The Earthquake                    1
+   2 The Mysterious Hitchhiker        11
+   3 Report from Interpol             18
+   4 Another Tremor!                  30
+   5 Secret Cache                     39
+   6 Brungarian Coup                  46
+   7 Wall of Water!                   55
+   8 A Suspect Talks                  65
+   9 The Cave Monster                 73
+  10 Energy from Planet X             83
+  11 An Electrical Christening        92
+  12 Exman Takes Orders               99
+  13 Disaster Strikes                106
+  14 Air-borne Hijackers             115
+  15 Kidnaped!                       125
+  16 A Unique Experiment             137
+  17 An Urgent Warning               145
+  18 Earthquake Island               155
+  19 A Fiendish Machine              166
+  20 The Robot Spy's Story           177
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE EARTHQUAKE
+
+
+"Tom, we're having a problem with the gyro-stabilizer," said Mark Faber,
+gray-haired president of the Faber Electronics Company. "Hope you can
+find out what's wrong."
+
+The eighteen-year-old inventor accepted the challenge with a smile.
+"I'll be glad to try, sir," he replied.
+
+Bud Barclay, a dark-haired young flier and Tom Swift Jr.'s closest
+friend, chuckled. "If anyone can get the bugs out of your new invention,
+genius boy here will do it!"
+
+The two boys followed Mr. Faber and his engineers to a wooden building
+which was tightly guarded. Inside, a secret rocket-telemetering device
+was mounted on its test stand.
+
+"As you know, Tom," Mr. Faber began, "the usual conditions of rocket
+flight will be--"
+
+He broke off with a gasp of astonishment as the whole building suddenly
+began to shake.
+
+"Good grief!" Bud exclaimed. "This isn't part of your testing routine,
+is it?"
+
+His question was drowned out by cries of alarm and the sound of cracking
+glass. The walls and roof were shuddering and creaking, and the concrete
+floor was heaving under their feet.
+
+  [Illustration (earthquake in the lab)]
+
+"Look out! The test stand's breaking loose!" Tom warned.
+
+Mr. Faber and two of his men tried frantically to brace the heavy test
+stand which held the telemetering device. Another engineer rushed toward
+the door to see what was happening outside. Before he reached it,
+another shock knocked all of them off their feet.
+
+Electronic equipment cascaded from the wall shelves, and a heavy-duty
+chain hoist came loose from its overhead track, plunging to the floor
+with a terrifying crash.
+
+"An earthquake!" Tom gasped.
+
+Bud, meanwhile, clawed a handhold on a wire screen enclosing an air
+compressor and pulled himself to his feet. But the next moment a third,
+more violent tremor rocked the building, knocking him over. "The roof!
+It's caving in!" he heard someone scream.
+
+As his eyes flashed upward in panic, Bud caught a brief glimpse of the
+ponderous test stand with the priceless telemeter tilting to one side.
+An instant later it crashed over, pinning Mark Faber beneath it!
+
+Bud threw up his arms to protect himself, but too late! A falling beam
+caught him on the back of the head and the young flier blacked out.
+
+For minutes, no one stirred among the wreckage. Then Tom, who had been
+stunned by some falling debris, raised himself to a sitting position.
+
+"Good night!" Tom's eyes focused in horror on the wreckage enveloped by
+still-billowing dust.
+
+The sky was visible through several gaping holes in the roof, which was
+sagging dangerously on its supporting trusses. Only two thirds of the
+walls were still standing.
+
+Suddenly Tom stiffened in fear. "Bud!" The young inventor had just
+noticed his friend lying pinned beneath a heavy beam nearby. _Was he
+still breathing?_
+
+Disregarding his own injuries, Tom hastily freed himself from the debris
+and groped his way to Bud's side. With a desperate heave, he shoved the
+beam away, then cradled Bud's head in his arm. His friend's eyelids
+flickered.
+
+"Are you all right?" Tom asked fearfully.
+
+The answer came in a groan. "O-oh!... Wow!... What hit me?"
+
+"You got conked by a falling timber. Or grazed, at least," Tom added
+thankfully. "If that beam had landed square on your noggin, even a
+rock-head like you couldn't have survived!"
+
+Bud managed to grin. "We grow 'em tough out in California where I come
+from!" he joked.
+
+Somewhat shakily, Bud got to his feet with Tom's assistance. Both boys
+were heartsick as they surveyed the damaged laboratory, wondering where
+to begin rescue operations.
+
+"It was a quake," Bud stated grimly. He had heard about the great San
+Francisco earthquake from his grandfather, and had no doubt about the
+nature of the tremors.
+
+Just then Tom glimpsed a body protruding from under the wreckage of the
+telemetering device.
+
+"Mr. Faber!" he gasped.
+
+The two boys scrambled through the clutter of debris toward the spot
+where the test stand had been erected. Bud seized a slender, steel
+I beam and managed to pry up the wreckage while Tom carefully extricated
+Mr. Faber.
+
+The scientist seemed to be badly injured. "We'd better not try to move
+him," Tom decided. "We'll get an ambulance."
+
+Of the four other company engineers, two were now stirring and partly
+conscious. The boys found a first-aid cabinet and gave what help they
+could to them and the other two men. Then Tom taped a bandage on Bud's
+scalp wound.
+
+"Let's see if we can find a telephone and call the local hospital," Tom
+said.
+
+"Right!" Bud responded.
+
+They picked their way through the wreckage and emerged on a scene of
+frightful destruction. The main plant building of Faber Electronics had
+been partially demolished by the quake. Power lines were down and an
+outlying storage shed was ablaze. Dazed and panic-stricken survivors
+were wandering around aimlessly or rushing about to assist the injured.
+
+"Good thing the main shift of workers knocked off before this happened,"
+Bud observed with a shudder. "There would've been a lot more
+casualties."
+
+"Look!" Tom pointed to a huge crevasse. "Right where we landed our
+Whirling Duck!"
+
+The boys exchanged rueful glances as they realized that the craft which
+had brought them to Faber Electronics--one of Tom's unique helijets--had
+been swallowed up in the gaping chasm.
+
+"No use fussing about it now," Tom said. "Come on, Bud! Let's see about
+getting help for Mr. Faber!"
+
+Despite the chaotic confusion, the boys managed to locate the plant
+superintendent--a harried, middle-aged man named Simkins--who was doing
+his best to restore order. Simkins, who had not been injured, informed
+them that electricians were rigging an emergency telephone line in order
+to get through to the nearby town of Harkness.
+
+"Mr. Faber is badly injured," Tom said. "Why not send a car? It's only a
+few miles away, isn't it?"
+
+"I'll send the plant nurse to him," Simkins said. "As for going to town,
+take a look at the parking lot." He pointed with a jerk of his thumb.
+The cars on the lot had been smashed into junk by bricks from a
+collapsing wall of one of the buildings. "And the only truck we had
+available was in that burning shed," the superintendent added bitterly.
+
+"Tough break," Tom sympathized. "Anyhow, we want to help. Got a job
+for us?"
+
+Simkins was only too glad to put Tom's quick mind and keen technical
+know-how to use. Within minutes, Tom was in charge of clearing away
+rubble and extricating anyone who might be trapped inside the buildings.
+Bud organized a fire-fighting crew to keep the blaze in the shed from
+spreading.
+
+The telephone line was soon repaired and a steady stream of rescue
+vehicles began arriving from Harkness--fire trucks, three ambulances,
+and private cars driven by volunteers.
+
+Two hours later there was nothing more Tom and Bud could do at the
+disaster scene and they hitched a ride into Harkness. The town had
+suffered some damage, though only slight compared to the destruction at
+the plant.
+
+"The center of the quake was right under Faber Electronics," Tom
+remarked.
+
+From a pay telephone, he called Swift Enterprises in Shopton. This was
+the experimental station where he and his father developed their many
+amazing inventions. Tom asked the operator to send a helicopter
+immediately to pick them up. He also called home and spoke to his
+sister, Sandra.
+
+"What a relief!" Sandy gasped. "We heard a bulletin about the quake over
+the radio!"
+
+"Don't worry, Sis. Tell Mother and Dad that we're okay," Tom said.
+"We'll be home in a jiffy--with big appetites!"
+
+The helicopter arrived within twenty minutes at the place Tom had named.
+After landing at Enterprises, the boys drove to the pleasant,
+tree-shaded Swift home on the outskirts of town.
+
+Mrs. Swift, a slender, petite woman, tried not to show concern when she
+saw the boys, bruised and disheveled. "I'm so thankful you're both
+safe!" she murmured.
+
+Blond, blue-eyed Sandy, who was a year younger than Tom, had invited her
+friend Phyllis Newton to the house for dinner. Phyl, a pretty,
+dark-haired girl, was the daughter of Mr. Swift's long-time friend and
+business associate, "Uncle Ned" Newton. The two girls were as much upset
+as Tom's mother.
+
+Tom laughed. "We're not stretcher cases," he said. "Why, one of the
+ambulance doctors checked us out."
+
+Bud groaned. "Why did you have to go and spoil it?" he complained
+jokingly. "I was all set for Sandy's cool soothing touch on my fevered
+brow!"
+
+Mr. Swift came into the living room just then and told Tom how worried
+Mrs. Swift and Sandy had been. "I tried to assure them that you and Bud
+can take care of yourselves in any crisis." He smiled guiltily as he
+added, "But I must admit I was more than a little concerned myself."
+
+As Tom grinned, the resemblance between him and his father was very
+evident. Both had the same clean-cut features and deep-set blue eyes,
+although Tom Jr. was lankier and taller.
+
+After the two boys had showered and changed their clothes, Mrs. Swift
+served them a delicious, hot meal. While they ate, Mr. Swift managed
+after some difficulty to get a call through to the Harkness Hospital.
+His face was grave as he hung up.
+
+"Mark Faber is not expected to live," the elder inventor reported. "A
+pity. He's a great scientist."
+
+Tom nodded unhappily. Sandy, to take her brother's mind off the
+disaster, said, "Dad, tell Tom and Bud about the visitor who's coming."
+
+"A visitor?" Tom looked at his father.
+
+"From another planet," Mr. Swift revealed.
+
+Both boys were amazed and excited. "Wow!" Bud gasped. "Male or female?
+Human or animal?"
+
+Mr. Swift's eyes twinkled. "None of those," he replied as the boys
+stared, mystified.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE MYSTERIOUS HITCHHIKER
+
+
+Tom and Bud were bursting with curiosity. Although the Swifts had been
+in radio contact with creatures from outer space for many months, this
+was the most exciting news yet!
+
+On one occasion, the unknown beings had moved a small asteroid--the
+phantom satellite Nestria--into orbit about the earth. Later they had
+sent strange samples of the animal life of their planet, aboard orbiting
+missiles, to be studied by the Swifts. They had also helped Tom, Bud,
+and Mr. Swift a number of times when their lives were at stake while on
+daring voyages beyond the earth. What was their latest intention?
+
+The telephone rang and Sandy went to answer it.
+
+"For Pete's sake, Dad," Tom pleaded, "don't keep us in suspense! Who or
+what is this visitor?"
+
+Mr. Swift smiled at the boys' baffled expressions. "The fact is that a
+message came through today that--"
+
+He was interrupted by Sandy who had come to the door. "The phone call's
+for you, Dad. Long distance from Washington."
+
+Bud groaned as Mr. Swift went off to take the call. "It's a conspiracy,"
+Bud said. "Everyone's ganging up to keep us from finding out about that
+mysterious visitor!"
+
+Tom grinned. "We lasted through an earthquake this afternoon, pal," he
+said consolingly. "I guess we can last through a phone call."
+
+Inwardly Tom was as impatient as Bud about the exact nature of the
+message.
+
+Several months ago, the space creatures had sent their first
+communication in the form of mathematical symbols carved on a black
+missile which had landed on the grounds of Swift Enterprises.
+
+Tom and his father had decoded the symbols and beamed out a reply over a
+powerful radio transmitter. Later messages had been picked up by radio
+telescope and converted to appear as symbols on the oscilloscope screen.
+
+"Sandy must know what it's all about," Bud broke in. "She's the one who
+first mentioned the visitor."
+
+"Of course I know," Sandy said mysteriously. "So does Mother and so does
+Phyl. But don't think we're going to give it away!" she added teasingly.
+
+Tom and Bud cajoled the two girls and Mrs. Swift for further
+information. But Sandy and Phyl only shook their heads, obviously
+enjoying the situation.
+
+"At last we're getting back at them for the way they've neglected us!"
+Phyl said, her brown eyes sparkling with laughter.
+
+"Come on, Mother!" Tom said. "Be a sport. You tell us!"
+
+But Mrs. Swift too shook her head. "I'm sorry, Tom," she demurred
+gently, "but I think the girls are right. I'll say this much, though,"
+she relented, "it will be the biggest challenge that Tom Swift Jr. and
+Sr. have ever faced!"
+
+"Whew!" Bud remarked as the two boys glanced at each other. "That must
+mean it's _plenty_ big news! It would have to be, skipper, to top all
+the other jobs you and your dad have taken on!"
+
+Conquering outer space, probing the ocean's secrets, drilling to the
+earth's core--these were only a few of Tom Swift's many exciting
+exploits.
+
+In his first adventure, Tom, in his Flying Lab, had gone to South
+America to fend off a gang of rebels seeking a valuable radioactive ore
+deposit. In his most recent challenge, Tom had defied the threats of
+Oriental killers determined to ferret out the secret of the Swifts'
+latest space research.
+
+As the two boys silently recalled the exciting events of the past
+months, Mr. Swift returned to the living room.
+
+Tom and Bud leaned forward in their chairs. "Well, boys," Mr. Swift
+said, "as I started to tell you, the space receiver picked up a message
+today from our unknown planetary friends. The message informed us that
+they are sending a visitor to earth--a visitor consisting of _pure
+energy!_"
+
+"_Energy?_" Tom was startled. "I don't get it, Dad!"
+
+"Frankly, I don't quite understand it myself," Tom Sr. confessed. "The
+message didn't explain how or in what form the energy would arrive. But,
+at any rate, they want us to construct some sort of container for it."
+
+The elder scientist paused thoughtfully. "In my opinion, the energy
+which they speak of must be a sort of invisible brain. The symbols were
+rather difficult to decode, but apparently our job will be to construct
+a device through which the energy will be able to receive impressions of
+what life is like here on earth, and also to communicate its own
+responses to us."
+
+Tom sat bolt upright. "Dad, this is terrific news!" he exclaimed. "If
+we're able to make this energy or 'brain' communicate, it may be able to
+tell _us_ what the space people are like!"
+
+Mr. Swift nodded, his own eyes blazing with as much excitement as Tom's
+were.
+
+Bud, too, was deeply impressed but could not resist quipping, "What sort
+of body will you give it? How about a beautiful, superintelligent space
+girl for me to date?"
+
+"Nothing doing!" Sandy retorted mischievously. "I insist on a handsome
+young man who'd have time to take two nice earth girls out on dates!"
+
+"Ouch!" Bud pretended to wince. "I really left myself wide open for that
+one!"
+
+Mrs. Swift put in, "Goodness, mightn't it get out of control and be
+rather overpowering? Suppose it went berserk!"
+
+"Rather an unpleasant possibility," Mr. Swift agreed, smiling wryly.
+"But I trust our space friends wouldn't let that happen."
+
+Both he and Tom became thoughtful as they discussed the problem.
+
+"The energy will arrive in two weeks," Mr. Swift added. "Unfortunately
+that phone call was a request that I go to Washington on urgent
+government business. So you may have to take over and work out a
+solution on your own, Tom."
+
+It was a sobering thought to the young inventor. "You were right,
+Mother. This is a terrific challenge."
+
+Soon afterward, the little gathering broke up. Bud, who had left his own
+convertible at the Swifts' that morning, offered to drop Phyl at her
+home.
+
+Tom awoke the next morning, refreshed by a good night's sleep. After a
+hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, he drove off to Enterprises in his
+low-slung silver sports car.
+
+"Think I'll listen to the news," Tom thought, and switched on his
+dashboard radio.
+
+A moment later the announcer's voice came over the loud-speaker.
+"Casualties from yesterday's disastrous earthquake now total thirty-one
+injured," the announcer reported. "Most of these are employees of the
+Faber Electronics plant and four are in critical condition. There is one
+note of cheer, however. At last report, Mark Faber, the brilliant
+president of the company, is now expected to recover." Tom gave a
+thankful sigh of relief.
+
+The announcer continued, "The nearby town of Harkness was only lightly
+damaged, but the plant itself was almost totally demolished. No estimate
+of the losses has been released, but will certainly run into millions of
+dollars, including some highly secret defense items which were being
+developed at the plant. Scientists are puzzled by the severity of the
+quake in what had been considered a 'dead' area."
+
+For the first time Tom, too, was struck by this curious aspect of the
+disaster. So far as he knew, no serious tremors had ever before been
+reported within hundreds of miles of the region.
+
+He was mulling over the matter as he drove along a lonely wooded area,
+not far from Lake Carlopa. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted as a
+man stepped out from among the trees ahead and gestured with his thumb
+for a ride.
+
+"Sorry, mister," Tom reflected, "but I've had trouble with hitchhikers
+before!" He shook his head to let the man know that he did not intend to
+stop.
+
+To the young inventor's amazement, the pedestrian deliberately stepped
+onto the road--squarely in the path of Tom's oncoming car!
+
+Tom jammed on the brakes, and the silver sports car screeched to a stop.
+Only a quick twist of the wheel had prevented an accident!
+
+Somewhat angrily, Tom exclaimed, "What's the big idea, mister? Don't you
+realize you might have been--"
+
+"Shut up!" the stranger snarled. In an instant the man had yanked open
+the door and climbed in beside Tom.
+
+"Take me inside the grounds of Swift Enterprises," he commanded in a
+foreign accent. "And no tricks or you will regret it!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+REPORT FROM INTERPOL
+
+
+Tom, astonished, stared at the stranger.
+
+"Who are you?" the young inventor demanded.
+
+"Never mind who I am. Just do as I say!"
+
+By this time Tom had recovered from his surprise and coolly sized up his
+enemy. The man was about thirty years old, with close-cropped black
+hair. Steely eyes glinted in a lean, hard-jawed face.
+
+Tom wondered, "_Should I risk a fight? Or is he armed?_"
+
+As if in answer, the stranger growled, "I gave you an order, my friend.
+Don't press your luck! Get going!"
+
+As he spoke, the man thrust one hand deep into his coat pocket, and Tom
+felt something hard poke against his ribs.
+
+The young inventor drove on, but proceeded slowly. He wanted time to
+think. Presently Swift Enterprises, enclosed by a high wall, came into
+view.
+
+Tom's brain was working fast. At last he decided on a ruse. He would
+head for the main gate, get out, and use his electronic key without
+waiting for the guard to admit him. At the same time, he would press a
+secret warning bell to alert the Swift security force.
+
+But the stranger seemed to read his thoughts. As Tom started to turn off
+toward the main gate, his passenger snapped, "Go to the private gate
+which you and your father use!"
+
+"And if I refuse?"
+
+Again the hard object poked into his ribs. "You will be what you call in
+this country a dead duck!" the stranger warned. "I will then let myself
+in with your key!"
+
+Tight-lipped, Tom drove on another half mile, then turned in at the
+private gate. The man got out with him as Tom walked up to the gate and
+beamed his electronic key at the hidden mechanism. Instantly the gate
+swung open, then closed again automatically after the car passed
+through.
+
+Tom parked in his usual spot. The stranger kept his hand in his pocket,
+still covering Tom but glancing around cautiously. The sprawling
+experimental station was a vast four-mile-square area with a cluster of
+gleaming modern laboratory buildings and workshops. In the distance, a
+tall glassed-in control tower overlooked Enterprises' long runways for
+jet planes.
+
+Suddenly the stranger stiffened. A paunchy, bowlegged figure, topped by
+a white Texas sombrero, was coming straight toward them.
+
+Tom's heart gave a leap of hope. The man was Chow Winkler, formerly a
+chuck-wagon cook and now head chef for the Swifts' expeditions.
+
+"Hi, boss!" Chow bellowed in his foghorn voice. As usual he was wearing
+a gaudy cowboy shirt. "Who's the new buckaroo?" the cook added,
+squinting at the stranger with open but friendly curiosity.
+
+"Why--actually I don't know his name yet, but he's looking for a job,"
+Tom replied. Turning to the stranger, he added, "What _is_ your name,
+mister?"
+
+The stranger glared from Tom to Chow, as if not certain what to answer.
+
+Chow's eyes narrowed. He had detected something strange in the way Tom
+addressed the fellow as "mister," and had also noticed how the man kept
+one hand hidden in his pocket. Looking to Tom for a lead, Chow suddenly
+noticed the young inventor make a quick "thumbs down" gesture.
+
+"My name is..." The man's voice fell to a mumble, obscuring the
+syllables. "Frankly I am not yet sure I desire a job here, but being an
+engineer, I thought perhaps--"
+
+  [Illustration (Tom and Chow fight the intruder)]
+
+The man's gaze switched back to Tom, and in that instant Chow jumped the
+intruder. With surprising agility for his rotund bulk, the cook bore
+down on him and let fly a gnarled fist at the stranger's jaw. Tom
+followed up like lightning, grabbing the man's wrist and yanking his
+hand out of his pocket.
+
+He was clutching a snub-nosed automatic. Tom twisted it from his grasp
+as the man landed, writhing on the hard ground. Chow quickly pinned his
+other arm and drove a knee into the man's solar plexus.
+
+"Jest lie quiet now, you varmint, or you may git yourself roughed up a
+bit," Chow warned, then added, "Who is he, Tom?"
+
+"Search me. He stopped my car on the road and forced me to drive him in
+through the private gate. Boy, was I ever glad to see you, old-timer!"
+
+Tom emptied out the clip of shells. Then he searched the stranger while
+Chow continued holding him down. The man carried no wallet, papers, or
+other means of identification.
+
+"Brand my tumbleweed salad," Chow grumbled, "he sure wasn't takin' no
+chances on people findin' out who he is! Which proves he's some sort o'
+crooked cowpoke! Honest ones ain't afeared o' showin' their own brand!"
+
+The man muttered something angrily in a foreign tongue. Chow merely
+pressed down harder with his knee. "What'll we do with him, boss?"
+
+"Let him up, Chow," Tom said. "Security should be here any second."
+
+Even as he spoke, Tom glimpsed a jeep speeding toward them in the
+distance. The young inventor knew what had happened. Since the stranger
+did not have the special electronic wrist amulet worn by all Swift
+employees, his presence had automatically shown up on the master
+radarscope. A security squad was coming to investigate.
+
+As Chow released the man, he got to his feet slowly. Then, without
+warning, he suddenly butted the cook square in the stomach. Chow was
+knocked sprawling!
+
+Before Tom could counter the surprise attack, the man's fist cracked
+against his cheekbone. Tom, though stunned, lashed out. More punches
+flew back and forth. Tom landed a stinging blow to his opponent's
+midriff, then took a punishing one himself.
+
+Suddenly Tom felt the stranger's hand clawing at his pocket for the key
+to the gate. With all his wiry strength, Tom locked his arms around the
+man and wrestled him to the ground.
+
+The stranger fought like a tiger. But a second later a jeep screeched to
+a stop. Three security guards, led by stocky Phil Radnor, leaped out.
+Within moments they had the man subdued.
+
+Tom quickly briefed the security men on what had happened.
+
+"All right, mister, start talking!" snapped Radnor, head security police
+officer.
+
+The man's only reply was a scowl of rage.
+
+"Okay, take him away till he cools off," Tom ordered.
+
+Disheveled and still panting, the man was bundled into the jeep and
+driven off to the security building.
+
+Tom arrived there by motor scooter several minutes later. Harlan Ames,
+the slim, dark-haired security chief of Enterprises, had taken charge of
+the case, and the prisoner was now being fingerprinted and photographed.
+
+"Any leads?" Tom inquired.
+
+Ames shook his head. "He won't talk and we've nothing on him in our
+files. His clothes have no tags or laundry marks, but I'd say they're of
+foreign make."
+
+Tom nodded. "He's definitely foreign. He spoke with an accent and he
+also muttered something at Chow--I didn't catch it, but it certainly
+wasn't in English."
+
+Ames frowned. "I don't like the looks of this, skipper. He may be a
+spy."
+
+"Have you notified the police?" Tom asked.
+
+"Right. Also the FBI. They're on the way right now to pick him up. Maybe
+they'll be able to worm something out of him."
+
+Tom spent the morning in routine work in the big double office which he
+shared with his father in Enterprises' main building. It was equipped
+with huge twin modern desks, deep-pile carpeting, and roomy leather
+chairs.
+
+Each of the two inventors had his own drawing board, designed to swing
+out from the wall at the press of a button. Small scale models of some
+of their most famous inventions were also placed about the office,
+including a red-and-silver replica of Tom's first rocket ship, the _Star
+Spear_; a blue plastic model of the jetmarine in which he had fought a
+band of undersea pirates; and also a gleaming silvery model of Tom's
+latest, unique space craft, the _Cosmic Sailer_.
+
+Because of his father's absence in Washington, the burden of
+administering the vast experimental station now fell on Tom's youthful
+shoulders. Telephone calls, letters, and other detailed work occupied
+him until noon.
+
+Chow broke in, bringing a lunch tray with milk, a hot chicken sandwich,
+and a chocolate eclair. Tom ate hungrily.
+
+"Kind o' peps up the ole supercharger, eh?" said Chow, lingering to
+chat.
+
+"Sure does," Tom agreed.
+
+"Wal, jest remember that, an' don't go missin' any meals--or sleep,
+either," Chow advised as he gathered up the tray. "A brainy young hombre
+like you needs plenty o' rest an' vitamins to keep from burnin' himself
+out."
+
+"I'll remember." Tom grinned affectionately as the leathery-faced old
+Texan took his leave. The Swifts had first met Chow when they were on an
+atomic research expedition in the Southwest. Chow had become so attached
+to Tom that he had returned to Shopton with the Swifts as a permanent
+employee.
+
+Soon after Chow left the office, the telephone rang. Tom took the call
+and had just finished talking with Harlan Ames when Bud came strolling
+in.
+
+"Any more news on that nut who jumped you this morning?" the young flier
+asked. "Ames told me about it."
+
+"Not yet, but there may be soon," Tom said. "Harlan just phoned and said
+he'd had a call from Washington, asking us to stand by the videophone at
+one-thirty sharp."
+
+Ames arrived in person shortly before the scheduled time. Moments later,
+a red signal flashed on the control board of the Swifts' private TV
+network. Tom flicked on the videophone and two men appeared on the
+screen.
+
+One was Blake, the Swifts' Washington, D.C., telecaster. He introduced
+the other man, a calm-faced, balding individual in a dark suit.
+
+"This is John Thurston of the Central Intelligence Agency, Tom," Blake
+said. "He thought it might be better to discuss this with you face to
+face."
+
+Tom, Bud, and Ames were also visible to the pair in Washington.
+
+"Glad to know you, sir," Tom said, and introduced his companions.
+
+"We've identified the man you captured this morning," Thurston began.
+"He's in the United States on a French passport under the name of
+Jacques Renard. But we've just learned from the International Police
+Organization that he's actually a Brungarian. His name is Samson Narko."
+
+Tom and Ames exchanged startled glances. In the past, certain Brungarian
+factions had been responsible for some of the most fiendish plots ever
+perpetrated against the Swifts.
+
+"Unfortunately, that's not all," Thurston went on. "Interpol believes
+that Narko is also a member of the same rebel outfit with whom you've
+had trouble before."
+
+Tom was dismayed by the news. "I sure thought that group had been
+smashed!" he said. Soon after Tom had balked their attempts to seize the
+satellite Nestria, the rebel ringleaders had reportedly been arrested
+and tried for treason.
+
+"It now appears," Thurston explained, "that only one segment was
+quelled. Other members of the antigovernment movement are active again
+and are said to be strongly organized."
+
+The CIA man related even more sinister news. It was suspected that a
+larger nation--by aiding the rebels--was planning a coup to take over
+Brungaria. They had already subverted various government agencies and
+were sending their own professors to staff the Brungarian technical
+schools. It was all part of their insidious fifth-column pattern.
+
+"Many top Brungarian officials have joined the plotters," Thurston
+added, "and it's now becoming very difficult for anyone to enter or
+leave the country."
+
+Ames asked for information on any rebel sympathizers known to be in the
+United States. Thurston was able to tell him very little.
+
+"We keep strict tabs, of course, on all Brungarians entering this
+country," Thurston explained. "But even though we screen them carefully,
+a rebel agent like Narko may slip in--usually on a stolen or faked
+passport."
+
+When the telecast ended, Tom, Bud, and Ames discussed the news grimly.
+
+"What if Narko has pals working with him?" Bud conjectured.
+
+"If he does," Tom said, "they may try carrying through Narko's mission."
+
+"I'll station extra guards around the outer wall on twenty-four-hour
+alert," Ames promised.
+
+Tom approved this measure wholeheartedly, but the purpose of Narko's
+secret mission remained a mystery. Why had he tried to force his way
+into Enterprises? What was he after? There was little hope of resolving
+these questions, since United States Intelligence had learned of the
+rebel movement itself only within the past few days. Thurston had asked
+Tom and his companions to treat the information as confidential.
+
+"I'd better get back to work," Tom decided after Bud and Ames had left
+his office. Tom sat down at his drawing board and began to sketch out
+some rough ideas for a vehicle to house the "brain energy" from space.
+
+Tom wondered if the brain would be able to perform actions by itself,
+given the proper mechanical output devices. Or would he have to help it
+function via an electronic computer to digest incoming information or
+stimuli and then to respond through servo controls?
+
+The problem was so baffling and complex that Tom became completely
+oblivious to the passage of time. He sketched out plan after plan, only
+to crumple and discard each one.
+
+Suddenly a disturbing thought jarred the young inventor out of his
+concentration. Perhaps the Brungarian rebel scientists had now figured
+out how to decode the radio messages from the Swifts' space friends!
+
+If so, when the brain energy was launched toward earth, they might try
+to divert it to their own receiving setup!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+ANOTHER TREMOR!
+
+
+Tom was appalled at this new danger. Shoving his drawing board back into
+its wall slot, the young inventor hurried to his desk and made a number
+of telephone calls.
+
+Within minutes, a group of five of his most trusted associates had
+assembled in Tom's office. First to arrive were Bud Barclay, Ames, and
+George Dilling, the Swifts' communications chief. They were joined
+moments later by Hank Sterling, the square-jawed chief engineer and
+trouble shooter of Enterprises, and Arvid Hanson.
+
+Hanson, a hulking six-footer, made all the delicate scale models of Tom
+Jr.'s and Tom Sr.'s inventions. He was not only an expert craftsman,
+but, like all the Swifts' key men, a trained aircraft and space pilot as
+well.
+
+"What's up, skipper?" Bud asked.
+
+"I guess you might call this a council of war," Tom replied.
+
+He divulged his fears that Brungarian scientists might hijack the brain
+energy to be sent from Planet X, home of the Swifts' unknown space
+friends.
+
+"Bud, you recall Mother's remark last night about the danger that this
+energy may prove overwhelmingly powerful," Tom went on. "Well, just
+suppose that our Brungarian pals fit it out in robot form, then turn it
+loose against us or our friends in other countries."
+
+Bud gave an awed whistle. "Boy, a thing like that might make even a
+powerful missile look like a toy!"
+
+Even if the brain energy proved too small to be harnessed for
+destructive purposes, Tom went on, it might turn out to possess
+superintelligence. Gifted with all the scientific know-how of the space
+people, it might be made to reveal those secrets to the Brungarians.
+
+"They might learn from it how to construct weapons or space craft
+powerful enough to conquer the free world!" Tom ended.
+
+His listeners were grim-faced at the thought.
+
+"I'd say that's a far worse danger than any chance of their coming up
+with a robot monster," Ames said.
+
+"Ditto!" Hanson agreed.
+
+"I think so too," Tom replied. "In any case, it's up to us to make sure
+the Brungarians don't switch that energy off course before it lands
+here."
+
+"Think their scientists are capable of such a stunt?" George Dilling
+inquired.
+
+Tom shrugged. "They're certainly far advanced in the fields of rocket
+guidance and telemetry. But actually we just don't know."
+
+Hank Sterling glanced hopefully at the young inventor. "Got any ideas,
+skipper?" he asked.
+
+Tom drummed a pencil on the table thoughtfully before replying. "Maybe
+our best bet is first to find out all we can about the lines of research
+on which they're concentrating. That might be the tip-off."
+
+After a thorough discussion, it was decided that Ames and Dilling would
+fly to Washington at once and talk to the FBI and Central Intelligence.
+Their job would be to garner and piece together every scrap of
+information on Brungarian scientists' accomplishments.
+
+"Let us know as soon as you get a general picture," Tom said.
+
+Ames and Dilling promised to do so, and the meeting broke up.
+
+Feeling somewhat reassured now that a definite plan of action had been
+decided upon, Tom resumed work on his sketches. Although both the
+problem and the solution were still hazy in his mind, a few ideas began
+to take shape.
+
+A radio antenna would certainly be needed, to receive or transmit
+signals at a distance. And repelatron units would give the brain a way
+to exert force when it wanted to act. These were devices which Tom had
+invented to produce a repulsion-force ray. He had used the principle in
+both air and space flight.
+
+A power plant might also be needed to generate additional energy in case
+the brain's own energy was very small. Lastly, there would have to be a
+control system for use either by the brain itself or by its human
+operators.
+
+After an hour of work at top speed, Tom was rather pleased with one
+rough sketch. He was mulling over the idea when Chow Winkler and Bud
+Barclay wandered into the office. Both were impressed when Tom explained
+the sketch.
+
+Chow stared at it, goggle-eyed at the thought of such a contraption
+"coming to life." "So that's the Ole Think Box, eh?" he muttered.
+
+Tom laughed. "Good name, Chow!"
+
+All three were startled as a voice suddenly broke in over the wall
+intercom. It was the operator on duty at the plant's communication
+center.
+
+"Turn on your TV, skipper," the operator suggested. "We've just had a
+news bulletin that an earthquake tremor has been felt over in Medfield.
+There's a big plant there that makes rocket nose cones. A mobile TV
+crew's been rushed to the scene in a helicopter and they're trying to
+pick up the action with a television camera."
+
+"Good night! Another quake?" Bud gasped.
+
+Tom had already rushed to the videophone. Flicking it on, he switched to
+a commercial channel. Soon a picture appeared on the screen. It was a
+panoramic shot of a landscape, evidently viewed from a hovering
+aircraft, with a large industrial plant just below.
+
+A TV commentator's voice was reporting developments. "Few visible signs
+of a tremor," he said. "As you can see, the rocket-plant personnel and
+the people of Medfield are making desperate attempts to evacuate.
+Fortunately, most of them have already left the immediate area."
+
+A few cars and trucks could still be seen speeding along the ribbonlike
+roads within view of the hovering television camera.
+
+"Oh--oh!" The commentator's voice broke in again. "Notice that tall
+stack just over the plant--see how it's starting to tremble!... It's
+beginning to crumble!... This must be it!"
+
+Suddenly the whole scene seemed to explode. Plant buildings collapsed
+like toy houses built of cards, while at the same time huge rocks and
+trees were uprooted as a yawning crack opened in the ground below.
+
+The three watchers in Tom's office stared in horrified dismay. But a
+moment later the picture on the TV screen became jerky and distorted,
+then faded out completely.
+
+After a brief interval, a studio announcer came on. "The relay
+transmitter must have been knocked out by the quake. We return you now
+to our regularly scheduled program, but will keep you informed as
+bulletins come in."
+
+"Great balls o' fire!" Chow gulped as Tom turned off the set. "I sure
+hope all o' those poor folks in cars got away safe!"
+
+Tom rushed to a wall shelf and pulled out a book on geology. He leafed
+quickly to a section dealing with known earthquake faults and the
+distribution of quakes. When he looked up at the others, his face was
+grim.
+
+"What's wrong, skipper?" Bud asked tensely.
+
+"That quake," Tom replied, "wasn't in a patterned zone any more than the
+Faber one was!"
+
+Chow's jaw dropped open in a comic look of dismay. "You mean this here
+ole earth we live on is gettin' all busted up an' twisted around
+inside?"
+
+"I wish I knew, Chow!" Tom paced worriedly about the office. "It just
+seems queer to me that both of those quakes should have destroyed vital
+defense factories!"
+
+On a sudden impulse, Tom snatched up the telephone. His two companions
+listened as he put through a call to the FBI in Washington. Within
+moments, a friend at the Bureau, Wes Norris, came on the line.
+
+"Look, Wes," Tom said, "is there any chance this quake that just
+happened at Medfield and the earlier one at Faber Electronics might have
+been caused by underground H-bomb blasts?"
+
+"As a matter of fact, we're checking on that very possibility," Norris
+replied. "In other words, sabotage. Things are pretty hot around here
+since that news on Medfield came in, so I can't talk much right now,
+Tom. But I can tell you this," Wes concluded, "we _are_ investigating,
+and I do mean thoroughly!"
+
+Bud and Chow were shocked when Tom reported his conversation with the
+FBI agent.
+
+"Brand my rattlesnake stew!" Chow exploded. "Any ornery varmint that'd
+cause an earthquake ought to be strung up like a hoss thief!"
+
+"I agree, Chow," Tom said. "But how do we find out for sure?"
+
+After closing time at the plant, Bud drove home with Tom. Both Mrs.
+Swift and Sandy were upset as the boys discussed the situation.
+
+"Tom, if this was deliberate," Mrs. Swift pointed out, "Enterprises may
+be next on the enemy's list!"
+
+Tom did his best to allay his mother's fears, but inwardly he himself
+felt apprehensive. Any large-scale sabotage plot would be almost certain
+to include Swift Enterprises, America's most daring and advanced
+research center.
+
+When his mother went upstairs to her room, Tom suggested to Bud that
+they drive to the nearby State Police post. Here he confided his fears
+to Captain Rock, an old friend of the Swifts.
+
+"You have some request in mind?" Captain Rock inquired.
+
+"How about making a search for any signs of suspicious digging or
+underground activity in the vicinity of Shopton?" Tom said. "There would
+have to be an excavation of some sort in order to set off an underground
+blast."
+
+Captain Rock mulled over Tom's suggestion. "Sounds like a big job, but
+I'm afraid you're right, Tom. We can't risk a similar disaster here."
+
+"We'd better move fast, too," Bud put in. "Those two quakes so far came
+only a day apart!"
+
+Rock picked up the telephone and barked out orders. Within half an hour,
+several carloads of troopers were covering the outlying roads that
+converged on Shopton. Firemen and Chief Slater's town police force were
+also pressed into action. They would search every cellar in town for
+signs of recent digging.
+
+Bud rode in one police car and Tom in another as a house-to-house search
+was conducted along the highway that ran past Enterprises.
+
+At one weather-beaten house, where Bud stopped with a state trooper, an
+old man came to the door.
+
+"What you fellers prowlin' around for?" he asked.
+
+"Bomb emergency," the trooper said laconically. "We have orders to
+search every house cellar for underground openings."
+
+Grumbling, the old man let them enter. He followed them down a rickety
+stairway. A moment later Bud stumbled and gave a yell. The trooper swung
+around just in time to see Bud drop from view!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+SECRET CACHE
+
+
+As the trooper's flashlight stabbed through the cellar gloom at the spot
+where Bud had disappeared, there came a loud splash! The light showed a
+round hole in the floor, rimmed by a low circle of brickwork.
+
+"What's that hole?" the trooper snapped at the owner.
+
+"What does it look like?" the elderly man snapped back. "It's an old
+well."
+
+"A _well!_" the trooper exclaimed as he rushed to the spot. "And not
+even covered? What're you trying to do--kill people?"
+
+The old man sniffed. "Used to be covered, but the lid's gone. Didn't
+expect to have a bunch of nosy fellers pokin' around down here!"
+
+The state trooper muttered angrily under his breath as he shone his
+flashlight into the well-shaft. Bud was splashing around below, soaked
+and chagrined by his accident.
+
+"Give me a hand!" he called up.
+
+The trooper reached down, but was barely able to touch Bud's finger
+tips. To make matters worse, the sides of the well were slippery with
+moss.
+
+"Get a rope," the trooper ordered the old man.
+
+"Ain't got one."
+
+The policeman reddened and stood up to his full six-foot-two. "Look,
+mister--what's your name?"
+
+The elderly man shrank back, as if suspecting that the trooper's
+patience might have been tried too far. "Ben Smith," he mumbled.
+
+"Okay, Mr. Smith, you get a rope or something else to pull this boy out.
+And fast!"
+
+Ben Smith gulped on his chewing tobacco and hurried off. A minute or so
+later he returned with a length of clothesline. The trooper lowered it
+into the well and Bud was soon climbing out, looking like a drenched
+rat.
+
+"Sorry, son," Smith said apologetically. "Guess I should have warned
+ye."
+
+Bud chuckled good-naturedly. "It's all right," he said. "It was my own
+fault for not watching where I was going. Besides, you can't blame an
+American for not liking the idea of having his home searched."
+
+The old man chuckled too and flashed a wary eye at the trooper. "I'll go
+get ye a towel to dry off with," he told Bud.
+
+Meanwhile, Tom was investigating a house down the road with another
+state trooper. The owner, a paunchy unshaven bachelor named Pete Latty,
+and his seventeen-year-old nephew accompanied them to the basement.
+
+A naked light bulb, hanging from the ceiling, revealed an ancient
+furnace, and an accumulation of junk. Most of it was covered with dust,
+but Tom noticed a large packing crate that looked as if it had been
+freshly moved. He walked over and began to shove the heavy box aside.
+
+"What're you doing?" Latty asked gruffly.
+
+"I want to look underneath," Tom replied. A second later his eyes
+widened as he saw a trap door, evidently leading to a subcellar.
+
+Tom beckoned his partner over and showed his discovery. "Where does this
+lead to?" the trooper asked, turning back to Latty.
+
+"Just a little storage place," the owner replied with a shrug. "I didn't
+think it was worth mentioning. You'd better not go down there," he added
+hastily. "The steps ain't safe."
+
+"Just the same, we'll take a look," the trooper said.
+
+"Then do it at your own risk!" Latty snapped.
+
+The officer pulled up the trap door and Tom shone a light down. The
+shallow dirt-walled room below was about six feet square. On the floor,
+at the foot of a short rickety ladder, lay a large bundle wrapped in a
+tarpaulin.
+
+Tom descended the ladder cautiously and opened the tarpaulin to see what
+was inside. The contents made him gasp--a large, well-oiled collection
+of rifles and pistols!
+
+Looking up, Tom saw both the state trooper and Latty peering down at
+him--the trooper openmouthed with surprise, Latty scowling nervously.
+
+"Don't touch 'em!" Latty warned. "Some are loaded. I keep 'em hidden for
+safety, but sometimes my nephew Fred here and I have target practice."
+
+Just then Tom's keen eyes spotted a slip of paper tucked among the guns.
+He pulled it out. His heart gave a leap of excitement as he saw two
+words written on the paper--_Samson Narko!_
+
+Hiding his amazement, Tom read the name aloud and added casually,
+"What's this? The make of one of the guns?"
+
+"Uh, yeah--that's right," the man replied.
+
+Without comment, Tom climbed out of the subcellar. As he bent down to
+drop the trap door, Tom flashed the officer a signal. Instantly the
+trooper grabbed Latty.
+
+"Hey! Why the rough stuff?" the prisoner exclaimed. Then, as he realized
+the officer was about to handcuff him, the man's face turned pasty
+white. He pulled free from the trooper's grasp and bolted toward the
+stairway. His nephew stood as if paralyzed at the sudden turn of events.
+
+  [Illustration (Tom finds Latty's store of weapons)]
+
+Latty's attempt at flight was hopeless. Tom quickly brought him down
+with a flying tackle.
+
+Later, after Latty had been manacled, Tom helped him up. "In case you
+don't know it," the young inventory said coldly, "your friend Narko is
+in jail, so you may as well talk. What's the pitch?"
+
+Latty was trembling and still pale. "I--I d-didn't know there'd be any
+trouble with the cops or I'd never have done it," he quavered. "Narko
+offered me some dough to hide the guns. I needed money, so I took him
+up. That's all there was to it."
+
+"How long have you known this Narko?" Tom asked.
+
+"I met him a few days ago in a restaurant. Believe me, I'd never laid
+eyes on him before. And I wish I never had!" Latty added bitterly.
+
+The man's story had a ring of truth. "All right, Officer, let's take him
+in," Tom said. To the still-astounded Fred, he added, "We're sorry about
+this."
+
+Two hours later Tom and Bud sat in Chief Slater's office at Shopton
+police headquarters. Captain Rock and the Shopton fire chief were also
+on hand.
+
+"We've had troopers, detectives, and fire inspectors swarming all over
+Latty's place," Captain Rock reported. "They examined his house, the
+garage, two sheds out back, and every inch of the grounds. But there's
+no indication of any place where a bomb might have been planted to cause
+an underground explosion in Shopton."
+
+The fire chief nodded confirmation. "So that clue peters out," he said.
+
+With the waning of daylight, the other groups had finally abandoned
+their search of the Shopton area without turning up any information.
+"I'll notify the FBI immediately," Chief Slater said.
+
+Nevertheless, he promised that his men would continue their efforts the
+next day.
+
+"Even if we find nothing more, that arms cache was worth all the
+trouble," Slater added. "The country owes you a vote of thanks, Tom. A
+bunch of enemy agents could have hurt a lot of people with an arsenal
+like that!"
+
+"That's for sure," Captain Rock agreed. "It was a good day's haul, Tom."
+
+The two boys drove back to the Swift home and had a quick shower. Bud
+borrowed clean clothes from Tom. Then they sat down to enjoy a warmed-up
+but tasty supper, served by Sandy and Mrs. Swift.
+
+As they ate, the boys listened to music on the radio, interspersed with
+eager questions from Sandy about the bomb search.
+
+Suddenly the radio announcer broke in. "We interrupt this broadcast to
+bring you an important news bulletin!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+BRUNGARIAN COUP
+
+
+Tom, Sandy, and Bud listened as the radio announcer continued:
+
+"Reports just in say that Brungaria has been taken over by a rebel
+group. Military aid to support the rebel coup is pouring in from
+Maurevia, Brungaria's powerful province in the north. The Brungarian
+prime minister, his cabinet, and all loyal administrative personnel have
+fled or been arrested.
+
+"Worried United States State Department officials admit that the
+surprise coup poses a new and dangerous threat to free-world security.
+Further news reports will be broadcast as soon as they reach this
+station," the announcer ended.
+
+For a moment Tom and Bud were too stunned to speak. Sandy was wide-eyed
+with the realization that the news spelled trouble for Swift Enterprises
+and all America.
+
+"Looks as though that CIA man who briefed us wasn't kidding, eh,
+skipper?" Bud muttered at last.
+
+"It came sooner than he expected!" Tom said.
+
+Jumping up from the table, Tom switched off the radio and hurried to the
+hall telephone. In a few moments he managed to get a long-distance call
+through to Wes Norris of the FBI.
+
+"Is the news on this Brungarian coup as bad as it sounds, Wes?" Tom
+inquired.
+
+"Worse! That rebel bunch really has it in for us, as you know, Tom,"
+Norris replied. "They envy America and they'll move heaven and earth to
+steal our scientific secrets. This could touch off a whole epidemic of
+sabotage and other spy activity!"
+
+Tom's jaw clenched grimly. He then asked the FBI man his opinion about
+the discovery of the secret arms cache in Pete Latty's basement.
+
+Norris admitted he was puzzled. "It doesn't add up, Tom," the FBI agent
+said thoughtfully. "If our enemies were planning to destroy Shopton by a
+quake, why would anyone be needing a gun?"
+
+"I can't figure it myself, Wes--unless they were planning to raid and
+loot Enterprises after the place was thrown into disorder," Tom deduced.
+"What about Narko himself? Has he talked yet?"
+
+Norris replied that although he had not interviewed Narko himself, FBI
+agents who had grilled the spy had failed to elicit any information.
+
+"Here's something else, though, which might interest you," Norris went
+on. "We now have reports that at the time of the Harkness and Medfield
+disasters, seismographs recorded simultaneous quakes off the coast of
+Alaska near the Aleutian chain. Tremors were also felt off the southwest
+coast of South America."
+
+A new factor to consider! Tom frowned in puzzlement as he hung up the
+telephone after completing his talk with the FBI man.
+
+After Tom had repeated the conversation to his companions, Bud said,
+"You mean the H-bomb idea goes out the window?"
+
+Tom shrugged. "Wes says they've found no evidence to support the theory
+of man-produced underground blasts. It just doesn't jibe with those
+other remote tremors. They'd be too much of a coincidence, happening at
+the same time!"
+
+"Then the quakes at Harkness and Medfield were real earthquakes!" Sandy
+put in.
+
+"Looks that way," Tom admitted. "Those other tremors Wes mentioned
+follow a natural circum-Pacific belt which is well known to
+seismologists. I'm no expert, but perhaps they could have set off chain
+reactions below the earth's crust which triggered the two quakes in this
+part of the country."
+
+In that case, the young inventor reflected, it was only a freak of
+nature that the Faber and nose-cone factories had been wrecked by the
+shock. But in spite of the seismographic clues, Tom was not entirely
+convinced. A nagging doubt still buzzed in the back of his mind.
+
+The next morning Tom hurried off to his private glass-walled laboratory
+at Enterprises, eager to continue work on his container, or robot body,
+for the brain from space.
+
+Tom frowned as he studied the rough sketch he had drawn in his office
+the afternoon before. "This setup's full of bugs!" he muttered.
+
+Nevertheless, Tom decided, the basic idea was sound. Grabbing pencil and
+slide rule, he began to dash off page after page of diagrams and
+equations.
+
+"Chow down!" boomed a foghorn voice. Chow Winkler, wearing a white
+chef's hat, wheeled a lunch cart into the lab.
+
+"Oh... thanks." Tom scarcely looked up from his work as the cook set
+out an appetizing meal of Texas hash, milk, and deep-dish apple pie on
+the bench beside the young inventor's papers. Grumbling under his
+breath, Chow sauntered out.
+
+Tom went on working intently between mouthfuls. In another hour he
+finished a set of pilot drawings. Then he called Hank Sterling and Arvid
+Hanson and asked them to come to the laboratory.
+
+They listened with keen interest as Tom explained his latest creation.
+
+"No telling if it will work when the energy arrives from space," Tom
+said, "but I think everything tracks okay. Hank, get these plans
+blueprinted and assign an electronics group to the project. You'd better
+handle the hardware yourself."
+
+"Right." Hank rolled up the sketches.
+
+"And, Arv," Tom went on, "I'd like a scale model made to guide them on
+assembly. How soon can you have it?"
+
+Hanson promised the model for some time the next day, and the two men
+hurried off.
+
+As usual, Arv proved slightly better than his word. The expert
+modelmaker was devoted to his craft and as apt to forget the clock as
+Tom himself, when absorbed in a new project. By working on in his shop
+long after closing hours, Hanson had a desk-size model of the
+space-brain robot ready for Tom's inspection when the young inventor
+arrived at the plant early the following morning.
+
+"Wonderful, Arv!" Tom approved. "Every time I see one of your models of
+a new invention, I'm _sure_ it'll work!" Hanson grinned, pleased at the
+compliment.
+
+Tom hopped into a jeep and sped across the plant grounds to deliver the
+model to Hank Sterling and his project crew. Work was already well along
+on the electronic subassemblies and the strange-looking "body" was
+taking shape.
+
+That afternoon Ames and Dilling returned from Washington. The report
+they gave to Tom bore out his hunch that the rebel Brungarian scientists
+might well be able to divert the space energy.
+
+The next day was Friday. Tom was hoping, although none too
+optimistically, that the container might be completed before the week
+end. To his delight, an Enterprises pickup truck pulled up outside the
+laboratory later that afternoon and Hank rolled the queer-looking device
+inside.
+
+"Hi, buster!" Tom greeted it. "Is this your daddy?"
+
+Hank chuckled. "Don't look at me. It claims _you're_ its daddy. But
+hanged if I can see much resemblance!"
+
+"Think it'll live?"
+
+"If not," Hank replied, only half jokingly, "the boys who worked on it
+will sure be disappointed. No kidding, skipper, that's quite a gadget
+you dreamed up!"
+
+The device stood about shoulder-high, with a star-shaped head, one point
+of which could be opened. The head would contain the actual brain
+energy. Its upper body, cylindrical in shape and of gleaming chrome,
+housed the output units through which the brain would react, and also
+the controls. Antennas projecting out on either side gave the look of
+arms.
+
+Its "waist" was girdled with a ring of repelatron radiators for exerting
+a repulsion force when it wanted to move, by repelling itself away from
+nearby objects.
+
+Below the repelatrons was an hourglass-shaped power unit, housing a
+solar-charged battery.
+
+The power unit, in turn, was mounted on a pancake-shaped transportation
+unit. This unit was equipped with both casters and a sort of
+caterpillar-crawler arrangement for the contrivance to get about over
+obstacles. Inside was a gyro-stabilizer to keep the whole device
+upright.
+
+Tom felt a glow of pride--and eager impatience--as he inspected the
+device. If it worked as he hoped, this odd creature might one day
+provide earth scientists with a priceless store of information about
+intelligent life on Planet X!
+
+Bud and Chow, entering the laboratory soon after Hank Sterling had left,
+found Tom still engrossed in his thoughts.
+
+"Wow! Is this your spaceman?" Bud inquired.
+
+Tom nodded, then grinned at his callers' gaping expressions. Each was
+trying to imagine how the "thing" would look in action.
+
+"Sure is a queer-lookin' buckaroo!" Chow commented, when Tom finished
+explaining how it was supposed to work.
+
+On a sudden impulse, the old cowpoke took off his ten-gallon hat and
+plumped it on the creature. Then he removed his polka-dotted red
+bandanna and knotted it like a neckerchief just below the star head.
+
+Tom laughed heartily as Bud howled, "Ride 'em, spaceman!"
+
+Tom was eager to notify his mysterious space friends that the container
+was now ready to receive the brain energy. Bud went with him by jeep to
+the space-communications laboratory. Chow, however, stayed behind and
+stared in fascination at the odd-looking robot creature.
+
+The stout cook walked back and forth, eying the thing suspiciously from
+every angle. "Wonder what the critter eats?" he muttered.
+
+Feeling in his shirt pocket, Chow brought out a wad of his favorite
+bubble gum. Should he or shouldn't he? "Shucks, won't hurt to try," the
+old Texan decided.
+
+Chow unlocked the hinged point of the star head and popped the gum
+inside. He was somewhat disappointed when nothing happened. Feeling a
+trifle foolish, Chow finally removed his hat and bandanna from the
+creature and stumped off.
+
+Meanwhile, in the space-communications laboratory, Tom was pounding out
+a message on the keyboard of the electronic brain. Tom had invented this
+device for automatically coding and decoding messages between the Swifts
+and their space friends. It was connected to a powerful
+transmitting-and-receiving apparatus, served by a huge radio-telescope
+antenna mounted atop the communications building.
+
+Bud looked on as Tom signaled:
+
+    TOM SWIFT TO SPACE FRIENDS. CONTAINER FOR ENERGY IS NOW READY.
+    SHOULD IT BE PLACED OUTDOORS?
+
+Stirred by a worrisome afterthought, Tom added:
+
+    MESSAGES MAY BE INTERCEPTED BY ENEMY WHO WISHES TO STEAL ENERGY.
+    SUGGEST YOU USE FLIGHT PATH TO LAND EXACTLY TWO MILES WEST OF
+    FIRST CONTACT WITH US.
+
+"By 'first contact,' you mean when that black missile landed at
+Enterprises?" Bud asked.
+
+Tom nodded. At that time, he reminded Bud, the Brungarians and their
+conquerors had not yet learned of the Swifts' communication from another
+planet. Hence they would have no idea of the site referred to--which
+would hamper any plans to kidnap the brain energy.
+
+"I get it," Bud said. "Smart idea, pal!"
+
+Tensely the two boys waited for a reply from outer space.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+WALL OF WATER!
+
+
+Minutes went by before the signal bell rang on the electronic brain.
+Both Tom and Bud dashed over to the machine as it began to spell out the
+incoming message on tape:
+
+    ENERGY WILL COME TO THE SPOT YOU SUGGESTED. WE CAN CONTROL
+    FLIGHT COURSE BUT WHILE THE ENERGY IS ON EARTH YOU WILL BE IN
+    CHARGE. WE WILL HAVE NO CONTROL FOR TWENTY-ONE DAYS. THEN WE
+    WILL RECALL ENERGY TO BRING US IMPRESSIONS AND DATA OF YOUR
+    WORLD.
+
+The two boys stared at each other excitedly as the transmission ended.
+
+"Wow!" Bud murmured. "If Planet X is a peaceful place, Ole Think Box is
+sure in for a jolt here on earth!"
+
+Tom grinned fleetingly at the reference to Chow's nickname for the robot
+creature. Then he became serious, knowing that Bud's words were all too
+true. The space visitor might also take back impressions of the
+suffering and warlike threats that some earth countries inflict on one
+another. Maybe one day, Tom reflected, it would be different.
+
+In the meantime, the young inventor realized he had an awesome
+responsibility. He must not only make the best use of the brain energy
+during its stay on earth, but also keep it from falling into the hands
+of treacherous Brungarian plotters.
+
+Tom's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of girls' voices.
+Sandy and Phyl were standing in the doorway of the space-communications
+laboratory.
+
+"Talk about deep thinkers!" Sandy said teasingly.
+
+"Goodness, we had no idea we'd be interrupting a session of the brain
+trust," Phyl added with a mischievous sparkle in her brown eyes. "Maybe
+we should go away again, Sandy!"
+
+"Hey! Hold it, you two!" Bud exclaimed. "What do you think, Tom--are
+these the visitors we've been expecting from outer space?"
+
+"Well! I like that!" Sandy pouted. "Do we look like a couple of little
+green people?"
+
+Tom chuckled and seized the opportunity to do a little teasing of his
+own. "I think it's just your pointed heads that fooled us, Sis." Then,
+as the two girls broke down in laughter, he added, "Why the unexpected
+visit?"
+
+Sandy and Phyl explained that they had come to invite the boys to a
+picnic cruise on Lake Carlopa the next day.
+
+"And while we're here, since it's practically quitting time anyhow,"
+Sandy went on, her blue eyes twinkling, "we might even let you drive us
+some place for dinner."
+
+"Guess they've trapped us, Bud," Tom said with a grin. "Okay, it's a
+deal. But first we have something to show you." He took the girls to his
+laboratory to show them the robot creature.
+
+"It's marvelous!" Sandy exclaimed, and Phyl agreed.
+
+Early the next morning Bud called for Tom and Sandy in his tomato-red
+convertible. Then they stopped at the Newtons' house to pick up Phyl.
+Each girl had packed a picnic basket for the day's sail.
+
+"Hmm. Looks as though we're going to be well fed," Bud commented
+jokingly. "What's on the menu, girls?"
+
+"Chicken and ham sandwiches..." Sandy began.
+
+"Pickles, olives, hard-boiled eggs, potato salad..." Phyl went on.
+
+"Chocolate cake, milk..." Sandy took up the list.
+
+"Stop! You have us hungry as bears already!" Tom warned.
+
+"Right!" Bud agreed. "Come on! Let's get this cruise under way!"
+
+The two couples drove to the Shopton Yacht Club dock on Lake Carlopa.
+There they boarded the _Sunspot_, a beautiful thirty-foot sailing ketch
+with auxiliary engine which Mr. Swift and Mr. Newton had purchased for a
+frequently promised but not yet realized joint family vacation.
+
+The craft was equipped with twin gravitex stabilizers, mounted one on
+each side of the hull. These gave it amazing smoothness even when
+plowing through rough seas. They were adaptations of a device Tom had
+invented for his space kite and _Cosmic Sailer_.
+
+"Oh, what a gorgeous day for a sail!" Phyl said, aglow with enthusiasm.
+
+The sky was a cloudless blue. Under a hot summer sun, a brisk breeze was
+ruffling the lake into tiny whitecaps. The two couples cast off eagerly
+and were soon scudding out across the water under full sail.
+
+Tom and Bud wore swimming trunks under their slacks. Unfortunately the
+girls had forgotten to bring their suits. When the _Sunspot_ reached the
+center of the lake, the boys hove to, stripped down to their trunks, and
+dived overboard. Meanwhile, the girls sun-bathed on deck. Soon it was
+time for the picnic lunch, and all four ate with healthy young
+appetites.
+
+"Jeepers!" Sandy whispered to Phyl with a giggle. "After a feast like
+this, we'll have to go on a diet!"
+
+"Don't say it," Phyl warned, "or Tom and Bud will use that as an excuse
+for never taking us out ag--"
+
+She broke off with a gasp.
+
+"What's wrong?" Tom asked.
+
+Breathless with fright, Phyl pointed off to starboard. The others paled.
+An enormous wave was sweeping across the lake, straight toward the
+ketch!
+
+"Jumpin' jets!" Bud gulped. "It's like a tidal wave!"
+
+The boat was already rocking under the swells that preceded the oncoming
+huge breaker.
+
+"Quick!" Tom yelled. "Grab life jackets while I start the engine!"
+
+The four leaped into action. Every instant the terrifying wave rushed
+closer! By now it was a twelve-foot wall of water!
+
+Tom and the others had just put on the jackets and the engine had barely
+gunned into life when disaster struck. The mammoth wave swept up the
+_Sunspot_ and heeled it far over into the trough like a toy bark. The
+next instant a cataract of water poured over the deck with stunning
+force!
+
+"We're going under!" Phyl screamed.
+
+All four were swept overboard in the maelstrom! Under the smashing
+impact of the water, the ketch's mainmast bent and groaned. A moment
+later came a crack like a gunshot. The mast broke off, hung teetering by
+shreds, then toppled into the water. As it fell, the mast struck Sandy a
+grazing blow on the head!
+
+"Sandy!" Bud cried fearfully as he struggled in the swirling torrent.
+
+Calling on every ounce of strength, he swam with powerful strokes toward
+the girl. Sandy was dazed and limp. Bud's husky arm circled her tightly.
+Then he began to fight his way toward shore. Tom and Phyl--each
+struggling in the turbulent water--could only breathe a prayer of thanks
+as they watched the rescue.
+
+  [Illustration (a huge wave capsizes the Sunspot)]
+
+As the huge wave raced shoreward, the lake water gradually became calmer
+in its wake. Tom was able to assist Phyl, and Sandy by now had recovered
+her faculties.
+
+The _Sunspot_ had capsized but could still be seen afloat, some distance
+away. Rather than swim to it and cling to the hulk in the hope that a
+rescue boat would arrive, the four decided to continue on toward shore.
+They knew that the aftermath of the tidal wave would keep all shore
+facilities in an uproar for hours to come.
+
+As they neared the beach, the young people could see other overturned
+craft and heads bobbing in the water. A few daring persons finally began
+putting out in motorboats and rowboats to pick up the survivors.
+
+A hundred yards from shore, one of the boats took Tom's group aboard.
+Minutes later, they were scrambling out onto a dock.
+
+"Are you all right, Sandy?" Bud asked, his arm still around her.
+
+"I--I think so," she gasped weakly, "but I must have swallowed half the
+lake!"
+
+"Take it easy, Sis!" Tom added, as Sandy swayed and shuddered from the
+shock of her recent ordeal.
+
+Gently he made Sandy lie down and pillowed her head on a folded
+tarpaulin provided by the sympathetic boatman. Phyl, though wan and
+white-faced, was in somewhat better shape.
+
+"Tom, we must get these girls home as soon as possible," Bud declared.
+
+This, however, was not easily accomplished. The tidal wave had caused
+devastation along the entire shore front. Many docks had been wrecked,
+boats splintered like matchsticks, and buildings along the water
+smashed.
+
+When Tom's group reached Bud's convertible, parked near the yacht club
+pier, they found the car completely waterlogged. Its electrical system
+gave not even a faint sputter or spark.
+
+"Oh, fine!" Bud groaned. "The crowning touch!"
+
+Eventually ambulances and private cars began to arrive to transport the
+injured. Tom, Bud, and the two girls were given a lift to the Swift home
+where Sandy and Phyl were immediately put to bed by a worried Mrs.
+Swift.
+
+Downstairs, Tom switched on the TV set. A mobile camera crew from the
+local station was scanning the water front and interviewing witnesses of
+the disaster. To the two boys, the most interesting note came in a
+statement by the announcer that a very slight earth tremor had been felt
+in Shopton.
+
+"But no damage occurred except along the water front," the announcer
+explained.
+
+Tom gave a snort of anger, jumped up from his chair, and began pacing
+about the living room. "Bud, I feel sure that wall of water was caused
+by a minor earthquake!" the young inventor declared. "What's more, I'll
+bet it was _man-made!_"
+
+Bud stared at his friend, appalled but feeling a hot surge of anger
+himself. "If you're right, pal, it's the most fiendish sabotage I've
+ever heard of! Think of all the lives that were endangered!"
+
+Tom nodded grimly. "I _am_ thinking!"
+
+Both boys jerked around to look at the TV set again as a studio
+announcer's voice suddenly broke into the telecast:
+
+"Flash! A severe quake has occurred at the headquarters of the American
+Archives Foundation, a hundred miles from Shopton. The Foundation's
+buildings, containing many priceless government and scientific
+documents, were badly damaged, and an underground microfilm vault was
+utterly destroyed. Apparently this quake was part of the tremor felt
+here at Shopton."
+
+Within minutes the Swifts' home phone began jangling constantly. Some
+calls were from friends, others from strangers. Many of the calls were
+routed through from the Enterprises switchboard.
+
+One was from Dan Perkins of the _Shopton Bulletin_. "What about it,
+Tom?" the editor demanded. "I guess you know by now the public's aroused
+and in a state of near panic over all these quakes. What they all want
+to know is this: are you, Tom Swift, going to find a way to stop all
+this destruction?"
+
+Tom's jaw jutted out angrily. "Yes, I am!" he snapped. "And you can
+quote me on that!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A SUSPECT TALKS
+
+
+The next morning Tom was up at the crack of dawn, grimly determined to
+find an answer to the earthquake menace. He ate a hasty breakfast, then
+drove to his private laboratory at Enterprises. He instructed the
+switchboard operator to shut off all incoming calls, then plunged into a
+study of the mystifying problem.
+
+Earthquake activity, Tom knew, tends to occur in circular patterns, like
+bands around the earth--for instance, the circum-Pacific belt, and
+another belt extending eastward from the Mediterranean through Asia and
+on into the East Indies. Often these quake lines are visible as breaks
+or ruptures along the ground surface, called _fault traces_. No doubt,
+Tom thought, there were many more uncharted ones.
+
+Could an enemy scientist be making use of these earth faults to produce
+a man-made quake? Tom mulled over the disturbing idea.
+
+"How would I tackle the job myself, if I had to undertake such a project
+for national defense?" the young inventor mused. He felt a growing sense
+of excitement as an idea began to take shape in his mind.
+
+_What about an artificial shock wave!_
+
+An hour later Bud Barclay walked into the laboratory and found Tom
+hunched over a jumbled pile of reference books on his workbench.
+
+"What cooks, skipper?" Bud asked.
+
+Tom looked up, his blue eyes blazing. "Bud, I think I may have the
+answer!"
+
+Tom got up from his stool and paced about the laboratory. "Suppose the
+Brungarian rebel scientists have invented some sort of shock-wave
+producer--a device for sending vibrations through the earth's crust or
+the mantle underneath."
+
+"Okay, suppose they have," Bud replied.
+
+Tom snatched up a piece of chalk and made some quick diagrams on a
+blackboard. "Just this, pal. Let's say they set up two or three stations
+around the world for sending out such waves in a definite direction.
+Wherever the wave crosses an earth fault or another wave--_boom!_ An
+earthquake!"
+
+Bud stared. "No kidding, is that how those rats triggered off all these
+quakes?"
+
+"It must be," Tom declared. "It's the only possible explanation."
+
+"Good night!" Bud gasped weakly. "What a weapon! Just push a button
+every so often and you could blow up another country bit by bit--and no
+one could ever prove who was behind the attack!"
+
+Tom nodded. "Enough to make every American shiver, if he only knew!"
+
+"What can we do about it?" Bud asked.
+
+Tom resumed his worried pacing. "I'll have to invent a shock-wave
+deflector, Bud. It must be done in a hurry, too. Our enemy may start to
+destroy American cities as well as vital defense plants!"
+
+Immediately Tom put through an urgent call to an eminent scientist in
+Washington who was a member of the National Research Council. Quickly he
+outlined a plan.
+
+"Tom, I'll talk to the president's special science adviser at once," the
+man promised. "I'll try to set up a meeting for ten o'clock tomorrow
+morning at Enterprises."
+
+Feeling relieved, Tom left the plant with Bud. The two boys drove off to
+attend church with Mrs. Swift and Sandy. Then, after the Sunday midday
+meal, Tom returned to his laboratory to work on ideas for a shock-wave
+deflector.
+
+Bud and Sandy, meanwhile, drove to the Shopton Yacht Club to inspect the
+damage to the _Sunspot_. Tom had arranged with a salvage crew to tow the
+disabled ketch back to its slip.
+
+Monday morning, a sleek Air Force jet transport touched down at Swift
+Enterprises. Aboard were a select group of top government scientists.
+Tom and Bud greeted them as they disembarked on the runway, then drove
+them to a conference room in the Enterprises main building.
+
+"I'd say your theory is right, Tom, about the quakes being produced by
+artificial shock waves," said Bernt Ahlgren, a tall, hawk-faced man with
+a shock of red hair. He was a member of the Defense Department's
+Advanced Research Projects Agency. "But how do we stop them?"
+
+"I believe they can be damped out by opposing waves," Tom replied. "This
+is assuming that I can design the right sort of equipment to do the
+job--and also that we can set up a warning system to alert us of the
+enemy shock waves in time." The young inventor sketched out the sort of
+shock-wave deflector which he had in mind. The government experts were
+very much impressed. In the session that followed, the visiting
+scientists contributed many tips and suggestions. Tom noted them down
+gratefully.
+
+After a thorough discussion, it was agreed that the Defense Department
+would set up detectors at fifty check points around the country. Tom
+would choose the exact spots. Detection data from the check points would
+be fed to an electronic computer. The computer would establish the
+pattern, if any, of incoming enemy shock waves.
+
+Dr. Gregg Miles, a seismologist from the Bureau of Mines, agreed to take
+on the job of setting up the check points.
+
+"Thanks for your prompt co-operation," Tom said, smiling gratefully as
+the meeting broke up.
+
+"We should thank you, Tom, for coming up with a plan to cope with this
+fiendish threat," Ahlgren replied. The others heartily agreed.
+
+Shortly after lunch, Tom was hard at work in his laboratory when the
+telephone rang. It was Chief Slater at Shopton police headquarters.
+
+"You'd better get over here fast, Tom," Slater said. "Samson Narko is
+ready to talk!"
+
+Tom needed no urging. "Right, Chief!"
+
+As he drove into Shopton, Tom wondered what the Brungarian agent would
+reveal. Was it possible that he might tip off the whole secret behind
+the destructive man-made earthquakes?
+
+Chief Slater was waiting in his office. "Narko showed signs of cracking
+this morning," Slater told Tom, "so I notified the Central Intelligence
+Agency. They're flying a man up here--in fact he should be here by now.
+Narko won't talk till he arrives."
+
+"How come?" Tom asked.
+
+"Narko wants a bargain," Slater explained. "If the government will
+promise to deport him at once without trial, he'll spill what he knows."
+
+Tom whistled. "I sure wouldn't want to be in _his_ shoes when he gets
+back to Brungaria! His bosses aren't stupid. They'll know he must have
+made a deal to get off scot free!"
+
+Just then a taxi from the airport pulled up outside police headquarters,
+and the CIA official was ushered into Slater's office. He proved to be
+John Thurston.
+
+"Narko's waiting in his cell," Slater said, after an exchange of
+handshakes. "Let's hope he hasn't changed his mind."
+
+The Brungarian spy rose from his cot as the turnkey unlocked his cell
+door.
+
+"You are from Washington, eh?" Narko said to Thurston. "Very well.
+I presume the police have told you my offer. Is it a bargain?"
+
+Thurston was poker-faced. "You know the penalty for spying!" he snapped.
+"In your own country it would mean death. Why should we let you off?"
+
+Narko's calmness evaporated. Beads of sweat burst out on his forehead.
+
+"I have done no harm and I know little or nothing of my superiors'
+plans!" the spy said excitedly. "Why should I lie to you with my life at
+stake? After all, I am only an insignificant agent. But one important
+thing I do know--and this I will reveal if you promise to deport me at
+once!"
+
+Thurston eyed him coldly. "Very well," the CIA man decided. "You have my
+word."
+
+Narko sat down on his cot, breathing heavily. Then he looked up at the
+three Americans. "Your nation's capital, Washington, D.C., is going to
+be blown up!" the Brungarian asserted.
+
+His words struck like a bombshell. Chief Slater and John Thurston stared
+at Narko in open-mouthed astonishment.
+
+Then Slater scowled. "What a preposterous story! I suppose they're going
+to fly a plane over and drop an atom bomb--just like that!" He snapped
+his fingers.
+
+Thurston was also inclined to doubt Narko's story. Any such bold move by
+the Brungarians, he declared, would amount to an act of war.
+
+"It is the truth!" Narko shouted. "Do not forget--you have made a
+promise."
+
+Tom Swift did not share Chief Slater's and Thurston's skepticism.
+Narko's words had chilled him with dismay. He called the other two aside
+and gave them a quick whispered briefing on the theory he had discussed
+with the government scientists, asking them to keep it confidential.
+
+If the Brungarians indeed had a means of producing artificial shock
+waves, Tom pointed out, they could easily destroy Washington without the
+slightest risk to themselves.
+
+Both Thurston and Chief Slater were alarmed. Turning back to Narko, they
+grilled him for clues. But it seemed obvious that the Brungarian was
+telling all he knew--or, at any rate, all he intended to reveal.
+
+"We're wasting our time," Thurston said finally, with a look of disgust.
+"But I made a promise in the name of the United States government and
+the promise will be kept."
+
+Turning to Chief Slater, the CIA man added, "Turn him over to the FBI
+and have them take him to New York. I'll arrange for a seat on the first
+plane for Brungaria."
+
+Tom drove back thoughtfully to Enterprises. Bud was waiting in his
+laboratory with news.
+
+"Your dad went from Washington to Fearing Island and has gone up to your
+space outpost," Bud reported. "He has to do some experiments for the
+government project he's working on."
+
+The outpost was a space station which Tom Swift Jr. had built 22,300
+miles above the earth. It was a production factory for his famous solar
+batteries, and also an immensely valuable setup for space research and
+exploration.
+
+"Think I'll radio Dad and let him know what's going on," Tom decided.
+"He may have some good suggestions. He usually does!"
+
+Tom warmed up his private transmitter-receiver and beamed out a code
+call through the automatic scrambler. Seconds later, the loud-speaker
+crackled in response.
+
+But just as the outpost operator's voice came through, the radio set
+exploded in Tom's face!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+THE CAVE MONSTER
+
+
+"Skipper!" Bud cried anxiously as Tom staggered back, his hands to his
+face.
+
+"I'm all right--no harm done," Tom assured his friend.
+
+Both boys were a bit shaken by the accident, nevertheless. Chow came
+rushing in as Bud was brushing the fragments of debris from Tom's
+clothes and examining the young inventor's face.
+
+"Brand my flyin' flapjacks, what happened?" Chow asked. The chef had
+been bringing a tray of fruit juice to the laboratory and had heard the
+explosion outside.
+
+"The radio set just blew up in my face," Tom explained. "Fortunately,
+the equipment was transistorized mostly with printed circuits.
+Otherwise," he added, "I might have been badly cut by slivers of glass
+from the exploding vacuum tubes."
+
+As it was, the young inventor had suffered only a few slight scratches
+and a bruise on the temple from a piece of the shattered housing. Bud
+swabbed Tom's injuries with antiseptic from the first-aid cabinet while
+Chow poured out glasses of grape juice.
+
+"What caused it, Tom?" Bud asked as they paused to sip the fruit drink.
+
+"Good question," Tom replied. "Frankly, I don't know." But he was
+wondering if the set might have been sabotaged.
+
+Tom was still eager to get in touch with his father and telephoned the
+electronics department to bring another set to his laboratory. Chow left
+just as the new set arrived.
+
+Tom hooked it up quickly, donned a set of goggles, and tuned to the
+space-station frequency. Then he picked up the microphone and stepped
+well back from the set, waving Bud out of range at the same time.
+
+"Tom Swift calling Outpost!... Come in, please!"
+
+A moment later came another explosion! _The new set had also blown up!_
+
+"Good night!" Bud gasped in a stunned voice. "Don't tell me that's just
+a coincidence!"
+
+Tom shrugged. "We can certainly rule out the possibility that anything
+was wrong with the radio itself. Every set is checked before it leaves
+the electronics department."
+
+"So where does that leave us?" Bud persisted.
+
+Tom shook his head worriedly as he took off the goggles. "Both times it
+seemed to happen just as the reply was coming through from the space
+station. There is no possibility that their signal was too strong--in
+other words, that the explosion was caused by overloading the receiving
+circuits."
+
+"Are you implying that an enemy intercepted the message and sent some
+sort of ray that caused the set to explode?" Bud demanded.
+
+Tom's face showed clearly that Bud had pinpointed the suspicion in the
+young inventor's mind. "Could be."
+
+Bud was worried by this latest development. "Skipper, suppose I hop up
+to the space wheel and talk it over with your dad. He may be able to
+help us detect any enemy moves."
+
+"Good idea, pal," Tom agreed. "The sooner the better, I'd say."
+
+The boys exchanged a quick handshake and affectionate shoulder slaps.
+Then Bud hurried out to one of the Enterprises hangars to ready a
+helijet for the flight to Fearing Island. This was the Swifts' rocket
+base, just off the Atlantic coast. From there, Bud would board one of
+the regular cargo shuttle rockets operating between the space station
+and Fearing.
+
+Tom, meanwhile, plunged back to work on his shock-wave deflector.
+
+At ten the next morning he called in Hank Sterling and showed him a set
+of completed drawings.
+
+"Hank, you did a fast job on the container for the brain," Tom began
+apologetically, "but you'll really have to burn out a bearing on this
+one!"
+
+Hank grinned. "I'm geared to action. Say, what do we call it, anyhow?"
+he asked.
+
+Tom grinned. "Chow told me last night this gadget looked like a fireplug
+under a rose trellis and I ought to call it Fireplug Rose! But I've
+given it a more dignified name--the Quakelizor, which stands for an
+underground quake wave deflector."
+
+Briefly, Tom explained the various parts of his latest invention, which
+consisted of a hydrant-sized cylinder to be inserted into the ground,
+with magnetic coils near the top. A smaller hydraulic cylinder, mounted
+above this, was wired to a metal framework and radio transmitter.
+
+"This setup will detect any incoming enemy shock waves," Tom said.
+"We'll need fifty of 'em, so turn the job over to Swift Construction.
+And have Uncle Ned put on extra shifts."
+
+The Swift Construction Company, managed by Ned Newton, was the
+commercial division which mass-produced Tom Jr.'s and Tom Sr.'s
+inventions.
+
+Information from the detector-transmitters, Tom went on, would be fed
+into an electronic computer at the Bureau of Mines in Washington.
+
+The Quakelizor itself was housed in a massive cube-shaped casting with
+two large spheres mounted on top. From each of its four sides jutted a
+hydraulic piston.
+
+"How does it work, Tom?" Hank asked.
+
+"Dual-control spheres on top," Tom explained, "will receive by radio
+signal the pulse frequency computed in Washington."
+
+He added that inside each sphere was a "pulsemaker." This would produce
+changes in the pressure of the hydraulic fluid by affecting the kinetic
+energy of the fluid's atoms.
+
+The pressure changes would then be enormously magnified in the four
+hydraulic output drivers. When the unit was embedded in rock,
+underground, the huge pistons would send out counter shock waves through
+the earth's crust to neutralize the enemy waves.
+
+"Wow!" Hank Sterling was breathless at the sheer scope of the young
+scientist's newest invention. "I'll get hot on the job right away."
+
+After forty-eight hours of round-the-clock work, the equipment was
+ready. Tom conferred by telephone with both Dr. Miles in the Bureau of
+Mines and Bernt Ahlgren in the Pentagon. He had already chosen the spots
+for the detector-transmitter check points.
+
+Tom told the men that he believed the best spot for the Quakelizor
+itself was on a certain government reservation in Colorado. A deep
+underground cave there would provide a perfect site.
+
+"We'll be close enough to the San Andreas fault to prevent a really
+huge-scale disaster," Tom explained. "And the Rocky Mountain structure
+will give us a good bedrock medium for shooting out waves anywhere
+across the continent."
+
+Dr. Miles and Ahlgren agreed enthusiastically. Tom and the two
+scientists spoke over a three-way telephone hookup--with automatic
+scramblers to counter the danger of enemy monitors--laying plans to
+install the equipment. Ahlgren agreed to fly a technical crew out to the
+spot in Colorado which Tom had named.
+
+The next day, Tom, Hank, and several top Enterprises' engineers,
+including Art Wiltessa, took off in the _Sky Queen_. This was Tom's huge
+atomic-powered Flying Lab. The massive plane flew at supersonic speeds
+and was equipped with jet lifters for vertical take-off or hovering.
+
+A Whirling Duck heliplane, loaded with communications equipment,
+accompanied the _Sky Queen_. In little more than an hour, the two craft
+touched down in a rugged Colorado canyon. The government technical crew
+was already on hand.
+
+"Glad to know you," Tom said, shaking hands with the engineer in charge.
+He introduced his own men and added, "Better roll up your sleeves. This
+job is going to take plenty of oomph!"
+
+The parts of the Quakelizor were unloaded from the _Sky Queen_ onto
+dollies. Then the group, armed with bull's-eye lanterns, flashlights,
+and walkie-talkies, hauled the parts by tractor into the cave.
+
+"Okay. Now let's pick out the spot for embedding the unit," Tom said.
+
+The men had no sooner begun to look around the huge underground chamber
+when a fearsome growl rumbled through the cave. Everyone whirled about
+and the next instant froze in horror.
+
+A huge bear reared up in the mouth of the cave! The monster snarled and
+blinked its yellow eyes in the glare of lights.
+
+"We're trapped!" Hank cried out.
+
+The enormous bruin was now waving his huge head from side to side, as if
+daring the intruders to step up and fight.
+
+Several of the government men had brought rifles and shotguns. But in
+spite of their peril, no one wanted to shoot the handsome old fellow.
+
+"I'll send out an SOS," Tom said. "If help arrives before the bear
+attacks, we won't use guns."
+
+He radioed the local Forest Ranger post. After a nerve-racking wait,
+with the group expecting a charge from the beast at any minute, two
+rangers appeared and captured the bear with a net. One man of the
+government work crew knocked together a stout wooden cage. The beast,
+outraged, was loaded aboard the heliplane to be released in an area
+remote from the cave.
+
+  [Illustration (Tom and Hank meet a bear in the cave)]
+
+Now the grueling job of installing the Quakelizor began. First the cave
+was cleared of debris, bats, and other small living creatures. Then a
+site was marked out on the cave floor. Tom had brought along a midget
+model of his great atomic earth blaster, which he had invented to drill
+for iron at the South Pole.
+
+With the blaster, Tom quickly drilled a pit of exact size into the
+bedrock. Then the Quakelizor was assembled and lowered into place by a
+portable crane. A power plant and radio antenna were set up and the
+installation was finally completed.
+
+"I must return to Shopton now," Tom said. "Art here will stick around
+and help you operate the setup," he told the government engineers after
+radio contact had been made with Washington. "If anything goes wrong,
+just flash word to Enterprises."
+
+The _Sky Queen_ and the heliplane sped back across the continent. As Tom
+landed at Enterprises he was greeted by Bud, who came speeding out on
+the airfield by jeep.
+
+"Just got back from the space wheel about an hour ago," Bud said. "Your
+dad's really worried about those exploding radio sets, Tom. He has no
+clues, but he's sure the scientists working for the Brungarian rebel
+setup are responsible. He thinks they may try to ruin all of
+Enterprises' communications system by remote control."
+
+Tom's face was grave as he listened. The two boys discussed the problem
+as they drove to the Swifts' office in the main building.
+
+"Boy, I sure wish I could think of some way to cope with it," Tom said
+wearily, flopping down in his desk chair.
+
+"Your dad said to give it the old college try," Bud reported. "And he
+also said he'd be back in two days to help you on the problem."
+
+Tom glanced at the calendar. "Which reminds me," he said, "on Monday the
+brain energy will be due from space!"
+
+The thought sent a thrill of excitement tinged with worry through the
+young inventor's mind. Would the container he had devised prove
+suitable?
+
+"Hey! A call on the videophone!" Bud pointed to the red light flashing
+on the control board. He jumped up and switched on the set.
+
+Blake, the Washington announcer, appeared on the screen.
+
+"Bad news, skipper," he said ominously. "An earthquake tremor was just
+felt here in Washington. It centered in a shipyard on the Potomac and
+caused great damage!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ENERGY FROM PLANET X
+
+
+Tom and Bud listened in dismay as Blake reported all the details he had
+been able to gather.
+
+"Was my Quakelizor a flop, Bud?" Tom muttered, his shoulders drooping as
+the announcer signed off. "It must have been!"
+
+"Don't be silly! Snap out of it!" Bud gave his pal a cheerful poke in
+the ribs, hoping to buck him up. "You heard what Blake said--Washington
+itself was hardly touched. Without your setup, think of all the people
+that _might_ have been killed or injured! And all the government
+buildings that might have been wrecked, maybe even the White House. I'd
+say your shock-wave deflector must have been at least ninety per cent
+effective!"
+
+Tom brightened somewhat on hearing Bud's words. He picked up the phone,
+and placed a call to Dr. Miles at the Bureau of Mines. It was almost
+half an hour before the operator was able to get a line through. But Tom
+felt the suspense had been worth while when Dr. Miles exclaimed:
+
+"Tom, it was a miracle you completed the Quakelizor installation in
+time! In all probability it saved us from a major national disaster,
+perhaps worse than Pearl Harbor!"
+
+Tom felt a glow of pride and relief. "Thanks, sir. But what about the
+shipyard destruction?" he added, still not entirely convinced.
+
+"That was a bad break, Tom," Dr. Miles admitted. "Our detectors showed
+that the shock waves had been almost damped out when a sudden power
+failure occurred. It turned out that an overload had shorted the
+Quakelizor's power plant. The crew had it fixed within moments, but by
+that time the damage was done."
+
+Tom winced as he heard of the unfortunate accident, but was thankful the
+results had been no worse.
+
+Miles went on to say that he had just been conferring with Ahlgren at
+the Pentagon. The Defense Department now feared that attempts might be
+made against other large cities and was therefore eager to have Tom
+deliver several quake deflectors as soon as possible. These would be
+installed at strategic points around the country.
+
+"The government heads were so impressed with your invention, Tom," Dr.
+Miles added, "that they'll probably be walking the floor anxiously until
+the others arrive."
+
+Tom chuckled, then became serious. "Tell them we'll go to work right
+away," he informed the seismologist. "I'll have the new Quakelizors
+ready as soon as possible, but you'd better warn your associates it's
+bound to take a few days."
+
+As soon as the conversation was completed, Tom dialed Ned Newton at the
+Swift Construction Company. Although he was actually not a relative of
+the Swifts, both Tom and Sandy had from childhood called him "Uncle
+Ned."
+
+"What's up, Tom?" he asked.
+
+Tom told him of the latest request from Washington and asked that
+another three-shift work schedule be set up to turn out the additional
+Quakelizors.
+
+"Hank and I will bring the blueprints over right away, if you don't mind
+being late to dinner," Tom said.
+
+Ned Newton agreed willingly, only too happy to help cope with the quake
+menace. By eight o'clock that evening, work on the project was
+proceeding at great speed. The Swift Construction Company continued
+humming with activity around the clock.
+
+The week end was almost over by the time Mr. Swift arrived back from the
+space station. Tom flew to Fearing Island to meet him. On the short hop
+back to Enterprises, they discussed the radio problem.
+
+"I think the solution's been staring us in the face, Dad, but we've been
+too worried to think of it," Tom said. "Remember Li Ching's jamming-wave
+generator?"
+
+He was referring to a device used recently by an Oriental foe of Tom and
+his father. Mr. Swift's eyes lighted up with a quick flash of
+understanding.
+
+"Dad, you wrote a report on the generator for the government with a memo
+on possible ways to combat it," Tom went on. "Maybe the same measures
+would work in this case."
+
+The Swifts had discovered that their enemy had been intercepting Tom's
+messages, thereby learning the frequency to which the Swifts' receiver
+was tuned. They then radiated a signal at this frequency, modulated at
+the frequency to which the local oscillator was set. This had caused a
+buildup of energy in the I.F. transformers, resulting in their
+explosion.
+
+Now Mr. Swift said, "You're right, son. We'll insert a blocking filter
+in the R.F. stage that should do the trick."
+
+Their minds relieved of this problem, the Swifts were eagerly looking
+forward to the arrival of the brain energy from space the next day. The
+scheduled time, if pinpointed at exactly two weeks from the moment when
+the first message was received, would be half an hour past noon.
+
+The spot, two miles from Enterprises, was on a lonely hillside. It was
+shaded by trees, higher up the slope, with bushes and other wild-growing
+greenery softening its contours. Over the week end, Tom had had
+carpenters from Enterprises put up a small cabin at the foot.
+
+As twelve-thirty approached, Tom, Bud, Mr. Swift, Hank Sterling, Arv
+Hanson, and several other Swift technicians stood by at the scene with
+the star-headed container. Chow had also begged to be on hand.
+
+"I jest got to see Ole Think Box come to life!" he said.
+
+Eyes darted back and forth from wrist watches to sky as the zero moment
+ticked closer. Bud even began muttering a countdown.
+
+"X minus three... X minus two... X minus one... This is it!"
+
+All eyes flashed skyward. _But nothing happened!_ Not a speck showed in
+the blue, cloudless sky.
+
+The watchers glanced at one another uncertainly. More minutes went by.
+Soon it was quarter to one... then one o'clock.
+
+"No mistake about the time, was there?" Arv asked.
+
+Mr. Swift shook his head. "Not if the code was translated correctly." He
+frowned. "It's true they spoke merely in terms of days. But their time
+references are usually very precise."
+
+The waiting group fidgeted and prowled back and forth to ease their
+tension. Feelings of suspense began changing into gloom after two more
+hours had passed with no sign from the sky.
+
+Disappointed but unable to wait any longer, the technical men went back
+to the plant, one by one. Hank Sterling, too, and Arv Hanson finally had
+to leave.
+
+"Sorry, skipper," Hank muttered. "Ring us right away if it shows up."
+
+"Sure, Hank."
+
+As six o'clock went by, Chow tried to pep up his companions' drooping
+spirits with a simple but tasty supper, warmed up on an electric hot
+plate in the cabin.
+
+"What do you think, skipper? Are we out of luck?" Bud asked as they ate.
+
+"Our space friends haven't let us down yet," Tom replied. "I'm sure they
+won't this time." Though he didn't say so aloud, Tom was worried that
+their Brungarian enemies might have managed to divert and capture the
+energy.
+
+Mr. Swift seemed to read Tom's thoughts. "Let's hope no hitch has
+occurred," he said quietly.
+
+The sun went down. Twilight slowly deepened. The trees on the hillside
+faded from view in the gathering darkness.
+
+"_There it is!_" Bud yelled suddenly.
+
+Electrified, the four sprang up in an instant. A speck of light was
+sailing across the sky! But their faces fell as it drew closer.
+
+"Only an airplane," Bud grumbled.
+
+At ten o'clock Mr. Swift gave a weary yawn. "The spirit is willing but
+the flesh is weak," he confessed. "I got only two hours of sleep on the
+space wheel, and apparently last night wasn't enough to catch up. Sorry,
+fellows."
+
+"Why don't you go home, Dad? Hit the hay," Tom said sympathetically.
+
+Promising to take a turn on watch if the vigil continued through the
+next day, Mr. Swift drove off in his car.
+
+Time dragged by slowly as the three remaining watchers chatted and
+looked hopefully at the stars. Eventually Chow propped himself against a
+tree and dropped off to sleep to the accompaniment of low-droning
+snores. Bud too began to drowse.
+
+It was long past midnight when Tom suddenly caught sight of a moving
+light in the sky. He stiffened and held his breath. Another false alarm?
+
+But no! A glowing, faintly bluish mass with a comet tail of luminous
+orange red was slowly proceeding through the pattern of stars!
+
+"Hey, fellows! Wake up!" Tom shouted. He sprang to his feet and
+unlatched a single point of the star head. Within seconds, Bud and Chow
+were both wide awake, as excited as Tom. The blue nebulous mass moved
+closer and closer. The three watchers were speechless with awe.
+
+As the ball of energy descended toward them, it lit up the whole scene.
+The hillside looked almost as if it were on fire. The earth vibrated,
+and the air had the sharp smell of ozone. This was followed by a
+frightening clatter and rumble. The force of the energy was sweeping
+down rocks, gravel, and shrubbery in a hillside avalanche!
+
+"Look out!" Chow shrieked. "We'll be pulverized in this rock stampede!"
+He streaked for cover as a huge boulder came plunging straight toward
+him.
+
+"Hold fast, Bud!" Tom cried. "Nothing's headed our way!"
+
+Steeling his nerves, he grabbed the waiting container and held on
+grimly. An instant later the glowing mass sharpened and narrowed itself
+into a snakelike bolt of fire that arced straight into the head of Tom's
+invention.
+
+Tom gave a yell of triumph and clamped the star point shut, then pushed
+a button to activate the self-sealing process.
+
+Chow peered out cautiously from behind a clump of rock. The next second,
+he let out a Texas whoop, bounded from cover like an over-sized gnome,
+and sent his ten-gallon hat sailing high into the air.
+
+"_Yippee!_"
+
+Bud cheered too. "The visitor from Planet X has arrived!"
+
+In their excitement and relief, the three hugged one another and jumped
+for joy.
+
+"Should we wake up your dad and tell him the good news--or keep it a
+surprise till morning?" Bud asked Tom.
+
+"I guess we'd better--"
+
+Tom broke off in a gasp as the robotlike container suddenly began to
+whirl--slowly at first, then faster and faster. Spinning crazily like a
+huge runaway top, it darted up, down, and about the hillside.
+
+Tom and his two companions stared in helpless amazement.
+
+"Great horned toads! What's it up to?" Chow exclaimed.
+
+"Seems like the energy's trying to get out!" Bud guessed. "Something
+must be bothering it."
+
+Tom shook his head incredulously. "No reason for that. The container was
+absolutely empty."
+
+Chow suddenly gave a groan and slapped his forehead in dismay. "Brand my
+Big Dipper!" the cook said. "Mebbe Ole Think Box has gone loco! An' it
+could be my fault!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+AN ELECTRICAL CHRISTENING
+
+
+"What are you talking about, Chow?" Tom asked, turning to the old
+Westerner in amazement.
+
+Chow related how he had dropped the bubble gum inside the robot's head.
+"Did I ruin the critter?" he asked fearfully.
+
+Tom was thoughtful for a moment, frowning as they watched Ole Think Box
+continue its gyrations. The figure seemed to be calming down somewhat,
+although Tom could not be sure of this.
+
+Suddenly his face brightened. A new thought had just struck the young
+inventor! To Chow's amazement, Tom slapped the cook happily on the back.
+
+"I think you've done me a favor, Chow!" he exclaimed.
+
+"I have?" The old Texan stared at his young boss, as if not sure whether
+or not to believe him. "How come?"
+
+"You saw how Ole Think Box reacted to the gum," Tom explained. "That
+shows the energy really is like a brain! It's responsive and sensitive
+to conditions of its environment, especially when coming up against
+something new and unexpected."
+
+"You mean they don't have bubble gum on Planet X?" Chow asked with a
+grin.
+
+Tom smiled as Bud said, "This means we should be able to communicate
+with it."
+
+"And the brain will probably be able to communicate back to us!" Tom
+went on excitedly. "We may even be able to learn about Planet X!"
+
+As he spoke, Ole Think Box's whirling became slower and slower. Finally
+it came to rest close to the three humans.
+
+"What do you suppose happened to the gum?" Bud asked. "Did he chew it
+all up?"
+
+"It's probably unchanged," Tom replied. "Our visitor is used to it now."
+
+Chow was still wide-eyed with awe. He stared at the strange creature as
+if expecting it to snap at him in revenge for the gum.
+
+"Don't worry, old-timer. Think Box won't bite," Bud teased. "With that
+gum spree, he's just been initiated into our American tribal customs!"
+The pilot grinned. "Hey! We haven't given him a proper name."
+
+"You're right." Tom looked at his pal and chuckled. "Got any ideas?"
+
+"Hmm. Let me see." Bud scowled and paced about with his hands clasped
+behind his back. "Firetop--John Q. Pyro--"
+
+"But it ain't on fire now," Chow pointed out.
+
+"Maybe not, but he sure blazed a trail getting here," Bud argued.
+
+Tom and Chow countered with several ideas of their own, but nothing
+seemed suitable until Bud suddenly stopped short and snapped his
+fingers.
+
+"I have it! He's a visitor from Planet X, so let's call him _Exman!_"
+Bud spelled it out.
+
+"Perfect!" Tom was delighted and Chow agreed that it seemed "a right
+good monicker." The Texan insisted seriously that if the creature were
+going to be named, he should also have a proper christening.
+
+"Why not?" Tom agreed, as both boys broke into laughter. Bud also liked
+the idea.
+
+Chow had a troublesome afterthought. He shoved back his sombrero,
+squinted frowningly at the brain container, and scratched his bald head.
+"For boat christenings and statues and what not, you break bottles on
+'em or cut ribbons or pull a sheet off 'em," the cook said. "But how in
+tarnation do you christen a buckaroo from space?"
+
+"Nothing to it, Chow," Tom assured him. "We'll do the job up nice and
+fancy with a display of electricity. But first let's get Exman over to
+the lab."
+
+The three loaded the energy container into the pickup truck which had
+brought it to the hillside spot. Then Tom drove back to Enterprises and
+they took Exman into his private laboratory.
+
+Here Tom attached an electrode to each side of the star head. One
+electrode was safely grounded, the other connected to a Tesla coil.
+Then, with all lights turned off in the laboratory, Tom threw a switch.
+
+Instantly a dazzling arc of electricity sputtered through the darkness
+across the creature's head! The eerie display lit up the room with such
+impressive effect that both Bud and Chow felt their spines tingle.
+
+"I christen you Exman!" Tom intoned.
+
+For several moments he allowed the fiery arc to continue playing about
+the star head. Then he opened the power switch and turned the room
+lights back on.
+
+"Wow! Quite a ceremony!" Bud murmured.
+
+"After a send-off like that, I'll be expectin' the critter to do great
+things here on this lil ole planet Earth!" Chow declared fervently.
+
+"You could be right," Tom said.
+
+Worn out by the long wait for their visitor from Planet X and the
+excitement following his arrival, Chow finally went off to his own
+quarters at Enterprises for a well-earned sleep.
+
+"Guess you and I had better get some shut-eye too, pal," Tom told Bud.
+"And I think I won't tell Dad until morning."
+
+  [Illustration (Tom, Bud and Chow celebrate building Exman)]
+
+The two boys decided to bunk on cots in the small apartment adjoining
+Tom's laboratory. Exman, meanwhile, was left locked in the laboratory
+with a tiny "night light" showing on him.
+
+"Just a little ray of energy to keep him company," Tom explained with a
+chuckle.
+
+Minutes later, the two boys were sound asleep. For a while, all was
+silent. Then the apartment's telephone rang, shattering the stillness.
+Tom struggled out of the depths of sleep, got up, and groped his way
+over to the wall phone.
+
+"Tom Swift Jr. speaking."
+
+A familiar voice asked, "Did it come?"
+
+"Oh, hi, Dad!" Tom replied, yawning. "Yes, Exman arrived in fine shape.
+We've put him to bed. Tell you all about it tomorrow morning."
+
+"Okay, Tom."
+
+As Tom hung up, Bud roused and switched on a lamp. He had awakened in
+time to catch only part of Tom's words. "Your father?" he inquired.
+
+Tom nodded sleepily and was about to go back to bed. But Bud, still
+fascinated by the space visitor, decided to have a peek at Exman. He got
+up and opened the door to the laboratory. A yell from him brought Tom
+rushing to his side.
+
+"Hey! It's gone!"
+
+The spot by the night light where they had left Exman was now deserted!
+Tom found a wall switch and pressed it. As light from the overhead
+fluorescent tubes flooded the room, the boys gave laughing cries of
+relief.
+
+Ole Think Box had merely moved himself to another corner of the room!
+
+"Guess he didn't like that little chum we left on for him," Bud said
+with a chuckle.
+
+"Let's leave him where he is," Tom agreed.
+
+The two boys went back to the adjoining apartment and were soon asleep
+again. Several hours later they were rudely awakened by a loud crash of
+glass and a heavy thud.
+
+"Something's happening to Exman!" Tom cried.
+
+With Bud at his heels, the young inventor dashed into the laboratory.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+EXMAN TAKES ORDERS
+
+
+A strange sight greeted Tom's and Bud's eyes. In the first rays of
+sunlight, the space robot was moving back and forth about the laboratory
+in wild zigzag darts and lunges.
+
+As he rolled toward a bench or other object, the brain energy seemed to
+send out invisible waves that knocked things over! Already the floor was
+strewn with toppled lab stools, books, and broken test tubes. The heavy
+thud had apparently been caused by a falling file cabinet.
+
+"Stop him!" Bud yelped.
+
+Exman was heading straight for a plate-glass window! Reaching from floor
+to ceiling, the glass formed one entire wall of the laboratory.
+
+"Oh, no!" Tom tensed, realizing that it was hopeless to try to stop
+Exman in time.
+
+But an instant later, the rolling robot stopped of its own accord, as if
+registering the fact that its energy waves were now striking a fragile
+surface. The thick pane of glass vibrated in its frame.
+
+"Good grief!" Tom wiped his brow. "Let's corral that thing before he
+wrecks the whole lab!"
+
+Exman was already rolling off on a new tack. The two boys managed to
+grab him before more harm was done. The brain energy in its container
+seemed to calm under their touch.
+
+"What in the name of space science triggered it off?" Bud wondered out
+loud.
+
+"Time. It must have reacted to the passage of time," Tom conjectured.
+"I suppose it just decided to explore this place." He added a bit
+nervously, "The sooner we can communicate with this energy, the better!"
+
+"But how?" Bud asked.
+
+Tom's brow furrowed. "Say, I wonder if Exman might understand a direct
+order?"
+
+Tom backed a few paces away from the space robot, then said in a loud,
+clear voice, "Come here!"
+
+Exman remained fixed to its spot.
+
+"Move right!" No response. "Move left!" Still no response.
+
+"Guess you're not getting through, skipper," Bud commented with a grin.
+
+"No," Tom agreed. "I can't predict what kind of energy this brain will
+respond to. Being only energy, it must respond to other energy and sound
+is our form of energy. The problem is the same as with radio waves,
+which are also energy. We must figure out how we can vary the energy, so
+it can transmit information to Exman."
+
+"What _do_ we try?" Bud asked. "Or is it hopeless?"
+
+"I'll try communicating with it via the electronic brain, which I have
+adapted to fit this problem."
+
+The boys cleaned up the wreckage caused by Exman in his dawn venturings.
+Then Tom went by jeep to the computer laboratory, made connections to
+his electronic brain, and wired it for remote control. Then he returned
+to the private laboratory. There Bud watched as he hooked up the leads
+from the computer to a transmitting-receiving decoder with a short-range
+antenna.
+
+"Speak, O Master!" Bud said, imitating a squeaky robot voice. "Sound off
+loud and clear!"
+
+Tom grinned and tapped out a command on the keyboard: _Move backward._
+
+Exman rolled backward! Bud gave a whoop of delight.
+
+Tom signaled: _Move forward._ Obediently Exman rolled toward him.
+
+_Stop._ Exman stopped.
+
+"Hey, how about that?" Bud exclaimed happily. "It really savvies those
+electronic brain impulses!"
+
+"And minds them--which is equally important," Tom added.
+
+A moment later the brain energy seemed to become impatient. It spurted
+off in its wheeled container toward a laboratory workbench.
+
+_Crash!_ A rack of test tubes went sailing to the floor with an
+explosion of tinkling glass.
+
+_Stop!_ Tom signaled frantically. Again Exman obeyed the order.
+
+"It's like a mischievous kid," Bud said.
+
+Almost as if in defiance, Exman scooted off in another direction. Then
+it stopped abruptly and swiveled around, one of its antenna arms
+knocking a Bunsen burner to the floor as it did so.
+
+_Come here!_ Tom signaled. As the culprit approached, he added sternly,
+_Stop where you are. And stay there until you receive further orders._
+
+This time Exman stood patiently, awaiting the next signal. Bud got a
+brush and dustpan, and the boys cleaned up the broken test tubes and
+replaced the burner on its shelf.
+
+Then Tom began feeding more complicated instructions to Exman through
+the electronic brain. He guided him through a number of dancelike
+movements and other drills, and got him to send out a wave of heat which
+the boys could instantly feel. Tom was even able to make the robot aim
+its wave energy so as to short-circuit a switch on an electrical control
+panel.
+
+Tom was both pleased and excited. "Bud," he exclaimed, "the brain reacts
+as quickly as that of a highly intelligent being! Just imagine--without
+any sort of decoding equipment, it can pick up and _understand_ the
+radio signals I beam out to it!"
+
+"What we need now," Tom went on, "is a simple language to get our ideas
+across to Exman without having to use the electronic brain all the time.
+That means I must find a way to give Exman senses as we humans
+have--smell, touch, sight, hearing, taste. Then it could receive the
+same reactions we do and talk directly to us!"
+
+"Sounds like quite an order," Bud said wryly. "Speaking of which, how
+about us phoning Chow an order for breakfast?"
+
+He did so, and a short time later Chow wheeled a food cart into the
+laboratory. As he dished out man-sized helpings of ham and eggs, the
+cook kept a wary eye on Exman. Tom was putting the robot through a few
+more lively maneuvers.
+
+"A good meal'd calm down Ole Think Box," Chow observed grumpily. "But
+what do you feed that there kind o' contraption?"
+
+"Well, not gum, that's for sure!" Bud teased. After tasting his first
+forkful of food, he gasped, "And none of this ham!"
+
+Jumping up from his lab stool, Bud began whirling, dancing around, and
+flapping his arms as if he were burning up.
+
+"Help! Help!" he yelled. "Chow's poisoned me--just like he did Exman!"
+
+Chow's leathery old face paled under its desert tan. "Great snakes,
+Tom!" the Texan gulped. "Have I really pizened him? Maybe we should call
+Doc Simpson!"
+
+Doc was the medic in charge of the Enterprises infirmary.
+
+Tom was unable to keep a straight face. "Better call someone with a
+strait jacket--or a butterfly net!" he said, quaking with laughter. "I'm
+afraid he's just pulling your leg, Chow!"
+
+Chow's jaw clamped shut like a bear trap and he glared at the
+pirouetting young flier. Bud collapsed on his stool, doubled over with
+mirth.
+
+"Sorry, old-timer," he gasped. "I just couldn't resist!"
+
+"Okay, Buddy boy," Chow said darkly. "And mebbe I won't be able to
+resist gettin' even one o' these days!" The cook stumped out of the
+laboratory in his high-heeled cowboy boots, a picture of outraged
+dignity.
+
+"Better watch out, pal!" Tom warned with a grin. "Just remember: it's
+never smart to bite the hand that feeds you!"
+
+"I guess you're right," Bud agreed, wiping away the tears of laughter.
+"I'll remember, just as long as Chow promises not to serve us any more
+armadillo soup or rattlesnake salad!"
+
+Chow's fondness for experimenting with weird dishes was a standing joke
+around Enterprises.
+
+The boys ate their meal hungrily. As they were finishing, Tom glanced at
+the big clock on the wall. It was now well past eight o'clock.
+
+"Wonder why Dad hasn't come to the lab," he remarked. "I'd better call
+and find out if he's all right."
+
+Tom picked up the telephone and asked the operator for the direct line
+to the Swifts' home. His father answered.
+
+"'Morning, Dad!" Tom greeted him. "I thought after your call last night,
+you'd be over bright and early to see our visitor. He's already--"
+
+"What are you talking about, son?" Mr. Swift broke in. "I didn't phone
+you last night!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+DISASTER STRIKES
+
+
+Tom was thunderstruck. "You didn't phone me? But, Dad, I got the
+call--I definitely heard your voice!"
+
+"That's impossible," Mr. Swift insisted. "Believe me, son, I slept
+soundly from the time I turned in until a little while ago."
+
+There was a moment of stunned silence as both Swifts realized that the
+telephone call had been faked! Then Tom exclaimed:
+
+"Dad, this is serious!"
+
+"Deadly serious, I agree," his father replied. "Are you calling from
+your lab?"
+
+"Yes!"
+
+"Stay there. I'll be right over," the elder scientist said.
+
+When Mr. Swift arrived, Tom related his conversation with the mysterious
+caller. His father listened with worried eyes and a puzzled frown.
+
+"It's bad enough that an enemy was able to get the information," Mr.
+Swift remarked. "But, potentially at least, it's even more dangerous
+that he was able to imitate my voice so well. If he could fool you, Tom,
+he could fool anyone!"
+
+"Are you thinking the same thing I am, Dad?"
+
+"That it may have been some insider here at Enterprises?" When Tom
+nodded, his father gravely agreed. "Yes, son, it does look that way. To
+imitate my voice convincingly, it would almost certainly have to be
+someone who's had close contact with us--either at the plant or here in
+Shopton."
+
+The thought of a traitor at the experimental station was repugnant to
+the Swifts and to Bud as well. Not only were all employees carefully
+screened, but there was a close, almost family relationship among those
+who took part in the exciting scientific ventures at Swift Enterprises.
+
+Tom called Security and asked Harlan Ames to come over to the laboratory
+at once. The security chief arrived within moments. Quickly Tom filled
+him in on the details of the puzzling telephone call.
+
+"Think back, skipper," Ames urged. "Was there anything at all you can
+remember about the voice that might give us a tip-off? I mean, was it
+deep, or maybe a bit higher-pitched than you expected? Or anything about
+the way the caller pronounced his words?"
+
+Tom shook his head. "Nothing. That's the trouble. He spoke only a couple
+of sentences, but so far as I knew, it _was_ my father calling!"
+
+"Hmmm." Ames frowned. "What about background noises?"
+
+Tom thought hard. "None. If I had detected any special sounds during the
+call, I'm sure they would have stuck in my mind."
+
+Ames tried another tack. He asked how many people had known about the
+expected arrival of the brain energy from space. This was harder to
+answer, but as Tom and his father enumerated the persons, it did help to
+narrow the circle of suspects.
+
+Besides the Swifts, Chow, Phyl, Ames, and George Dilling, there were
+three groups who had had access to the information. One was the radio
+operators at the space-communications laboratory. Another consisted of
+Arv Hanson and Hank Sterling and the workmen who had taken part in
+building the energy container. The last group, which also included Hank
+and Arv, were the technicians who had actually gone to the hillside to
+await the visitor from Planet X.
+
+Tom scowled. "None of those people would pull such a trick, Harlan--any
+more than the ones like you and Arv and Hank who are above suspicion.
+Most of them could have easily obtained the news without going through
+such a rigmarole."
+
+Mr. Swift nodded. "Tom's right. Unless, of course, they had some urgent
+reason for wanting to find out as soon as possible."
+
+"Which makes me think it may have been an outsider after all," Tom
+argued. "Remember, the Brungarians may have intercepted the code
+messages to or from our space friends." After a moment's silence, he
+added gloomily, "Whoever the caller was, he knew the energy was
+arriving. And now he knows it's here!"
+
+Bud interjected, "Well, if he was a Brungarian agent and he's hoping to
+steal the brain energy, one thing's sure. No earthquake will demolish
+this place as long as the energy is here at Enterprises."
+
+"A comforting thought, Bud," Mr. Swift commented with a wry smile.
+
+Again Tom frowned. "At any rate, Harlan, see if you can get a line on
+that impostor."
+
+Ames departed to begin a thorough check of all personnel at the plant
+who might have been implicated. Bud went on an errand, as Tom began
+showing his father the accomplishments of the space robot.
+
+"We've christened him Exman," Tom said.
+
+By means of the electronic brain, he made the visitor do a number of
+maneuvers in response to orders.
+
+"Wonderful!" Mr. Swift exclaimed, greatly impressed. "Let's see if he
+can use his caterpillar treads as well as he does the wheels."
+
+Tom brought a small flight of portable aluminum stairs which he used for
+reaching up on high shelves or tinkering with outsized machines. Tom was
+uncertain at first how to code the command, having no symbol for steps
+or stairs. Finally he moved Exman to the bottom of the steps and
+signaled simply: _Go up!_
+
+Exman paused for a moment, then attempted the ascent. His caterpillar
+tracks clawed their way up the first step. Then, gingerly, he essayed
+the next. The robot body tilted, but its gyro kept it from toppling
+over.
+
+"Bravo!" Mr. Swift applauded encouragingly. But the next instant Exman
+gave up! He slid back to the floor again with a heavy bump. Then he
+began whirling and darting about madly.
+
+"Good night! Exman's gone berserk!" Tom cried.
+
+Now wafts of smoke could be seen issuing from the robot's wheels. He was
+banging wildly about the laboratory, leaving a trail of havoc.
+
+Bud, who had returned, opened the door to come in. Instantly Exman
+lunged toward him, antennas sparking fiercely and wheels smoking. Bud
+slammed the door hastily.
+
+The Swifts, too, found it wiser to take cover. They crouched behind a
+lab workbench until the frenzy was over. Presently Exman subsided and
+rolled to a complete standstill.
+
+"Good grief!" Tom stood up cautiously and eyed the creature. It made no
+further move. Bud poked his head through the doorway for a wary look,
+then re-entered the laboratory.
+
+"What made him blow his top?" Bud asked.
+
+Then Tom heard a quiet chuckle from his father. "Actually, boys," the
+elder scientist said, "I think we should be encouraged."
+
+"_Encouraged?_" Tom stared at his father.
+
+  [Illustration
+   (Tom Jr. and Tom Sr. watch as Exman tries to climb stairs)]
+
+Mr. Swift nodded. "Yes, the whole thing was rather a noteworthy
+reaction. I believe Exman was displaying a fear complex about navigating
+up those stairs."
+
+Tom gasped, then broke out laughing. "Dad, you're right! I'll bet when
+its body tilted over, the brain wasn't sure whether the gyro would keep
+it from being wrecked. It just shows Ole Think Box is getting more human
+all the time!"
+
+Bud ventured to pat Exman on its "back." "Relax, kid," he said with a
+chuckle. "You're among friends and we wouldn't dream of letting you get
+hurt. You're too valuable!"
+
+Mr. Swift stroked his jaw thoughtfully. "Valuable, yes, if we can only
+get it to communicate. Tom, I believe the first project we should work
+on is a way to make Exman talk."
+
+After the debris had been cleaned up, the two scientists pulled up
+stools to the workbench and began to discuss the problem. Bud, seeing
+them absorbed, and realizing the discussion would soon be far beyond his
+depth, snapped a grinning salute at Exman and quietly left the
+laboratory.
+
+"Dad, the toughest part won't be the speech mechanism itself," Tom
+pointed out. "There are several ways we could handle that--by modulating
+a column of air, for instance, or by some sort of speaker diaphragm. The
+real stumper will be how to teach him our spoken language."
+
+Mr. Swift nodded. "I'm afraid you're right. If the inhabitants of Planet
+X communicate telepathically, or by some sort of wave transfer, they may
+have long since forgotten any concept of a spoken language."
+
+The Swifts batted several ideas back and forth. Then Tom snapped his
+fingers.
+
+"Wait, Dad! We have the answer! The electronic brain!"
+
+Mr. Swift's eyes lighted up. "Of course! The machine already translates
+the space code into written English. All we need do is add a device to
+convert the machine's impulses into sound!"
+
+In two hours the Swifts had put together a mechanism designed to work
+through a tape recorder. This was hooked up to the electronic brain.
+
+After recording for several moments, Tom reversed the tape and switched
+on the playback. A squeaky jumble of noises could be heard. But one word
+seemed to come through fairly distinctly. "Universe!"
+
+"It's talking!" Tom cried out.
+
+"Trying to, but not succeeding very well," Mr. Swift said.
+
+Nevertheless, the two scientists were jubilant at this first
+breakthrough. Eagerly they began making adjustments--both on the
+electronic-brain hookup and the converter mechanism. Tom was just about
+to switch on the tape recorder again when the telephone rang.
+
+The young inventor was annoyed at being interrupted at such a crucial
+moment, but picked up the phone. "Tom Swift Jr. speaking."
+
+"You have an urgent call from Washington," the operator informed him.
+"Just a moment, please."
+
+Bernt Ahlgren was calling from the Pentagon. The defense expert's voice
+was strained.
+
+"Tom, there's just been another attempt to cause an earthquake here in
+Washington!"
+
+Tom gasped. "What happened?"
+
+"It failed, thanks to you. But Intelligence believes an attempt will be
+made on New York City very soon. We need your help to stop it. How near
+completion are the other shock deflectors?"
+
+Before Tom could answer, he heard excited voices at the other end of the
+line. Then Ahlgren broke in again abruptly.
+
+"A news flash, Tom! The Walling range-finder plant has been demolished
+by an earthquake!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+AIR-BORNE HIJACKERS
+
+
+Mr. Swift, hearing Tom's dismayed reaction, rushed to the telephone.
+
+"What's wrong, son?"
+
+Tom clamped his hand over the mouthpiece and quickly gave his father the
+news of the destroyed range-finder plant. Then he spoke into the
+telephone.
+
+"Bernt, we must prevent another disaster! Let me check with our
+construction company on the Quakelizors and I'll call you right back!"
+
+"Right, Tom," Ahlgren agreed.
+
+Both Tom and Mr. Swift were shocked by this latest blow of their
+enemies. Tom called Ned Newton at the Swift Construction Company at once
+and told him the news.
+
+"How soon will the Quakelizors be ready, Uncle Ned?"
+
+"They're finished, Tom. We're running a final inspection on them right
+now. We can have them ready to ship out by one o'clock."
+
+Tom relayed word to the Pentagon. Bernt Ahlgren was greatly relieved.
+"By the way," Tom went on, "what about the sites? Have they been chosen
+yet?"
+
+"Only tentatively," Ahlgren replied. "We wanted to get your opinion
+first."
+
+One of the deflectors, Ahlgren felt, should be based in position to
+guard the New York and New England area, in view of Intelligence
+warnings about a probable attack on New York City. Another, in the
+Cumberland plateau region of Kentucky, could damp out shock waves
+threatening either the heavily industrialized Great Lakes area or any
+southern city.
+
+As to the other three Quakelizors, Ahlgren suggested that one be
+installed on the West Coast, one in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and
+the third on the Atlantic island of San Rosario. This would protect both
+Latin-American allies and Caribbean defense bases of the United States.
+
+Before deciding, Tom asked that Dr. Miles at the Bureau of Mines be
+circuited into the telephone conversation. Mr. Swift, too, joined in on
+another line. The four scientists discussed the problem and referred to
+geologic maps. Finally the exact sites were agreed upon.
+
+"Dad, I'm going to deliver and install one of those Quakelizors myself,"
+Tom declared, after the telephone conference ended. "Judging from that
+phone impostor last night, there's no telling what sort of trick our
+enemies may try next!"
+
+Mr. Swift approved heartily. "Good idea, son. In the meantime, I'll see
+what I can accomplish with Ole Think Box here."
+
+Tom notified Uncle Ned of the delivery sites. He requested that because
+of the urgency of the situation, Swift planes transport the Quakelizors.
+Mr. Newton promised to have five cargo jets loaded and prepared for
+take-off from the construction company airfield.
+
+Next, Tom turned to the job of rounding up flight crews. He decided that
+Hank Sterling, Arv Hanson, Art Wiltessa, and a crack Swift test pilot,
+Slim Davis, would each captain a plane.
+
+Tom was just hanging up the telephone when Chow wheeled in a lunch cart,
+bearing sizzling servings of steak for the two Swifts.
+
+"How's Ole Think Box comin' along?" Chow inquired.
+
+"All right now, but he went berserk a while back," Tom replied with a
+chuckle.
+
+Chow eyed the robot apprehensively and made a hasty exit. Both Tom Jr.
+and Tom Sr. were amused.
+
+As they ate, the two scientists continued their discussion on how to
+equip Exman with senses and the power of speech. Several minutes later,
+when they were finishing dessert, Bud came into the laboratory.
+
+"Tom, what's this about you hopping off somewhere to install a
+Quakelizor?" he asked anxiously.
+
+"Don't worry, pal. I'll need my usual copilot," Tom said with a grin.
+"Just didn't have time to call you before lunch. We'll be flying down to
+a place called San Rosario in the Caribbean."
+
+At one o'clock Tom briefed the flight crews and technicians. Slim was
+provided with three men who had worked on the original model of the
+quake deflector. After making sure that every man knew his job, Tom had
+the groups flown by helicopter over to the Swift Construction Company
+airfield.
+
+Tom and Bud's cargo jet was the second to take off. On signal from the
+tower, the big workhorse thundered down the runway and soared off into
+the blue. Soon it was spearing southward above the waters of the
+Atlantic.
+
+Presently Bud drew Tom's attention to some blurry specks of light on the
+radarscope. "Looks like a formation of planes, skipper."
+
+Tom studied the blips for a while. "Guess you're right. It's sure not a
+flock of sea gulls!" The young inventor frowned.
+
+"Worried, Tom?" Bud asked quietly.
+
+Tom shrugged. "It could be a routine military flight."
+
+He increased speed and climbed for altitude. But the blips on the
+radarscope showed that the planes were coming steadily closer. It was
+clear that they were targeting on the Swift cargo jet.
+
+Tom switched on the radio. Presently a voice crackled over their
+headphones:
+
+"Calling Swift jet!" The voice was heavily accented.
+
+"Brungarians!" Bud muttered.
+
+Tom made no reply to the radio challenge. Again came the voice:
+
+"Calling Swift jet! Make emergency landing on the water!"
+
+Tom's only response was a fresh burst of speed. Gunning the jet motors,
+he sent the big cargo ship arrowing forward at supersonic velocity.
+
+"There they are!" Bud cried suddenly. He pointed to a cluster of silvery
+glints in the sky at seven o'clock.
+
+Tom zoomed downward into a billowing cloud bank. It was a feeble hope
+and Tom knew it. His only real chance now was to outrun or outmaneuver
+the marauders.
+
+The slim hope faded as they emerged from the cloud cover moments later.
+The enemy planes were not only still dogging them, but closing in
+rapidly. Sleek, needle-nosed attack ships, they appeared to have
+seaplane hulls.
+
+"Wow! Those are new ones!" Bud gasped.
+
+"Our last warning to Swift jet! Hit the water or be shot down!" came the
+enemy voice.
+
+Tom raced along, his mind searching frantically for a method of escape.
+
+Bud switched off radio power momentarily. "If we're going to be
+hijacked, skipper, let's ditch your invention before it's too late!"
+
+Tom shook his head stubbornly. "Why should I let those pirates bulldoze
+us? Actually, I think they're after Exman!"
+
+This last thought was a hunch that had just occurred to Tom. It was
+clear that their foe had learned about the arrival of the energy from
+space. "But so far," Tom reasoned, "there's no cause to suppose they
+know anything about the quake deflectors."
+
+Stalling for time, Tom switched on the radio again and spoke into the
+mike. "Swift jet to attack planes. Our home base is picking up every
+word of your threats. Shoot us down and America will consider it an act
+of war!... Care to risk it?"
+
+There was a moment's silence, then a reply. "War, you say? How can there
+be a question of war? War against whom? You do not even know our
+national identity!"
+
+"Don't kid yourselves, mister!" Bud put in with a snarl. "We know, all
+right, and so does United States Intelligence!"
+
+Tom decided to risk a blunt query, without actually giving away any
+facts, in case his hunch about the Brungarian's knowledge was wrong.
+
+"There was a phone call to Swift Enterprises last night," he radioed.
+"We know it was a fake. We also know your agents are aware of our
+visitor.... Right?"
+
+After a pause, the enemy spokesman replied, "Perhaps. If so, what then?"
+
+"Just this," Tom radioed back. "If you're hoping to meet our visitor,
+you're out of luck. I'll give you my word for it. Do you think we'd risk
+such a valuable character in an unguarded crate like this?"
+
+Tom and Bud looked at each other. Somehow, both boys felt instinctively
+that Tom's words had struck home. The enemy had certainly risen to the
+bait.
+
+Finally came the reply. "You Swifts have a reputation for scrupulous
+honesty." There was a slight sneer in the speaker's voice as if he
+considered this a foolish weakness. "You give me your word of honor that
+this--er--character is not aboard?"
+
+"I do!" Tom snapped. "And if you don't trust me, go ahead and risk a
+war!"
+
+The boys waited breathlessly for the outcome of Tom's bold gamble. Soon
+they saw the result. The pursuing planes suddenly peeled off and sped
+away in the direction from which they had first appeared.
+
+"Whew!" Bud wiped his hand across his face and drew it away moist with
+perspiration. "How do you like that?"
+
+Tom chuckled with relief. "I like it fine, fly boy. But I was sure
+worried there for a while!"
+
+Less than an hour later, the big cargo jet touched down at the San
+Rosario airport. An armed guard was on hand to greet the boys, under
+command of an officer named Captain Sanchez. He had brought along a work
+crew of soldiers and also a geology expert, Professor Leone, from the
+island's small technical school.
+
+"I have selected a spot on the eastern shore of the island," the
+professor told Tom. He unrolled a map and explained the site.
+
+"Excellent," Tom agreed.
+
+The Quakelizor parts, communications equipment, and small atomic earth
+blaster were quickly unloaded and transported to the site by trucks. In
+three hours the installation was finished.
+
+Tom, who spoke Spanish fairly well, explained to a small group of San
+Rosario military technicians how the quake deflector worked. He also
+detailed one of his own men to stay on as trouble shooter for the setup.
+
+"And now," said Captain Sanchez, beaming, "we must relax and celebrate
+the friendship of our two countries."
+
+Tom and Bud, though eager to get home, hesitated to hurt the friendly
+officer's feelings. They sat through a delicious meal, followed by
+numerous speeches. When his own turn to speak came, Tom used it to warn
+against possible sabotage attempts by the Brungarians. At last the boys
+were allowed to take off with their crew.
+
+"Swell guys," Bud said, when the boys were airborne, "but a bit hard to
+break away from!"
+
+Tom grinned, then became serious. "You know, Bud," he said thoughtfully,
+"those aerial hijackers gave me an idea."
+
+"Let's have it, skipper."
+
+"If only I could get Exman perfected so he would report back to me," Tom
+explained, "I could _let_ him be kidnaped. Think what a wonderful
+'inside man' he'd make in the enemy setup! He could tip us off to
+everything the Brungarians were doing!"
+
+"Hey, that's neat!" Bud exclaimed, wide-eyed. "But how could you be sure
+those Brungarian rebel scientists wouldn't change him somehow? I mean
+they might brainwash him or something."
+
+"It's a risk," Tom agreed. "But that's my problem--how to make a perfect
+spy out of him."
+
+It was midnight when the cargo jet touched down on the Enterprises
+airfield. The boys slept soundly.
+
+The next morning Tom reported to Mr. Swift and Harlan Ames the outcome
+of his trip to San Rosario, including the attack en route by unmarked
+sky raiders. He also privately told his father about his plan to use
+Exman as an electronic spy. Mr. Swift was enthusiastic.
+
+The two scientists promptly set to work. Mr. Swift built two powerful
+but miniature radio sets; one for receiving, one for transmitting. Tom,
+meanwhile, was busy on another device, also highly miniaturized,
+combining features of both the electronic decoder and Tom's famous
+midget computers, known as Little Idiots.
+
+With this equipment, Tom hoped, Exman would be able to monitor all
+communications at Brungarian rebel headquarters, then radio the
+information to Enterprises.
+
+Chow brought lunch to the laboratory at noon, and Bud came in later.
+Both stayed to watch the outcome of the experiment. Hank Sterling and
+Arv Hanson joined the group.
+
+By midafternoon the equipment was ready for a tryout. Tom opened Exman's
+star head, inserted the gear, and made the delicate wiring connections.
+
+"So far, so good," the young inventor murmured, stepping back. "Now for
+the real test! Will Exman answer our questions?"
+
+Tom walked over to the electronic decoder brain and began to tap out a
+message on the keyboard. The others waited in breathless suspense.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+KIDNAPED!
+
+
+The message which Tom signaled in code over the electronic brain said:
+
+    WE HAVE A DANGEROUS PLAN. IF PLAN WORKS, YOU MAY BE EXPOSED TO
+    ENEMY TAMPERING. WILL THIS BE SAFE? CAN YOU STAND THIS?
+
+There was a tense pause. Then the signal bell rang on the machine and
+the keys began to punch out a reply on tape:
+
+    NO ONE CAN ALTER THIS BRAIN NOR CAN THEY CHANGE ITS PURPOSE.
+    THEY CAN ONLY DESTROY THE ENERGY HOLDER.
+
+As Tom finished reading the message aloud, Chow gave a whoop of delight
+and the whole group burst into spontaneous cheers.
+
+"Terrific, skipper!" Bud exclaimed, clapping his pal on the back. The
+others gathered around to add their congratulations.
+
+Mr. Swift, beaming with pride, gave Tom a quick hand-squeeze. "It's an
+amazing achievement, son. And it may prove to be the key for unlocking
+the secrets of space, if and when we have time for some research after
+this crisis is over."
+
+"I sure hope so, Dad," Tom murmured. Though jubilant, the young inventor
+realized that this was only the first step in his plan to checkmate the
+Brungarian rebels.
+
+_The real perils still lay ahead!_
+
+Tom called Harlan Ames and asked him to come to the laboratory for a
+conference. When the security chief arrived, he was as impressed as the
+others with the way Tom was able to communicate with Exman.
+
+"The problem now," Tom said, "is how do we have him kidnaped?"
+
+Chow, wary as a coyote, offered his opinion that the safest way would be
+merely to leave the space robot unguarded somewhere about the grounds of
+Enterprises.
+
+Ames shook his head. "Too obvious. They'd suspect a trap." Tom agreed.
+
+"Wal, then, how about truckin' him along the highway hereabouts, as if
+you all were sendin' him down to Washington?"
+
+This, too, was vetoed on the grounds that a shrewd espionage agent would
+guess that such a valuable prize would never be entrusted to a slow and
+vulnerable method of transport.
+
+"Then what about an air flight?" Hank Sterling suggested.
+
+"Brand my six-guns, that'd be jest beggin' to git yourself shot down!"
+Chow fumed.
+
+"Not if we used a plane like the _Sky Queen_, equipped with jet
+lifters," Hank argued. "If any hijack planes jumped us, they'd have to
+let us come down safely in order to get their hands on Exman. We could
+land on the water or just hover while they made the transfer."
+
+"And after they had it safe aboard their own plane, they'd blast yours
+to smithereens!" Chow retorted.
+
+Tom, too, thought a plane flight unwise, but for different reasons. It
+might look suspicious to the Brungarians after the Swifts had been
+warned by one aerial hijack attempt. Also, they might be deterred by
+fear of war, thinking that the United States Air Force would doubtless
+be alerted to the possibility of attack.
+
+"So right," Ames agreed. After a thoughtful pause, he added, "Tom, what
+about transporting Exman by submarine? We know that every spy apparatus
+in this hemisphere is constantly trying to probe what goes on at Fearing
+Island, where our subs are based."
+
+"No doubt about that," Tom conceded.
+
+"So," Ames continued, "any move to Fearing would certainly make the
+Brungarian agents prick up their ears. Their own spy subs probably would
+come prowling around the island and detect the departure of a Swift sub.
+And they might feel that an undersea hijack attempt would be a fairly
+safe gamble."
+
+The others looked thoughtful, then slowly nodded in agreement. Ames's
+reasoning sounded highly logical.
+
+"Tom, you'll insist on going, I suppose," Mr. Swift said somberly.
+
+"Of course, Dad. After all, the kidnap plan was my own idea," Tom
+replied. "Another thing I'll insist on is that you _don't_ go. We have
+Mother and Sandy to think of, and it's not right that both of us risk
+our necks."
+
+Realizing that it was hopeless to dissuade his son, and realizing the
+basic fairness of Tom's position, Mr. Swift did not argue. Bud, Hank,
+Chow, and Arv immediately volunteered to accompany the young inventor on
+his dangerous mission.
+
+Tom gratefully accepted their help. He asked all hands to assemble on
+the Enterprises airfield at six the next morning for the flight to
+Fearing.
+
+After the others had left, Tom and his father resumed their experiments
+with Exman. Mr. Swift suggested adding a device to the radio equipment
+to make it disintegrate if tampered with. "Before those rebel
+Brungarians can learn the secret of your electronic spy."
+
+"Good idea, Dad. And how about our doing the job with Swiftonium?" This
+was an unusual radioactive ore which Tom had discovered in South
+America.
+
+Mr. Swift nodded as he began work.
+
+Tom watched admiringly as his father reconstructed the radio, coating
+the entire thing with a Swiftonium compound. He at once placed the set
+in a small oven which he raised to 50 degrees centigrade.
+
+"When this cools, the set will be stable," Mr. Swift said. "But if you
+should move any part of it after it cools, all of the organic parts,
+like the circuit boards, the insulation, the carbon resistors, etc.,
+will oxidize and disappear as gas. You will not even be able to tamper
+with a single unit."
+
+"Wonderful, Dad," Tom murmured when the device was finished. "I wish I
+had your know-how in microchemistry."
+
+"And I wish I had yours in electronics!" the elder scientist declared
+with a chuckle.
+
+After Mr. Swift had installed the device in Exman's star head, Tom used
+the electronic brain to inform the robot about the whole scheme.
+
+Both Tom Jr. and Tom Sr. were delighted when Exman showed real
+enthusiasm. It replied via the printed tape on the decoder:
+
+    DO NOT WORRY, MY FRIENDS. I WILL NOT RESPOND TO ANY ATTEMPTS BY
+    BRUNGARIAN SCIENTISTS TO COMMUNICATE WITH ME. MY PLANET IS WELL
+    AWARE OF THEIR DANGEROUS AIMS. HAVING CONQUERED YOUR WORLD, THEY
+    WOULD NEXT INVADE SPACE.
+
+"Looks as though Exman's got their number, all right!" Tom said with
+satisfaction.
+
+Early the next morning Mr. Swift drove Tom to the Enterprises airfield
+to meet his friends. Hank Sterling, Bud, and Chow were already on hand,
+and Arv Hanson arrived a few moments later. Tom and Bud left the others
+to bring Exman in a small panel truck.
+
+Soon the space robot was safely loaded aboard a transport helicopter.
+The others took their places inside the cabin.
+
+"Good luck, son!" Mr. Swift forced a smile as he gave Tom a parting
+handshake.
+
+"Don't worry, Dad. I'll be back soon!" Tom assured him. The nature of
+the trip had been described only vaguely to Mrs. Swift and Sandy in
+order to keep them from worrying.
+
+The short hop overwater to Fearing Island was soon completed. Lying just
+off the Atlantic coast, Fearing had once been a barren, thumb-shaped
+expanse of scrubgrass and sand dunes. Now it was the Swifts' top-secret
+rocket base, tightly guarded by drone planes and radar.
+
+As the helicopter approached its destination, Tom radioed for clearance,
+then whirred down toward the landing field. The barracks, workshops, and
+launching area of the base lay spread out in full view. Cargo rockets
+bristled on their launching pads, along with Tom's spaceships, including
+the mighty _Titan_, and the oddly shaped _Challenger_ and _Cosmic
+Sailer_.
+
+North and south, the island was fringed with docks. Here the recovery
+tugs and fuel tankers were moored, as well as the Swifts' fleet of
+undersea craft.
+
+Tom had chosen a cargo-hauling jetmarine, named the _Swiftsure_. It was
+a larger version of his original two-man jet sub, the _Ocean Dart_. He
+had given orders the night before to have it ready for sea by morning.
+
+By jeep and truck, Tom's group sped across the island to the dock. Exman
+was quickly lowered aboard through the sub's hatch. The others followed,
+the conning-tower hatch was dogged shut, and soon the _Swiftsure_ was
+gliding off into the shadowy blue-green depths.
+
+"What's your sailing plan, skipper?" Hank Sterling inquired. The
+quiet-spoken, square-jawed engineer stood beside Tom at the atomic
+turbine controls and looked out through the transparent nose of the
+jetmarine.
+
+"Go slow. Give 'em plenty of chance to pick up our trail," Tom replied.
+
+For two hours they cruised at moderate speed. Nothing happened.
+Disappointed, Tom surfaced and radioed his father for news, after
+cutting in the automatic scrambling device.
+
+"You're in time for an exciting flash," Mr. Swift reported jubilantly.
+
+"What is it, Dad?"
+
+"An attempt to earthquake New York has just failed!"
+
+Grins broke out on the faces of the crew as they heard Mr. Swift's words
+come over the loud-speaker. Bud let out a happy whoop.
+
+"That's great, Dad!" Tom said. "Maybe we've got 'em licked on the quake
+front. No luck so far, though, on our new project."
+
+"Well, keep in touch and let me know at once if anything happens," Mr.
+Swift urged.
+
+"Right, Dad!" Tom promised.
+
+Again the _Swiftsure_ submerged. This time it was only a few minutes
+before Arv Hanson gave a cry of warning.
+
+"Something on the sonarscope, skipper!"
+
+Bud, Hank, and Chow hastily gathered around the scope to watch. The blip
+grew larger rapidly. It was clearly another submarine, closing in on a
+collision course.
+
+Tom put on a burst of speed, as if attempting to outrace their pursuer.
+But he was careful to gauge his knots by reports from the sonarscope, in
+order not to widen the gap between the two craft. There seemed no danger
+that this would happen, although the _Swiftsure_ raced ahead faster and
+faster. Still the enemy sub continued to close in like a marauding
+shark, finally passing Tom's craft.
+
+"Some baby!" Bud muttered respectfully.
+
+The words were hardly out of his mouth when a missile streaked across
+their bow, in plain view through the _Swiftsure's_ transparent nose. Its
+foaming wake rocked the jetmarine.
+
+"They're attacking us!" Bud cried out.
+
+Tom slammed shut the turbine throttle, bringing his craft to a gliding
+halt in the water. At the same time, he switched on the sonarphone.
+
+"Orders to Swift sub!" a voice barked over the set. "Surface and heave
+to! No tricks, or the next missile will not be across your bow!"
+
+Tom blew his tanks and sent the _Swiftsure_ spearing upward. As the
+conning tower broke water, Tom and his men swarmed up on deck. Seconds
+later, a sleek gray enemy submarine knifed into view. Its hatch opened
+and several men climbed out.
+
+To Tom's amazement, their leader was Samson Narko!
+
+Chow let out a yelp of rage. "Why, you sneakin', double-dyed,
+bushwhackin' polecat!" the old Westerner bellowed. "We shoulda kept you
+hawg-tied, 'stead o' lettin' you go free!"
+
+Narko ignored the outburst and raised a megaphone to his lips. "Hand
+over your cargo and do it quickly!"
+
+"What cargo?" Tom snapped back. "And what's the meaning of this outrage?
+You realize this is piracy?"
+
+"I realize you will wind up on the bottom at the slightest show of
+resistance!" Narko warned menacingly. "You know very well what cargo
+I refer to! Now do not try our patience!"
+
+  [Illustration (a submarine attacks the Swiftsure)]
+
+Tom and his crew pretended to put up a blustering, indignant front. Chow
+was especially convincing, with a blistering torrent of salty Texas
+invectives.
+
+Narko's only response was a barked-out order to his men in Brungarian.
+Quickly the enemy submarine maneuvered closer until the two craft were
+almost chockablock. Narko and his men then leaped aboard the
+_Swiftsure_, armed with sub-machine guns and automatics.
+
+"I'm warning you, Narko--" Tom began angrily. But Narko cut the young
+inventor short by a poke in his ribs with the gun muzzle, then issued
+orders to two of his men to go below.
+
+Moments later, Exman was being hauled up through the hatch and
+transferred aboard the raider. The Americans glared in angry silence.
+
+"Thanks so much, my stupid friends!" Narko taunted them with a jeering
+laugh. Then he followed his crewmen as the last one scrambled back to
+the enemy submarine.
+
+With laughs and waves, they disappeared into its conning tower. The
+hatch was clamped shut and the raider promptly submerged.
+
+Tom and his men were amazed, but delighted at not having been taken
+prisoner along with Exman. All of them broke into happy chuckles of
+relief.
+
+"Wow! That's what I call fast service!" Bud exclaimed.
+
+"It was sure a blamed sight easier'n I expected," Chow said. "Thought
+fer a while we might end up feedin' the fishes!"
+
+"You put on a real act, Chow!" Tom said, clapping the stout old cook on
+the back. "Well, they've taken the bait. Now let's hope it pays off--for
+us!"
+
+The Americans swarmed below again, closed the hatch, and submerged. Tom
+took his time in bringing the jet pumps up to speed. "Wonder if we
+should pretend to proceed on course, or turn around and head for home?"
+he murmured to Hank.
+
+Hank's reply was cut short by a yell from Hanson at the sonarphone.
+
+"Missile coming, skipper! Straight at us!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+A UNIQUE EXPERIMENT
+
+
+"Bearing?" Tom cried.
+
+"One-seven-five!" Arv Hanson sang out.
+
+Tom gunned his port jet turbine and swung the _Swiftsure_ hard right.
+The abrupt turn at high speed sent the craft sideslipping crazily like a
+skidding race boat.
+
+"Here she comes, skipper!" Bud yelled. He had rushed to the sonarscope
+with the other members of the crew.
+
+Tom's maneuver had carried them a good hundred yards off the missile's
+course. Now he yanked a lever, pulling the cadmium rods still farther
+from the atomic pile, in order to increase power and jet-blast their sub
+still farther out of range.
+
+But suddenly the men at the scope blanched. "The missile's turning too!"
+Hank cried. "It's homing in on us!"
+
+Unlike most Swift craft used on scientific expeditions, the cargo sub's
+hull had not been coated with Tomasite. This would have insulated it
+from all magnetic effects or any form of pulse detection. Tom had chosen
+the _Swiftsure_ partly for this very reason, so that the Brungarian
+rebels could easily pick up its trail after leaving Fearing.
+
+How ironic if his choice should prove fatal! As the thought flashed
+through Tom's brain, the missile came streaking into view through the
+sub's transparent nose.
+
+By this time, Tom had flipped up the _Swiftsure's_ diving planes. The
+craft plummeted deeper into the ocean depths.
+
+"Brand my whale blubber, she's turnin' again!" Chow gulped. The
+missile's arc, as it veered around to follow, painted a streak of light
+on the sonarscope.
+
+Anxious moments raced by while Tom steered their craft in a deadly game
+of tag with the sub-killer. Gradually the missile appeared to be losing
+momentum.
+
+"It's slowing down, all right!" Arv called out.
+
+In a few minutes the missile had lost so much way that Tom was easily
+able to outdistance it. The crew crowded to the scope, heaving sighs of
+relief. The missile, its velocity spent, sank harmlessly toward the
+bottom.
+
+"Boy, what a close call!" Bud gasped weakly. "You played that thing like
+a toreador sidestepping a bull, Tom! Nice going!"
+
+The others echoed Bud's sentiments, with fervent handshakes and
+backslaps for Tom's skillful evasive action.
+
+"Jest the same," said Chow, "I'd sure like to make Narko an' them
+Brungarian hoss thieves dance a Texas jig with a little hot lead sprayed
+around their boot heels! Sneakin' bushwhackers! It's jest like I told
+Hank about his airplane scheme--they'd try to gun us down, like as not,
+soon as they got their hands on Exman!"
+
+"I guess you had them figured right, Chow," Tom agreed wryly. "Well, at
+least we've lost their sub!"
+
+The Brungarian raider was no longer visible even as a faint blip on
+their radarscope. Evidently Narko had thought the jetmarine a sure
+victim and headed back to his own base.
+
+Nevertheless, Tom steered a wary zigzag course back to Fearing. When
+they arrived at the island, he immediately telephoned Bernt Ahlgren and
+Wes Norris in Washington to report the hijacking of the space brain.
+Both men praised the young inventor for his daring scheme to outwit the
+ruthless Brungarian rebel clique.
+
+"If your idea pays off, Tom, we should be able to checkmate every move
+those phonies and their allies make!" Norris declared.
+
+"I'm hoping we can do even better than that," Tom replied. "Part of my
+plan is to help the Brungarian loyalists through Exman's tip-offs. With
+some smart quarterbacking, we might be able to rally the rightful
+government before all resistance is crushed out."
+
+"Terrific!" Norris exclaimed. "Let's hope your scheme works!"
+
+Tom had ordered the space oscilloscopes to be manned constantly, both at
+Fearing and at Enterprises, in case of a flash from Exman. But no word
+had yet been received when Tom and his companions arrived at the
+mainland late that afternoon.
+
+Mr. Swift greeted his son warmly at the airfield. Tom had refrained from
+radioing the news to Enterprises after the hijacking and the missile
+attempt. Any such message, Tom feared, might be picked up by the enemy
+and bring on another attack. But the young inventor had telephoned his
+father immediately after calling Washington.
+
+Now Mr. Swift threw his arm affectionately around the lanky youth. "You
+look pretty well bushed, son. Why not hustle home and call it a day?
+That goes for the rest of you, too," he added to Bud, Chow, and the
+others. "You've just risked your lives and the strain is bound to tell."
+
+Tom urged his companions to comply. "But I'm sticking right here," the
+young inventor told his father. "I want to be on hand the minute Exman
+contacts us."
+
+Bud insisted upon staying with his pal. The two boys ate a quiet supper
+in Tom's private laboratory and finally lay down on cots in the
+adjoining apartment. But first Tom posted a night operator to watch the
+electronic brain.
+
+"Wake me up the second that alarm bell goes off," he ordered.
+
+"Okay, skipper," the radioman promised.
+
+No message arrived to disturb the boys' rest. Tom felt a pang of worry
+as he dressed the next morning, and then relieved the man on duty at the
+decoder. Had the Brungarians somehow outwitted him? Surely Exman should
+have reported by this time!
+
+"Relax, pal," Bud urged. "Our space chum's hardly had time to learn any
+secrets yet. Besides, those Brungarian scientists are probably giving
+him the once-over with all sorts of electronic doodads. Why risk sending
+a message till he has something important to tell us?"
+
+"That's true," Tom admitted.
+
+Chow brought in breakfast. "You jest tie into these vittles, boss, an'
+stop frettin'," the cook said soothingly. "I reckon Ole Think Box won't
+let us down."
+
+Tom sniffed the appetizing aroma of flapjacks and sausages. "Guess
+you're right, Chow," he said with a chuckle.
+
+As the boys ate hungrily, Tom's thoughts turned back to the problem of
+how to equip Exman with senses. He talked the project over with Bud.
+Most of his ideas were too technical for Bud to follow, but he listened
+attentively. He knew the young inventor found it helpful to have a
+"sounding board" for his ideas.
+
+"Too bad I didn't have time to tackle the job before Exman was
+kidnaped," Tom mused. "Think how much more he could learn with 'eyes'
+and 'ears'!"
+
+"Stop crabbing," Bud joked. "Isn't an electronic spy with a brain like
+Einstein's good enough?"
+
+Mr. Swift arrived at the laboratory an hour or so later. He found Tom
+setting up an experiment with a glass sphere to which were affixed six
+powerful electromagnets. Two shiny electrodes, with cables attached to
+their outer ends, had also been molded into the glass. Bud was looking
+on, wide-eyed.
+
+Tom explained to his father that he had blown the sphere himself,
+following a formula adapted from the quartz glass used for view panels
+in his space and undersea craft.
+
+"What's it for, son?" Mr. Swift asked, after studying the setup
+curiously.
+
+"Don't laugh, Dad, but I'm trying to produce a brain of pure energy. A
+substitute for Exman, so we can go ahead with our sensing experiments."
+
+Mr. Swift reacted with keen interest and offered to help. "But remember,
+son," he cautioned, "at best you can only hope to produce an ersatz
+brain energy--which will be vastly different from the real thing. Don't
+forget, Tom, the mind of a human being or any thinking inhabitant of our
+universe is based on a divine soul. No scientist must ever delude
+himself into thinking he can copy the work of our Creator."
+
+"I know that, Dad," Tom said soberly. "Man's work will always be a crude
+groping, compared to the miracles of Nature. All I'm hoping to come up
+with here is a sort of stimulus-response unit that we can use for
+testing any sensing apparatus we devise."
+
+The two scientists plunged into work. First, a bank of delicate gauges
+was assembled to record precisely every electrical reaction that took
+place inside the sphere. Then Tom threw a switch, shooting a powerful
+bolt of current across the electrodes. The field strength of the
+electromagnets, controlled by rheostats, instantly shaped the charge
+into a glowing ball of fire!
+
+"Wow! A real hothead!" Bud wisecracked, trying to hide his excitement.
+
+Tom grinned as he twirled several knobs and checked the gauges. The
+slightest variation in field strength triggered an instant response from
+the ball of energy. Mr. Swift tried exposing it to radio and repelatron
+waves. Each time the gauges showed a sensitive reaction.
+
+"Looks as if we're in business, Dad!" Tom said jubilantly.
+
+Bud left soon afterward as the two Swifts buckled down to work on the
+problem of perfecting an apparatus to simulate the human senses. Each
+concentrated on a different line of approach.
+
+At noon they broke off briefly for a lunch wheeled in by Chow. Then
+silence settled again over the laboratory.
+
+Tom had rigged up a jointed, clawlike mechanical arrangement with
+sensitive diaphragms in its "finger tips." The diaphragms were connected
+to a transistorized circuit designed to modulate the field current to
+the electromagnets.
+
+Suddenly the young inventor looked up at his father with a glow of
+triumph.
+
+"Dad, I just got a reaction to my sense-of-touch experiment!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+AN URGENT WARNING
+
+
+Mr. Swift looked on eagerly as Tom explained and demonstrated his touch
+apparatus. By moving a pantograph control, Tom was able to manipulate
+the claws like a hand with fingers. Whenever they touched any material,
+the brain gauges instantly registered an electrical reaction inside the
+sphere.
+
+The swing of a voltmeter needle showed how firmly the substance resisted
+the claw's touch, thus indicating its hardness or softness.
+
+"With a computer device, such as we planted in Exman," Tom went on, "the
+brain would also be able to assimilate the textural pattern of any
+substance."
+
+"Wonderful, son!" Mr. Swift exclaimed. "I hope I can do as well with
+this artificial sense of sight I'm working on."
+
+Another hour went by before Mr. Swift was ready to test his own
+arrangement.
+
+"You've probably heard of the experiments conducted with blind persons,"
+he told Tom. "By stimulating the right part of their brain with a lead
+from a cathode-ray-tube device, an awareness of light and dark can be
+restored."
+
+Tom nodded.
+
+"Well, I'm using the same principle," Mr. Swift went on, "but with a
+sort of television camera scanning setup."
+
+He asked Tom to draw the drapes and shut off the room lights, throwing
+the laboratory into complete darkness, except for the weirdly glowing
+"brain" in the glass sphere. Then Mr. Swift shone a flashlight at the
+scanner. The brain responded by glowing more brightly itself!
+
+Next, after the drapes were opened again and the overhead fluorescent
+lights switched on, Mr. Swift painted a pattern of black-and-white
+stripes on a large piece of cardboard. He held this up to the scanner.
+
+Visible ripples of brightness and less-brightness passed through the
+glowing ball of energy inside the sphere. It was reproducing the striped
+pattern!
+
+"Dad, that's amazing!" Tom said with real admiration.
+
+Mr. Swift shook his head. "Pretty crude, I'm afraid. The brain energy by
+itself can't take the place of a picture tube in a TV receiver. What we
+need is an analog computer to sum up the scanning pattern picked up by
+the camera tube and then pass this information along in code form."
+
+Before Tom could comment, the alarm bell rang on the electronic brain.
+The Swifts dropped everything and rushed to the machine.
+
+"Wonder if it's Exman?" Tom exclaimed.
+
+The answer was quickly revealed as the keys began punching out the
+incoming message on tape. At the same time, a flow of strange
+mathematical symbols flashed, one after another, on the lighted
+oscilloscope screen mounted above the keyboard.
+
+Tom and his father read the tape as it unreeled.
+
+    SPACE BEINGS TO SWIFTS. REQUEST INFORMATION ON PROGRESS AND
+    RESULTS OF ENERGY SENT TO YOUR PLANET.
+
+After a quick consultation with his father, Tom beamed out the reply:
+
+    WE ARE PLEASED WITH RESULTS SO FAR. FURTHER EXPERIMENTS NOW
+    GOING ON. REQUEST VISIT TO CONTINUE LONGER THAN TWENTY-ONE DAYS
+    AS PLANNED.
+
+Hopefully the Swifts stood by the machine. Would their space friends
+agree? As the minutes went by without a response coming through, father
+and son exchanged anxious glances.
+
+"They've _got_ to let Exman stay, Dad!" Tom said.
+
+Mr. Swift nodded. "I'm afraid, though, the space beings have decided
+otherwise. They--"
+
+He was interrupted by the ringing of the alarm bell. "Message, Dad!" Tom
+said tersely.
+
+A moment later they were overjoyed to see three words appear on the
+tape:
+
+    VISIT EXTENSION GRANTED.
+
+Relieved, the two scientists went back to work on their sensing
+experiments. Twenty minutes later the signal bell rang again on the
+electronic brain.
+
+"This time it _must_ be Exman!" Tom cried.
+
+The unreeling tape quickly bore out his guess.
+
+    EXMAN TO SWIFTS. TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR EARTHQUAKE UNDER HIGH LOYALTY.
+
+"What!" Tom stared at the tape, his brow creased in a puzzled frown.
+"That 'twenty-four-hour earthquake' bit must mean he's warning us that a
+quake will occur in twenty-four hours. But what about the rest of it?"
+
+"Hmm... 'Under high loyalty.'" Mr. Swift was as baffled as Tom. He
+studied the message for several minutes. It seemed highly unlikely that
+the electronic brain had made an error in decoding. Any new or
+untranslatable symbol caused a red light to flash on the machine.
+
+"I think the only thing we can do is signal Exman and ask for a
+clarification, Tom," Mr. Swift decided at last.
+
+Tom agreed. He beamed out a hasty code signal:
+
+    EXPLAIN MESSAGE.
+
+Seconds later came Exman's reply. It was identical with the first
+message:
+
+    TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR EARTHQUAKE UNDER HIGH LOYALTY.
+
+Tom and Mr. Swift stared at each other anxiously.
+
+"Good night, Dad! This is horrible!" Tom exclaimed. "Exman sends us
+ample warning of a disaster and we're stymied!"
+
+  [Illustration (Tom Jr. and Tom Sr. read a message from Exman)]
+
+"Hi! What's going on, you two?" asked a merry voice. "More heavy
+thinking?"
+
+Sandy Swift stood smiling in the doorway. The smile gave way to a look
+of concern as Tom explained the crisis.
+
+"How dreadful!" Sandy gasped. "We _must_ figure out what it means!...
+Wait a minute!"
+
+Tom looked at her expectantly. "Got an idea, Sis?"
+
+"Well..." The pretty, blond teen-ager hesitated. "You don't suppose
+Exman might have been translating some foreign words with a meaning
+similar to 'high loyalty'? For instance, high loyalty could mean 'good
+faith.' I know that in Latin 'good faith' would be _bona fide_."
+
+"Sandy! You've guessed it!" Tom crossed the room in a single bound, gave
+his sister a quick hug, and whirled her around. "Exman must mean the
+Bona Fide Submarine Building Corporation! He didn't dare risk telling us
+the exact translation."
+
+"Of course!" Mr. Swift was equally jubilant. But his face was grave as
+he added, "The company's located on the West Coast close to the San
+Andreas fault. Tom, a quake in that area could be devastating!"
+
+"You're right, Dad," the young inventor replied. "I'll call Dr. Miles
+and Bernt Ahlgren at once!"
+
+The telephone conversation that followed was grim with tension. Both
+government men begged Tom to take personal charge of the
+quake-deflection measures. Dr. Miles pointed out that tremors along the
+fault might trigger off a chain of quakes amounting to a national
+disaster.
+
+After a hasty discussion, Tom agreed that he should station himself at
+the Colorado site, rather than at the West Coast Quakelizor
+installation. This would give him broader scope for damping out shock
+waves across the continent.
+
+"I'll fly out immediately!" the young inventor promised.
+
+Ahlgren, meanwhile, would flash orders to the Bona Fide Company and to
+civilian officials to have the entire area evacuated as soon as
+possible.
+
+Hasty preparations were made for Tom's departure. He telephoned the
+airfield to have a jet plane with lifters readied for take-off. He also
+had Bud paged over the plant intercom. The copilot came on the run. When
+he heard the news, he was eager to accompany his pal.
+
+"Listen, you two! I insist you have something to eat before you leave!"
+Sandy declared.
+
+Tom was impatient over any delay. When Sandy proceeded to call Chow, the
+old Texan solved the problem by volunteering to go along as cook.
+
+A short time later Chow came jouncing out to the airfield astride a
+motor scooter, hauling a cart loaded with supplies.
+
+"Good grief!" Tom said, unable to suppress a grin. "We'll be back
+tomorrow, unless something goes wrong!"
+
+"Bring food--that's my motto," Chow retorted, "like any good cook."
+
+Minutes later, after a parting handshake from his father and a worried
+kiss from Sandy, Tom sent the sleek jet racing down the runway for
+take-off. Soon they were air-borne and heading westward. Chow served a
+tasty meal en route.
+
+It was still daylight when the jet landed vertically in the Colorado
+canyon. The government crew manning the installation, and the Swift
+technician who had relieved Art Wiltessa as trouble shooter on the
+setup, greeted them eagerly.
+
+"Looks as if we're in for a real test, Tom," said Mike Burrows, the
+engineer in charge.
+
+"Let's hope we pass!" said Tom, holding up crossed fingers.
+
+He checked every detail of the Quakelizor, power plant, and the
+communications gear. He opened an inspection panel in each of the
+dual-control spheres and tuned the kinetic-hydraulic units so as to
+step up the working pressure of the four powerful drivers.
+
+"Well, all we can do now is wait," the young inventor muttered, wiping
+his arm across his forehead.
+
+Tom passed the night in a fitful sleep, half expecting to be wakened at
+any moment by the stand-by crew on watch. No alarm occurred, however.
+
+Dawn broke, and Chow delighted all hands with a hearty breakfast of
+bacon, eggs, and corn fritters. More hours of waiting dragged by.
+
+"What time do you think the attack will occur?" Bud asked.
+
+Tom shrugged. "The 'twenty-four-hour' business may have been
+approximate. But I'd say from two o'clock on is the danger period."
+
+The young inventor checked frequently with Washington and the other
+crews stationed around the country. Suddenly the radiotelephone operator
+gave a yell.
+
+"Your father is on the line, skipper!"
+
+The scientist was calling from the receiver-computer headquarters at
+Enterprises. "Exman has reported a quake pulse will be sent in seven
+minutes--at 21.36 G.M.T."
+
+"I'm ready, Dad," Tom said, then asked for various technical details
+before hanging up.
+
+He passed the word to the crew and glanced at his watch. A hasty,
+last-moment inspection was carried out, every man checking certain
+details of the setup.
+
+Soon the pulsemakers began ticking inside the dual-control spheres as
+they picked up the frequency signal by radio. Tom studied the gauge
+dials.
+
+Tension mounted rapidly among the waiting group. The same thought was
+throbbing through every mind:
+
+_Was the nation on the brink of a terrible disaster? Or would Tom
+Swift's invention safeguard the threatened area?_
+
+As the deadline approached, Tom pushed a button. The mighty hydraulic
+drivers throbbed into action, sending out their pulse waves across the
+continent!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+EARTHQUAKE ISLAND
+
+
+Now came the hardest part of all for Tom and his companions--waiting to
+learn if the shock deflectors had succeeded in blotting out the enemy
+quake wave.
+
+No one spoke. As the silence deepened inside the cave, the suspense
+became almost unbearable. Minutes passed.
+
+"When will we know, skipper?" a crewman ventured at last.
+
+"Soon, I hope," Tom replied tersely.
+
+But the waiting seemed endless. Bud's eyes met Tom's. The flier grinned
+and held up crossed fingers, just as Tom had done to Mike Burrows the
+previous evening. Tom managed a feeble grin in response.
+
+Suddenly the telephone shrilled, shattering the silence of the cave. Tom
+snatched it from the radioman's hands.
+
+"Tom Swift here!... Yes?... Thank heavens! I guess we can all be
+grateful, Dr. Miles!"
+
+"Providence protected us, I'm sure, Tom," the seismologist replied at
+the other end of the line. "But in this instance it worked through Tom
+Swift's Quakelizors! The Bona Fide plant and the surrounding area never
+even felt the tremor--your quake deflectors worked perfectly!"
+
+There was no need to tell the others. Tom's words on the telephone and
+the grin on his face told the story. A spontaneous volley of cheers
+echoed through the cave as he hung up. Then the crew crowded around to
+slap Tom on the back and shake his hand.
+
+"I hope the whole country learns what you've done, Tom," Mike Burrows
+said. "If it doesn't, I'll be the first to spread the word as soon as
+the secrecy lid's taken off!"
+
+"Shucks, I knew all along Tom's contraption would do the trick!" Chow
+boasted, glowing with pride over his young boss's achievement.
+
+Tom could only smile happily. "Guess we can go home now," he said to Bud
+and Chow.
+
+They were preparing to leave when another flash from Washington came
+over the radiotelephone. A ship's captain, five hundred miles out on the
+Pacific, had just reported sighting a great waterspout, accompanied by
+considerable wave turbulence.
+
+"It could have been the spot where the enemy shock waves and our
+deflector waves met and damped out," Tom commented.
+
+"Dr. Miles thinks so, too," the caller said.
+
+Soon the sleek Swift jet was arrowing back across the continent. En
+route, Tom radioed word of his latest triumph to Mr. Swift. As always,
+he used the automatic scramblers to make sure any enemy eavesdroppers
+would pick up only static.
+
+"Great work, son!" Mr. Swift congratulated Tom. "I was confident you
+could handle the situation with your Quakelizors."
+
+"Thanks, Dad. See you soon."
+
+When the jet finally landed at Enterprises and came to a halt on the
+runway, the control tower operator spoke over the radio.
+
+"Harlan Ames would like to see Tom Jr. at the security building. He left
+word just a few minutes ago."
+
+"Roger!" Tom replied.
+
+Chow frugally carted off his leftover supplies. Tom and Bud, meanwhile,
+went by jeep across the plant grounds to security headquarters.
+
+Ames greeted the two boys enthusiastically. "Nice going on that
+earthquake situation, Tom!" he said. "And now I have some more good
+news. We've just nabbed the man who imitated your father's voice over
+the phone the other night."
+
+"What!" Both boys were excited, and Tom added eagerly, "Who is he?"
+
+"An actor at the Shopton summer playhouse."
+
+"How did you find out?" Tom asked.
+
+"I had a hunch," Ames went on. "If the impersonator wasn't a plant
+employee at Enterprises, then he had to be a person with a trained
+voice. That gave me the idea of checking on all actors and station
+announcers here in the vicinity. It paid off right away. The guy's name
+is Brent Nolan."
+
+"Have you questioned him yet?" Tom asked.
+
+"I'm about to," Ames replied. "Radnor just brought him in."
+
+The security chief led the way into an adjoining office. A slender,
+good-looking young man with blond wavy hair was seated on a chair with
+Phil Radnor on one side of him and a Shopton police officer on the
+other. The actor was visibly nervous and perspiring.
+
+"This is Tom Swift Jr.," Ames told him. "Brent Nolan."
+
+Nolan nodded. "Yes, I've seen your picture in the papers many times."
+The actor tried to force a smile but his face muscles twitched.
+"I--I seem to have pulled a pretty dumb stunt by faking that phone
+call from your father. I'm sorry."
+
+"What was the reason?" Tom asked.
+
+Nolan fingered his wavy blond hair uneasily and swallowed hard. "A man
+named Professor Runkle paid me to do it."
+
+"Professor Runkle?" Tom frowned. The name seemed vaguely familiar.
+
+"He spoke with a foreign accent. Said he was doing research at Grandyke
+University," Nolan explained. "He told me you might be expecting a rare
+biological specimen from the East Indies. He said both of you were eager
+to get hold of it for research purposes, but he was afraid that you had
+outbid him. However, if he asked you straight out, you would guard the
+secret very jealously. So he hired me to find out."
+
+"Didn't it occur to you he might be an espionage agent?" Ames asked
+coldly.
+
+Nolan seemed shocked. "Believe me, I had no such idea!" he averred.
+"Runkle seemed pleasant. He said it all was merely a short cut to save
+him from wasting any more time on the project. If Tom Swift had the
+specimen, he would quit. I--I guess I'm a little bit vain about the way
+I can mimic voices, and this gave me a chance to show off. Besides,
+I saw no harm in doing it."
+
+"No harm?" Bud snorted. "You had Swift Enterprises in a real lather when
+we found out."
+
+Nolan spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "I'm truly sorry," he
+repeated.
+
+"How were you able to find out how my father's voice sounded?" Tom
+asked.
+
+"I listened to a recording of a speech he made at the Fourth of July
+rally here in Shopton," Nolan explained. "I borrowed the tape from a
+local radio station. Guess that's how your security men got onto me."
+
+"What did this fellow Runkle look like?" Ames asked.
+
+Nolan thought for a moment. "Oh, he was past middle age, I should say.
+Grizzled hair, thick-lensed glasses. And he was quite heavy-set."
+
+"Hmm. Then it certainly wasn't Narko," Ames murmured to Tom.
+
+The young inventor nodded. "I believe I know him. The name just came
+back to me. I met a Professor Runkle in New York about a month ago, at a
+scientific convention. He was a member of the visiting Brungarian
+delegation."
+
+"We'll check on him," Ames promised. He turned back sternly to the young
+actor. "All right, Nolan, I guess you can go. But I warn you--no more
+impersonations."
+
+After more flustered apologies, the actor hurried out, obviously
+relieved.
+
+"What a dumb egg he is!" Bud muttered.
+
+"In a way he may have helped us," Tom pointed out. "If the Brungarian
+rebels hadn't found out about Exman, we couldn't have lured them into
+that kidnap plot. It's already helped us to save the Bona Fide Submarine
+Building Corporation."
+
+Monday morning Ames reported that Professor Runkle had left the country.
+Tom was not sorry, since an arrest and public trial might have led to
+dangerous publicity about Exman. The probings of a sharp-tongued defense
+attorney might even have tipped off the Brungarian to Tom's real purpose
+in letting the space brain be hijacked.
+
+Meanwhile, a telephone call from Washington announced that State
+Department men were flying to Enterprises to confer with the Swifts
+about taking official action against the Brungarian attacks. The group
+arrived by jet after lunch. Thurston of the CIA was also present.
+
+"The problem is this," a State Department official said as they
+discussed the matter in the Swifts' office. "Should we bring charges
+against Brungaria before the United Nations? Or should we rely on other
+means, short of war, to block the Brungarian rebel coup?"
+
+Mr. Swift frowned thoughtfully. "It might be difficult to prove they
+were responsible for the earthquake attacks," he pointed out.
+
+"I'd say it's impossible," Tom said, "unless we give away the secret
+about our electronic spy." He paused, then added, "Sir, if the State
+Department will agree, I'd like more time before you make any official
+moves."
+
+The Quakelizors, Tom argued, seemed to offer protection against any
+future quake waves, unless the power of the shocks was greatly stepped
+up. Meantime, working through Exman, Tom might be able to provide the
+Brungarian loyalists with valuable information. "I'm hoping it will help
+them overthrow the rebel clique and their brutal allied military
+bosses."
+
+The State Department men conferred, then Thurston spoke up quietly, "In
+our opinion, it's worth a gamble."
+
+After the group had left, the Swifts resumed their sensing experiments
+in Tom's private laboratory. They were hard at work when the signal bell
+suddenly rang on the electronic brain.
+
+The two scientists rushed to read the incoming message. It said:
+
+    EXMAN TO SWIFTS. ONE ENEMY EARTHQUAKE PRODUCER IS AT...
+
+Here the message gave precise latitude and longitude figures. It went
+on:
+
+    RUIN OF SWIFT PLACE IN ONE WEEK.
+
+Tom and his father gasped in dismay. "I thought the New York-New England
+Quakelizor was going to protect us!" the young inventor exclaimed. "Our
+enemies must have located another earth fault with Enterprises right in
+its path!"
+
+Hastily opening an atlas, Tom fingered the location of the proposed
+source of attack. It was Balala Island off the coast of Peru.
+
+"Dad, that settles it!" Tom declared grimly. "It's clear now that those
+Brungarian rebels want to destroy us and use Exman in some way to
+conquer the earth!"
+
+"I don't doubt that you're right, son," Mr. Swift said grimly. "We must
+act fast! But how?"
+
+Again, the signal bell interrupted. This time, Exman gave a number of
+military details, evidently picked up from orders issuing from
+Brungarian rebel headquarters. They concerned incoming troop movements
+from the north and operational plans for crushing out the last pockets
+of resistance by loyal government forces.
+
+Tom recorded them with TV tape, then snatched up the telephone and
+called the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington. He relayed the
+information from Exman and asked if American agents could transmit it to
+the loyalists.
+
+"Don't worry. We'll see that it reaches them," the CIA chief assured Tom.
+"Many thanks. This _could_ have important consequences."
+
+As Tom hung up he decided on a bold move. "Dad, I'm going to lead a raid
+on Balala!"
+
+"A raid!" The elder scientist was electrified.
+
+"According to the atlas, the island is barren and deserted," Tom said,
+"so no friendly power will object if we land there. If it's being used
+as an enemy base for quake attacks against our country, we have every
+right to investigate. I might be able to learn the secret of the
+setup--perhaps even put the equipment out of commission."
+
+"Nevertheless, a raid by a United States force could lead to trouble if
+the base there puts up any resistance," Mr. Swift said gravely.
+
+"That's why I intend to handle it myself," Tom declared. "I'll take all
+responsibility."
+
+Tom Sr.'s eyes flashed as he recalled some of his own hair-raising
+exploits in younger days. "All right, son," he said, putting a hand on
+Tom's shoulder. "I know I can trust your judgment. Good luck!"
+
+Again Tom issued a call for volunteers. Bud, Hank Sterling, Arv Hanson,
+and Chow were all eager to take part. Within an hour they were taking
+off for Fearing. At the rocket base, they embarked in the _Sea Hound_,
+Tom's favorite model of his diving seacopter. A powerful central rotor
+with reversible-pitch blades, spun by atomic turbines, enabled the craft
+to rise through the air or descend into the deepest abysses of the
+ocean. Propulsion jets gave it high speed in either medium.
+
+Loaded with equipment, the _Sea Hound_ streaked southward through the
+skies--first to Florida, then across the Gulf and Central America into
+the Pacific. Here Tom eased down to the surface of the water and
+submerged.
+
+It was near midnight when the _Sea Hound_ rose from the depths just off
+Balala. The lonely rocky island lay outlined like a huddled black mass
+against the star-flecked southern sky. No glimmer of light showed
+anywhere ashore.
+
+"Maybe no one's here," Bud murmured.
+
+"Don't bank on that," Tom said. "They wouldn't be apt to advertise their
+presence to passing ships or planes."
+
+Tom nosed inshore as closely as he dared from sonar soundings, finally
+easing the _Sea Hound_ up to a rocky reef that fingered out from the
+beach. Then he, Bud, Hank, and Arv clambered out, armed with wrecking
+tools and powerful flashlights.
+
+Chow, in spite of his muttered grumblings, was ordered to stay aboard
+and guard the ship with the other two crewmen who had come along.
+
+Tom led his party cautiously ashore from the reef. They probed the
+darkness of the beach. Their footfalls sounded eerily in the night
+silence, broken only by the soughing of the sea wind and splash of
+breakers.
+
+"Good place for spooks!" Bud whispered jokingly.
+
+A steep draw led upward among the rocky slopes. A hundred feet on, Tom's
+group found the black yawning mouth of a cave. The yellow beams of their
+flashlights revealed a tunnel leading downward inside. Tom checked with
+a pocket detector. Its gauge needle showed no field force caused by
+electrical equipment in operation.
+
+"Okay, let's go in!" Tom murmured.
+
+Cautiously they moved into the tunnel. Then suddenly ahead of them a
+powerful dazzling light burst on, nearly blinding the searchers!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+A FIENDISH MACHINE
+
+
+A chill of fear gripped Tom and his companions as they blinked
+helplessly in the glare! Had the enemy detected them the first moment
+they had set foot on Balala Island? Had they walked blindly into a trap?
+
+Gradually Tom's eyes and those of his friends adjusted to the dazzling
+radiance. A door, blocking the tunnel just ahead, had slid open and the
+light was pouring out of a room beyond.
+
+"What happened?" Arv gasped.
+
+Tom pointed downward to a pedallike plunger inserted in the tunnel
+floor. "This must be a switch," he explained. "When I stepped on it
+accidentally, it must have opened the door and flashed on the lights."
+
+Bud whistled. "Wow! Let's be thankful it wasn't a booby trap!"
+
+"Maybe it is," murmured Hank grimly.
+
+Steeling their nerves, and with every sense alert, the searchers
+advanced into the secret room.
+
+Tom suddenly gave a cry of amazement. "The earthquake machine!"
+
+A huge hydraulic device, with massive steel bed and supporting pillars,
+looking somewhat like the enormous body presses found in automobile
+plants, stood embedded in a recess in one wall.
+
+Tom rushed to the machine and examined it in fascination. A powerful
+diesel generator stood nearby with banks of complicated electrical
+equipment, amid a spider-web tangle of wiring. Tom assumed this gear was
+for timing and synchronizing the shock waves. Evidently the whole setup
+was operated from a single control panel in the wall, studded with knobs
+and dials.
+
+"What a job of design!" Tom exclaimed in awe. His eyes roved over every
+detail of the equipment while he poked here and there with his hands. He
+was getting the "feel" of the setup almost as much by touch and handling
+as by his superb technical intuition. "Boy, I hate to admire anything
+those Brungarian rebel scientists do, but this is really masterful!"
+
+"Yes? Well, don't go ga-ga over it," said Bud. "Let's do what we came to
+do and scram out of here. This place makes me jumpy!"
+
+Tom appeared oblivious. "It seems like vandalism to wreck such an
+engineering achievement! Also, and this may sound strange to you," he
+went on in a doubtful tone, "are we _really_ justified in taking the law
+into our own hands?"
+
+"They're trying to wreck _our_ setup, aren't they?" Bud retorted. "Think
+of the destruction they've caused already! Do you want to stand by and
+see Enterprises destroyed too?"
+
+"Bud's right," Hank Sterling spoke up quietly. "Take a look at this."
+
+He beckoned them over to another corner of the cave and pointed to a
+series of notations, crudely scrawled in white chalk on the cave wall.
+Half hidden behind a clump of rock, they would have escaped casual
+notice.
+
+Tom read them and gave an angry gasp. A list of places and dates,
+already checked off, showed the quakes that had occurred so far. The
+last notation, not yet checked, said: SWIFT ENTERPRISES and was dated
+five days ahead.
+
+"Okay, that's all the convincing I need!" Tom said grimly.
+
+He issued quick orders. Hank and Arv were to rush back to the _Sea
+Hound_, get an underwater pump from the gear carried aboard, and install
+it just off the beach. From there, they were to run a pipe line up into
+the cave, using special plastic tubing which hooked together in a jiffy.
+
+"Cover the piping with sand and gravel, so it won't be noticed," Tom
+added. "In the meantime, Bud and I will go to work on this setup here."
+
+"Aye-aye, skipper!" Hank and Arv responded.
+
+As they hurried out through the tunnel, Tom and Bud set to work with the
+tools they had brought along. The diesel was partly dismantled, sand
+poured into its fuel feed, and the generator windings ripped out. The
+boys then tore off and tangled all wiring leads to the electrical
+equipment, took apart much of the equipment itself, and smashed the
+control panel.
+
+"Boy, if those Brungarian creeps get this setup working again, they're
+_really_ geniuses!" Bud said as he and Tom paused a second.
+
+"This is only the beginning, pal!" Tom said. "Let's tackle the machine!"
+
+The huge earthquake device was a far more difficult proposition to
+disable. Its heavy structural parts had to be disassembled or pried
+apart, one by one. Both boys were streaked with sweat as they finished.
+
+By this time, Hank and Arv had the piping installed halfway into the
+tunnel. Spurred on as if by a sixth sense of danger, Tom told them to go
+back to the beach and get the pump working while he and Bud connected
+the few remaining pipe lengths into the machine room.
+
+Minutes later, their job done, Tom and Bud rushed out to the mouth of
+the cave and waved their flashlights. Soon the water could be heard
+boiling through the pipeline. It gushed out with a roar, flooding the
+machine room.
+
+"Let's go!" Tom cried, yanking Bud's arm.
+
+As they reached the beach and joined Hank and Arv, Tom's keen ears
+picked up the drone of a plane somewhere in the darkness.
+
+He gave a yell of alarm and pointed skyward. A ghostlike jet came
+zooming into view, boring straight toward them. All four broke into a
+mad dash for the seacopter.
+
+They were halfway out on the reef when the plane leveled out of its dive
+with an earsplitting whine.
+
+"Hide!" Tom shouted, fearing a bomb might be dropped.
+
+  [Illustration
+   (Tom and friends are attacked by a ray gun from an airplane)]
+
+All leaped for cover among the rocks. At the same instant, a fiery beam
+like a bolt of lightning shot from the plane. It seared the spot on the
+reef they had just vacated!
+
+"A ray gun!" Bud gasped.
+
+The plane's speed had already carried it far past the island. Before it
+could maneuver around for another pass, Tom and his companions were on
+their feet, racing for the safety of the _Sea Hound_.
+
+They were aboard and clamping shut the hatch lid as the jet made its
+second pass. This time its fiery ray glanced harmlessly off the
+seacopter's Tomasite sheathing. Seconds later, the _Sea Hound_ had
+darted off beyond reach into the ocean waters.
+
+"Whew! We really broke all speed records that time!" Arv panted.
+
+The others looked at him with wan but triumphant grins. Then they began
+to speculate on what the beamlike bolt was, who was in the plane, and if
+their enemy knew who Tom's group were.
+
+Dawn was streaking the sky when the seacopter arrived at Fearing Island.
+The adventurers flew back to Enterprises at once. Tom and Bud snatched a
+few hours' sleep in the apartment adjoining Tom's laboratory.
+
+Later in the morning the whole group gathered in Tom's laboratory to
+recount the raid to Mr. Swift and Harlan Ames. A bell signal from the
+electronic brain brought them rushing to the decoder. Grim news awaited
+them. The message said:
+
+    EXMAN TO SWIFTS. YOUR ENEMIES ARE NOW SURE I AM SPY. THEY PLAN
+    TO DESTROY ME.
+
+"No! It mustn't happen!" Tom cried in dismay. "Dad, I'll rescue him
+myself!"
+
+His words were greeted with shocked protests from the others.
+
+"Don't be crazy!" Bud said. "You wouldn't have a chance!"
+
+"It would be suicide!" Arv Hanson declared.
+
+Chow grabbed his young boss by the arm. "Brand my cayenne pepper, before
+I'd let you make a blame fool move like that, I'd rope an' hawg-tie you
+myself!"
+
+Ames interjected the most convincing argument. "I know how you feel,
+Tom," he said sympathetically, "but I'm positive the United States
+government would never permit such a risky undertaking."
+
+Tom was beside himself with anxiety. Not only had he worked and
+struggled to make the space brain's visit a scientific success, but also
+it was he who had thought of the scheme to use Exman as a spy. In Tom's
+eyes, if the Brungarian rebels were to destroy the brain's body, it
+would amount to murder! The young inventor knew that the destruction of
+the "body" would not destroy the energy, but that it would be "lost" as
+far as the earth was concerned.
+
+Who knew, Tom asked himself, what priceless secrets the "brain" might
+ultimately yield to earth's scientific researchers? If the Brungarians
+were to succeed, this might deter the Swifts' space friends from ever
+attempting another visit to our planet!
+
+In despair, Tom turned to his father. "You know how much is at stake,
+Dad!" he pleaded. "Isn't there something we can do?"
+
+Mr. Swift had been silent, thoughtfully drumming his pencil on the
+workbench. He looked up.
+
+"Tom, I can think of only one thing," he said. "Perhaps our friends on
+Planet X can help us. They said they would have no control over the
+energy until it was ready to return home. But maybe we can get them to
+help us transfer the energy back here--not by any means of earth
+transportation, but by some extraterrestrial means known to their
+scientists."
+
+Tom's eyes kindled with hope. "Dad, that's a terrific idea!" he
+exclaimed. "Let's try!"
+
+A message was quickly beamed out into space. Minutes went by. Then the
+machine signaled a reply. It said:
+
+    WE WILL ATTEMPT RESCUE IF YOU WILL ARC A POWERFUL RADIO BEAM
+    FROM POINT OF ORIGINAL EARTH LANDING TO POINT WHERE ENERGY IS
+    NOW.
+
+Moments later, a further message followed, giving technical instructions
+on how to project the beam. It ended:
+
+    NOTIFY US WHEN SETUP IS READY.
+
+"Yahoo!" Chow whooped. "Brand my space guns, I reckon we'll get Ole
+Think Box home safe after all!"
+
+"He's not home yet, Chow," Tom cautioned, grinning but still tense with
+worry. "Glad you said that, though. It reminds me that the first job on
+our hands is to build a new think box for Exman!"
+
+With hope alive, Tom turned icy calm and buckled down to the work at
+hand. Before beginning construction of a new space robot, he contacted
+Exman via the electronic brain and asked him for his exact location in
+Brungaria. The answer came in precise latitude and longitude.
+
+Next, Tom radioed instructions for the rescue plan. As soon as Exman was
+notified that the invisible force from Planet X was ready to transport
+his energy, he was to unlatch point five of his star head. He would then
+be free to attach his energy to the rescue beam and be arced back to the
+hillside spot near Enterprises, where Tom would have a new robot body
+waiting.
+
+Exman replied tersely:
+
+    MESSAGE UNDERSTOOD. WILL COMPLY.
+
+Tom snapped out orders. "Hank! Arv! Bud! And, Dad, we can sure use your
+help too! Every hour may be precious! We must construct a replica of
+Exman's robot container as fast as possible!"
+
+Every resource of Swift Enterprises was convulsed into action. But for
+all their scientific miracles, the staff could not perform magic. The
+complicated robot device required hours of highly skilled construction.
+
+Darkness had fallen by the time the energy container was ready.
+Meanwhile, a powerful transmitter and directional antenna had been set
+up at the hillside spot. Extensive reports on the condition of the
+ionosphere poured into headquarters.
+
+The Swifts and their small group of trusted associates trucked the new
+robot and the electronic brain out to the site. Tom then signaled his
+space friends that he was ready. They responded with the exact time for
+the rescue attempt. Tom transmitted the information to Exman, who
+replied:
+
+    DANGER NEAR. BRUNGARIAN SCIENTISTS READY TO DESTROY ME.
+
+"Great bellowin' buffaloes!" Chow gulped. "Please make it quick, Tom! We
+got to save that space critter!"
+
+Tom glanced at his illuminated watch dial. The countdown ticked by.
+Suddenly his hand closed a switch, transmitting the rescue beam. More
+moments passed as the Swifts and the watchers strained their eyes toward
+the night sky.
+
+"Here it comes!" Bud yelled suddenly.
+
+A fiery bluish-white light had suddenly flamed into view. It grew
+steadily larger. Tom poised the container and opened one point of the
+star head.
+
+Now the blue fireball was arcing down over the hillside, trailing its
+orange-red comet tail. It hissed into the container and Tom snapped shut
+the star head.
+
+The next moment, the young inventor wavered and slumped unconscious!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE ROBOT SPY'S STORY
+
+
+"Tom!" his father cried. Anxiously the others crowded around the lanky
+young inventor, who had fallen beside the new robot.
+
+"Stand back! Give him air!" Bud urged. "How is he, Mr. Swift?"
+
+The elder scientist was feeling Tom's wrist. "His pulse is beating, but
+it's a bit weak. He must have received a terrific shock from all that
+energy!... Tom!... Tom, son, can you hear me?"
+
+The young inventor moaned and stirred faintly but his eyes did not open.
+His cheeks and lips seemed colorless in the glow of Mr. Swift's
+flashlight. Chow was terrified, hovering about helplessly.
+
+"I'll call Doc Simpson to bring a pulmotor!" Hank exclaimed.
+
+"Yes, do, Hank!" Mr. Swift pleaded. "Quick!"
+
+An ambulance arrived a few minutes later. Doc Simpson and an attendant
+leaped out, and the resuscitation equipment--specially designed by the
+Swifts for their plant infirmary--was hastily unloaded.
+
+Anxious moments followed, but finally Tom began to respond to the
+treatment. Soon his eyes were open and he regained full consciousness.
+As Doc held a paper cup of water for him to sip, Tom smiled wanly.
+
+"Okay." he murmured, "I'm all right now. Sorry if I scared you, Dad." He
+started to get up.
+
+"It's a hospital bed for you, skipper. And no arguments!" Doc Simpson
+said sternly. "What happened here?"
+
+"I believe," Mr. Swift answered, "that our space friends, in finding a
+way to move the energy back to us, had less close control over it on
+earth than when they sent it from space."
+
+By midmorning the next day, Tom had awakened refreshed from a good
+night's sleep and felt normal again. Over Doc Simpson's protests, he
+insisted upon dressing and hurrying over to his laboratory.
+
+Here he found his father working intently amid a jumble of mechanical
+parts, tools, and electronic equipment. Nearby stood Exman with a panel
+open in his upper body, exposing the controls and output equipment.
+
+"Hi, Dad!" Tom exclaimed as he strode into the laboratory. "What's doing
+with Ole Think Box?"
+
+Mr. Swift looked up with a smile of relief. "'Morning, son! All well
+again? That's wonderful! I'm just giving Exman an artificial speech
+mechanism. He's already briefed us via the electronic brain on the
+situation in Brungaria. But I thought it would be even better if he
+could tell us in person."
+
+Details on the earthquake plot, Mr. Swift went on, had already been
+reported to the Defense Department. Tom's raid on Balala Island had
+effectively blocked further quake attempts.
+
+The Brungarian rebels had become enraged by their failure to extract
+Exman's secrets, and had decided to disintegrate the robot creature and
+its brain energy. But the youthful Brungarian loyalist group had kept
+them so busy with resistance outbreaks that they had delayed too long.
+
+"Lucky thing!" Tom put in with an affectionate grin at Exman. "If they
+had started to destroy him half an hour sooner, it might have been
+pretty sad for Ole Think Box!"
+
+Tom was intrigued by his father's design for an artificial speech
+mechanism. After talking it over, they decided that Tom would go to work
+on a central computer device to integrate all the senses. He would also
+provide Exman with "ears," which would be sound-reception equipment. Mr.
+Swift, meanwhile, would continue work on the speech mechanism and also
+perfect the seeing equipment he had started earlier.
+
+The day sped by as the two Swifts worked with feverish intensity. Lunch
+was eaten from their workbenches, but the inventors reluctantly halted
+at dinnertime.
+
+After a tasty meal of fried chicken at home with Mrs. Swift and Sandy,
+both Toms returned to the plant. Father and son labored until well past
+midnight on their experiments. Then they snatched a few hours of sleep
+and resumed their tasks early the next morning.
+
+By early afternoon an atmosphere of excitement pervaded Enterprises. The
+visitor from Planet X would soon be able to communicate directly with
+his earth friends! Bud, Chow, Hank Sterling, Arv Hanson, and Art
+Wiltessa gathered in the laboratory, along with several other Swift key
+men. Mrs. Swift, Sandy, and Phyl also arrived to watch.
+
+At last the sensing equipment was completed and installed. Exman was
+ready to speak!
+
+His voice came out haltingly, but as the words were selected from a vast
+taped collection, they were clear and bold:
+
+    GREETINGS TO YOU, MY EARTH FRIENDS!
+
+Sandy gave a squeal of delight and the room echoed with applause for
+Exman's first effort. After a few adjustments, he was able to speak more
+freely and smoothly.
+
+Tom whispered to Phyl, "Confidentially, we had a dummy run before
+lunchtime. At first, all Exman could do was croak like a frog."
+
+Phyl, thrilled by the spectacle of a speaking space creature, gave the
+young inventor's hand a squeeze. "Tom, he's just wonderful!"
+
+Tom agreed. "Our country owes him a lot for exposing the Brungarian
+rebel schemes."
+
+To Tom's amazement, Exman's "ears" picked up his murmured words, even
+above the babble of the spectators crowding the room.
+
+"Your country owes you much, Tom Swift," the creature said. "You
+conceived the idea of an electronic spy and found ways to block the
+rebels' destructive earthquake plans."
+
+As Tom flushed at the crowd's applause, Exman continued, "Unless I am
+mistaken, you will soon learn that you have accomplished even more."
+
+Tom was mystified by this. Meanwhile, the spectators listened spellbound
+as Exman went on talking, telling what he had learned of the valiant
+resistance efforts to overthrow the Brungarian rebels.
+
+A short time later the telephone rang. Tom answered, and the operator
+informed him that John Thurston of Central Intelligence was calling.
+
+"Great news, Tom," the CIA man said. "We've just learned that the
+rightful Brungarian government forces have struck hard in the capital
+city and at half a dozen other points. The rebel puppets and their
+troops have been crushed completely!"
+
+Tom was enthusiastic over the news.
+
+"That's not all," Thurston went on. "In case you don't realize it, the
+information which you supplied by means of your electronic spy is
+chiefly what enabled the government forces to win out. They've promised
+to dismantle the rebels' other two earthquake bases."
+
+As Tom hung up and relayed the electrifying news, Bud and the others
+burst into cheers.
+
+"It is all due to Tom Swift and his secret assistant," Exman said.
+
+Tom was puzzled by the remark but had no time to ask what he meant as
+the people in the room crowded around to shake his hand. Mr. and Mrs.
+Swift smiled proudly at their son's latest triumph. Phyl and Sandy
+expressed their feelings by giving Tom a quick kiss.
+
+"Hey! Where do I come in?" Bud protested.
+
+Before the girls could answer, the door of the laboratory opened and
+Harlan Ames walked in, accompanied by a lean, gray-eyed young man with
+dark close-cropped hair. _Samson Narko!_
+
+Chow let out a yelp of rage. "Why, brand my sagebrush hash, it's that
+double-crossin' Brungarian--"
+
+"Hold it, Chow!" Ames cut short the outburst. "Allow me to introduce one
+of America's most effective counterespionage agents, Mr. Samson Narko!"
+
+Tom and his friends were astounded. Narko himself smiled somewhat
+uncomfortably. "I can imagine how you all feel--you especially, Tom.
+But, believe me, I could not risk pulling my punches even when it put
+you all in grave peril, such as when I fired that missile across the bow
+of your sub. I could only hope that Tom Swift would succeed in eluding
+us."
+
+Ames quickly briefed the others on Narko's background. Brungarian-born,
+he had received his engineering training in the United States and had
+learned to love America. When he saw his own country threatened by the
+forces of dictatorship, he had secretly offered his services to the CIA
+against the rebels. Soon afterward, the agency had approached him to
+become a counterspy.
+
+"I dared not relax from my role as a spy for a moment," Narko added.
+"I even grabbed the chance to plant that cache of firearms in Latty's
+cellar to convince any rebel agents who might be watching me that I was
+on their side. Tom, the rebels gave me the job of hijacking your space
+robot. But, going on the brief messages that the CIA was able to get
+through to me, I guessed that you were using it as bait."
+
+"I guess we all owe _you_ an apology," Tom said. "And our thanks. We
+were lucky to have you on our side."
+
+"He saved the lives of a number of loyalist prisoners and gave the
+government forces some vital tip-offs of his own," Ames added.
+
+As Tom shook hands with Narko, the young Brungarian said warmly, "It is
+good to know that Tom Swift is my friend." With a chuckle, Narko added,
+"I know from experience that you certainly make a dangerous enemy!"
+
+As the others gathered around to speak to Samson Narko and add their
+friendly congratulations, Bud slapped Tom on the back.
+
+"Well, skipper, what's next on the schedule?"
+
+For a moment Tom did not reply. He too wondered where his next
+scientific adventure would lead him.
+
+Finally Tom turned to Bud. "I'm not sure. But who knows what space
+secrets Exman may have up his mechanical sleeve!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+           *       *       *       *
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Errors noted by transcriber:
+
+Tom and Bud wore swimming trunks under their slacks.
+  _text reads_ swiming
+Tom looked up, his blue eyes blazing.
+  _text has period for comma_
+KIDNAPED! [chapter title] _and elsewhere_
+  _spelling "kidnaped" consistent in text_ ]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X, by
+Victor Appleton
+
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