Almost before he finished speaking, Bud was
SNEAK ATTACK
15
pull himself up, but he missed by inches
sprinting toward the trees. An excellent football player and track man, he covered the distance in record time between the spare-parts shed and the woods at one end of the Swift Enterprises enclosure.
Just as Bud entered the woods, an engine whistled into life some distance ahead of him.
“If that’s the same fellow who clipped Tom, I’m too late!” the copilot muttered.
Moments later he burst into the tiny clearing in which he had set the helicopter down. It was just
16 TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING LAB
taking off. Bud made a dash for the Skeeter, trying to grasp the edge of the cockpit and pull himself up before it rose out of reach, but he missed by inches. Nevertheless, he got a good look at the dark, sleek-haired pilot. Then the helicopter rose and swung out of sight over the trees.
“He can’t get away with this!” Bud set his jaw. Dashing back to where Tom and his father were, he shouted, “He stole the Skeeter! But I’ll take up a jet and try to force him down!”
“I’ll go with you!” Tom exclaimed.
“Hold on!” Mr. Swift warned him.
“I’m all right, really I am, Dad!” Tom insisted.
“Are you certain, Tom? Better take it easy after that blow you got.”
Tom nodded as he followed Bud to a hangar. A mechanic helped roll out one of the jets. Bud taxied into position and soon the plane was roaring into the air.
“The guy was headed this way,” he said, making a turn south. “He hasn’t had time to get very far.”
But the boys discovered that their quarry must have moved a lot faster than they had thought possible. There was no sign of him as they flew back and forth over the countryside.
“But where’d he go?” Bud said, still dumfounded over the stranger’s speedy disappearance. “You can’t set a helicopter down and hide it in such a short time.”
“But he did,” Tom replied, equally mystified.
Taking over the controls, he flew as close to the treetops as he dared, while Bud scanned the terrain.
SNEAK ATTACK 17
When they had failed to spot the helicopter, Tom climbed higher and Bud scrutinized the countryside through powerful binoculars. But the search proved fruitless, and the boys returned to Swift Enterprises’ airfield.
Bud was very sober. “I’m responsible for the loss of the Skeeter,” he said. “I should have locked it. But I’ll get it back! Tom, that ship’s a dream. She handles like a baby carriage. I can set her down on a dime and give you nine cents change.”
“I hope it won’t be long before you can do it again,” Tom said. “I’ll notify the police at once that the copter’s gone.”
After phoning the State Police, the boys went to the underground office and reported their failure to Mr. Swift. He was as puzzled as they over the helicopter’s disappearance.
“It must have more forward speed than I suspected,” he remarked.
“It has plenty,” Bud remarked. “What I’d like to know is why that thief was snooping around here. Have you any idea, Mr. Swift?”
“I’ve been trying to find out,” the scientist replied, “but there are so many drawings and pieces of equipment in these cabinets that would be useful to
“
During the conversation, Mr. Swift had been pulling out one drawer after another. Now he came upon one that was empty.
“I guess this is our answer,” he said grimly. “The drawings and specifications for our super-Geiger counter are gone, Tom!”
18 TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING LAB
“Wait a minute!”
The young inventor leaped across the room to another cabinet and yanked open the bottom drawer,. A smile of relief spread over his face.
“Only half of the plans are gone, Dad. I put the others in here yesterday with the miniature model.”
Bud burst into laughter. “What a surprise the Pomade Kid’s going to get!”
Then he became serious. “What I can’t understand is how he got in here in the first place. He’d need a special key, wouldn’t he?”
“You’re right.” Tom looked meaningfully at his father. “Do you think it might have been an inside job? Or a job with inside help?”
“That might account for the outdoor radar being tampered with,” Bud suggested. “One of the plant workers might have disconnected it, then let his confederate in.”
“I hate to be suspicious of anyone here,” Mr. Swift remarked, “but I suppose we’d better consider every angle.”
Hastening to the main office of the plant, where employee files were kept, he and the boys began a checkup. After a half-hour’s inspection of records, they had found nothing questionable about any employee.
“We’ll keep going,” Mr. Swift said tensely, opening another drawer.
As they began scanning the second set of records, there was a knock on the door. Mr. Swift quickly put away the file while Tom went to see who the caller might be.
SNEAK ATTACK 19
“Arthur Roberts is here,” he announced over his shoulder.
Roberts had worked for many years at the Swift plant as a tool designer. The close, exacting skill had proved too great a strain on his eyes. As a result, he had been assigned the duty of chief night custodian at the experimental station.
“Tell him to come in,” said Mr. Swift.
The moment the man appeared in the doorway, the three in the office knew something was wrong. Roberts’ face was pale and drawn, and there were dark circles under his eyes. As he removed his cap slowly, they noted that his hand shook a little.
“Yes, Roberts,” Mr. Swift said.
The man cleared his throat, then spoke gravely, “I have something to confess.
I’m responsible for the theft of the super-Geiger-counter plans.”
CHAPTER III
A SCIENTIFIC THIEF
TOM and his father stared at the man in astonishment.
“You, Roberts?” Mr. Swift asked. “But you’ve been with us for years. You’re one of our most trusted men.”
Roberts looked down at the floor. “I know. But I couldn’t help what happened.”
“Tell us everything,” Mr. Swift said.
“Last night,” the guard began, “I had just unlocked the door to the underground hangar to make my hourly rounds when a strange man came up to me. He matches the description of the one who later knocked Tom out. I don’t know how he got in anyhow, it wasn’t by the main gate. He said he was a member of Hemispak.”
“Hemispak! The scientific society of the Americas!” Mr. Swift cried. “The group formed to pool information and resources for the protection of the Western Hemisphere!”
20
A SCIENTIFIC THIEF 21
“I know how important Hemispak is, so I asked him what he wanted.”
“And?”
“He said he wished to see your new Geiger-counter plans.”
“How did he know about that?” Tom exclaimed. “It’s to be one of the secret gadgets of the Flying Lab!”
“I told him I couldn’t allow that without permission from you, Mr. Swift,”
Roberts continued.
“Then what happened?”
“He pulled a gun. He said he’d been briefed on meeven knew about my son John being in South America. You know, John’s a chemist there, and is doing work for Hemispak.” Roberts lowered his voice. “Looking for uranium, I believe. That fellow said both John and his wife would be tortured if I didn’t tell him where to find the plans.”
“And you did?”
“I had no choice.”
“So you took him to the underground office?” Tom asked.
Roberts nodded. “The man opened the file cabinets and started rummaging through them, still holding the gun on me. When he found the plans, I tried to grab them, but he hit me on the head with his gun and knocked me out. I was unconscious for hoursonly woke up a little while ago in my own house.”
“How’d you get there?” Bud asked.
Roberts shrugged wearily. “My wife said I came in at 4 A.M., but I don’t remember a thing about it.”
22 TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING LAB
The others concluded that the guard had suffered a slight concussion and had gone home by himself without being aware of his actions.
“I hurried right over here to tell you what happened and to find out what else that thief took,” Roberts said. “I feel very bad about last night.”
“You’re lucky to be alive,” Tom remarked. “Well, to date, all we know is that our visitor has taken our small copter and half the plans for the super-Geiger counter.”
“Half!” Roberts exclaimed. With a groan he added, “Then he’ll be back for the rest.”
“He won’t dare!” Bud spoke up.
The night custodian was not so sure of this.
“There’s something else I should tell you,” he said. “I wrote to John about the super-Geiger counter. I hate to admit itbut my letter was probably opened by some enemy. Last night’s theft was the result.”