“But not too big,” Tom spoke up, as the South American thanked them effusively. “And,” the young inventor added, “in the Flying Lab with our new Geiger counter”
“Ah, the enthusiasm of youth!” Ricardo beamed. “Magnifico! And now, one other request. Hemispak would be pleased to have both of you address our members at a meeting in Riverton day after tomorrow. Would you be so kind as to give us brief speeches on the latest technical developmentsperhaps your new inventions? I assure you that all data will be held in strictest confidence.”
Though Tom and his father usually refrained from speechmaking to escape the publicity, they ac-ESPIONAGE 37
cepted because of their high regard for the work the Hemispak Scientific Society was doing. Sefior Ricardo thanked them, then said: “Before I go, I should like to see the Flying Lab you will fly to my country.”
Tom felt that the Flying Lab was not ready to be exhibited. However, because of Ricardo’s scientific position, the young inventor decided to give him a preview of the plane.
Ricardo’s reaction was both amazing and amusing. After his first voluble praise, he seemed at a loss for words. But finally he murmured: “It is esplendido! I have taken too much of youf f time already. I must leave.”
i As the Swifts walked to the main gate with him, he remarked, “I suggest one precaution. In future conversations between us let us use the nickname which Hemispak has for my country. If the Verano rebels should learn of your trip, I am sure they will cause more trouble. We will refer to my country only as Bapcho.”
Sefior Ricardo shook hands and left. Tom turned to his father. “We’ll have to speed up work here, that’s sure, especially on the counter.”
“Right. This trip will give it a real test,” Mr. Swift answered. “Well, I’ll see you at supper.” ) As Tom neared the underground hangar, he met | Chow.
j “Jumpin” sunspots!” Tom exclaimed as the good-1 natured cook approached, wearing a purple-and-orange plaid shirt.
“You like it, eh?” Chow asked.
38 TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING LAB
“It’s enough to start a stampede.”
“Well, I dunno,” Chow replied, stroking his chin and gazing at the breast pocket of Tom’s jacket. “You seem to like colors, yourself. How about those red, green, an’ blue pencils you’re carryin’? Somethin’ new for your draftin’
board?”
“No,” Tom said, pulling out the pencillike objects. “I’ve had these awhile. This green one is a miniature radio. It will send and receive signals.”
“Well, brand my balky ole mule!” the Texan exclaimed admiringly as he turned it over in his hand. “An’ these, I guess, are the secret buttons to turn it on.”
“Right. The red pencil is a soldering iron that works by a tiny battery. Good for repairing electrical connections in a hurry. The blue pencil is a secret infrared snooperscope.” .
“For spottin’ people in the dark?” Chow asked, scratching his head.
“You guessed it.”
“Wow!” Chow exclaimed. “You’re a one-man patent office!”
During the next two days, father and son applied themselves rigorously to a demanding and accelerated schedule of work. On the evening of the Hemispak meeting they drove to Riverton, parked near the building where the scientific seminar was to be held, and took the elevator to the fourth floor.
“I’m delighted to see you again,” Senor Ricardo greeted them at the auditorium door.
As Tom was introduced to various members of the organization, he recognized many names as those of
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men he had heard about since childhood. Each was a leader in some scientific field.
A few minutes later Senor Ricardo opened the meeting. A look of expectancy came over the audience as he introduced Tom. Never before had the members been addressed by so young a scientist.
They listened intently as Tom told of plans for a trip to South America in the Swifts’ new flying laboratory to look for uranium. When he said they were perfecting an invention to detect it from great heightswhich was the most feasible method to use in high mountainsthere was loud applause.
“There’s an old Indian legend,” Tom went on, “about an Andes tribe which discovered a spot they named Devil’s Canyon. Plants of unusual species found there grew to a fantastic size. Birds and even insects never visited it.
“The canyon contained a beautiful, clear stream which appeared magically from a cave in the mountainside. The Indians insisted that the cave glowed in the dark. They also said that to drink the water caused almost immediate baldness and brought on grave illness.”
As a few enthusiastic si si’s indicated that others in the audience also had heard the story, Tom continued:
“My own theory about this is that the water travels through radioactive ore deep in the mountainsay at least eighteen hundred feet down. If we want to locate this valuable deposit we’ll need a super-Geiger counter. That’s the chief reason why right now we’re speeding up work on this new invention.”
40 TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING LAB
When Tom had related as much of his plans as he thought prudent, he concluded his talk with wishes of success for the Bapcho project. Loud handclap-ping and cheers followed as he took his seat.
Mr. Swift, who was introduced next, was greeted with equal enthusiasm. He immediately held his audience spellbound by revealing that a strange object from space had crashed into his airfield.
“We could have called it a meteorite and let it go at that. But it seemed to have a precise, machined shape. We made some test borings and analyzed them in the mass spectograph. The bulk of the object is a metal alloy of an isotopic composition not found on earth, and it has an external protective nonmetallic sheath. This fused coating has thus far resisted our attempts to analyze it.”
While his father was speaking, Tom suddenly noticed someone rise up from behind a row of seats near the back of the auditorium. As the man started furtively toward the exit, Tom gasped. He was the same slick-haired young man who had knocked him out at the spare-parts shed!
Tom left the platform quietly and slipped down the side aisle. But outside the auditorium, he broke into a run, down the corridor, after his quarry.
Clang!
The metallic clatter of the self-service elevator told him that the fugitive had started for the ground floor. Tom dashed for the stairway, leaping down it three steps at a time. He reached the bottom seconds after the echo of the opening elevator door reverberated up the shaft. He had missed his man!
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41
The man started furtively toward the exit
Tom’s eyes roved over the dimly lighted area from the doorway and he listened intently. There was not a sign of the man he was after.
A search along the street proved equally fruitless. Disappointed, Tom headed back to the meeting and reached it just in time to hear his father’s concluding remarks.
As Tom took his place on the platform his mind was in a whirl. What use would the dark-haired stranger make of the information he had picked up?
As Senor Ricardo brought the meeting to a close, Mr. Swift came over to his son. “Did you go after that man I noticed hurrying out?” he asked.
“Yes, but he sure made a fast getaway! Dad, he 42 TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING LAB
was the fellow who slugged me and stole part of the Geiger plans. And now
he was spying here!”
When Senor Ricardo heard about the man’s strange actions, he exclaimed, “A spy? But how could he have been admitted by the doorman?”
“He must have shown a fake membership card,” Tom said. “We’d better alert the police.”
“Si, si!” Senor Ricardo begged. “This is most serious!”
“Indeed it is,” Mr. Swift agreed. “You phone the police, Tom, then we must start for home.”
Tom made the call, suggesting that the suspect might live near by, since he had disappeared so quickly. Then the Swifts said good-by to their Hemispak friends and, with Tom at the wheel, made the return trip to Shopton.
“I don’t like this business,” the older inventor said. “There’s undoubtedly a lot more to the Verano affair than has come out.”
“You mean, Dad, the men leading the rebels are playing for big stakes but aren’t telling their plans to the small fellows?”
“Exactly. After they get the prize, they’ll pull out. In the meantime, these Verano schemers will use any method to gain what they wantno matter how ruthless.”
“All the more reason for us to complete our work.”
The next morning at breakfast Mr. Swift said he was eager to start for his office to attack the problem of the Geiger counter and asked Tom if he was ready to go.
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“I promised Uncle Ned,” Tom replied, “that I’d give the Pigeon Special a good workout this morning. He’s about ready to announce the new commuters’