“Speaking of Mars,” Tom said, “I’d better turn on the oscillograph. Our space friends might want to communicate with us.”
“If it takes as long as usual to figure out their mathematical symbols,” Bud said, “we’ll be back home before you’ve deciphered the first sentence.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Bud.”
From a compartment on the panel board Tom took out a notebook and opened it. On several pages were symbols with words beneath them. He explained that his father had been working night and day to compile this planet dictionary, as he called it. Mr. Swift had handed the booklet to his son just before the youth had entered the Star Spear.
174 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ROCKET SHIP
“I had no idea it was so complete,” Tom said, flipping the pages. “When Dad gets his teeth in a job, he sure doesn’t let go until he’s finished it.”
Again the buzzer and warning light!
“Third stage is ready to go, Bud,” Tom cried excitedly. “In a little while now we’ll be in free flight!”
“And on our way to win a one-hundred-thousand-dollar prize,” Bud added gleefully. “Tom, tell them we’re going to take it up to Mars and convert it into Martian currency!”
The boys waited for the light to go out and the booster to drop off. Seconds went by. The light flickered off and on. Suddenly the blood drained from Tom’s face as he noted that the flight tape was acting strangely. It was stopping and starting jerkily.
Without warning there came a series of terrific vibrations. It seemed as if the boys’ stomachs would be torn out of their bodies. Their face muscles pulled down across their teeth. Their shoulders pained as though they had been struck by two down-swinging bats. A hot shudder raced through their bodies.