Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 03 – And His Rocket Ship

With a roar the Sky Queen was air-borne, climbing, climbing. The altimeter raced from left to right. At eighteen miles above the earth Tom asked Bud to hold the plane stationary.

“Why here?” the copilot asked.

“Well, the short-wave-length radiation we are looking for doesn’t reach the ground. It’s filtered out by the atmosphere between twelve and twenty miles THE FIRST TEST 43

above the earth. We won’t get all of it here at this altitude, but enough to predict how well the kicker will work.”

Tom adjusted the thermograph potentiometer to zero deflection and checked the circuit once more. Then, turning to Bud, he said, “I’m all set to throw the switch.”

His voice was tense with anticipation.

CHAPTER 5

SABOTAGE

SLOWLY at first, then with ever-increasing speed. Tom manipulated the knobs that sent a flow of liquid oxygen into the kicker. The influx was at its maximum when Bud arrived to watch the experiment, leaving Hank at the controls.

Suddenly the quill on the thermograph began to vibrate. A moment later it moved up several degrees.

“It works!” Bud shouted, clapping Tom on the shoulder. “Look at her inching up!”

The young inventor stared at the thermograph, his heart thumping wildly.

Part of his dream was a reality! He had solved the problem of rocket fuel! Now to install the kicker in his spaceship!

It did not matter that the quill had not advanced any farther. In a rocket the absorption of rays would be much greater. Quietly Tom said: “We’ll go down now.”

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SABOTAGE 45

Bud began to feel the awe of the situation. Without a word he turned and went back to the pilot’s seat.