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

Tom asked if the FBI had caught Rotzog, and was disappointed to learn that Gray insisted he did not know where Rotzog was, nor the location of his rocket ship. Gray had received all his orders from Hein and had never seen Rotzog.

“Gray and Johnson,” said Ames, “began working for the outfit only recently and did not know much about the spy work it carried on. But one thing Gray was definite about. And, Tom, you can take a bow. Rotzog isn’t afraid of any rocket builder in this world except you.”

Tom smiled and said, “I’ll reserve decision on it being a compliment until I find out more about Rotzog.”

“Well, then, here’s bad news,” Billing said.

106 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ROCKET SHIP

“Rotzog has declared he’ll stop at nothing to keep your manned rocket from getting into space!”

“So that’s it,” Tom said, frowning.

“Yes,” Ames replied. “And ever since I heard that, I’ve been figuring out new security measures for the island. I thought Rotzog’s outfit merely intended to try stealing your inventions, but now I’m worried that he means to destroy you!”

Tom was very thoughtful. He also was puzzled. Why wasn’t Rotzog worried that another entrant in the rocket race might keep him from realizing his dream of being master of the world? When he expressed this thought aloud, Ames at once said:

“That’s easy. You’re the only rocket builder who has solved the secret of harnessing the sun’s energy to do your work for you. With it, you could be master over this earth.”

“No, thanks.” Tom’s grim look turned to a smile. “There are too many nuts like Rotzog on this planet! I couldn’t handle all of them!”