Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 04 – And His Giant Robot

The distorter installed, Bud activated controls releasing the drone’s lashing and wheel blocks.

“Prepare to disgorge!” he yelled. “Start her up, skipper!”

Tom pressed the drone’s remote-control starter and the hangar doors swung open automatically. A crow shot past the opening, veering to miss the jet stream.

“Set, Bud?” Tom yelled.

“Set! Let’s give these mechanized corn feeders a taste of their own medicine!”

Tom threw a switch and for a brief moment the drone’s thrust blasted hot gases back through the hangar. Then, with a roar, it leaped forward and careened through space after the marauding crows.

Bud and Tom raced back to the pilot’s compart—

42 TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT ROBOT

ment. “Look at that drone go!” Bud cried, tracking it from the navigation dome’s seat.

The powerful little plane whipped in and out of the flock, but the crows seemed to sense its approach and dodged out of the way. Although they managed to avoid the drone for several minutes, whatever was operating them suddenly seemed unable to control the separate maneuvers of the whole flock at once.

“We’ve caught one!” Bud yelled jubilantly as the drone sucked the bird alongside it. “And another!”

A moment later the rest of the flock flew off at great speed.

“We’ve got ‘em on the run now, Tom!” Bud cried exuberantly. “Let’s follow as soon as the drone’s berthed.”

He dashed back to the hangar while Tom got ready to give the Sky Queen the gun.

Tom directed the drone to a reverse blast landing, while Bud manipulated the arresting gear controls from the hangar. When the drone and its two trophies were safely berthed, Bud phoned Tom, who gave the Flying Lab a powerful forward thrust, and the Sky Queen soon overtook the crows. The copilot joined his friend.