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

“I see,” Hanson said. “But what about protection from outside heat-the kind your robot will have to withstand in the atomic energy plant?”

“Oh, I’m using asbestalon,” Tom replied. This was a material composed of asbestos fibers in a plastic matrix.

Hanson was shaking his head. “When I make a model of this robot for your office,” he said, wincing, “it’ll be some job to get that chain mail you’re using over the moving joints down to scale.”

94 TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT ROBOT

Late that afternoon Tom ran tests on both giant robots and was highly pleased with the results. All the motors were working perfectly. Now only the television-camera eyes in the heads remained to be completed.

“We’ll be ready in plenty of time for the first test,” he thought, gratified, and walked to his office.

The evening shift was arriving and he greeted Marco who, he knew, would wait patiently to clean the office until he had gone.

Scooping up some unopened letters, Tom slipped them into his pocket and prepared to leave. A final visual check showed everything in place. Files holding secret data were locked. Passing his desk, the young inventor patted the model of his Sky Queen and left the office.

“Good night,” he said to the watchman, who was standing in the hall.

“Have a pleasant evening,” Marco replied.

Tom headed for the building exit. He was the last one out. Reaching the outer plant gate, the young inventor suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to bring a sketch of the robot’s face which he planned to work on that evening at home. Turning back, Tom let himself into the locked office building and started down the hall.