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

When Tom arrived at the plant, he went straight to the security office. Radnor was there, studying Marco’s personnel record.

“I’m going to double check this information, Tom,” he said. “We’ll investigate his background again. I’ll sift through every one of Marco’s acquaintances, in the hope of linking him with the Briggin gang.”

“Where do you think you’ll start?” Tom asked, thumbing through the reports.

“My first stop is Blackstone,” said Radnor, consulting his casebook. “I’ll talk to everyone who ever knew Marco at that mental institution. Where can I reach you?”

“I plan to leave this afternoon for the Citadel. Everything’s ready and I may as well go.”

“Then I’ll be in touch with you at the atomic energy plant.”

Suddenly Tom remembered that he must dictate misinformation into the recorder hidden in the Sky Queen model before he left. When he finished he smiled to himself. The false facts should throw the enemy off, at least for a while.

Phyl and Sandy were on hand early that afternoon, packed and ready for the trip. The repaired Sky

THE SECRET RECORDER 103

Queen, fresh from the plane shops and completely overhauled, was raised from her hangar.

The fuselage gleamed in the sunlight as the great ship was rolled onto a loading apron. The girls went aboard immediately. Then Tom, Bud, Arvid Hanson, and chief patternmaking engineer Hank Sterling, who was going along on the trip, supervised the loading of the cargo.

The first item of importance was Stan Lee, a flat-faced walking robot with which Tom was planning to make experiments in entering and leaving the atomic plant. Next came a drone plane, to be set in motion above the Citadel. Last to be rolled aboard was the squat, angular-looking helicopter, the Skeeter.