Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 12 – In the Race to the Moon

Tom could not keep a straight face any longer.

MYSTERIOUS RAIDERS 37

Bursting into laughter, he went over and switched off the repelatron.

Now that they were free again, the girls giggled at the trick he had played on them. Phyl tried to assume a straight face, although her dark eyes danced with laughter. “We ought to leave you flat, Tom,” she declared. “But we’ll forgive you if you tell us how the trick was done.”

“I aimed this repelatron straight at you, and switched it on before I left the lab,” Tom explained. “It’s tuned to repel the cotton fabric in your dresses-so naturally you couldn’t move. The force wave held you pinned in place.”

“Someday ‘/ invent something to hold my big brother down!” Sandy scolded jokingly. “But never mind that now. Let’s go get Bud.”

Tom laughed. “Okay, we’re on our way.”

They hurried to the airfield and boarded Tom’s heliplane, a sleek craft which could take off vertically by rotors, and then convert to a speedy jet for forward flight.

In less than half an hour they landed at Fearing Island. The control tower informed Tom that Bud was at the tracking center. There, they found the young pilot seated in front of the electronic brain.

“Time to quit! We have a date tonight,” Tom announced.

Bud spun around, instantly jumped up, and said, “Hi, everybody!” Then he added excitedly, “I just picked up a new message from space! Or rather, part of a message.”

38 THE RACE TO THE MOON

Tom’s eyes blazed with interest. “What was it?”

“Just two symbols appeared on the scope, then the message stopped.” Bud handed him a piece of tape. “Here’s the translation.”