Both scientists grabbed pencil and paper, keeping their eyes glued to the screen. Tom tuned several adjusting knobs as the first symbol took shape. It looked something like the Greek letter “pi,” except that it had three legs instead of two.
The symbol faded, to be replaced by two triangles touching at their peaks.
This was followed by several saw-toothed blips ending in a hook. Other symbols blossomed on the scope in quick succession. Tom and his father had to scribble at top speed to copy them on paper.
Finally the message ended.
“Wow!” Tom gasped as he laid down his pencil. “Solving this code will be a real skullcracker.”
Mr. Swift nodded, frowning at the pages of scribbled symbols. “I must confess none of this rings a bell.”
BRUNGARIAN HEADLINES 51
There was a long silence, during which Torn jotted down a number of mathematical formulas. At one point, he whipped out his slide rule to work out a series of equations. Mr. Swift was similarly occupied.
After twenty minutes, Tom got up and pulled a blackboard close to the table.
“Got a clue, son?” Mr. Swift inquired.
“I’m not sure, Dad. But let’s assume part of this is a repeat of the message they sent before, telling about the rocket with the animals.”
The elder Swift nodded. “A fair assumption.”
“If my hunch is right,” Tom went on, “this elliptical curve may represent the trajectory of the rocket after leaving their base-”
“And the next symbol would represent its orbit around the earth and moon!”
Mr. Swift broke in. “Tom, I think you’ve hit it!”
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