“Looks as if we’re in for a rough flight,” Ted remarked.
The words were hardly out of his mouth when terrific headwinds buffeted the plane. Splashes of rain pelted the cabin window as the storm unleashed its full fury below.
“I’d better take her upstairs,” Torn said, hauling back on the stick. The big cargo jet zoomed upward in a steep climb. “Flick on the radio to Enterprises, will you?” he asked Bud.
The copilot tuned to the special frequency. “Swift jet calling Enterprises! Can you read me?”
The Enterprises operator responded, and a moment later switched the call to Mr. Swift in his private office.
“Hello, Bud! Is Tom aboard?”
“Yes, Mr. Swift. He’s right here.”
Tom used his throat mike. “Hi, Dad! How’s everyone?”
“All fine, son, but we were a bit worried when we heard about you getting burned.” Tom re-EXCITING PLANS 43
assured his father and Mr. Swift went on, “How about your matter-making machine? Did the tests work out?”
“Well enough to prove my point,” Tom replied. “But the power consumption is so high, I believe I’d better continue my experiments up at the space station.”
Tom waited for his father to comment, but the set remained silent. “Dad, are you there? Can you read me?”
Tom thumbed his mike switch and adjusted the tuning, but the radio seemed to have gone dead.
“What’s wrong?” Bud shot a puzzled glance at the young pilot.
“Not sure,” Tom replied, “but take a look at some of those dials.”
“Jumpin* jets! The flight instruments have gone haywire too!”
Ted bent forward to look over Bud’s shoulder.
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