Ted brightened immediately when he heard these arrangements. After sending a message to be relayed to his mother and Ray, the two youths signed off. “I’d give a lot to know how Hampshire got Mother’s phone number,” said Ted.
“It’s just possible he made a wild guess,” Tom suggested. “He may know of the secluded cottage and figured it’s a good hiding place just as Ames did.”
As the boys left the radio compartment, Ted
BLACKOUT! 77
asked, “What’s the first step on your program, Tom?”
“To assemble my matter-making machine and run off another test.”
The various parts and subassemblies of the machine had already been unloaded from the Challenger. With the help of Ted and Bud, Tom set them up in his private laboratory, which occupied one whole spoke of the space wheel.
“How about your power hookup?” Bud asked.
“I’ll use a bank of solar batteries,” Tom said. “They’ll stay right on the line so the sun’s rays will be constantly recharging them.”
Within an hour, the matter-making machine was ready to operate. Sandy and Phyl and Mr. Swift came to watch as Tom closed the main switch. With a loud hum, the current throbbed into action. Tom grinned as he saw the needle swing upward on the main ammeter.
“Good?” asked Sandy.
“Very good!” Tom replied. “This setup gives me much more current than I had at the Citadel.”
Soon he was able to draw off a steady flow of gas from the machine. “Pure oxygen-and plenty of it!” Tom exulted, after testing the gas with a Swift spectroscope. “I think this machine is ready for a tryout on the Challenger!”