EXMAN TO SWIFTS. TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR EARTHQUAKE UNDER
HIGH LOYALTY.
“What!” Tom stared at the tape, his brow creased in a puzzled frown. “That ‘twenty-four-hour earthquake’ bit must mean he’s warning us that a quake will occur in twenty-four hours. But what about the rest of it?”
“Hmm … ‘Under high loyalty.’” Mr. Swift was as baffled as Tom. He studied the message for several minutes. It seemed highly unlikely that the electronic brain had made an error in decoding. Any new or untranslatable symbol caused a red light to flash on the machine.
AN URGENT WARNING 149
“I think the only thing we can do is signal Exman and ask for a clarification, Tom,” Mr. Swift decided at last.
Tom agreed. He beamed out a hasty code signal: EXPLAIN MESSAGE.
Seconds later came Exman’s reply. It was identical with the first message: TWENTY-FOUR-HOUR EARTHQUAKE UNDER HIGH LOYALTY.
150 THE VISITOR FROM PLANET X
Tom and Mr. Swift stared at each other anxiously.
“Good night, Dad! This is horrible!” Tom exclaimed. “Exman sends us ample warning of a disaster and we’re stymied!”
“Hi! What’s going on, you two?” asked a merry voice. “More heavy thinking?”
Sandy Swift stood smiling in the doorway. The smile gave way to a look of concern as Tom explained the crisis.
“How dreadful!” Sandy gasped. “We must figure out what it means! … Wait a minute!”
Tom looked at her expectantly. “Got an idea, Sis?”
“Well …” The pretty, blond teen-ager hesitated. “You don’t suppose Exman might have been translating some foreign words with a meaning similar to ‘high loyalty’? For instance, high loyalty could mean ‘good faith.’ I know that in Latin ‘good faith’ would be bona fide.”