Using a plastic foam “breadboard,” Tom began experimenting with various circuit designs. He worked through the afternoon and returned to the problem early the next morning.
He was interrupted by a message from Art Wiltessa, reporting no luck so far in finding the missile. Later, shortly before lunch, Tom received another call, this time from Admiral Walter. “Just wanted to keep you posted, Tom. Our task force reports no success on their part in finding the buried missile. No sign of the enemy, either.”
“They’d probably hesitate to attack any official U. S. Navy units,” Tom said.
“Or it might mean they’ve already found the missile themselves.”
“That’s what I fear,” Admiral Walter confessed gloomily. “However, we’ll continue searching.”
Tom promised to fly down to the site at the first opportunity, saying he was developing a new device that might assist in the search. After snatching a hasty lunch, Tom returned to work.
Arv Hanson machined several parts and molded the plastic face mask to Tom’s specifica-AERIAL ATTACK 41
tions. By evening the new device was completed.
“Now for a test,” the young inventor said to himself.
Sandy Swift and Phyl Newton were eager to watch the test, so the next morning they drove to the plant in Phyl’s white convertible. Tom, clad in swim trunks, was waiting for them with Chow near the edge of a mammoth concrete tank. Set in bedrock, at one end of the Enterprises grounds, the tank was used for submarine testing.
When Sandy saw the power unit strapped to Tom’s weight belt, she exclaimed, “That little gadget will supply all the air you need? Why, it’s no bigger than a pocket transistor radio I”
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