Tom Jr. spoke up quietly, “What strikes me about these men is that they’re just the sort who
78 THE ASTEROID PIRATES
might have been called together for a space project.”
“A space project?” Thurston shot a sharp glance at the young inventor. “How so, Tom?”
“Look at the fields they specialize in-plasma physics, nuclear power, communications and telemetry, structural engineering, astrophysics.” Tom ticked them off on his fingers. “With a group like that on the job, someone could really shoot for the stars.”
Tom’s words startled the others. But they could see the logic of his argument.
“What kind of a space project? Any idea?” Thurston asked. “A moon shot, maybe?”
Tom shook his head. “No, I have a different hunch-though I sure hope it’s wrong.” The young inventor paused worriedly. “It happens I know another engineer, who just came back from a trip to Argentina.”
Tom told them about John Tsu and his strange warning, which seemed to tie in with the deadly radiation barrier surrounding Nestria.
“Great Scott!” Bernt Ahlgren exploded. “Then you think this business in Argentina could be a hostile project aimed at the base on Nestria?”
“The Argentine angle may be merely a coincidence,” Tom admitted cautiously.
“Quite a coincidence, I’d say!” exclaimed one of the CIA men.
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Thurston was seriously alarmed. “It certainly adds up. Nestria would be an invaluable base in any future space war,” he pointed out.
“And give the possessor a big lead in the space race,” added Dr. Palfrey.
The group plunged into an earnest discussion of ways to cope with the challenge. The government officials were heartened when Tom explained the new invention on which he was working. They urged him to make every effort to break through the radiation barrier around the satellite.