Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 22 – And His Repelatron Skyway

Tom was intrigued. “An unforeseen problem?”

“The jungle is split almost in two by a strange swamp,” Kwanu explained. “The highway route must cross this swamp. But Burlow’s engineers felt that the bog would not support a roadbed. As a result, their proposal called for a lengthy detour around the swamp and three years’ construction time for the highway, at a much higher cost than we expected.”

“Then Burlow Engineering is no longer being considered?” Tom asked.

A HURTLED WARNING 25

Kwanu shrugged. “I fear they were angry when we rejected their proposal, but we had no choice. Frankly we cannot afford their price, nor can we wait three years for our highway. To make our country stable and prosperous, the two provinces must be linked quickly. We are hoping you can provide the solution.”

Tom smiled wryly. “It’s a large order.”

“The stolen briefcase,” Kwanu added, “contained Burlow Engineering’s proposal, based on the survey for which we paid. It included complete details on the route, terrain, soil sampling, and other information. Unfortunately, the briefcase also contained the copies of the report which I was bringing for your use. However, the original report is in Princetown, and it will be only a matter of a few days before we can have additional photostats made for you. It would have been a great help to you in assessing the problem if I could have presented the papers to you now.”

“It sure would,” Tom agreed. “But perhaps I can get a copy from Burlow Engineering faster. I’d like to talk to their people, anyway. This certainly sounds like an interesting and challenging job, but we’ll need time to think it over. My father will be back this evening, sir. Could you stay for a further discussion tomorrow?”