A HURTLED WARNING 27
“Not exactly,” said Tom, “but I’m wondering if a highway is the only answer.”
“Meaning what, son?”
“Well, an atomicar transport system might be one solution,” Tom explained. “Since the flying cars can operate over any terrain, no regular highway would be needed. That way, we-”
Tom’s words were cut short by a spurt of the alarm system. It was followed by the sound of shat-28 REPELATRON SKYWAY
taring glass as an object streaked through the window and across the room. With a twang the missile buried its nose in the opposite wall!
“A spear!” Tom cried.
Leaping from his chair, he dashed over to examine the still-quivering weapon.
Attached to its shaft was a piece of paper bearing a crudely printed message in blood-red ink:
TOM SWIFT–STAY OUT OF AFRICA
OR YOU AND YOUR FAMILY WILL SUFFER!
Mr. Swift and Uncle Ned hastened to Tom’s side as he read the message aloud. At the same time, Sandy and her slender, pretty mother came hurrying into the den.
“Oh!” Mrs. Swift gasped anxiously.
“Why didn’t the warning buzzer keep ringing?” Sandy asked, bewildered.
“It was the spear that touched off the alarm,” Tom guessed. “Whoever threw it must have stayed outside the range of the alarm.”
The Swift home was surrounded by an electromagnetic field that gave warning of any intruder. Tom and his father had provided the family and their friends with wristwatches containing tiny deactivator coils to avoid setting off the system. Anyone without such a device was detected as soon as he broke the field.