“Did he know in advance that you were going to call me in on the job?” Tom asked.
“Yes, I told him so to get rid of him, the day before I phoned you in London.”
Admiral Hopkins was outraged when Tom told him about Carlow’s actions in England. “It’s obvious what he was up to,” Hopkins fumed. “First, he was trying to change the Navy’s mind by having you branded a scientific faker. When that failed, he tried to worm himself into the project as your partner.”
Tom was inclined to agree. The admiral’s thinking backed up his own hunch about Carlow.
Next morning Tom plunged to work in his ultramodern private laboratory. For his basic detector, he began designing a mass spectroscope that would use a repelatron field to separate the elements and isotopes present in the sea water.
Tom had invented the repelatron, or repulsion-ray system, to drive his moonship, the Challenger.
The following day Chow found him checking a tangle of transistor circuitry in a console studded
BLOODHOUND EXPERIMENT 89
with tiny lights. It was connected to a horn-shaped device in a tank of water.
“Fish market’s gettin’ them critters, boss!”
Tom looked up blankly. “What critters?”
“Them catfish an’ dogfish you want. Mr. Rohrig says he’ll have a batch for you tomorrow.”
“What makes you think I want any catfish and dogfish?” Tom asked, mystified.
“Bud told me. He said you’re plannin’ to breed an undersea bloodhound, and you’d need some cat and dogfish for your underwater trail-sniffin’ experiments.”
Tom roared with laughter. “I’m sorry, old-timer, but fly-boy’s been spoofing you again.” Seeing Chow’s indignant look, Tom went on, “My undersea tracker will work electronically. Here, I’ll give you a demonstration.”