Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 24 – And His 3D Telejector

Bud shook his head. “I still don’t get it.”

“Don’t you see,” Tom said, “it’s almost as if we’re getting signal pulses from the Orb that shoot our input voltage way up.”

“Why?”

Tom gave an odd smile. “Want a wild guess?”

“Sure. Let’s hear it.”

“Bud, there may be some form of life up there that doesn’t want to be spied on! It may even be hostile to life here on earth!”

CHAPTER III

A TERRIFIED FACE

BUD gaped. Tom’s idea about life existing on the mysterious space object was startling! “Do you mean something on the Green Orb may be trying to knock out the prober?”

“It’s one possible answer,” Tom said. “They, or it, or something, stepped up our signal strength and blew the set last night. It might have happened today if I hadn’t used that limit control.”

“They’re hostile to earth life?” Bud asked.

“It’s a wild guess, Bud. If the prober trouble was caused by some living agency, why else would it be so anxious to keep us from getting a close-up look at the Orb?”

“You’ve got me there, pal.”

Bud accompanied Tom back to his private laboratory. Just before noon, Mr.

Swift phoned to say that he had the space-dust collector ready. The two boys met him for lunch in the Swifts’ big double office at the main building. The office had a huge picture window, leather chairs, and wide 20

A TERRIFIED FACE 21

twin desks. Colorful models of their inventions were mounted about the room.

“What time do you plan to take off, son, to harvest those atomic particles?”

Tom Sr. asked.

“I thought I’d hop over to Fearing right after lunch,” the young inventor replied. Fearing Island, off the Atlantic coast, was the Swifts’ rocket base. “Want to come along, Bud?”