“I’m sure we can make it.”
After Ahlgren had hung up, Tom called his father, who readily assented to the trip.
“Dad,” Tom went on, “why don’t we consult our space friends about the Orb?”
“Excellent idea,” Mr. Swift said. “Suppose I meet you at the space communications lab.”
Months ago, a black meteorlike missile had landed at Enterprises, bearing strange mathematical symbols. The Swifts had decoded these symbols and learned that the senders were a race of creatures in outer space. Soon Tom and his father were able to communicate with them, using a powerful space transmitter and an oscilloscope type of receiver to register incoming signals.
Later, Tom had devised a translating
GOVERNMENT MISSION 41
computer to code and decode the messages automatically.
Mr. Swift watched as Tom tapped out the message on the translator brain’s keyboard:
SWIFTS TO SPACE FRIENDS. WE NEED ALL AVAILABLE INFORMATION
ABOUT GREEN BODY ORBITING SUN. CAN YOU ASSIST?
The two inventors waited eagerly. Soon a bell rang on the electronic translator. Weird symbols began to flash on the oscilloscope screen. The answer to the Swifts’ message was being spelled out on tape: SPACE FRIENDS TO SWIFT. GREEN BODY IS …
Abruptly the symbols faded from the screen and the machine tape stopped unreeling.
“What’s wrong?” Tom muttered. He checked the translator, then repeated his call to the space creatures. The screen remained blank.
Tom turned to his father uneasily. “Do you suppose their signal’s being jammed?”
“Either that or we’re having the same kind of transmission trouble the FCC is concerned about.” Mr. Swift added thoughtfully, “It’s possible the space people have some reason of their own for not continuing the message.”
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