CHAPTER X
An Assist from JANIG
"We're onto something," Rick said grimly, "and we need help."
"I should say so," Barby commented. She eyed the cement bag a littleapprehensively. "After all, radioactivity is dangerous!"
Dr. Miller smiled. "It is, in sufficient quantity. But the sample wehave here is scarcely above normal background, so I don't think we needbe concerned." The scientist turned to Rick. "I wish your instrumentcould give us further data, but unfortunately it's pretty primitive. Ittells us the sample is slightly radioactive and that's all. I agree weneed help."
The nearest source of help Rick could think of was JANIG, the secretsecurity agency in Washington for which the Spindrift scientists hadoften worked on special projects. This wasn't a matter for the agencyofficially, but Rick was sure Steve Ames, their contact in JANIG, wouldhelp if he could. Since Spindrift had first worked with the agency on_The Whispering Box Mystery_, Steve and the boys had become goodfriends.
Rick suggested to the others that Steve should be called. All of themknew the young agent. He had been responsible to a large extent for theMillers joining the Spindrift staff, since he had smuggled them out ofWashington to Spindrift to escape the deadly electronic mind reader thathad imperiled the scientist for weeks.
There was no disagreement. On the contrary, Jan Miller asked excitedly,"What's the matter with right now?"
"Nothing," Rick said with a grin. He went to the telephone book andfound the long-range dialing code for Washington, then dialed Steve'sspecial number directly. In less than half a minute he had the agent onthe phone.
"Steve? What a break to find you in! This is Rick." He swiftly outlinedthe events of the past few days, ending with the discovery that the bagcontents were radioactive. He concluded, "I know this isn't a case foryou, but we hoped you might help us to identify the stuff from the bagand get a better measure of how active it is."
Steve considered. "Know where Falls Church airport is?"
Rick had used it for a landmark on the way to the farm. It was a smallprivate airport west of Washington near the city of Falls Church. "Iknow where it is."
"All right. You're only a few minutes flying time from there. It's nowtwo thirty. Be there at four. I'll have a man meet you. Bring thesample."
Rick thanked the agent and hung up. He reported that Steve would send aman to the airport at four o'clock.
Scotty asked, "Is the field dry enough for take-off and landing?"
"Sure. I hope Steve has a real expert he can send. If we can identifythis stuff, it may give us a clue to what's going on here."
At Barby's request, Rick and Scotty took the girls along for the shortride. Steve's man walked to the plane as they rolled to a stop on theFalls Church strip. He introduced himself as Don Baxter, then opened thesuitcase he carried. "Let's see what you have."
He produced a field-survey instrument and held it over the bag Rickcarried. The instrument's meter showed a reading at once.
"Gamma," Baxter stated. "Now let's try for alpha and beta." He opened ashield on the bottom of his instrument and checked the sample again. Themeter failed to respond. "No beta. That's interesting." An inner shieldwas slid out of the way and the instrument held to the bag. The meterresponded.
Baxter nodded satisfaction. "Alpha and gamma. No beta. That means thisstuff is not a fission product."
He studied the powder and rubbed a bit between his thumb and forefinger.He asked, "May I have the bag?"
"Sure," Rick agreed readily. "What is the stuff?"
Baxter took the cement bag and folded it neatly, then he took a plasticbag from his case and put the cement bag inside. "I can't be sure," hesaid. "About its precise identity, I mean. But it seems to be pulverizedore, and my guess would be carnotite. Don't worry about theradioactivity. You could live in a house made of this stuff and itwouldn't be dangerous. The level of activity is very low. I suppose youhave no idea where the sample came from?"
Rick shook his head. "Where does carnotite come from, usually?"
"The Colorado Plateau, for the most part. There are other deposits, butnone around here. This stuff was almost certainly imported. Have you anyidea why?"
"Not the slightest. It's a complete mystery."
Baxter nodded. "Well, that's all I can do for now. I'll analyze thesample and let Steve Ames know exactly what it is, but I'm betting oncarnotite. If you find a few hundred tons of it, you can sell it to theAtomic Energy Commission. So long."
The expert tipped his hat to the girls and walked to his car.
"What was that all about?" Barby demanded. "You and Scotty seemed toknow what he was talking about, but it was all Greek to Jan and me."
Rick explained on the way back to the farm. "There are four main kindsof radioactivity. They're called alpha, beta, gamma, and neutrons. Oursample has alpha and gamma. That means it doesn't come from either bombdebris or from a reactor, because fission takes place in both, and thereis almost always beta activity as well as gamma in the products offission. But some isotopes of uranium and thorium have little beta, withsome alpha and gamma, so Baxter concluded we had powdered uranium ore.There are many kinds of ore. Pitchblende is the best, but carnotite,which is a gray rock with yellowish streaks, is also good ore. Got itnow?"
Jan Miller asked, "How do you know all this, Rick?"
The boy chuckled. "From associating with your father and mine, not tomention Weiss, Zircon, and the other scientists. They talk and Scottyand I listen. Also, Dad has a lot of books on atomic energy, and some ofthem are simple enough for me to read."
The Sky Wagon was over the Miller farm in a very short time, but beforelanding Rick made a swing of the area. The young people readilyidentified the mine and picnic grounds, and Rick pointed out the quarryinto which he had tumbled.
Scotty said, "Something's been bothering me. If the Frostola man is newin this area, how could he have known the terrain well enough to lead uson that wild-goose chase?"
"He's new, but not that new," Rick pointed out. "He's had weeks in whichto study the lay of the land. Besides, he does his haunting at night--ifhe's the one--and he roams the fields near the mine. He must know hisway around."
"You're right," Scotty assented. "Now tell me this: why did he take thecement bags?"
"To keep us from finding out that they didn't contain cement," Ricksaid. "It has to be the reason. That means he knew about the bags, andmaybe he even buried them. He didn't bury them deep, because who wouldthink anything of a bunch of cement bags, except a pair like us? Then,when he saw they had turned up, he collected them and took themsomewhere else. The bags we found this morning may even be the sameones, although I think they're a second set. He'd hide the first setbetter than he did at first."
"Your language is confused, but I get your meaning." Scotty grinned."Okay, detective. Set us down. It's suppertime."
Rick swung into his landing pattern. "Anyway, we've made progress," hecommented with satisfaction. "We started with just a ghost. Now lookwhat we've got!"