CHAPTER X
ENERGY FROM PLANET X
Tom and Bud listened in dismay as Blake reported all the details he hadbeen able to gather.
"Was my Quakelizor a flop, Bud?" Tom muttered, his shoulders drooping asthe announcer signed off. "It must have been!"
"Don't be silly! Snap out of it!" Bud gave his pal a cheerful poke inthe ribs, hoping to buck him up. "You heard what Blake said--Washingtonitself was hardly touched. Without your setup, think of all the peoplethat _might_ have been killed or injured! And all the governmentbuildings that might have been wrecked, maybe even the White House. I'dsay your shock-wave deflector must have been at least ninety per centeffective!"
Tom brightened somewhat on hearing Bud's words. He picked up the phone,and placed a call to Dr. Miles at the Bureau of Mines. It was almosthalf an hour before the operator was able to get a line through. But Tomfelt the suspense had been worth while when Dr. Miles exclaimed:
"Tom, it was a miracle you completed the Quakelizor installation intime! In all probability it saved us from a major national disaster,perhaps worse than Pearl Harbor!"
Tom felt a glow of pride and relief. "Thanks, sir. But what about theshipyard destruction?" he added, still not entirely convinced.
"That was a bad break, Tom," Dr. Miles admitted. "Our detectors showedthat the shock waves had been almost damped out when a sudden powerfailure occurred. It turned out that an overload had shorted theQuakelizor's power plant. The crew had it fixed within moments, but bythat time the damage was done."
Tom winced as he heard of the unfortunate accident, but was thankful theresults had been no worse.
Miles went on to say that he had just been conferring with Ahlgren atthe Pentagon. The Defense Department now feared that attempts might bemade against other large cities and was therefore eager to have Tomdeliver several quake deflectors as soon as possible. These would beinstalled at strategic points around the country.
"The government heads were so impressed with your invention, Tom," Dr.Miles added, "that they'll probably be walking the floor anxiously untilthe others arrive."
Tom chuckled, then became serious. "Tell them we'll go to work rightaway," he informed the seismologist. "I'll have the new Quakelizorsready as soon as possible, but you'd better warn your associates it'sbound to take a few days."
As soon as the conversation was completed, Tom dialed Ned Newton at theSwift Construction Company. Although he was actually not a relative ofthe Swifts, both Tom and Sandy had from childhood called him "UncleNed."
"What's up, Tom?" he asked.
Tom told him of the latest request from Washington and asked thatanother three-shift work schedule be set up to turn out the additionalQuakelizors.
"Hank and I will bring the blueprints over right away, if you don't mindbeing late to dinner," Tom said.
Ned Newton agreed willingly, only too happy to help cope with the quakemenace. By eight o'clock that evening, work on the project wasproceeding at great speed. The Swift Construction Company continuedhumming with activity around the clock.
The week end was almost over by the time Mr. Swift arrived back from thespace station. Tom flew to Fearing Island to meet him. On the short hopback to Enterprises, they discussed the radio problem.
"I think the solution's been staring us in the face, Dad, but we've beentoo worried to think of it," Tom said. "Remember Li Ching's jamming-wavegenerator?"
He was referring to a device used recently by an Oriental foe of Tom andhis father. Mr. Swift's eyes lighted up with a quick flash ofunderstanding.
"Dad, you wrote a report on the generator for the government with a memoon possible ways to combat it," Tom went on. "Maybe the same measureswould work in this case."
The Swifts had discovered that their enemy had been intercepting Tom'smessages, thereby learning the frequency to which the Swifts' receiverwas tuned. They then radiated a signal at this frequency, modulated atthe frequency to which the local oscillator was set. This had caused abuildup of energy in the I.F. transformers, resulting in theirexplosion.
Now Mr. Swift said, "You're right, son. We'll insert a blocking filterin the R.F. stage that should do the trick."
Their minds relieved of this problem, the Swifts were eagerly lookingforward to the arrival of the brain energy from space the next day. Thescheduled time, if pinpointed at exactly two weeks from the moment whenthe first message was received, would be half an hour past noon.
The spot, two miles from Enterprises, was on a lonely hillside. It wasshaded by trees, higher up the slope, with bushes and other wild-growinggreenery softening its contours. Over the week end, Tom had hadcarpenters from Enterprises put up a small cabin at the foot.
As twelve-thirty approached, Tom, Bud, Mr. Swift, Hank Sterling, ArvHanson, and several other Swift technicians stood by at the scene withthe star-headed container. Chow had also begged to be on hand.
"I jest got to see Ole Think Box come to life!" he said.
Eyes darted back and forth from wrist watches to sky as the zero momentticked closer. Bud even began muttering a countdown.
"X minus three... X minus two... X minus one... This is it!"
All eyes flashed skyward. _But nothing happened!_ Not a speck showed inthe blue, cloudless sky.
The watchers glanced at one another uncertainly. More minutes went by.Soon it was quarter to one... then one o'clock.
"No mistake about the time, was there?" Arv asked.
Mr. Swift shook his head. "Not if the code was translated correctly." Hefrowned. "It's true they spoke merely in terms of days. But their timereferences are usually very precise."
The waiting group fidgeted and prowled back and forth to ease theirtension. Feelings of suspense began changing into gloom after two morehours had passed with no sign from the sky.
Disappointed but unable to wait any longer, the technical men went backto the plant, one by one. Hank Sterling, too, and Arv Hanson finally hadto leave.
"Sorry, skipper," Hank muttered. "Ring us right away if it shows up."
"Sure, Hank."
As six o'clock went by, Chow tried to pep up his companions' droopingspirits with a simple but tasty supper, warmed up on an electric hotplate in the cabin.
"What do you think, skipper? Are we out of luck?" Bud asked as they ate.
"Our space friends haven't let us down yet," Tom replied. "I'm sure theywon't this time." Though he didn't say so aloud, Tom was worried thattheir Brungarian enemies might have managed to divert and capture theenergy.
Mr. Swift seemed to read Tom's thoughts. "Let's hope no hitch hasoccurred," he said quietly.
The sun went down. Twilight slowly deepened. The trees on the hillsidefaded from view in the gathering darkness.
"_There it is!_" Bud yelled suddenly.
Electrified, the four sprang up in an instant. A speck of light wassailing across the sky! But their faces fell as it drew closer.
"Only an airplane," Bud grumbled.
At ten o'clock Mr. Swift gave a weary yawn. "The spirit is willing butthe flesh is weak," he confessed. "I got only two hours of sleep on thespace wheel, and apparently last night wasn't enough to catch up. Sorry,fellows."
"Why don't you go home, Dad? Hit the hay," Tom said sympathetically.
Promising to take a turn on watch if the vigil continued through thenext day, Mr. Swift drove off in his car.
Time dragged by slowly as the three remaining watchers chatted andlooked hopefully at the stars. Eventually Chow propped himself against atree and dropped off to sleep to the accompaniment of low-droningsnores. Bud too began to drowse.
It was long past midnight when Tom suddenly caught sight of a movinglight in the sky. He stiffened and held his breath. Another false alarm?
But no! A glowing, faintly bluish mass with a comet tail of luminousorange red was slowly proceeding through the pattern of stars!
"Hey, fellows! Wake up!" Tom shouted. He sprang to his feet andunlatched a single point of the star head. Within seconds, Bud and Chowwere b
oth wide awake, as excited as Tom. The blue nebulous mass movedcloser and closer. The three watchers were speechless with awe.
As the ball of energy descended toward them, it lit up the whole scene.The hillside looked almost as if it were on fire. The earth vibrated,and the air had the sharp smell of ozone. This was followed by afrightening clatter and rumble. The force of the energy was sweepingdown rocks, gravel, and shrubbery in a hillside avalanche!
"Look out!" Chow shrieked. "We'll be pulverized in this rock stampede!"He streaked for cover as a huge boulder came plunging straight towardhim.
"Hold fast, Bud!" Tom cried. "Nothing's headed our way!"
Steeling his nerves, he grabbed the waiting container and held ongrimly. An instant later the glowing mass sharpened and narrowed itselfinto a snakelike bolt of fire that arced straight into the head of Tom'sinvention.
Tom gave a yell of triumph and clamped the star point shut, then pusheda button to activate the self-sealing process.
Chow peered out cautiously from behind a clump of rock. The next second,he let out a Texas whoop, bounded from cover like an over-sized gnome,and sent his ten-gallon hat sailing high into the air.
"_Yippee!_"
Bud cheered too. "The visitor from Planet X has arrived!"
In their excitement and relief, the three hugged one another and jumpedfor joy.
"Should we wake up your dad and tell him the good news--or keep it asurprise till morning?" Bud asked Tom.
"I guess we'd better--"
Tom broke off in a gasp as the robotlike container suddenly began towhirl--slowly at first, then faster and faster. Spinning crazily like ahuge runaway top, it darted up, down, and about the hillside.
Tom and his two companions stared in helpless amazement.
"Great horned toads! What's it up to?" Chow exclaimed.
"Seems like the energy's trying to get out!" Bud guessed. "Somethingmust be bothering it."
Tom shook his head incredulously. "No reason for that. The container wasabsolutely empty."
Chow suddenly gave a groan and slapped his forehead in dismay. "Brand myBig Dipper!" the cook said. "Mebbe Ole Think Box has gone loco! An' itcould be my fault!"