CHAPTER XIX
A FIENDISH MACHINE
A chill of fear gripped Tom and his companions as they blinkedhelplessly in the glare! Had the enemy detected them the first momentthey had set foot on Balala Island? Had they walked blindly into a trap?
Gradually Tom's eyes and those of his friends adjusted to the dazzlingradiance. A door, blocking the tunnel just ahead, had slid open and thelight was pouring out of a room beyond.
"What happened?" Arv gasped.
Tom pointed downward to a pedallike plunger inserted in the tunnelfloor. "This must be a switch," he explained. "When I stepped on itaccidentally, it must have opened the door and flashed on the lights."
Bud whistled. "Wow! Let's be thankful it wasn't a booby trap!"
"Maybe it is," murmured Hank grimly.
Steeling their nerves, and with every sense alert, the searchersadvanced into the secret room.
Tom suddenly gave a cry of amazement. "The earthquake machine!"
A huge hydraulic device, with massive steel bed and supporting pillars,looking somewhat like the enormous body presses found in automobileplants, stood embedded in a recess in one wall.
Tom rushed to the machine and examined it in fascination. A powerfuldiesel generator stood nearby with banks of complicated electricalequipment, amid a spider-web tangle of wiring. Tom assumed this gear wasfor timing and synchronizing the shock waves. Evidently the whole setupwas operated from a single control panel in the wall, studded with knobsand dials.
"What a job of design!" Tom exclaimed in awe. His eyes roved over everydetail of the equipment while he poked here and there with his hands. Hewas getting the "feel" of the setup almost as much by touch and handlingas by his superb technical intuition. "Boy, I hate to admire anythingthose Brungarian rebel scientists do, but this is really masterful!"
"Yes? Well, don't go ga-ga over it," said Bud. "Let's do what we came todo and scram out of here. This place makes me jumpy!"
Tom appeared oblivious. "It seems like vandalism to wreck such anengineering achievement! Also, and this may sound strange to you," hewent on in a doubtful tone, "are we _really_ justified in taking the lawinto our own hands?"
"They're trying to wreck _our_ setup, aren't they?" Bud retorted. "Thinkof the destruction they've caused already! Do you want to stand by andsee Enterprises destroyed too?"
"Bud's right," Hank Sterling spoke up quietly. "Take a look at this."
He beckoned them over to another corner of the cave and pointed to aseries of notations, crudely scrawled in white chalk on the cave wall.Half hidden behind a clump of rock, they would have escaped casualnotice.
Tom read them and gave an angry gasp. A list of places and dates,already checked off, showed the quakes that had occurred so far. Thelast notation, not yet checked, said: SWIFT ENTERPRISES and was datedfive days ahead.
"Okay, that's all the convincing I need!" Tom said grimly.
He issued quick orders. Hank and Arv were to rush back to the _SeaHound_, get an underwater pump from the gear carried aboard, and installit just off the beach. From there, they were to run a pipe line up intothe cave, using special plastic tubing which hooked together in a jiffy.
"Cover the piping with sand and gravel, so it won't be noticed," Tomadded. "In the meantime, Bud and I will go to work on this setup here."
"Aye-aye, skipper!" Hank and Arv responded.
As they hurried out through the tunnel, Tom and Bud set to work with thetools they had brought along. The diesel was partly dismantled, sandpoured into its fuel feed, and the generator windings ripped out. Theboys then tore off and tangled all wiring leads to the electricalequipment, took apart much of the equipment itself, and smashed thecontrol panel.
"Boy, if those Brungarian creeps get this setup working again, they're_really_ geniuses!" Bud said as he and Tom paused a second.
"This is only the beginning, pal!" Tom said. "Let's tackle the machine!"
The huge earthquake device was a far more difficult proposition todisable. Its heavy structural parts had to be disassembled or priedapart, one by one. Both boys were streaked with sweat as they finished.
By this time, Hank and Arv had the piping installed halfway into thetunnel. Spurred on as if by a sixth sense of danger, Tom told them to goback to the beach and get the pump working while he and Bud connectedthe few remaining pipe lengths into the machine room.
Minutes later, their job done, Tom and Bud rushed out to the mouth ofthe cave and waved their flashlights. Soon the water could be heardboiling through the pipeline. It gushed out with a roar, flooding themachine room.
"Let's go!" Tom cried, yanking Bud's arm.
As they reached the beach and joined Hank and Arv, Tom's keen earspicked up the drone of a plane somewhere in the darkness.
He gave a yell of alarm and pointed skyward. A ghostlike jet camezooming into view, boring straight toward them. All four broke into amad dash for the seacopter.
They were halfway out on the reef when the plane leveled out of its divewith an earsplitting whine.
"Hide!" Tom shouted, fearing a bomb might be dropped.
[Illustration (Tom and friends are attacked by a ray gun from an airplane)]
All leaped for cover among the rocks. At the same instant, a fiery beamlike a bolt of lightning shot from the plane. It seared the spot on thereef they had just vacated!
"A ray gun!" Bud gasped.
The plane's speed had already carried it far past the island. Before itcould maneuver around for another pass, Tom and his companions were ontheir feet, racing for the safety of the _Sea Hound_.
They were aboard and clamping shut the hatch lid as the jet made itssecond pass. This time its fiery ray glanced harmlessly off theseacopter's Tomasite sheathing. Seconds later, the _Sea Hound_ haddarted off beyond reach into the ocean waters.
"Whew! We really broke all speed records that time!" Arv panted.
The others looked at him with wan but triumphant grins. Then they beganto speculate on what the beamlike bolt was, who was in the plane, and iftheir enemy knew who Tom's group were.
Dawn was streaking the sky when the seacopter arrived at Fearing Island.The adventurers flew back to Enterprises at once. Tom and Bud snatched afew hours' sleep in the apartment adjoining Tom's laboratory.
Later in the morning the whole group gathered in Tom's laboratory torecount the raid to Mr. Swift and Harlan Ames. A bell signal from theelectronic brain brought them rushing to the decoder. Grim news awaitedthem. The message said:
EXMAN TO SWIFTS. YOUR ENEMIES ARE NOW SURE I AM SPY. THEY PLAN TO DESTROY ME.
"No! It mustn't happen!" Tom cried in dismay. "Dad, I'll rescue himmyself!"
His words were greeted with shocked protests from the others.
"Don't be crazy!" Bud said. "You wouldn't have a chance!"
"It would be suicide!" Arv Hanson declared.
Chow grabbed his young boss by the arm. "Brand my cayenne pepper, beforeI'd let you make a blame fool move like that, I'd rope an' hawg-tie youmyself!"
Ames interjected the most convincing argument. "I know how you feel,Tom," he said sympathetically, "but I'm positive the United Statesgovernment would never permit such a risky undertaking."
Tom was beside himself with anxiety. Not only had he worked andstruggled to make the space brain's visit a scientific success, but alsoit was he who had thought of the scheme to use Exman as a spy. In Tom'seyes, if the Brungarian rebels were to destroy the brain's body, itwould amount to murder! The young inventor knew that the destruction ofthe "body" would not destroy the energy, but that it would be "lost" asfar as the earth was concerned.
Who knew, Tom asked himself, what priceless secrets the "brain" mightultimately yield to earth's scientific researchers? If the Brungarianswere to succeed, this might deter the Swifts' space friends from everattempting another visit to our planet!
In despair, Tom turned to his father. "You know how much is at stake,Dad!" he pleaded. "Isn't there something we can do?"
M
r. Swift had been silent, thoughtfully drumming his pencil on theworkbench. He looked up.
"Tom, I can think of only one thing," he said. "Perhaps our friends onPlanet X can help us. They said they would have no control over theenergy until it was ready to return home. But maybe we can get them tohelp us transfer the energy back here--not by any means of earthtransportation, but by some extraterrestrial means known to theirscientists."
Tom's eyes kindled with hope. "Dad, that's a terrific idea!" heexclaimed. "Let's try!"
A message was quickly beamed out into space. Minutes went by. Then themachine signaled a reply. It said:
WE WILL ATTEMPT RESCUE IF YOU WILL ARC A POWERFUL RADIO BEAM FROM POINT OF ORIGINAL EARTH LANDING TO POINT WHERE ENERGY IS NOW.
Moments later, a further message followed, giving technical instructionson how to project the beam. It ended:
NOTIFY US WHEN SETUP IS READY.
"Yahoo!" Chow whooped. "Brand my space guns, I reckon we'll get OleThink Box home safe after all!"
"He's not home yet, Chow," Tom cautioned, grinning but still tense withworry. "Glad you said that, though. It reminds me that the first job onour hands is to build a new think box for Exman!"
With hope alive, Tom turned icy calm and buckled down to the work athand. Before beginning construction of a new space robot, he contactedExman via the electronic brain and asked him for his exact location inBrungaria. The answer came in precise latitude and longitude.
Next, Tom radioed instructions for the rescue plan. As soon as Exman wasnotified that the invisible force from Planet X was ready to transporthis energy, he was to unlatch point five of his star head. He would thenbe free to attach his energy to the rescue beam and be arced back to thehillside spot near Enterprises, where Tom would have a new robot bodywaiting.
Exman replied tersely:
MESSAGE UNDERSTOOD. WILL COMPLY.
Tom snapped out orders. "Hank! Arv! Bud! And, Dad, we can sure use yourhelp too! Every hour may be precious! We must construct a replica ofExman's robot container as fast as possible!"
Every resource of Swift Enterprises was convulsed into action. But forall their scientific miracles, the staff could not perform magic. Thecomplicated robot device required hours of highly skilled construction.
Darkness had fallen by the time the energy container was ready.Meanwhile, a powerful transmitter and directional antenna had been setup at the hillside spot. Extensive reports on the condition of theionosphere poured into headquarters.
The Swifts and their small group of trusted associates trucked the newrobot and the electronic brain out to the site. Tom then signaled hisspace friends that he was ready. They responded with the exact time forthe rescue attempt. Tom transmitted the information to Exman, whoreplied:
DANGER NEAR. BRUNGARIAN SCIENTISTS READY TO DESTROY ME.
"Great bellowin' buffaloes!" Chow gulped. "Please make it quick, Tom! Wegot to save that space critter!"
Tom glanced at his illuminated watch dial. The countdown ticked by.Suddenly his hand closed a switch, transmitting the rescue beam. Moremoments passed as the Swifts and the watchers strained their eyes towardthe night sky.
"Here it comes!" Bud yelled suddenly.
A fiery bluish-white light had suddenly flamed into view. It grewsteadily larger. Tom poised the container and opened one point of thestar head.
Now the blue fireball was arcing down over the hillside, trailing itsorange-red comet tail. It hissed into the container and Tom snapped shutthe star head.
The next moment, the young inventor wavered and slumped unconscious!
CHAPTER XX
THE ROBOT SPY'S STORY
"Tom!" his father cried. Anxiously the others crowded around the lankyyoung inventor, who had fallen beside the new robot.
"Stand back! Give him air!" Bud urged. "How is he, Mr. Swift?"
The elder scientist was feeling Tom's wrist. "His pulse is beating, butit's a bit weak. He must have received a terrific shock from all thatenergy!... Tom!... Tom, son, can you hear me?"
The young inventor moaned and stirred faintly but his eyes did not open.His cheeks and lips seemed colorless in the glow of Mr. Swift'sflashlight. Chow was terrified, hovering about helplessly.
"I'll call Doc Simpson to bring a pulmotor!" Hank exclaimed.
"Yes, do, Hank!" Mr. Swift pleaded. "Quick!"
An ambulance arrived a few minutes later. Doc Simpson and an attendantleaped out, and the resuscitation equipment--specially designed by theSwifts for their plant infirmary--was hastily unloaded.
Anxious moments followed, but finally Tom began to respond to thetreatment. Soon his eyes were open and he regained full consciousness.As Doc held a paper cup of water for him to sip, Tom smiled wanly.
"Okay." he murmured, "I'm all right now. Sorry if I scared you, Dad." Hestarted to get up.
"It's a hospital bed for you, skipper. And no arguments!" Doc Simpsonsaid sternly. "What happened here?"
"I believe," Mr. Swift answered, "that our space friends, in finding away to move the energy back to us, had less close control over it onearth than when they sent it from space."
By midmorning the next day, Tom had awakened refreshed from a goodnight's sleep and felt normal again. Over Doc Simpson's protests, heinsisted upon dressing and hurrying over to his laboratory.
Here he found his father working intently amid a jumble of mechanicalparts, tools, and electronic equipment. Nearby stood Exman with a panelopen in his upper body, exposing the controls and output equipment.
"Hi, Dad!" Tom exclaimed as he strode into the laboratory. "What's doingwith Ole Think Box?"
Mr. Swift looked up with a smile of relief. "'Morning, son! All wellagain? That's wonderful! I'm just giving Exman an artificial speechmechanism. He's already briefed us via the electronic brain on thesituation in Brungaria. But I thought it would be even better if hecould tell us in person."
Details on the earthquake plot, Mr. Swift went on, had already beenreported to the Defense Department. Tom's raid on Balala Island hadeffectively blocked further quake attempts.
The Brungarian rebels had become enraged by their failure to extractExman's secrets, and had decided to disintegrate the robot creature andits brain energy. But the youthful Brungarian loyalist group had keptthem so busy with resistance outbreaks that they had delayed too long.
"Lucky thing!" Tom put in with an affectionate grin at Exman. "If theyhad started to destroy him half an hour sooner, it might have beenpretty sad for Ole Think Box!"
Tom was intrigued by his father's design for an artificial speechmechanism. After talking it over, they decided that Tom would go to workon a central computer device to integrate all the senses. He would alsoprovide Exman with "ears," which would be sound-reception equipment. Mr.Swift, meanwhile, would continue work on the speech mechanism and alsoperfect the seeing equipment he had started earlier.
The day sped by as the two Swifts worked with feverish intensity. Lunchwas eaten from their workbenches, but the inventors reluctantly haltedat dinnertime.
After a tasty meal of fried chicken at home with Mrs. Swift and Sandy,both Toms returned to the plant. Father and son labored until well pastmidnight on their experiments. Then they snatched a few hours of sleepand resumed their tasks early the next morning.
By early afternoon an atmosphere of excitement pervaded Enterprises. Thevisitor from Planet X would soon be able to communicate directly withhis earth friends! Bud, Chow, Hank Sterling, Arv Hanson, and ArtWiltessa gathered in the laboratory, along with several other Swift keymen. Mrs. Swift, Sandy, and Phyl also arrived to watch.
At last the sensing equipment was completed and installed. Exman wasready to speak!
His voice came out haltingly, but as the words were selected from a vasttaped collection, they were clear and bold:
GREETINGS TO YOU, MY EARTH FRIENDS!
Sandy gave a squeal of delight and the room echoed with applause forExman's first effort. After a few adjustments, he was able to speak m
orefreely and smoothly.
Tom whispered to Phyl, "Confidentially, we had a dummy run beforelunchtime. At first, all Exman could do was croak like a frog."
Phyl, thrilled by the spectacle of a speaking space creature, gave theyoung inventor's hand a squeeze. "Tom, he's just wonderful!"
Tom agreed. "Our country owes him a lot for exposing the Brungarianrebel schemes."
To Tom's amazement, Exman's "ears" picked up his murmured words, evenabove the babble of the spectators crowding the room.
"Your country owes you much, Tom Swift," the creature said. "Youconceived the idea of an electronic spy and found ways to block therebels' destructive earthquake plans."
As Tom flushed at the crowd's applause, Exman continued, "Unless I ammistaken, you will soon learn that you have accomplished even more."
Tom was mystified by this. Meanwhile, the spectators listened spellboundas Exman went on talking, telling what he had learned of the valiantresistance efforts to overthrow the Brungarian rebels.
A short time later the telephone rang. Tom answered, and the operatorinformed him that John Thurston of Central Intelligence was calling.
"Great news, Tom," the CIA man said. "We've just learned that therightful Brungarian government forces have struck hard in the capitalcity and at half a dozen other points. The rebel puppets and theirtroops have been crushed completely!"
Tom was enthusiastic over the news.
"That's not all," Thurston went on. "In case you don't realize it, theinformation which you supplied by means of your electronic spy ischiefly what enabled the government forces to win out. They've promisedto dismantle the rebels' other two earthquake bases."
As Tom hung up and relayed the electrifying news, Bud and the othersburst into cheers.
"It is all due to Tom Swift and his secret assistant," Exman said.
Tom was puzzled by the remark but had no time to ask what he meant asthe people in the room crowded around to shake his hand. Mr. and Mrs.Swift smiled proudly at their son's latest triumph. Phyl and Sandyexpressed their feelings by giving Tom a quick kiss.
"Hey! Where do I come in?" Bud protested.
Before the girls could answer, the door of the laboratory opened andHarlan Ames walked in, accompanied by a lean, gray-eyed young man withdark close-cropped hair. _Samson Narko!_
Chow let out a yelp of rage. "Why, brand my sagebrush hash, it's thatdouble-crossin' Brungarian--"
"Hold it, Chow!" Ames cut short the outburst. "Allow me to introduce oneof America's most effective counterespionage agents, Mr. Samson Narko!"
Tom and his friends were astounded. Narko himself smiled somewhatuncomfortably. "I can imagine how you all feel--you especially, Tom.But, believe me, I could not risk pulling my punches even when it putyou all in grave peril, such as when I fired that missile across the bowof your sub. I could only hope that Tom Swift would succeed in eludingus."
Ames quickly briefed the others on Narko's background. Brungarian-born,he had received his engineering training in the United States and hadlearned to love America. When he saw his own country threatened by theforces of dictatorship, he had secretly offered his services to the CIAagainst the rebels. Soon afterward, the agency had approached him tobecome a counterspy.
"I dared not relax from my role as a spy for a moment," Narko added."I even grabbed the chance to plant that cache of firearms in Latty'scellar to convince any rebel agents who might be watching me that I wason their side. Tom, the rebels gave me the job of hijacking your spacerobot. But, going on the brief messages that the CIA was able to getthrough to me, I guessed that you were using it as bait."
"I guess we all owe _you_ an apology," Tom said. "And our thanks. Wewere lucky to have you on our side."
"He saved the lives of a number of loyalist prisoners and gave thegovernment forces some vital tip-offs of his own," Ames added.
As Tom shook hands with Narko, the young Brungarian said warmly, "It isgood to know that Tom Swift is my friend." With a chuckle, Narko added,"I know from experience that you certainly make a dangerous enemy!"
As the others gathered around to speak to Samson Narko and add theirfriendly congratulations, Bud slapped Tom on the back.
"Well, skipper, what's next on the schedule?"
For a moment Tom did not reply. He too wondered where his nextscientific adventure would lead him.
Finally Tom turned to Bud. "I'm not sure. But who knows what spacesecrets Exman may have up his mechanical sleeve!"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
[Errors noted by transcriber:
Tom and Bud wore swimming trunks under their slacks. _text reads_ swimingTom looked up, his blue eyes blazing. _text has period for comma_KIDNAPED! [chapter title] _and elsewhere_ _spelling "kidnaped" consistent in text_ ]
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