CHAPTER VII
WALL OF WATER!
Minutes went by before the signal bell rang on the electronic brain.Both Tom and Bud dashed over to the machine as it began to spell out theincoming message on tape:
ENERGY WILL COME TO THE SPOT YOU SUGGESTED. WE CAN CONTROL FLIGHT COURSE BUT WHILE THE ENERGY IS ON EARTH YOU WILL BE IN CHARGE. WE WILL HAVE NO CONTROL FOR TWENTY-ONE DAYS. THEN WE WILL RECALL ENERGY TO BRING US IMPRESSIONS AND DATA OF YOUR WORLD.
The two boys stared at each other excitedly as the transmission ended.
"Wow!" Bud murmured. "If Planet X is a peaceful place, Ole Think Box issure in for a jolt here on earth!"
Tom grinned fleetingly at the reference to Chow's nickname for the robotcreature. Then he became serious, knowing that Bud's words were all tootrue. The space visitor might also take back impressions of thesuffering and warlike threats that some earth countries inflict on oneanother. Maybe one day, Tom reflected, it would be different.
In the meantime, the young inventor realized he had an awesomeresponsibility. He must not only make the best use of the brain energyduring its stay on earth, but also keep it from falling into the handsof treacherous Brungarian plotters.
Tom's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of girls' voices.Sandy and Phyl were standing in the doorway of the space-communicationslaboratory.
"Talk about deep thinkers!" Sandy said teasingly.
"Goodness, we had no idea we'd be interrupting a session of the braintrust," Phyl added with a mischievous sparkle in her brown eyes. "Maybewe should go away again, Sandy!"
"Hey! Hold it, you two!" Bud exclaimed. "What do you think, Tom--arethese the visitors we've been expecting from outer space?"
"Well! I like that!" Sandy pouted. "Do we look like a couple of littlegreen people?"
Tom chuckled and seized the opportunity to do a little teasing of hisown. "I think it's just your pointed heads that fooled us, Sis." Then,as the two girls broke down in laughter, he added, "Why the unexpectedvisit?"
Sandy and Phyl explained that they had come to invite the boys to apicnic cruise on Lake Carlopa the next day.
"And while we're here, since it's practically quitting time anyhow,"Sandy went on, her blue eyes twinkling, "we might even let you drive ussome place for dinner."
"Guess they've trapped us, Bud," Tom said with a grin. "Okay, it's adeal. But first we have something to show you." He took the girls to hislaboratory to show them the robot creature.
"It's marvelous!" Sandy exclaimed, and Phyl agreed.
Early the next morning Bud called for Tom and Sandy in his tomato-redconvertible. Then they stopped at the Newtons' house to pick up Phyl.Each girl had packed a picnic basket for the day's sail.
"Hmm. Looks as though we're going to be well fed," Bud commentedjokingly. "What's on the menu, girls?"
"Chicken and ham sandwiches..." Sandy began.
"Pickles, olives, hard-boiled eggs, potato salad..." Phyl went on.
"Chocolate cake, milk..." Sandy took up the list.
"Stop! You have us hungry as bears already!" Tom warned.
"Right!" Bud agreed. "Come on! Let's get this cruise under way!"
The two couples drove to the Shopton Yacht Club dock on Lake Carlopa.There they boarded the _Sunspot_, a beautiful thirty-foot sailing ketchwith auxiliary engine which Mr. Swift and Mr. Newton had purchased for afrequently promised but not yet realized joint family vacation.
The craft was equipped with twin gravitex stabilizers, mounted one oneach side of the hull. These gave it amazing smoothness even whenplowing through rough seas. They were adaptations of a device Tom hadinvented for his space kite and _Cosmic Sailer_.
"Oh, what a gorgeous day for a sail!" Phyl said, aglow with enthusiasm.
The sky was a cloudless blue. Under a hot summer sun, a brisk breeze wasruffling the lake into tiny whitecaps. The two couples cast off eagerlyand were soon scudding out across the water under full sail.
Tom and Bud wore swimming trunks under their slacks. Unfortunately thegirls had forgotten to bring their suits. When the _Sunspot_ reached thecenter of the lake, the boys hove to, stripped down to their trunks, anddived overboard. Meanwhile, the girls sun-bathed on deck. Soon it wastime for the picnic lunch, and all four ate with healthy youngappetites.
"Jeepers!" Sandy whispered to Phyl with a giggle. "After a feast likethis, we'll have to go on a diet!"
"Don't say it," Phyl warned, "or Tom and Bud will use that as an excusefor never taking us out ag--"
She broke off with a gasp.
"What's wrong?" Tom asked.
Breathless with fright, Phyl pointed off to starboard. The others paled.An enormous wave was sweeping across the lake, straight toward theketch!
"Jumpin' jets!" Bud gulped. "It's like a tidal wave!"
The boat was already rocking under the swells that preceded the oncominghuge breaker.
"Quick!" Tom yelled. "Grab life jackets while I start the engine!"
The four leaped into action. Every instant the terrifying wave rushedcloser! By now it was a twelve-foot wall of water!
Tom and the others had just put on the jackets and the engine had barelygunned into life when disaster struck. The mammoth wave swept up the_Sunspot_ and heeled it far over into the trough like a toy bark. Thenext instant a cataract of water poured over the deck with stunningforce!
"We're going under!" Phyl screamed.
All four were swept overboard in the maelstrom! Under the smashingimpact of the water, the ketch's mainmast bent and groaned. A momentlater came a crack like a gunshot. The mast broke off, hung teetering byshreds, then toppled into the water. As it fell, the mast struck Sandy agrazing blow on the head!
"Sandy!" Bud cried fearfully as he struggled in the swirling torrent.
Calling on every ounce of strength, he swam with powerful strokes towardthe girl. Sandy was dazed and limp. Bud's husky arm circled her tightly.Then he began to fight his way toward shore. Tom and Phyl--eachstruggling in the turbulent water--could only breathe a prayer of thanksas they watched the rescue.
[Illustration (a huge wave capsizes the Sunspot)]
As the huge wave raced shoreward, the lake water gradually became calmerin its wake. Tom was able to assist Phyl, and Sandy by now had recoveredher faculties.
The _Sunspot_ had capsized but could still be seen afloat, some distanceaway. Rather than swim to it and cling to the hulk in the hope that arescue boat would arrive, the four decided to continue on toward shore.They knew that the aftermath of the tidal wave would keep all shorefacilities in an uproar for hours to come.
As they neared the beach, the young people could see other overturnedcraft and heads bobbing in the water. A few daring persons finally beganputting out in motorboats and rowboats to pick up the survivors.
A hundred yards from shore, one of the boats took Tom's group aboard.Minutes later, they were scrambling out onto a dock.
"Are you all right, Sandy?" Bud asked, his arm still around her.
"I--I think so," she gasped weakly, "but I must have swallowed half thelake!"
"Take it easy, Sis!" Tom added, as Sandy swayed and shuddered from theshock of her recent ordeal.
Gently he made Sandy lie down and pillowed her head on a foldedtarpaulin provided by the sympathetic boatman. Phyl, though wan andwhite-faced, was in somewhat better shape.
"Tom, we must get these girls home as soon as possible," Bud declared.
This, however, was not easily accomplished. The tidal wave had causeddevastation along the entire shore front. Many docks had been wrecked,boats splintered like matchsticks, and buildings along the watersmashed.
When Tom's group reached Bud's convertible, parked near the yacht clubpier, they found the car completely waterlogged. Its electrical systemgave not even a faint sputter or spark.
"Oh, fine!" Bud groaned. "The crowning touch!"
Eventually ambulances and private cars began to arrive to transport theinjured. Tom, Bud, and the two girls were
given a lift to the Swift homewhere Sandy and Phyl were immediately put to bed by a worried Mrs.Swift.
Downstairs, Tom switched on the TV set. A mobile camera crew from thelocal station was scanning the water front and interviewing witnesses ofthe disaster. To the two boys, the most interesting note came in astatement by the announcer that a very slight earth tremor had been feltin Shopton.
"But no damage occurred except along the water front," the announcerexplained.
Tom gave a snort of anger, jumped up from his chair, and began pacingabout the living room. "Bud, I feel sure that wall of water was causedby a minor earthquake!" the young inventor declared. "What's more, I'llbet it was _man-made!_"
Bud stared at his friend, appalled but feeling a hot surge of angerhimself. "If you're right, pal, it's the most fiendish sabotage I'veever heard of! Think of all the lives that were endangered!"
Tom nodded grimly. "I _am_ thinking!"
Both boys jerked around to look at the TV set again as a studioannouncer's voice suddenly broke into the telecast:
"Flash! A severe quake has occurred at the headquarters of the AmericanArchives Foundation, a hundred miles from Shopton. The Foundation'sbuildings, containing many priceless government and scientificdocuments, were badly damaged, and an underground microfilm vault wasutterly destroyed. Apparently this quake was part of the tremor felthere at Shopton."
Within minutes the Swifts' home phone began jangling constantly. Somecalls were from friends, others from strangers. Many of the calls wererouted through from the Enterprises switchboard.
One was from Dan Perkins of the _Shopton Bulletin_. "What about it,Tom?" the editor demanded. "I guess you know by now the public's arousedand in a state of near panic over all these quakes. What they all wantto know is this: are you, Tom Swift, going to find a way to stop allthis destruction?"
Tom's jaw jutted out angrily. "Yes, I am!" he snapped. "And you canquote me on that!"