Minutes later, their job done, Tom and Bud rushed out to the mouth of the cave and waved their flashlights. Soon the water could be heard boiling through the pipeline. It gushed out with a roar, flooding the machine room.
"Let"s go!" Tom cried, yanking Bud"s arm.
As they reached the beach and joined Hank and Arv, Tom"s keen ears picked up the drone of a plane somewhere in the darkness.
He gave a yell of alarm and pointed skyward. A ghostlike jet came zooming into view, boring straight toward them. All four broke into a mad dash for the seacopter.
They were halfway out on the reef when the plane leveled out of its dive with an earsplitting whine.
"Hide!" Tom shouted, fearing a bomb might be dropped.
[Ill.u.s.tration (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 beam like a bolt of lightning shot from the plane. It seared the spot on the reef they had just vacated!
"A ray gun!" Bud gasped.
The plane"s speed had already carried it far past the island. Before it could maneuver around for another pa.s.s, Tom and his companions were on their feet, racing for the safety of the _Sea Hound_.
They were aboard and clamping shut the hatch lid as the jet made its second pa.s.s. This time its fiery ray glanced harmlessly off the seacopter"s Tomasite sheathing. Seconds later, the _Sea Hound_ had darted 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 began to speculate on what the beamlike bolt was, who was in the plane, and if their 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 s.n.a.t.c.hed a few hours" sleep in the apartment adjoining Tom"s laboratory.
Later in the morning the whole group gathered in Tom"s laboratory to recount the raid to Mr. Swift and Harlan Ames. A bell signal from the electronic brain brought them rushing to the decoder. Grim news awaited them. 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 him myself!"
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, before I"d let you make a blame fool move like that, I"d rope an" hawg-tie you myself!"
Ames interjected the most convincing argument. "I know how you feel, Tom," he said sympathetically, "but I"m positive the United States government would never permit such a risky undertaking."
Tom was beside himself with anxiety. Not only had he worked and struggled to make the s.p.a.ce brain"s visit a scientific success, but also it was he who had thought of the scheme to use Exman as a spy. In Tom"s eyes, if the Brungarian rebels were to destroy the brain"s body, it would amount to murder! The young inventor knew that the destruction of the "body" would not destroy the energy, but that it would be "lost" as far as the earth was concerned.
Who knew, Tom asked himself, what priceless secrets the "brain" might ultimately yield to earth"s scientific researchers? If the Brungarians were to succeed, this might deter the Swifts" s.p.a.ce friends from ever attempting 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?"
Mr. Swift had been silent, thoughtfully drumming his pencil on the workbench. He looked up.
"Tom, I can think of only one thing," he said. "Perhaps our friends on Planet X can help us. They said they would have no control over the energy until it was ready to return home. But maybe we can get them to help us transfer the energy back here--not by any means of earth transportation, but by some extraterrestrial means known to their scientists."
Tom"s eyes kindled with hope. "Dad, that"s a terrific idea!" he exclaimed. "Let"s try!"
A message was quickly beamed out into s.p.a.ce. Minutes went by. Then the machine 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 instructions on how to project the beam. It ended:
NOTIFY US WHEN SETUP IS READY.
"Yahoo!" Chow whooped. "Brand my s.p.a.ce guns, I reckon we"ll get Ole Think Box home safe after all!"
"He"s not home yet, Chow," Tom cautioned, grinning but still tense with worry. "Glad you said that, though. It reminds me that the first job on our hands is to build a new think box for Exman!"
With hope alive, Tom turned icy calm and buckled down to the work at hand. Before beginning construction of a new s.p.a.ce robot, he contacted Exman via the electronic brain and asked him for his exact location in Brungaria. The answer came in precise lat.i.tude and longitude.
Next, Tom radioed instructions for the rescue plan. As soon as Exman was notified that the invisible force from Planet X was ready to transport his energy, he was to unlatch point five of his star head. He would then be free to attach his energy to the rescue beam and be arced back to the hillside spot near Enterprises, where Tom would have a new robot body waiting.
Exman replied tersely:
MESSAGE UNDERSTOOD. WILL COMPLY.
Tom snapped out orders. "Hank! Arv! Bud! And, Dad, we can sure use your help too! Every hour may be precious! We must construct a replica of Exman"s robot container as fast as possible!"
Every resource of Swift Enterprises was convulsed into action. But for all their scientific miracles, the staff could not perform magic. The complicated 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 set up at the hillside spot. Extensive reports on the condition of the ionosphere poured into headquarters.
The Swifts and their small group of trusted a.s.sociates trucked the new robot and the electronic brain out to the site. Tom then signaled his s.p.a.ce friends that he was ready. They responded with the exact time for the rescue attempt. Tom transmitted the information to Exman, who replied:
DANGER NEAR. BRUNGARIAN SCIENTISTS READY TO DESTROY ME.
"Great bellowin" buffaloes!" Chow gulped. "Please make it quick, Tom! We got to save that s.p.a.ce critter!"
Tom glanced at his illuminated watch dial. The countdown ticked by.
Suddenly his hand closed a switch, transmitting the rescue beam. More moments pa.s.sed as the Swifts and the watchers strained their eyes toward the night sky.
"Here it comes!" Bud yelled suddenly.
A fiery bluish-white light had suddenly flamed into view. It grew steadily larger. Tom poised the container and opened one point of the star head.
Now the blue fireball was arcing down over the hillside, trailing its orange-red comet tail. It hissed into the container and Tom snapped shut the star head.
The next moment, the young inventor wavered and slumped unconscious!