CHAPTER XVIII
EARTHQUAKE ISLAND
Now came the hardest part of all for Tom and his companions--waiting tolearn if the shock deflectors had succeeded in blotting out the enemyquake wave.
No one spoke. As the silence deepened inside the cave, the suspensebecame almost unbearable. Minutes passed.
"When will we know, skipper?" a crewman ventured at last.
"Soon, I hope," Tom replied tersely.
But the waiting seemed endless. Bud's eyes met Tom's. The flier grinnedand held up crossed fingers, just as Tom had done to Mike Burrows theprevious evening. Tom managed a feeble grin in response.
Suddenly the telephone shrilled, shattering the silence of the cave. Tomsnatched it from the radioman's hands.
"Tom Swift here!... Yes?... Thank heavens! I guess we can all begrateful, Dr. Miles!"
"Providence protected us, I'm sure, Tom," the seismologist replied atthe other end of the line. "But in this instance it worked through TomSwift's Quakelizors! The Bona Fide plant and the surrounding area nevereven felt the tremor--your quake deflectors worked perfectly!"
There was no need to tell the others. Tom's words on the telephone andthe grin on his face told the story. A spontaneous volley of cheersechoed through the cave as he hung up. Then the crew crowded around toslap Tom on the back and shake his hand.
"I hope the whole country learns what you've done, Tom," Mike Burrowssaid. "If it doesn't, I'll be the first to spread the word as soon asthe secrecy lid's taken off!"
"Shucks, I knew all along Tom's contraption would do the trick!" Chowboasted, glowing with pride over his young boss's achievement.
Tom could only smile happily. "Guess we can go home now," he said to Budand Chow.
They were preparing to leave when another flash from Washington cameover the radiotelephone. A ship's captain, five hundred miles out on thePacific, had just reported sighting a great waterspout, accompanied byconsiderable wave turbulence.
"It could have been the spot where the enemy shock waves and ourdeflector waves met and damped out," Tom commented.
"Dr. Miles thinks so, too," the caller said.
Soon the sleek Swift jet was arrowing back across the continent. Enroute, Tom radioed word of his latest triumph to Mr. Swift. As always,he used the automatic scramblers to make sure any enemy eavesdropperswould pick up only static.
"Great work, son!" Mr. Swift congratulated Tom. "I was confident youcould handle the situation with your Quakelizors."
"Thanks, Dad. See you soon."
When the jet finally landed at Enterprises and came to a halt on therunway, the control tower operator spoke over the radio.
"Harlan Ames would like to see Tom Jr. at the security building. He leftword just a few minutes ago."
"Roger!" Tom replied.
Chow frugally carted off his leftover supplies. Tom and Bud, meanwhile,went by jeep across the plant grounds to security headquarters.
Ames greeted the two boys enthusiastically. "Nice going on thatearthquake situation, Tom!" he said. "And now I have some more goodnews. We've just nabbed the man who imitated your father's voice overthe phone the other night."
"What!" Both boys were excited, and Tom added eagerly, "Who is he?"
"An actor at the Shopton summer playhouse."
"How did you find out?" Tom asked.
"I had a hunch," Ames went on. "If the impersonator wasn't a plantemployee at Enterprises, then he had to be a person with a trainedvoice. That gave me the idea of checking on all actors and stationannouncers here in the vicinity. It paid off right away. The guy's nameis Brent Nolan."
"Have you questioned him yet?" Tom asked.
"I'm about to," Ames replied. "Radnor just brought him in."
The security chief led the way into an adjoining office. A slender,good-looking young man with blond wavy hair was seated on a chair withPhil Radnor on one side of him and a Shopton police officer on theother. The actor was visibly nervous and perspiring.
"This is Tom Swift Jr.," Ames told him. "Brent Nolan."
Nolan nodded. "Yes, I've seen your picture in the papers many times."The actor tried to force a smile but his face muscles twitched."I--I seem to have pulled a pretty dumb stunt by faking that phonecall from your father. I'm sorry."
"What was the reason?" Tom asked.
Nolan fingered his wavy blond hair uneasily and swallowed hard. "A mannamed Professor Runkle paid me to do it."
"Professor Runkle?" Tom frowned. The name seemed vaguely familiar.
"He spoke with a foreign accent. Said he was doing research at GrandykeUniversity," Nolan explained. "He told me you might be expecting a rarebiological specimen from the East Indies. He said both of you were eagerto get hold of it for research purposes, but he was afraid that you hadoutbid him. However, if he asked you straight out, you would guard thesecret very jealously. So he hired me to find out."
"Didn't it occur to you he might be an espionage agent?" Ames askedcoldly.
Nolan seemed shocked. "Believe me, I had no such idea!" he averred."Runkle seemed pleasant. He said it all was merely a short cut to savehim from wasting any more time on the project. If Tom Swift had thespecimen, he would quit. I--I guess I'm a little bit vain about the wayI can mimic voices, and this gave me a chance to show off. Besides,I saw no harm in doing it."
"No harm?" Bud snorted. "You had Swift Enterprises in a real lather whenwe found out."
Nolan spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "I'm truly sorry," herepeated.
"How were you able to find out how my father's voice sounded?" Tomasked.
"I listened to a recording of a speech he made at the Fourth of Julyrally here in Shopton," Nolan explained. "I borrowed the tape from alocal radio station. Guess that's how your security men got onto me."
"What did this fellow Runkle look like?" Ames asked.
Nolan thought for a moment. "Oh, he was past middle age, I should say.Grizzled hair, thick-lensed glasses. And he was quite heavy-set."
"Hmm. Then it certainly wasn't Narko," Ames murmured to Tom.
The young inventor nodded. "I believe I know him. The name just cameback to me. I met a Professor Runkle in New York about a month ago, at ascientific convention. He was a member of the visiting Brungariandelegation."
"We'll check on him," Ames promised. He turned back sternly to the youngactor. "All right, Nolan, I guess you can go. But I warn you--no moreimpersonations."
After more flustered apologies, the actor hurried out, obviouslyrelieved.
"What a dumb egg he is!" Bud muttered.
"In a way he may have helped us," Tom pointed out. "If the Brungarianrebels hadn't found out about Exman, we couldn't have lured them intothat kidnap plot. It's already helped us to save the Bona Fide SubmarineBuilding Corporation."
Monday morning Ames reported that Professor Runkle had left the country.Tom was not sorry, since an arrest and public trial might have led todangerous publicity about Exman. The probings of a sharp-tongued defenseattorney might even have tipped off the Brungarian to Tom's real purposein letting the space brain be hijacked.
Meanwhile, a telephone call from Washington announced that StateDepartment men were flying to Enterprises to confer with the Swiftsabout taking official action against the Brungarian attacks. The grouparrived by jet after lunch. Thurston of the CIA was also present.
"The problem is this," a State Department official said as theydiscussed the matter in the Swifts' office. "Should we bring chargesagainst Brungaria before the United Nations? Or should we rely on othermeans, short of war, to block the Brungarian rebel coup?"
Mr. Swift frowned thoughtfully. "It might be difficult to prove theywere responsible for the earthquake attacks," he pointed out.
"I'd say it's impossible," Tom said, "unless we give away the secretabout our electronic spy." He paused, then added, "Sir, if the StateDepartment will agree, I'd like more time before you make any officialmoves."
The Quakelizors, Tom argued, seemed to offer protection against
anyfuture quake waves, unless the power of the shocks was greatly steppedup. Meantime, working through Exman, Tom might be able to provide theBrungarian loyalists with valuable information. "I'm hoping it will helpthem overthrow the rebel clique and their brutal allied militarybosses."
The State Department men conferred, then Thurston spoke up quietly, "Inour opinion, it's worth a gamble."
After the group had left, the Swifts resumed their sensing experimentsin Tom's private laboratory. They were hard at work when the signal bellsuddenly rang on the electronic brain.
The two scientists rushed to read the incoming message. It said:
EXMAN TO SWIFTS. ONE ENEMY EARTHQUAKE PRODUCER IS AT...
Here the message gave precise latitude and longitude figures. It wenton:
RUIN OF SWIFT PLACE IN ONE WEEK.
Tom and his father gasped in dismay. "I thought the New York-New EnglandQuakelizor was going to protect us!" the young inventor exclaimed. "Ourenemies must have located another earth fault with Enterprises right inits path!"
Hastily opening an atlas, Tom fingered the location of the proposedsource of attack. It was Balala Island off the coast of Peru.
"Dad, that settles it!" Tom declared grimly. "It's clear now that thoseBrungarian rebels want to destroy us and use Exman in some way toconquer the earth!"
"I don't doubt that you're right, son," Mr. Swift said grimly. "We mustact fast! But how?"
Again, the signal bell interrupted. This time, Exman gave a number ofmilitary details, evidently picked up from orders issuing fromBrungarian rebel headquarters. They concerned incoming troop movementsfrom the north and operational plans for crushing out the last pocketsof resistance by loyal government forces.
Tom recorded them with TV tape, then snatched up the telephone andcalled the Central Intelligence Agency in Washington. He relayed theinformation from Exman and asked if American agents could transmit it tothe loyalists.
"Don't worry. We'll see that it reaches them," the CIA chief assured Tom."Many thanks. This _could_ have important consequences."
As Tom hung up he decided on a bold move. "Dad, I'm going to lead a raidon Balala!"
"A raid!" The elder scientist was electrified.
"According to the atlas, the island is barren and deserted," Tom said,"so no friendly power will object if we land there. If it's being usedas an enemy base for quake attacks against our country, we have everyright to investigate. I might be able to learn the secret of thesetup--perhaps even put the equipment out of commission."
"Nevertheless, a raid by a United States force could lead to trouble ifthe base there puts up any resistance," Mr. Swift said gravely.
"That's why I intend to handle it myself," Tom declared. "I'll take allresponsibility."
Tom Sr.'s eyes flashed as he recalled some of his own hair-raisingexploits in younger days. "All right, son," he said, putting a hand onTom's shoulder. "I know I can trust your judgment. Good luck!"
Again Tom issued a call for volunteers. Bud, Hank Sterling, Arv Hanson,and Chow were all eager to take part. Within an hour they were takingoff for Fearing. At the rocket base, they embarked in the _Sea Hound_,Tom's favorite model of his diving seacopter. A powerful central rotorwith reversible-pitch blades, spun by atomic turbines, enabled the craftto rise through the air or descend into the deepest abysses of theocean. Propulsion jets gave it high speed in either medium.
Loaded with equipment, the _Sea Hound_ streaked southward through theskies--first to Florida, then across the Gulf and Central America intothe Pacific. Here Tom eased down to the surface of the water andsubmerged.
It was near midnight when the _Sea Hound_ rose from the depths just offBalala. The lonely rocky island lay outlined like a huddled black massagainst the star-flecked southern sky. No glimmer of light showedanywhere ashore.
"Maybe no one's here," Bud murmured.
"Don't bank on that," Tom said. "They wouldn't be apt to advertise theirpresence to passing ships or planes."
Tom nosed inshore as closely as he dared from sonar soundings, finallyeasing the _Sea Hound_ up to a rocky reef that fingered out from thebeach. Then he, Bud, Hank, and Arv clambered out, armed with wreckingtools and powerful flashlights.
Chow, in spite of his muttered grumblings, was ordered to stay aboardand guard the ship with the other two crewmen who had come along.
Tom led his party cautiously ashore from the reef. They probed thedarkness of the beach. Their footfalls sounded eerily in the nightsilence, broken only by the soughing of the sea wind and splash ofbreakers.
"Good place for spooks!" Bud whispered jokingly.
A steep draw led upward among the rocky slopes. A hundred feet on, Tom'sgroup found the black yawning mouth of a cave. The yellow beams of theirflashlights revealed a tunnel leading downward inside. Tom checked witha pocket detector. Its gauge needle showed no field force caused byelectrical equipment in operation.
"Okay, let's go in!" Tom murmured.
Cautiously they moved into the tunnel. Then suddenly ahead of them apowerful dazzling light burst on, nearly blinding the searchers!
Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X Page 20
