"Appleton, Victor - Tom Swift Jr 02 - And His Jetmarine" - читать интересную книгу автора (Appleton Victor)

"Well, according to his message, Uncle Ned will be safe for eight days," Tom
declared. "So we'd better find out what or where 'Dog' is and fast!"
Mrs. Newton and Phyl were overjoyed when notified of the missing man's
message, and Tom assured them that he would start a search as soon as
possible.
A BRAZEN DENIAL 19
During dinner, the Swifts discussed nothing else but what method would be
best in hunting for Ned Newton.
"I wish we could risk getting in touch with Uncle Ned," Tom said. "We could
find him much quicker."
Remembering the explicit warning "Don't Contact," Mr. Swift advised:
"We'd better not jeopardize Ned's situation- those pirates might use
desperate means of retaliation against him."
Father and son finally decided that, assuming he was somewhere on the
Atlantic, using a submarine was the most feasible means of locating Uncle Ned.
After the meal, Tom and his father went to Mr. Swift's first-floor den which
opened onto a terrace. Their conversation turned to the pirates and their victims.
"Dad," said Tom, "since the people on the ships have no warning before
they're knocked out and show no physical injuries, it seems to me the pirates
must be using a high-frequency sonic wave-one that affects nerve centers of the
body."
"It sounds reasonable," Mr. Swift agreed. "If the passengers hadn't heard a
plane each time, I might have suspected the use of a homing weapon. The kind
that carries a beam projector-an unarmed torpedo which picks up the sound of
the ship's screw and follows her to a certain point before releasing the beams.
But your idea is a more logical one."
"Looks as if we'll have to turn detective to solve
20 TOM SWIFT AND HIS JETMARINE
this mystery," Tom remarked. "And speaking of mysteries, Dad, I picked up
this strange coin today on the runway."
He handed the peso to Mr. Swift, who looked at it curiously. "This is certainly
odd," he remarked.
Tom explained about finding it after Sidney Dan-sitt's plane had nearly run
him down and repeated the science student's evasive reply when asked about
the coin.
Mr. Swift stroked his chin thoughtfully. "You think Dansitt might have been
lying?"
"From the way he reacted, yes."
The conversation turned to the jetmarine. Tom laid the coin on a table and
then took from his pocket some new sketches he had made for the water intake
ports on the submarine. Suddenly a whining sound, growing louder momentarily,
broke the stillness inside the house.
"The burglar alarm!" Tom cried. "Somebody's trying to break in!"
This alarm went off whenever the magnetic field surrounding the Swift home
became activated. To avoid its constant buzzing, the family wore deacti-vators in
their wrist watches.
Tom and his father picked up two five-cell flashlights and rushed out the
French doors of the den. Their powerful lights stabbed the darkness but picked
up no one. By this time the Swifts' two bloodhounds were barking furiously in
their kennels.