"Appleton, Victor - Tom Swift Jr 05 - And His Atomic Earth Blaster" - читать интересную книгу автора (Appleton Victor)

boys drove back to a boathouse on Indian River and rented a fast power-
20 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC BLASTER
boat. They cruised up and down the river, scanning every cove and dock for
Bronich and his men, until darkness fell and they had to give up.
"They made a clean getaway," Tom said, discouraged, as he and Bud
returned the boat. "I had hoped to tell Dad we caught the rascals."
At home that evening, after giving his father a quick report on the day's
events, Tom ate a late meal by himself. The rest of the family had finished dinner
some time earlier.
Rather than sit alone in the dining room, Tom preferred to eat in the big,
cheerful kitchen of the Swift residence. As his dainty, attractive mother served
the food she had been keeping warm on the gleaming white kitchen range, his
seventeen-year-old sister Sandra plied him with questions about the day's
events.
"Does this mean your earth blaster is ruined?" the blond, blue-eyed girl
inquired anxiously.
"No, but it will hold us up a bit," said Tom. "It'll take at least a week to build a
new activator and get our working model back in operation."
As he went on to explain the details, Mrs. Swift smiled at her son proudly.
Even though most of the time she did not understand the technical aspects of
Tom's and his father's work, she always listened attentively when they talked
about it.
After supper Tom rejoined his father. Mr. Swift
ATOMIC SPY 21
was seated in his comfortable private den, a large room on the first floor of
the house, which opened onto a terrace through French doors.
"Any word yet from Ames about that atomic spy?" Tom asked.
"Not yet. But the State Police and the Coast Guard have joined in the search,
so it should be only a matter of time."
"I sure would like to find out why that fellow Bronich wants the earth blaster!"
Tom went on.
As Mr. Swift discussed the matter with his son, his thoughts went back to
some of the hair-raising adventures he had gone through in connection with his
own youthful inventions.
Tom had inherited his father's scientific genius and resembled him closely.
Both had the same keen, deep-set blue eyes, but Tom was the taller of the two.
"By the way," remarked the elder inventor, "Uncle Ned is coming over
tonight. He wants to talk over plans for manufacturing your earth blaster. He said
he had some problems to take up concerning our jet plane production, too."
A few minutes later they heard the sound of a car on the graveled side drive.
"That must be Uncle Ned now!" Tom exclaimed, jumping up from his chair.
"I'll go let him in."
Ned Newton was his father's oldest and most loyal
22 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC BLASTER
friend. He was also the business manager of the Swift Construction
Company, which had expanded to nationwide importance under his guiding
hand.
Tom met him at the front door and led him back to Mr. Swift's den. The two
old friends greeted each other warmly. In the old days, before Tom was born,
Ned Newton had helped Tom Swift Sr. defeat many dangerous and unscrupulous