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

this," he said. "I'll go tell the others we've found him."
As Bud cut the ropes, he said, "You really had us worried, genius boy! At first
I figured you were just trekking all over the map, looking for the truck. But after
we waited half an hour, and you still didn't show up, we decided to organize a
search party."
"It's a good thing you did. I was nearly choked."
By the time Bud finished unwinding the rope from Tom's legs and arms, the
other searchers came up in the jeep. Among them were Hank Sterling and
Harlan Ames, chief security officer at Swift Enterprises.
Tom quickly told them everything that had happened.
"That foreigner you saw taking notes in the truck-" questioned Ames, "what
did he look like?"
"He was very tall," Tom said. "Must have been over six feet. And he was
gaunt and lanky. But the queerest thing about him was his eyes."
"Queer in what way?"
"They were light green and sinister-looking." Tom looked grim as he recalled
the attack. "Boy, I'll never forget the look he gave me when I grabbed him by the
collar!"
16 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC BLASTER
Tom then described the two other assailants, remembering that one man had
a slight scar over his left eyebrow and that the other wore a fancy stone-studded
belt buckle.
Harlan Ames reached inside his coat and pulled out a small photo. "See if
you recognize this picture," he said, handing it to Tom.
"Why, that's the fellow I grabbed!" Tom exclaimed. He glanced at Ames with
a puzzled expression. "Who is he? And why are you carrying his picture?"
"He's a dangerous foreign agent," said Ames. "This photograph was
circulated to all law-enforcement agencies by the FBI. They suspect Bronich of
stealing United States defense secrets for the Kran-jovian government."
"What kind of defense secrets?" Tom asked, concerned about this new
aspect of the mystery.
"Top atomic secrets," Ames replied.
Bud gave a low whistle. "Tom! No wonder Bronich was so anxious to get the
low-down on your earth blaster!"
"I still don't get it," Tom admitted ruefully. "It's true that the blaster is powered
by atomic energy. But there's nothing very secret about that. Every nation on
earth must know how to construct an atomic pile by this time."
"Maybe so," agreed Ames, "but none of them
ATOMIC SPY 17
knows how to harness atomic energy in the form of an earth-digging machine
like yours."
"But the earth blaster is for peacetime use," Tom protested. "It's not a
weapon that could be used for fighting a war."
When Ames pointed out that the blaster might be adapted to military uses,
Bud added:
"Besides, those rats would steal the tin cup from. a blind man if they figured it
might help them!"
"I guess you're right," Tom agreed in a troubled voice. "Anyhow, they must
be up to no good or they wouldn't have taken it."
"The question is, what are we going to do about it?" Bud pondered.