"Appleton, Victor - Tom Swift Jr 07 - And His Diving Seacopter" - читать интересную книгу автора (Appleton Victor)

going after gold."
"Explain, chum!"
As Tom stowed the blueprints away, he said, "A
8 DIVING SEACOPTER
couple friends of mine, George Braun and Hamilton Teller, who are expert
oceanographers, have a theory that there may be ancient cities buried under the
Atlantic Ocean."
"Buried cities!" Bud's voice throbbed with interest as he sensed the promise
of a new adventure. "You mean on the lost continent of Atlantis?"
"That's the general idea," Tom said. "Ham and George want to search along
the Atlantic Ridge that's supposed to be the top of that lost continent."
"Even if it's the top, that ridge is far under water," said Bud. "And way out in
the Atlantic."
"That's right," said Tom. "Anyhow, Ham and George needed some kind of
undersea craft in which to make their exploration, so I figured a seacopter might
be the answer."
"Jumpin' jets!" Bud exclaimed. "Count me in on that trip, will you?"
Tom grinned. "You're as good as aboard, Admiral. Matter of fact, I'm making
a test cruise tomorrow in one of the seacopter sections. They can be operated
individually with the jets for a dive and will surface automatically. The only thing
they won't do is stay under water."
"That's a good idea in case of an emergency," said Bud. "Well, see you
tomorrow."
"We'll make the test unless Dad and I get a message from our space
friends," Tom said, his face clouding again.
THE STOLEN CODE 9
After Bud left, the young inventor turned to his father. "Let's start working on
those symbols."
In order to write down as many of them as they could from memory, he and
Mr. Swift worked far into the night. Meanwhile, plant engineers stood by in case
any messages started coming through from the space people. But morning
dawned without any communications being received.
At ten o'clock the Sky Queen, Tom's huge three-decker Flying Lab, was
raised from its underground hangar. Atomic-powered and jet-lifted, this great
airplane could fly at tremendous speeds and altitudes.
Soon Compartment B of the seacopter was loaded into the cargo hold of the
Sky Queen. Slim Davis, a company test pilot, and three crewmen were to
accompany the boys to the testing area.
Bud, standing by to watch, remarked to Tom that he had not noticed the fins
on the front of the compartment when he had looked at the blueprint. These fins
extended from the bow one third of the way back on each side at water-level
position.
"They're really diving planes and weren't indicated on the drawing," Tom
explained, "because they're not part of the seacopter. I had these put on
Compartment B just for the test this morning. We'll be able to go deeper. You
notice that the tractor treads have not been installed. We won't need them for this
trip."
10 DIVING SEACOPTER
"Everything is ready," a workman reported.
The group climbed aboard the Sky Queen. Tom took the controls and