"Appleton, Victor - Tom Swift Jr 08 - In The Caves of Nuclear Fire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Appleton Victor)

TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF NUCLEAR FIRE


CHAPTER 1
AN EERIE LIGHT

"What's wrong, Bud? You look worried."
"I am worried, Tom. Here you are experimenting with something you know
absolutely nothing about-something from another world!"
Tom Swift, tall and blond, smiled at his husky dark-haired friend, Bud
Barclay. "That makes it all the more interesting!" he replied.
The two eighteen-year-old boys were in Tom's special laboratory at Swift
Enterprises, the sprawling research and development firm headed by the young
inventor's famous father.
"Suppose the thing blows up," said Bud, staring doubtfully at an opaque tube
which rested on a small table near the center of the well-equipped laboratory.
The strange tube had been taken from a rocket ship sent by space beings
with whom Tom had established communication. Above the tube was a large
complicated camera and alongside oг it a black spherical machine.
2 THE CAVES OF NUCLEAR FIRE
"What's that gadget?" Bud inquired curiously.
"Dad developed it," Tom replied. "It's a high-energy-wave generator he calls
Genero X. Remember when we found the space rocket? This Eye-Spy camera
could penetrate every part of it except the opaque tubes."
"How could I forget?" Bud chuckled. "What an adventure that was! And since
we came back you've talked about nothing else but working on this tube."
Tom laughed. "Okay, chum, I plead guilty. Now I want to find out if the
radiation from Genero X will affect the tube in such a way that the camera can
penetrate it."
"Now you've got me curious," Bud said enthusiastically. "Let's get started."
The young inventor walked over to a metal locker, withdrew two antiradiation
suits, and gave one to Bud. The boys put them on, then each donned a helmet
with a heavy lead-glass visor. Tom moved toward the table.
"Ready?" he called.
"Fire away!"
Tom switched on the special apparatus and a buzzing sound replaced the
quiet of the laboratory. Then he set the frequency control to half power and the
two experimenters watched the tube closely.
It began to glow-first yellow, then blue, then white-until it reached such
intensity that Tom
AN EERIE LIGHT 3
and Bud had to turn away to keep from being blinded. Gradually the glare
faded, leaving the laboratory bathed in a cold light. Then, the next moment, a
strange iridescence covered everything in the room.
To the boys' amazement, various objects in the room began to change
shape. Metal implements and glass flasks seemed to be melting!
"Jumping jets!" Bud exclaimed. "Wh-what's happening?"