"Appleton, Victor - Tom Swift Jr 23 - And His Aquatomic Tracker" - читать интересную книгу автора (Appleton Victor)

Ocean, equipped only with Tom's amazing electronic hydrolung suits!
"Our faces will sure be red if we don't make it after all this build-up," muttered
Bud.
i
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Tom agreed. The tall, eighteen-year-old scientist had planned the test as a
private experiment in undersea survival and mobility. But due to the excitement
and enthusiasm of Swift Enterprises' personnel, it had proved impossible to
enforce the news-blackout order.
"How long will the crossing take?" a Consolidated Press reporter asked Tom.
"We estimate five or six days, based on the speed of our ion-drive jets."
"Isn't it dangerous for you two fellows to be going it alone with no rescue ship
to accompany you?" a writer for Worldweek magazine queried.
Tom shrugged. "We're hoping to prove that man can truly adapt to inner
space-that is, die undersea environment. The test wouldn't mean as much if we
carried it out while tied to a ship's apron strings, so to speak."
"Are you sure this whole thing isn't more of a publicity stunt than a scientific
experiment?" another reporter spoke up.
Bud sizzled at this remark, but Tom answered politely. "Please remember
that we are not asking for publicity. This press conference was arranged only at
the request of the news media."
Other newsmen backed up Tom's statement. Several apologized for their
colleague's heckling query.
"I just want to know if the trip will have any practical scientific value," the
reporter persisted, a bit red-faced.
THE DROWNING ROMAN 3
"Scientists don't always limit their research to practical matters." Tom
grinned. "However, this test will prove whether our gear can be used for survival
at sea after shipwrecks and air crashes. We're also blazing a trail for later field
study of the undersea environment at firsthand by oceanogra-phers and marine
biologists. And we hope it may open new possibilities in offshore mining and oil
prospecting."
"Some experts even claim that man will have to seek new living space under
the sea someday," put in Bud. "Isn't that right, Tom?"
"Right-but that day is a long way off, I hope," the young inventor added with a
chuckle.
Presently Tom excused himself and Bud so that they could don their
hydrolung suits. Harlan Ames, Enterprises' lean, dark-haired security chief,
accompanied the boys out of the base's main building and climbed into a jeep
with them.
"Neat job you did, skipper, fielding all those questions," Ames remarked as
they sped to Tom's island laboratory.
"I still wish we could have skipped all the publicity," the young inventor said.
"So do I." Ames added dryly, "You're hard enough to guard without
broadcasting any plans."
Fearing Island-a bleak, sandy dot off the Atlantic coast-had been converted
by the Swifts into America's first spaceport. Its launching area bristled with
skyscraper-tall rockets, including Tom's pioneering Star Spear. The island also
served as a
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