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

"Why not?" the lanky young inventor retorted.
"Too risky, skipperl Some enemy may be planning to attack you and Bud en
routel"
Tom shrugged. "The message may not have been meant for us-besides, we
can't back out now. This experiment is important." He turned to Bud. "What do
you say?"
"Ditto." The muscular, dark-haired young Cali-fornian, who was also Tom's
air and space copilot, grinned cockily. "Come on!"
Ames flung up his arms in despair.
"That's what I expected." Thurston smiled. "At least watch your step, Tom.
Good luck!"
"Thanks, John. And we'll keep our eyes open for any old Romans down in
Davy Jones's locker!"
As soon as the Washington telecaster had signed off, the boys hurriedly
changed into their hydro-lung suits of rubberlike black plastic. Molded into each
suit was an electronic device which extracted oxygen from the water for
breathing, and a density-control unit for rising or sinking to any depth at will. At
the back was a slender metal cylinder-the ion-drive jet, capable of propelling the
submerged wearer at high speeds.
On his left wrist, each boy wore one of Tom's miniaturized "porpoise"
sonarscopes and a fingertip control to all units. Power was supplied by a Swift
solar-charged battery. On the other wrist, the hydronauts wore depth-gauge
calendar watches.
THE DROWNING ROMAN 7
Pouches on their thighs contained sealed recording instruments, and Tom
also carried detonators for sound-channel testing by SOFAR-Sound Fixing and
Ranging.
The boys left their hoods-with built-in transparent face masks and
sonarphones-unzipped and hanging down over their chests so they could talk
freely before submerging. As they left the lab, Bud exclaimed, "Hey! Look who's
herel"
A blond girl with laughing blue eyes called from a parked car, "You didn't
think we'd let you go without a final send-oE?"
She was Tom's teen-age sister, Sandy. Their distinguished scientist father,
Tom Sr., was at the wheel with Mrs. Swift beside him. In the back seat were
"Uncle Ned" Newton, manager of the Swift Construction Company, with his wife
and daughter, Phyllis-Tom's favorite date.
The two boys managed to squeeze in, and Ames followed their car in the
jeep.
When they arrived at the south dock, where many of the Swifts' submarine
craft were berthed, a roar of excitement rose from the newsmen and base
personnel. Television cameras were maneuvered into position and microphones
were thrust close to Tom's and Bud's faces.
"What about your provisions for the trip?" a newsman inquired.
"Our suits are of double-walled cellular plastic and contain food in liquid
form," Tom explained. "We'll draw through feeding tubes."
8 AQUATOMIC TRACKER
"How about that boxlike gadget attached to your belt, Tom?" a reporter
asked.
"It's a portable, miniaturized automatic navigator for frogmen that I've