Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X | Page 2

stand.
"As you know, Tom," Mr. Faber began, "the usual conditions of rocket flight will be--"
He broke off with a gasp of astonishment as the whole building suddenly began to shake.
"Good grief!" Bud exclaimed. "This isn't part of your testing routine, is it?"
His question was drowned out by cries of alarm and the sound of cracking glass. The
walls and roof were shuddering and creaking, and the concrete floor was heaving under
their feet.
[Illustration (earthquake in the lab)]
"Look out! The test stand's breaking loose!" Tom warned.
Mr. Faber and two of his men tried frantically to brace the heavy test stand which held
the telemetering device. Another engineer rushed toward the door to see what was
happening outside. Before he reached it, another shock knocked all of them off their feet.
Electronic equipment cascaded from the wall shelves, and a heavy-duty chain hoist came
loose from its overhead track, plunging to the floor with a terrifying crash.
"An earthquake!" Tom gasped.
Bud, meanwhile, clawed a handhold on a wire screen enclosing an air compressor and
pulled himself to his feet. But the next moment a third, more violent tremor rocked the
building, knocking him over. "The roof! It's caving in!" he heard someone scream.
As his eyes flashed upward in panic, Bud caught a brief glimpse of the ponderous test
stand with the priceless telemeter tilting to one side. An instant later it crashed over,
pinning Mark Faber beneath it!
Bud threw up his arms to protect himself, but too late! A falling beam caught him on the
back of the head and the young flier blacked out.
For minutes, no one stirred among the wreckage. Then Tom, who had been stunned by
some falling debris, raised himself to a sitting position.
"Good night!" Tom's eyes focused in horror on the wreckage enveloped by still-billowing
dust.
The sky was visible through several gaping holes in the roof, which was sagging
dangerously on its supporting trusses. Only two thirds of the walls were still standing.

Suddenly Tom stiffened in fear. "Bud!" The young inventor had just noticed his friend
lying pinned beneath a heavy beam nearby. _Was he still breathing?_
Disregarding his own injuries, Tom hastily freed himself from the debris and groped his
way to Bud's side. With a desperate heave, he shoved the beam away, then cradled Bud's
head in his arm. His friend's eyelids flickered.
"Are you all right?" Tom asked fearfully.
The answer came in a groan. "O-oh!... Wow!... What hit me?"
"You got conked by a falling timber. Or grazed, at least," Tom added thankfully. "If that
beam had landed square on your noggin, even a rock-head like you couldn't have
survived!"
Bud managed to grin. "We grow 'em tough out in California where I come from!" he
joked.
Somewhat shakily, Bud got to his feet with Tom's assistance. Both boys were heartsick as
they surveyed the damaged laboratory, wondering where to begin rescue operations.
"It was a quake," Bud stated grimly. He had heard about the great San Francisco
earthquake from his grandfather, and had no doubt about the nature of the tremors.
Just then Tom glimpsed a body protruding from under the wreckage of the telemetering
device.
"Mr. Faber!" he gasped.
The two boys scrambled through the clutter of debris toward the spot where the test stand
had been erected. Bud seized a slender, steel I beam and managed to pry up the wreckage
while Tom carefully extricated Mr. Faber.
The scientist seemed to be badly injured. "We'd better not try to move him," Tom decided.
"We'll get an ambulance."
Of the four other company engineers, two were now stirring and partly conscious. The
boys found a first-aid cabinet and gave what help they could to them and the other two
men. Then Tom taped a bandage on Bud's scalp wound.
"Let's see if we can find a telephone and call the local hospital," Tom said.
"Right!" Bud responded.
They picked their way through the wreckage and emerged on a scene of frightful
destruction. The main plant building of Faber Electronics had been partially demolished
by the quake. Power lines were down and an outlying storage shed was ablaze. Dazed
and panic-stricken survivors were wandering around aimlessly or rushing about to assist

the injured.
"Good thing the main shift of workers knocked off before this happened," Bud observed
with a shudder. "There would've been a lot more casualties."
"Look!" Tom pointed to a huge crevasse. "Right where we landed our Whirling Duck!"
The boys exchanged rueful glances as they realized that the craft which had brought them
to Faber Electronics--one of Tom's unique helijets--had been swallowed up in the gaping
chasm.
"No use fussing about it now," Tom said. "Come on, Bud! Let's see about getting help for
Mr. Faber!"
Despite