Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X | Page 7

laundry marks, but I'd say they're of foreign make."
Tom nodded. "He's definitely foreign. He spoke with an accent and he also muttered
something at Chow--I didn't catch it, but it certainly wasn't in English."
Ames frowned. "I don't like the looks of this, skipper. He may be a spy."
"Have you notified the police?" Tom asked.
"Right. Also the FBI. They're on the way right now to pick him up. Maybe they'll be able
to worm something out of him."
Tom spent the morning in routine work in the big double office which he shared with his
father in Enterprises' main building. It was equipped with huge twin modern desks,
deep-pile carpeting, and roomy leather chairs.
Each of the two inventors had his own drawing board, designed to swing out from the
wall at the press of a button. Small scale models of some of their most famous inventions
were also placed about the office, including a red-and-silver replica of Tom's first rocket
ship, the _Star Spear_; a blue plastic model of the jetmarine in which he had fought a
band of undersea pirates; and also a gleaming silvery model of Tom's latest, unique space
craft, the Cosmic Sailer.
Because of his father's absence in Washington, the burden of administering the vast
experimental station now fell on Tom's youthful shoulders. Telephone calls, letters, and
other detailed work occupied him until noon.
Chow broke in, bringing a lunch tray with milk, a hot chicken sandwich, and a chocolate
eclair. Tom ate hungrily.
"Kind o' peps up the ole supercharger, eh?" said Chow, lingering to chat.
"Sure does," Tom agreed.

"Wal, jest remember that, an' don't go missin' any meals--or sleep, either," Chow advised
as he gathered up the tray. "A brainy young hombre like you needs plenty o' rest an'
vitamins to keep from burnin' himself out."
"I'll remember." Tom grinned affectionately as the leathery-faced old Texan took his
leave. The Swifts had first met Chow when they were on an atomic research expedition in
the Southwest. Chow had become so attached to Tom that he had returned to Shopton
with the Swifts as a permanent employee.
Soon after Chow left the office, the telephone rang. Tom took the call and had just
finished talking with Harlan Ames when Bud came strolling in.
"Any more news on that nut who jumped you this morning?" the young flier asked.
"Ames told me about it."
"Not yet, but there may be soon," Tom said. "Harlan just phoned and said he'd had a call
from Washington, asking us to stand by the videophone at one-thirty sharp."
Ames arrived in person shortly before the scheduled time. Moments later, a red signal
flashed on the control board of the Swifts' private TV network. Tom flicked on the
videophone and two men appeared on the screen.
One was Blake, the Swifts' Washington, D.C., telecaster. He introduced the other man, a
calm-faced, balding individual in a dark suit.
"This is John Thurston of the Central Intelligence Agency, Tom," Blake said. "He
thought it might be better to discuss this with you face to face."
Tom, Bud, and Ames were also visible to the pair in Washington.
"Glad to know you, sir," Tom said, and introduced his companions.
"We've identified the man you captured this morning," Thurston began. "He's in the
United States on a French passport under the name of Jacques Renard. But we've just
learned from the International Police Organization that he's actually a Brungarian. His
name is Samson Narko."
Tom and Ames exchanged startled glances. In the past, certain Brungarian factions had
been responsible for some of the most fiendish plots ever perpetrated against the Swifts.
"Unfortunately, that's not all," Thurston went on. "Interpol believes that Narko is also a
member of the same rebel outfit with whom you've had trouble before."
Tom was dismayed by the news. "I sure thought that group had been smashed!" he said.
Soon after Tom had balked their attempts to seize the satellite Nestria, the rebel
ringleaders had reportedly been arrested and tried for treason.
"It now appears," Thurston explained, "that only one segment was quelled. Other

members of the antigovernment movement are active again and are said to be strongly
organized."
The CIA man related even more sinister news. It was suspected that a larger nation--by
aiding the rebels--was planning a coup to take over Brungaria. They had already
subverted various government agencies and were sending their own professors to staff the
Brungarian technical schools. It was all part of their insidious fifth-column pattern.
"Many top Brungarian officials have joined the plotters," Thurston added, "and it's now
becoming very difficult for anyone to enter or leave the country."
Ames asked for information on any rebel sympathizers known to be in the United States.
Thurston was able to tell him very