Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X | Page 8

little.
"We keep strict tabs, of course, on all Brungarians entering this country," Thurston
explained. "But even though we screen them carefully, a rebel agent like Narko may slip
in--usually on a stolen or faked passport."
When the telecast ended, Tom, Bud, and Ames discussed the news grimly.
"What if Narko has pals working with him?" Bud conjectured.
"If he does," Tom said, "they may try carrying through Narko's mission."
"I'll station extra guards around the outer wall on twenty-four-hour alert," Ames
promised.
Tom approved this measure wholeheartedly, but the purpose of Narko's secret mission
remained a mystery. Why had he tried to force his way into Enterprises? What was he
after? There was little hope of resolving these questions, since United States Intelligence
had learned of the rebel movement itself only within the past few days. Thurston had
asked Tom and his companions to treat the information as confidential.
"I'd better get back to work," Tom decided after Bud and Ames had left his office. Tom
sat down at his drawing board and began to sketch out some rough ideas for a vehicle to
house the "brain energy" from space.
Tom wondered if the brain would be able to perform actions by itself, given the proper
mechanical output devices. Or would he have to help it function via an electronic
computer to digest incoming information or stimuli and then to respond through servo
controls?
The problem was so baffling and complex that Tom became completely oblivious to the
passage of time. He sketched out plan after plan, only to crumple and discard each one.
Suddenly a disturbing thought jarred the young inventor out of his concentration. Perhaps
the Brungarian rebel scientists had now figured out how to decode the radio messages
from the Swifts' space friends!

If so, when the brain energy was launched toward earth, they might try to divert it to their
own receiving setup!
CHAPTER IV
ANOTHER TREMOR!
Tom was appalled at this new danger. Shoving his drawing board back into its wall slot,
the young inventor hurried to his desk and made a number of telephone calls.
Within minutes, a group of five of his most trusted associates had assembled in Tom's
office. First to arrive were Bud Barclay, Ames, and George Dilling, the Swifts'
communications chief. They were joined moments later by Hank Sterling, the
square-jawed chief engineer and trouble shooter of Enterprises, and Arvid Hanson.
Hanson, a hulking six-footer, made all the delicate scale models of Tom Jr.'s and Tom
Sr.'s inventions. He was not only an expert craftsman, but, like all the Swifts' key men, a
trained aircraft and space pilot as well.
"What's up, skipper?" Bud asked.
"I guess you might call this a council of war," Tom replied.
He divulged his fears that Brungarian scientists might hijack the brain energy to be sent
from Planet X, home of the Swifts' unknown space friends.
"Bud, you recall Mother's remark last night about the danger that this energy may prove
overwhelmingly powerful," Tom went on. "Well, just suppose that our Brungarian pals
fit it out in robot form, then turn it loose against us or our friends in other countries."
Bud gave an awed whistle. "Boy, a thing like that might make even a powerful missile
look like a toy!"
Even if the brain energy proved too small to be harnessed for destructive purposes, Tom
went on, it might turn out to possess superintelligence. Gifted with all the scientific
know-how of the space people, it might be made to reveal those secrets to the
Brungarians.
"They might learn from it how to construct weapons or space craft powerful enough to
conquer the free world!" Tom ended.
His listeners were grim-faced at the thought.
"I'd say that's a far worse danger than any chance of their coming up with a robot
monster," Ames said.
"Ditto!" Hanson agreed.

"I think so too," Tom replied. "In any case, it's up to us to make sure the Brungarians
don't switch that energy off course before it lands here."
"Think their scientists are capable of such a stunt?" George Dilling inquired.
Tom shrugged. "They're certainly far advanced in the fields of rocket guidance and
telemetry. But actually we just don't know."
Hank Sterling glanced hopefully at the young inventor. "Got any ideas, skipper?" he
asked.
Tom drummed a pencil on the table thoughtfully before replying. "Maybe our best bet is
first to find out all we can about the lines of research on which they're concentrating. That
might be the tip-off."
After a thorough discussion, it was decided that Ames and Dilling would fly to
Washington at once and talk to the FBI and Central Intelligence. Their job would be to
garner and piece together every scrap of information on Brungarian scientists'
accomplishments.
"Let us know as soon as