Read Online Tom Swift and His Electronic Retroscope by Victor Appleton II - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Victor Appleton II
Ads: Link
patterns. The disk up front is the emitter-receiver for the scanning beam itself. These long tubes along the length of the camera chassis are new sensor units that I just designed; they’ll establish the initial baseline reading for whatever we’re scanning." He moved over to the box-shaped unit. "In here is the battery power source, as well as the primary processing computer. It has to be rather large, as it does most of the work."
"What about that there, boss?" asked Chow, who had joined the crowd along with Doc Simpson and Wilson Hutchcraft. "Looks like a propane tank fer one o’ them barbecues."
"It’s liquid helium, Chow."
"Hunh? You gonna make this here camera float in th’ air like your pair-o-plane?"
Tom laughed pleasantly. "It’d sure make it easier to move around! But seriously, liquid helium is so cold it diminishes the ‘noise’ of molecular motion in our ultra-sensitive detector circuits."
Now Bud spoke. "Genius boy, what’s with the dome on top? It’s new, isn’t it?"
Tom nodded. "Another part of my miniaturization craze. It contains stroboscopic mini-lasers which allow me to eyeball, directly, some crucial aspects of helium flow turbulence. Doing it this way allows me to get rid of a bunch of gauges and meters, and, surprisingly, it’s just as accurate."
"And where do you see the picture, Tom-Swift?" asked Ahau Quetzal. "I thought perhaps a television or cinema film."
The young inventor opened up a small rectangular panel on the side of the camera case which swung open on a hinge. Beneath it was a small screen, slightly recessed into the chassis; and there was another screen on the inner surface of the panel itself. "These are our viewing screens," he explained. "The one on the cover-panel shows the outer view of the rock or carving, as visible to the eye, while the other one shows the image constructed by the computer from the scanning data."
"It’s fantastic," murmured Doc. Even Hutchcraft seemed momentarily impressed.
Hu-Quetzal asked when Tom would begin using the retroscope on actual stones.
"Right now, if we can find any old Mayan stone carvings around here. I’d like to work out all the bugs before using it on your sacred ceremonial stone."
"That is best," the chief said with grave approval.
Tom, Bud, and the other visitors to Huratlcuyon now fanned out to search for marked stones. "Better not stray too far from the clearing," Tom warned. He had the lurking giant in mind.
Minutes later, Doc yelled, "Think I’ve found one!" and the others hurried to join him. He pointed to a round, weather-beaten stone lying almost hidden in the tall grass to the south of the huts. It seemed to bear faint carvings.
"Let’s see if we can lift it," Tom said, bending down to pry the stone loose.
The next instant he recoiled with a startled gasp. A green iguana, almost six feet long from tip to tail, had suddenly raised its ugly head from the undergrowth! Rearing up on its hind legs with jaws open, the reptile lunged as if to rake Tom’s face with its claws.
"Good grief!" Tom gulped, jumping back hastily in the nick of time,
"You really scared that poor lizard, Tom," Doc Simpson teased. "That’s why she went for you. Iguanas really aren’t as fierce as they look."
"Just the same, I won’t try taking this one for a pet," Tom said with a rueful chuckle.
"I made a pet of one once," Hutchcraft remarked. "Died on me, though."
It took the efforts of four men, none of them Hutchcraft, to dislodge the stone and lug it back to the retroscope.
Tom quickly aimed his camera, flicked a power switch, and began tuning several dials. "These markings look fairly recent—not more than a thousand years old," he remarked jokingly, "but it’s good enough for a test."
The others watched the screen over Tom’s shoulder as he carefully manipulated the control knobs, and a faint image leapt into view.
"Brand my spurs!" gulped Chow. "It’s workin’, boss!"
But Tom’s forehead bore a deep furrow of
"What about that there, boss?" asked Chow, who had joined the crowd along with Doc Simpson and Wilson Hutchcraft. "Looks like a propane tank fer one o’ them barbecues."
"It’s liquid helium, Chow."
"Hunh? You gonna make this here camera float in th’ air like your pair-o-plane?"
Tom laughed pleasantly. "It’d sure make it easier to move around! But seriously, liquid helium is so cold it diminishes the ‘noise’ of molecular motion in our ultra-sensitive detector circuits."
Now Bud spoke. "Genius boy, what’s with the dome on top? It’s new, isn’t it?"
Tom nodded. "Another part of my miniaturization craze. It contains stroboscopic mini-lasers which allow me to eyeball, directly, some crucial aspects of helium flow turbulence. Doing it this way allows me to get rid of a bunch of gauges and meters, and, surprisingly, it’s just as accurate."
"And where do you see the picture, Tom-Swift?" asked Ahau Quetzal. "I thought perhaps a television or cinema film."
The young inventor opened up a small rectangular panel on the side of the camera case which swung open on a hinge. Beneath it was a small screen, slightly recessed into the chassis; and there was another screen on the inner surface of the panel itself. "These are our viewing screens," he explained. "The one on the cover-panel shows the outer view of the rock or carving, as visible to the eye, while the other one shows the image constructed by the computer from the scanning data."
"It’s fantastic," murmured Doc. Even Hutchcraft seemed momentarily impressed.
Hu-Quetzal asked when Tom would begin using the retroscope on actual stones.
"Right now, if we can find any old Mayan stone carvings around here. I’d like to work out all the bugs before using it on your sacred ceremonial stone."
"That is best," the chief said with grave approval.
Tom, Bud, and the other visitors to Huratlcuyon now fanned out to search for marked stones. "Better not stray too far from the clearing," Tom warned. He had the lurking giant in mind.
Minutes later, Doc yelled, "Think I’ve found one!" and the others hurried to join him. He pointed to a round, weather-beaten stone lying almost hidden in the tall grass to the south of the huts. It seemed to bear faint carvings.
"Let’s see if we can lift it," Tom said, bending down to pry the stone loose.
The next instant he recoiled with a startled gasp. A green iguana, almost six feet long from tip to tail, had suddenly raised its ugly head from the undergrowth! Rearing up on its hind legs with jaws open, the reptile lunged as if to rake Tom’s face with its claws.
"Good grief!" Tom gulped, jumping back hastily in the nick of time,
"You really scared that poor lizard, Tom," Doc Simpson teased. "That’s why she went for you. Iguanas really aren’t as fierce as they look."
"Just the same, I won’t try taking this one for a pet," Tom said with a rueful chuckle.
"I made a pet of one once," Hutchcraft remarked. "Died on me, though."
It took the efforts of four men, none of them Hutchcraft, to dislodge the stone and lug it back to the retroscope.
Tom quickly aimed his camera, flicked a power switch, and began tuning several dials. "These markings look fairly recent—not more than a thousand years old," he remarked jokingly, "but it’s good enough for a test."
The others watched the screen over Tom’s shoulder as he carefully manipulated the control knobs, and a faint image leapt into view.
"Brand my spurs!" gulped Chow. "It’s workin’, boss!"
But Tom’s forehead bore a deep furrow of
Similar Books
