Read Online Tom Swift and His Subocean Geotron by Victor Appleton II - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Victor Appleton II
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haven’t even unpacked my laptop. I’ve been in one of my contemplative moods, guys. I wasn’t anxious to be in touch with anybody . And sorry to put a damper on the thrills and chills, but I didn’t get kidnapped either."
Tom rose to his feet angrily. "This is all some sort of hoax—a ruse from the beginning!"
Ruykendahl also stood. "I don’t much care for the way you’re looking at me, my friend. Do you imagine I be so foolish as to put together some nonsensical plot, and then sit here in this room with a police official, a woman with a gun, as it falls apart?"
The young inventor shook his head, subtly warning Bud to keep his own temper in check. "No. I’m not making an accusation. The person I most suspect isn’t in this room.
"There are some things I can’t discuss right now. But there was—you might call it an attempt on my life, last week. There’s some reason to think the person behind it is a man, an international criminal, named Comrade-General Li Ching. We’ve been his targets before."
"The man who calls himself the Black Cobra," pronounced Jualéngro. "He is well known in law enforcement. There have been rumors he was somehow involved in the world blackouts, the solar phenomena that affected the Nestria satellite for a time."
"We’ve heard the rumors too," Bud commented dryly.
"I’m sorry," Tom said, "but I can’t go into detail. But these artifacts have some scientific value that Li might like to exploit. How a phony ‘kidnapping’ fits in, I don’t know."
Wordlessly, Ed went to a portable travel-safe and opened it. He held up what was obviously the mate to Artifact A. "I’ve had this in my possession constantly. If this safe were opened or moved an inch without my entering the code, my cell would beep an alarm no matter where I was, up to ten miles. Anyone wanting to steal the object would have a lot of problems."
"If you were off in town, they could have grabbed and run," observed the Chief.
"But they didn’t ," stated Ed. "Look, I knew the thing was interesting and possibly some kind of old carving with archaeological value; that’s why I kept it safe with my travel documents and so on. But I sure didn’t have a clue that it might be something somebody would go to any trouble to steal. I mean, you know, it’s obviously not ancient —it’s machined."
"It’s older than it looks." Tom took Ed’s Artifact B and examined it, by eye and with a powerful magnifier he carried, folded, in his pocket kit. "I can’t do any real analysis here. But it sure looks like the one Nee brought to us, superficially."
Jualéngro raised an eyebrow. "Were you thinking it might be a phony? Counterfeit?"
"I’m thinking a lot of things," responded the Shoptonian wryly. "At the top of the list—what could have been the point of this hoax? What did they hope to accomplish? They went to some effort to induce Mr. Ruykendahl to come to Las Mambritas at a certain time, to a certain spot within a couple miles of where Ed was staying anyway. If you two had kept in touch and Ed hadn’t been in an antisocial ‘mood,’ the meeting might have happened on its own."
"But there wasn’t a meeting," Bud pointed out. "They got the two of them close together, but in a way that they wouldn’t actually meet."
"They risked an accidental meeting," muttered Nee.
Ed shook his head. "No, not if they knew my habits. I don’t go into town all that often. I didn’t even know there was a library. And they obviously did keep track of me, enough to let Nee know I was here in Mambritas."
"If indeed they—whoever—knew your habits, they must have been watching for some time, well before the date of the arranged meeting at the library," Jualéngro commented. " Sí . They must have been spying on you since you first arrived in Mexico, Mr. Longstreet, and they may well be continuing to do it."
Ed shrugged. "Weeelllp, I never noticed anyone acting like an eye-spy. I suppose the owner here or his son would pick up on my
Tom rose to his feet angrily. "This is all some sort of hoax—a ruse from the beginning!"
Ruykendahl also stood. "I don’t much care for the way you’re looking at me, my friend. Do you imagine I be so foolish as to put together some nonsensical plot, and then sit here in this room with a police official, a woman with a gun, as it falls apart?"
The young inventor shook his head, subtly warning Bud to keep his own temper in check. "No. I’m not making an accusation. The person I most suspect isn’t in this room.
"There are some things I can’t discuss right now. But there was—you might call it an attempt on my life, last week. There’s some reason to think the person behind it is a man, an international criminal, named Comrade-General Li Ching. We’ve been his targets before."
"The man who calls himself the Black Cobra," pronounced Jualéngro. "He is well known in law enforcement. There have been rumors he was somehow involved in the world blackouts, the solar phenomena that affected the Nestria satellite for a time."
"We’ve heard the rumors too," Bud commented dryly.
"I’m sorry," Tom said, "but I can’t go into detail. But these artifacts have some scientific value that Li might like to exploit. How a phony ‘kidnapping’ fits in, I don’t know."
Wordlessly, Ed went to a portable travel-safe and opened it. He held up what was obviously the mate to Artifact A. "I’ve had this in my possession constantly. If this safe were opened or moved an inch without my entering the code, my cell would beep an alarm no matter where I was, up to ten miles. Anyone wanting to steal the object would have a lot of problems."
"If you were off in town, they could have grabbed and run," observed the Chief.
"But they didn’t ," stated Ed. "Look, I knew the thing was interesting and possibly some kind of old carving with archaeological value; that’s why I kept it safe with my travel documents and so on. But I sure didn’t have a clue that it might be something somebody would go to any trouble to steal. I mean, you know, it’s obviously not ancient —it’s machined."
"It’s older than it looks." Tom took Ed’s Artifact B and examined it, by eye and with a powerful magnifier he carried, folded, in his pocket kit. "I can’t do any real analysis here. But it sure looks like the one Nee brought to us, superficially."
Jualéngro raised an eyebrow. "Were you thinking it might be a phony? Counterfeit?"
"I’m thinking a lot of things," responded the Shoptonian wryly. "At the top of the list—what could have been the point of this hoax? What did they hope to accomplish? They went to some effort to induce Mr. Ruykendahl to come to Las Mambritas at a certain time, to a certain spot within a couple miles of where Ed was staying anyway. If you two had kept in touch and Ed hadn’t been in an antisocial ‘mood,’ the meeting might have happened on its own."
"But there wasn’t a meeting," Bud pointed out. "They got the two of them close together, but in a way that they wouldn’t actually meet."
"They risked an accidental meeting," muttered Nee.
Ed shook his head. "No, not if they knew my habits. I don’t go into town all that often. I didn’t even know there was a library. And they obviously did keep track of me, enough to let Nee know I was here in Mambritas."
"If indeed they—whoever—knew your habits, they must have been watching for some time, well before the date of the arranged meeting at the library," Jualéngro commented. " Sí . They must have been spying on you since you first arrived in Mexico, Mr. Longstreet, and they may well be continuing to do it."
Ed shrugged. "Weeelllp, I never noticed anyone acting like an eye-spy. I suppose the owner here or his son would pick up on my
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