Free Tom Swift and His Giant Robot by Victor Appleton II Page B

Sandy exchanged conspiratorial glances. Bash stepped forward. "Tom, we wish to place before you a non-negotiable demand."
    "What’s that?"
    "We want you to take us both along with you on your flight!"
    Tom started to shake his head, and Sandy burst out, "Oh, Tom, don’t be so stodgy! We won’t get in the way, and Bashalli has never seen the American southwest."
    When Tom seemed to hesitate, Bashalli added cunningly, "You see, we have already secured the okay from mother and father Swift, who are most enthused. So do not bother to resist!"
    "I give up!" growled Tom humorously. He shot a dark glance at Bud. "Did you know about this?"
    But Bud only strolled away, twirling his racquet.
    Sandy gave her brother a peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Tomonomo! Do you think we’ll be able to see that ghostly-ghastly crow on the flight?"
    "No, I don’t, Sandy," the young inventor replied, as he directed the two robots back into the laboratory building.
    Then Tom added mysteriously: "But I bet I do!"

CHAPTER 11
GHOSTLAND EXPRESS!
    THE EASTERN SKY was barely turning pale the next morning when two jetcraft hit the air above Swift Enterprises.
    The more notable of them—by a longshot—was Tom’s mighty Flying Lab, the three-decker Sky Queen. Bigger than an airliner, the sleek stratoship rose vertically into the chilly air on its glowing jet lifters to an altitude of 14,000 feet before cutting in its rear engines for forward flight.
    The Sky Queen was followed almost immediately by a much-smaller conventional cargo jet of the kind manufactured by the Swift Construction Company, which was owned by the Swift family. This jet followed along in the wake of the Queen for some time, their courses finally diverging over central Illinois.
    The spacious Flying Lab had Sandy, Bashalli, Chow, Tom’s father, and several technicians as passengers. The robot Ator had been carefully crated and packed into the craft’s hangar hold on the lowermost deck.
    Tom and Bud were riding in the cargo jet, which was piloted by Slim Davis, an experienced pilot who worked many assignments for both the Swift Construction Company and Swift Enterprises. The second giant robot, Sermek, was stowed in the rear of the jet.
    "I understand why you want to fly the robots on two separate planes," remarked Slim. "I guess it makes good sense—sort of ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket,’ right?"
    "That’s it," Tom confirmed. "We wouldn’t let Sandy and Bashalli go along if we thought there was any likelihood of real danger, but the possibility can’t be totally eliminated."
    "Okay, but tell me this," Slim continued, his eyes glued to the cockpit instrument panel. "What makes you so certain we’re going to run into the phantom spirit-crow again? And why do you think the Flying Lab won’t?"
    Bud spoke up. "Tom’s got it all figured out, Slim!"
    "Not exactly all, but something," responded Tom with his usual modesty. "You see, I started thinking about exactly where we had seen the crow. I was able to re-create the approximate position of the first sighting, when we were testing the relotrol. And of course the flight recorder gave us our exact position when we had the second encounter. Both times, we were almost exactly over Purple Mesa!"
    Slim glanced at Tom in evident surprise. "Purple Mesa? Isn’t that where that scientist is doing his digging?"
    "Yep," said Tom; "Professor Hermosillo. Not that I suspect him of any personal involvement. Dad and I found out that he’s very well respected in his field."
    "Then what’s the connection?"
    Tom wagged a finger. "First rule in a science experiment—get the raw data before you start to interpret it!"
    "Which is the Tom Swift way of saying, we don’t know!" Bud observed jokingly.
    "At any rate, the Sky Queen will be going the long way around, but we’ll be passing right over the Mesa. Be prepared for a little bird-action!" Tom said. "Fortunately, whatever the crow really is, it doesn’t seem able to cause any