Victor Appleton - Tom Swift and The Visitor from Planet X

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[Transcriber's Note:
Illustration descriptions in (parentheses) are provided by the
transcriber.]

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[Illustrated Cover with Text:]

The new TOM SWIFT Jr. Adventures

TOM SWIFT and
The Visitor from
Planet X

By VICTOR APPLETON II

[Spine Text:]

Tom Swift and the Visitor from Planet X
Victor Appleton II

The new TOM SWIFT Jr. Adventures
17

Grosset
& Dunlap
9117

[Dust Jacket text:]

TOM SWIFT AND THE
VISITOR FROM PLANET X

By VICTOR APPLETON II

Tom Swift Jr. and his associates at Swift
Enterprises wait breathlessly for what
may well be the most important scientific
event in history--the arrival of the
visitor from Planet X--a visitor in the
form of energy. But there are factions at
work determined to snatch the energy,
which Tom has named Exman, from the
young scientist-inventor's grasp. First,
a series of unexplainable, devastating
earthquakes threaten to destroy a good
portion of the earth, and Tom suspects the
Brungarian rebels who obviously would like
to capture Exman and use the space visitor
to further their own evil purposes.

With the security of Enterprises and Exman
at stake, Tom creates two of his greatest
inventions--a Quakelizor to counteract the
simulated earth tremors, and a container
or "body" to house the energy from outer
space.

If the earthquakes cannot be stopped,
the entire world will be threatened by
destruction, and the Brungarian forces
will conquer the earth. How Tom utilizes
all his scientific knowledge to produce
swift-action results and outwit the
Brungarians makes one of the most
exciting Tom Swift adventures to date.

GROSSET & DUNLAP _Publishers_
New York 10, N.Y.

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* * * * *

[Illustration: inside cover
(Tom Swift in his lab)]

* * * * *

TOM SWIFT AND THE

VISITOR FROM PLANET X

* * * * *

THE NEW TOM SWIFT JR. ADVENTURES

BY VICTOR APPLETON II

TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING LAB
TOM SWIFT AND HIS JETMARINE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ROCKET SHIP
TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT ROBOT
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC EARTH BLASTER
TOM SWIFT AND HIS OUTPOST IN SPACE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS DIVING SEACOPTER
TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF NUCLEAR FIRE
TOM SWIFT ON THE PHANTOM SATELLITE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ULTRASONIC CYCLOPLANE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS DEEP-SEA HYDRODOME
TOM SWIFT IN THE RACE TO THE MOON
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SPACE SOLARTRON
TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRONIC RETROSCOPE
TOM SWIFT AND HIS SPECTROMARINE SELECTOR
TOM SWIFT AND THE COSMIC ASTRONAUTS
TOM SWIFT AND THE VISITOR FROM PLANET X

* * * * *

[Frontispiece:
_The raiders transferred Exman to the enemy sub_]

* * * * *

The New Tom Swift Jr. Adventures

TOM SWIFT
AND THE VISITOR
FROM PLANET X

BY VICTOR APPLETON II
ILLUSTRATED BY GRAHAM KAYE

Grosset & Dunlap
New York
Publishers

[c] by Grosset & Dunlap, Inc., 1961
All Rights Reserved
Printed in the United States of America

* * * * *

CONTENTS

Chapter Page

1 The Earthquake 1
2 The Mysterious Hitchhiker 11
3 Report from Interpol 18
4 Another Tremor! 30
5 Secret Cache 39
6 Brungarian Coup 46
7 Wall of Water! 55
8 A Suspect Talks 65
9 The Cave Monster 73
10 Energy from Planet X 83
11 An Electrical Christening 92
12 Exman Takes Orders 99
13 Disaster Strikes 106
14 Air-borne Hijackers 115
15 Kidnaped! 125
16 A Unique Experiment 137
17 An Urgent Warning 145
18 Earthquake Island 155
19 A Fiendish Machine 166
20 The Robot Spy's Story 177

CHAPTER I

THE EARTHQUAKE

"Tom, we're having a problem with the gyro-stabilizer," said Mark Faber,
gray-haired president of the Faber Electronics Company. "Hope you can
find out what's wrong."

The eighteen-year-old inventor accepted the challenge with a smile.
"I'll be glad to try, sir," he replied.

Bud Barclay, a dark-haired young flier and Tom Swift Jr.'s closest
friend, chuckled. "If anyone can get the bugs out of your new invention,
genius boy here will do it!"

The two boys followed Mr. Faber and his engineers to a wooden building
which was tightly guarded. Inside, a secret rocket-telemetering device
was mounted on its test stand.

"As you know, Tom," Mr. Faber began, "the usual conditions of rocket
flight will be--"

He broke off with a gasp of astonishment as the whole building suddenly
began to shake.

"Good grief!" Bud exclaimed. "This isn't part of your testing routine,
is it?"

His question was drowned out by cries of alarm and the sound of cracking
glass. The walls and roof were shuddering and creaking, and the concrete
floor was heaving under their feet.

[Illustration (earthquake in the lab)]

"Look out! The test stand's breaking loose!" Tom warned.

Mr. Faber and two of his men tried frantically to brace the heavy test
stand which held the telemetering device. Another engineer rushed toward
the door to see what was happening outside. Before he reached it,
another shock knocked all of them off their feet.

Electronic equipment cascaded from the wall shelves, and a heavy-duty
chain hoist came loose from its overhead track, plunging to the floor
with a terrifying crash.

"An earthquake!" Tom gasped.

Bud, meanwhile, clawed a handhold on a wire screen enclosing an air
compressor and pulled himself to his feet. But the next moment a third,
more violent tremor rocked the building, knocking him over. "The roof!
It's caving in!" he heard someone scream.

As his eyes flashed upward in panic, Bud caught a brief glimpse of the
ponderous test stand with the priceless telemeter tilting to one side.
An instant later it crashed over, pinning Mark Faber beneath it!

Bud threw up his arms to protect himself, but too late! A falling beam
caught him on the back of the head and the young flier blacked out.

For minutes, no one stirred among the wreckage. Then Tom, who had been
stunned by some falling debris, raised himself to a sitting position.

"Good night!" Tom's eyes focused in horror on the wreckage enveloped by
still-billowing dust.

The sky was visible through several gaping holes in the roof, which was
sagging dangerously on its supporting trusses. Only two thirds of the
walls were still standing.

Suddenly Tom stiffened in fear. "Bud!" The young inventor had just
noticed his friend lying pinned beneath a heavy beam nearby. _Was he
still breathing?_

Disregarding his own injuries, Tom hastily freed himself from the debris
and groped his way to Bud's side. With a desperate heave, he shoved the
beam away, then cradled Bud's head in his arm. His friend's eyelids
flickered.

"Are you all right?" Tom asked fearfully.

The answer came in a groan. "O-oh!... Wow!... What hit me?"

"You got conked by a falling timber. Or grazed, at least," Tom added
thankfully. "If that beam had landed square on your noggin, even a
rock-head like you couldn't have survived!"

Bud managed to grin. "We grow 'em tough out in California where I come
from!" he joked.

Somewhat shakily, Bud got to his feet with Tom's assistance. Both boys
were heartsick as they surveyed the damaged laboratory, wondering where
to begin rescue operations.

"It was a quake," Bud stated grimly. He had heard about the great San
Francisco earthquake from his grandfather, and had no doubt about the
nature of the tremors.

Just then Tom glimpsed a body protruding from under the wreckage of the
telemetering device.

"Mr. Faber!" he gasped.

The two boys scrambled through the clutter of debris toward the spot
where the test stand had been erected. Bud seized a slender, steel
I beam and managed to pry up the wreckage while Tom carefully extricated
Mr. Faber.

The scientist seemed to be badly injured. "We'd better not try to move
him," Tom decided. "We'll get an ambulance."

Of the four other company engineers, two were now stirring and partly
conscious. The boys found a first-aid cabinet and gave what help they
could to them and the other two men. Then Tom taped a bandage on Bud's
scalp wound.

"Let's see if we can find a telephone and call the local hospital," Tom
said.

"Right!" Bud responded.

They picked their way through the wreckage and emerged on a scene of
frightful destruction. The main plant building of Faber Electronics had
been partially demolished by the quake. Power lines were down and an
outlying storage shed was ablaze. Dazed and panic-stricken survivors
were wandering around aimlessly or rushing about to assist the injured.

"Good thing the main shift of workers knocked off before this happened,"
Bud observed with a shudder. "There would've been a lot more
casualties."

"Look!" Tom pointed to a huge crevasse. "Right where we landed our
Whirling Duck!"

The boys exchanged rueful glances as they realized that the craft which
had brought them to Faber Electronics--one of Tom's unique helijets--had
been swallowed up in the gaping chasm.

"No use fussing about it now," Tom said. "Come on, Bud! Let's see about
getting help for Mr. Faber!"

Despite the chaotic confusion, the boys managed to locate the plant
superintendent--a harried, middle-aged man named Simkins--who was doing
his best to restore order. Simkins, who had not been injured, informed
them that electricians were rigging an emergency telephone line in order
to get through to the nearby town of Harkness.

"Mr. Faber is badly injured," Tom said. "Why not send a car? It's only a
few miles away, isn't it?"

"I'll send the plant nurse to him," Simkins said. "As for going to town,
take a look at the parking lot." He pointed with a jerk of his thumb.
The cars on the lot had been smashed into junk by bricks from a
collapsing wall of one of the buildings. "And the only truck we had
available was in that burning shed," the superintendent added bitterly.

"Tough break," Tom sympathized. "Anyhow, we want to help. Got a job
for us?"

Simkins was only too glad to put Tom's quick mind and keen technical
know-how to use. Within minutes, Tom was in charge of clearing away
rubble and extricating anyone who might be trapped inside the buildings.
Bud organized a fire-fighting crew to keep the blaze in the shed from
spreading.

The telephone line was soon repaired and a steady stream of rescue
vehicles began arriving from Harkness--fire trucks, three ambulances,
and private cars driven by volunteers.

Two hours later there was nothing more Tom and Bud could do at the
disaster scene and they hitched a ride into Harkness. The town had
suffered some damage, though only slight compared to the destruction at
the plant.

"The center of the quake was right under Faber Electronics," Tom
remarked.

From a pay telephone, he called Swift Enterprises in Shopton. This was
the experimental station where he and his father developed their many
amazing inventions. Tom asked the operator to send a helicopter
immediately to pick them up. He also called home and spoke to his
sister, Sandra.

"What a relief!" Sandy gasped. "We heard a bulletin about the quake over
the radio!"

"Don't worry, Sis. Tell Mother and Dad that we're okay," Tom said.
"We'll be home in a jiffy--with big appetites!"

The helicopter arrived within twenty minutes at the place Tom had named.
After landing at Enterprises, the boys drove to the pleasant,
tree-shaded Swift home on the outskirts of town.

Mrs. Swift, a slender, petite woman, tried not to show concern when she
saw the boys, bruised and disheveled. "I'm so thankful you're both
safe!" she murmured.

Blond, blue-eyed Sandy, who was a year younger than Tom, had invited her
friend Phyllis Newton to the house for dinner. Phyl, a pretty,
dark-haired girl, was the daughter of Mr. Swift's long-time friend and
business associate, "Uncle Ned" Newton. The two girls were as much upset
as Tom's mother.

Tom laughed. "We're not stretcher cases," he said. "Why, one of the
ambulance doctors checked us out."

Bud groaned. "Why did you have to go and spoil it?" he complained
jokingly. "I was all set for Sandy's cool soothing touch on my fevered
brow!"

Mr. Swift came into the living room just then and told Tom how worried
Mrs. Swift and Sandy had been. "I tried to assure them that you and Bud
can take care of yourselves in any crisis." He smiled guiltily as he
added, "But I must admit I was more than a little concerned myself."

As Tom grinned, the resemblance between him and his father was very
evident. Both had the same clean-cut features and deep-set blue eyes,
although Tom Jr. was lankier and taller.

After the two boys had showered and changed their clothes, Mrs. Swift
served them a delicious, hot meal. While they ate, Mr. Swift managed
after some difficulty to get a call through to the Harkness Hospital.
His face was grave as he hung up.

"Mark Faber is not expected to live," the elder inventor reported. "A
pity. He's a great scientist."

Tom nodded unhappily. Sandy, to take her brother's mind off the
disaster, said, "Dad, tell Tom and Bud about the visitor who's coming."

"A visitor?" Tom looked at his father.

"From another planet," Mr. Swift revealed.

Both boys were amazed and excited. "Wow!" Bud gasped. "Male or female?
Human or animal?"

Mr. Swift's eyes twinkled. "None of those," he replied as the boys
stared, mystified.

CHAPTER II

THE MYSTERIOUS HITCHHIKER

Tom and Bud were bursting with curiosity. Although the Swifts had been
in radio contact with creatures from outer space for many months, this
was the most exciting news yet!

On one occasion, the unknown beings had moved a small asteroid--the
phantom satellite Nestria--into orbit about the earth. Later they had
sent strange samples of the animal life of their planet, aboard orbiting
missiles, to be studied by the Swifts. They had also helped Tom, Bud,
and Mr. Swift a number of times when their lives were at stake while on
daring voyages beyond the earth. What was their latest intention?

The telephone rang and Sandy went to answer it.

"For Pete's sake, Dad," Tom pleaded, "don't keep us in suspense! Who or
what is this visitor?"

Mr. Swift smiled at the boys' baffled expressions. "The fact is that a
message came through today that--"

He was interrupted by Sandy who had come to the door. "The phone call's
for you, Dad. Long distance from Washington."

Bud groaned as Mr. Swift went off to take the call. "It's a conspiracy,"
Bud said. "Everyone's ganging up to keep us from finding out about that
mysterious visitor!"

Tom grinned. "We lasted through an earthquake this afternoon, pal," he
said consolingly. "I guess we can last through a phone call."

Inwardly Tom was as impatient as Bud about the exact nature of the
message.

Several months ago, the space creatures had sent their first
communication in the form of mathematical symbols carved on a black
missile which had landed on the grounds of Swift Enterprises.

Tom and his father had decoded the symbols and beamed out a reply over a
powerful radio transmitter. Later messages had been picked up by radio
telescope and converted to appear as symbols on the oscilloscope screen.

"Sandy must know what it's all about," Bud broke in. "She's the one who
first mentioned the visitor."

"Of course I know," Sandy said mysteriously. "So does Mother and so does
Phyl. But don't think we're going to give it away!" she added teasingly.

Tom and Bud cajoled the two girls and Mrs. Swift for further
information. But Sandy and Phyl only shook their heads, obviously
enjoying the situation.

"At last we're getting back at them for the way they've neglected us!"
Phyl said, her brown eyes sparkling with laughter.

"Come on, Mother!" Tom said. "Be a sport. You tell us!"

But Mrs. Swift too shook her head. "I'm sorry, Tom," she demurred
gently, "but I think the girls are right. I'll say this much, though,"
she relented, "it will be the biggest challenge that Tom Swift Jr. and
Sr. have ever faced!"

"Whew!" Bud remarked as the two boys glanced at each other. "That must
mean it's _plenty_ big news! It would have to be, skipper, to top all
the other jobs you and your dad have taken on!"

Conquering outer space, probing the ocean's secrets, drilling to the
earth's core--these were only a few of Tom Swift's many exciting
exploits.

In his first adventure, Tom, in his Flying Lab, had gone to South
America to fend off a gang of rebels seeking a valuable radioactive ore
deposit. In his most recent challenge, Tom had defied the threats of
Oriental killers determined to ferret out the secret of the Swifts'
latest space research.

As the two boys silently recalled the exciting events of the past
months, Mr. Swift returned to the living room.

Tom and Bud leaned forward in their chairs. "Well, boys," Mr. Swift
said, "as I started to tell you, the space receiver picked up a message
today from our unknown planetary friends. The message informed us that
they are sending a visitor to earth--a visitor consisting of _pure
energy!_"

"_Energy?_" Tom was startled. "I don't get it, Dad!"

"Frankly, I don't quite understand it myself," Tom Sr. confessed. "The
message didn't explain how or in what form the energy would arrive. But,
at any rate, they want us to construct some sort of container for it."

The elder scientist paused thoughtfully. "In my opinion, the energy
which they speak of must be a sort of invisible brain. The symbols were
rather difficult to decode, but apparently our job will be to construct
a device through which the energy will be able to receive impressions of
what life is like here on earth, and also to communicate its own
responses to us."

Tom sat bolt upright. "Dad, this is terrific news!" he exclaimed. "If
we're able to make this energy or 'brain' communicate, it may be able to
tell _us_ what the space people are like!"

Mr. Swift nodded, his own eyes blazing with as much excitement as Tom's
were.

Bud, too, was deeply impressed but could not resist quipping, "What sort
of body will you give it? How about a beautiful, superintelligent space
girl for me to date?"

"Nothing doing!" Sandy retorted mischievously. "I insist on a handsome
young man who'd have time to take two nice earth girls out on dates!"

"Ouch!" Bud pretended to wince. "I really left myself wide open for that
one!"

Mrs. Swift put in, "Goodness, mightn't it get out of control and be
rather overpowering? Suppose it went berserk!"

"Rather an unpleasant possibility," Mr. Swift agreed, smiling wryly.
"But I trust our space friends wouldn't let that happen."

Both he and Tom became thoughtful as they discussed the problem.

"The energy will arrive in two weeks," Mr. Swift added. "Unfortunately
that phone call was a request that I go to Washington on urgent
government business. So you may have to take over and work out a
solution on your own, Tom."

It was a sobering thought to the young inventor. "You were right,
Mother. This is a terrific challenge."

Soon afterward, the little gathering broke up. Bud, who had left his own
convertible at the Swifts' that morning, offered to drop Phyl at her
home.

Tom awoke the next morning, refreshed by a good night's sleep. After a
hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs, he drove off to Enterprises in his
low-slung silver sports car.

"Think I'll listen to the news," Tom thought, and switched on his
dashboard radio.

A moment later the announcer's voice came over the loud-speaker.
"Casualties from yesterday's disastrous earthquake now total thirty-one
injured," the announcer reported. "Most of these are employees of the
Faber Electronics plant and four are in critical condition. There is one
note of cheer, however. At last report, Mark Faber, the brilliant
president of the company, is now expected to recover." Tom gave a
thankful sigh of relief.

The announcer continued, "The nearby town of Harkness was only lightly
damaged, but the plant itself was almost totally demolished. No estimate
of the losses has been released, but will certainly run into millions of
dollars, including some highly secret defense items which were being
developed at the plant. Scientists are puzzled by the severity of the
quake in what had been considered a 'dead' area."

For the first time Tom, too, was struck by this curious aspect of the
disaster. So far as he knew, no serious tremors had ever before been
reported within hundreds of miles of the region.

He was mulling over the matter as he drove along a lonely wooded area,
not far from Lake Carlopa. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted as a
man stepped out from among the trees ahead and gestured with his thumb
for a ride.

"Sorry, mister," Tom reflected, "but I've had trouble with hitchhikers
before!" He shook his head to let the man know that he did not intend to
stop.

To the young inventor's amazement, the pedestrian deliberately stepped
onto the road--squarely in the path of Tom's oncoming car!

Tom jammed on the brakes, and the silver sports car screeched to a stop.
Only a quick twist of the wheel had prevented an accident!

Somewhat angrily, Tom exclaimed, "What's the big idea, mister? Don't you
realize you might have been--"

"Shut up!" the stranger snarled. In an instant the man had yanked open
the door and climbed in beside Tom.

"Take me inside the grounds of Swift Enterprises," he commanded in a
foreign accent. "And no tricks or you will regret it!"

CHAPTER III

REPORT FROM INTERPOL

Tom, astonished, stared at the stranger.

"Who are you?" the young inventor demanded.

"Never mind who I am. Just do as I say!"

By this time Tom had recovered from his surprise and coolly sized up his
enemy. The man was about thirty years old, with close-cropped black
hair. Steely eyes glinted in a lean, hard-jawed face.

Tom wondered, "_Should I risk a fight? Or is he armed?_"

As if in answer, the stranger growled, "I gave you an order, my friend.
Don't press your luck! Get going!"

As he spoke, the man thrust one hand deep into his coat pocket, and Tom
felt something hard poke against his ribs.

The young inventor drove on, but proceeded slowly. He wanted time to
think. Presently Swift Enterprises, enclosed by a high wall, came into
view.

Tom's brain was working fast. At last he decided on a ruse. He would
head for the main gate, get out, and use his electronic key without
waiting for the guard to admit him. At the same time, he would press a
secret warning bell to alert the Swift security force.

But the stranger seemed to read his thoughts. As Tom started to turn off
toward the main gate, his passenger snapped, "Go to the private gate
which you and your father use!"

"And if I refuse?"

Again the hard object poked into his ribs. "You will be what you call in
this country a dead duck!" the stranger warned. "I will then let myself
in with your key!"

Tight-lipped, Tom drove on another half mile, then turned in at the
private gate. The man got out with him as Tom walked up to the gate and
beamed his electronic key at the hidden mechanism. Instantly the gate
swung open, then closed again automatically after the car passed
through.

Tom parked in his usual spot. The stranger kept his hand in his pocket,
still covering Tom but glancing around cautiously. The sprawling
experimental station was a vast four-mile-square area with a cluster of
gleaming modern laboratory buildings and workshops. In the distance, a
tall glassed-in control tower overlooked Enterprises' long runways for
jet planes.

Suddenly the stranger stiffened. A paunchy, bowlegged figure, topped by
a white Texas sombrero, was coming straight toward them.

Tom's heart gave a leap of hope. The man was Chow Winkler, formerly a
chuck-wagon cook and now head chef for the Swifts' expeditions.

"Hi, boss!" Chow bellowed in his foghorn voice. As usual he was wearing
a gaudy cowboy shirt. "Who's the new buckaroo?" the cook added,
squinting at the stranger with open but friendly curiosity.

"Why--actually I don't know his name yet, but he's looking for a job,"
Tom replied. Turning to the stranger, he added, "What _is_ your name,
mister?"

The stranger glared from Tom to Chow, as if not certain what to answer.

Chow's eyes narrowed. He had detected something strange in the way Tom
addressed the fellow as "mister," and had also noticed how the man kept
one hand hidden in his pocket. Looking to Tom for a lead, Chow suddenly
noticed the young inventor make a quick "thumbs down" gesture.

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