The ion-drive unit had hurtled to the far end of the tank at the first flick2 of power. But its exhaust tube was still jetting out a current of water with stunning3 force. Tom could feel the near-crushing pressure against his chest, even the full length of the tank away!
Moments dragged by with agonizing5 slowness. Tom felt as if his last ounce of breath were being squeezed out by the viselike pressure.
Suddenly a gravelly Western voice reached him, singing "Home on the Range." It drew closer, swelling6 into a foghorn7 drone as the lab door swung open.
"Good old Chow!" Tom thought. "Thank heavens!"
The grizzled, bowlegged cook ambled8 cheerfully into the laboratory, pushing a lunch cart. But, to Tom's dismay, he cast only a passing glance at the figure in the tank.
"Soup's on, son!" Chow announced loudly. He began to ladle out a bowl of oyster9 stew10 from a steaming pot. Evidently he had not realized the young inventor's dilemma11!
"Extra good today too, if I do say so myself!" the old Texan went on, setting out the rest of the lunch. "Well, come on, buckaroo! Break away from them chores an' dive in! Brand my cactus12 salad, if there's one thing that riles a cook—"
At the strange sound of Tom's voice, Chow jerked around. His eyes bugged14 out at the look on the young inventor's face. Then he dashed to the public-address outlet15 on the wall and switched on the mike.
"Help! Help!" Chow yelled. "Tom Jr.'s trapped in his lab!"
The roly-poly chef was quivering in panic. He dashed across the room and paced helplessly about the tank. Within moments, excited men were crowding into the laboratory.
Mr. Swift, among the first to arrive, took in the situation at a glance. He dashed to the control board and slammed shut the main switch, thus cutting off power to the ion-drive jet.
"Whew! Th-thanks, Dad!" Tom's chest was heaving as he gulped16 in air to relieve his tortured lungs.
Tom Sr. helped him climb out of the tank.
"B-b-brand my rhubarb rockets," Chow stuttered. "What in tarnation happened?"
"Guess I gunned my new skin-diving jet a bit too hard," Tom said sheepishly. "It was almost a K.O. for me!"
Mr. Swift asked Tom about the invention. After explaining how it worked, Tom added with a grin, "Maybe you'd better hang around, Dad, until I install some sort of density17-control gadget18 for my hydrolung. Then I can go up or down, or stay at any level easily."
Such a device, Tom felt, might prove to be a lifesaver if he should ever become trapped under water—perhaps far from help.
The elder scientist chuckled19 and threw an arm around Tom's shoulders. "I'd say you could design something like that with your eyes shut, son!"
An hour later Bud came bursting into the laboratory. "Hey! What's this I hear about your getting hammerlocked by a water jet?" the husky young pilot asked. He had been on a test flight and just returned.
Tom laughed good-naturedly. "Nothing serious. In fact, I felt pretty silly," he told his chum. "I souped up our ion-drive gizmo a bit too much."
Bud picked up the slender metal cylindrical23 assembly from the workbench. "This it?" he asked, his curiosity immediately aroused.
Tom nodded and demonstrated the device in the test tank.
Bud whistled with glee. "Boy! With this rig, we can scoot around like a pair of barracudas!" he exclaimed. "What about that other thing you're working on?" Bud pointed24 to a small electronic chassis25 on the workbench, studded with a tangle26 of transistors27, diodes, and condensers28.
"It's a density-control device," Tom explained. "A substitute for ballast tanks, you might say. It'll enable us to rise or sink to any depth at will, simply by varying our underwater density."
Tom said the device would be carried in a small case, hooked to the diver's belt, with a single tuning-knob control. The "throttle29" or speed control for the ion drive would be housed in the same unit.
"I can't wait to try out the new diving gear," Bud said excitedly.
By four o'clock Tom had the apparatus perfected, and turned it over to Arv Hanson for fast duplication.
"We'll give it a shakedown tomorrow morning," he told Bud.
The duplicates of the ion drive and density control were ready and waiting when the boys arrived at the plant next day. They immediately flew to Fearing Island and embarked30 in a motor launch, with Zimby Cox again at the helm.
This time they cruised out to deeper water. Tom and Bud donned flippers and belt, and helped each other strap31 on his ion-drive jet.
"Down we go, into the wilds of sharks!" Bud chortled lustily. "Watch your step, Tom."
"Just make sure you come up again in one piece," Zimby said with a grin. "Also, don't get carried away with that ion squirt gun and take off on a round-the-world underwater cruise."
Down they glided33 into the sea-green wilderness34. Leveling off in sight of the ocean floor, they tried their drive jets. The effect was thrilling! Zip ... Whoosh35! They darted36 to and fro like human torpedoes37.
Then Tom twirled the control knob of his density unit. Immediately he bobbed upward like a cork38. A reverse twirl sent him plummeting39 toward the bottom again. Bud, watching with wide-eyed excitement, began experimenting on his own.
Soon the boys were engaging in all sorts of underwater acrobatics40. Presently Bud felt a nudge in the back that sent him hurtling a dozen yards through the water.
"Snuck up on me, eh, pal41?" he thought with a chuckle20. "Okay, Tom old boy, here's where the undersea terror strikes back!"
Swooping42 around to return the compliment, Bud gulped in surprise. Instead of his chum, he found himself face to face with a bottle-nosed dolphin!
With a playful toss of its comical-looking snout, the porpoise swam off, as if inviting44 Bud to join in the fun and games. A whole school of the creatures cavorted45 into view.
"Okay! If you want to play!" Chuckling46, Bud darted in pursuit, whacked47 the porpoise that had nudged him, and jetted off again. The porpoise gave chase, whistling and grunting48 audibly.
Tom joined in the fun, and soon a rollicking game of underwater tag was in full swing. The dolphins seemed as playful and mischievous49 as small children.
Twenty minutes later the boys surfaced and hauled themselves aboard. Both tore off their masks and flopped50 into the boat, shaking with laughter, surfacing and diving.
"What was so funny down there?" Zimby asked.
When Tom told him about the dolphins, he too burst into laughter. The porpoises51 rose into view and convoyed the launch all the way back to the island.
The boys were so jubilant over the performance of the new hydrolung gear that Tom decided52 to press his search for the Brungarian sea-prowlers immediately. Soon after lunch they took off in the Sea Hound and headed for the South Atlantic. Hank Sterling53, Chow Winkler, and two crewmen accompanied the boys.
Dazzling afternoon sunshine sparkled over the sea when they reached the missile search area. Tom immediately contacted Art Wiltessa and the task-force ships. They had no new developments to report.
The young inventor gave orders to submerge. As soon as the seacopter touched bottom, Tom and Bud swam out through the air lock with their hydrolungs.
They probed about for half an hour, ranging farther and farther from the Sea Hound. Then Tom felt a touch on his arm. He turned and saw Bud pointing off excitedly to the right.
A strange submarine was moving slowly toward them!
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1
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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2
flick
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| n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动 | |
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3
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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4
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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5
agonizing
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| adj.痛苦难忍的；使人苦恼的v.使极度痛苦；折磨(agonize的ing形式) | |
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6
swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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7
foghorn
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| n..雾号（浓雾信号） | |
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8
ambled
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| v.（马）缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 )；从容地走，漫步 | |
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9
oyster
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| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
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10
stew
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| n.炖汤，焖，烦恼；v.炖汤，焖，忧虑 | |
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11
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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12
cactus
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| n.仙人掌 | |
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13
croaked
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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14
bugged
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| vt.在…装窃听器（bug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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15
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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16
gulped
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| v.狼吞虎咽地吃，吞咽( gulp的过去式和过去分词 )；大口地吸（气）；哽住 | |
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17
density
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| n.密集，密度，浓度 | |
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18
gadget
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| n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿 | |
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19
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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21
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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22
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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23
cylindrical
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| adj.圆筒形的 | |
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24
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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25
chassis
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| n.汽车等之底盘；（飞机的）起落架；炮底架 | |
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26
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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27
transistors
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| 晶体管( transistor的名词复数 )； 晶体管收音机，半导体收音机 | |
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28
condensers
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| n.冷凝器( condenser的名词复数 )；（尤指汽车发动机内的）电容器 | |
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29
throttle
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| n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压 | |
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30
embarked
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| 乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事 | |
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31
strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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32
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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33
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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34
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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35
whoosh
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| v.飞快地移动，呼 | |
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36
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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37
torpedoes
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| 鱼雷( torpedo的名词复数 )； 油井爆破筒； 刺客； 掼炮 | |
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38
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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39
plummeting
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| v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的现在分词 ) | |
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40
acrobatics
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| n.杂技 | |
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41
pal
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| n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友 | |
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42
swooping
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 ) | |
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43
porpoise
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| n.鼠海豚 | |
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44
inviting
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| adj.诱人的，引人注目的 | |
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45
cavorted
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| v.跳跃( cavort的过去式 ) | |
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46
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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47
whacked
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| a.精疲力尽的 | |
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48
grunting
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| 咕哝的，呼噜的 | |
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49
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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50
flopped
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| v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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51
porpoises
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| n.鼠海豚( porpoise的名词复数 ) | |
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52
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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53
sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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