Bud was waiting in his
laboratory with news.
"Your dad went from Washington to Fearing Island and has gone up to your
space outpost," Bud reported. "He has to do some experiments for the
government project he's working on."
The outpost was a space station which Tom Swift Jr. had built 22,300
miles above the earth. It was a production factory for his famous solar
batteries, and also an immensely valuable setup for space research and
exploration.
"Think I'll radio Dad and let him know what's going on," Tom decided.
"He may have some good suggestions. He usually does!"
Tom warmed up his private transmitter-receiver and beamed out a code
call through the automatic scrambler. Seconds later, the loud-speaker
crackled in response.
But just as the outpost operator's voice came through, the radio set
exploded in Tom's face!
CHAPTER IX
THE CAVE MONSTER
"Skipper!" Bud cried anxiously as Tom staggered back, his hands to his
face.
"I'm all right--no harm done," Tom assured his friend.
Both boys were a bit shaken by the accident, nevertheless. Chow came
rushing in as Bud was brushing the fragments of debris from Tom's
clothes and examining the young inventor's face.
"Brand my flyin' flapjacks, what happened?" Chow asked. The chef had
been bringing a tray of fruit juice to the laboratory and had heard the
explosion outside.
"The radio set just blew up in my face," Tom explained.
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