"That was a bad break, Tom," Dr. Miles admitted. "Our detectors showed
that the shock waves had been almost damped out when a sudden power
failure occurred. It turned out that an overload had shorted the
Quakelizor's power plant. The crew had it fixed within moments, but by
that time the damage was done."
Tom winced as he heard of the unfortunate accident, but was thankful the
results had been no worse.
Miles went on to say that he had just been conferring with Ahlgren at
the Pentagon. The Defense Department now feared that attempts might be
made against other large cities and was therefore eager to have Tom
deliver several quake deflectors as soon as possible. These would be
installed at strategic points around the country.
"The government heads were so impressed with your invention, Tom," Dr.
Miles added, "that they'll probably be walking the floor anxiously until
the others arrive."
Tom chuckled, then became serious. "Tell them we'll go to work right
away," he informed the seismologist. "I'll have the new Quakelizors
ready as soon as possible, but you'd better warn your associates it's
bound to take a few days."
As soon as the conversation was completed, Tom dialed Ned Newton at the
Swift Construction Company. Although he was actually not a relative of
the Swifts, both Tom and Sandy had from childhood called him "Uncle
Ned."
"What's up, Tom?" he asked.
Tom told him of the latest request from Washington and asked that
another three-shift work schedule be set up to turn out the additional
Quakelizors.
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