Tom Swift and the Cosmic Astronauts by Victor Appleton II Page B
Authors: Victor Appleton II
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chuck wagon rattled
an’ them longhorns could squeal,
But they never went loco
like this big ol’ space wheel!
Ride, ride, ridin’ up high!
Them stars shore look pretty,
Other side o’ the sky!
After ridin’ a rocket
Bustin’ broncs’ll be fun!
Them thar meet’yors is worse
Than a spittin’ six-gun!
An’ someday when I’m through
Herdin’ cows all along
On the great Milky Way,
With m’ hat an’ m’ song,
Get me down from this night
That’s as sunny as day—
I’ll head home to Texas!
An’ that’s where I’ll stay!
The cowpoke’s audience was howling with appreciative laughter long before he finished. At the final twang! of Chow’s guitar, they rocked the mess compartment with loud applause.
CHAPTER 14
A LONG-TONGUED THREAT
TOM and his fellow astronauts embarked aboard the Challenger the following morning and returned to Fearing Island. After transporting his prototype reactor back to Enterprises in the Sky Queen, he turned it over to Arv Hanson and Hank Sterling. The alterations he had worked out in space would be incorporated in the final version. Both the kite fuselage and the gravitex, Tom learned, had been completed by Art Wiltessa’s crew.
"Boy, that’s swell news, Art!" Tom said. "Get the modified reactor unit and the gravitex installed on the fuselage as soon as you can, will you? I’m eager to give the kite a tryout."
"I’m pretty eager myself." Wiltessa grinned. "Call it pride, but if this baby doesn’t fly, I’ll be the second most disappointed guy around here!"
Two days after Tom returned to Shopton, Felix Ming came hurrying in to his office. "Heard you were at work up here, Tom, so I thought I’d better see you right away. I have something to report! Very strange."
Tom’s eyes lighted up with interest. "Strange?"
Felix nodded. "Right. I thought I would speak to you immediately, before Mr. Ames returns to his office this afternoon." Tom motioned for Felix to sit down. "You see," he began, "though I am a full-blooded Chinese, I must confess that I have developed a perverse taste for American Chinese cooking, which is much different from what one finds in China. For a long time I’ve been going to that Chinese restaurant on Commerce Avenue."
"The Jade Bowl? Sandy and I have eaten there."
"They have your photo on the wall! Last night I went there for my supper, and was handed a menu as usual. When I opened it—well, here." Felix handed Tom a small card. "It was clipped inside. Do you recognize the symbols on it?"
Tom nodded, eyes narrowed. "Yup. It’s the calling card Li Ching likes to leave behind. One symbol is the stylized version of his name, altered to look like a snake. The other means Death."
"That translation was provided by my sister, Tom, and she hasn’t studied the language as I have." Felix leaned close and spoke softly. "The ideogram does indeed mean death, but there is more to it, something more specific."
"A particular kind of death, you mean?"
The Chinese-American shook his head. "Not a particular kind—a particular reason. It signifies what might be translated as ‘long-tongued death’."
"Sorry, Felix, I don’t get it," Tom said.
"It is hard to find exactly the right words. Here, we say that someone is nosy—poking their nose where it doesn’t belong. In traditional Chinese society, sych a person might be called long-tongued," Felix explained. "The long-tongued death refers to putting to death a gossip or backstabber, someone who interferes in the affairs of another. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Tom rubbed his chin. "Does it mean someone has marked you for death?"
Felix shook his head. "That would not be the customary significance. It is a warning— butt out!"
"Right—and we Americans would usually add ‘or else’!" Tom’s face expressed his concern. "What’ve I got you and Linda into, Felix?"
He waved it aside. "Please, we chose to help you. But perhaps someone feels we are betraying our own. And I may know who it is,
an’ them longhorns could squeal,
But they never went loco
like this big ol’ space wheel!
Ride, ride, ridin’ up high!
Them stars shore look pretty,
Other side o’ the sky!
After ridin’ a rocket
Bustin’ broncs’ll be fun!
Them thar meet’yors is worse
Than a spittin’ six-gun!
An’ someday when I’m through
Herdin’ cows all along
On the great Milky Way,
With m’ hat an’ m’ song,
Get me down from this night
That’s as sunny as day—
I’ll head home to Texas!
An’ that’s where I’ll stay!
The cowpoke’s audience was howling with appreciative laughter long before he finished. At the final twang! of Chow’s guitar, they rocked the mess compartment with loud applause.
CHAPTER 14
A LONG-TONGUED THREAT
TOM and his fellow astronauts embarked aboard the Challenger the following morning and returned to Fearing Island. After transporting his prototype reactor back to Enterprises in the Sky Queen, he turned it over to Arv Hanson and Hank Sterling. The alterations he had worked out in space would be incorporated in the final version. Both the kite fuselage and the gravitex, Tom learned, had been completed by Art Wiltessa’s crew.
"Boy, that’s swell news, Art!" Tom said. "Get the modified reactor unit and the gravitex installed on the fuselage as soon as you can, will you? I’m eager to give the kite a tryout."
"I’m pretty eager myself." Wiltessa grinned. "Call it pride, but if this baby doesn’t fly, I’ll be the second most disappointed guy around here!"
Two days after Tom returned to Shopton, Felix Ming came hurrying in to his office. "Heard you were at work up here, Tom, so I thought I’d better see you right away. I have something to report! Very strange."
Tom’s eyes lighted up with interest. "Strange?"
Felix nodded. "Right. I thought I would speak to you immediately, before Mr. Ames returns to his office this afternoon." Tom motioned for Felix to sit down. "You see," he began, "though I am a full-blooded Chinese, I must confess that I have developed a perverse taste for American Chinese cooking, which is much different from what one finds in China. For a long time I’ve been going to that Chinese restaurant on Commerce Avenue."
"The Jade Bowl? Sandy and I have eaten there."
"They have your photo on the wall! Last night I went there for my supper, and was handed a menu as usual. When I opened it—well, here." Felix handed Tom a small card. "It was clipped inside. Do you recognize the symbols on it?"
Tom nodded, eyes narrowed. "Yup. It’s the calling card Li Ching likes to leave behind. One symbol is the stylized version of his name, altered to look like a snake. The other means Death."
"That translation was provided by my sister, Tom, and she hasn’t studied the language as I have." Felix leaned close and spoke softly. "The ideogram does indeed mean death, but there is more to it, something more specific."
"A particular kind of death, you mean?"
The Chinese-American shook his head. "Not a particular kind—a particular reason. It signifies what might be translated as ‘long-tongued death’."
"Sorry, Felix, I don’t get it," Tom said.
"It is hard to find exactly the right words. Here, we say that someone is nosy—poking their nose where it doesn’t belong. In traditional Chinese society, sych a person might be called long-tongued," Felix explained. "The long-tongued death refers to putting to death a gossip or backstabber, someone who interferes in the affairs of another. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Tom rubbed his chin. "Does it mean someone has marked you for death?"
Felix shook his head. "That would not be the customary significance. It is a warning— butt out!"
"Right—and we Americans would usually add ‘or else’!" Tom’s face expressed his concern. "What’ve I got you and Linda into, Felix?"
He waved it aside. "Please, we chose to help you. But perhaps someone feels we are betraying our own. And I may know who it is,
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