Tom Swift and His G-Force Inverter by Victor Appleton II

Author:Victor Appleton II [Appleton, Victor II]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-03-06T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

THE UPFALL OF CHOW WINKLER

TOM and Damon Swift exchanged looks of amazement and dismay. "Pete Langley!" exclaimed Tom. "But he’s the one who tipped us off in the first place! He said Wickliffe Laboratories didn’t have any interest in working on the project!"

"Whatever the guy may have told you, I know the basic figures and work-ups came directly from him and his team," Ritt insisted. "Could be we purchased Langley’s work outright—but I guarantee you Father will make sure he never gets one word of credit. That’s his way—control the message!" The youth glanced around in furtive disgust. "Somebody’s probably got me on camera and microphone right now. I don’t care!"

The Swifts were as much taken aback by Ritt Kincaid’s unexpected outburst of emotion as by the disclosure of Peter Langley’s involvement. "We’ll have a chat with Langley," Tom said quietly. "But Ritt, don’t jeopardize your job here—or your relationship with your father—on our account."

"The job, I don’t care about," came the bitter reply. "As to the relationship—it doesn’t exist!"

On the flight home, Tom and his father discussed the matter soberly. Damon Swift said, "We’re entitled to assume Kincaid is behind that phony ‘leak,’ even if Harry Cruikshank did the dirty work. Kincaid probably knows something that gives him leverage over Cruikshank."

"Some ‘skeleton’ from their past business dealings," nodded Tom. "Seems to be the way Old Man Kincaid works."

"Science and the world of business—not an easy fit, son."

"I know," Tom replied. "Dad, I want to hash this out with Pete Langley, and there’s no reason to wait until we land!"

Tom immediately called Langley’s office at Wickliffe Laboratories. "Listen Tom—news flash!—I wasn’t jivin’ you before. Wicko has no interest in going after the Grand Canyon money. I never said we hadn’t done any work on it."

"For Cosmo Kincaid?"

"No, for ourselves. We’re R & D here, remember? We developed the notion of a floating observation vehicle with the idea it could be used for police sky-watch patrols, in place of those clattery helicopters they use. Get it? We talked it up here and there, and Kincaid approached us. We declined to work for him—can you b’lieve that jerk?—but we negotiated the rights to what we’d come up with.

"And now here’s a question back-atcha. Why am I telling you all this private business stuff?"

"I’m... sorry, Pete," Tom said, embarassed. "You didn’t do anything wrong, and it’s generous of you to explain. Guess I was just caught offguard."

"Well, chumbo, I hope you guys know enough to keep on guard when you’re competing with Cosmo Kincaid."

Tom clicked off his cellphone. "Good advice," said his father. "Son, I have no objection to Technautics coming up with an alternative approach. It might even be superior to ours. But I can’t forgive the bankruptcy rumor."

As the chiefs of Swift Enterprises winged their luxurious way home, an imposing figure in a cowboy hat and shrieking-loud shirt was poking around under the high dome of the Enterprises observatory building. Chow was wafting along his daily snack route, delivering fortifications to the regular observatory staffer, Mike Halmer.

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