Tom Swift in the Race to the Moon Read Free Page A

they’ve warned us about it before. They attach some sort of value to life. But there’s another big problem on top of all that."
    "What problem?"
    "If the Brungarian faction is already in communication with the space friends, they may be able to pick up our own outgoing signals as well. We’ve got to figure out a way to get our message through without saying anything that would put Petar or his brother in danger."
    "I get it," said Bud. But he lay a hand on his pal’s wrist. "And I know something else, Tom, and so do you. We may just have to take that risk. Because it sounds like it could come down to those two lives versus the lives of every living thing on Earth!"

CHAPTER 3
MIXED MESSAGES
    TOM NOW set his formidable young mind to the difficult task before him. Communication between earthly humans and the other-planetary scientists was based upon complicated visible symbols that represented universal concepts in mathematics and logic, concepts that were presumed to be the same on any world, anywhere in space or time. As interpreted by Tom and his father, these concepts paralleled concepts in the natural languages of society.
    Yet it seemed there were many barriers to understanding, many unexpected difficulties. So much of human communication depended upon a prior familiarity with ordinary human institutions, human needs, and human emotions. The space friends had none of these, so far as was known. Their mode of society was as unknown as the form of their bodies, their scientific technology as strange and inexplicable as magic. Even their motives in making contact with our planet were far from clear.
    And now, somehow, Tom Swift had to construct a message of the gravest importance, understandable to those meant to receive it, but completely opaque to mankind’s earthly enemies!
    He muttered, half to himself and half to Bud, as he worked out the various figures on the flatscreen, consulting frequently with the "space dictionary," a computerized record of symbols previously used which had been compiled by Tom and his father, Damon Swift. "Let’s see, I can use the same cluster of symbols they used to signify ‘danger’ when they transmitted that warning to us in the Star Spear . And I can pair their symbol for negation, or reversal, with the shapes we’ve interpreted to mean ‘friend’ or ‘friendly,’ as when they say ‘we are friends’."
    "I see," Bud remarked, not intending to provoke an answer. "That’s their call-sign—like a signature."
    "They’ve talked about the environment for life often enough," murmured Tom, "and here, I think I can abstract part of this cluster to represent bodily health… something like ‘completion’ or ‘satisfaction of the equation’…" Perspiration broke out on the young inventor’s forehead as he focused his concentration to the utmost. Finally he gave a sharp nod and flashed Bud a grin of triumph.
    "Done!" he exclaimed. "That wasn’t too bad. How long did it take, flyboy? About an hour?"
    Bud chuckled. "About three! So what did you come up with?"
    Tom showed his pal the translated message on the screen, reminding him that it was only an approximation of the intended meaning.
TOM SWIFT TO SPACE FRIENDS. DATA RECEIVED CONCERNING ARRIVAL OF LIFE FORMS UNABLE TO MAINTAIN LIFE FUNCTIONS. CAUSAL FACTOR MAY BE DANGER TO ALL LIFE HERE. NEW METHODS NECESSARY TO SOLVE PROBLEM. RESTRICT COMMUNICATION TO THIS SOURCE! AWAIT YOUR REPLY.
    "Wow! Not bad!" exclaimed Bud admiringly. "I almost understand it myself! You’re telling them the diseased animals are a danger to us, and they need a better plan."
    "Exactly! And I’m hoping my wording will suggest to any ‘eavesdroppers’ that we’ve already exchanged messages with the space friends on the subject, as if this were a follow-up." He pointed with his finger to the exclamation mark ending the next-to-last sentence. "I used their ‘exponentiation’ symbol to give emphasis and urgency, as they have done in the past."
    "I