"Thanks for your prompt co-operation," Tom said, smiling gratefully as
the meeting broke up.

"We should thank you, Tom, for coming up with a plan to cope with this
fiendish threat," Ahlgren replied. The others heartily agreed.

Shortly after lunch, Tom was hard at work in his laboratory when the
telephone rang. It was Chief Slater at Shopton police headquarters.

"You'd better get over here fast, Tom," Slater said. "Samson Narko is
ready to talk!"

Tom needed no urging. "Right, Chief!"

As he drove into Shopton, Tom wondered what the Brungarian agent would
reveal. Was it possible that he might tip off the whole secret behind
the destructive man-made earthquakes?

Chief Slater was waiting in his office. "Narko showed signs of cracking
this morning," Slater told Tom, "so I notified the Central Intelligence
Agency. They're flying a man up here--in fact he should be here by now.
Narko won't talk till he arrives."

"How come?" Tom asked.

"Narko wants a bargain," Slater explained. "If the government will
promise to deport him at once without trial, he'll spill what he knows."

Tom whistled. "I sure wouldn't want to be in _his_ shoes when he gets