ill.

"She'll be tickled pink," Scotty remarked. "Come on. Let's go down."

"Go ahead. I'll be right with you." Rick finished taping on a spray of
evergreen, then he carefully put the present out of sight under his
workbench. Barby's lively curiosity was subdued at Christmas time, but
it was better not to take chances. He surveyed the bench to see if he
had left anything out. Usually it was cluttered with apparatus, tools,
and parts, because Rick was an inveterate experimenter, but it was clear
now, in preparation for the holiday.

He walked down the corridor to the stairs, smiling to himself. Christmas
at Spindrift was fun. The entire scientific staff and their families
joined in, first in cutting their own trees from the stand of spruce at
the back side of the island, then in decorating the big tree in the
Brant library. On Christmas Eve there was a Yule log to be brought in
and presents to be exchanged, although the Brants waited until morning
to open their gifts to each other.

Hartson Brant and Scotty were waiting in the library, standing before
the great fireplace in which logs crackled merrily. Seated in the
leather chair next to the Christmas tree was Parnell Winston, one of the
leading staff scientists.

Winston was a big man, with jet-black curly hair and great bushy
eyebrows that hid merry blue eyes. He was an expert in cybernetics, the
science of electronic computer design, and his contributions to the
theory of computer operations, and to advanced electronic control
systems, were known to scientists around the world. Winston had
originally joined the staff to supervise the design and construction of
a "thinking machine," the Tractosaur.

Hartson Brant, an older version of his son, greeted the boy. "Come in,
Rick. Parnell, the floor is yours."

Winston motioned the boys to chairs. "Sit down. I called this meeting to
make a proposal. But first, how are your bank balances? Fat or thin?"

Rick considered. Most of his income, including his small salary as a
laboratory assistant, went into his education fund. However, the salary
he had earned for working at the Nevada rocket base during _The Scarlet
Lake Mystery_ had been put into his "ready" fund. "I'm in good shape,"
he said, and Scotty echoed him.

"Fine. Now, the Egyptian Astronomical Society has just finished
constructing a new radio telescope. It's a first-rate instrument from
which we expect great things. Your father and I were in at its birth, s