l echo from the shadow reflections."

"Hey! Sounds pretty cute," Bud said.

Tom broke into a dry chuckle. "Right--_if_ I can do it." After that job,
Tom added, he hoped to adapt his own antidetection methods to make
hydrolung wearers safe from underwater detection. "And if the Jupiter
prober hasn't been found by that time, Bud, I'm going to request the
Navy to let us take over the search alone."

Bud gave a whistle of excitement at the possibility of new undersea
adventures ahead. "Count me in, pal!"

The two boys broke off their conversation a short time later and went
back to the Administration Building for lunch with Tom's father.

Mr. Swift greeted them with a smile as they entered the big double
office. "Glad you could join me, boys! Chow's laid out quite a feast for
us today."

Three places had been set at the conference table, and an appetizing
repast of sizzling ham and sweet potatoes waited in covered dishes on a
lunch cart nearby.

"Mmm!" Bud inhaled the aroma. "Good chow from good old Chow!"

Tom switched on the videophone screen to a private channel to catch the
noon news while they ate. The newscaster wore a look of excitement as he
spoke without pausing for the usual commercial.

"The Brungarian government has just scored a propaganda bombshell!" he
reported. "In a news announcement released less than half an hour ago,
they stated that their Navy has perfected an _undetectable submarine_!"

The Swifts and Bud froze, openmouthed, at the newscaster's words.

"No need to tell you what this could mean to American security," he went
on. "If enemy subs slipped through our continental defenses, their
missiles could devastate the United States with scarcely an instant's
warning! The whole country's been rocked by the announcement. An
official comment by our Defense Department is expected at any moment."

"Sufferin' satellites!" Bud gulped.

Mr. Swift nodded. "It's a great propaganda stroke. But I wonder why
they've chosen to reveal their secret at this time."

Tom said thoughtfully, "Dad, do you suppose they've realized the fact
that we _know_ about their antisonar gear?"

"Could be, son. They may figure that since the secret is out already,
they may as well play it up for all it's worth." The elder scientist
paused and frowned. "Or it might be intended to force our hand."

"You mean in hopes of getting us to reveal whether or not we have an
antidetection system ourselves?" As his father nodded,