Rick looked at the girl with new respect. It was a very good gimmick indeed. He said as much.
Barby put her arm around Jan's waist. "We'll be sure to invite you to the show. Won't it be fun?"
"If it's safe for us to let people know where we are by then," Jan said somberly.
They fell silent at the reminder that Jan's presence was far more serious than a casual visit. Finally Rick said, "We'll get to work on the sets this afternoon."
"Make it tomorrow," Barby said quickly. "I sort of promised Jan something...."
"I said you and Scotty would teach her how to use the aqualungs."
Rick breathed a sigh of relief. That would be no hardship. He and Scotty needed practice, anyway. They had hardly used the lungs since returning from the Virgin Islands.
Mrs. Brant summoned them to breakfast and they walked in to find Steve and the scientists gathered at the big table.
"Just about," Steve replied. "We have a job for you, though."
"Your father and Weiss will need to pay a quick trip to Washington. I want you to take them in the Sky Wagon."
"Tomorrow morning. You'll come back tomorrow afternoon."
Over breakfast, Rick tried to get more information from the agent. "Exactly what are we working on, Steve?"
Ames sipped steaming coffee thoughtfully. "Ever hear of a weapon system?"
Rick had. "It's a weapon so complicated, with so many parts, that it's actually a system instead of just a simple weapon. I think the term is used mostly for missiles."
"You think right. Well, Winston, Weiss, and your father will help Dr. Morrison do the basic design work on a system to go into a weapon system."
Scotty had been listening, too. "How complicated can you get?" he asked.
Dr. Morrison answered. "When it comes to missile work, you can get fantastically complicated. In fact, some missile systems are so complicated it's a wonder they ever work at all."
The telephone rang. Barby, who served when necessary as the island's switchboard operator, ran to answer. In a moment she returned. "It's for you, Steve. From Washington. I plugged it in on the library extension."
Steve excused himself. A few moments later he returned. "Hartson, I just took the liberty of ordering a scrambler placed on your phone switchboard, in case we need to hold any classified conversations between here and my offices. The phone man will install it today, if you have no objection."