So
first I want to add an ion drive to our equipment."
"Ion drive? For underwater?" Bud, who was familiar with ion propulsion
for spaceships, wrinkled his brow in a puzzled frown.
"A goofy idea just occurred to me, but I think it may work out," Tom
replied. He seized a pencil and began explaining what he had in mind.
The drive unit would take water into itself, separate the ionized
molecules, and expose them to an electric field. Thus a stream of water
would be forced out. This procedure, in turn, would set up a siphoning
action through a central tube--in effect, creating a small but powerful
water-jet motor.
"We'll be human submarines!" Bud exclaimed.
By the time Bud left the laboratory half an hour later, Tom had already
plunged into work on his newest invention. The idea was simple enough in
itself, Tom felt. The main problem would be the design job--laying out a
compact, lightweight unit which a swimmer could easily carry on his
back.
Fascinated, the young inventor worked late into the evening, stopping
only in response to a telephone plea from Mrs. Swift. By midmorning the
next day, Tom had assembled a pilot model of his ion-drive jet. In
appearance, it was a slender metal cylinder, two feet long, with an
inner concentric tube projecting at each end.
Tom had ordered a tank set up in his laboratory to test the unit.
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