Tom and his father read the tape as it unreeled.
SPACE BEINGS TO SWIFTS. REQUEST INFORMATION ON PROGRESS AND RESULTS OF ENERGY SENT TO YOUR PLANET.
After a quick consultation with his father, Tom beamed out the reply:
WE ARE PLEASED WITH RESULTS SO FAR. FURTHER EXPERIMENTS NOW GOING ON. REQUEST VISIT TO CONTINUE LONGER THAN TWENTY-ONE DAYS AS PLANNED.
Hopefully the Swifts stood by the machine. Would their space friends agree? As the minutes went by without a response coming through, father and son exchanged anxious glances.
"They've got to let Exman stay, Dad!" Tom said.
Mr. Swift nodded. "I'm afraid, though, the space beings have decided otherwise. They—"
He was interrupted by the ringing of the alarm bell. "Message, Dad!" Tom said tersely.
A moment later they were overjoyed to see three words appear on the tape:
VISIT EXTENSION GRANTED.