Tom Swift Jr #34, Chapter 13: The Lost City

It took Bud about fifteen minutes to fly the Extrasolar I from the mesa to the city that Tom had spotted. During their short flight Tom experimented with the radio but was unable to pick up any ground stations. “Hmmm,” was all that he said.

As they approached the city Bud lowered the ship to an altitude of 1000 feet so they could get a better view of it. The metropolis appeared to cover roughly ninety square miles, and the river that meandered through the valley ran right through the heart of the city. Tom was surprised to see that the buildings were all stone and brick structures, exactly three stories tall, and tightly packed together. A network of wide, twisty roads wound its way through the city.

“It kind of looks old-fashioned,” Bud commented.

Tom nodded. “I’ve seen cities like that in Europe. A lot of towns there are centuries old and have grown up around ancient streets and buildings. That kind of looks like what happened here.”

Bud began looking for a place to land when he suddenly noticed something. “Hey Tom, I hate to mention this, but where are all the people?”

Tom removed a set of binoculars from the glove compartment box and used them to get a closer look at the city. “Well what do you know. There’s no one there! It looks like the town is deserted.”

Bud shook his head. “Freaky. Mind if I scout around a bit before we set down?”

“Be my guest, fly boy.”

Bud circled the city for a half-hour, carefully scanning for any signs of life. At last he admitted defeat. “I just don’t get it, Tom. What gives?”

Tom shrugged. “I’m not sure. Let’s land and take a look around.”

“Do you have any particular spot in mind?”

Tom thought for a moment. “Wasn’t there a big, important-looking building in the middle of the city? I seem to remember it having a nice, large lawn in front of it. Let’s land there. It might be the capitol or something.”

As Bud landed the ship he shook his head sourly. “You do realize that we have no idea what we’re getting into, don’t you? This place could have been ravaged by a horrible disease, for all we know. It could be a death trap.” The Extrasolar I landed neatly on a patch of lawn outside the imposing stone building. Bud killed the ship’s power and sighed.

Tom unbuckled his restraining harness, got out of the ship, and stepped onto the lawn. “If so, Bud, it’s a well-manicured death trap. Look at this grass! Even my lawn at home doesn’t look this nice. They must be using an incredible fertilizer.”

Bud exited the ship and joined his friend. “I don’t like this,” he muttered. “What gives? If this city is abandoned then it should be an overgrown wreck, but this place has clearly been cared for. But who’s been looking after it?”

“I’ve got no idea, Bud. To be honest, it doesn’t really worry me.”

“And that’s another thing.” Bud grabbed his friend by the arm and looked him in the eye. “What’s up with you? Ever since we got here you’ve been in some kind of daze. We’re in big trouble, Tom. Why aren’t you worried?”

Tom frowned for a moment. “That’s a good question, Bud. All I can say is that somehow this feels right. I think I was expecting this.”

Bud looked at his friend incredulously. “You were expecting to be abducted from Thanatos the moment we hit the methane ocean? Then why didn’t you warn me? I mean, c’mon, Tom. I could have stayed in bed this morning!”

Tom shook his head. “That’s not what I mean. I wasn’t consciously expecting it, but when it happened, it made sense. It’s as if this confirmed a theory I had a long time ago and can’t quite remember. I wish I could explain it, but I can’t. Something tells me that this is where we need to be right now. That’s all I know.”

Bud nodded. “I don’t understand it at all, but I’ll play along. Now, believe me, if it was anyone other than you talking I would have called the guys with the in white coats, but I trust you, Tom. Just please, don’t be wrong. I’ve got a date with Sandy I don’t want to miss.”

Tom smiled. “You two have become quite the couple, haven’t you? I’ve noticed that you almost never miss a date with her.”

“Except when I get trapped underground when your subocean geotron malfunctions, or we get stranded in space, or something like that. You know how it goes.”

“What can I say? That’s what you get for hanging around the Swift family! Something tells me that one day Sandy is going to have adventures of her own.”

The building in front of them was a massive, imposing structure made of large blocks of reddish sandstone. Tall, narrow glass windows dotted its exterior, and a flight of stairs led up to two massive wooden doors. At the top of the building was a pinnacle with a device that Tom assumed was a clock of some kind.

As they approached the structure Bud noticed a large brass plaque hanging near the door. “Capitol Building, City of Townsend. Established 4319,” he read aloud.

Tom looked at him in amazement. “When did you learn to read space symbols?”

His friend shrugged. “I have no idea, Tom. Maybe I just picked it up from spending so much time with you. A day hardly goes by without you getting some message from space.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” Tom said. He opened the building’s massive doors and walked inside. Bud followed behind him.

The two young men were startled to find that the building was completely deserted. Inside they found no carpet, no furniture, and no signs of life. They spent more than an hour combing through it before they made their discovery. The building had four basements, and on the lowest basement was a library, filled with shelves and shelves of books. Rows of soft, white lights hung from the ceiling and gently lit the room.

Tom walked among the shelves and quickly scanned the titles. “Now here’s an interesting one. ‘HISTORY OF THE MATHEMATICIANS’.”

Bud shook his head. “I don’t think you got that last symbol quite right, Tom. It’s more like ‘race of people who really loved math’.”

“It’s something like that,” Tom agreed. “I don’t think we have a word that quite corresponds. That term could be what our space friends call themselves.”

“I think I’ll stick with ‘space friends’,” Bud said. “Mathians just doesn’t have the same ring to it.” He looked around and shuddered. “Man. Doesn’t this place give you the creeps? I keep expecting Rod Serling to step out any minute and tell us we’ve entered the Twilight Zone.”

“The what?” Tom asked.

“Never mind, Tom. I keep forgetting you don’t watch TV.”

Tom shrugged. “I’m more of the adventurous type. You’re more likely to find me in a cave in Africa then sitting in front of a television.”

“Which explains why we’re in the city of the undead, instead of back on Earth with the rest of the human race,” Bud joked. He watched as Tom took the history book off the shelf, settled down in an overstuffed leather chair, and opened it to its first page. “I take it you’re going to be here a while?” Bud asked.

Tom nodded. “If this book is about our space friends then it might offer us some clues. It’s worth looking into.”

“Could be. I’ll leave you to your book, Tom, and will go explore the city a bit. I’ll try to be back in a couple hours.” Bud then walked up the stairs, out of the building, and down a deserted street.

Tom Sr. was on the control deck of the Challenger, making the final preparations for their attempt to land on Thanatos. The day was far spent, but he was not willing to delay the search-and-rescue operation any longer than necessary. Most of his time had been spent working with the robots and helping them make the necessary changes to the ship’s control systems.

Earlier in the day he had a brief, private conversation with James Nathan. “You have to admit those robots are good at their work,” he had told Tom.

“If only I knew what work they were up to,” Tom Sr. replied thoughtfully. “Did you take the downed robot to my lab?”

James nodded. “I also rigged up the holographic penetrator as you ordered. If a robot attempts to get inside we’ll know about it immediately.”

“I’m telling you I don’t trust them, James. I don’t believe for a minute there are only four of those monsters left on the ship, and I don’t believe they’re here to help us. The answer is somewhere in that machine, and after we get to the surface I’m going to find out what is really going on.”

“Pardon me for saying this, sir, but what happens if they really are benevolent creatures that are trying to save the human race? I believe you were the one that told your son he should seriously consider that possibility.”

Tom Sr. stopped and thought for a moment. “If I find out that’s the case then I guess I’ll have to fix that robot. The blast shorted it out, but I think it’s still relatively intact. It should be possible to start it again. I bet their leader could tell us how to do it.”

By the end of the day Tom Sr. had to admit that the robots had done a thorough job rewiring the Challenger. After the final test was completed Tom Sr. turned to the lead robot. “I really believe this has an excellent chance of working.”

The robot nodded its head, a gesture that irritated Tom Sr. as much as it had its son. The only distinguishing feature of the machine’s head were its two red eyes. The robot had no nose, ears, or mouth. Watching it perform a human gesture gave Tom a fleeting feeling of horror. “I agree with your conclusions, Mr. Swift. I believe this ship is ready for departure.”

“Do you have a name?” Tom Sr. asked.

“I do not. But if you wish, you may give me one.”

Tom Sr. thought for a moment. “I think I’ll call you Andy,” he said at last.

“After your old nemesis Andy Foger, I presume?” the robot said, with no change in tone.

“Could be,” Tom Sr. replied. “Only time will tell.”

After checking with James to make sure that everyone was in place, Tom Sr. gave the order to descend to the planet below. The four remaining robots took positions on the control deck. The lead robot stood beside Tom Sr. and watched as he worked at his terminal.

On Tom’s command, the Challenger left its orbit around Thanatos and began descending into the planet’s atmosphere. Tom closely monitored the ship’s progress, and was pleased that it was able to enter the upper atmosphere with very little trouble. “Of course, the real test won’t happen until we get closer to the surface. How far are we from the ocean?” he asked.

James consulted the navigation console. “About a half-hour, sir.”

“Start watching for that homing signal as of right now,” Tom Sr. commanded. “Let me know the moment you find it.”

“Will do, sir.”

Tom Sr. nodded, and looked out the window as the spaceship slowly made its way through the planet’s atmosphere. The ship’s repelatrons created a wide void around it. In the distance Tom could see fast-moving clouds, which were occasionally lit by arcs of energy. It was hard to see anything through the utter darkness.

The mood was a somber one. Tom thought about what had happened that morning. He kept replaying the disaster in his mind, wondering if he had missed anything. “They’ve got to still be alive,” he whispered to himself.

When the ship was nearing the methane ocean James spoke up again. “We’re taking her down into the turbulent area, sir.”

Tom Sr. nodded and said nothing. Andy, the robot, stood behind him and watched silently. The ship slowly descended into the hurricane-force winds that raked the planet’s surface. They could feel a slight jar from time to time, but the ride was extremely smooth.

Andy spoke up. “The repelatrons are under a great deal of stress, Mr. Swift.”

Tom Sr. nodded. “I see that. So far, though, they’re staying out of the danger zone. I do have to hand it to you, Andy. Without the automatic controls you installed we would not have survived.”

The robot said nothing.

Everyone was silent as the ship approached the methane lake. This time, instead of striking its surface with tremendous force, the ship slid smoothly into the sea. The repelatrons forced the liquid methane far from the ship, creating a bubble nearly a mile across.

“As we descend we’re not going to be able to maintain that diameter,” Tom Sr. said. “The weight of the methane is going to be too great. I think we should be able to handle a half-mile, though.”

“I agree,” Andy replied.

“Are you picking up any signals?” Tom Sr. asked his crew.

“Not yet, sir,” James replied.

Out the window the crew could see absolutely nothing. James ordered his crew to turn on the ship’s giant searchlights, but they were not able to penetrate any distance. Visibility was zero.

Tom Sr. tracked their progress by radar, and as the weight of the methane above them grew too great he lowered the radius of the repelatron’s force wall. The city was located a mile beneath the surface, and it took them roughly an hour to descend to its depth. During that time the crew was unable to locate the signals from the homing beacons.

“We’ve reached the city,” James announced suddenly. Tom Sr. looked out the window but could see absolutely nothing. He checked the radar and saw that they were right above it. The radar coverage was good enough to allow Tom Sr. to make out a rough map of the city.

“It looks like the city is made up of a lot of small, stone buildings and wide, twisty streets,” Tom Sr. said. “Curious. I would have expected something more modern from a race capable of space travel.”

Andy spoke up. “Your space friends were a quiet race that spent their time studying the higher sciences. They had no love of grand buildings, but lived in the ancient structures built they their ancestors. You would have liked them.”

“Where would you like us to land?” James asked.

Tom Sr. consulted the radar map. “The energy signature the space friends told us about seems to be coming from underneath that large building in the middle of the city. Let’s land there. I think its lawn is large enough to hold the ship.”

James nodded and gave the order. A few moments later the Challenger landed at the bottom of the ocean. The ship’s repelatrons pushed away all the liquid methane within a quarter-mile radius, and its giant searchlights easily penetrated the now-empty space. Directly in front of the ship they saw a massive building made out of a reddish sandstone. At one time it must have been an imposing structure, but it was now in ruins. “It looks like it’s been bombed,” one of the crewmembers said.

“It was,” Andy replied. “At one time this was a beautiful world. Then one day the Space Legion attacked and turned it into what you see now.”

“And then time and erosion finished the job,” Tom Sr. replied. “If the boys are anywhere, though, that’s where they will be. They’ve got to be there!”

Andy spoke up. “I believe I see a sign on the side of the building, by the entrance.”

Tom Sr. shook his head. “It’s too far away for my eyes to see. Let me train the megascope on it.” A moment later a picture of a cracked, worn sign appeared on a large monitor. “It’s covered in space symbols,” James said.

“I can translate them for you,” Andy replied. “The sign reads ‘ Capitol Building, City of Townsend. Established 4319’.”

Late that night, Bud wandered back inside the capitol building’s basement. He found Tom still sitting in his chair, reading. Books were piled around Tom, who had obviously been busy.

Tom looked up as his friend walked in and took a seat. “Find anything?” he asked.

Bud sighed. “Yes and no. The city is more or less completely deserted, Tom. There’s one building north of here that has a bunch of working computer equipment, but every other building is completely empty. I didn’t search them all, of course, but I went into quite a few of them. They’re all the same.”

The mention of the computer equipment intrigued Tom. “You didn’t happen to experiment with the computers, did you, Bud?”

Bud shook his head. “You know me, Tom – I didn’t touch them! I was afraid I might press the wrong button and cause the world to end. I figured I’d leave that part to you.”

Tom nodded and was about to say something, but Bud cut him off. “It just doesn’t feel right, Tom. I’m nervous. Every single building was empty. Every street was empty. There’s no one in this whole city, but there’s also no dust, no dirt, and no signs of wear. It doesn’t make any sense! If this city has been deserted for ages then there ought to be evidence of decay. It looks for all the world like the entire city was built just this morning and then abandoned.”

Tom smiled. “I have a theory, Bud. I don’t know everything, but I’ve found some clues. It turns out that this is the home planet of our space friends.”

Bud looked surprised. “Are you sure, Tom?”

He nodded. “Oh, there’s no doubt! This history book goes back to the earliest time of their race, and mentions the city of gold that we found at the bottom of our ocean, the settlements we discovered on Earth, and the colony they founded on Mars. This is definitely their home planet.”

“Then where are all the people?”

“I’m getting to that,” Tom replied. “I won’t go into everything right now, but our friends had a real passion for higher mathematics. Humans are generalists, Bud – we’ve got experts in the physical sciences, experts in music, experts in biology, and experts in pretty much everything else. These people weren’t. Their whole civilization was built around mathematics, and they just didn’t care about other things. Even their written language was based on that concept.”

“Weird,” Bud said. “Why not surfing, Tom? I could understand a civilization built around the joy of beaches. They could have – ”

Tom cut him off. “The thing is, this single-minded devotion eventually got them into trouble. One day something happened that caused their world to be bathed in high levels of radiation. I don’t know if something went wrong with their atmosphere, or if their star changed, or what, but their DNA began mutating far faster than normal. However, they didn’t notice it – not at first. That’s what did them in.”

“You lost me, Tom. Mutations?”

Tom nodded. “In order for a race to remain viable the DNA it passes from generation to generation has to remain intact. DNA was designed to handle a certain amount of errors, but the more you accumulate the more problems you’re going to have, and it can be really difficult to fix things once you have a problem. These people started noticing that something was seriously wrong when they began falling ill with very strange diseases. By the time they realized what had happened it was too late.”

“Too late for what?” Bud asked.

“Too late for their species to survive,” Tom replied. “When this book was written they were only a few centuries away from a complete genetic meltdown. Their DNA had become so damaged that they were on the verge of not being able to produce viable offspring.”

Bud was shocked. “When did all that happen?”

“I don’t know, Bud. The book gives exact years, but I don’t know how to correlate that with our own calendar. All I know is they were just beginning a project to deal with their imminent extinction when the book ended.”

Bud sighed. “That’s awful, Tom. But how does that help us?”

Tom smiled. “I told you I had a theory, didn’t I? Well tell me, Bud. What time is it?”

Bud checked his watch. “Nine thirty-seven. Man! I didn’t realize it was so late.”

“Have you been hungry or thirsty today?” Tom asked.

Bud shook his head. “I haven’t been tired either, come to think of it. In fact, I’m not even tired now.”

“Think, Bud. You don’t need food or rest. What does that make you think?”

Bud scratched his head. “That I’m dead?”

Tom laughed. “No, Bud, you’re not dead. But you might not be exactly alive either. For the moment let’s call it being undead.”

“Are you kidding me?” Bud asked.

“In a way I am. And in a way I’m not.” Tom grabbed a large book that was lying on the floor and opened it to a place he had marked. Bud realized that volume was an atlas. “Do you see this city?” Tom asked.

Bud nodded. “It looks like Townsend to me. I can see the river, the valley – yup, that’s it!”

Tom turned the book to its front, where it displayed a map of the entire globe. “According to these notes the planet described in this book has a radius of about 2000 miles, which is roughly half that of Earth, and its surface terrain just happens to match that of Thanatos. I didn’t realize it before, but the land forms on this map are quite similar to the ones on the extrasolar planet. In fact, the valley we’re in and the location of Townsend resembles floor of the methane ocean and the location of the underwater city. There are some differences, but there are even more similarities.”

Bud felt a chill go up his spine. “What are you saying, Tom?”

“I’ve got a hunch that we never left Thanatos, and that we made it to that underwater city. I believe I know what that mysterious device was meant to do.”

“And that is?” Bud asked.

Tom smiled. “Take me to that room you found that’s filled with computers, Bud, and I’ll show you!”