Tom Swift Jr #34, Chapter 9: Countdown to Launch

Tom Swift scrambled to his feet after being knocked across the room by the explosion. “Is everyone all right?” he yelled. A chorus of voices answered him. There were a few bruises and sprains, but no one appeared to be seriously injured. Tom then returned to the terminal and tried to determine the exact location of the fire.

Meanwhile, James Nathan killed the power to the kronolator, and the ship dropped back into normal space. Outside the crew could see a host of stars, but no planets.

“The fire is on the third level, just down the corridor from the kronolator,” Tom shouted. “Let’s go!” Crewmembers raced to the staircase and started descending to the level of the blaze, with Tom and Bud leading the way. When they finally reached the right hallway, however, a raging inferno blocked their path!

“I thought this ship had a sprinkler system,” Bud shouted over the roar of the fire.

“It’ll take more than that to put out this blaze!” Tom replied. “I’ve got an idea.”

As the crew raced to retrieve fire extinguishers, Tom got on the ship’s intercom system and asked everyone to vacate that level of the ship. After receiving word that the level had been safely evacuated Tom it and then opened the hangar doors. The level’s remaining air was immediately sucked into space, which extinguished the fire.

Tom sighed with relief. “I’m glad we put our new equipment in repurposed hangars! If this fire had broken out anywhere else we would have had a real problem on our hands, and there’s no telling how many people might have been injured. The ship’s fire fighting system was just not built to handle this fierce a blaze. It needs a serious design review.”

Tom re-sealed the third level and pumped oxygen back into the hallway. Once that process had completed and the temperatures had returned to acceptable levels he opened the doors and allowed the crew to access the area.

Bud whistled. “It looks pretty bad, skipper.” Tom had to agree. The hallway looked like a war zone. The fire had gutted nearly everything in sight. Most of the walls had been destroyed, and all that remained of the floors was the metal safety layer that separated the ship’s decks. The fire had swept through more than a dozen rooms and completely destroyed their contents.

“A few more feet and it would have reached the room with the kronolator,” Tom said thoughtfully. “The fire followed the power lines and was headed in that direction.”

“Did it damage the fusion reactor?” Bud asked.

Tom shook his head. “It’s located on the floor below this one. The fire didn’t touch it.”

As the crew cleaned up the debris Tom quickly located the source of the problem. “Do you remember the superconducting wires we installed the other day, Bud?” he asked.

His friend nodded. “I think it took us all day to run those things from the reactor to the kronolator. They’re big and heavy, and all that shielding was a real pain to work with.”

Tom nodded. “That shielding has a purpose, Bud. In order to become a superconductor the wires have to be cooled to very low temperatures. The enormous shielding around the wires carries the coolant that makes that possible. The fire happened because one of the wires sprung a pinhole leak, which allowed the coolant to seep out. This dramatically raised the temperature in the wires and reduced their ability to carry power. The result was a raging inferno. The explosion happened because the fire spread to one of our junction boxes, which then ignited and blew out half the level.”

“I get it, Tom. So what are we going to do?”

“Going forward, I can coat the wire cases in tomasite. That should keep leaks from happening again, and also provide a bit of extra durability. Unfortunately for us, though, this whole section of the ship is gutted, and I don’t have the necessary equipment on board to fix it. We’ll have to turn around and head back to Fearing for repairs, and try the test again another day.”

“At least we made it this far,” Bud said. “The trip hasn’t been a total loss.”

“That’s the sad part, Bud! The reactor and the kronolator worked just fine – even better than I’d hoped. It’s the wiring that failed us. The good news is that’s easily fixable. In a couple days we’ll be out here again!”

The Challenger had not made it far from the Moon before the incident happened, but it still took almost twelve hours to return to Earth using the much-slower repelatron drive. When the ship landed at the spaceport Tom gave orders to have it repaired and its wiring coated with tomasite.

Two days later, the ship was ready for another test run. Tom’s father had remained at Fearing Island while the repairs were completed, as had Chow. This time when the ship was launched Tom gave orders to have it taken directly to Mars.

“I’ve taken the precaution of having extra supplies brought on board just in case something happens again,” Tom told his friends. “If we get to Mars and have another fire I don’t want to take a week to get back.”

“You and me both, boss,” Chow replied.

When the Challenger got up to speed James Nathan alerted Tom, who engaged the kronolator. This time the vessel engaged the drive without incident. A minute later it dropped back into normal space. Outside the control room the crew could see the planet Mars!

Tom smiled. “Welcome to the red planet, gentlemen!”

Bud spoke up. “It looks like you’ve got a message coming in!”

Tom walked over to the console and saw that space symbols were being beamed to them from the planet below. “It looks like our friends are sending us a message of congratulation! They must have been monitoring our journey.” Tom sent them back a quick message of thanks and asked them how they were doing. Their response concerned him greatly.

“They claim they are dying, Dad!” he said grimly. “They say they don’t have much time left.”

Tom’s father read the message and nodded. “That is consistent with their earlier communications. We need to find out the truth quickly.”

Tom agreed. “Since this test run was successful I don’t see why we can’t leave for Thanatos tomorrow morning. We’ll need to make sure that we have adequate supplies, but that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I agree, Son. Time is running out.”

The Challenger was brought back to Earth without incident, and Tom spent the remainder of the day making all the last-minute preparations necessary for the journey. Hank Sterling flew a supply of freshly-made repela-suits to Fearing to be placed on board the ship, and Chow made sure that the galley was well stocked.

“If somethin’ goes wrong it’s a mighty long walk home, boss,” Chow explained. “I ain’t aimin’ to be hungry on this trip. Besides, we’ve got a lot o’ mouths to feed.”

Tom looked at the crates of food the cook was bringing on board the ship and nodded in approval. “Good thinking, Chow. We’ll be on our own out there. Anything we don’t bring we just won’t be able to have.”

“Why don’t you pack along one o’ those matter-makers of yours?” Chow asked. He was referring to Tom’s space solartron, which was able to convert sunlight into any form of matter.

Tom laughed. “The solartron is miles across, Chow! There’s no way I could fit one on board. I’m afraid it will have to stay out in space.”

It took the entire day to finish loading the ship with supplies. By nightfall Tom was satisfied that nothing had been overlooked, and scheduled the launch for 0800 hours the next morning.

The remainder of Tom’s family flew to the island that evening so they could be there to send the Challenger off on its mission. Chow prepared an enormous dinner for all of them, and they laughed and talked well into the night. Present at the dinner were Tom’s parents, Tom Sr. and Mary Swift; Tom’s sister Sandra and her best friend Phyllis Newton; and Bud Barclay. Even Ned Newton had flown in from California for the occasion.

“This is a historic moment, Tom,” Ned announced. “Never before has any private individual spent so much money in such a short amount of time.”

Tom Sr. shook his head and smiled. “He treated me the same way, Son. You should have heard him complain when I was inventing the television.”

“You nearly bankrupted the company!” Ned protested.

“Spoken like a true banker,” Tom Sr. replied. “I’m pretty sure that happened to be one of most profitable inventions ever.”

“It did turn out all right in the end,” Ned admitted, smiling. Ned Newton and Tom Sr. had been best friends for decades. In their youth they had founded Swift Enterprises and had many adventures.

Bud spoke up. “This really is a special occasion, Tom. You’re about to make the trip of a lifetime! You should say something memorable about boldly going to unvisited places, or something like that.”

“Try checking the television, Bud,” Sandy said. “I bet they’d have just the phrase for you! It’s hard to find a better source of overdramatic lines.”

“One of these days I’ll get a TV installed in my office,” Tom promised. “Is there anything good on it?”

“I didn’t say that,” Sandy replied. Tom shook his head and smiled.

Tom’s mother spoke up. “We’re all very proud of you,” she said quietly. “I know you’ll be careful, but I won’t say I’m not going to be worried about you.”

“Do come back in one piece, Tom,” Phyl said. Tom detected a worried note in her voice.

“We’ll be fine,” Tom said reassuringly.

“I know, Tom,” she said hesitantly. “But you’ll be so far away, and you’re going to such a dangerous place. If anything should happen – ”

Sandy interrupted her friend. “If anything happens we’ll go after them, Phyl. One way or another they will be coming home!”

“I’ll leave the keys for the Cosmotron Express in my desk,” Tom said teasingly.

“We will be in constant communication with Fearing,” Tom’s father pointed out. “The private ear system can easily span the distance between Earth and Thanatos. If something goes wrong we’ll be in touch.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, girls,” Bud said. “After all, danger is Tom’s middle name! By now risking his life in places only a fool would go is old hat to him. I think he’s even got a patent on it.”

Tom shook his head. “You’re not helping me here, Bud!”

After the party had come to an end, everyone headed off bed. Before Tom turned in, however, he took his father aside to speak with him privately. “Have you had any more thoughts about what we’ll find on Thanatos?” he asked.

Tom’s father nodded. “Just this. Two different parties have asked you to do two different things with an alien device on that planet. Whatever that machine may be, it clearly has great power. My hunch is that if you can learn the true purpose of that device then you will know who you can trust.”

“It sounds like it’s been there for ages. It may not even exist anymore!”

“That is a possibility, Son. If that’s true then all of this becomes a moot point. But remember, both parties that have contacted you have acted as if the machine is still there. Whatever the truth may be, someone must have reason to believe it still exists. No, I think you’ll find it – and when you do, the real adventure will just be starting.”

Early the next morning the crew entered the Challenger and prepared for launch. As the chief flight officer James Nathan made the final checks, Tom told his family goodbye.

“Don’t forget to write, Tom,” Phyl said.

Tom laughed. “We’ll be home before you know it.”

“I don’t think the postal service delivers mail that far,” Bud said. “We may have to wait until we get back home to send you a postcard.”

“You’re awful,” Sandy protested.

Tom nodded in agreement. “This is what I have to put up with every day,” he said teasingly.

“You will be careful?” Mary Swift asked her husband. Tom’s father nodded. “We’re taking every precaution, dear. Don’t worry about us.”

“We are ready for departure, sir,” James Nathan announced.

Ned Newton bade Tom’s father farewell and then led the group back to the elevator and off the ship. Once they had cleared the launchpad Tom gave the order to depart.

As the ship silently left Fearing behind Chow spoke up. “How’s this gonna work, boss? Are we just gonna zip right there lickety-split?”

Tom shook his head. “Not this time, Chow. Thanatos is so far away that we’re going to have to make the trip in stages. Once we get up to speed we’ll engage the drive for about an hour. We’ll then check our position, give the kronolator’s capacitors a chance to recharge, and then make another jump. It’ll take us a total of six jumps to get there. The total flight time should be about nine hours.”

“Will there be an in-flight movie today?” Bud asked innocently.

“Only in first-class,” Tom quipped. “You, however, are traveling in the baggage compartment.”

“Ouch,” Bud winced.

Tom’s father grinned. “I’ll stay up here and keep an eye on the reactor. I’m not expecting any problems, but it will keep me occupied.”

James spoke up. “We are ready for the first leg of the journey, skipper.”

Tom nodded. He walked over to his control terminal, sat down, and read the numbers on the display. After he was satisfied that everything was in order he flipped the switch that engaged the kronolator. The room was filled with a brilliant white light – and they were off!