Tom Swift Jr #35, Chapter 16: Plan of Attack

“Bud Barclay,” Tom Swift Jr. said thoughtfully. “I’m afraid that name is not familiar to me. Do you work here?”

“You bet!” the young man said, grinning. “I’m a test pilot – I was just hired a few weeks ago. I’ve been testing your new Falcon-class jets. Man, are they amazing! I’ve got to hand it to you. That is the slickest kind of plane I’ve ever flown. The sheer power you’ve built into their engines is just unbelievable.”

Tom found himself grinning despite himself. “Thanks. But it wasn’t entirely my invention, of course. I couldn’t have done it without Irene.”

“Irene?” Bud asked, puzzled. “Is she your assistant?”

Tom laughed. “Not exactly. She’s an old friend. Well, my girlfriend, actually. But say, what are you doing here? Were you supposed to meet with my Dad?”

“It was the craziest thing! A guy in a red truck drove up and told me that your Dad wanted to see both of us in his office pronto. So I asked him for directions and high-tailed it right over.”

“So it was that guy,” Tom said thoughtfully. “Had you ever seen him before?”

“Never,” Bud said, shaking his head. “He seemed to know me, though. And man, what a truck! Is that some new Swift invention or something? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Tom shook his head. “No, I’m afraid not. I’ve strictly been working on aircraft, not automobiles. But it was pretty sharp.”

“I’ll say! If you strapped wings to that thing I bet it could’ve taken off. You see the craziest things around here.”

“Stick around,” Tom suggested. “You haven’t seen anything yet! But you have no idea why Dad wanted to see us?”

“I’m afraid not,” Bud replied. “It’s a mystery to me.”

“Weird,” Tom said. “Then I guess there’s no use sticking around here. If Dad wants to talk to us about something I’m sure he’ll let us know. But I would really like to know why he’s not in New York.”

With nothing else to do, Tom and Bud left the office and headed back outside. There they met Irene, who was waiting for them on the steps of the administration building. She was holding a yellow folder filled with papers.

“Where have you been?” she asked impatiently.

“You’re back already?” Tom said, surprised. “I thought it would take you at least a half-hour to find those documents. We’ve only been gone a few minutes.”

“Since I knew exactly what I was looking for it didn’t take long,” Irene explained. “But I thought you’d be out there with the security guards. And who is this?”

“Oh, sorry – this is Bud Barclay. He’s a test pilot that works for the Swift Construction Company. Bud, this is Irene Goddard.”

“Got it,” Bud said. He shook Irene’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

“So you have the documents?” Tom asked eagerly.

“Yeah, I do,” Irene said. She handed them to Tom, who quickly glanced over them. “The Tomasite formula looks ok to me. It’s not quite what I remember, but your Dad did spend a few months perfecting it after I left to join Project Arcturus. I would expect there to be a few differences between our lab version and what the factory produces.”

“True,” Tom said thoughtfully. “And I don’t see any rare earth elements in the process list at all. The saboteur may have just been after the hyperplane.”

“Hey Tom?” Bud said. “I hate to interrupt and all, but I think something bad is happening.”

“Oh? What?” Tom asked, looking up at the test pilot.

Bud pointed into the distance, where a sleek gray aircraft was just taking off. “Do you see that? That plane is the Freelancer. It’s the non-military version of our production Falcon-class jet.”

“I see it,” Tom replied. “It looks sharp! I like it. But what’s the problem?”

“Well, nothing, except I’m the only test pilot in the world authorized to fly it,” Bud explained. “That particular prototype has been souped up to go Mach 5. We were going to train other pilots to work with that technology, but when the Eagle crashed the entire program was canceled. I’m the only one that got the training and has flight experience with it.”

“Then who’s flying it?” Tom asked, puzzled.

“Our attacker, you dummy,” Irene snapped. “Who do you think?”

“But that’s ridiculous!” Tom objected, as the jet soared into the sky. A moment later they heard an earth-shaking boom as the jet broke the sound barrier and soared off to the west. “I find it really, really hard to believe that the stooge who jumped us just happens to be a crack test pilot.”

“The Brungarians who infiltrated the Institute and blew up your first prototype were pilots,” Irene pointed out. “And what if that guy was sent here for the express purpose of stealing that plane? It’s a new model, remember – Xanthus wouldn’t have gotten the plans for it during that raid. Maybe he was planning on stealing it some other way and decided to cut and run when he realized we were onto him.”

“I see security headed our way,” Bud said.

“Probably bearing bad news,” Tom said glumly.

Tom soon found out that Irene was right. Their attacker had headed straight to the hangar, where he managed to elude security long enough to steal the plane and get into the sky.

“We thought he would head for the gate,” the chief of security explained apologetically. “It never occurred to us that he might be a pilot. The hangar was being guarded but apparently the man had the proper authorization passes so they let him through. I’m sure they were forged.”

“So what do we do now?” Irene asked, as the chief of security walked back inside the administrative office.

“We could always go after him,” Bud suggested. “We’ve still got the military version of that same aircraft. The Air Force isn’t supposed to come by and pick it up until next week.”

“What’s that?” Tom asked. “The military is taking one of my planes?”

“It makes sense,” Irene pointed out. “The Falcon and the Eagle are the two fastest jets in the world. The Air Force is going to want them even if no one else can have them. The public will think that the whole project got canceled and no one will be the wiser.”

Tom turned to Bud. “You guys didn’t start building a prototype of the Eagle, did you?”

Bud shook his head. “I think they were going to wait for you to work out the bugs first. I’ve only been briefed on the Falcon.”

“Still, I bet the military requested the blueprints for the Eagle,” Irene replied. “You know how closely your Dad has been working with them.”

“Nobody tells me anything,” Tom complained. “I’m losing control of my own project! My hyperplane gets sabotaged by Brungarians and in response the government shuts it down and takes it away so the military can use it in secret. And I’m not consulted at all!”

Bud spoke up. “I hate to interrupt again but that plane is getting further away by the minute. If we’re going to tail it we’ve got to leave immediately.”

“I guess you’re right,” Tom said. “Let’s go.”

Irene grabbed Tom’s arm. “I don’t think so, Tom. Are you completely out of your mind? What, exactly, are you planning on doing?”

“I’m going to follow the jet, see where it lands, and get the evidence back,” Tom said. “It’s simple.”

“It’s totally insane!” Irene said firmly. “You don’t even know where the plane is going! For all you know it could be headed straight to Brungaria. Do you really intend to invade Brungaria all on your own? With your two bare hands?”

“It’s a military jet,” Tom replied.

“But it’s not armed,” But added hastily. “I mean, it could have been, but the Air Force was going to test those systems, so it’s not stocked with missiles and things. But unlike the non-military version it is sheathed in Tomasite, so at least the Brungarians can’t track it on radar.”

“Look,” Tom said, looking Irene in the eye. “I have got to get that evidence back. It’s the only way I can prove beyond a doubt that the project was sabotaged. And besides, if he does go straight to their base that’s even better – perhaps we can find more evidence that will blow this whole conspiracy wide-open. Xanthus has been far too effective at raiding our installations. We’ve got to shut them down, and no one else is going to do it.”

Irene shook her head. She paused, and then looked off into the distance. “This is such a bad idea,” she said at last. “I can’t believe I’m letting you do this. Your dad would kill me if he ever found out. This is beyond idiocy.” She sighed. “Ok, Tom, I’m with you. But let’s at least bring some firepower.”

“You mean guns?” Tom asked, surprised. “Where are we going to get them? Ned manufactures plastic here, not bullets.”

“Yeah, but we also guard nuclear secrets,” Bud pointed out. “We do have a cache of arms. They keep it locked in a small concrete shed.”

“Ok,” Irene said. “I’m taking charge here. Tom, you go and get the weapons. You’re probably the only person here who can get them without being asked too many questions. Bud, you and I will go to the hangar and get the jet warmed up. You will be flying us since neither Tom nor myself have actual flight experience with the Sampson engine. Building it and actually flying it are two totally different things.”

“Not a problem,” Bud said confidently. He gave Tom the directions to the shed where the weapons were stored, and then he and Irene walked to the hangar. Once they had gone through security and walked inside they found a sleek, black jet.

“Wow,” Irene said, surprised. “This is quite a bit larger than the Falcon.”

“The Polaris can go quite a bit faster too,” Bud said proudly. “You and Tom did an amazing job designing it. It has zero cargo space but man can it move! I used that very jet to set the world record for fastest time circling the globe.”

Bud and Irene removed flight suits from a nearby closet, put them on, and then entered the plane. The cockpit was small, but there was still room for six people. Bud sat in the pilot’s seat and Irene sat beside him. As they strapped themselves in and prepared for takeoff Bud turned to Irene. “Since you helped design this aircraft I’m going to assume you know how to fly a normal aircraft.”

Irene giggled. “Yeah, I know how to fly. I’ve even flown supersonic before. But this is a bit different. Can you show me how it works?”

“Of course,” Bud replied. While they were waiting on Tom he pointed out the different controls inside the plane and explained how it worked. As Irene was asking questions Tom suddenly drove into the hangar at top speed. The young man was driving a jeep that had several wooden crates stacked in the back. After parking the jeep next to the plane Tom lugged the four crates into the jet and set them on the two seats to the rear of the cockpit. After securing the boxes he exited the plane, donned a pilot’s suit, and climbed back on board, taking the seat located directly behind Irene.

“So what did you bring us?” Irene asked, as Bud taxied the plane onto the runway.

“A box of everything,” Tom remarked. “We’ve got guns, bullets, and grenades.”

Irene sighed. “This is such a bad idea. Do you even know how to shoot?”

“I’ve fired a weapon before,” Tom said defensively, as the Polaris lifted off the runway and soared into the sky.

“That’s not what I asked,” Irene replied.

“I’m an expert marksman,” Bud said. “Now, grenades are something I’ve never dealt with before. That will be interesting.”

“So can you see the other plane on radar?” Tom asked, changing the subject.

“You mean the Freelancer?” Bud asked. “Give me a minute here.” He brought the plane up to an altitude of 40,000 feet and then quickly accelerated it to its top speed of Mach 5, all while keeping an eye on the radar.

“There she is,” Bud said at last. He pointed to a dot on the outer edge of the scope. “We’re not gaining on it, and it’s not pulling away from us. There’s no other plane in the world that can do that except for my baby.”

Irene removed a map from an overhead pocket and plotted their course. “It looks like I was right,” she said, sighing.

“Brungaria?” Tom asked.

“Brungaria,” Irene replied.

There was silence for a moment. Bud was the first one to speak up. “Brungaria is just over 9,000 miles away. At Mach 5 we should be there in about two and a half hours. We should get there shortly after midnight, local time.”

“If that really is where he is going,” Irene added.

“Can this plane really maintain Mach 5 for that long?” Tom asked.

“Oh, sure,” Bud replied. “I’ve flown the Polaris all the way around the world before. It’s got tremendous stamina.”

“You did?” Tom asked. “I never heard about that. How did you get the clearances from all those countries to fly over their airspace?”

Bud grinned. “What they don’t know won’t hurt them.”

Irene shook her head. “You two are just alike,” she complained. “Do you not realize how dangerous this is?”

“We’ll find a way,” Tom said confidently. “We always do, after all.”

“What do you mean, ‘we always do’?” Irene asked. “I don’t ever remember invading Brungaria before. I’m pretty sure that doesn’t happen very often. Even the United States government has never invaded Brungaria.”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Tom quipped.

There was silence for a few minutes, and then Irene spoke up. “That Tomasite formula bothers me,” Irene said at last. “Bud, can you contact the factory and have them transmit the plans to Tom’s father? I’d like him to double-check them, just to be sure.”

“Sure,” Bud replied. “How do you want them to transmit the formula?”

“I don’t know,” Irene said. “Tell them to think of something. Maybe they can just get him on the phone and read it to him. I don’t really care.”

As Bud relayed the order Tom leaned forward to talk to Irene. “How are you going to know Dad’s response? It’s not like he can give us a call back.”

“It doesn’t matter if he can reach us or not. If something is wrong with the formula he’ll realize it and will know what to do. That should be enough.”

“Good thinking,” Tom said approvingly.

“They’ve got the message!” Bud said a few minutes later. “They’re calling the hotel now.”

Irene shrugged. “We’ve done all we can do.”

“Not quite!” Tom said. “There is still something else that needs to be done. Next stop, Brungaria!”