Tom Swift Jr #35, Chapter 18: Fire in the Night

For the next several hours the Polaris followed the stolen nuclear jet as it streaked through the stratosphere, never getting any closer but also never dropping further behind. Most of the trip passed in silence as the occupants of the plane simply waited it out. After what seemed like ages Bud finally spoke up. “There’s something! It looks like our prey is slowing down.”

“Where are we?” Tom Swift Jr. asked.

“We’re just entering Brungarian airspace,” Irene said crisply. “Since we haven’t been shot down yet I’m going to assume we haven’t been spotted.”

“Good old Tomasite!” Tom said warmly. “You know, I really like using our enemies’ tricks against them. They used a Tomasite-cloaked jet to invade our base, and we’re about to return the favor.”

“So it would seem,” Irene said, sighing. “I still think this is a very bad idea, but we’re here so let’s get it over with.”

Bud began easing off the throttle and slowing their jet down. A few minutes later he reported that their enemy had landed on what appeared to be a secret airstrip hidden in the mountains.

“What should we do?” Bud asked. “Do you want me to land?”

“Not yet,” Tom said. “Let’s circle the area. Maybe we can see something.”

Irene shook her head. “It’s midnight in this part of the world, Tom. The sun won’t rise for at least six hours. There’s no way we can see anything, especially at this altitude. Besides, this area of Brungaria has some of the most rugged and impassible mountains in the world. Even with radar it will be almost possible to find anything.”

Irene’s misgivings proved to be right. Bud circled the area several times but could not make out anything that appeared to be a covert base. Even the airfield was completely hidden. They only way they even know it existed is because they had watched a plane touch down there.

“Do you see anywhere else we can land?” Tom asked.

“Nope,” Bud replied. “Not unless this plane can land vertically without a runway.”

“It can’t,” Irene replied.

“But that’s a terrific idea!” Tom said thoughtfully. “If I ever build another nuclear-powered airplane I’ll make sure it has jet lifters. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that in the first place.”

Irene spoke up. “Well, skipper, the fact is we don’t have jet lifters so we’re faced with three choices. One, we can land on the runway. Two, we can find another runway in some other part of the country and then try to hike back into these impassible mountains. Or three, we can turn around and go back home.”

“That about sums it up!” Bud agreed.

“I say we land,” Tom said at last. “We’ve wasted too much time as it is. If we want to have any hope of recovering that information – to say nothing of my plane – we need to act now.”

Irene looked at Tom and frowned. “You do realize that they’re going to see us when we land, don’t you? Tomasite doesn’t make the plane invisible or stop people from hearing it. We’re going to be noticed, and the people who notice us are not going to be happy about our arrival.”

“Then we’ll have to make the best of it!” Tom said cheerfully. “We do have the darkness on our side. We can’t see them, but they can’t see us either.”

“You’re the boss,” Irene said at last. “Take us down, Bud.”

Bud nodded and cautiously flew the plane down into the mountains of northern Brungaria. Since it was pitch black he was forced to fly by his instruments and trust that what worked for the stolen plane would work for them. As the plane came uncomfortably close to the ground, however, he saw that the runway was indeed dotted with lights. He breathed a sigh of relief and landed the plane. As it reached the end of the runway and began to come to a stop he saw a series of buildings that had been built into the side of the mountain. One of them had a set of massive steel doors that had been slid open. Inside was a large, well-lit room that appeared to contain several aircraft.

“It’s the Freelancer!” Bud gasped, pointing. “They’re taking it into that building!”

Irene pointed to a flashing yellow light on the console. “We’re being hailed. It looks like someone noticed that we’ve arrived and wants to know what we’re doing here.”

“Ignore it,” Tom said curtly. “Bud, drive in after them. The pilot must still be in the plane. All we need to do is get into the hangar, board that plane, overpower the pilot, and fly it back.”

Irene opened her mouth to say something sarcastic, but decided against it. Instead she reached into the back seat, opened a crate, and pulled out a grenade launcher. As she loaded the weapon Bud taxied their plane into the hangar behind the stolen jet. From his vantage point he could see that the hangar was nearly deserted. To their right were two men that appeared to be mechanics, and at the far end of the hangar were three armed guards that were keeping watch by a door. The mechanics were sitting at a table playing cards and ignored the two jets that had just landed. The guards, however, were gesturing excitedly toward the Polaris. As the two jets came to a halt they began running toward them!

“Let’s go!” Tom said. “Bud, you stay here. Irene, you’re with me.”

“Aren’t you going to take a weapon?” Irene asked.

“I’m going to fly the plane,” Tom explained. “Just cover me.”

Irene shrugged and grabbed a revolver as a backup weapon as the two jumped out of the plane. The moment they got out the guards stopped in surprise. One of them drew a weapon and started firing at the two teenagers. Tom dove behind the Freelancer for cover while Irene fired the grenade launcher at the far end of the hangar. A moment later there was a deafening explosion! A cloud of smoke filled the hangar and debris rained down from the ceiling, temporarily shielding them from the oncoming guards.

As Tom raced toward the cockpit of his stolen jet he noticed that the explosion had scattered the guards, who were now running for their lives. Then he saw something that made his heart stop. The explosion had also blown a huge hole in the far wall, and liquid was pouring out of several shattered pipes. Even from this distance Tom recognized the smell. Irene had ruptured a major gasoline pipeline! The highly flammable liquid was gushing all over the hangar floor and would reach them in seconds.

Behind him Tom heard screams as the mechanics ran for their lives. Then the cockpit of the Freelancer opened and the spy leaped out, with his attention on the gasoline that was rapidly approaching his plane. Tom caught the man off-guard and knocked him off his feet.

As Tom wrestled with the man he heard gunfire. The guards were still shooting at them! Irene pulled out her pistol and fired back, and the guards dove behind some crates for protection. As the spy desperately tried to get away Tom reached into his jacket and grabbed the incriminating evidence that he had traveled halfway around the world to get.

Tom never found out exactly what happened next. One moment he was struggling with the spy and the next moment he was blown into the air by a thunderous explosion! In a split second something had ignited the gasoline and turned the entire hangar into a raging inferno. The room was instantly filled with flames! Something in the far corner of the room exploded, and the fire spread out of control.

A dazed Tom felt someone grab him and pull him away from the stolen jet. Then he lost consciousness.

* * * * *

“Is he hurt?” Irene asked.

“He’ll live,” Bud said confidently.

The two of them were outside the Brungarian base. When the explosion knocked Tom unconscious Irene had tried to drag him out of the fire. Bud left the doomed Polaris and came to her aid, and the two of them were able to carry Tom across the airfield and hide in a grove of trees. From their vantage point they could see that the entire base was going up in flames. The fire was so hot that they could feel its heat radiating from several hundred feet away.

“There goes our ride home,” Irene said, sighing. The fire had completely destroyed their jet and every other jet in the hangar.

“But we’ve got the evidence,” Bud pointed out. He gingerly pried the now-singed papers out of Tom’s hand.

“Hang on to those,” Irene said. Bud nodded and stuffed them inside his pocket.

“So what do we do now?” Bud asked.

Irene thought for a moment. “Are there any more nuclear jets back in California?”

“Nope,” Bud replied.

“Then that’s out,” Irene said. “I guess we’re just going to have to find another way to get home. There’s got to be some other way to get out of these mountains.”

“Now is a perfect time to look,” Bud pointed out. “It’s going to take them hours to get that fire under control – if they can do it at all. This is a perfect opportunity to sneak around and look for a way to escape.”

“Someone has to stay with Tom,” Irene pointed out. “He’s in no shape to be doing anything and there’s no telling how long he’ll be unconscious. I really wish we could get him to a doctor.”

“I’ll flip you for it,” Bud suggested. “The winner goes and looks for help, and the loser stays with Tom.”

“Fair enough,” Irene replied.

Bud took a dime out of his pocket. “Heads or tails?”

“Tails,” Irene said without hesitation. Bud flipped it, and they watched it land on the ground.

“Tails it is,” Bud said sadly. “Are you sure you won’t let me go?”

“Positive,” Irene said. She handed Bud the grenade launcher and gripped her pistol tightly. “I wouldn’t recommend using that, but you’ve got it if you need it.”

“Right,” Bud said. He hesitated just a moment. “And by the way, please take care of yourself. I don’t want to have to explain to Tom what happened to you, if you know what I mean. That’s just not a good way to start a lifelong relationship.”

“Of course,” Irene replied. “I’ll be back. But it may be a while.” As a group of Brungarian soldiers desperately tried to fight the fire she quietly crept across the airfield and headed toward the buildings. Within a few minutes she was completely out of sight. As she disappeared Bud wondered if they would ever see her alive again.

Under the cover of darkness Irene crept toward the imposing concrete buildings. She had to admire the way they were camouflaged. The complex had been impossible to spot from the air and under normal circumstances it would have been difficult to see even from the ground. Only the light of the fire enabled her to see her way.

She soon reached the side of the mountain. After looking around to make sure that no one was nearby she opened a metal access door and stepped through it, quietly closing it behind her. Inside was a long, dimly-lit concrete tunnel that seemed to stretch endlessly into the heart of the mountain.

Keep it together! she told herself. Act like you belong here. Just go about your business. You can do this! You got what you came for, Irene. Now you just need to find a way to get everyone back home.

Irene cautiously walked down the long, empty corridor, straining to listen for the sound of oncoming footsteps. There were few doors along the grimy passageway but none of them looked interesting. She spotted some signs along the wall but they were all in Brungarian. And to think I took Spanish in school, she thought sourly. Figures.

As she continued walking into the mountain she noticed a door with an air vent on the bottom. On a hunch she opened it and found her suspicions to be correct. It was a maintenance closet! Inside were rusted shelves lined with cleaning supplies. She quickly stepped inside, turned on the light, and closed the door behind her.

No uniforms, blast it, she thought to herself. She sighed. I’ll have to make the best of it, I guess. She took a pair of rubber gloves from a cabinet and put them on. Next, she donned a hat and put on a dirty apron. The closet was full of cleaning supplies so she grabbed a mop bucket, filled it with water, and grabbed a mop as well.

As she was preparing to leave she heard footsteps approaching! She froze. Through the vent in the bottom of the door she saw a figure step into view. To her horror the figure stopped right in front of the door! Irene stood perfectly still as the the doorknob began to turn. A moment later the door opened and an elderly man blinked at her in surprise.

Gathering all of her nerve, Irene glared at him and snarled. The man took a step back, startled. He mumbled something in Brungarian, closed the door, and walked away.

Oh boy, she thought to herself. Let’s not do that again.

After she regained her composure Irene reopened the door, wheeled the mop bucket outside, and closed the door to the supply closet. She then began pushing it down the long, deserted corridor. After what seemed like an eternity Irene reached the end of the passage, and as she expected there was a metal elevator in the far wall. She pushed a broken button and waited, gently fingering the pistol that she carried.

A few minutes later the elevator dinged and the doors rattled opened. To her enormous relief there was no one on board. She wheeled the mop bucket onto the elevator and glanced at the controls. The base had six different levels. Two were above her, and three were below.

Let’s go up, she thought to herself. Hopefully that’s where they keep the important things. She pressed the top button and the doors clanged shut. A moment later they reopened, revealing yet another long, deserted concrete corridor.

As she stepped out of the elevator and looked around she began to get nervous. Just where is everyone? I mean, I know there’s a fire, but this is ridiculous. Are they all in bed, or are they off doing something that I should know about?

The hallway branched off in three directions. After looking around Irene spotted what looked like an important office at the end of the hall to the right. She confidently headed in that direction. When she reached the door she smiled in satisfaction. I may not be able to read Brungarian, but I know the name Xanthus when I see it!

She tried to open the door but found it to be locked. After verifying she was not being watched Irene broke the glass door with her mop, reached in, and unlocked the it. As she opened the door she frowned. Drat – his office is carpeted! No one will believe I’m here to mop a carpeted floor. Time to adopt a different disguise.

Irene walked back down the hall, found an unlocked office, and hid her disguise there. She then returned to Xanthus’ office, shut the shattered door behind her, and turned on the light.

After enduring the drabness of the rest of the base she was surprised at the quiet elegance of the office. The floor was covered with a thick purple carpet and the walls were lined with a strange wood she had never seen before. An elegant, hand-carved desk was in the middle of the room. On the wall hung many pictures of what appeared to be a South American countryside. A large bookcase took up much of another wall and was filled with books written in foreign languages. She was not surprised to see that one entire shelf was devoted to Swift Enterprises Monthly.

Irene walked over to the desk and sat down in the plush leather chair that was behind it. The first thing that caught her eye was a calendar that was lying on the desk’s surface. She glanced over it, not expecting to be able to read it, but found to her surprise that it was written in Spanish.

That’s weird, she thought. Why would a Brungarian not write in his native language? She leaned over it to get a closer look. Hmmm. It looks like tomorrow’s date is circled – well, I guess technically it’s today, seeing how it’s about 1am. I wonder what ‘New York’ means?

Irene suddenly gasped. New York! That’s where the Swift nuclear reactor is being built. It goes online tomorrow! I’ve got to find out more. What is Xanthus planning?

She tried to open the drawers of the desk but found that they were locked. To her surprise, though, one of them had been left unlocked. The drawer was filled with snack food, but at the bottom was a sheaf of coffee-stained papers.

Irene took them out and spread them over the desk. Like the inscriptions on the calendar, the notes were all written in Spanish. The dialect was a little different from what she had learned in high school but it was close enough to enable her to understand it. After a few minutes she was able to piece together what she was looking at. As she already knew, the papers confirmed that Xanthus had indeed stolen the blueprints for the Tomasite formula, the hyperplane, and the Swift nuclear power plant. The pages were engineering critiques of the stolen blueprints, filled with design changes that Xanthus was considering making.

Irene stared at the notes thoughtfully. Xanthus isn’t just critiquing Tom’s design. He’s offering suggestions on how to build the stolen inventions! You don’t suppose he actually built them, do you? The girl shook her head in amazement. Of course he did! Why else would he steal the blueprints? Did you think he was going to frame them and hang them on his wall?

As she read through the pages she suddenly remembered her doubts about the Tomasite formula. Acting on a hunch, Irene flipped through the documents and saw extensive notes on the production of Tomasite. She read them over carefully. When she realized what Xanthus had done she began to panic. Oh no. He did modify the formula! I’ve got to warn Tom. He’s got to stop the plant from going online! If he doesn’t the whole city will be destroyed. I’ve got to contact him!

Her concentration was broken when a voice suddenly called out to her. She looked up and saw that a soldier was standing in the doorway, yelling something in Brungarian. The soldier was aiming a gun right at her!