Tom Swift Jr #35, Epilogue: The Rescue Mission

By the time Tom Swift Jr. finished his tale the thunderstorm had long since ceased. The sky over the Citadel was still overcast, but rain had stopped falling and the thunder had gone silent. For a while afterward Tom and Bud said nothing and simply looked out the window at the desert landscape. They watched as fresh rainwater worked its way down old streambeds and flowed off into the distance. On the horizon they could see that the sun was beginning to set. It would not be long before night set in.

Bud was the first one to speak. “Man. It seems like such a long time ago, doesn’t it? A lot has happened since you built your hyperplane.”

Tom nodded. “Irene would be amazed at all we’ve accomplished. She had hoped that one day we would reach the moon. I don’t think she ever imagined we’d reach the stars.”

“Or meet aliens,” Bud added.

“True. You know, we didn’t even receive the first message from our space friends until well after she died. The whole world has changed. I don’t think she’d recognize it.”

“But I bet she’d know who was responsible for it,” Bud replied. “And I do see what you mean about your hyperplane. Not only was it a great failure and a great success, but it led directly to the world we have today.”

Tom picked up the Project Arcturus folder, flipped through it, and took out a photograph. He handed it to Bud. “Remember this?”

Bud glanced at the photo and smiled. “The red pickup truck! Yes, I do remember that. You know, your guess back then about its origin was almost dead on.”

“It was the only explanation that fit the facts,” Tom said modestly. “Of course, at that point we didn’t know about the Negative Zone. I had no way of knowing that the person driving that truck was actually a Tom Swift from a different universe.”

“And now we know what TANC stands for – the Transformable Ambulatory Nuclear-powered Craft,” Bud added. “Which, by the way, is a terrible name. Why not just call it the Monster Machine and be done with it?”

“You and your penchant for renaming inventions,” Tom chided. “Is there anything you don’t want to rename?”

Bud thought for a moment. “You know, ‘nuclear hyperplane’ really worked for me. It had a nice ring to it. Speaking of which, did you ever find out what happened to the hyperplanes that were built for the Air Force?”

“I’m afraid not,” Tom replied. “As far as I know they still have them. Of course, the Transmittaton has kind of made them obsolete. But if they still exist they would be the fastest aircraft in the world.”

Bud handed the picture back to Tom. “So where does that leave us, skipper?”

Tom took the photograph from his friend and looked at it. He then placed it back on the folder and put the folder back on the shelf. “Well, flyboy, it looks like we now have all the pieces we need. I’ve got a Transmittaton that can beam Irene right out of the plane. The space friends have told me I can borrow their translator, which I can use to cure Irene of her radiation sickness.”

“Just like it helped us out when we were in a tight spot,” Bud added.

“If you could call death a tight spot,” Tom quipped. “And, last but not least, through the Negative Zone we have access to Tom Swift IV’s time machine. The very machine that we saw in that picture.”

“But what about the danger?” Bud asked soberly. “You remember what happened when the Black Dragon stole the time trigger. It really did almost destroy the entire universe. That’s why Tom IV had the professor destroy his notes on time travel – the only way he could save the universe was to prevent time travel from ever being invented.”

Tom smiled. “Didn’t you ever wonder how Tom IV knew about it if he prevented it from ever happening?”

Bud blinked. “Hey, that’s a good point. How is that possible?”

“Curiosity,” Tom explained. “Tom IV had a lifelong interest in time travel. After his original time travel technology was destroyed he didn’t realize he had ever invented time travel, so he continued his own research into the matter. He wasn’t able to build a time machine, but he did something almost as good – he found a way to look back in time. A chronoscope, so to speak.”

“But how did that help him?”

“Well, before he invented his chronoscope he was asked to evaluate a rock. The rocked turned out to have a fossilized imprint of his own shoe – a shoe he had only owned for a short time. Tom decided to look back in time to see how someone got his footprint and fossilized it, and that’s when he discovered what had happened. He discovered that time had been altered.”

Bud frowned. “But was he able to rebuild his time machine?”

“He hasn’t tried,” Tom explained. “After he found out what happened he dismantled his chronoscope and put it under lock and key. But I know that he’s going to recover that technology, and I know that we’re going to use it to go back in time. I have photographic proof. Plus, I remember meeting him that day.”

“So what are you going to do?”

Tom paused for a few minutes. “We are going to go on a rescue mission,” he said at last. “I’m going to recover the Challenger and bring it back to Earth, and then I’m going to ask Tom IV to join us in an expedition into the past. One way or another I am going to rescue Irene.”

“Why do you need a spaceship?” Bud asked. “I mean, when Tom IV went back in time he just used his monster machine.”

Tom smiled. “There’s no way we could fit a Transmittaton into the back of his pickup truck. Even if we could, we definitely couldn’t fit a translator on board as well. I’ll work with him to modify the technology so that the time field can encompass the entire spaceship. Then the Challenger will be capable of traveling through space and time.”

“Don’t get me wrong,” Bud said. “I don’t want to be the voice of doom or anything. I’ve never objected to anything in all the years we’ve known each other. I went with you to Brungaria the day we met without voicing a single objection, and I also went with you to the extrasolar planet without a whimper – and I went along to everywhere else in-between. But time travel is serious business, Tom. Don’t you remember what Tom IV said?”

“I remember,” Tom commented. “He said it was a can of worms that you don’t want to open. That time travel will mess up your universe and you’ll never be able to put it back together again. But Bud, I have a chance to save Irene. I have all the tools I need to rescue her. And I’m going to go for it.”

“But something about it is just wrong,” Bud said. “I can’t put my finger on it, but I don’t like it. What were we doing at the Tomasite plant that day anyway? Irene didn’t die until the next day. There was no need to be there at all.”

“True,” Tom said.

“And another thing. Why was your Dad there? He had clearly just found out what you had done and was hopping mad about it. But to be angry enough to go back in time himself and try to stop you – wow! Doesn’t that worry you? Something must have gone really wrong, Tom.”

“But I can save Irene,” Tom said. “I can bring her back. Don’t you see? I can show her the future we created! Can you imagine what her reaction would be?”

“You don’t know that,” Bud replied. “From what you told me your Dad never mentioned Irene. There’s no evidence that the trip worked – but it does sound like you put the whole universe in danger.” Bud paused for a moment. “Look, Tom, I’m sorry. I know you miss Irene and I know you want her back. But she’s been gone for a while now. You know the risks of time travel as well as I do. Is saving the life of one person – even if that person is Irene – really worth it?”

“The risk has already been taken,” Tom said simply. “You’ve seen the picture. We were there.”

“So you think it’s just fate? That we somehow have to go?”

Tom shrugged. “It could be.”

Bud shook his head. “I’m not buying it, Tom. I mean, I’m not a genius or anything, but I refuse to believe that you just have to go back in time. That you just can’t help it. I believe you have a choice. You always have a choice. All I’m saying is, are you sure that you’re making the right choice? Are you absolutely sure?”

Tom nodded. “I am.”

Bud sighed. “All right. Then I’ll go with you. But – I just wonder, Tom. What are we getting ourselves into?”

“I guess we’ll find out,” Tom replied. He stood up and stretched. “Are you ready to go back to Shopton?”

Bud nodded. Tom walked over to the wall and pressed a few buttons on a small panel. A moment later the room was filled with a brief burst of white light. When it cleared the young inventor and his friend were gone.