Irene smiled. “I’m glad to see you haven’t forgotten me! Bud tells me I’ve been out of the loop for quite some time. From what I can tell you’ve been pretty busy since we last saw each other.”

“But I don’t understand,” Tom said, not taking his eyes off her. “How is this possible? I mean, I actually watched you die – with my own eyes, in fact! Even with time travel I wasn’t able to save you. How did you get here?”

“It’s actually pretty simple,” Irene replied. “I wasn’t in the plane that you saw crash. Your father beamed me out of it moments before it hit the ocean.”

“But that’s impossible! I didn’t invent the Transmittaton until years later. ”

“He didn’t use your Transmittaton – whatever that is. He used the transporter on board the Exedra. Apparently Tom III has teleportation down to a science! It worked pretty well, too, from what I could tell.”

“The Exedra was there? But – why–”

Irene laughed. “Oh, Tom, I love you. It’s so good to see you again! When I left Brungaria I never thought I’d see you again. I was convinced I’d signed my death warrant – and then the next thing I knew I was sitting there talking to Anita. I am just delighted to be here, I really am. It feels like being born all over again. Everything is new, fresh, and exciting.”

Starting at the beginning, Irene told Tom everything that she had learned about the events of the past few weeks. Tom was dumfounded. “You mean I crashed into the Exedra?”

“You did,” Irene replied. “I guess even geniuses can’t think of everything. I mean, really! There were actually three Tom Swifts on board that starship and yet none of them realized that a large, invisible object lying directly in your path just might be a collision hazard.”

“Wow,” Tom replied. He shook his head in disbelief. He was astonished at how quickly his life had been turned upside-down. Just a few minutes earlier he had given up all hope, and now he found that his despair had been swallowed up by unbelievable joy. It was the most fantastic feeling.

“I don’t know what to say,” he said at last. “I’m so glad to have you back. It’s like going through a dozen Christmases all at once. I’ve longed for this moment for ages, and now that it’s here – I’m just shocked!”

“Then I’ll just have to leave you in shock,” the red-haired girl replied. She got up, walked around the desk, and kissed him. “I hate to leave you but I’ve really got to go see my parents.. I’m sure they’d like to know that their daughter has come back to life. But what would you think about a date tonight?”

“I’ll be there,” Tom promised. “My schedule is wide-open! I’ll be at your parent’s house at six to pick you up. Have you seen my triphibian atomicar?”

“Just that ugly semi thing you drove back in time,” Irene said.

“Oh, right. Well, we have much nicer models than that! I’ve got a red convertible model that’s just amazing.”

“Fantastic!” Irene replied. “So you’ll take me to dinner by the lake?”

“Absolutely,” Tom nodded. “By the way, do you need a ride home?”

Irene shook her head. “We’re in the future now, Tom! We don’t need cars anymore. I’ll just radio your man-in-space and have him beam me home.”

“Oh. Sure, you can do that. But I hope you realize that matter transmission isn’t exactly mainstream yet! That technology is still pretty new.”

“That’s something we’ll have to change,” Irene said eagerly. “From what I can tell you’ve done an amazing job creating the inventions of the future but a lousy job marketing them. All that’s about to change, Tom, and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

Irene looked at Tom. “By the way, may I have my pencil radio, please?”

Tom looked at the girl in surprise and then removed the pencils from his pocket and handed them to her. “Why, sure! I made them for you, you know, after you asked me to that day. But how did you find out about them?”

“Bud told me,” Irene replied, grinning. She used the radio to contact the outpost in space, and a moment later she vanished.

Tom smiled. This is going to be a good day after all, he thought. He glanced at his watch. I’d better get busy! I’ve got a lot to do before that date tonight.

The young inventor went straight to his laboratory and got to work. He’d only been working for a few minutes, however, when he was interrupted by a knock at the door. When he opened it he saw Phyllis Newton standing there.

“Hey, Tom,” she said. The teenage girl looked distraught and unhappy.

Tom’s heart sank. He remembered the scathing lecture she’d given him earlier. That talk hasn’t happened in this timeline yet, he realized wryly. I guess I’m in for it now!

“Hi, Phyl,” he said nervously. “Um, would you like to come in?”

“Not really,” she replied. “I mean, not anymore, anyway. It’s just not fair! I had it all worked out. I was going to come over here and dump you, after telling you what a lousy boyfriend you’d been. I was really going to put you in your place!”

“I know,” Tom replied. “I remember that conversation very well. You really let me have it, and I have to say I deserved every word. I’ve treated you horribly.”

“What do you mean, you remember it?” Phyl asked, puzzled. “How can you remember a speech I never gave?”

“We had that conversation in a different timeline,” Tom explained. “It’s kind of complicated.”

Phyl shook her head. “Whatever. I don’t want to know. But, anyway, as I was saying, I was just about to come over here when I got a phone call from Irene. That’s when I found out that your father brought her back from the dead.”

She sighed. “She’s so happy to be back, Tom. She really loves you, and I know you never stopped loving her. I couldn’t compete with her when she was dead, and I know I can’t do it now. So I’m just going to walk away and leave you two alone. Not for your sake,” she said, glaring at Tom, “but for hers. She’s always been good to me and I’m not going to mess with her. Especially not over you. Just – treat her well, ok? She’s a very special person. Don’t treat her the way you treated me or you’ll lose her.”

“I won’t,” Tom promised. He felt acutely uncomfortable. What am I supposed to say?

“Ok,” Phyl replied. “I’ll get out of your way then.” She sighed, turned around, and left. Tom watched as she got into her car and drove away.

There had to be a better way to handle that, Tom thought to himself. Why do I never know what to do in these situations? He stood there for a few minutes, thinking, and then went back inside his lab.

Late that evening Tom and Irene took a meandering stroll along the shores of Lake Carlopa. The sun had set long ago and the stars were out, filling the sky with countless pinpoints of flickering light. The moon had risen hours earlier and its glow lit the area with a faint, silvery light. In the distance the happy couple could see the seafood restaurant where they had eaten supper. It was one of the happiest meals Tom could remember. Tom was surprised to find that just being with Irene was enough to make him happy. He didn’t have to say anything or even do anything; just walking by the lake with her, holding her hand, filled him with a joy beyond words. He was deeply satisfied.

The couple found a large oak tree and sat down underneath it. The night was a warm one but a cool breeze blew over the lake. They sat down next to each other and watched the fireflies flicker in the forest.

“So what are you going to do now, Tom?” Irene asked.

“My Dad thinks I should go to Epsilon Eridani,” Tom replied. “It’s the largest space colony that’s ever been built – it’s even bigger than our operation on Nestria.”

“I’d love to go to Nestria someday,” Irene replied. “You have no idea how much I’d love to look up in the sky and see the Earth hanging there. That would be a dream come true.”

“I would be more than happy to take you. In fact, there are a whole lot of things I can’t wait to show you! Why, there’s Fearing Island, the Outpost in Space, Bartonia, the hydrodome – and you haven’t even had the grand tour of Swift Enterprises yet, for that matter! I could spend months just showing you around.”

“I think I could work that into my schedule,” Irene replied, grinning. “Really, Tom, I’d love it.”

“I would too. But to get back to your question, I think my Dad is right. Having a chance to build a true city in the stars is too good an opportunity to pass up. Interstellar colonization is a new chapter in mankind’s history – it’s the future, Irene. How could we pass that up? I mean, who wouldn’t want to be a part of it?”

Irene smiled. “I agree, Tom. But what I meant was not what are you going to to later, but what are you going to right now?”

Tom looked at her, puzzled. Irene laughed. “You haven’t changed a bit, have you? Maybe that’s why I love you so much. I’ll give you a hint: do you have anything for me?”

Instantly the young inventor remembered what he’d forgotten. He looked at the red-haired girl, astonished. “How could you possibly know? Have you been in my lab this afternoon?”

Irene shook her head. “I haven’t even seen your lab since I got back. But Tom, if you want to keep something a secret you shouldn’t leave your blueprints lying around on workbenches where other people can find them. We used to share the same laboratory, you know!”

Tom sighed. “Please tell me I didn’t do that! Dad and I went to such great lengths to hide it from you, and–”

Irene merely smiled. “No one ever said security was your strong point, Tom. But that’s ok – I love you anyway.”

Tom stood up and put his hand into his pocket. He suddenly felt acutely nervous. Irene looked so beautiful, sitting there in the moonlight, looking up at him. Just seeing her was enough to make his heart melt. I don’t deserve this, he thought. But thank you.

He removed the box from his pocket, got down on one knee, and gave the box to Irene. She eagerly opened it. When she saw the diamond ring inside she gasped. She carefully took it out and gazed at it. “It’s so beautiful,” she whispered.

Tom’s mind went blank. All he knew is that he was deeply, madly in love with the red-haired girl that was holding his ring, and he knew that he would always love her, to the end of his days. The flowery speech he had spent the entire afternoon drafting disappeared from his mind. All he could think to say was, “Irene, will you marry me?”

Irene placed the ring on her finger and looked Tom in the eye. She smiled, with pure love radiating from her eyes. “Of course,” she replied softly. She stood up, put her arms around Tom, and kissed him.

Tom closed his eyes and relaxed. All was well in the world. It doesn’t get better than this, he though happily.

His father entered the office and closed the door behind him. “I hope I’m not disturbing you, son.”

“Not really,” Tom said, sighing. The young inventor was sitting behind his desk. There was a stack of papers on it but Tom was ignoring them. His father could tell that he was preoccupied.

“I’m surprised to find you here,” Mr. Swift remarked as he took a seat. “It’s quite unusual to find you in your office.”

“I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking lately, Dad. I haven’t been in an inventive mood.”

“I can understand that,” Mr. Swift said. “Speaking of moods, I just had a meeting with Ed Gamino. He told me that you paid him a visit a few days ago and were quite upset. Apparently you told him some very disturbing things.”

Tom nodded. “I wondered how long it would take you to find out about that. Frankly, if you hadn’t come to me in another day or two I was going to tell you about it myself. There’s been a lot going on lately that I think you need to know about. I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but I haven’t been completely honest with you lately.”

If only you knew, his father thought. Aloud he said, “Why don’t you tell me about it. I’m here to listen.”

Tom took a deep breath and began talking. He started by telling his father how he had tried to get Tom Swift IV to give him plans for his time trigger. He then told him about Ed Gamino’s offer, and how Tom’s acceptance of it ultimately led to the nanite flood that destroyed the Earth. He finished by telling the account of his disastrous trip back through time – a trip which failed to rescue Irene but did put an end to the claytronic stones.

His father was silent for a few moments after Tom finished his story. He was tempted to tell his son that he already knew what had happened but decided against it. He could tell how upset and remorseful his son was, and decided that was not the right moment to tell him his side of the story.

“I just don’t know what to do, Dad,” Tom said. “I’ve done horrible things. I know I was able to stop the flood, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that I enabled it to happen in the first place! After all, what if time travel hadn’t worked, or what if I’d failed to stop the nanites? What if there had been no way to undo what I had done? I let my love for Irene blind me to what I was doing. And now – well, now I just don’t know what to do with myself. I’ve let everyone down, and that’s something that I can’t fix..”

“I’m afraid you have, Son. This is something you will carry with you for the rest of your life. You’ve disappointed me greatly and you’ve betrayed the trust of many people who thought very highly of you. Trust, once lost, is very difficult to regain. I think you’ll find Tom Swift IV much more reluctant to answer you when you call in the future.”

“I know,” Tom said. “I’m sorry, Dad, I really am.”

“And then there’s Ed,” Mr. Swift continued. “He’s not a bad person, Tom. He just gets excited sometimes and doesn’t really think through all of the possibilities. He’s the sort of person that needs watching to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself. Instead of doing that, though, you let him down. Your relationship with him will never be the same.”

“But he stole the time trigger plans!” Tom protested. “That was hardly an honest thing to do.”

“He did it because he trusted you. It never crossed his mind that anything you invented might be a serious danger to the world. You could have taken him aside and shown him why the stones were dangerous, but you didn’t because you wanted what he had to offer. You didn’t even take any precautions to make sure the stones were treated safely! You could have just told Ed you’d supply the stones yourself when the time was right. But instead you gave dynamite to a child and he blew himself up with it.”

“I never thought of that,” Tom replied.

“That’s the whole problem,” his father continued. “You never stopped to think any of this through. You didn’t think about what might happen if something went wrong with the stones, or if something went wrong when you traveled back in time. You never gave a single thought to the immense danger you placed the entire world in – or if you did you just ignored it. You put the lives of countless innocent people in danger just so you could have a chance at saving someone who was already dead. That’s a terrible thing to do, son. You should never have even considered it.”

“I know,” Tom replied. “I know. If I could take it all back I would, but I can’t. I just got lost inside my grief and I went too far. But what do I do now?”

“You move on,” his father replied. “You can’t erase the past, but you can learn from it and choose not to make the same mistakes in the future. You can use the lessons that you’ve learned here to build a brighter future. That’s all you can do.”

Tom sighed. “I’m sure you’re right. But Dad, for such a long time I held out hope that I could save her. I really, honestly thought that I could do it. I had a future – a future with her – and now that future is gone. I know, now, that I’ll never get her back. And I just don’t know what to do with myself. Irene was the one thing that I really wanted, and now she’s gone forever. And I just don’t know what to do.”

His father thought for a minute. “I know it’s not the same thing as having Irene, but there’s always the Barclay Group project. Since your claytronic stones are no longer an option it will take the colonists much longer to build their city. I’m sure your help would be immensely appreciated.”

“You mean that project hasn’t been canceled?” Tom asked. “I thought, after all that happened with Ed–”

“The colonization project is much bigger than Ed,” Mr. Swift replied. “I highly doubt that they are going to call it off at this point! Too many people are involved and too much money has been spent. And yes, despite everything that’s happened I do think they would value your help. After all, no one has more experience establishing space colonies than you do.”

“I guess,” Tom replied. “I’ll look into it.”

“Good,” his father said. He stood up. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you to never, ever do anything like that again.”

“You don’t,” his son replied.

“I will be watching you a little more closely than I have in the past. I may have given you too much freedom before you were ready for it.”

Tom simply nodded and said nothing. Mr. Swift looked at his teenage son. He knew his son was despondent, and his heart ached to help him. “I hope you know how much I love you, Tom. Your mother and I are very proud of you. You’ve done a lot of amazing things and I know that you have a bright future ahead of you. Learn from this, but don’t let it crush you. Remember, you’re not the only one that’s ever made a mistake. I’ve done things I regret as well – in fact, I am largely to blame for the series of events that led to Irene’s death. At the time I never dreamed that my attempt to get talcap wood for my ocean airport would lead to all this, but it did.”

“It’s not your fault, Dad,” his son replied. “Besides, Irene chose to fly that hyperplane. No one forced her to. If she hadn’t done it none of us would be here.”

“I know,” his father said. He thought back to the planet he’d seen just a few hours ago – a world that had been destroyed in an atomic war. The memory still haunted him. And it all started with talcap wood, he thought sadly. But at least I can make this right.

Aloud he said “I know you’re busy but I’m afraid there is one more thing. There’s someone else here that would like to talk with you.”

Tom sighed. “I’m sure there is. I can think of a number of people that would probably like to give me a piece of their mind.”

“If you’ll wait just a moment,” Mr. Swift said. He then left the office and closed the door behind him. Several minutes passed, but his father did not return. Tom stared at his door, puzzled. A feeling of nervousness grew. What’s taking so long? he thought. He sighed.

A moment later the door opened. Irene Goddard walked into the room and took a seat in front of the desk. “Hey there, Tom!” she said, smiling.

“This is terrible!” Tom IV said glumly.

“Tom III really does need better fire-fighting equipment,” Mr. Swift agreed. “Back at the plant we’ve developed some pellets that do a much better job of putting out fires.”

“Or you could just evacuate all the air out of the room,” Bud pointed out. “I’ve seen Tom do that several times. It’s a whole lot cleaner than this mess.”

“Who cares?” Tom IV replied. He yanked a blackened circuit board out of a charred computer and held it up. “Do you see this? This control board was burnt to a cinder! By the time that foam shorted everything out it was already too late. How are we going to get back home without the time trigger?”

“There are actually several ways to do it,” Mr. Swift replied thoughtfully. “Traveling into the future is much easier than traveling into the past. In fact, all of us are constantly traveling into the future. It’s a very difficult thing to avoid.”

“You’re hilarious,” Tom IV grumbled. “You’re not really suggesting that we just wait around for a couple years, are you? That’s crazy!”

“What about the time dilator?” Bud asked. “I’ve seen Tom alter time with that.”

“I’m afraid we don’t have one of those on board,” Mr Swift replied. “Fortunately, however, we don’t need anything quite that exotic. Doesn’t the Exedra have a lightspeed drive?”

“I think so,” Tom IV said. “Oh, I get it! You’re thinking we should just travel at the speed of light for a while, in some sort of loop that would take us back to Earth. Since we’d be traveling at the speed of light time would stop for us but would continue to flow for everyone else.”

“Exactly. It should be quite simple. I image Aristotle could perform the necessary calculations and ensure we arrive back at Earth in time to avoid the impending nanite flood.”

“I guess you’re right,” Tom IV said. “I’m sorry I lost it. I just got upset when I saw all this equipment destroyed. It wasn’t easy to build, you know.”

“But it did have to be destroyed,” Mr. Swift said firmly. “If we’ve learned anything at all today it’s that time travel should be avoided at all costs.”

“Agreed,” Tom IV said reluctantly.

The trio returned to the bridge and told everyone the news. Tom III informed them that the Exedra had suffered a hull breach but its primary systems were still operational. “We’ve been able to route around the damage. and seal off the affected areas. What I don’t understand is what could have hit us.”

“What do the on-board cameras show?” Mr. Swift asked.

Tom III pressed a series of buttons on a keyboard. In a few moments the videoscreen had loaded the recording. At first they saw nothing of significance. Then there was a brief flash of light and a large semi appeared right next to the Exedra, moving at high speed. It collided violently with the starship, tearing both vehicles apart. A moment later a piece of debris soared toward the camera and the screen abruptly went black.

“That’s all we’ve got,” Tom III announced.

“What in the world was a semi doing at 30,000 feet?” Anita asked.

“That was my son, flying one of our triphibian atomicars,” Mr. Swift said. “We should have known this would happen. The Exedra had to be close enough to the point of exit to surround Tom with the time field. As it turned out, we got too close and collided.”

“That was a car?” Ben Walking Eagle replied doubtfully. “It looked more like an eighteen-wheeler to me.”

“The atomicars come in many models, including a line that is dedicated to freight transport,” Mr. Swift explained. “Tom must have borrowed one of the larger units so he could carry equipment with him.”

“You make flying trucks in your world?” Anita asked. “Why would you ever do such a thing?”

“They’re quite useful in Africa,” Mr. Swift remarked. “In our world many places do not have roads, or if they do they’re little more than dirt paths. Technology like that is especially useful in developing countries.”

“But what happened to Tom?” Bud asked. “Is he still out there somewhere? Where did the semi go after it hit us?”

Tom III worked at the controls of the ship for a moment. “I’m detecting faint traces of temporal distortion at the bottom of the bay,” he said quietly. He used the Exedra‘s scanners to zoom in on the location. The water obscured the picture but they could still make out the twisted remains of a semi trailer, partly buried in ocean sediment. “The signal is rapidly fading, by the way. I think Tom’s time trigger is shorting out.”

“I don’t see the cab anywhere,” Bud said.

“It’s hard to see anything in that picture,” Anita remarked.

There was silence for a few moments and then Mr. Swift spoke up. “I hesitate to suggest this but I think we should call off the search. If we continue probing around and asking questions we risk changing the timeline, and it’s hard to know what consequences that might have. If my son is alive he will find a way home – he’s a Swift, after all.”

“You’re probably right,” Tom IV said. “Besides, we don’t really know a whole lot about how time travel works. Right now there could be two Tom Swift Jr.’s alive. What happens if past-TSJ survives while future-TSJ dies? I mean, at some point past-TSJ is going to become future-TSJ, and if he then decides not to travel back in time–”

“We can debate causality another day,” Mr. Swift said, cutting him off. “Right now we have more pressing matters to attend to. I believe Irene will be arriving shortly. Are we ready to take her on board?”

Irene Goddard awoke with a start inside the nuclear hyperplane. She struggled to open her eyes and glanced down at her position. The girl gasped when she realized that her plane was now soaring over the United States. I must have passed out, she thought to herself. The girl struggled to breathe. I feel so sick.

It had not been long since she took off from Brungaria, but the radiation output from the poorly-shielded reactor was so high that she was already feeling the effects of radiation sickness. The girl felt severe nausea and was having trouble staying conscious. Her thoughts were erratic and she found it almost impossible to focus on flying the plane. My head is killing me. I feel so weak and disoriented.

With what little energy remained, Irene corrected her course, cut her speed, and put the plane on autopilot. The cargo bay doors would automatically open at the correct time, delivering the plane’s much-needed cargo to the Tomasite reactor. She then contacted New York City for the last time. Mr. Swift answered the call. “Hello?” he said.

“Hey,” Irene said, struggling to speak. The very act of talking was almost impossible. She knew she had only a few moments left to live.

“Irene?” Mr. Swift said, with concern in his voice. “How are you feeling?”

The girl ignored his question. “I’m almost there. I’ve set up a timed drop. You should be able to track the package on radar after it leaves the plane. It should land near you.”

“We’ll be watching for it,” Mr. Swift replied. She heard him hesitate. “My son called. He wanted to know if there were any problems with your hyperplane.”

Irene smiled despite her pain. “So he figured it out.” She suddenly started coughing for a minute, but finally regained control of her voice. “He’s a smart kid. Yeah, the jet has some problems. I think this will be its final flight.”

“Where you are going to land?” Mr. Swift asked quietly.

“I won’t be conscious that long,” she said quietly. “Sorry.”

“Can you eject?” Mr. Swift asked.

She was about to speak when she suddenly felt a tingly sensation, as if something was pulling at her. As everything went black she thought Oh, Tom, what have you done?

After a period of time Irene felt herself slowly regaining consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open. Above her was a white ceiling that had no visible lights. The room appeared to be lit from some unseen source. Interesting, she thought.

“There you are,” a female voice said. “I was wondering how long it’d take the Kwortese molecule to do its work! You’re responding very well to treatment.”

The girl sat up and saw that she was lying on an uncomfortable hospital bed. The room was filled with medical equipment, much of which she had never seen before. Sitting beside her was a teenage girl with pale skin and thick red hair. It was obvious that the girl knew Irene.

“Where am I?” Irene asked.

“In sickbay,” the girl replied. “I’m Anita Thorwald, by the way, and it’s quite an honor to meet you! I’ve heard so much about you over the years.”

The teenage girl was taken aback. “I’m so sorry, but I’m afraid I don’t know who you are. Have we met?”

Anita laughed. “Oh no! Not until just now, anyway. We’re from two very different places.”

As Irene become fully awake she was surprised to find that she felt much better. The nausea and headache had disappeared completely and she could think clearly again. “What just happened? How did I get here?”

“First, let me assure you that everything worked out just fine,” Anita replied. “Tom Swift used the computer you provided to shut down that reactor of his. Xanthus was taken into custody and the global nuclear war was prevented.”

“What about Tom?” Irene asked. “Did he make it back?”

“He did. He and Bud Barclay became the best of friends and went on to have many adventures. He became perhaps the most famous inventor of all time, but I’ll let him tell you all about that.”

Tom had ‘many adventures’? Just how long have I been out? Aloud she asked “Where is he?”

Anita sighed. “We don’t really know. It’s a long story, actually.”

At that moment the door opened and Mr. Swift walked into the room, followed by Bud Barclay. As soon as Bud saw Irene he broke into a huge grin. “Wow, you made it! Way to go! I just knew you’d pull through. Look at you!”

“Hey,” Irene replied, smiling. “It’s good to see you too! I’m glad you made it out of Brungaria in one piece. I knew you would, though – you’re a crack pilot, after all. I just hope Tom didn’t get too upset over the little trick I pulled on him.”

“I’m afraid he never got over it,” Mr. Swift remarked. The elderly inventor sat down beside Irene and took her hand. She was surprised to see tears in his eyes. “My son spent years heartbroken over you. He tried so hard to get you back. He really believed he could save you.”

“Years?” Irene asked. “What do you mean, years? Have I been in a coma or something?”

“You didn’t make it,” Mr. Swift said quietly. “You died when the hyperplane struck the ocean. People from all over the world came to attend your funeral. Your sacrifice made you a hero – one of the great legends of all time. You became known as the girl who gave her life in order to give mankind another chance.”

“And Tom brought me back to life?” Irene asked dubiously.

“Not exactly,” Bud said. “It’s a lot more complicated than that.”

“Then let’s start at the beginning, Bud. First of all, where am I? Is this the infirmary at Swift Enterprises?”

“You’re actually on the starship Exedra,” Anita explained.

Irene’s eyes widened. “A starship? So you’re from the future?”

“Yes and no,” Anita replied.

“What do you mean, ‘yes and no’? You either are or you’re not, right?”

“We’re not all from the same future,” Anita explained. “Mr. Swift and Bud are, but I’m actually from a parallel universe. My friends and I just came along because Mr. Swift wanted to borrow a time machine built by a Tom Swift from a different parallel universe, but he didn’t have a starship. Since Mr. Swift’s planet had just been destroyed they came to our universe to get the Exedra.”

“Oh boy,” Irene replied. “I see Tom’s been getting into all kinds of trouble in my absence. What’s been going on?”

It took Mr. Swift about an hour to explain to Irene how she came to find herself in the sick bay of the Exedra. By the time he finished his story Tom Swift IV had entered the room. “Everything’s ready!” he reported. “We’re leaving New York now and are heading out into space. Once we get clear of the planet’s atmosphere we’ll engage the lightspeed drive.”

“Which Tom are you?” Irene asked.

“IV,” he replied. “It’s good to see you, by the way! I’m glad that molecule of theirs worked. I’m sorry I haven’t had time to chat but I’ve been busy trying to work out a jump into the future. I’ve never done anything like that before and there’s not a lot of room for error.”

“I still can’t believe all this,” Irene said. She was visibly excited. “Time travel! Parallel universes! Timeline problems! The end of the world! What on earth have you guys gotten yourselves into? Have all of you lost your minds?”

“Mostly just Tom,” Bud explained. “We all tried to stop him but he’s a pretty hard guy to stop.”

Irene sighed. “You’re telling me! I know exactly what that’s like. I did warn him not to come after me, though. I made it very clear in my final message that he needed to let go and move on. I guess he didn’t want to hear that.”

“Don’t be too hard on him,” Mr. Swift cautioned. “He loved you very much. Losing you changed him. It was a very difficult thing for all of us to go through.”

“I’m sure it was,” Irene said softly. “Thank you so much for rescuing me. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful – it is a miracle to have a second chance at life. And I can’t tell how excited I am to see the future! This is going to be great. I can’t wait to see what I’ve missed!”

Irene got out of bed and stretched. She then glanced down at the outfit she was wearing. “Oh my goodness! I’m a mess. I can’t let Tom see me like this! I haven’t bathed since we left California and my hair is a wreck. Anita, is there a shower on board this ship of yours?”

“Right this way,” Anita replied. “I think I might even have a change of clothes that’s your size.”

As Anita led Irene away the rest of the group made it back to the bridge. They sat around and chatted as the Exedra left the Earth and headed out into space. When they had reached a safe distance from the planet Aristotle engaged the ship’s lightspeed drive. The drive was disengaged a few seconds later. A picture of the Earth reappeared on the forward viewscreen – one that looked identical to the planet they had just left.

“Did it work?” Tom IV asked.

“One moment,” Aristotle replied. “Yes, I can confirm that we are at the correct time. The star alignments and planetary positions are correct.”

Mr. Swift let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you! In that case we have a job to do, gentlemen. Who would like to accompany me to see Ed?”

“I’m in,” Tom IV said. “I want to make it very clear what I think of people who steal from my lab.”

“I’ll go,” Bud added.

“I’ll stay here with the ship,” Tom III replied.

“I’ll stay behind with Tom and Anita,” Ben Walking Eagle said.

“All right,” Mr. Swift replied. “Before you transport us down below can you confirm that Ed is in his office?”

“That appears to be the case,” Aristotle replied. “The ship’s sensors are indicating a large life form at the location that you specified.”

“Then let’s go,” Tom IV said grimly. “It’s time to pay that man a little visit.”

“You really must stop dropping in on me like that!” Ed complained. “Can’t you call first and schedule an appointment, or at least knock? That’s the whole reason I have a door – so people will have to open it before coming inside! What good is a door if you Swifts keep pulling these transporter stunts? It’s very rude of you – very rude indeed!”

Tom Swift Sr., Bud Barclay, and Tom IV had materialized directly inside Ed’s private office. Mr. Swift looked at Ed, puzzled. “I’ve never dropped in on you like this before! Besides, this is a urgent matter. I did not have the time to call ahead and get on your calendar.”

“Maybe you haven’t, but your son has! He dropped in a few days ago and read me the riot act. Didn’t he tell you? He scared the willies out of me! I’m not going to cross him again – no sir! He’s a real live wire, that one is.”

“Tom’s been here?” Tom IV asked, surprised.

“Of course!” Ed looked at him, confused. “You look familiar. Do I know you? I feel like I should know who you are.”

“Yes, you should know me,” Tom IV said grimly. “You broke into my lab to steal my time trigger plans. And I am not happy about it.”

“Oh!” Ed exclaimed. “So you’re Tom IV! I’m so sorry – I really am. I had the best of intentions! I meant no harm – no harm at all. But I’m afraid I can’t give the plans back to you. Tom burned them – burned them right there in that trashcan. I don’t know what got into him.”

“He burned them?” Tom IV asked incredulously.

“Don’t you people communicate with each other?” Ed asked. “I mean, sorry. Yes, he was here. He told me those stones destroyed the universe. He wouldn’t give me the plans to them, no sir! He was quite upset about. Accused me of wiping out all life on Earth! Me! Have you ever heard such a thing?”

“Tom must have made it back after all,” Tom IV said.

Mr. Swift nodded. “I should have realized he would stop here. He’s probably back at Swift Enterprises by now.”

“I’m sure he is,” Ed replied. “And if you’ll excuse me I have work to do.”

“I’m sure you do,” Tom IV said. “But listen. You broke into my lab and stole something incredibly dangerous. Since you’re a friend of Tom’s I’m going to let it slide. But if I ever catch you traveling to my universe again–”

“I know, I know, there will be death and destruction,” Ed replied, sighing. “I should never have gotten mixed up with you Swifts. Never! You people lead the most horrible lives. I’ve had nothing but trouble these past few days, and it’s all your fault!”

“Things might improve if you stopped stealing things and started keeping your promises,” Tom IV replied. “You might give that a try.”

“But I never even had the stones!” Ed cried out. “Here everyone is blaming me for using them in horrible ways, and I’ve never even so much as seen the cursed things!”

“If I were you I would be grateful for that,” Mr. Swift remarked. “Where I come from, the claytronic stones were the last things you ever saw.”

The two Toms then left the office. Ed looked at the door and sighed. “Maybe it’s time for you to retire, Ed. Leave this inventing stuff to someone else. Fly fishing – that might be a good hobby for you to take up. Or perhaps championship bowling! Why not?”

“So what do we do now?” Tom Swift III asked, after the group was back aboard the Exedra.

“I hate to impose on you, especially after all you’ve done, but can you stay with us for a few more hours?” Mr. Swift asked. “There are a few more loose ends that need to be tied up.”

“Certainly,” Tom III replied. “Besides, this is still the past for us. We’d have to travel into the future to get back to where we came from.”

Mr. Swift smiled. “Thank you so much. Could you contact the outpost in space and get me the Transmittaton chief? I think it’s time I had a long talk with my son.”

“He doesn’t know what we’ve been doing, does he?” Tom IV asked. “I bet you’re going to have a lot to tell him!”

“I’m hoping he’ll have a lot to tell me,” Mr. Swift replied.

Tom III typed away on a keyboard. A moment later Laurence Grinsby answered. “Hey there, sir! How can I help you?”

“Can you locate Tom for me?” Mr. Swift asked.

“Looks like he’s in his office at Swift Enterprises,” Laurence remarked a minute later. “At least, that’s where his wristwatch is, according to the plant’s patrolscope system. Do you want me to get him for you?”

“Actually, I’d rather be transported down there, if that’s possible.”

“Sure thing, chief,” the officer replied. A moment later Mr. Swift disappeared from the bridge.

At first the jump into time travel gave Tom an abrupt case of nausea. After a few moments, however, the feeling subsided. He watched, fascinated, as shifting patterns of purple and blue flashed outside the window. I wonder if those patterns have a meaning, Tom thought. The atomicar was occasionally buffeted by turbulence but overall the ride was quite smooth.

When the indicator on the dashboard finally hit zero the purple lights vanished and reality returned. For a brief moment Tom had a gorgeous panoramic view of New York City. He could even see his father’s reactor in the distance – a sure sign that he had arrived at the correct moment in history.

Then, without warning, the semi violently struck something! There was a sickening crunching noise, followed by the sound of metal grinding against metal. Tom watched in horror as the semi’s trailer was ripped off and thrown across the sky! Its shattered remains plunged into the bay below and sank out of sight.

Tom had no time to dwell on this, however. A host of warning lights flashed on the dashboard and the semi rapidly lost altitude. The young inventor desperately tried to gun the repelatrons but they appeared to be inoperable. Tom was on the verge of panic. The power’s gone! As the semi plunged out of the sky he desperately worked at the controls, attempting to channel whatever energy was left to any repelatrons that might still be working.

With barely a thousand feet to spare one of the repelatrons weakly came to life. Tom gunned it. The descent slowed but did not stop. Tom quickly looked around for a safe place to crash and saw a vacant lot by a beach on the coast. He tried to aim the atomicar for that lot and then braced himself.

The semi plunged into the ground, scattering sand and bits of broken metal everywhere. Tom was nearly yanked from his seat as the semi skidded down the beach, tumbling once or twice before finally coming to rest on its side.

When the moving finally stopped Tom remained in the cab, trying to catch his breath. It took him a moment to regain his senses. He then unbuckled his seatbelt, climbed up the seat, threw open the door, and walked outside.

The semi was a mess. The damage was so great that it was almost unrecognizable. At least I survived, Tom thought. That’s something to be thankful for. There’s no telling what might have happened to the timeline if I’d been killed. Let’s see if there’s anything here that I can salvage.

Tom spent the next half-hour doing a thorough examination of the ruined semi. As he expected the cab was no longer drivable. However, two of the vehicle’s four atomic power capsules were still functioning, and Tom was able to reconnect them to the main power distributor. Once he had power back online he was able to jury-rig his time dilator. At least I can get back to the future now, he thought.

With a little effort he was able to salvage several of the repelatron dishes. It’s not pretty but I’ll be able to move the vehicle. The question is, where do I go?

It was at that point that Tom remembered what had happened to the trailer. His heart sank. The trailer contained all the equipment he needed to rescue Irene; without it he was helpless. Even the time trigger was stored there. There was no way he could build a Transmittaton in the few hours he had left, and even if he could, the science of the alien translator was beyond him.

I don’t understand, Tom thought helplessly. What went wrong? What could I possibly have collided with? There was nothing up there in the sky – nothing! How could I smash into an object that wasn’t even there? All my equipment is at the bottom of the bay now and is completely unsalvageable. What am I going to do now?

For a long time Tom did nothing. He sat on the beach and stared out to sea. To his left he could see his father’s power plant. He knew that if he waited long enough he would see the hyperplane streak overhead and crash into the ocean. I can’t watch her die, Tom thought. I can’t go through that again. It’s just not fair! Irene is alive right now and I can’t get to her. I can’t even see her!

Tom’s anger eventually faded, replaced by deep sorrow and regret – a grief beyond words. He found himself unable to move – unable to do anything. He just sat on the beach beside his ruined semi and waited for the inevitable.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed. His grief was so great that time no longer seemed to have a meaning. When it finally happened he almost missed it. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something streak across the sky at an unbelievable pace. It soared off to the horizon and then came down to meet the ocean, which it struck with unbelievable force. There was a giant plume of water and smoke, and then it was all over.

The first time Irene died Tom had only heard about it after the fact. This time he was able to see it himself. It was a horrible feeling – the worst feeling in the world. Tom felt an overwhelming sorrow. It was as if he had died. He finally broke down and cried, and for a long time he did nothing else.

When the sun began to set Tom pulled himself together and stood up. I guess I’d better be getting home, he thought. All of the life had been drained out of him. He didn’t care about anything anymore, and he wasn’t sure if he would ever care about anything again. His world had just come to an end. For years he had hoped to go back in time and save Irene, and now that he’d been given that chance he found himself utterly defeated. A knife had been plunged into the heart of his dream. He wanted to just lay down and die.

As he climbed in the ruined cab he sighed. I guess I’d better go talk to Ed. Otherwise I won’t have a world to go home to.

He reached over to activate the time dilator and then stopped himself. “What am I doing?” he said aloud. “I can’t timeshift here! People would definitely notice a sphere of utter darkness on a beach – especially one that lasted for years on end. I’ve got to go find a place that’s a lot more secluded.”

Tom gunned the repelatrons and the ruined cab gingerly rose off the beach and righted itself. He then drove the cab out to sea and descended deep into the ocean, using the repelatrons to create a bubble of air around him. When he had reached what he felt was a safe level he configured the time dilator.

I’m going to do this right, Tom thought to himself. I don’t have a time machine anymore so I can’t go back if I miss my mark. He set the coordinates and pressed the button. The time dilator activated, and a moment later it turned itself off. It seemed like only a second had passed.

Let’s see if that thing still works, Tom thought. He activated the repelatrons and rose out of the ocean. The first thing he noticed was that his father’s Tomasite reactor was gone. He flew the ruined semi onto the beach, took out his pencil radio, and attempted to contact the outpost in space.

Laurence Grinsby answered. “Hey there, skipper! What’s up?”

“I need you to do me a favor,” Tom said. “Can you transport me to Ed Grinsby’s office?”

“Can do!” the Transmittaton chief answered cheerfully. “It sounds like you got those claytronic stones working!”

“You bet I did,” Tom replied evenly. “And it’s time to tell Ed all about it.”

The young inventor felt the Transmittaton tugging at him. There was a flash of light, and a moment later he materialized inside Ed’s office. The large man looked up at him in surprise. “Why Tom!” he exclaimed. “I see you’re not a man to waste time. Transport yourself right here – that’s the ticket! I like your style.”

Tom marched over to the desk and looked at Ed in the eye. “I will never give you the plans for my claytronic stones. Never! I will die before I see that information fall into your hands, you monster.”

Ed was completely taken aback. He was shocked at the genuine anger that radiated from Tom. “Why Tom! What’s happened? Did something go wrong?”

“Go wrong? I’ll say it went wrong! I gave those plans to you in good faith, Ed, after you promised to never use them. And do you know what you did? You used them to destroy the entire world! Every single last person on Earth died because you were too stupid to leave them alone.”

“What are you talking about?” Ed replied, gasping. “I don’t have the plans for your stones – you haven’t even given them to me yet! What are you talking about?”

“But I did give them to you,” Tom shouted. “On this very night I gave them to you, and you gave me the plans for the time trigger. It was the worst mistake I ever made! Billions of people died became I gave them to you. Do you know what it’s like to watch your whole world be destroyed?”

Ed stared at Tom, open-mouthed. He didn’t know what to say. “But if the whole world was destroyed, then – oh – you must be from the future. I guess you already have the time trigger plans, then.”

“If I didn’t,” Tom growled through gritted teeth, “you, and the rest of the world, would be dead by this time next week. And I am not going to let that happen again.”

Tom grabbed an ashtray off the desk and walked over to the filing cabinet that was behind Ed. He used it to bash the lock off of the top drawer, then yanked the drawer opened and grabbed the blue folder labeled “Time Trigger”. Without looking at its contents he grabbed a lighter off the desk, set the folder on fire, and tossed the flaming folder into the trashcan. Ed watched, shocked, as the plans burned to ashes.

“I guess that’s that, then,” Ed replied weakly. “But at least you can travel through time now. Have you rescued Irene yet?”

Tom stared at Ed, and then looked away. He tossed the ashtray and the lighter back on his desk. “Time travel doesn’t work that way,” he said at last. “I wasn’t able to rescue her. The only thing we accomplished here was the destruction of all life on earth. At least I can prevent that.”

“Well, thanks for stopping by,” Ed said weakly. “It’s always a pleasure to do business with you.”

The young inventor turned to look at Ed. “You haven’t seen the last of me. I’m going to be back to see if you’ve destroyed the Negative Zone or not. If I find out that you haven’t, not only will I destroy it myself, but I will personally see to it that you are placed in more trouble than you will ever be able to get out of. I have contacts in high places and can make sure you never see daylight again.”

“There’s no reason to threaten anyone,” Ed replied hastily. “Don’t give it another thought. I’m not a dangerous man.”

“That’s exactly the kind of thinking that destroyed the whole world,” Tom snarled. He stormed out of the office and slammed the door behind him, leaving a badly shaken man in his wake.

“Looks like we made it!” Tom Swift IV said triumphantly. “Ok, guys, it’ll take just a moment to calibrate the jump. We’ll be ready to jump back in time in just a second.” The young inventor walked over to a computer keyboard, sat down, and began typing.

Bud looked at the forward viewscreen and frowned. “Hey, wait a minute! Are you sure we jumped to the right place? That doesn’t look right at all!”

“What do you mean?” Tom Swift III asked. He glanced at the screen. “That looks like Earth to me – large land masses, a couple oceans. What’s the problem?”

Mr. Swift stared at the screen intently. “Bud’s right – we’re in the wrong place. Our planet is a sold mass of green nanites. There aren’t oceans or land masses anymore. The whole planet was destroyed.”

Tom Swift IV turned around to see what was going on. He frowned. “You’re right – that’s not the same planet we left. I must have accidentally jumped us to the wrong universe. Sorry about that! Just a minute, please.” Tom walked over to another computer console and worked while everyone else stood and watched. At last he frowned. “I don’t understand! This doesn’t make any sense. According to this we’re in the right place.”

“That seems highly unlikely,” Mr. Swift commented. “But we can easily test that hypothesis. Aristotle, can you contact the outpost in space?”

“I cannot,” the robot replied a second later. “I am afraid this planet has no orbital space station. Indeed, it has no orbital satellites at all.”

“None?” Mr. Swift asked. “But there are countless satellites in orbit! The nanites are not airborne particles. The satellites were left unaffected.”

“I’m telling you this is the right place,” Tom IV insisted. “Something must have happened to them.”

“What about Nestria?” Bud asked.

“Excellent point,” Mr. Swift replied. “Can you locate it?”

The robot shook his head. “It appears to be missing as well.”

Bud looked at Tom IV, confused. “So the satellites are gone, the sky wheel is gone, Nestria is gone, and the planet is no longer overrun with nanites. How could we possibly be in the right place?”

Tom IV snapped his fingers. “I’ve got an idea! Give me a minute.” The young inventor ran back to his time terminal and worked at it furiously. At last he nodded with satisfaction. “All right, gang! I know what happened. It turns out this really is the right place – the Zone hasn’t malfunctioned on us. The problem is that the timeline has changed.”

Several people gasped. “Good night!” Bud exclaimed. “What sort of change could cause all that? And who went and traveled back in time, anyway?”

“My son,” Mr. Swift said suddenly. “It must have been him. Somehow Tom survived the nanite flood and then went back in time to stop it. Only something went wrong.”

“It doesn’t look that bad to me,” Anita commented. “I mean, the nanites are gone, right? It looks like people live there. Are you sure he didn’t fix things?”

Aristotle spoke up. “I am afraid the planet’s looks are deceiving. The Exedra‘s sensors tell me that much of its surface is emitting low levels of radiation, and there are no major population centers. It would appear that the world was destroyed in some sort of global nuclear exchange.”

Anita was shocked. “That’s horrible!”

Mr. Swift looked at the planet and shook his head. “It must have happened at least several years ago. The war somehow prevented mankind from developing space flight. Nestria is not there because in this timeline we never made contact with the Space Friends. That should help us pinpoint the exact date that time changed.”

Tom III turned to Tom IV. “You’ve got a chronoscope, right? Can you look back in time and see how it happened?”

“Maybe,” Tom IV said cautiously. “Whenever a time trigger is activated it leaves a trail that the chronoscope can follow. In this case it’s a little tricky to do, though, because of the way things turned out.”

“What do you mean?” Tom III asked.

“Well, somebody went back and changed the timeline. However, in the altered timeline no time-travel attempt was made. That means we can’t look for a recent time-trigger event and then work backwards. Instead, I have to scan the distant past for time-travel activity. That’s a lot harder to do.”

“But we can use logic to narrow things down,” Mr. Swift pointed out. “If my son is responsible for this, he most likely went back to the moment just before Irene died. Given how high international tensions were that day it’s possible he did something that triggered a nuclear war.”

“You could be right,” Tom IV said. “Do you have any idea where he would have gone?”

“There are two possibilities,” Mr. Swift said. “He may have gone to the Tomasite plant in California to stop Irene from going to Brungaria. The other option is my reactor in New York City; he may have gone there to rescue her from the hyperplane just before it crashed. There are other options, of course, but I believe those are by far the most likely.”

“I’ll check into both of them,” Tom IV replied.

Even with the search criteria narrowed it still took Tom IV an hour to trace events through time. When he finally had everything figured out he turned around to face the group.

“Here’s what happened. Mr. Swift is right – Tom Jr. did go back in time. He appeared over New York City just a few hours before the reactor went critical. However–”

Tom IV suddenly stopped. He looked acutely uncomfortable. “Look. You have to understand that I told him to never build a time machine. Bud was there – he knows what I said! And on top of that, Tom did not get the plans through me. I didn’t even know he had them until it was too late to stop him from using them.”

“No one’s blaming you,” Anita replied.

“What are you getting at?” Mr. Swift asked.

Tom IV sighed. “I will admit I had a copy of Dr. Reisenbach’s notes in my office. I knew better than to have a copy of those notes, but I needed them when I developed my chronoscope. That invention is completely harmless, by the way.”

“Ok,” Tom III said. “So?”

“So the point is, I, um, well, I modified the documents a bit. In order to protect the secret of time travel I changed a few equations in a way that would be impossible to spot. That way anyone who found the documents would eventually conclude they were worthless and throw them out.”

Mr. Swift looked at Tom IV intently. “So you’re saying my son used blueprints that had been tampered with?”

“Yes, but they were tampered with in such a way that any trigger built from them should have failed entirely,” Tom IV said defensively. “Somehow Tom found a way around the problems I created. I don’t know how he did it, but he got it to work well enough to take him back in time. However, the time trigger wasn’t stable. Instead of cleanly transporting himself into the past, it just collapsed.”

“What effect did that have?” Mr. Swift asked.

Tom IV paused for a moment. “It destroyed New York City.”

“What?” Mr. Swift gasped. “How is that possible?”

“Hey, there’s a lot of energy involved in time travel! I’ve told everyone time and time again that it’s not safe and can do horrible things. It could have been a lot worse! The collapse could have caused reality itself to unravel, which might ultimately have led to the collapse of the entire universe.”

“That was a distinct possibility,” Aristotle confirmed.

“Now hold on,” Anita said. “Aren’t we about to travel back in time? And you’re saying that could destroy everything?”

“Not in our case,” Tom IV hasten to add. “My time trigger actually works. I wouldn’t recommend using it very often, but it will work this once.”

“A nuclear war,” Mr. Swift said softly. “That’s horrifying.” He gazed at the ruined planet, lost in his thoughts. “Washington must have thought the Brungarians were responsible, so they retaliated. In the end everyone died. That was exactly what I was afraid might happen that day. In fact, had Irene not sacrificed her live to deliver me the spare parts I needed that’s what would have happened. My son has undone the very thing Irene sacrificed her live to prevent.”

“Let’s not forget Tom IV’s role in all this,” Anita pointed out. “He’s the one that poisoned the plans.”

“You can’t blame this on him,” Ben Walking Eagle protested. “He told Tom not to use them! This is all his fault.”

“We can discuss who’s to blame blame later,” Mr. Swift said firmly, ending the discussion. “Right now we need to find a way to fix this problem. Are there any ideas?”

Everyone looked at Tom IV, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I know, I know. All this time travel stuff is my invention. Let me think. Well, there may be way we can undo this. If we can stabilize Tom Jr.’s re-entry into the past, we should be able to prevent the explosion that altered the timeline. Then the nuclear war will have never happened and things will go back to normal. All we’ll then have to do is prevent the nanite flood, which should be as easy as taking the plans back from Ed and beating some sense into him.”

“Can we do all that from here?” Anita asked.

“I’m afraid not,” Tom IV replied. “I think I can extend the time trigger’s effective radius enough to encompass Tom Jr.’s machine, and use our trigger to stabilize his entry. However, we’re going to have to be at that precise moment in time to do that.”

“Now wait a minute,” Anita protested. “Before we were just going to go back a couple weeks to have a one-on-one meeting with a single person. Now we’re talking about a much bigger expedition. I don’t like this.”

“It’s either that or go home,” Tom III said, sighing. “Tom’s right – we don’t have a lot of options. Either we fix this new problem that Tom Jr. created or we leave the world knee-deep in ashes.”

Everyone looked at Mr. Swift. For a while he said nothing. “What are the risks?” he asked.

“Minimal,” Tom IV said. “We shouldn’t have any problems traveling back in time. It will be painless.”

“What about this whole ‘extend the time field’ thing?” Anita asked. “Have you done that before?”

“Not exactly,” Tom IV admitted. “I mean, I understand the theory behind it. I think the math works out. But – well, anything could happen, I guess.”

Mr. Swift nodded. “Thank you, Tom. Given those facts, these are my observations. If we try this and fail, the explosion will still happen and history will once again get to this point. In that case we will have done no further harm. However, if we try this and succeed then history will revert to what it once was. If we can then stop the nanites from being created then the problem will have truly been solved. Given that, I believe the attempt is worth the risk.”

“I agree,” Tom III said, after a moment’s hesitation.

“I’m in too,” Tom IV said. “It’ll take a moment for me to crunch the numbers. I’ll get right on it” He turned back to the keyboard and started typing.

“Hey – what about my vote?” Anita asked.

Ben Walking Eagle smiled. “Well, if you don’t want to come–”

“–I can be dropped off at home,” Anita finished. “I know. No thanks.”

Bud Barclay suddenly spoke up. “What about Irene? I mean, I know she’s not the reason we’re going back in time, but since we’ll be there anyway shouldn’t we try to rescue her?”

Mr. Swift nodded. “That is an excellent point. Aristotle, does this ship have the ability to transport a person out of a plane that is moving at supersonic speeds?”

“It does,” the robot replied. “If you so desired, I could extract Irene Goddard from the hyperplane moments before it crashes. I assume you would want me to act in a way that preserves the integrity of the original timeline.”

“I think that would be wise,” Mr. Swift said. “I don’t want to risk causing even more problems.”

“But what about her radiation sickness?” Bud asked. “I mean, in this timeline aren’t the translators still on Thanatos?”

“That will not be a problem,” Aristotle replied. “We have the ability to treat her on-board.”

Mr. Swift was surprised. “You can treat advanced cases of radiation sickness?”

Ben Walking Eagle nodded. “A while back we went to a crazy planet called Kwortu’um. While we were there we got a special molecule that can cure pretty much anything. It’s astonishing – it’s completely revolutionized the field of medicine.”

“It’s astonishing we survived going there,” Anita replied. “Those people are insane.”

“I don’t know if you’d call them people, exactly,” Ben commented. “They certainly weren’t human.”

“All I know is we are never going back there,” Anita said firmly. “It’s not a happy place.”

“I’ll second that motion,” Tom III said, grinning.

Twenty minutes later Tom IV spoke up. “I think I’m done here! Aristotle, can you double-check these numbers?”

“Most impressive! Your calculations appear to be correct.”

“Thanks,” Tom IV said. “Let’s hope reality agrees with us.” He turned to Tom III. “I’m going to set the time trigger to drop us out about three hours before Tom Jr. arrives.”

Tom III nodded with satisfaction. “That should give me plenty of time to get the Exedra into position over New York City. I’ll make sure the ship’s cloaking field is activated so no one will even know we’re there.”

After making sure everyone was ready Tom IV activated the time trigger. The viewscreen went black. There was a slight sense of nausea, but other than that there was no way to tell that the ship was traveling through time.

“What happened to the screen?” Anita asked.

“Right now there’s nothing out there for the ship’s sensors to detect,” Tom IV explained. “We’re not really in normal space anymore. You might say we’re between spaces.”

A moment later the feeling of nausea stopped and the viewscreen came back to life. This time it showed a lush, green planet.

“Aristotle?” Tom IV asked.

“We appear to be exactly where you predicted,” the robot replied. “I detect no anomalies.”

Tom III nodded. He carefully maneuvered the Exedra out of orbit and toward the thriving metropolis of New York City. After forty-five minutes the starship was in position.

“Now we wait,” Mr. Swift said.

Time passed. Mr. Swift stared quietly at the viewscreen, thinking about the events that had happened that day. Bud saw the intent look on his face and walked over to talk to him.

“It’s weird, thinking that Irene is still alive right now,” Bud said.

Mr. Swift nodded. “It gives me chills to think that in a few hours she’ll be on board this ship. I’m not sure what to say to her.”

“I bet she’ll be quite surprised to see us!”

“Probably, but even so, it will be more awkward for us than it will be for her. She doesn’t know that she’s been dead for years. For her, it’s only been a short time since she last saw you.”

“I wonder what her parents will think,” Bud said.

Mr. Swift shook his head. “Losing a child is perhaps the most terrible thing that a parent can go through. I think the Goddards will be delighted to have her back, but I don’t know. It’s hard to predict what sort of psychological impact this will have on them. It will certainly be an unexpected shock.”

He sighed and looked at the viewscreen again. “Too much has happened recently, Bud. I feel like I’m numb to what’s going on. Both of us watched our planet destroyed, and then we came back to find it had been destroyed again. This is going to take a long time to sort out.”

“I think we’ll fix it,” Bud said confidently. “Things will be back to normal soon.”

Mr. Swift shook his head. “Things will never be back to normal. Whatever we do here will change the future forever. Whether we’re able to save Irene or not, your life – and my son’s life – will never be the same again.”

“But in a good way, right?” Bud asked.

“I don’t know,” Mr. Swift replied, sighing.

“I don’t get you guys,” Anita complained. “I mean, here we are, traveling back in time! Where’s the excitement?”

“We’ll get excited later,” Tom IV said. “After we’re safely home.”

“But this is still an amazing occasion! I mean, think about it. How many people get to travel back in time?”

Ben Walking Eagle shrugged. “Sure, but this is happening in someone else’s universe. To me it’s more like visiting a new planet. It’d be different if we were back in New Mexico. We don’t even know the people here.”

“Quiet, please,” Tom IV said. “Tom Jr. will arrive in less than a minute.”

There was silence on the bridge. Tom IV pressed some buttons on the keyboard and confirmed his settings for the ninth time. He then sat quietly, nervously, watching the screen.

“Here it comes,” he whispered to himself. “Five…four…three…two…NOW!”

The whole ship shook. Tom IV felt an intense feeling of nausea. There was a brilliant flash of light, and something violently collided with the Exedra. There was a horrible grinding noise and the power began fluctuating. A moment later the feeling of nausea faded away.

Mr. Swift looked at the viewscreen. “Well, New York City is still there, and I see no signs of an explosion,” he remarked. “Does that mean–”

A siren suddenly went off! Red lights began flashing.

“What’s going on?” Tom III asked. He dashed to the controls frantically.

“A fire has broken out on deck two,” Aristotle reported.

Tom IV gasped. “That’s where all the time-travel equipment is stored!”

A muffled boom was heard in the rear of the ship. The deck shuddered.

“What was that?” Anita asked.

“I think our ride home just went up in smoke,” Tom IV replied. “If the time trigger’s been destroyed we’ll have no way to get back home!”

The jump into time travel gave Tom an abrupt case of nausea. Reality disappeared, replaced by chaotic patterns of dark violet and black. The young inventor was surprised when the atomicar was immediately buffeted by turbulence. Tom fought to keep the semi from turning over. As he traveled further back in time the ride grew increasingly violent.

I don’t remember time travel being described like this! Tom thought with concern. He watched as the semi drew closer to its target date. I don’t remember the trip taking this long either. What’s going on?

When the indicator on the dashboard finally hit zero, the purple lights vanished and reality returned. For a brief moment Tom had a gorgeous panoramic view of New York City. He could even see his father’s reactor in the distance – a sure sign that he had arrived at the correct moment in history.

Then, without warning, time itself seemed to snap. There was a huge flash of light. Oh no, Tom thought with a surge of panic. The time trigger is breaking down! It’s about to-

The last thing Tom heard was a breaking noise, as if someone had violently shattered an entire carton of light bulbs. Then the time trigger erupted, engulfing the semi in a titanic explosion of atomic proportions.

A few miles away, Tom Swift’s father had just been rescued from Xanthus by his security detail. They were discussing the events surrounding Xanthus’ plot. Frank Herschell told him that the Navy had let them know there was a Brungarian in their midst.

“The Navy called?” Mr. Swift asked. “How did they know?”

“Apparently your son tipped them off,” Frank replied. “They want to speak with you immediately.”

Mr. Swift nodded. I bet they do, he thought grimly. If Xanthus is telling the truth then we have a huge problem on our hands! If this reactor goes critical and destroys New York City then that will be the end of the world. The United States will interpret that as an act of war and will retaliate.

As Mr. Swift walked out the door Xanthus called after him. “You cannot escape! There is nothing you can do to save them.”

The elderly inventor opened his mouth to reply when he suddenly heard a tremendous explosion. The ground shook beneath them.

“What was that?” Mr. Swift asked, looking at Xanthus.

“I do not know,” Xanthus replied.

“Make sure he doesn’t get away!” Mr. Swift ordered. As the security detail hauled him off Tom raced outside the building. When he made it outside he stopped dead in his tracks. Most of New York City was simply gone. It was difficult to see through the dense smoke, but the city that had once stood there was destroyed. Little remained but broken buildings, rubble, and dust.

“NO!” Mr. Swift cried out. He screamed and dropped to his knees in anguish.

Moments later other people rushed out of the building. They were dumbfounded when they saw what had happened. A few began screaming; others sobbed uncontrollably. Ned grabbed Mr. Swift and helped him to his feet.

“What happened?” Ned asked.

“It must be Xanthus,” Mr. Swift replied weakly. “I guess he was afraid his ploy at the reactor wouldn’t work, so he must have stashed an actual atomic bomb in the city. I guess it was set to go off in the event he was captured.”

Ned looked at the city, aghast. “There were people there,” he whispered. “Millions of innocent people. Why did he do it? Why, Tom?”

“They’re just the tip of the iceberg,” Mr. Swift replied. “This is the end of the world, Ned! Once Washington realizes what happened they’ll deploy their atomic bombs against Brungaria and her allies. My son has already told the Navy that the Brungarians are behind this, so there will be no question as to who was responsible. For their part, I’m sure the Brungarians have already launched their remaining weaponry at us and our allies. By the time this day is over there won’t be anything left of the civilized world.”

“Will there be a world at all?” Ned asked.

Mr. Swift found it difficult to concentrate. His whole life was flashing before him. He knew that all the people he loved were about to die, and there was nothing he could do to save them. His initial sorrow was overwhelmed by terror at what he knew was going to happen next.

“It depends,” Mr. Swift said when he could finally speak. “Under normal circumstances the lingering radiation would be deadly but it would fade with time. The half-lives of the elements used in a nuclear bomb are fairly short. After a few weeks much of the residual radiation would have faded away. The people would be dead, of course, but the planet would survive. Life would go on.”

Mr. Swift paused. “However, both sides have been experimenting with cobalt bombs. The whole purpose of such an awful weapon is to cover an area with radioactivity and make it uninhabitable. It’s the final blow – not only would the targeted nation be destroyed, but no one could ever live there again. The radiation from such a weapon is intense and lingers for many years. By the time it decayed into harmlessness there would be nothing left.”

“But surely no one would build such a thing,” Ned replied, aghast. “They’re just theoretical, right?”

“I don’t know,” Mr. Swift replied. “I have no idea what people in power have been doing. I pray you’re right. I pray no one would be that foolish and short-sighted. Otherwise life itself ends today.”

Less than twenty minutes later, a fleet of American bombers were loaded with nuclear weapons. They left their bases in Europe and flew at top speed to Brungaria. The Brungarians were caught completely by surprise. The first wave was devastating and laid waste to most of their country. By the time the Brungarians realized they were under attack there was nothing left to defend themselves with. The second wave of bombers destroyed what little had survived.

Since their nation was in ruins, the Brungarians ordered their foreign bases to deploy against the United States. The Americans knew they were coming, but the United States was a large country with extensive borders. There was no way they could protect everything, and on top of that they were fighting an enemy that was enraged and had nothing to lose.

By the end of the day there was nothing left of the United States, Brungaria, or their allies. Third-world nations and outlying islands were left untouched, but it was only a matter of time before the giant clouds of radiation drifted onto their territories.

Mr. Swift and Ned Newton died when the tomasite reactor went critical, destroying what little had survived of New York City. Tom Swift Jr., Bud Barclay, and Irene were killed when American bombers destroyed Brungaria, taking out the hidden base with one of many nuclear weapons. The rest of his family – and millions of others – lost their lives in the nuclear war.

As it turned out neither side used cobalt weapons, but the damage was done. The few remaining survivors fought each other for what little food and water remained, further reducing their numbers. The world erupted into anarchy and chaos. A planet that had been on the verge of space travel now found itself brought back to the stone age, unable to even feed its population. Night had fallen upon mankind, and things would never be the same.

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“Where have you been?” she demanded. “Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you?”

Tom was taken aback. “I’m sorry – nobody told me you were coming! I honestly had no idea. I just stepped out for a few minutes to get a bit of fresh air, and–”

“What do you mean, today? I’ve been waiting on you since last week! You promised you’d get back with me as soon as you returned from space. Remember? You promised!”

Tom winced. “I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s just that there’s been a lot of things going on. You see–”

“There are always a lot of things going on,” Phyl complained. “You seem to have plenty of time to go to Neptune, but somehow you can never find time for me.”

“You’re right,” Tom agreed. “I have been terrible. I’m going to make some time for you right here and right now. Come with me.”

The young inventor unlocked the door to his laboratory and invited Phyl inside, Still fuming, Phyl entered the room and Tom closed the door behind him. She was surprised to see a semi in the middle of his lab but she said nothing. Her mind was elsewhere.

As soon as the door closed Tom walked over to his workbench and activated the time dilator. I hate doing this, but I really don’t have time for her right now, he thought to himself. At least this will give me a bit of an edge. I just wish she hadn’t picked this exact moment to come over! I’ve got so much to do before Bud gets back.

“What’s that?” Phyl asked, pointing to the time dilator.

“It’s, um, a bit complicated. It’s kind of hard to explain.”

“I’m not the village idiot,” Phyl snapped. “You don’t need to patronize me. If you can explain it to Bud then you can explain it to me.”

Tom was surprised at her sharp attitude. “Are you ok? I haven’t seen you like this before. What’s bothering you?”

“You really don’t know? After everything you’ve done to me, you honestly have no idea why I’m upset?”

What is she talking about? Tom thought. As he tried to listen to the angry girl in front of him, out of the corner of his eye he suddenly noticed that some papers were missing from his workbench. He turned his head and saw that all his Dr. Reisenbach’s notes on the time trigger were gone. “No!” Tom cried out. He ran over and began a hasty search for the missing notes. His heart sank as he realized they were gone.

“You’re not even listening to me!” Phyl shouted.

“I’m sorry,” Tom apologized. “I’m so sorry about this. I’m afraid that right now just isn’t a good time. I think someone’s been into my lab and stolen something.”

Phyl’s anger boiled over. “I don’t care, Tom. I really don’t. I hope they’ve stolen everything you’ve got! What I care about is that we are finished. Do you hear me? Finished! I’ve had it up to here with you and I’m not going to take it any more. There are plenty of other guys out there – guys that will actually pay attention to me.”

That stopped Tom in his tracks. “What? What do you mean, we’re finished?”

“Don’t give me that,” Phyl shot back. “You figure it out, ‘genius boy’! The only time you’ll ever go out with me is when Sandy and I twist your arm. I’m tired of it! I’m tired of playing second fiddle to a girl who’s been dead for years. I’m not doing it anymore. It’s over. I should never have gotten mixed up with you in the first place.”

“You mean Irene?” Tom asked, puzzled.

“Of course I mean Irene! She’s all you’ve been able to think about for years. Why, I bet that stupid truck over there even has something to do with her. Everything you do does! Tell me I’m wrong, Tom. Go ahead. Tell me that gizmo on your desk has nothing to do with Irene.”

Tom felt acutely miserable. His plans had been stolen and his girlfriend was having a complete meltdown. He was at a total loss. I don’t know what to say, Tom thought, as Phyl stared at him.

“Well?” she demanded.

“Hold on,” Tom said suddenly. “Do you hear something?”

Phyl stopped. “Of course I hear something! I’ve heard that growling sound for the past five minutes. Isn’t that normal?”

Tom shook his head. Ice-cold fear shot though his veins as he realized what the sound meant. He walked over to the window and looked outside. What he saw confirmed his worst fears. A cloud of utter darkness was racing toward the laboratory at blinding speed!

When Phyl saw the look of utter terror on his face she walked over and glanced outside. “What’s that?” she asked.

“Doomsday,” Tom replied, barely able to speak. A feeling of total panic overwhelmed him. He had never felt so afraid and helpless in all his life. “It’s the end of the world.”

A moment later the cloud engulfed them. To his surprise the laboratory remained unharmed. The rest of the building, however, melted away into complete oblivion. A moment later the power went out, plunging the room into shadows.

Tom reached over onto his workbench and felt around for a flashlight. He turned it on and looked around the room. The entire laboratory appeared to be intact, but he could see nothing but blackness beyond.

“What just happened?” Phyl asked, her voice quivering. “Is this another one of your experiments?”

Tom found himself unable to speak. He knew exactly what had happened but he could not form words. The magnitude of the event overwhelmed his sense. He felt crushing sorrow and remorse – a bitter pain that dwarfed even the death of Irene. It was as if everything cheerful and happy inside him had been erased, replaced by the blackest depression.

“I’ve destroyed the world,” Tom said at last. He felt as if he would never be happy again. “It’s gone. Everything is gone.”

Phyl felt herself start to panic. “That doesn’t make any sense. How could the world be gone? What did you do?”

Wearily, Tom told her about the nanites. “Ed must have disregarded my warning and created a batch of them anyway. It looks like they got out of hand and consumed everything. In a few minutes there will be nothing left anywhere.”

Phyl’s eyes widened in horror. “Can’t you do something about it? Isn’t there some way to stop it?”

Tom shook his head. “I built a kill switch into the nanites, but Ed must have made a mistake when he manufacturing them. I knew he would – that’s why I told him to not make them in the first place. The batch that he made can’t be turned off.”

“If you knew this was going to happen then why did you give them to him?” Phyl screamed. “Why did you give him something that could destroy the whole world? What got into you?”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen!” Tom protested. “All I wanted to do is go back in time and save–” and then he stopped, realizing what he was about to say.

Phyl finished his sentence for him. “And save Irene, you mean. Is that what all this is about? You were willing to risk the safety of all life on Earth just so you could save your girlfriend? And I can’t even get you to go out on a date with me!”

“I’m sorry,” Tom replied, utterly crushed. “I never wanted to hurt anyone. I just thought I could save her. If Ed had listened to me none of this would have happened.”

“If you hadn’t been obsessed with Irene none of this would have happened!” Phyl shot back. “The world would still be out there today if you had just moved on with your life – if you had actually loved me, instead of treating me like some dumb obligation. I never meant anything to you!”

“That’s not true,” Tom protested.

“If Irene had wanted to go out with you last week, would you have put her off?” Phyl demanded. “Would you have given her a rain check and gone to Neptune instead? Would you, Tom?”

“I’m sorry,” Tom repeated. He felt like a dead man. “It just all went wrong. This wasn’t part of the plan.”

There was silence for a while. Phyl eventually spoke up. “Hey Tom – if the whole world has been destroyed then why aren’t we dead?”

“The time dilator is protecting us,” Tom explained. He told her about his invention and how it manipulates the flow of time. “The nanites can’t get inside the field. Fortunately it has its own power supply, so it didn’t turn off when the electricity was cut off.”

“So can’t you use that field to protect everyone else?” Phyl asked.

Tom shook his head. “The generator was only designed to protect this lab. Even if I did extend its range it’s already too late to protect Shopton – the damage has been done. And if I shut down the field now so we could move it somewhere else, we’d be instantly consumed by the nanites.”

“Wonderful,” Phyl replied. “So we’re the last two people left on Earth?”

“Well, there’s also the outpost in space, Nestria, and Bartonia,” Tom pointed out. “They won’t have been effected by the nanites. But that’s all.”

“So what are you going to do now?”

“I’m going to fix this,” Tom replied. “I’ve got to! It’s up to me, Phyl. There’s no one else left who can do it.”

“What about Tom IV? You stole the time machine plans from him, right? Can’t you get him to do it?”

“I don’t have a way to reach him anymore,” Tom explained. “After the recent break-in Tom IV put a lock on his Negative Zone. In order to open it I’d need to be able to reproduce his electronic key. That’s something I can’t do – Tom IV kept that to himself.”

“But your Zone still exists,” Phyl replied. “Why, it’s right over there! You don’t have to reproduce anything.”

Tom shook his head. “That was just where the tunnel manifested itself. The actual machinery that generates the Zone itself is huge – it’s buried underground, well outside the laboratory. It’s gone.”

“So I guess it really is up to you,” Phyl said.

Tom got back to work on his time machine. At first he was concerned about the loss of his notes, but after a few hours he realized that was actually a blessing in disguise. Since he didn’t have those notes to use as a crutch, his brain was forced to resolve the problem. He soon began realizing what pieces he had been missing.

The first problem was finding a way to restore power to his laboratory. He ultimately decided to tap into the atomic power capsules that powered the atomicar. The energy he needed to finish the time trigger was negligible compared to the power they could produce. After running a few cables and building an interface he was able to restore electricity to his lab.

“How long do I have to stay in this room?” Phyl asked. “I want to get out of here.”

“You have to stay at least until the cloud collapses. When the blackness goes away it should be safe to turn off the field. In theory, anyway. I wouldn’t want to try it.”

“I’m certainly not going to stay in here with you,” Phyl replied pointedly. “As soon as that cloud disappears I’m going to get transported up to the outpost. Or maybe Nestria. Anyplace but here.”

Tom nodded, but said nothing.

It took hours for the black cloud to dissipate, but eventually the darkness cleared. Phyl shivered when she saw what was left of the world. One of the laboratory walls had been outside the field and was eaten away, revealing the frightening outside world. There was nothing left but a flat blue sky and a flat, endless sea of green nanites.

“It’s horrible,” Phyl said. “Are you sure it’s safe to turn off the time dilator?”

“No, I’m not. I didn’t build those nanites and I don’t really know what other flaws they might have. It’s possible that when I shut down the time field they might re-energize and consume this lab. I just know.”

“Can I be transported through the time field?” Phyl asked.

“I’m afraid not. The time difference creates too much distortion.”

“Then I guess I’ll stay here,” she replied grumpily. “At least for now.”

It took two more days for Tom to finish his time trigger. He was now glad that he had been storing food in his lab. At least we’re not hungry, he thought.

“So what are you going to do now?” Phyl asked. Her mood had not improved with time.

“What do you mean?” Tom asked. “I’m going to go back in time and stop Ed from creating the nanites. What did you think I was going to do?”

Phyl shook her head. “No you’re not. You’re going to go back in time and save Irene. You might stop on the way back to the future and talk to Ed, but that’s not going to be your first jump.”

“Traveling into the past is very dangerous,” Tom protested. “Making two jumps backwards is far more hazardous than just making one. It makes much more sense to get Irene first.”

“And what about jumping into the future?” Phyl asked. “Isn’t that equally dangerous?”

“Oh, no – that’s the easy part. I can just use my time dilator to adjust the speed of time. That part of the trip won’t be a problem.”

“I still don’t think you should save her,” Phyl said flatly.

“Why not?” Tom asked, surprised.

Phyl shook her head. “You’re just not thinking anymore, are you? Don’t you realize that you’re the only person that can fix this planet? If you go back in time to save Irene and something goes wrong then the whole world is doomed!”

“It’s not like that,” Tom protested. “I have a plan. Nothing will go wrong.”

“You had a plan about the nanites, too, and look what happened! Your ‘plan’ led to the extinction of all life on Earth. Stop fooling around, Tom, and get serious! Save the world. Don’t put it in jeopardy again just to save someone who’s been dead for years. It’s a stupid thing to do.”

“I haven’t come this far to give up now,” Tom replied evenly. “I can do this.”

“No, you can’t,” Phyl replied.

Tom looked at her awkwardly. “I guess I’ll be going, then.”

Phyl shook her head. “You’re a fool, Tom. I just hope you can save the world. How long do you think it will take?”

“It should be instantaneous. As soon as I disappear the world should go back to the way it was. If it doesn’t, then I’ve failed and there’s no hope.”

“What will happen to me when you change the past?” Phyl asked. “I mean, I remember the world being destroyed, but you’re going change it so that event never happened. Does that mean I’ll remember something different?”

“I don’t know,” Tom confessed. “I’ve never done this before. I guess we’ll find out.”

Tom looked at Phyl, hoping she would say something encouraging, but she only shook her head. He sighed, got into the cab of the semi, and activated the time trigger. The machine disappeared in a flash of purple light.

Mr. Swift quickly explained to Tom IV about Tom’s latest invention, the claytronic stones. “But I was positive my son had added safeguards!”

“He did,” Bud affirmed. “I was there – I saw it myself. Tom had perfected a way to keep his stone from replicating. Besides, his stones don’t create a black field anymore. I think the stones below came from somewhere else.”

“Ed Gamino,” Mr. Swift said suddenly. “They must have come from Ed!”

Bud nodded. “That’s got to be it. A few days ago Tom gave him the plans and warned him to never use them because if the stones weren’t made correctly they could cause a chain reaction. Tom told me that Ed promised to keep the blueprints only for reference purposes. However, knowing Ed…”

“…he probably didn’t,” Mr. Swift finished, aghast. He watched as his home world was swallowed by the creeping black cloud. Already North and South America were covered, and the cloud was rapidly spreading across Europe. “This is horrible,” he whispered. All of the life had been drained out of him. “There were billions of people down there. Billions. This can’t be happening.”

“Isn’t there some way to stop it?” Tom IV asked quietly.

Bud shook his head. “Only Tom would know how to do that, and nobody knows where he is. As far as I know he’s down there somewhere.”

“I’m sorry,” Tom IV said quietly. They could do nothing but watch as the whole world was consumed by shadow.

It took several hours for the entire planet to be consumed. An hour later the time field collapsed, revealing a solid mass of green nanites.

“It’s too much to take in,” Mr. Swift said at last. “I just can’t accept this. This can’t be happening. There must be something we can do! Some way to reverse this and put the world back the way it was.”

“I think it’s too late,” Bud said. “Tom didn’t seem to think the reaction could be made to work backwards.”

“Maybe there’s another way.” Mr. Swift turned to Tom IV. “You’ve traveled back in time before, haven’t you?”

Tom IV nodded reluctantly. “I see where this is going. Ordinarily I’d say it’s far too dangerous, but given what just happened I guess we can’t make the situation any worse.” He paused a moment to put his thoughts together. “Let’s head back to my universe. I’ll try to put something together.”

“But what about Tom?” Bud asked.

Mr. Swift sighed. “If he had survived I think he would have come to the station by now. The only other places where humans are still alive are Nestria and our colony on Bartonia. It wouldn’t have taken Tom long to find us here.”

Bud nodded. “I guess you’re right. I just can’t believe he’s gone. But how are we going to get to Tom IV’s universe? Wasn’t the Negative Zone down there in Shopton?”

Tom IV pulled out a communicator from his pocket. “We don’t need to use your Zone, Bud. I can just use mine. This device allows me to send a signal back home. My Zone will then open a doorway between our universes.”

“Of course!” Bud replied. “I knew that. How else could you hope to get home when you traveled to other places?”

“Exactly.” He turned to Mr. Swift. “You don’t happen to have any spare spaceships lying around, do you?”

Mr. Swift shook his head. “There are a few Titan-class rockets are docked here at the station but they’re fairly old. I’m afraid the Challenger and the Cosmotron Express were both at Fearing Island.”

“That’s what I thought,” Tom IV replied. “In that case we’re going to need to make a quick stop on our way back.”

“Explain this to me one more time,” Tom III said slowly. “You want to borrow the Exedra to do what?”

The entire group was in Tom III’s private laboratory in Shopton, New Mexico. Mr. Swift, Bud Barclay, and Tom IV were there, along with Tom III, the robot Aristotle, Anita Thorwald, and Ben Walking Eagle.

“It’s quite simple, Tom,” the robot Aristotle explained. “They wish to travel back in time to save Tom Swift Sr.’s homeworld. To do this they require a spaceship that is large, powerful, and fast. Your vessel fits the bill perfectly! I am surprised you are having difficult grasping this.”

“It’s the whole time-travel thing that gets me,” Tom III said.

Tom IV nodded. “Yeah, it’s a lot to wrap your head around but we’re going to keep this simple. All we’re going to do is go back in time and stop BG Industries from using the stones. I’m not anticipating any problems.”

“You Toms never do,” Anita Thorwald complained. “Unexpected things always happen, especially when you’re dealing with the hair-raising things we get mixed up with! You can always count on something awful going wrong.”

“Like the time we went to Kwortu’um to look for a cure,” Ben said. “I know. But we don’t have a choice! Their whole world was destroyed. You know if that’d happened to us we’d be asking the same favor.”

“Do you need us to come with you?” Tom III asked.

“If you don’t mind,” Tom IV replied. “None of us know the first thing about flying the Exedra. Faster-than-light starships don’t even exist in my universe! If the three of you could fill in as the crew I’ll supply the time machine.”

“What about us?” Bud asked.

“You can deal with that Ed character after we finally get to him,” Tom IV replied.

“And I will deal with my son,” Mr. Swift replied. “When we find him.”

It took Tom IV several weeks to build his time trigger. During that time the gang camped out at his Swift Enterprises facility in southern California.

“This is so different from Shopton,” Bud commented, as he started out the window of Tom IV’s laboratory. Modern cards were driving by, and Bud could see palm trees in the distance. “Everything seems more modern. And faster. I really wish I could try out the beaches.”

“That’s probably not a good idea,” Mr. Swift warned. “We don’t want anyone asking questions about where we came from.”

“It’s probably already too late for that,” Anita replied.

“Not really,” Tom IV said. “I mean, sure, Harlan Ames knows you are here, but he’s kept tight wraps on this place. I don’t think even my sister Mandy knows about you guys. If she did you can bet she’d be down here in a heartbeat.”

“I’d love to meet her,” Ben Walking Eagle replied. “I’ve heard a lot about her.”

“We can do that later,” Tom III said. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”

“Do you think there will be much danger?” Anita asked.

“Probably not,” Tom IV said. “I mean, yes, there’s always danger when you travel through time, of course. But all we’re going to be doing is going back a few weeks! I’m not going into the prehistoric past like I did last time. A short jump should be pretty simple.”

“Do we know where to go?” Bud asked. “I saw the black cloud but I didn’t happen to notice where it started.”

“BG Industries has a facility in Nebraska,” Mr. Swift remarked. “That’s where Ed’s office is located. I would be willing to wager that the nanites came from there.”

“We can do even better than that,” Tom IV said. “I just happen to have a chronoscope, which I can use to look back through time. When we get to your universe I’ll use it to pinpoint the source of the problem. That way we can make sure we don’t arrive at the wrong place or the wrong time. I’d like to get everything done in a single jump.”

“That should do it!” Bud replied.

The Exedra had been parked in a geostationary orbit, with its cloak activated so the governments of Earth wouldn’t detect it. Under Tom IV’s guidance, Tom III and his friends installed the finished time trigger on the ultramodern starship.

“Do we want to test it before we begin?” Bud asked.

“That would be most unwise,” Aristotle replied. “According to my calculations, each use of the device increases the risk of a catastrophic failure that could destroy spacetime itself. It would be far wiser to only use it once. Indeed, it would be wisest to never use it at all, but given the circumstances the danger is acceptable.”

“If you say so,” Anita replied. “Have you done any testing on this, Tom?”

Tom IV nodded. “I’ve done a few small tests on a molecular level. I’m pretty sure I got it right.”

“But this is still new territory, right?” Anita persisted. “I mean, even when you used it to fight Von Doom, or whatever his name was, you still didn’t transport an entire spaceship. You just used your TANC.”

“It was the Black Dragon, and yes, that is correct,” Tom IV replied. “This is something new. But I think it will work.”

“Hey, now that you mention it, why aren’t you using your TANC?” Bud asked.

Tom nodded. “Good question! First, we are going to be bringing the TANC – it’s a handy excursion vehicle. I don’t really want to land the Exedra on Earth, so we’ll use it to get to the surface. However, the reason we need a starship is because this model of the time trigger is very different from the last one. One of the reasons the original one did so much damage to spacetime was because it was a very crude device – it was like using a sledgehammer to open a window. The Exedra has a fusion reactor that produces incredible amounts of energy. I can use that energy to make the trip smoother and less destructive. It greatly increases our odds of success.”

“But you’ve never actually tried it before,” Anita repeated. “You’re just ‘pretty sure’.”

“You don’t have to come,” Tom IV countered. “I’d be glad to drop you off in your own universe before we leave.”

Anita shook her head. “Nothing doing! I’ll come. I just have a bad feeling about all of this.”

Aristotle spoke up. “I am sorry to intrude, but the calibrations are complete. We can depart on your command.”

Tom IV turned to Tom III. “Are you ready?”

He nodded. “My ship is ready to go.”

“I’m ready as well,” Mr. Swift replied.

“Then let’s go,” Tom IV said. “First stop – Tom Swift Jr.’s universe!”

Tom III pressed a button on the ship’s control panel, and the Exedra vanished.

“Don’t forget about Phyl,” Bud had said, as he left the lab. “I think she’s been feeling a bit neglected lately.”

“I won’t,” Tom promised. But all thoughts of the girl vanished as soon as he glanced at the research Ed had given him. It didn’t take him long to realize that he would need more than a week to perfect the time trigger.

I need to buy more time, Tom thought to himself. So let’s see what I can do.

The young inventor walked over to his workbench and flipped a switch on a small, silver device. The boxlike contraption emitted a deep hum. A few seconds later a distortion pattern appeared around the edges of Tom’s laboratory. Tom smiled. That should do it, he thought, as he tweaked the settings on the time dilator. Time now passes three times faster inside the field than it does outside. That will give me three whole weeks to perfect my time machine!

Tom had already moved a triphibian atomicar into his laboratory. Instead of a convertible model, however, he had chosen a semi with a large trailer. It’s large and bulky, but since I’m taking a lot of equipment with me I need all the space I can get! I’d planned on taking the Challenger, but since Bud’s off repairing it this is the best I can do.

The young scientist spent the rest of the day installing equipment in the back of the semi. First he installed the translator, which he had borrowed months before from his space friends on Mars. Next he took his laboratory’s Transmittaton and installed that as well. That will enable me to transport Irene out of the hyperplane right before it crashes, and then cure her of her radiation poisoning, Tom thought approvingly. Now all I need is a functional time machine!

Tom soon found out that working 72-hour days was too strenuous, even for him. Since meals were now 15 hours apart he started keeping food in his laboratory and napping at regular intervals. The workload was enormous but Tom kept at it. He was determined to finish his time trigger before Bud returned to Shopton. I can’t let anyone interfere – not even Bud, he thought. I know they mean well but they just don’t understand. Time travel may be dangerous but I have everything under control. I’ll go back in time, rescue Irene, and come home. Nothing bad will happen.

At first Tom was greatly encouraged by the information on the plans. As Ed had pointed out, they were not the blueprints to a working time trigger. Instead they were the original research notes that had been put together by Dr. Reisenbach. Tom IV had based his time trigger on those notes. In theory Tom Swift Jr. could do the same thing. I never thought of doing it this way, Tom thought as he studied the papers. No wonder I wasn’t able to find a solution! I wasn’t even approaching the problem correctly. This is exactly what I needed.

Tom quickly sketched out a device based on the ideas suggested in the paper. However, he immediately ran into problems. Hours went by as Tom stared at the notes, puzzled.

“I just don’t get it,” he finally said aloud. “This doesn’t make sense! It’s as if parts of it are missing – but I clearly have all of the notes. There’s no gap in the equations or the logic, but it’s just wrong. What am I missing?”

A day went by, and then another, and another. One experimental device after another failed to produce any results. Tom soon realized that he was going to run out of time and still not have a working time trigger. The young inventor became even more discouraged when he glanced at the calendar and realized that there were only two days left before Bud was scheduled to return.

I’ve got to get out of here and clear my head, Tom decided. Maybe a change of scenery will help. I’m sure the solution is there; I just need to step back so I can see it.

Tom locked up his laboratory and left.

A few hours later Bud Barclay unlocked the door to his laboratory and walked inside. “Hey there, Tom! Guess what! I got done early, and–”

Bud stopped in his tracks, amazed. “Hey Tom, what’s an eighteen-wheeler doing in your lab? Is this some new invention I don’t know about?” Bud looked around for his friend but a quick search revealed that Tom was not in his lab.

Must have stepped out for a minute, Bud thought to himself. Hmmm. I wonder what he’s been up to? Bud spied a stack of papers on the workbench and casually walked over to them. When he saw then name Reisenbach on the top one he gasped. He nervously picked them up and started going through them.

“Hey – these are the papers that were stolen from Tom IV’s office!” he said aloud. “What gives?” Bud then glanced at the semi again and his eyes widened. He walked around to the rear of the vehicle and peeked inside the cavernous trailer. When he saw the Transmittaton and the translator inside he gasped. Tom’s building a time machine! But how did he get these plans? What’s going on here?

Bud stood there a minute, thinking. “This is too much for me,” he said at last. “I need help. Something’s just not right here. Maybe I’m just missing something.”

The young pilot walked over to the picture of Aurum City and slid it to one side. He then pressed his finger against the green panel that was hidden behind it. There was a clicking sound, and the laboratory went into secure mode. Bud then grabbed a communicator and contacted Tom IV. Over the radio he explained what he had just found. A moment later the young scientist came out of the Negative Zone and appeared in Tom’s lab.

Tom IV became furious when he saw the documents in Bud’s hand. He grabbed them from Bud and examined them closely. “These are the missing plans, all right!” he said grimly. He glanced at the semi. “And it looks like Tom has been putting them to use! I knew he was the thief. I just knew it! I never bought that line about Ed.”

“So that is a time machine,” Bud said. “I kind of thought it might be. Can you tell if it’s finished?”

Tom IV made a quick examination of the machine. “Nope, it’s not. Tom’s still missing a few very important pieces, but I’m afraid he’s pretty close. The worst part is that I can tell he understands the basic principle. That means he can now finish his machine without these plans. It’s probably too late to stop him. The little thief got what he wanted. I should have known right from the start he was behind all this!”

“So you think Tom stole them?”

“Are you kidding?” Tom IV asked. “Seriously? Of course he did! Tom’s the one that wanted the plans, and he knew they existed. He broke into my lab, stole them, and pinned the whole thing on that Ed guy. It was a setup right from the start!”

“I don’t know,” Bud said dubiously. “That doesn’t sound like Tom.”

“This job has his fingerprints all over it,” Tom IV insisted. “I mean, look at that semi! Look at these plans! You caught him red-handed. What further proof do you want?”

“I guess,” Bud said reluctantly. “It’s just hard to believe he’d do something like that.”

“Hasn’t he told you that he would do anything to get Irene back?” Tom IV asked angrily. “What part of anything do you not understand? What we need to do now is find him and tell him that his big time-travel adventure is stopping right here and right now. Where is he?”

“I don’t know,” Bud said. “I haven’t seen him in a week. But I think I know someone who can help us.”

Bud contacted the outpost in space and asked Grinsby to transport the two of them up to the station. A moment later they appeared in the outpost’s observatory. The spacious room was filled with ultramodern equipment, including a giant megascope space prober. Tom Swift Sr. was standing beside the megascope, examining a globular cluster that was displayed on a terminal beside it. On the wall behind them was a giant glass window through which they could see the Earth rotating below.

Mr. Swift turned around in surprise when he heard them materialize. He was even more surprised when he saw who had accompanied Bud. “Why, Tom! What brings you here?”

Tom IV quickly glanced around the room. “Are we alone? It is safe to talk?”

“For the moment,” the elderly inventor replied. “I’ve been up here the past few days doing some deep-space studies for a conference next month in Berlin. As far as I know I’m the only one in this part of the station.”

Tom IV nodded. After asking Bud to lock the door he showed Mr. Swift the plans that the pilot had discovered in Tom’s laboratory. Mr. Swift’s face fell when he saw them.

“This is all starting to make sense now,” he replied. “I was wondering why Tom had decided to revisit his claytronic stones after the immense disaster they had caused on the centaur. I have a hunch that Ed is your culprit.”

“But he’s a paper-pusher!” Tom IV protested. “It would take a brilliant mind to get past my security.”

“Ed has a brilliant mind,” Mr. Swift replied. “Last week I went to BG Industries to formally hand over the Behemoth. While I was there Ed gave me a tour of his office. He’s actually a very accomplished inventor.”

“I didn’t know that,” Bud exclaimed, amazed.

“Neither did I,” Mr. Swift replied. “Ed must have realized that Tom would need some very strong motivation before he would even consider finishing his claytronic stones. He probably made Tom a deal – if Tom would finish the stones then he would give Tom the plans for your time device. In fact, he probably went to your universe for the sole purpose of getting them for Tom.”

“So that’s why Tom finished the stones,” Bud said. “What a mess!”

“I think we have a much bigger mess on our hands,” Tom IV said, interrupting. “What’s that?”

Mr. Swift and Bud turned their attention out the window behind them. A black shadow was rapidly spreading across North America, swallowing it up in utter darkness.

Bud paled. “I’ve seen that before – it’s a nanite chain reaction! Tom’s stones must have gotten lose and are destroying the planet!”