TSJ #36, Chapter 17: Homeward Bound

AS SIRENS BLARED, TOM SWIFT IV raced toward the second deck of the Exedra. Tom Swift Sr. and Bud Barclay followed close behind him. By the time they reached the room that held the time-travel equipment, however, the excitement was over. The starship’s automatic fire-detection systems had already put out the blaze, burying sensitive electronic equipment in mounds of chemical foam.

“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.