“Let’s do our homework,” Tom said. “There’s a lot we need to know about that planet before we can send a manned expedition. James, deploy the satellites.”

“Satellites!” Chow said, surprised. “What do we need them for?”

Tom explained. “We came to this planet to find a device that gives off a particular energy signature. I figured the quickest way to locate it would be to scan for it from space, so I asked Hank Sterling to design something that could do the job. His team has taken the damonscope and made an orbital version of it. Not only will it be able to locate the energy signature, but the satellites will also create a ground map and obtain other important planetary data. By the time they’re done we’ll have a complete picture of the planet and know exactly what we’re getting into.”

“The satellite have been deployed,” James announced. “I’m tracking them now.”

“How many are there?” Bud asked.

Tom thought for a moment. “Hank ended up building thirty-six of them. We probably could’ve made due with only a handful, but then it would have taken much longer to scan the entire planet. The larger fleet should enable us to start seeing results within a couple hours.”

“A couple hours!” Bud exclaimed. “How long do you expect to work tonight? It’s already nine o’clock.”

Tom grinned. “You know me, Bud – I’m definitely a night owl. We probably won’t actually land on the planet until tomorrow morning, but there’s a lot I need to do before we can take that step. I didn’t come here to catch up on my sleep.”

“What are your orders, sir?” James asked.

“Let’s hold our current distance and continue to orbit the planet,” Tom replied. “There’s so much turbulence in this area that I really don’t want to get too close to Thanatos just yet. I want your men to watch the ship in round-the-clock shifts and notify me the minute anything serious happens.” James nodded, and proceeded to delegate the workload to the crew.

“I’ll monitor the satellites, Son,” Tom’s father said. “I’m not quite the night owl I once was, but I’m good for at least a couple more hours. When I turn in I’ll pass the responsibility over to the crew.”

Tom nodded. “Sounds good, Dad. Bud – you’re with me. We’ve got some testing to do.”

Bud yawned. “Whatever you say, boss.”

The two made their way to the lowest deck of the ship. “Here we are, Bud – room 113.” Tom swiped his ID card in the door and the two walked in. Inside the room Bud saw a Transmittaton, which was attached to a bank of computers.

Bud smiled approvingly. “Very nice! I didn’t realize that matter transporters now came standard with this model of spaceship. I’ll have to order one.”

“It seemed like a good idea,” Tom replied. “The real question is, can we get it to work?”

“You mean it’s not fully installed?”

“Oh no, that’s not the problem. What worries me are the spatial anomalies that surround this planet, to say nothing of the horrible interference that the atmosphere must be kicking up. I’d seen it all on the megascope, of course, but I didn’t realize it would be this bad. It’s going to take some work to tweak the Transmittaton to work in those conditions.”

“Don’t tell me! Let me guess. That is our task for the evening.”

Tom nodded. “You got it, fly boy!”

The two worked far into the night. Tom removed the outer housing from the equipment and began rewiring it to cope with the interference. He sent Bud to his lab several times to retrieve boxes of parts, which he started tacking on to his invention. As the night wore on Tom turned the once-pristine room into a disorderly wreck. Small bits of electronics littered the floor, and wires were strewn everywhere. Tom pressed on, oblivious to the havoc that he was causing around him.

At about three in the morning Tom laid down his screwdriver and yawned. “Man, I’m beat. I think that’s all I’ve got in me tonight.”

Bud stirred. He had fallen asleep in a chair and lost track of events. “What’s that?” he mumbled.

“Go back to sleep, fly-boy. We’ll finish this tomorrow.”

“Did we get it to work?” he asked sleepily.

Tom shook his head. “Not unless you like leaving most of your vital organs behind. It’s great for weight loss, though.”

Bud did not respond. He was already fast asleep. Tom quietly left the room and went to bed.

The next morning Tom woke up and took a quick shower. After eating breakfast he raced up to the control room. His father and Bud were both already at work.

When Bud saw Tom he spoke up. “Where have you been? I’ve been up here for hours! You’re missing all the fun.”

Tom Sr. smiled and shook his head. “Don’t let him fool you, Son. He’s been here for all of five minutes.”

Tom sat down at a terminal and began paging through satellite data. “So what did I miss, Dad?”

“I wouldn’t say you missed anything, exactly. The satellites have been performing admirably and have scanned about 40% of the planet. Hank did an amazing job constructing them.”

Tom nodded. “I’m glad he installed such heavy shielding on them! Without it they wouldn’t have lasted five minutes out there. The radiation level in this area is unbelievable.”

The ship suddenly trembled, as if it was experiencing a small earthquake. The shaking subsided after a few seconds.

“What was that?” Bud asked, startled.

“Gravity waves,” Tom Sr. replied. “We’ve been getting them fairly regularly ever since we started orbiting the planet. They come every couple hours or so.”

Tom couldn’t resist teasing his friend. “You know, Bud, we got quite a few of them last night! You must have slept through them while you were helping me fix the Transmittaton.”

“And a rotten night of sleep it was, too,” Bud retorted. “I’ll bring a mattress next time. You just can’t get any quality sleep in those chairs.”

Tom Sr. spoke up. “I do have some good news for you. The satellite network has located the energy signature given to us by our space friends!”

Tom’s eyes widened. “Really? That’s outstanding news! Have they been able to pinpoint an exact location?”

“Two locations, actually. One appears to be at the bottom of a methane sea, and the other is toward the polar region of the planet.”

Tom was taken aback. “Two of them? Our space friends didn’t say anything about that. What do you think we should do?”

His father thought for a moment. “Why not send them a message and ask? We have been in touch with Fearing Island all night, and they can certainly send a message to Mars.”

“Whoops – I forgot all about letting them know we made it,” Tom said apologetically.

“That’s why you’ve got a crew, Son,” his father said with a smile. “No one man can think of everything – not even Tom Swift.”

“Some would say especially Tom Swift,” Bud interjected.

Tom laughed. “So what did Fearing say when you talked to them?”

“They’re glad we arrived and have passed the word on to your mother and sister. Both send their congratulations and asked that we be careful. They send their love.”

Tom nodded. “Thanks, Dad.”

The communications officer on board the Challenger relayed a message to Fearing, asking that they contact the space friends for further instructions. About a half-hour later Fearing relayed the following message in response to their query:

ALL DEVICES EMITTING THE SIGNATURE ARE OF VITAL IMPORTANCE AND SHOULD BE RETURNED TO US IF AT ALL POSSIBLE. PLEASE HURRY. WE HAVE VERY LITTLE TIME LEFT.

Tom nodded. “I guess that answers our question! So Dad, can you show me on a map where the energy signature is coming from?”

Tom and his father spent the next hour examining the information that they had gathered from the planet. During their meeting Bud wandered down the galley and came back with a box of donuts.

“Where did you get those?” Tom asked. “I didn’t see any donuts in the galley this morning!”

Bud shook his head. “That’s because there weren’t any. It was a terrible oversight. I actually asked Chow to make these, and he was only too happy to oblige. They’re quite good, too – nice, warm, and fresh from the deep-fryer.”

Tom sampled one and had to agree. “Not bad at all! But still, what made you think of donuts?”

“If I’m headed down to that planet of nightmares with you, Tom, I’m going to eat well before I go. There’s no telling when we’ll be back on board! A fellow like me needs all the calories I can get.”

Tom Sr. looked at his son with concern. “Were you not able to get the Transmittaton to work?”

Tom Jr. shook his head. “I’m afraid not, Dad. There’s just too much interference. We were able to make transfers, but the object never survived intact. It was pretty depressing. I can overcome some of the problems, but while a 60% precision rate might be better than 0%, that’s still not good enough to transport even the simplest objects.”

“I understand. So what is your plan? Are you going to take the Challenger down to the planet?”

Tom shook his head. “That would be very dangerous, Dad. The surface winds are incredibly strong and would make a safe landing almost impossible. It would be like trying to land in a category five hurricane. I think we’re going to have to take a shuttlecraft down to the surface.”

His father nodded. “I can see the wisdom in that. A small shuttlecraft that was designed for a harsh environment would have a much greater chance of success. As hardy as the Challenger is in space, it’s simply too fragile to survive a fierce gale. What is your plan for the expedition?”

“I think we should aim for the undersea location first,” Tom said. “The liquid methane will protect us from the surface winds and should provide a relatively calm environment. Bud and I will take a shuttle down to the location and scout around. If possible, we’ll locate the device and examine it. After we know what we’re dealing with we can decide how we can extract it. If it’s small enough we might be able to carry it back to the ship ourselves, but that seems unlikely.”

“How are you going to stay in touch with the ship?” his father asked.

“If you’ll recall, the robot that paid us a visit made some modifications to my megascope to enable it to view the surface. I’ve taken some of those changes and incorporated them into my private ear network. We should be able to communicate with the ship without any problems.”

Bud smiled wryly. “Of course, Tom hasn’t field-tested it, and you know how that goes.”

Tom shrugged. “It’s the best we can do. I think we’ll be fine, though! Locating the device under the sea is a huge break. I was really dreading trying to work in that gale.”

James spoke up. “Excuse me, skipper, but there is another possibility. Couldn’t you send some of us down to the surface to do the initial scouting? We should be able to handle that for you. After all, there is only one Tom Swift Jr., and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to him.”

Tom shook his head. “I appreciate your concern, but if I’m going to put someone’s life in danger then I’d rather it be my own. No one on this ship is expendable, James. I can’t sit back and watch someone else put their life in jeopardy while I rest in safety above the fray. Bud and I will go alone.”

“Notice how he’s not nearly as concerned about my safety,” Bud joked. “I have to go whether I like it or not.”

Tom slapped his friend on the back and smiled. “That’s what you get for being the best pilot in the business! You’re going to be the one who flies us down into that awful mess. I’m counting on you.”

“You know I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Tom. When do we leave?”

Tom stood up from his chair. “Right now! Dad, you are in charge of the ship. Take care of her for me, will you?”

Tom’s father nodded. “Of course, Son. And we’ll keep an eye on you too. If you get into any trouble let us know and we’ll come after you.”

Tom and Bud bade the crew goodbye and took the elevator to a lower level of the ship, where they entered a hangar. Inside they found two small, disc-shaped ships, the Extrasolar I and the Extrasolar II. Each ship was about twenty-five feet in diameter and made from a strong metal alloy. The dome of the ship was made of transparent tomasite, and revealed an all-leather interior outfitted with two plush seats. An imposing array of controls was installed on the ship’s dashboard. “They kinda look like little flying saucers,” Bud noticed. “Did you design them just for this mission?”

Tom shook his head. “Oh no – definitely not! These ships were built some time ago for exploring the outer planets of our own solar system. Some of them are quite windy, so I wanted something that could maneuver in a hostile environment. As it turned out, this mission came up before the one to Neptune. We just got lucky, Bud.”

Bud smiled. “It’s about time. Hey, what equipment are we going to be taking with us? I’m hoping we’re not going to go empty-handed!”

Tom walked up to the Extrasolar I, opened the cockpit, and removed a remote control from the dash. He pressed a button on it and a compartment in the rear of the ship opened. “Nice!” Bud exclaimed. “I’m guessing that works via a miniaturized radio transmitter?”

“You got it, fly boy,” Tom replied. “One day I need to get around to installing these remotes in the atomicar.”

“It’d probably be a hit. So what’s in this rear compartment?”

Tom smiled, then walked over to give Bud a tour. “It’s got everything you need for exploring alien worlds! You have a few repelatrons for repelling the methane sea, an electronic retroscope for reading faded engravings, a couple EMP emitters for battling hostile robots, a set of private ear devices, and a couple other odds and ends.”

“You even brought a box of spare parts!” Bud said approvingly. “Nice. But what about the repela-suits?”

“We’re going to don those before we get inside, and put the backpacks in the trunk. The suits have been tweaked to withstand extreme conditions and should handle fine at the bottom of the methane sea. When we’re ready to use them we’ll done the repelatron backpacks and be on our way!”

“That’s another thing that bothers me, Tom. How are we going to get out of the ship once we land? Is the interior waterproof?”

Tom smiled. “The ship flies by use of repelatrons, Bud. It can create a bubble around the ship that we’ll use for entering and leaving the vessel. On its highest setting it can create a bubble with a diameter of more than a hundred feet, which is way more than we should actually need.”

Bud nodded. “It sounds like you have the bases covered! But where are you going to put the device we’ve been sent to fetch? I don’t see much in the way of cargo space in these ships.”

Tom shrugged. “If it’s small enough we’ll put it in the glove compartment box and call it a day. As I told Dad, we have no idea how big or small these things are. Once we see what we’re dealing with we’ll come up with a way to get it into space.”

Tom and Bud quickly put on the repela-suits over their clothes and stashed the repelatron portion of the suit in the trunk. After shutting it firmly the two entered the Extrasolar I, with Bud taking the driver’s seat. He looked over the controls and nodded. “Very nice! I see how this works.” He pressed a button that lowered and sealed the transparent canopy. “Are you ready, skipper?”

Tom double-checked the restraining harness that held him in his seat. “Ready and waiting, fly boy. Take us down!”

Bud contacted the Challenger and announced that the ship was ready for departure. The air was quickly pumped out of the room and the massive hangar doors opened. Bud then activated the repelatrons and flew out into space. Once they were clear of the ship he set a course for the coordinates that Tom’s father had supplied.

They didn’t have to get very close to the planet before it became obvious that they were in for a rough ride. Clouds raced along at high speeds in the upper atmosphere, lit by violent arcs of electricity. Bud carefully watched the discharges and attempted to fly around them. “It looks like they’re concentrated in a few areas,” he noted aloud.

When the ship entered the atmosphere Bud began watching the wind current data on the console. He picked a jet stream and carefully slid the shuttlecraft into it. “We’re going to ride with the currents for a while, Tom. Trying to fight these winds is suicide. We’ll get to the lake, but it may take us some time.”

Tom smiled. “That’s fine, Bud. As long as we get there in one piece I won’t have any complaints. Just do what you need to do.”

As the ship descended into the clouds their view of the planet became obscured. The utter blackness that now surrounded them was occasionally illuminated by distant flashes of energy. Lightning sent ripples of light through the clouds, revealing a stream of rapidly moving particles that swirled around them. The stars were quickly hidden from view, replaced by a random blue glow that pulsed in the sky.

“The repelatron stabilizers are really helping,” Bud said. “I like the way the ship tries to automatically compensate for sudden changes in the wind.”

Tom nodded. His attention was fixed on the console that displayed their location. “We’re still pretty high,” he said.

“The winds near the surface are awful, Tom. Up here it’s not too bad. I’m going to stay at a high altitude until we approach the sea, and then plunge down into the ocean.”

“Plunge?” Tom asked.

“It’ll get interesting, Tom. I just hope this craft is built out of sturdy stuff! I’ll do what I can to slow us down, but we could end up hitting the water pretty fast.”

As they drew near the methane lake Bud began taking the ship out of the upper atmosphere. When they got below 10,000 feet the ship suddenly started moving erratically. Violent gusts of superfast wind tore at the ship, tossing it around like a feather in a tornado. Tom grabbed the sides of his chair and tried to hold himself still. Bud fought desperately with the ship, attempting to regain a measure of control.

Below them the black, tortured surface of the planet stretched endlessly for miles. In the distance Tom could see glimpses of an active volcano that was spewing lava into the utterly black sky. A few rivers of molten rock emitted an eerie red light that illuminated small portions of the ground. Above them streaks of lightning continuously flashed across the sky, sending booming waves of thunder that almost deafened the ship’s passengers. Occasionally a bolt of lightning would hit the ship, but the tomasite coating prevented it from doing any damage.

Tom watched the sea approach far too rapidly for comfort. “Bud – ”

“I’m on it, Tom!” he replied tersely. Bud pushed the repelatrons to their limit in an attempt to stop the Extrasolar I from plowing into the ocean. “Tom!” he shouted.

It was too late. The shuttlecraft slammed into the methane lake at blinding speed!

“The Challenger is in your hands,” Tom said to James Nathan. “I’m going downstairs to my lab. Let me know if you see any signs of trouble.”

James nodded. “Will do, sir.”

“I reckon I’ll be headin’ down to my galley,” Chow announced. “Gotta rustle up some vittles for lunch! Mebbe this’ll be a great time to introduce y’all to my famous rattlesnake stew.”

Tom gasped in surprise. “You actually brought rattlesnakes on board the ship?”

Chow grinned. “Now lookee here, Tom. All these years I’ve been tellin’ you about my most famous dish, and you ain’t never tried it once! You gotta be a bit more open-minded. You might like it!”

“He does have a captive audience,” Bud pointed out. “I don’t see any other restaurants around here.”

Tom looked at Chow with a slight grin on his face. “Just remember, Chow, it’s a long walk home! This might not be a good time to irritate the crew. I don’t think they have taxis where we’re going.”

As Chow headed down to his galley Bud grabbed Tom by the shoulder. “Hey – I’m coming with you, genius boy. I’m not about to spend hours sitting up here twiddling my thumbs!”

“Even if I got you a captain’s chair?” Tom asked innocently.

Bud shook his head. “Only if I can use it for napping.”

“Then come with me, Bud. I’ve got an idea for another invention!”

Tom took the elevator to his private laboratory and was soon unpacking boxes of electronic parts. Bud grabbed a chair, brought it over to the workbench, and sat down. “So what’s the idea this time, genius boy?”

“Well, Bud, I’ve been thinking. Twice now we’ve been attacked by machines that were cloaked with holograms. Wouldn’t be nice if there was a way we could detect them before they nearly killed us?”

Bud nodded. “I could see some usefulness there. But how are you going to catch them?”

Tom took a pencil out of his shirt pocket and grabbed a piece of paper. “I’m not exactly sure yet. I was able to spot the robot by the shadow it cast, but there’s got to be a better way to do it. Maybe I could hit it with some sort of scanning beam…” His voice trailed off, and he began rapidly sketching a prototype out on paper.

An hour later he put his pencil back into his pocket. “That should do it,” he said quietly.

“Already?” Bud said. He looked at the stack of notes on the desk with amazement. “Wow! I must have dozed off somewhere around page three. So how does it work?”

“It’s pretty simple!” Tom said. “All it does is fire a series of brief, high-intensity pulses at the target. These pulses will strike the target and reflect off of it, allowing us to create a picture of what is really looks like.”

“So it’s kind of like radar! I get it. But say, couldn’t you just x-ray the thing?”

“X-rays go right through the object, Bud. That’s why you need film on the other side to create a picture. What we need is something that can go right through the hologram but reflect off of the object underneath.”

“Makes sense. Is this something we can build right here?”

Tom nodded. “I think so. It uses a pretty standard set of equipment – I don’t think there’s anything exotic here. I’ve even got some components we can use to make the display.” Tom began sifting through the parts scattered on his workbench, and he and Bud got to work. Over the next several hours the invention began taking shape.

“It kind of looks like a futuristic space weapon,” Bud said at last. The body of the device was a long chamber that generated and emitted the pulses. A small dish at the top of the chamber received the reflected pulses, and a tiny solar battery provided the necessary energy. At the back of the machine was a small monitor that would display the assembled image.

Tom nodded with satisfaction. “All we’ll have to do is switch it on and begin scanning. This should even work at night! It’ll be quite effective.”

Bud snapped his fingers. “That reminds me! Couldn’t we just use infrared technology for this? Surely you’ve got some night-vision goggles on board that would work just fine.”

“I don’t think that would help – not in this case, anyway. Remember, Bud, we’re scanning for machines, not people. Given the science involved it’s quite likely that these robots already mask their IR signature. Plus, the surface temperature on Thanatos is probably hundreds of degrees below zero. There’s going to be extremely little infrared energy going around. It’ll be trivial for to them to hide in the cold.”

“So you think we’re going to run into opposition once we get there?”

Tom shrugged. “It’s possible. Honestly, though, we have no idea what’s going on. It’s best to be prepared for anything.”

Bud eyed the device on the workbench. “Is there a way we can test it?”

Tom nodded. “I’ve got a telejector on board. We can use it to cast an image around an object and then see if this thing works.”

Chow’s voice suddenly thundered over the ship’s intercom. “It’s lunchtime, y’all! Come and get it!”

Tom and Bud exchanged glances as they remembered their earlier conversation with the cook. “You don’t really think he – ” Bud began.

Tom shook his head. “Surely not! He must have been joking. Where would he even get rattlesnakes, anyway?”

Tom’s hunch proved to be correct. When they entered the ship’s dining room they discovered that the cook had provided the crew with a delicious array of fruits, vegetables, and sandwiches. There was nothing strange or exotic in sight. Tom took his seat and began devouring a turkey sandwich, but Bud was unable to resist needling the cook. He ambled up to the good-natured Texan and caught his attention. “Were you fresh out of rattlers?” Bud asked, while attempting to stifle a grin.

Chow gave Bud an innocent smile. “Y’know, come to think of it, mebbe I’ve got one or two left. I can fix one of ’em for ya if you’d like – it wouldn’t be no trouble at all.”

Bud stepped back in alarm. “Oh no, no no no no no. Ham is fine, Chow. Thanks.”

Tom laughed as his friend grabbed a tray and sat down beside him. “You did ask,” Tom said.

“Remind me not to next time, will you?”

“Anything you say, fly boy. What are friends for?”

After lunch, the two walked back to the lab. “I think we’re about ready for testing,” Tom announced, as he swiped his ID card in the door. The door unlocked and the two young men stepped inside.

Tom gasped in amazement when he saw the state of his workbench. “Bud – the detector is gone!”

“It can’t be!” his friend protested. “We left it right there not an hour ago. Where could it have gone?”

Tom and Bud quickly searched the lab but were unable to find the invention. “It’s definitely missing,” Tom said glumly.

“Who would have taken it?” Bud asked. “For that matter, who could have taken it? The lab was locked! There aren’t many people who can get in.”

“Only you, me, and Dad have access. No, Bud, I don’t blame the crew for this one. I hand-picked all of them, and would trust them with my life. Most of them have worked for Swift Enterprises since I was a kid. I think we have an intruder on board!”

Bud frowned. “Another evil killer robot on the loose, eh? Then leave it to me, skipper.” Bud walked over to the intercom and contacted James, explaining that someone had broken into Tom’s lab and giving orders to begin a ship-wide search for the perpetrator. Tom had brought along a dozen EMP emitters, and they were evenly distributed among the search party. Over the several hours Bud led a large contingent of the crew on a detailed search of the ship. Despite their efforts, however, they were unable to locate anyone.

When Bud reported the results of the search to Tom he merely nodded. “I can’t say I’m surprised! Without some sort of detector it’s almost impossible to spot those robots.”

“So you think that your friends are back at work?”

“Why not? We both know how much they wanted to stop me from getting the device on Thanatos. It would’ve been easy for one of them to have sneaked on board the ship while we were getting ready to launch.”

“But how did it get inside the lab?”

“Depending on the kind of cloaking technology it has, it could have walked in with us earlier this morning and been in here the whole time. If it was in here it would definitely have overheard what we were doing and realized the potential threat. Then, when we left for lunch, it simply pocketed the detector and walked right out the door.”

Bud shivered. “It gives me the creeps to think of one of those monsters being in here with us all morning.”

“That’s what doesn’t make any sense to me! Why stop at stealing the detector, Bud? There are a thousand things a robot like that could have done that would have prevented us from ever leaving Fearing Island – or worse. Why stoop to petty theft?”

Bud shook his head. “I just don’t know, skipper. Do you think you can replace the detector?”

Tom frowned. “I don’t really have the time, Bud. We’re going to be reaching the exoplanet shortly, and once we get there I’m going to have my hands full. I think we’re just going to have to do without it.”

Dejected, the two returned to the control room. As soon as Tom walked in James Nathan spoke up. “We should be arriving in less than thirty minutes, sir,” he said.

Tom nodded and walked over to the control terminal for the kronolator, where he sat down. “The readings look pretty stable,” he said at last.

His father nodded. “I haven’t had any trouble out of the fusion reactor either. They seem to work pretty well together, Son.”

Tom smiled. “We make a great team, Dad. The only problem I see with my invention is that it uses an awful lot of fuel. The Challenger can only make a few hops from Earth to Thanatos before we’ll need to restock the reactor. It’s burning through helium 3 like it’s going out of style.”

“Fortunately, Son, right now we only need to make this one trip. After this mission is over we will have plenty of time to refine the invention. You can’t expect the first model to be perfect.”

When they were just a few minutes away from the planet Chow ambled up to the control deck. “Are we there yet, pardner?” he asked Tom.

“We’ll be there soon,” Tom promised.

As the final minutes of the voyage ticked by anticipation began to mount. Bud counted down the final seconds. “Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, – ”

He was suddenly interrupted by a brilliant flash of white light. Sirens went off when the ship unexpectedly dropped back into normal space, and the power to the control deck flickered. Outside the window the crew could see stars, but no planet.

“Not again!” Tom said. He scanned the terminal in front of him and became puzzled. “It looks like the unit cut out early, even though it still had plenty of power. Dad?”

His father shook his head. “I’m not seeing any fluctuations on my end. For some reason the kronolator just quit drawing power.”

James Nathan spoke up. “We’re showing some intense spatial anomalies, skipper,” he said. “What are your orders?”

“What in tarnation does that mean?” Chow asked, perplexed.

“It means we’re in deep trouble,” Bud explained. “History-making, never-before-seen levels of trouble, actually.”

Tom stepped over to another terminal and examined the data. “I’m seeing the presence of an incredibly intense magnetic field. There are also signs of spatial buckling.”

“How bad is it?” Bud asked.

“I’m not sure,” Tom said slowly. “Space and time are kind of scrunched up here. It’s as if spacetime is being warped by an intensely strong gravitational field, only there’s no object here to do the warping. I see all the signs of a black hole, but there is no black hole. I don’t get it.”

Tom’s father spoke up. “That could explain the emergency. The kronolator may not be able to operate under these space-time circumstances, so it simply shut down.”

“Could be,” Tom Jr. agreed. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. Something really bad happened here.”

Bud shook his head. “Imagine coming across something weird and unexpected while on your very first interstellar journey. If that doesn’t beat all!”

Tom smiled ruefully. “I can’t say it’s the first time, Bud! I guess it comes with the territory. James, are you getting reports of any actual damage to the ship?”

“No, sir. All systems appear to be fully functional.”

“That’s what I thought. How far away are we from the planet?”

James consulted with the navigator. “If we use only the repelatron drive, sir, we can reach it in about ten minutes.”

“That’s not bad. Let’s go in, then. Silence the alarm, but keep an eye on things.”

The crew kept a careful watch on the ship as the extrasolar planet drew closer. Bud could see that Tom was very unhappy with the readings he was getting on the ship’s sensors. He at last spoke up. “What’s eating you, skipper?”

“This place is a mess,” Tom replied. “I’m reading wildly fluctuating levels of radiation, bizarre subatomic particles, gravity anomalies – you name it.”

“Land sakes alive!” Chow exclaimed. “That sounds mighty bad, Tom. It ain’t gonna kill us, is it?”

Tom shook his head. “Probably not today, Chow. The tomasite coating on the ship should protect us. Exploring the planet could be tricky, though. These readings are getting worse the closer we get to Thanatos.”

The planet in question was soon visible outside the main window of the control deck.

“Woah,” Bud said. “We’re not really going to land there, are we?”

In the complete blackness of deep space the planet would have ordinarily been impossible to see, but its upper atmosphere was lit by unceasing electrical storms. Enormous arcs of brilliant blue and white light flew across the planet at incredible speeds, giving the world an eerie, almost haunted glow. Violent storms raged over the planet’s surface and made it impossible to see the ground.

“Surface wind speeds are exceeding 300 mph in some places,” Tom’s father noted. “Its gravity is twice that of Earth, and its magnetic field is more than fifty times stronger.”

Tom shook his head in wonder. “But the planet is only half the size of Earth! What could it possibly be made of?”

His father continued. “Temperatures seem stable around 300 degrees below zero. The atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and methane. Radiation levels are quite high. Thanatos is actually an energy source, Tom. It’s an amazing scientific discovery!”

Bud nodded. “It’s probably also the most dangerous planet this side of the Milky Way. You sure can pick ’em, Tom!”

“What are your orders, sir?” James asked.

Tom gazed through the window at the planet for a few moments. A smile slowly crept onto his face. “Are you ready for an adventure?” he asked aloud.

“We’re right behind you, Tom,” Bud said. “Lead the way!”

“Then let’s do a little exploring,” Tom replied.

Tom Swift scrambled to his feet after being knocked across the room by the explosion. “Is everyone all right?” he yelled. A chorus of voices answered him. There were a few bruises and sprains, but no one appeared to be seriously injured. Tom then returned to the terminal and tried to determine the exact location of the fire.

Meanwhile, James Nathan killed the power to the kronolator, and the ship dropped back into normal space. Outside the crew could see a host of stars, but no planets.

“The fire is on the third level, just down the corridor from the kronolator,” Tom shouted. “Let’s go!” Crewmembers raced to the staircase and started descending to the level of the blaze, with Tom and Bud leading the way. When they finally reached the right hallway, however, a raging inferno blocked their path!

“I thought this ship had a sprinkler system,” Bud shouted over the roar of the fire.

“It’ll take more than that to put out this blaze!” Tom replied. “I’ve got an idea.”

As the crew raced to retrieve fire extinguishers, Tom got on the ship’s intercom system and asked everyone to vacate that level of the ship. After receiving word that the level had been safely evacuated Tom it and then opened the hangar doors. The level’s remaining air was immediately sucked into space, which extinguished the fire.

Tom sighed with relief. “I’m glad we put our new equipment in repurposed hangars! If this fire had broken out anywhere else we would have had a real problem on our hands, and there’s no telling how many people might have been injured. The ship’s fire fighting system was just not built to handle this fierce a blaze. It needs a serious design review.”

Tom re-sealed the third level and pumped oxygen back into the hallway. Once that process had completed and the temperatures had returned to acceptable levels he opened the doors and allowed the crew to access the area.

Bud whistled. “It looks pretty bad, skipper.” Tom had to agree. The hallway looked like a war zone. The fire had gutted nearly everything in sight. Most of the walls had been destroyed, and all that remained of the floors was the metal safety layer that separated the ship’s decks. The fire had swept through more than a dozen rooms and completely destroyed their contents.

“A few more feet and it would have reached the room with the kronolator,” Tom said thoughtfully. “The fire followed the power lines and was headed in that direction.”

“Did it damage the fusion reactor?” Bud asked.

Tom shook his head. “It’s located on the floor below this one. The fire didn’t touch it.”

As the crew cleaned up the debris Tom quickly located the source of the problem. “Do you remember the superconducting wires we installed the other day, Bud?” he asked.

His friend nodded. “I think it took us all day to run those things from the reactor to the kronolator. They’re big and heavy, and all that shielding was a real pain to work with.”

Tom nodded. “That shielding has a purpose, Bud. In order to become a superconductor the wires have to be cooled to very low temperatures. The enormous shielding around the wires carries the coolant that makes that possible. The fire happened because one of the wires sprung a pinhole leak, which allowed the coolant to seep out. This dramatically raised the temperature in the wires and reduced their ability to carry power. The result was a raging inferno. The explosion happened because the fire spread to one of our junction boxes, which then ignited and blew out half the level.”

“I get it, Tom. So what are we going to do?”

“Going forward, I can coat the wire cases in tomasite. That should keep leaks from happening again, and also provide a bit of extra durability. Unfortunately for us, though, this whole section of the ship is gutted, and I don’t have the necessary equipment on board to fix it. We’ll have to turn around and head back to Fearing for repairs, and try the test again another day.”

“At least we made it this far,” Bud said. “The trip hasn’t been a total loss.”

“That’s the sad part, Bud! The reactor and the kronolator worked just fine – even better than I’d hoped. It’s the wiring that failed us. The good news is that’s easily fixable. In a couple days we’ll be out here again!”

The Challenger had not made it far from the Moon before the incident happened, but it still took almost twelve hours to return to Earth using the much-slower repelatron drive. When the ship landed at the spaceport Tom gave orders to have it repaired and its wiring coated with tomasite.

Two days later, the ship was ready for another test run. Tom’s father had remained at Fearing Island while the repairs were completed, as had Chow. This time when the ship was launched Tom gave orders to have it taken directly to Mars.

“I’ve taken the precaution of having extra supplies brought on board just in case something happens again,” Tom told his friends. “If we get to Mars and have another fire I don’t want to take a week to get back.”

“You and me both, boss,” Chow replied.

When the Challenger got up to speed James Nathan alerted Tom, who engaged the kronolator. This time the vessel engaged the drive without incident. A minute later it dropped back into normal space. Outside the control room the crew could see the planet Mars!

Tom smiled. “Welcome to the red planet, gentlemen!”

Bud spoke up. “It looks like you’ve got a message coming in!”

Tom walked over to the console and saw that space symbols were being beamed to them from the planet below. “It looks like our friends are sending us a message of congratulation! They must have been monitoring our journey.” Tom sent them back a quick message of thanks and asked them how they were doing. Their response concerned him greatly.

“They claim they are dying, Dad!” he said grimly. “They say they don’t have much time left.”

Tom’s father read the message and nodded. “That is consistent with their earlier communications. We need to find out the truth quickly.”

Tom agreed. “Since this test run was successful I don’t see why we can’t leave for Thanatos tomorrow morning. We’ll need to make sure that we have adequate supplies, but that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I agree, Son. Time is running out.”

The Challenger was brought back to Earth without incident, and Tom spent the remainder of the day making all the last-minute preparations necessary for the journey. Hank Sterling flew a supply of freshly-made repela-suits to Fearing to be placed on board the ship, and Chow made sure that the galley was well stocked.

“If somethin’ goes wrong it’s a mighty long walk home, boss,” Chow explained. “I ain’t aimin’ to be hungry on this trip. Besides, we’ve got a lot o’ mouths to feed.”

Tom looked at the crates of food the cook was bringing on board the ship and nodded in approval. “Good thinking, Chow. We’ll be on our own out there. Anything we don’t bring we just won’t be able to have.”

“Why don’t you pack along one o’ those matter-makers of yours?” Chow asked. He was referring to Tom’s space solartron, which was able to convert sunlight into any form of matter.

Tom laughed. “The solartron is miles across, Chow! There’s no way I could fit one on board. I’m afraid it will have to stay out in space.”

It took the entire day to finish loading the ship with supplies. By nightfall Tom was satisfied that nothing had been overlooked, and scheduled the launch for 0800 hours the next morning.

The remainder of Tom’s family flew to the island that evening so they could be there to send the Challenger off on its mission. Chow prepared an enormous dinner for all of them, and they laughed and talked well into the night. Present at the dinner were Tom’s parents, Tom Sr. and Mary Swift; Tom’s sister Sandra and her best friend Phyllis Newton; and Bud Barclay. Even Ned Newton had flown in from California for the occasion.

“This is a historic moment, Tom,” Ned announced. “Never before has any private individual spent so much money in such a short amount of time.”

Tom Sr. shook his head and smiled. “He treated me the same way, Son. You should have heard him complain when I was inventing the television.”

“You nearly bankrupted the company!” Ned protested.

“Spoken like a true banker,” Tom Sr. replied. “I’m pretty sure that happened to be one of most profitable inventions ever.”

“It did turn out all right in the end,” Ned admitted, smiling. Ned Newton and Tom Sr. had been best friends for decades. In their youth they had founded Swift Enterprises and had many adventures.

Bud spoke up. “This really is a special occasion, Tom. You’re about to make the trip of a lifetime! You should say something memorable about boldly going to unvisited places, or something like that.”

“Try checking the television, Bud,” Sandy said. “I bet they’d have just the phrase for you! It’s hard to find a better source of overdramatic lines.”

“One of these days I’ll get a TV installed in my office,” Tom promised. “Is there anything good on it?”

“I didn’t say that,” Sandy replied. Tom shook his head and smiled.

Tom’s mother spoke up. “We’re all very proud of you,” she said quietly. “I know you’ll be careful, but I won’t say I’m not going to be worried about you.”

“Do come back in one piece, Tom,” Phyl said. Tom detected a worried note in her voice.

“We’ll be fine,” Tom said reassuringly.

“I know, Tom,” she said hesitantly. “But you’ll be so far away, and you’re going to such a dangerous place. If anything should happen – ”

Sandy interrupted her friend. “If anything happens we’ll go after them, Phyl. One way or another they will be coming home!”

“I’ll leave the keys for the Cosmotron Express in my desk,” Tom said teasingly.

“We will be in constant communication with Fearing,” Tom’s father pointed out. “The private ear system can easily span the distance between Earth and Thanatos. If something goes wrong we’ll be in touch.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it, girls,” Bud said. “After all, danger is Tom’s middle name! By now risking his life in places only a fool would go is old hat to him. I think he’s even got a patent on it.”

Tom shook his head. “You’re not helping me here, Bud!”

After the party had come to an end, everyone headed off bed. Before Tom turned in, however, he took his father aside to speak with him privately. “Have you had any more thoughts about what we’ll find on Thanatos?” he asked.

Tom’s father nodded. “Just this. Two different parties have asked you to do two different things with an alien device on that planet. Whatever that machine may be, it clearly has great power. My hunch is that if you can learn the true purpose of that device then you will know who you can trust.”

“It sounds like it’s been there for ages. It may not even exist anymore!”

“That is a possibility, Son. If that’s true then all of this becomes a moot point. But remember, both parties that have contacted you have acted as if the machine is still there. Whatever the truth may be, someone must have reason to believe it still exists. No, I think you’ll find it – and when you do, the real adventure will just be starting.”

Early the next morning the crew entered the Challenger and prepared for launch. As the chief flight officer James Nathan made the final checks, Tom told his family goodbye.

“Don’t forget to write, Tom,” Phyl said.

Tom laughed. “We’ll be home before you know it.”

“I don’t think the postal service delivers mail that far,” Bud said. “We may have to wait until we get back home to send you a postcard.”

“You’re awful,” Sandy protested.

Tom nodded in agreement. “This is what I have to put up with every day,” he said teasingly.

“You will be careful?” Mary Swift asked her husband. Tom’s father nodded. “We’re taking every precaution, dear. Don’t worry about us.”

“We are ready for departure, sir,” James Nathan announced.

Ned Newton bade Tom’s father farewell and then led the group back to the elevator and off the ship. Once they had cleared the launchpad Tom gave the order to depart.

As the ship silently left Fearing behind Chow spoke up. “How’s this gonna work, boss? Are we just gonna zip right there lickety-split?”

Tom shook his head. “Not this time, Chow. Thanatos is so far away that we’re going to have to make the trip in stages. Once we get up to speed we’ll engage the drive for about an hour. We’ll then check our position, give the kronolator’s capacitors a chance to recharge, and then make another jump. It’ll take us a total of six jumps to get there. The total flight time should be about nine hours.”

“Will there be an in-flight movie today?” Bud asked innocently.

“Only in first-class,” Tom quipped. “You, however, are traveling in the baggage compartment.”

“Ouch,” Bud winced.

Tom’s father grinned. “I’ll stay up here and keep an eye on the reactor. I’m not expecting any problems, but it will keep me occupied.”

James spoke up. “We are ready for the first leg of the journey, skipper.”

Tom nodded. He walked over to his control terminal, sat down, and read the numbers on the display. After he was satisfied that everything was in order he flipped the switch that engaged the kronolator. The room was filled with a brilliant white light – and they were off!

The next few days were filled with a flurry of activity. Tom Swift rapidly completed the final adjustments to the kronolator and gave Arv Hanson the blueprints, who promised Tom a production version of the unit by the end of the week. With that in the pipeline Tom began laying the groundwork for his first test flight.

Tom and Bud spent several hours mapping out the details in Tom’s private office. “As soon as the kronolator is built we’re going to fly it down to Fearing Island and install it on the Challenger,” Tom said. Fearing Island was located just off the East Coast and been given to Swift Enterprises by the United States government. Over the years it had served as the Swifts’ primary launching facility, as well as the construction yard for Tom’s fleet of spaceships.

“Are you going to use the Sky Queen to get it there?” Bud asked, referring to Tom’s giant nuclear-powered aircraft.

Tom nodded. “The production kronolator that Arv is building is going to be quite a bit larger than the model I’ve got in my lab. The Sky Queen is one of the only planes we’ve got that can carry that large a payload.”

“So what are your plans for testing your new invention?”

“I think we should test it in stages, Bud. We’ll start by flying it from Fearing to the Outpost in Space, using the Challenger‘s new fusion reactor as its energy source. Once we’ve verified that piece of the ship we’ll use the kronolator to fly to the Moon, and from there on to Mars.”

Bud nodded. “Say, skipper, have you ever thought of renaming your Outpost in Space to something a little more gripping? Why not call it the sky wheel?”

Tom blanched. “The sky wheel, Bud? Are you kidding? First off, it’s not in the sky, it’s in space. Second, it’s not a wheel. It doesn’t even remotely look like a wheel! It’s an outpost, and it’s in space. Who would even think of calling it a ‘sky wheel’?”

His friend shrugged. “Probably some editor somewhere. You’re right, Tom – don’t worry about it. You’re fine.”

Tom turned his attention back to the plans laid out on his desk. “I know for sure that Chow wants to come along on our test run, and I think Dad would like to be there too so he can monitor the performance of his fusion reactor. We’ll bring along a small crew as well. If all goes as planned it’ll just be a short day trip. We should be back by nightfall!”

“I can hardly wait!” Bud said excitedly. “Are you going to tell your space friends that we’re coming?”

Tom shook his head. “I’ll leave that as a surprise. Once we’re in orbit around Mars I’ll give them a call and let them know that we’re ready to leave on the expedition. I’m sure they’ll notice our presence in orbit!”

Bud smiled. “It’ll probably come as quite a shock! I knew you could do it, Tom. But, say, do you really think that your space friends are still out there?”

Tom shrugged. “I don’t know what to think, Bud. I’m trying to not dwell on it until I can get out to the extrasolar planet and see for myself. Dad’s right – the stakes are too high for me to just guess and hope for the best.”

“You know, Tom, we’ve got to quit calling it the ‘extrasolar planet’. There has to be some better name we can use.”

“If you even mention calling it the ‘City in the Stars’ I’ll throw something at you,” Tom warned. “I’m open to hearing honest naming suggestions, but you’ve been ridiculous lately! I don’t know what’s gotten into you. Incidentally, you never did tell me what inventions of mine you thought lacked aesthetic appeal.”

Bud looked embarrassed. “Well, Tom, I hate to mention it, but did you notice that Uncle Ned had your atomicar completely remodeled before it was commercially released? I think one car magazine called your original design the ‘Edsel of the Skies’.”

“Now that’s not my fault, Bud! The original concept was based on a sketch by Orton Throme, remember? I had nothing to do with it!”

“The design for the polar-ray dynasphere was one-hundred-percent yours, though, buddy,” Bud retorted. “Orton didn’t get anywhere near that baby.”

“That was a highly functional design! It fulfilled its purpose admirably. I never intended it for commercial distribution!”

Tom and Bud looked at each other, and then both burst out laughing. “Point taken,” Tom said.

“Agreed,” Bud replied. “But what are we going to call this new planet?”

“Hmmm. Well, people did used to live there, Bud. I’m sure it must already have a name.”

“That’s no fun,” Bud replied. “How about ‘Bartonia’ in honor of your grandfather?”

“We already named a piece of space real-estate after Barton Swift,” Tom said. “How quickly some of us forget!”

“Oops, you’re right,” Bud said. “Ok. What about Thanatos? In Greek mythology he was – ”

Tom interrupted him. “I’m all read up on my mythology, Bud. Thanatos it is! And if anyone doesn’t like it I’ll be sure to give them your number.”

Arv Hanson was better than his word and had Tom’s kronolator ready for shipping by mid-week. Elated, Tom had it loaded on board the Sky Queen and was soon flying it to Fearing Island. Bud came with him on the trip and acted as his co-pilot.

“Chow and the rest of the group will join us in a few days,” Tom explained, as he flew the giant triple-decker aircraft out over the Atlantic. “It’ll take some time to install the kronolator.”

“I’m right with you, skipper. You know, it’s amazing how far we’ve come! It seems like only yesterday we were strapping into our seats on the Star Spear, about to head into space for the first time.”

Tom nodded, remembering their first orbital journey. “It sure does! And here we are, about to become the first humans to ever leave the solar system. How long ago was that trip, anyway?”

Bud shrugged. “Beats me! I never was very good with calendars.”

An hour later, Tom landed his plane on Fearing Island. With the help of the base staff he quickly unloaded his invention and moved it into the Challenger. A large hangar had been cleared out in the center of the giant spacecraft, and it was there that Tom was going to install his device.

Bud was shocked at the size of the kronolator. “You weren’t kidding about this thing, were you, boss?” The giant machine was fully three times as large as its predecessor, and at thirty feet high it towered over the two young men. On the outside the device was coated with a smooth, polished layer of bronze, dotted occasionally with access panels, extremal connectors, and a variety of switches. Bud could see the access points where the giant power cables would be connected.

Tom eyed the device thoughtfully. “It takes up a lot of space, but we’ve done about all the miniaturization we can. Fortunately we built a lot of cargo capacity into the ship so we’re not hurting for room.”

“Are you going to outfit all of your ships with one of these gadgets?”

Tom shrugged. “I might. Honestly, I haven’t really thought about it. So far it hasn’t even been field tested! It’s a bit premature to think about mass-producing it.”

“Just out of curiosity, how much does one of these things cost?”

Tom looked at his best friend and laughed. “Bud, if you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Just be glad Uncle Ned had a good year! Now are you ready to help me get this thing working?”

Bud smiled. “That’s my favorite part! You give the orders and I’ll make it happen. Where do we start?”

With Bud’s help, the two of them were able to get the kronolator installed in record time. By the following week Tom was able to call his father and tell him that everything was ready for the big test. The next morning he and Chow Winkler flew to Fearing Island in a private jet. Tom and Bud met them at the airfield.

“Well brand my stars, pardner, but I’m rarin’ to go!” Chow exclaimed, as soon as he got off the plane.

Tom grinned. “You and me both, Chow! Is anyone else coming?”

Tom Sr. shook his head. “The rest of the family will be here when we leave for Thanatos, of course, but since this is just a trial run they decided to stay home. Your mother and sister did wish you the best of luck, though.”

“So you really are coming with us to Thanatos, Dad?” Tom Jr. asked.

“That seemed to be a wise course of action,” Tom Sr. replied. “You are about to take an untried piece of technology further than any man has ever been from our home world. In the event that something goes wrong you may need all the help you can get. Besides,” he said, his eyes twinkling, “I think it would be fun! I haven’t gone on a trip like this in years.”

“You’re more than welcome, Dad.” Tom was glad that his father would be joining them. Not only did he value his expertise, but they enjoyed spending time together – something that was becoming increasingly difficult to do as Tom got older.

The four of them got into a small electric runabout, and Bud drove them over to the landing pad where the Challenger was waiting for liftoff. The giant spaceship towered far overhead and glittered with a golden sheen in the morning sun. Tom had designed it to take full advantage of his repelatron lifting technology. The box-like main section of the craft was centered in the middle of three metal rails, each positioned along a different axis and connected in such a way as to allow the main section to rotate freely in the center. Repelatron dishes were mounted on the rails at strategic points and could move along them in order to provide a repulsive force in any direction.

“I still say it looks like a giant orange gyroscope,” Bud said.

Tom nodded. “Isn’t it great? I love gyroscopes! Where would we be without them?”

Chow shot Tom a peculiar look, but said nothing.

“What size crew are you bringing, Son?” his father asked.

“I think we could run the ship ourselves, but I’m bringing along a full crew, just in case. We’re scheduled to lift off in about thirty minutes.”

After reaching the spaceship they parked the runabout and walked toward the ship. Once they were standing underneath it Tom removed a control device from his pocket and pressed a button. An elevator immediately descended from the flight deck to the bottom of the vessel, where the group entered it and rode it into the ship’s interior. The four men then made their way to the control room, where the crew was busy making last-minute system checks.

“Why don’t you have a captain’s chair up here, Tom?” Bud asked.

Tom scratched his head. “I never really thought about it, Bud. What would I do with one?”

“You could sit in it and give orders! How can you possibly say ‘Ahead, warp factor one’ if you don’t have the proper chair?”

Tom sat down in a nearby chair and shook his head. “First, Bud, going only one times the speed of light would be far too slow. We don’t have three centuries to get to Thanatos! Second, the gravity on this ship is kept at 1 G at all times. You don’t need to strap in, and you don’t need to sit in any particular place. Any chair will do. You could even stand if you wanted!”

Bud shook his head. “I still say you need your own chair.”

Tom shrugged. “My favorite seating accommodation consists of a wooden stool at a workbench, but that’s just me. I’ll take that over a captain’s chair any day.”

Tom Sr. smiled. “I’ll second you on that, Son.”

At precisely 0700 hours, crewman James Nathan reported to Tom Jr. “Everything is ready for liftoff, sir. The Outpost in Space has been notified of our intended arrival time.”

Tom nodded graciously. “Then take us up, James. And thanks.”

James returned to his post. Almost imperceptibly, the craft rose off the ground and soared into the sky. In the distance they could hear the faint hum of the repelatrons, but other than that the launch was completely silent.

Tom’s father was standing behind an operator, watching the readouts from the fusion reactor. “Everything looks good so far,” he reported.

Chow settled back in his chair and relaxed. “Now this is what I call a smooth ride,” he said.

Like clockwork, the spacecraft reached the Outpost exactly on time. Tom’s giant silver space station dwarfed the Challenger. It was composed of twelve massive cylindrical sections, each of which were connected at one end to a central circular hub. The sections were a hive of activity, and were covered with antenna and radar dishes. The crew could see several vessels entering and leaving the vicinity. Most of these were cargo vessels, busy ferrying the solar batteries that were manufactured at the station down to Earth.

Bud nudged Tom Sr. “Don’t you think it looks like a sky wheel?” he asked.

“Stow it, Bud,” Tom Jr. warned.

Bud stifled a laugh. “Anything you say, boss.”

Tom looked over the control terminals with satisfaction. “So far everything seems to check out,” he announced.

His father nodded. “I haven’t seen any sign of trouble with the power source.”

“Then let’s attempt the next leg of the journey.” Tom Jr. walked over to a control terminal and sat down. After carefully reading the figures he relayed a series of instructions to the flight commander. Once he was satisfied he turned to his friends to explain what was going on.

“I’ve directed the crew to get us up to 30,000 miles per hour, which will take about another ten minutes. Once we hit that mark I’ll engage the kronolator, which should take us to the Moon in less than a second. After we reach the Moon we’ll orbit it long enough to make sure that nothing went wrong and then we’ll try for Mars.”

“Let’s do it!” Bud said enthusiastically.

As the ship crept toward the mark Tom watched the Challenger like a hawk. He was nervous, but felt confident that the system would work as he intended. “It’s just got to work!” he thought. “So many lives are depending on it. I’ve got to find out what’s really going on while there’s still time to do something about it!”

A moment later James Nathan approached him. “We’re ready, sir,” he said.

Tom nodded. He carefully typed in a series of figures into the terminal and then flipped a switch. As he did so, the control room was suddenly filled with a brilliant white light. A second later the light disappeared. Outside the window Tom saw the lunar surface!

The crew broke into cheers. Tom Sr. clapped his son on the back. “Well done!” he said.

“I think you’ve just broken an all-time speed record!” Bud chimed in.

Chow looked out the window in amazement. “Well if that don’t beat all.”

Tom held up his hand. “I’m going to run a few system checks before I get too excited, guys. But thanks!”

The system tests bore out what Tom had hoped. Everything was operating normally. Tom breathed a huge sigh of relief and sat back down at the console.

“James, take us out of orbit, and chart us on a course to Mars. Bring us up to 150,000 miles per hour, and notify me when we’ve reached that speed.” James nodded, and proceeded to carry out the instructions.

Tom turned around and smiled. “We’ve got about ten minutes before we’re ready. Then – we’ll see!”

Bud smiled. “This is going to be great! After all, what’s the worse thing that could happen?”

Tom stopped and looked thoughtfully into the distance. “Well, if – ”

“Never mind,” Bud said quickly. “Forget I asked.”

Right on schedule, James announced that they had reached their target velocity. Tom began typing into the terminal in front of him.

“How long will we be engaging this time?” Tom Sr. asked.

“About a minute,” his son replied. “We could go faster, but I don’t want to push it on our first trial run.”

Tom Sr. nodded, and gazed calmly out the window. Tom raised his hand over the switch. “Here goes nothing, guys,” he said. He flicked the switch.

Once again, the cabin was filled with a brilliant white light. This time, though, the light slowly faded. Outside the crew could only see blackness. There was not a star in sight.

Chow looked at Tom curiously. “Where did the stars go, boss?”

“It’s an effect of the kronolator,” Tom explained. “You can’t see them when we’re in transit. They’ll be back when it goes off.”

Tom was watching the seconds tick down when suddenly an alarm went off. “We’ve got trouble, skipper!” a crewman yelled. Tom’s eyes glanced over to the man’s station and then widened in alarm. A fire had broken out in the lower decks!

Tom knew in the oxygen-rich environment of the ship the fire would quickly spread out of control. “Quick!” he yelled. “Kill the power to – ” But before he could finish the ship was rocked by an explosion!

The next afternoon a small crowd of people had gathered in Tom’s private lab. Present in the meeting were Bud Barclay, Harlan Ames, Chow Winkler, and Tom’s father, Tom Sr. After the startling events of the previous night Tom had arranged the gathering so that they could discuss what had happened.

Tom was exhausted. After going home to grab a few hours’ sleep he went back to the lab and spent hours examining the robot that he had disabled. He wanted to form an opinion on its likely origin before briefing everyone that afternoon. It now lay in many pieces on large a table in the middle of the lab.

Chow looked at it with keen interest. “Well brand my circuits, but that thing just don’t look a mite friendly! Where’d you say it came from?”

Tom sighed. He was tired from long hours of work and exhausted from sleep deprivation. He had been working too hard for too long. “That’s what we’re here to discuss, Chow.” He the nodded at Ames, who rose from his chair, walked over to a terminal embedded in the wall, and pressed a button. A projector then displayed the events of the night before on a large screen. The security system in the observatory had captured the entire exchange.

Harlan Ames had reviewed the tape earlier in the day, but this was the first time the rest of the group had seen it. Tom Sr. was left with a puzzled look on his face. Bud appeared to be shocked. Chow was skeptical, and voiced his doubts. “That robot is plum loco, Tom! I knowed a steer like that once – he was jes’ clear out of his head. Made a great lot of steaks, though. But there ain’t no way that infernal contraption is from the future.”

Tom Sr. held up his hand. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Chow. Tom, you’ve obviously spent some time examining the robot. What are your findings?”

Tom Jr. let out a long breath. “I’ve never seen anything like him, Dad. He is far more sophisticated than my giant robot. I haven’t even heard of any nation attempting to build an intelligent, autonomous machine, let alone achieving it with such tremendous success.”

Tom Sr. interrupted. “So it’s not remote controlled?”

His son shook his head. “I’ve only started scratching the surface on its design, but it’s clear that the machine was designed to operate on its own accord. It has intelligence, Dad! The power supply is unbelievable, and the microchips have such tiny circuitry that I can’t even see them all with a microscope. The technology to create this machine just doesn’t exist, and frankly, it probably won’t exist for at least another century. But there’s more to it than that.”

Tom walked over to the table and flicked on a powerful microscope. “I’ve wired up the microscope to the projector so that you can see what it’s seeing,” he explained. Tom then walked over to the table, removed a small microchip from the robot, and placed it under the microscope. There, etched onto the surface of the chip, was the Swift Enterprise logo!

Bud whistled. “I’ve sure seen that before! That looks pretty convincing to me.”

Chow shook his head. “I ain’t buyin’ it, Tom. You’ve designed some ugly contraptions in the past, but that thing there beats all. You just ain’t got it in you to make somethin’ that looks like it came out of a graveyard.”

Tom was taken aback. “Ugly contraptions? What are you talking about?”

Bud stifled a laugh by pretending to cough. “Um, Tom, let’s talk about that later. The evil killer robot seems more pressing at the moment.”

Harlan Ames spoke up. “I don’t think it tried to kill anyone, Bud. Did it?”

Tom shook his head. “It didn’t try to harm me, although it certainly could have. I heard that the guard at the gate was only temporarily disabled. The machine could have done far more damage than it actually did.”

Tom Sr. started at the remains of the robot thoughtfully. “So you’re saying that there is nothing on that table that would indicate the machine is not, in fact, from the future.”

Tom Jr. nodded. “That part is easy to believe. What’s impossible to believe is that I built it and sent it back in time. First, as Chow said, I don’t build things that look like that.”

His father nodded. “That’s true, Son, but the robot claimed to have been built decades in the future. A lot can happen between now and then. There may be other circumstances that we are unaware of.”

“That’s true, Dad. But what really gets me is the way the robot behaved. If I built something and sent it back in time there’s no way I would have it commit criminal acts. Why not just have the robot approach me, explain what is going on, and ask for help? Why not present some actual evidence that its story is true instead of leaving us guessing?”

Harlan Ames laughed gruffly. “That robot is quite a piece of evidence, Tom. It’s even got our logo on it. It’d be hard to ask for more.”

“I know, Harlan,” Tom replied tiredly. “But the robot claimed that I sent it back in time! That I built a time machine! That’s crazy. There is absolutely no way to travel back in time. It’s completely impossible!”

“Impossible is a strong word,” his father cautioned. “You don’t know everything, Son. In thirty years it is entirely possible that you may have learned something that would open up new possibilities.”

Tom Jr. looked at his father, puzzled. “It sounds like you actually believe its story.”

“Not necessarily, Tom. I just don’t think we can simply dismiss it out of hand simply because it seems incredible. It may be telling the truth. If it is, the potential consequences are dire.”

Bud finally spoke up. “What are your thoughts, genius boy? Do you think it’s all just a trick?”

“That’s the thing, Bud. Who would want to do this, and why? Who would even have access to this kind of technology? What could possibly be gained?”

“Let’s think this through,” Harlan replied. “There are a couple possibilities. One is, your space friends actually did send the message. If you complete the mission you will save their lives and everyone will be happy.”

Tom nodded. “That’s one possibility. In that case the enemy would be someone who doesn’t like the space friends.”

“The Space Legion, maybe,” Bud said.

“Or perhaps some other party we are unaware of,” Tom Sr. replied.

Harlan nodded. “But that leaves us with a big problem. If an alien race built this robot, why are they merely asking Tom to not help the space friends? Barring Tom’s luck with an EMP emitter, I’m pretty sure that gadget on the table can crush just about any defense we’ve got. Seems to me that if you had an army of those things you could just barge in and take whatever you wanted. For that matter, you could just invade the Earth and be done with it.”

Tom nodded. “That’s what bothers me. If the robot isn’t from the future then we’re not left with any other real possibilities.”

“Which brings us back to time travel,” Harlan continued. “A second possibility is that the robot really did come from the future in order to prevent you from making a terrible mistake. If you complete the mission you will doom our entire planet to total destruction.”

“I’ve spent all day worrying about that,” Tom confessed. “The destruction I saw last night looked very real. I have a feeling it will look even worse in person.”

Harlan continued. “A third possibility is that helping the space friends was the right thing to do, but someone from the future wants to stop you for some reason we don’t know. In that case the robot would come from some future enemy.”

Tom sighed. “I just find it very hard to believe that we’ve got a case of time travel on our hands.”

“You and me both, boss,” Chow replied.

Tom Sr. nodded. “I can understand your feelings, Tom, but the consequences for making the wrong decision are very dire. You’re going to need to be very careful here. One false move could doom our world, or theirs. Or both!”

“That’s the thing about being Tom Swift,” Bud said. “Most people’s idea of a big problem is having trouble paying your bills. When Tom has a big problem the entire world is in danger.”

Tom laughed. “I guess you can’t have it all, Bud. Somebody’s got to save the planet!”

“So what are you going to do?” Harlan asked.

“The only thing I can do,” Tom replied. “I’ll go to the extrasolar planet and see what I find there. One way or another, I should be able to tell if the robot was telling the truth. Once we have all the facts we can make our decision.”

Tom’s father nodded. “That sounds reasonable, Son.”

“Jest don’t go anywhere without me, pardner,” Chow said.

Tom smiled. “I wouldn’t dream of it!”

A few hours later, Tom and Bud were in the newly-installed underground test chamber. Tom had lowered the kronolator into the tunnel and was making a few last-minute adjustments.

Bud rubbed his hands together with glee. “I can hardly wait to see this thing move! How fast do you say it will be able to reach the end of the tunnel?”

Tom grinned. “If all goes well it should make the trip in about a microsecond, Bud. I think I can get more speed out of it than that, but I don’t want to push it just yet.” Satisfied, Tom disconnected a large electrical cable that ran from the device to the tunnel wall.

“I’m guessing it’s fully charged?”

Tom nodded. “That should do it, Bud. Are you ready?”

“Ready and waiting, skipper!”

Tom and Bud retreated to a viewing area that was protected by a thick, transparent pane of indestructible tomasite. The two of them sat down at a table and donned protective goggles. Tom checked the monitors on the table to ensure that no one else had wandered into the tunnel. Once everything was in place Tom removed a remote control device from his pocket and flipped a switch.

The kronolator disappeared in a blinding white flash of light!

Tom looked out the window, puzzled. He checked the monitor but didn’t see anything. “Hey Bud, where did it go?”

“You mean it’s gone?”

Tom nodded. “It should be at the other end of the track, but it’s not. It’s just – disappeared!”

Bud opened the door and rushed outside the viewing area. “I don’t see it anywhere,” he called back.

Tom went out and joined him. “That’s strange,” he said. “Where could it have gone?”

While they were standing there, they were startled by a second flash of light. The kronolator then reappeared, exactly where it had been a few minutes before!

Tom groaned. “Look at that – it didn’t go anywhere! It left the time stream, all right, but it didn’t actually move. What’s wrong with it?”

Bud shrugged. “At least you’ve built a very effective cloaking device! We should bring one of those things along with us the next time we need to do some covert operations.”

Tom shook his head. “I don’t get it, Bud. It doesn’t make any sense.” He stared at the device and frowned. “What am I missing?”

Tom and Bud spent the remainder of the day tinkering with the device, but to no avail. When they both went home that evening Tom had been unable to get it to budge so much as an inch. The next morning, however, Tom woke up feeling refreshed and energized. After eating a quick breakfast he raced back to the lab. Bud was already there waiting for him.

“Have you got the problem cracked, genius boy?”

Tom nodded. “The problem was so obvious, Bud. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before. The purpose of the machine is to take us in and out of the time stream, correct?”

“I think so, skipper.”

“Well, Bud, that’s a nice thing to do, but just manipulating the flow of time isn’t going to actually move you anywhere. Once you’re in motion this will help you get there quicker, but you’ve got to actually have some initial momentum first.”

Bud nodded. “Makes sense. But I thought you already had that problem licked! That’s why you’ve got all these repelatrons all over it.”

Tom smiled wryly. “That’s right, Bud. But I forgot one important detail. The repelatrons only kick in after the device has left the time stream. But when they’re taken out of time the repelatrons can’t find anything to push against, so our ship won’t move! I need to have it in motion before engaging the kronolator.”

“Sounds good to me! Let’s give it a whirl.”

Tom reconfigured his invention and then the two retreated back to the viewing area. After making sure that the tunnel was empty Tom removed the remote control from his pocket.

“For this short test its initial speed is relatively unimportant,” Tom explained. “When we’re in outer space it will become more of an issue because there are limits as to how much the kronolator can adjust time. We’ll need to get up some a fairly reasonable speed before engaging it. That shouldn’t be a problem, though.”

Tom engaged the repelatrons and watched. When the kronolator hit 30mph he flipped the switch. The tunnel was filled with a blinding flash of light, and the kronolator instantly appeared on the other side of the tunnel!

Bud slapped Tom on the back. “Looks like another astounding success!”

Tom scanned the numbers that were displayed on the terminal that was sitting on the table. “I think so, Bud. It’ll need a bit more tuning, but I think we have the problem licked.”

“So what’s the next step?”

“Dad’s almost finished installing his reactor on the Challenger. I’ll wrap up my work here and then take the kronolator to Fearing Island so I can install it on the ship. We’ll give it a test run, and if that works out, our next stop will be the extrasolar planet!”

Tom Swift stopped a moment to think. “I bet they found out about the kronolator! Someone’s probably on the way here now to steal the plans for it.”

He quickly looked around and verified that the room had been secured. When Tom had his office upgraded he took special pains to enhance the room’s security. The lab’s bland, white walls hid a thick layer of reinforced steel, and the windows were made of unbreakable glass. The plans for his inventions were kept in a secure vault beneath the office. The only door to the room was the size of a vault door, and it was secured by both a special code and a biometric sensor.

The room’s alarm system had been designed by Tom himself. A network of sensors constantly monitored the room’s activities. Even if an unauthorized person somehow made it into the room they would be immediately spotted and an alarm would sound. The security building was located right next to the structure that housed Tom’s lab, and armed guards could arrive within seconds.

Tom had even taken the pains to design a field generator that could block the transmittaton’s signal. No one would be able to materialize directly into the room unless he first deactivated the protective shield.

With that in mind, Tom walked over to a terminal that was embedded in the wall and checked the source of the alarm. He could see that Harlan was already responding to the source of the break-in. A red light was flashing by Gate 16, indicating that something had damaged the gate and allowed an unauthorized intrusion.

Tom was disturbed. “If someone broke into the plant then they should show up on the radar system. I’m not seeing anyone, though. That either means that no one managed to break in, or that someone has found a way to neutralize the radar impulses.”

He decided to pull up the security footage and review the incident himself. Tom pressed some buttons on the terminal and pulled up the video record that was made at Gate 16 just before the sirens went off. When he played the tape he saw an individual dressed in a nondescript black suit park a sedan in the visitor’s lot and walk up to the guard station outside the gate. When one of the two station guards stepped outside to check the man’s ID he attacked the guard and quickly disabled him. Before the second guard could respond the man pulled a device out of his suit and fired it at the gate. The resulting explosion blew apart the metal barrier, which allowed the man in black to rush in.

Tom was aghast. Swift Enterprises had been infiltrated many times, but he had never before seen a forced entry by a dangerous, armed man. He hoped that the security response team would be careful.

Something about the incident nagged at Tom. Almost unconsciously, Tom pressed the replay button. As he watched the video a second time he suddenly realized what was wrong. When the man in black stepped in front of the guard post he cast a long shadow on the ground. The shadow, however, was not of a human being. Tom could clearly see the metal frame of a robot outlined against the pavement. He instantly realized that the image of a human was simply a holographic projection of light, intended to hide the sinister being underneath.

Realizing that Harlan Ames had no idea what he was up against, Tom grabbed the phone off the wall. No one responded in the security office, so Tom tried connecting to the radio communicator that he always carried. He received no response to his frantic calls.

“The robot is probably jamming the airwaves,” Tom thought. He mulled the problem over. “I’m probably safe here in my lab, but if I don’t do something someone is going to get hurt. But what can I do? The intruder has obviously found a way to remain hidden from radar. How can I find and disable it?”

Knowing he had only a few seconds in which to act, Tom looked around his laboratory for anything that he could use. “I wish Bud was here,” he muttered. “He always knows what to do in these kind of situations. I’m a scientist, not a fighter, and I’m fresh out of giant robots.”

His eyes caught sight of a piece of equipment lying on his workbench. He ran over and grabbed it. “This could work! That robot has got to be built out of electronic parts, and electronics are notoriously sensitive to radiation. This emitter isn’t a weapon, but it will send out a strong electromagnetic pulse, and that should stop the robot in its tracks.” Tom quickly grabbed a miniaturized solar battery off the shelf and wired it to the emitter. “It’s not pretty, but it ought to do the job,” he thought.

Tom ran over to the massive vault door that guarded the only entrance to his lab and then stopped. “Think, Tom. Where are you going? Where would the robot be?” He knew that the intruder could be anywhere inside the four-mile-square complex, and at this time of night it could be impossible to find.

“The robot is almost certainly on his way here to this very lab. It’s a good two miles from that gate to this building, so unless it can run over a hundred miles an hour it ought to take it at least a few minutes to get here. If I can get on top of the infirmary across the street I should be able to see it as it comes down the road and can pick it off from a distance.”

Tom went back to the wall terminal and pressed a few buttons. Moments later, a transmittaton in his lab transported him instantaneously to the roof of the infirmary. He had set the protective shield to lower itself only long enough for him to be transported out, and felt confident that the lab was still safe. “If the robot had beaming capabilities it would never have had to force itself through the gate,” he thought.

Outside it was pitch black. The night sky was obscured by a low layer of clouds, which blocked any moonlight. A cold wind blew from the north, making Tom wish he had remembered to grab a jacket before he left his parent’s house that morning. It was a bitter evening to be outside.

Tom walked over to the ledge and kneeled down. The street that led past the infirmary to the gates was well-lit, and it was easy to see the laboratory building’s entrance from his vantage point. He clutched his EMP emitter and sat down to wait.

A few minutes later Tom saw a figure darting from one building to the next. He tensed, and waited. To his surprise, however, it went inside the observatory.

He picked up his portable radio and tried to raise Harlan again, but heard only static. Tom glumly put the radio back in his pocket, and then walked over to the building’s emergency escape stairwell. He quietly walked down the stairs, and then looked around.

The wailing sirens had gone off some time ago, and there was no noise to break the silence of the night. Tom wondered where everyone was and checked his watch. “Does nobody work here at three in the morning?” he asked incredulously.

He quietly made his way to the observatory, while being careful to maintain a firm grip on his emitter. Once Tom reached the building he stole a glance inside. From the street he could see a figure kneeling in front of the megascope space prober.

Tom was taken aback. “He’s disassembled my megascope? Why would it do that? They’re commercially available! You can find them in observatories all over the world. What gives?”

After taking one final glance down the street Tom picked up the emitter and aimed it at the figure inside. “The glass door shouldn’t block the electromagnetic pulse,” he thought, “and I’d rather not get any closer than I have to.” He took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.

The emitter let out an incredibly loud hum, and Tom felt a blast of heat hit his face. Inside he saw the black robot suddenly stand up, and then wobble backward as if it had been hit with a sledgehammer. Even from a hundred feet away Tom could see sparks flying out the machine.

However, the robot had caught sight of Tom. It leveled its metal hand at the door and fired something. The glass doors burst into shards, and Tom felt the emitter yanked right out of his hands. He then felt himself being pulled toward the robot! Tom tried to hold himself back, but was drawn toward the machine with an irresistible force. Suddenly, a few yards from the robot, he stopped.

Tom looked at the robot coolly. The machine was built out of a dark metal, and had no extruding wires or parts. The fingers were articulated, but the body was built with a minimum of material. “It almost looks like a skeleton,” Tom thought. The head was a featureless sphere of metal, save for two red eyes that glowed out of the machine’s forehead. It had no obvious nose, ears, or mouth, which gave it a chilling appearance.

The device was obviously damaged, but Tom could see that it was still immensely powerful. He knew he could probably finish it off with one more shot from his emitter, but it was nowhere to be seen.

The robot turned its full attention to Tom. “I apologize for the mess, Mr. Swift,” it said, in a clear, human voice. “It was not my intention to destroy your property.”

Tom was taken aback by this. “Just a few minutes ago you blew apart my front gates! That’s hardly asking for a warm welcome.”

The robot nodded. “It was necessary to gain access to this megascope, and I feared that you might not be cooperative. Please understand that I mean you no harm. In fact, it is you who have enabled me to be here tonight.”

“What are you talking about?”

Without takings its gaze off Tom, the robot activated the megascope. From where Tom stood he could see that it had been pointed toward the extrasolar planet.

“First, let me apologize for the unfortunate actions of my associates. I did wish to prevent you from sending messages into space, but the demolition trigger was not intended to injure you. I merely wished to prevent you from learning of my existence. Likewise, the messengers I sent to your island to warn you of the great danger you are in were not sent to harm you.”

“Are you kidding? They shot at us!”

The robot nodded. “This is true, but remember, Mr. Swift, they were armed and you were not. Had they chosen to fight you they could have killed you both, but instead they fled. I have only been trying to warn you, and it is you yourself that gave me this task.”

Tom felt his anger beginning to boil. He fought to keep it under control. “That’s the second time you’ve said that. I’ve never seen you before in my life!”

“Of course not. Permit me to explain. You, Mr. Swift, have been asked by unknown parties in space to go to a distant planet and retrieve an alien object.”

Tom nodded. “Our space friends need our help. Their survival depends upon it!”

“So they say. Tell me, Mr. Swift. How do you know that the message was sent from your space friends, and not from, say, someone who means you great harm?”

He thought a moment. “This isn’t the first message we’ve received from them, you know. We’ve been communicating with them for quite some time. The message was sent in their language, using the protocols we established some time ago, and from roughly the same place the messages have always originated. There’s no reason to think that it didn’t come from them.”

The robot nodded – an eerily human gesture that only made Tom dislike the machine more. “That is all true, but you cannot honestly believe that such a message would be difficult to counterfeit, can you? Anyone could have sent that message provided they had sufficient scientific expertise. That’s hardly a foolproof system.”

“So what are you suggesting?”

“I am here to tell you that the message did not come from your space friends. In fact, your space friends died just recently. It originated from their enemies, who wiped them out and now want you to retrieve an artifact for them that is beyond their reach. You, Mr. Swift, are going to go get this artifact, and in your ignorance you will give it to them freely. They will then use it to destroy their alien opponents. Thirty years from now, when that war is finished, they will come here, to Earth, and destroy it.”

“And you know this how, exactly?”

“Because I am from the future, and what I describe has already happened. When you realized what you had done you built a time machine and sent me into the past to undo your great mistake. I am your own invention, Tom. Thirty years from now you will build me with your own hands for this very mission.”

Tom’s mind reeled. “I don’t believe it,” he stammered. “Not a word. You’re just part of a Brungarian plot!”

“Your future self realized you might react this way, of course. Which is why I am here. I had hoped to persuade you to not help your space friends without revealing myself, but when you proved stubborn I knew I had to take a bolder course. So I have come here and upgraded your megascope. I’ve taken the improvements that you will make to it over the next thirty years and installed them on this device. I want you to see the true nature of this planet that you are about to visit.”

The robot reached over and switch on the megascope’s screen. Tom could see the extrasolar planet very clearly now. A thick layer of dark clouds obscured the planet’s surface. He could see arcs of electricity shooting through the upper atmosphere. The robot reached out a hand and slowly turned a nob. To Tom’s astonishment, the view penetrated the clouds!

He could now see the surface of the planet itself. The sight was horrifying. Vast stretches of the planet’s surface were covered in blackened, hard lava, dotted by active volcanoes. In a few scattered patches Tom could see the ruins of once-mighty cities. The southern portion of the planet held a large sea that Tom guessed was made of liquefied methane gas. As Tom watched, the robot adjusted the megascope to provide a view beneath the surface of the methane sea. At the bottom of the ocean Tom could see buildings that had clearly been blown apart in a terrible war. Nowhere on the planet could he see any signs of life.

Tom turned his head from the nightmarish scene and looked at the robot. “What happened there?”

“At one time that was the home world of your space friends, Mr. Swift. Then the group you know as the Space Legion attacked their world and devastated it. Those same creatures are still out there, and they remain very dangerous. Do you see all of that destruction? That is exactly what they want to do to your own world. If you continue on this expedition, you will be dooming your world to this fate.”

Tom opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it again. He turned back to look at the ruined cities that were depicted in the megascope’s viewer.

“I know you do not trust me, Mr. Swift, so do not take my word for it. Go ahead and make your trip to that distant point of light. Find out for yourself what happened on that once-fertile world. See if what I told you is true or not.”

With that, a shower of sparks suddenly flew out of the robot’s upper torso. The glowing eyes in the robot’s head went dark, and the machine clattered to the floor.

“What are you going to do, Tom?” Sandy asked.

Tom folded up the note and placed it in his pocket. “Don’t worry about it, Sis,” he said gently. He noticed the apprehensive look on the girls’ faces and decided to downplay the incident. “This isn’t the first time we’ve faced threats, but we’ve always beaten them in the end. I’ll give this note to Harlan and let his team investigate it. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

The girls insisted on returning to Swift Enterprises immediately, so the group piled into the car. Bud drove them back to the plant, where he dropped Tom off and then left to take the girls back home. Tom, meanwhile, went to see Harlan Ames. When he heard Tom’s story he shook his head. “You seem to have a real knack for getting into trouble!”

“Do you think you could check into this note for me?” Tom asked.

Ames nodded. “I’ll see what I can do, but it’ll probably lead to a dead end. Have you had any ideas on who might be behind this?”

“I’m afraid not, Ames. We’ve just never had this kind of trouble before. The Black Cobra was never very interested in our space friends, and the Brungarians would be more likely to steal from them than stop us from communicating with them. I think this is some entirely new foe.”

“You’re probably right. I’m guessing it’s a small group of people pursuing some xenophobic agenda. It sounds like they just wanted to give you a warning this time, but I doubt they’ll be that forgiving again. Be careful, Tom.”

“I will, Ames. Say, has anyone made a public announcement about the interstellar voyage I’m working on?”

“Not to my knowledge. The public relations department doesn’t usually issue press releases without your approval.”

“Then let’s keep his new project under wraps. I’m guessing that this party, whoever it is, knows that I’ve been communicating with our space friends but possibly isn’t aware of the particulars. The less they know the better.”

Next, Tom walked over to his father’s private office. He found Tom Sr. at his desk, hard at work. When Tom walked in his father stopped what he was doing and looked up. “Tom! How have you been?”

Tom smiled. “Not too bad, considering. I hate to bother you, but I wanted to see if you ever resent my message to our space friends.”

Tom Sr. thought for a moment. “Why yes, I did! The message was resent about an hour after you asked me to do it. Did I never get back with you?”

Tom Jr. shook his head. “I don’t think so – or if you did, I missed it.”

“I’m sorry about that, Son. I haven’t been this busy in years, what with my work on the fusion project.” Tom Sr. started digging around in the piles of paper on his desk, looking for a particular memo. “First there were the experiments to learn how to fuse helium 3, and then I had to get the lunar colonies built, and then there were the long talks with Ned about pursuing commercial opportunities… ah, here we go.”

Tom Sr. grabbed a piece of paper out of a thick stack, looked at it with satisfaction, and then handed it to his son. The note read as follows:

THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE DEVICE IS NOT KNOWN. IT CAN BE LOCATED BY SEARCHING FOR THE FOLLOWING ENERGY SIGNATURE:

The remainder of the message was a series of numbers.

Tom Jr. studied the numbers carefully. “I’m guessing that the device emits an electromagnetic signal on this frequency. Our space friends want us to locate it by scanning for that band of radiation. Is that your guess, Dad?”

Tom Sr. nodded. “You should be able to use the damonscope for that. After all, it was designed for precisely that kind of work.” The damonscope was a device built by Tom Jr. to detect faint amounts of underground radiation from high altitudes.

“I think that will work. Thanks, Dad!”

A week later, Bud found Tom sitting in his private laboratory, adding wires to a delicate piece of circuitry. Bud looked at his lab with astonishment. “Good night! What happened here, skipper?”

Tom laid down the soldering iron he was holding and looked up from his work. It was easy for him to understand Bud’s reaction. One entire wall of Tom’s lab had been demolished, and a construction crew was hard at work laying long strands of thick cables. Large sections of the laboratory floor were missing, and pieces of lumber and other construction debris were scattered everywhere. Bud could hear the sounds of a large-scale excavation project coming from beneath the office.

The young inventor got off his chair and walked over to greet his friend. “So there you are! I haven’t seen you around for a few days. What have you been up to?”

Bud shook his head. “I’ve been testing the new X-318’s, remember? Hank Sterling just finished the first production units earlier this week, and I was asked to try them out.”

“That’s right! I’d forgotten all about it. Those are the new repelatron-powered commercial jets! How are they?”

“They’re a real blast to fly!” Bud said enthusiastically. “There’s no doubt about it – you’ve got another winner on your hands. I bet they’ll sell like hotcakes!”

Tom nodded. “They should be much safer than normal craft, to say nothing of the energy savings gained from switching from jet fuel to solar batteries. Traditional aircraft are fragile by their very nature, but it should be almost impossible for an X-318 to fall of the sky. The safety factor that’s been built into them is considerable. But you know I didn’t design them, right?”

Bud looked at him curiously. “You didn’t? Then who did?”

Tom laughed. “I’m not the only employee at Swift Enterprises, Bud! We’ve got thousands of highly talented people working for us. That particular project was actually spearheaded by my sister Sandy. She has quite a talent for aviation, and thought it was time to bring aeronautics into the modern era.”

“Wow! I guess inventing runs in the family. But what on earth is going on in this lab?”

Tom paused to look at the chaos that had descended upon his private laboratory. “I guess the simplest explanation is that I’m trying to lay the groundwork for my latest invention. My old laboratory just didn’t have everything it needed, so I’m doing a bit of remodeling.”

Bud pulled up a chair and sat down. “Tell me all about it, professor. What’s been going on?”

“Well, let’s see. First, a few days ago I met with Dad and asked him to upgrade the test fusion reactor he built here at the plant. I’m going to need a lot of power for my next invention, and our current power grid won’t be able to handle it. Fortunately, it won’t be difficult for him to make the modifications that are necessary for his test equipment to produce commercial levels of power.”

Bud’s eyes grew large. “Tom, do you realize that just one of your father’s new power plants can produce enough energy to power all of North America? Just how much energy do you need?”

“All I can get, fly boy! I’ve also asked Dad to install a miniatured fusion plant on board the Challenger. He’s not going to remove its solar-power cells, but sunlight alone can’t provide the energy we need, so an additional power source is necessary. This will also make it easier for the craft to travel in places where there isn’t a good supply of sunlight.”

“So you’re not going to build a new spacecraft?”

Tom shook his head. “I wish I could, but there’s just not enough time. It’s much quicker to upgrade the Challenger than to design a new spacecraft.”

“That’s too bad, Tom! I was hoping you were going to create a new starship. You could have called it the Exedra.”

Tom looked puzzled. “I could have called it what?”

“It was just an idea. But say, you haven’t explained what’s happened to your lab!”

“Well, Bud, as I was saying, my new invention needs power – incredible amounts of power. The construction crew over there is laying the superconducting cables that will connect my test equipment to Dad’s fusion reactor.”

“Superconducting cables?”

Tom nodded. “They make it possible to transfer enormous amounts of electricity with very little loss. I’m going to need every last ounce of power I can get!”

“But why are they digging under the lab?”

“I’m going to need a place to test my prototypes, Bud. I could do that outside, but with all the recent attacks I thought it might be best to conduct my tests underground. They’re digging a tunnel that will be about four miles long. In interstellar terms it’s pretty tiny, but it will be enough to see if the principle is sound.”

Bud nodded. “I understand. Speaking of that, you never did explain to me the brilliant brain-wave that you had at Lake Carlopa. Just how are you going to break the light barrier? And please keep it simple! Not everyone has a four-digit IQ.”

Tom laughed. “I’ll start at the beginning. The alien planet is 367 light-years away, and we want to get there and back in a reasonable amount of time. Say that we want to make the trip in just one year. In reality we’d like to make the voyage much quicker than that, but I’ll be generous. In order to travel those 367 light-years in just one year we would have to travel 367 times the speed of light. That works out to a speed of just over 68 million miles per second.”

“Wow! Now that’s fast. Can it be done?”

Tom shook his head. “The laws of physics dictate a maximum possible speed of 186,000 miles per second, which is a snail’s pace when it comes to crossing interstellar distances. So I started looking at alternate explanations.”

“Like wormholes?” Bud asked.

“That was one of my very first ideas. Instead of trying to travel 367 light-years, you simply find a shortcut through the fourth dimension. The problem is that there really isn’t a good way to create a wormhole. Even if you could come up with the exotic forms of matter a wormhole needs in order to exist, the energy requirements for creating it are truly astronomical. We’re not just talking about a single fusion reactor, Bud. It would take more like the combined yearly output of energy from every single star in our entire galaxy. It’s completely out of the question.”

“You’re not kidding! So what was the answer?”

Tom eyes sparkled with excitement. “I realized I’d been looking at the problem all wrong! We don’t actually care about how far we are traveling. What really concerns us is the amount of time it takes to get there. So, instead of trying to manipulate space, we’ll just manipulate time instead. Or, rather, the rate at which time advances.”

“What do you mean?” Bud asked quizzically.

“Imagine, Bud, if you could alter the flow of time while you were traveling along in space, so that only one day passed instead of thousands of years. You’re still traveling the same distance, but it doesn’t take as long because you’ve slowed down time itself!”

Bud frowned. “Now correct me if I’m wrong, professor, but isn’t that exactly what happens when you travel close to the speed of light?”

“Not quite!” Tom said. “As your speed approaches the speed of light time does slow down, but only for you. Time continues passing normally for everyone else. It may only take you a few days to get there, but hundreds of years would have passed back home. Our space friends don’t have hundreds of years, Bud.”

“So there’s an alternative?”

“I believe there is! I’m working on a device that will temporarily take us out of the Universe’s time stream. We’ll still be able to travel, but we’ll be advancing into the future much slower than we would have ordinarily.”

Bud frowned. “So you’re building a time machine?”

Tom shook his head. “Time machines allow you to travel backwards in time. My invention changes the rate at which you are moving into the future. It’s completely different.”

“If you say so, skipper! It’s all way over my head. Do you have a name for your miracle machine?”

“For now I’m calling it a kronolator. It comes from the Greek word “kronos”, which means time, and the word dilate. Essentially the machine will allow us to dilate, or stretch out, time itself.”

Bud stood up. “I still don’t think I understand it, but if you say it works then that’s good enough for me! When can we start testing?”

Tom laughed. “Right now all I’ve got are a bunch of ideas and half-built parts, Bud. In a few days the changes to the lab should be complete. Come back then and we’ll put it through its paces!”

The young inventor worked feverishly over the next few days, rarely even stopping long enough to sleep. Days came and went while Tom paid little heed to the outside world. His mind was completely consumed with the intricate problem that was before him. Even the construction noises that surrounded him were insufficient to break his intense concentration.

Chow attempted to coax Tom to eat, but the food the cook brought him was often left uneaten on his workbench. One evening he came in to bring his boss supper and saw that that the young man had not yet touched the lunch he had brought earlier. The sight was more than the cook could stand.

“Well brand my skillet, Tom, but you gotta to eat sometime! This here work of yours just ain’t healthy. You’re goin’ to make yerself sick!”

Tom looked up from the machine he was calibrating. “What’s that, Chow? Oh, did you come to bring lunch?”

“Lunch! Now look here, son. I brought lunch five hours ago. It’s still right where I left it! Do you have any idea what time it is?”

Tom saw the tray in the cook’s hand and winced. “Sorry about that, Chow. My mind’s been busy lately, I guess.”

“Well get it unbusy, pardner! At this rate you’re gonna waste away to nothin’ before the week is out.”

Tom smiled as the heavyset cook turned around and stomped out of the lab. He quickly finished his dinner and resumed his work. Hours later, the young man stood up and yawned.

“Well, I think that will about do it,” he said tiredly. He looked over his new invention with pride. Tom had assembled the kronolator in the middle of his laboratory floor. The device was an irregular mound of parts, wires, and tubes, roughly cylindrical in shape. It had a diameter of roughly nine feet and a height of six feet. Tom looked at it with great satisfaction.

“That unit won’t take us to the stars, but it should prove the principle. If this works, I can build a much more powerful model and miniaturize a lot of the components. We should be able to fit the production unit inside the Challenger.”

As Tom was about to leave for the night, he suddenly heard a siren go off. Tom instantly recognized the sound. Someone had broken into Swift Enterprises!

Tom Swift felt himself slowly regain consciousness. His head was swimming. “What happened?” he asked weakly.

“It’s good to see you coming around, Tom!” a voice replied. Tom opened his eyes and saw that he was lying in a hospital bed in the Swift Enterprise infirmary. Doc Simpson was sitting on a chair next to him and had a concerned look on his face. Harlan Ames, the chief of security, was standing behind the doctor.

Doc Simpson looked at Tom sternly. “Next time you want to conduct an investigation, Tom, bring along your security team! There’s a whole department of people here whose job is to protect you, but they’re not going to be successful if you keep running off like you did last night. You took a nasty blow to the head and have been unconscious for hours. Frankly, I’m surprised you weren’t killed!”

Tom’s first thoughts were for his friend. “Where’s Bud?” he asked.

“Right beside you,” Doc replied. Tom turned and saw a second bed in the room. It contained the bandaged form of his friend Bud Barclay, who appeared to be fast asleep. “He woke several hours ago, Tom. You were closer to the source of the blast and took a much harder hit than he did, so it’s taken you longer to come around. You’ll both be fine in a few days, but I strongly recommend not doing that again!”

“How did you find us?” Tom asked. “All I remember is the explosion, and then everything went black.”

Ames spoke up. “The explosion registered on the plant’s security systems. As soon as I saw the blast I gathered my men and raced over to see what was going on. We found you and Bud lying on the ground, obviously injured. I called Doc immediately and rushed you here to the hospital. That was last night.”

Tom shook his head ruefully, and then winced in pain. “Thanks, guys. I think I can explain what happened.” He then told Ames about the jamming signal he had noticed the night before, and their short investigation in the woods. “It’s now obvious what was actually going on. The truck was just a projected hologram, set there to act as a decoy. I bet the real communications jammer was being hidden by a hologram of a tree or something equally innocuous. Bud and I probably walked right by it. Then, like an idiot, I threw the rock – ”

Ames nodded. “And set off the security system, which triggered the blast that destroyed their equipment. It must have been right behind where you were hiding, Tom. We’ve recovered a few pieces of it that we’re analyzing, but it’s pretty much destroyed. It looks like the hologram generator was based on your 3D telejector technology, but that’s only a guess.”

“Any idea who might be behind it?” Tom asked.

Ames frowned. “Well, it’s obviously someone with a lot of technical expertise. Not only was he able to jam your private ear signal, but he hid his jammer in a very sophisticated way. It almost sounds like the Black Cobra, but I wouldn’t jump to any conclusions. It could be Brungarians, or someone else entirely.”

Tom nodded. “There are probably many enemy nations that envy our relationship with the space friends and would like to use it to their own advantage. I’ll let you know if I can think of anything.”

“You do that, Tom. In the meantime I’ll double the watch around the grounds. And try to stay out of trouble!”

“Thanks,” Tom said. As Ames left the room Tom attempted to get out of bed, but Doc restrained him.

“You’re not going anywhere, Tom! You’ve had a nasty head injury and very nearly broke your neck. This hospital room is where you and Bud are going to stay for the next couple days – and no arguments!”

“Okay, Doc. I am feeling a little shook up, and the rest will probably do me some good. Thanks for putting me back together.”

After Doc left, Tom picked up the phone and dialed Arv Hanson, whom he asked to come over. A few minutes later Arv walked into the room. Hanson was one of Tom’s most loyal employees. The hulking six-footer was not only a talented craftsmen, but also a veteran pilot and astronaut.

Hanson eyed Tom and Bud carefully. “You look like you’re in rough shape, skipper!”

“I’ll be fine, Arv. Listen, I wanted to speak to you for a moment about the repela-suit. There are a few changes I’d like to have made to it.” Tom told Arv about the test he had conducted the day before, and explained that he wanted to boost the suit’s lifting power. “I think the solar batteries can provide more than enough energy. It’s just a matter of installing more beefy repelatrons. They need to be able to handle a much heavier load in emergency situations.”

Arv looked at Tom thoughtfully. “Won’t that increase the weight, though?”

Tom shook his head. “Not by more than 10 or 15 percent. It should be fine. Do you think you could make the changes to the existing suit as soon as possible? I’d like to get the design perfected and turned over to Hank Sterling as soon as possible so we can begin making production units. Now that we’re going on a deep-space expedition it looks like we’ll need them sooner rather than later.”

Hank nodded. “Can do, Tom. I’ll try to have the unit ready for you tomorrow. Are you headed to Mars again?”

“I’m going a lot further out than that!” Tom told Hank about the unusual request he had received from his space friends. “That reminds me – I need to resend those messages! I bet our space friends are wondering what happened to us. I’ll see if Dad can do it for me. He should be back by now.”

As Arv left the room Tom picked up the phone and dialed his father’s private office. Tom Sr. answered the phone immediately. “Tom!” he said. “I’m glad you’re awake. I was down in the infirmary earlier but you were still unconscious. How are you feeling?”

“A little woozy, but I think I’ll live. I was wondering if you could do a favor for me, Dad.”

“Sure, Son. What is it?”

Tom explained what had happened the night before, and asked his father to resend the message that he had been unable to deliver. Tom Sr. promised to do so immediately and said he would relay the response to Tom. “So it sounds like you have decided to make the voyage!”

“I’d like to, Dad, but it’s an enormous challenge! There’s a lot of hard work ahead of me.”

“Have you devised a way to avoid the light barrier?”

“I’ve got a few ideas, but I don’t know if they will pan out or not. I’ll keep you posted.”

After Tom hung up from talking to his father he took from the nightstand a pencil and a pad of paper and began sketching out equations. By the end of the week he and Bud had fully recovered from the effects of the blast and were discharged from the infirmary by Doc. Tom immediately went to his laboratory and continued his work.

Several days later, Bud walked into Tom’s private laboratory. He found Tom seated at his workbench, staring absently out a window. Bits of paper and electronics were strewn all over the lab.

Bud walked up to Tom and put his hand on his shoulder. “How’s it going, genius boy?”

Tom shook his head. “It’s not, Bud. I keep hitting dead ends! There’s got to be a way to do this, but I just haven’t found it it yet.”

“That, my friend, is why I am here! I’ve got a quick quiz question for the mighty brain. Who invented the television?”

Tom frowned. “Are you thinking of my Dad’s talking pictures?”

“Right! That was a Swift invention. Tell me, Tom. When was the last time you sat down and actually watched it?”

“It’s hard to say, Bud. I suppose I’ve seen the news a few times with my parents. Does that count?”

Bud laughed. “I’m not surprised! You and your dad invented the future, and yet somehow you never have time to actually enjoy it. This is the twentieth century, Tom! You need to get outside every now and then. Clear the cobwebs from that brain of yours. It’ll do you good!”

Tom smiled. “Let me guess! I can see where this is going. You’ve set up a double-date with Phyl and Sandy!” Phyllis Newton was the daughter of Ned Newton and Tom’s regular girlfriend. Sandy Swift was Tom’s seventeen-year-old sister and went out with Bud on a regular basis.

“Phyl is a great girl, Tom. You really should spend more time with her! Where would you be if your father had spent all his time in his lab? Poor Mary Nestor might have gone on to be a librarian instead of your mother, and the future would never have been the same.”

Tom sighed. “You’re right, Bud. When do we leave?”

“Right now! The girls are outside in the car. You better not keep them waiting!”

A few minutes later the four of them were speeding down the road in Bud’s silver atomicar. “I can’t believe Bud actually pried you from the lab!” Phyl said teasingly.

“How could I say no to such a great offer?” Tom replied. “Speaking of great offers, where are we going?”

Sandy spoke up. “I thought it would be nice to spend an afternoon at Lake Carlopa. Mother provided all the food we’d need for a picnic, and the car doubles as a great speedboat. Should be fun!”

“Sounds good to me!” Tom replied. Bud switched on the radio, and the group was soon listening to the popular music of the day.

When the atomicar reached the lake, Bud activated the repelatrons and the car leaped into the air. The group was soon soaring just over the surface of the water.

“Where are you going?” Tom asked.

“There’s a small island about a mile from here,” Phyl explained. “We thought it would be just the place to spend the afternoon.”

Tom nodded. “You must be talking about Rattlesnake Island! I haven’t been there in years.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been there,” Bud replied.

The vehicle quickly reached the island in question. Before landing, however, Bud directed the silver car higher into the air and made a quick overhead circle of the island. From the sky they could see that the island was almost entirely covered in trees, with only a thin strip of beach on its outer edges.

“I thought there was a cabin there somewhere,” Sandy said.

“The cabin was a dilapidated wreck back when Dad was our age,” Tom replied. “It’s probably gone by now.”

“The foundation should still be there, even if nothing else is,” Phyl said.

Bud landed his car on one of the island’s small beaches, and the four of them then exited the vehicle. Phyl grabbed the picnic baskets from the trunk and soon had lunch ready for the group. It didn’t take them long to devour the meal that Mrs. Swift had prepared.

“This is great!” Bud said, after finishing his third helping of fried chicken. “Your Mom sure can cook, Sandy!”

She laughed. “You sure know how to put it away! I’m so glad we’re out here today. It’s perfect weather for going to the lake.”

Tom had to agree. Even though it was well into autumn and the leaves had begun to change, the sun had warmed the air to a comfortable temperature. The sky was blue and cloudless and the lake was calm. “This is probably one of the last nice days of the year,” he said. “Winter will be here soon.”

“Has the lake ever frozen over?” Bud asked.

Tom nodded. “It has in some spots, but I doubt you could walk from the shore to this island. It gets cold here in the winter, but not that cold.”

“I want to walk around the island before we go boating,” Phyl announced.

Bud leaped to his feet. “Lead the way, Tom! I’m ready to see another piece of Swift family history.”

After they cleaned up the area and packed their supplies back into the atomicar, the group headed off into the woods. Tom was chosen to act as leader and guided them into the forest. They soon came across an old, overgrown path, which they decided to follow. It only took them a few minutes to leave the sound of the lake behind them. In every direction all they could see were trees heavy with autumn leaves. The forest floor was thick with dry leaves that crunched underfoot as they walked down the path.

“Speaking of family history, how did you and Bud meet, Tom?” Phyl asked.

Tom looked at her, surprised. “You mean you don’t know?”

She shook her head. “You just brought him over one day, introduced him to my family, and said he came from California. I don’t think you ever explained how you two happened to get together.”

Tom and Bud looked at each other, and then burst out laughing. “I don’t think you’d believe us even if we told you,” Bud said.

Sandy looked at him and frowned. “Now Bud, be nice. You and Tom met about a year before he started building his Flying Lab. Tom had gone out to California to run some initial tests on the nuclear-powered aircraft that was the forerunner for the Flying Lab, and – ”

“But there’s more to it than that,” Tom said. “Key parts of that story is still highly classified. I only know what Dad was doing out there because I accidentally got involved.”

“What are you talking about?” Sandy said. “Dad was there?”

Tom bit his lip. “Well, -”

Phyl spoke up. “I hate to interrupt, but is that the famous cabin?”

The group came to an abrupt halt. “I would have missed that completely,” Tom said. In the woods, about a hundred feet from the path, was the ruined foundation of an old cabin. By the size of the foundation they could see that it had once been a sizable structure, but all that remained now was a section of the basement. Large trees were now growing out of the foundation, and the remaining walls were covered in thick vines.

“So that’s the cabin where your father was held prisoner,” Bud said.

Tom nodded. “It was much more impressive back in the day. It even had electricity and phone service.”

Phyl looked surprised. “Way out here? On an island? How did they manage that?”

Tom shrugged. “Beats me! I don’t think Dad stuck around to find out.”

“Evil villains like their creature comforts,” Bud explained. “No matter where their sinister lair might be, they’re always going to make sure they have the latest conveniences.”

Sandy threw Bud a sour look. He laughed.

Phyl walked around the ruins of the cabin. Tom joined her. “I wish I could go back in time and see what it used to look like,” she said.

Tom’s jaw dropped. “That’s it! Of course!”

“What’s what, Tom?”

“The answer! It’s been staring me in the face all this time. How could I have missed it? Superluminal travel isn’t a matter of space, it’s a matter of time!”

“Super-what?” Phyl asked.

Bud spoke up. “Hey now, genius boy, no inventing on your day off! Save it for tomorrow.”

Tom grinned. “All right, Bud, I’ll give it a rest. It’ll keep. But – wow!”

After getting their fill of the ruins the group made their way back to the beach. Just before they left the woods, though, Bud suddenly stopped them. “Shhh!” he said.

“What is it?” Sandy asked quietly.

Bud motioned for Tom to join him, and then pointed into the distance. “Do you see what I see?”

Tom nodded. “It looks like someone is messing with your car!”

The girls gasped. “What should we do?” Sandy whispered.

“Stay hidden in the trees,” Tom replied. “Bud and I will go investigate.”

“Be careful, Tom” Phyl said.

While Sandy and Phyl crouched down and hid in the underbrush, Tom and Bud made their way around the edge of the forest, being careful to stay out of sight. After several minutes of careful effort they reached a clump of trees just a few yards away from the automobile. From their vantage point they could see a man crouched under the car. He was dressed in jeans and was wearing a white polo shirt.

“What’s he doing?” Bud whispered.

“Probably trying to access the power plant,” Tom answered quietly. “You can’t open the hood without a key, and I’ve got it with me.”

Bud nodded. “I doubt he’s just a curious bystander. Do you see that motorboat over there?”

Tom looked in the direction Bud indicated and saw a powerful black boat idling just offshore. The person that was at its helm had crouched behind the windshield and was difficult to see.

“Now’s our chance, Tom – while he’s occupied under the car! If we can grab him we can chase the boat in the atomicar and apprehend them both.”

“Sounds good, Bud! You grab the suspect and I’ll get the car started.”

On the count of three, the two men rushed the unsuspecting man. As they approached him from behind the lookout in the boat yelled out a warning. The man turned just in time to be bowled over by Bud, who sent him sprawling into the sand. As Tom jumped into the driver’s seat of the car Bud grabbed the downed suspect and began pinning his arms behind his back.

While he wrestled furiously with his opponent Bud was suddenly startled by the sound of gunfire. The lookout in the boat was shooting at them! Bud heard several retorts and saw small tufts of sand kick up just a few feet away.

The sound of gunfire had startled Bud just long enough for the man to escape his grasp. He lunged into the water and headed toward the boat. Bud, meanwhile, dived behind the atomicar to shield himself from the lookout in the boat, who was still shooting at him.

Moments later, the man climbed into the boat, which immediately roared off into the distance. Bud climbed into the passenger seat of the car and looked at Tom curiously. “Why aren’t we chasing them?” he asked.

Tom looked at the car sourly. “It won’t start, Bud! They must have done something to the wiring.”

Bud sighed and watched their foes roar off down the lake. “Can we at least call the police? They’re getting away!”

“I know, Bud, but the car phone won’t work unless the car is turned on, and it’s electrical system is dead. I didn’t think to bring my pencil radio with me – this was just a picnic, after all!” Tom sighed. “While I check out the car, can you go get the girls? I don’t want them to wonder what’s happened to us.”

“Sure thing, Tom.”

A few minutes later, Bud returned with a worried Phyl and Sandy. Tom was leaning against the car, holding a white piece of paper.

“Is everything ok?” Sandy asked.

Tom nodded. “It was easy enough to fix. They weren’t actually trying to damage the car, Sandy. All they wanted to do was delay us long enough to make their escape. Their real purpose was to deliver this message, which I found secured under the car.”

Tom gave it to Bud, who read it aloud. Neatly typed on a white piece of paper were these words:

YOUR RECKLESS ATTEMPTS TO HELP YOUR SO-CALLED SPACE FRIENDS ARE ENDANGERING ALL LIFE ON EARTH. STOP TRYING TO RESCUE THEM OR WE WILL STOP YOU! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING.

Tom’s father was the first one to speak up. “I think you’re right, Son! If you interpret the origin of these coordinates to be Earth, and divide the numbers into three axes…” his voice trailed off as he scribbled some figures down on a piece of paper. “I calculate a coordinate that is 362.7 light-years from Earth.”

Tom Jr. nodded. “That’s what I get too. It’s astonishing!”

Chow spoke up. “So are we goin’ on another space trip, boss? I can pack up my things as soon as I can get back home! When do we leave?”

Tom Jr. burst out laughing. “Not so fast, Chow! Even my fastest spaceship would take generations to make a voyage like that. I don’t think our space friends have that much time left. I’ll send them a message and see if they can provide the transportation.” He beamed out into space a short message:

WE CAN GO BUT THE DISTANCE IS TOO GREAT FOR OUR CURRENT TECHNOLOGY. CAN YOU PROVIDE TRANSPORTATION?

The response came moments later:

WE NO LONGER POSSESS THE ABILITY TO MAKE THE VOYAGE. CAN YOU FIND A WAY TO GET THERE? THE NEED IS DIRE!

Bud looked at Tom. “It looks like they’re pinning all their hopes on you!”

Tom drummed his fingers on the desk. “I think I know why, Bud. If you’ll remember, we visited Mars just recently. I believe we even planted seeds there.”

“That’s right, we did – in your Cosmotron Express. If the space friends do live on Mars you probably gave them the impression that we have the space travel problem licked!”

Tom’s father spoke up on the other end of the videophone. “So what are you going to do, Son?”

Tom Jr. looked thoughtfully into the distance. “It’s a tough problem, Dad. It’s one thing to travel to the outer planets, but this request is in an entirely different league! There’s no known way to go faster than light, and we’re going to have to travel much, much faster than light to get anywhere near this system in a reasonable amount of time.”

“Just what is that-there star system like, pardnor?” Chow asked. “I ain’t never been that far from home before!”

“I don’t know, Chow,” Tom Jr. replied. “Let me look it up on the charts.”

Tom walked over to a nearly computer terminal and typed in a series of commands. “We’ve had all of our star charts categorized electronically for some time now. It should be here somewhere. Oh, there we go.” Tom pulled up a chart on the display, and then stared at it, puzzled. “That’s strange.”

“What is it, Tom?” Bud asked.

“There’s no star there!” Tom Jr. replied. “There’s just empty space. There isn’t even a star in the surrounding area.”

“Try checking with your megascope space prober,” Tom’s father suggested. “It may be that the star is too faint for our telescopes to pick up.”

“Good idea,” Tom Jr. replied.

Tom Sr. looked at his watch. “I’m sorry to break this up, Son, but there’s a few things I need to do before I can call it a day, and it’s getting late. I’ll leave the resolution to this problem in your hands! Do what you think is best.”

“I’ll do that, Dad. Thanks.”

“See ya later, boss!” Chow said, just as Tom Sr. disconnected the video signal. The line went dead.

Tom stood up and stretched. “Let’s go over to the observatory, Bud, and get some answers.”

“I’m right behind you, Tom!”

The two friends got in the atomicar and drove over to the observatory. At this late hour it was completely deserted.

Tom walked over to a terminal beside his megascope space prober and pressed a series of buttons. The enormous machine began warming up. Once it was online Tom removed a piece of paper from his pocket and began entering numbers from it into the device.

“That should do it,” Tom said, satisfied. “Now let’s see what’s out there.” As the seconds ticked by, however, nothing appeared on the screen.

“Are you sure this is working?” Bud asked.

Tom quickly scanned the controls. “Positive. If there was a star in that region of space, however dim, we should be able to see it. This is strange! Maybe I decoded the coordinates incorrectly.”

The young inventor thought quietly for a few moments. “You know, it’s just barely possible that something else is going on. I’ve got a hunch.” He reached over to the console and turned a few knobs. After a few moments a dark, hazy object appeared on the screen!

Bud looked at it, startled. “That doesn’t look like any star I’ve ever seen!”

Tom grinned. “That’s because it’s not a star, Bud. It’s a planet! I switched the machine to scan for a planet instead of a star, and I found this object, right where our space friends said it would be.”

“But what star does it orbit?”

“That’s just it – it doesn’t orbit a star! It’s a true extrasolar planet.”

“You mean it just drifts around in deep space?”

Tom nodded. “I’m sure it orbited a star at one time, but something must have happened. The planet may have been ejected into space when its parent sun went nova, for instance. It’s hard to say. Whatever happened, it probably happened a very long time ago.”

Bud looked at the hazy image with a mixture of curiosity and awe. “And that’s where our space friends want us to go! Man. That would definitely be breaking some new ground! Can you get a clearer picture?”

Tom attempted to adjust the settings, but the picture remained distorted. “The megascope just wasn’t designed to observe extremely small, dark, and distant objects. If it was a star I think we’d be ok, but that planet is pretty tiny. I would need to redesign the whole circuit assembly in order to get clear pictures of this class of objects.”

Bud nodded. “I get it. At least we can see something, though! Do you think that’s a cloud layer?”

“That’s what it looks like. The planet has got to be awfully cold, though – probably not too much above absolute zero. To have clouds at all there must be some internal heat source. Volcanism, maybe. It’s hard to say.”

“Do you think the planet is habitable?”

Tom shook his head. “Not a chance, Bud. The clouds are probably either methane or some other gas. We’ll need to bring our space suits along on this jaunt!”

Bud’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “A real interstellar voyage! Do you think we can find a way to get there?”

“I just don’t know, Bud.” Tom stared at the mysterious object that was displayed on the glowing screen of his megascope. Hazy as the picture was, he could still see clouds swirling in the upper atmosphere. Somewhere on that planet was an object that his space friends needed in order to survive. Tom realized he had to find a way to get there – the lives of many beings depended on it!

Tom at last spoke up. “This isn’t an easy problem, Bud. Einstein proved that it is impossible to go faster than light. As you approach the speed of light your mass increases, and if you ever hit the speed of light you would have infinite mass. In order to accelerate an infinite mass you’d need an infinite amount of energy, which is impossible. It just can’t be done.”

“But haven’t scientists found ways around that limit?” Bud asked.

“There have been lots of theories, but none of them have worked out. For instance, one idea would be to use wormholes that provide short-cuts around three-dimensional space. You could use these tunnels to cut a thousand-year voyage down to just a few days, or hours. The problem, though, is that in order to build these tunnels you need something called negative energy, which might not exist.”

Bud slapped Tom on the back. “If I know you, genius boy, you’ll have a working prototype by the end of the week! I’m going to go get packed. Is the trip on?”

Tom smiled. “I appreciate your confidence, Bud. I just hope it isn’t misplaced! Let’s go tell the space friends that I’m working on a solution and will keep them posted on my progress.”

“Sounds good, skipper!”

Tom powered down the megascope, and the two returned to the communications center. Tom then sat down at the terminal and typed out a message:

WE ARE WORKING ON FINDING A SOLUTION AND WILL KEEP YOU INFORMED. ONCE WE ARRIVE AT THE PLANET HOW WILL WE LOCATE THE OBJECT?

“I’d really rather not search an entire planet for a small machine,” Tom explained. “It would be nice to have some easy way to pinpoint it.”

“Good thinking!”

A light started flashing on the communications array. Tom looked at it, puzzled, and then tried to resend the message.

“What’s up, Tom?” Bud asked.

“You know how this system works, right? I redesigned it a few months ago.”

Bud nodded. “Sure I do. You send messages using your private ear technology to your Outpost in Space, and it then relays the messages through a powerful transmitter to Mars. That way it’s impossible for other people to overhear your communications.”

“Right. We’ve had no end of trouble in the past when other people intercepted messages and sent out communications that claimed to come from us. Well, Bud, it looks like the messages aren’t going through. I’m not getting an automated acknowledgement from the space station.”

“Do you think something is broken?”

Tom shook his head. “No, Bud, I don’t. I think we’re being jammed!”

Bud looked startled. “You think that someone is trying to prevent you from communicating with your space friends?”

“That’s exactly what I think! If that’s true, it should be possible to triangulate the source of the interference.”

Tom walked over to another machine and began running an analysis. “Try sending the message again, Bud.” As Bud resent the message, Tom watched the numbers on his display.

“This is tough, Bud. The interference is almost generalized. I’m having trouble pinpointing it.”

“But how is it even possible that someone can jam the messages?”

“The private ear network relies on the same anti-inverse-square-wave principle that the megascope was designed around, Bud. It’s pretty much impossible to eavesdrop on, but since it’s a form of electromagnetic wave it is very possible to jam it. I’m just surprised that someone even wants to. Try sending the message again.”

Bud complied, and this time Tom leaped out of his chair. “I’ve got it, Bud! The source is just outside Swift Enterprises. Let’s go find out what is going on!”

Tom and Bud raced to the atomicar. Tom took the driver’s seat this time and the car leaped off the ground and sped into the air. “I think the interference signal is originating about a half-mile south of the compound. There’s a section of forest there that would make an ideal spot for hiding covert equipment.”

Bud nodded. “Are we going to fly straight there?”

Tom shook his head. “I’ll get us close and then set the car down. We’ll try to sneak up on the spy and see if we can catch them red-handed. I think there’s a repelatron gun in the dashboard that you can bring in case we run into trouble.”

A few moments later Tom had cleared the south wall of Swift Enterprises. He carefully flew the car over the treetops until he was a couple hundred feet away from the suspected origin of the signal. Tom then set the car down on the ground and parked it under a tree.

Motioning for Bud to be quiet, the two silently crept through the trees.

“I see something up ahead,” Bud whispered.

“I do too,” Tom replied. “It looks like a van of some sort.”

Tom and Bud quietly crept toward the van until they were just a few dozen feet away from it. From that distance Tom could see that a large, white van was parked under an oak tree. The van bore no identifying marks and had no license plate.

“What should we do?” Bud asked.

Tom looked at the van with a puzzled expression. “That’s weird. Do you see any antennas?”

“Nope,” Bud whispered back.

“Then how is it broadcasting the interference signal? I wonder – ”

Tom picked up a rock from the ground and threw it at the van. It passed harmlessly through it!

Bud’s eyes grew wide. “It’s – ”

Before he could finish his sentence the boys were thrown into the air by a thunderous explosion just behind them!

Bud floored the accelerator and the atomicar sped forward. “We’ll be there in less than five minutes – much less, if I have anything to say about it,” he said grimly.

As Tom watched the speed of the atomicar climb to over 200 mph he spoke up. “What is the nature of the emergency? Has something gone wrong with the Outpost in Space?” Tom was referring to the space station that he had built in low earth orbit to manufacture his solar batteries.

“It’s nothing like that, Tom. It’s your space friends. They’re sending you an urgent SOS!”

Some time previous, a meteor engraved with strange symbols had landed inside Swift Enterprise grounds. Tom and his father had managed to decode the symbols and discovered that they were written by an alien race that apparently lived on Mars. The Swifts were able to find a way to send a message back to their new space friends, and over time the two parties had formed a friendship. At one point the aliens had even steered an asteroid into Earth orbit, which the Swifts had colonized and named Nestria. Occasionally the space friends would request their assistance, although it had been a long time since they had been in dire need.

“Can you relay the message?” Tom asked.

“I’m afraid not. The computer can’t translate it.”

Tom whistled. “It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten a message like that. We’ll be there pronto!”

The messages from the space friends were always encoded in a mathematical language that had proven very difficult to translate. Over time the Swifts had learned the meaning of many space symbols and created an electronic brain that could automatically translate the messages. In the event that a new symbol was transmitted, however, the translator would fail and the Swifts would have to decode the message manually.

“How far you do think we are from the compound?” Tom asked.

Bud eyed the odometer, which he had maxed out at 225 mph. “We’ll be there in less than two minutes. You really covered some distance in that repela-suit of yours!”

The young inventor nodded, and then stared off into the distance. His friend could tell that he was already lost in thought. “You know, it’s been a while since we’ve had an urgent request from them. The last time we got an SOS like this was when a plague was decimating their food supply. Do you remember that episode?”

Bud laughed. “How could I possibly forget our first trip to the moon, Tom? Boy, that was an adventure! The Brungarians almost did us in that time. If it hadn’t been for your repelatrons their missiles would have spread our remains all over the lunar surface!”

“And what have our space friends asked us to do since then?”

Bud thought for a moment. “Hmmm. Well, the most recent favor they’ve asked of us was us to go under the ocean floor and retrieve a cache of information. You had to build your subocean geotron in order to reach it.”

“Do you remember what that information was for?”

“I don’t think they were ever very clear on its purpose. Didn’t they say it contained some kind of gas-magnetic-field data? I think they wanted it so they could learn how to survive on Earth. But what are you getting at?”

“Here’s the thing, Bud. We know that at one time they actually lived on this planet, right?”

Bud nodded. “I guess you could say that. We did see remains of settlements on Easter Island, and in the city of gold that you found at the bottom of the ocean. Come to think of it, I think we found some traces of them in that village in Mexico, too – the one where you first field-tested the electronic retroscope.”

“Right. So we know that they used to have a range of settlements right here on Earth. But now, centuries later, they’re trying to learn how to survive in this atmosphere. How can it be possible, Bud, that they no longer have the ability to do a simple thing like set foot on this world, and yet they can move an entire satellite into orbit?”

By this time the sprawling Swift Enterprise complex had appeared on the horizon. Bud slowed the atomicar down and steered it toward the communications center. “I’ll set down inside the walls right beside the center’s parking lot, Tom – this car is registered with the security system and its presence shouldn’t alert your robotic security sentries.”

Tom smiled. “I appreciate it, Bud. I’d rather not be decimated by my own inventions!”

“I always hate it when that happens,” Bud agreed.

After making sure that no innocent bystanders were in the way Bud settled the car down into a parking spot. “But, getting back to your question, Tom, I just really don’t know. Now that you put it that way it does seem strange. Maybe something happened to them since they lived here.”

“Exactly, Bud. Why did they leave? What disaster has brought their once-mighty civilization to its knees – if that is what happened?”

Bud shook his head. “I don’t know, Tom, but there is one way to find out!”

The two of them raced inside the communications center, where they met the lady who had contacted them over the radio. “I’m sorry I couldn’t translate the message for you, Tom,” she began. Tom recognized her as Kathy Foster, the compound’s chief radio officer.

“It’s no problem, Kathy. Say, can you tell Arv to get the repela-suit out of the trunk of our car? It’s the red atomicar that’s parked in the lot outside. There are a few changes I’d like him to make to the production units – tell him I’ll meet with him tomorrow morning to discuss them.” Arv Hanson was a dedicated Swift Enterprise employee who had been with the firm as long as Tom could remember. He was Tom’s chief model-maker and often took Tom’s engineering drawings and used them to produce working models of his inventions.

“Absolutely, Tom. I’ll take care of it right away!”

As Kathy walked off to get in touch with Arv the young inventor looked over the space message that had been picked up by the communications array. Without saying anything he took a stack of printouts from the machine, walked over to a nearby desk, and sat down. He removed a pencil from his pocket and began making some initial sketches on the printouts. Bud sat in silence and watched his friend, but as the minutes ticked by Bud began to realize that Tom was not making progress.

After a half an hour had passed Tom shoved the pencil aside and sighed. “This is a mess, Bud.”

“Do you think the message got garbled?” Bud asked.

Tom shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. I understand some of these symbols, but a lot of them are entirely new, and they’re arranging them in an unusual manner. It’s definitely an urgent message, but I can’t make any sense out of it.”

“Why not ask for clarification?”

Tom smiled wryly. “I’ll give that a shot, Bud, but do you know what usually happens when we ask them for clarification?”

Bud nodded. “Yeah, I know. We get told there isn’t any other way to phrase it.”

“And they’re probably right, too. It’s incredibly difficult to transmit non-mathematical ideas using only mathematical symbols. In a way it’s amazing we’ve been able to communicate as well as we have.”

“You really should teach them English, Tom!”

Tom laughed. “I tried that with Exman, remember?” Tom was referring to a being made entirely of energy that was sent to Earth by the space friends. The being had remained with Tom for a while and learned a great deal their planet before he was sent back into space.

Bud stood up and stretched. “True, true. Say, I’ll go send that message asking for clarification. If they send anything useful back I’ll let you know.”

Tom nodded. “In the meantime, I’ll go get in touch with my dad. If anyone can help me decode these symbols it would be him.”

As Bud walked off to send the message to their space friends Tom reached over on the desk and activated the videophone. Swift Enterprises had their own private TV network that they used to communicate with the many branches of the company. This time Tom was attempting to get in touch with the Citadel.

A few minutes later Tom’s father appeared on the videophone. “It’s good to see you, Son.”

“It’s good to see you too, Dad. How is your fusion project going?”

Tom Sr. smiled. “Outstanding! Even better than I hoped. The production reactor is online and exceeding our expectations. I’ve received word that our colony on the Moon has been able to start mining commercial amounts of helium 3, and Ned Newton has already started receiving orders!”

“That’s terrific! I think you’ve opened a new chapter in history. These reactors will provide clean, safe, dependable energy for millions of people!”

Tom Sr. nodded. “I’m sure they will, but I suspect you didn’t call me to congratulate me on the success of my project! What’s on your mind?”

Tom Jr. tapped a few keys on the videophone. “I’m sending over a message that we just received from our space friends. I think they want our help, but I’m having trouble trying to decode the message. I was wondering if you could help me work through it.”

A few moments later Tom saw his father walk out of sight and return with a stack of paper. As he thumbed through them he began nodding his head. “I see what you mean! This does look like a challenge. Let’s work together on this and see what we can find out.”

Bud returned a few minutes later. “You’re out of luck, skipper. The space friends said they’ve told us all they can. It’s up to you to work it out!”

Tom Jr. nodded. “Then I guess we need to get at it, Dad. Bud, this could take a while.”

Bud nodded. “I’ve got some errands I need to run. I’ll be back around 8pm to check on you two. Don’t make any trips to space without me!”

The two Swifts spent the next several hours working out the content of the message. At around eight o’clock Bud walked back into the communications center. When Tom Jr. saw him he put his pencil back down, and then stood up and stretched.

“So how goes it, genius boy?” Bud asked.

Tom sat back down in the desk chair and sighed. “I think we’re close, Bud, but we’re still missing something. There’s a whole section of numbers here that we haven’t been able to make heads or tails of.”

His father nodded. “Let’s go over what we do know. I think we both agree that the main part of the message can be translated as follows:”

SPACE FRIENDS TO SWIFTS. WE NEED YOUR HELP ON A MISSION OF DIRE IMPORTANCE. OUR RACE IS BEING THREATENED WITH IMMINENT EXTINCTION. OVER TIME WE HAVE LOST THE ABILITY TO LEAVE OUR WORLD AND OUR BIOSPHERE IS ON THE VERGE OF COLLAPSE. IN ORDER TO SURVIVE WE NEED YOU TO RETRIEVE A DEVICE THAT WE BUILT LONG AGO AND BRING IT TO US ON MARS. THE DEVICE CAN BE FOUND AT –

Tom Jr. nodded. “Which is followed by the coordinates. What puzzles me is that we’ve received coordinates from them before. But these numbers are like nothing I’ve ever seen. There are too many of them!”

A voice suddenly boomed out over the videophone. “Well, brand my boots, what’s goin’ on here?” Tom Jr. saw Chow Winkler, Swift Enterprises’ stout cook, walk into view. The Swifts had met the good-natured cook years ago when Tom’s father was building the Citadel, and he had been a loyal companion on many adventures ever since. Chow was wearing an incredibly flashy shirt, with crisscrossed red and yellow patterns that were highlighted with sequins. Chow’s weakness for bright shirts was a constant source of humor among Enterprise employees.

Tom Jr. smiled. “Chow! It’s good to see you again. How’s the southwest been treating you?”

Chow grinned. “It’s been swell bein’ down here again with your dad, Tom. I sure miss Shopton though! Yer dad tells me he’s about wrapped up his work and we can be heading back home tomorrow. But say, what’s all this about your space friends? Are they askin’ us to go out in space and run a mission for ’em?”

Tom Jr’s eyes suddenly got wide. “That’s it, Chow! You’ve done it! These aren’t coordinates for a location on Earth. They’re for a location in space!”

The young scientist quickly scribbled some equations on a piece of paper. His jaw dropped. “Why, if my interpretation is correct, I think our space friends want us to retrieve something they left on a planet hundreds of light-years away!”

“So what’s all this about, Tom? I leave town for a few days and you’ve already come up with another invention!”

The lanky, eighteen-year-old Tom Swift Jr. laughed at his friend Bud Barclay. His teenage chum had been visiting his parents in San Francisco for the past three weeks, and had returned to find Tom in his private laboratory piling equipment onto a large cart.

“I’ll tell you all about it on the way out to the testing grounds, fly-boy. Just give me a hand with some of this equipment, will you?”

Bud nodded and was soon helping his friend gather pieces of scientific equipment from all over the room. Tom’s ultramodern laboratory was the center of activity at Swift Enterprises, the company that Tom’s father, Tom Swift Sr., had founded decades ago. Over the years both father and son had created many inventions in their laboratories that had changed the world.

Tom scanned the room with his keen blue eyes. “Let’s see. I’ve got the boots, the gloves, the batteries – oh, yes. Can you go grab that equipment off my workbench? I think I’m going to need all of it.”

“Sure thing, Tom.”

Bud walked over to Tom’s workbench and looked it over. He remembered the many long hours his friend had spent hunched over this desk, drawing up the plans for one invention after the next. Tom’s most recent invention had been the transmittaton – a device that could instantly beam matter from one location to another.

As Bud started transferring equipment to the cart he lifted a white helmet off the workbench and looked at it quizzically. “Is this some sort of new spacesuit for intrepid astronauts?”

Tom laughed. “Not exactly, Bud – although that would certainly come in handy if we had to battle any more galaxy ghosts!”

The young scientist was referring to their most recent adventure. A few months ago an armada of ghosts from the Andromeda Galaxy had invaded the solar system, looking for a new planet. Only Tom’s quick thinking had saved the Earth from a terrible disaster.

Tom gave the laboratory one final look around, and then nodded with satisfaction. “I think that’s about it!” He then motioned to Bud, and the two pushed the cart out the door, down the hall, and out of the building.

“I still say it looks an awful lot like a suit, Tom. You’ve got a helmet, gloves, boots – why, that’s everything you need!”

“You’re close, Bud! This is a suit, of sorts, but it’s not designed to be a spacesuit, although it could work in space.”

“So it’s a new deep-sea suit, then?”

Tom shook his head. “No, Bud, I’m afraid it’s not going to replace our Fat Man suits. Those are still the last word when it comes to walking on the ocean floor.”

The two of them continued to push the large cart down the sidewalk and past the many buildings that made up the complex of Swift Enterprise. The four-mile-square complex was filled with gleaming, white, ultramodern buildings that were equipped for nearly every scientific purpose imaginable. Tom Swift’s father had built the world’s most advanced scientific facilities and turned his company into a leader of scientific research and development.

“So what is it, Tom?”

“It was so obvious, Bud – this invention was staring me in the face all this time, but I never thought of it! I should have built this years ago. Do you remember the repelatron?”

Bud laughed. “How could I forget it? You’ve used it in almost everything you’ve created! It’s what brought us to the moon, remember?”

Tom nodded. “It really has proven very useful! And yet it’s so simple. All it does is generate a repulsive force against whatever material it is tuned to repulse. When we use it on the ocean floor we can tune it to repel the water and create underwater cities. In rocket ships it can repel the ground and get us into space, and so forth.”

“Right! It’s proven to be a fantastic invention. Millions of people are now driving your repelatron-powered atomicars.”

“Now for that you can thank Ned Newton! Under his watch the Swift Construction Company has been a genius at marketing and selling the inventions that were created right here on these grounds. Did you get a chance to see him while you were out in California?”

“I sure did, Tom. He’s doing better than ever! I think he misses the old days, though, back when he and your father went all over the world having adventures.”

Tom smiled. “I’m sure he does, Bud. I wish I could have gone on some of those myself, like when they went to South America to find Jake Poddington and that lost race of giants. That’s when Dad first met Koku.”

“I wish I could have met him, Tom. I’ve never seen a real giant, and from what I’ve heard he was a great guy. Oh – that reminds me! Why did Ned move the construction company out to California? They’ve been located just down the road ever since the company was founded!”

Tom shrugged. “Everyone’s moving out to California these days. They’ve even tried to get Dad to move Swift Enterprises, but he won’t budge. Maybe some future Swift will move Enterprises out of upstate New York, but as long as Dad and I are alive we’re going to keep it right here.”

“California is not all bad, Tom. They do have some nice beaches! Not that you ever actually take time off and go to a beach, or anything. But if you did they’d be there!”

Tom smiled. “I’m not much of a beachgoer, Bud. I’m happiest in my laboratory, dreaming up new ideas and overcoming new challenges. Speaking of which – while you were gone, I was tinkering in my lab and thought, why not put a repelatron in a suit? You could power it with a solar battery and have enough energy to stay aloft for days! The limitation to jetpacks has always been the fuel requirements, but we solved that problem a long time ago.”

Bud’s eyes glowed with excitement. “That’s a terrific idea, Tom! Say – are you going to let me try it out?”

Tom shook his head. “I’ll try it out first – besides, I haven’t had a chance to teach you how it all works! You’ve got to learn the controls for a start, and there are a few other things I’ve added.”

“Like the helmet,” Bud said.

“Exactly. It’s amazing what you can do with miniaturized electronics! Not only does it have a communications system, but the helmet also has a full heads-up display – it can tell you how much energy you have left, it can allow you to magnify objects that are great distances away, and it provides other flight information. I tried to think of everything.”

“I’m sure you did!” Bud said. “That is your specialty. It might take you a couple tries and a few near-disasters, but you always nail it in the end!”

By now the two of them had pushed the cart onto one of the many unused airstrips that crisscrossed the company’s grounds. Tom stopped the cart and began combing through its equipment. As he worked, Bud noticed that a crowd of people was beginning to gather.

“Hey Tom, did you announce this test to anyone?”

“Oh, I forget,” Tom said absently. “Maybe a few people. Why?”

“Because it looks like everyone and his brother is coming out to see you fly! I bet all of the buildings around us are being emptied.”

Tom looked up, startled. “Wow! That’s odd. It’s just a simple test, Bud. Why it would attract such interest? It’s not like they’ve never seen a repelatron before!”

Bud smiled. “I think they’re gathering because they’ve seen you test a repelatron before. Or they’ve at least heard stories about it. Don’t you remember what happened the very first time you tested that invention? You installed it on a spacecraft out at Fearing Island, and decided to put it through its paces.”

Tom shook his head. “Hmmm. That would have been the Challenger, right?” The Challenger was Tom’s repelatron-powered rocket ship that had taken him to the moon.

Bud nodded. “That’s right, Tom. The first time you lifted off, you put the repelatrons on too wide a spread – ”

Tom started laughing. ” – and flattened every building in the area! Of course! I remember now. No wonder nobody wants to be indoors when I test this! I really don’t think there’s any reason for concern, though. Repelatrons are a proven technology, and even if something did go wrong this rig can’t provide very much lifting force. I’d be surprised if it could handle 300 pounds, which is hardly enough to flatten the Wakefield Damon Geophysics Building over there.”

“All the same, Tom, I think they’re siding with caution this time. Besides, one of the perks of working here is getting to watch you test your latest creations! Think of all the things they’ve seen.”

“To say nothing of all the disasters! I just hope this test doesn’t become headline news on the Shopton Evening Bulletin.”

Tom nodded. “Can you give me a hand putting on this suit? It’s a little tricky to put on.” The young scientist put on the body of the suit, and Bud helped him put on the white boots and gloves. They then strapped a large steel box onto Tom’s back. As Bud was securing it in place Tom explained its various components.

“That piece is the repelatron unit, Bud. Inside is a series of powerful solar batteries. You can see the repelatron antennas – they’re miniaturized, of course, and I’ve installed a few backup units for redundancy.”

“I’m guessing that these steel extensions that are jutting out from the back are the unit are the controls?”

“That’s right! I’ll be resting my arms on them while in flight. They’re adjustable so that people of different heights and weights can wear the suit. The unit is controlled by the joysticks at the end of each arm, and there are a series of buttons that allow the wearer to access higher functions.”

Bud then lifted the helmet off the cart, placed it on Tom’s head, and secured it. The helmet’s golden faceplate obscured his view of Tom, but it would also provide protection against deadly radiation if it was ever used in space.

Tom lifted the faceplate. “I think we’re about ready!” he told Bud. “I’ve brought along a radio on the cart. You can use it to keep in touch with me during the demonstration. There should also be an atomicar around here somewhere you can use if you have to come and get me.”

“Sounds good, Tom! Hey, where’s Chow? I’m surprised he’s not here! And what about your father?”

Tom smiled. “Dad and Chow have been at the Citadel for the past few weeks. Dad’s been wrapping up work on his nuclear fusion experiments, and Chow couldn’t resist the urge to go back home.” The Citadel was Swift Enterprise’s atomic power plant in the southwest. It was equipped with a wide range of equipment that was designed for research into nuclear power.

Bud nodded. “You’ll have to fill me in on how that’s going! Well – good luck, genius boy! May the wind be at your back.”

Tom smiled and closed the faceplate. Those outside could only see the reflective gold coating, but inside the suit Tom could see a display was lit up with glowing green pieces of information – everything he needed to soar into the air.

“Looks like all systems are go!” Tom said aloud.

“I read you loud and clear,” Bud replied over the radio.

He contacted the air traffic control tower on the grounds. “This is Tom Swift, requesting clearance for takeoff.”

The tower radioed back immediately. “You’ve got it, Tom. Good luck!”

Tom gripped the right control stick with his hand and pressed it forward. Immediately he lifted off the ground and soared into the air!

Even from the sky he could see astonishment on the faces of the employees that had gathered to watch the demonstration. Tom continued to fly vertically until the display registered him at being 150 feet off the ground.

“Now let’s put this thing through its paces,” Tom thought. He began soaring over the complex of Swift Enterprise, flying high over the buildings. The sight was amazing.

“I can see everything from up here! There is the communications center, and the observatory, and the power plant. There is the building that houses my laboratory, and there is the parking lot. Look at all those people!”

As usual, Tom’s demonstration had not gone unnoticed. Employees walking down the sidewalk stopped in their tracks and stared at the figure that was flying over their heads. Tom smiled as he saw their startled reactions.

“This is going even better than I had hoped! The controls are as smooth as silk, and the solar battery is providing plenty of power. Let’s open it up a little bit and see what kind of speed we can get!” Tom poured on the power and watched his speed indicator rise to 50, then 100, then 150 miles per hour. He had soon left the compound far behind him.

Swift Enterprises was located on the outskirts of Shopton, New York – a small town in the northern part of the state. As far as the eye could see there was nothing but trees, hills, and wilderness. Tom had chosen to test his invention on a crisp autumn afternoon, and the trees had already turned from green to beautiful shades of yellow, orange, and red. The sight was breathtaking. “I should have brought my camera,” he thought.

Off in the distance Tom could see Lake Carlopa. “I’d better not go that way – if something goes wrong and I have to bail I don’t want to do it over a lake!” He turned the controls and lifted himself to 1000 feet.

A voice came in over the communication system. “How’s it going?” Bud asked.

“Like a dream, pal!” Tom said.

“I’m tracking you on radar, Tom. If you get into any trouble we’ll be there in a minute to help. I’ve got the atomicar warmed up and ready to go.”

“Roger that – and thanks!”

As Tom raced through the sky he noticed that his display was registering the presence of another object in his vicinity. Tom reoriented the suit so that he could get a good look at it. Once he realized what it was he smiled. “Will you look at that!”

About a mile away, drifting lazily in the sky, was a large hot-air balloon. The blue-and-white balloon was a few thousand feet higher than Tom. “It looks like I’m not the only one enjoying the afternoon!” he thought.

Using his helmet’s vision system, he magnified the object so he could get a better look at it. The insignia on the balloon’s gondola identified it as belonging to a popular ballooning club in the area. Tom was too far below the balloon to see clearly, but there appeared to be only one person in the craft.

As he was watching, he saw a brief flash of light in the basket. Tom then heard an explosion – and saw flames!

“Good night – that balloon is on fire!” Tom said, gasping.

“What’s that?” Bud asked. “Is there trouble?”

“You bet there is! How soon can you get here?” Tom asked.

“A few minutes, tops,” Bud replied.

“That’s not soon enough – whoever’s in there isn’t going to last that long. The whole balloon is going to be on fire in just a few seconds! I’m going in, Bud!”

Tom gunned his suit and shot toward the flaming balloon at high speed. The display briefly clocked him at 147 miles per hour. “I’ve got to get there in time!” he thought. As he watched he saw the flames climb up the fabric of the balloon and light the envelope on fire.

“I’m glad they’re not using hydrogen or the whole thing would have exploded,” Tom said.

“You and me both!” Bud replied. “I’m on my way.”

Less than sixty seconds after the explosion happened Tom reached the stricken balloon. By then the flames had begun consuming the envelope and caused a rapid loss of hot air. As a result, the balloon was rapidly plummeting to the ground. A quick glance in the gondola revealed to Tom that a spark or malfunction in the tubing had lit the propane gas and caused the fire.

Inside the gondola was the balloonist, who had been knocked unconscious by the blast. What Tom wasn’t expecting was the size of the man. He was at least six feet six inches tall, and built like a boxer.

“Wow! Bud, he’s got to weigh at least 250 pounds – probably a good deal more than that. My suit wasn’t designed to carry that kind of weight! But I’ve got to try – I’ve got to!”

Tom used some fire-extinguisher pellets from his suit pocket to douse the flames, but it was too late to save the balloon. It continued to plummet toward the ground at an alarming rate.

“If I just grab him I could easily injure him further, but I don’t have time to do anything else,” Tom thought. The ground was approaching much too quickly.

Since there was nothing else to do, Tom reached in, put his arms around the unconscious man, and gunned his suit’s repelatron lifters. He managed to get clear of the balloon, but quickly noticed that his suit was having trouble. His helmet’s display warned him that the lifters were overheating and on the verge of shutting down.

“I don’t have enough lifting power!” Tom thought. He struggled to maintain his hold on the unconscious individual as the suit began to fail. The two of them were plummeting rapidly to the ground!

As they fell Tom had an idea. He let off the constant stream of power and began asking for short but intense bursts, hoping to slow their descent. “The suit can’t handle the weight, but maybe I can control our fall,” he thought. By red-lining the equipment and then giving it a brief chance to cool he was hoping to keep it from burning out and sending both of them plummeting to their deaths.

With sweat pouring off his brow, Tom watched the suit indicators and held on to the balloonist. Hundreds of feet below him he saw the balloon crash into the trees. Just north of the wreckage he spotted a clearing that was not far from a major highway, and decided to set down there.

Over the next few seconds Tom gradually started to see a reduction in their rate of descent. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that they were going to make it. In another minute they had reached the ground.

Tom let go of the man and gently placed him on the grass, and then radioed Bud. “We’ve touched down, Bud, safe and sound. Wow! I’ve got to build more lifting power into this suit. We had the energy but not the horsepower.”

“Adding a parachute might be good too! I’m almost there, Tom, and I’ve sent for an ambulance. Medical attention should be there shortly.”

By the time Bud flew overhead Tom had removed his suit and attended to the man, who was just beginning to regain consciousness. Bud circled the clearing once and then set the atomicar down on the grass about twenty feet from Tom. He quickly leaped out of the car and then raced over.

“What happened?” the man said weakly.

Tom shook his head. “We were hoping you could tell us. I think something went wrong with your propane tank and caused a fire.”

“That’s right,” he replied. “Something went wrong with the tubing and lit the gas. There was an explosion. That’s all I remember.”

The man struggled to sit up, but Tom restrained him. “Just lie there for a minute – help should be here soon.” They could already hear the wail of the ambulances in the distance.

“But how did I get here from the balloon? The fall should have killed me!”

Tom smiled. “I happened to be in the area and saw that you were in trouble. What did you say your name was?”

“Jack – Jack Overton.”

“You’ll be just fine, Jack.” The man nodded, closed his eyes, and laid back in the grass. A team of emergency rescue personnel raced into the clearing, carrying a stretcher and other equipment.

As the man was examined Tom and Bud stood nearby and watched. Once the balloonist had been pronounced in good condition except for a concussion and a few burns Tom and Bud got into the atomicar. Bud settled into the driver’s seat and flew the car out of the clearing and over the trees.

“I’m glad Jack is going to be ok,” Tom said. “This does reveal a few changes that I need to make to my suit before I try it again.”

“I think Jack would call the suit a big success, though!” Bud replied. “Oh – and I think you failed at your attempt to keep this out of the press. I’m sure this is going to be front-page news on the Bulletin!”

The two friends were suddenly interrupted by a message that came in over the car’s speakers, interrupting the radio. “Tom, Bud, you’ve got to get back to Swift Enterprises immediately!”

“Tom Swift – always in touch no matter where he goes,” Bud quipped.

“We read you loud and clear,” Tom said aloud. “What seems to be the trouble?”

“We’re receiving an urgent message for you Tom – from outer space!”

November 1st kicks off the yearly nanowrimo content. For those who are unaware, nanowrimo (short for ‘National November Writer’s Month) is a yearly contest that challenges writers everywhere to write an entire novel in the month of November. Contestants have 30 days (Nov 1 – Nov 30) to write 50,000 words. That works out to writing 1,667 words per day, every day. It’s quite a challenge!

Last year I completed the challenge and wrote the first draft of “On the Edge of Eternity” (which I then spent a year editing). This time I’m working on something completely different. Starting November 1, I will be working on:

TOM SWIFT and the EXTRASOLAR PLANET

Tom Swift Jr. was no stranger to the depths of space! The young scientist’s thirst for knowledge had taken him from his home in Shopton, New York to the cratered surface of the Moon and beyond. After developing his mighty rocket ship Tom built the Outpost in Space and used it to supply the Earth with solar batteries – a cheap, renewable energy source that changed the world’s economy. When a group of aliens placed an asteroid into orbit around Earth Tom used his keen intellect to give it a breathable atmosphere. Tom even ventured to the outskirts of the Solar System in his mighty Cosmotron Express.

But none of these adventures prepared Tom for his greatest assignment yet! His inventiveness is put to the test when Swift Enterprises receives a desperate plea for help from an alien race on the verge of disaster. The survival of an entire civilization rests on Tom’s ability to reach a planet hundreds of light-years from Earth and retrieve a lost artifact. To do this Tom must find a way to travel much faster than light – while battling an enemy that is bent on stopping him at all costs.

The challenge becomes greater when Tom discovers that the planet he must visit does not orbit a star. Instead, the world is adrift in deep space, torn by unceasing storms, and lit by a strange phenomena never before seen in nature. It will take all of Tom’s ingenuity to overcome the odds and save his space friends from destruction. You won’t want to miss the stunning conclusion of this book as Tom Swift makes the greatest discovery of his career!

In this short, Rob Mankind once again discusses his take on “the issues”. (Fortunately, the political season is almost over, and his chance to discuss “the issues” is drawing to an end.)

In this short Rob Mankind continues his campaign for governor. I think I can safely say that this is truly a man that we can all rally behind.

This short continues Rob Mankind’s campaign for governor. In this piece he once again talks about the issues that are so near and dear to all of our hearts.