Tom Swift on the Phantom Satellite (16 page)

Nervous and distracted like the rest of the crew, Tom sought a way to pass the time. He decided that the first order of business was to report to his father.

Intrigued by Tom’s new discoveries, Mr. Swift was nonetheless angered and deeply disturbed by what was transpiring on Little Luna between the two camps. "You’ve acted wisely, son," he said. "We can’t allow them to maneuver us into provoking a war!"

"What is the Brungarian government saying to Uncle Sam right now?"

"According to Luther Helm, they have finally confirmed the presence of their expedition on the asteroid. But Admiral Krevitt told me something interesting, not for public attribution. Some of his sources are hinting at a big problem with their expedition!"

"What kind of problem, Dad?"

"It’s very unclear," was the response. "The gist of it seems to be that there has been a break in communications, a loss of contact. I’m assuming it has to do with the interference caused by the satellite, but Krevitt thinks the Brungarian government is very concerned." Mr. Swift promised to keep Tom posted.

After breaking contact, Tom sat down to examine his father’s work on translating the space symbols Tom had relayed to him. This turned out to be so engrossing that Tom almost forgot that he was awaiting the release of a hostage!
This is an incredible message!
he thought.
But I still need to clean it up a little.

At 8 P.M., the sun half below the horizon, a great commotion surged through the
Titan
. Tom arose from his workbench and called out: "What’s going on?"

"It’s our ramblin’ cowpoke himself!" Bud called out happily. "The saucer just let him loose over by the atmos-maker!"

Astonished, the young inventor ran to the window in time so see the yellow craft zoom out of sight. Down below a familiar figure was trudging his way toward the spaceship, a broad grin on his face. Most of the crew crowded through the hatch to run and greet their comrade.

But Tom held back. "This isn’t right!" he muttered to himself. "Something’s going on!"

CHOW WINKLER was hailed by cheers and shouts of welcome. The crew swarmed from the
Titan
to surround the returning captive.

Rafael Franzenberg slapped Chow on the back. "What was the idea of letting that big snake grab you?" he joked. "Don’t they grow ’em that big in Texas?"

Chow grinned and scratched his head. "Pardner, if I ever saw a sidewinder like that on the range," he drawled, "I’d sure crawl into the nearest gopher hole an’ pull it in after me!"

The westerner was hurried aboard ship, where Tom greeted him with an affectionate bear-hug. "Did they mistreat you, Chow?" he asked.

"Nope, not a bit," replied the cook. "Now don’t get me wrong—they didn’t have one o’ those vibro-relaxer beds fer me t’ lie in. Nothin’ like that. But they purty much let me be." He related how the tentacle had drawn him up next to a narrow platform, dangerously near the rotor blades, where a uniformed crewman had deactivated the suction cup and led the prisoner into the ship. Chow was locked into a small compartment with a chair and lavatory facilities, and a single round porthole set in the wall. "Had bars on it, too—made me feel like I ’as in the pokey!"

"Did you see any sign of their big spaceship at the base?" inquired Hank Sterling.

"Didn’t see any sign o’ the base at all," was the reply. "All I could see through that porthole after we set down was a bunch o’ mountains."

Tom described Mirov and asked if he had spoken to his captive. But Chow said he had only seen the single crewman, who had also guided him off the saucer-craft when it returned him. "And that there feller never did say a word to me," he added.

"What’s running around in that brain of yours, skipper?" Bud asked. "Why the big frown?"

The young inventor rubbed his chin. "None of this adds up. Obviously Chow was returned long before Col. Northrup could have reached the Brungarian base—and it sounds like the saucer didn’t go to the base either." He glanced at Teodor Kutan, who gave an eloquent shrug.

"And here’s another thing," Tom went on. "Why did Mirov’s note ask us to contact him by radio?"

"What’s wrong with that?" asked Ron Corey. "He wanted our answer."

"But he would have
known
our answer, just by the fact that the
Titan
had, or hadn’t, taken off."

"I see what you mean," Bud said. "It’s almost as he wanted to make it easy for you to get in touch, as if—" Bud looked at his pal in sudden concern. "As if making the hostage exchange was what the whole thing was about from the first!"

The discussion was interrupted by a loud buzz from the
Titan
’s radiophone—incoming message!

"More nonsense from Mirov, no doubt," said Dr. Jatczak scornfully.

"It’s a different frequency," Tom muttered. He matched channels and answered.

"Tom Swift, this is Corporal Nirotka!"
Tom recognized the name as one of the officers he had met at the Brungarian base.

"I’m listening, Corporal."

"Thank to God, we try for hours to radio, but the interference comes and goes. Please, you must understand…But alas, this English, not so good…"

Kutan took the mike from Tom.
"Dy sra traslerma-on."
He told Tom, "I offered to translate for him."

There followed a lengthy, frantic exchange, interrupted by Kutan’s translations. "He is most apologetic for the raid on our camp here. He asks that we not blame his country for it." Kutan’s eyebrows now rose in surprise. "Tom!—
he says Commander Mirov is no longer in charge—he has been taken prisoner!"

"Prisoner!" repeated Tom. "By whom?"

Kutan listened to Nirotka for a moment. "He says, by Professor Lemura!" It seemed that Lemura had overpowered Mirov with the help of two turncoat officers, and had imprisoned him in the helicopter vehicle. Nirotka claimed that everything that had happened since then had been the doing of Lemura.

Nirotka now switched to English.
"Listen me, Tom Swift!
Lemura, he is bad, insane—he sends us threats, by radio—to destroy this moon, to kill us all! And he has
s’machekt—
fouled up, you say—the big transmitter, the one for Earth. We are cut off, no instructions!"

Tom grabbed the microphone. "Nirotka!
What does Lemura plan to do?"

There was a pause. "I am sorry to say…We brought along from Brungaria the big big bomb, the ‘H,’ like the letter…"

"An H-bomb?"
Tom was stunned!

"Yes. The government wanted it left here, as a, what you say?
Deterrent
against U.S.A., so you will not try to take this moon for yourselves. Now Lemura says he will use it to break up New Brungaria, to pieces."

"What does he demand from you?"

"Nothing!" cried Nirotka. "He only says, soon, maybe tomorrow! He is insane!"

"Do you know where the bomb is?"

"He stole it, on the aircraft. Already, though, I think he has put it down somewhere inside the ground. Listen, Tom Swift, there are forty-three of us here, and we will die unless you take us off, in your
Titan
ship!"

"What about your own ship?"

"Bah! The man did something—it is useless." Nirotka’s voice took on a pleading tone. "Please trust us, Swift, we are your allies now!
You must save my people!"

As the man continued to plead, Tom removed his finger from the microphone button. Dr. Jatczak lay a hand on his arm. "Tom, we must do what we can. It would be inhuman not to attempt to save these people."

Tom shook his head grimly. "We might be able to rescue ten, even twenty—but not the whole contingent." He activated the microphone again. "Listen, Corporal—I’ll have Dr. Kutan translate what I am about to say." Tom handed the mike over to Kutan. "We haven’t enough room in our spaceship for all of you. But I think Lemura’s threat is mostly a bluff. Even a hydrogen bomb wouldn’t be powerful enough to blast the satellite to pieces. He’s trying to terrorize you. He probably intends to set off the bomb near one of our bases, to wipe it out. The best thing would be for both our teams to go into hiding on the far side of the asteroid, as far from the bases as we can get. Eventually, other ships from Earth will come to pick us up. Do you understand?"

There was a long pause after Kutan had finished his translation. Then Nirotka’s voice came on again. "Yes, we understand it. We know of a secret place, but must not say it on radio. I will send a courier to you immediately—we can seek refuge together. Now, I sign off."

Trying not to take note of the faces around him, Tom immediately made contact with his father on Fearing Island. Mr. Swift was horrified! "I can hardly believe this is happening! The State Department will be informed at once, and they will make a formal protest to the Brungarian government!"

"I don’t think the Brungarian government has much to say about these things any more," declared Tom bitterly. "Lemura seems to be running his own game." The young inventor recounted the plan he had evolved with Nirotka.

"Yes," said Damon Swift, "going into hiding is probably the wisest course of action. But you all must leave immediately!"

"I’m breaking the connection now, Dad," Tom said. "The longer we’re on the air, the more likely Lemura will be able to pick us up through the interference." Tom expressed his love to his father and family, and switched off the space radiophone.

"I-I wonder how long it’ll be before their courier gets here with the location of the hiding place," quavered Gabe Knorff. "You don’t suppose he’s walking over, do you?"

"Obviously not," Tom replied. "They must have one or two ground vehicles. Meanwhile—everyone, we must make emergency preparations to relocate."

"Can’t we just fly to the new location in the
Titan?"
asked Violet Wohl.

Jason Graves answered on Tom’s behalf. "And where would we hide the spaceship, hmm, doctor? The idea is
not
to be found!"

"If you thread your way between the peaks, you’ll be safe from the saucer," Tom explained. "The atmosphere is too shallow for it to fly over them."

As everyone scattered to their emergency tasks, Tom pulled Bud aside. "I don’t want to tell the others yet, but I do plan to blast off in the
Titan
after all."

"Then you’ve got a copilot, Tom," Bud declared loyally. "But where are we going?"

"Where?
To find a big big bomb!"

"DO YOU really think we can find the H-bomb?" asked Bud. "And disarm it?"

"From the surface, not a chance," was the response. "But if we make a few loops around Little Luna in the
Titan
, I think some of our long-range detectors will be able to lead us to it. As for disarming it, we may not need to!"

"Huh? Why?"

"All we have to do is get above the concentrated-gravity zone and chuck it out into space!"

As the tense minutes dropped away, the crew members gathered their belongings, food, water, and various emergency supplies—and a cage full of white rats. The items would have to be carried by hand or in backpacks, as using the tanks would make their route obvious to Lemura.

"We’ll have to lug along the space helmets and pressurized airtanks," noted Hank Sterling to Tom. "We don’t know whether Lemura will allow the atmos-makers to continue operating."

"That pizen rattler prob’ly plans to blow ’em up!" exclaimed Chow glumly. "Brand my horseradish, I wish’d I’d tried t’break out o’ that room on the saucer—I’d have shown him some real Texas fists!"

Less than ninety minutes after Tom had spoken to his father, the Brungarian courier arrived at the base riding a strange, compact little electric vehicle resembling a motorcycle with huge balloon tires, obviously built for great speed and agility. "I am Lt. Sergela Prualungis," said the woman, snapping a salute to Tom. "Here is the map to the secret location—a series of very deep, what shall we say?—deep cracks in the ground, on the far side. We have begun already to walk there, all of us, staying in shadows and narrow passes. We propose to meet you there." Tom took the map with thanks, and she added, "The whole walking trip will be days long, but with each step we are farther from danger. It is all one can do, eh?"

After she had driven off again to join her countrymen, Tom assembled the American expeditioners and explained his intention to search for the bomb. The crewmen clustered around in stunned silence.

"What are our chances, skipper?" Hank Sterling asked quietly.

Tom shrugged. "We’ll need luck," he admitted. Hank laid a hand on the young scientist’s shoulder without speaking, while others pressed forward to shake his hand and wish him success.

"Thanks, fellows!" A lump rose in Tom’s throat as he realized that he had won the crew’s complete trust and affection. They were depending on his leadership to save them. "We may not be successful," he said somberly. "But no one really knows whether you’ll be safe if the bomb explodes, even after you reach the other side of the asteroid. We’re all taking risks today, and facing great danger as best we know how. And I want to say, I’m proud to know you!"

As the others set off between the hills, Bud commented softly, "I’m glad you didn’t say ‘proud to
have
known
you’!"

"We’ll get through this, flyboy!" Tom said defiantly.

Inside the now-deserted
Titan
, Tom and Bud made ready to blast off. The countdown, a short one, proceeded methodically. But when it reached zero, the great engines remained silent!

"Good night!" Bud gasped. He gaped at the control panel. "The whole atomic thrust system is dead as a doornail!"

Tom leapt from his seat and slammed a fist against the viewpane. "I was afraid of this. Sabotage!"

"But who could have gotten aboard to do it?" Bud demanded. "The ship flew fine just days ago!"

A voice spoke behind them. "I, er, may have an answer for you!"

Bud groaned loudly.
"Knorff!
How did you sneak back aboard?"

"Through the freight hatch," replied the redhaired photographer meekly. "I figured my journalistic duty was here, with you guys."