Tom Swift and His Nuclear Hyperplane the New Tom Swift Jr Adventures
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TOM SWIFT AND HIS NUCLEAR HYPERPLANE THE NEW TOM SWIFT JR ADVENTURES BY VICTOR APPLETON II TOM SWIFT AND HIS NUCLEAR HYPERPLANE TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING LAB TOM SWIFT AND HIS JETMARINE TOM SWIFT AND HIS ROCKET SHIP TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT ROBOT TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC EARTH BLASTER TOM SWIFT AND HIS OUTPOST IN SPACE TOM SWIFT AND HIS DIVING SEACOPTER TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF NUCLEAR FIRE TOM SWIFT ON THE PHANTOM SATELLITE TOM SWIFT AND HIS ULTRASONIC CYCLOPLANE TOM SWIFT AND HIS DEEP-SEA HYDRODOME TOM SWIFT IN THE RACE TO THE MOON A moment later the sleek black hyperplane left the ground and soared into the air! (Page 159) NEW YORK PUBLISHERS GROSSET & DUNLAP ILLUSTRATED BY JONATHAN COOPER BY VICTOR APPLETON II AND HIS NUCLEAR HYPERPLANE TOM SWIFT THE NEW TOM SWIFT JR. ADVENTURES SWIFT JR. TOM THE NEW COPYRIGHT, 1953, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Table of Contents A GHOST FROM THE PAST............................................11 THE MIRACLE PLASTIC................................................17 TRIAL BY FIRE.................................................................27 BEYOND THE HORIZON................................................39 PROJECT ARCTURUS.....................................................49 AGENTS OF EVIL............................................................57 NITRO, NEW MEXICO....................................................69 THE MAN FROM TEXAS................................................81 CROSSROADS..................................................................91 ENERGIZE!.....................................................................105 FLIGHT PLAN.................................................................117 A WOODEN WARNING.................................................133 PREPARE TO LAUNCH.................................................143 MACH 15.........................................................................153 THE END OF A DREAM................................................163 “YOU'VE GONE TOO FAR”..........................................173 PLAN OF ATTACK.........................................................185 CRITICAL MASS............................................................193 FIRE IN THE NIGHT......................................................203 CHAIN REACTION........................................................213 DEADLINE......................................................................223 THE FINAL FLIGHT.......................................................233 THE RED PICKUP TRUCK............................................243 QUEEN OF THE SKIES..................................................253 THE RESCUE MISSION.................................................260 TO KRISTI TOM SWIFT AND HIS NUCLEAR HYPERPLANE PROLOGUE A GHOST FROM THE PAST A BOLT of lightning flashed across the dark sky, briefly distracting Tom Swift Jr. from the blueprints he had been reading. The nineteen-year-old scientist looked out the laboratory window and quietly watched the thunderstorm rage outside. The Citadel was located in New Mexico and was bone-dry for most of the year, but Tom had visited the lab on one of its rare rainy days. Looks like quite a storm out there, the young inventor thought to himself. But at least there's peace inside. I could use a little of that after what I've been through. It had been a long day for Tom, and he was glad to at have a moment of respite. The famous inventor was curled up in an overstuffed easy chair, browsing through the contents of an old yellow folder. Every now and then he would pause on a page and smile. The documents he had in his hands were bringing back memories, and it didn't take him long to get lost once more in his thoughts. The past few months had been particularly stressful for him. Ever since he returned from his first interstellar voyage he had been trying to put together an expedition to Neptune. It was there that he had been forced to abandon the Challenger after it was all- 11 but-destroyed in a fierce battle with the Space Legion, and his thoughts had been there ever since. Tom had created many amazing inventions in his career, but the Challenger had a special place in his heart. It was the Challenger that took him to the moon when when he was racing against odds to beat the Brungarians. It was the Challenger that had taken him halfway to Venus to rescue his father. The mighty spaceship had even taken him hundreds of light-years into interstellar space in a successful attempt to save a dying alien race. But now the ship of his dreams was slowly orbiting the great gas giant, waiting for its creator to come and rescue it. He would have been there and back by now but the rescue attempt had proven more difficult to organize than he had first thought. Since there was no viable way to tow the enormous ship back to Earth, he decided to mount a mission to repair it in space – or at least patch it to the point where he could fly it back home. This translated into a lot of sleepless nights as he worked to gather the necessary parts and manpower. The mission was complicated by the fact that a group of aliens on Mars wanted to go with him to establish a colony on Triton, and that meant an enormous amount of coordination had to take place. His space friends were eager to help, but Tom had never been involved in an interplanetary joint venture before and was rapidly learning that management could be immensely frustrating. On top of everything else the young inventor had run into serious difficulties in developing his latest marvel, the claytronic stones. The combined stress eventually proved too much for Tom and he decided to flee his home in Shopton, New York and seek a little solitude in his private laboratory at the Citadel. The facility had been built by Swift Enterprises years ago as a research laboratory for nuclear fission, but fusion technology was quickly making fission obsolete. While it was still a viable business, Tom knew that the plant's days were numbered. As lightning flashed across the New Mexico sky Tom gazed out the plate-glass window, browsed through the old folder, and became lost in a sea of memories. 12 After several hours of bliss the young man was rudely interrupted with a person materialized in the middle of his laboratory. Startled, Tom quickly set the folder down and leaped to his feet, and then smiled when he recognized the visitor. “Bud!” he exclaimed as he walked toward the individual. Bud Barclay had been his best friend and loyal companion through many adventures. The two had battled vicious enemies at the bottom of the sea, in the depths of space, and in the jungles of South America. As much as Tom was enjoying his solitude he valued the presence of his friend. Tom shook his hand and offered him a seat. “What on earth are you doing here, flyboy? I thought you were on Fearing Island putting the last touches on the rescue mission. Aren't we supposed to leave next week?” Bud nodded. “Well, I was, but then I had something I needed to ask you and nobody knew where you were. I've spent hours trying to track you down! Do you realize that I was about to file a missing persons report?” Tom laughed as the two friends sat down. “I haven't been gone that long. But you're right – I suppose I didn't tell anyone where I was going.” Bud grinned. “All you have to do is disappear for a few minutes and the whole world falls apart! But I don't blame you, skipper. I've been trying to get you to take a vacation for months. It's about time you started taking my advice!” Tom stretched out in the chair and relaxed. “And so I've done exactly that! It's been nice and peaceful here this evening, with no one to pester me but the wind and the rain. In fact, I bet you'd still be looking for me if I hadn't installed Transmittatons everywhere. If you ask me that device makes it entirely too easy to zip from place to place. A man can hardly get a moment's peace anymore!” “Matter transmission is the best thing you've ever done, Tom. Do you know how long it would have taken me to fly from Shopton to the Citadel? But thanks to your genius I can just press a button and – whammo! - here I am. Hiding out at the Citadel 13 was a nice touch, by the way. We're hardly ever here. I even checked out Nestria and the Outpost in Space before I thought of your old nuclear research laboratory.” Tom smiled. “You really have been everywhere! Man. But we have been here before, you know. Back when I was working on my Giant Robot we were here all the time. But I suppose that was quite a few inventions ago.” Bud nodded. “I remember that! Those were good times – I still can't believe you got that ungainly contraption to play tennis. Although you know, maybe we'd spend more time here if it wasn't named the Citadel. Do you realize what a terribly unglamorous name that is?” Tom laughed. “You and your penchant for renaming things! Do I have any inventions left that you haven't suggested renaming? I don't know what's gotten into you.” Bud smiled. “Hey, what's a sidekick for other than offering brilliant and witty suggestions? But, seriously, Tom. Why not call it Atom City or something? You could have people lining up to come out here! We could charge admission or something after the plant gets mothballed.” Tom glanced at the folder on the table and a soft look appeared on his face. “If anything, Bud, we should have named it after Irene Goddard. After all, if it hadn't been for her Dad would never have survived to build the reactor that's out there today. The Citadel wasn't our first nuclear project on this particular piece of real estate, you know.” Bud saw the folder on the table and picked it up. “Project Arcturus! Wow – now there's a blast from the past. I can't believe the government let you keep a copy of this.” Tom's friend looked at him and smiled. “So that's why you're here.