Tom Swift and His Outpost in Space by Victor Appleton II Read Free Book Online Page A

Tom’s father whirled to see his son trembling violently as he floated in the middle of the plastic-walled chamber!
    Bud dashed to the door of the zero-G chamber and attempted to yank it open. But the door would not budge. "It can’t be opened until the current is turned off!" yelled Dave Bogard. "Tom told me he’d set it up that way as a safety feature!"
    "Great!" gritted Bud. "Can’t you override it?"
    "I don’t know how!"
    Bud pounded on the transparent wall frantically and desperately, trying to get Tom to respond. But the young inventor seemed only hazily aware of his surroundings. His muscles were tightly clenched and perspiration was beaded upon his forehead. He seemed to be gasping for breath!
    "Bogard! Can’t you just cut the power?" demanded Bud.
    "The controls aren’t responding!"
    "Not the answer I’m looking for!" cried the young pilot. In four leaping strides he had reached the point where a pair of thick power cables joined the lab wall. Wrapping his jacket around his hands for insulation, Bud grasped the cables tightly. Then, bracing his feet against the wall, he gave a mighty heave, muscles bulging.
    The cables gave! With a flash and a cascade of blue-white sparks, the cables wrenched free of their sealed connection. Instantly the faint electronic hum of the powerful electromagnet was replaced by silence, broken a moment later by the loud thunk! of Tom’s metal-clad body hitting the floor of the chamber.
    Bud pulled the door open easily and scrambled to Tom’s side. Bud immediately began to choke—the air was full of a pungent odor, and his every breath seemed to sting his throat. "He needs oxygen!" Bud called.
    Holding his breath as best he could, Bud carried his friend from the zero-G chamber. With the first breath of fresh air the young inventor ceased to tremble. But his eyelids were fluttering, as if he were about to pass out.
    Laying Tom down, Bud chafed his wrists, and an emergency oxygen mask was applied. Everyone stood by, pale with fear. Bashalli put a comforting arm around Sandy, who was in tears.
    "Some Swift I am," Sandy murmured.
    But even as she spoke these words Tom returned to full consciousness, his eyes darting back and forth from Bud to Mr. Swift, and then to Chow Winkler.
    "Hey Pard!" came Tom’s weak voice, muffled behind the oxygen mask. "That shirt of yours is gonna knock me right out again!"
    Chow glanced down at his typically gaudy western shirt. He did not answer, but there were tears in his eyes.
    "Boy, am I glad to see you back on planet earth!" said Bud. "And not all battered up, either."
    The young inventor slowly pulled off the mask. "I guess I should learn to expect the unexpected," he said, his throat raw and his voice hoarse. He turned his gaze to his father. "It was the anti-condensation coating on the plastic walls, Dad. The high frequency electromagnetic pulses were causing it to soften and give off some kind of waste gas. That’s why I was able to cling to it like I did!"
    "We’ll get it fixed, son," said Damon Swift. "I suspect some sort of inductive resonance is what froze the controls."
    Tom’s mother kissed his cheek gently and said, "Don’t you dare think of doing a thing until you’ve been looked over by the doctor. And then I expect to see you home and in bed for the rest of the day!"
    "That there’s good advice, boss," added Chow.
    Mrs. Swift smiled and remarked, "Charles, it wasn’t advice—it was a direct order!"
    Tom returned the smile weakly. "Yes, ma’am!"
    With Bud’s help Tom was able to rise and stagger to a chair. "Sorry, Tom," Bud whispered in his pal’s ear. "Guess I should’ve tried to talk you out of it."
    "Then you’d be here, and I’d be the one helping you," commented the young inventor wryly. "I thought it would be a good way to face my fears—floating in the air, like…"
    "Like the other day. So how does it feel to go floating around like a feather?" Bud questioned softly.
    "It’s fun, once you get your bearings," was