“That’s six p.m. tomorrow here!” Bud exclaimed.
“Right! Bud, we’re going to leave tomorrow afternoon!”
Ames, who was standing nearby, stared in astonishment. “Can you be ready by that time?”
In reply, Tom broadcast the word over the loudspeaker system, asking for an immediate report on the status of the Star Spear. One by one the answers trickled in.
“Entire electric system checked.”
“Motors in perfect time.”
“Fuel ready to be piped in.”
So it went, with only minor details to be attended to. Fearing Island hummed during the balance of the day, with every worker confident that Tom Swift’s rocket would win the race.
The young inventor telephoned to his mother asking that she and Sandy come for the launching.
ZERO-HOUR INTERRUPTION! 153
Next, he called the Newton home, then got in touch with the head of the Rocket Commission. Each group promised to arrive during the morning.
These details attended to, Tom and Bud now tried on the space suits which would be carried in case of emergency. They had been constructed from a tightly woven wire fabric of extremely high bursting strength. The suits were covered on each side with an impermeable layer of a new synthetic rubber, jointed together to permit movement, and were absolutely airtight.
Encased in these effective but clumsy garments, the boys would be able to survive exposure to the space void for a period of several hours, should a chance collision with one of the hundred thousand meteorites which fall to the earth daily damage the Star Spear.
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