Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 12 – In the Race to the Moon

CHAPTER VIII

STRANDED IN SPACE

FORTUNATELY, there was no concussion in airless space. Nevertheless, only the very long cables attached to the boys saved them from destruction. Both were hurled outward by the flying debris of the blasted cargo rocket.

“Oh, brother!” Bud gulped over his radio. “I’m sure glad you built these suits strong.”

“Ditto,” Tom replied.

Coils of steel wire inside the fabric gave the space suits immense strength. A puncture would have caused the boys to explode in the vacuum! The asbestalon insulation had also protected them from the searing heat of the blast.

Meanwhile, the rocket raider was streaking off again into the starry blackness. Fear gripped Tom and Bud as they realized they were helplessly marooned in outer space!

“Let’s tie our cables together,” Bud signaled, trying to sound calm. “If we’re going to have trouble, let’s have it together.”

67

68 THE RACE TO THE MOON

With a burst on his suit pistol, Tom propelled himself closer to Bud. Both boys had only a short length of frayed cable left. Working clumsily with their armored space gauntlets, they knotted these cables together.

“Now what?” Bud asked anxiously.

“Stand by and hope for a quick rescue,” Tom told him.

“Any chance we could contact the space station with our suit radios?”

“Not much, I’m afraid,” Tom replied. “But let’s try, anyhow. Can’t do any harm.”

Taking turns, they beamed out repeated SOS calls. Tom knew it was useless. They could not see their space station. It was on the other side of the earth-and the earth’s atmosphere would block out the radiation, preventing it from being picked up on the surface of the earth. But Tom could not bring himself to dash Bud’s hopes.