Tom was convulsed with laughter at the scene. But fearing that Chow might lose his balance and fall, he maneuvered the platform gently back to the ground.
The young inventor was still chuckling when he went outside to greet the frightened, panting cowpoke. “Your first solo aboard the donkey, Chow!” he said, slapping him on the back. “You’ve earned your wings!”
“You can keep ‘em, boss,” Chow replied ruefully. “I’ll stick to broncs!”
When the excitement was over, Tom headed back to his laboratory with Bud.
“Something on your mind?” Bud asked, noticing that Tom was in deep thought.
134 THE RACE TO THE MOON
“Bud, I’ve just decided that we’ll take off in the Challenger tomorrow.”
His copilot let out a whoop of excitement. “You’ve had word from our space friends?”
“Not yet. But I think we’d better stand by at the space station. Frankly, I’m afraid our friends may already have tried to contact us and the Brungarians are jamming the messages. I believe I can learn more up there.”
As soon as he reached a phone, Tom called Miss Trent. He requested her to alert all his passengers and crew for takeoff the next morning. Next, he called the flight department and passed word to move all necessary equipment to Fearing Island by cargo plane. The last item of business was to summon Art Wiltessa to the laboratory and show him the repelatron donkey.
“Sorry to keep you jumping this way, Art,” he apologized, “but I want two more of these gadgets turned out overnight. Can you put on an extra shift for the job?”