Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 13 – And His Space Solartron

The crewmen, alerted, froze in fear, realizing there was no time to run from the missile. The next moment, it slowed and landed gently nearby.

“Sufferin” horned toads!” Chow quavered. “What if the thing explodes?”

Another crewman shuddered and made a dash for his space suit. “Let’s get out of here!” he urged.

The others donned their suits and hurried from the dome. After rushing to a safe distance, they paused and waited for an explosion.

Minutes went by. When nothing had happened after half an hour, Tom felt it was safe to inspect the missile. “There may be a message in it for us,” he told his companions.

“Think it’s safe?” Arv asked dubiously.

Tom nodded. “I believe it must be harmless or it would have exploded by now. But you fellows stay back until I make sure.”

The others watched anxiously as Tom walked toward the glittering object. It was a rocket of the same type as the one containing the tape recorders.

Tom opened the rocket’s loading hatch and looked in. He turned pale and his companions

150 SPACE SOLARTRON

heard him give a gasp of horror over the radio.

“It’s Ted Spring!” he called. “But-”

Bud, Arv, Chow, and the other crewmen rushed forward. Their faces blanched as they saw Ted lying motionless inside the rocket. He was wearing his space suit and helmet.

“Is he-is he dead?” Bud whispered, horrified.

“I don’t know. Help me lift him out,” Tom replied, sick at heart.

As gently as possible, Ted was removed from the rocket and carried to the airdome, where they hastily took off his space suit and helmet. Tom, who had also removed his own heavy space gear, listened for Ted’s heartbeat.