Appleton, Victor – Tom Swift Jr 16 – And the Cosmic Astronauts

“I’ll have the Challenger ready for take-off in half an hour,” Hank promised.

“In the meantime, radio your position as soon as you settle into orbit.”

“Will do!” Bud replied, amazed at how calm his own voice sounded.

Both boys’ faces, however, were taut with strain.

“What’re our chances, skipper?” Bud whispered.

“Depends on how well I can jockey this crate and how fast they get up here,”

Tom said grimly.

Bud’s eyes met those of the young inventor in another and unspoken question.

Could they survive until rescue arrived?

There was total silence inside the tiny cockpit as Tom bent all efforts toward maneuvering the space kite into orbit.

CHAPTER XII

REPELATRON RESCUE

THE space kite, which had been moving almost straight outward from the earth, gradually began arching into an orbital path. Under Tom’s deft nursing of the controls, the gravitex directional force tilted the craft just enough so that it was being tugged toward earth exactly as fast as centrifugal force was hurling it away.

“I think we’ve made it, Bud,” Tom murmured.

The copilot kept a tense silence as Tom’s eyes remained glued to the dials.

Presently the young inventor sighed in relief. “Okay. You can relax, pal. We’ve settled into orbit.”

“Will we stay put?” Bud asked.

Tom nodded. “Actually, that’s the least of our worries right now.”

“Meaning what?”

“From now on, it’s a race against time, Bud,” Tom explained bluntly. “I had things figured

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REPELATRON RESCUE 105

pretty tightly for this cruise. You see, our air-conditioning system will keep this coop livable for just so long. Our water supply is limited, too. But that cosmic storm hurled us way off course-thousands of miles farther than I planned.”