Tom Swift Jr - And His Space Solartron Part 14

Tom murmured thoughtfully.

"How?" Bud asked.

"Are you game to do a little more exploring?"

"Sure. But what do we look for?" Bud queried.

"Signs of an enemy camp," Tom replied. "If they're waiting for the Challenger to make a landing, they may have a base somewhere within striking distance. If we could find it, we might be able to get the jump on them-at least they wouldn't be able to take us by surprise."

Bud agreed eagerly. "Now you're talking, pal!"

Hastily the boys returned to the ship to refill their oxygen tanks from the ship's supply before starting out on reconnaissance. The men were astounded when they learned about Tom's findings. They were about evenly divided in their opinion of the boys continuing their search.

"I know how you feel," said Arv. "And you're doing this partly for protection to all of us. But for goodness' sake be careful."

Chow was very much excited at thought of the dangerous mission. "Brand my asteroids, boss, you're askin' for trouble," the cook protested.

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"Don't do it, Tom-it's too risky! Those ornery human steers may be fixin' to stampede you!"

"Don't worry, Chow." Tom put his hand on the cook's shoulder. "We'll try not to take any unnecessary chances. But we must find Dad and Ted!"

Chow shook his head uneasily. "I still think you're makin' a mistake, Tom."

Disregarding the Texan's protests, the boys climbed back into their s.p.a.ce suits and shoved off again on their repelatron donkeys.

"Let's try that range of hills," Tom suggested, pointing to the left. "They look as if they might offer some good hiding places. Our enemy may be lurking in them."

"Okay."

Flying about fifty feet above the ground, the boys skimmed over the lunar landscape. Rocks, crags, and canyons were etched in sharp detail under the pitiless glare of sunlight. The terrain was mostly gray, tan, and rust-colored.

"There's another crater on our right," Bud signaled. "Want to swing over for a look?"

At that moment their flying platforms were approaching a deep creva.s.se.

"Sure, might as well," Tom responded. "Keep your eyes open for a-"

His words changed to a startled cry, taken up by Bud, as their repelatron platforms suddenly tipped. The next moment, the boys toppled from their flying donkeys and plummeted straight toward the abyss!

CHAPTER XVI.

TRAPPED IN THE ABYSS.

"USE your jet pistol, Bud!" Tom cried urgently over his radio.

Both boys triggered their suit jets repeatedly as they plunged downward. The blasts served to brake their fall somewhat, but were not powerful enough to hold them in mid-air.

"No use," thought Bud despairingly.

Turning and twisting, the boys plunged into the creva.s.se, struck the sloping sides, and caromed downward. With stunning impact, they landed at the bottom of the chasm!

For several moments Tom and Bud lay still. Fortunately, the moon's low gravity had greatly lessened the force of their fall. Their pressurized s.p.a.ce suits and tough plastic helmets had also protected them from cuts and bruises.

Presently Tom revived enough to struggle to his feet. "Whew!" he gasped dizzily.

It was pitch dark in the narrow chasm, except for the faint glimmer of starlight above. Tom 137.

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switched on his suit flashlight. The yellow glow revealed Bud's prostrate figure a few yards away.

"Bud!" Tom called, groping his way toward his companion. "Bud, are you all right?"

There was no answer, but the copilot stirred painfully. Tom helped him to stand upright. Through Bud's transparent helmet, Tom could see his lips moving, but no sound broke the eerie silence. Dismayed, Tom realized their radios must have been broken in the fall!

Bud also switched on his suit light. The two boys stared at each other helplessly.

"If we could only read lips!" Tom thought.

He gazed up at the sheer walls of the creva.s.se rising steeply on either side of them. Bud's eyes followed his glance. Then Tom pointed upward and made climbing motions. Bud nodded in response. Each of them grabbed a handhold on the jagged rocky surface and began clambering upward.

"We'd have to be human flies to make it in these getups!" Bud muttered to himself desperately.

With painful slowness the boys advanced, inch by inch. But it soon became obvious that in their c.u.mbersome s.p.a.ce suits their efforts to ascend were hopeless. Again and again their boots or gauntlets would scrabble for a hold on some rocky outthrust, only to slip off or have it give way under pressure. By the time they had struggled upward a few yards, both were weary and aching in every muscle.

TRAPPED IN THE ABYSS 139.

Finally Tom beamed his suit light in Bud's direction. His friend shook his head hopelessly. With tired groans they gave up the attempt and slid back to the bottom of the creva.s.se.

The same thought ran through the boys' minds as they slumped, panting, to catch their breath. "If only we could take off these s.p.a.ce suits!" Yet to do so would mean instant death in the moon's vacuum.

Meanwhile, back in the Challenger, Chow had been fussing and worrying ever since Tom and Bud had left. "I think we oughta go after them young'uns!" he told Bert Everett.

"Relax, Chow. They'll be all right," Bert replied.

"I sure wouldn't bet on that," Chow said. "Suppose they run into them kidnapers? Arv says he can't see the boys through the cabin window! Can't pick 'em up on the radio neither."

"So what? The skipper and Bud can take care of themselves."

"I'd feel a heap better if we could keep an eye on 'em, or at least hear 'em,"

Chow insisted.

Finally Bert agreed to go with Chow. After launching their repelatron donkeys from the ship's landing platform, Chow and Bert sailed off in the general direction of the mountains which Tom had intended to explore.

Suddenly the cook gave a startled gasp. "Hey, pardner! Take a look up ahead near that crack in the ground! Ain't them shiny things a couple o' flyin'

donkeys?"

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Bert scanned the objects below. "You're right, Chow! But what happened to the boys?"

TRAPPED IN THE ABYSS 141.

"I aim to find out!" Chow declared.

"Be careful," Bert warned. "I think maybe the boys got sucked down in that hole in the ground. We'll stay on this side of it."

Swooping down near the abandoned platforms, the two s.p.a.cemen hurried to the edge of the creva.s.se and peered into the inky chasm. Due to the moon's lack of atmosphere, no sound was carried to the pair trapped below.

"Tom! Bud!" Chow called over his suit radio. "Anyone down below?"

There was no response.

Bert clutched the cook's arm and pointed. "Hey! Isn't that a light?" A feeble glow was

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barely discernible in the sun's reflected dazzle from the rocky outcroppings higher up.

Even as he spoke, the light disappeared. Tom had decided at that very moment to switch off his suit beam to conserve battery power.

"Dunno whether I saw anything or not," Chow replied, "but I reckon we'd better not pa.s.s up any chances. Tom and Bud must be down there, Bert, or else the two flyin' donkeys wouldn't be lyin' around."

Bert nodded. "Question is how do we get the boys out? I'd sure hate to try climbing down that straight-sided abyss."

"If Tom and Bud did fall in there, they might've cracked their helmets," Chow pointed out grimly.

Bert turned pale at the thought. "Good night! If their oxygen leaks out, they're done for!"

Chow, terrified for the boys' safety, was racking his brain for a means of rescue. "Bert, what we got to do is get Tom's matter-makin' machine and start pumpin' air down there p.r.o.nto!"

"That's useless, Chow," Bert objected. "The oxygen would just drift out through the top of the crevice!"

"Don't stand there arguin', man!" the old Texan retorted. "Mebbe Arv can figure out some way to do it!"

Boarding their flying platforms, Chow and Bert sped back to the ship. Arv Hanson listened to their story and immediately decided that Tom TRAPPED IN THE ABYSS 143.

and Bud could not climb out in their bulky s.p.a.ce suits.

"We'll have to fix it so they can take them off," he said.

"But how?" Bert asked.

Arv suggested sealing off the whole crevice with a huge plastic dome. A number of these domes, similar to the ones Tom used for his undersea helium city, had been brought along for purposes of establishing a camp on the moon.

"Bert, move all the flying donkeys out to the landing platform!" Arv ordered.

"We'll have to disa.s.semble the solartron and transport it piece by piece. We'll need at least three of the energy collectors, too!"

Pushing the intercom b.u.t.ton on the bulkhead, Arv barked out orders over the loud-speaker system. Two of the crewmen were detailed to stay aboard and handle the Challenger. Doc Simpson,' who had been treating a crewman for a sudden illness, had to remain behind to administer some necessary injections.

Everyone else was ordered to join the rescue party on the double.

Working with frantic speed, Arv soon had the solartron set up on the brink of the chasm. Two separate domes were erected in order to cover the whole length of the creva.s.se, one enclosing the machine.

While this was going on, Chow let out a yelp of joy. "Brand my prairie sunshine, there's a light down yonder! I kin see it for sure now!"

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Several of the crew rushed to look. Arv signaled by waving his arms, and was delighted to see the glow of light blink off and on as Tom beamed out an "all right" in code.

"They're safe!" Chow cried out, as the crew cheered.

Meanwhile, Bert and two other men were having trouble spreading out the huge energy-collector sheets. Tom and Bud, in their underground moon prison, could only wait in helpless impatience while the difficulty was ironed out. Finally, the setup was complete and the solartron throbbed into action.

Light from the brilliant glare of one of Mr. Swift's giant searchlights flooded the chasm as current flowed from the power gatherers. Moments later, the matter maker began pouring out oxygen and nitrogen.

Tom checked the atmosphere meter on his suit and gestured to Bud when the pressure reached normal. With a joyful whoop of relief, the boys took off their helmets and doffed their s.p.a.ce suits.

"Boy, watch me shin up that wall now!" Bud exclaimed.

Tom grinned. "Nothing to it for a couple of s.p.a.ce monkeys like us!"

Without waiting for further a.s.sistance, the two boys began clambering up the side of the creva.s.se. By the time rope slings had been lowered, they were halfway to the top. Within a few moments, both Tom and Bud were sprawled safely on the dusty surface of the ground, panting TRAPPED IN THE ABYSS 145.

as they exchanged thanks and congratulations with their rescuers.

"And now explain one thing, genius boy," Bud begged. "What happened to our repelatrons just before we crashed?"

"I have a hunch this area around the creva.s.se is loaded with the hydrogen compound," Tom explained, "that we detected on our last moon trip. Our donkeys weren't set to repel it."

Bud grinned. "Talk about kicking mules! Those donkeys really gave us the business!"