Free Tom Swift on the Phantom Satellite by Victor Appleton II Page B

take possession of this satellite for the United States of America!"
    A thrill of pride swept over the crew as all of them snapped to attention and saluted, their gloved hands brushing their space helmets. Gabe Knorff took a run of photographs with the pressurized camera that he had been provided with.
    A few minutes later Tom’s father, at mission control on Fearing Island, informed Tom that millions of American listeners were celebrating in the streets, jubilant but astounded to learn that they now owned Earth’s new moon!
    As the young inventor signed off, Bud grinned. "Brother!" he said. "Now I know how Columbus felt when he claimed land on another continent."
    "Only there ain’t no Injuns here," Chow spoke up.
    "I should point out a certain legal aspect of the American claim," noted Dr. Kutan, sounding like a man making a lecture. "International treaties prohibit nations from asserting for themselves ownership of celestial bodies. Our being able to claim this satellite derives from the evident fact that it was guided, artificially, into orbit, thus rendering it a vehicle by legal definition—in fact, a derelict, which we have now taken possession of."
    "Thank you for clarifying that," said Rafe with loud sarcasm. "I know I’ll sleep better tonight!"
    The crew’s high spirits, however, ebbed as daylight faded and the encampment rotated into the shadow zone. Although at the poles the daylight region was always in view even at night, the men were appalled by the utter barrenness of the satellite; and the huge ball that was Earth, glowing in the sky, made them homesick.
    To keep the men’s minds occupied, Tom had Jason Graves work them at top speed. Acting as his special lieutenant by prior agreement, the industrialist was at last in his element. For two hours the expedition labored to unpack supplies, set up equipment, and try out the vehicles that had been carried, disassembled, in the Titan ’s storage bays. These electric mini-tanks, powered by Swift solar batteries, were pressurized and geared to work on the atmosphereless moon until Tom’s invention could establish earthlike conditions.
    Declaring himself satisfied with their progress, Graves finally dismissed the others to a hearty meal provided by Chow. They retired to their bunks in the Titan for the rest of their first long night on Little Luna.
    Early the next morning, Tom announced to the others that he and Bud were going to do a little exploring in one of the caterpillar tanks.
    "Be careful, fellows!" Hank Sterling warned. "We’ll keep in constant touch by radio," Tom promised. But this was a promise he was unable to keep: as soon as the base camp was out of sight behind the jagged hills, radio communication became intermittent and was riddled with static.
    The ride was slow and jolting over the rugged terrain. With no blanket of air to soften it the sunshine blazed pure white, and the rocky ground seemed to glisten with a steely brilliance. Though the specially designed tank treads were able to grip the rocky surface as they crawled along, there were many moments when the tiny vehicle seemed to jump yards into empty space, falling back at a snail’s pace.
    "Man, this is more like a drive along the bottom of the ocean than a space trip," Bud complained. "Any theories about the gravity mystery, Tom? Did the spaceship flip a tripwire switch when we started to land?"
    Tom was silent for a moment. "There’s no way to switch gravity on and off—no way known to Earth science. But our space friends have an amazing ability to manipulate matter and energy to suit their needs. My guess is that there’s some device, somewhere on Little Luna, that’s acting as a gravity concentrator. The gravitational field is tremendously boosted, but only very near the surface. That’s why we weren’t able to detect it from the earth beforehand. Our landing difficulties had to do with the fact that the G-force gradient was extremely ‘steep.’ In other words, the force