Tom Swift and His Deep Sea Hydrodome by Victor Appleton II

Author:Victor Appleton II
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-03-18T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

A PERILOUS PICNIC

IN FRANTIC haste Tom and Bud were hauled up onto the deck of the barge. Every crew member realized the boys were suffering the deadly cramps brought on by a too-sudden change of pressure. Doc Simpson at once gave them injections to ease their pain.

"We must get them back to the island!" the medic ordered. "They’ll need treatment immediately!"

"But my invention!" Tom protested in spite of his agony. "We have to disassemble it—stow it away!"

"We’ll stay here and unrig the setup, skipper," Hank promised. "Fearing can send a jetmarine to take you back."

At the head of its formidable hydraulic jet, the atom-powered midget sub arrived in minutes and the boys were helped inside, followed by Doc Simpson. Arriving at Fearing, they found an ambulance waiting on the south dock. From there the boys were rushed to the island infirmary and wheeled into the operating room where the Fearing medical officer, Dr. Carman, was standing by.

"W-what happens now?" gasped Bud weakly, looking askance at huge tubs of ice standing in readiness.

"Hypothermia," said Doc Simpson tersely.

Bud grimaced. "Sounds horrible."

"Relax, flyboy," Tom said in a wisp of a voice. "They’re just going to freeze us, that’s all."

"Freeze us?" echoed Bud.

The physicians nodded as they hastily prepared anesthetizing equipment. "We’ll lower your body temperature to 75 degrees and keep you that way until your circulatory system gets back to normal and the nitrogen bubbles are gone from your blood. You won’t feel a thing."

"I’m numb already!" Bud groaned in half-hearted protest.

Luckily the boys’ condition, though painful, was not gravely serious, since they had not submerged to any great depth. By the following day Tom and his friend were recuperating comfortably in a hospital room with an ocean view.

"I’ve seen enough ocean for awhile," Bud grumbled. "Why didn’t the repelatron protect us from pressure changes, anyway?"

"I thought it would," admitted Tom sheepishly. "But I made the airspace grow so quickly the system couldn’t compensate. As we went up, the bubble got a little too big for its britches, you might say."

"What I do say is: When we hunt down that Mad Moby, I get to throw the first harpoon! They were out to kill us, genius boy!"

"Yes," Tom agreed. "Or at least to scare us—maybe set back our testing schedule. It’s pretty clear they know all about the repelatron and the hydrodome project." He again was compelled to face the ugly fact that someone with an "in" at Swift Enterprises was providing a determined enemy with inside information.

"Some visitors just flew in," Doc Simpson told them when he dropped by to check their progress. "By Sky Queen express, direct from Shopton. Like to see them? Or shall I tell them to turn ’er around and head back home?"

"Bring them in!" said Tom, who was growing restless at inactivity.

"Hold on!" warned Bud jokingly. "If it’s Dr. Kupp or some other high-domed experts, don’t start flinging chemical equations around or I’ll have a relapse!"

Doc chuckled. Opening the door, he ushered in Sandy, Bashalli, and Chow Winkler.

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