A
comet from
the far depths of interstellar space has entered the solar system--a
scientific
event without precedent. As Comet Tarski begins to cross the orbit of
the
earth, Tom Swift makes plans for a visit in his mighty spaceship Challenger, equipped with his new
invention, the telesampler. The launch into space is endangered by an
inexplicable occurrence, waves of unknown energy that distort the
fabric of
spacetime, threatening the repelatron devices upon which the venture
depends
and imperiling the vulnerable crew of Swift Enterprises’ hydrodome
beneath the
Atlantic. Is this the work of human foes,
the young inventor wonders, or a
fantastic natural phenomenon linked to the mystery comet? A German
scholar,
Dr. Feng, may have the key. Scraps of parchment tell the uncanny tale
of the
medieval Brothers of Hermes, founders of a school of alchemy whose
location has
been lost to history. Somehow, incredibly, the alchemists wrote of
Comet Tarski
centuries before it was visible from Earth -- and of the warning of
catastrophe
given them by the UFO-like Messengers of Light! The pounding pulse of
action
and mystery never stops, from the moment Tom and Bud discover the
Sanctum Never
Seen to the stunning climax as Tom’s invention reveals a menace only he
can
defeat!