TOM SWIFT AND
THE MYSTERY COMET
by VICTOR APPLETON II

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!