~ by Amanda Pizzolatto
[Characters from the Tom Swift Jr series, Cherry Ames series, Rick Brant Adventure Stories, and Vicki Barr Flight Attendant series]
“Tom! Tom Swift!!”
Tom glanced around, looking for the person calling him or his father, or both.
His father chuckled and patted his back. “Looks like she was calling for you,” he said with a knowing grin.
Tom turned and looked at where his father was pointing, right as a dark-haired young woman rushed forward and hugged him. He just about choked when he realized who she was. “Cherry Ames!”
She giggled when he said her name. Tom couldn’t help but notice how merry those brown eyes looked today, how pretty her smile. He also wondered why it was getting rather warm all of a sudden.
His father cleared his throat, bringing Tom crashing back to Earth. “Oh, right! Dad, this is Cherry Ames, that nurse I was telling you about. Cherry, this is my dad, Tom Swift.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh! You’re Tom Swift too?”
Tom Sr. chuckled as he shook hands with Cherry. “That’s right, Miss Ames. So next time, call for Tom Junior; that way he’ll know that it’s him you’re calling for.”
Cherry smiled. “I’ll remember that.”
“But you answer to Thomas too!” blurted Tom.
Thomas grinned. “Only to those who know, and when your mother’s mad at me.” He winked. Cherry laughed.
“But what are you doing here?” Tom asked her. “This is a scientists convention!”
“Well of course! Doctors and nurses work with science too, you know.”
“I know that. I just thought you had to be a senior nurse or something to get in. You weren’t even a junior when I last saw you!”
“It’s amazing what she can do once she puts her mind to it,” came a male voice. A young man with blond hair, blue eyes, dressed in a pilot’s uniform joined the three and placed a hand on Cherry’s shoulder. “Cherry is just full of surprises.”
Cherry scoffed. “Not to you; you know me way too well.”
“Ah, yes, I’m afraid it’s my lot in life.”
Tom had a sudden sinking feeling. This guy was her boyfriend, wasn’t he?
Tom should have known better; a beauty like Cherry wouldn’t have stayed single for long.
Thomas held out his hand. “And you must be here for the aviation and engineering departments.”
The man shook his hand. “Yes, sir. I’ve been coming to these for a couple of years now, in fact. Glad to be able to share this with at least one member of my family.”
Tom’s mouth dropped. “Wait, what? Family?”
Cherry laughed. “Right. No one believes us at first, but it’s true. Tom, Mr. Swift, this is my twin brother, Charlie. Charlie, this is Thomas Swift and Tom Swift Jr.”
“Ah yes, the young scientist who helped you on that mystery,” said Charlie as he shook hands with them.
Tom felt like he was in a daze, a daze of relief and surprise. “Uh, yeah, well, my friends Frank and Joe Hardy are actually the detectives. I’m just a scientist.”
“Well, we do have an uncle who works with scientists. You might have met him, Steve Ames?”
“Oh yes, we have!” said Thomas. “He’s worked primarily with my top rival, actually – Hartson Brant. Speaking of which, I was looking for him when you called for Tom, Cherry. Would you two like to join us and see if your cousin’s with him?”
“Oh, I would be thrilled to! We haven’t seen Steve much since the last family reunion, three years ago!”
“And I didn’t even know he was coming to these things; I didn’t even think about it. But then again, I did just stick to aviation the last two years.”
Thomas nodded as he led the way through the crowd. “Your first time can be pretty daunting.”
“But Steve knew you were becoming a pilot. Why didn’t he seek you out?”
“I can answer that, my fair cousin.”
“Steve!” Cherry let out a squeal and hugged a man who looked to be in his late forties with sandy blond hair with a dusting of grey at the temples, and green eyes. He was dressed in an Army officer’s uniform and looked to be as fit as someone Tom expected to be in the military.
He set her down. “It’s so good to see you Cherry! You too, Charlie. I was hoping to run into you today!”
“So, why didn’t I see you these last two years?” asked Charlie.
Steve chuckled. “Because I wasn’t here. Mr. Brant saw your name on one of the engineering lists and asked me about it. I knew I had to come this year to see if it was you, and to my surprise, I got the both of you!”
“So, they are twins?” asked Tom.
Steve laughed. “I know, they don’t look it, but they definitely are.” He winked at Tom. “Had you worried there for a second, huh?”
“W-what? No! Just took me by surprise, that’s all,” blurted Tom.
“Oh yeah,” said his father before sharing a sly glance with Steve.
“Hey!”
“There you are, Steve!” came another voice.
The group was soon joined by a young man – whom Tom immediately recognized as Hartson Brant – Hartson’s son Rick, and Rick’s friend Don Scott, nicknamed Scotty, thanks in part to the boys shared fondness of the original Star Trek series. Steve introduced them to his cousins, and the Brants were also surprised that Charlie was Cherry’s twin and not her boyfriend. Tom could tell that Don was checking Cherry out, but was surprised that Rick wasn’t. In fact, he seemed distracted, constantly looking around and checking his phone.
“What’s up with you?” Tom asked him.
Rick glanced at him, startled, as a small blush came into his cheeks. “Oh, uh…”
“He’s hoping to see his girlfriend,” teased Don.
Rick’s face turned bright red. “Am not!”
Hartson glanced behind them. “Oh, there she is! Hi Vicki!”
A petite woman dressed in a flight attendant uniform with ash blonde hair and sky blue eyes joined them. A figure, Tom thought, that looked to be as much a goddess of the sky as lovely Cherry was the goddess of the earth.
“Hi, Mr. Brant!” she said. “Hi, Scotty! Hi, Rick!”
“H-hi Vicki!” said Rick.
“How did you get in?” asked Charlie. “I thought only pilots were allowed.”
Vicki grinned. “Well, I got special treatment, I guess.”
“Vicki’s helped us solve a mystery or two,” explained Hartson. “I figured she deserved it.”
“Oh,” said Tom and Charlie before both shot a knowing look at Rick’s flustered face.
“Y-you weren’t sure if you were going to make it,” said Rick.
“And I wasn’t until this morning. Apparently, I’ve been assigned to this plane piloted by Charlie Ames. I only remembered the name because of Steve.”
Steve chuckled. “Well, you’re in luck. Because my nephew and my niece are here!”
Introductions went around again, and the group decided to spend their free time together while the convention went on. They had to separate at that moment and go to their respective sciences, but promised to meet up at the entrance of the expo center and head out to dinner.
As planned, everyone met at the front of the expo at five o’clock and walked from there to look at the nearby restaurants. The younger six were in the lead and chatted away about what they learned from the various talks they had attended, while the older three hung back and chatted about other things. A quaint, local diner all decked out in science-themed decorations caught their attention and they decided to check it out. It was moderately busy, but they still had to split up in order to sit. The six young adults found one table, while the older men found another. They took a look at the menus on the table and gave their orders to a waitress. The waitress brought them some water while they waited for their food.
“So, how did you guys meet?” asked Cherry.
Vicki and Rick glanced at each other lovingly. “Well,” said Vicki, “we met on the way to Hawaii.”
“No way!” said Cherry.
“Really?” said Tom. He glanced at Rick. “Why were you going to Hawaii?”
“What, you mean we can’t take vacations or something?” quipped Don. The others laughed.
Rick nodded at Steve Ames. “Actually, Steve needed a couple of guys to check out this science lab in Hawaii, so he asked Dad if he could send me and Don over there to check it out. Dad said yes since Don was going, so we went.”
“Vicki was one of the stewardesses on our flight,” said Don, “and Rick was flirting nonstop with her. She wasn’t having any of it, though.”
Vicki shrugged. “Hey, we get a lot of people flirting with us.”
“Is it any wonder why?” asked Charlie before he winked and took a sip of his water. The guys grinned.
Vicki rolled her eyes. “Anyway, the crew had a few days’ vacation before our next flight, so we were going to make the most of it.”
“But…” began Rick with a knowing grin.
Vicki chuckled. “But I got a mystery wrapped around my neck.”
“Wait, what?” blurted Tom, Cherry, and Charlie.
Don, Rick, and Vicki grinned at them before going into detail about the two mysteries they’d had to solve, how they ended up helping each other and eventually finding out that it was all connected.
By the time they finished telling their tale, their food had been served and they had begun eating. Tom, Cherry, and Charlie looked at them, open-mouthed.
“Wow!” blurted Cherry. “That sounds so romantic!”
Charlie snorted. “Yeah, sure, nearly falling into a pit of lava sounds like such an ideal first date.”
Cherry shot him a look. “You know what I mean. Fate brings them together in Hawaii!”
Rick grinned. “I know, right?”
Tom rolled his eyes. “Oh, brother.”
“Oh, come on,” said Rick. “This is Hawaii! Where did fate get you two to meet?”
Tom and Cherry glanced at each other before grinning at the others and taking turns telling how they met, how the Hardys called in Tom for help, how Cherry found a vital clue, and how they all had to work together to solve the mystery.
Charlie nodded at the end of the tale. “Colorado’s a good place to meet too.”
Cherry grinned. “We did go sightseeing for a little bit with Nancy, Frank, and Joe. It was breathtaking.” She let out a romantic sigh.
“Oh,” said Charlie before slowly turning his head to look at Tom. Tom began to slump under his scrutinizing glare.
“Charlie!” Cherry whacked his shoulder. “Leave him alone!
“But it’s my duty as your older brother…”
“Oh hogwash, I’m the older one.”
Charlie scoffed. “By what, ten minutes?”
“It’s good enough for me, it should be good enough for you too,” said Cherry, placing her hands on her hips.
Steve tutted as he walked to their table, followed by Thomas and Hartson. “Can’t leave you two for too long before you start taking shots at each other and get these guys caught in the crossfire.”
Rick, Tom, and Vicki quickly explained that they each had a sibling, so this was nothing new.
Hartson chuckled. “He knows, he’s just teasing. But it is time to break this up and head out; we need to get up early.”
The young adults groaned and moaned, but he was right. They paid for their meal, leaving a nice-sized tip for the waitress, and walked together to their hotel.
They continued to talk about their adventures as they walked. Rick would interrupt his narration from time to time to ask Tom about what the Hardys might do and to beg him for their numbers. By the time they got to the hotel, Tom finally promised to ask the Hardys that night if he could give their numbers to Rick and Don.
They finally separated after a long goodbye and went to their rooms. Tom texted both Hardy boys with the request, telling them a bit about Rick and Don, before going to sleep. He couldn’t wait for the next day, where he could learn more about science and visit with friends.