Tom's been training his entry, SwiftBot, for the upcoming Robot Olympics -- a major event being sponsored by the White House's Office of Science and Technology. Teenage inventors from around the country will be bringing their homemade robots to compete in a series of athletic competitions. The Road Back, an antiscience terrorist group, has issued a statement condemning the event, and Tom hopes that the tight security at the Robot Olympics will keep TRB from causing trouble. But no such luck. Someone is playing dirty . . . and things are going...

Tom. Bud, and Yo are on the S.S. Nestor, a Swift Enterprises research vessel, to witness Mr. Swift testing his submersible, the Verne-1. Mr. Swift plans to use the Verne-1 to place a network of seismometers on the sea floor to detect underwater earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other phenomena that might generate tidal waves on the ocean's surface. But when an unexpected storm hits and the S.S. Nestor looses contact with the Verne-1, it's up to Tom to save his father.

It's the grand opening of APOGEE, the world's first space hotel, an orbital space station designed expressly for the tourist trade. As Swift Enterprises is a major investor in the project, and provided much of the necessary technology, Tom and Sandy have been invited to be among the first guests to visit

When they arrive at the APOGEE they experience weightlessness, learn about the high-tech nature of the hotel (including the robotic wait and cleaning staff), and play a game of zero-gravity badminton. But as Tom explores...