Stratemeyer Shorts

Science Convention

 "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. Tom 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 was. 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, he'll know exactly 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?" asked Tom. "This is a scientist 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, and 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 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, 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."