The Skyfire Puzzle facts for kids
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| Author | Franklin W. Dixon |
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| Cover artist | Richard Williams |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Hardy Boys |
| Genre | Detective, mystery |
| Published | 1985 Wanderer Books |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 158 |
| ISBN | 0-671-49732-4 (hardcover) 0-671-49731-6 (paperback) |
| Preceded by | Revenge of the Desert Phantom |
| Followed by | The Mystery of the Silver Star |
The Skyfire Puzzle is the 85th book in The Hardy Boys Mystery Stories series. It was written by Franklin W. Dixon and came out in 1985. This book was the last Hardy Boys adventure published by Wanderer Books.
Investigating the Skyfire Mystery
The story begins with Frank and Joe Hardy helping their dad, Fenton, in the Okefenokee Swamp. They are using a special van filled with computers and spy gear. Fenton is trying to catch people who are damaging factories and businesses. These bad guys almost hurt Fenton and their friend, Chet Morton.
Meanwhile, at the Kennedy Space Center, Harry Stone is worried. He is the head of security there. A series of strange accidents have been happening to the space shuttle Skyfire. This shuttle is very important because it will carry a special radio telescope called Longeye into space. The Longeye was created by Starglass Corporation.
Frank, Joe, Chet, Harry Stone, and his daughter Suzanne all travel to Cape Canaveral. There, they meet Nat Cramer from Starglass Corporation and his security guard, Pete McConnel. Maxwell Grant, who helps run the space center, even offers Frank, Joe, and Chet a chance to fly on the Skyfire!
Training for Space
The Hardy Boys and Chet start training to be part of the shuttle mission. They also help Harry Stone and his assistant, Lew Gorman, look into the accidents. It quickly becomes clear that someone does not want the Hardys to solve this case.
Many dangerous things happen to try and stop them:
- Gunmen attack Fenton.
- A masked person makes a centrifuge (a spinning machine used for training) go out of control with Joe inside.
- Someone calls the young people to a fake meeting, which turns out to be a trap.
- During underwater training, strange crystals are put into Chet's air hose. These crystals make him see things that are not real, and he accidentally attacks Frank.
- Pete McConnel is seemingly shot by a terrorist named Franz Schacht. A fingerprint found at the scene seems to link Schacht to the crime.
Uncovering the Truth
The day before the shuttle is supposed to launch, someone shoots at the Hardys' van. Fenton recognizes the shooter as Harry Stone. Evidence found at Stone's house seems to prove that he and Lew Gorman are spies. They are arrested, and Suzanne is removed from the shuttle crew.
During the space shuttle mission, Frank connects the spacelab computer to the computer in the Hardys' van. He discovers that one of the criminals from the beach, who was involved in the Okefenokee attack, has a body shape that matches someone else. This links the two cases together!
The Hardy Boys figure out that Cramer and McConnel are involved with the spy group. Frank also realizes that McConnel never went to the emergency room after he was supposedly shot.
The Hardys and Chet convince the shuttle commander to pretend there is a power failure. This would make it seem like they are stuck in space. This trick makes Cramer go on a spacewalk to send the Longeye into space. The Longeye is set to explode! Frank follows Cramer outside and scares him into telling the truth.
It turns out the Longeye on the shuttle is a fake. Cramer and McConnel planned to sell the real Longeye to the spy group. McConnel and Cramer faked everything else. They made it look like Schacht was involved, faked McConnel's shooting, and used masks of Schacht and Stone to make it seem like Stone was guilty. They even planted the fingerprint.
