Marking the milestone of the first dozen novels in the New TOM SWIFT Invention Adventures.It is something man has talked about and written about for decades, but has been thought to be beyond our reach. A space elevator capable of pulling up or lowering down vast payloads using almost no energy and firmly anchored in space to absolutely nothing but a gravity balance point.Now, as Tom Swift seeks to construct an even larger space station than his original Outpost in Space, it becomes a necessity. To do it surpasses the capabilities of his fleet of cargo rockets. Even with their conversion from burning fossil fuel to using powerful repelatrons, they would only be able to complete the task in about twenty years.Tom wants it done in under two.As he works to perfect first the cables and then the lifting system, he finds that he is being opposed on several fronts, the most surprising of all is his own government. But the worst one is a fanatical faction within a worldwide governing body. They say they cannot trust the Swifts to operate a benign station and so demand to place troops in it.They might claim that having a military presence on the station is "for the good of mankind," but Tom sees an ulterior motive that some people might seize an opportunity to turn his peaceful station into a deadly weapon!