Part 12 (2/2)
”So I gathered,” said Tom dryly. Inwardly he was wondering if the man might be putting on an act. Could it be that Joss was a spy, connected with the kidnapers responsible for his Dad's and 120 .
Ted's disappearance? ”Mind telling us how you expected to land on the moon and get back to earth safely all by yourself?”
”Maybe it was foolhardy,” Joss admitted, ”but I saw no reason to risk someone else's life.”
The rescued rocketeer was in his thirties, stockily built, and had thinning reddish hair. He explained that his father, a fabulously wealthy man, was owner of the Joss Manufacturing Company. He and his son had hoped to gain publicity by the moon-rocket stunt.
”Mighty expensive publicity if it had cost you your life,” Bud observed.
”I guess you're right,” Joss said ruefully. ”But when I started out, I really thought I could make it.”
Tom questioned him further, and finally decided that Joss had had nothing to do with the disappearance of his father and Ted Spring. Moreover, he had not seen them or picked up any messages.
”We'll take you to our s.p.a.ce station and send you back to earth safely,” Tom promised. ”Sorry we can't offer you much hospitality, but our installation up here is top-secret. Government orders, you understand.”
”Sure, sure, I realize that,” Joss replied. ”Believe me, I'm grateful to you for saving my life. I'd have gotten mighty tired of orbiting around here for the next umpteen million years!”
Tom knew from the shuttle-rocket schedule that a s.h.i.+p was due from Fearing Island within THE SECRET FORMULA 121.
the next two hours. It arrived soon after their return to the outpost. Selwyn Joss was escorted aboard and his craft stored in the cargo compartment.
”So long and thanks again!” Joss called back over the radio.
”Have a good trip,” Tom replied.
As soon as the s.h.i.+p had blasted off, he contacted George Billing at Fearing Island over the company's special frequency. Tom gave orders for Joss to be transported to the mainland as soon as he landed. ”I think the man's okay,” he added, ”but have Harlan Ames make a follow-up check on him, just to play safe.”
”Wilco!” Billing replied.
Tom had hardly signed off when another voice crackled over the radio. ”Tom, come and get us! We're on the moon!”
It was Ted Spring's voice!
CHAPTER XIV.
MOON SEARCH.
TOM and his companions were electrified! Mr. Swift and Ted Spring were on the moon!
Everyone listened intently as the message continued. ”We were drawn away from the s.p.a.ce station by some kind of invisible force ray,” Ted went on. ”I'm not sure what happened after that. Tom, your dad and I both blacked out.”
Mr. Swift's voice broke in, ”The important thing is that the two of us are here on the moon. Come and get us and hurry!”
Abruptly the voices ceased.
Tom grabbed the microphone. ”Dad! Ted! Can you hear me?” he called urgently. ”This is Tom at the outpost! Come in, please!”
There was no response. Finally Tom gave up trying to contact them.
”Come on!” he told the others. ”We'll take off right now! We must rescue them!”
”I'm with you, pal!” Bud shouted.
Arv Hanson, however, clutched Tom's arm. 122 MOON SEARCH 123.
”Wait a while, skipper,” he begged. ”That call may be a trick. If your dad and Ted were captured by some enemy, they wouldn't be released without some good reason.”
”What do you mean?” Tom asked impatiently.
”If we go zooming off to the moon now, we may be heading right into a trap!”
Chow looked worried. ”Brand my biscuits, Arv may be right, boss,” the cook opined. ”Them s.p.a.ce rustlers didn't plan that kidnapin' just for a joke. Mebbe they're fixin' to bushwhack us!”
”But what about Dad's and Ted's oxygen supply?” Tom protested. ”If they are stranded up there, it may give out!”
Arv's face was flushed and uneasy. ”I know how you must feel, Tom, but let's find out what Hor-ton thinks. Check with Harlan Ames too.”
When Ken Horton was informed of the radio message, he suggested that Tom wait until Mr. Swift and Ted made contact again. Ames, too, when reached at Enterprises, agreed with this advice.
”That call sounds fishy to me, Tom,” he said. ”Why did they stop so abruptly and not respond to your signal? And another thing, would their suit radios have range enough to transmit their voices from the moon?”
”I'm not sure, Harlan,” Tom pondered. ”It would depend on various conditions, but you may have a point there. Guess we'd better wait.”
Hara.s.sed by fears and doubts, the young inventor found it hard to hold his impatience in 124 .
check. To be prepared for any emergency, Tom ordered the Challenger stocked at once with all supplies and equipment needed for a moon expedition.
”How about giving your s.p.a.ce solartron another workout?” Bud suggested, to keep his friend's mind occupied. ”You still haven't tried combining any of those elements you concocted and making some food.”
The idea intrigued Tom enough to try it. ”I'll start with some simple compounds,” he said.
After boarding the Challenger, the two boys, Chow, and Doc Simpson unloaded the power gatherers and put them in place on the outside of the s.h.i.+p.
The helium was sent into the tubing, then the watchers crowded into the compartment where the solartron was set up. They watched in fascination as Tom switched on the current and adjusted the controls.
”What'll it be first, skipper?” Doc asked.
”Let's try making sugar,” Tom decided. ”All it takes is carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.”
He pushed several b.u.t.tons on the element and isotope control panels, then watched the wave pattern closely on the oscilloscope. Minutes later, he stopped the machine. Over a pound of sugar had crystallized in the receiving tank!
”Wai, I'll be a locoed bronc!” Chow gasped. He scooped up some of the glistening white grains unbelievingly. ”You sure this stuff is sugar, son?”
MOON SEARCH 125.
<script>