"The crime is a federal offense," the commandant explained. "Air Force Intelligence will co-operate on the case, but the prisoners will be turned over to a federal marshal."
Tom briefed him on the background of the situation, including the Jupiter-probing missile mystery, then asked, "Could those men be transferred to the Shopton jail for the time being so our own security setup can take a hand in the investigation?"
The commandant nodded. "I"ll arrange it."
As the boys flew back to Enterprises, Bud threw Tom a quizzical glance.
"How come you mentioned the Jupiter prober, skipper? Do you think those hijackers were after information?"
Tom shrugged. "I"m wondering myself, Bud. If they were, it could mean our enemy hasn"t found it yet!"
When they arrived at the experimental station, Tom made a full report to Harlan Ames, the slim, dark-haired security chief. Ames listened thoughtfully but was as baffled as Tom.
"Are the men Americans?" he asked.
"I doubt it," Tom said. "They speak English well enough, but with a faint accent. Somehow, I have a hunch they"re Brungarians."
Ames whistled. "That could spell trouble, skipper." More than once, Brungarian rebel agents had engaged in brazen plots against America and the Swifts.
"Let"s hope I"m wrong," Tom said wryly.
"Art Wiltessa--and the Navy--called again," Ames added. "Still no luck on the missile search."
The gloomy news did nothing to lift Tom"s spirits. The next day, hoping to verify or disprove his suspicion, he drove to Shopton Police Headquarters with Harlan Ames. The two talked briefly with Chief Slater, an old friend. Then a turnkey took them to the cell block.
The four prisoners had been confined in a single large cell. They seemed tense and angry--as if they had been quarreling among themselves.
"Ready to talk yet?" Ames asked. Getting no reply, he repeated the question in Brungarian.
Ames"s ruse failed. "What language is that?" asked "Captain Smith"
mockingly. "Pig Latin?"
As his cellmates grinned, Tom"s eyes roved over their faces. One man--wavy-haired with penetrating dark eyes--seemed oddly familiar. Why?
Suddenly the answer hit Tom like a flash. He resembled Streffan Mirov, the brilliant Brungarian rocket scientist who had tried to oust Tom"s expedition from the phantom satellite Nestria.
Playing a hunch, Tom said to him, "You know what your government does to rebels and bunglers, Mirov."
The man stiffened and paled. "We have not b-b-bungled!" he stuttered angrily.
"Shut up, you fool!" their leader shouted.
CHAPTER VI
THE CAISSON CLUE
"Captain Smith" had leaped to his feet, quivering with anger. But it was too late. His cellmate, by answering to the name of "Mirov," had given away their nationality!
Tom and Ames exchanged grins of triumph.
"No doubt you recall what happened to Streffan Mirov," Tom went on, pressing his advantage. "Or should I say the _late_ Streffan Mirov? Our last report was that he had been tried and condemned by your own government. Perhaps you can give us news of his fate?"
The wavy-haired prisoner"s eyes blazed with hate. "Grin while you can, Tom Swift! Because of you, my brother Streffan is now serving a long prison sentence! But I, Dimitri Mirov, will get revenge!"
"You blame Tom Swift because your brother botched his job of claiming the satellite Nestria by force and fraud?" Ames taunted.
"Our s.p.a.ce friends moved that asteroid into orbit around the earth," Tom added. "We claimed it by right of first landing. Even your own leaders couldn"t agree to Streffan"s crazy scheme to destroy everything."
Dimitri Mirov lost all control and burst into a volley of guttural Brungarian abuse.
"I warn you, Swift!" he choked. "Jailing us will not make you safe--or your projects, either!"
A blow to the head from "Captain Smith" sent Mirov reeling back against the wall. "Fool! Maybe that will quiet you!" the pilot snapped viciously. "You have said too much already!"
"Let"s go, Tom," said Ames. "We"ve learned the information we came for."
The prisoners could only glare in baffled rage through the cell bars as Tom and the security chief turned their backs and walked away.
"Nice going, Tom," Ames murmured. "Your hunch certainly paid off." Chief Slater added his congratulations when he heard how Tom had trapped Mirov into disclosing his ident.i.ty.
Both Tom and Ames were grave as they drove back to the plant. Neither took Mirov"s threats lightly.
Tom pondered another angle. Were the Brungarian rebels perhaps responsible for the attempted theft of the Jupiter-circling missile?
Ames was inclined to think so. "Moreover," he forecast, "it"s a cinch they haven"t thrown their last punch. I"ll pa.s.s the word to the FBI and Central Intelligence."
After lunch Tom flew to Fearing Island with Bud, eager to tackle their interrupted job of rooting the s.p.a.ce plants into the undersea silt beds.
Zimby c.o.x, a sandy-haired, freckle-faced jetmariner, volunteered to pilot a motor launch for them.
They sped across the water, then dropped anchor at the farm site. Tom and Bud donned their hydrolung gear and went over the side, each clutching containers of the s.p.a.ce plants.
Reaching bottom, they glided about in the shadowy green water, embedding the plants at far-s.p.a.ced intervals. The Tomasite-producing plants had been almost completely devoured. A few fish were darting about, but they swam off quickly at the boys" approach. To Tom"s delight, they showed no sign of returning.
"Looks as if our keep-off signs are working," Tom said with a pleased chuckle when the boys finally surfaced and climbed back aboard the boat.
Bud nodded. "Smart idea, all right." Then he scowled thoughtfully. "But if you ask me, skipper, fishes aren"t the only thieves you"ll have to guard against."
"Meaning?"
"Mirov"s pals," Bud replied. "If it"s the s.p.a.ce plants they were after when they pulled that aerial hijack attempt, they could take them easily from these silt beds."
Tom sobered. "You have a point there. I"d better have an audio screen set up around this whole area. That"ll act as a burglar alarm--and help discourage the fish, too."
Twenty minutes later the boys were winging back to the mainland. When Tom reached his office, he called in Gib Brownell, an Enterprises engineer.
"Got a job for me, skipper?"