Two extra s.p.a.ce suits had been brought along from the ship. The boys put these on and followed the crew out of the airdome.
"Before we go back," Tom suggested, "I"d like to search a little farther." He explained his theory about an enemy camp in the vicinity.
"Wai, this time you ain"t goin" alone, son," Chow declared firmly. "We"re all goin"!"
Boarding their flying platforms, the group took off, making a big detour around the chasm, and headed toward the mountains. For over an hour they searched among the crags and canyons without success. Finally, Tom thought it wise to return to the Challenger.
The lunar plain stretched bleak and empty in the harsh sunlight as they headed back to the spot where the ship had been hovering. At first Tom thought they were flying in the wrong direction. Then, after scanning the horizon on all sides, he realized the truth.
"Our ship is gone!" Tom cried out.
CHAPTER XVII.
SURPRISE MISSILE.
THERE was stunned silence as the group stared around helplessly. Had the Challenger, too, been captured by their enemy?
"Tom, those kidnapers may have brought your father here and forced him to fly the ship away under threat of death!" Bud suggested.
"It"s possible," Tom admitted grimly. He reflected that this would fit in with his conjecture about an enemy camp close by.
"You mean we"re marooned?" gulped Bert Everett.
"Don"t worry. Our situation isn"t hopeless." Tom pointed to the shimmering plastic domes, which were visible from the alt.i.tude of their flying platforms. "With our airdomes and the solartron, we can hold out as long as we have to."
"An" me with no cookstove!" Chow groaned. "Boss, that gelatin stuff you made tasted purty good for dessert, but I sure don"t think I"m goin" to like it for a steady diet!"
146.
SURPRISE MISSILE 147.
Bud chuckled at the overweight cook"s worried expression. "A diet"s just what you need, Chow! Cheer up, old-timer! Maybe someone"ll rescue us before you"re down to a shadow!"
"That"ll be the day," Arv said dryly, staring at the bulging contours of Chow"s s.p.a.ce suit.
To keep the men occupied, Tom suggested that they move the matter- making machine away from the creva.s.se. Flying to the spot, they swooped down for a landing and entered the dome which housed the machine.
"We"ll have to tear down the solartron in order to move it," Tom pointed out.
"So ditch your s.p.a.ce suits, fellows."
After they had taken off the suits and helmets, Tom ordered everyone to refill his oxygen tank. Then the men grabbed wrenches and other tools and set to work disa.s.sembling the heavy machine. When the job was finished, they donned their s.p.a.ce suits again and moved the solartron, piece by piece, to another location several hundred yards away.
"May as well leave the extra dome here," Tom decided. "We"ll need only one."
The young inventor supervised the job of rea.s.sembling the machine and shifting the dome. Then, with the energy collectors hooked up, Tom switched on power and the machine began pumping nineteen per cent oxygen, eighty per cent nitrogen, and one per cent other ingredients. Soon the airdome was filled with a livable atmosphere.
148 .
"Okay," Tom said, after glancing at his atmosphere meter to check the pressure. "Shuck your suits again and take it easy, fellows."
Two men, however, went outside to recheck the dome. The others lounged in sitting positions, or sprawled comfortably. Bert Everett suggested to Tom that they try contacting the Challenger by high-powered radio. The sets that they had been using in their s.p.a.ce suits were of very low power.
Tom frowned thoughtfully. "Let"s wait a while, Bert. If Doc and the others are safe, we should hear from them soon. On the other hand, if our enemy has captured the Challenger, a call now might give them a chance to trick us or pick up some useful information."
Arv nodded. "I agree, skipper. If the kidnapers are aboard, they"d give us a phony reply."
"I don"t know about the rest of you," Bud put in, "but I could sure use a drink of water. How about putting your matter maker to work on that, Tom?"
"Sure thing, pal."
Tom adjusted the element and isotope controls. Soon the machine was pumping out a steady stream of water. The men lined up for a drink.
"Boy, does that taste good!" said Bud, wiping his mouth. "Now, what"s next on the agenda?"
"Another survey outside," replied Tom, climbing into his suit. "There might be some clue around that we"ve missed."
SURPRISE MISSILE 149.
The boys had just stepped from the dome when Bud yelled: "Tom! Look!" He pointed at the sky.
A silvery missile was streaking toward them. It appeared to be headed straight toward the dome!
The crewmen, alerted, froze in fear, realizing there was no time to run from the missile. The next moment, it slowed and landed gently nearby.
"Sufferin" horned toads!" Chow quavered. "What if the thing explodes?"
Another crewman shuddered and made a dash for his s.p.a.ce suit. "Let"s get out of here!" he urged.
The others donned their suits and hurried from the dome. After rushing to a safe distance, they paused and waited for an explosion.
Minutes went by. When nothing had happened after half an hour, Tom felt it was safe to inspect the missile. "There may be a message in it for us," he told his companions.
"Think it"s safe?" Arv asked dubiously.
Tom nodded. "I believe it must be harmless or it would have exploded by now. But you fellows stay back until I make sure."
The others watched anxiously as Tom walked toward the glittering object. It was a rocket of the same type as the one containing the tape recorders.
Tom opened the rocket"s loading hatch and looked in. He turned pale and his companions 150 .
heard him give a gasp of horror over the radio.
"It"s Ted Spring!" he called. "But-"
Bud, Arv, Chow, and the other crewmen rushed forward. Their faces blanched as they saw Ted lying motionless inside the rocket. He was wearing his s.p.a.ce suit and helmet.
"Is he-is he dead?" Bud whispered, horrified.
"I don"t know. Help me lift him out," Tom replied, sick at heart.
As gently as possible, Ted was removed from the rocket and carried to the airdome, where they hastily took off his s.p.a.ce suit and helmet. Tom, who had also removed his own heavy s.p.a.ce gear, listened for Ted"s heartbeat.
"Thank goodness! He is alive!" Tom announced.
The young inventor immediately adjusted his solartron to produce a flow of water. He began bathing Ted"s face, while the others chafed the cadet"s hands and wrists. But the victim showed no sign of regaining consciousness.
"Brand my oxygen mask, what"s wrong with him?" Chow muttered.
Tom shrugged helplessly, gripped by a feeling of despair. "I can"t even guess, Chow. And the worst of it is, we have no way to help him-not even a first- aid kit! If only Doc were here!"
"But why did the kidnapers send him back to us in this condition?" Bert puzzled. "To scare us off the chase?"
Equally puzzled, Tom replied, "I don"t know the answer to that one either, Bert."
SURPRISE MISSILE 151.
Bud scowled and clenched his fists. "If Ted dies, those rats will pay for it!"
"Wait a minute," put in Arv Hanson. "Maybe they sent a message along with him. Let"s search his clothes!"
They went through Ted"s pockets but found nothing. Bud and Bert now hurried outside to check the rocket for any clue. They came back and reported failure.
Time dragged by with no change in Ted"s condition. The group"s feelings of gloom and despair deepened. With no atmosphere or clouds on the moon to shield them, the stark glare of sunlight soon made the air inside the dome stifling hot.
"We"ll have to move again," Tom decided. "We can find a place with some shade over in those mountains."
Arv and Bud made a brief reconnaissance on flying donkeys, skirting the abyss. They returned with news that they had found a shallow cave big enough to contain the dome.
"Okay," Tom said. "Let"s get busy, fellows."
Hot, dejected, and streaming with perspiration, the crewmen once again disa.s.sembled the solar-tron and power gatherers. Fortunately, when they dressed to emerge from the dome, the air-conditioning equipment in their s.p.a.ce suits afforded them some relief.
Ted was taken to the cave first. Bud flew the engineer"s inert form on a flying donkey. The others loaded the equipment onto the platforms, and transported it to the new site. The energy 152 .
collectors and the dome itself were more d iff cult to move, but these too were finally shifted and installed in place.
With the solartron in operation, the dome soon filled with a livable air supply.
By skillfully adjusting the condensing system on the matter maker, Tom was able to heat the air to a comfortable temperature. Wearily the crewmen doffed their s.p.a.ce suits and relaxed. Then Tom made several types of simple food which Chow proceeded to concoct into fairly tasty dishes.
"Not bad, old-timer," Bud approved as everyone ate the meal with a hearty appet.i.te. "The way my stomach was feeling that tasted almost as good as a steak!"
Chow smiled, pleased at the compliment, but added, "Don"t thank me. Thank Tom. If "twarn"t for his contraption there, we wouldn"t have no grub at all!"
The men soon fell asleep, exhausted by their grueling activities. At last only Tom remained awake. The young inventor was torn with anxiety, not only for Ted and his father, but for the safety of his whole crew.
"Perhaps I should try calling the Challenger now," Tom decided. Switching on his suit radio, he spoke into the microphone: "Tom calling the Challenger! . . . Tom calling Challenger! . . . Come in, please!"
Repeated efforts brought no response. After half an hour, Tom gave up and turned off the set. Glumly he stared out of the cave opening.
SURPRISE MISSILE 153.
A few moments later he gasped. A huge boxlike s.p.a.ceship, enclosed in gleaming rails, was sailing into view across the sky!
"The Challenger!" Tom yelled. Pulling on his s.p.a.ce suit in frantic haste, he emerged from the dome and rushed out of the cave.
Tom waved his arms wildly, hoping to attract attention. At the same time, he signaled repeatedly over his mike. Bud and the others, awakened by his yell, joined him just in time to see the s.p.a.ceship pa.s.s out of sight beyond the towering mountain peaks.
"She"s g-g-gone!" Chow wailed dismally.
The same frightening thoughts ran through every mind. Had they lost their only chance of rescue? Also, was the Challenger perhaps now under the command of their mysterious enemy, who intended to abandon them to their fate?
CHAPTER XVIII.
A STRANGE CAPTURE.
TOM clenched his jaw grimly, trying not to show despair as he met the dismayed looks of his comrades. "Let"s not jump to conclusions," he said.
"Maybe-"
He broke off as a new thought struck him. "Wait a minute!" Tom cried. "I was radioing the ship before it appeared. Could be my battery"s run down and the signal didn"t carry. Try your set, Bud!"
The copilot hastily complied. "Bud Barclay calling the Challenger! Can you read me? .... Barclay to Challenger! Come in, please."
"Challenger to Barclay! Where are you?" It was the voice of the ship"s regular radioman!
The little group of stranded explorers leaped and hugged each other in a frenzy of joy as Bud replied, "You just pa.s.sed us, Marty! We"re on the other side of the mountain! Come back and you"ll spot us easily enough!"
The radioman explained that all was well 154.
A STRANGE CAPTURE 155.
aboard ship. It had not been forced away or boarded. While the others were rescuing Tom and Bud, those on the ship had heard a strange jargon of voices over the radio and a blip had been picked up on the radarscope. Doc, alarmed, had ordered a crewman to race the Challenger out of range of attack.
"It"s probably lucky you did," said Bud. "We"ll bring our donkeys toward the ship."