By the time Tom reached the huge New York airport, darkness had fallen and the airstrip lights were blazing below. He brought the jet into the traffic pattern and landed.
“Get my plane out of sight as soon as possible,” Tom instructed the mechanics.
The plane was rolled into a nearby hangar. Tom took a station near the flight-control desk, where he could keep an eye out for his enemy’s arrival. Twelve minutes later he heard Dansitt’s voice calling the tower for clearance to land.
Tom dashed to the entrance of the building, hired a taxi, and asked the driver to stand by until he came out again. Then he went back to wait for Dansitt.
A few minutes later he saw Dansitt approaching one of the gates at a trot. In his right hand he was carrying a flat square package just like the one he had handed Tom.
Though he was sure that the package contained the film, Tom restrained an impulse to jump Dansitt and snatch the parcel from him. It would be wiser, he decided, to wait and possibly get a look at the person for whom the film was intended. And, Tom reasoned, only a scientist would be interested in having it, so whoever received the package from Dansitt’s hands might be a lead to the mastermind of the pirates!
Keeping out of sight, Tom let his enemy walk past.
IN ENEMY TERRITORY 59
As Dansitt got into a taxi, Tom jumped into his and told the driver to follow the other car.
“Don’t let it get away, driver!” he called from the rear seat.
“Say, what are you, a detective?” the taxi driver asked. “Where’s your badge?”