Bud glared at him. “That’s about what I expected from you, Hal!”
The argument flared back and forth, with two or three of the crewmen supporting Voorhees. Finally a compromise was reached. Voorhees’ group agreed to stay and guard the camp, while Bud led the assault force to rescue Tom.
Presently the Sky Queen took off on its dangerous mission. When they came in sight of the Kranjovian camp, it was plain that the enemy was prepared for an attack. Two gun crews were on guard against intruders. Otherwise, there was no one in sight.
As the Sky Queen swooped down, the Kranjovian gunners sent up a hail of flack. But as before, the shells glanced harmlessly past the Sky Queen and failed to explode.
Bud opened up with the jet lifters and raked the camp from end to end with blasts of flame. Realizing their own weapons were useless, the enemy gunners fled in panic, disappearing into a large ice cave.
“Must be their main fort,” observed Hank Sterling.
190 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC BLASTER
“Why not fly over it and blast it to a puddle!” Daryl Blake suggested.
“Tom may be in there,” Bud snapped tensely. “We’ll have to attack on the ground and try to drive them out into the open!”
Landing the plane, Bud taxied the big ship up close to the cave entrance. A rifle barrel protruding at each corner showed the presence of armed sentries.
“What now, general?” asked Arv Hanson. “Do we pile out?”
“Not yet. First we’ll take care of those guards!”
Under Hank Sterling’s direction, tear-gas weapons and gas masks were issued to all hands. Meanwhile, the guards, sensing that an attack was being readied, started firing nervously at the plane.