“Don’t you see?” he went on. “We know they had a team, ‘cause that’s how Tom spotted the camp to begin with. But now the dogs are gone. So that means either Tom made a getaway in the sled, or else one of Bronich’s men must have carried him off on it!”
“It figures, all right,” agreed Hank Sterling cautiously. “But how do we find him?”
193
194 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC BLASTEk
Hastily Bud formulated plans for a search party. He himself would set out in Bronich’s snowmobile, accompanied by Blake and Dr. Faber. Meanwhile, Hank Sterling would go aloft in the Sky Queen, with Chow and Colonel Eagle Friend as spotters, and scout the whole surrounding area. The other members of the party would stay behind to guard the prisoners.
Twenty mintues later, as Bud and his companions were plowing along through the mountain foothills, Hank Sterling’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie:
“I think I’ve found him! There’s a sled and dog team heading toward our camp! Keep your eyes peeled for the Sky Queen and I’ll point you in the right direction!”
Gunning the snowmobile at top speed and following Hank’s radioed instructions, Bud finally overtook the driver of the sled.
It was Tom Swift!
“Genius boy!” yelled Bud, as they pounded each other joyfully. Dr. Faber, Blake, and Bud quickly brought Tom up to date on all the news, and described the capture of the Kranjovians.
“Great!” Tom exclaimed. “Now there’s nothing more to hold us back! We’ll put our earth blaster to work immediately.”
“Wait a minute, Tom,” put in Blake. “You still haven’t told us how you escaped!”