144 TOM SWIFT AND HIS ATOMIC BLASTER
reception from the set. Gradually Hanson’s voice came through more clearly.
“Arv!” shouted Tom. “You’re safe! But what the dickens happened?”
“Slight accident,” replied the modelmaker. “We located a break in the storm around two o’clock this morning and tried to come down. But the overcast made landing in the snow pretty tricky-there were no shadows to outline the shape of things below.”
“Did you crack up?”
“Not exactly. But we bellied right across the top of a snow-covered mountain and got hung up. That damaged the undercarriage, and when we finally did get loose, the plane slid down the slope out of control,”
“Where are you now?”
“At the foot of the mountain, near open water.”
“The Ross Sea?”
“Right. I think I’ve fixed our position pretty close.”
Hanson proceeded to give Tom his approximate latitude and longitude on the chart.
“All right. We’ll try to make it there as soon as possible and give you a hand!”
Dashing back to the pilot’s compartment, Tom gunned the atomic engines for a take-off. Then, feeding a steady surge of power to the jet lifters, he guided the ship skyward and streaked off across the Antarctic wastes on the rescue mission!
CHAPTER 17
BLIND RESCUE
AS TOM’S Sky Queen raced to the rescue of the crippled cargo plane, a dense fog began drifting down from the north.
“It’s getting thicker every minute,” commented Dr. Faber, who was seated beside Tom.
“I’d better switch on the radar,” Tom said. “This is a real pea-souper.”
Daryl Blake stepped into the compartment. “Think you can find Hanson?” he asked.