Then another thought struck him. Any moment now the enemy ship might let go another volley of missiles!
At the risk of cutting down speed, Tom switched over to rocket power and beamed his repelatrons at the rival ship. At the same time he turned on his antimeteor radiators.
The Brungarian craft veered slightly, and evidently was unable to fire. But the angle between the Brungarian ship and the rocket was so narrow now that Tom was able to hold off only the rocket.
Groans went up from the Challenger’s crew. “No luck!” Bud wailed.
160 THE RACE TO THE MOON
Helpless to intervene, the Americans could only watch intently as the Brungarians closed in on the prize.
“How can they board or enter it?” Jerry Walden asked. No hatches or openings of any kind were visible on the hurtling space “ark.”
“Good question,” Tom said. “But I doubt if that’ll stump the Brungarians very long. They’ll blast it open if they can’t find any other way.”
He himself was gunning his own rocket motors full blast. The Challenger drew closer and closer to the other two craft. Maybe there was still a chance to rescue the animals from the space beings’ planet!
But suddenly Tom’s hopes were dashed. Long octopuslike tentacles, apparently grapples, shot out from the Brungarian ship. They clamped tightly to the space ark. Then the enemy craft streaked away, holding its prize in a firm and deadly grip.
“Brand my blunderbuss, you got to stop them space rustlers, boss!” Chow quavered, wringing his hands desperately.
The rest of the crew added their pleas. “Can’t we do something, pal?” Bud begged.