Tom left his prisoner in the custody of the headquarters personnel, and drove to the island’s infirmary. Here he picked up Doc Simpson, then headed for the tracking center.
Fortunately, Bud and the girls had all recovered without ill effects from the gas. But just as Tom had feared, his new electronic brain was gone!
“Who do you suppose pulled the raid?” Bud asked, when he heard what had happened. “The Brungarians?”
Tom shrugged despairingly. “Your guess is as good as mine, but I wouldn’t put it past them. Let’s hope we can learn something from that man I captured.”
By the time Tom and his companions reached base headquarters, the whole story was in. George Billing was compiling a list of all the equipment which had been stolen.
“There’s the bad news, chief. Read it and weep!” he said, handing Tom the list.
Tom felt like doing just that, as he realized the staggering blow Enterprises had suffered. But he clenched his fists and managed to swallow his anger. Then he turned to the prisoner who sat between two guards.
“What can you tell us about this?” he snapped.
The prisoner shrugged, glared sullenly, but made no reply.
46 THE RACE TO THE MOON
Bud glanced at Tom. “Think he’s stalling?”
“I don’t know. Let’s search him.”
The prisoner’s pockets proved to be empty. Neither his space suit nor his inner clothing bore any clues to his nationality.
Switching on the public-address system, Tom issued a call for all personnel who spoke a foreign language to report to base headquarters at once. More than a dozen crewmen complied.