Bud grinned. “Talk about kicking mules! Those donkeys really gave us the business!”
Two extra space suits had been brought along from the ship. The boys put these on and followed the crew out of the airdome.
“Before we go back,” Tom suggested, “I’d like to search a little farther.” He explained his theory about an enemy camp in the vicinity.
“Wai, this time you ain’t goin’ alone, son,” Chow declared firmly. “We’re all goin’!”
Boarding their flying platforms, the group took off, making a big detour around the chasm, and headed toward the mountains. For over an hour they searched among the crags and canyons without success. Finally, Tom thought it wise to return to the Challenger.
The lunar plain stretched bleak and empty in the harsh sunlight as they headed back to the spot where the ship had been hovering. At first Tom thought they were flying in the wrong direction. Then, after scanning the horizon on all sides, he realized the truth.
“Our ship is gone!” Tom cried out.
CHAPTER XVII
SURPRISE MISSILE
THERE was stunned silence as the group stared around helplessly. Had the Challenger, too, been captured by their enemy?
“Tom, those kidnapers may have brought your father here and forced him to fly the ship away under threat of death!” Bud suggested.
“It’s possible,” Tom admitted grimly. He reflected that this would fit in with his conjecture about an enemy camp close by.
“You mean we’re marooned?” gulped Bert Everett.
“Don’t worry. Our situation isn’t hopeless.” Tom pointed to the shimmering plastic domes, which were visible from the altitude of their flying platforms. “With our airdomes and the solartron, we can hold out as long as we have to.”