Tom and Bud shot each other glances of comprehension. “Sounds like the space ark!” Bud murmured, referring to the mysterious craft in which the space people had sent their infected animals.
Tom felt an inward surge of jubilation. He was sure that the rescue ship must belong to his space friends. Apparently they had at last responded to his pleas for help or information!
“But this story may just be a hoax,” Tom told himself.
To rule out any further chance of trickery, Tom insisted upon searching the enemy rocket ship. The men agreed, but as they had claimed, Mr. Swift was not aboard.
176 SPACE SOLARTRON
“One more question,” Tom said. “Just before my father asked to go outside, did anything unusual happen?” The young inventor was somewhat puzzled as to how Mr. Swift could have known beforehand that he was about to be rescued.
“Most strange that you should ask,” the squat Mongolian replied with a puzzled frown. “As a matter of fact, some queer-looking symbols flashed on the oscilloscope of our radio equipment. Shortly after your father saw them he made his request to go outside.”
Tom and Bud wanted to shout for joy but remained calm. Both realized that the space people must have sent Mr. Swift a message, knowing that his captors would be unable to translate it.
“We’ll go now,” Tom told the three kidnapers. “From here on, you can answer to your own government. I advise you to rocket back to earth immediately. If that saucer ship returns and finds you still here, I warn you there may be unpleasant consequences!”
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