“Hmm, that could be the answer,” Tom mused.
The young inventor was deeply disturbed. He knew that the Journal had been mailed to a large group of scientists. Undoubtedly one of them was a subversive, with an accomplice in Swift Enterprises.
“Keep working on it, Harlan,” Tom said, “and make sure none of the rest of the formula for the solartron leaks out. In the meantime, do you think we should tell mother and Mrs. Spring about Dad and Ted’s disappearance?”
Ames mulled over the problem. “Still no leads?” he asked.
Tom reported the unsigned radio message, but added that he was not sure it had come from the space people.
“In that case, skipper,” said Ames, “I think we should tell your mother and Sandy. Suppose we let your mother decide whether or not to inform Mrs. Spring and Ray?”
Tom agreed to this plan, and Ames promised to break the news as gently as possible the following morning. “It’s late here. I’m sure she’s in bed now.”
Before starting back for the outpost, Tom ordered the power gatherers deflated, folded, and put back into the ship for future use. Then, while most of the men slept, he set the Challenger’s course.
When the great spaceship reached the outpost,
THE SECRET FORMULA 117
Ken Horton greeted Tom with a look of excitement as he entered through the station air lock.
“We’ve just picked up a faint SOS, skipper,” Ken reported. “It came from space.”
Tom’s pulse raced with sudden hope. “You think it was from Dad and Ted?”
he asked tensely.
“I don’t know. The radioman said the message trailed off before he could catch all of it. But it sounded like just one man, because the wording was ‘I am stranded in orbit-‘ not ‘we are stranded.’ “