“What a find!” Bud muttered.
Suddenly Tom gave a fresh cry of excitement.
“Bud! Look!”
The copilot turned. Tom was pointing to a series of strange markings carved on one wall of the tomb.
“More space symbols!” he exclaimed.
CHAPTER XVIII
SABOTAGE
“CAN YOU translate these space symbols, Tom?” Bud asked eagerly, staring at the wall markings.
“Part of the message is the same as the inscription on the sacred stone and Max’s bowl-‘Fifty of us flew in here without mishap. We will hunt for the rest of the armada.’ The other-”
Haltingly, Tom managed to decode a further portion of the message. It said: “We hope to survive here but will have to get used to the strange food. Our own supply is nearly gone.”
“I’m afraid that’s all I can dope out right now,” Tom concluded, after puzzling over the symbols for several more minutes. “I’ll need the space dictionary to figure out the rest.”
“Boy, this may tell the whole story!” Bud exulted. “Have you got a copy of the dictionary in the truck?”
Tom shook his head. “No, I left it in the Sky 159
160 ELECTRONIC RETROSCOPE
Queen. Bud, I must get the electronic retroscope down here and find out when these symbols were carved!”
“Are you kidding?” Bud stared at his friend. “You’ll never get that big clunker down this hole.”
“You’re right,” the young inventor agreed. “Which means I’ll have to build a new one-completely miniaturized.”
Bud whistled and shook his head. “You’re a demon for work, pal, but more power to you! In the meantime, what do we do next?”
“Take some pictures of these relics.”
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