Tom hesitated, turning the matter over rapidly in his mind. “Look,” he said to Bud and Chow, “would you two mind staying here a while to guard it?”
Both agreed. “What about you, Tom?” Chow queried.
“I’ll take the five Mayas and trek to the nearest spot where Slim can land,”
Tom explained. “Then I’ll call Shopton and ask Dad to send us everything we need, including more helium.” In a low voice he added, “Now that I’ve seen the sacred stone, I’d like to stay down here to do some digging, and let Slim take the Mayas to Shopton.”
During the trek to the plane from the Mayan village, Tom had told his two companions the brief translation from the stone. He had also mentioned his hope of finding other stones-or perhaps even wreckage from the space armada.
A HELIUM MYSTERY 31
“Suits me,” Bud nodded. Chow also agreed, although without much enthusiasm for a prolonged stay in the hot Yucatan jungle.
Meanwhile, the horde of natives clustered around curiously, baffled by the delay in take-off. Tom explained his plight to Chief Quetzal, and asked for native guides to accompany him on a trek to the nearest spot where the cargo jet could land.
“Si,” the king assured him. “We are glad to help our white friends any way we can.”
Suddenly shouts arose from several of the keen-eyed Indians.
“It’s Slim!” Bud exclaimed eagerly.
Looking skyward, Tom saw the cargo jet just winging into view. Climbing back aboard the paraplane, he made radio contact with the other ship.
“How come you’re not upstairs?” Slim asked. “Anything wrong?”