“I get it-the camera can’t tell which is which.” Bud grinned and added, “What this job needs are bifocals!”
Tom winced in mock horror at his pal’s joke. “I wish it were that simple.”
“Perhaps you can design something to shield out the other radiation,” Jack Murray suggested.
Tom shook his head doubtfully. “I’m afraid it’s too intense for any effective shielding.”
After mulling over the matter, the young inventor decided to return to the Sky Queen and work on the problem in his private laboratory. “I’ll fly back in the paraplane,” he told the others. “How about you fellows staying here to guard the retroscope?”
“Sure, boss. Don’t you worry about a thing,” Chow assured him, as all agreed. “We’ll fix it so there’s someone here ridin’ herd on your camera all the time.”
“Swell. And keep the tank radio tuned,” Tom added.
Hopping into the jeep, Tom drove to the spot where the parachute plane was berthed. There was no sign that the ship had been tampered with by marauders.
“Better try the engine, anyhow, before I take off,” he thought cautiously.
The young inventor eased into the pilot’s seat A NARROW ESCAPE 99
and gunned the jet engine into life. But after a loud, blasting sputter, it died.
Tom tried again but got no response.
“Now what’s wrong?” he wondered in annoyance.
He climbed out of the plane and made a quick check of the engine. Then he inspected the main fuel tank. To his disgust the drainage from the pump showed considerable water in the fuel.
“Oh, great!” Tom fumed. “This plane seems to be jinxed! That downpour last night probably flooded the fuel system.”
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