“Give us a bearing, Slim!” Tom shot back.
“One-nine-five degrees… . About two minutes’ flight from here should bring me directly over them!”
In the distance they could see Slim’s vapor trail as his plane changed course sharply and shot off in a southerly direction.
The heliplane followed as the other jets and
SKY PIRATESI 5
seacopters swarmed to the scene. Within moments they sighted the lifeboat, wallowing oarless in the blue swells below. The Sea Hound descended to the water and began taking the castaways aboard.
Tom hovered the heliplane low over the seacopter and said, “Take over, Bud!”
“Roger!”
Tom dropped a nylon cable ladder from the cabin and climbed down to the Sea Hound’s entry hatch. Mr. Swift followed.
Aboard the seacopter, Captain Church and his crewmen were already being served mugs of steaming coffee. Although unshaven and somewhat grimy, they looked none the worse for their brief ordeal.
“Thank heavens you’re all safe!” Mr. Swift exclaimed. His eyes glowed with relief as they swept over the grinning, grateful mariners.
Both Tom and his father shook hands warmly with everyone. “Feel up to giving us the story?” Tom asked Captain Church, lean and young looking for his forty years.
“As much as I know,” the captain replied. “It happened just before we changed watch at eight bells yesterday evening. A group of planes, without markings, zeroed in on us and dropped at least three bombs.”
The bombs, he went on, had burst just above deck, sending out a cloud of steam and fumes which overpowered everyone aboard. When the 6 COSMIC ASTRONAUTS