Ken shook hands with both boys warmly. “Sure gave us a start when our radarman first spotted you. What happened to your spaceship?”
Horton, a slender man of about thirty with dark, close-cropped hair, was an ex-Army major. He had been one of Tom’s first space trainees and had helped build the sky wheel.
58 COSMIC ASTRONAUTS
Tom explained how their cargo rocket had mysteriously strayed off course and later had failed to follow the two boys according to instructions.
“Has it reported by radio?” Tom asked, when he had finished briefing Ken Horton.
Ken shook his head worriedly. “Not yet. In fact we tried to contact you when the rocket failed to arrive on schedule, but we got no response. We checked with Fearing a while ago, but they had had no word either.”
Tom mulled over the situation grimly. Had the ship and its crew been kidnaped?
“It may be that our enemy has jammed the ship’s transmitter,” Tom conjectured. “They could do it easily enough if they’re the ones who were able to affect our controls.”
“But the jamming would have blitzed our suit radios too,” Bud objected.
“Not necessarily,” Tom replied. “Remember, our suits functioned perfectly-and I think I know why.”
“Why?” Ken asked with a frown.
“Our space suits not only have a Tomasite coating, but they’re also insulated with a layer of lead foil,” Tom explained. “On the other hand, the cargo rocket has only its hull coated with Tomasite.”
Bud snapped his fingers excitedly. “I get it! Those enemy waves couldn’t penetrate our suits
A HAZARDOUS ROCKET TRIP 59
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