Tom and Bud hastily donned their space suits and stepped outside. A brief squirt from their suit jets carried them to the other rocket’s entry hatch. After passing through the air lock, they were greeted by a rousing welcome from Bob Jeffers and the rest of the crew.
“Boy, are we ever glad to see you!” Bob exclaimed as the crewmen clustered around the two boys.
“What happened after we left?” Tom asked.
“Couldn’t maneuver the ship out of orbit,” Bob replied. “I tried to signal you over the radio but got no response.”
“No wonder. Your signal never came through,” Bud put in.
Tom explained his theory that their enemy had managed to silence the ship’s transmitter, probably because the rocket had no lead insulation. Then he went on, “Bob, what about that mystery ship we chased away just now?”
“Mystery ship’s a good name for it,” Jeffers replied. “We couldn’t figure out who it was, or what it was up to. But I can tell you one thing-we sure didn’t like the looks of it. I have a hunch that they were just getting set to board us when you showed up.”
Bud whistled. “Narrow squeak.”
Tom asked if the ship had ports or a cabin pane.
NIGHT ALARM 63
“I mean, were you able to catch a glimpse of who was manning it?”
Jeffers shook his head. “She had ports, but they were covered. We tried making radio contact, but got no answer-either we weren’t getting through or they were keeping mum.”
Tom scowled. He realized it was now hopeless to chase the enemy ship, even if there had been any means of overpowering it.
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