“Orders to Swift sub!” a voice barked over the set. “Surface and heave to! No tricks, or the next missile will not be across your bowl”
Tom blew his tanks and sent the Swiftsure spearing upward. As the conning tower broke water, Tom and his men swarmed up on deck. Seconds later, a sleek gray enemy submarine knifed into view. Its hatch opened and several men climbed out.
To Tom’s amazement, their leader was Samson Narko!
Chow let out a yelp of rage. “Why, you sneakin’, double-dyed, bushwhackin’
polecat!” the old Westerner bellowed. “We shoulda kept you hawg-tied, ‘stead o’
lettin’ you go free!”
Narko ignored the outburst and raised a mega—
134 THE VISITOR FROM PLANET X
phone to his lips. “Hand over your cargo and do it quickly!”
“What cargo?” Tom snapped back. “And what’s the meaning of this outrage?
You realize this is piracy?”
“I realize you will wind up on the bottom at the slightest show of resistance!”
Narko warned menacingly. “You know very well what cargo I refer to! Now do not try our patience!”
Tom and his crew pretended to put up a blustering, indignant front. Chow was especially convincing, with a blistering torrent of salty Texas invectives.
Narko’s only response was a barked-out order to his men in Brungarian.
Quickly the enemy submarine maneuvered closer until the two craft KIDNAPED! 135
were almost chockablock. Narko and his men then leaped aboard the Swiftsure> armed with submachine guns and automatics.
“I’m warning you, Narko-” Tom began angrily. But Narko cut the young inventor short by a poke in his ribs with the gun muzzle, then issued orders to two of his men to go below.