Zimby added.
“And neither sub spotted you?” Tom questioned.
Zimby grinned wryly. “We might not be here if they had detected us. But I’m pretty sure they didn’t. Anyhow, they gave no sign.”
Tom was doubly elated at the news. His antidetection gear had evidently worked perfectly in a showdown test with the enemy, even at close range.
Moreover, if the second sub was returning to the South Atlantic, it seemed likely that the enemy, too, had not yet located the precious missile with its data from Jupiter.
“You guys rate Navy medals,” Tom told Zimby and Mack jubilantly. “Come on back to Shopton with me and I’ll buy you the juiciest steaks in town!”
A PROPAGANDA BLITZ 135
Before leaving the base, Tom called the Coast Guard and the Navy to cancel his search request. He also telephoned a full report on the enemy submarines to Admiral Walter.
After hanging up, Tom decided on another move. “Our antidetection gear seems to have panned out pretty well,” he told Hank. “I think we should make use of it right away. By sending that jetmarine to the South Atlantic, we might get a line on enemy activities down there.”
Hank was in favor of the idea. He volunteered to prepare the jetmarine for a cruise and take off from Fearing that very night.
“Thanks,” Tom said with a parting handshake. “Keep us posted if you learn anything.”
Meanwhile, Bud and Mel Flagler had arrived at the base by helicopter. They and their two shipmates flew back to the mainland with Tom and Arv for a celebration dinner in town.
The next morning found the young inventor hard at work in his private laboratory. He was tapping his head with his slide rule and frowning at a blackboard scrawled with equations when Bud dropped in for a visit.
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