Wayne lost no time. He hurled Gursk out the door and sprang after him, slamming and bolting the door behind him.
Moments later a roar of water was heard from the tunnel. Then Wayne’s voice barked over a loud-speaker:
“Swift! Surrender or drown like rats in a trap!”
CHAPTER XX
JET RESCUE
WATER was already sluicing in under the door. Tom, Bud, and Ed eyed it with white faces, their hearts pounding like triphammers at the hideous danger facing them.
“What do we do now, skipper?” Bud endeavored to keep his voice steady.
“Can’t you try signaling the outpost with the ruby maser?”
But as Bud spoke, the fluorescent lights flickered out. The laboratory was plunged into darkness, except for the faint glow of daylight filtering down through the air shaft.
“There’s your answer,” Tom said grimly. “They must have switched off power from the generators-which means the maser’s useless.”
Already the trapped threesome were ankle-deep in the swirling, rising water.
Wayne’s harsh voice came over the loud—
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184 TRIPHIBIAN ATOMICAR
speaker. “How about it? Are you ready to surrender?”
“Come on in and find out!” Bud roared back. “We’re just waiting to grab that handlebar mustache of yours and shove your head under the water!”
Tom grinned at Bud’s spirit.
Wayne replied with a snarl. “All right! You punks are asking for it!”
Tom sized up the situation rapidly. “We’ll have to float up through the air shaft! It’s wide enough for all three of us!”
As Ed started to move across the laboratory so he could peer up the shaft, Tom grabbed his arm. “Hold it! Remember there are guards at the top! They’re probably all primed, waiting for us!”