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70 TRIPHIBIAN ATOMICAR
“Force us down,” Tom said tersely.
The words were hardly out of his mouth when a flat, expressionless voice came over the radio speaker. “This is your last warning. My jet is armed. If you do not turn around and land on the desert according to instructions, you will be shot down!”
Off through the twilight, high at two o’clock, they could see the attacking jet circling for another pass.
Ort clenched his fists. “Man! What I’d give to have that joker lined up in my sights right now!”
The jet came screaming toward them. Tom held course as long as he dared, then suddenly poured power to the jet lifters. The Sky Queen shot upward like a rocket, just in time to avoid a burst of tracer fire. The enemy jet whined harmlessly past, below them.
“Whew!” Bud exclaimed.
Tom banked into a lightning climb, looped, and rolled out neatly to dodge the next pass. His brain was working at top speed as he scanned the sky ahead.
“Swift to jet!” he spoke into the microphone. “Hold your fire! We’re ready to listen to instructions!”
“Ah! Now you are talking sense!” came the response. “Turn your ship around and steer the same course I do! We shall fly wing to wing!”
As he finished speaking, the enemy pilot began TOM TAKES A DARE 71
to execute a leisurely turn. Instead of following suit, Tom gunned the forward jets to full power!
“I ordered you to turn!” the pilot screamed.
“I said we were ready to listen to instructions -not follow them!” Tom gibed back over the radio.
Another burst of tracer fire grazed the Flying Lab’s tail as the craft streaked into a billowing cloud mass. Tom rammed the stick forward and the Sky Queen plummeted earthward. His eyes were glued to the altimeter needle.
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