“Roger!”…“Tough luck, skipper!” the pilots acknowledged, one by one.
Grim-faced and weary, Tom and Bud returned to Enterprises. The young inventor called an immediate conference at the Security Building with Ames, Hank Sterling, and George Billing. Bud was also on hand.
“Looks as though we’re up against a blank wall -for a while, anyhow,” said Hank gloomily. “If your horning device crashed in a swamp or some wooded area, it may not be spotted for days.”
“And if the bird’s been hijacked, it’s probably under cover by this time,” put in Bud with a scowl.
Harlan Ames glanced keenly at the young inventor, who was pacing back and forth. “What’s your own guess, Tom?”
“I’m willing to bet the whole thing was no accident.” Tom was tight-lipped.
“Ten to one Bud hit it right on the nose.”
Ames frowned and nodded. “Hijacked by the same enemy who buzzed the Sky Queen, no doubt.”
“Right. And for the same reason,” Tom said.
CALLING ALL HAMS! 109
“To get his hands on my atomic power plant. Harlan, any competitor who copies that before ours is on the market can cut himself in on a fortune!”
Tom resumed his restless pacing. “If only there were some way to contact-”
“Wait a second, skipper!” George Billing spoke up suddenly. “Isn’t the master unit on that drone designed for radio monitoring?”
“Sure.” Tom paused. “I designed it that way for mineral survey flights later on in Kabulistan. Unfortunately that’s what made it vulnerable to enemy interception.”
Billing stabbed the air with his finger. “Okay, and that also means it should respond to a radio request pulse from us here at Enterprises!”
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