When this mine had been uncovered and deactivated, the prisoner vowed that no more had been planted. He was shaking with fear at the menacing expressions of the Americans and native workmen. Several of the latter had taken out knives and were whetting them with meaningful glances at the captive.
Tom felt that the man might now be willing to talk more freely. Through Ali, he pressed him with questions. But the captive swore he had no idea who was behind the mine planting. He himself had been hired by another group of raiders.
Tom was convinced the man was telling the truth, but took no chances.
“Tell him we’ll keep him here as a hostage as long as the camp’s in operation,” Tom said to Ali. “If another mine explodes, I’ll turn him over to the workmen for quick justice.”
After translating, Ali grinned. “Sir, I think we need fear no more mines,” he reported.
As the next two days went by, the base took on the look of a busy settled community. Workshops, laboratories, and repair hangars were quickly erected. A convoy of atomicars and trucks was sent out, headed by two Swift hydraulic engineers and a professor from Grandyke University, near Shopton, who had just arrived by jet. They were to plan an irrigation system for the whole 152 TRIPHIBIAN ATOMICAR
country, so drought-parched lands could be watered for future farming.
On the third day after the land-mine scare, the first fleet of drone magnetic homing pigeons was launched. Several were fitted with cameras for aerial mapping. Two cartographers from the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey had flown in and would provide Kabulistan with its first accurate maps.
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