Tom hesitated, then shook his head. If they could radio the ship to pick them up, Chow would be spared the painful trek back to the landing spot. But the Cobra’s operators would surely be listening for messages now, and the Challenger itself might be detected as a result.
“Sorry,” Tom said to Chow, “but I think we’d better hoof it. How’s your ankle?”
“Lots better,” the cook replied stoutly. “Reckon I kin keep up if you take it slow.”
Hugging the rim of the crater as long as possible, they started back toward the ship. Chow hobbled along, supported by the two boys. In order to stay out of range of the base, they circled
160 THE ASTEROID PIRATES
back by a roundabout route. At last, after threading their way through a stretch of badlands, they reached the valley where they had landed.
“The ship’s gone!” Bud blurted.
Tom strained his eyes, searching in all directions. “Maybe Hank moved it a bit,” he conjectured.
The young inventor clambered up a rocky escarpment where the dim earthshine would give him a better view of the valley floor. But the huge outline of the Challenger was nowhere in view. With a sinking heart, Tom returned to his two friends.
“Think it’s been captured?” Bud asked.
“Maybe. Let’s face it, Bud. The Cobra’s not going to sit tight, now that he knows we’ve landed on Nestria,” Tom said.
The black spaceship or some auxiliary craft, Tom reasoned, might have taken off for an immediate reconnaissance when the intruders were discovered.
If so, the Challenger might have been sighted and taken by surprise.