the space outpost had managed to track the mystery ship almost continuously from soon after the first alert.
“What gets me is the way she sailed right through the radiation barrier,” Bud growled. “How do you figure her crew did it without going boom?”
“Tom has the answer, I think,” replied Mr. Swift. “Probably a control device which they landed on Nestria some time earlier.”
Tom nodded. “These astronauts must be able to switch the strength of the barrier up or down. That’s why the radio signal came through louder and clearer while the black ship was leaving Nestria.”
Bud said angrily, “It proves the guys aboard her are the ones who cooked up the whole deal of barricading Little Luna.”
Meanwhile, Billing was busy at the computer, processing the radar data from the space outpost and the rocket base.
“Okay, here’s the latitude and longitude of the point where the ship landed,”
he announced. Going over to a huge wall map, Billing picked out the spot.
“Argentina!” Tom cried.
The black craft had come to earth in the foothills of the Andes, near the tip of South America. The spot lay south of Lake Argentine.
“Bad, this is all the proof we need!” Tom ex—
108 THE ASTEROID PIRATES
claimed excitedly. “It means there’s a definite link between the Argentine business that the CIA is worried about and our trouble on Nestria!”
“No doubt about it,” agreed Mr. Swift. “But we’re still in the dark about what’s behind it all.”
Tom’s eyes took on a determined glint. “There’s one way to find out. I’ll fly down to South America in the Sky Queen and see for myself what’s going on!”