“Ditto, pal!” Tom agreed. “It could be fatal. But you see, I’m also pretty sure the human Black Cobra wants me alive-I’m too valuable as a hostage. If the snake did have fangs and had bitten me, I’ll bet he would have jabbed me with anti-venin in a hurry.”
126 THE ASTEROID PIRATES
Bud gulped as he recalled their captor’s parting threat. “Maybe I’m not that valuable. I hope I don’t have to find out the hard way!”
Tom’s face turned grim at the thought. His eyes roved about the room. Their cramped cell was bare except for a pair of steel bunks chained to the wall. Tom examined them. Each had a braided fiber sleeping mat.
“Hey! What’s that?” Bud exclaimed suddenly. From a distant source the roar of some powerful machine filled the air. The stone walls of the boys’ cell and the outside corridor seemed to magnify the sound like an echo chamber.
“Generators,” Tom said. “Must be operating some pretty heavy machinery in this layout-maybe their particle accelerator.”
The cell had a single barred window. Tom strode to it and peered out. It overlooked a steep, precipitous drop onto the cliff face below.
“Don’t give up hope, Bud,” he said, turning back to his friend. “I have a plan.
It may be dangerous, but it looks like our only chance!”
CHAPTER XV
DOWN THE PRECIPICE!
THE cell darkened as dusk closed in over the mountains. Bud prowled back and forth like a caged panther. Tom, who was stretched on one of the bunks, said sympathetically:
“Take it easy, Bud, and save your energy.”
“How much longer before we make the break?” Bud asked, glancing at the barred window.