The Sea Hound glided alongside. Tom was puzzled by no sign of life abovedecks. He tried calling the yacht by radio but got no response.
“Guess I’ll have to go topside,” Tom decided.
“This may be a trkk, boss,” Chow warned.
A GRUESOME FOE 145
“You show your head and they may gun you down!”
“There’s no other way, Chow. We can’t just sit here and do nothing.”
Tom opened the hatch and climbed up onto the seacopter’s hull. He scanned the yacht anxiously, but no one showed at the rail. Nor was anyone visible on the bridge.
“Ahoy the Naiad!” he shouted. No answer. Again Tom shouted-this time at the top of his lungs. Again there was no response.
Tom felt a chill of foreboding. What had happened to Bud and his captors aboard the yacht?
CHAPTER XVII
VANISHED EVIDENCE
“WHAT’S the score?” Hank asked as Tom climbed back into the cabin of the seacopter.
“The yacht seems deserted. They may be laying a trap, but there’s only one way to find out.”
Tom adjusted the rotor and the Sea Hound rose from the water. Tom guided her into hovering position above the Naiad’s foredeck and a ladder was dropped.
Then Tom turned over the controls to a crewman and climbed down onto the yacht, followed by Hank, Chow, and another man.
“Hank, you and Jerry start aft,” Tom ordered. “Chow and I will start forward.”
“Roger!”
The bridge, cabins, radio compartment, and galley were all thoroughly searched. Then the boarding party went below and tried the engine room, supply lockers, crew’s quarters, and stowage spaces. Even the bilges and double bottom were checked. As a last resort, they peered under the 146