“Let’s hope they read us,” Bud said tautly. “We can’t repeat with only three left.”
“I’ll drop those three, too, to help them get a fix on us,” Tom replied. He did so, spacing the detonations at five-minute intervals.
Bud became nervous and restless. Finally he said, “What about a midnight snack?”
Tom chuckled. “Good idea. All we need is a TV late showl”
The two hydronauts relaxed and drew liquid nourishment through their feeding tubes. Fortunately the sea was calm, rocking the castaways gently on long rolling swells. The heavens were ablaze with stars.
“Boy, I could almost enjoy this,” Bud remarked, “if we weren’t in such a spot.”
“Same here,” Tom agreed. “This sea breeze feels great.”
An hour later the boys sighted a vertical cone of light on the western horizon.
It grew larger, and soon they could make out a plane’s red and green running lights and hear its jet engines.
16 AQUATOMIC TRACKER
“The Sky Queen!” Tom cried out. “They’re using Dad’s giant searchlight!”
The hydronauts waved and shouted as the light raked the water, but it missed them by half a mile. The plane cruised past, not sighting them.
“Let’s hope they’ll be back,” Bud said.
The aircraft made two more passes over the area before finally spotting the castaways. Then it swooped in low and dropped a ladder. Atom-powered, with jet lifters for vertical takeoff or hovering, the huge three-decker Sky Queen had been Tom’s first major invention. It was completely equipped for scientific research and was often referred to as the Flying Lab.