“That is a very interesting plan, Sushi,” said Qual. “Of course you can borrow it. Although it will leave me temporarily powerless to communicate, I think the risk of learning something useful is paramount here. Or, now that I think of it, Garbo has a translator, as well. Perhaps it would be better to use hers, so I can stay advised of what occurs.”
“Sure, that ought to work just as well,” said Sushi. “We’ll give it a try when we stop again. It shouldn’t take long to set up.”
The search party set out again in the direction Sushi’s detector indicated the signal was coming from. But it was only a short time when Sushi stopped and said, “Hold on, guys. This thing’s going crazy.”
“Crazy? How?” asked Brick. “Has it stopped picking up the signal?”
“No, the directional indicator’s gone haywire,” said Sushi. “It says the signal’s coming from all directions. Wait a minute…That could only mean one thing. Except it doesn’t make any sense.”
“I see what you mean,” said Qual. “If the signal comes from all directions, it means we are in the place where the signal comes from. Yet there is nothing but the desert here.” He had taken a handheld spotlight off his belt and was shining its beam in all directions.
“Be damn,” said Double-X. “Maybe them Hidden Ones really are invisible.”
“I still don’t believe that,” said Sushi. “More likely, they’re hiding underground.”
“Then the signal would come from below us, would it not?” said Mahatma. “Does the detector indicate that?”
“No, it’s from all directions including straight up,” said Sushi. “Maybe it’s time to hook up a translator to the detector-“