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Gordon picked up the cue quickly. "Can I ride back to the base with you? I rode down with Dick, but he's not ready to leave yet." "Glad to have you, sir," Rick replied. On the way back to the base Rick told his story in detail, starting with Scotty's and his own first suspicions about Mac and Pancho and ending with their rescue by Deadrock Ogg.
"But the sedan traveled without lights." "Not past the turnoff it didn't. Road's too curvy, and in too much shadow. That's why I was there. I knew they'd have to turn on lights." It was Rick's turn to give Deadrock Ogg his own question back. "Who are you, Mr. Ogg? Are you a busybody? Or do you have a right to snoop?" Deadrock Ogg chuckled. "The answer you gave me is good enough.
The ten minutes took an hour to pass. Then he had to wait ten more, until Deadrock came back on the air. "They're all yours, Tom. I fired a shot and they looked up. Then Scotty and Hank fired over their heads from each side and they saw they were trapped. They upped hands, polite as you please, and we moved in to put the cuffs on." Scotty elaborated later.
Instinct told Rick that the man was more than he seemed, but that he was in no way a thief or law-breaker. Briefly he sketched the events of the previous night without going into the reasons for their own actions. Scotty filled in a few details. "All right. I'm Deadrock Ogg. Besides being the mayor and all the other city officials of Steamboat I'm a prospector.
"No more than you had," Preston told him. "We reached the same conclusion that you and Luis Hermosa did, about how stolen goods could get off the base. We've been watching from the inside, and Deadrock has been watching at the Steamboat end." "Then you already knew about Mac and Pancho leaving last night," Scotty stated. "Yes. But we really don't know any more than you two have found out.
They're coming up the mountain." "Roger. Keep us advised." The waiting again, then Deadrock called once more, excitement in his voice. "Tom, there's another vehicle of some kind coming in from Steamboat." "Good! How are you fixed?" "We can handle a regiment. Scotty is going down around the mesa to cut them off in case they try to run for it. Hank is going down on the base side.
Deadrock had waited until some of the stolen goods had changed hands before firing his warning shot. That was for purposes of evidence. Pancho and Mac maintained a stony silence, but Dusty Rhoads was eager to talk. The other two had threatened to kill him, he claimed, and had forced him to steal. No one believed this, but Dusty's tale at least showed the connection between Miller and the thefts.
For instance, how did Deadrock Ogg know the car would be traveling without lights? He told the boys how he planted himself at the Pahrump Valley turnoff because the sedan would have to turn on lights there. How did he know?" Rick had figured that part out. "At night, car lights can be seen for miles. The last thing in the world the thieves would want would be to attract attention to Steamboat.
The gate reported by phone when Mac and Pancho went through, then there was a long wait. Tom Preston, John Gordon, and Rick had an early breakfast in the security chief's office. Just as they finished breakfast, the communications outfit on Preston's desk buzzed. "Playboy One to Playboy Base. Come in." Preston thumbed his microphone. "This is Playboy Base. Go ahead." "Deadrock here, Tom.
It took only ten minutes to get the parts from Deadrock's jeep, which was parked in a ravine, invisible to anything except a low-flying plane. They said good-by to the "prospector" at the edge of town. "Got the map in your heads? You won't get lost?" Deadrock asked. "We'll be fine," Rick assured him. "All right. Get goin'. And, boys look out for sidewinders!" Servomotors Missing
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