Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 7, 2025
The boys exchanged looks of fear through their face masks as the knifelike hull and conning tower of the submarine loomed gray and ghostly. Was the sub Brungarian? And what was it up to? Were the two young skin divers about to be run down or kidnaped? Or was its crew friendly? "Better not chance it," Tom decided fast. He caught Bud's eye again and motioned upward with a jerk of his thumb.
Both Tom and Ames were grave as they drove back to the plant. Neither took Mirov's threats lightly. Tom pondered another angle. Were the Brungarian rebels perhaps responsible for the attempted theft of the Jupiter-circling missile? Ames was inclined to think so. "Moreover," he forecast, "it's a cinch they haven't thrown their last punch. I'll pass the word to the FBI and Central Intelligence."
One man wavy-haired with penetrating dark eyes seemed oddly familiar. Why? Suddenly the answer hit Tom like a flash. He resembled Streffan Mirov, the brilliant Brungarian rocket scientist who had tried to oust Tom's expedition from the phantom satellite Nestria. Playing a hunch, Tom said to him, "You know what your government does to rebels and bunglers, Mirov." The man stiffened and paled.
The newscaster wore a look of excitement as he spoke without pausing for the usual commercial. "The Brungarian government has just scored a propaganda bombshell!" he reported. "In a news announcement released less than half an hour ago, they stated that their Navy has perfected an undetectable submarine!" The Swifts and Bud froze, openmouthed, at the newscaster's words.
Bud, a skilled wrestler from high-school days, managed to twist his foe's knife arm behind his back then applied a punishing judo hold! The Brungarian gave an audible screech of pain and dropped the knife. "Now you're coming along with me!" Bud muttered. He gunned his jet, forcing himself and his adversary toward the Sea Hound. Moments later, they passed the seacopter's cabin window.
"Your antidetection gear worked so well we vanished right out of the ocean!" Bud replied with a chuckle. Turning serious, he reported how his jetmarine had trailed the mysterious intruder and how he and Mel had captured the two Brungarian frogmen and their shore contact. "Nice going, pal!" Tom exclaimed. "But here's the catch," Bud went on.
Hank waved to them through the cabin window as they glided past. The air lock opened speedily and the two boys entered. Both heaved sighs of relief when they were safely inside. "Somethin' wrong?" Chow asked, sniffing trouble. "A strange submarine," Tom reported. "Brungarian more than likely. It may be heading this way if they've tracked us." "A sub?" Hank was startled.
The four prisoners had been confined in a single large cell. They seemed tense and angry as if they had been quarreling among themselves. "Ready to talk yet?" Ames asked. Getting no reply, he repeated the question in Brungarian. Ames's ruse failed. "What language is that?" asked "Captain Smith" mockingly. "Pig Latin?" As his cellmates grinned, Tom's eyes roved over their faces.
Any intruder breaking the barrier touched off the automatic alarm system. To avoid the buzzing, the family and their close friends wore wrist watches containing tiny neutralizer coils. "I'll see who it is," Tom said, and hurried to the door, feeling a twinge of apprehension. Was this a new attempt by Brungarian agents?
Dimitri Mirov lost all control and burst into a volley of guttural Brungarian abuse. "I warn you, Swift!" he choked. "Jailing us will not make you safe or your projects, either!" A blow to the head from "Captain Smith" sent Mirov reeling back against the wall. "Fool! Maybe that will quiet you!" the pilot snapped viciously. "You have said too much already!" "Let's go, Tom," said Ames.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking