Roger
couldn't move. He had fired a reactant bomb at Tom and Astro.
"By the craters of Luna," roared Connel, "we've been attacked!"
The four Earthmen, exploring a valley several miles north of the
_Polaris_, had been thrown to the ground when the bomb landed. Connel's
reaction was immediate and decisive.
"Get into the jet boat! All of you! We've got to get back to the
_Polaris_! If our ship is smashed, we'll spend the rest of our lives
fighting this jungle!"
In a matter of seconds the four spacemen were rocketing over the jungle
toward the _Polaris_. Presently they came to an enormous dust cloud that
had mushroomed out over the trees. It was so thick Tom found it
difficult to pilot the small craft.
"Any danger of radioactivity in this dust, sir?" asked Astro.
"Always that possibility, Astro," answered Connel. "We'll know soon
enough!" He flipped on a built-in Geiger counter on the dashboard of the
jet boat, and immediately the cabin was filled with a loud ticking that
warned of danger.
"The count is up to seven fifty, sir," said Astro. "Not enough to bother
you unless you're in it a long time.
Pages:
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156