by John Blaine
Rick’s eyes were glued to the scope. That was their own message that activated the scope and the speaker like a badly timed echo. It had already gone to the moon and returned, traveling the 326,000-mile round trip through space in slightly less than two seconds. At this very moment, Hartson Brant and the others would be receiving the message “bounce” at Spindrift, just as they were receiving it herel
The signals died. The scope was quiet again, and the speaker gave forth only a faint humming.
Seconds ticked by. Would Spindrift answer? Had that echo to Weiss’s message really returned from the moon, or from the high mountains close by?
Zircon let out a bellow of delight.
The scope was flickering, and from the speaker the Morse code came over, loud, clear explosions of sound . . .
Spindrift calling Tibet relay via luna . . . we read you loud and clear . . .
Then they were all shouting at once and shaking hands, and the bearers watched, awed by this miracle they did not understand.
“It’s our turn now . . .” Zircon began.
“Wait!” said Weiss. “There’s more.”
Again the crackling code.
Greetings to you all.Is all well?
Rick’s eyes went to the mountain wall that hid theLostCity . Yes, all was well-now.
The messages would go back and forth, checking technical data, antenna settings, and so on, but the important thing was that the lunar relay had worked!
“Anything we want to tell the folks back home?” Zircon asked.
“Yes!” Rick exclaimed. “Yes!”
The othersgrinned their approval and Chahda beamed as Rick said: Page 109
“Tell Barby thanks for the fireworks!’
THE END
RICK BRANT’S exciting adventures continue in the next volume, SEA GOLD. Don’t miss this thrilling story of how Rick and Scotty trap the saboteurs trying to wreck the plant where minerals are being extracted from the sea.
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