om.

Tom forced a grin, but he remained heavy-hearted as they neared the
base. His only hope now was that a radio message from the jetmarine
might have been picked up while they were gone.

As soon as the seacopter was moored, Tom leaped ashore. The crewmen on
the docks had no news to report, so Tom piled into a jeep with Arv and
sped off to the Fearing communications center. Hank remained aboard the
_Sea Hound_ to secure all gear.

Churning along the graveled road, Tom and Arv passed the launching area.
Huge, needle-nosed cargo rockets and the mighty spaceship _Titan_ loomed
against the sky. Tom's moon-voyaging _Challenger_ and his more recent
space craft the _Cosmic Sailer_ were also based there.

"Going to alert the Navy for a search?" Arv inquired as they reached the
communications building.

Tom nodded and braked the jeep to a screeching halt. "Coast Guard too.
They can pass the word to commercial shipping to be on the lookout."

A telephone rang as he hurried into the office.

"For you," the clerk said, looking up at Tom. "Nice timing!"

Tom grabbed the phone. His face widened into a grin. "Bud! You seagoing
jet stream! What happened?"

Arv grinned, too, in relief.

"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. "When we took off again in our
hydrolungs to go back aboard ship, the jetmarine was gone!"

"Maybe she's trailing the enemy sub," Tom conjectured.

"That's what I'm hoping," Bud said uneasily. "Trouble is, our subs
aren't armed, and who knows about that Brungarian job? The way they
sling missiles around, anything could happen if she spots the
jetmarine."

Tom frowned. "I'll organize a search right away. Where are you calling
from?"

"Police headquarters at Sandbank."

"Okay. Take it easy, and I'll send a whirlybird to pick you up," Tom
promised.

"And don't forget some clothes," Bud added with a chuckle. "Mel and I
are getting chilly."

"Right!" Tom hung up and gave Arv Hanson a quick briefing.

Then he phoned the base airfield to dispatch a helicopter. He also
contacted the nearest Coast Guard station and put through a
long-distance call to Navy Headquarters in Washington to request help