II15-1960-TOM SWIFT and His Spectromarine Selector by Victor Appleton II

Author:Victor Appleton II [pseud.] [Appleton, Victor II]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grosset & Dunlap
Published: 1960-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

11. STOWAWAY PRISONER

"A STOWAWAY?"

The news took Tom by surprise. He stared at Doc Simpson in alarm. A flurry of questions rose to Tom's lips, but he realized that it would be simpler to find out the answers himself.

"I'll talk to him!" the young inventor flung the words over his shoulder as he rushed out of the compartment.

Doc followed and they ran toward the newly arrived jetmarine which was berthed nearby. Tom entered through the air lock and scrambled down the ladder. Inside the cargo hold, he found Bud and another crewman gripping the prisoner.

"We found this guy hiding down here!" Bud snapped angrily.

Longneck Ebber!

Tom, his jaw set grimly, gave the stowaway a penetrating stare. "All right, Ebber. Talk!"

Ebber's face was sullen, and for several moments he remained silent. He shifted his eyes uneasily under Tom's steely gaze. Finally he spoke.

"No sense gettin' sore, Swift," he whined. "I know I got no business bein' here, but can't we make a deal? Look—you guys turn me loose an' I'll talk plenty! I can tell you lots o' things you want to know! How about it?"

"Make a deal—with somebody like you?" The young inventor's blue eyes glinted fire. "We're at the bottom of the ocean, Ebber, and you're our prisoner. We don't have to make bargains!"

Ebber went sickly white. He glanced from one person to another as if looking for a sympathetic face. He found none.

"Wh-wh-what do you mean, Swift?" the prisoner quavered finally. "Now listen here! You guys can't get away with pullin' any rough stuff!"

Tom's lips tightened. "Did you think of that when you and Judson beat up that Navy officer?"

Ebber was trembling like a leaf now. "Y-y-you can't bluff me!" he shrilled. "You guys wouldn't dare hurt me! I got my rights...."

His voice cracked and died away as he saw Brian Fraser and several husky crewmen edging closer. Their fists were clenched menacingly.

Suddenly Ebber's legs gave way. He sank down on a crate of supplies and mopped his brow.

"Okay," he mumbled. "I'll talk. What do you want to know?"

"Everything," Tom snapped grimly. "You can start by telling us how you got aboard."

Ebber hesitated a moment, then said, "I—er—stopped a skinny fella like me on his way to work at Enterprises an' took his pass an' bracelet, so I got in easy. Then I waited for a chance to shut myself into one o' the crates, goin' to be shipped down here." He added ruefully, "I should 'a' stayed in it an' you wouldn't 'a' caught me."

Tom frowned angrily. "Who was the man you attacked?"

"Sam Green. Oh, I didn't hurt him."

"We'll find out about that. If he wasn't in condition to report the attack so you could be caught, he must have been in bad shape," Tom retorted. Then he asked, "Longneck, who hired you and Judson?"

"It was some foreign bunch," Ebber confessed. "At least, I guess they're foreigners. Their agent got in touch with us. He's the only guy we actually talked to."

"What were your instructions?" Tom asked.

Ebber flushed nervously.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.