CHAPTER XVI
Steve Waits It Out
The two-boat procession moved down Martins Creek at slow speed, Scottyleading in the runabout and Rick following in Orvil's boat. The boys haddecided to take the crab boat back to Steve's, because it could not beleft adrift, and they did not know where Orvil berthed it.
Both agreed it was senseless to return to Swamp Creek. That wouldn'thelp Orvil, at least for now, and they might possibly be picked off bythe riflemen.
As they neared the pier, Scotty moved out of the way while Rick backedthe big crab boat into the runabout's place. Before he had finished,Steve was coming down the walk at a run.
The agent took the line Rick tossed and made it fast, then caughtanother line and secured the bow. Scotty backed in with the runabout andRick helped him secure the smaller boat to the side of the crabber.
"Bumpers on the houseboat," Rick called. "Under the cockpit deck."
Steve hurried to get them, and they were placed between the crab boatand the runabout to prevent rubbing.
The boys climbed to the pier and faced their friend.
"We found the boat headed into the bay," Rick said grimly. "Bloodstainon the deck, but no other sign of violence. We had a phone call tellingus to keep away from the creek and the house, or Orvil would be fed tothe crabs. There's no doubt about it. They have Orvil."
Strangely, Steve replied, "Yes, I know. Come on in the house."
The three walked up the path to the farmhouse, with Rick and Scottystaring incredulously at the agent. How had he known?
"Did you get a phone call after we left?" Rick asked.
Steve shook his head.
"Then how did you know?" Scotty demanded.
Steve held up a hand. "Easy, kids. I'm trying to get my thoughtsstraightened out a little and make some plans. We'll talk it overshortly."
Inside the house, Rick went at once to the refrigerator. As the otherswatched, he pulled the bottom panel loose, took out the small rocket,and replaced the panel. Then he turned the refrigerator control back tonormal and handed the rocket to Steve.
The agent examined it wordlessly, his forehead wrinkled in thought. Thenhe put it down on the kitchen table and investigated the state of thecoffeepot while Rick and Scotty stood first on one foot, then the other,and fumed quietly.
Steve decided more coffee was needed and proceeded to make it. Not untilthe pot was heating did he motion the boys to sit down at the kitchentable. He joined them, turning a chair around and straddling it, hischin resting on his hands on the back, his eyes alert.
"Testing our patience again?" Rick asked acidly.
Steve's warm grin flashed. "Sorry, kids. I was working over a few factsin my head, trying to make them add up. Okay, let's talk. Start bytelling me about last night."
The boys reported, taking turns. "At first we thought Orvil might havetold the riflemen guards we were on the bottom," Rick said finally, "butthat's out. He's a victim, not a member of the gang. I saw his boat justbefore Scotty picked me up, but I couldn't see him."
Scotty picked up the tale. "After Rick dropped off, I made a high-speedrun out into the river, then turned and headed for a spot on the northbank opposite where I thought the guards were. I got in close to shoreand throttled down, deliberately giving them a chance at me if theywanted to take it. There weren't any shots, but I saw one of the guards.The visibility wasn't very good, so I propped the extra tank up in theseat and put my headpiece and mask on it, hoping any watchers wouldthink there were two of us. I don't know whether they were fooled ornot."
"Pretty smart," Steve approved.
"Thanks. I ran back out into the river and fished around in the lockerunder the seat. You had a few old wrenches there, and some rags. Well, Iowe you a wrench. It was the biggest one, which means it isn't used veryoften on an outboard, anyway."
"Just so long as it wasn't my size seven-sixteenths wrench," Steve saidwith a grin. "Go on."
"It wasn't. I wrapped rags around it and tied them with a hunk of line,then searched for matches. I finally found a paper folder in the glovecompartment. I had to open the gas tank and let out pressure to get anygas on the rags, and it wasn't easy, standing on my head in the cockpit.What I really needed was a Coke bottle. I could have made a Molotovcocktail by filling it with gas and using the rag for a fuse. Well, Imade another run inshore and watched for the boys with rifles. Theydidn't show up. I got as close as I could without grounding, touched amatch to my bomb, and heaved it into the marsh grass. My eyebrows took abeating." Scotty rubbed the slightly scorched areas.
"I wanted to set the marsh on fire, but the blaze was only a small one.I figured if the grass would burn, the riflemen would have to runupstream to safety. But the stuff only charred in a circle. Anyway, itscared them. They came running to stamp it out, and one of them took ashot at me. But I was nearly a mile out from the creek by then, and hedidn't even come close."
"Let's hope I never have you two for enemies," Steve said fervently.
Scotty concluded, "I decided Rick probably had been in and out of thecove by that time, so I moved to where I could watch with binoculars,putting the sunrise behind where I thought he would appear. I knew Icould see him better against the light. Finally up he popped, and away Iwent, and here we are."
Rick ended their recital. "We got back and took off our diving suits,then went for a swim with a bar of soap. When we were clean, except formy hands, which got stained by the mud, we dressed and came into thehouse. We were sitting down enjoying coffee and trying to keep awakewhen the phone rang. How did those hoods get the number, anyway?"
"That's not hard," Steve said. "It's probable that Camillion's boysstarted checking up on you the moment you showed interest. My car isknown at the local gas stations. It would be just a matter of asking whoowns a convertible of that description. Name and telephone directory addup to the right number. Watching you enter Martins Creek would cap theinformation. You could be seen easily with glasses from the river shoreopposite the cove."
The agent got up and turned down the stove as the coffee began topercolate. "My tale is pretty short."
"Wag it, anyway," Rick suggested.
Steve put a hand to his forehead. "Gags like that at this time of daycause shooting pains. Please be attentive, and not waggish."
"Ouch!" Scotty exclaimed.
Steve sat down again. "After you were safely on your way I changed todark clothes, smeared a little black goo on my face, and took off forCalvert's Favor. I drove to within a half mile and parked the car in thewoods, then hiked. The first thing I came to was a chain-link fence. Ittook some time to see if it was wired for an alarm--and it was. So I hadto find a tree with a limb that overhung the fence. I'd taken theprecaution of carrying a rope. I found the tree, fixed the rope to anoverhanging limb, and down I went."
"We could have postponed recovering the payload and helped you," Scottysaid reproachfully.
"Sure you could. But I'm used to operating alone, and I was interestedin what you might find in the cove. Anyway, I approached from behind thebarn and had to take cover when two men went by. They had rifles. Theyheaded down the peninsula toward the cove. I scouted around, but noother guards were in sight, so I started with the barn."
Steve paused. "That is quite a barn. No hay, no oats, no horses. But ithas the loveliest dish antenna in it you've ever seen."
"A microwave dish?" Rick gasped.
"Exactly. It's mounted on a truck, and I suspect the electronic gear isinside. I couldn't get a good look. There are also little cubiclesinside the barn, probably horse stalls, and I could hear a man snoringin one of them. There wasn't much light, and I couldn't use my littleflashlight beam too freely, but I did get a look at several gas bottlesracked along one wall. They were big ones, of the kind used forcommercial gases like propane or oxygen."
"Or hydrogen?" Scotty asked quickly.
"Or hydrogen," Steve agreed. "And that's probably what they contain, forinflating the balloons."
He got up, turned
off the coffee, and poured three cups. "Along aboutthat time, I heard rifleshots. You can imagine what I thought. I had avision of two bodies sinking slowly into the mud. If I'd had a weapon, Ithink I'd have run down to see what was going on. But common sense gotthe better of me, and I figured it was highly unlikely that a pair ofdivers could be picked off with rifles if they were underwater. I wassure you had sense enough to stay down. So I left the barn and went tothe house."
"You actually went in?" Rick asked, his eyes wide.
"Sure. It was safe enough. The gang was sleeping upstairs and the twoguards were interested in you and Orvil. No papers were left where Icould get them. There's a built-in safe, but I'm no Jimmy Valentine whosandpapers his fingers and opens boxes by touch. I couldn't do anythingwith it. Finally, I figured all had been seen that could be seen, andleft the house. I could hear a motor racing, and I recognized therunabout, so I knew you were still alive. I retired to the woods behindthe barn and headed for the riverbank. I saw Scotty hurl his homemadebomb."
Scotty shook his head. "I didn't see you."
"You weren't supposed to. I decided Scotty must be creating a diversion,and that meant you, Rick, were still diving in the cove. I took off forthe cove, keeping a weather eye out for the guards. There was plenty ofcover along the bank, so it wasn't hard. I got a good view of thefestivities. After the fire was stamped out, the two guards walked up tothe bank of the cove and waited until Orvil got close, then they pointedtheir rifles at him and invited him to come closer still. He didn't havemuch choice."
Rick thought that was an understatement.
"They questioned him for a while. Who were the divers and what were theyafter? Orvil played dumb. He said he knew nothing about divers and ofcourse he had seen bubbles. He always saw bubbles. Marsh gas was risingall the time. He couldn't understand what all the shooting was about."
"Good for Orvil," Scotty muttered.
"He put on a pretty good act, saying he didn't know what they wereshooting at, but the guards weren't having any. They finally made himpull up his lines, throw his bait overboard, and get everythingshipshape. Then one of the guards invited him to step ashore. Orvilbalked and took a swing at the nearest one and got a rifle across thehead. He dropped to the deck. That must be how the stain got there. Theyslapped him back into consciousness and made him get out. One guard helda rifle on him while the other put his weapon down and got in the boat.He took the boat out into the middle of the cove, aimed it toward theriver, and put it in gear, then dove over the side and swam ashore. Theboat headed out and the guards walked Orvil back."
"So he's alive," Rick said with relief.
"Probably. I waited until the parade went by, then fell in line. Theytook Orvil into the barn, and I managed to get a look through a window.They tossed him into one of the horse stalls and locked the barn door. Idecided it was time to leave."
Steve sipped his coffee and made a face as it burned his tongue. "Youcan imagine how I felt. If one had gone away, I could have jumped theother. But two with guns, and me with not even a rock--I was deadcertain to end up with Orvil. Besides, I couldn't take the chance."
Rick stared. If Steve felt he couldn't take a chance on rescuing Orvil,there had to be a good reason. The only reason Rick could think of wasthat Steve had decided there was more at stake than Orvil himself.
"We know where Orvil is," Scotty pointed out. "We can go after him. Thistime we'll be armed."
Steve shook his head. "Sorry. I wish it could be like that, but we'renot engaged in a personal vendetta. Orvil may be out of there bytonight, or he may not. He'll have to take his chances."
One thing had been bothering Rick, aside from Steve's untypical attitudeabout rescuing Orvil. "You haven't accounted for all your time. Youcould have reached here before we did if you had started back rightaway."
Steve shook his head. "I didn't. I went to the airport and used a publicphone booth by the side of the road to call Patuxent Naval Air Station.In twenty minutes I had a Navy jet fighter on the Cambridge field. Ihanded the pilot the pictures you took and told him what to do withthem, then I made another call to my office in Washington to tell themthe pictures were on the way and to look them over and take actionaccordingly. We'll be seeing the results pretty soon."
The young agent stopped smiling. "Your little mystery has turned into acase for JANIG, kids. I'm pretty sure of my facts, but I'll knowdefinitely before noon. Right now, you'd better finish your coffee andget into bed. You'll need sleep if things start to pop. That rockoonidea of yours about cinches things."
Rick blurted, "If it's a case for JANIG, there must be security involvedsomewhere. Is Wallops Island involved somehow?"
"Go to bed," Steve said sternly. "By the time you wake up, I'll have alot more than guesses, and I'll give you the details then."