The Scarlet Lake Mystery: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story

by Harold L. Goodwin

  CHAPTER VI

  Sign of the Earthman

  Dick Earle handed Rick a series of requisition forms. "We're running outof parts. Take this to Warehouse Eight and get the requisitions filled.The clerk will lend you a hand truck to bring the stuff back."

  Rick found the warehouse, handed the forms to a clerk, and waited at thecounter for the supplies. The clerk moved from bin to bin, collectingthe variety of electronic parts. The pile in front of Rick grew.

  The clerk returned the last two sheets and scanned them. "Alltransistors. And not the cheap kind, either. Just a minute and I'll havethem for you." He vanished behind the tiers of shelves. Rick waited.

  The wait grew longer and the boy fidgeted. Couldn't the clerk find them?Rick hoped the base hadn't run out, because that would mean a delay onhis project. Already he thought of it as "his," and he was impatient asany of the project staff to push the work to completion.

  The clerk reappeared, a single carton and a sheet of paper in hand. Theman's face was white and his eyes looked as though they were about todrop out. He grabbed the phone on the counter and dialed, missed becausehis hand was shaking so, and dialed again. This time he got the number.

  "Security? Is this security? Get over here, quick! Warehouse Eight.Hurry! The Earthman has been here!"

  Rick stared, popeyed. The Earthman! He asked quickly, "What happened?"

  The clerk swallowed hard. Obviously he was scared stiff. "They wereempty," he said. "All of them. Empty! Honest! And in one I found this."He handed Rick the scrap of paper he carried.

  Rick smoothed it out on the counter and his pulse speeded. It was a goodsketch, done in ink, of a knight in full armor. Crushed under one mailedfoot was a rocket. The knight carried a shield, and emblazoned on itwere two words.

  _Homo Terrestrialis._

  The mark of the Earthman!

  Hank Leeming, Rick's security officer roommate, and an older man heidentified as Colonel Tom Preston, Chief of Security, pulled up at thedoor in a jeep and hurried inside.

  Preston took over. "All right, Jimmy. What's this about the Earthman?"

  The clerk silently handed him the slip of paper.

  The Security Chief examined it. "His mark, all right. Where did you findit?"

  The clerk was still shaky, and he had a hard time putting his discoveryinto words. Rick tried to help him out. "He found some cartons that wereempty. Transistor cartons, I guess. This was in one of them."

  Preston's eyes fixed on him. "Who are you?"

  "My name is Brant, sir. I'm with Pegasus."

  Preston's eyes acknowledged Rick's name, but he turned to the clerk. "Isthat right, Jimmy? Transistors missing?"

  Jimmy found his voice. "Yes, Colonel. At first I thought it was amistake--a few empties put back on the shelf by accident. But they wereall empty, sir. All of them! There isn't a transistor in the warehouse!"

  Preston nodded. "Take over, Hank. Shake the place down. Get one of theboys with a kit and check for fingerprints on the stacks and emptycartons. Jimmy, come with me. We'll check your inventory with PatO'Connor."

  Pat O'Connor was the base supply officer. Preston and the clerkdeparted. Hank paused long enough to say, "Better take the stuff youhave, Rick. Looks as if you'll have to wait for the transistors."

  Obviously there wasn't anything else to be done. Rick found a handtruck, loaded on the supplies, and went back to his shed.

  By dinnertime the base was one solid mass of rumor. Rick heard variouslythat the Earthman had been found, that he had stolen an entire rocketassembly, that the warehouse had been loaded with dynamite triggered toexplode, that he had killed the clerk, that the clerk had seen him justbefore he flickered into invisibility, and so on.

  He phoned Scotty and found that his pal was hearing equally wild rumors.The boys set a time and place to meet, just outside the main projectbuilding at five-thirty. Scotty was there when Rick arrived.

  "John Gordon come out yet?" Rick asked.

  Scotty shook his head. "Any news? I've got a million rumors more orless, but nothing solid."

  Rick told him in detail of the incident at the warehouse, and concluded,"Beyond that I don't know a thing. But Gordon will probably knowsomething if we can catch him."

  "We'll wait. We can pretend it's the first time we've seen him here andtalk for a few minutes about old times at Spindrift. That shouldn't makeanyone suspicious."

  Rick agreed. It would be natural enough, and if anyone came withinearshot they could make the conversation sound harmless.

  Scotty grinned. "How's your pal and special charge?" At least once a dayhe kidded Rick about becoming nursemaid to a monkey.

  "Fine," Rick replied. "He asks for you every day. After all, he knowsyou're the only other ape on the base."

  Scotty ignored the crack. "When do I get to see this beloved child ofyours?"

  "Come on over to the project any time. He'd like to meet you."

  "I'll do it, first time I can get away from those doggone trucks. Seemslike they break down every hour."

  At that moment John Gordon came out of the project building. Rick, whowas facing the door, pretended surprise. "Aren't you Dr. Gordon," hecalled.

  The scientist turned and hesitated. "Yes. You're ... let's see ... youwere at Spindrift for a while. I'm afraid I don't remember your names."

  Rick introduced himself and Scotty, for the benefit of a few men whowere passing by, en route to the mess hall.

  "Ah, yes. I remember now. Going to eat? So am I. Come along and tell mewhere you're working now. Obviously you're employed on the base, but onwhat projects?"

  They chatted idly as they walked slowly toward the mess hall. Then, whenno one was in earshot, Rick said swiftly, "I was at the warehouse whenthe mark of the Earthman was found. Any developments we should knowabout?"

  Gordon answered softly, "Yes. Inventory showed nearly a quarter of amillion in transistors missing. Also, no one had called for transistorsin nearly three weeks."

  "Isn't that unusual?" Scotty asked.

  "Not particularly. Each project has its own stock-room. Since we're anew base, the projects have been working from an initial supply."

  "So the transistors may have been missing for some time?"

  "They could have been missing since the last requisition, exactlynineteen days ago. But they probably were stolen during the Vikingshoot."

  "Is the warehouse guarded?"

  "No. A clerk is on duty at all times when the warehouse is open. Atnight it's locked. There was no sign of tampering, and anyway, the locksare tamper-proof."

  Scotty said warningly, "Company coming." Then, in a louder voice, hecontinued, "Of course we worked for Dr. Zircon."

  "Very capable man, Zircon," Gordon said, taking Scotty's cue. "We coulduse him here. Any idea where he is now?"

  "No, sir," Rick replied. "We haven't seen him since we left Spindrift."

  At the door of the mess hall Gordon left them with a polite handshake,explaining that he had to eat with someone else by previous arrangement.

  During dinner Rick thought over the events of the day. But not until themeal was ended and he and Scotty wandered on foot toward the edge ofcamp could he put his idea into words.

  "This business today puts a new light on the Earthman, Scotty."

  "I read you loud and clear. A quarter of a million bucks makes a littlesabotage worth while, huh?"

  Rick nodded. "We can't know, of course, but if you were a warehouseclerk and a big rocket went haywire, wouldn't you be out watching it?"

  "I'd be out where the view was best. So would you," Scotty replied.

  "Remember where we saw a transistor recently?" Rick asked.

  Scotty reached in his pocket, brought out his sling, and unwrapped it.He picked up a stone, tested it for weight, then reconsidered and putthe sling back. "I remember. Big Mac and Pancho. Mac said he must havestuck it in his pocket absent-mindedly while repairing his equipment."

  "That's what he said," Rick agreed. "Only transistors aren't like r
adiotubes. They don't need replacing often."

  "Meaning?"

  "He might have been telling the truth or he might not."

  Scotty tossed the stone away. "How much space would that manytransistors take up?"

  "Hard to say. We could find out, I suppose. But transistors are small,and they don't weigh much. Besides, some of the types used here arefantastically expensive. A couple of hundred dollars might pay for atransistor the size of a kidney bean."

  Scotty whistled. "They must be made of diamonds! Anyway, a quarter of amillion is a lot of money, and even at two hundred bucks each thetransistors would make quite a bundle. The Earthman would have to hidethem, and then get them off the base. And I'll tell you one thing: IfBig Mac stole them, he didn't take them off the base in his own car."

  "How do you know?" Rick challenged.

  "He's got a Porsche. There's about enough room in the luggagecompartment for a spare handkerchief."

  "I'll buy it." Another idea hit him. "But he has some othertransportation, hasn't he? How about the radar unit he and Pancho run?"

  Scotty snapped his fingers. "Now you're cooking! It's a panel truck,loaded with equipment, and they pull the radar antenna behind it on atrailer. There would be plenty of room in the truck. Only he doesn'ttake it into town, remember?"

  "Would he need to? He could drop the transistors somewhere to be pickedup later."

  "Careless Mesa."

  "What?"

  "That's his station. Come on. Let's look at a map of the area." Scottyturned and led the way to their barracks.

  One thing about the robbery was a major puzzle to Rick. He could seethat a rocket shoot might provide the opportunity to commit the theft,and he could see how use of a radar van might get the stolen goods offthe base. But the thief had carefully emptied cartons, leaving thecartons as camouflage. That took more time than any thief would have. Heconsidered various ways in which it might have been done and rejectedthem all.

  Tacked up in the entryway of their barracks was a large-scale map.Scarlet Lake was marked with crayon. The boys studied the area, lookingfor Careless Mesa. Finally Scotty found it, almost due north of thebase. "About twenty miles. Only one road to the mesa, but two roads leadaway from it. Let's see where they go."

  The first road from Careless Mesa ended at a point in the mountainsmarked "_Dry Spring_." The second road led to the town marked"_Steamboat_," where the road forked again. One branch eventually joinedother roads in Pahrump Valley, the other led to Death Valley.

  The boys looked at each other triumphantly. Rick said, "So you can getfrom Careless Mesa to state highways without returning to the base."

  Scotty scratched his chin. "Any idea what's at Careless Mesa?"

  "Not the slightest."

  "Neither do I. Maybe we'd better have a look."

  That was fine with Rick. "When?"

  "How about tomorrow?"

  "I'll have to check. Suppose I wander over to the project? If Dick Earleis there, I can sound him out."

  "Okay, and I'll check with my people."

  The boys parted, and Rick walked to the Pegasus shed. Dick Earle and Dr.Bond were in the cubicle where the project paper work was done. Themarmoset was with them, perched on top of the file safe. As Rickentered, the little spacemonk jumped to his shoulder and caressed hischeek.

  "Come in, Rick," Dr. Bond said. "We're just having a gloom session."

  "Gloom? What about?" Rick petted the marmoset, then put him back on hisfile-safe perch. "Is something wrong?"

  "Transistors," Dick Earle stated flatly. "No transistors left on thebase. That means we come to a grinding halt until we get supplies."

  "The whole project?" Rick asked in astonishment. He hadn't realized afew parts would mean so much.

  "Not all of it. Just our part. The air frame and propulsion people cankeep on, because they don't use the gadgets. But we'll be tied up for afew days until a supply can get here."

  Dr. Bond added, "An order has been placed, Rick. By telephone. But thesupplier can't possibly make delivery until after the Orion shoot."

  Dick Earle nodded. "Correct. So you might as well plan to loaf for a dayor so, Rick."

  The trip to Careless Mesa would be no problem now, Rick thought. Hewouldn't even need to ask permission.

  "Strange that anyone would steal a whole supply of transistors," hecommented.

  Dick Earle shook his head. "Not particularly. The transistor is still acritical item in electronics and production isn't up to demand,especially for special designs. That means the stolen transistors can besold fairly easily, once the proper channels to get them into the marketare found."

  "What kind of channels?" Rick asked.

  Earle shrugged. "Anything to hide the fact that the transistors arestolen stock. The Earthman could make a deal with some jobber whohandles electronic materials, and feed the transistors into regulartrade channels through the jobber."

  "But aren't they numbered, or trade-marked, or something like that?"

  "Numbers and trade-marks can be changed," Dr. Bond reminded him.

  As Rick walked back to his barracks he pondered over the meaning of theday's development. For one thing, theft of the transistors put a newlight on the Earthman's activities. It added a profit motive to whateverelse motivated the mysterious saboteur. Or did it?

  How Big Mac and Pancho fitted into all this remained to be determined.Rick could easily imagine that the two would take considerable risk forbig profits, but it was harder to imagine them acting from any othermotive. Somehow, he just couldn't believe that money was the underlyingreason for the Earthman's actions. Sabotaging research rockets just toprovide a diversion that would allow a theft did not make sense.

  The Earthman's activities had become more than just a challengingpuzzle, too. Rick's work on Pegasus had become important in its ownright. He was excited at being a part of something so dramatic, and withsuch far-reaching consequences for the whole future of space travel andhigh-altitude research. He had become a part of Pegasus. Perhaps hewasn't an important part, but he was making at least a smallcontribution to the project's success. That made it _his_ project, andthe Earthman was interfering with it.

  Somehow, he and Scotty had to find the Earthman--for personal reasonsnow, as well as official ones!