"Great guns!" he gasped. And then in the same breath: "But that _is_ impossible. Not even my three closest assistants knew that was to happen until I informed you. And we went from my office straight to Alexandria Field. No, you must be wrong, Dawson. Captains Lamb and Stacey, and Lieutenant Caldwell, wouldn't breath a word of that even though a gun were held at their hearts. That _is_ fantastic!" The two boys looked crestfallen. "See, Freddy?" Dave cried, and jabbed an elbow in his pal's ribs. "You get the screwiest ideas. I never--!" "None of that, funny boy!" the English youth barked back at him. "No, you don't, not by a jugful. You brought it up. I simply agreed with you, to be polite. You're quite right, Colonel. It's ridiculous. But when you get to know Dawson better, you'll understand how he's--" The rest of what Freddy Farmer would have said to the Colonel stuck fast when only halfway up his throat. The right outboard engine had started kicking up again, but this time it was really doing it in earnest. The oil pressure needle went around to the zero peg in a single jump. And even as Dave grabbed for the throttle, the right outboard engine let out a grinding scream as though it were actually something human, and in mortal pain. It had run dry and was seizing up. Almost at the same instant, and as though in sympathy for its mechanical brother, the left outboard engine started falling off in revs at an alarming rate. Dave killed the right engine completely, shoved hard on the left rudder to check the plane yawing, and concentrated on keeping the left outboard engines alive as long as possible. "That tears it!" he said between clenched teeth. "I was afraid that right engine had been nicked. Getting ready to drop a couple of those landing flares, Freddy. At least we can take a look at what it's like below." "Take a look?" Colonel Welsh cried sharply. "You don't have to, boy! There are mountains down there. Get us as high as you can, and then we'll all bail out." A hot wave of anger swept through Dawson, but he was able to choke the words back in time. Instead he turned to Freddy Farmer and nodded. "Let a couple go, Freddy," he said quietly. "We're only losing a foot or two of altitude. We'll take a look _first_!" CHAPTER EIGHT _Nobody's Airport_ Freddy Farmer didn't bother acknowledging the request by word of mouth. He simply nodded, and reached out his hand and jerked the little handle that released landing flares fitted into the wing tips. There were a few seconds more of silence; then a great silver-white light came into being below, and spread swiftly outward toward the four points of the compass.