full stop in
front of the Administration Building than the fuselage door swung open
and Colonel Welsh disembarked. The Intelligence officer's thin face was
deeply lined from worry and loss of sleep, but his eyes were sharp and
clear as he swept them over the group that had sprung to attention. When
his eyes came to Dawson and Farmer, a light of relief seeped into them,
and he gave a little nod of his head as a sign of recognition, and
perhaps approval.

"Get inside, you two, at once!" the colonel ordered. And then, as his
eyes picked out Major Parker, he added, "You, too, Parker. Everybody
else, back to your posts!"

With a million and one speculative thoughts dancing and racing about
inside their heads, Dawson and Farmer climbed up into the bomber, with
Major Parker at their heels. Once inside, they saw that the bomb
compartment had been fitted out as an aerial office. Instinctively they
headed that way. By the time they reached that compartment, Major Parker
had joined them. The senior officer wigwagged a finger to check any
questions that might be asked and waved the three of them to the little
seats fitted to either side of the fuselage. He seated himself behind a
small table bolted to the bomb compartment flooring and stared into
space as the B-25's engines were revved up a little, and the bomber
started to trundle forward.

Automatically, Dawson braced himself for a take-off, but the ship did
not leave the ground. The pilot trundled the bomber over toward one of
the hangars, braked it to a stop, and cut his engines. A moment later,
the field's ground crew was busy filling the aircraft's tanks. Still
Colonel Welsh sat staring into space without speaking a word. The
suspense, and the mystery of it all, were like butterflies in Dawson's
chest. Again and again he glanced at the colonel, hoping to catch the
senior officer's eyes, believing that if he did so the colonel might
give him some kind of a sign that would at least relieve the tension.

He had no luck, though. The colonel sat like a man of stone while the
B-25's fuel tanks were being filled to the brim. When they were filled,
the engines were started, and the bomber was trundled out to the
take-off end of the runway.

"A take-off sure, this time!" Dawson thought to himself. "I wonder where
we're headed? In fact, I'm wondering a whole lot of things right now.
Something has certainly happened, because the colonel looks in a bad
way. He looks about as bad a