anyone who had worked so hard on one of the projects could deliberately
sabotage it. Yet, there was no other answer. No one outside the
technical and scientific staff would have the opportunity or knowledge.

"At least," he concluded ruefully, "if we assume it's someone with ready
access to the projects, we've cut down the size of the haystack. We're
looking for one man out of only about five hundred!"

CHAPTER X

Stranded in Steamboat

The road to Steamboat led by Careless Mesa, then through a series of
twists and turns down to comparatively level country again. According to
the map, the ghost town was in a valley next to a dry lake bed.

Rick glanced at his watch. "It's going to be late when we get there."

"Maybe that's good," Scotty returned. "If anyone is in the town we'll
see lights. This country is so wide open it would be hard to sneak up on
the town in daylight."

"It would, if there was anything to sneak up for. Haven't you got the
feeling this is a wild-goose chase?"

Scotty dodged a deep hole in the road. "It could be. But we can't just
sit around waiting for the Earthman to hand us a calling card. Besides,
Mac and Pancho were gone long enough to reach Steamboat and return to
base this morning." That was what the vehicle-control board had shown.

"They might have been just waiting at Careless Mesa," Rick pointed out.
"We have no evidence they went to Steamboat. Besides, if anything was
stolen during the shoot this morning, they couldn't have been in on it."

"That's true. But we can't lose by looking the town over. Besides, I've
never seen a real ghost town."

Rick watched the desert go by, his mind busy with the problems. As
Scotty had said, if Mac and Pancho weren't in on the thefts, someone
was. That someone had to get the stolen goods off the base and to a
location from which it could be carried to civilization. He toyed with
the idea that the stolen transistors might simply have been destroyed or
hidden by the Earthman in order to hold up work at the base. That didn't
seem likely.

The facts of time and distance certainly eliminated Mac and Pancho.
During the shoots they were miles away. They had little or no
opportunity to get close to the rockets. It was only reasonable to cross
them--and all other radar-tracking teams--off the suspect list. Yet,
Rick couldn't forget his initial feeling about the pair.

Scotty pointed. "Isn't that a town?"

The jeep had topped a gentle rise. Be