The McKee brothers said, “That’s ours.” They were electronic experts, and at work they sat inside the big instrument to watch for the telltale jump of dial needles, as the “snooper” plane flew over mountains, lakes, and valleys. The young men explained to Vicki that a strong radioactive source—such as uranium—showed on the detectors.
“Do you need maps?” Vicki asked. She was thinking of her own search for a secluded house in the hills.
“Sure, we use maps. Whiting here is our aerial photographer. He makes an aerial survey with a movie camera that’s co-ordinated with the electronic needles. Then he pieces the photographs together into one big map, and that gives us and our geologist an over-all picture of the region we’re exploring.”
Red Jones, stammering slightly, told Vicki he was the geologist of the team. She asked if she might see the map he used.
“We were just looking at it in the hangar. Come on in, Miss Barr.”
They all went into the hangar where equipment and a large photographic map were spread out on a table. Jack Whiting and Wes Clark started to explain the map to Vicki. They said it showed the contours of the dips and peaks of the rugged terrain around there. The photo-map resembled a complicated diagram; it was not easy for Vicki to read.
“Well, are you looking for anything in particular?” Whiting, the aerial photographer, asked her.
“Yes. An isolated house,” said Vicki.
“Hmm. That’s a tall order. There are several houses and buildings off by themselves, way up in the hills.”
Wes Clark suggested that they start by locating such houses on the photo-map. They located several small marks on the map which were houses. However, Whiting remembered that two of the buildings were power stations, one a sportsman’s hunting lodge, one a house they knew to be boarded up.