Steve almost jumped off the floor when a metallic voice blared forth from the loudspeaker, echoing and re-echoing in the near-empty room.
"Captain! Captain, this is Moretti, Group Seven."
"Go ahead, Moretti," Teejay said into the mike. "I'm listening."
"Who the devil's on radar, Captain?"
"Why—no one! We forgot."
"There's a ship coming down. We can see it plain as day out here."
"What ship?" Teejay asked softly, but they all knew the question was totally unnecessary.
Moretti's voice jumped an octave as he cried: "It's Barling!"
Within ten minutes, all the beaters had been called in. Barling's big ship, the Frank Buck, snorted back and forth angrily on its landing jets.