“He didn’t know for certain. Not more than four or five days, he said.”

Four or five days, Biff thought. And eight days had passed.

“We’ve been expecting him, Watching for him. I’ve flown from dawn to daylight myself the last three days, hoping to spot him or his plane, if he was forced down. Nothing. He didn’t break radio silence once from the time he left.”

“Until this morning,” Biff cut in.

“Yes. Until this morning. If that was Charlie.”

“Have you any idea where he was going in China?” Jack shook his head. “Not exactly. With the extra tanks, he had fuel for about twelve hundred miles. So, since he had to return, he must have expected to find what he was looking for not more than five hundred miles inside China.”

“And you can’t tell me your ideas of what his search was for?”

Jack hesitated. “All I could tell you would be the results of my own speculations. Your uncle was at Cape Canaveral, as you know, and he must know a lot about guided missiles. He was one of the Navy’s top young officers. Well—put your thinking cap on. Maybe between us we can come up with something.”

Biff thought hard. There were many parts to this puzzle. He thought he himself was probably one of them. But fitting them together into an answer—that would take more than minutes, hours, or even days to do. Too many important parts of the puzzle were still missing. Biff thought that perhaps now he should fill Jack in on his own small mystery. His hand went to his key chain and touched the jade ring. He made a decision. He wouldn’t mention the ring. He would only tell Jack about what had happened when he arrived at the Rangoon airport.

Quickly he told Jack the story. As he poured it out rapidly, Jack’s look of worried concern deepened.

“There must be some connection. Charlie disappears, and you’re almost kidnaped. Describe the man again.”

Biff sketched the three men in as best he could. “I only saw the one called Nam Pulang closely. He said he was the Number One man here at Explorations.”

“Never heard of him. Was he Chinese, or Burmese?”

“I’d say Chinese,” Biff answered. “Although I don’t really know how Burmese look.”

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