Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 4, 1925 — page 104: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

894 me,” answered the Cupian, simply, yet with suppressed pride. ‘‘ There are several of us in the air service who have learned that trick.” ‘“ What do you mean?” ejaculated Cabot. ‘“ How can mere words stop an alcohol mo- tor?” ‘‘ Oh, it isn’t words that do it,” explained the airman, ‘‘ but rather a sort of radiation akin to speech. The right kind of an ema- nation from our antennz will effectively in- terfere with the ignition at a distance of as much as one parastad.” “And can the same principle be invoked against a kerkool?” “Of course not.” laughed the aviator, “ for kerkools employ trophil engines, which ignite by compression, rather than by elec- tricity.” ‘So they do,” said Cabot, ‘‘ that is what we call a ‘ Diesel’ engine on Minos.” And then there was born in the mind of the radio man, the germ of a great idea. He hurriedly sent for Toron, ablest elec- trician of the whole planet, and for Oya Buh, who had been professor of electricity at the University of Kuana before the civil war. First, he had the fiver demonstrate to them his ability to stop his machine by rays from his antenne. Then he outlined his plan as follows: “If the weak emanations from the speech organs of a Cupian can stop ignition at a distance of twelve paces, cannot we build a directional radio appar- atus which will bring down enemy planes at a distance of a stad or more?” ‘That ought to be possible,” assented Oya gravely, ‘“‘but the apparatus would probably be too heavy to mount on a plane, or on a bee,” he added, laughing. ‘“Nfount it on a kerkool, then,” replied Cabot. “It would be infinitely more effec- tive than an anti-aircraft gun, and the planes which we shoot down by this means will be unharmed for our own immediate use.” ‘“ But what is to prevent Yuri from learn- ing of our contrivance and employing it against our planes?’ interjected Toron. ‘For there be great electricians among the Formians.”’ “That is where the second part of my ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. plan comes in,” replied Cabot, with a twin- kle in his eye. ‘We will equip all our planes with trophil engines. Let us send for Mitchfix, the trophil expert.” And so it came to pass that the energies all the mechanics of the Cupian army were turned to two tasks: namely, the trophiliz- ing of the airplanes, and the construction of several kerkool-mounted radio machines for the propagation of the mysterious and fatal ray which was to stop the engines of the enemy. Meanwhile, of course, the ad- vance stopped. The infantry dug in, and the activities of the bees. were limited to the irreducible minimum necessary to keep off hostile scouting planes. Delay was irk- some, but now Cabot, assured of eventual air control, could afford to wait. One day, as he was scouting along the front on the back of Portheris, the whistling bee, they were suddenly boxed by three enemy planes which appeared unexpectedly from three different quarters. Such care- lessness!: Why had he, on whom so much depended, ventured so far from his own lines without an adequate escort? Well, there was nothing left to do now, but fight, so he unslung his rifle and entered into the fray. Cabot was no mean shot. An animate air- plane, to which he had merely to speak and which could converse with him in turn, was a decided advantage. But, even so, he was no match for three of the best flyers of the ant navy. Nevertheless he brought down one enemy plane before the other two forced him to descend. His bee fell with him into a nar- row gorge with precipitous sides. Although the bee was severely wounded, Cabot made the landing without mishap. He had noticed during the fight that his enemies had apparently directed their shots at his mount rather than at him; and now, instead of dropping bombs, which would have been very effective in the confined space in which he found himself, they hov- ered down and attacked him on foot. He still had his rifle, has bandolier of cartridges and several hand grenades. The large bowlders, with which the floor of the valley was strewn, afforded ample cover. The ant-men were advancing with only Conn GIOok