Air Wonder Stories, December 1929 — page 11: what you’re looking at

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

© de (bm! Dette a ee Le ee eae. Se. THE BLUE DEMON 489 the color of the corpses! I never saw anything so hor- rible. To think that the: boys had no chance—never a chance!” Upon the mountain slopes and through the valleys we could now see the bobbing lights of other searching parties. Some were near us and hoarsely called out their reports and discoveries, All coincided with our own. “T almost believe that we are dealing. with the devil himself,” said Commander Benson grimly: — “These men have been killed by some electromagnetic agency, f{am-sure. Yet we find no burns or marks upon their bodies, nor do we find signs of fire upon the planes. But the eyewitnesses of Colonel-Brandon’s destruction affirm that they distinctly saw fire enveloping at least one of the planes, as it plunged to the sea, However, what they saw might have been the flashes of sunlight on-the metal parts.” “Despite that fact, we may have here a different method of destruction,’ I suggested. “That is possible,” agreed Captain Collins: “Here, as in the case of the Brandon tragedy, our known facts are meager. We are at peace with the whole world. For months there has been not even a diplomatic quar- rel. And here we can find no trace of ah enemy. Where, then, can we look for a solution to this dark mystery?” The captain paused and looked-at us with a startled air. Commander Benson stared and scratched his head thoughtfully. : “We have one thing to work on, Commander, I said, “You will recall that only military planes. have been attacked. And it is only our planes that-were de- stroyed; and it is a significant fact that they were the most powerful in the world, so far as we know.” “By George, I believe you are right, Clare,” said Commander Benson: “Our enemy, whoever. he is and however he accomplishes his dastardly work, has a mili- tary reason for it.” “And. it. strikes. me that he has covered his tracks well,” said Captain-Collins, dryly. “Not by a damned sight,” snapped Commander Ben- son, glaring about him savagely: “We'll get this blue demon of ‘the skies or sell our lives in the attempt.” “Amen,” we all agreed solemnly. The Dearth of Clues NFORTUNATELY, there-was nothing we could do that night to salvage the planes or to succor their unfortunate crews ;for-all were dead, all tinted by that horrible blue color, all with that expression of surprise and wonder on their faces. We sought shelter from the storm in an airport across the mountains and sleeplessly awaited the com- ing of the dawn. The day broke bright and clear, and after a hasty breakfast we returned:to our sad task. The bodies-of the brave airmen who had sacrificed their lives to an unknown foe, without opportunity to. strike.a blow in their defence, were gathered together reverently and conveyed to Washington. During all this work we made but one more important discovery—nearly every plane had been smashed beyond repair. Diligent inquiry among the residents of the sparsely- settled. region failed to bring us any clues: No one had either heard or seen any strange planes in that vicinity—only the regular mail planes had passed.. No one had heard any sounds of battle or commotion in the skies. Nor had any strangers been seen upon the roads. for many weeks. Those abroad on the roads in blamed. the government for not discovering and pun- the. vicinity of the tragedy on the night of the storm had seen or heard nothing unusual. We kept up our. inquiries: for days, and patrolled the air for miles around, but without result. And finally we were forced to go home; sadder, but no wiser. The. national wonder and: excitement. following this tragedy was even greater-than the aftermath of Colonel Brandon’s end. As usual in such cases, the public ishing the miscreants. Mass meetings were held in every important city, and-red-faced orators called loudly for action against the weaklings in-our administration. Resolutions condemfing everything and everybody. in general were offered and adopted by the score. Action! Action! was the cry. The censure of the Air Depart- ‘ ment was unreasonable in the extreme, The. public a > wildly demanded. an investigation, and the removal and punishment of certain high officials, whether guilty or : innocent. With the blood scent in their nostrils they - were looking for some prey. It was pertinently asserted that, probably, the secrets.covering our military planes had been betrayed toa foreign power; and that men high in the councils of state, in collusion. with said government, had entered into a: conspiracy to destroy = our-chief arm of defence. Incredible and preposterous ? though as this acctisation was, it found thousands of adherents among the thoughtless;- thus embarrassing the administration and hindering any sane solution of the problem. While public. opinion was still at white heat and official Washington seemed on the verge of collapse, the nation was terrified by the news that our unseen and unknown enemy had again struck. This time-the. vic- tims were small groups-of planes and single units far removed from help; but the results were the same. Our men had been sent to their:death without warning: or a chance to defend themselves. In no instance did these planes have an opportunity to use their fadio. The same sickly blue tint was found on the victims’ skins. Although, in a few instances, the planes had been seen to go into a spin and. fall, no one had seen what struck:them down. All declared that this awful power, whatever it was, was invisible and the most deadly thing the world: had: ever knawn. There was no clue, no. explanation, no chance to apprehend the terrible destroyer. We were further astounded by. the news that the agents of this monster had struck in a score of places within the short space of an hour; and always the victim had been-a military plane! The nation‘all but went mad. For days:both business anid industry were virtually suspended; men and women throughout the country. stood about in groups discuss- ing in accents of awe-and terror the visitations of this power. It was apparent to the most’ obtuse that, unless this damnable thing were speedily curbed and rendered <€ harmless, our country would:.soon lie prone and help- F less under the heel of a conqueror. Yet what was to + be done? How were we to grapple with a foe. that rd could not be heard or seen, the only evidences of whose E ; = ide et Py TE ee eel el De a(t * rn, ay 1 TMA© : ncaa i . existence were the grisly reminders of its visits? But we were somewhat comforted by-the fact that the whole civilized world sympathized with us. Every power, large and small, sent condolences and lavish offers of aid. But these gracious. sentiments, reassuring as they were, did not help us to solve the mystery. The situ- ation-was aeute—the future pregnant with horror and disaster. In sheer desperation. the Air Department finally sent for me. Why it did so, God only knows, for } was plunged as deeply in the morass of fear and uncer- comicbooks.co: ~e am ee ee ee ae ee