Air Wonder Stories, December 1929 — page 64: what you’re looking at

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

542 AIR WONDER STORIES eration, massed there in a colossal circular formation and through that layer once more! about their central city of Berlin; moving westward Tt was a maneuver that gained us a moment’s advan- also behind the crescent of their fleet, they were flash- tage; since when the pursuing ships drove up through ing with terrible majesty through the air in theit cir- the vapor-masses again on my track, it took them an cular-massed formation; at a speed that mounted instant to locate and shape their course after me. In swiftly to two hundred milesan hour! that instant we had moved a little from them; but now, The great attack had begun! remorselessly as ever, they came on after us, as pur- Only a moment I gazed back upon that colossal spec- sued and pursuing ships drove like light toward the tacle never seen by man before, and knew that in that flaming western sky. On and on, on until again they : moment, far on the world’s other side, the hundred were close behind, until again their guns were begin- great air-cities of the Asiatic Federation would be rush- ning to thunder, and then I repeated my former ma- ing eastward; the two great forces of hurtling air- neuver, my last. resort. I dived headlong downward cities were converging upon the American Federation. again through the vapor-layer, and upward again, as Then, as we shot forward with our own greater and. their ships drove after me. But, when I flashed up terrific speed, the vast massed cities and the fleet before again through the vapor-masses this time, I suddenly them had passed from sight behind us and only the slowed my ship, slowed it and then held it motionless hundred grim pursuing cruisers were visible in the there in mid-air, with cold of icy fear tight around my night as we hurtled on! heart in that moment! For, this time, half of the On—on—and now I shouted to Hilliard to go be- hundred pursuing ships had not dived down after me = neath to the cruiser’s motor room. He moved down but had flashed on ahead as I drove down; and so, toward them while I gripped the wheel tightly, standing now, when I flashed up they hung before me, while the there alone in the bridge-room of the long great cruiser remainder drove still toward me from behind! I was é that had but Hilliard and I inside it. And, while we trapped at’ last between their masses of ships before 3 hurtled on at our maximum terrible speed, as the cruis- and behind me! é ; ers behind drove steadily after us, we realized that we Slowing my cruiser, holding it motionless there with and our pursuers were outracing the sun around the mechanical fingers in that moment, I knew it to be earth! We saw by the growing light that we: were high the end. Our last moment had come. The two masses above the sea instead of land. The sea that we saw of ships were moving toward me, from ahead and be- through breaks in the vapor-layer, gleamed to the west hind, were moving toward our cruiser. Our only escape of us with sunset lines. We were over the Atlantic, cut off, no. twists or turns now could save us; they and now, as hope of escape from our pursuers burned were converging upon us, were moving deliberately stronger within me, there came a sudden faltering in toward us from either side. Another moment, I knew, the steady drone of our great motors! I felt our and hundreds of heat-guns would thunder from them, cruiser lose ‘speed in that moment, knew that faltering hundreds of heat-shells would send our ship down- to be caused by the circuit-breakers tripping at the tre- ward in flaring, fusing destruction. Another moment— mendous power we were using. But then after an A great cry sounded beside me, and I wheeled to find awful moment of hesitation the motors were droning Hilliard pointing mutely upward toward a mass of as loudly as ever as Hilliard, beneath, had thrown back long, gleaming shapes that were rushing headlong down the circuit-breakers in the connections that conveyed upon us from high above, that were diving headlong the static electricity from the atmospheric charge about down upon the European cruisers to east and west of us to our transformers. Only a moment had we fal- us, raining a hail of heat-shells upon them! “American tered thus: but in that moment the hundred pursuers ships!” My cry was echoing Hilliard’s. Great gleam- 7 behind had come swiftly closer! ing cruisers, outnumbering the hundred east and west . Caward still, like some phantom, we rushed, minute of us, were driving down upon those hundred with all after minute of droning, racing flight, with the sun- ; their heat-guns thundering! Then in the next moment, set ahead flaming brilliant now, as we overtook it. [ while our own cruiser hung motionless, helpless. there Steadily, the long gleaming ships behind us were creep- in mid-air, American and European cruisers were whirl- ing closer while the sun rose in the western sky. ing in a mad, swift battle about us, ships striking and Though Hilliard was working like a madman in the falling like lightning on all sides of us. And before motor-room beneath, tending the motors as a mother we could comprehend with our stunned minds what was anxiously watches her child, he was but one and could taking place, the European cruisers had suddenly not do the work of a dozen. And’so, on after us, they dropped from that battle, had massed together and were came; drawing toward us so close that at last I knew splitting the air eastward, rushing back eastward and that we could not win free of them in our frenzied disappearing. toward the mighty approaching armada flight. For, although we had rushed on for a time of great air-cities and cruisers of which they were the that seemed endless to us, and a few hundred miles scouts, remained between us and the American coast, their © Now from the mass of the American cruisers one leaders were so near-now that another minute, I knew, shot toward’ our own, level and hung beside our own "Cxd would find them using their bow guns upon us. ship, and as its door was flung open we opened.the door - Even as the thought came'to me, there was a thunder- of our own. I stared at a tall figure, not crediting my ' ing detonation behind us and then but a few feet to eyes. either side, a shining heat-shell flashed past us. An- “Macklin!” TI cried as I recognized him: “Macklin! other detonation, and another followed, and I knew that You got clear, then?” not for long could we escape them thus; since with each “Brant—Hilliard—!"" he was himself exclaiming: tmoment the shooting was:becoming more accurate. So, “It is you two in that ship, then! We were sent on a just as a dozen of their bow guns thundered again, I last: patrol out here, saw your ship attacked by other suddenly drove the cruiser downward in a flying head- European ships, came to your rescue—” long plunge down through the vapor-layer: beneath us; “We escaped from Berlin,” I told him: “But you, and, as the pursuing ships plunged straight down after Macklin, we thought you. and-Connell dead, saw your us, I sent our own cruiser instantly whirling upward cruiser struck by heat-shells and falling—” ~ comicbooks.com