Air Wonder Stories, December 1929 — page 71: what you’re looking at

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

elie Ems 3 x ee ee ee ee CITIES IN THE AIR 549 above the thunder of guns, the drone of motors and hissing tube-propellers. “They're stringing their circle out into a line also!” For it was plainly visible, upon the great screen be- side me, that the commanders of the enemy were striv- ing to form their great circle into a line that could meet our owt more effectively in: mid-air. We saw their cities rushing inward and changing formation there béside us; but we knew: that: our change had come and so hung upon the flank of the great mass of cities, our line rushing along it with all our guns turned toward if, And now, though Quebec was falling in our line, our guns had sent down Coperthagen, Yokohama and Calctitta in the mass beside-us; since by now we had raced past the mass of the European air-cities.and our guns were thundering against-the Asiatic cities, Their guns roared sullenly in answer to us as-we flashed past them; but, for the moment, in their disorganization, in their attempts to reform swiftly from their circle into a line like our own, their fire was seriously. ham- pered by their own ‘movements, In that moment we were pouring a smothering hail of shells upon them, and city upon city was whirling downward in wild destruction. Then suddenly, with:a supremely swift effort, their circle had ‘lengthened, straightened, their: confusion: of the moment had vanished; and their-cities hadformed almost instantly into a long line, like our own, but longer than our own. We found ourselves in that moment with our own line: parallel in mid-air to theirs,. a mixture of European and Asiatic cities directly oppo- site us; and then, as we raced_on, they were racing on with-us, their own batteries thundering. with newly- released fury, as they sought to blast us-from the air beside them! I heard: the sharp-order of the First Air Chief beside me, and-held New York steady at the head of our line. The two great city-fleets were racing through the air in a great running fight, with every gun thundering! Directly opposite New York there raced, at the head of their line, the. mighty air-city of. Peking, third of the three great air-capitals, The two giants were evenly matched ; and now at the -head of our respective lines we engaged in a tremendous duel in mid-air, a duel so intense that, almost, I forgot-the fate of the rushing armadas behind us. In all New York about us mighty fountains of brilliant light and awful heat, were flar- ing with each salvo of heat-shells from the Asiatic capital. But, at the same time, our own-gunners were working their ,batteries like madmen; and we could see similar giant craters of fusing metal springing into being over all the vast mass. of ‘clustered towers that was Peking. Far behind-in the enemy’s line raced-the third great air-capital of Berlin; and we guessed: that it was now from Berlin-that the movements of all our foes were being directed. But-so awful was the battle that we were undergoing with the Asiatic capital oppo- site us that for the moment we: forgot-almost all else. Behind us, I was dimly aware of all: our great line of air-cities grappling with. the line rushing opposite; Chicago, a little farther back in our line from ourselves, was catrying on as terrific a duel. with London. ~ Con- stantinople inthe enemy's line was whirling downward beneath the batteries of Denver and. Valparaiso. Mon- treal, in our own, was falling in fusing death as it be- came the target for all the giant batteries. of the colossal city of Berlin. City after city in the two racing, strug- gling lines was falling to annihilation as the awful battle ragéd on. High above the colossal lines of racing cities, our own preat fleet of cruisers and the enemy's were whirling in a-wild fury, insane as our own giant battle of re Surely Armageddon had come upon:the earth at last : Although the European and Asiatic cities still out- numbered us, we had cut down: their great margin of superiority in-that: attack which our line had made upon their confused circle: Now, with equal fury, they were striking from line to line. Straight ahead-of our two facing lines, there loomed now.a great bank of drifting vapors, great cloud-masses drifting south from the lakes to the north, Neither of our two battling lines desited to enter those vapor- masses, and so as one, when we neared them, Both lines shot downward. Surrounded. Again OWN—down—with our batteries thundering still across the gulf toward Peking, whose own guns answered with as great-a fury, though. in their city as.in ours, battery after. battery was being. silenced! Down—down—until the green earth beneath, lit by the descending afternoon sun, seemed just heneath us, rush- ing up toward us with awful-speed as we shot down to-it! ~~ Yet*in: that dread moment neither line of strug- gling cities straightened upward, each fearful of the — other’s gaining an advantage. In an instant more, it seemed, New York must crash together headlong into the earth. : Downward we shot, and I saw the green plain loom- ing awful beneath us, At.the- last moment I jerked back-another of the direction-levers before me; and as, in answer to the controls, New York tipped sharply upward once more, I saw Peking opposite rushing up -at the same instant, saving itselfas-we had done. Be- hindus the cities that directly followed in our two lines were cirving up as swiftly, all their guns thundering still_as furiously. But, farther back in the two lines, there were cities that had swooped-too low to recover, had dipped _lower-and in the next moment: had crashed and been annihilated upon: the green earth, as they collided with it at their-terrific speed! But while our two lines were whirling upward at as steep a slant-as they had descended, the battle seemed to deepen in furious intensity.. New York and Peking were. stabbing stilf at each other with all their. forces, each colossal city seeming too- mighty to be struck down, though each was flaming under a terrible fire of shells. Behind us, after a running duel that: had achieved. almost the magnitude and fully the intensity of our own, Chicago ‘had given London the finishing stroke; and that great city was wavering, staggering, then slipping and~ falling in white-hot - annihilation toward the-earth!~ And; as all along both lines, other Cities staggered and fell, I saw that. above us the two whirling cruiser-fleets- had almost entirely. vanished, They had almost entirely annihilated each other by the insane. fury of their attacks! T felt my brain spinning, felt all things about me re- solving into a wild whirl of thunderous sound and flar- ing light. I heard, as though from a great distance the orders. of Yarnall beside me, and the frenzied voice of Connell sending those orders flashing out from the distance-phone; heard the thunder. of guns and sound of motors and propellers and wild noises that were coming from all the city about us, Then, before our two onrushing lines, there*loomed another. great ‘mass of drifting vapors; and again our two lines dipped downward: to avoid those masses. But, as we shot downward, the line opposite us with Peking at its head shot as quickly upward again, in answer to some com- comicbooks.com RE ee eS ee ee ee ee a er ee eee ee ee ee ee ee ee See es wl