Air Wonder Stories, May 1930 — page 61: what you’re looking at

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

THE SKY RULER in-a hopeless mass, “But you can’t understand the controlling order of this ship!” = Professor Markleson argued. “How. did: you get aboard?” ear _ “Don’t mislead yourself into thinking that we can’t operate b: this craft, my dear professor!” The man replied, “We've studied every inch of her in your own hangar! Getting aboard was as easy as getting into the hangar, despite your commendable precautions, There’s nothing difficult in replacing the guards!” “Then why didn’t you take the ship off yourself?” the scien- tist asked incredulously. The other laughed. “We are just-as cautious as-you were, professor!” he replied, ac “I calculated that it would be easier to take her in the air and ~s perhaps, a little more interesting from the standpoint of ad- venture!” = “Do you realize where this little—adventure will lead you?” “Why, of course!” admitted the skywayman. “To gold, riches, power and perhaps a kingdom of my own’ The scientist stiffened; but continued to argue nevertheless. “Yott are wrong, my friend!” he growled. “It will lead you to the gallows! And I'll be:the one to-see that you do. hang! Tf necessary, I shall devote the rest of my life to-apprehending you! I will hownd you to the death!" “Then I’m afraid you won't live as long as you hope to!” the raider snorted, “But I'll give you a square chance to forget about the Sky Urchin! I have the plans—I have the ship; so fear of being apprehended does not enter my mind. It is cer- tain that you cannot duplicate this Hulk in a hurry!” “Perhaps not!” Professor Markleson sneered. “But I'll get you eventually and I'll live to see you swing!” 7 Professor Markleson brought the-huge Sky Urchin down on the flat-terrain as gently as if it were a feather, The ground was waist high in golden grain that shimmered like a sea of * yellow under soft evening breezes. The raiders, ten in all, headed by a heavy set man of Dr. Jorgstedt’s proportions, dressed in black, close-fitting flight garments, his face hidden behind a black mask, herded the Sky Urchin’s passengers to the single exit ahd forced them to step = out, Professor Markleson was the last to go. He walked steadily in front of the leader -himself, still feeling the blunt ‘muzzle of the automatic in his ribs. He had had an excellent opportunity to study the-man, absorbing each detail ashe saw it. There: was the gray point of the Van Dyke protruding from . underneath his mask, yet: the-scientist could not entirely con- A vince himself that he had faced his friend, Dr.. Jorgstedt. If indeed it was he, the famous astronomer’s mind must suddenly have gone berserk from the strain of his profession. It seemed & almost sinthinkable, however, that-his old friend -could:have been so completely transtortied into a daring, master- crook! 2 As they neared the exit he made:a-sudden lunge at the masked e raider, Foolhardy, of course, in the face of almost instant death from the ever-ready automatic! He swung around’ with an un- expectedness that-nearly upset the raider. His.arm thumped the gun hand of the man and sent it upward. With a-quicl flick of his hand he tried to pull the mask from his face. Then a thunderous crash roared in his ears. A bandit had moved be- side his chief and brought the barrel ofan automatic: down with terrific force on the hatless skull of the scientist. He ‘sank ~ to the floor without a sound. \ . = The Brink of Oblivion HAT transpired next is hardly worthy of account. It 4 might be said that the passengers-were so confused and ~ bewildered that they ‘scarcely knew what to do under the cir- ctimstances, They formed a imot around the limp form of Professor Markleson as the’ Sky Urchin’s doors closed and it _dropped away from’ the earth at a terrific: velocity. His head was bathed in his own blood, this features unrecognizable, yet-he breathed after a fashion. A piece of white paper fluttered from his hands as they began to rub them, A government man picked f it up, glanced over a heavy scrawled message and swore, He — read it again and again as though unable to grasp its ominous significance. There was no doubt that it had lbeen inserted in the clutching fingers of the scientist by the raider leader him- self. Calling to his companions, the official read the message. . aloud: NOTICE! I, the' Sky Ruler, hereby claim the air.as my own domain, Until now: the air has belonged to no man ond no law has been established to proclaim it a possession of any nation. I therefore claim it as my own dominion, and am prepared to defend it at all costs! (signed) The Sky Ruler. < Within three hours the great presses of the world were rolling off newspaper extras by the millions. Wires hummed with the — news. of the daring coup of this desperate unknown man who had set himself up as the ruler of the blue, and the excited world sat back fearfully and speculated upon the outcome, While: the world read the sensational newspaper accounts given to it by the Sky Urchin’s erstwhile passengers, and talked over the possibility of an aerial dominion, a corps of the nation’s. best: physicians were struggling to save Professor Marktleson, who ‘was suffering with a fractured skull, He lay in a*hospital - in Kansas City, where his-life hung in the balance for days. Physicians and nurses worked over him feveristily, well know- ing the importance of this man in the world of science. His advanced age was against him, but some great reserve of Strength seemed to carry him through, while surgeons re- moved the fragments of splintered bone that were making pres- sure upon: his- brain, Meanwhile. the Sky Urchin had vanished into thin air, Not a trace of it had been discovered. As thongh the great. monster of the upper-reaches had flown far out into the vast emptiness of space-that is the universe, it disappeared. Powerful telescopes scrutinized the ‘heavens, the aerial police ceaselessly searched the air—all. without success. OR many days Professor Markleson hovered on the verge of death, And during all this time the whereabouts of the Sky Urchin remained a mystery. Whether it had fallen tinder control of tminowing hands in some isolated place on the-far- flung fringes ,of civilization the world had:no way of determin- ing. Then suddenly, out of a clear sky, the silvered monster \ appeared-over Washington at an-altitude that made her com- pletely. inaccessible to man -and his air-screwed craft, Huge flocks of government planes took -off at once, only to return to_ earth, their screws useless in the rarefied. air of the higher levels, their pilots exhausted and numbed from cold and lack of oxygen. The: great ship tung in the higher reaches, like:a bar of glistening platinum. From the ground it appeared no larger than-a full-sized cigar, yet it seemed a thing of ominous intent. Even the president stood upon the White House balcony and gazed at it through powerful glasses, wondering what mannet of man it was who had proclaimed himself the Sky Ruler. He was soon, however, to learn something about the man's inten- tions if not of the man himself. For even as he watched he saw. a tiny missile suddenly detach itself from the huge air- craft. It: came hurtling earthward like a bomb, in a straight line. Before the president could realize what was happening, the missile hit scarcely a-hundred yards away. in the center of the -park across: the avenue. 1019 When it failed to explode a half dozen army officers raced to it and tugged it out of the ground, It was-ait aerial bomb, and fo mistake, but.a hollow dud, They at ofce unscrewed the nose cap, taking ‘their lives in their hands in doing so. From.the open end caine a neatly rolled paper. Without opening the silken