Air Wonder Stories, May 1930 — page 62: what you’re looking at

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

AIR WONDER STORIES ord that was wound around it, they returned: at once to the White House. The President vanished from the gallery to hold council with the Secretary of War and other department ex- ecutives. The army officers delivered the paper at once and stood away at attention. The Secretary of War opened it and handed’ it over to the President. The Chief Executive’s face reddened as he read:to himself-a bold, daring message that the Sky Ruler had-sent to him. Then handing the parchment to his secretary he settled back while it was read aloud. To the. President. of. the United States: Yow have jist become dware of the accuracy of my high- explosive missiles, Luckily for the White House, I have no quarrel with the United States—as yet. I can stand away at an altitude of 100 miles and blow every city in your country to. dust. Do you realise that, Mr. President? But I do not desire war with any nation, What I demand is that-my domain which is the skies—the last frontier—be free from air vessels of nations that do not pay a fixed monthly toll that-will be assessed to each government: Five million dollars per month is to be paid by the United States. To send your tolls proceed as follows: Use one of the large navy blimps. Place the money in the basket with your list of craft. Release the blimp above the White House, and we shall intercept it. We shall hover over the capital city of each nation once each month for tolls, Pay-day for the United_States will be on the second Wednesday of each month, Be ready to deliver one week from today, Unless the toll is paid, all craft flying through my dominion after that date will be destroyed at-once! (signed) The Sky Ruler. Hardly had the. excitement of the Sky Urchin’s visit died down in Washington than the cables began to hum with news that the Sky Ruler had delivered the same ultimatum to the _ French Government Hoton its heels came word to the Ameri- can presses that Great Britain would be forced to suspend air travel until the demands were met.. Then Germany sent news of its woes and finally Japan radioed the appearance of the silver hulk over Tokyo, . But the newspapers glared. with heartening headlines declar- ing that the Sky Ruler could not, be everywhere at: the same time. American aircraft henceforth flew about .their business at the lower altitudes as though the Sky Urchin had never ex- isted. But one day a great air-liner limped into Lakehurst from Liverpool with her laterals virtually torn away: Her officers _told-a story of having met the Sky Urchin-in mid-air over the Azores and how, upon refusing to halt, her steering gear had \been- damaged by a bomb exploding near her tail. But strangely: she had been allowed to proceed without further molestation, It had evidently been a warning—no more, no less! Asa result, the skies became suddenly void of aircraft, and aerial transpore tation was suspended by the American: government until further Notice. It seems strange that a single airship could sO ae the world! But when the super-powers ofthat ship are taken inta consideration, the reason was apparent. The Sky Urchin could fly faster, higher and farther than.any other aircraft in exis- tence. And it did not require any futuristic weapons in enforc- ing its demands! A few well-placed-bombs would turn. the trick as well as any death ray that might come out of the brain of some imaginative science fiction writer. When Japan refused to meet the demands of a half million dollars a month, several of its-cities were laid in ruins, Before appearing over Washington again, the cunning ruler of the skies. waited until the news of his approach had preceded him. Tn consequence the government delivered exactly five million ‘dollars in_gold to the Sky Urchin, The navy blimp was then - pallasted and sent down to earth with a note of thanks, Only then was aerial transportation resumed again with renewed vigor as though to make up for the loss, CHAPTER IV A Hopeless Battle LL this had transpired while Professor Markleson lay. on a white bed tucked away: in isolation in a Kansas City hospital, A silver plate had been inserted in his skull to take the place of the portion of bone that was removed, — Government authorities were watching his case with undimin- ished interest, for in-that brain which was now protected un- der an: artificial plate lay a secret which they would give. much to learn, Sooner or later the people of the United States would rebel against the monthly tribute that must be paid: Its only hope of release from the obligation lay in the building of air- craft. capable of competing with the Sky Urchin, And such craft could not be obtained tmless they sprang from the brain of the bedridden scientist! _ The government had interviewed each and every man who had worked on the construction of the Sky Urchin. with Pro- fessor Marlleson, but none possessed knowledge of- the ship's intricate details, Even the superintendent who had supervised the work. in the absence of the scicftist-inventor, could offer no help. .Although he remembered- certain things, he stated that Professor Markleson alone could solve the problem. Slowly Professor Markléeson began to mend. His returning health. was guarded. constantly, and gradually he began to no- tice objects in his private room. Slowly but surely he came out of the coma that had held him ina death-like grip for weeks, But now the world, anticipating his recovery, was destined -to receive-a tremendous. shock. When Professor Markleson - was finally able to be visited, it was found that his: memory was entirely gone! Of the Sky Urchin, he knew nothing, and looked at me oddly when the ship was mentioned. To him the name was-as meaningless as something spoken in an alien tongue, When he was addressed respectfully as Professor by govern- ment officials, he: stared around the room blankly as though trying to discover an invisible personage. -His was -a hopeless case, and the officials left him with consternation plainly written on their downcast features. Swiftly another monthly toll’ day approached the United States. Behind locked and guarded doors the President’s Cabi- net held consultation with the War Department. What trans- pired behind: those locked-doors was not known until the toll day arrived, Then the government sent-up to the waiting Sky Ruler a blimp that carried nothing but a small piece of white paper in a steel-bound chest, At the same time the air was alive with all types of air craft flying at low altitudes. Govern- ment ships remained on the ground: within hangars, but their crews were spinning and singing with desire to have the re- taining blocks removed from under the landing gear. Whether the Sky Ruler- suspected a trap when he read the contents on the strip of paper was not known, It told him plainly in good old: Yankee parlatice to “go to hell!” And it — must have ruffled his pride, for the Sky Urchin was immediate- ly seen to dive headlong toward the earth under. the controlled forces of its. gravity repellants and rockets. As though its pilots were in a hot rage, the ship plunged down into the lanes of air travel and: began at once to rake all scurrying craft with explosives from-some strangé-looking gun batteries. Several huge lighter-than-air passenger liners plunged out of the air at once and spewed death and destruction on the ground below. HEN suddenly the challenge was met as five hundred army pursuit planes were hauled out of their hangars and in perfect formation: shot: into the skies like birds of prey. Caught in the lower air levels, the Sky Urchin seemed helpless