AIR MONSTER
by
EDWIN GREEN
The Goldsmith Publishing Company
New York
Copyright 1932
The Goldsmith Publishing Company
Made in U. S. A.
CONTENTS
I. On Secret Duty
II. The Air Monster
III. Mystery Plane
IV. Danger in the Air
V. No Clues
VI. The Night Alarm
VII. Suspicions
VIII. Mysterious Moves
IX. On the East Side
X. The Neptune Sails
XI. In the Hangar
XII. Trial Flight
XIII. Wings of the Storm
XIV. Flood Relief
XV. In Northern Seas
XVI. Rescue in the Arctic
AIR MONSTER
CHAPTER I
On Secret Duty
Lights glowed brightly in the large, bare tower room which was the
headquarters of the Gerka, secret police organization of Rubania. It was
midnight and a meeting of the supreme council of the Gerka at that hour
could mean only the most urgent business.
Residents of Kratz, the capital of Rubania, who happened to be in the
streets that night and who saw the lights in the tower of the government
palace shook their heads and hurried on their way with fear in their
hearts for the Gerka was the most dangerous organization in all Rubania
and for that matter one of the most powerful groups of secret police in
the whole world.
The creation of the new Europe which had followed the World War had
resulted in the formation of Rubania, a rich, fertile land east of
Prussia. It had been made a free state but Alex Reikoff, an unscrupulous
dictator with a lust for world power, had risen to supreme command of
the government, crushing out all opposition. He had built up the armed
forces of his country until Rubania was recognized as a world power,
feared for the might of its armada of submarines and the power of its
fleets of airplanes, for Reikoff believed in the power of aircraft as an
instrument of war.
That the midnight meeting of the Gerka was of unusual importance was
borne out when Reikoff himself strode into the room and took his place
at the head of the table around which a half dozen men were seated. They
looked expectantly at him. Reikoff, short and dark with closely cropped
hair, stroked his bristly mustache. He looked intently at the men before
him. One after another met his gaze until his eyes looked into those of
Serge Larko, in the uniform of a lieutenant of the air force.
“Ah, Serge,” said Reikoff, “I’m glad that you could leave your beloved
flying machines long enough to answer my call.”
“Yes, Excellency,” smiled Serge. “I came at once but there is much that
remains to be done on the new XO5 before it will be ready for the long
flights for which it has been designed.”
“The XO5 must be ready for a six thousand mile non-stop trip by the day
after tomorrow,” replied Reikoff, his words short and sharp. “I shall
inform the commander of your field that you are to be given every
possible assistance. An emergency has come up which makes it imperative
that you go soon on a special mission.”
Serge, who was one of the newest members of the secret police, gasped at
the news that he was to be assigned to special work. He had been trained
in Germany at Friedrichshafen for service in the lighter-than-air
division of the Rubanian air force and only recently had been shifted
unexpectedly and without explanation to the airplane division where he
had been given an intensive course in the handling of long-distance
planes. For the last month he had been supervising the construction of
the XO5, the latest type in Rubanian super air cruisers. Surprised
though he was at the news that he had been selected for a special
mission. Serge felt that he was ready for whatever task might be
ordered.
The dictator of Rubania spoke again, his words cracking through the
midnight stillness of the room.
“You are all well aware,” he said, “that the United States is our only
rival in the building of dirigibles. Their Los Angeles is antiquated now
but their new Akron is superior to anything in the world. It is even a
mightier fighting craft than the new Blenkko which we will launch next
month. This must not be. We must be supreme in the air!”
Reikoff hammered the table with his fists to emphasize his determination
and his face reddened at the thought that some nation might have men
with more brains and skill than his own engineers.
“And now,” he continued, “comes more bad news. The National Airways,
Inc., largest passenger aviation company in the United States, has
turned to dirigibles. They have been granted a large subsidy by the
federal government and now have under construction an airship that will
dwarf anything the world has ever known. It is intended primarily for
passenger carrying, between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, but, it is
so designed that it can be turned into a powerful fighting craft, a
floating mother ship in the sky that will be capable of housing a large
number of fighting planes. If this dirigible, which has been named the
Goliath, is completed and flies, America will remain supreme in the air
for at least four more years. It would take us that long to build such a
craft as their Goliath in our Blenkko aircraft plant. For America to
continue supreme in the air is not in line with my plans. I do not
intend that the Goliath shall rule the air.”
Serge heard the last words with a sinking heart. He sensed what his
mission would be. He knew now why they had rushed the XO5 to completion.
Reikoff was talking again.
“Lieutenant Larko,” he said, “your mission will take you on a non-stop
flight to the United States in the new XO5. Complete details will be
given you later but this you must remember. On reaching the United
States it is essential that you crash your plane in some manner so that
identification will be impossible. You will then proceed to Bellevue
where the Goliath is under construction and join the staff of the
National Airways.”
When the dictator paused, Serge rose to ask a question.
“But won’t they question my appearance at Bellevue?”
“That will be arranged,” promised Reikoff. “Before you leave Rubania you
will be supplied with the credentials of a dirigible expert from the
Friedrichshafen works in Germany. I warn you, however, that your mission
will be dangerous. The American secret service knows that I will let
nothing stand in the way of Rubania’s supremacy in the air and they have
been guarding this new dirigible with the greatest secrecy. Our agents
in the United States have known for some months that the National
Airways was building a ship to enter the transcontinental passenger
service but it was only two days ago that they learned the details of
the plans. Boris Dubra, one of our cleverest agents in America, has
secured employment at the main assembly plant under the name of Cliff
Bolton. You will work with him in the accomplishment of your mission.
Completion of the Goliath will mean domination of the skies for America.
It must not be.”
There was a chorus of agreement from the members of the supreme council
of the Gerka grouped around the table.
“The National Airways have ambitious plans for the Goliath,” went on
Reikoff.
“Capt. John Harkins, probably the best dirigible commander in the world,
will be in charge of the big ship,” he said, fingering the yellow sheets
of flimsy, the wireless reports from the American branch of the Gerka
which had brought news of the Goliath and its menace to Rubania’s air
leadership.
“Construction at Bellevue is under the direction of Charles High, vice
president in charge of operations, and his son, Andy, who is reported to
be an unusually resourceful young scientist and who will be Captain
Harkins’ first assistant.”
“Your duty,” went on Reikoff, addressing himself directly to Serge,
“will be to win the confidence of Andy High. In America you will be
known as Herman Blatz. Once you have done that you should be in a
position to bring about the destruction of the Goliath. You must learn
its every secret. If necessary that the ship be allowed to fly in order
to accomplish that goal, do not interfere until you have mastered every
secret of these American aircraft builders. When you have done that,
destroy the Goliath!”
Serge nodded slowly. So this was why he had been drafted into the secret
police. He was to destroy the new king of the skies. Serge loved the
great, gracefully looking airships on which he had been trained at
Friedrichshafen and the thought of destroying one of them sickened him.
But he was a Rubanian, a member of the great army which lived as Alex
Reikoff dictated and he finally forced himself to accept the mission.
The meeting of the supreme council adjourned at two o’clock and Serge
drove hastily through the deserted streets of the capital until he
reached the flying field where he was supervising the final work on the
XO5, the new distance plane.
Mechanics were routed from their beds and set to work preparing the big
monoplane for its long flight across the Atlantic. For eighteen hours
Serge worked feverishly over the craft, making test flights over the
field and checking every detail of the preparations. Satisfied that his
craft was ready, he rolled into a bed at the field and slept for twelve
hours. Awakened at dawn the second day following the secret meeting of
the supreme council, he found Reikoff at the field to see him off.
Last minute instructions followed, a checking of weather maps,
acceptance of the secret papers which would put him in touch with the
American headquarters of the Gerka and the last words from Reikoff.
“Learn the secrets of the Goliath; then destroy that air monster.”
With those words ringing in his ears. Serge climbed into the cockpit of
the dull-gray low-winged monoplane, opened the throttle, shot his squat
looking craft down the field and into the air. He circled the field once
while gaining altitude. Then the young lieutenant of the Rubania air
force headed his ship westward. He had started his 6,000 mile flight to
America, a mission of destruction which was to involve the Goliath, its
builders and especially Andy High, young assistant pilot.