THE EAGLE OF THE SKY
He slid open another door. The three men passed through the captain's
cabin and pilot-house. This place measured twelve feet on its longer
axis and nine on its shorter, being of approximately diamond shape
with one point forward in the very nose of the machine, one ending in
a door that gave access to the main, longitudinal corridor, and the
right and left points joining the walls of the backward-sloping prow.
It contained two sofa-lockers with gas-inflated, leather cushions, a
chart-rack, pilot's seat, controls, and instrument-board.
The whole front was a magnificent stretch of double plate-glass, with
warm air between the sheets to keep snow, frost, or dew from obscuring
the vision. Bright light flooded it.
Though one window had been slid partly open--the window on the sill of
which the sleeping aviator had lain--a scent of cigarette-smoke still
permeated the place. The Master sniffed with disgust. Then suddenly,
to the great astonishment of Bohannan, he commanded:
"Bring me that champagne, in the saloon. All of it!"
The major opened wide eyes, but unquestioningly obeyed. Could it be
possible the Master, in this moment of exultation, was about to break
his lifelong rule and drink a toast, in sparkling bubbles, to success
thus far achieved, to the stupendous voyage now about to begin?
Wondering, Bohannan departed. The Master gestured for Captain Alden to
seat himself on one of the lockers. Alden kept complete silence as
he sat down, crossed one leg over the other and began to study the
complex apparatus before him. Most of it was familiar; but some new
factors needed inspection.
The Master peered curiously at him. Surely, this man was odd, unusual.
Most aviators, thus confronted by strange problems, would have grown
loquacious, tried to exhibit their knowledge, asked questions, made
much talk. But Alden held his tongue.
A look of appreciation, of liking, came upon the Master's face. It was
just the suspicion of a look, for in all this strange man's life no
great show of emotion ever had been permitted to mirror itself upon
his countenance. But still, the look was there. He half opened his
lips, as if to speak, then closed them again, and--like Alden--fell to
studying the control apparatus.
All was beautifully arranged, all nicely calculated for instant
use. Not here, as in small machines, could the pilot handle his own
engines, tilt his planes, or manipulate his rudders by hand. That
would have been as absurd to think of, as for the steersman of an
ocean liner to work without the intervention of steam steering-gear.
No, these controls actuated various motors that, using current from
the dynamos, produced the desired action with smooth and certain
promptness. A turn of the wrist, perhaps no more than the touch of
a finger, and the whole vast creation would respond as easily as a
child's toy can be manipulated by a strong man's hand.
Hooded dials, brightly lighted push-buttons, a telephone headpiece and
receiver combined, and switches all lay in easy reach. Here was the
tachometer, that would give to a fraction the revolutions of each
screw per minute; here the altimeter, to indicate height; here the
air-speed indicator, the compass with reflector, the inclinometer, the
motometers--to show the heat in each engine--and there, the switch to
throw on the gigantic searchlight, with the little electric wheel to
control its direction, as accurately as you would point a wand.
Throttle and spark, of course, there were none. All engine control was
by telephone, with the engine-room which lay a little aft of midships.
But the controls of the vacuum apparatus were within easy reach, so
that at will the pilot could exhaust the floats, or fill them.
Here were the starting, stopping, and speed controls of the
helicopters, which were under direct electrical motivation by the
pilot. Here also were the magnetic-anchor release and the air-skid
pump control; here were telephonic connections with the wireless-room
and with the fore-and-aft observation pits, where observers were
already lying on their cushions upon the heavy, metal-reinforced glass
floor-plates.
"This is really very complete," approved the Master. Not Alden, but
he, had been first to speak. The Master spoke half against his own
wish, but a resistless impulse to make some comment, in this moment of
triumph, possessed him.
"Only as expected, sir," replied Alden. The Master bit his lip a
second, and said no more.
Bohannan's return with several champagne bottles in his arms, put an
end to any possible developments the terse conversation might have
had.
"Well, sir," said the major, "here it all is. And I've got glasses
in my pocket--and a corkscrew, sir. It never does to forget the
corkscrew! We'll drink to happy days, eh, sir?"
Already the Celt's mouth was watering for draughts of the precious
liquid. Joy pervaded him that, for once at least, the iron rule of the
Master was to be broken, and that the journey was to begin with proper
libations. The Master's curt syllables, however, instantly dispelled
any illusions he might have entertained on that score.
"Drop them all out that open window, there," commanded the Master.
"What, sir? Good Pommery? Veuve?"
"No argument, Bohannan! Out they go!"
Dismayed, the Celt did the other's bidding, while Alden smiled grimly.
Far below, glass crashed and jangled.
"What's the idea?" demanded the major ruefully.
"You know very well, Major, my ruling on alcohol. It doesn't mix with
any motive power on this trip. Moreover, it's customary to christen
every launching with champagne. We've done it!"
"Well, that's not so bad an idea, at that," Bohannan admitted,
scratching his fiery head. "What name have you given this bus?"
"_Nissr Arrib ela Sema._"
"Come again, sir?"
"Eagle of the Sky, in Arabic. I suppose we'll have to cut that down to
_Nissr_, for everyday use. But at any rate, our craft is christened.
Well, now--"
He settled himself in the pilot's seat, reached forward and drew
toward him a shining metal shaft. Four stout spokes unfolded; and from
these, quadrants of a rim that easily snapped together. The Master
laid one hand easily on the rim of the big steering-wheel, flung his
cap upon a locker, pulled down the telephone headpiece and snapped it
on.
He touched a button. The light died in the pilot-house, leaving only
the hooded glows of the dials, switches, and small levers. Night
seemed suddenly to close in about the vast machine. Till now it
had been forgotten, ignored. But as darkness fingered at the panes,
something of the vastness of sky and air made itself realized;
something of the illimitable scope of this adventuring.
Bohannan slid the window shut and settled himself beside Captain
Alden. He glanced at his wrist-watch, and a thrill of nervous
exultation stabbed him.
"Only two minutes and six seconds more!" he murmured, gnawing at his
mustache and blinking with excitement. Alden remained calm, impassive
as the Master himself, who now, pressing another button, sent a beam
of wonderful, white light lancing through the darkness.
Track, buildings, trees all leaped into vivid relief as he tested the
searchlight control. He shot the beam up, up, till it lost itself,
vaguely, in mist and cloud; then flung it even across the river, where
it picked out buildings with startling detail.
He turned it, finally, square down the launching-way, through the
yawning gates where the track abruptly ended at the brow of the
Palisades--the empty chasm where, if all went right and no mistake
had been made in build, engine-power, or control, the initial leap of
_Nissr Arrib ela Sema_ was to be made.
Came a moment's wait. Faintly the pulsing of the engines trembled
the fabric of _Nissr_. Finely balanced as they were, they still
communicated some slight vibration to the ship. The Master snicked the
switch of the magnetic-anchor release; and now the last bond that held
_Nissr_ to her cradle was broken. As soon as the air-skid currents
should be set going, she would be ready for her flight.
This moment was not long in coming. Another turn of a switch, and all
at once, far below, a faint, continuous hissing made itself audible.
Compressed air, forced through thousands of holes at the bottom of the
floats, was interposing a gaseous cushion between those floats and the
track, just as it could do between them and the earth wherever _Nissr_
should alight.
Suspended thus on a thin layer of air, perhaps no more than a
sixteenth of an inch thick but infinitely less friction-producing than
the finest ball-bearing wheels and quite incapable of being broken,
the ship now waited only the application of the power in her vast
propellers.
"Let in numbers two and four," commanded the Master, suddenly, into
the engine-room telephone. "In five seconds after we start, hook up
one and three; and five later, the other two."
"Aye, aye, sir," came back the voice of Auchincloss, chief engineer.
"Ready, sir!"
Almost at once, the vibration of the engines altered, grew more
marked, seemed to be taking hold of something with strong but easy
effort. Another trembling made itself felt, as two of the giant
screws, connected by reducing-gears with the engine-shafting--all
three engines being geared to one shaft, but any one being capable of
separate running--began to revolve.
From astern, a dull, droning hum mounted, rose, grew rapidly in volume
and power. And, as two more screws began to whirl, the Eagle of the
Sky shook herself slightly. She awoke from slumber. Steadily, smoothly
on her air-cushions she began to move forward down the long, sloping
trackway to the brink of the cliff.
"Lord above!" breathed Bohannan, chewing at his nails. "We're off!"
Neither the Master nor Captain Alden moved, spoke, manifested any
excitement whatever. Both might have been graven images of coolness.
The Celt, however, got up and leaned at the window-jamb, unable to
keep still. He turned suddenly to Alden.
"Come, man!" he exclaimed, half angrily. "Got no heart in you, eh? No
interest? Come along out of that, now, and see what's what!"
He laid hold on the captain, and drew him to the window as the airship
accelerated her plunge along the rails. The hum of the propellers
had now risen to a kind of throaty roar; the craft was shaking with
strange quivers that no doubt would cease if she but once could launch
herself into the air. Under her, in and in, the shining metal rails
came running swiftly and more swiftly still, gleaming silver-like
under the vivid beam of the searchlight.
Wind began to rise up against the glass of the pilot-house; the wind
of _Nissr's_ own making.
Cool as if in his own easy-chair in the observatory, the Master sat
there, hand on wheel. Then all at once he reached for the rising-plane
control, drew it over, and into the telephone spoke sharply:
"Full speed ahead, now! Give her all she's got!"
A shout, was it? Many shouts, cries, execrations! But where? Over
the roar of the propellers, confused sounds won to the men in the
pilot-house. And all at once, by the dim aura of diffused light
reflected from the huge beam, the major saw dim figures running, off
there to the left, among the buildings of the stockade.
"For the Lord's sake!" he cried, amazed, with drooping jaw.
"Men--after us! Look there--_look_!"
The Master remained utterly impassive, eyes keen on the in-rushing
track, now close to its abrupt ending over the vacancy of space.
Captain Alden's pupils narrowed, through the mask-holes, but he said
nothing. Bohannan gripped the captain's shoulder painfully, then
reached for the pistol in his own holster.
"They're on to us!" he vociferated. "Somebody's got wise--they're--"
Little red spurts of fire began to jet, among the buildings; the
crackling of shots started popping, like corn-kernels exploding. Dark
figures were racing for the Palisade gate--the gate where, if any
slightest thing went wrong with track or giant plane, the whole vast
fabric might crash down, a tangled mass of wreckage.
Then it was, that for the first time in all his knowledge of the
Master, Bohannan heard the strange man laugh.
Joyously he laughed, and with keen pleasure. His eyes were blazing, as
he thrust the rising-plane lever sharply up.
More shouts volleyed. From somewhere back there in the body of the
ship, a cry of pain resounded.
Bohannan flung the window-pane to one side, and blazed away like mad
at the attackers.
A shatter of broken glass burst into the pilot-house. Alden, catching
his breath, quivered. He uttered no outcry, but his right hand went
across and clutched his wounded left arm.
"Got you?" cried the major, still pumping lead. He paused, jerked
Alden's automatic from its holster and thrust it into the captain's
hand, now red.
Alden, a bit pale but quite impassive, opened fire through the jagged
hole in the double pane. Accurately the captain fired at dark figures.
One fell. Another staggered; but as the machine swept on, they lost
sight of it.
Men rose up before the rushing airship. One of the great gates began
to swing shut, far at the end of the track. The Master laughed again,
with the wind whipping at his hair. "Full speed ahead!" he shouted
into the telephone.
The _Nissr_ leaped into a swifter course. Then all at once she skidded
clear of the track, slanted upward, breasted the air. Her searchlight
blazed. All along her flanks, fire-jets spangled the night. Cries
echoed from her, from the great stockade.
The Master gave her all the lift the farthest wrench of the levers
would thrust on her. The gate was almost shut now--would she clear it?
Below, track, earth, everything was spinning in and in. Ahead, above,
yawned vastnesses. The Master could no longer see the gate. A second
of taut thrill--
_Crash_!
The _Nissr_ quivered, staggered, yawed away. The forward starboard
float had struck. A faint yell rose as someone, hurled backward by the
shattered _débris_ of the gate, plunged down the cliff.
For half a second, the giant plane reeled over the abyss. Her rush and
fury for that half-second threatened to plunge her, a mangled, flaming
wreck, hundreds of feet down on the black, waiting rocks below the
Palisades.
But engine-power and broad wings, skill of the hand at the levers, and
the good fortune that watches over bold men, buoyed her again.
Suddenly she lifted. Up at a dizzy angle she sped.
A thing of life, quivering, sentient, unleashed, the gigantic Eagle
of the Sky--now in heroic flight toward the greatest venturing ever
conceived by the brain of man--steadied herself, lifted on the wings
of darkness, and, freed from her last bonds, leaped quivering and
triumphant into the night.