Lords of the Stratosphere Page 6

  CHAPTER VI

  _Stratosphere Currents_

  Now the partner-scientists concentrated on the tremendous task ofclimbing higher than man had ever flown before. Nobody knew how highKress had gone, for the only information which had come back had beenthe corpse of the sky pioneer. Jeter and Eyer hoped to land, too, but tobe able to tell others, when they did, what had happened to them.

  Somehow, away up here, the affairs of the Earth seemed trivial, unreal.What was the raising of an entire skyscraper--in reality so small thatfrom this height it was difficult to pick out the biggest one throughthe telescope? What mattered a bridge across the Hudson that was reallyless than the footprint of an ant at this height?

  Still, looking at each other, they were able to attain the oldperspectives. Down there people like Jeter and Eyer were dying becauseof something that struck at them from somewhere up here in the bluedarkness.

  Their faces set grimly. The plane kept up its constant spiraling. Jeterand Eyer flew the ship in relays. Occasionally they secured the controlsand allowed the plane to fly on, untended.

  "But maybe we'd better not do too much of that," said Jeter dubiously."I'm sure we are being observed, every foot of altitude we make. I don'tcare to run into something up here that will wreck us. Right now, Eyer,if we happened to be outside this sealed cabin instead of inside it,we'd die in less time than it takes to tell about it."

  All known records for altitude--the only unknown one being Kress'--hadnow been broken by Jeter and Eyer. They informed Hadley of this fact.

  "A week ago you'd have had headlines," came back Hadley. "To-day nobodycares, except that the world looks to you for information about thishorror. The enemy is systematically destroying every building inManhattan which dates back over eight years. Fortunately, save for theoccasional die-hard who never believes anything, there are few deaths atthe moment. But we're all waiting, holding our breaths, wondering whatthe next five minutes will bring forth. Is there any news there?"

  How strange it seemed--as the altimeter said sixty-one thousand feet--tohear that voice out of the void. For under the plane there was no worldat all, save through the telescope. Perhaps when morning came they wouldbe able to see a little. Picard had reported the world to look flat froma little over fifty thousand-feet.

  "No news, Hadley," said Jeter. "Except, that our plane behaves perfectlyand we are at sixty-one thousand feet. Were it not for our turn and bankindicators, our altimeter and air speed instruments, and ournavigational instruments, it would be impossible to tell--by looking atleast, though we could tell by our shifting weight--whether we wereupside down or right side up, on one wing or on an even keel. It's eery.We wouldn't be able to tell whether we were moving were it not for ourair speed indicator. There are no clouds. The motor hum seems to be theonly thing here--except ourselves of course--to remind us that we reallybelong down there with you."

  * * * * *

  The connection was broken again as Jeter ceased speaking. Things seemedto be marking time on the ground, save for the strange demolitions ofthe unseen and apparently unknowable enemy. Would they ever reallyencounter him, or it?

  When the sun came out of the east they leveled off at ninety thousandfeet. By their reckoning they had scarcely moved in any direction fromthe spot where they had taken off. Jeter was satisfied that they werealmost directly above Mineola. But the world had vanished. The planerode easily on. Now and again it dipped one wing or the other--and eventhe veteran aviators felt a thrill of uneasiness. From somewhere up herein this immensity, Franz Kress had dropped to his death. Of course, ifit had happened at this height he hadn't lived to suffer.

  Or had he? What had been done to him by the--the denizens of thestratosphere?

  Jeter sat down beside Eyer. It seemed strange to eat breakfast here, butthe sandwiches and hot coffee in a thermos bottle were extremelywelcome. They ate in silence, their thoughts busy. When they had made anend, Jeter squared his shoulders. Eyer grinned.

  "Well, Lucian," he said, "are we in enemy territory by yourcalculations? And if so how do you arrive at your conclusions?"

  "I'm still guessing, Tema," said Jeter, "but I've a feeling I'm notguessing badly, and.... Yes, we're somewhere within striking distance ofthe enemy, whatever the enemy is."

  "What's the next move?

  "We'll systematically cover the sky over an area which blankets NewYork, Long Island, Jersey City and surrounding territory for a distanceof twenty miles. If we're above the enemy, perhaps we can look down uponhim. We know he can't be seen from below, perhaps not even from above.If we are below him we'll try to fly into that column of his. Whatthey'll do to us I.... You're not afraid to find out, are you?"

  Eyer grinned. Jeter grinned back at him.

  "What they'll do to us if we fly into them I'm sure I don't know. Idon't think they'll kill our motor. If whoever or whatever controls thelight column decides to us prisoners.... Well, we'll hope to have betterluck combating them than Kress had."

  * * * * *

  And so begin that hours-long vigil of quartering the stratosphere overthe unmarked area which Jeter had set as a limit. Now and again Hadleyspoke to Jeter. Yes, the demolitions were still continuing in Manhattan.Could all telescopes on the ground pick out their space ship? Yes, saidHadley, and a young scientist in New Jersey was constantly watchingthem. Were they, since sunrise, ever out of his sight? Only when cloudsat comparatively low altitudes intervened. However, the sky wasunusually clear and it was hoped to keep their plane in sight during theentire day.

  "Hadley," Jeter almost whispered, "I'm satisfied we're above the area offorce, else we'd have flown into the anti-gravitation field. Get intouch with that Jersey chap by direct personal wire or radiophone if heis equipped with it. See that his watch is set with yours, which issynchronised with ours. Got that?"

  "Yes."

  "When you've done that give him these instructions: He is never to takehis eyes of us for more than a split second at a time--unless someoneelse takes his place. I doubt if, at this distance, this will work, butit may help us a little. If we become invisible for even the briefest ofmoments, he is to look at his watch and observe the exact time, even tosplit seconds. We shall try to follow a certain plan hereafter inquartering the stratosphere, and I shall mark our location on thenavigational charts every minute until we hear from this chap, or untilwe decide nothing is to be accomplished by this trick. Understand?"

  "You're hoping that the enemy, while invisible to all eyes, yet hassubstance...."

  "Shut up!" snapped Jeter, but he was glad that Hadley had grasped theidea. It was a slim chance, but such as it was it was worth trying. Ifthe plane were invisible for a time, then it would be proof of someopaque obstruction between the plane and the eye of the beholder on thesurface of the Earth. Refraction had to be figured, perhaps. Oh, therewere many arguments against it.

  The fliers followed the very outer edge of the area above the world theyhad mapped out as their limit of exploration. This circuit completed,they banked inward, shortening their circuit by about a mile of space. Amile, seen at a distance of ninety thousand feet, would be littleindeed.

  It was almost midday when they had their first stroke of luck.

  The buzzer sounded at the very moment Eyer uttered an ejaculation.

  "The Jersey fellow says there is nothing between his lens and your planeto obstruct the view."

  "O.K.," retorted Jeter. "At the moment your buzzer sounded our planesuddenly jumped upward. That means an upcurrent of air indicating anobstruction under us. It must however, be invisible."

  He severed the connection. His brow was furrowed thoughtfully. He wasremembering Sitsumi and his rumored discovery.

  They circled back warily. The eyes of both were fixed downward, staringinto space. Their jaws were firmly set. Their eyes were narrowed.

  And then....

  There was that uprush of air again! It appeared to rise from an angle ofabout sixty degrees. T
hey got the wind against their nose and started ahumming dive, feeling in the alien updraft for the obstruction whichcaused it.