One of the Germans hadn't gotten clear of the closing door.
Sickened, Brisk staggered to his feet and threw the bolts that sealed it. The water was breast-high when he climbed the ladder and toppled into the Crawler.
Zoru closed the hatch behind him and bolted it. Leolo helped him to his feet and led him to a chair. Blood was streaming down his shirt from the slug wound in his shoulder.
"There's nothing for you to do now," Leolo whispered soothingly. "Just rest for a moment."
Her voice was like the whisper of a breeze in his ears. Although he knew he shouldn't, he closed his eyes.
He came around with a start. Beneath his feet he could feel the floor of the Crawler twisting and rocking. Looking up he saw, through the thick glass top, the green murk of the Atlantic not two feet above his head.
Zoru was up front at the controls and Leolo was at his side. Brick climbed to his feet. His wound had stopped bleeding, but it was aching horribly. He felt a surge of relief flooding through him. They were away from Atlantis, heading for the enemy.
"How long have I been out?" he asked, surprised at the weakness of his voice.
Leolo turned and hurried to him, her face anxious.
"Just a few moments," she told him. "We just left the compression chamber and have traveled only a hundred feet or so."
Brick put an arm over her shoulder and let her help him to the front of the Crawler alongside Zoru. Through the thick curved glass cowl that surrounded the control room he could see opaque masses of green waters swirling before him. He sat down and felt the back of the chair push into his spine as the nose of the Crawler tilted upward as it lumbered up a hillock of muddy sand. The floor of the ocean was pock marked with craters of all sizes and shapes.
Through which the squat, bug-like Crawler scurried like a powerful turtle. Its huge spiked wheels bit deeply into rock and sand, driving it forward with awkward speed.
Turning to his left, Brick drew in his breath sharply. They were skirting the edges of the huge domed structures of Atlantis. Starkly white in the green water the curiously formed buildings presented a spectacle that was fairy-like in its fantastic unreality.
But this could not drive from his mind the job that faced them. The terribly, all important job of checking the submarine attack on the huge American convoy. Sitting in the ridiculously small Crawler, unarmed save for the two hydrogen guns, the thought of the task they had set out to accomplish seemed absurdly hopeless. Their strongest blows against hundreds of subs would be childishly ineffective. Suddenly all of the harrowing risks they had taken seemed pointless and futile.
"We should sight the enemy," Zoru said, "in another few minutes. Around the next group of buildings is the location of their main docks. Better get ready to fire."
"What good will that do?" Brick asked bitterly.
"These apparently innocuous guns might surprise you," Zoru said calmly. "Unfortunately we had no way of testing the amplifying device I attached to them. But if it works as I hope it will the results will be very interesting."
A moment later, Brick, who had been peering intently into the murky water ahead of them, grabbed Zoru's arm.
"Ahead and above us," he snapped. "I think I can spot subs heading toward the surface."
A second scrutiny convinced him. They had evidently arrived just as a squad of under-water killers was slicing up for the attack. He counted ten slim, shadowy lengths knifing through the water above. Past them he could see the dim outlines of more. They were a hundred yards above them and off fifty feet ahead of them. But every second was putting their deadly shadows farther away.
"We're too late!" he cried bitterly. "They're on their way. In another sixty seconds they'll be releasing torpedoes, sinking our ships without warning, without a chance."
"Start firing!" Zoru said quietly.
"But—"
"Please do as I say," Zoru said insistently.
Brick swung the barrel of the gun upward until it covered the area through which the submarine squad was slipping.
The control board of the gun was fitted with a firing lever and a small sparking button. Brick shoved the firing lever forward and heard the in ner mechanism of the gun begin to thrum into life.
At the tip of the gun's muzzle he saw a bubble forming, swelling and growing larger by the second. When it was almost ten feet in diameter it broke from the gun and flashed upward. Leaning forward Brick could trace its ascent through the murky water by the foaming stream of bubbles in its wake. In a second it reached the area of the silently moving submarine shadows.
"Use the spark!" Zoru snapped.
Brick's hand jammed on the sparking button, and a fiery pellet of flame streaked from the muzzle of the gun, streaking surface-ward like a miniature comet.
And almost instantly the Crawler shuddered violently from the jarring force of a devastating explosion that churned the water about them into a maelstrom of furious turbulence.
*Here it is obvious what the true nature of Zoru's weapon really is. Originally the fish-gun broke the water down into its component gases, but the hydrogen alone was used to stun the fish. Now, Zoru has adapted the gun so that his bubbles contain both hydrogen and oxygen, mixed, in huge quantity. Any high school student of chemistry can explain what happens to these two gases, when mingled and ignited. A terrible explosion of great power is possible through use of them.
Zoru here forms the bubbles electrolytically, then shoots a pellet of sodium at them. The result is a natural phenomenon. Sodium bursts into flame on contact with water, and the flame, in turn, entering the bubble, instantly sets off this potential "bomb" and the resultant explosion is sufficient to shatter everything for many yards around.
The effectiveness of Zoru's gun, in comparison to the depth bomb, is perhaps twenty-five times that of the explosive charge contained in the Navy's potent "cans."
Operated as it was, from the ocean floor, directly beneath the submarines, its effectiveness was hideously-thorough. Once the bubble, flashing up to the surface, reached the proximity of the overhead submarine, it was set off, and the submarine was crushed like an eggshell by countless tons of pressure against its hull as dense water was hurled irresistibly away from the "bomb."
Even on the surface, four-hundred feet above, according to accounts later made by Navy officials, giant ships were tossed about like corks, and in one instance, a destroyer was sunk when its bottom was stove in.—Ed.
Peering through the foaming water Brick saw a shadowy submarine turning slowly, almost lazily, on its side and settling toward the bottom, Half way down it collided with another sub, rebounded sluggishly from it and continued on its descent. The sub it had struck hesitated, then slipped backward and started down.
Brick tripped the firing lever again. The huge bubble formed swiftly, flashed away.
"Hydrogen and oxygen," Zoru said, "exist together in water. But separate them, as we have done, then touch one off with the other and you have an explosive of almost limitless power. The force of these hydrogen oxygen formations exploding next to a submarine will break its back."
"Fine," Brick said grimly.
He pressed the firing button, shooting another streak of electric flame upward. The explosion sounded like the muffled beat of a mighty drum.
The Crawler was still moving sluggishly forward, but with an adjustment of the controls Zoru stopped it.
Brick glanced at him inquiringly.
"I am afraid," Zoru said, "that we have missed the fleet. They have already cleared their docks and started up. If we had been an hour sooner we might have smashed the dock locks and bottled the submarines in their nests. Now we must look for them."
Brick peered up and cursed under his breath. There was nothing but an occasional fish to break the sameness of the green expanse. The squad they had sighted was out of range now.
Zoru turned the Crawler and headed back, but this time he veered out from the mighty structures of Atlantis until they faded into a shimmering blur behin
d them.
*In this photograph we see the H.M.S. "Glorious" rising at an angle almost incredible under the impetus of the exploding hydrogen bubbles released four hundred feet below the surface by Brick Harrington and his Atlantean companions in their Crawler. In the foreground can be seen boiling foam erupting from below.
They heard occasional rumbling detonations, but it was impossible to guess their source. It was obvious from this that the attack, or phases of it, had started.
Brick swore violently and searched the waters about them with desperate impatience. Suddenly he saw myriad shadows materializing out of the green murk. In formations of five the vast fleet of shark-like subs were drifting over their heads. It was impossible to gauge the size or number of the underwater armada. As far as he could penetrate the dim water he could see them on all sides moving slowly, and slightly downward, holding their V formation as if they were welded together with invisible supports.
He guessed the reason for their downward angle. The rumbling explosions they had heard must have been depth charges dropped from British or American destroyers. The subs would have to keep below the range of the depth bombs or run the risk of having their seams blasted open.
They were probably maneuvering into position to attack the convoy from the rear.
Brick's hand closed on the firing lever.
"This is the pay-off," he said softly. Zoru stopped the lurching motion of the Crawler and Leolo moved to the seat before the second gun. She smiled once at Brick and then with an almost vicious gesture she threw the firing lever forward.
Brick flashed a grin back at her and went to work. His hand slapped the lever and shifted to the sparking button without the loss of a second.
Two huge bubbles flashed away from the two muzzles, followed by hissing electric pellets. The double explosion crashed in their ears with deafening clamor.
A hundred yards above them a V formation of five subs was slammed together by its terrific force. One ship seemed to twist in agony before cracking in the middle and settling drunkenly.
Brick and Leolo worked the mechanism of the guns as fast as their hands could move. The huge bombs of hydrogen rocketed upward in a steady stream from the Crawler chased by the sizzling streaks of fiery sodium.
The close formation of the German fleet was its doom. The sledge hammer blasts of the hydrogen bombs transformed a mile square of ocean into a heaving, exploding inferno that ground and battered the subs in its terrible maw.
Zoru sprang to the controls and started the Crawler moving ahead at full speed. Brick flashed an approving nod at him. By changing their position they would be able to rake other sections of the vast fleet.
Without wasting a second Brick and Leolo continued to fire bomb after bomb into the bellies of the German underwater force. Their ears were ringing queerly from the constant barrage of mighty sound, and the shudderings of the Crawler under the impact of the explosions almost knocked them from their seats. The turtle-like construction of the Crawler was all that saved it from the tempest created by the tremendous detonations of the hydrogen bombs.
Brick paused long enough to glance up. The German fleet's geometric formation was shattered completely, and as far as he could see, the subs were milling wildly about like blind and wounded sharks.
Those that were still under control evidently realized that the barrage was coming from beneath them, for Brick saw dozens of subs pointing their noses up and slithering to the surface.
He redoubled his efforts with the hydrogen gun, working with a frantic fury. But another glance convinced him that the larger body of the fleet was moving up out of range and danger.
Leolo stopped firing and followed his gaze upward.
"Damn it!" Brick grated. "They're out of range."
Both guns were silent now but in a few moments again the thunder of explosions could be heard rumbling above them.
Zoru and Leolo listened bewilderedly, but Brick grinned joyously.
"We've driven the subs into depth bomb range," he cried. "There must be two-hundred destroyers above showering ashcans of dynamite down on them. We've caught them between a cross-fire."
In only a moment or so they could see the slim lengths of the subs again, coming into range as they sought to escape the merciless pounding from above. Many of them were listing wearily and settling out of control.
Brick and Leolo began firing. Into the disorganized turmoil of subs their hydrogen bombs blasted again and again, savagely, endlessly.
For another half hour they fired ceaselessly, driving the subs up to meet the depth charges again and again. But with every hydrogen bomb explosion there were less subs to slink upward. And every time the remnants of the once mighty underwater armada sought to slink away to the surface, the depth bombs took their terrible toll.
Brick's gun, hot in his hands, suddenly ceased firing.
"It's through," Zoru said, glancing at it. "The device that split the hydrogen has burned out probably."
Leolo ceased firing then, and a strange silence seemed to settle over them. There was still the rumble of depth charges, growing fainter by the minute, as the destroyers chased the fleeing subs; but beyond that there was nothing.
When they felt a faint jar shake the Crawler. And a faint noise that was like two huge mountains of stone grinding slowly together grew in their ears. It was not as loud as some of the explosions they had been hearing but there was limitless infinity about it that was terrifying.
The Crawler was moving slowly ahead, and through the green murk Brick saw the spires and structures of Atlantis. Even as they sighted them, he saw one spire tremble and then fall slowly sideways and crash to the floor of the ocean. The Crawler was trembling steadily now.
"It was the same," Zoru whispered, “twelve thousand years ago."
Brick remembered.
"Volcano?" he asked tensely.
Zoru nodded.
"The explosions must have started it again. It will not be long now."
Leolo, who had been gazing steadily at the beautiful city, suddenly tugged at Brick's arm.
"Look!" she cried pointing.
Brick followed her direction and saw a long black German sub crossing the spires of Atlantis and driving toward them. It was emblazoned with a huge swastika, and through the dim greenness Brick saw its numeral—U-95.
That he knew was Von Herrman's flagship.
With a mental vision he could picture the German commander, hysterically enraged at the failure of his attack, ordering his ship into a suicidal ramming of the Crawler. For there was no doubt that that was the intention of the huge submarine closing on them like a greedy shark.
Brick put his arm about Leolo's shoulder, pulled her close to him.
* Perhaps Von Herrman, at that moment, was the only man in the Nazi regime who knew that the fate of the Reich was sealed, that Germany had lost the Battle of the Atlantic, and the war itself. For from that day on, the tide turned against Germany, and with the flood of arms pouring to Britain, and to embattled Russia, the offensive changed sides.
With the destruction of the Atlantis submarine base, America's navy took over the Azores, Dakar, and joined forces with Britain at Singapore.
Within four months, Africa was in Allied hands, and Hitler had been driven from Iran. Harassed by furious Russian armies, released from the Eastern front with the submission of Japan, who never intended to fight, his army of the east disintegrated, and fell apart, a victim of Russia's vastness, coupled with her new armed might.
American Expeditionary Forces, and a British army, landing in Portugal, stormed through Spain and drove deep into France, aided by revived sons of the tricolor. Revolt flared all over Europe, and the war came to a sudden, stunning, abrupt halt with the assassination of Hitler at Berchtes-gaden by Goebbels, and that worthy's suicide when trapped by members of Hitler's personal guard.
History will show, when all the facts are known, that the mightiest conqueror of all times met his end because of a grim battle four-hun
dred feet beneath the tossing Atlantic. After American aid was assured, unhindered, Hitler's power expended itself on the impossible task of waging a three-front war.—Ed.
"This looks like the end," he said grimly. "We had to go, but I hate to give Von Herrman the satisfaction of doing the job." He looked down at the silver-haired girl in his arms and smiled. "It would have been wonderful," he said huskily. "But nobody gets everything so I guess we don't have any kicks."
The structures of Atlantis were trembling and shaking, and the mighty forces beneath the ocean were growling an ominous warning.
Brick kissed the girl in his arms good-bye. Her lips were on his, poignantly sweet, when Zoru cried out behind them. Before Brick could turn it happened.
The ancient volcano of Atlantis erupted!
A blinding sheet of flame and steam and lava roared upward engulfing the crumbling towers and structures of Atlantis in its fiery maw. The water boiled angrily with the heat.
Brick saw Atlantis crumbling and disappearing before him, as it sank into the immense crater of the volcano on which it had rested.
He saw also, in the indescribable scene of vast convulsion, the destruction of Captain Von Herman's submarine. It had been directly above Atlantis when the eruption occurred. And like a chip in a whirlpool, it had been sucked out of sight as the ocean rushed in to quench and fill the volcano forever.
That was all he saw. For a minor upheaval tossed the Crawler to its side, and then like the slap of a giant paw, hurled it upward.
For a dazed chaotic interval there was nothing but wild motion, boiling currents and the noise of the volcano around them. How long it lasted was impossible to tell. It was like some horrible nightmare, without beginning or end.
As the Crawler tossed through the heaving water, Brick managed to get an arm around Leolo and pull her close to him. Her body in his arms seemed the only real thing in a frenzied world of unreality.
He was still holding her tightly to his breast when the erratic movements of the Crawler were replaced by an even rocking, and the noise of the volcano, and the hiss of the boiling currents had faded away.
Convoy to Atlantis Page 8
