CHAPTER XXVII.
ON THE TRACK OF TREASON.
The _Ithuriel_ and her consorts crossed the northern coast of Africasoon after daybreak on the 27th, in the longitude of Alexandria, atan elevation of nearly 4000 feet. From thence they pursued almost thesame course as that steered by the deserters, as Natas had rightlyjudged that they would first make for Russia, probably St.Petersburg, and there hand the air-ship over to the representativesof the Tsar.
There was, of course, another alternative, and that was thesupposition that they had stolen the _Lucifer_--the "fallen Angel,"as Natasha had now re-named her--for purposes of piracy and privaterevenge; but that was negatived by the fact that Tamboff knew that heonly had a certain supply of motive power which he could not renew,and which, once exhausted, left his air-ship as useless as a steamerwithout coal. His only reasonable course, therefore, would be to sellthe vessel to the Tsar, and leave his Majesty's chemists to discoverand renew the motive power if they could.
These conclusions once arrived at, it was an easy matter for the keenand subtle intellect of Natas to deduce from them almost the exactsequence of events that had actually taken place. The _Lucifer_ had asufficient supply of power-cylinders and shells for present use, andthese would doubtless be employed at once by the Tsar, who wouldtrust to his chemists and engineers to discover the nature of theagents employed.
For this purpose it would be absolutely necessary for him to givethem one or two of the shells, and at least two of the sparepower-cylinders as subjects for their experiments.
Now Natas knew that if there was one man in Russia who could discoverthe composition of the explosives, that man was Professor Volnow ofthe Imperial Arsenal Laboratory, and therefore the shells andcylinders would be sent to him at the Arsenal for examination. Thewhereabouts of the deserters for the present mattered nothing incomparison with the possible discovery of the secret on which thewhole power of the Terrorists depended.
That once revealed, the sole empire of the air was theirs no longer.The Tsar, with millions of money at his command, could very soonbuild an aerial fleet, not only equal, but, numerically at least,vastly superior to their own, and this would practically give him thecommand of the world.
Natas therefore came to the conclusion that no measures could be tooextreme to be justified by such a danger as this, and so, after aconsultation with the commanders of the three vessels, it was decidedto, if necessary, destroy the Arsenal at St. Petersburg, on thestrength of the reasoning that had led to the logical conclusion thatwithin its precincts the priceless secret either might be or hadalready been discovered.
As the crow flies, St. Petersburg is thirty degrees of latitude, oreighteen hundred geographical miles, north of Alexandria, and thisdistance the _Ithuriel_ and her consorts, flying at a speed of ahundred and twenty miles an hour, traversed in fifteen hours,reaching the Russian capital a few minutes after seven on the eveningof the 27th.
The Rome of the North, basking in the soft evening sunlight of theincomparable Russian summer, lay vast and white and beautiful on theislands formed by the Neva and its ten tributaries; its innumerablepalaces, churches, and theatres, and long straight streets of statelyhouses, its parks and gardens, and its green shady suburbs, making upa picture which forced an exclamation of wonder from Arnold's lips asthe air-ships slowed down and he left the conning-tower of the_Ithuriel_ to admire the magnificent view from the bows. They passedover the city at a height of four thousand feet, and so were quitenear enough to see and enjoy the excitement and consternation whichtheir sudden appearance instantly caused among the inhabitants. Thestreets and squares filled in an inconceivably short space of timewith crowds of people, who ran about like tiny ants upon the ground,gesticulating and pointing upwards, evidently in terror lest the fateof Kronstadt was about to fall upon St. Petersburg.
The experimental department of the Arsenal had within the last two orthree years been rebuilt on a large space of waste ground outside thenorthern suburbs, and to this the three air-ships directed theircourse after passing over the city. It was a massive three-storeybuilding, built in the form of a quadrangle. The three air-shipsstopped within a mile of it at an elevation of two thousand feet. Ithad been decided that, before proceeding to extremities, which, afterall, might still leave them in doubt as to whether or not they hadreally destroyed all means of analysing the explosives, they shouldmake an effort to discover whether Professor Volnow had received themfor experiment, and, if so, what success he had had.
Mazanoff had undertaken this delicate and dangerous task, and so, assoon as the _Ithuriel_ and the _Orion_ came to a standstill, and hungmotionless in the air, with all their guns ready trained on differentparts of the building, the _Ariel_ sank suddenly and swiftly down,and stopped within forty feet of the heads of a crowd of soldiers andmechanics, who had rushed pell-mell out of the building, under theimpression that it was about to be destroyed.
The bold manoeuvre of the _Ariel_ took officers and men completely bysurprise. So intense was the terror in which these mysteriousair-ships were held, and so absolute was the belief that they werearmed with perfectly irresistible means of destruction, that thesight of one of them at such close quarters paralysed all thought andaction for the time being. The first shock over, the majority of thecrowd took to their heels and fled incontinently. Of the remainder afew of the bolder spirits handled their rifles and looked inquiringlyat their officers. Mazanoff saw this, and at once raised his handtowards the sky and shouted--
"Ground arms! If a shot is fired the Arsenal will be destroyed asKronstadt was, and then we shall attack Petersburg."
The threat was sufficient. A grey-haired officer in undress uniformglanced up at the _Ithuriel_ and her consort, and then at the guns ofthe _Ariel_, all four of which had been swung round and brought tobear on the side of the building near which she had descended. He wasno coward, but he saw that Mazanoff had the power to do what he said,and that even if this one air-ship were captured or destroyed, theother two would take a frightful vengeance. He thought of Kronstadt,and decided to parley. The rifle butts had come to the ground beforeMazanoff had done speaking.
"Order arms, and keep silence!" said the officer, and then headvanced alone from the crowd and said--
"Who are you, and what is your errand?"
"Alexis Mazanoff, late prisoner of the Tsar, and now commander of theTerrorist air-ship _Ariel_. I have not come to destroy you unless youforce me to do so, but to ask certain questions, and demand thegiving up of certain property delivered into your hands by desertersand traitors."
"What are your questions?"
"First, is Professor Volnow in the building?"
"He is."
"Then I must ask you to send for him at once."
It went sorely against the grain of the servant of the Tsar toacquiesce in the demand of an outlaw, but there was nothing else forit. The outlaw could blow him and all his subordinates into spacewith a pressure of his finger; and so he sent an orderly with arequest for the presence of the professor. Meanwhile Mazanoffcontinued--
"An air-ship similar to this arrived here three days ago, I believe?"
The officer bit his lips with rage at his helpless position, andbowed affirmatively.
"And certain articles were taken out of her for examination here--twogas cylinders and a projectile, I believe?"
Again the officer bowed, wondering how on earth the Terrorist couldhave come by such accurate information.
"And the air-ship has been sent on to the seat of war, while theProfessor is trying to discover the composition of the gases and theexplosive used in the shell?" went on Mazanoff, risking a last shotat the truth.
The officer did not bow this time. Giving way at last to his risingfury, he stamped on the ground and almost screamed--
"Great God! you insolent scoundrel! Why do you ask me questions whenyou know the answers as well as I do, and better? Yes, we have gotone of your diabolical ships of the air, and we will build a fleetlike it and hunt you from the
world!"
"All in good time, my dear sir," replied Mazanoff ironically. "Whenyou have found a place in which to build them that we cannot blow offthe face of the earth before you get one finished. Meanwhile, let mebeg of you to keep your temper, and to remember that there is a ladypresent. That girl standing yonder by the gun was once stripped andflogged by Russians calling themselves men and soldiers. Her fingersare itching to make the movement that would annihilate you and everyone standing near you, so pray try keep your temper; for if we fire ashot the air-ships up yonder will at once open fire, and not stopwhile there is a stone of that building left upon another. Ah! herecomes the Professor."
As he spoke the man of science advanced, looking wonderingly at theair-ship. Mazanoff made a sign to the old officer to keep silence,and continued in the same polite tone that he had used all along--
"Good evening, Professor! I have come to ask you whether you have yetmade any experiments on the contents of the shell and the twocylinders that were given to you for examination?"
"I must first ask for your authority to put such an inquiry to me ona confidential subject," replied the Professor stiffly.
"On the authority given me by the power to enforce an answer, sir,"returned the Terrorist quietly. "I know that Professor Volnow willnot lie to me, even at the order of the Tsar, and when I tell youthat your refusal to reply will cost the lives of every one here, andpossibly involve the destruction of Petersburg itself, I feel surethat, as a mere matter of humanity, you will comply with my request."
"Sir, the orders of my master are absolute secrecy on this subject,and I will obey them to the death. I have analysed the contents ofone of the cylinders, but what they are I will tell to no one save bythe direct command of his Majesty. That is all I have done."
"Then in that case, Professor, I must ask you to surrender yourselfprisoner of war, and to come on board this vessel at once."
As Mazanoff said this the _Ariel_ dropped to within ten feet of theground, and a rope-ladder fell over the side.
"Come, Professor, there is no time to be lost. I shall give the orderto fire in one minute from now."
He took out his watch, and began to count the seconds. Ten, twenty,thirty passed and the Professor stood irresolute. Two of the_Ariel's_ guns pointed at the gables of the Arsenal, and two sweptthe crowded space in front.
Konstantin Volnow knew enough to see clearly the frightful slaughterand destruction that twenty seconds more would bring if he refused togive himself up. As Mazanoff counted "forty" he threw up his handswith a gesture of despair, and cried--
"Stop! I will come. The Tsar has as good servants as I am! Colonel,tell his Majesty that I gave myself up to save the lives of bettermen."
Then the Professor mounted the ladder amidst a murmur of relief andapplause from the crowd, and, gaining the deck of the _Ariel_, bowedcoldly to Mazanoff and said--
"I am your prisoner, sir!"
The captain of the _Ariel_ bowed in reply, and stamped thrice on thedeck. The fan-wheels whirled round, and the air-ship rapidlyascended, at the same time moving diagonally across the quadrangle ofthe Arsenal.
Scarcely had she reached the other side when there was a tremendousexplosion in the north-eastern angle of the building. A sheet offlame shot up through the roof, the walls split asunder, and massesof stone, wood, and iron went flying in all directions, leaving onlya fiercely burning mass of ruins where the gable had been.
The Professor turned ashy pale, staggered backwards with both hishands clasped to his head, and gasped out brokenly as he stared atthe conflagration--
"God have mercy on me! My laboratory! My assistant--I told him"--
"What did you tell him, Professor?" said Mazanoff sternly, graspinghim suddenly by the arm.
"I told him not to open the other cylinder."
"And he has done so, and paid for his disobedience with his life,"said Mazanoff calmly. "Console yourself, my dear sir! He has onlysaved me the trouble of destroying your laboratory. I serve a sternerand more powerful master than yours. He ordered me to make yourexperiments impossible if it cost a thousand lives to do so, and Iwould have done it if necessary. Rest content with the knowledge thatyou have saved, not only the rest of the Arsenal, but alsoPetersburg, by your surrender; for sooner than that secret had beenrevealed, we should have laid the city in ruins to slay the man whohad discovered it."
The prisoner of the Terrorists made no reply, but turned away insilence to watch the rapidly receding building, in the angle of whichthe flames were still raging furiously. A few minutes later the_Ariel_ had rejoined her consorts. Her captain at once went on boardthe flagship to make his report and deliver up his prisoner to Natas,who looked sharply at him and said--
"Professor, will you give me your word of honour to attempt nocommunication with the earth while it may be found necessary todetain you? If not, I shall be compelled to keep you in strictconfinement till it is beyond your power to do so."
"Sir, I give you my word that I will not do so," said the Professor,who had now somewhat regained his composure.
"Very well," replied Natas. "Then on that condition you will be madefree of the vessel, and we will make you as comfortable as we can.Captain Arnold, full speed to the south-westward, if you please."
The Angel of the Revolution: A Tale of the Coming Terror Page 28
