CHAPTER XXVIII.
A SKIRMISH IN THE CLOUDS.
A few minutes after two on the following morning, that is to say onthe 28th, the electric signal leading from the conning-tower of the_Ithuriel_ to the wall of Arnold's cabin, just above his berth,sounded. As it was only permitted to be used on occasions of urgency,he knew that his presence was immediately required forward for somegood reason, and so he turned out at once, threw a dressing-gown overhis sleeping suit, and within three minutes was standing in theconning-tower beside Andrew Smith, whose watch it then happened tobe.
"Well, Smith, what's the matter?"
"Fleet of war-balloons coming up from the south'ard, sir. You canjust see 'em, sir, coming on in line under that long bank of cloud."
The captain of the _Ithuriel_ took the night-glasses, and lookedeagerly in the direction pointed out by his keen-eyed coxswain. Assoon as he picked them up he had no difficulty in making out twelvesmall dark spots in line at regular intervals sharply defined againsta band of light that lay between the earth and a long dark bank ofclouds.
It was a division of the Tsar's aerial fleet, returning from somework of death and destruction in the south to rejoin the main forcebefore Berlin. Arnold's course was decided on in an instant. He saw achance of turning the tables on his Majesty in a fashion that hewould find as unpleasant as it would be unexpected. He turned to hiscoxswain and said--
"How is the wind, Smith?"
"Nor'-nor'-west, with perhaps half a point more north in it, sir.About a ten-knot breeze--at least that's the drift that Mr. Marston'sallowing for."
"Yes, that's near enough. Then those fellows, if they are going fullspeed, are coming up at about twenty miles an hour, or not quitethat. They're nearly twenty miles off, as nearly as I can judge inthis light. What do you make it?"
"That's about it, sir; rather less than more, if anything, to mymind."
"Very well, then. Now signal to stop, and send up the fan-wheels; andtell the _Ariel_ and the _Orion_ to close up and speak."
"Ay, ay, sir," said the coxswain, as he saluted and disappeared.Arnold at once went back to his cabin and dressed, telling his secondofficer, Frank Marston, a young Englishman, whom he had chosen totake Mazanoff's place, to do the same as quietly as possible, as hedid not wish to awaken any of his three passengers just at present.
By the time he got on deck the three air-ships had slowed downconsiderably, and the two consorts of the _Ithuriel_ were within easyspeaking distance. Mazanoff and Tremayne were both on deck, and tothem he explained his plans as follows--
"There are a dozen of the Tsar's war-balloons coming up yonder to thesouthward, and I am going to head them off and capture the lot if Ican. If we can do that, we can make what terms we like for thesurrender of the _Lucifer_.
"You two take your ships and get to windward of them as fast as youcan. Keep a little higher than they are, but not much. On no accountlet one of them get above you. If they try to descend, give each onethat does so a No. 1 shell, and blow her up. If one tries to passyou, ram her in the upper part of the gas-holder, and let her downwith a smash.
"I am going up above them to prevent any of them from rising too far.They can outfly us in that one direction, so I shall blow any thatattempt it into little pieces. If you have to fire on any of them,don't use more than No. 1; you'll find that more than enough.
"Keep an eye on me for signals, and remember that the whole fleetmust be destroyed rather than one allowed to escape. I want to givethe Tsar a nice little surprise. He seems to be getting a good dealtoo cock-sure about these old gas-bags of his, and it's time to givehim a lesson in real aerial warfare."
There was not a great newspaper in the world that would not havegiven a very long price to have had the privilege of putting aspecial correspondent on the deck of the _Ithuriel_ for the two hourswhich followed the giving of Arnold's directions to his brothercommanders of the little squadron. The journal which could havepublished an exclusive account of the first aerial skirmish in thehistory of the world would have scored a triumph which would haveleft its competitors a long way behind in the struggle to be "up todate."
As soon as Arnold had given his orders, the three air-ships at onceseparated. The _Ariel_ and the _Orion_ shot away to the southward ononly a slightly upward course, while the _Ithuriel_ soared up beyondthe stratum of clouds which lay in thin broken masses rather morethan four thousand feet above the earth.
It was still rather more than an hour before sunrise, and, as themoon had gone down, and the clouds intercepted most of the starlight,it was just "the darkest hour before the dawn," and therefore themost favourable for the carrying out of the plan that Arnold had inview.
Shortly after half-past two he knocked at Natasha's cabin-door, andsaid--
"If you would like to see an aerial battle, get up and come into theconning-tower at once. We have overtaken a squadron of Russianwar-balloons, and we are going either to capture or destroy them."
"Glorious!" exclaimed Natasha, wide awake in an instant at suchstartling news. "I'll be with you in five minutes. Tell my father,and please don't begin till I come."
"I shouldn't think of opening the ball without your ladyship'spresence," laughed Arnold in reply, and then he went and called Natasand his attendant and the Professor before going to theconning-tower, where in a very few minutes he was joined by Natasha.The first words she said were--
"I have told Ivan to send us some coffee as soon as he has attendedto my father. You see how thoughtful I am for your creature comforts.Now, where are the war-balloons?"
"Come now, and fire the first shot in the warfare ofthe future."
_See page 211._]
"On the other side of those clouds. There, look down through that bigrift, and you will see one of them."
"Why, what a height we must be from the earth! The balloon looks likea little toy thing, but it must be a great clumsy contrivance for allthat."
"The barometer gives five thousand three hundred feet. You will soonsee why I have come up so high. The balloons can rise to fifteen ortwenty thousand feet, if they wish to, and in that way they couldeasily escape us; therefore, if one of them attempts to rise throughthose clouds, I shall send him back to earth in little bits."
"And what are the other two air-ships doing?"
"They are below the clouds, heading the balloons off from the Russiancamp, which is about fifty miles to the north-westward. Ha! look,there go the searchlights!"
As he spoke, two long converging beams of light darted across a broadspace of sky that was free from cloud. They came from the _Ariel_ andthe _Orion_, which thus suddenly revealed themselves to theastonished and disgusted Russians, one at each end of their longline, and only a little more than half a mile ahead of it.
The searchlights flashed to and fro along the line, plainly showingthe great masses of the aerostats' gas-holders, with their longslender cars beneath them. A blue light was burnt on the largest ofthe war-balloons, and at once the whole flotilla began to ascendtowards the clouds, followed by the two air-ships.
"Here they come!" said Arnold, as he saw them rising through acloud-rift. "Come out and watch what happens to the first one thatshows herself."
He went out on deck, followed by Natasha, and took his place by oneof the broadside guns. At the same time he gave the order for the_Ithuriel's_ searchlight to be turned on, and to sweep thecloud-field below her. Presently a black rounded object appearedrising through the clouds like a whale coming to the surface of thesea.
He trained the gun on to it as it came distinctly into view, and saidto Natasha--
"Come, now, and fire the first shot in the warfare of the future. Putyour finger on the button, and press when I tell you."
Natasha did as he told her, and at the word "Fire!" pressed thelittle ivory button down. The shell struck the upper envelope of theballoon, passed through, and exploded. A broad sheet of flame shotup, brilliantly illuminating the sea of cloud for an instant, and allwas darkness again. A few seconds late
r there came another blaze, andthe report of a much greater explosion from below the clouds.
"What was that?" asked Natasha.
"That was the car full of explosives striking the earth and going offpromiscuously," replied Arnold. "There isn't as much of that aerostatleft as would make a pocket-handkerchief or a walking-stick."
"And the crew?"
"Never knew what happened to them. In the new warfare people will notbe merely killed, they will be annihilated."
"Horrible!" exclaimed Natasha, with a shudder. "I think you may dothe rest of the shooting. The effects of that shot will last me forsome time. Look, there's another of them coming up!"
The words were hardly out of her mouth before Arnold had crossed tothe other side of the deck and sped another missile on its errand ofdestruction with almost exactly the same result as before. Thissecond shot, as it was afterwards found, threw the Russian squadroninto complete panic.
The terrific suddenness with which the two aerostats had beendestroyed convinced those in command of the others that there was alarge force of air-ships above the clouds ready to destroy them oneby one as they ascended. Arnold waited for a few minutes, and then,seeing that no others cared to risk the fate that had overwhelmed thefirst two that had sought to cross the cloud-zone, sank rapidlythrough it, and then stopped again.
He found himself about six hundred feet above the rest of thesquadron. The _Ithuriel_ coming thus suddenly into view, her eightguns pointing in all directions, and her searchlight flashing hitherand thither as though seeking new victims, completed thedemoralisation of the Russians. For all they knew there were stillmore air-ships above the clouds. Even this one could not be passedwhile those mysterious guns of unknown range and infallible aim weresweeping the sky, ready to hurl their silent lightnings in everydirection.
Ascend they dare not. To descend was to be destroyed in detail asthey lay helpless upon the earth. There was only one chance ofescape, and that was to scatter. The commander of the squadron atonce signalled for this to be done, and the aerostats headed away toall points of the compass. But here they had reckoned without theincomparable speed of their assailants.
Before they had moved a hundred yards from their common centre the_Ariel_ and the _Orion_ headed away in different directions, and inan inconceivably short space of time had described a complete circleround them, and then another and another, narrowing each circle thatthey made. One of the aerostats, watching its opportunity, put onfull speed and tried to get outside the narrowing zone. She hadalmost succeeded, when the _Orion_ swerved outwards and dashed at herwith the ram.
In ten seconds she was overtaken. The keen steel prow of theair-ship, driven at more than a hundred miles an hour, ripped hergas-holder from end to end as if it had been tissue paper. Itcollapsed like broken bubble, and the wreck, with its five occupantsand its load of explosives, dropped like a stone to the earth, threethousand feet below, exploding like one huge shell as it struck.
This was the last blow struck in the first aerial battle in thehistory of warfare. The Russians had no stomach for this kind offighting. It was all very well to sail over armies and fortresses onthe earth and drop shells upon them without danger of retaliation;but this was an entirely different matter.
Three of the aerostats had been destroyed in little more than as manyminutes, so utterly destroyed that not a vestige of them remained,and the whole squadron had not been able to strike a blow inself-defence. They carried no guns, not even small arms, for they hadno use for them in the work that they had to do. There were only twoalternatives before them--surrender or piecemeal destruction.
As soon as she had destroyed the third aerostat, the _Orion_ swervedround again, and began flying round the squadron as before in anopposite direction to the _Ariel_. None of the aerostats made anattempt to break the strange blockage again. As the circles narrowedthey crowded closer and closer together, like a flock of sheepsurrounded by wolves.
Meanwhile the _Ithuriel_, floating above the centre of the disorderedsquadron, descended slowly until she hung a hundred feet above thehighest of them. Then Arnold with his searchlight flashed a signal tothe _Ariel_ which at once slowed down, the _Orion_ continuing on hercircular course as before.
As soon as the _Ariel_ was going slowly enough for him to makehimself heard, Mazanoff shouted through a speaking-trumpet--
"Will you surrender, or fight it out?"
"_Nu vot_! how can we fight with those devil-ships of yours? What isyour pleasure?"
The answering hail came from one of the aerostats in the centre ofthe squadron. Mazanoff at once replied--
"Unconditional surrender for the present, under guarantee of safetyto every one who surrenders. Who are you?"
"Colonel Alexei Alexandrovitch, in command of the squadron. Isurrender on those terms. Who are you?"
"The captain of the Terrorist air-ship _Ariel_. Be good enough tocome out here, Colonel Alexei Alexandrovitch."
One of the aerostats moved out of the midst of the Russian squadronand made its way towards the _Ariel_. As she approached Mazanoffswung his bow round and brought it level with the car of theaerostat, at the same time training one of his guns full on it. Then,with his arm resting on the breach of the gun, he said,--
"Come on board, Colonel, and bid your balloon follow me. No nonsense,mind, or I'll blow you into eternity and all your squadron afteryou."
The Russian did as he was bidden, and the _Ariel_, followed by theaerostat, ascended to the _Ithuriel_, while the _Orion_ kept up herpatrol round the captive war-balloons.
"Colonel Alexandrovitch, in command of the Tsar's aerial squadron,surrenders unconditionally, save for guarantee of personal safety tohimself and his men," reported Mazanoff, as he came within earshot ofthe flagship.
"Very good," replied Arnold from the deck of the _Ithuriel_. "You willkeep Colonel Alexandrovitch as hostage for the good behaviour of therest, and shoot him the moment one of the balloons attempts toescape. After that destroy the rest without mercy. They will form inline close together. The _Ariel_ and the _Orion_ will convoy them oneither flank, and you will follow me until you have the signal tostop. On the first suspicion of any attempt to escape you will knowwhat to do. You have both handled your ships splendidly."
Mazanoff saluted formally, more for the sake of effect than anythingelse, and descended again to carry out his orders. The capturedflotilla was formed in line, the balloons being closed up until therewas only a couple of yards or so between any of them and her nextneighbour, with the _Orion_ and the _Ariel_ to right and left, eachwith two guns trained on them, and the _Ithuriel_ flying a couple ofhundred feet above them. In this order captors and captured madetheir way at twenty miles an hour to the north-west towards theheadquarters of the Tsar.
The Angel of the Revolution: A Tale of the Coming Terror Page 29
