mechanical devices which The Kingbird could
riding with it. The motors of The Kingbird’s
not at that moment classify, hut which
plane continued to revolve, for he did not wish
suggested, in their business-like array, that
to betray himself just yet by disturbing the
this was a war-craft.
equilibrium of the machine below.
Yet it was not these which claimed
Out of the control-cabin he climbed,
The Kingbird’s attention. At the moment of
and dropped easily over the gunwale to the
his entrance, the group at the table had been
roof of the strange craft. He moved silently,
facing one who sat apart from them; a
though with precision, for now and then as he
youngish man, slender and dark, and more
exposed himself to the rushing air, it seemed
brilliantly-attired than the others. Young he
that a fierce gale tore at him, sought to wrench was, though at first glance he seemed middle-him loose. But in a moment he was sheltered
aged; his hair was wispy and thin on top, and
Amazing Stories
6
his rather staring eyes were marked with dark
of the scene, as he stood there, flash-pistol in pouches which told of long dissipation. He
hand. Masking his own thoughts so that they
had been speaking when The Kingbird could read no more than he chose to convey, entered; a jest, perhaps, for his mouth was
he shot at them one command:
now frozen in a grimace that suggested “Hands
up!”
humor. But now he was on his feet with the
The group saw the weapon The
rest of them, his full lips and weak chin Kingbird held, and decided that it was that trembling.
deadly and contraband side-arm, the ray
As for The Kingbird, he suddenly felt
pistol. The Heir gasped, and impulsively lifted
faint as the astounding audacity of the thing he his hands, the others hastily following suit.
had done smote him. He had captured the
For the moment, The Kingbird held
plane of The Heir—the Crown Prince!
trump cards. Yet at any instant, the radiophone
Of all that vast and sinister fleet bound
might give the alarm to other hostile craft. It
on its mission of destruction, fortune had was an exigency which he had considered in decreed that he should board the one most
planning this coup, relying upon the
precious craft of all, the plane carrying the son probability that the delicate microphone
of The Autocrat, that stern and war-like old
secured to the roof of the cabin would have
ruler whose grandest gesture of defiance at
been switched off, so that idle conversation—
peace-loving humanity was this flight of thought-transference being used only when death-laden craft!
speed was necessary—would not be broadcast
through the ether. A moment later The
MORE than that. Here, too, was the brains of
Kingbird knew that his guess had been
the flotilla. This weakling was in full correct.
command, although no more than the puppet
For he saw one of the pilot’s hands
of the wise old councillors who surrounded
reach for a black knob on the wall—and The
him. A heaven-sent opportunity for any Kingbird surmised that it controlled the switch martyr! In one instant, The Kingbird could
to the radiophone. As the man touched the
strike a blow that would break the spirit of the switch, The Kingbird’s flash-pistol swung
old conqueror overseas. Without a qualm, The
toward him; there was an intense white flare
Autocrat might see ten thousand of his lasting not more than the thousandth part of a subjects perish in his behalf—yet the kingdom
second—and the pilot staggered back, hands
itself was not too great a price to pay for the
clapped to his eyes. One of the group of
safety of this shivering youth who was his son.
officers, furtively reaching with his foot for a World domination would not solace the push-button beneath the table, gave a muffled warlord, if The Heir, pampered wastrel, did
cry, and dropped to the floor, as that blinding
not come back alive.
flare of the flash-pistol came once more.
No word was spoken; none was
“G-G-God!” stuttered The Heir in a
needed, for these high officers were of the
horrified whisper, his throat working
intellectual class to which The Kingbird convulsively. But he kept his hands aloft.
himself belonged, and they scorned speech
Still The Kingbird held trumps. The
when thought-transference was so much more
plane was now pilotless: but its automatic
rapid in such a critical situation as this. A
control kept it to its course and speed.
barrage of hostile, challenging questions was
Nevertheless, the situation called for swift
hurled at the interloper who had materialized
decision. The Kingbird’s eyes roved about the
from nothingness, yet who was clearly master
cabin. He saw the gun-carriage mechanism of
The Winged Doom
7
the death-ray, but he was unfamiliar with its
The Kingbird jumped involuntarily, as
operation. True, he might compel one of the
his taut nerves twanged at the unexpectedness
prisoners to turn the ray on the enemy ships,
of it. The voice seemed to come from the roof
but only a few of the craft could be thus
of the cabin, where a bell-shaped horn was
destroyed before the others would discover
secured. The pilot had succeeded in
what was happening, and retaliate. Too connecting the radiophone after all! Someone clumsy.
on another of the enemy ships was calling The
There were, too, other implements Heir.
which he did not recognize. Particularly was
“Silence!” The Kingbird hurled the
his attention drawn to a row of pear-shaped
telepathic command at the group. The Heir
metal containers stowed in racks along the
had opened his mouth to reply to the call from
walls. He shot a thought-question at the the radiophone; but he closed his lips again, nearest officer, compelling answer. What he
resolutely, as the flash-pistol’s muzzle was
learned was startling.
fixed ominously upon him.
Atomic bombs? Outlawed by nations
“Highness!”
as the death-ray had been were these fiendish
contrivances, yet apparently the butchers from
AGAIN came the voice; conciliating,
abroad were overlooking no weapon, however
respectful, yet with a rising inflection that
horrible, in their determination to conquer the
indicated mild puzzlement, if not worry. But
world. Let but one of the innocent-appearing,
The Kingbird was already firing telepathic
fragile things be broken, and the object which
questions and orders at the group in the cabin.
it touched would vanish. A tall building struck
“You have an air-raft?” he queried
by one of these bombs would disintegrate into
them silently.
Before going into action, a war-
thin air. Held in leash beneath the thin, craft usually discarded the double-pontoons of metallic skins of these little bombs was a
thin, toughened aluminum which, charged
combination of mechanical and chemical with a highly-buoyant gas, were slung on the principles which achieved the goal so underside of a craft as large as this. But they earnestly sought by scientists even as far back
had kept their air-raft, it seemed, because The
as the early years of the twentieth century—
Heir was on board this ship.
the destruction of atoms; and in a moment of
“Into it, then!” commanded The
black anger, The Kingbird knew the impulse
Kingbird. The group hesitated, looking for
to crash one of the bombs to the deck, and
confirmation from their prince. “Quick!” was
wipe out not only himself, but The Heir and
the telepathic order, as The Kingbird leveled
the latter’s officers. Yet that impulse passed as the flash-pistol. The Heir made an inarticulate
quickly as it had come. A better plan occurred
sound, and the officers sprang to obey. In the
to him.
hands of this desperate stranger, whose eyes
He would deliver one stupendous, had the chill of ice and whose mental magnificent stroke at the enemy! He would
processes leaped ahead of theirs, they had
send this huge plane, laden with atomic become as children.
bombs, into the midst of the hostile war-craft,
One of them lifted a trap-door in the
to wreak what havoc it could. His mind deck, and then all stood back respectfully for formed the words of a command, but before
The Heir to descend first. As the distraught
he could convey it, a voice spoke hollowly
prince sought to do so, The Kingbird gripped
within the cabin:
his arm.
“Highness!”
“You stay with me!” His words
Amazing Stories
8
showered the group with a mental barrage.
the lever controlling the vacuum-cups which
“His life depends upon your quick obedience,”
fastened his craft to the doomed ship below.
The Kingbird told them. He could feel the arm
A lurch, and the little plane was free.
of the royal captive shaking. Still, one of the
The Kingbird, brain and muscles working at
officers demurred; but it was significant that
top speed, sent his machine into a volplane.
he did not utter his complaint aloud.
Yet as they went down, with the frantic
“We are above the sea,” said his prisoner literally hanging on for his life, the thoughts. “We shall drown—”
buccaneer caught a glimpse of a dramatic
“Highness!”
thing taking place in the air above.
The voice again! Suspicion, alarm was
The enemy planes were striving
in it. The Kingbird’s features hardened. He
desperately to escape from the terrible fate
faced the hesitant officer.
about to overtake them. There was no time to
“You dare not take such a chance?” he
consider what had happened; it was merely
began. “Very well, then—” The flash-pistol
apparent that the plane of The Heir was
was turned full on the face of the crown beyond control and, laden with its atomic prince.
bombs, was coming at them like an aroused
But the first of the group had dropped
demon. Like a flock of birds startled by a
through the trap-door, and his action broke the
swooping hawk, they broke formation, darting
resistance of the others. The Kingbird this way and that.
slammed down the trapdoor, and an instant
So skilled were their aviators, that it
later the big plane jerked upward slightly;
seemed the purpose would be accomplished;
there was a muffled cry which ended abruptly,
but luck deserted them at the last moment.
and The Kingbird knew that he stood alone
One side-slipping plane hooked a wing-tip
with his royal captive.
into that of a neighbor; and other machines,
The voice from the radiophone spoke
driving close behind in the race with death,
no more, but The Kingbird, peering through
were forced to change course. Within the
an observation-port nearest him, saw that a
space of a second, they became a wildly
change was taking place in the enemy fleet—
disordered mass—and the careening plane of
the ships were slowing down, massing to right
The Heir struck full in the center of them. The
and left of the royal plane.
Kingbird saw an astonishing thing happen.
With no fear of The Heir, the
What seemed like a broken cloud
buccaneer jumped for the controls. The big
obscured the spot for a moment, and then the
plane speeded up, overtook the enemy ships,
air was clear. But where more than two score
was at the forefront of the immensely long
great enemy ships had been milling an instant
line. And when this happened, he jammed the
before, there was nothing but space. There had
controls hard over.
been no flash, no sound of an explosion;
Instantly the great machine banked nothing more than a single vaporous puff, as sharply, swung half around and, gathering the atomic bombs, jarred by the collision, had speed quickly once more, went charging at
been set off, consuming everything they had
right angles at the nearest enemy machine.
touched. The Kingbird shuddered, suddenly
The Heir was pawing at The Kingbird in sick at the pit of his stomach.
sudden terror, but the next moment the sky-
And now consternation ran the length
pirate was driving him aft, and out of the
of the mighty rank. Nearer and nearer, the
cabin. Up over the gunwale of the small plane
flight was approaching the American
they scrambled, and The Kingbird kicked at
defenders; but for the moment the attackers
The Winged Doom
9
were numbed by the thought that The Heir
The Kingbird thrilled at sight of it.
was gone, and with him a number of the finest
America had given her military secrets to the
war-craft. What would The Autocrat, the royal
world as rapidly as her scientists had perfected father, say and do when he learned of it? Not
them, yet she was not utterly destitute of
an officer in that vast armada who did not
defensive tactics. The Kingbird knew that he
blanch at thought of it.
was witnessing a demonstration of the new
vacuum-grenades, as yet in an experimental
YET The Heir’s death could be avenged! With
stage, and not fully developed to a point where
his own radiophone switched on now, The
their discovery would be made public. It was
Kingbird heard commands going from ship to
known that when shot from magnetic guns at
ship, as some ranking officer took charge.
close range, they created a perfect vacuum in a
Only the sudden
confusion of the enemy, and
radius of several hundred feet from where they
his own swift drop earthward had saved The
exploded. The sudden change from normal air
Kingbird from discovery.
pressure to a perfect vacuum, and the ensuing
Down the long line of the flight, pale
concussion when the air-envelope collapsed
beams, like ghostly fingers, crept forth, again, would be fatal to any human being. A groping for victims. He saw one of these plane, relieved suddenly of supporting air-death-rays touch an American machine that
pressure, would drop—to crumple when it
was well out in front; saw it crumple, and go
again struck the wall of air as though it had
down, glowing at white heat. It seemed that
smashed on a rock. Heavy detonations that
his hopes went down with it, for surely there
came to The Kingbird’s ears, as the air rushed
could be no withstanding such a terrible force
again into the vacuum, told him that his guess
as this.
was correct.
Now the two forces were fairly
Yet there could not be many vacuum-
engaged. Flickering here and there among the
grenades on hand; there had not been time to
American machines went the hostile death-
manufacture them in quantities. Already, The
rays; but so close had the opposing squadrons
Kingbird saw, the fury of the defense was
come together that occasionally the enemy’s
waning; once more the tide of battle was
death-rays caught one of its own craft. But the
going with the invaders. Yet both sides were
Americans were not escaping these deadly
losing planes; wrecked machines were fairly
shafts of light. Now and then the gloom of the
raining out of the air, but the Americans were
heavens would be lightened by the sudden
vastly outnumbered.
glow of a stricken plane; and the machine,
These things he saw during that fearful
with its crew dead in a heat of more than
The Winged Doom by Kenneth Gilbert Page 2
