 Chapter 11 The Snake in Eden No more perfect place could have been imagined for an exchange of confidences and sympathy between two girls situated as Alma and Isma were than the oval, daintily-cushioned interior of the signer, as Isma had called her swan-proud craft. Skirting the mountains at a distance of about five hundred yards from them, and at a height of about as many feet from the summits of the undulating foothills below, the signer sped quietly along at a speed of some twenty-five miles an hour. The temperature of the tropic night was so soft and warm and the air was so dry that it was not even necessary for them to make use of the light wraps that lay in the stern of the boat. Isma reclined in the after part of the broad, low seat, which ran around the inside, with one hand resting lightly upon a little silver lever, which could be used for working the rudder fan, in addition to the tiller ropes, which she held in her hands while standing up. Alma sat almost upright amid ships, with one hand clasped on the rail of polished satin wood, which ran round the well of the boat. Her head turned away from Isma, and her eyes fixed upon two dim points of light, far away to the southward, which marked the position of the two moonlit, snowy peaks which guarded the southern confines of the valley. For several minutes they proceeded thus in silence, which neither seemed inclined to break. At length Isma looked up at a planet that was shining redly over the northern mountains and, possessed by a sudden inspiration, said, Look, Alma, there is Mars returning to our skies. Yes, said Alma, turning around and gazing from beneath her slightly frowning brows at the ruddy planet. It is a fitting time for him to come back now that after all these years of peace and happiness, human wickedness and ambition have brought the curse of war back again on earth. Yes, said Isma, if there were anything in what the oldest astrologers used to say, we could look upon his rising as an omen, and yet we have very little reason, surely, for taking us an emblem of war, a world in which wars have been unheard of for thousands of years. I wonder when that time will come on earth, said Alma bitly, if ever it does. We terrestrials seem to be too hopelessly wicked and foolish for such wisdom as that. Mankind will never have a fairer opportunity of working out its redemption than it had after the terror, and yet here, after four generations of peaceful happiness and prosperity, the wickedness of one woman is able to set the world ablaze again. Our forefathers were wise, but they would have been wiser still if they had stamped that vile brood out utterly. Their evil blood has been the one drop of venom that has poisoned our world's cup of happiness. As Alma spoke these last words, her grey eyes grew dark with sudden passion under her straight drawn brows. Her breast heaved with a sudden wave of emotion, and the sentences came quickly and fiercely from the lips which Isma had never heard speak in anger before. Yes, she replied, rather sadly than angrily. Perhaps it would have been better for the world if they had done so, or at any rate if they had shut them up for life as they did the criminals and the insane in the middle of the last century. But we must remember, even in our own sorrow and anger, that this Og Romanov is in her way, not altogether unlike our own Angel was in hers. Surely you speaking sacrilege now? Interrupted Alma. How can the evil be like the good under any circumstances? No, I'm not, said Isma, with a smile. Remember how Natasha was trained up by the master in undying hate of Russian tyranny, and how she inherited the legacy of revenge from her mother and him. No doubt this Olga has done the same, and she has been taught to look upon us, as the terrorists looked upon the Tsar and his family. We are the descendants of those who flung her ancestor from the throne. Extinguished his dynasty, and sent him to die in Siberia, I would kill her with my own hand if I could, and believe that I was ridding the world of a curse. But surely we two daughters of Siberia are wise enough to be just, even to such an enemy as she is. But she has done worse than kill us, Alma almost hissed between her clenched teeth. If she had a thousand lives and we took them one by one, they would not expediate her crime against us, or equal a hopeless misery that she has brought upon us. What is mere death, the swift transaction from one stage of existence to another, compared with the hopeless death in life to which her wanton wickedness has condemned you and me, or to the calamities which she has brought upon the world? It is nothing I grant you, said Isma. But still, I do not agree with you about the hopeless death in life, as you call it. Our present sorrow is great and heavy enough, God knows. But for me at least it is not hopeless. Nor will it be for you, when the first stress of the storm is over. What do you mean? cried Alma, almost as fiercely as before, and leaning forward and looking through the dusk into her face, as though she had hardly credited her ears. Do you mean to say that either you or I could ever? Yes, said Isma, interrupting her, and speaking now with eager animation. Yes, I mean just what you were going to say, and some day I believe you will think as I do. Alma shook her head in mournful incredulity, and Isma noticing the gesture went on. Yes, you will. The reason that you do not agree with me now is that yours is a deeper and stronger nature than mine. You are like the sea, and I am like the lake. Your grief and anger struck you dumb at first. You were in a stupor when I found you on the terrace. And now the depths of your nature are broken up, and the storm is raging. Until it is over, you will see nothing but your own sorrow and anger. But with me, the storm broke out at once, and I ran to my room and threw myself upon my bed, and sobbed and wailed until my mother thought I was going mad. You have not wept yet, and it will be well for you when you do. Your nature is prouder than mine, and it will take longer to melt, but it must melt sometime, for we are both women, after all, and then you will see hope through your tears as I did. Alma shook her head again and said in a low, sad, steady voice, I can never see hope until I can see Alan as he was when he left me, and you know that is impossible. You will never see him again as he was, replied Isma gently, but that is no reason why you should not see him better than he was. Better? exclaimed Alma, with an involuntary note of scorn in her voice, which brought a quick flush to Isma's cheek, and a flash into her eyes for her brother's sake. Better? How can that be? Just as the man who has fallen and risen again of his own native strength is better and stronger than the man who has never been tempted, replied Isma almost hotly. Remember the lessons we have learned from the people of Mars, since we learned to communicate with them? You know how they have gone through civilization after civilization, until they have refined everything out of human nature that makes it human, except their animal existence and their intellectual faculties. They have no passions and they make no mistakes. What we call love, they call sexual suitability, the mechanical arrangement into which they have refined our ruling passion. Do you remember how almost impossible Vesilis, after he had perfected the code of signals, found it to make even their brightest and most advanced intellects understand the meaning of jealousy? The skilfully aimed shot struck home instantly, a bright wave of colour swept from Isma's throat up to her brow. Her eyes shone like two pale fires in the dusk, and her hand grasped the rail on which she was resting till the bones and sinews stood out distinct in it. She seemed to grasp for breath the moment before she found her voice, but when she spoke her tone seemed to ring and vibrate like a bell in the sudden strength of her unloosed passion. Yes, she said. Yes, you innocent-looking little Isma, you are wiser than I am after all. I did not know the meaning of that word, till August's letter fell from the sky. But I know it now. My God, how I hate that woman. She is not a woman, replied Isma, speaking in the unconscious pride of her pure descent. She is a base-born animal, for she has used her beauty for the vilest ends. Yes, I am glad to hear you say that you hate her for Alan's sake, as I do, and, and for Alexis. While you can hate, you can love, and someday you will love Alan, the real Alan, not your ideal lover, all the better because you have hated Olga for his sake. What? almost wailed Alma in the intensity of her anger and misery, after he has held in his arms, after his lips have kissed her, after? Yes, even after that. When your first bitterness has passed, as mine has, you will be more just and remember the influence under which he did so, if he did. Do you hold yourself responsible for what you think or do in your dreams? Or do you not believe what Alan said, in his letter about the drug? You know too much about chemistry, not to know that such horrible poisons have existed for centuries. Yes, I know that, and I know that he has no share in the moral guilt. But how can I ever forget? He has been what those cruel words of Olga told us, she had made of him, replied Alma, her face growing cold and hard again as she spoke. Alma, said Isma, with gentle dignity, yet with a note of keen reproach in her voice. Surely, you are forgetting that you are speaking of my brother, as well as of your lover. No, I'm not angry, for I am too sad myself not to understand your sorrow. But I want you to remember that I, who have lost both a lover and a brother, am asking you to be patient and to hope with me. We have never seen Alan and Alexis as they are. We only remember them as two handsome boys who had never seen or known evil. When we meet them again, as I firmly believe we shall, they will be men who have passed through the fire, for if they do not pass through it, and come out stronger and better than they were. Rest assured, we shall never meet on earth again. Alan would no more come to you now than you would go to him. When he believes himself worthy of you, he will come for you, as Alexis will come for me, and then. She stopped short in her eloquent pleading, for Alma at last melted and overcome by her sweet unselfishness and loving logic, had felt the springs of her own woman's nature unloosed, and with a low wailing cry had sunk down upon the cushions towards her, and was sobbing out her sorrow on her lap. Isma said nothing more, for her end was achieved. She laid her left hand caressingly on Alma's hair, and with her right she pulled the steering lever back, and swung the stigma round until her prow pointed towards home again. When they reached the villa they found the President's private yacht resting on the terrace, for Alan's father and mother had come over after the council meeting to discuss with Alma's parents the more intimate family aspect of the strange events, which had cleared up in such terrible fashion the mystery which had so long shrouded the fate of the sons of the two families in area. So revolting was the idea of their mental servitude to such an enemy of the human race as they could not but believe Olga Romanov to be, and so frightful with the consequences that must infallibly before humanity in consequence of it that their parents would rather have known them dead than living under such degrading circumstances. To the Aryans, far advance as they were beyond the standards of the present day, both in religion and philosophy, the conception of death was one which included no terrors and no more regret than was natural and common to all humanity at parting with a kinsman or a friend. As they were destined to prove, when face to face with a crisis unparalleled in the history of humanity they regarded death merely as a natural and necessary transition from one state of existence to another, which would be higher or lower according to the preponderance of good or evil done in this life. If therefore the parents and kinsmen of those who were now exiles and wanderers upon the ocean waste could have chosen, they would infinitely rather have known that Alan and Alexis had shared the fate of their companions in the Norwegian Snowdrift, then they would have learnt that for six years they had been the slaves and playthings of a woman who, as they guessed from Alan's letter, combined the ambition of a Ceriramis with the vices of a Messalina, and who had used their skill and knowledge which they had acquired and inherited as princes of the air with the avowed purpose of subverting the dominion of Aria and doing all that their ancestors had done and bringing back the evil era of strife, bloodshed and political slavery. So too with Alma, as she had told Isma she would a thousand times rather have seen her lover dead than degraded to such base uses, although she, like everyone else in Aria, admitted that the strange circumstances absolved both Alan and Alexis from all moral blame and responsibility she, in common with her own father and mother, and perhaps also with others not less intimately concerned, found it impossible to forget or ignore the taint of such an association, and to look upon it as a stain that might never be washed away. Indeed, the only member of the family council who openly proclaimed her belief that the two exiles would, if ever they returned, come back to Aria better and stronger men than those who had known no evil was Isma, who repeated, with all the winning eloquence at her command, all the arguments that she had used to Alma during their cruise together. Whether Alma and the others would ever come round to her view could of course only be proved by time, but it is nevertheless certain that when the family council at last separated the hearts of its members, were less sore than they would have been had Alan and Alexis not possessed such an advocate as the girl who had so good a double reason for pleading their causes. End of Chapter 11 Chapter 12 of Olga Romanoff by George Griffith Chapter 12 The Battle of Kegelan The council of Aria possessed, as has already been said, four and twenty stations scattered over the oceans of the world, which it used as depots for the submarine fleets. By means of which, acting in cooperation with its aerial squadrons, it had made any attempt at naval warfare hopeless, until the disasters described at the beginning of this book proved that an enemy, in this respect at least, more powerful than itself, had successfully challenged its empire of the sea. Of these stations, the most important in the southern hemisphere was that on Kegelan Island, or Desolation land, situated at the intersection of the 49th parallel of South Latitude, with the 69th meridian of East Longitude. This lonely fragment of land in the midst of the ocean, barren of surface, and swept by the almost constant storms of long winters had been chosen, first, because of its situation on the southern limits of the Indian Ocean, equidistant between Africa and Australia, and second, because of its numerous and sheltered deep-water harbours so admirably adapted for vessels which were perfectly independent of storm. Added to this, the island contained large supplies of coal, from which the motive power of both the submarine vessels and the airships was now derived by direct conversion of its solar energy into electrical force through the secret process known only to the President and the two members of the Council. So far, the Russians had not ventured to make any attack upon this stronghold. So strongly was it defended not only by its submarine squadrons and systems of mines guarding the entrances to all the harbours, but also by the large force of airships which had been stationed there since the new naval warfare had broken out. The warning which Allen had conveyed in his letter to his father was based on the knowledge that a general attack was soon to be made upon it, both by air and sea, with the object of crippling the power of the Aryans in the Southern Ocean. No time had been lost in acting upon this warning. The aerial squadron was increased to 40, with the aerial as flagship and 20 new submarine vessels, the largest and best possessed by the Aryans, had been dispatched from Port Natal to reinforce the fleets of 35 already at Kugellen Island. With these must of course be counted the Nahuil under the command of Allen and Alexis. The strength of the attacking force could only be guessed at, as even Allen did not know it, but it was not expected that however strong a force the Russians might bring up by the sea they would be able, after the disaster of Antarctica, to muster more than a dozen airships. The Aryan headquarters was at Christmas Harbour, on the northern shore of the island. This is an admirably sheltered inlet running westward into the land between Cape Francois and Arch Point, and its upper and narrower half forms an oval basin, nearly a mile long by a quarter of a mile broad, walled in by high perpendicular basaltic cliffs, and containing a depth of water varying from two to sixteen fathoms, as compared with twenty-five to thirty fathoms in its outer half. North of the harbour, Table Mountain rises to a height of thirteen hundred feet, and to the south is a huge mass of basalt over eleven hundred feet high. On both of these elevations were mounted batteries of guns capable of throwing projectiles of great size and enormous explosive energy to a distance of several miles. There were altogether twelve of these batteries placed on various heights above the island, and the guns composing them were mounted on swivels, which enabled them to be trained so as to throw the projectile either into the sea or high up into the air. Soon, after daybreak on the fourth day after island's letter had been received, the outlook on Cape Francois, a bold mass of basalt to the north of the outer bay, telephoned, Narwell, in sight, to the settlement at the head of the harbour. Immediately, on this message being received, the commander of the station, named Max Ernstein, a man of about thirty-four and the most daring and skillful submarine navigator and engineer in the service of the council, went on board his own vessel, the catchelot, and set out to welcome the long-lost son of the president and convey him the commission which had been sent out by airship from area. The catchelot, which may as well be described here as elsewhere as a type of the submarine warship of the time, was a double-pointed cylinder built of plates of nickelized aluminium steel not riveted but electrically fused at the joints so that they formed a continuous mass equally impervious all over and presenting no seams or overlaps. The cylinder was 150 feet from point to point with a midship's diameter of 40 feet. The forward end was armed with a sheathing of azurine, the metal peculiar to the mines of area which would cut and pierce steel as a diamond cuts glass. This sheathing formed a ram which was by no means the least formidable portion of the warship's armament. The upper part of the cylinder was flattened so as to form an oval deck 40 feet long by 15 wide. A centre section of this deck, three feet wide, could be opened by means of a lateral slide which allowed of the elevation of a gun 25 feet long, which could be used either for discharging torpedoes by water or for throwing projectiles through the air. It could be aimed and fired from below the deck without the artillery's even seeing the objects aimed at, saving an arrangement of mirrors so adjusted that when the object appeared in the centre of the lowest of them the gun could be fired with the certainty of the projectile reaching its mark. Four underwater torpedo tubes, two ahead and two astern, completed the armament of the submarine warship. When underwater the deck could be hermetically closed and sliding plates could be drawn over the opening of the torpedo tubes so that from stern to stern of the cylinder there were no excrescences to impede the progress of the vessel through the water with the sole exception of a dome of thick forged glass just forward of the deck. Under which stood the helmsman who gave place to the commander of the vessel when she went into action. Her powerful four bladed screw driven by engines almost precisely similar to those of the airships gave her a maximum speed of a hundred miles an hour. The catchelot ran at 25 miles an hour down the harbour and as soon as he got abreast of Cape Francois Captain Irnstein who was standing on the deck saw a small red flag apparently rising from the waves about a mile to seaward. A similar flag was soon flying from a movable flagstaff on the catchelot and a few minutes later she was lying alongside the narwhal. This vessel was a very leviathan of the deep and as she lay three parts submerged in the water Captain Irnstein calculated that she could hardly be less than 200 feet in length and 45 in diameter amid ships. She appeared to be built on very much the same plan as the catchelot and of the same materials saving only of course the ram of Azurain which was replaced by one of nickel steel. As the catchelot got alongside a slide was drawn back in the deck of the narwhal and the head and shoulders of a man dressed in close-fitting seal fur appeared. It was Alan little change in appearance since the fatal day that he invited Olga Romanov on board the ethereal save that he had grown a moustache and beard which he wore trim somewhat in the Elizabethan style and that the Frank open expression of the boy had given place to a grave almost sad sternness which marked the man who had lived and suffered. Max Irnstein recognized him at once and saluted as though greeting a superior officer, for although all the Aryans were friends and comrades the etiquette of rank and discipline was scrupulously observed among them when on active service. What do you salute me for? said Alan gravely as he reached the deck and came to the side on which the catchelot lay. Do you not see that I am no longer wearing the golden wings? Are you the officer in command of the station? Yes, Admiral Arnold returned the other in the same formal tone and at the same time presenting the letter from the council. I suppose you have forgotten me. I am Max Irnstein in command of the naval fleet at Kugwellen. This letter will explain why I saluted and why I have come to hand over my command to you. Before he replied Alan ran his eye rapidly over the letter as he did so the pale bronze on his face flushed crimson for a moment and he turned his head away from Irnstein, brushing his hand quickly across his eyes, and then read the letter again more deliberately. Then he turned and said in a voice that he vainly strove to keep steady. This is more than I deserved or could expect, but obedience is the first duty so I accept the command. Come on board Irnstein, of course I recognize you, but until I knew how I stood with the council, I looked upon myself as an outlaw, and therefore no friend or comrade for you. The captain of the catchelot had a gangway plank brought up and passed from one vessel to the other, and in another moment he was standing beside Alan on the deck of the narwhal, and their hands were joined in a firm clasp. This is the first honest hand that I have grasped for six years, except Alexis, said Alan, as he returned the clasp with a grip that showed his physical forces had been by no means impaired by his long mental servitude. Come down to the cabin. We shall find him there. He led the way below and as soon as Alexis had been told the unexpected good news which seemed to affect him even more deeply than it had Alan, the three sat down at the table in the saloon of the narwhal, a plain but comfortably furnished room about twenty-five feet long by fifteen broad and ten high, to discuss a plan of operations in view of the expected attack on the station. Alan at once assumed the authority with which he had been invested by the council, and made minute inquiries into the nature and extent of the defending force at his disposal. I think that ought to be quite sufficient, not only to defeat but pretty well destroy any force that the Russians can bring against us, said Alan, as soon as Ernstein had finished his description. We have much more to fear from the airships than from the submarine boats, because the narwhal would give a very good account of them even by herself. Have any more vessels of the type of the ethereal been built, since the old ethereal was lost? Yes, replied Ernstein, but only ten I'm sorry to say. One of them is here, as I told you just now, but we have forty of the others and I don't suppose the Russians can bring more than a dozen against us. What do you mean? said Alan. They have fifty. Every one of them as fast and as powerful as the old ethereal. I ought to know, he continued grimly, but they were every one of them built under my own eyes. I beg your pardon, said Ernstein. I ought to have told you before now that we have already won our first victory, and that though we lost eight vessels we destroyed twenty of the Russians. And then he went on to give Alan and Alexis a rapid description of the pursuit of the revenge and the havoc wrought at the end of it by the ethereal and the aerial. That is glorious news, said Alan, but they have thirty ships at their disposal still, and I expect they will bring at least twenty of these against us. And they are all swifter than us, saving only the aerial. Of course, my command endures with the shore, but I think he will be as well if the captain of the aerial were to come on board the ethereal, so that we could arrange our plans of defence together, I for the sea, and he for the air. That why not come ashore and see him? said Ernstein. He and all of us will be delighted to see you on the island. No, said Alan, shaking his head. Alexis and I have promised each other never to leave the narwhal until the Russian sea power is crippled. The day that we set foot on dry land again will be the day that we give back the supremacy of the sea to the council. So if we two admirals of the sea and air are to meet, the commander of the aerial must come here. Very well, said Ernstein, I understand you. Write a note and I will send the catchalot back with it. She will bring him back in under half an hour, for he was up at the settlement when I left. Alan wrote the letter forthwith and the catchalot departed, returning, as her captain had said in less than half an hour, with Edward Forrest, the commander of the aerial. He was a lean, wiry, active man of about forty-five, of mixed English, Scotch and Aryan descent, with short, crispy, curly black hair, and smooth, shaven face, rather sharp, regular features, and a pair of keen gray eyes which seemed to look into the very brain of the person he was talking to, a man of prompt decisions and few words, and one of the most able aerial navigators that Aryan could boast of. He held the rank of Admiral, and was responsible for the station of Cugelan and the command of the Southern Seas. He greeted Alan and Alexis courtesely, but a trifle stiffly, as though he thought that the indiscretion had been somewhat lightly dealt with by the council. This, however, was no business of his, for the first law of Arya was the decision of the President and Council when not opened criticism by any private or official citizen whatever his rank or experience. Therefore, after reading as a matter of form the commission sent to Alan and Alexis, he addressed himself at once to the business of the moment, and before they had been discussing the plan of defence for many minutes, he was forced to admit to himself that the President's son, young as he was, was more than his master both in aerial and naval tactics. For the greater part of the morning plan after plan was discussed, thrashed out, and either accepted or thrown aside, and when he took his leave he shook hands with both Alan and Alexis far more courtely than he had done in greeting, and said, with brief, blunt candor, This is not the first time that a woman has used a man to upset the peace of the world, and I tell you honestly that I once thought you had both turned traitors, I don't think so now, and I'm heartily glad you are back, if you could only have returned three years ago a lot of trouble might have been saved, but I must confess, that you have both learned more in five years than I have in twenty. I will follow your instructions to the letter. What he's done is done, said Alan, smiling, and yet with a grave dignity that showed Admiral Forrest that, despite all that had happened, he was standing in the presence of his master. The work in hand now is to regain what we have lost. And if every man does his duty, we shall do so. I think everything is a range now, and as we have no time to lose, I will say good morning. He held out his hand as he spoke, and Admiral Forrest took his dismissal and his leave at the same time. Captain Hernstein took six men out of the catchelot, and placed them at the disposal of Alan and Alexis for the working of the narwhal, and then took his leave to execute his part of the plan of defence. It was a bitterly cold day, though the southern winter had already set in in all its severity. The sea to the north of the island was comparatively smooth, but swept every now and then with violent gusts of wind from the southwood. The sky was entirely covered by thick masses of gold-gray cloud, every now and then torn up into great rolling masses, by the sudden blasts of icy wind from the pole, which drove fierce storms of hard frozen snow across the bare and desolate island. But the roughness of the elements was a matter of small concern to the crews of the airships and the submarine cruises, for both were independent alike of sea and storm. The former could literally ride upon the wings of the fiercest gale that ever blew, their interiors were warm and windproof, and the machinery was powerful enough to drive them four and five times as fast as the air currents in which they floated, while the latter had only to sink a few feet below the level of the waves to find perfect calm. The days in short were past when men had been at the mercy of the elements, and so the atmospheric conditions which would have made a modern naval attack upon a rocky and exposed coast almost impossible were not even taken into account in preparing to meet the threatened assault on Kugellen Island. No one knew when or how the first assault would be delivered, all that was known was that unless Olga and her advisors had completely altered their plans the attack would take place either that day or the next, and consequently ceaseless vigilance was necessary on sea and land and in the air. In accordance with the plan arranged on board the narwhal, ten airships rose above the clouds to an altitude of five thousand feet, and from each of these an electric thread hung down to as many signal stations on the island, all of which were connected with the headquarters at the top of Christmas Harbour. Twenty cruisers patrolled the coast at a distance of a mile from the land, and two miles outside these the narwhal ran to and fro along the northern shore. All the more important inlets which had sufficient depth of water for submarine attack were guarded, with mines and chains of torpedoes so disposed that no vessel could possibly enter without firing them, and so give warning of the locality of the attack. The afternoon passed without any alarm, and at nightfall the clouds sent down a blinding storm of snow which, added to the intense darkness, made vision impossible both on land and sea. Although high above the clouds the ten airships floated in a calm, clear atmosphere under the brilliant constellations of the southern hemisphere. No attack seemed possible without warning, either by sea or above the clouds, for the hostile airships could not approach without being seen from a great distance through the clear starlit sky, and without their lights which would instantly betray their presence it was impossible for the submarine vessels even to find the coast. Hour after hour passed and still no hostile sign rewarded the vigilance of the defenders. No one of the present day could have guessed that all the preparations had been made for such a battle as had never been fought before on sea or land or in the air. Nothing was visible, but the snow covered earth and the storm swept sea, for the sentinel ships floating far above the clouds were beyond the reach of vision, and yet, if the combined fleets of the modern world had attacked Kugelen that night, not a ship would have escaped to tell the tale of annihilation, so terrible were the engines of destruction which waited, but the signal of battle to strike this swift and irresistible blows. It was about half past six o'clock the next morning when Alexis, who was on watch in the conning tower of the Narwhal, saw a faint beam of light illuminating the water a long way ahead. He instantly signalled to Alan, enemy in sight, back I am going to ram. Alan, unwilling to leave the new crew who were not yet perfectly acquainted with the working of the machinery, had taken command of the engine room alternately with Alexis, who was now taking his four hours watch in the conning tower, and to whom the fortune of war had given the honor of striking the first blow. The Narwhal backed rapidly, and as she did so, Alexis turned a small wheel in the side of the conning tower, and the whole chamber sank into the hull of the vessel. As soon as it stopped, he pulled a lever and a heavy steel sheet slid over the opening where the glass dome had been. In front of him, as he stood at the steering wheel was a long, very slender needle hung, with extreme delicacy on a pivot, up which an electric current constantly passed. The needle was terrestrially insulated by a magnet which always swung opposite to the magnetic pole, and when acted upon only by the steel of the vessel's fabric, swung indifferently, as long as there were no other vessel within a thousand yards of the Narwhal. But the moment one came within that distance, the needle pointed towards it with unerring accuracy, as it was doing at the present moment. Alexis allowed the vessel to back until he saw the needle begin to waver. Then he knew that the thousand-yard limit had been reached and signalled full speed ahead. The next moment the engines were reversed and the Narwhal bore down on her invisible prey. The needle became rigid again. Alexis kept it pointing dead ahead as the Narwhal gathered way and rushed silently, but with irresistible force upon her victim. She passed over the thousand yards in forty seconds. Then came a dull, rendering crash, a slight shiver of the mighty fabric, and then she swept on away as though she had passed through a couple of inches of planking, instead of the steel hull of a submarine warship more than two-thirds her own size. And so in silence and darkness, without the discharge of a gun or the flash of a shot or an audible cry of human pain, the work of death and destruction began and ended. In the passing of an instant a warship had been destroyed which could have annihilated a fleet of modern battleships in detail without once appearing above the surface of the water. The moment that the shock told Alexis that the ram of the Narwhal had done its work, he signalled, Stop. And as the vessel slowed down he watched the momentous fluctuations of the needle in front of him. It oscillated for an instant and then became still again, pointing to another victim hidden away somewhere under the dark waters. He brought the vessel around until it pointed ahead again, and then once more the Leviathan plunged forward at full speed on her errand of destruction. Thirty seconds later a rasping, tearing sound told him that he had ripped the side out of a second Russian vessel, and again he stopped, and again the fatal tell-tale needle pointed to a mark on which he hurled his irresistible ram. So the work went on, and vessel after vessel was torn to pieces and sank in the midst of the darkness and silence of the wintry sea, without even a warning having been given either to the consorts of the destroyed vessels or to those nearer in shore, all of which were, of course, outside the range of the needle's indication. But for this fact Alexis would have been unable to do his work, for he would not have known whether he was ramming friend or foe. When the ram had found its mark for the twelfth time, the needle oscillated vaguely to and fro, showing that within a thousand yards radius at least there were no more victims to be found. Then the narwhal rose to the surface of the water, and Alexis resumed his watch as the vessel patrolled the coast again at a speed of fifty miles an hour. Allen now came out and relieved Alexis from his watch as he entered the conning tower he said, How many is that? You've settled a dozen, isn't it? Yes, said Alexis, but I can hardly think they can have been anything but scouts, and so we shall have the main fleet to tackle yet. Do you think any of them have got through? said Allen. You know, they may have approached from east and west as well, and if so, they are lying inside of us. No, replied Alexis. I don't think they would do that. You see, we have the advantage of them in this way. They can't see ten yards in front of them unless there is bright sunshine on the water, or unless they turn their lights on to the fall, in which case they would betray their presence at once. Then they don't know what has become of the narwhal, and probably think that she has been attacked by an overwhelming force, or blown up by some lucky torpedo. They then go inshore in force for fear of springing a mine, and so you may depend upon it the twelve we have destroyed were scouts, prowling about very slowly and waiting for daylight to examine the coast and find a way into Christmas Harbour. They must have been in a single line, and we had the luck to catch one of the end ones first. And so we sank the lot, in the order in which they were floating. I don't think we can do anything more till daylight, except run up and down the coast and keep a sharp lookout to Seawood and on the needle. I suppose you right, said Allen. You better go and get an hour's sleep if you can. There won't be much sleep for any of us till to-night, said Alexis quickly, pointing to the clouds over the island. Look! The row has begun in the air already. Allen glanced up and saw a series of intensely bright flashes stream downwards from the clouds, which at the same moment were rent and rolled up into vast, shadowy billows by some tremendous concussion of the atmosphere above them. There could be only one explanation of this. The attack on the island had begun from the air, and the flashes were those of the first shots of the aerial bombardment. What had really happened was this. A fleet of fifty submarine warships under the command of Michael Lusensky, the eldest son of Olaf Lusensky, who was now Olga Romanov's chief advisor in the conduct of the war that she had commenced with the Aryans, had reached the northern coast of Kyrgyzstan Island about four o'clock in the morning in order to co-operate with an aerial squadron of fifteen vessels led by the Revenge under the command nominally of Lusensky's second son Boris, but really of Olga herself. As Alexis had surmised, the twelve vessels destroyed by the narwhal were scouts sent out to, if possible, feel their way to the entrance of Christmas Harbour, which was known to be the headquarters of the station. These would have returned to the fleet with all the intelligence they could get as to bearings and soundings, and the position of mines, and the defending fleet. Then, at daybreak, that is to say about eight o'clock, the whole squadron was to have advanced to the entrance of the harbour, ramming any of the defenders who barred their way, and then, after sending a swarm of torpedoes into the mouth of the bay to explode the mines and blow up any submarine defences that might exist, to have made a rush for the inner bay, at the same time that the airships engaged the land defences. The naval portion of the programme was completely frustrated by the destruction of the scouts, while the aerial attack was foiled by the lookout stationed above the clouds. Soon after seven it became light enough at their altitude for the powerful glasses of their commanders to make out the fifteen Russian airships coming up from the southward at a distance of about twenty miles. A few minutes later they were themselves discovered by the Russians, and Olga, to her intense chagrin, saw at a glance that all hope of a surprise was gone. By some means or other, the Aryans had received intelligence of the attack, and were ready for it. The terrible experience taught by the disaster of Antarctica warned her, and her lieutenants that any approach, now that they were seen, must be made with the utmost caution, for they had no precise knowledge as to the range of the Aryan guns. All they knew was that it was very great, and that where one of their projectiles found its mark, destruction followed instantly. Added to this there was another difficulty. The dense masses of cloud completely hid both the sea and land from their view, and made accurate shooting at the land defences impossible. Consequently there was nothing for it but to fight the battle out in the upper regions of the air, against a force of whose actual strength they were ignorant. They dare not attempt to surround the ten airships which hung stationary over the island, for this meant bringing all their guns into play, while they could only use half of their own. While they were debating on a plan of operations, two new factors in the coming struggle were swiftly and unexpectedly brought into play. As soon as the news of their arrival had been telegraphed to the headquarters, the aerial took the air, and passed under the clouds to the rear of the Russian squadron. Ten miles behind them she swept round sharply, and with her wings inclined to the upmost, and her engines working at the fullest capacity, she took a mighty upward swoop, passed through the clouds like a flash of light, and before the Russians knew what had happened, she was floating three thousand feet above them out of reach of their guns, and hurling projectile after projectile into their midst. Three of the ships struck almost simultaneously what torn into a thousand fragments and vanished through the clouds. It was the glare and shock of this explosion that Alexis had seen from the conning tower of the Narwhal. The remaining Russian ships instantly scattered and sank through the clouds to seek a refuge from the foe whose deadly blows they were completely unable to return. But the moment they appeared on the underside of the cloud sea, all the guns of the land batteries opened fire in all directions with time-shells, and so rapid were the discharges and so terrible the energy of the explosives that the whole firmament above the island seemed ablaze with them, while the concussions of the nether atmosphere were so tremendous and continuous that it would have been madness for the Russian airships to have approached within the zone of fire with which the Aryans had covered and encircled their positions. The clouds were torn and broken up into vast whirling masses, which completely obscured the view of the Russians and rendered anything like accurate shooting in the direction of the island impossible. Worse than this, the range of the great land guns fired at an elevation of 45 degrees was so enormous that they were forced by the incessantly exploding projectiles, which were hurled up into the air in all directions to retire to a distance which, beyond the most random shooting, the results of which were spent upon the rocks of the island and the sea, rendering their own guns useless. Rise up through the clouds, they dare not, for they knew the area was still there, and that the first ship that showed herself would be an almost helpless mark for one of the ten guns which, for the time being, commanded the heavens. There seemed nothing for it but an ignominious retreat, for, as Boris Lysensky said to Olga when, furious with rage and mortification, she reproached him with a lack both of skill and courage, an attack upon a volcano in full eruption would have been child's play to an assault at close quarters on Kergelan Island. There one hope of success had lain in a surprise, and that, by some unaccountable means, had been made impossible. They had reckoned only on the airships and the submarine defences, and even these they had expected to take unawares. The terrible power of the battery guns which were able to spread their seas of fire through the air and to shake the very firmament itself with their projectiles had been a revelation to them. They could not train their own guns without seeing their mark, and neither flame nor smoke betrayed the position of the batteries. While on the other hand the artillery's on the island had simply to surround the station with a zone of fire and a continuous series of atmospheric convulsions through which no airship could have passed without the risk of overturning or completely collapsing. So Olga was at last convinced that her choice lay between abandonment of the attack or running the gauntlet of fire in the almost full-on hope of engaging the land batteries and in the aerial fleet of unknown strength at close quarters. Waffled and defeated, and yet convinced that to continue the unequal contest under its present conditions would be merely to court still more disastrous defeat and even probable destruction, Olga at last allowed Losensky to give the signal for retreat, and the Russian squadron withdrew to a position 12 miles northward of the island. Its departure was seen both from the air and the land, and the cannonade immediately stopped. Meanwhile Alan had run the narwhal into the mouth of Christmas Harbour flying his red flag. He was met by the catchelot and after telling Captain Ernstein what he had done and learning of the repulse of the Russians in the aerial battle he directed forty of the submarine vessels to follow him out to sea to look for the Russian flotilla. All the craft were furnished with telltale needles similar to the one on board the narwhal, for it is impossible to see a sufficient distance underwater to effectively attack an enemy as agile as the submarine warships were, and this fact had led to the universal employment of the needles. As it was now quite light the whole Aryan squadron, with the exception of five vessels whose duty it was to act as scouts underwater, preceded seaward on the surface of the waves keeping a sharp look out for the remains of the Russian fleet, which they soon discovered lying about five miles off the island. They could make out thirty-five of the long black half-submerged hulls lying together like a school of whales with the waves breaking over them as over sunken rocks. Alan immediately signalled from his conning tower in the manual sign language used by the Aryans to communicate between their airships to his consorts and ordered them to scatter and form a wide circle round the Russian squadron at a distance of a mile and a depth of two fathoms, but on no account to approach within a thousand yards of them. When they had reached their positions they were to rise to the surface and each was to discharge a couple of torpedoes towards the centre of the circle. After that they were to retire and leave the rest to him. The moment the order had been passed through the fleet every one of the vessels disappeared and proceeded to her station. The narwhal sank at the same time until nothing, but the glass dome of her conning tower remained above the water. By carefully noting the course steered by the compass and accurately measuring the distance travelled by the number of revolutions of the propeller each captain was able to place his craft in the desired position. So perfectly indeed was the manoeuvre performed that when the vessels rose to the surface they formed a circle two miles in diameter in the centre of which lay within a space of about 200 yards square the Russian flotilla, the commanders of which afraid to advance nearer to the shore without the intelligence which they still awaited from their scouts and confounded by the awful spectacle presented by the aerial battle of the issue of which they were utterly ignorant, were waiting in bewilderment and indecision the issue of the events which had taken such a marvellous and unexpected turn. The manoeuvre ordered by Ellen had been executed so promptly and secretly that the Russians were not even aware that they were surrounded until torpedo after torpedo coming in from all points of the compass began exploding in their midst hurling vast masses of water and foam up into the air tearing their plates and crippling their propellers and disabling half the number before they had time to recover from the confusion into which the sudden attack had thrown them. To communicate signals from one vessel to another under such circumstances was impossible and so united action was out of the question or that the captains of the vessels could see was that they were enemies upon all sides of them. The explosion of the 80 torpedoes had churned the water up into a mass of seething foam in the midst of which 15 vessels were lying crippled and helpless on the surface while six more had been sent to the bottom. This was bad enough but while the captains of those which had escaped were recovering from the stupification into which this sudden disaster had thrown them, Alan saw his chance and as soon as the last torpedo had exploded headed the narwhal full speed into the midst of them, then followed a scene which would have beggared all description. The great ship moving at a speed of nearly three miles a minute tore her way through the half crippled squadron hurling everything she struck to the bottom of the sea. Every Russian vessel that was able to do so after the first assault sank out of the way of the terrible ram of the narwhal and headed off at full speed into the open sea. But for those that were partially or wholly disabled there was no escape. Alan, standing in his conning tower, his teeth clenched and his blue eyes almost black with the fierce passion of battle and revenge, whirled his steering wheel this way and that, and as the steel monster swung around in rapid curves in obedience to the rudder, he hurled her again and again upon his practically helpless victims, piercing them through and through as though their plates had been cardboard instead of steel. When the last one had gone down he left the conning tower, hoisted his flagstaff and flew a signal to his consorts to return to harbour. What had become of the Russian vessels that had escaped, he neither knew nor for the present cared. The victory of the Aryans both at sea and in the air was complete, and he was certain that the Russians had received such a lesson as would convince them that Kurgulin Island was impregnable to any assault that they could make upon it, unless they were able to take its defenders by surprise, a contingency which was justly considered impossible. End of Chapter 12 Chapter 13 of Olga Romanov by George Griffith This Librivox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 13 The Siren Stronghold As soon as the first pitch battle in the world war was over, a lengthy and detailed report of the attack on Kurgulin and its repulse was drawn up by Allen, Captain Hernstein and Admiral Forrest for presentation to the Council. To this report Allen added a supplement which is here reproduced in his own words. From what I know of the designs of Olga Romanov and her advisors I am convinced that the defeats which have been inflicted upon them will merely have the effect of checking and not putting a stop to their operations against the peace and freedom of the world. I have seen and heard enough during the last five years to feel satisfied that there exists a very widespread conspiracy, the object of which is the restoration of the Romanov dynasty in the person of Olga, the breaking up of the Anglo-Saxon Federation and the inauguration of an era of personal despotism and popular slavery. As far as we have been able to learn, this conspiracy embraces practically all the descendants of those families who lost their rank, official position or property during the reconstitution of Russia after the fall of the Romanovs. These people have of course everything to gain and not much to lose by the destruction of the present order of things and Olga has promised them, no doubt quite sincerely, that in the event of her triumph they shall be restored to all that their ancestors lost. As a matter of fact the greater part of Russia will be divided amongst them should she ever accomplish her designs. The old order of things as it existed before the days of Alexander II is to be completely reinstated. The lower orders of the people are to be reduced once more to serfdom and the trading classes to a condition very little better. If they resist they are to be terrorized into submission by the airships and all who raise their voices for freedom are to be banished to Siberia which is once more to be the prison land of the Russian Empire. A large standing army is to be kept constantly on the war footing while the sea, navy and the aerial fleet are to be kept up to such a strength as to be able to hold the rest of the continent in practical subjection. In short Olga despised a nothing less than the throne of an empire which will stretch from the Yellow Sea to the Atlantic Ocean. I am afraid too that there can be no doubt but this conspiracy is not only flavoured but actually assisted by large numbers of people throughout the Federation area. In fact during the latter part of our stay at Mount Terror the stronghold was visited by men of all nations who of course came and went away in the submarine vessels and who openly promised to do everything they could to further what they called the cause of the new revolution in their own countries on the understanding that the old evils of capitalism and private ownership of land by which their ancestors had grown wealthy are to be restored. This will I trust be enough to show you that the triumph of Olga Romanov means nothing less than the complete undoing of all the work that was done in the days of the Terror. We have proved so far that Kergelin and therefore area is impregnable to attack safe by surprise which will now of course be impossible. But on the other hand the force of the disposal of Olga and her allies is still so strong that all our present resources will have to be kept constantly employed to protect ourselves and this leaves the world at the mercy of any power which can obtain the assistance of the Russian's aerial navy which still numbers 27 vessels all equal to our best ships. In addition to these they possess a submarine navy of at least 40 vessels all of which are swifter and more powerful than ours with the exception of the Nile. I therefore suggest that the whole of the resources at the command of the council shall at once be devoted to the building of at least 50 airships of the ethereal type and the same number of submarine battleships like the Nile complete plans of which I enclose. Until this additional force is at our command I think it would be useless to attempt the destruction of the Russian stronghold in Antarctica and until this is destroyed there can be no hope of peace. This stronghold which I will now attempt to describe for the information of the council is one of the most marvellous places on earth. It lies in and about Mount Terror and the Perry Mountains which run from it towards the pole behind the ice barrier of Antarctica. Nearly 10 years ago a Russian explorer named Kishinov reached the ice barrier and made the discoveries which have enabled the Russian revolutionists to create their stronghold. In addition to his ship he took with him three aerostats which were chiefly constructed during his voyage and also a small submarine vessel which he took out in sections and put together at sea. He skirted the coast of Victoria land and was stopped by the ice in latitude 78 degrees as all other Antarctic explorers by sea have been since the voyage of Sir James Ross. The season was a singularly fine and open one and two days after his arrival he inflated one of his aerostats and crossed the Great Barrier to make a thorough exploration of the unknown land. Kishinov was the first man not an Aryan who had ever seen what there was on the other side of the Antarctic ice wall but he discovered far more than our explorers did. For while he was in the neighbourhood of Mount Terror an earthquake accompanying a violent eruption of Mount Erebus made a huge fissure in the south side of Mount Terror. After waiting three days to make sure that the earthquake had subsided he and two of his officers entered the crevice which they found to be over 200 feet wide at the level of the land ice. Furnished with storage batteries and electric lights they penetrated into the interior of the mountain and found that it was pierced in all directions with great galleries and enormous chambers hollered out by volcanic forces during the period of Mount Terror's activity. Four days were spent all together in exploring this subterranean region the existence of which was kept a profound secret by Kishinov and his officers. Not the least strange and as it has proved one of the most valuable portions of his discovery was the finding of a subterranean lake at the heart of Mount Terror the temperature of which was kept far above the freezing point by the heat which the interior of the mountain derived from the neighboring fires of Mount Erebus. Finding the lake to be salt water he concluded that he must have some connection with the open sea and so the next day he and the same two officers entered the submarine boat and penetrated underneath the ice barrier. After a search of five hours the searchlights of the boat revealed a huge tunnel leading southwest into the land that is to say direct for Mount Terror. They followed this tunnel up for a distance of nearly five miles and then struck the end. They now rose and finally found themselves floating on the surface of the lake in the interior of the mountain. One of Kishinov's officers a man named Louis Kemsky was a member of the Russian Revolutionary Society whose existence only became known five years ago after the capture of the ethereal the heads of this society met and to them this man communicated the secret of Mount Terror. Kishinov and the other officers refused to join the revolutionists and were assassinated. Kemsky was at once taken on board the ethereal now renamed the revenge and guided her to the fissure leading into Mount Terror. Its outer portion was of course filled and covered with ice and snow but as soon as Kemsky had found its position by his landmarks a couple of shells speedily reopened it and it was here that the revengely hidden while you were ransacking the world for her. Olga inherited from her grandfather the father of Vladimir Robonoff who was executed for disobeying the order of the council all the plans and directions necessary for the building both of airships and submarine vessels and as soon as this perfect stronghold and height in place was discovered her accomplices in the conspiracy for the restoration of the Russian monarchy at once devoted their fortunes to the supply of money and materials. The revenge made one more voyage to Russia and by traveling at full speed at a great elevation managed to make it unobserved. The services of the cleverest engineers and most skillful craftsmen among the revolutionists were secured. Transports were chartered and sent out to Antarctica loaded with materials. On the shores of the subterranean lake the first squadron of submarine vessels was built and then began the system of ocean terrorism which soon paralyzed the trade of the world. Piracy was carried on with utter ruthlessness. Transport was sunk by the vessels and then plundered by divers of the treasure which they carried and which was employed to purchase new materials and to repay those who had furnished the funds. Alexis and myself were kept by Olga as I said my first letter under the influence of a drug which completely paralyzed our volitional power and were compelled to reveal all we knew concerning our own airships, submarine vessels, guns and explosives and in this manner was created and equipped the force which will be employed to dispute with us the empire of the world unless we are able to extirpate it utterly. While the dispatch to the council was being drawn up the Navel had been lying in the inner basin of Christmas Harbour renewing her store of motive power from the generating station ashore. As soon as the engineer in charge reported that her power reservoirs were full and Alan had delivered the dispatch for conveyance to area by airship Alexis who had been apparently buried in a brown study for the last two hours or so asked Alan to come with him into his private cabin and as soon as the two friends were alone together he said to him look here oh men why your fellows have been drawing up that dispatch and talking about the impossibility of attacking the stronghold at Mount Terror I've been doing some thinking and I've come to the conclusion that as far as an undersea attack is concerned it isn't quite so hopeless as you've made out I should be only too delighted to hear you prove us wrong replied Alan his eyes brightening at the prospect for he knew Alexis too well not to be sure that he would not have spoken in this way unless he had pretty solid reasons for doing so say on my friend I'm all attention get out to see them as fast as ever you can said Alexis for there is not an hour to be lost if you adopt my plan and if you don't we can just come back very well said Alan what is the course clear the islands and head away southward as hard as you can go replied Alexis briefly the excitement of the battle in which he had played such a terrible part had left Alan in just the frame of mind to listen to the project of a desperate adventure such as he instinctively knew was now in his friend's mind without hesitating further he went into the saloon summoned the crew of the novel and said to them Alexis and I have decided upon an enterprise which will end either in very great injury to our enemies or our own destruction you have seen enough today to know that in the warfare we are engaged in there are only two choices victory or destruction we don't want to take anyone against his will to what may be certain death those who care to go ashore may do so not a man moved an athletic sailor named George Cosmo who held the post of chief engineer saluted and said briefly we shall all go sir what are the orders get out of the harbor as fast as you can and as soon as you are clear of the island sink two fathoms steer a straight course to southeast and put her through the water as hard as she'll go replied Alan Cosmo saluted again and left the room with his comrades to execute the order now my friend said Alan turning to Alexis as soon as they were alone again what is your plan simply this replied Alexis Monterra or at any rate the mouth of the submarine tunnel is in round numbers 3000 geographical miles from here our speed is 30 miles an hour faster than that of Olga's squadron that means that even if they go back at once and at full speed we shall be there four or five hours before them they I think have had quite enough fighting for today and I don't believe they'll attack the island again first because they know that they can't take our sea defenses by surprise and second because they think the narwhal will remain on guard either they will go off on a raiding expedition someone else with the airships in which case we can't follow them for we don't know where they're going or they will return to Monterra at an easy speed of 50 or 60 miles an hour they will never dream that you and I will venture to attack the stronghold single handed and therefore that is just what I propose to do that will be odds of about 40 to one against the narwhal replied Alan somewhat gravely unless we can destroy it completely before they get back but gone let's hear the rest I don't think you can propose anything too desperate for me now that I have really tasted the blood of the enemy well what I propose is not to destroy the stronghold simply because it would be impossible to do that by sea I merely propose to get quietly into the tunnel go to that narrow part about two miles from the entrance fix a dozen torpedoes with time fuses up against the roof of the tunnel and then clear out into the open water when those 12 torpedoes go off if they don't bring a few thousand tons of rock down into the tunnel and block it pretty securely I'll grant I know very little about explosives good so far very good said Alan I confess I envy you that idea what's next well after that replied Alexis you'll see we shall have shut in the vessels that are inside and shut out those that are outside the ones inside will be no use for some time for it will take the divers a good many days to open the tunnel again even if they ever do as for those outside we can lie and wait for them if they return and trust of the narwhal speed and strength to sink as many of them as we can or else if they don't put in an appearance we can come home with the consciousness that we have done about all the damage in our power now what do you think Alan was silent for a few moments weighing the pros and cons of the desperate venture for desperate it was in spite of the incomparable speed and strength of the splendid vessel he commanded it was easy enough always supposing that it could be accomplished without interruption but to be caught in the tunnel as was quite possible between a force inside and one outside meant almost certain destruction for if the narwhal was not rammed and sunk in a space too narrow for her to turn she would be certain to be blown up by the torpedoes which would be launched against her in the end the very character of the desperate venture combined with the magnitude of the injury would do to the enemy overcame the scruples of his prudence he put his hand on a lexus shoulder and gave him a gentle shake said with a laugh bravo old philosopher you've done more with your thinking than we have with our talking and writing we'll do it if there isn't a square foot of the narwhal left when the business is over i knew you'd say that said a lexus now let's have some dinner and go to sleep for we shall want it it was then very nearly midnight and the narwhal had cleared the islands and with her prowl pointed direct for the northeastern extremity of wilkes land was rushing at full speed through the water about 12 feet below the surface of the sea for 20 hours she sped silently and swiftly an unseen on her way swept around the ous barrier that fences the northern promontory of victoria land and into the bay dominated by the fiery crest of mount arabus end of chapter 13 chapter 14 of alka romanoff by george griffith this librivox recording is in the public domain chapter 14 from the sea to the air 24 hours after she had reached mount terror the narwhal came into the inner basin of christmas harbour running easily along the surface with the red flag flying at her flagstaff the new spread rapidly through the little settlement the dwellers in which had been wondering greatly at her sudden disappearance and there was quite a crowd on the jetty as she ran alongside max ernstein was among it and as the battleship came to a standstill he saw to his amazement allen spring ashore and come towards him without stretched hands why what does this mean he said as he grasped his hand i thought you told me you were never going to leave the narwhal until until we had done what we have done said allen with a laugh as he returned his hand clasp with a grip that made the bones crack we have destroyed a good half of what remains of the russian sea navy and what's more we've blown up the entrance to their submarine dockyard and completely crippled them as far as building or equipping new vessels is concerned until they can find a new harbour magnificent exclaimed ernstein glorious you'll be wearing the golden wings again in forty eight hours if i am said allen flushing with pleasure at the thought the credit will be due to alexis and not to me it was his idea entirely but never mind that now we've suffered rather badly and only just escaped with our lives five out of six of the narwhal's crew are disabled and i want you to get them out and send them away to area as soon as possible meanwhile alexis and i will write our dispatch to the council his instructions were obeyed at once and the invalids were transferred to the vega the airship that was to convey them to area and in her luxurious state rooms their hurts were attended to by the best skill on the island while the dispatch was being drawn up it was brief plain almost formal in language and confined entirely to statement of bare fact and in little more than an hour after the arrival of the narwhal at christmas harbour the vega had risen into the air and was speeding on her way towards area meanwhile the news of the daring venture and brilliant exploits of allen and alexis and their comrades spread like wildfire through the island and everyone who was not engaged on duties that could not be left came to the settlement to see and congratulate the two heroes of the hour who strange and romantic fate so well known to every arian had thus suddenly been glorified by the triumph of the genius and daring which had proved capable of resting victory from defeat and glory from misfortune although some were more demonstrative none were heartier or more sincere in their congratulations than edward forest the admiral of the station and unknown to allen and alexis he and urnstein had sent a joint dispatch by the vega strongly urging both the justice and the policy of at once restoring to the full rights of citizenship the two men who had proved themselves possessed of such extraordinary ability if the battle for the empire of the world was to be fought over again the command of the forces of area could not be entrusted to any hand so able and so daring as those of the president's son and his friend and companion in misfortune and victory the triumphs at kugelen and antartica had really been due to them alone they had given warning of the attack on the station and it was due to the skill and boldness of their strategy that it had been foiled with such disaster to the enemy this of itself was much but it had not satisfied either their ambition or their devotion for after it had been accomplished they had carried the war almost single-handed in the russian stronghold and there under circumstances of unparalleled danger to themselves they had struck a blow which could not fail to cripple the seapower of the enemy and so influence to an incalculable extent the ultimate issue of the war which ere long might be raging over the whole world that night while the almost constant storms of the southern winter were sweeping over the barren surface of desolation land a feast was held in the central hall of the headquarters at christmas harbour in honor of the double victory and the return of the two chief heroes of it from their long captivity the next day was spent in a rigorous inspection of all the defences of the island and the machinery and ammunition of the airships and submarine vessels at six o'clock in the evening twenty six hours after she had started the vigour returned from area bringing the reply of the council to the dispatches which she had taken the council has heard with great satisfaction of the repulse of the attack on the station at kagwelen and of the distinguished services rendered by alan arnold and alexis mazerov both at kagwelen and mount terror in recognition of the great skill and devotion they have displayed the council invites them to assume the command of the airship ethereal and to make use of that vessel to execute such plans and purposes as in their discretion will best serve the interests of the state of area for a period of one year from the present date they will be supplied with motive power and all stores and materials of war at any of the oceanic stations the council accepts the recommendation contained in the supplement to the first dispatch and has given orders for the immediate building of a hundred airships of the ethereal class and the same number of submarine battleships of the narwhal type these are expected to be ready for service at the end of the year by which time the council hopes to be able to call upon alan arnold and alexis mazerov to assume the duties of admiral and vice admiral of the aerial navies and at the same time to restore to them full privileges of citizenship in area the admiral and officers of kagwelen will give all assistance in the carrying out of these directions and will make and transmit all necessary reports in connection with them no further hostilities are to be undertaken for the present by the aerial or sea forces but they will maintain a strict watch against all possible surprises on the part of the enemy and be ready to repel any assault which may be made this order does not apply to the airship ethereal given in the council hall of area on the 11th day of may in the 132nd year of the deliverance alan arnold president francis trimane vice president to edward forest admiral in command at the station of kagwelen such was the reply of the council to the news of the daring foray made by the narwhal upon the stronghold of mount terra and the suggestions of admiral forest and captain urnstein although it did not precisely adopt the latter which indeed the council was well justified in looking upon as inspired rather by enthusiasm than the judicial spirit proper to the occasion it was even more satisfactory both to alan and elexus than an immediate recall would have been true they had done great and brilliant service in the first few days of their return to freedom they had virtually crippled the russian sea power by the blows which they had so skillfully so swiftly and so daringly struck but neither of them felt that this was a sufficient achievement to warrant their full restoration to all that they had lost through the fatal error that they had made on board the old ethereal both indeed longed ardently for just such further opportunity of devoting themselves to the service of their race and country as this order offered them in command of the new ethereal one of the swiftest and most formidable aerial warships in existence there was no telling the damage that they might do to the enemy or what service they might render to their friends they knew that as regarded the russian force the odds against them were about twenty four to one and they also knew that Olga and her lieutenants would lose no time in increasing their navy to the utmost extent in their power in preparation for the war of extermination that was now inevitable they had a year before them during which they would have an absolutely free hand and all the supplies that the resources of area could give them true it was a year of exile and probation but they gladly welcomed the test of fidelity and devotion which it offered and which worthily passed through would mean restoration of all they had lost and a return to their friends and kindred in their beloved valley of area armed with powers and responsibilities which would make them practically the arbiters of the destinies of their people and perhaps of the whole human race but the vigor had brought something more to the two friends and exiles than the reply of the council to their dispatches for immediately he landed her captain handed to allen a small sealed packet addressed to him in the handwriting of his sister isma when he opened it as he did at the first opportunity that found him alone he found that he contained two letters and two traumatic photographs the letters were from his parents and sister his father's was as may well be imagined very different from the cold and formal dispatch that he had signed as president of the council it was full of tender and loving sympathy for him in the strange fate that had overtaken him and while it entirely absorbed them all moral blame for the loss of the flagship and the lives of his companions it exhorted him earnestly to apply himself without useless regrets to the work of the year of probation which the council had seen fit to impose upon him and it ended with an assurance that the happiest day that had been known in area within the memory of its citizens would be that on which the golden wings would be replaced on their foreheads in the council hall of the city to this letter was added another written by allen's mother and written as only a mother can write to her son strong and well tried as he was they were tears in allen's eyes when he had finished reading these two letters but they did not remain there long after he had begun the one from his sister isma proud beyond measure of the exploits of her brother and the man she still looked upon as her lover and absolutely assured that when the time came both would return covered with honor wrote in the highest spirits as it was an invariable rule of life among the areas to be perfectly frank with one another and to take every precaution to avoid those misunderstandings which in a less perfect state of society had produced so much personal and social suffering she told him in plain yet tender language exactly what had passed between her and alma on the night that his first letter had been received yet she said nothing that in any way committed either alma or himself to a renewal of the troth which had been broken by the designs of olga romanoff and though she sent her remembrances to alexis she sent them as though to a friend tacitly giving both to understand that no words of love must pass between the two exiles and their former sweethearts until they met again upon equal terms but there was another message not contained in the letter all written in any words which said more than all that she had written and this was conveyed by the photographs which she sent without a word of allusion to them as alan looked upon them the six years of mental slavery and degrading servitude to the daughter of the enemies of his race passed away for the moment and he saw himself standing with alma in one of the groves of area plying his boyish troth on the night before he started on his fatal voyage in the aetherial the face that looked at him was such marvellous life likeness with all its perfection of form and exquisite coloring reproduced with the most absolute fidelity was the same face that had been upturned to his to receive his kisses on that never to be forgotten night and yet in another sense it was not the same that had been the sunny smiling face of a girl to whom sorrow and evil were as absolutely unknown as they would be to an angel in heaven but this was the face of a woman who had lived and thought and suffered and when he remembered that whatever of sorrow or suffering she had known had been on his account the last lingering traces of the vile spells of the evilly beautiful siren of the skies who had so fatally bewitched him vanished from his soul and the old love revived within him pure and strong and intensified tenfold by the knowledge of the great reparation that he owed to the girl upon whose life he had brought the only shadow it had ever known he knew that their hands would never meet again until all that had been lost was regained at whatever cost of labor or devotion that might be necessary on his part but he also knew that in all these years no other man had been found worthy to fill the place that he had once occupied and which he was resolved to win back or die in the attempt and this knowledge made him look forward to the mighty struggle which lay before him with an eagerness that augured well for its issue he had gone into his own cabin on board the ethereal which was being rapidly prepared for her roving commission to read his letters in solitude he put Alma's photograph on the table and sat before it with his eyes fixed upon it until every line of form and tint of color was indelibly impressed anew upon his memory then he kissed it as reverently as a devotee of old might have kissed a sacred relic and then he attached the oval miniature to a chain of alternate links of azurine and gold and hung it around his neck inside his tunic registering a mental vow that if death came before he once more wore the golden wings it should find it lying nearest his heart this he said speaking to himself as he took ismas photograph up from the table and looked fondly upon the radiantly lovely face that looked out from its frame is evidently not intended for me isma doesn't say who it's for but i fancy that there is someone on board the ethereal who has a very much better right to it than i have i wonder if a lexus is in his room so saying he left his cabin and found his friend still deep in the perusal of two lengthy letters from his father and mother so you've had some letters from her as well old man i hope they've been as pleasant reading as mine have he said going to the couch on which alexis was sitting and holding one hand behind his back yes they're from my father and mother and so they can scarcely be anything else so far as what they just say it's what they don't say that gives me the only course to find fault with them but still that i suppose would be expecting too much under the circumstances he ended with something very like a sigh an allen replied as gravely as he could and what might that be my night of rueful countenance don't you think the council have treated us splendidly and given us a glorious opportunity of winning back all that the daughter of the czar has robbed us of of course i do replied alexis looking up at him with a flush on his cheeks but for all that there is one thing still something that i'm not ashamed to say i value about everything else that i've lost or can regain and that is well to put it plainly replied alexis the flush at deepening as he spoke these two letters don't contain one single word about isma now you know what i mean of course i'm ready to do everything that the council may call upon us to do and the moment that i know i've won back the right to wear the golden wings will be the proudest of my life but it will be far from the happiest if i only go back to area to find isma and other man's wife and what else can i think when they don't so much as mention her name be of good cheer my friend replied allen with a laugh putting one hand on his shoulder and taking the other from behind his back you will never find that i promise you i am the bringer of good tidings there take those and feast your eyes and your heart on them in solitude as i have just been doing on something else so saying he put isma's letter and photograph into alexis hand and without another word left him to gather courage and comfort from them as he himself had done end of chapter 14