CHAPTER V
FIRST EXPERIENCES OF SPACE
Alec Brandon hung over the bulwarks of the Lightning as the fleet gradually ascended into the air, watching a small figure that was waving a handkerchief to him from below. But Flora was soon lost in the indistinguishable crowd, for the relentless whirling of the propellers stopped neither for love nor money, and the fleet was quickly leaving the earth's atmosphere. A slight sigh escaped from Alec as he turned away his eyes from all that he held dearest in the world.
'Never mind, my boy, cheer up!' said a hearty voice behind him, as a hand was laid kindly on his shoulder.
He turned round and saw the commander of the ship, Captain Mainton, standing close behind him.
'Cheer up!' he continued. 'You will soon see her again. And who knows—when we have conquered Kairet, you may find someone else whom you will love as well, or even better.'
'There is only one being in the world whom I can ever love, and she is there,' said Alec, as he pointed down to the hazy ground below.
'Ha, ha!' laughed the cheery old captain, but not unkindly. 'Eternal love, eternal vows—eternal fiddlesticks I call it. I was a boy once myself, and I know very well what that means. Well, well,' he added, as he noticed the sad look on Alec's face, 'go and have a look at the nets, and see that they are hitched up all right; it will take your mind off a bit. Be true to her, my boy—be true to her. She's worth it.'
The captain turned away and went down below to his private sanctum; but was it to perform some duty, or only because his eyes were becoming moistened by some tender recollection? But the great vessel dashed on unheeding and uncaring. The crew were busy on the outer deck, letting down the masts and making all snug for the voyage through space. The sky above became darker and darker, and the air more difficult to breathe. Suddenly a bell rang violently.
'All hands below!' shouted a deep bass voice. 'Close up the hatches!'
The sailors hastily finished their tasks and disappeared down the hatches. Then an officer came along and examined everything; the hatches were fastened down, and the keys sent to the captain. Alec went down to the officers' room, where a meal was laid out, but he did not feel inclined to eat. He talked in a desultory manner with his brother officers, wishing for something to do. However, he was not allowed to remain in idleness for long. A bell rang, and a voice shouted:
'Lieutenant Brandon will command on the fifth deck.'
Alec went up to a telephone that was fastened to the wall and shouted, 'All right, captain.' He climbed down hatchway after hatchway, along winding corridors, past great tanks, and then through the engine-room. Here everything was in a state of bustle and activity. The air was filled with the whirling of wheels and the panting of great piston-rods, for the engines were now in full activity. Above, below, and around the narrow gangway huge cranks were whirling round, immense rods shooting backwards and forwards, and ponderous wheels rotating so fast that they appeared to be quite motionless. At one end were the rows of shining reservoirs where the motor energy was converted before it was passed on to the engines. Here, there, and everywhere were engineers perched on little ledges amidst the moving masses, filling up the oil-cups, or moving levers and turning wheels.
'Speed ninety!' shouted a man who was standing by a telephone apparatus.
A bell rang at the further end, and an engineer came hurrying along.
'Turn on more energy,' shouted another man. 'The speed is not fast enough.'
'Speed ninety-five, a hundred, a hundred and four,' shouted the man at the telephone.
An engineer pulled over a lever, and there was a roar and a hiss from down below.
'That is the Ednogen, which has just been turned on,' said an engineer as he hurried past Alec, who paused to gaze for a minute at the palpitating machinery. 'We are going like lightning now. A pretty sight, isn't it?'
'Speed a hundred and forty,' shouted the first man again. 'Turn on number six.'
Another man pulled over a lever, and a great wheel that had hitherto been motionless began to spin round, while flashes of fire darted among the moving rods.
'Getting hot,' remarked someone; 'but it is not full speed yet.'
Alec passed on, and then came to the fifth deck, where all the air-tight doors had been slid back to allow free passage from compartment to compartment. From one end of the deck to the other the gleaming breeches of the great guns, with their loading and sighting apparatus, could be seen in endless perspective, while the gunners were drawing them back so that the muzzles should not be damaged by any chance meteorites.
'Well, Howard,' said Alec, as he approached a stalwart man who was standing by a huge cannon, 'how is the Infant? Likes the voyage?'
'Ay, ay, sir,' replied the man fondly, patting the great breech of the gun. 'Depend upon it, sir, he'll wake 'em up when he sends a few of his nuts into their ships. Why, they'll go through their sides like cardboard.'
The men went on working for some time, while Alec minutely inspected everything that was being done. Then a bell rang.
'Time for the third meal!' shouted a voice. 'All hands except those on duty can cease work.'
The men came crowding along the deck to an open space at the end, where tables were spread out amidst the deadly weapons that glittered on all sides, and soon nothing was heard but the clatter of knives and forks. Alec remained on duty some two hours longer, when he was relieved by another officer and summoned to the captain's spherical metal box.
'Here, my lad, come and take a turn here while I go and have a spell off,' said the latter, as he gave Alec a sheet of paper. 'This will show you the course you must follow. You have to take orders from the Magnificent, just in front of you.'
Alec seized a lever which Captain Mainton relinquished to him, and fixed his eyes on some dozen dials which were arranged in front of him, and indicated, besides other things, the speed of the vessel, the direction in which it was moving, the approach of any opposing body and its probable distance and mass. All round the room there extended a perfect picture of the heavens outside, which was thrown on to the walls by the telephotoscope. The sky was now as black as ink, and was bespangled by hundreds of thousands of stars, while the sun shone in the middle, and the great belt of the Milky Way surrounded the whole. The earth lay stretched out behind like a great fiery ball that filled up a good part of the sky, but the individual objects on it were now indistinguishable. The sun was gradually approaching to the edge of the earth's disc, so that in a short time there would be complete darkness. In front and around, as far as the eye could reach, were the other ships, which appeared to lie quite motionless and silent in the ocean of space. There was the distant rolling noise of the machinery, and the faint shouts made by the sailors as they performed their various duties, and the occasional ringing of bells. There was sometimes a dull thud on the outside of the vessel, as some wandering meteorite came into contact with it.
Alec sat for a long time moving the levers backwards and forwards, and keeping a steady look out ahead. Far in front was their goal, the planet Neptune, shining faintly among numberless stars. Meanwhile, the sun's disc was gradually getting closer to the earth, and in a few more minutes it was quite hidden behind it. An intensely black darkness immediately succeeded to the brilliant light of the sun, a darkness so thick that it could almost be felt. The blackness of space was in front, around, everywhere. Alec pulled a handle in front of him, and then pressed a button. The whole of the interior of the Lightning was immediately lighted up, and the powerful searchlights outside threw their rays in all directions. The other ships did the same, and the whole fleet presented a magnificent and beautiful spectacle as the light darted from ship to ship, until a considerable portion of the sky was covered with the streaks of light that crossed one another in every direction. A little later on another officer relieved Alec at his post, and he retired to his cabin to enjoy a few hours' repose.
Not long afterwards the fleet emerged from the earth's shadow, and plunged again into the sunshine, and the lights were extinguished, as being no more required for the present. The heat-radiation apparatus was set at work to prevent the vessels from getting too hot, for in space, where there is no air, the temperature is much higher than that of boiling water. The moon was soon approached and passed, the numerous craters sweeping past like a hurricane, showing how enormous the speed of the vessels had become. As day after day passed by the speed kept on increasing, until it was some thousands of miles an hour. Great care was necessary while the speed was so great to prevent the vessels colliding with one another or coming into contact with any minor planet, for any such contact would have resulted in immediate reduction to incandescent vapour. From hour to hour responsible and experienced officers on every vessel kept their eyes fixed on the dials and on the ships in front of them, noting every movement of the needles and any signals that might be sent from the flagships.
Meanwhile, both sun, earth, and moon kept on growing smaller. The earth was soon only a shining disc, that covered about six degrees of space, while the moon was like a small dot by its side. But far in front Uranus and Neptune were gradually increasing in size as the days went by.
On the eleventh day two second-class battleships collided owing to a steering apparatus having failed. There was a blinding flash of light as one vessel ripped up the side of the other with its ram. Then the magazines blew up from the heat developed by the collision. A huge cloud of smoke was suddenly generated where the two vessels had collided, and out of it were hurled with prodigious force vast masses of torn metal-work, pieces of machinery, huge cannon, and the torn fragments of human bodies. Some of these were hurled right out into space, others struck the surrounding ships and did a little damage; but the worst danger was caused by the shells and projectiles which were let loose in all directions. Pieces of human bodies and showers of blood were scattered all over the place, the latter even falling like rain against the windows of some of the vessels. A shudder passed through the whole of the fleet when the horrible results of the accident were seen, but it was impossible to render any assistance, and it was certain that no one on either ship could have survived such an explosion. For some minutes afterwards the shells and torpedoes could be seen exploding far away in the distance, and then there was nothing to be seen of either ship. The fragments would go on dashing through space until they encountered some obstacle or were attracted on to some planet.
Nothing occurred for some time to vary the monotonous routine of the voyage. All of the officers and most of the men had been for a voyage through space before, so it was no new experience for them. The superior officers were busily engaged during most of the time working out various tactical problems, and the men were kept constantly practising at working the guns and other offensive apparatus. Messages were continually being flashed backwards and forwards to the earth and Neptune. When the fifteenth day had arrived, Neptune showed a large disc, and this grew rapidly larger. Then it became a huge ball on which continents, seas, islands, rivers, and mountain ranges could easily be seen. The propelling power was shut off on board all the ships, and the engines were reversed. A few days later the whole of the fleet plunged into the atmosphere of Neptune at a speed of some hundreds of miles an hour.
As soon as the speed was low enough, the hatchways were opened and the men were allowed to go out on to the outer deck. Many of the vessels bore on their exteriors the ghastly traces of the collision. Arms, legs, strips of skin, and heads, often so burnt and bruised as to be hardly recognisable, were hanging on to the torpedo-nets or wedged up between the rods and wires. These were quickly removed, and the blood was washed away from the windows and the other parts of the hulls where it had been splashed. The masts were set up and flags run up on to them, so that the fleets might have as fine an appearance as possible. The ships kept on rushing through the air at a great speed, as was testified by the rate at which the objects beneath flashed past. They careered over villages, towns, cities, and mountains, the admirals carefully examining maps all the time to see their way to the capital. When they passed over the great towns, they saw crowds of people standing out in the open air and gazing up at the huge fleet, but they were come and gone like a flash of lightning. At last a dull booming was heard in the distance. The speed was slackened, and gradually the houses thickened together and became more large and splendid. Everywhere, as far as the eye could reach, the roads seemed to be converging together as if to some centre, while numerous small craft plying about in the air announced the vicinity of a great city. Then they crossed a ridge of mountains, and Makouffon, the capital of Neptune, lay stretched out at their feet, and in the distance the allied fleets appeared anchored in lines within a few yards of the ground. The latter fired a salute as soon as the fleet from the earth had come to a stop.
A rest of twenty-four hours was allowed before the combined fleets plunged into space, so most of the men had leave to go on shore, or, rather, on planet, for a few hours. The admirals and their staffs paid ceremonial visits to the great men of the city, and a state ball was given that night in their honour. The streets were filled with brilliant uniforms and all the clash and noise of naval and military panoply. The great ballrooms were aglow with colour and beauty, the lights of the chandeliers scintillated from gold lace, orders, and military insignia.
'Music arose with its voluptuous swell,
Soft eyes looked love to eyes that spake again,
And all went merry as a marriage-bell.'
Alas! if they could only have foreseen what——— But never mind; it must wait for the present. The story shall unfold itself in due course.
By the middle of the next day everyone was on board again. The Admiral-in-Chief gave the signal, and for the second time the numberless vessels rose into the air with their human freight and palpitating machinery. There was a waving of cocked hats and the clash of swords. The air shook with the roar of a thousand guns as the forts saluted the departing fleet. Then sheets of flame leapt from the sides of every war-ship, and there was a terrible crash of thunder as the fleet returned the salute.
A few hours later not a speck was visible in the blue sky of Neptune, and there was not a trace left of the mighty host that had vanished into the depths of space.