CHAPTER VI
First Appearance of the Enemy
As soon as the fleet was fairly launched into space the torpedo-nets were let down, in case the ships might come into contact with any of the enemy's swift cruisers. As they got further away from Neptune, the sun gradually became smaller and its light fainter, until at last all the vessels were obliged to turn on their searchlights to enable them to avoid colliding with one another. They directed their course straight for Sirius, as it was presumed that the enemy would probably steer for the Solar System, and so they would be likely to run straight into them. The speed became faster and faster, until at last it was terrific. Many an anxious captain kept his eyes fixed on the dials in front of him, eager to detect the least movement of the needles that might indicate the approach of hostile vessels, but they still hung down quite motionless. An advanced squadron was sent on some hundreds of thousands of miles in front to explore the way, while the rest of the fleet was spread over a vast area in the form of a square. Alec looked out of the windows of the Lightning, and could see the lights of the other vessels shining like specks in the distance. A vast loneliness sometimes almost overpowered him as he gazed upon the dark depths of those silent solitudes of space, where no sounds could be heard and there was nothing to see but the unchangeable face of the star-strewn heavens.
Days, weeks, and months passed by without anything happening. There was no difference between day and night, for there was no sun to rise or set. Time was arranged throughout the fleet by the chronometers, which had been set to London time. As hour after hour went by, the bells clanged through the war-ships, announcing the time for getting up, taking meals, or going to bed. The sailors were wearied by the unchanging routine of their daily duties, which were varied by no recreation and no fighting. Outside were the black depths of space, within was the blaze of the artificial lights which illuminated the glittering breeches of the guns and the numberless bars, levers, and tubes that formed the loading apparatus. In the engine-room the machinery was still whirling round, and the engineers were still climbing about among the moving cranks, while sparks and flames shot about in all directions. Many of the men longed to meet the enemy, that they might have something to do; but still there was no sign of an approaching fleet—the needles hung down quite motionless.
Signals were continually being flashed backwards and forwards from one end of the fleet to the other, giving orders as to formations and asking for any indications of the approach of the enemy. The coloured lights were flashing all over the sky—green, blue, yellow, and red—while the vessels moved this way and that way according to orders. The admirals met and consulted together for a long time, and then the ships were ordered to spread out much further apart. Small squadrons were detached from the main body, with orders to scour space in all directions. The captains had now become exceedingly anxious about their position. The methods of war used by the people of Kairet were but little known to them, and they suspected some secret method of destruction that had not yet been divulged by them. Had they some means of rendering themselves invisible? Would they suddenly fall on the fleet and annihilate it without being seen themselves? Had they slipped past the great Anglo-Saxon fleet and rushed on to annihilate the centre of their power in London with one fell swoop? These and innumerable other surmises of the same kind tormented the minds of the commanders until they were worn with anxiety.
But on the eighty-fifth day after the departure from Neptune, the waves that are set up in the ether by solid matter came rolling through space and passed through the fleet. The needles vibrated backwards and forwards for some time and then began to rotate with great velocity. A cheer went through every ship when the news was announced. The engines were immediately reversed, and orders given to make everything ready for an engagement. The decks of every vessel soon became a scene of bustle and activity. Men were hurrying hither and thither to their posts, and the air was filled with the clanging of bells and the rumbling of machinery. The guns were pushed out and loaded, and the torpedo-tubes were filled with their deadly projectiles. The anticohesion apparatus and the engines for sending waves of force through space were made ready to take their part in the terrible destruction that was about to commence.
The ships that had been sent on in advance soon returned to the main body, and announced that they had had a slight brush with the enemy's cruisers, but without doing or receiving any material damage. A few hours later lights were seen moving across the sky far in front. The fleet was immediately ordered to concentrate, and soon the great battleships were advancing in lines drawn up one above the other and extending many miles. The torpedo-boats flitted hither and thither amongst the larger vessels or were hurrying to the front, eager to try their destructive powers on the enemy. The cruisers were spread out over an area of several miles, examining the strength of the enemy's fleet. Soon long streaks of purple fire, darting about in the distance, showed that they had become engaged with the enemy; but this was only the merest skirmish compared with what was to follow. In a short time the whole of the space in front of the Anglo-Saxon fleet as far as the eye could reach was filled with a blaze of light that rendered the stars quite invisible. Beams of light of all colours flashed hither and thither, while the long flashes that came from the guns looked like distant lightning. But whatever was going on in front, or whatever giant forces were being called into play, not a sound was heard by the crews of the Anglo-Saxon fleet, and no one could make out what was happening on account of the inextricable confusion of lights. But by degrees the individual ships became visible. The lights moved hither and thither, sometimes being extinguished, then suddenly reappearing again. At last, by executing a neat manœuvre, the whole fleet appeared drawn up in battle array a few miles in front of the Anglo-Saxons. The latter were now ready for action; all the gunners stood at their guns with their fingers on the triggers ready to fire at a moment's notice. The flag-ship of the Admiral-in-Chief retired to the rear; but the other flag-ships were drawn up by their divisions, ready to lead them to the attack. The Admiral-in-Chief displayed a signal to the whole fleet before it went into action. It was: 'England expects that every man will do his duty'—a signal which historical records tell us was used by a great commander in the old days of battles on the sea. There was frantic cheering on all the ships when the signal was read out, and everyone, from admiral to gunner, was determined to conquer or die. There was a little more preliminary manœuvring, and then the battle began.