lights glowed brightly in the large, bare tower room which was the headquarters of the gerka, secret police organization of rubania. it was midnight and a meeting of the supreme council of the gerka at that hour could mean only the most urgent business.
residents of kratz, the capital of rubania, who happened to be in the streets that night and who saw the lights in the tower of the government palace shook their heads and hurried on their way with fear in their hearts for the gerka was the most dangerous organization in all rubania and for that matter one of the most powerful groups of secret police in the whole world.
the creation of the new europe which had followed the world war had resulted in the formation of rubania, a rich, fertile land east of prussia. it had been made a free state but alex reikoff, an unscrupulous dictator with a lust for world power, had risen to supreme command of the government, crushing out all opposition. he had built up the armed forces of his country until rubania was recognized as a world power, feared for the might of its armada of submarines and the power of its fleets of airplanes, for reikoff believed in the power of aircraft as an instrument of war.
that the midnight meeting of the gerka was of unusual importance was borne out when reikoff himself strode into the room and took his place at the head of the table around which a half dozen men were seated. they looked expectantly at him. reikoff, short and dark with closely cropped hair, stroked his bristly mustache. he looked intently at the men before him. one after another met his gaze until his eyes looked into those of serge larko, in the uniform of a lieutenant of the air force.
“ah, serge,” said reikoff, “i’m glad that you could leave your beloved flying machines long enough to answer my call.”
“yes, excellency,” smiled serge. “i came at once but there is much that remains to be done on the new xo5 before it will be ready for the long flights for which it has been designed.”
“the xo5 must be ready for a six thousand mile non-stop trip by the day after tomorrow,” replied reikoff, his words short and sharp. “i shall inform the commander of your field that you are to be given every possible assistance. an emergency has come up which makes it imperative that you go soon on a special mission.”
serge, who was one of the newest members of the secret police, gasped at the news that he was to be assigned to special work. he had been trained in germany at friedrichshafen for service in the lighter-than-air division of the rubanian air force and only recently had been shifted unexpectedly and without explanation to the airplane division where he had been given an intensive course in the handling of long-distance planes. for the last month he had been supervising the construction of the xo5, the latest type in rubanian super air cruisers. surprised though he was at the news that he had been selected for a special mission. serge felt that he was ready for whatever task might be ordered.
the dictator of rubania spoke again, his words cracking through the midnight stillness of the room.
“you are all well aware,” he said, “that the united states is our only rival in the building of dirigibles. their los angeles is antiquated now but their new akron is superior to anything in the world. it is even a mightier fighting craft than the new blenkko which we will launch next month. this must not be. we must be supreme in the air!”
reikoff hammered the table with his fists to emphasize his determination and his face reddened at the thought that some nation might have men with more brains and skill than his own engineers.
“and now,” he continued, “comes more bad news. the national airways, inc., largest passenger aviation company in the united states, has turned to dirigibles. they have been granted a large subsidy by the federal government and now have under construction an airship that will dwarf anything the world has ever known. it is intended primarily for passenger carrying, between the atlantic and pacific coasts, but, it is so designed that it can be turned into a powerful fighting craft, a floating mother ship in the sky that will be capable of housing a large number of fighting planes. if this dirigible, which has been named the goliath, is completed and flies, america will remain supreme in the air for at least four more years. it would take us that long to build such a craft as their goliath in our blenkko aircraft plant. for america to continue supreme in the air is not in line with my plans. i do not intend that the goliath shall rule the air.”
serge heard the last words with a sinking heart. he sensed what his mission would be. he knew now why they had rushed the xo5 to completion.
reikoff was talking again.
“lieutenant larko,” he said, “your mission will take you on a non-stop flight to the united states in the new xo5. complete details will be given you later but this you must remember. on reaching the united states it is essential that you crash your plane in some manner so that identification will be impossible. you will then proceed to bellevue where the goliath is under construction and join the staff of the national airways.”
when the dictator paused, serge rose to ask a question.
“but won’t they question my appearance at bellevue?”
“that will be arranged,” promised reikoff. “before you leave rubania you will be supplied with the credentials of a dirigible expert from the friedrichshafen works in germany. i warn you, however, that your mission will be dangerous. the american secret service knows that i will let nothing stand in the way of rubania’s supremacy in the air and they have been guarding this new dirigible with the greatest secrecy. our agents in the united states have known for some months that the national airways was building a ship to enter the transcontinental passenger service but it was only two days ago that they learned the details of the plans. boris dubra, one of our cleverest agents in america, has secured employment at the main assembly plant under the name of cliff bolton. you will work with him in the accomplishment of your mission. completion of the goliath will mean domination of the skies for america. it must not be.”
there was a chorus of agreement from the members of the supreme council of the gerka grouped around the table.
“the national airways have ambitious plans for the goliath,” went on reikoff.
“capt. john harkins, probably the best dirigible commander in the world, will be in charge of the big ship,” he said, fingering the yellow sheets of flimsy, the wireless reports from the american branch of the gerka which had brought news of the goliath and its menace to rubania’s air leadership.
“construction at bellevue is under the direction of charles high, vice president in charge of operations, and his son, andy, who is reported to be an unusually resourceful young scientist and who will be captain harkins’ first assistant.”
“your duty,” went on reikoff, addressing himself directly to serge, “will be to win the confidence of andy high. in america you will be known as herman blatz. once you have done that you should be in a position to bring about the destruction of the goliath. you must learn its every secret. if necessary that the ship be allowed to fly in order to accomplish that goal, do not interfere until you have mastered every secret of these american aircraft builders. when you have done that, destroy the goliath!”
serge nodded slowly. so this was why he had been drafted into the secret police. he was to destroy the new king of the skies. serge loved the great, gracefully looking airships on which he had been trained at friedrichshafen and the thought of destroying one of them sickened him. but he was a rubanian, a member of the great army which lived as alex reikoff dictated and he finally forced himself to accept the mission.
the meeting of the supreme council adjourned at two o’clock and serge drove hastily through the deserted streets of the capital until he reached the flying field where he was supervising the final work on the xo5, the new distance plane.
mechanics were routed from their beds and set to work preparing the big monoplane for its long flight across the atlantic. for eighteen hours serge worked feverishly over the craft, making test flights over the field and checking every detail of the preparations. satisfied that his craft was ready, he rolled into a bed at the field and slept for twelve hours. awakened at dawn the second day following the secret meeting of the supreme council, he found reikoff at the field to see him off.
last minute instructions followed, a checking of weather maps, acceptance of the secret papers which would put him in touch with the american headquarters of the gerka and the last words from reikoff.
“learn the secrets of the goliath; then destroy that air monster.”
with those words ringing in his ears. serge climbed into the cockpit of the dull-gray low-winged monoplane, opened the throttle, shot his squat looking craft down the field and into the air. he circled the field once while gaining altitude. then the young lieutenant of the rubania air force headed his ship westward. he had started his 6,000 mile flight to america, a mission of destruction which was to involve the goliath, its builders and especially andy high, young assistant pilot.
