PROLOGUE
High in the deep blue of the afternoon sky rode a tiny speck ofglistening metal, scarcely visible in the glare of the sun. The workerson the machines below glanced up for a moment, then back to their work,though little enough it was on these automatic cultivators. Even thisminor diversion was of interest in the dull monotony of green. Theseendless fields of castor bean plants had to be cultivated, but with thegreat machines that did the work it required but a few dozen men tocultivate an entire county.
The passengers in the huge plane high above them gave little thought towhat passed below, engrossed with their papers or books, or engaged incasual conversation. This monotonous trip was boring to most of them. Itseemed a waste of time to spend six good hours in a short 3,500 miletrip. There was nothing to do, nothing to see, except a slowly passinglandscape ten miles below. No details could be distinguished, and thesteady low throb of the engines, the whirring of the giant propellers,the muffled roar of the air, as it rushed by, combined to form asoothing lullaby of power. It was all right for pleasure seekers andvacationists, but business men were in a hurry.
The pilot of the machine glanced briefly at the instruments, wonderedvaguely why he had to be there at all, then turned, and leaving thepilot room in charge of his assistant, went down to talk with the chiefengineer.
His vacation began the first of July, and as this was the last of June,he wondered what would have happened if he had done as he had been halfinclined to do--quit the trip and let the assistant take her through. Itwould have been simple--just a few levers to manipulate, a few controlsto set, and the instruments would have taken her up to ten or elevenmiles, swung her into the great westward air current, and leveled heroff at five hundred and sixty or so an hour toward 'Frisco'. They wouldhold her on the radio beam better than he ever could. Even the landingwould have been easy. The assistant had never landed a big plane, but heknew the routine, and the instruments would have done the work. Even ifhe hadn't been there, ten minutes after they had reached destination, itwould land automatically--if an emergency pilot didn't come up by thattime in answer to an automatic signal.
He yawned and sauntered down the hall. He yawned again, wondering whatmade him so sleepy.
He slumped limply to the floor and lay there breathing ever more andmore slowly.
* * * * *
The officials of the San Francisco terminus of The TranscontinentalAirways company were worried. The great Transcontinental express hadcome to the field, following the radio beam, and now it was circling thefield with its instruments set on the automatic signal for an emergencypilot. They were worried and with good reason, for this flight carriedover 900,000 dollars worth of negotiable securities. But what couldattack one of those giant ships? It would take a small army to overcomethe crew of seventy and the three thousand passengers!
The great ship was landing gently now, brought in by the emergencypilot. The small field car sped over to the plane rapidly. Already theelevator was in place beside it, and as the officials in the car drew upunder the giant wing, they could see the tiny figure of the emergencypilot beckoning to them. Swiftly the portable elevator carried them upto the fourth level of the ship.
What a sight met their eyes as they entered the main salon! At firstglance it appeared that all the passengers lay sleeping in their chairs.On closer examination it became evident that they were not breathing!The ear could detect no heartbeat. The members of the crew lay at theirposts, as inert as the passengers! The assistant pilot sprawled on thefloor beside the instrument panel--apparently he had been watching therecord of the flight. There was no one conscious--or apparentlyliving--on board!
"Dead! Over three thousand people!" The field manager's voice washoarse, incredulous. "It's impossible--how could they have done it? Gas,maybe, drawn in through the ventilator pumps and circulated through theship. But I can't conceive of any man being willing to kill threethousand people for a mere million! Did you call a doctor by radio,Pilot?"
"Yes, sir. He is on his way. There's his car now."
"Of course they will have opened the safe--but let's check anyway. I canonly think some madman has done this--no sane man would be willing totake so many lives for so little." Wearily the men descended the stairsto the mail room in the hold.
The door was closed, but the lock of the door was gone, themagnesium-beryllium alloy burned away. They opened the door and entered.The room seemed in perfect order. The guard lay motionless in the steelguard chamber at one side; the thick, bullet-proof glass made hisoutlines a little blurred, and the color of his face was green--but theyknew there too must be that same pallor they had seen on the otherfaces. The delicate instruments had brought in the great ship perfectly,but it was freighted with a cargo of dead!
They entered the room and proceeded to the safe, but it was opened asthey had expected. The six-inch tungsto-iridium wall had been meltedthrough. Even this unbelievable fact no longer surprised them. Theyonly glanced at the metal, still too hot to touch, and looked about theroom. The bonds had been taken. But now they noticed that over themail-clerk's desk there had been fastened a small envelope. On it wasprinted:
To the Officials of the San Francisco Airport
Inside was a short message, printed in the same sharp, black letters:
Gentlemen:
This plane should land safely. If it doesn't, it is your fault, not mine, for the instruments that it carries should permit it. The passengers are NOT dead! They have been put in a temporary state of suspended animation. Any doctor can readily revive them by the injection of seven c.c. of decinormal potassium iodide solution for every 100 pounds of weight. Do NOT use higher concentrations. Lower concentrations will act more slowly.
You will find that any tendency toward leprosy or cancer will have been destroyed. It will kill any existing cancer, and cure it in about one week. I have not experimented with leprosy beyond knowing that it is cured very quickly.
This is an outside job. Don't annoy the passengers with questions.
The gas used cannot be stopped by any material I know of. You can try it with any mask--but don't use the C-32L. It will react with the gas to kill. I would advise that you try it on an animal to convince yourselves.
I have left stock in my new company to replace the bonds I have taken.
Piracy Incorporated is incorporated under my own laws.
The Pirate
On the desk beneath the note was a small package which contained anumber of stock certificates. They totalled $900,000 face value of"Piracy Preferred", the preferred stock of a corporation, "Piracy, Inc."
"Piracy! Pirates in the air!" The field manager forced an unnaturallaugh. "In 2126 we have pirates attacking our air lines. _PiracyPreferred!_ I think I'd prefer the bonds myself. But thank God he didnot kill all those people. Doctor, you look worried! Cheer up. If whatthis pirate says is true, we can resuscitate them, and they'll be betteroff for the experience!"
The doctor shook his head. "I've been examining your passengers. I'mafraid that you'll never be able to bring these people back to lifeagain, sir. I can't detect any heart action even with the amplifier.Ordinary heart action sounds like a cataract through this instrument. Ican see nothing wrong with the blood; it has not coagulated as Iexpected, nor is there any pronounced hydrolysis as yet. But I'm afraidI'll have to write out the death warrants for all these men and women.One of the people on that ship was coming to see me. That's how Ihappened to be on the field. For her, at least, it may be better so. Thepoor woman was suffering from an incurable cancer."
"In this case, Doctor, I hope and believe you are wrong. Read thisnote!"
* * * * *
It was two hours before the work of reviving the passengers could bestarted. Despite all the laws of physics, their body temperature hadremained constant after it had reached sevent
y-four, showing that someform of very slow metabolism was going on. One by one they were put intolarge electric blankets, and each was given the correct dose of thesalt. The men waited anxiously for results--and within ten minutes ofthe injection the first had regained consciousness!
The work went forward steadily and successfully. Every one of thepassengers and crew was revived. And the Pirate had spoken the truth.The woman who had been suffering from cancer was free from pain for thefirst time in many months. Later, careful examination proved she wascured!
The papers were issuing extras within five minutes of the time the greatplane had landed, and the radio news service was broadcasting the first"break" in a particularly dead month. During all of June the news hadbeen dead, and now July had begun with a bang!
With time to think and investigate, the airport officials went over theship with the Air Guard, using a fine-tooth comb. It was soon evidentthat the job had been done from the outside, as the Pirate had said. Theemergency pilot testified that when he entered the ship, he found asmall piece of wire securing the air lock from the outside. This hadcertainly been put on while the ship was in flight, and that meant thatwhoever had done this, had landed on the great ship with a small plane,had somehow anchored it, then had entered the plane through the air lockat the ten mile height. He had probably flown across the path of theplane, leaving a trail of gas in its way to be drawn in through theventilator pumps. It had been washed out by the incoming good air later,for the emergency pilot had not been affected.
Now the investigation led them to the mail-room. Despite the refractorynature of the metal, the door had been opened by melting or burning outthe lock. And an opening had been burned into the safe itself! Opened bymelting it through!
A bond shipment was due the next day, and the airline officials plannedto be on the watch for it. It would get through safely, they were sure,for men were put on board in steel chambers hermetically welded behindthem, with oxygen tanks and automatic apparatus sealed within to supplythem with clean air. The front of the tanks were equipped withbullet-proof glass windows, and by means of electrically operatedcontrols the men inside could fire machine guns. Thus they wereprotected from the Pirate's gas and able to use their weapons.
The ship was accompanied by a patrol of Air Guardsmen. Yet, despite,this, cancer cases were aboard with the hope of being gassed.
When the plane reached the neighborhood of San Francisco, there had beenno sign of an attack. The Pirate might well retire permanently on amillion, if he were alone, as the singular signature indicated; but itseemed much more probable that he would attempt another attack in anycase. Well, that just meant watching all the planes from now on, atremendous job for the Air Guard to handle.
The leader of the patrol turned in an easy bank to descend the ten milesto Earth, and his planes followed him. Then suddenly through thecommunicator came an unmistakable sound. _The plane automaticallysignaling for an emergency pilot!_ That could only mean that the planehad been gassed under the very eyes of his men!
The bonds were gone and the passengers gassed, and incredibly, the menin the steel tanks were as thoroughly gassed as the rest.
The note was brief, and as much to the point as was the absence of thebonds.
To the Officials of the Airport:
Restore as usual. The men in the tanks are asleep also--I said the gas would penetrate _any_ material. It does. A mask obviously won't do any good. Don't try that C-32L mask. I warn you it will be fatal. My gas reacts to produce a virulent poison when in contact with the chemicals in the C-32L.
The Pirate