Captain Tex Bradford and Jerry Hall are certainly in an exciting spot now. Two of the Euclidean scientists, Keops the master builder and Thales, the chief electrician of the underwater city, have taken Jerry and Tex for a test run in one of the rocket-propelled airships of the Euclideans. All has been going very smoothly, with nothing worse than amazement happening to our friends. But now, a new note has crept into the proceedings. There is a disturbance on the radiograph. Someone is on their course. The beam signal from Euclidia is not interrupted. Therefore, another aircraft of some type must be in the air, ahead of them and above them. But that's impossible. Their delicate instruments don't register the presence of any other plane. Let's see what the scientists can do about this. Oh gee, what are you going to do about it? There seems little to do at the moment. But if someone is on this course, isn't there danger of our running into them? There is the pleasant possibility of our doing that. Pleasant possibility? Running into another airship 40,000 feet in the air and going 800 miles an hour? Captain Bradford. Yes? Is there any type of aircraft in your world which might be cruising at an altitude of 40,000 feet over this location in the South Pacific Ocean? Not a chance. We will continue to climb steadily. Don't forget Chief 47's orders. He said not to go over 50,000 feet and not to get more than 100 miles from the position of Euclidia. We do not require your assistance, Hall. The orders were clear to us. Jari was only thinking about making G-47 angry. He's bad enough at any time. Silence! The radio beam is fading out. It's gone now. What does that mean? I am not sure. Oh boy, did you hear that text? There's something that one of these Euclidians is not sure about. This is indeed most unusual. Well, do we just sit here and comment on it while we race along towards danger at 1,000 miles an hour? You will be so good as to remember that our course lies in a circle over the undersea city of Euclidia. If this obstacle remains on our course, it can mean but one thing. Another aircraft of some strange type is also on the same course, describing the same circle. You mean somebody's chasing us? Oh, we're chasing them? Something of that nature. Thales, you will conserve your power. Prepare to stabilize this plane with the helium escape valves and check our position. Right? Seems to be something going on here, Jari. It sure looks like it. Every instrument on board this plane is distorted. Your proof? Look downward. Yeah. Look, Tex, there's the ocean. Sure is, Jari. We're only a few thousand feet above it. I cannot understand this. Well, how do we get home? I will attempt to communicate with Euclidia. Straight a plane X1 to Euclidia. Requesting bearings. Straight a plane X1 to Euclidia. Check our beam and give us our position. Oh, boy. We're lost. We are very definitely lost. Our instruments have all failed. Our altimeter shows 43,000 feet. We are actually about 4,300 feet above the water. Well, this seems like a good time for a little simple navigation with the sun. That would be the answer indeed. If it were not for the fact that we have no idea as to where Euclidia lies in relation to our present position. But we can't be over 100 miles from it. We should not be over 100 miles from Euclidia. We may be near 500. Oh, I see what you're getting at. If our instruments are all wrong, we may not have been describing a circle at all. Oh, but Tex, we only had fuel enough for 500 miles. If we're going 400 miles in a straight line, how do we get home? Looks like we may have to walk. That will hardly be necessary. But we would have to ask for aid from the city. Huh. I'll bet G-47 would like that. G-47 would find a number of ways to make life most unpleasant for us if such were the case. Yes, and he's good at that. Commander S1, waiting your report. You will proceed daily. Gee, the girl commander of Euclidia. Silence. You will make the report, Thales. Straight a plane reporting to Commander S1. All instruments paralyzed. Request check beam and give our position. Your beam is being checked. Your course is number one west from Euclidia. View west of Euclidia. We have fuel for 100 miles. What power are you using on your voice transmitter? 25 watts. Your graph is being calibrated. Here is the result. Your command lies approximately 125 miles from Euclidia. What are G-47's instructions? You will proceed at full speed toward Euclidia. Maintain your present altitude. Report when fuel exhausted. When you complete that report, you will descend and submerge at once. Aid will be dispatched at this time. Lay your course due east. That is all. One moment, Commander. We have no compass. Everything on the control panel is useless. If you do not know how to navigate a true course in broad daylight with the sun shining brightly, perhaps Captain Bradford will assist you. That is all. Oh boy. Did that girl commander tell you that time? Careful, Jerry. You will learn to hold your tongue, young man. He hopes full speed forward. You east. Run to the exhaustion of our fuel. Full speed. You east. Very well. I'll be glad to help you navigate if you want me to, Thales. I could easily request a radio beam from Euclidia if it were necessary. Well, if you can't tell which direction is east, I'd say it was kind of necessary right now. Silence. Sorry. Our course is now due east. We are accelerating rapidly. Very well. Continue so. What happens when we run out of fuel? We will take advantage of our altitude to progress as far as possible along our course, then settle to the surface and submerge. Yeah? And wait there for G-47 to come out and give us plenty of trouble. I think G-47 will have other things to think about. That girl submarine commander will require his attention for her impertinence to me. G-47 may not look at it that way. We have found that girl commander most intelligent. You have also found her most helpful on occasion, have you not? What? Gee, do you suppose G-47 suspects? Watch it, Jerry. Oh, yeah. Oh, sorry. Yes, my foolish young man. G-47 not only suspects, he knows. Knows what? That the girl in question, the finest and most trusted submarine commander in our colony, deliberately aided your party in your two escapes from the island. You mean G-47... Hey, Tex, don't let these fellows kid you. That girl didn't help us a bit. That's just imagination. Yes. Yes. There's a mistake somewhere. There is indeed, but that mistake will be rectified upon our return to Euclidia. Don't you do anything to get that girl in bad. She's a friend of ours. Just as I thought. Oh, gee. I'm sorry, Tex. Never mind, Jerry. I don't think we could tell these men anything they don't know already. That is your most intelligent observation to date, Captain. Well, I suggest you stop worrying us and give your attention to getting this crippled ship home. While you are making suggestions, you might offer one as to the cause of this condition. You are here at the request of G-47, who for some reason believed you might prove valuable in such a predicament as this. If you want my advice, you can have it. We will listen. Well, in the first place, are these ships comparatively new? By that I mean, well, how many long cruises have you made in them under various conditions? These planes have been out rarely. There is no necessity of running exhaustive tests on anything of Euclidean invention. Our machines are perfect. Yeah. Like the way this ship is acting today. This was unavoidable. Nothing is unavoidable. G-47 is the author of that remark. I think you'll find that your tempered copper is much too fine a conductor to be highly successful as a material used throughout this ship. Instruments will all react to magnetism under certain conditions, and even the cases containing these instruments are of copper. That will substantiate a claim I made at the time Thales insisted that my tempered copper was the material for this work. I disagreed with him. The copper has nothing to do with this condition, related to it in no possible... Oh, yes, that could be. Those fins, they are copper with a steel core. And nearly anything wrapped around a steel core would make a fine magnet in a ship full of electricity. Well, I'll bet that's it. The instruments were all right when we were on the water, and those wings were folded back into the sides of the ship. If that were the case, how do you account for the fact that numerous trips have been made in ships such as this one, and the instruments worked perfectly? Well, I can't explain that yet, but give me time to take one of these things to pieces when we get back to Euclidean, I'll find out what the weak points are. Commander S1 to rocket plane. S1 calling Thales in straight up plane. Silence. Thales to Commander S1 ready. You will continue to transmit continuously. Your graph will be run and your position corrected. Position is correct as last given. On course one east to Euclidea. You are not on course one east. Directional prism reflectors fail to locate you. Continue transmitting. Very well. We are proceeding at full speed along a course believed to be due east to Euclidea. Altitude about 4,000 feet. Fuel for approximately 50 miles. Is there any further information I can give you? That is all. That is all. You may cease transmission. Your graph has been calibrated. You are seven degrees off your course. Impossible. You are seven degrees north of your course. You will make this correction immediately. Very well. Proceed along course. Notify me immediately when fuel exhausted. I am leaving at once. That is all. Hey, the girl is coming out after us for the submarine. Obviously so. This is getting to be a habit. It will make the third time she's dragged us to the island. It will be a comparatively simple task on this occasion. We should reach the surface of the water within 25 miles of Euclidea. If that sound has any significance, your latest observation is faulty Thales. Yes, that was bad. We are losing headway. We must take advantage of this altitude and glide down. What was that noise? The last of the gas leaving the fuel chambers. We are without fuel. And we're a lot more than 25 miles from Euclidea. Only less than 75 miles. Hey, we're going down mighty fast. How can you land this thing without power? Right Jerry, we haven't enough wing surface for a glide. This thing's dropping like a bullet. I will now compensate for that. Oh boy, did we bounce that time. Hey, what did we hit? That sudden jar was caused by the release of the helium cylinders. The outer shell of this plane is now expanding. Expanding? Precisely. You mean that you released compressed helium into the outer shell and that it is pliable enough to expand and carry our weight as a lightest in their ship? Precisely. Well, it's a good trick if it works, but it looks to me like we're starting down again and mighty fast too. What? Yes, we are falling again. I will release the reserve supply of helium. Hey, you have to do that so rough. It's better to flatten out up here than it is to hit the water at the speed we were making. We are gaining speed again. We are not being supported. Yes, something, something vital has failed. You mean we're falling and you can't stop us? Steady, Jerry. What's to be done, Thales? I have exhausted every means at my command. How about you, Keops? There is nothing more to be done. What will be our speed when we hit that water? The least we may hope for is at a speed of 75 miles an hour. 75 miles an hour? But hey, we can't land that fast. We're going pretty near straight down. Well, that's going to smash the ship to pieces. Pray to will, Jerry. This is once the Euclidean perfection has failed and failed plenty.
