“STRATOSPHERE EXPRESS”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 March 1940, Page 12

“STRATOSPHERE EXPRESS”

PUBLISHED BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT. COPYRIGHT.

BY

ALROY WEST.

(Author of "Messengers of Death," etc.)

CHAPTER 11. Continued. ‘•l’m not going to be beaten!" he cried at length. “It’s all right, Storm. No need to ask questions. I can find out who did it. We’ll finish these cases and discover what is missing. Afterwards we’ll think out a way of laying our hands on the person who is responsible. I wondered when trouble would start to break.” When they had checked through the lists, Bessiter gave a grunt of satisfaction. “Nothing of much importance,” he declared.. “There were some Dines meteorgraphs for the purpose of taking some sounding experiments in the upper atmosphere. Come along to my room now.” He hurried away without glancing to see if they were following him. “You’re honoured," Manda said. “Why?” “Seeing his room. It's like the centre of the entire nerve-system. There's actually a small model of the Stratosplane there.” “I’d be interested to spe it.” “So would hundreds of people. There's trouble ahead—do you feel like walking out?”

“You’ll get that spanking if you're not careful,” Storm warned her. Manda’s eyes danced with sudden amusement.

“We’d better hurry,” she announced. ••He just hates being kept waiting. This way!”

“Good way of changing the topic of conversation. But I agree with you. I think I can hear him shouting for us.” Manda led Storm along the passage, round a corner, and into another room. Bessiter was standing by the door. He glared at them. “Took you long enough!” he snapped. “I want things done on the run here. You can do your dawdling in spare time. Nip in! Do you think I want everybody to gape into,this room? Storm made no comment. He was lost in wonder. He had never seen a room anything like this one. The walls were of some black and shiny material, relieved here and there by straight insets of chromium. The floor was covered by a dark green square of linoleum. There were three metal chairs cf unusual design and a solitary black marble pedestal, on the top of which stood a gleaming model of some manner of aeroplane. Over against one of the walls was what appeared to be a massive square of stone. Apart from these things, and the long oblong patch in the ceiling where the powerful light was thrown downwards the room was empty.

“Surprised, eh?" Bessiter snapped. “Well, what’s wrong with it?” “I don’t know that there’s anything wrong with it. But I expected to see a lot of papers, books and plans. All sorts of things.”

Bessiter laughed. “There’s everything that’s wanted in this room." He crossed to the model. "This dream couldn’t be realised without me. Thi s factory, hidden right away from everybody, wouldn’t mean a thing without me. You talk of plans. Who brought the plans into being? I did. Who designed this place? I did. Who had it built up so that what was once a great pit became a miniature factory? I did. It’s no good hating mo. Storm. I’m everywhere. You can’t get away from me. Everything here is part of me. And if you run away—well, it will be because you couldn’t stand up to my pace.”

He moved to one of the walls and pressed a switch which was placed near one of the cromiuni insets. A portion of the wall slid away and revealed a peculiar panel which had innumerable wavy lines across it. The pressing of aother switch caused these lines to light up. “Come here,” Bessiter ordered. “This,” he tapped the lowest line, “is sea level. The next, that red line, is the approximate height of the low-lying clouds, the cumulus ones. Just below the green line is the highest that man has ever been able to climb. That represents the conquest of Mount Everest. The green line itself is the cirrus cloud point. Just above it is the buffer slate between the lower level of the earth's atmosphere, which we call the Troposphere, and the upper layer, known as the Stratosphere. We call the intermediate the Tropopause, and it varies in height between about ten and a half miles above the Equator, and something like six and a half miles above the Poles. Above the green line is our destination. The white line represents the height of the luminous cloud; but we can’t get that high. The ozone layer, which makes life on this earth possible, is just below the white line."

“What are the lines above?" Storm asked.

“The purple is the Heavisidc-Ken-nelly Layer and he blue is the Appleton."

“Is that the Layer where radiation causes the so-called ’Luxemburg effect’ on the wireless?” “The former is," Bessiter told Storm.

"It was found that a powerful station could cause a slight increase in the temperature of the Layer." “You're not flying that high?" Bessiter shook his head.

“I don't think it humanly possible. At least not al the moment. After I have managed to make my flight in the lower region of the stratosphere. I shall use my added knowledge to enable mo to attempt a flight into unbound space," He switched off the lights, and then closed the panel. Storm turned to look at the model of the straloplane. “That’s what it will look like,” said Bessitcr. “You noticed the sort of dragon-scale design of the wings o

Thais to give the variable surface for flying in rarefied atmosphere. There are new super-chargers fitted to the four engines. They have the effect of sucking the air in like a vacuum. The cabins are actually in the wings, and the fuselage has been reduced to a minimum.”

“What about the increased difficulty in breathing as you get up higher?” “We shall carry oxygen. The cabins quite literally, will be breathing chambers. There is an inner shell to the plane, and the space between is a vacuum. I am perfecting a design for the heating and I also hope to have new engines which will not take so much petrol. It's the fuel carriage which is so great a problem.” “Suppose anything goes wrong?” Storm asked. “You can’t take to a parachute from that height.” “That’s attended to. We have special clothing, with an oxygen cylinder attached.” Bessiter leaned forward and opened a door in the side of the model. “This changes the wing chords," he announced. moving something inside the model. "Of course, this particular mechanism is somewhat different in form from the type which will be in use on the finished machine. The idea is, though, that some of the scale-like plates slide from under one another. At the same time a compensating device adjusts the camber, or shape of the wing surface from front to rear. There is a certain amount of risk in this feature, because a model may behave in one way, but a large aeroplane may give different results. However, there always are risks, so one may as well have a few obvious ones as well as the crop of unforeseen dangers.” Bessiter left the gleaming model and. crossed to the door. “I’m going to have Rush in," he told Manda.

Storm watching closely, saw that the girl was troubled. “He wouldn’t know anything about those cases,” she said quickly. “You’ll keep quiet," Bessiter commanded. “I don’t have women running things. I only know one thing about women —and that is that, in the mass, they are a darned sight more foolish than men; and that's saying a great deal.”

He pressed a bell-push which was set in a small square panel against the door lintel.

“But you can t suspect him!" the girl cried out. Bessiter glared at her. “I don’t suspect him —but I want to know whether he saw anything. And if you argue any more you’re dismissed."

Manda shrugged her shoulders and walked over to the chairs. She sat down and, with a rebellious toss of her head, took a cigarette from the pocket of her white overall. She lit it, and puffed some smoke over her shoulder at the model of the stratoplane. Bessiter was watching her. He grinned. “Take more than a puff of smoke to upset my plans,” he commented. There was a hesitant tap on the door. "Come in!” Bessiter called.

Storm looked at the man who entered. He was past middle age, had a rather long, pale face, and white hair. “Did you see the boxes come in today?" Bessiter snapped. Rush gave a slight inclination of the head.

"I did, sir,” he said slowly. His voice was deep and rather pleasant. Storm thought there was something serious about the man's grey eyes. They were eyes which had looked on much trouble and yet retained serenity. “You did! And there was a time bomb in one of them! What'sort of a watchman do you think you are? What do you think I pay you for?” The man moved uneasily. “I’m very sorry ." he began. But Bessiter cut him short.

‘ Sorrow doesn’t do any good! Sorrow wouldn’t have put these back if they'd been blown up! Sorrow wouldn’t have given us a free flight in the stratosphere!" Bessiter took a step forward. “I want a watchman who is a watchman. Understand? I make a habit of buying success. If you can’t give me what I want. I throw you out into the street.”

Again Rush moved. Storm, sorry for the man, turned away. He felt uncomfortable.

“The street! That's where you’ll go —back where I took you from. You’re finished here. You can get out!" Storm, hearing a sudden sound, turned. Manda was facing Bessiter. her face pale wih anger. “And I’ll get out, too! You big blusterer! Just because you've a powerful voice you think you’re the lord of creation! But I'll tell you what you are. You're an incompetent bungler. You'll never fly to the stratosphere—you haven't the brains io even start out in the right direction! You’re an addlepated nit-wit!"

Storm tensed his body. He felt sure that Bessitcr would strike the girl. But no such thing happened. An ugly grin spread over the big man’s face. “I’m having a swell day today. You're the second to tell me to go to blazes! 1 like your spirit, girl!" He turned to Rush. "All right. You stay —and thank your lucky stars that somebody has the backbone lo fight for you. If you’d have slanged me I’d never have fired you. That’s all!” But Storm intercepted a glance which passed between the white-haired Rush and Manda. It puzzled him, and made him wonder if that was all. (To be Continued.) 3d~A WEEK FOR "HE ALTH PROTECTION. Colds, chest weakness, asthma, ’flu, | blood pressure! All are caused by acid iin the system. Keep yourself alkaline J and germ-free with R.U.R. 4/- packet makes 26ozs. Twice a week gives the health you seek—W H Snowsill (Wood's Pharmacy). I