The Ruler of the Ocean of the Air/Chapter VI

Chapter VI: Settling the Score
At first the mutineers were completely paralyzed, for most of them were so uneducated that they regarded the mysterious phenomenon as a miracle.

But among the insurrectionists there were educated men who had even attended a university. Orloff, Gregor and Wassil were among these.

"What the hell," the former shouted. "This is an airship of the strangest construction. That has to be one of those craft which you read about in the paper, the ones that respond to a rudder like a ship in the water. But this one is extraordinarily large. Really, it looks like it is falling into the ocean."

The shouts of amazement came from all sides, the mutineers told each other that this strange thing was an airship. Now it was diagonally approaching the surface of the water.

It really looked as if this singular aerial craft was falling into the water, as if it were in trouble, as if it would have to sink into the Black Sea at any moment.

But this was not the case. The craft which had been coming down diagonally was not in trouble, now it leveled out fifty meters about the waves and floated horizontally, guided by the pressure of the wings and the rudder.

Now it was approaching like lighting, with uncanny speed. In a giant circle it sailed around the mutineers.

The crews of the two torpedo boats started to get uneasy. They started their steam engines and left their companions.

Yes, this was the same ship that the French balloonists had seen. This was the mysterious craft of Captain Mors, it sailed around the two large ships, the roar of the engines was clearly to be heard.

And then it started to come closer and closer, it started to approach the transport ship. On deck of this, among other conspirators were Orloff, Gregor and Wassil. Matuschewsko had returned to the ironclad which he, the murderer, was now commanding.

"Watch out, watch out! The strange thing is coming toward us. Hell, we have to fight it, this thing has no friendly intentions toward us."

The tall flagpole of the airship could clearly be seen. There was not yet any flag flying from it. But then, suddenly, a flag was hoisted.

It looked strange, this was not the flag of any country, this was a flag the likes of which had never been seen before.

And outer, red, square surrounded an inner, black one, and on this black square, in large, white letters there was the word Mors, and underneath this a grinning death's head.

Orloff ran over to the sailors who were standing near the rapid fire cannons of the transport ship.

"Shoot at this thing," he ordered, plagued by a bad suspicion. "They have no friendly intentions. Shoot at this thing. One shot will be enough to sink it."

The men hesitated, but obeyed. The rapid fire cannon creaked on its wheels, then there were two shots from the six centimeter gun.

But then the sailors shouted in amazement.

One of the shots missed, the other hit the airship.

There was a strange sound, the missile bounced off and flew off sideways, only to fall hissing into the ocean.

Then the airship turned about and hovered right next to the transport ship, almost touching it.

There was a sharp noise. On one of the galleries which connected the lower cabins there appeared the same man who had led the resistance in Odessa.

There stood Captain Mors, but no longer with a patch over his left eye. Now he was again wearing his blue captain's uniform and the blue hat with the gold band.

He was wearing his mask again. From out of its openings glared his two fiery eyes, he was looking at Orloff, Gregor and Wassil who were shouting at each other.

"I have recognized you," his voice thundered at them. "You know me as well, or have you forgotten the engineer whom you delivered to his doom? You thought that I had perished and died. But now I am here, the hour of reckoning has come."

Orloff was pale as a corpse.

His companions also gave a start. Now they all reached for their revolvers which they wore on their belts. Hastily and without aiming they shot at the proud man, but he only answered their shots with a terrible laugh of contempt.

In the next instant he disappeared in the cabin, the walls of which also had to be made of some impenetrable material. The conspirators could clearly hear their bullets splattering against the walls.

"It was him, it was him," Orloff roared. "The devil must have sent him back from hell. How did this fool get such an airship? Pestilence and damnation, we have to sink it."

Again he jumped toward the cannons, but at the same moment the airship turned, now it was facing them with the terrible ram which was attached to it prow.

"It's coming closer," shouted the sailors. "It is coming right at us."

They were right, the airship was rushing along just a few feet over the water. The crew of the transport ship was shouting madly, the conspirators ran across the deck.

"A collision! A collision!" they shouted. "The weird thing is trying to ram us."

The next moment there was a dull crunching sound.

Yes, it was the airship, with its iron ram it had pierced the side of the transport ship close to the water line and torn a huge hole.

The rammed ship keeled over to the side, but then it straightened out again, and now the water came rushing through the hole, so that the ship started list toward this side.

The confusion onboard the ship was terrible. The worst of the rebels, especially the leaders of the conspiracy were on this ship.

They were running about like mad, they suspected that the ship would sink.

More and more the transport ship started to list, it was taking on more and more water. The life boats could not be used in the confusion. Many jumped into the water in order to swim to the ironclad.

Now the strange craft came down even lower, it was just above the water. On the galleries there appeared ten or twelve men in the garb of sailors. There faces were harsh and sinister, they looked like they were carved from stone.

Some of these men, by their dark features, betrayed their origin in other parts of the world.

They held long poled with iron hooks at the end, and with these they were tying to pull some of the swimmers out of the water.

Among these strange looking men was Captain Mors, his burning eyes directed toward the sea. The transport ship was sinking lower and lower, and more men were jumping into the water.

"I must have that one!" sounded the voice of the man of mystery. "And that one over there with the scar on his forehead. And watch that one, the giant one whose head just appeared above the surface. Up here with them, don't let them escape under any circumstances."

The maneuverable airship seemed to be guided by invisible hands. With uncanny precision it moved to all the spots pointed out by the captain.

Then the poles were lowered, the hooks grabbed the men that could be reached. And now the villains were pulled up to the galleries in spite of their shouting and struggling.

Powerful hands grabbed them, the maniacs were dragged onto the galleries, and in spite of all their resistance they were thrown down and bound tightly.

A few moments later they fond themselves in a room that looked like the cabin of a ship, and they were thrown down in a corner.

There were Gregor, Wassil and Orloff, but after a little while five others were added to them. Their brutal feature showed them to be among the worst ruffians. These also had been singled out by Captain Mors, pulled out of the water, bound and thrown down next to the three conspirators.

In the meanwhile the sailors had reached the ironclad. Some of them who could not swim had sunk and perished, but this did not seem to concern the terrible Captain Mors.

He was watching the ironclad. He wanted to see if it was preparing to fire at him.

But this had not been done because the strange airship was directly in line with the transport ship, and also because it was feared that the swimmers might be endangered.

But now there was a splashing in the water, and the transport ship sank like a stone. The waters closed above the ship of the conspirators.

The two torpedo boats were at a great distance by now. But on the ironclad preparations were being made to fire at the airship with heavy cannons.

But this suddenly started to rise and just as the heavy cannons were ready to fire the strange craft was hovering directly above the ship.

The next minute there was a hissing and whistling, then the impact of canon balls, at least this is how it appeared to the crew. They sought shelter, for the effect of the exploding missiles was terrible.

But the destruction of the ironclad did not seem to be intended. The explosion brought the ship of the mutineers into a precarious position. The hole which the explosion had caused filled with water so that the prow of the ship started to sink. The waterproof compartments kept the ship from sinking entirely, but now it was unable to work any further mischief.

And again the figure of Captain Mors appeared on the gallery of the airship. This time it was directly above the ironclad which he had rendered harmless and unable to pillage defenseless ports.

"See to it that you reach dry land," thundered the voice of the terrible man from above. "Only my consideration for all the misled sailors keeps me from sinking this ship as well. But I pity the misled ones, that is why I spare their lives. Head for the coast of Romania, your ship will stay afloat long enough for that. But if you should dare to attack defenseless towns—you know that I will be there to sink your ship to the bottom of the Black Sea."

These terrible words resounded like thunder. The superstitious sailors made the sign of the cross. But the mysterious aircraft rose upwards, up toward the dense clouds which were hanging low above the foaming waves of the Black Sea.

Captain Mors looked down at the humbled mutineers until he saw that the ship was headed west. Then, satisfied, he entered the room with the eight prisoners.

In this room there were also all the men who served on the maneuverable airship. Like statues they leaned against the walls, and greeted the Captain as he entered. They watched his eyes, apparently ready to carry out his commands in an instant.

"Don't bother to struggle," the voice of this mysterious man was heard to say. "Whoever has been bound by my men will not be able to free himself. No one can break these bonds. And now the hour that I have been waiting for so long has arrived. Do you still remember, you ruffians, how you once flattered me with sweet words? How you asked me to serve you with my knowledge and my skill? Back then I turned you down, and for that you tried to destroy me. You took away everything I had, everything, even my honor. You branded me a criminal, and yet I have been able to survive. And now you see me before you in my vehicle, which my genius has created and which has made me into a terrible man, a man to be feared. I am a ruler of the skies, just as others are rulers of the earth!"

The wretches knew that they could expect no mercy. They responded with terrible curses.

"Yes, you have accomplished it," Captain Mors continued. "You made me into a demon and you almost drove me to declare war on all of mankind. But the memory of those whom I once loved and who were killed by you, these thoughts kept me from turning into a devil. Of course, the earth is closed to me, you have accomplished that, but I am a ruler of the air, a buccaneer above the earth and the water. A man, for whom nothing he desires will be unobtainable. I looked for you for a long time before I figured out where you were. I was standing on the roof of your villa in Odessa, that is where I recognized your voices. That is when I knew where to find you to hold you accountable."

Orloff angrily raised his head.

"You've got a few of us," he grumbled, probably aware that a terrible judgement awaited him. "But you haven't got the most dangerous of us, your most bitter enemies. You haven't got them, they are still free, and they will avenge us."

"And where are they?" asked Captain Mors, stepping closer. "I know well that your conspiracy was larger and that there were others who pursued me with such hatred. Where will I find them, answer me!"

"You won't find out anything!" shouted Orloff with a contemptuous laugh. "You won't find out anything, even if you cut us to pieces. No, no, just wait, and the hour will come when our followers will put and end to you and your damned airship. And think of us when this happens."

Captain Mors made a contemptuous gesture.

"I am still a human being and no animal," he replied. "It is true that there is a man whom I hate even more strongly than you, but I will never sink so low that I do the kinds of things that you have done to defenseless and unfortunate ones. You have been condemned, you will receive death at the end of a rope, and just like on a ship you will dangle below the railing with your confederates."

At the same time Captain Mots turned toward his men and shouted some words at them in a language that was unknown to the prisoners. It seemed to be the language that was used on the airship.

"Now go to hell!" Captain Mors said to the condemned men. "But I will continue on my journey. I will look for the other evildoers belonging to your group, I will not rest until I have found them."

Orloff laughed loudly and spat words of contempt at the proud man, but he turned away and stepped outside while the crew of the airship fell on the mutineers like tigers.

Once again there was loud shouting, the villains tried again to burst their fetters, they screamed like wild animals as they were carried out to the gallery one by one.

They wild yelling continued outside, then there were piercing shouts, the death yells of the eight miscreants, and now one body after another could be seen dangling at the end of a long rope underneath the airship.

Gregor, Wassil and Orloff were last. These villains had to feel their fear of death until last. Orloff was the last to feel the noose around his neck.

"Tell your captain that he will soon be keeping me company in hell!" These were the last words of the wretch.

Immediately afterwards a kick propelled him into the air, and the body of the condemned man dangled next to the corpses of his companions.

But the airship rose higher and higher, until it disappeared in the clouds. Then it quickly headed east, toward new adventures, terrible experiences of all kinds, on earth, over the ocean, even in the unknown reaches of space.