"They've found some way to stabilize the opening," he said. "They're conducting an experiment, a test."
"It's a good thing that Jenny can't fly just now," she said. "Otherwise, you might be trying to escape."
"Never," he said.
"They could fly in an army of planes now, couldn't they?"
"Yes, but I doubt they will. As I said, they need secrecy..."
"Perhaps they don't now."
"We can do nothing but wait and see."
The cloud suddenly dwindled and disappeared as if it were a green handkerchief pulled back through a hole in the sky.
"It's always appeared at noon before," Glinda said. "Why should it come just before dawn now?"
Hank did not reply.
"Could it be that it's been small enough not to cause much notice?" she said. "But they don't know that people couldn't help seeing something that big during the day? So they're conducting their tests before many are up and about?"
"I suppose so," he said.
He was awakened at dawn again the next day. Mizdo had just entered the suite, but he had been yanked from a sound sleep a few seconds before. Horns were blaring, drums were pounding, and now through the opened door came the yells and shouts of many and the slap of feet against the floorstones.
"What now?" he roared at Mizdo.
"Flying machines! Many of them!"
Breathing heavily after his dash to the top of the highest tower, Hank watched the aircraft as they emerged from the green cloud and headed towards the castle. By the time he had gained the top, the lead planes were circling over the castle. The first to arrive were two Thomas Morse MB-3As, pursuit biplanes. These would be armed with two .30-caliber Colt-Browning machine guns.
Behind them were three D.H.4B two-seater scout and light bomber biplanes just like the one which had crashed.
And behind them were three D.H. biplanes. Airmail carriers!
The Air Service must have brought these in to transport supplies and ammunition. Each had a mail load capacity of 550 pounds.
Here came a Dayton Wright Model FP-2, a twin-float two-engine biplane specially built for the Canadians, who used it for patrolling forests. Had the Army borrowed or rented it?
The FP-2 normally carried a crew of four, but Hank supposed that it was jammed with soldiers and equipment now.
Here came a Loening Air Yacht, a flying boat. It carried four passengers and a pilot, but the passengers would not be civilians this time.
Behind it was an E. M. Laird Company "Swallow," a three-seater Curtiss land biplane.
And behind it was an Orenco Tourister II four-seater commercial biplane.
Glinda arrived then. Her short legs had not been able to keep up with Hank's, but she was in better condition than he. She was not breathing hard.
"What do you think they're going to do?" she said.
Hank walked to the other side of the tower and pointed to the northeast.
"See that lake and the big treeless meadow by it? I bet they're going to land there. The seaplanes will land in the lake and the land planes on the meadow. They'll set up defenses there, their base. There's a road there and embankments by the ditch along the road. On the other side of the meadow is a grove of trees. They'll cut down trees and make some sort of log wall behind which they can shoot from. The lake will protect one side; the embankment, another; the logs, the other two."
"And I suppose that some of those flying machines will stay in the air and protect them from attack there."
"Probably while the other planes are landing. After that, I don't know."
An Elias Commercial biplane had joined the widening circle. It was powered by two LeRhone eighty-horsepower engines and had three cockpits. The pilot was in the front, two passengers in the middle, and one in the rear.
Hank was beginning to understand what the Army had done. It had not pulled out squadrons from one unit or base field. It had plucked one craft from here, another from there. And it had arranged to borrow, lease, or rent some commercial craft. That eleven-passenger Aeromarine Airways, Inc. Flying Cruiser, for instance. The Army must have made secret arrangements to obtain one for a short period and had flown it to near Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where it would have landed in the Missouri River.
Here came another commercial craft, the Huff-Daland "Petrel," a three-seater.
He wondered why the planes were circling above the castle. Was it to frighten the inhabitants? If so, they were doing a good job. Everybody except Glinda was obviously upset. And down below, on the farms and in the towns, everybody was staring upward. If it had not been for the roar of the engines overhead, he would have heard the cries of the mob.
Now the two pursuits were peeling off and heading, as he had expected, toward the meadow. Others followed them, one by one, as new arrivals entered the southern side of the circle.
The pilots had had more in mind than just shaking up the Quadlings. They had also wanted their passengers to get a good view of the castle and the layout of the land around it and to check them against the maps he had sent. If they attacked, they wouldn't be doing so blindly.
Hank shook his head. "I can't believe it!"
"What?" Glinda said.
Hank pointed. "Ten Jennies. No, eleven. No, twelve!"
Shortly thereafter, he counted a total of twenty, When they banked to circle, he saw that ten carried a soldier each in the front cockpit and ten had seemingly empty front cockpits. He was sure, however, that these held weapons, ammunition, and other supplies.
"It's a big operation," he muttered.
Glinda, standing close to him, looked up.
"I could order an attack," she said. "I've made plans for just such a situation. But I wish to find out just what they intend to do first. You'll have to interpret."
Hank said, "As you wish, Glinda."
While they went down the stairs, she told him what to say to the invaders' commander.
"Stress that they cannot leave the meadow except to return to Earth. I will not have them spreading disease. If they do leave the camp, they'll be attacked. Don't be diplomatic about it. Tell them in plain words, harsh words, if you must. They must not leave the meadow except to fly back. And they must do that as quickly as possible. I will not argue with the commander. He must do as I say."
"I'll tell them," Hank said. "But I don't know if it'll do any good. They have their orders, and they'll carry them out."
They entered the courtyard and got onto the chariots. Riding out through the gates, Hank saw that the castle guards had been reinforced by the nearby garrison. They had formed a deep rank across the road and were keeping back the mob that had streamed out from the town. Other soldiers were moving the farmers out of the houses between the meadow and the town.
A woods to his right seethed with hawks and eagles. They were waiting for Glinda's orders.
When the chariots were a quarter of a mile from the meadow, they halted. Glinda said, "This is as close as we'll come—except for you. Go and talk to them. No, wait. What are your feelings about this, Hank?"
He laughed raggedly.
"How do I feel? We Americans have a saying. ‘My country, right or wrong.' Most of us, I'm sorry to say, agree with that. But some of us don't. My Mother taught me that ‘right' is higher than anything, well, except God; and He's supposed to always be on the side of right. She also taught me that it's not always easy to see what's right and what's not.
"In this situation... I'm torn, Glinda. I love my country, even though there are a hell of a lot of things wrong in it. I want it to be always in the right, to do right. But it hasn't always been and isn't and won't. Still, it's the best country, among the best, anyway, that I've ever seen or know of.
"Now, though... they're wrong, dead wrong, to come barging in here like this. They, the authorities, the big shots, have been told what will happen here if they come. They'll be bringing something far more deadly than bullets. Knowing this, having been told to stay out, they come anyway. Why? Because of greed and fear.