“Your duty,” went on Reikoff, addressing himself directly to Serge, “will be to win the confidence of Andy High. In America you will be known as Herman Blatz. Once you have done that you should be in a position to bring about the destruction of the Goliath. You must learn its every secret. If necessary that the ship be allowed to fly in order to accomplish that goal, do not interfere until you have mastered every secret of these American aircraft builders. When you have done that, destroy the Goliath!”
Serge nodded slowly. So this was why he had been drafted into the secret police. He was to destroy the new king of the skies. Serge loved the great, gracefully looking airships on which he had been trained at Friedrichshafen and the thought of destroying one of them sickened him. But he was a Rubanian, a member of the great army which lived as Alex Reikoff dictated and he finally forced himself to accept the mission.
The meeting of the supreme council adjourned at two o’clock and Serge drove hastily through the deserted streets of the capital until he reached the flying field where he was supervising the final work on the XO5, the new distance plane.
Mechanics were routed from their beds and set to work preparing the big monoplane for its long flight across the Atlantic. For eighteen hours Serge worked feverishly over the craft, making test flights over the field and checking every detail of the preparations. Satisfied that his craft was ready, he rolled into a bed at the field and slept for twelve hours. Awakened at dawn the second day following the secret meeting of the supreme council, he found Reikoff at the field to see him off.
Last minute instructions followed, a checking of weather maps, acceptance of the secret papers which would put him in touch with the American headquarters of the Gerka and the last words from Reikoff.
“Learn the secrets of the Goliath; then destroy that air monster.”
With those words ringing in his ears. Serge climbed into the cockpit of the dull-gray low-winged monoplane, opened the throttle, shot his squat looking craft down the field and into the air. He circled the field once while gaining altitude. Then the young lieutenant of the Rubania air force headed his ship westward. He had started his 6,000 mile flight to America, a mission of destruction which was to involve the Goliath, its builders and especially Andy High, young assistant pilot.