CHAPTER XLI.
WE ARE ATTACKED BY THE ENEMY.
Captain Wallace and the entire ship's company were overjoyed at myescape from the clutches of the enemy. The loss of six of our bravesailors was a terrible calamity in any case, but still more so in viewof the impending attack by the enemy's navy.
We had a good stock of gunpowder on board, and the ship's mechanicsunder Professor Rackiron began the construction of a series of machineguns, each weapon having one hundred rifled barrels arranged incircles around the central tube. Twenty-five of these guns wereconstructed. To each tube was fitted a magazine, with automaticattachment, so that one man could handle each weapon, that would throwfive hundred balls with each charge of the magazine.
The fletyemings of the royal navy possessed the advantage of numbersand ships, so that it was necessary for us to have the advantage inpoint of arms. Our monster terrorite gun and the terrorite batterygave us also an immense advantage over the gunpowder batteries of theenemy. Thus equipped, we were more than a match for any ten ships ofthe enemy. But when we saw one hundred vessels, the smallest of whichwas as large as our own, and many twice our size, bearing down upon usin battle array, we felt our chances of escape, not to mentionvictory, were hardly worth calculating.
It was a splendid scene for a naval battle. The harbor of Kioram was abay fully fifty miles in diameter, and here lay the royal fleet, whosehulls of gleaming gold shone on the blue water, while beyond rose thebrilliant whiteness of the sculptured city.
Captain Wallace had the ship ready for action. Every soul knew it wasa life-and-death struggle. The sailors knew that success meant wealthbeyond the dreams of avarice. For myself, the prize was something moreworthy of our desperate courage--it was the priceless Lyone, possessedof a divine personality. Her life, like my own, hung in the balance.Should I win the battle, we would win each other. Should I fail toconquer, there was but one kind of defeat, and that was death.
Every man stood at his post in silence. Flathootly had command of acompany of sailors. Professor Rackiron superintended our chief arm ofdefence, the terrorite guns--weapons, like our revolvers, fortunatelyunknown in Atvatabar. We had a large quantity of explosive terroriteon board, in the shape of shells for our guns. The shells containedeach the equivalent of 100 pounds of terrorite--that is to say, theywould each weigh 100 pounds on the outer earth, while the shells ofthe giant gun weighed 250 pounds each. The iron hurricane-deck, thatdid us such service in the polar climate, was put up overhead, as aprotection from the onslaught of a boarding crew.
The ships of the enemy advanced proudly in a double line of battle. Onthe peak of each floated the ensign of Atvatabar, a red sun surroundedby a wide circle of green, on a blue field.
On the _Polar King_ floated the flag of the goddess, a figure of thethrone of the gods in gold, on a purple ground.
When but a mile off, we could see the guns on every ship pointed andready for the attack. The enemy suddenly broke into the form of asemi-circle. It was the design of Admiral Jolar to surround us andcapture or destroy the _Polar King_ by sheer force of numbers. Weallowed the formation to proceed, until the entire navy of Atvatabarsurrounded us in an enormous circle.
Having executed this manoeuvre, a boat put away from the admiral'sship and approached us. In a short time it reached our vessel, and thecaptain of the admiral's ship, with several officers, came on board.
The captain demanded my unconditional surrender, "in the name of hismajesty King Aldemegry Bhoolmakar of Atvatabar." I had been declared"an enemy of the country, a violator of its most sacred laws, aheretic in active destruction of its holy faith, and a fugitive fromjustice." The captain, as the emissary of the admiral, demanded theimmediate surrender of myself and entire company.
I asked my men if they were prepared to surrender themselves to theenemy. Their fearful shout of "Never!" disturbed the silence of thesea, and must have been heard by the distant enemy.
"You hear the reply of my men," I said to the captain. "Tell youradmiral that the commander of the _Polar King_ declines tosurrender."
"Then," said the captain, "we will open fire upon you at once. We meanto have you dead or alive."
"Give the admiral my compliments," said I, "and tell him to open thefight as soon as he likes."
The captain and his staff rapidly disappeared, and we knew that thefight was certain. The officers had no sooner reached the admiral'sship than a report was heard; and a ball of metal crashed upon thehurricane-deck overhead, tearing a large hole in it, and then plungedinto the sea. This was the signal of war. Before we could reply, the_Polar King_ was the target of a general bombardment from all pointsof the compass. The balls that struck us were of different kinds ofmetal--lead, zinc, iron, and even gold. Although the range of theirguns was accurate, yet, owing to the loss of gravity, the shots hadbut little effect on the plating of the vessel. Some of the sailorswere severely wounded by being struck in the limbs with the largemissiles hurled upon us, and I saw that if the enemy couldn't sink the_Polar King_ they could at least kill us, which was even worse.
I gave orders to Professor Rackiron to train the giant gun on theadmiral's vessel. The discharge was accompanied by a slight flash,without smoke, and we saw the deadly messenger make its aerial flightstraight toward the admiral's vessel. It entered the water right infront of the ship, and in another instant an extraordinary scene waswitnessed. The ship, in company with a vast volume of water, spranginto the air to a great height, with an immense hole blown in thebottom of the hull. Falling again, she sank with all of the crew whodid not manage to fly clear of her rigging. After the vesseldisappeared, the last of the waterspout fell upon the boiling sea.
It was a great surprise to the enemy to see their best ship destroyedat a single blow. The effect of our shot completely paralyzed the foefor the moment, for every vessel ceased firing at us. At first it wasthought that the admiral had gone down with his vessel, and until anew admiral was in command the battle would be suspended.
During the confusion we ran the _Polar King_ through the breach madein the circle of the enemy, keeping his ships on one side of us. Idetermined to try the tactics of rapid movement, with the steadydischarge of the terrorite gun, hoping to destroy a ship at everyblow.
THE SHIP IN COMPANY WITH A VAST VOLUME OF WATER SPRANGINTO THE AIR TO A GREAT HEIGHT.]
It soon appeared that Admiral Jolar was still alive, he having escapedfrom his ship in mid air, with his staff and a number of fletyemings,by means of their electric wings. He had alighted on the ship of therear admiral, where he hoisted the pennant of the admiral.
The enemy was now thoroughly alive to the necessity of destroying orcapturing us. I saw it was a mistake in allowing ourselves to besurrounded in a bay only fifty miles wide. To fight so many shipsrequired ample sea-room, to avoid the possibility of being captured.
The admiral sent ten ships to guard the mouth of the bay. It was asatisfaction to know that the torpedo was also unknown in Atvatabar,else our career would have been cut short. The _Polar King_, runningtwenty-five miles an hour, was followed by the enemy's fleet, which,although slower in movement, had the advantage in numbers and couldpossibly drive us upon the shore. After sailing as far east as wecared to go, the _Polar King_ lay to, awaiting a renewal of thebattle.