diplomatic relations had atrophied through failure to replace men called
home nearly four years before. Everybody knew, of course, that the new
group in power called themselves Fifth Internationalists, but what that
meant, aside from ceasing to display the pictures of Lenin and Stalin,
nobody knew.
But they agreed to our terms and offered to cooperate in every way. They
pointed out that the Union had never been warlike and had kept out of the
recent world struggle. It was fitting that the two remaining great powers
should use their greatness to insure a lasting peace.
I was delighted; I had been worried about the E. U.
They commenced delivery of some of their smaller planes to the receiving
station near Shanghai at once. The reports on the number and quality of the
planes seemed to indicate that they had stayed out of the war through
necessity, the planes were mostly of German make and poor condition—types
that Germany had abandoned early in the war.
Manning went west to supervise certain details in connection with
immobilizing the big planes, the trans-oceanic planes, which were to gather
near Fort Riley. We planned to spray them with oil, then dust from a low
altitude, as in crop dusting, with a low concentration of one-year dust.
Then we could turn our backs on them and forget them, while attending to
other matters.
But there were hazards. The dust must not be allowed to reach Kansas City,
Lincoln, Wichita—any of the nearby cities. The smaller towns roundabout had
been temporarily evacuated. Testing stations needed to be set up in all
directions in order that accurate tab on the dust might be kept. Manning
felt personally responsible to make sure that no bystander was poisoned.
We circled the receiving station before landing at Fort Riley. I could pick
out the three landing fields which had hurriedly been graded. Their runways
were white in the sun, the twenty-four-hour cement as yet undirtied. Around
each of the landing fields were crowded dozens of parking fields, less
perfectly graded. Tractors and bulldozers were still at work on some of
them. In the eastern-most fields, the German and British ships were already
in place, jammed wing to body as tightly as planes on the flight deck of a
carrier—save for a few that were still being towed into position, the tiny
tractors looking from the air like ants dragging pieces of leaf many times
larger than themselves.
Only three flying fortresses had arrived from the Eurasian Union. Their
representatives had asked for a short delay in order that a supply of
high-test aviation gasoline might be delivered to them. They claimed a
shortage of fuel necessary to make the long flight over the Arctic safe.
There was no way to check the claim and the delay was granted while a
shipment was routed from England.
We were about to leave, Manning having satisfied himself as to safety
precautions, when a dispatch came in announcing that a flight of E. U.
bombers might be expected before the day was out. Manning wanted to see
them arrive; we waited around for four hours. When it was finally reported
that our escort of fighters had picked them up at the Canadian border,
Manning appeared to have grown fidgety and stated that he would watch them
from the air. We took off, gained altitude and waited.
There were nine of them in the flight, cruising in column of echelons and
looking so huge that our little fighters were hardly noticeable. They
circled the field and I was admiring the stately dignity of them when
Manning’s pilot, Lieutenant Rafferty, exclaimed, “What the devil! They are
preparing to land downwind!”
I still did not tumble, but Manning shouted to the copilot, “Get the
field!”
He fiddled with his instruments and announced, “Got ’em, sir!”
“General alarm! Armor!”
We could not hear the sirens, naturally, but I could see the white plumes
rise from the big steam whistle on the roof of the Administration
Building—three long blasts, then three short ones. It seemed almost at the
same time that the first cloud broke from the E. U. planes.
Instead of landing, they passed low over the receiving station, jam-packed