uments, and our
navigational instruments, it would be impossible to tell--by looking at
least, though we could tell by our shifting weight--whether we were
upside down or right side up, on one wing or on an even keel. It's eery.
We wouldn't be able to tell whether we were moving were it not for our
air speed indicator. There are no clouds. The motor hum seems to be the
only thing here--except ourselves of course--to remind us that we really
belong down there with you."

* * * * *

The connection was broken again as Jeter ceased speaking. Things seemed
to be marking time on the ground, save for the strange demolitions of
the unseen and apparently unknowable enemy. Would they ever really
encounter him, or it?

When the sun came out of the east they leveled off at ninety thousand
feet. By their reckoning they had scarcely moved in any direction from
the spot where they had taken off. Jeter was satisfied that they were
almost directly above Mineola. But the world had vanished. The plane
rode easily on. Now and again it dipped one wing or the other--and even
the veteran aviators felt a thrill of uneasiness. From somewhere up here
in this immensity, Franz Kress had dropped to his death. Of course, if
it had happened at this height he hadn't lived to suffer.

Or had he? What had been done to him by the--the denizens of the
stratosphere?

Jeter sat down beside Eyer. It seemed strange to eat breakfast here, but
the sandwiches and hot coffee in a thermos bottle were extremely
welcome. They ate in silence, their thoughts busy. When they had made an
end, Jeter squared his shoulders. Eyer grinned.

"Well, Lucian," he said, "are we in enemy territory by your
calculations? And if so how do you arrive at your conclusions?"

"I'm still guessing, Tema," said Jeter, "but I've a feeling I'm not
guessing badly, and.... Yes, we're somewhere within striking distance of
the enemy, whatever the enemy is."

"What's the next move?

"We'll systematically cover the sky over an area which blankets New
York, Long Island, Jersey City and surrounding territory for a distance
of twenty miles. If we're above the enemy, perhaps we can look down upon
him. We know he can't be seen from below, perhaps not even from above.
If we are below him we'll try to fly into that column of his. What
they'll do to us I.... You're not afraid to find out, are you?"

Eyer grinned. Jeter grinned back at him.

"What they'll do to u