"Then, it will be useless to expect to recover the plans," said Dr. Hambrough.
"It does not matter so long as we know they are destroyed," replied Vaughan Whittinghame. "The Admiralty have others: the danger was that there was a possibility of this set getting into the hands of a foreign power. Provided——"
His remarks were cut short by a vivid flash of lightning that seemed to envelop completely the now practically stationary airship. Almost simultaneously came an ear-splitting detonation. The whole fabric of the Dreadnought of the Air seemed to quiver.
Dacres, Hambrough, and Gerald Whittinghame looked at each other. They fully expected to find the "Meteor" rent amidships, falling with an ever-increasing rapidity into the sea.
The Captain was the only man who seemed to ignore the sublime and appalling atmospheric conditions.
"Keep a look-out!" he exclaimed; "you're missing our only chance."
Flash succeeded flash with the utmost frequency. The "Meteor" was evidently between two huge stores of electricity, for the clouds were not releasing their super-charges to earth. The airship's best chance of safety was to descend to within a few hundred feet of the sea.
Three ballonettes only were required to be emptied to allow the "Meteor" to drop rapidly, until the air, growing denser as she descended, her vertical course would be automatically retarded and eventually stopped.
The seaward plunge was awe-inspiring. The airship was passing through a bank of clouds so dense that even the powerful searchlights were as useless as candle lamps in a heavy London fog. Yet at about every ten seconds the veil of pitch dark vapour was pierced by flashes of lightning that left the crew blinking like owls suddenly transported from the depths of a lightless cave to the dazzling brilliance of the noonday sun.
Four thousand feet. The "Meteor" was still enveloped in clouds, but to add to the terrors of the situation fierce whirlwinds were assailing her on all sides. In spite of her non-rigidity the unprecedented strain to which she was subjected threatened to break her asunder amidships.