Part 2 - In the Belly of the Whale
The blue light vanished, and the paralysis left them. Wiggles blinked away the effects of the blinding light and tried to take in his surroundings.
They were inside a circular chamber with a vaulting dome roof, lit by myriads of multicoloured lights. One of those lights was shining on the biplane from above. It hovered silently in mid air. The apex of the dome housed a giant blue crystal that glittered beautifully. It pulsed with energy. Directly ahead of them was the damaged flying saucer. It too hovered with no apparent support, apart from the beam of light.
"We made it then ?" said Cringley, sounding surprisingly cheerful.
"It seems that way," said Wiggles, not quite sure what the little man was talking about.
"It's funny," said Cringley, "But I don't remember the crash,"
Frowning, Wiggles turned to look at Cringley, who had a contented smile on his face.
Wiggles wondered if Cringley had been driven mad by the experience. After all, he wouldn't have far to drive.
"What are you gibbering about ?" asked Wiggles.
"I always wondered what heaven would be like, and its just like the
picture books, all white and peaceful." said Cringley, looking
around.
Realisation hit Wiggles and he gave the gunner a withering look.
"You moron, we're not dead, yet. And this isn't heaven, we're inside that floating machine in the sky."
Cringley's expression changed from delight to horror. "Ooeerr !, I don't feel very well,"
Wiggles turned away in disgust. "Cretin," he muttered.
They appeared to be in no immediate danger, so Wiggles relaxed slightly. He sat back in his seat, removed his gloves and goggles, and lit a cigarette.
A flicker of motion from above caught his eye. In the white domed ceiling, a hatch was opening. From out of it emerged the strangest looking collection of objects that Wiggles had ever seen. They were three of them, small, about the size of footballs, and made of metal. They all possessed multiple splindly arms. They drifted down like silver balloons and hovered around the flying saucer. Their attention seemed to be focused on the damaged section of the saucer. In a smooth operation they removed the scorched panel and two of them took it away. Moments later they returned with a replacement panel. Wiggles watched them seal it into place.
"They seem to be some sort of engineers, damned efficient ones too. Not like those malingerers back at the base," he commented
Apparently satisfied with their work, the metal objects rose as one and returned to the hatchway from where they had come. The Saucer emitted a whining noise and light flashed along its edges. It started to move towards the opposite wall of the chamber. A large door slid open. The Saucer passed through it and leapt into the sky. The crew of the biplane were left alone in their unearthly tomb.
"Now what?" asked Wiggles, to no one in particular.
"Wiggles, who do you think built all of this ?" asked Cringley.
Wiggles frowned in thought. "Well, I don't think its one of ours," he said. "Not unless the air ministry has become very good at keeping secrets. And if the bosch could build something like this they would probably have won the war by now. That only leaves the Americans. Tricky blighters the yanks, not much on the social graces but pretty clever when it comes to mechanical things. They could have built this thing and the saucer and brought them out here to test them."
A familiar grating voice interrupted Wiggles pondering.
"Maybe it wasn't built on Earth," said Cringley.
Wiggles turned round to frown at Cringley.
"What are you gibbering about now?" he asked.
Staring at Cringley he thought he saw a glint of hidden intelligence behind those watery eyes, but Wiggles decided that must be a trick of the light. Cringley leaned forward in his seat, obviously excited by the idea racing through his head.
"I read a lot of science fiction," said Cringley, "I like
it even though the other fellows jibe me about it. My favourite are the H
G Wells stories like War of the Worlds. And I just thought that this thing
we're in could be a spacecraft of some kind from another world."
He paused and waited for Wiggles reaction.
"Utter balderdash," snapped Wiggles. "The other fellows are quite right, you should stop reading that rubbish right away."
"Yes Wiggles," surrendered Cringley.
"Science Fiction," spat Wiggles contemptuously, "That's one area of literature that never come to anything, mark my words," Wiggles sat back, satisfied he had made his point. Cringley decided to keep quiet. But as he looked around, the thoughts in his head couldn't be silenced.
The hatchway above them opened again, and the little machines emerged and swooped down towards them.
"Lookout," called Wiggles, "Here they come,"
Cringley ducked down in his seat. The little machines landed at various places on the biplane. One on the engine, one on the upper wing, and the other on the tailplane. The machines moved slowly over the surface of the plane, their tiny hands prodded here and there, examining the surface. One machine inserted a cluster of arms into the engine compartment, touching everything but disturbing nothing. Another machine paused in its examination to study Wiggles. The Captain felt uneasy, but wasn't about to show it. Instead he puffed on his cigarette and blew smoke at the thing. It instantly retreated, gave a curious jiggling motion with its arms which might have meant anything from a shrug to an obscene gesture, then continued moving round the plane. When they had finished poking and prodding every bit of the plane, the three little machines gathered into something resembling a rugby scrum.
"They seem to be having a bit of a chin wag," commented Wiggles.
The machines were indeed talking, making strange electronic noises like a radio not tuned in properly. This continued for a few minutes, then all three of them turned to face the plane. Wiggles felt a distinct chill run down his neck. The machines swooped down again, but this time they weren't just looking.
"Hells bells !" shouted Wiggles, "They're taking the bloody plane apart,"
Indeed they were. Quickly and without any fuss the metal devices set to
work dissassembling the plane. The canvas covering was sliced up, rolled
into neat bundles and taken away. Nuts and bolts were undone and the
framework vanished from around them. The little metal thieves carried
their spoils away. Within minutes Wiggles and Cringley were left alone
again, suspended in mid air, still held in their relative positions. Even
their seats had had been taken. All they had left were the clothes they
were wearing. The two men just hovered there, too stunned by events to say
anything.
They didn't have to wait long. The metal things returned.
"Now what ?" exclaimed Wiggles. "Don't say they want our clothes as well,"
"Maybe they're going to take us apart," suggested Cringly.
"That's the spirit," muttered Wiggles sarcastically.
The strange machines had arrived bearing unfamiliar tools and materials.
They descended towards the two worried looking men and promptly began
moving around them in a blur of speed. The two men looked in wonder as a
metal framework began to take shape around them. Within this framework
bizarre devices were placed and linked. A metal skin was placed over the
frame. When the construction was finished and the little multiarmed
builders had returned to their hatchway, Wiggles and Cringley were sitting
inside a craft that could only be described as out of this world. Wiggles
blinked, and the half smoked cigarette fell from his open mouth.