They made the rise, were well above the danger of the cliff wall. But
the machine was not responding properly. Dane did not need to watch the
pilot's swiftly moving hands to guess that they were in trouble. And his
slight concern deepened into something else as the flitter began to drop
nose again. In front of him, Captain Jellico shifted uneasily, and Dane
knew that he, too, was alerted.
Now the pilot had plunged the power adjuster to the head against the
control board. But the nose of the flitter acted as if it were
overweighted or magnetically attracted by the rocks below. The best
efforts of the man flying it could not keep it level. They were being
drawn earthward, and all the pilot could do only delayed the inevitable
crack-up. The Khatkan was turning the machine north to avoid what lay
below, for here a long arm of the Mygra swamp clasped about the foot of
the mountain.
The Chief Ranger spoke into the mike of the com unit while the pilot
continued to fight against the pull which was bringing them down. Now
the small machine was below the level of the volcanic peak which cradled
the lake, and the mountain lay between them and the preserve.
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