"Ace" Kelly is a hotshot test pilot for the Army. Ace takes up a new "Army motor" in the K13 airplane, using an experimental gas mixture. As he rises straight up, Major Nichols contacts him by radio. The Major wants Kelly to level out and let up on the engine. Kelly says he can't level out, and is going to break a lot of records. He continues to climbs to 150 miles before passing out from exhaustion. He doesn't feel when his ship enters a twisting "space-flow" that takes his craft on a journey.