They stared, still breathing deeply from their race through the trees.
The City was close, closer than they had ever seen it before. Never had
they gotten so close to it in times past. Terrans were never allowed
near the great Martian cities, the centers of Martian life. Even in
ordinary times, when there was no threat of approaching war, the
Martians shrewdly kept all Terrans away from their citadels, partly from
fear, partly from a deep, innate sense of hostility toward the
white-skinned visitors whose commercial ventures had earned them the
respect, and the dislike, of the whole system.
"How does it look to you?" Erick said.
The City was huge, much larger than they had imagined from the drawings
and models they had studied so carefully back in New York, in the War
Ministry Office. Huge it was, huge and stark, black towers rising up
against the sky, incredibly thin columns of ancient metal, columns that
had stood wind and sun for centuries. Around the City was a wall of
stone, red stone, immense bricks that had been lugged there and fitted
into place by slaves of the early Martian dynasties, under the whiplash
of the first great Kings of Mars.
An ancient, sun-baked City, a City set in the middle of a wasted plain,
beyond groves of dead trees, a City seldom seen by Terrans--but a City
studied on maps and charts in every War Office on Terra. A City that
contained, for all its ancient stone and archaic towers, the ruling
group of all Mars, the Council of Senior Leiters, black-clad men who
governed and ruled with an iron hand.
The Senior Leiters, twelve fanatic and devoted men, black priests, but
priests with flashing rods of fire, lie detectors, rocket ships,
intra-space cannon, many more things the Terran Senate could only
conjecture about. The Senior Leiters and their subordinate Province
Leiters-- Erick and the two behind him suppressed a shudder.
"We've got to be careful," Erick said again. "We'll be passing among
them, soon. If they guess who we are, or what we're here for--"
He snapped open the case he carried, glancing inside for a second. Then
he closed it again, grasping the handle firmly. "Let's go," he said. He
stood up slowly. "You two come up beside me. I want to make sure you
look the way you should."
* * * * *
Mara and Jan stepped quickly ahead. Erick studied them critically as the
three of them walked slowly down the slope, onto the plain, toward the
towering black spires of the City.
"Jan," Erick said. "Take hold of her hand! Remember, you're going to
marry her; she's your bride. And Martian peasants think a lot of their
brides."
Jan was dressed in the short trousers and coat of the Martian farmer, a
knotted rope tied around his waist, a hat on his head to keep off the
sun. His skin was dark, colored by dye until it was almost bronze.
"You look fine," Erick said to him. He glanced at Mara. Her black hair
was tied in a knot, looped through a hollowed-out yuke bone. Her face
was dark, too, dark and lined with colored ceremonial pigment, green and
orange stripes across her cheeks. Earrings were strung through her ears.
On her feet were tiny slippers of perruh hide, laced around her ankles,
and she wore long translucent Martian trousers with a bright sash tied
around her waist. Between her small breasts a chain of stone beads
rested, good-luck charms for the coming marriage.
"All right," Erick said. He, himself, wore the flowing grey robe of a
Martian priest, dirty robes that were supposed to remain on him all his
life, to be buried around him when he died. "I think we'll get past the
guards. There should be heavy morning traffic on the road."
They walked on, the hard sand crunching under their feet. Against the
horizon they could see specks moving, other persons going toward the
City, farmers and peasants and merchants, bringing their crops and goods
to market.
"See the cart!" Mara exclaimed.
They were nearing a narrow road, two ruts worn into the sand. A Martian
hufa was pulling the cart, its great sides wet with perspiration, its
tongue hanging out. The cart was piled high with bales of cloth, rough
country cloth, hand dipped. A bent farmer urged the hufa on.
"And there." She pointed, smiling.
A group of merchants riding small animals were moving along behind the
cart, Martians in long robes, their faces hidden by sand masks. On each
animal was a pack, carefully tied on with rope. And beyond the
merchants, plodding dully along, were peasants and farmers in an endless
procession, some riding carts or animals, but mostly on foot.
Mara and Jan and Erick joined the line of people, melting in behind the
merchants. No one noticed them; no one looked up or gave any sign. The
march continued as before. Neither Jan nor Mara said anything to each
other. They walked a little behind Erick, who paced with a certain
dignity, a certain bearing becoming his position.
Once he slowed down, pointing up at the sky. "Look," he murmured, in the
Martian hill dialect. "See that?"
Two black dots circled lazily. Martian patrol craft, the military on the
outlook for any sign of unusual activity. War was almost ready to break
out with Terra. Any day, almost any moment.
"We'll be just in time," Erick said. "Tomorrow will be too late. The
last ship will have left Mars."
"I hope nothing stops us," Mara said. "I want to get back home when
we're through."
* * * * *
Half an hour passed. They neared the City, the wall growing as they
walked, rising higher and higher until it seemed to blot out the sky
itself. A vast wall, a wall of eternal stone that had felt the wind and
sun for centuries. A group of Martian soldiers were standing at the
entrance, the single passage-gate hewn into the rock, leading to the
City. As each person went through the soldiers examined him, poking his
garments, looking into his load.
Erick tensed. The line had slowed almost to a halt. "It'll be our turn,
soon," he murmured. "Be prepared."
"Let's hope no Leiters come around," Jan said. "The soldiers aren't so
bad."
Mara was staring up at the wall and the towers beyond. Under their feet
the ground trembled, vibrating and shaking. She could see tongues of
flame rising from the towers, from the deep underground factories and
forges of the City. The air was thick and dense with particles of soot.
Mara rubbed her mouth, coughing.
"Here they come," Erick said softly.
The merchants had been examined and allowed to pass through the dark
gate, the entrance through the wall into the City. They and their silent
animals had already disappeared inside. The leader of the group of
soldiers was beckoning impatiently to Erick, waving him on.
"Come along!" he said. "Hurry up there, old man."
Erick advanced slowly, his arms wrapped around his body, looking down at
the ground.
"Who are you and what's your business here?" the soldier demanded, his
hands on his hips, his gun hanging idly at his waist. Most of the
soldiers were lounging lazily, leaning against the wall, some even
squatting in the shade. Flies crawled on the face of one who had fallen
asleep, his gun on the ground beside him.
"My business?" Erick murmured. "I am a village priest."
"Why do you want to enter the City?"
"I must bring these two people before the magistrate to marry them." He
indicated Mara and Jan, standing a little behind him. "That is the Law
the Leiters have made."
The soldier laughed. He circled around Erick. "What do you have in that
bag you carry?"
"Laundry. We stay the night."
"What village are you from?"
"Kranos."
"Kranos?" The soldier looked to a companion. "Ever heard of Kranos?"
"A backward pig sty. I saw it once on a hunting trip."
The leader of the soldiers nodded to Jan and Mara. The two of them
advanced, their hands clasped, standing close together. One of the
soldiers put his hand on Mara's bare shoulder, turning her around.
"Nice little wife you're getting," he said. "Good and firm-looking." He
winked, grinning lewdly.
Jan glanced at him in sullen resentment. The soldiers guffawed. "All
right," the leader said to Erick. "You people can pass."
Erick took a small purse from his robes and gave the soldier a coin.
Then the three of them went into the dark tunnel that was the entrance,
passing through the wall of stone, into the City beyond.
They were within the City!
"Now," Erick whispered. "Hurry."
Around them the City roared and cracked, the sound of a thousand vents
and machines, shaking the stones under their feet. Erick led Mara and
Jan into a corner, by a row of brick warehouses. People were everywhere,
hurrying back and forth, shouting above the din, merchants, peddlers,
soldiers, street women. Erick bent down and opened the case he carried.
From the case he quickly took three small coils of fine metal, intricate
meshed wires and vanes worked together into a small cone. Jan took one
and Mara took one. Erick put the remaining cone into his robe and
snapped the case shut again.
"Now remember, the coils must be buried in such a way that the line runs
through the center of the City. We must trisect the main section, where
the largest concentration of buildings is. Remember the maps! Watch the
alleys and streets carefully. Talk to no one if you can help it. Each of
you has enough Martian money to buy your way out of trouble. Watch
especially for cut-purses, and for heaven's sake, don't get lost."
* * * * *
Erick broke off. Two black-clad Leiters were coming along the inside of
the wall, strolling together with their hands behind their backs. They
noticed the three who stood in the corner by the warehouses and stopped.
"Go," Erick muttered. "And be back here at sundown." He smiled grimly.
"Or never come back."
Each went off a different way, walking quickly without looking back. The
Leiters watched them go. "The little bride was quite lovely," one
Leiter said. "Those hill people have the stamp of nobility in their
blood, from the old times."
"A very lucky young peasant to possess her," the other said. They went
on. Erick looked after them, still smiling a little. Then he joined the
surging mass of people that milled eternally through the streets of the
City.
At dusk they met outside the gate. The sun was soon to set, and the air
had turned thin and frigid. It cut through their clothing like knives.
Mara huddled against Jan, trembling and rubbing her bare arms.
"Well?" Erick said. "Did you both succeed?"
Around them peasants and merchants were pouring from the entrance,
leaving the City to return to their farms and villages, starting the
long trip back across the plain toward the hills beyond. None of them
noticed the shivering girl and the young man and the old priest standing
by the wall.
"Mine's in place," Jan said. "On the other side of the City, on the
extreme edge. Buried by a well."
"Mine's in the industrial section," Mara whispered, her teeth
chattering. "Jan, give me something to put over me! I'm freezing."
"Good," Erick said. "Then the three coils should trisect dead center, if
the models were correct." He looked up at the darkening sky. Already,
stars were beginning to show. Two dots, the evening patrol, moved slowly
toward the horizon. "Let's hurry. It won't be long."
They joined the line of Martians moving along the road, away from the
City. Behind them the City was losing itself in the sombre tones of
night, its black spires disappearing into darkness.
They walked silently with the country people until the flat ridge of
dead trees became visible on the horizon. Then they left the road and
turned off, walking toward the trees.
"Almost time!" Erick said. He increased his pace, looking back at Jan
and Mara impatiently.
"Come on!"
They hurried, making their way through the twilight, stumbling over
rocks and dead branches, up the side of the ridge. At the top Erick
halted, standing with his hands on his hips, looking back.
"See," he murmured. "The City. The last time we'll ever see it this
way."
"Can I sit down?" Mara said. "My feet hurt me."
Jan pulled at Erick's sleeve. "Hurry, Erick! Not much time left." He
laughed nervously. "If everything goes right we'll be able to look at
it--forever."
"But not like this," Erick murmured. He squatted down, snapping his case
open. He took some tubes and wiring out and assembled them together on
the ground, at the peak of the ridge. A small pyramid of wire and
plastic grew, shaped by his expert hands.