_THE GREAT SMOKE BARRIER_
At first we rose to a still greater height, in order more effectually to
escape the watchful eyes of our enemies, and then, after having moved
rapidly several hundred miles toward the west, we dropped down again
within easy eyeshot of the surface of the planet, and commenced our
inspection.
When we originally reached Mars, as I have related, it was at a point in
its southern hemisphere, in latitude 45 degrees south, and longitude 75
degrees east, that we first closely approached its surface. Underneath
us was the land called "Hellas," and it was over this land of Hellas
that the Martian air fleet had suddenly made its appearance.
Our westward motion, while at a great height above the planet, had
brought us over another oval-shaped land called "Noachia," surrounded by
the dark ocean, the "Mare Erytræum." Now approaching nearer the surface
our course was changed so as to carry us toward the equator of Mars.
We passed over the curious half-drowned continent known to terrestrial
astronomers as the Region of Deucalion, then across another sea, or
gulf, until we found ourselves floating at a height of perhaps five
miles, above a great continental land, at least three thousand miles
broad from east to west, and which I immediately recognized as that to
which astronomers had given the various names of "Aeria," "Edom,"
"Arabia," and "Eden."
Here the spectacle became of breathless interest.
"Wonderful! Wonderful!"
"Who could have believed it!"
Such were the exclamations heard on all sides.
When at first we were suspended above Hellas, looking toward the north,
the northeast and the northwest, we had seen at a distance some of these
great red regions, and had perceived the curious network of canals by
which they were intersected. But that was a far-off and imperfect view.
Now, when we were near at hand and straight above one of these singular
lands, the magnificence of the panorama surpassed belief.
From the earth about a dozen of the principal canals crossing the
continent beneath us had been perceived, but we saw hundreds, nay
thousands of them!
It was a double system, intended both for irrigation and for protection,
and far more marvelous in its completeness than the boldest speculative
minds among our astronomers had ever dared to imagine.
"Ha! that's what I always said," exclaimed a veteran from one of our
great observatories. "Mars is red because its soil and vegetation are
red."
And certainly appearances indicated that he was right.
There were no green trees, and there was no green grass. Both were red,
not of a uniform red tint, but presenting an immense variety of shades
which produced a most brilliant effect, fairly dazzling our eyes.
But what trees! And what grass! And what flowers!
Our telescopes showed that even the smaller trees must be 200 or 300
feet in height, and there were forests of giants, whose average height
was evidently at least 1,000 feet.
"That's all right," exclaimed the enthusiast I have just quoted. "I knew
it would be so. The trees are big for the same reason that the men are,
because the planet is small, and they can grow big without becoming too
heavy to stand."
Flashing in the sun on all sides were the roofs of metallic buildings,
which were evidently the only kind of edifices which Mars possessed. At
any rate, if stone or wood were employed in their construction both were
completely covered with metallic plates.
This added immensely to the warlike aspect of the planet. For warlike it
was. Everywhere we recognized fortified stations, glittering with an
array of the polished knobs of the lightning machines, such as we had
seen in the land of Hellas.
From the land of Edom, directly over the equator of the planet, we
turned our faces westward, and, skirting the Mare Erytræum, arrived
above the place where the broad canal known as the Indus empties into
the sea.
Before us, and stretching away to the northwest, now lay the Continent
of Chryse, a vast red land, oval in outline, and surrounded and crossed
by innumerable canals. Chryse was not less than 1,600 miles across and
it, too, evidently swarmed with giant inhabitants.
But the shadow of night lay upon the greater portion of the land of
Chryse. In our rapid motion westward we had outstripped the sun and had
now arrived at a point where day and night met upon the surface of the
planet beneath us.
Behind all was brilliant with sunshine, but before us the face of Mars
gradually disappeared in the deepening gloom. Through the darkness, far
away, we could behold magnificent beams of electric light darting across
the curtain of night, and evidently serving to illuminate towns and
cities that lay beneath.
We pushed on into the night for two or three hundred miles over that
part of the continent of Chryse whose inhabitants were doubtless
enjoying the deep sleep that accompanies the dark hours immediately
preceding the dawn. Still everywhere splendid clusters of light lay like
fallen constellations upon the ground, indicating the sites of great
towns, which, like those of the earth never sleep.
But this scene, although weird and beautiful, could give us little of
the kind of information of which we were in search.
Accordingly it was resolved to turn back eastward until we had arrived
in the twilight space separating day and night, and then hover over the
planet at that point, allowing it to turn beneath us so that, as we
looked down, we should see in succession the entire circuit of the globe
of Mars while it rolled under our eyes.
The rotation of Mars on its axis is performed in a period very little
longer than the earth's rotation, so that the length of the day and
night in the world of Mars is only some forty minutes longer than their
length upon the earth.
In thus remaining suspended over the planet, on the line of daybreak, so
to speak, we believed that we should be peculiarly safe from detection
by the eyes of the inhabitants. Even astronomers are not likely to be
wide awake just at the peep of dawn. Almost all of the inhabitants, we
confidently believed, would still be sound asleep upon that part of the
planet passing directly beneath us, and those who were awake would not
be likely to watch for unexpected appearances in the sky.
Besides, our height was so great that notwithstanding the numbers of the
squadron, we could not easily be seen from the surface of the planet,
and if seen at all we might be mistaken for high-flying birds.
Here we remained then through the entire course of twenty-four hours and
saw in succession as they passed from night into day beneath our feet
the land of Chryse, the great continent of Tharsis, the curious region
of intersecting canals which puzzled astronomers on the earth had named
the "Gordian Knot." The continental lands of Memnonia, Amozonia and
Aeolia, the mysterious center where hundreds of vast canals came
together from every direction, called the Triviun Charontis; the vast
circle of Elysium, a thousand miles across, and completely surrounded by
a broad green canal; the continent of Libya, which, as I remembered, had
been half covered by a tremendous inundation whose effects were visible
from the earth in 1889, and finally the long, dark sea of the Syrtis
Major, lying directly south of the land of Hellas.
The excitement and interest which we all experienced were so great that
not one of us took a wink of sleep during the entire twenty-four hours
of our marvelous watch.
There are one or two things of special interest amid the multitude of
wonderful observations that we made which I must mention here on account
of their connection with the important events that followed soon after.
Just west of the land of Chryse we saw the smaller land of Ophir, in the
midst of which is a singular spot called the Juventae Fons, and this
Fountain of Youth, as our astronomers, by a sort of prophetic
inspiration, had named it, proved later to be one of the most incredible
marvels on the planet of Mars.
Further to the west, and north from the great continent of Tharsis, we
beheld the immense oval-shaped land of Thaumasia containing in its
center the celebrated "Lake of the Sun," a circular body of water not
less than five hundred miles in diameter, with dozens of great canals
running away from it like the spokes of a wheel in every direction, thus
connecting it with the ocean which surrounds it on the south and east,
and with the still larger canals that encircle it toward the north and
west.
This Lake of the Sun came to play a great part in our subsequent
adventures. It was evident to us from the beginning that it was the
chief center of population on the planet. It lies in latitude 25 degrees
south and longitude about 90 degrees west.
Having completed the circuit of the Martian globe, we were moved by the
same feeling which every discoverer of new lands experiences, and
immediately returned to our original place above the land of Hellas,
because since that was the first part of Mars which we had seen, we felt
a greater degree of familiarity with it than with any portion of the
planet, and there, in a certain sense, we felt "at home."
But, as it proved, our enemies were on the watch for us there. We had
almost forgotten them, so absorbed were we by the great spectacles that
had been unrolling themselves beneath our feet.
We ought, of course, to have been a little more cautious in approaching
the place where they first caught sight of us, since we might have known
that they would remain on the watch near that spot.
But at any rate they had seen us, and it was now too late to think of
taking them again by surprise.
They on their part had a surprise in store for us, which was greater
than any we had yet experienced.
We saw their ships assembling once more far down in the atmosphere
beneath us, and we thought we could detect evidences of something
unusual going on upon the surface of the planet.
Suddenly from the ships, and from various points on the ground beneath,
there rose high in the air, and carried by invisible currents in every
direction, immense volumes of black smoke, or vapor, which blotted out
of sight everything below them!
South, north, west and east, the curtain of blackness rapidly spread,
until the whole face of the planet as far as our eyes could reach, and
the airships thronging under us, were all concealed from sight!
Mars had played the game of the cuttlefish, which when pursued by its
enemies darkens the water behind it by a sudden outgush of inky fluid
and thus escapes the eye of its foe.
The eyes of man had never beheld such a spectacle!
Where a few minutes before the sunny face of a beautiful and populous
planet had been shining beneath us, there was now to be seen nothing but
black, billowing clouds, swelling up everywhere like the mouse-colored
smoke that pours from a great transatlantic liner when fresh coal has
just been heaped upon her fires.
In some places the smoke spouted upward in huge jets to the height of
several miles; elsewhere it eddied in vast whirlpools of inky blackness.
Not a glimpse of the hidden world beneath us was anywhere to be seen.
Mars had put on its war mask, and fearful indeed was the aspect of it!
After the first pause of surprise the squadron quickly backed away into
the sky, rising rapidly, because, from one of the swirling eddies
beneath us the smoke began suddenly to pile itself up in an enormous
aerial mountain, whose peaks shot higher and higher, with apparently
increasing velocity, until they seemed about to engulf us with their
tumbling ebon masses.
Unaware what the nature of this mysterious smoke might be, and fearing
that it was something more than a shield for the planet, and might be
destructive to life, we fled before it, as before the onward sweep of a
pestilence.
Directly underneath the flagship, one of the aspiring smoke peaks grew
with most portentous swiftness, and, notwithstanding all our efforts, in
a little while it had enveloped us.
Several of us were standing on the deck of the electrical ship. We were
almost stifled by the smoke, and were compelled to take refuge within
the car, where, until the electric lights had been turned on, darkness
so black that it oppressed the strained eyeballs prevailed.
But in this brief experience, terrifying though it was, we had learned
one thing. The smoke would kill by strangulation, but evidently there
was nothing especially poisonous in its nature. This fact might be of
use to us in our subsequent proceedings.
"This spoils our plans," said the commander. "There is no use of
remaining here for the present; let us see how far this thing extends."
At first we rose straight away to a height of 200 or 300 miles, thus
passing entirely beyond the sensible limits of the atmosphere, and far
above the highest point that the smoke could reach.
From this commanding point of view our line of sight extended to an
immense distance over the surface of Mars in all directions. Everywhere
the same appearance; the whole planet was evidently covered with the
smoke.
A complete telegraphic system evidently connected all the strategic
points upon Mars, so that, at a signal from the central station, the
wonderful curtain could be instantaneously drawn over the entire face of
the planet.
In order to make certain that no part of Mars remained uncovered, we
dropped down again nearer to the upper level of the smoke clouds, and
then completely circumnavigated the planet. It was thought possible that
on the night side no smoke would be found and that it would be
practicable for us to make a descent there.
But when we had arrived on that side of Mars which was turned away from
the sun, we no longer saw beneath us, as we had done on our previous
visit to the night hemisphere of the planet, brilliant groups and
clusters of electric lights beneath us. All was dark.
In fact, so completely did the great shell of smoke conceal the planet
that the place occupied by the latter seemed to be simply a vast black
hole in the firmament.
The sun was hidden behind it, and so dense was the smoke that even the
solar rays were unable to penetrate it, and consequently there was no
atmospheric halo visible around the concealed planet.
All the sky around was filled with stars, but their countless host
suddenly disappeared when our eyes turned in the direction of Mars. The
great black globe blotted them out without being visible itself.
"Apparently we can do nothing here," said Mr. Edison. "Let us return to
the daylight side."
When we had arrived near the point where we had been when the wonderful
phenomenon first made its appearance, we paused, and then, at the
suggestion of one of the chemists, dropped close to the surface of the
smoke curtain which had now settled down into comparative quiescence, in
order that we might examine it a little more critically.
The flagship was driven into the smoke cloud so deeply that for a minute
we were again enveloped in night. A quantity of the smoke was entrapped
in a glass jar.
Rising again into the sunlight, the chemists began an examination of the
constitution of the smoke. They were unable to determine its precise
character, but they found that its density was astonishingly slight.
This accounted for the rapidity with which it had risen, and the great
height which it had attained in the comparatively light atmosphere of
Mars.
"It is evident," said one of the chemists, "that this smoke does not
extend down to the surface of the planet. From what the astronomers say
as to the density of the air on Mars, it is probable that a clear space
of at least a mile in height exists between the surface of Mars and the
lower limit of the smoke curtain. Just how deep the latter is we can
only determine by experiment, but it would not be surprising if the
thickness of this great blanket which Mars has thrown around itself
should prove to be a quarter or half a mile."
"Anyhow," said one of the United States army officers, "they have dodged
out of sight, and I don't see why we should not dodge in and get at
them. If there is clear air under the smoke, as you think, why couldn't
the ships dart down through the curtain and come to a close tackle with
the Martians?"
"It would not do at all," said the commander. "We might simply run
ourselves into an ambush. No; we must stay outside, and if possible
fight them from here."
"They can't keep this thing up forever," said the officer. "Perhaps the
smoke will clear off after a while, and then we will have a chance."
"Not much hope of that, I am afraid," said the chemist who had
originally spoken. "This smoke could remain floating in the atmosphere
for weeks, and the only wonder to me is how they ever expect to get rid
of it, when they think their enemies have gone and they want some
sunshine again."
"All that is mere speculation," said Mr. Edison; "let us get at
something practical. We must do one of two things; either attack them
shielded as they are, or wait until the smoke has cleared away. The only
other alternative, that of plunging blindly down through the curtain is
at present not to be thought of."
"I am afraid we couldn't stand a very long siege ourselves," suddenly
remarked the chief commissary of the expedition, who was one of the
members of the flagship's company.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Mr. Edison sharply, turning to him.
"Well, sir, you see," said the commissary, stammering, "our provisions
wouldn't hold out."
"Wouldn't hold out?" exclaimed Mr. Edison, in astonishment, "why we have
compressed and prepared provisions enough to last this squadron for
three years."
"We had, sir, when we left the earth," said the commissary, in apparent
distress, "but I am sorry to say that something has happened."
"Something has happened! Explain yourself!"
"I don't know what it is, but on inspecting some of the compressed
stores, a short time ago, I found that a large number of them were
destroyed, whether through leakage of air, or what, I am unable to say.
I sent to inquire as to the condition of the stores in the other ships
in the squadron and I found that a similar condition of things prevailed
there.
"The fact is," continued the commissary, "we have only provisions
enough, in proper condition, for about ten days' consumption."
"After that we shall have to forage on the country, then," said the army
officer.
"Why did you not report this before?" demanded Mr. Edison.
"Because, sir," was the reply, "the discovery was not made until after
we arrived close to Mars, and since then there has been so much
excitement that I have hardly had time to make an investigation and find
out what the precise condition of affairs is; besides, I thought we
should land upon the planet and then we would be able to renew our
supplies."
I closely watched Mr. Edison's expression in order to see how this most
alarming news would affect him. Although he fully comprehended its
fearful significance, he did not lose his self-command.
"Well, well," he said, "then it will become necessary for us to act
quickly. Evidently we cannot wait for the smoke to clear off, even if
there was any hope of its clearing. We must get down on Mars now, having
conquered it first if possible, but anyway we must get down there, in
order to avoid starvation."
"It is very lucky," he continued, "that we have ten days' supply left. A
great deal can be done in ten days."
A few hours after this the commander called me aside, and said:
"I have thought it all out. I am going to reconstruct some of our
disintegrators, so as to increase their range and their power. Then I am
going to have some of the astronomers of the expedition locate for me
the most vulnerable points upon the planet, where the population is
densest and a hard blow would have the most effect, and I am going to
pound away at them, through the smoke, and see whether we cannot draw
them out of their shell."
With his expert assistants Mr. Edison set to work at once to transform a
number of the disintegrators into still more formidable engines of the
same description. One of these new weapons having been distributed to
each of the members of the squadron, the next problem was to decide
where to strike.
When we first examined the surface of the planet it will be remembered
that we had regarded the Lake of the Sun and its environs as being the
very focus of the planet. While it might also be a strong point of
defence, yet an effective blow struck there would go to the enemy's
heart and be more likely to bring the Martians promptly to terms than
anything else.
The first thing, then, was to locate the Lake of the Sun on the smoke
hidden surface of the planet beneath us. This was a problem that the
astronomers could readily solve.
Fortunately, in the flagship itself there was one of the star-gazing
gentlemen who had made a specialty of the study of Mars. That planet, as
I have already explained, was now in opposition to the earth. The
astronomer had records in his pocket which enabled him, by a brief
calculation, to say just when the Lakes of the Sun would be on the
meridian of Mars as seen from the earth. Our chronometers still kept
terrestrial time; we knew the exact number of days and hours that had
elapsed since we had departed, and so it was possible by placing
ourselves in a line between the earth and Mars to be practically in the
situation of an astronomer in his observatory at home.
Then it was only necessary to wait for the hour when the Lake of the Sun
would be upon the meridian of Mars in order to be certain what was the
true direction of the latter from the flagship.
Having thus located the heart of our foe behind its shield of darkness,
we prepared to strike.
"I have ascertained," said Mr. Edison, "the vibration period of the
smoke, so that it will be easy for us to shatter it into invisible
atoms. You will see that every stroke of the disintegrators will open a
hole through the black curtain. If their field of destruction could be
made wide enough, we might in that manner clear away the entire covering
of smoke, but all that we shall really be able to do will be to puncture
it with holes, which will, perhaps, enable us to catch glimpses of the
surface beneath. In that manner we may be able more effectually to
concentrate our fire upon the most vulnerable points."
Everything being prepared, and the entire squadron having assembled to
watch the effect of the opening blow and be ready to follow it up, Mr.
Edison himself poised one of the new disintegrators, which was too large
to be carried in the hand, and, following the direction indicated by the
calculations of the astronomers, launched the vibratory discharge into
the ocean of blackness beneath.
Instantly there opened beneath us a huge well-shaped hole from which the
black clouds rolled violently back in every direction.
Through this opening we saw the gleam of brilliant lights beneath.
We had made a hit.
"It's the Lake of the Sun!" shouted the astronomer who furnished the
calculation by means of which its position had been discovered.
And, indeed, it was the Lake of the Sun. While the opening in the clouds
made by the discharge was not wide, yet it sufficed to give us a view of
a portion of the curving shore of the lake, which was ablaze with
electric lights.
Whether our shot had done any damage, beyond making the circular opening
in the cloud curtain, we could not tell, for almost immediately the
surrounding black smoke masses billowed in to fill up the hole.
But in the brief glimpse we had caught sight of two or three large
airships hovering in space above that part of the Lake of the Sun and
its bordering city which we had beheld. It seemed to me in the brief
glance I had that one ship had been touched by the discharge and was
wandering in an erratic manner. But the clouds closed in so rapidly that
I could not be certain.
Anyhow, we had demonstrated one thing, and that was that we could
penetrate the cloud shield and reach the Martians in their hiding place.
It had been prearranged that the first discharge from the flagship
should be a signal for the concentration of the fire of all the other
ships upon the same spot.
A little hesitation, however, occurred, and a half a minute had elapsed
before the disintegrators from the other members of the squadron were
got into play.
Then, suddenly we saw an immense commotion in the cloud beneath us. It
seemed to be beaten and hurried in every direction and punctured like a
sieve with nearly a hundred great circular holes. Through these gaps we
could see clearly a large region of the planet's surface, with many
airships floating above it and the blaze of innumerable electric lights
illuminating it. The Martians had created an artificial day under the
curtain.
This time there was no question that the blow had been effective. Four
or five of the airships, partially destroyed, tumbled headlong toward
the ground, while even from our great distance there was unmistakable
evidence that fearful execution had been done among the crowded
structures along the shore of the lake.
As each of our ships possessed but one of the new disintegrators, and
since a minute or so was required to adjust them for a fresh discharge,
we remained for a little while inactive after delivering the blow.
Meanwhile the cloud curtain, though rent to shreds by the concentrated
discharge of the disintegrators, quickly became a uniform black sheet
again, hiding everything.
We had just had time to congratulate ourselves on the successful opening
of our bombardment, and the disintegrator of the flagship was poised for
another discharge, when suddenly out of the black expanse beneath,
quivered immense electric beams, clear cut and straight as bars of
steel, but dazzling our eyes with unendurable brilliance.
It was the reply of the Martians to our attack.
Three or four of the electrical ships were seriously damaged, and one,
close beside the flagship, changed color, withered and collapsed, with
the same sickening phenomena that had made our hearts shudder when the
first disaster of this kind occurred during our brief battle over the
asteroid.
Another score of our comrades were gone, and yet we had hardly begun the
fight.
Glancing at the other ships which had been injured, I saw that the
damage to them was not so serious, although they were evidently _hors de
combat_ for the present.
Our fighting blood was now boiling and we did not stop long to count our
losses.
"Into the smoke!" was the signal, and the ninety and more electric ships
which still remained in condition for action immediately shot downward.