Our helmet radios, being short wave, don't carry very far on a
spherical planet, the signals tending to shoot over the horizon into
space. However, Mars must have some kind of a heavy side that caused
freak reception just as the same thing happens on the earth. Axel
had heard the gist of our cries and laughter in the Battle of Pnyx.
I switched on our transmitter to reply, since the Mars-car radio was
powerful enough to carry quite a distance and, besides, its wave length
was longer.
"We just won the first battle of an interplanetary war, Axel," I said,
"but a million Martians are chasing me. They've just begun to fight."
"You must have found a bar at Pnyx. Talk sense, will you?"
"Fifteen hundred Martians, anyway, Axel, and I'm not kidding. They're
running, really running, and they've shown no signs of tiring after
more than twenty miles of it, even though they're not catching me."
"Where are you headed?"
"North. Toward you."
"Tell me what happened, Bill, and talk sense."
I told him briefly of my encounter with the patrol and how the main
body of Martians was on my trail. I was miles ahead of the Martians
who were on the horizon back of me. I even explained how the Martians
fought, and how I was a nasty little circuit breaker. Axel listened
without interrupting. When I finished, he said, "I guess you can beat
'em here. Once you get aboard the ship, we can blast off if we can't
handle 'em with guns."
"Good heavens, Axel," I said, "you don't expect to fight 'em, do you?
You've no idea how big a wallop these Martians carry. You and Warner
Joel couldn't possibly battle fifteen hundred Martians. Even if Gail
and I were there to help."
"We've got another rifle, plenty of explosive bullets and pistols to go
around," said Axel.
"They might use the bomb," I said.
"What bomb?"
"The atom bomb. Mars had it once," I said. "Gail and I found evidence
that it destroyed a city north of Pnyx."
"You don't make an atom bomb like you bake a cake," said Axel. "And I
doubt if they've got one. If we can't lick 'em, we'll just leave this
stinkin' planet--begging your pardon, Miss Loring." He paused. "And
we've got Spartan--he'll fight with us."
"Don't turn him loose, Axel. Don't give him a gun."
"This is us against Mars, Bill. Spartan has to help out. He's got no
choice. And if he helps, we'll go less hard on him when we get home."
"We'll talk it over when I see you," I said.
I glanced back. The Martians were not in sight. I slowed and waited.
They did not reappear over the horizon. And then I saw the reason.
Ahead of us was the bomb crater. These Martians, so sensitive to
radiation, could not stand the radioactive ground of the area, even
though it was harmless to Gail and me who came from a planet which is
continuously bathed in radiation of all kinds, from gamma rays to
radio. No Martian would come to the bombed-out city. This explained
why it was desolate, why it was a ghost town, and why the canal which
brought water to the place was dry and half-filled with sand.
I brought the car to a halt and let the motors cool and the batteries
charge.
Gail brought out some food and water from the locker and we had a
little lunch. In the west, the Martian sun was sinking toward the
horizon. Soon it would be night and we would have to make the rest of
the trip in darkness. Mars had the blackest nights I'd ever seen. The
moons are not large enough to cast much of a glow--in fact Jupiter was
brighter than Phobos and Jupiter was millions of miles away. Earth and
Saturn were not visible at this season, but I have a hunch that Earth
was much brighter to Mars than any other object in the sky. Venus could
be seen occasionally, but Mercury was never visible because it is too
close to the sun.
We finished our meal and Gail slept while I watched. Then she roused
up, told me to get a couple of hours sleep and sat by the radio.
Shortly after midnight I was awakened by Gail.
"I've just been talking to Axel," she said. "He believes there are
Martians near the spaceship."
I was wide awake instantly. I turned some switches and checked our
power. The sun hadn't been up very long after we stopped for the night,
but the solar cells had recharged the battery sufficiently for us to
resume our trip, providing we conserved our power.
I took my position at the controls. "Axel," I called. "Have you seen
'em?"
Axel's voice came over the radio. "No but I hear them. They're using
some English words. _Thiswaydrake. Tanetooman._ The things you yelled
that day when you flushed Martians in the canal. Some of them must have
overheard you."
If that was the case, this wasn't the bunch that had been chasing me.
Another attacking force must have come down from the north--or possibly
from Umbra. They were closing in from two directions and if fifteen
hundred were behind me, heaven knows how many were on the other side of
the ship.
I started the Mars-car forward. "We're on our way, Axel. It's dark but
there shouldn't be any trouble, if we keep from running into a large
rock in the desert. If you can't hold 'em, blast off. Forget about us."
"Don't talk like a lunatic, Bill."
"Don't think about me!"
"Hell, I'm not thinking of you. I'm thinking of Gail. And I don't want
a year-long ride in space with Doc Spartan and only Joel to help keep
him from killing me."
"All right," I said, "I'll try to make it--"
"Tend to your driving," said Axel.
I laughed without humor. It was ironic that after all our talk about
cowards, selfish men, heroes and martyrs, not one of us--not even Dr.
Spartan--had a choice in the matter now. We all had to be heroes and,
perhaps, martyrs. We were going to be attacked by a whole planet and
the only course open was to fight for our lives.
The starlight was hardly any help but I was able to make out the vague
shapes of rocks in the desert after we had crossed the abandoned canal.
I couldn't go fast, but I was making time.
The radio was not silent. There were explosive, bass cricket noises of
Martian talk from time to time. Nothing further was heard from Axel,
even though his transmitter had been left open. And I had nothing to
say--I was too busy driving.
The first streaks of dawn were appearing in the east when at last I
heard a shout in the squawk box. It was Dr. Joel yelling at the top of
his lungs.
"Ludson! Wake up! Martians are attacking."