controls."
The second man had evidently discovered this simultaneously, for he,
too, shrank aside, and with whirling propeller I shot upward from the
royal hangar of the Jed of Tjanath.
But only for an instant were the two sentries overwhelmed by
astonishment. Immediately I heard the shriek of sirens and the clang
of great gongs and then, glancing behind, I saw that already they
had launched a flier in pursuit. It was a two-man flier and almost
immediately I realized that it was far swifter than the one I had
chosen, and then to make matters even worse for me I saw patrol boats
arising from hangars located elsewhere upon the palace roof. That they
all saw my ship and were converging upon it was evident; escape seemed
impossible; each way I turned a patrol boat was approaching; already I
had been driven into an ascending spiral, my eyes constantly alert for
any avenue of escape that might open to me.
How hopeless it looked! My ship was too slow; my pursuers too many.
It would not be long now, I thought, and at that very instant I saw
something off my port bow at a little greater altitude that gave me
one of the greatest thrills I had ever experienced in my life. It was
only a little round eye of glass, but to me it meant life and more
than life, for it might mean also life and happiness for Tavia--and of
course for Sanoma Tora.
A patrol boat coming diagonally from below was almost upon me as I drew
my flier beneath that floating eye, judging the distance so nicely
that I just had clearance for my head beneath the keel of my own ship.
Locating one of the hatches, which were so constructed that they could
be opened either from the inside or the out, I scrambled quickly into
the interior of the Jhama, as Phor Tak had christened it.
Closing the hatch and springing to the controls, I rose quickly out
of immediate danger. Then, standing to one side, I watched my former
pursuers.
I could read the consternation in their faces as they came alongside
the royal flier that I had stolen, and realized that it was unmanned.
Not having seen either me or my ship, they must have been hard put to
it to find any sort of an explanation for the phenomenon.
As I watched them I found it constantly necessary to change my
position, owing to the number of patrol boats and other craft that
were congregating. I did not wish to leave the vicinity of the palace
entirely for it was my intention to remain here until after dark when I
should make an attempt to take Tavia and Phao aboard the Jhama. I also
had it in my mind to reconnoiter the east tower during the day and try
to get into communication with Tavia if possible. It was already the
fifth zode. In fifty xats (_three hours_) the sun would set.
I wished to initiate my plan of rescue as soon after dark as possible,
as experience had taught me that plans do not always develop as
smoothly in execution as they do in contemplation.
A warrior from one of the patrol ships had boarded the royal craft that
I had purloined and was returning it to the hangar. Some of the ships
were following and others were returning to their stations. A single
patrol boat remained cruising about and as I watched it I suddenly
became aware that a young officer standing upon its deck had espied
the eye of my periscope. I saw him pointing toward it and immediately
thereafter the craft altered its course and came directly toward me.
This was not so good and I lost no time in moving to one side, turning
the eye of my periscope away from them so that they could not see it or
follow me.
I moved a short distance out of their course and then swung my
periscope toward them again. To my astonishment I discovered that they,
too, had altered their course and were following me.
Now I rose swiftly and took a new direction, but when I looked again
the craft was bearing down upon me, and not only that, but she was
training a gun on me.
What had happened? It was evident that something had gone wrong and
that I was no longer clothed in total invisibility, but whatever it
was, it was too late now to rectify it even if I could. I had but a
single recourse and I prayed to my first ancestor that it might not now
be too late to put it into execution. Should they fire upon me, I was
lost.
I brought the Jhama to a full stop and sprang quickly aft to where the
rear rifle was mounted on a platform just within the after turret.
In that instant I had occasion to rejoice in the foresight that had
prompted me to rearrange the projectiles properly against the necessity
for instant use in such an emergency as this. Selecting one, I jammed
it into the chamber and closed the breech block.
The turret, crudely and hastily constructed though it had been,
responded to my touch and an instant later my sight covered the
approaching patrol vessel, and through the tiny opening provided for
the sight I witnessed the effect of my first shot with Phor Tak's
disintegrating ray rifle.
I had used a metal disintegrating projectile and the result was
appalling.
I loved a ship and it tore my heart to see that staunch craft
fall apart in mid-air as its metal parts disappeared before the
disintegrating ray.
But that was not all, as wood and leather and fabric sank with
increasing swiftness toward the ground, brave warriors hurtled to their
doom. It was horrifying.
I am a true son of Barsoom; I joy in battle; armed conflict is my
birthright, and war the goal of my ambition, but this was not war; it
was murder.
I took no joy in my victory as I had when I laid Yo Seno low in mortal
combat, and now, more than ever, was I determined that this frightful
instrument of destruction must in some way be forever banned upon
Barsoom. War with such a weapon completely hidden by the compound of
invisibility would be too horrible to contemplate. Navies, cities,
whole nations could be wiped out by a single battleship thus equipped.
The mad dream of Phor Tak might easily come true and a maniac yet rule
all Barsoom.
But meditation and philosophizing were not for me at this time. I
had work to do and though it necessitated wiping out all Tjanath, I
purposed doing it.
Again the sirens and the gongs raised their wild alarm; again patrol
boats gathered. I felt that I must depart until after nightfall, for
I had no stomach to again be forced to turn that deadly rifle upon my
fellow men while any alternative existed.
As I started to turn back to the controls my eyes chanced to fall upon
one of the stern ports and, to my surprise, I saw that the shutter
was raised. How this occurred I do not know; it has always remained a
mystery, but at least it explained how it had been possible for the
patrol boat to follow me. That round port hole moving through the air
must have filled them with wonder, but at the same time it was a clue
to follow and though they did not understand it, they, like the brave
warriors that they were, followed it in the line of their duty.
I quickly closed it, and, after examining the others and finding them
all closed, I was now confident that, with the exception of the small
eye of my periscope, I was entirely surrounded by invisibility and
hence under no immediate necessity for leaving the vicinity of the
palace, as I could easily maneuver the ship to keep out of the way of
the patrol boats that were now again congregating near the royal hangar.
I think they were pretty much upset by what had happened and evidently
there was no unanimity of opinion as to what should be done. The patrol
ships hovered about, evidently waiting orders, and it was not until
almost dark that they set out in a systematic search of the air above
the city; nor had they been long at this before I understood their
orders as well as though I had read them myself. The lower ships moved
at an altitude of not over fifty feet above the higher buildings; two
hundred feet above these moved the second line. The ships at each level
cruised in a series of concentric circles and in opposite directions,
thereby combing the air above the city so closely that no enemy ship
could possibly approach. The air below was watched by a thousand eyes;
at every point of vantage sentries were on watch and upon the roof of
every public building guns appeared as if by magic.
I began to be quite apprehensive that even the small eye of my
periscope might not go undetected and so I dropped my ship into a
little opening among some lofty trees that grew within the palace
garden, and here I waited some twenty feet above the ground, my
periscope completely screened from view, unseen and, in consequence,
myself unseeing, until the swift night of Barsoom descended upon
Tjanath; then I rose slowly from my leafy retreat.
Above the trees I paused to have a look about me through the periscope.
Far above me were the twinkling lights of the circling patrol boats and
from a thousand windows of the palace shone other lights. Before me
rose the dark outlines of the east tower silhouetted against the starry
sky.
Rising slowly I circled the tower until I had brought the Jhama
opposite Tavia's window.
My ship carried no lights, of course, and I had not switched on any of
the lights within her cabin, so that I felt that I might with impunity
raise one of the upper hatches, and this I did. The Jhama lay with her
upper deck a foot or two beneath the sill of Tavia's window. Before
venturing from below I replaced my cloak of invisibility about me.
There was no light in Tavia's room. I placed my ear close against the
iron bars and listened. I could hear no sound. My heart sank within me.
Could it be that they had removed her to some other part of the palace?
Could it be that Haj Alt had come and taken her away? I shuddered at
the mere suggestion and cursed the luck that had permitted him to
escape my blade.
With all those eyes and ears straining through the darkness I feared
to make the slightest sound, though I felt that there was little
likelihood that the open hatch would be noticed in the surrounding
darkness; yet I must ascertain whether or not Tavia was within that
room. I leaned close against the bars and whispered her name. There was
no response.
"Tavia!" I whispered, this time much louder, and it seemed to me that
my voice went booming to high heaven in tones that the dead might hear.
This time I heard a response from the interior of the room. It sounded
like a gasp and then I heard someone moving--approaching the window. It
was so dark in the interior that I could see nothing, but presently I
heard a voice close to me.
"Hadron! Where are you?"
She had recognized my voice. For some reason I thrilled to the thought
of it. "Here at the window, Tavia," I said.
She came very close. "Where?" she asked. "I cannot see you."
I had forgotten my robe of invisibility. "Never mind," I said. "You
cannot see me, but I will explain that later. Is Phao with you?"
"Yes."
"And no one else?"
"No."
"I am going to take you with me, Tavia--you and Phao. Stand aside well
out of line of the window so that you will not be hurt while I remove
the bars. Then be ready to board my ship immediately."
"Your ship!" she said. "Where is it?"
"Never mind now. There is a ship here. Do just as I tell you. Do you
trust me?"
"With my life, Hadron, forever," she whispered.
Something within me sang. It was more than a mere thrill; I cannot
explain it; nor did I understand it, but now there were other things to
think of.
"Stand aside quickly, Tavia, and keep Phao away from the window until
I call you again." Dimly I could see her figure for a moment and than
I saw it withdraw from the window. Returning to the controls I brought
the forward turret of the ship opposite the window, upon the bars of
which I trained the rifle. I loaded it and pressed the button. Through
the tiny sight aperture and because of the darkness I could see nothing
of the result, but I knew perfectly well what had happened, and when
I lowered the ship again and went on deck I found that the bars had
vanished in thin air.
"Quick, Tavia," I said. "Come!"
With one foot upon the deck of the flier and the other upon the sill of
the window, I held the ship close to the wall of the tower and as best
I could I held the cloak of invisibility like a canopy to shield the
girls from sight as they boarded the Jhama.
It was difficult and risky business. I wished I might have had
grappling hooks, but I had none and so I must do the best I could,
holding the cloak with one hand and assisting Tavia to the sill with
the other.
"There is no ship," she said in a slightly frightened tone.
"There is a ship, Tavia," I said. "Think only of your confidence in me
and do as I bid." I grasped her firmly by the harness where the straps
crossed upon her back. "Have no fear," I said, and then I swung her out
over the hatch and lowered her gently into the interior of the Jhama.
Phao was behind her and I must give her credit for being as courageous
as Tavia. It must have been a terrifying experience to those two girls
to feel that they were being lowered into thin air a hundred feet above
the ground, for they could see no ship--only a darker hole within the
darkness of the night.
As soon as they were both aboard, I followed them, closing the hatch
after me.
They were huddled in the darkness on the floor of the cabin, weak and
exhausted from the brief ordeal through which they had just passed, but
I could not take the time then to answer the questions with which I
knew their heads must be filled.
If we passed the watchers on the roofs and the patrol boats above,
there would be plenty of time for questions and answers. If we did not,
there would be no need for either.
XIII
TUL AXTAR'S WOMEN
With propellers moving only enough to give us headway, we moved slowly
and silently from the tower. I did not dare to rise to the altitude
of the circling fliers for fear of almost inevitable collision, owing
to the limited range of visibility permitted by the periscope, and so
I held to a course that carried me only above the roof of the lower
part of the palace until I reached a broad avenue that led in an
easterly direction to the outer wall of the city. I kept well down
below the roofs of the buildings, where there was little likelihood of
encountering other craft. Our only danger of detection now, and that
was slight indeed, was that our propeller might be overheard by some of
the watchers on the roofs, but the hum and drone of the propellers of
the ships above the city must have drowned out whatever slight sound
our slowly revolving blades gave forth, and at last we came to the gate
at the end of the avenue, and rising to top its battlements, we passed
out of Tjanath into the night beyond. The lights of the city and of the
circling patrol boats above grew fainter and fainter as we left them
far behind.
We had maintained absolute silence during our escape from the city,
but as soon as our escape appeared assured, Tavia unlocked the flood
gates of her curiosity. Phao's first question was relative to Nur An.
Her sigh of relief held as great assurance of her love for him as could
words have done. The two listened in breathless attention to the story
of our miraculous escape from The Death. Then they wanted to know all
about the Jhama, the compound of invisibility and the disintegrating
ray with which I had dissolved the bars from their prison window. Nor
was it until their curiosity had been appeased that we were able to
discuss our plans for the future.
"I feel that I should go at once to Jahar," I said.
"Yes," said Tavia in a low voice. "It is your duty. You must go there
first and rescue Sanoma Tora."
"If there was only some place where I might leave you and Phao in
safety, I should feel that I could carry on this mission with far
greater peace of mind, but I know of no other place than Jhama and I
hesitate to return there and let Phor Tak know that I failed to go
immediately to Jahar as I had intended. The man is quite insane. There
is no telling what he might do if he learns the truth; nor am I certain
that you two would be safe there in his power. He trusts only his
slaves and he might easily become obsessed with an hallucination that
you are spies."
"You need not think of me at all," said Tavia, "for no matter where you
might find a place to leave us, I should not remain. The place of the
slave is with her master."
"Do not say that, Tavia. You are not my slave."
"I am a slave girl," she replied. "I must be someone's slave. I prefer
to be yours."
I was touched by her loyalty, but I did not like to think of Tavia as a
slave; yet however much I might loathe the idea the fact remained that
she was one. "I give you your freedom, Tavia," I said.
She smiled. "I do not want it and now that it is decided that I am to
remain with you" (she had done all the deciding), "I wish to learn all
that I can about navigating the Jhama, for it may be that in that way I
may help you."
Tavia's knowledge of aerial navigation made the task of instructing her
simple indeed; in fact she had no trouble whatsoever in handling the
craft.
Phao also manifested an interest and it was not long before she, too,
took her turn at the controls, while Tavia insisted upon being inducted
into all the mysteries of the disintegrating ray rifle.
Long before we saw the towers of Tul Axtar's capital, we sighted a
one-man scout flier painted the ghastly blue of Jahar, and then far
to the right and to the left we saw others. They were circling slowly
at a great altitude. I judged that they were scouts watching for the
coming of an expected enemy fleet. We passed below them and a little
later encountered the second line of enemy ships. These were all scout
cruisers, carrying from ten to fifteen men. Approaching one of them
quite closely I saw that it carried four disintegrating ray rifles, two
mounted forward and two aft. As far as I could see in either direction
these ships were visible, and if, as I presumed, they formed a circle
entirely about Jahar, they must have been numerous indeed.
Passing on beyond them we presently encountered the third line of
Jaharian ships. Here were stationed huge battleships, carrying crews of
a thousand men and more and fairly bristling with big guns.
While none of these ships was as large as the major ships of Helium,
they constituted a most formidable force and it was obvious that they
had been built in great numbers.
What I had already seen impressed me with the fact that Tul Axtar
was entertaining no idle dream in his contemplated subjection of all
Barsoom. With but a fraction of the ships I had already seen I would
guarantee to lay waste all of Barsoom, provided my ships were armed
with disintegrating ray rifles, and I felt sure that I had seen but a
pitiful fraction of Tul Axtar's vast armament.
The sight of all these ships filled me with the direst forebodings
of calamity. If the fleet of Helium had not already arrived and been
destroyed, it certainly must be destroyed when it did arrive. No power
on earth could save it. The best that I could hope, had the fleet
already arrived, was that an encounter with the disintegrating ray
rifles of the first line might have proved sufficient warning to turn
the balance of the fleet back.
Far behind the line of battleships I could see the towers of Jahar
rising in the distance, and as we reached the vicinity of the city I
descried a fleet of the largest ships I have ever seen, resting upon
the ground just outside the city wall. These ships, which completely
encircled the city wall that was visible to us, must have been
capable of accommodating at least ten thousand men each, and from
their construction and their light armaments, I assumed them to be
transports. These, doubtless, were to carry the hordes of hungry
Jaharian warriors upon the campaign of loot and pillage that it was
planned should destroy a world.
Contemplation of this vast armada prompted me to abandon all other
plans and hasten at once to Helium, that the alarm might be spread and
plans be made to thwart the mad ambition of Tul Axtar. My mind was a
seething caldron of conflicting urges. Both duty and honor presented
conflicting demands upon me. Countless times had I risked my life to
reach Jahar for but a single purpose, and now that I had arrived I was
called upon to turn back for the fulfillment of another purpose--a
larger, a more important one, perhaps, but I am only human and so
I turned first to the rescue of the woman that I loved, determined
immediately thereafter to throw myself wholeheartedly into the
prosecution of the other enterprise that duty and inclination demanded
of me. I argued that the slight delay that would result would in no
way jeopardize the greater cause, while should I abandon Sanoma Tora
now there was little likelihood that I would ever be able to return to
Jahar to her succor.
With the great ghastly blue fleet of Jahar behind us, we topped the
city's walls and moved in the direction of the palace of the jeddak.
My plans were well formulated. I had discussed them again and again
with Tavia, who had grown up in the palace of Tul Axtar.
At her suggestion we were to maneuver the Jhama to a point directly
over the summit of a slender tower, upon which there was not room to
land the flier, but through which I could gain ingress to the palace at
a point close to the quarters of the women.
As we had passed through the three lines of Jaharian ships, protected
by our coating of the compound of invisibility, so we passed the
sentries on the city wall and the warriors upon watch in the towers
and upon the ramparts of the palace of the jeddak, and without incident
worthy of note I stopped the Jhama just above the summit of the tower
that Tavia indicated.
"In about ten xats (_approximately thirty minutes_) it will be dark," I
said to Tavia. "If you find it impractical to remain here constantly,
try and return when dark has fallen, for whether I am successful in
finding Sanoma Tora I shall not attempt to return to the Jhama until
night has fallen."
She had told me that there was a possibility that the women's quarters
might be locked at sunset and for this reason I was entering the
palace by daylight, though I should have much preferred not to risk
it until after nightfall. Tavia had also assured me that if I once
entered the women's quarters I would have no difficulty in leaving even
after they were locked, as the doors could be opened from the inside,
the precaution of locking being taken not for fear that the inmates
would leave the quarters, but to protect them against the dangers of
assassins and others with evil intent.
Adjusting the robe of invisibility about me, I raised the forward keel
hatch, which was directly over the summit of the tower that had once
been used as a lookout in some distant age before newer and loftier
portions of the palace had rendered it useless for this purpose.
"Good-bye and good luck," whispered Tavia. "When you return I hope that
you will bring your Sanoma Tora with you. While you are gone I shall
pray to my ancestors for your success."
Thanking her, I lowered myself through the hatch to the summit of the
tower, in which was set a small trap door.
As I raised this door I saw below me the top of the ancient ladder
that long dead warriors had used and which evidently was seldom, if
ever, used now as was attested by the dust upon its rungs. The ladder
led me down to a large room in the upper level of this portion of the
palace--a room that had doubtless originally been a guard room, but
which was now the receptacle for odds and ends of discarded furniture,
hangings and ornaments. Filled as it was with specimens of the
craftsmanship of ancient Jahar, together with articles of more modern
fabrication, it would have been a most interesting room to explore; yet
I passed through it with nothing more than a single searching glance
for living enemies. Closely following Tavia's instructions I descended
two spiral ramps, where I found myself in a most ornately decorated
corridor, opening upon which were the apartments of the women of Tul
Axtar. The corridor was long, stretching away fully a thousand sofads
to a great, arched window at the far end, through which I could see the
waving foliage of trees.