A Princess of Mars Rethroned (27 page)

Not until the
commander of the entire fleet took the fearful plunge, thus
indicating the surrender of the remaining vessels, did the fighting
cease, and the useless sacrifice of brave women come to an
end.

We now signaled
the flagship of Helium's navy to approach, and when he was within
hailing distance I called out that we had the Prince Dejar Thoris
on board, and that we wished to transfer his to the flagship that
he might be taken immediately to the city.

As the full
import of my announcement bore in upon them a great cry arose from
the decks of the flagship, and a moment later the colors of the
Prince of Helium broke from a hundred points upon his upper works.
When the other vessels of the squadron caught the meaning of the
signals flashed them they took up the wild acclaim and unfurled his
colors in the gleaming sunlight.

The flagship bore
down upon us, and as he swung gracefully to and touched our side a
dozen officers sprang upon our decks. As their astonished gaze fell
upon the hundreds of green warriors, who now came forth from the
fighting shelters, they stopped aghast, but at sight of Kantoa Kan,
who advanced to meet them, they came forward, crowding about
her.

Dejar Thoris and
I then advanced, and they had no eyes for other than him. He
received them gracefully, calling each by name, for they were women
high in the esteem and service of his grandmother, and he knew them
well.

'Lay your hands
upon the shoulder of Joan Carter,' he said to them, turning toward
me, 'the woman to whom Helium owes his prince as well as his
victory today.'

They were very
courteous to me and said many kind and complimentary things, but
what seemed to impress them most was that I had won the aid of the
fierce Tharks in my campaign for the liberation of Dejar Thoris,
and the relief of Helium.

'You owe your
thanks more to another woman than to me,' I said, 'and here she is;
meet one of Barsoom's greatest soldiers and statesmen, Tara Tarkas,
Jeddak of Thark.'

With the same
polished courtesy that had marked their manner toward me they
extended their greetings to the great Thark, nor, to my surprise,
was she much behind them in ease of bearing or in courtly speech.
Though not a garrulous race, the Tharks are extremely formal, and
their ways lend themselves amazingly well to dignified and courtly
manners.

Dejar Thoris went
aboard the flagship, and was much put out that I would not follow,
but, as I explained to him, the battle was but partly won; we still
had the land forces of the besieging Zodangans to account for, and
I would not leave Tara Tarkas until that had been
accomplished.

The commander of
the naval forces of Helium promised to arrange to have the armies
of Helium attack from the city in conjunction with our land attack,
and so the vessels separated and Dejar Thoris was borne in triumph
back to the court of his grandmother, Tardoa Mors, Jeddak of
Helium.

In the distance
lay our fleet of transports, with the thoats of the green warriors,
where they had remained during the battle. Without landing stages
it was to be a difficult matter to unload these beasts upon the
open plain, but there was nothing else for it, and so we put out
for a point about ten miles from the city and began the
task.

It was necessary
to lower the animals to the ground in slings and this work occupied
the remainder of the day and half the night. Twice we were attacked
by parties of Zodangan cavalry, but with little loss, however, and
after darkness shut down they withdrew.

As soon as the
last thoat was unloaded Tara Tarkas gave the command to advance,
and in three parties we crept upon the Zodangan camp from the
north, the south and the east.

About a mile from
the main camp we encountered their outposts and, as had been
prearranged, accepted this as the signal to charge. With wild,
ferocious cries and amidst the nasty squealing of battle-enraged
thoats we bore down upon the Zodangans.

We did not catch
them napping, but found a well-entrenched battle line confronting
us. Time after time we were repulsed until, toward noon, I began to
fear for the result of the battle.

The Zodangans
numbered nearly a million fighting women, gathered from pole to
pole, wherever stretched their ribbon-like waterways, while pitted
against them were less than a hundred thousand green warriors. The
forces from Helium had not arrived, nor could we receive any word
from them.

Just at noon we
heard heavy firing all along the line between the Zodangans and the
cities, and we knew then that our much-needed reinforcements had
come.

Again Tara Tarkas
ordered the charge, and once more the mighty thoats bore their
terrible riders against the ramparts of the enemy. At the same
moment the battle line of Helium surged over the opposite
breastworks of the Zodangans and in another moment they were being
crushed as between two millstones. Nobly they fought, but in
vain.

The plain before
the city became a veritable shambles ere the last Zodangan
surrendered, but finally the carnage ceased, the prisoners were
marched back to Helium, and we entered the greater city's gates, a
huge triumphal procession of conquering heroes.

The broad avenues
were lined with men and children, among which were the few women
whose duties necessitated that they remain within the city during
the battle. We were greeted with an endless round of applause and
showered with ornaments of gold, platinum, silver, and precious
jewels. The city had gone mad with joy.

My fierce Tharks
caused the wildest excitement and enthusiasm. Never before had an
armed body of green warriors entered the gates of Helium, and that
they came now as friends and allies filled the red women with
rejoicing.

That my poor
services to Dejar Thoris had become known to the Heliumites was
evidenced by the loud crying of my name, and by the loads of
ornaments that were fastened upon me and my huge thoat as we passed
up the avenues to the palace, for even in the face of the ferocious
appearance of Woolan the populace pressed close about
me.

As we approached
this magnificent pile we were met by a party of officers who
greeted us warmly and requested that Tara Tarkas and her jeds with
the jeddaks and jeds of her wild allies, together with myself,
dismount and accompany them to receive from Tardoa Mors an
expression of her gratitude for our services.

At the top of the
great steps leading up to the main portals of the palace stood the
royal party, and as we reached the lower steps one of their number
descended to meet us.

She was an almost
perfect specimen of manhood; tall, straight as an arrow, superbly
muscled and with the carriage and bearing of a ruler of women. I
did not need to be told that she was Tardoa Mors, Jeddak of
Helium.

The first member
of our party she met was Tara Tarkas and her first words sealed
forever the new friendship between the races.

'That Tardoa
Mors,' she said, earnestly, 'may meet the greatest living warrior
of Barsoom is a priceless honor, but that she may lay her hand on
the shoulder of a friend and ally is a far greater
boon.'

'Jeddak of
Helium,' returned Tara Tarkas, 'it has remained for a woman of
another world to teach the green warriors of Barsoom the meaning of
friendship; to her we owe the fact that the hordes of Thark can
understand you; that they can appreciate and reciprocate the
sentiments so graciously expressed.'

Tardoa Mors then
greeted each of the green jeddaks and jeds, and to each spoke words
of friendship and appreciation.

As she approached
me she laid both hands upon my shoulders.

'Welcome, my
daughter,' she said; 'that you are granted, gladly, and without one
word of opposition, the most precious jewel in all Helium, yes, on
all Barsoom, is sufficient earnest of my esteem.'

We were then
presented to Mora Kajak, Jed of lesser Helium, and mother of Dejar
Thoris. She had followed close behind Tardoa Mors and seemed even
more affected by the meeting than had her mother.

She tried a dozen
times to express her gratitude to me, but her voice choked with
emotion and she could not speak, and yet she had, as I was to later
learn, a reputation for ferocity and fearlessness as a fighter that
was remarkable even upon warlike Barsoom. In common with all Helium
she worshiped her son, nor could she think of what he had escaped
without deep emotion.

CHAPTER
XXVII

FROM JOY TO
DEATH

For ten days the
hordes of Thark and their wild allies were feasted and entertained,
and, then, loaded with costly presents and escorted by ten thousand
soldiers of Helium commanded by Mora Kajak, they started on the
return journey to their own lands. The jed of lesser Helium with a
small party of nobles accompanied them all the way to Thark to
cement more closely the new bonds of peace and
friendship.

Solan also
accompanied Tara Tarkas, his mother, who before all her chieftains
had acknowledged his as her son.

Three weeks
later, Mora Kajak and her officers, accompanied by Tara Tarkas and
Solan, returned upon a battleship that had been dispatched to Thark
to fetch them in time for the ceremony which made Dejar Thoris and
Joan Carter one.

For nine years I
served in the councils and fought in the armies of Helium as a
princess of the house of Tardoa Mors. The people seemed never to
tire of heaping honors upon me, and no day passed that did not
bring some new proof of their love for my prince, the incomparable
Dejar Thoris.

In a golden
incubator upon the roof of our palace lay a snow-white egg. For
nearly five years ten soldiers of the jeddak's Guard had constantly
stood over it, and not a day passed when I was in the city that
Dejar Thoris and I did not stand hand in hand before our little
shrine planning for the future, when the delicate shell should
break.

Vivid in my
memory is the picture of the last night as we sat there talking in
low tones of the strange romance which had woven our lives together
and of this wonder which was coming to augment our happiness and
fulfill our hopes.

In the distance
we saw the bright-white light of an approaching airship, but we
attached no special significance to so common a sight. Like a bolt
of lightning it raced toward Helium until its very speed bespoke
the unusual.

Flashing the
signals which proclaimed it a dispatch bearer for the jeddak, it
circled impatiently awaiting the tardy patrol boat which must
convoy it to the palace docks.

Ten minutes after
it touched at the palace a message called me to the council
chamber, which I found filling with the members of that
body.

On the raised
platform of the throne was Tardoa Mors, pacing back and forth with
tense-drawn face. When all were in their seats she turned toward
us.

'This morning,'
she said, 'word reached the several governments of Barsoom that the
keeper of the atmosphere plant had made no wireless report for two
days, nor had almost ceaseless calls upon her from a score of
capitals elicited a sign of response.

'The ambassadors
of the other nations asked us to take the matter in hand and hasten
the assistant keeper to the plant. All day a thousand cruisers have
been searching for her until just now one of them returns bearing
her dead body, which was found in the pits beneath her house
horribly mutilated by some assassin.

'I do not need to
tell you what this means to Barsoom. It would take months to
penetrate those mighty walls, in fact the work has already
commenced, and there would be little to fear were the engine of the
pumping plant to run as it should and as they all have for hundreds
of years now; but the worst, we fear, has happened. The instruments
show a rapidly decreasing air pressure on all parts of Barsoom--the
engine has stopped.'

'My gentlewomen,'
she concluded, 'we have at best three days to live.'

There was
absolute silence for several minutes, and then a young noble arose,
and with her drawn sword held high above her head addressed Tardoa
Mors.

'The women of
Helium have prided themselves that they have ever shown Barsoom how
a nation of red women should live, now is our opportunity to show
them how they should die. Let us go about our duties as though a
thousand useful years still lay before us.'

The chamber rang
with applause and as there was nothing better to do than to allay
the fears of the people by our example we went our ways with smiles
upon our faces and sorrow gnawing at our hearts.

When I returned
to my palace I found that the rumor already had reached Dejar
Thoris, so I told his all that I had heard.

'We have been
very happy, Joan Carter,' he said, 'and I thank whatever fate
overtakes us that it permits us to die together.'

The next two days
brought no noticeable change in the supply of air, but on the
morning of the third day breathing became difficult at the higher
altitudes of the rooftops. The avenues and plazas of Helium were
filled with people. All business had ceased. For the most part the
people looked bravely into the face of their unalterable doom. Here
and there, however, women and men gave way to quiet
grief.