The Martian War (33 page)

He frowned. “However, since you claim to have conveniently solved the Martian problem, I wonder if Buckingham Palace will change its mind.” Moreau scratched his beard, then urged them down the hall. “You two have had the benefit of reading my experiences as set forth in my journal. Now you must tell me precisely what you yourselves have done.”

While several Institute researchers listened in, Wells and Jane quickly explained everything. After they described how Professor Huxley insisted on remaining behind, Moreau shook his head without surprise. “That sounds exactly like him.”

* * *

After bathing, changing into clean clothes, then enjoying a generous meal—their first decent sustenance in days—Wells and Jane spent a long, exhausted night in the Institute’s visitor’s quarters. They were both eager to get back home where the two of them could spend calm afternoons bicycling down the tree-lined lanes or boating along the canals—and Wells could get back to his writing.

He felt thoroughly inspired now, full of ideas that would make fictions much more extravagant than simple articles for
The Strand, Pall Mall Gazette,
and
Pearson’s Magazine.
For a long time now, W.E. Henley at the
National Observer
had been encouraging him to revisit his fanciful story, “The Chronic Argonauts,” which he had published in his school newspaper years before. He had thought about developing it into a serial novel,
The Time Machine.
Now he had new twists to add to the story, more depth to the societies he had imagined.

Yes, he was very anxious to get back to work again.

Preparing to leave the next morning, Wells and Jane were carrying their bags down the corridor when they encountered a grinning Dr. Moreau. He held in his large hands the crystal egg he had described in his journal. “Before you two return to your mundane existence, I have something to show you. The crystal egg has begun to transmit again.”

They followed him into a well-lit alcove where sunlight reflected off the smooth surface of the ellipsoid. From its infinite, shimmering depths, an amazing scene emerged like bubbles from a deep pond.

“It’s Professor Huxley!” Wells said.

Happily amazed, he and Jane watched the old man working contentedly on Mars, surrounded by Selenites. Huxley appeared healthy and full of life. Though they could not hear the professor’s words, a youthful exuberance shone on his face.

Selenite labor crews bustled about the ruins of the majestic Martian cities. Working non-stop, the lunar drones had already reconstructed much of what they had damaged in the insurrection. Wells thought that the buildings already had a brighter, more
lunar
style of architecture.

Moreau’s gruff voice startled them. “Obviously, Huxley has found a crystal egg of his own, a counterpart to this one. Thus he can remain in contact with us.”

On Mars, Huxley took great strides through the streets, turning the glassy artificial eye to show the dying, tentacled Martian brains. They crawled plague-stricken through their streets, probably gasping a final
“Ulla! Ulla!”
before they succumbed to the cholera germ. The creatures faltered in their clumsy flight, their brown skin blotchy and necrotic. Some gasping Martians had crawled to their windows and dangled lifelessly out of them. In the sky a flurry of black angular shapes, the Martian equivalent of carrion birds, swooped down to peck and tear at their carcasses.

* * *

Wells and Jane stayed at the Institute until that afternoon, engrossed in the images from Mars. An impatient Dr. Moreau went back to his laboratory, loaning them the crystal egg so that they could continue their observations.

Professor Huxley went to the now-completed invasion fleet of silver cylinders resting on the Martian landing field. Instead of letting the ships be used as a military force to conquer Earth, however, the old man loaded the cylinders with masses of kidnapped Selenite drones. Rank after rank of ant-like lunar workers crowded into the projectiles, which were ready to launch. This exodus would deplete the Selenite population on Mars, but it would be a rebirth for the crumbling civilization on the Moon.

Jane smiled, her pale cheeks flushed. “The infusion of fresh
workers from all castes will likely save the lunar race. The Grand Lunar will be so pleased—and so am I. After all, I was their temporary queen.”

They sat together enthralled as the first wave of silver cylinders raced away from Mars on a green flash of rocket flame and hurtled toward the Moon … back home.

* * *

In the end, settled once more in their rented rooms in Euston, Wells and Jane sat outside, gently rocking in a bench-swing as they looked into a clear, dark night. The full Moon rode high in the sky like a radiant, pale beacon.

Thinking of all they had done and everywhere they had gone, they clasped hands and just stared out at a universe filled with infinite possibilities. They could tell no one of their fantastic adventures. It was their secret for now. Even the queen and the Royal Institute would hold all the details under the tightest classification.

Wells seemed content, though. “We did not do it for accolades, Jane. We did it because it was necessary.”

Jane kissed his fingers, then leaned against him. “And I am very proud to have been part of it with you. No one would believe us if we told the story, though. Unless you can think of an innovative way … .”

Wells smiled at her, the wheels already turning in his mind— as they always did. “It’s not such an impossible thing, Jane. Any good writer can find a way to tell the story.”

D
uring extensive historical research undertaken by the author in writing this book, it became sadly but abundantly apparent that the events as set forth in this novel
did not, in fact, occur.

However, with the benefit of more than a century of hindsight, one can see that this is indeed how history
should
have happened.

T
his book—and indeed a large portion of the science fiction genre—would not exist without the groundwork laid by H.G. Wells and Percival Lowell. Wells single-handedly introduced the world to many of science fiction’s best-loved concepts. Despite repeated censure and ridicule from his peers, Lowell’s tireless promotion of Mars as the abode of life kindled a public fascination with Martians and their dying world.

Most especially, I must express my gratitude to the estate of H.G. Wells for allowing me to do this book. I would also like to thank the staff at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, for their help and suggestions.

I give a respectful nod to Stephen Baxter for putting me in
touch with the heirs of H.G. Wells; my editors Steve Saffel, John Ordover, and Jennifer Heddle for “getting it”; Vivian Cheung, Nick Landau, and Cath Trechman from Titan Books; John Teehan, Robyn Herrington, and Mark Bourne for helping me track down some of Wells’s more obscure writings; Catherine Sidor and Diane Jones for their assistance in various stages of preparing this manuscript; and, of course, Rebecca Moesta Anderson for most everything else.

K
evin J. Anderson is a prolific author who has published over 115 novels, 50 of which have been national or international bestsellers. His work has been translated into 30 languages, and he has well over 23 million books in print. He often collaborates with other authors, such as Brian Herbert, Rebecca Moesta (his wife), Dean Koontz, Greg Benford, and Doug Beason. In his solo work he is best known for his seven-volume
Saga of Seven Suns
SF epic and his
Terra Incognita
sailing-ships fantasy. He is currently working on the
Hellhole
trilogy with Brian Herbert, and
The Saga of Shadows,
a new trilogy set in the
Seven Suns
universe, as well as the humorous
Dan Shamble, Zombie P.I.
series, and
Clockwork Angels,
a
novelization of the recent Rush album. He has also written novels and/or comics for
Dune, Star Wars, X-Files, JSA, Titan A.E., StarCraft, Star Trek, Batman/Superman,
and many others. His website is:
www.wordfire.com
.

GLOBAL DISPATCHES

by Kevin J. Anderson

In the spirit of H.G. Wells’s classic tale comes this anthology of accounts of the Martian invasion, as it might have been seen through the eyes of such notables as H.P. Lovecraft, Jules Verne, Teddy Roosevelt, Pablo Picasso, Henry James, Winston Churchill, Rudyard Kipling, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad and Emily Dickenson.

Featuring the work of twenty leading sci-fi authors including Robert Silverberg, Barbara Hambly, Allen Steele, Gregory Benford, Connie Willis, Mike Resnick, Walter Jon Williams and David Brin.

“A rollicking good compilation … Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal

THE FANTASTIC ADVENTURES OF A DARK GENIUS

by Kevin J. Anderson

When Andre Nemo’s father dies suddenly, the young adventurer takes to the sea, accompanied by his lifelong friend, Jules Verne. Verne is thwarted in his yearning for action, while Nemo continues across the continents. Years pass, and he is feared dead.

Far from lost, however, Nemo criss-crosses the globe. He discovers the lost city of Timbuktu, the hidden land at the center of the earth, and is marooned on the uncharted mysterious island. He faces bloodthirsty pirates, prehistoric monsters, Arab slavers, and serves in the British cavalry against the Russians in the charge of the Light Brigade. Against all odds he survives, and becomes the captain of the futuristic vessel known as the
Nautilus
.

“Anderson’s rollicking whopper of a novel glides along smoothly in a style deliberately modeled on Verne’s own … No one would miss the boat by signing on this fantastic journey.”
—Publishers Weekly

by David J. Kowalski

March 1912.

A mysterious man appears aboard the
Titanic
on its doomed voyage. His mission? To save the ship. The result? A world where the United States never entered World War I, thus launching the secret history of the twentieth century.

“Time travel, airships, the
Titanic,
Roswell … Kowalski builds a decidedly original creature that blends military science fiction, conspiracy theory, alternate history, and even a dash of romance.”
—Publishers Weekly

WOLD NEWTON SERIES

The Other Log of Phileas Fogg
(available now)

Time’s Last Gift
(available now)

Tales of the Wold Newton Universe

(Prehistory)

Hadon of Ancient Opar

(Secrets of the Nine: Parallel Universe)

A
Feast Unknown
(available now)

Lord of the Trees

The Mad Goblin

GRAND MASTER SERIES

Lord Tyger
(available now)

The Wind Whales of Ishmael

Flesh

Venus on the Half-Shell

“Farmer’s imagination is of the first rank … His velocity is breathtaking.” —
Time

by Daniel Stashower

The Dime Museum Murders

The Floating Lady Murder

The Houdini Specter

In turn-of-the-century New York, the Great Houdini’s confidence in his own abilities is matched only by the indifference of the paying public. Now the young performer has the opportunity to make a name for himself by attempting the most amazing feats of his fledgling career— solving what seem to be impenetrable crimes. With the reluctant help of his brother Dash, Houdini must unravel murders, debunk frauds and escape from danger that is no illusion … .

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s timeless creation returns in a series of handsomely designed detective stories.
The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
encapsulates the most varied and thrilling cases of the world’s greatest detective.

THE ECTOPLASMIC MAN

BY DANIEL STASHOWER

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

BY MANLY WADE WELLMAN & WADE WELLMAN

THE SCROLL OF THE DEAD

BY DAVID STUART DAVIES

THE STALWART COMPANIONS

BY H. PAUL JEFFERS

THE VEILED DETECTIVE

BY DAVID STUART DAVIES

THE MAN FROM HELL

BY BARRIE ROBERTS

SÉANCE FOR A VAMPIRE

BY FRED SABERHAGEN

THE SEVENTH BULLET

BY DANIEL D. VICTOR

THE WHITECHAPEL HORRORS