Warlord of Mars Embattled (14 page)

With their sharp
hooks the combatants attempted to take hold of an adversary, but
like lightning the cupshaped shield would spring before the darting
weapon and into its hollow the hook would plunge.

Once the lone
warrior caught an antagonist in the side with her hook, and drawing
her close ran her sword through her.

But the odds were
too unequal, and, though she who fought alone was by far the best
and bravest of them all, I saw that it was but a question of time
before the remaining five would find an opening through her
marvelous guard and bring her down.

Now my sympathies
have ever been with the weaker side of an argument, and though I
knew nothing of the cause of the trouble I could not stand idly by
and see a brave woman butchered by superior numbers.

As a matter of
fact I presume I gave little attention to seeking an excuse, for I
love a good fight too well to need any other reason for joining in
when one is afoot.

So it was that
before Thuva Dihn knew what I was about she saw me standing by the
side of the white-clad yellow woman, battling like mad with her
five adversaries.

WITH THE YELLOW
MEN

Thuva Dihn was
not long in joining me; and, though we found the hooked weapon a
strange and savage thing with which to deal, the three of us soon
despatched the five black smooth warriors who opposed
us.

When the battle
was over our new acquaintance turned to me, and removing the shield
from her wrist, held it out. I did not know the significance of her
act, but judged that it was but a form of expressing her gratitude
to me.

I afterward
learned that it symbolized the offering of a woman's life in return
for some great favor done her; and my act of refusing, which I had
immediately done, was what was expected of me.

'Then accept from
Talu, Princess of Marentina,' said the yellow woman, 'this token of
my gratitude,' and reaching beneath one of her wide sleeves she
withdrew a bracelet and placed it upon my arm. She then went
through the same ceremony with Thuva Dihn.

Next she asked
our names, and from what land we hailed. She seemed quite familiar
with the geography of the outerworld, and when I said I was from
Helium she raised her brows.

'Ah,' she said,
'you seek your ruler and her company?'

'Know you of
them?' I asked.

'But little more
than that they were captured by my aunt, Salensa Oll, Jeddak of
Jeddaks, Ruler of Okar, land of the yellow women of Barsoom. As to
their fate I know nothing, for I am at war with my aunt, who would
crush my power in the principality of Marentina.

'These from whom
you have just saved me are warriors she has sent out to find and
slay me, for they know that often I come alone to hunt and kill the
sacred apt which Salensa Oll so much reveres. It is partly because
I hate her religion that Salensa Oll hates me; but mostly does she
fear my growing power and the great faction which has arisen
throughout Okar that would be glad to see me ruler of Okar and
Jeddak of Jeddaks in her place.

'She is a cruel
and tyrannous mistress whom all hate, and were it not for the great
fear they have of her I could raise an army overnight that would
wipe out the few that might remain loyal to her. My own people are
faithful to me, and the little valley of Marentina has paid no
tribute to the court of Salensa Oll for a year.

'Nor can she
force us, for a dozen women may hold the narrow way to Marentina
against a million. But now, as to thine own affairs. How may I aid
you? My palace is at your disposal, if you wish to honor me by
coming to Marentina.'

'When our work is
done we shall be glad to accept your invitation,' I replied. 'But
now you can assist us most by directing us to the court of Salensa
Oll, and suggesting some means by which we may gain admission to
the city and the palace, or whatever other place we find our
friends to be confined.'

Talu gazed
ruefully at our smooth faces and at Thuva Dihn's red skin and my
white one.

'First you must
come to Marentina,' she said, 'for a great change must be wrought
in your appearance before you can hope to enter any city in Okar.
You must have yellow faces and black beards, and your apparel and
trappings must be those least likely to arouse suspicion. In my
palace is one who can make you appear as truly yellow women as does
Salensa Oll herself.'

Her counsel
seemed wise; and as there was apparently no other way to insure a
successful entry to Kadabra, the capital city of Okar, we set out
with Talu, Princess of Marentina, for her little, rock-bound
country.

The way was over
some of the worst traveling I have ever seen, and I do not wonder
that in this land where there are neither thoats nor fliers that
Marentina is in little fear of invasion; but at last we reached our
destination, the first view of which I had from a slight elevation
a half-mile from the city.

Nestled in a deep
valley lay a city of Martian concrete, whose every street and plaza
and open space was roofed with glass. All about lay snow and ice,
but there was none upon the rounded, domelike, crystal covering
that enveloped the whole city.

Then I saw how
these people combated the rigors of the arctic, and lived in luxury
and comfort in the midst of a land of perpetual ice. Their cities
were veritable hothouses, and when I had come within this one my
respect and admiration for the scientific and engineering skill of
this buried nation was unbounded.

The moment we
entered the city Talu threw off her outer garments of fur, as did
we, and I saw that her apparel differed but little from that of the
red races of Barsoom. Except for her leathern harness, covered
thick with jewels and metal, she was naked, nor could one have
comfortably worn apparel in that warm and humid
atmosphere.

For three days we
remained the guests of Princess Talu, and during that time she
showered upon us every attention and courtesy within her power. She
showed us all that was of interest in her great city.

The Marentina
atmosphere plant will maintain life indefinitely in the cities of
the north pole after all life upon the balance of dying Mars is
extinct through the failure of the air supply, should the great
central plant again cease functioning as it did upon that memorable
occasion that gave me the opportunity of restoring life and
happiness to the strange world that I had already learned to love
so well.

She showed us the
heating system that stores the sun's rays in great reservoirs
beneath the city, and how little is necessary to maintain the
perpetual summer heat of the glorious garden spot within this
arctic paradise.

Broad avenues of
sod sewn with the seed of the ocher vegetation of the dead sea
bottoms carried the noiseless traffic of light and airy ground
fliers that are the only form of artificial transportation used
north of the gigantic ice-barrier.

The broad tires
of these unique fliers are but rubber-like gas bags filled with the
eighth Barsoomian ray, or ray of propulsion--that remarkable
discovery of the Martians that has made possible the great fleets
of mighty airships that render the red woman of the outer world
supreme. It is this ray which propels the inherent or reflected
light of the planet off into space, and when confined gives to the
Martian craft their airy buoyancy.

The ground fliers
of Marentina contain just sufficient buoyancy in their
automobile-like wheels to give the cars traction for steering
purposes; and though the hind wheels are geared to the engine, and
aid in driving the machine, the bulk of this work is carried by a
small propeller at the stern.

I know of no more
delightful sensation than that of riding in one of these
luxuriously appointed cars which skim, light and airy as feathers,
along the soft, mossy avenues of Marentina. They move with absolute
noiselessness between borders of crimson sward and beneath arching
trees gorgeous with the wondrous blooms that mark so many of the
highly cultivated varieties of Barsoomian vegetation.

By the end of the
third day the court barber--I can think of no other earthly
appellation by which to describe her--had wrought so remarkable a
transformation in both Thuva Dihn and myself that our own husbands
would never have known us. Our skins were of the same lemon color
as her own, and great, black beards and mustaches had been deftly
affixed to our smooth faces. The trappings of warriors of Okar
aided in the deception; and for wear beyond the hothouse cities we
each had suits of the black- and yellow-striped orluk.

Talu gave us
careful directions for the journey to Kadabra, the capital city of
the Okar nation, which is the racial name of the yellow women. This
good friend even accompanied us part way, and then, promising to
aid us in any way that she found possible, bade us
adieu.

On parting she
slipped upon my finger a curiously wrought ring set with a
dead-black, lusterless stone, which appeared more like a bit of
bituminous coal than the priceless Barsoomian gem which in reality
it is.

'There had been
but three others cut from the mother stone,' she said, 'which is in
my possession. These three are worn by nobles high in my
confidence, all of whom have been sent on secret missions to the
court of Salensa Oll.

'Should you come
within fifty feet of any of these three you will feel a rapid,
pricking sensation in the finger upon which you wear this ring. She
who wears one of its mates will experience the same feeling; it is
caused by an electrical action that takes place the moment two of
these gems cut from the same mother stone come within the radius of
each other's power. By it you will know that a friend is at hand
upon whom you may depend for assistance in time of need.

'Should another
wearer of one of these gems call upon you for aid do not deny her,
and should death threaten you swallow the ring rather than let it
fall into the hands of enemies. Guard it with your life, Joan
Carter, for some day it may mean more than life to you.'

With this parting
admonition our good friend turned back toward Marentina, and we set
our faces in the direction of the city of Kadabra and the court of
Salensa Oll, Jeddak of Jeddaks.

That very evening
we came within sight of the walled and glass-roofed city of
Kadabra. It lies in a low depression near the pole, surrounded by
rocky, snow-clad hills. From the pass through which we entered the
valley we had a splendid view of this great city of the north. Its
crystal domes sparkled in the brilliant sunlight gleaming above the
frost-covered outer wall that circles the entire one hundred miles
of its circumference.

At regular
intervals great gates give entrance to the city; but even at the
distance from which we looked upon the massive pile we could see
that all were closed, and, in accordance with Talu's suggestion, we
deferred attempting to enter the city until the following
morning.

As she had said,
we found numerous caves in the hillsides about us, and into one of
these we crept for the night. Our warm orluk skins kept us
perfectly comfortable, and it was only after a most refreshing
sleep that we awoke shortly after daylight on the following
morning.

Already the city
was astir, and from several of the gates we saw parties of yellow
women emerging. Following closely each detail of the instructions
given us by our good friend of Marentina, we remained concealed for
several hours until one party of some half dozen warriors had
passed along the trail below our hiding place and entered the hills
by way of the pass along which we had come the previous
evening.

After giving them
time to get well out of sight of our cave, Thuva Dihn and I crept
out and followed them, overtaking them when they were well into the
hills.

When we had come
almost to them I called aloud to their leader, when the whole party
halted and turned toward us. The crucial test had come. Could we
but deceive these women the rest would be comparatively
easy.

'Kaor!' I cried
as I came closer to them.

'Kaor!' responded
the officer in charge of the party.

'We be from
Illall,' I continued, giving the name of the most remote city of
Okar, which has little or no intercourse with Kadabra. 'Only
yesterday we arrived, and this morning the captain of the gate told
us that you were setting out to hunt orluks, which is a sport we do
not find in our own neighborhood. We have hastened after you to
pray that you allow us to accompany you.'

The officer was
entirely deceived, and graciously permitted us to go with them for
the day. The chance guess that they were bound upon an orluk hunt
proved correct, and Talu had said that the chances were ten to one
that such would be the mission of any party leaving Kadabra by the
pass through which we entered the valley, since that way leads
directly to the vast plains frequented by this elephantine beast of
prey.

In so far as the
hunt was concerned, the day was a failure, for we did not see a
single orluk; but this proved more than fortunate for us, since the
yellow women were so chagrined by their misfortune that they would
not enter the city by the same gate by which they had left it in
the morning, as it seemed that they had made great boasts to the
captain of that gate about their skill at this dangerous
sport.