2 - Blades of Mars (12 page)

 
          
 
This would be something in which I could help,
I decided.

 
          
 
'I will be your scout.' I said. 'If I take the
airship I will be able to travel much faster than the Priosa and work out their
exact positions, and so on. Then I can return and tell you roughly where to
find those who have escaped.'

 
          
 
'A good plan.'
Hool
Haji nodded. 'I would come with you, but there are too many things still to be
done here. Start in the morning - you need a little rest.' I saw the sense of
this. A bedroom was placed at my disposal and I was soon asleep.

 
          
 
Next morning I climbed into my ship, waved to
Hool Haji and told him that I would probably be away a few days. The great body
of the Priosa, I was told, had fled south, so that would be the best direction
in which to go.

 
          
 
The near-silent engine began to pulse, the
propellers began to turn, and soon I had left Mendisharling and Hool Haji
behind.

 
          
 
I did not realise then what fate - which has,
I feel, taken an inordinate interest in my affairs - had in store for me.

The Flying Monster

 
          
 
Two days later I was very far south indeed. I
had seen several small bands of Priosa and noted their positions and the
general direction which they were heading.

 
          
 
I had gone past the borders of Mendishar and
saw in distance a range of tall, black mountain peaks that seemed familiar.

 
          
 
Having, I felt, located all the Priosa I was
likely to find, I decided to investigate the mountains and see if these were
indeed what I suspected.

 
          
 
The mountains were what I had thought. The
Mountains of Argzoou where earlier - or was it yet to happen? -I had fought
against the minions of that wicked renegade Horguhl, and the beast which she
had somehow hypnotically controlled.

 
          
 
I felt emotion stir in me - a sense almost of
nostalgia -as I flew over those bleak mountains. I felt no love for the
mountains themselves, of course, but they reminded me of my earlier adventures
on Vashu and, more particularly, of the short period of happiness I had enjoyed
with that beautiful girl Shizala. It was difficult to convince myself that she
was as yet unborn.

 
          
 
I wondered if it would be worth flying down,
but reasoned that the Argzoon had not yet been defeated and were likely to make
short work of me. Then I would die for nothing.

 
          
 
I was just turning the ship when I saw the
thing suddenly appear from a dark gorge and come flapping up towards me.

 
          
 
It was a monster of such astounding
proportions that at first I believed it must be some weird kind of flying
machine. Nothing could lift that bulk off the ground, let alone fly so swiftly,
but a man-made device, I thought

 
          
 
But it was not man-made.

 
          
 
It had the appearance of a two-headed heela -
the small, savage beast that inhabited the forest farther south - with great
fangs and blazing eyes. From its shoulders sprouted vast, leathery wings. It
was evidently a cousin of the heela in appearance and temperament
The
heela was dangerous enough, but this creature was many
times its size.

 
          
 
It was flying towards me, great taloned paws
outstretched as if to seize me, both mouths of both heads gaping wide.

 
          
 
I rammed over the speed lever to ‘full' and
pulled another lever to let the ballast out of its cradles slung beneath the
main cabin.

 
          
 
Climbing rapidly, I managed to put some extra
distance between the beast and myself. But now the creature was gaining height
and speed also.

 
          
 
I had not had time to turn the ship and was
still heading almost due south. I wished for some weapon other than the
poison-tipped lances still in the cabin and my sword. A machine-gun loaded with
dum-dum bullets might have had some slight effect on the beast. Better still, a
large, rapid-fire artillery piece or a bazooka, or a flame-thrower, or one of
those laser-projectors...

 
          
 
I had nothing of the sort. I was beginning to
feel that I did not even have speed on my side as the monster clung to its
trail and began slowly to shorten the distance between us.

 
          
 
The airship was not the most manoeuvrable of
craft, but the aerobatics I managed to perform would have astounded anyone who
knew anything about the possibilities of manipulating a balloon-type vessel!

 
          
 
Below me - far, far below - I saw the heela
forest that I had ventured through once with Damad, Shizala's brother.

 
          
 
Then I was past that and still travelling due
south.

 
          
 
I strained every ounce of energy from the
motor so that I feared the propellers must shake themselves loose sooner or
later.

 
          
 
Nearer and nearer flapped the monster. It was
larger -including its vast wings - than my ship and I knew that a couple of
rips from its claws alone could destroy the gas-bag and send me dropping like a
stone to the ground far below.

 
          
 
It refused to give up. Surely, I thought, any
ordinary animal would have tired by now.
But no.
Doggedly it pursued me, sensing perhaps that victory and a meal were in sight -
though I could only feel he would be disappointed in the meal.

 
          
 
I circled higher. Soon, unless I was careful,
I would be in an atmosphere too thin to breathe. Then I would no longer need to
worry about the flying heela - or indeed about anything. I would be dead

 
          
 
I wondered if, for all its ferocity, this
creature were as cowardly as its smaller, land-bound cousins of the forests. K
it were, there might be a way to scare it.

 
          
 
I racked my brains but could think of nothing.
What did scare a two-headed flying mammal of several tons in sheer weight? The
humorous answer presented itself -another, larger, two headed flying mammal! I
had no such ally, however.

 
          
 
Now the heela - or whatever it was called -
was much closer so that I could make out its features clearly.

 
          
 
By reflex more than by anything else, I
reached for one of the poison-tipped lances and flung it through the porthole
at the thing.

 
          
 
I think it must have entered one of its
throats, for the mouth closed, chewed - and there was no longer a spear. Now it
was almost upon me and I decided that I might as well die fitting, however
futilely.

 
          
 
I flung another spear, this time missing
altogether. What happened next was astonishing. The beast reached out and
snapped the falling spear in its mouth. Again it chewed, again it swallowed.

 
          
 
I felt chagrin then. It was not only
unaffected by my puny weapons - it was enjoying them as a meal!

 
          
 
The spears served to slow it a little, at any
rate, as it paused to snap them up! I flung the rest, trying for one of its
eyes, but failed miserably.

 
          
 
The last thing I remembered was the beast
finally catching up with the ship! A huge black shadow seemed to engulf me. I
remember a ripping noise and realising that I was doomed along with my ship -
either to being eaten, gasbag, cabin and all, in mid-air by a predator that
seemed literally omnivorous, or to fall thousands of feet and be smashed to
small fragments on the ground.

 
          
 
The cabin swung crazily and I fell back, hit
my head on the side of the control panel and, as dizziness overcame me, I
remember thinking that at least I would not be aware of my own dying.

New Friends

 
          
 
I FELT that every bone in my body was broken.
As it happened - though every bone should have been - not one was! I was badly
bruised and cut - that was all.

 
          
 
But where was I?

 
          
 
Alive?
Just about.
How? I could not guess.

 
          
 
I began to disentangle myself from the
contents of the cabin. As far as I could tell it was not badly damaged -that
building material of the Yaksha must be incredible stuff.

 
          
 
I got the hatch - which was above me now -
open and crawled out into the comparative darkness of the Martian night, lit as
it was by the twin moons.

 
          
 
The gas-bag bobbed on the ground, half empty.
Had I dropped so rapidly that, once having released much of the contents of the
gas-bag, the heela had been unable to follow me?

 
          
 
I did not know, but my tentative answer as to
how I was saved was not very convincing.

 
          
 
I went back into the cabin, repressing a groan
of pain from my bruising, and got a patch and a tin of the sticky substance we
had found in the Yaksha city. Helium was still escaping from the bag but only
slowly, since it had folded in on itself, forming a kind of pocket from which
the gas was seeping less quickly than it would normally have done.

 
          
 
Hastily I patched the balloon and reflected
thankfully that there were still enough spare tanks of helium to fill it

 
          
 
Just as I was finishing my work I saw
something to my right. It was a large object.

 
          
 
I approached it cautiously - and discovered
the monster! How had it died? I stepped forward to see if I could tell -and
then realised that it was still breathing!

 
          
 
Breathing with difficulty, to be sure, but
breathing nonetheless!

 
          
 
I guessed that it had swallowed too much of
the paralysing poison even for its incredible digestive system to absorb. In
the act of attacking me it kad been seized by paralysis and had veered away,
flopping earthwards to land here.
My damaged balloon must
have followed it down and landed near it shortly afterwards.

 
          
 
I thanked providence for giving the heela its
weird appetite. Then I ran back to the ship for my sword, which must have
fallen from my belt as I hurtled downwards.

 
          
 
While the beast slept - and feeling something
of a coward, though the creature needed to be slain lest it attack any other
travelled - pierced its faceted eyes, hoping that I had reached the brain. It
dashed about, flinging me off twice, but I persevered until finally it was
dead.

 
          
 
Then I returned to the airship and attached
containers of helium to the valve of the bag.

 
          
 
I soon felt little worse, except for my
bruises.

 
          
 
I decided to sleep in the cabin, having moored
the ship to the ground, and try to get my bearings in the morning.

 
          
 
Still rather dazed and wearied from the previous
day's experience, I took the air next morning without quite knowing what I
planned.

 
          
 
Below me now I saw a broad river winding. I
did not recognise the countryside at all, but decided to follow the river in
the hope that I would spy some settlement on it where I could ask just where I
was.

 
          
 
I followed this river, as it happened, for
four days without sighting a single settlement.

 
          
 
When I eventually did see something it was not
a settlement - but a fleet!

 
          
 
There were some dozen or so finely made
sailing galleys of graceful beauty beating up the river. Flying lower, I saw
that the ships were crewed by men like
myself
, only
darker skinned.

 
          
 
I began to drop down towards the leading
galley which, judging by the size and decoration of its single, lateen-rigged
sail,
was the flagship. I caused some consternation before I
found my megaphone and shouted down:

 
          
 
'I mean you no harm. Who are you?'

 
          
 
In the common language of Mars, though in an
accent that was only barely familiar, one of the men shouted up:

 
          
 
'We are men of Mishim Tep bound for the
Jewelled
City
! Who are you?'

 
          
 
Mishim Tep! That was Kamala's oldest ally -
and Kamala was the land from which my Shizala came. I felt I was among friends!

 
          
 
I replied that I was a traveller from the
North - a tribe-less man who would welcome company if 1 were allowed to board
the ship.

 
          
 
Their curiosity now seemed to be aroused and
they also believed me when I said I offered no danger. So they allowed me to
tether the balloon to their mast and descend my rope ladder to the deck - a
difficult operation which, I pride myself, I accomplished with some dexterity.

 
          
 
The young captain, a pleasant warrior called
Vorum Saz Hazhi, told me that he had been away for many months on an expedition
to the coast, where a small ally of Mishim Tep's had been plagued by raiders.
They had destroyed the raiders and were now on their way home to Mih-Sa-Voh,
the
Jewelled
City
, capital of Mishim Tep.

 
          
 
Rather than complicate matters, there and then
I told him that I was a scientist, inventor of the airship we now had in tow,
looking for commissions in the south. I said that I had journeyed from the
Western continent - which was, strictly speaking, true.

 
          
 
‘If you could invent that’
Vorum Saz Hazhi said enthusiastically, 'then you will be more than welcome at
the court of our Bradhi and you need not fear going hungry.
He will give
you all the commisions you need.'

 
          
 
I was pleased to hear that and made up my mind
on the spot to set myself up as what I had said I was - a freelance scientist!'

 
          
 
I was not too worried about the Priosa I had
failed to report
The
mission had only been to occupy
my time really, and the Priosa would probably be tracked down soon enough. I
would, of course, return to Mendishar soon to ensure Hool Haji that I was safe.
But, in the meanwhile, I could not resist the prospect of dwelling for a short
while with people of my own size and general appearance - people, moreover, who
had strong affinities of custom and tradition with my adopted nation, the
Kamala.

 
          
 
Some days later the towers of the
Jewelled
City
came in sight.

 
          
 
It was the most magnificent place I have seen
in my life. Every tower and roof was decorated with precious or semi-precious
gems so that from a distance the city looked like one vast blaze of
scintillating colour.

 
          
 
Its harbour was made of white marble in which
crystals sparkled, reflected in the dancing water of the river. A bright sun
shone from a clear blue sky, the scents of shrubs and herbs were sweet,
the
sight and sound of happy, intelligent and well-cared-for
people was a joy to my senses.

 
          
 
Many folk had come to welcome the arrival of
the ships after their long expedition. They were dressed in bright cloaks which
matched the brave display of banners from our masts. Many gasped to see the
airship in tow.

 
          
 
The delicate music of the Southern Martians
began to sound in the air, welcoming the return of the fleet. The sun was warm,
the scene peaceful. It was the first time since I had arrived on Mars again
that I had felt close to happiness.

 
          
 
Although Hool Haji and the Mendishar had been
cultured and noble people, their civilisation had had a touch of savagery about
it, a faint echo of their links with their cousins the Argzoon, which the
societies of the South did not possess. More than this, the Mendishar, like the
Argzoon,
were
physically so strange to me that the
feeling of being among men of my own breed again was good.

 
          
 
We set foot on the quay and Vorum Saz Hazhi's
relatives came forward to greet him. He introduced me and they said I was
welcome to be their guest until I could find a place of my own.

 
          
 
Vorum Saz Hazhi said that on the morrow he
would seek an audience with the Bradhi.

 
          
 
Looking around the dock I saw that there were
many warriors - more than I had noticed at first. Also there seemed to be hasty
preparations in progress. Vorum Saz Hazhi noticed tiiis too and was as puzzled
as I was. He asked his parents about it.

 
          
 
They frowned and said first we must return
home,
then
they would tell him the bad news. It was
not until evening, when we sat at table, that Vorum Saz Hazhi's parents began
to tell him that Mishim Tep was preparing for war.

 
          
 
‘It is a black day and I cannot understand how
it should have happened,' my new friend's father said. 'But . .
. '

 
          
 
Just then a man and a woman entered. They were
about the same age as Vorum Saz Hazhi's parents. They wanted to learn all about
the balloon, hear about my adventures and soon.

 
          
 
Thus the talk went away from politics as I
politely told of my experiences in the North and on the Western continent. By
the time the guests had left I was very much ready for bed and wasted no time
using the room which the young warrior's parents had prepared for me.

 
          
 
In the morning Vorum Saz Hazhi went to the
palace, where he was to be congratulated by the Bradhi for his victories, and I
went to the harbour. We had arranged that he should speak to the Bradhi on my
behalf while I was getting the balloon. Already the news would have reached the
Bradhi, of course, but he would plainly want to see my ship for himself. I was
to steer it to the palace and moor it there.

 
          
 
While making my way slowly to the harbour,
dawdling a little - for I had plenty of time to spare - to look in shops and
chat with those citizens of Mih-Sa-Voh who recognised me as the pilot of what
was, to them, a marvellous flying machine, I saw a small procession pass me.

 
          
 
It consisted of tired-looking warriors mounted
on dahara. They had evidently just come back, also, from an expedition, for
they were dusty and bore minor wounds.

 
          
 
They had a prisoner - a wild looking man with
a long, thick beard and very blond, long matted hair. He, too, bore many recent
scars and had his hands tied behind him as he sat his dahara.