The Air Battle

: The Gods Of Mars

Two hours after leaving my palace at Helium, or about midnight, Kantos

Kan, Xodar, and I arrived at Hastor. Carthoris, Tars Tarkas, and Hor

Vastus had gone directly to Thark upon another cruiser.



The transports were to get under way immediately and move slowly south.

The fleet of battleships would overtake them on the morning of the

second day.



At Hastor we found all in readiness, and so pe fectly had Kantos Kan

planned every detail of the campaign that within ten minutes of our

arrival the first of the fleet had soared aloft from its dock, and

thereafter, at the rate of one a second, the great ships floated

gracefully out into the night to form a long, thin line which stretched

for miles toward the south.



It was not until after we had entered the cabin of Kantos Kan that I

thought to ask the date, for up to now I was not positive how long I

had lain in the pits of Zat Arras. When Kantos Kan told me, I realized

with a pang of dismay that I had misreckoned the time while I lay in

the utter darkness of my cell. Three hundred and sixty-five days had

passed--it was too late to save Dejah Thoris.



The expedition was no longer one of rescue but of revenge. I did not

remind Kantos Kan of the terrible fact that ere we could hope to enter

the Temple of Issus, the Princess of Helium would be no more. In so

far as I knew she might be already dead, for I did not know the exact

date on which she first viewed Issus.



What now the value of burdening my friends with my added personal

sorrows--they had shared quite enough of them with me in the past.

Hereafter I would keep my grief to myself, and so I said nothing to any

other of the fact that we were too late. The expedition could yet do

much if it could but teach the people of Barsoom the facts of the cruel

deception that had been worked upon them for countless ages, and thus

save thousands each year from the horrid fate that awaited them at the

conclusion of the voluntary pilgrimage.



If it could open to the red men the fair Valley Dor it would have

accomplished much, and in the Land of Lost Souls between the Mountains

of Otz and the ice barrier were many broad acres that needed no

irrigation to bear rich harvests.



Here at the bottom of a dying world was the only naturally productive

area upon its surface. Here alone were dews and rains, here alone was

an open sea, here was water in plenty; and all this was but the

stamping ground of fierce brutes and from its beauteous and fertile

expanse the wicked remnants of two once mighty races barred all the

other millions of Barsoom. Could I but succeed in once breaking down

the barrier of religious superstition which had kept the red races from

this El Dorado it would be a fitting memorial to the immortal virtues

of my Princess--I should have again served Barsoom and Dejah Thoris'

martyrdom would not have been in vain.



On the morning of the second day we raised the great fleet of

transports and their consorts at the first flood of dawn, and soon were

near enough to exchange signals. I may mention here that

radio-aerograms are seldom if ever used in war time, or for the

transmission of secret dispatches at any time, for as often as one

nation discovers a new cipher, or invents a new instrument for wireless

purposes its neighbours bend every effort until they are able to

intercept and translate the messages. For so long a time has this gone

on that practically every possibility of wireless communication has

been exhausted and no nation dares transmit dispatches of importance in

this way.



Tars Tarkas reported all well with the transports. The battleships

passed through to take an advanced position, and the combined fleets

moved slowly over the ice cap, hugging the surface closely to prevent

detection by the therns whose land we were approaching.



Far in advance of all a thin line of one-man air scouts protected us

from surprise, and on either side they flanked us, while a smaller

number brought up the rear some twenty miles behind the transports. In

this formation we had progressed toward the entrance to Omean for

several hours when one of our scouts returned from the front to report

that the cone-like summit of the entrance was in sight. At almost the

same instant another scout from the left flank came racing toward the

flagship.



His very speed bespoke the importance of his information. Kantos Kan

and I awaited him upon the little forward deck which corresponds with

the bridge of earthly battleships. Scarcely had his tiny flier come to

rest upon the broad landing-deck of the flagship ere he was bounding up

the stairway to the deck where we stood.



"A great fleet of battleships south-south-east, my Prince," he cried.

"There must be several thousands and they are bearing down directly

upon us."



"The thern spies were not in the palace of John Carter for nothing,"

said Kantos Kan to me. "Your orders, Prince."



"Dispatch ten battleships to guard the entrance to Omean, with orders

to let no hostile enter or leave the shaft. That will bottle up the

great fleet of the First Born.



"Form the balance of the battleships into a great V with the apex

pointing directly south-south-east. Order the transports, surrounded

by their convoys, to follow closely in the wake of the battleships

until the point of the V has entered the enemies' line, then the V must

open outward at the apex, the battleships of each leg engage the enemy

fiercely and drive him back to form a lane through his line into which

the transports with their convoys must race at top speed that they may

gain a position above the temples and gardens of the therns.



"Here let them land and teach the Holy Therns such a lesson in

ferocious warfare as they will not forget for countless ages. It had

not been my intention to be distracted from the main issue of the

campaign, but we must settle this attack with the therns once and for

all, or there will be no peace for us while our fleet remains near Dor,

and our chances of ever returning to the outer world will be greatly

minimized."



Kantos Kan saluted and turned to deliver my instructions to his waiting

aides. In an incredibly short space of time the formation of the

battleships changed in accordance with my commands, the ten that were

to guard the way to Omean were speeding toward their destination, and

the troopships and convoys were closing up in preparation for the spurt

through the lane.



The order of full speed ahead was given, the fleet sprang through the

air like coursing greyhounds, and in another moment the ships of the

enemy were in full view. They formed a ragged line as far as the eye

could reach in either direction and about three ships deep. So sudden

was our onslaught that they had no time to prepare for it. It was as

unexpected as lightning from a clear sky.



Every phase of my plan worked splendidly. Our huge ships mowed their

way entirely through the line of thern battlecraft; then the V opened

up and a broad lane appeared through which the transports leaped toward

the temples of the therns which could now be plainly seen glistening in

the sunlight. By the time the therns had rallied from the attack a

hundred thousand green warriors were already pouring through their

courts and gardens, while a hundred and fifty thousand others leaned

from low swinging transports to direct their almost uncanny

marksmanship upon the thern soldiery that manned the ramparts, or

attempted to defend the temples.



Now the two great fleets closed in a titanic struggle far above the

fiendish din of battle in the gorgeous gardens of the therns. Slowly

the two lines of Helium's battleships joined their ends, and then

commenced the circling within the line of the enemy which is so marked

a characteristic of Barsoomian naval warfare.



Around and around in each other's tracks moved the ships under Kantos

Kan, until at length they formed nearly a perfect circle. By this time

they were moving at high speed so that they presented a difficult

target for the enemy. Broadside after broadside they delivered as each

vessel came in line with the ships of the therns. The latter attempted

to rush in and break up the formation, but it was like stopping a buzz

saw with the bare hand.



From my position on the deck beside Kantos Kan I saw ship after ship of

the enemy take the awful, sickening dive which proclaims its total

destruction. Slowly we manoeuvered our circle of death until we hung

above the gardens where our green warriors were engaged. The order was

passed down for them to embark. Then they rose slowly to a position

within the centre of the circle.



In the meantime the therns' fire had practically ceased. They had had

enough of us and were only too glad to let us go on our way in peace.

But our escape was not to be encompassed with such ease, for scarcely

had we gotten under way once more in the direction of the entrance to

Omean than we saw far to the north a great black line topping the

horizon. It could be nothing other than a fleet of war.



Whose or whither bound, we could not even conjecture. When they had

come close enough to make us out at all, Kantos Kan's operator received

a radio-aerogram, which he immediately handed to my companion. He read

the thing and handed it to me.



"Kantos Kan:" it read. "Surrender, in the name of the Jeddak of

Helium, for you cannot escape," and it was signed, "Zat Arras."



The therns must have caught and translated the message almost as soon

as did we, for they immediately renewed hostilities when they realized

that we were soon to be set upon by other enemies.



Before Zat Arras had approached near enough to fire a shot we were

again hotly engaged with the thern fleet, and as soon as he drew near

he too commenced to pour a terrific fusillade of heavy shot into us.

Ship after ship reeled and staggered into uselessness beneath the

pitiless fire that we were undergoing.



The thing could not last much longer. I ordered the transports to

descend again into the gardens of the therns.



"Wreak your vengeance to the utmost," was my message to the green

allies, "for by night there will be none left to avenge your wrongs."



Presently I saw the ten battleships that had been ordered to hold the

shaft of Omean. They were returning at full speed, firing their stern

batteries almost continuously. There could be but one explanation.

They were being pursued by another hostile fleet. Well, the situation

could be no worse. The expedition already was doomed. No man that had

embarked upon it would return across that dreary ice cap. How I wished

that I might face Zat Arras with my longsword for just an instant

before I died! It was he who had caused our failure.



As I watched the oncoming ten I saw their pursuers race swiftly into

sight. It was another great fleet; for a moment I could not believe my

eyes, but finally I was forced to admit that the most fatal calamity

had overtaken the expedition, for the fleet I saw was none other than

the fleet of the First Born, that should have been safely bottled up in

Omean. What a series of misfortunes and disasters! What awful fate

hovered over me, that I should have been so terribly thwarted at every

angle of my search for my lost love! Could it be possible that the

curse of Issus was upon me! That there was, indeed, some malign

divinity in that hideous carcass! I would not believe it, and,

throwing back my shoulders, I ran to the deck below to join my men in

repelling boarders from one of the thern craft that had grappled us

broadside. In the wild lust of hand-to-hand combat my old dauntless

hopefulness returned. And as thern after thern went down beneath my

blade, I could almost feel that we should win success in the end, even

from apparent failure.



My presence among the men so greatly inspirited them that they fell

upon the luckless whites with such terrible ferocity that within a few

moments we had turned the tables upon them and a second later as we

swarmed their own decks I had the satisfaction of seeing their

commander take the long leap from the bows of his vessel in token of

surrender and defeat.



Then I joined Kantos Kan. He had been watching what had taken place on

the deck below, and it seemed to have given him a new thought.

Immediately he passed an order to one of his officers, and presently

the colours of the Prince of Helium broke from every point of the

flagship. A great cheer arose from the men of our own ship, a cheer

that was taken up by every other vessel of our expedition as they in

turn broke my colours from their upper works.



Then Kantos Kan sprang his coup. A signal legible to every sailor of

all the fleets engaged in that fierce struggle was strung aloft upon

the flagship.



"Men of Helium for the Prince of Helium against all his enemies," it

read. Presently my colours broke from one of Zat Arras' ships. Then

from another and another. On some we could see fierce battles waging

between the Zodangan soldiery and the Heliumetic crews, but eventually

the colours of the Prince of Helium floated above every ship that had

followed Zat Arras upon our trail--only his flagship flew them not.



Zat Arras had brought five thousand ships. The sky was black with the

three enormous fleets. It was Helium against the field now, and the

fight had settled to countless individual duels. There could be little

or no manoeuvering of fleets in that crowded, fire-split sky.



Zat Arras' flagship was close to my own. I could see the thin features

of the man from where I stood. His Zodangan crew was pouring broadside

after broadside into us and we were returning their fire with equal

ferocity. Closer and closer came the two vessels until but a few yards

intervened. Grapplers and boarders lined the contiguous rails of each.

We were preparing for the death struggle with our hated enemy.



There was but a yard between the two mighty ships as the first

grappling irons were hurled. I rushed to the deck to be with my men as

they boarded. Just as the vessels came together with a slight shock, I

forced my way through the lines and was the first to spring to the deck

of Zat Arras' ship. After me poured a yelling, cheering, cursing

throng of Helium's best fighting-men. Nothing could withstand them in

the fever of battle lust which enthralled them.



Down went the Zodangans before that surging tide of war, and as my men

cleared the lower decks I sprang to the forward deck where stood Zat

Arras.



"You are my prisoner, Zat Arras," I cried. "Yield and you shall have

quarter."



For a moment I could not tell whether he contemplated acceding to my

demand or facing me with drawn sword. For an instant he stood

hesitating, and then throwing down his arms he turned and rushed to the

opposite side of the deck. Before I could overtake him he had sprung

to the rail and hurled himself headforemost into the awful depths below.



And thus came Zat Arras, Jed of Zodanga, to his end.



On and on went that strange battle. The therns and blacks had not

combined against us. Wherever thern ship met ship of the First Born

was a battle royal, and in this I thought I saw our salvation.

Wherever messages could be passed between us that could not be

intercepted by our enemies I passed the word that all our vessels were

to withdraw from the fight as rapidly as possible, taking a position to

the west and south of the combatants. I also sent an air scout to the

fighting green men in the gardens below to re-embark, and to the

transports to join us.



My commanders were further instructed that when engaged with an enemy

to draw him as rapidly as possible toward a ship of his hereditary

foeman, and by careful manoeuvring to force the two to engage, thus

leaving him-self free to withdraw. This stratagem worked to

perfection, and just before the sun went down I had the satisfaction of

seeing all that was left of my once mighty fleet gathered nearly twenty

miles southwest of the still terrific battle between the blacks and

whites.



I now transferred Xodar to another battleship and sent him with all the

transports and five thousand battleships directly overhead to the

Temple of Issus. Carthoris and I, with Kantos Kan, took the remaining

ships and headed for the entrance to Omean.



Our plan now was to attempt to make a combined assault upon Issus at

dawn of the following day. Tars Tarkas with his green warriors and Hor

Vastus with the red men, guided by Xodar, were to land within the

garden of Issus or the surrounding plains; while Carthoris, Kantos Kan,

and I were to lead our smaller force from the sea of Omean through the

pits beneath the temple, which Carthoris knew so well.



I now learned for the first time the cause of my ten ships' retreat

from the mouth of the shaft. It seemed that when they had come upon

the shaft the navy of the First Born were already issuing from its

mouth. Fully twenty vessels had emerged, and though they gave battle

immediately in an effort to stem the tide that rolled from the black

pit, the odds against them were too great and they were forced to flee.



With great caution we approached the shaft, under cover of darkness.

At a distance of several miles I caused the fleet to be halted, and

from there Carthoris went ahead alone upon a one-man flier to

reconnoitre. In perhaps half an hour he returned to report that there

was no sign of a patrol boat or of the enemy in any form, and so we

moved swiftly and noiselessly forward once more toward Omean.



At the mouth of the shaft we stopped again for a moment for all the

vessels to reach their previously appointed stations, then with the

flagship I dropped quickly into the black depths, while one by one the

other vessels followed me in quick succession.



We had decided to stake all on the chance that we would be able to

reach the temple by the subterranean way and so we left no guard of

vessels at the shaft's mouth. Nor would it have profited us any to

have done so, for we did not have sufficient force all told to have

withstood the vast navy of the First Born had they returned to engage

us.



For the safety of our entrance upon Omean we depended largely upon the

very boldness of it, believing that it would be some little time before

the First Born on guard there would realize that it was an enemy and

not their own returning fleet that was entering the vault of the buried

sea.



And such proved to be the case. In fact, four hundred of my fleet of

five hundred rested safely upon the bosom of Omean before the first

shot was fired. The battle was short and hot, but there could have

been but one outcome, for the First Born in the carelessness of fancied

security had left but a handful of ancient and obsolete hulks to guard

their mighty harbour.



It was at Carthoris' suggestion that we landed our prisoners under

guard upon a couple of the larger islands, and then towed the ships of

the First Born to the shaft, where we managed to wedge a number of them

securely in the interior of the great well. Then we turned on the

buoyance rays in the balance of them and let them rise by themselves to

further block the passage to Omean as they came into contact with the

vessels already lodged there.



We now felt that it would be some time at least before the returning

First Born could reach the surface of Omean, and that we would have

ample opportunity to make for the subterranean passages which lead to

Issus. One of the first steps I took was to hasten personally with a

good-sized force to the island of the submarine, which I took without

resistance on the part of the small guard there.



I found the submarine in its pool, and at once placed a strong guard

upon it and the island, where I remained to wait the coming of

Carthoris and the others.



Among the prisoners was Yersted, commander of the submarine. He

recognized me from the three trips that I had taken with him during my

captivity among the First Born.



"How does it seem," I asked him, "to have the tables turned? To be

prisoner of your erstwhile captive?"



He smiled, a very grim smile pregnant with hidden meaning.



"It will not be for long, John Carter," he replied. "We have been

expecting you and we are prepared."



"So it would appear," I answered, "for you were all ready to become my

prisoners with scarce a blow struck on either side."



"The fleet must have missed you," he said, "but it will return to

Omean, and then that will be a very different matter--for John Carter."



"I do not know that the fleet has missed me as yet," I said, but of

course he did not grasp my meaning, and only looked puzzled.



"Many prisoners travel to Issus in your grim craft, Yersted?" I asked.



"Very many," he assented.



"Might you remember one whom men called Dejah Thoris?"



"Well, indeed, for her great beauty, and then, too, for the fact that

she was wife to the first mortal that ever escaped from Issus through

all the countless ages of her godhood. And the way that Issus

remembers her best as the wife of one and the mother of another who

raised their hands against the Goddess of Life Eternal."



I shuddered for fear of the cowardly revenge that I knew Issus might

have taken upon the innocent Dejah Thoris for the sacrilege of her son

and her husband.



"And where is Dejah Thoris now?" I asked, knowing that he would say the

words I most dreaded, but yet I loved her so that I could not refrain

from hearing even the worst about her fate so that it fell from the

lips of one who had seen her but recently. It was to me as though it

brought her closer to me.



"Yesterday the monthly rites of Issus were held," replied Yersted, "and

I saw her then sitting in her accustomed place at the foot of Issus."



"What," I cried, "she is not dead, then?"



"Why, no," replied the black, "it has been no year since she gazed upon

the divine glory of the radiant face of--"



"No year?" I interrupted.



"Why, no," insisted Yersted. "It cannot have been upward of three

hundred and seventy or eighty days."



A great light burst upon me. How stupid I had been! I could scarcely

retain an outward exhibition of my great joy. Why had I forgotten the

great difference in the length of Martian and Earthly years! The ten

Earth years I had spent upon Barsoom had encompassed but five years and

ninety-six days of Martian time, whose days are forty-one minutes

longer than ours, and whose years number six hundred and eighty-seven

days.



I am in time! I am in time! The words surged through my brain again

and again, until at last I must have voiced them audibly, for Yersted

shook his head.



"In time to save your Princess?" he asked, and then without waiting for

my reply, "No, John Carter, Issus will not give up her own. She knows

that you are coming, and ere ever a vandal foot is set within the

precincts of the Temple of Issus, if such a calamity should befall,

Dejah Thoris will be put away for ever from the last faint hope of

rescue."



"You mean that she will be killed merely to thwart me?" I asked.



"Not that, other than as a last resort," he replied. "Hast ever heard

of the Temple of the Sun? It is there that they will put her. It lies

far within the inner court of the Temple of Issus, a little temple that

raises a thin spire far above the spires and minarets of the great

temple that surrounds it. Beneath it, in the ground, there lies the

main body of the temple consisting in six hundred and eighty-seven

circular chambers, one below another. To each chamber a single

corridor leads through solid rock from the pits of Issus.



"As the entire Temple of the Sun revolves once with each revolution of

Barsoom about the sun, but once each year does the entrance to each

separate chamber come opposite the mouth of the corridor which forms

its only link to the world without.



"Here Issus puts those who displease her, but whom she does not care to

execute forthwith. Or to punish a noble of the First Born she may

cause him to be placed within a chamber of the Temple of the Sun for a

year. Ofttimes she imprisons an executioner with the condemned, that

death may come in a certain horrible form upon a given day, or again

but enough food is deposited in the chamber to sustain life but the

number of days that Issus has allotted for mental anguish.



"Thus will Dejah Thoris die, and her fate will be sealed by the first

alien foot that crosses the threshold of Issus."



So I was to be thwarted in the end, although I had performed the

miraculous and come within a few short moments of my divine Princess,

yet was I as far from her as when I stood upon the banks of the Hudson

forty-eight million miles away.