15
As the twilight rapidly faded Robert observed with uneasiness that three Martians remained within the building where the Sphere was placed. His suspicion that they were spies was strengthened when one of them engaged him in conversation and inquired whether he might accompany him within the Sphere to learn something of its intricacies. The note of insistence in the Martian’s voice convinced Robert that a refusal would be useless. He granted the request gracefully, biding his time until he felt sure the princess would be ready. Then it would be up to him to get rid of the spies in some manner. Just how he was to accomplish this he did not yet know.
The time agreed upon was immediately after the first sign of the rising moon, Phobus, above the horizon. Explaining the various features of the Sphere as vaguely as possible, Robert watched closely for the first glow of the planet’s little moon. The several windows in the western end of the building offered a fair view of the horizon in that direction.
As the fateful hour approached, Robert determined to get the Sphere outside the building in some manner, in order that he would be best prepared to make a dash to the palace at the proper moment.
Accordingly, he informed the Martian with him that he intended to take the Sphere outside for a trial flight before leaving it, asking him whether he desired to accompany him or not. He was hoping, of course, that the Martian would say “no.” He did not wish to seem desirous of getting rid of him for fear that his suspicion would be aroused.
As Robert had half expected, however, the Martian informed him politely that it was the emperor’s wish that the Sphere not be taken out of the building for the present. It was plain that Robert would have to resort to strategy to carry out his plans.
Accepting the Martian’s statement with apparent readiness and good nature, he remarked that he could just as well test the Sphere some other time, and prepared as if to leave it. He succeeded in maneuvering so as to follow the other out, though the Martian preceded him with evident reluctance.
Upon reaching the exit in the outer shell of the Sphere the spy turned as if minded to request Robert to precede him there. Realizing that it was now or never, Robert leaped upon him suddenly, delivering a sharp blow to the spy’s jaw that sent him reeling down the few remaining steps and through the open trap on to the floor of the building. Simultaneously with the Martian’s cry of baffled rage, Robert slammed the trap-door shut and raced up the steps. A moment later he had the gyrostats in motion.
His heart sank, though, as he saw all three of the Martians tugging at the massive door that stood between the Sphere and freedom. Already it was sliding to with their efforts. His escape was cut off!
For a moment Robert was tempted to press into service the automatic that reposed in a locker but a few feet away. But the thought of firing upon them in cold blood was repugnant to him. Apparently the Martians were unarmed. During their sojourn on Mars, Robert and his companions had not found out what kind of weapons the Martians used. Two of the Martians remained inside the great door, shouting to him to come out of the Sphere. The third had slipped out, no doubt to inform the emperor of his attempted escape.
The Martians’ probable ignorance of the power of his automatic made it impracticable for Robert to attempt forcing them to open the door again. Then, suddenly, he remembered the tremendous lifting power of the Sphere, and a possible solution came to him. Carefully he maneuvered the Sphere, raising it slowly to the roof. As he felt the jar of the shell against the rafters he increased the lift. He could hear the building groan with the immense pressure. Then he opened the disk’s surface to its maximum and switched on the current!
For a moment the Sphere swayed uncertainly as the stout rafters writhed against the tremendous power of the disk. Robert caught a glimpse of the Martians flattened against the door in consternation. The next instant the Sphere shot upward with a crash as the roof of ths building collapsed behind it!
Instantly Robert shut off its lifting power, and began maneuvering the Sphere back downward and toward the palace.
Fortunately the Sphere seemed undamaged by its unusual exit from the building. Within a minute after his escape Robert had it immediately over the palace gardens where the princess and his companions were to join him. The gardens were dark and forbidding-looking beneath him, though the ruddy orange rim of Phobus already was visible over the horizon’s edge. As yet there was no sign of pursuit.
Softly the Sphere settled like a round, dark cloud. As it reached a level of perhaps thirty feet Robert saw a darker blotch on the expanse of lawn in back of the princess’ quarters. Being sufficiently familiar with the garden to know that this was not a part of the shrubbery, he suspected and hoped that it was his friends awaiting him. He dared not show a light yet, but continued to settle as rapidly as was safe.
Then, to Robert’s relief, a small, carefully shaded flashlight winked twice at him from below. This was the signal agreed upon.
A moment later the Sphere came to rest on the turf. A glance through the windows was sufficient to recognize his friends. Taggert came close and rapped on the glass. His low “Hurry” reached Robert in spite of the double panes.
Hurrying down the narrow steps he opened the manhole. The next instant he was helping the princess into the dark passage which he dared not light yet. The flashlight which he also carried for this very emergency, however, enabled all to see their way quite well.
But their good fortune was not to continue indefinitely. Hardly had the princess and her father stepped into the Sphere when there came a sound of excited pursuit on the other side of the garden wall which divided the princess’ section from theirs, and the garden gate burst open!
Urging the professor and Taggert into the Sphere hurriedly, Robert slipped the automatic out of his pocket, thanking his lucky stars that he had brought it with him. Without hesitation he blazed away over the heads of their pursuers as they rushed forward, hoping to halt them for an instant. But they seemed undaunted. On they came in great bounds, shouting excitedly.
Having done what he could to keep them away from the Sphere, Robert hurried into the passage just as the leader came up. As the latter darted after him Robert fired. The Martian went down, but the others pressed forward, brandishing saberlike weapons. Unable to lift the trap-door into place because of the body of the wounded Martian upon it, Robert was about to shout to Taggert to raise the Sphere, when one of the Martians leaped over his prostrate fellowman and struck at Robert with his weapon.
By an unlucky bit of chance the blade struck the automatic from Robert’s hand even as he fired again. He could hear the gyrostats humming and had just presence of mind enough to yell to Taggert to raise the Sphere when there came a roar and a flash by his ear and the vicious Martian’s weapon clattered on to the steps as he staggered back, blocking for a moment the others behind him. The rays from the small globe in the ceiling now lighted the passage.
“Close shave, Robert,” came Professor Palmer’s voice, and once more the roar of his firearm deafened them in the narrow passage.
The Martians’ rush was checked for a moment, and in that instant they had lost. The Sphere trembled. As a great shout of baffled rage welled up from without, Robert knew that they finally were off. Stung by their failure, two Martians rushed at the manhole. One of them managed to grip the rungs outside. The next instant he was precipitated forcibly back to the ground as the Sphere shot upward, wrenching the rungs from his grasp. But Robert’s earlier assailant still sprawled, wounded and partly dazed, upon the lower steps. Then, abruptly, before they could prevent it, he rolled off into space with a wild cry!
Slamming the manhole cover shut, Robert and the professor made their way up into the main chamber. The princess was waiting for Robert with great anxiety. There, for the first, time, Robert met Hakon, her father, a dignified and robust man of middle age, with an imperious though pleasant manner. The beard, as affected by the emperor, was absent, but he wore a short, gray mustache that matched his heavy, graying hair.
“I can not express my gratitude for the service you and your companions are doing for my daughter and me, my friend,” he said in a pleasing, resonant voice. “I can only say that you shall all be fittingly rewarded upon our arrival in my country.”
“The privilege of rescuing your Highness and the princess is sufficient reward,” replied Robert.
“Can’t we go back and lick their army for you or something?” asked Taggert, looking at the princess in vast admiration.
“Our zealous companion possesses more enthusiasm than discretion,” said Professor Palmer, at which they all laughed.
Reaching a height of about a thousand feet, Robert started the Sphere toward the region of the planet’s north pole, having taken his direction from the slowly rising Phobus in the west after consultation with Professor Palmer and Zola’s father.
Taggert volunteering his culinary services, they all indulged in a light repast of canned salmon, fresh baked biscuits, in which Taggert excelled, jelly and tea.
The distance from their previous position just south of the equator being roughly 3,500 miles from the northern pole, Robert estimated that they could easily reach Zola’s country within six hours. However, as it would be more convenient as well as interesting to arrive after dawn he did not push the Sphere. Their royal passengers were greatly interested in its mysteries, and far into the night Robert explained the intricacies of the wonderful machine to Zola and her father. Finally, however, they accepted Robert’s invitation to rest a few hours in one of the small rooms adjoining the main chamber, upon his promise to awaken them at dawn.
Shortly after they had retired, the gyrostats developed an overheated bearing, with the result that Robert was obliged to descend to a convenient expanse of desert to safely correct the trouble.
The remedy proved more difficult than expected and dawn was almost upon them by the time the Sphere was again ready for flight. Thereupon Robert decided to call their guests before taking flight.
The princess, in some manner unknown to most women, appeared looking fresh and lovely as she stepped from the Sphere out into the rosy flush of the new dawn.
“Oh, it’s so good to get out into the open once more, and to know that we are free,” she cried. “It seems ages since we were made prisoners by that frightful usurper. How can we ever thank you enough?”
“Ah, princess, your happiness more than repays me,” replied Robert, who found himself strolling beside her.
Together they watched the eastern sky grow rapidly brighter while the others stood apart as if understanding their unvoiced desire to be alone.
“A strange dream came to me recently,” she murmured. “This brings it all back. I dreamed that I was alone in a vast jungle of horrible, twisted growths of huge thorns from which I could find no escape.”
“Then you came upon a small clearing,” Robert interrupted before he thought.
“Why—how did you know?” she breathed, her eyes alight with astonishment.
“I—I was there. That is, I, too, dreamed that I was there and that you came.”
The sun’s dazzling edge peered over the rim of the horizon, its warm rays nestling in her pale gold hair.
“And did—did you—oh, I know it sounds absurd—but did you not see me one night off in space as you journeyed to me in your wonderful Sphere?”
“That is how you knew I would come to you? How well do I remember! But then, as before, you slipped away from me. I have a terrible fear you will fade away, leaving me but a dream to remember you by.”
“No, no, no!” she cried earnestly; and then, as if suddenly embarrassed by the subtle admission just made, she flushed and turned away. As they walked quietly back toward the Sphere where the others waited there was a song in Robert’s heart.
Once more they embarked on their journey toward the polar region. The gyrostats now operated faultlessly. Robert rose slowly to an altitude of about 2,000 feet.
Since their arrival on Mars Robert and Professor Palmer had established the existence of the canals, or ducts, thereby settling for all time—provided they succeeded in returning safely to Earth—the controversy over the most noted characteristic of Mars as seen from the Earth, the curious network of lines. Incidentally, they had seen the Martian deserts as well as both rural and city life on the planet. They were informed as to the correctness of their original conjecture as to the method of pumping the water from the poles to all sections of the globe. This was accomplished by means of electric pumping stations at intervals along each duct, the rays of the sun being absorbed and converted into electric energy for this purpose by the big checker board structures.
But the feature which, so far, had defied plausible explanation by all experts of our world, still remained a riddle to the adventurers. This was the “carets,” or triangular-shaped points which existed wherever the canals were seen to connect with one of the large, shaded regions.
These shaded regions also were a riddle. A theory that the latter were seas was exploded by the fact that in some instances the canal lines were visible running across them. For another thing it was agreed by practically all experts that the seas on Mars had long since dried up.
It was, therefore, with considerable excitement that Professor Palmer observed that they were nearing one of these regions. From a height of several thousand feet one of the “carets” could be seen plainly as they approached it.
As Robert lowered the Sphere toward it, Hakon showed signs of uneasiness. Still he held his peace until it became quite evident to him that his hosts intended approaching close to this section. Zola, too, was evidently perturbed.
“There is danger there, gentlemen,” said Hakon, finally. “I beg of you, do not go too close.”
“What is it?” questioned Professor Palmer, now intensely interested. Both he and Robert received the impression that some terrible physical force connected with the phenomenon threatened their safety. But in this they were quickly disillusioned by Hakon.
“We are now in the region of the usurper’s strongest support,” he told them. “It was the hotbed of traitors before he stole the throne, executing many of my loyal leaders. These people have, no doubt, been notified to be on the lookout for us and will try to destroy us with their hilwai if we approach within range.”
Hakon explained further that hilwai were a kind of large gun, electrically operated, in lieu of the obsolete kind in which explosives had been used in previous centuries, before the planet’s mineral supply had been virtually exhausted. These guns had a range of about twenty miles horizontally. Though this was not a very great distance, considering the weak gravity on Mars, it was sufficient to make it uncomfortably dangerous for them if they undertook to view the “caret” at close range.
Hakon was surprized to learn of their curiosity regarding the dark blotches and their caret-shaped junctures wherever they were joined to a canal, and readily explained this phenomenon.
“The dark regions are vast, low sections which were covered by seas ages ago,” he informed them. “The carets are formed by two branches from the main canal where it enters the low region. From these fanlike branches, and the main canal which crosses the bottom, the low country extending beyond is fed. Thus the lowlands, which formerly formed the sea bottom, are cultivated, resulting in the largest, richest and most productive regions on the planet. Even small, precious lakes are formed in the lowest spots, and occasionally there are light falls of rain, which are unknown in any other parts of the planet.”
Circling this region at a comfortable height, the adventurers examined it in turn through a telescope. What they saw tallied with Hakon’s explanation. The denser vegetation, fed directly from the main canal running across the bottom, appeared as a slightly darker strip. Two small lakes were visible. Both of these appeared to be only a mile or two in circumference. The western edge of the low region was hidden in a light cloud bank.
Leaving this region behind, Robert pushed on toward the polar region ahead at full speed. After an hour had passed thus, Hakon suggested descending closer to the surface, that he might watch for landmarks to direct them to their objective. Though the country here looked much like that near the equator, there seemed to be fewer canals; at any rate, there were fewer latitudinal canals, for they had crossed very few during the last half hour. However, they had the opportunity of observing one of the “double” canals, which was really two canals running parallel, some seventy-five miles apart. Hakon explained that this was in order to take advantage of exceptionally productive districts which justified this deviation from the regular scheme.