September 24, 2025 • 24 mins
Dive into The Gods of Mars, the captivating 1918 science fiction novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and the second installment of his iconic Barsoom series. This groundbreaking tale not only shaped the landscape of science fiction but also left an indelible mark on beloved franchises like Star Trek and Farscape. While Burroughs drew inspiration from the pulp fiction of his era, particularly westerns and swashbuckling adventures, his unique pacing and compelling themes paved the way for the soft science fiction genre. Join the fearless John Carter, a master of hand-to-hand combat and a charmer of enchanting alien women, whose character set a precedent for later icons such as Captain James T. Kirk and James Bond. Picking up after the events of A Princess of Mars, this sequel follows John Carters unexpected return to Barsoom (Mars) after a decade apart from his wife, Dejah Thoris, and their unborn child. However, his arrival is anything but ordinary, as he finds himself trapped in the Valley Dor‚Aîthe one place on Barsoom where no one is permitted to leave, believed to be the Barsoomian afterlife.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. The Gods of Mars written by
Edgar Rice Burroughs and read by J. D. Weber on
the south shores of Lake Superior, Chapter twenty the air Battle.
(00:24):
Two hours after leaving my palace at Hedium, or about midnight,
kantos Kan, Exodar and I arrived at Haster Carthoris, Tars, Tarkas,
and hor Vastus had gone directly to Thark upon another cruiser.
The transports were to get under way immediately and moved
slowly south. The fleet of battleships would overtake them on
the morning of the second day. At Haster, we found
(00:47):
all in readiness, and so perfectly 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 towards the south. It was not until after we
(01:09):
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
(01:30):
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.
(01:52):
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
(02:14):
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.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
To the Red Man the fair valley door, it would
have accomplished much. And in the land of Lost Souls,
between the mountains of Ortz 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 lone was an open sea, Here was
(02:48):
water and plenty. And all this was but the stomping
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
(03:08):
be a fitting memorial to the immortal virtues of my princess.
I should have again served Barsoom and dejah Thoris's martyrdom
would not have been in vain. On the morning of
the second day, we raised the great fleet of transports
in their consorts at the first flood of dawn, and
soon were near enough to exchange signals. I may mention
(03:28):
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 neighbors bend every effort until they are able to
intercept and translate the message. For so long a time
has this gone on that practically every possibility of wireless
(03:51):
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 Thurns, whose land we were approaching. Far in advance
(04:14):
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
a cone like summit of the entrance was in sight.
(04:36):
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.
(04:57):
Ere he was bounding up the stairway to the deck
where we stood a great fleet of battleships south southeast.
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 Kandomy. Your orders, Prince, dispatch ten battleships to
guard the entrance to Omean, with orders to let no
(05:19):
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 southeast. Order the transports, surrounded by their convoys,
to follow closely in the wake of the battleships until
the point of the vee has entered the enemy's line.
(05:39):
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 Thurns. Here let them land and teach
the Holy Therns such a lesson in ferocious warfare, as
(06:02):
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 Thurns once and for all, or there will be
no peace for us while our fleet remains near door,
and our chances of ever returning to the outer world
will be greatly minimized. Kantos Kan saluted and turned to
(06:23):
deliver my instructions to his waiting aids. 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 troop ships and convoys were closing up in
preparation for the spurt through the lane. The order full
speed ahead was given. The fleet sprang through the air
(06:46):
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
(07:09):
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 Thurns,
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
(07:30):
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 Thurns. Slowly
the two lines of Helium's battleships joined their ends, and
(07:52):
then commenced the circling within the line of the enemy,
which is so marked a characteristic of Barsomium naval warfare.
Around around in each other's tracks moved the ships under
Canto's can 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
(08:13):
after broadside they delivered. As each vessel came in line
with the ships of the Thurns. The latter attempt to
rush in and break up the formation, but it was
like stopping a buzzsaw with the bare hand. From my
position on the deck beside Kanto's Can, I saw ship
after ship of the enemy take the awful, sickening dive
which proclaims its total destruction. Slowly we maneuvered our circle
(08:35):
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 center 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
(08:55):
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 cans operator
(09:18):
received a radio aerogram, which he immediately handed to my companion.
He read the thing and handed it to me, Cantos Can.
It read surrender in the name of the Jeddak of Helium,
for you cannot escape, and it was signed Zadaris. The
Thens must have caught and translated the message almost as
soon as did we, for they immediately renewed hostilities when
(09:41):
they realized that we were soon to be set upon
by other enemies. Before Zadars 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 fusilade of heavy shot
into us. Ship after ship reeled and staggered into uselessness
beneath the pitiless fire that we were undergoing. The thing
(10:03):
could not last much longer. I ordered the transports to
descend again into the gardens of the Thurns. 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.
(10:27):
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 dat ours with my
long sword for just an instant before I died. It
(10:48):
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
(11:09):
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 dividity in that hideous carcass, I would not
(11:30):
believe it, And throwing back my shoulders, I ran to
the deck below to join my men in repelling borders
from one of the Thurn craft that had grappled us broadside.
In the wild lust of hand to hand combat, my
old dauntless hopefulness returned, and as Thern after Thrn went
down beneath my blade, I could almost feel that we
should win success in the end, even from apparent failure.
(11:53):
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.
(12:15):
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 colors 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 colors from
(12:37):
their upper works. Then kantos Can 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 colors broke from one
of Zadarras's ships, then from another, and another. On some
(12:59):
we could see fierce battles waging between the Zodangan soldiery
and the heliametic crews. But eventually the colors of the
Prince of Helium floated above every ship that had followed
Zadars upon our trail. Only his flagship flew them, not
Zadars had brought five thousand ships. The sky was black
with the three enormous fleets. It was Helium against the
(13:21):
field now, and the fight had settled to countless individual duels.
There could be little or no maneuvering of fleets in
that crowded, fire split sky. Zadars's 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
(13:42):
fire with equal ferocity. Closer and closer came the two
vessels until but a few yards intervened. Grapplers and borders
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
(14:04):
vessels came together with a slight shock, I forced my
way through the lines and was the first to spring
to the deck of Zadarras's 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
(14:27):
to the forward deck, where stood Zadars. You are my prisoner, Zadars,
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 withdrawn sword. For an instant
he stood hesitating, and then throwing down his arms, he
turned and rushed to the opposite side of the deck.
(14:48):
Before I could overtake him, he had sprung to the
rail and hurled himself head foremost into the awful depths below.
And thus came zadars Jed of Zodanga to his end.
On on went that strange battle. The Thurns and Blacks
had not combined against us. Wherever thurnship met ship of
the first Born was a battle royal, and in this
(15:10):
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 to the transports
(15:32):
and to join us. My commanders were further instructed than
when engaged with an enemy, to draw him as rapidly
as possible toward a ship of his hereditary foemen, and
by careful maneuvering, to force the two to engage, thus
leaving himself free to withdraw. This stratagem worked to perfection,
and just before the sun went down, I had the
(15:53):
satisfaction of seeing all that was left of my once
mighty fleet gathered nearly twenty miles southwest of the still
true battle between the Blacks and Whites. I now transferred
Exodar 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
(16:13):
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 Vassis with the Red Men,
guided by Exodar, were to land within the garden of
Issus or the surrounding plains, while Carthoris, kantos Kan, and
(16:34):
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,
(16:55):
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 reconnoisseur,
(17:17):
and 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,
(17:38):
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
(17:58):
vast navy of the First Born head 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
(18:21):
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 harbor. It was at Carthoris's suggestion
that we landed our prisoners under guard upon a couple
(18:44):
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 buoyancy 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
(19:04):
now felt that it would be some time at least
before the returning Firstborn 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.
(19:25):
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 Firstborn. How
does it seem? I asked him to have the tables
(19:47):
turn to be prisoner of your erstwhile captive. He smiled,
a very grim smile, pregnant with hidden meeting. It will
not be for long, John Carter, he replied. We have
been expecting you, and we are prepared. So it what appeared,
I answered, for you were all ready to become my prisoners,
with scarcely blow struck on either side. The fleet must
(20:09):
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 Grimcraftyerstead, I asked, very many,
he assented. Might you remember one whom men called dejah
(20:32):
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
(20:55):
that I knew Issus might have taken upon the innocent
dejah Thoris for the sacrilege of her 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.
(21:15):
But recently it was to me as though it brought
her closer to me. Yesterday the monthly rites of Issus
were held reply Eurstead, 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,
(21:36):
I interrupted, Why no, insisted Eurstead. It could not 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
(21:57):
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,
(22:21):
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 forever from the last faint hope of rescue.
You mean that she will be killed merely to thwart me,
(22:43):
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 rises a thin spire far above
the spos and minarets. Of the great temple that surrounds it.
(23:03):
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
(23:24):
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. Oft times she
(23:45):
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
(24:08):
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. End of Chapter twenty
This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in
the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please
visit LibriVox dot org. The Gods of Mars written by
Edgar Rice Burroughs and read by J. D. Weber on
the south shores of Lake Superior, Chapter twenty the air Battle.
(00:24):
Two hours after leaving my palace at Hedium, or about midnight,
kantos Kan, Exodar and I arrived at Haster Carthoris, Tars, Tarkas,
and hor Vastus had gone directly to Thark upon another cruiser.
The transports were to get under way immediately and moved
slowly south. The fleet of battleships would overtake them on
the morning of the second day. At Haster, we found
(00:47):
all in readiness, and so perfectly 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 towards the south. It was not until after we
(01:09):
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
(01:30):
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.
(01:52):
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
(02:14):
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.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
To the Red Man the fair valley door, it would
have accomplished much. And in the land of Lost Souls,
between the mountains of Ortz 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 lone was an open sea, Here was
(02:48):
water and plenty. And all this was but the stomping
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
(03:08):
be a fitting memorial to the immortal virtues of my princess.
I should have again served Barsoom and dejah Thoris's martyrdom
would not have been in vain. On the morning of
the second day, we raised the great fleet of transports
in their consorts at the first flood of dawn, and
soon were near enough to exchange signals. I may mention
(03:28):
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 neighbors bend every effort until they are able to
intercept and translate the message. For so long a time
has this gone on that practically every possibility of wireless
(03:51):
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 Thurns, whose land we were approaching. Far in advance
(04:14):
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
a cone like summit of the entrance was in sight.
(04:36):
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.
(04:57):
Ere he was bounding up the stairway to the deck
where we stood a great fleet of battleships south southeast.
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 Kandomy. Your orders, Prince, dispatch ten battleships to
guard the entrance to Omean, with orders to let no
(05:19):
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 southeast. Order the transports, surrounded by their convoys,
to follow closely in the wake of the battleships until
the point of the vee has entered the enemy's line.
(05:39):
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 Thurns. Here let them land and teach
the Holy Therns such a lesson in ferocious warfare, as
(06:02):
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 Thurns once and for all, or there will be
no peace for us while our fleet remains near door,
and our chances of ever returning to the outer world
will be greatly minimized. Kantos Kan saluted and turned to
(06:23):
deliver my instructions to his waiting aids. 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 troop ships and convoys were closing up in
preparation for the spurt through the lane. The order full
speed ahead was given. The fleet sprang through the air
(06:46):
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
(07:09):
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 Thurns,
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
(07:30):
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 Thurns. Slowly
the two lines of Helium's battleships joined their ends, and
(07:52):
then commenced the circling within the line of the enemy,
which is so marked a characteristic of Barsomium naval warfare.
Around around in each other's tracks moved the ships under
Canto's can 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
(08:13):
after broadside they delivered. As each vessel came in line
with the ships of the Thurns. The latter attempt to
rush in and break up the formation, but it was
like stopping a buzzsaw with the bare hand. From my
position on the deck beside Kanto's Can, I saw ship
after ship of the enemy take the awful, sickening dive
which proclaims its total destruction. Slowly we maneuvered our circle
(08:35):
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 center 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
(08:55):
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 cans operator
(09:18):
received a radio aerogram, which he immediately handed to my companion.
He read the thing and handed it to me, Cantos Can.
It read surrender in the name of the Jeddak of Helium,
for you cannot escape, and it was signed Zadaris. The
Thens must have caught and translated the message almost as
soon as did we, for they immediately renewed hostilities when
(09:41):
they realized that we were soon to be set upon
by other enemies. Before Zadars 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 fusilade of heavy shot
into us. Ship after ship reeled and staggered into uselessness
beneath the pitiless fire that we were undergoing. The thing
(10:03):
could not last much longer. I ordered the transports to
descend again into the gardens of the Thurns. 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.
(10:27):
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 dat ours with my
long sword for just an instant before I died. It
(10:48):
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
(11:09):
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 dividity in that hideous carcass, I would not
(11:30):
believe it, And throwing back my shoulders, I ran to
the deck below to join my men in repelling borders
from one of the Thurn craft that had grappled us broadside.
In the wild lust of hand to hand combat, my
old dauntless hopefulness returned, and as Thern after Thrn went
down beneath my blade, I could almost feel that we
should win success in the end, even from apparent failure.
(11:53):
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.
(12:15):
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 colors 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 colors from
(12:37):
their upper works. Then kantos Can 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 colors broke from one
of Zadarras's ships, then from another, and another. On some
(12:59):
we could see fierce battles waging between the Zodangan soldiery
and the heliametic crews. But eventually the colors of the
Prince of Helium floated above every ship that had followed
Zadars upon our trail. Only his flagship flew them, not
Zadars had brought five thousand ships. The sky was black
with the three enormous fleets. It was Helium against the
(13:21):
field now, and the fight had settled to countless individual duels.
There could be little or no maneuvering of fleets in
that crowded, fire split sky. Zadars's 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
(13:42):
fire with equal ferocity. Closer and closer came the two
vessels until but a few yards intervened. Grapplers and borders
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
(14:04):
vessels came together with a slight shock, I forced my
way through the lines and was the first to spring
to the deck of Zadarras's 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
(14:27):
to the forward deck, where stood Zadars. You are my prisoner, Zadars,
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 withdrawn sword. For an instant
he stood hesitating, and then throwing down his arms, he
turned and rushed to the opposite side of the deck.
(14:48):
Before I could overtake him, he had sprung to the
rail and hurled himself head foremost into the awful depths below.
And thus came zadars Jed of Zodanga to his end.
On on went that strange battle. The Thurns and Blacks
had not combined against us. Wherever thurnship met ship of
the first Born was a battle royal, and in this
(15:10):
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 to the transports
(15:32):
and to join us. My commanders were further instructed than
when engaged with an enemy, to draw him as rapidly
as possible toward a ship of his hereditary foemen, and
by careful maneuvering, to force the two to engage, thus
leaving himself free to withdraw. This stratagem worked to perfection,
and just before the sun went down, I had the
(15:53):
satisfaction of seeing all that was left of my once
mighty fleet gathered nearly twenty miles southwest of the still
true battle between the Blacks and Whites. I now transferred
Exodar 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
(16:13):
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 Vassis with the Red Men,
guided by Exodar, were to land within the garden of
Issus or the surrounding plains, while Carthoris, kantos Kan, and
(16:34):
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,
(16:55):
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 reconnoisseur,
(17:17):
and 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,
(17:38):
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
(17:58):
vast navy of the First Born head 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
(18:21):
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 harbor. It was at Carthoris's suggestion
that we landed our prisoners under guard upon a couple
(18:44):
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 buoyancy 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
(19:04):
now felt that it would be some time at least
before the returning Firstborn 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.
(19:25):
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 Firstborn. How
does it seem? I asked him to have the tables
(19:47):
turn to be prisoner of your erstwhile captive. He smiled,
a very grim smile, pregnant with hidden meeting. It will
not be for long, John Carter, he replied. We have
been expecting you, and we are prepared. So it what appeared,
I answered, for you were all ready to become my prisoners,
with scarcely blow struck on either side. The fleet must
(20:09):
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 Grimcraftyerstead, I asked, very many,
he assented. Might you remember one whom men called dejah
(20:32):
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
(20:55):
that I knew Issus might have taken upon the innocent
dejah Thoris for the sacrilege of her 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.
(21:15):
But recently it was to me as though it brought
her closer to me. Yesterday the monthly rites of Issus
were held reply Eurstead, 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,
(21:36):
I interrupted, Why no, insisted Eurstead. It could not 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
(21:57):
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,
(22:21):
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 forever from the last faint hope of rescue.
You mean that she will be killed merely to thwart me,
(22:43):
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 rises a thin spire far above
the spos and minarets. Of the great temple that surrounds it.
(23:03):
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
(23:24):
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. Oft times she
(23:45):
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
(24:08):
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. End of Chapter twenty
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