Chapter 13 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs - The Gods of Mars

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(00:00):
Chapter thirteen, A break for liberty. Exodar listened in incredulous astonishment to my
narration of the events which had transpiredwithin the arena at the rights of Issus.
He could scarce conceive, even thoughhe had already professed as doubt as
to the deity of Issus, thatone could threaten her with a sword in
hand and not be blasted into athousand fragments by the mere fury of her

(00:23):
divine wrath. It is the finalproof, he said, at last,
no more is needed to completely shatterthe last remnant of my superstitious belief in
the divinity of Issus. She isonly a wicked old woman wielding a mighty
power for evil through mechanation that havekept her own people in all barsoom,
in religious ignorance for ages. Sheis still all powerful here, however,

(00:46):
I replied, so it behooves usto leave at the first moment that appears
at all propitious. I hope thatyou may find a propitious moment, he
said, with a laugh, forit is certain that in all my life
I have never seen one in whicha prisoner of the first born might escape.
Tonight will do as well as any, I replied, it will soon
be night, said Exodar, Howmay I aid in the adventure? Can

(01:10):
you swim? I asked him.No, slimy silion that haunts the depths
of Courus is moored home in waterthan is Exodar. He replied, good,
the Red One, in all probability, cannot swim, I said,
since there is scarce enough water inall their domains to float the tiniest craft.
One of us therefore will have tosupport him through the sea to the

(01:30):
craft we select. I had hopedthat we might make the entire distance below
the surface, but I fear thatthe Red youth could not thus perform the
trip. Even the bravest of thebrave among them are terrorized at the mere
thought of deep water, for ithas been ages since their forebears saw a
lake, a river, or asea. The Red One is to accompany
us, asked Exedar. Yes,it is well. Three swords are better

(01:55):
than two, especially when the thirdis as mighty as this fellow's. I
have seen him battle in the arenaat the rights of Issus many times.
Never until I saw you fight hadI seen one who seemed unconquerable, even
in the face of great odds.One might think you to master and pupil,
or father and son. Come torecall his face. There is a

(02:15):
resemblance between you. It is verymarked. When you fight, there is
the same grim smile, the samemaddening contempt for your adversary, apparent in
every movement of your bodies and inevery changing expression of your faces. Be
that as it may, Exodar,he is a great fighter. I think
that we will make a trio difficultto overcome. And if my friend Tars

(02:38):
Tarkas Jeddak of Thark were but oneof us, we could fight our way
from one end of Barsoom to theother, even though the whole world were
pitted against us. It will besaid, Exodar, when they find from
whence you have come. That isbut one of the superstitions which Issus has
foisted upon a credulous humanity. Sheworks through the holy Therns, who are
as ignorant of her real self asare the assumiums of the outer world.

(03:01):
Her decrees are borne to the Therns, written in blood upon a strange parchment.
The poor, deluded fools think thatthey are receiving the revelations of a
Goddess through some supernatural agency, sincethey find these messages upon their guarded altars,
to which none could have access withoutdetection, I myself have borne these
messages for Issus for many years.There is a long tunnel from the Temple

(03:24):
of Issus to the principal temple ofMatai Shang. It was dug ages ago
by the slaves of the first Bornin such utter secrecy that no Thern ever
guessed its existence. The Therns,for their part, have temples dotted about
the entire civilized world. Here,preess whom the people never see, communicate
the doctrine of the mysterious river Ish, the Valley Door, and the Loss

(03:46):
Sea. Of course, to persuadethe poor, deluded creatures to take the
voluntary pilgrimage that swells the wealth ofthe holy Therns and adds to the number
of their slaves. Thus, theTherns are used as the principle means for
electing the wealth and labor that thefirstborn rests from them as they need it.
Occasionally, the first born themselves makeraids upon the outer world. It

(04:08):
is then that they capture many femalesof the royal houses of the Red Men
and take the newest in battleships andthe trained artisans who build them, that
they may copy what they cannot create. We are a non productive race,
priding ourselves upon our non productiveness.It is criminal for a firstborn to labor
or invent. That is the workof the lord orders, who live merely

(04:28):
that the firstborn may enjoy long livesof luxury and idleness. With us.
Fighting is all that counts. Wereit not for that, there would be
more of the firstborn than all thecreatures of Barsoom could support. For in
so far as I know, noneof us ever dies a natural death.
Our females would live forever but forthe fact that we tire of them and
remove them to make place for others. Issus alone of all, is protected

(04:51):
against death. She has lived forcountless ages. Would not the other Barsoomians
live forever but for the doctor ofthe voluntary pilgrimage which drags them to the
bosom of ish at Or before theirthousandth year, I asked him, I
feel now that there is no doubtbut that they are precisely the same species

(05:12):
of creature as the first born,And I hope that I shall live to
fight for them in atonement of thesins I have committed against them through the
ignorance born of generations of false teaching. As he ceased speaking, a weird
call rang out across the waters ofOmean. I had heard it at the
same time the previous evening, andknew that it marked the ending of the
day, when the men of Omeanspread their silks upon the deck of battleship

(05:35):
and cruiser and fall into the dreamlesssleep of Mars. Our guard entered to
inspect us for the last time beforethe new day broke upon the world above.
His duty was soon performed, andthe heavy door of our prison clothes
behind him, we were alone forthe night. I gave him time to
return to his quarters, as Exidarsaid he probably would do. Then I

(05:55):
sprang to the grated window and surveyedthe nearby waters. At a little distance
from the island, a quarter ofa mile perhaps lay a monster battleship,
while between her and the shore werea number of smaller cruisers and one man's
scouts. Upon the battleship alone wasthere a watch. I could see him
plainly in the upper works of theship, and as I watched, I
saw him spread his sleeping silks uponthe tiny platform in which he was stationed.

(06:19):
Soon he threw himself at full lengthupon his couch. The discipline on
Omean was lax, indeed, butit is not to be wondered at.
Since no enemy guessed the existence uponBarsoom of such a fleet, or even
of the First Born, or thesea of Omean, why indeed should they
maintain a watch. Presently I droppedto the floor again and talked with Exodar,

(06:41):
describing the various craft I had seen. There is one there, he
said, my personal property, builtto carry five men. That is the
swiftest of the swift. If wecan board her, we can at least
make a memorable run for liberty.And then he went on to describe to
me the equipment of the boat,her engines, and all that went to
make or the flier that she was. In his explanation, I recognized the

(07:03):
trick of gearing that kantos Can hadtaught me that time we sailed under false
names in the navy of Zodanga,beneath sad Than the Prince, and I
knew then that the First Born hadstolen it from the ships of Helium,
for only they are thus geared.And I knew too that Exodar spoke the
truth when he lauded the speed ofhis little craft. For nothing that cleaves

(07:23):
the thin air of Mars can approximatethe speed of the ships of Helium.
We decided to wait for an hourat least until all the stragglers had sought
their silks. In the meantime,I was to fetch the Red Youth to
our cell, so that we wouldbe in readiness to make our rash break
for freedom. Together. I sprangto the top of our partition wall and
pulled myself up onto it. ThereI found a flat surface about a foot

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in width, and along this Iwalked until I came to the cell in
which I saw the boy sitting uponhis bench. He had been leaning back
against the wall, looking up atthe glowing dome above Omean, and when
he spied me balancing upon the partitionwall of him, his eyes opened wide
in astonishment. Then a wide grinof appreciative understanding spread across his countenance.

(08:07):
As I stooped to drop to thefloor beside him, he motioned me to
wait, and, coming close belowme, whispered, catch my hand.
I can almost leap to the topof that wall myself. I have tried
it many times, and each dayI come a little closer. Some day
I should have been able to makeit. I lay upon my belly across
the wall and reached my hand fardown toward him. With a little run

(08:28):
from the center of the cell.He sprang up until I grasped his outstretched
hand, and thus I pulled himto the wall's top beside me. You
were the first jumper I ever sawamong the red men of Barsoom, I
said, he smiled. It isnot strange. I will tell you why,
when we have more time together.We returned to the cell in which
Exitar sat, descending to talk withhim until the hour had passed. There

(08:50):
we made our plans for the immediatefuture, binding ourselves by a solemn oath
to fight to the death for oneanother against whatsoever enemies should confront us.
For we knew that even should wesucceed in escaping the first Born, we
might still have a whole world againstus. The power of religious superstition is
mighty. It was agreed that Ishould navigate the craft after we had reached

(09:13):
her, and that if we madethe outer world in safety. We should
attempt to reach Helium without a stop. Why Helium, asked the red youth.
I am a prince of Helium,I replied. He gave me a
peculiar look, but said nothing furtheron the subject. I wondered at the
time what the significance of his expressionmight be, But in the press of

(09:33):
other matters, it soon left mymind, nor did I have occasion to
think of it again until later come, I said at length, Now is
as good a time as any.Let us go. Another moment found me
at the top of the partition wallagain, with the boy beside me.
Unbuckling my harness, I snapped ittogether with a single long strap, which
I lowered to the waiting exeter below. He grasped the end and was soon

(09:56):
sitting beside us. How simple,he laughed. The balance should be even
simpler, I replied. Then Iraised myself to the top of the outer
wall of the prison, just sothat I could peer over and locate the
passing sentry. For a matter offive minutes I waited, and then he
came in sight on his slow andsnail like beat about the structure. I

(10:16):
watched him until he made the turnat the end of the building, which
carried him out of sight of theside of the prison that was to witness
our dash for freedom. The momenthis form disappeared, I grasped Exeter and
drew him to the top of thewall, Placing one end of my harness
strap in his hands. I loweredhim quickly to the ground below. Then
the boy grasped the strap and sliddown to Exedar's side. In accordance with

(10:39):
our arrangement, they did not waitfor me, but walked slowly toward the
water a matter of a hundred yards, directly past the guard house filled with
sleeping soldiers. They had taken scarcea dozen steps when I too, dropped
to the ground and followed them leisurelytoward the shore. As I passed the
guard house, the thought of allthe good blades lying there gave me pause,
for if ever men were to haveneed of swords, it was my

(11:01):
companions and I on the perilous tripupon which we were about to embark.
I glanced towards Exeter and the youthand saw that they had slipped over the
edge of the dock into the water. In accordance with our plan, they
were to remain there, clinging tothe metal rings which studded the concrete like
substance of the dock at the water'slevel, with only their mouths and noses

(11:22):
above the surface of the sea untilI should join them. The lure of
the swords within the guard house wasstrong upon me, and I hesitated a
moment, half inclined to risk theattempt to take the few we needed.
That he who hesitates is lost proveditself a true aphorism in this instant,
For another moment saw me creeping stealthilytoward the door of the guard house.

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Gently, I pressed it open acrack enough to discover a dozen blacks stretched
upon their silks in profound slumber.At the far side of the room,
a rack held the swords and firearmsof the men. Wearily, I pushed
the door a trifle wider to admitmy body. A hinge gave out a
resentful groan, One of the menstirred, and my heart stood still.

(12:03):
I cursed myself for a fool tohave thus jeopardized our chances for escaped.
But there was nothing for it nowbut to see the adventure through with the
spring as swift and as noiseless asthe tiger's I lit beside the guardsman,
who had moved. My hands hoveredabout his throat, awaiting the moment that
his eyes should open. For whatseemed an eternity to my overwrought nerves,
I remained poised. Thus, thenthe fellow turned again upon his side and

(12:26):
resumed the even respiration of deep slumber. Carefully, I picked my way between
and over the soldiers until I hadgained the rack at the far side of
the room. Here I turned tosurvey the sleeping men. All were quiet.
Their regular breathing rose and fell ina soothing rhythm that seemed to me
the sweetest music I ever had heard. Gingerly, I drew a long sword

(12:48):
from the rack. The scraping ofthe scabbard against its holder as I withdrew
it sounded like the filing of acast iron with a great rasp, And
I looked to see the room immediatelyfilled with alarmed and attacking guardsmen, but
none stirred. The second sword Iwithdrew noiselessly, but the third clanked in
its scabbard with a frightful din.I knew that it must awaken some of

(13:11):
the men at least, and wason the point of forestalling their attack by
a rapid charge for the doorway,when again, to my intense surprise,
not a black moved. Either theywere wondrous heavy sleepers or else The noises
that I made were really much lessthan they seemed to me. I was
about to leave the rack when myattention was attracted by the revolvers. I

(13:31):
knew that I could not carry morethan one away with me, for I
was already too heavily laden to movequietly with any degree of safety or speed.
As I took one of them fromits pin, my eye fell for
the first time on an open windowbeside the rack. Ah, here was
a splendid means of escape, forit let directly upon the dock, not
twenty feet from the water's edge.And as I congratulated myself, I heard

(13:54):
the door opposite me open, andthere, looking me full in the face,
stood the officer of the guard.He evidently took in the situation at
a glance and appreciated the gravity ofit as quickly as I, for our
revolvers came up simultaneously, and thesounds of the two reports were as one.
As we touched the buttons on thegrips that exploded the cartridges. I

(14:15):
felt the wind of his bullet asit whizzed past my ear, and at
the same instant I saw him crumpleto the ground where I hit him.
I do not know nor if Ikilled him, for scarce had he started
to collapse. When I was throughthe window at my rear. In another
second, the waters of Omean closedabove my head, and the three of
us were making for the little fliera hundred yards away. Exodar was burdened

(14:37):
with the boy, and I withthe three long swords the revolver I had
dropped, so that while we wereboth strong swimmers, it seemed to me
that we moved at a snail's pacethrough the water. I was swimming entirely
beneath the surface, but Exodar wascompelled to rise often to let the youth
breathe. So it was a wonderthat we were not discovered long before we
were. In fact, we reachedthe boat's side and were all aboard before

(15:01):
the watch upon the battleship, arousedby the shots, detected us. Then
an alarm gun bellowed from a ship'sbow, its deep boom reverberating in deafening
tones beneath the rocky dome of Omean. Instantly the sleeping thousands were awake.
The decks of a thousand monster craftteemed with fighting men. For an alarm
on Omean was a thing of rareoccurrence. We cast away before the sound

(15:24):
of the first gun had died,and another second saw us rising swiftly from
the surface of the sea. Ilay at full length along the deck,
with the levers and the buttons ofcontrol before me. Exodar and the Boy
were stretched directly behind me. Pronealso that we might offer as little resistance
to the air as possible. Risehigh, whispered Exodar. They dare not

(15:45):
fire their heavy guns toward the dome. The fragments of the shells would drop
back among their own craft. Ifwe are high enough, our keel plates
will protect us from rifle fire.I did as he bayed. Below us.
We could see the men leaping intothe water by hundreds and striking out
for the small cruisers and the oneman fliers that lay moored about the big
ships. The larger craft were gettingunder way, following us rapidly, but

(16:10):
not rising from the water. Alittle to your right, cried Exodar,
for there are no points of compassupon Omean, where every direction is due
north. The pandemonium that had brokenout below us was deafening. Rifles cracked,
Officers shouted orders, men yelled directionsto one another from the water and
from the decks of the myriad boats, while through all ran the purr of

(16:30):
countless propellers, cutting water and air. I had not dared pull my speed
lever to the highest for fear ofoverrunning the mouth of the shaft that passed
from Omean's dome to the world above. But even so we were hitting a
clip that I doubt has ever beenequalled on the windless sea. The smaller
fliers were commencing to rise toward uswhen Exodar shouted the shaft. The shaft

(16:52):
dead ahead, and I saw theopening black and yawning in the glowing dome
of this underworld. A man cruiserwas rising directly in front to cut off
our escape. It was the onlyvessel that stood in our way, but
at the rate that it was traveling, it would come between us and the
shaft in plenty of time to thwartour plans. It was rising at an
angle of about forty five degrees deadahead of us, with the evident intention

(17:17):
of combing us with grappling hooks fromabove. As it skimmed low over our
deck, there was but one forlornhope for us, and I took it.
It was useless to try to passover her, for that would have
allowed her to force us against therocky dome above, and we were already
too near that as it was.To have attempted to dive below her would
have put us entirely at her mercyand precisely where she wanted us. On

(17:41):
either side, a hundred other menacingcraft were hastening toward us. The alternative
was filled with risk. In fact, it was all risk, with but
a slender chance of success. Aswe neared the cruiser, I rose as
though to pass above her, sothat she would do just what she did
do rise at a deeper angle toforce me still higher. Then, as

(18:02):
we were almost upon her, Iyelled to my companions to hold tight,
and throwing the little vessel into herhighest speed, I deflected her bows at
the same instant until we were runninghorizontally and at a terrific velocity, straight
for the cruiser's keel. Her commandermay have seen my intentions then, but
it was too late. Almost atthe instant of impact, I turned my

(18:23):
bows upward, and then, witha shattering jolt, we were in collision.
What I had hoped for happened.The cruiser, already tilted at a
perilous angle, was carried completely overbackward by the impact of my smaller vessel.
Her crew fell twisting and screaming throughthe air to the water far below,
while the cruiser, her propellers,still madly churning, dived swiftly head

(18:45):
foremost after them to the bottom ofthe Sea of Omean. The collision crushed
our steel boughs, and notwithstanding everyeffort on our part, came near to
hurdling us from the deck. Asit was, we landed in a wildly
clutching heap at the very extremity ofthe flier, where Exodar and I succeeded
in grasping the handrail. But theboy would have plunged overboard had I not

(19:07):
fortunately grasped his ankle, as hewas already partially over unguided. Our vessel
careened wildly in its mad flight,rising ever nearer the rocks above. It
took but an instant, however,for me to regain the levers, and
with the roof barely fifty feet above, I turned her nose once more into
the horizontal plane and headed her againfor the black mouth of the shaft.

(19:30):
The collision had retarded our progress,and now a hundred swift scouts were close
upon us. Exodar had told methat ascending the shaft by virtue of our
repulsive rays alone would give our enemiestheir best chance to overtake us, since
our propellers would be idle, andin rising we would be outclassed by many
of our pursuers. The swifter craftare seldom equipped with large buoyancy tanks,

(19:52):
since the added bulk of them tendsto reduce a vessel's speed. As many
boats were now quite close to us, it was inevitable that we would be
quickly overhauled in the shaft and capturedor killed in short order. To me,
there always seems a way to gainthe opposite side of an obstacle.
If one cannot pass over it,or below it, or around it,

(20:12):
why then there is but a singlealternative left, and that is to pass
through it. I could not getaround the fact that many of these other
boats could rise faster than ours bythe fact of their greater buoyancy. But
I was none the less determined toreach the outer world far in advance of
them, or die death of myown choosing an event of failure, Reverse

(20:33):
screamed, Exter, behind me,for the love of your first ancestor Reverse,
we're at the shaft. Hold tight, I screamed in reply. Grasp
the boy and hold tight. Weare going straight up the shaft. The
words were scarce out of my mouthas we swept beneath the pitch black opening.
I threw the bow hard up,dragged the speed lever to its last
notch, and, clutching a stanchionwith one hand and the steering wheel with

(20:56):
the other, hung on like grimdeath, and signed my soul to its
author. I heard a little exclamationof surprise from Exeter, followed by a
grim laugh. The boy laughed too, and said something which I could not
catch. For the whistling of thewind of our awful speed, I looked
above my head, hoping to catchthe gleam of stars by which I could

(21:17):
direct our course and hold the hurtlingthing that bore us true to the center
of the shaft to have touched theside at the speed we were making would
doubtless have resulted an instant death forus. All but not a star showed
above, only utter an impenetrable darkness. Then I glanced below me, and
there I saw a rapidly diminishing circleof light the mouth of the opening,

(21:37):
above the phosphorescent radiance of Omean.By this I steered, endeavoring to keep
the circle of light below me.Ever perfect, at best, it was
but a slender chord that held usfrom destruction. And I think that I
steered that night more by intuition andblind faith than by skill or reason.
We were not long in the shaft, and possibly the very fact of our

(21:59):
enormous speed saved us. For evidentlywe started in the right direction, and
so quickly were we out again thatwe had no time to alter our course.
Omean lies perhaps two miles below thesurface crust of Mars. Our speed
must have approximated two hundred miles anhour, for Martian fliers are swift,
so that at most we were inthe shaft not over forty seconds. We

(22:21):
must have been out of it forsome seconds before I realized that we had
accomplished the impossible black darkness, andshrouded all about us. There were neither
moons nor stars. Never before hadI seen such a thing upon Mars,
and for the moment I was nonplussed. Then the explanation came to me.
It was summer at the south pole, the ice cap was melting, and
those meteoric phenomena clouds unknown upon thegreater part of Barsoom were shutting out the

(22:48):
light of Heaven from this portion ofthe planet. Fortunate, indeed it was
for us, Nor did it takeme long to grasp the opportunity for escape
which this happy condition offered us.Keeping the boat's nose to stiff angle,
I raised her for the impenetrable curtainwhich nature had hung above this dying world
to shut us out from the sightof our pursuing enemies. We plunged through

(23:08):
the cold camp fog without diminishing ourspeed, and in a moment emerged into
the glorious light of the two moonsand the million stars. I dropped into
a horizontal course and headed due north. Our enemies were a good half hour
behind us, with no conception ofour direction. We had performed the miraculous
and come through a thousand dangers unscathed. We had escaped from the land of

(23:30):
the First Born. No other prisonersin all the ages of Barsoom had done
this thing. And now as Ilooked back upon it, it did not
seem to have been so difficult.After all, I said as much to
Exodar over my shoulder. It isvery wonderful. Nevertheless, he replied,
no one else could have accomplished it, but John Carter. At the sound
of that name, the boy jumpedto his feet. John Carter, he

(23:52):
cried, John Carter, Why man, John Carter, Prince of Helium,
has been dead for years. Iam his one. End of Chapter thirteen,

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Chapter 13 - The God's of Mars - Edgar Rice Burroughs