Swords of Mars bs-8

by Edgar Rice Burroughs

  The sounds were faint; they might have been almost anything; and now Fal Sivas crossed the room toward me and ushered me out into the corridor, a little hurriedly, I thought; but that may have been my imagination. I wondered if he, too, had heard the sounds.

  "You had better go, now," he said; "and when you have discovered the truth, return at once and report to me."

  On my way from the quarters of Fal Sivas, I stopped at my own to speak to Zanda; but she was not there, and I continued on to the little doorway through which I came and went from the house of Fal Sivas.

  Hamas was there in the anteroom. He looked disappointed when he saw me. "You are going out?" he asked.

  "Yes," I replied.

  "Are you returning again tonight?"

  "I expect to," I replied; "and by the way, Hamas, where is Zanda? She was not in my quarters when I stopped in."

  "We thought you were not returning," explained the major-domo, "and Fal Sivas found other duties for Zanda. Tomorrow I shall have Phystal give you another slave."

  "I want Zanda again," I said. "She performs her duties satisfactorily, and I prefer her."

  "That is something you will have to discuss with Fal Sivas," he replied.

  I passed out then into the night and gave the matter no further thought, my mind being occupied with far more important considerations.

  My way led past the public house where I had left Jat Or and on into another quarter of the city. Here, without difficulty, I located the building that Fal Sivas had described.

  At one side of it was a dark narrow alley. I entered this and groped my way to the far end, where I found a low wall, as Fal Sivas had explained that I would.

  I paused there a moment and listened intently, but no sound came from the interior of the building. Then I vaulted easily to the top of the wall, and from there to the roof of a low annex. Across this roof appeared the end of the hangar in which Gar Nal had built his ship. I recognized it for what it was by the great doors set in the wall.

  Fal Sivas had told me that through the crack between the two doors, I could see the interior of the hangar and quickly determine if the ship were still there.

  But there was no light within; the hangar was completely dark, and I could see nothing as I glued an eye to the crack.

  I attempted to move the doors, but they were securely locked. Then I moved cautiously along the wall in search of another opening.

  About forty feet to the right of the doors, I discovered a small window some ten feet above the roof upon which I was standing. I sprang up to it and grasped the sill with my fingers and drew myself up in the hope that I might be able to see something from this vantage point.

  To my surprise and delight, I found the window open. All was quiet inside the hangar-quiet and as dark as Erebus.

  Sitting on the sill, I swung my legs through the window, turned over on my belly, and lowered myself into the interior of the hangar; then I let go of the sill and dropped.

  Such a maneuver, naturally, is fraught with danger, as one never knows upon what he may alight.

  I alighted upon a moveable bench, loaded with metal parts and tools. My weight upset it, and it crashed to the floor with a terrific din.

  Scrambling to my feet, I stood there in the darkness waiting, listening. If there were anyone anywhere in the building, large as it appeared to be, it seemed unlikely that the racket I had made could pass unnoticed, nor did it.

  Presently I heard footsteps. They seemed at a considerable distance, but they approached rapidly at first and then more slowly. Whoever was coming appeared to grow more cautious as he neared the hangar.

  Presently a door at the far end was thrown open, and I saw two armed men silhouetted against the light of the room beyond.

  It was not a very brilliant light that came from the adjoining chamber, but it was sufficient to partially dispel the gloom of the cavernous interior of the hangar and reveal the fact that there was no ship here. Gar Nal had sailed!

  I had evidently been hoping against hope, for the discovery stunned me. Gar Nal was gone; and, unquestionably, Dejah Thoris was with him.

  The two men were advancing cautiously into the hangar. "Do you see anyone?" I heard the man in the rear demand.

  "No," replied the leader, and then, in a loud voice, "who is here?"

  The floor of the hangar had a most untidy appearance. Barrels, crates, carboys, tools, parts-a thousand and one things-were scattered indiscriminately about it. Perhaps this was fortunate for me; as, among so many things, it would be difficult to discover me as long as I did not move, unless the men stumbled directly upon me.

  I was kneeling in the shadow of a large box, planning upon my next move in the event that I was discovered.

  The two men came slowly along the center of the room. They came opposite my hiding-place. They passed me. I glanced at the open door through which they had come. There seemed to be no one there. Evidently these two men had been on guard; and they, alone, had heard the noise that I had made.

  Suddenly a plan flashed to my mind. I stepped out of my hiding-place and stood between them and the open door through which they had entered.

  I had moved quietly, and they had not heard me. Then I spoke.

  "Do not move," I said, "and you will be safe."

  They stopped as though they had been shot, and wheeled about.

  "Stand where you are," I commanded.

  "Who are you?" asked one of the men.

  "Never mind who I am. Answer my questions, and no harm will befall you."

  Suddenly one of the men laughed. "No harm will befall us," he said. "You are alone, and we are two. Come!" he whispered to his companion; and drawing their swords, the two rushed upon me.

  I backed away from them, my own sword ready to parry their thrusts and cuts.

  "Wait!" I cried. "I do not want to kill you. Listen to me. I only want some information from you, and then I will go."

  "Oh, ho! He does not want to kill us," shouted one of the men. "Come now," he directed his fellow, "get on his left side, and I will take him on the right. So he does not want to kill us, eh?"

  Sometimes I feel that I am entitled to very little credit for my countless successes in mortal combat. Always, it seems to me, and it certainly must appear even more so to my opponents, my flashing blade is a living thing inspired to its marvellous feats by a power beyond that of mortal man. It was so tonight.

  As the two men charged me from opposite sides, my steel flashed so rapidly in parries, cuts, and thrusts that I am confident that the eyes of my opponents could not follow it.

  The first man went down with a cloven skull the instant that he came within reach of my blade, and almost in the same second I ran his companion through the shoulder. Then I stepped back.

  His sword arm was useless; it hung limp at his side. He could not escape. I was between him and the door; and he stood there, waiting for me to run him through the heart.

  "I have no desire to kill you," I told him. "Answer my questions truthfully, and I will let you live."

  "Who are you, and what do you want to know?" he growled.

  "Never mind who I am. Answer my questions, and see that you answer them truthfully. When did Gar Nal's ship sail?"

  "Two nights ago."

  "Who was on board?"

  "Gar Nal and Ur Jan."

  "No one else?" I demanded.

  "No," he replied.

  "Where were they going?"

  "How should I know?"

  "It will be well for you, if you do know. Come now, where were they going; and who were they taking with them?"

  "They were going to meet another ship somewhere near Helium, and there they were going to take aboard someone whose name I never heard mentioned."

  "Were they kidnaping someone for ransom?" I demanded.

  He nodded. "I guess that was it," he said.

  "And you don't know who it was?"

  "No."

  "Where are they going to hide this person they are kidnap
ing?"

  "Some place where no one will ever find her," he said.

  "Where is that?"

  "I heard Gar Nal say he was going to Thuria."

  I had gained about all the information that this man could give me that would be of any value; so I made him lead me to a small door that opened onto the roof from which I had gained entrance to the hangar. I stepped out and waited until he had closed the door; then I crossed the roof and dropped to the top of the wall below, and from there into the alleyway.

  As I made my way toward the house of Fal Sivas, I planned rapidly. I realized that I must take desperate chances, and that whatever the outcome of my adventure, its success or failure rested wholly upon my own shoulders.

  I stopped at the public house where I had left Jat Or, and found him anxiously awaiting my return.

  The place was now so filled with guests that we could not talk with privacy, and so I took him with me over to the eating-place that Rapas and I had frequented.

  Here we found a table, and I narrated to him all that had occurred since I had left him after our arrival in Zodanga.

  "And now," I said, "tonight I hope that we may start for Thuria. When we separate here, go at once to the hangar and take out the flier. Keep an eye out for patrol boats; and if you succeed in leaving the city, go directly west on the thirtieth parallel for one hundred haads. Wait for me there. If I do not come in two days, you are free to act as you wish."

  CHAPTER XII. "WE BOTH MUST DIE!"

  Thuria! She had always intrigued my imagination; and now as I saw her swinging low through the sky above me, as Jat Or and I separated on the avenue in front of the eating-place, she dominated my entire being.

  Somewhere between that blazing orb and Mars, a strange ship was bearing my lost love to some unknown fate.

  How hopeless her situation must appear to her, who could not guess that any who loved her were even vaguely aware of her situation or whither her abductors were taking her. It was quite possible that she, herself, did not know. How I wished that I might transmit a message of hope to her.

  With such thoughts was my mind occupied as I made my way in the direction of the house of Fal Sivas; but even though I was thus engrossed, my faculties, habituated to long years of danger, were fully alert, so that sounds of footsteps emerging from an avenue I had just crossed did not pass unnoticed.

  Presently, I was aware that they had turned into the avenue that I was traversing and were following behind me, but I gave no outward indication that I heard them until it became evident that they were rapidly overtaking me.

  I swung around then, my hand upon the hilt of my sword; and as I did so, the man who was following addressed me.

  "I thought it was you," he said, "but I was not certain."

  "It is I, Rapas," I replied.

  "Where have you been?" he asked. "I have been looking for you for the past two days."

  "Yes?" I inquired. "What do you want of me? You will have to be quick, Rapas; I am in a hurry."

  He hesitated. I could see that he was nervous. He acted as though he had something to say, but did not know how to begin, or else was afraid to broach the subject.

  "Well, you see," he commenced, lamely, "we haven't seen each other for several days, and I just wanted to have a visit with you-just gossip a little, you know. Let's go back and have a bite to eat."

  "I have just eaten," I replied.

  "How is old Fal Sivas?" he asked. "Do you know anything new?"

  "Not a thing," I lied. "Do you?"

  "Oh, just gossip," he replied. "They say that Ur Jan has kidnaped the Princess of Helium." I could see him looking at me narrowly for my reaction.

  "Is that so?" I inquired. "I should hate to be in Ur Jan's shoes when the men of Helium lay hold of him."

  "They won't lay hold of him," said Rapas. "He has taken her where they will never find her."

  "I hope that he gets all that is coming to him, if he harms her," I said; "and he probably will." Then I turned as though to move away.

  "Ur Jan won't harm her, if the ransom is paid," said Rapas.

  "Ransom?" I inquired. "And what do they consider the Princess of Helium worth to the men of Helium?"

  "Ur Jan is letting them off easy," volunteered Rapas. "He is asking only two shiploads of treasure-all the gold and platinum and jewels that two great ships will carry."

  "Have they notified her people of their demand?" I asked.

  "A friend of mine knows a man who is acquainted with one of Ur Jan's assassins," explained Rapas; "communication with the assassins could be opened up in this way."

  So he had finally gotten it out of his system. I could have laughed if I had not been so worried about Dejah Thoris. The situation was self-evident. Ur Jan and Rapas were both confident that I was either John Carter or one of his agents, and Rapas had been delegated to act as intermediary between the kidnapers and myself.

  "It is all very interesting," I said; "but, of course, it is nothing to me. I must be getting along. May you sleep well, Rapas."

  I venture to say that I left The Rat in a quandary as I turned on my heel and continued on my way toward the house of Fal Sivas. I imagine that he was not so sure as he had been that I was John Carter or even that I was an agent of the Warlord; for certainly either one or the other should have evinced more interest in his information than I had.

  Of course, he had told me nothing that I did not already know; and therefore there had been nothing to induce within me either surprise or excitement.

  Perhaps it would have made no difference either one way or the other had Rapas known that I was John Carter; but it pleased me, in combating the activities of such men, to keep them mystified and always to know a little more than they did.

  Again Hamas admitted me when I reached the gloomy pile that Fal Sivas inhabited; and as I passed him and started along the corridor toward the ramp that leads up to Fal Sivas's quarters on the next level, he followed after me.

  "Where are you going?" he asked, "to your quarters?"

  "No, I am going to the quarters of Fal Sivas," I replied, "He is very busy now. He cannot be disturbed," said Hamas.

  "I have information for him," I said.

  "It will have to wait until tomorrow morning."

  I turned and looked at him. "You annoy me, Hamas," I said; "run along and mind your own business."

  He was furious then, and took hold of my arm. "I am major-domo here," he cried, "and you must obey me. You are only a-a--"

  "An assassin," I prompted him meaningly, and laid my hand upon the hilt of my sword.

  He backed away. "You wouldn't dare," he cried. "You wouldn't dare!"

  "Oh, wouldn't I? You don't know me, Hamas. I am in the employ of Fal Sivas; and when I am in a man's employ, I obey him. He told me to report back to him at once. If it is necessary to kill you to do so, I shall have to kill you."

  His manner altered then, and I could see that he was afraid of me. "I only warned you for your own good," he said. "Fal Sivas is in his laboratory now. If he is interrupted in the work that he is doing, he will be furious-he may kill you himself. If you are wise, you will wait until he sends for you."

  "Thank you, Hamas," I said; "I am going to see Fal Sivas now. May you sleep well," and I turned and continued on up the corridor toward the ramp. He did not follow me.

  I went at once to the quarters of Fal Sivas, knocked once upon the door, and then opened it. Fal Sivas was not there, but I heard his voice coming from beyond the little door at the opposite end of the room.

  "Who's that? What do you want? Get out of here and do not disturb me," he cried.

  "It is I, Vandor," I replied. "I must see you at once."

  "No, no, go away; I will see you in the morning."

  "You will see me now," I said; "I am coming in there."

  I was halfway across the room, when the door opened and Fal Sivas, livid with rage, stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

  "You dare? You dare?" he cried.
/>   "Gar Nal's ship is not in its hangar," I said.

  That seemed to bring him to his senses, but it did not lessen his rage; it only turned it in another direction.

  "The calot!" he exclaimed, "the son of a thousand million calots! He has beaten me. He will go to Thuria. With the great wealth that he will bring back, he will do all that I had hoped to do."

  "Yes," I said. "Ur Jan is with him, and what such a combination as Ur Jan and a great and unscrupulous scientist could do is incalculable; but you too have a ship, Fal Sivas. It is ready. You and I could go to Thuria. They would not suspect that we were coming. We would have all the advantage. We could destroy Gar Nal and his ship, and then you would be master."

  He paled. "No, no," he said, "I can't. I can't do it."

  "Why not?" I demanded.

  "Thuria is a long way. No one knows what might happen. Perhaps something would go wrong with the ship. It might not work in practice as it should in theory. There might be strange beasts and terrible men on Thuria."

  "But you built this ship to go to Thuria," I cried. "You told me so, yourself."

  "It was a dream," he mumbled; "I am always dreaming, for in dreams nothing bad can happen to me; but in Thuria-oh, it is so far, so high above Barsoom. What if something happened?"

  And now I understood. The man was an arrant coward. He was allowing his great dream to collapse about his ears because he did not have the courage to undertake the great adventure.

  What was I to do? I had been depending upon Fal Sivas, and now he had failed me.

  "I cannot understand you," I said; "with your own arguments, you convinced me that it would be a simple thing to go to Thuria in your ship. What possible danger can confront us there that we may not overcome? We shall be veritable giants on Thuria. No creature that lives there could withstand us. With the stamp of a foot, we could crush the lives from the greatest beasts that Thuria could support."

  I had been giving this matter considerable thought ever since there first appeared a likelihood that I might go to Thuria. I am no scientist, and my figures may not be accurate, but they are approximately true. I knew that the diameter of Thuria was supposed to be about seven miles, so that its volume could be only about two percent of that of, let us say, the Earth, that you may have a comparison that will be more understandable to you.