 The Chessmen of Mars, Chapter 4. The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Chapter 4. As Thuria, swift racer of the night, shot again into the sky, the scene changed. As by magic, a new aspect fell athwart the face of nature. It was as though in the instant one had been transported from one planet to another. It was the age-old miracle of the Martian knights that is always new, even to Martians. Two moons resplendent in the heavens, where one had been, but now, conflicting, fast-changing shadows that altered the very hills themselves. Far cluros, stately, majestic, almost stationary, shedding his steady light upon the world below. Thuria, a great and glorious orb, swinging swift across the vaulted dome of the blue-black night, so low that she seemed to graze the hills, a gorgeous spectacle that held the girl now beneath the spell of its enchantment, as it always had, and always would. Ah, Thuria, mad queen of heaven, murmured Tyra of Helium. The hills pass in stately procession, their bosoms rising and falling. The trees move in restless circles. The little grasses describe their little arts and all its movement, restless, mysterious movement without sound, while Thuria passes. The girl sighed and let her gaze fall again to the stern realities beneath. There was no mystery in the huge bounce. He who had discovered her squatted there, looking hungrily up at her, most of the others had wandered away in search of other prey. But a few remained, hoping yet to bury their fangs in that soft body. The night wore on. Again, Thuria left the heavens to her lord and master, hurrying on to keep her triced with the sun in other skies. But a single bounce waited impatiently beneath the tree, which harbored Tyra of Helium. The others had left, but their roars and growls and moans, thundered or rumbled, or floated back to her from near and far. What prey found they in this little valley? There must be something that they were accustomed to find here that they should be drawn in so great numbers. The girl wondered what it could be. How long the night? Numb, cold, and exhausted, Tyra of Helium clung to the tree in growing desperation. For once she had dozed and almost fallen. Hope was low in her brave little heart. How much more could she endure? She asked herself the question, and then, with a brave shake of her head, she squared her shoulders. I still live, she said aloud. The banth looked up and growled. Cain Thuria again and after a while the great son of flaming lover pursuing his heart's desire. And Claros, the cold husband, continued his serene way as Placid as before his house had been violated by this hot Lothario. And now the sun and both moons rode together in the sky, lending their far mysteries to make weird the Martian dawn. Tyra of Helium looked out across the fair valley that spread upon all sides of her. It was rich and beautiful, but even as she looked upon it she shuddered, for to her mind came a picture of the headless things that the towers and the walls hid. Those by day and the banths by night. Ah, was it any wonder that she shuddered? With the coming of the sun the great Barsoomian lion rose to his feet. He turned angry eyes upon the girl above him, voiced a single ominous growl, and slunk away toward the hills. The girl watched him, and she saw that he gave the towers as wide a birth as possible, and that he never took his eyes from one of them while he was passing it. Evidently the inmates had taught these savage creatures to respect them. Presently he passed from sight in a narrow defile, nor in any direction that she could see was there another. Momentarily at least the landscape was deserted. The girl wondered if she dared to attempt to regain the hills and her flier. She dreaded the coming of the workmen to the fields, as she was sure they would come. She shrank from again seeing the headless bodies and found herself wondering if these things would come out into the fields and work. She looked toward the nearest tower. There was no sign of life there. The valley lay quiet now, and deserted. She lowered herself stiffly to the ground. Her muscles were cramped, and every move brought a twinge of pain. Pausing a moment to drink again at the stream, she felt refreshed and then turned without more delay toward the hills. To cover the distance as quickly as possible seemed the only plan to pursue. The trees no longer offered concealment, and so she did not go out of her way to be near them. The hills seemed very far away. She had not thought the night before that she had traveled so far. Really, it had not been far, but now, with the three towers to pass in broad daylight, the distance seemed great indeed. The second tower lay almost directly in her path. To make a detour would not lessen the chance of detection. It would only lengthen the period of her danger, and so she laid her course straight for the hill where her flier was, regardless of the tower. As she passed the first enclosure, she thought that she heard the sound of movement within, but the gate did not open, and she breathed more easily when it lay behind her. She came then to the second enclosure, the outer wall of which she must circle as it lay across her route. As she passed close along it, she distinctly heard not only movement within, but voices. In the world language of Barsoom, she heard a man issuing instructions. So many were to pick Usa, so many were to irrigate this field, so many to cultivate that, and so on, as a foreman laid out the day's work for his crew. Tara of Helium had just reached the gate in the outer wall. Without warning, it swung open toward her. She saw that for a moment it would hide her from those within, and in that moment she turned and ran, keeping close to the wall until, passing out of sight beyond the curve of the structure, she came to the opposite side of the enclosure. Here, panning from her exertion and from the excitement of her narrow escape, she threw herself among some tall weeds that grew close to the foot of the wall. There she lay, trembling for some time, not even daring to raise her head and look about. Never before had Tara of Helium felt the paralyzing effects of terror. She was shocked and angry at herself that she, daughter of John Carter, warlord of Barsoom, should exhibit fear. Not even the fact that there had been none there to witness it lessened her shame and anger, and the worst of it was she knew that under similar circumstances she would again be equally as craven. It was not the fear of death, she knew that. No, it was the thought of those headless bodies in that she might see them and that they might even touch her, lay hands upon her, seize her. She shuddered and troubled at the thought. After a while, she gained sufficient command of herself to raise her head and look about. To her horror, she discovered that everywhere she looked, she saw people working in the fields or preparing to do so. Workmen were coming from other towers. Little bands were passing to this field and that. They were even some already at work within thirty ads of her, about a hundred yards. There were ten, perhaps in the party nearest her, both men and women, and all were beautiful of form and grotesque of face. So meager was their trappings that they were practically naked, a fact that was in no way remarkable among the tillers of the fields of Mars. Each wore the peculiar high leather collar that completely hid the neck and each wore sufficient other leather to support a single sword and a pocket pouch. The leather was very old and worn, showing long hard service and was absolutely plain with the exception of a single device upon the left shoulder. The heads, however, were covered with ornaments of precious metals and jewels so that little more than eyes, nose, and mouth were discernible. These were hideously inhuman and yet rotesquely human at the same time. The eyes were far apart and protruding. The nose scarce more than two small parallel slits set vertically above a round hole that was the mouth. The heads were peculiarly repulsive, so much so that it seemed unbelievable to the girl that they formed an integral part of the beautiful bodies below them. So fascinated was Tara of Helium that she could scarce take her eyes from the strange creatures, a fact that was to prove her undoing. For in order that she might see them, she was forced to expose a part of her own head and presently, to her consternation, she saw that one of the creatures had stopped his work and was staring directly at her. She did not dare move, for it was still possible that the thing had not seen her, or at least was only suspicious that some creature lay hid among the weeds. If she could have laid the suspicion by remaining motionless, the creature might believe that he had been mistaken and returned to his work, but alas, such was not to be the case. She saw the thing call the attention of others to her and almost immediately four or five of them started to move in her direction. It was impossible now to escape discovery. Her only hope lay in flight. If she could elude them and reach the hills and the flyer ahead of them, she might escape that could be accomplished in but one way, flight immediate and swift. Leaping to her feet, she darted along the base of the wall, which she must skirt to the opposite side, beyond which lay the hill that was her goal. Her act was greeted by strange whistling sounds from the things behind her and, casting a glance over her shoulder, she saw them all in rapid pursuit. There were shrill commands that she halt, but to these she paid no attention. Before she had half circled the enclosure, she discovered that her chances for successful escape were great, since it was evident to her that her pursuers were not so fleet as she. I indeed, then, were her hopes as she came inside of the hill, but they were soon dashed by what lay before her. In the fields that lay between were fully a hundred creatures similar to those behind her, and all were on the alert, evidently worn by the whistling of their fellows. Instructions and commands were shouted to and fro with the result that those before her spread roughly into a great half-circle to intercept her, and when she turned to the right, hoping to elude the net, she saw others coming from the fields beyond, and to the left the same was true. But Tara of Helium would not admit defeat. Without once pausing, she turned directly toward the center of the advancing semicircle, beyond which lay her single chance of escape, and as she ran she drew her long, slim dagger. Like her valiant sire, if die she must, she would die fighting. There were gaps in the thin line confronting her, and toward the widest of one of these she directed her course. The things on either side of the opening guessed her intent, for they closed in to place themselves in her path. This widened the openings on either side of them, and as the girl appeared almost a rush into their arms she turned subtly at right angles, ran swiftly in the new direction for a few yards, and then dashed quickly toward the hill again. Now only a single warrior, with a wide gap on either side of him, barred her clear way to freedom, though all the others were speeding as rapidly as they could to intercept her. If she could pass this one without too much delay, she could escape of that she was certain. Her every hope hinged on this. The creature before her realized it too, for he moved cautiously though swiftly to intercept her, as a rugby fullback might maneuver in the realization that he alone stood between the opposing team and a touchdown. At first Tara of Helium had hoped that she might dodge him, for she could not but guess that she was not only more fleet but infinitely more agile than these strange creatures. But soon there came to her the realization that in the time consumed in an attempt to elude his grasp his nearer fellows would be upon her and escape then impossible, so she chose instead to charge straight for him, and when he guessed her decision he stood, half crouching and with outstretched arms awaiting her. In one hand was his sword, but a voice arose crying in tones of authority, take her alive, do not harm her. Instantly the fellow returned his sword to its scabbard and then Tara of Helium was upon him. Straight for that beautiful body she sprang and in the instant that the arms closed to seize her her sharp blade drove deep into the naked chest. The impact hurled them both to the ground and as Tara of Helium sprang to her feet again she saw to her horror that the loathsome head had rolled from the body and was now crawling away from her on six short spider-like legs. The body struggled spasmodically and lay still. As brief as had been the delay caused by the encounter it still had been of sufficient duration to undo her, even as she rose two more of the things fell upon her and instantly thereafter she was surrounded. Her blade sank once more into the naked flesh and once more ahead rolled free and crawled away. Then they overpowered her and in another moment she was surrounded by fully a hundred of the creatures all seeking to lay hands upon her. At first she thought that they wished to tear her to pieces in revenge for her having slain two of their fellows, but presently she realized that they were prompted more by curiosity than by any sinister motive. Come, said one of her captors, both of whom had retained a hold upon her. As he spoke he tried to lead her away with him toward the nearest tower. She belongs to me, cried the other. Did not I capture her? She will come with me to the tower of Moeke. Never, insisted the first. He is Ludd's. To Ludd I will take her, and whosoever interferes may feel the keenness of my sword in the head. He almost shouted the last three words. Come, enough of this, cried one who spoke with some show of authority. She was captured in Ludd's fields. She will go to Ludd. She was discovered in Moeke's fields at the very foot of the tower of Moeke, insisted he who had claimed her for Moeke. You have heard the no-lock speak, cried the Ludd. It shall be as he says. Not while this Moeke holds a sword, replied the other. Rather will I cut her in twain and take my half to Moeke than relinquish her all to Ludd, and he drew his sword, or rather he laid his hand upon its hilt in a threatening gesture. But before ever he could draw it the Ludd had whipped his out, and with a fearful blow cut deep into the head of his adversary. Instantly the big round head collapsed, almost as a punctured balloon collapses, as a grayish semi-fluid matter spurred it from it. The protruding eyes, apparently lidless, merely stared. The sphincter-like muscle of the mouth opened and closed, and then the head toppled from the body to the ground. The body stood dully for a moment, and then slowly started to wonder aimlessly about until one of the others seized it by the arm. One of the two heads crawling about on the ground now approached. This Rikor belongs to Moeke, it said. I am a Moeke. I will take it, and without further discussion it commenced to crawl up the front of the headless body, using its six short spider-like legs and two stout keelah, which grew just in front of its legs, and strongly resembled those of an earthly lobster, except that they were both of the same size. The body, in the meantime, stood in passive indifference, its arms hanging idly at its sides. The head climbed to the shoulders and settled itself inside the leather collar that now hid its keelah and legs. Almost immediately the body gave evidence of intelligent animation. It raised its hands and adjusted the collar more comfortably. It took the head between its palms and settled it in place, and when it moved around it did not wonder aimlessly, but instead its steps were firm and to some purpose. The girl watched all these things in growing wonder, and presently no other of the Moeke's seeming inclined to dispute the right of the Ludd to her, she was let off by her captor toward the nearest tower. Several accompanied them, including one who carried the loose head under his arm. The head that was being carried conversed with the head upon the shoulders of the thing that carried it. Tara of Helium shiftered. It was horrible. All that she had seen of these frightful creatures was horrible, and to be a prisoner wholly in their power. Shadow of her first ancestor, what had she done to deserve so cruel a fate? At the wall enclosing the tower, they paused while one opened the gate, and then they passed within the enclosure, which, to the girl's horror, she found filled with headless bodies. The creature who carried the bodyless head now set its burden upon the ground, and the latter immediately crawled toward one of the bodies that was lying nearby. Some wandered stupidly to and fro, but this one lay still. It was a female. It crawled to it and made its way to the shoulders where it settled itself. At once the body sprang lightly erect. Another of those who had accompanied them from the fields approached with the harness and collar that had been taken from the dead body that the head had formerly topped. The new body now appropriated these, and the hands deftly adjusted them. The creature was now as good as before Tara of Helium had struck down its former body with her slim blade, but there was a difference. Before it had been male. Now it was female. That however seemed to make no difference to the head. In fact Tara of Helium had noticed during the scramble and the fight about her that sex differences seemed a little moment to her captors. Males and females had taken equal part in her pursuit. Both were identically harnessed and both carried swords and she had seen as many females as males draw their weapons at the moment that a quarrel between the two factions seemed imminent. The girl was given a brief opportunity for further observation of the pitiful creatures in the enclosure as her captor after having directed the others to return to the fields led her toward the tower which they entered passing into an apartment about ten feet wide and twenty long in one end of which was a stairway leading to an upper level and in the other an opening to a similar stairway leading downward. The chamber though on a level with the ground was brilliantly lighted by windows in its inner wall the light coming from a circular court in the center of the tower. The walls of this court appeared to be faced with what resembled glazed white tile and the whole interior of it was flooded with dazzling light a fact which immediately explained to the girl the purpose of the glass prisms of which the domes were constructed. The stairways themselves were sufficient to cause remark since in nearly all Barsoomian architecture incline runways are utilized for purposes of communication between different levels and especially is this true of the more ancient forms and of those of remote districts where fewer changes have come to alter the customs of antiquity. Down the stairway her captor led Tara of Helium. Down and down through chambers still lighted from the brilliant wall. Occasionally they passed others going in the opposite direction and these always stopped to examine the girl and ask questions of her captor. I know nothing but that she was found in the fields and that I caught her after a fight in which she slew two rikers and in which I slew a mok they take her to Lud to whom of course she belongs. If Lud wishes to question her that is for Lud to do, not for me. Thus always he answered the curious. Presently they reached the room from which a circular tunnel led away from the tower and into this the creature conducted her. The tunnel was some seven feet in diameter and flattened on the bottom to form a walk. For a hundred feet from the tower it was lined with tile-like material of the light well and amply illuminated by reflected light from that source. Beyond it was faced with stone of various shapes and sizes neatly cut and fitted together a very fine mosaic without a pattern. There were branches too and other tunnels which crossed this and occasionally openings not more than a foot in diameter. These latter being usually close to the floor. Above each of these smaller openings was painted a different device while upon the walls of the larger tunnels at all intersections and points of convergence hieroglyphics appear. These the girl could not read though she guessed that they were the names of the tunnels or notices indicating that points to which they led. She tried to study some of them out but there was not a character that was familiar to her which seems strange since while the written languages of the various nations of Barsoom differ it still is true that they have many characters and words in common. She had tried to converse with her guard but he had not seemed inclined to talk with her and she finally desisted. She could not but note that he had offered her no indignities nor had he been either unnecessarily rough or in any way cruel. The fact that she had slain two of the bodies of her dagger had apparently aroused no animosity or desire for revenge in the minds of the strange heads that surmounted the bodies even those whose bodies had been killed. She did not try to understand it since she could not approach the peculiar relationship between the heads and the bodies of these creatures from the basis of any past knowledge or experience of her own. So far their treatment of her seemed or not that might arouse her fears. Perhaps after all she had been fortunate to fall into the hands of these strange people who might not only protect her from harm but even aid her in returning to Helium that they were repulsive and on canny she could not forget. But if they meant her no harm she could at least overlook their repulsiveness. Renewed hope aroused within her a spirit of greater mindfulness and it was almost blithely now that she moved at the side of her weird companion. She even caught herself humming a gay little tune that was then popular in Helium. The creature at her side turned its expressionless eyes upon her. What is that noise that you are making? it asked. I was but humming an air, she replied. Humming an air, they repeated. I do not know what you mean but do it again. I like it. This time she sang the words while her companion listened intently. His face gave no indication of what was passing in that strange head. It was as devoid of expression as that of a spider. It reminded her of a spider. When she had finished he turned toward her again. That was different he said. I like that better even than the other. How do you do it? Why she said it is singing. Do you not know what song is? No he replied. Tell me how you do it. It is difficult to explain she told him since any explanation of it presupposes some knowledge of melody and of music while your very question indicates that you have no knowledge of either. No he said. You are talking about but tell me how you do it. It is merely the melodious modulations of my voice she explained. Listen. And again she sang. I do not understand he insisted but I like it. Could you teach me to do it? I do not know but I should be glad to try. We will see what Ludd does with you he said. If he does not want you tell him. My mother will not be happy. I think the question is what is the limit for the number of times she could utilize it inギ it's like that. At his request she sang again as they continued their way along the winding tunnel which was now lighted by occasional bulbs which appeared to be similar to the radium which is packed at compound containing what, according to John Carter, must be radium. The bowl is then cemented into a metal plate with a heavily insulated back and the whole affair set in the masonry of the wall or ceiling as desired, where it gives off light of greater or less intensity, according to the composition of the filling material, for an almost incalculable period of time. As they proceeded, they met a greater number of the inhabitants of this underground world, and the girl noted that among many of these the metal and harness were more ornate than had been those of the workers in the fields above. The heads and bodies, however, were similar, even identical, she thought. No one offered her harm, and she was now experiencing a feeling of relief, almost akin to happiness, when her guy turned suddenly into an opening on the right side of the tunnel, and she found herself in a large, well-lighted chamber. Chapter 5. The Perfect Brain The song that had been upon her lips as she entered died there, frozen by the sight of horror that met her eyes. In the center of a chamber a headless body lay upon the floor, a body that had been partially devoured, while over and upon it crawled a half a dozen heads upon their short spider legs, and they tore at the flesh of the woman with their keelie and carried the bits to their awful mouse. They were eating human flesh, eating it raw. Tara of Helium gasped in horror and, turning away, covered her eyes with her palms. Come, said her captor, what is the matter? They are eating the flesh of the woman, she whispered in tones of horror. Why not, he inquired. Did you suppose that we kept the rye core for labor alone? No, they are delicious, when kept and fattened. Fortune that too are those that are bred for food, since they are never called upon to do ought but eat. It is hideous, she cried. He looked at her steadily for a moment, but whether in surprise, in anger, or in pity, his expressionless face did not reveal. Then he led her on across the room past the frightful thing, from which she turned away her eyes. Lying about on the floor near the walls were half a dozen headless bodies in harness. These, she guessed, had been abandoned temporarily by the feasting heads until they again required their services. In the walls of this room there were many of the small round openings she had noticed in various parts of the tunnels, the purpose of which she could not guess. They passed through another corridor and then into a second chamber, larger than the first and more brilliantly illuminated. Within were several of the creatures with heads and bodies assembled, while many headless bodies lay about near the walls. Here her captor hauled it and spoke to one of the occupants of the chamber. I seek, Ludd, he said. I bring to Ludd a creature that I captured in the fields above. The others crowded about to examine Tara of Helium. One of them whistled, whereupon the girl learned something of the smaller openings in the walls. For almost immediately, there crawled from them, like giant spiders, a score or more of the hideous heads. Each sought one of the recumbent bodies and fastened itself in place. Immediately the bodies reacted to the intelligent direction of the heads. They arose, the hands adjusted the leather collars and put the balance of the harness in order. Then the creatures crossed the room to where Tara of Helium stood. She noted that their leather was more highly worn a minute than that worn by any of the others she had previously seen, and so she guessed that these must be higher in authority than the others. Nor was she mistaken. The demeanor of her captor indicated it. He addressed them as one who holds intercourse with superiors. Several of those who examined her felt her flesh, pinching it gently between thumb and forefinger. A familiarity that the girl resented, she struck down their hands. Do not touch me, she cried imperiously. Or was she not a princess of Helium? The expression on those terrible faces did not change. She could not tell whether they were angry or amused, whether her action had filled them with respect for her or contempt. Only one of them spoke immediately. She will have to be fattened more, he said. The girl's eyes went wide with horror. She turned upon her captor. Do these frightful creatures intend to devour me, she cried. That is for Ludd to say, he replied, and then he leaned closer, so that his mouth was near her ear. That noise you made which you called song pleased me, he whispered, and I will repay you by warning you not to antagonize these caldanes. They are very powerful. Ludd listens to them. Do not call them frightful. They are very handsome. Look at their wonderful trappings, their gold, their jewels. Thank you, she said. You called them caldanes. What does that mean? We are all caldanes, he replied. You too? And she pointed at him, her slim finger directed toward his chest. No, not this, he explained, touching his body. This is a rikor, but this, and he touched his head, is a caldane. It is the brain, the intellect, the power that directs all things. The rikor, he indicated his body, is nothing. It is not so much even as the jewels upon our harness. No, not so much as the harness itself. It carries us about. It is true that we would find difficulty getting along without it, but it has less value than harness or jewels because it is less difficult to reproduce. He turned again to the other caldanes. Will you notify Ludd that I am here? he asked. Cep has already gone to Ludd. He will tell him, replied one. Where did you find this rikor with the strange caldane that cannot detach itself? The girl's captor narrated once more the story of her capture. He stated facts, just as they had occurred, without embellishment. His voice as expressionless as his face and his story was received in the same manner that it was delivered. The creatures seemed totally lacking in emotion, or at least the capacity to express it. It was impossible to judge what impression the story made upon them, or even if they heard it. Their protruding eyes simply stared, and occasionally the muscles of their mouths opened and closed. Familiarity did not lessen the horror the girl felt for them. The more she saw of them, the more repulsive they seemed. Often her body was shaken by convulsive shutters as she looked at the caldanes, but when her eyes wandered to the beautiful bodies and she could for a moment expunge the heads from her consciousness, the effect was soothing and refreshing. Though when the bodies lay headless upon the floor, they were quite as shocking as the heads mattered on the bodies. But by far the most gruesome and uncanny sight of all was that of the heads crawling about upon their spider legs. If one of these things should approach and touch her, Tara of Helium was posited that she should scream, while she'd one attempt to crawl up her person, the very idea induced a feeling of faintness. Cep returned to the chamber. Ludd will see you and the captive. Come, he said, and turned toward a door opposite that through which Tara of Helium had entered the chamber. What is your name? His question was direct to the girl's captive. I am Geck, third foreman of the fields of Ludd, he answered, and hers I do not know. It makes no difference. Come. The patrician brows of Tara of Helium went high. It made no difference indeed. She, a princess of Helium, only daughter of the warlord of Barsoom. Wait, she cried. It makes much difference who I am. If you are conducting me into the presence of your Jed, you may announce the Princess Tara of Helium, daughter of John Carter, the warlord of Barsoom. Hold your peace, commanded Cep. Speak when you are spoken to. Come with me. The anger of Tara of Helium all but choked her. Come, admonished Geck, and took her by the arm, and Tara of Helium came. She was not but a prisoner. Her rank and titles meant nothing to these inhuman monsters. They led her through a short S-shaped passageway into a chamber entirely lined with the white tile-like material with which the interior of the light wall was faced. Close to the base of the walls were numerous smaller apertures, circular in shape, but larger than those of similar aspect that she had noted elsewhere. The majority of these apertures were sealed. Directly opposite the entrance was one framed in gold, and above it a peculiar device was inlaid in the same precious metal. Cep and Geck halted just within the room, the girl between them, and all three stood silently facing the opening in the opposite wall. On the floor beside the aperture lay a headless male body of almost heroic proportions, and on either side of this stood a heavily armed warrior with a drawn sword. For perhaps five minutes the three waited, and then something appeared in the opening. It was a pair of large keelie, and immediately thereafter there crawled forth a hideous caldane of enormous proportions. He was half again as large as any that Tara of Helium had yet seen, and his old aspect infinitely more terrible. The skin of the others was a bluish gray, this one was of a little bluer tinge, and the eyes were ringed with bands of white and scarlet, as was its mouth. From each nostril a band of white and one of scarlet extended outward horizontally the width of the face. No one spoke or moved. The creature crawled to the prostrate body and affixed itself to the neck. Then the two rose as one and approached the girl. He looked at her, and then he spoke to her captor. You are the third foreman of the fields of Lud, he asked. Yes, Lud, I am called Gek. Tell me what you know of this, and he nodded toward Tara of Helium. Gek did as he was bid, and then Lud addressed the girl. What were you doing within the borders of Bantum, he asked. I was blown hither, in a great storm that injured my flier, and carried me I knew not where. I came down into the valley at night for food and drink. The bonts came and drove me to the safety of a tree, and then your people caught me as I was trying to leave the valley. I do not know why they took me, I was doing no harm. All I ask is that you let me go my way in peace. None who enters Bantum ever leaves, replied Lud. But my people are not at war with yours. I am a princess of Helium. My great grandfather is a jeddak. My grandfather a jed. And my father is warlord of all Barsoom. You have no right to keep me, and I demand that you liberate me at once. None who enters Bantum ever leaves, repeated the creature without expression. I know nothing of the lesser creatures of Barsoom of whom you speak. There is but one high race, the race of Bantumians. All nature exists to serve them. You shall do your share, but not yet. You are too skinny. We shall have to put some fat upon it, except I tire a rye cork. Perhaps this will have a different flavor. The bonts are too rank, and it is seldom that any other creature enters the valley. And you, Gek, you shall be rewarded. I shall promote you from the fields to the burrows. Hereafter you shall remain underground as every Bantumian longs to. No more shall you be forced to endure the hated sun, or look upon the hideous sky, or the hateful growing things at the fileless surface. For the present you shall look after this thing that you have brought me, seeing that it sleeps and eats, and does nothing else. You understand me, Gek? Nothing else. I understand, Ludd, replied the other. Take it away, commanded the creature. Gek turned and led Tara of Helium from the apartment. The girl was horrified by contemplation of the fate that awaited her, a fate from which it seemed there was no escape. It was only too evident that these creatures possessed no gentle or chivalric sentiments to which she could appeal, and that she might escape from the labrith's teen mazes of their underground burrows appeared impossible. Outside the audience chamber, Cep overtook them and conversed with Gek for a brief period. Then her keeper led her through a confusing web of winding tunnels until they came to a small apartment. We are to remain here for a while. It may be that Ludd will send for you again. If he does, you will probably not be fattened. He will use you for another purpose. It was fortunate, for the girl's peace of mind, that she did not realize what he meant. Sing for me, said Gek presently. Tara of Helium did not feel at all like singing, but she sang, nevertheless, for there was always the hope that she might escape if given the opportunity, and if she could win the friendship of one of the creatures her chances would be increased proportionately. All during the ordeal, for such it was to the overwrought girl, Gek stood with his eyes fixed upon her. It is wonderful, he said, when she had finished, but I did not tell Ludd. You've noticed that I did not tell Ludd about it. Had he known, he would have had you singed him, and that would have resulted in your being kept with him that he might hear you sing whenever he wished, but now I can have you all the time. How do you know he would like my singing, she asked. He would have to, replied Gek. If I like a thing, he has to like it. Or are we not identical, all of us? The people of my race do not like all the same things, said the girl. How strange, Comben and Gek. All kaldanes like the same things and dislike the same things. If I discover something new and like it, I know that all kaldanes will like it. That is how I know that Ludd would like your singing. You see, we are all exactly alike. But you do not look like Ludd, said the girl. Ludd is king. He is larger and more gorgeously marked. But otherwise he and I are identical, and why not? Did not Ludd produce the egg for which I was hatched? What, queried the girl? I do not understand you. Yes, explained Gek, all of us are from Ludd's eggs. Just as all the swarm of moak are from Moak's eggs. Oh, exclaimed Tara of Helium, understandingly. You mean that Ludd has many wives and that you are the offspring of one of them. No, not that at all, replied Gek. Ludd has no wife. He lays the eggs himself. You do not understand. Tara of Helium admitted that she did not. I will try to explain then, said Gek, if you will promise to sing to me later. I promise, she said. We are not like the right course, he began. They are creatures of a low order, like yourself, and the bounce, and such things. We have no sex. Not one of us except our king, who is bisexual. He produces many eggs from which we, the workers and the warriors, are hatched. And one in every thousand eggs is another king egg, from which a king is hatched. Did you notice the sealed openings in the room where you saw Ludd? Sealed at each of those is another king. If one of them escaped, he would fall upon Ludd and try to kill him. And if he succeeded, we should have a new king. But there would be no difference. His name would be Ludd, and all would go on as before. For are we not all alike? Ludd has lived a long time, and has produced many kings. So he lets only a few live that there may be a successor to him when he dies. The others, he kills. Why does he keep more than one? queried the girl. Sometimes accidents occur, replied Gek, and all the kings that a swarm has saved are killed. When this happens, the swarm comes and obtains another king from a neighboring swarm. Are all of you the children of Ludd, she asked? All but a few who are from the eggs of the preceding king, as was Ludd. But Ludd has lived a long time, and not many of the others are left. You live a long time or short? Tara asked. A very long time. And the rikers, too. They live a long time? No. The rikers live for ten years, perhaps, he said, if they remain strong and useful. When they can no longer be of service to us, either through age or sickness, we leave them in the fields, and the bonds come at night and get them. How horrible, she exclaimed. Horrible, they repeated. I see nothing horrible about that. The rikers are but brainless flesh. They neither see nor feel nor hear. They can scarce move, but for us, if we did not bring them food, they would starve to death. They are less deserving of thought than our leather. All that they can do for themselves is to take food from a trough and put it in their mouths. But with us, look at them, and he proudly exhibited the noble figure that he surmounted, palpitant with life and energy and feeling. How do you do it? asked Tara of Helium. I do not understand it at all. I will show you, he said, and lay down upon the floor. Then he detached himself from the body, which lay as a thing dead. On his spider legs he walked toward the girl. Now look, he admonished her. Do you see this thing? And he extended what appeared to be a bundle of tentacles from the posterior part of his head. There was an aperture just back of the rikor's mouth, and directly over the upper end of his spinal column. Into this aperture I insert my tentacles and seize the spinal cord. Immediately I control every muscle of the rikor's body. It becomes my own, just as you direct the movement of the muscles of your body. I feel what the rikor would feel if he had a head and brain. If he is hurt, I would suffer if I remained connected with him, but the instant one of them is injured or becomes sick, we desert it for another. As we would suffer the pains of their physical injuries, similarly do we enjoy the physical pleasures of the rikors. When your body becomes fatigued, you are comparatively useless. It is sick you are sick. If it is killed, you die. You are the slave of a mass of stupid flesh and bone and blood. There is nothing more wonderful about your carcass than there is about the carcass of a bant. It is only your brain that makes you superior to the bant, but your brain is bound by the limitations of your body, not so ours. With us, brain is everything. 90% of our volume is brain. We have only the simplest of vital organs and they are very small, for they do not have to assist in the support of a complicated system of nerves, muscles, flesh and bone. We have no lungs, for we do not require air. Far below the levels to which we can take the rikors is a vast network of burrows, where the real life of the kaldane is lived. There the air-breathing rikor would perish as you would perish. There we have stored vast quantities of food in hermetically sealed chambers. It will last forever. Far beneath the surface is water that will flow for countless ages after the surface water is exhausted. We are preparing for the time we know must come, the time when the last vestige of the Barsoomian atmosphere is spent, when the waters and the food are gone, for this purpose where we created, that there might not perish from the planet nature's divinous creation, the perfect brain. But what purpose can you serve when that time comes, asked the girl. You do not understand, he said. It is too big for you to grasp, but I will try to explain it. Barsoom, the moons, the sun, the stars were created for a single purpose. From the beginning of time nature has labored arduously toward the consummation of this purpose. At the very beginning things existed with life, but with no brain. Gradually, rudimentary nervous systems and minute brains evolved. Evolution proceeded. The brains became larger and more powerful. In us you see the highest development. But there are those of us who believe that there is yet another step, that sometime in the far future our race shall develop into the super thing just brain. The incubus of legs and keelie and vital organs will be removed. The future caldane will be nothing but a great brain. Death, dumb, and blind it will lie sealed in its very vault far beneath the surface of Barsoom, just a great, wonderful, beautiful brain with nothing to distract it from eternal thought. You mean it will just lie there and think? cried Tara of Helium. Just that, he exclaimed. Could ought be more wonderful? Yes, replied the girl. I can think of a number of things that would be infinitely more wonderful. This is the end of The Chessmen of Mars, Chapter 5 by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Recording by Tom Weiss. The Chessmen of Mars, Chapter 6. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Tom Weiss. The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Chapter 6. In the Toils of Horror What the creature had told her gave Tara of Helium food for thought. She had been taught that every created thing fulfilled some useful purpose, and she tried conscientiously to discover just what was the rightful place of the caldane in the universal scheme of things. She knew that it must have its place, but what that place was, it was beyond her to conceive. She had to give it up. They recalled to her mind a little group of people in Helium who had foresworn the pleasures of life in the pursuit of knowledge. They were rather patronizing in their relations with those whom they thought were not so intellectual. They considered themselves quite superior. She smiled at recollection of a remark her father had once made concerning them, to the effect that if one of them ever dropped his egotism and broke it, it would take a week to fumigate Helium. Her father liked normal people, people who knew too little and people who knew too much were equally abhor. Tara of Helium was like her father in their respect, and like him too she was both sane and normal. Outside of her personal danger there was much in this strange world that interested her. The Rikors aroused her keenest pity and vast conjecture. How and from what form had they evolved? She asked yet. Sing to me again and I will tell you, he said. If Ludd would let me have you, you should never die. I should keep you always to sing to me. The girl marveled at the effect her voice had upon the creature, somewhere in that enormous brain there was a chord that was touched by melody. It was the sole link between herself and the brain when detached from the Rikor. When it dominated the Rikor it might have other human instincts, but these she dreaded even to think of. After she had sung she waited for Ghek to speak. For a long time he was silent, just looking at her through those awful eyes. I wonder, he said presently, if it might not be pleasant to be of your race, do you all sing? Nearly all a little, she said, but we do many other interesting and enjoyable things. We dance and play and work and love and sometimes we fight, for we are a race of warriors. Love, said the Kaldane. I think I know what you mean, but we, fortunately, are above sentiment when we are detached. But when we dominate the Rikor, now that is different, and when I hear you sing and look at your beautiful body I know what you mean by love. I could love you. The girl shrank from him. You promised to tell me of the origin of the Rikor, she reminded him. Ages ago, he commenced, our bodies were larger and our heads smaller. Our legs were very weak and we could not travel fast or far. There was a stupid creature that went upon four legs. It lived in a hole in the ground to which it brought its food, so we ran our burrows into this hole and ate the food it brought. But it did not bring enough for all, for itself and all the Kaldanes that lived upon it. So we had also to go abroad and get food. This was hard work for our weak legs. Then it was that we commenced to ride upon the backs of these primitive Rikors. It took many ages undoubtedly, but at last came the time when the Kaldane had found means to guide the Rikor, until presently the latter depended entirely upon the superior brain of his master to guide him to food. The brain of the Rikor, who smaller as time went on, his ears went and his eyes, for he no longer had use for them, the Kaldane saw and heard for him. By similar steps the Rikor came to go upon its hind feet that the Kaldane might be able to see farther. As the brain shrank, so did the head. The mouth was the only feature of the head that was used, and so the mouth alone remains. Members of the red race fell into the hands of our ancestors from time to time. They saw the beauties and the advantages of the form that nature had given the red race over that which the Rikor was developing into. By intelligent crossing the present Rikor was achieved. He is really solely the product of the super intelligence of the Kaldane. He is our body, to do with as we see fit, just as you do what you see fit with your body, only we have the advantage of possessing an unlimited supply of bodies. Do you not wish that you were a Kaldane? For how long they kept her in the subterranean chamber Tara of Helium did not know. It seemed a very long time. She ate and slept, and watched the interminable lines of creatures that passed the entrance to her prison. There was a laden line passing from above, carrying food, food, food. In the other line, they returned empty-handed. When she saw them, she knew it was daylight above. When they did not pass, she knew it was night, and that the bats were about devouring the Rikors that had been abandoned in the fields the previous day. She commenced to grow pale and thin. She did not like the food they gave her, it was not suited to her kind, nor would she have eaten over much palatable food for the fear of becoming fat. The idea of plumpness had a new significance here, a horrible significance. Gek noted that she was growing thin and white. He spoke to her about it, and she told him that she could not thrive thus beneath the ground, that she must have fresh air and sunshine, or she would wither and die. Evidently, he carried her words to Lud. Since it was not long after that, he told her that the king had ordered that she be confined in the tower, and to the tower she was taken. She had hoped against hope that this very thing might result from her conversation with Gek, even to see the sun again with something, but now there sprang her breast a hope that she had not dared to nurse before, while she lay in the terrible labyrinth for which she knew she could have never found her way to the outer world. But now there was some slight reason to hope. At least she could see the hills, and if she could see them, might there not come also the opportunity to reach them? If she could have but ten minutes, just ten little minutes. The flyer was still there. She knew that it must be. Just ten minutes, and she would be free, free forever from this frightful place. But the days wore on, and she was never alone, not even for half of ten minutes. Many times she planned her escape. Had it not been for the Bantz, it would have been easy of accomplishment by night. Gek always detached his body then, and sank into what seemed a semi-komatose condition. It could not be said that he slept, or at least it did not appear like sleep, since his lidless eyes were unchanged, but he lay quietly in a corner. Tara of Helium enacted a thousand times in her mind the scene of her escape. She would rush to the side of the Rikor, and seize the sword that hung in its harness. Before Gek knew what she purposed, she would have this, and then before he could give an alarm, she would drive the blade through his hideous head. It would take but a moment to reach the enclosure. The Rikors could not stop her, for they had no brains to tell them that she was escaping. She had watched from her window the opening and closing of the gate that led from the enclosure out into the fields, and she knew how the great latch operated. She would pass through and make a quick dash for the hill. It was so near that they could not overtake her. It was so easy. Or it would have been. But for the Bantz. The Bantz at night, and the workers in the fields by day. Confined of the tower, and without proper exercise or food, the girl failed to show the improvement that her captors desired. Gek questioned her in an effort to learn why it was that she did not grow round and plump, that she did not even look as well as when they had captured her. His concern was prompted by repeated inquiries on the part of Lud, and finally resulted in suggesting to Tara of Helium a plan whereby she might find a new opportunity of escape. I am accustomed to walking in the fresh air and the sunlight, she told Gek. I cannot become, as I was before, if I am to be always shut away in this one chamber, breathing poor air and getting no proper exercise. Permit me to go out in the fields every day and walk about while the sun is shining. Then I am sure I should become nice and fat. You would run away, he said. But how could I, if you were always with me, she asked. And even if I wished to run away, where could I go? I do not know even the direction of Helium. It must be very far. The very first night the Bonts would get me. Would they not? They would, said Gek. I will ask Lud about it. The following day he told her that Lud had said that she was to be taken into the fields. He would try that for a time and see if she improved. If you do not grow fatter, he will send for you anyway, said Gek. But he will not use you for food. Tara of Helium shuddered. That day and for many days thereafter she was taken from the tower through the enclosure and out into the fields. Always was she alert for an opportunity to escape, but Gek was always close by her side. It was not so much his presence that deterred her from making the attempt as the number of workers that were always between her and the hills where the flyer lay. She could easily have eluded Gek, but there were too many of the others. And then, one day, Gek told her, as he accompanied her into the open, that this would be the last time. Tonight you go to Lud, he said. I am sorry, as I shall not hear you sing again. Tonight she scarce breathed the word, yet it was vibrant with horror. She glanced quickly toward the hills. They were so close. Yet between were the inevitable workers, perhaps a score of them. Let us walk over there, she said, indicating them. I should like to see what they are doing. It is too far, said Gek. I hate the sun. It is much pleasanter here where I can stand beneath the shade of this tree. All right, she agreed. Then you stay here, and I will walk over. It will take me but a minute. No, he answered. I will go with you. You want to escape, but you are not going to. I cannot escape, she said. I know it, agreed Gek, but you might try. I do not wish you to try. Possibly. It will be better if we return to the tower at once. It will go hard with me should you escape. Tara of Helium saw her last chance fading into oblivion. There would never be another after the day. She cast about for some pretext to lure him even a little nearer to the hills. It is very little that I ask, she said. Tonight you will want me to sing to you. It will be the last time. If you do not let me go and see what those kaldanes are doing, I shall never sing to you again. Gek hesitated. I will hold you by the arm all the time, then, he said. Why, of course, if you wish, she has said it. Come. The two moved toward the workers and the hills. The little party was digging tubers from the ground. She noted this, and that early always they were stooped low over their work. The hideous eye spent upon the upturned soil. She led Gek quite close to them, pretending that she wished to see exactly how they did the work, and all the time he held her tightly by her left wrist. It is very interesting, she said, to the sigh, and then suddenly look, Gek, and point it quickly back in the direction of the tower. The kaldane, still holding her, turned half away from her to look in the direction she had indicated, and simultaneously, with the quickness of a bounce, she struck him with her right fist, back by every ounce of strength she possessed, struck the back of the pulpy head just above the collar. The blow was sufficient to accomplish her design, dislodging the kaldane from its riker and tumbling it to the ground. Instantly the grass upon her wrist relaxed as the body, no longer controlled by the brain of Gek, stumbled aimlessly about for an instant before it sank to its knees and then rolled over on its back. But Tara of Helium waited not to note the full results of her act. The instant the fingers loosened upon her wrist, she broke away and dashed toward the hills. Simultaneously, a warning whistle broke from Gek's lips, and an instant response, the workers leaped to their feet, went almost in the girl's path. She dodged the outstretched arms and was away again toward the hills and freedom when her foot caught in one of the hoe-like instruments with which the soil had been upturned and which had been left half embedded in the ground. For an instant she ran on, stumbling in a mad effort to regain her equilibrium, but the upturned furrows caught her feet again she stumbled and this time went down, and as she scrambled to rise again a heavy body fell upon her and seized her arms. A moment later she was surrounded and dragged to her feet, and as she looked around she saw Gek crawling to his prostrate rikor. A moment later he advanced to her side. The hideous face, incapable of registering emotion, gave no clue to what was passing in the enormous brain. Was he nursing thoughts of anger, of hate, of revenge? Tara of Helium could not guess, nor did she care. The worst had happened. She had tried to escape and she failed. There would never be another opportunity. Come, said Gek, we will return to the tower. The deadly monotone of his voice was unbroken. It was worse than anger. For it revealed nothing of his intentions. It but increased her horror of these great brains that were beyond the possibility of human emotions. And so she was dragged back to her prison in the tower and Gek took up his vigil again, squatting by the doorway. But now he carried a naked sword in his hand and did not quit his rikor, only to change to another that he had brought to him when the first gave indications of weariness. The girl sat looking at him. He had not been unkind to her, but she felt no sense of gratitude, nor, on the other hand, any sense of hatred. The brains, incapable themselves of any of the finer sentiments, awoke none in her. She could not feel gratitude, or affection, or hatred of them. There was only the same unceasing sense of horror in their presence. She had heard great scientists discuss the future of the Red Race, and she recalled that some had maintained that eventually the brain would entirely dominate the man. There would be no more instinctive acts or emotions. Nothing would be done on impulse. But on the contrary, reason would direct our every act. The propounder of the theory regretted that he might never enjoy the blessings of such a state which, he argued, would result in the ideal life for mankind. Tara of Helium wished with all her heart that this learned scientist might be here to experience to the full the practical results of the fulfillment of his prophecy. Between the purely physical Rikor and the purely mental Chaldane there was little choice, but in the happy medium of normal an imperfect man, as she knew him, lay the most desirable state of existence. It would have been a splendid object lesson, she thought, to all those idealists who seek mass perfection in any phase of human endeavor. Since here they might discover the truth that absolute perfection is as little to be desired as is its antithesis. Gloomy were the thoughts that filled the mind of Tara of Helium, as she awaited the summons from Ludd, the summons that could mean for her but one thing—death. She guessed why he had sent for her, and she knew that she must find the means for self-destruction before the night was over. But still she clung to hope and to life. She would not give up until there was no other way. She startled Gek once by exclaiming aloud, almost fiercely, I still live. What do you mean? asked the Chaldane. I mean just what I say, she replied. I still live, and while I live I may still find a way. Dead, there is no hope. Find a way to what? he asked. To life and liberty and my own people, she responded. None who enters Van Toom ever leaves, he droned. She did not reply, and after a time he spoke again. Sing to me, he said. It was while she was singing that four warriors came to take her to Ludd. They told Gek that he was to remain where he was. Why? asked Gek. You have displeased Ludd, replied one of the warriors. How? demanded Gek. You have demonstrated a lack of uncontaminated reasoning power. You have permitted sentiment to influence you, thus demonstrating that you are a defective. You know the fate of defectives. I know the fate of defectives, but I am no defective, insisted Gek. You permitted the strange noises which issue from her throat to please and soothe you, knowing well that their origin and purpose had nothing whatever to do with logic or the powers of reason. This in itself constitutes an unimpeachable indictment of weakness. Then, influenced doubtless by an illogical feeling of sediment, you permitted her to walk abroad in the fields to a place where she was able to make an almost successful attempt to escape. Your own reasoning power, were it not defective, would convince you that you are unfit. The natural and reasonable consequence is destruction. Therefore, you will be destroyed in such a way that the example will be beneficial to all the other kaldanes of the swarm of Ludd. In the meantime, you will remain where you are. You are right, said Gek. I will remain here until Ludd sees that you destroy me in the most reasonable manner. Tara of Helium shot a look of amazement at him as they led her from the chamber. Over her shoulder she called back to him, remember Gek, you still live. Then they led her along the interminable tunnels to where Ludd awaited her. When she was conducted into his presence, he was squatting in a corner of the chamber upon his six spidery legs. Near the opposite wall lay his rikor, its beautiful form trapped in gorgeous harness, a dead thing without a guiding kaldane. Ludd dismissed the warriors who had accompanied the prisoner. Then he sat with his terrible eyes fixed upon her, and without speaking for some time. Tara of Helium could but wait. What was to come, she could only guess. When it came would be sufficiently the time to meet it. There was no necessity for anticipating the end. Presently, Ludd spoke. You think to escape, he said, in the deadly, expressionless monotone of his kind, the only possible result of orally expressing reason, uninfluenced by sediment. You will not escape. You are merely the embodiment of two imperfect things, an imperfect brain and an imperfect body. The two cannot exist together in perfection. There you see a perfect body, he pointed toward the rikor. It has no brain. Here, and he raised one of his keelie to his head, is the perfect brain. It needs no body to function perfectly and properly as a brain. You would pit your feeble intellect against mine. Even now you are planning to slay me. If you are thwarted in that, you expect to slay yourself. You will learn the power of mind over matter. I am the mind. You are the matter. What brain you have is too weak and ill-developed to deserve the name of brain. You have permitted it to be weakened by impulsive acts dictated by sediment. It has no value. It has practically no control over your existence. You will not kill me. You will not kill yourself. When I am through with you, you shall be killed if it seems the logical thing to do. You have no conception of the possibilities for power which lie in a perfectly developed brain. Look at that rikor. He has no brain. He can move but slightly of his own volition. An inherent mechanical instinct that we have permitted to remain in him allows him to carry food to his mouth, but he could not find food for himself. We have to place it within his reach and always in the same place. Should we put food at his feet and leave him alone, he would starve to death. But now watch what a real brain may accomplish. He turned his eyes upon the rikor and squatted there, glaring at the insensate thing. Presently, to the girl's horror, the headless body moved. It rose slowly to its feet and crossed the room to look. It stooped and took the hideous head in its hands. It raised the head and set it on its shoulders. What chance have you against such power? asked Lud. As I did with the rikor, so can I do with you. Tara of Helium made no reply. Evidently, no vocal reply was necessary. You doubt my ability, stated Lud, which was precisely the fact, though the girl had only thought it, she had not said it. Lud crossed the room and lay down. Then he detached himself from the body and crawled across the floor until he stood directly in front of a circular opening, through which he had seen him emerge the day that she had first been brought to his presence. He stopped there and fastened his terrible eyes upon her. He did not speak, but his eyes seemed to be boring straight to the center of her brain. She felt an almost irresistible force urging her toward the caldane. She fought to resist it. She tried to turn away her eyes, but she could not. They were held as in horrid fascination upon the glittering, lidless orbs of the great brain that faced her. Slowly, every step of painful struggle or resistance, she moved toward the horrific monster. She tried to cry aloud in an effort to awake her numbing faculties, but no sound passed her lips. If those eyes would but turn away, just for an instant, she felt that she might regain the power to control her steps, but the eyes never left hers. They seemed but to burn deeper and deeper, gathering up every vestige of control of her entire nervous system. As she approached a thing, it backed slowly away upon its spider legs. She noticed that its keelie waved slowly to and fro before it as it backed, backed, backed through the round aperture in the wall. Must she follow it there, too? What new and nameless horror lay concealed in that hidden chamber? No, she would not do it. Yet before she reached the wall, she found herself down and crawling upon her hands and knees straight toward the hole, from which the two eyes still clung to hers. At the very threshold of the opening, she made a last heroic stand, battling against the force that drew her on. But in the end, she succumbed. With a gasp that ended in a sob, Tara of Helium passed through the aperture into the chamber beyond. The opening was but barely large enough to admit her. Upon the opposite side, she found herself in a small chamber. Before her, squat at Lund. Against the opposite wall lay a large and beautiful male rycarp. He was without harness or other trappings. You see now, said Lund, the futility of revolt. The word seemed to release her momentarily from the spell. Quickly she turned away her eyes. Look at me, commanded Lund. Tara of Helium kept her eyes averted. She felt a new strength, or at least the diminution of the creature's power over her. Had she stumbled upon the secret of its uncanny domination over her will, she dared not hope. With eyes averted, she turned toward the aperture through which those baleful eyes had drawn her. Again Lund commanded her to stop, but the voice alone lacked all authority to influence her. It was not like the eyes. She heard the creature whistle and knew it was summoning assistance, but because she did not dare look toward it, she did not see it turn and concentrate its gaze upon the great headless body lying by the further wall. The girl was still slightly under the spell of the creature's influence. She had not regained full and independent domination of her powers. She moved as one in the throes of some hideous nightmare, slowly, painfully, as though each limb was hampered by a great weight, or as she were dragging her body through a viscous fluid. The aperture was close, so close, yet struggle as she would, she seemed to be making no appreciable progress toward it. Behind her, urged on by the malevolent power of the great brain, the headless body crawled upon all fours toward her. At last she had reached the aperture. Something seemed to tell her that once beyond it the domination of the kaldane would be broken. She was almost through it into the adjoining chamber when she felt a heavy hand close upon her ankle. The rykor had reached forth and seized her, and though she struggled, the thing dragged her back into the room with blood. It held her tight and drew her close, and then, to her horror, it commenced to caress her. You see now, she heard Ludsdahl voice, the futility of revolt and its punishment. Tara of Helium fought to defend herself, but pitifully weak were her muscles against this brainless incarnation of brute power. Yet she fought, fought on in the face of hopeless odds for the honor of the proud name she bore, fought alone, she whom the fighting men of a mighty empire, the flower of Martian chivalry, would gladly have lain down their lives to save. This is the end of the Chespit of Mars, Chapter 6, Recording by Tom Weiss. The Chestmen of Mars, Chapter 7. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Tom Weiss. The Chestmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Chapter 7. A Repellent Sight. The cruiser Vanator careened through the tempest, that she had not been dashed to the ground or twisted by the force of the elements in detangled wreckage was due entirely to the caprice of nature. For all the duration of the storm she rode, helpless derelict, upon those storm-tossed waves of wind. But for all the dangers and vicissitudes they underwent, she and her crew might have borne charmed lives, up to within an hour of the abating of the hurricane. It was then that the catastrophe occurred, a catastrophe indeed to the crew of the Vanator and the kingdom of Gaethal. The men had been without food or drink since leaving Helium, and they had been hurled about and buffeted it in their lashings until all were warned to exhaustion. There was a brief lull in the storm, during which one of the crew attempted to reach his quarters, after releasing the lashings which had held him to the precarious safety of the deck. The act in itself was a direct violation of orders, and in the eyes of the other members of the crew, the effect which came with startling suddenness took the form of a swift and terrible retribution. Scarce had the man release the safety straps ere a swift arm of the storm monster encircled the ship, rolling it over and over, with the result that the foolhardy warrior went overboard at the first turn. Unloosed from their lashing by the constant turning and twisting of the ship and the force of the wind, the boarding and landing tackle had been trailing beneath the keel, a tangled mass of cordage and leather. Upon the occasions that the Vanator rolled completely over, these things would be wrapped around her until another revolution in the opposite direction, or the wind itself, carried them once again clear of the deck to trail, whipping in the storm beneath the hurtling ship. Into this fell the body of the warrior, and as a drowning man clutches at a straw, so the fellow clutched at the tangled cordage that caught him and arrested his fall. With the strength of desperation he clung to the cordage, seeking frantically to entangle his legs and body in it. With each jerk of the ship, his handholds were all but torn loose, and though he knew that eventually they would be, and that he must be dashed to the ground beneath, yet he fought with the madness that is born of hopelessness for the pitiful second which but prolonged his agony. It was upon this site then that gay hand of Gaethal looked over the edge of the careening deck of the Vanator, as he sought to learn the fate of his warrior. Lashed to the gunwale close at hand a single landing leather that had not fouled the tangled mass beneath whipped free from the ship's side, the hooks snapping at its outer end. The jet of Gaethal grasped the situation in a single glance. Below him one of his people looked into the eyes of death. To the jet's hand laid the means for succor. There was no instance hesitation. Casting off his deck lashings he seized the landing leather and slipped over the ship's side. Swinging like a bob upon a mad pendulum he swung far out and back again, turning and twisting three thousand feet above the surface of Barsoom, and then at last the thing he had hoped for occurred. He was carried within reach of the courtage where the warrior still clung, though with rapidly diminishing strength. Catching one leg on a loop of the tangled strands, Gaethan pulled himself close enough to seize another quite near to the fellow. Clinging precariously to this new hold, the jet slowly drew in the landing leather, down which he had clambered until he could grasp the hook at its end. This he fastened to a ring in the warrior's harness, just before the man's weakened fingers slipped from their hold upon the courtage. Temporarily, at least, he had saved the life of his subject, and now he turned his attention toward ensuring his own safety. Inextricably he entangled in the mess to which he was clinging were numerous other landing hooks, such as he had attached to the warrior's harness, and with one of these he sought to secure himself, until the storm should have baited sufficiently to permit him to climb to the deck. But even as he reached for one that swung near him, the ship was caught in a renewed burst of the storm's fury. The thrashing courtage whipped and snapped to the lunging of the great craft, and one of the heavy metal hooks, lashing through the air, struck the jet of Gathall, fairer between the eyes. Momentarily stunned, Gahan's fingers slipped from their hold upon the courtage, and the man shot downward through the thin air of dying Mars toward the ground, three thousand feet beneath, while upon the deck of the rolling Vanator, his faithful warriors clung to their lashings, all unconscious of the fate of their beloved leader. Nor was it until more than an hour later, after the storm had materially subsided, that they realized he was lost, for knew the self-sacrificing heroism of the act that had sealed his doom. The Vanator now rested upon an even keel as she was carried along by a strong though steady wind. The warriors had cast off their deck lashings, and the officers were taking account of losses and damage when a weak cry was heard from oversides, attracting their attention to the man hanging in the courtage beneath the keel. Strong arms hoisted him to the deck, and then it was that the crew of the Vanator learned of the heroism of their jet and his end. How far they had traveled since his loss they could only vaguely guess, nor could they return in search of him in the disabled condition of the ship. It was a sadden company that drifted onward through the air toward whatever destination fate was to choose for them. And Gahan, Jed of Gathol, what of him? Slummit-like he fell for a thousand feet, and then the storm seized him in its giant clutch and bore him far aloft again. As a bit of paper, borne upon a gale, he was tossed about in mid-air the sport and plaything of the wind. Over and over it turned him, and upward and downward it carried him, but after each new sally of the element he was brought nearer to the ground. The freaks of cyclonic storms are the rule of cyclonic storms. Demolish giant trees, and in the same gusts they transport frail infants for miles and deposit them unharmed in their wake. And so it was with Gahan of Gathol. Expecting momentarily to be dashed to destruction, he presently found himself deposited gently upon the soft ochre moss of a dead sea-bottom, bodily no worse off for his harrowing adventure than in the possession of a slight swelling upon his forehead where the metal hook had struck him. Scarcely able to believe that fate had dealt dust gently with him, the jet arose slowly, as though more than half convinced that he should discover crushed and splintered bones that would not support his weight. But he was intact. He looked about in a vain effort at orientation. The air was filled with flying dust and debris. The sun was obliterated. His vision was confined to a radius of a few hundred yards of ochre moss and dust-filled air. Five hundred yards away, in any direction, there might have arisen the walls of a great city, and he not known it. It was useless to move from where he was until the air cleared, since he could not know in what direction he was moving. And so he stretched himself upon the moss and weighed it, pondering the fate of his warriors and his ship, but giving little thought to his own precarious situation. Blash to his harness were his swords, his pistols, and a dagger, and in his pocket pouch a small quantity of the concentrated rations that form a part of the equipment of the fighting men of Barsoom. These things together with trained muscles, high courage, and an undaunted spirit sufficed him for whatever it misadventures might lie between him and Gaethal, which lay in what direction he knew not, nor at what distance. The wind was falling rapidly, and with it the dust had obscured the landscape. That the storm was over he was convinced, but he chafed at the inactivity the low visibility put upon him, nor did conditions better materially before night fell, so that he was forced to await the new day at the very spot at which the tempest had deposited him. Without his sleeping silks and furs he spent a far from comfortable night, and it was with feelings of unmixed relief that he saw the sudden dawn burst upon him. The air was now clear, and in the light of the new day he saw an undulating plane stretching in all directions about him, while to the northwest there were barely discernible the outlines of low hills. Toward the southeast of Gaethal was such a country, and as Gahan surmised the direction and the velocity of the storm to have carried him somewhere in the vicinity of the country he thought he recognized, he assumed that Gaethal lay behind the hills he now saw, whereas in reality it lay far to the northeast. It was two days before Gahan had crossed the plane and reached the summit of the hills from which he hoped to see his own country, only to meet at last with disappointment. Before him stretched another plane of even greater proportions than that he had but just crossed and beyond this other hills. In one material respect this plane differed from that behind him in that it was dotted with occasional isolated hills. Convinced however that Gaethal lays somewhere in the direction of his search he descended into the valley and bent his steps toward the northwest. For weeks Gahan of Gaethal crossed valleys and hills in search of some familiar landmark that might point his way toward his native land, but the summit of each succeeding ridge revealed but another unfamiliar view. He saw few animals and no men until he finally came to the belief that he had fallen upon that fabled area of ancient Barsoom which lay under the curse of her olden gods, the once rich and fertile country whose people in their pride and arrogance had denied the deities and whose punishment had been extermination. And then one day he scaled low hills and looked into an inhabited valley, a valley of trees and cultivated fields and plots of ground enclosed by stone walls surrounding strange towers. He saw people working in the fields but he did not rush down to greet them. First he must know more of them and whether they might be assumed to be friends or enemies. Hidden by concealing shrubbery he crawled to a vantage point upon a hill that projected further into the valley and here he lay upon his belly watching the workers close to him. They were still quite a distance from him and he could not be quite sure of them but there was something burging upon the unnatural about them. Their heads seemed out of proportion to their bodies too large. For a long time he lay watching them and ever more forcibly it was born in upon his consciousness that they were not as he and that it would be rash to trust himself among them. Presently he saw a couple appear from the nearest enclosure and slowly approached those who were working nearest to the hill where he lay in hiding. Immediately he was aware that one of these differed from all the others. Even at the greater distance he noted that the head was smaller and as they approached he was confident that the harness of one of them was not as the harness of its companion or of that of any of those who tilled the fields. The two stopped often apparently in argument as though one would proceed in the direction that they were going while the other demured but each time the smaller one reluctant percent from the other and so they came closer and closer to the last line of workers toiling between the enclosure from which they had come and the hill where gay hand of gay thaw lay watching and then suddenly the smaller figure struck its companion full in the face gay hand horrified saw the latter's head topple from its body saw the body stagger and fall to the ground the man half rose from his concealment the better to view the happening in the valley below the creature that had felt its companion was dashing madly in the direction of the hill upon which he was hidden it dodged one of the workers that sought to seize it gay hand hoped that it would gain its liberty why he did not know other than at closer range it had every appearance of being a creature of his own race then he saw it stumble and go down and instantly its pursuers were upon it then it was that gay hands eyes chance to return to the figure of the creature the fugitive had fell what horror was this that he was witnessing or were his eyes playing some ghastly joke upon him no impossible though it was it was true the head was moving slowly to the fallen body it placed itself upon the shoulders the body rose and the creature seemingly as good as new ran quickly to where its fellows were dragging the hapless captive to its feet the watcher saw the creature take its frister by the arm and lead it back to the enclosure and even across the distance that separated them from him he could note dejection and utter hopelessness in the bearing of the prisoner and two he was half convinced that it was a woman perhaps a red Martian of his own race could he be sure that this was true he must make some effort to rescue her even though the customs of his strange world required it only in case she was of his own country but he was not sure she might not be a red Martian at all or if she were it was as possible that she sprang from an enemy people as not his first duty was to return to his own people with as little personal risk as possible and though the thought of adventure stirred his blood he put the temptation aside with a sigh and turned away from the peaceful and beautiful valley that he longed to enter for it was his intention to skirt its eastern edge and continue his search for gaythol beyond as gayhan of gaythol turned his steps along the southern slopes of the hills that bound band tomb upon the south and east his attention was attracted toward a small cluster of trees a short distance to his right below sun was casting long shadows it would soon be night the trees were off the path that he had chosen and he had little mind to be diverted from his way but as he looked again he hesitated there was something there besides bowls of trees and underbrush there were suggestions of familiar lines of the handicraft of man gayhan stopped and strained his eyes in the direction of the thing that had arrested his attention no he must be mistaken the branches of the trees and a low bush had taken on an unnatural semblance in the horizontal rays of the setting sun he turned and continued on his way but as he cast another side glance in the direction of the object of his interest the sun's rays were shot back into his eyes from a glistening point of radiance among the trees gayhan shook his head and walked quickly toward the mystery determined now to solve it the shining object still lured him on and when he had come closer to it his eyes went wide in surprise for the thing they saw was not else than the jewel-encrusted emblem upon the prowl of a small flyer gayhan his hand upon his short sword moved silently forward but as he neared the craft he saw that he had not to fear for it was deserted then he turned his attention toward the emblem as its significance was flashed to his understanding his face paled and his heart went cold it was the insignia of the house of the warlord of barsoom instantly he saw the dejected figure of the captive being led back to her prison in the valley just beyond the hills terror of helium and he had been so near to deserting her to her fate the cold sweat stood in beads upon his brow a hasty examination of the deserted craft unfolded to the young jed the whole tragic story the same tempest that had proved his undoing had borne terror of helium to this distant country here doubtless she had landed in hope of obtaining food and water since without a propeller she could not hope to reach her native city or any other friendly port other than by the mirrors caprice of fate the flyer seemed intact except for the missing propeller and the fact that it had been carefully moored in the shelter of the clump of the trees indicated that the girl had expected to return to it while the dust and leaves upon its deck spoke of the long days and even weeks since she had landed mute yet eloquent proofs these things that terror of helium was a prisoner and that she was the very prisoner whose bold dash for liberty he had so recently witnessed he now had not the slightest doubt the question now revolved solely about her rescue he knew to which tower she had been taken that much and no more of the number the kind or the disposition of her captors he knew nothing nor did he care for Tara of helium he would face a hostile world alone rapidly he considered several plans for suckering her but the one that appealed most strongly to him was that which offered the greatest chance of escape for the girl should he be successful in reaching her his decision reached he turned his attention quickly toward the flyer casting off its lashings he dragged it out from beneath the trees and mounting to the deck tested out the various controls the motor started at a touch and purred sweetly the buoyancy tanks were well stocked and the ship answered perfectly to the controls which regulated her altitude there was nothing needed but a propeller to make her fit for the long voyage to helium Gahan shrugged impatiently there must not be a propeller within a thousand hods but what mattered it the craft even without a propeller would still answer the purpose his plan required of it provided the captors of Tara of helium were a people without ships and he had seen nothing to suggest that they had ships the architecture of their towers and enclosures assured him that they had not the sudden barsoomian night had fallen clurus rode majestically the high heavens the rumbling roar of a bounce reverberated among the hills gahan of gathol let the ship rise a few feet from the ground then seizing a bow rope he dropped over the side to tow the little craft was now a thing of ease and as gahan moved rapidly toward the brow of the hill above bantum the flyer floated behind him as lightly as a swan upon a quiet lake now down the hill toward the tower dimly visible in the moonlight the gatholian turned his steps closer behind him sounded the roar of the hunting bond he wondered if the beast sought him or was following some other spore he could not be delayed now by any hungry beast of prey for what might that very instant be befalling Tara of helium he could not guess and so he hastened his steps but closer and closer came the horrid screams of the great carnivore and now he heard the swift fall of padded feet upon the hillside behind him he glanced back just in time to see the beast break into a rapid charge his hand leaped to the hilt of his long sword but he did not draw for in the same instant he saw the futility of arm resistance since behind the first bond came a herd of at least a dozen others there was but a single alternative to a futile stand and that he grasped in the instant that he saw the overwhelming numbers of his antagonists springing lightly from the ground he swarmed up the rope toward the bow of the flyer his weight drew the craft slightly lower and at the very instant that the man drew himself to the deck at the bow of the vessel the leading bond sprang for the stern Gahan leaped to his feet and rushed toward the great beast in the hope of dislodging it before it had succeeded in clamoring aboard at the same instant he saw that others of the bonds were racing toward them with the quite evident intention of following their leader to the ship's deck should they reach it in any numbers he would be lost there was but a single hope leaping for the altitude control Gahan pulled it wide simultaneously three bombs leap for the deck the craft rose swiftly Gahan felt the impact of a body against the keel followed by the soft thuds of the great bodies as they struck the ground beneath his act had not been an instant too soon and now the leader had gained a deck and stood at the stern with glaring eyes and starling jaws Gahan drew his sword the beast possibly disconcerted by the novelty of its position did not charge instead it crept slowly towards its intended prey the craft was rising and Gahan placed a foot upon the control and stopped the ascent he did not wish to chance rising to some higher air current that would bear him away already the craft was moving slowly toward the tower carried thither by the impetus of the bounce heavy body leaping upon it from a stern the man watched the slow approach of the monster the slavering jaws the malignant expression of the devilish face the creature finding the deck stable appeared to be gaining confidence and then the man leaped suddenly to one side of the deck and the tiny flyer healed as suddenly in response the box slipped and clutched frantically at the deck Gahan leaped in with his naked sword the great beast caught itself and reared upon its hind legs to reach forth and seize this presumptuous mortal that dared question its right to the flesh it craved and then the man sprang to the opposite side of the deck the bath toppled sideways at the same instant that it attempted to spring a raking talon passed close to Gahan's head at the moment that his sword lunged through the savage heart and as the warrior wrenched his blade from the carcass it slipped silently over the side of the ship a glance below showed that the vessel was drifting in the direction of the tower to which Gahan had seen the prisoner led in another moment or two it would be directly over it the man sprang to the control and let the craft drop quickly toward the ground where followed the bonds still hot for their prey to land outside the enclosure spelled certain depth while inside he could see many forms huddled upon the ground as in sleep the ship floated now but a few feet above the wall of the enclosure there was nothing for it but to risk all on a bold bid for fortune or drift helplessly pass without hope of returning through the bond infested valley from many points of which he could now hear the roars and growls of these fierce barsoomian lions slipping over the side Gahan descended by the trailing anchor rope until his feet touched the top of the wall where he had no difficulty in arresting the slow drifting of the ship then he drew up the anchor and lowered it inside the enclosure still there was no movement upon the part of the sleepers beneath they lay as dead men dull lights shown from openings in the tower but there was no sign of guard or a waking inmate clinging to the rope Gahan lowered himself within the enclosure where he had his first close view of the creatures lying there in what he had thought sleep with a half smothered exclamation of horror the man drew back from the headless bodies of the rikors at first he thought them the corpses of decapitated humans like himself which was quite batting up but when he saw them move and realized that they were endowed with life his horror and disgust became even greater here then was the explanation of the thing he had witnessed that afternoon when Tara of Helium had struck the back to its body and to think that the pearl of Helium was in the power of such hideous things as these again the man shuddered but he hastened to make fast the flyer clamor again to its deck and lower it to the floor of the enclosure then he strode toward a door in the base of the tower stepping lightly over the recumbent forms of the unconscious rikors and crossing the threshold disappeared within this is the end of the Chessman of Mars chapter 7 recording by Tom Weiss