1899- Journey to Mars Read online

  “Dere be foul creatures aboard the black ship.”

  “Yes, I am believing also that they are evil men.”

  “Not men, Avi. Dey be some-tin from Hell.” To take Avi’s mind off his nausea, Bixie pulled his arm and said, “Come help me.” She led him to the gunwales as the greenery and flowers scraped past the ship. She pointed at a long bank of flowers and said, “Pick them, many as you can.” They did so, and Avi followed Bixie’s example of dropping them in a pile on the deck.

  “What are they for?” Avi asked.

  “Curin’ sick folks. And spells. Some be good for magic.” They continued to pluck leaves, flowers, berries, unopened buds, some pulled plants for their roots, and even thin vines of different colors as the ship slid through the jungle, until there was a sizeable pile of them on the deck. Bixie went below deck, and returned with a burlap sack. She stuffed the gatherings inside, then tied it with a slipknot to the gunwale using a small leather string. “I be keeping it handy,” she said.

  For several minutes, John thought they had escaped the black ship, but as he sailed the Wraith up out of the jungle, he saw the black ship was coming toward them at an incredible speed, and writhing like snakes on Medusa’s head were the tentacles, already reaching toward the Wraith. “It’s coming!” He yelled.

  [ 16 ]

  The Argent zipped through the thin atmosphere at 50,000 feet, and Pat was amazed as he looked out the window. “You can see the curve of the Earth, and I think I see some stars.”

  Billy said, “You might be, we’re close to high enough for it.”

  Pat said, “And down there, the clouds look like tiny pieces of white cotton on blue porcelain. I never knew it would be so eye-catching.”

  “Pat, would you mind checking with Ekka and see how the repairs to Guthrie are coming? We’re almost ready to start down.”

  “Already? You have a true believer now, Billy. Yeah, I’ll check with her.” The lanky lawman left the seat to find Ekka and the robot, and Billy worked the bank of dials and levers in front of him.

  [ 17 ]

  Guthrie lay on a waist-high table with his detached left arm across his thighs as Ekka worked with screwdrivers, pliers and small wrenches in the hole where his arm attached. Dakota pedaled the stationary bicycle three feet away, and the cables running from the bicycle to Guthrie’s neck fed the robot’s charging cells, bringing them back to full capacity.

  Dakota said, “Can you play me one of your music songs?”

  Guthrie said, “Certainly, what would you like?”

  “One of the ragtime songs from Sedalia.”

  Ekka said, “Scott Joplin, I like him.”

  Guthrie said, “I have one that Master Joplin said he would not produce for a while, but he said I could play it for friends.”

  Dakota said, “How did you meet Mister Joplin?”

  “Father Tesla took me to meet Master Joplin at his home in Missouri, and he entertained us by playing his compositions on the piano.”

  Ekka tightened a tiny screw, then said, “What is this one called?”

  “Master Joplin named it The Entertainer. Father Tesla quite liked it.” Guthrie cocked his head slightly and opened his mouth. Scott Joplin’s catchy piano tune filled the room with an upbeat rhythm.

  Dakota pedaled to the beat, and Ekka smiled as she held out her hand so Guthrie could give his detached arm to her. Before the song had ended, Ekka slipped the final covering over the shoulder and said, “Good as new.”

  Guthrie stopped the music and sat up, moving the reattached limb. “Thank you, Ekka. And thank you, Dakota, I am at capacity now.”

  Ekka said, “It will be interesting to see how the additions to your feet work.”

  “I am eager to see as well.”

  Dakota hopped off the bike as Pat entered the room. “He looks ready to go.”

  “I am, Pat. Capacity and mobility is at one hundred percent.”

  “That’s good, because Billy said for all of us to get forward because he’s starting down.”

  Dakota said, “Yay!” and ran out of the room.

  [ 18 ]

  John Carter had time to fire both Tiger Pistols once, then the black ship slammed into them, knocking all four people to the deck in a sliding, scrambling motion that almost sent them pinwheeling into the air, but everyone caught onto something before going overboard.

  At the same time, the metal tentacles snaked across the ship, tearing apart railings, ripping the sails and pulling down the masts, which emitted sharp cracks when the poles snapped. One of the long, fluked tentacles shredded the dirigible and immediately moved to the propellers and tore them from the stern. It dropped the still-spinning blades into the green jungle a hundred feet below.

  John regained his balance the same time as Ian and both men turned to face orange-haired men descending to the Wraith’s deck on ropes. Avi and Bixie scrambled to their feet and both armed themselves with long, pointed boat-hooks.

  A tentacle tore into deck planking until it had a large hole, then the tentacle slid into the ship. Moments later, steam hissed from the opening in a heavy white plume. Avi stabbed the tentacle with the boat-hook. The tentacle jerked so fast from the hole that it pulled Avi ten feet into the air before the boat-hook came loose and he fell to the deck, still clutching the long, pointed weapon.

  The black ship’s color changed and luminescent pastel colors of green and blue and pink ran up and down the length of it. All the while, the deep, throbbing, buzzing vibration continued in the air. John threw up, but kept fighting hand to hand with one of the orange-haired men, and both Bixie and Avi staggered like drunks and held their hands over their ears. Ian ran his claymore through an orange-hair’s chest all the way to the hilt, and the violet-eyed thing continued to claw at him, trying to pull the Highlander’s arm into his mouth to bite it. It was the first time Ian had seen the fangs, and he shuddered and kicked the creature off his blade. He turned to the side and threw up, but never took his eyes off the attackers. Three of them had long arrows protruding from their backs and the fletching was visible like a corsage on their chests. “What be these demons?” Ian yelled.

  John flipped the creature he was fighting over the side, just as one of the large tentacles completely circled the girth of the frigate and began to tear the ship in half.

  The Wraith listed thirty degrees under the attack. The wood creaked and groaned, then splintered and snapped in two with a sound like gunfire, and the tentacle worked deeper into the ship’s vitals.

  Bixie stabbed her boat-hook into it and the tentacle pulled from the destruction. It moved as fast as a striking cobra and wrapped around Bixie, covering her from neck to stomach. Bixie screamed as the tentacle lifted her from the deck.

  Ian saw it and grasped a loose rigging line still hanging from the mizzenmast. He held with his left hand and swung toward the tentacle, his long sword in his right. The Highlander dropped from the rope and landed astride the metallic, writhing thing like he was on a horse. He closed two hands on the hilt and brought the colored blade down in a sweeping arc with all his strength.

  There was a squeal of metal on metal and the tentacle parted, scattering loose gears and sprockets across the deck, where they rolled down the steeply sloping wood to bounce into space and fall to the jungle below. Ian hopped off and caught Bixie, still wrapped in the tentacle’s end, before she rolled off the ship. He tore it off her and flipped the heavy thing over the side. Bixie’s skin had scrapes in places, but she was otherwise unharmed. He held her in one arm for a moment to make sure she was unhurt, then put her down. The Highlander had blood trickling from both ears. He said, “I dinnae think we will win this one, lass. Be looking for a long rope to slide to the ground.”

  The ship continued to crumble under the onslaught of the ripping, tearing tentacles, and more orange-haired men dropped from the belly of the black ship. Bixie touched Ian’s arm and pointed at the fanged, violet-eyed enemies all around them, “You be needin’ tah take off dem heads. That be
dah weakness in ‘em.”

  Ian didn’t hesitate and attacked with his sword, decapitating one after another. They fell to the deck and did not move. Bixie pulled herself along the slanting deck, stopping once to dry heave as the throbbing sound poisoned the air, then continuing until she was close to John Carter. “Captain, shoot dah eyes of dah sea monster!”

  John braced himself, threw up, then lined both Tiger Pistols on one large circular glass window of the black ship and fired as fast as he could pull the triggers. The glass spiderwebbed, then the cracks became finer and stretched all the way to the edge as Carter continued to fire. Then the glass collapsed and they could see inside. A figure sat in a tall chair. It wore what looked like a diving suit, but not a bulky one, and with a smaller helmet. The figure’s head turned toward them and John saw that it was fitted with a glass face cover, and a man’s face peered at them.

  John fired his last two pulses at the figure, but immediately two orange-haired creatures jumped in front to take the blasts. Both fell backwards to the floor, then slowly rose to stand again. Smoking holes the size of teacups showed through both of them.

  The black ship began to glow along its full length with rolling waves of various reds, from blood to pink and back again. The figure in the diving suit raised a hand to a large lever and pulled it. The tentacles moved in unison toward Avi. They extended and John knew neither he nor Ian could get there in time. Bixie screamed, “Avi!”

  Avi readied the boat-hook for a throw into the center of the tentacles, knowing it would be his last effort. The long, fluked tentacle went ahead of the others and rose in front of him, hovering like a cobra spreading its hood before attack.

  [ 19 ]

  The Argent crossed the lower tip of India and descended below the clouds as it sped through the sky and crossed over Ceylon at just under eighteen hundred miles per hour. In the distance they could make out the city of Colombo, where the prison waited with Avi.

  Guthrie noticed something below that was outside the city and in the jungle. He zoomed his eyes to see what it was. A huge, cylindrical ship was attacking a steam airship, a frigate, Guthrie noted, and several of the frigate crew were on the listing deck, fighting what looked like tentacles emanating from the black and red pulsing ship. He magnified the situation below and realized what he saw. “Billy, Avanish Rathmandu Joseph is in peril. He is on the ship below us, under attack from a much larger vessel.”

  Billy looked down, grabbed a nearby telescope to view what was happening, then tossed it aside and said, “Hang on to something!” He accelerated and put the Argent in a dive so steep and fast it reminded Ekka of a peregrine falcon flashing downward after a rabbit.

  [ 20 ]

  Avi cocked the boat-hook for the throw, and then a shadow blinked overhead and a blast of wind knocked him to the ground. He looked up and saw that most of the tentacles of the black ship were severed and the stumps writhed furiously as they withdrew into the dark maw of the vessel. Only the two long, fluke-tipped arms escaped damage, and one of them still held the Wraith.

  At the same moment, John Carter caught a glimpse of something saucer-like and then he was downed by a blast of wind. He heard a familiar sound when the huge thing passed, like that of a bullet passing close to the ear: thupp.

  He saw the object again, already impossibly far in the distance making a hard arc in the sky to come back, and he stood once more and this time held to the rail. “Come to me, all of you! We will stand together against whatever comes!”

  The other three joined him and they watched the black ship glow as red as a ruby in the sunlight and turn toward the fast approaching vessel. The vibrating air grew worse, and it was all the four of them could do to stand upright and not pass out from nausea.

  The saucer-like ship closed toward them so fast it didn’t seem possible, but the ship that glowed red did not back off, in fact it eased toward the approaching enemy.

  The Wraith continued to list and was held aloft by the single tentacle, but it was done. As soon as the tentacle released its grip, they would fall to Earth some hundred feet below. No ropes longer than twenty feet were left on the frigate, and John knew the four of them would fall with the ship.

  The red ship suddenly shot out a huge, black, billowing cloud that seemed to continue to grow and spread as it flew toward the saucer-shaped ship. Then the glowing red ship’s hull returned to an oily black. It reversed direction and rocketed away, releasing the Wraith as it departed.

  The four people held to the rail as the mangled frigate fell from the sky and they saw an impossible thing as the large saucer-shaped ship suddenly appeared under them and caught the Wraith on its upper hull. It hovered motionless in the air. John read large black letters embossed on the red-bronze colored surface of the ship that spelled ARGENT. Ian continued to hold his claymore and said, “Whatever it is, I’m happy not to be tossin’ me breakfast because of the black ship.”

  A hatch opened on the Argent. It had been so well fitted that John wasn’t able to see the seams. A head appeared, and Avi shouted, “Billy!”

  “Ye know this fella, do ye, laddy?”

  “He is my great friend from Texas, in the United States of America. Billy Gostman.”

  Billy climbed out of the hatch and said, “You folks might want to come inside. I believe that black rascal might try coming back around for you.”

  Ian looked at Bixie and said, “What’s yer read on this one, lass.”

  Bixie put her hand on his forearm and said, “Dey are good. We be safe wit dem...for now.” She went to the burlap sack tied to the gunwale and worked the slipknot to retrieve it, then tossed it over her shoulder and rejoined Ian and the others.

  [ 21 ]

  Everyone made introductions as they sat in the great room of the Argent. John said, “Thanks for the rescue. If you can set us down somewhere safer, the four of us will be out of your hair.”

  Billy said, “We can do that for you three, but we came to take Avi with us.”

  Something changed in John, and in Ian. It was subtle, but Billy, Pat, and Ekka recognized it: These two were dangerous men and they had just pushed their readiness level for violence to the edge, like shootists right before the draw. John said, “We came here for Avi. The Maharaja sent us. Avi is important to India. He has information that’s urgently needed. He will have to go with us.” Ian tickled his fingers on the hilt of the claymore.

  Ekka was nearest the Highlander, and no one noticed that she had her long-bladed knife hidden along the inside of her arm, point-up for an underhanded throw. If he moved, she would bury the knife in the hollow of the big man’s throat before he could clear the great sword. Pat stood near Guthrie, looking relaxed but ready. Billy was the most ready of all. He had already figured where his first three bullets would go. Billy said, “Not today, friend. He is with us.”

  Avi said, “I owe all of you my life, and I wish no aggravation between you. Captain John Carter, I have no information of value for the Maharaja. That information was given to Billy months ago. He has what everyone seeks: The heart of the Arcadia, plucked from the wreckage at the bottom of the sea.”

  John was taken aback for a moment. He faced Billy, “You have it?”

  “That’s what’s powering this ship.”

  “I have to take it to India. War is imminent there, and the Maharaja of Jaipur must win, for the sake of the people. It is essential. I bear you no ill will, Gostman, but our need is imperative.”

  “No more than ours. We have a friend in peril and the heart of the Arcadia is the only thing that will allow us to go where he is, and save him. You can’t have it.”

  “You would weigh the life of one man over the lives of millions?”

  “He is my friend. Nothing outweighs that.”

  John looked at Ian, then back at Billy. He sighed tiredly, “Then one of us should start the ball. I’m going to hate it when I kill you, you seem like a good man.”

  Guthrie stepped between John and Billy, “Gentlemen, pardon me
for interrupting your most interesting conversation, but we are two seconds from attack.” Everyone looked at the robot.

  The Argent scooted hard to the side as a powerful explosion hit the ship. “It’s the black ship!” Pat said as he looked out a window. She’s firing on us!”

  Billy ran to the command post and worked the controls as another powerful blast made the spaceship groan and squeal as metal buckled. Billy pushed the levers forward and the Argent accelerated, but not fast enough to escape the black ship’s next shot.

  The explosion almost rocked Billy out of his captain’s chair. Ekka slid into the co-pilots chair and said, “I will man the cannons.” She worked two spinning gears and three levers, then said, “Turn us, I am ready.”

  Billy spun the Argent on a dime and they faced the oncoming black ship. Ekka pulled the triggers and the recessed Howitzer cannons on the ship’s front belched flame and four explosive shells zipped like angry bees toward their enemy.

  A sickly green glow instantly surrounded the black ship and the Howitzer shells exploded harmlessly upon hitting it. Pat had been watching and said, “What the hell?”

  Billy worked the controls and rocketed the Argent toward Ceylon’s mountains, where there were canyons. He said, “We’ll try to lose them in the canyons and get on our way.”

  Guthrie talked as calmly as if everyone was seated at dinner, “That ship is the Kraken, built and designed by Adolph Hawken. No one really knew if it was real, but this is prima facie evidence that it is.”

  “What is the green glow that stops cannon shells?” John asked.

  Guthrie said, “It comes from the power source, which is rumored to be, at least partially, a portion of meteorite which broke apart in the sky five years, three months and two days ago. Witnesses across the world said the meteor glowed green. It was believed that any portions found retained the said glow. According to one paper written by Hawken, who located a portion of the meteorite, any fragment could be developed into a source of great power. He planned to develop it into an engine capable of sending a ship into space. He called the new source of power, cold-fusing. It appears he was successful.”