The Martian by Allen Glasser and A. R. Hilliard (fastest ebook reader TXT) 📖

from these beings that held him prisoner without a reason. At first they had seemed kind—but they were kind no longer. Something had changed them, he thought; but he could not guess what....

He had progressed less than a hundred yards when a sudden tumult of sound froze him with terror. It was coming at him through the dark, a hoarse, senseless, animal cry. And bounding toward him he saw the dark shadow of a beast. He knew instinctively that here was an unreasoning creature—and all the strength went out of him. He lay flat and limp on his face. Now he heard its panting breath, and felt the heat of it on his body....

At the same time, but only semi-consciously, he heard the loud shouts of men. As in a dream, he felt himself grasped roughly and lifted from the ground. Soon he knew that he was back in the shed again. He saw a man standing above him holding his machine.

He felt strangely detached—as if he were not there at all. He saw the man look at the machine; look at the door; look at the chain; look at the hole in the wall; look at the light cord. He saw the man connecting his machine to the light cord; he felt powerless to warn the man that he might be connecting it wrong—that there were two ways: one right, one wrong....

An explosion threw the man heavily against the wall. He could see the man struggling slowly up—coming towards him—kicking him. But he could hardly feel the kick at all—and everything got dark....

When light came back it was just a small square above him. That puzzled him, until he reached out and found wooden walls all around him—very close. He was in a box. He became suddenly fully conscious of the fact. Looking down at him from above he saw the faces of two of the men of Toon.

He cried out involuntarily, struggling to escape. One of the creatures shook a heavy piece of metal threateningly over his head. He cowered down, shuddering, at sight of the merciless gleam in its eyes. The light was blotted out, as they placed a cover over him; and he was deafened by a long and thunderous pounding.

Then began a time of horror in the darkness. His active mind had nothing to feed upon but fear. Only too clearly was it brought to him that he did not know the ways of these creatures of Toon. What was deadly fear to him might be commonplace to them. He had hoped to find them friendly, merciful—yet friendship and mercy were qualities of his own experience in a world different from theirs. Why had he thought to find them here?

He had no measure of time. For endless hours he lay there in the dark, bracing himself against the sides to protect his head and body as much as possible; for the box seemed almost constantly in motion—jolting, tilting, and bumping until he was weak and breathless from the strain.

His mind, worn out by its relentless self-torture, sank at last to semi-consciousness.

Suddenly light returned, and he was dragged roughly from his prison. He was in a large room where the combination of odor, heat, and noise was overpowering. Great numbers of the men of Toon were there, hurrying in all directions, seemingly very busy. He noted immediately that their clothing was different from that which he had seen, and wondered what the significance of that might be.... He felt strangely calm, now.

Before him was an immense, bulky man, who stood with legs apart and arms folded, staring at him with wide, unwinking eyes. This man had a face that was light red in color and rounded, almost swollen-looking in shape. He nodded, and his cheeks shook loosely. He nodded several times, and seemed very pleased. He spoke sharply; and others, standing around, sprang into action.

They brought a red cloth, and tied it around the captive's loins. They forced him to crawl back and forth on the floor, while the big man looked on, nodding and chuckling. Then the big man ran hot, cushion-like hands over his head and body; pried open his mouth; grasped his hand and shook it vigorously up and down; and, with a final nod, turned and walked away.

He understood none of this, and was very unhappy.

They placed him upon a high, draped platform, where there was a small chair and nothing else. There were a number of similar platforms in the room.

It was impossible for him to maintain his previous indifference to his surroundings. Around the walls of the room were long rows of barred enclosures, containing creatures of every conceivable size, shape, and color. Some were hideous; some were strangely beautiful; all were absorbingly interesting. For a time, he forgot everything else while he watched them and listened to the sounds that they made. Certainly, he thought, a scientist of the Loten would give twenty years of his life for the opportunity to see these creatures! Some of them were amazingly like reconstructions that had been made from fossilized bones found on the Loten.

They brought him food, which he judged must be the cooked seeds of grain. It was soft, and he forced himself to eat a little, although he was not hungry. He feared that he would have to learn to eat daily, for food concentrates seemed to be unknown here.

His mind was occupied trying to understand the meaning of this place. Great numbers of people were crowding into the room, now. Rows of them stood around his platform.

The other platforms were now occupied also. On them were beings resembling the people around them, but each one differing in some strange way from the normal. Some were enormously large, some small. And he saw one which was shaped like the men of Toon, yet was no taller than himself.

An endless stream of people surged through the room, circulating around the platforms and cages—gazing fixedly at their occupants.

He began to understand. These were exhibits—creatures strange to the crowds who came to look at them. Toon was very large; and transportation methods were poorly developed. Perhaps, therefore, these people had never seen many of the parts of their own globe.

Their staring eyes made him uncomfortable. Wherever he looked they were—staring eyes and gaping mouths. He felt suddenly ashamed. He wanted to hide himself—but they would not let him do that, he knew. How long would they keep him here, he wondered? There seemed to be no limit to the crowds. This must be a great center of population....

And in a flash he had forgotten the people, with their staring eyes, forgotten his shame, forgotten his bodily discomfort.... A center of population! Those words blazed in his mind. Once more, he knew the joy of hope.

With a sudden clear perception he realized that they could not have helped him more if they had done it consciously. He had arrived at a goal, which, a few days ago, had seemed impossible of attainment. Here, if anywhere, he would find help....

He must learn the language. That was imperative.... And again his good fortune amazed him. These people were constantly talking. His position was ideal for studying their speech. From what he already knew, it was quite simple; and it should not take long to learn enough to serve his purpose.

It took longer than he had expected, mainly because the people were not there all of the time. They came only at certain periods of the day; and he soon made a surprising discovery—that they slept during a great part of every night. In fact, almost one third of their time seemed to be spent in an unconscious state. The creatures in the cages slept even more. He could see no signs of intelligence in these caged creatures. They were dumb, and were completely dominated by the men.

He missed the sun badly. These people, in their dark houses and their draped bodies, did not seem to need it. Often he felt quite ill, but tried not to worry about his health.

At night, when alone, he practiced the sounds he had learned; and rehearsed the things he was going to say when his chance came.

He passed through a sleep period; and then, on the ninth day, decided that he was ready. To the attendant who brought his food he said:

"I talk."

The man started violently, and gaped at him.

"Talk?" he repeated blankly.

"Yes!"

The attendant looked at him uncertainly for a long time, and then walked slowly away.

He was disappointed. But he was not kept waiting long. Soon the man returned, accompanied by another.

"Blumberg wants to see you," they said. He did not understand that, and shook his head. However, they lifted him from his platform, and carried him out of the room. They took him up a long series of steps and through dark corridors, into a small room.

Here it was cool and light. In the center was a desk, and behind it sat the large man he had seen once before.

"Set him on the desk here," ordered the large man. "Now, little feller—they tell me you're talking!"

"I talk."

"Well, well, well!" said the large man jovially. "What'll we talk about?... I'm Blumberg, and I run this circus.... Who are you?"

He understood only the last words, but they were what he was waiting for.

"I am man of Loten," he said carefully. "Loten is world more far from heat star."

"What? Say that again!"

"I not live in your world—in this world...."

"The hell you don't."

Again he did not understand what the large man meant, and looked around helplessly. Then he saw a writing instrument on the desk, and picked it up. Blumberg pushed forward a piece of white paper. Quickly he drew, in its center, a large circle with lines extending from its circumference to indicate radiation. Outside it he drew four small circles at varying distances from the central one.

"Hey, Edgar—come here!" called Blumberg.

A pale young man who had been sitting in a corner approached the desk, saying, "Yes?"

He looked pleadingly at the pale young man. He placed his fingertip on the large circle, and said, "Heat star!"

"Sun," said the young man quickly.

"Sun!" he repeated gratefully. Next he indicated the third little circle from the center.

"This world?" he said.

"Earth," said the young man.

"Earth? This world is Earth?"

"Yes."

Blumberg grumbled: "What is this—a joke?"

He could not understand Blumberg. Eagerly he looked into the face of the pale young man, and indicated the fourth little circle.

"Mars," said Edgar.

"Mars!" he cried jubilantly. He pointed his finger at himself. "I am man of Mars," he said.

There was silence in the room, while they both stared at him. Then the big man began to laugh. His body shook, and his red cheeks jumped up and down.

"So you are a Martian—eh?"

"Yes—a Martian."

Blumberg was still laughing. "That oughta go big in the show—huh, Edgar?" he said.

"Yes, sir," said the young man.

"If you live on Mars, what're you doing here?"

The Martian had been expecting this question.

"They send me away to Earth."

"Why did they send you away to Earth?"

CHAPTER V. Blumberg Promises

The Martian began to speak slowly, carefully. Through long days and nights he had rehearsed his story, knowing he would have to tell it. The pale young man helped him often, at points where he lacked words....

He told of the scarcity of water on Mars—of how there was only a little, that had to be preserved carefully.

Here Blumberg interrupted. "How much water has this chap been drinking?"

"Less than a cup, sir—in almost ten days," said Edgar. "The attendant was telling me ..."

Blumberg grunted. "Go on!" he said.

He told of the social order of Mars—of the three great classes: the Aristocrats, the Scientists, and the Workers. The Aristocrats, he explained, were the rulers, who utilized the knowledge of the Scientists and the energy of the Workers to build up a State for themselves.

He told how, once a year, the water rushed down the canals from the melting polar ice caps, spreading vegetation over the face of the planet, and of how quickly this precious water disappeared, evaporated by the ever-shining sun, until there was none left for the thirsty plants, and they died. Thus, every year the famine was worse on Mars, and more Workers died.

He told how he, and other Scientists, had wanted to spread oil on the canals to stop evaporation, and of how the Aristocrats had forbidden them to do it.

He told of the plan he had conceived to control the waters at the head of the canals when the ice melted in the spring, so as to force the Aristocrats to come to terms.

And finally, he told of their premature discovery of his plan; of their great anger and fear; of their determination to punish him as no man had ever been punished before; of his banishment from the very