T2 Return To Mars

by Captain W E Johns

  That must have been the equipment we saw,' said Tiger. If that's a sample of what they can do I shall do my best to keep friendly with them,'

  asserted Toby.

  'Vargo warned us that they could scorch the surface off the Earth,'

  reminded Rex.

  The Professor smiled wanly. 'After that awful fright I think we can congratulate ourselves on a good day's work.'

  Just imagine if that thing had hit London,' muttered Rex.

  'It's better not to imagine it,' returned the Professor, with a wry smile. 'Well, we may have saved our charming planet but I doubt if we shall get any thanks for it.'

  'Isn't it time we were thinking of going back to it?' said Tiger.

  The Professor agreed, but pointed out that there were one or two things to settle with their new-found friends.

  The Minoan ship sped through space on its homeward journey and the Spacemaster went with it. 14 Fun on wings Three days were spent on Mino, most of the time discussing the future of Earth and Mars, absurd though it may sound. With Vargo acting as interpreter, the Councilors, with their faultless memories, soon had a working knowledge of English, and the Professor was in his element, exchanging scientific information and planning the restoration of Mars.

  More than once Rex found himself wondering how the people at home would behave should they learn they were at the mercy of an older civilization, and that their future was being arranged and safeguarded by an unknown, untidy little man, with eccentric habits but a fine brain.

  It was fortunate, the Professor told the others, that their hosts had no particular interest in Earth, and certainly no ideas of conquest, for this made it easy for him to persuade them to keep away for fear they alarmed the people, who had enough troubles on their own planet. The only man against a pacific policy was Rolto, and from him, now, stated the Council, they had nothing to fear. If he persisted in his behaviour he would be marooned on one of the outer planetoids, for that was how they dealt with disturbers of the peace.

  In return for the promise not to interfere with Earth, the Professor said he had entered into certain obligations regarding Mars, which was now to be made habitable; for the Minoans, with a growing population and an atmosphere that was becoming thinner, could not stay on a cluster of planetoids the future of which was uncertain. The danger lay in their small size. Even a near miss from collision might upset the whole constellation. Yet they did not want to leave the Solar System that was their original home. The only major planet on which life would be bearable was Mars. The others were either too hot or too cold.

  There was no reason why Mars should not be repopulated now it had been shown that the mosquitoes could be brought under control, the Professor had declared. He would help in its re-establishment.

  The trouble with the Minoans had been that they had no insecticide. It was so long since they had needed such a remedy that the old formulae, if they had ever existed, had been forgotten. The Professor, therefore, was going to supply what was necessary. Fertilizers and seeds would also be provided. There was nothing wrong with the soil of Mars. All it needed to make it fertile was water, and this could be done by irrigation. The fact that the planet was slowly improving its atmosphere by attracting to itself more oxygen, which occurred in frozen particles in space, was all to its advantage. The scientists, once established, might help in this by producing air from elements in the ground.

  There was some talk of Vargo going with them to Earth, but this was held to be too dangerous, for several reasons. The high pressure and humidity to which he was unaccustomed might give him pneumonia; or he would probably die from one of the common ailments against which his blood had no inherited immunity. He would be more use on Mars, it was decided, where he would be available when the Spacemaster returned. He would be taken in the Minoan ship which was to accompany the Spacemaster at least as far as Mars, to hasten the journey.

  During this period of waiting for the Professor to conclude his negotiations, in which the others took little part, Rex had two adventures that he was unlikely ever to forget. The first taught him that the Minoans could laugh. It came about like this.

  He was standing near the Spacemaster with Toby. As a matter of detail they were wondering why the dubious expressions on the faces of two scientists who had just examined the ship, tapping the sheet-steel walls with critical fingers. The Professor, with Tiger, and Vargo acting as interpreter, were some little way off in conversation with two members of the High Council.

  A movement on a high building on the far side of the square caught Rex's eye, and he clutched Toby's arm when he saw a youth of about his own size poised precariously, arms to sides, on the edge of the flat roof. 'Look!

  'he said tersely. He's going to commit suicide! Oh!' His voice rose to a cry of horror as the youth launched himself into space.

  Then the cry died on his lips as the ' suicide ' threw out a pair of wings in a beautiful swallow dive and soared gracefully towards them.

  'No,' said Rex firmly. `No. It isn't true.'

  'It is, you know,' returned Toby. He was smiling.

  'I still don't believe it,' declared Rex. These people may fly saucers but they're not angels.'

  Those wings are artificial.'

  So what?'

  'Why not? Don't forget the size of the thing you're standing on. Your weight, for a guess, is about ten pounds. There's plenty of atmosphere, so you wouldn't need much in the way of wing surface to make you airborne. You could do that on Earth if you had arms strong enough to support a pair of aircraft wings.'

  The human glider did a pretty circuit of the square, wings outspread, and then deliberately zoomed them. Rex caught a glimpse of a cream-coloured face with laughing blue eyes framed in flowing golden hair. Good Lor !'

  he ejaculated. It's a girl.'

  'And a very nice piece of homework too, as the RAF boys would say,'

  answered Toby approvingly. 'She's just about your cup of tea. Go and have a word with her.'

  By this time the girl had made a perfect two-point landing near some companions who, with wings folded, were standing a short distance away.

  'Not me,' replied Rex emphatically. 'All the same, I'd like to see how those wings are attached to a human fuselage. That game must be fun.'

  'I'll call her over.' Toby beckoned.

  The girl took a short run, jumped, opened her wings and floated over.

  I will ask her to lend you her wings,' said Vargo, coming up. Which he did.

  Bubbling with merriment the girl slipped her arms out of the wings and laughing in Rex's face helped him to put them on. Somewhat red in the cheeks, for the girl was certainly pretty, Rex flapped his wings to test them.

  'What do you think you are - a cockerel?' chaffed Toby.

  'No,' answered Rex. Pm a skylark. Watch me.' So saying he sprinted a few yards, raised his wings and jumped.

  In a flash the smile on his face had given way to alarm as he found himself skimming at terrifying speed across the square, straight toward the Professor's group, still in earnest conversation. Look out!' he yelled. I can't stop.'

  The group scattered just in time. He went through them like a bullet, spinning the Professor like a top as his toe just touched his shoulder.

  This altered his course, and he found himself heading, literally, for a wall. His knowledge of aviation came to his rescue. Down went his left wing; but he overdid it, and the result was a beautiful climbing turn at the top of which he nearly stalled. Blanching when he saw how far he was from the ground he lifted his legs. This produced the dive intended; but it also resulted in a speed beyond his expectations. He fairly flashed across the square. The girl, he saw, was rocking with laughter. 'How do I get down?' he yelled.

  If anyone answered he did not hear. In the end he worked it out; but he came in much too fast. In desperation he used his feet as a tailskid, but even that didn't stop him. Toby, objecting to being used as a buffer, leapt aside. So did the girl. But she was too late. With a cry of despai
r Rex caught her fair and square. Instinctively he grabbed her in his wings to save her from falling and half lifted her off her feet. But weight told, and they finished in a heap near the Spacemaster.

  I'm sorry,' he stammered, as he helped her up. She was still laughing.

  The children on the far side of the square yelled with delight. Everyone laughed. Toby wiped tears from his eyes. The girl spoke.

  She says what's your name,' translated Vargo.

  'Rex. What's yours?'

  'Morino.'

  Tell her,' Rex told Vargo, that I'm sorry I've bent her wings.'

  Morino took him by the hand, and having straightened the wings, showed him how it should be done. The upshot of it was, he spent the next hour in a way he could not have imagined - being given dual flying instruction by a girl. They became good friends; such good friends that Rex was almost sorry when the time came to say goodbye.

  IS Forest of fear

  Rex's second adventure was more truly in the nature of one. It started when Vargo came over to him to say that a ship was about to leave for the planetoid where the vegetable world ruled supreme; the one of which he had spoken, where the trees fought each other.

  A small quantity of special wood was needed by the House of Scientists for some purpose. It was no great distance away. Would he like to go?

  As the Professor was to attend another conference Rex said he would, very much, like to see this strange place. What exactly did Vargo mean by trees fighting each other?

  Certain trees, explained Vargo, were engaged in a war of extermination to decide which of them should survive. At least, that was how it appeared.

  It was possible, he announced, to see the trees moving.

  'But how could they fight?' persisted Rex.

  They wind about each other and strive to throw each other down,' answered Vargo casually. 'In the struggle the branches can be heard crying and groaning,' he added.

  This was too much for Rex. 'What nonsense!' he exclaimed. 'Impossible!'

  The Professor, who was listening to this conversation, interposed. 'I think,' said he, looking at Rex over his spectacles, 'that the time has come for us to discard the word impossible, for surely it has been demonstrated to us that in the Universe nothing is impossible. Things that may appear impossible on Earth might well be commonplace elsewhere.

  On the other hand, I have no doubt that many things which occur daily on Earth would appear impossible to our new friends here. We must accept it as an axiom that once we have broken through the barrier of incredulity to the world of fantasy then anything and everything becomes possible.

  You may recall that at the outset of this voyage I predicted that we might see things that would overwhelm our faculties for surprise. That has come to pass. If Vargo says there is a place where the trees fight each other I accept the statement without hesitation. After all, trees are living things; and as it seems to be the nature of all living things to fight, why shouldn't trees, following the example of animals - and men

  - engage in conflict for their survival?'

  `No reason, sir, now you put it like that,' answered Rex, meekly.

  'You will see,' resumed Vargo, 'that when the wood is cut we must wait for it to die.'

  Rex stared. But he said no more.

  Tiger and Toby, having nothing to do, said they would join the party.

  'How do you land on this place?' Toby asked Vargo. `Do you drop into the middle of the battle?'

  Vargo said no. There was a landing ground, a place where nothing could grow, for the ground was a solid mass of metal. The metals had been fused in the heat of the original explosion and run together, as they had seen it happening on Jupiter. Presently they would see the same thing after the metal had become cold.

  'Does anything else live on this planet?' asked Tiger, as they walked towards the ship that had been detailed to fetch the wood.

  'Nothing,' answered Vargo. The trees were masters and nothing else was allowed to live.

  Only men were stronger because they had weapons of metal.

  What about spacesuits?' inquired Rex.

  Vargo said they would not be needed. There was, if anything, too much atmosphere, for the trees made it and renewed it constantly. It was strong air, as they would see, so strong that it was possible to stay on the place only for a short time without becoming ill.

  As he stepped into the ship Rex saw the tools that were too much for the trees. On the floor lay several axes with blades of the queer red-looking metal commonly used by the Minoans.

  The journey took only two hours, at the end of which time Rex found himself gazing with no small curiosity on the world towards which the ship was dropping. He observed that irrespective of the angle from which a planetoid was approached, at the end there was always a sensation of falling. It was the same on Earth with a parachutist, he pondered; he always fell down, regardless of from where he made his jump.

  The objective was a larger globe than he had imagined it would be, having a diameter of perhaps fifty or sixty miles. Nor was its colour, as he had supposed, unrelieved green -

  the green of the leaves of the trees that made war on each other. It now appeared that these were of many colours, presenting a sort of glorified camouflage.

  An even more remarkable feature was the spot on which the ship landed. It seemed to Rex that they were going to crash into the tops of the trees; instead of which he found himself on a place devoid of vegetation, although the colour effect was similar. The reason became apparent when, following the others, he stepped out. The ground underfoot was, as Vargo had said, metal. Not one metal but many, judging from the different colours produced by oxidization. The red rust of iron, and the green of copper, predominated.

  The air felt hot, thick, clammy, and was heavy with the stench of rotting vegetation.

  Toby sniffed. 'There's carbon dioxide here,' he murmured.

  From the nearby trees came a confused medley of sounds, grunts, groans and squeals, as if a herd of swine was foraging. Indeed, until he remembered what Vargo had said, Rex assumed that was what it was. He had little time for further observation for those members of the ship's crew who were to fetch the wood were proceeding with their task forthwith.

  With axes in their hands they strode towards the nearest trees.

  As he followed them Rex was conscious of a slight feeling of disappointment. From Vargo's description, without giving the matter serious thought, he had expected to see the trees fighting literally, visibly. This was not so. But as he drew near, and at Vargo's invitation watched closely, he could just make out a general movement, slow but deliberate. Two branches, always of a different species of tree, would press on each other, producing a grinding sound, as can happen in any forest in a high wind. But here, the one unable to take the strain would bend, and finally snap, and fall either to earth or be caught up in lower branches. The movement of these broken branches, Rex noticed, became more conspicuous. They would bend, or curl, and their leaves, collapsing, would hang limp.

  It was not easy to see exactly what was happening, for vines, or lianas, swarmed up the trees, to coil like snakes as they groped for fresh supports. Vargo warned them to watch these vines, and if they saw any coining towards them, move clear, for some were armed with ferocious thorns, which could inflict a nasty wound.

  Rex didn't take this very seriously. In fact, he smiled at the idea of being pursued by a vegetable.

  'You know,' said Toby pensively, 'what we see here is exactly what goes on in a tropical forest; the only difference is, here it has been speeded up a hundred times.'

  Standing together they now watched a spectacle which in spite of all that had been said about accepting impossibilities without surprise, caused their eyes to saucer in astonishment not unmixed with horror, and even loathing.

  A Minoan, who had obviously done this work before, advanced purposefully towards a tree. There were two such trees, standing close together. They were not big trees, as trees go, being perhaps forty
feet high. The trunks were smooth and vividly green, in contrast to the leaves, which were red. The branches, which intermingled, and also bore bright yellow fruits, were long and slender, having a diameter of no more than three or four inches where they joined the trunk.

  It struck Rex that as the Minoan advanced he kept a wary eye on the jungle, and the reason soon became apparent. From out of the undergrowth wormed a thick tendril, like the questing tentacle of an octopus.

  More followed. But the man stood his ground. As the first tendril reached him he sidestepped, and with a deft stroke severed it. At the blow, to Rex's unspeakable horror, the loose end leapt high, and falling back rolled away twisting and curling like a worm cut in halves by a gardener's spade.

  More men stepped forward, and for a little while the performance was repeated until the ground was alive with severed tendrils, coiling and writhing as if they were alive - as, in fact, as Rex realized, they were.

  But they died quickly, whereupon the workmen, with their axes tossing them aside without ceremony, made a path to the tree with the green trunk that had obviously been selected as victim.

  What followed belittled what had gone before. The leading man swung his axe. The blade went deep. The entire tree seemed to shudder. As the blade was withdrawn purple sap gushed from the wound. And so it went on, the men not employed in felling the tree lopping off tendrils that continued to advance from the forest. As the gash in the trunk became deeper more and more sap oozed from it. The effect could be seen above. The branches began to droop and the leaves to wilt, turning from red to white as they did so.

  To Rex the whole thing looked unpleasantly like murder.

  At last the stricken tree fell. Rex had a feeling that it was already dead; but that this was not so was revealed when the men began to lop off the branches, which arched and bent several times, the movement becoming more and more feeble as they bled to death.

  Vargo picked up a length and showed it to them. It would, he demonstrated, bend easily, like rubber. In that condition, he said, it could be cut or moulded to any shape. But once it had hardened, as it did very soon, it was as hard as iron. The workmen would cut the timber into convenient lengths for transport home.