The Emperor of Mars

by Patrick Samphire

  I didn’t add that I had no idea if Rothan Gal was still alive. He’d been hit hard enough to bleed, but I hadn’t seen any sign of a body being dragged away.

  Captain Kol gestured us to low-slung chairs on the deck and poured us bitter green tea. I dropped into my chair.

  “Do you know who took him?” Captain Kol.

  “You remember Dr. Blood?”

  “I remember what you told us of him, and I remember his machines that hunted you.”

  “I can’t prove it,” I said, “but I think he’s the one who took Rothan Gal, or his men did. He’s been trying to persuade the museum’s curators to steal something for him. He must have taken it into his own hands when they wouldn’t.” I grimaced. “He knows we’re onto him. We saw him in town and tried to catch him, but he caught us instead. We only just escaped.”

  “Then I fear I have more bad news,” Captain Kol said. “A man was asking about your family along the docks. We told him nothing, of course. He was not of Mars, and we did not know him, but perhaps your Dr. Blood has sent men looking for you.”

  Already? He must have sent them out the moment he’d discovered we were missing. We wouldn’t be hard to track down.

  Maybe we could do something about this particular man who was searching for us, though. At least we could give the militia guards his description.

  “What did he look like?” I said.

  “Tall,” Captain Kol said. “For a native of Earth.” He held a hand to just below his shoulder. Taller than Freddie, then, and much taller than me. “Broad shoulders. He wore a wide hat to shadow his face. He has dark skin, like those of my people who live on the shores of the Hellas Sea. He has a scar.” Captain Kol drew a line across his own face from just below his left eye down across his lips to his chin. “It pulls his lips up into a smile, as though he knows something he will not share.”

  “We’ve seen him,” I said. But that didn’t make any sense. He’d been in the museum and loitering outside our house before we’d ever known Dr. Blood was in town. Did that mean Dr. Blood had been looking for us before? And why? We’d ruined his plans in the past, but if he’d wanted revenge, he’d had plenty of chances.

  “Edward,” Captain Kol said quietly. “You and Putty must not tackle this man alone. I have known many dangerous men, and I do not fear them. But this one is different. I should not like to anger him.”

  I got up from the chair. “We’ve known some dangerous men, too. I’m not afraid.” When I said it like that, I almost believed it. But actually I was frightened out of my skin. I’d thought we’d gotten away from all of this last year. I’d thought it was over.

  “Did you find anything else?” Captain Kol asked.

  “Not much.” I pulled out the sheet of paper Dr. Guzman had given me. “This is what Rothan Gal was studying when he was attacked. It was a segment of ideograms. I have no idea if it was what Dr. Blood was after or whether it was just a convenient weapon.”

  Captain Kol nodded. “Rothan Gal talked of this. He said it disturbed him.”

  I looked up at him. “Do you know what it says?”

  Captain Kol shook his head. “He had not managed to translate it. Just hints, he said. Ideas. As you see, it is damaged, and these old languages…” He shook his head. “When we find Rothan Gal, maybe he can tell you what these men wanted with it.”

  “I’ll ask again at the museum,” I said. “Someone must have seen something. You can’t just kidnap a man unnoticed.”

  “And I will search for Dr. Blood. We will find him. But, Edward, you have seen the clouds?” He pointed a long hand at the southern horizon.

  I nodded.

  “The Inundation comes. My boat cannot stay here. It is too dangerous. We must sail in a day, no more than two, or I will lose the boat. It is the home to my crewmen and crewwomen. And yet I cannot abandon Rothan Gal. We do not have much time.”

  “I know,” I said. “I know.” We had no time at all.

  11

  Attack of the Shark Beetles

  The sun was high overhead as we climbed off Captain Kol’s boat onto the wharf, and even though summer was gone, the heat pressed down on us like a mountain of sand. I started sweating within moments.

  I’d told Captain Kol that I’d ask at the museum again, but I’d already interrogated every curator I’d met. I had a horrible feeling that we’d found all the clues we were going to there, but I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know how to find Rothan Gal, I didn’t know what Dr. Blood wanted, and I didn’t know how to stop him. All I knew was that we were in danger again.

  Maybe we could get back on Captain Kol’s boat and just sail away. Pick up my family and go. I knew I was being a coward, but I didn’t know if I could go through all this again. I didn’t know if we’d survive again.

  “Come on!” Putty said, hurrying up to me. “The gallery is going to open any minute. They’re going to say how it was all thanks to me that we discovered the dragon tomb, and everyone is going to be terribly impressed.”

  I shook my head to clear the swirl of bad thoughts.

  “I think the rest of us also had something to do with it.”

  “Oh, I’m sure they’ll mention you. Come on!”

  She disappeared into a side street at a run. I took a deep breath. It would be all right. We would figure this out. The militia would deal with Dr. Blood. All I had to do was make it to the gallery opening, meet Mina to give her the key cylinder, and not lose Putty somewhere in Lunae City on the way. I took off in pursuit.

  We were rushing so fast and so determinedly that I didn’t notice the men lurking in the shadows near the mouth of a side alley until it was too late.

  One moment I had the Museum of Martian Antiquities in my sight, the next an arm had wrapped itself around my neck, choking off my breath, and I was being dragged into the darkness. I saw Putty struggling in another man’s grip. Then I was flung to the hard ground and someone kicked me in the ribs.

  Pain flared in my chest. I coughed and tried to roll away. A second kick caught me and sent me tumbling into a wall. I tasted dust and blood on my lips. I groaned, and sucked in more dust. My stomach hurt. It really hurt.

  “I’m disappointed,” a voice said.

  Blinking away tears, I rolled onto my back and squinted up.

  Lady Harleston stood above me. One of her men held Putty, who still squirmed helplessly in his grip. The other of Lady Harleston’s men stood close, ready to kick me again.

  “I warned you not to underestimate me, but you did.” She peered down at me and shook her head sadly. “I have a problem, you see. When my husband died, he left me with terrible debts. For years, he had lied to me. He said we were rich, but we did not even own the house we lived in. He had wasted every penny we had. Creditors circled me like wolf-vultures.”

  “What, you want me to feel sorry for you?” I rasped. My mouth was full of dirt from the alley. Being broke was no excuse for what she’d done to us.

  She smiled. “No. I’m simply helping you understand how serious I am. I had a choice, you see. I could throw myself on the mercy of my relatives, hang around like a mourning ghost until time and age took me. But I asked myself if that was the only role that a widow on Mars could hope for, and I decided that it was not. I swore that I would not surrender, and that I would not let anyone stop me from doing whatever I chose. Do not imagine that I have reached my position here by allowing people to cheat or underestimate me.”

  I knew I should keep my mouth shut. I was completely at her mercy, and she hadn’t proven very merciful so far. But I’d had enough.

  “Oh, please,” I spat. “That’s the most pathetic excuse I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard some pretty bad ones.” Mostly from Putty.

  Lady Harleston’s face twisted into a snarl. “I gave you the chance to return what you took from me! I would have handed you over to the militia for justice. You wouldn’t have liked it, but you would have lived. You gave up that chance.” She glanced back at the man holding Putty.
“Teach him a lesson. Kill her.”

  “No!” I screamed. Why hadn’t I just stayed quiet?

  I surged to my feet. Lady Harleston’s man swung his fist into my face. I stumbled into the wall, then pushed myself away again.

  Putty was flipping like a landed fish, biting and scratching and kicking, so her captor couldn’t get a hand free to reach the knife I saw in his belt.

  Lady Harleston’s man punched me again in the stomach. I grabbed his arm and held on. He lost his balance and we fell together to the ground, the man on top of me.

  “Must I do this myself?” Lady Harleston said. I saw her pull a long, thin blade from inside her jacket and advance on Putty.

  “Wait!” I shouted. I slammed my head into my captor’s shoulder. He grunted but didn’t let go.

  Putty kicked out, throwing her own captor off balance. He staggered back.

  “Hold her still,” Lady Harleston snapped.

  I twisted my arm, reaching inside my jacket, and tugged out the key cylinder. I was at an awkward angle, and even if I could have swung it, I couldn’t have built up enough force to hurt the man pinning me down.

  “Wait!” I called, waving the key cylinder feebly in the air. “I have it. You can take it.”

  Lady Harleston glanced back and sneered.

  “You stole irreplaceable documents. Whole segments of untranslated ideograms. Artifacts that I could have sold for hundreds of pounds. And you offer me that toy?”

  I wanted to scream. It was all I had, all I’d ever had. I hadn’t broken into her house. I hadn’t stolen from her. I had nothing more to give her. She was going to kill Putty, and there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t even move.

  “It may just be a toy,” another voice said. “But it is my toy.”

  I twisted my head. Mina stood at the end of the alley. She was holding something in both hands, but I couldn’t make it out from where I lay.

  “Who the devil are you?” Lady Harleston demanded. “Another one of their accomplices?”

  “Oh, please,” Mina said, walking toward us. “If I were looking for accomplices, do you think I’d choose these two idiots? You’re welcome to them.”

  Her glance passed coldly over me, and suddenly I could hardly breathe. She thought I was an idiot? I’d thought she liked me. All she’d wanted was the key cylinder. She’d been using me. She must have been laughing at me all along. I was worse than an idiot. I wondered if anything she’d told me was true.

  If I could have, I would have turned my head away, but the man holding me was pressing my cheek into the dirt, so I couldn’t even flinch.

  “What you’re not welcome to is that artifact,” Mina said. “It’s mine.”

  Lady Harleston turned away from Putty, her thin dagger catching the sunlight. “And how, my dear, do you propose to take it?”

  “Do you know what these are?” Mina asked conversationally. She lifted the object she was carrying. It was a jar, and inside, hundreds of small shapes darted and trembled. “They’re shark beetles. They’re not from around here, but you’re an educated woman. I’m sure you recognize them. When they’re hungry, they can tear through a man in seconds. Straight through the flesh and then up into the lungs they go. Down the mouth, up the nose, through your stomach, they don’t care. They just want to feed.” She cracked the lid of the jar, and one of the shapes darted for freedom. She snapped the lid back down just in time. “Oops.”

  “You’re bluffing,” Lady Harleston said, her eyes flicking nervously to the side.

  “Do you know the curious thing about shark beetles?” Mina said. “They absolutely hate the smell of mint-vine. They won’t go near it. That’s why I had mint-vine in my tea this morning.” She flashed a smile. “Sorry about the smell. It’s pretty vile.” She tilted her head curiously. “So, did you have mint-vine in your tea this morning?”

  “They’ll kill these two as well,” Lady Harleston warned, taking a step back. The man on top of me shifted uncomfortably.

  “You say that as though I care.” Mina’s cold gaze slipped past me again. “I’d let you kill them yourself, but really, I’m in a rush. So. Here. Catch!”

  She hoisted the glass jar full of shark beetles.

  “No!” Lady Harleston leaped back, and her man came up off me in a rush, stumbling away. I saw Putty’s captor release her.

  Lady Harleston gestured to her men, and they carefully retreated down the alley.

  “You’re going to regret this,” she said. “I’ll come after you.”

  “You could,” Mina said. “But you’d have to find me, and I already know where you live. I wonder how well you’d sleep knowing that any night these little creatures could come sailing through your bedroom window.” She lifted the jar again. “If you look for me, I’ll know about it, and they really are very hungry.”

  With a last look of pure hatred, Lady Harleston turned on her heel and strode away.

  I rolled over slowly, clutching my stomach. It still hurt to breathe.

  “We should get out of here,” Mina said, when they had gone. She held out a hand. I ignored it and pushed myself up against the wall.

  “You know,” Putty said, “those aren’t really shark beetles.”

  “They’re not?”

  “Of course not!” Mina said. “What kind of idiot carries shark beetles around the streets? They’re deadly.”

  “They’re blister bugs,” Putty said. “They look quite similar, but they only feed on sap.” She gave me a superior look. “I used to keep shark beetles in my bedroom, but I had to tell Mama they were blister beetles so she wouldn’t have convulsions. I’m surprised you didn’t know the difference, Edward.”

  “You … saved us,” I said, looking at Mina. “Again.” I’d thought she’d betrayed us. I wanted to shrivel up inside like a dragonfruit picked too late from a tree.

  Mina glanced away. “Yeah. Well.”

  “I should have trusted you more,” I said. Saying it was like chewing on desert sand. It hurt and left my mouth dry.

  She still didn’t meet my eyes. “You shouldn’t trust anyone. Especially not a thief. We’re not good people.”

  I took a step closer to her. “Yes. You are.”

  “I think,” Putty said loudly, “that I’m going to be sick.”

  I deliberately ignored her.

  “You should have this,” I said, holding out the key cylinder to Mina. “It’s yours.”

  “You mean I stole it.”

  I shrugged. “Who does it really belong to? I mean, someone dug it out of a dragon tomb, but that just means they found it first. It didn’t belong to them any more than it belongs to you. It belonged to the Ancient Martians, and…” I glanced awkwardly at her.

  Her face clouded. “You mean I’m native Martian, so that makes it mine? You think we’re all basically the same person or something?”

  “No.” I reddened. “I mean it certainly shouldn’t belong to Lady Harleston. If it’s not in the Museum of Martian Antiquities, it’s as much yours as anyone else’s.”

  She looked away again. “You shouldn’t be so nice to me. I’m just a thief.”

  “I’m going to be a thief, too,” Putty said. “I’m quite sneaky. I’m always stealing Edward’s things, and he never notices.”

  “I had something to ask you,” I said. “Not about the key. I know you don’t know what it’s for. There’s a man we need to find. We thought maybe you’d heard of him. His name is Dr. Blood.”

  Mina’s head jerked around, her eyes widening.

  I frowned. That was a … weird reaction. “You know him?”

  “No. It’s just … that name. Why would someone call themselves that?”

  I peered at her. Okay, it was a horrible name, I supposed, if you thought about it. But she looked like someone had stolen her puppy, and she wouldn’t meet my eyes. I wondered if there was something she wasn’t telling me.

  “Are you sure you haven’t heard anything?” I pressed. “We really have to find him. He’s dan
gerous. He’s already killed lots of people.”

  “I can ask around.” She still wasn’t looking at me.

  I shook my head. I had no idea why she was acting so strange, but I had more important things to worry about right now.

  We left the alley and made our way down the street beyond. A minute later, we came out into the square in front of the museum. The museum’s wide doors stood open, and several automatic carriages and mechanized carriers were drawn up nearby. A couple of tough-looking militiamen stood outside the door, holding long cudgels. The gallery opening must already be under way. Papa would be expecting us.

  “You should come in,” I said suddenly. “See the new gallery. It’s impressive.”

  Mina looked startled. “Me?” She glanced down at her clothes. Unlike mine, they were clean, but they were also cheap and patched.

  “Why not?” I said. “Why shouldn’t you?” Yes, she would stand out. Most of the guests would be from Lunae City’s high society, and I doubted there would be any native Martians there, or even half-native Martians, but Captain Kol was right. The museum contained the history of the Martian people. Mina deserved to be there.

  “You should!” Putty said enthusiastically. “I bet you’d know more about the devices in there than most of the guests. I bet you’d know more than Edward.”

  “Well, if he needs someone to explain it all to him…” Mina said with a grin. Her hands had started shaking, though, and she looked absolutely terrified. Somehow that made me feel better. It meant she was actually scared of something. Lady Harleston hadn’t bothered her, and neither had rescuing us from the gulper, but facing all those important people at the gallery opening scared her more than a pit of grasp-snakes.

  “Good,” Putty said, grabbing Mina’s hand. “Let’s get inside.”

  I hadn’t been in the gallery since it had been finished, but it was spectacular.

  The preserved dragon we had found in the tomb filled the center of the room. It was far larger than I’d remembered. Its body was bigger than a whale, and its neck swept up almost to the glass ceiling of the gallery. Arranged around it were the artifacts and devices we’d discovered in the tomb, along with great slabs of wall covered in ideograms and diagrams.