Old Mars Read online

  “Then perhaps we should stay in the Crater, as I originally wanted.”

  “We’ll decide when the time comes,” answered Scorpio.

  They soon were cruising low over the city, looking for a likely landing spot, and Scorpio found one right in the city center. He set the flyer down gently, killed the lights and motor, sat still for a few moments, and finally turned to Merlin.

  Well?

  I don’t think—began the Venusian. Then he suddenly tensed. Wait! We’re in luck!

  What is it?

  Merlin frowned as he concentrated. Three thieves, on the run from the law.

  Martians?

  Two from Titan, and an Earthman.

  How long have they been hiding here?

  Six days.

  And they’re still healthy? Okay, we can leave the flyer.

  “Looks a little like Pompeii, or maybe that deserted city on Mercury’s dark side,” commented Scorpio, staring at their surroundings.

  “If you say so,” replied Quedipai. “I have never been off the planet.”

  “It’s an interesting solar system,” said Scorpio. “You should try to see some of it.”

  “We each have our passions. Mine is—”

  “I know,” Scorpio interrupted. “Merlin, how close are they?”

  “They?” repeated the Martian uneasily.

  “Three outlaws, hiding from the authorities,” answered Scorpio.

  “Is it safe?”

  “They’ve been here long enough to prove that the city’s probably safe from any virus. Whether we’re safe from them is another matter.”

  “Perhaps we should stay in the ship,” suggested Quedipai uneasily.

  “They know where we are. I’d like to know where they are too.” He turned to the Venusian. “How about it, Merlin?”

  I’m trying to pinpoint them. It’s more difficult with Titanians than with most races.

  “I’ve been sitting here long enough,” said Scorpio, opening the hatch and jumping down to the ground. He helped Quedipai down, then stood aside as Merlin leaped out and landed lightly.

  I love this gravity, thought the Venusian.

  “Avast there!” cried a human voice.

  “Avast?” repeated Scorpio, half-smiling. “Do people still say ‘Avast’?”

  “Who are you and what’s your business here?” continued the voice.

  “Just some travelers looking for a place to rest,” answered Scorpio, still unable to see the man who was speaking.

  “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want,” said the voice.

  “Thanks.”

  “For ten thousand credits a night,” added the voice.

  “Does that include running water and kitchen privileges?” asked Scorpio, withdrawing his burner.

  The voice laughed. “I like you, fellow Earthman!” it said. “It would be a shame to kill you over something as trivial as a few thousand credits. Put the burner away, pull out your money, and we can all be friends.”

  “All?” said Scorpio.

  “Did I neglect to mention that you’re surrounded?”

  “By two naked monkeys from Titan and an Earthman who hasn’t got the courage to show himself?” replied Scorpio. “I may just faint dead away from fear.”

  Where are the other two?

  One’s twenty degrees to the left of where you’re facing, the other is thirty degrees to the right.

  I don’t know from degrees. Give me a reference point.

  One’s in front of the doorway to the crystal building on the left, and if you follow the right wing of the flyer straight out seventy meters you’ll find the other one.

  You’d better be right, thought Scorpio, pointing his burner at the crystal building, pressing the firing mechanism, and moving the barrel so that it covered the entire front of the building.

  There was an inhuman scream. Scorpio dropped to one knee, fired where the right wing of the flyer was pointing, and was rewarded with a wail of agony an instant later.

  “I’ll kill you for that!” cried the human voice.

  Stand next to me—quick!

  Scorpio grabbed Quedipai and pulled him over to where Merlin was crouching. The ground where they had been standing exploded a second later.

  “Nice try,” yelled Scorpio. “But now you’re outnumbered three to one. Maybe you’d like to call it quits. Just put ten thousand credits on the ground and walk away safe and sound.”

  He was answered by a curse and another explosion, this one blowing the landing gear off the flyer.

  “We’d better do something soon,” said Scorpio softly. “If he hits the ship broadside, we’re hundreds of miles from any transportation.”

  “He must have transport,” offered Quedipai. “He couldn’t have walked here if he’s trying to elude the law. And the natives of Titan are bigger than Earthmen, so clearly his transport can accommodate all three of us.”

  “Cutie Pie, you’re getting better at this all the time,” said Scorpio. “Okay, Merlin, we won’t worry about the ship. Let’s just concentrate on taking him out.”

  But the Venusian was no longer there.

  “Here!” said Scorpio urgently, handing his burner to Quedipai. “Start firing it nonstop, and aim about ten or fifteen feet above the ground.” The Earthman got the sonic blaster and began doing the same.

  “I assume there’s a reason for this,” said Quedipai.

  “Merlin’s gone,” said Scorpio. “That means he’s after the man, and we don’t want to hit him by accident. We just want the man to be concentrating on us.”

  “Will Merlin be able to find him?”

  Scorpio nodded as he continued firing. “His eyesight’s none too good, and his sense of smell is no better than mine, but somehow he can home in on thoughts. Any politician would want to shoot him on sight.”

  The far side of the flyer took a direct hit and caved in.

  “Damn!” muttered Scorpio. “He’s getting close.”

  Distract him.

  He’d damned well better have come in a flyer, thought Scorpio. Aloud he said: “Cutie Pie, turn the burner on the flyer!”

  “What?” said the Martian, confused.

  “Just do it!” snapped Scorpio as he aimed the sonic blaster at it and blew out all the windows.

  Quedipai followed suit, and a second later the interior to the flyer was ablaze.

  And almost instantaneously, they heard a single hideous scream from about ninety yards away in the darkness.

  “Okay, you can stop now,” said Scorpio.

  “We were creating a distraction, were we not?” asked Quedipai.

  “Well, a confusion, anyway,” replied Scorpio.

  A moment later, Merlin trotted back to the ship.

  “You okay?”

  A little bruised, but that will just make dinner taste all the better.

  Dinner?

  Don’t ask.

  What about their weapons?

  Old and not very efficient. Ours are better.

  I trust you destroyed them?

  Of course.

  “Well,” announced Scorpio, “there’s no sense staying in or near what’s left of the ship. Let’s see what the city has to offer in the way of lodging.”

  The three of them set off to explore the ruins. The first order of business was to find the outlaws’ flyer, and they accomplished that in ten minutes. The outlaws’ hideout was just some fifty yards away. They had raced out the second they realized Scorpio was preparing to land, and they’d left their quarters—the ground floor of an ancient building—illuminated, which made it stand out in the dark. There was a beat-up landcar parked nearby, and Scorpio checked it to make sure it was working, then led his companions into the building. There were bedrolls on the floor, the Earthman had brought along several days of condensed rations, and Quedipai assured his companions that he and Merlin could both eat some of the Titanians’ food with no ill effects.

  “We might as well set up housekeeping here,” ann
ounced Scorpio. He examined the walks and floor, found a loose floorboard, and stared down beneath it. “I assume no one else is likely to show up, but just the same I’d advise you to leave anything you don’t want to carry and don’t want stolen in this storage area below the floorboard.”

  Quedipai walked over to a bedroll, adjusted it so that he could sit and lean against it as it covered the lower section of a wall, and gingerly lowered himself to the floor. Scorpio lay down on a similar bedroll at the far end of the room.

  Merlin walked to the doorway. I’ll be back later.

  You’re really going to eat an Earthman?

  The Venusian wrinkled his nose. Have you ever tried to clean one of those things? I’m off to dine on uncooked Titanian.

  And then Merlin was gone, the other two fell asleep, and when they awoke, it was morning and Merlin was sleeping by the doorway.

  “Shall we have some breakfast before we begin?” suggested Scorpio.

  “I’m too excited to eat!” responded Quedipai. “I’m finally here!”

  “You’re going to be a little less excited and a little hungrier after we traipse across the floor of the Crater,” said Scorpio.

  “I’ll bring food with me.”

  How about you?

  I’m dying. My eyes were bigger than my stomach.

  Given the size of that bloated section of your body, your eyes must be larger than basketballs.

  Whatever they are.

  Merlin got painfully to his feet. Scorpio stared at him and smiled.

  You ate both of them? Didn’t your parents ever teach you moderation?

  Go ahead, make fun of me. I’ll remember this the next time someone’s trying to kill you.

  “Shall we begin?” asked Quedipai, walking to the door.

  “If we can,” agreed Scorpio, still grinning at his partner.

  The three of them walked outside to the landcar and climbed in.

  They followed the street, which curved back into itself, took another route that soon ended at a building with no discernible entrance, and after two more false starts, finally found a route to the edge of the city. Scorpio kept melting edges of buildings with his burner so that they could find their way back at the end of the day, and made a mental note to be sure to return before it was totally dark and he couldn’t see the marks he was making.

  In another fifteen minutes, they had left the ancient city of Melafona—it had many names, but Scorpio liked the oldest of them—and had taken their first steps on the flat, reddish sand that covered the floor of the Crater.

  A comet, do you think? suggested Merlin.

  Too big and too fast; not enough damage here. Probably an asteroid, or more likely just part of one. Back then Mars had a little more atmosphere; it would have burned up a good part of it before it hit.

  “So,” said Scorpio aloud, “where are these landmarks?”

  “You are looking at one of them,” replied Quedipai, indicating a jagged red peak at the far side of the Crater.

  “That thing was here eons before your Krang,” remarked Scorpio.

  “Of course,” answered the Martian. “It couldn’t have been in the ancient writings if it was not itself ancient.”

  “Point taken.” Scorpio looked around. “What else?”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “What other landmarks are we looking for?”

  “We shall find one of them at the north end of the Crater.”

  Scorpio pulled out his positioning device. “Okay, we’re about three-quarters of a mile away from it,” he said, angling off to his left.

  They stopped after ten minutes, and Quedipai began walking around the area, examining the ground ahead of them. Finally his entire body tensed.

  “I think …” he began. “Yes! Yes, it is!”

  “What do you see?” asked Scorpio.

  “My second landmark,” said Quedipai, pointing just ahead of them. “Study it and you will see it too!”

  “Son of a bitch!” said Scorpio. “I do see it.”

  They approached a totally flat, perfectly circular rock some eight feet in diameter. It was mostly covered by the shifting Martian sand, but once Scorpio realized what it was, it seemed to jump out at him.

  “I was right!” said Quedipai with obvious satisfaction. “I was right.”

  “Okay, what next?” asked Scorpio.

  “We proceed eighty-three paces due west from the westernmost part of the circumference.”

  Scorpio began measuring off the steps.

  “No,” said Quedipai.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “It was measured by a Martian. My steps are shorter than yours.”

  “All right,” said Scorpio, moving aside while Quedipai walked the eighty-three paces.

  Scorpio and Merlin joined him and looked around.

  “I don’t see any tombs,” said the Earthman.

  “You won’t,” answered Quedipai. “They are buried beneath the surface of the Crater.”

  Scorpio stared at him. “Do you see an entrance?”

  “Not yet.”

  “Not yet?” repeated Scorpio, frowning.

  “That is correct,” said Quedipai. He pulled some foodstuffs out of his shoulder bag. “I might as well have some nourishment, since we cannot leave this spot.”

  “Before you eat anything, I think an explanation is in order.”

  “When the sun is ten degrees past its peak, all will be revealed,” said the Martian, then added softly, “I hope.”

  “And that’s all you plan to tell us?” said Scorpio.

  “I could be wrong.”

  “We’re being paid whether you’re right or wrong, so it makes very little difference to us.”

  “It means everything to me,” responded Quedipai.

  Scorpio decided that further questioning would be fruitless and sat down cross-legged on the Crater floor.

  Do I have to watch him eat? complained Merlin.

  No, you can crawl off and die in splendid isolation if you prefer.

  I hate you.

  I didn’t eat two entire citizens of Titan.

  If I’m still alive, wake me at noon. Merlin closed his eyes.

  Scorpio wished he’d brought a book along, though he didn’t know why since he hadn’t read one in years. Finally, he settled for just staring at the peak and fondly remembering a seemingly endless series of women, some human, some not, all of whom he was sure at one time or another that he loved, none of whom he loved enough to settle down and remain in one place.

  He checked the sky now and then, and when the sun was directly overhead he got to his feet.

  “Can you confide in me yet?” he said.

  “Soon,” whispered the Martian.

  Merlin was on his feet too, and his bloated belly was back to its normal size. Scorpio marveled once again at how much the Venusian could eat, and how quickly he could digest it.

  The three of them stood, waiting, for twenty, thirty, forty minutes, then—

  “Now!” cried Quedipai, pointing—and suddenly a shadow appeared, stretching from his feet to a previously unseen crevice in the wall of the Crater. “There is where the entrance will be!”

  He actually knew, thought Merlin. Who’d have guessed it?

  They approached the crevice, and, as they did so, the sun glinted off something that clearly wasn’t part of the Crater wall.

  “Looks like metal,” said Scorpio.

  “The top of a railing,” confirmed the Martian.

  Scorpio approached it and found himself looking down a long, spiral staircase, the bottom of which was lost in shadows.

  “I have found it!” said Quedipai, more to himself than his companions. “They scoffed, and they laughed, and they disbelieved, but I have found it!”

  “What you’ve found in the entrance to something,” said Scorpio, shining a light down the stairs. “Let’s go find out what it is.”

  “I will lead,” announced the Martian, beginning to descend the
stairs.

  Anything alive down there?

  Nothing sentient. I think I sense some animals, but I can’t tell what kind.

  Given the bad light, they’d better be cuddly.

  Scorpio fell into step behind Quedipai. They descended some sixty feet, but to their surprise, they were not immersed in total darkness. The walls seemed to glow with some luminescent property. The light wasn’t bright, but at least they could see their way around, and Scorpio turned off his own light.

  Suddenly, Scorpio reached forward and grabbed Quedipai by the shoulders, pulling him backward until the Martian was sitting awkwardly on the stairs.

  “Why did you do that?” he demanded angrily. “I told you I would lead.”

  “Yeah,” said Scorpio, “but I thought you’d like your head and your body to lead in concert.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Scorpio pointed to a thin, knife-sharp, almost invisible metal fiber stretched across the stairway. “You walk into that at normal speed, moving down the stairs, you’ll be decapitated.”

  “I apologize for my outburst of temper,” said Quedipai. He stared at the fiber. “How did you know to look for it?”

  Scorpio pointed to a headless Martian body at the base of the stairway, which was finally visible. “You aren’t the first one to enter this place.”

  Merlin edged past them, descended the stairs, and examined the body.

  It’s mummified. It’s been here at least for centuries, possibly for millennia.

  When they had reached the bottom of the stairs and walked around the body, Scorpio turned to Quedipai. “That’s probably not the only booby trap down here. You’d better let me go first. Merlin will guard the rear.”

  “I consent,” replied the Martian.

  Scorpio withdrew his burner and began walking along the corridor that led from the stairwell. The corridor twisted and turned but never branched off, so he had no trouble following it. He was just starting to relax, thinking that the metal fiber might have been the only hazard, when he received a sharp mental warning.

  Stop!

  He froze, and Quedipai bumped into him, but despite the collision, he stood his ground.

  “What is it?” Scorpio said aloud.

  Something I’ve never encountered. But it’s approaching.

  From in front?

  Kind of.

  What the hell does that mean?