Chapter 36

My newly discovered gift manifested itself gradually over time as Cara and Tarin's emotions became far more apparent to me. At first I received only impressions of their needs and intentions - the reception and transmission of concrete thought developed over weeks and months.

Raven had given us the use of an emerald cube near his home. Perched on one of its corners, its pyramidal main floor was as disconcertingly surreal and far more sumptuously decorated than Raven's home. He told us the owner had died.

I said, puzzled: "We assumed you were immortal . . ."

He gave an ironic grimace. "While it is true we live several times longer than those on the rest of the planet, we are a dying breed - there are fewer than fifty men and women left in the city. It is also true that we became sterile as a result of the longevity serum we ingested voluntarily three thousand years ago."

"Do you regret doing so?" I asked, curious.

Raven shrugged. "Yes and no. Yes, because without offspring there is no one to follow us and life has become tedious and meaningless. No, because our failed experiment resulted in providing much longer lifespans to the rest of Barsoom's people – thereby saving the planet, and us, from oblivion."

"What?" Carthan asked, taken aback.

"When it was discovered that the serum was flawed, our scientists continued their research for centuries, eventually finding a solution that granted but a single millennium of life with no risk to reproduction. They flew the length and breadth of Barsoom, freely offering their research to scientists of every race in every city they could find. As a consequence, longer lifespans allowed your scientists time to complete experiments that would save the dying planet."

"The atmosphere plants . . . " Carthan murmured.

Raven nodded, adding, "Together with the development of genetically modified food plants that could survive increasingly cold temperatures – thereby saving millions," Raven agreed. "Without them even we would not have survived. Now, we are hoping that our dome technology will again save Barsoom from another threat . . ." He hesitated, glancing at me.

"Which is - ?" I prompted.

"Your planet, Lara. Jasoom." At my look of disbelief, he continued, "Are you aware that your people have sent probes to Barsoom?"

I shook my head slowly. I had known of plans to send men to Earth's moon in 1969, but had not known that Mars was an objective.

"We detected an orbiting probe only weeks ago. It appears to contain quite sophisticated photographic and other sensing apparatus."

My eyes widened in horror. "They'll know!"

Carthan frowned. "Who will know what?"

"Jasoom will discover that Barsoom has life." I whispered. "They'll see the cities – it may already be too late . . ." The mere thought of Earthly avarice consuming the unique culture of Mars made me physically ill.

I looked at Raven in comprehension. "That is why . . ."

" – why our domes could be useful. Though this dome is transparent, it is possible to camouflage the force field to match the surrounding countryside. Your cities – even your agricultural lands – could be effectively hidden from prying Jasoomian eyes."

Carthan and I must have had the same thought – that It was now imperative that we reach Helium with dispatch. He looked at Raven. "You said your scientists had flown the entirety of Barsoom with their serum. Are those flyers still here – and operable?"

Raven smiled sadly, clearly sensing our urgency. "Regrettably, no. Few of our people returned when they realized how attractive life could be out there – " he waved a hand toward the south. "The few flyers that were returned lay idle for centuries and were then destroyed as they were deemed unusable."

Carthan, who had thoughts of possibly repairing one, digested this in dismay. After a long moment, he said, "Then do you know of a city named Kobol?"

"I do," Raven said. "In fact it lies not far from here, on the plain just beyond the rim of the Rift."

The children found it particularly distressing to leave the domed city. They had befriended many of the residents whose lonely lives they had brightened with their ingenuous stories of our adventures. But the children had spent hours every day playing with the city's population of apes, and it was the apes' affectionate natures that the children would miss most. As we filed out of the airlock to recommence our journey, dozens of the animals followed. They were incapable of showing emotion but, exuding ineffable loss, they stood watching until we disappeared from their sight. Cara and Tarin were in tears.

With Xodo accompanying us as our guide at the behest of Rab Taven, we set out on a trail that led steeply upward through a side-canyon. It was a long, hard climb with many rest stops for the children and me. We did not attain the top that day or the next, but on the third day we surmounted a last gruelling pitch to stand at last on the edge of a vast, red, rock-strewn desert stretching to the horizon. Behind us an enormous expanse of the rift valley faded into invisibility where its northern wall disappeared over the horizon. No one, standing where we did, could ever have conceived the depth or extent of the rift.

Xodo, under explicit instructions from Rab Taven and uninterested in remarkable scenery, unhesitatingly lumbered off toward the south-west, the calots trotting at his side.

Four days of steady walking across rocky desert brought us within sight of Kobol. The sun was nearing the western horizon when we paused behind a pile of boulders to study the city, glowing crimson in the fading light. It was small, as Barsoomian cities go, its red walls solidly constructed from iron-rich basalt mined from the Rift.

The skies of Barsoomian cities are usually busy by day, with a constant coming and going of transport vehicles and personal flyers. Kobol had no such traffic. In fact our immediate impression was that the city was abandoned.

Puzzled, but unwilling to investigate so late in the day, we set up the tent where we were. When the children drifted into deep sleep after the evening meal, Carthan began to arm himself.

"What are you doing?" I asked in trepidation.

"I'm going to reconnoiter," he said.

"No!"

He turned to face me, holding my shoulders. "Lara, we don't know what we're getting into. Something is wrong here and I intend to discover what it is before we take our children into danger."

I could hardly argue with that, but I was deeply apprehensive. "At least take the calots."

"I'll take Paddy," he said. "You may need Belle." With that unsettling comment, he gave me short, hard embrace, gestured at Paddy to follow and set out for the city. Later that night, while I lay awake waiting, Paddy returned.

Carthan did not.