Lord of the Spiders or Blades of Mars

  'Morahi Vaja!' the exile exclaimed in pleasure. ‘You see I kept my promise.'

  'And I mine,' smiled the young warrior. 'There is not a village in these hills that does not willingly offer its support to you and our cause.'

  The woman was still there, though she no longer embraced Hool Haji.

  Morahi Vaja stepped towards her. 'This is my sister, Ora Lis - she has never met you, but she is already your greatest supporter.' Morahi Vaja smiled. Then he spoke to the girl. 'Ora Lis, will you instruct the servants to prepare Hool Haji's friend a bed and food?' The young warrior seemed not at all surprised by the appearance of a stranger - a stranger of a different race, at that - in his village. Hool Haji realised it was time to introduce me. 'This is Michael Kane - he is from Negalu,' he said, using the Martian name for the planet Earth.

  This time Morahi Vaja did show slight surprise. 'I thought Negalu was inhabited only by giant reptiles and the like,' he said.

  Hool Kaji laughed. 'He is not only from Negalu - he is from the future!'

  Morahi Vaja smiled a little. 'Well then, greetings, friend -I hope you bring luck to our enterprise.'

  I restrained myself from remarking that I hoped I could since I had brought little to ray own!

  As we dismounted, Hool Haji said: 'Michael Kane saved my life when we were attacked by Priosa earlier today.'

  'You are welcome and honoured,' Morahi Vaja said to me.

  'Hool Haji forgets to tell you that he saved mine before I saved his,' I pointed out as Morahi Vaja led us towards a large house decorated in the most splendid mosaics I have ever seen.

  'Then it was ordained that he should - for if you had not been saved you could not have saved him.'

  I could think of no reply to such logic. We entered the house. It was cool and the rooms were large, light and simply decorated.

  Ora Lis was already there. She had eyes only for Hool Haji, who seemed both slightly flattered and embarrassed by her attention.

  Morahi Vaja was plainly a person of some consequence in the village - he was, it emerged later, a kind of mayor -and we were given the best of everything. The food and drink were delicious, though some of it was plainly produced only in the North, since it was unfamiliar to me.

  We ate and drank our fill and all the while Ora Lis paid Hool Haji every attention, even begging to be allowed to remain when Morahi Vaja told her we were now to talk of strategy and logistics.

  The reasons for the planned rebellion were twofold. One, the people were beginning to realise that the Priosa were by no means superior beings - too many daughters and matrons had testified to the fact that the Priosa's appetites were scarcely those of enlightened demigods - and two, the Priosa were becoming more lax, more self-indulgent, less inclined to ride out on their patrols.

  It seemed to me that this process was not unfamiliar -it seems to be something of a law of nature that the tyrant falls by his own lack of foresight. It has always been that the wise king, no matter what kind of character he may possess, protects his subjects and thereby protects himself. The larger and more complex the society, the longer the process of disposing of the tyrant. Often, of course, one tyrant is substituted for another and a vicious circle is brought about. In the end, however, this means the destruction of the state - its conquest or decline - and sooner or later the enlightened ruler or government will arise. This may take centuries - or a few weeks - and it is, of course, hard to be philosophical when it is your face that is beneath the iron heel.

  We talked into the night and I was sometimes amused to see Hool Haji having to refuse a dish of fruit or the offer of another cushion from the attentive Ora Lis.

  Our plan was based on the belief that, once a large force of Yillage-Uving Mendishar attacked the capital city, the townsfolk would join them.

  It seemed logical that this would be so. Everything seemed ripe.

  It had not been thus not so long ago, Morahi Vaja informed us. The men of the villages and small towns had been wary of following Morahi Vaja, who was, in their eyes, too young and untried. But when he had been able to contact Hool Haji everything had changed. Now they were enthusiastic.

  'You are very valuable, Bradhi,' said Morahi Vaja. 'You must protect yourself until the time for the rising, for if we were to lose you we should lose our whole cause!'

  Morahi Vaja's face was very serious. Evidently he meant what he said - and knew that what he said was true!

  We were given a room each in Morahi Vaja's house. My bed was the plain, unsprung bed that predominates all over Mars. I was soon asleep.

  I had gone to bed in a mixed mood of desolation and anticipation. It was not so easy to forget, even for a moment or two, that I was separated from the woman I loved by barriers impossible to cross. On the other hand, the cause of the tyrannised fold of Mendishar was one close to my heart. We Americans always have sympathy with the oppressed, whoever they may be, so long as they themselves are fighting back. Not a very Christian attitude, perhaps, but one which I share with most of my country-men and probably with most of humanity.

  I awoke in a somewhat more philosophical frame of mind. There was hope - faint hope. You remember that I told you of the wonderful inventions of the mysterious Sheev? Well, that was my hope - that some time I might contact the Sheev and ask them for help in crossing time and space once again - this time not from planet to planet but from one time and place on Mars to another.

  I resolved to seek out the Sheev - or a member of the race - as soon as I had seen the revolution of Mendishar successful. I felt involved in it, principally because I regarded Hool Haji as a close friend, and anything he did was of interest to me.

  A light tap on my door came soon after I had awakened. Sunlight was streaming through the unglazed window and there was a sweet, fresh smell in the air - the familiar scents of the Martian countryside.

  I called for the person outside to enter. It was a female servant - the blue females are only a foot or two shorter than the males - with a tray of hot food. This in itself was a surprise, for the Southern Martian breakfast usually con-sits of fruit and the like.

  While I was finishing the breakfast Hool Haji came in. He was smiling. After greeting me he sat on the bed and burst out laughing.

  His laughter was infectious and I found myself smiling in response, though I did not know the cause of his mirth.

  ‘What is it?' I asked.

  ‘That woman,' he said, still grinning. 'Morahi Vaja's sister - what's her name?'

  'Ora Lis?'

  ‘That's right. Well, she brought me my breakfast this morning.'

  ‘Is that strange?'

  'It is very courteous - though a rare custom amongst our people. It was not so much the action, which I should normally have accepted as a compliment, as what she said.'

  'What did she say?' I had a feeling of unease then. As I have mentioned before, I seem to be slightly psychic - or whatever you care to call it. I have some sixth sense which warns me of trouble. Some would call it the logic of the subconscious which accumulates and draws conclusions from data which never reaches the conscious mind.

  ‘In short,’ declared my friend, 'she told me that she knew our destinies to be intertwined. I believe she thinks I am going to marry her.'

  'Ah, infatuation,' I said, still somewhat perturbed, nonetheless. ‘You are the mysterious exile returned to claim a throne, and what could be more romantic than that? What girl would not respond to it? It is not an uncommon feeling, I have heard,'

  He nodded. ‘Yes, yes. That is why I did not treat the declaration too seriously. I was polite enough to her, never fear.'

  I fingered my chin thoughtfully, realising suddenly that I had not shaved for some time - there was a heavy stubble there. I would do something about it soon. 'What did you say?' I asked.

  'I told her that the business of the revolt was consuming all my attention, that I had noticed she was beautiful. . . She is, don't you think?'

  I did not answer this. All beauty is comparative, I
know, but I could not, frankly, tell a beautiful, eight-foot, blue giantess from an ugly one!

  'I told her that we should have to wait before we could become better acquainted,' the Mendishar continued, chuckling.

  I felt slightly relieved by the knowledge that my friend had behaved so tactfully.

  'A wise thing to Say.' I nodded. 'When you sit the throne of Mendishar as Bradhi, that will be the time to think of romance - or the avoiding of it.'

  'Exactly,' said Hool Haji bringing his great bulk to a standing position once more. 'I don't quite know if she accepted this. She seemed to take it rather as a declaration of my own passion, which troubled me a little.’

  'Do not worry,' I said. 'What are your plans for today?'

  ‘We must work speedily and prepare a message to be sent to all the cilaks and orcilaks calling them to a fullscale meeting here.' The two Martian words meant, roughly, village-leader and town-leader, the suffix ak designating one holding power over his fellows or - strictly speaking, in Martian, one who was charged by his fellows to act in their interests. Cil meant a small community, orcil meant a larger one.

  'This is necessary.' Hool Haji continued, 'in order that they should see for themselves that I am who I am as well, of course, as deciding when and how we shall strike and deploy our warriors.'

  'How many warriors do you estimate having at your disposal?' I enquired washing myself with the cold water provided.

  ‘About ten thousand.'

  ‘And how many Priosa will they have to contend with?’

  ‘About five thousand, including the warriors not of the Priosa but expected to support them. The Priosa will, of course, be much better armed and trained. My people have a habit of fighting independently of any command. The Priosa have rid themselves of this lack of discipline, but I am not sure if the same can be said for many of the village-dwelling warriors.'

  I understood. This was a trait which the Mendishar shared with their Argzoon cousins. The Argzoon had only been united under that arch-villainess Horguhl - and united largely through fear of a common enemy, the N'aal Beast, and superstition.

  'That is another reason why my presence is needed,' said Hool Haji. 'They will, Morahi Vaja feels, fight under an hereditary Bradhi, whereas they would be disinclined to take orders from a mere cilak.''

  'Then Morahi Vaja was right - you are invaluable to the cause.'

  'It seems so. It is a great responsibility.'

  'It is responsibility to which you will have to become accustomed,' I told him. 'As Bradhi of Mendishar you will have heavy responsibilities for your people all your life.'

  He sighed and gave me a wry smile. 'There are some advantages in being a lone wanderer in the wilderness, are there not?'

  'There are. But if you are of royal blood you are not free to choose.'

  He sighed again and gripped the hilt of his great sword. 'You are more than an able fighting companion, Michael Kane. You are also a friend of strong character.'

  I grasped his arm and looked up into his eyes. 'Those words apply to you, Bradhinak Hool Haji.'

  'I hope so,' he said.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Hool Haji's Duty

  A FEW days later we received word that all the various leaders of the towns and villages had been' given secret word and a great meeting was planned in three days' time.

  During that period of waiting we had spent long hours in planning and fewer hours m relaxation. Hool Haji spent a great deal of the time with Ora Lis. Like any man, he was flattered by her adoration and could not resist basking in it I felt that no good could come of this, but I could not blame him. In circumstances other than mine I might have done the same myself. In fact, I have done it myself more than once in the past, though not nearly so much was at stake then.

  It seemed to me that Ora Lis was given good cause to think that her passion was being reciprocated, but I could find no way of warning my friend.

  Once I found myself in the same room with her, alone, and I talked with her for a short time.

  In spite of what was, to me, her outlandish size and strange face, she was plainly a simple, ingenuous, romantic girl. I tried to speak of Hool Haji, told her of his many obligations to his people, that it might be years before he could think of himself - and the taking of a wife.

  Her response to this was to laugh and shrug her shoulders.

  'You are a wise man, Michael Kane - my brother says that your counsel has aided them greatly - but I think you are not so wise in matters of love.'

  This struck deeper than it should have done, for thoughts of my own love, Shizala, were forever with me. But I persevered.

  'Have you not thought that Hool Haji may not feel so strongly about you as you do for ‘im?' I asked gently.

  Again the smile and the light laugh. 'We are to be married in two days' tune,' she told me.

  I gasped. 'Married? Hool Haji has told me nothing of this!'

  'Has he not? Well, it is so, nonetheless!’

  After that I could make no reply but resolved to seek out Hool Haji at the earliest opportunity.

  I found him standing on the north wall of the village, looking out over the lovely, blue-green hills, the cultivated fields that sustained the villagers, and the large, scarlet rhani flowers that grew in profusion hereabouts.

  'Hool Haji,' I said without preliminary, 'did you know that Ora Lis thinks she is to marry you in two days' time?'

  He turned, smiling. 'Is that it? She is living out some fantasy in a world of her own, I fear. She told me mysteriously yesterday that if I met her by a certain tree yonder' - he pointed to the north-east - 'that which we both desired would be brought about. A secret marriage! Even more romantic than I guessed.'

  'But do you not realise that she sincerely believes you intend to make the rendezvous?'

  He drew a deep breath. 'Yes. I suppose so. I must do something about it, mustn't I?'

  'You must - and swiftly. The poor girl!'

  'You know, Michael Kane, the duties of the past days have left me in a state almost of euphoria. I have spent time in Ora Lis' company because I found it the most relaxing thing I could do. Yet I have hardly heard anything she has said to me - can remember scarcely a word I have said to her. Plainly, things have gone too far.'

  The sun was beginning to set, staining the deep blue sky with veins of red, yellow and purple.

  'Will you go to see her now?' I described where she was.

  He yawned warily. 'No -1 had best do it when I am more refreshed. In the morning.''

  We walked back slowly to the house of our host. We passed Ora Lis on our way. She went swiftly by. pausing only to give Hool Haji a secret smile.

  I was horrified. I understood my friend's predicament, how the situation must have arisen, and I could sympathise with him. Now he had to do what every man hates to do ^"^ - put a girl into the deepest possible misery in the most tactful possible way. Knowing something of these situations. I also knew that, no matter how tactful a man tries to be, something always results so that he is misunderstood and the girl weeps, refusing to be comforted by him. Few women do not respond in this manner - and, frankly, those are the ones I admire - women like my own Shizala, who was as feminine as could be but with a will of iron and a strength of character most men would envy.

  Not that I did not sympathise with the poor Ora Lis. I sympathised very much. She was young, innocent - a village-girl with none of the unpretentious sophistication of my Shizala, and one of the rigid training that all members of the Southern Martian royal houses receive.

  I sympathised with both. But it was up to Hool Haji to do his unpleasant duty. And I knew that he would.

  Again, after I had bathed and shaved with a specially honed knife I had borrowed from Morahi Vaja - the blue Martians have no body hair to speak of - and climbed wearily into bed, I was filled with a sense of deep disquiet that would not leave me even in sleep. I tossed and turned throughout the long Martian night and in the morning felt as unrefreshed as when I had
gone to bed.

  Having risen and splashed cold water all over my body in an effort to rid myself of my feeling of tiredness, I ate the food the servant had brought me, strapped on my weapons and went out into the courtyard of the house.

  It was a beautiful morning but I could not appreciate it greatly.

  Just as I was turning back to look for Hool Haji, Ora Lis came flying from the house. Tears ran freely down her face and great groaning sobs came from her.

  I realised that Hool Haji must have spoken to her and told her the truth - the unpalatable truth. I tried to speak to her, to say some comforting words to her, but she was past me in a flash and running into the street.

  I told myself that it was best that it should have happened this way and that, being young and resilient, the poor girl would soon recover from her misery and find another young warrior upon whom she could lavish the passion that was so plainly part of her character. But I was wrong. I was to be proved very wrong in the events which followed.

  Hool Haji came out of the house next. He walked slowly, with head bowed. When he looked up and saw me, I noticed that his eyes reflected pain and sadness.

  'You have done it,' I said.

  ‘Yes.'

  ‘I saw her - she ran past me and would not stop when I called to her. It was the best thing.'

  'I suppose so.'

  'She will soon find someone else,' I said.

  'You know, Michael Kane,' he said with a sigh, 'it cost me more than you realise to do what I did. In other circumstances I might have grown to love Ora Lis.'

  'Perhaps you will when this is over.'

  'Will it not then be too late?'

  I had to be realistic. 'Possibly,' I told him.

  He seemed to make an effort to dismiss the thoughts from his mind. 'Come,' he said, 'we must speak with Morahi Vaja. He would learn your views on the deploying of the axe-men from Sala-Ras.'

  If Hool Haji was in a mood of depression, I was in one of utmost foreboding.

  More was going to come out of this episode than either of us could have foreseen.