These continued, however, at irregular intervals for the best part of two hours, and as if they were provoked by the explosions the sound of the Martians’ vehicle sirens doubled and redoubled as one after another hurtled through the streets.
So the night passed, with neither of us sleeping. My attention was divided, partly between the unseen events outside and the precious closeness of Amelia beside me. I so loved her, and even such a temporary intimacy was without parallel to me.
At long last dawn came, and the sound of the sirens faded. The sun had been up for an hour before the last one was heard, but after that all was silent, and Amelia and I climbed from the hammock and dressed.
I walked to the window, and stared towards the east… but there was no sign of the source of the explosions, beyond a faint smudge of smoke drifting across the horizon. I was about to turn back and report this to Amelia when I noticed that the watch-tower outside our building had vanished during the night. Looking further along the street I saw that all the others, which were now such a familiar part of the city, had also gone.
ii
After the bedlam of the night the city was unnaturally quiet, and so it was with quite understandable misgivings that we left the dormitory to investigate. If the atmosphere in the city had been in the past one of dreadful anticipation, then this stillness was like the approach of expected death. Desolation City was never a noisy place, but now it was empty and silent. We saw evidence of the night’s activity in the streets, in the form of heavy marks in the road-surface where one of the vehicles had taken a corner too fast, and outside one of the dormitory halls was a pile of spilled and abandoned vegetables.
Rendered uneasy by what we saw, I said to Amelia: “Do you think we should be out? Would we not be safer inside?”
“But we must discover what is going on.”
“Not at risk to ourselves.”
“My dear, we have nowhere to hide on this world,” she said.
We came at last to the building where we had once ascended to see the extent of the city. We agreed to climb to the roof, and survey the situation from there.
From the top the view told us little more than we already knew, for there was no sign of movement anywhere in the city. Then Amelia pointed to the east.
“So that is where the watch-towers have been taken!” she said.
Beyond the city’s protective dome we could just make out a cluster of the tall objects. If those were the towers then that would certainly account for their disappearance from the city. It was impossible to see how many were out there, but at a reasonable estimate it was certainly a hundred or more. They had been lined up in a defensive formation, placed between the city and where we had seen the explosions in the night.
“Edward, do you suppose there is a war going on here?”
“I think there must be. Certainly there has not been a happy atmosphere in the city.”
“But we have seen no soldiers.”
“Maybe we are to see some for the first time.”
I was in the lowest of spirits, sensing that at last we were going to be forced into accepting our plight. I saw at that moment no alternative to the prospect of becoming embroiled forever in Martian life. If a war it was for this city, then two aliens such as ourselves would soon be discovered. If we stayed in hiding we would doubtless be found, and, if so, would be taken for spies or infiltrators; We must, very soon, declare our selves to those in authority and become as one with the inhabitants here.
Seeing no better vantage point available to us, we agreed to stay where we were until the situation became clearer. Neither of us had any wish to explore further; death and destruction were in the winds.
We did not have long to wait… for even as we first saw the line of watch-towers defending the city the invasion, unbeknown to us, had already begun. What happened out there beyond the city’s dome must be a matter of conjecture, but having seen the aftermath I can say with some certainty that the first line of defence was a troop of Martians armed only with hand-weapons. These wretched men were soon overwhelmed, and those not killed fled to the temporary safety of the city. This much was happening even as we walked through the streets to our present vantage point.
The next development was twofold.
In the first place, we at last saw signs of movement; these were the fleeing defenders, returning to the city. Secondly, the watch-towers were attacked. This was over in a matter of minutes. The antagonists were armed with some kind of heat thrower which, when turned on the towers, almost immediately rendered them molten. We saw the destruction as bursts of flame, as one tower after another was struck with this heat, and exploded violently.
If by this description I seem to imply that the towers were defenceless, then I must add that this was not so. When, some what later, I saw the wreckage of the battle, I realized that a spirited, if ultimately ineffectual, defence had been put up, for several of the attackers’ vehicles had been destroyed.
Amelia’s hand crept into mine, and I squeezed it reassuringly I was placing secret faith in the city’s dome, hoping that the marauders would have no way of penetrating it.
We heard screams. There were more of the people about the streets now, both city-Martians and slaves, running with the strange, loping gait, looking frantically about, intent on finding safety in the maze of city streets.
Suddenly, flame exploded about one of the buildings by the perimeter of the city, and screams could distantly be heard. Another building burst into, flames, and then another.
We heard a new sound: a deep-throated siren, rising and falling, quite unlike the noises we had grown accustomed to in the city.
I said: “They have penetrated the dome.”
“What shall we do?” Amelia’s voice was calm, but I felt that she was forcing herself not to panic. I could feel her hand trembling in mine, and our palms were damp with perspiration.
“We must stay here,” I said. “We are as safe here as anywhere.”
Down in the streets more Martians had appeared, some running out from the buildings where they had been hiding. I saw that some of the people fleeing from the battle had been wounded, and one man was being carried by two of his fellows, his legs dragging.
One of the policing-vehicles appeared, moving quickly through the streets towards the battle. It slowed as it passed some of the Martians, and I heard the driver’s voice, apparently ordering them to return to the fight. The people took no notice and continued their confused retreat, and the vehicle drove away. More sirens could be heard, and soon several more legged vehicles hurried past our building towards the fray. In the meantime, more buildings on the edge of the city had been fired.
I heard an explosion to the south of us, and I looked that way. I saw that flames and smoke were rising there, and realized that another force of invaders had broken through!
The plight of the city seemed desperate, for nowhere could I see a concerted defence, and there was certainly no resistance on, the new front.
There came a grinding, roaring sound from the east, and another blast of that alien siren, immediately followed by a second. The Martians in the street near our building screamed terribly, their voices more high-pitched than ever.
Then at last we saw one of the marauders.
It was a large, ironclad vehicle, the rows of articulate legs concealed by metal plating at each side. Mounted high on its rear was a grey metal gun-barrel, some six or eight feet in length, which by the pivotal device on which it was mounted was able to point in any direction the driver of the vehicle chose. As soon as we saw the invading vehicle, this cannon rotated and a building to one side burst abruptly into flame. There was a terrible noise, like sheets of metal torn asunder.