I found a corner at the back of the compartment, and sat down, cradling Amelia’s bag in my arms.
I was wondering if what we had seen was, after all, a full-scale invasion. With the marauders departed, and the city smoking and damaged, it seemed more likely that what we had witnessed was more in the nature of a skirmish, or a reprisal mission. I recalled the firing of the snow-cannon, and wondered if those shells had been aimed at the cities of the enemy. If so, then Amelia and I had blundered into a fracas in which we had no part, and of which Amelia at least had become an unwitting victim.
I thrust this thought aside: it was unbearable to think of her at the mercy of these monster-creatures.
Somewhat later another thought occurred to me, one which gave me several unpleasant minutes. Could it be, I wondered, that I had been mistaken about the departure of the enemy? Was this truck being driven by one of the conquerors?
I pondered this for some time, but then remembered the dead monster I had seen. That was apparently of this city, and furthermore the humans I was with did not show the same symptoms of fear as I had seen during the fighting. Could it be that every city on Mars was managed by the vile monster-creatures?
There was hardly any time to consider this, for soon the compartment was filled, and the vehicle set off at a steady pace towards the edge of the city. We were deposited outside a large building, and directed inside. Here, slaves had prepared a meal, and with the others I ate what was put before me. Afterwards, we were taken to one of the undamaged dormitory buildings and allocated hammock-space. I spent that night lying in a cramped position with four Martian males on one hammock.
iii
There followed a long period of time (one so painful to me that I can barely bring myself to record it here), during which I was assigned to a labour-team set to repair the damaged streets and buildings. There was much to do, and, with the reduced population, no apparent end to the time I would be forced to work in this way.
There was never the least possibility of escape. We were guarded by the monster-creatures every moment of every day, and the apparent freedoms of the city, which had allowed Amelia and I to explore it so thoroughly, were long gone. Now only a minute area of the city was occupied, and this was policed not only by the vehicles, but also overseen by the watch-towers not damaged in the raid. These were occupied by the monsters, who were apparently capable of staying immobile in their perches for hours at a time.
Large number of slaves had been drafted in to the city, and the worst and heaviest tasks were given to them. Even so, much of the work I had to do was onerous.
I was glad in one way that the work was demanding, for it helped me not to dwell too long on Amelia’s plight. I found myself wishing that she were dead, for I could not contemplate the horrible perversions the obscene creature’s would put her to if she remained alive in their captivity. But at the same time, I could not for one moment allow myself to think she was dead. I wanted her alive, for she was my own raison d’être. She was always in my thoughts, however distracting the events around me, and at nights I would lie awake, tormenting myself with guilt and self-acrimony. I wanted and loved her so, that scarcely a night passed when I did not sob in my hammock.
It was no consolation that the misery of the Martians was an equal to mine, nor that at last I was understanding the causes of their eternal grief.
iv
I soon lost count of the days, but it could not have been less than six of Earth’s months before there came a dramatic change in my circumstances. One day, without prior warning, I was force-marched with about a dozen men and women away from the city. A monster-vehicle followed us.
I thought at first we were being taken to one of the industrial sites, but shortly after leaving the protective dome we headed south, and crossed the canal by one of the bridges. Ahead of us I saw the barrel of the snow-cannon looming up.
It appeared to have escaped undamaged in the raid—or else had been efficiently repaired—for there was an activity about the muzzle equal to the amount Amelia and I had seen that first time. At sight of this my heart sank, for I did not relish the thought of having to work in the thin, outer atmosphere; I was not the only one breathing laboriously as we marched, but I felt the native Martians would be better suited to working in the open. The weight of Amelia’s hand-bag—which I took with me everywhere—was a further encumbrance.
We marched as far as the centre of the activity: close to the muzzle itself. By this time I was on the point of collapse, so difficult was it to breathe. As we came to a halt I discovered I was not alone in my agony, for everyone sat weakly on the ground. I joined them, trying to force my heart to still its furious beating.
So occupied was I with my discomforts that I had neglected to take stock of the events around me. I was aware of the great, black muzzle twenty yards from me, and the fact that we had halted by a crowd of slaves, but that was all.
There were two city-Martians standing to one side, and they were regarding us with some interest. Once I realized this, I looked back at them and saw that in certain respects they were different from other men I had seen here. They seemed very poised, for one thing, and they wore clothes that were different from those worn by everyone else. These were black garments, cut in almost military style.
Apparently my looking back at them had drawn attention to myself, for a moment later the two Martians walked over to me and said something. Playing my role as a mute, I stared back at them. Their patience was thin: one reached down to me and pulled me to my feet I was pushed to one side, where three male slaves were already standing apart. The two city-Martians then went to where the rest of the slaves were standing, selected a young girl, and brought her over to join us.
I was uneasily aware that I and the four slaves had become the focus of some interest. Several of the Martians were staring at us, but as the two men in black came over to us they turned away, leaving us to whatever plight was in store.
An order was issued, and the slaves turned obediently away. I followed at once, still anxious not to seem different. We were herded towards what appeared at first sight to be an immense vehicle. As we approached, however, I saw that it consisted in fact of two objects, temporarily joined together.
Both parts were cylindrical in shape. The longer of the two was really the most bizarre machine I had seen during my time on Mars. It was about sixty feet in length, and, apart from its overall conformation to a cylindrical diameter of about twenty feet, was not regularly shaped. Along its base were many groups of the mechanical legs, but on the whole its exterior was smooth. At several places around its outer skin were perforations, and I could see water dribbling from some of these. At the far end of the machine a long, flexible pipe led away. This ran right across the desert, at least as far as the canal, and was looped and coiled in several places.:
The smaller of the two objects is simpler to describe, in that its shape was readily identifiable. So familiar was this shape that my heart began to beat wildly once more: this was the projectile that would be fired from the cannon!
It was itself cylindrical for most of its length, but with a curving, pointed nose. The resemblance to an artillery-shell was startling but there was never on Earth any shell of this size! From one end to another it must have been at least fifty feet long, and with a diameter of about twenty feet. The outer surface was finely machined so that it shone and dazzled in the bright sunlight. The smoothness of the surface was broken only in one place, and this was on the flat, rear end of the projectile. Here were four extrusions, and as we walked closer I saw that they were four of the heat-cannons we had seen the monster-creatures using. The four were placed symmetrically: one at the centre, the other three in an equilateral triangle about it.