The published story described a shallow cave and a gaseous mist that paralyzed Carter and transported him to Mars. A volcanic cave could certainly release a poisonous gas, even a hallucinogenic one, I imagined. On the other hand, the manuscript, not the book, described this cave, one that went maybe a hundred yards down to a volcanic ice cave and a small glowing yellowish green pool of water that sucked anyone who entered it into a swirling energy vortex at its center. In this case, I needed to believe in the energy vortex version rather than poisonous gas version.
But the time for action had come. I gathered my supplies into a day pack that I had with me and took a powerful flashlight in my hand and descended to the entrance of the small cave. The way down wasn’t difficult. The opening was about 20 inches across and I peered inside. It seemed to drop down at an angle for about 4 feet and then open up to a larger chamber. I lowered my pack and dropped it to the floor a few feet below. I tossed my lit flashlight on top of the pack and climbed down myself. The climb back out should be fairly easy. As I stood on the floor of the cave, my head and shoulders were still above the opening. I moved my pack to the side and ducked down into the opening.
I retrieved the light and crouched, looking into the interior. Just a few feet ahead of me, the floor slopped down and the ceiling receded to allow me to stand upright. Searching the walls, I spotted the final marking, just as described and supposedly made by Carter himself, proving that I had found the cave pointed to by my research.
At this point in any story, something inevitably goes horribly wrong. The hero missteps and falls and hits his head or falls down a hole or an earthquake hits and seals him in or the poisonous gas envelopes him or a blinding light knocks him unconscious. At least I could be careful and try not to trip and hit my head.
The floor exhibited signs of having been enhanced by the work of human hands. It was plain that dirt from outside had been brought in from the outside and poured over the rough rocks of the natural cave to make it fairly smooth. The years had seen the dirt filter deeper into the cracks so that some of the rocks could be seen, but it was still much easier going than if I’d had to climb over lose stones . The tripping hazard was definitely here though.
The path branched several times, but at each juncture, the dirt floor clearly indicated a single correct route and I followed it down into the darkness. As expected, before too long, maybe a hundred yards, though I wasn’t counting, the passage turned sharply and then opened into a chamber about 15 feet across and seven feet high… and there was the luminous pool, about four feet across and containing a strange swirling ‘vortex’ in its center. At the entrance to the chamber a stone pedestal about three feet tall had been erected, and a small metal box sat on top.
I had practiced hard to cultivate the ability to choose my reactions and maintain calm in many situations, and every practice I knew was kicking in now. I had found John Carter’s cave. I owned the property it stood on. I was the first person in a hundred years to see it. It was still too fantastic to believe that John Carter was the same man of the stories, but it appeared that he was actually someone, not just a fictional character. And, there was the strange vortex in front of my very face. There was no natural explanation for it. The way it moved, it seemed to continually suck in the water around it and yet never to actually take any in or diminish the water volume in the pool. Was it time to suspend my disbelief? What was in the metal box on the pedestal?
I stepped up to the stone table and examined the box. It was covered by a thick dust which I blew away as best I could. The thing wasn’t rusted in the least and it was perfectly smooth. There wasn’t a single mark or dent visible. At first I thought that it might be lead, but it seemed to me that lead would be too soft to have even been placed here without some mark being made on the surface. If it were iron, it would have rusted. If it was brass or bronze it would have oxidized and shown greenish tinting, at least. Aluminum would also oxidize and discolor, and aluminum wouldn’t have been in common use at the time that the manuscript was written. But the most puzzling thing was the faintly bluish color. It wasn’t painted or enameled or powder coated: it was a bluish metal.
I seemed to want to determine what was inside the box without actually opening it. To somehow figure it out without getting intimate with it. On the one hand, I didn’t want to disturb it. It had lain here for a century, and who was I to interrupt the history it moved through. But, this was why I was here, and this was why the manuscript had been written. The author wanted me to know his secrets someday. Today was that day.
Like an aboriginal hunter asking forgiveness of the animal that he was about to kill and feed to his family, I apologized to the box and to the author and to the spirits of the place, and then gently and reverently opened the hinged lid and peered inside.
What I saw was a small engraved tablet, about the size of a standard letter sized piece of printer paper, made of the same metal as the box itself. It was the same size as the interior of the box and there was no apparent way of lifting it. I left it where it sat for the moment and read the inscription.
“Traveler, welcome. I know not how you came here, but I assume that you have followed directions left by myself with relatives. I know not how long since I left this message, nor if you are the first since myself to reach this place.
Let me give you warning: if you have stumbled upon this cave unknowingly, please return by whence you came and forget that you were ever here. Count it as a dream, for if you proceed without proper knowledge, I expect that you will surely meet your end in death before you pass 3 days beyond this point. Turn your face back toward home and I wish you luck.
If you have come prepared, and you set your face toward my home, I wish you more luck, good fortune, and the happiness that I have found, but beware, it is hard-won, as you will know if you come here not by chance, but by design.
Before you proceed, I have instructions that you may find to be further wisdom for your journey. If you come prepared, the puzzle will be trivial. If not, may you never find the answer, for your own sake.
If you would proceed, use the buttons below, as on a typewriter, to spell the name of love and beauty.”
Below the engraved message was a row of round buttons that could be depressed into the surface of the tablet. They appeared to be arranged randomly.
DQWBENMJFAHTKLHPXOYRIZCSUV
The name of love and beauty? Assuming this was a letter from John Carter himself, or someone purporting to be him, there could be just one simple answer.
Hidden in the string of letters was ‘DEJA THORIS’. Dejah Thoris, the name of John’s mate, the Princess of Helium of Barsoom.
I pressed the buttons, and as the final key was pressed, I heard a click and a spring of some kind pushed the table up from underneath. This left a space between the keys and the surrounding holes in the tablet, allowing me to lift it out of the box. On the back side of the tablet, I discovered another message, a continuation:
“Traveler, once again, I welcome you. An adventurous spirit of my own home planet, or so I assume since I know not for certain what my home planet truly be. If you are determined, join me on the other side, on fair and harsh Barsoom. Step into the pool and travel beyond your experience.
Let me make it easier for you than it was for me. The pool is a portal. Step in, enter the center, and you will be pulled through. On the other side, you will find a cave like this and a pool like this. Be aware that the trip takes a great deal of energy and the pool will not be able to return you for at least two Barsoomian years. You may return, but only after at least two years have passed since the last person has traveled the path. You will lose consciousness on the journey. Do not be alarmed when you awake in a strange surrounding.