Read Online 3 - Barbarians of Mars by Edward P. Bradbury - Free Book Online Page B

attempt to
get to our feet and attack him, but our bonds had checked our circulation.
                   A sword-pommel was raised.
                   It descended.
                   I blacked out.
                  

Chapter Seven
    VOYAGE TO BAGARAD
     
                   We were at sea when I awoke in the
musty-smelling hold of a ship whose sides did not seem to be of wood, as I had
expected.
                   My bonds had been cut, and apart from slight
cramp in my muscles I was feeling much better physically. I was also thinking
with greater clarity. The recent experiences with the barbarians seemed to have
drained me of much of my original emotion and, while I knew it would return in
time, I felt detached and, in some ways, in a healthier state of mind. Perhaps
it was the ship. The space is confined, the possibilities limited, and thus one
feels more in control of one's environment, particularly in contrast to the
seemingly limitless horizons existing on Mars of the age I know.
                   Whatever the reasons - and they were probably
an amalgam of all those I have suggested and more - I could work out better
what I must do. The first objective must be to inspect all the machines Rokin
had looted and check if one of them had properties capable of acting against
the plague. If one should prove to have this property then I should have to
think of ways of getting it away from Rokin and - the thought appalled me, but
it was going to be necessary - destroy the rest. If none of the machines could
provide me with what I wanted, then I could destroy them all. The latter would
be the easier task, of course.
                   The ship was rolling and I was forced to brace
myself against the sides of the hold. The hull seemed made in one piece, of a
kind of durable plastic that I had discovered earlier in the Yaksha stronghold.
It was dark, but as my eyes became accustomed to it, I could make out objects
that might once have been engine mountings. But there were no engines now. Here
again was an artifact left over from what the Martians call the Mightiest War -
the war that almost totally eliminated both the Yaksha and the Sheev and
virtually destroyed the planet itself.
                   I heard a stifled groan from the opposite
comer. I thought I recognized the voice.
                   "Hool Haji?" I said. "Is it
you?"
                   “It is I, my friend - or what is left of me.
One moment while I make sure I am all in one piece. Where are we?"
                   Through the dimness I saw my comrade's huge
shape rise from where he had been lying, saw him stagger and fall against a
bulwark.
                   As best I could, I made my way towards him as
the ship pitched about dreadfully. Though little sound permeated the hold, I
had the impression that we were in the middle of a particularly unpleasant
storm. I had heard that the Western ocean was not thought a healthy place for
seafarers, which was probably why it was so infrequently crossed.
                   Hool Haji groaned. "Oh, the Mendishar
were never meant to travel on the sea, Michael Kane."
                   He shifted his position as the ship was struck
by another great wave.
                   Suddenly light streamed into the hold and sea
water rushed in with it, soaking us at once. Framed in the opening above was a
bearded barbarian.
                   "On deck!" he ordered curtly, his
voice just heard above the howl of the storm.
                   "In this!" I said. "We're not seamen!"
                   "Then this is the time to become seamen,
my friend. Rokin wants to see you."
                   I shrugged and made my way to the ladder now
revealed in the light of the open hatch.
                   Hool Haji followed me.
                   Together