Red Death of Mars

# Red Death of Mars

This science fiction serial begins aboard the rescue ship Kepler, exploring Mars. The crew—Captain Martin Frome, radio operator Sparks Avery (son of the first expedition's commander), engineer Angus McIlrath, archaeologist James Sutter, and biochemist Vincent Orsatti—transmits reports about their findings in the abandoned Martian city of Torms. A mysterious crystalline object, resembling a giant ruby, has been discovered throughout the city in massive quantities. When dropped, it shatters into a red gas. Orsatti's biochemical analysis proves inconclusive; the objects' origin remains unknown. Sutter's archaeological report notes the city was abandoned recently, with everything preserved as if inhabitants planned to return. The crew also reports finding the first expedition dead without apparent wounds, discovered alongside the ship's mysteriously failed uranium fission engines. Sparks learns his father, Commander Richard Avery, perished here. The ruby disappears from the ship through a tiny opening. On the second day, Sutter returns running—they've discovered the actual Martian inhabitants in a cavern beneath the city, the text breaking off abruptly.