Air Wonder Stories, May 1930 — page 77: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Se ge y 4, Alicia now turned to see her handsome rescuer standing a little in the rear, She welcomed him with a smile and advanced to take his hand and thank him with her eyes, The handsome Martian bent low in a graceful gesture of acknowledgment. So now the Martians knew what she had been longing to tell them. She hoped they. could do something to relieve the situa- tion, which she knew was desperate and-would remain so until her friends could be appraised-of her safety and whereabouts. Horo, evidently the leader of the group, smiled and conducted her to another room of the extensive building, The room held many glittering instruments, some of which seemed familiar, - Horo led-her directly to a contrivance which she gitessed was a transmitter of some kind. The Martian touched a switch and spoke directly into the instrument, Then he invited her to do likewise, _ Hopetully—for she had no way of knowing for certain that it was-a kind of radio microphone—she stood before the instru- ment and spoke-into it. “Leonard!” she called, “Can you hear me? This is Alicia!” She waited a few moments and repeated it, The thought ran through her mind that her friends’ might not be in the projectile at the time, Perhaps they were-even now scouting in the plane or engaged-in combat with the Bat- men in the crater. Once more-she’ called; wondering whether: this instrument she was using could be employed as a meditim to communicate with one constructed on another world, She did not know that the silent Martians beside her were not worrying about that, for they dad long ago developed a methad for use in such emer- gencies. As a matter of fact, it was accomplished by mani- folding the message itself, which was actually transmitted over various wavelengths and could thus be heard: by any receiving set in operation on the planet. There was no reply, but she called again, And now the entire group was electrified as the answer came from a large amplifier. “Thank God! Alicia!” said the voice. “Where a are you?” It was Fry speaking. “Safe with friends, dear,” Alicia replied. “Are you safe, all right?” “Both of us, yes!” came the answer. “And you're with friends, you say. What does that méan?” “T was rescued-by a Martian aviator after escaping from those horrid beasts,” she explained, “and I am safe and sound in a city about two hours flight from the crater. But I don’t know what the direction is, and I can’t communicate with these people, But I am perfectly safe with them. What do you suggest?” “Well, if a flier came out we could easily follow him in. That ought to be easy, you: know.” “Yes, of course,” the girl agreed, “and I'll try to make them understand, Stay near the crater and surely I'll find a way to reach you. I’ll come, too, Leonard, dear.” But Alicia did not.know that this permission would be with- held from her, and that, by. direct order of the Kor of Osin, in the capital city of Hio to which she had come, she would be held virtually a prisoner. CHAPTER VIII The Projectile’s Arrival HE great shell was being held directly over the craters ] at a height too great for the Bat-men to reach, and there Fry and Randolph waited, Both were tremendously. in- terested in the developments that had come so suddenly. after their heartbreaking efforts to find Alicia, They had feared the worst, that the girl had been destroyed by the Bat-men. Repeatedly they had flown in the plane to every point in the series of craters, but the vigilance of the Bat- ' THE BAT-MEN OF MARS Ss ee ale ere oe men, now thoroughly aroused, had prevented them from making a thorough search, Landing had been ‘quite impossible, and they feared to employ the atomic power of the projectile be- cause they did not know Alicia’s whereabouts. What would destroy the Bat-men might also be fatal to her. Full of dejec- tion, they had returned to the projectile. And it was there, by great good luck, that the radio message found them, The next morning, a few hour's after suntise, the two men sighted a speck in the sky, many miles distant, They watched its approached with. intense excitement. They did nat doubt that it was a Martian flier cofning to pilot them to the city, The craft was-the same one on which Alicia had made her escape from the crater and the Bat-men, and it was-again piloted: by the Martian who had: rescued her, It was unlike anything the men had ever seen, It was a combination of mono- plane. and: helicopter, and was capable of both vertical and horizontal flight It was elaborate-of finish-and design and re- markably swift, They marveled at the grace. of its flight and its speed, for within a few minutes. after they had sighted it the plane was stilled alongside the-projectile. Then a man like themselves smiled engagingly and pointed in the direction whence he had: come. Dr. Fry turned to: Randolph. “Alicia did not come. I wonder why.” “Done up, probably,” replied Randolph. “But he seems. all right, don’t you think?” “Yes, for of course he’s the pilot sent out to direct us, I am perfectly willing to follow him.” Dr. Fry nodded his-acceptance of the flyer’s invitation, and (instantly the plane was off. The projectile followed. The two men in it were amused as the Martian contifued to look back, obviously to see whether they could keep pace with him. He could not know, they re- flected with amusement, that the projectile from the. Earth could fly all around the planet of Mars within a few minutes, The flight to the city was: without incident. On arriving, the pilot of the Martian plane swept in graceful curves to a land- ing field, and alighted, The projectile followed. under perfect control and came to a gentle rest ‘on the ground before a con- coutse of people gathered to witness the arrival of visitors from another world. At once a heavy guard was placed around the great shell. The multitude had begun to press forward, Human curiosity, the Earth-men discovered, was the same everywhere, Dr, Fry turned on leaving. the projectile and encountered the Martian who had escorted them to the city. He could not spealc to the pilot and be understood, bathe motioned first at the projectile-and then at the guard, The Martian. showed that he understood, He spoke to the people, directing their attention to the guard and to the projectile itself. His words and his manner seemed to be emphatic and effective, since the crowd fell back before the guard and kept their distance. Then the pilot leading the way through the human mass, which separated to give them passage, conducted them to-an elaborate; rich-looking carriage. The pilot halted them a short distance away and igo at attention. HE carriage, propelled by engines, was ornate in design, a graceful equipage fit fora king. And that in fact was what it was—the royal carriage of the Kor of Osin, who had deigned to visit the landing field and witness the arrival of human: beings from another world. The Martian escorted the Earth-men to the door of the car- riage and halted there, bowing almost to the ground. The ad- venturers stood erect, and now they caught sight of Alicia seated in the carriage beside a man whom they took to be a person of distinction. This, although they did not know it at the:time, was the Kor of Osin, ruler of the Martian nation, (Continued on page 1052) ee ad ee, eee ee 4