2

The Travelers

- A Virginian beach, 1926 Jasoomian time, Earth

Thuvasis awoke to a rushing, roaring, and entirely terrifying sound for a red Martian. Shivering in the cold air, he staggered to his feet, astonished and amazed by the scene before him. A sandy beach ran left and right as far as his eye could see, but directly ahead roared a spectacle that both exhilarated and alarmed him. Huge, gray, rolling, waves of more water than he had ever seen broke on the beach, wave after wave.

He stood and stared in fascination until he realized that his knees were about to buckle. Abruptly, he slumped back down to the sand which led him to further analyze his situation. It was as if a thoat were sitting on his chest – it was difficult to breathe, he felt slightly inebriated, and his whole body felt leaden.

Just before his vision blurred and darkened, Thuvasis arrived at the conclusion that this must be the opposite reaction to that which his grandfather had experienced upon his first arrival on Barsoom. Thuvasis' Barsoomian heart could not keep up with the greater gravity of Jasoom, and when he stood, the blood rushed down and away from his brain. Combined with the effect of breathing such oxygen rich air, he passed out on the beach.

When he slowly returned to consciousness, he became acutely aware that he was covered in some sort of rough cloth which both comforted and seemed to bind him with its weight. Thuvasis opened his eyes to the curious stare of a middle-aged woman who sat in a chair beside his bed.

Her stern but gentle brown eyes searched his face as she said something in the Jasoomian tongue. He had learned a very basic knowledge of the language from his grandfather, but he was far from being conversational and he recognized only one or two of her words. All the same, he replied as best he could in a rasping voice, recognizing that this woman had given him shelter, "Thank you for helping me."

Puzzlement spread over her face – it was obvious that she did not understand him. The woman rose from her seat and left the room where he lay on some sort of raised platform. It was very strange compared to what he had known all his life but, Thuvasis mused, this was an entirely different world. The room was roughly the size of a Barsoomian thoat's stall and the walls seemed to be covered in an endless painting of flowers. An open window framed with sheer white curtains let in a slight breeze. Carried on this breeze were some of the most amazing smells he had ever experienced – what he later came to know as the scents of Carolina jasmine, sea grass, and the sea.

Thuvasis' observations were interrupted when the woman returned accompanied by a man near her own age with a hairless head and wearing a strange metal and glass frame over his eyes. The woman resumed her seat and the man stood at her shoulder. She said something to Thuvasis which he interpreted as a request for his name. He replied by gesturing at himself and saying, "Thuvasis". The woman gestured for him to go on and briefly glanced at the man beside her. Thuvasis obliged her by saying that he was the grandson of John Carter. This brought some recognition to their faces, but he saw that it was only the name they recognized, not his speech. The man shook his head in apparent resignation, turned to the woman, spoke a few words, and left the room.

As Thuvasis watched the man turn to leave, he happened to see a young girl peering around the door frame into the room. Their eyes met for a fraction of a second and during that short time, her white face turned nearly as red as his. She promptly spun around and left.

For the next week, the old woman, whose name he learned was Alice DuPont, cared for him and helped him recover from the change in gravity. It seemed that though he was the grandson of John Carter, his body was still ill prepared for the greater gravity of Jasoom. During that time he did not see the girl, Cynthia who, he'd been told, was the adopted daughter of Alice and Pierre DuPont. Pierre was the man he had met on his first morning. Alice also informed him that it was Cynthia who had found him naked and unconscious on the beach.

Alice taught him to better understand their language as well. Having the rudiments already, he learned quickly. By the end of the week, he was able to converse with her in broken sentences. Of course, the DuPonts wanted to know where he came from and who he was, but he chose not to tell them everything. All he divulged was his name, that he was the grandson of John Carter and that he was from a distant place, thereby allowing them to continue in their assumption that he had been shipwrecked.

Thuvasis had taken to walking the beach near the Duponts' cottage and he used this time to plan. Now that he was on Jasoom, he began to understand the monumental task before him. He had no currency, no real idea where the Astria Porta could be found, and he had barely learned the language, but he had an idea to fix that. The Jasoomians appeared to be sadly ignorant of the greater part of the many sciences, and though he was not particularly experienced in any one area, he was sure he could turn a profit by teaching them some of the basics. They didn't even seem to have a grasp of simple polymers!

Looking up from his musings, Thuvasis saw that he was not alone on the beach today. Ahead, walking the same direction, was the girl he'd seen on his first morning, Cynthia. Walking faster to catch up with her, but not so fast as to alert her to his presence, Thuvasis came up beside her and greeted her in the Jasoomian tongue, "Hello."

She jumped and gave a startled gasp before realizing who had approached her. "H..hello, you startled me! You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."

With an amused smile, Thuvasis replied, still struggling with the language, "But that was my... goal, - I feared you would run... a-way... again."

Her face coloring redder by the second, Cynthia said indignantly, "I did not run away! I just... had something to attend to." At this, she turned and marched back up the beach, towards the cottage.

With a broad grin, Thuvasis set after her at a slow jog, mindful of his breathing so as to not pass out again in the oxygen rich air of Jasoom. Catching up to her, he said, "You have... 'something to attend to'... now?"

"Yes!" Obviously exasperated, she said, "Now go away!"

Barely keeping the laughter out of his voice, Thuvasis replied, "Very well." and walked into the cottage.

Later that evening and after dinner when Cynthia had hurriedly gulped down her food and excused herself, Thuvasis decided to initiate his plan.

It was the Jasoomians' custom after supper to congregate in their common room to rest, occupying their time with reading, writing, and any number of other simple tasks to keep their hands and minds busy. Having learned from Alice that the DuPonts' main livelihood came from their ownership of a chemical company, Thuvasis chose this time to approach Mr. DuPont with his plan.

After he managed to convey to Pierre that he would like a 'job' to earn money and that he had experience in chemistry (admittedly basic knowledge by Barsoomian standards, but extensive compared to the Jasoomians' level of understanding), he explained to the best of his ability that he had knowledge of many different artificial substances that could be very lucrative. Though skeptical, Pierre DuPont agreed to take Thuvasis to one of their research facilities following his family's vacation on the seashore. That, Thuvasis discovered, was why they were there in the first place.

Satisfied he had accomplished the first step in his plan, Thuvasis retired to his room for the night, only to be tormented by questions of the future; Would he ever be able to return to Barsoom, his home? Where on Jasoom could the Astria Porta be? Would his knowledge of chemistry and technology truly be enough for him to gather enough resources to search for the 'Porta? His sleep was restless, but his resolve was concrete – he would find the Alteran device.

-In the palace of the Warlord of Barsoom, Helium, Mars

John Carter was nearly ready. Over the past two weeks since Thuvasis left he had been planning and preparing for his trip to Earth. Most of that time had been spent in research with Kar Komak and a team of Martian scientists in an attempt to determine if he could travel through the Alteran device and take inanimate things with him. They had a working theory to re-calibrate the device, but it had yet to be tested.

Now, all that remained was to say farewell to his family. They had gathered in the device's vault and as he looked at their faces – his wife Dejah Thoris, his son Carthoris, his daughter-in-law Thuvia, his daughter Tara, his son-in-law Gahan – the reality of it hit him once more. He might not see them again for years to come. Gathering his resolve, John Carter kissed his wife and placed his left hand on each of his children's right shoulders, bidding them all farewell and commanding them to care for each other in his absence.

Turning to the obelisk at the back of the room, he extended his hand and focused on his cottage on the Hudson river, where he expected to find his nephew. As soon as his hand touched the gem, John Carter was no longer on Mars.

When the familiar drowsiness receded John Carter found himself in the grounds surrounding the cottage he had built for himself more than forty Jasoomian years ago. Directly above him was the night sky of the Earth – muted by comparison with that of Barsoom. Taking stock of himself and his surroundings, he saw that he had not been deprived of his weapons and harness after all. Kar Komak's theory had worked to bring inanimate things through! His pistol and sword hung comfortingly at his sides.

He decided that his first order of business would be to find his nephew and prepare for his search for his grandson. That might be a bit of a problem considering his attire, but no matter, he would find suitable clothing for the customs of Earth soon enough.

Entering the house, Carter rounded a corner and came face to face with his nephew who was sitting comfortably in a stuffed chair. "Uncle!" Edgar cried, rising to his feet, "Is that you?!"

Glancing down at himself, Carter replied,"Well, yes, I think it is." Taking Edgar's hand and placing his other on Edgar's shoulder, he smiled to reassure his shocked nephew.

Edgar's astonishment was clear in his expression as he asked, "What are you doing here? It's been many years since you revisited Earth, and never in the trappings of Mars!"

John Carter sighed, recalling his reason for visiting his nephew, and replied somberly, "I am here because my grandson, Thuvasis of Helium, has disobeyed me and come here in search of an ancient machine."

"Your grandson is here on Earth? His nephew asked, his earlier astonishment replaced by curiosity.

"Yes, and I must find him, which brings me to why I am here in particular, other than reuniting with you. Though my fortune is undoubtedly yours now, I will require a fair amount of it to begin my search for Thuvasis." John Carter detested asking for supplies, but riches and loyalty usually could not simply be won through combat and valor as on Mars. Such was the way of Earth, where a complicated scheme of politics, greed, and cowardice ran rampant.

"Of course, but where and how do you expect to find him?" Edgar asked, mentally cataloging a list of people he would need to contact, among which was his banker.

Growing thoughtful, John Carter replied, "Where on Earth? He could be anywhere from the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Europe, or even here in New York, but I do know he will be searching for a thing called an 'Astria Porta', perhaps even starting or joining an expedition to search for it if he can. As to how I will find him, shy of a world-wide manhunt, I was considering checking the records and personnel rosters of all the active archaeological digs in the Middle East."

"Why the Middle East in particular?"

That was an interesting question, and John Carter wasn't sure if Edgar was ready for the answer, but he needed his nephew to understand. He replied, "To explain that, I'll need to give you a bit of a history lesson. As you know, I have always been an avid student of the ancient cultures of Mars and have studied them whenever I had the opportunity. In this, Thuvasis and I are very much alike.

Now, among the other races and cultures of Mars I described in my manuscript and notes, there were two others that I do not believe were native to Mars. One, much older than the other appears to date back to the time when the seas began to dry up. These people were known as the Alterans, the builders of the device Thuvasis seeks after, as well as the one that currently allows me to travel between worlds. The other, younger, race seems to have disappeared only about four to five thousand years ago, a short time on Mars. I've been able to uncover very little about this race, however, since their very existence seems to have been buried by both the red and green men, but one massive monument to their culture remains in the shape of a pyramid. And here is the answer to your question; Thuvasis and I found paintings in that huge construct of the very machine the Alterans had described, the Astria Porta, and it was our belief that this younger race used the Astria Porta after the Alterans were gone. As soon as Thuvasis hears of the Egyptian pyramids, he will want to investigate."

"I see what you mean by the history lesson," Edgar muttered thoughtfully. They were silent for a moment as Edgar considered what John Carter said, and then it was as if a light bulb lit up above his head as he asked, "Maybe... starting an expedition to the great pyramids in Egypt yourself would locate him faster?" As he spoke, a sly smile slowly drew itself across his face, "Like a moth to a flame."

This question brought a stern frown to John Carter's expression – deception was not something he was wont to practice but this plan would be almost certain to lure, his grandson. And then there was that nagging thought at the back of his mind; Could the Astria Porta truly be here on Earth? Following Edgar's suggestion just might kill two soraks with one stone, so to speak. Slowly nodding, he replied, "I see your point very well, but no one involved may know who I really am lest Thuvasis hear of it. I will need a liaison to lead the expedition. Do you know of anyone well enough versed in archeology to do so?"

"I have someone in mind." Edgar replied. "Your manuscript introduced me to an entirely new field of study, though you never did tell me where exactly that cave was that you found . . ." His raised eyebrow making the underlying question clearer.

Chuckling, his uncle said, "And that, my nephew, will continue to be a mystery. Come, let's contact these friends of yours." John Carter said, moving towards the door.

Almost frantically Edgar called out, "Wait! You can't go about like that; they'd think you a madman. Let me get you some clothes."

Chuckling, John Carter replied, "I guess you're right, but are you sure that wouldn't be a good thing?"

"No, I'm sure it would not." Edgar said dryly. "Come with me and I'll see if I have something that fits."

John Carter just nodded – still grinning – and followed his nephew.

An hour later and after he had been properly fitted with a suit and necktie – as was the custom for a gentleman of Earth – Edgar was dialing the telephone. "Paul? Yes, this is Ed. Listen, I have someone I'd like you to meet. Could you meet us here at my house? Tomorrow afternoon? Yes that's fine, I'll see you then. Okay, goodbye." Hanging up the phone and turning to his uncle, Edgar said, "That was Paul Langford, he's spent a great deal of time studying ancient Egyptian history and artifacts. I believe he will be an excellent figurehead and ally for our venture."

In the morning the gentle breath of dawn blew against the window panes as John Carter dressed himself in his earthly clothes. His Martian harness, adorned with the devices of Helium and his rank, and cradling his short sword and pistol within their sheaths, lay on the dresser in the corner of his room. He would have to forsake them today, and many days to come, until he made his return to Mars. He tore his mind away from the symbols of his longing, finished dressing, and put the final touches on his necktie musing about how restraining and choking it felt to wear one once again.

He spent most of the morning and the early part of the afternoon planning and discussing logistics with Edgar, and by the time they heard a knock on the door, Edgar's mental list had been written down and tripled in length.

Grateful for the respite, Edgar rose from his seat in the common room and went to answer the door. John Carter heard through the hallway, "Paul, welcome, come join us in the living room." As they came around the corner and entered the common room, he studied the man before him. A middle-aged man, perhaps in his fifties or sixties, Paul had a neatly-trimmed white mustache, combed white hair, and was dressed in a light brown suit and wore round spectacles.

His nephew made the introductions, "Paul, this is John Carter. John, this is Professor Paul Langford." Rising to greet Paul, Carter extended his hand in the traditional greeting of Earth and the professor shook it hesitantly.

Looking back at Edgar, Paul said skeptically, "John Carter, as in the John Carter in your novels?"

"Erm... not quite." Edgar and John Carter had agreed that not even his liaison could know the manuscript was true, much less that he was the John Carter. Replying a little sheepishly, Edgar said, "You see, this is John Carter, my cousin. I named the character in my novels after him."

Paul chuckled at Edgar's response and said, "Ah, so aside from his being your cousin, why did you want me to meet him?"

Taking this as his cue to rejoin the conversation, John Carter replied, "Because I have an offer for you; I am funding an expedition to Giza, Egypt, to find this." Handing a rough sketch of the Astria Porta to Paul, he continued, "I need someone who knows the area and people to head it up."

Sitting down on the nearby couch and furrowing his brow, Paul asked, "Why do you expect to find this in Giza? It doesn't look even remotely Egyptian. What is it?"

Sitting as well, John Carter said, "It is called an Astria Porta. I've been studying ancient writings and drawings of it for many years now and what I've found points to the pyramids in Giza."

Paul mused aloud, "A doorway to the stars..." Then, his eyes shining with curiosity, he said, "Latin? It doesn't look Roman either. Show me what you've found."

Sighing with genuine regret for having to withhold the truth, John Carter replied, "I can't. The evidence simply isn't accessible to show you, but if you agree to my offer, any other artifacts you find will be yours and all expenses will be paid."

Though a glimmer of doubt flickered in the back of his mind, Paul realized that this was the chance he had been waiting for! He had wanted to launch just such an expedition for years now, but his income teaching at the college simply wasn't enough, especially with a wife and a three-year-old daughter to provide for. "I'll agree to your offer on one condition; that I can bring my family with me."

Smiling, John Carter understood Paul's request completely. "Done." They shook hands and the deal was struck. Little did Paul Langford know that he was shaking hands with a man who was a prince of Helium and the Warlord of Barsoom.

Revised 07/06/2019