READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
which was typical of Barsoom.
The light of the rising sun illuminated the broad avenues
and the magnificent buildings of the ancients. He cut his
engine and drifted slowly toward the center of the city,
examining it curiously. Silence greeted him. No human figure,
whether real or phantom, stirred there below. He could sense
that Lothar was empty. Its inhabitants were gone.
His mind filled with startled conjecture, Kar Komak
landed in the great square before the massive palace of the
jeddak. If he were being deceived and led into a trap, he
reasoned, it were just as well. He would explain that since he
had discovered an apparently deserted city he had decided to
explore it. Which was a plausible story, inasmuch as the dead
sea bottoms of Barsoom are dotted with the deserted cities of
the ancient races.
Yet he could not rid himself of the conviction that Tario
had left this place and taken the others with him. As he
walked through the empty halls, even the soft padding of his
sandals of sitidar hide raising a somber echo among the
golden, jewel-encrusted pillars, this conviction grew.
And, at last, he stood in the empty throne room of Tario,
himself.
Gone. All gone. A lifeless city. He was its sole inhabitant.
Or was he?
Suddenly, a thought occurred to him which stirred him
to instant action. He raced up the dais of the throne. Since he
was a mental creation of Tario, he recalled the jeddak's
secrets. And there was a secret here in Lothar which touched
heavily upon his own personal problem.
He found the room—a secret chamber adjoining Tario's
private sleeping quarters—windowless, escape-proof, except
for the massive stone door which now stood ajar.
Kar Komak entered the place in awe. Here, in this
hidden room, Tario had sought to perform the same miracle
which now haunted his own mind and heart.
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