READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
gasp, straining futilely against him, as he rushed precipitately
into the old man's private citadel of thought.
"Stop!" screamed Var Koros. "I can't stand it!"
Silence!—Kar Komak's mind commanded. And the man
became still.
Then he released him. "You are safe," he said. "I gather
that you are as much an enemy of the Holy Alliance as
I—though I spared you your privacy. I did not go into details."
"By Issus!" exclaimed Var Koros. "But you are a threat
to Tario, himself, with a mentality like that! Such a wizard's
power of mind can only belong to a Lotharian!"
"I could hypnotize you so that you will forget what you
already know. Yet I can use every friend and ally I can find.
But, tell me one thing. Will you betray me?"
Before Var Koros could answer, Kar Komak probed him
mentally again, swiftly and with clinical precision.
"I read hesitation and doubt in you," he continued. "While
you oppose the Holy Alliance, you also resent John Carter.
Then, where does your alliance lie?"
"With the people," came the answer. "All the inhabitants
of the planet—for both the Holy Alliance and John Carter are
wrong!"
"And you, alone, know the right answer?" smiled Kar
Komak.
"Perhaps. But I suspect the Zumorians know also. I
suspect them of playing with Tario and the others as a calot 5
would play with ulsio. For the principles of the Holy Alliance
and the principles of John Carter, with relation to the religious
needs of this planet, stand between the wild thoat of
deception and the mad zitidar of error.
Thus it was that Var Koros, the famous antiquarian of
Barsoom who had returned from Korus, of old, educated Kar
5 Calot—Martian watchdog, a huge, fierce creature
possessing ten short, swift legs...
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