READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
As the guard who had accompanied him reached for his
arm to place him under arrest, Kar Komak whirled, drawing
his great sword and short sword simultaneously. As speech
would have been superfluous under the circumstances, he fell
to work with his weapons.
The guard leaped back, drawing his sword and throwing
up a startled defense, and at the same time the dwar laughed
aloud and drew both of his.
"Oh, come now!" shouted the latter. "Your life isn't worth
a few questions—" He was already moving against Kar
Komak's defense, wielding a lightning swift blade. "Unless, of
course, you are really a spy for the Warlord, as the odwar
suspects!"
Kar Komak had learned much from Carthoris who was
second only to the greatest swordsman on the planet, John
Carter, himself. And the guard who would have arrested him
was first to learn of it though not to his benefit. For he fell
dead with a long, keen blade through his heart.
Hardly had Kar Komak withdrawn his weapon from the
man's carcass before the dwar transformed himself into a
living demon of offensive swordplay. Though Kar Komak had
been considered exceptional in Helium, he knew that his
opponent was undoubtedly more than a match for him. As the
Tarnathian officer twice penetrated his expert guard and drew
blood, he knew that the contest would either last too long—or
be tragically short, for him. For already he heard the sound of
reinforcements approaching in the corridor.
"Surrender, panthan!" exclaimed the dwar, slashing at
him savagely. "Before I cut you down!"
Had it only been a matter of his own life and honor, Kar
Komak might have adhered to the universal warrior's code of
the planet, which perhaps only a Martian and John Carter and
that other terrestrial, Vad Varo, could understand. He would
have fought his opponent with equal weapons.
However, much more than himself was concerned here,
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