READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
bottoms? I am engaged upon an expedition to discover a
suitable location for the establishment of my cult. We must
remain secluded and erect temples and prepare dwelling
places for the faithful who would serve the eternal Flame of
Life, which is the sun. It was during the prosecution of this
search that I chanced upon this lost valley. Before I could get
close enough to command my advanced scouts fell into
combat with your people, as a matter of habit."
"In other words," said Var Koros, "you actually came in
peace?"
La surveyed the valley somewhat calculatingly. "Today,"
she replied, "I come in peace."
"And tomorrow?" queried Sorquas Ptorel.
"It is that 'tomorrow' I would discuss with you," she
answered laconically.
That night, La's forces camped on the hills above the
valley while she remained in the city, accompanied by a
picked group of green warriors and great white apes. Sorquas
Ptorel, Mordos Val, Var Koros and many others met with her
in the only stone building in the city, which was used in lieu
of a palace. Here, at rustic tables and by the illumination of
the crude oil gas lamps of the green men, they shared an
inelegant, but salubrious, supper of fresh vegetables, and milk
from the mantalia plant of Barsoom, which was also cultivated
in the valley.
It was then that Var Koros learned something of the
strange history of La, Goddess of the Sun. He said little, other
than to ask carefully worded questions, but he listened
intently and meditated much on what he heard. Whenever
Sorquas Ptorel or Mordos Val would ask him to tell of his
own adventures and reveal what he had discovered, he would
always evade the issue, as though it were but a momentary
delay, while he skillfully maneuvered the conversation toward
the Goddess of the Sun.
This strange, beautiful white woman who claimed to be
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