READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
the hands of an assassin, who would have struck first and
spoken not at all.
"Who be you?" he asked of Kar Komak. "Your harness is
unknown to me, and I have seen many metals from the
farthermost reaches of Barsoom."
"Silence!" demanded Kar Komak. "I will ask the questions.
First, know you aught of the whereabouts or fate of a
white woman who was recently captured by the Torquasians?"
Now, the other's eyes widened in startled wonderment.
"By the gods, man!" he exclaimed. "There is only one such
woman here! And know you not her true identity?"
"This is not the answere to my question. It matters not
who she is. I must know where she is!" The dagger pressed
insistently against the other's neck.
"Where else but in the throne room of the palace? She is
none other than the arisen Issus!"
Kar Komak almost lost his grip on the dagger. "Issus!
But this is impossible! I alone know of the woman's true
origin—"
"Blasphemer!" snarled the man under him, suddenly
tensing in anger. "Know you not that she has been joined this
day by her mate of legend, the invincible Tharos Pthan,
himself?"
"Mate!" Kar Komak's eyes blazed in jealous rage. "There
is but one mate for the woman of whom I speak—"
"And he lies even now at her side!" sneered the other.
"You lie!"
"Then why don't you storm the palace, O Great
One?—and see for yourself?"
Kar Komak tossed his blade up, caught it in one swift
movement, and brought the handle down heavily on the
Ptarthian's head. Making sure that the man was unconscious,
he dragged his body behind a patch of shrubbery next to the
building and quickly left him.
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