READ THE NOVEL- Chapters 1-31 - ERBzine

Tarzan on Mars
swift blow on the head with the back of his hand, and the
apeman was sent sprawling almost over the opposite gunwale.
It was a stupendous blow, fully as jarring as the kick of a
mule. Tarzan's senses reeled, carrying him to the brink of
unconsciousness. He shook his head and got to his knees,
aware of warm blood on his temple.
"Enough!" cried the Thern officer. "Thum, you are under
orders to stop abusing the prisoners. You have proved your
point. This man could not possibly be the true Tharos Pthan."
As Tarzan gathered himself for a savage charge, Kar
Komak walked between him and his tormentor, signaling him
to desist.
"For Helium!" he whispered.
So it was that the two adventures submitted to their
captors and were borne on a fighting ship of the Holy Alliance
to Tarnath. Great was Tarzan's wonderment, in spite of Kar
Komak's previous description, when he beheld the long, deep
Valley of Tarnath and its stupendous, frowning escarpment,
towering as it did above the two mile deep depression where
lay the Lake of Darkness. Moreover, the sight of so many
great military encampments below and the huge, alerted
fleets maneuvering above reminded him of the massive fight
power he had once seen poised on the coasts of England at D-
Day during World War II.
"John Carter must be quite a formidable Warlord," he
commented to Kar Komak, "to have inspired such a mighty
preparation on the part of his enemies."
"This is only the Main Base of operations," replied Kar
Komak, who was carefully observing the thousands of battle
craft in the sky over Tarnath. "Entire nations are also allied
with force, in the outer world. I fear for the success of the
Warlord now, for religious fanaticism has divided his ranks,
and as you can see, the enemy has been alerted. From the
looks of it, they have already received word that his grand
invasion is imminent."
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