VI

The earthlings learned that these malign organisms were the same which they had seen in the botanical jungle on their way to the tower inhabited by the Koum. It was not long before they witnessed other battles between the Tloongs and the rampant organisms; and they were told of more which occurred daily in different zones of the red world. On one occasion the tower of the Koum was invaded throughout its underground vaults; and some of the Murms had almost reached the royal presence before they were destroyed. The increasing number of such outbreaks was a source of serious worry to the Tloongs. Some of the invasions, occurring in remote uninhabited areas, had gained so much headway that it was impossible to annihilate all the monstrosities; and certain tracts were now virtually abandoned to them, apart from a cordon of air-vessels to prevent or at least delay their further incursions by feeding them with the lethal element, which was commonly enclosed in vegetable pulp and dropped from above. Also, their ravages in the planet’s interior were beginning to offer new and baffling problems. They were breaking through into the great shaft that ran from pole to pole, and were often found floating in the currents of levitational force. Casualties had occurred from their attacks on vessels and individuals travelling in the shaft. And, worst of all, the extent of their ramifications and self propagation was not determinable. But since their life-habit was one of perpetual feeding and pullulation, it was surmised that the underground burrows must be growing more and more extensive. Several earthquakes, which were rare things in the red planet, had recently been noted, and were attributed by savants to the condition of internal erosion caused by the Murms. It was feared that some atlantean cataclysm would eventuate sooner or later. And in the meanwhile, nothing could be done except to fight, and sometimes annihilate, the organisms who had tunneled their way to the surface. These, however, were believed to be less than a fraction of the teeming hordes who had not yet seen the light; and who, in time, would leave nothing of the planet but a gutted shell. The minds of all the metal beings, wise with the garnered lore of outlived cycles, were bent upon the problem of controlling this menace; and it was hoped that some new and efficacious method might eventually be discovered.

Volmar and his crew, however, saw comparatively little of the monstrous menace. They were taken on more tours of inspection; they saw the terraced mountains which rose till they nearly touched the coruscating vault; they saw the seas and lakes whose waters were of sundry predetermined hues, ranging from nacarat yellow to richest violet. And they saw the building of a new Babelian edifice, by means of integrators that organized the desert sand in ever-lifting walls and floors, like Ilion rising to the music of Apollo.

Why the Tloongs should detain the Alcyone’s crew, and go to so much trouble in familiarizing them with all the conditions of life on the red planet, was still a mystery. The care that was taken in exhibiting all the natural phenomena and mechanical wonders, was indeed remarkable. Also, the attitude of this people was beyond analysis: it could not be known whether they respected or despised their visitors, whether they were friendly or unfriendly at heart. Their gestures, their words, their courtesies toward the strangers, though testifying to an enormous heritage of erudite and highly evolved civilization, were soulless and cryptic as those of a machine. Their precise feelings, their ultimate intentions, remained an enigma.

One day, following the half-hour of artificial darkness, a new delegation of the Tloongs, comprising several of the four-eyed surgeon type, appeared before the Alcyone. On being admitted, they announced in their musical metallic voices, with many formal genuflections, that the Koum had sent them to conduct the strangers on a special journey. As usual, nothing was said regarding the objective of the journey.

Expecting another series of ultra-terrestrial scenes and marvels, the earthlings issued from the space-flier with their guides. They mounted an air-platform, and were taken to the laboratory they had once before visited, on the cliffs above a bright purple sea. Here, in the section where they had been examined so minutely, where drawings of all their organs and members had been made, an unbelievable sight awaited them. Several of the Tloong workman were just putting the final touches to a standing row of metallic bodies which duplicated in every detail, even to the respirative masks, the clothed bodies of Volmar and his men! These, it was evident, had been constructed from the drawings.

The earth-men stared in stupefaction at the metal replicas of their physical selves; and a thought which they hardly dared to formulate arose in their minds.

“Well,” said Roverton, trying to banish the thought, “the Tloongs are certainly the prize manufacturers of mannikins. Those things are so devilishly lifelike that one expects them to move or speak.”

“No terrestrial sculptor could do more,” agreed Volmar. Then he added slowly: “I wonder what the idea is. Probably they want to retain, along with their drawings, a plastic representation of our appearance.”

“Well, I hope it’s only that,” said Roverton softly.

Before the discussion could be continued, the leader of the Tloong delegation, a large-headed being with a physiognomy of recherché fantasticality, began to address the earthlings. They could understand no more than half of his speech, which seemed to be couched in a highly technical jargon, comparable to that employed by medical men. But this half was enough to fill them with horror. The Koum (said the Tloong) had decreed that incorruptible metal bodies should be made for the visitors, that their brains should be transferred to these bodies, and that they should remain permanently in the red world. In time, it was hoped, by virtue of their ensuing immortality and long contact with the supremely civilized people of this world, they might develop into beings of a high order of intelligence. Through motives of benignity, as well as curiosity regarding the biological result, the Koum had decided upon this experiment when he first beheld the earthlings; and the operation was to be performed as soon as the Koum should make his appearance to watch and supervise it.

As he ended his address, the Tloong pointed to a huge slab of ebon stone at one side of the room. Several surgeons, all equipped with formidable knives and saws, were standing beside it. It was obvious that the men were expected to lie down upon the slab and await the ministrations of these beings.

Volmar, who had learned to speak the language more fully and articulately than the others, began to expostulate, and tried to explain that he and his men preferred to inhabit their own fleshly bodies, no matter how frail, corruptible and faulty they might be. They appreciated (he went on) the extraordinary thoughtfulness of the Koum, and the trouble to which the Tloongs had gone in designing these indestructible metallic doppelgangers. But nevertheless this signal honor and proof of consideration must be regretfully declined.

The Tloongs, it was evident, were greatly puzzled. After some deliberation, their leader said that such a refusal was quite unheard-of and unthinkable, and that the will of the Koum must be obeyed without demur. The reluctance of the earth-men, he added, could be due only to their immature and imperfect mental development; it was sheer folly, and could not be permitted by the wise and benevolent people of the red world. If necessary, the operation would be performed by force. And when their benighted brains were free from the trammels of perishable matter, the earthlings would come to realize the kindness that had been shown them.