The rooms inside were dimly lit by a small radium lamp. Her tiny, well-shaped foot splashed in a puddle of blood as she dashed to the small cot where he lay. Gena Thal dropped to her knees by his bedside and nearly wept when she examined Fray.
He was unconscious. She steeled herself against tears and began to work on his terribly ravaged body. The enormous wound in his left breast required immediate attention. He had lost an incredible amount of blood. So much that he shouldn't be alive. In the past Martian year Gena Thal had completed her studies in Barsoomian medicine. The work over the next few hours was very difficult, but with the devoted aid of her more experienced nurse, she succeeded in keeping Fray alive.
The clear premonition that led her to his home kept ringing in the back of her mind as she worked, and remained when she was finished and looking down on his pale but living body.
"So, now you have saved me," he rasped. She laughed and gave him some water.
"You saved yourself. I concluded my medical training after we met. There is a great need for doctors on Barsoom. To repair sword wounds," she said. She examined him quickly and found his condition satisfactory.
"No longer a need for a robe between us, Gena Thal. I fear you know all my secrets," he said with a smile.
"Well, I'd like to know about you, Fray. I don't think I've come close to it all, though," she replied.
"Maybe you know what's important, Gena," he said as he drifted off into sleep.
"You have an interest in botany?" Gena Thal asked. He was not startled by her silent approach.
"I studied it for a century or two. My father was passionate about it and a boy likes to please his father. Have you noticed my garden? Most of my efforts have been toward the extraordinary milkplant that feeds the green men. Perfectly designed to feed a dying world. Too perfectly."
"Too perfectly?" she asked.
"There is no perfection in nature. It has always been the role of plants to feed animals. Sun to plant to animal. I wonder what agency produced this plant.. Natural or something else," mused Fray aloud.
"You sound like you think someone manufactured it."
Fray led her to a place in his garden where several plants were encased in glass. They were milkgivers and Gena Thal asked why they were separated.
"Part of my experiments. When I first arrived here I was naked and powerless. But not helpless. I witnessed some of the depredation executed by the green men on humans they had caught. Powerless, I could not help. Still, I could not tolerate such reprehensible behavior. I began to work on a plan to deal with the green Barsoomians.
"While I was working on this project I discovered the egg hatchery I showed you. Curious, I observed it for a few days until something wonderful happened. One of the eggs hatched and sprouted a small green child. The child was premature and not quite developed as most green children are upon hatching. I was at a loss as to what to do since no parents were available and the child would soon be eaten by some predator or starve to death on its own. In the interests of my studies I adopted the little green monster. Taking him home, it became apparent he liked the milk of the mantalia plant. He was an aggressive creature and very active. Still, I labored at impressing upon his mind instruction that I had received as a child. This seemed to slow him down a bit and he became more thoughtful. After several years of association he displayed remarkable humanlike traits. Compassion, trust, and civility marked how much he differed from his brothers.
"I called him Mac, after a friend of mine. I had grown very fond of the little fellow, but realized that his true destiny was to live with others of his kind. So I arranged for him to be picked up by a band of green warriors. He was hesitant about this, uncharacteristically fearful, yet equally eager to be among his own kind. I hid out of sight while Mac walked up to the small band of warriors.
"How fine they looked in their ornaments and warriors' harnesses. They were surprised to see a lone green cub out in the wilderness. They questioned him, and Mac answered truthfully. When they learned he was an early hatchling, one of their number killed him with a single, mindless sword-stroke.
"You see, the green people have a rule that only eggs that hatch at a certain time are worthy to live. This rule is rigid. Mac had hatched early so he was unfit to live. As he died, I registered the hurt and amazement flooding his mind. I couldn't believe a species could be so cruel to its own kind. And so stupid not to recognize a viable member of their own race when they saw it. And I couldn't believe how stupid I was not to anticipate such a grave error.
"My weaponry was not strong enough to win against seven fully armed green warriors, and Mac was already dead, so I remained concealed. Later I buried Mac so the predators wouldn't get him.
"When the grief wore off I got mad. White hot mad. I returned to my labors. I needed a weapon to strike back at the green warriors. Not just the one who cut Mac down, but all of them.
"This," he said, waving his hand at the encased plants, "is the result of that labor. While I constructed the home base you see here, I also developed a weapon capable of destroying most if not all of the green race."
"What do you mean?"
"My observations have detailed the life cycle of the green men. I know they depend on this plant for nearly all their food. I thought at first to destroy the plant through disease, but that would only send the green giants on a rampage against the humans of this world. So I devised a virus that turns the milk to poison. Any green man taking nourishment from my affected plants, like those you see in the glass cases, will die."
The red maiden was horrified by this repudiation of the ethics of her people. "Fray, this method of killing has no honor. It is monstrous."
"Fear not, Gena, I have not used it. I would not have you think of me as a monster," Fray said softly. He walked back to where she had found him and sat on the big rock, placing his hands on his knees.
"You've come a long way, Gena Thal. And you have done good work."
"You mean saving you?"
"Well, sure, but I meant acquiring the ability to save me or others like me. I like to see positive growth like that."
"I'm glad I please you," she said demurely. An awkward moment of silence came between them. Fray locked his eyes on hers and let the silence grow. Again she tried to read his mind. When words could not cope most Barsoomians reached out telepathically. Some highly developed minds were difficult or impossible to read at the choice of the person, but usually there was something there to sense. Gena Thal had met John Carter a few times and had experienced first hand how blank he was to a Barsoomian telepath. Fray was like that, too. Or was he?
Now there was a glimmer of a mind linked to that masculine body. There was something she wanted to remember. What was it?
"You wonder how you knew to come to me. And how you knew where I was," Fray answered her unformed question.
She maintained her composure with difficulty. "Now that you mention it, I do wonder. Usually, I don't have trouble remembering things."
"I might be able to explain some things to you, but I think its better if things work out by themselves," Fray said with a smile.
Gena Thal turned on her toes and faced away from Fray toward his patchwork house. Her nearly naked body had matured since he had last saw her. Where once she had a girlish plumpness her thighs and buttocks were streamlined into appealing feminine curves. She stood with a slight twist to her hips unconsciously assuming a seductive posture. Again Fray felt his masculinity rise within him and is was apparent on his face when she pivoted toward him suddenly. Instead of commenting on his open desire, Gena Thal changed the subject with feminine grace.
"Where are you from, Fray? You never really told me," she asked. She sat on a small rock and perched her chin on her clasped hands. "Is it a secret of some sort?"
Fray frowned at her mercurial moods and then laughed. "Not really a secret. It's just that I was taught not to tell more than necessary."
"That sounds like military training. A very common vocation on Barsoom," she said with a trace of disappointment.
"Yes," Fray agreed, " it is. I was a soldier recently. My people were attacked by a terrible enemy. Soldiers were needed. I have been many other things in my life. Botanist, biologist, historian, athlete -- among others. Our lives are longer than those of most people."
"It seems only soldiers come to Barsoom from outside," she said. "The stories of two other soldiers, men of Jasoom, are well known to all the people of Helium."
"My story is not unlike theirs. One mistake in tactics left me vulnerable to a horde of the enemy's killers. I was severely wounded and left for dead. Up in the dark sky I saw the Red Planet: Barsoom. It opened its arms to me and I came. My body was reborn, healthy and strong, in a new world. A chance for survival. Had I not come, I would have perished," explained Fray.
"What were your people like?" she asked.
"Prosperous, happy, content with our lives. A rich history of arts, science and humanities. Some might call our civilization an utopia. We learned power through control. Control of our minds and bodies. Control of our behavior. Individual control based on ethical principles shared by most if not all of our people," said Fray.
He tilted his head back and lingered on old memories. His body relaxed, almost sagging with weariness. His home was so far away that the memory of it was painful. Gena Thal sensed his pain and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Sounds like paradise," she said sympathetically.
"Paradise lost," he said with a wry smile. "It is true that things cannot stay good forever. Neither should they stay bad forever. My people work to make things better. Our enemy wanted to destroy us because we were different from them. Even in war, we tried to find way to make positives out of the negative. Sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case on Barsoom. I am curious to know why," said Fray.
"We can't get ahead. We can barely stay alive. Fighting is all we know. It has been explained to us that it is the best way to live in the harsh environment of Barsoom. And the green men are always there to emphasize the point."
Fray lifted his head suddenly, his weariness a thing of the past. Reacting to his alarm, Gena Thal searched about her for danger and saw a half dozen mounted green warriors on a nearby hill. The green men handled their rifles with the intent to use them, following the example of their leader who pointed to Fray and Gena Thal with his barrel.
"See what I mean," Gena Thal gasped. "Hurry, we have to get to weapons and cover."
Fray held her in a loose grip. "Go inside and get my long sword."
"What can a long sword do against their rifles? Even if they meet you with swords, they are six and you are one."
"Get the sword, please."
"Fray, are you tired of life? Those creatures are the best killers in the universe. It's all they live for. We must defend ourselves properly," she insisted. The green men had started down the hill toward Fray's little home. They advanced at a leisurely pace, content that they were more than a match for any of the humans below.
"Frankly, Gena, it's all any of you live for. I live for more. Go get my sword, " he commanded, "Now!" Years of obedience to the warrior males of her kind impelled Gena Thal to obey this man who she accepted as a friend and protector. She ran into the patchwork house to get his sword.
Fray walked toward the green men. His keen eyes identified their tribe and clan from their harnesses. He scanned them telepathically and smiled. He took off the soft robe he had twisted around his loins and was naked when Gena Thal came out with his weapon. Nakedness was nothing unusual on Barsoom so the red girl hardly noticed. He took his sword from her and walked out the meet the green warriors.
The two parties came together where the hill joined the level ground. The green men on their mounts towered over the pale human. They laughed when they saw him hold his sword loosely in his right hand. One of them raised his rifle to shoot Fray in the leg just to see him hit the ground.
"Kaor, I am Fray, conqueror of Quator Dot. Do you challenge me?" Fray said slowly, ignoring the raised rifle.
The leader of the group lifted his hand to halt the others. He stared at Fray with menacing eyes and laughed harshly as all his kind do.
"You have not yet recovered from the wounds that Quator Dot dealt you, though that is no reason to not kill you. I would like to kill you very much, little man. Split your head with my sword and watch your brains dribble out," said the giant green man. He dismounted and stalked closer to Fray and pulled out his sword. Fray's sword lifted in his hand as he assumed a defensive posture.
Twenty yards away, Gena Thal, listening to the exchange, grew horrified at the thought of Fray fighting this monstrous brute in his weakened condition. In desperation her mind reached out to him and, failing to reach him on the broad telepathic carrier wave that unites all Barsoomians, she tried to 'see' him as she had almost done before. There was a brittle moment when she saw him turn and smile at her even though she knew that he had not actually done so. The moment was so strange that she forgot the terrifying reality of the situation and laughed when this odd Fray winked . Then the moment was gone. The green man's voice boomed loudly in her ears.
"I am Minoat Zem, a man who will someday be a chieftain of the Yantak horde of the Thark nation. I recognize you as one who is protected by the chieftains of my horde for reasons of their own. I saw your fight with Quator Dot and acknowledge you as a great fighter. Since that day, we have been ordered to find your resting place and I have done so now. We will not fight today, Fray Dot, but I have hope that one day I may gain fame by running my blade through your heart." So spoke the green man.
"Then we have no further business today."
"Not today," laughed the Thark. He returned to his thoat and mounted. He and his small band rode away.
Fray stood erect until they had melted away in the landscape. By then Gena Thal stood beside him. She squeezed his shoulder.
"What was all that about?" she asked.
Briefly he explained about his duel with Quator Dot. She stared at him incredulously. "Why would you do something like that?" she asked.
"Several reasons. Sooner or later the green men would have found my home and that would have led to unfortunate conflict. Gator Nel interested me. I saw potential in him to be more than the typical green warrior, so I wanted to influence him away from the barbaric ways of his people. For both of these reasons I had to gain the respect of the local Thark community. Slaying their champion fit the bill, though I had not thought it would be so difficult. Now I have a temporary impasse with the green people because they are uncertain what to do about me and so leave me alone. At least for now," Fray explained.
"And there are other reasons. Foremost is my study of the green man mentality. I had to feel, experience what it is to be a green man. During the duel I merged what they are with what I am to greater understand them, and to illustrate to Gator Nel what he might become.
"And in a final note, I sort of enjoyed the combat. It might have been the closest fight I've ever been in. Exciting," admitted Fray, "But that reason would not have been enough. To do something so significant, one must have several good reasons."
Gena Thal remained incredulous. "How did you know things would work out?"
"Telepathically I monitored their reactions to every move I made. Their minds are violent and simple. The only thing in question was the actual duel. Of course that was the most exciting part. Telepathy is more than simple communication, Gena, as I believe you are learning," said Fray.
Shaking her head, Gena Thal tossed her black hair. The strange telepathic vision that had led her to Fray was partially explained. "I may be learning something, Fray, but I'm very confused as well. You are not like the men of Helium."
"No, I am not. I trust Gena Thal of Helium can have friends that are not of Helium," he said with a smile.
"Of course," she retorted. "I am not a slave. I can pick anyone I want as my friend."
"Then, it shall always remain my wish that we be friends," said Fray.
And nothing more, she thought. No words of love or commitment. She had waited a long time for a man to name her his princess. Was this the man?
Fray pointed to the mantalia plants encased in glass. "It was because of Mac that those plants remain no danger to the green men. I realized that if he could develop positive traits, then others could too.
He dropped his eyes from hers. "I must be honest with you, Gena," he confessed. "There was another reason I dueled. The mindless warrior who cut down Mac was called Quater Dot."
Gena Thal repressed a smile. There was a motive a red girl could understand.