Old Mars

“Surely …” Sexton said, his eyes unfocusing as he considered the question.

“And once we are airborne, we must find a new prevailing wind to bear us homeward. For this, we may require new theories of the motions of air.”

“A difficult problem indeed.” Sexton patted his pockets for his notebook.

“Consider, too, the problem of bringing the trees, whole, out from this canyon, transporting them to the ship, and raising them up as masts.”

Sexton’s head came up suddenly. “Masts?”

“Masts,” Kidd acknowledged.

“But that’s exactly what we need!” said Sexton, and laughed.

“Masts!”

“Masts!” Kidd cried, and he too burst out laughing.

The two men held hands and danced around and around, bouncing with glee high into the thin Martian air.

Mars Adventure floated fifty feet above the sand, straining against her mooring cables. Above her loomed eight vast balloons, each slightly larger than before—an enormous crazy patchwork of bright Martian colors. They had taken up nearly every yard of fabric in the city, purchased with many weeks of backbreaking labor, but both Martians and Englishmen seemed pleased with the exchange.

The new masts were astounding—straight and smooth and so very light that they’d taken only half the crew to hoist out of the canyon and fit into place. And this was not merely the lighter weight of everything on Mars … these trees, products of a tiny, dry, and alien planet, bore a wood lighter and stronger than any on Earth. They’d packed the hold with as many logs as they could cram in. “We’ll build a whole fleet of airships!” Sexton swore, “and come back for more! We’ll make our fortune with these logs!”

“Not I,” Kidd told him.

Sexton blinked in astonishment, then grinned. “Surely the famous Captain Kidd does not lack in avarice?”

Kidd returned Sexton’s grin. “Have no fears on that score. Upon my return, I expect the gratitude of a king! And with those proceeds, I intend to settle down in Scotland, my ancestral home, with all the Ferintosh I can drink.” He leaned over the taffrail, looking down upon a city full of Martians, all a-chitter with excitement to see the great ship fly. “Fare thee well, ye great crabs!” he cried, then turned to the bosun. “Cast off!”

The men leapt into action, and, a moment later, with a great soaring bound, Mars Adventure sprang away into the blue Martian sky.

S. M. STIRLING