John Carter of Mars: Journal Entry #1

1. John Carter of Mars: Journal Entry #1 I am a Panthan, now, working for a man by the name of Fal Sivas. He’s a strange man; I can see by the glint in his eye that he has many secrets, and I would like to find them out. But let me tell you of how I met him. I entered the city of Zodanga, and with no trouble at all found a hangar to settle my air-craft. I ordered a room, but soon learned there was only one, in which everyone shared. My neighbor was a man by the name of Rapas the Ulsio, Ulsio meaning ‘Rat’ among the Martians. I might add that he looks the part; he has a cruel face and mean demeanor about him. We chatted for a while, and I let it slip that I was a Panthan: a warrior who never stays in one place, always looking for a hirer in need of an assassin. He got very excited, and told me of his being an assassin. He offered to talk to the man he worked for: Fal Sivas. That night, Rapas took me to Fal Sivas. He was an old man; very snake like. There was sarcasm in his voice as he smiled and praised Rapas for a dirty job he’d done. Fal Sivas questioned me about my life, what places I’d been, who I’d worked for. After a little chat, he decided to hire me, as his body guard. He told me about the ways he preferred for his victims to be assassinated, and I agreed. Then he stared at me a while, before opening his mouth again. “There may be a time,” said he, “when you may have to draw your long-sword or your short-sword in my defense. Are you a capable swordsman?” “I am a Panthan,” I replied; and as panthans live by the sword, the very fact that I am here answers your question.” He disagreed. “Not entirely. I must have a master swordsman. Rapas, here, is handy with the short-sword. Let us see what you can do against him.” Rapas and I were shocked. Did Fal Sivas expect me to kill Rapas? Rapas voiced my thoughts. “Not to the death, of course,” said Fal Sivas. “Just a short passage. Let us see which one can scratch the other first.” So we fought. Rapas told me he would try not to hurt me too badly, but then I beat him. He was horrified, saying he had not been prepared. So we had a go again. And once more I beat him. That was when Fal Sivas decided I was worthy. And so, here I am. In the house of Fal Sivas; a deadly enemy to the man I wanted to kill.

3. John Carter of Mars: Journal Entry #2 Fal Sivas, like I said before, has many dark secrets. I have learned that he uses his slaves as science experiments. There is a slave girl by the name of Zanda, whom I have rescued from him by asking for her as my servant. I don’t know how long I will be able to hide her, but I am trying. Fal Sivas wants me to find Ur Jan, our shared enemy. I will go at night, when most of the world is asleep. I’m hoping to be successful, as I always have been, but I am worried about what may happen. My plan is to climb through a window and sneak in to kill Ur Jan, but Fate does have a way of changing things. I pray for luck.

5. John Carter of Mars: Journal Entry #3 The mission has gone well, though I have found out some poor news. My princess, Dejah Thoris, has been taken from Helium, the city she rules, for ransom. Ur Jan and Gar Nal expect that her father the Jeddak or I will pay handsomely to get her back. I must admit that I felt queasy upon hearing this news. I also found out that Rapas is one of Ur Jan’s spies, and that Ur Jan is allies with Gar Nal, an old inventor whom Fal Sivas is competing with. Fal Sivas is a bit upset at the fact that Gar Nal is almost finished with one of his inventions, which Fal Sivas is creating as well. I was wondering what this invention was, until Fal Sivas showed me. He took me into a locked up room, and there he showed me a big plane. I was wondering what he wanted to compete with Gar Nal for, because they had both been beaten at the invention of a ship, until Fal Sivas told me his secret: it takes orders from you brain. You don’t have to talk out loud, or make an action, you just think the command, direct it towards the ship, and it comes to life. I watched in awe as the ship rose from its platform, as Fal Sivas had commanded it to. My mind raced! If I could get that ship to obey my commands, then I could find my Princess and save her! I have requested the chance to supervise the slaves that work on the ship, and it has been accepted. The first chance I get, I’m going to experiment on it. But for now, I will have to wait.

7. John Carter of Mars: Journal Entry #4 I’m in jail. With a blue cat-man by the name of Umka, who has one eye and two mouths and eats blood and raw flesh after playing with its victim. But let me begin this passage properly. After experimenting with the ship, I found out that I can control it. Fal Sivas caught me, but I fought my way out, and took Zanda in the ship and ran away. After a long while we went to Gar Nal’s house, where we found the ship gone. They had already started taken my princess somewhere to hide! We immediately pursued, but our ship lost control and we landed on a different planet by the name of Thuria. Then something odd happened: we were attacked, but could not see our attackers. Many hands grabbed us and tied us up, then lead us into a throne room and made us stand there. None of us could see anything; there was nobody. After that more hands lead us up to cells in towers, where we were locked away apart from each other. I was locked with Umka, who doesn’t speak any language I have ever heard. Over time we learned to communicate, though, and he told me that the Turids (the people of Thuria) can’t be seen unless you want to see them, or until you allow yourself to be able to see them. Day after day I watched, getting frustrated with myself whenever food came in but no person. And then, finally, one day I saw them. They had fair white skin, and blue hair. I was so excited that I had finally thrown off the spell! Soon I will be able to rescue my princess, Dejah Thoris.

9. John Carter of Mars: Journal Entry #5 I have done it! I have rescued my DejahThoris. A long story short, I have saved DejahThoris, Zanda, the Jeddara of ThuriaOzara, Gar Nal, Ur Jan, and Umka. The Jeddara was a prisoner in her own palace, and so she came to me for help. I managed to find a way of escape, and got everyone out of their cells. After being chased for a while by some Thurian guards, and having to fight a little bit, we escaped in our ships. In the process of fighting, I rescued Ur Jan from being killed, and after words he swore to forever be in my service. But after we escaped, there was a problem. Gar Nal had taken the princess in their own ship and left me with everyone else. They deceived me! I followed in pursuit and could not find them; until one of my faithful guards, Jat Or, suggested they might have hidden in their own house. So of course we looked, and found them there. Fal Sivas was also there, making alliances. I demanded to know where Dejah was, and they told me she had been taken to another planet to hide. I ordered them to tell me where she was, and they swore she was in a city by the name of Ombra. I was just about to leave when Dejah ran out of a nearby room, breathing heavily. I embraced her. “I thought I should not be in time,” she said. “I heard all that was said in this room, but I was bound and gagged and could not warn you that Gar Nal was deceiving you. It was only just this instant that I succeeded in freeing myself.” At that, Ur Jan ran back to Gar Nal and stabbed him through the heart, and now I am back with my princess. All is well, until the next adventure.