Carson of Venus

Fantastic science fiction from Edgar Rice Burroughs! Highly Recommended!
Everyone who has ever flown will recall the thrill of his first flight
over familiar terrain, viewing the old scenes from a new angle that
imparted a strangeness and a mystery to them as of a new world; but
always there was the comforting knowledge that the airport was not too
far away and that even in the event of a forced landing one would know
pretty well where he was and how to get home.

But that dawn that Duare and I took off from Havatoo to the
accompaniment of the staccato hum of Amtorian rifles, I was actually
flying over an unknown world; and there was no landing field and no
home. I believe that this was the happiest and most thrilling moment of
my life. The woman I love had just told me that she loved me, I was once
again at the controls of a ship, I was free, I was flying in safety
above the innumerable menaces that haunt the Amtorian scene.
Undoubtedly, other dangers lay ahead of us in our seemingly hopeless
quest for Vepaja, but for the moment there was nothing to mar our
happiness or arouse forebodings. At least, not in me. With Duare it may
have been a little different. She may have had forebodings of disaster.
It would not be strange if she had, for up until the very instant that
we rose to top the walls of Havatoo, she had had no conception that there
might exist any contrivance in which man might leave the ground and fly
through the air. It was naturally something of a shock to her; but she
was very brave, and content, too, to accept my word that we were safe.

The ship was a model of perfection, such a ship as will one day be
common along the airways of old Earth when science has progressed there
as far as it has in Havatoo. Synthetic materials of extreme strength and
lightness entered into her construction. The scientists of Havatoo
assured me that she would have a life of at least fifty years without
overhaul or repairs other than what might be required because of
accident. The engine was noiseless and efficient beyond the dreams of
Earth men. Fuel for the life of the ship was aboard; and it took up very
little space, for it could all be held in the palm of one hand. This
apparent miracle is scientifically simple of explanation. Our own
scientists are aware of the fact that the energy released by combustion
is only an infinitesimal fraction of that which might be generated by
the total annihilation of a substance. In the case of coal it is as
eighteen thousand millions are to one. The fuel for my engine consists
of a substance known as lor, which contains an element called yor-san,
as yet unknown to Earth men, and another element, vik-ro, the action of
which upon yor-san results in absolute annihilation of the lor. Insofar
as the operation of the ship was concerned, we might have flown on for
fifty years, barring adverse weather conditions; but our weakness lay in
the fact that we had no provisions. The precipitancy of our departure
had precluded any possibility of provisioning the ship. We had escaped
with our lives and what we had on, and that was all; but we were very
happy. I didn't want to spoil it by questioning the future. But, really,
we had a great many questions to ask of the future; and Duare presently
raised one quite innocently enough.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To look for Vepaja," I told her. "I am going to try to take you home."

She shook her head. "No, we can't go there."

"But that is the one place you have been longing to go ever since you
were kidnaped by the klangan," I reminded her.

"But not now, Carson. My father, the jong, would have you destroyed. We
have spoken of love to one another, and no man may speak of love to the
daughter of the jong of Vepaja before she is twenty. You know that well
enough."

"I certainly should," I teased her; "you have told me often enough."

"I did it for your own safety, but nevertheless I always liked to hear
you say it," she admitted.

"From the first?" I asked.

"From the first. I have loved you from the first, Carson."

"You are an adept at dissimulation. I thought you hated me; and yet,
sometimes I wondered."

"And because I love you, you must never fall into the hands of my
father."

"But where can we go, Duare? Do you know a single spot in all this world
where we should be safe? There is none; and in Vepaja you, at least,
will be safe. I shall have to take the chance of winning your father over."