He was relieved when the corridor opened up, like the mouth of a trumpet, into a significantly larger space. That relief, however, was eclipsed by an even greater one: The unexpected presence of light!
It required a certain amount of concentration to follow the path on which the trio of explorers was being led, with nearly pitch darkness beyond the halo of the two small lamps they carried.
“Do you know where they’re taking us?” Francis asked Rosemary, who was following close beside him.
“It’s hard to be sure, but I don’t think I’ve been in this direction before. I was unconscious for some time.” The young medic answered.
“Let’s hope it’s not the kitchen,” Lamont quipped grimly.
“I feel positive that they have no intention of harming us,” The captain assured him. “Nevertheless, we must try to communicate the importance of returning to the surface as soon as possible.”
“How do you propose we do that?” Lamont asked. “If they’re blind, making gestures toward the ceiling won’t help.”
“I don’t know yet,” Carter admitted.
The path sloped downward, and they found themselves following the steady ticking of their guide into one of the many trenches or pits that seemed typical of their architecture. It was surprisingly deep, with a ridged ramp less than a yard wide that traced the unevenly-shaped outside edge until the lip of the cavity was lost beyond the reach of their lamp beams. Every so often, they passed small openings that appeared to lead to corridors beneath the main cavern floor. Lamont counted three of these before their guide led them into one that was, surprisingly, tall enough for them to enter without doing more than hunching their backs. The corridor also sloped downward, and Lamont began to feel a sense of growing claustrophobia. He was relieved when the corridor opened up, like the mouth of a trumpet, into a significantly larger space. That relief, however, was eclipsed by an even greater one: The unexpected presence of light!
The trio could suddenly see the pill-shaped forms of their hosts incandescing in an ambient amber glow. The radiance was dim, but to their light-starved eyes, it was a revelation. Even more so was the source of the light: Dozens of globes, on average about the size of a human head, that emerged from the floor and ceiling of the cavern atop fluted stalks of copper-colored metal. The glow seemed to emerge from some mysterious point deep inside each of the globes, illuminating a surface that was textured like rough glass. As his eyes adjusted to the new light, Lamont could make out other shapes as well in the newly-entered cavern: Something like a half-buried tank or cylinder emerging lengthwise from the uneven floor, and emerging from the broad side of it, a set of pipes vaguely reminiscent of those in a church organ. Strange as the objects were, there was something hauntingly familiar about them. The newspaperman was about to make the connection when Captain Carter, who was tracing a hand over the surface of one of the globes with an expression of intrigued intensity, beat him to it.
“This is Martian technology.”
Next: Devils in the Details
In Soviet PoP comic, Mars colonizes YOU ;)