[PART 18]

IS MARS STILL HABITABLE?

This same year of 1907 saw the publication of Alfred Russell Wallace’s report: Is Mars Still Habitable? (Professor Wallace came to world attention with his theories of evolution published just before Darwin’s work was put to print. Other problems were now just a bit more pressing.) His detailed study of Mars, which I read from front to back, argued that the surface of Mars was even colder than we had estimated and that generally atmospheric pressure over much of Mars was too low to support liquid water on its ancient surface for more than a few weeks or perhaps even a few days at a time. He also reported a lack of water vapor being detected in the thin Martian atmosphere. In Wallace’s view, Mars was already a dead planet as far as intelligent life being able to survive unaided on its surface was concerned (domed cities being the only real exclusion) over protracted time periods. In his view anyone or “anything” still living on Mars had very little time remaining before limited underground resources made it impossible to live on, under, or even leave Mars. Despite the extensive above ground canal work mapped by several workers, below ground had become the only stable option for the Martians, at least on Mars! Very soon Earth would be the only planet in the solar system to be an abode of intelligent life. How long they could last underground was anybody’s guess. And I do mean guess!

Discussing the Martian canals Wallace wrote,

Out of more than four hundred canals seen and recorded by Mr. Lowell, fifty-one, or about an eighth are either constantly or occasionally seen to be double, the appearance of duplicity being more or less periodical. (These are presently thought to be the only canals in use, the others felt to have been abandoned by the Martians.) Of canals generally, Mr. Lowell states that they vary in length from a few hundred to a few thousand miles long, one of the largest being the Phison, which he terms ‘a typical double canal,’ and which is said to be 2250 miles long, while the distance between its two constituents is about 130 miles. The actual width of each canal is from a minimum of about a mile up to several miles, in one case over twenty (the ‘Grand Canal of Mars).

Professor Wallace also discussed what have been called the ‘Oases’ that appear to be the controlling stations or operational control points of the entire canal system which are themselves surrounded by areas of relatively dense vegetation. It would seem that these areas could be thought of as small towns involved with the control of water transportation.

The curious circular black spots which are seen at the intersections of many of the canals (large enough to see with our instruments), and which in some parts of the surface are very numerous, are said to be more difficult of detection than even the lines, being often blurred or rendered completely invisible by slight irregularities in our own atmosphere, while the canals themselves continue visible. About 180 of these have now been found. Where the canals are double, the spots lie between the two parallel canals [apparently serving both].

Taking a hard look at the vast system of canals and the problems in maintaining them for water transportation Wallace reported,

At the very lowest estimate the total length of the canals observed and mapped by Mr. Lowell must be over a hundred thousand miles, while he assures us that numbers of others have been seen over the whole surface, but so faintly or on such rare occasions as to elude all attempts to fix their position with certainty. But these, being of the same character and evidently forming part of the same system, must also be artificial, and thus we are led to a system of irrigation of almost unimaginable magnitude on a planet which has no mountains, no rivers, and no rain to support it; whose [for the most part] water supply is derived from polar snows, the amount of which is ludicrously inadequate to need (at this point in the planet’s history) any such world-wide system; while the low atmospheric pressure would lead to rapid evaporation, thus greatly diminishing the small amount of moisture that is available [unless they were covered over to protect the flow].

was also thought to be held near the surface of Mars in the form of permafrost. And it could be as thick as 1000 feet similar to areas such as Siberia and northern areas of Alaska on Earth. This water should be very accessible to the Martians with their advanced technology.

Garrett P. Serviss would add his voice to the question of just how the Martians were using their very limited water available with reference to the canals.

…instead of seas, these dark expanses [on the surface] may rather be areas of marshy ground covered with vegetation which flourishes and dies away according as the supply of water alternately increases and diminishes, while the reddish areas known as continents are barren deserts, intersected by canals; and as the water released by the melting of the polar snows begins to fill the canals, vegetation springs up along their sides and becomes visible in the form of long narrow bands. According to this theory, the phenomena called canals are simply lines of vegetation, the real canals being individually too small to be detected. It may be supposed that from a central supply canal irrigation ditches are extended for a distance of twenty or thirty miles on each side…

Our best data now indicated the atmospheric pressure on the Martian surface had dropped to 6.4 millibars, far lower than on Earth, with the major gas consisting of carbon dioxide (CO2) with only 0.1 percent of oxygen. Even a Martian would have difficulty with that atmosphere if it stayed on the surface unprotected for any length of time.

These and other works were generally viewed as confirmation the Martians were fast running out of options and must have become even more desperate than ever to leave Mars. Our blue oasis was their only hope, and as a matter of fact, it was our only hope as well! For the people at Committee headquarters this meant we needed to continue to press even harder to understand the machines the Martians had abandoned on Earth. Time was never on our side. Being pressed hard by the Martians made us stronger than we would have been without their persistent ‘demands.’

At the same time we were beginning to understand it was most probable that plant life would be the dominant life form in outer space and that “others” could be few and far between. And if these ‘others’ were as brutal as we now knew the Martians to be then “few and far between” would be the best of all possible outcomes. My question was: How long would it be before these others dropped by for a little chat or had we already missed many of their visits as we had similarly not understood the early visits by the Martians?

In December of 1907 The Executive Committee of Twelve issued their internal Most-Secret CoT Directorate Report (Appendix A) DR 10-20 Committee Notes: The Martians and the Martian War. It would be revised and re-issued in 1914. This internal document (three copies were produced) explored many areas of the Martian Problem including “What is a Martian” and “A brief history of Martians” that we had so far understood to be true. This work also investigated how Martians thought, how they had involved themselves in Earth’s long history as well as some of their work in astronomy, technologies and what lessons we could learn from our war with them.

A Brief History of Martians

Committee teams [have] postulated that as a species the primary Martians (Martian A) were somewhere from 5 to 6 million years old (six to ten times longer than humans). They also speculated that their development has ended and that perhaps they were a species on the verge of extinction. (Not unlike the Australoids on Earth with an Earth population of around 40,000 individuals at this time. It is thought that proto-Australoids were the first sub-species of hominids which branched off of the species developed before modern man at around 60,000 years ago.) Studies showed that when the Martians were ‘new’ to Mars, around 4.5 to 5 million years ago an asteroid impacted the planet in the northern area of the Tharsis Montes volcanic plateau. This impact seemed to have done a great deal more damage than one would expect even for a large event, as it stripped away a large portion of the remaining atmosphere as well as a large amount of water. It was speculated that this asteroid had been quite large, but luckily for Mars (but not for Earth) it had been only a glancing blow – a 1 in 10 million shot! It shook the planet, stripped away a large glacier in the north of Mars, sent out a shock wave, which pulled away large amounts of water and atmosphere, but did not destroy the planet. It would seem however the volcanic activity in the area is still ongoing due to this ancient impact event. It is likely that a ring of material was blasted into orbit about the planet, which has since degraded as the material once again entered the atmosphere.

Canals

It has been estimated that the original work of building the water bearing canal system on Mars must have been started at least 25,000 years ago. This was THE critical time of great activity on the planet and at a time when most Earth planetary scientists believe that water, for the most part, was no longer able to naturally flow on the surface of Mars except for short periods of time in low lying areas during the summer months. The covered canal system was for the Martians their only real hope of surviving on their home planet long enough to carry out their plans to invade and occupy planet Earth. From data obtained it can now confidently be stated that the original canals were developed along collapsed lava channels and dried river beds, which were then connected via a series of artificial canals dug by the Martians. However, it was found that these circular methods lost a good deal of the water to ground seepage and evapo-transpiration along the banks of at least the natural courses selected for transport. As the atmosphere became thinner and thinner more and more water was lost as it was being transported to the populated areas. A new method needed to be devised.

The new method was to dig all new artificial canals using large moving diggers, which were sealed by Heat-Rays (perhaps their original use), which melted the floors and walls of the canals (smooth). To this was added a series of transport roof covers, four to five across the opening depending on the width along the entire length of the canals made of hellecite. With this transparent series of covers heat was trapped within the canal system in addition to proper and sustainable air pressure, allowing the water to be transported from the Polar Regions to the four major above ground cities. The Martians were also able to tunnel underground, not it would seem to hide the canals as much of that work was clearly visible on the surface, but to keep the water from evaporating (as do the hellecite covered areas), but to use less of the hellecite materials as it is known to be found in only one area on Mars and must be used as sparingly as possible.

Martian Point of View

Despite their vast intelligence and their advanced technical skills it would seem that there were many misconceptions about who and what humans were as viewed from the Martian point of view. Certainly they knew that we had machines (simple by Martian standards) and had developed languages, culture, large cities (larger than any still on Mars in fact) and a long history on this planet. Yet, the Martians at almost every level seemed to have underestimated almost everything about us. It is probable that their great intelligence and advanced civilization breed a contempt, which greatly clouded their perspectives. They also missed areas, which we would consider obvious such as the ‘race’ of mankind. Strongly, to a Martian A mankind is little more than food, which comes in several varieties!

One Martian ‘scientist’ who had arrived on Earth with the invasion forces had the task of examining humans’ close-up in our natural environment. The purpose of this evaluation was not fully understood. But it has been speculated that breeding and use of humans as a labor source could be reasons for the study. It seems that most of what he reported was wildly speculative or simply wrong. An example may be found in his report of “at least seven different species of humans on the planet [Earth].” The Martian seems to have used skin color, hair, body shape and size as well as general regional differences in his analysis of humans. It had also decided that humans speak only two languages – one verbal with “some variation” and one a rudimentary mathematical one, but decided that both were rather primitive and certainly incapable of advancing to a stage of interplanetary flight in the near future. The fact that it found mathematics to be a language in humans is a key to understanding Martian language that also has some roots in mathematical computation.

Hellecite

Spectral analysis of the dark glass used on several areas of Martian equipment shows it to be an unknown composition not found on Earth. The spectral signature seems to match a low lying area of Mars in the Hellas Planitia region, near one of the final above surface occupied areas on Mars. Now known as hellecite, this mineral is used by the Martians on their heat shields to protect their craft from frictional heating as they enter Earth’s atmosphere. Tests show that this mineral, when used in its solid opaque form to shield, can protect a surface from frictional heat up to 6000 degrees. It is a volcanic mineral, but is only found in one region of Mars. Tests made to reproduce this mineral on Earth have so far proven impossible.

It has been suggested that this mineral is also being used by the Martians to cover large areas of the Polar Regions on Mars in order to melt the ice, which is then transported via canals, which are also covered over by this mineral in its transparent glass form, towards their inhabited areas. The opaque mineral when put into a powder configuration can be sprayed on to ice, which will readily melt. When used in its transparent glass form it will allow heat to pass through and some 99.9% of this heat will be retained for up to 5 weeks and slowly cooling over many months.

This mineral is also used in some wiring within Martian spacecraft, but its method has yet to be ascertained. It is known however that electric current, when passed through copper can be fully shielded by this mineral. Also, when light is formed on one end of the mineral it passes through to the other end, no matter how long the mineral is, and loses little or no energy even if the mineral is twisted in any direction one may wish to name.

By the end of the year the world’s first motor race course had been built at Brooklands, Surrey, England, reportedly to race cars for the delight of the general public. In reality the Committee had designed and built the facility to test rocket cars and other advanced devices. It was all part of our back engineering and technical programs. The race course function was simply a way of bringing in always needed revenue and give cover for Committee test operations.

MARTIAN BACK ENGINEERING CONTINUES

As the back engineering work continued on the Martian machines, Directorate B announced the new Atlantic cable had finally been completed. Despite four frustrating breaks in the cable while it was being laid, two of which being caused by violent storms, the work was now complete having passed all tests. Directorate B was also ready to begin work on the truly massive project of laying the Pacific cable. They now had a new material however, which was proving to be extremely strong and flexible. Back engineered Martian technology had been used to develop a “plastic silicon mix” which proved to be harder than steel yet lighter by a factor of ten. With this new material the work was expected to move along with great speed. Back engineering was starting to pay off. If only the Martians knew what gifts they had unknowingly presented to mankind.

Work was also continuing on defeating the Martian Black Smoke. Engineers and scientists had now been able to nearly duplicate the formula for Black Smoke and found it was “somewhat based on copper sulfates” which attacked the blood. The scientists did not feel they had the exact chemical mix, but the one they tested was certainly just as deadly. We knew this because of a Magic Twelve program that less than thirty people were aware of. The Committee had taken several (around two dozen) convicted murderers, transported and guarded by Tango forces, and tested their version of Black Smoke on them (one of only five Cosmic-Most-Secret CoT programs). This included tests on three captured (Brotherhood) hybrids. (Tango had been ordered to capture three alive.) There had been a suggestion to use the remaining POs but the idea was shelved as the PO camp was known and needed to keep a lid on security. The suggestion was however held in reserve in case the senior members changed their minds. We held on to our ‘experimental’ options. “Don’t use any at this time we made have some use for them in the future.” These tests conducted on South Georgia Island in the south Atlantic were very successful and set up the next program. This was to test the gas burning equipment designed by the Committee.

One square mile of the island had been dug up with gas lines put into place for the experiment. When the wind was blowing in just the right direction the Black Smoke (or rather our human made version) was deployed towards the ‘gas field’ and the button was pushed to ignite all of the small gas flames. As the leading edge of the Black Smoke made its way across the field it instantly burst into flame. This was an unqualified success – sort of. The only problem occurred when the Black Smoke caught fire too fast during the second run with the resulting explosion destroying about 15 percent of the field. We needed to find a way to heat the smoke first, somehow add a neutral gas to the smoke and then catch it on fire. When we tried this method it caused the Black Smoke to burn slower (non-explosively) and as it turned out burn much more completely. We now had a weapon to use against the deadly Martian Black Smoke. Deploying the new system was our next step. The three underground cities would be the first to have these gas fields deployed around them. Later we would add these fields to military facilities and many above ground locations. These are the now well known “Martian Gas Traps.” On hand for the test Dr. Tesla remarked, “After years of dedicated work we have now devised a method by which we will be able to defeat one of the Martian’s primary destructive devices – progress at last.”

The final tests seemed to show that CO2 in small amounts released in a cloud before the Black Smoke crossed the field of small gas flames seemed to cause the Black Smoke to not only slow its progress but when mixed it burned much slower. When tested in this manner the Black Smoke burned almost 99% and no explosion occurred. This meant no matter how many times Black Smoke was used against these defense positions we could defend against this weapon without destroying the fields.

The engineering teams were also working on offensive remote control devices originally developed by Dr. Tesla years earlier. Tesla had also added some adapted Martian devices and optics to the mix. Needless to say, the military got “first crack” at any developments made before “civilians” had a look at the new technologies. Most of this work was with the familiar water surface models however, the advanced group was working on placing a small but powerful motor at the end of a small glider to propel it in the air. To the front of this “flying device” the group had bolted a 100 pound bomb that would go off when the nose of the “Air Missile” struck a target. Tesla hoped to build even larger ones in the future in order to attack point ground targets from the air without using manned aircraft. (The German members of the team were very interested in this work.) He felt as motors became smaller and lighter and efficiency improved he would be able to construct a large enough device to attack Martian walking machines and perhaps even flying machines. That prospect for the moment would be years in the making, but the teams working on Tesla’s projects had high hopes for success of his “Remote Control Flying Bombs.” For larger area targets the teams were developing a larger model without remote control that would simply drop on the target when the fuel ran out.

I recall Tesla stating, “Originally the underlying principle was sound, but could not be carried into practice for want of a prime-mover of sufficiently great activity. In recent years I have successfully solved this problem and am now planning aerial machines devoid of sustaining planes, ailerons, propellers, and other external attachments, which will be capable of immense speeds and are very likely to furnish powerful arguments for peace in the near future. By installing proper power plants it will be practicable to project a missile of this kind into the air and drop it almost on the very spot designated, which may be thousands of miles away.”

Tesla was also working on new energy sources taken directly out of the atmosphere. “Here was a stupendous possibility of achievement. If we could produce electric storms of the required ability, this whole planet and the conditions of existence on it could be transformed. The Sun raises the water of the oceans and winds drives it to distant regions where it remains in a state of the most delicate balance. If it were in our power to upset it when and wherever desired, this mighty life-sustaining medium could be at will controlled. We could irrigate arid deserts, create lakes and rivers and provide motion power in unlimited amounts.”

We were also looking at Martian geo-devices that had been so destructive over many years; the latest event in 1906. By this time we had become aware of two different types of devices.

Committee Notes: The Martians and the Martian War (1907. r. 1914): Geo-devices

The Martians appear to have deployed at least two different geo devices. The main difference seems to be the strength of the units designed to effect large or small areas depending upon the need. The devices can be placed, usually in sets of three or four, at any location on Earth, including underwater by aerial craft or by surface vehicle. (Both methods have been observed.) These devices burrow into the ground to a relatively shallow depth and are activated either by a timing device or by remote control. The energy source for these devices has yet to be discovered, however, the source must be a rather powerful one owing to the extensive energy released by these devices. There is a possibility that the Earth itself serves as the primary energy source. Dr. Tesla’s group is looking into this possibility as he has done personal work in this critical area. The release of such vast amounts of energy from such confined sources would be an invaluable resource on Earth.

By now we had established the so-called “HM Balloon Factory” near Farnborough in England for back engineered programs, as well as the Romney March artillery testing facility in Kent.

The engineering teams were also trying to develop methods for detecting Martian Flying Machines at a great enough distance to allow advanced warning which would give our future flying forces time to fly up to them and attack. One method being developed involved extremely refined optical devices for long range visual contact in daylight as well as at night. Another would use a whole new method of detecting the enemy. In the end we would call it RADAR.

Something Called ‘RADAR’

In mid-1905 German scientist and associate member of the Committee Christian Hulsmeyer set up a coastal “radio energy set” and became the first person to use radio waves to “detect the presence of distant metallic objects.” He had been a teacher in Bremen before the war but had lost everything during the conflict. He was now able to continue his work full-time through the Committee.

It had been known since the 1880s that radio waves could be refracted and reflected, but no one had developed a use for these properties until now. Hulsmeyer demonstrated that with his “transmitter-receiver system” it was possible to detect a ship on the ocean’s surface even through a very dense fog. The first full field test came on 18 May 1907 at the Hohenzollern Bridge across the river at Cologne. With Committee members in attendance a ship approached the bridge on the river. The bell on the machine could be clearly heard but the ship, engulfed in fog, could not be seen. When the ship changed direction the bell ceased to ring indicating his device had not only spotted the ship through the fog but had signaled the warning to turn about. The test was a complete success.

The device was designed to be carried on board ship as an anti-collision device. This first machine could detect a ship at 10,000 feet but later models designed and built in 1908 and 9 would be able to locate ships and aerial craft at up to 30,000 feet. This would improve as the years went on. The work would prove a great aid to navigation and safety. With the Martians using deadly and non-deadly fogs and gases this new device could also help Earth forces locate and target Martian machines, which were of course, all metal (even though some of the metals were still unknown to us at the time). The only problem was Hulsmeyer was not yet capable of using his new method to pick up the range only the direction of the ship.

On the day he was awarded German patent Nr. 165546 he went to work with the Executive Committee of Twelve in Directorate D under Nicola Tesla. It did not take long for the new team to work out the ranging problem and on 23 September 1907, the team tested the new RAdio Detection And Ranging device using the new “telemobiloscope” to display the results. RADAR was born, and as far as anyone could tell, for whatever reason, the Martians had not developed a similar device. At least they had yet to deploy one on Earth and none had been discovered on board any of their craft as far as we could tell. This was surprising, but only if one does not consider the possibility that they may have developed a much better method of doing the same job and we have simply been unable to locate such a device or perhaps have not yet discovered how to turn the thing on! This was a very real possibility, and not just with possible radar devices.

The operating principles were soon established for the new device, which would take very little time to go into production. It would operate at a wavelength of 40-50 cm with the radiated energy pulses beamed out of a funnel-shaped metal reflector attached to an energy producing tube that could spin around 360 degrees and pivot 20 degrees up or down. By triangulation the distance to the target could be computed using the height of the device to the angle of the beam. Naturally, approval of the device was quick in coming. In fact, the new radar devices were the first new items to be produced entirely in the new underground facilities in Lower-London. These of course were very crude models and they were a bit stubborn in their operation. Two years later upgraded models would also see production in Lower-Sydney to be deployed by southern Committee forces as well as several national forces. (Depending on the size and position of those forces.) Explaining the new device at a meeting of the Magic Twelve, Tesla would state, “Stationary waves mean something more than telegraphy without wires to any distance. For instance by these standing electromagnetic waves we may produce at will, from a sending station, an electrical effect in any particular region of the globe; with which we may determine the relative position or course of a moving object, such as a vessel at sea, a craft in the air, the distance traversed by the same, or its speed.”

What the good Dr. Tesla failed to mention was these new devices at times required a rather swift kick in the ‘pants’ to get them going. It was going to be a while before these units were truly field operational. What we needed were devices that could operate out of several to hundreds of miles if not further in the very near future.

He further reported, “If we can shoot out a concentrated ray comprising a stream of minute electric charges vibrating electrically at tremendous frequency, say millions of cycles per second, and then intercept this ray, after it has been reflected by a submarine hull for example, and cause this intercepted ray to illuminate a fluorescent screen (similar to the x-ray method) on the same or another ship, then our problem of locating the hidden submarine will have been solved.” It all seemed a bit like magic to me, but if we could get the device into an operational level this new tool would be very handy indeed.

Because of his work, which was still held as most-secret by the Committee, Dr. Hulsmeyer was awarded that year’s Committee Gold Medal for Scientific Achievement, even though he could not discuss his work with outsiders for many years or explain exactly what he had done to win such an honor. Nevertheless, the monetary award of a $10,000 Committee Gold Certificate (U.S. $10,000 value) was a great comfort. The celebration as I recall was also great comfort as many of the senior Committee members, myself included, went to Floren Zigfeld’s to see his new Zigfeld’s Follies and his chorus line of ladies – The American Girl Review!

Back at work the teams now had to develop a whole series of these radar devices for use on stationary land positions, by ships as well as mobile ground forces. This meant that they had to be small enough to carry on wheeled vehicles and possibly on horses. This also meant military groups would need to be specially trained to use these new devices. When deployed we would at least be able to find our enemies, no matter what type of fog devices they may deploy.

Winston would remark, “The Martian War has spurred development of radar, aerial craft, electric devices, remote control and much much more. Man has discovered that there is much to learn, but more importantly man has learned that we can indeed develop then means to accomplish much more in the future. That is the true victory of these days of hard work and sweat.”

‘Lunch’ with a Martian

“…a bit stringy, but over all tasted not unlike wild pig!”

When the report first came into Committee headquarters no one really believed it (certainly I did not), but damn if it didn’t turn out to be true. After all, as the saying goes, “seeing is believing” and they had the remains to prove it. Earlier this year team members from the Committee had made their way into the jungles of Papua New Guinea having docked at the now somewhat repaired port of Rabaul. At least it was operational for small and medium sized vessels.

To say the least the team was very well armed. They were searching for a small tribe of head-hunters reported to be situated some 60 miles north of Rabaul. I mean, after all, we are talking about head-hunters! After a great deal of hard work hacking their way through a tightly intertwined jungle seemingly not fit for, as they say, man or beast, they arrived at the clearing, which held several huts.

As soon as they arrived they were taken to the headman’s hut where he enthusiastically explained that the local tribesmen had indeed captured a live (at least for a while) Martian A (he did not use that term) a few years earlier. From what we could understand the Martian had crash landed and was making its way to the coast when it came into contact with the headhunters. The chief reported that “the round gray/brown greasy fellow” had put up a rather good fight for “something his size with the many arms”, but in the end his warriors had bested him in the jungle and finally “took him down”. As was their method they brought the Martian A back to their village tied to a pole. With a rather wide smile the chief then informed his Committee guests that Martian was “a bit stringy, but over all tasted not unlike wild pig!” It seemed open-pit fire-cooked Martian was really the best method of preparation. This was the first we had ever heard of a man eating a Martian. (We later learned other primitive groups had also ‘taken’ a Martian or two and some of them had eaten the thing raw!) Usually it was man who was on the menu even for the head-hunters themselves who all admitted that they had indeed enjoyed dinning on a man or two (‘long pork’)! It was after all the local tradition.

To confirm his story he invited the Committee members to the rear of his humble home to the rack on which they still had the now dried out remains of the skinned Martian A prominently displayed. Upon leaving, the chief, who seemed to have a genuine sense of humor, assured his Committee guests that his hunters were more than ready to “welcome the next Martian guest whenever it arrived.” In fact he was looking forward to “having as many as possible drop by for a meal!” As I said, the chief had a very well developed yet dry sense of humor.

There is a nicely framed photo of the skinned Martian with the chief standing by which now adorns the entrance to Committee headquarters in Lower-London. (More than a few of us wanted a copy of that photo.) In the photo the chief seems quite pleased with himself. Needless to say the chief would not part with his ‘skin’ at any price even though he had been given a rather generous offer by the team. Years later the same chief would be given a tour of Lower-London and he was very much impressed with the entire facility. But what really impressed the chief was the fact that he could walk through one of the many underground gardens as if he was in a whole new above ground jungle at night. Although I was not there during the tour, I am informed by those who were available to greet the party the chiefs’ seven wives enjoyed the tour as well. The chief was then made an official “member of the Committee in charge of all Martian jungle hunters for the region of Papua New Guinea.” And, he had a gold medal to prove it!

Years later his son, who would replace the chief as head man, would wear that same metal during a small battle with the Martians once again in the dense jungles of Papua New Guinea. During the fighting he would be personally responsible for killing off several of the “round gray/brown greasy fellows” as well as several hybrids and at least one Gray. To be certain, that small tribe would eat very well after that battle!

Tango goes back on the Offensive

(February 1908)

Before ‘Operation Prime Number’ the legal department of the Committee had authorized Tango forces to intercept and decode any and all wireless or cable traffic known or thought to have originated by the Martian Brotherhood or their Martian allies. Now with the new phones beginning to be put into place the Committee legal staff, working with the attorney generals from several reconstructed governments, added unlimited authority for Tango and other internal intelligence forces to tap into and listen to any and all enemy alien or related phone calls. Later known as “wire tapping” the new anti-Martian “investigative tool” allowed a great deal more information to be gathered about Brotherhood operations and their suspected targets. Using that information Tango forces once again prepared to attack.

Unfortunately, a member of the staff from one of the nations developing the protocol leaked this information to several pro-Martian groups. Not unexpectedly several “interplanetary rights” groups stepped up to complain about the treatment of the hybrids in the Brotherhood. Their complaints were quickly ended when the leaders of these four groups were arrested for aiding off-world terrorist organizations. When nine of their members were convicted and sentenced to ten years hard labor the “rights” groups seemed to simply melt away and Tango went back to work. The “Martian Nine” spent the next ten years digging tunnels in and around the Lower-New York City area. And make no mistake about it they spent every minute of their sentences right down to the final hour working in the tunnels, mostly the old ones once used as sewers!

Tango headquarters had set up an operations room to track as many Martian Brotherhood members as possible. The plan was to identify possible members first, track and confirm that they were first hybrids, and second members of the Brotherhood, and lastly that they were preparing further terrorist attacks. By February 1908 the teams were ready to conduct a massive roundup of Brotherhood members all generally at the same time. At 2 a.m. GMT on 15 February Tango made their move. In 15 cities around the world Tango forces, backed by Committee security teams and re-enforced by local infantry troops, attacked the homes, businesses, offices and headquarters of Brotherhood members. The teams were targeting some 418 members all at the same time. Operation “Clean Sweep” was underway.

Most of the raids simply kicked down a door or two before forces pushed their way in to arrest the terrorist hybrids. More than a few times the hybrids were taken as they walked along a street or sat in a café or coffee shop. At three locations however, the hybrids put up brisk resistance before being cut down by overwhelming Tango and infantry teams. In all, the teams captured some 291 hybrids, killing 104 others and a bonus of no less than three Martian Bs were captured (all in one group outside of Paris), one later died of its wounds. (One B was later sent to Tango in Lower-London and a second was taken to the Tango ‘hotel’ in Lower-New York City.)

Tango forces suffered 10 killed, 18 wounded with another 14 infantry personnel also killed with some 29 wounded. All in all the raids were devastating to the Martian Brotherhood. By our estimates nearly half of the suspected membership of the Brotherhood had been captured or killed by this time. We were well on our way, but needless to say we still had a good deal of work to do. Nevertheless, despite the losses the operations had been very successful.

Later intelligence reports gathered from within the organization as well as geographic Committee studies showed that Martian Brotherhood losses were being replenished (although not fully) by recruitment of hybrids still on Earth. Most disturbing of these intelligence reports related to the fact the Martians were still producing hybrids (which we expected would happen) and they were still sending them to Earth specifically to enhance the membership of the Martian Brotherhood. Only later would a few ‘full-humans’ join this terrorist organization. (This was a clear reminder of PO1 – Martian Patrick.)

Within weeks of the original series of raids Tango and security forces had located and captured an additional 42 Brotherhood members and killed 18 others. These captured hybrids were divided up and sent to Tango ‘hotels’ in Lower-New York City, Lower-London and Lower-Sydney for “processing and interviews!” Within six months nearly half of the captured hybrids “no longer existed.” Tango would continue this operation with authorized targeted assassinations of known leaders of the Martian Brotherhood whenever and wherever they were located. That order is still in place. Within three weeks both Bs had “passed away.” Keeping Martian Bs alive was still proving to be a very difficult task. The Committee set up a team of biologists and doctors to solve that problem. Their work would eventually help us create a Martian B holding area better suited to their needs. There would be a time in the future when we would need them alive long enough to ‘obtain’ a much larger base of information from them.

As for the Martians themselves as far as we could tell they were still acquiring as much water as they could from Earth, but in June of 1908 one of their large “water ships” ran into difficulty. Its loss would be a wakeup call for the Committee and spark a whole new Committee project into high energy technology.

Johannesburg Times – 4 April 1908

LARGE DUST STORMS THREATEN MARS

Great Areas of Mars Now Covered with New Storms.

Mars observations made very difficult.

Johannesburg, Southern Africa: Several observers have now confirmed that new and very powerful dust storms have begun to cross the southern hemisphere of Mars. These storms appear to have begun in the Hellas basin near one of the prime surface cities of Mars, an area where storms have been seen to develop in the past. These dust storms are making it very difficult for workers to see any surface features in the areas so far affected by these colossal storms.

Experts within the Committee have stated there is a very good chance these storms will cover most if not all of the southern hemisphere and could easily move north making it next to impossible to monitor any activity on the Martian surface for many months to come. If this occurs experts have no plans to abandon their observations of the fourth planet from the Sun. Rather they will for a while focus their efforts on observations of the planet’s two moons.

In the meantime, biological experts have noted that with the loss of critical sunlight penetrating the clouds to the surface the Martians, by now very familiar with the problem of storms blocking a good deal of life giving energy, must have developed artificial methods of lighting the surface areas which have been cultivated. Work is presently being done on this problem in test areas on Earth as related to underground work. It has also been stated with less sunlight comes less heat therefore in order to acquire sufficient heat to move liquid water from the poles via the covered canal system a massive heating system must be employed on all active canals in order to prevent the water from reaching freezing temperatures within the canals.

In a related matter astronomer A. E. Douglass held a meeting with several newspaper men in New York City last week on a subject near and dear to his heart – there have never been any Martians on Earth! “What would make Earth desirable to a Martian? In the first place, do not forget the difference in surface pressure. Would you want to live your life in a suit of armor such as a Martian would have to wear to protect him from the intense pressure of our atmosphere compared to that in which he had evolved? You might want to go to the sea bottom to see what is down there, but ask any diver how long he wants to stay.”

Editors Note: One may wish to ask the good Dr. Douglass exactly which planet he was on in late 1901 when the ‘fictional’ Martians dropped by for a visit!

[END PART 18]

Copyright © R. Michael Gordon, 2020

[NEXT WEEK: PART 19: FIRE IN THE SKY AND A MARTIAN AMBASSADOR.]