Radiation Day? Molly thought, that’s why the sadist didn’t kill me. He wants to see how long I last in the Arena.

Radiation Day was the first day of festivities celebrating The Space Lord’s victory over the molluscs and his rise to power. A week of orgies and gladiatorial bloodshed would follow; Radiation Day made Caligula’s Rome look like a six-year-old’s birthday party.

“I’m Molly, by the way,” Molly said to her rescuer. The Red Martian girl was sitting on the floor, wrapping her bloody knuckles in strips of cloth torn from filthy bed-linens.

“I know who you are,” the girl answered, not looking up. “Not many Earth-girls running around Barsoom, robbing the rich, giving to the poor. Let me ask you something,” she said. “We all hate The Space Lord, but it’s like you have a personal grudge against that scum. What’s that about?”

Molly’s eyes narrowed. “He made me watch while he raped my parents to death. I was seven,” she answered. “So, yeah, I guess I do have a personal grudge against that bastard.”