Protest of War on Planet Mars...

by Salih Halûk UMAR

Written: 1955

-We want peace! We want peace! We want peace!

Thousands of Martians gathered around the copper floored square and screaming out their wish creating a metallic echo that was bouncing of the granite walls. The iron hills far away were doubling the echo a few more times. Martians made up of different metallic bodies in structure were moving and screaming. They were all the ministers coming from different parts of Mars. They all wanted the same thing: "Peace! Peace!"

Inside the private floor of the palace, the Emperor, was seated on a wide couch that was embroidered with platinum-gold strings and silver leaves, he did not hear the scream coming from the crowd outside and now, he was almost passed out at the comfort of the pink gloomy shadow of the red light curtain he put in front of the windows. He was touching the rare found golden hair of his Martian girl friend that was on her knees in front of the couch on the crystal carpet. Her long, wavy hair reaching to her waist was sparkling of love each time the metal hand went through the platinum hair of hers. Young woman was really beautiful. The metallic tissue on fer face was rare among the Martians and it was pure as white as a-mother-of-a-pearl. Her arms and legs were covered with this whiteness as well. The purity under her eyes was made out of pure and largest diamonds. The green lights in her looks were brightening the colors of daylight.

Illustrations by M.K. Perker

The Emperor had small eyes and the purity was invisible but his flame blue looks were coming out of these metal holes. They were turning red while he ran his metal hands through his girlfriend’s hair. Suddenly his flaming looks along with sweet rare green looks of hers clashed on a mysterious part of the room. There was a spark at that point because of the clash and they both trembled. It was going to take a while to observe this trembling but they both noticed that there was a buzz at the door, a permission to come inside. The Emperor hardly took his looks away from hers and reached out with his right hand and metallic fingers to the knob of the door. While the door opened slowly, the red light curtain disappeared. The room was under control of the yellow daylight as the Prime Minister walked in and waited in front of The Emperor remaining in a bowed down position. The Emperor yelled:

- What do you want? Stand up and answer me! There was rage in his metallic voice.

The Prime Minister raised up slowly. He was taller than The Emperor was. His body was covered with steel-chrome material which was a sign for his royalty: ‘All mighty of all Martian countries’ he started to speak; ‘Thousands of people from all of your countries has come in front of the palace and protesting.’ The Emperor:

- How dare you bother me for such thing of less importance? He yelled.’ Order the security minister to destroy all of them!’

- But your highness, they are so many that destroying them will cause our power to collapse, they are so many. Also your plan on invading planet Earth may fail.’  

-Alright then! What do they want?

- Peace!

The Emperor moved furiously with metallic sounds:

- Peace! He yelled.

-Yes Peace!

-Didn’t I unite all the nations for this reason? Aren’t they living in peace for the last 500 years? What else do they want?

- All I know is they want peace. You are the Emperor of all the Martian countries, only you can understand and reply them. They decided that they want to make their wishes onto your Royal Highness.

After a short while of silence, The Emperor flashed his sparkling thoughts around his head:  

-Go tell them! I will take my place in the balcony to talk to them and tell them to stop screaming! He ordered. The Prime Minister bowed down and left the room. The Emperor ordered his servants to prepare him for the ceremony. Two maiden servants came and took their as pale as a-mother-of-a-shell colored future Empress to another room to prepare her. The male servants covered with nickel plates over their iron body came into the room. They were carrying a crown and a cape embroidered with silver strings and covered with platinum and golden foils. The crown was flashing with 1001 different types of lights and it was made of diamonds. They carefully placed the cape on the Emperor’s shoulder and put the crown on his head. The Emperor left the room spreading rays of lights. He made his way to the balcony where he takes place during ceremonies. The doors were opening by themselves as he walked and soldiers in line at the corridor were saluting the Emperor by raising their small radium bullet loaded rifles over their head.                      

The last door opened. The Emperor and his mother-of-a-shell covered girlfriend walked onto the marble covered floors of the balcony surrounded with golden bars. The Emperor walked towards the bars. The Prime Minister was ready there in his shining silver clothes on his shoulders. All the Martians became quiet when they saw The Emperor. They got ready to listen to what he was going to say. The Emperor:

- Martians! He shouted. You are asking for peace, I am full of surprise and rage towards this demand of yours. Did you forget the meaning of peace? Or is it something other than peace you are asking for? 650 years ago when I came to the throne of Upper North Martian Republic, the two southern countries were at war. The Fareast Republic was also at war. The King of Bronze Hills declared war to me to take the control of the rich minds of uranium taking advantage of my weaknesses. I have been working hard ever since then. I worked, going to war and tearing apart the heads of strikers for 650 years and managed to bring all the countries together under my presence as The Emperor. At least for the last 500 years there is only one country under my command. There is only one ruler in Mars and that’s me. At this point there aren’t any two countries that will go to war on the face of the Mars. We live without war for the last 500 years. Are you with all this courage asking for peace? Aren’t you already at peace?

- We are not!

These words yelled by all the Martians as one made The Emperor more surprised and full of rage. A Martian with his rusted iron body in red moved forward out of the crowed bended. He saluted The Emperor and tried to raise his bended body:

- Your highness of all the Martian Republics, if you allow me I would like to explain our demand. He waited for a permission:

The Emperor pointed at the servants and the servants dressed in lead approached and took of the crown from his head and removed the cape from his shoulders. The Prime Minister also removed his cape. This was a sign that The Emperor wanted talk friendly with the Martians. The man did not wait long for the permission to speak. 

- Holy master, you invaded all the Martian Republics and made them into one as Martian Empire. All the presidents bowed down to you and you became The Emperor but this did not change anything. Now there is one Empire and one Emperor but there are about 50 different nations.

- How come?! Yelled The Emperor…Mars already had all these nations…

-"That is what I am trying to explain" said the man. Another man from the crowd asked for permission to speak:

- Holy Emperor! He said. You have invaded all the Martian countries and made them into an Empire of Martians, but it is not possible to make all the nations into one nation. There are so many different climates and so many different geographies and so many different lives on the face of the Mars. Moreover there are so many different conditions of life, so many different favors, so many different reasons and so many different nations. It is not possible to make them into one nation before you make one condition of life, one favor of nation and one reason. They will fight for their own favor and needs…The Emperor getting more and more surprised:

-Alright! Has there been any war in the last 500 years? He asked. Another man approached to the balcony to take permission:

-Holy Emperor! We thought you knew that my country Kobalt Plains and the country called Iron Hills are at war over a boundary disagreement. There are a couple more countries at war between the Martian countries. It is understood that you are not informed about them. That is why you think Martians are at peace for the last 500 years. Infact during the last 500 years there is not any peace and order on the face of Mars. During the olden days every nation had their own republic and rules, they had their own weapons to protect themselves but they do not have them anymore. There are gangs everywhere and gang war is sucking the blood out of people.

The Emperor was rageful. ‘My informants must be arrested right away!’ ‘Prepare the Empire’s army right now’ he yelled to the Prime Minister. ‘We are going to crash the heads of those gangs and nations that are at war’, ‘Our first target is the Kobalt Plains’ The Emperor ordered.

-We don’t want war, we want peace! The voices raised among the crowd. The Emperor and the Prime Minister looked at each other amazed. The Emperor approached to the bars and shouted:

- Here I am preparing the army to bring back peace, what else do you want?                        

- We don’t want war, we want peace…peace!..Peace! Yelled the crowd louder this time. The Emperor had it at last. He ordered to Prime Minister to move this crowd out of here that does not understand him and told him to destroy those whoever resists to stay.                       

While The Prime Minister was about to move unwillingly, until he noticed the mother-of-a-shell colored future Emperist going towards the bars of the balcony. She seemed very quiet until then. She approached and bowed down in front of The Emperor and like a singing bird she said:

- Hasn’t our great Emperor given a quick decision about this matter? She said. The Emperor helped her raise herself. The anger in his sparkling eyes left and a calm blue light took its place. He took her mother-of-a-shell colored hands into his steel fingers:

- My beloved, the most beautiful woman of Mars! Queen of my future and heart! Come and listen and understand.

- I understand.. I heard it all and I listened. Please allow me to tell you that they are right! They want peace because almost all of them do not live in welfare and peace because of the clashes of all kinds. And your highness on the other hand giving them more war where they ask for more peace.

All the Martians gathered around the square was quietly listening to what this beautiful lady was saying. The Emperor turned to her and said:    

- Is there another way to bring peace on mars other than going to war with resistance of people? I am going to war to bring them peace they are asking for. The Emperor put his hands through her platinum hair but the young woman was not taken away by his move she did not choose to keep her thoughts to herself.                   

- Every war leads to another. There is not any doubt that along with the resistance innocent people are going to die if The Emperor’s great army goes to war. There will be a reason to a new hate and anger and this leading to another war that will cause new problems not peace. Under these circumstances can you tell them you are going to war?               

The Emperor remained quiet. His looks of thoughts and not knowing what to do got mixed up. He turned to The Prime Minister and he asked with a different soft voice. What do you think? The Prime Minister like statue of respect:

- Our future Emperist is correct about what she says! He said. The Emperor:                     

- In that case! Can you think of another way to bring peace to Martian countries?

- We are only three people here she said calmly and the future Emprist, beautiful woman began to speak. There is not any doubt that our Emperor has thoughts and ideas higher than all the Martians but it may not be enough to solve all the problems. Not even three of us could handle this. There are thousands of scientists and intellectual people on Mars along with thousands of experienced politicians. It is obvious that their thoughts are good enough so that our Emperor could benefit from all of them.        

The Emperor looked at the Prime Minister with a questioned face. The Prime minister:

-The Emperist is right. He repeated. The Emperor shouted at the crowd that was gathered around:

- Martians! He shouted…’Is anybody from the crowd a man of science? Step forward if you are…!

There was a hum among the crowd and they tried to choose someone among themselves. After a while a man made of steel with rusted body about 2000 years old came forward and walked towards the balcony slowly. He kept his head, which is full of science and thoughts, up and waited for permission to speak without taking a bow to The Emperor. The Emperor:

- Tell me! Said The Emperor with a soft voice; Do you have any idea to bring peace to Mars? The old man hardly raised his head up:

- Your highness of all countries of Mars, you have honored me. He started to speak. I have an experience of 2000 years and with all of it I will advise you this: First thing is that you can give back people the freedom which you took away from them by leaving them without a government and control 500 years ago. The thing to do here is give them back their independence. This way every nation will have the chance to make their own geography and life style the best way and The Martian Empire will come to ease after all.                       

- What about my Empire and my hegemony?

- All of those will remain the way they are…

- How?

- Like this, all of the Martian Republics will have their own government and President and those will be connected to only one ruler of Mars. There could still be one ruler on Mars. Our holy Emperor will be the President of highest rank.           

The Emperor’s voice was not soft anymore. ‘This is impossible!’ he yelled. ‘This can’t be!’ If all the Martian countries gets to have independency what will be the use of Martian President! At that point I will be left without an Empire and hegemony! No I cannot let this happen.

The mother-of-a-shell colored woman grabbed The Emperor’s hand into hers and tried to calm him down:         

- Holy Emperor! What have you got to lose if you listen to this experienced old man? I believe there will be a definite need for a president of Mars. This president will balance the business and culture issues among these countries and this will bring friendship that will protect their advantages and keep them from harming one another. Please allow me to tell you that this rank will bring you more honors than today.

- I still do not understand how this could happen, said The Emperor with a softened voice. Then the old man of science gained more courage and began to speak again;

- Holy Emperor there is a way to make this real: All the independent nations will choose congress members among them to establish a High Martian Parliament. Every nation has their own constitution and a bigger Martian Constitution that will protect all of them. Then under the control of the president of Mars, a new Martian Ministers Congress will be brought together. The High Martian Congress is going to choose an emperor that will be the president of Mars under the terms of The Martian Constitution. The Emperor cut the word of the Old man and with a yelled:                

-A chosen president? His looks were turning red again. How do you know that The Martians are going to choose me as an emperor?

- If you give them all these rights and bring peace, there is not any doubt that they will choose you. In fact there is nobody else to take this place other than yourself.

The Emperor’s looks got softer:

- Let’s consider that they chose me. What about my belongings? my crown ? and my throne? Do I keep them?

-You will share all your wealth for the sake and wealth of the Martian society. You can’t realise how good it will make you feel. The throne and the crown are nothing but show off! The chair you will sit on will be as important as your throne. The invisible crown on your head will be full of honor and love.               

- Those are nice words you say with your experience and knowledge but I have doubts that they are real. Overall my habits and compassions are so strong that I do not have the opportunity to make these things you say real.             

- Holy Emperor! The hardest part is to take the first step. The second step will be much easier following other steps which will bring comfort to Martians and provide them with health and wealth, that will be your biggest compassion taking place of other compassions and will make you very happy.

- You still sound unreal! I have such compassions that no other compassion and happiness can beat it. This is the compassion to invade planet Earth. I think all of Mars will share the power of this compassion with me.                      

- Holy Emperor, Planet Earth is a far away planet like all others and it is a sphere unknown to us. Its surrounding is covered with a thick layer of hundred kilometers of an atmosphere mostly containing, the burning gas, oxygen. Half of its surface is made up of hydrogen and oxygen which creates water that covers more than half of its surface…Our ships are visiting planet Earth from time to time secretly keeping living beings away from themselves. According to our latest knowledge we realise that it does not have the conditions for us to live there without special equipment. Also it is not possible to find nuclear food sources we use to survive. And the beings there do not look like us. 

They are not one species like us. There are beings bigger or smaller than us in millions of numbers. The ones that look like us have four legs and are present in many different species and eat each other to survive, their minds are very primitive. Also another species looking like us have two legs and two arms, they have a strong mind, they are able to make kinds of machinery and tools, that is why they are the hegemony of the sphere. Their body is made out of a soft material different from us which they call biology. Their brains is made up of that as well, it is made out of bio-electronic batteries of cells. They way they reproduce is confusingly different from that of ours. They bring together male and female bodies and produce a biological egg inside the female. This egg grows inside the female and comes out after a while. The newborn beings grow up very fast and die very fast. For example the time interval between the birth and death of a human being, is less than the amount of time to develop one of our nuclear eggs and shape up. I know that words like soft, liquid and biological does not mean anything for you. They are not the common kinds of things we see on our planet. If you can visit our laboratory one-day, you can see the species, which we brought over here and started to work on, I am sure after that you will understand.

-I am telling you these entire thing on behalf on your honor. The plan to invade planet Earth will not make any good to you or to the Martians. Neither the living creatures can come and live here, nor the Martians could live there. The humanbeings cannot supply us with any work, any service and we can not make any use of them. How could an invasion like that be in favor of us? There were angry looks on the face of the Emperor: 

-Thank you for the given information. I will visit your laboratory soon but you are way up your head. How could you make comments about my compassion of a hegemony like that? The Emperor yelled. Only I could know what the use of that planet is. You and other scientists mind your own business. It has been hundreds of years and you still could not create a condition and a technology for us to live on planet Earth. What good do you make for us? What?

- The-mother-of-a-shell colored pure tanned woman and the President were scared and trembling. Surprisingly the oldman showed no sign of fear:                

- We are Martian scientists of science and reality. We are not afraid to tell the truth. Our aim is to serve Mars and Martians! He said and waited quietly. The Emperor was quiet as well. A cloud of worry covered the crowd. They did not know what to do? The Emperor was strong enough to destroy the crowd anytime; they waited in terror very quietly.             

Daylight of the sun was leaving and the sky was turning into the purple dim of darkness. The copper and iron hills were sparkling. After a while the sparkling disappeared. The purple color diminished. The light coming out of Martian’s eyes were giving the only light. There was a couple of stars in the sky and suddenly behind the hills that were almost invisible came out the largest and the brightest of all stars. This was planet Earth reflecting the lights of the sun, which just went down. The Emperor knew that it looked small because it was very close and this was the reason why it was so bright and large. There was an attraction among him and the planet Earth. He wanted fly and grab it and take it into his steel hands. The burning desire to own the planet Earth and to have the power of making his name heard in the universe. He looked at the silent crowd waiting at the square. They were moving here and there with the lights flashing out of their eyes and getting ready to shout that they want peace. His compassion and reasons were so big that this unimportant need of theirs were so less in value. No. No.! He would never give up his Empire and his desire to invade planet Earth.             

He turned around and looked at his girlfriend. There, there was the only thing more important than all of his compassions. This woman. Her love was the biggest compassion other than all of his compassions. He did everything for her and will do for her. He approached her and held her mother-of-a-shell colored shoulders:

- You see that bright planet there, I will give it to you as a present and nothing can stop me from doing so. The whole universe and you will be amazed by my power! He said and waited for the results of his behavior. The beautiful woman wrapped her arms around his waist:

-I am already amazed with your power and compassion. The biggest present you can give would be is giving freedom back to all the nations and bringing peace to them! She replied. There was a surprise in The Emperor’s eyes and he asked again:

- The wife of the most powerful man in the stars, don’t you want to be the Emperist of the space?

- No! I want to be your wife; the wife of the President of Mars that is chosen by the Martians.             

The arms of the Emperor fell aside. He could not realise that such a simple answer would come from the woman he loved. His biggest source of compassion was dried, and the fire of love burning inside was turned into ashes. He looked up at the sky; planet Earth was there, it still was the brightest and the largest star, shining bright and making its way to the top. He felt the compassion between himself and the Planet again with all his being. The thought of being the Emperor of Mars without compassion was very simple for him. He turned to the moving crowd. The lights in his eyes were yellow and his moves were slower. The Martians were surprised to see him like that; he spoke quietly and slowly:

Martians! Your men of science have determined themselves to bring peace. They thought of very nice things like establishing independent nations on the sphere of Mars and preparing a new Martian Constitution to provide a long lasting peace and living it. These maybe the way to lead you to peace. One thing these scientist forgot is that the people, people like me who reached to the rank of an Emperor will not be satisfied with their place because they want to reach as high as they can. I am a man of such compassions. Now I see that and understand that my compassion and time of invading all of space will cause you to remain far away from peace for about a thousand years more. I do not have the power to get rid of my compassion but I will prove that every Martian like me will terminate himself like me. They should destroy themselves rather than to try to get rid of their compassions. Now I believe the biggest enemy on the face of Mars is personal compassions. And now I will terminate myself in front of your eyes. Also along with me those who have personal compassions should be terminated so that the Martian president you choose will be able to bring peace on Mars.

He reached to his belt and opened the box made out of lead. He grabbed a handful of uranium pills and swallowed them. No one could stop him from doing so because he did it very fast. His Girlfriend: ‘ stop! Don’t do this to yourself, have some pity on me’ she reached out and held the Emperor. He reached at her hair and ran his steal fingers among them for the last time:

‘ Love kept me alive, compassions are those who killed me.’ He said then suddenly he pushed her away and ‘get away’ he yelled with a last effort. ‘Get away or you are going to melt out along with me!’ but the mother-of-a-shell covered woman did not let him go and she melted along with the melting body of The Emperor. The Martian lovers were getting smaller and smaller, they were the victims of their compassions, they were slowly melting as if they were disappearing into the space.

The Planet Earth was shining brighter and making its way higher in the sky. All of the Martians who witnessed this unbelievable event were surprised and slowly leaving the square shouting: ‘Long live the peace! Long live the peace.

About the illustrator

Translated from Turkish by Babur ALBAYRAK
For Turkish version, "Merihliler": http://www.anafilya.org
http://www.anafilya.org/dizin_detay.php?yil=2002&ay=3&sayi=9&sira=25&did=297