the 365 days of an Earth year. From his force, Carter assembled a force of 5,000 men, to be led by Carthoris through the pits under the Temple of Issus. However, the tunnels were being slowly flooded, due the pumps of Omean having been stopped. During the march, the water had risen to such a level that Carter was forced to call a portion of the troops to enter a diverging tunnel. Of the 3,000 troops (30 utans) that obeyed Carter, most escaped. Casualties were minimal. However, during the march, a chemical fire was started in the tunnel they were marching in, presumably by the First Born. Carter ordered some 2,000 troops up another tunnel. He doubled back to the flames to make sure that no soldier had been left behind. However, when he turned back to follow his men, he found a massive steel grating blocking the tunnel path. Before long, the smoke grew so intense that he was forced to go back down the tunnel in hopes of an easier death by drowning. However, he managed to escape through yet another tunnel, which led him directly to Dejah Thoris. He hid her in the pits from which he had just emerged, and went to find his men. He found himself in a chamber in which 500 men, both Red Martians and First Born, fought to the death. With the addition of Carter, the black lines broke and the First Born warriors ran. The men in the chamber also witnessed the charge of the Green warriors, which broke the thin black line defending the garden. Leading the survivors of the red force, guided by Carthoris, he went back to the pits where he hid Dejah Thoris. Finding her gone, Carthoris led him to Issus' chamber. Carter took her prisoner, and during the standoff, a full thousand red men broke into the chamber. Issus went insane, and during her mad rant, she told Carter that Dejah Thoris, Thuvia, and Phaidor are imprisoned in the Temple of the Sun, each of whose rooms opens only once per year. Issus put them there specifically to spite Carter, as Issus was aware that all three were in love with him. Carter and his men scramble to find the keys to their cell in time, but are unsuccessful. Immediately before their room closes, Phaidor attempts to kill Dejah Thoris, and her success or failure