# Martha Dane — Short Fiction character guide

> Martha Dane in Short Fiction by H. Beam Piper.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Martha

**First appearance:** 0027-omnilingual

## Snapshot

A linguist on Mars, Martha Dane is trying to decipher an alien language whose last speaker died fifty thousand years before she was born.

## Who they are

Martha works a buried Martian seaport under a magenta sky, sifting a dead civilization's books for any bridge to its meaning. She knows there is no Rosetta Stone here, only patience, and she argues for the work against colleagues who want results now. Her stubborn hope that someone, someday, will read these words is what keeps the dig's slowest and most human project alive.

## In the story

### [Omnilingual](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_24_se/chapters/omnilingual)

Discovers a bilingual text in physics and chemistry, a major breakthrough in deciphering the Martian language.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_24_se/characters/martha_dane
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_24_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_24_se/characters