
Antony, in the genre(s) science fiction
The Hunted Heroes is a science fiction short story by Robert Silverberg and features the red planet, Mars. A tough, barren forbidding wasteland that stops all but the most dedicated of adventurers. The Heroes are of that breed, however they then run into a crazy genius who's motto is "Death to All Humans".
There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, and the sea's asleep, and the rivers dream. People made of smoke, and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there’s injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold.