Episode 23: The Venusian Swamp Wildlife Is Troublesome

The team settled in for another night in the muggy heat and stench of the Venusian swamp.

On waking they discussed plans and decided to strike North and head for the Airship rendezvous by the lake, with the object of arranging an ambush there for the treacherous Otto. Unfortunately, they discovered that one of their company, Burke, had either left camp or been kidnapped during the night leaving no trace of his leaving nor any sort of note of explanation.

The team were surprisingly unbothered by this new development, and assumed that Burke would either redezvous with them later or would be brought to the airship rendezvous by Otto. Either way, they had problems of their own. Their numbers were down by approximately half, and they were in the middle of a Venusian swamp. Perhaps worries over their own chances trumped worrying about a colleague silly enough to wander off on his own. Who can say?

The discussion wound up, the course of action agreed by all, then suddenly the camp was attacked by a large swarm of Swamp Devils, those fearsome crocodilian reptiles that had bedeviled the team the previous day. The battle was short and intense, with much loss of life on the part of the native Lizardmen bearers, but eventually the beasts were all driven off or killed.

Reverend Fogg tried his best for the wounded Lizardmen, but there was nothing he could do for them, and their Lizardmen tribe-members held a ceremony in which the dead were consigned to the swamp.

It was then that the team discovered that the three lizardmen who were not part of Reverend Fogg's congregation had made good their escape, fleeing for the safety of the swamp when everyone was distracted by the life-and-death struggle against reptiles in a World Gone Mad. Clearly they had been waiting their chance, the absolute bounders!

The tracks led off north-east into the swamp, following the same apparent course taken by Otto, but the team were only just discovering this when three sets of shrill screams split the air, coming from the direction taken by the mutinous lizardmen. There was a short discussion as to whether or not this was worth investigating before the team did, in fact, investigate, discovering three lizardmen corpses with terrible acid burns and the skin and bones of a raptor, also showing signs of acid burns.

at this point each member of the team heard what they thought was Otto moaning quietly off in the fog. Indeed, when Waldmont and Montgomery went to investigate, there was Otto lying against a tree. moaning piteously. Montgomery strode forward and Reverend Fogg would have joined him but the Lizardmen suddenly became frantic, hissing and gibbering in their barbaric language and dragging Fogg back.

Ssassafrash began saying "I not see you see" over and over, and Capt. Forsyth suddely suggested that perhaps the Lizardmen could not see what each earthman could, that maybe "Otto" was not Otto. At this point, Montgomery gave Otto a poke with his sword and there was an explosion of protoplasmic goo as the Venusian Mimic - an insidious telepathic menace - resumed its true form and attempted to engulf Montgomery!

Luckily, Montgomery was nimble enough to scramble out of harm's way, but moments later the dreadful amoeboid thing attempted to engulf the hapless Waldmont! Thank heavens for Waldmont's lightning reflexes, for he too managed to avoid becoming a meal for the disgusting blob.

Unfortunatly, possibly unnerved by his near encounter with death, Montgomery rushed off into the fog, out of sight of his compatriots, and was attacked by a lurking pack of Raptors! He fought valiantly but was overmatched and outnumbered and fell to their hacking claws and flesh-tearing teeth. The rest of the team made short work of the foul-tempered dinosaurs from a safe distance, but as Rev. Fogg discovered, they were just too late to save their compatriot, and Devin was declared dead.

Lacking any digging tools and the soil in which to bury their friend, they were forced to perform a burial at sea, aided by the Lizardmen.

The ceremony, a cross between Anglican and Ssassafrash's tribal ritual for the dead, was suitably solemn, but the occassion was lent a rather gruesome coda as the team turned to leave and the waters to which they had just committed their comrade suddenly boiled with Venusian aquatic swamp denizens fighting to get a share in the bounty.

The team then struck off north and north-west, deciding that the quicker they could get out of this hell-hole the better.

Toward the end of the day they came across a strange scene. Two human figures lying on the ground. One was Burke, who seemed to be alive but sick, and one was awake, but delerious and clearly close to death.

Burke had a dart in him, and a pistol lying by his body. Rusch had a bullet wound and a dart gun by his side. Burke's wrists showed signs of his being tied up.

Rusch was muttering: "Coeus! Coeus! we will watch over Otto and keep him safe! Coeus!¹"

Waldmont pulled out the dart and smelled it, and recoiled as he recognosed the tell-tale whiff of Red Sands! He hurled the dart away from him into the swamp and yelled the danger to the others as he ripped open Burke's clothes to discover a shallow scratch on the victim's chest. The dart had been prevented from penetrating fully by Burke's waistcoat and heavy linent shirt. Thank heavens for proper British attire!

Capt. Forsyth and Rev. Fogg attended to Burke, cleaning his wound and applying bandages while the visibly shaken Waldmont tried to make sense of what Rusch had said.

He remembered that "Coeus" was the name of a Titan for Greek mythology, and that The Brotherhood of Luxor's leadership seemed to identify themselves by code names chosen for such beings. He remembered that in the Kraal² on Mars he had seen three cowled and masked Brotherhood leaders calling themsleves Kronos, Lord Hyperion and Lady Hyperion attempting to arrange an arms shipment.

Furthermore, he recalled that Kronos had spoken with a British accent, and that Lord and Lady Hyperion had French accents.

He surmised that Kronos was the Supreme Leader of the Brotherhood, and that Lord and Lady Hyperion were the infamous "M. et Mme Bourgeouis" from the Fort Oublie fiasco that had started him on this long journey into night.

It was Capt. Forsyth who, upon hearing these remembrances, suggested that "Coeus" might still be on Venus if, as it seemed now, he had tasked Rusch and company with looking after Otto.

Everyone then agreed that if Coeus was indeed on Venus, he would likely be someone living in Venusstadt.

A stretcher was fabricated by cutting up their one remaining tent and using two spears as poles, and Burke was portered by two Lizardmen to the next camp site, where a miserable camp was set up in the drizzle. No tent made for the prospect of an uncomfortable night, made only slightly tolerable by the camp beds and ponchos made from the rubberized tent material left over from the remains of the tent.

Rev. Fogg took the first watch with Ssassafrash, who reported sounds coming from the east, sounds and scents of two Lizardmen and a human. Unfortunately, nothing could be seen through the pea-souper that had descended a day ago and had yet to show signs of lifting.

Fogg woke the others and they in turn moved into positions of cover. The ambush was slightly ruined by the unforseen invasion of the camp site by small frog/iguana-like things which were underfoot and made a shrill screech when trodden on, which every member of the party did. Out in the fog the stealthy approach of the three unknown beings was interrupted by their own discovery of the frog-iguana things.

Tensely the team waited, straining to see anything in the fog.

Could this be the return of Otto?

1. It's pronounced "KEY-awss"↑
2. The High Martian fortress last seen in Episode 12↑

Episode 22: More Adventures in the Venusian Swamp

We return to the scene in the Venusian swamps, where our heroes have been informed by the now-loyal Ssassafrash, Lizardman bearer recently rescued from raptors by Reverend Fogg, that Otto plans to turn on them, kill them and let the swamp life deal with the evidence of this foul treachery.

Camp was made on a large islet, tents pitched and Professor Lazenby's Patent Folding Firecones set out and set ablaze. Professor Lazenby's "Everlast" Safari Torches were planted along the "coast" of the islet to drive back the darkness, the fog, the insect-life and the larger fauna, which fears fires that don't die of the damp in a few minutes. As the heroes huddled round their campfire Reverend Fogg held an impromptu service for a baker's dozen Lizardmen, who engaged him in fiendish disputation and analysis of his sermon for an hour or so, then wandered off hissing between themselves in what could have been a heated continuation of the debate.

There were now two distinct groups of native bearers in the camp: The so-called "Friends of Fogg" who deferred to Ssassafrash, and the rest, including one Ssakatash, the chief bearer to whom all the Lizardmen deferred, Friend of Fogg or not. Ssakatash was seen in earnest quiet converse with Otto, as were the human bodyguards, who had become known collectively to the heroes as the McSweenies for reasons that elude explanation. McSweeny was not in charge of Rusch, Heinrick, Schmidt, Fricke or Reinhart.

Although the heroes were ready for ambush, Otto was biding his time and the night passed relatively quietly. Perhaps the Lizardman had been mistaken?

Next day the heroes were attacked by three alligator-like swamp denizens as they crossed between islets, wading knee-deep in stinking water. Reverend Fogg immediately reprised his fearless defense of the day before and once again a seemingly invincible Venusian death reptile fell dead from a mighty blow on the snout. Sadly, his next attempt was completely unsuccessful, the blow landing on the animal's bony skull rather than its delicate snout, but shots rang out and soon the second creature lay twitching and oozing blood into the rank water of the swamp, at which point the third of these so-called "Venusian Swamp Devils" decided that discretion was the better part of valour and made a hasty escape into the murky water and ground fog. The Lizardmen watched this repulsing of Venusian predators with gape-mouthed silence, only the furious flicking of their tongues betraying their lack of composure.

Later that day the Lizardmen presented Reverend Fogg with the skin of the Venusian Swamp Devil, and insisted he wear it like a cape for a short ceremonial dance. A request to which a bemused Fogg acquiesced, unaware he was taking part in a Lizardman warrior naming ceremony.

It was after making camp that night that Ssassafrash's tip proved to be correct and Otto made his move, but the heroes - alerted to the near certainty of treachery - had planned for this and concocted an ambush of their own. Each hero concealed himself as best as possible in the various terrain features available - mostly large trees resembling a cross between mangroves and cycad fern-like growths, though Burke and Forsyth took advantage of the large pile of baggage in the middle of camp. When Otto's bodyguards and a select group of Lizardmen attempted to kill the heroes in their sleep, the surprise was reversed and a desperate battle broke out. Lizardman fought Lizardman with spears dripping poison, and pistol shots rang through the night.

Reverend Fogg leapt out of hiding and engaged an armed bodyguard with his fists, killing him with a mighty punch to the head, then surged forward to engage a second foe. Devin Montgomery had failed to adequately conceal himself behind a tree, was spotted by hostile Lizardmen, engaged by them and badly wounded by a round from the treacherous Otto's firing from the cover of his tent with his elephant gun. Waldmont was also less than successful in hiding, and was swarmed by a small crowd of belligerent Lizardmen, stabbing at him with their poisoned spears. He took many superficial cuts, but shook off the poison's effects with no trouble.

Burke and Forsyth now engaged from concealment, blasting away with their firearms and any target that presented itself. Devin Montgomery, bleeding from many wounds, staggered from the scene of battle into the darkness of an adjacent islet, but was startled into returning in-theatre by horribly suggestive noises from within the fog. His fear of lizards was, unfortunately, a severe handicap in this situation. Waldmont was now cornered and put up a spirited fight, but was wounded quite severely. Luckily, he seemed immune to the Lizardman poison. Otto was firing from concealment too, choosing target with care and showing a terrifying skill with his elephant gun.

Reverend Fogg took a second life with his lethal boxing techniques, leading many to speculate on a secret career as a didicoy¹ when they had time to reflect on the carnage over a cup of tea. Ssassafrash rallied a pair of Lizardmen and they formed an armed cohort for "Lays on Hands of Death", the near legendary Friend to Lizardmen aka Reverend Fogg.

The battle was fierce, but eventually there were only three enemy Lizardmen left and they surrendered. Somehow Otto and the one remaining bodyguard escaped into the night.

Reverend Fogg now cemented his reputation with the Lizardmen by treating the wounded Montgomery and Waldmont and restoring them to a hale and healthy condition, if not exactly hearty, with a businesslike rapidity and characteristic modesty. Fogg's fellow Englishmen seemed rather blasé about this. English reserve? Sense of Entitlement? Who can say? Ssassafrash noticed, and added it to his growing picture of his hero.

Concerted attempts by the heroes to track Otto's path of retreat were unsuccessful, but Forsyth had the idea of seeing if the Lizardmen could pick up any trace and they were able to identify what looked like traces of Otto's escape path.

Two days of slogging through the swamp and a very intense battle had left everyone not native to Venus exhausted, and no-one was anxious to start ploughing through the Venusian swamp after Otto, who had demonstrated not only a startling marksmanship with his elephant gun, but was also demonstrably a master of wilderness survival and navigation. It was therefore decided to get some rest and to resume the hunt for Otto the next day.

Ssassafrash marshaled his fellow Lizardmen and arranged for pickets to be set, and the heroes were free to retire for a much-needed sleep.

1. A carnival bare-knuckle fighter who is The Champ others are challenged to beat for money↑

Personal Letter, Oct 4th, Captain Henry Forsyth (Ret)

Venus, 1889

An ongoing letter to Clarence Forysth, from Captain Henry Forsyth, RE. (Regretfully, retired.)

Fort Collingwood.

The tedium continuous. The endless rain, the damnable heat. The rubber over coverings are a liability, they make one perspire even more and one positively cooks. I am sure it is a matter of time before fatalities are recorded due to the shear temperatures one experiences donning the accursed things.

While I do my best to absent myself from the squalid little town, surveying the locations for my proposed improvements, I am still subjected to these absurd dress dinners. Lord, knows India was bad enough, but here it feels like manners have regressed a century!

I do understand the remoteness and the relatively high proportion of officers to the small town. I shall confess that I do not think them the highest grade, no decent officer would want to be posted here.

For myself, I find the assertion when I took he post, although not many options were exactly open, that my considerable tropics experience would prove invaluable to be gibberish. Nothing can prepare a man for this hell hole. The heat and humidity are at the limit of man’s endurance.

I’ve drawn up a scheme which would hopefully bring some relief to domiciles and public buildings, but it’s met with predictably mixed reaction. Cost is immediately cited as a concern, but compared to the improvements , it should be small beer. Of course I’ve considered that and many other factors.

I will not bore you with the detail, but dams, canals, a water and sewage distribution network are but a part. My own, dare I say ingenious cooling pipes for houses, to be supplemented by a reverse engineering of the roman hypocaust system, incorporating the cooling system employed at the royal palace in Fatipur Sikri. I am sure I have previously told you of this exceptional Indian site.

At present I daren’t even moot my principle finding that Fort Collingwood should be relocated wholesale and rebuilt in a more practical manner, at a place that can more easily be served by the services I propose.

With my recommendations in the balance, I believe I may have achieved all I can here. The Colonial Office have been most supportive and I have a good deal of leeway in my activities. But I feel I need another assignment soon. This place is oppressive in every way.

I hope all is well with you brother, that the family is also well and you continue to prosper. I am unlikely to find sufficient paper which will survive the humidity to write to our parents, so please pass on my felicitations and assure them I am well.

For now, I need to get this sheet between two rubber mats as it’s already starting to degrade.

Aboard an airship, bound for Venusstadt.

Dear Clarence,

What excellent fortune! A party arrived on Venus, including two very well known explorers of Mars and a colleague from the Foreign Office. I am sure you will have heard of Wilhelm and Walmart! I was of some small service to them in the matter of paperwork and have taken the opportunity to accompany their party to Venusstadt.

I write to you from the Zeppelin that is conveying us there! It seems I have much in common with this party, but I regret that confidences dictate that I cannot go into detail. However, as I learn more, I am increasingly struck by what an excellent bunch of fellows I seem to have fallen in with.

There are some challenges ahead and I believe some danger. Yet those are things to be faced head on. I am most curious to see where this might lead. My only regret is that I do not have a bearer to hand.

A hotel in Venusstadt.

Dear brother,

I need to be brief. The most striking things have happened. As expected there are problems and grave danger here. In an effort to expose this, we are going on safari. I say ‘we’ because in an extraordinary generous act, I’ve been spotted by my famous associates to join the safari!

While it’s quite the adventure, it’s a real step into danger. There are some serious criminal activities going on here. I can say no more than that. If I don’t return, then open the instructions I have left.

The safari is being led by a Belgian, of dubious character, but then again which Belgians aren’t.

The Venus lowlands.

Hardily bearable down here. Swamps, heat and humidity beyond reason. We have a party of lizard kind bearers and porters. A group of ‘protectors’, thugs and mercenaries gathered from Venusstadt, whom I do not trust.

An utterly remarkable encounter. We encountered some raptors, these are best described as a man sized T-rex, which I’m sure be familiar with. However, they hunt in packs. I saw them out of fog, everything is fog or mist or rain here, circulating my bearer.

I’m not sure I’ve every drawn my revolver so fast or fired so true, but I took the first beast down. But only then did it become apparent how fast these killers are. Two leapt upon me faster than could re-cock my pistol.

We have a reverend with the party who leapt and pulled my bearer away and placed himself between this poor lizard man and himself. Such courage, an insane act of self sacrifice!

But then as one these wide jawed, big teeth killers, leap at him, there was a straight left jab that hit a critical spot and the monster went down.

I had to retreat, I’d been in the van and now two sets of lethal jaws napping at me were difficult to hold. My earlier marksmanship deserted me.

Then a few remarkable things happened.

A shot rang out and one of my tormentors went down.

As my vision began to blur, I saw most incredible sight, the good reverend landing a blow of monumental proportions that just launched the creature back where it’d come from. A finer administration of divine justice, I’ve not seen, save perhaps for that caper in Alexandria.

I believe I may have taken a knock during the exchange, but my new found friends (if they would have me call them that) have a wondrous healing mask. Within minutes I was right again and feeling tikatiboo at that.

I’d have barely credited it except I witnessed the same effect on the good reverend minutes later.

The situation is now tense. It’s clear that the leader of the safari, intends us ill. The good reverend has many of the bearers on our side after his most remarkable heroics, but it is mixed. Of far more concern...

Damn the insolence, they are manoeuvring----

Interlude: Venus

So, Venus. Some facts.

• Venus is hot. Equatorial Earth hot.
• Venus is constantly overcast.
• Venus is misty and often foggy. Vision out beyond a mile is non-existant.
• Venus is humid. Very humid. It rains every day.
• Venus has no soil. What passes for soil is matted vegetation.
• Venus has no rivers. No soil means no river banks.
• Venus' lowlands are boggy and swampy. And Hot. And Humid. And misty.
• Venus has dinosaurs. Not exactly terrestrial dinosaurs, but there are analogs of all the known ones.
• Venus' native life is sentient, tribal and dinosauroid.
• Venus' dominant Earth political presence is German.
• The German capital is Venusstadt.

Episode 21: First Days on Venus

Waldmont, Wilhelm, Burke, Fogg and Montgommery land in Fort Collingswood, the capital of the British Colony on Venus.

After setting themselves up in a hotel courtesy of Wilhelm and Waldmont's seemingly endless line of credit (all except for Reverend Foggg who lodges at the church with the bishop) the team make the acquaintence of another Explorer's Club member, Captain Forsyth (Ret) who now works for the Colonial Office.

They discuss how they will proceed with their investigation into Venusian safaris into the deep swamplands, with a view to seeing if any are implicated in recovering the Venusian Death Flowers used by the Brotherhood to manufatcure the dread Red Sands toxin.

Montgomerry decides that he will use all his powers of investigative reporting to see what he can turn up in the lower quraters of the town, and he is spectaculalry successful, finding three names on note, three well-known men who have led safaris which recovered Venusian Death Flowers.

The first name is that of Alwin Otto, a belgian rare flower collector who seems able to spend a lot of money on his safaris given his rather niche interests. His safaris would seem to be funded by the Etchardian Bank, which is headquartered in Venusstadt, capital of the German Colony.

The second name is that of Leibrecht Berthanhouser, a German pharmaceutical representative. Longshoremen reprot that his Death Flowers have been going missing before they can be shipped.

The third name is that of Jóska Scabolick, a Hungarian noble with a prickly temper and what amounts to an obsession with his honour who is the head researcher for the Zoological Foundation. Longshoremen report that his Death Flowers have also been going missing from the loading docks.

The team relocate to Venusstadt after finding out that Alwin Otto plans to depart on safari within a week, and make their desire to join his safari known. Otto is pleased to have become known more widely as a successful rare flower collector and offers places on the safari for the six members of the team - at an exhorbitant price. Wilhelm and Waldmont open their purses again and Otto is even more impressed.

During the negotiations, Otto conveys Waldmont to the Etchardian Bank in order to establish a financial presence in Venusstadt with Waldmont's letters of credit drawn on LLoyd's of Syrtis Major.

During this visit, Waldmont is introduced to the bank's president and majority share holder, Mathias Etche, who invites the team to dinner at their convenience. Etche seems to have a close working relationship with Otto in Waldmont's opinion, bolstered by observing Etche and Otto in earnest private conversation.

Etche offers Otto and Waldmont an iced(!) drink and departs on bank business.

After a few days the party board an airship which ferries them to Lake Hindenberg, where they join twenty Lizardman porters, six human guards armed with pistols and clubs, sundry supplies and enough canoes to provide the second stage of transport into the deep swamplands where the rarest flowers may be found.

Once deep in the swamp, Otto has everyone beach the canoes and the safari continues on foot, with the porters navigating the shallowest channels between islands of matted vegetation overgrown with giant Cycad ferns.

The heat and humidity are beyond oppressive and the team are soon feeling the effects of exhaustion, each breath seeming not to draw in enough air. They sweat but there is no breeze to carry off the moisture and cool them, and the stink of rot is almost overpowering.

The safari gradually opens up into a long line, with Otto far in the lead and out of sight most of the time as he blazes a trail through the greenery, hacking away with gusto belied by his size, on the track of whatever he hopes to recover. The team of course hope this will be Venusian Death Flowers.

Hours into the safari the team, now in the rear of the march, are alerted by Captain Forsyth that they are being stalked by a pack of Venusian raptors when he spots them about to pounce upon a lone Lizardman guide and opens fire witgh his trusty revolver, killing one of the beasts.

Waldmont and Wilhelm also open fire, but to little effect. Montgommery, handicapped by his fear of lizards, is suddenly confronted by a raptor when it leaps up to him, and he panics and freezes. Reverend Fogg grabs the lone porter and yanks him back to safety at grave personal risk. Burke fires and stuns a raptor, Forsythe fires but misses.

The pack now attacks the party, running and leaping to the attack, but fortunately they only manage to wound two members of the party, Fogg and Forsyth. The combat turns nasty, with Waldmont dropping his rifle, useless thanks to the proximity of a raptor, and drawing his pistol. Forsyth retreats to fight another day and manages to dodge the attack at his back.

But the hero of the piece has to be Reverend Fogg, who demonstrates the very best of British Pluck when he punches a raptor in the snout and kills it outright. Before his teammates can register their astonishment, he does it again! Two vicious dinosaurian attackers killed in a demonstration of expert pugilism and sustained British Courage Under Fire!

Suddenly there is only one animal left, which has the bright idea of running away, and Wilhelm is finally free to deploy his healing nebulizer mask, curing Reverend Fogg and Captain Forsyth of their bite wounds.

Otto, on becoming aware of the fracas, orders camp be made for the evening on a large, relatively dry islet.

Episodes 15-20: Aboard the Empress of the Stars

This entry is a summary of several sessions spent socializing and interacting with the passengers and crew of the Empress of the Stars, an Edison Ether-Propeller interplanetary liner.

Waldmont was subjected to an attempted assassination when his Bhutan Spice tea was spiked with a Martian poison. He survived.

The entire ship is entertained by the events organized by "The Henries", a group of hard-partying middle-aged men who served in the army and saw action in Afghanistan, where they participated in the Battle of Al-Gavidah Pass and saved the day.

Both Waldmont and Wilhelm were subjected to a second assassination attempt when decorative boxes in their staterooms turned out to be clockwork traps containing lethal Martian snakes.

Pirates attempt to take The Empress, but are beaten back and killed to a man by The Henries, aided by Waldmomnt, Wilhelm, Montgomerry (a journalist passenger) and Burke, a contact from the Colonial Office.

One of the passengers is murdered, and a second, a woman, dies as a result of an ill-conceived distration ploy. He turns out to have been a Pinkerton Detective hot on the trail of two suspects involved in a stock swindle that bankrupted one company and cause the near-closure of a bank. He writes a letter to Wilhelm and Waldmont asking them to solve what he assumes will be his murder.

The team does indeed solve the murder, and that of the woman, placing them at the hands of two other passengers beyond any doubt, and recovering a fortune in Bearer Bonds which will go a long way toward repairing the damage done by the stock swindle. They also track down the ghost, who turns out to be a young woman with a weird science device who was working with the Pinkerton Man.

The two swindlers are then ritually killed along with the crewman guarding their staterooms while at the same time another attempt is made on the team, this time with poison gas in Waldmonts stateroom as they plot the best way to take down the most likely suspect in the assassination attempts. The team, now augmented by the newly-acquianted Reverend Fogg, chase the assassin into the baggage compartment where Wilhelm glues him to the floor with his "goober gun".

The assassin bears a Brotherhood tattoo, and commits suicide in mid-histrionic vengeance threat.

Episode 14: Onward, To Venus!

Wilhem and Waldmont and two friends they have met in the Explorer's Club are approached by a Mr John Brisbane (Colonial Office) who persuades the brave heroes to undertake a mission to Venus in order to discover who is smuggling the dread Death Flowers from the deep swamp there.

The Heroes share their suspicions about the involvement of the Brotherhood of Luxor and exchange a few tid-bits of information with Brisbane, who offers to fund the team to the tune of four first class passages on The Empress of the Stars, a Cunard Line "Venus Rated"¹ space vessel due to depart in a few days on the 42-day trip to Venus.

After grabbing a few essentials each person deem vital to their needs on this jaunt, the team board the Empress and set about exploring the lavish (for a space vessel) ship. Wilhelm and Waldmont, being rich as Croesus and valuing comfort above all else after roughing it in desert camps, canal barges and so forth (we will not dwell on their Explorer's Club lodgings nor the decadent comfort of the staterooms of the Persephone) decide that they should kit themselves out with the only available "Sovereign Class" staterooms, deeming the squalid luxury of First Class as beneath them. These enormous staterooms feature huge windows, opulently luxurious fittings and a real-time repeater to the bridge orrery showing the ship's position with regard to the major bodies of the Solar System as a sort of mechanical mural on one wall. The staff fall over themselves to be helpful and several of the annoying limitations on personal baggage and firearms are lifted as a "courtesy".

The team fans out as the ship lifts and they explore their new surroundings. The ship is quite luxurious by the cramped standards of space-going vessels. The prime gathering places for passengers are the promenades that run down the length of each side of the First Class Staterooms, and which feature full-length windows through which the splendour of the heavens can be enjoyed while strolling up and down, and the forward observatory, which encompasses the entire bow of the ship and features a wrap-around window, telescopes, an orrery and field glasses available on request from ever-present stewards.

Captain Mallard welcomes everyone aboard, and advises everyone to strap into their stateroom chairs for takeoff, which goes swimmingly. Then the passengers mingle on the observation deck before dinner, where each of the heroes by turns is put in their place by Miss Elsie Thompson when they attempt to converse with her young ward Claire. Waldmont comes in for special attention by Miss Thompson, who sees in his persistence the actions of a wanton rake, entirely in character with what she has read of him in the Martian gossip columns.

The first day out is enlivened by the ship crossing Mars' aether wake, which gives the ship a good shaking but does no actual damage other than a few bruises taken by those passengers too silly to strap down when advised to do so by the captain, and later in the ship's evening, by the sighting of a ghost! Miss Claire excitedly reports seeing a woman clad in a black cloud walk the second class deck. The heroes run to check this out along with a crowd of other passengers, and Waldmont uses his inventions to enhance his senses as they examine the stateroom from which the ghost appeared, and that into which she disappeared. A faint tinge of ozone might have been detected in the first cabin, Wilhelm thinks.

In no time at all rumours of the reason for the ghost run rampant in the ship, to the point that Captain Mallard angrily denies in a public announcement that the Empress has ever been wrecked, salvaged, the scene of any murders, suicides, deadly epidemics, crib deaths or the subject of pirate incursions.

He is, of course, not believed.

And so to bed.

1. This means that the ship can be landed safely on Venus, and be sure of lifting off again. This miracle is achieved by utilizing "Hydrogen Lift" along with a keel of Liftwood sealed against the pernicious atmosphere of Venus² ↑
2. Which, as everyone knows, is highly corrosive to the lifting property of liftwood↑

Episode 13: A Date With Destiny

The heroes Waldmont and Wilhelm are feeling a little under-appreciated of late.

Everywhere they go they are recognized as either rich marks for elaborate con games, targets of abuse from Canal Martians convinced the treasure of Bordobaar should have been returned to the Martian People and who obstinately refuse to admit the Martian People are not a people but a collection of mutually hostile city state nations, and that not one single Martian palyed any part in recovering the treasure, and that large amounts of said treasure are available to the Martian People in the form of a very generous museum exhibit organised, it has to be admitted, by Professor Bottoms but that's not the point, subjected to nocturnal aggression at the hands of disaffected Fenians, fanatical Worm Cultists, enraged Mars First zealots and lethal Brotherhood assassins in no particular order, or intolerable treatment at the hands of minor government flunkies ignorant of the great service the two patriotic English heroes have performed for Queen, country and the lining of their own pockets.

There's just so much a body can take in the line of duty.

So when the team are approached during their afternoon Bhutan Spice tea break by one Abel Cain, a low-level Colonial Office bureaucrat, with a tale of possible Brotherhood activity aboard the Grand Voyager, an armed merchant kite¹ due to sail for Avanel in a few days, they are in the mood to see the back of Syrtis Major society for a while.

Cain brings as evidence a telegraph transcript he intercepted.: THE GRAND PLAN IS PROCEEDING APACE STOP YOU MUST ACCOMPANY THE VOYAGER STOP BROTHERHOOD OF LUXOR NEEDS SUPPLIES DESPERATELY STOP BEWARE THE RED MEN. Clearly the Brotherhood is planning some dreadful piracy, and just as clearly, our heroes are the men to stop it!

Cain answers any questions the heroes have, and leaves, but is ambushed by Canal Martian thugs right outside the door! Wilhelm and Waldmont race to the rescue and beat off the dastardly attack, capturing a thug for questioning. Th thug was paid to attack Cain by a human wearing a black cloak pinned with a trident-shaped broach. The Mark of The Brotherhood!

The Heroes take passage on Grand Voyager, an impressively armed Warm Winds class merchant kite. There are a number of other passengers, whom the heroes meet and subtly question. Cargo is loaded under the scrutiny of our heroes and, of course, the captain, a businesslike but agreeable Canal Martian, and the kite sets sail for Avenel.

Toward the end of the first day under sail, a mutiny breaks out, with fierce fighting between the mutineers and the few loyal crew. During the battle the players manage to set fire to the kite, with the result that the back of the ship is demolished in a violent explosion; presumably the magazine for the guns has been destroyed. The fire spreads to the front of the doomed vessel, now diving toward the ground and another violent explosion tears the bow apart. What's left of the ship is piloted to a very bad crash-landing by Wilhelm, hampered as he is by the death of the trimsmen.

The heroes take stock and realize that once again, they have been crash-landed in the Martian Outback,. This time they appear to have generous supplies scattered around, but to counter that, all passengers appear to have been killed, and if any crew survived, they've run off into the steppes.

The team make plans, gather supplies and head for the nearest center of civilization by their reckoning, but before many days pass they encounter a Steppe Martian tribe and negotiate an escorted ride back to civilization.

Once back in Syrtis Major, our heroes report to the Colonial Office, then go in search of Mr Cain. They find him and after a round of intimidation we shall draw a curtain over here, he confesses all.

He was paid One Hundred pounds to set the heroes up! A transcript of his confession is included below:

Please, Sirs! Have mercy on a fellow Englishman. Yes, I told you I know nothing about the people who hired me, and that is wholly true. Upon reflection, however, I’ve remembered a few details I noticed about them during our meeting. I’d quite forgotten about it—until just now! Isn’t that amusing? Er, maybe not…

They were a Frenchman and, I presumed, his wife. He looked to be a well-to-do gentleman, and she kept her face hidden with an elaborate veil. They paid me handsomely to ensure your presence on the Grand Voyager, and even provided the text of the telegram I was to give you. Please accept my apologies; they assured me in no uncertain terms that you were all scoundrels and deserved to be deceived. I see now that they were wrong! Indubitably wrong!

No, it was what they said to each other as they left, when they believed I could no longer hear them.

“Shouldn’t we take care of this ourselves, darling?” the woman asked. “He will not be pleased if the plan fails.”

The man replied with confidence. “The plan will not fail, ma cherie, because our friends are far too honorable to ignore a plea for help. The task before us is to ensure the Venusian harvests continue. If another batch of Le Rouge Sands is to be made—and perfected—we must have more death flowers!"

Then they laughed, and went on their way. Quite odd. Do you know what they meant by “Le rouge sands”? I haven’t the slightest notion where they might be now. Venus, do you think?

What the heroes make of this waits to be seen ...

1. Martian aerial sailing ship↑

Episode 12: The High Martians Play Their Hand

Waldmont and Wilhelm are walking in the evening air of Gordovaan when their conversation is rudely interrupted by scream and shapes in the night sky.

Canal Martians are being swept up by shadowy figures with the power of flight in a building not 20 yards away! The Canal Martians are being kidnapped by a High Martian raiding party!

Two High Martians drop down beside each Canal Martian and hustle them off at spear-point, while others stay airborne and threaten any would-be rescuers with their razor sharp spears. Waldmont and Wilhelm are made of sterner stuff of course, and wade in without hesitation, giving good account of themselves with their pistols, driving off the raiders but not before they have taken many hostages.

Giving chase, the heroes see that those kidnapped are being flown up to a hovering screw galley, barely visible against the black night sky. A few moments afterward, the screw galley slowly gathers speed and makes off into the night, towards the highlands. Our heroes take time to get a rough heading on the fleeing ship, then race back to the tavern

Waldmont and Wilhelm hurry to gather their crew, currently on liberty, and make the Persephone ready to give chase. Much time is lost in the preparation, but eventually the heroes and their gallant crew lift the Persephone from her cradle and set off on the remembered heading.

The trail is lost, but the heading is well-remembered and the Persephone makes all speed in pursuit of the much slower screw galley, which of course is powered by slave labor using a manual crank to turn the airscrew¹.

The Persephone isn't the only ship to give chase, nor the first, but she is the only one that sustains the effort, though the heroes are relieved to see the drunken party led by Smedley Forbes-Hamilton² has crashed in the steppe, but appear to be unhurt. He may be a drunken sot, and a pest on occasions, but as his friends would say: "Smedley's heart is in the right place and one cannot fault his courage (even if it is of the Dutch variety)".

Eventually the Persephone, after beating off an attack by an opportunistic pirate in a small kite and sending the blighter to the mercy of the Steppe tribes by deft use of the helm and judicious use of the redoubtable steam Gatling Gun mounted on her foredeck, comes upon the signs of a nearby Kraal, and the crew witness the screw galley making dock at the top of the enormous cliff into which this High Martian city/fortress complex has been carved. High Martian patrols are a danger, so the crew ground the Persephone some way off in a canyon, damp her fires and camouflage her to the best of their ability, then set out to see what can be done to rescue the hostages.

Opting for a somewhat optimistic frontal assault, the entire party is captured by High Martian guards and imprisoned in the slave pits, buy our heroes manage to get free of their chains and shortly after they free all the Canal Martians in the pit, and also one human who turns out to be a certain Welshman, last seen when he rescued the party from a dastardly firing squad during their adventures with Princess Amarantha.

With the help of Roderick Llewellyn (for 'tis he) the party overpower the rather lightweight guards currently on duty, and make their way toward the top of the Kraal where they had heard that the King of the High Martians, one Haaraakan, was expecting an audience with some members of the Brotherhood of Luxor!

The heroes make their way to the throne room and conceal themselves, and see King Haaraakan and three robed figures in Greek Tragedy masks (one Kronos, one Hyperion in the Titan's male aspect and one Hyperion in female aspect) surrounded by acolytes of the dread Worm Cult. Luckily the conversation is being held in Koline, so each of our heroes can understand what is being said. Haaraakan is asking "Kronos" when he might expect "promised weapons" with which to fight the British forces he knows are about to enter his territory. The Brotherhood is smuggling weapons to the High Martians! This news must be returned to the Colonial Office as soon as possible!

When Kronos speaks, it is in a British accent, though no-one can place it. The two Hyperion figures speak in heavy French accents, and Waldmont and Wilhelm speculate that this could be the same couple who went under the name “Bourgeois” in Libya, and who infected the garrison with the deadly Red Sands sickness.

Unfortunately, the hiding team are discovered and a desperate fight breaks out between our heroes and the few free slaves who accompanied them on one side, and the palace guards and worm acolytes on the other. At the outbreak of hostilities The two Hyperions run off down a corridor, and Kronos utters a loud curse, points at Waldmont in a menacing manner, then is enveloped in a glowing green energy field and vanishes.

The fighting is desparate, and lacking the power of flight the team must make a fighting withdrawal to the lowest levels of the Kraag, where they encounter more High Martian guards. The battle is fierce and things do not go well.

Waldmont and Wilhelm are eventually able to escape with Roddy Llewellyn, but every single Canal Martian is killed in the attempted break for freedom.

Llewellyn leaves our two heroes in disgust as soon as the sky clears of searching High Martians, departing the scene on a steam-and-pedal-powered flying machine that proves to have an invisibility cloak. The two Englishmen make their way back to the Persephone and return to Syrtis Major, thankfully with no further adventures. Once back in the hub of British influence on Mars, they report their encounter with the Colonial Office, who immediately begin plans to interdict the arms shipments.

Our heroes are left pondering the cost of their adventure, and the ramifications of what they learned.

1. Captured examples are converted for use by Her Majesty's Expeditionary Force to a sort of clockwork drive, using crew to manually tension the spring that provides the final drive↑
2. A voluble and almost permanently pickled acquaintance whose company they have "enjoyed" on a few occasions since they decided to spend time in Gordovaan↑