The team, battered but unbloody, was flying back toward Syrtis Major with Lord Ponsonby in his Steam Yacht Persephone when they spotted the wreck of a medium-sized Kite1. Swooping down they noted that the ship had broken its back, and was partially buried in the red Martian sand, and there were 20 or 30 Martians, presumably crew, who were milling about the relatively undamaged bow in what seemed a somewhat aimless mob.
Our heroes headed up a landing party and approached from the bow, only to realize there were people inside the cabin at the bow, and that the Martians were attempting hostile action against whoever it was. They grappled a rope to the deck and climbed up, discovering two ladies climbing out of a deck hatch/skylight, and a few Martian crew scrambling up the ladders onto what had been the Foc'sl of the once-graceful queen of the skies.
The two heroes took one look at the advancing Martians and immediately recognized their crazed glare, the blisters on their skin, and once alerted to the danger, the color of the skin. These poor sailors had all been infected with the Red Sands malady, last seen in Libya, when they had encountered the dread, murderous remnants of the garrison of of Fort Oublié.
A brief attempt at defense showed the essential hopelessness of victory over the masses, so the team evacuated the ladies to the Persephone and resumed their course to Syrtis Major. Lord Ponsonby's steward served a well-deserved Pimm's to everyone as they got acquainted and accommodations abord the Persephone were rearranged.
The newcomers were Miss Fortescue and Miss Myles. The two gave account of how they came to be in the desert, which included a rendezvous with a second Kite, a mysterious hooded Martian who gave something to the captain and the subsequent strange disease that ravaged the crew, causing the two travelers to take refuge in the foc'sl of the ship. The story would have seemed a trifle exaggerated but for the fact that both ladies were members of the Explorers Club and therefore of unimpeachable trustworthiness.
Returning to Syrtis Major Wilhelm and Waldmont gave their version of events to an official at the Colonial Office. Said official, after conferring with Miss Fortescue and Miss Myles, requested that the team give aid to a couple of scientists also bearing Explorers Club credentials, Doctor Charles Grant and his assistant, Miss Elizabeth White. The colonial officer was eager to encourage the team to provide the aid the scientosts were requesting, which involved organizing an expedition to the fabled ruined city of Bordobaar.
Wilhelm and Waldmont were not at that time aware that Bordobaar had been laid waste by a "Black Plague" that reportedly devastated Mars in the distant past. Grant and White claim to have unearthed pottery in Babylonia with Vulcan hieroglyphs that mention the plague.
Certain people in authority are keen that the expedition take place, and can put a rather dilapidated but perfectly airworthy screw galley at their disposal. The prospect of cranking six hours a day to power this craft once owned by Martians and powered by slaves did not appeal to the team and they decided to enlist the aid of Lord Ponsonby. Hiss Lordship was not, however, disposed to join yet another expedition that would involve several days of travel in some of the most contested skies of Mars, and declined to join the venture or offer the services of Persephone.
Then something curious happened. Miss Fortescue begged a private audience with Lord Ponsonby, and within 15 minutes the Persephone and her crew were once again at the disposal of the team with, apparently, no expenses incurred. Miss Fortescue swept up Miss Myles and, leaving the men slack-jawed at events, went shopping to replace luggage lost when they evacuated the Kite.
The flight to Boordobaar was long, tedious and meandering, requiring long detours to avoid the worst contested airspaces, and even so the Persephone encountered a hostile Kite, and some hostile natives. All these were more in the nature of breaks in the tedium than real threats and were easily dispatched or evaded. Eventually, however, the Persephone was steaming over the ruins of the immense, desolate, deserted city of Bordobaar.
The ship landed near a building pointed out by Doctor Grant, and the team entered to explore. The building had a voluminous interior, but was in a sad way, with columns tumbled and lying in slices like giant fluted wheels. behind one such Waldmont and Miss Myles found a long corridor with small rooms lying off each side.
Meanwhile, Wilhelm and Miss Fortescue had located a vertical shaft that looked promising. Unfortunately, it was 300 feet deep and the original elevator mechanism was long fallen to rust. There were very old signs of other attempts to descend and the plucky pair felt that if there were really treasure to be had, this evidence was good enough to warrant a sortie of their own. At this point their cogitations were interrupted.
Investigating the rooms with the aid of lanterns, there being no windows and hence no natural light to see by, Waldmont and Miss Myles found that they seemed full of rags. It was in the second or perhaps third such room that Waldmont realized the rags were some sort of nest that he and Miss Myles were attacked by what was presumably the owner, a fearsome brute of bestial mien and extremely short temper.
A desperate battle then ensued, with the beast easily avoiding the attacks Walmont and Miss Myles directed at it. The rest of the team were drawn to the sounds of battle and therefore were able to defend against the arrival of several similar beasts, ape-like Martian brutes, while the team fell back to the large hall, barely escaping with their lives. Rolling one of the sections of stone from a fallen column over the entrance to he corridor proved enough to prevent the beasts following, but upon exiting to the streets of Bordobaar the team were dismayed to hear roars coming from the ruined buildings all around.
A quick return to the Persephone was enacted, and the ship taken up as the boiler was brought up to full power. Sailing over the now teaming streets of the city, the team could clearly see the remains of other, less fortunate exploration parties, with destroyed encampments and places where the ground was littered with brass shell casings. Clearly several desperate (and ultimately futile) last stands had taken place in the ruins of the ancient city.
The ship anchored at height outside the old city limits and the explorers and scientists met to plan an exploration of the shaft. It was decided to return to civilization and scare up a small steam powered winch with which to raise and lower a small, two person platform the 300 feet. The idea was to build something that could be deployed and used, then brought back to the ship before night fell. No-one though it would be a good idea to leave the equipment where the beast-things could get at it, given what they had seemingly done to the equipment of previous, lost parties.
This was done at the nearest city with human engineering capability, and the Persephone returned to Bordobaar with their steam winch elevator, some rather ingenious lamps with powerful lenses fitted, and the excitement of all at the prospect of finding the fabled treasure of Bordobaar.
- 'Kite' is the nearest English translation for the Parhooni and Oenotrian names for Martian aerial flying sailing ships↑
