The team is finding it hard in Syrtis Major. For all the adulation and society shindigs, there are also demonstrations of angry locals, threats from Ground Cleanser fanatics and increasing official coolness.
So when the oportunity comes to undertake a short trip to Haatt, a city to the north of Syrtis Major, they raise steam and sail away from their troubles, carrying a Foreign Office official and his dispatches to Colonel Harrison, commander of the garrison.
In Haatt the team, along with their new acquaintence, are put up in guest quarters overnight, prior to leaving on a new mission from Colonel Harrison. That night a disorganized but dangerous mob of Martians attack the house, setting it afire with improvised fire bombs.
This attack proves to be a diversion so that an assassin could attempt gain entry from the rear. Unfortunately from him, the team are alerted and managed to defend themselves, wounding the assassin badly.
As they prepare to overcome him he disappears in a blaze of green light. Before he vanishes, the team notice a distinctive sigil on the armor over his chest. The presumed death of the Assassin leads the rest of the Martian mob to retreat and disperse, just as reinforcements arrive from the city garrison.
The next day Colonel Harrison calls the team into his office and explains that he has a job for them, a job that requires men of proven calibre and mettle. It also doesn't hurt that they have their own steam transport.
200 miles away, north along the canal, lies the town of Kanoba. The garrison there has gone quiet, with no word from them for days. Merchants report dead bodies scattered around the outskirts. Colonel Harrison suspects the worse, but wants confirmation and also to contact the local mayor for an update as to the situation. Colonel Harrison suspects Shastapsh military action, or possibly Ground Cleanser trouble.
The team set off in the Persephone and are attacked midway through their journey by a Kite and its piratical crew. Bold action on the part of the Team, the trusty Steam Gattling Gun and the Persephone's crew save the day and the Kite is left a pile of wreckage on the sands of Mars.
Kanoba shows itself to be a ghost town. Docking the Persephone the team disembark and begin working their way down the mast ramp, only to come upon two corpses being devoursed nby foul Durge Flies.
Though Durge Flies are a known irritant anywhere there is carrion lying about, these Durge Flies are larger and behave more agressively. Luckily, Wilhelm's trusty glue gun proves a match for the menace and the flies are removed with extreme prejudice.
Descending to ground level the team are startled to see packs of agressive, over-sized Roogies, Martian wolf-like creatures, wandering the eerily deserted compound. Roogies are a nuisance at any time, but these look very large and behave ... oddly.
Wilhelm and Waldmont correctly assess the situation - the animals are infected with the dread Red Sands corruption!
By means of stealth and guile the team are able to avoid the Rogie menace and make entry into the Mayor's mansion, where they discover only corpses. However, in a closet they find a small girl, still alive - the Mayor's daughter!
She clutches a letter in her hands that explain much of what went before. The team are resolute: They must return this poor waif and her father's letter to the authorities in Haatt!
Making a desparate flight back to the Persephone as maddened Roogie packs catch scent of the party and give murderous chase, the team are able to retreat from the madness of Kanoba and return to Haatt, there to place their evidence into "the right hands" and commend the care of the Mayors charming little girl to Colonel Harrison.
