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↑