The intrepid adventurers returned as quickly as possible to the Wasp there to plan and concoct two clockwork infernal devices.
The plan was simple: Steal a small screw-skiff from the Shastapsh boatyards, where such a craft had been espied, fly it over the warehouse, "neutralise" the four shadowy figures crouched there, effect a landing, and then place the bombs inside the warehouse by means of the ventilation slits and a broom handle.
Dr Phipps came up with an elaboration, in the way of an alteranative should the "roof" plan go awry as it were, in which he paid to have food delivered to the Shastapsh watchmen on guard on the streets outside the warehouse. The food was to be doctored with opium, of which he just happened to have an adequate supply close to hand. What a stroke of luck!
The plans' prerequisites were acquired and the plans themselves encated the next evening. By good fortune it turned out that Waldmont was a passable trimsman so the problem of how to stabilise the little airship with respect to altitude was solved. What a stroke of luck!
At the appointed time, Dr Phipps' "kind" gift was delivered, rendering almost a dozen of the stout watchmen hors de combat before, in fact, any combat had so much as shown its face. Meanwhile, unnoticed by all, the small skiff silently swept over the Shatstapsh skies1 and arrived over the warehouse.
While about half the available guards were falling about on the streets below, a net was lowered from the skiff and dropped over the unsuspecting Shadowy Figures, who were then fired at with crossbows in a surprisingly unsporting manner by the adventurers. Clearly emotions had run so high the Englishmen quite forgot themselves. Thank heavens no-one of import was around to see this. No doubt some sort of secret ceremony2 would be undertaken later in which the adveturers would swear eternal secrecy, never to mention the events in detail to anyone not of The Brotherhood of the Boat and so forth. After all, it wouldn't do for everyone to be tarred with the same brush as poor old Waldmont.
Unfortunately, one of the Shadowy Figures got off a shot with his black powder pistol, a large calibre, slow-loading weapon of comparative antiquity when shown alongside weapons from Earth. They do have one feature that the adventurers could have done without at this particular moment: they are very loud when fired.
Spurred on by this eventuation, the adventurers finished off the last Shadowy Figure. Sadly, the netted bundle of bodies fell from the roof to the streets below, alerting the few watchmen still standing that there was trouble above.
Quickly landing the skiff, the players found a large skylight that they culd open, and set and lowered their devices to the bales of - Red Sands? - below.
As they raced for the city limit in their tiny airship there was an incredible explosion behind them and the boat was battered by a blastwave such as Captain Forsyth had never encountered in his entire service in the British army. The entire roof of the warehouse had been replaced by a fireball rising above Shastapsh almost as though Lucifer's own powder magazine had been detonated. The sight was fascinating and horrifying, but the team was convinced that the threat of the "mind control" dust was burning to ash in front of their very eyes. The threat to Thoth was over.
The Prince of Thoth was beyond himself with appreciation for this service, as were the people of Thoth once the story got out - though the adventurers would never be sure how that had happened - and these brave Earthmen, the British Empire and the Crown Colony of Syrtis Lapis were the talk of the town, the cream of the crop. The treaty was signed.
Returning to Syrtis Major the adventurers were almost as celebrated and were invited to a celebratory event in the form of a Thesbian Evening at the Syrtics Major Opera House, where the Belgian play Princess Maleine will be performed by a crack troupe of actors from Earth. Black Tie. Best Behaviour and all that.
Fortunatley, the Prince of Thoth had shown his appreciation in the form of a line of credit placed with the best outfitter in Syrtis Major - what a stroke of luck3!
The day of the play Forsyth insinuated himself into the theatre for a spot of adavanced recce (his paranoia was running high after the events in which he had participated of late and he saw this gathering of the best and brightest of British Society in one place as a tempting target for the foul Brotherhood of Luxor). This proved to be very wise, as he was able to discover that the cast had been replaced owing to their being rumoured deaths during a Ground Cleanser riot.
The adventurers had a box, which gave them even more freedom to wander abroad during the perfomance, but all seemed suspiciously normal other than the nervousness of the lesser cast members. The performance was ... not excellent. The lead actors seemed the only ones who were comfortable on stage. Indeed, it seemed as though the rest of the cast might be on stage for the first time in their lives. Very odd.
At the after-performance reception, the lead actors, Raymond and Leone Mathieu, were ebulient and generous hosts, but the adventurers were on high alert and noticed that the waiters were actually some of the cast from the play. Quite what this meant was not apparent, but when handed glasses of pink champagne the team were suspiscious enough to be on guard against treachery.
Noticing that the Heroes of Thoth were getting ready to spoil things Raymond Mathieu suddenly broke his flowery speech praising The Queen to call for a toast to her Britannic Majesty, and glasses were lifted all round. The players, sensing a trap, moved in to confront the Mathieuses who reacted with preternatural speed to neutralise the adventurer's attacks. Leone completely overwhelmed Waldmont's attempt to ambush her and, having beaten him to the punch and to the floor, fled the scene. Raymond drew some sort of Weird Science pistol and fired it at Forsyth. Immediate chaos ensued as the crowd seemed to become overcome with fear and a stampede of terrified elites of Syrtis Major ensued that helped screen the Mathieus' escape.
But the team was now faced with a more immediate problem. About a third of those who had drunk the champagne suddenly began to have seizures, and each sprouted a writhing, thorn-tipped, green tentacle from the middle of their backs. Those affected then began attempting to attack the reast of the people there.
Within seconds the room began to fill with a heavy, heady scent Forsyth recognised from his stint on Venus. The smell of the Death Flower!
The brave adventurers, confronted with the growing threat of the deadly perfume of the Death Flowers and outnumbered by tentacled horrors that were once innocent members of the British who's who on Mars decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and beat a reteat, managing to lock the opera house before the horrors could escape only to hear the sound of breaking glass and smell once more the heady perfume of the Death Flowers.
Playing on their new-found fame and popularity, the team managed to mobilize the forces of law and order to affect a terrible solution to what could have easily become a disaster of unheard of proportions. The opera house was burned.
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