Episode 10: Five Times Is The Charm

And so Wilhelm and Waldmont began the tedious process of resupplying at the nearest British-friendly port, Noorlan, after first landing and securing the screw galley they had been planning to use as a cargo barge in a convenient gully in the mountains and hills outside Bordobaar.

Noorlan is probably best described as a powder keg. It has a fairly large British population, but the vast majority of the people are Martian and they resent Earth's increasing presence and Britain's increasing influence (or as some would have it "meddling in local affairs"). The human presence there is also multi-national.

First order of business was to secure some sort of breathing apparatus, but Wilhelm simply could not see how the job might be done with the materials at hand. Red-faced, he finally decided to enlist the help of a third party, and a little bit of research turned up an enterprising inventor for hire, who was promptly hired to do the job. He took payment up front and agreed to have the respirators ready in two days.

Accommodation was arranged for the intervening time in the local branch of The Explorer's Club, seemingly run by one Smedley Carlton-Smythe who clearly enjoyed the comforts of home - if they came in a bottle - but seemed to know a lot about the local area despite being heroically plastered. The crew of the Persephone were given two days liberty.

It was around this time that Ms Myles decided to part company with the heroes, citing urgent business elsewhere, and Wilhelm and Waldmont were far too busy acquiring supplies of salt and acid and a rather nifty liftwood cargo lifter to fully appreciate the situation developing around them. It seemed the crew had been a trifle indiscreet in their celebrating a spot of "shore leave", and one of them went AWOL. A search for him turned up empty, so a replacement was hired and the ship made ready while Wilhelm and Waldmont went to pick up their new respirators.

As they turned the corner to the workshop they saw a sight that made them duck back and observe from cover. A large party of what were clearly German sailors led by an officer were loading a handcart with what looked suspiciously like the respirators already paid for by our heroes! The Englishmen opted to let the Germans depart unmolested on the grounds that there were an awful lot of them and Noorlan was already a ticklish place to be. After the Germans had left the heroes confronted the inventor who was unrepentant. He refunded the money paid and ordered the Englishmen off his property.

The heroes then saw the majestic sight of an enormous airship lifting from the city and setting out in what was unmistakably the direction of Bordobaar. Obviously, news of the treasure was out! They returned to the explorer's society where they were cornered first by an official from the Colonial Office angrily demanding to know if they were the ones who had started the "gold rush", then by Smedley Carlton-Smythe, who was three sheets to the wind and shouting gleefully about treasure and setting out on an expedition himself with his friends!

Racing back to the Persephone Wilhelm and Waldmont ordered the ship to set out at once for Bordobaar, but as steam was being raised two small kites were seen rising from their moorings to give chase to the already distant German airship, and not long after that a steam yacht overflowing with rather loud men rose unsteadily to follow the flotilla.

Eventually the Persephone was able to get underway, and after not too long the crew spotted the tail lights of the German airship in the distance. They were distracted by the sight of the steam yacht gracefully crashlanding in the steppes outside Noorlan, spilling drunken would-be treasure seekers all over the place but otherwise causing remarkably little damage and no casualties that could be seen from Persephone's deck.

Not long after the crash the Persephone came under attack from a small kite, presumably one of the two that had set out a short time earlier. The attackers were driven off by particularly effective use of the steam Gatling gun and the Persephone continued on her way, unmolested.

The flight to Bordobaar was uneventful after the run in with the kite, and in the early hours of the morning they were flying over the outskirts of ancient, ruined Bordobaar, the German airship clearly visible anchored a half mile or so away.

The heroes decided that the Persephone should moor in the outskirts, and that they should make their way on foot through the now-deserted streets to the site of the palace, there to make a recce of the situation. Thiis was accomplished in about two hours, and they discovered the airship moored high above the palace, with a lowered cargo gondola sitting in the plaza with two indolent German guards securing it from would-be thieves.

These guards were put out of action and stashed inside the gondola, which the heroes caused to be winched up into the airship by operating the signal bell. Springing out of the raised gondola, the winch attendants were soon lying unconscious alongside their comrades and the heroes were abroad inside the German airship!

This was an education for the pair, never having seen such a vessel before, and they marveled over the lightweight aluminium structure and the huge bags of monohydrogen that provided the lift. They made their way to the midships cabin structure and did some more exploring, but were surprised by a contingent of the crew who, after a furious sword fight, cornered them behind a flimsy lightweight door in a cabin with flimsy, lightweight walls.

Waldmont was badly wounded, suffering severe damage to a rather delicate area a gentleman would not mention in mixed company, but was brought back from the brink by Wilhelm's swift action with his miracle of science Healing Machine (the name of which escapes your humble scribe), only for the attacks on the door to be renewed by a German officer imperiously pounding on it and demanding unconditional surrender of all parties at once.

Naturally, this was judged a good time for Waldmont to break out his trusty elephant gun, but his first shot merely plowed into the ceiling instead of into the crowd behind the door as planned.

Further shots were exchanged, whereupon the monohydrogen leak caused by that first shot's passage through several gasbags was ignited by a spark from a firearm and the whole airship burned in a spectacular wreck.

How Waldmont and Wilhelm got out alive is a wonder, but they were able to limp away from the now incandescent wreck with only severe burns. Staggering back to the Persephone they weakly croaked that they needed hospital treatment before passing out.

And so the Persephone made once more for the dubious refuge of Noorlan.

The heroes were hospitalised, Waldmont for four weeks, Wilhelm for six, but each made a full recovery, at least, according to the doctors. Wilhelm would ever after harbor a dread of being caught in a fire, and Waldmont would shudder when he thought back on the terrible injury he had suffered and so luckily survived.

For want of wonder the crew had not deserted, or run back to Ponsonby with his private gunboat. Perhaps their loyalty was not of the common run. Perhaps they were in secret admiration for the two adventurers. Perhaps they reasoned that Ponsonby would not share the treasure (now rumoured aboard the Persephone to be as much as two tons) as readily as Waldmont and Wilhelm would. After all, you couldn't doubt the word of two such dogged adventure seekers, could you?

Perhaps Professor Grant and Miss White simply threatened them with the consequences of desertion or piracy (which was, baldly put, what we would be talking about when all was said and done in front of a British Magistrate). Who can say?

And when Waldmont could walk without swinging his legs in a wide circle in memory of his long-cured wounds, and when Wilhelm could pass a street vendors cart and not scream at the smell of roasting Gashant meat, the Persephone once again set off for the journey to Bordobaar, her fifth transit between Noorlan and the ruined city. The crew were stern faced and went about their duties with a quiet efficiency that perhaps lacked their former bonhomie and casual badinage at each others' expense. The scientists kept mostly to their cabins and said little to anyone else. The adventurers simply watched the skies and the ground for any hint of offered violence.

The Persephone was a sombre ship on this, the fifth expedition to Bordobaar.

Upon entering the airspace above the ruins, the crew and passengers of the Persephone could see the wreck of the German airship, now just a twisted, blackened frame, and that of a small Martian kite, probably one of the two that had set off after the airship so many weeks before. There were no signs of life at either wreck, which surprised no-one.

An examination of the palace plaza showed no survivors, nor signs of a struggle, but the palace itself was another story, and a pitched battle for survival had obviously been fought at the lip of the vertical shaft. The Germans had erected a sandbag fortification and a maxim gun there, but the whole thing had obviously been overrun, with sandbags thrown hither and yon and the Maxim gun damaged and sitting in a small sea of brass cartridges.

There were no bodies.

The team set up their winch and descended the shaft. There they found that some of the German team had attempted to take refuge in the domed room with inevitable consequences. Corpses in horrible states of dismemberment littered the sand now.

But there, by the door, were the crates of respirators and filters built at the team's direction and stolen by base trickery and sharp dealing. But the British lads would have the last laugh on the German swine and that bounder of an inventor!

Wilhelm repeated his cunning plan of the previous attempt on the treasure room, killing the worm again (to the extent that it could be killed at any rate) before salvaging all the equipment. At last, things were beginning to run according to plan. Not before time, he thought grimly.

After cleaning the insides of the respirators to remove any traces of the vile Red Sands contamination, the team donned them and, in about six days, had emptied the treasure room of all its coins, plate, statuary, crowns and sundry other forms of gold, rich civilisations for the decoration and reputation enhancement of. Bordobaar was no longer a myth, and no longer a treasure waiting to be looted.

While the team worked that first day, the crew were dispatched in the Persephone to recover the screw gally/barge which was where they had left it and in decent condition once some sand was cleaned out of the liftwood trim panels. The gold was split between the barge and the Persephone so that any further acts of piracy by perfidious Martians, thieving foreigners or even opportunistic Red Captains would be less catastrophic than if he barge alone were used and then were cut free. Once the gold was on show to one and all there were fewer arguments, though Professor Grant said he would never get used to the sight of the stoker shoveling gold coins as though they were nuggets of coal.

In truth the Professor was aghast at this sort of treatment of the treasure. There were, he said, examples of coins that were struck several thousand years ago, with a much higher value than their worth in avoirdupois measure. But once he had picked out a couple of dozen of the best examples he seemed to calm down.

Of other interest were the statuary, jewelry and crowns, which would be welcome additions to the British Museum and handsome gifts to the various princes who would require pacification once news of this find got out.

And so, finally, the crew of the Persephone wended their way back to Syrtis Major, where their arrival caused a sensation, a drop in the price of gold and several political crises. Both Waldmont and Wilhelm would become fabulously rich as a result of this find, even though the vast majority was claimed by the crown and no small amount by various Martian princes and governments.

Wilhelm used some of his new wealth to buy and refit the Persephone. Half the crew voted to stay on, but half returned to the service of Lord Ponsonby, who looked on with nonchalant countenance but offered his most heartfelt congratulations on the expedition's success and seemed to hold no grudge.

The Colonial Office and the Governor's Office each had certain requirements when it came to the disposition of the treasure, the happy resolution of which put both in the adventurers' debt in the intangible way such things are done. Favours owed and all that.

The adventurers were of course sought after as guests to all the best dinner parties, and their social status increased as a result. Now all that ugly business with Martians claiming brutality was all-but forgotten, and most definitely forgiven by everyone. Everyone who mattered, at any rate.

And that is how the Legendary Treasure of Bordobaar was found, pinched and spent.

Episode 9: A Dangerous Threat Eliminated But A New Setback Suffered

The team made a foray into the pit, only to discover a large domed room containing mounds of what looked like gold and a central lake of ominously dark liquid. Leaning against the mountain of gold coins, necklaces, statuary and so forth was a familiar-looking red cylinder.

Driven by the wholesome desire to explore and not at all by base notions of more gold than Croesus had dreamed of, the team ventured into the domed room and split up to explore.

A sad mistake.

For the lake turned out to contain a foul, gigantic worm-like beast that attacked without preamble, driving Wilhelm and Miss Myles back into the shaft, driving Professor Grant and Miss White back against the dome walls and marooning poor Wilmont on the pile of treasure he was investigating with a scholarly eye.

Nothing seemed to harm the beast but eventually Grant and Miss White were able to escape with their lives, the worm sunk back into the loathsome pool and Wilmont was able to tip-toe from the scene without further enraging the foul beast.

The scientists of the expedition conferred together and came to the conclusion that perhaps the worm might be susceptible to salt in large enough amounts, so once again the team departed for their nearest source of supplies and procured several hogsheads of salt, along with a quantity of acid and glass bowls which were used by Wilhelm to fabricate acid grenades. All was loaded aboard the Persephone and once more the team journeyed to Bordobaar, where evidence of yet another failed expedition was seen strewn about the streets.

It seemed that the team had recent competition for the fabulous treasure. And scientific discoveries of course.

The team wasted no time at all in securing the Persephone and descending into the pit once more, armed with acid grenades and enough salt to pickle a herd of Venusian Brontostampi.

A desperate struggle then ensued, but the team persevered and prevailed against the worm, killing it - or so they thought at the time. This left them free to collect the gold unmolested and they got on with the salvage with a will.

It was after perhaps an hour that the first symptoms of sickness were seen in Professor Grant and Wilmont. Swift action by Wilhelm and his fabulous healing device saved both salvagers from almost certain madness and death, for it was obvious to all that the sickness produced the same hideous scabbing as that seen on the unfortunate legionaries of Fort Oublié!

It was deduced that the atmosphere inside the room was contaminated in some way, likely with some form of the dastardly Red Sands. That cylinder leaning on the mountain of gold? Could that be to blame?

Wilmont and Wilhelm suggested that perhaps what was needed was some sort of suit with a self contained atmosphere, perhaps a modified diving suit, inside which those tasked with the salvage could work in comparative safety. Of course, strict care would have to be taken to avoid contamination.

Almost as an afterthought, Professor Grant announced that the samples of worm tissue he had procured from the "dead" beast were showing regenerative signs, suggesting that perhaps the animal might - if not actually dead - revive to plague them further.

It was with this dispiriting news - along with imprecations and demands that the sample be carefully watched less a new worm grow from it - that the Persephone steamed back toward civilization, shrugging off the attentions of an importunate Martian Pirate with judicious use of the steam-powered Gatling gun on the foredeck.

Episode 8: A Meeting In The Desert, And A New Adventure

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.

1. 'Kite' is the nearest English translation for the Parhooni and Oenotrian names for Martian aerial flying sailing ships↑