Finale at the Fort
The plains incident required further investigation, which happened the following day. With other duties dealt with, I could now lead a patrol in person. The site wielded no new information. The bodies of the Martian warriors had been recovered.
We were able to identify the boot prints of the of ‘causer of chaos’, which abruptly ended, nothing more.
Now I have to recall even more oddities.
It was clear that we had an adversity who could do remarkable things. It seemed like he could teleport as can indeed the great Wilheim. I would add that without this most esteemed worthy on our side, I believe our predicament would be even more dire.
Our learned professor was, indeed is, of the opinion that this was not teleport. What else, had the fellow somehow made himself invisible, footprints and all? Dr. Phipps was convinced that he had teleported.
Who was this new strange character who so threatened to drag us into yet more confrontations? More however, how do you track down a foe that can’t be seen?
This was a question only Wilhelm could resolve. Of course, he came up with the goods, excellent chap that he is. Not before another small incident.
I will first have to explain that Wilhelm has created a most remarkable hat, a rather singular invention. It has eyeglasses that usually sit on the brim, but can be bought down and allows him to see all sorts of things that we would normally miss. A little like me using my trusty telescope, except so much more so.
He’s picked up footprints for example that I’d not been able to see.
Then there are these weird little ear trumpets on each side which again sit above the brim and come down with him seeming doing nothing. Heaven knows what else is going on with the contraption, but the results are darned impressive I can tell you. It does all look a trifle weird, but that’s these strange scientists for you.
Wilhelm’s device picked up a conversation, I’m not sure he fully understood why, there was a lot of subsequent muttering by the said worthy and he went off in short order with the hat clutched tightly in one hand and his tool kit in the other.
But first he related what he’d heard. A conversation between the notorious, so-called professor Belltower and a female rebuking him for his actions. It was clear that they were both in the employ of Stapsash and intent on the destruction of the fort.
No doubt you’ve heard of the shadowy figure of Belltower and his supposed powers. Well, I can tell the rumours are true and far short of the reality.
Now we had some unknown lady berating him and she was able to do that, then who on earth (well mars) was she?
Clearly, we had most formidable enemies, but how to find them, how do you track an invisible man?
Wilhelm had the answer and set about creating a new device.
Meanwhile, we recalled that a Mr. Bell or Belltower had been involved with some kind of fraud scheme. Carter-Lloyd had written an article on the affair. However, when approached she was surly, uncooperative and seemed strangely almost wanton.
My sympathy is somewhat waning.
Wilhelm finished his device and it had somewhat unexpected results. Not strictly the purpose it was designed for, but in short order it picked up the existence of a number of listening devices planted about the fort.
The adobe construction of the fort means that unfortunately it is easy to hollow out a section from either outside or in. The first device we found was in the officer’s mess. The hollowed-out niche was covered with painted canvas. It wasn’t easy to spot, but once you’d seen it, it became obvious.
We checked all strategic locations and every key one had one of these devices including my own office, damn the cad! (Pardon my language.)
But we were most careful in removing the things, with no comments or words spoken. Ha, our intent was to turn the table. Only Belltower could have made these things. Wilheim felt the transmission range had to limited, so there might be a repeater device or he would have to be close.
We placed the devices (there were 6 in total) carefully in separate unused rooms, briefed the officers and NCO’s, then held inane conversations in the rooms to replicate the regular chatter that would have occurred, where they were originally placed.
The plan was to avoid alerting Belltower that his devices had been discovered and eventually provide false information that would draw him into a trap.
However, events moved too quickly for the plan to be implemented.
There was a crazy incident with Phipps.
He seemed back to normal after a long spell in a coma. We were all eager to show him the more recent discoveries in the under croft. As a man of intellect, we hoped he may have some insight we’d missed.
We got to our last point of call, what I would take to be seat of control in a hall of vast electrics. The rest of us had tried sitting here and tried interpreting things without success. But we all felt that somehow it had given us an insight into matters we were considering.
Phipps was sceptical, which was reasonable and consequently asked Wilhelm to sit in the chair to prove it was safe. The professor duly obliged with no effect as we knew there wasn’t going to be one.
This was the point when Phipps became unhinged. He accused us all of being on some ‘ampere trip’ or under the influence of some ‘mind control’. I hadn’t got a clue what the fellow was talking about.
Then he whips out a syringe places it at Wilhelms throat, claims he’s in charge and demanded I hand-over my side arm!
Well, that was never going to happen. Apart from the afront, it would have meant handing over command to Phipps, who was clearly not himself.
No, my duty was clear, in no manner could I hand over command to someone showing such irrational behaviour. What emotions I went through!
Was my dear friend Phipps about to kill my dear friend Wilhelm?
Just when it seemed my only option was to take a shot and hope my aim was good enough, while debating whether it was the thing, Wilhelm did something extraordinary.
In a blink he disappeared from under the threat and appeared behind Hartwell and I. Phipps fumed but we had no-ill will to our previously much esteemed collage.
Wilhelm had us out there in a trice with one of his miraculous devices.
Phipps was apprehended on his exit from the under croft.
Frankly I was unsure what to do with the man. I had hoped to have a conversation with him to determine his state of mind and whether he was fit for duty. In the meantime, I ordered a period of leave and stood him down from duties, requested him to remain in quarters, while detailing a guard to ensure he didn’t go wildly off the rails again.
It’s one of the hardest things I’ve had to deal with. I can’t even begin to tell you how mortified I was by the situation. I faced down plenty of enemies, faced death numerous times, but how do you deal with a man who I’ve long considered not just a colleague but a friend.
I’d rather be in the line facing the enemy than dealing with strange version of a most esteemed colleague. Most distressful, I can tell you.
Any opportunity to repair the situation was immediately denied by other events.
Hartwell had caught a whiff of the troops talking about ‘ghosts’. He got nothing further, but my curiosity immediately piqued, we three most familiar with the under croft immediate set out to investigate. Sure enough, barely within the entrance I discovered fresh footprints. A man’s boot and not military.
Fearing the worst, that Belltower was in the under croft, I barked an order to the sentries before we pursued the cad below. We caught occasional evidence of footprints, but it was Wilhelm with his strange device that spotted most of them.
Fearing the worst, we headed almost directly for the electrical room. I’m sorry I’ve not had opportunity to detail all the wonders we’ve discovered in this strange and advanced world. I hope to remedy this in future correspondence.
But sure enough as we entered, we could hear the oily tones of Belltower telling Maxine Le Blanc that he’d set an explosive device, to which she objected.
As we started to move into the great chamber, Hartwell and I tried to take-up positions in cover, while Wilhelm remained in the tunnel leading to the chamber.
Hartwell was unfortunate. The position he’d taken up was discovered by Belltower and Le Bark who came up unexpectedly behind him.
Belltower let loose with one of his strange weapons, severely injuring poor Hartwell who was taken unawares. To give him opportunity to escape, I felt I had to break cover and took a pot shot. I missed, but had the satisfaction of Belltower moving for cover and perhaps not so great, gaining the attention of Maxim Le Blanc.
At least Hartwell was able to make his escape into cover.
Le Blanc was surreal in the way she moved, somehow leaping up high and jumping along the strange machinery at a rate faster than I think I can run. I’ve never seen an acrobatic as good.
Suddenly she dropped in front of me, kicking and punching faster than I could blink. I tell you the woman is the most lethal creature I’ve met at close quarters! I think I’d rather take my chance against a Venusian raptor!
It was Wilhelm to the fore once more. He managed to hit her with his ‘gubber gun’. This strange weapon fires a stickly web that entraps anyone in its range. Le Blank was trapped and at my mercy.
Could I administer the coup de gras? Shoot a defenceless woman at point blank range? I knew she wanted me dead, was working for the forces of evil and very much against the empire, I had every reason to pull that trigger.
But I could not, it would have been a stain upon my character. Instead, I prepared an appeal to her character and logic. Afterall, she had berated Belltower for his tactics over the natives and objected to his bomb, which was currently ticking somewhere in the background.
But my hesitation was my undoing. Somehow this most remarkable woman broke free. She didn’t attack me being intent on escape, she was past me in short order. I could have shot her as she fled, but that’s not the action of a gentleman.
More important was getting to what-ever explosive device Belltower had planted. I might have had to deal with him along the way, but time was ticking away. I had no-way of determining what the effect might have been. This network goes deep into the core of the planet, what energies are harnessed? What could be unleased or otherwise lost forever?
I arrived at the chair and sure enough spotted the device under it left by the dastardly Belltower.
Much of it was beyond my ken, but I spotted some improvised wiring, the cad clearly hadn’t figured out a timing device, so I was able to disable the thing in good order.
I’m not sure if I saved the planet, the solar system or just my own hide.
I headed back and out. In the tunnel Wilhelm was unconscious with Hartwell trying to rouse him. We had to carry him to the surface.
When we had recovered, Wilhelm said that he’d again ‘gubbered’ Le Blanks trying to make her escape down the tunnel. With her at his mercy, she demanded a kiss, from ‘the only man to best her’. Wilhelm it seems felt overwhelmed to comply. Where-upon he fell into a deep sleep.
Our adversaries had clearly fled, using all the means at their disposal.
We escaped from this deadly encounter, but on return to the surface another crisis immediately faced me. Shastapsh had finally broke cover, ended their long phony war and set a force against the fort. As well as infantry, which was to be expected in force, there was cavalry on either flank of the column, in a very classical deployment. But most disturbing was the presence of 3 artillery pieces.
While these are inferior to our own, they clearly significantly out-ranged anything we had. Plus the fort is merely an adobe construction, so the walls and structures would soon be reduced to nothing by even the most basic of bombardments.
I briefly considered deploying the garrison in the field, to avoid this fate, but felt while we could prevail, it would come at a high cost. Instead, I ordered a sandbag wall to be constructed to protect the north gate. It would protect the walls and while not providing long term protection, would absorb a lot of any artillery fire, possibly buying us enough time until nightfall, when we could possibly send men out and launch an attack of our own.
However, the other thing it would do, was allow the deployment of the strange, tracked glass machine discovered in the under croft. We know this ‘fires’ some kind of strange disruption effect, which is difficult to withstand. I would have preferred to deploy this in the field and not allowed the enemy to deploy, but it moves slowly and time was against us. We were therefore forced to fight a defensive action.
Wilhelm fired the device into the centre of the enemy forces, the infantry core, which immediately and most satisfyingly routed. Carrying the gunners with them and leaving the cannon exposed.
But meanwhile the cavalry on the right had charged. Recognising our key weapon, they were clearly determined to take it out. Wilhelm managed to turn it on them, which reduced their ranks as most turned tail, but a hard core continued on. We needed rifle fire to bring them down, but as you are aware it’s a tricky shot to hit a target moving at speed.
Wilhelm was desperately backing the contraption into the protection of the sandbag wall, but it was moving so slowly, it was clear the rapidly advancing foe would reach him, with the poor chap defenceless. Hartwell and I fired furiously with the handful of men I had to hand.
We cut down the last villain mere feet from Hartwell. It was another close-run thing.
As Wilhelm backed the machine to safety, I surveyed the battlefield. The main body had retreated and appeared in disarray, although the rout had been halted. The left wing of the cavalry remained in place and the cannons remained exposed. It was time for action.
I called for our gashants and riders. I felt this called for a show of leadership, as it involved a high degree of risk. I led our men against their left-wing cavalry. We had a slight advantage in numbers, but a minimum exchange of fire saw them fall back to the protection of the main body. Which allowed me to turn the troop to the real target – the cannon.
I was able to dismount and spike these in short order. Without them, I felt they could assault the fort all they wanted, I was confident we could repel any attack and inflict large losses. We’d done it before. I considered pressing our advantage, but advancing in their direction it was clear they were starting to rally and odd shots came in our direction.
I ordered the retreat sounded and the troop headed back to the fort without so much as a scratch. That I am proud off.
Then the most unexpected happened. Three British airships attacked the enemy, within minutes they were encompassed in a cloud of gas. With no wind it remained there a very long time. I don’t know if was entirely fatal, but I suspect so for most if not all. Either way it will have been the most unpleasant experience imaginable. I almost feel sorry for the blighters.
Another surprise awaited when I rode into the fort. A ship moored at the mast, officers and reinforcements about the place and an immediate need to report to the commander of this force, General McClellan. Finally, I’d got the support I’d long been requesting. Except I was relieved of command. Seems that damnable Carter-Lloyd has filed a lot of trumped-up charges and she’s well connected somewhere. I am to attend a hearing. It's outrageous!
I can assure you that my honour is beyond reproach, but I am sure there will be some elements that will attempt it drag through the gutter. I will fight this, but in the short-term I am to return to the city, where I will be held upon on honour. Wilhelm, Hartwell and the ever-faithful Jones will accompany me. Wilhelm is furious at losing access to various devices.
I am most perturbed in not being allowed to hand-over command formally, brief my successor and I dread to think the mistakes that will be made in the under croft, without the benefit of our experience.
Still, it seems I have a different battle to fight.
Long live the Empress and may your family prosper,
Yours Faithfully,
Henry
