Episode 22: More Adventures in the Venusian Swamp

We return to the scene in the Venusian swamps, where our heroes have been informed by the now-loyal Ssassafrash, Lizardman bearer recently rescued from raptors by Reverend Fogg, that Otto plans to turn on them, kill them and let the swamp life deal with the evidence of this foul treachery.

Camp was made on a large islet, tents pitched and Professor Lazenby's Patent Folding Firecones set out and set ablaze. Professor Lazenby's "Everlast" Safari Torches were planted along the "coast" of the islet to drive back the darkness, the fog, the insect-life and the larger fauna, which fears fires that don't die of the damp in a few minutes. As the heroes huddled round their campfire Reverend Fogg held an impromptu service for a baker's dozen Lizardmen, who engaged him in fiendish disputation and analysis of his sermon for an hour or so, then wandered off hissing between themselves in what could have been a heated continuation of the debate.

There were now two distinct groups of native bearers in the camp: The so-called "Friends of Fogg" who deferred to Ssassafrash, and the rest, including one Ssakatash, the chief bearer to whom all the Lizardmen deferred, Friend of Fogg or not. Ssakatash was seen in earnest quiet converse with Otto, as were the human bodyguards, who had become known collectively to the heroes as the McSweenies for reasons that elude explanation. McSweeny was not in charge of Rusch, Heinrick, Schmidt, Fricke or Reinhart.

Although the heroes were ready for ambush, Otto was biding his time and the night passed relatively quietly. Perhaps the Lizardman had been mistaken?

Next day the heroes were attacked by three alligator-like swamp denizens as they crossed between islets, wading knee-deep in stinking water. Reverend Fogg immediately reprised his fearless defense of the day before and once again a seemingly invincible Venusian death reptile fell dead from a mighty blow on the snout. Sadly, his next attempt was completely unsuccessful, the blow landing on the animal's bony skull rather than its delicate snout, but shots rang out and soon the second creature lay twitching and oozing blood into the rank water of the swamp, at which point the third of these so-called "Venusian Swamp Devils" decided that discretion was the better part of valour and made a hasty escape into the murky water and ground fog. The Lizardmen watched this repulsing of Venusian predators with gape-mouthed silence, only the furious flicking of their tongues betraying their lack of composure.

Later that day the Lizardmen presented Reverend Fogg with the skin of the Venusian Swamp Devil, and insisted he wear it like a cape for a short ceremonial dance. A request to which a bemused Fogg acquiesced, unaware he was taking part in a Lizardman warrior naming ceremony.

It was after making camp that night that Ssassafrash's tip proved to be correct and Otto made his move, but the heroes - alerted to the near certainty of treachery - had planned for this and concocted an ambush of their own. Each hero concealed himself as best as possible in the various terrain features available - mostly large trees resembling a cross between mangroves and cycad fern-like growths, though Burke and Forsyth took advantage of the large pile of baggage in the middle of camp. When Otto's bodyguards and a select group of Lizardmen attempted to kill the heroes in their sleep, the surprise was reversed and a desperate battle broke out. Lizardman fought Lizardman with spears dripping poison, and pistol shots rang through the night.

Reverend Fogg leapt out of hiding and engaged an armed bodyguard with his fists, killing him with a mighty punch to the head, then surged forward to engage a second foe. Devin Montgomery had failed to adequately conceal himself behind a tree, was spotted by hostile Lizardmen, engaged by them and badly wounded by a round from the treacherous Otto's firing from the cover of his tent with his elephant gun. Waldmont was also less than successful in hiding, and was swarmed by a small crowd of belligerent Lizardmen, stabbing at him with their poisoned spears. He took many superficial cuts, but shook off the poison's effects with no trouble.

Burke and Forsyth now engaged from concealment, blasting away with their firearms and any target that presented itself. Devin Montgomery, bleeding from many wounds, staggered from the scene of battle into the darkness of an adjacent islet, but was startled into returning in-theatre by horribly suggestive noises from within the fog. His fear of lizards was, unfortunately, a severe handicap in this situation. Waldmont was now cornered and put up a spirited fight, but was wounded quite severely. Luckily, he seemed immune to the Lizardman poison. Otto was firing from concealment too, choosing target with care and showing a terrifying skill with his elephant gun.

Reverend Fogg took a second life with his lethal boxing techniques, leading many to speculate on a secret career as a didicoy¹ when they had time to reflect on the carnage over a cup of tea. Ssassafrash rallied a pair of Lizardmen and they formed an armed cohort for "Lays on Hands of Death", the near legendary Friend to Lizardmen aka Reverend Fogg.

The battle was fierce, but eventually there were only three enemy Lizardmen left and they surrendered. Somehow Otto and the one remaining bodyguard escaped into the night.

Reverend Fogg now cemented his reputation with the Lizardmen by treating the wounded Montgomery and Waldmont and restoring them to a hale and healthy condition, if not exactly hearty, with a businesslike rapidity and characteristic modesty. Fogg's fellow Englishmen seemed rather blasé about this. English reserve? Sense of Entitlement? Who can say? Ssassafrash noticed, and added it to his growing picture of his hero.

Concerted attempts by the heroes to track Otto's path of retreat were unsuccessful, but Forsyth had the idea of seeing if the Lizardmen could pick up any trace and they were able to identify what looked like traces of Otto's escape path.

Two days of slogging through the swamp and a very intense battle had left everyone not native to Venus exhausted, and no-one was anxious to start ploughing through the Venusian swamp after Otto, who had demonstrated not only a startling marksmanship with his elephant gun, but was also demonstrably a master of wilderness survival and navigation. It was therefore decided to get some rest and to resume the hunt for Otto the next day.

Ssassafrash marshaled his fellow Lizardmen and arranged for pickets to be set, and the heroes were free to retire for a much-needed sleep.

1. A carnival bare-knuckle fighter who is The Champ others are challenged to beat for money↑

Personal Letter, Oct 4th, Captain Henry Forsyth (Ret)

Venus, 1889

An ongoing letter to Clarence Forysth, from Captain Henry Forsyth, RE. (Regretfully, retired.)

Fort Collingwood.

The tedium continuous. The endless rain, the damnable heat. The rubber over coverings are a liability, they make one perspire even more and one positively cooks. I am sure it is a matter of time before fatalities are recorded due to the shear temperatures one experiences donning the accursed things.

While I do my best to absent myself from the squalid little town, surveying the locations for my proposed improvements, I am still subjected to these absurd dress dinners. Lord, knows India was bad enough, but here it feels like manners have regressed a century!

I do understand the remoteness and the relatively high proportion of officers to the small town. I shall confess that I do not think them the highest grade, no decent officer would want to be posted here.

For myself, I find the assertion when I took he post, although not many options were exactly open, that my considerable tropics experience would prove invaluable to be gibberish. Nothing can prepare a man for this hell hole. The heat and humidity are at the limit of man’s endurance.

I’ve drawn up a scheme which would hopefully bring some relief to domiciles and public buildings, but it’s met with predictably mixed reaction. Cost is immediately cited as a concern, but compared to the improvements , it should be small beer. Of course I’ve considered that and many other factors.

I will not bore you with the detail, but dams, canals, a water and sewage distribution network are but a part. My own, dare I say ingenious cooling pipes for houses, to be supplemented by a reverse engineering of the roman hypocaust system, incorporating the cooling system employed at the royal palace in Fatipur Sikri. I am sure I have previously told you of this exceptional Indian site.

At present I daren’t even moot my principle finding that Fort Collingwood should be relocated wholesale and rebuilt in a more practical manner, at a place that can more easily be served by the services I propose.

With my recommendations in the balance, I believe I may have achieved all I can here. The Colonial Office have been most supportive and I have a good deal of leeway in my activities. But I feel I need another assignment soon. This place is oppressive in every way.

I hope all is well with you brother, that the family is also well and you continue to prosper. I am unlikely to find sufficient paper which will survive the humidity to write to our parents, so please pass on my felicitations and assure them I am well.

For now, I need to get this sheet between two rubber mats as it’s already starting to degrade.

Aboard an airship, bound for Venusstadt.

Dear Clarence,

What excellent fortune! A party arrived on Venus, including two very well known explorers of Mars and a colleague from the Foreign Office. I am sure you will have heard of Wilhelm and Walmart! I was of some small service to them in the matter of paperwork and have taken the opportunity to accompany their party to Venusstadt.

I write to you from the Zeppelin that is conveying us there! It seems I have much in common with this party, but I regret that confidences dictate that I cannot go into detail. However, as I learn more, I am increasingly struck by what an excellent bunch of fellows I seem to have fallen in with.

There are some challenges ahead and I believe some danger. Yet those are things to be faced head on. I am most curious to see where this might lead. My only regret is that I do not have a bearer to hand.

A hotel in Venusstadt.

Dear brother,

I need to be brief. The most striking things have happened. As expected there are problems and grave danger here. In an effort to expose this, we are going on safari. I say ‘we’ because in an extraordinary generous act, I’ve been spotted by my famous associates to join the safari!

While it’s quite the adventure, it’s a real step into danger. There are some serious criminal activities going on here. I can say no more than that. If I don’t return, then open the instructions I have left.

The safari is being led by a Belgian, of dubious character, but then again which Belgians aren’t.

The Venus lowlands.

Hardily bearable down here. Swamps, heat and humidity beyond reason. We have a party of lizard kind bearers and porters. A group of ‘protectors’, thugs and mercenaries gathered from Venusstadt, whom I do not trust.

An utterly remarkable encounter. We encountered some raptors, these are best described as a man sized T-rex, which I’m sure be familiar with. However, they hunt in packs. I saw them out of fog, everything is fog or mist or rain here, circulating my bearer.

I’m not sure I’ve every drawn my revolver so fast or fired so true, but I took the first beast down. But only then did it become apparent how fast these killers are. Two leapt upon me faster than could re-cock my pistol.

We have a reverend with the party who leapt and pulled my bearer away and placed himself between this poor lizard man and himself. Such courage, an insane act of self sacrifice!

But then as one these wide jawed, big teeth killers, leap at him, there was a straight left jab that hit a critical spot and the monster went down.

I had to retreat, I’d been in the van and now two sets of lethal jaws napping at me were difficult to hold. My earlier marksmanship deserted me.

Then a few remarkable things happened.

A shot rang out and one of my tormentors went down.

As my vision began to blur, I saw most incredible sight, the good reverend landing a blow of monumental proportions that just launched the creature back where it’d come from. A finer administration of divine justice, I’ve not seen, save perhaps for that caper in Alexandria.

I believe I may have taken a knock during the exchange, but my new found friends (if they would have me call them that) have a wondrous healing mask. Within minutes I was right again and feeling tikatiboo at that.

I’d have barely credited it except I witnessed the same effect on the good reverend minutes later.

The situation is now tense. It’s clear that the leader of the safari, intends us ill. The good reverend has many of the bearers on our side after his most remarkable heroics, but it is mixed. Of far more concern...

Damn the insolence, they are manoeuvring----

Interlude: Venus

So, Venus. Some facts.

• Venus is hot. Equatorial Earth hot.
• Venus is constantly overcast.
• Venus is misty and often foggy. Vision out beyond a mile is non-existant.
• Venus is humid. Very humid. It rains every day.
• Venus has no soil. What passes for soil is matted vegetation.
• Venus has no rivers. No soil means no river banks.
• Venus' lowlands are boggy and swampy. And Hot. And Humid. And misty.
• Venus has dinosaurs. Not exactly terrestrial dinosaurs, but there are analogs of all the known ones.
• Venus' native life is sentient, tribal and dinosauroid.
• Venus' dominant Earth political presence is German.
• The German capital is Venusstadt.

Episode 21: First Days on Venus

Waldmont, Wilhelm, Burke, Fogg and Montgommery land in Fort Collingswood, the capital of the British Colony on Venus.

After setting themselves up in a hotel courtesy of Wilhelm and Waldmont's seemingly endless line of credit (all except for Reverend Foggg who lodges at the church with the bishop) the team make the acquaintence of another Explorer's Club member, Captain Forsyth (Ret) who now works for the Colonial Office.

They discuss how they will proceed with their investigation into Venusian safaris into the deep swamplands, with a view to seeing if any are implicated in recovering the Venusian Death Flowers used by the Brotherhood to manufatcure the dread Red Sands toxin.

Montgomerry decides that he will use all his powers of investigative reporting to see what he can turn up in the lower quraters of the town, and he is spectaculalry successful, finding three names on note, three well-known men who have led safaris which recovered Venusian Death Flowers.

The first name is that of Alwin Otto, a belgian rare flower collector who seems able to spend a lot of money on his safaris given his rather niche interests. His safaris would seem to be funded by the Etchardian Bank, which is headquartered in Venusstadt, capital of the German Colony.

The second name is that of Leibrecht Berthanhouser, a German pharmaceutical representative. Longshoremen reprot that his Death Flowers have been going missing before they can be shipped.

The third name is that of Jóska Scabolick, a Hungarian noble with a prickly temper and what amounts to an obsession with his honour who is the head researcher for the Zoological Foundation. Longshoremen report that his Death Flowers have also been going missing from the loading docks.

The team relocate to Venusstadt after finding out that Alwin Otto plans to depart on safari within a week, and make their desire to join his safari known. Otto is pleased to have become known more widely as a successful rare flower collector and offers places on the safari for the six members of the team - at an exhorbitant price. Wilhelm and Waldmont open their purses again and Otto is even more impressed.

During the negotiations, Otto conveys Waldmont to the Etchardian Bank in order to establish a financial presence in Venusstadt with Waldmont's letters of credit drawn on LLoyd's of Syrtis Major.

During this visit, Waldmont is introduced to the bank's president and majority share holder, Mathias Etche, who invites the team to dinner at their convenience. Etche seems to have a close working relationship with Otto in Waldmont's opinion, bolstered by observing Etche and Otto in earnest private conversation.

Etche offers Otto and Waldmont an iced(!) drink and departs on bank business.

After a few days the party board an airship which ferries them to Lake Hindenberg, where they join twenty Lizardman porters, six human guards armed with pistols and clubs, sundry supplies and enough canoes to provide the second stage of transport into the deep swamplands where the rarest flowers may be found.

Once deep in the swamp, Otto has everyone beach the canoes and the safari continues on foot, with the porters navigating the shallowest channels between islands of matted vegetation overgrown with giant Cycad ferns.

The heat and humidity are beyond oppressive and the team are soon feeling the effects of exhaustion, each breath seeming not to draw in enough air. They sweat but there is no breeze to carry off the moisture and cool them, and the stink of rot is almost overpowering.

The safari gradually opens up into a long line, with Otto far in the lead and out of sight most of the time as he blazes a trail through the greenery, hacking away with gusto belied by his size, on the track of whatever he hopes to recover. The team of course hope this will be Venusian Death Flowers.

Hours into the safari the team, now in the rear of the march, are alerted by Captain Forsyth that they are being stalked by a pack of Venusian raptors when he spots them about to pounce upon a lone Lizardman guide and opens fire witgh his trusty revolver, killing one of the beasts.

Waldmont and Wilhelm also open fire, but to little effect. Montgommery, handicapped by his fear of lizards, is suddenly confronted by a raptor when it leaps up to him, and he panics and freezes. Reverend Fogg grabs the lone porter and yanks him back to safety at grave personal risk. Burke fires and stuns a raptor, Forsythe fires but misses.

The pack now attacks the party, running and leaping to the attack, but fortunately they only manage to wound two members of the party, Fogg and Forsyth. The combat turns nasty, with Waldmont dropping his rifle, useless thanks to the proximity of a raptor, and drawing his pistol. Forsyth retreats to fight another day and manages to dodge the attack at his back.

But the hero of the piece has to be Reverend Fogg, who demonstrates the very best of British Pluck when he punches a raptor in the snout and kills it outright. Before his teammates can register their astonishment, he does it again! Two vicious dinosaurian attackers killed in a demonstration of expert pugilism and sustained British Courage Under Fire!

Suddenly there is only one animal left, which has the bright idea of running away, and Wilhelm is finally free to deploy his healing nebulizer mask, curing Reverend Fogg and Captain Forsyth of their bite wounds.

Otto, on becoming aware of the fracas, orders camp be made for the evening on a large, relatively dry islet.

Episodes 15-20: Aboard the Empress of the Stars

This entry is a summary of several sessions spent socializing and interacting with the passengers and crew of the Empress of the Stars, an Edison Ether-Propeller interplanetary liner.

Waldmont was subjected to an attempted assassination when his Bhutan Spice tea was spiked with a Martian poison. He survived.

The entire ship is entertained by the events organized by "The Henries", a group of hard-partying middle-aged men who served in the army and saw action in Afghanistan, where they participated in the Battle of Al-Gavidah Pass and saved the day.

Both Waldmont and Wilhelm were subjected to a second assassination attempt when decorative boxes in their staterooms turned out to be clockwork traps containing lethal Martian snakes.

Pirates attempt to take The Empress, but are beaten back and killed to a man by The Henries, aided by Waldmomnt, Wilhelm, Montgomerry (a journalist passenger) and Burke, a contact from the Colonial Office.

One of the passengers is murdered, and a second, a woman, dies as a result of an ill-conceived distration ploy. He turns out to have been a Pinkerton Detective hot on the trail of two suspects involved in a stock swindle that bankrupted one company and cause the near-closure of a bank. He writes a letter to Wilhelm and Waldmont asking them to solve what he assumes will be his murder.

The team does indeed solve the murder, and that of the woman, placing them at the hands of two other passengers beyond any doubt, and recovering a fortune in Bearer Bonds which will go a long way toward repairing the damage done by the stock swindle. They also track down the ghost, who turns out to be a young woman with a weird science device who was working with the Pinkerton Man.

The two swindlers are then ritually killed along with the crewman guarding their staterooms while at the same time another attempt is made on the team, this time with poison gas in Waldmonts stateroom as they plot the best way to take down the most likely suspect in the assassination attempts. The team, now augmented by the newly-acquianted Reverend Fogg, chase the assassin into the baggage compartment where Wilhelm glues him to the floor with his "goober gun".

The assassin bears a Brotherhood tattoo, and commits suicide in mid-histrionic vengeance threat.

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↑

Episode 11: Events In Kanoba

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.

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↑