Fearing the worst, Robert will move more quickly toward the Northeast end of the warehouse.

Robert arrives to see the northeast side door open, and a crumpled figure huddled on the floor next to the doorway.

Robert will look around for any hidden foes and then hurried to the crumpled figure. He will gently turn her over if needed to identify her.

The young woman, Robert sees as he turns her over, is breathing, but she has a bruise over her left eye where she was struck with either a fist or an objects. He hears a door open and close behind him.

"Robert?" Louis calls softly from somewhere behind him.

Robert sighs with relief as he realizes the woman is okay. He turned back and whispered softly. "Be careful but I think they left. I found Lucinda's friend unconscious here."
This message was last edited by the player at 21:48, Thu 21 Mar.

Lucina and Louis walk up to Robert.

"Yenay!" Lucinda kneels next to the unconscious woman. "She's breathing, so I think she will be fine."

"We should take her to a doctor," Louis says. She begins to reload her pistol, dropping the spent cases on the floor.

Robert takes the opportunity to reload as well. "I can carry her and we can head back to the South and find a reputable area where we can hail a cab."

Robert lifts the woman into his arms, and retraces his steps to where they left the cab. At this hour, there are no cabs, so the trio walks to the Parthoon Canal Bridge, where they find a cab stand. "Where to, folks," the cabbie asks.

Robert lifts the woman into the cab and calls out. "Take us to the nearest reputable hospital. This woman is gravely injured. I will pay a bonus for speed!"

The group piles into the hansom, and the driver starts the horse with alacrity. The horse's shod hooves and the cab's wheels clatter on the roadway as the vehicle bounces along on it's springs.

A moment later, Yenay stirs and opens her eyes.

"Yenay!" Lucinda exclaims. "Are you hurt?"

"My head hurts. Who are these people?" Her underlying accent is definitely Chinese, although her British-accented English is excellent.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:20, Sun 24 Mar.

Robert introduces himself and his wife. "I am Robert Darlington and this is my wife Louis. We were helping your friend Lucinda recover you from your abductors."
This message was last edited by the player at 02:19, Sun 31 Mar.

OOG: Robert's family name is Darlington ;-)

IG: "Darlington?" Yenay starts and sits upright. "Lucinda!"

"Yenay, it's all right," Lucinda makes a braking gesture with her hands. "Louis is a Wilder, and Robert here is only a distant cousin to our Darlingtons."

The slim woman looks between the three of them for a moment, and then she nods. "All right. I am sorry, Robert and Louis. I am not at my best." She looks at Lucinda more closely. "Here, you are hurt." She lays her hands on Lucinda's arms for a moment, and then sits back. "Your wound will heal before morning." She looks at Robert. "Where are we going?"

Robert watched with interest. "Yes, apparently on one of the good Darlington's. As to where we go that really depends." He looked at Yenay. "Did your captors reveal anything of their plans while you were in their hands?"

"Oh, we know what they want," Yenay says, "and we must stop them." Lucinda nods in agreement, along with Louis. "They want the Shards, and we can't afford to let them take them off Mars."

"They know that the two of you are here and have allies. I still doubt if they know about Louis and Meghan. Things were dark last night and all they saw was a silhouette of the two of us." Robert ponders the situation. "Is there any way to detect or track down these shards?" That would be the easiest way to foil their plot is if we can beat them to the prize."

"We," Yenay indicates herself and Lucy (Lucinda), "can sense a Shard's presence from a fair distance."

"It's similar to a mental itch," Lucy puts in. "That is, according to the accounts we've heard from the women on Earth."

"What does it feel like," Louis asks.

Lucy giggles, while Yenay lowers her eyes and blushes. "It makes one, um, well..." She breaks off and bites her lip.

"Oh, dear," Louis exclaims with a laugh. "That could be embarrassing, indeed."

Robert suddenly senses a heightened arousal emanating from all three women, especially from Louis.

Robert listens intently as Lucinda explains things. He coughs delicately at the mention of the sensation. When things seem to change he glances at his wife and raises his eyebrow. "Now?"

The three women share a glance and giggle, their hands over their mouths. "We are sorry," Lucy says after a moment. "We really shouldn't do that to a man, and especially not if he is married."

Louis shakes her head. "We don't mean any harm in it. I did have to be careful when Robert was courting me," she shares a smile with her husband as she recalls how they met. "I wanted him to like me, not my power of seduction."

Robert shakes his head but chuckles with a wry smile on his face. "Louis had no need of magic or powers other than those innately hers to sweep me off my feet. I do recall a certain crash landing being part of the courtship process."

"Really?" Lucy looks at Louis with wide eyes.

"I read about a crash here on Mars early this year," Yenay says. "Was that it?"

Louis nods. "Indeed it was. Robert built a shelter of sorts, which helped us survive."

The ladies look to Robert. "Tell us, please."

Robert smiled fondly at Louis as he recalled the incident. "We were traveling together on a liner when the engines were sabotaged by German agents. I believe they were attempting an act of terrorism as well as disrupting supplies to our colony here." He frowned and considered his words. "I was able to construct a bit of a shelter in one of the staterooms to alleviate damage from the crash. Louis and I took shelter and managed to survive the crash relatively intact. It was during the crash that I came to admire Louis' courage and intelligence. When we set out for civilization on foot Louis was the most capable all of us at survival in the outdoors. The rest of us managed to do our part especially fighting off German agents and their native mercenaries." Robert took Louis by the hand. "By the end of that adventure I could do nothing else but ask for her hand in marriage."

Robert feels a renewed surge from the women as he speaks, but it fades as the women apparently damp their abilities.

"I wouldn't say it was love at first glance," Louis says. "But he is a resourceful man, which is attractive in it's own right."

Yenay takes a breath. "If I might steer the subject back to safer ground, what should we do next?" She closes her eyes for a moment. "If I can rest, I might be able to heal myself, but I am too weak to accomplish much at the moment."

"Maybe the doctor can do something for you," Lucy says, taking her hand.

Robert notes that Yenay seems to have recovered some strength.

Robert chuckled and then turned more serious. "We can either pursue the agents of the foe further or go after the shards ourselves. I think we should do both but focus on the latter."

As Robert speaks, the cab pulls up next to a Martian-built building. A sign next to the door proclaims this to be the offices of Doctor F. M. von Steuben.

Robert gets out and looks around before helping Yenay out of the carriage. If needed he carries her to the offices, if not he helps her walk to the door. Robert will open the door after knocking and look about. "We have a badly injured woman that need to be seen immediately please." I