Kelsey did dutifully look at the name tag, and managed not to laugh out loud at Taras when he seemed oblivious.

"It is a very.. ah.. wistful name."

She gets with Mac and Hawke while Taras does interrogation  "Is there any way you might be able to help that Elephant?  Having a wound like that untreated three or four more days could be deadly."


She looks to Taras and mentions casually, though.  "Boss, this is some nice high ground on the river, works great for the radio, we could maintain position here for a while if it helps?"

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg # 648):

They were now in the ground floor of the Company House, close by the makeshift elephant enclosure (within direct LOS).

It was, of course, a recreation of the 19th century structure that was fairly faithful except for the wheelchair access ramps and (non-functional) elevator. Most rooms were "authentic" and contained maps of the Hudson't Bay Company (HBC) former operations in BC and (fake) samples of goods, others recreated important areas like the dining room, the company factor's office, sleeping chamber, kitchen, etc. Floors and furniture were all solid wood, etc.

Old Willie hosted his guests in the ground flood dining room. It was a fairly large room, taking up about 1/2 of the ground floor on the west side. A massive table dating back from the days when the HBC ruled 1/11th of the Earth dominated the room, along with high chairs. A potbellied irons stove was sitting, unlit, in the corner. (It was a warm afternood and it would make the heat inside unbearable, instead, Willie lit the stove in the nearby kitchen.)

"This is where British Columbia was declared a colony. Well, in the original Big House. The only original building is near the gate, the store house. Oldest building in the province, too."

(GM Note: the fort is oriented along the river, which runs roughly NW-SE. For the sake of clarity, the corners are N, S, E and W. The town is mainly all along the western side, NW to SW and even partly to the South. The rail line and river are directly NE, fields to the SE. The fort dominates a small ridge running SE-NW, separating township from fields.) The fort is roughly rectangular with the NW and SE sides being longest, the visitors centre and guest lot a little ways from the NW side.

One weakness of the fort was that the surrounding palisade lacked a parapet and wall-walk save for the north corner (closest the guest parking lot and visitors centre to the W and facing the river and rail line to the NE). Decorative trees, not pruned for years, also screened most of the approaches. There were 2 gates: the foot gate (which could be opened just wide enough to admit vehicles) in the N corner closest to the visitor centre, and a wide vehicle gate opening to a staff/service vehicle lot off Hudson's Bay st. in the wall. Old Willie had blocked off the vehicle gate and used the foot gate to let the elephants out to graze, they circled around to the fields along the rail line.

An OP could be set up in the upper story of Company House with fairly good lines of sight. As well, the 2 corner bastions provided good cover from small arms and a decent field of view towards the river.



Pre-war, taken from the NE corner wall area looking towards Company House. The elephant enclosure would be on the right side wall behind the house. Open areas would have makeshift greenhouses set up.





Company House, again looking from the NE.





Corner bastion photo and line drawing.
This message was last edited by the GM at 20:46, Sun 24 Feb 2013.

"OK, no problem.  See if you can get them to set up a 'scrip for antibiotics for the elephant, I'm betting on an infection.  If necessary, we can make the trip back and forth without a problem."

With that, he begins taking off his web gear and weapons, stripping to his t-shirt.  He hands his weapons to Kelsey.  "Don't want to give the wrong impression.  All our interactions will be non-verbal.  He takes out his stethoscope out of his bag, and hangs it around his neck, and a pair of gloves.

"Sir, could you please introduce me to the elephants?  Do you have any spare peanuts?  I'm clean out."
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:04, Mon 25 Feb 2013.

Kelsey puts up Hawke's weapons and then slings her own rifle behind "Maybe I can soothe?"

In reply to William Hawke (msg # 650):

Coming out of the Big House onto the rear walk, Old Willie poured them all a cup of tea.

"Peanuts? Sure! I grow them myself in one of the greenhouses, a lucky coincidence. I got another bag here in the kitchen, planned on roasting them tomorrow for trade."

He brought out a 2kg bag from the kitchen and handed it to William.

"That's my plan, but I suspect that they won't be calmed by people carrying guns.  It will be dangerous, because if a five ton animal with a trunk that can pull up trees and pick up dimes, gets peeved, it can express its displeasure with that trunk.  That's why I am not carrying anything."

He turns to Willie.
"You got someplace I can scrub up?"

"Surely it would be easier to bring the vet here?" Andy said, "We can get down the river pretty quickly and return with any team they want to send."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg # 654):

"In three or four days, that's what they said."  Hawke shrugged.  "You want to wait around three or four days with a bullet in you?  If she's got an infection, sepsis could kill her."

Hawke accepted the bag of peanuts from Willie.  "Thanks.  Let's go see what I remember from my trip to the zoo."

He began with a visit to the Bull elephant first.

"No, I wouldn't," Andy said, "but I also wouldn't like to walk all the way to UBC with the potential for getting attacked if there were any other options. How long will it take her to get to UBC anyway? Elephants are hardly built for speed."

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg # 656):

"That depends on if she's septic or not.  If she's laying down for longer than an hour, that's a bad sign.  Elephants, like horses, don't lay down a bunch.  Big herbivores tend to sleep during the day, in short naps, like horses."

"If she's lying down a lot can she make it?" Andy asked, "I mean it's about fifty kilometers how far can they walk in a day?"

In reply to Andrew Montgomery McRae (msg # 658):

"If she's laying down a lot, it means that she's very sick.  Dehydrated, infection, sepsis, the basics.  Elephants are grazers, they eat a lot to keep moving, and move because otherwise they graze the area clean."

He grins for a second.

"Sounds like I know a lot about elephants, doesn't it?  I watched a National Geographic on them a long time ago, and this is putting things together from it."

He showed Hawke the stove in the kitchen where he was boiling water.

"Help yourself. The taps still work, there's water pressure in the system even without power.

"Woozle does usually stand and they've been out to graze not too long ago. But it is getting worse.

"Like I said, I hear there's a veterinarian living down in Abbotsford. Makes sense, it's farming country, plenty of livestock. About 30 kilometres from here, give or take. Before the war that woulda been a fifteen minute or half hour trip down the freeway, give or take depending on traffic."

He nodded apologetically to Taras. "Sorry to put off your questions, friends come first, eh?"

In reply to Old Willie (msg # 660):

"At the very least I can gather some hard data for the vet.  Depth, angle, etc." said Hawke as he scrubbed up with the soap, basically scrubbing to his shoulders.  "Though if he's half an hour away, how can we get a hold of him?  Find out if he's busy?  Can we get find out if one of the vets back at base knows anything about elephants?  At least how to hydrate one, and some basic anatomy?"

In reply to William Hawke (msg # 661):

Old Willie shrugged, unsure of the answers. "Good question. Guess you'd have to go down to Abbotsford, find someone, and ask. It might take a few hours to do, but it's better than waiting a few days for the other vet out at UBC.

"From what I heard, there's one vet out at UBC and they don't have experience with elephants. But there's books and information on elephants. Maybe they or someone out at UBC can talk with the vet out here and find out what the best thing to do is?"

Kelsey taps her hip where her radio is

"I can do some calling around and see if I can get a connection to Abbotsford.  Do you have any names from folk down there, or radio signs would be spectacular."
This message was last edited by the GM at 03:17, Tue 26 Feb 2013.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg # 663):

Sipping his tea, Willie shook his head.

"Sorry Sergeant, don't know anyone down in "Abbie". Don't have a radio, either, so I don't know."

"Abbie" was a common nickname for the farming/bedroom community of Abbotsford. The original name of the community probably had something to do with the fact it was across the Fraser river from the old Catholic monastery, Westminster Abbey, in the town of Mission.

"It's ok Mister Willie, I'll see who I can contact through channels I know"

Kelsey fires up her radio again, checks on Tremblay in the HMMVW first via radio, then links up with the base operator to see if anyone knows someone from that area or if contact has been made.

In reply to Kelsey Sarah Champlain (msg # 665):

Again, there's a problem with interference but Kel is able to get through. The answer is not lately, and no contact from there as of yet. (In fact, contact of up-valley towns like Abbotsford is one of the team's mission goals.)

Meanwhile, William approached the elephants. They didn't seem concerned to see him, not like they were tame but it was obvious that they had much prior contact with humans and medical care.

Kelsey finishes with the radio, then with a little wonder she checks on the interference, checking to see if someone is jamming, or if something might be stepping on her broadcasts.

Mac followed William back to the elephants, still rather leery of Heffalump.

In reply to helbent4 (msg # 666):

Hawke started with the male.  He began by holding out his empty hand, so that the bull could smell him, gun oil and sweat from the day's journey.  The harsh soap, as well.  Then he began talking to the bull, nattering, mostly, and using the elephant's name as he rummaged in the bag of peanuts, and held them out for the elephant to pick up.

In reply to William Hawke (msg # 669):

Old Willie said to Taras, "pardon me, Sergeant, I'm gonna go out and see if I can help a bit."

He followed Hawke out to the elephant enclosure to help keep them calm, as he was familiar to them.

Inside the fort, Kel thought there might be some kind of jamming or other interference. After the war, radio had always been somewhat dodgy due to the lingering atmospheric effects of nuclear attack. Although it was getting better over time sometimes it was just tough. If it was jamming, the origins were unclear but probably relatively distant, not local in nature. Regardless, she could get through using retrans via the more powerful set in the Cougar to contact UBC.

The elephants allowed Hawke and Mac to approach, along with Old Willie.

Outside the fort in the service lot, the remaining team members (Lo, Tremblay, Sochaki, Russalka, Droz and Sheeler) kept a watch to the west and south.

Nothing more seemed to happen. It was as if the world was waiting...