Expedition Stage 6: The Long Way Home pt 5

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Jack's reward for complimenting Bruno was a slobbery splatter of charcoal-gritty tongue across his face.  Spider ran towards Jack and Ben through the snow, carrying their first aid box.  Behind them, they could hear Fritz and Thorne calling to the dogs and trying to keep some semblance of order to the sleds.

Ben was out cold, pale as the snow, and unresponsive, though a mirror held to his mouth showed he was breathing shallowly.   He was alive.  Jack, however, was still shivering - not from cold, but from shock.

Out in the snow, the cindered remains of a horrible creature were still steaming.  Bruno sniffed Ben's head, then trotted away towards Thorne, who was laboriously stomping through the snow towards them.   "Damnation," the Southerner said, surveying the scene as Bruno circled around them all.  "We'll pack him into the first sled.  Jack, you'll be in the second sled with me, and Spider, you can take the third sled.  Fritzi can lead for a while.  Long enough to get to shelter, anyway.  Got any laudanum in that kit for Jack, Spider ?  How about smelling salts for Ben ?"

A deep rumble of thunder came from the oncoming storm, the dark clouds ominously close.  It drowned out the next comment from Thorne, which was doubtlessly a curse.

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GM:  Actions, etc, for the next few minutes of game time, please respond by Saturday, 24 June, next post Sunday
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Jack stares at the smoking remains, still in shock but trying to register that the threat is gone, at least for now. He tears his vision away from the hideous mess and tries stumblingly to follow Thorne’s directions. If medicine is handed to him, he takes it without even looking at it.

Spider silently wished they had a more advanced first aid kit from his future self, but made do with what they had.  Smelling salts were handed to Thorne while he searched for something to help settle Jack's vitals and shivering while they got him under blankets in a sled.  "We need to get as far as we can before the storm hits.  Let's move!"

Expedition Stage 6: The Long Way Home pt 6

Spider looked over the first aid kit, giving Thorne a vial of smelling salts.  As he rifled through the contents looking for something useful for Jack, the box shifted, showing the other kit that the Thorne lookalike field medic had left them back in the City, after their rescue from the trapped tunnel.  He unlocked the latch and saw a note.  "Administer 1 injection intramuscular or intravenous to calm anxiety, Diazepam 5 mg per mL, no more than three per 24 hours."  There were five small syringes, not made of glass or metal, but of something like celluloid or bakelite.  Under them was an array of first aid equipment, all neatly packeted up; needles, sutures, bandages, some empty syringes, and three more vials of liquid with rubber tops.  One was marked Streptomycin, another Tetanus immunoglobulin, and the last was marked Norepinephrine.  Another note was tucked into the kit, no doubt to explain their uses.    Thunder rolled again, the rising wind bringing the bite of frozen rain with it.  Fritz had to call to the huskies to calm them.

Thorne snapped the ammonia vial under Ben's nose, and was rewarded with some coughing and movement.  "Come on," Thorne told him.  "You can't be my boss if you die, and if we stay here, we'll all die."  He mercilessly bullied Ben into first sled, then went back to bully Jack.

Jack agrees to whatever medicine is administered and barely feels the bite of a tiny needle, as the ice pellets are stinging far worse already.    In a short while, the shaking stops, though he feels sleepy, and manages to seat himself into Thorne's sled, grabbing a woolen blanket to keep warm.

"Ready and all right !  MUSH !"  Fritz yelled to his team, the huskies immediately threw their weight into their harnesses while he kicked the sled off to loosen the runners from the ice.  Spider was stuck in the last position, watching Bruno lope alongside Thorne's sled, the massive paws tossing back wads of ice and snow.

The plateau was a steady slope, slightly downward, with the Transarctic Mountains sighted off to the left.  The storm was chasing them for miserable long hours, the ice pellets coating the dogs' fur and the Agents, the wind lashing at them relentlessly.  Finally, there was a hump of something not made of ice in front of them; a series of strange huts made of some kind of white rubber, tied down to the ice firmly with stakes.  The huts were round, with rounded dome roofs, and despite their odd construction, seemed to be impervious to the weather - clearly technology that the 20th century did not have.  One hut was larger than the others.

"Bring the dogs into the big yurt !"  Fritz yelled.  "We'll push the sleds into the left yurt, before everything's covered in ice !"    Near frozen, the Agents managed this Herculean task and got into the large yurt, where the dogs were already settling down.  Whatever the flooring was made of, it absorbed the melting ice quickly.  The dogs cared for and fed, the Agents were left with the last yurt, which was unsurprisingly stocked with cots and blankets, with some foil packets of food and bottles of fresh water.  Ben was barely aware of anything, but Jack had shaken off some of his drowsiness and was feeling more settled.  The Agents were safe, for the moment, the winds howling outside and ice pellets and hail bouncing off the strange huts.  Inside it was warm, the ice on their coats already melting off seconds after they came inside.  Fritz sealed the yurt door with an interlocking flap, the straps making an odd crackling sound as he pulled them tight - the doorway was easily sealed in seconds.  "It won't be invented for another thirty years, I asked," he said.  "I also had to promise to destroy these yurts when we leave."

"At what point will you be telling us the whole story ?"  Thorne said, with a narrow-eyed glare at the German.
"The same time you free the Djinni," Fritz replied coldly.
"Hell," Thorne responded, and looked away.
In the silence, Ben's voice, dull and weary.  "I spoke the third spell," he said.  "If I speak the fourth, that's...the end of everything."

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GM:  Actions, etc, for the next hour of game time, please respond by Saturday, 1 July, next post Sunday.
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Once in the warmth and getting dry, Jack first focuses on eating to further settle his thoughts. Then he prays to Athena, thanking her fervently for assisting them. Then he turns his attention to Ben, helping him get whatever meds will help him, as well as some food and warm liquid.
“What did you mean about the fourth spell?” he asks. “How can I help you?”

Spider did his best to make some edible food from their supplies.  But when Ben made the comment about a third and a fourth spell, he stopped and looked up.  He hesitated, then made a decision.  "Don't ask us to kill you so you never have that chance.  But if you think abot it, give us the word and we'll knock you out cold.  Then we'll save the world without your help for a change.  Fair enough?"

Expedition Stage 6: The Long Way Home pt 7

The Agents react to the drama, regarding Ben carefully.  Spider paused from his survey of the food supplies, though he was happy to find that the sealed packets were of beef in gravy, scones with butter, vegetable risotto, and to his surprise, Anzac biscuits for dessert.  There was coffee and powdered milk, and cane sugar.

"The fourth spell - which is the spell for Air - if I speak it in my lifetime, it will be catastrophic," Ben said, sounding exhausted.  "The Fire spell was weak because I have almost no mana left.  Given full power I could have set fire to half the continent."
"I like to think we can save the world well enough without supervision," Thorne quipped, looking through a box he had found under one of the cots.  "Ammo.  How kind of them - whatever your friends call themselves, Fritzi."
Fritz made an annoyed growl in response to that.
"Boss, we're going to get you home, so stop fretting." Thorne seemed pleased to have nettled Fritz, but he addressed Ben with his usual comforting bravado.  The winds outside raged, hail pelting the exterior, but not showing any sign of weakening the structure.  Thunder shook the yurt without damaging it.

Ben had considered Jack's query carefully.  "Keep me from speaking the spell, Jack.  I will have to stay out of fieldwork now.  It's too risky."  To Spider he added, "And I'd rather have a concussion instead of death, too."

Spider handed out the meal on the tin platters from their gear, after warming it on the small heating stove.  The good food does a lot towards improving their morale.  As they eat, the storm began to wind down to a dull roar, with the crackling of lightning and booming thunder moving onward.  Everyone was feeling weary from the strain of their adventure, and Ben actually fell asleep while he was eating.  A watch was arranged, with Fritz taking the first watch and Thorne taking the second watch.  That gave Jack and Spider some time to review their supplies, and the map.  Two small and efficient lamps gave off enough light to see.

The map seemed tougher than usual, the paper coated with some kind of material that rendered it waterproof and rip proof.  Notations on it were in Fritz's handwriting, and another handwriting they didn't recognise, a blocky capitol letter style, hastily scribbled.  Fritz' notes were; 'Keep right Massif' and 'listen for ice breaking'.  The stranger's writing was, 'Follow the bird' and 'Ask if anyone needs medicus help' and 'Tom carries gold in lining coat'.  The next stop was shortly before the Ronne ice shelf, and it looked to take another hard day of travel to make it that far.

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GM:  Actions, plans, for the next few hours; please respond by Saturday 8 July, next post Sunday.

 Happy Fourth of July for all the Americans !
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Jack takes in Ben’s words with rapt attention, as well as Spider’s practical contribution.
     “We’ll take care of it, Ben,” he says simply.
Looking over the maps, he takes particular note of Future-Fritz’s written directions.
     “So this means we have some sort of ice breakage problem ahead of us? A crevasse or the like? Everyone keep you ears sharp once we’re underway. And pay attention to the dogs — they’ll probably sense it before we do.”
Other than that, he tries to make sure Ben is comfortable and then does the same for himself, to regain strength for whatever the next day brings.

Expedition Stage 6: The Long Way Home pt 8

Jack looked over the map, asking about ice breaking.
"I am thinking the same," Fritz said quietly.    Ben was sleeping, tucked up in wool blankets.  Spider cleared up the stove and Thorne was nodding off on his own cot, but the German methodically put on his cold-weather gear and headed out to watch over the camp.  Jack barely recalled putting his head down on the pillow before it is suddenly bright,  noisy and something is breathing hot, smelly breath into his face.  A husky delivers a cold wet nose morning wake-up call and yowls impatiently at him, turning to do the same to Thorne.

"Dammit girl," spluttered Thorne, fending off the dog.  The husky, tail wagging, next went to wake up Ben. This time the dog had to really work at it, but soon their boss was groggily trying to hide under his blankets.  After attempting to mooch some food off of Spider as he heated up some leftovers for their breakfast, the husky trotted outside, expertly nosing the yurt's door flap open.

The Agents could hear the jingle of the harnesses and the sounds of more huskies chatting, along with Bruno's gruff barks; the animals seemed to be in high spirits.  The door flap opened again, bringing blast of cold air as Fritz entered the yurt.
Ben had roused enough to sip some coffee and grimace.

 "The dogs are almost ready." Fritz said.  "I have to rig the yurts with explosives before we leave, with a timer for detonation."
"That's a shame," Thorne said, thoughtfully.
"No, I really am going to do my job properly and destroy them, since _I_  can follow orders," Fritz replied, setting down the box of explosives and unlocking the lid.  "I have packed the discs and the reader into the second sled, and put Bruno into harness - it is the heaviest sled.  Jack, can you take the first sled ?"

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GM:  Actions, etc, for the next hour of game time, please respond by Saturday 15 July, next post Sunday
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(OC : Sorry so late)
Jack restocks his flare guns and flares from the extras he brought and checks the maps one more time. When everyone is ready to go, he takes the first sled as asked and follows his own advice about giving his full attention to the sights and sounds ahead, including monitoring the dogs for any sign they sense a problem.

Spider finished dealing with breakfast and asked Fritz if they needed to leave behind any of the food stuffs or the stove to be destroyed as well.  He also volunteers to help set the charges.

Expedition Stage 6 : The Long Way Home pt 9

Spider cleared up the breakfast and was regretting the loss of the tiny camp stove that effortlessly heated up their food.   Fritz silently set up grey putty with some wires, placed in key support points in all the yurts; the stuff had come from the air drop they'd received a while ago.  "Take all the food, and if you happen to pack the stove when I'm not looking, I didn't see anything," the German said.

Jack was happy to find a supply of flares and reviewed the map again.   The course seemed straightforward and the massif that Fritz had noted was not far from their destination; it was a large, long mountain, the tallest peak of the mountain ranges of the continent, the Vinson Massif.  He also noted that the map was dated 1960.

The Agents left on a bearing of North West, using the map's well-marked landmarks.   Compasses were still not behaving well.  About an hour after they'd been out on the trail, there was a plume of ice and snow sent high in the air, from where their camp had been last night.  The storm had put a thick crust of ice on the snow, making the going trickier in some places.  Jack took the lead and was alert to any signs of ice breaking.  A brisk wind was coming up from the South, with minimal clouds.  The day was bright and the weather good, visibility was good for miles.

Until the echoing boom came from the North, and the dogs began to react to it, sending the sleds skewing all over the plateau.   Another loud crash came from more North-North West.  Bruno howled, refusing to listen to Fritz's command of "Easy !"  This howl was taken up by various other huskies, and the onward momentum of the Agents came to an ugly halt, dogs tangling their harnesses and general panic.  There came another shaking of the ice, with a few more percussive sounds, to the North, and a deep fissure began to open up there, sending a spray of ice into the cold air, less than a mile away.

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GM: Actions, etc, for the next few minutes of game time, please respond by Saturday 22 July, next post Sunday
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Jack tries to assess the situation and formulate a plan. He remembers Fritz’s note: “Keep right massif” — is the Vinson Massif on their right? Should they veer toward it? If they were headed northwest and the explosions were north and north-northwest, aren’t they on the group’s right?
     “Fritz!” he shouts over the noise, “what does your note mean? Which way?” He tries to calm and untangle his team while he waits for an answer.

Expedition Stage 6: The Long Way Home pt 10

Jack looked at the map and their heading.  The Vinson Massif was on their left, and the cracking ice is slightly to their right, in the direction they had been heading.
"Future me wrote that !  I don't know !   I'd say go West around the massif away from that ! "  Fritz yelled back, struggling to untangle the dogs of his sled as the huskies were panicked.

 "STEADY !"  Thorne bellowed, going to the hellhound.  "Bruno !  Steady !  Settle down."  He was fearless, facing down a beast that outweighed him, made of teeth, spikes and muscle.  Bruno had wrapped the lead line around himself so much that the hound could barely stay upright.   Thorne planted his boots and set his hands on his hips, staring at Bruno.  The hellhound looked at him, then dropped his muzzle down, going quiet.  This sent a ripple effect through the huskies, as the biggest dog in the pack was now calmer.  "Roll over, you're all wrapped up," Thorne directed the hellhound, who flopped into the snow and wriggled.  "Ye gods, what a mess.  Not what I wanted for my birthday, Brunnie.  Let's get you set."  With a grumble, the Southerner set to unsnarling the harness from his team's leader.

"Good Koda, good Kavi, good Akiak," Fritz was soothing his dogs, unclipping harnesses and righting the line.  Spider was likewise settling his team, but Ben was sound asleep through the whole thing.  It seemed to take forever to fix the harnesses, and another report of a large fracture came in from the North.

Crossing the mountain ridge would be impossible - but if they were to edge up along the right side of the Massif, there might be enough stable ice to support the sleds, as far West as they could manage, hugging the mountainside.  This also meant that they would be at a higher risk of avalanche.  Jack set to unravelling the mess of harness and calm his huskies down, as another echoing crack of ice came from the North.   The crevice in the ice was travelling closer, heading South.  They had to get past the break before it took out the plateau's crust of ice.   A screeching call suddenly came from the South, a rough 'eh-eh-eh'.  Winging towards them was a huge white and black bird, with a wingspan of about eleven feet - an albatross.

As if in answer, a plume of ice and snow went up as another part of the Northern ice cracked with a loud *boom*.
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GM: Actions, which way are you heading, etc, for the next few minutes of game time, please respond with actions, etc, by Saturday 29 July, next post Sunday
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Spider began to rush to get ahead of the fracture.  "Come on!  If we have to get into the Massif we'll haul what we can!"  He did his best to help the others and the dogs get moving in the same direction.

Jack depends on Fritz to decipher the cryptic note, since he would have written it (or rather, will have written it? — no human language has proper verb tenses for this line of work, Jack thinks to himself in a scholarly aside). He gets his team moving on a heading for the left edge of the massif just as soon as they’re untangled.
     Spotting the albatross gives Jack a fresh infusion of hope, as he remembers that the birds they saw earlier (other than the penguin abominations) seemed to be agents of Athena. He utters a prayer of thanks for her continued guidance in their mission, and continues to watch the bird for any unusual signs. His main focus is on the ice, though!

The Agents scrambled, righting the harnesses and getting the sleds moving as the ice fracture continued to travel, breaking away more and more tons of ice and snow.

Spider mushed his team, sending them closer to the Massif.  It wasn't the tallest mountain range in the world, a bit over 16,000 feet high (4892 meters) or three miles high (4.8 km).   Grey granite could be seen where the ice had not collected, and it was sloped.  With luck, a crust had formed after the storm that could support their weight until they could get at the rock and anchor to it.

Above them, the albatross wheeled, angling towards the Vinson Massif.  The huskies ran, skewing a little as the plateau's glacier continued to crack and fall away.  If they had not changed course, they would have fallen with it.

It might also mean that they may not have a camp to rest in up ahead, and they would also lose a lot of time waiting for the fracture to stop travelling.  After a long, tiring few hours the Agents were close by the Massif, clinging to ropes Spider had anchored to the stone, and hoping nothing else was going to fall.  Above them, effortlessly drifting on the wind, the huge albatross circled.  It was daylight and would be for many more hours.  No one was happy about it, but everyone was alive.

"What the hell," was Ben's comment when he woke up at last.  Out on the plateau, there were still tumbles of snow and packed ice shifting.
"How did you sleep through that ?"  Thorne demanded.
"Whole ice sheet broke, fell down." Fritz said, leaning up against Bruno, who had found a ledge to sprawl onto.  "What the hell did I mean, keep right Massif ?"

Between the sounds of grinding ice and thunderous falls of snow, a droning sound could be heard, faint but getting louder.  The sky was clear, with only a few sprays of cirrus clouds up there.

GM:  Actions, etc, please respond by Saturday 5 August, next post Sunday; are you staying by the Massif, testing the ice, looking for the noise's source ?

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[Sorry, a bit under the weather.]
Jack tries to determine the source of the droning sound, even stepping out away from the rock surface (with a rope tether attached to his waist) to get a better viewpoint. He’s hoping it’s mechanical in origin (which might mean humans come to assist them) rather than insectoid (which would probably mean more monsters).
Other than that, he will defer to Spider’s expertise (or Fritz’s) as to how they should continue their trek.

Spider begins scanning for the source of the droning.  Depending on what he sees, he might use the scope on the rifle to get a better look, and be ready to shoot it down.

Expedition Stage 6: The Long Way Home pt 12

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The Agents listened, determining that the sound was coming from the Southwest, where the Carstairs 2 would have been anchored.    They were clinging to the side of the Vinson Massif, anchored by ropes and leaning on ledges.  The sled dogs were calm- for now.  On the plateau, ice still rumbled and cracked, sending up plumes of snow as it settled.

"That's a plane," was the consensus from Thorne and Fritz.
"You didn't write about a plane in your damned journal."  Fritz said.
"Did I write anything about dodging a bullet ?" Thorne asked.
"You wrote...something about hiding in plain sight." Fritz said.
"You got that buffalo rifle, Spider ?"  Thorne asked.

Jack leaned out with the ropes, trying to see into the distance. The sky was clear, and soon he spotted a dark flying object coming from the Southwest.  Above them, the huge albatross wheeled, making the hoarse 'eh-eh-eh' call.   Spider lined up Matilda's scope and was able to see what looked like a trimotor seaplane, which was zigzagging across the landscape in a search pattern.  The plane was a dull silver, with some yellow painted on the top of the wings, visible when it turned; the tail was painted with blue and white stripes.
"That's a US Navy plane," Thorne said after Spider reported the appearance.
"The same Navy that tried to take my Bureau." Ben said grimly.

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GM:  Actions, etc, for the next few minutes of game time, let me know what you're doing about the seaplane, which might be able to spot the Agents very soon.
Please respond by Saturday, 12 August, next post Sunday.
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Jack agrees with Spider. “We have to get ourselves and our finds off this ice. We have no idea where it will start breaking up next.”
     He suggests firing a flare (or three), which would be quieter than their firearms and thus less likely to create problems with the ice. He will do so unless someone strongly objects.

Spider shrugged at Ben.  "That may be, but things are beyond dicey out here at this point.  We can flag them down, get aboard, and if things go pear-shaped, we take over."  He paused then looked at Fritz.  "Can you pilot that crate?"

Exp stg 6, pt 13

The Navy plane continued its search sweep.  It would pass over them in less than two minutes.

Jack checks his Very pistol.  It has plenty of flares in both red and white, and seems in good working order.  He also looks at the map again.  The writing has not changed, and he studies the hasty scribbles.   "Follow the bird", "Keep right Massif", "listen for ice breaking", "ask if anyone needs medicus help" and "Tom carries gold in lining coat".  There was a pattern to them too, as he lined up the Massif where they were clinging.  The lines of scribbles pointed in a definite arrow shape headed North-North West, right alongside the Vinson Massif.  The albatross was making wider circles now, heading more Northward with every turn.  The noise of the falling snow and ice had abated.

Spider looked at their chances and found them wanting some better percentile points for success, and made his case to Ben.
"I'm not entirely sure that we want to be found, especially by the Navy," Ben said, looking worried.
"Can't fly a plane.  Can drive almost anything though."  Fritz told Spider.  "But I'm not leaving the dogs."
"I doubt it can carry more than five people, and it can't land on snow." Thorne said.  "And I'm not leaving YOU."  He then told Fritz.  "And how did I spell 'plain' in that journal ?"
"Normal way, P-L-A-N-E," Fritz said, patting Bruno's scaly snout.
"Oh, Hell," said Thorne.  "Flugzeug is not the same as schlicht !"

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GM:  Please respond with actions for the next minute of game time, by Saturday, 19 August, next post Sunday.  If sending up flares, let me know, also any other actions besides clinging to the side of a mountain for dear life.
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Spider shrugs and says to Ben, "You're still the boss.  Unless someone sees a place to lie low, let's keep going along.  Might as well follow the map."

Jack agrees -- Ben is still the boss. And the odd pattern of the words in the notebook offers a new sense of an underlying plan. So he puts away the flare gun and pulls out the wand, ready to throw a cloud of snow and ice dust up around them if the plane gets too close.