Expedition Stage 9; Who Goes There ? pt 10
Expedition Stage 9: Who Goes There ? pt 10
Jack noticed that his display of the wand had garnered a lot of attention from the crew of the Natalia. So had Fritz' punch and the subsequent laying out of Van der Koen. The fact that Spider was still willing to see to their injuries without regard to rank also made an impression, though he had to rely on Van Rooyen to translate some of his requests. Thorne was busy taking over Van der Koen's cabin. The huskies and Bruno were collected in an impromptu pen made of spare lumber and rope, covered well with tarpaulins, apart from Princess, who was with Dael below decks; the husky had already learned how to climb the ladders.
With the strength of all of that, and their situation, the weary but determined Agents had a meeting in the small cabin. The Captain's son was relocated to the Captain's cabin. Both of them seemed to be improving, though the Captain had not yet awakened. Van der Koen had disappeared below decks. Van Rooyen had also gone back to the engine room, and the Natalia was underway, chugging slowly North. The helmsman was the grizzled old sailor who had helped them aboard.
"That's a good plan," Ben said to Jack. "If we're unpredictable, we're harder to deal with."
"I was thinking Bruno can stay in the cabin with us," Thorne said.
"I'm not keeping an illusion in place that long, I'm tired too," Ben objected.
"Let the illusion drop. Let them see we have a genuine Hound of Hell. Just make sure we have a bucket of water handy in case Bruno decides to flame up." Thorne said.
"He's not really from Hell, you know," Ben said. "He's probably from Leng. He was very at home in Antarctica, and there's a gateway there to Leng."
"I think we should throw Van der Koen overboard," Fritz muttered.
"Here I am thinking you know something we all would like to know," Thorne said to him.
"You know the terms. Release the Djinni." Fritz responded.
"Dammit," Thorne said, with a heavy sigh, "He won't budge on that. You win, schatzi."
The Southerner untied his coat, then his vest, finally taking out the small flask that had once held bourbon. "She's in here. She likes bourbon."
"Say, I give you this and all it contains, it is now yours, and only yours, Friedrich Trachenberg, for now and always," Fritz said, holding out his hand.
"I liked having a real genie," Thorne said, softly, regarding the flask, then handed it to Fritz, repeating the words. Fritz took it, flipped the cap open and pulled out a vial of reddish liquid that had a metallic swirl to it, and poured it into the opening. He then fished a bit of chalk out of his pocket and began drawing a pentagram on the cabin floor. "I know she was helping you," Fritz said, as he drew; Ben was watching closely. "But she will die if she is not released."
"I didn't teach you that yet," Ben murmured.
"You will have taught it to me," Fritz said. "I am not your Fritz. I'm seven years older. And, like others, I have been placed here by my boss, to ensure the timeline remains intact." He nodded to Spider. Once he was done drawing, he studied the pentagram for a while, checking it intently, as did Ben.
"It's a very good unbinding." Ben said.
Fritz gently set the flask into the center of the pentagram. "Shadow of Hijaz, Mishal the Dark, Djinni of the Golden Eyes, I unbind thee; I release thee from servitude, I free thee from thy bonds. Thou art free to go as thou pleases. I thank thee for thy munificence and patience."
Nothing happened; then the flask trembled slightly. A wisp of dark smoke shot with gold drifted from the opening; then the flask split along the seams, falling into pieces. Seething darkness oozed along the chalked lines, then dissipated, fading into the air like a drift of smoke. There was the faintest sound, a mere whisper, "Lin ansi...." and it was gone.
Fritz nodded, then used a handkerchief to wipe up the chalk from the floor.
"So you're the keeper of this timeline, and you're not going to tell me what happens with - anything ?" Thorne asked.
"I'm going to follow my orders," Fritz said. "I warned you about Van der Koen. If too much is altered, I'll keylock out of the mission. A forced removal of a Time Agent when the continuity is threatened; returning to a locked point in time to which I am the key. I am assigned to keep you on track so that you can deal with everything that will come your way, for a while."
He then held up a hand, indicating silence. In a few seconds, there were footsteps, and a rap on the door; Van Rooyen's voice, the shaky English, "Hey, I want talk. Vodka ?"
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GM: Please respond with actions, etc, for the next five minutes, whether or not you want to interact with Van Rooyen or any other crew, by Saturday, 16 December, next post Sunday, then we will have our traditional holidays break after that.
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