Sunday, 21. May.1888. Victoria, Africa.
Having caught only a few hours sleep in the first beds they'd seen in weeks, Our Expedition boarded the Salisbury Breeze in the pre-dawn drizzle.
It was clearly established in the Party's minds that Mr. Blake Senior had recorded the stele find, had packed the stele in their velvet-lined boxes, and had put both boxes and record in the safe. Although he had been held responsible for the safe and its contents, that was the last contact that Blake Senior had had. The safe had sometime later been sealed, personally, by Lord Cardiff who, for some reason, first had had one stone removed from its packing. There was some speculation by Penrington that, perhaps, Lord Cardiff had been party to the substitution of false stones for true. Mr. Blake and Dr. Davis stoutly defended the lord; such an action -- followed by knowingly letting an innocent man's reputation be destroyed -- would be unthinkable behaviour for a gentleman.
Four days of flight along the coastline showed no more large settlements (and the jungle now reached to the cliff-line), finally bringing the Expedition to a point on the coast nearest the wreck of the Wings of Cardiff. The Breeze's launch was delayed for a few minutes as Benjamin Steele determined that he was most comfortable lying down in the bottom of the boat. Dr. Davis, having noted that the mechanical man muttered "too near the edge" each time he tried to choose a more "normal" seat, asked, "Mr. Steele, are you afraid of heights?" Steele responded, "Only of drops."
Thursday, 25.May.1888
Shouldering their packs, the eight intrepid adventurers (plus Blake's man Lok) followed a stream down the sandy slopes to the scrubby desert floor. Hiking along, they soon determined that rockier areas made easier walking, and that the desert - deceptively smooth as viewed from above - consisted of valleys and hills, dips and ridges. In the late afternoon, the first wooden wreckage was spotted. Almost at sunset, they crested another hill to look down upon a burned out hulk in a valley, one great nacelle lying some 100 yards off to one side. Miss Costorari whispered to Dr. Davis and then to Mr. Blake and Po who were also nearby, "Do you see the people?" "What people?" the doctor answered. Pricking up his ears at the doctor's words, Penrington unslung his rifle and scanned the area sharply. Still whispering, the gypsy confessed uncomfortably that she could see a crowd of some 50 Anglishmen, some playing cricket and the rest observing the game.
Benjamin Steele started down the slope towards the wreck, followed by Smith. Penrington, noting that there was an area where salvage had been neatly laid out, not far from what was clearly a graveyard, went to investigate those. Miss Courtney headed towards the burned hull to put her tracking skills to work. Blake, under his man's watchful eye, rigged a dousing magnet with which to hunt the missing a-magnetic pieces of stele.
Meanwhile, Po and Miss Costorari moved down to the cleared area the gypsy had fixated upon; Dr. Davis followed at some distance, trying to keep an eye on everyone but most concerned with the ghost-chaser. Po asked, "Have you ever tried to communicate with the spirits you see?" Voronika answered, with a catch in her voice, "Yes." Po continued, "Perhaps you can get information from these?" "Only if they will talk to me." As the young Romani passed a group of ghosts, she noticed one comment on her to a friend. She turned and asked the spirit, "What happened?" The ghost, showing some surprise at being addressed, answered, "Our ship crashed," and faded from the mystic's view. Voronika turned to the next and asked, "What caused the crash." "I don't know. I was asleep and then I was standing here." That ghost, too, faded from sight.
About that same time, Penrington had sought out Dr. Davis. In low tones he noted that he'd found a marker in the graveyard with Benjamin Steele's name and dates indicating that the engineer had died in the crash of the Wings. He thought that the mechanical man, who seemed to be wandering in a daze, might react badly. The doctor suggested that the steel man be kept away from the gravesite for the nonce. Penrington opted to join Smith in monitoring the mechanical man.
Realizing that she seemed to be able to get one answer per spirit, the gypsy moved back to where the doctor watched. She asked Dr. Davis and Po what questions she should put to the spirits. Dr. Davis summoned the rest of the group to get suggestions. Quickly the doctor explained about the gypsy's mystic vision. The skeptical Blake wanted to know if Dr. Davis was comfortable with the Romani's other-worldly claims. Madeline admitted that many things she'd experienced in the past weeks with the Expedition had made her uncomfortable, but that her comfort-of-mind was not the goal of the expedition.
The ensuing discussion attempted to determine who amongst the ghosts of the Wing's crew might have pertinent information and what form a question should take to elicit that information. Mr. Steele spoke up, saying that his presence at this site had brought back many of his memories. He'd been a junior member of the engine crew of the Wings of Cardiff, two days out of Victoria, and off duty when a change in the sound of the engines woke him. He'd gone up on deck to check it out. There he saw the 2nd Officer and two other figures casting off in the airship's launch. The 2nd Officer, Crowther or Cowper, a new man who'd come aboard at Victoria and who would normally have "had the wheel" during night shift, was at helm of the launch. At that point, the Wings hit an obstruction and the jolt sent Steele overboard. He had fallen onto the outcrop and rolled down into unconsciousness. When he woke, one arm and shoulder badly damaged, he could see in the distance the fire caused by the crash. It took him two days to reach the crash site. He had lifted one tarp and seen a body underneath. No survivors remained at the site, but the pots they had set out contained rainwater that - he was sure - saved his life. He'd found "his" stele piece "there", pointing to a place in the sand. ( Smith proceeded to drive a stake into the spot to mark it.) Having scavenged what he needed, Steele had trekked to the coast, turning east and eventually coming up at Victoria. (The other survivors had gone west, ending up in Freetown.)
The Party immediately recognized the significance of the traitorous 2nd Officer. Po, with Mr. Steele's permission, entered the steel man's mind and was able to display an illusion for the other adventurers of the suspect: a young Anglishman of intense mien.
With the advice of the others, Miss Costorari returned to the amazing feat of questioning ghosts.
She tried to find out more about 2nd Officer Cowper. One ghost knew that the original 2nd Officer of the Wings had died of snakebite in Victoria. Another commented that Cowper was "A little bit scary. Didn't know much about running a ship." The Party concluded that Cowper probably got the job with false papers and a great deal of bluff.
Meanwhile, ghosts seem to have recognized the gypsy's cognizance of their existence and several put in complaints about their burial sites (not liking their neighbors) or about having been misidentified. Po sensed that the Anglish spirits were too far from their homeland to get back onto the Wheel. Voronika determined that the ghosts did not think that they could be elsewhere than here, where they had died.
Having, by dint of counting ghosts and reckoning with Mr. Steele's memory, determined that the two accomplices who had escaped with Mr. Cowper must have been non-crew, the Party's further questions revealed that, at the last minute, a woman and her black servant had been picked up from Victoria as passengers. The captain's ghost knew her as Miss Jenkins, who had brought much baggage along with her. She had been quite stand-offish, pleading illness when she'd been invited to dine at the captain's table.
The cabin boy said of the woman's servant, "He didn't seem much like a servant. Carried his big staff more'n any of her stuff. Had a sour look and a necklace of feathers and dried stuff. He was really, really, black."
The Engine Room story emerged. The runner on duty described, "It was 'orrible! Mr Smithers (apprentice steam mage) attacked Ensign Caruthers (lift chief)!" Smithers said, "I heard the woman's voice and couldn't help myself. I picked up the spanner and...." The ghost shuddered and disappeared. Eventually the other three on duty revealed that "Cowper showed up. The Black Man stabbed the other Engineer (steam mage). Cowper helped kill the rest of us."
Finally Miss Costorari asked Penrington's question of the 1st Officer: "What was in the safe?" The ghost answered, "After I took out the velvet boxes, all that was left was the notebook. I just wanted to look at the pieces....." The Party concluded that, while the 1st Officer had been satisfying his illicit curiosity, the Bad Guys had substituted a fake safe (from Miss Jenkin's baggage) for the real one and had thus gotten only Mr. Blake's father's record book for their pains. The timing of the sabotage and subsequent crash had prevented the 1st Officer from returning the real pieces, which thereafter had been scattered by the crash and picked up by various survivors.
The Party decided that a good working hypothesis was that Cowper, Miss Jenkins and the black "servant" were the three Bad Guys responsible for the kidnapping of Mr. Courtney as well as sundry other villainies. Mr. Blake commented that, in addition to a commander of flying monkeys, boars, demons and men, the Bad Guys must include a master forger. Dr. Davis noted that the fake record book found in the false safe might not have been forged. Under Mesmeric influences, Mr. Blake's father could have written it himself. She admitted, however, that her patients knew afterwards that they had been under her control, just as the ghost Smithers had known that he'd been a puppet murderer. Blake Sr. had had no such knowledge.
Having exhausted the ghostly resources, the Expedition utilized the remains of a hot air balloon (left by the original salvage mission) to construct a tent as protection against the evening rain. Having determined that her clairvoyance power did not affect her piece of stele, Miss Costorari turned her energies to persuading Dr. Davis to attempt mesmeric skills on the pieces of stele, in order to learn where the missing pieces were and where it wanted to go. The doctor was highly reluctant to turn her scientific skills to anything that smacked of druidism but was, eventually persuaded to do so for the Expedition's sake. Trying to utilize her observations of her father and sister's druidic rites, Silvermoon, uh, Dr. Davis waited until the moon broke through the rain clouds. She began making mesmeric passes rhythmically, not quite touching the stones set in their array, trying to achieve a mind link with the spirit within the stones. Miss Courtney, recalling the problem Miss Costorari had had with the mountain, monitored the doctor's breathing for anything amiss. Miss Costorari, too, watched carefully as they all saw the array of stones move due north. The gypsy could say with authority that the doctor was not employing sleight-of-hand, so the others started scanning their surroundings. Several of them noticed peculiar tracks - furrows - in the sand also heading due north. Three more (mostly) blank stele pieces were thus discovered, one having only an insignificant marking. Similar tracks, not heading north, were found to be made by a new species of sand clam. Dr. Davis, following zoological convention, named the creature for its discoverer: Gastropodicus steeleicus.
The Expedition concluded that the missing piece of stele must be due north of the crash site. Mr. Blake, employing his scientific arts, determined that the radiological aura of the crash site seemed to slope away to the SE.
Dr. Davis, with the agreement of the group, placed the three new stele pieces with her own in her medical bag. That night, not able to hide the tenseness the activities of the day had caused, Dr. Davis shared with Miss Costorari from a flask in her bag. "Medicinal purposes. It will help us relax."
Friday, 26.May.1888
In the morning, Miss Costorari reported no more invisible cricket matches. In courtesy to the gypsy's belief in her ghosts -- a belief the group had little choice but to accept if they accepted the information so gained -- the Expedition followed her directions in digging up and reburying several of the interred bodies. Dr Davis took Mr. Steele aside and informed him of the discovery of "his" grave, noting that there were clearly several misidentifications amongst the dead. For instance, there was a grave marked "Cowper". Many of the bodies had probably been burned past recognition and some may have not been intact after the crash. Steele took the news philosophically, wondering what had happened to him after he'd left the crash site such that the recovery mission had not known that he survived when Lord Cardiff certainly knew.
Saturday, 27.May.1888
The hike back to the coast was made uneventfully. The Party veered somewhat easterly so to not actually cross its trail.
Sunday, 28.May.1888
The appropriate signal flares having been lit, the Party was picked up as planned, by the ship that followed the Salisbury Breeze in the flight schedule. The 4-day flight was, again, uneventful, although in the evening of Tuesday, the 30th of May, the Expedition was treated to the spectacular sight of hundreds of streams pouring out of the Niger Delta down the cliffs and into the desert far below. The afternoon of Wednesday, the ship sailed into the port of Victoria in the "corner" of the great African plateau. Off to the right, those on deck could see a distinctive landmark: the two rounded peaks at identical heights that marked the small plateau-island of Biyogo.
Miss Courtney shepherded the group to the hotel usually frequented by her father when they stayed in Victoria. Sadly there was no word there of Mr. Courtney.
Dr. Davis reported into Lord Franks' local factor. There she arranged for a telegraph to be sent to their patron informing him of the find of the additional stele pieces at the wreck site. There also, the factor informed her that Lord Cardiff had an estate outside of town. The doctor had her card sent out to the estate, requesting an interview.
Regrouping, the Expedition pieced two more bits of information together.
Thursday, 1.June.1888
The eternal rains stopped and the Expedition realized that the African sky seemed to go on forever.
Not being willing to split the tasks of going to Biyogo and visiting Lord Cardiff, the entire Party chose to travel to the Cardiff estate. At the outer wall, they were politely turned away until Steele remembered his engraved card case and the feeling he'd had that it was Very Important. Thus the Party was escorted into Lord Cardiff's presence.
His lordship at first mistook Benjamin Steele for a cleverly-operated toy, but, upon being assured that the man's spirit did seem to animate the mechanical vessel, Lord Cardiff asked, "Would any of the rest of you like a strong drink?" A chorus of assents. The Party found itself comfortably seated and recounting much of its adventures. [Chronicler: Did the Party mention their translation of the linear script? That is the only thing they have regularly kept secret.][GM: I don't believe it has. Though 'blah' can often be misinterpreted...] Mr. Blake, making no pretense as to his origins, insisted that the stele array and the rubbing from the stone lion be displayed from the very first.
Lord Cardiff tried to stimulate Ben Steele's memories. "When you arrived here before, you told me about being sick in the Niger Delta. Do you remember the woman who nursed you?" Thus prompted, Steele recalled that his "escape" from the desert had been delayed by an illness through which an old native woman had seen him. That was why it took so long for him to reach Lord Cardiff. He'd only made it to Victoria two months ago which was the first Cardiff knew of the stele pieces being recoverable. Since then Cardiff had tried to trace the other survivors only to find some of them after their deaths.
Cardiff: "Do you remember what you had?
Steele: "Unless the stele..."
Cardiff: "The Flower of Memory, you were to take to Professor Nasmyth."
Dr. Davis broke in, "Do you know of the Flower of Memory?"
Steele and Cardiff both nodded, the latter asking, "And what do you know of it, doctor?"
Dr. Davis described treating a black patient about two months back in London - shortly after she'd heard news of her fiancé's death. That patient had described the plant as useable to minimize or augment memory. She'd had a personal hope to locate a sample on this trip.
Lord Cardiff rang for a servant. "Would you please ask Umbopa to join us?"
The group was thereafter joined by a tall, graceful native whose colouring was but a shade or so darker than Miss Costorari's. He seemed to be in his late 20s or early 30s and spoke with the rolling cadences of a natural story-teller. He explained that Steele had been given a fragment of the Flower of Memory. Use of the plant allows the spirit free rein to wander their own and others' pasts, freeing the spirit for a time from its body. The fact that Steele's fragment of flower seemed to have disappeared when he shifted from his human to the steel body seemed significant to the native. The plant is "cultivated in the lands of the north, where my people came from. It is very rare in these parts."
The flower was to go to Nasmyth. "To what purpose?" To provide better control of an exploratory robot than now provided by the current generation of electro-magnetic mechanical controls. Steele's robotic body had been designed to explore Africa, to endure heat and humidity, to have great strength for carrying, to translate. In short, a general purpose tool.
As the conversation wound around, some members of the Party had reason to wonder what kind of "old friends" Lord Cardiff and Lord Franks were. The former's poker face gave no information on this point. He did, however, commend the Expedition on their honourable behaviour, exhibiting what they had found and "not asking for money." Penrington's ears perked up but he was restrained.
A description of the missing middle piece of stele was forthcoming. There had been, indeed, 12 pieces. The middle piece had a line of dashes and a line of pluses. The matrix had been "glued into" a 6-foot long obelisk that could be found at the dig site, a 2-day carriage ride NW of Victoria. Lord Cardiff had removed the one corner piece from the safe at the very last moment because there had, once again, come up a question as to the translation of the text on it.
Because of the regrettable inability to question those who survived the wreck of the Wings of Cardiff, Lord Cardiff could not say how Mr. Courtney had come by his piece of stele. He did know that a Dr. Warring had participated for a while in his dig. Knowing that two of the survivors had gone east, the Party concluded that perhaps they had been the source of those pieces. However, it was beginning to seem as though the Bad Guys had captured Mr. Courtney, an expert on the Niger, with the intent of traveling somewhere along the Niger River.
Umbopa said that the native Bad Guy sounded like "one of the dark shaman." "Are you a shaman?" "I am a storyteller, but I know the lore."
Miss Costorari described the karkalanza, asking if that fit any of the native's lore. Umbopa said, "It seems a creature that feeds on death rather than living on life. From the Nile to the Niger, Death is a very great power. There are people opposite from your druids who seek the power of Death on their way towards baktu." He continued, "The powers of life can combat it; what you call a druid. The one who has called it has no defenses against it should it meet him before it finds you."
The stele is the Key to Understanding. "If you understand, it will speak to you." "That sounds like something my father would say," muttered Dr. Davis.
Po asked about twins. Umbopa told a tale about the snake's twins. It was noticed that in the tale, twins seem to complement each other. There was no tale of twins destroying each other. The storyteller told another tale where a pair of twins had gone to the plateau of Biyoga and disappeared in a blaze of light. Po tried to explain the concept of identical and fraternal twins, but Dr. Davis waylaid him by commenting that it had often been observed that some siblings looked alike and some did not, whether or not they were twins. She also noted that sometimes siblings behaved similarly and shared similar beliefs and sometimes they did not. She seemed to be thinking of herself and her druidic elder sister. Po could not find the words to more explicitly translate his odd concept. Umbopa commented approvingly that the doctor understood. "Baktu."
Still on the trail of "light and dark" twins, someone asked Umbopa about his light colouration. The native said, "Light skin is a symbol of an esteemed birth. You are all great lords." His expansive gesture took in the pale skins of most of the group, the Chinamen, perhaps, excepted.
Miss Costorari finally asked Umbopa to explain more clearly about the Key to Understanding. It was a phrase written in the triumphant enamel of Lord Cardiff's piece of stele. Umbopa explained, "The great king Mansa Masa built a University town which encompassed all knowledge known in Africa. This town was called the Key to Understanding. In my people's language, Timbuktu. It is lost now. It was said to be located on the bend of a great river that all assume is the Niger, but it is not to be found now. The writings by the conqueror on the stele is the last tale of the finding of Timbuktu."
Friday, 2. June. 1888 [though perhaps we started off the afternoon of Thursday?]
Guests of Lord Cardiff , the Party found themselves rolling along comfortably in his lordship's carriages for the two days it took to reach the aforementioned dig, a burial mound being excavated from the side.
Saturday, 3.June.1888
Upon reaching their destination late that day, Lord Cardiff introduced his dig manager, Dooley Johnson to the Party. Johnson turned and held out his hand, "It's good to see you again, Dr. Davis."
"But, sir, do I know you?"
With a knowing wink, "Of course! Dr. Warring introduced us when you came to visit him. Your fiancé was extremely glad to see you."
Dr. Davis protested weakly, "But I have never been to Africa before."
Johnson, "Of course you have. You even came back with Mr. Smith to take over Dr. Warring's work. Mr. Smith had the papers from his lordship. You and Mr. Smith loaded the obelisk into a wagon and took it away a month ago."
Dr. Davis fainted. Mr. Blake, suspicious of the direction the conversation had been taking, was in place to catch her.
When the doctor had been restored to her senses, the Party put together the facts.
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