Re: Hollow Earth Expedition - Maddy's Journal
Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2023 2:52 am
Part 16
Journal of Madelyne Morgan, Vol. 3
2 PM, April 15(?), 1931, Valley of the Snakes
I think so. A man in a dapper linen suit exited the car, and went to one of the trucks. He withdrew a standard – a long, seven-foot pole topped with a large, metallic lozenge with a snakey design and with 3 progressively smaller shields mounted beneath. All of those were made of the Atlantean metal!
From our hiding place in the building they've parked in front of, we pick up a snippet of conversation (as translated from the Italian):
“The Doctor wants us back by nightfall!”
“Looks like we won't make it!”
“Keep those vehicles running! I want to get out of here!”
It would appear that our nemesis is near! But first, we need to avoid getting caught by his minions!
They make the job easier by dividing their forces; half join the officers and the civilian to go further into the city (no doubt to treat with our former captors) and the other half stay to guard the vehicles. We huddle to formulate a plan.
We come up with a risky one. Lucky is to go out, loop around and come up from the other side. He is going to try to secure the vehicles. But the real risk is being run by Kleio. She is going to go out and pretend to surrender. When the soldiers gather her to them, she is going to speak to them the Atlantean word “forget” to help stun them, while we rush out to effect the capture. The rest of us cover Kleio from our shelter, just in case she is unable to spring the trap.
Kleio goes out, babbling in Italian, drawing them to her, and our plan works like a charm. Our porters are able to arm themselves from the Italians, and now we have vehicles. The staff car has a map showing the way to a camp placed in the “Valley of the Giant Serpent”. Uncle is unfamiliar with the place, but it looks like our next destination!
While we are sorting out the vehicles, the soldiers are trying to confirm if Kleio is Kleio. When we ask how they know to ask that question, they tell us that they'd been given descriptions of us and given orders that we be taken prisoners. And that they not shoot any “creatures” accompanying us – like Basil!
With that information – and the desire to get out as soon as possible, we loaded ourselves into the vehicles and drove off. About a half-hour away, both Lucky and I realized we lost that odd, residual feeling we'd had once we'd lost the headaches we'd woken up to in the prison. It seemed like a good omen.
Soon, we were getting threatened over the vehicles' radios by the soldiers we'd left behind. Things like “Get back here! Dr. Milton knows you're coming! Without us, he'll just open fire! Your mission will fail, Professor!”
Well, we figured that their walkie-talkies didn't have the range to reach the Valley (they faded out about ten miles out), so we didn't have to fear their warnings. Of course, Dr. Milton was probably ready for us anyways, but we did have a chance of having tactical surprise. And if they wanted us alive, then we aren't likely to be greeted with a hail of gunfire once we get to Dr. Milton's camp. Of course, he probably had something else waiting for us, so just walking up was still a bad idea!
A few hours later, according to the map, we entered the Valley of the Snakes! The reptiles that festooned the trees and ground confirmed the location. It was now that we started to catch radio messages from the camp ahead. There was no indication of concern; the messages were mundane.
We stopped a couple of miles away from where the camp was located on the map. It was time to review our options.
The first thing was – what to do with the bearers. While increasing our numbers, we figured we were still going to be badly outnumbered. And our foes would be trained soldiers, too – it would have been a massacre! Since a frontal assault was out-of-the-question, keeping our group as small as possible would make going in by stealth easier. We told the porters to take one of the trucks and head back to Joanna's. They looked very grateful at not being dragooned into a hopeless fight and promptly left after wishing us luck. I handed them a copy of my journal for them to bring back to Joanna... in case...
With the bearers safely(?) away, we camouflaged the remaining vehicles. Just in time, too. First, the Italian DAT-3 sputtered over us, then a truck comes on down the road. We escape detection from both encounters, but it underscores that we need to be on the move! Especially if that truck ends up picking up the soldiers we left behind!
Our normal route would have had us come to the camp from the north. We figured we'd loop around to the west and come in from there. I found a couple of game trails that brought us by the route we wanted with no fuss. When we got to where “X” marked the spot of the camp, we crept to the edge of the trees and beheld...
A MAYAN PYRAMID!!! Smackdab in the middle of Africa!!! Betsy would have a heyday in the Land Beneath The River and it's T. Rex; I could set a TIGER amongst the canaries of Archaeology with this find! Too bad I had more pressing things to worry about now.
Like the military tent village that lay spread before the main entrance, complete with machine gun emplacement! But giving the upper part of the structure a closer look, I found at the edge of the overgrowth that had capped the building a small entrance that looked unguarded. A quick discussion and we made the obvious choice – we'd take the high road.
If there was anyone in the group who was having a worse time of it than Lucky, it would have to be Basil, Uncle's simian companion. He was unenthusiastic as we set off from Stanleyville; the encounter with the Snakemen soured his mood completely. Now, confronted with this structure, he wanted nothing to do with it. However, Uncle was insistent that he was going in; Basil reluctantly followed.
As we positioned ourselves to ascend by the side opposite of the military camp, we noticed that Uncle was beginning to fret, as if he's trying to tell himself a story, but he can't seem to get it right. Finally, we reach a resting spot near the top and he can suffer in (relative) silence no more.
“Children, I'm afraid I may have led you into great danger! Something in me keeps telling me about this place, but I cannot bring up any memories of it – NONE! My fear is that Dr. Milton has somehow gotten to me and that all I am doing is leading you into a trap! I wish I had never brought you here!”
The face, usually full of bright smiles, was downcast. The voice, usually booming and cheerful was muted and full of worry. We were all stunned for a moment. Lucky was the first to recover.
“'Children'? We're G-d-d-mned adults, now! If you stopped treating us like children, maybe we'd have had fewer rude surprises!”
It was my turn to find my voice. “Each of us have had nasty scraps for years!” I gave him an intent glare. “SOME of us have been listening too well to your stories all these years! We've been waiting for this moment!”
“Well, I haven't!” retorted Lucky.”I'm only here to get back at Milton for my parents and for the people at the house! But....” He paused, quickly thought of what next to say, then gave Uncle Horace a cold look. “You're picking a bad time to have Adventurer's Remorse, old man. Now, are we continuing on into the jaws of the trap? Or have we been wasting our time – and my future – only to leave this G-d-forsaken wilderness just before the Final Act?” Lucky was crunching a paper in his jacket pocket – his AADA acceptance letter!
Uncle looked upon Lucky with a stricken gaze, his regrets plainly etched on his face. Kleio came up and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“We didn't want this, but we are here now. But if Dr. Milton thinks he has us right where he wants us, we'll make sure he'll regret it!” She gave a cockeyed smile.
“Yeah,” added Thea. “We've all grown so much over this adventure! We probably couldn't face Dr. Milton at the start, but I like our chances now!” We went up and kindly kissed him on the forehead. “You chose our parents to help you. Did they fail you?”
Uncle's face softened. “No,” he replied quietly.
“No,” Thea affirmed. “We're their children. And we've been taught by the greatest Science Adventurer of the age! As well as the streets of New York, the boardrooms and backrooms of the cultural elite, the jungles of the Amazon and the trenches of the Great War! If anyone can stop Dr. Milton, it's us!”
Uncle Horace's face recovered its broad, bright smile; he returned Thea's forehead kiss, then looked around at each of us, face brightening with each face he saw – even Lucky's.
“Excuse an old man and his sentimentality. My promise to your parents to keep you safe has always been foremost in my mind. It has been so hard to get away from that, even as I've watched you grow into wonderful people; I'm so proud of you!” He sighed and straightened. “Maybe I'm not the man I used to be, but I still have something left!
“Let's go!”
And we moved through the encroaching jungle to reach the top of the pyramid and the entrance we hoped to find.
Journal of Madelyne Morgan, Vol. 3
2 PM, April 15(?), 1931, Valley of the Snakes
I think so. A man in a dapper linen suit exited the car, and went to one of the trucks. He withdrew a standard – a long, seven-foot pole topped with a large, metallic lozenge with a snakey design and with 3 progressively smaller shields mounted beneath. All of those were made of the Atlantean metal!
From our hiding place in the building they've parked in front of, we pick up a snippet of conversation (as translated from the Italian):
“The Doctor wants us back by nightfall!”
“Looks like we won't make it!”
“Keep those vehicles running! I want to get out of here!”
It would appear that our nemesis is near! But first, we need to avoid getting caught by his minions!
They make the job easier by dividing their forces; half join the officers and the civilian to go further into the city (no doubt to treat with our former captors) and the other half stay to guard the vehicles. We huddle to formulate a plan.
We come up with a risky one. Lucky is to go out, loop around and come up from the other side. He is going to try to secure the vehicles. But the real risk is being run by Kleio. She is going to go out and pretend to surrender. When the soldiers gather her to them, she is going to speak to them the Atlantean word “forget” to help stun them, while we rush out to effect the capture. The rest of us cover Kleio from our shelter, just in case she is unable to spring the trap.
Kleio goes out, babbling in Italian, drawing them to her, and our plan works like a charm. Our porters are able to arm themselves from the Italians, and now we have vehicles. The staff car has a map showing the way to a camp placed in the “Valley of the Giant Serpent”. Uncle is unfamiliar with the place, but it looks like our next destination!
While we are sorting out the vehicles, the soldiers are trying to confirm if Kleio is Kleio. When we ask how they know to ask that question, they tell us that they'd been given descriptions of us and given orders that we be taken prisoners. And that they not shoot any “creatures” accompanying us – like Basil!
With that information – and the desire to get out as soon as possible, we loaded ourselves into the vehicles and drove off. About a half-hour away, both Lucky and I realized we lost that odd, residual feeling we'd had once we'd lost the headaches we'd woken up to in the prison. It seemed like a good omen.
Soon, we were getting threatened over the vehicles' radios by the soldiers we'd left behind. Things like “Get back here! Dr. Milton knows you're coming! Without us, he'll just open fire! Your mission will fail, Professor!”
Well, we figured that their walkie-talkies didn't have the range to reach the Valley (they faded out about ten miles out), so we didn't have to fear their warnings. Of course, Dr. Milton was probably ready for us anyways, but we did have a chance of having tactical surprise. And if they wanted us alive, then we aren't likely to be greeted with a hail of gunfire once we get to Dr. Milton's camp. Of course, he probably had something else waiting for us, so just walking up was still a bad idea!
A few hours later, according to the map, we entered the Valley of the Snakes! The reptiles that festooned the trees and ground confirmed the location. It was now that we started to catch radio messages from the camp ahead. There was no indication of concern; the messages were mundane.
We stopped a couple of miles away from where the camp was located on the map. It was time to review our options.
The first thing was – what to do with the bearers. While increasing our numbers, we figured we were still going to be badly outnumbered. And our foes would be trained soldiers, too – it would have been a massacre! Since a frontal assault was out-of-the-question, keeping our group as small as possible would make going in by stealth easier. We told the porters to take one of the trucks and head back to Joanna's. They looked very grateful at not being dragooned into a hopeless fight and promptly left after wishing us luck. I handed them a copy of my journal for them to bring back to Joanna... in case...
With the bearers safely(?) away, we camouflaged the remaining vehicles. Just in time, too. First, the Italian DAT-3 sputtered over us, then a truck comes on down the road. We escape detection from both encounters, but it underscores that we need to be on the move! Especially if that truck ends up picking up the soldiers we left behind!
Our normal route would have had us come to the camp from the north. We figured we'd loop around to the west and come in from there. I found a couple of game trails that brought us by the route we wanted with no fuss. When we got to where “X” marked the spot of the camp, we crept to the edge of the trees and beheld...
A MAYAN PYRAMID!!! Smackdab in the middle of Africa!!! Betsy would have a heyday in the Land Beneath The River and it's T. Rex; I could set a TIGER amongst the canaries of Archaeology with this find! Too bad I had more pressing things to worry about now.
Like the military tent village that lay spread before the main entrance, complete with machine gun emplacement! But giving the upper part of the structure a closer look, I found at the edge of the overgrowth that had capped the building a small entrance that looked unguarded. A quick discussion and we made the obvious choice – we'd take the high road.
If there was anyone in the group who was having a worse time of it than Lucky, it would have to be Basil, Uncle's simian companion. He was unenthusiastic as we set off from Stanleyville; the encounter with the Snakemen soured his mood completely. Now, confronted with this structure, he wanted nothing to do with it. However, Uncle was insistent that he was going in; Basil reluctantly followed.
As we positioned ourselves to ascend by the side opposite of the military camp, we noticed that Uncle was beginning to fret, as if he's trying to tell himself a story, but he can't seem to get it right. Finally, we reach a resting spot near the top and he can suffer in (relative) silence no more.
“Children, I'm afraid I may have led you into great danger! Something in me keeps telling me about this place, but I cannot bring up any memories of it – NONE! My fear is that Dr. Milton has somehow gotten to me and that all I am doing is leading you into a trap! I wish I had never brought you here!”
The face, usually full of bright smiles, was downcast. The voice, usually booming and cheerful was muted and full of worry. We were all stunned for a moment. Lucky was the first to recover.
“'Children'? We're G-d-d-mned adults, now! If you stopped treating us like children, maybe we'd have had fewer rude surprises!”
It was my turn to find my voice. “Each of us have had nasty scraps for years!” I gave him an intent glare. “SOME of us have been listening too well to your stories all these years! We've been waiting for this moment!”
“Well, I haven't!” retorted Lucky.”I'm only here to get back at Milton for my parents and for the people at the house! But....” He paused, quickly thought of what next to say, then gave Uncle Horace a cold look. “You're picking a bad time to have Adventurer's Remorse, old man. Now, are we continuing on into the jaws of the trap? Or have we been wasting our time – and my future – only to leave this G-d-forsaken wilderness just before the Final Act?” Lucky was crunching a paper in his jacket pocket – his AADA acceptance letter!
Uncle looked upon Lucky with a stricken gaze, his regrets plainly etched on his face. Kleio came up and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder.
“We didn't want this, but we are here now. But if Dr. Milton thinks he has us right where he wants us, we'll make sure he'll regret it!” She gave a cockeyed smile.
“Yeah,” added Thea. “We've all grown so much over this adventure! We probably couldn't face Dr. Milton at the start, but I like our chances now!” We went up and kindly kissed him on the forehead. “You chose our parents to help you. Did they fail you?”
Uncle's face softened. “No,” he replied quietly.
“No,” Thea affirmed. “We're their children. And we've been taught by the greatest Science Adventurer of the age! As well as the streets of New York, the boardrooms and backrooms of the cultural elite, the jungles of the Amazon and the trenches of the Great War! If anyone can stop Dr. Milton, it's us!”
Uncle Horace's face recovered its broad, bright smile; he returned Thea's forehead kiss, then looked around at each of us, face brightening with each face he saw – even Lucky's.
“Excuse an old man and his sentimentality. My promise to your parents to keep you safe has always been foremost in my mind. It has been so hard to get away from that, even as I've watched you grow into wonderful people; I'm so proud of you!” He sighed and straightened. “Maybe I'm not the man I used to be, but I still have something left!
“Let's go!”
And we moved through the encroaching jungle to reach the top of the pyramid and the entrance we hoped to find.