Several quiet weeks passed. One morning Mrs Eaton, Maxfields housekeeper arrived in a distressed state. It was her anniversary and her husband Reg had left in the morning saying nothing. On the same morning Col. Singen Smithe visited and wanted us to meet him at his club. I went to the club with Tarquin while Maxfield went to find out what was wrong with Reg.
Col. Singen Smithe was with the Belgian Cpt. Xavier DeZuttger. The British and Belgian empires had formed an alliance and trade agreement on Mars, and both were having problems around the Swamp of Gorklimsk. There had been several attacks on both nations barges on canals between Gorklimsk (the Belgian capital) and Crocea recently. Required to help investigate.
We got details of the attacks:
The Belgian barge Congre’s at Parabanset
The Belgian barge La Quatre between Genise and Arapgaat
The Belgian barge Louis Marie between Fetawen and Drum
The Belgian Duke Dec Brabente between Samea and Pond
The British barge Prince Albert at Endwaters
The British barge India Empress at Gateway
The British barge Dark continent between Fadath and Endwaters
Canal martians had reported seeing green bug eyed monsters coming out of the canal in the swamp.
An urchin arrived outside the club and delivered a written note from Maxfield saying to come immediately as he had been injured. We went with Col. Singen Smithe and Cpt. Xavier DeZuttger To Mrs Eatons house where we found the house on fire. Cpt. Xavier ran in with Tarquin and dragged Maxfield out. When he recovered he told the tale of what had happened:
When he arrived Reg was speaking strangely as if English was a foreign language and he seemed to have forgotten personal details like the fact he did not work. When Maxfield tried to enter the cellar Reg tried to push him down the stairs. Maxfield drew his gun and made Reg go into the cellar then followed him. He found a sheet of tarpaulin in the corner with noises coming from beneath.
Reg charged as Maxfield pulled back the tarpaulin to reveal a large green pod with tendrils. Maxfield shot it as Reg attacked. After 4 shots the pod split open to reveal a dwarf Mrs Eaton. Maxfield fired again, killing it, then fled from Reg. He broke back in when he saw smoke from the house. A fire had been started in the cellar. He passed out while trying to find Reg. When Mrs Eaton was told what happened she said Reg had visited his brother Arthur in Meipsor about 10 days ago.
Cpt. Xavier offered to fly us to Gorklimsk where we could ride with a Belgian gunboat called the Leopold II while on patrol. Maxfield arranged for a diving suit to be loaded. We sailed to the area where the nearest barge sank where the Leopold II trawled the area looking for the wreck. After 20 minutes we found something and Tarquin went down in the diving suit to investigate. He found the wreck of the India Empress lying on its side. It seemed to have been holed by at least three impacts. He also found a body in the mud which appeared to have died with a look of pain.
There were crates, some broken open and others intact. A crate was pulled up and it contained clothes. On the bank Maxfield found a metal cube with two ridges down its sides and three metal terminals on each end. I examined it. It was made of a very light alloy and was probably some sort of capacitor to hold an electrical charge.
We continued along the canal and several hours later we saw a Martian barge approaching. I convinced the captain to search the boat. One of the crates on the barge was opened to reveal ammunition for a Belgian rifle. The captain seemed uninterested and just wanted to let them go. One of the Martians gave me some of their tobacco before they left. Maxfield smoked some and declared it better than the Belgian tobacco. The captain identified it as dried weed from the bottom of the canal.
The following morning we arrived in the area of the Prince Albert shipwreck. We trawled for its location then Tarquin went down to investigate. The hull had been pierced from below by something pointed, leaving two holes on each side of the hull. There was cargo and bodies round the wreck. The bodies all had expressions of pain on their faces. He also found a couple of pieces of green glass in the mud. The glass appeared to be pieces of a lens and might explain the reports of bug eyed monsters.
Examination of a body revealed it had died of cardiac arrest. On its back were three small holes with the same spacing as the terminals on the object we previously found on the canal bank. I dug three metal barbs from the wounds. There was no water in his lungs proving he did not drown.
We then moved on to the wreck of the Dark Continent. After locating the wreck Tarquin went down. While searching he was attacked by something with green eyes. It fired something and Tarquin was hit by a flash of electricity. We pulled him up quickly and I dug three metal barbs from his leg which were electrocuting him.
We hatched a plan and made a dummy by stuffing some clothes. I put dynamite inside and rigged it to explode when electrocuted. We lowered it into the water. About 15 minutes later there was an explosion. We threw in more dynamite and a body floated to the surface. It had a round metal object on its back and was wearing green lenses on its eyes. It was wearing a black rubber suit which was torn and ripped and carried a pistol that fired the darts I had dug out of Tarquin. The metal object had writing on the side in Urdu which said ‘pressurised, do not pierce, Oxygen’. Inside the suit was the battered remains of a Canal Martian with ritualistic markings, probably marking the martial as a ground cleanser, a faction which hate the British.
We explored up a small side canal nearby and passed a barge of canal Martians. It appeared to have no cargo and the Martians all wore hoods. The Belgian crew opened fire, killing three outright and wounding the fourth. Tarquin jumped on the barge and immobilised the Martian. On their backs the Martians were carrying rifle sized versions of the dart weapons. On one body was a note which was signed NoOne and said:
At the end of the canal we searched and I found some more rubber suits hidden under tarpaulin with some jars of grease. Myself, Tarquin, Captain Xavier and a crewman called Eric donned the suits. We then went into the canal to search for the cave. We found the entrance deep under the water on the right bank. We swam in and down a passage. The passage eventually opened out into a large cavern.
The cavern was half filled with air and a walkway ran around the side. In the centre was a large metal vessel named Nautilus II, with ten smaller vessels moored nearby. We climbed aboard the large vessel where we found an Indian individual standing at a control panel. He just motioned us to a hatchway behind him. Clearly the suits were acting as a good disguise for us. Tarquin walked over to him then clubbed him with his rifle, stunning him then knocking him unconscious.
Through the hatchway was a room containing many of the suits and another hatch leading down. We went through the hatch down into another room. Inside were two more Indians and some machinery including a turbine. One of the Indians started speaking to me in a foreign language and started getting agitated when I could not reply so I shot him, then the other when he ran to raise the alarm. They had been using sodium as an energy source to power the turbine. Someone called Nemo started talking over a communications device on the wall in English. Tarquin replied saying there was a problem with the sodium indicator. The voice said he would send some men.
I started setting explosives on the turbine with the intention of rupturing it and releasing water onto the sodium which should do a lot of dammage, while the others moved to defend our position. I heard an exchange of fire then an exchange of threats. Then the captain Nemo showed up. He claimed to be Prince Dakkar from Mysore in India.
There were more threats then Nemo demanded we surrender. Tarquin moved to attack with his sword and the fight re-commenced. Eric was badly injured but Tarquin killed Nemo with a flurry of sword blows. The rest of his crew immediately stopped then pulled knives and committed suicide, as did the rest of the crew when they learned Nemo was dead.
I was able to determine the workings of the vessel enough for us to get it moving and take it to Gorklimsk. The politicians argued over the split if the technology we had recovered.