The Syrtis Star - 7th November 1889

Col. Singen-Smythe payed us a visit. Some bodies had shown up and he could not make heads or tails of the situation. We went to the Dyametries club to discuss matters with him. He told us that three bodies had turned up in the canal. Their skin was bright red and had a waxy consistency, and their faces were in a rictus of terror. The bodies had been identified as:
Cole Ball aged 23, a market worker
Benedict Simpson aged 21, a market worker
Mary Thompson aged 19, a scullery maid

We went to the morgue to inspect the bodies. The red colour appeared to be the skin itself rather than a coating or stain on the surface, though there was also a film of red in their hair. Tarquin started an autopsy and found the internal organs to be normal. Maxfield found a leaflet in the pocket of the jacket of Cole Ball advertising a closed community called Sweetville run by Winifred Gillyflower which had been a chemical factory run by her husband until he died. We then went to the market while the autopsy was completed by a professional. At the market we found that Cole and Benedict sold had fruit and vegetables there, and Mary was Coles girlfriend. We then returned to get the results of the autopsy. They had died as a result of a toxin and the red substance on their skin was the source of the toxin.

We then went to the docks where the bodies had been found. A fisherman called Joe Franks had found the bodies and the current in the canal was flowing from the direction of Meepsoor. We then went to the town hall to find out more about the Sweetville chemical factory. Outside the hall was a young lady handing out the Sweetville leaflets. She had clearly been indoctrinated. Every sentence started Mrs Gillyflower says…. The Sweetville community was only open to young people who believed all Mrs Gillyflowers twaddle about building a better community.

There were rumours that his Mr Gillyflowers death was suspicious and his wife had wanted control of the business. She was a chemist herself. The factory closed in 1876 and Mrs Gillyflower was estimated to be worth half a million pounds. The factory was on the canal between Meepsoor and Syrtis Major and the raw materials used were mined a few miles from the factory. The factory and mine reopened several years ago when the community there was started. When it reopened a silent partner called Mr Sweet was registered with the authorities.

In the evening we went to a presentation by Mrs Gillyflower about moral decay at the town hall. The audience were all young and reacted unusually strongly to the speech. There was also a strange smell in the air. On the stage was a covered box. After the presentation ended, about half the audience rushed forward to sign up to the community. Maxfield took the opportunity to creep up and look under the cover of the box on the stage. Inside was a young veiled woman. Maxfield talked to her and found she was called Aga. She was the daughter of Mrs Gillyflower. She said she had been in the cage all her life but did not need help. She said Mr Sweet helped her mother do what she was doing. She had never seen Mr Sweet though he was always close.

When everyone had finished signing up, Mrs Gillyflower announced ‘look what depravity has done to my daughter’ then ordered the cover from the box and Aga to lift her veil. Her eyes were white and she was obviously blind.

Outside we found out from the leaflet lady that Mrs Gillyflower was staying in the Syrtis Hilton. We went there and Tarquin paid one of the concierge to be let into her room. He also said the maids had heard her talking to someone in her room when she was alone, and always asked for extra salt with her meals.

Inside the room was one of her followers. Tarquin entered the room and moved to attack. The follower lashed out, stunning Maxfield. Tarquin ran him through but he continued fighting back. Maxfield was knocked unconscious before Tarquin cut off the Sweetvillians arm. He continued to fight and the skin appeared to be covering across the wounds Tarquin had inflicted. It took several more blows before Tarquin finally decapitated him. There was still movement under his clothes. Tarquin lifted them inside and revealed a creature a bit like a lobster clinging to the Sweetvillians skin. It started detaching and Tarquin killed it. It had bright red blood similar in colour to the bodies that had been founds in the canal.

While Tarquin started cleaning up I searched the room with Maxfield. We found a safe behind a painting. Maxfield opened it and inside was a manila envelope which we took. The concierge was persuaded to finish dealing with the mess after much discussion and explaining the alien influence.

In the envelope were some engineering schematics, floor plans for a large building with notes about 'increasing the capacity of the vats, and acquiring more red leeches from the mine to get more red venom'. The schematics were for a chemical propelled rocket with a housing for venom containers and was designed to disperse the venom in the atmosphere. The plans appeared to show it hidden in the smoke stack of the Sweetville factory.

Col. Singen-Smythe was informed of the developments and a plan was formed to ambush Mrs Gillyflower on the way back to Sweetville. Col. Singen-Smythe lent us four soldiers and gave me some dynamite. I rode out with Jean-Luc and the soldiers to find a suitable spot for an ambush while Tarquin watched the Sweetvillians prepare to depart then rode ahead of them. Maxfield stayed in Syrtis Major to recover from the battering he took at the hotel.

An ambush was set up in a ravine which I blocked with some dynamite. I set more ready to block the path behind but they saw us before they got to the ambush point. We opened fire on one of the outriders but it took 7 shots to knock him from his saddle and even then he was still crawling about. One of the drivers was also shot several times and appeared just as tough. Clearly they all had the same supernatural strength as the Sweetvillian from the hotel. I set off the second charge, bringing down the ravine wall on the outrider who was crawling about, then we retreated quickly.

We were pursued by the three remaining outriders who were quick and we had to turn and confront them. Tarquin and the soldiers drew swords and charged them down. Two of the soldiers were killed in the fight which was very hard. It only ended when I spotted the location of the lobster on the last Sweetvillians back and shot it. That appeared to be their weakness as they dropped immediately when the alien lobster died.

One of the lobsters on the dead Sweetvillians was killed by Tarquin but he wanted to capture the last one alive for investigation. Unfortunately when he tried to capture it, the lobster sank pincers into his hand and injected a venom. His hand immediately started turning red. Jean-Luc shot the lobster and his hand then one of the soldiers quickly cut off the hand before the venom spread.

We rode to Sweetville, leaving Tarquin behind as he could not keep up, though he did manage to catch back up as we approached Sweetville. We found a drainage outlet that had been marked on the plans and after cutting the lock off the grate we entered the factory. Jean-Luc managed to get three of their costumes by killing three Sweetvillians who were not expecting any trouble and clearly without any lobster enhancements by walking up to them and clubbing them.

Dressed like other Sweetvillians we found our way to the smokestack hiding the rocket but two armed Sweetvillians were guarding the doorway. They went to draw weapons as we approached so I shot the lobster one had on his neck. The other shot me before Jean-Luc killed him.

Inside the smokestack was a huge rocket. I started setting dynamite on the rocket and its controls while Tarquin and Jean-Luc fought two other Sweetvillians who saw us and climbed down from the rocket. After setting the dynamite we ran back to the sewer entrance as the alarm started sounding. Sweetvillians swarmed at us from all directions and many were killed before we escaped through the sewer. When we emerged, Jean-Luc killed a horse so it fell against the grate, blocking it and preventing our pursuers following us from the sewers. As we rode away there was a huge explosion from the factory as something flammable in the rocket went up.