Henri Giffard (Earth)
Messages:
To Mr
Giffard, from King Morgan: "My dear Sir, I am King of Bavaria and
have
need of some weapons. I wish to protect my potentially vulnerable
position
here in Bavaria and intend doing so by force of arms. I wish to
know
what your current offerings include and will then take a view as to
the
best purchases to make. Please contact me with your listing and
weaponry
available. Yours King Morgan I of Bavaria."
To the
new Council and to the Voice of each House, from Mr Fielding:
"Sir/Madam.
As the Voice of House Libra, I have certain unpleasant duties
that
must at times be performed. The calls by House Pisces for action
against
the Member of the Twelve for House Gemini can no longer be ignored.
His
Holiness transgressed the written Law of our order by deliberately
acting
to the extreme detriment of fellow Infernals. By using the madman
von
Struck against the members of an entire House of this Club, he has
directly
contravened Rule I.II. He also has clearly abused the privilege of
his
position by circumventing the normal security of the club in allowing
Von
Struck access to its members. In a speech to the Club at this year's
meeting,
I will be formally charging him with wilfully attempting to
destroy
the Order, and I will be proposing that the punishment be Infernal
Retribution
against him. I do not take this action lightly - indeed, I
regret
now that I was not more hasty in doing so, for in doing so I may
have
allowed him to continue his persecution of our fellows overlong. I
require,
under the formal Rules of the Inferno Club, that you consider the
evidence
before you and allow it to guide your judgement when making a
decision
to impose Retribution. For order to prevail, justice must be seen
to be
done." [The message is accompanied by a copy of Miss Sue's dossier of
victims
of the Levitican Army, and a compilation of charges against the
Pope.]
To the
Council, from the Vizier: "Council members, I want you, next year,
to vote
on an change for the second part of Charter Rule I.IV which should
be changed
by adding: " - unless these secrets are in conflict with the
future
existence of Humankind and therefore the Club itself." I will give
you
more info later on. Thank you."
To House
Libra and copied to the Council, from the Vizier: "I command you,
as Vizier,
that you, the members of House Libra tell me, or dig up, if you
do not
have them, the missing charter rules and especially those that refer
to Infernal
Demolition. This might not concern all members of the club, as
Mr.
Fielding declared last year, but it certainly concerns the Vizier, and
at the
moment of speaking, I have that title want to use the authority it
gives
me to get results - I hope we understand each other. Thank you. The
Vizier."
Notes:
Comte
Bertrand has designated you as allowed to request supplies directly
from
Steam Inc, his new umbrella company.
Colonel
Maguire has submitted his patents for the Steamatic Personal
Protector,
the Space Probe, the Steam Personal Alarm, the Mag-u-like
Photographic
Device, and the Cinematograph to the Taurean Library.
At the
meeting the Emperor tells you he has left a dossier for you in the
toilet,
containing information about a portal to other dimensions [you'll
have
to ask him what it says - Mo].
Space
- last-minute preparation is swift and precise. Baron von Poelzig
lays
in a supply of space medicines. Colonel Maguire constructs a
deep-space
probe. Mr Stone modifies the space suit, adding pressure release
and
intake valves so that its internal pressure can be adjusted by the
wearer.
Mr Dawson supervises changes to the Pioneer itself, adding air bags
and
parachutes, and wings and landing gear so that it can take off from an
unstable,
shifting or tilted surface. Meanwhile Mr Giffard is forming the
Lunar
Mining Corporation, directors being himself, Comte Bertrand, Baron
von
Poelzig, Colonel Maguire, Dr Bang and Messrs Dawson, Goddard and Swift.
As the
intrepid team boards the Pioneer, Mr Giffard makes a short speech to
the
world's assembled press. The crew consists of Mr Giffard, Mr Swift
(pilot),
Mr Goddard, Mr Dawson (co-pilot), Baron von Poelzig (ship's
doctor),
Mr Stone, Colonel Maguire and two soldiers, and a geologist
nominee
of Dr Bang's staff. There had been some talk of taking a steam man
along,
but Mr Dawson has ruled it out on weight grounds.
The trip
itself is uneventful, save for the entertaining spectacle of
Colonel
Maguire's SPP failing to deal with the problems of zero gravity.
Baron
von Poelzig keeps everyone entertained with conversation, making sure
that
no-one feels left out. Half way out, Mr Dawson gets very busy with
telescopes
and makes a number of astronomic observations. Mr Giffard
occupies
himself with a variety of other interesting devices of unknown
purpose,
and Colonel Maguire takes several Mag-U-Like pictures of space,
planets
and crew. At a carefully-calculated point, the Colonel releases his
Mars
probe, which sails off into the interplanetary void.
Mr Swift
handles the landing with aplomb, Mr Giffard carefully deploying
the
air bags, and the Pioneer touches down in the Sea of Tranquillity. Mr
Dawson
hops out and plants a flag which depicts the Earth surrounded by the
flags
of the UK, the USA, Venice, Bavaria and the Netherlands. It is not
long
before the cautious crew encounter the Moon's inhabitants, the
Selenites
- tall, loping beings of humanoid form, very pals and hairless,
with
big pale eyes. They do not wear clothes and have no apparent external
genitalia
or nails. They do not seem to be very bright, and one of them
tries
to eat the painting of the Moon as seen from Earth which Baron von
Poelzig
hands them as a gift. They do have some sort of language, but it is
very
different to any Earthly ones the crew know. Their curiosity about the
crew
soon wears off, and despite Mr Dawson's strict instructions to stay
within
sight of the ship, the crew disappear in all directions on a variety
of secret
missions of their own, some returning with pockets bulging
suspiciously,
some lugging unexplained equipment of one kind or another.
The
only one not to return is Dr Bang's geologist, who is found a couple of
hours
later lying on his face in a dusty crater, mining tools all about
him.
'Is he injured?' asks Mr Dawson anxiously. Baron von Poelzig, who is
examining
the poor fellow, looks up gravely and replies 'It's worse than
that
- he's dead, Jim.' The man's head has been bashed in with a Moon rock,
whether
by an assailant or whether he tripped and landed on it cannot be
determined.
The team
return to Earth in sombre mood, and Mr Giffard makes another brief
speech
to the world's press.
You have
samples of moon fungi (the only flora, and there are no apparent
fauna
apart from the Selenites) and of soil and rock. The Kirlian images of
Earth
and Moon from space do not reveal anything: if these planets have
spirits
then they do not register from so far away.
Research
- you and Dr Bang pool your mighty brains to crack the conundra of
the
ancients. You establish that the Holy Grail was brought from the Holy
Land
to south-western France in the 12th century by Sir Hugues de Payen,
who
founded the Knights Templar. It does not seem to have had any authentic
connection
with the British chieftain Arthur. The Knights Templar were
destroyed
in 1307 by Philippe IV of France, although it is generally
believed
that they persisted in some form. They have recently been
refounded
by Sir Parsifal von Schwartzlich, a German gentleman, and seem to
be allied
with the healer Dame Lilith Fair. As for the Members of the
Twelve,
apart from those who have revealed their identities to the Inferno
meeting,
you have no way of discerning who they are: they keep themselves
very
secret. You research the history and archaeology of Atlantis and the
pyramid
cultures of Egypt and Mexico, and discover that they are consistent
with
an influence radiating from Atlantis after its fall - as though
Atlantean
survivors had gone to Egypt and Mexico, and influenced those
societies.
Mr Charles Darwin has done a great deal of research in this
area,
you find. However nothing is known about Atlantis itself apart from
idle
speculation by the likes of Plato. Many myths and cultures have the
concept
of a godlike individual who looks after society, in fact it is
difficult
to find one that doesn't. This belief seems to be as old as
humanity,
and cannot be linked particularly to Atlantean influence. In fact
there
are no real common threads to the worlds' peoples and cultures in
general.
The pattern can be summarized as (if you believe Mr Darwin, who is
the
main theorizer in this department): before 10,000 BC, human ancestors
were
ape-like creatures; 10,000 BC or thenabouts, humans become
intelligent,
this seems to have happened at or near to Atlantis, and start
using
tools; between 10,000 and 2500 BC, humans become civilized, under
their
own steam and at various points on the globe; 2500 BC, Atlantis sinks
and
refugee Atlantean influence is seen in Egypt and Mexico. (Darwin also
has
a theory about intelligent squids, but it seems to you like the ravings
of a
madman.) There does not seem to have been any Atlantean influence over
China
or the I Ching. Hexagram 23 is called 'Disintegration' or 'Things
Fall
Apart': it is supposed to predict / provide insight into the
dissolution
of stasis.
Analysis
- you examine the Martian craft, which is just a big metal
cylinder,
and conclude disappointedly that it is not actually a ship at
all,
but just a projectile - it must have been fired at Earth from a large
cannon.
It has no means of propulsion or steering. Travelling by such a
means
would kill humans, but it is not a problem for the boneless Martians.
Factory
- you put the Diving Suit and Giffine Gun into mass production.
Demand
for the latter especially is great.