"STEAM LONDON" Game Thread

[HAC]

Hiram returned to his Mayfair flat from an evening at the Opera. Most entertaining, he had found it, and a welcome diversion from the stress of the last few days.
 As he entered, Uriah took his coat, cane gloves and hat, and said
 "Message from Gibraltar, sir, Boheme arrived safely"
 "Excellent news, my old Friend. I shall retire to the study, please fetch a decanter of brandy there" smiled Hiram.
 "As you wish, master, there are some correspondences from Lamont as well, concerning his talk with the attacker of the Boheme, I believe he has also forwarded messages to Captain Husdon" added Uriah.
 "Good, good, as always, Lamont proves his worth, his little foibles are expensive, but the man is a genius of sorts in his own right"

Meanwhile in Gibraltar......
Ben arrives at the dock offices to arrange refueling. As he does so, the dock officer looks him over and says...
"Man from Bertram's Chandlers offices to see you Captain, you may use that office across the hall"..

Ben enters the office, and sees a dark swarthy man waiting for him..  He closes the door, and offers Ben his hand..

"Good Day Senor Capitan Hudson, my name is Estevan, and I have for you a package and messages from our employer.. I must remain, to see , with my own eyes that you have seen them, and then to destroy them, if you please, But, first, this is for you..."
He hands Ben a leather box. Be opens it and finds an odd contraption, consisting of two leather arm braces,some tubing, and small cylinders.
There is a note in the box, as well, as several other small metal tubes. Ben opens the note and reads....

"My dear Captain Hudson,  I last took leave of you under rather hasty circumstances, but, I fear that my discussion with that would be saboteur forced my hand. Forgive my lack of observing the courtesies due your station.   I fear, sir that, you may be in some danger when you port. To that end, I was instructed by my master, to have this small device waiting for you upon your arrival here.  It is a rather effective, and unobtrusive weapon. The leather braces go on your arm, below the elbow and above the wrist. The small cylinder at the upper end contains a charge of highly compressed air. The lower cylinder  unscrews from the lower end and contains a small supply of tungsten darts, each containing a rather nasty toxin, that is almost instantly fatal.
The small tube extending out of it should be fitted to your wrist, concealed by your sleeve, it is most effective for aiming purposes to align it with your ring finger. The trigger and safety mechanisms extend to your palm, and are operated by your thumb. The range is approximately 10 metres, and the darts will
penetrate most body armour you may encounter. The device has a capacity of 10 darts. There is, also, enclosed, a supply of 200 spare darts. There is a fitting on the air reservoir that will allow you to recharge the device from any of the standard compressor fittings on your ship.
 I daresay that you will realize that this is rather an illegal weapon, but one that my master has found to be very effective in the service of his operatives.
It is, if fitted properly, very difficult to notice, and as such, a rather nice surprise for your assailants.
 On a final note, my little teatime chat with that Russian agent was most enlightening, I fear that the Russians have moved a few patrol airships into the Khyber Pass area. If there is any trouble to be seen from them, expect it there. If you would be so kind as to give this note to our agent, he will see it destroyed.
 With regards, and with hope of a satisfactory conclusion to your mission..
Lamont"

Ben hands the note to Estevan, who grins, and taking a cigarette case from his jacket, choses one, and then taking a match, lights the note, and uses it to light the cigar.  

"Ah Senor Capitan, very good. I will leave now, The office of Bertram's  down the dock, west, a few hundred metres.....If you have need of anything, we are there"
Estevan grins once more, and departs. leaving Ben with a leather box containing a rather unique weapon, and a warning of possible danger in the air..
Ben sighs, and heads out to supervise refueling (teh cost of which he has been assured is covered by his letters of credit), and as he watches the guages, he hears a womans' voice....
 

[Ben Hudson, Esq.]

"Captain Hudson, I presume?"

Ben turned. He had been keeping a close eye on the gauges. Gibraltar was a safe enough place, but years on the aeroroutes had taught him that dock workers are always looking for an opportunity to bolster their pay for the sake of another round of drinks or hour in the fleshpots. A well-dressed, respectable woman stood there.
'Certainly, ma'am. How may I be of assistance?'

[Vienna Fahrmann]

     Lilli had decided to tag along with the crew on their shore leave in Gibraltar.  She wanted a chance to stretch her legs and get some hopefully fresher air.  During the voyage from London to Gibraltar, she had taken the opportunity to crack the combination lock on the Captains safe while the crew were busy.  She found a pouch of gold sovereigns and removed several, along with some smaller change.  Since she had arrived without her purse, or indeed any outer clothing, she needed funds; and the Captain did say someone had paid for her passage. 
     Lilli also wrote out a short list for Ben to hand to the chandlers.  They would surely know how to supply her with a good set of lockpicks and other useful items.

     Vienna

[Sir Nikolas of Vendigroth]

Underwood had been in the coal bunker since the last evening, and was getting restless. The people in the house had finally retired to bed, leaving him alone in the darkness.
He unlatched the door, ensuring that he made no noise, and slipped out into the night.
Bucer's seemed like the ideal place to find employment, but he couldn't enter while covered in coal dust....
After a brief trip to his chamber, deep underground, a thorough wash and a change of clothes he was ready to visit the pub.
Underwood strode in through the door and straight up to the bar, and ordered his customary tea.
Noting a group of men in the corner, he crossed the intervening floor:
"Good evening, Gentlemen. I'm looking for employment. Do you know of any jobs?"

[bluestocking]

'Certainly, ma'am. How may I be of assistance?'

"I require passage to India. The dock-master  was good enough to inform me that your airship is traveling to Lucknow?"

Her accent was quite unexpected, a combination of Hindu lilt with soft, crisp Oxonian phrasing.

"I will happily pay for my passage if it is required... or, perhaps, do you count a physician among your crew's compliment? From what the dock-master said, you plan to travel to certain... shall we say rough?... ports of call. It might not serve you ill to have access to a doctor's services."

[Vienna Fahrmann]

     Lilli took advantage of Gibraltar's port sections all-night activity.  As the crew headed out in search of a bar, she had insisted on detouring to a second-hand clothing stall.  When the men, escpecially Oliver, had protested at the delay and asked why she had to do this right now, she had answered "Because I can't wear pink" in the same matter-of-fact tone that someone else might use to say that the sun will rise tomorrow.  Leonard and Oliver had been embarrassed both by Lilli's selections, and her unexpected ability to haggle like a fishwife. 
     When Lilli pulled some coins from the pocket of her borrowed skirt, all the crew eyed each other significantly behind her back and stealthily checked their own cash supplies.
     At last she completed her transaction and looked at them brightly.  "On to the bar now?" she asked.

     Vienna

[Vienna Fahrmann]

     Hiram methodically read through the new papers Uriah had brought him.  They included another telegram addressed to the Savoy Hotel.  It read "Dearest Lilli.  Your Paris home ransacked.  Staff uninjured.  Housekeeper says nothing taken.  Surete investigating.  Will stop in Paris en route to London.  Reply soon.  Your worried brother, Michael".
    Hiram momentarily considered alerting the Countess of these developments just to see what ensued, but dismissed the notion.  He had more immediate matters that needed his attention.

     Vienna

[Ben Hudson, Esq.]

'He was correct. A doctor's assistance would be useful indeed. I would expect that we would be glad to have you on board. If you are willing to take a role in the running of the ship, there will be no need to pay for your passage. May I enquire as to your name?'

Another stop, and another passenger! It was becoming quite a singular trip. The way this is going, thought Ben, we'll be in need of a doctor. Let's hope it doesn't fall to that.

[Vienna Fahrmann]

     The party from the Boheme wandered the port area for a time and eventually found a bar that suited their tastes.  Jessica and Lilli continued a discussion of the conspiracy theories surrounding the International League of Temperance Voters and their quest to obtain the Orb of Anubis, before it could fall into the hands of a secret organization of distillery owners, who wanted it to turn the British and American populations into alcohol-dependent zombie drone workers.  While Lilli had her doubts about the international alcohol conspiracies, the Orb of Anubis sounded like an interesting object.
     Supposedly the Orb contained an amulet, that, when worn by the correct person, would allow them to communicate with the ancient Egyptian deity, Anubis.  His function in the Egyptian mythos seemed to relate to the judging of human souls for the afterlife and possibly in resurrecting the dead.  Anubis was also reputed to be able to move among different eras of time and space, being potentially as powerful in the present as he had been in the past. 

[bluestocking]

'He was correct. A doctor's assistance would be useful indeed. I would expect that we would be glad to have you on board. If you are willing to take a role in the running of the ship, there will be no need to pay for your passage. May I enquire as to your name?'

"I am Lakshmi Marleybone-Smythe, of Calcutta and London. I'd be more than happy to assist in the running of the ship; I have some little experience in that field, particularly in the mechanical workings, although I am not expert by any means."

"Mechanicals?" Ben looked surprised. In her crisp tweed suit and white kid gloves, Lakshmi looked far from the usual grease-monkey.

"Indeed, sir. My medical specialty is the construction of self-powered clockwork prostheses; as a result, I have a fine working knowledge of gearing and mechanics. Everything else is a matter of scale." Noting his look of vague concern, she laughed. "Worry not, Captain! I greatly hope not to exercise my skills in that realm on this voyage. I am also quite adept at all manner of surgeries and the concocting of tonics, liniments, and pills. My medical degree is from Oxford."

With a solid thunk, the fueling hose detached from the zeppelin's port. The chief of the fueling crew waved to Ben. "She's fill up, guv. Settle up with the dock-master afore you leave."

Ben thanked the crew, and they departed with the giant fueling hose. Ben's attention returned to Lakshmi.

"Now, sir, I must admit that I was prepared to take this journey by steam-ship, rather than zeppelin, and did not expect to serve in my professional capacity. Let me send round to my hotel for my luggage, and then I shall have to visit an apothecary for necessary supplies. When is your planned departure?"

"First light. I had planned to meet the rest of my crew at a bar in the city. Would you like to accompany me, and become acquainted with them?"

"Capital! I'll but ask that we stop at the apothecary's on the way. In a city such as this, I believe such establishments are open 'round the clock."

Ben gallantly extended his arm to her. "Shall we, then?"

Lakshmi rested her gloved fingertips lightly on the crook of his arm and allowed him to guide her down the length of the spar to the lift.

[AFGNCAAP]

"So they've already left...so silly; they think they can run away from Von Watt forever..."
A few alleys away from the pub, a lucky one existed that was completely empty...until the silence was dashed by the scream of a monowheel tearing through the puddles. An observer would only have seen a blur, missing the convoluted, silver-piped engines that were clearly not of this era.
Von Watt held his top hat in place with one hand and kept the other on the steering wheel, still, moving straight ahead and pointed right at the stone side of a building. His humming green mechanical eye, too, was on the speedometer...the dial crept past sixty-seven kilometers per hour...seventy-five...he could read the graffiti on the wall he was on a collision course with...eighty-two...it was natural to put on the brakes when he could pick out the wall's individual stones, but he was too close; he would make it just in time, no pun intended. The speedometer hit eighty-eight kilometers per hour, the monowheel dissolved in a shower of green sparks that scattered over the wall and burned away some of the paint.

Another wave was sent through time, and hit the door of the pub...suddenly, Demetri was alone as he walked outside, and it did not seem so unusual...halfway to the university, which he found by following the slope of the streets upward, the idea of it being odd at all had disappeared. He stood in front of the gates, and pointed his arm at a forty-five degree angle to the east--he had figured out some time ago that this pointed him straight to the building that contained his shabby little flat, at least until he memorized the street names for good.
When he got there, he absent-mindedly greeted the doorman in French--there was too much on his mind to remember something else--and headed upstairs. However, he did not stop at his room. He did not even pause at his door. He did not stop going up until he reached the rooftop, the edge of which he sat down upon and looked over Upper and the seething Lower London.
He could not pick out the line between the two, as the manmade valley Lower London sat in was, actually, too small to be perceived from here.
He could make out only one city.
He stayed there all night.

[Ben Hudson, Esq.]

In accordance with her wishes, Ben led the charming Ms Marleybone-Smythe to the Apothecary. He had to admit to being a little surprised at her profession at first, though on further consideration, the art of clockwork seemed to suit her rather well in an oblique fashion. She was clearly very cultured, and he hoped that she would cope on board the ship, which while no slum, was by no means the Ritz.

The Apothecary, had (like all Apothecaries worldwide) tiny windows, apparently smoked up from within. This combined with the distorted glass made it impossible to see inside. He pulled open the stiff door for Ms Marleybone-Smythe. She walked in confidently, and placed a large list on the desk. The wizened apothecary appeared from a back room and picked it up. While he shuffled about collecting bits and pieces, Ben browsed the various cabinets placed around the shop. In some places, there was only enough space in between them to go sideways, and spare floorspace was covered in papers, theorems and formulae. He noticed a rather grizzly looking glass box, in which a decapitated hand held a vial of purple liquid, corked and waxed. A paper label read 'A Poison; Most Potent And Effective In The Quick Dispatch of Enemies or Husbands. More Distillations, Infusions and Concoctions Available Upon Your Request.' It reminded him of the strange weapon that had been sent to him, that sat uncomfortably on his wrist. He tore his eyes away from it and moved onto another cabinet which concerned itself with infusions to combat the venom of the Peruvian Leaping Spider, the Deathspot Scorpion and the Potato Snake. He had a sneaking suspicion that these would not be found in any bestiary of note.

By now, Ms Marleybone-Smythe had completed her transaction and paid with a crisp note. The apothecary wrapped his wares in cotton-wool and paper before putting them in a brown box. 'Deliver them to the Bohème, if you please. Berth six, spar nine.' He nodded his agreement. 'I'll have the boy run them down, miss.'

They left, and set about finding the others. Before long, they found them in one of the more respectable bars in town. Inside, it was warm and comfortable. It was only a small bar, with mirrors on the wall, but it had a well-stocked bar and countless interesting looking people. Jessica and Lilli sat, apparently engaged in some exciting conversation or other. Oliver and Leonard were arguing with each other and another inventorly looking fellow goodnaturedly over some technicality or another. They greeted the others, and went to the bar for a drink. Ben had an absinthe, and set to pouring water over the sugar cube while Ms Marleybone-Smythe sipped genteelly from a gin and tonic.

[Miss Gadget]

"Sir...have you, perhaps, seen one of my students around here? French, a bit tall, dark hair, carrying an unholy load of books, doesn't seem to know where he's going?"

"Ik begrijp niet," Horatio looked blankly at the gentleman in black. There was something all to convienient about the question and that made him cautious, "goede dagvriend."

With that he walked away without looking, heading directly after the coal wagon. Listening intently for the sound of booted feet on the cobbles behind.

[Jessica Butcher]

Things were going well. Jessica had taken an immediate liking to Lakshmi, and her discussion with Lilli had yielded some interesting results. Jessica had doubts about the alcohol conspiracy as well, and instead had steadily convinced herself that the Masons were after the Orb of Anubis... if it existed at all. (She didn't spend too much time on the possibility that it didn't.) Considering their obsession with mysterious and ancient symbolism, and the fact that they were secretly controlling most of the civilized world, it seemed highly likely.

Now it was late at night, with all or most of the crew back on board the ship. Miss Butcher's train of thought was interrupted by the sound of footsteps nearby. Something was definitely going on.

[Jessica Butcher]

Curiousity finally got the better of her, and she rose from bed to investigate. The instant she left the doorframe of the cabin, she was hit by what appeared to be a thin shaft of blue lightning. The intruder, scarcely more than a boy and startled by the force of his own weapon, stared for a moment at the unconscious body and commenced searching the ship.

[bluestocking]

Lakshmi had finished converting the outer room into a makeshift surgery, and was busy putting her belongings in order in the tiny inner chamber. She'd changed from the elegant but restricting traveling suit into the salwar khameez favored in the mountainous northern regions.

An unearthly buzz and the sharp tang of ozone caught her attention. The tonic she'd taken to allow her to remain conscious for so long had the quite useful side-effect of dramatically increasing her sensory perceptions; the noise was so faint that she doubted any of the rest of the crew had heard it. She flipped open the clasp of her black doctor's bag and pulled out a rosewood-handled scalpel. Moving catfooted in khissa slippers, she extinguished the lamps, then eased the door to the corridor open.

Down the hall, a sliver of light showed the location of an open door. Mr. Newton-Chance's cabin? she thought. No, Miss Butcher's. She crept to the opening, and saw the crumpled heap of Miss Butcher's unconscious form, a robe pulled over her night-gown, sprawled across the threshold.

Lakshmi rushed to the stricken woman's side. She was still breathing, but her heartbeat was strangely irregular. Scorch marks on the front of her robe indicated that the electrodynamic buzz and zip that Lakshmi had heard had, indeed, come from here.

This wasn't an accidental discharge - not of this severity and power, not here. Someone intentionally caused this damage to her.

Where is that person now?

Miss Butcher needed attention rapidly, but would not be endangered by a brief delay. Doubly cautious now, Lakshmi padded down the hall to the captain's stateroom.

[Vienna Fahrmann]

     Lill hadn't heard Jessica fall, despite their shared cabin.  She had waited until Jessica fell asleep, then slid quietly out of the cabin to investigate the rest of the ship.  She wasn't interested in it's mechanics, she just liked to know her way around anyplace she happened to be.

     Vienna

[bluestocking]

In the corridor, Lakshmi froze, her hand poised above the knob to the captain's stateroom. She was reluctant to enter a gentleman's private chambers, particularly in the middle of the night. Propriety be damned! she thought, this is an emergency!

She stood five feet from the bed. "Captain Hudson?" she asked softly, then a little louder, "Captain Hudson?" When he still didn't stir, she gave his shoulder a gentle shove. "Ben!"

He stirred, groggily, and she backed away again hastily.

"Miss Butcher was attacked; she's badly injured. Someone surprised her as she was leaving her room and assaulted her with some sort of electrodynamic weapon. I need to see to her; you need to find her assailant." Realizing how unseemly it was to be giving a captain orders on his own ship, she added, "Sir."

[Vienna Fahrmann]

     The intruder moved quietly toward the working parts of the ship.  The encounter with the woman had un-nerved him slightly.  He had assumed that all of the crew would be asleep at this hour.  That somebody had been awake increased his sense of urgency.
     Lilli froze as she spotted a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye.  She was about 8 feet up on one of the ladders in the engine room.  Someone she didn't recognize moved toward the foot of her ladder.  He wasn't looking up.  He was carrying a weapon.  Lilli decided to take action before the newcomers eyes adjusted to the darkness of the engine room, which was only sparsely lit by a few glowlamps.  She made sure her garrotte was at hand, then timed her leap to land on his back, whipping the garrotte around his throat and pulling back.
     The intruder was small, but wiry, and much stronger than he looked.  He recovered swiftly from the surprise of the attack.  He struggled back to his feet, hanging on to his weapon with one hand and trying to loosen the choking band with the other.  He staggered backward, crashing his opponent into the base of the ladder.  He heard a woman's voice curse in German, then begin screaming for help in English.  He would have to get away fast now. 
     Lilli clung to the intruder as he thrashed about, knocking her into everything nearby in an attempt to loosen her hold.  She hoped someone would come along soon.  She didn't want to kill the intruder if she could possibly help it.  Her breath whumped out of her as they tumbled over a railing and down to the engine room floor.
     The intruder was beginning to be impaired by Lillis garotte.  His weapon was gone, flung out of his hand as they fell.  He saw it lying half under an instrument console and tried to work his way toward it.
     Leonards cabin was closest to the engine room.  At first he thought the noises coming from it were part of his dream.  He soon realized they weren't and rushed for his engine room, concerned about the delicate and specialized instrumentation he had installed there.
     At the sight which met his eyes, he had to stop and blink for a moment to assure himself that he wasn't still asleep.  Lilli, wearing a bathing costume (!?!) had her legs wrapped around the waist of a slender young man and appeared to be trying to strangle him.  When Leonard spotted the unusual weapon on the floor, he instantly became wide awake.  He dashed down to subdue the intruder.
     Lilli was inexpressibly glad to see Leonard enter the engine room.  It took a lot more energy and skill to try to subdue someone, rather than simply kill them, and this young man was more than a match for Lilli.  Her energy was flagging as she clung on and on as he slammed her into hard objects again and again.  If she hit her head, everything would be over for her.
     Leonard thought fisticuffs ungentlemanly, except when played by Queensbury rules.  But, when saving a lady, any tactic that worked was acceptable, he thought, as he aimed punches at the man's face and stomach.  The man was a good fighter, and a dirty one.  His hands were occupied with wrenching Lilli's arms to loosen the garotte, but he was skilled with his feet and got in a number of kicks at Leonards kneecaps and other vulnerable places.  A glimpse of a white figure near his side indicated that Oliver had joined the fray. 
     Lilli had finally been flung off the intruders back as he got a firm grip on her arms, then ducked and threw her over his head, directly at Leonard.  He thrust his arms forward, whether to catch her or fend her off she didn't know.
    Oliver calculated the rhythm of the action, timed his moment, and ended the fight neatly with a single chop from the edge of his hand.  The intruder slumped to the floor.  "Really" he thought, "people are so inefficient when they fight like that".
     Ben reached the engine space just as the stranger slumped to the floor.  He scanned the others.  Leonard seemed to be supporting a very mussed-looking Lilli and Oliver was calmly regarding the unconcious intruder.
     
     

[Ben Hudson, Esq.]

'Nrgh,' grunted Ben, still half asleep. His round sap went back into his pocket as he saw that the assailant was well and truly incapacitated. 'A little late to help, I see. Good job.' He smiled wryly at Lilli, who was coiling a garotte into a neat bundle. Oliver was nursing his hand, and looked up at Leonard, who was visibly seething. 'Who's this bugger, then?'
Lilli replied. 'No idea. He attacked Miss Butcher with some sort of ætherpulse. Lakshmi's looking after her.'
'Good. Let's see to him.' He sat astride the attacker and tied his hands behind his back with a length of cord that was clipped to his belt on a karabiner. He ran his hand over his neck and found a pulse, recessed but strong. 'Good job. He's unhurt.' A bruise was blooming at the base of his neck. 'Nice, Oliver... very...'
'Efficient.' piped Oliver.
'Indeed. I daresay you and Leonard would like to have a closer look at this strange weapon, unless you would like to help Lilli and I see to our latest guest?'
Oliver nodded, and picked it up.
Ben jerked the man into the air, and threw him onto his back. He carried him rather incautiously into a free room. The assailant's head caught on the door frame, resulting in a groan. 'Ooops,' said Ben, not altogether convincingly, then threw him down onto a bunk. He disappeared, then returned with a pair of blued steel handcuffs. Hudson cuffed him to the frame of the bunk. 'That'll keep him there. Now we just wait for him to wake up, and see what we can get out of him.'

[bluestocking]

Captain Hudson had assisted Lakshmi in moving Miss Butcher to the makeshift surgery, then left to search the ship after extracting a promise from her to lock the door securely after him.

Now Lakshmi turned off the tiny alcohol lamp's flame and placed the tiny crucible in which she'd been mixing mysterious tinctures and powders into an ice bath to cool it rapidly. Once the vessel was cool to the touch, she suctioned the liquid into a syringe. It glowed an eerie green in the lamplight.

She swabbed Miss Butcher's arm with a bit of cotton wool soaked in alcohol, then deftly inserted the needle. Once the entire syringe was empty, she picked up the tube stethoscope and listened with relief as the other woman's heartbeat slowly returned to normal rhythm.

As she put the stethoscope down, the sounds of an affray filtered up from the aft of the ship. Lakshmi picked up her doctor's bag and carefully locked the door behind her. Miss Butcher would still be unconscious for a while yet, and there was the possibility that more than one miscreant was loose on the Bohéme.

The ruckus had died down by the time she got there. Captain Hudson was emerging from an unused cabin, a grim look on his face.

"Ah, so you caught the assailant?" she asked.

"Lilli apprehended him; Leonard and Oliver helped put him out."

"I'll go see if any of them require assistance. By the by, Miss Butcher will be all right, but she'll require a deal of rest for the next day or two." she paused, and continued in a lowered voice, "If the person who attacked her proves to be... less than forthcoming, I may be able to assist."

[Ben Hudson, Esq.]

Several hours and several cups of tea passed, and finally the assailant showed signs of waking up. He stirred, groaned, and sat up. Ben was through with politeness. He had broken into his ship and assaulted a member of his crew. He set a firm hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down. 'Shut up. Who sent you?' The man looked blank. 'Ya... ya ne panimayu tebia. Ya poka ne govoryu po angliyski!' Ben struck him.
'Who sent you?'
'Stoj! Ostav'te menja v pokoe! Ya poka ne govoryu po angliyski!'
'I need a name... who?' He paused. 'Kto on? Bystriy!' His practical interrogation Russian ran out. He swore, and grabbed the man's shoulders. 'Damn it, who sent you?'
'Moio sudno na vozdušnoy poduške polno ugrey! Ti takaya krasivaya. Dlya nashey lyubvi net pregrad!'
Ben let him go and strode, seething out of the room. The man didn't seem to speak a word of English, and he was getting nowhere. He would return later, and see what the enigmatic Lakshmi could do. But assassins, if that was indeed what he was, never gave away their masters. That he knew for sure. In most cases, this was because they didn't know them. He called out to Lakshmi. She came out of the makeshift infirmary, carrying several vials of clear liquid. She clutched them, carefully and grimly. 'You called?'
'Come. Our friend needs a little persuading. I see you have the means to help?'
She nodded, and led the way into the room.



'Oh, bugger.' The handcuffs, still intact, were clipped to the bed. The other end, in which the wrist of the prisoner had been held, was empty. The lock had not been sprung or forced, there was no sign of a quick file or hacksaw. The ring was there, intact and complete, except for the lack of captive. 'Sodding hell. The bugger's disappeared.'

[bluestocking]

She tucked the vials carefully into a hidden pocket and bent to study the cuffs.

"Intriguing. I have no doubts of your ability to properly apply these, Captain, which should have prevented the miscreant from slipping from them. There's no trace of blood or scraped skin on them, though, which is very odd indeed. Could you bring the lamp over here, please?"

Ben swung the lamp over the disturbingly empty bunk, uncertain of her intent.

"A-ha." Lakshmi pulled a pair of tweezers from her open bag and plucked a single hair from the bare mattress. "From our intruder, I take it? It seems to match none of the crew."

He studied it. "It's the right color and length. I would assume so."

"I'll see what I can discern from it. Sadly, I suspect it will be little. He spoke only Russian, you say? It's not a tongue I know." She deftly dropped the hair into a glass vial and stoppered it.

"I know a few words, but not nearly enough to understand what the fellow was saying." He pushed his hair back wearily; he'd never gotten the chance to tie it into his accustomed queue after his sudden awakening. "Get some rest; it's late."

She shook her head. "It's getting on to dawn, when we planned to leave anyway. Although Miss Butcher should be regaining consciousness, she should perhaps rest a while longer. I'll help you get us underway, and then I'm afraid I'll need sleep quite badly myself. I dosed myself with a tonic earlier; it's allowed me to stay awake and alert this long, but it will demand its payment soon."

The steely-gray tinge of false dawn was, indeed, starting to invade the corridor through the huge observation windows. Ben wanted to delay, to pursue the disappearing invader, but he knew that their schedule was tight. He sighed. "More tea, then?"

She smiled. "That would be lovely."

[Vienna Fahrmann]

     Lilli waited until the others had left the intruders cabin, then slipped inside.  The handcuffs were still where the intruder had left them.  She examined them and smiled.  The intruder had left minute traces that indicated his method of escape that only another escapeologist would find.  It told her something about their temporary prisoner. 
     Lilli yawned widely, stretched, and winced.  She had acquired a considerable number of of bumps and bruises in last nights activity.  She was glad she didn't have to worry about running the ship.  THe only thing she intended to do right now was catch up on the sleep she had missed last night.

[Vienna Fahrmann]

     The Boheme's takeoff was somewhat less smooth than Ben would have liked.  Oliver and Leonard had gone into a huddle over the mysterious gun and obviously their minds were still on the weapon, rather than the handling of the ship.  As soon as the Boheme was well on her way, the two scientists immediately returned to their cautious disassembly of their new toy.
     Lakshmi checked on her patient, who was recovering on schedule although still asleep, and finally sought her own bunk.  She was asleep almost instantly.
     Ben stayed in the bridge.  He could man the ship alone for awhile.  The ship seemed almost too quiet and he realized he had become used to the sounds of the women's voices.  It surprised him that it had happened so quickly.  At least, he thought, all of them seemed capable in their own ways.