Monday, 16 May 1870
(later)

I was starting to think that I had judged this city and its inhabitants too harshly. I had, after all, just had a lovely bath, with hot water out of a tap, and with scented oil and clean towels. Now I was relaxing in the central room of our suite, having some tea (which we had brought along with us, so it was proper tea, with tinned milk and sugar).

Then, I was recalled to duty. Some of my colleagues expressed the intention of searching Mr Pryce's room. Of course, I had to join them to be sure they didn't miss anything important. The Gordons had searched the room repeatedly, as had the palace guards, but there's always something left behind for the particularly observant.

Miss Gordon showed us Mr Pryce's things, which had been left mostly as they were at his disappearance. We all noted that although all his papers, books and translations were gone, his clothing and personal effects remained. Among them was a carpet satchel, which Miss Gordon said he always carried. So, he had plainly not just wandered off on his own.

As we investigated the satchel, I heard something rattle within, and directed Mr Ramsay to a secret compartment. It contained what Mr Ramsay described as standard Watcher equipment and a small book which Mr Ramsay concealed for later study. The "mystics" decided to try a "locate spell," and so I, with the other non-mystics, was excluded from the room.

As I emerged, I crossed the path of Lt Wooster, who had just turned to look salaciously at a passing young woman clad in the diaphanous voile draperies worn by the locals. Imagine my surprise to realise that it was our own Miss Chigwidgeon! (the Lt took some time longer to recognise her, as he was not looking at her face at all). I cuffed him on the shoulder, intercepted Miss Chigwidgeon and propelled her back into her own chamber.

I explained why she should not waltz around dressed in a breath of air, but she remained unrepentant. She said it was more comfortable. Not for Me! Miss Whitnell seemed in sympathy with Miss Chigwidgeon, as did Mrs Cuthbert. I suppose they are more accustomed to barbaric dress, having traveled so much in foreign places.

I did have an idea, though, that if she could fool us, perhaps she could pass for a native if we needed a spy later. Alas, she was not convinced, and so now this whole wing of the palace has seen her in it, and we lose any advantage of surprise. Oh, well, I suppose it is far fetched, and she doesn't speak their language anyway.

After that alarming interlude, we had further uproar when I noticed that Edward had apparently escaped his bath, and had left damp footprints leading to a window. Fearing the boy was running off unclad in this unfamiliar place, I followed and spotted him clear across the square, acrobatically scaling all architectural features in his path. What could I do but go after him?

I proceeded across the airborne walkway, and stepped onto the rail preparatory to scaling the pyramid after Edward. The guards were quite alarmed, but as I couldn't understand their words, I just smiled at them and continued. Fortunately, Edward heard my calls before I had to risk climbing the steep face of the first step. He returned to my side and I scolded him about going off alone. I saw him look at Owen and insisted that he not go off without a human adult of our party. I'm sure he'll think of some way around even that injunction.

Sir Cosmo was called to a further conference with the local queen, who is called "She Who Must Be Obeyed," or "She" for short. "She" has no other name, apparently, and this title causes all kinds of nonsensical grammar when translated.

Sir Cosmo brought Mr Caine as his one permitted bodyguard, and all the rest of us were left to amuse ourselves. During this conference, Sir Cosmo asked if we could be permitted to search the rest of the island for Mr Pryce, as her guards' search had been limited to the palace and the city. "She" said she would tell us tomorrow. A brush-off.

Next, we were invited to look at the Library in the company of Miss Alice Gordon. I must say, she is an avid scholar, both intelligent and energetic. She is very fortunate to have a scholarly father such as Professor Gordon, who has been so willing to allow her to share his studies. She demonstrated stunning linguistic accomplishment. She asked if she could sit in on our Hindi lessons. I believe that the enforced stay in the city is beginning to wear on her. She seemed restive, and almost manically eager for the company of British citizens.

The Library is very old, and features a variety of scrolls and even clay tablets from ancient civilisations. I asked about the bird I had seen, and was shown a scroll with beautiful drawings, apparently of the bird's life cycle, and with copious (unreadable) notes all around. They plainly have quite a history of scientific scholarship. They also demonstrate a startling grasp of Astronomy, though I don't know quite enough in that field to properly evaluate their sculptural measurement devices.

We eventually left the Library (excited as we were, we still couldn't ignore the yawns of the Librarians indefinitely). Now everyone is settling in to sleep. After the long climb to reach this city, I am hopeful that I'll be tired enough to sleep.

May, 1870

I can't quite be sure how long we have spent in the catacombs beneath the city of Kor.

The events leading up to our journey below are still fairly clear in my mind, so I'll begin there...

I was awakened at about four in the morning by Salmalin, while he was trying to wake Sir Cosmo. After my initial cursing at being awakened after finally getting to sleep, I rose and dressed hurriedly. Salmalin's and Sir Cosmo's worry were plain in their voices...Lt Wooster was missing!

This in itself might not be so alarming, but many other factors were involved:
1) Mr Andrew Pryce had vanished just this way

2) Mr Salmalin had Fallen Asleep on Duty--not a natural occurrence. Mr Caine had also slept through Lt Wooster's departure.

3) "She" had expressed a rather bizarre interest in Lt Wooster at our first meeting, saying that he was obviously a better leader than Sir Cosmo, and why did our Queen not put Wooster in command of this mission. (This seemed calculated to win over Wooster and/or to test Sir Cosmo's forbearance).

4) Mrs Cuthbert described a strange visitation by a purple pheasant, which flapped about her room, blowing over a jar of small toothpicks (provided at each dressing table) and strewing them about on the floor to spell out words in Latin. The Pheasant, for some reason, was warning us to Save Ourselves, and was reiterating the phrase "Death is only the Beginning," which we have come across repeatedly since this mission began. Mrs Cuthbert took the message to heart, despite its source.

5) Mr Ramsay and Miss Whitnell had decoded Mr Andrew Pryce's journal (Mr Ramsay seemed very annoyed that the man had not used a standard Watcher code). The result suggested an entirely different fate for Mr Pryce. The Journal detailed his inquiries regarding gaps in the chronicles in the Library, a scroll he had found, and some Watcher stories about Ancient Egyptians who might have found this place ages ago, then escaped again to tell the tale. It also relates that "She" was very hostile to his inquiries, and had said the artifact was evil. He indicated a plan to go secretly to some catacombs nearby to learn more.

We're left contemplating several possibilities:
a) "She" removed Mr. Pryce to prevent his delving into those secrets, and then took all his papers to continue the concealment. "She" might be concealing something she considers evil, or something she uses herself (this latter was suggested by one of the ancient Egyptian accounts)
b) Mr Pryce went down to the catacombs entirely on his own and has become lost or injured there...his journal indicates a plan to do this. "She" might then have removed all his books and work for the above reasons, but she would not be actually responsible for his disappearance.

In any case, we had to go looking for Lt Wooster.

Owen led us to a wall in his room, which we discovered was a secret door (really!). We all trooped into the passageway. when we came to the end, we looked carefully for traps and for the opening mechanism. Edward opened the door while we stood back, having secured him with a rope harness in case we we mistaken about the trigger for the trap door below.

Once we got through that, we were stopped by guards. We couldn't very well fight with them over it. We turned back, and were escorted to our rooms. Mr Salmalin managed to stay behind, however, and after some waiting had managed to get into the room. It was the private boudoir of our hostess. Lt Wooster was within, sleeping very soundly, but "She" was gone. Salmalin managed to wake the Lieutenant and cajole him back to our suite.

By the time they returned, we had pretty much decided that we would have to leave immediately, and proceed into the catacombs en masse. We could leave no one behind as hostage, and any further delay might see others of us disappearing.

So, we got all the Gordon party (except Mr Pym, who was choosing to stay permanently with his wife), packed up and ready to leave in the early morning.

Some of the guards made to detain us, but Pym's wife, the high-ranking priestess, Zikali, reminded them that "She" had ordered that we could leave freely at any time. Zikali and Pym accompanied us as far as they could, then stayed behind to forestall any pursuit.

We continued on until we reached the side of the city opposite the gates we had come in. There we found another gate, this one marked with a stylized image clearly representing a labyrinth. I have never been prone to claustrophobia, but as we paused to contemplate the opening, I felt a profound foreboding.

We took several precautions:
1) We agreed to use the right-hand-turning method to choose our path, at least to start.
2) We used Miss Whitnell's compass and took notes as to our turnings
3) At Miss Gordon's suggestion, we unwound some of her stitching cotton behind us as a guide for the return. A good classical education does have some practical application.
4) Edward marked all our turnings with crayon.
5) We strung a rope among us that we could hold to in order to stay together.

One would think that would get us in and out of the Labyrinth safely. Unfortunately, all these arrangements proved fruitless.

We had not gone very far when I felt dizzy for a moment. I suddenly found I was alone, and without a light. I listened carefully, thinking I had fallen into a pit trap or a crevasse of some sort. I called out.

Just as I was about to start worrying, I heard Owen's bark echoing from a great distance. Seemingly from another direction, I heard Mrs. Cuthbert's call. I called again and waited for a reply. Mrs Cuthbert found her way to me (astonishingly), and she had a lantern. Together we made our way toward Owen, and then we heard and found Miss Whitnell.

One by one we recovered most of the group...we had all been rendered senseless and scattered. All of my colleagues were quite upset by this bizarre complication to our plan. Miss Chigwidgeon, Mr Salmalin, and Miss Gordon were together when we found them, Miss Chigwidgeon had been reduced to tears by her ordeal. Dr Wilson, Mr Cuthbert, Mr Ramsay, and Dr Sinnagh seemed disoriented and ill-at-ease, and Lt Wooster declared that he had dreamed that his sister Agatha had been appointed Lord of the Admiralty. Edward was waving his arms about pretending that he was a ghost. I have concluded from everyone's strange questions that many had disturbing dreams during the separation. We continued to search for Sir Cosmo, Professor Gordon, Mr Cleves, Mrs Hardy, Mr Rupert Pryce and Mr Caine.

Mr Ramsay had found Sir Cosmo's greatcoat, and we took a scent from it to track him. It was marked with some blood, which gave us an added spur to find him. The trail we followed showed sandal prints obscured by drag lines--Sir Cosmo being dragged off by his assailant.

Owen, Mr Cuthbert and I continued to follow the trail with the others close behind us. It was very difficult by the flickering lamp and candle light. Mrs Cuthbert came across a spherical object which lit up brightly when she picked it up. This made our tracking much easier.

Our trail was cut off abruptly by a wall across the passage. We looked all over for the secret Lever to open it. In an effort to discover how it worked, Mr Ramsay led the other mystics in an attempt to see the recent past of the door, and so, we hoped, how it could be opened.

What they saw instead was a strange wizened figure dragging Sir Cosmo through the passage, He did nothing to open the door, it simply slid aside at his approach. The vision showed that the walls and the doors were solid stone at least 5 feet thick. Not easy.

Edward looked it over and inserted a small pry bar into the sliver of an opening, and pulled. Mr Salmalin had a go at it and broke the pry bar right in half, but had managed to make a crack through the stone. The gentlemen took it in turns to chisel a hole at the crack. Not just the gentlemen, actually. Miss Chigwidgeon took a turn as well, which did little to increase the hole, but action seemed to ease her anxiety. I had to retreat down the corridor with my ear covers on to escape the deafening noise.

The sound carried through the corridors, drawing Rupert Pryce and Prof Gordon to us. Miss Gordon was very relieved to find her father unhurt, though he was fatigued and disoriented as we all were.

Once the hole was large enough, Dr Wilson set some explosive into it and destroyed the door.

We passed through the jagged opening, and continued through several corridors and chambers, and down stairs. I had been forced to give up keeping notes in order to follow the trail, but Miss Whitnell and Lt Wooster both had compasses and were keeping track.

We came into a long gallery populated with huge marble statues of fantastic creatures. One of them was holding a sphere aloft, and Mrs Cuthbert thought in might be a light like the one she had found. She was quite certain that Edward shouldn't touch it, so I called him down from climbing the statue. We left it alone for the present and continued, urgently concerned for Sir Cosmo.

Now matters started to become bizarre and unbelievable. As we came down a flight of stairs and approached the next chamber, Owen was growling violently. We found ourselves facing eight warriors of horrible aspect. They were emaciated and dessicated, looking for all the world like the unwrapped mummies on display at the British Museum. The difference was, these eight advanced upon us in vigorous movement, brandishing curved bronze swords.

Mr Ramsay, Rupert Pryce, Miss Whitnell, and Mrs Cuthbert dropped back and, after a quick discussion, began chanting.

Mr Cuthbert, Lt Wooster, and Dr Wilson stood abreast across the doorway, their assorted firearms at the ready. Edward stood just behind them, preparing his own rocket gun (strangely, I felt no qualm of protectiveness--I suppose that I know in my heart that Edward is much more capable in this sort of situation than I am myself).

Miss Gordon and I started making a pile of stones to throw. It sounds ridiculous, I know, but I am a pretty good shot, and I had no better weapon.

Dr Sinnagh, ever the rational pacifist, had the presence of mind to try asking politely if we could pass (as I always remind my pupils, good manners can open doors almost anywhere).

The warriors murmured among themselves for a moment, seemingly in derisive tones. They advanced another step, and our gentlemen on the front rank opened fire.

The sound in that small area was quite painful, and I lost track of the action for a time. I took up a rock in either hand, but I couldn't yet throw past my colleagues.

The Enemies carried long shields which deflected even Dr Wilson's rockets. The creatures seemed imperturbed by having portions of themselves blown apart by bullets. They even kept fighting when their bodies burned, though after a time the fire turned them to ash, which at least slowed them down. Dr Wilson was apparently out of rockets, but he drew out another device which shot a small amount of flame. Noting this, Miss Gordon passed me a spare flask of lamp oil. I tossed it to just behind the last of the creatures, hoping the pooling oil would ignite and block the approach of any enemy reinforcements.

By this time, Dr Wilson was in dire straits, in close combat with a burning, sword-wielding enemy, already cut at least once. Mr Salmalin leapt into the fray, knocking the flaming creature backward into our pool of oil. The rush of flame seemed to put the cap on it, as all the rest of the
creatures had had enough bits knocked off them by the workmanlike shooting of Mr Cuthbert and the Lieutenant that they couldn't fight.

We noticed that the pieces kept moving, as if trying to reassemble. Even the piles of ashes seemed to draw together.

We started to gather their weaponry. I took a rock in hand and began to hammer on bits and pieces, hoping to forestall reconstruction until we could determine some more permanent solution. Just as I was poised over a creeping bony hand, it stopped. I turned to see Edward with a gold necklace in his hand, which had come from the neck of the same creature as the hand before me. Edward darted about, gathering all the necklaces. Miss Whitnell was adamant that the red stones set in them must be prised out and destroyed before they were safe to handle, and Edward did that with greedy efficiency.

The mummified warriors were now quiescent. we took a moment to regroup. Dr Sinnagh and Mrs Cuthbert each did what they could for the injured among us. A few of us worked together to drag and carry a couple of the shields, in case they might help us later. We moved onward.

We came to a closed bronze door with engraved figures--their equipage looked like our recent foes. I could hear a sound like wind or rushing water. Mrs Cuthbert looked into a small mirror, which she always carries, and said there were twelve sarcophagi in the chamber beyond, nine with lids ajar and 3 closed. With some strain, we opened the doors and saw exactly what Mrs Cuthbert had predicted. We quickly split up to open the remaining sarcophagi, hoping to disable any enemies before they could get out.

They proved to be empty. How odd that three of these creatures would so tidily close their lids while the others left them lying about at random. Perhaps our approach had forced some to rouse and scramble to meet us.

I could hear the rushing noise more loudly, but its nature was still unclear. I had a bad moment reflecting on the nightmares my colleagues had described, featuring armies of corpse-like unkillable soldiers. I was horribly certain that I was hearing the voiceless whispers of such a dreadful legion.

On the other hand, it could be a ventilation shaft or an underground river...I shook off my fanciful foreboding.

We kept on through a few more chambers and down a fairly long flight of stairs, coming into a vast crosswise corridor at the the bottom.

Off to the right, the rushing noise was the loudest. The scent trail went to the left. We followed the latter way. I began to hear the susurration ahead as well as behind.

We were now approaching a set of doors which spanned the corridor. They would surely have been too heavy for us to open, but they were being pushed aside from within--by two skeletal figures, each at least twelve feet in height. They appeared to be similar to human skeletons, though more heavily built. They stood aside passively for us to go through.

Mystified as to what they could be and how they could be held together and moving, I reached out to touch a leg as we passed--it felt like the fossilised bones I've examined at the Museum, and had the same darkened color. There was no trace of connective tissue, no muscle, no wires or machinery, just fossilised bones. The creature appeared not to notice my touch.

Miss Whitnell hissed at me and looked aghast that I would touch such a thing, but one must take a few risks if it might bring foreknowledge of dangers.

We moved forward into the greatest chamber yet--a huge cavern fitted out as a temple or throne-room. By now I must have become accustomed to ridiculous impossibilities, or I would have been paralysed in disbelief.

The entire floor of the cavern, as well as a set of galleries above, was full of standing corpses--the "undead army" of everyone's nightmares. Despite my earlier anxieties, the corpses were nearly silent--just an occasional clink and hiss of ancient armaments. These creatures were in various types of clothing and armour, and in varying states of decay. I could make out some fresher bodies in the uniforms of French sailors. Fortunately, their decay seemed to be arrested, otherwise the stench might have killed us right there.

The rushing noise I had been hearing was coming not from the army, but rather from a shimmering, starry cyclone in the distant left corner of the chamber.

In the center near the back wall was a statue of an Egyptian-looking animal (a point-eared dog, I thought) cradling a throne before it.

Right of the throne were two cylinders seemingly made of light, each with a man suspended within. One was Sir Cosmo, and the other was quickly identified as Mr Andrew Pryce. Both looked bad, though Mr Pryce seemed worse--nearly dead.

My attention was brought back to the central throne, where another mummified figure was beginning a sweeping gesture.

Flaming letters appeared in the air. This creature wrote (in English, though apparently others saw other languages) a pompous welcome, and further asked us if we were ready to surrender.

Well, I'd had about enough of this sort of grandiose nonsense. After all, we'd just beaten eight fellows pretty much like this one. He didn't even have a sword, just a big white stick.

I also had a feeling that the huge mob of dead soldiers all around him would fall apart (at least figuratively, and perhaps literally) if we could beat this one.

The mystics had immediately fallen to the rear and started chanting quietly. I thought the rest of us could best protect them by distracting the mummy, and learning what we could--in other words, stalling.

This ugly creature was inviting us to select a champion to fight his "pet," which reclined at the foot of his dais. It was a fossilised dinosaur--a Triceratops, in fact.

We conferred, as though considering his offer. In fact we did weigh the possibilities, but it didn't seem like we would really get what we wanted (the prisoners) even if we won.

I continued to negotiate, standing away from the mystics and trying to keep the enemy's attention focused on myself. Others in the party were quietly fidgeting with their equipment.

Edward and Salmalin slipped away to creep along the walls behind the dead soldiers, moving around toward the pillars holding the prisoners.

Now was the time for my strongest gambit. I asked the creature to tell us all about how he came to be here ruling this underground realm. We all know how much pretentious people love to tell the stories of their lives to any who will listen. This fellow had probably been down here with no one but dead soldiers for quite a while, and I was willing to bet that he was eager for an audience.

He went on about how he had been a high priest to "She," some 1600 years ago, and that he had started looking into lore that "She" had forbidden. He was eager to conquer the world, and disdained her wish to quietly protect her island. He had been hiding out down here accumulating dead soldiers, drawing on the power of the Pillar of Life (the cyclone) for a very long time. I had to believe him. I could plainly see 1600 years worth of mouldering wrinkles on his leathery skin. Yecch.

I couldn't keep his attention forever, though. Suddenly he reached out and was holding something cupped in his hand. He addressed Miss Whitnell, who had stopped chanting and was shouting at him in frustration. It appeared that he had stolen the power that they had gathered.

He teased her condescendingly that she had come from a magically powerful family. She proceeded to show him the truth of his words by wresting the power back. Mrs Cuthbert pulled her glowing sphere out of its concealment in her skirts and it flared. Wherever the light flowed, the soldiers dissolved and vanished. The sphere shattered.

The ancient priest seemed suddenly to realise that we might actually make trouble for him. He now had only a couple of dozen soldiers clustered about his throne, plus his dinosaur, all apparently protected from the light by proximity to him.

Now, the way was clear to the prisoners' pillars. Instantly, Miss Chigwidgeon started across the chamber at a desperate run. Miss Whitnell followed. Miss Gordon paused just long enough to give me two of her three remaining oil flasks, then she and Mr Rupert were off to rescue Mr Andrew Pryce. Our party was streaming out in all directions like a disturbed knot of baby spiders. Everything seemed to happen at once.

Dr Wilson, Mr Cuthbert, and Lt Wooster all fired at the enemy, but their projectiles were deflected by an invisible barrier. I could just see Salmalin behind the priest, smashing against the barrier again and again with his knives.

The priest was waving his hands and his staff, and his remaining skeletal creatures moved out to try us.

The dinosaur began to lumber toward Miss Chigwidgeon, as she was the farthest out. She was pushing forward with determination. She seemed to be ignoring the beast, until it was nearly upon her; she then wheeled about, eyes flashing, and struck its stony snout with her fist. She couldn't have hit it hard, or she would have broken her hand, but it was so surprised that it stopped and flinched away. She ran on, and it turned to find easier targets.

Mrs Cuthbert now asked me to help her--she gave me one end of a rope, and we both ran forward, toward the remaining soldiers. We had to dodge Mr Cuthbert and Dr Wilson, who were having a sort of Spanish bullfight with the dinosaur.

As we ran toward the dais, I was surprised to see smoke emerging from a doorway behind the throne--surprised, that is , until I heard Edward's gleeful voice emanating from the doorway, punctuated by smashing noises. I strained to hear him, concerned for his safety. For a moment, the sounds were drowned out by a rise in the pitch of the roaring of the starry cyclone.

I brought my attention back to my own efforts--Mrs Cuthbert and I split and played out the rope between us, running around two sides of the mass of soldiers. We leaned down at the last moment, bringing the rope taut against the skeletons' knees.

My path took me too close--one of the skeletons struck me with its bronze sword. Fortunately, it wasn't very sharp, but still quite a painful shock. Somehow I dodged the next blow and got clear.

I turned to face the enemy again. The priest on the dais was starting another sweeping gesture. He stopped for a moment when he noticed the smoke. I laughed outright as he shrieked in anger. That would teach him to disparage the agents of Her Majesty!

My glee was somewhat checked as he completed his ritual and waved toward the chamber wall below the now empty gallery. Seven or eight large doors swung open, revealing some dozens more of skeletal warriors, and also more dinosaurs. We would shortly be overwhelmed.

I heard Mr Cuthbert shouting--I turned to see him waving wildly at the Triceratops, which was plunging toward him with Dr Wilson clinging to its neck behind the bony shield.

Both Dr Wilson and Mr Cuthbert dove aside and hit the ground, covering their heads. I covered my ears just in time as the furious Triceratops plowed into the invisible barrier and the material Dr Wilson had stuffed into its skull cavity exploded.

This overcame the barrier at last. Salmalin leapt upon the priest. Although frail-looking, the creature had surprising strength, and flung Salmalin clear across the room to strike a wall with a dreadful crunch.

The wizard was really angry. Lt Wooster's and Mr Cuthbert's bullets were knocking pieces off him.

I threw my oil flask,which spilled at his feet. Dr Wilson used a signal flare gun (being now out of rockets) and the flare struck the priest and ignited the oil with a satisfying roar. Mummified bits flew in every direction.

Remembering the earlier mummy warriors, I started looking for the scattered pieces. Unlike the previous creatures, this priest had no amulet, being presumably the controller of the amulets instead. I couldn't guess how to really "kill" this creature, so I found its head and began kicking it about to prevent it from reassembling.
The skeleton army didn't stop fighting when the wizard was dismembered as I had hoped. All I knew to do was to keep running, kicking the head in front of me, until such time as Miss Whitnell said it was safe.

Miss Chigwidgeon, Miss Whitnell, Miss Gordon, and Mr Rupert had some time since reached the prisoners' pillars, and had been trying to free them without success. The armed gentlemen, including Mr Ramsay, were trying to regroup, perhaps contemplating how to defend the rest from the advancing warriors with so little ammunition left. Dr Sinnagh had reached Mr Salmalin, and was examining his wounds despite the clash of armoured soldiers approaching.

Suddenly, I heard the approach of a large group of men--Living men. Lt Lochsley shouted from the gallery above, and a barrage of gunfire from our British Marines followed. That was echoed by shouts in French, as French sailors swarmed in beside them. Bone chips were flying as the skeleton soldiers were shattered by dense gunfire. I caught a glimpse of Mr Caine as well.

I continued with my kicking, now running toward Miss Whitnell. Just then, the mummy priest's white staff came rolling across the dusty floor and stopped beside Miss Whitnell's hand. She looked at it with obvious suspicion.

When next I looked up from my head, I saw Mrs Cuthbert, who was over near the starry cyclone, holding the staff. As I approached. I could see her eyes glow green. "Is that bad?" I called to Miss Whitnell, who emphatically shouted, " Yes, it's bad!"

Mrs Cuthbert was starting to lift her arms in an unpleasantly familiar gesture.

Hoping that my "Gift of Quiet" would protect me from whatever was going on, I pelted toward her and tackled her around the middle. I thought I might at least, disrupt the gesture and perhaps knock the staff away, without doing too much harm to Mrs Cuthbert.

I had failed to note just where we were in relation to the now roaring whirlwind. Mrs Cuthbert and I plunged into it.

I was buffeted and whirled for an instant--then all was quiet. I was floating. Around me was blackness, sprinkled with stars. How very unexpected.

I was still holding Mrs Cuthbert around her waist. She was still holding the staff, but the glow had disappeared from her eyes. I suggested that she get rid of it, and told her it was dangerous. She appeared to not believe me for a moment, but then she cast it away. It tumbled, end-over-end, toward a nearby star.

Mrs Cuthbert and I joined hands to keep from drifting apart, and took a moment to look around us. It wasn't hot or cold, we seemed to be able to breathe. I was glad to be wearing a Reform costume, as otherwise, my skirts would have drifted around my head. As it was, my skirts were small enough to just push down with one hand.

All about were stars, and I could see planets in the middle distance. We were close enough to the nearest star to call it a sun. I had the feeling it was Our Sun, and that one of the planets was Our Earth, but I couldn't see it clearly enough to recognise any of our continents.

I felt very calm and yet refreshed, not as worried as I should have been considering that I could not see any way to return home. I pointed out interesting sights to Mrs Cuthbert as though we were casual tourists out here in space.

Shortly I heard a familiar voice, and turned to see Edward drifting toward us with a rope tied round his waist. The dear boy had jumped in to rescue us!

He tied lengths of the rope around us as well, and began to loop up the rope, pulling us toward its source. Before long, it became apparent that someone was reeling the rope in from the source point. That point was indistinct to me, I didn't see any kind of portal or anything. I just suddenly found myself emerging into the cavern, with Mr Pym, Lt Lochsley and a few others pulling the rope in.

Standing beside them, giving instructions, was "She Who Must Be Obeyed."

The Battle appeared to be over. Mr Pym and a large contingent of Kor bowmen had come into the cavern right after the British and French Marines, but I hadn't seen them because I was occupied with the whirlwind. "She" had come behind them.

"She" was walking around the cavern, laying hands on anyone who had been injured. I did not appear to need her help, as I had emerged form the cyclone fit and well, without a sign of the injury done by the skeleton. Mr Salmalin needed her hands to mend his broken ribs, and Dr Wilson, and Mr Cuthbert and Mr Ramsay had all sustained injuries. Mr Andrew Pryce was now free, but he was terribly weakened by his imprisonment. Sir Cosmo was also free, and not so severely drained. "She" seemed to help everyone without seeming fatigued herself.

Everyone was terribly grateful for her help, though Miss Whitnell in particular was very clear in telling her that we wouldn't have been down here if "She" had been honest with us from the start, and hadn't taken Lt Wooster away. Although I entirely agreed, I tried to soothe Miss Whitnell, and brought her away before she could provoke an Incident, which would make Sir Cosmo's task more difficult.

Now we are all milling around the cavern, trying to collect our wits and piecing the various tales together while Sir Cosmo, "She", and the French Admiral, Le Coq, negotiate a preliminary agreement. Miss Whitnell and Miss Gordon have been drafted to transcribe and translate the proceedings. The last wanderers of our group have been searched out.

I have been more or less left to my own devices for a moment.

"She" has had food brought down from the city to us all. It turns out that the rushing sound from the other end of the corridor is a waterfall, which conceals another, more direct entrance to this cave. I wish we'd known that!

Anyway, I suppose "She" would just as soon not have us all cluttering up her city with our foreign selves, giving her subjects ideas like, "yes, men can learn to read, too."

She has now become much more forthcoming with information about herself, her city, and their history. I hope it's because "She" is grateful to us for cleaning up her underground pest. "She" had somehow not noticed that he was accumulating an army of dead right under her nose, and that he was about to unleash it upon the world, starting with her own city. I daresay she owes us.

Anyway, the Marines and the French had apparently engaged in a battle around the Island, when they found themselves attacked by a portion of the wizard's dead warriors. They were both taking heavy losses and decided to join forces (Admiral Le Coq suffered a nasty wound, in fact, and that made him decide to put his men in Lt Lochsley's command).

The combined forces of the Living routed the Dead, and they pursued the retreating creatures into these caves, thus finding us in the nick of time.

We should be departing before too much longer. Mrs Cuthbert is wanting to go back to the gallery of statues to look at the sphere in the hand of that one sculpture. I have offered to accompany her, to climb the statue if necessary. Considering how useful the smaller orb turned out to be, a larger one would be worth a bit of effort.

Thursday, 19 May, 1870

We have returned to the ship at last. We emerged from the catacombs and made our way back to the shore yesterday. We came over to the ship, I had a good wash, and fell into my bunk.

Now we are still holding our position at anchor near the island while we conclude pleasantries with the French.
I am enjoying the fresh air on deck and conversing idly with the ladies of our group while I am writing this.

I wanted to note a few things from our time in the caverns. Since Miss Whitnell was present for most of the negotiations, she has been able to tell us what transpired there. I was able to overhear bits and pieces of various other conversations.

I listened to the Watchers (Mr Ramsay and Mr Andrew Pryce) trying to get more information from "She" about her origin and her life. "She" spoke at some length, without conveying much clear information. "She" told them that "She" was younger than Adam, but older than all the sons of Adam. This is just the sort of riddle that keeps those mystery-loving Watcher fellows amused for days, for years; "She" was no doubt giving them just what they wanted.

Mrs Cuthbert asked her about the purple pheasants, and the message they gave her. "She" replied that the birds had long been held sacred. We kept trying to get her to tell us what they were called. I wrote down what she said, and Miss Gordon later told me that it just translates as "temple bird."

The Negotiations for the agreement to open Diplomatic Relations with the City of Kor featured an agreement to try to keep the city's existence quiet. This makes it even less likely that I could claim the discovery of the St Damien pheasant. Drat.

Oh, and the sphere...it proved to be merely a sculptural representation. I climbed all the way out to the attenuated arm of the figure, and nearly broke my neck when the entire arm broke off. The sphere shattered, and we saw that it was only hollow glass. Mrs Cuthbert and I then had to go to the queen and shamefacedly apologise for damaging the artwork. "She" was very gracious about it, though I expect it would have been different if it had been a statue of herself.

"She" told us that the statues represent different sorts of people who used to trade with the civilisation which had built this city, before it sank. Atlantis, I suppose. The obviously non-human statues are supposed to represent people from other planets. I don't quite know what to make of this claim. I think that "She" is having us on.

"She" also apologised to Miss Whitnell. Recall, Miss Whitnell was quite angry that "She" had taken Lt Wooster away in the middle of the night, and "She" only made it worse by acting as though "She" saw nothing wrong with her actions (well, "She" wouldn't). As if drugging us all and tricking the Lieutenant is nothing wrong--even if he did enjoy her company.

Anyway, "She" decided to apologise for being insensitive to Miss Whitnell's complaint (hinting coyly that Miss Whitnell was jealous--ha!) "She" offered to deliver "justice" to William (Miss Whitnell's former husband). Miss Whitnell wisely, politely, asked the queen to leave it alone. I can't help but wonder what "She" thought she could do about William.

Thursday, 20 May, 1870

We have been hanging about and at last I know why. The French have finally moved off, both their Aerofrigate and its tender.

Now we get down to the business of salvaging the Dutch undersea vessel. Edward had been so disappointed when Captain Rodgers said we didn't have the equipment to salvage a vessel of that size.

That was a ruse to fool the French. I should have known that one brief alliance would not really change the nature of our nations' rivalry for long. We can now salvage the vessel and take it back to England, with the French none the wiser.

We are now going to proceed back to England at the Griffin's top speed. We will have to stop at a Portuguese-run port called Praia, because the high speed will require extra coal.

I find myself almost sorry to contemplate leaving the Griffin and returning to life in Town. I never would have guessed that the Sea would agree with me so well. Except the food. And the difficulty of pursuing my Botanical studies. And having to share a room. And the fickleness of the superstitious sailors. And no regular post. And...

Proceed to 6. Quite a Different Problem

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