back to Lotta!

Saturday, 6 February, 1934:  Proceeding west along the Egyptian coast, towards Alexandria and the mouth of the Nile -- a distance of about 100 miles, at a speed of about 10 knots. Nighttime temperatures along the coast dip down to 49 degrees F, and rise during the day to 67 degrees F. Squalls and light rain during the night; humidity is high; winds light from the west to northwest, wave height 3 to 6 feet.

                              SUN
        Begin civil twilight      06:28                 
        Sunrise                      06:53                 
        Sun transit                 12:18                 
        Sunset                      17:43                 
        End civil twilight        18:09                 

                         MOON
        Moonrise                  23:16 on preceding day
        Moon transit              04:49                 
        Moonset                   10:15                 
        Moonrise                  00:21 on following day

Phase of the Moon on 6 February:   waning gibbous with 61% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.

At about 4 a.m., the crew hears some explosions in the distance, and sees a ship on fire several miles away. Davis, Fury and a pirate fly off in flaptors to scout -- it is the Kestrel and a smaller cargo sub, attacking an Italian freighter. The sub-pirates are unloading small, heavy chests into the cargo sub. The Kestrel fires a few shells in the direction of Lotta's ship ... Davis and Fury re-join the other adventurers for a rapid retreat!

By 10 a.m., Lotta's ship is alongside a pier in Alexandria; the adventurers head ashore for decent beds, baths, food, etc. By the evening, meeting in Delacy's hotel, there are many discussions about Boulle, Lotta's plans, Pantelleria, China, Hamilcar's Refuge, etc. Delacy has received reports of intense military construction underway on Pantelleria ... strange aircraft have been seen over the island, and several British agents have disappeared while attempting to scout the island.

Our heroes spend a week in Alexandria. A cargo of cheap cement is purchased, to justify a voyage to Pantelleria; food, supplies, clothing, etc. are renewed. Thus, by the 13th of February Lotta's vessel sets sail again.

Sunday, 18 February, 1934:  we arrive off the coast of Pantelleria, and sail around the island. The volcano which occupies most of the southern half of the island is scrutinized with binoculars, etc. Before sunset, Lotta's ship docks in the only harbor, to unload bags of cement. Also in the harbor are a couple of other freighters (one Brazilian, one Norwegian). A fence and guards surround the town, preventing easy access to the interior of the island; our heroes visit the hotel, cafes, a brothel, etc. without much hope of learning any secrets.

Monday, 19 February, 1934:  before noon we depart from Pantelleria, and sail off out of sight. Lurking over the horizon, we wait till nightfall, and then send Captain Lotta and Davis to fly over the caldera of the volcano. They see many guns, an airfield, radio towers, and what may be a huge cannon under construction. They return to the ship unharmed, and we head for the Tunisian coast.

Tuesday, 20 February, 1934:  the ship anchors off a remote part of the Tunisian coast, north of Sfax, and our heroes go ashore, to creep into Hamilcar's Refuge in the evening. We are very heavily armed. Via various ancient passages, now festooned with German cables, ladders, lights and equipment, we advance downwards to the main security checkpoint. Troops, machine guns, a tank, half-a-dozen strange Grautruppen, and armored doors are all deployed -- fortunately for us, deployed facing the other direction, towards the ramps leading to the Portals. We find a hiding place fifty feet or so from the German defences, wait and watch for a bit, and then ... attack! In less than 30 seconds, the defenders are destroyed or captured!

We force a prisoner to open the defences, and proceed downwards, finding a few technicians and a couple of guards before the Portal itself -- they are easily captured. We again force the technicians to do our bidding, and they open the Portal -- we depart, with a Zwischen-Maßportaloperator in tow!

Tuesday, 20 February, 1934 -- Rocketship Empires Dimension

The version of "Hamilcar's Refuge" on the RSE side of the Portal is far less well guarded, thankfully. A ramp 1500' long, running at an even 10% grade up to the surface, has been constructed; it leads into a small military camp. We emerge into the morning sun, take a few more prisoners, steal a couple of SdKfz 7 halftracks, and drive along the coast road towards Sfax. Near the town, we pull aside into a discreet wadi, and camp ... while Mr. Davis, Captain Lotta, and Mr. Fury sneak onwards. Lotta and Fury "acquire" a fast boat; Davis leads us to the coast on foot, where we board the boat and head for Tunis. After nightfall, we land discreetly near Tunis, abandoning the boat and caching our weapons and other uncustomed gear.

Wednesday, 21 February, 1934:  we rest a bit in a Tunis hotel, clean up, read the newspapers, and question our German prisoner. Arrangements are made for a smuggling craft to carry us to Marseille.

Thursday, 22 February, 1934:  we depart for France on a smallish smuggling vessel (after picking up our gear from the coast). Major Delacy questions the prisoner during the voyage.

Sunday, 25 February, 1934: At dusk, a couple of the crew claim to have seen a small fleet of dark colored sailing galleys passing over the horizon.

Sunday, 25 February, 1934:  another discreet landing is made, and we debark in a covered wharf at Marseille in the pre-dawn hours. A spaceship is floating in the harbor! Hmm, the dominant local currency is "Currency Units", although marks, francs, sterling, rubles, dollars, etc are accepted at a debased rate, very disturbing.

On to Hearts and Fury