back to Research Station 51 or the Index

 

Tuesday, November 1, 1932 Wednesday, November 2, 1932 Thursday, November 3, 1932 Friday, November 4, 1932 Saturday, November 5, 1932 Sunday, November 6, 1932 Monday, November 7, 1932 Tuesday, November 8, 1932 Wednesday, November 9, 1932 Thursday, November 10, 1932 November 11 to November 18, 1932 Saturday, November 19, 1932 Sunday, November 20, 1932 Monday, November 21, 1932 Tuesday, November 22, 1932 Wednesday, November 23, 1932 Thursday, November 24, 1932 November 25 to December 4, 1932

 

Tuesday, November 1, 1932

 

sunrise at 6:52 a.m.; sunset at 5:06 p.m

 

     About 8 a.m., Nora Cullin woke from a dream about Bill Davis and Qua Lin Worthington -- a nightmare, really, in which they had been abducted and taken away on a steamship! She realized she hadn't seen the two of them since lunchtime the previous day, and rushed over (in her diaphanous nightgown) to Algernon DeLacy's room at the Lido. She tearfully told DeLacy her "vision", and urged him to take action!

 

Nora's First Vision

Bill and Qua Lin had been taken from their beds -- in their pyjamas and barefoot! -- and were on a steamship. Qua Lin was being tortured by an black-cowled man with glowing eyes, one blue, one green, accompanied by two skeletons. In the hold of the ship were three levels of prison cells. Nora saw the name of the ship, but it was in Cyrillic script; a Turkish flag was flying.

 

     Nora wrote out for DeLacy the name of the ship, which DeLacy could somewhat read: Dariev Nivasa, an Armenian name for some nautical spirit. Algy called Bill Davis's room to verify that he was missing and handed Nora a few stiff drinks to help her recover from the headache caused by the glowy-eyed nasty that pushed her out of the dream-scene.

 

Bill Davis and Qua Lin Worthington:  Their Story

Meanwhile ...            Bill Davis came to in a 5’ x 6’ cell, chained to the steel wall. Conditions were squalid; the smell was worse. He was able to converse with Ivan on one side and Victor (from Ephesus … who was caught agitating in the Soviet Union) on the other.  He heard Qua Lin screaming -- screams that went on for two hours -- which gave him enough time to break free of the manacles but not much else. Eventually he took the handle off his tin cup and tries to pick the lock, but is unsuccessful at even this.      Qua Lin also woke in a cell, when a well-dressed man with one blue and one green eye walked in, flanked by two servants. He waved his hand and the chains fell away from her hands. She was led to a common room with a large X-shaped stock, with chains for wrists and ankles. Once she was chained up, the man began to ask her questions about Tamerlane, which led into Spirit Combat. Qua Lin resisted the best she could, but soon lapsed into unconsciousness (although her screams somehow continued for two hours). When she woke, the Master told her that the tomb Our Heroes found (on Tengri Khan, in 1935) was not that of Tamerlane, but rather one of his generals. Qua Lin was escorted to another room, given food, drink and fresh clothing and free run of the ship. Her throat was raw from screaming and she was very weak.      On Qua Lin’s wrist was a close-fitted bracelet (a ketoh), of red jade-like material, with some sort of embedded runes. It was so small that it would not slide off over her hand.

 

     DeLacy next contacted Fred Willoughby at home; Willoughby promised to put the resources of the embassy at their disposal (once he was there). People began to bustle ... hospitals, the police, railway stations and the airport, and the various British consulates were all contacted.

 

leaving by train?

The Arlberg Orient Express departed from Bucharest Gara de Nord at 10:03 a.m. that day, bound for Cluj (500 km away, arr. 6:30 p.m.), Oradea (arr. 7:50 p.m.), Budapest in Hungary (to arrive around 7 a.m. the next day, departs by 7:50 a.m.), and onwards to Paris. From Budapest they might be heading to Austria, or Germany, or down towards Greece or Turkey ... and that's just on the Wagons-Lits trains.       And of course Gara de Nord is a major morning commuter and intercity train station/terminal. Between midnight and 10 a.m. more than 30 trains would have departed for various destinations within Romania.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bucharest_North_railway_station http://www.rri.ro/files/Foto%20Franceza/Gara-de-Nord-1975.jpg        It's 140 miles from Bucharest East Station to Constanta, by rail or car (pretty straight line, good rails, good paved roads). Note that the station is not the same one (Bucharest North Station) which serves the Orient Express.       The Danube Express is another speedy train that passes through Bucharest (but not to Constanta). http://asmrb.pbworks.com/w/page/76699928/Roumania#ClassesofTrainsinRomania       Currently (2015) the morning trains to Constanta leave (from Bucharest East Station) and arrive at Constanta thusly: R-8001:  depart 6 a.m. (before dawn); arrive 10:43 a.m. (thus 4-3/4 hours) R-8011:  depart 7:45 a.m.; arrive 11:48 (thus 4 hours)      Both have first and second class service. The rest of the mid-day trains to Constanta leave from 1 p.m. onwards, and are slow 2nd class only (though still faster than a car). In the evening faster first and second class service runs again both ways. Basically commuters, and people in a hurry between the capital and the seaport, use the fast first-class trains.       There's a round-trip flight from Bucharest to Constanta via LARES (the Romanian national airway).  The aircraft are either a Junkers F.13 (an all-metal, low-wing monoplane, with two pilots and four passengers, cruise speed 99 mph), or an Avia BH-25J (a Czechoslovakian single-engine biplane, with two pilots and five passengers, cruise speed 112 mph). In either case, they leave not long after dawn, and return before sunset. November 1st sunrise at 6:52 a.m.; sunset at 5:06 p.m.; the flight is about an hour and a half, so probably depart Bucharest 7:30 a.m., arrive Constanta about 9 a.m. (return flight leaves Constanta at about 3:00 p.m., arrives Bucharest about 4:30 p.m.)      "The pilots, mechanics, and ground staff of LARES are all members of the Army aviation division." ... which means they will certainly remember some of the player-characters.

 

     Willoughby eventually got through on the telephone to the harbormaster's office at Constanta. One of the staff (Aspestol Negura) told us that a Armenian-flagged ship, the S.S. Dariev Nivasa, had in fact left"a short time ago", around dawn, supposedly bound for Istanbul.

 

"I say, DeLacy, Armenia doesn't seem to have any coast."

 

     The naval attache was asked to contact the Admiralty and Lloyd's regarding the mystery vessel. Willoughby sent a telegram to the British vice-consul at Constanta, Mr. J. A. Waite, asking him to investigate the kidnapping. The American embassy was also informed about Bill Davis's kidnapping.

     A man resembling Bill Davis was reported to be in a local hospital, severely wounded; DeLacy and Mrs. Cullin visited the hospital, but found him to be ( a ) unconscious and ( b ) not Bill Davis. He did have some tattoos (red star, hammer and sickle, Cyrillic motto of some sort which DeLacy takes a note of) that might be those found on a Soviet sailor. He'd been brought in to the hospital about 5 a.m., from a location three blocks from the Lido hotel.

     White was called by the British embassy about this time, but hung up the telephone when he heard who it was.

     Meanwhile, Ms. Victoria May learned from the Ambassador that she was being offered a promotion by the Foreign Office:  any one of several posts, including one in Iceland, or with the secretarial and clerical staff at Broadway Terrace, London.

 

Iceland's foreign policy is controlled by Denmark, so any British diplomats there would be part of the consular service.

 

     Ms. May, and eventually the rest of Our Heroes, investigated the rooms of Bill Davis and Miss Worthington at the Lido. A bit of business with the maids left us to search the rooms in peace.

     At first glance, there was no sign of violence or a struggle; apparently all of their clothing, weapons, etc. had been left. None-the-less, the bedding in both rooms was tumbled about, especially in Bill Davis's room.

 

"Bill has never impressed anyone with his housekeeping capabilities. He has left whole countries in shambles. Have you seen Nicaragua lately?" Certainly his wallet, boot, and dozens of weapons were left! This included the strange "ray gun".

 

     While searching Miss Worthington's room more intensely, Mrs. Cullin swooned into DeLacy's arms after sniffing a strange residue on the bedsheets. We supposed this to be the effect of some kind of poison, introduced via a glass pipette inserted through a hole in the wall from the next room!

     Having bathed, shaved and enjoyed a fine breakfast, Clive White noticed Willoughby hustling to the "scene of the crime". There is a bit of confusion as White presumes the rest of Our Heroes are discussing K. S. Duleepsinhji's injury -- but in fact, it was Miss Worthington's disappearance, a discovery which upset him even more than a possible cricket catastrophe.

 

"Ask His Excellency, White -- he's cousin to one of the English team's managers."

(Kirk and Michael:  the first Test Match, England vs. Australia, is coming up on 2 December)

 

     Meanwhile, in Davis' room, Ms. May, Willoughby and White sought clues. We found a sort of metallic feather, perhaps the fletching from some sort of bolt, arrow or dart; and a small amount of brownish residue on Davis' sheets.

     Our conclusion:  someone shot Bill Davis with a narcotic dart, and drugged Miss Worthington with a strange smoke or powder wafted into her bedroom. All of this must have taken place in the middle of the night. They were then whisked to the coast by train, car or whatever, and loaded on the mystery ship. Mrs. Cullin managed to muddy the waters a bit as to how she learned of their abduction.

     Later that day, Captain Robert Ramsay RN (the naval attache) provided the information he'd received from the Admiralty, Lloyd's, and the Romanian coast guard.

 

S. S. Dariev Nivasa

A coal-fired, single-screw, triple-expansion-engine steamship launched in 1909, with measurements as follows: 3011 gross tons, 5000 deadweight tons 324 feet length, 47 feet beam, 21 feet draft fully loaded cruising speed 9 knots, maximum speed (when new) 11 knots     It's a five-hatch freighter (two forward, two aft, one midships), and originally was fitted with six passenger cabins. The most recent information available (from circa 1922) claims it carries four lifeboats and a small motor launch. The current crew size is unknown, but as built a crew of 30 was carried.      Originally registered under the British flag when built, it's had several changes of ownership, nationality, and name. It was sold to a company in Imperial Russia before the Revolution, then to a Greek owner, then to a Turkish shipping company. The actual current owners and insurance coverage (if any) are unknown; the name, nationality and home port are quite likely changed by a whim of the captain. The current name is apparently Wallachian (a common dialect of Romanian) or Armenian for some sort of mythical aquatic creature -- more or less, "Sea Spirit".      The home port painted on the stern was Batumi, a port in the Georgian SSR (at the eastern end of the Black Sea).      Romanian customs authorities claim the cargo loaded in Costanta was 4,000 barrels of Bulgarian olive oil, bound for Istanbul. The captain's name is Davut Pamuk.      Given the distance to Istanbul and the ship's cruising speed, it should reach there in about 22 hours ... before dawn on the 2nd.

 

     We began packing for a rescue mission. Fred Willoughby and Ms. May received permission from the Ambassador to take part in the rescue.

 

Arrest of Communist leaders of "hunger marchers"  at London, stopped the disorders that began several days ago.

Orders for the marches came from Moscow Reds, it was alleged in court. W. A. L. Hannington, Communist leader, was sentenced to 3 months in prison.

 

A business and bank holiday extending through November 12 was declared throughout Nevada.

 

Wednesday, November 2, 1932

 

     Nora had another vision during the night ... 

 

Nora's Second Vision

Qua Lin shackled to a large iron "Saint Andrew's Cross", wearing a large jade bracelet; the man with blue and green eyes (and a widow's peak) menaces her eye. He is ... The Dread Master.        Again, Sheri should add more detail and melodrama here.

 

     A few minutes after 10 a.m., we were all aboard the Arlberg Orient Express, along with our luggage (plus Davis' and Worthington's belongings).

 

In Manchuria, 60 insurgent soldiers were killed when they rushed into electrically charged wire

used as part of the defenses of the Fenghuang-cheng station on the Mukden-Antung Railway.

 

Thursday, November 3, 1932

 

     Before dawn, Our Heroes had changed at Budapest, to the Orient Express train headed for Istanbul.

     At breakfast, in Belgrad, a telegram was delivered to Fred Willoughby:  the British consulate-general in Istanbul reported that the Dariev Nivasa had stopped only briefly, sent a few persons ashore, and was now passing through the Dardanelles into the Aegean Sea, supposedly bound for Cyprus. He composed a reply, asking the consulate to have the Navy shadow the ship!

 

At N.Y. City, Governor Roosevelt delivered his answer to President Hoover's warning

that Democratic victory might spell disaster for the nation,

at a campaign rally under the auspices of Republicans who were supporting him for the Presidency.

 

Friday, November 4, 1932

 

     Noon -- Our Heroes arrived at Istanbul, in a heavy rainstorm. DeLacy, White and Mrs. Cullin checked us in at the Pera Palace hotel (operated by the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits).

     However, Willoughby proceeded directly to the British consulate at Pera House (500 yards from the hotel), to gather the latest news. There he learned that the Dariev Nivasa was now several hundred miles past the Dardanelles, in the Aegean proceeding roughly south -- still potentially en route to Cyprus. While in the Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles the vessel had not docked, but had paused for only 2 hours and sent a motor launch ashore at Istanbul. The boat landed half-a-dozen men -- three Siamese, a Russian, and two Turks. The Siamese were very ill, and had been taken directly to the Hospital Pasteur, in the Şişli district -- the usual hospital for sick, indigent sailors. The Şişli district houses many Jews, Armenians, and other non-Muslims. 

     In addition, the consulate advised that due to the bad weather in the Aegean and over Turkey, aircraft could not fly. Several Royal Navy destroyers were converging on the Dariev Nivasa, and would shadow the vessel.

     Willoughby and Mrs. Cullin took a taxi to the Hospital Pasteur, about a mile from the British consulate, to see the Siamese people. The Turks and Russians had never visited the hospital; the Siamese men really were Siamese -- Mr. Parapthet, Mr. Uathavikul, and one whose name nobody knew (he was in a coma). They were emaciated, spitting up blood, bleeding from the eyes and ears (at least), with fevers, sores, headaches, a rash, and other dramatic symptoms. The doctors declared them to be suffering from "cow fever". Various preventative schemes were suggested to avoid developing the disease, the most acceptable of which was quinine.

     Dr. Wilcox, staff medico at the consulate, was asked to look in on the hospitalized Siamese sailors.

 

statement of the Siamese sailors

They said that Europeans (farangs) chartered the ship; the captain was Davut Pamuk; they don't know who owned the ship. The ship took on Greek and Armenian slaves but many soon died of the disease. The crew also started dying, like getting the life sucked out of them. The Master hired the ship. He dressed very well and carried a long flat cane. His servants were strange people -- they looked Indian. The Master had several Chinese women traveling with him.

 

DeLacy's superiors eventually theorized that the disease could be a form of Justinian's Plague, that was believed to be similar to bubonic plague.

 

     Mr. White purchased a guest pass at a yachting club and spent the evening enjoying several games of bridge. His winnings were about £50. Ms. May visited "Station T", the local office of the Secret Intelligence Service -- also in the British consulate, but mostly in the basement levels.

 

the SIS in Istanbul

In the Pulp Adventure period, the SIS office in Turkey is in Istanbul (at Pera House, the consulate-general), rather than at the embassy in Ankara. Their physical offices are in the basement (for record-keeping) and the attic (for radio equipment).      The Head of Station has some official cover -- currently, as the Deputy Under-Secretary for Trade. The actual cover changes with each new Head of Station. The OGPU are certainly aware of their general presence, but the SIS staff go to great lengths to remain "under cover". If their identities are discovered, they're removed from the country pretty quickly -- hopefully more quickly than Soviet assassins can get to them.      This station specializes in running deep-cover spies in the Soviet Union, with a sideline in keeping an eye on Zionists. Like most SIS posts, they aren't supposed to work "against the interests of the host country."      Pera House was formerly the British legation under the Ottoman Empire; it's quite capacious, with a ballroom, quarters for the Ambassador, wide gardens, etc.

 

     Major DeLacy heard of Germans conducting archaeological excavations near Istanbul and Ankara. He then visited the Brotherhood of the Sword. Lennie's sword was not present. He was advised to visit the Brotherhood's chapterhouse in Seville.

 

     DeLacy knew full well that Our Heroes don't arrive at Ephesus until July of 1933,

and that Lennie's sword wasn't placed in the monastery until much later.

 

President Hoover spoke at Springfield, Ill., and at St. Louis. He declared that under Republican policies 1,000,000 men had been returned to work during the last four months; if any change was to be made in the tariff it ought to be increased.

 

Gov. Roosevelt and ex-Gov. A. E. Smith spoke at Brooklyn where the former repeated his sound money pledge.

 

Saturday, November 5, 1932

 

     Rain and wind continue at Istanbul and across the Aegean Sea.

 

Bill Davis and Qua Lin Worthington:  Their Story

Meanwhile ...       Qua Lin spent more than 12 hours in deep unconscious sleep. Once she awoke, she was weak and forced herself to eat as much as possible, but gained no strength.

 

     The Siamese sailor who was in a coma had now died, and another was likely to die soon. Dr. Wilcox named Wiel's Disease (aka the Black Jaundice or more scientifically leptospirosis), and Cattle Fever as the possible diseases the Siamese men have contracted. He was hardly a source of optimism; he named various disasters and pandemics which he claimed were caused by these diseases.

     The Turkish authorities were conducting a manhunt for the Russian and Turkish sailors who'd come ashore at the same time as the Siamese fellows. Rumors about some sort of terrible disease seem to be spreading.

     Willoughby had a headache (which he put down to travel and foreign foods); he saw Dr. Wilcox, who said the Siamese fellows don't have bubonic plague, but rather (see above). Clive White was a bit disturbed by all this talk of diseases, and started noticing sick people everywhere.

     The SIS station chief was also quite disturbed by the reports of an epidemic; he was burning his records, packing his bags, and advised Ms. May that the Turkish government was going to impose a quarantine on the city before the next morning. Ms. May twisted the station chief's arm a bit to get some useful contacts if (when) he absconded:

 

• Smithers, at the Embassy in Ankhara. Presumably he was another MI6 officer.
  

• Farhat Suvari, a smuggler, usually found in the Grand Bazaar doing business as a moneychanger. Passphrase to identify yourself, "Nelson sent me."

 

     Mrs. Cullin, at a bookstore in the Grand Bazaar, found a Latin text about Tamerlane from the 1780s.

     With the help of a Canadian member of the consulate-general's staff, Major DeLacy was able to charter a fast yacht -- a 40' vessel capable of 23 knots -- for the 'bargain' price of £150 it would slip us out past any quarantine. The yacht would carry Our Heroes, along with the Canadian and his family, off to meet with a Royal Navy destroyer in the Aegean; the Canadians would then proceed onwards to Greece.

     Around sunset Our Heroes boarded the yacht. The vessel pitched and heaved in the storm; the mighty engines roared, and the wind howled. After six hours of travel, the yacht met up with a Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Bulldog, and put Our Heroes aboard. The yacht sped away west towards Greece, and the destroyer turned towards Cyprus. The Navy told us that the Dariev Nivasa did not turn east towards Cyprus, but instead continued south-east towards Egypt.

 

Gov. Roosevelt and Alfred E. Smith spoke at a Tammany rally in New York City (at Madison Square Garden).

 

It's Guy Fawkes Day.

    

Sunday, November 6, 1932

 

     The rain and wind abated a bit today. By dawn, the Navy reported that the Dariev Nivasa was still on course for Egypt, probably making for the entrance to the Suez Canal. The Bulldog raced after the mystery ship ...

 

The parliamentary (Reichstag) elections in Germany reduced the National Socialist (Nazi) vote by 2,000,000.

The Socialists, Centrists, Bavarian People's party and the Democrats also show losses.

The only gainers are the Nationalists, whose Reichstag representation is increase by 13 seats;

the Communists, who gained 11, and the People's party now goes up from 7 seats to 11.

 

Monday, November 7, 1932

 

     The Dariev Nivasa entered the Suez Canal at Port Said before dawn.

     HMS Bulldog, low on fuel, headed towards Alexandria; another destroyer, HMS Brazen, took Our Heroes aboard and headed for the Suez Canal. There was a 7 knot speed limit in the Suez Canal -- the Dariev Nivasa stayed ahead of the Royal Navy.

 

Bill Davis and Qua Lin Worthington:  Their Story

On the freighter, fewer and fewer people were left on board, with more sick. Qua Lin treated the increasing number of ill. She felt a bit better, and heard that Dread Master Romanescu had left the ship at Port Said, sneaking off during the night. Of a crew of forty, a third were dead or had disappeared, a third were suffering, and about ten remain at their posts (including the captain). Of 36 cells in the hold, 10 were still occupied. Qua Lin freed Victor and Bill, but Ivan did not make it.      The ship was now flying the Egyptian flag (green with a white crescent and three white stars in the middle).

 

Tuesday, November 8, 1932

 

In the national elections in the United States, President Herbert Hoover, of Calif.,

and Vice-President Charles Curtis, of Kan., Republicans, were defeated

by New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Congressman (Speaker of the House) John N. Garner, of Texas, Democrats.

They carried 42 states -- all but Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.

This gave the Democrats 472 electoral votes, out of 531. They got a majority control of both branches of Congress.

Mr. Hoover voted at Palo Alto, Calif., Mr. Roosevelt at Hyde Park, N.Y.

The former left Palo Alto with his wife on Nov. 11, stopped at Hoover (Boulder) Dam, Nev., on the way east.

 

Wednesday, November 9, 1932

 

     At Geneva, Switzerland, 13 persons were killed and 45 wounded, including 15 soldiers,

in a street battle when Socialist demonstrators sought to prevent an anti-Socialist meeting called by the Union Nationale.

 

Nadejda Sergeivna Alliluieva, 30, second wife of Joseph Stalin, Soviet Russian dictator, died of appendicitis at Moscow.

She was a native of George, in the Caucasus. She left two children.

 

Captain Wolfgang von Gronau ended, at Lake Constance,

his airplane trip around the world., which began on July 22.

The aircraft was a Dornier Do-J "Wal".

 

Thursday, November 10, 1932

 

     HMS Brazen overhauled the Dariev Nivasa in the Red Sea just after dawn, and ordered the small, rusty freighter to stop. Mrs. Cullin, Major DeLacy, Fred Willoughby, Clive White, and Ms. May were ferried over in a ship's boat, along with a section of armed sailors, the master-at-arms, the destroyer's doctor and a couple of sick berth attendants (equivalent to 'medical corpsmen' in the USN). As soon as the RN doctor sees the conditions, he places the Dariev Nivasa in quarantine. DeLacy learned that Romanescu and his staff disembarked in Port Said three days ago -- he immediately had the destroyer send a radio message to Port Said to detain Romanescu with all care.

     Only two officers (the captain and one other) and eight engine room crew (six stokers and a couple of assistant engineers) were operating the ship by then! There were seven slaves to be rescued from the cells -- Eastern Europeans, Arabs; male and female. All were in poor health, half of them had the disease seen in Istanbul -- Cow Fever or whatever it may be.

     In the saloon/mess, there were a melange of Greek, Hyperborian, occult (including Zoroastrian), astrological and astronomical symbols painted in a circle surrounding an iron "Saint Andrew's cross" stock, seven feet tall. It was fastened to the deck and the overhead; shackles and chains would hold the victim by the wrists and ankles.

     Photos and sketches were taken, and the ship's log was examined. About the only revelation in the log was that the vessel had begun this voyage at Batumi, in the Georgian SSR. DeLacy used his mica goggles to look at Qua Lin’s red jade bracelet. Seen through the goggles it glowed, with the script glowing blindingly above the surface of the bracelet. Qua Lin's aura was weak.

 

The Red Jade Ketoh

The bracelet is a ketoh, for our purposes a "shamanistic bracelet of Mesoamerican origin". It fits around her right wrist with about 1/32" of free space. As such, it cannot easily be moved as it is wider than it is high, to fit her arm. The ketoh is about one and third inches in width and about a half inch in thickness The five symbols in the ketoh are amongst those in the attached example. They are not readily apparent at first glance. However they seem to appear readily should an observer focus on the face of the ketoh in direct light.  The symbols themselves are somehow etched into the jade below the surface. As in the example of the lucite cube, the symbols are three dimensional but seem to be oriented along the width and upper side/'top' of the ketoh, so that they are on top of Qua Lin's wrist. while wearing it, Qua Lin has an effective Power of 1.

 

About Red Jade

Red Jade is a variety of Jadeite, one of two distinctly different minerals that share the name Jade. Jadeite is a sodium aluminum silicate, hard and lustrous, and usually more expensive. It occurs in various colors, including white-gray green, leafy green, blue or blue-green, emerald green, lavender, pink, red, orange, greenish-black or black.      Red Jade is the chi stone, aiding in focusing and bringing forward the energy of the warrior. It can be used in talismans of individual power and will. It is a very strong Life Force stone, beneficial for healers to help keep their energies high when working intensively. It is an excellent support for tai chi, qi gung and other martial arts concerned with the flow of energy through the body.      Red Jade stimulates the Base and Earthstar Chakras, combining the energy of the Earth element with aspects of the Fire element. The Base, or Root Chakra, is located at the base of the spine, and controls the energy for kinesthetic feeling and movement. It is the foundation of physical and spiritual energy for the body. When physically out of balance the symptoms will manifest themselves as lethargy, low levels of activity, focus, and enthusiasm. When its spiritual energies are out of balance, a person will feel weak, flighty, disconnected from reality, and distant. The Earth Chakra is located between and slightly below the feet. It holds the soul into carnation and creates a solid connection to the terrestrial plane, enabling the flow of excess and out-of-balance energies out of the body.      Red Jade utilizes Fire energy, the energy of enthusiasm, warmth, brightness, illumination and activity. It is Yang in nature. It is the energy of heat, action, emotion and passion. Energy can be drawn through Red Jade to boost Life energy. Red Jade can also be used, carefully, to bring the sun's power and the element of fire into a person’s body.      Jade, in all forms, is valued most for its metaphysical properties. It is the ultimate "Dream Stone," revered to access the spiritual world and gain insight into ritualistic knowledge. It is cherished as a protective talisman, assuring long life and a peaceful death, and is considered a powerful healing stone.      Jade can be used to create a Harmonizer talisman. Harmonizers, called the chain and band silicates, bind together in a long chain, distributing energy in a balanced, long-term way.      Among other deities, Jade is also used to honor Brigit, the Irish Goddess of Fertility; Coatlicue, the Aztec Goddess of Life, Death, and Rebirth; Dione, the Phoenician Earth Goddess; Hine-Nui-Te-Po, the Polynesian Goddess of the Night; and Tara, the Buddhist "Savioress" Goddess.      Jade is the traditional zodiac stone for those born in the heart of spring under the sign of Taurus, from April 20 - May 20. Taurus is depicted as a bull because of its characteristics of being strong but quiet, and is ruled by the planet Venus that also rules Libra. Taureans are known for being "down to Earth," the doers and the realists. They are affectionate, known for their tempers and very stubborn.

 

     By the afternoon, all the patients were in clean berths; Captain Pamuk and his remaining officer were chained up in small compartments, under guard. The steamer got slowly underway, bound for Aden and escorted by HMS Bulldog. We asked the Bulldog to send a radio message to the British embassy in Bucharest, to tell them of Miss Worthington's and Mr. Davis's rescue.

 

November 11 to November 18, 1932

 

     The two ships reached Aden by Saturday the 12th; the crew of the Bulldog were allowed to go ashore, but everyone on the Dariev Nivasa had to remain in quarantine.

     During the quarantine Algernon DeLacy read the Latin text about Tamerlane to Mrs. Cullin, and she translated it into English.

 

book about Tamerlane

Written in Latin, and printed in the 1780s. It went into great detail about various battles, Zoroastrian beliefs, and the Safaviyya.      Much of the focus is on the Khurramiyah, a sect of mystic warriors originating in 13th Century Persia. A Safavid general made an agreement to send a band of the sect to the great Islamic conqueror Tamerlane (born c. 1320 AD, died 1405 AD) -- as the sect was becoming a threat to Safavid power within Persia.      Note:  Tamerlane took the title of amir in 1370 AD, about the earliest date that the Khurramiyah would have been sent to him.      The Khurramiyah believed in keeping the balance of light and darkness in their religion, and sometimes fought on both sides in battle.      The book had a reference to a keep they built, overlooking Karkidon K'ol (Viper Lake) in the Alai mountains, just south of what became the Tuzbek SSR.

 

     Fergana, in the Tuzbek SSR, is a city of mosques and monuments. It's the city that Romanescu spoke of -- he was apparently traveling there to research Tamerlane (whose birthplace was in that general area).

 

Kevin, is that summary of the book correct?  Yes!

 

     Otherwise, Miss Worthington and Bill Davis slowly regained their health -- although Miss Worthington remained fatigued. Some unsatisfying cricket, trap shooting, fencing, meditation, and lounging about in general occupied Our Heroes. Attempts to remove the red-jade bracelet failed; DeLacy's superiors advised him that the runes seemed to be similar to Vinča-Turdaș, a neolithic script first encountered on pottery fragments found in Turdaș, Romania in 1875.

     Daily high temperatures while anchored at Aden were between 85°F and 88°F, night-time lows were around 75°F; 40% cloud cover typically. Day-time humidity was around 70%, and a violent thunderstorm swept by one day.

 

Make all experience checks!

 

November 12:   The Soviet Russian Government ordered over 25,000 clerks in state departments at Moscow transferred to farms and factories.

 

The steamer Karlsruhe, the first ship of the German Navy to visit the Port of New York since 1912, steams into the harbor.

 

In the Chaco region, 500 Bolivians, including five officers, were killed in a battle near Fort Saavedra when the Bolivians counter-attacked against the Paraguayan offensive.

 

November 13:  The city of Luchow, in Szechwan province, western China, was bombed by troops under General Lu Hsiang;

4,000 were killed, 10,000 homes destroyed. The attackers were repulsed.

 

November 14:  Amy Johnson (Mrs. J. A. Mollison) left the airport at Lympne, England, landed that evening at Oran, Algeria; stopped at Gao, in French West Africa, on November 15; at Duala on November 16; at Benguela and Mossamedeson November 17; at Cape Town, November 18, 6,700 miles in 4 days 6 hours 56 minutes.

 

Leon Trotsky (Lev Davidovich Bronstein), exiled Soviet Russian army chief, left the Island of Prinkipo, in the Sea of Marmara, with wife, daughter and secretary. They crossed France to Denmark, where Trotsky lectured at Copenhagen.

 

November 16:  two satchels, containing parts of a woman's body, arrived at Naples, by train. A satchel with the rest of the body reached Rome the next day.

 

November 17:  in Germany, the von Papen, von Schleicher Cabine, installed by President von Hindenburg

on June 1 to bring about a "national concentration", resigned after von Papen's overtures

for support in the new Reichstaghad met with rejection.

 

In England, the present Parliament ended its first session.

The second session began on November 22.

The third India round table conference opened at London. 

 

Saturday, November 19, 1932

 

     The quarantine was lifted! Our Heroes proceeded ashore for some well-deserved meals, cool drinks, and improved laundry service. Captain Pamuk was taken off by the Royal Navy for a trial.

     We arranged for transport on RAF aircraft to the Emirate of Sharjah, on the Persian Gulf, and then by Imperial Aiways to Karachi in India the next day. We'd be flying initially in three Vickers Vincent light biplane bombers of 8 Squadron, fitted with external fuel tanks. The RAF were quite keen to show off their new aircraft (these entered service with this squadron in October).

 

Sunday, November 20, 1932

 

     A dramatic 6 hour flight, at 143 miles per hour and 5,000' altitude, took Our Heroes across the Arabian desert from 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. -- the early departure was needed to catch that day's Imperial Airways flight towards India (departed about noon from Sharjah). At Sharjah we de-planed, refreshed ourselves briefly at Al Mahhatta Fort, and boarded a much more comfortable Handley-Page HP.42 airliner for the remaining 740 miles to India. The air fare per person was £20, plus £1 per every five pounds of luggage in excess of 55 pounds. 

 

technically this is the January 1935 map, but most of the differences are at the far eastern end and on minor African routes

 

     After flying over the Straits of Hormuz, we reached Karachi at 4:30 in the afternoon. Cold weather and mountain-crossing garb was purchased here; DeLacy bought a motorcycle.

 

Japan filed at Geneva her answer to the report of the Lytton Commission.

She denies that her invasion of Manchuria in September, 1931;

her occupation of the territory for the last 14 months;

and the setting up of the "independent" Manchukuo government

have violated the League Covenant, the Kellogg pact outlawing war,

or the nine-power treaty guaranteeing the integtrity of China -- all of which she signed.

 

Monday, November 21, 1932

 

     Our Heroes boarded The Flying Mail express train at breakfast-time, bound for Delhi. First-class fare, per person, is £12 from Karachi to Peshawar, meals included. Note that we could have taken the Imperial Airways flight to Delhi, but in the end we wouldn't have arrived at Kabul any earlier, and the train was much more comfortable.

 

President von Hindenburg offered the German Chancellorship,

on a parliamentary basis, to Adolf Hitler, head of the National Socialist party.

He did not accept.

 

Tuesday, November 22, 1932

 

     The Flying Mail arrived in Delhi at 2 p.m.; we had supper and washed-up in a pleasant hotel, and eventually boarded The Frontier Mail late that night.

 

Wednesday, November 23, 1932

 

     The Frontier Mail arrived in Peshawar at 7:50 p.m.; we checked into another hotel catering to traveling officials and businessmen. Arrangements were made for us to ride the Peshawar-to-Kabul train the next day. Fare about £2 per person; keep in mind that this rail service is entirely fictional (historically it didn't cross the Afghan frontier).

 

Soviet officials in Russian Istria, where Finns are many, have seized nine Lutheran churches, arresting the clergy.

The parish church at Ranpyva is now a collectivized cowbarn.

At Retykyla the Russians have opened an atheistic academy for training "Godless apostles" among the Finns.

 

Thursday, November 24, 1932

 

     From Peshawar, through the Khyber Pass, to Kabul is only 140 miles, but the small train was huffing and puffing slowly up the winding curves of the Pass at only 18 miles per hour. It consisted of a tank locomotive, two boxcars (including our baggage), an open coach ("No Class" according to some), and another boxcar with a section of Indian troops as guards.

 

The Train is Attacked!

Bullets flew in the Khyber Pass! A passenger playing bridge with Willoughby and White was killed instantly at the start. Pathans on speedy ponies chased the train and shot Nora, Willoughby and many others. Qua Lin Worthington and Major DeLacy tried to heal Mrs. Cullin using Algy as a battery, but the red jade bracelet was an impediment. Qua Lin went back to traditional first aid and medical practice on the other victims.      White guarded the doors against the bandits. The train car at the rear -- carrying the Indian Army troops -- blew up when hit by a sack of dynamite; the rear wall of the passenger coach was destroyed as well.      DeLacy lept onto the now "flat" rear car and exchanged shots with the three brigands who had also jumped aboard. Bill Davis provided covering fire; Teddy White shot and spooked a horse. Algy was badly hit in the arm, then got mad and sucked the mana out of his opponent. Ms. May was hit in the leg by a bullet.       White grabbed his umbrella and taunted a Pathan horseman by opening it. His tactic worked -- the native tossed his hand grenade, it hit the umbrella and bounced back onto the trackside. The blast killed or injured several Pathans; but also wounded DeLacy (and deprived him of his snack).      Trailing smoke, the train clattered away unmolested by any further attacks ...

 

Major DeLacy skirmished with three Pathans on the remains of the guard car;

Mr. White and Miss Worthington were inside, not atop, the passenger coach.

 

     In the afternoon the somewhat ragged train pulled into the station at Kabul. Mrs. Cullin, Major DeLacy, Ms. May, and Willoughby were all taken to the military hospital immediately. Qua Lin supervised the medical treatment, and Bill Davis was able to use his mica goggles to "adjust auras" and aid in healing. Even so, the wounds received would take quite some time to heal.

 

November 25 to December 4, 1932

 

     Willoughby was the last of Our Heroes to be released from hospital -- he'd had a nearly-mortal torso wound from a Mauser bullet.

     Ms. May was contacted by ... with an offer to ... in London or Iceland; or as ... at Kabul. She still had not informed most of us of her actual occupation.

 

Some good news:  take all experience checks!

 

     During our stay in Kabul, plans were laid to travel to the Tuzbek SSR.

 

November 27:  Poland signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union.

 

November 29:  At Paris, a Franco-Soviet pact of non-aggression, containing military, political and economic clauses,

was signed with a provision for the creation of a board of conciliation, similar to that under the Russo-German accord,

which will report yearly in an advisory capacity on outstanding questions affecting the signatory countries.

 

Socialization of medical care for the people of the United States,

based on a system of group practice and group payments with community medical centers to provide complete medical service,

both preventive and therapeutic, in return for weekly or monthly fees, in the form of insurance, taxation, or both,

are the basic changes in American medical practice recommended by a majority of the Committee on the Costs of Medical Care,

of which Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur is the chairman.

 

December 1:  In Cuba, constitutional guarantees were re-established and military control ceased

in all provinces except Havana, under a decree signed by President Machado.

Thus martial law is lifted from most of Cuba for the first time since the rebellion of two years ago.

 

December 2:   At Berlin, General Kurt von Schliecher, who made and upset the successive ministries

of Dr. Heinrich Bruening and Colonel Franz von Papen,

was commissioned by President Paul von Hindenburg to form a Cabinet of his own,

which he did, and he was appointed Chancellor on December 3.

 

Japan's winter offensive aiming to end the power of General Su Ping-wen,

who has been holding nearly one-quarter of Manchuria against the Manchukuo government,

reached the northwestern village of Halasu. They took Hailar on December 5.

 

December 4:  the first detachments of hunger marchers, visiting Washington to petition Congress and President Hoover for help,

bivouacked on the old grounds of Camp Meigs, a wartime cantonment,

with police sentinels on every side. 2,500 men, women and children,

huddled in trucks, in shaky automobiles, in motorcyle sidecars, and tried to keep warm.

All but a few left the city on December 7. They had marched once, through the streets.

 

 

 

---

Michael's notes on travel by land to the Soviet Union from Kabul:

 

     The best route, considering the season, would be to cross the Koh-i-Baba Range (part of the Hindu Kush) via the Shibar Pass, about 150 miles from Kabul to Bamyan.

     The first 50 miles of this journey would be along an easy road to Jabal Saraj, a mountain resort town with summer homes for Kabul's elite; we can take automobiles or a bus there in a few hours from Kabul. A new road had been built over the last two years from Jabal Saraj to the Shibar Pass; the final mile or so of the road over the pass, at the summit, should be complete next summer. Let's say 50 miles from Jabal Saraj on switchback-y but good road to the construction camp near the summit; over the summit; and then another 50 miles of switchback-y road to Bamyan.

 

This bit here at the summit was the last part of the road to be constructed.

 

     As of the winter of 1932-33, ten miles of pony-and-foot paths wound around from the construction site, over the summit and down to another road on the far (northern) side of the pass.

     From Bamyan on the far side of the pass, the route to the Uzbek and Tuzbek SSR led north more than 300 miles along the Surkhab River to Termez and the Soviet frontier.

     The weather: "South of this the Suliman mountains may be taken as the western limit of the monsoon's action. It is quite unfelt in the rest of Afghanistan, in which, as in all the west of Asia, the winter rains are the most considerable. The spring rain, though less copious, is more important to agriculture than the winter rain, unless where the latter falls in the form of snow. In the absence of monsoon influences there are steadier weather indications than in India. The north-west blizzards which occur in winter and spring are the most noticeable feature, and their influence is clearly felt on the Indian frontier. The cold is then intense and the force of the wind cyclonic. Speaking generally, the Afghanistan climate is a dry one. The sun shines with splendor for three-fourths of the year, and the nights are even more clear than the days. Marked characteristics are the great differences of summer and winter temperature and of day and night temperature, as well as the extent to which change of climate can be attained by slight change of place. The highest temperature ever recorded under standard conditions was 49.9 °C (121.8 °F) at Nimroz in August 2009 and the lowest was −52.2 °C (−62.0 °F) at Shahrak in January 1964."

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Afghanistan#Mountain_systems

 

All of this route planning presumes we don't suddenly teleport or otherwise do something unexpected.

 

 

our travels from Peshawar (on the North-West Frontier of India) to the Uzbek SSR

 

map showing the Uzbek SSR and (red borders) the Tuzbek SSR

 

onward to The Legacy of Tamerlane