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     May, 1933 -- Reports of strange winged serpents in northern Nicaragua have made their way to the hallowed halls of the University. Professor Enwright leads an expedition that hopes to obtain specimens from the vicinity of a remote dormant volcano -- ahead of the rumoured expedition from the University of Heidelberg.

     Thus on the first of May, the Ipswich departs from San Francisco, with Professor Enwright, Professor Ivan Drushky of UCLA, and 9 graduate students as assistants.

     That same day, Mr. McCracken, Mrs. Barnato, Miss Cullin, Miss Worthington, Mr. Davis, and an entourage board two chartered sea-planes in San Diego, for a flight to Managua for reasons of their own. They duly arrive (after several fuel and rest stops in Mexico) at Nicaragua's capitol city on the 4th of May (June?), beginning ten days of receptions, speeches, more receptions, more speeches, and drinking.

     The Ipswich arrives in Corinto on the 11th of May, in the evening. The next day is spent in distributing lavish bribes to railway officials; by the 13th the Expedition arrives in Managua. A further day is spent in hiring guides, purchasing gasoline, and otherwise preparing for the departure; an earthquake on the morning of the 14th provides an ominous warning.

     Mr. McCracken has arranged for a platoon of the Guardia Nacional to escort the Expedition (50 men in three trucks); Professor Enwright further arranges for an escort from General Sandino's forces (50 men in 5 trucks). Mr. Dick Johnson of the "Hearst papers" briefly interviews Professor Enwright, and tells him that a German expedition is passing through the Panama Canal, bound for Nicaragua. Mr. McCracken, Mrs. Barnato, and Miss Worthington unexpectedly join the Expedition in a "new" truck of their own, and the convoy of ten vehicles departs -- only an hour or two behind a pair of German trucks filled with uniformed, armed troops!

     Miss Cullin and Mr. Davis remain in Managua, attempting to find a usable airplane.

     Days of hard, hot travelling towards Ocotal face the Expedition; along with (unexpectedly) an attack by the Germans. Several of Sandino's men and two of their trucks are lost to the German attack. A detour to avoid further German surprises adds a couple of days to the trip.

     Finally arriving at Ocotal on Saturday, May 20th, the Expedition is concerned by the sight of aircraft wreckage at the airport; however, Mr. Davis and Miss Cullin are in one of the two cantinas in town. Their pilot, Phil Uro, died in the crash of his elderly Fokker tri-motor.

     Ocotal has a population of several thousand; capital of the department of Nueva Segovia, it is located in the north-central mountainous region of Nicaragua, 15 miles south of the Honduran border, 144 miles north of Managua and at an altitude of approximately 1,800 feet above sea level. It is set in an east-west oriented valley with the highest mountain range (Cordillera Dipilto) in Nicaragua to the north and a plateau to the south. Like most parts of Nicaragua, Ocotal experiences two seasons: the dry season occurring from mid-November to mid-May, and the wet season occurring from mid-May to mid-November. About a quarter of the local population are pure-blooded Indians; literacy stands at about 20%. Somewhere near Ocotal is El Chipote, secret mountain fastness of General Sandino; see here for an image of the town.

     In Ocotal, it was learned that the Germans had sped through the town a couple of days before; both the Sandanistas and the Guardia are keen to eliminate these pests from their country. The next day, Victor Spirunov comes down from the hills, wearing German boots and carrying German equipment; he has a fantastic story, which his guides give a somewhat different version of. It seems that the Germans (and Spirunov) are interested in La Montaña Crepuscular ("The Twilight Peak"), a cloud-shrouded, steep granite spire to the north. On the 22nd, Our Heroes (and the various Sandanista and Guardia forces) approach the mountain, but come under fire from some of the Germans. More importantly to Professor Enwright, enormous flying "snakes" are indeed seen circling the mountain top!

     The Germans are gradually beseiged, and in the middle of the night they attempt to escape. Some are killed, some escape, and one is captured (but mortally wounded).

     The German prisoner mentions "Ultima Thule" before he dies. Not much is known by most of the party about this; to the ancient Greeks, it was the land shrouded in ice far to the north, but more recent mystics have linked it to Atlantis, Hyperborea, the "Black Sun", and other such "lost lands" nonsense. None of Our Heroes seems to know anything about the Ahnenerbe or the Thule-Gesellschaft.

     Professor Enwright advises Professor Drushky to watch over the 9 graduate students in Ocotal. Our Heroes plan to scale the Twilight Peak beginning on May 23rd (or maybe later if the climb is too technical for us).

     The party consists of Mr. McCracken, Miss Barnato, Lennie, Vinnie, Miss Worthington, Miss Cullin, Professor Enwright, Mr. Davis, and perhaps Victor Spirunov. They have been getting cooperation from several dozen Sandinista and Guardia troops. Besides the rifles carried by the locals, Our Heroes have half a dozen shotguns, a Thompson, a big game rifle, a hunting rifle, and several pistols. Spirunov was last seen packing a Bergmann SMG about.

on to The Twilight Peak