Chapter Two, Part Six Help "G" up, wait for the Gentlemen on the roof to remember von Gruber's mentioning of A BOMB IN THE TRAIN and for them to tell me about that...
Back in the exclusive tea wagon,
Smith helps the now conscious but dazed “G” to his feet [3], wondering if he had indeed overheard von Gruber mention some threat of a bomb during his failed assault on Wellington and McGeenyton’s sleeping quarters. For the life of him he can’t quite recall. He sits back down and takes another sip of tea, taking pleasure in the small corner of England recreated in his fine china teacup.
After Smith helps me up...
"Well, that was...painful. Now, if you excuse me, I must go see what I can do about this bump on my head..."
But instead ignore it like a gentleman and start up the chase with me and my trusty rifle.
Also, open the door normally instead of wildly.
With slightly blurred vision and a pounding head,
”G” lets Smith help him to his feet, and calmly begins again on his heroic pursuit. Alas, the door to the tea wagon seems to have jammed, unless it is his faulty and blurred perception that is causing the trouble, for he is unable to open it [2]. Stoically refraining from expressing his growing frustration with the blasted thing, he resolves to calmly and gentlemanly call for a butler.
“I say. Another pot of tea please, old chap?”
He sits back down, confident that his mishap with the door has probably caused Smith’s embarrassing zoological faux pas to be forgotten. The conversation turns, once again, to the magnificence of the Elk, and the malodorous qualities of its droppings.
Accept apology, say that it wasn't needed as he did it by accident while defending the crown.
In the meanwhile, where'd Gruber go? Find that out.
"No no, dear chap, terribly sorry, but I believe it was I that was at fault for impeding your defence of the crown. Let us forget the matter."
Link successfully rushes through the door, and climbs far enough up the outside of the wagon to peek his head over, and see von Fersen in the process of removing his umbrella-sword from von Gruber's chest.
"Aha. I see. One deduces that ah, well, yes. Very well. Good show."
Link searches his pockets for his cigarette holder as he contemplates having a cigarette.
Take a sip of my brandy, and swing through the window into the train, and search for the bomb.
Just as Link's head pops over the edge of the wagon and looks around, he may or may not have seen
McGeenyton rising from his apparent slumber. The distinguished gentleman takes a sip of brandy from his ornate hipflask [6] and bounds to his feet in a flash of reinvigorated energy.
Miraculously quickly grasping the severity of the situation, he places one hand on the edge of the speeding train and swings over the side, feet first. He crashes through the window of an unoccupied sleeping cabin, shattering glass everywhere, and careering straight into a heavy black and audibly ticking package. He strikes the package with his feet and with such force that it blasts open the locked door on the opposite side of the sleeping cabin, smashes the carriage window on the other side of the corridor, and disappears into the night sky in a hail of glass [6+1 brandy bonus].
"I say," says McGeenyton, as he spies, from his position on the floor, that the cabin is empty. "Rather fortunate that there were no ladyfolk slumbering in this cabin, what? One would have been mortified."
As he rises to his feet and dusts off his jacket, he hears a distant but powerful explosion in the French countryside behind him.
"Ah. One appears to have found that fiendish German's damnable explosive device and disposed of it. I wonder where the tea cabin is?"
He looks about for a small bell with which to signal for a butler.
"Dreadfully sorry for the surprise, old chap, but sometimes one simply have to do cad upon cad to get through life, and I would think you had it coming after such a foul betrayal of proper duelling code and conduct!"
Retrieve umblade and Gruber's revolver, then excuse my behavior and search the Preussian ungentleman for any documents or other information. Then prepare for joining Wellington in the pursuit of the zeppelin. Surely, since there was more than one German, they must have made precations for more people escaping the train than just von Gruber.
Slightly further south, atop the speeding steam train,
von Fersen pulls his umbrella-sword out of von Gruber's chest, takes the powerful looking revolver out of his hand, and searches his evening jacket's pockets for any documents or other clue, after excusing his impoliteness. Despite the buffeting motion of the train, he manages to successfully pick up the two weapons, but he finds nothing of interest in the dead man's clothing. He turns to Wellington, who is just clambering up beside him.
"Time to write another exciting chapter of our memoires, don't you think, eh? Surely the women of London will swoon at the retelling of this adventure."
Item Acquired! Magnum Revolver!
Offer to board the airship and attempt to subdue the crew.
"Why not dear boy," replies the stylishly attired Englishman. "We might as well give it a damned good go, what?"
Side by side,
Wellington and von Fersen rush down the length of the train's roof as the Zeppelin approaches and strives to position itself above the train, beginning to shine a powerful beam of light at a spot slightly further along the train's length. It seems to be signalling, expecting the men to need picking up at this time and place, and a crew member aboard is clearly trying to train the light steadily on the roof of the carriage around a hundred yards ahead. Out of the glare of the light one can just about discern the figure of a man throwing out a long rope ladder.
With his Elkishly assured movement, von Fersen takes the lead, carrying his umbrella sword in one hand and sprinting surefootedly along the carriage roof, before leaping confidently from the one carriage to the next [3+1]; behind him Wellington barely makes the jump and stumbles, landing on all fours on the next roof [3]. The train storms on in the night and von Fersen takes another chasm-traversing leap [4+1] with Wellington [3] lagging some 25 yards behind him when he reaches the dangling rope ladder.
With the rope ladder swinging uncertainly in the air before him, our young and noble Swedishman steadies himself for a fleeting moment before taking the plunge: he sticks out his free hand and firmly grabs the ladder. He starts climbing up to the looming Zeppelin [5]. Halfway up he notices a change in the tautness of the ladder - he looks down to see Wellington starting his ascent [5]. He glances upwards to see a head poke its way over the parapet of the huge wicker basket hanging under the Zeppelin from wherein there shines the enormous lamp which lights the roof of the train speeding along below them. A German voice calls out in the onrushing wind.
"Did you get the Englishers? Were are the rest of you? There were problems?"
In carriage 1 are Smith, "G", and two Germans.
In carriage 2 is an invigorated McGeenyton.
At the end of carriage 3, seeing what is on the roof, is Link.
Above carriage 5 are von Fersen and Wellington, climbing a rope ladder at 70 miles per hour in the dark and cold French night above a steam train, hoping to board the Zeppelin.
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Topic: Roll to Be a Gentleman Spy - Chapter Three Part Twenty One. (Read 75128 times)