22nd November (Day )
After much discussion, the bane of James Starkweather's existence, Acacia Lexington, finally agrees to merge her expedition with the Starkweather/Moore expedition. We will all benefit from the additional supplies and many of us are looking forward to the cut and thrust of barbed comments between James Starkweather and Acacia Lexington. It should make for some interesting times.
Early November 23rd
Members of the Acacia Lexington expedition commenced the large task of packing up their base camp and moving in with us at the Starkweather/Moore expedition base camp. There is much to do and I spend most of my time ensuring that the new aircraft are safely moved along with the fuel and spare parts. The 'combined' fleet of aircraft now includes:
Weddell (Boeing)
Endergy (Boeing)
Fairchild (Small monoplane)
Belle (Northrop Delta)
Willey (Gyrocopter)
After breakfast I managed to listen in on Sir Hubert Wilkins having a quiet chat to James Starkweather. Willie was trying to convince Starkers to admit 'closure' of his former relationship with Acacia Lexington. It was clear that Starkers still had some pretty strong feelings about Acacia but he stubbornly refused to listen to Willie's pleas. Taking advantage of the situation, Willie, then tried to convince Starkers that in case of an emergency perhaps Starkers should appoint Willie as the head of the expedition. At this point Starkers informs him that he has decided to take a break from the expedition and go mountain climbing in the Britannia Range. He left it up to Willie to organise someone to fly him there.
10am I'm summoned along with the other members of the Starkweather/Moore expedition to a briefing by Dr William Moore. Most of us roll-up to the meeting somewhat nervous. The addition of the members of the Acacia Lexington expedition
to our own has created some misapprehension amongst us all. In the briefing Dr Moore explains the decision to merge our expedition with the Acacia Lexington expedition. Everyone has agreed that the Acacia Lexington expedition will not interfere with the Starkweather/Moore expedition. This includes anything of interest that we find at the Lake expedition. The primary focus of the members of the Acacia Lexington expedition is to film and photograph Antarctica.
The next step in our expedition will be to travel South to the Lake expedition basecamp, some 800 miles from our current location. This will begin at the conclusion of the dismantling of the original Acacia Lexington expedition camp
on the 26th November. The plan is to also establish an intermediary camp halfway between the Base camp and the Lake campsite which will be used to store a cache of supplies in case of an emergency. The process of moving the combined expedition to the Lake campsite will take up to 3 days. About 50% of the original Starkweather/Moore expedition will remain at the base camp including
(Patrick Myles, Oglefinger, Charlene and Tomas Lopez) with the 'Fairchild' monoplane. Only 6 members of the original Acacia Lexington expedition will be travelling with us to the Lake campsite.
At this point, Sir Hubert Wilkins, steps in to kindly offer his distinguished services. Unfortunately with little telling effect on the new expedition leader, Dr William Moore. After the briefing, I make a point of chatting to the
engineer, Kyle Williams, from the original Acacia Lexington expedition about the 'Belle'.
Nov 27 1936 'Departure Day'
Early that morning, James Starkweather, Neill, Fiskarson, Gunnar and a sled team of dogs get into the 'Fairchild' and are flown off to the Britannia Range. The round trip there and back again takes 4 hours.
By early afternoon, we have loaded the Enderby, Weddle and the Belle with supplies and finished preparations for the long flight to the Lake campsite.
Supplies taken in the first flight
Pabodie drill
guns
food
alcohol
ammo
dynamite
first aid kits
survival gear
climbing gear
binoculars
navigation instruments
2 portable radios
rock salt
personal gear
tents
tools
strange coins
pack of playing cards
chess set
books
scrimshaw set
camp supplies
fuel
sleds
cameras
compass
teddy bears
cooking gear
lanterns
endless amounts of rope
Plus equipment and supplies for the intermediary and Lake campsite.
At 1pm we set off flying south. Dr William Moore, Willy, myself, Dr Salmonrun and Dr Piper are aboard the Weddle, with Sir Hubert doing the flying. In the Enderby we have Sykes, Packard, Morris Cole and O'Doole. Bringing up the rear in the Belle flown by Kyle Williams we have Acacia Lexington, Priestly and Tuvinen (Polar specialist).
3.30 pm After flying for a couple of hours we start to look for a suitable site to establish the intermediary camp. Dr Moore locates an open patch of snow and then directs us to land the 'squadron'. We all make it ok, with Sir Hubert Wilkins, having a few nervous moments before putting us down successfully.
After a short stop to unload the supplies, we take off and continue our journey due West. For the first time we can see the Miskatonic mountains. A vast mountain range stretching as far as the eye can see. Even from hundreds of miles
away they appear quite big. As we fly closer we begin to get some sense of their immense size. They must be at least 10-12,000 feet in height.
We are now getting closer to the original site of the Lake expedition. At this distance we can just begin to make out some strange patterns on the sides of the mountains. They look vaguely mathematical and appear as if someone had
deliberately crafted out of the sides of the mountains. Dr Salmonrun ventures his opinion that the strange mathematical designs are due to some local meteorological conditions which have carved the patterns into the sides of the mountains.
As we get closer, the radios appear to be affected by the magnetic properties of the Miskatonic Mountains. We'll need to make sure that they are checked once we have landed. Finally we manage to locate the Lake Expedition's original camp. It is about half a mile above the polar plane. We begin our descent.
Sir Hubert Wilkins struggles to control the Weddle as we encounter turbulence. We are all transfixed to the windows giving us a rare glimpse of the truly awesome size and nature of the Miskatonic Mountains. At one point we notice a series of low humps which appear to be in a line. We locate the airstrip which appears to be serviceable and at that point, myself and Dr Piper, became air sickness. I spend the rest of the short period of descent getting up close and personal to the deck of the 'Weddle'.
Finally we land and my torment is ended. After the others have quickly evacuated from the Weddle, Dr Piper and I stumble out into the snow, looking the worse for wear. From our landing site on the airstrip we can see a large dark mound which is about 400 yards to the Wests of the original Lake camp. This appears to be some form of artificial structure which is less weathered than the other mounds.
6pm 27th November 1936
After unloading the supplies and setting up camp, Dr William Moore, gives everyone a lecture on the real purpose of the Starkweather/Moore expedition !
...
The roar of the engines dies away, replaced by silence and the singing wind. It is a desolate, lonely sound. For a moment, no one moves, then Professor Moore unbuckles himself and crouches down by those in the aircraft, looking each of them in the eyes in turn.
"You know why we're here, of course," he says in a low voice, intent and serious. "We're here to find out what happened three years ago. What really happened."
"Something terrible took place outside, just a few yards from this spot. I don't know what it was, but it cost me a number of good
friends. And the ones who know what it was - the ones who came home - are afraid to tell".
He pauses to let that sink in.
"I know those men, as I knew the men who died. Lake, Atwood, Carroll - they were brave fellows. Not afraid of the unknown. William Dyer and Frank Pabodie were brave men too. Unafraid of death - unafraid of the truth."
"I ask your help in this. You're not afraid to look under rocks, or to make sense of what you find. I want to know what is here - where
everything is - before calling Mister Starkweather. Don't move anything yet, but find it all. Clear of as much snow as you can without disturbing things."
"Set up a camp tonight, and tomorrow we will survey the site before we commence drilling."
He pauses for another moment.
"I want to know what killed my friends".
He stares for a moment out the window at the Belle and her crew, spectacled face carefully bland, then turns to the door.
To be continued.
Ruben Bernstein.
After much discussion, the bane of James Starkweather's existence, Acacia Lexington, finally agrees to merge her expedition with the Starkweather/Moore expedition. We will all benefit from the additional supplies and many of us are looking forward to the cut and thrust of barbed comments between James Starkweather and Acacia Lexington. It should make for some interesting times.
Early November 23rd
Members of the Acacia Lexington expedition commenced the large task of packing up their base camp and moving in with us at the Starkweather/Moore expedition base camp. There is much to do and I spend most of my time ensuring that the new aircraft are safely moved along with the fuel and spare parts. The 'combined' fleet of aircraft now includes:
Weddell (Boeing)
Endergy (Boeing)
Fairchild (Small monoplane)
Belle (Northrop Delta)
Willey (Gyrocopter)
After breakfast I managed to listen in on Sir Hubert Wilkins having a quiet chat to James Starkweather. Willie was trying to convince Starkers to admit 'closure' of his former relationship with Acacia Lexington. It was clear that Starkers still had some pretty strong feelings about Acacia but he stubbornly refused to listen to Willie's pleas. Taking advantage of the situation, Willie, then tried to convince Starkers that in case of an emergency perhaps Starkers should appoint Willie as the head of the expedition. At this point Starkers informs him that he has decided to take a break from the expedition and go mountain climbing in the Britannia Range. He left it up to Willie to organise someone to fly him there.
10am I'm summoned along with the other members of the Starkweather/Moore expedition to a briefing by Dr William Moore. Most of us roll-up to the meeting somewhat nervous. The addition of the members of the Acacia Lexington expedition
to our own has created some misapprehension amongst us all. In the briefing Dr Moore explains the decision to merge our expedition with the Acacia Lexington expedition. Everyone has agreed that the Acacia Lexington expedition will not interfere with the Starkweather/Moore expedition. This includes anything of interest that we find at the Lake expedition. The primary focus of the members of the Acacia Lexington expedition is to film and photograph Antarctica.
The next step in our expedition will be to travel South to the Lake expedition basecamp, some 800 miles from our current location. This will begin at the conclusion of the dismantling of the original Acacia Lexington expedition camp
on the 26th November. The plan is to also establish an intermediary camp halfway between the Base camp and the Lake campsite which will be used to store a cache of supplies in case of an emergency. The process of moving the combined expedition to the Lake campsite will take up to 3 days. About 50% of the original Starkweather/Moore expedition will remain at the base camp including
(Patrick Myles, Oglefinger, Charlene and Tomas Lopez) with the 'Fairchild' monoplane. Only 6 members of the original Acacia Lexington expedition will be travelling with us to the Lake campsite.
At this point, Sir Hubert Wilkins, steps in to kindly offer his distinguished services. Unfortunately with little telling effect on the new expedition leader, Dr William Moore. After the briefing, I make a point of chatting to the
engineer, Kyle Williams, from the original Acacia Lexington expedition about the 'Belle'.
Nov 27 1936 'Departure Day'
Early that morning, James Starkweather, Neill, Fiskarson, Gunnar and a sled team of dogs get into the 'Fairchild' and are flown off to the Britannia Range. The round trip there and back again takes 4 hours.
By early afternoon, we have loaded the Enderby, Weddle and the Belle with supplies and finished preparations for the long flight to the Lake campsite.
Supplies taken in the first flight
Pabodie drill
guns
food
alcohol
ammo
dynamite
first aid kits
survival gear
climbing gear
binoculars
navigation instruments
2 portable radios
rock salt
personal gear
tents
tools
strange coins
pack of playing cards
chess set
books
scrimshaw set
camp supplies
fuel
sleds
cameras
compass
teddy bears
cooking gear
lanterns
endless amounts of rope
Plus equipment and supplies for the intermediary and Lake campsite.
At 1pm we set off flying south. Dr William Moore, Willy, myself, Dr Salmonrun and Dr Piper are aboard the Weddle, with Sir Hubert doing the flying. In the Enderby we have Sykes, Packard, Morris Cole and O'Doole. Bringing up the rear in the Belle flown by Kyle Williams we have Acacia Lexington, Priestly and Tuvinen (Polar specialist).
3.30 pm After flying for a couple of hours we start to look for a suitable site to establish the intermediary camp. Dr Moore locates an open patch of snow and then directs us to land the 'squadron'. We all make it ok, with Sir Hubert Wilkins, having a few nervous moments before putting us down successfully.
After a short stop to unload the supplies, we take off and continue our journey due West. For the first time we can see the Miskatonic mountains. A vast mountain range stretching as far as the eye can see. Even from hundreds of miles
away they appear quite big. As we fly closer we begin to get some sense of their immense size. They must be at least 10-12,000 feet in height.
We are now getting closer to the original site of the Lake expedition. At this distance we can just begin to make out some strange patterns on the sides of the mountains. They look vaguely mathematical and appear as if someone had
deliberately crafted out of the sides of the mountains. Dr Salmonrun ventures his opinion that the strange mathematical designs are due to some local meteorological conditions which have carved the patterns into the sides of the mountains.
As we get closer, the radios appear to be affected by the magnetic properties of the Miskatonic Mountains. We'll need to make sure that they are checked once we have landed. Finally we manage to locate the Lake Expedition's original camp. It is about half a mile above the polar plane. We begin our descent.
Sir Hubert Wilkins struggles to control the Weddle as we encounter turbulence. We are all transfixed to the windows giving us a rare glimpse of the truly awesome size and nature of the Miskatonic Mountains. At one point we notice a series of low humps which appear to be in a line. We locate the airstrip which appears to be serviceable and at that point, myself and Dr Piper, became air sickness. I spend the rest of the short period of descent getting up close and personal to the deck of the 'Weddle'.
Finally we land and my torment is ended. After the others have quickly evacuated from the Weddle, Dr Piper and I stumble out into the snow, looking the worse for wear. From our landing site on the airstrip we can see a large dark mound which is about 400 yards to the Wests of the original Lake camp. This appears to be some form of artificial structure which is less weathered than the other mounds.
6pm 27th November 1936
After unloading the supplies and setting up camp, Dr William Moore, gives everyone a lecture on the real purpose of the Starkweather/Moore expedition !
...
The roar of the engines dies away, replaced by silence and the singing wind. It is a desolate, lonely sound. For a moment, no one moves, then Professor Moore unbuckles himself and crouches down by those in the aircraft, looking each of them in the eyes in turn.
"You know why we're here, of course," he says in a low voice, intent and serious. "We're here to find out what happened three years ago. What really happened."
"Something terrible took place outside, just a few yards from this spot. I don't know what it was, but it cost me a number of good
friends. And the ones who know what it was - the ones who came home - are afraid to tell".
He pauses to let that sink in.
"I know those men, as I knew the men who died. Lake, Atwood, Carroll - they were brave fellows. Not afraid of the unknown. William Dyer and Frank Pabodie were brave men too. Unafraid of death - unafraid of the truth."
"I ask your help in this. You're not afraid to look under rocks, or to make sense of what you find. I want to know what is here - where
everything is - before calling Mister Starkweather. Don't move anything yet, but find it all. Clear of as much snow as you can without disturbing things."
"Set up a camp tonight, and tomorrow we will survey the site before we commence drilling."
He pauses for another moment.
"I want to know what killed my friends".
He stares for a moment out the window at the Belle and her crew, spectacled face carefully bland, then turns to the door.
To be continued.
Ruben Bernstein.
posted by David at
2:01 PM
