Sergei's Log #1

Micheal sent me this, so here it is:

Case files: Dr. Sergei Ivankov, Agent and explorer for Her Majesty's Secret Service:

  6/19/29 -- I have been sent out by the agency to seek out the Stones of Yel'Em'Ver.  Clues and a long chase have placed them in a cavern in the far northeastern area of Alaska, not terribly far from the Yukon border.  Relations between Britain and the United States have been tense, right now, so this can't be done as an official, joint mission.  To this end I am working with a chartered pilot through Canada, one James Masterman, who has agreed to drop me some miles outside the projected site.  Rumor has it that Russian forces under the Bolsheviks have been closing in on the site, as well, so there is little time.

   Masterman's flight is bumpy and turbulent, and far too low for comfort.  It is fitting for this kind of operation, but hardly comfortable.  Regardless, that part goes more or less as planned, leaving me some two miles east of the target in a trackless, snowy wasteland.  After a perfunctory joke about this being "like home for me," and the requisite toast to the Queen, I set off.

  This is not like home for me.  I grew up in Moscow and went to school in Berlin and London.

  I approach the cave, taking cover in a stand of trees.  Dawn is breaking, and the light allows me to spot a pair of guards, huddled against the cold and looking miserable and none too alert.  I make my way as best as possible around the site, and leave a flare on and very visible to distract them, then sneak in behind them as they go to investigate.  This may not have been the standard procedure, but the subtle approach seemed called for, lacking proper backup.  Besides, without identifying them as definite enemies, it seems hardly sporting to leave them unconscious from my stunner in the Alaskan outdoors.

  The caves themselves are dark, with no evidence that whomever the guards work for has set up any sort of lights or industrial equipment thus far.  This could be a good or bad sign, depending on how long they've been here ahead of me.  I turn on my lantern and make my way downward as best I can, guided mostly by luck and instincts.  And also by my Lemurian Detecting Imaging Scanner, which rather helps the luck and instincts.  This time they seem to be working well enough, as I do not end up having to retrace the path from dead ends.

  After some short while, I hear nearby screams in German and Russian.  There is also some sort of loud roar accompanying this, which sounds nothing at all like any human or earthly creature I can think of.  I hurry forward, drawing the stunner and hoping that it will be enough.

  Coming around the corner, the scene is... strange, even by the standards of my work.  As expected, near a wall opposite me is some sort of Lemurian altar containing the Stones of Yel'Em'Ver. Not far from this is a smallish purple outbuilding, clearly labelled "Cosmic Coffee," and just as clearly very much not belonging here. Nearby them is a thirtyish British looking man in a longcoat, wearing a shirt with a bow tie beneath.  He has been backed up somewhat by a two meter tall green, armored, chitinous horror, roughly humanoid in shape, with massive claws.  It also, fortuitously, has its back to me.

  As I am lining up a shot at its back, I note another brief detail about the scene.  Two more guards, dead, as well as a body which might belong to Anton Fedor, an old rival, now working for the Bolsheviks.  The shot is true, and the monster lets out an unearthly keen, and crashes down to a knee.  This is worrying, as a shot should put a grown man straight out for hours.  I do not have a backup weapon with more punch on me.  I was expecting fellow adventurers, at most, not to be fighting a war or chitinous horrors.

 The strange man shouts "hurry, we cannot kill it!" does ... something, with a strange device he produces from the coat, then dashes for the "Cosmic Coffee" building.  I grimace, noting that the creature is starting to rise again, dash around it, and grab one of the Stones, before following him into it.

  Inside is any number of odd devices, including some that do, in fact, appear to relate to coffee.  The man, taking note of the stone, says "going to the library, I assume?" as he begins fiddling with one of the devices.  Accompanying this is a strange sense of motion.

 "Yes," I reply. "That is the hope."  I explain further that I have been searching for these stones for some months, in the hopes that I could determine what happened to Lemuria, since it appears to relate to the Tunguska incident, as well as the Zeuhroth disaster.

  He smiles faintly, and says "Oh, don't worry. It isn't!", then seems to pass all of this off.  I make a mental note to press this point later, when we are not hiding in a coffee shack from a horrifying monster, and instead reply "You would be surprised how that is not at all comforting."

  At more or less this moment, the sense of motion stops, and we seem to be at rest... somewhere that is not a cave in Alaska.   Perhaps the inside of a bar?  If so, not a particularly lively one, as it is dark, and windows seem to be broken.  Even so, there are people here, a teenage girl, a young man hiding near a table,  an older man wearing a jacket that gives him the look of a stereotypical pilot, a woman who seems to be a bartender, or is at least carrying drinks, and... someone dressed as comic book hero, practically draped in the American Flag, who is swinging a sword at a familiar looking green, chitinous horror.  This has the feel of a "they walk into a bar" joke.  I am unsure of the punchline.

  Several moments of tense combat ensue.  For my part, I grab the doorframe, and flip up onto the roof of the coffee stand, taking this position to take a few potshots at the creature.  As with the previous one, this mostly serves only to annoy it, but it is an excellent vantage point to observe the confusion.

  Observations:

 The Coffee Stranger stays in the building, and engages some sort of speaker, with which he addresses us outside, asking people to get into the stand.

 The Superhero is shouting banal slogans about freedom, and assaulting the monster quite violently, if not very effectively.  It seems practically built to withstand such assaults.  The Stranger addresses him as "Freedom Ranger" and asks him not to give chase to the monster. He eventually falls back somewhat near the stand.

 The teenaged girl appears to have some sort of powerful telekinesis. She pushes the creature, then ducks into the stand.  Her power is identified as "the Akashic amplifier" by the young man.

 The bartender and the teenage boy have a brief discussion.  He shouts something about the monster being "a killing machine".  After this, she also runs into the stand.  She is clearly confused, and in over her head.

 The pilot gets a very strange look in his eye, moves near to the windows as the monster attempts to exit into the street, then throws something into the street.  Within seconds, a runaway truck of some sort goes past, and some of its cargo lands heavily on the monster.  This feels related to me, but it does not make a great deal of sense yet.  He too, withdraws near to the stand.

 The monster itself escapes into the street, seeming inclined to pursue easier prey than this lot.

 Something happens, and there is that sense of motion again, and then we are... in a lush, green field.  Idyllic, really.  The Stranger says that this is "safe" for now, and we are shortly approached by what appears to be an American Indian, who begins speaking to us all in English.

 This leads us to a round of introductions.  I spend much of this conversation atop the shop, taking this all in, though do come down after a short while to introduce myself in turn.

 The Stranger introduces himself as "Don", and gives the indication that he is from a very advanced society, and that this coffee stand, Cosmic Coffee, is his device which he uses to travel between worlds.

 The Super Hero is introduced as "Freedom Ranger", and appears to have issues involving, in no particular order, communists, Nazis, and hippies.  He refers to me as a communist, and I make it clear that I regard this as a deadly insult.  I briefly consider demanding satisfaction of him, before realizing that someone with superhuman speed and strength is probably not going to be someone I can safely duel. Codes of honor really did not take supernatural powers into account.  Must make a note of this.  Perhaps some sort of discussion with the College of Heralds is in order.

 The Native claims to be an Angel, and that he was also the young man in the bar, in that world.  He calls himself "Sidrophael", and identifies Don as a "Rax'i'ma'crux".  He seems insightful, but his claims will be difficult to verify.  Still, it is reasonable to take it at face value that he must be telling some things that are true, since there is no reason for the native to claim to have known us from the bar that he was not present at.

  The woman is named Doris, and is briefly very lost and confused, but gets distracted by some Freedom Ranger comic books (which Don had produced from somewhere in an effort to convince Freedom Ranger that he was a fictional superhero).

 The younger woman is named... Kay, I believe (though I am uncertain I heard this for certain).  Sidrophael refers to her powers as being from something called "The Akashic Amplifier".

  The pilot is named "Jack."  He disappears shortly as the conversation and confusion continues, shortly followed by Sidrophael.

  Both Sidrophael and Don feel strongly that the monsters are "something new".  Freedom Ranger also mentions an encounter with several, previously, that he believed to have been summoned by one Gottleib Hertz, a sometime nemesis of his.

 The conversation inside the stand continues in a very meandering and confusing way, as the various parties have no clear agenda, and no one is on familiar ground.  Myself included, as my more regular excursions have not, previously, involved either dimensional travel or chitinous horrors.  The eventual goal seems to be "find a way to get Freedom Ranger back to his place of origin," as he feels very strongly about this (and that we are all possibly subversive elements who are attempting to lead him astray).  Don admits that he does not really have an idea where Freedom Ranger might be from.

  It is at this point that I note that Don does, in fact, know perfectly well where my world is, and that since the monsters were on both worlds, that it might represent a useful starting point to work from.   Personally, I would also like to get the chance to examine the stone in more detail, which I have the resources for at the home lab.

  Freedom Ranger asks about the stone, but recoils as though I have attempted to expose him to radium poisoning when I produce it.  Don assists me in finding a suitable sealed container to shield it in.

  Sidrophael and Jack return, Sidrophael explains that Jack apparently constructed some sort of "locator beacon" out of his "cellular phone", and expresses worry as to what it was summoning.  Jack indicates that he does not remember doing this thing, but acknowledges that something certainly happened to the phone.  It is decided to return to my world.

  We end up on the outskirts of Seattle proper.  I resolve to go find a newspaper, to see if any indications of the monsters are becoming widespread enough to notice.  Doris requests to accompany me, and we stop, among other things, to get her suitable clothing.  This, the newspaper, and breakfast are acquired.  I also telegraph in a short report to the home office: "Stone acquired. Site remains dangerous, do not explore. Will report in depth soon."

  By our return, Don has produced some form of sensor device, and is using it to examine the group.  It fails to function and burns out on Doris. He says something about "rift energy."

 It appears repairs will be necessary to Cosmic Coffee before further explorations and investigations can occur.  The group breaks up into smaller groups for a shopping expedition into town.