HEX Campaign, The Journey North & beyond act 2

The first part of this story can be found here
https://nickelandimeproductions.blogspot.com/2019/07/hex-campaign-journey-north-beyond-act-1.html
Scotland June 30th 1936

On what Grace could only think of as some kind of platform as steam & smoke hissed about them, they were introduced to the Captain of the strange looking vessel Alexander Whitley.
Whitley" If you'd all be so kind as to go aboard we're ready for departure"

How this strange looking machine was meant to depart none of them could guess as it had no wheels, wings or sails that any of the party could see, but despite the trepidation,s any of them might have had they followed Smith up the boarding ramp & inside, when they were all inside the Captain & the rest of the crew joined them, they were 10 in all, 6 passengers, the captain & 3 crew members.

As the ramp closed up behind them Jenny had the feeling of been enclosed in a steal tomb, get a grip on yourself girl she scolded herself they didn't bring you all this way to seal you in some kind of tomb.

Whitley" if you'd all strap yourselves in were going to lift off & with that the vessel started to shudder & shake, what this effect would be having on Gregory Grace didn't like to think, & then she had the feeling that the whole thing was lifting from the ground as they were compressed into their seats.
After a couple of minutes the shuddering started to ease until it was no more then a slight vibration.
 
10 minutes or so later, Whitley" Ladies & gentleman we have reached our preferred altitude of 1200 feet & will be travelling at a speed of 25 knots in a north-northeast diction towards Danskoys Spitsbergen Norway where the Eagle launched from & will continue on the same coarse taking by the Eagle to give us the best chance to pick up the slip stream, I'll now turn on the out side monitors so you may watch the landscape below on the screen as we pass by.

  As the screen flashed to live Gregory who was looking a bit gray rose from his seat & asked the Captain where he could relief himself, Grace was amazed at how small the ground looked below them, like some miniature scale model but it wasn't long before they where out over the North sea & there wasn't much to see.
During the flight across the North sea Captain informed them that the vessel was a prototype & that not only would it get them all to the inner earth but would also get them all back, while this was welcome news to all of the passengers returning was something Grace had given no thought to, as all that mattered o her was finding her friends & if she was to fail in that quest then what difference did it make as to where she lived out the rest of her life.

Whiled cramped Grace found the vessel (which the Captain had told them was named the Scorpion) to be quite comfortable & imagined it be very similar to what traveling in a submarine would be like.
By 10.30 all of the passengers apart from Tom Smith were asleep & by the time any of them awoke the scorpion was over Norway.
                             
Over Norway July 1st 1936

They pasted over Danskovs Spitsbergen shortly after mid-day, at which point Whitley brought the Scorpion down to about 1000ft which was closer to the height the Eagle had been traveling at & by late evening they had entered the slip-stream, Whitley" Ladies & Gentlemen we are now in the slip-stream which is running in an almost northerly diction at speed varying between 10-12 knots, while this is a strong air current it will have no effect on the Scorpion"

Ahead of them on the screen for the monitors all that could be seen was cloud & ice, as they continued on the slip-stream increased in speed & by morning it was peaking at 28 knots but was still having little or no effect on the Scorpion.

Over the Artic July 2sd 1936

By morning the view on the screen was very dis-concerning showing great big storm-head if front of us, this brought a heated debate  between Gregory & Bill, with Bill claiming that they must be the storm-clouds that Fraenkel had written about in his journal even if conditions where all wrong for such a thing & Gregory countering how could the same storm still be here 39 years later ?  there must be a fault with the monitors due to the cold & ice.
It took the Captain to intervene, assuring Gregory that the monitors were working fine & that whatever it was they would find out soon enough as we were been pulled towards it at a speed of over 37 knots, a speed of which it was beyond the Scorpion to break free from the slip-stream at.

Over the next couple of hours the Scorpion started losing altitude & by the time they entered the cloud-bank they where down to 120ft, 3/4 of an hour later the out-board censers started to read the outside temperature rising to ten degrees above freezing brought about by warm air rising from below, it was impossible to say what was causing this as in the blanket of the cloud the monitors where unable to pick out the ground below.

                                               
Things went from bad to worse as Whitley announced the the navigation system was no longer working so for all intent & purposes they were now blind & at the mercy of the slip-stream, many of the passengers where feeling the effects of the buffing the Scorpion was getting but the crew carried on man-fully trying to restore the systems but to no avail.
On & on they traveled with heavy hearts the monitors still showed them to be in the cloud & with the navigation still out there was no way of knowing where they were & then suddenly the screen changed from hazy white to a steely gray only broken by the white of the odd iceberg.

"This is wonderful" beamed Bill "Its just as Fraenkel recorded his own journey"
At once everyone's spirits seem to lift as they now knew they were still on coarse to Ultima Thule, for how much longer they carried on over the sea none could tell  for along with the navigation system everyone's watches had stopped working but judging from their body clocks they guessed it was sometime between 10pm & midnight when they first sighted land, by then the slip-stream had all but abated & they were traveling at a more manageable speed of 14 knots, then just as had happen the Eagle as they came closer to the cliffs the Scorpion came under attack from the giant flying reptiles.

Whitley" No need to be alarmed folks this vessel is more then capable of with-standing these attacks"
As they passed over the high cliffs of the shore they spotted many of these creatures but true to the captains word while the attacks made for a bumpy ride they inflicted no damage of any note on the Scorpion, with the last of these attacks coming as the landscape changed from the high scoring cliffs to flat jungle.

One by one the passengers all drifted off to sleep while Whitley slowed the Scorpion down to 5 knots & watched the ground below but for mile after mile there was nothing to be seen only the top of the jungle, that was until shortly after breakfast when all was awake they came over a vast clearing in which roamed creatures long since extinct in the world above, but strange as this sight was stranger yet was the sight of an airplane on the ground half overgrown by the jungle.

Smith" Captain see if you can find a place safe enough to put down as I'd like to get a look at that plane"

Whitley" I'll need a place free of those creatures as some of them look big enough to topple us over & if that happens we,d never be able to get out of here"
After about 5 miles they spotted a clearing big enough to put down but that was deserted of any of the creatures & the Scorpion landed with a gentle bump.
Smith" Ok folks its time to have a look around, the Captain & the crew will remain with the Scorpion & see if they can get the navigation system back working, but before we set off I want everyone to stick close together & do exactly as I say is that clear ?"

Ultima Thule July 3rd 1936
Everyone agreed & the ramp was lowered, there was great excitement running through the party mixed with a little bit of apprehension as they stepped out into this strange land.
Jenny" I just have to get a picture of this historic moment"

All around  lay jungle & while there was no sun in the sky (which had a misty white look about it) it was as bright as a dull day in England.
Grace" Where does the brightness come from?"
Bill"I would guess its some form of illumination from the underside of the earth above, for down here don't forget that the sky as we might thing of it is really the bottom of the earth above"
Smith" Right everyone stay close"

As he lead them off the crew went to work on trying to repair the Scorpion.

 Grace had finally arrived in Ultima Thule, were she hoped she would find her friends.

To be continued       

Designers note, Well its been a long trip but their finally there, its odd how sometimes when your planing something out at the start it ends up very different, as when I first thought of doing this campaign the plan was to give an account of Fraenkel trip & of some of his adventures, but my feeling on this changed as I thought it might spoil some of the surprise as to what lay ahead for our group & to what secrets Hollow Earth might hold.

As always my thanks for dropping in & if you'd care to be a movie critic your comment would be welcomed :)