Trail of the Golden Spike by Aaron Alston
“You can’t treat me like this,” said the untanned little man. “I’m a coroner, unhand me!”
“And in your main event… the Lion of Senegal, Ibrahima M’Tombe, will take on a member of the general public!”
Elodee Gregorios, Grecian giant, pushed in front of the audience plant.
Next to her, Ibrahima's father demanded his son reject the challenge! Nearby, Rafe Lancaster shook his head.
Inspector M’Tombe got the crowd plant into the ring. His son pinned the plant, and the Inspector helped his son flee before his Greek coworker could cause any more chaos. Undeterred, the lady snuck backstage, and defeated the Lion in truly extraordinary arm wrestling. [A +7 versus a +9, top of the scale in Fate.] Gia returned to Rafe at ringside with a bucket of popcorn, asking what she missed.
The players had a dinner date at the Century Club, which was marred by a near-slaying! A pale-faced loon attempted to kill the alluring Bethlehem Whitley, but the group foiled it. (Rather chaotically. Gia CM handed her clutch to Elodee, then yelled at the man to give back her purse. The Greek, dangerous with any weapon, assaulted the guy, with the purse. After the fracas, the would-be killer was hit by a taxi cab.)
Gia chided the warrior in her thick New Jersey accent. “You of all people should know Hermès is not for fighting.”
Over dinner, Beth Whitley filled the group in. She was in town to ask for the help of Horace Crompton, an industrialist whose land bordered her family’s. The Whitley gold mines had suffered from too many accidents to be coincidental, all designed to drive off her workmen. Horace said he would return with her to Colorado shortly, and despite the bizarre "rescue" of a few minutes earlier, the group landed the security contract.
The quartet got another clue before leaving the city. The street shooter had a Colorado University class ring with ‘ABF’ on it. And the man’s paleness wasn't albinism, but some sort of chemical injury.
When they researched the name, there was a graduate with those initials… Who had died a year ago!
Colorado brought a range of suspects: wheelchair-bound patriarch Angus Whitley, head of mining Uncle Jake, private pilot Hank Millburn, as well as Beth and Horace themselves.
The group followed up on the ring, and found themselves in rural Colorado questioning a suspicious coroner. Gia tried to play seductive cop, while everyone else played lunatic cop. Despite a lack of tact, they did outnumber the guy, and eventually got him to confess:
the man in the street wasn't a zombie at all, he was one of many falsely declared dead and given to THE CONDOR! The adventurers heard a knock at the door and fled before the local authorities could arrive.
Back at the homestead, the group was examining the refinery when they were ambushed by a trio of pale men! One of the burlier ones grappled Lancaster and moved his head under an industrial crusher. Gia, thinking quickly… turned off the machine. After that, Elodee and the inspector made short work of the remaining foes.
That evening, Horace Crompton arrived.
Bitter recriminations followed, especially from the Muslim inspector, who pointed out that nearly every foodstuff was made with haram lard. The tension was palpable… Who was the Condor?
Rafe was making progress investigating fellow millionaire Angus, when knockout gas began to fill the room! Rafael and Gia succumbed, while Elodee put Senegal's greatest detective over her shoulder and fled into the hills! It was good timing, because everyone else was kidnapped by the pale men and brought to the Condor’s fortress.
The condor explained his plans at length:
"I trust you had a pleasant trip,'' he said in typically villainous fashion. "I thought you had the right to know what this whole enterprise was about before I disposed of the inconvenience of your presence." His voice was flat and metallic, as if he were talking around a half-dollar in his mouth. ''This whole enterprise,'' he continued, "was brought about by two discoveries. First, while overseas I encountered a substance, a drug: call it Condorite. It deadens the will and turns inferior people into superior automatons. I found it in crude form and have been refining it since. Where once my automaton men had to take daily injections of the stuff, now it may be applied weekly in gaseous form. "Second in my discoveries was this network of caverns beneath the Whitley lands. It was large enough to accommodate hundreds of automaton men! And the main cavern, with a pathway of stalagmites cleared away and new cement flooring put in, made an adequate runway. I began appropriating minions here and there- a squad of Army pilots and planes, some strapping young men from nearby villages, and a coroner who'd swear they died of natural causes. I took some of your own miners, Bethlehem, dear, and so on.
But the presence of you Whitleys above began to concern me. One of the gold mines threatened to penetrate into part 23 of the cavern network, and eventually did! We captured and transformed the miners responsible, but I was annoyed, and I determined to scare you away." At this point, the Condor shook his head and paused momentarily. "That, eh, didn't work, so I, eh ... " His voice trailed off. He sounded unsure. "So I must subject the lot of you to Condorite. The mine, eh, will run still, but ... " He pointed at Crompton. "You will be first!" The pale men take Crompton away, and the Condor and his minions leave without another word.
Meanwhile, the expert detective grabbed the jalopy and followed the villains all the way back to their base.
Seeing an aircraft hangar, the pair grabbed some gas cans, and prepped an explosive distraction…
In the cells, mistress of illusion Gia CM disappeared from one side of the door… And showed up with Rafe on the other! There, they found out the Condor’s true identity… Uncle Jake AND Horace? What kind of lunatic conspiracy was happening here?
Before they could discover more, there was a huge explosion.
The villains fled, beginning the flight of the Condors! Rafe boarded one of the undestroyed biplanes, and M’Tombe jumped in the other seat. The industrialist nearly crashed into debris before escaping the base. Once airborne, the radio taunting of his fellow Centurion cut deep. Lancaster was denying his true nature: he tried to kill people in a cave too. What was he doing playing hero?
The inspector ignored the radio messages and opened fire!
Underground, miners battled with the mind-controlled pale men. Smoke filled the cave, and Elodee’s exhortations to flee were ignored. Gia made a bullhorn out of scrap metal and declared herself the new voice of the Condor, demanding the pale men flee immediately! Confused, the men obeyed.
In the sky, Rafe had a difficult time refuting Crompton’s harsh words. Luckily, Senegal's greatest detective was able to put holes into their foes' fuselage, sending the Condors crashing into the Colorado wilderness!
