I don't own any of the characters all of them are the properties of their respective authors. The only ones who aren't are those whose names you don't recognise.
Thank you for any reviews I have/get I try and get back to everyone in some way whether by reviewing your fic or by e-mail. Bear with me for a short while longer as we are almost there. Not knowing Australia at all other than somewhere on the otherside of the world I'll apologise now for any mistakes.
Due to me not wanting to describe them going into numerous pubs and Ned getting drunk I'm skipping ahead a couple of days when somethings has turnned up.
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John Roxton came hurridly into the room with Tom just behind him,
"We've found something." John told the group gathered in there.
"Great now go and let me die in peace." Ned groaned as he was suffering from the worst hangover yet. The fact that Skinner kept making loud noises wasn't helping either.
"What have you found?" Nemo asked
"There are tracks leading out into the outback, there are no houses out there so it's got to be something else." Tom said eagerly
"Are there many of them?" Mina asked
"They were days old and almost gone. Our American friend here missed them completely." John said with a smile at Tom
"Do you think you could follow them?" Skinner asked
"I should be able to if we leave soon." John said honestly.
"I'll go and give orders to my crew then we can go." Nemo said hurrying out the door
"Do I have to?" Ned asked sitting up and staring around with bloodshot eyes.
"Up you get Ned." Mina hissed sidling closer to him. Ned jumped up having seen what she was a few days earlier he had been nervous around her for some reason.
"Yes marm." He said before hurrying down to his cabin to collect his harpoons and other weaponry he had collected from various parts of the ship. Mina didn't bother collecting anything as she was all the weapon that she needed. She noticed that Tom and John had also left to collect guns and ammo. All Skinner had done was to take off his glasses and coat and rub off the makeup that covered his face then he was ready for action.
The League had done this type of thing many times before and were all ready to go in a matter of minutes. John was there as quickly as the others and a few minutes later Ned staggered up his hair soaking wet.
"What did you do?" Skinner asked
"Shoved my head in cold water so I should be completly sober." Ned said.
"Did it work?" John asked
"I don't know but we'll find out won't we." Ned replied.
John and Tom led the group round the edge of the town so as to not attract as much attention as they would otherwise. Once on the far side John quickly found the tracks and led the way into the bush.
"This may be a stupid question but why would someone who is trying to build Nautilus' live in the middle of an island rather than the edge of it?" Skinner asked
"We can ask them when we find them." Nemo said
"Can you all keep quiet please. I don't know where these tracks go and how far so I am sure that we want to have the element of surprise on ourside as much as possible." John said
"Sorry" Skinner said giving the English man a guilty grin. Mina and the other members of the group couldn't help but be impressed with John's ability to follow an almost invisable trail and were fairly sure that if it had been left to them they would propably have missed it. John himself was relieved that he could follow it as Nemo had only given him the most basic details about the people he was with and he didn't want to embaress himself in front of them. It was several hours later when John suddenly stopped.
"There are a lot of animal tracks here." John said
"Can you still follow the original trail?" Nemo asked
"Yes that's easy." John said
"Where were the animals going?" Skinner wondered.
"Go and have a look. It is an easy enough trail to follow." John said
"Ok." Skinner said and followed the animal tracks. The rest of the group waited for him to come back. Mina sensed his return
"What was it ?" Mina asked
"I don't know for sure, if it were human there was nothing left to identify who it was. It certainly didn't look like any animal I've ever seen. There wasn't much left though."Skinner said from the tone of his voice Mina gathered that it hadn't been nice to look at.
"We should press on to the base..." Tom said
"I'll go first. We have a rise just ahead and if we want to sneak up on someone using the only member of our group who be invisable seems like a good idea." Skinner suggested
"Go on but try not to walk on any tracks." John said
"Watch out for water." Tom said with a grin. Skinner walked quickly up to the top of the rise and looked down. Just a short way past the edge of the ridge was a doorway cut into a rock out cropping, Skinner could also see that there were at least two guards on the door.
"What is over there Skinner?" Tom asked having seen the dust rise from where Skinner was deliberately walking hard so they could see his arrive back.
"There is a door with at least two guards on it. There is no cover so we can't sneak in. I'd suggest that we wait for darkness then Mina can go in in her bat form and deal with them before they raise the alarm."
"Fine. But we move as soon as it gets dark." Nemo said
The league moved back to the closest shade and sat waiting for the day to go. Mina and Nemo soon got fed up with the discussion of gun types that John and Tom were having. Skinner had fallen asleep and was breathing deeply out of the way of everyone.
"Don't worry about Zu, I am sure she is fine." Mina said to Nemo
"If anything ever happened to her I would never forgive myself." Nemo said
"If anything has happened to her then it is not your fault. Zu wanted to help and this life was her choice. It is pointless to point blame where there is none." Mina said.
"Thank you Mrs Harker. That is comforting." Nemo said.
The rest of the day wore away and as night fell Mina changed into her bat self and flew to deal with the sentries. When the others joined her John looked wide eyed at the dead men on the ground and the woman who stood by them the faintest hint of blood on her lips. He suddered and looked past them into the interior.
"Mina, you Skinner and John go to the left. I will take Ned and Tom and go to the right." Nemo said
"Okay." Mina replied
"We will find them don't worry" Skinner said
"I worry for those stupid enough to get in my way. I shall end this tonight." Nemo said fiercely. Ned shuddred remembering the ships who had sunk with all hands while the captain of the Nautilus had looked on.
.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Next time ...
Jekyll and Aronax are reunited with the league
The enemy is revealed
The fate of Zu Jekyll is revealed.
Review please.
Thank you for any reviews I have/get I try and get back to everyone in some way whether by reviewing your fic or by e-mail. Bear with me for a short while longer as we are almost there. Not knowing Australia at all other than somewhere on the otherside of the world I'll apologise now for any mistakes.
Due to me not wanting to describe them going into numerous pubs and Ned getting drunk I'm skipping ahead a couple of days when somethings has turnned up.
.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
John Roxton came hurridly into the room with Tom just behind him,
"We've found something." John told the group gathered in there.
"Great now go and let me die in peace." Ned groaned as he was suffering from the worst hangover yet. The fact that Skinner kept making loud noises wasn't helping either.
"What have you found?" Nemo asked
"There are tracks leading out into the outback, there are no houses out there so it's got to be something else." Tom said eagerly
"Are there many of them?" Mina asked
"They were days old and almost gone. Our American friend here missed them completely." John said with a smile at Tom
"Do you think you could follow them?" Skinner asked
"I should be able to if we leave soon." John said honestly.
"I'll go and give orders to my crew then we can go." Nemo said hurrying out the door
"Do I have to?" Ned asked sitting up and staring around with bloodshot eyes.
"Up you get Ned." Mina hissed sidling closer to him. Ned jumped up having seen what she was a few days earlier he had been nervous around her for some reason.
"Yes marm." He said before hurrying down to his cabin to collect his harpoons and other weaponry he had collected from various parts of the ship. Mina didn't bother collecting anything as she was all the weapon that she needed. She noticed that Tom and John had also left to collect guns and ammo. All Skinner had done was to take off his glasses and coat and rub off the makeup that covered his face then he was ready for action.
The League had done this type of thing many times before and were all ready to go in a matter of minutes. John was there as quickly as the others and a few minutes later Ned staggered up his hair soaking wet.
"What did you do?" Skinner asked
"Shoved my head in cold water so I should be completly sober." Ned said.
"Did it work?" John asked
"I don't know but we'll find out won't we." Ned replied.
John and Tom led the group round the edge of the town so as to not attract as much attention as they would otherwise. Once on the far side John quickly found the tracks and led the way into the bush.
"This may be a stupid question but why would someone who is trying to build Nautilus' live in the middle of an island rather than the edge of it?" Skinner asked
"We can ask them when we find them." Nemo said
"Can you all keep quiet please. I don't know where these tracks go and how far so I am sure that we want to have the element of surprise on ourside as much as possible." John said
"Sorry" Skinner said giving the English man a guilty grin. Mina and the other members of the group couldn't help but be impressed with John's ability to follow an almost invisable trail and were fairly sure that if it had been left to them they would propably have missed it. John himself was relieved that he could follow it as Nemo had only given him the most basic details about the people he was with and he didn't want to embaress himself in front of them. It was several hours later when John suddenly stopped.
"There are a lot of animal tracks here." John said
"Can you still follow the original trail?" Nemo asked
"Yes that's easy." John said
"Where were the animals going?" Skinner wondered.
"Go and have a look. It is an easy enough trail to follow." John said
"Ok." Skinner said and followed the animal tracks. The rest of the group waited for him to come back. Mina sensed his return
"What was it ?" Mina asked
"I don't know for sure, if it were human there was nothing left to identify who it was. It certainly didn't look like any animal I've ever seen. There wasn't much left though."Skinner said from the tone of his voice Mina gathered that it hadn't been nice to look at.
"We should press on to the base..." Tom said
"I'll go first. We have a rise just ahead and if we want to sneak up on someone using the only member of our group who be invisable seems like a good idea." Skinner suggested
"Go on but try not to walk on any tracks." John said
"Watch out for water." Tom said with a grin. Skinner walked quickly up to the top of the rise and looked down. Just a short way past the edge of the ridge was a doorway cut into a rock out cropping, Skinner could also see that there were at least two guards on the door.
"What is over there Skinner?" Tom asked having seen the dust rise from where Skinner was deliberately walking hard so they could see his arrive back.
"There is a door with at least two guards on it. There is no cover so we can't sneak in. I'd suggest that we wait for darkness then Mina can go in in her bat form and deal with them before they raise the alarm."
"Fine. But we move as soon as it gets dark." Nemo said
The league moved back to the closest shade and sat waiting for the day to go. Mina and Nemo soon got fed up with the discussion of gun types that John and Tom were having. Skinner had fallen asleep and was breathing deeply out of the way of everyone.
"Don't worry about Zu, I am sure she is fine." Mina said to Nemo
"If anything ever happened to her I would never forgive myself." Nemo said
"If anything has happened to her then it is not your fault. Zu wanted to help and this life was her choice. It is pointless to point blame where there is none." Mina said.
"Thank you Mrs Harker. That is comforting." Nemo said.
The rest of the day wore away and as night fell Mina changed into her bat self and flew to deal with the sentries. When the others joined her John looked wide eyed at the dead men on the ground and the woman who stood by them the faintest hint of blood on her lips. He suddered and looked past them into the interior.
"Mina, you Skinner and John go to the left. I will take Ned and Tom and go to the right." Nemo said
"Okay." Mina replied
"We will find them don't worry" Skinner said
"I worry for those stupid enough to get in my way. I shall end this tonight." Nemo said fiercely. Ned shuddred remembering the ships who had sunk with all hands while the captain of the Nautilus had looked on.
.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Next time ...
Jekyll and Aronax are reunited with the league
The enemy is revealed
The fate of Zu Jekyll is revealed.
Review please.