The Second Startling Story!

THE HAND OF THE DEMON

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Cover for "The Hand of the Demon"

• Part 1 - Graves in the Mist
     Their investigation in Vienna over, our Intrepid Explorers briefly part ways to work on private projects. Dr. Bermuda and Lord John Stevens return to London, where the former holes up in his lab to finalize plans for the rocket plane he and Dr. Henri Coanda had begun working on while the later gives a series of short (and poorly received) lectures on animal rights. Charlie Desgrange visits Helga Dietrich, the young wife of his enemy Reinholdt, in Berlin to see if she can shed light on the German air ace's current activities. Though she tells her paramour everything she knows, Charlie finds his best information from a series of photos of Rienholdt and friends and a flight log-book in the man's study. Meanwhile The Rabbit, acting on his growing suspicion of his employers, begins to track down some of the men who've worked for them over the years and since left, meeting with mixed results. Finally, Brendan Lewis Cook heads for Constantinople where he gets in touch with several acquaintences to pave the way for the next leg of his and his friends' journey.
     Their individual exploits complete, the group gathers together in Romania, where they hope to meet with Ruthven Vaneko, a man that Rabbit met at Dippel's party in hopes of learning more about Dippel. Though Ruthven is easy to find and makes the group welcome in his home, it's clear that the boyaris a little... off. Our heroes meet him first in his family cemetary, kneeling at the foot of a massive angel statue that marks the grave of his parents. Nearby is a second grave, this one open, that Vaneko explains is waiting for him. As Vaneko leads the investigators back to his manor, a clock strikes midnight, even though it's only half past eight. Vaneko reveals that the clock was his fathers and later elaborates that it was broken the night his parents were murdered and he leaves it in that state as a reminder of the impermanence of time.
     Things get no more normal once inside Vaneko's manor, where a heated iron mud-grate at the entrance seems to open onto a pit that serves as a kennel, judging by the sounds of the howls (even though Vaneko claims to have no pets), a rear hall contains the reconstructed bones of a Tyranosaurus (labelled Dracul, or "Dragon") and our heroes meet Vaneko's five adopted orphan children (3 boys, 2 girls, aged 8 through 16, all with black hair and hollow eyes). In the hour leading up to dinner, Vaneko is happy to talk about his past association with Dippel. He had provided Dippel with abundant amounts of sulfur from his mines in exchange for the Doctor's promise that he would find a way to raise Vaneko's parents from the dead. When Dippel seemed to have abandoned this project, Vaneko cut off his sulfur supply, to Dippel's rage. Vaneko now believes that Dippel wants him dead.
     Dinner over, Vaneko excuses himself to take care of business, promising to collect the investigators the next day for a tour of the mine. Meanwhile, he says, they can have the run of the house. John Stevens takes him at his work and attempts to pry loose the mud-grate in the main hall. He strains his arm, however, at the thing's weight and gives up for the evening.

• Part 2 - The Color of Fire
     The next morning, heading for the sulfer mine, our explorers pile into two cars along with Vaneko and three out of his five wards; missing are Janos, the middle boy, and Bareta, the older girl who's gone to look for him. En route to the mine, Dr. Bermuda and the Rabbit note that the wheat in Vankeo's fields bears a striking resemblance to Dippel's Nutriwheat. They ask Vaneko about it and he confirms that the wheat comes from the Doctor, but that it wouldn't take root until his new scientist continued to refine its breeding. This new scientist, a British-educated Indian man named Vasuki, is also at work on the problem of Vaneko's parents.
     Soon after the group arrives at the mine, but before they can enter, Vaneko's called away to town on business. He leaves Timaeus, the youngest boy, to lead the mine tour in his place. Once inside, though, the strangest thing the group finds is Bareta, cradling a shoe. She explains that the shoe is Janos' and that he's crawled down a hole in the mine too thin for any but a small boy to follow. A small boy, or the Rabbit.
     Rabbit disengages from his suit, to Timaeus' delight, and crawls down the hole. It goes on for what seems like miles before coming up in a small cell, the ceiling of which is a metal grate - the very one that serves as the floor in Vankeo's main hall! Rabbit has indeed found Janos, his eyes pushed in and his cheeks ripped open in a bloody parody of a smile; he's also found Janos' killer, a painfully thin man with skin white from lack of sun and moss growing into his hair. Knowing that his velveteen form is no match for a grown man, Rabbit flees back the way he came, only to be followed, somehow, by the madman.
     Meanwhile, Vaneko has returned to the mine, citing his business in town as finished. As our heros explain where the Rabbit, and possibly Janos, has gone, all hear a loud clanking from above. Cook, Charlie and Vaneko rush up to investigate only to discover the gate locked and a pair of armed Janissaries taking aim at Vaneko. Though their initial volleys miss their target, the hot lead strikes the sulfer in the walls, leading to an explosion that knocks Charlie and Vanekp flat. Summoned by the noise, John Stevens, Dr. Bermuda and Timaeus rush up to the first level of the mine and, as still more Jannisaries pour out of the crevasses, the battle is joined!
     Below, Rabbit crawls out of the hole and reclaims his body. Using his always-ready supply of bourbon and his lighter, he causes the sulfer to spark, collapsing the tunnel and blocking off his pursuer. Then, he rushes above to aid his fellows against the last of the Jannisaries as the mine burns. The battle over, Charlie and Cook rush the injured Vaneko back to his manor while the rest of the team assesses the situation; each of the 18 Janissaries is armed with three new Webley revolvers, suggesting a possible link to Adem Sengul, the Turkish merchant the investigators met on the Orient Express en route to Vienna who was transporting crates full of similar guns.
     Later that evening, the Rabbit tells Vaneko about the loss of Janos. Vaneko, in his turn, asks the explorers to stay until evening for the funeral. When night falls, Vaneko's eulogy for the boy is short and sweet: "He was a good soldier. He honored me. But the war goes on." As Didu and Timaeus fill in the grave - a grave dug by Janos himself and originally intended for Vaneko - the Romanian lord asks the explorers if, as his proxies, they'll be willing to track down the Janissaries and put a stop to their assaults.

• Part 3 - The Ladder and the Scale
     "It's a good thing Master Ruthven isn't going to track down the Janissaries himself; that would be like leaving the henhouse door open for the fox to come in." With those cryptic words from Vaneko's ward, Timaeus, following them, our explorers leave for Constantinople.

Terra Occulta

• The First Fantastic Feature! - THE SEED of MADNESS
• The Second Startling Story! - THE HAND of the DEMON
• The Third Terrific Tale! -

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Terra Occulta