Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Adventures on the Lost Continent (Midnight Lass x Blood Red Romeo)

“No objections here. Please, make yourself comfortable. This is your new home, at least for a bit. And if you learn anything about the Hunter, tell me, even if it’s just something small. Tamra, can you tell everyone we’re moving up the schedule for launch? Try to avoid mentioning the Hunter.” He honestly wasn’t sure about that call. He didn’t know how safe it was to not tell them. But they were already spooked. He didn’t want to scare them further. “But in regards to the books, you mean you don’t want to see Miharu’s reaction to a dirty story?” The girl was so innocent, just the thought of how she’d react made him snigger. With that more light hearted comment, he excused himself. They were on a deadline now. He needed to work fast.

Orson then made his way off to the Twins, holding a piece of paper. “Ninah, Cimonah, I need your help,” he said, trying to grab their attention. “I’m looking for a mathematician. I need you to write down the hardest problem they’ll need to be able to solve. It’ll serve as a test of sorts.”
 
Ninah and Cimonah were working in the bottom most level in the airship working on wiring, and had cordoned the area off. Obviously, though, their Captain had not noticed the barrier, or had ignored it and stepped around it. It was pretty amazing, though, that with all the exterior and interior points of the airship available, he had zeroed right in on them.

"Captain James, NO!" the twins shouted in unison as Orson approached them. But it was too late. As Orson stepped on a particular spot, he found himself covered in a green, slimy liquid.

A hatch opening up to the outside popped open, and Miharu's head popped in. As soon as she saw her goo covered Captain, she giggled.

"That was our new..." Ninah began

"...emergency insulation system," Cimonah finished. "I'm very sorry Captain," she added, trying hard to stifle a laugh.

"I'm sorry too, Captain," Ninah added. "What did you need?"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Orson groaned. He was going to need to change his clothes. He really hoped this didn’t ruin his outfit. Not that he was fashion conscious or was particularly attached to the outfit. It was more that going out to get a new outfit would be a waste of time. Time they did not have much of.

“Remind me to listen to your warning signs next time,” he chided himself, trying to brush off what he could of the goo. “Anyway, I need you to figure out what the hardest equation you’d need your mathematician to solve. I’m going to look for one and I need some sort of test. I’ll also need the answer because I will not be able to solve it myself.”
 
The twins looked at each other, nodded, and said in unison, "Linea Diophantine Equation."

"Give us an hour," Ninah began, "and..."

"...we'll meet you on the bridge," Cimonah continued, "with a completed problem, which..."

"...will give you a chance..."

"...to go get cleaned up." The final comment elicited a laugh from both the twins.

"Well, if you're both through with me," Miharu chimed, "I'm going to see if there's something to snack on in the kitchen. Sorry, galley," she laughed. With that, the three girls went off in different directions, leaving their dripping Captain.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Ugh. This stuff was gross. But he deserved it. He had gotten worried and excited at the same time and ended up rushing. It would t do anyone any good to have a captain who couldn’t properly control himself and openly ignored his engineers’ safety warnings. He’d need to practice some better self discipline.

So he went to his cabin, overall losing time as he removed the now disgusting clothing from his body. Even if he felt it was earned, he still didn’t like it. Eventually, he had stripped down and did was he could about cleaning his skin and hair.

Eventually, Orson had done all that he could do pretty himself. He’d really need to bathe in the near future. At least he didn’t smell. He just felt gross more than anything. Now that he was at least presentable, he made his way to the bridge quite more carefully than he honestly needed to. Once bitten, twice shy.
 
The library of the Midnight Curse, even as well stocked as it had been by one Dr. Tamra Wilson, was not a match for the Antiquities Library of the University, but then it hardly could be. At the very least, a zeppelin simply did not have the room available to a ground based institution of learning. The library did, however, possess the "go to" books that any archaeologist planning to enter the depths of the Lost Continent would want to bring along. In addition, it held the translations of those tales brought back from the uncharted regions of Africa and South America, as well as the legends and mythos of rediscovered Asia.

In addition, the library of the Midnight Curse would have a few books that the Antiquities Library would literally salivate over (if a library could salivate), if it knew that copies of said books existed. This was thanks to the contributions of the enigmatic Safa Basta. Among the four steamer trunks of possessions she would bring on board (and that would be squirreled in various nooks and crannies aboard the Midnight Curse) were books first written on different spots along the fabled Silk Road and long thought lost to history..

None of this would matter to Ninah and Cimonah de la Vega. The twins had only been in the library because they needed a large table to work on to create an equation for their new Captain and the table in the Charting Room, adjacent to the bridge, was currently covered in tools and parts they were using to make fine tuning adjustments to their radio object detection device. As far as they were concerned, the collected knowledge surrounding them, since it did not possess any technical journals, was of no use. They just needed a flat surface.

Since they were working on their radio object detection device, they decided to use the algorithm that would allow the ship's Analytical Engine to interpret the data sent to it by the radio object detection device. Or rather, they would use an equation based on the algorithm. It had taken the twins months to develop the algorithm, so anyone who solve that equation from a piece of paper would be the absolutely brilliant mathematician they were looking for.

The twins occasionally giggled that their Captain thought he could just put a piece of paper in front of them and get them to write a math problem instantly. It was rather cute of him, in a blissfully ignorant sort of way.

The twins finally got something written out, and in a neat hand too, they thought.

The two hurried down to the bridge to find their Captain waiting for them.

"One math problem, Captain James," Ninah giggled, thrusting the paper toward Orson.

"And the solution," added Cimonah, thrusting out a second piece of paper, "If your..."

"....mathematician can solve this, then..."

"...they're exactly who the Midnight Curse needs."
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Orson was surprised that they needed so much time to devise an equation, he thought they could’ve... okay, he wasn’t entirely sure where they would get it or how they would do so. He could do the necessary arithmetic and some more complicated stuff related exclusively to his work, but he had never thought about math academically. In fact, he wasn’t entirely sure what they needed the mathematician for. But he also knew he didn’t need to know. Delegation was his job. He didn’t need to do it, he needed to hire someone else who could.

“Thank you very much,” he told the girls when they handed him the equation. “Here’s hoping we can find someone. Also, sorry about earlier. I didn’t ruin anything with the new insulation system, did I?”
 
The twins looked each other and again giggled.

"It's okay, Captain," Ninah began, "It was a..."

"...test device, in case there was damage to wiring," Cimonah continued, "to any of our..."

"...electrical wiring. When you have a chance, you should..."

"...ask us to review all the improvements, although we've been..."

"...documenting everything, of course. That's just good..."

"...engineering. We think we've even found a way to detect..."

"...turbulence and wind shear in approaching weather."

The twins were interrupted by a red light flashing on the communications panel. They exchanged a pleased look with each other.

"Incoming phone call," Ninah told her sister. "I guess we're fully connected to the exchange, at least while we're docked, and not just outgoing." Cimonah nodded happily in agreement.
 
“Well, focus on the essentials for now. The time table for departure has moved up. We’re leaving in three days,” he told them. This Twins weren’t just impressive, they were downright scary. They had done so much so quickly. When they came back and he had made his fortune, he planned on comissioning them to build it from the ground up with whatever crazy ideas they had. He had to see the monstrosity that would create.

“So,” he started, gesturing to the light, “we have a phone now? Is that for me or you? I know it’s my ship, but I don’t know anyone who’d be trying to reach me at a line I didn’t know we had.”
 
"One way to find out," Ninah grinned. She picked up a headset and answered, "Midnight Curse!"

She listened to the other end and then turned to Orson. "It's for you, Captain James. It's Dr. Wilson."
 
She must have made progress in the last hour. Orson had only succeeded in making a fool of himself in multiple ways since she left. He hoped she wasn’t pressuring him for progress.

“Dr. Wilson, hello. It’s Captain James,” he said into the line. “How are things on your end?”
 
"Well, we not only have a cook but we have two cooks. Don't ask me how. I was using Safa's name --- with her permission, of course," Tamra added hurriedly. "I'd say you should go say thank you right now, but neither one of you would understand each other. And speaking of understanding, she does speak Danish, but it's worse than your French. No offense meant," Tamra added with a laugh.

"So, not only did I get Vu to cook for us, but her cousin Qui as well, whom Wu assures me is a talented sous chef and as good as cook as Wu. I did inform the two of them of the potential perils that our trip represents, but it appears that a marriage broker had her eye on both of them, and neither one of them preferred that prospect over the Midnight Curse."

"So how goes the search for the mathematician?" Tamra asked.
 
“I’ll thank her when you get back. Pretty good she has some pull,” he mused. Honestly, he wondered how bad their marriage prospects must be if potentially dying on a foreign continent sounded like the better choice. Or maybe they just had an adventurous spirit. Either way, it was excellent news. “I’ll also thank you. This is great news. and please pick up some books for learning Danish. Even if it’s bad, some communication is better than none.”

“As to the mathematician search, I got the first step done. Now all I need to do is actually find them. Also, if you feel like a laugh later, ask Cimonah and Nina’s about my search for them,” he told her. “I’m about to leave for the university. Is there anything else you need?”
 
"I'll bring a dictionary and give you personal lessons," Tamra said with a laugh. "And nothing I need. I'll swing by the boarding house that Doctor Motwani resides at, and see how she's doing with Nurse Costa. Other than that, everything good here. I was thinking that you might ask someone in the University's Physics department. It's not as prominent as the ones in Europe, but we still have one. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone in our Physics department, so I couldn't throw any recommendations out. Anyway, I hope whatever you have planned works. I'll see you on the ship later." And with that, Tamra ended the call.
 
“Thanks for the information. Good luck with Nurse Costa. I’ll see you when you get back,” Orson finished before hanging up. “Well done with the phone. It works great,” he complimented the twins as he stood up, pocketing the papers. “I’ll be back this evening, hopefully with a new crew member in tow. Good luck with your projects, but remember, we need to be ready to fly in three days,” he told them. He considered asking Miharu to come along as an extra pair of eyes, but he decided not to. The twins had suddenly been given a much tighter schedule. They’d need all the help they could get.

The freshly unslimed Orson stepped out of his ship. It was still fairly early in the day, only about noon. It was nice the meeting had happened in the morning. Still, that didn’t give him time to laze around. He moved through the city with haste, but a bit on guard. After all, he didn’t know anything about this hunter except his certainty that it existed.

When he arrived at the campus, he first had to ask for directions. Unsurprisingly, this wasn’t Orson’s stomping grounds. He also made sure to stay clear of the archeology department. He wanted to avoid meeting Eddie if at all possible. He eventually made his way to the physics department, as suggested. Now it was time to work.

The first step was simple. He scouted the place out, looking for the best place to setup. He actually avoided the main hall. A place like that would attract too much attention. Only men would be working on. That ran contrary to his goal. Instead, he found a more out of the way chalk board that was close to the women’s restroom. It seemed like this was the only bathroom for them in the area, so all women would pass by here eventually. It was his best chance.

Orson walked up to the board, grabbing his chalk as he pulled out the sheet with the problem on it. Orson couldn’t even read it. It was kind of embarrassing. Still, with his best handwriting, he perfectly transferred the problem from the paper to the board. Once it was complete, he found an out of the way spot where he could relax and see the board without standing in a place that would pressure or intimidate anyone working on it. Now, it was left to fate.
 
Unfortunately for Orson, he wasn't the only man interested in the comings and goings of the women's restroom. And for less innocent reasons than those possessed by Captain Orson James.

HIs names was Dr. Oswald Flycatcher, but to the female populace of the University, he was known as the Creeper. Between classes, it wasn't uncommon for Dr. Flycatcher to be lurking around the entrance to the scattered women's restrooms around the University., hoping for an unintended indiscretion by an exiting coed.

Today Dr. Flycatcher was spying on the women's restroom in the Mathematics department. And he spotted the equation that Orson had left.

Dr. Flycatcher didn't recognize what the formula represented, but he recognized it was something. And if there was something Dr. Flycatcher enjoyed more than peeping, it was stealing other people's work. And an equation of this caliber sitting alone in an isolated room was just begging to be stolen.

Dr. Flycatcher took a small notebook from his jack and quickly scrabbled the equation down. He then took a look around before he began erasing the problem.
 
Who the hell was this guy? Orson had noticed him a little while ago, just watching the restroom. He wanted to judge him and call out the creep, but then again, it wouldn’t exactly help matters to call attention to himself. Plus he imagined to an outsider that noticed him, he might look just as bad. But then when he erased the equation after writing it in his notebook, Orson became even angrier. Orson didn’t know much about the subject, but he knew equations could be valuable. This guy was stealing the twins work and trying to take credit.

“Excuse me, sir,” he said, approaching the creepy bastard, acting like he had just come from around the corner. “Did you see what happened here?” he asked, gesturing to the board. “I work for Max Tarloff. Someone took some formulas from his private work station and we’re trying to track down who. He apparently has been posting some around the campus. Just need to figure out some breach in contract stuff.” He then made a show of looking around before leaning into whisper to the man. “Between you and me, don’t tell anyone if you do know who it is, just warn them to lay low. I know what Mr. Tarloff does to thieves. I wouldn’t want to see anyone go through that again.”
 
Dr. FLycatcher looked startled when Orson approached him, quickly dropping the eraser. He got even paler (if such a thing were possible) at the mention of Max Tarloff's name, and more importantly, what Max Tarloff did to thieves, regardless of whether the property stolen was intellectual or otherwise. No one on the island, including academics like Dr. Flycatcher, hadn't heard about what happened to individuals who ran afoul of the local head of Steam and Air.

"Yes, well, that would be reprehensible. You can assure Mr. Tarloff that no one wants to see him upset. We at the University have always been grateful for Mr. Tarloff's support. Very grateful. So it would be unacceptable for anyone to do such a dastardly thing as steal from him. Very unacceptable. So if I or anyone else see anything, we'll definitely report it. Definitely report it."

With that, Dr. Flycatcher scurried away, dropping his notebook into a waste receptacle as he stumbled away.

"That was hilarious how you dealt with that perverted Creeper," a voice said from behind Orson. The owner of the voice was a statuesque blonde, dressed in a conservative clothing, her hair in a bun. Standing next to her was a Fillipina dressed in a similar, conservative dress.

"I know that equation, Luna," the Filipina said, looking at what Orson had written on the board. "So do you. That's the radio detection device algorithm that we helped the de la Vega twins develop. Well, it's an equation based on that algorithm."

"Yes, it is," the blonde answered, taking a closer look at it, before she turned her attention to Orson. "So is there a reason you're posting this close to the women's bathroom? And should we be running to find the nearest University constable?"
 
Orson smiled at his handiwork. He had feeling that man was a coward, never earning anything himself. It was nice to put him in his place like that.

He was surprised to see the two women approach him. Honestly, he had started to think his plan might have been misguided. Seeing them made him feel at least somewhat validated. Then came the accusations of perversion. Still, he wouldn’t get flustered.

“I am Captain Orson James. And don’t worry, I’m not in that guy’s league,” he said, gesturing towards where Creeper had went. “I’m actually here for the de la Vegas. They have recently joined my crew for an expedition to the lost continent, but they need a mathematician to work with them. This equation was supposed to serve as a test to find suitable candidate. As to why it’s here, well, there are restrictions on my crew. Due to cultural reasons of one of my crewmates, I can’t hire any men. So I placed it here in order to hopefully find a woman who could solve it.” Did that sound believable? It was the truth, but he wasn’t sure if they’d believe him.
 
"Cultural reasons?" the blonde replied in a tone of disbelief.

"Behave yourself, Luna," the Fillipina answered. "Rose Crosby," she continued, extending her hand to Orson. "Adopted daughter of Ernest Crosby and here on a scholarship from the American Anti-Imperialist League. My father had hopes I would become an author like him, but here I am, a doctoral student in theoretical physics, with my friend --- "

"Lucille Van Dijk, though my friends...." Lucille began, before her friend interrupted her.

"And her detractors call her Luna, which is short for Lunatic Lucille," Rose explained.

"I'm called a lunatic because I'm an advocate of Symmes' theory on Hollow Earth," Luna explained. "And it is my supposition that the storms around the Blue Mountains are a product of the atmosphere clashes caused by an opening to the inside of the Earth located inside the Blue Mountains. Although emperical data is limited---"

Rose cut off her friend again. "Captain James isn't here to listen to your theories based on very limited data, Luna." Rose studied the equation on the board before continuing. "I'm familiar with this because it's based on the work with did with the de la Vega sisters on their radar detection device. Though it would be better described as a radio detection and ranging device. Anyway, the twins adapted our theoretical knowledge for their device. Either Luna or me could solve this equation, but that's because we worked on the algorithm it's based on for a couple of months. But solve it cold, without any prior exposure to it? Not a chance?"

Luna tapped her upper lip with her forefinger, thinking.

"You know who might have a chance solving it?" Luna said.

Rose rolled her eyes. "First, you're wrong. Second, you're wrong. And third, it would be cruel."

Before Luna could offer a rebuttal, Rose explained to Orson, "Luna is convinced one of the cleaning staff, a young woman named Luisa, is a math prodigy of some sort. "

"i've seen her working problems that have been left on the lecture boards, when the custodians came in to clean at night," Luna remarked.

"You've seen her scribbling on paper when she comes in at night," Rose remarked. "Luna has made friends with her, friends of sorts anyway. There are occasions when we stay late enough that we see the cleaning crew coming in when we go home at night. But Luisa is painfully shy around woman, and even more so around men. So there'd be no way for you to find out if she could solve this problem." Rose paused before asking, "And it's an absolute necessity that this mathematician be a woman, Captain?"
 
“I’ve read about the Hollow Earth in connection to the lost continent. It’s compelling, though I’d need to see it myself to believe it,” Orson replies. They seemed like nice girls, if not a little off. In other words, they were exactly like his crew. “Though I’ll get a chance to see it if it is true. My expedition isn’t scouting the coast. We’re headed to the interior, past the Blue Mountains.” This was the part that made people look at him like he was crazy. He wondered how this so called lunatic would react. As to him knowing what the Hollow Earth was, the lost continent was Orson’s field of expertise. He had been reading everything he could about it for years in preparation for this. Of course, he had come across numerous theories as to what was actually there. The Hollow Earth had been one of the more believable theories. Others thought that it was the Garden of Eden or the ruins of the Tower of Babel. Many thought it was the opening to hell. There was even one wild idea that the dinosaurs had been able to survive on there this entire time.

“As to the mathematician being a woman, it is. Honestly, I wish it wasn’t. It would definitely make this easier. But I gave her my word. And if people lose faith in that, they’ll lose faith in me, and there goes the crew.” He joked. “But this Luisa, do you really think she could solve it?”
 
"Yes!" and "No!" were said in unison, which cause Rose and Luna to exchange a look.

"I think Luna is romanticizing her encounter with Luisa," Rose said. "She saw the poor girl---"

"She's our age," Luna interrupted

"---scribbling down something or other, and has extrapolated this whole fanciful story of a self-taught mathematical genius," Rose concluded. "Next you know, you'll be believing that a patent clerk can unravel the mysteries of the universe!"

"Listen," Luna said insistently, "Luisa should be here this evening, after dinner. If you come be then, we'll meet you here, make the introductions, and you'll see."

"We?" Rose asked.

"We," Luna responded authoritatively.

"I guess we'll meet you this evening, Captain James, if you want to waste your time," Rose told Orson.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Orson couldn’t tell if these girls were friends, but they were amusing at the very least. Not to mention, Orson very much liked the idea of a genius member of the cleaning staff. Not only was it a good story, but it would be helpful in recruiting. Asking a student or professor to leave their education or job could take quite a lot of persuading. But asking a janitor to quit for an exciting adventure? It may not work on everyone, but it at least had better appeal.

“If she’s right, I might have found exactly what I’m looking for. If she’s wrong, you’ll get proof she was just making things up. I think it’s win-win,” Orson told Rose with a smile. “Shall we meet up right here? Or is there somewhere else I should go?”
 
"You are going to owe me dinner, and not just the boarding house dinner," Rose told Luna. "Let's meet up here at eight this evening, Captain James."
 
“I’ll see you then,” he told the girls. Things had taken a good turn. With this matter resolved, he made sure the equation was erased from the board. If Luisa couldn’t solve it, he’d just do the same thing tomorrow. And if it didn’t work tomorrow, he’d give up for other reparations and the ship would go without a mathematician. It wasn’t the worst fate. Unless having one would end up saving their lives down the line. In which case, it was the worst fate.

Now Orson found himself with time he hadn’t expected to have. He decided there was one thing he needed to do before leaving that was essential. Now might be his only shot. So he headed to the local militia’s firing range.

Orson was a good shot. Like many of his skills, that was tied to his greatest physical asset: his eyes. His vision was miraculously sharp, able to discern slight details and see farther than many others. It was by no means the best ever, but it was damn good. Of course, it didn’t do him any good if he wasn’t paying attention, remembering the slime incident from earlier.

It was easy enough to get a spot to practice, using one of the militia’s rifles. It was lighter than his own, making it less than ideal for practice. But it was better than wasting time going back for his gun and returning here. He’d also need to go and put it back before the meaning as well. If Luisa was already scared of men, a man with a high powered rifle was probably not going to be less intimidating.

So Orson spent the next few hours pleasantly. He did well in the firing range, every bullet landing within the target, most closer to the center than further. After that, he got a newspaper, reading up on recent events. There was plenty about the sky pirate that had been arrested recently. How it had happened, what this meant, some retrospectives on his life. Overall, it was interesting, if not a little infuriating to see a bastard like that get so much attention.

Next, it was on to dinner. He wanted to eat Vu’s food, possibly even Qui’s as well, but he wasn’t exactly sure where they worked in the evening. He believed Vu only worked the drugstore for lunch, and he didn’t feel like using his time just to find out. So he chose a small place nearby to eat his modest meal. It was tasty enough, though a little unsatisfying.

He enjoyed the few hours off. He had been working hard at assembling the crew and preparing the expedition for weeks now. This more relaxed moment in time was nice. It almost made him stop worrying about the Hunter. Almost.

By the time eight rolled around, he was turning the corner back to the hallway where he had written the problem down hours ago, looking forward to meeting this new girl.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom