The delivery wagon arrived at the Gate No.5 which took its stop before the guard house. The driver of the wagon pulled the reins on the single cow that was pulling the weight. The driver was an elderly man with the white beard and the deep sunken eyes on the thin body frame. He was dressed in the long white tunic and his head was covered with the cloth wrapping.
“Santhy, you are late today.” The young guard at the post greeted the elderly man. “You will never know the fun we had early in the morning.”
The elderly man did not acknowledge the guard and waited for the gate to be open. He did not even look at the guard there. The young guard saw the elderly man showed no interest at what he was going to say then proceeded to raise the latch on the gate. The elderly man flicked the reins to get the wagon moving. The slow moving wagon with the covered load went by the gates.
“That was easy.” Mycroft muttered out in his discomfort condition beneath the cabbage and other vegetation. It was Hicks idea for him to get in. They had argued the rationale of seeing the Raj and Mycroft got his sneak-in plan. The other two have decided to stay out and be prepared to assist if the going went back.
The wagon went all the way up to the back door before it stopped. The elderly man did not turn behind but he did voice out.
“Be quick. The door is here.” Mycroft heard the man and crawled out. He also pulled out the long bag that was brought by him. He opened the door and stepped in. It opened to a store area with the household utensils were kept. Mycroft closed the door and latched it.
He was in and now the meet with the Raj.
At that moment, the doctor was hung by his wrists with the shackles there and his toes was a feet above the flooring. He was then at what one of the ten rooms with no defined purposes then. The room was in the basement and it stank like the cesspool. He was stripped to his pants and was accompanied by two guards. They have not started on him but the weight of his body was bearing on the doctor’s wrists. He could feel his arms getting numbed then. He had hung there for over an hour after they brought him there but not before giving him the painful massage on the firmed parts of his body.
“My balls hurt, bastards.” Watson cursed at the two guards who stood there looking at him as if he was a prized catch.
He was actually and they are waiting for Raj to decide on the next action. Or torture.
It was then another figure stepped in.
The two guards salute the new arrival.
“Tell me, my good doctor. What went through your mind to do a return here?” The officer was a short bulky figure with a shaved head dressed in the blue and red uniform of the Raj Personal Guard. The shoulder pips displayed his seniority rank and he knew the doctor.
“I thought you would have died by now.” Watson replied and was given a back hand slap across this face cheeks.
“That was refreshing.” Watson spat out the blood from his mouth. “Do you think I could have my hands free now?”
“I am impressed that even at near death, you still harbour a humorous nature.” The Raj Officer commented. He was to continue on when another figure step in. It was the elderly man from the wagon.
“Oh! I am sorry. Wrong room.” The elderly man apologies for his wrong entry. He was then holding the box containing the fresh perishables. “I will leave now.”
“Leave us now!” The officer shouted at the elderly man. The later gave out a weak smile and then turned to the two guards standing near him. It was all so sudden when the darts from the side of the box facing them shot at the guards. The darts were coated with curare mixture. The poison on contact acts like a muscle relaxant that caused death by paralysis of the respiratory system resulting in asphyxiation. They collapsed on their knees and next was the officer.
“Doctor Watson, I presume.” The elderly man then lowered the box which revealed the dart gun built into the side of the box.
“I will be darned if it’s not you, Holmes.” Watson slacked on the shackles knowing then he was going to be saved.
“Yes, it’s me. Mycroft sent for my assistance.” The elderly man then removed the head bindings and pulled off the fake beard. “You do have a tendency to get into difficult spots.”
“Poison darts? You are improving your skills. Surely the scene with Bartholomew Sholto gave you an insight.” Watson smiled while his old friend unclicked the shackles.
“Not really. It was in the arsenal of the SOE and I thought it would be fanciful to be the shooter.” Sherlock replied and then lowered the doctor. “Poison darts are common with the assassins here. By using them, I could cover our trail. I will leave a sign for them to see the trail. ”
Watson was past listening and reached for the officer. He took the shirt off to put it on. He was handed his bag by Sherlock.
“I found it in one of the rooms. You ought to take care of yourself better. Take this drink. It will help you feel better.”
The duo picked their way out and then when the doctor was hidden in the wagon, Sherlock took them to safety. He had to dispatch the sentries by the gates with the same dart guns.
“Oh! I forgot to mention Mycroft is in the palace. I hope he stand a better chance there without me.” Sherlock gave out a snigger but the doctor was no amused. He would have assisted but the doctor was soon asleep from the drink Sherlock gave.
Meanwhile then Mycroft stumbled onto the torture room and saw the dead guards. He figured it out that the doctor had escaped. He then saw the sign left behind by the doctor’s rescuer. He knew what Holmes had done.
“Darned you, brother!.” Mycroft cursed out and then pulled out the contents from the bag he was carrying.
The rifle held in his hand was a John T Thomson design with a variation. It fires five hundred rounds per minute on a hundred rounds drum magazine. The man had named it the Annihilator and Mycroft was going to field test it. He also had several grenades named the No.1 then. It contained explosive material with an iron fragmentation band with an impact fuse. It weight over two pounds each and it came with the long handle. He also carried a few bundles of dynamites sticks for fonder memories of his holiday at Spain. He started placing the bundles of dynamite bundles with the long ignition lines in the basement and then proceeded out to the open yard. He was back in the garden and was curious then why he did not encountered any guards or servants. He took a look at his pocket watch and noted he was to be leaving. He took the run towards the dirigible station.
The explosion came and brought down a section of the mansion before the fire spread. Mycroft kept his pace and wondered why there was no one in pursuit.
It was baffling then.
8.
Across the estate at the barracks, the Raj stood there looking at the burning mansion. He wanted to call his servants to save the structure but his guest had forbidden him.
“The palace must not be saved. It must burn to the ground to serve as a call to the natives. They will rally to you for your battle against the Imperial Colonists.”
The Raj stood there looking alongside with his family and personal guards but no one dared to defy the guest. The later was a tall figure dressed in the long colourful gown with the dragon motifs descending from the clouds. The motifs were stitched on with the fine threads that glimmered. The head piece on the tall figure was a dark velvet round hat with a large pearl on the top. The phoenix feather protruded from the back of the hat to the rear.
“I …” The Raj Head of Guards protested but he was silenced when his voice was shattered by the long think blade that struck him there. The blade was pulled back by the Raj who sheathed the thin blade back to the sceptre that he carried with him.
“We will follow your request.” The Raj told the thin figure. He then stepped away and was annoyed at the bare offerings there. It was not his choice of a resting place but the guest had awakened him soon after the intruder was caught.
“We will leave the Palace now.” That was all he was told and soon he found himself there at the barracks. He had asked of the intruder although he had guessed the identity.
“Raj, I am fully aware of your agitation.” The thin figure spoke without looking away from the fire. “Doctor Watson will lead us to the Princess. My Master had given specific instruction on that…”
The thin figure stopped speaking and then spoke once more.
“It seems that the old Raj still have loyal servants.” The thin figure was faced by five armed guards with one of them holding the Raj with a sword at the throat. “Or maybe they are acting on your order. I won’t hesitate to kill them regardless.”
The thin figure turned around on the toes of her right leg with the left leg raised upright to the neck level before it swung out and the body bent at the waist. It looked like a dancing move showing the stalk of the flower before the flower bloomed. When the body frame was pulled down the left leg swung out in arc to land the kick on the guard then. The left kick curled back on the knee bent and then it lashed out at the guard standing next to the first one. The left leg did a series of three succession kicks onto the guard before it was lowered down to the flooring. Once the left foot hit the floor, the leg slide along the flooring to lower the body frame towards the flooring and then the body propelled into a mid-air twist to land the right leg in an over the body kick into the third guard. Once the kick was delivered, the thin figure went into a half crouch and both fists launched out overhead towards the last guard in the belly.
All it took was a series of flash moves within a minute.
“Raj, tell the last one to drop the dagger or die.” The thin figure then straightened up and walked away to the doorway. The sound of the dagger dropped to the flooring was evident and then the last assailant was removed. At the doorway the thin figure stopped and then voiced to the Raj.
“Do repeat that again and I may not be merciful then. I am still my father’s daughter although I have not all his characters. “
“Yes, Princess Fa.” The Raj bowed towards her.
The Princess was named Fa Lo Suee, and unlike her father she was an adept mistress of three deadly martial arts and expert with the revolver she carries under the gown. She was nicknamed ‘Dead-eye”.
Unfortunately both the Holmes do not shared the same sight for each other.
“I don’t care who you are but out here you are an operative of SOE and that comes under my command. And my…” Mycroft dressed in the dressing gown had just emerged from the bathroom.
“You are in command, Mycroft but I am my own man. I came here because of Watson.” Sherlock puffed on his pipe laying tobacco smoke into the hotel room where they met the former. Mycroft was upset at being setup and made look like a fool. More to it, the local food was too rich for his digestion and the bathroom was his throne room then.
“I think you need some….” Doctor Watson ever the healer looked to the man who was then rushing back to the bathroom. “I was going to suggest that he consumed some black tea.”
“Bloody good it would do to him.” Sherlock puffed on his pipe. “I wondered about you, Watson. Soon after we got our rear almost pounded you ran into another one. Have I not given you enough adventure to write on?”
Watson shifted on the lounge chair where he was seated. His body muscles were aching all over and the only relief he had then was the sleep sedative given by Holmes. He was sure there were elements of morphine inside that drink.
“Holmes” Watson was calling Sherlock by his family name. “I had to come here. When I last left, the Raj have warned me to stay away. He disliked me for …seducing his sister but he knew if I come back, the cousin will kill me. The cousin is the new Raj and he killed the previous one. I was there and saw the murder but I was forced to leave. They held my son hostage and will be killed if I don’t leave.”
“So you ran and were hunted. So you went back to rescue her alone. Are you balmy?” Sherlock asked back in anger. “You may be a killer but you are out of your league.”
“I had to but she was not there.” Watson sighed. “She had escaped with my son earlier.”
“Good then. Now can we go back to old London and solved some more complicated cases.” Sherlock replied before he lowered the pipe. “Bloody good tobacco they have here. I must take some back with me.”
“I won’t leave without my ….lover and child.” Watson declared then. “I know where they may be.”
Sherlock was to reply when Mycroft re-emerged with a paler expression. He dropped the newspaper he was reading.
“You can’t leave now. I mean not as simple as boarding a train. Your face is on the front page.” Mycroft motioned to the newspaper. Sherlock frown his expression.
“I am not holding that infectious prints. Who knows what you may have carried in your …bowels?” Sherlock made his medical supported statement. “You are to be …restricted to that room.”
“I will if they were to give me more papers to …Never mind that. I am going back in.” Mycroft turned back to the only room where he could roost in comfort. He did grab the newspaper although it may not hold any Page Three contents.
“And leave some of those Yorkshire pies you brought over.”
At that moment, Lord and Lady Greystoke have discovered their arrival on the steamer ship was eventful. They were met by the Queen’s men and scooted off to a waiting four wheeler vehicle. Once inside the covered vehicle Lady Greystoke addressed the officer seated across them.
“Major Bromhead, may I see your credentials again?” The lady stared at the figure seated there dressed in the brown khaki uniform of shirt and knee length pants with the knee high white socks and dark shoes. He had on the belt with the holster on the left side of the hip. On his head was the Pith Hat or better known as Empire Helmet which was a sun hat covered by the Pith Material.
“Yes, my lady.” The officer pulled out the Luger form the holster. “I am Hauptmann Schneider Manser of the Eastern African Corps based in Tanganyika. We hold no emissary here but our business are done at the Schmidt and Joseph Posts. I was told to meet the two of you and have you brought to our safe house. You are on the list of wanted by the local government.”
“Of German Colonial Office in Tanganyika.” The officer smiled at Lady Greystoke. “Tarzan is a murderer in my state.”
Lord Greystoke tensed up on his frame but the lady held him back.
“Lord Greystoke may have killed your …people when they crossed over to kill the apes or the lions. I believed you may have it termed it as safari kills.” Jane dressed in the khaki jacket and matching pants with the white blouse and tucked in knee high boots levelled up with the Hauptmann. The German officer had not averted his sight on her pronounced cleavage displayed on the blouse where the buttons were not clasped. “He has cleared his action with the Oberst Von Gross. He was given the pardon for the killing then.”
“Oberst Von Gross is not my superior officer although we served the same Emperor. Mine is from a different empire. My Emperor is Fu Manchu. You may not have heard of him but he has of yours. He knows that you are here to save a Doctor Watson and that is regretfully against not his wish. He wishes the doctor dead but before that, he wants to have the doctor performed task.”
“You can be assured that my task is to keep you safe at our house until the good doctor had performed his task. May I remind you that resistance is futile for you.”
“Long Live the Emperor.”
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