The Ship Inn - Dunwich, England 3:55 PM - Thursday, September 5, 1985
Salem ran through the woods, but his pursuers could see him and were not shaken off of his tail. He had to break cover in order to enter the car park behind the Ship Inn, arriving at the same time as the strange woman. Now he could see that she held an odd-looking device in her right hand:
She ran right for the Model T. "Hey stranger, get your ass in gear and get in!" she called to Salem. She tried the door to the antique car, which was thankfully unlocked. The constables and Horsham were running closer, only about twenty yards distant.
Salem Shields,The constables' shrill whistles pierced the air.
[spoiler]If you say anything, please post it inside a spoiler button with your character's name, like the one above.[/spoiler]
There was no time to ask any question, Salem squeezed into the car with the mysterious woman and still taken aback by the events that have transpired.
Salem Shield,Looking around the interior of the antique vehicle, [color=#0000BF]"My shoe is bigger than this car,"[/color] trying to draw his attention away from the beautiful undressed woman.
OOC,How come we're having dialogues in the spoiler buttons now? Writing feels choppy and unnatural :/
The woman activated her device near the ignition, and the motor began to purr. It was similar to how Story had started the Land Rover earlier, and it made the same sound - though the woman did not hear it. She started to pull out as the men chasing Salem entered the car park and were now just ten yards away. "If you're talking to me right now," she said, "I can't hear a thing. Which way do we go? Just point. I'd like to get to the cottage of that author, Virgil Soames, if we can."
OOC,There's a reason for it, but I didn't want to give it away.
Salem gave a confused look when Tinker gave him that answer. Frantically looking around the windows and establishing his orientation, Salem points the way towards the cottage.
OOC,Do you know which way the cottage is? I don't think you've been there before, but correct me if I'm wrong. Which way are you pointing? As a reminder, three roads leave the intersection. Beach Road heads northeast to the restaurant, where it ends. St. James's Street goes through town to the west, and Monastery Hill heads off to the southwest.
Tinker guns the car down St. James street, given the opportunity she will hit one of the pursuers, and follows Salem's directions.
She shouts a little louder than she means to,
Tinker and Salem,[color=#FF0000]"Keep pointing! Something went wrong and I just can't hear! I'm sure it will fix itself in a little bit!"[/color]
She glances over at him, [color=#FF0000]"Salem, please tell me you still have a gun. That scaly fisherman bastard has a bullet with his name on it somewhere and I am gonna be the one to give it to him."[/color]
Tinker drove west down the street. The men chasing them had been behind the inn, so there was no way to run them over without doubling back. The car went past the Dunwich Museum and was soon halfway down the length of the street. The policemen and Horsham were still visible in the distance behind them, running down the road. Up ahead was a red public phone booth, on the north side of the street.
OOC,[b]Tinker[/b], you don't need to put your own speech in spoiler buttons. Only [b]Salem[/b] needs to do that, as you cannot hear him. No other PCs are here except for the two of you.
Salem Shields,[b]Salem[/b] spotted the Rose Cottage on the right, near the phone booth. The bullet wound in his back was really starting to hurt now, as the bumpy movement of the car wasn't helping.
The day couldn't get any stranger. Salem was surprised to hear Tinker knew his name, and how she know he'd have a gun. Well, lost his gun. Salem kept pointing at the Rose Cottage as the bullet still uncomfortably lodged in his back.
Salem Shields,This strange woman clearly wasn't right in the head. She did seem to know him, and he felt like he somehow knew her too, though he couldn't place her.
It also seemed likely that her deafness was recent and psychosomatic. She didn't appear to know how to read his lips, which was a skill most deaf people learned quickly, and there seemed to be nothing physically wrong with her.
After the bizarre exchange of familiarity, Salem looks over her shoulder to see if his pursuers are still on his tail, praying that he finally caught a break.
Tinker drove onwards to the west. Past Dr. Strong's cottage, the north side of the street gave way to marsh. Soon they reached an intersection, just past a church and graveyard on the left, with Westleton Road leading northwest and south as well as an unmarked dirt trail leading west. At this point their pursuers could barely be seen, not far past the museum.
"Well my gut's tellin' me south. Though my guts also have a tendency to be in the wrong place lately... hell with it. Let's go." Tinker spins the wheel and veers the old car southwards.
The road continued south for some distance before an intersection was visible ahead. The road continued to the southwest, and another road fed into it from the northeast.
Salem covered his ears as Tinker spoke more audible then she thinks, his face twists as Tinker continues her sentence. Salem tried to gesture his words to Tinker but fell to the floor, as Tinker was too busy driving.
Salem,[color=#0000BF]"Are you alright? Do you need my coat?"[/color] [b]Salem[/b] forgetful about [b]Tinker's[/b] condition and the bullet wound bleeding into his coat, as [b]Tinker's[/b] nude presence leaves [b]Salem[/b] more uncomfortable than the bullet in his back.
Tinker grimaced at the new intersection for a moment. "Oh, of course!! Valerie and Elliot drove this to the writer's house. I doubt they memorized the directions."
Tinker slowed to a stop at the intersection. "Quick, look around for some maps. They might have even marked it."
Tinker groaned. "Two cars and one set of maps. This whole operation has been a complete boondoggle."
She turns to Salem and smiles "Well, since we are both in charge do you have any suggestions? I am up for a coon flip for where to go. But I really need access to some machine parts or electronics so we can make an actual secure call back to base...also a gun. Boy would guns make this so much easier." She pauses for a moment and laughes "Write it down if you could. I still can't hear. Let's make it snappy though. Don't wanna get caught out in the open."
Crossing his legs, Salem wasn't sure if this was the backup he had requested in such short notice. With most of his gear lost, Salem began looking around the interior of the antique car, looking for anything useful.
Salem found a toolbox that contained basic tools such as a jack and a spanner, the sort of things one would need to change a tire or fix the engine, but nothing more sophisticated and no maps.
Salem wasn't sure where Virgil Soames's cottage would be, he had an idea that it might be tucked away from civilization perhaps, so he tapped Tinker's shoulder and kept pointing southwest.
Past the intersection was a dirt track heading south towards a few fenced-off, isolated buildings, and the paved road continued southwest around an S-curve. It intersected with another dirt road with a sign that read "High Street" that headed east, while Westleton Road continued west. More buildings were visible in both directions. Another dirt track headed south off of High Street, leading to still more buildings. There was no way to tell what the buildings were at a glance, however. To the south, west, and east, woods started to surround the roads.
Salem patted Tinker's bare shoulder and pointed towards the back of the cottage, intending they should park behind or beside the cottages. Salem felt a little lost, but perhaps they could regain their bearings if they found a map inside one of the cottages. Also they could find some clothes for Tinker and take the time to diagnose her deafness.
The road did not extend behind the cottages, and the Model T wasn't so good off-road, so Tinker parked as close as she dared on the side of the row of cottages.
Salem steps out of the vehicle and surveys his surroundings. Scratching his head, he turns back towards Tinker and thinks about offering his bloodied coat to her.
The door to the first cottage was unlocked, and Salem and Tinker went inside. There were no electronics more complicated than a television set, but there were women's clothes in one of the bedrooms. Tinker gratefully put on a bra and a blouse.
OOC,[b]Salem[/b], you may roll Psychoanalysis if you want to try to suppress [b]Tinker[/b]'s temporary insanity.
As they entered the cottage, Salem closes up all the blinds in the house, peering through them to make sure nobody has followed them even though their novelty Model T was parked by the house. After a brief moment, maybe he could let his guard down just this once and catch a break. Salem returned back to Tinker, and motioned her to sit down as he pulled out his otoscope from his messenger bag, even though he knew Tinker was under some form of psychological trauma.
After a while, Tinker felt a sort of popping in her ears, and a rush of sound poured in. "Thank you!" she said. "I don't know what you did, but I can hear again!"
"Not a problem," As Salem puts away his medical equipment into his now tattered beat up satchel. Looking up at Tinker with serious curiosity instead of just an appreciation of her looks, Salem breaks that awkward tension, "Are you the backup UNIT has sent?"
Salem looks puzzled at first, "You must've hit your head pretty hard," as Salem combs through Tinker's hair for any bruises. "What's your name? Do you know where you are?" as Salem tries to assess Tinker's awareness.
Salem saw no sign of any injuries. Tinker appeared to be in perfect health.
"I just told you my name," she said. "Of course, that's not my real name. I've just used it so long I've gotten used to it. I've had it for more than a century. My real name is Reifendvalkaster, but I usually shorten it to Riefner. Like Story, I am a Time Lord. When we get killed, we have the power to regenerate our bodies, changing our appearance. Only this one went a bit pear-shaped. It's quite rare to change genders."
"Just hold that thought there,"Salem says, as he has a hard time grasping what Tinker has just said, but this is UNIT after all, the strange and unexplained was what drew Salem to UNIT. Searching around the room, Salem looks for a telephone to touch back with HQ.
"Are you going to place a call in the clear?" asked Tinker as he picked up the receiver. "It seems risky. If I only had the right parts and tools, I could build a scrambler."
"Captain Shields reporting in,"Salem gives pause as he looks at Tinker, " be advised, an hour ago Technical Advisor MacIntyre has been killed in the line of duty, engaging the enemy along Dunwich Beach."Salem takes a deep breath, wiping his face with the tattered sleeve of his coat, "Operative Webb is declared M.I.A. as we made hard contact with local enemy populance." Looking around, Salem tries his best to get his bearings, "My location is unknown, no visual on any landmarks. I am with an operative who affiliates herself with UNIT addressing herself as Riefner, over."
"Understood," said the Brigadier, a hint of sadness in his voice. "I'm unaware of any operative named Reifner. Sounds like a right balls-up. Captain, return to HQ at the earliest opportunity. Do you have anything else to report?"
"We just heard from some of the others a few minutes ago," said the Brigadier. "Engraham, Novak, and Maddox all made it out and are on their way home."
"That's Brigadier Crichton, if you please," said the Brigadier. "Or sir. When you've got a couple of stars on your shoulders, then you can call me by my surname alone. No, Dr. Kirby was not with them. They didn't know what became of her, as they formed a diversionary group. She and Mrs. Soames are still unaccounted for, but I have hope that they made it out. In any event, your cover is blown. Your objective is to return to HQ for debriefing so we can plan the next step."
"Negative, Captain, we have no aircraft available at this time," replied the Brigadier, which reminded Salem of the fatal crash. "By the time we get one there, you can drive back to HQ in the London area. It'll be quicker in the long run, so do that."
"Will comply Brigadier, proceeding to exfiltrate Dunwich and will report status updates when possible," as Salem looks at Tinker and hangs up the phone. "How's your head feeling now?"
"There's nothing wrong with my head," said Tinker. She patted her face and hair, suddenly alarmed. "Is there? I'm not ugly this time around, am I?" She was of course anything but. "Come on, let's get out of this place." The two of them went back outside and returned to the Model T. They returned up the dirt track to the intersection. High Street ran east, Westleton Road ran west, and the road that had brought them here went northeast around a curve.
Salem drove past a few buildings along short driveways at the edge of the woods. Before long, there was an intersection ahead, with another road heading off to the left while Westleton Road continued straight ahead. The forest continued on the right side of the current road, while on the left it was bordered by a hedge.
The road continued for some distance with nothing branching off but minor dirt tracks, and soon the signs started calling it the Dunwich Road. Such roads were named for where they led based on which end they were farther from, so presumably this one would go to Westleton at some point. Eventually the forest petered out, and then there was another intersection ahead. The Dunwich Road continued straight on, and an unnamed road turned off to the left.
At the intersection, Salem still wasn't quite sure where he was at, and wasn't interested in going back to Dunwich. Salem went off on the unnamed road, hoping it'll take him away from that horrifying town.
OOC,It's called the Dunwich Road because it leads to Dunwich going back the way you came. It was called the Westleton Road further back because it leads to Westleton the way you were going. The name seems to be based on which end of it is farther away. That's what I was trying to convey above. Do you still want to turn off on the unnamed road, or would you rather keep going the way you were going?
OOC,Oh I thought I came across a T intersection, and can only go either the unknown road or back towards Dunwich. I'll actually continue down Westleton Road please.
The road continued past a large house on a short driveway, and soon it led into a village, presumably Westleton, where it intersected with another road. This new road went back and to the right away from the village, where it was called Blythburgh Road, and ahead and to the left, where it was called The Street. The current road curved around to the left beyond the intersection, where its name changed to The Hill. It ran almost parallel to The Street.
OOC,It was a T-intersection, but the road you're on went back to Dunwich and ahead to Westleton, and the intersecting road went off to the left. I'm sorry for the confusion.
[b]Salem[/b], please roll Idea.
Before he progressed through the intersection, Salem recalled the name Blythburg. It had been one of the towns he had passed through on his way from Halesworth to Dunwich, and the Blythburg road had to lead to it. Of course, Halesworth was in the opposite direction from where he needed to go, which was back toward London, and there were no aircraft available at Halesworth.
The road to Blythburgh, also called the B1125, was a long one, and its name changed to the Dunwich Road partway there. The surroundings started to look familiar. When Salem finally got to Blythburgh, he saw that it was very small, even smaller than Westleton and Dunwich were. However, it was situated at a major thoroughfare, as the A12 motorway passed through going from north to southwest. The A12 was also called the London Road, and taking it southwest would lead back to London eventually. There wasn't much in Blythburgh, mainly two inns: the White Hart Inn and the Blythburgh Holiday Cottage.
The countryside surely has lost it's holiday attraction and certainly had a change of heart in regards with working in the field. Salem looked to his watch, wondering if he should checkin with the inns and touch base with HQ.
It was a long drive back to UNIT HQ, during which darkness decscended. Salem pulled up at the gatehouse some time after 9:00 PM. A guard stepped out and approached the vehicle.
"Evening sir,"Salem fishes around in his pockets and flashes his laminate, which to his surprise, has never eluded speeding tickets and impressed anyone. He rubs the sleep away from his eyes, as he awaits the guard.
The guard examined the UNIT identification card and nodded. "Welcome back, sir," he said, then looked at the woman next to him - and his jaw dropped. "Who's your passenger?"
"Brigadier Crichton has requested agent Riefner and myself, to debrief at 2200," as Salem checks how Tinker is holding up, after her bizarre hearing impaired incident.
"Agent who?" said the guard, frowning. "I've never heard of any agent named Riefner, sir. You're going to have to wait here while I call the Brigadier." He went back into the gatehouse.
Tinker seemed to be doing fine. "Now what?" she asked.
A minute later, the guard came out. "Wait here," he said. "The Brigadier is coming out here personally."
After another few minutes, Brigadier Crichton walked up to the gate from inside the grounds. "All right, Captain Shields," he said, looking at the woman in the shotgun seat with unbridled suspicion. "Just who is this person? There's nothing in any of UNIT's files about anyone called Riefner. She could be an alien for all we know."
Salem was surprised to see the Brigadier himself is intervening. It shook attention back into his eyes, "Brigadier, sir,"Salem looked between Tinker and Brigadier Crichton. "Riefner here is of importance to us, she seems to associate with Technical AdvisorRaymond MacIntrye, which, the classified nature of our mission has been confidential. She suffers Dissociative Identity Disorder and has went through some kind of psychological trauma." At this point, Salem was embarrassed to say he wasn't quite sure what Tinker's ulterior motives, but he was glad she saved his life.
The Brigadier frowned. "MacIntyre never mentioned her before," he said, inspecting Tinker more closely. "Just who are you?"
"You're right to be wary," said Tinker. "As it happens, I am an alien." The Brigadier drew his sidearm and pointed it at her. "Really, Brigadier. With that kind of reaction, how can your planet ever live in peace with its neighbours?"
"Maybe you're just mad," he said. "But maybe you really are an extraterrestrial. I'm not taking any chances either way."
"Brigadier, you know me. I'mRaymond MacIntyre! Go ahead, ask me anything. I realise that I've changed my appearance, but it isn't the first time something like this has happened. Get old Lethbridge-Stewart on the line and ask him about the Doctor, also known as John Smith. He's changed his appearance before on two occasions, at least."
"Lethbridge-Stewart is retired. He's some schoolmaster or something. Why am I even telling you this?!"
"It's nothing I didn't already know, Brigadier. Just like I know about Dr. Valerie Kirby. Did she make it out of Dunwich with the rest of our team? If so, she should be able to do genetic testing to prove that I am who I say I am. My DNA is identical - except for the lack of a Y chromosome, but that was a fluke."
"Oh, she can do that all right. We'll keep you locked up in isolation while we await the results. It should take a few weeks."
"Weeks?! Oh, I keep forgetting how primitive your technology is."
"Primitive?! Our technology is state of the art, and Dr. Kirby is the leading expert in her field!"
"There's a quicker way. I have two hearts, just like your Doctor did. You don't even need to be a doctor to check. Anyone can have a listen."
"There will be plenty of medical tests for you, don't you worry. And even if you do have two hearts, that proves nothing. Yes, the Doctor did too...but so did the Master. UNIT's got a file on him that fills up an entire cabinet, and one of the times we encountered him, he was in league with the Sea Devils! Guard. tale her into custody!"
"What the—Wait what's going on!?"Salem was completely lost and wasn't sure if he heard what he had just heard. Two hearts? Salem couldn't comprehend all this, and the only thing he knew were cephalopods had multiple hearts as well.
MacIntyre, Webb, and I were engaging the local law enforcement along Dunwich Beach aiding Dr. Kirby's and Valerie Soames's escape.Salem lowers his hands in tense slow motion, "MacIntyre is declared K.I.A. and as Elliot Webb and I were retreating, Webb was knocked out and is considered M.I.A."Salem watches Riefner being taken into custody, genuinely worried for her safety, "I barely escaped on foot, until I came across Riefner who saved my life and we commandeered Soame's vehicle."
"A bit convenient, her showing up when she did," said the Brigadier. "She may have had an ulterior motive for saving your life. What better way to infiltrate UNIT?"
"Sir, it's me!" insisted Tinker.
Crichton ignored her protests and kept her covered with his pistol. "Guard, search her and cuff her. I'll take her to the containment building." He looked Salem over now that he had gotten out of the car. "You look like you need a doctor, Doctor. You'd better come along to containment too. There's a medical lab there. Dr. Kirby is examining the captive Sea Devil that she and Mrs. Soames brought back alive right now."
"But I'm the one who captured it! I gunned it down after it came out of the sea and stabbed me with a spear!"
"You don't look the slightest bit injured."
"I've regenerated!"
The soldier patted Tinker down during this exchange, confiscating two 9mm magazines and ten 12-gauge shotgun shells. Then he cuffed her arms behind her back.
OOC,[b]Salem[/b], if you want to try to convince the Brigadier to release [b]Tinker[/b], you may attempt a Persuade roll to convince him on the way to the containment building.
"The magazines were issued to me, same as they were to you," said Tinker. "The shotgun shells I found in Horsham's shack, after he killed me."
"After he killed you?" said the Brigadier.
"Well, I got better."
"Right, I've heard enough." The Brigadier marched Tinker to the containment building at gunpoint along with Salem. The guards at the entrance admitted them, and they proceeded to the medical lab.
OOC,Everyone is moving to the thread linked below.
