The deranged and dirty derelict was bundled up and carried back to the Mitscher Ranch. He was incoherent and violent, and he had to be strapped into a bed. Nurse Pettenkoffer pumped him full of sedatives, and examined the man. He was in remarkably good shape, despite being exposed to the elements and quite dirty. His uniform actually had a name sewn into the uniform: Edgar Broome, First Sergeant, U. S. Army. This was a familiar name to at least McCloud, since Broome was a real war hero, and had it not been for Sergeant Alvin York, Broome would have been the premier soldier of the Great War. McCloud was actually a bit awestruck. Nurse Pettenkoffer's examination also revealed series of strange triangular scars, most of them almost healed, and most of them located close to vital organs and arteries.
As Frank Cannon finally retired, he did notice one thing: his window was open. It would have been no big deal if it wasn't for the fact that Cannon was utterly convinced that he's closed the window, and he also knew that the maid, Marita German, didn'r open the windows unless specifically instructed to. A quick search outside the window did not reveal any irregularities, but Frank Cannon nevertheless could not shake off an odd feeling of being watched, and the whispers that seemed to interrupt his dreams added to his unease. Frank Cannon would be in need of lots of coffee throughout the following day.
Next day, Nurse Pettenkoffer gently started to gently wake up Sergeant Broome. Frank Cannon and Lotus Ashford were ready with scrumptious ham sandwiches and a big pot of coffee, and although Broome was quite disoriented, he eventually responded to the remarkably calm reasoning of Frank Cannon, who after all had taken care of crime victims in New York as well as the tantrums of Frank Black. Sergeant Broome was far from lucid, but it seemed as if he had ended up in argument with a young lieutenant, 2/LT Gorman, and punched the lieutenant. Realizing the consequences of his actions, Broome deserted from the unit that was to escort Don Dixon's astronomical entourage. After that, it seemed as if Broome had had some surreal experience, and really could not be determined if this was factual or hallucinatory. Had he been abducted and experimented on? Was this merely the delusionary thoughts of a mind being pressed to the limits by shell shock from the Great War? Were the strange scars inflicted by Dixon and his team of scientists? The question marks kept piling up. Even more questions were raised when news from Arkham reached Lotus Ashford regarding the fate of the Topsfield power plant. He decided to send a telegram to Dr. MacKenzie MacNamara, the famous Egyptologist at the Miskatonic University.
Broome was left in the tender care of Nurse Pettenkoffer and Bill McCloud while Lotus Ashford and Frank Cannon decided to pay Don Dixon's observatory a visit on April 30. They rode up the slopes of the Capitan Mountains, following a fairly narrow path until they were astounded to fins a military checkpoint just short of the abandoned mining office located on a plateau high up in the mountain range. The sentries were rather relaxed, but still wearing prim and proper U.S. Army uniforms.
The soldiers called up to the makeshift observatory, and Don Dixon was delighted to have visitors. The former mining office was being renovated at a breakneck pace, and a small telescope had already been mounted in what seemed to have been the study. This is where Cannon and Ashford found an enthusiastic Dixon surrounded by strange machinery and coils of cables. It all looked very technical. Dixon, being a most enthusiastic astronomer, was enthralled when Frank Cannon started asking questions about Betelgeuse, while Ashford tried to make any sense whatsoever of the strange equipment in the little observatory. However, Dixon promised that there would be a new, splendid, observatory next to the office building in no time, or rather in a year or two. Ashford also noticed several gun racks, bit then, this was New Mexico. Ashford and Cannon finally left, still not convinced of the true intent and purpose of the astronomical endeavor. Ashford did discreetly point out that the existing telescope was indeed aimed at the mountain top that seemed to have spawned so many strange flying abominations earlier this year.
As Ashford and Cannon were riding down the path towards the Mitscher Ranch, they noticed a female figure waving at them a couple of hundred feet away. The stunning woman introduced herself as Georgetta Carlton, an astronomer, and she was very anxious about her fiancé, First Sergeant Edgar Broome. According to the visibly upset Carlton, Don Dixon and his fellow scientists had conducted strange and horrifying experiments on Edgar Broome, until he finally managed to escape from these cruel procedures. He had not been seen for several weeks, and she begged Cannon and Ashford to not turn in Broome if they found him, but to notify Ms. Carlton instead by leaving a note in the Wortley Hotel, one of the two hotels in Lincoln. She was even shedding tears of desperation as Lotus Ashford told her to return to the observatory before nightfall. She left the two amigos with a slow wave before riding up to the plateau. A strange encounter in a set of strange circumstances. Frank Cannon leaned over to Lotus Ashford and muttered "I do not believe that broad a single bit."
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