1st - 5th September 1933, Arrival in New York,
At last, September arrived and the investigators reported to the expeditions headquarters, the Amherst Hotel in Manhattan. On arrival, they were allocated quarters in the hotel and received a note each, requesting their attendance at the berth of the expedition ship, the SS Gabrielle. They hailed cabs and made their way to the docks, to be met by a scene of chaotic activity. The dockside, warehouse and ship were full of crates and barrels, with stevedores piling more on all the time. In the middle of the mess hall stood Moore, who greeted the investigators, asked them to attend a briefing at eight the following morning and sent them to see Sykes, one of the expeditions polar experts. The rest of the day was spent being measured, outfitted and medically examined.The following morning, they gathered with the rest of the crew in the Rose Room, where they were enthusiastically greeted by Starkweather. He explained that the expedition would sail on the 14th September, heading through the Panama canal to Melbourne and then on to the Ross ice shelf, aiming to arrive on 1st November, ice permitting. The expedition will use planes to set up three camps: one will act as a base camp on the Ross sea shore, one will be erected near the site of Percival Lake's last discoveries and the third on the high plateau. Once Starkweather had finished, Professor Moore handed out duties to each crew member. Each investigator was handed part of the cargo manifest for the expedition and requested to check that it had been delivered accurately, and that it was correctly stowed on the ship.
As the meeting broke up, Moore took Sorrell aside and requested that he undertake a private mission for him. He explained that Commander Douglas, the master of the Arkham from the earlier Miskatonic University expedition, was to join the expedition on the sixth and asked that Sorrell make himself available to the Commander at the Westbury Hotel and to help him as required. Sorrell readily agreed.
The next few days were a whirlwind of frenetic activity, as the investigators checked cargo manifests against invoices and receipts, and checked the physical presence of the items on the ship. Some items were missing, most seriously the lumber for the base camp, some were misplaced (sour cream in an unrefrigerated area, and so forth) and some had never been ordered. Professor Caine went to Trenton to check that the planes were being correctly prepared and Zacariah became a licensed explosive handler in order to collect the expeditions explosives and two important discoveries were made: it appeared that the fuses for the explosive had been stolen (as Steve the security guard remembered them being delivered, yet they were nowhere to be seen) and two harmonicas had also been taken (much to the quartermasters delight, as a music lover).
Meanwhile, press attention to the expedition intensified. On the third, reports linking Douglas to the expedition surfaced, much to Moore's delight. On the fourth, reports in the press were focused on a new expedition, announced by Alicia Lexington, with a plan to fly to the south pole. Later that day, Professor Caine overheard a heated exchange between Starkweather and Moore, with Starkweather furious at Lexington's behaviour. He appeared to see her announcement as a deliberate attempt to sabotage him and was incandescent with fury. The last words Caine overheard from Starkweather were a simple instruction to Moore - "Get me a woman". More worryingly, Starkweather, in his fury, also decided to leave New York earlier than expected, on the ninth. Later on the same day, it was reported in the press that Miss Charlene Whitston, a botanist, was to join the expedition. The day of the fifth passed in relative peace, although Professor Caine was concerned by a strange letter, hand delivered, warning the expedition not to go south. He offered the delivery man a sizable sum of money to find the man who asked him to deliver it.
6th September 1933, The Death of a Sea Captain
The morning of the sixth dawned, with news of a terrible tragedy - Commander Douglas was dead, drowned and with his head bludgeoned in. As the investigators made their way to the wharf and then the hotel, they swiftly realized that this had triggered a press feeding frenzy, with Starkweather and Moore besieged in their rooms. As they watched the pack of pressmen, Professor Caine and Jack Sorrell were approached by Detective J.J. Hansen, who asked them if they knew were Douglas had been staying. Sorrell told him of the Westbury and Hansen thanked him gratefully.The work at the docks paused as the news sank in. The investigators spent the rest of the day investigating, with Zacariah heading to Miskatonic to interview survivors of the MU expedition and collect a copy of the summary report of the findings. Meanwhile, Professor Caine and Ivanoff headed to Douglas last known address, where the professor distracted the police guard on the room while Ivanoff got slightly drunk with the hotel porter/owner and bribed him for a look at the room. With the help of Professor Caine's ability to read English, they soon found that the Commanders journals for the MU trip were missing and that he had been to a seaman's bar, the Purple Cup. Ivanoff investigated the second lead, while the others tried to find a way of retrieving the journals. That evening, Malcolm found another note, warning them off the expedition, this time far more threatening. The rest of the evening passed peacefully, with a visit to the Purple Cup and Caine commencing the task of reading the summary report, which dry, dusty and meticulous approach suited him.
The morning of the sixth dawned, with news of a terrible tragedy The next couple of days passed in frenzied activity and some investigation. Malcolm tried to get hold of Alicia Lexington to no avail and the investigators attended Douglas funeral on the morning of the 8th. At the funeral, they met Douglas brother, Philip, who was able to tell them who told them that the MU trip had left his brother with severe mental scars and that he had no idea where the missing journals were.
9th-11th September 1933, Departure
The evening of departure dawned (only in reverse) and the investigators headed to the docks to finish final reparations. As they did so, there was a call of fire and they looked around (or, in Malcolm's case, ambled up on deck and in Caine's case, carried on reading the report in the hotel). As Malcolm manned the pumps to douse the fuel oil stored on deck, Sorrell and Ivanoff ventured into the blaze to rescue a dockhand and noticed a furtive figure with a jerry can and a big banner saying arsonist at the far end of the warehouse. They moved round to him and were able to apprehend him after a brief struggle, by the simple expedient of Ivanoff sitting on him while Sorrell bludgeoned him unconscious. The criminal was turned over to the police.Once the fire was out, the Gabrielle was towed to a new birth and the damage assessed. Fortunately, only minimal damage had been done and the departure date was not affected. Sorrell and Ivanoff found that they had acquired many friends among the crew for their swift and dangerous actions in the rescue - they also found that they had becvome media heroes as a result of the arsonists capture, a small time criminal by the name of Jerry Polk. Malcolm meanwhile, had acquired the dubious friendship of Starkweather.
Finally, two days late, the ship was ready to sail.