Fortunately Rodan's Eye of Restoring Life, although running low on charges, brings Dickie Dee back to the living. Thibodeaux is considered inconsequential and left dead.
The party enters the portal into the flying saucer and finds themselves in a disorienting, abstract state of pseudo-reality. They explore the non-euclidean space and eventually come across a large white featureless sphere that begins telepathically requesting "authorization from unregistered elements."
Dickie Dee begins babbling nonsense in Computer at it before Buzz puts his magic two-handed sword through it. Brutal combat erupts as some attack with weapons while others blink to a seemingly safe distance. The Sage Xarnagan Vrokk is consumed with the lust for knowledge and dashes through an unexplored portal during the battle.
The white dissolves into nothingness under the assault but detonates a small silver sphere...another calcium bomb. Buzz Brazelhach and Thragg the Sky-Man lie dead in the aftermath of the explosion and seventeen more calcium bombs lie on the "floor."
Dickie Dee collects the calcium bombs while Rodan the Scrounger reanimates Buzz. Thragg is judged unworthy or resurrection. Xarnagan is unnerved by his explorations and returns to the party. The adventurers decide to leave the saucer and make their way back to Agog city.
Thobodeaux is buried beneath the Purple Grasses by his brother Jedediah while Thragg's body is traded to the Vault Guild in exchange for several tallow candles. The party relaxes for several days in Agog City while discussing their next venture. The party is joined by a strange Hyperborean Sorcerer, Jek-Mor, who is seeking news of his brother Kal-Mor. The party explains how the Hyperborean assassin died and the quirky spellcaster joins the party. Dickie Dee examines the Calcium Boms and determines that they teleport to their destination before detonating and that he can operate them by instructing them in Computer.
Buzz has heard tales of the Scarlet Lady and her voracious sexual appetites and the party packs their mounts and makes their way to the Fortress Scarlet.
At the gate to Fortress Scarlet they are interrogated by a pair of well-manicured, pretty-boy fighting-men who are wearing fancy armor and makeup. They are suspicious of the party and tell them that they have to wait until next morning before they will be allowed to pass through the fortress. Dickie Dee casts Charm Person on one of the guards and he immediately offers to let the party sleep in a stable. Except for Mookla, reeking Mutant of the Slime Lands who is told to sleep in the Rust Desert.
The party is led by Dickie Dee's new best friend to a clean stable. The guard leaves and returns with some meager food and water, with sumptuous fare and delicious liquor for the Bone Man Sorcerer. He warns to party to stay in the stable and takes his leave.
As the party begins settling in and bedding down, Buzz Brazelhach feels the familiar stirring in his loins and sneaks out of the stable to explore. The Earth Man youth Corporal Radar O'Reiley sees his new father figure leaving and follows at a discrete distance.
As Buzz is sneaking through passages of red stone, cunningly avoiding the guards, he spots Radar and beckons the youth to join him. They come to a door of red metal and after listening at it and hearing nothing but a gentle burbling of water they cautiously open it.
Inside is a luxurious bath-chamber with several pools of different kinds of perfumed and heated water as well as a rack of expensive liquors. The two Earth Men hoot and holler in joy before stripping down and plunging into the baths. Buzz jumps into a tub of hot, swirling water while Radar dives into a pool of scented bubbles.
As the two begin vigourously scrubbing the adventuring filth off of their bodies they hear a husky female voice exclaim "Who is this in my bathing chamber?"
They look up and see a tall, stunning female, completely nude and Scarlet everywhere aside for her black pupils, standing in a doorway. Radar blushes and begins trying to sneak to his clothing while Buzz saunters up and says "Do not worry my lady, I am no threat...unless you'd like it that way"
Dripping soapy suds, Radar the Earth Boy grabs his clothing and dashes out the door he entered. As the embarrassed, naive youth dressed himself he hears moans of passion emanating from the bath chamber while he feels a strange stirring in his heart. He realizes that in the brief seconds he saw her that he has fallen in love with the Scarlet Lady...
Confused and dejected, he returns to the stables and tries to sleep.
Several hours later Buzz Brazelhach returns, whistling and capering with a huge grin on his face. He begins enthusiastically regaling the party with the details of his latest erotic adventure and showing off a ring of red metal in the form of a nude female that the Scarlet Lady gave him as a token.
Radar makes several disapproving comments beofe the party retires for the night. Buzz continues talking about his amorous adventure to Radar, who's bedroll is lying next to his. Radar begins to feel sick and takes his leave of the stable, seeking freah air.
He wanders the corridors of red stone, avoiding the fancy-boy guards, and finds a staircase leading upwards. He ascends a considerable distance before coming to a door the leads to a balcony. It features a screen of arabesque stone with a splendid view of the Red Sands, several red-blossomed plants, and a stand with several bottles of liquor and a bowl of red candies.
The Earth Boy takes in the view while enjoying the fresh air. Having a sweet tooth he takes a handful of the sticky, red candies and begins eating the sweets which leave red stains on his hands and mouth.
From behind he hears a masculine voice "Who dares to eat our mistresses' candies!"
Turning around he see two of the fancy, well-manicured guards. A cactoid with his body smoothly trimmed of spines in fancy golden half-plate and a Vlesh Man in opalescent green scale mail.
Radar stammers denials, but he is caught "red handed." The guards sheath their weapons and begins pouding their fists together while discussing how they are going to teach this boy a lesson.
With a quavering voice Radar declare that he will fistfight the guards, but only one of them and if he wins he gets to walk away. The guards laugh at him but agree to fight him one at a time.
The guards are unaware that Radar is a semi-seasoned adventurer and Radar manages to make short work of the first guard. However the Cactoid guard is much tougher than his Vlesh companion and Radar bloodies his knuckles in a long, drawn out brawl before an opening presents itself. Radar grabs his opponent and pile-drives his head into the red stone floor before falling to his knees, crying and punching the unconcious Cactoid repeatedly in the face.
He is startled by a husky female voice, "Who is this who has defeated my guards?"
Before he knows it, Radar the Earth Man virgin finds himself in an amorous embrace with the Scarlet Lady. She is slow and gentle with the inexperienced youth and afterwards offers him a drink of liquor. Radar declines and asks for more candy.
"You can eat my candy...anytime" she replies.
Next she produces a red metal ring in the form of a nude human female and explains that it serves as a token that the wearer has her favor. Radar stammers how he though she was going to ask him to marry her.
She mutters an incantation and Radar finds himself completely trusting the Scarlet Lady. She begins interrogating Radar about his adventures and he finds himself telling her everything about his experiences on Planet Algol. Who. What. When. Where. Why. How. Everything. He holds nothing back and tells her everything he knows. (Buzz experienced a similar interrogation and he too told her everything.)
Afterwards she takes her leave and the confused and lovestruck Radar dresses himself and returns to the stables and goes to sleep.
The next morning Dickie Dee's new best friend, the fancy guard with the manicured eyebrows, returns with breakfast and leads the party to the passage through Fortress Scarlet that leads to the canyon down to the Red Sands wher they rejoin Mookla the Mutant.
They ride their orniths down the canyon trail. Buzz begins talking about how he can't wait to return to Fortress Scarlet and see the Scarlet Lady again.
Radar naively replies "You may find that her attitude has changed in the meantime Buzz." The innocent youth believes that she has fallen in love with him and they are destined to be married. The Earth Boy finds himself greatly conflicted as Buzz had become a father figure to him but is now a romantic rival.
A black pudding with a small white sphere bearing a small blinking red light emerges from the rocks ahead. There is a brutal combat in which several Ornith's are dissolved and Buzz and Radar are seriously burned by acid before it is defeated.
The small white sphere has been crushed in the battle and the red light no longer blinks. It's broken shells exposed Orichalcum wiring and Dickie Dee takes it into his possession for later examination.
The party continues down the canyon, making for Adomaz.
