The team climbed aboard the Cygnus and made their way to South Africa. The new engines performed flawlessly, and the plane was able to make the trip with only one brief stop for supplies. The group headed to Johannesburg in search of Doctor Robert Broom, hoping to learn what he knew of the mysterious “Yanyoga”. They landed in Johannesburg and secured rooms in the Golden City Hotel. Using his university credentials, Archie found out that Dr. Broom was out at a dig site in the Sterkfontein caves north of the city.

The group piled into a taxi and headed out to the site. They met Dr. Broom as he was directing students inside the caves. The Scotsman was busy organizing his workers, but took time out to speak with Archie, recognizing his name from a pamphlet he read once. The group asked him about Yanyoga, and he proceeded to warn them not to go there. He described it as a “pile of rocks” filled with all sorts of venomous snakes, and worse, the entrance was blocked by a camp of slavers who sell people to central African warlords.

Doctor Broom also explained that the ruins of Yanyoga were an ancient city, at least 10,000 years old, located inside a cavern of a geologic feature known as the Skedelberg, or Skull Mountain. He provided the team with a photograph:

He reiterated his warnings, especially if they were taking “the lasses” with them. Malcolm and Archie both assured him that the women would be fine and could hold their own, though Archie did tend to agree with him about it maybe being too dangerous for Eleanor. Doctor Broom marked the location of the cavern on a map and sent the group on their way.

The team returned to Johannesburg and secured several doses of anti-venom based on Doctor Broom’s warning. They spent the night at their hotel, and in the morning Malcolm used his military contacts to borrow a truck from the British air corp. They drove out to the site, about two hours from Johannesburg, in the deeply forested rolling hills to the west, and managed to locate the dirt track off the road that led to the entrance – and to the slaver camp.

Penelope and Malcolm reconnoitered the camp while the others remained with the truck, hidden partially off the road. The two discovered that the slavers had a large camp surrounded by a makeshift fence of salvaged metal and wire. Three guard towers had been built to look over the wall, with only a single gate leading inside. The camp was made up of huts and shacks built from scrap, with most of the structures just welded together corrugated steel or badly constructed wood. They noticed iron cages in the center of the camp near what was presumably a mess tent – they saw a few individuals in the cages, “product” ready for sale. On the far side of the camp was another gate leading into the hillside where the entrance to the Skedelberg awaited.

They counted about two dozen slavers along with three individuals who seemed to be leaders. The first was a tall man with slicked back blonde hair and a large overbite. The second was a lanky dark-haired man with a pencil mustache. The third was a large mountain of a man, bald and scarred. All of the men were armed, most with rifles or shotguns, some with pistols, but every man had at least one firearm. Penelope and Malcolm also witnessed an altercation between the leaders, and saw the big man enter his shack with another man, clearly for an intimate encounter.

The scout team returned to the truck and informed the others of the situation. Iris suggested waiting until night to see if they patrolled the forest. The whole team made their way to the camp under the cover of darkness. Archie, amazingly, moved as swift and silent as a shadow, seemingly appearing and disappearing behind trees like a ninja. They reached the hillside near the camp and watched as four guards patrolled inside the fence with torches while each of the three guard towers also were manned.

The team made their plan – they would sneak up to the fence and try to cut their way in, move along the side toward the rear gate, and make their way past the guards in the night…and then into the darkened caverns of Yanyoga!