The Ghosts of Inverloch
Encyclopedia
The Ghosts of Inverloch is volume eleven in the French
comic book
(or bande dessinée
) science fiction
series Valérian and Laureline created by writer Pierre Christin
and artist Jean-Claude Mézières
.
castle? For what reason is agent Valérian preparing dessert on the watery planet Glapum't? And what brings Mr Albert to London with a bag with a false bottom while the Shingouz try to trade information with Colonel Tloc?
The Ghosts of Inverloch (and its continuation, The Rage of Hypsis
) constitutes one of the strangest albums of the Valérian series. It is here, indeed, thanks to a compelling space-time paradox, that the world of today will be able to survive beyond 1986, the date of its true destruction!
The planet Glapum't: Valerian has been hunting one of the native Glapum'tiens for some time but with little success. Finally, using some drugged food he captures his prey. Securing his prize on board the astroship and preparing for a spatio-temporal jump, he is concerned that he is unable to get a signal from Galaxity.
London, England, 1986: Mr Albert, Galaxity's contact on 20th century Earth, checks out of his hotel room and makes his way on foot to King's Cross where he just makes it in time to catch the train to Scotland. He is carrying important confidential papers for a meeting.
The planet Rubanis: Colonel Tloc, the chief of police meets with three Shingouz. He rebuffs their various offers of information until they deliver some shocking news to him – a scanograph that shows that he is infected with the deadly Scunindar virus. They offer him the location of a possible cure in return for details of the threat faced by Earth. Tloc tells them that the threat comes from the planet Hypsis. He gives them the present location of their planet, a mysterious place that regularly changes its location.
West Virginia, USA, 1986: Lord Seal meets in secret with several representatives of the United States Intelligence Community
. The agencies are concerned because a large number of high level members of the defence community have suffered severe mental breakdowns including a general who blew up his missile silos and a submarine
commander who sank his own ship. The situation is so bad that the country's ability to defend itself using its nuclear capability is under threat. Intelligence information suggests that something similar is occurring in the USSR. Lord Seal informs them that this matches information that he has been given by the UK Intelligence Services. The only connection that exists between all the victims were affected by strange devices disguised as cheap ornaments such as a model Pershing missile
and a Snoopy
toy. One of the attendees at the meeting, Gene Rowlands, falls ill during the conversation. A search of his things reveals a cheap calculator
that when switched on emits a strange light. The meeting ends and Lord Seal indicates that he has every thing he needs for this evening's meeting. He is driven to a military airport and flies away in a jet fighter.
Galaxity, capital of the Terran Galactic Empire, the 28th century: the Chief of the Spatio-Temporal Service sits alone in his office. All around him, the buildings of the city are disappearing into a strange mist. There are no other people to be seen anywhere. The Chief walks to a spatio-temporal relay and steps inside.
Back at Inverloch Castle, Laureline and Lady Seal are watching the sun set over the castle lawn when a small spacecraft makes a crash landing onto the grass. Stepping out to investigate, the ship opens to reveal the three Shingouz. As Laureline leads them into the castle the ship's auto-destruct mechanism activates and destroys the ship. Shortly afterwards, a jet fighter overflies the castle and one of its occupants, Lord Seal, parachutes from the plane onto the castle lawn. Before joining the others in the castle, Lord Seal checks that the gardeners have cleared the greenhouse as per his instructions. Night has now fallen and with it a dense mist. Lord Seal's Rolls arrives carrying Mr Albert. Now the only person left to arrive is Valérian who has gotten lost in the fog. Receiving directions from some gentlemen in a local pub, he reaches the castle and parks the astroship in the greenhouse where the gardeners camouflage it under tarpaulin and palm trees.
With all parties having now arrived at the castle, Lady Seal calls the group to attention. She reveals that the castle is haunted and that she has received notification that the Ghost of Inverloch will be arriving to join them this evening. They are interrupted by the Glapumt'ien, who wishes to be called Ralph, who had been forgotten by Valérian. Leading her guests to a ruined wing of the castle, she explains that the ghost has appeared many times to members of her family over the centuries and is responsible for the good fortune that has followed them through the generations. Reaching a deserted room among the ruins, Valérian and Laureline are astonished to discover a spatio-temporal relay. They are further shocked when the relay activates and the “Ghost of Inverloch” reveals himself to be the Chief of the Spatio-Temporal Service. The Chief tells them that he has brought them together to investigate the catastrophe of 1986, first seen in The City of Shifting Waters, in which a nuclear accident at the North Pole caused the polar icecaps to melt engulfing most of the civilized world under water. He warns them that if they fail to succeed, then Galaxity will disappear and they will all be reduced to mere ghosts.
Continues in The Rage of Hypsis...
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
(or bande dessinée
Franco-Belgian comics
Franco-Belgian comics are comics that are created in Belgium and France. These countries have a long tradition in comics and comic books, where they are known as BDs, an abbreviation of bande dessinée in French and stripverhalen in Dutch...
) science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series Valérian and Laureline created by writer Pierre Christin
Pierre Christin
- Biography :Christin was born at Saint-Mandé in 1938.After graduating from the Sorbonne, Christin pursued graduate studies in political science at SciencesPo and became a professor of French literature at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. His first comics story, Le Rhum du Punch, illustrated...
and artist Jean-Claude Mézières
Jean-Claude Mézières
Jean-Claude Mézières is a French comic strip artist and illustrator. Born and raised in Paris, he was introduced to drawing by his older brother and influenced by comics artists such as Hergé, Andre Franquin and Morris and later by Jijé and Jack Davis...
.
Outline
What makes a heroine of science-fiction like Laureline go riding in a ScottishScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
castle? For what reason is agent Valérian preparing dessert on the watery planet Glapum't? And what brings Mr Albert to London with a bag with a false bottom while the Shingouz try to trade information with Colonel Tloc?
The Ghosts of Inverloch (and its continuation, The Rage of Hypsis
The Rage of Hypsis
The Rage of Hypsis is volume twelve in the French comic book science fiction series Valérian and Laureline created by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières.-Outline:...
) constitutes one of the strangest albums of the Valérian series. It is here, indeed, thanks to a compelling space-time paradox, that the world of today will be able to survive beyond 1986, the date of its true destruction!
Synopsis
Inverloch Castle, Northern Scotland, 1986: Laureline, a guest at the castle, goes on her morning ride across Kenchmoor with her host, Lady Seal. Laureline is anxious: she has been at the castle for some days and has received no further details of what her mission here is.The planet Glapum't: Valerian has been hunting one of the native Glapum'tiens for some time but with little success. Finally, using some drugged food he captures his prey. Securing his prize on board the astroship and preparing for a spatio-temporal jump, he is concerned that he is unable to get a signal from Galaxity.
London, England, 1986: Mr Albert, Galaxity's contact on 20th century Earth, checks out of his hotel room and makes his way on foot to King's Cross where he just makes it in time to catch the train to Scotland. He is carrying important confidential papers for a meeting.
The planet Rubanis: Colonel Tloc, the chief of police meets with three Shingouz. He rebuffs their various offers of information until they deliver some shocking news to him – a scanograph that shows that he is infected with the deadly Scunindar virus. They offer him the location of a possible cure in return for details of the threat faced by Earth. Tloc tells them that the threat comes from the planet Hypsis. He gives them the present location of their planet, a mysterious place that regularly changes its location.
West Virginia, USA, 1986: Lord Seal meets in secret with several representatives of the United States Intelligence Community
United States Intelligence Community
The United States Intelligence Community is a cooperative federation of 16 separate United States government agencies that work separately and together to conduct intelligence activities considered necessary for the conduct of foreign relations and the protection of the national security of the...
. The agencies are concerned because a large number of high level members of the defence community have suffered severe mental breakdowns including a general who blew up his missile silos and a submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
commander who sank his own ship. The situation is so bad that the country's ability to defend itself using its nuclear capability is under threat. Intelligence information suggests that something similar is occurring in the USSR. Lord Seal informs them that this matches information that he has been given by the UK Intelligence Services. The only connection that exists between all the victims were affected by strange devices disguised as cheap ornaments such as a model Pershing missile
Pershing missile
Pershing was a family of solid-fueled two-stage medium-range ballistic missiles designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the PGM-11 Redstone missile as the United States Army's primary nuclear-capable theater-level weapon. The Pershing systems lasted over 30 years from the first test...
and a Snoopy
Snoopy
Snoopy is an fictional character in the long-running comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. He is Charlie Brown's pet beagle. Snoopy began his life in the strip as a fairly conventional dog, but eventually evolved into perhaps the strip's most dynamic character—and among the most recognizable...
toy. One of the attendees at the meeting, Gene Rowlands, falls ill during the conversation. A search of his things reveals a cheap calculator
Calculator
An electronic calculator is a small, portable, usually inexpensive electronic device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Modern calculators are more portable than most computers, though most PDAs are comparable in size to handheld calculators.The first solid-state electronic...
that when switched on emits a strange light. The meeting ends and Lord Seal indicates that he has every thing he needs for this evening's meeting. He is driven to a military airport and flies away in a jet fighter.
Galaxity, capital of the Terran Galactic Empire, the 28th century: the Chief of the Spatio-Temporal Service sits alone in his office. All around him, the buildings of the city are disappearing into a strange mist. There are no other people to be seen anywhere. The Chief walks to a spatio-temporal relay and steps inside.
Back at Inverloch Castle, Laureline and Lady Seal are watching the sun set over the castle lawn when a small spacecraft makes a crash landing onto the grass. Stepping out to investigate, the ship opens to reveal the three Shingouz. As Laureline leads them into the castle the ship's auto-destruct mechanism activates and destroys the ship. Shortly afterwards, a jet fighter overflies the castle and one of its occupants, Lord Seal, parachutes from the plane onto the castle lawn. Before joining the others in the castle, Lord Seal checks that the gardeners have cleared the greenhouse as per his instructions. Night has now fallen and with it a dense mist. Lord Seal's Rolls arrives carrying Mr Albert. Now the only person left to arrive is Valérian who has gotten lost in the fog. Receiving directions from some gentlemen in a local pub, he reaches the castle and parks the astroship in the greenhouse where the gardeners camouflage it under tarpaulin and palm trees.
With all parties having now arrived at the castle, Lady Seal calls the group to attention. She reveals that the castle is haunted and that she has received notification that the Ghost of Inverloch will be arriving to join them this evening. They are interrupted by the Glapumt'ien, who wishes to be called Ralph, who had been forgotten by Valérian. Leading her guests to a ruined wing of the castle, she explains that the ghost has appeared many times to members of her family over the centuries and is responsible for the good fortune that has followed them through the generations. Reaching a deserted room among the ruins, Valérian and Laureline are astonished to discover a spatio-temporal relay. They are further shocked when the relay activates and the “Ghost of Inverloch” reveals himself to be the Chief of the Spatio-Temporal Service. The Chief tells them that he has brought them together to investigate the catastrophe of 1986, first seen in The City of Shifting Waters, in which a nuclear accident at the North Pole caused the polar icecaps to melt engulfing most of the civilized world under water. He warns them that if they fail to succeed, then Galaxity will disappear and they will all be reduced to mere ghosts.
Continues in The Rage of Hypsis...
The Rage of Hypsis
The Rage of Hypsis is volume twelve in the French comic book science fiction series Valérian and Laureline created by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières.-Outline:...
Principal characters
- Valérian, a spatio-temporal agent from Galaxity, future capital of Earth, in the 28th century
- Laureline, originally from France in the 11th century, now a spatio-temporal agent of Galaxity in the 28th century
- Mr Albert, Galaxity's contact in 20th century Earth
- Lord Basil Seal, former SpitfireSupermarine SpitfireThe Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
pilot and chair of the UK Joint Intelligence CommitteeUK Joint Intelligence CommitteeThe Joint Intelligence Committee is the part of the British Cabinet Office responsible for directing the national intelligence organisations of the United Kingdom on behalf of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and providing advice to the Cabinet related to security, defence and foreign affairs... - Lady Charlotte Seal (née MacCullough), wife of Lord Seal and heir to the Clan MacCullough, owners of Inverloch Castle
- James, butlerButlerA butler is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some also have charge of the entire parlour floor, and housekeepers caring for the entire house and its...
to Lord and Lady Seal at Inverloch Castle - Ralph, a Glapum'tien, an aquatic species of brilliant mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
s capable of instantaneously calculating the trajectoryTrajectoryA trajectory is the path that a moving object follows through space as a function of time. The object might be a projectile or a satellite, for example. It thus includes the meaning of orbit—the path of a planet, an asteroid or a comet as it travels around a central mass...
of any object. - The ShingouzShingouzThe Shingouz are a fictional, alien species created by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières in the French comic book series Valérian and Laureline.-Biology and culture:...
, a group of three aliens who trade in information - Colonel Tloc, chief of police on the planet Rubanis
- Priscilla Hewlett-Byrnes and Gladys, two old ladies Albert meets on the train to Scotland.
- Jack, an agent of the United States Secret ServiceUnited States Secret ServiceThe United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
- Gene Rowlands, agent of the CIA
- Frankie Sawyer, of the Defense Intelligence AgencyDefense Intelligence AgencyThe Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
- The Chief of the Spatio-Temporal Service
Settings
- EarthEarthEarth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
, 1986, shortly before the nuclear explosion at the North PoleNorth PoleThe North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface...
that causes the icecaps to melt:- The fictional Inverloch Castle, ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and its accompanying village with its pub, the Inverloch Arms, are located in the Scottish HighlandsScottish HighlandsThe Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
not far from InvernessInvernessInverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
. Other nearby (also fictional) villages are Galasnock and Kirkcalwell. Close by is Kenchmoor where Lady Seal enjoys riding her horses. - LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, EnglandEnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. A strike by British AirwaysBritish AirwaysBritish Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...
forces Albert to travel overland to Inverloch Castle. He stays the night in London at the Gainsborough Hotel before travelling to Scotland from King's Cross station on the Flying ScotsmanFlying Scotsman (train)The Flying Scotsman is an express passenger train service that has been running between London and Edinburgh—the capitals of England and Scotland respectively—since 1862...
. - A house used for secret conferences by the US intelligence agencies during the Korean WarKorean WarThe Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
located in West VirginiaWest VirginiaWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
in the Appalachian MountainsAppalachian MountainsThe Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
- The fictional Inverloch Castle, Scotland
- The planet Glapum't. A blue, aquatic world populated by the reclusive, but highly intelligent, Glapum'tiens who live inside spherical nests feeding off whatever morsels drift past. Most Glapum'tiens enjoy nothing more than standing watching the stars for nights on end.
- The planet Rubanis, last seen in Métro Châtelet, Direction CassiopeiaMétro Châtelet, Direction CassiopeiaMétro Châtelet, Direction Cassiopeia is volume nine in the French comic book science fiction series Valérian and Laureline created by writer Pierre Christin and artist Jean-Claude Mézières.-Outline:...
, with its never ending traffic congestionTraffic congestionTraffic congestion is a condition on road networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. The most common example is the physical use of roads by vehicles. When traffic demand is great enough that the interaction...
. Its chief of police is Colonel Tloc. The populace live in fear of the medical department, the robot thanatologistsThanatologyThanatology is the scientific study of death. It investigates the mechanisms and forensic aspects of death, such as bodily changes that accompany death and the post-mortem period, as well as wider social aspects related to death. It is primarily an interdisciplinary study offered as a course of...
, who instantly kill anyone who catches a disease like the Scundindar virus. - Galaxity, capital of the Terran Galactic Empire, Earth, 28th century. Galaxity and its population are slowly disappearing into the mists of time.