The Strange Encounter
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The Strange Encounter (L'Étrange Rendez-Vous) |
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| Date | 2001 |
| Series | Blake and Mortimer |
| Creative team | |
| Writers | Jean Van Hamme |
| Artists | Ted Benoit |
| Original publication | |
| Language | French |
| Translation | |
| Publisher | Cinebook Ltd |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Translator | Jerome Saincantin |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Voronov Plot |
| Followed by | The Sarcophagi of the Sixth Continent, Volume 1: The Universal Threat |
The Strange Encounter (L'Étrange Rendez-Vous in the original French) is the fifteenth book in the Blake and Mortimer series created by Edgar P. Jacobs. Published in 2001, it was written by Jean Van Hamme and drawn by Ted Benoit who had already contributed to the series with The Francis Blake Affair in 1996. Whereas that book dealt with espionage, this story combines elements of detective and science fiction of the sort present in Jacobs' original stories.
Late one night in 1954, a Colorado farmer sees three strange coloured beams of light appearing from the sky. When he goes to investigate the lights have disappeared and left behind the body of a man dressed in the uniform of a British Redcoat. The body is taken to SUFOS (Section of UFO Studies) run by Dr Walt Kaufman which investigates such strange phenomena. Kaufman's research indicates that it is the body of Scottish Major Lachlan Macquarrie who disappeared under strange circumstances after the British defeat at the Battles of Saratoga in 1777.
Following the battle, Macquarrie and his men were cut off from the rest of the British forces. According to drummer boy Dermot Pitt, Macquarrie vanished late at night while investigating the sudden appearance of beams of light coming from out of the sky. Pitt's story was rejected and Macquarrie was found guilty in absentia of desertion and dishonourably discharged from the army.
Kaufmann contacts Professor Philip Mortimer who happens to be a descendant of Lachlan Macquarrie, the family's black sheep. Mortimer goes to America accompanied by his old friend Captain Francis Blake, the head of Britain's MI5, who is on his way for a "routine meeting" with some American colleagues. On his way to Washington by coach, Blake is attacked by some strange men but gets away.
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