A Symphony in Blue

Chapter 2

“I’m very sorry, Adam. It shouldn’t have turned out this way.”

The young boy on the passenger seat gave a gloomy look at the tall blond man driving the Jeep. He then glanced over his shoulder toward the fishing equipment on the back seat. There was a single fish in the basket, the only one, caught by his father.

“S’all right, Dad,” the boy noted, trying to keep his voice as steady as he could. “It’s not your fault, really. At least, we had a couple of hours together at the lake.”

“I know you must be disappointed, son… After all, I promised you the whole day, just you and me.”

“Told you, it’s no big deal,” the child replied, shrugging his shoulders as if he couldn’t care less.

“That’s good. You’re being a big boy.”

The man took the phone from the dashboard and punched in numbers before putting it to his ear; he didn’t notice his son staring at the device with a look of dismay. If only Dad had left that home for the day, young Adam Svenson was thinking. No, he had to take it on that fishing trip… Had to keep in contact with his work…

“This is John Svenson,” Adam’s father said into the phone. “I’m almost home. I’ll drop my son there and go to the office after that…” He took a good look at himself, before adding with a grin, “…Just give me some time to change clothes. Unless you want your boss to smell like fish… Yes, that’s it. Get everything ready, then. See you later.”

He hung up, his son following his gesture with a look in which it was easy to read disappointment. Svenson shook his head.

“Again, I’m sorry, son. But this can’t be helped. This situation at the office requires my presence.”

“It couldn’t wait ‘til after the weekend?” the boy asked tentatively.

“No, it couldn’t. Immediate action has to be taken. Adam… I feel bad already as it is. Don’t be difficult about this.”

“I’m not, Dad. I was just curious.” Adam lowered his gaze.

“What will you do with the rest of the day?” his father asked him. “Go see Andy or the young Coltrane boy? Now, what’s his name…”

“Tommy. No, Dad. Andy’s gone with his folks for the rest of the week. And Tommy isn’t home either. He’s at football camp.”

“The rest of your friends?”

“It’s Sunday, Dad. They’ve all got other things to do.” Like I had too, Adam added to himself. With my father. He shrugged. “I guess I’ll catch up on my reading.”

Svenson smiled broadly. At nine, his son was able to read stuff that would deter even some adults he knew. He had caught him reading ‘Moby Dick’, the month before. Not an easy book to read, even for an adult.

“And what are you reading, these days?”

“James Bond.”

“Oh really?” Svenson frowned. “Isn’t that a little heavy for your age?”

“No, not really… I love it, you know. I’d give anything to live a life like that when I grow up. Excitement, adventures, secret missions…”

“…Chicks?”

Young Adam grumbled. “Maybe that I can do without…”

His father chuckled indulgently. “Over time, you’ll change your mind about girls. And sooner than you realize, I bet.”

“Whatever.” Adam hesitated a few seconds, before looking up at his father, worry in his clear blue eyes. “Dad, I was just thinking… You will be home next Saturday, right?”

Svenson glanced at the boy. He gave him a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, I didn’t forget. I promised you I’d be there.” He tousled the young boy’s blond hair with his right hand, in a teasing gesture. “I wouldn’t miss my son’s big game, now would I?”

“Stop that, Dad! I really hate it!” Nevertheless, Adam’s tone was a lot happier. At least, he was thinking, his father being there at the baseball game next week would more than make up for this disastrous fishing trip!

“You think your team will win, Adam?” John Svenson asked.

“I’m the best hitter they have, Dad!” Adam replied with a broad grin. “We’ll destroy the other guys!”

“That’s the spirit!” Svenson laughed. “Look in the glove compartment, son. There’s something in there for you.”

The curious little boy eagerly opened the compartment. Something made of black cloth fell into his lap; Adam immediately recognized what it was and picked it up, a satisfied smile widening on his tanned face. “A Red Sox cap! Thanks, Dad…” He noticed two small pieces of cardboard that were pinned inside and took them to get a closer look. “Tickets for the next game… against the Blue Jays!” Adam’s eyes widened. “Wow, Dad! That’s cool!”

“Just behind the Red Sox dugout, son. Happy?”

“Am I happy?” The ecstatic boy put the cap on. It was just a little too large for his head and the visor almost completely covered his eyes.

Svenson smiled. “Some adjustment is in order, it seems. Ask your mother to do it for you.”

“I will, Dad.”

“Isn’t ‘Blue Jays’ the name of your team, by the way?”

“Yeah, that’s it… That’s funny! We’ll go to the game together, right?”

“Sure we will.”

The Jeep pulled off the road into the driveway leading to the Svenson house, an old ancestral mansion that had been built some four or five generations earlier. Adam looked up front as the vehicle rolled quietly between the trees bordering the drive.

“Will you be home late, Dad?” he asked his father.

“I’ll be busy for the rest of the day, Adam. I have to prepare for an important trip to New York.”

“You’re leaving?”

“Just for a couple of days.”

Adam’s expression was one of total disappointment. His father looked curiously at him. “I’ve gone on business trips before. You should be accustomed to this by now. Why do you look so gloomy today?”

“I was just hoping… that you would throw a few balls with me. You know, I could use the practice before the big game next week-end.”

“Well, I can’t. And I’m about sure I won’t have a single minute for myself until next week-end.” Svenson cast a glance at his son. The boy was keeping silent, but it was obvious how he felt about this. His father had put work before his son too many times.

At the side of the driveway, Svenson saw a tall, bulky man, who was busy pruning a small tree. Seeing the Jeep passing by, the man waved at the driver and the young passenger, welcoming them back home. Adam didn’t seem to notice him.

“Why not ask Grover to play ball with you?” Svenson asked his son.

Adam frowned. What a singular idea! Grover was the resident gardener, newly hired by his father at the beginning of summer. “Why would I ask him?”

“Well, I talked with him the other day… He was watching you practising baseball with your friends and seemed very interested by it… And I learned he actually was a professional player in the Minor Leagues, some years ago.”

“Yeah, I know,” the boy grumbled with bad humour. “He was with the Trenton Thunder, the Red Sox double-A team. He keeps telling me that. Always wants to give me tips…”

“He could give you some pointers,” Svenson insisted.

“I don’t want to play ball with some gardener!” Adam protested. “I want to play ball with YOU!”

“I told you, Adam, it’s not possible…”

“Besides, I hate him.”

Svenson stared at his son, wondering about this obviously despicable statement, so unnatural coming from him. “Now, that’s new. Why do you hate Grover?”

Adam shrugged. “Don’t know,” he mumbled.

“There must be a reason, Adam,” his father insisted. “He seems nice to you…”

“I don’t know, Dad, it’s just a feeling I have… I know he’s trying to be nice, but…” Adam sighed heavily, unable to explain himself. He didn’t trust that Grover guy. It was creepy, how he was always butting in when he was playing with his friends. He didn’t like seeing him around his family, especially his mother and little brother Peter. He didn’t believe his affected niceness and the forced smile he displayed whenever he addressed him or his father. It was just too much…

“He looks neglected, and he always wears dirty clothes and… I just don’t like his face, that’s all,” the young boy finally told his father.

“That’s enough,” Svenson said sternly. “You can’t go on in life hating people just because you ‘don’t like their faces’. That’s not how decent people act, Adam. Life has been kind to us… We are privileged with riches some people like Grover can only dream of… but that doesn’t mean we’re better than them, or that we shouldn’t regard them as our equals.”

“Yes, Dad…” Adam lowered his gaze. That was the kind of speech he hated hearing from his father. He thought he must have heard it thousands of times. “You want me to be nice to him?”

“I suppose you weren’t?”

“Well… I just ignored him… Dad, I can’t pretend, you know that!”

“Make a little effort,” Svenson said sharply. “I’m disappointed in you, Adam. Granted, Grover has a neglected look. His clothes are worn out and dirty… but he’s a gardener. He works the soil for a living and he does it well. It’s normal that he should look that way. You’re lucky, son. YOU’ll never have to do those kind of jobs for a living.”

“No. I’m gonna be a test pilot.”

“Don’t change the subject.” Svenson sighed. The week before, Adam wanted to be a scuba diver. Next week, and judging from his current reading, he’d probably set his sights on a secret agent’s career. That was becoming quite annoying. “You should never judge a person by the way he looks or the work he does, Adam. You understand that?”

“Yes, Dad,” the boy murmured, looking down in shame.

“And I do want you to be nice to Grover from now on, right?”

“Okay, Dad. Whatever you want…”

“You’ll be a good kid. I know you will…”

* * *

“Would you mind telling me what’s wrong with you?”

It had been more than a half hour since Blue and Symphony had left the gas station. The young woman had been completely taken aback by the rude way her boyfriend had suddenly decided to take off, without even having something to eat, as they’d previously planned. Blue hadn’t said one single word ever since and was keeping his eyes on the road. Something was on his mind, that was for sure; something that was upsetting him greatly, and that he didn’t want to share with Symphony.

“What is it, Big Blue?” she insisted. “Why the silent treatment?”

When he didn’t answer, she sighed heavily.

“You did reach Paul in Las Vegas, didn’t you?”

He simply nodded.

“Did he say something to upset you?”

She didn’t think it would be that. Paul and Adam were the closest of friends, almost like brothers. Neither of them would never do or say anything to hurt the other, at least not intentionally. There were the occasional wisecracks, of course, but never anything really mean.

“What could he have said to upset me?” Blue muttered.

Well, at least he’s talking again, Symphony thought. “What is it then?” She sighed once more. “Did something happen in that bar?” She saw his right brow twitch. “Okay,” she said, nodding. “Something happened in the bar…”

“Nothing happened in there!” Blue snapped suddenly at her.

Symphony’s eyes widened in surprise. Yelling in anger was so unlike him. And she knew he wasn’t angry with her.

“Then what is it?” she asked again, more forcefully. “Adam, I think I know you fairly well. I’ve never seen you like this before! Not even with your father…“

Blue scowled. He and his father didn’t get along very well. It had really started when Blue had decided not to follow in the paternal footsteps, working as a successful financier, and instead chose to become a test pilot at the World Aeronautic Society. He disappointed and worried his father even more when he later accepted the job of a security agent at the WAS, and things got again more complicated when Blue announced, about three years ago, that he would join Spectrum. NOW he even had to relinquish his family name of Svenson. He’d had to adopt the colour-code name of Captain Blue, and no one outside of his immediate family was permitted to know his real identity. To John Svenson, that had been the last straw. He had barely spoken to his son for the better part of these past three years. And Blue was despairing of ever making peace with his father. These days, when they met, it was always brief, with heated words between them each and every time. Blue had about given up trying to convince his father that he had chosen his own path, and that he was happy with it.

“Don’t bring my father into this,” Blue muttered coldly.

“Well, what then?” Symphony asked again. “Are you angry with me? Have I done something wrong?”

“No!” Blue looked at her, and she saw the anguish in his features. “Don’t you ever say that, Karen… You know you could never do anything to make me angry with you.” He turned back up front and blew a deep sigh. “It’s not you… it’s me.”

“Adam, please, talk to me.” Symphony put a hand on his arm. She felt him tense under his sleeve. “If we are to get married…” She stopped suddenly and a glimmer of concern passed through her eyes. “That is… if you still want to get married.”

Blue violently pressed down the brake. The car came to an abrupt halt. He turned to the young woman, obviously shocked by what she had just said. He took her hand in his and looked longingly into her eyes.

“How can you ever doubt I’d changed my mind about that?” he asked her, his voice hoarse. “Karen, my feelings toward you haven’t changed. I promise you, nothing will ever prevent me marrying you.”

“Nothing?”

“I swear to you. I’m sorry if I caused you to doubt that.”

He hugged her and kissed her. She let herself be washed by his love.

“I want to believe you,” she answered, cuddling into his strong arms. “But I do so want to know what just happened to you back there.”

“That was nothing to concern yourself about,” Blue replied, his voice having returned to his normal, gentle self. “Anyway, it’s finished, now.”

He started up the car; Symphony could not help but notice that he was casting a nervous glance at the rear view mirror. She looked over her shoulder. Theirs was the only car on the road.

“You’re really sure it’s finished?” she asked him.

Blue looked at her. Nothing escaped her, it seemed. He nodded. “Sorry. Old habits die hard.” He paused a second, then sighed again. “Do you believe in ghosts, Karen?”

She scratched the back of her head, looking for a smart answer. “Let’s see… I live in the sky, in an aircraft the majority of people would think is an impossibility. I fight alien invaders from Mars, who destroy people and things so they can recreate them for their own use… and I work daily with a man who has died and come back to life numerous times… Do I believe in ghosts? Why not?”

Blue frowned. “Well, until about an hour ago, I didn’t believe in them. Then I just saw one in that bar.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Did you see that man who was looking at me when I got out of that joint?”

“A big guy, of about fifty, with brown hair, greying on the temples, and a beard?”

“You still have a good sense of observation, I see.”

“Years in training at the Secret Service can do that to a girl. Beside, he was hard to miss. Especially with that limp of his.”

Blue looked at Symphony, intrigued by the remark. “I didn’t even notice he was limping,” he said, shaking his head.

“Well, he was,” Symphony insisted. “You wouldn’t have noticed, because you were just too busy jumping into the car to get away from there…” She looked at Blue. “You were running away from that guy, weren’t you?”

“Yes, exactly. And if you ever encounter him again, you’d be wise to do like me and get the hell away from him.”

“That’s strange. I’ve never known you to be afraid of anything or anybody before. You didn’t seem to know the meaning of fear.”

Blue snorted. “That’s a misconception! I don’t know any of us in Spectrum who isn’t frightened by the Mysterons and the extent of their powers. I know I was scared as hell when I found out exactly what they’d done to Paul, to take him under their control.”

“But that man over there,” Symphony said softly, “It seems he frightens you even more. That’s the ghost you were talking about?”

“Yeah, sort of.” Blue shuddered. “He’s bad news, Karen. As bad as they come. To think I would run into him here, in the Nevada desert. God! What were the chances?”

“Who is he, Adam?”

“I told you: only a ghost. The ghost of a man I met twenty-five years ago.”

“Twenty-five…? But you were just a kid, back then!”

“I tell you, he made an indelible impression,” Blue mumbled. He shrugged the thought of that man away. At least, he tried. “Let’s not talk about him now. It brings back too many bad memories. And today isn’t a day for that.” He smiled. “I almost forgot: Paul checked out some of the chapels on the list I gave him. He said there are two which seem very nice… and that are available tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Symphony repeated. “What about tonight?”

“Oh boy! You’re in a hurry!”

“Adam, we don’t know when we might be recalled for duty. It could be tomorrow!”

“You’re right. Well, when we get to Vegas, we’ll see if one of those chapels can marry us, as soon as possible.” He looked at Symphony. “Are you satisfied with that?”

“I am if you are.”

“You know the answer to that. Now is there anything else you want?”

“Well,” Symphony grumbled, “I would like to eat something.”

“Eat…” Blue scowled. “Oh God, we didn’t get anything to eat back there, did we?”

“You should ask?” Symphony scoffed. “You were too busy pushing me back into the car to listen to my protests!”

“I’m sorry. I only thought of myself, I guess. You’re hungry?”

“Hungry? I’m famished, Adam!”

“What’s the next town?”

Symphony took the road map on the dashboard and unfolded it. She followed the road with her finger and found what Blue was asking for.

“Los Lobos,” she announced. “About one hundred miles from the station we’ve just left.”

“Nothing in between?”

“Nope. It seems I am condemned to die of starvation before we reach there.”

“Come on, we’ll be there in about a half-hour.”

“Are you crazy? You’re going to break the speed limit?”

“Hey! I drive faster than that when I’m in pursuit!”

“This car isn’t reinforced like an SPV, Big Blue.”

“But the road is smooth and straight. So why not have a little fun? And a rush of adrenalin?”

“You know, we could do that in a jet. We could go a lot faster and at least, at 40,000 feet there aren’t many telephone poles to collide with.”

“Coward,” Blue smiled mockingly.

Symphony shot him a murderous glance. “Nobody calls me a coward,” she replied curtly. “Burn some rubber, Svenson. Let’s see how fast this car really is.”

“Well, at least as long as it stays in one piece,” Blue quietly replied.

He shifted into gear and pushed down the pedal to the floor before Symphony could utter one single protest over his last remark.

* * *

Meanwhile, one of the causes of Captain Blue’s and Symphony Angel’s concerns about their impending wedding was working on some reports in the Control Room of Cloudbase. Since Spectrum had succeeded in thwarting the last Mysteron threat, things were keeping pretty quiet around the world and Colonel White was taking advantage of the opportunity to complete delayed paperwork with Lieutenant Green.

Somehow, White could not focus on his work. He’d read the same paragraph of the report spread in front of him four times now. Something was bothering him, but he could not quite put his finger on what it could be.

Frustrated by his lack of concentration, Colonel White threw his pen down on his circular desk and sighed. Resting his chin in his hands, he cast a distracted eye toward Lieutenant Green, still working at his station.

What was bothering him, anyway? Did he find that things had been too quiet for the last couple of days? He had been in this kind of business far too long not to know that such periods often preceded a violent storm of some sort. And since this whole business with the Mysterons had started off, about two years earlier, nothing had ever proved itself truer.

White certainly was feeling uneasy that his two best agents, Captains Scarlet and Blue, had gone on a prolonged furlough at the same time… But White had thought it best to let it be that way, so his best team would be on hand and still working perfectly when the time came for it. They had already worked around the clock too often these last months. White couldn’t very well ask them to continue that way much longer before seeing one of them breaking down at one point or another. In the case of Scarlet, Colonel White knew that the man, due to his particular condition, needed far less rest time than an ordinary man. But even he needed some time out, if not physically, then emotionally.

It was those thoughts of Scarlet and, by extension, of Blue, that were puzzling White. The colonel had been present that very morning when Scarlet had called Lieutenant Green to report that Destiny had just arrived in Los Angeles to join him and that they were going together to Las Vegas, where they intended taking their furlough. That call was standard procedure, of course… Even on vacations, Spectrum agents had to report their changes of location, and stay available in case of emergency calls. White generally tried his best not to disturb any vacationer, but, more often than not, it couldn’t be helped.

White was still looking Lieutenant Green’s way, still wondering what was bothering him so. “Tell me, Lieutenant,” he suddenly asked his aide, “has Captain Scarlet called since this morning to confirm his arrival in Las Vegas?”

Lieutenant Green looked over his computer screen and tapped some keys. Having found the information, he nodded. “He called at ten A.M., local time, sir. He and Destiny have taken two rooms at the St-Maurice Hotel.”

White nodded thoughtfully. “And Captain Blue must still be in Texas,” he said, more to himself than as if to ask a question.

Lieutenant Green’s answer had the effect of taking his superior aback. “No, sir. According to Captain Blue’s last report this morning, he and Symphony have decided to leave El Paso, to travel by car to Las Vegas, through the desert.”

“To Vegas?” a puzzled White repeated.

“Yes, Colonel. They left early this morning.” Green smiled. “They must be on their way to join Captain Scarlet and Destiny.”

“Must be, yes,” Colonel White mused. “I should imagine those four will have quite a time together in Las Vegas…”

“I should think too, sir.”

Green went back to his work and White picked up his pen. He tried to take up his reading where he had left it.

Without any success.

Lieutenant Green’s report had stirred up more puzzling questions. Blue and Symphony were going to Las Vegas through the desert? Now that was an odd decision to make. The road must be a long one…

“Why not charter a plane?” White thought out loud.

“Sir?”

Lieutenant Green raised his head to his superior. Colonel White was distractedly playing with his pen. “Captain Blue and Symphony are both pilots… Why not charter a plane to go to Vegas instead of travelling by car through the desert?”

“I don’t know, sir.” Lieutenant Green gave a perplexed gaze at his commander. “Maybe they wanted to do some sight-seeing.”

“Lieutenant, have you ever been to the American Southwest?”

“Er… No, sir.”

“Well, don’t bother. It’s a desert climate, quite inhospitable. Murderously hot by day, bitterly cold by night, and there’s nothing to see out there for hundreds of miles.”

“Oh!” Lieutenant Green gave it some thought, then smiled broadly. “Then maybe they just want to spend some time alone together.”

Green’s remark was meant as a joke. Since he went back immediately after to his work, he didn’t see the odd look his superior was giving him.

Some time alone together? Yes, that was quite possible, White thought. He wasn’t a fool. For a long time now, he had known something was going on between Blue and Symphony, and he knew of the two’s efforts in trying to keep it a secret. But unbeknown to them, they weren’t very successful, and White suspected that it was more than probable than everybody onboard Cloudbase knew about it. They even had Scarlet as an accomplice, having him on the look-out just outside the Promenade Deck whenever they went to meet up there. White almost caught them red-handed once or twice, but Scarlet always managed to distract him in one way or another. Of course, White reflected, Blue was also helping Scarlet in kind, as he himself was involved in a quite similar relationship with Rhapsody Angel. The colonel had found that out a few weeks earlier, quite by chance. And THAT secret, until that moment, he had not suspected.

Since the game of cat and mouse seemed to amuse all of them so greatly, White had played along, letting everyone believe he was none the wiser about what was going on behind his back. So far, it hadn’t interfered in any way with their work, so he had really nothing to say against it. He was just a little disappointed that they all should think so badly of him as to believe he would be against this kind of relationship.

Now another thought, specifically concerning Captain Blue and Symphony, was forming in Colonel White’s mind as he mulled over what he had just learned from Green…

Scarlet and Destiny had been in Los Angeles, then went to Las Vegas… and Blue and Symphony were in El Paso, and then decided to take the road to join the other two.

White wondered if that hadn’t all been prepared all in advance.

What was the name of that hotel where Captain Scarlet and Destiny were staying?

The St-Maurice.

Colonel White had a terminal built into his desk, connected to Lieutenant Green’s computer. He turned away from his reading, tapped a few keys on the keyboard, and looked down at the screen. Even if he wasn’t a computer genius like Lieutenant Green, or Captain Magenta, Colonel White certainly knew his way around computers too, and with one as sophisticated as the one on Cloudbase, it was fairly easy to find any information he wanted in the world.

He gained entry to the registers of the Las Vegas St-Maurice Hotel and searched the reservations records.

There. Reservations for two connecting rooms, made by Adam Svenson…

Three days ago.

So. This travel through the desert hadn’t really been decided this morning, just as White suspected. Why would Blue lie about it to Lieutenant Green?

White cast a wondering look toward the young Black man seated at his console and going on with his work. A sudden amusing thought seemed to suddenly cross his mind and White saw him chuckle – although the young man was trying his best not to show it.

The Colonel looked at him inquisitively. “What is it you found so funny, Lieutenant?”

“Just… a crazy thought, sir. Quite trivial, to be honest…”

“Would you care to share it with me?”

The Colonel’s tone was pleasant enough. Green hesitated just one second; he addressed his commanding officer with a broad smile. “I was just thinking, sir… You know Las Vegas has a lot of chapels and that people can get married very quickly there…”

“I fail to see what you’re driving at, Lieutenant,” White noted, his interest waning.

“Well, Captain Scarlet and Destiny Angel were engaged once…”

“A LONG time ago, yes.”

“Wouldn’t it be funny if they tied the knot whilst they’re there? They would have the opportunity.”

Green’s remark was innocent enough, but the odd way the Colonel looked at him and the apparent twitch over his left eye made Green wonder if he had done well telling him that. “No, Lieutenant, that would NOT be funny,” White replied rather curtly. “I’m quite sure Captain Scarlet and Destiny Angel have NOT rekindled their relationship. And it’s not because Las Vegas is full of chapels that it automatically means people who go there get married.”

Green cleared his throat, somehow uncomfortable. “Yes, sir,” he said piteously. “I’m sorry to have bothered you with that…”

White shook his head, without answering. The lieutenant’s reflection had somehow stirred some more thoughts to his mind.

What was so interesting in Las Vegas, anyway? White thought. Lots of casinos… Neither Blue nor Scarlet, nor the girls, were the gambling kind. Granted, there were also some pretty good shows… And dozens of Elvis Presley impersonators who were still going strong nearly a century after the so-called king of Rock n’ Roll’s demise.

There were also wedding chapels, as Green pointed out… Plenty of them. Las Vegas was renowned throughout the world for the quick, easy and varied ways people could marry there. It was the town’s second most important industry.

White frowned deeply. He wasn’t worried about Scarlet and Destiny getting married there, as Green had half-jokingly implied. He knew about Scarlet and Rhapsody being engaged. He had inadvertently seen the ring the captain had given the Angel pilot. He didn’t know if they had made specific plans about it already, but if it had been Rhapsody instead of Destiny who had gone with him to Vegas…

Oh no! the colonel suddenly realised, as a sudden thought crossed his mind. Blue and Symphony… They would not dare to do THAT, he hoped. It was one thing, trying to deceive him about their fooling around, but another altogether to go and get married behind his back!

Colonel White shrugged the thought away and took his pen to return to his work. He had let his imagination get the better of him, he thought. After all, they were reasonable people…

He threw his pen down again.

Right. Reasonable. Symphony was certainly the most reckless of all the Angel pilots, and she had found herself in more than one desperate hot spot in the past. And Captain Blue was no better. His worst stunt to date, White recalled, was when he and Scarlet deliberately disobeyed orders, by staying in Base Concorde, trying to stop a rocket programmed to strike the very same spot they were standing on.

“No,” the colonel muttered to himself, even as the doubt sank deeper into his mind. “They wouldn’t…”

He didn’t know how far Destiny Angel would let herself be involved in a foolhardy plan like this, but he knew far too well that he couldn’t count on Captain Scarlet to try and prevent it.

He would certainly go along with it.

“They WOULD!”

Colonel White smacked his hand loudly on his desk. Lieutenant Green jumped at his station and turned to his commander, who was looking anything but serene.

“Something the matter, sir?” he asked, astounded by White’s outburst.

The colonel had been pretty quiet and thoughtful since he had asked those questions about Captains Blue and Scarlet, ten minutes ago. What could be bothering him now? Green could see he was upset.

“Where’s Captain Grey, Lieutenant?”

Colonel White’s voice was hard and his blue stare was blazing with inner fury. Yes, thought Green, something is definitely bothering him. Something, or, more probably, someone. Green certainly would not want to be in that person’s shoes.

“Captain Grey? Er… he’s in the officers’ lounge, sir. He was about to fly down to New York Headquarters…”

“Cancel that flight,” Colonel White interrupted abruptly. “Call him and tell him to come up here.”

“Right away, sir?” a puzzled Green asked.

“No, Lieutenant, next Christmas!” White almost snapped at him.

Oh, boy! Green thought, better be careful not to get on his bad side. The lieutenant went to his mic and made a call to the officers’ lounge, summoning Captain Grey to come to the Control Room – immediately. Then he took a chance by turning once again toward his commander, who had just closed the folder before him, in one decisive gesture.

“If I may ask you, sir…”

“Yes, Lieutenant?” White was standing up, his anger still fairly apparent, but cooling down a little. Green swallowed hard before continuing.

“Is something bothering you?” he asked. “I don’t know, maybe because of what I said earlier… About Captain Scarlet and Destiny…”