[The Mysterons...sworn enemies of Earth, possessing the ability to
recreate an exact likeness of an object or person--but first, they
must destroy. Leading the fight,
one man fate has made
indestructible. His name: Captain Scarlet....]
A
CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS
Short
Story By Ralph Ferreira
It
was 6:50 a.m.
The
sun was already born anew and its rays were getting stronger as it was rising
in the blue sky. As usual on any summer
morning in Sao Paulo, Brazil, there was a very thin fog in the streets due to
the rapid evaporation of the water which fell down as rain the previous
day. The humidity in the air was high,
and the sensation of warmth was bigger than its reality. There were already many people going to
work. A morning like this was just the
same they had all seen in the past. Of
course, the traffic was not as crazy as it once had been in Century 20; all means
of public transportation had now become very effective, and people preferred to
use it instead of private vehicles. The
subway and trolley-bus system could take a person to any place in the city in
just a few minutes. Most people just
used their automobiles to get to the main stations, where they left them in
large parking lots. The current traffic
system began to be developed in the 2010's, when the pollution had reached
intolerable levels.
All
the commonplace elements of this scene were broken when a distinctive convoy
came down one of the main avenues of S o Paulo City: Three large limousines were escorted by two police officers on
motorcycles in front of the row, and a police car behind it. People on the streets looked at the convoy
and imagined that important people had to be in those cars. Something big had to be happening. The World President was in one of the cars,
talking to people from his own retinue and Brazilian authorities. Among the Brazilians there was a man who was
speaking so enthusiastically that he simply captivated the attention of
everyone inside the car. The long
silver hair, the heavy glasses and the friendly smile on his face made
Professor Rossi a charismatic person.
"I'm looking forward to seeing what you've done over there,
Professor Rossi!" stated the World President. "I was very impressed when I read your reports."
"That's just paper, Mr. President," said a proud Professor
Rossi. "What we've got is much
more impressive than any report, you'll see."
Forty minutes later, they arrived at the entrance of a huge complex
called World Nuclear Research Centre IV.
Everybody in the convoy, including the World President, was checked for
security and afterward received electronic identification cards to allow them
to get into the complex. The WNRC-IV
was located about fifty miles outside S o Paulo City in a green area,
completely surrounded by a forest. The
complex was composed of several buildings; the World President's car and the
other two limousines were going to the main building, an edifice of a peculiar
architecture. It looked like an
inverted "T". The first five
floors occupied an area which was about triple the width of the upper ten
floors. The building was surrounded by
a four-mile ring-shaped wall. Access to
any place in the complex was controlled by the electronic identification cards
personnel and visitors were required to use.
The entire security system was managed by a centgral computer.
Professor Rossi led the group into the building. They entered a large lobby where a great
many people were moving in every conceivable direction. The activity was so intense that it reminded
everyone of a beehive. The group went
to one of the elevators. The World
President took a look at the elevator floor indicator above the door and
noticed that aside from the fifteen floors, the building also had five floors
under the ground level. Professor Rossi
set the controls of the elevator to the fifth under-floor when the group had
boarded. Then the doors closed, and
they were taken to the place where the world's nuclear scientists would
demonstrate the results of the research they had been doing for the last
several years.
Everything was calm on Cloudbase.
Captain Scarlet enjoyed a rare moment of relaxation, passing the time by
playing chess with Captain Ochre in the rest lounge.
In
the Amber Room, the Angels were performing routine tasks; while Harmony was in
the cockpit of Angel One on the launch deck ready for an emergency take-off,
Destiny and Symphony rested in the lounge on standby duty.
Captain Blue joined Captains Scarlet and Ochre in the lounge, having
just returned from a forty-eight hour leave he had spent in Sydney,
Australia. It was not necessary for him
to say that he had had a good time over there; his tanned face demonstrated it
clearly.
In
the Control Room, Colonel White was looking out the window, contemplating the
splendid view he had thousands of feet above the earth as his aide, Lieutenant
Green, carried out some routine checks on the communication systems.
Then, suddenly, a cold voice came from a speaker, breaking the serene
ambience.
"This is the voice of the Mysterons. We know that you can hear us, Earthmen. We shall continue this war of nerves against you for your
unprovoked attack on our Martian complex.
Our next act of aggression will be to destroy the south cone."
"Captains Scarlet and Blue, please report to the Control Room
immediately," Lieutenant Green's Caribbean-accented voice announced over
the loudspeakers.
"Knew it was too good to last," Blue complained as he and
Scarlet left to once again resume their fight with the Mysterons.
Moments later, Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue sat on stools in front
of Colonel White's desk. "Well,
gentlemen," started Colonel White with an austere voice, "we have
heard the last Mysteron threat, and I am certain of what they mean about
destroying the south cone. Leftenant
Green, the map of South America, please."
Lieutenant Green pressed a button, and the map appeared on the
projection screen behind Colonel White.
Colonel White nodded toward the screen.
"I've been informed by the World President that the World Nuclear
Research Foundation is working on the development of a matter-antimatter
reactor at the Brazilian Centre."
"I've read lots of things about this kind of research," said
Captain Scarlet. "Since antimatter
was first suggested by Paul Dirac in the 1920's, lots of experiments have been
done in this field by several generations of scientists."
"Yes, I've seen a great deal about this, too," added Captain
Blue. "All those experiments with
particle accelerators, the production of anti-protons, or positrons..."
"Scientists of different countries put lots of effort into this
research at the Brazilian Centre," continued Colonel White. "They managed to produce seventy pounds
of anti-hydrogen, which has been confined in a special tank under a magnetic
field."
"That's a tremendous power source!" exclaimed Captain Scarlet.
"And it could also be the most destructive force that man has ever
created," Colonel White frowned.
"To destroy the south cone," Captain Blue said pausingly. "The WNRC-IV is located in S o Paulo,
in the southeast of Brazil. If a
sabotage was to occur, the results would be catastrophic!"
"Precisely, Captain Blue," replied Colonel White. "You and Scarlet are to fly immediately
to Sao Paulo. Professor Rossi, director
of the WNRC-IV, has been informed that you are coming. It's not necessary to say that this is a
critical situation. I know I can count
on you."
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Colonel Whnite was calm
because he knew that his personnel would do their best, and he trusted
them. He could only hope that that
trust and their skills would be enough this time.
Captains Scarlet and Blue went to the Spectrum Passenger Jet bay and
readied the SPJ for takeoff as Lieutenant Green took his microphone and began
alerting all personnel involved in the operation.
"Plan A is in action," informed Lieutenant Green. "Channel 041, Codename Latin. Captain Scarlet will be the commander in the
field of this operation."
In
the cabin of the SPJ, Captains Blue and Scarlet had done the checklist of the
plane controls and were ready for take-off.
Captain Scarlet dropped his RadioCap microphone. "Request launch clearance," he
said into the microphone.
"Spectrum is Green," replied Lieutenant Green.
Some
seconds later, the SPJ took off. Like
an eagle leaving the nest, the elegant silver bird headed south at maximum cruise
speed.
Soon
after the SPJ landed at the Guarulhos International Airport in S o Paulo State,
Professor Rossi went immediately to meet both Captains. "Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue!"
called Professor Rossi at the arrival lobby of the airport, with a smile on his
face. "I'm Professor Rossi. I know that you have a saloon car waiting
for you, but I would appreciate it if you could go with me. I have a limousine ready to take us to the
WNRC-IV."
Scarlet and Blue exchanged glances, then decided to go with Professor
Rossi. It might make their job easier
to start gathering information on the ride to the complex.
The
car left the airport and took a highway which would take them to the
complex. It was an eighty-mile drive,
but the sightseeing was very beautiful.
The highway followed the margins of the Tiˆte River. Scarlet and Blue were told about the history
of that river, which at the end of Century 20 had been a dead river. After years of work on it, life was brought
back to the river which had now become a symbol for the Brazilian
ecologists. Professor Rossi also
explained to them briefly the ecological research being done there.
When
they arrived at the complex, Professor Rossi started explaining about all the
buildings before they reached the main building. "See those twin buildings?" Professor Rossi asked,
pointing to two identical edifications built in parallel, separated by a
70-foot distance. "The first one
is the administration building; the other one is for accommodations for our
visitors. It has all the features of a
modern hotel."
Rossi went on to point out the many other facilities in the
complex. The complex also had a roomy
five-story building which was the shop facility, and several small buildings
for the refectory, medical facilities, and communication station. All the buildings were surrounded by
attractive gardens of trees, bushes and benches for people to rest while on
lunch break or any other free time. The
complex also had its own security force, needed due to the nature of the
research which was being done there. As
it was a civilian center, it had no heavy weapon defense system. Hence, two Army helicopters patrolled the
airspace around it. They did this in a
24-hour work arrangement, divided into six-hour shifts. To avoid leaving the complex unguarded, each
crew had different scheduled hours for changing their shifts. As part of the Spectrum plan, Spectrum
helicopter A-50 was to join them later, with Captain Magenta and a Spectrum
pilot.
The
men arrived at the main building and exited their limousine. Scarlet, always wary of any kind of danger
to the success of their mission and especially so with a Spectrum helicopter
due to join them shortly, cast a glance at the sky and frowned. As usual this time of year, the sky was
becoming full of heavy dark clouds which were a prelude to a summer storm at
the end of the afternoon. The sun was
still reigning in the sky, however, and the temperature was quite high.
"Hope the weather holds," Blue indicated.
"This time of year, in South America?" Scarlet replied. "Hardly likely. We're in for a nasty storm. I don't like the looks of this at all."
Scarlet and Blue were soon introduced to the team of scientists who
directed the complex, people from Brazil, the United States, England, Japan,
Italy and Germany. They entered the
matter-antimatter reactor control room, were shown the vacuum chamber where
airless experiments in matter manipulation were performed, and then the reactor
room itself. Despite the menace of the
Mysterons, the scientists explained, the work at the Centre had to continue as
usual, and systems could not be shut down.
Scarlet shook his head. Things
like this always worried him. The
weather, the experimental nature of the Centre, the continuing operations...all
of it was making him very uneasy. The
Mysterons loved situations like this.
And Scarlet had a feeling Spectrum was already behind the curve.
The
wind was blowing hard already, and the first raindrops were falling from the
dark sky. All the external lights of
the complex turned on automatically due to the premature darkness of the day.
It
was approaching shift change hour, and another Army helicopter was on its way
to replace one of the patrol units. The
rain, after some minutes, had become heavy, and the visibility was practically
zero. The crew was flying by
instruments.
In a
clearing in the woods, a car was parked.
Not far from it, a man dressed in black was looking at the oncoming helicopter. The figure stood there, impassive and alone,
unmoved even by the heavy drops of rain which were hitting his pale face.
Suddenly, one of the helicopter's engines stopped.
"We've lost engine one, sir!" exclaimed the first officer.
"We'd better get back to base," said the commander. "Get in touch with them and inform of
our condition. They need to send another helicopter."
"Communications are not operating," frowned the first
officer. "Now we're...we're losing
engine two!"
With
both engines inoperative, the helicopter fell like a shot bird, crashing into
the trees. The explosion was diminished
by the heavy rain, but the destruction of the helicopter was total.
Then, a green ray came from the sky, forming two thin rings which
silently swept over the wreckage of the helicopter, vanishing seconds later.
Former Spectrum officer-turned-Mysteron agent Captain Black dictated a
description of the scene to his invisible masters, then deviated his attention
just enough to notice the noise of another helicopter.
The
Mysteronized aircraft landed in the middle of the clearing in the woods where
he stood. Captain Black walked to it
and got in, taking his seat behind the empty control cabin. The Mysterons had not recreated the
pilots--only the machine.
The
change of patrol shifts was performed normally. When the Mysteronized helicopter arrived, one of the others left
the place. Although they flew
relatively close to each other during the shift change, the heavy rain gave the
Mysterons a perfect cover. No one
noticed the strange man behind the controls.
The
helicopter approached the ground and hovered at a distance of less than four
feet, low enough to permit Captain Black to jump to the ground. He then ran to hide behind a group of trees.
Captain Scarlet was talking to the security chief, Mr. Da Silva, telling
him the precautions Spectrum was taking by placing agents at the entrance and
at strategic points within the WNRC-IV, as well as the Spectrum patrol
helicopter. All of the patrolling
Spectrum guards were using Mysteron detectors and weapons. Scarlet found himself hoping that he was
more reassuring to the other man than he currently felt. An uneasy feeling kept nagging at him that
something was about to happen. He just
wished he knew what.
Captain Blue stood in the reactor control room with Mr. Dos Santos,
Professor Rossi's assistant, who was showing him the many safety features of
the reactor. "So, you can control
all systems from this room as well as from the reactor room?" he asked Dos
Santos, while the technician was removing a defective component from a
computer.
"Yes, Captain Blue," answered Dos Santos. "All systems are double-controlled, so
that if we have problems in one of them, we can use the other to maintain
normal operations. See this control
card? It's failing. I'll take it to the electronic shop and get
a replacement. Could you please wait
here for a moment with these gentlemen?
I'll be back in a few minutes."
"Sure." Captain Blue
stood with the other technicians and watched Dos Santos depart. Although he was seeing a great many
interesting things, he was apprehensive because he knew that at any time the
Mysterons might try something. Unlike
Scarlet, Blue had no innate ability to sense Mysterons, but he did have good
old-fashioned intuition. And it was
telling him the Mysterons were probably closer than he liked.
Night fell, and there was no sign of the storm that had been, except for
puddles on the ground. The black sky
was full of stars, and the temperature was very pleasant, with a fine summer
breeze. Dos Santos was making his way
to the shop facilities when suddenly a man emerged from a group of bushes and
stood in his way.
"Who are you?" inquired Dos Santos. "Where's your identification card? How did you get in here?
I'm going to call Security right now!" He reached for his pocket radio.
Captain Black whipped out a gun.
"No, Earthman, you will not."
Without mercy, Captain Black fired twice, the noise of the gun being
deadened by a silencer.
The
unfortunate Dos Santos fell down lifeless on the ground.
Captain Black stood there looking down at him, almost expectantly.
A
green ray came down again from the sky, forming the two thin rings which slowly
swept over the dead man's body.
Moments later, Black and a Mysteronized Dos Santos dragged the body away
into the bushes. Dos Santos silently
reached to pick up the circuitry card the dead man had been carrying, which now
lay on the ground, and then looked at Captain Black.
"You know what you have to do," said Captain Black
emotionlessly after giving the Mysteronized Dos Santos his own gun.
"Yes--I know what I must do," said the Mysteron agent, nodding
slowly.
Spectrum Helicopter A50 was still patrolling the airspace when Captain
Magenta saw a strange man running across an open field toward some tall
trees. The rubber trees, more than 100
years old, were high and their branches full of big and heavy leaves, produced
a wide area of good cover to anyone who would want to hide beneath.
"I just saw someone going under those trees," said Captain
Magenta, pointing at the trees, to the helicopter pilot. "Circle them, and I'll check the person
out."
A50
maneuvered around and started flying very low around the rubber trees. Captain Magenta had his detector ready to
use. Spectrum could not take any
chances, and Magenta knew he must find out who that man was.
One
of the army helicopters was approaching very fast, apparently as if to assist
the A50 on its quest. The A50 pilot
started to relax...until he realized there was no one in the other copter's
control cabin. "It's a trap!"
he screamed, trying desperately to out-maneuver the flying death machine.
Before Captain Magenta could say a word, the powerful nose cannon of the
Mysteronized helicopter fired at them, hitting the tail of their
helicopter. The Spectrum aircraft spun
along the axis of the main propeller like a toy top, then plunged the short
distance to the ground.
Captain Magenta recovered quickly, thankful that the low altitude at
which they had been flying had eased their landing, and looked around. Immediately he saw that there were signs of
fire inside their craft, and that the pilot was unconscious. Although he was hurt as well, Magenta
rapidly unfastened his and the pilot's seat belts and got out, carrying the
other man and trying to reach a safe location before the copter exploded.
With
the Spectrum helijet down, the Mysteronized helicopter aimed at the other Army
patrol helicopter and fired an air-to-air missile that it carried on one of its
stabilizer wings, destroying the craft.
Then, it rapidly maneuvered to fly at maximum speed toward the
communication station. The element of
surprise had been effective; no one had time to take any action or launch a
counter-attack.
Most
of the essential personnel on the anti-matter program were still working
overtime, although it was getting late at night. But the lateness of the hour was beginning to show on some of
them.
"I'm getting tired," yawned Professor Rossi to Captains
Scarlet and Blue. "I'm going home
now. The personnel of the night shift
will stay here to perform the usual essential tasks. We have prepared accommodations for both of you, Captains."
"Go and get some sleep, Captain Blue," said Scarlet to his
partner. "I'll take the first
watch."
"Right. I'll relieve you at
2 a.m." He and Rossi started to
go.
As
they did, Dos Santos finally came back from the electronics shop.
Suddenly, cold sweat started breaking out on Scarlet's face, and he
swayed.
Immediately, Blue was by his side.
"What's wrong, Captain Scarlet?" he asked.
"I'm having that sensation I get when
there's a Mysteron around," Scarlet replied, trying to fight through the
nausea.
Several scientists looked toward Scarlet, not even realizing the
Mysteron agent stood behind them.
The
sound of a distant explosion, then a closer one, caught all of their
attentions. Then, a frantic voice over
the loudspeakers confirmed their worst fears.
"We are under attack! One
of the Army helicopters shot down the other two, and is now firing at the
complex! The communication station has
been destroyed. We can contact nobody;
we're isolated!"
Captain Scarlet rapidly flipped down his RadioCap microphone
and said, "Channel 041. Latin."
His
epaulets flashed green, and Lieutenant Green's voice answered, "Cloudbase
to Captain Scarlet. I'll transfer to
Colonel White. Stand by."
"S.I.R."
"What's happening, Scarlet?" asked Colonel White, his voice
worried.
"The WNRC-IV is under attack.
An Army helicopter is apparently under the control of the Mysterons and
has shot down the other patrol helicopters.
We are cut off from the outside world and require immediate
assistance."
Scarlet could almost hear White frown.
"This is it—the Mysterons have begun their plan," the
commander replied. "Spectrum is
Red, Scarlet. I'm launching Angel
One. She will be there in a few
minutes."
"S.I.G."
"Angel One, immediate launch."
With
those words from Lieutenant Green, Symphony Angel in Angel One was immediately
catapulted off the launch deck and into the stratosphere.
Although Captain Magenta and the unconscious pilot were already at a
safe distance from the Spectrum helicopter when it exploded, the shock wave
threw them against the ground. Captain
Magenta slowly raised his head and saw that the man he had been pursuing was
standing there, looking down at him.
Too
late, he recognized that man, who wore a sardonic smile, as Captain Black. Magenta reached for his gun.
Black watched as Magenta quivered for a moment, then passed out. Quietly, he stepped over Magenta's body and
walked throught the ruins of the walls surrounding part of the complex.
His
car stood outside those walls waiting for him.
Black hurried over to it.
Another Army helicopter was due soon, and he had to work fast.
Opening the trunk of the car, he extracted from it a portable
surface-to-air missile launcher, pointed it at the night sky, looked into the
infrared sight, and waited.
Right on schedule, the helicopter appeared in the night sky.
When
it got into his firing range, he aimed and fired.
The
Army helicopter literally disintegrated in a ball of fire.
Satisfied, Captain Black dropped his weapon and got in his car. He simply sat there and waited until his car
mysteriously started to disappear, as if the Mysterons, sure of their victory,
wanted to transport Captain Black to a safe place.
Scarlet and Blue were outside the research facility, trying to find and
destroy their Mysteron enemy, but neither their weapons nor those of the
security personnel would be capable of damaging the heavy armor of the
helicopter, an MH-29, which looked like a flying tank. The Centre, a civilian facility, had no
anti-aircraft
defense system.
"Is there a way for the helicopter to destroy the reactor with its
attacks?" asked Captain Blue to a technician beside him, as a pane of
glass shattered due to an A-S missile which got into the main building.
"Only if they're carrying tactical nuclear weapons," the
technician practically shouted over the noise of the assault.
"If it had them, it would have already used them," said Blue,
frowning.
"A decoy," suggested Scarlet.
"Then I'd better go back to the reactor!" Blue said
anxiously. "They might be trying
something over there, too."
"S.I.G.," said Scarlet, taking a machine gun from a security
man who was with them. The three were
hiding behind the carcass of a destroyed truck. "I need to borrow this, please." He then turned to Blue. "I'll cover you, Captain Blue."
The
Mysteronized helicopter was flying very low, using its rocket launcher pod to
destroy every part of the building it could.
Scarlet and Blue looked at each other for a moment, as if synchronizing
moves, and then Scarlet ran away from the building entrance toward a parking
lot and started firing the machine gun.
The
helicopter deviated its attention toward the new attacker, giving Blue a good
chance to make his move. Blue raced for
the building.
Scarlet jumped in and out among the parked cars, trying to escape from
the heavy fire of bullets from the MH-29's nose cannon. It was like standing in a hurricane of
pieces of metal, glass, dust, smoke and fire, as the cars were being obliterated.
Suddenly, the attack stopped, and Scarlet could take a breath and notice
he was momentarily able to flee from the danger. Wasting no time, he ran for cover before the copter made another pass
for him.
Once
he was out of danger, he looked himself over carefully. Although his clothes were covered in
fragments of debris, he was not injured.
Quickly, he looked out toward the grounds.
He
could see the MH-29 flying at maximum speed toward the twin buildings, and then
heard a familiar sound. He looked
upward.
In
the sky, he saw the familiar shape of Angel One. Once more Scarlet mentally noted that "Angels" was the
right name for those intrepid girls, as he watched the beautiful plane,
illuminated by moonlight, coming in fast.
The
entrance to the main building was illuminated only by emergency lights and the
small bursts of fire. The place which
hours before had been so alive and busy was now only a smoking mess. Captain Blue knew that the underground
levels were beneath a ten-foot-thick concrete floor and their electrical power
came from an independent generator, also located underground, and thus were
probably in much better condition than the rest of the building. Blue headed for the evacuation stairs since
the electricity that powered the elevators was not working and hurried
downstairs.
Running through deserted corridors, Blue noted everything seemed to be
intact until he reached the reactor control room.
To
his horror, all the control panels were destroyed. Only a few display consoles around the room's perimeter were
intact. He found a severely wounded man
lying motionless on the floor. Blue
knelt down near him. Although the man
was in critical condition, he was still alive.
"The...the vacuum chamber...fast!" whispered the dying man.
Vacuum chamber...the airlocked room used for
airless experiments...oh, no...Blue called for medical assistance over his
radio as he ran toward the chamber.
When
he got there, he could see through a small window in a heavy iron door that a
group of scientists were locked in there, and the atmosphere inside it was
being removed at lethal levels.
Immediately, he started trying to find a way to reverse the process and
open the airlock to save those men and women, in a desperate race against time.
Symphony
was unable to destroy the Mysteronized helicopter. It kept darting between the twin buildings, using them as
protection, like a rat trying to escape a cat.
"So you want to play hide and seek, hm-m?" she smiled
delicately. "O.K., I know how to
win that game."
Symphony took her jet into a steep dive and levelled out at a very low
altitude, in a position where the MH-29 could not see or detect her. The trees and the grass beneath her plane
were shaken by the exhaust gases of her plane.
Angel One was now right on a perpendicular
path with the walls of one of the twin buildings.
Symphony concentrated her nerves of steel and pushed her plane ever
closer, then suddenly made a sharp curve and maneuvered along the building's
contour, between the canyon created by the walls of the twin towers.
After that rapid maneuver, she was face to face with the Mysteronized
helicopter. She knew she would need
millimetre precision, because she was going to fly between those twin
buildings, and any mistake would certainly be fatal. Her heart was beating harder, and she put the MH-29 in her gun
sight, knowing that it could not escape, but that she would need instantaneous
reflex action to avoid destroying her aircraft as well.
"Take this, baby," she said, after stabbing at the firing
button.
The
MH-29 disintegrated.
Symphony swung her plane up and away, passing through the flames of the
explosion. Seconds later, the
ultrasonic fighter was hundreds of feet away from the twin buildings, levelling
out at 10,000 feet.
"Symphony Angel to Cloudbase.
The Mysteronized helicopter is destroyed. Four Army MH-29's are just now arriving. The situation in the air is under
control."
When
Captain Scarlet arrived at the reactor control room, he found medical personnel
attending to some of the victims of the vacuum chamber while those that were
well enough to assist joined a group of scientists and technicians working
desperately, some trying to repair control panels, others working on the
benches of the work stations. Worry was
on all their faces, including Captain Blue's.
"Dos Santos is a Mysteron agent!" Blue said in alarm. "He destroyed all the control panels,
and now he's in the reactor room, where he's got the only working controls. The consoles that are working here indicate
he's trying to overload the system. If
he puts all that antimatter in contact with matter in the mixing chamber at one
time..."
"They'll annihilate each other, liberating a colossal quantity of
energy!" growled Mr. Gomes, a technician whose nerves were completely
shattered. "The subsequent
explosion would devastate a quarter of the surface of South America! This is the end!"
"No!" shouted Scarlet, cutting him short. "We can't give up. We have to find out a way to stop
this."
"There is a way," said Professor Rossi, who appeared in the
room wearing a radiation suit.
"I'll go into the reactor room and reverse the process."
"It's better if Captain Scarlet or I do this, Professor," said
Blue. "Dos Santos is now a
Mysteron agent, and we're better prepared to face him."
"No, I cannot permit that.
The overload in the reactor room caused a leakage of excessive radiation
in there. The automatic radiation
isolation system was activated. If I am
able to stop the leak, it will return the room to habitable conditions, but
only after seven hours. A man would die
in there under those conditions, even wearing this suit. I'm the one responsible for this Centre--if
someone has to die, I should be the one."
"I insist you leave this task to Spectrum personnel,
Professor," said Scarlet, running toward the locker where the
anti-radiation suits were stored.
"No, Captain! I'm
sorry," Professor Rossi said, cutting Scarlet's path off.
Scarlet was startled to see Rossi now holding
a gun and training it on the center of his chest. Had his Mysteron sensitivity failed to detect Rossi as a
Mysteron?
Rossi looked desperate. "As
I told you, I'll die if necessary to stop this!" he stared firmly. "Please don't force me to hurt
you. There's enough anaesthetic in this
gun to make a man sleep for many hours."
Gomes had been ticking like a mental time bomb whose clock was running
short, and the pressure building up inside him exploded as he watched the
scene. "It's Doomsday!" he
screamed hysterically. "We won't
be safe from Hell! We have to repent of
our sins! We don't have time--it's the
end!"
Professor Rossi looked toward the screaming man.
Captain Blue seized the opportunity...and seized Rossi's gun, once more
taking control of the situation.
As
other technicians and scientists were trying to calm Gomes, Blue and Scarlet
relaxed slightly and tended to the unbalanced Rossi. "Sorry, Professor," said Blue, trying to soothe Rossi's
jangled nerves. "Everything will
be all right. Please, trust us. We need you to stay calm and tell us how to
stop the reactor from overloading."
While Captain Scarlet was putting on an anti-radiation suit, Professor
Rossi explained to him how to stop the reactor overload. It was very simple; he merely had to turn
off some power switches in the control alcove located beside the reactor.
When
Scarlet finished dressing, Rossi led them to the airlock between the control
room and the reactor room. "We use
this to send robots into the reactor room in case of radiation leakage,"
he explained. "The robots are put
in the airlock, after which the access door to the control room is sealed and
the access door to the reactor room opened.
But this airlock can be used only once.
Only when the ambient atmosphere in both the airlock and the reactor
room returns to a habitable condition can it be opened again. If you fail, there will not be another
chance."
"Then I won't fail," Scarlet replied simply. With that, he entered the airlock under the
anxious glances of many men and women.
Scarlet knew the responsibility he had on his hands: The destiny of all those persons, and
millions of other innocent people, depended on his success.
"Good luck, Paul!" said Blue, optimism in his voice.
Scarlet smiled at Blue, then pressed a button on a panel beside the
access door, which closed it. After
pressing the button to open the access door to the reactor room, he heard the
noise of the entrance door being sealed, then the reactor room door opening.
Now
the real work began.
The
temperature inside the reactor room was troublingly high due to the overloading
systems. There were gases and smoke
everywhere, but the real hazard was invisible--the radiation leakage.
Carefully, Scarlet entered the reactor room and checked his handgun,
knowing that the Mysteron agent could be anywhere. Slowly, he advanced toward the mixing chamber.
As
he neared the mixing chamber, a bullet passed very close to his head, hitting
the concrete wall of the mixing chamber.
Immediately, Scarlet backed up and hid behind the 20-foot-radius
cylindrical chamber and looked around for the source of the shot.
"It's useless to try to do anything, Earthman!" shouted Dos
Santos. "In twenty minutes, this
place will blow up. We will be avenged,
Earthman!"
"Don't be stupid, Dos Santos!" Scarlet answered in a loud
voice. "You're going to blow up
along with this place!"
"You will never win!"
Spotting
Dos Santos in the control alcove behind the control bench, Scarlet looked for
an opportunity to fire at him. The
control bench was just four feet high, and the Mysteronized man was standing
there looking for the opportunity to kill anyone who would try to get closer to
him. There was a bigger problem,
however: Some of the switches Scarlet
had to turn off were in a panel just behind Dos Santos' head. If Scarlet missed the mark, he could destroy
the mechanism, and the consequences would be disastrous.
Time
was running out, and Scarlet had to think fast, had to find a solution. He took a rapid look at Dos Santos, then
went back into hiding when the Mysteron started firing again. On the right side of the control alcove,
there was a power supply, which was connected directly to the generator which
supplied the underground floors of the building with power. He had an idea, but he needed to get closer
to Dos Santos.
Scarlet started shooting out the lights of the room. In a few seconds, only the weak light from
displays was illuminating the place. He
threw himself upon the ground and started creeping along silently. The flicker of light on Dos Santos face
accentuated the deformation caused by the radiation's high levels. It was almost too grotesque to witness.
After moving about the contours of the room, creeping behind control
benches, computer frames and other objects, Scarlet stopped behind one of the
four big magnetic generators, which were located in positions around the mixing
chamber. He was at a distance of less
than eight feet from Dos Santos, and he knew that he did not have much time.
Captain Scarlet jumped toward Dos Santos, who immediately fired on him,
striking him in the abdomen. A
hand-to-hand fight began, but one where Scarlet had a distinct advantage. Even a Mysteronized man would require hours
to recover from all the damage the radiation could cause to his body, and Dos
Santos was very weak.
Scarlet fought through the pain of his stomach wound, knocked Dos
Santos' gun away, and sent the Mysteron agent stumbling and falling onto the
power supply switching board, the resultant short circuit glowing in the room
like lightning and killing Dos Santos instantly.
Then
deadly silence fell again.
Scarlet had lost a great deal of blood due to the wound, and he knew he
had only a few minutes before the whole place would explode. He also had to hurry because his vision was
starting to dim due to his loss of blood.
Fighting the wave of unconsciousness that threatened to engulf him,
Scarlet reached for the control panel.
Captain Blue was biting his lips hard.
It had been too long since Captain Scarlet had entered, and time was
running out. The numbers on the panels
were reaching critical levels...
"He's got it!" shouted an excited man who was monitoring one
of the display control consoles.
"Oh, my God, he's got it!"
A
celebration broke forth in the room as the systems slowly returned to normal
and the overload condition stopped. It
was nearly midnight. Another day would
dawn normally. South America was safe.
Gradually, the euphoria in the control room ceased, however, and a
funereal silence came down.
"We're safe; millions are safe," said a beautiful blonde
woman, tears in her eyes. "But a
man had to die to save us, a very valiant man."
"Don't be so sad, Doctor Roberts," said Captain Blue in a
serene voice, after wiping with his right hand a tear which was running down
the woman's face. "Captain Scarlet
will be all right."
"I
know he's your friend, Captain Blue," replied the woman, "but no one
can survive under those conditions!"
"Maybe he can. Believe
me."
Captain Scarlet opened his eyes and realized he
was in the Cloudbase sickbay. Slowly,
he sat up and saw Dr. Fawn working at his desk.
Fawn
looked up from his work at the sound of Scarlet's movement and smiled, then
punched the intercom button on his desk.
"Fawn to Control," the doctor said. "You asked to be notified when Captain Scarlet regained
consciousness."
"Thank you, Doctor," White replied over the speakers.
Fawn
turned his attention to Scarlet.
"Welcome back, Captain. Say
hello to your bunkmate."
Scarlet looked to his right and saw Captain Magenta sitting on a bed
beside his own, grinning at him.
"I'm glad to see you, Captain Magenta," said Scarlet. "How are you doing?"
"Not having as fast a recovery as yours," he smiled, "but
I'm doing O.K."
Captain Blue and Colonel White arrived within moments. Both looked visibly relieved to see Scarlet
awake. "It's good to see you in
good shape again, son," expressed Colonel White with a smile of
satisfaction on his face. "You did
very good work over there."
"We all did, sir," Scarlet replied.
"Yes, I know."
"What about the Centre?"
"It will take some months to rebuild it," answered Captain
Blue. "But it could have been
much, much worse. The only thing no one
over there could believe was that you were still alive when the automatic
radiation isolation system released the room.
They said you're like a cat with many lives."
"Well, a cat has only nine lives," joked Scarlet.
All
the officers laughed with Scarlet, and a high spirit reigned in the
sickbay. One more time, they had won a
battle in this war of nerves against the Mysterons.
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