The World Government’s authority covered
most of the globe and was generally reckoned to be benign. Although a few obdurate states refused to
join the self-proclaimed ‘brotherhood of nations’ most were happy enough to cede
ultimate authority to the World Senate, and work with them and the World
President to keep the peace by resolving disputes and defusing potentially
warlike situations through negotiation and compromise.
Many of the smaller nation-states found
that the World Government took far greater notice of their concerns and
complaints than they’d have received in isolation, and had instituted national
holidays of ceremonial reaffirmation of their membership. Members of the World Senate were allocated
the duty of representing the World President at these events whenever the
President could not attend in person.
Sometimes, when Spectrum was asked to
provide security for the occasion, Colonel White would decide that there was
justification in the request and send a security detail of terrestrial officers
commanded by a colour-captain to oversee the event. For their part, the captains were generally
happy to go, seeing it as a bit of a ‘jolly’ after the spine-jingling terror of
a Mysteron attack, or the nerve-wracking wait for the next threat.
During a briefing conference on
Cloudbase one morning in October, Colonel White consulted his notebook and
announced:
“The World President has decided it would be
unwise for him to attend the Pomeranian independence celebrations next week. He
suspects that the Bereznians would use it as an excuse to ‘kick up a fuss’,
given that they have been complaining about access rights to the Baltic –
again. I think he’s right; we cannot
risk trouble in northern Europe with the Mysterons so active at the
moment. Nevertheless, he’ll be sending
a senator as his representative and he would like Spectrum to provide a visible
level of support for the Pomeranians.
Therefore, Captain Blue, you will accompany the World Senator and attend
the ceremonies in Gedania, and Captain Scarlet, you
will conduct an inspection of the military installations and… make sure Katania
knows you’re doing so.”
“S.I.G., Colonel,” Scarlet replied. He glanced at Blue and they exchanged quick
self-congratulatory smirks: they’d both been working non-stop on Mysteron
threats for the past two months and the thought of an ‘N-double-M’ – as the
base shorthand called a ‘non-Mysteron’ mission – was as good as a rest.
“Why must you go?” Symphony Angel asked her husband when Captain Blue
explained his latest mission over their evening meal together. “Surely, Ochre would be the obvious
choice? He’s done more personal security
work than you have, after all.”
“Maybe the colonel wants to broaden my
experience?” Blue replied smoothly. “All
I know is I’ve been ordered to go and it sounds like a piece of cake. I could do with a break, Karen, and a change
is as good as a rest – or so they say.”
She pouted sulkily and stabbed her fork
into a potato with some venom. “I
thought we were going to have a break together.”
“So we are – afterwards. Look, you know
how hard we’ve all been working and there was never the slightest chance we’d
get away until the colonel was satisfied the latest slew of Mysteron activity
was over.
“That’s what you always say.”
“Must be because that’s the way it is,
then.”
She threw her fork down. “You just want to get away from me.”
Blue sighed and reached for her hand,
but she jerked it away when his fingers brushed against it.
He shook his head. “You know that isn’t true; but we agreed we’d
stay in Spectrum and that means doing what we’re told. The colonel’s ordered me to go and I’m going. If you want to sulk I can’t stop you, Karen,
but it won’t get you anywhere.”
She left the table and walked out of the
canteen without speaking. Blue shrugged
and continued eating. A few moments
later Captain Grey came to sit at the table.
“Karen annoyed about something?” he
asked casually, as he shook pepper over his food.
Blue gave a mirthless chuckle. “When isn’t she?”
“Are things okay with you two, Adam?”
It was rare for Grey to use the given
names of his colleagues and Blue realised his friend was genuinely concerned.
“Sure, Brad. Just more of the usual. Excuse me, I ought to get my travel
arrangements made, I have to liaise with Futura and the senator’s office. Best to get it sorted in plenty of time.”
“Sure.
Take care, buddy.”
Grey watched the blond captain stow his and
his wife’s abandoned tray at the catering hatch and open the canteen door,
standing aside for a trio of laughing female technicians to walk before him,
before he disappeared from sight.
Grey sighed and considered that since
their marriage last year the relationship between his compatriots seemed to
have grown more volatile than ever.
And
we all know whose fault that is, he thought as he scooped food onto his fork and started to eat.
Supremacy of the Baltic coastal areas of
Europe had been disputed by the great powers of the region throughout recorded
history, and after the European Atomic War the World Government negotiated a
settlement with the hostile Bereznian State aimed at ending the centuries-long
antagonism. They recreated an
independent state of Pomerania and settled – for the
time being – the wrangling over a Baltic port for the Bereznians. Pomerania was small
but fiercely independent and its government, based in the capital city of Gedania, made a great show of the ‘Independence Day’ celebrations
in order to remind Bereznik of its existence and Futura of its obligations to
maintain that existence.
Korneliusz Kamiński, the elected
leader of Pomerania, welcomed Captain Scarlet into
his office and listened carefully to the details of the military inspection
Scarlet intended to conduct.
“The final part of the inspection will
consist of an exercise around Gedania and a
march-past – and fly-past – of the central square in front of yourself and the
World Senator on Independence Day. I
trust that meets with your approval, Mr President?”
“That sounds perfect to our
requirements, Captain. I wish you to
convey to Colonel White my gratitude on behalf of my people, for the World
Government’s continuing support – and that of Spectrum.”
“Gladly, Mr President. Spectrum is well aware of the necessity of
maintaining peaceful relations between the neighbouring states in Europe.”
“You must have not been born by the time
of the Atomic War,” Kamiński said, smiling at the younger man, “but it was
a terrible time for all peoples. Pomerania does not wish any such terror to be unleashed
again across this lands.”
Scarlet nodded; he was growing used to
the fact that people outside of the inner circle on Cloudbase considered him to
be much younger than he actually was.
His retrometabolism gave him the youthful appearance of the 31 year old
he had been at the time of his first death.
He reassured the President:
“The World Government and Spectrum are
sworn to guarantee the neutrality of Pomerania and
defend its borders.”
“Governments have sworn such oaths before and
yet countries have fallen to enemies,” Kamiński said, “but I accept that
you speak in good faith, Captain. Is
there anything more I can be to your assistance?”
“Only to confirm when the World Senator
is due to arrive, sir. My colleague,
Captain Blue, told me he was to fly here today from Salzburg.”
“Yes, we expect them within three hours’
time. I should be there to welcome her.”
“Her?
I thought it was Senator Ryan who would be coming.”
“Senator Ryan was taken to the hospital
with dangerous… zapalenie kiszki… how
would you say? – the sore guts?” The
President poked himself in the stomach.
“Appendicitis,” Scarlet translated with
an educated guess. “I wish him a speedy
recovery then. Who’s coming in his
place?”
Kamiński’s face beamed as he replied, “A
lady: Senator Arnorsdottir.”
“Oh, that’ll please Captain Blue,”
Scarlet muttered, hoping Symphony would be as sanguine about the change of
personnel.
Surprisingly, Kamiński
chortled. “He is one lucky dog, Captain
Scarlet. She is a delight to a man’s
eyes… and other organs.”
Scarlet tried to hide his
amusement. “Yes, so I understand,” he
replied and shook hands with his jovial host in preparation for leaving. He saluted.
“I will see you at the march-past, Mr President.”
“Goodbye, Captain Scarlet. Good wishes go with you.”
Senator Arnorsdottir
was a rising star in the World Government.
For such a young woman, and she wasn’t 40 yet, she had a responsible
junior ministerial post and a reputation for getting things done. She was slender, and shorter than she
looked, because she dressed carefully to create the impression of height. She was invariably well-groomed without the
appearance of too much makeup. She had a
slightly husky voice that could turn, at will, into tones of command or chilly
disapproval.
Her political opponents called her –
with a depressing lack of imagination - ‘The Ice Queen’; her political allies
called her ‘The Next World President But One’ –
“And my friends,” she told Captain Blue,
as they shook hands in the reception foyer of the WG Administration Offices in
Salzburg, “call me Val.”
“I’m pleased to meet you, Madame
Senator,” Blue replied. The way she had
to tilt her head to meet his eye made him self-consciously aware of his own
height and girth. “I have a Maximum
Security Vehicle outside the building to conduct you to the airport where a
Spectrum Passenger Jet is waiting for us.
Your entourage will follow in the World Government cars.”
“Maximum security? I wasn’t aware this was a dangerous
assignment, Captain. I’m going to a
peaceful capital city to attend an Independence Day ceremonial, not a
battlefield.”
“Yes, ma’am; but the Bereznians have
been vocal in their complaints recently and the World President-”
“Tcha! William Roberts gets the jitters every time
Katania rattles a sabre. Strange for a
man who prides himself on his military past, don’t you think? Still, it isn’t every woman who can say she’s
driven in a Spectrum MSV… I will be able to dine out on experience in
Reykjavík.”
Blue smiled in amusement and the senator
did a double-take at the tall man, and then smiled back.
“Shall we go, ma’am?”
“Oh yes, and on the way you can tell me
all about yourself, Captain.”
“Well, actually, I can’t,” Blue
explained as he opened the door for her and ushered her down the steps to the
MSV. “Spectrum’s security protocols
won’t allow it.”
“I am
a member of the President’s security council, Captain,” she teased. “Surely
that gives me rainbow class security clearance?”
“Yes, ma’am; but even rainbow class
clearance doesn’t cover Spectrum personnel’s details. Those are confidential
and restricted to very few people in the organisation.”
“Quite right – it doesn’t – officially,”
She smiled up at him. “But it is a long
journey, Captain and I like to know who I am talking to.”
“I’m Captain Blue, ma’am; you saw my
credentials.”
“And very impressive they are, Captain.”
She gave him an appreciative glance as he helped her into the MSV.
Blue flushed with embarrassment and she
felt a stab of remorse for teasing him; after all, he couldn’t answer
back.
“I am sorry, Captain; I shouldn’t try to
provoke you, should I?”
“I don’t provoke easily,” he said
genially, as he settled himself into the driving seat and set the automatic
locks.
“Then we should get on like – as my
personal secretary would have it – a maison en flambé. Now, tell me; does this impressive piece of
engineering have a music player? I’m in
the mood for something rousing… ”
President Kamiński
was busily changing into his formal suit ready for the arrival of his
guest. He was looking forward to
spending the evening with her. His wife
would be there, but for once she wouldn’t be able to prevent him enjoying the
company of a younger and, quite definitely, sexier woman.
His secretary came into his dressing
room with a small box in his hands and a concerned look on his face.
“What’s the matter now, Tytus?” Kamiński asked.
“Mr President, we’d expected Senator
Ryan to be the guest of honour and the gift we had for him will not be suitable
for Madame Senator. We have to find a
replacement in the short time we have left.”
“What?
Oh no – we can’t insult her by not giving her a suitable gift. What can we offer her?”
The younger man shrugged. “I can send to the stores for perfume – I am
sure we can get one of the big shops to open up for us.”
“Don’t be foolish – she is a World
Government minister, not your spinster auntie!
We must give her something that is unique and speaks to her of Pomerania. She can
get perfume anywhere.”
Mrs Kamiński came into the room and
asked what all the shouting was about. Her husband explained their dilemma and
looked hopefully at his wife.
“Do you have an idea what we could give
her, Zofia?”
“Jewellery!” Tytus
suggested.
Zofia Kamiński rolled her eyes at
that. “You could give her some
jewellery, but it ought to be something special. Something shop-bought would be
an insult.”
“There is no time to commission a
piece,” Kamiński moaned. “This is
terrible.”
Tytus chewed his bottom lip and then said
tentatively, “We could give her something unique, and invite her to commission
a piece at our expense…”
“An IOU – wonderful,” Kamiński snapped.
“No, sir; remember a few weeks ago, that
piece of Baltic amber was discovered on the beach? It was one of the largest on record. The
fisherman who found it sold it to the state, so that it could be used to make
some official piece of regalia representing the ancient trade in amber that financed
the Pomeranian state in the middle ages.
Well, it hasn’t been worked yet – it is in its natural state. We could present it to the Senator and invite
her to commission herself a piece of jewellery from it, to be crafted by one of
our young designers, knowing the remainder would form part of the state
regalia. That would be an honour
indeed!”
Kamiński looked uncertainly at his
wife. Zofia was looking thoughtful and
when she caught his eye she said,
“For once Tytus
has a good idea. Arnorsdottir is
Icelandic, she will know the rarity and beauty of amber – it would be an
appropriate gift.”
“Well done, Tytus. Fetch the amber from… wherever it is and get
a presentation box from somewhere and dig a calligrapher out to write a
certificate of provenance or an IOU, or whatever is necessary. The Senator can choose her own designer – we
will run a competition and they can submit designs – the winner being awarded
the commission to make the regalia. It
will be announced tonight at the state banquet – warn the press I want it
promoted as a unique and thoughtful gift from a grateful nation to the
representative of our friends in the World Government. There could be good publicity – international publicity – from
this. When the jewellery is made, I
shall have to go to Futura to present it.”
“And I will have to accompany you,”
Zofia said firmly. “Perhaps, I ought to
present it? From the grateful mothers of
the Pomeranian nation…”
“Yes, well, we will discuss that
later. Get a move on, Tytus – we need to be ready to make the announcement at the
banquet.”
The official banquet was in full swing
when Captain Blue slipped away and climbed the spiral stairs to the gallery
that ran around the medieval civic hall.
Captain Scarlet was leaning on the
banister and looking down on the guests. The hall was lit by the flickering
light of a multitude of candles and the dim spot lights set high in the carved
wooden hammer-beam roof. The President
and Senator Arnorsdottir were sitting in the middle of the top table on a
raised dais, deep in conversation.
The door opened.
“How’s it going?” Scarlet asked his
friend, as Blue joined him at his vantage point.
“Well, I think.”
“How is Kamiński coping with the
Ice Queen?”
“The question ought to be how is she
coping with him, if you ask me. If she
gets through this evening without decking him I’ll be impressed. Why do men like that always think women like
her can’t wait for them to rip their clothes off and set to with vigour?”
Scarlet chuckled. “I expect Arnorsdottir’s used to it. She seems to have most of the male senators
on a leash, if you listen to the political hacks anyway.”
“She’s an intelligent woman and yet the
tabloids persist in talking about her looks and her love-life.” He turned and nudged his friend in the
ribs. “I’ve told you before that blonds
are always treated as morons and bimbos.”
“Is she a natural blonde?”
“Yes…”
“You had time to check?”
“Ha-de-ha-ha.”
Scarlet was actually giggling. “You and your proclivity for powerful women…”
“I don’t fancy her!”
“No?
Well, take my advice: sue your face for slander and book lessons in body
language, because it sure doesn’t look that way to me. But then, I have never understood this bond
of blondness… have I? Hmm?”
Blue was staring down into the
hall. There was considerable noise
muffled by the heavy wooden double doors.
As he watched they were flung open.
“The media have arrived. It seems
that the President wants to make some announcement when he presents the senator
with her gift.”
Scarlet nodded and watched as the press
gang came into the room and spread out around the diners, and between the
trestle tables and the doors, erecting floodlights and sound booms while the
journalists milled about seeking for the best possible angles and pictures. Additional lights were brought in and the
full panoply of the lights in the hall was switched on.
The elaborate candelabras on the tables,
with their slender white candles remained alight, although overshadowed by the
requirements for modern communication technology. Due to the time of year the modern central
heating was on and a splendid log fire roared in the stone fireplace behind the
dais. The temperature in the hall
started to rise.
Scarlet fanned his face with his
hand.
“It’s getting hot in here,” he
murmured. Blue nodded in agreement.
Finally the press were all assembled and
President Kamiński nodded to the toastmaster who called for silence.
The President stood and made a speech
that seemed to be very popular with the diners, for they cheered and applauded.
“Patriotism always goes down well,”
Scarlet muttered, “but I wish I knew what he was saying, all the same.”
Blue had thought the same but he had
taken action to find out. He had
contacted Spectrum’s local office to patch his communication system through to
the instantaneous translation provided by the World Government’s 24 hour
International News Channel.
He paraphrased for his companion.
“He’s saying the Triumvirate of Europe
are all jolly good fellows, World Government is a good thing and the World
President is a man amongst men.”
Scarlet chuckled. “Roberts will love that.”
“We are very happy to welcome to our
beautiful city, the equally beautiful World Senator Arnorsdottir… whose beauty
is as legendary as that of Gedania itself.” Blue rolled his eyes. “There’s more of the same,” he reported and
after a few minutes continued, “The Madame Senator is living proof of the
beauty of the Nordic races and the Baltic lands they inhabit. We welcome her to this historic city. For many centuries the Baltic has been the
source of a great and unique treasure, and the Nordic people have long known
the value of such marvellous bounty.”
“Who writes this drivel for them?”
Scarlet asked rhetorically.
“A few months ago the Baltic sea
released to the care of the people of Gedania a truly
rare and spectacular treasure.”
They both watched as a uniformed guard
of honour bought a large and ornate chest to the table and placed it before the
President.
“In this box is a millennium of treasure
– priceless treasure - from the seas,” Blue continued hesitantly as the
translation rolled on. “On behalf of the
people of Gedania and the country of Pomerania, I would ask World Senator Arnorsdottir to open
the casket and reveal to the world the magnificent bounty of the Baltic.”
“What is it?” Scarlet pondered
aloud. “Spanish doubloons pillaged from
pirates?”
“No idea,” Blue replied as they watched
the over-elaborate ceremony in which Kamiński handed the key to
Arnorsdottir, involving much ceremonial kissing on the cheek.
“I bet he copped a grope,” Scarlet
muttered, as the Senator broke free and turned her attention to the richly
decorated casket.
“She’ll probably up the WG’s charges for military support if he did,” Blue murmured
cynically, in response.
“She’s definitely your kind of woman,
isn’t she, Adam?” Scarlet teased.
With some difficulty Arnorsdottir got
the key to turn and there was a battery of flashes from the press cameras as
the lock snapped open.
Smiling for the cameras, she pushed the
domed lid back and looked into the velvet-lined interior.
“Hversu
falleg,” she breathed, and
drew out a heavy, lumpen stone. It was a dull orange in colour and rippled
under the lights as if it had cooled from a liquid. There was an explosion of flashguns as she held
it up for inspection.
“What’s
that?” Scarlet asked, frowning at the scene below.
“Amber,”
Blue replied, sounding impressed.
“Unpolished, unworked, natural amber. There must easily be a couple of kilos
there.”
“Her
official gift is a lump of rock? Big
deal.”
“Shh – the
translation’s back on. Senator
Arnorsdottir, please accept this as a token of our gratitude to the World
Government. We have hoped… hopes, that
you will agree to our proposal. This
magnificent amber was found on our shores and we intended to create from it
civic regalia; but before that is done, we would like you to select a design
for both the regalia and a piece of jewellery for yourself, to be crafted by
the best of our young designers. Will
you do this, Madame Senator, and earn our undying gratitude?”
“Of course I will, Mr President,”
Arnorsdottir replied in English. “The
World Government is honoured to be part of such a significant act in the
rebirth of Pomerania.”
The applause was deafening and many of
the guests got to their feet to cheer and stamp in their approval.
The casket was cleared away and the
amber laid on the table on an ornate silver salver for the press to photograph
and film it. While this was going on the
President outlined the terms of the competition to design the items to be made
from the stone.
“Sounds a rum deal to me,” Scarlet
said. “She gets to choose the winning
design and gets a geegaw for her pains.
Hardly worth all this razzmatazz.”
“Amber is a rare commodity and it has
always had special significance in the north,” Blue explained. “It is an honour for her to be asked, and the
jewel will be extremely valuable.”
“I’ll take your word for it; it’s a
funny old rock though.”
Blue leant his elbows on the banister
beside Scarlet and looked down at the milling pressmen interviewing the
President and the Senator. “Should we go
down?” he wondered aloud. “It’s getting
a bit of a rough house down there.”
“You go; I can keep watch from here – clear
sight lines,” Scarlet replied, patting the gun at his hip.
“S.I.G.,” Blue replied, and left him in
the gallery to return to the maelstrom in the hall.
Senator Arnorsdottir noticed him return
and gave him a friendly nod of acknowledgement as she dealt with the clamour of
the reporters and the determination of President Kamiński to put his arms
around her ‘for the photographers’.
Captain Blue moved closer, gently
pushing some of the more excitable reporters away from the senator and trying
to bring some order to the chaos.
“A picture with the amber!” someone
cried excitedly. “Let’s get a picture of
you both with the amber!”
“Well, I suppose that’d be okay – but
this is the last one, please, guys?” Arnorsdottir replied.
Blue cleared a pathway back to the dais
where the amber had been resting under the full glow of the TV lights and
flashguns. Glancing at it he thought it
looked almost gelatinous in the brilliant shimmer of the light reflected from
the silver salver.
As he pulled the salver towards the VIPs
he drew in a sharp breath at the unexpectedly hot metal.
Kamiński had put his arms around
Arnorsdottir and was planting another kiss on her cheek, grinning and hugging
her as he did so.
Blue turned to extricate his charge from
her over-enthusiastic host. As he did so
there was sudden flicker in the lights and the electricity failed. Some cameras were battery powered and their
lights still shone, along with the candles in the ornate candelabras. It took some time for everyone’s eyes to
adjust to the comparative gloom.
From his vantage point in the gallery,
Captain Scarlet had become more alert as the lights failed. He was watching for someone who might be
intending to attack the VIPs, but to his horror he saw two insubstantial green
rings of dull light appear out of nowhere and slowly travel across the hall to
where the amber lay.
There the rings halted and for a moment they
seemed to throb, then just as quickly and silently, they vanished, fading into
the invisible spectrum.
Scarlet came back to reality with a
start. He activated his radio cap.
“Blue, get them away from the amber –
quick. I saw Mysteron rings over
it. It must be dangerous!”
“Captain
Scarlet? What Mysteron rings? I didn’t see anything,” Blue said, although he trusted his
partner enough to try to move the VIPs away.
Scarlet was scouring the hall, looking
for some indication that the Mysterons were out for blood. Despite the power failure, no one had left
the hall and the press were milling about trying to repair their equipment or
interview anyone who might have anything at all to say about anything – or so
it seemed. Scarlet turned his attention
back to the dais and saw President’s aides prevent Captain Blue from
interfering as Kamiński advanced purposefully towards the amber.
“No!” Scarlet yelled as the President’s
hands closed around the stone.
But the expected explosion didn’t happen
and a frown appeared between Scarlet’s dark eyebrows as he continued to
watch. The President was saying
something and smiling broadly as he lifted it up.
There was a ripple of applause from
people closest to the dais, but Scarlet, scrutinising the President’s face, saw
a look of alarm and bewilderment cross Kamiński’s
features.
“What’s happening?” he called, but there
was no answer from his partner.
Down in the hall, Kamiński turned
and extended his hands towards Captain Blue.
To the American’s astonishment he saw that the President’s fingers were
buried to over the knuckles in a sticky resin and they were still sinking into
the apparently glutinous amber.
“Do something, Captain!” Kamiński
ordered, a fearful terror obvious in his voice.
Blue’s radio mic dropped down so that
Scarlet could hear the conversation.
“It’s remarkable, Mr President; it’s
almost as if the amber is melting in the heat.”
“It is not ‘almost as if’, Captain – it is
melting!” Kamiński exclaimed. “And
my hands are stucked in it. Get myself out – now!”
“Calm down, sir,” Blue pleaded. “There must be an explanation …” He hesitated
as he recalled Scarlet’s warning about the Mysteron rings. “We’ll get you out, sir.”
But Kamiński was not a man to wait
patiently and he started shouting for his aides to free him at once.
Unease began to spread from the crowd on
the dais around the hall, like ripples in a pool. The press, suddenly realising
there was a completely new, and more interesting, story happening before their
eyes, surged forwards to get a better view.
From the gallery Scarlet yelled, “Clear
the room! Open all the doors.”
Blue tried to keep order amongst the
curious guests and journalists, while offering reassurance to
Kamiński. “Don’t struggle, sir, and
we’ll get you out.” He turned to the security guards. “You heard Captain Scarlet! Get everyone out
of here,” he shouted.
The officials threw open the main doors
and tried to usher people out of the hall, but the journalists weren’t going to
leave in a hurry while a decent story was playing out before them and the
dinner guests were as unwilling to miss the excitement as the journalists.
Kamiński was getting more and more
hysterical as the amber continued to engulf his hands. His wife barged through the crowd and
grabbed his arm to try to pull him free, but it was no use.
“This is terrible,” Arnorsdottir gasped
to Blue as she grasped his arm and clung to it.
“Get the press out, find a doctor, immediately.”
“A craftsman might be better if they
have to cut his hands out,” Blue remarked, wrapping his arm protectively around
her shoulders, as the journalists pressed forwards to get a glimpse of the
President’s predicament.
“Calm down, sir.” This time Blue’s plea
was more of an order to the distracted President, but it was to no avail. Kamiński was now trying to shake the
amber from his hands while cursing loudly and fluently.
With the doors open and the big lights
off, the temperature in the hall was beginning to drop and Blue reported to
Captain Scarlet that the amber had solidified once more, imprisoning the
unfortunate man’s hands.
“This
has to be the work of the Mysterons,” Scarlet replied over the radio. “Surely the rock isn’t normally this – meltable?”
“Of course it isn’t,” Blue replied. “But if we can get the place cleared and calm
Kamiński down, it shouldn’t take long to find a solution. I hope.”
“What can we do?” Zofia Kamiński
cried, and throwing herself against Blue’s torso she beat her fists on his
chest, screaming, “Help him, Spectrum!” before bursting into tears and weeping
noisily.
“We’re trying to, ma’am,” Blue said
helplessly. Never at his best with weeping women, he was uncertain what to do
with Mrs Kamiński and his bewilderment showed in his face.
Senator Arnorsdottir stepped forward and
took hold of Zofia’s arm. “Come with me,
my dear; let Spectrum do their job,” she said firmly. To Blue’s relief and gratitude, Mrs Kamiński
did as she was told.
Suddenly, all eyes were on the President
as Kamiński screamed in horror.
“There is something biting me,” he yelled. “I can feel it! Help me - it is eating my hands!”
He extended his arms and as the
astonished crowd watched they saw tiny streams of blood seeping through the
minute cracks and air bubbles on the surface of the amber.
“Oh my God,” Arnorsdottir moaned, “I
think I shall be sick.”
In his agony Kamiński turned and
dashed his trapped hands against the table top, slamming the amber repeatedly
against the wood.
“Clear the hall!” Blue yelled again as
he strode towards the President.
Suddenly there was a loud crack – and
Blue thought the table must’ve split, but with a cry of relief Kamiński
raised his hands. The amber had split
and freed him, but the fingers on both of his hands were gnawed down to the
bones and blood was dripping from the mangled stumps. He screamed and dropped to his knees,
cradling his wounded hands to his chest.
To Blue’s anger a dozen flashguns went
off.
“Get those vultures out of here!” he
ordered and the guards moved forwards to start dragging the fascinated
onlookers out of the hall.
Mrs Kamiński went to her husband
and knelt beside him, keening mournfully as she rocked him in her arms.
“What the hell could do that to his
hands?” Scarlet shouted from the
gallery, but before Blue could answer, Senator Arnorsdottir gripped his arm
tighter and stretched one elegant hand towards the table.
“My God, what are those?” she gasped.
Emerging from the shattered shards of
amber were two strange creatures. They
were only about the size of mice, but their crumpled bodies were covered with
scales rather than fur. When they
straightened up and stood upright on spindly legs and feet with sharp, curved
talons, it looked to Blue as if their bodies were being filled out with the
blood they’d just consumed. Their flat faces were dominated by large eyes and
lip-less mouths full of prominent razor-sharp teeth, teeth that were all too
clearly stained with blood-red liquid.
As the astonished crowd watched, they unfurled long, leathery wings and
rose into the air, emitting high-pitched screeches.
Terrified screams broke out and the
crowd dispersed in a frenzy of fear, struggling to escape from the hall by any
way possible.
Blue pushed the senator behind him and
went for his gun, but in the confusion it had been dislodged from his holster
and he was weaponless. The screaming,
confused and frightened people surged for the exits as the strange creatures
fluttered overhead.
Suddenly, as if they had been given
orders, they locked onto the cowering figure of Valdis Arnorsdottir and both
made a diving attack at her.
Blue swung his free arm and made contact
with one of them, sending the creature spinning across the room. “Get out of here, Val,” he ordered, but she
clung to him, too frightened to move away.
Blue started to edge towards the door,
trying to provide her with cover, but their way was blocked by the frightened
crowd and in desperation, Blue shouted, “Scarlet, do something!”
Once the amber had shattered and the
strange ‘vampires’ – for want of a better name – had emerged from the shell,
Captain Scarlet had turned and rushed for the stairs. He did not reach the ground floor before he
found his way blocked by a surge of hysterical people trying to get up the
staircase. He spent some time ordering
them back, and then trying to shoulder them aside, but unable to get through
them, he was forced back to the gallery.
Once they felt comparatively safe in the
dark, overhanging gallery, the diners calmed down and their curiosity
reasserted itself, until Scarlet, annoyed at being crowded by the banister,
ordered them to stand back against the wall.
By leaning out dangerously over the
banister he could see that Blue, still protecting the senator, was now hemmed
in against the stone chimneybreast, with Senator Arnorsdottir cowering behind
him. He had armed himself with a
metal-framed fire guard embroidered with the city’s heraldic arms and a sturdy
iron poker – using them as a shield and a weapon against the continual attacks
of the vampires.
Surprised to see this apparently
eccentric choice of weapon, Scarlet glanced around and caught sight of the
pale-blue handle of Blue’s pistol lying under one of the chairs on the
dais.
Great, Scarlet thought, he’s lost his gun and if I fire the chances are I might hit Blue,
Arnorsdottir or any one of the silly people still in the hall.
He saw Blue take a swipe at one of the
creatures and miss, leaving himself open to attack by the other. Its assault knocked the radio cap from his
head and with a screech it tangled its vicious talons in Blue’s hair.
Blue had to drop the fireguard and poker
to untangle the creature and bat it away, which he did with some difficulty.
The animal drove its teeth into the unprotected flesh of its victim’s hands,
scraping the skin away and causing lines of red blood to swell out into the
open.
Almost as soon as he had freed himself,
Blue had to turn his attention to the senator, who was waving her arms to ward
off an attack by the other creature.
Blue stooped and grabbed the poker, and
with the hand-eye coordination that made him the expert pilot he was, he aimed
a blow at the vampire that connected and sent it spinning down into the burning
grate. Its leathery wings caught fire and
with an unearthly screech it was consumed in a matter of seconds.
Arnorsdottir threw herself into his
arms, sobbing with terror.
While he’d been watching this, Scarlet
had climbed onto the ornate pillar that supported the gallery, and shimmied down
far enough to be able to jump onto the trestle table.
The remaining creature was out for blood
and had spiralled up into the rafters to make a swooping dive at the prey that
had killed its mate. Blue thrust Arnorsdottir
behind him again and raised the fireguard to protect his head.
The creature swerved, screaming
frustrated defiance as it spiralled upwards again.
Still unable to get a safe shot at the
creature, Scarlet hollered: “Come on
then, you ugly bugger! Come and get me –
I’m going to pull your wings off, you dumb beast!”
He was waving his radio cap in his
hands, exposing his head to a possible attack, and he had rolled up the sleeves
of his uniform, exposing his muscular forearms.
“Come on then, if you’re hungry! Come and get some fine, English blood – red
blood! Come on – what’re you waiting
for?”
The vampire hesitated, as if weighing
its chances against the armed and undoubtedly dangerous victim of its first
attack, or the seemingly crazy creature with plenty of exposed flesh. Suddenly, it made a dive straight for this
new enemy and although Scarlet had just enough time to take aim, and his bullet
ripped through one of the flimsy wings, he had no chance to dodge its
attack.
The vampire’s claws clamped shut around
Scarlet’s head and its talons dug into his neck as its teeth started to flay
the skin from his face. Scarlet grabbed
it and tried to pull it off, but the more he tugged the deeper its talons buried
into his flesh and the greater was the risk of a major blood vessel being
severed. He felt a rough tongue lapping
at his blood as it started to trickle down.
“Paul!” Blue hurried to where his
partner was writhing on the trestle table a few feet away from the cowering Kamińskis.
Scarlet was still trying to tear the animal from his face with his bare
hands.
He wasn’t having much success and Blue
could see that the blood flow had increased and was now profuse enough to seep
onto the trestle table.
He looked around for a weapon and seized
a couple of the candles from a nearby overturned candelabrum, racing back to
the fireplace to light them.
He advanced on the struggling Scarlet
once more and shouted: “Paul, take your hands away – let go of it!” until
Scarlet either got the message or passed out, and let go of the dreadful
beast.
Blue moved to stand over his partner and
dropped hot wax from the candles onto the creature’s scaly body. It raised its head and screamed but did not
let go of its victim. Realising that he
had no option than to risk burning his friend, Blue applied the flames to the
edges of the tattered wings and – after what seemed an eternity – the animal
loosened its grasp of Scarlet’s head and turned to deal with its
tormentor.
Spitting and snarling, it threatened Blue
with its talons and teeth, but he was too far away and too wary to be
struck. He jabbed the candle flame
towards it again and the vampire backed off.
It tried to fly, but its wings were too
badly damaged for it to manage more than a few pitiful hops. Blue thrust the candle towards it again, all
too aware that there wasn’t enough flame to engulf the creature.
Suddenly he realised Valdis Arnorsdottir
was at his side. She handed him the iron
poker and he saw that the tip was red hot.
“Kill it,” she ordered.
“S.I.G.,” Blue replied and with one
thrust speared the creature on the end of the red-hot poker, pinning it to the
wooden table and watched its body frizzle into nothingness.
There was a murmur from the mesmerised
crowd and even a smattering of applause.
This brought Blue back to reality and he
glanced at his friend. Even in so short
a time the creature had succeeded in stripping all the skin from Scarlet’s
forehead and nose, as well as his eyelids and there was no doubt that under the
seeping, bloodied flesh, Scarlet was dead.
The shock, if not the actual loss of blood, was enough to be fatal.
“Get those bastards out of here!” Blue
roared to the bemused guards, and tried to shield his friend from the cameras
and gawpers. The remaining people were
manhandled out of the hall and the President and his wife were whisked away by
newly-arrived paramedics.
Eventually, there was only Blue and the
Senator left, standing by the bloody corpse.
“Is he dead?” she asked.
Long years of training and experience
had instilled Captain Blue with an automatic response to that question about
Scarlet. His unique capabilities were
top secret, and even a senator with rainbow class security clearance had no
right to be told of them.
“I don’t think so,” he replied, a little
shakily. “Cloudbase will send a recovery
medijet and he’ll be cared for in our sickbay.”
He realised his radio cap was missing and, out of habit, reached up to
brush his tangled hair back into its habitual fashion. When he drew his hand back he was surprised
to see blood on the fingers, as well as the backs of his hands, from the wounds
made by the creature’s talons. “Just let
me get my radio cap,” he said flatly.
Valdis Arnorsdottir was no stranger to
trauma; she sensed that the captain’s unnatural calmness was his reaction to
shock as much as her own uncontrollable shaking was.
“Let me,” she said, finding some relief
in the chance to be occupied, and went to recover the cap from where it had
rolled when Blue was attacked. She also
retrieved his and Captain Scarlet’s guns and handed them back to him. Her reward was seeing a more relaxed
expression flow into Blue’s face as things ‘got back to normal’.
When he had reported in and ordered the medical
support team, Captain Blue exhaled and his head sank down to his chest as his
broad shoulders drooped. The
adrenalin-fuelled tension dissipated from his body.
“He was so brave,” Arnorsdottir said,
glancing at Scarlet’s body. “I wish we
could have saved him.”
“Oh, don’t worry – I’m sure Captain
Scarlet will be right as rain in less than no time,” Blue said quietly. “Cloudbase medical can work wonders. I’m just so sorry he had to experience all
this.” He pulled himself together. “But, I am sorry, Senator; I should have
asked if you are all right?”
“Thanks to you and Captain Scarlet, I am
fine. It seems I was lucky to have been
escorted by Spectrum’s finest agents.
Thank you.”
“I didn’t do much,” Blue said
helplessly, “it was Scarlet who saved the day, as is so often the case.”
“You saved my life, that’s pretty
important to me. Between you, you have saved who knows how many people from
attack by those monsters. And now you
are both hurt.” She looked at Scarlet’s
ravaged face and at the sadness in Blue’s. “He is your friend, isn’t he?”
“We’re field partners and, yes, we are
friends.”
“You called him Paul, so I guessed as
much,” she explained. “And you called me
Val – back there when we were being attacked - so you can’t really refuse to
tell me what your name is now, can you, Captain?”
He gave her a wry smile. “Adam,” he said. “Adam Svenson.”
She stood on tiptoe and kissed his
cheek. “I owe my life to you, Adam
Svenson, and your friend. I shan’t
forget everything you and Spectrum have done for me today. You have a permanent supporter in the World
Senate, for what that is worth.”
He smiled. “These days, it can count for a great deal,
Senator. I look forward to working with
you on less… startling missions.”
She looked down at Scarlet. “With your courage and resourcefulness - and
my brains - I think the three of us could do a pretty good job of keeping these
Mysterons under control. Count on me,
Adam, I have faith in you and… Paul.”
“The fight against the Mysterons
certainly needs all the help it can get, Madame Senator.”
She frowned playfully. “Madame
Senator? Just when I thought we’d
got to the informal stage of our relationship… really, Captain.”
He smiled and looked away as he heard
the approach of the medijet.
“Will you be okay?” he asked, “Only I’d
like to go with him…”
“Of course; the only peril remaining for
me are the reporters and what I need to deal with them is my press
officer. I had better contact Futura and
then the cabinet members here to ensure that political stability and the rule
of law remains secure. Katania can rattle all the sabres it wants, as long as
they remain in their sheaths. I will
contact Colonel White with my report as soon as I can.”
“Thank you; I’ll let him know.”
“One day,” she said, as the medics rushed
in with a gurney and started to lift Scarlet into a thermal recovery bag, “I
hope to visit Cloudbase and meet you and your colleagues.”
He turned from watching them zip the
recovery bag and looked down into her attractive face. His heart skipped as he saw her eyes widen as
she returned his gaze. He felt blood
flushing into his cheeks and knew what he must do.
Reluctantly he said, “That’d be nice; my
wife and I will look forward to welcoming you there.” He saluted, not wanting to acknowledge the disappointment
he saw in her eyes at his words.
“Goodbye, Madame Senator, for now.”
She watched him walk out beside the
gurney and turned to survey the wreckage of the hall.
“A wife?” she murmured to herself. “Isn’t that just your luck, Valdis Arnorsdottir? You finally find a man you can feel…
comfortable with and he’s already married.
Oh well, there’s plenty of time for things to change and you’ve dealt
with bigger disappointment before… Now, better get started. Where’re my personal staff? There’s work to be done!”
Captain Scarlet’s
recovery took several weeks. He was up
and about in a matter of hours, but his face was a patchwork of scars and cuts giving
him the appearance, according to Captain Ochre, of a treasure map, with X
marking myriad spots.
While his normal appearance reasserted
itself, Scarlet stayed in sick bay, and spoke to his wife, the former Rhapsody
Angel, now on maternity leave in Winchester, on voice-only transmissions.
On his first evening back in the
Officers’ Lounge, his colleagues discussed what had happened in Gedania and since.
“What were those creatures that attacked
you?” Grey asked.
“Nothing like I’d ever seen before,”
Scarlet replied.
“There are fossils that resemble them,”
Blue explained, “they must be some sort of blood-sucking reptile. The teeth were designed to rip through tough
reptile hides and the saliva contained an anti-coagulant to keep the blood
flowing. They must’ve hooked themselves
onto passing dinosaurs and chowed down.”
“But you, Scarlet and President
Kamiński don’t look anything like dinosaurs,” Ochre remarked.
“The resin must’ve trapped them back in
the dinosaur age and the heat melted the amber enough to trap Kamiński’s hands.
Scarlet saw Mysteron rings go over the amber-”
“Yes, I did,” Scarlet confirmed,
swallowing the mouthful of cake he was devouring to speak up. “The Mysterons must have retrometabolised the
vampires and they promptly fed off his trapped fingers. When Kamiński broke the amber apart by
banging it on the table, the little buggers got out and were looking for more
blood. We must’ve seemed like a
ready-meal to them. No scales or tough
hides to cope with.”
“Shame they were both incinerated,” Grey
said. “Imagine what science could have
learnt from them.”
“It would have learned to wear thick
gloves and protective clothing,” Blue remarked with uncharacteristic
cynicism. “Did you ever see those old
movies about the guy that breeds dinosaurs from DNA trapped in amber and all
the trouble it caused? No, thank you;
let the Jurassic stay long buried.”
“You’re getting soft in your old age,”
Ochre teased; he was several months older than his compatriot. “Time was when you’d have been as keen as
Grey to see the little critters flapping about in a lab somewhere.”
“Well, I know better now. I don’t even want a pet triceratops anymore –
not even a small, cute one.”
His companions chuckled at that.
“What happened to Kamiński?”
Scarlet asked.
“They had to amputate one of his hands,
but they’re working on some computerised, bionic replacements for him. He’s still President and the Bereznians are
still complaining,” Ochre reported.
“You know, I don’t quite understand
about the amber melting,” Grey remarked thoughtfully. “I thought it took much higher temperatures
than even all those lights and candles and so forth would generate.”
“Yes, we wondered about that,” Scarlet
said, with a glance at Blue. It was true
that the matter had crossed his partner’s mind and that Blue had eventually
come up with a solution that satisfied him – at least. “We think that the Mysterons have been
planning this for some time – maybe they made sure that piece of amber was washed
up on that beach and the fisherman was willing to sell it to the state, rather
than on the open market – he’d have got more for it if he had done.”
“We had no threat though,” Ochre
remarked. “That’s not like them.”
“But maybe we did,” Blue replied. “Remember a few months ago, there was a
flurry of threats and one was ‘Spectrum will be trapped in the amber of the
moment’. At the time we thought it was
something to do with the faulty elevator seats from the Amber Room to the Angel
Jets, but I wonder.”
“Yeah,” Grey agreed slowly, “you might
be right. But three Angels were in
danger when the seats shorted out.”
“Yes, I know,” Blue agreed, recalling
all too vividly the fear that had gripped Symphony, Destiny and Melody Angels
at the time. “But there was never any
unexplainable fault traced to the system, was there? I know the Mysterons have manipulated
machinery at molecular levels before, but the Chief Engineer’s report said it
was a faulty gearbox. We chose to believe
it was more than that.”
“So, the Mysterons set the whole thing
up, you reckon? Including making the
stone melt at a less than volcanic temperature?” said Ochre.
Blue nodded. “It was hot in there, though, but you
couldn’t call it molten rock hot.”
“Hmm, they certainly do have powers we
can’t hope to understand,” Grey mused.
There was a sombre silence until Scarlet
asked:
“And the senator? What happened to her?” He cast the slyest of
glances at his partner.
“She gave you and Blue an A-star rated
report to the colonel,” Grey replied, as it became clear Blue wasn’t prepared
to reply. “And, when the finances were
under discussion, she talked the security committee into paying up for new
equipment.”
“I heard say she wants to visit
Cloudbase,” Ochre chipped in, “and given her talent for getting her own way, I,
for one, wouldn’t be surprised to see her here someday soon.”
“Won’t that be nice?” Scarlet said to
Blue, his expression one of exaggerated innocence.
“Can’t wait,” Blue responded sourly.
“She’s definitely a babe – I’ll be waiting
on the hangar deck to welcome her aboard, while you old married men can just
watch in envy,” Ochre exclaimed, with a merry wink.
Later when the two friends were alone,
Scarlet said, “You really liked Arnorsdottir, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but so what? I’m a much-married
man, as you’re forever reminding me.”
“True, but even much-married men are
allowed to flirt a little, now and again.”
Blue looked straight at his friend and
replied in a bleak voice, “Flirting wouldn’t be enough, for either of us, it
wouldn’t stop there. I know Valdis
doesn’t regard marriage as a bar to… other relationships, but I do. The colonel told me she’s scheduled to visit
in three weeks from now, and I’ve asked for leave then. I’m going to take Karen on a second honeymoon
to Hawaii.”
“Really?”
“Really. Now, if you don’t mind, the topic is closed.
Permanently.”
Captain Scarlet looked at his friend with a perceptive empathy and gave a
slight nod of understanding. “S.I.G.,
Captain Blue, whatever you say.”
Author’s Notes:
Inspiration comes from
many strange places and takes odd forms.
The inspiration for this story came from a pumpkin which is apt for a
Halloween story, I’m sure you’ll agree.
Pomerania
is a region on the south shore of the Baltic which forms the border between
Germany and Poland. In the Middle
Ages it was part of the Hanseatic League, and its centre is the city of Gdansk/Danzig. The Latin for Gdansk is Gedania. Throughout its history authority over the
area has been disputed, so it occurred to me that following the Atomic War of
2028-2034, it was plausible to suggest that Pomerania
might become independent once again, as a buffer between Bereznik
and the World Government’s member
states.
I used online translation
sites for the snatches of Polish and Icelandic in the text, so I apologise if
they don’t make any sense – as I don’t speak either language, I had to rely on
guesswork.
My thanks go to my
beta-reader, Hazel Kohler, who, although she may not be indestructible, is
certainly indefatigable. Without her
skill and patience, this would never have progressed from pumpkin patch to web
page.
I would also like to
extend my gratitude to Chris Bishop for her website and her friendship and the years
of pleasure they have given me.
Captain Scarlet and The
Mysterons™ was devised and conjured into being by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and
their dedicated teams of magicians.
They all played a significant part in my childhood and that of many
millions of children world-wide, and my final thanks go to each and every one
of them.
To my close friends in the
Scarletinis who despair of getting a story ready for
the annual challenges, I would say ‘don’t give up’. I had no hope of having a submission for this
year until last Sunday, when this germ of an idea blossomed into the tangled
web of implausibility you have just read – and I hope enjoyed.
Happy Halloween, everyone.
Marion Woods
Sunday 19th September
2010.
Other stories from Marion
Woods
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