A
"Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons"
story
"Had a nice stay on the
ground?"
At the helm of the Spectrum
Passenger Jet which was bringing them from Los Angeles back to Cloudbase,
Captain Blue addressed the question to Rhapsody Angel, sitting in the co-pilot’s
seat. She answered with a large smile.
“Indeed,” she said, “I don’t
often have occasion to go down there.
I was actually able to catch up with that old friend I worked with a couple of
years ago at the Federal Agents Bureau.
He has opened a private investigation office in LA. Looks like he’s very successful.”
“No kidding!” Blue replied. “I bet he asked you to go and work with
him?”
“I told him I had… other
career plans.”
“I’m sure he was crushed,”
Blue noted, smiling.
He and Rhapsody had been in
Los Angeles for the past week, both on official Spectrum business. After four days working with the
officers of Spectrum Los Angeles concerning the investigation of suspected
terrorist activities in the area – during which she had met with her old friend
– Rhapsody’s help had no longer been necessary; she then took advantage of the
free time to visit the city with her friend.
During that time, however,
Captain Blue had been busy checking on the security of the Los Angeles
Headquarters, and had not been able to free himself before the very day of their
return to Cloudbase. He and Rhapsody had not been able to see each other this
past week until the moment they boarded the SPJ.
“I noticed you had time to do some
shopping too,” he said, giving a sharp nod toward the cabin in the back.
“You must have bought something for everyone onboard Cloudbase.”
Rhapsody laughed. “Not quite!
But enough not to create any jealousy amongst the senior staff, anyway.”
She stole a glance in his direction.
“I know you wanted to buy something for Karen, too.
Were you able to tear yourself away from work for a few hours to do that?”
Blue grunted. “The last
three days in particular have been very busy.
I got about three consecutive hours for myself earlier today,” he admitted. “Thankfully, that was enough
to run off to the shops. When
Colonel White gave me this assignment, I made a call before leaving Cloudbase
and placed a special order. I hope
it has turned out right and that Karen will like it.”
Rhapsody raised a brow. “It will surprise me if she doesn’t like
it,” she retorted. “You know she
worships the ground you walk on. So whatever you buy her, she’ll adore it.”
“I just hope this thing will be the right size,” Blue retorted with a sigh. “If Karen had been able to come with
us…”
“And that would have spoiled
the surprise!” Rhapsody protested.
She smiled mischievously. “And
anyway, after the stunt you pulled in Las Vegas, I doubt the colonel would allow
you both anywhere near that city in any foreseeable future.” She chuckled. "He will want to avoid any further temptation for you to
elope.”
Blue grimaced. "We've
learned our lesson, don't worry.
Besides, there’s no need anymore, since he has more or less given us his
blessing to get married eventually."
“Perfect.
Because no-one on Cloudbase would miss that for the world, so you two had
better not try to secretly elope
again, if you know what’s good for you.”
“I’ll pass the message to
Karen,” Blue said with a short laugh.
“And when 'eventually' might
the wedding be?” asked Rhapsody.
Blue shrugged. "We haven't set a date yet…
And what about you?”
“What about me?”
“You and Paul. I seem to recall that you haven't set a date either," Blue
pointed out.
Rhapsody shook her head
slowly. "No… and neither have we talked to the
colonel. You know Paul's feelings
about this. While there is this
continuing war with the Mysterons…"
"Mmm-hmmm… I know. He wants
to wait until it’s finished. Has it
ever occurred to you that it might go on for years and years?"
"I know… but I’m hoping that
he might change his mind…” She
smiled. “…eventually.”
“Seems to me that makes a
lot of ‘eventually’, don’t you think?”
Blue replied, smiling in turn.
“I think that makes us
hopeful people, Captain.”
Blue laughed openly. “Sure does at that…”
A beeping sound coming from
the control panel attracted their attention, and they looked ahead; through the
cockpit windshield, they could see their destination, growing bigger as they
approached it.
“Cloudbase in view,” Blue
announced, flicking up a switch.
“Auto-pilot deactivated. Taking
back control of the plane.”
“S.I.G.,” Rhapsody answered,
taking the same official tone, and checking the information on the computer. “We’ll touch down in about… five
minutes. Contacting Cloudbase Control Tower…”
“It’ll be good to be back
home,” Blue muttered, while Rhapsody was preparing to make the call. “I wonder what the others have been up
to while we were gone… I heard it
was pretty quiet up there…”
“It’s difficult to imagine
Cloudbase being ‘quiet’ at all,” Rhapsody retorted.
“Especially with Captain Ochre and Captain Magenta probably up to their
usual tricks… If you know what I
mean.” She spied Blue’s knowing
smile just as she was making the call to the Control Tower to announce their
arrival.
That’s certainly true,
mused Blue.
Life on Cloudbase is ANYTHING but quiet…
* * *
Upon seeing his friend and
colleague Captain Magenta enter the Officers' Lounge, Captain Ochre raised his
head, his eyes momentarily leaving the chess board set on the table between him
and Captain Grey. In the back of
the lounge, Captain Scarlet barely glanced over the top of his newspaper to see
who the new arrival was, before going back to his reading.
“Hey, Pat… What have you got there?”
Captain Magenta had a large,
multicoloured box stuck under his left arm; hearing Ochre's call, he strode
toward him, a broad grin on his lips.
“I’ve got something to show you, guys.
Fresh from this morning’s shuttle from London.”
He sat down and put the box on the table, right next to the chess board, almost
on top of it. That made Grey turn
to him in annoyance.
“Hey! Be careful where you put that! You almost knocked the pieces down…”
“Forget your
chess board, Grey,” Magenta retorted with a dismissive shrug. “That is so
boring… here is something much more interesting.”
“How can you
know chess is boring if you never play?” Grey asked with a frown. “You’re a philistine, Magenta.”
“Chess is all
about strategy, and defence, and taking your opponent right where you want him
to go,” Scarlet added from behind his newspaper.
“It’s a good exercise in our line of work.”
Magenta
rolled his eyes. “It might be
good for you, Paul, but for these two…”
Scarlet lowered his newspaper in time to see Magenta shake his head
pathetically, turning to face both Ochre and Grey. “I swear, you two are
becoming more and more like Scarlet and Blue when you’re playing with that
board. And that’s starting to worry me… ”
“Hey!”
Scarlet protested, putting the paper aside and getting to his feet. “Whatever do
you mean?”
“Especially
coming from you, Rick,” Magenta continued, without taking notice of Scarlet’s
protests. “Brad I can understand…
We know what to expect from him.”
“What do you
mean by that?” Grey retorted in a warning tone.
“That I am boring and predictable?”
Scarlet, who
had joined the three of them, cleared his throat, but kept silent. Grey stared at him, before fixing Ochre and Magenta with a
look of enquiry. He was somewhat
annoyed that none of his colleagues would answer his question. Instead, Ochre had turned with interest
to the box that Magenta was opening.
“Oh, that’s grand! So it’s
arrived?”
“What’s arrived?” Grey asked, unsure whether he should feel more
frustrated at being ignored – or that his friends should be more interested in
the contents of that big box. They
watched in curiosity as Magenta, his smile becoming broader, almost dramatically
took a large object out of the box. He handed it to Grey, who started turning it around in his
hands.
“Now, if you
want a strategy game, so much more exciting than chess, I’ve got just the
thing.”
Grey stared
at the object for a second, before lifting a brow.
“Electronic goggles?” he asked Magenta.
“More than
that,” Ochre retorted. He fished
out another pair of goggles from the box, and passed it along to Scarlet,
standing beside him. “Those are state-of-the-art, the finest
piece of equipment in the ultimate in 3D digital entertainment.”
“I see.” Grey
exchanged glances with Scarlet, who shrugged.
In fact, the only thing that both could see was that Ochre also knew what all
this was about. Unlike themselves.
Grey sighed
deeply. “I know I don’t usually strike you as being the most computer-minded person onboard, but I can recognise what they are –
do I have to remind you that all of us
had to train with computerized flight simulators – and in my case,
sea-navigation simulators – for the different aspects of our past or present
jobs?”
“Gee… For a guy who usually doesn’t talk that
much, Grey, you sure can string mean sentences together when you want to.”
“Oh, stop
pestering me, Ochre,” Grey retorted with obvious annoyance.
“Now, would you care to tell me what
this
is all about?”
“Tell us,” Scarlet corrected, walking around the group to sit next to
Grey. “I am
quite curious to know what this is all about, too.”
“Rick told
you,” Magenta replied patiently.
“It’s the state-of-the-art in 3D digital entertainment.”
He took the lid of the box onto his knees to show it to Grey and Scarlet,
as if it was a large sign. The two
men frowned deeply. On the
cardboard cover was a colourful drawing of bearded, fur-wearing Viking warriors,
all armed with swords or axes, battling with each other in a snowy background
setting.
“Twilight of
the Gods… The ultimate battle against the Ice Giants,”
Grey read in a mumble. “It’s
a computer game?”
“It’s a 3D
role-playing game,” Magenta specified.
“You put those goggles on and, it’s like you’re there, in the middle of it.”
“Thank you, I
know what a 3D game is. I’ve played some of them already.”
“I’m sure
you’ve never played one like this.
The graphics are so real, you would BELIEVE you’re really in those battlefields,
and that the people you’re talking to are as real as yourself. As for the feel – it’s like you’re really holding an axe to
cut your enemy open.”
Scarlet
raised an eyebrow. “Why would I want to cut an enemy open when I can blast him
with a gun?”
Ochre rolled
his eyes. “The real soldier talking. I knew it,
you’ve got no imagination.” He
ignored Scarlet’s indignant look and pointed a finger at Grey. “That goes for
you too.”
“”I’ve got as
much imagination as both of you,” Grey defended himself. One look toward Magenta
told him that he shared their colleague’s view. That made him frown. “Except I use it for far less
trivial things than you.”
“Come on,
don’t you know how to have fun?”
Grey did
not deign to answer that. Ochre for
his part was flipping through the pages of a thick user’s manual. Magenta pointed to a note on the cover, attracting his friend’s
attention to it.
“Read that. It’s really interesting.”
Ochre nodded
slowly. “For the full version, and better
effects, this very special strategy game should be played inside an FX Room…” He shrugged and threw the book back into
the box. Scarlet reached for it and
started flipping the pages in turn. “Too bad we don’t have that kind of thing
around. This game will really be appreciated
only in games arcades.”
“That’s where
you’re wrong,” Magenta retorted with a new smile.
“You know Lieutenant Bromwell, in Engineering?”
“Yeah – the
guy’s who’s in charge of the Room of Sleep.
What does he have to do with this?”
“Well, hear this: before joining Spectrum, Bromwell was a
video game designer – one of the best in the field. He worked with the company
which created the FX Room.” He turned to Grey and Scarlet to explain: “FX Rooms were created especially for
very sophisticated 3D games.
They’re pretty much only available in games arcades.
You go into the room, you see, and…”
“I know what
an FX Room is, Pat,” Grey cut in.
“I know too,”
Scarlet added, not wanting to be left out.
“It’s the same as those goggles, but on a larger, and more realistic,
scale.”
“Okay, so from what
Bromwell’s told me, he was working on a similar type of 3D role-playing game to
this one, a few years ago, and had adapted it to work in an FX Room.
That was before he branched out and came to work exclusively for Spectrum
- where he was hired, with a team of engineers, to work on the Room of Sleep
concept.”
“Yeah? So?”
Magenta sighed. “You were right, Rick.
No imagination whatsoever…” He
stopped upon seeing Grey’s warning frown.
As for Scarlet, he didn’t seem to be too concerned by the comments. He looked far too occupied reading the
contents of the book he had taken from the box earlier. “So Bromwell told me he would be able to
use this program here and combine it with the Room of Sleep’s electronic
mechanism so it would induce in the players a sense of near authenticity in the
game’s virtual world.”
“In plain English?” Grey
asked with an impassive expression on his face.
“That means that the virtual
reality in which the players will find themselves will feel totally real. The
Room of Sleep could be used as an FX Room, simply put.”
“Uh-uh. I got that, okay,” Grey said with a
quiet nod. “I’m not totally stupid. But there’s something that is bothering
me. As you two well know, the Room of Sleep
is programmed to induce sleep, by using lights, sounds, music, and low frequency
electromagnetic waves – directly to the brain.” He took the small disc he found inside the box and showed it
to Magenta and Ochre. “So… erm!…
isn’t it a little risky to feed this kind of program directly into one’s brain?”
“Why do
you think Spectrum hired Bromwell to perfect the Room of Sleep idea to begin
with?” Magenta reiterated. “It’s
because the mechanism behind the Room of Sleep is pretty much the same as for an
FX Room. An FX Room also uses electromagnetic
waves directly to the brain – except the user is awake, and not asleep – and
instead of being induced to sleep, they are plunged into a new virtual reality
in which they can live out their fantasies.
So Bromwell only has to cut the sleep-inducing program, introduce this one and
we’re in business.”
Scarlet
was keeping silent. He had left the
reading of his book and was now totally involved in
Magenta’s explanation, his blue eyes reflecting the obvious fascination
and interest he was feeling about it all.
The same couldn’t be said of the more cautious Grey, however.
“Okay… I’ll
buy that. Another question, please?”
“You’re very
inquisitive. What now?”
“What makes
you believe you will be allowed to use the Room of Sleep as an FX Room?”
“Bromwell IS
responsible for the Room of Sleep.
He’s already given his agreement.”
“You think
the colonel would approve?”
“Oh, lay OFF,
Grey!” Magenta almost snapped. “The
colonel’s bound to approve; it sharpens our wits and sense of strategy.”
“It’s a
goddamn game!”
“Yeah, so is this,” Magenta pointed out, gesturing
towards the chess game.
“It’s similar
to a war game,” Ochre interjected. “Now, isn’t that enough to justify its
use? It’s like we’d be doing an
exercise.”
“Think of it as a
simulator,” Magenta added quickly.
“Who knows, it could also be accepted as an official training session for all of
us?”
“Doing battle
with a bunch of Ice Giants, using axes and swords?
I hardly think so!” Scarlet now
expressed his opinion, but both Magenta and Ochre could see that he was
contemplating the possibilities presented by the game.
He was looking down pensively at the book he was still holding. He patted Grey’s shoulder. “You know, as strange as it may sound,
these two clowns may actually have a point, Brad.”
“Thank you,”
Ochre said with a broad smile. It disappeared suddenly, to be replaced by a
frown. “Who are you calling ‘clowns’?”
Scarlet
ignored him, and continued addressing Grey:
“If this… experiment… of theirs is conclusive… and if Bromwell is as adept with
computer games as Magenta pretends…”
“I don’t
pretend anything,” Magenta cut in
suddenly. “Bromwell is a genius.”
“Then maybe
he can create some kind of a program especially made for Spectrum to use in…
training sessions?” Scarlet continued with a meaningful smile.
“Are you
serious about this, Scarlet?” Grey asked with a frown.
“Think of the
possibilities, Brad. I think
there’s no harm in trying it out and seeing what can be done with it. Besides… Battling ‘Ice Giants’ might
prove interesting.” He showed him the book and patted it.
“I’ve been reading the game backgrounds and the characters’ bios. There’s a lot in there which is
relatively similar to that book on Norse mythology that Adam lent me to read a
few weeks ago. Could actually be
fun…”
“You’re saying you will try
this with us?” Ochre asked with a
raised brow.
“Well, I
would say I’m rather curious to see how it goes.”
“And I’m
saying that we should talk to the colonel about this,” Grey added quickly. He
seemed a little concerned at the direction the conversation was now taking. He knew all too well how impetuous
Scarlet could be. Fortunately,
Scarlet’s next statement made him breathe a sigh of relief.
“Of course,
we’ll have to ask the colonel,” the English captain said with a vigorous nod. “After all, we wouldn’t want to
have these two charged with unauthorised use of Spectrum equipment now, do we?”
“Would we do
that?” Ochre asked, twitching his brow.
His secret question was, of course, to know if
Scarlet
would.
Scarlet put
the book back into the box, collected his cap, and rose to his feet. “Come on, let’s go and see him now.”
“You mean,
right away?”
“That’s what
‘now’ usually means, Rick. Yeah,
right away. And if you present him with the same
arguments you just presented to Grey and me, then maybe – just maybe! – he’ll
agree that you can conduct that game – sorry, that experiment! – of yours! And
of course, I’ll be there with you to give you my entire support.”
Ochre and Magenta smirked
broadly, getting to their feet. They looked down at a brooding Grey. “And what about you, Brad?” Magenta asked hopefully. “Are you
coming along? You know, the colonel
values your judgement very highly.
If you’re there to support us as well…”
“Don’t you think we’ll look
like a delegation?” Grey gave a deep sigh, and then got to his feet, picking up
his cap from the table. “All right, I’m coming along…
I’m also curious to see what the old man will think of your idea.”
“What would we do without
you, Brad?” Ochre asked with a grin.
“You would
get in trouble, that’s what you’d do,” Grey mocked them.
“Now, let’s go, and don’t forget the whole contents of that box, Pat.”
Magenta
nodded, and while the others walked to the door, he leaned down to gather all
the objects into the box, before putting the lid on and hurrying to join the
others who were waiting for him at the door.
All four of them left the
Officers’ Lounge to go to the Control Room, to ask for an audience with Colonel
White.
* * *
That was the
sensation Captain Blue first felt upon slowly recovering his senses. Then
through the cold, he felt the shooting pain all over his body, and the heaviness
in his head. Snow and icy winds
were lashing at him, filling his ears with an incessant and unnerving wail. He moved and groaned, feeling the pain
once more; with a supreme effort, he tried to ignore it and rose to his knees. The snow already covering him slid down
to the ground on which he was lying.
He looked around in confusion, his eyes barely able to focus.
There was
nothing to see but a vast, white-covered area, stretching towards a faraway wood
– he could see the outlines of trees in the distance.
It was difficult to know if it was night – it was dark enough, but then
that could just be the effect of the falling snow…
It was all so
confusing…
Blue tried to
recall his last conscious moments, before waking up in the snow. His head hurt as he reached for the memories, which seemed to
be immersed deep in a very distant, foggy dream.
Cloudbase…
The SPJ was approaching Cloudbase…
We had started the landing manoeuvre…
What happened?
Did we miss the runway?
That didn’t
make sense… They couldn’t possibly
have missed the runway and fallen to crash to the ground. They wouldn’t have survived…
Besides, Cloudbase was over the Pacific Ocean… Nowhere near any place with this kind of weather, this much
snow…
Where the HELL are we?
he repeated
inwardly.
He literally
sprang to his feet at the thought of the young woman.
“RHAPSODY!” he called loudly.
The
all-too-prompt movement and the desperate shout sent a wave of nausea through
him and pain reverberated inside his skull. His vision blurred and he fell to
his knees again, groaning. His hand
reached for his throbbing head and his fingers delicately felt a huge bump he
had on his temple. He grunted and brought his hand forward
to see blood covering his fingers…
… And at the
same time, he noticed the large, finely chased, golden bracelet encircling his
wrist.
He stared at
it in puzzlement, and when he reached with his other hand to touch it, he saw
that his other wrist had the same kind of bracelet.
The sleeves weren’t of his uniform, but made out of a thick, brownish
wool; he stroked the rough fabric, going up his arm to his shoulder, and then
looked down at himself with astonishment.
He wasn’t wearing his blue uniform tunic anymore, but some kind of
leather overall, laced up in front, and worn over the warm woolly vest. The fabric was thick and hard, giving
the impression of a solid, protective cuirass, and was adorned with white fur
around the waist and shoulders, and pieces of metal hanging in front of his
chest.
What the Hell…
“What is
going on here?” he mumbled, his teeth chattering because of the cold. He could no more explain why he was dressed like that than
his presence in this place. He
didn’t remember getting here… he didn’t remember having changed into these…
outlandish… garments.
He looked
around, with uncertainty. No SPJ in view… no wreckage of any kind… Only darkness, snow… winds lashing furiously into him. The woods in the distance… Nothing else. He shivered anew. His mind couldn’t conceive how he could have got there.
A faint moan
from nearby nearly made him jump and he looked in the direction it seemed to
come from. About two metres from
him, he could see a hump in the snow, from which emerged a slender, naked arm. A
woman’s arm. And the new groan
he heard was a woman’s groan. His
eyes opened wide. He could see her
move…
“Rhapsody…” With a pounding heart, Blue paddled on
his hands and knees into the thick snow towards the arm, towards the young woman
he knew was lying there, under the snow.
When he reached her, he hurriedly brushed away the snow covering her.
Her face appeared, and he lifted her to cradle her in his arms.
She let out a louder groan of pain.
Blue noticed
her pale face and the large bruise on her forehead.
Her eyes were closed and she muttered something when he tried to wake her
up. He looked down with puzzlement
at her attire – as bizarre as his own, made out of fur, leather and wool… Except
that her clothing seemed to be of more expensive quality than his own. The wide belt she was wearing was
obviously covered with gold, and hanging from her neck was a large, richly
decorated medallion. There was a
very large white pelt around her shoulders, and Blue quickly wrapped it round
both of them, in order to protect them from the
lashing winds. He held the young
woman close to him, to share warmth. In doing so, he uncovered something big
that was previously hidden by the fur, and that Rhapsody had been lying on – and
nearly gave a double take when he saw the head of a grey horse lying in the
snow.
The animal
was obviously dead, not moving at all, its tongue sticking out from its mouth
through the bit between its teeth.
It had a bridle, and a full harness, completed by a fur saddle that was hanging
loosely on its back. Blue could see
large, deep lacerations on the horse’s rump and side.
As if the mount had been attacked by vicious predators.
Just as Blue
came to that conclusion, he heard howls in the distance.
Deep and sorrowful, that sent shivers down his spine, almost despite
himself.
At the same
instant, he felt a violent headache assaulting him.
Images flashed in his mind in furious sequence. He almost lost hold of Rhapsody, before
bringing her closer to him, groaning.
He was riding the horse… with
Rhapsody. There was the feeling of impending
danger… Wolves, coming from the blizzard, attacking them. The horse went down… Trying to protect the young woman, he
slashed through the wolves with…
…His sword?!
He was wielding a sword?
That didn’t make any sense!
Those… memories… they couldn’t be real! They were as absurd as these clothes
they were wearing… and this place they were stuck in.
We were approaching Cloudbase…Rhapsody and me. We were coming back from Los Angeles. I was piloting the SPJ… We contacted the Control Tower and we
received the green light. We were
making our approach… All was going well… And suddenly, we experienced trouble…
We made an emergency landing…
That’s what
had happened. Blue remembered that, but couldn’t recall the actual images in
his head. But beyond that, he
didn’t know anything at all. What
could have necessitated that emergency landing, what happened afterwards, how
they had survived… Nothing. There
was a total blank in his head.
We must have been shaken up pretty badly during the
landing. We were hurt…
“Rhapsody…
can you hear me? Please, wake up… I
think I’m going mad…”
He heard her
whimper faintly and her eyelids fluttered.
She was obviously making an effort to answer his call.
When her blue eyes finally opened and she looked groggily up at him, he
offered a relieved and hopeful smile.
“Thank God,
you’re alive…”
“A-Adam?” she
slurred tiredly. “W-what happened?
C-cold…” Her brow creased and she
looked around in confusion. “Snow…?”
She winced and shivered violently, and Blue brought her closer to him,
wrapping the white pelt tighter around them.
“Shhh… Don’t try to move. I think you have a concussion…”
He glanced about, suspiciously.
“…And I may have one myself…”
“W-what’s
going on? Where are we…?” Her voice slurred into nothingness and Blue saw her close her
eyes. By the sigh he heard coming
from the young woman, Blue realised she had lost consciousness. He made sure she was all right by
checking the pulse in her neck. It
was beating strongly, if a little erratically.
“I wish I
knew,” he murmured in answer to her question, even though she might not hear
him. “None of this makes any sense at all. If I wasn’t so cold and hurt, I would
say I’m dreaming all this… Or that
I am going mad. Of course, the fact
that you’re seeing it all as well proves that I’m not crazy, fortunately…”
Howling
interrupted the course of his thoughts and he raised his head in the direction
from which it was coming. It seemed
to be closer than previously, and to Blue, that sounded ominous.
He looked down at the horrible wounds on the horse's rump and shivered. He did hope it was all a dream, that
this howling was nothing but a figment of his confused imagination, but it
seemed far too realistic for him to dismiss it.
Just like the rest of what was going on. If there were wolves around – wolves hungry enough to attack
a horse and to kill it – it was far too dangerous for both himself and Rhapsody
to stay here in the open.
"We’ve got to
find a shelter," he breathed, looking around desperately, as if his wish would
make one appear out of thin air. Of
course, nothing of the kind happened, and his hopes stayed unanswered. On the contrary, he heard a deep throaty
growl coming from his left and his head snapped that way, tensely.
At first,
through the heavy falling snow, he could see nothing at all.
Narrowing his eyes, he looked attentively – and finally came to
distinguish a number of red, bright dots seemingly burning into the darkness…
He suddenly realised those were intense red eyes,
looking directly at him…
His heart
nearly missed a beat when he saw the red eyes approaching so very slowly – and
five big wolves, their dark backs covered with snow, barely visible a few
seconds before, appeared before his horrified eyes, with their lips curled on
their bared yellow fangs, staring at him and the young woman he was holding, in
such a way that obviously meant they fully intended to make them their next
meal.
Blue kept his
eyes fixed on them, as they trotted around him, making a large circle that was
slowly shrinking… One of them
snapped furiously. Blue had made a
supreme effort not to move – but it was hard trying to ignore the danger those
fierce beasts represented.
“Easy now,”
Blue murmured in a soothing tone.
“I guess you want the horse, fellows…
Plenty of meat for you all… You
don’t need either the lady or me…”
In answer,
one of the wolves snapped at him and made a daring step towards its prey. It stopped just short of reaching them
and stepped back. Blue had flinched
this time and pushed himself away from the approaching fangs, holding the
unconscious Rhapsody closer to him, his free hand nervously groping along the
surface of the thick snow behind him.
His fingers encountered something solid and cold. He surreptitiously looked over his
shoulder. Through the snow, he
perceived the flash of metal. The handle of a sword...
Oh God, so I didn’t dream these memories?
He didn’t
have time to elaborate on this, as suddenly, the closest of the wolves charged
at them. Instinctively, Blue’s fingers wrapped
around the sword handle and he raised it.
He winced under the unexpected weight of the weapon as he slashed it in the
general direction of the attacking beast.
It was pure dumb luck that he actually succeeded in striking it in
mid-jump. The razor-sharp blade cut
right through the wolf’s breast, causing a geyser of blood that spilled over
Blue and Rhapsody. The beast gave
only one brief yelp of pain as it fell to the ground.
Stunned by
the rapidity of what just happened, Blue looked down at the dead wolf lying only
inches away from him, turning the snow red with its blood – the same blood that
was covering both Blue and Rhapsody and that seemed to render the other wolves
frenzied with rage. Keeping the
Angel pilot close to him, Blue raised the sword again, threatening the beasts
with it. The first kill was a
stroke of luck, he knew that, but he was determined to defend his and the young
woman’s life dearly.
“Stay back,”
he warned ominously.
He really
didn’t expect the wolves to listen to him, of course.
They were stepping closer to their prey. Blue drew a deep breath when one of them suddenly leaped
forward, causing the others to follow in its steps.
Blue braced himself for the attack.
As the first
wolf was making its last jump to reach its prey, a whistling sound was heard
through the wind, immediately followed by a high-pitched whine coming from the
beast; it fell on its side in the snow, right in the path of its brothers who
suddenly stopped their assault to sniff in incomprehension at their fallen
comrade. Blue was staring in wonder at the thing that he could see protruding from
the dead wolf’s side.
A feathered arrow.
As soon as
Blue had made this observation, a swarm of new arrows suddenly seemed to fall
from the sky and hit the other beasts, taking them all by surprise. Amongst a concert of howls, whimpers and
whines, the wolves fell back from their prey, albeit with obvious reluctance. One of them attempted a new dash at
them, but a wall of arrows fell in front of it, narrowing missing their target. The wolf snarled angrily and backed
away.
Distant
shouts coming from behind made Blue turn around; through the falling snow and
semi-darkness, he could see a group of human and horse shapes swiftly coming
down the snow-covered hill, yelling and gesticulating wildly. He couldn’t make out what they were shouting, but they were
obviously trying to scare away the wolves.
And it was working.
Narrowing his
eyes, Blue watched the rapidly approaching group.
Their features became more distinct as they grew nearer. Blue blinked several times, unsure if he
was seeing straight. All of them
were dressed in furs and leather, and were holding ancient weapons – not only
the bows and arrows that they were presently using against the wolves, but
swords, battleaxes and shields – and they were wearing sturdy metal helmets,
glittering against the snow, adorned with high horns or wings.
Like… Vikings?
Blue didn’t
have time to wonder if he were truly going mad or not; with growing concern, he
saw the band of howling men moving towards him and Rhapsody, waving their
weapons in a threatening way. They
were strikingly fearsome, and the alarmed Blue felt his heart miss a beat at the
thought that they might now attack him.
The one running in front was coming fast, bellowing his heart out, his heavy
furred cape flapping in the wind, striking the air with the heavy, short, but
terrifying-looking club he was holding in his left hand.
He was now so close that Blue could see the foam dripping on his dark
beard, the fierce expression on his face, the glitter in his dark eyes, which
seemed to reflect a madness beyond them.
In defence, Blue raised his sword…
And stopped.
He frowned in
disbelief, as he thought the approaching ‘Viking’ was familiar.
“B-Brad?” he
murmured.
The Viking
didn’t answer – probably he didn’t hear him; he drew level with Blue, but didn’t
stop running, passing by the crouched man and the unconscious woman to run
toward the fleeing wolves, shouting curses and threats in a furious, throaty
tone:
“Come back here, spawns of evil!
We have a score to settle and tonight is the night I am going to make you
pay!”
Blue opened
eyes wide with surprise. He barely recognised Captain Grey’s voice, but he was
sure it was his friend’s. Except –
there was a strange, lilting accent to it that wasn’t Grey’s at all.
“Come back, you cowards!
And I will cut you open and spread your innards onto the snow and give
them to your hateful sire to eat …”
“Let them go, Tyr. There will be another day to wage battle against these
beasts.”
The new
voice, coming from behind Blue, made him turn in astonishment.
It had the same throaty accent he had heard from the first man. Standing over him was another man, with
long red hair, emerging from under a horned helmet, and a long, full moustache
falling on each side of his mouth.
Under thick, shaggy eyebrows, there were two brown, twinkling eyes that
were looking down at him with concern.
It took a few
seconds for Blue to recognise the eyes and he gasped the name, almost in an
undertone. “Rick…?”
The man
tilted his head to one side, staring at Blue with probing eyes.
“You are safe now, brother… Do not concern yourself anymore with
those blood-thirsty devils.” He
crouched near Blue and his hand reached for the sword the blond man was still
warily holding. “You do not need this anymore.
Give it to me.”
The
red-haired man had to force Blue’s fingers open, so tightly were they holding
the sword.
He gave a comforting, almost contrite nod.
“Do
not worry. I will give you your sword back later
on. I mean you no dishonour.”
The words
made little sense to Blue at all, but he could see the red-haired man wearing
his friend’s face only meant to reassure him.
As soon as he let go of the handle, all the tension he was under took its toll
on Blue and he fell backward, suddenly victim of a violent dizzy spell. His vision was blurred, and his mind was
fogging, unable to understand what was going on. The red-haired warrior gently held him up with one arm, while
passing the sword along to another warrior behind him.
“Easy now, brother…”
he said in a
soothing tone that contrasted with the roughness of his accent.
“We will take care of everything now…”
“Rick,” Blue croaked in a faint voice, trying to
focus on the known face looking down at him.
“Wha-what’s going on…? Why
are you dressed like this?”
Either the
man didn’t hear him out or didn’t understand him.
He turned toward the men standing behind. “Relieve him of his precious load. Gently.
She seems hurt…” He
looked down at Blue again, as two men were carrying out his orders by carefully
taking Rhapsody from Blue’s arms.
The latter didn’t stop them, as they obviously didn’t mean her any harm. But even if he had tried, he was
presently too weak to do anything.
“Were you attacked by the wolves,
brother, or were they seeking to finish the job started by someone else?”
Blue shook his head in
confusion. “I don’t know, I… Rick, I… I don’t
feel so good.”
“Aye. You are wounded in the head. That
is why you are confused. But do not worry, we will get you to
Aesgard and you will get better.”
“Aesgard…?”
murmured Blue, his eyes drooping with tiredness.
“Home, my brother Hodur, whence you have been gone too long in
the quest for the missing Valkyrie.”
“What…?”
Blue didn’t have time to ask
more of what the man, who looked and sounded so much like Captain Ochre, meant. The latter was getting to his
feet, and helping him up. Blue
gasped in pain, as a sudden throbbing awoke in his side.
He felt as if he was losing consciousness and would have fallen down
again, if the red-haired warrior had not been holding him up, with the help of
another man. The red-haired
Viking raised his head and shouted in the direction of the still vociferous
warrior, who had pursued the wolves.
“You had better come back here,
Tyr, before they REALLY turn around.
We are leaving right away. If you
do not come, we are leaving you behind. You might regret having to face these
devils alone.”
The man called Tyr – who
bore a striking resemblance to Captain Grey - turned around. “THEY might regret having to face ME, if they were to come back!” he replied in a furious tone, nevertheless
turning on his heels to join the group.
The red-haired warrior had
left the haggard Blue in the care of two other men, who gently took him toward a
make-shift wooden stretcher, covered with furs, that was dragging behind a
horse, attached to the saddle.
Quite unable to resist, and actually thankful that someone should take care of
him, Blue let them lie him down on the travois and cover him with warm furs. He was by now shivering from head to
toes, and his ribs were hurting like hell when he took too deep a breath. He noticed that Rhapsody had been laid
on a similar travois, attached to another mount, and that she was being equally
tended to. She was still
unconscious, and Blue wasn’t that far from losing his senses himself.
“Perhaps you are afraid of these beasts, my
lord?” While desperately trying
to decide whether he should fall asleep or fight to stay conscious and attempt
to figure out what was going on, Blue slowly turned his attention to where the
loud voice had made itself heard.
The dark-haired, club-carrying warrior was standing in front of the red-haired
man, apparently defying him.
“You know better than to ask that
question,”
the red-hair
warrior snapped back with an obvious edge to his tone.
“Be careful,
Lord Tyr, or I may forget how useful you have been to Aesgard’s cause.”
“Is that a threat, Prince?”
the other man
asked in a taunting tone.
“Your sire would not be pleased about this.”
“Your personal war against
Fenrir’s brethren will have to wait.
We have more important things to do. Hodur and the Valkyrie need to be cared for
as soon as possible,”
the
red-haired warrior replied, still harshly enough. “And you had better believe,
Tyr, that Lord Odin would not be happy if something were to happen to one of his
sons…”
Tyr bowed
slightly before him, a smile obviously playing on his half-concealed lips.
“Aye, Lord Thor.
That I do believe.”
“Very well, then. Let us go back to Aesgard.”
The red-haired warrior turned again and walked toward his own
mount. Blue followed him with blurred eyes and
incomprehension, and watched as he was climbing into the saddle. Hanging from it, Blue could see a heavy
hammer, half-hidden behind a rounded shield.
His mind reeled as, with all the men finally saddled up, the
procession start to move forward.
He felt the tug in the stretcher he was lying on, as the horse started to walk.
Odin.
Thor. Valkyrie…
Aesgard?
My God – this is a freaky
Wagnerian nightmare…
What the Hell is going here?
was Blue’s
last but not-so-coherent thought as he drifted into merciful oblivion.
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