CAVERN OF DOOM!
"Hurry
it along there, hurry up ... we don't have ALL day you know!" The guide told his party of tourists, as he
made abrupt gestures with his hands to get them going. "There are special Old-Age Pensioner
Tours in easier caves, so don't whinge, whine and complain to me ... C'mon,
move along there."
This
guide, Troy Feywood, was quite notorious in the world of 'Cave Tourism' for his
rude overbearing manner, but nothing could be done about him. Twenty three years ago when the entrance to
'Feywood Cave' was discovered on his land, he had sold it to the 'Ultimate
World Cave Tours' company on the condition that he had a job-for-life as a tour
guide in it. They had foolishly agreed,
without first checking out the man for his temperament and communication skills
and, therefore, they had to take all of the abuse from irate tourists after
they had suffered a two hour underground ordeal which they could never forget.
"Now
this passage is called 'The Fat Woman's Misery', which makes a nice
change," Mr. Feywood declared in a harsh voice.
A
few female gasps of shock and a couple of suppressed male snickers were heard.
"Don't
worry ladies," he told them, "if you get stuck, I have the 'Old
Persuader' handy." He held up a
cattle prod for all to see and charged it up, it hummed and crackled to a
horrified audience.
"YOU
WOULDN'T DARE!" gasped a plump
woman in a low tonal growl.
A
smug sardonic smirk was all she received in answer.
"This is positively inhumane!"
another screeched. "DO
SOMETHING." She elbowed the gaunt
pale-faced, dark-haired, dark-eyed stranger next to her.
She
received a cold stare in return and an expression that seemed to say, "Why
should I?"
"Well
... Someone do SOMETHING," she appealed to the others.
There
was a general stampede to get through the gap before those women tried, no one
wanted to be 'accidentally' zapped by being in the way. Most of them had been forewarned about the
bad-tempered guide and, for some, that was half the appeal of the cave. Others
braved it for its famous outstanding beauty.
The
overweight females squeezed through without any 'persuasion' necessary,
although one had been told by the guide - when she threatened not to move from
the spot - that she could stay in the dark with the cave spiders for all he
cared - she moved then.
It
was later when the guide, ever watchful and harrying his charges as usual,
noticed the pale gaunt man moving off in the wrong direction.
"HEY!
You there," Guide
Feywood bellowed out, "where the
hell do you think you're going?"
Captain
Black, generally checking out the cave for the benefit of his Mysteron masters,
gave the guide a venomous glare. He had
been waiting for an opportunity to sneak off and investigate the caverns on his
own, but he and the Mysterons hadn't counted on the beady-eyes of the cave's
guide.
That
was the exact moment Troy Feywood sealed his own doom.
The
glare was wasted on the small grumpy man, who was quite immune to the anger of
others.
"Get back in line at once, you STUPID man," Mr. Feywood shouted. He strode up to Captain Black and grabbed
his arm. "The last thing I need is
another bunch of rescuers traipsing around through my cave searching for yet
another dopey lost tourist who wouldn't have the brains of an underdeveloped
flea!"
He
gave Black a shove in the direction of the others with a force that took the
Mysteron Agent totally by surprise, causing him to go stumbling down the
incline and right in amongst the watching crowd - who were silently grateful
that it wasn't one of them singled out for attention. That had a domino effect of knocking them off balance, ending
with a small boy falling into a nearby rock pool.
"My
baby! my baby!" the mother wailed, whilst waving her arms about for
dramatic effect, "who will save my son?"
The
current, stronger than usual - caused by recent heavy rains, started carrying
the boy towards a narrow gap which then disappeared into a small dark cavern.
"Get
your grubby little brat out of that water this instant!" screeched the unbelieving Troy Feywood. "He's polluting the water; fibres from
his clothes, not to mention body grease and secretions, could irreparably
damage the cave's fragile ecosystem. What were you thinking of, woman, letting him swim in there?"
"He's
not swimming, he's drowning," she sobbed, "he can't swim."
"GREAT! Now I'll have another investigation on my
hands ... all those bloody questions again and why? All because some idiot mother couldn't watch over her kid
properly. I simply don't believe it and now we're way off schedule."
"How
can you think of schedules when there is a little boy in danger?" snarled
another woman. Supporting murmurs were
heard. "Jump in there and get him
out."
"Are
you nuts? That water's ice cold, I
could catch my death."
His
death was precisely what Captain Black was looking forward to, as he plunged
into the waist-deep water - reached out and grabbed the passing toddler by his
clothing at the scruff of the neck.
Still holding the struggling child thus, he strode out of the water and
handed the sodden, wailing boy back to his mother.
Saving
him wasn't an act of kindness, the Mysterons didn't want their agent mixed up
or delayed by an investigation going on and all the publicity caused by a dead
or injured child would have ruined their plans completely. They felt that Captain Black had attracted
more than enough attention as it was, because of the guide, and they were not
happy.
"OH ... You Darling Wonderful Man,
You," screamed the mother, whilst throwing herself at a startled
Captain Black, making him skid and fall back onto the floor. She then proceeded to feverishly kiss his
face all over, his pallid appearance didn't alarm her at all - even if he had
been covered in moth-eaten warts she would have acted the same. The crowd, happy now, cheered her on and
clapped their hands, with the occasional wolf-whistle thrown in.
The
guide went ballistic. "Get
off him, get off ... this is disgusting. How can you two carry on like this in front of others? This is a cave full of the marvels and
beauty of nature, not a bordello! You can
carry on your cheap tawdry affair when you are back outside, NOT IN MY
CAVE!"
Captain
Black finally managed, with great effort, to push her off, but, later on, he
was upbraided by the guide once more when he was spotted throwing away a piece
of paper with the woman's phone number on it.
"Now," Troy Feywood rubbed his hands with glee,
looking pleased with himself. "Now, we have the great pit. You will notice that there is a barrier
around it, because several people have been dumb enough in the past to fall
in. It drops down two hundred and fifty
metres; so whoever goes in, doesn't come back ... any takers?"
The
lights went out.
Captain
Black, guided by the Mysterons, was able to easily locate the guide in the
pitch darkness, pick him up and toss him over the railing. Any part of Black's mind that was his own
would have felt a certain satisfaction at what he had done, although the
Mysterons did have twinges of doubt - they felt that, maybe - in the long run,
they had done all Earthmen a favour in getting rid of that creature.
An
echoing scream of confusion and outrage was the last ever heard from the
original guide.
"What
was that?" a male voice asked.
"Did someone fall in?"
"Don't
be so daft," another answered in a scoffing tone. "It's just one of
those stupid pranks guides play in these places. I mean that's such an old trick, you'd think they'd try something
more original."
"I
see a green light," a child cried out excitedly.
"Maybe
this cave is haunted by lost tourists," her brother joined in with
breathless expectation and joy.
"Sorry
kids," their father told them in a knowledgeable tone, "glowworms
give off green light ... something to do with their digestive processes."
"Oooower,"
the boy whined in disappointment, "I want to see a ghost, I want to see a
ghost."
"QUIET
KID, or you'll become one," barked a voice in the dark ... The guide was
back, or more correctly, his Mysteronised double.
"Turn
on the lights, I'm tired of this silly joke," grumbled someone else.
"Afraid
of the dark, are we?" was the sneered rejoinder. "Afraid the cave monsters will get you?"
Some
children started screaming in terror at the suggestion.
"They
really love tasty little children best of all," he added with relish, then
gave off a menacing laugh.
"You're sick," a lady snapped.
"Now
put those bloody lights on!"
An
hour later, a pack of weary frazzled tourists finally emerged from the cave, a
quarter of them lugging heavy children in their arms. The tour guide had told them that the 'cave monsters' would
dissolve their feet and thereby ensured two things: one, that the woman with the rescued child wouldn't pester
Captain Black anymore; and two, that those children would have lifelong phobias
about caves.
* * * * * * *
"I
don't see what great sin we have committed that we have to search this
particular cave," grumbled Captain
Ochre.
"Actually,
this cave system is supposed to be one of the most spectacular and beautiful in
the world," answered Captain Magenta, still reading the catalogue he was
holding.
"They
ALL say that," scoffed his companion, "but it's not that I'm
grumbling about ... it's rumours I've heard about the guide, Troy Feywood - it
seems he has quite a reputation for being harsh and rude."
"Are
you seriously worried about THAT?" he was asked incredulously.
"You're
right, I'm overreacting and the rumours are probably all blown out of
proportion. Hmph, what's he going to do
to us anyway? Bite us on the
ankles?"
They
both laughed.
"YOU'RE
LATE!" snapped a voice from behind, making both men jump.
"Sorry,
but we were given a mixed-up map and were turned around ..." Captain Ochre
started to explain.
"Save
it for someone who'd believe you; I heard you laughing, you think it was funny
making me wait," Troy Feywood
complained.
"Not
at all, but we are here now. I'm Cap
..."
"Yeah,
yeah. Captain Yellow and your friend is
Captain Pink," he bent his wrist in an effeminate manner.
"Captain Ochre and Captain
Magenta," Ochre answered forcefully, feeling nettled.
"The
other colours suit you better," the guide sneered and walked off to his
office to get the keys.
"GOD! I think your rumours were right!" gasped
Magenta. "What an odious little
man."
"Psychologists
would probably say he wasn't cuddled enough as a child."
"I can see why, I'd rather hug a
snake!"
"Less
venomous for sure."
"C'mon,
don't just stand there gossiping like a pair of old crones, let's get a move
on," the guide yelled out from the locked gate at the cave's entrance.
"Watch
your head," the guide cautioned, after Captain Ochre had cracked his skull
on an enormous stalactite.
"Watch
your step," he said later, this time after Captain Magenta nearly broke
his leg when he stepped into a huge pothole.
"Ever
thought of putting in a proper walkway," Magenta grumbled, rubbing his
sore shin.
"Walkways
are for sissies," he was informed, "so, I can see why you'd want
one."
"I
really hope this man turns out to be a Mysteron," Magenta harshly
whispered to Ochre.
"Why? As if we don't have enough trouble with him
as it is," he answered, hastily ducking under another limestone formation,
but nearly twisting his knee when it was caught between two stalagmites.
"Hurry
up, hurry up ... God, you two are
slow!" the guide yelled back, quite enjoying the workout he was giving
them.
"If
he turns out to be a Mysteron, I can kill
him," Magenta growled.
They
both rounded a corner, found themselves without footing and subsequently
sliding down a steep bank of damp flowstone, ending up in a shallow pool of
frigid water at the bottom.
"You
men are very unsteady on your feet, have you been drinking?" their
torturer snickered.
"Arrgh! This water is so cold and I'm soaked
through," Ochre complained, taking off a boot and emptying it.
"Forgot
your waterproof thermal undies?" was the taunting reply.
"Why
didn't you warn us that was slippery?" he was crossly asked by Ochre.
"You
have eyes, use them. Yours mustn't be
much of an organisation if you two are the best they can send - you are quite
pathetic, I've seen eighty year-olds walk through these caves with more agility
and grace. C'mon, I doubt we should be
sitting around passing the time like this, there's so much more to see."
"You're
not going to kill him," Ochre growled to Magenta, "I am ... Mysteron
or not!"
"I
doubt that we are the only ones to feel that way ... and to think, I used to
like seeing caves - he's putting me off for life."
* * * * * * *
"VANDALS!" the Mysteronised
Troy Feywood later screamed in another part of the cave. "DESTROYERS OF
BEAUTY! TERRORISTS! Men
have to destroy anything worthwhile which they lay their greedy eyes on;
look what you have done, you great blundering fools!"
Captains
Ochre and Magenta had taken a wrong turn and had crashed into a small grotto
full of fragile soda straw formations, sending shards of calcite crystals in
all directions.
"Do you know how many hundreds, if not
thousands of years you have destroyed?" the guide continued his
onslaught of abuse.
"If your track was properly marked this
wouldn't have happened!" snapped Magenta, shaking bits of broken soda
straws off his clothing and getting cuts on him from sharp edges still clinging
to the ceiling, he had nearly poked his eye on one.
"That's
right, put the blame on someone else. I
tell you what ... this won't go unpunished."
"Meaning
what?" Captain Ochre asked, with barely suppressed anger, keeping his
hands clenched - he so wanted to reach out and throttle the miserable scourge
standing in front of them.
"There
are huge fines for defacing formations in caves and I'm certainly reporting
you. I personally think you should be
locked up."
"You're the one who should be locked away,
you're just plain mad."
"MAD? MAD!
How dare you come here and despoil my cave and then act in a rude
arrogant manner towards someone who was kind enough to help you to find your
way around out of the goodness of his heart."
Both
captains' thoughts at that statement were unprintable.
"I
think you are doing all this on purpose," Ochre suggested, when his fuming
had lessened.
"WHAT? Do you really think I WANT two nearsighted
bungling elephants stomping around breaking things?" Hysteria seemed to overtake the guide.
"I'm
sure we would have been able to find our way around much better without you,
all you are is a damned nuisance," the mustard coloured captain told him
straight.
"Then you can find your way out
without me then!" The angry
little man stormed off.
"Good
riddance," sighed Magenta, "now perhaps we'll be in less
danger."
The
lights went out.
"GREAT. Now what?"
"That
evil malicious little rat ... I swear ... I am going to make him pay for
this," Captain Ochre forcefully spoke out into the inky darkness.
"All
is not lost, I have a map of this cave and a flashlight."
"You
must be psychic."
"No. When Colonel White started talking about
caves and sinkholes after hearing the last Mysteron threat, er ... how did it
go?"
"A
great beauty will suffer a sinking feeling."
"Yes,
well I thought it would be handy to be prepared to crawl about in unlit
passages."
"You're
keen, now this whole place is an unlit passage."
"I
wonder what put caves in the old man's head in the first place." Magenta then mused.
"Oh
... that. It's coincidental actually,
he had been reading about them and about how some town once partially
disappeared down one when it collapsed and caused a sinkhole. Then it turns out that there are caves in
the hills all around Suki Springs, which is supposed to be the most beautiful
small town on Earth ..."
"Yes,
so the judges say - ten years in a row and that's the reason so many
politicians from all over the world like to come here this time of
year." Magenta rolled his
eyes. "They have to relax in
tranquil settings after all their arduous duties - The Poor Little
Things!"
"I
can safely bet that judging doesn't take place when they're in town."
An
amused chuckle was the response.
Captain
Magenta found that his map didn't help him much, since neither of them had any
idea which part of the cave they were in. Then their flashlight started
dimming, so the unfortunate pair had to call in for help. Their cap microphones were suffering from
interference in that part of the cave, so their information was sketchy. They
were told that they should try to make their way to the cavernous opening in
one section of the cave called 'Feywood's Colossal Cavern' on the map. They were further advised that help was on
the way, as it now seemed highly probably that they were in the most likely
trouble spot.
"He's named just about every feature in
this cave after himself," spat Magenta in disgust, trying to find the
place on the map.
"Well,
no one else was going to name something after him," Ochre reasoned.
"I
don't know, how about a disease?
Feywood's Degenerative Syndrome."
"I heard that," a voice in
the dark told them.
Captain
Magenta swung his torch around, but couldn't spot the owner.
"I
was going to turn the lights back on for you; if you were ready to ask
forgiveness for your rude offensive behaviour, but I can see that you haven't
learnt any manners at all."
Feywood went on to describe what he thought of them and mankind in
particular. The doppelganger had a sort
of 'freedom' in that he could be as rude as he liked without being out of
character.
While
he was ranting on, the two captains whispered to each other, turned off the
torchlight, got down on all fours and carefully crept away. Their efforts were almost in vain, however,
when Captain Ochre felt, what seemed to him, dozens of little legs scurry
across his face - he never found out what it was either. It had occurred to them that it would be a
good idea to lie in wait for the guide, since he seemed to be following them,
and to grab him to try to force him to turn the lights back on.
An
hour later; stiff, cold and disgruntled, they finally saw a bobbing torch light
heading their way.
"GOTCHA! You
stinking scrawny little weasel," triumphantly called out Captain
Ochre, as he and Magenta pounced at their prey.
A
cry of complete surprise and consternation met his ears.
"You
are going to tell us where the light switches are, or you'll be sorry,"
Captain Magenta promised, putting the man in a painful armlock.
"Captain
Ochre? Captain Magenta? Is that you two?" asked Captain
Scarlet's voice in the darkness behind them.
Captain
Ochre hurriedly picked up the dropped torch and shone it on the face of ...
Captain Blue.
"OOPS!" declared Magenta, hastily letting his
prisoner go.
"That
hurt," Captain Blue told him accusingly.
"What's the big idea?"
"We
were abandoned by our guide."
"I don't wonder!"
Ochre
and Magenta hastily explained. They were then told in turn that none of the
lights worked; they had been tampered with and so Captains Scarlet and Blue had
just followed the walkway by torch light.
On
hearing that there REALLY was a decent walkway, two captains renewed their vows
of revenge.
"Pity
your guide isn't still with you, I'd be able to sense if he's a Mysteron or
not," Scarlet told them.
"I
doubt it," disputed Magenta, "he instantly gave both of us nasty
sensations."
"Probably
just got off on the wrong foot," Blue guessed, with a grin.
"Wish
you were there."
"No
thanks, my arm still hurts because of your experiences with him."
"So,
why did you want to meet us at the giant cavern?"
"We
found out some disturbing information," Blue told him.
"Go
on," he was warily urged.
"That
cavern is beneath a large dam that is in a valley next to and slightly above
Suki Springs."
"Wonderful."
Captain
Scarlet took up the narrative. "And if that part of the cave were to
collapse ..."
"Don't
tell me, we'll all drown and so will the town and all its brain-dead
politicians," Magenta surmised.
"Sssh,
don't say that ... even if it is true."
"Well,
who's brilliant idea was it to build a dam on top of a large limestone
cave?"
"Theirs."
"Figures."
"The
rocks over that particular area are supposed to be impervious to water."
"Any
excuse will do."
"In
any case, we'll have to check out the cavern for suspicious objects."
"Shouldn't
there be an explosives expert here?" Ochre asked.
"Yes,
but the closest one has a couple of problems.
He suffers from claustrophobia and is afraid of the dark," Scarlet
explained.
"YOU'RE
KIDDING!"
"No."
"Some expert you found!"
sputtered Magenta.
"He
said he can talk us through it," Scarlet reasoned.
"Mighty
big of him."
"Apparently
he once had a very bad experience in a cave as a child and that left him
mentally scarred for life," Scarlet further explained.
"And
we might end up physically scarred."
"I
bet anything it was this cave and this bloody guide," jumped in Ochre.
A
group of captains swore under their breaths, as they walked further along the
path, words that boded ill for Troy Feywood or his doppelganger, whichever the
case may be.
"Is
anyone making any attempt at all to evacuate the town?" asked Captain
Ochre.
"Yes,"
answered Scarlet. "Captain Grey has
that thankless task. He was pretty
upset when I last heard from him, because half the people there wouldn't
believe they were in any trouble. They
even wanted to form a committee to do a viability study into the supposed
dangers they faced."
Groaning
sounds of disbelief was heard from the other captains.
"He
did manage to make some ground when he told them that 'reality could strike in
the form of a wall of water that would crush them and everything in its path,
whether they approved or not, as they were all replaceable and easily
forgotten.'"
"Good
old Grey, the diplomat," chuckled Ochre, as he
followed Blue around a bend in the path.
"Ah
... that's the 'Great Feywood Pit', so "Feywood's Colossal Cavern' is just
around that next bend- on the other side of
'Feywood's Monument'," Captain Blue cheerfully pointed out.
They
all stood and stared a while at the huge cavern before them, even if it was by
torch light. After all the decorative
formations they had passed, they found this place was almost plain.
"There
is still a couple of sizable columns here," Magenta commented, "so
water must seep in from somewhere, or has at least done so for many thousands
of years."
"Could
be a fault line of some sort, so a well placed explosion would probably
work," Captain Blue remarked, gloomy now.
"That
could be 'Feywood's Handiwork'," Captain Magenta had his torch beam fixed
on a object right at the very top of the largest formation in the room. "Who feels like climbing a wedding cake?"
"What?"
"That's
what that type of column is often called."
"Yes,
I suppose it does look a bit like a frosted cake."
"But
..." Magenta grinned, unable to control his thoughts, "it might be
full of troglobites."
"Only
if YOU climb it. You are closer to a
troglodyte than any of us - in a hairy sense ... and a mental one too, no
doubt."
"I
said 'bite', not 'dyte'," he smirked, glad someone had taken the
bait. "Troglobites are those blind
cave creatures that live permanently in caves."
"Thinking
of becoming a cave guide?" Captain Ochre asked, not impressed - he knew
Magenta had been reading all that earlier in the brochure he had.
"After
today ... I'll pass."
"Good,
does that means we're finished with the natural history lesson?" Captain Scarlet asked, with a touch of acid
in his voice.
"Who's
our best climber?" Captain Ochre
inquired.
"Captain
Black," Magenta instantly responded and then noticed all the withering
stares he was receiving. "Er ...
that is ... from what I heard in the past, he was supposed to be damned
good."
"If
he were here, then we could very politely ask him to climb back up there and
retrieve it for us." Ochre's voice
was heavy with sarcasm.
"He
could be watching us right now, quite easily."
"Thank
you so much for that."
"I
DO sense something," Scarlet told them, holding his head.
"A
Mysteron with a bazooka trained on us?" was Magenta's further unwelcome
contribution.
"Will
you keep your wonderful charming thoughts to yourself!" snapped Ochre,
then a thought struck him.
They
turned their torches off and had a hurried whispered conference in the
darkness.
"I
seriously think, Captain Ochre, that you should climb up there, you being the
most agile of us," declared Captain Blue in a raised authoritative voice.
"Yes,
your dexterity is well known," agreed Scarlet.
"HA! What
Morons you all are!" the scoffing snarl from the Mysteronised Troy
Feywood could be heard, he just couldn't let such comments go by him.
"I
take it that you are the 'friendly' guide we've heard so much about. Why don't you come over and introduce
yourself?" Blue suggested.
"Why
should I? You don't look any more
impressive than those other hopeless twits and I know who you are," Mr.
Feywood sneered.
"How
do you know?"
"Your
pretty little uniform colours tend to give you away and with little matching
booties too," was the snide reply.
"Where are your colour-coded purses?"
"We
are not allowed to use them anymore, as they caused too much jealously and
little old ladies kept stealing them."
"Ha,
you Earthmen are so witty - aren't you?"
"We
are also clever," Captain Blue pointed out with relish.
"What
do ... OW!"
Feywood
had been set upon by the two men who had had more than their fair share of
suffering because of him. They had managed
to sneak upon him whilst Captains Blue and Scarlet distracted him. They then dragged the struggling cursing
bundle of fury over to their colleagues.
"Any
weapons on him?" Scarlet queried.
"Only
his tongue," Ochre replied; still keeping a firm grip, as yet another
stream of vitriol burst forth off the self same body part.
"Right,"
Captain Scarlet then addressed the aggressive creature. "So, I take it that you are responsible
for that item sitting up on top of that column?"
"You
will never reach it in time, fool, it will go off any minute now."
"Won't
that destroy your precious cave?"
Captain Ochre asked him.
"Only
a small part of it and that hardly matters to ME."
Captain
Scarlet started ascending the column and found it very hard going.
"Told
you that you were all simpletons, look at that dopey idiot," Feywood
laughed. "He's climbing on the wrong si ..." The Mysteronised guide
suddenly shut up.
"Thanks
for that," Scarlet told him with
the greatest pleasure, when he had reached the other side. "It is much easier over here and faster
too. See, you can be helpful when you
try ... Don't understand why I heard so many complaints to the contrary."
The
guide was silent for once and just stood glowering.
Captain
Scarlet reached the device and using his cap microphone talked to the
explosives expert, but wisely didn't tell the man exactly where he was - it had
been mentioned in passing that the man also suffered long-range phobias. Scarlet found out some more disturbing
information concerning the bomb he was studying.
"Captain
Blue, I'm dropping this down to you - throw it in the pit, it might be far
enough away not to affect this area. Do
it quickly, we don't have much time and don't
drop it."
As
it was falling through the air towards Blue's outstretched hands, Captain Ochre
found his hand being severely fanged and Captain Magenta felt his tender shin
being kicked. That was enough to loosen
their hold of the Mysteron and he wriggled free, pushed Captain Blue into a
wall and grabbed the bomb.
"You're
not going to stop it, you're not," he squealed, running and dodging the
determined captains.
"It's
like trying to catch a slippery pig in the dark," panted Ochre, just
missing again and then losing sight of him.
Magenta
and Blue had managed to crash into each other when the guide ducked and
sprinted back to the column. He had
forgotten about Captain Scarlet, who, on his way down, promptly leapt on him
and managed to wrestle the device off the Mysteronised
man. The Feywood copy still
didn't give up though and managed to clutch at the device once more as Scarlet
was about to drop it in the pit. A
tugging match ensued and then stopped abruptly - Captain Scarlet had decided to
let him have it. The little guide had
barely time to wonder why, when he felt himself bodily lifted from the
ground. Captains Ochre and Magenta had
picked him up.
"I
would like to thank the Mysterons for the opportunity to do this to you,"
Magenta expressed with great satisfaction.
"Ditto,"
added Ochre, as they tossed him over the barrier and into the pit - then they
all dived for cover.
The
resulting explosion didn't harm the cavern or the dam, but it did affect a
reasonably sized underground river that flowed in the cave system's lower
regions. It found itself blocked off
and its only escape route took it out into the valley occupied by the township
of Suki Springs. No lives were lost,
but the town was completely flooded and ruined. A certain prime minister of a small country did face major
embarrassment when he was found floating in the water, naked and handcuffed to
his bed - a fact he found very hard explaining to his wife who was absent that
day. Neither she nor the media believed
him when he said he had been set upon by masked men. "Wearing bright red lipstick and eating grapes!' his wife
had snapped at him, before giving him a resounding slap across the face in
front of the cameras.
Taking
into account the nature of the Earthman they had destroyed and balancing that
against the property damage done, the Mysterons did not consider it a victory.
Cwissy.
12th
November, 2000
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