A Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons story

For 2006 Halloween Challenge

By Chris Bishop

PART 4

Chapter 1 – Attack on Cloudbase

“Does everyone know the drill now? Right. Get ready to leave in two hours. Don’t be late, anyone… And thanks to all, for all your help.”

In the Conference Room, in the Underground Base, the people reunited around the table nodded their assent to Colonel Blue, and scattered with murmurs, each leaving to their own quarters or wherever they were needed to get ready for the upcoming operation.

The previous day, the Spectrum commander had returned from England, with Captain Scarlet and Lieutenant Brown. Colonel White, who was supposed to stay behind in the first place, had joined them, as he had offered his help to Spectrum for the mission ahead, temporarily renouncing his retirement plans until the danger was safely behind them.

With the last details of the operation in hand, and the announcement that the Sea Turtles that had been sent to England to take delivery of the two shuttles he had purchased from Patrick Donaghue were arriving and would be entering the Cave soon, Colonel Blue had held a last meeting in the Conference Room, where all of the senior staff and the ‘volunteers’ that would participate in the mission ahead would be present. The meeting was now over, and as he watched everybody leave, Colonel Blue gathered the paper dispersed in front of him and closed his folder, heaving a deep sigh. Colonel White was still with him. The old man was determined to participate in this last mission, and as Blue had previously told him that he needed all the help he could get, there was nothing now he could say or do that would persuade White to actually stay behind. As Colonel Blue opened his mouth to make another attempt, White interrupted him swiftly:

“I will repeat myself, Colonel Blue: there is no reason for me not to go on this assignment. I’ll remind you that you yourself are going – even though you are currently Spectrum commander. Which would therefore mean that you should not be directly involved in the action.”

“This is something I have to do too,” Blue said. “But if something should happen to me, you might…”

“What, take over from you? Not a chance! I told you I was retiring, as soon as this is over. You won’t burden me with the charge of Spectrum command again, if you should get yourself killed. I am going back to England, after that. I will be buying myself a little cottage, with a view of the Channel, a rocking chair and a white cat. And if she’ll have me, I will try to convince Amanda that I’m still not too old to make a good husband.”

The image of Colonel White, rocking himself on the porch of an old cottage, stroking a purring cat sleeping contently on his lap, was a very amusing one to Blue’s mind’s eye. Almost despite himself, he smiled at the thought. “Of course, you have earned your rest, Colonel.”

“Start calling me Charles – since I might become your father-in-law. Of sorts.” White looked squarely at Blue. “Are you sure you want to come on this mission too? Spectrum will still need a commander, whether this mission is a success or not.”

Blue shrugged. “You know as well as I do, that, if we fail, it wouldn’t make a difference if I stay behind,” he remarked. “If the Mysterons succeed, all is lost. If we are able to stop them, but are not successful in stopping this war machine of the World Government… You heard Captain Green’s last report.”

White nodded. Just before the meeting had started, Green had come into the Conference Room with disturbing news: the radars that were following New Cloudbase’s movements had discovered that the hovering fortress had taken a new course: it was coming directly towards what was left of Futura City.

Right towards them.

“You think they have discovered your Underground Base at last?” White enquired. “After all these years?”

“Maybe – or maybe not. They could have picked up the debris that fell from the sky a few days ago – when Scarlet arrived in this time. Maybe they’re investigating that? But I’m not very hopeful that they might not find us eventually. This new Cloudbase is a craft of destruction. Spectrum Underground Base might be their target to try out their new Quantum weapon. And if that’s the case… I don’t know if the base will be able to withstand the attack, however deep it might be.” He looked around, assuring himself that no-one was listening. “I don’t want to take any chances, with all the people living down here. The Sea Turtles will take all personnel off the base and smuggle them into friendly refuges. Karen is supervising that operation. We might not need to do that, but I won’t risk entire families – wives and children – if this place becomes the target of Cloudbase II.”

“I hate calling this fortress ‘Cloudbase’,” White said with a grimace. “That sounds so wrong. Maybe we should give it another name… ‘Skybase’ or something…”

“That’s unfortunately the name the World Government gave to it,” Blue remarked.

“Nevertheless – I don’t find it proper at all, considering how they treated Spectrum – and that the original Cloudbase was Spectrum’s. Roberts certainly has a lot to answer for.” White paused. “Do you really think we have a chance, Colonel?”

“Yes. Maybe a slim one. But the odds are against us, I’m afraid. Everything comes down to knowing if the security code given to us by our contact will work or not. If it doesn’t… we’ll be blown out of the sky before we could even approach the base.”

“How reliable is your contact, anyway?”

“As reliable as could be,” Blue confirmed. “Do you remember Lieutenant Peach?”

“One of Spectrum’s duty helmsmen, way back when? He’s your contact?”

“Yeah – for years now.”

“And they don’t know he was in Spectrum years ago?”

“No – thanks to you, actually. When you destroyed those files containing our identities. Peach, under his real identity of Mark Tremayne, was able to use his extensive pre-Spectrum experience – and connections – to get himself a position of trust within the World Government Security Office. He’s been one of Rhapsody’s undercover agents there almost since the beginning. He’s been feeding us valuable information through her – especially these last few weeks, when we became aware of this new Cloudbase. Amongst that information were those security codes allowing for our safe passage – and landing on the base.”

“Sounds simple enough…”

“Of course,” Blue pursued, “there’s also the large possibility that it will all go wrong… considering we’ll be sailing in enemy waters. So to speak.”

“Nothing like a little pressure to get the blood pumping,” White deadpanned. “Of course, given the choice, I would prefer a nice, quiet game of chess. At my age, it would certainly be more reasonable.”

Blue smiled thinly. “Thank you for being with us on this – Charles. You don’t know how much I appreciate your help. It is very precious.”

“As you said yourself, we don’t have very much choice in the matter.” He patted Blue’s shoulder in a friendly fashion. “Go. I’ll take care of the rest of these papers. I’m sure you want to say goodbye to your family, and there isn’t much time left for you to do that. They will be waiting for you… Adam.”

With a nod, Colonel Blue turned around and left the conference room.

“Why can’t I go with you on this mission?”

Captain Black shook his head with some lassitude. The rebellious young man standing in front of him was hardly known to take ‘no’ for an answer, and Black knew, before he had come to talk to him, that it wouldn’t be easy, as Brown would have just learned of the decision not to include him in the operation.

“Because it’s the colonel’s orders,” Black said in answer to his question. “We need people of experience to go up there…”

“Bullshit!” Brown seethed between his teeth. “I’m a Spectrum officer, and I can command men in this mission. I’ve got about as much experience as any of you guys who are going.”

“That is not true, and you know it.” Black’s tone was incisive. “Chip… Steve… Those who are going all served on the original Cloudbase – the officers lived on her, and knew all about her and that kind of knowledge will be invaluable for this mission. You never set foot on a hovering carrier. You do not know how to move around on it. It could be disorienting, until you get the hang of it. We won’t have the luxury of giving you time to get used to it. We’ll have to move quickly, without anything or anyone there to hinder us.”

“So I would be a hindrance?” Brown said bitterly. “You know I learn fast…”

“Steve, you are a good officer – but you are still so very young and you still need to learn to come to terms with discipline and to learn to control your impulsiveness.” Black smiled thinly. “In a way, you remind me a lot of myself. And of other fine Spectrum officers I worked with.”

“You mean like Captain Scarlet?”

“Yes… and like your father.” Black squeezed the young man’s shoulder. “I know I already told you this but… I’m still very sorry for what happened to your father. He was a good man – a good friend. And I still feel guilty over what I…”

“Stop it.” Brown put his own hand on Black’s shoulder, and squeezed it. “What you did on Mars was a mistake, and I forgave you a long time ago for that. You know that. And you more than make up for his absence, you know. If Karen has been like a mom to me – you, Conrad, have been the father I never knew.”

“Kid… I want you to take care of yourself.” Black’s voice was threatening to break. “And if anything should happen to me – and to the rest of us during this mission – promise me: you will help Karen take care of all these people… and carry on the good fight.”

He took the young man into his arms and squeezed him tight, trying to keep him from seeing the tears brimming in his eyes. He heard the muffled answer in his ear.

“I promise… that I will keep on fighting until my very last breath… Father.”

Captain Black closed his eyes, and a single tear rolled down his cheek.

“Well, I’ll be… what are you doing here?”

In the Cave, Captain Scarlet was standing on the pier, as the technicians were making final checks on the two shuttlecraft that were sitting on the deck of Sea Turtle One. They were checking and tightening the clamps that held the craft securely fixed on deck, making sure that they had not come loose during the long trip, at supersonic speed, back from England, where they had been picked up early that morning. Standing right next to one of the shuttles was Patrick Donaghue, a large smile spread on his face.

“I decided to come along, to check on my investment.” He made his way across the deck, ducking under one of the craft’s wings, and jumped onto the pier, to stand in front of Scarlet. “Since he is supposed to pay me after the operation, someone should tag along to make sure our little billionaire boy doesn’t get himself killed during the operation.”

Scarlet raised a brow. “You knew all along that he would come with us,” he remarked. “We just heard during the briefing.”

“Well, he mentioned, during our last ‘tête-à-tête’, that he might go himself. He considered that, at this point, it’s all or nothing. Brad – excuse me – Captain Grey – confirmed it to me.” He pointed to the man behind them, who was keeping busy shouting orders to the crew on deck on Sea Turtle One. “Captain Argent contacted him first time when I boarded the ship – to tell him that I wanted to come over. We talked for a little while. He told me he was going too.”

“Yes. It’ll be Grey, Green, Black, Blue, Colonel White and myself. We’ll be commanding a handful of soldiers who were part of Cloudbase’s crew, years ago.”

Donaghue offered a smile. “A gathering of the old guard, then? A last hurrah, so to speak? If you’ll have me, I’ll be happy to tag along.”

“We can use the expertise,” a voice then said.

Captain Black appeared next to Scarlet, having approached quietly from behind. He had heard everything that Donaghue had said. The latter tensed upon seeing him – a natural reaction, since Magenta had passed most of his time as a Spectrum officer considering Black as an enemy. But he quickly remembered that Black was free of the Mysterons’ influence, and had rejoined Spectrum, fighting the good fight again ever since.

“Green is our computer expert,” Black said with a nod. “But we can always use another one. Unless… you plan to ‘scavenge’ this base in search of new goodies to sell to the highest bidder?”

There was humour in Black’s tone, and Donaghue chuckled. “Well… I wouldn’t let a good opportunity pass.”

“You’re in… Captain Magenta,” Black said, offering his hand that Donaghue shook willingly. “Colonel Blue had a uniform prepared for you. It’s waiting onboard with your equipment.”

“So… the sneaky devil knew I would come, then?” Donaghue said with barely registered surprise.

“He suspected. He knew you would want to… ‘check your interests’. Why do you think he told you he was going, anyway?” Black vigorously thumped Donaghue’s shoulder. “Go back onboard and change. I’ll tell the colonel you’ve arrived. And we’ll make sure to brief you properly before the operation.”

“You haven’t changed that much, Black. Always barking orders, like when you trained us.”

“Be happy that I don’t put you back in training,” Black smiled with good humour. “You would need it too – it seems you put on a little weight. Now, pronto. Get back onboard and into that uniform, Captain Magenta.”

“S.I.G., Captain Black.” With that, Donaghue gave him a smart salute, turned around and strode back to the deck of the Sea Turtle, where he met with Captain Grey.

“He might not admit it, but he’s a good man,” Black said, looking in Magenta’s direction.

Scarlet nodded. “So, what’s left of the senior staff are going to make an assault on this new Cloudbase,” he commented. “Except for our last two Angels, that is.”

Black nodded. “And for Ochre,” he muttered, as he turned around with Scarlet.

They both looked towards the large hatched door, some metres away from them, where Colonel Blue now stood, holding Symphony in a loving embrace. Just beside their mother, the two young Svenson children were looking up at their father with sad expressions on their faces. They both smothered him with affectionate hugs when he leaned down to embrace them in turn. Scarlet felt his throat tightening at the scene.

“I swear,” he muttered, “I will do everything in my power to bring him back alive to his family.”

“And I,” Black added by his side. “I’m envious of him, Paul. He has a loving wife, beautiful children… Something I couldn’t hope to have – not after what the Mysterons did to me.”

“Why couldn’t you have it?” Scarlet asked with surprise.

Black hesitated. “I felt I didn’t deserve it. It’s part of my punishment. I have too much to atone for.”

“You took Chip under your wing – is that also part of your atonement?”

Black lowered his head. “Yes… and no. I felt guilty for what happened to Chip’s father.”

“I do too.”

“No – it’s not the same. For you, it’s survivor’s guilt. For me…” Black let the rest hang.

“I was driving,” Scarlet pointed out.

Black sighed. “It doesn’t matter who was driving, Paul. The Mysterons had their sights on you both, and there was nothing you could have done to avoid the… ‘accident’. Because it wasn’t an accident, you know. It was orchestrated all along by the Mysterons.”

“I know,” Scarlet said in a low voice. “It doesn’t make anything less acceptable.”

“Taking care of Chip turned out to be a blessing, after all,” Black continued. “Oh, he still has some issues – he still has to work on his social skills and on his anger management. But I’m proud of the kid. I couldn’t be more proud if he were my own son.”

“Where is he?” Scarlet asked. “I thought he would have come to say his goodbyes.”

“We already did that, in private. Chip is not a demonstrative boy. He doesn’t like to show his emotions in public.” Black shrugged. “He wanted to come with us, I had to explain to him he couldn’t. He’s probably somewhere, keeping busy, trying to come to terms with that fact.” He pointed to Symphony. “He’s gonna help Symphony organise the Underground Base’s evacuation.”

At this point, Blue had finished his goodbyes to his family and was now leaving them – rather reluctantly, as he kept turning around to wave goodbyes at them; they were waving back – the children a little wildly, and Symphony more timidly. All of her emotions were reflected in her eyes, which didn’t leave her husband, as he walked away from them.

Blue stood next to Scarlet and Black and looked at his family one last time, with sadness in his eyes, as they turned away to leave the Cave.

“Is everything all right?” Scarlet asked his friend.

He nodded. “Karen would have liked to come,” he said. “But she knows her duty is now to her kids, and to the rest of the people here. She has the evacuation to think about. She’s in charge now.”

“She’ll do fine,” Scarlet reflected.

“I know. I really can rely on her to do a good job. I’m lucky to have her. Both as a wife – and as a member of this organisation.”

“You have a wonderful family, Adam.”

“There is still a chance for you and Dianne,” Blue reflected, turning to Scarlet. “When this is all over, you can settle down with her, and have kids of your own, who knows?”

“The colonel is right,” Black said, squeezing Scarlet’s shoulder. “It’s not too late for both of you.”

“One can only hope,” Scarlet said with a thin smile. “If we survive this mission. Dianne wanted to come along too, you know.”

“She’s safer where she is. Until you come back to her.”

“That’s what I told her.”

Through the door, the two last members of their team walked into the Cave, both carrying their equipment in rucksacks. Colonel White had trimmed his beard so it covered only his chin and cheeks, and his hair was cut short. He was accompanied by Captain Green and both were talking, as they approached the three men still standing on the pier. They stopped in front of Blue, and Green handed a datapad to his commander, who took it and checked the information it contained.

“This is the latest location of the hovering fortress,” Green explained. “It’s about five hours north from our present location. At the rate it is travelling, that is. At top speed, we should reach it in about an hour.”

“All right,” Blue answered. “All set to go, then?”

“Ready to follow your orders… Colonel,” White answered with a sly smile. “That’ll make a change…”

“Then let’s go,” Blue said in a commanding tone. “This is a military base, not a vacation resort. Move it, people!”

Scarlet rolled his eyes as they walked towards the awaiting Sea Turtle. “Some things never change…” he muttered. “Not even after fifteen years…”

Once it left the Cave, the Sea Turtle used its onboard modified radar to follow the route of the World Government’s hovering fortress – ‘Cloudbase II’, as it was called – and set a course in its direction. The trip lasted about an hour, as Green had estimated, and then the ultra-fast submersible carrier broke surface, in the middle of the Atlantic. It was a dark night and it was raining heavily, which made a perfect cover for the operation. The shell slid open to reveal the deck which was already slowly rising to snap into place. The engines of the two WAAF shuttles were powered up and then, when they had reached the necessary power level, the clamps securing the two shuttles firmly on deck snapped open, releasing the two aircraft, which immediately took to the air.

Steadily, both craft gained altitude, following the indication of their radar screens; the red dot bleeping nearly dead centre, at 40,000 feet above the surface, was their ultimate destination; it was moving gradually in a south-westerly direction – towards Futura City, and possibly Spectrum Underground Base.

In the first shuttle, Colonel Blue was piloting, with Scarlet seated by his side as co-pilot. With them were Colonel White and Patrick Donaghue – who was now wearing the uniform given to him by Grey onboard the Sea Turtle, and in which he was feeling a little uncomfortable, fiddling with the collar as if it was choking the life out of him. In the back of the cabin, four Spectrum commandos were waiting patiently.

The rest of the expeditionary team was in the other shuttle: Captain Black, Captain Grey and Captain Green and four other commandos. Black was piloting, keeping some distance behind the first shuttle.

A pocket of air shook them bumpily, and Blue adjusted the instruments, to compensate. The red dot on the screen was growing closer.

“I wish I could see something,” Scarlet muttered, narrowing his eyes in an attempt to see through the windshield of the cockpit. “This rain is much too heavy for my taste…”

“We’ll reach target in fifteen minutes,” Blue announced. “We’re already on their radar screens.”

“Somehow, knowing that doesn’t reassure me,” Donaghue muttered. “For all we know, they might be aiming at us as we speak. And plan to use us as target practice.”

“We couldn’t very well use stealth capacity – even if this shuttle was equipped with one,” Blue remarked. “That would really be suspicious. Are you having second thoughts, Pat?”

“It’s way too late for that, isn’t it?” Donaghue replied. “Just… fly casually, ‘Chewbacca’, so you don’t raise anyone’s suspicions.”

“I’ll do my best,” Blue said. “Relax, Pat… You worry too much.”

“Call me ‘Magenta’, while I’m in this outfit,” Donaghue replied. “Captain Magenta, if it pleases the Colonel for me to regain my Spectrum rank and identity for the duration of this mission. I do not want word to spread that Patrick Donaghue had taken part in folly. It would not be good for my image as a serious businessman…”

“Of course… Captain,” Blue said with a wry smile.

“I have to admit I share some of… Captain Magenta’s concern,” Colonel White then added behind Blue. “Are you sure we will be able to land on this base without any trouble?”

The speakers suddenly came alive, as a male voice was heard addressing them: “Cloudbase II to approaching WAAF Shuttles. You are entering our airspace. Please identify yourselves.”

“We’ll know in a minute,” Blue said between his teeth, answering White’s question.

He nodded to Scarlet, and the latter reached for the mic, and flipped a lever, in order to answer as he had been instructed to: “Cloudbase II,” he said, ignoring White’s snort of disgust at the name behind him, “This is WAAF Shuttles 136 and 138 from Bermuda, Hamilton International Airport. Transport of reserve troops for active duty on Cloudbase II. Request permission to approach and land…”

“Security identification, Shuttle 136…”

Scarlet told them the long and complicated code Blue had given him earlier. The man obviously took note of it, as silence followed. The silence grew longer, as they waited for the answer.

“WAAF Shuttles 136 and 138 from Bermuda, Hamilton International Airport…” the voice broke off, and they looked at each other, with baited breath. “You are authorised to make your approach and land on Cloudbase II.” There was an almost shocked silence inside the shuttle at these words. No-one dared move or say anything, barely believing it was working – they didn’t want to break the charm. “Please continue on your present course. You’ll be landing on the main deck’s runway.”

“Loud and clear, Cloudbase II. Shuttle 136 out.” Scarlet quickly closed the channel, and only then did everyone blow out a deep sigh of relief. It wasn’t difficult to imagine the same was happening on Black’s craft as well.

“I’ll be damned,” White muttered. “It worked.”

“That code your contact gave us was really handy,” Scarlet said, addressing Blue.

“It’s the same code used by all shuttles to board the base this week,” Blue explained. “They change it regularly, but our contact made sure to keep updated on them.”

“So, officially, these shuttles are transporting new troops for duty on base?” Magenta said. “So if they scan the shuttles and discover they’re loaded with people, they won’t be suspicious. That’s actually clever.”

“Or too easy,” grumbled White. “Are you sure it’s not a trap?”

“Peach told us that the base is presently manned by a skeleton crew, so we shouldn’t be bothered when we disembark. He’ll meet us in the hangar bay.”

“And you have complete faith in him?” Scarlet asked in turn.

“He’s never failed us before, and I don’t see him failing us now. Trust him, as you would trust me.”

“Me, I trust no-one,” Magenta said gloomily. “But here I am, putting my life entirely in your hands…”

“Relax, everyone. We’ll make it to the base in one piece.”

“The question will be if we will leave in one piece,” White remarked.

“I see something,” Scarlet then announced. He was looking straight ahead through the cockpit windshield. He pointed toward a large shadow, dotted with lights, that grew increasingly larger as they approached. “See that?”

“Yes,” Blue answered. “I see it. It must be Cloudbase II.” He flicked a button on his console, opening a scrambled frequency, already agreed on before they left the Sea Turtle. “Shuttle 136 to Shuttle 138 – do you copy, Conrad?”

“Loud and clear,” the voice of Captain Black answered through the speakers.

“Do you see the base, right in front of us?”

“Indeed. We’re right behind you, Shuttle 136, so we can’t miss it.”

That was at that moment that Scarlet felt it. A sudden dizziness that hit him right between the eyes, drilling into his skull, and he shivered violently. He groaned with pain, and Blue, hearing him, turned his eyes in his direction; he saw that Scarlet had suddenly become pale, with his face showered with sweat. He was shaking his head, to clear his mind of the sudden illness that had overtaken him.

“Are you all right?” Blue asked with a concerned frown.

“Just… feeling dizzy,” Scarlet muttered. “I’m still… probably not completely well… after that jump through time. I’ll be okay in a second…”

“Well, if you can’t fly, maybe you’d better give your place to Magenta. He…”

“I’ll be okay,” Scarlet repeated insistently. He was still very pale, but did seem better than a second earlier. “We are approaching the base, Colonel.”

“It’s… huge…” the voice of Captain Black said through the speakers. “Maybe bigger than Cloudbase was in its time…”

Colonel White, who had leaned over Blue’s shoulder to look ahead through the windshield, suddenly went rigid, and his face became hard, displaying an expression of shocked and cold anger. “I would say it’s exactly the same size,” he said icily.

“What?” Colonel Blue said, glancing briefly at him. “How can you te…” He stopped in the middle of his sentence, as he turned back to look at the approaching hovering base. And suddenly, he understood what White meant – as he gawped with the same total astonishment as Scarlet and Magenta, at the sight finally revealing itself to their eyes. Behind him, he heard the surprised murmurs from his commandos, and through the radio, the gasp coming from Captain Black himself.

“Sweet mother of God… Tell me it isn’t so…”

“It can’t be possible,” Scarlet said, his eyes riveted on the vision. “It couldn’t be…”

“It is,” White growled between his teeth. “God damn them. God damn them all. They wanted her so much… They made sure they would have her…”

He couldn’t keep the anger from his voice – he felt defiled, betrayed, just thinking that they had succeeded in the aim he had sacrificed so many years of his life just to make sure they would not achieve.

Cloudbase – his Cloudbase – was there, right in front of his eyes, her lights flickering and glimmering even more intensely against the hard-falling rain, imposing in her powerful presence in those dark, threatening skies. Hovering like a ghost, as he remembered it, in his most vivid memories.

“They have rebuilt Cloudbase?” an incredulous Magenta said, almost in a whisper. “From scratch?”

“Rebuilt it, my foot!” Colonel White exploded. “Don’t you see what’s happened, man? It IS Cloudbase – down to the last detail! Look at her!”

“Are you suggesting…?” Blue stared with wonder at the base, as they were continuing their approach. “It’s a Mysteron reconstruct?”

“I would bet what’s left of my life on it!” White said between his teeth. “And if you want any more proof, look at Scarlet!” Blue turned again towards his friend, seated by his side, his eyes set on the hovering base, entranced by the vision. His brow was still covered with sweat, his face so very pale. “You feel it, don’t you?” White asked, leaning across to his young compatriot. “That nausea you feel – it’s your sixth sense, isn’t it? You feel this base is a Mysteron reconstruction?”

Scarlet shivered. “I… don’t know if it’s a reconstruction,” he murmured. “But I do sense there is danger from it. Danger from the Mysterons…”

“I sense it too,” the voice of Black then confirmed. “They are nearby… Their presence… Inside this base… They will strike soon…”

“Hell!” Magenta cursed. “You don’t suppose now would be the time to abort this mission, Colonel Blue? If this base is a reconstruction…”

“Where would you go, Magenta?” Blue snapped at him. “How can you run to escape from Armageddon?” He turned a harsh stare to ‘Cloudbase’, now straight ahead. “If both Scarlet and Black can sense the Mysterons’ presence, then we were right in our assumption of their plans… They will use ‘Cloudbase’ and the Quantum energy within it to destroy Earth. Once and for all. So that doesn’t change anything in our operation.”

“I don’t get it,” Scarlet said, shaking his head. “How could the World Government be in possession of a replicate of Cloudbase – which can only have been made by the Mysterons? That doesn’t make any sense! Doesn’t the World Government want to destroy them, according to your spies?”

“I don’t have all the answers,” Blue muttered. “But I suspect we might find them onboard. So I suggest we continue with the mission. We don’t have any choice now, anyway. Anyone disagree with this?” There was no answer from the group of men surrounding him. He nodded grimly. “I didn’t think you would. Let’s go.”

He pushed the helm, to direct the craft towards the main runway of Cloudbase as instructed earlier – closely followed by the other shuttle.

By the time they landed on the main deck of Cloudbase, Scarlet was already feeling better, the disagreeable sensation of nausea having gone, but it had left him with an uncomfortable sense of edginess that he felt was transmittable to his team-mates. They all sat in complete silence in the shuttle’s cockpit and cabin, as Colonel Blue, following the instruction given by the base air controller, shut down the engines after bringing the craft down. Through the rear portholes, they watched as Shuttle 138 also landed, a little behind them.

As soon as the engines of the other shuttle were also turned off, they heard the clanking sound announcing that the lift underneath them had been engaged and they felt the slow motion as they were brought down to the hangar below. For all of them, it brought back fond memories of years ago, when they had this kind of experience on a regular basis, during their tour on duty onboard Cloudbase. For Scarlet, it was still as if it were yesterday.

“Yesterday’s gone, never to return,” he muttered under his breath, nostalgia pervading his voice. He caught sight of Blue, as the latter turned to look straight at him. “Sorry. I suppose I didn’t expect to come back here… after all that had happened.”

“Don’t apologise,” Blue answered. “I was thinking along about the same lines. In fact, I’m sure everyone is…”

There was no remark from the others to confirm or deny that affirmation.

The lift lowered to the hangar floor and above, they could see the hatch on the ceiling slowly sliding to cover the opening. It snapped closed with an echoing, ominous sound that made them shiver. Now they were on the enemy’s territory, with no turning back.

“Now what?” Magenta asked. He spoke in barely a murmur, as if he were afraid to be heard from the exterior.

A voice then made itself heard from the hangar speakers – distorted by the echo of the vast room: “Hangar Control to Shuttles 136 and 138. This is Agent 24. Wait for pressure to be restored inside the hangar before disembarking. Watch the indicator over the door. When it turns green, it will be safe for you to come out. I’ll be waiting for you by the hangar door.”

“Agent 24?” Scarlet asked, turning a questioning glance towards Blue.

“That’s our man, Peach,” Blue confirmed. He removed his safety belt, and everyone onboard did so too. “Arm yourselves,” he ordered, as he turned towards the cabin. “Keep on your toes, men, and be vigilant. Remember we are on enemy territory. Anything might happen.”

“S.I.G.,” was the combined answer from the men in front of him.

“Green light,” Scarlet announced. Through the windshield, he had been keeping an eye on the indicator over the hangar door. “Ready to disembark.”

“Let’s get out, then.”

Magenta, who was closest to the door, pushed the button to open it. The hatch opened with a hissing sound and everyone stepped out of the shuttle, one after the other.

Scarlet was the last to jump to the floor, just behind Blue; right next to their group, those who had travelled with Captain Black were also leaving their own shuttle, and they joined them. Black, Green and Grey came to stand in front of Blue.

“Everyone ready?” the latter asked.

“As ready as we’ll ever be.” Black glanced over his shoulder at the group of men behind. In all, counting those who had formed the senior staff of Cloudbase years before, there were fifteen men. It didn’t seem like much of a contingent, but they were all volunteers, ready to do whatever they had to, to stop the Mysterons once more.

Blue nodded and then moved towards the door leading out of the hangar, Scarlet, Black and Magenta with him, Green, White and Grey right behind, and the rest of the men followed, checking around to make sure they would not be surprised by any unsuspected attack. Blue gave his instructions, as they were moving along:

“Willis, Berryman, you stay behind and guard the shuttles. The others, you’re with us. You know what to do. As soon as we leave the hangar, fan out. You’ll have thirty minutes to cover the whole of Cloudbase and install the charges the way we discussed. You know this place, you should have no trouble finding the strategic places that will blow it completely out of the sky. Colonel White, Captain Scarlet, you come with me to wherever the Quantum technology is kept. Peach will guide us to it.”

As he reached the hatch, Blue tensed. Gun at the ready – just in case – and with the others doing just the same – he pressed the button, ready to meet the former Lieutenant Peach whom he fully expected was waiting for them on the other side.

The door slid open.

And Blue was the first to stare in astonished surprise into the face of WGPC Supreme Commander Richard Fraser, standing in the doorway.

Chapter 2 – Confrontations

Captain Magenta was the first one to react. Coming out of the general surprise that had taken everyone – including the man standing in front of them, gaping with wide eyes – and realising instantly that Fraser was all alone, Magenta sprang forward, with a low growl of anger, and caught the man by the front of his shirt, to drag him forcefully into the hangar. Blue swiftly pushed the button to close the hatch, just as Magenta was brutally shoving their former colleague against the wall.

“I knew it!” seethed Magenta, holding the obviously astonished Fraser still and looking straight into his face. “I knew it all along! It’s a trap!”

“P-Pat,” Fraser stammered, his face pale and looking with an incredulous expression into the face of the man who had been his best friend. “I… I didn’t know you would be here…” He blinked his eyes, looking over Magenta’s shoulder, and straight into Scarlet and White’s accusing glares. “And… Paul… and the colonel? You’re both alive? I can’t believe…”

“Stop this!” Magenta slammed him furiously against the wall. Fraser’s head bounced back against the hard surface. He winced at the impact, as Magenta moved on: “You trapped us, Fraser! You set us up!”

“I didn’t! Please, listen to me… I can explain…”

“So you can keep us busy until your men come to take us?” Scarlet accused.

“No… no-one knows you’re here, except me. Paul… How did you survive that bl…”

“You say you didn’t alert anyone to our presence?” Blue asked with a frown, interrupting Fraser.

“No – why would I?”

“For the same reason you betrayed me, years ago?” Magenta suggested with a growl.

“I never betrayed you, Pat.”

“You left me to ROT in Hell!”

“You know I would have helped you if I could… But I couldn’t. I didn’t even know where they were keeping you!”

“Liar!”

“Pat,” Fraser pleaded in an almost desperate voice, “all of you, listen to me, please…”

“So you can tell us more lies?” Magenta accused, his tone becoming more threatening. “No, you’ve done enough, Fraser. So help me God, I’ll bash your head to a pulp before you…”

“Enough!” Blue interrupted, putting a hand on Magenta’s shoulder, in an attempt to calm his righteous anger. Magenta shut up, but he was still holding Fraser tightly, keeping him still against the wall, glaring ominously at him. Blue turned to Fraser and addressed him abruptly: “Where’s our contact?”

“I am your contact,” Fraser answered, looking him straight in the eyes.

“You most certainly are not,” Blue replied.

“I am, it’s true. Your man, Mark Tremayne… the former Lieutenant Peach? He was found out weeks ago and killed.”

“You killed him?” Colonel White asked.

“Of course not! But I was there when they caught him. They… they interrogated him. Ward and his cronies – under Roberts’s orders. I couldn’t help him… Like I couldn’t help you, Pat. When he died, I took over from him. The information had to get through to Spectrum, and I was the only man able to do that effectively.”

“You suddenly decided to do that?” Scarlet said doubtfully. “Out of guilt, perhaps?”

“I didn’t suddenly decide anything!” Fraser protested, incensed by the accusation. “Believe it or not, I have been doing this for a long time. Who do you think provided Peach with all this information in the first place? Santa Claus?”

“It was you?” Blue inquired, obviously doubtful.

“Of course, it was me! Who do you think?”

“I don’t believe you!” Magenta said between his teeth, his fists holding Fraser’s shirt even more tightly. “Why should we believe a single word you say? This is all a trap, and you are trying to delay us, Fraser – you are no more than a traitor… You’re in league with Roberts!”

“Oh, for Heaven’s sake, will you let go of me?” Angrily, Fraser pushed Magenta away from him, and was almost surprised when the Irishman let him go. Breathing hard, Fraser straightened his clothes, looking at each man surrounding him, glaring at him with accusation – and even murder – in their eyes.

“I am not in league with Roberts,” he said emphatically. “I never was and never will be.”

“You are Supreme Commander of the WGPC,” Blue remarked pointedly.

Fraser sighed deeply. “I only accepted this position as Supreme Commander to be in a position of power –and to be close to Roberts, and keep my eye on him. At the time, Spectrum couldn’t do anything against him and was being driven underground. I knew he was spreading lies about the organisation – I knew he was behind many ‘suspicious deaths’, some of them even ascribed to Spectrum. I had to find proof against him – irrefutable proof that it was all his doing.”

“You decided to do that without telling anyone?” Magenta asked sceptically.

“Who else would have I told? You, Pat? Or you, Adam? Or anyone else? I couldn’t tell anyone. First, I knew that you, or anyone else, would have tried to stop me from doing it. Second – well, once you knew, your reaction toward me would have been different. Your resentment over my ‘changing sides’ would not have been so apparent. That would have blown my cover.”

“Go on,” Blue demanded, unwilling to believe it all as yet, but unable to find arguments against Fraser’s explanations.

Fraser grunted and shook his head. “As the years passed, and I was unable to find the proof I was looking for, and things went from bad to worse – I kept getting deeper and deeper into that role I had given myself. I lost myself in it… to the point where I discovered I was now in so deep, that I knew I would never be able to do anything by myself. I couldn’t trust anyone… None of my staff… None of the men under my command.” He looked straight at Blue. “I was unable to tell which one was friend – or foe. For all I knew, Roberts had them all in his pocket and spying on my every move.”

“So then what?” Blue asked.

“I… knew about Tremayne – Peach. I met him quite by chance, and although he had changed over the years, I recognised him. It wasn’t difficult for me to find out he was spying on the World Government on Spectrum’s behalf, no matter how good he was at covering his tracks – don’t forget I’m rather a good detective. So I fed him with information that I knew would be useful to you. At first, Peach didn’t know it was all coming from me – I wasn’t that keen to contact him directly, so I acted discreetly, so he would think that he came by the information by chance. But that wasn’t the case; I always arranged things for him to ‘find’ it. When I eventually revealed myself to him, he wasn’t sure if he could trust me at first – like yourself. But he finally did. And then, not long after that, he got caught.”

“You would have us believe that?” Scarlet asked suspiciously.

“I know how it sounds, but it’s the truth, I swear! Do you really believe I would sell my soul to the Devil, like it seemed I had done for all those years?”

“I don’t know, Rick,” Scarlet answered. “I find things are pretty different from what they were, years ago.”

“I even know about Dianne,” Fraser said in a low voice. That seemed to arouse Scarlet’s interest, and the latter glared dangerously at him, but Fraser turned to address Blue. “I know she’s been spying on me for Spectrum. And I’ve also been feeding her with information.”

“You knew?” Scarlet said icily. There was something like disgust mixed with anger in his voice. If Rick Fraser indeed knew, what kind of sick game was he playing with Dianne, then? Did he keep her in the dark for the sole purpose of continuing to sleep with her?

As if he understood the mute accusation in Scarlet’s cold stare, Fraser lowered his eyes slightly, in an attitude of shamed regret. “Paul, I swear to you, if I had known you were alive, I…”

“Never mind that,” Magenta interrupted him. “Do you really imagine that, with that revelation, we will leave you alive to tell all your friends about her? How do we know you haven’t told them already?”

“I haven’t said anything about her,” Fraser protested. “I could never hurt her. And I haven’t said anything about all of you either. Nobody knows you’re here, I tell you – only me. And I helped you get onboard.”

“How can we believe you?” Magenta asked again. “How can I believe you? After the way you abandoned me to your new friends’ attention? You were my friend, Rick…” There was a hurt note in Magenta’s voice now, and that made Fraser wince, almost despite himself.

“Pat – I never would have abandoned you willingly – you know that. I fully intended to get you loose, as I had promised you. Even if I had to break you free all by myself, by my own means. I had everything prepared – it was just a matter of days. But then, you got transferred… And I didn’t even know where! They kept it a secret even from me, because they knew we were friends, and they probably suspected I wanted to help you. I tried to find you… But they left no clues to where they had taken you.”

“I was in Hell, Rick.”

“I know… At least, I suspected as much. The last thing I heard about you was that you had escaped – somehow. And then you set up your new business… That’s all I know, I swear. I wish I had been able to help you sooner…”

“What about now?” Blue asked suddenly.

“Now – all I want is to stop this madness. And I know I would never be able to do it all alone. Look around you.” Fraser waved wildly. “Don’t you all see? This new base for the World Government… it’s Cloudbase reconstructed by the power of the Mysterons. When I first saw it weeks ago, I nearly flipped. I couldn’t believe it… It couldn’t be! But as I visited the place – with Roberts and Ward who gave us the grand tour – I became increasingly ill-at-ease. At every turn, it was Cloudbase, just as I remembered it. No-one could’ve reproduced it in such minute detail… But, just to make sure – just to dispel the last doubts in my mind – I visited the location of what should have been my former quarters, fourteen years ago. Do you know what I found?” There was a shiver in Fraser’s voice, as he spoke again: “All my models. They were all there. Reconstructed, like the rest of the base. Down-to-the-last-detail. It scared the living daylights out of me. I ran out of those quarters. I ran like hell, until my heart stopped beating so hard…” He looked desperately around him. “I did some research, and discovered that, contrary to my earlier beliefs, and what Roberts claimed, the World Government had possessed this base for years, but had kept it secret – even from me. Ward knew, of course. So I figured that it must have been reconstructed on the day it crashed, fourteen years ago, and somehow the World Government recovered it. Cloudbase was my home for many years… I couldn’t bear the thought of what they did to my home.”

“And I was the master of this home,” growled Colonel White. He took a step forward, and stood in front of Fraser, to put a hand on the drooping shoulder of the man. He stared at him, straight in the eye. “I believe you. I know what you say is the truth, because I know you, and the man you are. You could not have changed that much over the years.”

“Colonel …”

“You played a dangerous game, Captain Ochre. You let yourself go too deep undercover. How in Heaven did you think you would be able to handle this all alone, without any risk to yourself? Why didn’t you trust anyone with this? Did you somehow have some suspicion that what Roberts was saying about Spectrum – me – any of us – might have had some truth in it?”

“It was all so carefully planned,” Fraser murmured. “Those accusations… those so-called proofs… I…” he sighed. “Colonel White… I don’t know what to say. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“Yes, of course,” White said with a brief nod. “Your intentions were good.”

“You believe me then?”

“Yes. What you say is true to yourself – and does confirm our suspicions of this base.”

“Yes, it confirms it,” Blue said. “But how did the World Government come to be in possession of a retrometabolised Cloudbase?”

“Well, like Ochre said, maybe they salvaged it, after the Mysterons had abandoned it – after whatever threat they intended to use it for in the past?” White growled with irritation.

“The way Spectrum salvaged me after the Car-Vu mission?” Scarlet suggested. There was doubt in his tone.

“I think we would have known,” Blue retorted. “Although there was a period, in the beginning, as we settled down in our new base of operations, when it’s possible that we might have missed something… But I think it’s unlikely. We somehow always managed to know of the Mysterons’ threats… one way or the other. Captain Black, you still had contact with them. Would you have known about this?”

“I… I’m not sure…” Black murmured. “It’s a possibility, but…” He shook his head, grunting. “It was fourteen years ago. I was still under their control. I should remember them taking Cloudbase over for whatever reason – but I don’t remember.”

“Don’t I know the feeling,” Scarlet said grimly. “Could they have kept that away from you?”

“If so, why?” asked Black. “I don’t like this… I don’t like the feeling I’m getting from this.”

“Well, whatever: Commander Fraser is right,” White then said. “We have to put an end to this madness.”

“Agreed,” Blue muttered. “More than ever, I’m convinced that we must blow this place from the sky… Because it’s obvious now that the Mysterons will use it to destroy Earth.”

“Yes… That, they will certainly do.” Fraser murmured. “And they have the means to do it.”

“We know about the work on Quantum energy,” Blue said.

“Of course,” Fraser said with a faint smile. “I arranged for that information to reach you, like the rest.”

“…And we also know that the World Government intends to use it as a weapon of destruction,” Blue continued, and Fraser nodded his confirmation. “But from what we were able to gather from our scientists, they would need proper technology to correctly control it. Technology that they might not have, or do they?”

Fraser shook his head. “Actually, there’s more you should know. As I told you – Cloudbase has been replicated down to the last detail. That includes everything that was onboard when it was destroyed years ago. Everything. Including what was stored down in the R&D Department, for safe keeping…”

White shivered, suddenly understanding. “My God… The Quantum Transmitter?!”

“Fully functional,” Fraser agreed with a nod. “And with it – they can indeed control the Q Energy – and use it to its fullest power and capacity.” He sighed, looking at the men facing him with some nervousness. “They attached the whole device to the reactor, in the engine room,” he explained. “The Quantum energy containment field, the Q Transmitter, the whole thing…”

“To the nuclear reactor?” Black mused with surprise. “Why?”

“I don’t know why exactly – I’m just telling you what I know – and what I saw. One thing for certain – I sure don’t like the looks of it.”

Wait,” Scarlet said suddenly. “They do want to use the Quantum energy as a weapon, isn’t that right?”

“Yeah – that’s what’s been said… If our information is exact,” Blue said, glancing at Fraser.

“I can assure you it is,” the latter confirmed.

Scarlet blanched suddenly. He turned to White. “You were right about the Mysterons and ‘poetic justice’,” he said quickly. “This is Goliath, all over again… They intend to use Cloudbase like they used Goliath II!”

“The World Government?” Blue said with a frown. “But…”

“The Mysterons! Don’t you see? It’s so obvious! That would explain EVERYTHING! How come the World Government has been using a retrometabolised Cloudbase for years? Like Hell they retrieved it from the Mysterons’ control… the Mysterons are still in control of it! They are behind it all!”

As Scarlet said those words, popping sounds were suddenly heard, followed by a series of whistling sounds, like those made by an object travelling through the air at a tremendous speed. A cry echoed through the hangar, coming from the shuttles behind them, and all turned around, to see Berryman and Willis falling to the ground like cut trees, a bullet having struck each of them between the eyes. Galloway, standing right next to Captain Black was the next one to fall, in much the same manner, with barely a sound, and then it was Manchester’s turn – he fell with a groan, almost into Captain Scarlet’s arms. The English officer looked down into the man’s face to see the very visible bleeding hole dead centre in his forehead.

Everyone froze in place, and looked nervously around; powerful spotlights suddenly beamed down on them, blinding them almost completely. Sounds of rifles,