A new broom sweeps clean, reflected Colonel White as he studied President Roberts’
latest directive on cutbacks in military spending. With cost cutting measures extended to
include Spectrum, Colonel White agreed to look into combining training for
non-combatant occupations with those of other world military forces.
An initial assessment
by the World Government’s bean counters recommended Spectrum’s single service
training for cooks and stewards could be combined with training already
conducted by the World Army Air Force at one of their bases. Probably
just the tip of the iceberg, White thought moodily, knowing that if those
changes worked well, merging medical and dental personnel training with the
WAAF, or possibly the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (who had the better
facilities) would most likely be next.
Colonel White
reluctantly signed off on the directive and the wheels were quickly put in
motion for Spectrum personnel to commence training with the WAAF in the field
of catering services.
* * * * *
With the instruction
manuals aligned and the facilities and accommodation expansion underway to
cater for an influx of Spectrum personnel, Colonel White dispatched Captain
Magenta to the WAAF training base to solve the final sticking points –
compatibility between Spectrum and the WAAF in communications and computer
software.
* * * * *
“If you break the rules
Captain, you must suffer the consequences.”
Captain Magenta knew it as well as he knew his own code name, but for
the sake of expediency he had run the risk and parked his car in an out of
bounds area….and had been caught as a result.
There was also the fact
that on his arrival at the WAAF command centre, though he had signed a document
to say he had read and understood the base regulations, he had actually done no
more than skim the pages. If there was
something in there about parking in out of bounds areas he could truthfully say
he hadn’t seen it. Captain Magenta also
knew that though the transgression was minor and wouldn’t go on his permanent
record, Colonel White would be informed.
At least the task I’m here to do
is progressing well, he thought ruefully.
Hauled before the
Disciplinary Officer where he was reminded that no concessions would be made
for his rank, Captain Magenta was duly told of his punishment. For ‘his remaining time working under WAAF
regulations’ (‘Quote – Unquote’, thought
Magenta) he would be parking his vehicle outside the base in a designated area
known as the Defaulters’ Car Park.
Captain Magenta thought
it was a lot of fuss about nothing but wisely said little beyond a ‘Yes, Sir’ or two at the appropriate
moments. Almost gleefully, one of the
military police then informed the Spectrum captain that the car park was
located quite some distance from his place of work.
This wouldn’t have been an issue, Magenta thought crossly, if I had been able to secure accommodation on the base.
The expansion of
accommodation for all other ranks had been completed on schedule, but
unfortunately for the Spectrum captain, the upgrade of the officers’ quarters
was still underway. As a consequence
Captain Magenta was assigned a partly furnished apartment in the married
quarters precinct, where his lone presence caused no end of interest among the
residents….much to his embarrassment.
Unfortunately the married quarters were, like the defaulters’ car park,
not on the base.
* * * * *
A week into his
punishment, Captain Magenta had a particularly difficult day trying to resolve
yet another software issue, so that by the time he was finally able to leave
the communications building it was already dark. It was also cold and there was a hint of fog
in the air. He hoped the weather would
hold, at least until he reached his car.
He mentally counted the
days he had left to make this lonely trek – a little under two weeks. Funny,
it feels like more, he thought tiredly as he trudged past a cluster of old
red brick buildings and the bright lights of the Officer’s Mess. He was soon at the main gate where he
produced his ID and was promptly waved out by the guard. A poorly lit road stretched ahead of him.
There was no designated
path so he walked, as the law required, on the side facing oncoming
traffic. On both sides of the road the
land was cordoned off with barbed wire fencing.
For a while all he could hear was the crunching of his boots on the
gravel edge. It grew colder and a mist
began to form in earnest. He cursed his
stupidity in disobeying the regulations, or at the very least not making an
effort to read them.
As the guard gate faded
into the distance, after a few minutes Captain Magenta began to hear what
sounded like footsteps following him. He
stopped. They stopped. He turned around and peered back down the
road towards the base, but with no street lighting in that section of the road,
nor any car lights to provide illumination, visibility was poor. From what he could make out it appeared that
he was quite alone. He turned back
towards his destination but he couldn’t see anyone ahead of him either. I must
have imagined it, he thought.
The Spectrum captain
set off again. The ghostly footsteps
returned. Once again he abruptly stopped
and turned around. Silence reigned. He took a couple of tentative steps. This time there were no accompanying sounds. Captain Magenta grimaced at his own
nervousness and hit the road in earnest.
All too soon the
mysterious echoing footsteps were back.
Captain Magenta quickened his pace.
The pace of his ghostly colleague also quickened. Or was
it ‘colleagues’? Or worse. Mysterons. The footsteps now seemed more of a
thump-thump-thump, as though they were made by more than one person. He wondered if Cloudbase had received a
threat and he hadn’t been informed.
Magenta’s heart rate
increased and he began to consider the possibility that his life could be in
danger. He paused somewhat apprehensively,
trying to remember how far he had to go to reach the car park. Surely,
it can’t be far now? He also
listened intently but just as before, when he stopped the other sounds ceased
too. The air was now thick with fog and
the sense of isolation was becoming almost unnerving.
Captain Magenta knew
that no matter how close - or how far - the car park was, there was nothing
else he could do but continue, so he set off again. Almost at once the muted sound of echoing
footsteps returned.
He stopped and whirled
around….and this time he saw a Shape
out of the corner of his eye. It wasn’t on the road after all, he
realised. He peered into the murky gloom
beyond the roadside and as his eyes adjusted he could make out another ghostly
Shape. Startled, he jumped back in
alarm. Just as quickly, the Shape moved
towards him. He still couldn’t figure
out what It was but with nothing
untoward occurring he felt emboldened to step closer. Paradoxically, the Shape abruptly moved
back…and other ominously loud thumping sounds quickly followed.
At that moment a
passing car, at the junction of the base road and the highway, provided a
flicker of light and all was revealed.
Magenta’s eyes widened in surprise. Mysterons indeed, he thought dryly,
shaking his head at his own foolishness.
That’s what happens if you imagine
the enemy is lurking at every shadow.
Much relieved and in better spirits, he again set out towards the car.
With his destination in
sight, Captain Magenta’s pace quickened as he wryly acknowledged that, aside
from reading the base regulations when told to do so, there was definitely a
lesson to be learnt from his experience.
Given the right circumstances, all it takes to get into a
panic is an overactive imagination, a cold dark foggy night….and a small herd
of extremely curious cows.
Author’s
Notes:
Believe it or not, Captain Magenta’s experience
is actually based on a true story told to me many years ago. Of course my version may have been expanded and
adapted somewhat from the original. With many thanks to the original storyteller
who was writing fanfic back when it never even occurred to me to try, and who
always instinctively knew how to convey a fine sense of the dramatic. Fingers crossed, I hope I haven’t done too
badly in my attempt to duplicate the effect.
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