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A ‘Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons’ short story for Halloween by Keryn Captain Black
Captain Black felt his mind drift into an
uneasy sleep. The scene unfolded from the beginning: The Martian
Exploration Vehicle lumbered over the unfamiliar landscape as he scanned the
horizon, searching for something to explain the strange signals Spectrum had
monitored. Nothing to report so
far, just a barren topography of dust and rocks.
“Well that about
completes our patrol, Captain Black.
Once again nothing to report.”
That was Lieutenant Dean, and Black heard himself answer, “But those
signals we monitored at Spectrum - they must have come from somewhere. Let’s just take a look over that ridge
and then we’ll return to Earth.” Captain Black stirred restlessly. “Would you take a
look at that!” Lieutenant Dean’s exclamation when the MEV
arrived at the ridge jolted Black into the next scene in the dream - something
he could not have known during the original journey. He knew now, but if only he’d known
then… “THE FIRST OF THE
EARTH SPACE TRAVELLERS HAVE ARRIVED.
THEY TOO HAVE A CURIOSITY ABOUT THE UNIVERSE WE LIVE IN. WE MUST WELCOME THEM. LET US TAKE A CLOSER LOOK.”
Black groaned with the memory of what
happened next. “We’ve been
spotted!”
“They’re getting
ready to attack!” Lieutenant Dean
again.
“OK Lieutenant.
Let them have it!”
Captain Black did not think he could ever
forget the destruction of the Martian complex - and its subsequent
reconstruction. He should not have
panicked. Years of discipline and
training were seemingly forgotten in an instant. And why had he ordered them to wait and see? Would it have made any difference if
he’d given the order to retreat?
Probably not. He knew what was
coming next…that chilling message. “EARTHMEN, WE ARE
PEACEFUL BEINGS AND YOU HAVE TRIED TO DESTROY US. BUT YOU CANNOT SUCCEED.
YOU AND YOUR PEOPLE WILL PAY FOR THIS ACT OF AGGRESSION. THIS IS THE VOICE OF THE MYSTERONS. WE KNOW YOU CAN HEAR US EARTHMEN. OUR RETALIATION WILL BE SLOW BUT NONE
THE LESS EFFECTIVE. IT WILL MEAN
THE ULTIMATE DESTRUCTION OF LIFE ON EARTH.
IT WILL BE USELESS FOR YOU TO RESIST FOR WE HAVE DISCOVERED THE SECRET OF
REVERSING MATTER, AS YOU HAVE JUST WITNESSED. ONE OF YOU WILL BE UNDER OUR CONTROL. YOU WILL BE INSTRUMENTAL IN AVENGING THE MYSTERONS.” The message
continued but Captain Black no longer listened. He saw himself frozen in time, trapped in the MEV with no
means of escape. His life would
never be the same again.
~■~ Colonel White
Out of tragedy, a partial success. Colonel White considered the loss of
Captain Brown - a good officer who would surely be missed. But…the Mysterons did not succeed in their mission and incredibly, Captain Scarlet had
recovered and returned to active service in a way the Colonel could never have
envisaged. The worry now was; when
would the Mysterons strike again…and where?
It was all the more difficult perhaps to fight an enemy that could not be
seen or felt, but only heard as a disembodied mechanical voice, but he would
find a way. Colonel White had
already begun drawing up contingency plans.
~■~ Captain Black
“THE MYSTERONS
ALSO HAVE COMPASSION…” Captain Black wondered why he
had said those words to Symphony Angel.
HOW could he have, knowing nothing could be further from the truth? At least he wasn’t thinking about… No,
better not to remember. The
Mysterons had left him to his own thoughts, to sleep or at least return to
inactivity until the next time. Had
he been asleep? Not conscious at least, but truly
sleeping? No, not this time. He
always
knew when he’d been asleep and that was because… Captain Black abruptly shied
away from delving any further into the reasons; it was enough that he knew. Sometimes he wondered what had happened to
his crew in the MEV. But as time
passed he thought about them less and less, until in the end it was a bitter
truth to finally admit that he no longer cared. If they were dead then they were lucky. Here and now, Black was where THEY required him to be. And where was here? Sometimes, surprisingly it was in an
ordinary city, doing ordinary things.
Waiting. He had already
found he could not break free. Try
it and he’d disappear - into a kind of non-existence.
Days, weeks, months or even longer might be lost forever if he crossed
them again. Black supposed the
Mysterons were studying him when he was left ‘alone’, perhaps they were studying
the planet as well. All he knew was
he no longer had control of his own fate. Not in this half-life he now lived. It was their words he said and their instructions to be
followed, but in this last mission he had failed. Oddly enough they didn’t seem
to care. No retribution, even
though he’d expected it. All was
quiet. Captain Black felt he’d been cast adrift
- all he could hear was an eerie silence in his own mind.
~■~ Colonel White
Colonel White sat at his console unwilling
for the moment to relinquish command even though he would soon be off duty.
Who was on night duty? Oh yes, Captain Ochre. Following the latest incident with
Captain Black, Colonel White considered how much information had been gleaned
about the Mysterons. Not nearly
enough, if truth be told. That they
were not infallible was already a fact.
Their first mistake was undoubtedly losing control of Captain Scarlet. And as for the Mysterons’ second mistake…hmm. Things had not quite gone to plan
despite all his hard work, and the best efforts of his officers. Colonel White got up abruptly and walked
towards the observation tube. He
stepped inside and gazed towards the cloud-covered blue planet below, wondering
where Captain Black was now. White
collected his thoughts and considered what
had
been learned so far. The Mysterons’ second mistake was when Black became
detectable due to the radioactive isotope.
But even then, Spectrum had failed to capitalise on that advantage and
Captain Black had escaped. The
Colonel privately admitted he had not liked explaining that detail to the World
President in his report. Two days
they’d had to find the Mysteron agent and still he’d got away. It was too close to reminding him what
had been whispered in World Government circles ever since the Zero-X incident:
just how much was Spectrum to blame in the first instance for what happened on
Mars? Captain Black was a Spectrum
officer - one of his most competent and trusted men and the ideal choice for the
Mars mission. The logical choice…but what a tragic mistake
that had turned out to be. What in
heaven’s name had happened to Conrad up there?
~■~ Captain Black
He’d had that dream again. He awoke with a start and realised he
could sense the alien malevolence that heralded a message from THEM. He got up calmly and waited for
instructions. Then suddenly he was elsewhere, driving
a car. Momentarily disoriented
until the knowledge of his mission filled his mind, he drove on until his quarry
was in sight. He knew what he had
to do - kill Dr Magnus and have the reconstruct carry out the Mysteron threat.
Black thought it was needlessly complicated, like many of the Mysterons’
instructions. HE would be more direct, but despite
their promise to destroy Earth, the methods used were probably some kind a game
to the Mysterons. They apparently
did not see any reason to hurry.
Black detected no sense of anger if they failed nor any feeling of triumph if
they succeeded. It was all the same
to them, a slow and steady inexorable march towards the destruction of life on
Earth. Afterwards Captain Black reviewed the
progress of the Mysterons’ war against Earth.
The plan to kill General Tiempo had not gone well and Spectrum had
discovered yet more anomalies between Earthmen and the Mysteron reconstructs. Damn Magnus for his carelessness. Spectrum also made the discovery that
electricity could kill his people.
No, not his. Never his. Theirs. He was not a reconstruction. But there was someone who was – or had
been – one of them. Black wondered
if it was possible to capture Scarlet and return him to the Mysteron’s control. If he could make Captain Scarlet his
prisoner then use him to bargain with the Mysterons - give them Scarlet in
return for his freedom. Maybe then he could finally be free… But for the moment there were more
pressing concerns. Captain Black
watched the fallout from the Tiempo debacle continue and realised there were new
problems to be overcome. Acting on
the information they had gleaned from what happened to Dr Magnus, Spectrum
scientists had built a Mysteron detector and a weapon that could kill the
reconstructs. Captain Black felt
the first real stirrings of alarm when he discovered just how far Spectrum had
advanced. His life was bound up
with that of his captors – and after the Mysteronised Captain Indigo had failed
in his mission, for the moment they had gone silent on what Black should do. If Spectrum succeeded and they were
destroyed, what would happen to him?
~■~ Colonel White
Colonel White reviewed Spectrum’s progress
against the Mysterons so far. Real progress at last! The Mysteron gun was in production ahead of
schedule and the manufacture and distribution of the detectors were also on
track. True, they both had a range
of only about 50 yards and were somewhat cumbersome but it was a start and he
was very confident Spectrum’s scientists would soon come up with improvements. Colonel White was almost buoyant with
optimism. The tide had definitely
turned. Colonel White allowed
himself to hope that the day would come when Spectrum would triumph and the
Mysterons would be defeated.
~■~ Captain Black
His words to Symphony Angel had indeed
been a lie, the Mysterons had no compassion.
No humanity, no pity, no mercy and certainly no forgiveness. They’d given him a choice though – to
exist in nothingness until activated in their service, or he could retain his
sense of self and remain on Earth when they didn’t need him. It was much as he expected, to have to
make a decision that once made could not be changed. Just like on Mars…
He’d taken the second option of course, even though he soon realised it was a
promise kept only when it suited THEM.
In the beginning he’d even hoped he might have used the time to find a
way to escape their control. A faint hope - Mysteron control was worse
than anything he could ever have imagined. In the beginning he grasped any
opportunity to retain his original identity and survive - until he realised it
was pointless. Even then Captain Black could not see with every passing day his humanity was being eroded and that
over time his thoughts seemed more and more integrated with those of his
captors. He no longer considered
escaping. The gauntness of his
features and ghostly pallor were just the physical manifestations of the
Mysterons’ control of a shadow, once human, gradually being consumed from
within. They made him think about the
consequences of his actions, and increasingly he
could
live with what he had done in their name.
In time their mission had become his mission. If Captain Black had ever expected forgiveness - or some
small measure of peace - as a reward for years in their service, it was not
forthcoming. And it never would be. On the occasions he was left alone a
weariness came over him and he slept…and then it started. The
Mysteron induced dream. The only
dream he could ever have… the only dream they would
let
him have…to be relived over and over…to remind him of his folly and the war with
Earth that he alone had caused. Captain Black closed his eyes and not for
the first time, he wished he’d opted for complete oblivion when, almost without
pause, sleep overcame him and the familiar scene unfolded… The MEV lumbered
over the Martian landscape as he scanned the horizon, searching for something to
explain the strange signals Spectrum had monitored. Nothing to report so far…. T H E E N D
Notes: This story is
based on characters created by Gerry And Sylvia Anderson for the TV series
“Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons” Some events and characters Copyright © of
all trademarks materials (Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons and all other series
titles, all their characters, vehicles, crafts, etc.), owned by ITC/Polygram.
Information of the series are all been taken from copyright © materials (books,
magazines, videos, TV medias, comics, etc) owned by ITC/Polygram/Carlton. The
episodes referred to are: The Mysterons, Manhunt, Operation Time and Spectrum
Strikes Back.
OTHER STORIES BY KERYN
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