(The character of ‘Rose Metcalfe’ is used with the consent of her creator, Lezli Farrington. This story takes place three years into Captain Scarlet and Rhapsody Angel’s marriage.)
“What’s
the weather forecast down there?”
Seated
at the round control desk, reading a document up until now, Captain Blue
glanced over at Captain Ochre, a few feet away from him, at the communication
station, standing in for Lieutenant Green who was away on leave for the
Holidays. Both men knew where ‘down
there’ was for Captain Scarlet.
Ochre
let out a sigh, trying to sound patient.
“The same as it was fifteen minutes ago.
And the same as it was fifteen minutes before that. In fact, it hasn’t changed in the last hour,
the whole time you’ve been asking that same question.”
“Paul,
will you calm down?” Blue added with a slight smile. “Everything will be fine, you’ll see.”
In
the commander’s seat, as he had taken over command from Colonel White some
hours ago, Captain Scarlet shrugged, as if trying to appear indifferent to
Ochre’s and Blue’s remarks. That didn’t
deceive anyone, and his two colleagues could see that he was still very
anxious. And they knew the reason
why. There was a huge storm spanning
most of England; a blizzard like the country had not seen in decades. And that was threatening to disrupt Captain
Scarlet’s plans for the next few days.
“Oh,
I don’t know, Blue,” Ochre said, grinning broadly. “Seeing as it’s the first Christmas Scarlet
is planning to spend with his parents in three years, and that, at the same
instant, the mother of all blizzards starts to wreak havoc over most of his
country – I think that maybe somebody is trying to give him a message.” He didn’t have to turn around to feel the
fierce stare Scarlet was shooting at him.
“Were you good this year, Paul?
Maybe Santa has decided to punish you…”
“I
imagine you should know,” Scarlet replied, putting down his pen, and
intertwining his fingers to lean his chin on his hands. “After all, you’re an expert in what ‘being
bad’ is, Ochre. I expect you got your
share of coal in your stocking when you were a boy.”
“He
still receives some to this day,” Blue added with a chuckle.
“Oh,
go on,” Ochre replied, turning his seat around.
“Seriously, Paul, you should relax.
The forecast announced that this blizzard should be over and done
tomorrow.”
“Just
in time for you to board that SPJ and go to your parents’ place,” Blue added.
Scarlet
shrugged again, picking up his pen to continue his report. “Just my luck, I suppose,” he mumbled. “England hasn’t seen a blizzard like this for
over a century, and Mother Nature had to choose THIS year to send one! Maybe Rick is right: somebody is trying to
tell me something.”
“Oh,
and like what exactly?” asked Blue.
“Like,
maybe I shouldn’t be leaving Cloudbase for the holiday this year. Maybe we should all be staying here, like
we’ve done for the last three years.”
“By
‘we’, you mean Dianne, Rose and you?” Blue shook his head. “Come on, Paul! You know how much your daughter is looking
forward to spending Christmas at your parents’?
She would be so disappointed if you don’t go.”
“Well,
what if the weather doesn’t clear up?”
“It
will clear up, don’t you worry. What’s
the matter? You’ve been talking about it
for the past three weeks! Have you
changed your mind?”
“Have
you suddenly got cold feet?” Ochre noted from his station.
“I’m
not getting cold feet,” Scarlet snapped hastily. He took his time to think it over, and then
sighed. “Yes, well… Maybe a little. This would be the first Christmas Rose will
spend away from Cloudbase, and… I don’t know, I’m a little worried.”
“Because
she’ll be away from the security provided by this oversized flying tin can?”
Ochre replied with a snort. “Oh, come on
now! Don’t be ridiculous! What have you to fear?”
“Don’t ask that question,” Scarlet said
between his teeth. Blue gave a sigh.
Scarlet was so looking forward to going back to Winchester, to his
parents’ house, with Rhapsody and their three year old daughter, Rose. This sudden change of heart, so close to
their departure, wasn’t surprising Blue very much. Rose meant the world to Scarlet. Nothing was more important to him. But because of her dual heritage – because of
her link to the Mysterons, due to the unique condition of her father – the
little girl had barely left the safe military background she had lived in until
now. Spectrum had been keeping a close
eye on her since her birth, fearing that she may one day become a target of the
Mysterons. So far, since her birth, they hadn’t made any move against
her, however, and that had led Captain Scarlet to wonder if they really cared
at all, knowing of her existence. So the
little family had multiplied their visits and their stays on the ground, on
various occasions, so that little Rose could learn a bit more about the world
at large, and know that it wasn’t restricted to the confines of a hovering
military base. Certainly, her staying on
Cloudbase was for her own well-being, but Scarlet – and especially Rhapsody –
had doubts that it could be all that good for her. “What I meant, Paul,” Ochre added in a softer tone, “is that
you’ll be there to take care of her.
You, and Rhapsody. And your
parents. You’ve been down to the ground
with her before. Last time you stayed,
what, three days?” “Four. At my cousin
Jessica’s home, in Scotland,” Scarlet answered. “Well, now you’ll be staying a full week,” Blue said in
turn. “Provided we don’t call you back,
if an emergency comes up. I say you
should go down there and appreciate that time you’ll have, all of you. You don’t get that many opportunities. So you’d better not spoil it.” Scarlet hesitated, obviously pondering the arguments. He didn’t need that much to be
convinced. A smile spread across his
face, and he nodded his head, now visibly more relaxed. “You’re right,” he finally conceded. “I shouldn’t be worrying like this. After all, it is Christmas…” “And it looks like Rose’s first Christmas on the ground will
be a white one,” Blue said with a grin. “Hoping the blizzard will stop in time for us to fly down
there!” Scarlet said. “No,” he added
quickly, seeing Blue getting ready to protest again. “This time, I’m not looking for a motive not
to go. I’m just contemplating the
possibility that we may be too late to at least spend Christmas Eve at my
parents’!” He quickly checked the report that lay open on his desk, for
the last time, making sure everything was in order, put his signature at the
bottom of the last document, and closed the rainbow-stamped folder with a deep
sigh of relief. “There, it’s done!” He looked down at his watch. “And just in time too. The colonel will be arriving any minute to
relieve me.” “Lucky stiff,” Ochre piped up from his station. “WE’ll be the ones
stuck with him…” “Stop complaining,” Scarlet advised him. “Working with him isn’t as bad as you make it
sound.” “No. It’s even
worse!” “Here comes your chunk of coal for this year!” Blue
chuckled. “And it won’t be Santa who’ll
be giving it to you!” He addressed
Scarlet again. “Are your bags all packed
and ready to go?” “Just about,” Scarlet answered. “That is, MINE are ready. There’s still a couple of last minute things
that Rhapsody wants to add to hers. You
know her: she packs everything but the kitchen sink for just a few days’
vacation!” “Sounds like her, all right.” “Tell her to take a lot of winter clothes,” Ochre
remarked. “ESPECIALLY for Rose. Why, with all that snow you’ll have, I’m sure
the kid will want to play in it! You
know kids love snow.” “As long as she doesn’t catch a cold,” Scarlet grinned in
turn. “The colonel would be angry enough
if she brought that back to Cloudbase and passed it on!” “That’s a way of getting more vacation time and staying on
the ground for another week, you know?” “If Rose CAN catch a cold,” Blue remarked then. Scarlet nodded thoughtfully.
“You know what Doctor Fawn said about that, Adam. So far, there’s nothing to indicate that Rose
has inherited my, uh, natural immunity.
Or anything else of the kind, for that matter. She’s growing up normally, like any other normal
human child. Which is a relief in
itself. Especially for Dianne.” “Not that it would have made any difference to her, I’m
sure,” Blue added. Scarlet nodded again, a fond smile tugging on his lips,
thinking of the two women in his life.
He was probably about to add something else, when the door to the
Control Room slid open. The three men
began to rise to acknowledge their awaited commander’s presence, only to
realize it wasn’t him at all who was coming into the room. They saw the very tiny figure of a little
girl burst in, running, making a buzzing sound that tried to imitate the
humming of a plane. The small child was
wearing around her what looked like a cardboard aircraft, strapped at her
shoulders, with a black ‘A’ painted on the side; a helmet made out of a cut-up
soccer ball was falling over her eyes.
She rode the aircraft straight to Scarlet, while Blue was looking at her
with an amused twinkle in his eyes, and a fond smile. Only Ochre put his nose deep into his file
and feigned not to see her. “Daddy, I’m a pilot!” the child declared, stopping in front
of Scarlet, the smile upon her face threatening to crack her face in two. She proceeded to make a full circle on
herself, a perfect 360 degrees. For a
moment, Scarlet thought she would lose her balance, by spinning that quickly,
but then she turned to him again, blue eyes sparkling. “See?
I can spin!” “I can see that!” Scarlet said laughing. “Who showed you that, Rosie? Mummy?” “Unca Adam!” Rose Metcalfe
declared, pointing toward Blue. “And who made you that plane? Uncle Adam?” Rosie pointed to the other side of the room. “Unca Rick!” All eyes turned toward Ochre, who didn’t lift his head from
his file. He shrugged
indifferently. “I should have known she
wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret,” he mumbled. “Why, Rick, you old softie!” Blue said, laughing out loud. “That’s so sweet of you!” “Sweet?!” Ochre snorted derisively. “I just wanted her out of the way, while I
was building my models! Didn’t want her
to knock them down and break them! So I
made her that… plane, from an old cardboard box I had in my quarters. You promised you wouldn’t say anything,
squirt!” Ochre’s falsely grumpy tone didn’t deceive or impress
anyone. Rose less than anyone else. Ochre often acted that way around her,
pretending he didn’t care much about her, but in reality, he was always there
to baby-sit her if need be, or make her things, or come up with games they
could play together. Scarlet was even a
little bit worried that Ochre would give his daughter his annoying habit of
playing tricks on people, as he had made the child his innocent accomplice on
more than one occasion. “What are you doing here, Rose?” Scarlet asked the little
girl. “You know you’re not supposed to
come into the Control Room…” “I guess she was just looking for her dad,” Blue
declared. “She must miss him, she hasn’t
seen him much these few last days. Isn’t
that true, Rosie? You came to take your
daddy away from this place, didn’t you?” Rose nodded her head with energy. Her ‘helmet’ was bouncing on and off her
eyes. Scarlet had to make an effort not
to laugh too openly. He simply smiled,
repositioning the helmet on her head so she would be able to see, and patting
the small girl’s cheek. “All right, I
never was able to refuse you anything.
Give me just a few minutes, and I’ll be with you.” “Okay, Daddy!” The
pilot and her plane took off for a tour of the room, humming wildly. “She’ll have a great time in Winchester,” Blue stated,
looking with Scarlet in the child’s direction.
“I just can tell.” “I’m sure she will,” Scarlet answered. “She’s been talking for days about seeing her
grandparents. I hope we WILL be able to
go down there. You were right earlier,
she would be too disappointed, if we couldn’t.” “As long as she is with you and Dianne, she’s the happiest
child in the world. You know that.” Blue’s smile broadened. “Glad to see you’ve really changed your mind
about that trip.”
After a stop in front of
Ochre, who had then proceeded to rearrange one of the straps holding the plane
as it was threatening to slip from her shoulder, Rose had started her engine
again to turn the craft around and direct it straight at the door. “I’m gonna be an
Angel pilot, just like Mummy!” That
brought a smile upon everybody’s lips, as the engine was now going full tilt.
The door slid open at
exactly the second Rose reached it, and she collided against a pair of
black-covered legs. Instantly, the sound
she was making died away, and she raised her eyes. Towering over her was Colonel White, who was
looking down at her with a frown.
“Hi, Unca
Charlie!” the child beamed, with a smile the size of the entire Control
Tower. The frown deepened on White’s
brow, but she didn’t seem to take any notice.
“I’m an Angel pilot!”
The second they had seen
Colonel White enter the room, Scarlet, Blue and Ochre had understood there could
be hell to pay. There were many parts of
Cloudbase where Rose wasn’t allowed.
That included most of the upper rooms of the Control Tower. And most ESPECIALLY the Control Room, which
was the domain of the Spectrum commander-in-chief. And it was so very obvious by the look on his
face right now that finding the child here, innocently playing around, didn’t
please the colonel at all. Someone was
certainly responsible for that.
He was probably about to
reply that Angel pilots were not allowed to fly their craft inside the base,
when the child’s mother suddenly appeared from behind him, and entered the room
quickly to crouch beside her.
“Rosie, what are you doing
here? I’ve been looking all over the
place for you!” Rhapsody Angel proceeded to unstrap
her little girl from her ‘plane’ and took her up in her arms, addressing an
apologetic smile to Colonel White. In
the meantime, Scarlet had risen from his seat, to quickly walk the distance
separating him from the door.
“Please excuse her, sir,”
Rhapsody said with a bashful expression.
“She’s becoming quite elusive.
And she hasn’t got the hang of discipline yet.” White’s eyes nearly disappeared under his brows. “I wonder who she gets THAT from,” he
muttered, addressing a murderous sideways look towards Scarlet. The latter was hurriedly gathering the
cardboard plane from the floor. He
didn’t appeared as embarrassed as White had hoped he’d be. HE was in charge of the Control Room, and HE
was the child’s father. The colonel
decided he was the one to blame. He was
very close to letting his temper get the better of him. Rhapsody could see that. She quickly came to the rescue of both father
and child. “I’m afraid it’s my fault,” she then offered
courageously. “Rose has been asking for
her father all day. I told her he was on
duty at the Control Room. I expect she
decided to come and see him, the second I turned my back on her.” “It’s quite easy getting from the officers’ quarters through
to here, sir,” Scarlet added carefully. “Don’t you think I know that?” There was still a certain edge to White’s
voice. “Sir, since you’ve arrived, may I go now? We’ll take Rose and then she won’t be in the
way anymore.” White hesitated. He
didn’t think he should allow such disregard for discipline, just like
that. Rose had to learn that she wasn’t
to come around the Control Room any time it pleased her, and especially
bringing toys with her. But looking at
the little family, he felt himself softening up a little. ESPECIALLY when he caught Rose looking
straight at him, with that innocent smile on her face. I must be getting old… He took a deep breath, letting all his
irritation flow out of him, grunted, and finally nodded. “All right, go,” he replied less harshly, moving towards his
desk. “But don’t let it ever happen again.” “Oh, it won’t, sir,” Scarlet answered, Rhapsody echoing his
reply, and Rose shaking her head to the negative, although she didn’t seem to
have any idea what it was all about.
Scarlet pushed both mother and child outside, closely following, with
the cardboard plane tucked under his arm.
“Come on, girls, we have some packing to finish!” “Bye, Unca Rick!” Rose called out
loud. “Bye, Unca
Adam! Bye, Unca
Charlie!” The last word made White stop in his tracks. He spun around, just in time to see the door
sliding close and the departing family who had hurriedly left without looking
behind. Captain Blue and Captain Ochre
were keeping deadly quiet and had stopped working on whatever they were
doing. Both were wishing to be somewhere
else, but at the same time, they had tremendous trouble not to chuckle. “What are you waiting for?” White suddenly shouted at them,
turning around to look at them. “This is
a military base, not a… a kindergarten!
Go back to work!” “Yessir!” both captains answered
with the same tone. “And if I ever catch the one who taught that child to call
me ‘Uncle Charlie’, he’ll be in DEEP trouble!”
“You should never have referred to the colonel as ‘Uncle
Charlie’, when you talked about him to Rose,” Rhapsody Angel admonished her
husband once they were in the quarters they had been sharing for the past three
years. The place was double the size of
other officers’ quarters. When the two
had married, a wall had been taken down between two of those quarters and
rebuilt for a slightly bigger living area for the family, a sleeping area for
the parents – separated by part of a wall from the living area, for some
privacy – and a small, adjacent room for Rose, with a communicating door. Not even Captain Blue and Symphony Angel had
quarters as ‘big’. They were still
confined enough, however, for Rose to try to get out and wander about the base,
whenever she had the chance. Like she
had done today. She was normally an
obedient child, though, and about the only places she wasn’t allowed to go
where she would go anyway were the Control Room… and the Colonel’s quarters,
right next door. Because she knew those
were the places where she would get to meet her ‘Uncle Charlie’, of whom she
was particularly fond. For some reason,
Colonel White NEVER intimidated her.
Which was something lots of people couldn’t even say for themselves. “You know how he HATES to be called that,” Rhapsody
continued, watching as Scarlet, seated on the sofa of their Christmas decorated
living area, was busy building a small pre-fabricated toy rocket on the low
table, with Rose looking on with deep interest. “He ACTS as if he hates it,” Scarlet replied, trying to fit
a wing onto the toy. “You know how much
he loves Rose. He could never get angry
at her.” “At Rose, no. But at
US…” “You worry too much, my love.” Scarlet’s answer was careless enough. His wife wasn’t so sure the subject should be
discarded that easily, but she could see she wouldn’t get to him at the
moment. He was far too busy. Having finished building the rocket, he
presented it to Rose. “How’s this,
Rosie?” The child’s answer was a vigorous nod. But she only glanced at the toy very briefly,
before pushing it aside. “Are we going to see Granny soon?” she asked, carefully
eyeing her father. “Tomorrow, if the weather allows. There’s lots of snow falling over England at
the moment. Would you like to play in
the snow?” Another vigorous nod.
“Will Santa find me?” “He never forgets you.
I don’t see any reason for that to change.” Scarlet’s brow furrowed a little. “Santa?
Oh,
you’ve been hanging around Uncle Adam and Auntie Karen too much, haven’t you,
Rosie?” “AND all our other American colleagues,” Rhapsody added,
looking down with interest at the cardboard plane Ochre had made for the little
girl. “She’s picked up quite a few
American expressions; she asked me earlier if we’d make ‘snow angels’ when we
were down there. I’m afraid I had no
idea what she meant!” “Auntie Karen told me!” piped up Rose. “She said you and Mummy would like it!” “I’m sure we will, sweetie,” said Scarlet. “I’m afraid Father Christmas will forever be ‘Santa’ for
her,” Rhapsody continued. “You must admit that the other name is quite a mouthful,”
Scarlet remarked with a grin. He noticed
the serious expression upon his daughter’s face. There was something else on her mind. He frowned again. “Now what seems to be the problem? You seem so preoccupied.” “She’s worried that… ‘Santa’ won’t find her if we leave
Cloudbase,” Rhapsody explained, approaching from behind. “Because he always came here in the past.” “Well, if the weather doesn’t clear up, that won’t be a
problem,” Scarlet muttered. “We may be
stuck here until after Christmas Eve…” “We won’t go to Granny’s house?” Rose asked. There was obviously some worry in her big
blue eyes. Scarlet nodded quietly.
“So you want to go to Granny’s house, but at the same time you’re
worried that Santa won’t find you if you leave here?” he said, rubbing his
chin. “Well, now… that’s a problem. What should we do about it?” “She had me write a letter to Father Christmas,” Rhapsody
said, crouching behind the sofa and leaning close to her husband. “To give him your parents’ address, so he
won’t forget about her.” She produced a
green envelope, not yet sealed, with a Santa Claus stamp on it. “Well, that sounds all right to me,” Scarlet grinned. “But what about if we don’t leave?” Rhapsody rolled her eyes.
“WHY do you have to make everything so complicated?” she grumbled with a
sigh of annoyance. “Hey! You’ve got to
admit it’s a possibility,” Scarlet replied.
“And I’m sure that’s worrying Rose too.
Isn’t that right, sweetie?” Another nod. Rose
wasn’t a child to waste too many words, when she could avoid it. Scarlet took Rhapsody’s envelope and opened
it to take out the letter. Unfolding it,
he could see, underneath a drawing of Santa Claus driving his team of reindeer,
a proper letter to Santa Claus, in the stylish writing of his wife. She hadn’t only made believe she was writing
a letter for her daughter. She really
HAD written it. Even though Rose
couldn’t read it. Scarlet looked at
Rhapsody with curiosity. “I can see you went to a lot of trouble with this,” he
noted. She reddened a little, and then shrugged. “Anything for our daughter, you know that,”
she said as an explanation. “Beside, I
haven’t written to Santa for years. I
had to apply myself.” “Well, then…” Scarlet took the fountain pen he had in his
tunic pocket, and put the paper down on the table. His eyes were glittering, as they did every
time he answered a challenge. Even a
childish one. “Let’s see if I can come
up with something as good.” He started
to add to the letter, underneath his wife’s writing. “Dear Santa…” “I already put that,” Rhapsody remarked, the amusement
vastly obvious in all her features. “Give me a chance, will you?” Scarlet protested. He thought a little, then continued to
write. “If I can’t be at my
grandparents’ house in Winchester…
That’s where we’re going, aren’t we, Rose?” He looked up briefly to see
his daughter giving him a big smile. He
dutifully continued to write his note. “If I can’t be at
my grandparents’ house in Winchester due to the blizzard, please leave my
presents at the same place as last year…” Rhapsody looked over to the corner of their quarters, where
stood the six foot tall Christmas tree that they had decorated with lights and
ornaments a couple of days earlier.
“Under the tree, in my parents’ quarters on Cloudbase,” she said
musingly. “I don’t think Santa needs that detailed information,”
Scarlet replied. “He knows where Rose
lives, after all…” Rhapsody chuckled.
“You’re taking the easy way out, Metcalfe.” “Thank
you very much for answering my letter… Yours truly, Rose Metcalfe.” Scarlet looked up at his wife,
grinning, pointing to the last line.
“You forgot to write THAT.” “Show off,” she snorted playfully. “How’s Santa going to get it?” Rose then asked, with a
dubious frown. “Yes, now THAT’s a problem,”
Scarlet agreed, his frown such a perfect copy of his daughter’s that Rhapsody
nearly laughed, seeing the obvious resemblance. “Well, there’s an address in North Pole, Canada, where we
can send it…” Rhapsody noted. “It’s been
working for over a century, and everybody in the world can use it. Santa always answers, they say.” “I’ve heard of it, but I’m afraid it would arrive too late,”
Scarlet replied. He made a show of
thinking hard about it. Then he looked
down at his daughter. “I’ve heard that
when you want to send a letter to Santa Claus, you only need to put it into the
fire in a fireplace and he’ll receive it right away.” “But it’ll burn!” Rose protested loudly. “Yes, to you and me, it looks as if it’s burning. But you’ve got to think HARD about Santa
Claus, and, by the power of the Christmas magic, the letter will fall right
into his lap, as if it hadn’t burned at all.
And then he’ll be able to read it.”
He looked at Rhapsody over his shoulder.
“Much quicker than that address in Canada.” “Christmas magic, really?” Rhapsody said with a brief
nod. “Where did you hear about that?” “I don’t really remember, but I know it works.” “We haven’t got a fireplace,” Rose remarked at that moment. “No. No, we
haven’t.” Scarlet looked down at the
table, and noticed a Christmas candlestick, all decorated with ornaments and
plastic mistletoe, standing in the middle of it. “But we can have fire, that’s all we really
need, isn’t it?” Rhapsody went in search of a lighter carefully put away out
of Rose’s reach and gave it to her husband.
Ceremoniously, he lit the candle, and then, folding the letter and
putting it back into its envelope, put it over the flame, letting it catch
fire. He glanced over at Rose. “Now think about Santa…” He saw the child shutting her eyes tightly,
obviously concentrating very hard. He
smiled and put the remainder of the burning paper onto a glass plate Rhapsody
had brought in for the occasion. “Now I
don’t think you’ll have to worry anymore,” Scarlet said, causing Rose to open
her eyes to watch with some kind of fascination as the paper disintegrated into
ash on the plate. “Santa Claus will
receive your letter, and he’ll know what to do.
Whether you’re here or in Winchester.” Rose smiled broadly.
Then she ran into her father’s arms, hugging him tight. “Thanks, Daddy!” Scarlet held her close.
“Hey, you know I would do anything for you!” He looked up to exchange glances with
Rhapsody. The latter was smiling fondly;
the expression on their daughter’s face warranted all of Scarlet’s
efforts. She patted his back
approvingly. “Well done, Captain Scarlet,” she said, hugging him from
behind. “You’re the best ‘Daddy’ in the
world.”
“How
could I be so unlucky?!”
Captain
Grey was literally battling with the control column of his Spectrum Passenger
Jet, trying to keep it steady in the punishing winds of the storm. That wasn’t an easy task. Although an experienced pilot, like all
Spectrum senior staff officers, Grey was more at ease on the water or
underneath it, as his first training had been to man watercraft and
submarines. He could only admire Captain
Blue or Captain Ochre for their easiness at flying aircraft in whatever weather
conditions. Now, he was feeling as if he
was establishing his worth, under the worst of conditions.
“Why
me?” he mumbled, his mood rather gloomy.
“Why did it have to happen to me?
And on Christmas Eve, to boot?”
Grey
had left Spectrum Headquarters London just before the snowstorm had hit
England, some hours ago, and had headed for Paris, France, where Spectrum
business had called him. He had heard a
weather forecast over the radio, warning of the violence of the blizzard, and
had felt considerable relief to have left just in time. But then, the storm had begun to spread to
the coast of France. Grey had hurriedly
finished his business and prepared to go back to Cloudbase, onboard an SPJ,
hoping he would be able to beat the approaching storm.
It
quickly caught up with him, and he was now right in the middle of it. No snow, though, but a violent rush of winds,
seemingly coming from all sides, and rain that was reducing visibility to near
zero. And lightning and thunder rumbling
all around the plane.
Grey
had called Cloudbase to inform them of the possibility of arriving behind
schedule, due to the bad weather.
Hearing his friend Ochre’s concerned tone over the radio, he had
reassured him that it was nothing he wouldn’t be able to handle.
He
was almost bragging, at the time. And
now, he was plainly having second thoughts.
To
make matters worst, his scheduled co-pilot, coming down with the flu at the
last possible minute, wasn’t able to come with him, and had to stay in
Paris. So Grey had to pilot the jet
alone, and was certain that Colonel White would reprimand him for such
disregard for personal security, once he got back to Cloudbase. If I even make it there!
he added
inwardly.
He
was at this point in his reflections when a bolt of lightning flashed across
his windshield, and a sudden gust of wind pushed the craft to the left. He found himself fighting with the controls. Okay, Brad… You’d better
concentrate on the job at hand… Or you’ll plough yourself right in the ground,
thousands of feet below, and they’ll be scraping up your remains for years to
come. You just have to get yourself OVER
those clouds; after that, everything will be okay. How hard could that be, anyway? The Angels do it all the time… Wish I had one of ‘em with me right now… Captain
Scarlet and Rhapsody Angel had tucked Rose in rather early, as she was so eager
to leave for her grandparents’ home the following day. No sense in telling her that they would
probably not be leaving soon, and that maybe they would have to wait a little
longer than previously planned, she would not have listened. She just wanted to go to bed and go to sleep
as soon as possible, so that the night would be over and tomorrow would finally
be there. In a manner of minutes, she
found herself in the world of dreams, leaving her parents to spend a quiet
evening alone together. They had sat on
the sofa for a long time,
doing nothing
other than nestling in each other’s arms, watching the blinking lights of the
Christmas tree; talking very little, just enjoying each other’s company. Then, they had gone to bed, quietly, without
making too much noise, for fear of disturbing their little angel sleeping in
the small room nearby.
Lying
next to his sleeping wife, Scarlet was restless. He was feeling nervous. He had the impression that something was
about to happen; he had no idea what it would be, but he knew for sure it would
be devastating.
He
was just certain his Christmas plans were going to be sent down the tubes.
The
Mysterons had kept Spectrum busy for a full month before, without giving
anybody a chance to rest – evidently, Scarlet less than anybody else, as he was
called on to make use more than once of his special abilities, inherited from
the time he had been under the aliens’ control, some years ago. Then, for the last week, they had kept
quiet. Too quiet, in fact, for Scarlet’s
taste. He wasn’t counting on them giving
time off for the Holiday Season. That
would be too much to ask. For the Mysterons,
there would be no better time to strike.
After all, for them, it was a ‘war of nerves’. Nothing could be more demoralizing for their
human opponents than to face a threat, during a time when everybody should be
in a celebratory and festive mood. No, they were up to something; Scarlet could feel it deep
inside himself. They were just waiting
for the right instant. And just the
thought of that – especially that it could even involve his family, his very
precious daughter – was enough to stop Scarlet finding restful sleep. A sound in the dark suddenly made him open his eyes and
stare at the ceiling. He frowned,
wondering if it was coming from his overactive imagination. Looking to his right, he could see Rhapsody,
sleeping against him, an expression of peaceful contentment upon her face. He was sure she couldn’t be the cause of that
sound he thought he had heard. He was preparing himself to go back to sleep when the sound
made itself heard again. Something had
fallen on the floor, in the living area nearby.
He couldn’t see anything, partly because of the darkness, and partly
because of that half-wall that had been kept to separate it from the sleeping
area. He could just make out the
flickering, multicoloured lights of the Christmas tree, reflecting upon a far
wall. Then he saw a shadow. Now fully awake, Scarlet sneaked out of bed, trying not to
disturb Rhapsody. He wouldn’t want her
to wake up, for no reason. After all, it
could possibly be Rose, who had got out of bed, and was playing in the living
area, so late at night. He checked his
watch. The illuminated hands indicated
to him that it was nearly two o’clock in the morning. Scarlet put on a night robe, took his gun – just in case –
and carefully walked towards the living area, nearly hugging the separating
wall. He glanced about, straining his
eyes in the semi-darkness, looking for any intruder, keeping his weapon out of
view. If it IS Rose, I certainly
don’t want to frighten her… A shifting shadow made him look toward the Christmas
tree. He saw a large red blob moving at
its foot. His first thought was that
Rose had found his uniform and was playing with it again, despite the fact that
he had strictly forbidden her to do so.
Then he realized that the silhouette was far too large to be Rose. And that it wasn’t wearing his uniform at
all. There really WAS an intruder in their quarters, and that made
Scarlet’s blood boil. He hastily stepped
out of his hiding place, gun at the ready, and walked into the living area,
toward the tree and the red shadow at its foot.
Before he could call to the intruder, his feet entangled with something
big and he stubbed his foot against a piece of furniture. He let out a grunt of both surprise and pain,
and half-crashed to the floor. The sound
startled the intruder and he jumped to his feet, nervously. It was all Scarlet could do at the moment to
get himself up, struggling with the object that had entangled itself with his
feet. That was about at that exact moment that the quarters’
speakers suddenly came to life, first with the crackling sound of static, then
with the ominous alien tone that Scarlet had never grown accustomed to over the
past few years. He just KNEW they would manifest themselves. “This is the voice of
the Mysterons. We know you can hear us,
Earthmen. Spectrum will soon destroy the
Spirit of Christmas for us. We will be
avenged!” Marvellous!
thought Scarlet, still trying to free himself. Just what we need!
A cryptic threat just before Christmas! He was suddenly aware of a presence near him, and raised his
eyes in time to see a rounded and rosy face, surrounded by a long beard as
white as snow, and looking down at him with concerned blue eyes, surmounted by
shaggy white brows. “I hope you didn’t hurt yourself, son.” The intruder was presenting a helping hand, but Scarlet was
barely aware of it. What he was aware
of, however, were the general features of the man looking down at him, and the
way he was dressed. That suddenly made
Scarlet jump to his feet, kicking away the object still around his left
one. The man took one step back,
startled. Scarlet could very clearly
hear the faint jingling of bells coming from him. He was a big, red-clad old man, with an
over-present belly, white fur decorating his coat, a red hat, black boots, and
a big, shiny, silver buckle on his black belt.
Scarlet blinked several times, staring at him; if not for the Mysterons’
voice he had just heard, he would have sworn he was dreaming! Wary at seeing the man approach him, Scarlet lifted his
weapon. “Stay where you are!” The man dressed as Father Christmas stopped instantly,
eyeing the pistol with a somewhat disapproving look. “I wish people wouldn’t do that!” he sighed,
with a tone of annoyance. “Who are you?” Scarlet barked. “What are you doing here?” He looked around, nervously. “Is this some kind of joke? Has Captain Ochre hired you to play a trick
on me?” “Captain Ochre?” the big man repeated, furrowing his brow,
as if recalling who that could be. “Oh,
you mean Richard, don’t you? Can’t
always recall all those names you’ve given yourselves…” He gestured toward the
gun. “Please, can’t you put that
away? I assure you, I am no threat to
you.” “You’ll forgive me if I’m not reassured!” Scarlet snapped,
not lowering his weapon, and keeping it aimed at the intruder. “What’s going on here?”
The voice of Rhapsody Angel made itself heard behind Scarlet. She called out to the computerised
environmental controls, and the lights came on.
The intruder groaned with obvious displeasure when he saw the gun in the
young woman’s hand, aimed straight at him.
She, too, opened disbelieving eyes when she clearly saw the Santa-clad
man, standing there, a few feet away from her husband. “What is this?” she asked abruptly, with a deep frown. “Captain Ochre’s idea of a joke?” “I can assure you, young lady… Your friend has nothing do to
with my presence here.” “Spectrum Security!” Scarlet shouted toward the comm-link set upon the wall of their quarters. The voice-recognition device automatically
registered the urgency of his tone to open up a channel to the requested
service. “This is Captain Scarlet. Intruder alert in my quarters. Send a armed security team in here right
away, with an electron gun and a Mysteron detector!” “Great!” the white-bearded man mumbled. “More weapons… You guys will ruin
everything! I’m on a tight schedule, you
know!” “I bet!” Scarlet hissed between his teeth. A brief glance on the floor informed that the
object he had tripped over had been the cardboard plane made by Ochre for
Rose. Now it was lying all over the
place, broken beyond repair. I have to tell Rose not to leave her toys
lying everywhere! The intruder grumbled something, and went to sit down on the
sofa, but the severe voice of Rhapsody instantly called him to order. “Stay right where you are, mister!” “Oh really! Do I look
like a threat? Would you put the weapons
down, the two of you?” “Certainly not!” Scarlet replied harshly. “You’ll stay quiet until the security team
arrive, is that clear?” He briefly glanced over his shoulder, toward
Rhapsody. “Did you hear the Mysteron
threat?” “Yes, I did,” she answered, nodding. “A loud crashing noise woke me up just in
time to hear their melodious voice.” Scarlet was too mortified to confess to her that HE was the
cause of that ‘crashing noise’ she had heard. “These… ‘people’ give you a lot of trouble, don’t they?” the
Santa-like man asked. “You probably know that better than we do,” Scarlet replied,
his eyes flashing with anger. “Now,
answer my question! Who are you?” “Well, friends call me Kris, but…” “Kris?” “Yes, Kris Kringle.” “Kris Kringle? Just who do you think I am?” “Well, to Spectrum, you are Captain Scarlet,” the man said,
chuckling. “But to me you’re still
Little Paul Metcalfe.” “And HOW do you know that?” “Shouldn’t that be obvious, lad? And no, that doesn’t mean I’m ‘working for
the Mysterons’!” Despite the weapons
aimed at him, he sat down heavily on the sofa and let out a big huff. “I’m afraid the Mysterons and I would not be
on very good terms!” A few feet to Scarlet’s left, the door leading to Rose’s
room opened and the sleepy little girl appeared in the doorway, blinking her
eyes in the ambient light; she obviously had been awakened by all those strange
noises in the night. Scarlet almost
protested, upset that she should be there.
He wondered if she had heard the terrible voice of the Mysterons, and
was concerned that it might have frightened her, hearing it like that in the
middle of the night. But she didn’t
appeared frightened in the least, not even upset. She was just rubbing her sleepy eyes, looking
around, wondering what was going on. Then she discovered the Santa-dressed man seated on the
sofa. And suddenly, her eyes went big
and bright. “Santa!” To both Scarlet and Rhapsody’s utmost horror, she excitedly
darted toward the intruder. Scarlet
barely had the time to move into her path to catch her before she could reach
the man calling himself ‘Kringle’. “No, Rose!” Scarlet said in an urgent and severe tone. “Don’t go near him!” She turned a confused expression at him. She could see his eyes trembling, but failed
to see the worry in them; and certainly she couldn’t understand why he was
holding her so tight. Even TOO tight; in
his concern to keep her away from Kringle, he was
almost hurting her. “Daddy?” she said in a whisper, apparently a little frightened
by his behaviour. “What is it?” “Don’t go running to strangers like that, Rose!” he urged
her. “Never, do you understand?” “But Daddy… It’s Santa.”
The timid reply from his daughter made Scarlet’s heart sink. He didn’t know how to explain to her that
this red-clad old man couldn’t possibly be Father Christmas. That it was most probably part of some
Mysteron trick for one of those devilish plots they had prepared, and that he
didn’t want to take the risk of seeing her near that man. “You must always listen to your father, child.” That was the intruder’s voice, speaking
softly to Rose; Scarlet just about to tell him to butt out, when the door
leading into their quarters slid open and four guards entered to surround the
suspicious visitor, keeping him in their line of fire; the latter let out a
sigh and rolled his eyes, with exasperation.
“Oh no… Not more weapons! This is
becoming ridiculous!” “Get him out of here!” Scarlet snapped, infuriated by the
man’s mere presence. “Search him for
weapons, check him out with the Mysteron detector and take him to the brig!” “No!” Upon seeing the guards roughly hauling ‘Santa’ to his feet
and escorting him through the door, little Rose had suddenly protested and
started to struggle to get free from her father’s grip. Scarlet found he had his hands full, trying
to keep her away from the intruder, firmly enough, but without hurting
her. He tried to reason with her, but
she simply didn’t listen. She was crying
and protesting, and trying to escape.
She couldn’t understand rationally what was going on. The only thing she was seeing with her
child’s eyes was that her Santa Claus was being manhandled and taken away from
her, under the order of her own father.
That didn’t make any sense to her. “Please, don’t!” she pleaded, her voice nearly drowned by
her tears. “That’s Santa, Daddy! That’s Santa!” “Rose, calm down!” Scarlet tried to call to her. “That isn’t Santa Claus.” “He is! I know he
is! Please, don’t hurt him!” “We won’t, Rose.
Please, calm down!” “Santa!” Rose’s imploring eyes reached out for those of the
elderly man standing in the doorway, being dragged away from the room. He addressed her a quiet, comforting look,
and then nodded in her direction. “It’s all right, little one,” he said in a deep, gentle
voice. “These men are only doing their
job. They won’t hurt me.” The door slid closed on him, and only then did Scarlet allow
himself to let go of his daughter.
Rose’s first move was to dart toward the door but she seemed to suddenly
change her mind, and went directly to her mother, clutching her legs, as if not
wanting to let go, and crying helplessly. “He’s gone!” she sobbed loudly. “Santa’s gone! They’re going to hurt him! I know they will!” There wasn’t much that Rhapsody could do to comfort her,
stroking her dark hair and hushing her soothingly. Rose continued to cry, holding on to her
mother’s legs in desperation, without calming down. Rhapsody looked up to Scarlet, with a
querying, almost imploring look. Feeling
dreadfully uncomfortable, he approached and tried to reach for Rose. “Rose… Please, listen to me.” She didn’t even acknowledge him, except to clutch her
mother’s legs more tightly… and to draw back from her father’s touch. Scarlet froze instantly, his heart sinking
deeper still. “Rose… Don’t do this, sweetie, please.” His pleading tone fell on deaf ears. Rose had screwed her eyes shut, and was
sobbing silently. Rhapsody took her up
in her arms, exchanging worried looks with her husband. Both felt so helpless at seeing their daughter
so upset, for what seemed to them such a futile reason. “Come on, Rosie,” Rhapsody whispered in the little girl’s
ear. “I’ll put you back to bed…” She didn’t answer when Rhapsody took her back to her
room. She avoided making eye contact
with her father. He felt a pang of pain
as he watched her being taken away from him. He didn’t know what was hurting him the most. The accusing look he had seen earlier in the
eyes of his daughter. Or the way she was
now ignoring him. He had to do something about it. “Kris Kringle? Are you serious?” “That’s what he said, sir.”
Scarlet stood next to Colonel White, in front of the window permitting
them to see into the security room.
‘Kris Kringle’ was seated all alone in the room,
at a table, sipping water from a plastic glass, very quietly. He had not made a threatening move so far,
and had quietly undergone the search without any protest. He had had his red coat removed, and was now
only wearing a delicately woven, old-fashioned silk shirt, decorated with fine
red embroidery. “Seems passive enough,” White murmured, rubbing his chin,
eyeing the man conspicuously. “Aside from the fact that he keeps saying that he’ll be late
for his ‘round’ if we continue to keep him locked up in there,” Scarlet snorted
derisively. White nodded. There
was no other place he would want the intruder to be, until they were sure of
who and what he could be. The ‘security
room’ had been especially designed to detain Mysteron agents – or suspected Mysteron
agents; seeing as sometimes they could transform themselves into walking bombs,
and explode. Should a case like that
present itself, the room would be able to withstand the explosion and contain
it, without any damage anywhere else on base.
Even the observation room was secure enough, with its unbreakable
one-way-view Plexiglass window, permitting observers
to watch what went on in the room without being seen or heard. “It’s not a false beard,” White murmured, “or a false belly…
He seems to really be the age he looks…” “You DON’T really believe…” “Of COURSE not.”
White turned around and walked towards the table. There was a large bag made of a red velvety
fabric on it. Captain Scarlet had found
it in his quarters, after the arrest. It
was empty of anything, and was lying flat on the table. White opened it to look inside,
thoughtfully. “I’m just trying to
understand WHERE this old man posing as Father Christmas comes from.” He nodded.
“Nothing in there. Did he leave
anything in your quarters? I don’t know,
seeing his taste at playing Father Christmas, maybe he put a... ‘gift’ amongst
the presents under your tree.” “Everything has been taken from our quarters, and Rhapsody
has gone with a team of investigators to check that out. So far, everything seems in order. I mean, everything is accounted for, and
nothing has been added.” “The boxes are being opened?” “Yes, sir.” Scarlet
sighed. “So much for my special surprise
for my wife,” he grumbled in an undertone.
“Now she probably knows what I’ve given her for Christmas this year.” “What about Rose? How
is she?” “All right, I suppose.”
Scarlet sighed again, morosely.
He had not really talked to his daughter since Rhapsody had taken her
back to her room. To be precise, she had
not wanted to see him. When he had gone
to visit her, before leaving to make his report on the incident, she had
totally ignored him, by making believe she was asleep. But he knew perfectly well she was
awake. “We left her in the care of
Symphony and Captain Ochre. I don’t want
her without surveillance, at the moment.” White nodded, thoughtfully.
There was a strange look upon the features of his junior officer. His concern was plainly evident; the man
definitely had a scare over the incident.
The thought that this intruder could have put his little girl in danger
was still upsetting him. But along with
the worry and fear he was still feeling, there was also a dangerous glow in his
eyes; one that indicated beyond any doubt that he was determined to protect his
daughter from any danger, no matter the cost. “I can see how this could be distressing you, Scarlet,”
White remarked with some sympathy. “But
you must not let it cloud your judgement.
The Mysterons said they wanted to destroy the Spirit of Christmas. More precisely, they said that Spectrum would
do it for them. I don’t think your
daughter has any part whatsoever in their plans.” Scarlet glowered at him.
“Thank you for trying to reassure me, sir,” he responded with a tone
still dry enough. “But that doesn’t
change the fact that THIS MAN was in OUR quarters. And I can’t help wondering what he wanted
there.” The door slid open, to allow Captain Blue to walk in. He was holding a file in his hands. White and Scarlet looked at him,
expectantly. While Scarlet had been
giving his report to the Spectrum commander, Blue had been conducting the
interrogation and investigation of the intruder. Now, the American captain seemed rather
unsure, as he stared back at his English colleagues. “Well?” Colonel White asked with some impatience. “Well, sir,” Blue started carefully, “since Mister… ‘Kringle’ had no identification on him, we had to conduct an
identity search in the Cloudbase databank, to find out if he couldn’t be part
of the crew… a civilian member, maybe.
Which would have been surprising, but…” “Yes, that had to be checked. So I take it he’s not?” “No. So far, Captain
Magenta’s found nothing that would lead us to believe that.” “Could he have stowed away in one of the incoming aircraft?”
Scarlet asked. “That would be the only explanation, although I can’t see
HOW he could have managed that.” “UNLESS somebody brought him aboard.” Colonel White frowned, an irritating thought
crossing his mind. “Are you SURE he
wasn’t hired by Captain Ochre to play one of those obnoxious pranks he’s so
fond of?” Captain Scarlet smiled almost despite himself; White was
only the third person to come to that conclusion. “That would be VERY surprising,” Blue replied,
shrugging. “Captain Ochre was very upset
when he learned that an intruder posing as Santa Claus had entered Captain
Scarlet’s quarters.” He looked at
Scarlet. “He was concerned that this guy
may have been after Rose.” “Don’t you think the thought hasn’t crossed my mind?”
Scarlet grumbled. “Seeing the disguise
he chose…” “The question now would be what business a Mysteron agent
had in your quarters,” White replied.
“And in what way it could serve his mission.” “Er... Sir,” a still unsure-looking Captain Blue
then objected tentatively. “It’s not
even sure he’s a Mysteron agent.” White narrowed his eyes at him. “Whatever do you mean, Captain? You DID have him checked with a Mysteron
detector?” “Yes, sir. But the
results... are not conclusive.” Blue fished out a couple of pictures from his
file and handed them to both Scarlet and White.
“See for yourself.” White glanced at his photo, and shrugged, a bit
annoyed. “I can only see the top of an
empty chair.” “Well, sir...” Blue
indicated the other room, through the window, through which they still could
see the seated Kris Kringle. “THAT’S the chair in question. And he was sitting in it, just as he is now,
when we tested him.” “What?” Scarlet exclaimed, showing his own picture to
Blue. “You mean, THAT’S the result of
the test?” “We tried it twice.
With the same results.” “Using the same detector?” White asked. Blue nodded. “I sent
somebody to fetch another one from the armoury.
While I sent the first detector to be checked. Could be defective.” “But in that case, there would be NOTHING on that photo!” Scarlet
protested. “We see the chair, part of
the table, the wall behind… It’s as if you tried to photograph a ghost, or
something!” “He doesn’t have a device on him to do that kind of trick?”
White asked with a frown. “Something
similar to our anti-photography gear? A
variant of that?” “No, sir. We would
have spotted it right away.” “A variant,” murmured Scarlet, thoughtfully. “Captain?” “What if he is a different form of Mysteron agent?” Scarlet
proposed. “Instead of being impervious
to X-rays, they would go right through him?
Maybe they’re trying to find a way to counter our detector.” “Come on, be serious!” Blue sighed. “You have another explanation, Captain Blue?” Scarlet
grumbled with annoyance. “What about your own sixth sense, Scarlet?” White asked
thoughtfully, not ready to accept nor dismiss Scarlet’s theory just yet. “Well, I don’t feel any Mysteron presence in him. But that doesn’t prove anything. As you know, my sixth sense isn’t always
reliable.” “Too true. We’ll see
what the test with the other detector says, then.” “And what could be wrong with the one that took these pics,” Blue added. “If the results are the same, I doubt it will do us any
good,” Scarlet stated gloomily. “And in the meantime, we still have to find out what the
Mysterons plan to destroy this time,” White remarked. “That cryptic threat doesn’t tell us
much. Do either of you have any ideas?” Both Scarlet and Blue shrugged their ignorance of what it
could be. From the corner of his eye,
Scarlet noticed the alleged Mysteron agent, dressed as Santa Claus, heavily
raising himself to his feet and coming toward the window, to knock on it. The sound couldn’t be heard from this side,
but it was obvious he was saying something and that he wasn’t too happy. Scarlet drew White’s and Blue’s attention to
their prisoner. The three Spectrum
officers approached the window to observe the man. White pressed a button next to the window,
activating the room speakers. “...know you men are doing your job,” they heard Kringle say in an annoyed tone. “But you’ve got to let me go. I’ve got a job too, you know, and I’ll be
awfully late if you keep me in here much longer!” “Growing impatient, isn’t he?” Blue noted. “He’s still staying in character,” White replied. “Maybe the Mysterons have Mysteronised a
madman.” “Wouldn’t be the first time, sir.” “Colonel, I’d like to speak to him,” Scarlet then said,
looking intently at Kringle. White was about to press the other button
next to the first one he had pressed, but his junior officer stopped him. “I mean, face to face.” “You want to enter the room?” White asked with a puzzled
tone. “Whatever for?” Blue added in turn. “What if he ignites, all of a sudden? You’d be trapped in there.” “That’s why I want to go alone,” Scarlet objected. “And personally, I don’t think he would
explode on me. I’m not the Mysterons’
target. They want to destroy the Spirit
of Christmas. Whatever that is.” He nodded toward Kringle. “Talking to him may provide some clues to
what the Mysterons are planning.
Sometimes, they like to brag. I
think it’s worth the risk.” White hesitated. He
wasn’t so sure the risk was that warranted.
But seeing Scarlet’s determined face, he gave in. It was true they were still a long way from
deciphering the riddle. “All right, do it.
But be careful. The minute you
see he MIGHT want to explode, I want you out of there on the double. We don’t really know how well your
retrometabolism would react if you’re blown to smithereens. And I certainly don’t want to be the one to
tell your wife and child that something’s happened to you.” “I won’t let that happen, sir,” Scarlet said with the
briefest of smiles. “Mean it, for a change,” White replied, sighing
inwardly. “In the meantime, I’ll call a
staff meeting and we’ll see if we can figure out what it is the Mysterons want
to destroy this time.” He nodded towards
Kringle, pacing relentlessly in his prison, and
narrowed his eyes, thoughtfully. “Maybe
our visitor is only serving as a distraction, to keep us busy and away from their
actual target.” “Anything’s possible, sir,” Scarlet remarked, glaring at the
prisoner. “We all know how sneaky they
can be. But I do intend to try and pry
some information from our ‘Mister Kringle’. Mysteron or not, I expect him to explain
himself.” Spectrum Passenger Jet 41 had finally landed on Cloudbase’s
runway, and had been lowered into the hangar below, where Lieutenant Silver and
a group of security guards were waiting patiently for the craft’s pilot to come
out. It took only a few minutes for
Captain Grey to step out of the jet, and to approach Silver, with a large
grin. “Never thought I’d make it in one
piece!” he declared, shaking hands with Silver. “Difficult trip?” Silver asked with a perplexed frown. “Difficult all right!” Grey snorted. “That monstrous blizzard over England had
moved in over France, by the time I left the airfield. I thought I’d left just in time, but it
caught up with me. I was right in the
middle of it. Visibility was practically
zero!” Grey watched with puzzlement as
three guards moved toward the SPJ he had just left. “Is something going on?” “You can say that again,” Silver sighed. “The Mysterons announced a threat not two
hours ago. We have to check every
incoming and outgoing aircraft.” “Oh no!” Grey grumbled.
“Talk about a homecoming! What’s
the target?” “The Mysterons said they want to destroy the Christmas
Spirit. Using Spectrum.” Grey blinked. “Say what?
The Christmas Spirit? And using
Spectrum? They can’t be serious!” Silver glared at
him. “Since when are the Mysterons not
serious about a threat, sir?” “Point taken. Then it’s a cryptic threat. I REALLY hate it when they do that!” “Colonel White is
calling a staff meeting, sir. He has
been informed of your arrival. You are
to join in, when you have been cleared by the security check.” “The security check?”
Grey shot a curious look behind Silver.
He could see the remaining guard there, keeping his hand on his gun,
still in its holster. “Lieutenant,
you’re not saying…” “It’s nothing
personal, sir,” Silver said with an apologetic smile. “The Mysterons DID say they wanted to use
Spectrum. The Mysteron detector is in
Hangar Deck Control. If you’ll follow
me…” Silver moved towards the door not
far behind him. For a moment, Grey stood
there, apparently wondering if he should comply. Then he sighed, and nodded his
agreement. “Sure, Lieutenant,” he said
with a dry smile. “After all, it’s only
a matter of security…” He followed Lieutenant
Silver, with the guard bringing up the rear, and the three entered the office. When Captain Scarlet
entered the security room, Kris Kringle stopped his
pacing and looked intently at him, fire in his previously quiet eyes. He seemed more than just annoyed, now. He was plain angry. “Will you Spectrum
people keep me in here long?” he asked.
“I have work to do! And I can’t
put it off to another day, you know!” “Yes, tight schedule,
you said,” Scarlet noted, nodding quietly.
“Isn’t it a little early to start your round, Father Christmas?” “I’ll have you know,
young man, that it’s already December the 24th, in some parts of the
world, right now! What do you expect,
that I should start my round a minute before midnight?!” He grumbled, went around the table and sat on
the chair he had previously occupied.
“Wouldn’t give me enough time,” he added moodily. Scarlet glared at
him. “All right, enough games,” he said,
sitting down on the remaining seat. “Now
we’ll talk seriously.” “Oh, really?” Kringle snorted.
“And then what? You’ll let me
go?” “I can’t let you go.” “But what about…” “Your round? You can stop that, right now. Do you really THINK I’ll believe that?” “Yes, you always were
a boy who wouldn’t believe until he saw with his own eyes.” “Stop pretending that
you know me,” Scarlet said ominously. “But I DO know you,
Paul Metcalfe,” Kringle replied insistently, leaning
over the table. “I’ve known you since
you were…” He put his hand about two feet above the floor, “…that height, I
think.” The frown Scarlet gave him was
anything but patient. It didn’t help
matters that Kringle pointed to him, with his big
finger, and chuckled openly. “Now that’s
EXACTLY the face you were pulling the first time I saw you.” “Will you STOP that?”
Scarlet snapped, suddenly getting to his feet.
“I’m not the least bit convinced by all this!” The older man shut up instantly and stared up
at him. He didn’t appear frightened, or
impressed in the slightest. There was
just some curiosity in the clear, blue eyes, in the middle of that wrinkled but
jolly face. Scarlet was determined not
to let himself be deterred by the apparently innocent features of the man. He ceremoniously put down on the table the
big velvet bag he had brought in from the other room. “I want to know what
you were doing in my quarters,” he said flatly. “What do you think I
was doing, Paul… Excuse me… Captain?” “I’m asking the
questions, Mister Kringle.” “So you decided to
call my by my name. But please, call me
Kris.” Seeing that Scarlet was keeping a
set face, he cleared his throat. “I
don’t know if you’ll like my answer, to be truthful.” “Try me.” “I came to leave a
present for your daughter.” Scarlet twitched,
hearing that. Kringle
was right; he didn’t like the answer. For
more than one reason. “Nothing had been
added to the presents that were already under the tree. We checked.” “That’s because I
didn’t have time to leave it. As you
recall… I was interrupted.” Scarlet snorted. “Were you carrying it in that bag? It’s empty, Mister Kringle. It was like that when I found it in my
quarters.” Kris Kringle smiled. “For
YOU, it’s empty, son,” he answered candidly.
“Not for me.” “You’re going to tell
me it’s a MAGIC bag?” Scarlet said between his teeth. “That’s my working bag. And well… yes, I guess it’s a magic bag.” Scarlet rolled his
eyes. “I would have been surprised if
you'd said anything else!” “It would be rather
pointless and tedious to tell you of its origins… The truth is, I don’t know
myself HOW it came to be...” Kringle seemed not to take notice of Scarlet’s exasperated
expression as he gave all these details.
He wasn’t really looking at him, actually, stroking the expensive fabric
of his bag, and removing some lint he found on it. All the while, Scarlet was watching him with
curiosity, not quite knowing what to make of his actions. “It’s quite handy, you
see,” Kringle continued. “Doesn’t take up too much space… It’s not too
heavy… And I can find anything I need in it, without making any effort to…” “MISTER Kringle, please!” Scarlet cut in. “Will you stop play-acting?!” “But I’m not acting,
Captain. I’m telling you the truth!” “All that nonsense
isn’t the truth! The truth is that
you’re working for the Mysterons!” “Now THAT is
nonsense! Since when would Father
Christmas be in league with those awful Mysterons? You know I wouldn’t hurt a fly!” “You’re not Father
Christmas,” Scarlet replied coldly.
“You’re a Mysteron agent.” “And what gives you an
idea like that?” Kringle asked with a frown. “You failed the
Mysteron detector test.” The captain
hesitated a moment. “Sort of.” “Sort of?! What kind of a test is that?”
Scarlet
sighed. “There is a possibility the
Mysteron detector is defective. IF it
isn’t defective, however… that would mean you don’t respond to the test like a
normal agent would. Nor are you
responding to it like a normal human being would.”
“Oh! I see!” Kringle
then realized, nodding thoughtfully.
“That’s that test you did with that X-ray device, isn’t it?” He saw the perplexed and suspicious way
Scarlet was staring at him, and offered a bashful smile. “I’m so sorry the test isn’t conclusive. I know I’ve been having trouble having my
picture taken… With normal cameras, that is.
So it may be that your ‘Mysteron detector’ is experiencing the same
problem…”
“You don’t
appear on any of the pictures,” Scarlet replied gloomily. “I’d say that’s FAR from normal.” “And so, what does it
say to you?” Scarlet didn’t answer,
contenting himself by staring rather coldly at a calm-looking Kringle. The older
man leaned toward him. “Listen to your
heart, Paul. Deep down, you know I’m not
a Mysteron agent. You know who I am.” “I know you’re NOT who you pretend
to be,” Scarlet said, his tone still very icy.
“You’re NOT Santa Claus.” “You never really
believed in me, did you?” Kringle asked with
incredulity. “No… there was a time you
believed. Long, long ago… when you were
but a wee boy, as stubborn as you are now, now that you are a man. But I think you believed enough in me in those
days, to try to pass on that belief to your own child today…” “Keep away from my
daughter,” growled Scarlet. “Whatever
you want from her…” “But I don’t mean her
any harm, Paul,” Kringle murmured with a softer
tone. “I would never hurt her, or any
child in this world. You must believe
that. Yes, I know your job doesn’t
permit you to trust the word of just anybody.
Seeing how the Mysterons work, you don’t even know if the person, even
the friend, you’ll encounter next won’t be an enemy. I don’t blame you for not trusting me, for
being wary of me like that. I don’t
blame you for protecting your child the way you do. I understand perfectly.” “You understand a
little TOO perfectly,” Scarlet replied.
“If you’re as innocent as you pretend to be about the Mysterons… how
come you know so much about the way they work?
How do you know so much about Spectrum too?” “There is a lot I know
about, Captain Scarlet. Much more than
you can imagine.” “And that doesn’t
reassure me in the least,” Scarlet replied, furrowing his brow deeply. “Now why won’t you be honest and tell us what
you know about the Mysterons’ threat?” “You mean the one I
heard when you startled me earlier in your quarters?” “Why don’t you tell me
what they mean by the ‘Spirit of Christmas’?” “HOW should I know that?” “Listen,” Scarlet replied, the
irritation mounting in him. “YOU appear
in my quarters, out of nowhere, dressed as Santa Claus, and at the same time,
the Mysterons pronounce their threat.
Don’t you think it’s obvious you’ve got something to do with it?” “I’ll remind you it’s
Christmas time, Captain. And that threat
of theirs could mean anything. It’s got
nothing to do with my presence here.” “Right. And I’m Rudolph!” Kringle let out a deep sigh. “You’re wasting your time with me, Paul. You’d better concentrate your efforts on
something else, if you really want to stop this Mysteron threat. And let me go, please! I’ve got work to do! It’s my busiest day of the year, you know?” “You’re going
nowhere,” Scarlet replied, standing up.
He had come to the conclusion that the Mysterons had indeed replicated a
madman. That, or this man was cleverer
than he looked. “You’re staying right
here, until we figure out who you are, where you come from and what you’re
doing here.” “And all that, you naturally assume,
has a link to the Mysterons.” Kringle shook his head.
“A awful lot of children will be disappointed this year, you realise
that?” “Try to find a chimney
to get out of here,” Scarlet deadpanned.
He turned around and directed his steps towards the door. Kringle suddenly
raised his voice behind him. “Would you at least
tell Rose I received her letter?” Scarlet spun around,
staring disbelievingly at the Santa-clad man.
He saw him quietly nodding his head.
“I’m sure she’ll be relieved to learn that.” Scarlet tried his best
to keep cool. How the hell could this
man know about the letter? He was about
to ask him that when he thought he had figured it out. It was only another trick from the
prisoner. After all, Father Christmas
received thousands and thousands of letters each year. Kringle was still
playing a character, still trying to make the Spectrum officer believe he was
the real deal. Any mention of a letter
didn’t necessary mean a specific one. Still, the remark had
disturbed Scarlet a little, and it was with a pinch of doubt lingering in his
mind that he stepped out of the room, letting the door close behind him. Captain Scarlet went directly from
the Detention Centre to the Conference Room, where the staff meeting had ended,
about half an hour earlier. He found
Colonel White, along with Captains Blue, Ochre and Magenta already working with
numerous files in order to find out whatever it was the Mysterons meant by the
‘Spirit of Christmas’, they intended to destroy. Scarlet gave a quick report to Colonel White,
concerning the ‘chat’ he had had with Kringle, and
White simply nodded. He didn’t seem
surprised by the result, actually, as he had already suspected that Scarlet’s
effort wouldn’t prove conclusive. Another thing that
didn’t prove conclusive was the second series of tests by a new Mysteron
Detector. The new pictures taken of Kringle were exactly the same as the first series, and
everybody was rather baffled by them. No
explanation could be found, except for the rather outlandish possibility
presented by Scarlet himself earlier on.
As for the explanation given by Kringle to the
British captain… Well, Scarlet wasn’t even considering it, to begin with. It wasn’t really an explanation. Called to the Control Room, White
left his officers, and Scarlet joined his fellow captains in their
research. It didn’t take much more than
a few minutes for him to lose whatever was left of his patience, as he couldn’t
see the end of the pile of documents set in front of him. “This is utterly
ridiculous!” he exclaimed, suddenly.
“They can’t be serious this time!
It must be some kind of joke!” Captain Blue,
consulting a file he had opened, raised an eyebrow, giving him a sideways look,
before lowering his gaze again onto the paper he was reading. “You know the Mysterons don’t make jokes,
Scarlet,” he stated. “They don’t have a
sense of humour.” “Unless they go and Mysteronise Ochre,” Captain Magenta, installed in front of
a computer, declared, as he continued typing and scrolling down documents on
the screen. Captain Ochre, his
nose in a file too, suddenly raised his head and let out a cry of pure
outrage. “That’s it! Give them ideas, while you’re at it!” “Relax, Rick. You know you’re out of danger… It’s Christmas
they’re aiming at, not April Fool’s Day!” Feeling like an
injured party, Ochre opened his mouth, with the obvious intention of addressing
Magenta with a fierce rejoinder.
Somehow, this time, he couldn’t think of anything to say. He waved away the Irish captain’s remark with
annoyance. “Let’s get down to business!”
he grumbled. “If we ever want to get
this done before Christmas!” “You mean, if we want
Christmas to happen this year,” Blue replied. “Frankly, Adam…”
Scarlet shook his head. The
frustration in the room was palpable.
Everybody, he knew, was feeling the same as himself. “The ‘Spirit of Christmas’ is a state of
mind,” he continued restlessly. “A
concept, an idea… Something intangible.
It’s not solid, not an object or a person. HOW can you destroy it?” “It could be a puzzle,” Magenta said, not looking away from
his screen. “Remember we thought the
same thing about ‘time’, years ago… And it turned out the Mysterons were
talking about a person.” “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” Ochre sighed tiredly. “We all know, YOU were the one to decipher
the riddle. You never let us forget it,
Pat.” “Please!” Scarlet grumbled.
“A little less argument, and a little more work here? This is getting us nowhere.” “Don’t worry,” Ochre said, thumping the gloomy British captain’s
back. “We’ll get through this, as
always. Hopefully, before Christmas is
through. Then you’ll be able to set out
for that leave of yours, with your family.” “I don’t want to sound like a pessimist,” Magenta then
sighed, looking at his watch. “But it’s
already December 24th. So
we’d better work this out quickly, before the deadline.” “If only we knew exactly what it is they’re planning,”
Scarlet retorted. “But, no, we have no
clues! Not a single one. And the fact that they said they would use SPECTRUM
to carry out their threat makes matters worse!” His tone was increasingly growing grumpy, and everybody knew
the reason for it. There was his
Christmas leave, of course, which, despite Ochre’s assertion, was more than
likely going to be postponed. Not
because of the blizzard over England, but because of the present Mysteron
threat. There was also the fact that he
had found that Santa-dressed man in his quarters, and couldn’t get anything out
of him under interrogation – except his claims that he was indeed ‘Santa
Claus’. Many things about that man were unexplained, to say the
least. His sudden presence on Cloudbase,
how he could even be there in the first place, how he had foiled the various
levels of security, getting as far as entering Scarlet’s quarters without the
family’s personal code. Why the Mysteron
detectors were giving those strange pictures when used on him. Why he seemed unlike any other Mysteron agent
they had encountered, and was continuing to play the charade that way, even
though he was under arrest. What could
possibly be the purpose of that big, empty, velvety bag he had been carrying
with him, and which was now lying on the table, between Scarlet and Blue. All those unanswered questions were particularly getting on
Scarlet’s nerves, and he was taking this very personally. Because, in addition to all that, there was
also the fear he felt for his little girl.
They had learned from Rhapsody that Rose was now very angry at her
father for having ‘Santa’ arrested, unaware of the danger he could represent
for her. It wasn’t so surprising that
Scarlet was so stressed out. Blue narrowed his eyes, looking at his friend closely. “How about you take some time off, Paul?” “Time off? With this
threat hanging over our heads?” “Let’s face it, you’re not thinking straight, at the
moment,” Blue replied, with a very quiet tone.
“You’re preoccupied, that’s obvious.” “I’m not.” “Yes, you are. I know
you pride yourself on leaving your personal problems aside when you work, but
at the moment, I think you’re unable to do that. You’re concerned about what happened in your
quarters tonight. You’re concerned about
Rose. Don’t deny it.” He paused a second, waiting for Scarlet to
answer. But his partner kept silent,
thus confirming Blue’s observation. The
American shook his head, thoughtfully.
“You’d better go, buddy. I’m sure
you’re dying to see her right now.” He
gave a sly smile. “No pun intended.” Scarlet hesitated a second.
“Are you sure you…” “Hey!” Magenta called from his station in front of the
computer. “We’re got enough minds
between us three to think it through without your brain mixing things up!” Scarlet gave an inquiring look toward Ochre. The latter’s answer was a broad smile. “Go on, Paul.
Go see your little girl,” he offered gently. “You see?” Blue insisted.
“It’s unanimous. Go now. Take the time you need, and let us handle
this one for the moment. Come back when
you have things settled with Rose.” Scarlet didn’t need any more encouragement. With a smile and a thankful nod, he gathered
up his cap, and left the Conference Room, without looking over his
shoulder. Blue watched thoughtfully as
the door slid closed on his best friend’s departure. Then he absentmindedly looked down at the red
bag, on the table. He stroked the
velvety fabric, wondering what to make of it.
What Captain Scarlet had told them about it earlier came to his mind,
but he discarded it almost instantly, judging that it had to be the most
ridiculous assumption he had ever heard. “Okay, guys,” he said with a sigh, addressing the two
remaining captains with him. “Let’s see
if we can crack this one, without Scarlet.” “Without Grey too,” Magenta then said, suddenly. “Wasn’t he supposed to be back on Cloudbase by
now?” “The storm over Northern Europe delayed him,” Ochre
remarked. “But I heard his SPJ touched
down about an hour ago…” Blue’s brow furrowed deeply.
“Then where is he now?” The grey-clad officer was marching down the corridor
straight to the Detention Centre, oblivious to just about anything or anyone
around him. He wasn’t nervous, as nobody
was distrustful of him, and simply saluted him in a friendly manner. The base was on alert, he knew. That incident at the hangar had delayed his
plans, but it couldn’t be helped. He had
to follow the orders received, and had acted so he wouldn’t raise suspicion
about himself. The important thing was
to keep a low profile, until he was ready to strike. He realized, however, that it wouldn’t take
too long for Spectrum personnel to realize that something peculiar had happened
in the hangar bay. Somebody would be
sent to investigate, and they would eventually find him out. But it didn’t matter, as it would be too late. Soon, he mused, he would strike a victorious blow for the
Mysterons… When Captain Scarlet entered his quarters, it was to find
his wife gathering up a few misplaced items lying on the floor, to put them
back to their rightful places. The
security guards who had searched the place earlier for anything that could have
been left there by the white-bearded intruder had done a thorough job, she had
to admit, but they were anything but careful about the surroundings. Not that Rhapsody would bother about that
much, under the circumstances, but she was about sure she would be tidying up
after them for hours. That was a rather
grim thought, as she liked their living quarters to be neat and clean – which
wasn’t always possible with a small child in the way, always leaving toys lying
somewhere around the place. One look at the gloomy-looking Scarlet was enough for
Rhapsody to figure out what kind of mood he was in, as he silently walked
toward their sofa, to let himself fall heavily onto it. She kept looking at him for a minute, and
watched as he put his feet up, tiredly, on the low table in front of him. He knew how she hated that, but at the
moment, he seemed to have temporarily forgotten about it. And she couldn’t care less herself. “You look awful,” she commented, approaching to sit next to
him. “A lot on your mind?” He nodded slowly.
“Yes, quite a lot, I’m afraid,” he answered with a sigh. “The investigation isn’t going well?” “You could even say that it hasn’t even begun!” He paused, then shrugged. “No, that’s not true. It has begun, but we haven’t made much
progress.” Understanding that he needed comforting more than anything
else at the moment, Rhapsody snuggled up closely against him. He put one arm around her shoulders and drew
her closer to hold her tight. He then
began to explain all he knew – or didn’t know.
He especially related his conversation with Kris Kringle,
and the frustration that had resulted from it.
She listened intently to him, without uttering a single word, until the
very end of his story. “So he didn’t admit he was a Mysteron?” she finally asked. “Not even once,” Scarlet grumbled. “And he continues to pretend he’s ‘Santa
Claus’, as if we would really believe that.
I’m telling you, either that man is completely crazy, or he’s cleverer
than he appears.” “Or both at once,” Rhapsody noted, with a nod. “In any case, he left nothing suspicious in
here. Whatever it was he was planning to
do, he didn’t have the time. I think you
surprised him just in time.” “I wonder,” Scarlet murmured, frowning. “If he’s indeed working for the Mysterons,
and seeing as they’re planning to ‘destroy the Spirit of Christmas’, I keep
asking myself WHAT it was he wanted in here.” “They said they wanted to use Spectrum,” Rhapsody reminded
him. “What if… one of us was the
target?” Scarlet shuddered.
The thought wasn’t really a reassuring one. He didn’t know how safe he was himself from
the Mysteron influence, should they try to Mysteronise
him, as they had done in the past. But
he wasn’t comfortable with the idea that any of his family or friends could be
targeted. As Kringle
wasn’t armed – apparently – he couldn’t see how he could have hurt them. He tried to shrug the idea off, changing the
subject. “If we knew what the Spirit of Christmas means to them, that
would help.” “Is there a Christmas activity with which Spectrum could be
involved?” “We’ve already checked, Angel. Nothing remotely close to that, I’m
afraid. That would have been too
easy.” He sighed again, tiredly. “The others are still trying to figure that
out, at the moment. I came in here to
check on Rose.” “She cried herself to sleep,” Rhapsody said sadly. “I suppose seeing ‘Santa’ being arrested like
that came as a shock to her.” “Poor kid,” Scarlet replied, half-grumbling. “I often wondered if it was wise to tell her
all those stories, about Father Christmas and all, and let her believe in
them. Now I see WHY I had such doubts.” “You’re too pragmatic,” Rhapsody said with a faint
smile. “You know children need those
fantasies to brighten up their lives.
Didn’t you ever believe in Father Christmas yourself?” “Me!? No.” Scarlet paused a second, hesitating, under
his wife’s inquiring gaze. A reluctant
grin tugged at his mouth. “All right,
maybe. Yes. But only for a short, a VERY short time,” he
added quickly. Rhapsody chuckled. “I
was wondering where you had got that trick with the letter and the candle.” “From my father, believe it or not,” Scarlet informed
her. “Don’t ask me where HE got it from,
though. And don’t ask HIM, next time you
see him. I doubt that he’ll ever admit
to doing it, even for me, let alone tell you where he learned it!” “I knew your dad was a sweet, charming fellow,” Rhapsody
said, the smile on her lips broadening.
“Not as stuffy as he makes out, most of the time.” Scarlet nodded thoughtfully, not really hearing the last
part of what his wife was telling him, his gaze fixed upon the door leading to
his daughter’s room. “I’ve got to talk
to Rose soon,” he murmured. “I can’t let
her be angry at me like that for too long.
That accusing look in her eyes was almost unbearable.” “Paul, she’s only three years old,” Rhapsody remarked
gently. “She’ll get over it very
soon. You know how much she loves
you. She can’t stay angry at you
forever.” “I see you still don’t know how long a Metcalfe can hold a
grudge, Angel.” There was a lighter tone
in his voice, however, and Rhapsody could see he didn’t really mean what he
said. He was only joking. Or half-joking. In any case, it was a good sign that he was
mellowing. Slowly, he nodded, acknowledging
her reflection. He turned in her
direction, locking eyes with her, tenderly stroking her cheek. “You’re right, of course. She’ll come around. But I’ve got to see her, anyway. First thing in the morning. I want to talk to her.” “That I can understand,” Rhapsody said with a nod of her
own. “And don’t worry, I’ll be there to
stand by you.” “As always, my lady.
I don’t know what I’d do without you.” They exchanged a sweet, very brief kiss that was interrupted
by a buzz from the comm link. Scarlet grumbled with irritation, and went
over to the comm., pressing a button. He
didn’t want to activate it by voice control, for fear of disturbing his
sleeping child in the other room. The
blinking blue light on the comm. informed him of who was calling. “Yes, Captain Blue?” “Captain Scarlet, have you seen Captain Grey this evening?” “No, I haven’t.
Hasn’t he got back from France yet?” “His SPJ touched down here more than an hour ago,” the voice
of Blue explained. “Right in the middle
of the staff meeting, to be precise.
Following standard red alert procedure, a security team was immediately
sent to check both his craft and himself.” Scarlet didn’t like at all the sound of what he was
hearing. The hair on the back of his
neck started to stand up straight. “What
are you saying, Captain?” “Well, since then, we’ve heard nothing from either Captain
Grey, nor Lieutenant Silver, who was leading the security team. They can’t be found anywhere. I’m in the SPJ hangar at the moment. One of Silver’s men told me that while they
were checking if the jet was okay, the lieutenant took Grey into Hangar Deck
Control, for the Mysteron Detector test.” “Silver was alone with Grey?” Scarlet frowned. “No, he had a guard to back him up, just in case. But he’s also disappeared.” Scarlet’s heart sank.
Captain Grey was a fellow officer, as well as a very good friend, who
had always been very loyal to him. From
what Blue was telling him now, it looked very much as if the Mysterons could
have got to him, at some moment when he was on ground, or during the flight
back to Cloudbase. And upon arrival,
knowing that he could be spotted by a simple Mysteron detector test, he could
have got rid of Lieutenant Silver and his man – that would have been simple for
a man as experienced and skilled as Grey.
And then he could easily escape through the many corridors of the base,
and hide anywhere, waiting for the moment to strike. That was not a comforting thought at all. “Grey did encounter very bad weather, during his trip back,”
he said musingly, trying to hide his feelings. “Yes, he did,” Blue agreed.
“He was right in the middle of the storm over Northern Europe.” Damn! Scarlet thought with
irritation. My God, Brad, what if… “All security personnel are on alert at the moment,” Blue
continued. “At the moment, they’re
searching for any trace of Grey, Silver and Sergeant Smith, the security guard
that was with them. We’re hoping to find
any of them soon. The colonel wanted me
to inform you, so you’d better be on your guard. If Grey comes to your place…” Scarlet gave a sigh, closing his eyes. “S.I.G., Captain Blue. We’ll be careful, if we see him.” “A security team will be at your door shortly.” “Good. That will be
reassuring for me, when I come to join you.
There’s no way I’m going to stay in here while a Mysteron prowls
Cloudbase’s corridors.”
And there’s no
way I’m going to leave my family without protection while I’m gone! “Somehow, I was expecting that from you. You’ll find me in the hangar.” “I’ll be there as soon as that security team arrives.” Scarlet cut the communication and turned towards
Rhapsody. He could see the concern and
sadness on his beautiful Angel’s face.
She had heard all of the conversation, of course, and the news she had
learned, at the same time as himself, was a devastating blow. “Paul?” The hardened
expression on her husband’s face was enough to confirm to Rhapsody that he felt
the same way as she did. Gently, she
touched his arm, and felt him shivering under her fingers. “Paul, not Brad? The Mysterons haven’t got to HIM?” “I don’t know,” Scarlet murmured, not looking at her
directly, unwilling to let her see in his eyes how hurt he was by the simple
idea of losing yet another friend to the Mysterons. He didn’t want to frighten her even
more. Even though he knew how strong she
was. “But seeing the developments, I’d
say it’s quite possible… and that we shouldn’t take any chances.” “Oh no…” “I’ll have to go, love.
The minute those security guards arrive, I…” Scarlet stopped suddenly.
His wandering eyes had found something that had drawn their
attention. His brow furrowed deeply,
with perplexity. Rhapsody saw him move
toward the low table in front of the sofa, to kneel in front of it, and look
underneath. She approached, curious. “What is it, Paul?” Lying on the carpet, Scarlet had found a green
envelope. He picked it up and showed it
to his wife, an inquiring look in his blue eyes. She shrugged. “It must have come from the box I bought recently for all
those Christmas cards we sent. It’s the
same kind we used last evening for that letter to Father Christmas.” “I know, I noticed.”
Scarlet’s puzzled expression deepened.
He couldn’t help thinking at the last thing ‘Kris Kringle’
had said earlier, when he had left him in the security room. Still on his knees, he was about to examine the envelope and
its contents more closely when the door to Rose’s room slid open. Both parents looked up to see the small child
standing in the frame, holding a white Teddy Bear wearing a Christmas hat. There was a weary and lost expression in the
little girl’s eyes, as she looked into the room, apparently not seeing her
parents at first. She suddenly seemed to see them, a few feet from her,
looking back at her with some concern in their eyes. A hesitant Scarlet gave her a shy smile,
unsure of how she would react to him, and started to speak to her as gently as
he could, so he wouldn’t frighten her. “Hi, sweetie. What
are you doing up so late? Shouldn’t you
be in bed, sleeping?” He didn’t really count on her running to him, as fast as her
little legs could carry her, and colliding with him to snuggle close against
him. At first surprised at her reaction,
seeing how angry she had been with him earlier, Scarlet felt his heart warm up
instantly. He held her tight,
comfortingly, against his heart, letting out a contented sigh. He didn’t have to look up to know that
Rhapsody was looking down at them with a satisfied and relieved expression on
her face. She had been right all
along. Their daughter had come around. “I love you, Daddy…” Scarlet could hear Rose’s sobs, muffled
against his shoulder. He patted her
reassuringly, shushing her tears. “It’s all right, sweetie.
I love you too, you know…” “They’re gonna hurt him…” Scarlet’s brow furrowed a little. Even though there wasn’t any more resentment
toward him in his little girl’s voice, he could still hear the concern she felt
for that intruder she thought was Father Christmas. It wouldn’t suit well to get angry at her for
that, not now, and anyway, she was too young to understand. So he set out to reassure her, concealing the
truth from her about what was going on. “No, Rose, don’t worry,” he told her with a very gentle
tone. “You know Spectrum won’t hurt
Santa… We’re the good guys, remember? We
don’t go around hurting good people… You know I
wouldn’t
do that.” She shook her head to the negative, insistently, still not
looking up at him. “Not you, Daddy. Them.
They’re
gonna hurt him, I know.” Scarlet was about to insist further; but then, a doubt
insinuated itself into his mind. Them. Maybe she didn’t mean
Spectrum. Him or anyone else from the
organization. No, maybe she could mean… Scarlet’s gaze fell upon the green envelope he was still
holding in his hand; there was a Santa Claus stamp staring him right in the
face. The envelope was not sealed, and
he could see a folded paper in it. With
Rose still clutching at him, he hurriedly opened the envelope, and unfolded the
letter he found in it. He first saw the heading, composed of Santa Claus’ sleigh
and reindeer. Then the elegant writing
of his wife, addressing Father Christmas… Then his own writing, added underneath it. He blinked several times, not believing the impossibility he
was seeing.
“Tell
Rose I received her letter…” “Oh, dear God!” Scarlet pushed himself to his feet, lifting
Rose up with him, and then put her into her mother’s arms. On Rhapsody’s face, there was an expression
of incomprehension; she had seen her husband open the envelope and read the
letter, but didn’t see what was on it.
She couldn’t even begin to understand what could be going on in
Scarlet’s mind as he hurriedly gathered up his cap and walked swiftly toward
the door. “Paul, what…” “I don’t have time to explain!” Scarlet turned around, putting on his cap as
the door opened in front of him. He
couldn’t tell her. He felt she wouldn’t
believe him, not without concrete explanation.
He even wasn’t sure he believed all of it himself. He had to make sure first. And if he was right, if Rose
was
right… He just took the time to address a last word to his
daughter: “Don’t worry Rose, nothing will happen to Santa. Daddy’ll make sure
of it!” With that, he disappeared quickly through the sliding door,
and sprinted down the corridor. With a team of security guards, Captain Blue was looking
around in the SPJ hangar, hoping to find any clue of where the missing Captain
Grey, Lieutenant Silver and Sergeant Smith had gone to. So far, they’d found nothing out of the
ordinary. The SPJ seemed normal enough,
but it wasn’t a sure indication that it was Mysteronised or not. If it was rather easy to spot a living
Mysteron agent, using the Mysteron detector, it was totally different for a
recreated object. There was no way to
tell the difference between an original and a duplicate – except by using
Captain Scarlet’s own sixth sense. But
even then, the result wasn’t reliable.
Scarlet’s special gift didn’t always work, unfortunately. Alone, Blue entered the control room he had previously been
into a few minutes earlier. The place
looked like a storm had hit it; the worktable had been knocked over, and the
floor was littered with paper.
Obviously, there had been a fight in here. One of the security guards had earlier found
a small stain of blood on the floor, indication that somebody had been wounded. Blue looked around the silent room once more, scratching his
head, trying to figure out how things must have happened. According to witnesses, Grey had been brought
in here, and had come quite docilely.
Nothing to indicate that he would resist the Mysteron detector
test. Blue found the remains of the
Mysteron detector on the floor. Broken
beyond repair. Blue deduced that, with
the door closed, at the moment they were about to do the test, Grey might have
made his move against an unsuspecting Silver.
Killing both the lieutenant and Sergeant Smith. Neither of the two men were amateurs. Surely they had been on their guard. Grey must have acted very quickly, in order
to surprise them. Crouched on the floor, examining the Mysteron detector, Blue
discovered that there was still a picture in the device. Blue was about to press the button to eject
it, when a faint sound caught his ear. He
raised his head, listening carefully.
Thumping. He was hearing regular
thumping, faint, but obviously coming from close by. He looked around, pricking up his ears, to
find the source of the sound. It seemed
to come from a nearby door marked ‘File Room’.
Blue went to it and pushed the button to open the door. The door refused to open. He then went to work on the door lock, to
find it was protected by a security code.
He didn’t take the time to go through a series of combinations to find
it. He used his pistol to destroy the
lock. The door opened instantly, and a bound and gagged body fell
against Blue’s leg. The grey tunic the
man was wearing had a red stain on it, under his left shoulder, but he was
still alive, judging by the moans coming through the gag. Blue let out a sigh of relief; he quickly
crouched down, and swiftly removed the gag.
Captain Grey let out a loud gasp, taking in a deep breath, that started
his whole body shivering. “Thank God!” he croaked.
“Air…” He grunted as he tried to
get into a sitting position, but Blue kept him down. “Lie still, Brad.
You’ve
got a bad wound there. Boy, am I glad to
see you alive!” Grey nodded, blinking several times, still trying to regain
his breath. He had really started to
suffocate in his narrow prison. His eyes
fell on a body lying in there, not moving.
He grunted. “At least, I was the
lucky one,” he whispered tiredly, his eyes threatening to close. Blue glanced at the body inside, and recognized the black
and white uniform of a security guard, sporting a large red spot on his
chest. That was Sergeant Smith, and by
all appearances, he had died of a gunshot wound. The same kind of wound inflicted on Captain
Grey. Blue dropped down his cap microphone to call the Control
Room. “Yes, Captain Blue?” the voice of Colonel White answered
him. “Sir, I found Captain Grey!” Blue said hurriedly. “He’s not a Mysteron, and he has been
wounded. He needs medical attention
right away.” “S.I.G. We’re
alerting sickbay. What exactly happened
to him?” Blue looked down at his friend, lying across his lap. The wounded officer was in shock, shivering
violently; he had trouble staying conscious.
The blond American gently shook him, so he wouldn’t pass out on him. “Hang on, Brad. Help’s on the way. Can you tell me what happened?” “Silver…” Grey muttered, nearly inaudibly. “Lieutenant Silver… Mysteron… he shot us… The
detector…” Blue looked around himself, and saw the Mysteron detector he
had left on the floor when he had started to work on the door. Not very confident that it would work, he
ejected the photo that was still inside.
He grunted his approval when he saw the picture popping out of the
detector, and took it. He didn’t need more proof than the one he was now holding. “Sir,” Blue said hurriedly into his mic. “It was Lieutenant Silver.” He looked again at the picture he was holding
in his hand. That of a positive image of
Lieutenant Silver, from the Mysteron detector.
“He shot Captain Grey, and Sergeant Smith too. Silver is a Mysteron, and he’s free,
somewhere on base!” “S.I.G, Captain! I’m
putting the whole of Cloudbase on red alert.
Wherever he is, Lieutenant Silver must be found!” In the corridor of the Detention Centre, Corporal Brady was
the only guard left in front of the door leading to the security room, where
the fake Santa Claus – Mysteron or not – was kept. He didn’t feel in any danger, convinced that
the only threat could come from the prisoner behind the door, and that he
couldn’t possibly get out of there.
Should he decide to transform himself into a living bomb – as Brady was
told the Mysterons had been witnessed to do in past Spectrum missions – he knew
the reinforced steel doors and walls would contain the explosion and keep him
safe. So he had no need for concern. When he saw the door in the wall opposite sliding open to
reveal a colour-coded agent, Brady stood to attention, getting ready to receive
a superior officer. Too late he saw the
gun in the man’s hand and didn’t react quickly enough by raising his own
weapon. The silencer on the officer’s
gun muffled the sound of the detonations.
Hit in the side, Brady was thrown against the wall and lost hold of his
weapon; he slid down to the floor, trying, once there, to grab his pistol. His attacker stepped on his hand,
mercilessly, causing Brady to cry out in pain. “Not good enough, Earthman.”
The butt of the pistol caught Brady
on the side of his head, and he fell the remaining distance to the floor, where
he stayed motionless. Lieutenant Silver looked down with contempt at the
unconscious guard. Unceremoniously, he
pushed him aside, away from the door he was blocking access to. Then, carefully, he checked his
ammunition. He had more than he would
really need for his mission. He only had
used six bullets, two for this one, and four bullets during that incident in Hangar
Deck Control with Captain Grey and Smith, killing the latter and seriously
wounding the former. By now, he was sure
that Grey was dead, asphyxiated in that cabinet he had left him in, after
binding and gagging him. All that
because he had jokingly stated his intention of trying the Mysteron detector on
Silver once he had gone through the test himself. If only Grey had kept quiet about it. The operation was purely customary, under red
alert conditions; it would have been done in a matter of minutes, and then
Silver would have been able to leave to accomplish his mission for the
Mysterons, without being bothered. But
Grey had to insist. And his insistence
had caused Silver to worry, and to finally raise the captain’s suspicions to
the point where he actually used the Mysteron detector. Silver had no other choice but to shoot him,
along with Smith, to get them out of his way. Silver’s mission was about to be completed; he was certain
now, with Cloudbase personnel looking all over the place for Grey – who,
following his disappearance, was thought to be a Mysteron – that nothing could
stand in his way. The Mysterons would be
avenged. Silver pressed a button.
The outer door of the emergency airlock slid open and the lieutenant
stepped into the narrow space between the two doors leading to the security
room. While running to the Detention Centre, Captain Scarlet was
wondering if it would be wise to inform someone of his suspicions. He had come to the conclusion that he
couldn’t tell anybody just yet. They
wouldn’t believe him and might even think he had gone crazy. He wasn’t even sure himself he was absolutely
right, anyway, although he couldn’t deny the evidence that had just been handed
to him. And he wasn’t that sure either
that Rose – his little Rose – had really provided him with a clue to what the
Mysterons were planning to do. Could it
have been triggered by her link to them – through him? Or was it simply just her innocent, childish
way of seeing things far more clearly and simply that any adult could? Either way, if what he suspected was true,
Scarlet just knew he had to act fast. When he arrived at the Detention Centre, he KNEW something
was definitely wrong. The first thing he saw was Corporal Brady lying on the
floor, near the first door leading to the security room. Drawing his gun, Scarlet approached
carefully, and crouched to check on him.
The man had at least two bullets in him, but was alive. Only unconscious. Scarlet looked around, in search of the
person who had done this. The corridor
was completely empty. He was about to use his cap radio to call for help and
medical care, when he heard a sound behind the door Brady had previously been
guarding. Scarlet’s features
hardened. The culprit was already
inside, of course. If the captain did
make a call, he would hear him. Scarlet
gave Brady’s arm an encouraging pat, seeing no other choice but to make him
wait a little, then rose to his feet to stand next to the door, against the
wall. He pressed the ‘open’ button. The door silently slid open.
Scarlet peeked cautiously inside.
The second door beyond the air lock, leading to the security room, was
open too; that was contrary to the security procedures concerning that
particular room, which, at the moment, seemed plunged in semi-darkness. Also odd.
Scarlet realized that somebody must have forced the second door open,
and probably destroyed the security system, and that by doing so, he must have
also destroyed the lighting controls.
There could be no other explanation. Scarlet stepped into the airlock, silently, then approached
the second open door. He saw someone
moving around in the security room, apparently searching, gun in hand. He could see it was a colour-coded officer,
wearing a grey tunic. He had his back
turned to the door.
Brad? He then heard the frustrated voice of the man, and knew
instantly that it wasn’t Captain Grey. “Where are you, old man?” Captain Scarlet stepped into the doorway. “Looking for someone, Lieutenant?” Lieutenant Silver nearly jumped and turned around, to find
himself facing Captain Scarlet, staring sternly at him, blocking his way
out. He seemed surprised to see him
there. “Captain Scarlet,” he said, at first with an unsure
voice. “The prisoner…” He cleared his throat, regaining his cool. It was noticeable how he was keeping his gun
down, carefully. He nodded around. “I don’t know how he did it, but he seems to
have escaped.” Scarlet registered the information, knowing instantly that
Silver wasn’t lying to him, and was not responsible for the prisoner’s
disappearance, since he had heard his frustrated shout earlier, but he felt
that he had no time to puzzle over this new mystery. He shook his head and stepped in, his gun
levelled at Silver, who was looking at the weapon with a seemingly confused
expression upon his face. “It won’t
work, Silver. I know WHY you’re here.” “Captain?” Silver answered, feigning to be puzzled by the
remark. “I don’t know what you mean…” “What have you done to Captain Grey?” Silver hesitated.
“Captain Grey is a Mysteron, I tried to stop him, but…” “WHY didn’t you inform the Control Room, then?” “I… I followed him here.
I think he wants to kill the prisoner…” “Throw your gun on the floor, Silver.” The lieutenant’s confused answers only served
to confirm to Scarlet that the man was trying to gain time. As he was approaching, he could also felt a
faint nausea mounting in him, indication that he was facing a Mysteron. He saw Silver letting go of all the pretence and raising his
weapon as quickly as he could; he didn’t stand a chance as Scarlet pressed the
trigger twice. The Mysteron agent fell down on his back, behind the wooden
table. For a few seconds, there was complete silence in the
room. Scarlet carefully approached the
Mysteron, keeping his gun levelled at him.
He leaned down over him to check for a pulse, but couldn’t find one. He then looked around, concern on his face. “Kringle!” he called out
loudly. “Kris Kringle! Where are you?” In answer, he heard faint footsteps behind him, in the
direction of the open door and turned around to greet the old man he thought
was going to appear. A new wave of
nausea hit him at the same moment that two detonations made themselves
heard. Scarlet felt the pain in his
right shoulder and hip. His arm went
numb, making him lose hold of his gun.
His right leg gave way under him and he found himself half-sprawling on
the floor, next to Silver. When he looked up, it was to see the implacable face of
Sergeant Smith looking down at him from the doorway. “The Mysterons always have a back-up plan, Captain Scarlet,”
Smith said with a cold sneer. “Did you
forget that, after all these years?” He
narrowed his eyes at him. “Where’s the
target?” “Out of your evil reach,” Scarlet answered, trying to keep
his voice firm. “You can’t hurt him.” “We’ll see about that, Captain. I don’t intend to fail, I can assure
you. In the meantime, I’ll put you out
of the way. If only temporarily.” He raised his gun, levelling it at Scarlet’s
head. “Merry Christmas, Captain
Scarlet.” This
isn’t the way I planned to spend Christmas,
was the
absurd thought imposing itself in Scarlet’s mind. He was already seeing himself in sickbay,
lying in his specially adapted bed, with his family and friends gathered
around. But instead of the gun’s detonation
filling the room and the feeling of the bullet ramming home, Scarlet heard a
very loud thud. Kris Kringle
had appeared behind the Mysteronised guard and hit him across the shoulders
with what appeared to be a metal tray.
The blow sent Smith sprawling onto the floor of the security room. That gave Scarlet a chance to get hold of
Silver’s weapon, not far from him. He
lined up on Smith before he could raise his gun again, and pressed the
trigger. The Mysteron fell again to the
floor, his weapon dropping from his hand. From the doorway, Kringle had
watched the scene, apparently unsure of what to do now. When he saw Smith motionless, and Captain
Scarlet trying to get his bearings in order to raise himself, he stepped in and
approached the officer to lend him a hand.
Scarlet found that the man had more strength in him than he would have
thought. “What do you know,” he grimaced, trying to put some weight
on his wounded hip, but finding he couldn’t for the time being, “Father
Christmas saved my life!” “I hardly think so,” Kringle
remarked morosely. He made a face. “I hate violence. But more than anything else, I hate violent
people. Is it finished?” “Not… quite.” Hearing those ominous words, Scarlet shivered, and turned
around. The fallen Lieutenant Silver had
raised himself a few inches from the floor, to settle himself against the wall
behind him. The Mysteron addressed the
two red-clad men with a very cold, assured smile. “You have not yet won… Earthmen.” Scarlet saw with horror that Silver was going into a
trance. He knew perfectly what that
could mean. “Out!” he said hurriedly to Kringle. “We must
get out of here!” The older man didn’t ask questions; he seized Scarlet round
the waist and helped him limp as quickly as possible out of the security
room. The Spectrum officer didn’t need
to turn around to know what was going on behind him. He knew how things were happening with
Silver, about the fumes pouring from him, chemical factors gradually mounting
in him, until they would reach critical mass and be released in a sudden,
destructive burst of energy. Spectrum’s
scientists had never really found out exactly how that worked, but one thing
was certain: the effects were absolutely devastating. And deadly. The nausea within Scarlet told him Silver’s body was now
reaching the completion of the process, as he and Kris Kringle
reached the outer door. There was little
time left; Scarlet pushed the old man into the corridor, against the wall to
one side of the door, stepped out himself and rammed his thumb onto the ‘close’
button, hoping it would work. He heard
the explosion behind, as the door was sliding closed. It wasn’t as strongly built as the inner one,
he realized, when, even as it closed, he saw it bursting out of the doorway,
under the pressure of the explosion.
Scarlet, standing in front of Kringle in an
attempt to protect him, felt the heat against his back, burning away his
uniform and shredding his tunic and shirt, blistering his skin. But that was all. Nothing more.
All in all, the room, the door, all of Spectrum’s specially designed
security measures held against the explosion.
As it was meant to do. Wearily, Scarlet looked over his shoulder; the door had been
half blown out of the doorway, by the force of the explosion, but it was still
there, although distorted in a grotesque and odd way. “NOW, I think it’s finished,” he finally said in answer to Kringle’s earlier question.
He turned around to grin at the old man, who was looking warily at the
half-broken-down door. “Are you all right?” Kringle asked
with concern, having got a glimpse at the back of Scarlet’s destroyed uniform. The Spectrum officer shrugged it off. “I’ll be okay.” “Ah yes, your special ability will take care of it,” Kringle noted, nodding. Scarlet looked at him with curiosity. “You know about that too?” “Of course I know. I
know a lot of things. You know what they
say: I know who’s been bad and who’s been good.” Both men glanced down at Brady, moaning on the floor, a few
feet away from them. Kringle
leaned down to the wounded man in concern.
He nodded his head, with satisfaction, after a quick examination of
Brady. “He’ll be all right too,” he
declared. “He’s been lucky.” Seeing the inquiring look on Scarlet’s face,
he added quickly, “I was a healer in a previous life, before… taking on this
job.” He got to his feet. “He DOES need medical attention right away,
though.” The sound of rapid footsteps down the corridors made Scarlet
prick his ears. It looked like Brady was
about to get help quickly. Scarlet
narrowed his eyes at the old man standing in front of him. “You and I have some unfinished business,” he remarked
quietly. “Indeed we do,” Kris Kringle
responded with a broad and jolly grin. There wasn’t any way that Rhapsody Angel could put Rose back
to bed after Scarlet had so suddenly left their quarters. The little girl was too anxious, and frankly,
Rhapsody felt the same. And like her
daughter, she would have been quite unable to say why. Probably not for the same reasons as Rose,
she was willing to bet. The little girl
just felt excited, while her mother couldn’t help feeling concerned. It had been quite some time since Paul’s departure, and Rose
had been playing with some toys on the carpet at Rhapsody’s feet. The child had significantly calmed down, but
Rhapsody’s worry had done nothing but mount inside her. She tried to find peace by putting the radio
on for some Christmas music, but that didn’t help much. Especially when the majority of the songs
turned out to be melancholic pieces. When the door slid open, Rhapsody, who was reading a
magazine, literally sprang to her feet.
She gasped in surprise upon seeing her husband enter, the top of his
uniform half-shredded at the back, some stains of blood apparent on his right
shoulder, but his face wearing a broad, satisfied grin. “Paul!” She quickly
went over to him, her own face creased with some concern – and wariness, to see
him standing there in such a state, with Rose playing nearby. She wasn’t too keen for their daughter to see
him like that. Normally, he would go to
sickbay until he was totally healed – and would get to change his clothes
before Rose noticed that anything wrong had happened. “What happened to you?” Rhapsody asked with concern, in a
hushed voice. “You look as if you’ve
been in a war or something…” “I’m okay, love,” he answered quickly, pushing her aside,
his smile still very broad. “Just let me
get a change of clothes and…” “Daddy!” Scarlet was surprised to see his daughter running to him; he
caught her on the fly and heaved her up in his arms, so he would be able to
look at her levelly. “Hey, sweetie! I thought you went back to bed.” He saw the way she was eyeing him with a big
frown, obviously curious about what had happened to his uniform. “Daddy’s been cleaning the chimney,” he
explained with a bashful tone. He didn’t
expect her to believe him, but at least, that brought a smile to her face –
although a faint one. He saw Rhapsody
rolling her eyes at his silly explanation. “Where have you been?” the Angel pilot demanded, with a
frown of her own. “Everybody’s been
trying to contact you. Adam found
Captain Grey. He’s not a Mysteron, but
he’d been locked in a closet after being shot by…” “Lieutenant Silver, I know,” Scarlet cut in. Rhapsody looked at him with wide-open
eyes. He shook his head, concern evident
on his features. “How’s Brad?” “He’s been taken to sickbay, and should be okay after a few
days. He’ll have to spend Christmas
there, I’m afraid.” “Poor Brad. He’s not
going to like that, I’m sure.” “I’m sure too.”
Rhapsody’s frown deepened. “And
how did you know about Silver?” “It’s a long story.
But right now…” Scarlet looked Rose straight in the eyes, “…I’ve got a
surprise for my favourite little angel, here.”
He stepped aside, clearing the doorway.
Kris Kringle walked in, dressed in all his
Santa attire. Rose’s smile broadened
suddenly, and her blue eyes lit up upon seeing him. “Santa!” She
stretched his arms out to him, and Scarlet gave her to Kringle,
who settled the little girl comfortably in his own arms. “Hi, Rosie!” he said, addressing her with his most joyous of
smiles. “How are you doing?” He moved toward the sofa with the child, and Rhapsody was
about to follow, ready to protest loudly about his presence there. She couldn’t understand how her husband could
have been so reckless as to bring the man to their quarters; even less could
she understand why he had handed him their daughter like that. She wasn’t comfortable with the notion, and
she wanted to take Rose back. But
Scarlet stopped her in her tracks; when she turned toward him to give him a
piece of her mind, he gently raised a finger to silence her. “Trust me,” he whispered, still smiling
broadly. “Everything’s all right.” Still a bit unsure, Rhapsody watched as Kringle
sat on the sofa, putting Rose on his lap.
The little girl seemed so pleased, when he started talking to her in
such a hushed and soft tone, that her worries left her instantly. And her husband seemed so sure of himself
that she couldn’t do anything else but to trust his judgement. He wouldn’t let Kringle
near Rose if there was any danger. Of
that she was certain. “Would you tell me what happened?” she whispered, leaning
toward Scarlet, as they both watched the secret conversation between their daughter
and the Santa Claus-dressed man.
“Magenta called in, a couple of minutes ago, looking for you. He told me about an explosion in the
Detention Centre.” “I’m not sure you’ll believe me,” he answered in the same
tone. “I’m not so sure I believe all of
it myself.” “Well, you’d better come up with an explanation quickly,”
Rhapsody warned him. “I’m sure the
colonel will want to know what’s going on… and why you let a suspected Mysteron
agent out of his cell.” “He’s not a Mysteron agent.” “I’d already worked that out. Or you wouldn’t have brought him here.” Scarlet nodded thoughtfully. After he had been sure that Brady would be
taken care of by the security team, led by Captain Magenta, that had found them
some minutes ago, he had hurriedly left the Detention Centre with Kringle, to avoid having to answer too-awkward
questions. He didn’t even know as yet
how he would explain all this. Surely,
everybody was now wondering where he had gone to, with the ‘prisoner turned
target’. After a few minutes’ chat with Rose, Kris
Kringle handed her a candy cane, and put her down on
the floor, telling her she had better go to bed soon, if she wanted to find any
presents under the Christmas tree in the morning. Rose nodded vigorously, and then went to kiss
both her parents, took her mother’s hand and dragged her to her bedroom, thus
indicating that she wanted to be tucked in.
Both mother and child disappeared into the small room. Kringle
got to his feet with a big sigh, and turned as Scarlet approached to face him. “You’ve got a fine little girl, there,
Paul. You have every right to be proud
of her.” “She’s the most precious gift I have ever
received,” Scarlet confessed. He smiled
lightly. “Right next to my wife.” Kringle
nodded his approval. “I have to thank you
for saving my life.” “I didn’t do much, I’m afraid. You were already out of the Security Room
before I got there.” He smiled
again. “HOW did you get out, anyway?” Kringle
raised an eyebrow. “The same way I
entered your quarters.” There was a pause, as Scarlet tried to
figure out how it could have been done. Kringle gave a rueful smile. “The same way I enter any house which doesn’t
have a chimney.” This time, Scarlet’s
brow arched in perplexity, wondering if the elderly man wasn’t mocking
him. He had confirmation of that when he
heard him laughing loudly. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?” “I would if I could, Captain, believe
me. But I can’t.” Kringle shook his
head. “So you figured out it was ME
those Mysterons were after?” “Took me long enough to understand,”
Scarlet replied, with a faint smile.
“What better way for the Mysterons to destroy the Spirit of Christmas
than by killing Father Christmas?” “The Spirit of Christmas is more than
just one man, Paul. It’s something else,
much more important than presents, and gifts, and parties… It’s joy, and peace,
for all men and women of goodwill all over the Earth. It’s acts of kindness, and charity, and hope
for a better world. It’s something that
can’t be defined in such words that the Mysterons, I’m afraid, will
understand. Or are willing to
understand.” Scarlet nodded quietly. He saw Kringle
crouching to pick up his red bag, lying on the floor, and it suddenly occurred
to Scarlet that it WAS there. The last
he had seen of it, it was in the Conference Room. “How did you…?” Scarlet’s words died on his lips; he wasn’t
sure how to formulate the question, and simply pointed at the bag. Kringle offered a
bashful smile. “You said it yourself: it’s a magic
bag.” He opened it and put his arm deep
into it. For Scarlet, the bag was still
empty, but the next second, Kris Kringle produced a
small gift-wrapped box that he handed to him.
He fished out two other boxes that he put down on the table,
neatly. “That’s for your little Rose. And one for you, and for your charming
wife. I think you’ve earned it.” Scarlet shook his head, eyeing the box in
his hand, quite perplexed. He gave up on
trying to understand where it came from.
He gave up on trying to understand ANYTHING about this strange
experience. Rhapsody walked out of Rose’s room, and
closed the door behind her, before approaching the two men and standing next to
her husband. “She’ll sleep until the
morning,” she said with a sigh, the tension obviously gone from her now. “It’s been a long night for her.” “For all of us,” Scarlet agreed. “And mine isn’t finished yet,” Kringle replied thoughtfully. “I’d better get going, if I want to finish in
time.” “Yes,” Scarlet agreed. “Before somebody sees you and wants to keep
you for further questioning.” Kringle
raised a brow. “I thought YOU had done
that already.” “I wasn’t nearly mean enough, Mister Kringle.” “I told you: my friends call me Kris.” Scarlet nodded. “All right.
Kris.” He shook the hand the man
presented to him. “I envy you your job,
Kris.” “And I don’t envy you yours, Paul.” Kris Kringle let
out a deep sigh, shaking his head, sadly.
“But I guess someone has to do it.”
An idea seemed to come to his mind and his face lit up. “But maybe you’d like a nice change of pace? Why not do the remainder of the round with
me? The two of you?” Rhapsody’s jaw dropped; frankly, she
didn’t know what to make of this. She
addressed Scarlet with an ‘Is he serious?’ kind of look. To her surprise, she saw her husband, at first
hesitating, then simply shaking his head to the negative, as if the offer was a
most natural one. And HE was very serious when he answered
it. “I’m tempted, Kris, really, I am. But I can’t accept. We can’t go AWOL like that, and especially
not under the circumstances. I have to
report to my superior straightaway, to try to explain to him what happened
tonight.” He chuckled. “I’ll be lucky if he doesn’t have me
committed after that!” “I see what you mean,” Kringle said, laughing. “Next year, maybe? If we can bring Rose.” Kringle
offered his brightest smile to date. “Of
course. It’s a date, then.” He slapped his apparently empty bag onto his
back and moved toward the door. Another
thought came to his mind and he turned around to face Scarlet. “Oh, when you see Charles, and if you have
trouble convincing him, tell him he gave me quite a job, years ago, searching
for that whistle he asked me for, shaped like a cardinal bird.” Scarlet’s brow rose. “How OLD was he when he asked you for that?” “You don’t want to know.” “You two are not serious, are you?”
Rhapsody suddenly said. “You’re leading
me on…” She offered both men a bashful, unsure smile. This was turning into a very weird night. The only explanation she could find was that
they were making fun of her. “My dear lady,” Kringle
said with a laugh. “I’m always serious
when it comes to my job. A lot like you,
actually.” “Father Christmas…” Scarlet had opened
the pocket of his tunic, to fish out a green envelope he ceremoniously gave to
the man standing before him. Rhapsody’s
perplexed eyes followed the envelope as it changed hands. “I believe this is for you.” “Your daughter’s letter,” Kringle said with a nod. “That’s what made me realize… I was wrong
about you.” Kringle
took the letter and put it in his coat pocket.
“Tell Rose she’ll be able to see her grandparents for Christmas.” “Another gift?” “One I’m offering all of you with all my
heart.” Santa Claus smiled again, and
addressed a grateful nod to Scarlet, before the door opened and he stepped out
of the private quarters. “Merry
Christmas to all… And to all, a good night.” The door slid closed on him and Captain
Scarlet and Rhapsody Angel stood there alone, watching the closed door, without
finding anything to say at first.
Eventually, Rhapsody Angel cleared her throat, and then started to
speak, as, very slowly, her husband was leading her toward their sofa. “If I understand things clearly,” she
told him, “that was the letter WE wrote to Father Christmas for Rose?” “Yes it was.” “The one you burned with that candle.” “Mmm.” “You’re sure?” He nodded to the affirmative. Rhapsody stopped in her tracks, forcing
Scarlet to do the same. “And you believe that THAT was the real
Father Christmas?” Rhapsody insisted, with a furrowed brow. “If Father Christmas exists, then yes, I
believe it was him.” Rhapsody let the information sink
in. “I can’t believe it,” she murmured,
her eyes staring into empty space. “Look, Angel, I know this is incredible,
but…” She gave him a violent thump on the
chest. Not enough to hurt him, but
enough to silence him and to make him understand how irritated she was at him. “I can’t believe you passed up the chance
for us to do the round with him!” THE END
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,
all characters, vehicles, crafts, etc.), owned by ITC/Polygram/Carlton. Information of the series are all been taken
from copyright © materials (books, magazines, videos, T.V. media, comics, etc) owned by ITC/Polygram/Carlton.
This story is also a respectful tribute to
the movie(s) “MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET” – which, I learned
recently had had not three, but at least
five different cinematographic and TV versions, from 1947 to 1994. The
character of “Kris Kringle” has been taken
from that wonderful Christmas story – who has became a beloved classic all over
the world – no matter the version it has been seen as! I even saw the character
used in different TV series, over the years, during special Christmas episodes.
My thanks to the following people:
To all of you, who had read this story, I hope you
enjoyed it. This is my gift to you. I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas. Chris Bishop BACK TO “CHRISMAS FANFIC”
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