MIRACLE AT 40,000 FEET

A “Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons” story for Christmas

By Chris Bishop

(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 i