Operation: Minerva

By Siobhan Zettler

Chapter 5

Direct interdimensional intervention was required.

It was something that the humans had only recently decided was possible in theory, though they had in fact seen it in practice during previous phases of the War. The mathematics were complex, and many of the abstractions did not normally apply in this particular time-space continuum.

It was also something that the Black unit’s mind had continued to define as Cheating. Opposing notions of Justice and Fair Play often accompanied the concept, which seemed to fall loosely under the heading of Morals---this was under continued investigation, as a separate matter.

Current phase-event analysis, however, had indicated that further Constructs had now become necessary to reach the phase-objective. At this point in the linear time-line the subject units were beyond the reach of either the Black unit or the Carey-Construct. Strategically, a very specific sequence of events, precisely arranged along the linear time-line had to be executed; the choreography, the timing had to be perfect, or the desired outcome would be lost.

Time was a malleable property of this continuum, another thing that the humans understood only in theory. In practice it was difficult, and costly in ways that the humans did not yet remotely comprehend, not even theoretically. Difficult and costly too, was the creation of a Construct itself.

Such, however, was the price of the War.

Direct interdimensional intervention was required....

They were bringing Zil in.

She had talked Colonel White into it, and Andrew Weller suspected that he knew how and why. And the next step---

The next step would all depend on Zil and just what she had in mind. Andy was concerned about that. She was worried. More worried than he was, but that was only to be expected. Minerva had always been near and dear to her heart, and she was loathe to give it to anyone.

Arthur was not so directly affected, but he and Zil had worked closely together on the Project and Arthur was no more keen to have Spectrum laying hands on it than Zil was.

Spectrum, as it happened though, was likely to be better than the alternatives; the real trick would be to maintain control of the technology even if it did fall under official jurisdiction.

Those were the thoughts uppermost in his mind when he absently thanked Captain Scarlet for the briefing and left the communications room to move down the hallway toward the elevator. Arthur was right behind him, Merlin was bounding alongside and Lieutenant Roan was bringing up the rear. Weller was becoming very annoyed with the constant, smothering company; he did not care to be nurse-maided. Captain Scarlet was watching their little parade from the doorway, seeing them safely on their way downstairs. He wanted just a few minutes to talk to Arthur---in private. But there seemed no immediate escape. After the incident at the house, Spectrum had tightened things up even further---which he would scarcely have credited as possible---and was keeping itself very close at hand. Tensions had risen all around, and while he simply couldn’t see how it would be possible to break the security cordon, they all seemed to be waiting for something dire to happen.

Weller punched the elevator button, chafing at the circumstances. Distracted, he reached down and scratched at Merlin’s ear, the dog having latched onto him in Zil’s absence. He urged the dog into the elevator car when the doors finally opened. And then suddenly, Captain Scarlet was calling out Lieutenant Roan’s name, just as he and Arthur stepped into the lift---which would amount to another delay, whatever it was that the Captain wanted now. The Lieutenant, however, seemed quite oblivious to the summons and was stepping toward the elevator without answering it.

‘Are you deaf, Lieutenant?’ Andy asked irritably. ‘The Captain is calling you!’

Roan looked startled. Concentrating too hard on his nurse-maiding duties, obviously. The young officer stopped up short and looked back over his shoulder, quizzical expression saying that he’d heard not a word of it.

It had just become an opportune moment.

Weller’s hand hit the DOOR CLOSE button the second he realized it, and before the Lieutenant had seen it, recovered and reacted, the doors had shut. Arthur keyed in the office level.

For just a minute at least, they had made good their escape.

‘They don’t understand anything, Andy.’ Arthur scowled openly, out suddenly from under the ever-present scrutiny. ‘Not a single thing.’

‘They’re not supposed to, Arthur. And I’d like to keep it that way. But I don’t know what Zil got through with the Colonel. She was quite upset. We may well be doing damage control before too long.’

‘What’s Ty had to say on it?’

‘She’s very unhappy---any you’ve just missed our floor.’

Arthur stabbed at the STOP button irritably and re-keyed Level IV. The lift stopped, but it did not begin to rise again. ‘What’s the matter with this thing now?’ Arthur grumbled.

But Merlin gave an abrupt growl before Andy could respond; the dog whined loudly and backed into a corner with his fur all bristling, pawing up at him for reassurance.

What in God’s name was the probl---

The question ceased mid-thought, over-ridden by the one that displaced it and turned Andrew Weller cold all over.

It’s not the ones you see that get you......Captain Grey had said.

An icy, raw fear solidified in the pit of his belly. He felt his skin go all clammy with the realization that they were no longer in control of the lift. ‘No---’ he breathed.

Arthur’s head snapped around, eyes wide, coming to the same conclusion and he made a frantic grab at the emergency phone---

But the connections were already dead.

Yell for help---sound some sort of an alarm.....it was what came to mind, but Andy’s mouth had gone parchment dry, and only a breath of an old and he’d long thought forgotten prayer came out.

From somewhere just above them, a faint creak of metal on metal could be heard----

---as a support cable began to separate from its mooring bolts under the influence of an unseen but very real and manifest power. It was only a matter of seizing the object at its quantum level and changing it’s co-ordinates in three dimensions; the mechanical safeties had been similarly disabled, the suspension engineering would fail under the applied stress and the local gravity well would do the rest. Scanning had already been initiated and the recordings would capture every detail of the subject units and objects, templating minutiae right down to the precise energy flux and particle spin of each of those subject units and objects immediately prior to the destruction of the originals----

---but it was only when the sudden drop came that Andy was able to give voice to the scream that had been caught in his throat, a terrified sound that Arthur had mimicked and both of which ceased abruptly when the elevator car impacted at the bottom of the shaft with a force calculated to be more than sufficient to ensure that there would be no survivors. The wreckage settled in a slow clattering of metal and plastics and only the faintest echoes of those final, dying screams remained----

----while time was suspended only very briefly; assembly of the Constructs was proceeding in an adjacent continuum, where time was not a linear concept. Transfer through of the Constructs was an event that manifested with only a faint spiraling of ghostly green light; twin circles of residual visible radiation, telltales of the scanning operation that played over the remnants of the originals and precisely indicated the correct temporal and physical placement of the newly formed Constructs----

----and the fading sounds were lost in the whirring of gears and pulleys as the lift car ascended from the depths of the elevator shaft to stop at Level IV.

The Weller-Construct straightened his tie and cleared his throat, knowing with an absolute certainty that Spectrum officer Teal was going to be standing there the very instant that the doors opened.

And the Earthman was.

One very irate and imposing Lieutenant Teal, standing there with folded arms and a humourless expression that stated very clearly that he did not approve of one Andrew Weller’s actions in abandoning his escort upstairs. Roan had no doubt called ahead---Teal’s cap mike was down in the activated position, ready for the report of their timely arrival, which had been carefully calculated to arouse no suspicions.

‘They’re here.’ Teal stated, flatly and with no amusement at all.

‘Lieutenant Roan will be right along,’ Weller assured the unsmiling officer with an affable grin of his own, exiting the lift car with the Prince-Construct on his heels. ‘I’m afraid your colleague missed the elevator.’

‘So I heard.’ Teal commented drily. ‘Doctor Weller, once again, might I ask---’

‘You can always ask.’ Weller interrupted, still smiling. Co-operation with Spectrum’s security arrangements was now entirely out of the question. ‘We shall be in my office, Lieutenant. You’re welcome, as usual, to guard the door.’

‘Count on it, Doctor.’ Teal gestured them politely down the corridor, and provided close escort all the way to the sliding glass panel that opened into the erstwhile Doctor Weller’s so very thoroughly scanned and checked inner sanctum.

‘Thank you, Lieutenant---and I’d appreciate it if you could give us about thirty minutes warning of Doctor McLaine’s arrival---we’d like to meet her ourselves, of course.’

‘Of course, Doctor Weller. You’ll be advised.’

The Weller-Construct nodded with due courtesy and closed the sliding glass panel, while the Prince-Construct turned the privacy blinds, shutting out prying human eyes that would have been very much interested in the work that still needed to be done before the last surviving member of the Minerva Project arrived….

Scarlet had seen the whole thing, and even caught from down the hallway, that very last comment from Weller.

He had certainly not called out Roan’s name, and that was why Roan had not heard him.

Roan had been startled and had hesitated, the Lieutenant concerned just enough not to want to offend, let alone ignore a superior officer, and that hesitation had been sufficient for Weller and Prince to elude their escort.

In the space of an instant, Roan had been surprised, mortified and then angry. But he hadn’t hesitated any longer---his cap mike was down and he had Teal on the alert in seconds. Roan’s hand hit the summons button, casting an apologetic glance his direction, and otherwise looking like he was ready to throttle the first civilian that might come within reach.

Weller hadn’t made a friend out of Roan with that move. It was so----Weller-typical.

Nonetheless, Scarlet felt a prickling sensation run up his spine---Weller and Prince, together and out of sight---translated as Weller and Prince unprotected. Even if it was for all of the forty seconds that it took for the lift to reach the office level and for Teal to report that they had arrived.

It settled his tingling nerves, long enough for him to wave Roan off with a forgiving tone. “Just stick with them, Lieutenant. You and Teal both. See if you can lock them in the office.”

The brig---any brig---would have been his own preference, but Demeter didn’t have one.

Pity.

“Yes, sir.” Roan acknowledged the instruction and was gone a minute later when the elevator doors opened again to admit him.

And it was only then that Scarlet turned and went back to rejoin Blue and Grey in the communications room. He would spend a bit of time with some normal people....

“Don’t tell me.” Grey said. “They got away.” It was a statement, not a question.

Scarlet shrugged, not wanting to incriminate Roan. ‘Less than a minute of freedom. We’ll clamp down hard as soon as Doctor McLaine arrives.”

“They want to meet the jet.”

“Maybe. If they behave. If no crisis occurs.” But Scarlet couldn’t think of a truly good reason why not, and his own annoyance with the man didn’t count as one. He wasn’t that petty. “The Angels are reporting clear skies?”

An air attack seemed to him to be the only viable way for the Mysterons to break the security lock they had on Demeter. He and Blue had toured the grounds....the perimeters were all up, all functioning. The facility itself was far enough from the woods on any side to give them plenty of warning of a ground approach, whatever it’s nature. He had found no fault at all with any of Grey’s security arrangements---not that he had expected to and even though he’d been looking.

The problems all seemed to lie with the subjects of those security measures---and it didn’t matter how good Spectrum could be, if those subjects simply chose to ignore those security measures.

“The Angels,” Blue drawled slowly. “Are getting bored silly up there. Yes, the skies are still clear---though that could change any minute, let alone in an hour.”

“Well, we’ll see...it might distract them for a time. And so long as there’s no apparent danger. Still----” Scarlet let his voice trail off.

There had seemed no apparent danger in having a barbecue for dinner either.

“There was never any real trouble out of Arthur.” Blue offered. “You just can’t any information out of him, even though he hardly ever shuts up. He didn’t once cross any of the lines we set for him.”

Grey looked at Blue enviously. “I could have done with a quiet week.”

“Arthur is not ‘quiet’. But I did finally get to the point where I could tune him out. Vermilion was a big help.”

Scarlet looked to Grey. “And yours?”

“Teal and Roan have performed quite flawlessly. I’ve told them I’m happy with them, but I’m afraid Weller keeps knocking the wind out of their sails. He’s kept them humble. I’m beginning to think that it’s a part of the Mysteron plot---if Weller keeps it up, they’ll take him apart and save them all the trouble.” Grey shrugged. "Did the Colonel mention any sort of an agenda we're going to have once the jet touches down?"

Scarlet shook his head. “Radio code 7. Ochre and Magenta know more than we do about that right now. She must have said something that made the Colonel uneasy.”

Both his colleagues raised an interested brow. Code 7's weren't common.

The agenda, if there was one, would be delivered by personal debriefing. Cloudbase wasn’t outputting even an encrypted message on a scrambled frequency on the subject.

And that was enough to make Scarlet uneasy too.

Frosty. Things had gotten decidedly so in the last twelve hours.

Tylan McLaine leaned over and glanced up the short aisle of the SPJ towards the cockpit, not for the first time, probably not for the last.

It had been an express ride down to Cloudbase’s Flight Deck after the briefing with Colonel White, and a quick and apparently routine log off from the carrier. Ochre had scarcely spoken two words to her throughout, and had left Magenta to settle her into the passenger compartment of the SPJ as he’d taken himself forward and then stayed there.

For the entire flight, so far. For more than four hours of deliberate cold-shouldered silence.

Magenta had come back to check on her twice, not that there was very much to him to check. It was a boring flight - an estimated five hours from Cloudbase (somewhere over the North Atlantic) and across the Canadian North on the most direct rump line of flight, point to point, chasing the morning sun. It had been all ocean, tundra and boreal forest down there. She had amused herself naming the lands and the waters that had passed beneath the jet along the way: Labrador, Ungava, Hudson’s Bay.....there was less than half the continent left to go, now. More tundra, the lake-riddled Shield, some prairie-land and then the Rockies themselves after that.

Direct to the BC Interior, and Demeter, soon enough, meaning Andy and Arthur. That was the best part, except----

Except that Andy wasn’t going to be the least bit pleased. Arthur wasn’t going to be either.

Because she had told Colonel White the whole story. Off the record - she’d salvaged that much out of the situation, at the very least she’d managed that. Colonel White had promised that his report was going to be highly classified.

In just a few hours, it might not matter that much. There would be no evidence, not after---

Destruction and disposal, Colonel White had said, in the briefing, which was true enough. But all the work, all the effort, all the spectacular success----

All the colossal waste, she thought. Damn. The complete and utter waste of---of everything that they’d done.....

She wasn’t especially happy either. Still, there just wasn’t a lot of choice left about it.

Todd dead. Bombs in the backyard. Martians after Minerva.

Minerva had come to official attention, and destruction and disposal - at their own hands and no one else’s - had been the very most she could contrive to salvage, under the circumstances.

What she might yet be able to salvage with Captain Ochre remained to be seen. He really didn’t seem to be on speaking terms today. Damn that too. She’d have taken his tour of the dratted Base, she would have been happy to...except for the idea of the stupid electro-sleep first. She’d never expected that.

Electro-sleep which didn’t work for everyone. For reasons that Colonel White had classified and she was not keen to divulge, even if those reasons hadn’t been well above Ochre’s security clearance.

She’d see what could be saved. There was some time yet, and there that storm coming too. She would talk to Andy. She would find out if things could be delayed---or she would perhaps insist that things absolutely be delayed just long enough to ensure that none of them escaped before the weather locked Demeter down tight.

Long enough for her to get an apology delivered. Maybe even delivered with a dumbed-down and sanitized explanation about why not the electro-sleep. Classified or not.

Should’ve just said ‘yes’ to his quarters, she thought miserably. Might not get that invite again. Should’ve just admitted to the phobia, he might even have believed that since he was the one who came up with it....damn, but I was slow on that uptake, got too distracted with the Colonel and plain let that one blow right by. Since when am I that dense?

Since it had started to matter, she decided. That was when since.

Magenta made another trip back to check on her a few minutes later.

“Hey, Ted,” she greeted him. “Got a minute?”

“Only if you’d like to tell me where you got that ‘Ted’ business from,” he responded congenially, apparently just curious and not bothered by the fact she’d used the unknown reference in front of Colonel White.

“Can’t figure that one out?” She gestured him down to eye-level, and revealed it in a conspirational whisper. “I told the Colonel it’s because you’re cute like a teddy bear. He figured it out.”

Magenta did too, and every bit as quickly. He had trouble suppressing the grin that the thought provoked. “I’ll take that as a compliment, Doctor.”

“As intended, Ted.” Tylan cast her glance up towards the cockpit again. “So how long do his snits usually last?”

Magenta’s glance followed hers. “Depends on how serious the snit is.”

“And what’s this one rate? In your considered opinion?”

He shrugged. “Dunno what started it, Doc. He hasn’t said. Which means he’s upset. But I’d say this is a 7 or 8 on an upset-scale of 10.”

“Hmmm. Yeah,” she sighed. “At least.”

“That bad?”

”Maybe. But since he’s not on speaking terms, do me a favor?”

“I’m listening.”

“Tell him there’s a good reason. Tell him...” her voice faded into another frustrated sigh. “Just tell him that I’d really like to talk to him.”

His gaze went forward again. “I’m not sure that’s mutual, at the moment.”

“Is he gonna shoot the messenger?”

“No.” Magenta shook his head. “He’s got a little more class than that. But if he can’t figure it out I’ll hit him over the head and tell him it’s an olive branch.”

“Thanks, Ted. Much appreciated.”

“No charge, Doc.” Magenta straightened, giving her a wink and a thumbs up. “Yell if you need anything.”

“Always.” She returned the thumbs up as he moved away, acting the neutral courier.

And she started earnestly to review her apologies...

What passed for the communications and air traffic control center at Demeter R & D, was a long room on the second floor of the Administration building, one that had a wide bank of bowed-out floor-to-ceiling windows on the side that faced the airfield, and gave anyone looking a panoramic view of the whole airstrip, end to end across the valley. The consoles, displays and computer systems were as state-of-the-art as everything else Scarlet had seen at the facility, and most of the components would have done even Cloudbase's ever-so-picky engineering staff proud.

At the outset of the Operation, Spectrum had set up a portable Security console of its own near Demeter's main boards. Within a few paces, Scarlet had found it was possible to scan all of the relevant information displays and downloads from each system easily and conveniently. At the moment, he was studying the radar screen, watching as the patrol Angels roved the nearby skies, and both Melody and Rhapsody made their routine, negative reports on schedule.

He was expecting to hear from the SPJ and its Angel escort at any time now. Blue and Grey were outside, making one final inspection of the grounds. Roan had mostly cooled off now, and had reported all quiet from the office downstairs. Weller and Prince had indeed vanished into the Doctor's sanctum, and had caused no further known trouble since doing so. Teal had inquired once about the jet's ETA, at Weller's apparent request. And Scarlet had finally decided that he might as well allow Weller and Prince to greet Doctor McLaine when the SPJ touched down.

Because he wanted them where he could see them. All three of them.

All other personnel were presently accounted for. The Residency was empty. Such of Demeter's staff as had stayed were sequestered with Security, Demeter's and their own, just for the morning, just until the whole Minerva team was reunited and settled in. That had been his own doing; Scarlet wanted no loose ends, and no potential loose cannons. The only scattered personnel were the maintenance techs down in the geothermal plant, two of them with a Spectrum Security escort, and there wasn't much trouble they could get into at the bottom of the mine. Even so, he'd told them to be upstairs and having breakfast with the rest of the staff before the SPJ arrived. The dogs had been exercised early, and were also accounted for with the rest of the locals.

Scarlet prowled up and down the length of the windows, glancing at the clock on the wall, and finally pulled his cap mike down.

“Captain Blue, report," he requested, beginning his final checks.

"Blue, S.I.G.. Reporting security perimeter green, no anomalies."

"Grey?"

"All clear, Scarlet."

"Security one."

"Spectrum is Green, all quiet, sir." That was Taylor, Spectrum Security in charge of the staff.

He paused in his pacing to touch the internal PA controls, to activate the patch-through he’d programmed in earlier to transmit to the bottom of the mine, his cap-signal relayed over Demeter’s com system. "Security two."

"Maintenance crew, S.I.G., Captain. Estimated time to task completion, 25 minutes." And that was Sanchez, Taylor's partner, down in the thermic plant.

Scarlet resumed his pacing, stopping a minute later in front of the radar display. A message flashed in the corner, Demeter's tracking system advising of new contacts on its outer signal radius. The transponder ID's listed Spectrum positive.

"All personnel, standby, we have radar contact on incoming Spectrum aircraft. Maintain full alert." Scarlet moved for the air traffic console. "Lieutenants Teal, Roan.--" he said into his cap mike. "Please advise Doctor Weller and Mr. Prince that their colleague's ETA is approximately twenty minutes. They may report to the communications room at their discretion, under your escort. Please acknowledge."

"Spectrum is Green, Captain Scarlet." Teal replied. "Minerva One and Two are anxious to proceed. We'll be right up, sir."

“S.I.G., Teal.” Scarlet’s cap mike flipped up. He estimated about five minutes of peace before he’d have to read the riot act to Weller one more time. Across the floor, Traffic Control was exchanging routine protocol with the SPJ. Nothing unusual happening there.

And so, there were no apparent, immediate problems to deal with, except perhaps for the nearly empty coffee pot. Scarlet attended to that absently, running over all of the standard security procedures in his head - they’d gone by the book, right to the letter. Beyond that, there was enough cumulative Spectrum field experience there at Demeter to deal with pretty much anything that wasn’t covered in the procedure manual.

He heard voices out in the corridor, before the coffee was brewed.

Scarlet moved towards the radar console for one last glance at the screen. Several Spectrum ID blips were moving there in close formation, approaching Demeter on schedule. The Angels now had the SPJ in a protective ring, still reporting skies clear----

He turned from the screen as Teal and Roan escorted Weller and Prince into the room.

Andrew Weller broke that tight little cluster and strode over to the same console, his eyes scanning it, drinking in the information it presented. “Captain Scarlet.” The man nodded at him, amiable and co-operative. “You have some final instructions for us?”

“I don’t want any nonsense, Doctor.” Scarlet began, speaking plainly and without preamble. “I have decided that I am going to allow both you and Mr. Prince to meet the jet when it lands. As you have so clearly and repeatedly insisted. You will, however, be under close escort. Captains Blue and Grey will accompany you to the airfield, and you will follow any instructions that they give to you without any question or hesitation.. Those are my terms, Doctor Weller. You will either accept them or I will send you back downstairs immediately, where you can wait for Doctor McLaine in your office, under guard and in communications blackout. Am I making myself clear?”

“Perfectly, Captain. We have no ‘nonsense’ planned; our mission is a serious one, so your terms are quite acceptable. And might I inquire as to Spectrum’s proposed schedule, once Doctor McLaine has finally arrived?”

“Spectrum will debrief, Doctor. For security reasons, we are currently operating under a Spectrum Code 7 radio silence. Our colleagues in the SPJ have information regarding our agenda which they will share on arrival, and upon which we will act accordingly. I expect that to be a very short process, and we will conduct that debriefing with or without yourselves present. That decision rests with Captain Ochre. Thereafter, you and both members of your Project team will confer, and will then advise Spectrum of your conclusions and recommended actions as regards the Minerva Project. It is my intention to debrief in the level 3 conference room. Do you have any objections or suggestions otherwise, Doctor Weller?”

“You seem to have things well in hand, Captain. No objections.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Roan and Teal will escort you outside. When they have handed you off to Blue and Grey, they will then report to Level 3 and vet the conference room prior to the debriefing. All incoming personnel will be subject to a thorough security check upon disembarkation. You will attempt no contact with Doctor McLaine until that check has been completed. Understood?”

“Again, Captain, yes. Clearly. With all due courtesy.”

Scarlet inclined his head. “Then you may go, Doctor Weller. Mr. Prince.” He nodded once at Arthur Prince, acknowledging his presence and including the young inventor in his general dismissal. “Lieutenants---any questions?”

“None, sir.” Teal replied.

“No questions, Captain,” Roan echoed.

“Captains Blue and Grey will meet you at the front doors, then. You have your instructions. Dismissed, gentlemen.”

Scarlet watched as the group retreated, then pulled his cap mike down again. “Blue, Grey - Minerva personnel are headed for escort. Main entrance, Captains.”

“On our way, Scarlet.” Blue replied.

“I’ve laid down the law.” Scarlet went on. “Weller seems to be in the mood to cooperate. But remind him anyway --- any nonsense and they’re locked up again.”

“We’ll keep them in line.”

“Please do.” Scarlet let out a long breath. “Also advise you the jet’s ETA is now approximately ten minutes.”

“S.I.G..” Blue acknowledged and signed off.

With one more glance at the radar screen, Scarlet paced over toward the window, waiting until he saw Blue and Grey pull up in front of Administration in two of Demeter’s jeeps. Teal’s group turned up there just a minute later, and the Lieutenants relieved themselves of Weller and Prince. Blue began his own lecture, a short one that finished up with Weller and Prince in one jeep, and Blue and Grey in the other.

Both vehicles pulled away from the main entrance, over to the side of the airfield, where they parked together at the edge of the apron to wait for the SPJ.

Scarlet looked down at his watch. The scent of the freshly brewed coffee drew him that direction, and he poured a steaming cup of the stuff before he returned to the panoramic window and settled himself there on the wide sill with it, listening as he heard Ochre’s voice - tiny and faraway in the traffic console’s speakers - requesting final approach clearance from the controller, and receiving it. His gaze went to the northeast, to the peaks still capped with snow, over which the SPJ and its Angel escort appeared only a moment later, on the sort of rapid descent that the terrain and the airstrip in Demeter’s narrow valley demanded.

The SPJ made a routine touchdown, rolling to a halt out on the tarmac as the Angels broke formation to resume patrol. Blue and Grey’s jeep moved forward to meet it, while Weller and Prince’s vehicle stayed put, no doubt on Blue’s hard and fast instruction. The jet’s hatch opened, Magenta at the exit, and Doctor McLaine behind him. Grey had the Mysteron detector out and operational. Magenta paused for the security check, then vanished back into the jet. Doctor McLaine leapt to the pavement without waiting for Ochre, who appeared there in the hatchway next. She marched toward the jeep, and right straight on past it, exchanging some sort of comment as she did so, her posture and general attitude all typically bellicose and full of disdain - he could feel it from where he sat, and cursed inwardly.

Bloody hell, they’d just gotten Weller all settled and she was going to stir that pot again, he could see that coming too. So much for even an hour’s worth of peace out of that lot----

Scarlet closed his eyes in weary frustration as he raised his cup of coffee, and didn’t see it as his cap mike suddenly flipped down and hit the cup in the very same instant that the PA blared at full volume; he spilled the coffee in abrupt startlement, wincing as the hot liquid soaked through his trousers and he spat another curse aloud.

It was Sanchez, yelling, the man’s voice echoing inside his cap as well as all over the PA.

“Red alert! Captain – Captain, there’s been some sort of an accident! In the elevator shaft, sir - I’ve got fatalities down here, Captain!”

Scarlet froze, forgetting the spilled coffee, his mind leaping into instantaneous calculation, two plus two----

Weller and Prince alone in the lift...

Fatalities at the bottom of the elevator shaft...

Hellfire and bloody damnation!

He turned from the window, shouting himself into the already activated mike, code-words and a sequence of instructions that auto-locked the emergency channel open on all stations broadcast:

“This is a Spectrum Code One Priority Red Alert! Apprehend Weller and Prince immediately! They’re Mysterons! Repeat: apprehend Weller and Prince immediately! Blue! Grey! Move!”

And with that, Captain Scarlet himself turned and ran.....

For once, she was really feeling like Godzilla.

It had been a long wait, that last hour or so in the SPJ. Time that she’d very obviously wasted waiting for Ochre to make some small effort to come back into the passenger compartment and hear her well prepared apologies, because he had absolutely failed to do so.

She’d upset herself over that, recognized that she’d worked herself into a state and had instead made the large effort required to force her thoughts away from that same particular state and ahead to the task waiting there for her at Demeter. An exercise which had only served to push her own upset-scale well past the 10---that task being the far greater of those two upsets in any case, and the one that truly warranted her attention.

Tylan McLaine was in a foul frame of mind and it was showing too. She’d made the short leap from the jet down to the pavement, and strode purposefully away from it, not bothering to slow for Captain Ochre when he finally abandoned the SPJ’s controls to Magenta and resumed his assigned duties as her personal escort.

“You’re supposed to wait for me!” he complained irritably from the jet’s hatchway, color-coded jacket in hand, as he made that same short jump himself, without bothering to kick down the fold-out steps that might have made for a more civilized exit of passengers and crew.

She reached the vicinity of the jeep long before he did, feeling far less than civil.

“Security check negative, Doctor,” Captain Blue told her cheerfully, as she approached that vehicle and smiled back tightly at the advisement.

“Glad to hear it,” she commented, the most caustic tone she could muster. “And if it’s okay with you, I’ll just catch the other bus, thanks.” She continued to stride on past their jeep, her gaze fixed on the other one, waiting there further ahead. She deliberately snubbed Blue and Grey, they noticed, she made quite sure of that, thinking perhaps that snubbing them just might improve her mood.

It didn’t, somehow. She found, after a moment, that she was still stalking and storming angrily across the paved surface of the airfield, and it had taken her a good twenty-five yards to realize it.

Dammit.

It was Ochre who had decided to land the jet in the end, and it had been Magenta who had opened the jet’s door for her. Really. And to think, she’d been ready---oooohhh, just that close to making not just an apology of some sort, but a heartfelt and genuine one.

Well, he could just----

What? She had to ask herself irritably. Well, just what could he just do?

Damn, but I’m touchy. Too damn touchy, Zil, what else did you expect after that little display in the corridor yesterday?

She was having a hard time even feeling pleased that she was finally there, and that both Andy and Arthur were only a hundred yards ahead. She would again be comfortably ensconced in their muchly desired presence and----

And she was annoyed with them too! They were just sitting over there in their own jeep, waiting for God only knew what while she was storming their direction and only beginning to really feel the irritation about it when several things happened simultaneously.

In front of her, Arthur gunned the jeep to life suddenly, squealing the wheels and burning rubber in a completely uncharacteristic display of driving habits---

Behind her, Ochre screamed out her name, and she couldn’t help but spin in response to the urgent note that was there in his voice---in time to see that the other jeep with the two Spectrum officers in it had also leapt abruptly into motion, turning to hurtle her direction----

Tylan McLaine stopped, paralyzed where she stood, and all hell simply broke loose around her......

Captain Ochre’s heart jumped into his throat and skipped several beats the instant he heard what Scarlet had to say on the open emergency frequency. He shouted after Zil without even thinking about it----she was halfway across the tarmac and walking right to her death if what Scarlet had just said was true, and he didn’t have a single breath of a reason to doubt it.

‘Zil! Zil, get down!’ From where he stood, transfixed for an instant with horror, he could see that Andrew Weller was armed with a small handgun of some kind and was raising the weapon, ready to fire it as the car continued to close the rapidly diminishing gap between the Mysterons and their intended victim. He started to run, feet pounding ground after Blue and Grey, and, for one of the few times in his entire life, fighting down a feeling of utter panic.

Turn around! he shrieked inwardly. Dammit, Zil, turn around!

Zil still hadn’t moved, hadn’t looked behind her and still wasn’t aware that she would be shot in the back if she didn’t because she was watching the wrong jeep. Blue swung his vehicle wide, putting it between Zil and the Mysterons. Grey raised his electron gun over the windshield, bracing his arm there to make the shot count. Arthur saw it and swerved recklessly, wheeling his car around onto another course that would carry them around to their target again.

Andy opened fire with the handgun.

The windshield of Blue’s jeep shattered. Both Blue and Grey ducked to avoid the flying shrapnel and the successive bullets that continued to come their way. Then Andy scored, taking out one of the jeep’s front tires---the Spectrum jeep went into a wild skid which Blue was hard pressed to keep from turning into a uncontrolled and likely fatal flip-over. Grey held on, but loose objects were hurled from the car as Blue managed to bring the vehicle to a clumsy halt. The Mysteron detector smashed into fragments that scattered across the pavement and his colleagues both took refuge behind the crippled jeep. Blue shouted for Tylan----the wide arc that Arthur had been swinging through would bring her back into range any second now if she didn’t move----

‘Ochre! Back off----’ Magenta’s voice was yelling in his ear. ‘You’re in my way!’

Ochre checked his headlong run, jerking his gaze around to see that Magenta was bringing the nose of the SPJ to bear on the Mysteron’s car. He reversed his direction, taking himself out of the line of fire and the very instant he was clear, Magenta brought the MK-II’s strafing guns into play---

The superior weaponry ripped pavement between the Mysterons and Tylan McLaine, deflecting Arthur sharply from his course and jolting Tylan from immobility. She took two uncertain steps forward, and then she began to run toward Blue’s jeep in wide, ground devouring strides as both Blue and Grey opened up on their targets.

She’s gonna make it, he thought fiercely, mind flooding over with relief. She’s gonna---

Too late, he realized that she wasn’t running for cover.

‘No!’ She vented one long, hysterical scream and hit them from behind, dropkicking Grey decisively, and Grey fell to lay still where he landed. Blue swung around in surprise, his face a mask of wide-eyed astonishment as her boot caught him high in the ribs to knock him back against the side of the jeep with bone-cracking force.

No dust, Ochre thought suddenly, inanely. No dust on that damned equipment in the basement, she actually uses that stuff....

Blue lost breath with a loud curse and slumped, recovering limply to raise his Mysteron gun, this time putting Zil square in the sights....

‘Captain---no!’ Ochre shrieked into his mike. ‘Don’t!’

Blue hesitated.

She turned and bolted. Tires screeched and the Mysterons were in pursuit. Blue re-aimed weakly and hit the firing stud on the weapon.

The Mysteronized Arthur collapsed over the steering wheel and the car careened wildly until Andy was able to shove the lifeless body out of the way and bring the jeep under control again. Zil had gained ground, was still racing pell-mell for the cluster of hangars and storage sheds at the edge of the airfield.

‘I’m after her!’ Magenta’s voice cut in again. The taxiing SPJ turned onto a vector that would intersect the line she was running. Andy’s jeep sped to follow the fleeing figure and Ochre dropped hard onto one knee, whipping up his Mysteron gun because the car was going to pass inside the weapon’s effective radius.

He counted, gauging the distance, the time---his finger closed over the firing button----

Blue-white energy cracked the cool spring air and the being that had once been Andrew Weller cried out and slumped as Arthur had done. But the jeep----

The jeep just kept right on rolling out of control towards Magenta’s jet!

Zil had just passed the SPJ, ducking instinctively to avoid the nose of the craft because Magenta had been that close to cutting off her route of escape. She stumbled, picked herself up and kept going. Ochre went cold all over----there wasn’t going to be time for----

‘Magenta!’ he screamed. ‘Pat! Get outta there!’

There would be no avoiding the collision.

Magenta must have seen it coming even as the warning registered on the open channel. Ochre could see in his mind’s eye how hard Magenta’s hand would have hit the ejector switch---

Ochre’s gaze jerked up, following the ejector seat as it cleared the doomed aircraft; he missed it as the jeep slammed into the side of the jet and the two vehicles erupted in a massive explosion that sent him sprawling to the asphalt only a fractional second later as the shockwave of heated air swept in expanding radius outwards from the blazing wreckage. The first explosion was followed at once by a second as the SPJ’s reserve fuel tanks went up.

Captain Ochre shook his head once to clear it, and then clambered slowly to his feet.

Zil---

Zil!

Where was Tylan McLaine!?

He could see nothing beyond the billowing clouds of dense, black smoke pouring heavily from the wreckage, obscuring everything where last he’d seen her running. He felt the irrational panic again, rising to become a thick lump in his throat.

He swallowed against it. ‘Magenta? Magenta---where was she?’ he asked, sounding a good deal calmer than he felt inside. ‘Where was Doctor McLaine?’ He forced the question out.

‘She’s all right!’ Magenta reported. ‘She’s okay---she was down, same as you, but she’s up again now. She’s still running for the hangars!’

‘What the hell for?’ Ochre wondered aloud, glancing up briefly to watch as Magenta’s ejector seat drifted downwind on it’s chute. Another wave of relief washed over him, but it was overwhelmed instantly by a hot flush of anger.

Goddammit---what does she think she’s doing?

‘Blue? What’s your situation over there?’

Captain Blue was in obvious pain as he responded. ‘I’ve got something broken---Grey’s out cold, but his pulse and breathing is strong enough. Go get her Ochre---before we lose her too.’

Scarlet’s voice cut in at last. ‘Get going, Captain---we’ll clean up here. Magenta---keep tabs on her while you can.’

‘S.I.G. Scarlet. Ochre---you’d better move...looks to me like she’s taking to the hills---she’s just bypassed the hangars. If she hits the bush I won’t be able to say where she’s going.’

Ochre heaved a determined sigh and began to move. ‘Don’t worry,’ he began, not even trying to disguise the sour note in his voice. ‘I’ll get her. If it takes me all day, I’ll get her!’ Magenta gave him the proper bearings, and he set himself to a pace he’d be able to maintain long enough to catch up with Zil McLaine.

Before the Mysterons did.