AN INTRODUCTION TO
LOVING THE ALIEN
Just to
remind you that all credit must go to Mary Rudy for this, as she had the
original idea and wrote Moonlight Rhapsody. I merely adapted the idea in Loving
the Alien to suit my characterisation and imagination. (Pam Brown)
by
PAM BROWN
Captain Scarlet sank with a tired groan
into his favourite seat. It was situated in the Garden Room, part of the huge
Promenade Deck on Cloudbase. It was
dark but he could not be bothered to turn on the lights. The Mysterons had been
busy lately, and his body was so tired that he ached with exhaustion, but his
mind refused to let him sleep. He'd finally given up trying, got up, showered,
dressed and come down from his quarters to see if the peace of the garden could help him clear his
head.
The damp, green scent of the room
enveloped him as he gazed without looking onto the most spectacular view.
Endless night sky, deep penetrating black, studded with icy chips of stars. The
Moon rolled ponderously across the heavens looking down on the most unique man
in the world.
Captain Scarlet was dead. His body had
been found along with Captain Brown's at the scene of a car crash created by the
Mysterons. They had recreated both men and controlled them. Brown had been
killed again. but due to a twist of
fate, Scarlet had regained control over his mind; his body had retained the
ability to retrometabolise, to be virtually Indestructible.
Who was the lucky one? Scarlet reflected. What, or who, was he? He had, with much expert help, more or less come to terms with his strange abilities, but how did others see him? More importantly how did Rhapsody see him? Could he, should he dare to inflict himself and his uncertain future on her life? He was aware that Rhapsody, Spectrum's fiery English Angel admired him greatly, but was that enough? He had steered well clear of any emotional entanglements since Nikki. He always enjoyed Rhapsody's company, but pushed any other feelings firmly away, declaring vehemently to any other Cloudbaser who made allusions to him and Rhapsody pairing off that he was not interested, thank you. This was not true. Confusion reigned. What to do? What would Colonel White say? He disapproved, but generally turned a blind eye to his staff s romantic leanings as long as their work remained professional.
Aside from a dark, brooding temper,
Scarlet's emotions had nearly always been kept firmly in control, part of his success as a highly professional soldier. Captain Blue was
Scarlet's closest confidant and sometimes he felt as though he hardly knew
Scarlet at all. Perhaps Blue could help? Scarlet mused; actually Scarlet knew
that the sunny American would tell him to go for it ‑ that was his general motto
in life.
Thoughts whirling, Scarlet sank even
further into his chair; was he going to live forever, a devastatingly lonely
life, endlessly stretching on?
Would he die soon, the apparently human
side of him worn out with the endless re-creation? What right did he have to ask
someone to deal with that? And there was no chance
of
children; that was the one thing that the medical powers at Spectrum had
finally managed to agree on, the danger of the unknown effects of an alien
pregnancy being too great. That was the major problem, the unknown; he was a
freak, an enigma, an alien, the loneliest man in the world.
Closing his eyes, he viewed the utter
blackness of his mind; lucky sky to have the Moon and stars to light the way...
He heard a faint noise.
Opening his eyes Scarlet gave a mental
moan of despair; why her? Why now? Unaware
of her audience, Rhapsody wandered across to the massive windows and looked out;
then with a deep sigh she slumped down onto the window scat, dropping her helmet
with a careless crash, and proceeded to unbraid her famous red hair, combing it
thoughtfully with her fingers. Then, resting her face in her hands she continued gazing at the night sky.
It took Scarlet a moment to realise that
she was silently crying. Now what? Like most males he was helpless when it came
to female tears. Doubting he might have been; faint hearted he was not. With the
feeling that he was making a serious error he stood up.
Rhapsody leapt up thoroughly startled
and then shocked when she realised who it was.
“You idiot! What are you doing,
going around scaring people half to death!” she yelled.
Scarlet silently held out his
handkerchief. She snatched it, furious because he'd startled her, embarrassed
because he'd caught her crying and frustrated because it would have to be him
that was there and she couldn't tell him why. So she carried on yelling until
her temper fled and she gurgled with laughter instead. Scarlet never ceased to
be amazed at her rapid changes of mood. He stared at her.
“Where is your shirt?” she remonstrated.
“What? Oh!” He pointed to the floor near
to where he had been sitting. “I'm not on duty yet.”
“If anyone else comes in it will ruin
your reputation you know. The Great Captain Scarlet! Spying on Angels whilst
half-dressed.” She scrubbed at her face and then held out the remnant of his
hanky.
Scarlet took it and asked, “Why do you
so rarely call me Paul?”
Thoughtfully Rhapsody sat back down.
This was dangerous ground, especially not knowing what mood he was in.
“I guess,” she said slowly, “because you
rarely see yourself as Paul Metcalfe anymore. Since the ‑ em ‑ accident you only
seem to see yourself as the re‑created indestructible Captain Scarlet.” She
waved her hands with a flourish.
Then with her usual impetuousness, she
went on. Warming to her theme she stood tip as Captain Scarlet sat down.
“Honestly! You swoop about Cloudbase with this imaginary cloak of darkness about you. you won't
let anyone in, or close to you well, apart from Nikki.” She noticed his warning
frown. She ignored it. Destiny had been telling her for months to tell him how
she felt. “Why won't you let your friends help, talk to us, let us be there for
you. You never ask us what we think; you make yourself lonely. Do you think that
we don't care or try to understand? I don't suppose anyone can really comprehend
what you have been through, what it has done to you, but we could try. Are you
dead? Are you alive? Are you human or alien? Will you live forever? Will you die
tomorrow? We cannot take your place, but maybe we can make you feel ‑ well, less
lonely, less cut‑off.”
Catching sight of her reflection storming about in front of him, Rhapsody ran out of steam. She sat down next to him.
“Remind me never to ask you a question
again.” Scarlet sounded annoyed. Defiantly Rhapsody kept her head up. staring at
him, waiting for the storm to break. She realised she couldn't read the
expression in his eyes. Scarlet put his hand under her chin, tilted her head
back a little and gazed at her thoughtfully.
“I suppose by 'we' you mean yourself?”
“Yes. Look, we do a difficult job. You
seem to think that you are fighting the Mysterons on your own. You are not; it's
a team effort. I don't suppose anyone would dispute the fact that you are Team
Captain, but have you ever thought of having a vice captain,' she grinned,
'someone to share the horrors with. And I don't mean Captain Blue either,” she
added hastily.
“Do you really have any idea‑ “ he
began.
“Are you always going to sound this
pompous?” Rhapsody interrupted with a wicked gleam in her eyes.
“Are you always going to look so
innocent when you are being so devious?” he countered.
“Paul, why don't you just kiss me and
we'll go from there.” He leant forward obligingly, and the door opened. Rhapsody
buried her face in his chest with an embarrassed groan of horror.
“Captain Scarlet, if you see Rhapsody
Angel could you remind her that I am waiting for her latest duty report.”
“Yes Sir.”
“Thank you.” Colonel White turned on his
heel and left. He tactfully pretended not to hear Rhapsody's wail of
embarrassment, suddenly silenced. Scarlet never missed twice.
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