A “Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons” story
by Scarlet Lady
"Come ON England!"
Captain Scarlet stared intently at the TV screen.
Doctor Fawn, seated
next to him, scoffed. "I don't see
WHY you want to watch this," he remarked. "That team your lot are playing
against are champions!"
"England can beat
Australia EASILY, when given a fair fight!" Scarlet retorted.
"What does that
mean?"
"All the bad luck and
far worse decisions! Is that how you Aussies win, buying out the umpires?"
"You can't mean that!
Captain Scarlet, I didn't know you were such a sore loser!"
"England have NOT
lost yet!"
Captain Blue entered
the Officers' Lounge. He grinned at
Scarlet and Fawn, who were still giving each other’s a piece of their minds. "I never knew cricket was so much fun,"
he commented, joining the two men.
"YES!" Fawn shouted,
as an Australian fielder caught the flying cricket ball, then, "NO!" as he
overstepped the boundary rope.
"Six!" Scarlet
crowed. "Nice one!"
"I don't get it,"
Blue frowned at Scarlet, puzzled.
"If a batsman hits
the ball, and it's caught before it touches the ground, that's out. If the ball rolls over the boundary
rope, the batting team score four runs.
When the ball travels OVER the rope without touching the ground-"
"That's six points."
Blue nodded. "I see. Maybe you can
teach me to understand and enjoy the game - be better than putting up with Fawn,
eh?"
Scarlet and Fawn both
laughed at the remark.
A slight noise came
from the speakers. Scarlet thought
he heard something and looked up, but as nothing more came from them he returned
his attention to the game. Then
came that dreaded voice,
"THIS IS THE VOICE OF THE
MYSTERONS," "WE KNOW THAT YOU CAN HEAR US, EARTHMEN. WE INTEND TO TEAR SPECTRUM APART FROM
WITHIN. SPECTRUM WILL BE NO MORE."
Blue sighed, "Here we
go again. Ah well, it's better than cricket, I guess." Scarlet shot him a quick
glance. "I was kidding!"
"If you really enjoy
living, watch what you say, Captain."
Fawn chuckled. "You're only annoyed, because you can't
see the rest of the match. Tell you
what, I'll keep you informed during the game.
Fair?"
"Just don't tease me,
I'll be working, remember."
***
"Attention all
Cloudbase personnel," Lieutenant Green's voice called over the speakers. "We are
now on yellow alert. Captains
Scarlet, Blue, Grey and Magenta, report to Control immediately."
Captains Scarlet and
Blue started toward the door, when Doctor Fawn called out, "Hang on a minute,
Captain Scarlet. What do you make
of this?"
Blue turned to him
"Paul, Colonel White's waiting for us."
"Just tell him I'm
with Doctor Fawn."
"He'll think there's
something wrong."
"At least he won't
shout at me for turning up late.
Now get moving, I'll join you in the control room."
Blue sighed, "So you
want me to lie for you?"
"No. I AM with Doctor Fawn.
Go on, I'll be with you in a minute."
Blue sighed, turned
on his heel, and left the lounge, shaking his head.
Scarlet sat
next to the Doctor and stared at the TV screen.
"What did you want me to look at?"
Colonel White was
losing his patience. Grey and
Magenta had turned up, but Blue and Scarlet were taking their time. "Lieutenant, call them again, will you?"
No sooner had the
words left his lips, than Blue entered.
"Sorry I'm late, sir... I was with Captain Scarlet."
"Well YOU are here,
now. Where's Scarlet?"
"With Doctor Fawn."
"Nothing wrong, is
there?" the angry tone to Colonel White's voice had been replaced by a concerned
one.
"That's what he's
finding out, I think sir." Blue was feeling very uneasy. Paul's going to have to make this one up to me, he
decided.
"Sit down, Captain
Blue. If Captain Scarlet is busy in the
Sickbay, we'll continue without him."
Blue took a seat next
to Magenta, and Colonel White began.
"Now, the latest Mysteron threat."
"This isn't the first
time Spectrum has been directly threatened, Colonel," Blue commented. "They've
tried destroying Cloudbase, killing YOU off, stopping Spectrum operating by
getting rid of our oil supplies..."
Magenta nodded.
"Yeah. They even tried killing off Captain
Scarlet!"
"Well, doesn't it
make you wonder what they can have in mind this time?" Captain Blue asked. "I
mean, surely they've tried everything already, sir?"
"They wouldn't make a
threat, if they didn't already have an idea of how to carry it out," White
remarked. "One thing we've learned in this war of nerves is that the Mysterons
never make hollow threats."
"So where do we
start, sir?" Grey asked. "Surely they won't try the same thing twice, so what
can their target be?"
"There are lots of
ways to skin a cat. We'll start by
looking at the various ways the Mysterons can directly threaten Spectrum."
Captain Scarlet
entered just in time to hear these words.
He came to attention before his commanding officer.
"You are late."
Colonel White glared at him.
"I'm sorry, sir, I-"
"You were in the
Sickbay with Doctor Fawn, I hear," Colonel White stated calmly. "You ARE
alright, aren't you?"
"Fine, sir. It was just a test." Scarlet looked a
little uneasy.
"Did you hear the
latest threat?" Colonel White asked, gesturing him to sit down.
"Yes. The Mysterons want to destroy Spectrum
from within." Scarlet took a seat. "I was thinking that perhaps they'll try
breaking us down. I can't help
thinking of what happened when Captain Ochre turned against me, sir. Would they try to create some mistrust
in the organisation?"
"As they have before,
when they told us we had a spy in our midst," Blue remarked.
"That's a thought."
Colonel White looked a little more concerned.
"Breaking Spectrum down by putting doubt between us... that would cause
tremendous problems."
"Yes, Colonel."
***
Their assignment took
Captains Scarlet and Blue to Spectrum Headquarters, London. Captain Magenta made for Koala Base, and Grey headed for
Spectrum New York.
Captain Magenta had
little trouble upon arrival.
Everyone was very helpful, and he got to work quickly.
First, he took a look at the security - it was working perfectly. "This is going to be an easy mission!"
he commented brightly.
Captains Scarlet and
Blue were having worse luck. The
moment they arrived, the guards, obviously some new guys, told them that to
enter, everyone had to be checked with a Mysteron detector.
"There's no need for that," Captain Blue began calmly, "Just call Colonel
White.
He-"
"What's the matter,
Captain Blue? Got something to hide?"
"No."
"In that case you
have nothing to worry about, do you?"
First, they used the
detector on Blue. "Right, Captain,
you're clean. You can go on in, if
you want."
"I'll wait for my
partner, if that's OK. But don't
bother using the detector on him-"
"You can stay, but
don't tell me how to do my job."
Using the detector on Captain Scarlet was a different matter. One of the men grabbed the Mysteron rifle, pointing it
directly at Scarlet. Captain Blue
shoved his partner out of the way.
"Hey, wait a minute! Captain Scarlet isn't a Mysteron!"
"Why does the
detector say he is, then?"
"Look, if you give me
the time, I'll explain. You’re new, so you don’t know-"
"Fine. But Scarlet is going to stay where we
can keep an eye on him. I don't
like having Mysterons running about the place, and until proven otherwise that's
exactly what he's to be considered."
After a very long
talk, Captain Blue finally persuaded the guards.
Captain Scarlet was permitted to leave the small room, in which he had
been imprisoned. "Enjoy it?"
Captain Blue asked, trying not to laugh at his ruffled partner.
"What do YOU think?"
"What's the plan of
action, Captain?"
"Find any ways the
Mysterons can destroy our organisation from within, and stop them."
"How do we do that?
What are we looking for?"
"All our weaknesses. You can be sure that if there is ONE,
the Mysterons will find and use it."
"Where do we start?"
"Security."
"Do you still think
they want to divide the members of Spectrum?"
"It's a possibility. Let's face it, confusion is our worst
enemy. Let that take over and goodness knows what could happen!"
"Yeah, but how can
they split us up?"
"I don't know,
alright? It's a possibility, I didn't say it was definite."
"Right, shall we get
on?"
"SIG, Captain Blue."
"SIG, partner."
***
Captain Onyx met
Scarlet and Blue in the staff lounge area.
His manner was polite toward them, yet there was something in it that made both
Captains Scarlet and Blue a little uneasy.
"Here to make sure I'm doing a good job, are you?" he chuckled. He had
been informed of the incident at the door by one of his men. Now, as he was
looking mischievously at Scarlet, it was pretty obvious to Blue that he already
KNEW about his unique condition. Must have been trying to impress us, the
American captain thought.
"Don't worry, I have
everything under control!"
"Famous last words,
Onyx," Scarlet remarked, dryly. "The Mysterons want you to THINK nothing can
possibly go wrong, it makes it easier to pounce!"
"So, you don't think
what I've done to prepare for these aliens is good enough, Captain Scarlet?"
"I didn't say that-"
"Mysterons plan
everything," Blue explained. "If someone gets overconfident, they can put that
to their advantage."
"Oh, so I'm
overconfident, am I?"
"NO!" Scarlet and
Blue almost shouted at him.
"I'm - WE'RE just
saying you can never be too careful," Captain Blue explained, calmly.
"The slightest
mistake and the Mysterons are in!" Scarlet added.
"WHY DO YOU THINK I
SET UP THAT DETECTOR SQUAD OUTSIDE?" Onyx demanded, taking both Scarlet and Blue
by surprise.
"As I said earlier,
it's a good idea," Scarlet told him, evenly. "But while a suspect is being
questioned, does the whole... 'squad' have to guard him? That means the door is
unguarded, if only for a small amount of time-"
"There WAS someone on
guard out there when you and Blue were brought in.
What are you talking about?"
"Sorry, Captain, I
thought they all came in with us," Scarlet said quietly. "My mistake."
"Can we take a look
at your security, Captain Onyx?" Blue cut in. "We should make sure everything's
in order."
Onyx didn't look very
happy about this. Scarlet added,
"We can leave you in peace, once we're satisfied."
"Good. Let's get cracking, then."
***
Captain Onyx took
Scarlet and Blue to a room full of various computers - the heart of security. "This is what you wanted to see, Captain
Scarlet?"
"Yes. Thank you for your cooperation, Captain.
We won't take long."
"Good. You don't mind if I stay, do you?"
"No." Blue smiled at
Onyx. "You're welcome to stay, if you want."
"Right. If you have any questions, feel free to
fire away."
Scarlet turned to
Blue, rolling his eyes. Blue masked
his amusement and began going through the programmes.
"Think we should've brought Lieutenant Green with us?"
"I was thinking it,
actually," Scarlet replied quietly. "When I saw the amount of machines we had to
go through."
"Oh, come here." Onyx
shouldered between them. "Now, what are you trying to do?"
Back on Cloudbase,
everything seemed normal. It was
hard to believe that there was a Mysteron threat.
There had been no reports, no problems, in fact nothing at all peculiar. Perhaps this was why Colonel White felt
so uneasy. He frowned. "Not a word
from Captains Scarlet and Blue."
Lieutenant Green
turned from working at his computer. "Sir?"
"Nothing, Lieutenant,
I was just thinking aloud-" A red light blinked on his desk. The Colonel
motioned to Green that he wanted to take the call, pressing a button next to the
light. "Go ahead, Captain Scarlet."
"Colonel, I'm calling
to report that we are getting on fine.
We've just met Captain Onyx, and he is going through the machinery with
us."
"Good… Wait a minute,
what do you mean ‘just’?"
"We had a slight
delay, due a squad of new men with a Mysteron detector outside. Blue managed to solve the problem, though."
"I'm glad to hear it. Please contact me if something comes
up."
"S.I.G."
Lieutenant Green
turned to Colonel White. "Sir, can
I go down and help?"
"Now don't start that
again! I need you here. Should
something come up I will send you - IF that is what is required.
Right now, however, you are needed right where you are."
"Yes, Colonel."
The Colonel sighed
and got up. "The problem with this type of threat is
that they have told us WHAT they want to do, but not HOW. How on Earth can we cover every
possibility?"
Lieutenant Green
smiled slightly. "You can send out more men-"
"Don't even think
it!"
***
"This is BORING!"
Symphony Angel grumbled, pacing restlessly in the Amber Room.
"Why can't we get some excitement?"
"We will," Rhapsody
answered. "As soon as things start happening. The Mysterons haven't made a move, yet."
"Well, I wish they'd
hurry it up, so we can get some action."
"I agree," Destiny
piped up. "When we're in action, it's not as bad - but I detest waiting around
here!"
"Just remember who
might be listening to you!" Rhapsody said quietly. "The Mysterons have
threatened US remember-"
"You worry too much,
girl!" Symphony laughed, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I just want
to know why you're so anxious to get some action in - especially when we don't
know what this threat could mean."
"Like what?" Destiny
and Symphony were both staring at her now, wondering what could possibly be on
her mind.
"Well think about it,
would you?" Rhapsody almost exploded. "Who's to say we won't end up shooting
down one of our own members - let
me rephrase that - someone who USED to be one of our own members again?"
"So THAT'S it!"
Symphony exclaimed. "But why is that worrying you? Whatever the situation,
Mysterons could decide to take a Spectrum member over."
"Oui!" Destiny
agreed, "They've used our members LOTS of times."
Rhapsody sighed,
uneasily, "I don't know if THAT'S why I'm worried, I've... got a feeling about
this one."
"I've got a very bad
feeling about this one, Adam," Captain Scarlet whispered to Blue, nodding in the direction of Captain Onyx, "I
think we aught to watch him."
"Is that coming from
YOU or that detector of yours?"
"Me. I can't feel any Mysterons yet."
"No news is good
news."
"Not with THEM, Ad -
Captain Blue."
Onyx came over. "What
do you think this is - TEA BREAK?"
"No," Captain Scarlet
replied, keeping his voice as levelled as he could."We're just discussing the
Mysteron threat-"
At the word
'Mysteron' a computer suddenly shut itself off.
"Scarlet, you
stupid-"
"Don't you speak to
ME like that!" All around the three men, computer systems were now crashing.
"I can speak to you
like that if I want! What've you done to these computers? Do you realise how
much these babies cost?"
"What do you THINK
I've done?"
Onyx merely glared at
him by way of answer.
"NOTHING!” Scarlet
continued.
“What makes you think I'd sabotage the property of my own
organisation?"
This set an alarm
off, somewhere deep inside Onyx. Ever since he had met with Scarlet earlier, he
had showed weary of him. "YOUR organisation?"
"Yes!"
Onyx snatched his
gun, aiming it at Scarlet's head.
"If you ARE loyal to Spectrum - PROVE IT!"
Captain Blue stared
at the maddened idiot. "Captain
Scarlet HAS, Onyx," he told him quietly, "COUNTLESS times! I'd trust him with my
life. Scarlet's my best friend as well as my partner. He'd NEVER let Spectrum down!"
Onyx glanced at him.
"You REALLY trust him that much?"
"AND more."
"OK." With that, the
gun was put away.
Scarlet waited until
the fool was out of earshot, then turned to Blue.
"Nutter," he hissed. "That man is completely MAD! How did he get to be chosen
for Spectrum?"
"Maybe... he's having
a bad day, or something?"
"Then he shouldn't be
at work."
"Come on, you've
worked when you shouldn't have!"
"That's different -
you know that."
Blue cleared his
throat, then turned to watch the 'nutter’ who was now
looking at the inside
of one of the computers. "Er,
Captain...” Blue told him cautiously, “shouldn't you check the mains before
poking around in there? If something were to go wrong-"
"Quiet! I know what
I'm doing."
Scarlet rolled his
eyes, "Of COURSE you do!"
***
Captain Scarlet
checked on the main cables, while Captains Blue and Onyx tried to work out what
could possibly have gone wrong with the computers.
"Well, I still say it has nothing
to do with the
outside cables," Onyx told Blue. "Wouldn't ALL the computers have gone off at
the same time?"
"That's why I didn't
want you poking around inside that thing before the power was checked out."
"Why did you send
Scarlet, Blue? That man should be watched carefully!"
"Because I wouldn't
dare leave him alone with you."
"So you think he's
dangerous?"
‘To risk leaving with
you, certainly,
Blue
thought. But he’s not as dangerous as YOU are. He kept his feelings to
himself, merely saying, "He's not that good with computers, he'd probably make
the problem worse."
"But would it be
accidental?"
Captain Blue was
overtired of these comments. He
glared icily at Onyx. "I already told you I trust Captain Scarlet. Why should I doubt him? Because some idiot who doesn't even
know him thinks he knows better? I-"
"Is THAT what you
think of me?
I’m an idiot?"
"Sorry, Onyx, I'm
just... a little tired of all these accusations.
Captain Scarlet is my best friend - Don't you think I know him?"
"I'll stop for now,
if you want. But rule number one in
a job like this is NEVER TRUST ANYBODY."
"So why do you trust
me?"
"I'm a good judge of
character."
Captain Scarlet
entered just in time to hear that last remark.
He glared at Onyx for a moment, then turned to Captain Blue. "Problem solved."
"You sure took your
time! What happened?"
"Well, there was no
damage done to the cables - I checked them all.
In fact, the problem must have started with the first computer that
crashed. Somehow, that blew a fuse
and set off the others. I've fixed
it and cut the power, there should be no further problems."
"You cut the power?"
Onyx stared at him. "Why did you do that?"
"Because you wanted
to look inside those blasted machines, remember?"
"I'm warning you,
Scarlet, don't use that tone on me-"
"Why not? You use a
very similar tone on ME."
"Watch it, don't make
me lose your temper-"
Blue stood between
them, quickly. "Hey, what's the
matter with you two? Remind me, are we meant to be fighting ourselves - or
Mysterons?"
Captain Scarlet
looked at his feet. "Sorry, Captain
Blue." He paused, glancing at Onyx, "I'm sorry, Onyx-"
"That's OK, I guess."
Captain Blue cleared
his throat, staring pointedly at Onyx.
"I'm sorry too."
"That's better."
Captain Blue smiled at them both, doing his best to hide the feeling that he was
trying to baby-sit two naughty boys.
"Now, maybe we can do our jobs without any more trouble-"
"You won't get any
hassle from me," Scarlet assured his partner.
"Me neither," Onyx
added quickly.
***
Captain Scarlet
opened the computer that had been causing the problem.
He groaned inwardly as Onyx came and stood directly behind him, peering over his
shoulder.
"What are
you doing?" Onyx asked him.
"Trying to find the
source of the problem. Captain, can
you move, please? You're making me nervous-"
"Got something to
hide?"
"Should I?"
"You tell me."
"Will you give it a
rest?"
Scarlet switched on
the small but powerful torch at his side, and took a quick look.
"Captain Blue said
that you're not very good with computers."
"Really?"
Scarlet wasn't really paying Onyx any attention.
The computer was big, and the circuits fiddly.
Suddenly he noticed a small box near the back of the machine. "What's that?" As he touched it, a sharp
feeling shot through his hand and arm.
He jumped back flinching with pain and shock "Yaaahhh!"
Onyx watched with
silent amusement, which quickly turned to concern when Blue rushed in. "Are you OK, Captain Scarlet?"
"No." Scarlet looked
down at his hand and winced, "That computer is booby-trapped."
"Great!" Blue
muttered, looking carefully at his friends arm.
"You're out of action, and the computers have been Mysteronised!"
"You got one out of two right - the computer probably
WAS tampered with, by Mysterons, but I'm not out of action."
Onyx stared at
Scarlet. What did it take to get him out of the
picture?
"At least let me take
care of that hand," Blue was saying.
"I'll take care of
Scarlet," Onyx offered, quickly. "We need to get this together - right,
Scarlet?"
"You mean you want to
make up for jarring me."
"Put it that
way, if you like."
***
As Onyx was busy
tending to Scarlet, in the small room adjoining the large computer suite, one of
the technicians entered and began work on a computer. Captain Blue offered him help, but the man merely shook his
head.
Through the open
door, Scarlet watched him for a moment, then turned to
Captain Onyx. "Who is that?"
"Robert Johnson, one
of our top computer experts - not as good as me, of course."
Scarlet turned away,
rolling his eyes. As he did so, his
head began to ache. Onyx saw the
look on his pale features and, at last was, concerned.
"You alright?"
"N-yes... Yes, I'm
fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"You know, I heard
that Mysterons can't get sick."
"Did you?" Scarlet
almost gasped at him.
"Guess that means
you're human after all."
"To tell you the
truth, Onyx, I AM human, my body is another-" Scarlet stopped abruptly.
"What's the matter?
Captain Scarlet? Hey,
Scarlet!"
Captain Scarlet was
staring at the computer expert.
"This headache, Onyx, is my detector going off."
"Sorry?"
"Did you bring that
detector in with you?"
"Yep!"
"Try taking a shot of
that guy, will you?"
"Anything you say..."
Onyx pointed the detector at Johnson, taking a quick shot. He and Scarlet scrutinised it carefully.
"Mysteron," they stated, almost in unison.
Captain Scarlet
rushed into the computer room.
"Adam, evacuate the building, NOW!"
Blue didn't ask his
partner what it was all about. He
grabbed Onyx' hand and charged out the nearest exit.
***
Scarlet
rolled on the floor with Johnson.
The technician had a small piece of electricity cable in his hands and was
desperately trying to strangle his opponent with it.
Scarlet hit his head
against something, which made him dizzy.
I MUSTN'T black out, he told himself, pulling his gun from its holster, but
Johnson threw it aside. "Why... not
give... up?" Scarlet panted.
The Mysteron laughed
at him. "Sorry, Earthman! We aim to stop
Spectrum, this time! If some of your top bases - excluding Cloudbase - are
knocked out, Spectrum will be legless."
Scarlet glared at
him. "I think 'IF' is the key word, there."
He suffered a strong
kick to his stomach for that. "SHUT
IT, Mr. Wise Guy!"
Scarlet continued
rolling with him, hoping the man would make some kind of mistake. When he saw that they were close to the computer that Onyx
had left open, he deliberately made for it.
Before Johnson had any idea of what was happening, Scarlet threw him into
the opening. As the technician was
struggling to free himself, Scarlet ran to the main switch and turned the power
on - full. Sparks began flying from
the machines, and Scarlet realised to his horror that they were about to
overload. He tried turning off the switch, but it
was jammed.
He bolted from the room,
running as fast as he could through the corridor.
Hearing an explosion behind him, he ran all the faster.
As soon as he dared glance behind him, he turned, only to see a huge ball of
fire coming at him at great speed.
He came to a fire exit and leaped at it.
He hit the tarmac outside with a sickening thud.
Blue ran to his
partner's side. "Are you alright,
Captain?"
Onyx waited quietly. For a moment, it looked as though
Scarlet would not get up again, but he saw him lift his head slightly. Breathing a sigh of relief, Blue helped
him up. Onyx joined the two men. "Scarlet, I - I'm sorry I didn't
help..."
"Don't worry about
it." Scarlet winced, holding his stomach, "I... need to sit down...."
Onyx and Blue helped
him gently. The three men watched
the building go up. "Captain Blue,"
Scarlet said, suddenly, "call Cloudbase. The Mysterons aim to leave Spectrum
legless, by destroying some of our top bases!"
Onyx whistled, "They
sure mean business!"
"Yes." Scarlet
answered, curtly. He looked
completely drained.
"Right, I'll call
Cloudbase." Captain Blue told him, "THEN I'll take you back."
"But-"
"No, I mean it. You look terrible."
"Alright." Scarlet
sighed, then grinned, suddenly as he thought of something, "I wonder if the
Cricket is still on...."
Onyx and Blue
exchanged glances, then started to laugh.
Back on Cloudbase,
things were STILL going slowly. In
the Amber Room, the Angels had given up on complaining of boredom - there was no
point to it. Destiny was now in
Angel One, and Rhapsody and Symphony were reading.
Symphony sighed, closing her book.
"That is a great novel!"
Rhapsody looked up at
her, "Did you read that in ONE day?"
"That's right."
"Well, Time is
getting by QUICKLY, isn’t it?”
The loudspeaker above
them came to life before Symphony could answer.
"Angels Two and Three, immediate launch."
"FINALLY a bit of
action!" Symphony commented, throwing the book away.
The
elevating seats took the two Angel pilots to their planes.
***
At Koala Base,
Captain Magenta had been working busily
at the main computer, and hardly even glanced up when someone
came to stand behind him. "What are
YOU doing here, Earthman?"
Magenta turned to see
Captain Black standing there. He
tried to stay calm, but Black could see fear in his eyes.
The Mysteron chuckled slightly, pulling out a gun. Magenta had to think fast. He shoved Black as hard as he could in
the legs, and dived for cover as his enemy toppled, firing his gun at the
ceiling.
Magenta hid behind
the first thing he came to.
Black searched for
Magenta, but there was no sign. The
Captain waited until Black was occupied, then ran to another, better hiding
place - one of which had already been checked.
Black shot another glance around the room - then spotted an open cupboard door.
"COWARD!" Knowing
better than to stick his head in there, The Mysteron agent slammed the door and
locked it. "I'd like to see you
stop me NOW, Earthman!" Black sneered.
Magenta waited,
watching carefully from his hiding place.
He pressed his tracker hard.
Good job I didn't choose to hide in THERE, he told himself, looking at the
bolted door.
"Angel Leader, this
is Colonel White."
Destiny answered the
call. "Angel Leader here."
"Destiny, I would
like you to make for Koala Base. It
seems the Mysterons have been making work difficult for Captain Magenta."
"S.I.G."
The Angels made for
Australia. Destiny wondered what the Mysterons
could POSSIBLY do to Magenta - the knowledge that they were capable of plenty
sent a shiver down her spine.
Black was programming
something into the main computer system,
when a crowd of people rushed into the
room. "What the..?" Black turned. A large group of Spectrum members had
gathered around
him. All of
them were armed with Mysteron rifles.
"You ALMOST got me, this time!" Black's statement confused the men before
him. Surely, they HAD him?
The most wanted traitor known to Spectrum vanished, by way of giving his
explanation.
Magenta came out of
hiding, "He had me in a corner," he explained, sheepishly. "I thought I'd be of
more use watching what he did so I can UNDO it."
"You know what he
did, Captain?"
"I know what he was
GOING to do. He didn't get very
far."
"So you can deal with
it?"
"Yes. It shouldn't take too long." He stopped,
remembering the tracker.
"I'd better call Cloudbase and tell them I'm OK."
"Destiny Angel,”
Colonel White called out, “make for New York.
I can't contact Captain Grey."
"But sir, what about
Captain Magenta?"
"Magenta is fine, a
few of the base's members helped him.
He's repairing the damage Black caused."
"S.I.G." Destiny
sighed, cutting communication. "Well, THIS had better not be a wild goose
chase!"
***
Captain Grey stared
angrily at the two Mysterons before him.
He opened his mouth to speak, but one of the aliens cut him off, "If you're
going to say something BORING," -he paused, 'boring' was emphasised with a roll
of his eyes- "don't bother. We
Mysterons hear that we'll 'never get away with this' SO many times from Spectrum
officers."
"I wasn't going to
say anything boring."
"OH, what do you want
to say, then?" The exasperated tone made Grey wonder if he SHOULD torment the
Mysteron agents. "Out with it!"
"I was just wondering
what you were going to do when my backup arrives." Grey remained
calm, despite the gun trained on him.
"You called for
help?"
"No, but the Colonel
isn't stupid. He'll guess there's
something wrong when I fail to report in."
"Radio Cloudbase. Tell your Colonel that everything is
fine."
"I'm sorry, I can't
do that."
The two Agents pulled
Grey to his feet; they half led, half dragged him outside, tied him to a tree
and gagged him. Captain Grey wanted to do something to stop his enemies, but he
knew that there wasn't much he could do alone.
One of the Mysterons plucked his cap from his head, and called Colonel
White, while Grey struggled against his bonds.
How could that guy imitate his voice? He'd heard a report of this before,
from Captain Scarlet, but had never thought much about it.
A sound above him
made him look up. The Angels came
swooping in low over them. Grey sighed with relief.
"Angel Leader to
Cloudbase," Destiny stated, calmly.
"Go ahead, Destiny,"
Lieutenant Green's voice answered.
"Lieutenant, two men
have Captain Grey bound to a tree-"
"WHAT? Sorry,
Destiny, I didn't quite-"
"Two men are
holding Captain Grey at gunpoint.
They have tied him to a tree, and it looks as though they have gagged him as
well."
"Try to get a shot at
those men." Colonel White cut in. "Drive at them, if you can. Make it quick!"
"S.I.G., Colonel
White." Destiny shivered. How could
they possibly fire at the Mysterons down there when they were so close to Grey?
"This is Angel Leader. Drive the
two Mysterons away from Captain Grey, and into the open. Then we will be able to deal with them!"
Rhapsody and
Symphony acknowledged, and the three Angels began the dive.
The Mysteron with the
gun fired once at Grey, then the pair bolted.
Not long after losing sight of the Mysteron Agents, the Captain heard bursts of
gunfire, some cries, and a loud "bang", which must have been some kind of
explosion. Silence followed for
what seemed an age. Captain Grey
looked down, assessing the extent of damage the pair had done him. He had been shot in the leg, but the aim
of the gun was bad, and he only had a graze wound. He was lucky.
Suddenly, he heard voices. He saw Symphony Angel running toward him with one of the men
from the centre, who was carrying a first aid kit.
"Colonel White,"
Lieutenant Green turned to his Commander-in-Chief, "All reported Mysterons dealt
with."
"Good. Any news from Spectrum Research Centre?"
"Yes, sir. Captain Ochre has everything in hand."
"I'm glad to hear it. I hope he doesn't mind missing the last
hour of his leave-"
"I shouldn't think
so, Colonel. By the sound of it, he
was having fun."
"We
can't have that, can
we?" the Colonel chuckled, "I'd better call him."
"Hi, Colonel!"
Captain Ochre answered the call eagerly.
"Hello, Ochre. Have you anything to report?"
“Everything is fine,
now, sir. I had some of the men equipped with
detectors. If anyone seemed to be acting
differently, we checked him or her out.
Worked too. We dealt with two
Mysterons!"
"Thank you, Captain. I trust everything is quiet, now?"
"Yes, sir... But I'm willing to carry on here."
"When did you find
the two Mysteron Agents?"
"Upon arrival, more
or less."
"Which was...?"
"Over three hours
ago."
"Then I think that
will be all. Return to base."
"Yes sir." Ochre
sighed, turning back to the members he had been sitting with, "Sorry, guys. I've gotta go."
"Just because you're
losing!"
"Come on,
Frank!" Ochre pulled some notes from his wallet. "That should cover the amount I
lost."
***
Captains Scarlet,
Blue, Grey, Magenta, and Ochre joined Colonel White in the Control Room. "Captain Scarlet, I had a word with
Doctor Fawn, a little earlier." Colonel White seemed pretty annoyed about
something.
"Really, sir?"
"It means I'll want a
word with you later."
"S.I.G., Colonel."
White cleared his
throat. "Now, on a different subject, Captains
Scarlet and Blue... how did you find Captain Onyx?"
Captain Blue frowned.
"Captain Onyx, sir?"
"Yes. As you have seen,
he's new. I was a bit worried that he wasn't quite ready."
"He has promise,
Colonel." Captain Scarlet stated, generously, "He just needs to know when he is
going too far."
"Can you explain?"
"We-ell, sir..."
Scarlet did a bad job of hiding his embarrassment, "He didn't trust me as far as
he could throw me - AND made it quite clear at every opportunity."
"I'll have to do
something about that." the Colonel glared icily at the Captain, "There is no
reason to doubt YOUR word, is there, Scarlet?"
Captain Scarlet felt
very uncomfortable. He knew he'd
been asking for trouble staying that bit longer with Fawn, but...
"Thank you for your
efforts, gentlemen. You all did a
wonderful job." Colonel White stated, "You can go now. Dismissed." Captain Scarlet began to
stand, but the Colonel held him back.
"Tell me, Captain," White began quietly, as soon as the others were gone,
"do you like Cricket?"
"Yes, sir. It's a great sport."
"As Doctor Fawn was
telling me. You said you were with
him, earlier?"
"Yes, sir." Captain
Scarlet felt as though he was confessing to some terrible crime. Surely, Fawn
wouldn't tell HIM...?
"You and Fawn were in
Sickbay, I take it?"
"Well...." NOW
Scarlet was torn. Telling the truth
was risky, but lying would be FAR worse.
"No, sir. We were in the officers'
lounge. It was the-"
"…First Ashes
test, Captain?"
"That's right."
Scarlet tried not to hang his head. He was just
glad that Ochre wouldn't hear about this one.
"I found the
good doctor absorbed in the game when I was looking for him. I was very taken aback when he suggested calling you, to tell
you the score."
Scarlet sighed,
looking at the desk, rather than his commanding officer.
"It was HIS idea!"
" That's no excuse,
Scarlet! You didn't have to agree."
"It was a kind offer. Anyway, I didn't expect him to bother me
at every boundary."
"I can't believe I'm
hearing this!" White hit the desk furiously, then pointed at Scarlet. "Something will have to be done about
this."
The captain sighed
heavily, "I'm sorry, sir-"
"If you're so sorry,
why are you still trying to defend yourself?"
Scarlet groaned
inwardly, then decided that seeing as he was already asking for trouble, he may
as well push his luck all the way.
“Did Doctor Fawn tell you the score?"
"I'd say
that's the least of your worries, Scarlet." White almost growled at him. "Does
the game REALLY mean that much to you?"
"Well... yes. Why, sir?"
"And I heard Blue got
you some tickets to the next match."
"Yes, sir. I don't know HOW, though. It must have taken a lot of doing -
they're on demand! I'm taking Rhapsody with me - you agreed to it."
"After your
behaviour," Colonel White barked at him, "do you expect me to let you go?"
Scarlet sighed and
shook his head. "No, sir. I couldn't expect you to."
"I wouldn't want to
ruin it for Rhapsody...." White continued, slowly.
Scarlet's hopes
lifted a little.
"Give me the
tickets. I enjoy Cricket, myself."
Captain Scarlet
groaned inwardly, and handed over the tickets.
"Thank you,
Captain." The Colonel gave him a cold smile, then gestured to the door. "Get out. I'll expect you in here first thing tomorrow."
"Sir?"
"You are to
operate the computer. Now GO!"
Outside
the Control Room,
Scarlet met Captain Blue head on.
Blue smiled warmly at him. "How'd
it go?"
"How do you think?"
"What happened,
Paul?"
"Fawn dropped me in
it. The Colonel has taken my tickets to the
Ashes
test, which you bought me, and he and Rhapsody are going."
Blue winced. "I don't
believe it! Paul, I'll see if I can
change his mind-"
"You'll just get
yourself in trouble. Forget it,
Adam."
"If that's what you
want..."
"Yes, it is. His mind is made up, end of story."
"Look, there’s still
time. Just hope the Mysterons make
another threat tomorrow - the old man will HAVE to forgive you, with all the
hard work you put in."
"Don't hold your
breath. Anyway, I'm confined to a computer job."
Scarlet sighed, heavily. "I'd better find Diane."
"Are you sure you're
OK?" Blue called after his partner, as he turned to go.
"I'll let you know,”
was Scarlet’s dull answer as he disappeared behind a sliding door.
THE END
Any comments? You can send and E-MAIL to the SPECTRUM HEADQUARTERS website