By Chris Bishop

PART 3

“In desperate need of some pest control…”

Straight after launch, Rhapsody started her patrol round – keeping Cloudbase in view, and waiting for further orders. Seymour must have come down with a bad cold, she reflected quietly. I barely recognised his voice…

Aside from the hovering headquarters, there was nothing in sight; the sky was an empty deep blue, with white clouds hovering below her. Her radar and scanner remained mute, and that alone was reassuring enough.

Following standard procedure, she gradually started enlarging her patrol circle, without losing sight of Cloudbase, and contacting the Control Room five minutes after launch.

“Rhapsody Angel in Angel One… Nothing to report but empty sky ahead and around Cloudbase. Everything is safe within a 20-mile radius.”

She didn’t receive any answer. She could hear only total silence from her speaker; and that made her frown.

“Cloudbase Control, do you copy? This is Angel One calling…”

This time, there was nothing but crackling noises coming from her radio. She tried adjusting it; then, she heard the voice of Lieutenant Green in her ears, loud over the noises, and shouting with a note of obvious panic in it: “S.I.R., Rhapsody Angel! Return immediately to base! Repeat: return immediately to base! Gremlins onboard! Launch order has not…” The voice broke off suddenly, and again only crackling sounds could be heard into the speakers.

In alarm, Rhapsody played again with the radio control. “Control, this is Rhapsody Angel! What is happening? Lieutenant Green, do you hear me? Gremlins… What do you…”

The crackling noises disappeared, this time completely, and Rhapsody was about to sigh with relief, when what she heard over the speakers made her frown in disbelief. It wasn’t Lieutenant Green’s voice this time, of that she was sure – but another voice, cackling evilly. And it was… chanting…

“S.I.R… S.I.R… S.I.R… Launch Angel One… S.I.R…S.I.R…”

“Lieutenant Green!” Rhapsody called out in an irate tone. “What IS going on over there?!”

The chanting was suddenly replaced by a maniacal laugh, that made a shiver run down her spine. “For God’s sake…”

And then suddenly, her controls exploded in a rain of electrical sparks, and the radio went completely dead. Something jumped her from behind, and clawed hands grabbed at her throat. That made her jump in total surprise and she cried out briefly; the nose of her Angel tipped downward, but she managed to keep it steady, as it began its vertiginous descent toward Earth.

She counted herself lucky that the thick golden collar of her uniform and the leather strap beneath her chin protected her neck so well, because she felt for certain that the claws would have ripped her throat out. As it was, she only felt a graze against her cheek, and the warmth and wetness of blood pouring from the fresh wound.

The ugliest of faces suddenly appeared to her horrified eyes. Green scaled, with cruel yellow eyes, and a large, wicked smile, adorned with sharp, pointed teeth, it seemed to be able to bite into any part of her and kill her. She froze at the sight, her brain unable to understand where in bloody Hell that thing had come from. She noted the large ears, so very much like those of the Mogwai on Cloudbase – and then realised what the creature was. That could only be what a metamorphosed Mogwai looks like when it comes out of its cocoon…

Gremlins? That was what Green had said.

That is SO ridiculous…

The ugly head was looking straight at her, laughing maniacally, before turning its attention to the helm that her hands were holding tightly. The pressure on Rhapsody’s throat grew and she gasped. Another ugly head appeared next to hers, smiling evilly, cackling. There were two of those horrible creatures, she realised with panic. And that second one was holding her from behind, trying to choke the life out of her, while its companion was going for the helm. Rhapsody fought bravely to keep control of the craft, as the cold clawed hands tried to pull the helm from her, claws cutting through her hands. The creature behind her was now standing on her shoulders, and its talons were tearing through her uniform and into her flesh. She winced in pain, gasping for breath, her eyes set on the crazy readings of her controls, ears filled with the multiple beeping sounds of alerts, mixed with the laugh of the two creatures. The interceptor was quickly losing altitude; she saw the ground approaching closer and closer by the second.

Rhapsody clenched her teeth with resolution, deciding on a new manoeuvre. The only one which could leave her with a chance to live.

“You want the helm that much, you hideous bastards?” she said between two laborious breaths. “Then you can have it!”

She let go of the helm and the creature, with a victorious cry, jumped onto it. Rhapsody’s now free hand grabbed the ejector level and pulled it. The canopy flew off over her head, taking the transformed Mogwai by surprise. The one holding her neck let go, just at the moment her seat flew high into the air, abandoning the Angel jet. It didn’t save the creature from being blown freely into the sky, away from the ejected seat, and it screamed in horror as it was launched to its death, thousands and thousands of feet above Earth.

The seat parachute then deployed and Rhapsody, now safe, loosened her helmet strap to finally take a deep breath. She watched as her Angel craft plunged out of control towards the ground. Of course, she didn’t expect the remaining creature to be able to hold the helm steady… She watched grimly as the jet ploughed itself into the side of a mountain, far below and away. She blew a deep sigh; she hated losing a plane, but it wasn’t as if she had had any choice in the matter. She grunted as she reached for her throbbing shoulders with her scratched hand. God, that is SO going to sting when Fawn treats it…

There was one epaulette left on her uniform and it started flashing wildly. The emergency signal, she realised instantly. She wondered who was calling her, and she half-expected to hear the same maniacal laugh she had heard earlier, when she answered. She was relieved to hear the anxious voice of Lieutenant Green:

“…Rhapsody Angel, can you hear me? Radar’s showing Angel One has crashed… Please answer, Rhapsody…”

“Rhapsody Angel to Control.” Rhapsody gave a deep sigh. “I’m all right, Lieutenant. Angel One crashed without me. I had to eject.” She paused a second, rubbing her painful shoulders, and listening to the obvious relief she could hear in the lieutenant’s sharp intake of breath upon hearing her answer.

“S.I.G., Rhapsody. Are you injured?” That was the voice of Colonel White this time, and Rhapsody could very well hear the concern in his tone. She smiled weakly.

“I’ll survive, sir,” she grunted. “But I will need a pick-up.”

“I’ll arrange that, Rhapsody, as soon as everything is back under control on Cloudbase.”

Rhapsody frowned at those words. “Colonel, there were two strange creatures in the cockpit of my jet,” she continued, uncertainly. “Lieutenant Green mentioned… Gremlins?”

“That’s what I said, Rhapsody,” Green answered in turn. “ The cocoons have hatched… The Mogwai inside transformed into those things. They’re all over Cloudbase.”

“Oh, my God…” Rhapsody breathed out. “What is the situation up there?”

There was a short pause. Then, it was the voice of Colonel White which made itself heard again, tainted with obvious grimness… “We’re fighting them off the best we can.”

* * *

Melody was taking a much-needed hot shower, after a long, eight-hour shift divided between Angel One and Amber Room duty.

She had not eaten yet and was planning to go to the Halloween party in the Officers’ Lounge and taste the buffet that she knew had been prepared for the occasion. It was a costume party of course, and Melody had decided to go as a ‘fashionable witch’. She had chosen the costume by catalogue nearly a month ago and had despaired of receiving it in time, until it arrived a week before. She had tried it right away, to make sure it would fit her, almost fearing it wouldn’t – but was delighted to discover that it was absolutely perfect – even beyond her wildest dreams. She looked very classy and absolutely stunning, not at all the image the fairy tales presented of a witch, of course, but that wasn’t really the look she was going after. Oh sure, she realised she was being coquettish about this costume - but, for once, she wanted to impress the others. Especially a certain golden-clad captain. She hoped he would have eyes only for her.

The costume was hanging in her closet, just the other side of the door to her bathroom. Stopping the flow of hot water, she stepped out of her shower, wrapped a large towel around herself and a smaller one around her head. Humming quietly, she opened the door, a smile playing on her lips. This evening would be perfect. Just perfect, she reflected. She just remembered that the previous Halloween; nobody could detach their eyes from Destiny, who had come dressed as a female ghoul… And that was quite a stunning costume she had worn. This year, it would be she who would turn all the heads. For once, she would be Queen of the Ball – and that was a very satisfactory thought.

Still humming, she opened the door to her closet with the intention of taking out her costume and putting it on the bed. It would be waiting for her when she finished drying herself, and putting on the make-up she needed to go with the costume.

She wasn’t prepared for what she saw. Suddenly, the most horrible of heads emerged from behind her clothes, snarling loudly and viciously at her. Melody just had time to see the yellow eyes, the brilliant green-scaled skin, the wide ears and the horrible mouth flashing horribly long and sharp fangs. With a scream of terror, she slammed the door shut and jumped back. She could have sworn she heard a maniacal, inhuman laugh coming from the interior of the closet. She turned around and watched with wide eyes and a pounding heart.

She heard violent thumping at her door and again she screamed, taken by surprise. She spun on her heels, just as the muffled but apparently worried voice of Captain Ochre made itself heard from behind it:

“Melody! What’s going on in there? Open the door!”

Suddenly, Melody saw red. Now she knew what was happening! It was, again, one of Ochre’s annoying jokes!

She angrily rushed to the door and pressed the opening button. The door slid open and Captain Ochre hurriedly walked in. Reaching the centre of Melody’s quarters in four long strides, he looked around, with a concerned expression on his face, as if in search of whatever threat the Angel pilot might be facing. The young woman noticed the costume he was wearing: he was dressed as a very handsome wizard, with false goatee beard and moustache… That was the masculine matching costume for the one she had chosen herself. Evidently, Ochre had chosen it from the same catalogue she had consulted …

Did he know of her choice and had made his accordingly? She was willing to bet he had. But right now, that wasn’t exactly the reason why she was furious at him.

“Why did you scream?” Ochre asked, worry in his eyes as he turned around to face Melody who was now walking toward him. “Did you hurt yourself? Were you… attacked?” He eyed her, and at first, he appeared uncomfortable to see her dressed only in her towel, and seemed oblivious to the fuming way she was glowering at him. An appreciative flash passed across his eyes just before he turned around, like a gentleman, to look the other way.

“Stop playing games, Fraser!” Melody grabbed the lapels of his dark, fancy jacket and forced him to turn towards her; he nearly lost his footing, and found himself looking into her glaring eyes, as she gripped him, her knuckles turning white on the expensive fabric, so tightly was she clutching it. “Now, WHO is your accomplice? Magenta? Grey? Scarlet?”

“What are you talking about?” Ochre stammered, frowning at her question, apparently failing to understand what she meant. He cleared his throat, smiling faintly. “Is that your costume for tonight? Nice…”

“It is NOT my costume for tonight!” she yelled, shaking him like a leaf with a strength he didn’t know she possessed – and he didn’t resist anyway. “And you know very well what I’m talking about! YOU staged this, you low-life, double-crossing, two-bit fraud!”

“I didn’t stage anything…”

“Oh yes, you did!” Melody raged, without leaving him time to protest further. “Don’t you dare deny it! You had one of your friends hide in my closet with the most grotesque mask I have ever seen in my life, and scare the daylights out of me! And YOU, what an astonishing coincidence, you come KNOCKING on my door, playing the HERO coming to save me from danger! Well, I’m not falling for it, buster! You went too far this time!”

By the end of Melody’s enraged speech, Ochre had finally understood what she was implying – and knew that, indeed, something unusual had happened in the young woman’s quarters. He stopped her from shaking him, gently but firmly removing her hands from his costume. “I swear, I had nothing to do with this,” he protested. “I just came to take you to the party. I knew what costume you had chosen and I wanted to surprise you with mine…”

“Oh yes… What a surprise!” she mocked him, sarcastically.

“I had just arrived in front of your door when I heard you scream. I never heard you scream in terror before, Mag. So, I figured there was something really wrong…”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“That’s the truth, Mag, I swear.” Ochre looked toward the closet door. “But that also means there’s really someone in your closet who decided to play a cruel joke on you.”

“Nooooo… you don’t say?”

Ignoring the young woman’s cynical tone, Ochre walked cautiously towards the closet door; Melody, behind him, obviously not believing a single word he had said, rolled her eyes and followed, adjusting her towel around her and making sure it wouldn’t fall. She watched suspiciously as Ochre reached silently for the door handle. He was putting on a very serious show, she had to admit – but she still wasn’t falling for it.

Ochre opened the door in a quick, abrupt movement. He couldn’t see anything wrong; swiftly, he rummaged through the clothes, looking to see if there was someone hidden behind them. He addressed an inquiring look at Melody over his shoulder. She was leaning to the side, trying to look past him into the darkness of the closet. She could see, like him, that the closet was empty.

“There was someone in there!” she protested with a frown, watching the doubtful expression on Ochre’s face. “I heard him laugh… It was the laugh of a maniac! Very stereotyped – like in the bad horror movies!”

“I’m sure.” Ochre turned to face her, sighing as he did and, putting his fists on his hips, looked down at her with a bemused and mocking smile on his lips. “All right, Melody… I admit, I fell for it.”

“Fell for what?”

“Well – it is Halloween night… and you decided to wind me up with this cockeyed story of yours… Since I’m usually the one doing that, it’s a nice change.”

Melody stared at him with a slack jaw. She couldn’t believe her ears. “What?!” She scoffed. “Captain Ochre, I swear to you, I never…”

“That’s a good one,” Ochre said, laughing softly. “Oh, I really fell for it… I should have known there was nothing that would scare you like that. You’re just not the screaming kind…”

“Captain Ochre, I didn’t…”

Melody’s protests suddenly died on her lips as she caught a glimpse of two piercing yellow eyes peering down to her – from the darkness of the upper shelf of her closet. The same horrific snarl she had heard earlier resonated then, and Ochre turned around – in time to receive in his arms the unbelievable creature that jumped from the shelf and right at his throat, all fangs and claws out.

Melody screamed a warning, that just came too late. Ochre crashed onto the bed behind him, holding the creature by the neck, keeping it away from his throat, while talons and claws tore into his wizard costume. Whatever kind of demon his opponent was, it fought like a wild beast, snarling and growling, and it was all Ochre could do to avoid as much damage as possible. He fell to the floor, entangling himself in the blankets, the creature still searching to reach his throat. He couldn’t see his opponent now, but he still had a good hold of it, and he didn’t dare let go, in fear that it would turn against Melody.

Melody…

“Mag, get out of here!” Ochre yelled. “Give the alert! Call for help!”

He rolled over, getting above the creature, successfully freeing himself from the blankets and using them to trap it. The beast snarled angrily and protested with a high-pitched scream that was horrible to listen to.

“Come on, you ugly bastard,” Ochre muttered. “Quit struggling like that…”

A claw pierced through the blankets and grasped his shoulder. Ochre yelped and his hold relaxed; then he saw the hideous head emerge too, its mouth wide open and its fangs bared; it went directly for his throat with a victorious laugh. At the last possible second, Ochre caught the muzzle in his right hand and pushed the creature away from him. It stumbled on the floor and Ochre did the same, hitting his head as he did. He saw stars dancing in front of his eyes.

There was a crashing sound as a chair was violently brought down onto the creature’s head, stopping it as it was preparing to leap on Ochre again. The demon squealed in pain and turned like an injured beast to retaliate against whoever had dared hurt it. Melody was standing behind it, with what was left of the chair in her hands. With anger, she smashed it onto the creature’s head again. The skull visibly caved in with an audible cracking sound; with a last rattle, the creature fell to the floor, moving spasmodically. Then it went rigid.

“I hate Peeping Toms!” Melody spat as the creature drew its last breath. She walked over it, carefully avoiding the claws, and leaned to help a dazed Ochre up. He was bleeding from multiple cuts and his wizard costume was in tatters; he swayed on his feet, and the Angel pilot helped him to stay upright. His eyes were displaying a look of shock.

“Rick, are you all right?” Melody asked him, her voice now softer, and caring. She was tenderly stroking his cheek, where the creature’s claws had left three long but, she hoped, superficial scratches.

“I think so…” he murmured, blinking his eyes. “But this costume is ruined…” He was trying to be humorous, but his tone was still awkward. He looked down in confusion at the dead creature. “Where did Ugly come from, anyway?” he murmured.

“I don’t know…” Melody answered, staring with the same bewilderment. “But it was certainly deadly…” She frowned after a short second of reflection. “Have you seen its ears?”

“What about them?” muttered Ochre, shaking his head, obviously trying to regain his senses.

“Rick, those are the same ears as the Mogwai!”

“The Mogwai?” Ochre looked down at the creature again, frowning. “Yeah, now that you mention it… the ears are similar. That must be what they look like when they come out of those cocoons… ” He stopped, and stared at Melody with obvious horror in his eyes. “My God… if they’ve all come out of their cocoons… and are all like that…”

Melody shuddered. “Cloudbase is in trouble deep.”

Ochre gave a grim nod. “We have to warn the colonel…” he said, reaching for the comm.link. “I hope it’s not too late already…”

* * *

The Gremlins having tampered with Cloudbase’s communications, it fell to Lieutenant Green to get it back online as quickly as possible. By the time he had succeeded in doing so with most of the base comm.links, telephones and personal receivers, dozens of calls and reports had been transmitted to the Control Room concerning the Gremlins. The creatures had all escaped from the auditorium and had invaded all Cloudbase’s decks. Swift, strong and clever, their litheness and rather reduced size permitted them to journey through any air and electrical conduits they could find, and get to anywhere they wanted to. They had been tinkering with all mechanical and electronic systems, with a knowledge that seemed absurdly mind-boggling. They seemed to know exactly where and what to strike. The lights were now off in most parts of the base, as if the Gremlins knew that they would cause them harm and had disabled them accordingly. One of the Control Tower pylon lifts had crashed in its shaft, leaving only one lift and the two pylon escalators – all of them non-operational, of course – as ways out of the Tower.

Gremlins had raided the canteen, the officers’ mess, and the Spectramart, devouring anything worth eating in sight. They were chasing, attacking, and playing cruel pranks on personnel, inflicting serious injuries. People had been trapped in their own quarters. Sickbay was inaccessible; Doctor Fawn had been reported missing by Captain Magenta and Harmony Angel who had barricaded themselves in the chief medical officer’s offices – while nurses and interns had found refuge in numerous rooms. The Amber Room wasn’t responding, and Angel One was down. Thank the stars, Rhapsody had safely ejected from the interceptor before it crashed, or she would surely have died. No deaths had been reported yet, but Colonel White feared that it was only a question of time before someone would be killed, either directly by the fearsome creatures, or by one of their numerous mischievous actions.

“Captain Ochre just reported in,” Lieutenant Green, seated at his station, informed the Spectrum commander. Captain Grey had treated the young man’s injuries the best he could, while he had been working on re-establishing communications, and although he didn’t look at his peak right now, the young lieutenant intended to stay on duty. “He and Melody have just been attacked by a Gremlin. They successfully killed it, but now they can’t leave Melody’s quarters.” Green looked toward his grim-looking commander. “From what they can hear through the door, there are other Gremlins in the corridors.”

“Any news from Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue and Symphony, and Destiny Angel?” White demanded grimly.

“None so far, sir. We can only assume that Symphony is still in the Amber Room, but I can’t reach it. As for the others…”

“Let’s hope they are all all right and will report in soon…” White grunted. He sighed. “Right. That’s one for Ochre and Melody. Two for Rhapsody. One on the Promenade Deck and two here in the Control Room. That makes six. We’ve a long way to go to get the last ninety-seven of these creatures! Of course, that’s assuming they won’t approach any water,” he added with frustration, as if an afterthought. “Because then, they’ll be able to multiply again and the situation will become totally unbearable.”

“Security guards have successfully closed the airlocks to the pool,” Grey reminded his commander. “At least, that’s good news. Although these creatures can get access to water elsewhere…”

“Let’s just hope they won’t get that idea. We have to find a way to get rid of them fast, before they…”

A screeching sound made itself heard from the speakers and the three men standing in the Control Room turned as one to stare at them. White had gone pale. He knew – they all knew what would come next.

“Oh no… not them,” he muttered under his breath. “NOT NOW!”

“This is the Voice of the Mysterons… We know that you can hear us, Earthmen…” White closed his eyes and breathed deeply. That figures… His plea would go unanswered. “On the night of All Hallow’s Eve, the fortress in the clouds will be subjected to deadly tricks and mayhem will reign until it falls from the skies…”

White quickly opened his eyes; his face had changed colour; it was now very red. “WHAT?!” he roared angrily. “THEY’RE responsible for this mess?!”

“Sir?” Lieutenant Green asked uncertainly.

“All Hallow’s Eve… That’s tonight,” Grey explained grimly. “And the fortress in the clouds… that’s us.”

“I thought it was,” Green replied with a forced grin. “I just hoped it wasn’t the case…”

“Damn it, I should have realised,” Colonel White muttered.. “That’s how the first Mogwai was able to get here in the first place, getting through security without being noticed!”

“The Mysterons had Mysteronised him?” Lieutenant Green asked, raising a surprised brow.

“No… they simply arranged for his safe arrival here!” growled White.

“Mysteronising Gizmo would have been too risky,” Grey retorted. “They knew there was a fair risk of him being checked on Cloudbase eventually.”

“Which was done,” White grumbled. “He and the others, that first time he gave birth… And indeed… why Mysteronise any of them, as they can cause plenty of trouble without that…”

“I bet the Mysterons knew the nature of those Mogwai when they prepared this threat!” Grey exclaimed. “Must be their idea of a joke for Halloween…”

“Some joke! I certainly won’t let a bunch of God-forsaken, repulsive creatures do the Mysterons’ dirty work and destroy this base!” Colonel White said, in a tone full of promise. “We have to get rid of these Gremlins before they kill everyone onboard or do irreparable damage that will send us crashing to the ground!”

“How, sir?” Grey asked. “There’re so many of them. Half of Cloudbase is without lighting, we have little power over the controls… These creatures can get anywhere, going through air vents and other kinds of conduits, to get wherever they want.”

“We need a meticulous plan,” White said, rubbing his chin pensively. “What do we know about these Gremlins? What are their weaknesses?”

“Bright light?” Grey suggested with a raised brow. That won him a cross look from his commander. He cleared his voice. “Sir.”

However, White had to agree that his junior officer had a point. His eye fell on the powerful electric lamp standing on the corner of his desk, right next to his rose tree, that he had taken from the Promenade Deck. He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, thinking of his own, recent experience against the Gremlins.

“Lieutenant Green,” he ordered, “contact as many personnel as you can. Order everyone to equip themselves with Spectrum-issued security torches. Light from lamps seems to weaken their anatomy… It seems to soften their tough hide and even their bones – they are then vulnerable for the kill.”

“S.I.G.,” Green answered. “Maintenance is trying to restore light. Maybe that will be helpful when it comes back?”

“Unfortunately, it seems ambient light isn’t powerful enough to actually destroy them,” White sighed. “Maybe it would slow them down, but I’m afraid they would simply hide away deeper into inaccessible dark places, and would continue to procreate and/or do untold damage to Cloudbase. We can’t afford to play hide and seek with them. We have to destroy them swiftly, if we want to save the base. Tell all the technicians you are able to contact to continue their repairs, and find available security guards to protect them. We have to get control back, and as much light as possible, quickly.”

“S.I.G., Colonel.”

“It seems to me, sir,” Grey offered then, “that, in view of what he found in his search, Captain Magenta is the one who would know the most about these creatures at the moment. That online book he found…”

“… Might very well be our only key to finding a way to destroy these creatures,” White agreed swiftly. He turned again to Green. “Lieutenant, try to contact Captain Magenta. And if possible, make this a secured channel. I don’t know if those ‘Gremlins’ can understand us, but I don’t want to take the risk of them listening in as we make our plans to destroy them.”

“S.I.G., Colonel,” Green acknowledged, turning to his communication console. And let’s hope it’ll work…he added inwardly.

* * *

Dressed as a female pirate, in colourful clothing, a large, black leather, sleeveless vest, a vivid red bandanna on her head and a rather heavy cutlass by her side, Destiny Angel was walking the corridors on her way to the Officers’ Lounge to join in the Halloween party when all hell broke loose on Cloudbase. First she had witnessed the lights go out, to be replaced by emergency lighting in most of the area. Then, strange sounds made themselves heard from all around. As if something was running through the air vents above her head and behind the doors along the corridor. She could hear murmurs, hollow whispers, in a language she was unable to define. She had the funny feeling that she was being followed and watched; but each time she turned around to check, she could find nothing. Strange shadows were outlined on the walls, projected by the few lights, but the young woman was incapable of identifying any of them – or to find out from where they were coming.

Then she heard screams echoing through the corridors. Very human screams, coming from not too far away. Actually, too far away for her to be able to do something about it, but still too close for comfort. Those screams of obvious terror and pain were mixed with deep, throaty growls and almost inhuman laughter. The hair on the back of Destiny’s head started to stand up. There was something strange going on on base that she couldn’t explain to herself.

And to make matters worse, the comm.links were down too. She couldn’t even call anyone – either to report the strange happenings or to find out if someone knew it was happening. She had a suspicion that it could very well be the case, but that the alert had failed to be raised – for some still unexplained reason. That wasn’t a very comforting idea at all. Whatever was going on, she reflected, everyone onboard might be in danger, with no knowledge of it, no way to protect themselves.

She heard running feet, a buzz of panicky speaking voices and finally encountered a few people passing by – civilian personnel, technicians – fear splattered on their faces and desperate to get away. She was nearly run down and was compelled to throw herself against the wall to escape being trampled.

That’s when she saw them.

Green-scaled, horrible creatures, armed with claws and talons and sharp teeth, running down the corridor on all fours, although they looked like bipeds, destroying everything in their path, slashing through walls and doors, and hanging from holes pierced in the ceiling, chasing everyone in sight – as if humans were but prey for them. With a thumping heart and eyes wide-open with horror, Destiny saw an unfortunate security guard pass by her, screaming in pain, one of those awful creatures clinging to his back, its teeth sunk into his shoulder. He was unable to get it off him and was running blindly, wild with fear. He had disappeared from the Angel pilot’s view before she could even think of helping him; hearing more creatures coming along, Destiny swiftly sought refuge inside a maintenance cabinet.

What were they? she wondered in confusion… They seemed to have appeared from nowhere, and there was a multitude of them. She took a certain time to realise that they might very well be the metamorphosed Mogwai, who had finally escaped their cocoons… Of course, since her first encounter with Gizmo a couple of days before, and with her increased allergies – for which Doctor Fawn had given her medicine and ordered a few days off duty, without flying – she had not dared be around any of the Mogwai. But she had been kept informed of everything that had been going on with them. Last thing she had heard was about the pupal phase which they had entered. So, considering that it was quite unlikely that another security breach had happened with the courier plane – since none had come back to Cloudbase since Gizmo’s arrival anyway – it seemed highly probable – if not absolutely logical – that these new creatures were indeed the now-transformed Mogwai. The ears were similar, even if the rest of the body was definitely not.

Since that first moment she had seen them, Destiny had been making her way through the Control Tower by hiding herself at almost every step, in an attempt to avoid the creatures. There had been a few other close calls, and she could still hear them through the vents down the corridors, along with all the other noises of destruction and panic that seemed to accompany them. She had been lucky enough not to encounter them directly. From time to time, she attempted to make contact with the Control Room, using the nearest wall comm.link she could find on her way. Each time, she was unable to even raise a single acknowledgement. Only static answered her.

Great. It looks like I’m left on my own. It was the uncertainty of what was going on and what the status of the others was, that was pushing her forward. Although she hadn’t heard from them, she had to assume that people in the Control Room – Colonel White, Lieutenant Green, all the others – were alive and well. As long as the Control Room was safe, Cloudbase was still running.

She had just walked the presently non-operational escalator down to Port Engine B walkway. From there, she would access one of the pylon lifts leading to the Control Tower. Assuming it was working. If not, there was still the high pylon escalator – which, Destiny supposed, probably wasn’t working any more than the escalator she had just left. She wasn’t exactly looking forward to climbing a rather steep staircase, nearly ten storeys high, up to the Tower. Not with a band of demonic creatures on her heels, ready to tear her to pieces, anyway.

The walkway was dark, like most of the other corridors she had followed until then, only illuminated by the red security lights on the wall. Walking slowly, Destiny kept all her senses on alert, frequently looking behind, making sure she was still alone. So far so good. No trace of the creatures yet. Dead ahead of her, she could see sparks, and she slowed down. The ceiling and walls of the walkway had been damaged, she realised, as her eyes made out the outlines of dangling electric cables dropping from ripped ceiling panels. They were touching each other, and that was causing the sparks. She hoped she would be able to get through them, without difficulty.

As she was nearing the dangling cables, a soft, gentle humming reached her ears and she stopped in her tracks, listening intently. It sounded like singing, although it was mixed with frequent sobs. It sounded very sad, and Destiny was quite certain she could recognise notes from ‘Somewhere over the Rainbow’…

She frowned and approached cautiously.

Just under the sparking cables, she could see a body, lying on its side, dressed in a very recognisable red tunic. Destiny’s heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She continued her approach, holding her breath, to finally crouch down, trying to get a better view.

“Mon Dieu…” she whispered under her breath. “Paul…?”

Captain Scarlet’s eyes were closed, as if he were sleeping. In the crook of his right arm, close to his face, Destiny could see a small Mogwai, wearing a sad face, his head resting against the captain’s arm, that he was gently stroking as if comforting him. It was that tiny creature who was singing so sadly.

“Gizmo?” Destiny called, opening wide eyes. She was unsure – last thing she had heard, Gizmo was dead – and there were a certain number of other Mogwai who had been born since the last days. This one could very well be one of them… But at the call of the name, he raised his head and looked straight at Destiny. His expression was one of total sadness.

“You are Gizmo, right?” He started muttering gibberish to her, speaking very quickly, but she couldn’t decipher anything he was saying. “Calm down, petit. I don’t intend to hurt you…” She looked around in concern, hoping that someone would come along – anyone, except, of course, those ugly creatures. Seeing she was still alone, she turned her attention back to the still body and the gibbering Mogwai. “Shhh… Calm down… Don’t be afraid… You’ll attract those ugly beasts to us…”

The Mogwai grew quiet instantly, watching her with wary eyes. Destiny examined the situation. She could see a small pool of blood underneath Scarlet’s still body and a darker shade of red on the side of his uniform. From where she was, she could see that he had been either shot or stabbed. It was unclear if he had been touched by the electric cables, although he was lying a good two feet clear of them. She didn’t know if Scarlet was still alive or not, and she knew that he was vulnerable to electricity. Depending on the amount of voltage in those cables, if he had touched them, he might have been hurt badly – or even killed permanently. She didn’t dare think that this last eventuality could have happened.

But if he was alive, Destiny reflected, and was to rise from there instinctively, unaware of the danger, he might run the risk of being electrocuted. She had to do something to prevent that from happening. She had to get Scarlet out of his precarious position.

Cautiously, keeping herself out of reach of the dangling cables, she reached to grab Scarlet’s ankles, and pulled; he didn’t move an inch. He was obviously heavier than she first anticipated. Planting her feet firmly on the ground, Destiny arched her back and gave a sharp tug that seemed to unglue Scarlet from where he was lying. Inch by inch, slowly but surely, calling on all of her strength, the Angel pilot dragged his body toward herself, while keeping her eyes on the electric cables that were still sparking over him. She caught a glance of the little Mogwai who now appeared to be straining to push on Scarlet’s shoulder in her direction. He was obviously trying to helping her, though she had her doubts that his efforts were actually very useful. If not for the perilous situation, she might have found the scene rather amusing.

One last tug finally removed Scarlet from under the cables, and sent Destiny falling on her rear onto the floor. She clutched on the captain’s tunic to draw him further away from the cables, making sure he would be totally safe. She thought she heard him emitting a faint groan when he fell limply onto his back between her arms. The Mogwai climbed into her knee to get closer, as she put her fingers on Scarlet’s neck to check his pulse. She had hardly touched him when he groaned again and moved, taking a deep breath as he did – but he didn’t open his eyes and grew quiet instantly. Destiny gave a sigh of relief.

“Thank God, he’s okay…”

“Paul okay?”

Destiny stared down at the small Mogwai now seated on her thigh, looking at Scarlet, then at her, and back to Scarlet again, moving his ears attentively.

“He just needed to rest in order to be okay,” she surprised herself by answering the animal. She gently eased the recovering captain down to the floor, lying him on his back, in as comfortable a position as possible. Her attention then came back to Gizmo, who was watching her expectantly.

“Gizmo,” she repeated almost to herself, frowning with perplexity. “I thought they told me you were dead?”

She didn’t have time to ponder more on that – nor on the fact that so far none of her allergic reactions had manifested themselves in Gizmo’s presence. Echoing sounds caught her ears – whispers coming from the other side of the dangling cables. She raised her head instantly and looked in that direction, narrowing her eyes to see beyond the flashes produced by the cables. She saw shadows approaching, red eyes glowing in the semi darkness and heard an ominous growl. She went rigid.

There were three of those horrible creatures she had seen earlier standing there, watching her intently.

Gizmo, squeaking in obvious fear, reached out to her and held onto her arm. He was shivering like a terrified little child, looking in the direction of the three approaching creatures.

“Gremlins,” he said in a tone so low that Destiny had trouble understanding him. “Bad Gremlins…”

Destiny slowly rose to her feet, Gizmo in her arms, her eyes not leaving the creatures. They had stopped just short of the cables which then gave a big flash of light. They stepped back, rumbling in anger. Obviously, Destiny reflected, they weren’t too keen on bright light, anymore than the Mogwai…

“Gizzzmooooo…” a deep throaty voice slurred. A concerned Destiny saw the first creature bare its teeth and take a tentative step – to step back again, obviously unsure how avoid the electric cables dangling in front of them. But she could see they were just waiting for the right moment to jump through the cables and reach for her…

…Or for the scared little creature trembling in her arms.

“Gizzzmoooo…” the same voice repeated, anger even more obvious in its tone. “Gizmo, bye-bye…”

Destiny lowered her eyes to Scarlet, still lying unconscious on the floor. He still needed time to recover obviously, and was still very vulnerable. If he was to be attacked by these creatures while in that state, at the very least, his recovery would take more time. At the worst… the ‘Gremlins’ could tear him to pieces.

But they didn’t seem to be concerned by him at all – maybe they considered him out of the game, she couldn’t be sure. It was her and Gizmo they were concentrating on. They were their quarry.

“You want a piece of us, abominations?” she called, looking defiantly at them. Her free hand grabbed for the large cutlass hanging from her belt; the Gremlins snarled furiously when she brandished it, threatening them with it. It wasn’t much of a weapon, of course, not having any sharp edges, but that, the creatures couldn’t really know. “Then come and GET US!”

She threw the cutlass into the cables, in the direction of the Gremlins, and broke into a run, squeezing Gizmo against her breast. Enraged by the challenge, the first of the creatures jumped forward, avoiding the projectile with ease, and rolling into the floor to keep the cables from electrocuting it. The second Gremlin also passed through, but the third got caught in the dangling cables that the cutlass had hit and sent into dangerous motion. Electricity ran through his body with an almost blinding spark, and he squealed loudly; his two companions turned on their heels in time to see him being fried to a crisp. They growled in anger – then turned around, snapping in the direction taken by Destiny. whom they could see fleeing down the middle of the corridor. They leapt after her.

Destiny gave a brief glance behind; she could see the two Gremlins in hot pursuit. Good, she thought. They’ve completely dismissed Paul. That would give him all the time he needed to recover. She was, however, very aware that she was the one in danger of being ripped apart by the horrible creatures if they laid their hands on her. That wasn’t a very engaging perspective.

She reached the motionless escalator she had previously walked down. She climbed the steps as quickly as she could, praying that she would reach the top before the Gremlins caught up with her. She could feel their presence, so very close.

At the last step she turned around; just as the first Gremlin was making a leap in her direction, roaring victoriously. Destiny’s foot caught him under the chin in mid-air and sent him flying down the stairs – right into the path of his companion, who barely avoided the collision. The first Gremlin rolled down the steps, in a concert of snarls and growls and protesting cries – the second one continued the chase. Destiny had taken off again.

She had barely made two metres when the Gremlin jumped on her and landed on her back. She was fortunate enough that the beast’s talons didn’t get through the leather vest she was wearing for her costume. She was, however, thrown to the floor, and barely avoided crushing the protesting Gizmo underneath her.

How she managed to turn around to hit the creature with her closed fist, she would never know, but she caught him right on the nose. At the obviously painful blow, the Gremlin let go of her and she managed to crawl away, trying to put some distance between them. She glanced back in terror in the direction of the creature – and saw it preparing to pounce anew – and taking its time.

That’s it… This is the end.

The Gremlin leapt in her direction; protecting Gizmo in her arms, she gathered her feet against herself, preparing to counter-attack.

The lights suddenly went on in a violent, blinding flash.

A horrible cry of pain emitted from the Gremlin as well as from Gizmo, who instinctively burrowed deeper into Destiny’s arms, hiding under the large sleeves of her costume. The Angel pilot’s legs uncoiled like a spring and hit the Gremlin hard, right in the belly. The result was rather spectacular – and quite gruesome, as the ugly creature’s midsection seemed to suddenly explode under the impact, covering Destiny with a disgusting green goo. Cut in two, the Gremlin fell to the floor, horribly crying out in pain, and under the young woman’s incredulous eyes, started… melting slowly.

What just happened? she asked herself, shaking, and breathing hard. Gizmo’s trembling and whimpering attracted her attention and, remembering that bright light might hurt or even kill him, she protected him from it, the best she could, as she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

It was quite unnecessary, as the lights dimmed to a more normal, comfortable level – before dying out once again.

Maintenance must be trying to re-establish the lighting system, Destiny reflected. Their accidental intervention was certainly in the nick of time – and welcome. Still, she would have preferred it if the lights had stayed on…

“Gizmo…”

The bestial voice froze Destiny, and sent a shiver down her spine. She turned her head, to see the second Gremlin who had been pursuing her appear at the corner of the corridor, having finally reached the top of the escalator.

“Oh no!” Gizmo uttered, rolling frightened eyes over Destiny’s arm, in the direction of the creature who was crouching on the floor, getting ready to jump.

“Not again…” murmured Destiny.

“Gizmo… bye-bye!”

The Gremlin was about to leap when a tall silhouette suddenly appeared from the corner and kicked it violently into the wall. The beast turned around to snarl at the newcomer – but its cries were meaningless threats that transformed themselves into a dying shriek as a strong arm raised Destiny’s cutlass high into the air before crashing it down violently into the creature’s head. Even though the cutlass’s edge was blunt, it was driven deeply through the Gremlin’s skull and into its brain, killing it instantly.

Leaning over the dead beast, Captain Scarlet removed the cutlass from its head and straightened up, looking in concern at Destiny, only a few feet away, watching with obvious disgust at the gruesome kill. Obviously, Gizmo seemed to share the same opinion as herself.

“Oh, yuck!”

“Are you okay?” Scarlet asked, walking briskly to the young woman. He reached to give her a hand, which she accepted to get to her feet. He gently took her by the arm, looking at her with concern.

She frowned at him. “Couldn’t you just revive a bit sooner?” she asked him in an affected tone.

He smiled weakly. “Well, apparently you ARE okay…” He gave an absent-minded kick at the half melted Gremlin at his feet and wrinkled his nose at Destiny’s appearance. “And you also seemed to have done quite well by yourself… You and Gizmo, that is…”