‘Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons’
A series written for the ‘Challenge of Five’
Moments Obviously Gathered By Someone:
By VMR
It was nice to know that none of the others could do this.
Blue might have been able to pull it off and maybe Scarlet, but neither of them had the full set of skills that he had.
So that was why Grey found himself back in one of his old stomping grounds, under the waves in the Atlantic ocean. All because of the latest Mysteron threat.
They had threatened an important pipeline and Spectrum was out in force to stop them. There had been some close shaves on land, where Spectrum almost stopped them, but the Mysterons had been one step ahead. Working through what they had learnt so far while dealing with this threat, Spectrum came to the conclusion that the most likely way the Mysterons would bring about their scheme, would be by planting the explosives they had managed to obtain somewhere on the underwater pipeline.
Which was why Grey was now cruising through the depths as quickly as possible, after using his knowledge of sonar, hydrography, water pressure and some construction techniques to work out where the Mysterons might strike.
It was like coming home.
Grey looked round the sub he was in: the Viking. This Merlin class sub wasn’t in the same league as the Stingray class, but it was good for what was needed, as the sonar set-up allowed for more than one person to use it at the same time.
He sat back and studied the chart before him. An initial sweep of the pipeline where it crossed the open ocean floor had not showed any big anomalies to previous sonar scans. The small ones had been quickly checked by mini robo-subs; now he and the sub’s crew were heading towards one of four areas that he had assessed as the most likely targets for the Mysterons. They had two locations to check – those situated at the deepest part of the pipeline, as only he, of all the Spectrum captains, had the experience of exploring ocean depths. The other spots were closer to the shore and could be easily covered by his colleagues.
With a nod, Grey left the chart he had been looking at and moved to stand by the sub’s captain.
“With the way the pipeline snakes through this part of the ocean’s floor, we’re going to have a hard time using the sub’s sonar,” stated Grey. “But we can’t afford the time it would take to eye-ball it ourselves. Have they managed to improve the sonar surveying drones, Captain Manson? I know that there were some problems with them in the beginning.”
“Yes,” replied Manson. “They’ve managed to stop the signal confusion that happened sometimes but they’re still pains to work with because now, the signals between the sub and the drones can become too weak to be any good if they’re too far away.”
Grey nodded. He could recall some of the interesting reports from those who were testing the prototype. However, Captain Manson wasn’t to know that Grey had once been a WASP officer so any reminiscing was out of the question. “Oh… They would have been ideal for this situation. If they had been up to scratch.”
“We still could use them, Captain. I know how to minimise the problems.”
“Right. You know the area we need to look at, so any suggestions on how we can do it well and fast?”
“Hmmm.” A slight frown appeared on Manson’s face. “According to my briefing you have some experience in sonar don’t you, Captain?”
“Yes, I do,” replied Grey.
“How extensive is that experience of yours with sonar, Captain?” Manson asked.
“Extensive enough.”
“Okay. Then, this is what I think we should do…” Manson pointed to his chart. “If we aim to arrive here, we can deploy three sonar surveying drones. One here…” He tapped the chart. “… And the others, here and here.” He pointed two other spots on the chart. “They should both get to their respective areas around the same time, and what little time is lost will be made up easy. I’ll then take ‘Viking’ here, and hopefully, we will get the best signals from them. If you would take one of them, Captain, along with Lieutenants Woodsman and Baker… I’ll try and keep us in a good position.”
Grey thought about Captain Manson’s plan; it did make the best use of their resources and time, and there wasn’t anything he could improve on. So he gave the go ahead for it to be put in motion.
On arriving at the spot, the sonar surveying drones were sent out and Grey and the lieutenants quickly got to work in sorting out what the sonar was telling them.
It was an intense time; Grey knew that they need to find the devices the Mysterons had stolen, but where could they be? That was the question. All they could do was use the old sonar scans, compare them with theirs, and hope that the explosive devices would show up on the new readings.
Grey felt like hitting something; his SSD was now at the end of its run and not a darn thing had come to light. What was worse, it was the same for the two lieutenants working with him. If the Mysterons had planted something here, then it was going to be almost impossible to find; they still had another area that needed to be searched, and time was against them.
It was not a nice feeling.
“Do we try another pass, Captain Grey? Or do we go to the next area?” Manson asked.
Frustration ran through Grey; he wanted to be a hundred percent sure this area was safe before leaving, but he knew that there was no time left to spare. They needed to move on.
“Head to the next area, Captain. We have to get it checked as well,” he replied.
“PWOR. Heading 358, rate three. ETA in eight minutes.”
As the sub raced through the water, Grey’s thoughts were interrupted by the flashing of his epaulets. Captain Blue was contacting him.
As his cap microphone lowered he responded, “Go ahead, Blue.”
“Ochre has reported no sign of sabotage on his part of the pipeline,” the voice of Blue said through the speakers. “ And there’s no indication of Mysteron meddling in my search area. How are you going with yours?”
“We’ve done one area and it seemed to be clear,” Grey answered. “So we are proceeding to the next spot.”
“SIG. You do realize that there’s a very high likelihood you’re now heading to the area the Mysterons have targeted?”
“I’m very well aware of that, Blue, and believe me, I’ll keep that firmly in mind. I’ve got a good crew on this sub and I know they will do their best to assist me.”
“Okay. But you’re not used to working with them like you are with us. So just be on your toes, will you? I don‘t like the fact that it won‘t be easy to come to your aid if things go wrong.”
“I will. But you know as well as I do that I am the best one of us to handle this. I know I’m not Scarlet, Blue, so I’ll be as prudent as I can.”
“SIG Grey, let’s us know what you find and good luck. Blue out.”
When they arrived a short time later, Grey and his WASP team again used the onboard sonar to scan the pipeline. This time, there were definitely anomalies in the readings. Grey used a remote camera to confirm that the anomalies were the explosive devices they were looking for.
It definitely was the case, and Grey blew a deep sigh of relief. Finally.
Now for the fun part: having to work out just how they were going to deal with the explosives. Activating his radio, he alerted Blue and Ochre that the explosive devices had been found.
Grey examined the pipeline; because it ran along a ledge in a canyon, he realized that they would be unable to use the sub’s electromagnetic pulse system to deactivate the explosive devices. No, this was going to be a hands-on job and there were three devices to deal with.
This was not going to be easy. In fact, it was going to be downright dangerous, as they had no idea how much time they had to neutralize or remove the bombs. With that in mind, Grey ordered Manson and the rest of the crew to stay inside ‘Viking’, as he went out for a primarily survey.
This was where his skills could now come to the fore.
Swimming had always been effective in calming him, and right now, Grey was very thankful for it. Coming close to one of the bombs, he studied it as closely as he could without touching it. He couldn’t see any trips or triggers, so, carefully, if somewhat nervously, he removed the cover to see its setup. The Mysterons never missed an opportunity to increase pressure and that was certainly the case here: because as soon as the cover was off, a display lit up with a countdown. Ten minutes was all he had to stop the Mysterons from succeeding. How was he going to do that?
He took a good look at the bomb’s layout. Disarming it was going to be extremely difficult. He needed to make good use of the resources he had on hand; Lieutenant Woodsman was qualified in bomb disposal, so he could handle one of the explosive devices. Another thing in his favour was their location. Grey reckoned that the quickest and easiest way to nullify the threat was to remove the bombs and send them down into the canyon. From what he recalled of the sonar readings earlier, it went deep into the ocean floor, there the bombs could detonate, without doing any harm.
He radioed ‘Viking’ and informed the crew on what he had found and requested Lieutenant Woodsman’s help; the WASP officer would take care of the bomb located the farthest away from Grey’s location, while Grey himself would dispose of the other two.
Working as fast as he could, he started to eliminate the fastenings that held the bomb to the pipe. There was a number of them, but he managed to do so in good time. Taking one of his diving weights, he attached it to the bomb and dropped it into the abyss. He moved on to the next and started to do the same. As he did so, he heard the voice of Lieutenant Woodsman in his speaker, informing him that the bomb he had been working on was now gone. Still busy with the last exploding device, Grey told him to get back to the sub.
It was off. The last bomb was free of the pipeline. Grey checked the timer. One minute to go. A coldness settled on him. Even with extra weight, the bomb would not sink deep enough to explode safely. What could he do?
Grey had been chosen by Spectrum because he was the best in his field and he now showed it by his actions.
Swiftly, he removed one of his air-tanks and fastened the bomb to it. Breaching its valve, he turned it into a mini torpedo and lucked out by being able to send it into the abyss as well. With that done, he hightailed it back towards the ‘Viking’. He knew that he wouldn’t get back to it before the bombs blew, so he could only hope that they would be deep enough for him to escape them.
When the three bombs exploded seconds later, simultaneously, the shockwave was strong enough to throw him against a rock formation. The impact took the breath out of him, but fortunately, he didn’t lose consciousness.
So it was a sore Captain Grey who re-entered ‘Viking’ to a crew who were on a high after a successful end in their mission. And if he was truthful with himself, he was too.
For it was satisfying to know that none of the others could have pulled it off.
__________
Disclaimer:
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons were created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.
The copyright belongs to some company not me.
I would also like to
thank Chris for her website and the time and effort she puts into it. As
well as beta-reading my stories (no easy task).
My story has been
written for mine and others’enjoyment and not for any financial gain and any
mistakes are mine.
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