A Christmas story by VMR
Things were perfectly laid out before him, everything was set up for a fruitful session working on his latest model and Captain Ochre was looking forward to it. The challenge of getting the tiny pieces in just the right place with just enough glue to keep them together needed a certain mind set. Because if he used too little glue then the join would not be strong enough and too much would cause the glue to form a ridge along the join marring the finished paint work.
It helped him to relax in an odd way. Also the fact that he was in full control of how things went was a balm, considering how often he and the other captains faced situations that were not in their control on missions. The sense of satisfaction in seeing a pile of bits come together into a coherent whole was also a great feeling.
With great anticipation, he picked up the first piece and was reaching for the glue when his door chimed.
Now who could that be? Pat's not off duty for another couple of hours.
With a sigh, Ochre put the piece down, got up and went to open the door. To his surprise, there stood an unhappy Destiny Angel holding a small box.
“Pardonnez-moi de vous déranger*, Rick,” she said, “but I don't know who else could help me. Something very dear to me has been broken and you are the only one who might be able to fix it.” As she said that, she opened the box and in it Ochre saw a number of small broken figurines. “They belonged to my great-great-grandmother. It is a Nativity scene made out of an old type plastic. That is why I thought of you. Your models are plastic, are they not? So you would have the right things to fix them with?” She looked into the box. “They mean very much to me and I am sad that they are in pieces. I hope that you can fix them.”
Ochre lifted out one of the pieces and examined it. “It could be tricky, some of these pieces are very small.”
On hearing that, Destiny became even sadder.
“Look,” Ochre interjected, “I'll give it a darn good go for you. I was just about to work on a model so there's no reason I can see if it's possible to do something with this right away. But I think it best to warn you this won't be a quick fix even if it's doable.”
The sadness lifted from Destiny face as Ochre talked. “Merci*, Rick. Just knowing that you will try and fix it, gives me some espoir*.”
“I'll try my best Juliette. And you know my best is very good indeed, but I can't promise that it will be as good as new. Just matching the paint is going to be fun. It's a challenge, Juliette.” Ochre gave her a cheeky smile. “And we know I love a challenge.” He took the box from Destiny hands. “Now leave this with me, and I'll get on to it right away.”
“Merci beaucoup*, Rick. Vous êtes un ange.” Destiny said, as she left.
Ochre returned to where he had set up his model and tools. He carefully pushed the pieces of his model to one side and turned his attention to Destiny’s Nativity set. He started by removing the bigger pieces out of the box. He was right, this wasn't going to be easy; some of the figurines were fine but others had a lot of damage, and as he had pointed out to Destiny some of the broken parts were tiny.
Next, he carefully tipped out the small stuff onto a tray and tried to work out which ones went with what figurine. Some were easy, others were a puzzle, but he was sure that he would be able to work out where they went.
Now was the real test: what would the glue exactly do with this type of plastic? The glue was indeed very strong, and it might actually damage the figurines. He decided to fix a cow first as it wasn't a main figure and had only lost a back leg. Carefully, he put a drop on top of the broken leg and another on the cow itself and was pleased to see that there was no reaction. Positioning the leg in the right place, he used some special tape to keep it there.
Now he would have to wait an hour or so to see if it had bonded properly. Until then, he might as well work on the plane that he had already started.
After enough time had passed, he inspected the mend on the cow. The joint wasn't too obvious and seemed to have bonded well, increasing the likelihood that he could fix the Nativity set. A glance at the clock told him that it would have to wait for another day, as he was due to help Lieutenant Green go over the day's terrestrial reports. In the meantime, at least, he had some good news to give Destiny.
*****
Ever since Destiny had given him her Nativity scene, Captain Ochre worked on it whenever he could but it wasn't until now that he found himself with more than an hour to spend on it.
Settling down to work, he collected the parts of Joseph and was about to start putting him together when he stopped. Somehow, it didn't seem right; a strong feeling that he needed to work on the manger hit him instead. He tried to ignore it as it made no sense and was just downright weird. What did it matter if worked on Joseph instead of the manger?
However the feeling persisted and he got no relief from it until he started to fix the manger. It wasn't really difficult, just fiddly and required a lot of concentration. It came together slowly but as it did, a sense of elation grew, and when he finished it, a sensation of rightness and that it would continue to be so, came upon him.
Even when the voice of the Mysterons issued their next threat.
*************
On returning to his quarters the next day, after neutralizing the threat, the debriefing and the pending writing of his report, Ochre was thankful that miracles still happened, especially around Christmas.
His eyes migrated to the miniature of the manger he had left on his work table when he had left to deal with the threat. He didn't know why he had felt so strongly compelled to fix it, but maybe it had been a good thing that he had.
The target of the Mysterons had been relatively easy to work out. The big wigs of the World Space Patrol were convening to discuss the plans for the next Fireball rocket. Obviously, the Mysterons did not like the idea, which was why they wanted to sabotage the meeting, which was to be held in a hotel and conference building in Space City. Ochre, along with Magenta, Grey, Sepia, Zaffer and some ground base officers, had the job of making sure that the attending officers and officials got to the meeting safely.
With a yawn and a slight stretch, Ochre slid into a chair. The escorting duty had actually been quite interesting; he had ended up accompanying General Rebus in one of the Yellow Fox Tankers, a change from usually being the one driving it. It turned out the general was into vintage planes as well, so they had plenty to talk about. It had also turned out to be an uneventful journey, with no sign of the Mysterons anywhere along the route.
When they arrived at the building where the meeting was to be held, Captain Jade had met up with them and cleared them through security. Then a Spectrum lieutenant escorted them to the conference room, Where General Rebus, after seeing Commander Rhodes, the controller of Hot Spot Tower, thanked Ochre for his pleasant company and went over to talk to him. That had given Ochre an opportunity to catch up with Magenta and Zaffer, who had also arrived with their charges.
Ochre shook his head slowly. Colonel White hadn't been happy that the conference wasn't able to be held in one of the Maximum Security Buildings, as it would have made things a lot easier. However, because models, plans and dioramas (some of them rather big) had already been set up and could not be easily moved, that just wasn't possible. Still Scarlet, Blue, Jade and the men under their command had done a great job of checking and securing the site.
A grin crossed Ochre's face as he remembered the look on Scarlet's face, when he found out that SHEF's supreme commander, Ian Loover, wanted him to guard a piece of paper; that was memorable. Okay, so the piece of paper was actually the one and only set of the top secret plans by Colonel Shane Walsh for his Neutroni radio, because, by some unknown stuff-up, the other two copies had been shredded. Also, there was no way that Colonel Walsh could draw up new plans, because he was now dead, killed by a disease caused by his research. Which, of course meant that, in some respect, that schematic was more important than anyone else in the room. No wonder the Supreme Commander wanted it well guarded.
After another stretch, Ochre got up and headed to his desk; he had a report to write. He could have done it in the officers' lounge, but he just felt like he needed some peace and quiet. That last mission had been stressful.
His fingers hovered over the keyboard as his mind returned to the Mysterons attack. The meeting had started off well, with the Supreme Commander giving an opening speech, highlighting the successes of the Fireball program and the need, even though Mars was now out of bounds, for the exploration of other planetary bodies, as Earth's resources were becoming thin.
Then General Rebus had stepped up to give his report; that was when the fire alarm went off – and it was no false alarm.
According to Captain Jade's report at the debriefing, the Mysterons had taken over one of the building's maintenance men who, since he was off duty that day, had not been checked with the Mysteron detector. The man had possession of a set of master keys which allowed him to access anywhere in the building. Even then, the Mysterons had played it safe and had started the fire in the base of a lift shaft, while the lift was on the top floor. At the time, the Spectrum officers had thought the Mysterons had wanted to get the delegates out into the open. However, the captains thwarted the Mysterons plan, by evacuating their charges to the MSVs and the Yellow Fox tankers they had come in. Still, they had been exposed for a moment or two, and the Mysterons had set up some snipers, on the surrounding roofs – all of whom managed to fire a number of shots.
Luckily, like a miracle, an unexpected strong gust of wind came up at just the right time, throwing the shots off course, so no-one was hurt.
Ochre couldn't help but shake his head; there had been a lot going on at the time that he hadn't known about until the debriefing. Like how the fire was started, and the fact that the Mysterons had planed a double attack, by going after the delegates, and also the plans for the Neutroni radio. That came to light when Captains Scarlet and Blue gave their report at the debriefing.
Their encounter with the Mysterons started when Captain Black himself showed up. Scarlet and Blue had been helping with the evacuation of the Supreme Commander and the plans when Black managed to surprise them, knocking the commander down and grabbing the plans, before making a run for it. Scarlet gave chase after telling Blue to see to the commander’s safety and to get him out of the building.
Of course, Ochre wasn't surprised when Blue admitted that as soon as he was sure the Supreme Commander was safe, he had gone after Scarlet and Black.
What was a surprise, however, was the fact that Black, instead of leaving the building, had headed upwards, using one of the stairways. Scarlet had been able to catch up with Black and shots were exchanged, but the Mysteron agent got away by slipping through a nearby door – which led him to the tenth floor.
Blue – after contacting Scarlet to find out where they had gone to – managed to surprise Black by coming out of another stairwell. More shots were fired and a chase ensued around the floor.
According to Scarlet and Blue, there had been a number of times where, by the skin of their teeth, they just missed being shot. It was also not surprising to hear the annoyed (and maybe a slightly embarrassed) tone in Scarlet's voice as he explained how Black had used smoke grenades to slip through the two of them, and escape the floor they had trapped him on.
Another chase resulted, that ended up on the roof, where there was a helijet waiting – obviously for Captain Black. Somehow Black must have known how close Captains Scarlet and Blue were behind him, because without warning, he turned and fired some shots. One of them had hit Scarlet in his right thigh, causing him to drop. And that was from this position that he witnessed Blue tackling Black, sending both of them on the floor.
Black swiftly flipped them so he ended up on top of his adversary, and then tried to choke him with his free hand. Scarlet, unable to get to them, raised his gun and had just got Black in his sight, when Blue's knee contacted with Blacks groin, causing the Mysteron agent to lose his grip. That allowed Blue to push Black off him and to get to his feet.
Black had gotten up as well and was moving swiftly towards the helijet. Once again, Blue tackled him, before Scarlet could fire. This time around, Black lost hold of the plans and they flew out towards the edge of the building.
The three of them had frozen in dismay as it looked like the precious papers would go over the side. However, they didn't, and they landed just in front of a low parapet.
Still incapacitated, Scarlet was too far away to get to them easily, and so he watched helplessly as Blue and Black fought, each of them attempting to grab the plans for himself or trying to stop the other from getting them. Scarlet couldn’t use his gun, in fear of hitting Blue. They went around and around each others, trading punches and kicks, as the both of them got closer to the plans.
Unfortunately, it seemed as Black was going to achieve his objective, as he suddenly managed to trip Blue and sent him flying to the ground. That allowed Black to lunge for the plans and grab them. However, he didn’t have time to start for the helijet, as Blue came back again, snatching the plans from his hands. Alas, as he did so, Black caught Blue's arm, spinning him and sending him over the edge of the building.
Scarlet’s account of the fight and its outcome had left everyone stunned during the debriefing and they all just stared at Blue, who simply confirmed that it happened exactly that way. But it seemed so improbable. If indeed it was the case, then there's no way Blue should have been sitting with them. How had he survived such a fall? It would have been well over a 100 feet!
Ochre gave himself a shake. Even though he now knew Blue was okay, the thought that they might have lost him that way, was horrific. His eyes once more alighted on the manger from the Nativity set.
The reason why Blue wasn't dead was in itself unbelievable, a miracle even.
After he had watched Blue’s disappear over the edge of the building and still helpless to stop Black from getting into his helijet to escape, Scarlet quickly got over his shock and contacted Cloudbase to inform Lieutenant Green about the situation Green then alerted Doctor Fawn (who dispatched a medicopter and got ready for Blue's arrival) and contacted Captains Grey and Sepia, directing them to Blue's expected place of landing, which was, according to Scarlet’s description, a narrow alleyway situated between the building from where he had fallen from and the two-storied civic centre on the other side.
The two of them, knowing what they were likely to find, were surprised when they didn't see the grisly sight they imagined or even any sign at all of Blue. Flummoxed, they were about to contact Cloudbase, when Grey decided that they should check the roof of the next door building. After getting inside, they quickly made their way to roof. It was there that an unlikely sight met their eyes, for they found Captain Blue, looking daze but visibly unhurt, sitting in an oversized manger with the case holding the plans still in his hands.
According to Blue, the speed of his charge against Black, added to the force of Black’s swing had been enough to send him arcing away from the building by a wide margin. It had been quite a shock to him, to find himself flying through the air and falling uncontrollably. For an all too brief instant, he had been certain that this was it and was coming to terms with that fact, when he became aware that he was no longer falling. He had stopped, but he hadn't felt a thing – no shock of a violent landing, no pain… He was just fine, if somewhat confused, laying on his back, looking at the night sky. He didn't know what it was he was lying on, but its smell (a sweet, sun-shiny, newly mowing grass smell) and its feel (like bits of hard string) made him wonder what it was. Carefully he had sat up, sure that he must have broken bones or have some major injures but he didn't. Doctor Fawn later confirmed that Captain Blue only had a few bruises and scrapes, Stunned that he wasn't badly injured, Blue had a horrid feeling that he might have been Mysteronized (because how else would he have escaped serious injury) and had looked around to see if he could see his own body. Instead, he had been surprised to see that he was surrounded by giant people. It had taken him a moment or two to realize that they weren't real people but oversized figurines – figurines that were part a Nativity scene, and that he was in fact lying in its manger.
That was where Captains Grey and Sepia found him.
Captain Ochre shook his head, bemused by the whole incident. Compared to what Blue had gone through, his lot during the threat had been easy. Yet it didn't make the writing of his report any easier, which was what he had better do at the moment.
*************
It had been a couple days since the threat, and Ochre was very pleased with himself, for he had been able to fix Destiny's Nativity set. It hadn't been easy, but he had enjoyed the challenge. He hadn't been able to make it look as good as if it hadn't been broken, but for some of the figures, one had to look hard to see the mends he had made.
Carefully, he put them back into the box Destiny had used to bring them to him, one at a time, checking his work as he did so. Finally, he came to the manger and the baby Jesus. Looking at that small figurine, he thought that there was something different about it but he wasn't sure what it could be exactly. The baby Jesus hadn't need fixing so he hadn't spent much time looking at it.
He shrugged it off and closed the box. Taking it under his arm, he left his quarters and walked to Destiny’s place. He hoped she would be happy with how he had managed to fix the Nativity set.
With a grin pasted on his face, Ochre pressed the door chime of Destiny's quarters and waited expectantly. He did not have to wait for long as Destiny soon opened her door.
“Bonjour,* Rick,” she said. Seeing the box he was holding, she added: “Ah, magnifique*!You have finished fixing my poor figurines, oui*?”
“I have,” Ochre replied. “and now, I have the pleasure of placing them back into your lovely hands.”
“Merveilleux*! Now my Christmas Day will be complete. It would not have been the same without it.” Destiny stepped aside and made a gesture with her hand. “Please, will you come in and help me set it up? That is, if you have the time?”
“Of course, I will, Destiny. It would be a pleasure.” And with that answer, Ochre followed Destiny into her quarters. She led him to where her very small Christmas tree had been put up, along with some other Christmas paraphernalia. Beside it, in pride of place, was an empty spot.
“Please, Rick, open the box and let us start. It has been missing from its place long enough.”
“Love to.” Ochre opened the box and handed the stable to Destiny. “Here, I think you would want this first.”
“Oui, that would be a good start.”
Bit by bit, they put the figurines in place. After the stable, came the sheep, cows and camels. Next, it was the shepherds, then the manger, as well as Mary and Joseph – whom Ochre did get around to fix.
Ochre brought out the three kings and was about to place them when Destiny stopped him.
“Non*, non. They come after Christmas Day,” she admonished him.
“Ah, so you won't be wanting this little guy,” Ochre asked, as he held up the baby Jesus figurine.
“Le Petit Jésus,” Destiny said with joy as she took it from Ochre and gave it a close inspection. “I love the colour you have repainted his blanket. It is a lovely blue.”
Ochre stared at the figure in Destiny's hand. So that was why he had thought that something had changed. The blanket was indeed a nice pale blue now, whereas before, it had been a light brown.
But he hadn't done anything to it.
Translations:
- Pardonnez-moi de vous déranger, Rick – Sorry for disturbing you, Rick
- Merci – Thank you
- Espoir – Hope
- Merci beaucoup – Thank you so much
- Vous êtes un ange – You’re an angel
- Bonjour – Hello
- Magnifique - Magnificent
- Merveilleux – Wonderful
- Oui - Yes
- Non – No
- Le Petit Jésus – The Baby Jesus
Discraimer and acknowledgements:
I do not and have never owned 'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons', and have writen this story for my own and others enjoyment only.
Gerry and Sylvia Anderson are the creators of 'Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons' and I am grateful that they did so, as they have made great characters for me to write about.
Captains Jade, Sepia and Zaffer are my own creations and Ian Loover is the name that Keith Ansell chose for SHEF’a supreme commander in his story 'Endgame'. Thank you, Keith.
I also thank Chris for beta-reading this story and for the work putting it on this website. A big thank you to you.
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