A “Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons”
Story
By Sue Stanhope
Captain Scarlet waited
in the dark outer chamber, as he had done dozens of times before. At first he had been uncertain of where he was
and what was to happen, but now it was as routine as showering. But there was something else; there was
always a tingle of nervous apprehension in this place; either that or fervent
anticipation, he had never yet managed to determine exactly how he felt. But now, there was no time to consider such
things, he was being called through into the main chamber. Walking through the open doorway, Scarlet
squinted as the impenetrable darkness gave way to dazzlingly bright
lights. The room danced with colour,
shimmering through translucent walls, ceilings and hanging panels, which gave
the room the feel of a psychedelic maze.
Now, at last, and as usual, Scarlet was addressed directly.
“Captain Scarlet, this
is the voice of the Mysterons. Report.”
“The mission went as
planned. The distraction worked
perfectly; the bomb was discovered and during the defusing attempt, I tripped
one of the wires and it exploded,” Scarlet replied.
“Did it destroy the
evidence of our experiments?”
“Completely, I was
able to stop that fool, Blue from finding anything by insisting that he get
everyone out. The fake timer on the
bomb that showed only a minute left was enough to convince him.” Scarlet
smiled, then added with a sneer, “He’s the public spirited type.”
“Was the experiment a
success?”
“Unfortunately, no,
the change in the process of Mysteronisation has not yet solved the X-ray
problem. However your agents are still
undetected and can continue the experiments…”
“No!” the voice
interrupted. “We need a fresh mind on the problem.”
“Well,” Scarlet paused
briefly before continuing. “In three weeks time there will be a Science
Symposium at the Chicago Physics Institute, there will be hundreds of the
world’s brightest men and women gathered.
A simple distraction should allow you to take your pick. Then, hopefully, the project will be
finished quickly, allowing you to create completely undetectable Mysteron
clones.”
“You have done well,
Captain. We will consider our attack on
the Symposium and issue our threat when we have everything planned. You may return.”
“Thank you,” Scarlet
replied with a respectful nod of his head, before turning and returning to the
dark chamber.
“He’s coming out of
it,” the voice filtered through to Scarlet through a muffled fog, “Doctor
Fawn!”
“Adam,” Scarlet smiled
as he woke. “Shouldn’t you be writing a report?”
Blue raised the file
resting on the bedside cabinet.
“Done it already, my
friend, you’ve been out of it for a while, you know.”
“I suspect the bomb
did a lot of damage, it takes time to heal.”
Blue took a deep
breath. “I know, but even though I knew you’d recover, how you looked when we
pulled you out of there…” Blue’s voice tapered off.
“Hey, forget it, I’m
okay now.”
Blue nodded and forced
a smile.
“What does it feel
like?”
“Getting blown up?”
Scarlet asked with a deep frown.
“No! No, after, I
mean, when you’re dead.”
“Nothing, it doesn’t
feel like anything, I’m dead.”
“But, don’t you
dream…or anything?”
Scarlet shook his
head. “No, it’s just, well, nothing and then I wake up.”
“You have no memories?”
Scarlet shrugged.
“What’s to remember?”
THE END
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