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A Captain Scarlet story by Marion Woods Reality leaves a lot to the imagination.
John Lennon
Cloudbase: December 2085
“Angel One, returning from patrol; requesting landing permission.” “Control Tower to Angel One,
you are clear to land. Anything to
report?”
“No, it’s all quiet out there, Lieutenant.” “S.I.G., I bet you’re
looking forward to filling in another negative report…” There was a hint
of teasing in the words.
“Always my favourite kind of report, actually,” Angel One said thoughtfully. “It means that the Mysterons aren’t
actually up to mischief, for a start.” “There is that,” the lieutenant
conceded. “Control out.” The
Angel pilot saw the landing deck rising as she approached. She guided her plane to the right
spot with ease, and shut off the engines as the clamps snapped shut, as she had
done innumerable times. Indicator
lights winked off on her dashboard, and Cloudbase’s mighty engines whirred into
life as the deck slowly descended to horizontal. She
always used the ride down the chute to the I need to wash my hair… she thought.
There was a lot to be said for the mundane things in life.
When the door slid open, she glanced around the She
headed for the bathroom next to the She
was looking through the unexciting envelopes from catalogue companies and –
ironically – double-glazing firms, when the door opened and a young voice said
plaintively:
“Mom, can I speak to you - privately?”
“I
saw Angel One come in, so I knew you were here.” He
was apologising really, but she could see he was anxious about something. He worried too much, this serious-minded
son of hers.
“It’s okay, Mike; I just wish you wouldn’t march into the
“Sorry; I know I shouldn’t have, but well... there’s a problem.” She
ruffled his hair, despite his protest.
At fifteen he thought himself already a man and beyond such childish
treatment, but there still lingered the need for a maternal helping hand now and
again.
“What’s wrong this time?”
“It’s Gabriel. He’s gone missing.”
The
colonel had just concluded an important conversation with the World President
when he glanced up to see the identity of his newly-arrived visitors. His dour expression hardened. “To
what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked, his deep voice less than welcoming.
“Gabriel’s gone missing…” the youngster explained.
“What? Have you looked for him?” the colonel asked sternly.
“Everywhere I can go. I don’t think
he’s on Cloudbase,” the boy replied.
“Well, he can’t have just strolled off the place, can he?” the colonel remarked
with some exasperation. “It
isn’t his fault,” his mother snapped.
“He came to report the fact as soon as he realised he couldn’t find him.
What craft have left recently?” He
glanced at her. “You think he might
have stowed away on board?” She
leant over to his shoulder and punched a few buttons on the console. Tapping the screen with a long
fingernail, she replied, “No, I think he flew himself off…” She glanced at the lieutenant on Comms duty. “Serena, where was helijet 004 logged
for?”
Lieutenant Green checked her records.
“It’s logged to Ensign Alizarin for a training flight.
He said he had some free time and his pilot’s exam coming up soon.” She looked up in some concern. “Wait a minute, the W.A.S. have
just logged a revised flight plan with us; Alizarin’s going to
“Damn and blast the boy,” growled the colonel. “We don’t have time for this...
the World President is anxious we get our new assignment underway.”
“Then the sooner we get him back the better,” the Angel pilot replied. “I’ll go – better keep it in the family,
Conrad.”
“Make it quick, Eva, please – before he does anything stupid and things go
critical.”
“S.I.G.. Come on, Mikey; let’s leave your father
to get on with some work.” Cloudbase: December 2074 Lieutenant Green was looking
forward to the end of his shift: he was planning to meet up with a few of the
other lieutenants for a little seasonal get-together in the main common room.
He glanced across as the automatic door snapped back and Lieutenant Claret
walked in and saluted the colonel, who was still sitting at his control panel,
before walking over to the communication station. “Anything to report?” Claret
asked, as he approached. Zarak Khan, the second-in-command for the
communications section, was older than the average lieutenant on Cloudbase.
An experienced radio operator, he’d been recruited from the World Army Air
Force’s Afghan division and gave the youthful Corps of Lieutenants much-needed
gravitas. Habitually composed, he was considered a
‘safe pair of hands’ by the colonel, and was the first choice officer for the
night-shift on board Cloudbase.
Lieutenant Green had, initially, been rather in awe of giving him orders,
but Claret’s lack of pretensions made him easy to get along with and he was
well-liked. The fact that he
frequently worked nights allowed him to remain slightly aloof from the more
boisterous behaviour of some of his colleagues, which suited his wishes. Green leant back and
stretched, looking up at his sober subordinate. “Nothing of much relevance,” he replied. “There’s been a severe weather front
stationary over the Mediterranean for the best part of the day, an impressive
tropical storm in Rio and it has started snowing in “Because of the World Science
Conference being held there?” Claret asked, as he took the seat Green had just
vacated and signed into the system. “Yes, it starts tonight with a
reception jointly hosted by the American President and the World Government’s
Minister for Science. Captains Grey
and Ochre have reported that they have the place sewn up tighter than a drum, so
there shouldn’t be any problems.” The young Trinidadian sighed and gave a rueful
grimace. “But… if I had a dollar for every time we’ve said that and then the
situation has gone belly-up almost immediately, I would be rich enough to give
up working in this madhouse and retire to my Caribbean island home.” “You would die of boredom
within a very short time,” Claret said calmly. Green had to look at him to
see the sparkle of amusement in those dark eyes and confirm that he was being
teased. He grinned. “Oh, sure I would – not! Let me tell you,
Zarak, after a day as slow and devoid of excitement as this one’s been, I feel
ready to die of boredom anyway.” When Claret smiled, his
strong, white teeth were surprisingly bright against the neat black beard that
covered the lower part of his strong-featured face. “Well, speaking as the man
who has to survive the night shift with Captain Blue, I think you have had the
easier job, Lieutenant.” He glanced
towards the main Control Desk and its occupant. “Things are livelier with the colonel around than with
‘Captain Cautious’.” Green chuckled. “There is
that,” he agreed, “but would you rather have Captain Cautious or one of the
other ‘Shoot-first-ask-questions-afterwards’ Americans? Or even Captain
Scarlet?” “Scarlet’s not that bad,”
Claret remarked, after a moment’s thought. “I’ll take your word on it,”
Green said, as he made to leave. “It’s all yours for the night, Claret; look
after my baby until I get back, d’you hear?” “S.I.G., Lieutenant,” Claret
replied with mock formality. “I’m going to the first of the
Christmas get-togethers in the main common room,” Green reminded him, adding as
he always did, “just call if you need
me.” Claret raised his head and
glanced at his senior officer with a smile.
“I doubt there will be any need, but thanks for letting me know. Have a good time.” “Thanks. I’m really looking forward to relaxing
for a while.” He marched up to the
Control Desk and saluted the colonel.
“I’m going off duty now, sir.
Lieutenant Claret has taken over for the night duty.” “S.I.G.,
Lieutenant. I’m expecting Captain Blue to take over here in,” he
glanced at the clock, “the next two and a half minutes.” Green grinned; that was about
as near as the colonel came to making a joke.
It seemed that the Christmas spirit was seeping into the old man’s bones
after all. “Goodnight then, sir,” he said and received an affable half-smile
from the Commander-in-Chief. “Goodnight.” White watched his Head of
Communications leave and then glanced at the familiar figure of Lieutenant
Claret, already occupied with the steady flow of information from Spectrum’s
bases around the world. Sometimes it is hard to remember that we’re in a
constant state of alert, he
mused. The Mysterons certainly like to
lull us into a sense of false security… When the door opened again,
some five minutes later, Captain Blue strode in, balancing a file on top of a
large mug of coffee and carrying a Danish pastry in his mouth. He saluted with
his free hand. White raised one dark eyebrow
and shook his head. “I’d rather
wait for you to put the coffee down and avoid the risk of spillage, than be
saluted immediately, Captain.” Blue flushed, put the coffee
on the side and removed the pastry. “Sorry, sir. I was delayed and I hadn’t had my supper.” White gave a surprisingly
understanding nod, and managed to suppress his ironic smile. He knew where Blue had been delayed –
and why – because he’d happened to catch sight of the tall American sitting on
the Promenade Deck, with his arm around Symphony Angel’s shoulders, as the CCTV
scan had covered the area on its regular security sweep. He signed off command and
completed the formal handover to his subordinate officer. “I hope it is a peaceful
night,” he said, as he took his leave. “Me too,” Blue muttered,
rolling his eyes at the grinning Lieutenant Claret as the automatic door slid
closed, and then taking an enormous bite from his pastry.
Captain Scarlet was woken by
the insistent buzz of the communicator beside his bed. It felt like he’d only just got off to
sleep and he wasn’t best pleased at being woken. He clicked on the light, and
glared at his clock as if the fact that it was showing “Scarlet,” he growled, in
response to his caller. “I am sorry to disturb you,
Captain, but please would you report to the Control Room?” As usual, Lieutenant Claret’s
deep voice conveyed no sense of urgency, so Scarlet, disinclined to comply,
asked, “What’s wrong?” as he sat up and swung his feet to the floor, searching
for his slippers. “The Acting Commander is
asking to see you, Captain,” Claret replied. “Claret, tell ‘the Acting
Commander’ that merely missing my company isn’t reason enough to wake me up.” “It is an order, Captain
Scarlet, sir,” Claret insisted. “Does he want me in uniform,
or will my dressing gown do?” Scarlet asked, obliquely acknowledging that his
protest was purely rhetorical. There was a pause and Blue’s
voice cut in. “Just come up here as soon as
you’re decent, Scarlet. I think
this is something you ought to know about.” “If this is some daft prank,
I’ll break your neck, Svenson…” Scarlet grumbled in an aside. Blue lowered his voice and
said urgently, “No, Paul, this is serious…” The fact that Blue, an
absolute stickler for doing things by the book when he was on duty, had used his
Christian name was enough to convince Scarlet that his friend was serious. So, when he arrived in the
Control Room some ten minutes later; he was dressed in his uniform but unshaven
and still looking annoyed. “I know I don’t need as much
sleep as you, Blue, but I do like to get
some
rest,” he complained, as he wandered over to the main desk, where Blue was
staring intently at the huge video screen. He watched for a moment and then
asked, “What’s going on?” “You know where that is?” “ “Be serious, will’ya?” his friend snapped. “I will when you tell me
what’s going on.” “That’s the big Mediterranean
storm and it’s been raging all night.” “Don’t tell me: the Mysterons
have threatened to ruin everyone’s Christmas with bad weather?” Scarlet
hazarded, still bewildered by the apparent importance his friend ascribed to the
storm. “It has been raining heavily
for about 24 hours,” Blue explained.
“And it has been centred right over “Etna?” Blue nodded. “Now d’you see why it’s serious?” Scarlet scratched his head and
ran a hand over his unshaven chin.
“Well, I can risk a guess.
The last time I had anything to do with Etna, you and I ended up trapped in a
warren of time-shifting tunnels between dimensions.”
He glanced at Blue and saw the concern on his friend’s face was real.
Scarlet’s levity vanished. “You mean it might open the inter-dimensional tunnels
again?” “Not might open them – apparently it
has
opened some of the tunnels,” Blue said, as he swivelled the chair around to face
his friend. “Lieutenant Argent
called through some minutes ago and reported that a young guy has walked into
Spectrum: “Alizarin? Sounds like
the baddy from a third-rate production of an ‘Aladdin’ Christmas panto…” Blue gave an exasperated shake
of his fair head. “It’s the name of
a manufactured organic red dye, derived from the madder plant.” “Great – a nutter, with an
even crazier colour codename …” “Paul – please, this is serious!” Scarlet sighed and shook his
head pityingly. “Adam, just because
somebody walks into a Spectrum ground base and announces they’re Ensign Ali Baba
from the Twilight Zone and they want immediate attention, it does not mean that they are who they claim to be, or that they’ve come from a different
dimension specifically to see us - or even to see me. There’re more than enough nutcases out there who imagine they’re
part of Spectrum and that they’ve got exclusive information vital to the safety of the planet. You don’t have to drag me out of bed
every time one of them gets taken seriously by a lieutenant who’s still wet
behind the ears, do you?” “No; but this one seems to
know a good deal more about Cloudbase than has ever been made public, and he
knows a lot about you - he knows
your real name, for a start – and … well, take a look at this.” Blue clicked the screen’s control switch
to change the picture to a scanned image of an ID card. It looked vaguely familiar and
carried a small head-and-shoulders image of a dark-haired youngster, with
bright-blue eyes. He was wearing a
vivid-red tunic that was not entirely unlike the one the three men in the
Control Room were wearing. The ID
card looked like a Spectrum one, except that it sported the insignia of a
chubby, colour-banded, stylised S, enclosed by two golden semi-circles. Scarlet frowned and met Blue’s
perceptive gaze with a faint blush on his cheeks. “You do recognise it – I thought you
might. It looks like that sketch
you showed me, when we were talking about what’d happened.” Scarlet took a moment to look
in surprise at his friend, but Blue was now staring at the screen and missed the
glance. That has to have been at least four years ago – and he
can’t have seen it for more than a few minutes. Sometimes the amount of detail this man’s memory holds leaves
me speechless…he thought, a
wry smile on his lips. I guess the trick is to never say something
you wouldn’t want remembered. Aloud, he said: “Okay, I admit
that looks like the Spectrum badge I saw when I went through the tunnels to one
of the parallel dimensions; but, even if he does come from Cadenza’s world,
there’s no guarantee he’s who he says he is, or that he’s coming to see me.
I’m not a major, for a start, and although I know you didn’t get to see
as much as me, I can assure you there were numerous dimensions – all slightly
different from this one in some way.
This might be someone from a different dimension than Cadenza’s trying to
reach yet another dimension.
After we left Lieutenant Garnet in the alternative dimension, the portals here
were blocked by an eruption; but we can’t be sure something similar happened
elsewhere. They might’ve been
visiting back and forth ever since, and our visitor might simply be lost.” Blue nodded. “Yes, I considered that before I called
you up here. In either case – by
design or by accident – he’s here, and we need to know why as urgently as we need to prevent the tunnels’ existence
becoming common knowledge. I called
you because I thought you might like to come with me, when I go to find out the
truth.” Scarlet snorted with laughter.
“Acting Commanders generally remain on their base,” he reminded his friend, with
a jovial grin. “Besides, if anyone goes it ought to be
me.” Satisfied that he’d succeeded
in rousing his friend’s curiosity, Blue replied, “You don’t think I could let
you go alone, knowing the kind of trouble you’d get into?” The merest smile twitched at the
corners of his lips. “Touché,” Scarlet replied, recalling the time he’d said as much to
his friend when Colonel White had called for volunteers for a mission. “Right: do we go straight away, or shall
we wait long enough to wake the colonel first, Acting Commander?”
In the secure waiting room of
Spectrum’s Lieutenant Argent was clearly
dubious about his credentials; it seemed that the young officer hadn’t been
involved in the most significant mission to involve his command, that pertaining
to the Mysterons’ attempt to use technology known as the ‘Volcanic Pacifier’ to
destroy the Earth. Still,
Argent had listened to what he’d had to say with polite, if mistrustful,
attention. Then he’d conducted him
to this ‘waiting room’ where, no doubt, he was under constant CCTV surveillance
while his fate was decided by unseen and unknown individuals. It was frustrating in the extreme and
made him wonder if he’d made the right decision to come here. Suddenly, Alizarin sprang up
from the chair and paced around the sparsely furnished room, restless with
pent-up energy. He rested his head
against the window and gazed across the rain-lashed bay to where the dark bulk
of He spun round at the sound of
the door lock, hope that he would finally be allowed to go to Cloudbase flaring
up inside him. The sight of a
dapper Italian carrying a tray of refreshments dampened that expectation
immediately. “For you,” the Spectrum
sergeant said, as he put the tray down. “Thank you, Sergeant.” The man was staring at him
intently, a frown between his dark eyebrows.
Alizarin dredged his memory
and came up with a name. “You must
be Carlo Ruffolo.” “Si,” the sergeant acknowledged, impressed. “Do you know me, Ensign?” Alizarin waved a hand,
expressing uncertainty. “I know of you,” he prevaricated. Ruffolo gave an expressive
shrug, and nodded his head towards the exit.
“Lieutenant Argent, he does no believe you, but he has speakened with
Cloudbase. I should not tell to
you, but Capitano Blue and Capitano Scarlet are on their ways here.” Alizarin grinned. “Thank you,
Carlo.” Impulsively, he asked, “Do
you believe me?” Sergeant Ruffolo resumed his
intense study of the young man’s face and a smile broke out on his expressive
face. “There was much to believe
when Lieutenant Garnet disappear. Capitano Blue and Capitano Scarlet, make an investigation most thorough. They will sort this riddle. If you are not in truth, they will find
this out.” Alizarin gave a wry smile and
watched Ruffolo leave, hearing the lock snap shut once more behind him.
Out in the main office, Lieutenant Argent was bustling about like a
proud housewife, urging his staff to spruce the place up. When he’d reported to his senior officer
that two colour-coded captains were about to arrive from Cloudbase, Captain
Henna’s suggestion that he ought to come directly from Rome and deal with the
matter personally, had stirred Argent’s sense of insecurity enough to make him
decide to treat this visit like an inspection, and make damn sure everything was
impressively organised and operating effectively. When he was satisfied that the
place was as ship-shape as it could be, he went back to his office and checked
his uniform in the mirror again, practising smart salutes. It was only when he smiled approval at
his reflection that he saw Sergeant Ruffolo standing patiently at the open door,
and behind him were the looming figures of the colour-captains. Ruffolo’s expression was a
model of discretion as he ushered the two VIPs in. Captain Blue, who’d worked
closely with Ruffolo when the previous head of station had disappeared in
suspicious circumstances, exchanged a few words with him, and when he turned
back, Argent was shaking hands with Captain Scarlet. He reached out his hand to
introduce himself. “Nice to be back here,” he said, as he took a seat beside the
desk. “Things won’t have changed
much since then, I expect,” Argent said. Blue smiled. “No, Ruffolo is just the same – mind
you, he’s the kind of guy that never seems to change. I expect he still knows all there is to know about what’s
going on?” Argent gave a nervous chuckle
of acknowledgment. “Carlo is a
constant source of information,” he said. “Maybe we should get him in here to brief us then?” Scarlet
asked pointedly. “There’s no need for that,
Captain Scarlet,” Argent insisted. “I can assure you I have all the details
here.” He tapped a folder on the
desk blotter. “You’ve found out who this ‘Ensign Alizarin’ really is?” Scarlet
asked, in surprise. Argent hesitated. “Not
exactly, sir. He refuses to say any
more than he’s already said; which is that he’ll only explain everything to you,
Captain Scarlet.” The two captains exchanged
glances and then Scarlet stretched forward, reaching for the file. “Then we’d better see what he is prepared to say and be fully-informed
before we meet him.” Argent handed the folder over
and sat back. Scarlet gave the
slightest sigh of exasperation, his dark eyebrows sliding up in an arch. “A little privacy, if you’d be so kind,
Lieutenant?” “Of course, forgive me!” Flustered, Argent sprang to his feet.
“Please, gentlemen, call for anything you need.” He edged out of the room with
a nervous smile on his face. As the door closed behind him,
Blue observed in amusement, “I think you enjoy intimidating the ground staff…” Scarlet grinned. “It’s what they expect. They’d be disappointed if we weren’t
fearsome and awe-inspiring individuals.” Blue chuckled. “You’re the one the legends are growing
up around; me, I’m just the obligatory sidekick.” “Oh, sure you are,” Scarlet
scoffed. “Okay, ‘Boy Wonder’, wrap
your bat-brain around this report and let’s see what we can make of Ensign Ali
Baba.” “Holy conundrum, Batman! I will, just as soon as you pass me the
documents.” Scarlet flicked through the
folder and grinned. “Brownie points to Lieutenant Argent, there are two copies…” He handed over a couple of
sheets of closely-typed paper. Blue took them, but before he
started reading he said, “I think we’d better abandon our
‘super-heroes-in-panto-mode’ from here on in, Paul.
Alizarin might not appreciate being called ‘Ali Baba’ and we’ll need his
co-operation, if we’re going to wrap this up and get back to Cloudbase in time
for the ‘not-quite-Christmas’ party the Angels have organised.” “You know, I’d rather skip the
party; but you’re probably right.
Dianne will be livid if I miss it.” “So she will; and I have my
orders,” Blue confessed, nodding.
“I’m under strict instructions from Karen to make sure you go. Apparently Dianne
thinks you need cheering up.” He glanced at his field partner and closest friend
and asked, “Is she right? Is
something wrong, Paul?” Scarlet avoided the question
and instead he quipped, “You look nothing like I expected a Fairy Godmother to
look. Are you going to turn into a
beautiful woman in a sparkly frock, wave a magic wand, and say ‘Scarletella, you shall go to the ball’
any time soon?” “No; I’m far more likely to
say: ‘sorry, Colonel, but it was
justifiable
homicide; he wouldn’t take me seriously’.” Scarlet grimaced. “I think this time of year is too
crowded with parties; I mean you wait all year for a reason to party and then
two or three come at once.” “There’s the Fourth of July.”
“I suppose we ought to
celebrate getting rid of you Yanks before you became too much of a liability,
but it isn’t quite the done thing… old chap.” “Okay, if you say so…Limey. But you’re not the only person to have
a birthday; it tends to happen at least once a year to almost everybody. And there’s Halloween.” “I don’t like Halloween.
Somehow I always get into trouble then.” Blue shook his head
despairingly; there was no reasoning with Scarlet when he was in this sort of
mood. “Well, I can’t say your sudden
aversion to partying the night away makes any sense to me, Paul. You didn’t have a birthday party this
year, because we were in “Well, of course it did. Sort of.” “Sort of?” “Is there an echo in here?” “Please yourself,” Blue said,
with a shrug. “But I warn you now;
I’m not risking having my Christmas ruined because I didn’t get you to the party.” “Karen’s perfectly unreasonable at times.” “Is that supposed to be news
to me? I have to live with it,
remember.” Scarlet chuckled and then sighed. “Oh, all right, if you must know: on our evening out, I
made the mistake of telling Dianne that every new birthday just rubs in the fact
that, whatever it says on my birth certificate, I’m probably going to stay
thirty-one for a long time – maybe for ever.” “Hey,” the American responded,
“take it from someone who can see forty looming, thirty-one has its
attractions.” Scarlet rolled his eyes. “That’s my point!” he said somewhat
ambiguously. Blue grimaced in
confusion, but Scarlet didn’t notice and went on, “Don’t worry, Adam, you don’t
look a day over thirty-nine….” “Gee, thanks… I’m not
thirty-nine – yet,” Blue muttered. But Scarlet wasn’t listening;
he was recalling the conversation he’d had with his fiancée. “Dianne said I was being morbid and that
I obviously needed cheering up.
This party is supposed to do just that.” “Well, take the advice of a much older man,” Blue said, “go to the
party and look like you’re having the best time imaginable; otherwise you’ll
have to explain to all five of the Angels why you’ve got a face like a wet
weekend.” Scarlet gave a ruefully amused
smile. “That’s a fate worse than
death, all right – having all five of them on your case at once. Okay, okay – look, I’m being serious… I
have the report open ready to read.”
He looked down. “Better get
started; my spider-sense tells me this is going to be…
difficult.” “Now you’re mixing-up your
super-heroes,” Blue remarked, with a sorrowing shake of his head. “If you ask
me, that’s a sure sign of encroaching old age, Batman.” Scarlet chuckled and started
reading.
When the two captains entered
the waiting room, the young man was standing by the window. He advanced towards them eagerly, his
hand outstretched and a warm smile on his wide mouth. “Major Scarlet – sorry, Captain Scarlet – thank you for coming.
It’s good to meet you, at last.”
His voice, tinged with relief and excitement, had the timbre of a nervous
adolescent, causing both men to revise their immediate impression of his age
downwards. Alizarin was a gangly youth
and he wore his unruly black hair unfashionably long. Its wayward curl framed an angular face dominated by
piercingly blue eyes, and softened the sharp-angled bone structure of a strong
jaw line, complete with dimple. His
complexion was blemish-free and there was a downy fuzz on his upper lip that had
obviously never encountered a razor.
Although he had a promise of a muscular build in his shoulders and long limbs,
he was probably still a few years short of reaching his adult height and Scarlet
put him at no more than sixteen. He was dressed, not in the
tunic of the ID card, but a shirt of a deep-red colour that approximated his
colour-code, and dark, well-tailored trousers. He was becoming unnerved by Scarlet’s intense scrutiny,
and as his hand began to be withdrawn, Captain Scarlet extended his and grasped
the large, surprisingly strong hand of the youngster. They shook. Alizarin dropped Scarlet’s
hand and turned to the watchful Captain Blue.
He stared up at the American with apparent fascination. “I was so pleased to hear that you’d be
coming too; I hardly expected it,” he said, and held out his hand again. Blue took it more readily than
Scarlet had and shook hands. As he withdrew his hand, Blue glanced questioningly
at Scarlet. “Nothing,” Scarlet replied to
the unspoken question. Alizarin smiled. “You want to know if I’m a Mysteron. I assure you, I’m not.” “Lieutenant Argent will be
reprimanded for failing to test you with a Mysteron detector, nevertheless,”
Scarlet replied sourly. “It wasn’t his fault, really.
I wouldn’t let them; it could’ve got…
complicated,” Alizarin confessed. “In what way?” Blue asked. His question was ignored, and
by way of a reply, Alizarin continued, “So I told them just enough to get them
to contact you, Major Scarlet. I
had to see you – and I didn’t know what else I could do to make you see me.” “I’m not a major,” Scarlet
reminded him, adding, “You told them you’d travelled through a ‘portal’ from a
different dimension, which certainly got their attention, but you either have a
vivid imagination, or a poor opinion of my credulity, if you expect me to
believe that.” “I wasn’t sure how much they’d
know about the events around the ‘Volcanic Pacifiers’ mission,” Alizarin
explained, “but I knew you’d know all
about it. It was the bait to hook the fish.” “That’s honest enough,” Blue
said, and he moved further into the room, where he could get a better look at
Alizarin. The young man smiled at
him with the familiar smile of one old friend to another. Blue frowned. “Okay,” Scarlet said briskly,
“I’ve had enough of this pussy-footing about, Ensign Alizarin – or whatever your
name is. Who are you?” Alizarin’s blue-eyes sparkled
with amusement. “Don’t you know? Can’t you guess?” He spread his arms and announced, “I’m the son of Cadenza
Angel – and – and well - you, Captain
Scarlet.”
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The profound silence that
greeted Alizarin’s revelation lasted for what felt like an eternity to everyone
in the room. Scarlet stared
open-mouthed at the youngster and Blue looked from one man to the other in
doubtful bewilderment. Here
was the explanation for the vague resemblance he’d noticed – the answer to the
question of just who Alizarin reminded him of – and it wasn’t what he’d expected
to hear. “That’s quite an assertion,
young man,” Scarlet gasped, eventually recovering his wits. “I didn’t expect you to
believe me straight away, but it is true.
You are my biological father.” “What’s your real name?” Blue
asked sharply. Alizarin turned to him with an
easy-going shrug. “Gabriel John
Svenson Turner. And before you ask:
my mother is Eva Joanna Svenson, the eldest daughter of John and Sarah Svenson,
of
“Turner?” prompted Scarlet,
the memory of shared confidences firing up in his mind. Alizarin spread his large
hands and went on to explain. “She
married Colonel Conrad Turner – Spectrum’s Commander-in-Chief - when she
discovered she was pregnant. They’d
been… close, for some years before they joined Spectrum, and he acknowledged and
raised me as his own.” “What makes you think you’re not his son?” Scarlet probed. “Because of who - and what –
my mom is, I was subjected to never-ending tests as a child – including “Now wait a minute,” Scarlet
said, “I accept that you might not be Colonel Turner’s son – but that doesn’t
make you mine.” “I think it does. Are you trying to deny it’s a
possibility?” Alizarin asked, his manner becoming brusque. Scarlet gave a non-committal
shrug of one shoulder and merely said, “A gentleman doesn’t reveal the names of
ladies he may have been intimate with; even in this day and age, that remains
the lady’s prerogative.” He turned towards Blue with a
conspiratorially smug smile, but was surprised to see the shocked expression on
his friend’s face. Sometimes it is all too apparent that there’s Puritan blood in him,
he thought with some amusement. There was a hint of resentment
in Alizarin’s voice as he replied, “Well, my mother exercised that prerogative!
She told us what happened on the other
Cloudbase the night before you went back to your own worlds.
So it isn’t worth your breath to deny it, Captain Scarlet.” Feeling awkward, Scarlet
growled, “Oh did she indeed?” “Yes, she did,” the youngster
asserted. “Even if everything Cadenza
said was true, that doesn’t mean I am your father. I’m from a different dimension – a whole
new reality - wouldn’t you say that was pushing the bounds of possibility a
little too far?” Alizarin shook his head. “In Doctor Fawn’s opinion mom could only
get pregnant by a man who’s also retrometabolic – otherwise her body would have
rejected the embryos as ‘alien’ – no pun intended. Colonel Turner certainly isn’t retrometabolic and my parents
never had children together.
She says that only leaves one contender for the identity of my father – that’s
the Mysteronised Captain Scarlet she met on the mission that took them both to
an alternative dimension. And that
was you – wasn’t it?” When Scarlet didn’t respond,
Alizarin held out his arm towards him and rolled back his sleeve. “Run your own tests, if you
want to,” he said, dramatically. “Oh, we will,” Blue assured
him coldly. “From what we know of those inter-dimensional tunnels, there are
numerous other realities, many that Scarlet never encountered. Your mother could be any Cadenza, from
any dimension, and the Scarlet she met, any Scarlet from any where. You can’t know for sure that it was this Scarlet.” “Are you suggesting my mother
went trawling through the dimensions looking for a different retrometabolic
Captain Scarlet to jump into bed with?” the boy snarled. “She left the group she
was with and came straight back home.” “So she says…”Blue commented
dryly. “My mother doesn’t lie! You may not know, but in these
other dimensions it wasn’t always Captain Scarlet who was retrometabolic. It was mom in my world, for
a start. She never went back into the
tunnels after she got home, so that doesn’t leave anyone else but that Paul
Metcalfe!” Alizarin pointed dramatically at Scarlet.
“You can’t know this for
sure,” Blue asserted. “I told you: she doesn’t lie.
You, of all people, should know that,” Alizarin retorted. He sighed and looked
away. “Sometimes I’ve wished she would. She has an uncomfortable way of believing honesty is the
best, if not the only way. Remind you of anyone, Adam Svenson?” Alizarin turned to look
directly at Scarlet. “I don’t know
about you, though; maybe you would’ve
lied?” “No, he would not! You’re forgetting your manners, young
man!” Blue snapped. Reacting instinctively to the
angry tone of Blue’s voice, Alizarin turned back to him, slightly flushed. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to be rude. The truth is, my mom says I generally
only open my mouth to stick my foot in it.” Blue inclined his head
slightly and, in a rush Alizarin confided, “It seems even weirder to be talking
to you, Captain Blue, than it does to… well, to my father. I know, in the normal way of things,
we’re not related; but you are the mirror image of my mother. Your parents are the same people as my
grandparents. I guess that’s why it
feels as if I know you – because I do feel as if I do. In fact, the expression on your face
right now is the exact same look of disapproval mom’s refined to an art form. In spite of the situation,
Scarlet sniggered. Blue cast an exasperated
glance at his partner. “Before we all get carried away, remember that the
mission in question happened less than four years ago.” He nodded towards Alizarin. “Either that
is the most mature three-year old in history, or his story is bullshit.” Scarlet looked from Blue to
Alizarin and cocked an encouraging eyebrow.
“Well? Which is it?” Alizarin gave a confused shrug
and complained, “I expected to arrive here on the same date as I left home, but
the only tunnel that was open led me here. You can’t be more gobsmacked than I was when I realised the
date. I left on December 21st in
the year 2085, and now they tell me it’s 2073.
I’m fifteen years old – whereas by rights, I should be toddling about in
a romper suit. My mom is a
sprightly fifty-year-old - on her birth certificate, anyway, although she’s
hardly changed since she was Mysteronised – whereas you, Captain Blue, you can’t
be forty yet. You met my ‘Aunt’
Paula Metcalfe, didn’t you, Captain Scarlet?” Scarlet nodded and reminded
Blue, “She was Sonata Angel – the ‘me’ in that dimension.” He added with a vestige of the surprise
he’d felt at the time, “She reminded me of my mother.” Alizarin chuckled. “My ‘Aunt Paula’ was forty-nine a
few days ago – she was complaining about it – but I guess you’ve just had your
37th
birthday, Captain Scarlet? Am I
right?”
Scarlet nodded in an
abstracted way. He clearly
remembered the shock of seeing a female version of himself, not to mention the
masculine versions of the ultra-feminine Angels, yet, at the time, Eva Svenson
had been a reassuringly familiar presence in a world gone crazy. When he and Garnet had met the people in the first
alternative dimension they’d encountered, their personalities hadn’t resembled
the people he knew much – that Captain Blue was a scheming and manipulative man
- but Cadenza had seemed like an old
friend from almost the moment they’d met “What else can I say to make you believe me?” Alizarin asked,
looking from one bemused face to the other, distinctly disapproving one. Scarlet scratched an eyebrow
thoughtfully and glanced back at the silent Captain Blue. As the silence lengthened his said,
“It’s true that the tunnels skipped about through dimensions and time. I suppose we must face it that if the
storm has only opened a few of the ‘portals’ in this dimension the choices are
limited.” He turned back to Alizarin. “I
suppose you had to take what you could get – and you got here and now – and us.” The youth nodded. “I’m sure I
got the right one, though.” “Huh. Why are you here?” Blue demanded of him. “It’s rather complicated-”
Alizarin began, displaying a sudden reluctance to discuss the topic that was
quite at odds with his previous openness. “Just when I thought everything was becoming clear…” Scarlet
muttered ironically. “I want to stay here.” “What?” Scarlet cried. “I don’t want to go back.
I want to stay here – with you.” Scarlet’s strangled laugh was
a pure nervous reaction. “No,” he said fiercely. “That’s out of the question.” “You can’t make me go back.
I’ll claim political asylum!” Alizarin exclaimed wildly. “What from: too much
homework?” Blue snapped. “You don’t know what it’s
like!” “So tell me,” Blue said,
unmoved by the youngster’s vehemence. Alizarin turned away and
gathered his thoughts. When he
spoke there was an earnest tone in his voice that suggested he was telling the
truth. “You have to realise that I’ve
spent my entire life on Cloudbase.
I’ve never been to a normal school or had much to do with non-Spectrum
people, because, officially, I don’t exist.
We were kept secret because Spectrum was secret and mom’s condition made
us vulnerable – we’d be great hostages to make her do whatever they wanted.
Then, when we were about 9 or 10, everything changed.
There’d been a lot of negative comment about the cost of Spectrum and so they
had the idea of publishing a calendar, ostensibly for charity, featuring
Spectrum’s agents and machinery. It
was a great success, people wanted to know more about Spectrum, so World
President Flores decided that it would be a good re-election ploy to reveal the
truth behind Spectrum and the Mysterons.
That’s when it went ballistic: there were models of the machines – the SPVs and
SSCs, the jets, even Cloudbase itself.
Then action dolls - captains and Angel Pilots – lunch boxes, stationery – you
name it. The logo became a trademark – the World
Government raked the money in, and then they made a TV show-” “’Captain Starlight’,”
Blue groaned. “Don’t even mention it.” “They’ve done that here too?
Ours is called ‘Cantabile Seraph’,” Alizarin explained,
“and it’s based – supposedly – on mom’s exploits. Most of it’s rubbish, of course, and they’ve got her in a
sickening on-off romance with one of the brain-dead, supposedly hunky captains.
Mom finds it amusing, but my dad hates it – Colonel Black, I mean.
We’re not in it, of course, because we’re not supposed to exist – which
suits me fine - I don’t want to go through my life as the real ‘Cantabile’s kid’.” “Annoying as it may be, it
doesn’t justify you staying here,” Blue remarked. “But I want a proper life,
where no one knows who I am. I want
the chance to do all the things I’ve never had the chance to do… I’ve had
enough!” “Nevertheless, you can’t stay
here; your parents will be worried about you,” Scarlet said. “No they won’t: they won’t
care.” “I find that hard to believe.
Besides, you have to go back – you can’t remain in a different dimension-”
Scarlet began to reason. “Lieutenant Garnet did – didn’t she? My mother said she was going
to stay in the other dimension. The
world hasn’t ended, and the fabric of space and time hasn’t broken down, has it?” The two captains glanced at
each other and Alizarin exclaimed, “I want to stay here. With you; you are my father, after all.” “Look, kid, like I said, you
can’t even be sure this Captain Scarlet is
your father. You need to go back
home and sort this problem out there.
Running away won’t help,” Blue said dispassionately. “No,” Alizarin said, his lower
lip protruding slightly in determination. Scarlet suddenly caught a
flicker of light on the CCTV camera and put a hand on Blue’s arm to draw him
aside. “We can’t discuss this here
and we’d better take the security recordings with us when we go. Too much has been said already,” he said
in a confidential whisper. Blue nodded. “Where do you propose we go?” “Cloudbase.” “You’re crazy; we can’t take
him back there,” Blue hissed in alarm. “You got a better idea? Until he can be convinced he has to go
back, we need to keep him hidden, Adam.” Blue sighed and shrugged.
“Okay, but you’d better have got him out of the habit of claiming to be your son
before Dianne sees him.” “Oh crikey…” “And did you notice how he
kept referring to-” Blue began, but before the conversation could continue,
Scarlet’s epaulettes started flashing and his cap mic swung down from the peak
of his uniform cap. “Yes, Colonel White?” he
responded. “Captain Scarlet, your report is overdue. What’s happening?” Scarlet explained that he and
Blue believed the young man’s claim was genuine. He made no mention of Alizarin’s assertion about his
parentage, or his wish to remain, but that came as no surprise to the attentive
Blue who hadn’t expected him to; he knew Paul Metcalfe was an extremely private
man. “Yes, bring him back to Cloudbase,” Colonel White agreed, at
Scarlet’s suggestion. “We’ll need to question him further and we
must consider the consequences of the re-opening of the tunnels. I’m not sure I
like the prospect of inter-dimensional tourists popping in and out of the
place.” “S.I.G., Colonel,” Scarlet
acknowledged, as the communication channel closed. He turned to the others.
“We’re going to Cloudbase to continue this discussion, Alizarin; then you’ll
only have to tell your story once.” “S.I.G,” Alizarin replied,
making the older men react with surprise. Realising they had forgotten he was
steeped in the culture of Spectrum, he grinned at them and added, “I didn’t
bring any luggage, I thought it would complicate things if they saw me leaving
with fully laden suitcases.” “Not to worry; I’m sure we can
kit you out, if necessary.” Scarlet
opened the door and strode out to organise transport to the airfield where their
SPJ was waiting. Alizarin picked up the leather
jacket he’d left on the sofa and glanced at Captain Blue. He gave a surprisingly shy smile. “You know, I’ve been dreaming of meeting
my real father ever since I was a kid, and
yet, when I knew it was about to happen, I was terrified. I don’t know what I expected; I guess it
can’t be easy suddenly being presented with a teenager who claims he’s the son
you never knew you had, but I thought he took it very well, don’t you?” “To be honest, I don’t think it’s sunk in yet; but, yes, he’s
taking it very well - for now.” “You don’t like me though, do
you?” Alizarin asked with obvious disappointment. “It really has nothing to do
with me,” Blue said brusquely, but unusually for him, he couldn’t meet the
youngster’s forthright gaze. Alizarin looked downcast and
slouched out of the room, leaving Blue to stare after him, thoughtfully rubbing
his chin.
There was a security detail
waiting for them to disembark from the SPJ as they landed on Cloudbase. Colonel White was taking no chances, and
Lieutenant Viridian and his small brigade of guards were armed. Under the circumstances, the
reluctant Alizarin made very little protest about submitting to a Mysteron
Detector test. He was then escorted to the
Conference Room by the armed guards, with Scarlet and Blue walking some distance
behind. Scarlet studied the
photographic image Viridian had handed him and glanced at his field partner.
“I don’t think he’s a Mysteron – not a real Mysteron- even though this is a
positive image. I mean, I give a positive image and I’m
not a Mysteron.” “Not anymore,” Blue mumbled,
with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. He’d been very taciturn on the
trip back, and although this in itself was nothing that unusual, Scarlet had
sensed an uncharacteristic disquiet in his friend. “Did I ever tell you that I
had no ‘sixth sense’ reaction to Cadenza?
In fact, none of the other retrometabolic agents in the other dimensions
fired up my sixth sense; and there was nothing at all odd about Caddie – we got
on like a house on fire.” “You did mention it,” Blue
replied shortly. “It seems to me that whatever
the truth of his parentage, there’s no denying who his mother is. It stands to reason that some of her
retrometabolism might have rubbed off on Gabriel.” When Blue didn’t answer, he prompted him, “Don’t you agree,
Adam?” “Paul, Fawn’s done innumerable tests on you without pinpointing any
genetic trait that might suggest retrometabolism is hereditary – hasn’t he?
Why should it be different for Cadenza?” Scarlet ignored him and
carried on, apparently without noticing his friend’s aversion to the topic.
“I wonder why she called him Gabriel.
I mean, it’s not a common name – not all that common, anyway.
I guess it’s biblical and you could say Eva is, as well as Adam, of course…” “So’s Paul,” Blue said
abruptly, as he veered away into a nearby toilet. He was exasperated with his
friend’s ready acceptance of the young stranger, and Paul’s persistent lack of
objectivity was causing him concern.
He didn’t doubt that Captain Scarlet was prepared to take Ensign Alizarin at
face value. “Oh yeah; you know, that never
really occurred to me? I just
accepted that I was named after my grandfather and never gave it another
thought…” Scarlet continued, and then realised he was talking to himself. He stopped walking and sighed, staring
in the direction his companion had taken. Blue’s not convinced, that’s bloody
obvious, he thought, and watched the armed guards turn into the Conference
Room with Alizarin. But I don’t know how else to react to
the fact that it all seems plausible to me and I do have a son - and not a bad
specimen of one, at that. He started to saunter towards
the room, expecting Blue to catch him up. Eva was so sure she couldn’t get pregnant… I never
doubted her. ‘Typical Paul’, as mum
would say. But, here we are – and
if that young man is my son even my mom would have to admit he’s
okay. He gave a wry grin. Shame she can never meet him; she’d be over
the moon. He paused and glanced behind
to see if his partner was coming.
There was no sign of Blue. He
ambled on. I wonder what Alizarin expects of me. There’s no way he can stay in this
dimension, and I hope he isn’t planning to use his ‘it’s my dad’s home’ theory
as an argument for stopping here… He shuddered at the thought of
the explanations that’d entail. Blue obviously dislikes the boy, added to
which he’s given a positive Mysteron reading, which isn’t going to be easy to
explain. I just hope the fact that Caddie’s retrometabolic means they might not
question it. I wonder if all the children I have will be
retrometabolic. I assume this means
I am able to have kids – unless, of course, Dianne’s body rejects the alien in
me. The fact that the other Doctor
Fawn thinks it was only because both parents were retrometabolic that the baby
survived suggests an inbuilt level of incompatibility… I suppose. Once more he stopped suddenly
and stared with unseeing eyes out of the nearby porthole. Always assuming that after Di’s heard about Gabriel
she’s even prepared to speak to me. She might be livid that I never told her …
but, then I didn’t know!
he reasoned, trying to ignore the fact that his fiancée might just dislike the
fact that he’d had even so fleeting a relationship with another woman. Dianne Simms might lack Karen
Wainwright’s possessive jealousy, but she’d probably draw the line at him
‘playing away from home’ - whatever the circumstances – especially as it had
resulted in something she’d set her heart on having one day – his child.
Whatever my friends say, I can’t turn my back on the kid, anymore than I could
refuse to help them if they asked – he’s got no one else here, even if it turns
out that I’m not his father …surely they’ll realise that? He followed the others into
the meeting, saluted the colonel and nodded hello to Doctor Fawn, who was also
present. The Doctor came over to speak to him.
He was positively radiating eagerness. “Well, from what I hear, it
seems we have another renegade Mysteron amongst us,” he said chirpily. “Viridian says our new friend tested
positive, but the colonel tells me you’re not sensing any Mysteron presence?
This is the chance I’ve been waiting for!
With two unrelated subjects to study, it could make pinpointing what
retrometabolism is, far easier.” “Ah, Doc, a quiet word before
we start?” Scarlet led him to one side
and confided Alizarin’s claim about his parentage to the somewhat surprised
doctor. “Really?” The normally imperturbable
Fawn actually looked shocked. He
glanced thoughtfully at his companion a few times and then asked, “And, is this
a distinct possibility, Paul?” Not normally the bashful type,
Captain Scarlet felt himself blushing. He said, with what started out as an air
of nonchalance but rapidly became concerned and earnest, “Well, you know how it is… we were
both a long way from home and neither of us was sure we’d ever get back to where
we belonged.” He sighed and recalled the
uncertainty of his situation in the different dimension. “You see, although I
wouldn’t ever admit it to Blue, I missed having him around. After all, he’s become something of a
fixture in the weird and wonderful thing that is my life, Doc, and I’m used to
bouncing ideas off him when there’s a problem. And, boy, did I have a problem.” Fawn nodded thoughtfully; he
knew the strength of the bond between the captains and their interdependence. Scarlet continued, “So, there I was, wondering if I was ever going
to get back home, and there was no one to talk it through with, except Caddie…
Cadenza Angel, I mean. You see, we’d shared an instant rapport when we met, and
when I was with her that night, it felt
exactly
like it does with Adam.” Fawn’s eyebrows nearly went
into orbit at this remark and realising his unintentional ambiguity Scarlet
hastened to clarify things. “That sentence really came out a bit skewed, didn’t
it?
What I meant was: I felt at home
with her and I was able to talk things over with her, like I do with Adam -
that’s all. We’d had a long chat
after the reception on Cloudbase and probably said more to each other than we
would’ve if we’d thought we were likely to meet again.
We said goodnight – all very prim and proper - but I couldn’t sleep and I
eventually gave up trying and went back out for another walk. It seems Cadenza was feeling the same
and we bumped into each other on the Promenade Deck.
We got talking again, and it was reassuring being in her company – and I
think she felt the same – she told me she and Paula Metcalfe were close friends. Anyway, we went back to her room for coffee and … one
thing led to another, as they say. I’m sure I don’t have to draw you a diagram, Doc…” Fawn gave a pitying glance at
this weak attempt at humour and asked, “And the result is that young man?” “So he says. He told me that the doctors who looked
after Caddie are of the opinion that she only got pregnant because – well,
because we’re both retrometabolic and her body recognised a kindred spirit, if
you will. She never had children
with her human husband.” “That certainly makes a
difference,” Fawn said thoughtfully.
“I really must run the series of tests I did on you, on the Ensign. It could open a whole new field of
research… as the off-spring of two
retrometabolic people how much of that adaptation has been inherited? I wish I had a sample of Cadenza’s It had occurred to Scarlet
that the tests could give him the reassurance he craved regarding any children
he might have with Dianne. Fawn
knew about his relationship with Rhapsody and that they hoped to get married and
start a family – at least, Dianne
wanted a family whereas he’d always been far less convinced it was a good idea.
He waited with uncharacteristic patience for Fawn to deliver his
opinion. Finally, the doctor gave a
thoughtful smile and said,
“Of course! It is more than likely
that Captain Blue will share at least mitochondrial Scarlet rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Doc. I’m so glad I’ve helped you plan your potential Nobel Prize
winning research programme. It
makes my… indiscretion worth while.” “Do I detect a hint of sarcasm
in that remark?” “Heaven forbid.” Fawn smirked. “I promise not to subject you to many
tests, Captain; after all, I have plenty of samples from you. I shall need to take a full set of
samples from Captain Blue and Ensign Alizarin.
Mind you, knowing what to look for from your Scarlet put his hands to his
face and shook his head. “Whatever
you do, Doc, I’d be grateful if you’d keep this between ourselves? Blue knows, of course, he was there when
Gabriel explained, but I can’t see him blabbing it about.” Fawn glanced across to see
Captain Blue walk through the door; from the guarded expression on the
American’s face and the way he avoided looking at Scarlet and Alizarin, Fawn
deduced that all was not smelling of roses in Blue’s world. He glanced to where the on-duty Angel
pilot was chatting with Lieutenant Green, and was slightly relieved to see that
it was Harmony. Of all the Angels
she was the least likely to repeat anything…
confidential
that might come out in their discussion.
Scarlet was still waiting for
a response and as Colonel White called the meeting to order and everyone took
their seats, Fawn said, “Doctor-patient
confidentiality is something I consider sacred, Paul. Your secret’s safe with me.” “It’s hardly a secret, and I
expect it will common knowledge before this is all resolved, but for now, I’d
appreciate you keeping it quiet, Edward.” Colonel White had made good use of the time it had taken his
officers to bring Alizarin to Cloudbase and had re-familiarised himself with the
details of the mission that had led Captain Scarlet into the tunnels beneath He invited Alizarin to address
the assembled members of Spectrum’s elite personnel, and listened intently as
the youngster began to explain why he was here. “I am sure you know that I
have come here from a different dimension, where the world still exists,
although things are different in some ways.
My mother is Cadenza Angel, the leader of Spectrum’s Angel squadron on
Cloudbase. Like Captain Scarlet she
was killed by the Mysterons and retrometabolised.
She’s taken part in thousands of missions, died hundreds of times, and is
the lynch-pin of Spectrum’s defences against the Mysterons.” “This is known and
understood,” White remarked. He was
impressed by the way the youngster conducted himself; he didn’t seem awed by
finding himself on Cloudbase, or at having to address the assembled Spectrum
grandees. “Yes, sir. She met Captain Scarlet during a
Mysteron threat and proved that he was indeed from a different dimension to that
we inhabited. Consequently, I’ve
always known things aren’t exactly the same between the dimensions, Colonel. Some people are the opposite of
what we’d expect; that things happened differently or at different times, which
results in various permutations of all potential situations. Despite the differences in the people or variations in
the decisions they make, there remains a fundamental synchronicity between my
universe and this.” “I’ve read Captain Scarlet’s
report about the Volcanic Pacifiers, and I know what he experienced when he was
swept into the tunnels beneath Etna,” White confirmed. “What I need to know is why you are here
now, Ensign.” Alizarin glanced around the
table and saw Scarlet’s pleading expression for him to be a little economical
with the truth; what surprised him was that this expression was mirrored on
Captain Blue’s face. “Yes, sir.” Alizarin continued, “I’m a junior
officer on Cloudbase, and…” “You’re a member of Spectrum?”
White asked, betraying a little surprise at this. “In this organisation we don’t have
serving officers on Cloudbase below the rank of lieutenant, nor, I would guess,
as young as you.” “It’s because of my parents, sir,” he explained. “Maybe I should have said, my full
name’s Gabriel John Svenson Turner and I grew up on Cloudbase, where my father,
Colonel Black, is the commander–in-chief.” There was a murmur of
astonishment at this news, even Colonel White’s dark eyebrows rose. Oblivious to the reaction to
his explanation, Alizarin continued, “I was given a codename when I was just a
kid, because they needed a way to ‘lose me’ in the records, I guess. Especially when, as your detector test
showed, it became clear I’d inherited some aspects of retrometabolism.” “Ermm,” Fawn interjected,
raising his hand. “What aspects?” Alizarin thought for a moment
and then replied, “I heal rapidly, I don’t get ill – I’ve never had any of the
usual childhood diseases - and yes, Doctor Fawn, they did try to infect us with
them. I have greater strength and
stamina than most guys my age... or so they tell me, I haven’t met all that
many. I don’t know if
I’m indestructible, like my mother and you, Captain Scarlet; I’ve never been
killed and the idea of putting it to the test, just to see if I can recover,
isn’t one I like to think about.” “No,” Scarlet interrupted,
shaking his head vehemently. “You
really don’t want to put it to the test.
If it happens in the course of a mission – well, that’s something
everyone has to face. Recovering
from it is …” he paused and drew a deep breath. He could see the others looking
at him expectantly, and concluded lamely, “…an added bonus. I suppose.” “Quite,” White said. “Now, Ensign, why are you here? I understood that four years ago it was agreed
between Cadenza Angel, acting for the authorities in the… additional dimension
and Captain Scarlet on our behalf, that the tunnels would not be used. And that was before they were blocked by
an eruption in our dimension.” “Well, sir,” Alizarin drew
breath and plunged into his explanation. “In my world, Spectrum is not a secret
organisation anymore. The World
President before the one we have now, revealed all the facts about the Mysterons
and Spectrum’s fight against them to the general public.” There was consternation around
the conference table and when the murmuring died down Alizarin went on: “My father – that is, Colonel
Black, had a difficult job to keep the identity of his agents secret. He could only do it by sacrificing some
of them and allowing them to become celebrities.
As more of Cadenza Angel’s missions were reported in the newspapers she
became famous for her ability to survive.
It was never explained how she managed that, of course. There are Angel action dolls and a TV
show called ‘Cantabile Seraph: Rainbow
Warrior’ – it’s dreadful, but….” White raised a hand to his
forehead shaking his head, in disbelief.
Alizarin hesitated. “Go on, Ensign,” the colonel
muttered, recovering his poise. “There was always some cop out
in the TV shows about how she survived; that’s all I was going to add.” “Spectrum’s agents are
celebrities?” Captain Magenta
demanded in dismay. He was
currently confined to a wheelchair having broken his leg on a recent mission,
but Doctor Fawn had allowed him out of “As I said, Colonel Black
managed to protect some identities, but only by allowing agents like Sonata
Angel to become largely ornamental – well, that’s how Aunt Paula describes it.
She married Major Scarlet – Julian Pontoin - and went to work in the “I bet she wasn’t,” Scarlet
muttered. “I wouldn’t be.” “Be that as it may,” Colonel
White said, “What has it to do with why you’ve come here, Ensign?” “Until recently, Spectrum
managed to defeat most Mysteron threats, but there have been some high profile
failures in the past months. A dam was destroyed in “Politics can be a dirty business,” White remarked, “but I fail to
see what that has to do with your arrival here.” “The money went to set up
secure camps for anyone suspected of being a Mysteron. The World Government never explained
about retrometabolism, they thought it was a step too far, but they did announce
that Mysteron agents – alien doppelgangers, as they call them - can be detected.
The feeling against the Mysterons is running so high that anyone suspected of
being a Mysteron, or even guilty of nothing more then setting off one of the
detectors, is being sent to these camps – and no one complains about it.” “Do they face trial?” White
asked. Alizarin shrugged. “No one’s been tried so far, and no
one’s been released from any camp either.
My father says it’s surprising the number of political opponents of the World
President and his government that have suddenly been taken over by the
Mysterons.” The young man gave a
broad smile that lit up his face; in much the same way as Captain Blue’s boyish
grin did to his. “My dad has
a nice line in sarcasm, sir.” Colonel White gave an
acknowledging nod. The youngster sobered and
concluded, “I want to do my bit to defeat the Mysterons, sir, but my father says
it’s too risky; if anyone found out about us we could be incarcerated for the
rest of our lives.” “I’m sure enough people would know about your parentage for you to
be exempt from suspicion,” Magenta said thoughtfully. “No one knows that Mom is
retrometabolic, and even though we’re not Mysterons we’d be treated as if we
are…” Alizarin turned to Colonel
White once more and made a direct impassioned plea. “I can fly planes and I’ve
been well educated, sir. I
want a useful life; if I stay there, I’d always be mistrusted and at risk of
perpetual imprisonment, if not execution.
My mother told us about the other dimensions when we were youngsters and I
thought maybe here, where no one knows who I am, I’d have a chance to a fair
hearing. I want my freedom, sir,
and I want to stay and fight where I can be of most use.” Colonel White nodded and
indicated that he could sit down.
There were vacant seats all round the table, yet some instinct sent Alizarin to
sit beside Captain Blue. Scarlet looked at them, noting
with interest the similarities in their features and build: except for the
dramatic difference in their colouring, they could’ve been brothers – or father
and son… he gave a mental groan.
That’s not a happy thought, given the strained
relationship between Adam and his father…I never asked Caddie how she got on
with her father, but it might explain why Adam looks so tense with the boy
sitting next to him, he
mused. The next few minutes did
nothing to dispel his apprehension that Blue did not like Alizarin. The colonel said, “Well,
everyone’s heard Ensign Alizarin’s eloquent statement and his request. Do you have any questions or comments,
gentlemen?” “I don’t think it would be a wise move to let him stay; I’m not in
favour, sir.” Every head looked towards the
speaker in surprise - and Scarlet saw the expression of injured surprise at this
unexpected betrayal, on Gabriel’s face. “Captain Blue?” Colonel White’s mild question invited an
explanation. Keeping his eyes fixed on his
commanding officer, Blue began, “As I see it, there are several major problems.
It could set a dangerous precedent and suppose – as is more than likely –
someone comes looking for Alizarin, determined to take him home again?
How would we deal with it?
How would we deal with him remaining in this dimension, come to that? He’s not supposed to be here, we’d have
to create an identity for him.
In addition, what right do we have to judge how another society has dealt with
the Mysteron threat? Would we want
another dimension muscling in on our
affairs if it was the other way round?
And there is always the danger of affecting the timelines…” Scarlet listened to Blue’s
damning words with a growing sense of injustice. Finally, he interrupted his partner, oblivious of the
colonel’s disapproving glance. “Look, Blue, the kid’s talking
of spending a life under suspicion and mistrust – and who is to say how long a
life it might be? Feeling at
odds with everyone else is something I do know about,” Scarlet protested, as
Blue shook his head. Frustrated, he
turned to White and continued, “We shouldn’t dismiss his appeal out of hand,
Colonel. Give him a break! He’s…Cadenza’s son, after all. I can – and I
will - vouch for her. She was a
good woman; I trusted her.” Before White could reply, Blue
snapped, “A Spectrum Officer must not allow personal feelings to affect his
decisions.” “Oh, that’s rich,” Scarlet
retorted, “you quoting those regulations at me!”
He emphasised his words with the jab of an accusing finger at his friend. Magenta interposed, “Seems to
me Blue does have a point, Scarlet.”
He turned to Alizarin, who’d exclaimed in protest at this. “No offence, Ensign.” “What’s with you guys? Feeling threatened by the presence
of another man with retrometabolism?” Scarlet demanded. “Gentlemen.” With that one word, the
colonel’s raised voice stopped the heated exchange that followed this outrageous
taunt in its tracks. Once silence had returned,
White continued, “It seems to me that we need to ask Ensign Alizarin to give us
time to debate this in private – and we will debate it in an orderly manner.” “S.I.G.,” his officers
chorused, although there was still an atmosphere of acrimony in the room. White turned to Harmony. “Would you please contact the Harmony bowed slightly and led
the angry Alizarin out into the corridor.
|
|
Ensign Alizarin was obviously
frustrated at what he’d heard during the meeting in the Conference Room and
Harmony Angel, always anxious to keep the peace, limited her conversation to the
party they were heading for. “It should be a good one;
everyone will go because it will last all through the duty hours.” She sighed.
“I only hope Captain Scarlet does not miss attending; Rhapsody will be
most annoyed if he does.” For the first time, Alizarin
showed some interest. “Rhapsody? Is she – are she and Scarlet…?” “They are very good friends,”
Harmony confirmed. “For many years
they have been so.” She excused the boy’s interest
by remembering his youth but nevertheless she was pleased to see Symphony turn
into the corridor from the direction of her quarters. “Ah, here is Symphony Angel.
She …” Harmony paused and considered the woman coming towards them.
Symphony had – as usual – gone
slightly too far; her dress was just a little too revealing of a cleavage
unashamedly enhanced by none-too-subtle corsetry, and she’d resorted to hair
extensions and backcombing again.
The result was undoubtedly deliberate and, while it would unquestionably be
popular - with the men, at least - Harmony couldn’t help wondering what the
effect would be on the man it was almost certainly intended to impress – the
sophisticated Captain Blue. But then, she thought, I never have quite
understood what the attraction is between these two incompatible individuals. She glanced up at Alizarin and
saw that her friend’s appearance was certainly registering an impact there; he
was wide-eyed and open mouthed as he watched her approach. Harmony changed what she’d
been going to say and continued, “She helped arrange the party and she is
off-duty and so will be one of the hostesses for now. She will look after you, I am sure.” “Oh, I hope so,” the youngster
beside her breathed out. Harmony gave a cautious smile
and thought, I am sure Symphony is more
than capable of dealing with this dazzled teenager, but I hope he does not do
anything to reinforce Captain Blue’s reservations about his being here … Aware that the colonel had not
given permission for the truth behind Alizarin’s presence on Cloudbase to be
revealed, Harmony hoped the young man would have the sense to be a little
circumspect in what he said. “Symphony,” she called, and
her friend drew closer, “this is Ensign Alizarin. Colonel White has asked that he be entertained at the party
until further notice.” “Sure thing, Harmony. Leave it to me,” Symphony said, with a
welcoming smile. Harmony handed Alizarin over
to Symphony with a feeling of some relief.
“I had better get back to the Conference Room. I hope that I will see you again, Ensign.” Alizarin snapped out of his
daydream and thanked her as she left.
Then he turned back to the woman who’d stirred feelings he’d never
experienced before. “Hi,” Symphony said, holding
out her hand. “I’m Symphony Angel;
welcome to Cloudbase.” “Thanks; it’s remarkable, but
you’re the first person to actually say that.” “Oh, surely not; we’re a
friendly bunch around here,” she remarked, as they started towards the off-duty
lounge closest to the “That…that’d be nice,” he
stammered, his bright-blue eyes taking in her curvaceous figure accentuated by
the bold, abstract-patterned dress with obvious appreciation. She glanced up at him from beneath
her long, dark lashes and swallowing hard he continued, “Is it a proper party?” She smiled and nodded, so he
continued, his voice breaking as he spoke, “Then, if there’s dancing, will you dance with me?” “Of course I will; we don’t
worry about rank at the Christmas party, so you can ask anyone to dance. It’s a chance for us all to get to know
each other informally.” “I’d sure like to get to know
you… informally…” “Down, boy,” she said, with an
admonishing wag of a finger towards him, but her tone and expression showed that
she was more amused than annoyed. “My name’s Gabriel,” he said,
blushing furiously. “And it looks
to me as if Heaven’s missing an Angel because you’re here, Symphony.” Her peal of laughter made him
hesitate, but then she gave him a smile, not an unkind or censorious smile, but
a friendly - and to him – encouraging one.
It sent his pulse racing. “I bet you say that to all the
girls…” she responded, in the same light-hearted vein. “No, no really; I… I really
meant it.” To his utter chagrin his voice chose that moment to turn shrill
again. She realised he really thought
he’d made an original remark and reflected how disarming inexperienced young men
could be. Nevertheless she couldn’t allow him a free rein. Keeping her tone light she
replied: “Behave yourself, Ensign
Alizarin, or my very jealous fiancé might just take you apart, joint by joint.”
“I’d like to see him try,”
Alizarin retorted, in a fit of bravado.
“No; you wouldn’t,” she
corrected him. “He must be quite a guy to
have you.” “He’s the most wonderful man
in the world, and I wouldn’t swap him for the world. Now, if we’ve got that quite clear, I
suggest you mingle with the others and get to know some of them, Gabriel. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of young
ladies only too happy to dance with you.” “And what if I don’t want to dance with anyone but you?” “Then you’ll have a
problem…because I intend to dance with all
my friends.” She glanced at him and seeing
the blatant admiration in his eyes, softened her intended rebuke. “You’re lucky I’m such an understanding
type of gal: the women on Cloudbase are more than capable of wiping that smile
from your good-looking face, Gabriel, and, just for the record, so am I. I don’t know what it’s like where you’re
based, Ensign, but here we don’t take too kindly to guys who patronise us.” “Oh - I didn’t mean to do that
- honest. I know how to behave,
Symphony.” My mom would have something to say about it, if I didn’t, he thought
wryly. She relented towards him; he
was handsome and charming, and very
young… “Come and have some fun then.
I hope you know how to dance? We
like a man who can hit the dance floor with conviction.”
She sighed. “They’re few and far between on this base.” “Dancing is my second
favourite pastime…” If he’d expected her to ask
what the first one was, he was disappointed – she’d already worked that out for
herself.
“I won’t risk the security of
this world in order to allow you, or anyone else, to dabble in the affairs of
another dimension,” Colonel White said firmly. “But-” “Captain Scarlet, you’ve
argued most persuasively and I can understand why you feel a kinship with this
youngster. I am sorry: the answer
remains no. The boy must return to his own dimension – or another one, if he
chooses to keep trying his luck.”
White collected his papers.
“Ask Alizarin to come to the Control Room, will you, Lieutenant Green? I’ll speak to him myself.” “Don’t bother – I’ll tell
him,” Scarlet growled, with a face like thunder, as he headed for the door Ignoring Scarlet’s rudeness,
White looked at Captain Blue. “You’d better go and keep an eye on him; I don’t
want him doing anything rash.” “With respect, Colonel, maybe
someone else could do it? Scarlet’s
not exactly pleased with me at the moment, and the feeling’s mutual.” “I don’t have anyone else, Captain.
Magenta’s going back to As White left, Doctor Fawn got
behind Magenta’s wheelchair, slipped off the brake and turned it towards the
door. “What’s eating you, Captain?”
he asked Blue. But Blue shook his head and
gathered his file together. “I’d
better see what he’s doing, I suppose.”
He looked in the direction of the “At least you’ll get to go,”
Magenta said wistfully. “Why don’t you take Pat with
you?” asked Fawn, thinking that the genial Irish-American might ease the
baffling tension that had developed between the two partners. “As long as he doesn’t try to dance the
night away, there’s no reason why he can’t go to the party.” Blue looked at the hopeful
expression on his friend’s face and smiled.
“Sure – why not? If I’m not
around to wheel him back when it’s finished, there’s bound to be someone who
will.” “Right – that’s settled then.
Maybe you could also ask Ensign Alizarin to stop by the “Ask him yourself,” Blue said
with uncharacteristic abruptness, as he wheeled Magenta at some speed from the
room. Fawn watched them go and said
to himself, “There is definitely something
eating that young man, but I’m damned if I know what it might be.”
The party was in full swing
when Scarlet arrived; in fact, he could hear the thump of dance music echoing
down the corridor as he approached.
He stood in the entrance for a moment looking around the gaudily-decorated,
poorly-lit room for Rhapsody or Alizarin.
There was a long trestle-table loaded with buffet food and bottles of
soft drinks, fruit juices and bottled water, and draped across it was an
improvised white-cloth banner, that said ‘Merry Christmas!’ in large, unevenly
spaced, red letters. He couldn’t see Dianne in the
select throng of guests, but he noticed Gabriel on the packed dance floor,
enthusiastically jigging around in the company of Lieutenant Wisteria, the
base’s Welfare and Morale officer. “Paul! You made it. Happy belated birthday!” Symphony threw her arms around his
neck and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Thanks, Karen,” he said, his
gaze riveted on her astonishing dress – or, more accurately, the areas where the
dress wasn’t. He managed to drag
his eyes to her face and ask, “Where’s Di?” “She went to get some more
lemonade from the SpectraMart.
Seems everyone’s thirsty today.
Where’s Blue?” “I don’t know. I came away before him,” Scarlet replied
dismissively. “I need to talk to
Gabriel.” “Oh, you’re not going to take
him away, are you? He’s been the
life and soul of the party.” “And here was me assuming that
must’ve been you,” he replied. “Ah, you’re so sweet,” she
exclaimed, bestowing another kiss on him. “But, I don’t think Gabriel’s sat down
once since the music started.
Every unattached female lieutenant and technician is queuing up for a
dance! He’s having a whale of a
time.” Scarlet gave a rueful smile.
“I don’t think he’ll feel much like dancing when I’ve told him my news.” She sobered immediately. “The colonel’s turned him down? He told me he was hoping to stay here –
at least for a while.” “Yes,” Scarlet growled. “White has turned him down. Apparently, we’re all too short-sighted
to see the advantages of having another … person around.” “Oh, poor Gabriel; I guess
he’ll have to finish his training at a conventional ground base after all?” Scarlet knew that beneath the
hedonistic persona she chose to adopt, Karen Wainwright was an intelligent and
perceptive young woman, with a background in industrial counter-espionage. There’d been times when her life had
depended on her ability to assess people quickly and accurately and she was a
shrewd judge of character – just as long as her emotions weren’t colouring her
judgment. He decided to
take advantage of that now. “What do you make of him,
Karen? Do you like him?” he asked,
as nonchalantly as he could. She gave a momentary pause, considering her answer, and then
said, “Yes; yes, I do. He’s a nice
young guy – a bit fresh, maybe, but there’s no real harm in him. Well, nothing
he won’t grow out of anyway.” She studied Scarlet’s face and
recognised the signs of discontent, so she suggested, “Look, why not give the
boy a chance to unwind and have a good time before you spoil his fun, eh?
I’m sure the colonel didn’t say he had to leave right this minute, did he?
Paul?” “He wants to see him.” She wrinkled her nose. “White will expect you to take a while
to locate him; parties are like that.
Besides, you’re the guest of honour – this is doubling as your belated
birthday party, remember! Come on,
Paul. Dance with me!” The music had changed to a
funky dance track, and she tugged his arm.
“Come on – once Di’s back I won’t get a look in! I want a dance with the birthday boy…” And so Scarlet found himself
dragged onto the crowded floor, and, as Symphony started to wriggle beside him,
he noticed that Gabriel’s eyes fixed on her like homing beacons. There must be something genetic that fixates Svensons
to Wainwrights… well, this Wainwright, anyway, he thought, with a smirk. Then, banishing the problem of the youngster from his mind,
he surrendered to the pulse of the music, joining in the dance, clapping his
hands in time to Symphony’s rhythm-driven, syncopated gyrations. Then, without quite realising
how it happened, Scarlet found himself dancing next to a rather startled
Lieutenant Wisteria, as Gabriel stepped between him and the oblivious Symphony.
Wisteria watched with some
amusement as the youngster moved in on the Angel pilot, and grinned at Scarlet
before leaning forward to holler: “You can’t make it clearer
than that, can you?” She laughed. “Happy birthday for the other day,
Captain!” Scarlet shook his head in
acknowledgement of the inevitability of Gabriel’s usurpation of his partner, and
grinned back at her. He
decided to let the kid have this one fling before he escorted him to Colonel
White – Symphony was probably right and he wouldn’t be expected back immediately
- and so, he finished out the dance with Wisteria. As the music slowed to a slow
and more intimate song, Symphony, who had finally registered her change of
partner, seemed happy enough to give Gabriel her hand and allow him to pull her
close. The young man looked to be
enjoying himself enormously. Scarlet and Wisteria made
their way to the table in search of liquid refreshment, and they were still
there, talking amicably, when the door opened and Rhapsody came in. She was laughing with Captain Magenta,
who was nursing three large bottles of lemonade on his lap as Blue wheeled him
along. “Oh, hi, Paul! Happy unbirthday!” the beautiful English Angel Pilot
exclaimed, stretching up to give him a kiss on the cheek.
She was in blithe good spirits
and failed to register the frosty atmosphere between Scarlet and Blue, but as
she hugged him, Scarlet glanced at Blue over her shoulder. He realised that his friend must
be able to see Gabriel holding Symphony in a clinch as they swayed to the
sensual music. The American’s expression
darkened into a frown. Following
the direction of his partner’s gaze, Scarlet saw Gabriel’s hand was resting on
Symphony’s rear-end as she swayed in the dance, and even as they watched, she
gently, but firmly, removed his other hand from wherever it had been straying,
and held it firmly in hers, away from her body. Amused, Scarlet slipped an arm
around his fiancée and returned her kiss.
Rhapsody peered out into the room.
“Where’s Karen?” she asked him.
“There are two guys here who are really anxious to see her in her new
dress! I’ve been telling them all about it on our way here.” “I can understand their
eagerness,” Scarlet said, adding with spontaneous and uncharacteristic
insolence, “It leaves very little to the imagination and, once more, Karen’s
exhibitionism triumphs over elegance.” There was a sharp intake of
breath from the newcomers and Lieutenant Wisteria opened her mouth to say
something, but Magenta beat her too it. “Karen always makes kooky look
kinda cute,” he said. “She does indeed.” Rhapsody
defended her friend’s unconventional dress sense with a glare at Scarlet and an
elbow dig in the ribs. “I wish I had the self confidence – not to mention the
superstructure - to wear the things she does – and as well.” Scarlet rolled his eyes. “You have far too much taste to ever wear some of the things she does,
Di.” Rhapsody’s astonishment at his
comments was obvious: Paul had always been close to Karen. “Anyway, what are you still
doing here? I thought you were supposed to be taking Alizarin to see the
colonel,” Magenta cut in quickly, before Blue could respond to these barbed
remarks, hoping to defuse the rapidly growing tension. “I was,” Scarlet agreed, “but
Karen’s still ‘dancing’ with him – as only she knows how to dance, if you get my
drift - and she asked me not to take him away because he deserved to enjoy
himself, and it was a shame he wasn’t going to be able to stay for longer.” He was well aware that his
comments would stoke the suspicion he’d seen in Blue’s expression, not to
mention outrage his friend, whose premeditated blindness in the face of his
fiancée’s sartorial excesses was legendary, but he felt he’d gained some slight
revenge for his partner’s betrayal of the youth who – he was now convinced – was
his son. “I think the colonel wants him
to leave sooner rather than later.” When Blue spoke there was an
edge of anger in his voice, but his gaze was still directed out towards the
dance floor. His expression
softened and gentle smile tugged at his lips as Symphony saw him and immediately
broke off her dance. She came
towards them, smiling. Gabriel followed her,
unwilling to let her leave him. He
realised that Scarlet and the others were almost certainly there to relay the
colonel’s decision and from the look on their faces he surmised that it was not
favourable. He was ready to argue before
he reached the group. Symphony bent to hug Magenta
and then, laughing gaily, gave him a twirl so he could admire the outfit she was
wearing – although he never doubted the intended beneficiary of this display was
Blue. “Like it?” she asked. “It’s great,” Magenta replied
loyally, with a glance at Scarlet that dared him to repeat his comments to her
face. “I was going to keep it for
Christmas, but when this party was arranged, I thought it deserved my new dress.
What do you think, Paul?” “The pattern really suits
you,” Wisteria said, chipping in to keep the conversation going. Blue and Scarlet were now
glaring at each other like boxers psyching each other before a fight, so that
even Rhapsody noticed their antagonism and thought she knew what had started it. “He thinks you look wonderful
– he was just saying as much, weren’t you,
Paul?” she said forcefully. As they waited for Scarlet to
speak, the sound system suddenly failed.
There was a chorus of groans from the partygoers, although the senior
staff tensed, straining to hear the usual tell-tale hiss that preceded any
Mysteron threat.
THIS IS THE VOICE OF THE MYSTERONS. WE KNOW THAT YOU CAN “What on earth can that mean?”
Lieutenant Wisteria gasped. “They get more obscure all the
time, don’t they?” Rhapsody agreed, although she was looking towards Scarlet and
Blue as she spoke. “We’d better get to the
Conference Room,” Scarlet said to Blue, who nodded. Spectrum’s Premier Field
Officer Team both knew enough to remember their priorities: whatever quarrel
they had between them would keep until this threat was over. “Captains Scarlet, Blue and Magenta, please report to
the Conference Room.”
Lieutenant Green’s voice had just a touch of weariness in it. “Let me come with you,”
Gabriel pleaded. “I can help. I have experience of the Mysterons and
their cryptic threats too.” “I don’t think so,” Blue said
sharply. “This is Spectrum
business.” “I’m a member of Spectrum!” “Not on this base,” Blue snapped. “He might be of help and we’re
short staffed,” reasoned Scarlet.
“Besides, as you so helpfully reminded me, the Old Man wants to see him.
Come on, Alizarin.” “Captain Scarlet!” his partner
protested. “You’re letting your…
partisanship blind you to the dangers.” “I’m not suggesting he comes
with us wherever we end up going,” Scarlet exclaimed. “Simply that he might help us unravel the threat. Or are you afraid he might solve it
before you do?” “Of course not!” “After all, he probably has
the same kind of mind you do – so bloody devious it outthinks the Mysterons!” “Paul!” Rhapsody stepped
between them and stared in bewilderment at her fiancé. “What’s got into you?” “I just don’t like it when my friends bail out on me mid-way
through a discussion.” “What discussion?” Blue raged. “You wouldn’t even listen. So, I’ll say it again in front of
Alizarin – because I’m not afraid to admit to my opinions, Captain - I’ve never said I agreed with you on
this, in fact, I told you plainly, that I didn’t.
I can’t help it if you refuse to accept what you hear as the truth.” Scarlet looked across at the
rigidly impassive face of his closest friend and said coldly, “I guess I’m
disappointed at the actions of someone I expected better from.” “Bullshit, Scarlet,” Magenta
interjected. “Blue’s argument is
sound enough. Besides, the final
decision lies with the colonel and we all have to live with it – whether we
agree with it, or not.” “Stop it!” Rhapsody exclaimed,
turning to each in turn.
“The Mysterons have issued a threat and the colonel’s waiting. Paul, push the wheelchair to the
lift.” She ordered him into action,
seeking to keep them apart, as Symphony moved between the red-faced Alizarin and
the silently angry Blue. “We’re making a spectacle of
ourselves here; people are starting to stare.
Let’s go to the But Alizarin was too incensed
to listen. “Why do you hate me?” he
cried, pointing a finger at Blue. “What have you got against me and my mother?
I thought you’d be the one to understand…” The older man shrugged and
shook his fair head, dismissing the comments.
Goaded, Gabriel continued, “I
thought you’d care – I thought you’d want to help me – but you don’t! You’re as bad as the other Svensons:
money-grabbing, selfish, and so toffee-nosed they don’t consider me as a
‘suitable’ member of their precious family!” “I don’t know what the
Svensons you know are like – but that’s not the people I know!” Blue leapt to
the defence of his family with alacrity.
“I owe you nothing – none of us
do! Don’t you understand that? You don’t belong here.” “Adam?” Symphony looked at her
lover in some confusion. “What’s this
about you and his mother?” A
dreadful, fully-formed revelation came to her, and she realised why Alizarin had
seemed so familiar: the broad, muscular build, the classical bone-structure of
his face… “Oh my God - you’re a
Svenson,” she breathed, staring at the youth. “Yes,” Gabriel snarled. “And
much good it’s ever done me!” He pushed past her and
followed Scarlet’s path to the lift.
Symphony turned Blue for an answer, but he merely patted her arm and
shrugged. “Later, Karen,” was all he
said, as he followed the others.
|
|
Colonel White was less than
pleased to see Alizarin enter the room in the wake of Scarlet and Magenta. Captain Blue, arriving alone, met his
commanding officer’s eye and grimaced, implying that he’d done his best to keep
the young man away. “Gentlemen, you’ll have heard
the latest threat,” White said, as Blue took his seat opposite Captain Scarlet
and Alizarin. “Even so,
please play it again, Lieutenant. The cold, impersonal tones of
the Mysterons filled the room, and even the experienced elite captains felt the
familiar shiver of apprehension as the sound died away. “Lieutenant Green, have the
researchers come up with anything that makes sense of this?” the colonel asked. “Not so far, sir. The obvious gathering is the Science
Conference in “Maybe it should have been
somewhere else?” Magenta suggested.
“I’d have been happier if it hadn’t been at MIT: maybe I wouldn’t have
fallen down the fire escape while checking all the safety exits with Captain
Ochre, for a start.” “Was the conference ever
scheduled to be held anywhere else, Lieutenant?” White asked. Green stabbed at the console
keyboard. After a few seconds he
replied, “The meeting was proposed by Professor Morton of The colonel nodded thoughtfully.
“But the invites went out from MIT.
Maybe it should have been in “It’s a possibility,” Magenta
said thoughtfully. “I’ll alert the researchers
and get them on to it, sir. They’ve
done preliminary searches under the obvious terms: cadence, misplaced,
gatherings… nothing looks even vaguely possible,” Green reported. “Gathering of the misplaced,”
Alizarin said, “that suggests something that will be taking place – people, I
mean. Not something lost, like
keys.” “Not necessarily,” Magenta
responded, “someone may be gathering together ‘misplaced’ items and when they’ve
gathered them together, they’ll be dangerous.” “Cadence…” Blue said softly,
his mind wrestling with the flimsiest of ideas that were forming. “A native cadence,” the
colonel confirmed, used to his officer’s methods of teasing sense from the often
torturous threats they faced he was prepared to wait while Blue worked through
his ideas. “Cadenza,” Blue said suddenly. “You can’t let this lie, can
you?” Scarlet muttered. “Just listen for once,
Scarlet: where are the inter-dimensional tunnels – answer Etna, which is in Scarlet nodded with an air of
patronising exasperation – he really was angry with his friend. “Well then, cadenza is the
Italian for ‘cadence’ – so there you have your ‘native’ cadence. Native to “It’s plausible,” the colonel
mused, “but is it likely? How would
they know about Alizarin and Cadenza?” “We know they were active in
more dimensions than just this one when we investigated the Volcanic Pacifiers,”
Blue reminded everyone. “If they
wanted her here, they’d find a way to make her come.” He stared at Alizarin. “We know the Ensign gives a positive Mysteron
image, we only have his word that he isn’t a Mysteron.” “And mine,” Scarlet snapped.
“I’m not experiencing the nausea a Mysteron creates in me-” “-Sometimes – creates in you sometimes,” Blue reminded him. “And you’d like it if I was
wrong this time, wouldn’t you?” Scarlet accused, half-rising from his seat to
lean aggressively across the table. “Captain Scarlet, Captain
Blue,” Colonel White snapped, “this is neither the time nor the place for any
private dispute you may have. Until we have further evidence to explain the
Mysterons’ intentions, we’ll presume Captain Blue is right and act accordingly;
but I want security at “No!” Alizarin and Scarlet
protested in unison. “If she’s in danger, I must go to my mother,” Alizarin cried. “Idiot kid,” Blue growled.
“That’s what the Mysterons want.” The youngster rose to his feet
with a show of offended dignity.
He looked at Captain Blue in silence for so long that the normally
self-possessed Bostonian started to blush. Then, in a voice that hovered close
to breaking, Alizarin said: “I don’t know what you feel
about your family, Captain, but my mother loves hers and is loved in return, by
all of us. If no one here is
willing to lift a finger to save her from the Mysterons, I’ll do it myself!” He turned and raced towards
the door ignoring the cries of protest from the other men. Scarlet stood and glared at his partner. “Thanks, Blue. You’ve been a great help,” he snapped,
and went after the youngster calling: “Gabriel, wait!” “Damn,” Blue muttered,
slamming his pen down onto his open folder.
“I didn’t mean it like that.” He looked across at the silent Magenta.
“You can see that, can’t you, Pat?” Magenta shrugged. “Kids always take offence easily, and
you weren’t exactly easy on him, Blue.
I don’t understand what you’ve got against him, myself.” Blue frowned and bit his lip
momentarily. “Colonel?” he said, by
way of asking permission to follow them, but he didn’t wait for an answer,
jumping up from his chair and hurrying from the room after his partner.
Common sense told Blue that
Alizarin and Scarlet would head for the hangar decks and the chance of escaping
to Etna and a meeting with Cadenza.
He realised his friend was now committed to the young man and with his usual
partisanship would devote his considerable talents to the youngster’s cause. They’re as hot-headed as each other, he thought, acknowledging to himself that,
given their hypothetical relationship, it wasn’t that surprising. Dodging a small group of personnel heading for the canteen, he saw
Lieutenant Flaxen come hurrying round a corner carrying a large pile of research
files back towards her office. “Flax!” he shouted, skidding
to a halt by grabbing her arm, so that she spun around and dropped her bundle on
the floor. “Have you seen Captain
Scarlet heading towards the hangars?” “Oh, hello, Captain. Captain Scarlet? Yes, he was taking someone in the lift to hangar deck three
when I came out of the registry…” “Three? Yes, it would have to be three, wouldn’t
it?” The lieutenant shrugged,
completely bewildered by his words. “Thanks, Flax. Tell the colonel I’ve gone after them,
will you?” He darted away, calling over his shoulder, “Sorry about the filing…” “Sure…” Flaxen acknowledged,
as she watched him sprint round the corner to Hangar Three’s dedicated lift.
“I wonder what all that’s about?” she asked rhetorically, grimacing as she
surveyed the untidy heap of paperwork scattered across the corridor.
She sighed, bending to pick it all up and steeling herself to report the fact to
Colonel White that his senior officers seemed to be playing ‘hide-and-seek’
around the base during a Mysteron threat. As the door slid shut behind
Captain Blue, Colonel White sighed and reached for the base-wide PA. “This is Colonel White. Cloudbase is on yellow alert. All personnel are instructed to report
the whereabouts of the visitor known as Ensign Alizarin or Captain Scarlet to
the Control Room.” He glanced at Magenta. “You don’t know why Blue is suddenly
being so… objectionable, do you? It
isn’t often that he reminds me of his father’s caustic manners, but…” Magenta shook his dark head.
“No, sir, I don’t. There’s definitely something going on
between him and Scarlet though, and it has to do with Alizarin and what happened
to Scarlet in the other dimension.
I mean, it’s not unusual for the two of them to bicker, but it’s only
ever in a spirit of friendship.
This is different; this is for real, and it’s getting worse, sir.” Colonel White shook his
distinguished head. “I really need
them pulling together on this one.
When all is said and done, Captain, whatever happens could have an effect in two
dimensions.” “If not more than that,” his
officer remarked in agreement, causing the colonel to look even more concerned.
On hearing the colonel’s
message, Rhapsody consulted the distinctly distracted Symphony, and urged her
friend to come with her to the hangar decks. “If the colonel’s told Gabriel
he can’t stay, my guess is the boy will want to get off here quickly, and that
Paul’s following him. If we go down
to the main hangar deck entrance, maybe we can help? I’m sure the colonel only wants what’s
best and Gabriel’s cause won’t be helped by his running away.” She glanced at her friend and
saw Symphony was chewing her bottom lip in some deep personal dilemma. She’d
been very moody ever since she’d gone and changed back into her uniform. “Karen? Do you agree?” “Hmm? Oh sure; lead on.” “What’s the matter?” Rhapsody
asked, as she jabbed the lift button for the hangar decks. “Nothing.” “I’m not even going to point
out that I know you’re lying. You
were fine just minutes ago, but something’s bugging you now. If you don’t want to share, that’s okay
by me; but don’t treat me like an idiot.
I get that too much from Paul.” “Di, how would you feel if you
discovered Paul had… well, if… if before he met you…” She sighed and said simply, “Children.” Rhapsody double-blinked
rapidly and frowned at her companion.
“But he hasn’t,” she said. “But if he had…” “I’d be cross that he didn’t
tell me about… it… err… them. I
suppose. But, I know he loves me now, and one day, I most sincerely
hope that my children will be his.” Symphony looked away. “Why?” Rhapsody asked
brightly. “What’s brought this on?” Her friend hesitated, drew a
deep breath and then spurted out, “Who does Gabriel remind you of?” Rhapsody blinked several times
and replied, with a shrug, “No one, in particular. Should he?” “He reminds me of Adam.” “No – he’s nothing like…”
Rhapsody paused. Whilst almost anything could be
said to remind Karen of Adam, now that she mentions it there is a
certain… similarity – but that’s just plain daft! She continued, “Well, no more than anyone might be – you know
- a random sort of thing.” “He claimed he was a Svenson!” The realisation of her
friend’s thinking dawned on her.
“Oh. Karen; you don’t think that Adam’s his-” She couldn’t bring herself to say
it. “That’s ridiculous. He adores you; he’d have told you if
there was anything like that in his past.
Besides, there are other people called Svenson on this planet, you know,
he’s got brothers, hasn’t he? Maybe
– if it is the same Svenson family –
Gabriel’s something to do with one of them…” “His brothers are much younger
– they’d’ve scarcely been out of diapers when Gabriel was born,” Symphony
exaggerated petulantly. “Karen, that’s not true!” Rhapsody retorted, as the lift juddered
to a halt and the door opened.
“Anyway, I can’t see Adam having secret children scattered around the globe, any
more than Paul would have. And
you’re forever telling me that Adam has no secrets from you.” “Huh – maybe I was being too
optimistic? They’re very good at
keeping secrets, Di.” “That’s as maybe, but he
wouldn’t – it just isn’t his style, Karen.” “But what if he did and
Gabriel is his…?” “Well, worrying about it won’t
change it. We have a job to do;
buck up, Karen! If you think Adam
knows more about Gabriel than he’s letting on, you’ll have to tackle him about
it – when you have a chance, which isn’t now.” Symphony nodded miserably, but
followed her friend out of the lift, just as Captain Blue burst through the door
from the stairway and raced towards them. “Have you seen Scarlet?” he
called. “No, we’re looking for him
too,” Rhapsody replied, sprinting towards him. “Hangar Three,” Blue gasped.
Changing direction, he set off at run, with both Angels in hot pursuit. Blue keyed in the code to open
the entry lock to the hangar and saw Scarlet and Alizarin logging in to the
flight computer for the SPJ sitting waiting out on the launch turntable. “Paul!” Blue cried, “What’re
you doing?” “I’m taking Gabriel to Etna;
what else? Back off, Blue – this
has nothing to do with you. You’ve
made it quite clear you wanted nothing to do with it.” “Don’t be a fool-” Blue
protested. “I’m warning you – back off,”
Scarlet said angrily. “Didn’t you hear the colonel?”
Rhapsody asked, moving between them. “We’ll have to let him know where you are,
Paul.” “Keep out of this, Dianne,”
Scarlet said, taking his eye off Blue for a moment to glance at her worried
face. “I don’t care what Colonel
White says - I won’t stay here while my mother’s in danger!” Gabriel shouted.
He looked directly at Captain Blue. “And I never want to see you again!” “Think about the risks,
Gabriel-” Blue urged. “If I’m
right…” “Shut up-” Gabriel sprang
forward, aiming a wild punch at Blue.
Startled by his sudden lunge, Rhapsody jerked backwards and his swinging
fist caught the side of her head.
She staggered against Captain Blue’s arm, raised to parry the punch, and his
elbow caught her a glancing blow on the other side of her head as she collapsed
heavily. Symphony screamed and darted
forward to kneel beside her stricken friend. “You bloody fool!” Scarlet
yelled, although it wasn’t clear which of the two he meant, and while Blue was
distracted by the impact and its result, he grabbed Gabriel’s arm and roughly
hustled him through the door and out into the hangar. Cursing under his breath, Blue
reached for the intercom and called for emergency medical aid, before turning to
Symphony. “Look after her, Karen,” he
said, “help’s on its way. I’d better go and make sure Paul doesn’t beat that boy
to a pulp. I think I’m too
late to stop him heading for Etna, so I’m going with him. Tell the colonel, when
we’ve gone.” “Good riddance to you all,”
she retorted, and turned back to Rhapsody. As the launch siren had
already started sounding, Blue had to over-ride the automatic electronic
security device on the airlock to gain access to the deck. The warning lights were already flashing
and the launch platform slowly rotating towards the direction of take off as he
raced across the hangar. He jumped
onto the turntable as it started to rise towards the launch bay’s doors. Knowing he would asphyxiate if
he was still out in the open when the launch doors opened, Blue rattled the
handle of the aircraft door and pounded on the side. He glanced upwards, dreading the first glimmer of daylight
that would indicate they were starting to move apart. He felt the pressure start to drop and heard the whine of the
motors as they strained to break the seal on the launch doors above him. He was seconds away from
jumping down to the deck and taking his chances there when Scarlet’s hand
grabbed the neck of his uniform tunic and dragged him inside the plane, throwing
him across the gangway, as he slammed the door closed – just in time. “Of all the bloody stupid things!” he raged, as he towered over the
breathless American. “What were you
trying to do? Get yourself killed? In case you’ve forgotten, Blue-boy, I’m the indestructible one around here -
and I’m the one who does the bloody
stupid things that regularly get us both into so much trouble!” “Thanks, Paul. I owe you,”
Blue gasped, and twisted onto his hands and knees, fighting to recover his
breath and steady his nerve. “I’m surrounded by idiots; I
ought to have left you there…”
Scarlet grumbled. He’d regained his
equilibrium now it was clear that his partner was all right. “Why did you come? If you intend to lecture me about doing
my duty and try to make me turn back, I’ll strap you into a parachute and push
you back out. If I’m feeling
magnanimous I might even give you an oxygen tank…” He waited for Blue to recover
and helped him to his feet. “Well?” he asked. “I’m profoundly grateful -
under the circumstances – for your undoubtedly superior strength, but you have
to admit I’m the brains in this partnership, and, on present evidence, you and
Gabriel are going to need me along.
If you’re determined to help … your son, Paul, then I’m determined to help you
help him.” They stared at each other for
a long moment; Scarlet recognised the stubborn set of Blue’s jaw and thought he
saw a glimmer of apologetic embarrassment in his friend’s expression. “I wouldn’t use your last crazy stunt as evidence of your superior
intellect, if I were you,” he said, and broke into a grin. “Welcome aboard, Svenson!” Blue’s responding grin was one
of pure relief. “Who’s flying this plane?” he
asked, as he brushed himself down with an assumed nonchalance. “Gabriel.” “You mean he’s still in one
piece? I thought you’d have ripped
him apart after what happened to Dianne.” Scarlet glowered. “Don’t think I wasn’t tempted. But it was an accident; he assures me he
was aiming at you, which you richly deserved.
Still, I left him in no doubt that if he ever did anything like that
again, it’ll be the last thing he ever does.
Is she all right, Adam?” “I called Fawn and left Karen
looking after her; beyond that, I don’t know.
She’s going to be badly bruised at the very least; I’m afraid I caught
her with my elbow as she stumbled.” Scarlet’s face was a picture
of misery. “I couldn’t stay with
her – you see that, don’t you? I
had to get Gabriel away before the colonel had time to prevent it. I don’t think he means any harm, Adam. Really I don’t.” “No? It didn’t look like that to me when his
hands were all over Karen.” “Oh, come on – you’ve got
nothing to worry about; he’s just a teenager, I don’t think he presents you with
any kind of competition. Besides,
don’t you remember what it was like when you were that age? You’d want anything that was on offer, even if you didn’t
know what to do with it when you got it.” “There wasn’t anything on offer,” Blue growled, still resentful of
Scarlet’s unflattering remarks about Symphony.
“Sure, we knew that, but you have to admit, Karen does overdo it…
sometimes? And with all those raging hormones, Gabriel wasn’t likely to think
before he groped, was he?” “Maybe not,” Blue conceded, as
he remembered his own early experiments with the opposite sex. He added, “But setting that aside, he
might do unintentional harm.” “Give it a rest!” “Okay – I’m not going to
labour it here and now; I know it won’t do any good. If he’s really your son, he’s probably as much of a hot-head
as you, so I might as well save my breath to cool my porridge.” He smirked at Scarlet’s scowling face.
“You’ve got better over the years, but you still have your moments, Paul, and
this is certainly one of them.” Scarlet raised a cynical
eyebrow and said, “And yet you’re here… how do you account for that, ‘Captain
Cautious’?” Blue shook his head ruefully.
“I must be slipping in my old age.” Chuckling, Scarlet said, “Come into the cabin and make your peace
with Gabriel.” “You sure he’s ready to make
peace? He seemed pretty cut up back there.” “Well, that’s hardly
surprising; you’ve been needling him since we met in “Stop saying that!” Blue exclaimed, and drew his hand across
his forehead. “Stop saying what?” “I’m not the same person as Cadenza Angel – how could I be? We have nothing in common – nothing at
all! She’s a woman and I’m not – in case you hadn’t noticed? And yet, you go on and on about
it. Don’t you realise how it makes me feel?” Scarlet looked blankly at him
and shook his head in response. Blue looked away and exhaled
deeply before saying quietly, “You really don’t, do you?” Scarlet shrugged. “I know you never met her, so I guess it
might make it hard to grasp just how bizarre it was to see almost everyone I
knew as the opposite sex. But she
was more like you than the other ‘Adam Svensons’ I met. Besides, I met myself as a woman too - remember? – and that
was distinctly weird; yet, fundamentally, Paula Metcalfe was as much me as Eva Svenson was you.
So, no; I don’t see what you’re getting so worked up about.” “Then I’ll tell you, Paul.
What you’re actually saying is that you… you actually slept with a woman - a woman you keep
insisting was… is me - albeit in some other dimension,”
he added hastily. “That’s… well,
it’s what makes me feel… uncomfortable
about all this. That’s all. It just
freaks me out -” There was a long silence and
Blue glanced across at his friend, wondering at his reaction. Seeing that glance, Scarlet said: “Oh…shit, Adam.
It never occurred to me that you’d feel that way about it.” Blue gave an apologetic
grimace and asked, “How am I supposed to feel?
I mean, we’re friends – good friends, and all, and well… you can’t be
ignorant of the backstairs gossip that has us… more than friends – if you follow
me? This… liaison… with Cadenza is
creeping me out.” “Well, no; I never realised.”
Scarlet found the temptation to tease his friend irresistible.
He assumed a coy expression and continued, “I mean… don’t you think it’s
kind of flattering? I mean, I would, if it was you that’d slept with a female me…” Blue’s expression hardened.
For all his liberal outlook, there remained a rock-solid streak of Puritanism in
Blue’s character, and he was the one who cared most about the rumours that
invariably circulated, given they were so closely associated in the public mind,
about the nature of the relationship between them.
They did, indeed, share a close emotional bond; one forged during the
innumerable dangerous missions they’d shared, and tempered by the painful
injuries and deaths Scarlet experienced. It was a bond the Englishman valued,
and knew he’d be infinitely poorer without. He’d often reflected that, in
many ways, Blue was one of the least judgemental people he knew, but even so,
there were well-defined limits to his friend’s broad-minded outlook – at least,
when he judged himself. Scarlet
knew there’d been some cataclysmic event in Blue’s life that was responsible for
blind spots in his psyche, and although he’d sometimes privately speculated
about the nature of it, he’d never asked what had happened, accepting that if
Blue wanted to, he’d explain. He sighed, wondering why he
was always surprised when he ran up against this prudishness. Usually, he knew better than to
fight it; however, the devil was in him now, and he felt the American was
behaving badly with respect to Alizarin, so he simpered impishly and said: “You ought to know, my dearest Adam, there’s really no need for you
to be jealous-” “It’s not funny; can it, Paul!” Blue protested angrily. “The whole idea really freaks me
out.” Scarlet noticed a shadow come
into Blue’s pale-blue eyes, presumably at the memory that could, even now,
conjure nightmares for his friend. “Just can it, okay?” Blue
pleaded wearily. While recognising his friend’s
disquiet as genuine, Scarlet still thought the whole situation was amusing, even
if the joke was on him. “I’m sorry.” He tried to frame his expression to one of suitable
contrition, but failed, and by way of an apology for that, he continued, “It’s
just that it is funny – no, okay- it isn’t
funny! What I meant was: it’s odd to think that you think that I
thought of her as you, and that’s why
I fancied her. I mean:
cards-on-the-table-time here, Blue-boy; Eva Svenson is one hell of a sexy woman,
and the very last thing we did together was sleep, but
at no point in the whole experience did the thought of you even enter my head – I swear. It would’ve put a real dampener on
things if it had.” Blue was looking at him,
half-convinced and wholly-wanting to believe.
Scarlet stopped teasing and said soberly, “You’re my closest friend, I
trust you with my life and everything pertaining to it, but – and I mean this
most sincerely - you do not turn me on, Adam. Not even a little bit.
Scouts’ honour!” He raised his hand in the
three-fingered salute of a Boy-Scout and stared directly at his partner, a
veritable picture of solemnity. Colour mounted in Blue’s
tanned cheeks. “I’m a complete
jerk, right?” Scarlet pursed his lips and
gave a brisk nod. “Pretty much.” “But you’ll stop going on
about Cadenza and me being the same person, won’t you?” “I’ll stop saying it. On one condition.” “What?” Blue asked warily. Scarlet pounced. “Give
us a kiss!” He dodged the inevitable
punch, and roaring with laughter, made his way to the cabin, where Gabriel was
making a good job of speeding them away from Cloudbase.
|
|
Cadenza Angel pressed the throttle and the helijet rose from the tarmac into the
cloudy skies above
“The forecast is for a bad storm,” he said.
“We’ll be there well before it breaks, and if it makes it impossible to return,
we’ll have to sit it out in the security guards’ huts.”
“Colonel Black said we were to be quick about it,” he reminded her.
“Leave your father to me,” she said, adjusting course slightly. “He knows I won’t waste time anyway.” Her
son smiled. “I guess so.” He drew a palm-sized computer from his
tunic pocket. “I’ve had a reply
from the Security Area Commander:
it seems not all of the tunnels are accessible, so it shouldn’t be too difficult
to discover which one Gabriel took.”
“Hmm. I just hope he isn’t causing problems –
wherever he’s gone.” “Do
you think he got his wish and found the right dimension, so that he’s met up
with Captain Scarlet?”
Cadenza gave a slight shrug. “The
tunnels went into several dimensions, from what I can remember. The Captain Scarlet and the Captain Blue I met, all those
years ago, came from different dimensions, and I went back with them to Captain
Blue’s dimension. I never visited Captain Scarlet’s.” She
paused thoughtfully and gave a reminiscent smile. “I wonder if he’s changed much.”
She glanced at her son, seeing the uncertainty on his face. “I suppose, because he’s like me, he’ll
be much the same.”
“What was he like?” Tyrian asked hurriedly, as if he feared delaying the
question would mean he’d never have the courage to ask it.
“Paul Metcalfe? He was about
my height – a little taller, maybe - and he had jet-black hair and very blue
eyes. He also had the same cute little dimple
in his chin that you and Gabriel have …”
“Mom!” She
laughed. “You asked the question,
Mike.”
“You must’ve liked him…”
“Oh, I did. He was charming, and
very good company. I felt I’d known
him for ever.” She
glanced at him, thoughtfully.
Michael was the more serious-minded of the boys, intelligent and measured in his
manner. Unlike Gabriel, he’d never
questioned her about his biological father and she felt it had cost him
something to do so now. So
that he didn’t have to ask any more questions she explained, “I was unhappy at
the time, Mike. Your father – the
colonel, I mean – and I had separated; he felt it wasn’t right for the
commander-in-chief to associate with one of the Angel pilots. I was dating Captain Blue - as Kevin
Wainwright was then - at the time, but it wasn’t what I wanted. Paul was the right man for me, at the
right time. We both felt that there
was a risk we might not get back to our loved ones and we were attracted to each
other. There was affection on both
sides, I’m sure of that much, and I considered him a good friend. As it happens, I’m also grateful to him
for giving me my children – in a strange way I feel that fate intended us to be
together, even if only for that one night, because there was no other way I
could ever have had a family. That
makes both of you very special to me.” “I
guess there was no way he could ever have known about Gabriel and me?”
“No,” she said firmly. “It was
agreed that the tunnels were too dangerous to be used in anything less than a
dire emergency. Then, a few months
after all this happened, about the time it was confirmed that I was pregnant,
there was a major eruption and the volcano was so dangerous it was cordoned off. That gave the World Government the
perfect excuse they needed to restrict access to the area, and, when it was
finally safe for anyone to go back, the security officers found that the tunnels
had closed - they had a tendency to open and close with every eruption or quake,
but this was more permanent. So
there was no way I could’ve told Paul about you, even if I’d wanted to.”
“Did you want to?” “By
then your father had decided he loved me too much for us to remain apart; and I
was happy again. I wondered how
Conrad would take it – my pregnancy – but he was okay with it, even when it was
confirmed that he wasn’t your biological father.” She
turned to her son and smiled reassuringly.
“Your father has always loved both of you; he was of the opinion that you were
my sons and that he loved me, so there was no problem. I’m sure you couldn’t have asked for a more loving father?”
“No… and I guess it was right to tell us the truth about Captain Scarlet, but-” “But? There’s a but?” “I
guess I think I owe Dad something for looking after us.”
“Oh, Mikey… he loves you and Gabriel.
You don’t owe him anything.” “If
you say so.” “Conrad says so. You love your father, don’t you?” Tyrian nodded slightly. “Then you’re quits.”
Cadenza frowned slightly and made a show of adjusting their flight path while
her mind was dealing with the fear that her honesty might have been preying on
her son’s mind for years - and she’d never
realised.
They flew on in silence for some minutes until Tyrian said: “I
bet there are people who think I’m the luckiest kid alive: I’ve got the best mom in the whole
world, the bravest dad you could imagine and the greatest place to live. I’m sure thousands of kids envy me
living on Cloudbase...”
“But?” she asked again, raising one sculptured eyebrow.
Tyrian looked down at his hands and admitted, “I sometimes agree with Gabriel
and wish we could’ve had a normal life:
gone to normal schools like normal kids.”
Cadenza sighed: she’d had this ‘discussion’ with Gabriel many times before but
Michael had never mentioned it.
“Quite apart from the fact that you’ve both inherited some aspects of
retrometabolism, it wouldn’t have been wise, even if you’d been born as
non-retrometabolic individuals.
Your father has a high profile – he has enemies, including the Mysterons and
their primary agent…”
“I’m not scared of Steve Zodiac-” her son asserted.
“Good, because I am. Zodiac is the
conduit through which the Mysterons attack us, he’s dangerous and he’s deadly. Maybe it wasn’t his fault he
over-reacted on Mars and started their vendetta against us, but since then,
through their manipulation, he has been responsible for more deaths than you can
count, Mikey.” She looked at him,
her sincerity clear in her pale-blue eyes.
“Maybe he’s unaware of his actions, I’ve wondered that many times before
now; but whether he feels remorse or not, he has no choice but to act against
us. If you ever see him, keep away,
Michael, because he will kill you – or
Gabriel, me or your father - without hesitation.” “Be
careful, Mom…” “I
always am; I have too much worth living for, darling.” She reached across and patted his hand.
Tyrian gave a half-hearted smile.
“Do you think Captain Scarlet will be pleased to see us?”
Cadenza sighed. “Now you’re really
asking,” she replied uncertainly.
Alizarin was reluctant to cede
control of the SPJ to Captain Blue, but over the captain’s shoulder he saw
Scarlet nodding encouragingly, and besides, the habit of obedience to a certain
tone of voice, common, it seemed, to his mother and this familiarly-unfamiliar
man, was ingrained, so he moved out of the pilot’s seat and stood behind Scarlet
who was in the co-pilot’s seat.
“Sit down and belt up,” Blue
ordered, jerking his head towards the passenger cabin, as he adjusted a few
switches and checked the dials. “But I want to-” the boy began
to protest. Blue glanced up, a deep frown
between his brows. Alizarin surrendered. “I’ll just go and sit down, shall I?” he said, and with a shrug at the
smirking Scarlet, left them. Scarlet chuckled. “I think you enjoy intimidating the
juniors,” he paraphrased innocently. “Don’t you start, or I’ll try
my father’s best disapproving look on you too,” Blue said, closing the
conversation by busying himself with the controls. Sniggering to himself, Scarlet
monitored their rate of descent.
It was gloomy, and although
the storm had died down somewhat, it was still raining in a persistent, heavy
drizzle and there was a fierce, unpredictable crosswind. Nevertheless, Blue brought them
down on the small concreted landing strip that served the security zone at the
base of the volcano, with scarcely a jolt. “He’s damn good,” an obviously
impressed Alizarin whispered to Scarlet, as they disembarked. They were waiting for Captain
Blue before heading towards the cabin used by the commander of the security
squad that regulated access to the volcano. “You don’t say?” Scarlet
suppressed a smile. “My mom’s the best pilot I’ve
had experience of, but he… he’s as good.” “And you think that’s
surprising under the circumstances?” Alizarin looked slightly
abashed. “No, I guess not.” Scarlet patted the youngster’s
shoulder. “Never mind, it took me
some time to get used to it too, when I met your mother.” “You know what’s really weird?
That there isn’t an alternative ‘me’ in this world.
I mean, if Captain Blue and my mom are the same, surely he’d have kids too –
even if they’re only little kids right now.” Scarlet shrugged. “Your mother didn’t lose Conrad Turner
for ever - even if, at the time I met her, she thought it was all over between
them - but Blue lost his fiancée – she died, Gabriel - and I think it’s taken
him time to get over it; time, and
a force of nature who just wouldn’t take no for an answer!” “Still, it’d have been cool to
have met the ‘me’ here.” Scarlet raised a sceptical
eyebrow. “It’s not always the
unalloyed pleasure you seem to imagine.
Some of the less-laudable aspects of your character can be more prominent than
you’d like. The Paul Metcalfe I met
was a priggish, self-righteous fellow.
I hoped I was nothing like that.” “So it’s like someone holds a
mirror to you, and you see the true picture?” “Warts and all,” Scarlet
confirmed, with a wry smile. “I can see that might not be
as much fun as I’d imagined; but at least, you’d know what you could make of
your life. People are always
telling me I have to do this or that, or can’t do what I want to because it
might upset things. I know I’m ready to go on missions – and it’s great to be
here on one with you - but they just say ‘you’re too young’.” Gabriel gave a dramatic sigh.
“It’s no fun being a retrometabolic teenager.” Scarlet grinned. “No, it’s just being a teenager that’s
no fun. Believe me, Gabriel;
retrometabolism doesn’t change that feeling of being fenced in by adults who
don’t understand.” As they approached the
airfield offices, he opened the door for Alizarin to enter and said,
“Your time will come – I don’t doubt that – and then maybe you’ll wish you could
say ‘I’ve had enough of doing this, I want to do something else and be like a
normal guy’.” “Do you ever wish that,
Captain? I sometimes think my
mother does.” “Only when I’m tired and
dispirited. I suspect it’s the same
for your mother as well; there are times when you feel as if you couldn’t endure
another painful injury or death.” He hesitated and added in a quieter voice, “Or
times when the slightly wary look in your friends’ eyes reminds you that you’re
different.” He glanced at Blue who was
approaching them in long, easy strides.
“You see, Gabriel, that’s why I value Blue’s company; all I ever see in
his eyes is friendship.” He gave a
judicious pause and added honestly, “And the odd burst of exasperation…of
course.” Alizarin joined in with
Scarlet’s chuckle and although Captain Blue frowned inquiringly at his friend as
to what was so funny, he got no reply beyond a friendly wink.
Deep within the dark tunnels
that honeycombed the vast bulk of From the inky darkness of one
of these shadows a man emerged. He
was tall, thin to the point of appearing skeletal and his pallid face was
unshaven. “They are here,” he said to
the newcomer. “Good. We have work to do. The Mysterons’ orders must be carried
out.” The thin man nodded. “United we can overcome our adversaries,
once and for all. They will not be
prepared.” “No, we will be too strong for
them, Captain Black.” “The Cadenza-being is coming?”
Black asked the pale man beside him. Colonel Steven Kalinski – the
man the press had dubbed Steve Zodiac - nodded. “She seeks to find her child and return with him to her own
dimension.” Something approaching a
disdainful smile tugged at the edges of Black’s thin lips. “Those misbegotten creatures may yet
prove the undoing of their unnatural parents.
But such chances do not occur often, Colonel.” “Then we must not fail,
Captain. Our masters demand we succeed, and to that end alone, they have brought
us together.” “The Mysterons’ instructions
will be carried out,” Black said, his deep voice laden with menace. The two men moved together
towards a smaller tunnel that led upwards out of the cavern.
“Maybe you should wait here
for Cadenza to arrive?” Scarlet suggested to his companions, as they prepared to
enter the volcanic tunnels. “Not if the threat means she’s in danger. I’m not going to risk anything happening
to her while I’m sitting about doing nothing; but you can wait here if you
like,” the youngest replied. He was
already by the door, kitted out with the necessary equipment for a descent into
the caves. “Well, we’ve no certainty that
she’s even on her way here,” Blue mused aloud, as he adjusted a bright-yellow
hard hat to fit. “But, if Alizarin
and I go in and we meet her half way, he can go back with her, which will
prevent her fully entering into this dimension,” he said. “Hopefully that’ll be
enough to scupper the Mysterons’ threat.
And you don’t even have to meet her, if you don’t want to,” he added,
glancing perceptively at his field partner.
“That’s got nothing to do with
it,” Scarlet snapped, fastening his torch battery to the belt of his uniform.
“I’ll be delighted to see her again, Blue-boy. It isn’t me who’s ‘freaked out’ by this…
but, if you’re right, then her arrival here could trigger some Mysteron threat.
That is why we’re here, remember.
So, the best way to avoid that is for me and Alizarin to stop her coming into
the tunnels, or at least meet her half-way, and get her to go back,” he
concluded reasonably. “Oh sure, a meeting between
the potential catalysts of some cataclysmic event right beneath a volcano… what
could possibly go wrong there?” Blue muttered sardonically. “We already know the
power of the Mysterons allows them to create trouble in more dimensions than
this; we don’t know if they’ve issued a threat in the other world, but they have
threatened us with destroying some sort of gathering, through Cadenza-” “You can’t be sure of that –
they could be out to destroy her,”
Alizarin interrupted. He was
shuffling from foot to foot in his eagerness to be in action. “’A native cadence destroys
the gathering of the misplaced’ – that’s what they said - and that doesn’t
suggest she’s their target, more their weapon,” Blue reasoned. “We still don’t know who or
what this ‘gathering of the misplaced’ is,” Scarlet said thoughtfully. Blue looked at Alizarin. “I think it’s Gabriel. He doesn’t belong here, ergo he’s misplaced.” “You would say that,” Gabriel
snapped. “I agree that we should
send my mom home; but I don’t want to go with her.” Scarlet shook his head. “If we meet Cadenza, you go straight
back with her, my boy. I’m not
arguing with your mother about it.” Alizarin frowned. “Awww,” he complained, in the universal
protest of every teenager since time began. To hide his amusement, Blue
tested the lamp on his helmet.
“Come on then. ‘If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done
quickly’.” “Does your mother do that?”
Scarlet asked Gabriel, as they trooped out of the locker room. “Do what?” “Have a fund of quotations
that she trots out at the slightest opportunity, until you want to throttle him
– her?” The youngster nodded
cheerfully. “I swear she swallows
whole volumes for breakfast just to be irritating.” Scarlet shook his head
sorrowfully. “There’s no help for
it then.” Blue was grinning at them.
“Just because I can remember the darn things…”
The journey through the
tunnels took some time. Nothing
looked familiar to Alizarin or the captains, and a couple of times they came to
a dead end. Scarlet began to wonder
if they’d ever find the opening to the alternative universe where Cadenza and
her family existed. Blue continually encouraged
Alizarin to try and remember the way he’d come and slowly they began to make
progress. Finally, they came to a
sheer wall with a jagged crack half-way along.
“That’s it,” Gabriel said,
relief evident in his voice. “I
came through there.” “Right, let’s go. Keep together and remember – we don’t
know what sort of welcome we’re going to get.” “If I know anything about Cadenza,” Blue muttered,
“someone’s ears are going to be burning… and if they were a year or two younger,
that wouldn’t be all…” Gabriel’s face was a picture
of misery as they slithered into the narrow tunnel. Minutes later they emerged
into a broader passageway that started to climb towards the surface. At the mouth of the tunnel, Scarlet held
up his hand and they waited while he scanned the area through night-vision
binoculars. “The coast is clear,” he
whispered. “Where is the landing
strip from here, Alizarin?” The young man pointed and they
walked out across the rough ground away from the tunnel entrance, into the
radiance of a single floodlight. The two shots that rang out
came from the blackness beyond the floodlight and caught them unawares. Blue and Alizarin fell to the
ground with no more than a surprised exhalation of breath, as a third shot hit
Scarlet. He stumbled on for three
or four more steps until another bullet struck him and he too dropped to the
ground. The guard in the nearest
watchtower sounded the alarm and from the Portacabins around the base rushed
men, hastily pulling on uniform jackets and checking their guns. But before they could spread out to
search for the perpetrators, or reach the victims, a woman raced into the circle
of light from the direction of the airfield.
Her fair hair glinted in the floodlight. She hesitated and glanced down
at the body of Captain Scarlet, then hurried to kneel beside the other man; his
hard hat had rolled away as he fell and revealed a head of fair hair.
Frowning, she turned him and closed her eyes in dismay.
Placing a hand at the side of his neck, she waited just long enough to detect a
faint, erratic pulse before she scrambled to the side of the dark-haired youth
who had fallen nearby. She turned
him, brushed the tangle of hair from his face and cradled him against her
breast, throwing back her head and howling in defiant misery at the grey sky
above: “No!” The guards surrounded the
fallen men and the distraught woman, two of them dragging another dark-haired
youngster with them. “Get them into the cabin,” the
commanding officer ordered. “I’m
going to tell Cloudbase what’s happened.
I’m sure they’ll send someone to interrogate these strangers.” “No!” Cadenza snapped out
fiercely. “These men are to be
taken to Cloudbase immediately.
Radio for a medical helijet – and tell them it is condition red.” “And who’re you?” the
commander asked suspiciously. “Cadenza Angel.” She turned to face him and he
recognised her. “Sorry, ma’am.” She lay the youngster down
with great tenderness, and stood.
“Contact Colonel Black immediately and tell him that Captains… Metcalfe and
Svenson have been attacked by unknown assailants on their arrival here, and that
Ensign Alizarin is with them and... they’re all badly hurt.” The man looked at the ID card
she presented to him for a long moment.
“Cloudbase is on red alert, ma’am, I can’t send anyone there. We have medical facilities locally-” “Captain – this young man is
the colonel’s son. Do you imagine
he’ll thank you for risking his life?
We need to go to Cloudbase. Doctor
Fawn will take care of everything.” Still the commanding officer
hesitated. Cadenza held out her hand.
“Give me my flight helmet, I’ll get you permission.” He nodded at his subordinate
who handed over the helmet. Cadenza
slipped it on and immediately contacted Lieutenant Green. “Is everything okay, Cadenza?” she asked. “No, I need to speak to the
colonel – now. I don’t care what
he’s doing. I have three men down,
and this fool in command here is telling me we can’t come back to Cloudbase.” “There’s been a Mysteron threat.” “I don’t care if they’ve
announced the start of Armageddon!
We’re coming back.” “Putting you through…” Conrad’s voice held a touch of
asperity. “Cadenza, what’s wrong now?” “Unknown assailants have
attacked Alizarin; he was making his way back to us with two officers: Metcalfe
and Svenson. They’re all wounded. I want the emergency medical helijet
here as soon as possible, Conrad.” “Tyrian?” She glanced at the ashen-faced
boy. “He’s fine – I’m okay.
But it is imperative we get the others to Cloudbase.
It’s condition red, Colonel, but Fawn will know what to do,” she stated,
obliquely reminding her husband that Scarlet, at least, was retrometabolic and
would recover sooner or later. “SIG.” She heard Black
call out, “Lieutenant, launch the medical
helijet and set a course to move us towards Etna. Spectrum is red!” “Thank you, Conrad,” Cadenza
said. “Everything will work out, you’ll see.
Gabriel will be all right.” “I hope so. Cadenza out.” She glanced at the commander,
seeing the epaulettes on his uniform were illuminated by a pale green glow as
Lieutenant Green relayed orders.
She looked towards the guards still holding Tyrian and said, “Let him go; he’s
with me.” Tyrian came to her side and
stared down at his brother. “Will
he be all right?” he asked. “If everything that has
happened to me and your father during our lifetimes, means anything at all,
Mikey; yes he will.” She turned and issued brisk
orders for the wounded men to be given first aid and her jet made ready for
immediate take off, as soon as the helijet had collected them. She pointed to Captain Scarlet. “This man will have to travel in my
plane; there won’t be room in the helijet for the three of them. Ensign Tyrian can look after him while I
fly the plane.” “What about the assailants?”
the commander asked, as she went to kneel between Blue and Alizarin. Cadenza stared out into the
intense darkness. “Find them, kill them and throw the vermin into the volcano,”
she replied with barely suppressed anger. “Let’s see the Mysterons resurrect
them after that!”
|
|
Colonel Black was waiting with
Doctor Fawn as the helijet landed and the wounded were rushed into Moments later, Cadenza’s plane
landed and shortly after that the paramedics who’d met the plane wheeled Captain
Scarlet into intensive care too. Cadenza came to stand beside
her husband. “Any news?” she asked. He shook his head. “They were only just ahead of you. What can you tell me about what happened
down there?” “Very little. We’d just arrived and were making our
way to the command centre when we heard shooting.
By the time we got to the scene, the three of them were down and the
guards came out in force.
Captain Blue was alive: I felt a pulse, not much of one, but it was there. Gabriel,” her voice choked on the name,
“was alive too, but he’s badly hurt.” Her eyes flooded with tears
and she clenched a fist to her lips.
She turned to her silent husband and asked, “What if… despite everything
– he doesn’t recover?” Black drew her into his
embrace and stroked her hair. “Eva,
he’s your son. You know Fawn says
there’s a damned good chance he’ll have inherited retrometabolism from you and…
his father.” “He’s just a kid, Con! Just my little boy – why couldn’t
they leave him alone?” “You think this was the work
of the Mysterons?” She shrugged and turned away
from him to where Tyrian now stood, silent and shocked. She wrapped her arms around him and drew
him closer to the colonel. Black
put an arm around them both, alarmed at the rigid tension he felt in his son. “Are you all right, Michael?” “Yes, sir.” “Maybe we should get a nurse
to give you a cup of tea? You’re
cold.” Black beckoned over one of the nurses and handed the youngster to her
care. “I’ll stay with him, Colonel,”
she said. “The best thing we can do
for him now is get him to relax and then get some rest. Come on, Mikey; I’ll get
you a hot drink and you can lie down in the side ward. As soon as there’s any news, I’ll come
and tell you.” Cadenza watched Tyrian until
the door of the side room closed.
“I should go with him,” she said, running a hand through her hair and feeling a
profound exhaustion seep into her bones. “Michael’s in good hands.
You need to think of yourself,” Black reassured her.
“Maybe you need some tea as well?” She was about to flare up at
him, but caught the gentle smile at the corner of his thin lips and realised he
was teasing. She shook her head and
sighed, flopping down onto one of the padded seats that lined the reception
area. He sat beside her, his hand
on her knee in a silent sympathy. She knew him so well: knew his
stern self-control, his difficulty in showing the emotions he felt, and that the
job he was doing - and doing well – made it even harder for him to show any
weakness. She also knew that
without him - her rock - life would be even more difficult than her
retrometabolism already made it.
She laid her own hand over his and squeezed it gently. There was no let up in the
daily pressures Conrad faced as Commander-in-Chief of Spectrum, and, even though
he was in his mid-fifties, with two teenage sons and a wife who, whatever anyone
knew to the contrary, was physically in her early thirties, he never expected
any special consideration.
Cadenza felt some guilt at the realisation that due to her and the boys,
his home life was not exactly tranquil either.
Now, she sensed that however
well he appeared to be dealing with the situation, Conrad was suffering as much
as she was. These boys were his
family as much as they were hers; he’d watched them grow from helpless babies to
the young men they were now. He
loved them with the deep and proud affection that was so characteristic of him. She removed her hand, and
looped her arm through his. “I’m
glad you’re here with me, Con.
Whatever happens, we’ll cope together – we’re a family, aren’t we?” He smiled and nodded. “I still wish I knew who had done this,
and why. When they catch the
perpetrators, I want them thoroughly interrogated. I’m determined to get to the
bottom of this.” Cadenza said nothing, but
nodded.
Doctor Fawn gave a sigh of
relief and nodded to her junior doctor.
“Close him up.” She turned away and peeled off
the bloodied latex gloves, while a nurse removed her surgical apron and tied
another over her theatre scrubs.
The nurse held out clean gloves with a pair of tongs and Fawn slipped
them on. “How’s he doing?” she asked
the team around the adjacent operating table. “Vital signs are stable; some
slight improvement,” Doctor Tan reported.
“The bullet went in just above the heart, but didn’t hit it.” “Can we get it out without
damaging his heart?” “If we take care.” Fawn gave her colleague a
sharp glance. “Do we ever do
anything without taking care?” she remarked.
“Let’s do it then.” She
paused. “How is Captain Scarlet?” she called to
the third team, around the final gurney. Doctor Beige replied, “He’s
dead. We’re monitoring the
situation.” “Fine; let me know when he
turns the corner.” “S.I.G., Doctor.” As she prepared to perform
another life-saving operation, Fawn paused long enough to say to the closest
nurse, “Let his parents know what’s happening.”
It was the longest night of
Cadenza’s life. She refused to leave Envying the fact that her son
could be lulled to sleep by powerful narcotics, she stared at the ceiling and
allowed her mind to roam over the events of the day and beyond, back across the
years. She remembered her
overwhelming surprise and delight at discovering she was pregnant, and the
excitement of discovering it was twins.
She remembered the guilt when Fawn told her that her lover was not their father,
and the big-hearted way Conrad had dismissed her concerns, married her and
accepted the boys as his own. There had been problems
raising them on Cloudbase, but the risks of sending them ground-side had been
too great, especially as Spectrum could not spare either of their parents to go
with them. They’d been given their
‘codenames’ as toddlers – Alizarin and Tyrian, manufactured dyes that reflected
their unique status – and were always referred to by those names in any official
capacity. They’d had the
freedom of the base, growing up used to a world governed by duty rotas, parents
who were seemingly always on duty, and a mother who was frequently hospitalised,
but never for long. The experts on
Cloudbase had educated them, teaching them a syllabus that no school would
recognise, but which had engaged the interest of their intelligent and lively
minds. They bickered and fought like
any brothers, got into trouble and were spoilt by everyone on the base. ‘Ali’ and ‘Ty’ were Cloudbase’s
unofficial mascots and they’d both grown up far too quickly surrounded by the
forceful adult personalities of the other Spectrum agents. It isn’t fair.
I can’t have guarded him for all these years for this to happen now –
just as he’s starting to live his own life… there’s no justice – and none in
what’s happened to Paul and … Adam, either.
It’s Gabriel’s fault they’re here fighting for their lives.
She closed her eyes and whispered, “Dear God, I’ve never asked for
anything – I take whatever gets dished out and I do it willingly to shield the
others - but I am asking now: please,
don’t take them - any of them.” With that last coherent plea,
she drifted into a light, fitful sleep.
Fawn came into the room and
stood, surprisingly irresolutely for that decisive woman, wondering if she
should disturb them. The problem resolved itself
when Michael sat up in bed and looked with fearful eyes at the kindly doctor.
Fawn had stopped long enough to clean up, but her hair was a mess and the black
rings under her dark eyes testified to the hard night’s work she’d just
finished. “Doctor Fawn…?” Michael asked
softly, unable to voice the rest of the question. Even those quiet words were
enough to wake his mother, and Cadenza sat up, smoothing her hair and looking
towards the woman she’d come to know very well over the years. “Edie, is it good news?” Fawn smiled. “So far, so good. We got the bullet out of Captain Blue – although we won’t
know for certain if it’s caused nerve damage for some time yet. He’s sedated and being monitored very
closely – the less movement the better for now. Captain Scarlet is in a deep coma, but he’s alive. So is Gabriel.” “Thank God,” Cadenza breathed.
“Did he…? Did he die?” “No – but it was touch and go.
The bullet was close to his heart, but he’s strong – we know that – and he heals
fast. However, not as fast as you do, Eva, or as fast as Scarlet’s
recovering. So we still can’t be
sure what level of retrometabolism he and Mike have inherited; or even if
they’ve inherited the same level, if it comes to that.
All I can promise you is we’re doing everything we can to encourage his
natural ability to heal.” “Thank God,” she repeated, and
slid from the chair to hold out her hand to the doctor. “And you – I knew you were the best
chance the three of them had.” She stooped to kiss Fawn’s
cheek. Fawn smothered a yawn. “I had a lot of help and we were lucky. I suggest you two go and get washed and
brushed up, have something to eat and then, if you want to, you can come and see
them all. I’m not sure how long I
can keep Scarlet sedated, but right now he’s unconscious without the need for
drugs. The others I’ll keep sedated for the
rest of today, at least. They’re
all hooked into the robot nurses, so you can check up on their progress. I’ve given you access to the
computer, Eva, you just have to login as normal to your computer account. You don’t have to be here 24:7 – unless
you want to be.” “You look like you need some
sleep,” she said with concern. “I do. I’m going to use the Room of Sleep – I
can’t afford the time to do it properly until I’m sure they’re all on the road
to recovery. I’ll see you later.” Cadenza waved goodbye and
hugged her son in delight. “We’ll
have a family Christmas yet, Mikey! Come on, let’s go and tell your father!”
News of Alizarin’s condition
had swept the base and there was a surge of relief as the news spread as quickly
that he was alive. Despite
the unresolved Mysteron threat – ‘We, the Mysterons, will destroy Spectrum’s
capacity for resistance’ – the mood on Cloudbase was upbeat. Colonel Black made sure that
no one was aware of the identities of the two agents injured along with
Alizarin; he had no intention of anyone getting wind of Captain Scarlet’s
retrometabolism. The word went out
through the unofficial grapevine - so carefully managed by Lieutenant Green –
that the men were ground-based agents who’d been escorting the youngster to a
rendezvous with his mother. For now, Fawn issued regular,
bland reports about the ensign, designed to reassure her colleagues the boy was on
the way to recovery. Yet, the three
men remained unconscious; Blue was sedated to prevent him moving, but both
Scarlet and Alizarin were in comas.
Fawn wasn’t too concerned, she reported that the bullet that had done the most
damage to Scarlet had fractured his skull, and as such she hardly anticipated a
speedy recovery. “I’m going on what I’d expect
with you, Eva,” she explained to Cadenza, “but I doubt there’s much difference.
As for Gabriel, he’s better off unconscious for now – he’s going to be in pain
when he comes to. His body is healing, slowly. His brain activity is increasing, as is
Scarlet’s – I have no doubt they’ll be awake fairly soon. I’m not going to rush it.” “I wonder if we should try and
alert Scarlet’s dimension to what’s happened to him,” Cadenza asked her husband,
as the doctor finished her report.
“I assume the Adam Svenson with him is from the same dimension – his, I
mean – although it could be the Captain Blue I met… we don’t know if they came
straight here or spent time searching for the right dimension, after all.” “I’m not having anyone going
back to Etna until we’ve apprehended the assailant,” Black said soberly. “They’ve found nothing and no sign of
who it might’ve been, as yet.” “If it was the Mysterons we
know they can transport their agents out of danger – it’s been reported as
happening to Zodiac,” Tyrian ventured.
“There might be nothing to find.” “Hmm,” Cadenza said. She wasn’t sure if the fact that no one
had been found was due to her impulsive order.
“I guess we might have problems finding the right time anyway – if the
tunnels have shifted, we could end up reporting that ‘they’re recovering in our
Sick Bay’ before they’ve left…” The colonel nodded. “Leave well alone, Eva.” He turned to
Fawn. “Keep me informed, Doctor.” “S.I.G., Colonel.” Black turned and strode
towards the door, saying over his shoulder, “See you later, Ev-” The automatic door failed to
open and he walked straight into it, banging his elbow and losing his balance
due to the surprise. “Con!” Cadenza jumped to her
feet and went to help him to his feet.
“Are you okay?” Rubbing his elbow he grunted a
positive response. “Better get the
door circuits checked, Doctor!” “It was working fine when you
got here,” Fawn retorted, and went to key in a code. The door juddered, sighed and opened a few inches. Cadenza glanced at Tyrian and
they tried not to grin. After a period of such strain, the incident, however
minor, was almost hysterically funny.
They had to call the maintenance team to get the door open and Colonel
Black was annoyed as he stomped out back to the Control Room. Shaking her head, Fawn went
back to her regular work and Cadenza and Michael settled down to their vigil. Cadenza just got involved in
the book she was reading when the lights flickered and went out. It was just for a moment, as the medical
generators cut in immediately, but she glanced up, frowning; Cloudbase was
always kept in tip-top condition – the lives of over 600 people depended on
that. Tyrian was still tapping on
his laptop and seemed unconcerned by the event, but his mother put her book down
and stood, walking slowly over towards Fawn’s office. She met the doctor as she came out. She raised an inquisitive
eyebrow and Fawn replied, “It’s not a drill. We have emergency lighting only.
Everywhere.” Cadenza clicked the intercom
and spoke to Lieutenant Green. “What’s happened?” “Maintenance are working on it now; don’t panic,” the lieutenant
replied. She sounded harassed. “We have a Mysteron threat,
doors that were working perfectly suddenly start sticking, the lights go out and
you tell me not to panic? Now I am worried. What else has happened, Serena?” There was a pause, and finally
Green replied, “Radar’s out.
Navigation say they’re getting no response from the engines when they
adjust our course.” “We’re dead in the water – so
to speak?” “Pretty much.” She lowered her voice, “The colonel is
about to launch all Angels.” “But you’re not supposed to
tell me,” Cadenza surmised. She shook her head. “I’m on my way, Lieutenant. If my squadron’s launching I’m going
with them. Cadenza out.” “What about Gabriel?” Cadenza hadn’t seen Tyrian
come to stand beside her, worried by the tone of the conversation he’d
overheard. “He’ll be fine; the medical
generators are on different circuits and they’ve got backups too.” “You’re going to leave him?” “Mike, I have more
responsibilities than just Gabriel.
There are 600 people on Cloudbase, including your brother. This base fails, they’ll all die. Don’t worry about him; Doctor Fawn will
watch over him, and you can stay here too.” His answer surprised her.
“No,” he said, “I might be able to help too.
I can at least ask Lieutenant Green if she needs me.” “Don’t get in the way, Mike,”
she said, placing her hand on his shoulder and kissing his serious face. Then she was gone, striding
from the Tyrian paused long enough to
look in on the three patients, and then, collecting his laptop, made his way to
the Control Room, where Serena Griffiths and his father both seemed pleased to
see him. He stood beside his father in
the observation tube and watched three Angel jets streak away into the sky, on
the look out for any approaching danger.
Every engineer and technician
on the base had been called back into work to try and correct the fault in the
systems. When the stabilizers went
offline the base was effectively at the mercy of the winds, and Cloudbase was
drifting, unable to use her own power to correct her flight path. In the Control Room, Colonel
Black spoke the Director General of the World Aeronautical Society and issued a
code red warning to all air traffic.
He contacted the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander Earth Forces and repeated
the message. Then he called the
World President and informed him that – as of now – Cloudbase was inoperative
and he was evacuating all but a skeleton crew. “Is the base in danger of crashing, Colonel?” President Günter asked
in alarm. “Not immediately, sir. But we’ve lost the hover combines, and
at the moment, we’re hanging on by the skin of our teeth.” “She will crash?” “Yes sir. She will.
I can’t tell you when, and I can’t tell you where. We had moved over the
“The crash could kill hundreds of thousands of people!” “We’re doing all we can, and
as soon as we have any power we will take every possible evasive action.” “Keep me informed, Colonel. I want to know what’s going on every hour. Is it worth us evacuating the cities?” he asked, helpless in the face of such
uncertainty. “If you feel the panic that
might cause would be worth it, sir. However, there’s no knowing where she’ll
come down. If the storm hits, we
could drift over “Gott im Himmel. I
cannot evacuate whole countries, Colonel!” “Yes, sir, I know. I’ll notify you immediately we have any definite information.” “You do that, Colonel. And in the meantime, find a way to keep that base airborne.” “S.I.G., Mr President.”
Doctor Fawn was at her desk
when the communication link buzzed. “Yes, what is it?” she asked, distracted by
the latest reports she’d received from the duty nurse. “Doctor Fawn, are you ready to move your patients off base?”
Lieutenant Green asked. Fawn gave the question a
moment’s thought. “Those that can
go are ready. The nurses have been
preparing them for transport to the Spectrum medical facility in “How many can go?” “At present we have a dozen
people in medical care. Two of them
I would hesitate to move and one most definitely cannot be moved.” “And they are?” “Ensign Alizarin and Captain
Scarlet are the two I would hesitate to move; their unique physiology means we
need to keep them here, under surveillance.
Even the medical facilities in Green thanked her and closed
the channel. Fawn shook her head at
the details on the medical report and went to the intensive care ward where the
three ‘special’ patients were still housed.
“Nurse, is this report right?
Or has the automatic monitoring failed?” “No, Doctor. The readings are accurate.” “Then why haven’t Scarlet and
Alizarin regained consciousness?” she asked rhetorically. “With the level of brain activity
they’re showing I’d say they should be up and about, and probably doing
something that requires concentration.” The nurse shrugged. “They haven’t moved a muscle, except for
some rapid eye movement.” “And Blue is still sedated?” “Yes, Doctor.” “I know that retrometabolism
does some strange things from time to time – but this is unprecedented. Let me know immediately if anything
changes…I’m going to have a word with the colonel.”
The technical officers were
surprised but appreciative when the colonel came to deliver their orders in
person. “Cloudbase,” he said, “has
been declared a hazard, and to prevent the danger of her crashing onto inhabited
areas, she will be blown from the skies in a very short time. All personnel are to leave the base
immediately.” Martin Campbell, the Chief
Engineer, listened in confusion.
“But sir-” he began in protest. Colonel Black turned his dark
gaze onto the man and “My orders must be obeyed,”
the colonel said. “But not five minutes ago you
were saying we’d fight to the end to keep her, sir.” “Five minutes ago is a long
time. I have my orders and now you
have yours: abandon Cloudbase.” “S.I.G,” As the colonel marched away, “He’s got a lot on his mind, I
guess; but he’s not usually so distant.” “No; you’re right.” “Not until you do, Marty.” “Good man. Come on, we have work to do. I’m not letting her go down until there
really isn’t any choice.”
Cadenza hurried from the “What’s going on?” she asked,
going to pour a drink. At a gesture from the colonel,
Doctor Fawn explained the situation they were facing. “You can’t send Gabriel and
Paul to “It isn’t down to you, Eva;
not in the final analysis.” “Conrad, they came here to
bring our son back. They deserve
nothing but our help.” “I know. But, if the base crashes… they’ll die
anyway.” “It’s a big if. I guess they’d rather take their
chances here than in – what is to them – an alien world. Besides, Scarlet would be at risk of
being incarcerated, at the very least, if they realised he’s retrometabolic, and
they might do the same to Blue as a collaborator.
We must keep them here.” “Can you speak for them all?”
Fawn asked her. “One is my son, and he’s not
of an age to make his own decision yet.
The other is the father of my sons and a man who shares the curse of
retrometabolism with me: I think I
know what he’d say. Captain Blue –
well, let’s just say I have a singular insight into his mind.” “I disagree. I think they should be moved,” Conrad
said. “Oh, I know there’s a risk to Captain Blue, but he’d be alive, and
Alizarin and Scarlet – well, I’m sure we can hush it up afterwards, especially
if you go with them, Fawn. The last transport leaves in ten or fifteen minutes…” “If you’d already made up your
mind, why bring me back?” Cadenza asked angrily. “If you’re expecting me to rubber stamp your decision, Con,
you’ll be disappointed. I think
they should stay on board.” She
glanced at Tyrian. “But Michael
should go.” “No!” he protested. “I want to stay with you – and I agree
with Mom; Gabe and the officers should stay too.
I don’t believe the base will crash.” “Michael, we can’t find one
single reason why Cloudbase is in this situation. Every check, every diagnostic, has shown clear, with all
systems working. I want you off
here,” the colonel said. Tyrian moved to stand beside
Cadenza. “I won’t go. You might be able to send Gabriel away,
but you can’t make me.” He looked
down at her. “Please, Mom, all my
life I’ve done what you wanted.
I’ve been told I’m special and that you didn’t want to risk people finding out
why, and I’ve believed you. If
that’s true, then my place is here, with my parents and my brother and the man
who’s my father.” “Mikey, Cloudbase is only
hanging in the sky because I don’t think gravity’s caught up with it yet,” she
said, looking deep into his bright-blue eyes. “You’re staying,” he stated,
not needing to ask them that question.
“How would I survive without you?
How would Gabriel? We’re a
family; whatever happens should happen to us all.” “The final transport is ready to leave, Colonel.” Lieutenant Green’s voice, coming over
the intercom, cut through the tense silence. Tyrian looked at his father
and the pair locked gazes. It was
Conrad who looked away first. “Will
you board, Edith?” Fawn shook her head. “I have three patients who need me to
stay here with them.” Colonel Black looked steadily
at his old friend, and seeing no doubt in the doctor’s face, he said, “Launch
the transport, Lieutenant.” “S.I.G., Colonel.” There was a common exhale of the breath that had been held for long
moments as the tension evaporated. “I just hope none of us live
to regret this,” Conrad said. “Thanks, Con. I appreciate
your concern,” Cadenza said, with a rueful grimace. He embraced her. “One day you’re going to have to make do
without us, my dear,” he said affectionately.
“I’ve known that for years;
but it isn’t going to be today.”
Fawn went back to her wards
and smiled in appreciation to see Doctor Tan was still there and three of the
nurses had chosen to remain as well. “I sent Beige off in the last
transport,” Tan said, “but I – we – thought you’d appreciate a helping hand.” Fawn thanked them all in a little speech that left at least one of
the nurses tearful. Angels Three and Four launched
and now four of the Angel Interceptors were escorting Cloudbase from a safe
distance, but Cadenza went back to the Control Room with the colonel, thinking
she’d be more help on the base.
The colonel stood stock still as the door opened, and demanded: “Lieutenant Green, what are
you doing here?” Serena Griffiths stood up and
saluted. “This is my post, Colonel.
You didn’t give me a direct order to leave, sir, and so I assumed you wanted me
to stay. After all, if we stand any
chance of saving the base, you’ll need me at the control computers. Sir.” Standing behind her husband,
Cadenza smiled. She could see
Conrad was torn between annoyance and being touched by the younger woman’s
declaration. “Very well; carry on,
Lieutenant,” he managed to say and smiled gratefully at his Executive Officer. “S.I.G, Colonel.” Pausing by the computer
station, Cadenza laid a grateful hand on Serena’s shoulder. “I owe you one,” she murmured. “I’ll be sure to claim it next
time we get to go on leave.” Cadenza chuckled. “Tyrian, see if you can help Lieutenant
Green with the computer checks,” she ordered, and moved on to join Conrad. Tyrian fetched another chair
and placed it close to the console.
Green smiled at him; she knew he’d studied the base’s systems in detail –
she’d taught him – and glad to have any help, she gave him a series of checks to
run. “Perhaps you’d better monitor
the weather satellite reports?” Black suggested to his wife. “We need to give as much notice of any
likely crash site as it’s possible to give.
Günter wants to evacuate as many people as he can. He’s put the emergency services of three
countries on red alert, and mobilised the World Army Air Force and the World
Navy to be ready to move people out.” “Sensible precautions, given
that we don’t know where we’ll end up,” she responded. For a brief moment she saw the
pain behind his calm expression, the welling up of emotion in his dark eyes and
the way he compressed his lips to bite back that feeling. She went to his side and whispered: “It isn’t your fault, Conrad.
You’ve done everything you could. Until we find out what’s wrong, we can’t
do any more.” He nodded and sighed. “Then let’s find out what’s wrong. I’ve never lost a ship yet, Eva; I don’t
want to start with Cloudbase.” He punched the console link to
Engineering and waited. “Lieutenant, has
communications gone down as well?” “No, sir.” Green checked her own console. “The link’s fine.” “Maybe they’re all busy?”
Cadenza suggested, glancing from her own computer screen. “There are only two people in
Engineering,” Tyrian called out, drawing Green’s attention to the staff readout.
“It’s been evacuated, according to the duty log.” “He’s right, sir,” Green
confirmed. “There’s only Chief
Campbell and Mr Livingstone still on board.” “I thought the skeleton crew
were prepared to stay?” Conrad’s ice-cold calm began to fracture. “ Tyrian was whispering with
Green. She sprang to her feet and
approached the main console with a printout in her hand. “Colonel, Tyrian’s run a
Mysteron sweep. We have six bodies
registering. Two here, two in Sick
Bay, one in Engineering and one in Hangar Bay One.” “Mysterons? They’re
carrying out their threat!” Cadenza cried, jumping up from the console seat and
drawing her gun. “I’m on my way to
Engineering…” “Eva!” Colonel Black roared,
but in vain – she was not listening.
He cursed. “You have control,
Lieutenant,” he said, and followed his wife out of the door. |
|
In the Intensive Care Ward the
automatic monitors started to fluctuate wildly and alarms went off above
Alizarin and Scarlet. Fawn raced
across the ward with two nurses in pursuit, and reached the door just as Doctor
Tan arrived from the bathroom. “I just left them – just for a
minute,” he gasped, as Fawn threw open the door and hurried inside. Nurse Ingram was reaching across to turn
off the alarm over Captain Scarlet. “What’s happened?” Fawn
demanded. “Nothing, Doctor; well nothing
obvious. The cerebral monitor
started to show signs of intense brain activity, first for Scarlet then for
Alizarin. I thought they were about
to come out of their comas, but then everything went haywire.” Nurse Ingram
looked at the two doctors for an explanation, and moved aside as they approached
the beds. Fawn lifted Scarlet’s arm and
felt for his pulse as Tan did the same for Alizarin. Ingram went over to check Captain Blue. “No change, Doctor,” she
reported, relief evident in her voice.
“He’s still under the anaesthetic.” Lieutenant Green’s voice came
over the emergency intercom: “Control Room to “It would seem our patients are fine, Lieutenant,” Fawn said,
carefully placing Scarlet’s arm back by his side. “Has anything happened to upset the automatic monitors?” “No; I assumed the failure lay with your systems,
Doctor. What we saw was a
power surge from “Systems A-OK here,
Lieutenant,” Tan reassured her. “S.I.G; I’ll put it down to the mysterious virus that’s
besetting all the base systems, then.
Green out.” Frowning, Fawn looked down at
the three men, all of them were unconscious, but it seemed the only peaceful
sleeper was Captain Blue. The rapid
movement going on behind the closed eyes of Alizarin and Scarlet showed that
both of them were experiencing intense dreams.
She walked thoughtfully back
to her office, went inside and closed the door. Moments later, Nurse Ingram who was on her way past, heard
the rapid clatter of keyboard keys.
Cadenza slipped into the main
engineering hall and waited a moment while her eyes adjusted to the gloom of the
emergency lighting. She
concentrated on listening intently for any noise that might indicate there were
people about. On her way down to
through the deserted decks, Tyrian had told her about the power surge that had
closed down the environmental controls, and she’d seen for herself that the
escalators and elevators were all out of commission. Cloudbase was slowly and irrevocably shutting down and if
they couldn’t resolve the problem quickly, it would be too late and the only
thing they could do would be to pray the storm didn’t shift them over the
heavily populated coastal regions of the She tensed as she heard
footsteps approaching and slipped silently into the shadow of a large metal
cupboard. The stranger was
not taking pains to move quietly, and was approaching at some pace. She saw the figure walk past
and stepped out, her gun aimed at the back of the man’s head. “Stop walking and turn round
slowly, or I’ll shoot you,” she threatened. The man cursed, and did as he
was told. Cautiously she lowered her
gun. “Mr Livingstone, I presume?” “Cadenza? Jeez, ma’am, you gave me a start.” “Who’s down here with you?” “Chief Campbell. We evacuated the rest of the staff, just
as the colonel told us too.” “Colonel Black told you to
evacuate? But, he was expecting
fifteen volunteers to stay and work on the engines.” “That’s what we thought,
ma’am, but he came here in person and told us all to go. Chief and me, we thought we’d see what
we could do; we don’t want to see this little lady go down without a fight.” “The colonel hasn’t been here,
Livingstone. Why are you lying to
me?” “It was him, I swear. He came in from the Hangar Deck and told
the men to go. Ask Chief Campbell
if you don’t believe me.” “When was this?” Livingstone looked at his
watch. “About thirty minutes ago,
maybe a bit longer.” “I was with the colonel then.
He wasn’t down here.” “Well, someone who looked just
like him was.” There was no mistaking the
sincerity of Livingstone’s reply.
Cadenza frowned; she recalled the first time she’d met Scarlet in an
alternative dimension and the fact that she’d mistaken the Mysteron agent from
his reality for her husband. It
seemed that almost everywhere but here, Conrad had led the Spectrum mission to
Mars and he was the man the aliens had
taken as their agent in the War of Nerves against the Earth. If Scarlet and Blue could
make it through the tunnels, what’s to say that someone – anyone – else
couldn’t? Suddenly pieces of the puzzle
moved into a frightening focus: the assassins at Etna, the readings of two more
Mysterons than expected on the base. Oh no: Black and… and Zodiac… here? Aloud she asked, “Where’s “ “The colonel?” “He went back into the Hangar
Deck across the way, ma’am.”
Livingstone paused and then asked, “Do you think it was a Mysteron?” “I don’t think it was the
colonel – for sure. Remember, they
can do remarkable things, Mr. Livingstone; making you think you saw Colonel
Black and that he gave you such unexpected orders, would hardly make them break
into a sweat.” “Now you mention it, both the
Chief and I thought there was something not quite right with the colonel. He was not his usual chatty self.” “Chatty?” Livingstone nodded. “He’s always got a word for the Chief
and me when he does his rounds, ma’am.
But we reckoned he’d a lot on his mind, of course.” “Of course; don’t worry. You can leave it to me.” “Yes, ma’am.” “Can you and the Chief handle
any repairs if we discover what is wrong?” she asked, preparing to leave. “There’s not much Chief
Campbell doesn’t know about these cahelium engines; if we have the time, we can
fix it, ma’am.” “Time may be the difficult
part, Mr Livingstone. Make sure you
stay together, whatever happens and whoever tells you to split up. Make sure you check it with the
Control Room before you obey any orders except that of staying here and doing
what you can to regain control of the base.
A genuine officer won’t mind you double-checking, and if anyone does, don’t
trust them.” “Sure, ma’am.” Cadenza gave a satisfied nod
and then asked, “Oh, by the way: the colonel, what was he wearing?” “He had a charcoal sweater,
but just a jacket over it. We
thought he must’ve been off duty when this blew up.
He was looking a bit peaky; if you don’t mind me saying, ma’am, you
should get him to take a vacation.” “After this, I think I might
insist that we all do…”
Cadenza tried to call Conrad
over the base intercom but that too had stopped working now. She made her way to the maintenance
gantry that overlooked the hangar and slipped through the manual swing door as
quietly as she could. Pressing her
back against the wall, she made a conscious effort to slow her breathing and
steady her nerves. The Mysterons rarely ventured into Spectrum’s numerous
fortresses; although attacks on their installations were not uncommon, they
usually took the form of an external force.
But that was not to say they wouldn’t infiltrate any base, given the
opportunity. And Cloudbase’s normally reliable
systems and backups were failing, while her son, and the men who had accompanied
her lost boy back to her, were fighting for their lives. It wasn’t logical to assume
that the events were unconnected, but she was puzzled as to how the various
strands fitted together. A muted sound caught her
attention and she tensed. Edging
forward, she peered into the dimly lit interior of the hangar and saw three men.
She recognised them immediately: her arch-enemy, Colonel Steven Kalinski; the
pale and gaunt-faced man she now knew was Captain Black; and, with his back to
her, the upright and unyielding figure of her husband – Conrad Turner. Steve Zodiac had a gun
directed on Conrad, and she frowned as she strained to hear what was being said. “The Mysterons’ orders will be
carried out.” Zodiac spoke in his usual unemotional monotone. “Even if you manage to destroy
this base and however many thousands you kill in the process, you won’t defeat
mankind,” Conrad said defiantly.
“There will always be someone to take my place and the place of every
Spectrum agent.” When Captain Black answered,
she registered with distaste how his deep voice was as emotionless as Zodiac’s,
and quite unlike Conrad’s warm, rich baritone. “Earthmen are so parochial in
their outlook. The Mysterons are
seeking bigger prey than just this puny base.
We know that your defeat in one dimension can send ripples through the
others. The Scarlet-being and the
Captain Blue in your “Are you trying to tell me that you ‘engineered’ this whole
incident? I don’t believe you. Gabriel may be a hot-head and inclined
to act first and think later, but he’s not a Mysteron and never has been.” Colonel Zodiac gave a dry
chuckle. “He is the child of two
Mysteronised individuals; the blood of the Mysterons flows through him as
strongly as through your wife and her paramour.” “Then why has the boy never
shown any signs of this?” “You have chosen not to believe the evidence of your own tests –
chosen to believe he is not a Mysteron.
Earthmen are too sentimental,” Zodiac replied, and then repeated, “Our
retaliation will be slow, but none the
less effective.” Captain Black said, “We’re in
no hurry, Colonel. And by sheer
serendipity, your son arrived in his father’s dimension many years before he left here. When we succeed here, we will be able to
obliterate the other dimension significantly earlier in their timeline than we
expected. So, the ripple effect
will gather momentum until no dimension will be able to withstand it.” “You have to succeed here,
first,” Conrad reminded him. “And who will stop us? You’ve evacuated your base, Colonel, and
effectively lost control of it.
Don’t think your wife can save you; we know exactly where she is… and what she
plans to do. The Mysterons have
powers beyond the feeble comprehension of any Earthman, and we have no
weaknesses for you to exploit.
You’ve lost.” As he finished speaking,
Zodiac raised his gaze towards the gantry where Cadenza was hiding and gave a
merciless smile. Beside him,
Captain Black also turned his dark, soulless gaze in her direction. She tensed: something was
clouding her mind, dulling her senses and eroding her sense of individuality.
She had to get out of there – and fast.
Drawing in a deep breath, she backed away, concentrating firmly on making her
legs obey her, until she felt the door at her back.
She spun round and pushed through the door, sprinting along the corridor to the
nearest flight of stairs.
With every stride she felt the pull of the Mysterons’ minds lessen, and by the
time she paused on a small landing, where a corridor branched either towards
Sick Bay or the stanchions to the Control Tower,
her senses were as acute as usual and her decisive mind unclouded by any alien
influence. Glancing towards the stanchion
and the apparent security of the Control Room, she nevertheless headed for the
Dr Fawn was in her office,
sipping coffee and frowning at a computer screen when Cadenza arrived. The Angel walked in and closed the door
behind her, helping herself to a mug of hot coffee from Fawn’s personal supply,
before she took a seat opposite her and spoke. “We’re in deep trouble, Edie;
and not just us, here on Cloudbase, but the whole world and every dimension, if
what I’ve heard is true.” “That doesn’t surprise me,
Eva. What have you heard?” She told her what the
Mysterons had told Conrad, concluding with a helpless cry: “They said Gabriel was a
Mysteron – has always been one since his birth!” “And if Gabriel is, then so is
Michael,” Fawn reminded her. “And
Michael’s in the Control Room with Serena.” Cadenza got to her feet,
pacing the room in agitation. “I
don’t believe it; I can’t believe it – not of those two boys! I’ve nursed them, watched them, loved them – I would know if they were
Mysterons! I won’t believe that we’ve all been so wrong, Edie!” Fawn shook her head
helplessly. “I’ve been doing some
thinking about this problem myself, Eva.
Something Lieutenant Green said about viruses in the system started a
vague idea in my head. You know how
the robot nurses monitor the body and brain functions of patients-” “I should do, you’ve had me
wired up to them more times than I care to recall.” “Exactly; well, those robotic
circuits are integrated with Cloudbase’s plasma computers.” Cadenza swallowed the mouthful
of coffee she’d just taken. “Are
you trying to say that those robotic nurses are in control of my ship?” “I’m not an engineer or a
computer magician, Eva-” “Of course not, you only
devised the entire medical suite’s computers, Edie.” “But, I put it to you: what
if-” “I love those two words…” she
muttered and as Fawn paused, she apologised and begged her to continue. “If the Mysterons have gained
control of Scarlet and Alizarin they could, through the neural interfaces in the
robotic nurses, take control of Cloudbase. The Seventh Generation computer systems are all
integrated, so Scarlet and Alizarin would effectively become part of those
computers – cybernetically – their minds could control the base and the
Mysterons control their minds.” “Bloody big ‘if’, as Conrad might say…” Her husband’s name brought
the memory of her last sight of him flooding into her mind and she put the
coffee down. “Do you think they intended to kill Conrad? I shouldn’t’ve left him there.” Fawn responded with a
melancholy sigh. She’d always
felt that she knew Eva Svenson better than any man alive, even better than her
husband, because it was to her that she confided her concerns and her doubts.
For all that she loved Conrad Turner, and he undoubtedly loved her, there
remained between them the anomaly of his position as her commanding officer,
which prevented her revealing her deepest fears to him.
Fawn knew that her commanding officer was a deeply passionate man, but had
difficulty expressing his feelings, coupled with an intellectual inability to
understand weakness. She stood and walked to where
her closest friend, and most frequent patient, sat with her head buried in her
hands. She patted Cadenza’s
shoulder sympathetically. “Conrad knows as well as
anyone what the price of fighting the Mysterons can be. He knows the burden you’ve carried and
the sacrifices you’ve made, Eva.
Believe me, he’ll understand and, indeed, he’ll have expected you to leave
rather than risk either being overpowered by the Mysterons yourself, or some
impossible rescue attempt on your own.” Cadenza looked up at her, her
pale-blue eyes revealing no sign of any inner turmoil. “I know Conrad can take care of himself,
Edie,” she said, a slight hint of amusement in her voice. “I was thinking about the boys, if
you must know.” Blushing slightly, Fawn
nodded. “Perfectly understandable,”
she said, shoving her hands deep into her overall pockets. “But you can leave
Gabriel to me; no sodding Mysteron’s taking charge of my hospital!” Cadenza grinned and stood up.
She was taller than the doctor, and had to stoop as she hugged her and planted a
kiss on her cheek. “What would I do without you, Edie?” she
teased. Fawn pushed her away, but not
unkindly: she was very fond of Cadenza Angel.
“What do you want me to do, Eva?” she asked.
Lieutenant Green saw the red
‘confidential’ light flashing discreetly on her communication console and
glanced at Tyrian, sitting checking network links and reports at the other end
of the communications array. She
slipped her earpiece out of the drawer built into the arm of the chair, and
whispered: “Go ahead…” “It’s Cadenza. Where are you and where’s Mike?” “I’m at the radar console and
he’s checking the main network screen…” Green knew that Cadenza was familiar
enough with the array to realise they were about as far apart as they could be. “Listen, you won’t have to say much… Zodiac is on board, with Captain Black from Scarlet’s dimension. They have
the colonel in There was a silence. “Serena?” Cadenza hissed, “Did
you hear me?” “I heard. Will they be okay? The patients?” “Fawn thinks so. Captain
Blue is sedated, but breathing unaided, he shouldn’t have any problem. Scarlet and Alizarin… well, we can’t
know if the Mysterons are using them, but… they have retrometabolism.” “Eva…” “It has to be done. If the Mysterons are controlling the base this way,
we have to consider the lives of people on the ground, and our own are of no
importance in comparison.
Understand me?” “Yes,” Green said quietly.
“I just hope you’re right.” “Listen, there is something else; when the robotic
circuits have been severed, you must depressurise “What about the colonel?”
Green gasped in alarm, forgetting to keep her voice down. Tyrian looked up, frowning, and moved
closer. “They may have already killed him, Serena, and if they haven’t… Conrad
can look after himself. He’s always said so.” “They’ll be sucked out of the
base.” “I know.” Cadenza’s voice was as hard as nails. “You
have your orders, Lieutenant.” Green hesitated and then said
sadly, “S.I.G..” She closed the communication link and glanced at Tyrian; the boy
was watching her intently. She gave
him a brief smile, but he did not respond. “That was my mother,” he said,
and Green cursed the fact that the boys both had almost supernaturally sharp
hearing. “It was,” she agreed. “You’re going to do what she
asked?” “I have no choice; she’s my
commanding officer, Tyrian.” “Is it dangerous?” “Not for us – that is, no more
than we’re in danger now.” “Tell me what she said.” “You don’t need to know,
Mike.” “If I am going to help you, I
do.” Green looked at him,
reluctance evident from her expression.
“Please, Serena; there’s no
need to treat me as if I’m too stupid to understand the need for sacrificing the
individual when the safety of millions of people is at stake – and if Cloudbase
crashes, it could result in the death of millions of people.” She looked away and then told
him what Cadenza had ordered her to do without being able to meet his gaze. Tyrian nodded. “She’s quite right, of course.” “But it’s your father and your
brother!” “I know; and they’d be the
first to say they’re expendable.” “Michael!” He regarded her, perplexed that she could even question his
assertion. She saw within the
deep-blue of his eyes the same hardness she recognised in both of his parents. When he replied, she wasn’t surprised at
what he said. “We’re Spectrum. We don’t surrender, Lieutenant, any of
us – whatever it costs.”
|
|
Doctor Fawn, Cadenza Angel and
Doctor Tan moved towards the intensive care beds. Tan went to stand beside Captain Blue’s bed and checked
the monitor. “Still unconscious, vital
signs are steady, improving, but still weak,” he reported. Cadenza read the monitor above
her son. “Brain functions are off
the scale, vital signs are normal.” “Captain Scarlet is the same,”
Fawn said doubtfully. “By rights,
with that much registered brain activity, he and Alizarin should be conscious.
Tan, go ahead and disconnect Captain Blue from the robotic nurse monitors.” Doctor Tan flicked several
switches and pulled the electrodes from Blue’s inert body. The lights on the
monitor went out and gave a low, single-tone pulse to show it was closing down.
Nothing else happened and, sighing out his tension, he felt for the patient’s
pulse. “Pulse steady. Patient is breathing unaided, shallow,
but regular.” He looked up at his
superior officers. “It’s okay; I
think he’s going to make it.” “Good; there’s no need to move
him at the moment, but stand by, Tan, we may need to act quickly and get him
into an escape pod,” Fawn said.
“Ready, Cadenza?” She nodded. “We should act together, and quickly,
before the Mysterons get wind of what we’re doing or try to control me as well.” Fawn agreed. “On my mark turn off the two red
switches on the monitor above the bed, and remove the electrodes from Gabriel.” “S.I.G..” “Three, two, one…” Cadenza reached out to throw
the power switch at the same moment Fawn did.
As their hands touched the robot nurses the ward lights went out with a
flash and jagged bolts of electricity arced over the beds, giving an impression
of bars surrounding the patients.
Cadenza was thrown back across the floor towards where Blue lay before
she could operate the switch, while Fawn, who had thrown the power switch over
Scarlet’s bed, fell to her knees beside the bed. The air fizzed with random bursts of electricity, so that the
static made the observers’ hair stand up, then, with another surge it earthed
itself in the floor. As the emergency lighting came
on, giving a dull glow that just about made things visible, Doctor Tan rushed to
Cadenza’s assistance. He
called for the nurses to come in as well. Cadenza was out cold and Tan
gently moved her away from the gap between the beds, to lie her down on the
floor, where she could be better looked after.
Doctor Fawn was shaken and dizzy, but, with a little help she was able to
get to her feet. She looked towards
the Angel pilot with concern. “Electricity,” she mumbled,
“the Achilles’ heel of a retrometabolised individual.” “She’s alive,” Tan assured
him. “And Gabriel, Blue and
Scarlet?” Fawn asked. The nurse beside Captain
Blue’s bed nodded. “There’s no
change; he’s okay, Doctor.” Tan looked towards the other
beds where the two bodies still lay motionless and silent. There were no life signs registering on
Scarlet’s monitor, but Alizarin’s showed increased readings. He left Cadenza in the care of a nurse
and went to join Fawn beside Scarlet’s bed, unsure that even a retrometabolic
human could have survived that voltage of electricity. The ward was starting to smell
of singed fabrics as the medical officers approached Captain Scarlet.
Almost the same moment as Tan leant over to examine him, the captain’s eyes
opened. Tan gasped; the whole of
Scarlet’s eyeballs were a vivid green and glowed in the gloom of the ward. He backed away as the alien eyes
turned to stare at him and Scarlet sat bolt upright in bed. “Get a Mysteron gun,” Fawn
shouted, and the last of the nurses ran from the ward in search of the weapon. Captain Scarlet remained completely motionless throughout this hiatus, apart from the turbulent green light that sparked across his staring eyes. Gingerly, Fawn approached the bed again. When the nurse burst in with a cumbersome Mysteron gun, she held up her hand authoritatively, forbidding further action. The nurse stopped, pointing the gun at the floor, but waited, ready to fire at the first sign of trouble. “Captain Scarlet,” Fawn said
slowly and carefully. “Captain
Scarlet, can you hear me? It is
Doctor Fawn – Edith Wilkie,” she added, unsure of the identity of the doctor
Scarlet was familiar with. There was no audible response,
although Fawn was close enough by now to see the slight frown that appeared
between the straight, black brows, and the haziness that clouded the
electric-green eyes. “Captain Scarlet,” she
repeated, “you are on Cloudbase, in Again there was no direct
response, although the green light in the eyes seemed to dim slightly and
flicker. Fawn looked about,
desperately searching for some inspiration that would reach through the
Mysteron-induced fog she was sure was clouding the captain’s mind. Her gaze fell on the motionless body of Captain Blue. “It’s worth a gamble…” she thought, recalling all she knew about the
close relationship that apparently existed between the Metcalfes and the
Svensons in every dimension. “Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue
is here with you; his life is in danger.
We could save him with your help.”
There was no response to this
appeal and Fawn saw the sceptical look on Tan’s face and shrugged. Then the frown on Scarlet’s
face deepened and he blinked in rapid succession for several seconds. When his eyelids finally stopped
fluttering, he shook his head, as if clearing away some confused thoughts, and
ripped the electrodes from his skin before turning to acknowledge Fawn’s
presence. The doctor felt a surge of
hope as she saw the deep sapphire-blue eyes, a colour she always associated with
the Turner boys, slowly acquire focus and awareness. Scarlet gave her a bemused
smile. “Hi, Doc? How did I get back
to Cloudbase and why’s it so dark in here?” “Cadenza brought you,” Fawn
replied, “Don’t you remember?” “Cadenza?” Scarlet sounded
unsure as he struggled to recall the immediate past. “You were at Etna,” Fawn
prompted, “and someone shot at you-” Scarlet’s eyes widened in alarm. “How’s Blue and… and Gabriel?” “They’re here with you. They’re alive.” “Good.” Scarlet relaxed and looked around him. Frowning again as he saw Gabriel and
Blue in the beds next to him, he demanded, “Are they badly hurt?” “We’ve removed a bullet from
close to Captain Blue’s spine; he’s sedated, but stable. Alizarin is in a coma – as you were
until just a few moments ago.” Scarlet shook his head. He could vaguely remember a period of tiring activity, of being bombarded with ideas, orders and commands, of juggling dozens if not hundreds, of functions, which hardly equated with what he imagined was involved with being in a coma. “And you’re Doctor Fawn, right?” he asked, rather bewildered. The woman nodded. “Okay,” he murmured to himself, “everything else is topsy-turvey, so I’ll go along with that.” He have her a wry smile and asked, “Doc, what’s going on? I remember we were taking Gabriel back to his mother – did Cadenza bring us back?” “Well, she brought you back to
her home, Captain. This is her Cloudbase.” Scarlet wrestled with the
information. “I’m in her dimension?” “Exactly.” “That explains it… Where is
she?” “She was hurt by the
electrical fault that seems to have revived you.” Fawn turned and looked inquisitively at the nurse attending
Cadenza. She nodded and Fawn
sighed with relief. “She’s okay…
hopefully she’ll wake up soon.” Scarlet swung his legs over
the side of the bed, realised he was naked and looked across at Fawn with a wry
smile. “My uniform, Doc? If you want my help, I need to get
dressed.” Grinning, the Mysteron
gun-toting nurse went to fetch the unfamiliar scarlet-hued tunic and the rest of
his uniform. She drew a curtain
around Scarlet and left him to dress, while Fawn answered the highly pertinent,
quick-fire questions she was asked and brought Scarlet up to speed on the
present situation. Throwing back the curtain,
Captain Scarlet emerged, adjusting the belt of his uniform and ready for action. He
looked across at Cadenza, supported by the other nurse.
"Any sign of her recovering?" he asked; knowing that he was in her world gave
him a distinct feeling of being at a disadvantage. The
nurse felt for a pulse. "The shock
didn't kill her, Captain," she replied.
"She's getting stronger."
Doctor Tan attracted Fawn’s attention.
“As Captain Scarlet hasn’t suffered any apparent ill effects, should we detach
Alizarin?” he asked.
“No,” Scarlet replied vehemently, much to Tan’s surprise.
“Why not?” Fawn demanded. “I
don’t pretend to understand what was going on, Doc, but as I understand it,
you’re not sure that Alizarin shares the same ability to fully retrometabolise
that his mother and I have?” Fawn
nodded. “Well, all I can say is
that I feel like I’ve been kicked by a mule – a very big mule – and if the kid
is still alive, I would leave him be.”
“Just that?” Fawn pressed, coming to stand beside the tall man.
Scarlet looked at her, recognising the perceptive intelligence in the woman’s
face as something he was familiar with in his own doctor. He shook his head and replied in a whisper. “I was busy while I was unconscious; I
was in control of something – at least I think I was. Leave the child be, until we know what exactly was going on.”
Fawn turned to her junior colleague.
“We know Captain Scarlet shares certain characteristics with Cadenza Angel, but
we still have no certainty that Alizarin does.
Besides, we can’t risk another power blackout like the one we’ve just had
– our generators might not take the strain and Cloudbase doesn’t have enough
power to keep the Sick Bay functioning.
Monitor him closely, Tan, but don’t do anything without checking with me
first.” Tan
nodded; there was no greater expert on all aspects of retrometabolism than
Doctor Fawn.
Scarlet nodded his agreement at this arrangement and turned back to the
attentive doctor. "Now, you
say your colonel is in the
"Yes, and if I understand right, your
colonel is not Conrad Turner," Fawn said. "So, you'd better be careful not to mix up the two
Blacks and chase after our colonel."
"Not very likely, Doc; Captain Black always brings on a severe case of nausea -
I'm guessing your colonel won't."
"Ah, just as Cadenza's Mysteron sense does with Zodiac? That's interesting..."
"There’s no guarantee I'd get the same reaction with Zodiac, or that Cadenza
would with Captain Black - I vaguely remember she couldn't tell him apart from -
her husband - the only other time they met," Scarlet mused. He looked at the unconscious Angel and
sighed. "Who else is on board that
might be able to help me?"
"Lieutenant Green is in the "
"Eh,
Serena... Captain," Fawn corrected, a wry smile on her lips, as Scarlet's
face fell. "She and Michael are checking the computers and trying to keep
Cloudbase afloat."
"Michael?"
Fawn's surprise was obvious.
"Ensign Tyrian - Gabriel's brother - his twin brother, Michael." "Twins!
Nobody mentioned anything about twins-" Scarlet looked at the unconscious
youth and over to Cadenza.
"We certainly hit the jackpot, Doc."
Fawn nodded. "You did – they’re
both good kids. I suppose you’d say
that Gabriel is the natural leader, but in fact, he’s a bit of a rash hot-head
sometimes, while Mike is the more reflective, less gregarious of the two, but as
sharp as they come, Captain. I’m
not sure his brother doesn’t defer to him more than is realised."
"One like his mum and one like me, eh?"
“Oh, Cadenza’s an intelligent woman; don’t get me wrong,” Fawn said quickly. Scarlet grinned. "And they’re as
physically alike as two peas in a pod,” she continued. “Cadenza can tell them
apart, but I think apart from her, everyone, even the colonel, has a problem at
times. I always suspected it was
one of the major reasons he gave them codenames when they were nippers. They were so proud to have real codenames, they insisted on wearing
everything colour-coded…" She gave
a smile. “You’ll like Michael;
every one does.” “That’s nice to know - but right now, our priority is to make sure
the Mysterons don’t bring Cloudbase down.
Can you put me in touch with the Control Room and the men in
Engineering?” Fawn nodded. “While we have
our independent power source, we can still contact anywhere on the base. Green and Tyrian know who you are – but
the engineers won’t. What shall I
call you?” “Is there a Captain Scarlet
stationed on Cloudbase?” Fawn shook her head. “Not any more. Our Major Scarlet commands Spectrum: Scarlet hesitated for a
moment, and his eyes alighted on the bodies of the other two patients. “If they ask, tell them,” he said, a
slow smile stretching his lips, “tell them I’m Captain Madder.” Fawn’s dark eyes glinted with
amusement as she led Scarlet into her office.
The communication panel was flashing red, and she punched the switch.
“Yes, Lieutenant Green?” The screen behind her desk
flickered into a grainy picture, and Scarlet could see a young black woman, with
short-cut, curly, black hair, dark-brown eyes and a broad, round nose above
wide, full lips. Her expression was
one of concern as she asked: “We lost all contact; has
there been an incident in “We’ve disconnected the
patients from the robot nurses, Lieutenant. It seems to have blown a few fuses,
but apart from that, there’s nothing wrong.
Have you followed Cadenza’s orders?” Green’s gaze veered away.
“No, Doctor.” “She isn’t going to be very
pleased about that.” “I know – but… well, I
couldn’t risk the colonel’s life by depressurising the Hangar Bay – and anyway,”
she continued at a rush before Fawn could comment, “we couldn’t be sure you had
disconnected anything, could we, once we lost contact?” “Hmmm; well, I just hope
Cadenza takes that as excuse enough.” Scarlet grinned to himself to
see the lieutenant’s unease, and then stared in amazement as a young man’s face
appeared beside her – Gabriel’s face - except that this one was above a deep
purple-hued tunic. “What happened when you
disconnected the robot nurses, Doctor?” he asked. “Is Alizarin okay?” “As far as we know he is
stable. Captain Scarlet came to –
he’s here with me now…” Fawn stepped aside, allowing Scarlet to move into the
narrow angle of the video phone transmitter. “Hello,” Scarlet said, feeling
somewhat lost for words. “Captain,” the youth said
briskly, although a faint blush flooded into his cheeks. “What orders, sir?” With a wry acknowledgement
that this ‘son’ of his was indeed an embodiment of pure Svenson pragmatism,
Scarlet said, “I’m going to go down into Engineering and see what can be done to
eliminate the Mysteron agents and ‘rescue’ Colonel Black.” “Is that wise?” Tyrian asked,
one dark eyebrow rising in surprise.
“Cadenza Angel is of the opinion –” “I know – but your mother’s
still unconscious,” Scarlet interjected, adding, “Trust me; I know what I’m
doing… Michael. I want you and
Lieutenant Green to stay in touch and monitor what’s going on. Do you have visuals on the Hangar
Decks?” “Just about,” Green answered,
over Tyrian’s shoulder. “It’s a bit
like watching a webcam through a snowstorm, but I think it’ll do. We have some sound,” she added. “Have you seen or heard Black and Zodiac?” She shook her head. “Negative.” “Keep watching and working on
getting the best sound and vision you can; I want to know any move they make.
We’ve got to move quickly to take them by surprise.” “S.I.G., Captain.” The connection closed, and
Scarlet glanced at Fawn.
“Engineering,” he prompted. Fawn opened another link. “Mr Campbell, Mr Livingstone,
this is Doctor Fawn – please respond.” There was a lengthy pause,
during which time Cadenza appeared in the doorway, her eyes screwed up against
the light and her hand pressed to her forehead. Scarlet saw her and beckoned her over. “You okay, Eva?” he asked gently. She came to his side, sliding
her arm through his and pressing her lips to his cheek. “Better, thanks – and relieved to see
you pulled through okay.” “Likewise. I’ve spoken to Green and… Tyrian.” She gave him the quickest of
proud glances and squeezed his arm.
“Michael must’ve been worrying.
Is he okay?” she asked. Scarlet pursed his lips. “He questioned the wisdom of my plan to
attack…” She gave a silent chuckle.
“Oh, he’s okay then,” she said, adding, “Actually, it takes a lot to rattle
Mikey. He can be just a little cold-blooded, at times, but – despite that, or
maybe because of it - you can rely on him totally.” “Good, we might need to do
that; Lieutenant Green didn’t put your orders into effect. The Cadenza shook her head
slightly. “I wondered if she’d
choose not to obey. She’s… devoted
to Conrad. A little ‘hero-worship’
can go a long way, I find.” “Some might call it loyalty,”
he remarked. “If she was a guy, so would I
– but she’s a woman, Paul, and I know my own sex. Besides, Serena lost her parents early – she and her brood of
siblings brought themselves up, more or less.
I guess Conrad is as good a father figure as any.” Thinking of the deep, mutual
regard that existed between Seymour Griffiths and his own commanding officer,
Scarlet nodded. “Your colonel
sounds like a good man, Eva; would you really have wanted to risk his life?” “He wouldn’t thank me for putting him before the safety of many
hundred of thousands of innocent civilians, Paul. Would any Spectrum Agent?
In any dimension?” He gave a
shake of his head. “Don’t
misunderstand me; I’d have paid for it later - part of me will die when I lose
Con – but we both know our duty and have devoted our lives, and those of our
sons, to doing it.” “Yeah… I know all about that.” She squeezed his arm again.
“I’m sure you’ll see your Rhapsody Angel again, Paul; and that Captain Blue will
be okay. We Svensons are tougher than we look.” “God help humanity then – you
all look pretty formidable on occasion…” Their hasty, whispered
conversation was interrupted when Fawn indicated that she’d finally got an
answer from Engineering.
Cadenza moved across with Scarlet to speak to Chief Campbell. “How are you doing with
getting the engines back online, Chief?” she asked. “It’s a slow job; we have one nacelle back under
control. We can steer enough to go
round in circles…” “Even if we manage to get the
Mysterons off Cloudbase,” Cadenza said, “that doesn’t mean we’ll regain control
of the engines, Paul.” “No, but I’m working on the
premise that the hold the Mysterons have over the… people here, will lessen.
That way we should stand a better chance of regaining control of the ship.” She frowned slightly as she
considered his idea. Scarlet
recognised her thoughtful expression from countless discussions with Blue; he
smiled.
I’d almost come to think my memory had exaggerated how familiar she seemed –
it’s good to know it didn’t. She caught his smile and
grinned back, as if she sensed his thoughts.
“Okay, I’ll buy it,” she said.
“Keep on working at it, Chief; we’re relying on you.” “Right you are, ma’am. Tell
the colonel we’ll do all we can.” As the connection closed Fawn
looked at them both. “What do you
propose to do?” “Go to the Hangar Deck and
confront the Mysteron Agents,” Scarlet said.
“With luck, they won’t know we’re coming and Colonel Black can lend us a
hand to ‘remove’ them.” “How won’t they know?” Fawn
questioned, following them out into the ward. They started to answer
simultaneously, stopped and grinned at each other. Scarlet said, “Because I remember feeling incredibly busy
while I was in the coma; I think that was because I was working for the
Mysterons in trying to wrest the control of Cloudbase from Spectrum. I’m sure the base was being controlled
by the Mysterons through the use of my and Alizarin’s subconscious and now
they’re doing it just through him.
Therefore, they’ll be working hard to compensate for the loss of power my
breakaway has caused.” Cadenza stopped walking. “But Gabriel’s still attached to the
computers,” she said. “Yes, and he should stay that way; if we’d both been released, the
Mysterons’d have nothing to concentrate their efforts on.” “But he could be in danger-” “Anyone who has dealings with
the Mysterons – willingly or not – is in danger, Eva. You don’t need me to tell you that.” “And you would risk his life?” she challenged. “Your own son.” Scarlet swallowed – he hadn’t
expected emotional blackmail from her – especially after what she’d said about
her husband. He dredged her words
up from his memory. “He wouldn’t
thank me for putting him before the safety of many hundred of thousands of
innocent civilians.” “He’s a child!” “A child who wants to be a
Spectrum Agent. He told us that
he’d come to our dimension to join the fight against the Mysterons and he asked
Colonel White to take his request seriously.
I barely know him, but I feel a kinship with him, Eva, believe me. Even so, I have no more choice that you
do against the Mysterons.” “There’s a world of difference
between risking the life of a man who has lived that life fighting the world’s
enemies and risking the life of an idealistic boy who can’t begin to understand
what he’s risking!” Scarlet looked at her. There were unshed tears in her eyes, the
same pale-blue shade as his friend who was currently fighting for his life in
the hospital bed. The thought that
men were much easier to deal with than women flittered across his mind and was
dismissed as an irrelevance by the years of military training and the ruthless
determination he’d always had to use any weapon he had, make any sacrifice
necessary, to defeat the aliens. “This is your world, Eva; but
what happens here could have effects across more dimensions than we can even
contemplate. I don’t want the boy
harmed, but I’m trying to keep a sense of perspective here…” She pressed her hand against
her lips and bit back her anguish.
“You’re right.” She took his
hand and her eyes met his with the same glint of steely determination he knew
from Blue’s. “We’ve both suffered
so much because of the Mysterons – and there will be more to come before this is
over, of that we can have no doubt.
Forgive me, Paul. Sometimes
I’m nothing more than a silly woman.” He hugged her. “You’re a remarkable woman, Eva Svenson
– and you were before even the Mysterons touched your life, or I’m no judge. Now – if God’s on our side, we’ll pull
this off and you’ll have the chance to ground Gabriel for the next decade…” Chuckling through a film of
tears, she hugged him back, and, bidding farewell to Fawn, they started their
journey through the empty, echoing corridors of Cloudbase towards the Hangar
Decks.
|
|
Conrad Turner sat amongst the
crates of spare parts in the cold, dark Finally Zodiac said, “THE
MYSTERONS’ ORDERS WILL BE CARRIED OUT.”
He went into the small control room and Turner could see the flickering
of lights on the control panel. He glanced up at the man still
guarding him and studied him closely.
It was profoundly odd to see ‘another’ Conrad Turner, and chilling to
know that this man was serving the same aliens he’d dedicated himself and his
family to defeating. Ever
since Eva had returned through the dimensional tunnel and told him what she’d
learnt, he’d felt ambivalent towards the fact that in other worlds, it had been
other Conrad Turners who’d gone to Mars and were responsible for this War of
Nerves. Even the concentrated
loathing he felt for Steven Kalinski had, over the years, been tempered by the
thought that he too was capable of such catastrophic misjudgement. It had, however, done nothing to
lessen his determination to defeat the Mysterons and protect his home planet. Deciding that he’d nothing to
lose, he decided to satisfy his curiosity and see if he could reach out to his
alter-ego and, maybe, help his friends by distracting him from carrying out his
instructions. He addressed the
stony-faced Captain Black. “When you were on Mars, what
made you think the Mysterons were hostile?
I just can’t equate the decision to blast the For a long moment there was no
response, and then Black turned his red-rimmed eyes onto his prisoner. “EARTHMEN WERE THE AGGRESSORS, WE ARE
PEACEFUL BEINGS. OUR RETALIATION
WILL BE SLOW AND EFFECTIVE.” “Yes, yes; I’ve heard that
innumerable times; usually just before the so-called ‘peaceful’ Mysterons try to
wipe our entire species off the face of our own planet. What I want to know is: what made you miscalculate? You, Conrad Turner, and not you the
mealy-mouthed agent of the Mysterons.
I can imagine Kalinski going ape-shit; I never had a very high opinion of him.
I said at the time that he wasn’t the man to be trusted with the job; but I’m at
a loss to explain why you – with what must be our shared history of pacifism -
would turn guns on a peaceful city.” Black frowned, as if he was
trying to find the answer from memories long-buried in his mind. Finally, he replied in a voice that was
almost conversational in tone, “We had searched and found nothing. Then we saw the city. A mechanical device rose from a
structure and turned towards us. It
looked like a gun; Lieutenant Dean said they were going to attack. I acted to save my crew and myself.” “You couldn’t have just taken
out the ‘gun’?” “We were at risk.” “You thought you were at risk – according to the Mysterons, you weren’t.
Conrad, I know in this world, Kalinski was sent to reconnoitre, he had no orders
to engage whoever or whatever was making those signals.
The explorer was only armed in case they needed to blast a way through rocks.” “EARTHMEN HAVE A HISTORY OF
VIOLENCE.” “And the Mysterons don’t?
We only have their word for that, don’t we?
From where I’m sitting they’re violent and ruthless enemies.
They’ve been assiduous in pursuing their revenge – and in so doing have
acted out of all proportion-” “Earthmen obliterated an
entire city,” Black snapped. Conrad was surprised; this was
a break from the usual slow, unemotional responses and announcements they were
used to from the Mysterons and their agents. “No, I didn’t
obliterate anything,” he said. “You did. You and Kalinski are the only
ones responsible for the peril we’re in.
You acted beyond your remit.” Captain Black turned his head
away and retreated into his habitual seemingly impenetrable silence. Conrad considered what to do
next. There was no chance of
distracting the Mysteron at his side if the creature was ignoring him. He was about to restart the
conversation, when Zodiac came out of the control room and Black moved away
towards him. Their conversation was brief and
conducted in whispers that even Conrad, trying as hard as he could, stood no
chance of overhearing.
Zodiac came towards him and Conrad felt his hackles rising. He despised this man with a deep loathing that - he was
honest enough to admit to himself, at least - stemmed from the jealousy at not
being chosen to lead the Martian Mission.
He'd felt justified in that until Cadenza had told him that the result
had been the same everywhere: war with the Mysterons. The resultant soul-searching had, he hoped, made him a less
rigid personality; but he couldn't help the old hatred rearing its head, as
Zodiac stood over him.
"Get to your feet, Earthman," the younger man said, in the familiar uninflected
voice of the aliens.
"Why?"
Zodiac's foot lashed out and caught Conrad in the ribs.
"Get up."
Winded, he staggered to his feet and was hustled away across the hangar towards
the side where the mezzanine overhang provided a blind spot for anyone coming
into the bay.
"Are you going to kill me?" he asked.
Zodiac ignored him. He turned his
head slightly, as if listening intently.
Conrad studied the once-handsome face: gaunt and drained of all colour,
unshaven and dull, Zodiac was the image of a tormented soul; his blue eyes,
red-rimmed and misty in the dim light, stared across at Captain Black.
"They are coming," he hissed. "The
two of them: the Scarlet and Cadenza beings."
Black strode across, nodding curtly.
“The Scarlet being is the greater of the two enhancers... along with the woman,
he presents a challenging threat."
"The Mysterons will succeed," Zodiac said confidently.
Black nodded. “The child is enough
to keep us in control of the base now; Cloudbase is doomed. The only danger is that the two misplaced will find some way
to prevent the maximum devastation when the vessel crashes. The power plant must be destroyed by
Cloudbase, so the relay stations will explode across the landscape. Earthmen are so reliant on their
artificial heat and warmth they will weaken and die by their millions."
Conrad tried to recall where all the major Mediterranean power plants were
located and which one used the most extensive network of relay stations. If I can get that information to Eva
she can start the evacuation and rescue services – when Cloudbase crashes, fewer
people will die. The Mysteron agents ignored him, moving to take up positions
across from each other, looking towards the entrance of the hangar. He assumed they were communicating
in some inaudible way as they moved in concert.
Straining he could just hear the soft footfall of someone on the mezzanine
walkway. Then Zodiac cried out: YOU CANNOT PREVENT US DESTROYING
CLOUDBASE, EARTHMEN. WE, THE MYSTERONS HAVE CONTROL OF YOUR VESSEL. CLOUDBASE WILL CRASH, DESTROYING MANY OF
YOUR CITIES. Captain Scarlet’s voice
called back: “You haven’t beaten us yet, Zodiac. We’re doing everything we can
to prevent that happening.” Captain Black leant forward
and pushed Conrad out from his hiding place, into the open space between the
walls and the SPJ parked on the launch turntable. As he stumbled forward he
heard the unmistakable cocking of gun triggers and the whirring hum of a
charging Mysteron gun. “Don’t shoot!” he screamed.
“I’m Colonel Black!” He turned to face the
walkway, staring up at his wife and the man who was the father of his sons. Scarlet was frowning angrily. Cadenza
was also frowning, but hers was an expression of concern. “Conrad?” she asked
doubtfully and then demanded, “Where are they?” “Here; Zodiac and Captain
Black, they’re here,” he gabbled. Scarlet was already moving stealthily towards
the metal spiral staircase that led down to the hangar floor. Conrad sought to
keep the Mysterons’ attention focused on him, allowing the man time to act. “They intend to crash Cloudbase
onto the Mediterranean power plant with the greatest relay network!” Cadenza nodded and spoke
into her helmet mic. “Did you hear
that, Green? Good, take what
evasive action you can and alert all emergency services.” “YOU CANNOT PREVENT US,
EARTHMEN, AND IF YOU COME ANY CLOSER WE WILL KILL THIS MAN.” “Ignore them!” Conrad
shouted. “That’s an order!” “We intend to,” Scarlet
called back. “Black, you’ve lost! Lay down your weapons!” There was a gunshot, and as
Scarlet dodged down below the safety rail and prepared to fire back, Conrad
Turner fell forward with a groan, face down on the hangar deck...
As soon as the comms link
closed, Lieutenant Green radioed the news of the Mysterons’ plans through to the
World President’s office. While she
was occupied, Tyrian checked the progress Campbell and Livingstone had made with
regaining control of the engines.
The port nacelle was under their control, but they still weren’t having much
success with the starboard Hover Combine.
“We’ve restored some functionality to the main engine,
but it won’t get us far and it’s certainly not powerful enough to outrun the
weather if that storm hits us,”
“Is there anything we can do
up here to help, Chief?” Tyrian asked. “Keep trying to suppress the computer interference, that’s the best help
you can be, Mickey. Every time we think we see a way to get round the override
on controlling the engines from here the instruction is over-ridden by the main
computers. Are you sure you’re not
doing anything to keep command in the Control Room?” “Absolutely; almost all of our
commands have been disabled.
Lieutenant Green’s trying to restore functionality from here, but the
override isn’t easy to disengage.” Chief Campbell sighed. “I
always had doubts about installing computers with cognitive intuition; it’s fine
when they’re on your side, but they’re a bugger to circumvent…” “You think the computers are
preventing us regaining command of the ship?”
Tyrian asked as a new possibility occurred to him. “I do.
They’re outsmarting us, Mickey, and I don’t like it.
It shouldn’t be the case – they’re just two-bit boxes of binary bits, but
they’re reacting quicker than we’ve ever experienced and making leaps in logic
that are beyond what they should be capable of.” “Beyond their capability, maybe; but beyond the Mysterons’ capabilities?” “Not if what we know about them is true,” Chief Campbell agreed slowly. “Yeah, I wonder?” Tyrian mused and then snapped back into
action. “Thanks, Chief. I’ll do what I can. Control Room out.” He glanced across at Serena
who was now in discussion with the Supreme Commander: Earth Forces about the
evacuation of a large area of the Mediterranean coast. She was obviously going to be busy for
some time. He punched in a few commands
and waited impatiently until the computer displayed the details he wanted. To his relief it was as he’d suspected,
the diagnostic capability of the base’s computers remained functional and the
resulting schematic showed that the power flow to Sick Bay had been augmented by
power diverted from all over the base, although some had been restored to the
port nacelle around about the time, as far as he could tell, that Captain
Scarlet had been disconnected from the robotic nurse. He drilled down through the
computer details making quick calculations on his stand-alone computer. After a moment he typed in a
deliberately innocuous command and watched as the screen changed to reveal the
progress of the instruction through the computer network.
A frown developed between his dark brows as he saw the logic synapses
falter and stop functioning in response to a counter-command originating from
the “You okay, Mikey?” Serena
asked, as she closed her conversation and turned her attention to the console
again. Hastily, he closed the command
down and nodded. “They’re still
working on getting the engines back online,” he replied. “Good; I’ll have to leave that
side of it to you. The WP wants me
to get every Spectrum agent I can over to help with the evacuation of the
population around the power stations.
Let me know as soon as we have any navigational capacity. I need to move us off our present
course, if I can.” “S.I.G.,” Tyrian replied, and
slid his chair further away from Lieutenant Green as she started sending out
instructions to the ground-based agents across the region. Once he was sure she was
engrossed in her task, Tyrian went back to his calculations on his laptop
computer, putting in the information he’d gleaned from his experiment with the
base’s powerful computers. He
called up the information from Engineering’s computers onto his main screen and
kept an eye on the faltering progress of the technicians as they tried to
recover command of the engines. Cloudbase’s Seventh Generation
computers represented a giant leap forward in terms of digital intelligence;
they were capable of intuitive reasoning based on all probabilities represented
by even incomplete evidence. They could also multi-task with
ease, so it was the work of a moment for Tyrian to isolate enough of the working
memory to continue with his experiment under the cover of monitoring Cloudbase. Once again he input an
instruction – this time it was to reboot navigational functions - and tracked
the progress through the plasma cells.
Once more it was closed down by a command originating from It wasn’t a fluke, he thought, as he used the diagnostic capability to
access the medical computers and check who was logged in. Doctor Fawn was the default user, and
the doctor was updating her medical records – although a permanent security
protocol kept Tyrian from seeing what was being written. Doctor Tan’s workstation was locked, and
a glance at the security camera screen showed the younger doctor
busy beside Captain Blue’s inert body. The only other workstation in
operation was Alizarin’s robotic nurse.
Tyrian called up the performance diagnostic for that, and saw that the
output was far in excess of any expected data feedback based purely on
monitoring the patient. It
took hardly any time at all to confirm his suspicion that the counter-commands
were coming from his brother’s bed. Glancing at Serena, he saw
that she was still busy with the logistics of evacuating the residents closest
to the target areas. He
checked on the technicians’ progress and didn’t need to calculate the fact that
there was no way they were going to get control of anything of any tactical
importance before Cloudbase crashed. He glanced back at his screen
and saw a communication link flashing discreetly on the toolbar. He opened it. Mike,
its me - Gabe. Tyrian hesitated a moment
before typing his response. Whr r u? In Cn u gt out? Y? U hav no idea how liberating it is. Da comps r capable of far mor thn we
kno. Da potntial is almost
limitles. Watch.
With ponderous grace, Cloudbase suddenly dipped sideways and then levelled
itself off again.
“Whoa!” Lieutenant Green exclaimed.
She had grabbed hold of the console in alarm.
“Have they regained navigation, Mikey?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what caused that.”
She smiled at him. “We must be
making progress though. Tell them
to keep up the good work.”
“S.I.G., Serena.”
Once she had safely returned to her work, he typed: Wht u do dat 4 - u id10t? So u
believe me. U mst disngage frm da comps. U r puting Cbase @ risk. I cn
keep Cbase aloft. I cn pilot n ctrl her on my own.
U r jealos tht I did somfin
b4 u – 4 1ce.
Tyrian decided to call ‘Gabe’s’ bluff and find out if this really was his
brother. Gabe –
u r bing ctrld by da Mystrons.
I m
not. I kno wht I m duin. Thts wat dey wnt u to tink. Listn – u id10t - u mst fyt thm & free
up da comps so we can regan ctrl of Cbase.
Dey wnt us 2 crash in2 powr statns & kill thousnds – prhaps milions – of
peple. I do
not choose to free the computers.
Thn evrythin mum & dad hav wrkd
4 snc b4 we wre born wil b 4 nuffin.
Well hav helpt da Mystrons dstroy da earth.
It wud b betr if thyd dstroyd us at birth.
It is
tim we stud up 4 ourslvs. Thyve
bullied us all our lives – Mike – bt don’t u wory - self preservaton is my prym
directiv.
Tyrian closed his eyes as pity engulfed him; he knew his brother as well as he
knew himself and both of them hated the Mysterons more than anything. They blamed the aliens for the
constraints imposed on their lives, for the pain and suffering their mother
regularly endured and the ceaseless anxiety that beset their father. For the impulsive and passionate Gabriel, the desire to
defeat these adversaries was the driving force that had led him into countless
arguments with his parents and numerous attempts to play an active part in the
War of Nerves. He couldn’t
imagine any situation where his brother would refuse a chance to thwart the
Mysterons.
He drew a deep breath and typed: Ok - so y let us
crash thn?
I
didnt say we wud crash. Thre r mor
ways 2 acheve our mison than dstroyin Cbase. Wht mison?
Wht r u goin 2 do? Cbase
is mine. Ican ctrl her. Da Mystrons dont ctrl me – Mike - whtevr uv ben told. Da tim has com 4 Spectrum 2 take da
initativ. I m goin 2 upgrade wepons
- any 1 who oposes us will sufr 4 it. Gabe – u r out of yr hed. Da WG wont hesit8 2 blow da renegade
Cbase out of da skyz. Theyre probly geting redy 2 do it rite now. Besyds, u cant ctrl Cbase 4evr. Yr body wil degenr8 ovr tim, or they’ll
find a way 2 isol8 or nutralise u. Giv up now. Help me save Cbase & da powr
statns.
Thers
nuffin u can do 2 stop me - I m far mor powrful thn u - Mike. If u try - I will dstroy u. Yeah? Thts wat u alwyz say. uv yt 2 beat me Gabe.
Tyrian closed the link and ignored the flashing light trying to restore contact.
In the
Her husband’s collapse
galvanised Cadenza into action. She
raised the electron gun she’d brought with her and began firing at Zodiac. As the beam zapped through the
air in a luminescent gleam of yellow light, the two Mysteron agents dodged apart
and merged into the gloom at the edge of the hangar. As one of them began to return fire,
Scarlet pushed Cadenza out of the path of a bullet and they both dived onto the
floor. “Take cover,” he hissed. Cadenza began to squirm
forwards until she could fire beneath the banister that protected the upper
walkway. She sighted the rifle and
fired it once more. There was the
pungent smell of singed wood from one of the storage crates. “I’ve got him pinned down,”
she exclaimed. “He can’t move from
there without presenting me with a clear target.” Scarlet had wriggled alongside
her. “Zodiac, maybe; but what about Captain Black? Did you see where he went?” She shook her head, frowning.
“No.” “Then we have a problem. I assume your Cloudbase is like ours, in
which case there are two exits to the hangar decks – the mezzanine and the
lifts. We’ve closed the mezzanine
to them – that only leaves the lifts…” “Where are you going?” she
asked as he started to squirm along the floor towards the exit. “Give me cover, Eva. I’m going after Black.” “Be careful, Paul.” “You too – you’re the one with
the electron gun.” Scarlet opened the door at the
end of the mezzanine cautiously, but the corridor beyond was empty. He hastened along to the lift lobby,
where the two lifts that served Hangar Bay Two were shown to be both on the
floor above this. As he watched,
one of them moved up to the next floor – the deck below the runways – the deck
that held the medical bay. It
stopped and remained where it was; Scarlet hesitated to press the button to
summon the other lift, realising the computers could monitor its use, and
started to sprint up the stairs. He paused as he approached the
final flight leading to deck C, and drew his pistol. He felt it was unlikely that he’d be
able to kill Captain Black outright, but there was always a chance he could
wound him – and maybe the fact that they were in an alternative dimension would
make the Mysteron more susceptible to bullets from his own dimension. Scarlet dropped down and crawled
up the last few steps, peering underneath the banisters for signs of movement. He saw nothing, and following
his hunch, moved towards Captain Black had his back to
the door and the medical staff, Fawn, Tan and the nurses, were facing him, their
hands raised in submission. Scarlet sank into a crouching
position and pushed the door open a fraction, straining to listen. “THE MYSTERONS’ ORDERS MUST BE
CARRIED OUT. YOU WILL DO AS I SAY,
DOCTOR FAWN, OR I WILL KILL EVERY MEMBER OF YOUR STAFF.” Fawn straightened up to her
full “It is against the Hippocratic
Oath to harm, or permit harm to be done to, any patient. Neither I nor any of my staff will lift
a finger to help you, Captain Black.” “WHERE IS THE ALIZARIN-BEING?” Fawn said nothing, and kept
staring at Black with a determined expression.
One of the nurses let out a half-stifled sob as Black aimed his gun at
her. Scarlet acted. He targeted his gun on the centre of
Black’s back and pulled the trigger.
The Spectrum agents dodged away, the women screaming in surprise and alarm as
several bullets rattled off before Black could fire at the nurse. The bullets hit their target
and Black staggered, then turned and stared at Scarlet, who had sprung to his
feet and now had his gun aimed at his enemy’s head. “SCARLET,” Black growled, and
fired towards the captain. Scarlet felt the bullet tear into his stomach and
gasped in pain. He pulled the
trigger of his pistol again and carried on firing even as he slipped to his
knees from the trauma of his own wound. Black dropped his weapon.
Fawn rushed forward just as the man seemed to shimmer and then suddenly vanish
before their eyes. Fawn kept on going and knelt
down to cradle Scarlet in her arms. “I nearly had him,” Scarlet
whispered, fighting for consciousness. “You got him all right,” Fawn
replied, “but they took him before I could reach him. I don’t know if he’s
dead.” Scarlet coughed up a mouthful
of blood. “I don’t need this right
now…” he muttered fretfully. “I know what to do,” Fawn
reassured him. “Don’t worry, Paul.” Scarlet managed a weak smile
then closed his eyes, letting go of his conscious mind and sinking with some
relief into the darkness of another death.
Nurse Ingram contacted
Lieutenant Green and reported the latest events to her. “Scarlet’s dead?” Green
repeated in alarm. “Yes, Lieutenant, and Doctor Fawn doesn’t know how long it will be before he
revives. You must let Cadenza know.” “Captain Black has left Cloudbase?” Nurse Ingram sounded doubtful.
“He’s disappeared; that’s all we can say for certain, that, and the fact
that he was wounded. We assume he’s
been transported off the base, might even have been returned to his own
dimension, but we don’t know for sure.” Green turned to Tyrian, who
was listening to the conversation with wide-eyed interest. “Mike, do a Mysteron sweep of
the base.” He nodded and set to work at
the console. After a while he
was able to report, “There are five Mysterons aboard: two in Hangar Bay Two, two
in sick bay and me, of course.” Green flashed him a smile and
contacted Cadenza with the information.
“Captain Black has disappeared
from Cloudbase? That is good news,”
the Angel replied in a breathy whisper.
“Now, if I can just get rid of Zodiac…” She raised her voice and called: “Zodiac, your Mysteron ally
has vanished, your mission has failed.
Your masters have left you alone on Cloudbase. They have deserted you, Zodiac.
Give yourself up and we’ll help you.” There was silence – however
much Cadenza strained to hear movement.
She closed her eyes, reaching out with her mind, trying to sense the
presence of her nemesis. Opening her eyes, she ventured
to raise her head from the safety of the mezzanine banister and peer into the
gloomy deck below. No shots rang
out, nothing moved. Sighing, she
stood and went down the steps, electron rifle at the ready. “Green, are you sure the
sensors were registering two Mysterons in the hangar deck?” “Yes, Tyrian checked it.” Cadenza sprang round the side
of the crates, her weapon ready to discharge, but there was no one there. “Check again, Lieutenant.” “S.I.G..” Time stood still until Cadenza
heard the familiar voice over her radio one more. “Two Mysterons in the Hangar
Deck,” Green confirmed. “Be careful, Eva.” With fearful eyes, Cadenza
turned to look at the prone body of her husband. “Oh no, Conrad; not that…please God, not that…” Warily, she moved towards the
body and with the gun pressed to his temple with one hand, reached down to feel
for a pulse. There seem to be the
merest flutter in his wrist, but she wasn’t sure if that was just wishful
thinking. “Doctor Fawn,” she called over
her radio, “Please send someone down to Hangar Bay Two, Colonel Black’s been
seriously injured. Bring a Mysteron
detector with you.” “Are you all right, Eva?” Fawn sounded worried. “Yes, I’m fine. Conrad needs help though. I don’t know if they… if he was killed,
but he’s alive now – just. We can’t
take any risks, Edie. I have an
electron gun, but no detector.” “Tan and Ingram are on their way.”
“Tell them to be careful.
Zodiac may still be here, although I can’t find him, at the moment.” “Maybe he was transported out of here when the Mysterons took Captain
Black?” the doctor suggested. “Possibly; but the sensors
have two Mysteron signals for the hangar.” “Right now I wouldn’t trust the sensors to recognise which planet we’re
on,” Fawn responded dryly. Cadenza gave a snort of
amusement. “Perhaps you’re right,
Edie.” Even while she was waiting for
the medical help to arrive, Cadenza remained on the alert, standing guard over
Turner’s body and watching and listening for signs that she wasn’t alone.
She dared not tend to her husband in case Zodiac used her distraction to attack,
and was reluctant to contemplate the possibility that Conrad had been
Mysteronised, so keeping occupied was the best way to prevent that.
She heard the door opening with a profound feeling of relief, and smiled
as Tan and Ingram wheeled a gurney towards her. Tan knelt at Conrad’s side and
untied his hands. “He is alive,” he confirmed,
as Ingram helped him lift the body.
He took a photograph of the injured man with a Mysteron detector. Cadenza held
her breath for the time it took for the machine to process the data and produce
an X-ray of Conrad’s skull. “Thank God,” she breathed. Tan placed a hand on her arm.
“We’ll look after him, Caddie. What
do you plan to do now?” “I’ll complete a search of
this hangar and lock it down if it is empty.
There’s no one else to do it and if Zodiac’s here we need to know.” Nurse Ingram looked up
securing Conrad to the gurney. “Why
not leave Tyrian to man Control and get Green to help you?” she suggested. “Not a bad idea, if Green
feels she’s done all she can up there and that Tyrian can cope alone,” Cadenza
agreed. “Let me know when Scarlet’s
fit, won’t you?” she called after them as they wheeled the gurney back to the
lift bay. “Will do,” Tan replied.
Cadenza was waiting on the
mezzanine and smiled with relief when Lieutenant Green came in through the door. “Everything okay?” she asked
the young Trinidadian. “Sure; Tyrian can cope very
well and he knows he can contact either of us if he has any doubts about
something.” Serena Griffiths
glanced away and asked, “Any news about the colonel?” “Fawn’s operating now to
remove the bullets… he’ll be in intensive care after that.” Cadenza gave a wry grimace. “You know, it’s at times like this, I
wish retrometabolism was transferable, or contagious or universal.” Serena smiled back with a rueful expression. “Yeah, I know what you mean.” There was a pause as both
women considered the colonel’s fate and then, not wishing to dwell on her
husband’s plight, Cadenza said briskly, “I can’t see anyone in here, or sense
any Mysterons. Give me cover while
I go and make a thorough search.
Maybe Fawn’s right and the sensors aren’t functioning accurately?” She went down to the deck and
Green leant over the railing, her electron gun primed and ready. “There’s nothing wrong with
them,” the lieutenant reported in response to the accusation that she’d missed a
fault in her system. “But I guess
if the Mysterons are messing with the computer network, they might have faked a
reading…” “So they might,” Cadenza said,
cursing herself for not having realised that. She marched across to the storage crates and peered behind
them, positive she wouldn’t find anything – or anyone. “Let’s get this over with quickly, lock the place down and
turn our attention to how we’re going to save the base,” she added. “S.I.G.,” Green replied.
For the fourth time in a
matter of days, Doctor Fawn performed a delicate operation to remove bullets
lodged in the body of a Spectrum agent.
As with Captain Blue, these bullets were close to the spine of the
victim, and as she closed the incisions and handed over to Doctor Tan to finish
the post-operative procedures, she wondered if Conrad Turner would make as good
a recovery as the younger man. Leaving the operating room,
she went to check on Blue’s progress, looking down on a face that seemed
familiar despite its obvious differences from Eva Svenson’s. Her patient had a better colour
today and his pulse was stronger, the breathing deeper and more regular; she was
thankful that the man was strong and fit, and hoped the colonel would be as
lucky. Her musing was cut short by
Captain Scarlet. “Is he okay, Doc?” Startled, Fawn turned to look
at the Englishman. Scarlet had
raised himself up on one elbow, and although he looked tired, he was alert and
seemingly recovered from his wounds. “Yes,” Fawn replied, moving
across to take Scarlet’s pulse.
“He’s doing very well. Not as well
as you, of course, but he’s on the road to recovery.
How’re you feeling?” “Famished.” Fawn grinned, chuckling. “I think we can manage to find you
something to eat and drink.” “Good,” Scarlet said, shifting
so he could lie back on the pillows at the head of his mattress. “And while I’m doing that, you can bring
me up to date with events here. For
instance, how’s the boy?” “Gabriel? I still can’t bring him out of the coma,
even though the monitors show he should be up and about. His wound is healing – quicker than
Captain Blue’s, but slower than yours; much as I expected.” Fawn paused to ask a nurse to
fetch Scarlet something to eat and the captain looked across the room to where
Alizarin lay still, although the robotic nurse monitors above the bed were
pulsing with activity. He
swivelled his legs over the edge of the bed and got unsteadily to his feet. “Careful, you’re not
completely recovered,” Fawn reminded him, going to offer him a supporting arm. They made slow progress across
to the two beds. Scarlet
paused to look at Blue, before laying a hand on his shoulder. “Hang in there, buddy,” he murmured. Then they went across to where
Alizarin lay. His long, dark lashes
lay on his pale cheeks, yet beneath his eyelids they could see the flicker of
REM. “Is he dreaming?” Scarlet
asked. “Not necessarily,” Fawn
explained. “In REM sleep the
brain’s neurons can be as active as when a person’s awake. Some experts think it due to the brain consolidating memories
and neural links – discarding the detritus of the day and strengthening the
long-term memories. Whatever it
does do is essential to the well-being of all mammals. You don’t usually get REM in coma patients.” “So, he isn’t in a coma?”
Scarlet asked, reaching out to brush the curl of dark hair from Gabriel’s
forehead. “No, he is in a coma, according to the medical textbooks, anyway… either
there should be no REM or he should wake up,” Fawn replied. “I’ve never witnessed something like
this, even in Cadenza.” “Then why?” Scarlet asked. “Why is it happening? I don’t know. He should be awake, but he isn’t and he’s not responding to
stimuli.” Scarlet moved away and leant
over the body on the bed. “Gabriel,” he said, quite
loudly. “Gabriel, wake up. Come on, there’s work to be done. I need your help.” Fawn gave a dismissive shake
of her head. “I don’t think that’s
going to work.” “Why not? You say you don’t know what’s wrong with
him, so how can you know what the right treatment might be? Every time I go under, Blue sits and
talks to me – whenever he can. He’s
spent days – maybe weeks - since the Car-Vu, keeping me company. He believes it works, somehow – so do I.
I know that in the immediate seconds before I come to, it is his voice I expect
to hear, and that reassures me I’ve made it.”
Scarlet blushed slightly and gave a self-conscious smile.
“Of course, it might be better if it was his mother or brother who was talking
to Gabriel.” “I rather expect mine would be
the last voice he’d want to hear,” Cadenza said. She was standing by the door of the room, having come in
unseen. “If I know Gabe, he’d be
expecting a rocket for absconding.” Scarlet opened his arms to her
and she went to hug him.
“Good to see you back on your feet, Paul.” “Thanks. What’s happened?” “You’re not fit enough to
start getting involved yet!” Fawn exclaimed. “Let me be the judge of that,”
Scarlet told her. “Eva will tell
you that when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and we’re the toughest you’ll ever see,
Doc.” “While I agree with that
sentiment,” Cadenza said to Scarlet, “you should listen to your doctor.” However, she didn’t have much hope of
her advice being heeded. “Huh – that’s rich coming from
you!” Fawn cried. “I think retrometabolism comes with selective deafness in your
case.” “I listen; then I make my
decision,” Cadenza replied, with a pacifying smile. “So do I; and I’m telling you
I’m fit for what’s needed,” Scarlet insisted.
“Eat,” Fawn said curtly, as
the nurse arrived with a tray of food.
“Then we’ll see how fit you are.” While Scarlet was eating,
Cadenza sat beside her son, holding his hand, and brought them up to date with
everything that had been happening.
Green reported on the progress of events in the Control Room, and Fawn
updated them on the colonel’s progress. “I suppose, as the colonel is
still unconscious that makes me the senior officer,” Cadenza said reluctantly.
There was a murmur of agreement from the others.
She opened a communication channel to the Control Room and spoke to Tyrian. “Mikey, we’re in “Not as good as your news,
ma’am,”
he replied formally. “The technicians have kept control of the
nacelle, but they haven’t made much headway in regaining anything else. Their latest report says that they’re
encountering unusual resistance from the computers to every over-ride they
attempt. Nothing’s responding.” “What do the sensors show
about Mysterons on board?” Scarlet chipped in. There was a pause and Tyrian
said, “Four, three of them in sick bay.”
“Keep monitoring it, Mike,”
said Lieutenant Green. “If the
number changes, let us know immediately.
If Zodiac could get on board without us knowing and leave as easily, there’s no
guarantee he won’t try to come back.” “It seems to me that the
options on what’s keeping us from regaining control have lessened
considerably...” Scarlet glanced towards Alizarin’s bed. “All that stands between us and saving
Cloudbase is the robot nurse’s interface with the main computers.” “Now, wait a minute,” Fawn said.
“The risks to Gabriel if we attempt to disconnect him could be
considerable, if what happened the first time’s anything to go by.” “And the risks of not trying
again are even more considerable,” Scarlet replied bluntly. He looked at Cadenza. “The decision’s yours, Eva.” She looked around at each of
her friends: Green could not meet her eye and looked down at the floor, but Fawn
smiled at her and Scarlet met her gaze with his own unwavering stare. She remembered with a jolt how blue his
eyes were and how that had been reborn in their sons. From there her memory
flooded with images of the children, from their first days, through all the
normal stages of development. Their
first teeth, first steps, first words, the egocentric tantrums of the ‘terrible
twos’, their incessant curiosity….
They had kept pace with each other and yet they’d developed into distinct
personalities while remaining the spitting image of each other: Michael’s
serious expression, sharp intellect and deliberate manner, against Gabriel’s
ready grin, sense of mischief and adventure.
She shook her head. “I can’t do it.” “You’re condemning them both –
and many thousands more - to death,” Scarlet said with brutal honesty. “I’m his mother! I can’t risk his life on a chance that
we’ll save the base!” “Who says it’ll kill him?”
Scarlet reasoned. “He’s recovering
from the physical wounds, isn’t he, Doc?” Fawn nodded. “He’s making a recovery.” Cadenza shook her head. “I can’t; I just can’t!” “If you won’t take the
decision, I take it you’re relinquishing your command? Then that leaves me as the senior
officer,” Scarlet said levelly, and ignoring Green’s gasp of protest, “and I can do it.” He finished the piece of fruit he was eating and wiped his
hands on the napkin he’d been given. “Captain,” Green said, “I
don’t want to cause trouble, but –” “Good,” Scarlet said, looking
directly at her, “because otherwise you’d be forcing your superior officer to
take a decision that no mother should be asked to make.” Green flushed and bit her lip. “Did you want to say
something, Lieutenant?” Fawn asked, determined not to let Scarlet brow-beat the
young woman. Green shook her head. Scarlet continued to the bed
where Alizarin lay. The monitors
above the bed reacted with increased activity and Fawn came to stand beside him,
anxious to do what she could to safeguard the young man’s life. “Tyrian, do you have visual
contact?” Scarlet asked. “Yes, I can see what’s happening.” “Good lad. Now, when I throw the switch, you must
be ready to cut power across the base.
Tell the technicians to put breathing gear on and hold tight. Just in case it doesn’t work, you
understand?” He glanced at Fawn. “Everyone here should do the same, I
think, Doctor.” She nodded. Scarlet continued, “Close everything down, Tyrian, and give it a
minute or two before you switch back on and reboot the main computers. That should break the link. If it doesn’t, then everyone will have
time to get to the escape pods and you must send out the warning beacon.” “And what about Gabriel?”
Cadenza demanded angrily. “What if he can’t cope with being disconnected? I seem to recall you found it tough to break free, Captain.” “This is the best place he
could be in when it happens – and it has
to happen, Cadenza. He can’t stay
hooked up to the machines indefinitely, and if the Mysterons are using him to
prevent us saving Cloudbase, there’s no alternative but to do it sooner rather
than later.” She shook her head, reluctant
to accept his reasoning. Fawn sent Doctor Tan and the
nurses to prepare, and instructed them to watch over Blue and Conrad while the
base was rebooted. “Make sure they
don’t move if the base rocks. The
less movement the better for them both right now,” she said, as she adjusted her
own breathing gear. “Technicians report they are green for go,” Tyrian’s voice sounded
nervous. “Stand by, Ensign,” Scarlet
ordered, and as soon as the nod came from Fawn, he added, “On my mark… Three,
Two…” “No!” Cadenza screamed and
made a dart after him to prevent him.
Green grabbed her and managed to restrain her, while Scarlet, after
laying his hand on the youngster’s forehead, reached up with his other hand and
threw the switch. “One!” Once again, jagged streams of
electricity arced over the bed, the power fluctuated in the wards and then
Scarlet was struck by a brilliant white power beam from the monitor. He staggered but kept contact
with the boy and the monitor. “NOW, Tyrian!” he screamed. In the Control Room Tyrian
reacted and cut every power relay. The whole of the base went
dark: the air filters, environmental controls, hover motors and engines slowed
and stopped, leaving Cloudbase dead in the air. In The altimeter started to fall. Alone at the command console,
Tyrian was counting back from thirty, his fingers hovering over the keys. “Five, four, three, two, one.”
He pressed the keys to reboot
the system and held his breath. For
what seemed an age, nothing happened. The altimeter whirred round as Cloudbase
dropped like a brick. “Come on, come on…”
Tyrian crooned. “I know you can do
it.” He glanced nervously at the altimeter
and wondered if he should try to reboot again.
The communications were down and he couldn’t ask advice. He was about to hit Cancel and try again when: Beep A single light flashed on the command console and triggered a
series of switches across the vast computer network. Tyrian let out his breath and
closed his eyes in relief, then started directing the reignition sequences for
the hover combines and the engines.
The communications light flashed and the tannoy crackled. “Reboot successful,” he reported, relief obvious in his voice. “Well done,” Scarlet
responded. “Power up “S.I.G.,” Tyrian replied. “Lieutenant Green’s on her way
up to assist you,” Scarlet continued, adding, “Although I’d say you didn’t need
any help.” “I’ve never done a complete
reboot and recommission,” Tyrian confessed.
“I’m kinda making it up as I go along…” “Best way… that’s what I do
every time…” Scarlet assured him, chuckling.
It was agreed that before it
was safe for everyone to return to work, Lieutenant Green should run a
comprehensive diagnostic sweep of the entire computer network, purging the
caches and temporary files for every workstation. Therefore, the next few hours after the rebooting was
completed were uneasy ones for Cloudbase’s skeleton crew. Conscious of the strain the engines had been under, the
technicians began to check every component and mechanical system. In Scarlet ceded command to
Cadenza Angel until the senior colour captain, Captain Auburn, returned and
freed her to return to Conrad Turner was kept under
sedation to prevent unnecessary movement, while Tyrian sat beside his brother’s
bed and performed the same role Captain Blue had so often done for Captain
Scarlet – talking and reading to him while he lay in a deep and seemingly
impenetrable coma. In contrast, Captain Blue had
regained consciousness, but was still confined to his bed as Doctor Fawn had
forbidden him to attempt to move.
Captain Scarlet, anxious not to get too involved with the affairs of a dimension
that wasn’t his own, remained at his friend’s bedside and kept him company,
although he found keeping Blue’s active mind occupied when he was awake but immobile, was not an easy task. “Why can’t I at least move
around “Mostly because when people
start to return, they’ll come here first for their check-up, and the last thing
we want them to see is us - two strangers.
Secondly, this dimension’s far more paranoid than ours, Blue-boy, and I’m
sure we’d be prime candidates for having caused the problem in the first place.
Added to which, if they try and check me out, I could find myself under arrest
as a Mysteron, and then you’d have to find a way to get me out.
Finally, because Fawn says you can’t. That enough reasons for you?” Blue sighed. “Staring
at this ceiling’s boring…” Scarlet grinned. “Now you know how I feel,” he teased. Blue raised an eyebrow and
remarked with feeling, “And you know
how I feel when you’re the one
confined to bed and I’m trying to keep you occupied.” “Touché,” Scarlet admitted
affably; he was enjoying this reversal of roles. “You want to play I-spy?” “No! All I can see is the ceiling,
pudden-head!” “Now, now; temper, Adam…” “Aren’t I suffering enough
without having to have you ‘entertain’ me?” “Some people are never
grateful.” “Don’t I know it…?” Blue
sighed again. When Cadenza came out of her
husband’s room, Scarlet got to his feet and called, “Eva, look who’s awake.
Why don’t you come and say hello?” Blue turned his head slightly,
just enough to watch her approach. Cadenza hesitated some feet
away and looked at the man in the bed.
She smiled nervously. “Hi there,” she said. “Hello,” Blue replied evenly. “Scarlet’s told me a lot about
you,” she said, still keeping her distance and radiating a unease that was
unusual for her. “He’s told me some things
about you,” Blue said politely, adding, “He’s a terrible gossip.” She blushed and looked away.
Her eyes met Scarlet’s and her embarrassment increased. “I hope it wasn’t all bad?”
she said, attempting to make light of the situation. “Not at all,” Blue responded,
“he was most complimentary.” She looked straight at him,
uncertain and wary. Scarlet smirked to see an
almost identical expression on the similar faces. “I remember how weird it felt when I met Paula Metcalfe,” he
volunteered, “not to mention the other Scarlets.” “Yes, so you said,” Blue
replied, although his gaze was still fixed on Cadenza. “Do me a favour, would you, Paul?” Scarlet nodded. “Go away.” “What?” “Go away; I want to talk to… Cadenza.” “Oh.” Scarlet shrugged and tried to laugh this
off. “Sure… if that’s what you
want?” “Yes,” she replied. “That’s
exactly
what we want.” “Right. Well…okay.
I’ll… erm… I’ll go and get some coffee.
I expect Fawn’s got some on the go.” “Bye, Paul,” Blue said curtly. “See you later,” Cadenza said.
Scarlet strolled across the “Of course; is there something
wrong?” “I don’t know. I’ve just been given the elbow by both
of the Svensons.” He turned and looked back.
Cadenza was standing with her back towards him, looking down at Blue and
he could hear nothing beyond the faint murmur of their voices. He was surprised when Fawn
came to stand at his side. “That’s
no surprise,” she said. “If they
are as alike as you say, then they’re both very private people and whatever they
have to say to each other they won’t want overheard.” “Blue got an extraordinary
case of angst when he discovered I was Gabriel’s father,” Scarlet confessed.
“It kind of surprised me.” “I wonder just how closely
their pasts mirror each other. Tell
me, is your Blue married?” Fawn said thoughtfully. “No, but he might as well be;
he’s ‘in a relationship’ with one of our Angels. I expect they will marry, one day.” “And you and he are…?” “Good friends,” Scarlet said
sharply. “Yes, I know what gets
said and so does he. It worries him
more than it does me.” “Hmmm,” Fawn said, as if she
had suddenly made a discovery. “Oh come on! What’s ‘hmmm’ supposed to mean?” “Nothing.” “Don’t lie to me; you’ve made
some sort of link, haven’t you?” “No; I’m simply speculating.
If there’s anything to tell, it’s down to him to tell you, if he hasn’t already,
and when he’s ready.” “Don’t tell me: doctor-patient
confidentiality…” “How right you are. Help yourself to coffee, Paul, they
could be some time.”
|
|
By the
time Colonel Black had regained consciousness, Cloudbase was nearly back up to
strength, and the news inevitably seeped out that although Conrad Turner had
survived the Mysteron bullet, it had caused such an injury as precluded the
chance of his ever walking again.
Every Spectrum officer, even the technical and support officers were,
theoretically, aware of the risks they faced, and trained to cope with the death
or injury of themselves and others; but such things so rarely touched Cloudbase
– with the exception of Cadenza Angel - that many of the personnel were shocked
and more than a little nervous.
In addition, Colonel Black had been such a towering figure to his crew –
reassuring and seemingly immutable – that the news of his condition brought many
hardened veterans to the brink of tears when they first heard it.
Nevertheless, decorations were going up around the lounges and canteens
as people tried to come to terms with recent events. Fawn
insisted the decorations went up in He’d had
also been busy helping Nurse Ingram and Doctor Tan with Blue’s physiotherapy.
The captain was having difficulty moving his legs, but Fawn was of the opinion
it wouldn’t last and so she’d prescribed a regime of physio and exercise for her
patient, and Scarlet spent much of his time in the physio pool, helping Blue
exercise his leg muscles and limber up.
He had to admit, there were worse ways of spending time than lazing in the warm
brine bath and goading Adam into swimming races.
It wasn’t often he won such races against his friend, or Captain Grey, back
home, so he relished his victories here. Captain
Blue was improving daily and their main topic of conversation was how soon he’d
be fit enough for them to go home.
He seemed relaxed enough though and had struck up a friendship with Eva that
belied their earlier suspicion of each other.
The
captains also spent some time with Tyrian.
When the youngster emerged from keeping the still-comatose Alizarin
company, Scarlet and Blue kept him company. It’s
odd,
Scarlet thought, how Blue seems to be much more relaxed about Tyrian than he
was about Alizarin. I mean, they’re
twin brothers so they’re both my sons.
He gave the matter considerable thought, without coming to any
definite conclusion, but never mentioned it to his friend, for fear of rocking
the boat.
On
Christmas morning Captain Auburn came into “I
understand from the doctor that you will soon be well enough to leave us,
Captain Blue,” he said by way of introduction. “So I
understand, sir,” Blue replied, as polite as ever. “I am profoundly grateful to the doctor, and to everyone
here, for their kindness.” “It is our
pleasure,” Scarlet
gave a wry grin. “Of course,
Captain, and we could say the same.
The tunnels are not safe – and I don’t just mean physically. While they remain in use, Mysteron
threats in one dimension have an outside chance of affecting all dimensions. I’ll sleep safer in my bed if I know
they’re off limits.” “Good,” Scarlet
looked down at his hands. “I’d risk
the chance of a repetition just to see the lad fit again, Captain Auburn.” “As would
we all, Captain Scarlet.” As “You too,
huh?” Scarlet thought a moment and
reminded Blue, “Alizarin told us about the mistrust and paranoia that exists
here about the Mysterons-” “Hey, they
scare me too,” Blue interjected.
“Wherever I am.” “Sure they
do; you’ve got sense. But here, the
threat they pose is common knowledge – or at least, more than back home.
Maybe “Of that
kid?” “Of anyone
with retrometabolism.” Scarlet
turned his gaze on his friend and saw that Blue had caught his meaning. “Sooner we
get home the better,” the American muttered.
That
afternoon the two friends were in the physio gym, and while Blue was doing leg
extensions on a weight machine that was part of the regime Fawn had devised to
strengthen his leg muscles, Scarlet was doing one-arm press-ups. He claimed this was to tone
himself up after his recovery from the gunshot wound, but Blue, panting with
exertion, could see no sign of so much as a scar in the rippling muscles and
firm flesh on display. However, he
was not one to begrudge Scarlet his pride in his physical strength and fitness,
so he took the accompanying ‘encouraging’ banter in the spirit of friendship it
was intended to reflect. Scarlet
reached the target first and squatted on his haunches grinning at his friend.
“You’re getting lazy, Svenson; you’ll turn into a “Huh, not
all of us have the shortcut of retrometabolism to get us back to peak fitness,”
Blue gasped in response. He
reached the required number of exercises, exhaled and closed his eyes. “I ache in places I didn’t know it was
even possible to ache,” he moaned and opened one eye. “I think I hate you.” Scarlet’s
grin broadened and he chuckled. “I
can’t take you back to Karen less of a man than you were when you left…” He
paused; there was a commotion in the ward and he saw Nurse Ingram almost running
towards the intensive care ward where Alizarin lay. He got to his feet, drifting over
to the window to watch. He didn’t
hear Blue getting to his feet and was surprised when he realised his partner was
beside him, staring in concern in the same direction.
“Something’s happened,” Blue said. Both men
swivelled towards the entrance as the Sick Bay doors slammed open and, as
Cadenza ran towards the Intensive Care room, Scarlet threw open the gym door and
with Blue leaning on his crutches for support, they joined the flow of people
heading that way.
“Alizarin’s woken up,” one of the nurses informed Scarlet, a happy smile on her
face. “He’s going to be okay!” “Could you
ask for a better Christmas present?” Blue asked, as they quietly left the group
of celebrating spectators. “No, and I
wouldn’t. It’s odd, I can’t help
feeling responsible for what happened to him – even though he brought it on
himself to an extent - so I’m relived to know he’s going to make it.” “Yeah, I
know what you mean. They’re nice
kids.” Scarlet
glanced at him. “You’re reconciled
to their existence, then?” “I never
had anything against them, personally.” “Oh. So it was just me you were narked with?” Blue
shrugged. “Let’s just say, I‘ve
come to terms with it all, and leave it at that, shall we?” “Yes,
let’s just say that.” Scarlet
smiled to himself, contented.
About an
hour later, when Scarlet had excused himself to go and see Alizarin, Tyrian
knocked on Blue’s door and came in when invited. “Hi
there,” Blue said, waving the youngster to a seat. Tyrian
nodded glumly and sat down, silently staring at his hands. There was an almost dejected air about
him. Blue frowned as he studied the
youngster and, unbidden, the image of his younger brother, Peter, came to mind.
Since they were teenagers Pete had suffered from a bad case of jealousy as far
as his older brother was concerned, and he still did.
He’d struggled to emulate the academic achievements Adam casually admitted
caused him no difficulty, and resented his brother’s abilities. Peter had also chosen to obey their
father’s wishes and now worked in the family company, whereas Adam had rebelled
and left the world of finance behind him; but Peter still perceived his brother
as the favoured son. Blue
hazarded a guess at what was eating the youngster. “I’m sure you’re as relieved as your mother is that Gabriel’s
pulled through.” Michael’s
head jerked up and he stared at Blue with some hostility. “Of course I am – why wouldn’t I be?” “Because
it isn’t always easy being the second son.” “We’re
twins,” Michael said edgily. “No
one knows which of us is the oldest.” “No?” The youth
flushed and looked away. “Well,
you’re wrong thinking I’m the second son, because I’m the eldest. It’s only minutes and it doesn’t
matter.” “You’re
right; but being the second son isn’t always a matter of birth – it’s a frame of
mind, Mike. Especially when you’re
identical
twins.” “We’re
not
identical. He’s – he’s always been
the popular one – the extrovert – the show off. Gabe can’t do any wrong – when he gets into trouble it is a
sign of his independent spirit and ardent desire to be the best at what he does.
When I get into trouble, my parents are ‘disappointed’ and ‘concerned’
and I’m expected to conform.” Blue felt
a sympathetic pang of guilt.
“Living up to people’s expectations is never easy.
Some people can do it – people like you – and some can’t. I couldn’t.
I walked away from everything that was expected of me and, in doing so,
made it harder for my brothers to do the same.
Never think that Gabriel doesn’t appreciate that.” “He
doesn’t! He doesn’t think about
anything – or anyone - but himself, and they all applaud him for it.” “It may
seem like it-” “It is
like it!” “Maybe –
but you’re going to have to get over it, Mike.
If you don’t it’ll sour your whole life.” “What do
you know about it?” “More than
you can possibly imagine.” “He left
to find a better life in another dimension – he almost broke Mom’s heart, and
now she’s all over him!” “Hmm; been
there and seen that,” Blue remarked quietly, adding, “It’s an old, old story,
Mike: ‘My son,' the father said, 'we had to celebrate and be glad, because
this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found’.” “If I had
a dollar for every time I’ve had that thrown at me…” Tyrian grumbled. Blue
chuckled. “My brother says he’ll
make sure they carve that on my tombstone.” “But
you’re… I mean, you made something of your life. Gabriel will never settle to anything.” “Then
you’ll have to keep an eye on him, won’t you?” “No! Why should I?” “Because
he’s your brother, and you’re the eldest – and when all’s been said and done -
you love each other.” The youth
got to his feet and slouched away towards the door. Blue said nothing but watched him carefully, and before he
reached the exit, Tyrian had turned and come back to the bedside. Sitting down again he closed his
eyes and burst into tears, bending his head against the coverlet to hide his
tears. Blue patted his shoulder. “Yeah,” he
said, “sometimes that’s all you can do. I’m relieved he’s okay too – you let it out, Mike.”
In
Alizarin’s room there was almost a party atmosphere with Cadenza and Scarlet
sitting either side of Gabriel’s bed, while their son lay propped up on pillows,
and nurses popped in and out to soothe his fevered brow. When
Doctor Fawn came in to check on her patient, Cadenza slipped out to visit
Conrad, while Scarlet made himself scarce and sat outside chatting to Nurse
Ingram. “How’s the
colonel doing?” he asked, glancing towards the other room.
“Remarkably well; he’s very upbeat.
He’s aware of the prognosis now, of course,” Ingram explained sympathetically. “It’s an awful shame because he’s always
been such an active man, but, as he says himself, it isn’t the end of the world.
There are some very efficient hover-chairs in use, and Doctor Fawn’s had several
delivered, so he can try them out when he’s ready.
He could still work on Cloudbase, if he wants to, and even fly with adapted
controls.” She gave a sad smile and added, “I think
Cadenza’s more upset than he appears to be, at the moment anyway.” “She cares
about him very much,” Scarlet remarked. “Oh, yes –
very much. They’re devoted.” “Seems
like we’ll see a happy ending to this whole affair,” he said, with the
expression of a man contemplating a job well done. “Yes, in a
few days Captain Blue will be fit to leave, and I guess you’ll be going back… to
where you came from,” the nurse said.
Without thinking, she glanced towards Blue’s room with a wistful smile. “He’ll be
glad to get back to his fiancée,” Scarlet said innocently. Nurse
Ingram immediately reverted to a professional detachment. “Yes, he’s spoken about her - often.”
Scarlet
suppressed a smirk: Blue was surprisingly adept at recognising and diverting
unrequited amorous attention and saving himself, and the would-be girlfriend,
from the jealous wrath of Symphony Angel.
Suddenly
Nurse Ingram gave a gasp of alarm, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes
widened in terror. Scarlet span
round and saw Doctor Fawn emerging from the intensive care room with Alizarin
close behind her. In his hand he
held a syringe close to Fawn’s neck; the doctor looked pale, but calm. “What on
earth do you think you’re doing?” Scarlet snapped and moved towards them. “Keep
away, Earthman,” Alizarin snarled.
“This needle’s full of enough toxins to kill the good doctor in a matter
of seconds.” “Earthman?”
Scarlet gasped. Nurse
Ingram gave a stifled scream. “Be
quiet!” Scarlet and Alizarin ordered her at the same moment, but it was enough
to attract attention and Cadenza emerged from her husband’s room in a hurry,
just as Tyrian and Blue appeared in the doorway of his room and several nurses
appeared from various parts of the Sick Bay. “Gabriel,”
Cadenza exclaimed, “what do you think you’re doing? Get back into bed and stop acting the fool. Doctor Fawn’s a busy woman.” “Give me a
gun,” Alizarin demanded. “No,” his
mother retorted, moving closer with determination. “Stop this foolishness!” “I don’t
think he’s joking, Eva,” Scarlet said, reaching out to bar her approach. “No, I am
not,” Alizarin replied. “Give me a
gun, or the doctor dies.” “Don’t do
it,” Fawn gasped, and squealed with pain as her captor twisted her arm high and
hard enough to dislocate her shoulder.
“Edie!”
Cadenza sprang forward, but Scarlet grabbed her and held her back. “Count of
five,” Alizarin threatened. “Give
me a weapon or the doctor dies.” He started to count down. “There are
no weapons in Unnoticed
by anyone except Captain Blue, Tyrian had moved to the emergency alarm, and now
he pressed it, sending the mournful wail of the siren through the base. “ “Hostage
situation,” Tyrian replied. Scanning
the security cameras around until she had visual on the situation, Green
replied, “Security detail is on its way.” “That was
a foolish thing to do,” Alizarin said to his brother, pushing Fawn forward as he
moved away from the dead end of the intensive care room. “They’ll
have weapons,” Tyrian said levelly, “and that’s what you said you wanted, isn’t
it? “And why
would you want to give a Mysteron a weapon?” Nurse Ingram demanded. “He’s not
a Mysteron!” Cadenza cried, struggling with Scarlet to break free. “He is
now,” Ingram snapped. “He called us
‘Earthmen’ – he must’ve died after he was shot and be a reincarnation.” “He’s my
son!” “He was,
Caddie; but I don’t think he is any longer.
Can’t you sense anything?
I’m afraid that he’s a Mysteron,” Scarlet said, sadly. “Gabriel’s no longer with us.” “Stop
talking!” Alizarin roared. “You-”
He gestured towards Nurse Ingram. “Bring the colonel to me. Now! “I will
not,” Ingram retorted, as the door burst open and Alizarin
drew Fawn closer and started to edge towards Conrad’s door using her as a
shield. There was no way the
marksmen could shoot him without hitting the doctor.
“Keep away
from me, Earthman. I know what I
must do.” Alizarin continued to
edge towards the colonel’s room, dragging the pain-wracked Fawn with him. Scarlet moved away from Cadenza hoping
to get on his blind side, but the moment he let go of her arm, she rushed
forward towards her son. “Gabriel!”
she cried, as she lunged forwards. With a
vicious jab, Alizarin drove the needle into Fawn’s neck and pushed the
convulsing doctor towards his mother. Cadenza
made a grab to catch her collapsing friend.
As Tan and the medical staff ran forward to assist their commanding
officer, Alizarin stepped inside Colonel Black’s room and slammed the door. “He’s
trapped. He can’t get out,” “Oh no,”
Cadenza moaned, watching as Tan began emergency resuscitation on Doctor Fawn.
The crash cart appeared and the young doctor applied the defibrillators.
“Clear!” Fawn’s
body jerked as the powerful pulse shot through her. “Come
on,” Tan urged his patient and then with despair creeping into his voice, he
called, “Clear!” and applied them again. Cadenza
watched the fatal drama unfolding on the floor of the “Caddie,”
he whispered urgently, “were you wearing your gun?” Confused,
she looked down at the empty holster and then across to Conrad’s room. “Gabriel must’ve taken it,” she
confirmed. “Oh my God; he’s in
there with Con…” Scarlet
pivoted round and approached Captain Auburn.
“We have reason to believe he’s armed,” he said quietly, and when the
officer gave a questioning frown, Scarlet added, “He took Cadenza’s gun.” Scarlet
had no doubt that “This is
gone far enough; the efficiency and security of Spectrum and this base are being
compromised because of one family and the quite exceptional allowances made for
them. We are not here to baby-sit
for these children, Captain; Cloudbase is no place for domestic arguments.
My patience is at an end. We treat
Alizarin as hostile, and any attempt to assist him will be an hostile act also.” “Alizarin
may have been Mysteronised – the rest of the family are no threat to Cloudbase.”
Scarlet tried to reason with him, but He turned
to the additional security guards who had just arrived. “Place Ensign Tyrian, Cadenza Angel,
Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue under close arrest,” he ordered. “If they make any moves against us –
shoot them.” Cadenza
shrugged off the guards who attempted to restrain her, and turned on “You’re
loving this, aren’t you, Gleb?
You’ve been waiting for an opportunity to usurp Conrad’s authority for years now
– don’t think he doesn’t know.
Well, you’re not going to use your expropriated power to destroy my
family!” “It is my
primary duty to protect this base,” Scarlet
stepped between them and tried to turn Cadenza away. For a brief, disconcerting moment he thought he saw a flicker
of green light in her pale eyes, as she pushed him away. “Keep out
of this, Paul; it has nothing to do with you!” “Eva,
you’re not helping Gabriel,” he reasoned.
“Come away…” “He is
not
a Mysteron, he is just a young boy, frustrated with the way he’s being treated
by a world that doesn’t understand him!” “Cadenza,
you are relieved of duty. Stand
down,” The
confrontation was interrupted by Doctor Tan who stood up from the body of Fawn
and announced sadly, “She’s
dead. There was nothing we could
do. I am sorry, sir, Cadenza.” “No!”
Cadenza protested. “Take
her
away,” The ward
was filled with the smell of singed hair and scorched flesh that made Scarlet
cringe and everyone else grimace and turn away. Cadenza went and knelt beside her friend’s smoking corpse and
wept, until the sergeant came and laid a hand on her arm. “Come
along with me, if you please, ma’am,” he said.
She shook
his hand off and stood up. “This is
the work of the Mysterons,” she said clearly.
“They want to sow distrust and enmity amongst Spectrum’s personnel. You have no proof my son is a Mysteron –
there can’t be any proof.” “He killed
Doctor Fawn, before witnesses. Mysteron or not, he is a felon,” “Fawn may
have threatened him,” Cadenza reasoned, “She might have been the Mysteron
agent.” “You are not making sense, Cadenza Angel.
Please, go with the security officer and leave this to me.” She looked
around at the assembled people: Tan and the nurses were mourning for their
commander, the security men looked upset but equally determined to do their
duty, while She raised
her eyes from his face and met Blue’s gaze. Instinctively, she addressed her appeal to him, rather than
Scarlet. “Look
after him, and don’t let them hurt him.”
Blue gave an infinitesimal nod.
“Thank you.” She turned
to walk out with the guard, ignoring Tyrian’s gasp. As they
passed the door of Conrad’s room it lurched open to reveal Colonel Black sitting
in a hoverchair, with Alizarin beside him, a gun held to his father’s temple.
Cadenza stopped. “Con!” she
exclaimed. “Are you all right? Gabriel, what do you think you’re
doing?” “Stand
down, Captain Auburn, I am resuming command,” Colonel Black said, although from
the agonised expression on his face and his breathless voice it was apparent
that he was in considerable pain.
The back wound he’d received was still painful and sitting in the hoverchair
can’t have been comfortable. Cadenza
turned to “With
respect, sir,” “I agree
with you, Captain Auburn,” Scarlet said.
“Let Ensign Alizarin lay down his weapon and surrender before the colonel
resumes command.” “You are a
guest on my base, Captain, and as such I will overlook your insubordination,”
Black said. “I am
first and foremost a Spectrum Agent, sir.
My duty is to thwart the Mysterons – wherever I find them.”
“Nevertheless, you have no authority here, Scarlet,” Black hissed between
clenched teeth. His face was covered in a film of sweat,
and he was finding it hard to remain conscious.
“Neither
do I,” Blue interjected, “yet, if I may make an observation: how do we know that
the colonel isn’t a Mysteron himself?
They were in the room alone for some time and the real body may still be
inside.” Black
managed a grimace of amusement.
“Mysteron reconstructs tend to be 100% fit, Captain Blue.” “With
respect, sir; the Mysterons recreate an exact copy – and you were injured before
Alizarin went into your room.” “Test them
all,” the exasperated “No!”
Cadenza cried. “I refuse to let
that happen.” “You have
no choice, Cadenza,” “Stop
this,” Alizarin said. “It’s an
irrelevance. Mother, Scarlet, come
here – now.” He cocked the gun
against the colonel’s temple and looked at Tyrian.
“You too, Bro.” Scarlet
met Cadenza as she walked towards them, and kept a sharp eye on Alizarin as
Cadenza knelt beside the hoverchair and took her husband’s face in her hands,
pressing her lips to his. Conrad
stroked her fair hair softly. Tyrian was
reluctant to join them, hanging back with Captain Blue until Alizarin snapped
the order again. By then, As Tyrian
reached Scarlet’s side, Alizarin spoke, his words sounding deeper than usual and
almost echoing in the sudden silence of Sick Bay: “THE MYSTERONS NEED POWER
CONDUITS TO BRING ABOUT THEIR CONQUEST OF THE WORLDS. HERE WE HAVE TWO PEOPLE WHO WERE RETROMETABOLISED IN THE
SERVICE OF THE MYSTERONS, “Gabriel…” Cadenza moaned and reached out a
hand towards her son. Scarlet
reacted differently: he was genuinely alarmed at what he’d heard, and pushed
Tyrian away with some force.
“Scatter!” he ordered, stooping to drag Cadenza to her feet. Tyrian
staggered back and Blue came out to help him.
“SCARLET:
ONCE MORE YOU STAND BETWEEN THE MYSTERONS Alizarin
raised the gun and fired. Blue
shouted a warning as Cadenza screamed angrily and struck out with a kick at her
son’s arm. The bullet went high and
struck Scarlet between the eyes, shattering his skull and exiting through the
back of his head. He dropped stone
dead at Alizarin’s feet just as Alizarin’s other hand swept around and knocked
Cadenza to the ground. Blue
hobbled forward and crouched with difficulty beside his friend, pressing the
fragment of skull back against the gaping wound. He looked up for help from the medical staff, only to see
Alizarin pointing the gun straight at him.
“YOU Blue
closed his eyes and heard a gun fire.
He felt nothing, but it seemed like an age before he dared open his eyes.
Alizarin lay on the floor, shot though the head much as he had shot Scarlet.
There was a wisp of smoke coming from Cadenza
was sobbing and crawling across the floor towards Alizarin. Conrad Turner, helpless and in pain, was
calling to her. In the
confusion of the moment – and although to Blue everything seemed to happen in
slow-time, it was merely a second or two – Tyrian stepped forward and aimed an
electron gun he’d taken from one of the guards at his brother. The gun
gave the signature whine before it discharged, and Cadenza turned, throwing
herself towards Tyrian to stop him firing.
The beam of electric particles went over her head and raked across
Alizarin’s body, which convulsed and jerked.
The aroma
of scorched flesh and singed hair spread again, as Cadenza drove her fist into
Michael’s stomach and then threw herself across Gabriel’s smouldering body. Blue
looked across at the shocked medical staff and called, “For pity’s sake, can I
get some help here?” Tan
ordered two nurses to get a gurney, and came across to where Scarlet lay in a
sticky pool of blood and brains.
Carefully they lifted Scarlet onto the stretcher and the nurse wheeled it
towards the emergency room. Tan helped
Blue to his feet and immediately the American turned to Tyrian and drew the
youngster to him. The boy
was crying silently, his pale face grimy with the tracks of his tears. Blue said nothing, but merely enfolded
him in his arms, after gently removing the electron gun from his unresisting
hand and passing it to “He’s
dead, isn’t he?” Tyrian whispered. “Yeah,”
Blue replied. “He’s dead, Mike.” “I had to
do it; you could see that…” “Yeah; I
saw that.” Blue drew back slightly
and looked deep into the troubled sapphire-blue eyes for a long moment before he
said, “You dealt with a Mysteron the only way there is to make sure they can’t
revive. I’m afraid Gabriel must’ve
died some time before then. You did
the right thing. The only
thing.” “Thank
you,” Blue muttered, wondering just how they were going to handle this turn of
events. Cadenza
had been listening to the conversation and now she got to her feet, her face
distorted with sorrow and rage.
She turned on “Then are
you going to kill me as well, Gleb?
Are you going to wipe out this nest of Mysterons?
You heard what Gabriel said, didn’t you? Two retrometabolised people created two more – powerful
Mysterons. Well, if the only good
Mysteron is a dead Mysteron, you haven’t finished your work here!” “Yes, I am
the retrometabolised incarnation of Eva Svenson – and my treacherous son,
Michael, is retrometabolic, as was his brother.” “The story
of the doppelganger who kidnapped the World President? All lies?” “No, the
lie is that Eva Svenson survived and the doppelganger died. It was the other way around. It hasn’t been luck that’s kept me
alive, Captain, but the power given to me by the Mysterons. A power my sons inherited.” “Eva, that
is enough,” Conrad managed to deliver the order with some authority. “No,
Colonel, it is not enough,” “Fool,”
Cadenza snapped wildly. “My husband
isn’t the father of these boys.
He’s human – by any standard you care to apply.
Captain Scarlet is their biological father.” “This puts
the whole affair in a different league,” “Captain,”
Conrad said, “the boy’s been through a good deal, he needs medical care. He poses no threat. Please, out of your kindness, let him
stay with me?” “Captain
Blue, would you be so kind as to bring Michael to my room in a few minutes’
time, after Doctor Tan’s helped me back into my bed?” Conrad asked. “I’d like to talk to you.” “S.I.G.,”
Blue responded instinctively. He
was having difficulty seeing any way out of this impasse.
Michael was very subdued and remained close to
Captain Blue when they went into Conrad’s rooms some 30 minutes later. Conrad had been made comfortable in his
bed and given painkillers, but he was alert and remarkably decisive. “Captain,
thank you for coming.” He reached
out for his son and Michael went slowly to stand beside him, his head hung in
shame. Conrad looked at him for a
moment and then laid a hand on his arm. “Mike,” he
said gently, “I know how hard it must’ve been for you to do that; but I am proud
of you. You showed great strength
of character back there. I agree
with what Captain Blue said to you; there was no alternative and if I could’ve
moved I’d have got a gun and shot that Mysteron imposter myself.” Slowly,
Michael raised his head to look at his father.
“Mom hates me,” he said. Conrad
sighed. “She’s distraught, but when
she comes to her senses, she’ll feel the same as I do. That is why I am going to ask you to continue to be strong
and obey me now without arguing.” “Yes sir,”
Mike replied, an intrigued expression on his face. Conrad looked across to Blue. “I will need your help, Captain.” “You have
it, sir; if there is anything I can do.” “There is.
You heard how my wife revealed the parentage and nature of my sons and their
parents. In this dimension – if not in all – anyone suspected of being
a Mysteron or in any way connected to them, is incarcerated – for life. It might not be the right policy, but it
is the one we have to work with.
Cadenza’s condition is known to very few people, the boys’ not at all –
apart from Fawn and Doctor Tan.
Now I’m not sure I will be able to prevent Eva and Mike from spending the rest
of their lives in captivity.
Therefore, I want you to take Michael with you when you leave.” “I’m not
going,” Blue said firmly. “Of course
you are.” Black was dismissive. “You have your own world out there and
it needs you, as much as it needs Scarlet.” “I will
not leave without him.” “I know
that; it was ‘you’ plural, Captain.”
There was the merest glimmer of a smile on the older man’s dour face. Blue
smiled back. “Then – yes – we’ll take him.” “And what
if I won’t go?” Tyrian demanded.
“You can’t just pack me off like that, Father!” Conrad
took hold of the boy, his hands gripping tightly into the flesh of Mike’s upper
arm. “Michael,
listen. You and Gabriel – and your
mother – have meant more to me than anything in my entire life. I love all of you and I will never stop
doing that until the day I die.
But, after what Eva said, I have no guarantee that she will be allowed to stay
here; even allowed to live a free life.
Gabriel is dead and where your mother goes, I will go. If they intern her in some camp, I will
go with her. I don’t want that for
you.” Mike
looked down to hide the tears that brimmed in his eyes. He sniffed. Turner
looked at Blue. “I trust this man;
he is the man your mother would have been, except that his soul hasn’t been
corroded by the Mysterons until he sees the world and everyone in it as somehow
expendable. I want you to live a
decent life, Mikey; to have the chance to make free choices about what you do
and who you do it with. If I have
to order you to go, I will, but I would rather ask you to go and have you
understand it is the last thing I can give you – your freedom.” Mike
sobbed aloud and threw his arms around his father. His emotions had been shredded by the past few hours after
days of tension that had wound them to breaking point. Blue felt
himself choking up with sympathetic emotion and swallowed hard. He met Conrad’s dark eyes as the older
man broke the clinch with his son. “Go now.
Get your things; take as little as you can bear.
Leave the rest to me.” “They
won’t let me out,” Mike mumbled, “the place is guarded.” Conrad
took his Spectrum watch from off the bedside locker and gently pulled the golden
band from his wedding finger.
“Then take these.” Mike put
them in his pocket and with Blue steering him straight, they left the colonel
alone. Black
watched them go; pinched the bridge of his nose to control his own tears and
then picked up his personal radio.
He had a few calls to make that he didn’t want recorded on the base systems.
The door
to Blue’s room snapped open and two armed guards marched in, followed by
Lieutenant Green. She stared
haughtily at the two men. “Adam
Svenson, also known as Captain Blue, you are charged with treason against the
World Government. You will be taken
from here to a place of confinement until brought before a jury of your peers,”
she said, reading from a hand-held computer.
“I have
not committed any act against the Government.
And I do not recognise the authority of your World Government to try me,” Blue retorted. “You are
known to consort with Mysterons,” she said, her voice positively dripping with
disgust. “That in itself is treason.
Come, walk with me, or you will be shackled and dragged.” Blue got
to his feet as Green turned to Tyrian. “Michael
Svenson Turner, also known as Ensign Tyrian of Spectrum, you are charged with
treason against the World Government.
You will be taken from here to a place of confinement until brought
before a jury of your peers.” Tyrian
stood beside Blue and helped him walk out of the room. In the main part of “Follow
me,” Green said. The short
procession made its slow way down to the “Give him
this when you land; it’ll wake him up.”
He winked at Tyrian. “Take
care of yourself, Mikey.” Before
either could reply, he was gone. With the
two guards sitting either side of the prisoners, Lieutenant Green piloted the
SPJ out onto the runway and took off into the afternoon sun.
Blue first
started to become suspicious as the plane circled over a large bay and homed in
on a familiar-looking mountain, from the summit of which rose clouds of
sulphurous steam and leaping fingers of molten rock. “Etna,” he
whispered to Mike. Green
brought the SPJ to a stop on the small airfield at the security compound that
guarded the mouth of the tunnels. She
turned off the engine and turned to smile warily at her passengers. “Give
Scarlet the antidote,” she said, “we don’t have long. They’ll send someone after us quickly enough when they
realise where we’ve gone.” Blue
administered the drug and moments later, Scarlet’s eyelids flickered and opened,
squinting against the light. “I have
the mother of all headaches,” he muttered, as Blue handed him a bottle of water. “There’s
no pleasing some people; at least you still have a head to ache,” Blue replied.
“Come on, on your feet, Paul.” Scarlet
saw Tyrian and gasped. Before he
could say a word, Green said, “Later; you don’t have time.” Scarlet
looked at the guards, who were busy taking off their flak jackets and military
insignia. “Mr
Campbell, Mr Livingstone,” Tyrian exclaimed.
“We
couldn’t refuse your dad when he asked us to get you out of here,” “S.I.G.,”
Green replied. The two
technicians saluted her and left their rifles behind as they made their way
towards the guardhouse with a box of tools carried between them. “My father
did this?” Mike gasped. Green
smiled. “Yes, he asked me to see
you safely here.” She handed the
officers their Spectrum weapons and saluted.
“Good luck, sirs.” “Thanks,
Serena,” Mike said and hugged her. “I put
some of your stuff together in a kit bag,” she told him, opening a storage
cupboard. “Don’t forget us, Mike.” He shook
his head and turned to leave the plane first, afraid his new-found courage might
desert him. “Thanks,
Serena,” Scarlet said and kissed her cheek. “Yes,
thanks,” Blue said, alarmed as she threw her arms around him and pressed her
lips to his. “I’m
engaged to my Captain Blue,” she
explained, blushing slightly. “It’d
seem odd not to kiss you goodbye.” “Lucky
guy,” Blue replied and winked as he followed Scarlet off the plane. “What
would Karen say?” Scarlet asked as he took the kitbag from Mike and put an arm
around his shoulder. “If you
don’t tell her, she’ll never know,” Blue reasoned. “Bloody
big IF…” Scarlet retorted, and laughed.
|
|
Tyrian was invaluable in
helping them through the tunnels.
Although Scarlet and Blue could remember the way, Blue was still weak and
Scarlet tired after his recovery.
They went slowly once they were sure they were not being followed, and
took frequent rests. The food and
water they’d brought assisted Scarlet’s recovery, so that by the time they
reached the slope leading to the entrance in their own dimension, he was able to
support Blue and progress was quicker. They rested for the last time
before the final climb. Blue gulped
the water and leaned back against the rock, his face was pale and he closed his
eyes, breathing heavily. “You okay?” Scarlet asked,
concerned to see the strain on his friend’s face. “Yeah.” “We’re nearly there,” Tyrian
said, coming to sit beside Blue.
“I’m sure your medical staff will take good care of you and you’ll be right as
rain in no time.” “Fawn’ll do his nut,” Scarlet
said gloomily. “Heaven knows how
long we’ve been away from Cloudbase for, and then we roll up looking like
something the cat dragged in…” “He?” Tyrian asked, his dark
eyebrows rising in surprise. Scarlet grinned. “You’ll have to get used to surprises
like that, Mike. Our Doctor Fawn is
an Australian guy – a bloody good doctor, mind you. Lieutenant Green’s name is Seymour Griffiths and he’s the
executive officer for the commander of our Cloudbase – Colonel White.” “And the Angels are all guys?”
Tyrian asked. Scarlet shook his head. “Thankfully, no. They are five young women of exceptional beauty and charm –
with the hand-to-hand combat skills to flatten any male who steps out of line.” “I shall be careful to remain
in line then,” Tyrian said earnestly. “They won’t hurt you,” Scarlet replied, “they were very
fond of Gabriel…” He stopped speaking suddenly and laid a hand on Tyrian’s knee.
“Sorry, Mike.” “It’s okay,” the youngster
said, shifting his position so that Scarlet’s hand slipped away. “I’m used to it.” Blue opened his eyes and
glanced at Tyrian, who looked away when he saw the captain’s eyes on him. “Let’s go, shall we?” the
American said. “Sooner we get out
of here the better I will like it.” They helped him to his feet
and Scarlet shouldered the pack that Tyrian had carried from the start of the
trip. “Let’s go,” Blue repeated, and
started out up the steep climb to the mouth of the tunnel. As they approached the exit,
it grew noticeably colder. “With luck we’ll hardly have
been missed,” Scarlet mused, as he followed the others up the slope. “We might even make it back in
time for the party…” Blue staggered out into the
light, squinting against the brightness of the low sun. He drew in a deep breath and coughed. “Well, it smells like home,” he said
ruefully. “If you mean that it smells
like sock washing night on Cloudbase - then I agree,” Scarlet was saying, and as
Tyrian grinned at him, a shot rang out. “Not again!” Scarlet cried,
and turned to see Tyrian stagger back, his hand to his chest and surprise on his
face. “Get down!” Scarlet ordered. Blue grabbed the boy and, as carefully as he could, helped him to
crouch behind an outcrop of rock.
“He’s alive, but he’s losing a lot of blood,” he reported. “We need to get him to medical help soon, Paul.” Scarlet had jumped into the
lee of a boulder and drawn his pistol.
He was scanning the rocky ground ahead of them, in the general direction
he calculated he shot had come from. The sun glinted on something
away to his left. He aimed and
fired a volley of shots, advancing towards the position until he could dodge
behind another boulder. “Black,” he shouted. “Give it up, Black! You’ve lost. Together we were able to defeat the Mysterons and the whole
show has made us even stronger!” “YOU ARE WRONG, SCARLET, WE
HAVE WON. ALIZARIN IS DEAD, CADENZA
ANGEL WILL BE NEUTRALISED BY HER OWN PEOPLE BECAUSE OF THEIR FEAR OF THE
MYSTERONS. WITHOUT HER THEY ARE
POWERLESS AND WE WILL SOON DEFEAT THEM.
YOU HAVE THE LAST OF THE MISBEGOTTEN HYBRIDS WITH YOU.
THAT WILL MAKE YOU VULNERABLE.
WE HAVE WON.” “You can’t frighten me into
handing him over to you,” Scarlet yelled back.
“I’m prepared to fight you in every, and any, way I have to.” Scarlet heard the thrum of an
approaching helicopter in the distance.
He glanced into the grey, leaden sky and saw the lights of three
machines. “Hear that, Black? That’s reinforcements; my people are not
afraid of me. They’ll fight you and the Mysterons to the last man standing.” “YOU ARE A FOOL, SCARLET. YOU
AND THEY WILL ALL DIE.” There was a blinding flash of
green light and Scarlet sensed that his adversary was no longer there. He called his name several times to make
sure and then stepped out into the clear line of fire. Nothing happened. The Mysterons had removed their agent to safety once more. Scarlet ran back to his
companions. “How is he?” he asked Blue. “Unconscious. I’ve done what I can to stem the blood. It’s nicked his lung, I think. We need to get him to “You heard the helicopters?” Blue nodded. “Let’s hope they are friendly. We left
Cloudbase rather precipitously, if you recall.” Scarlet grimaced and looked
skywards. “The colonel’s used to us
by now; he won’t kick up that much of a stink,” he said with more confidence
than he felt.
Colonel White waited until the
young man who had arrived with his wayward officers was safely installed in
He listened patiently as
Scarlet told the story of what had happened in the other dimension and concluded
his report with Black’s comments in this. As his officer’s story came to
a close, the colonel shifted in his seat slightly and asked, “Do you believe
what Captain Black had to say?” When Scarlet hesitated,
Captain Blue answered. “Yes sir, I
do. The way things have gone in the
other society means they fear what they don’t understand. It was a mistake to make details of the
Mysterons public-” “-or possibly a cynical,
politically-motivated move,” the colonel amended. Blue nodded. “As you say, sir,
but if it was done for political motives, I believe it has backfired badly. The
population is engaged in a witch-hunt; it would appear that people who are
perfectly innocent are being persecuted. There aren’t likely to be significantly more Mysteron agents
there than there are here, or so I’d surmise, yet it seems that a large number
of people are being denounced as Mysteron agents and imprisoned on an allegation
alone. In addition, the fact
that Captain Black has said that Cadenza’s incarceration will give the Mysterons
the edge in her dimension, highlights how important to our continuing fight for survival Captain
Scarlet is.” “How important secrecy about
the Mysterons is, you mean,” Scarlet corrected. He was blushing slightly.
“How important both are,”
White agreed. “I can see why you felt
the need to bring the young man with you, Captains, although it leaves us with
the same dilemma we had before. You
say he is Alizarin’s twin brother?
Therefore, we must assume he shares the same attributes as that young man
did. We cannot any more sure that he is
not a Mysteron than we could be about Alizarin.” “Yes, sir,” Scarlet said.
He decided to make a clean breast of everything and explained, “But, you see;
they’re not only Cadenza’s sons, sir, they’re mine.
It was the fact that they were born to two retrometabolic people what made them
important to the Mysterons – or so we believe.” “Yours? You mean, the Captain Scarlet in that
world?” “No, sir; I mean me.” White drew in a deep breath,
opened his mouth to say something and shut it again. Scarlet and Blue exchanged surreptitious glances: it wasn’t
often the Old Man was literally speechless. Finally the colonel said, “I
see.” “Sir?” Scarlet asked. “He cannot go back, that much
is obvious. The problem is: what do
we do about him in this dimension?” “He can join Spectrum,”
Scarlet said, “and work with us against the Mysterons.” White shook his head. “Remember what Captain Black said: you have the last of the misbegotten hybrids
with you. That will make you
vulnerable. I am not prepared
to run that risk, especially given what we’ve already agreed about the
importance of your contribution to the War of Nerves, Captain Scarlet.” “I’ve been giving it some
thought, sir,” said Blue. “I could
get my family to look after Michael – after all, he is a Svenson.” “And risk putting them in
danger from the Mysterons?” White reminded him. “If he’s not with Captain
Scarlet, is there likely to be much risk?” Blue reasoned. “How would you explain the
sudden appearance of this teenage scion of the Svenson clan?” Scarlet asked
rather sullenly. He was
disappointed at the direction things were going, even though he could see the
validity of the rationale behind it. Blue shrugged, a faint redness
colouring his face. “I’ll say I got
careless…” “They’d never believe that!”
Scarlet exclaimed. Colonel White smothered a
chuckle of laughter and said, “Your offer is noted, Captain Blue, and
appreciated; but I don’t wish to put your family at greater risk than they are
already. Therefore, I think we need
to explore other avenues before we accept it.” “There are other avenues?”
Scarlet asked. “That’s what we need to
explore,” White said sharply.
A few days later, Colonel
White called a meeting of his senior officers in the Conference Room. Doctor Fawn wheeled Captain
Magenta up to the meeting, and Captain Ochre, back from policing the Science
Conference, went over to talk to his field partner.
Scarlet and Blue arrived together, just before the colonel. “Captain Grey is in command of
Cloudbase,” the colonel informed them, as he took his seat. “I want this meeting to be undisturbed. Now, gentlemen, I have called you here
to listen to what Doctor Fawn has to say and to try to find a solution to the
problem our young visitor has unwittingly created. Doctor, over to you.” “Thank you, Colonel.” Fawn smiled at the men around the table.
“You all know about the young man, Michael Turner, I have been treating in “How is he today, Doc?” asked Scarlet. “He’s fine; making a recovery.
And, in a way, it is that recovery that’s the topic I want to discuss with you
all.” Although rather bemused,
everyone made suitably agreeable noises in response to this. Fawn continued, “You see, it
is my professional opinion that Michael Turner does not have the ability to
retrometabolise.” “What?” Scarlet gasped. “But he shows positive on a Mysteron
detector, just as his brother did.” “Yes, I agree, he does, and
that would suggest that he is – or was – somehow connected to the Mysterons.
But, I have been monitoring him carefully and there’s nothing that makes me
believe he is retrometabolic.
And you have to admit, I do know quite a bit about retrometabolism.” “I don’t quite follow,” Ochre
said. He’d been brought up to date
with what had happened to Scarlet and Blue, but - as with all the captains –
some things had been kept confidential. Fawn spelt it out, carefully,
“Michael is the son of Cadenza Angel, and we know from Captain Scarlet’s past
experience that she is virtually indestructible because of the actions of the
Mysterons in her dimension. She had
twin sons, with - we are led to believe – a retrometabolic man. I have no reason to doubt this is the
case. Yet, it would appear that
whilst both children inherited aspects of Mysteronisation from their parents,
they did not inherit retrometabolism.” “But – Alizarin recovered when
he was wounded – I saw him,” Scarlet said. “So it would seem. Regretfully, I did not get the chance to
run any tests on Alizarin while he was here, but Michael has a most impressive
constitution, including an immune system that is stronger than most I’ve seen;
but that in itself, is not retrometabolism. The wound and the operation incisions
are healing at what is a normal rate – a quick one, but not overly exceptional
for a young, healthy male. I would
expect any of the field operatives here to heal as almost as quickly.” Scarlet frowned as he
struggled to make sense of this.
“Then Alizarin…?” “…Must’ve been killed and
retrometabolised by the Mysterons at some point.
It need not necessarily have been in the series of events that you witnessed,
Captain. Think: once they expected
Alizarin and his brother to trigger positive responses to Mysteron detectors,
they would not think to question it.
The Mysterons could have killed and retrometabolised him as a small
child, and no one would be any the wiser,” Fawn explained. “I seriously doubt that he had
retrometabolism if his identical twin brother doesn’t.” “Then they might have done the
same to Michael,” Ochre remarked. Fawn nodded slowly. “Yes, and that’s something we may never
know for sure. However, I can only
tell you what I have observed.” “But they were both watched 24
hours a day; if we’re to believe what they tell us,” Magenta said. “When would the Mysterons have had the
chance?” Blue spoke into the thoughtful
silence. “When Alizarin flew down to
Etna to use the tunnels he was alone,” he said slowly, as if he was thinking it
through even as he spoke. “Michael
didn’t go with him, and he was flying into bad weather. We know it doesn’t take long for the Mysterons to complete
the take-over of their chosen target.
A blip on the radar, a loss of contact, static discharge even, would be put down
to interference from the weather.
After all, no threat had been issued to them at that point.” Colonel White nodded. “Yes, I can see that happening. It is as good a theory as any.” “Why didn’t I sense it then?”
Scarlet snapped. “I never felt
Gabriel was a Mysteron.” “You never sensed anyone in a
different dimension was a Mysteron,” Blue reminded him. “Even though Alizarin was here, he would
have become a Mysteron in the other dimension.” “So, Michael Turner will live
a normal lifespan?” Colonel White
looked at Doctor Fawn. “He’s
vulnerable to every risk?” Fawn nodded. “I expect he’ll live to a ripe old age
and stay fit, by and large; but he is not indestructible and he will,
eventually, die; as far as I can tell, anyway.” “Why would either of them
inherit Mysteron characteristics and not retrometabolism which is the most
obvious one of all?” Scarlet demanded.
He felt somehow resentful at the fact that his sons had not inherited
their parents’ ability to cheat death. “Consider,” Fawn explained,
“how many Mysteron agents have we seen exhibiting retrometabolism? There was poor Captain Indigo and
possibly one or two others over the years, but it is not a universal trait. We don’t even know if Captain Black has
the ability to retrometabolise, do we?
We know so little about the whole process that it could well be that even the
Mysterons don’t know how or why Scarlet inherited the ability. I feel it is still wise to assume
the need to eliminate Mysteron agents with an electron rifle, in case they do
possess the ability, but for most of them it isn’t necessary. Retrometabolism is
the exception, not the rule.” “This means Scarlet is even
more unique than we thought,” Ochre said, smiling across at the captain. “How lucky is that?” “Exactly,” the colonel said. “No wonder the Mysterons are so anxious to
eliminate you from the fight, Captain.” Scarlet nodded, but he was
still frowning. “What happens to the guy now?”
Ochre asked. “Even if we agree he’s not a Mysteron,
he still doesn’t exist in this dimension.” There was a deep silence until
Fawn said, “He will need to stay here under observation for some time and I will
do every test I can in the meantime to try and ascertain his status.
Personally, I feel the fact that he does not have retrometabolisation ought to
be all the proof we need. The
Mysterons gave it to Alizarin – I’m convinced of that – if they’d killed both
boys surely they’d have done the same to them both?” “I think you have a valid
point, Doctor,” the colonel said.
“We need to watch the lad carefully while he is with us, but if there is nothing
to suggest otherwise, I think we’ll have to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Otherwise, we’re no better than the dimension he left – suspicious and
despotic.” “Agreed, sir.” There was a
murmur around the table. “So, what happens to him
next?” Ochre repeated. There was silence as they
wrestled with the quandary. Then Captain Magenta said: “If I may make a suggestion,
sir?” “Go ahead,” White replied. “I’ve known men who didn’t
officially exist any more; there’s one sitting at this table.” Everyone glanced at Captain Ochre. “Couldn’t we manufacture an identity for
Michael Turner and set him up somewhere in a new life?” “Like witness protection?”
Ochre said. “That’s not a bad
idea.” “He’s too young for that,”
Scarlet protested. “Not really,” Blue reasoned.
“I went to Harvard at sixteen, Symphony went to Yale at the same age; Mike’s
almost sixteen, he could enrol for the next academic year… When you start
college, everyone is from somewhere else, so he’d fit in.” “Yes,” White said
thoughtfully. “Yes, I do believe
that might be a solution, Captain.
I will speak to the Head of the Universal Secret Service and see what can be
arranged.” “At least it means we’ll be
able to keep an eye on him,” Scarlet said, brightening up. “No, we won’t, Captain,” the
colonel replied sharply. “This will
only work if no one knows who Michael Turner becomes. I can’t have anyone,” he looked directly at his two premier
field agents, “slipping off to pay visits or providing holiday homes on “Yes, sir,” Scarlet and Blue
replied glumly, in unison. “Good. Dismiss for now. I’ll inform you of what progress I make shortly.” As they left the room, Scarlet
accosted Doctor Fawn. “Can we see him? Before he becomes someone else, I mean?” “Of course. He’s asked to see you both, as it
happens. Drop by this afternoon.” “S.I.G,” Scarlet replied.
Michael looked rather small
and vulnerable in the hospital bed, wired up to various drips and monitors, such
as a robotic nurse, the very same model as those that had caused such trouble in
his home world. Scarlet
couldn’t help feeling a little anxious at that, but he took care not to show it
and remind the patient of the immediate past. “Hi, Mike,” he said
cheerfully, and placed the bag of grapes he’d brought on the counterpane. “Hello, Captain Scarlet;
thanks for the grapes.” Blue came in and stood by the
door as Scarlet drew up two chairs.
Michael looked at him and said, “Come in… please.” Blue took a seat next to his
friend, and listened while Scarlet chattered away. The boy didn’t respond much beyond an occasional nod. His face was pale and beneath the dull,
deep-blue eyes, there were dark smudges of grey.
He did not look at ease, or happy to see them. As Scarlet came to a
stuttering halt with his small talk, Michael said, “Everyone has been very kind.
I like your Doctor Fawn almost as much as I liked
our Doctor Fawn. I will miss her,” he added,
showing the first glimmer of emotion since they’d arrived. “I’m sure everyone will,”
Scarlet said awkwardly. “She was a
great lady.” Michael gave a rueful smile.
“What has Colonel White decided to do with me?” “What?” “I know there was a meeting
about me this morning. Doctor Tan
told me you’d been called to one when I first asked to see you. Was anything decided? What’s going to happen to me?” “You mustn’t worry,” Scarlet
replied. “I’m not, that is, I’m trying
not to. I just want to know. If I have to lie here until I’m fit, I
might as well get used to what will happen then as much as to what happened to
bring me here.” Scarlet hesitated, unsure what
he should say in reply. Until the
colonel had arranged something, he didn’t feel it was wise to say too much. Blue saved him from his
dilemma. “The colonel’s speaking to the Universal Secret Service about creating
a new identity for you in this world.
Then, if you want to, you can enrol in a college and finish your
education.
After that, you may do as you please;
although I think it is fair to say that returning home might not be an option,
unless you are prepared to face the consequences.” Michael sat and thought for
some time, not looking at either man, but rather down at his hands, which lay
folded on the coverlet of the bed.
Scarlet was starting to get restless before the youngster asked: “Do I have any money?” “Oh yes,” Blue said firmly.
“I guarantee you’ll be financially secure.” Scarlet glanced at him,
frowning, but Blue ignored him. He
was quite prepared to go up against the colonel in order to ensure the kid was
amply provided for - if he had to - but he rather expected the colonel would
have that covered too. “Thank you,” Michael said,
glancing at them both. “Will I be
able to see you again?” “Well… I guess that’s an
unknown,” Scarlet replied cagily. “Not unless you want to,” Blue explained. “We won’t know anything about your new
identity; but of course, you will know about us. Maybe, in time, you will want to join Spectrum, or our paths
will cross in some other way, but if it does and it isn’t what you wanted to
happen, it will be a pure twist of fate.
We will not seek you out, Michael.
To do so might put you and Spectrum at risk. ” “Are you trying to frighten
him?” Scarlet hissed at Blue. “It’s
no big deal, Mike. I’m still your
father, and, if you want, I don’t see they could prevent us meeting.” “Yes they could - and they
will,” Blue muttered. “Paul, I know
you’re worried and concerned, but I’m sure Michael will appreciate straight
answers to his questions. Am I
right?” he asked the young man. Michael nodded. “Yes; I prefer to know the truth of
things. Gabriel was the exciting
one – he was a fantasist and saw things as he wanted them to be, whereas I… I am
the boring one – the pragmatist. I
appreciate your concerns, Captain Scarlet, but if I’m expected to make my own
way in this world, then I want to know that from the start. I rather expected you to understand
that.” “Right,” Scarlet said curtly.
“Here it is then – the bottom line: when you leave here you will be someone
else. Nothing that has happened to you can ever be revealed to any
person.” “I see. So I don’t have to join Spectrum?” “No,” Scarlet agreed. The smile that twitched at the
corner of Michael’s mouth slowly spread into a grin. “Thank God.” Scarlet was astonished. “You don’t want to?” he asked. “No; I’ve spent all my life in
this floating goldfish bowl – where every move I made was scrutinised and
controlled. If I never see
Cloudbase again it won’t break my heart.” “But what will you do?”
Scarlet asked. Michael shrugged and grimaced
with the pain. “Computers, maybe,
or business; I have a good head for figures.
Maybe I’ll teach? Spend my
life with the normal kids I never got to meet when I was growing up. Maybe I’ll be a truck driver, and spend
my days driving across the country.
Or a sailor? Get to see the world a bit that way.
I don’t know, but back home there was never any prospect that either of
us would get a chance to do anything, except stay with Spectrum. The fact that I can choose what I want
to do is marvellous.” “Yeah, having the option is
nice,” Blue said, smiling. “I can understand that,”
Scarlet said hesitantly. “But don’t
you don’t want to fight the Mysterons… for example?” “I don’t want to fight anybody.” Mike’s voice took on a
hard edge. “My brother wanted to be
a hero, I don’t. He wanted to be
famous, I don’t. Doctor Fawn tells
me I don’t have retrometabolism; whether I ever did is something I can’t figure
out. No one was ever sure anyway. But here, even if I can never have an
x-ray, no one’s going to lock me up for the rest of my life on suspicion that
I’m dangerous.” He could see disappointment on
Scarlet’s face and added, “Maybe, in a few years I will feel differently, but
now I have enough to come to terms with and I am certain that I don’t want to
fight.” “Sure,” Scarlet said, “You
have to do what’s right for you, Mike.” Fawn came in as Scarlet was
speaking. “That’s enough for today;
you’re looking tired, Mike. You can
have visitors again tomorrow, if you like, but now you need to rest.” “Yeah, we’ll drop by,” Scarlet
said, getting to his feet. “Thank you,” Michael replied.
As Scarlet turned to leave he said, “Captain Blue, before you go, may I have a
word, in private?” “Just a few minutes,” Fawn
declared, hustling Scarlet from the room. Blue came back to the bed.
“What is it, Michael?” “I’ve disappointed him,
haven’t I; because I don’t want to fight?” “Paul? No.
It’s just that he comes from a long line of soldiers, to him that’s the
option any Metcalfe would consider first.” The boy nodded thoughtfully.
“It’s what Gabriel wanted to do; I think they must’ve got on really well, don’t
you?” “Yes, I think they did; but
Paul understands that it isn’t the right way for everyone, don’t doubt that.
Take pride in the fact that you can see it is not the way for you.” “And what about you, are you
disappointed in me?” Blue smiled reassuringly, and
for a split second Michael was reminded of his mother. “No; Paul was spot on, you must do
what’s right for you. I did, and I
don’t regret it for a moment.” “That’s not what you said to
me, back home,” Mike reminded him. “I said I felt guilty that my
brothers felt they had no choice because I’d made mine. I didn’t say I regretted making that choice,”
Blue corrected, with another smile.
“Michael, there’s no point in spending years worrying that you made the
wrong choice when every day you live confirms that you did the right thing.
Of course, if you find yourself in the
wrong life, then you have no one to blame but yourself if you don’t change
it as best you can. That’s why I’ll make sure you have the
financial stability to change your mind.
I don’t know how much resource the Svenson family had in your world; but
here there is enough to go round and to spare.” “I don’t want to take your
money.” Blue laid a hand on the
youngster’s arm. “I haven’t got any for you to take,” he teased. “But I know a man who has. Leave it to me. You won’t be able to sit on your ass doing nothing for life,
but you’ll be independent enough to do what you want. I promise you that much, for your mom’s sake.” Michael’s eyes filled with
tears and he looked away. “Now, get some rest, or you’ll
see the severe side of Doc Fawn – he’s a real tyrant at times…” “Get out of here,” Fawn said
jovially, realising Blue had seen him come back into the room, “before I ban you
forever.”
“Why can’t we see him?”
Symphony asked again. “He’s not a sideshow,” Scarlet
snapped. “That’s not what Karen meant,
Paul,” Rhapsody said, seeing her friend’s temper starting to rise. “If the boy’s ill, we’d like to visit,
that’s all.” “Fawn’s not letting visitors
in.” “He is, now and again. The poor guy must be bored stiff, all
alone. We want to cheer him up,
that’s all,” Symphony said, with a sulky pout.
“I think it’s just that you
don’t want us to.” “And why on earth would I do
that?” Scarlet retorted. “Because,” Symphony said, “you
– or someone close to you – has
something to hide!” “Karen, you have an extraordinary imagination; you can dream things
up out of thin air.” Scarlet tried
to look nonchalant, and failed. “That boy isn’t thin air,
though,” she said. “Who is he,
Paul? You can tell us.” “I told you; we brought him
back with us from Cadenza’s dimension.
He’d have been incarcerated for life if we hadn’t. They’re much less tolerant there. He’s Gabriel’s twin brother. His
name is Michael Turner. Now you
know as much as me.” “That I doubt,” Rhapsody said.
“But, if you don’t want to tell us…” She glanced at Symphony who was looking
vexed. “Then we might have to ask Doctor Fawn… or Blue, perhaps?” Scarlet was familiar with
Symphony’s ability to worm secrets out of her fiancé, eventually. Although Blue was skilled in
counter-interrogation techniques, in the face of her prolonged sulking, his
resolve generally crumbled. “Leave
Blue out of it,” he warned, unaware of Symphony’s suspicions about the paternity
of Gabriel, and now, Michael. “Why, what’s he got to hide?”
she demanded. “Nothing: nobody’s got
anything to hide.” Scarlet frowned at them both. “Don’t bother the kid, okay?
He’s been shot, he needs to rest!” “Yes sir, Doctor Scarlet,”
Symphony said, rolling her eyes.
“I’d better go; I’m on the next tour of duty.
See you for lunch, Di?” “Of course… ‘Bye, Karen.”
Rhapsody waited until her friend had left and then said, “Well, you certainly
handled that with every ounce of your usual tact, Paul. She’ll probably have a go at Adam as
soon as she sees him. You’d better
warn him what to expect.” “Why will she have a go at him
because I didn’t answer her questions
to her satisfaction?” Rhapsody curled her feet up on
the couch and rested her head against his shoulder. “She’s got some daft idea in her
head about Gabriel. She thought…
well, she said she thought, which isn’t always the same thing… she thought… that Adam was his father.” She felt him stiffen in surprise and
hurried on to say, “You see, Gabriel told her he was a Svenson-” “He was: they are! Cadenza is their mother and she’s a
Svenson. Okay, one from another
dimension, but a Svenson, none the less.
Adam’s nothing to do with them – believe me.” “And you say that Gabriel was
killed when you got him back there?
It’s such a shame, he was a nice lad.” “He was shot by the Mysterons.
Neither of the kids has retrometabolism.
He didn’t make it. It is a shame;
he was… as you said, a nice lad.” “You and he got on famously,
didn’t you…? Paul? Oh, Paul’s
what’s the matter?” Scarlet had bowed his head and
closed his eyes. Since Gabriel had
died he’d refused to mourn; there had been no time and too much to do. Now, with the comforting arms of the
woman he loved around him, he couldn’t prevent his emotions from spilling over. She cradled him against her
breast and stroked his thick, black hair.
She had no real idea why he was taking the death so badly, except that he
had liked the young man. She knew
that beneath the exterior shell of the professional soldier, Paul Metcalfe was a
gentle and caring man, and the fact that it had affected him this way was
endearing. When Paul became still and
quiet, Dianne whispered, “I wish I’d known him; he must’ve been a super guy for
you to feel so badly about his death.
After all, you hadn’t known him long.
We can all mourn for the lost potential of a life cut so tragically
short, but what happened while you were there, Paul? I know you said you were there for much longer than you were
away from here. Did you spend much
time with Gabriel?” “Dianne, do you love me?” he
asked, his face still hidden from her. “Of course I do; you know
that, don’t you? What’s wrong,
Paul? I want to help if I can.” “Remember when I was swept
away into the tunnels on Etna?” “Yes; that was a worrying time
for us all.” “How long ago was it?” “About four years.” “Time doesn’t seem to pass in
the same way. Walking through the
tunnels could take you forward or back in time, as well as into different
realities. It made getting home a
bit of a gamble.” “But you came home.” He nodded. “But before I came home, Cadenza and I…
well, we …I liked her very much.”
He hesitated. “Gabriel and Michael
are my sons, Dianne.” He felt her stiffen in
surprise and heard her sharp intake of breath.
“Yours?” He nodded. “I thought I might never see you again.” “Your sons? With Eva Svenson?” He nodded. “Seems she couldn’t have kids unless the
father was also retrometabolic…” There was a long silence,
during which time Rhapsody struggled with wildly surging emotions. When she finally spoke, her words
surprised him. “You have to tell Karen.” “What? What’s it got to do with Karen?” “She’ll accuse Adam of being
their father if you don’t, of course.
They’ll fall out again – big time.
She’s been fuming about the possibility ever since you both rushed off
base with Gabriel. Does Adam know?” “Yes, he was there when
Gabriel told us.” “But he won’t speak about it,
right? He won’t break your
confidence?” Paul shrugged. “Probably not; I mean, it’s not
something I’d want broadcast to the world.” “Then, if you don’t tell
Karen, I will. It isn’t fair on
Adam otherwise.” “Dianne…” he protested in a
whine. “Karen can’t keep a secret
to save her life.” “Don’t be stupid; of course
she can.” She got to her feet and
looked down at him. “When I’ve seen
Karen, I’m going to see Michael.” “Are you mad at me?” “I will be, if you don’t tell
Karen.” “I love you, Di.” “I know.” She bit her lip. “If you want me to forgive you, I expect I will, in time. Although I don’t think it’s something I
have any reason to ‘forgive’ you for.
I’m not an idiot, Paul; nor, I hope, as unreasonable and possessive as Karen can
be. I’ve always accepted that men
will be men when it comes to sex – and if something’s on offer, they won’t
refuse it. The poor bastards are
wired that way, they tell me.” He started to protest, but she
waved an imperious hand to silence him, and continued, “Human nature doesn’t
change much over the millennia, so I suppose it’d be unreasonable of me to
expect you to be any different.
However, I don’t want to talk about it now.” “Dianne…” He couldn’t remember ever seeing
her so angry, but she was good at disguising it: her face had set in a blank
expression and her voice taken on a clipped tone that suppressed the emotion in
it. She met his gaze with
apparent equanimity. He
surrendered. “I’ll go and find Karen; you go and see
Mike, if Fawn’ll let you. Tell him
I sent you; he’ll understand.” “Fawn knows?” He nodded. “Impossible to fool him, he knows more
about me than I do.” She turned to
leave. “See you later?” he prompted
hopefully. “It’s a small base when you come to think about it; so there
is every possibility that you will.” As the door closed behind her,
Scarlet cursed himself, long and hard.
While everything was sweetness
and light between Blue and Symphony – something for which their fellow officers
were profoundly grateful – it was noticeable that Rhapsody’s good humour was of
the brittle variety that could shatter at any moment, while Scarlet stomped
around the Officers’ Lounge like a bear with a sore head. Under the circumstances, most
people were rather grateful when a Mysteron threat took their minds off their
problems and gave everyone something else to worry about for a day or two.
When Captain Blue walked into
the Lounge, he was in a good mood, even though he was sporting an impressive
bruise on his left cheek and had his left arm in a sling. “Hey, so you finally escaped
from Stalag Von Fawn?” Ochre called, waving a hand in welcome. “Welcome back, buddy. What news from the medical front?” Blue didn’t answer
immediately; he was struggling to make himself a cup of coffee with one hand
until Captain Grey got up and did it for him, carrying it back to the nearest
table. “News is good, Ochre. Scarlet’s on the mend, getting fractious
and eating like the proverbial horse.
Fawn’s holding out for another 48 hours of incarceration, but I think
Scarlet will make a break for it before then.” Melody Angel looked up from
her magazine and asked, “Has Rhapsody been to see him?” Blue hesitated and his answer
was cautious even by his standards.
“Not that I’m aware; but then I was sedated myself for a time, while Fawn
reset my collar bone.” “It isn’t like Di to mope
about. What’s upset her?” Ochre asked Blue. Before he’d had a chance to
formulate a reply, the door opened and Symphony bounced in. “Hi, Adam! They told me you were out and about
again! My shift finished five
minutes ago, so I came straight up to see how you’re doing.” She leant over the back of the couch and was about to kiss
his cheek, but shied away seeing the bruise.
“Ooh, that looks painful.” “I’ll live, nothing’s broken,”
Blue answered, pleased that her boisterous entrance negated his need to reply to
Ochre. Ochre grinned. “Yeah, you get two boyfriends for the
price of one today, Symph.” She looked questioningly at
him. “What’re you on about, Oak?” “You get Black and Blue,” Ochre teased. Everyone groaned, but there
was laughter in the air. Symphony threw a cushion at
him, grinning. “That’d be fine, if I had a boyfriend…” This time, laughter erupted from
everyone, with even Blue chuckling as she came and sat beside him. “If you’ve nothing better to do,
Captain, maybe you’d like to help me celebrate my birthday? I’m twenty-one – again - today,” she said to him. “Happy Birthday, Symphony,”
Blue said. “I’m sure I can find
time to help you celebrate.” “Are they talking in code?”
Ochre asked Grey, as he stood and prepared to go on duty. “Quite possibly,” his friend
agreed. “Hey, Nolie, how about you and
me ‘celebrate’ sometime?” Ochre called.
“In your dreams, Fraser,” she
replied, but not unkindly; they were close friends and banter between them came
as naturally as breathing. She
closed her magazine and stood as well.
“If the cop’s on duty now, how about you buying me lunch, Brad?” “My pleasure.” Grey stood as
well and escorted Melody to the door in the wake of Ochre. He paused as he waited to get through
the door. “Behave, you two,” he
called and left, grinning. “Cheek,” Symphony said, and
turned to Blue. “Are you okay,
Sky?” “I’m fine; but Paul isn’t.
Is Di still mad at him?” Symphony squirmed. “I’m not sure. She likes Mikey – we both do - and yet… I know I would’ve
been devastated if you’d been his father, and, for all that Dianne keeps her
feelings under wraps, I think she is
upset.” Blue sighed. “You know, when I discovered Paul was
the father of Cadenza’s sons, it made me uncomfortable; especially as he kept
saying she was a kind of me, so I do understand what Dianne’s thinking… but,
it’s no big deal really. It’s just
one of those things.” “That’s a man talking! Of course it is more than ‘just one of
those things’. And, if it isn’t – it ought to be!” “It was a different reality,
Karen, a whole different world.” “And that’s supposed to make
his betrayal of her okay, is it?”
She shook her head. “Whatever you
felt about it, you can never understand how a woman feels, Sky; not even if
Cadenza was your real twin sister and was standing here with us. Di has such faith in him. I know I make a song and dance about
things – as you tell me – but I’m not the only woman on this base who has built
her hopes of future happiness on one man.
I’m lucky: I have you; Dianne has a man who will always be expected to
put her second in his life. For him
to have any kind of relationship with another woman – especially to have kids with her when he’s got cold feet
about having a family with Di - is a real kick in the teeth!” “I realise that and so does Paul, I’m sure of it. It wasn’t something he set out to do. He was as surprised as anyone to
discover he had twin sons.” “And he’d have gone through
his life never mentioning that he’d humped Eva Svenson if this hadn’t happened -
wouldn’t he? Well? Maybe if he’d
told her before he had to…?” “That was never going to happen. The truth of it is that he needs Dianne.” “Yes, but has he told her
that? Some men tend to forget women
aren’t mind readers and that we have terrible short term memories when it comes
to declarations of affection…” He sighed. “Okay, I admit it: I love you…
satisfied?” “Are you sure the romance gene
wasn’t bred out of your family?” He chuckled and kissed her
lips gently. “We sold it to the
devil for the ability to make money.” “You were short-changed then.” “I thought we were talking
about Paul and Dianne?” “Yes, we were, before you got
side-tracked into telling me how much you love me, you mad, passionate fool,
you….” She kissed him back and
sighed happily. “I think it is time
for me to have a chat with her-” “Is that wise?” She raised an arched eyebrow
at him. “Are you implying I might
not be able to help sort this out?
I’m not as dumb as I pretend, you know?” “I know; if you were as dumb
as you pretend, I’d-a-been outa here a long time ago.” She punched his good arm
playfully. “But you love me
really,” she said, winking. “I adore you, and you know it,
so don’t play cute with me, Älskling. Just go easy with Dianne, huh? We don’t want to make things worse.” “O ye, of little faith… Mind you, I could do with some more
inspiration…” He laughed and kissed her again.
“And some of what you sold your romantic gene for…”
“Happy birthday, Karen.” Dianne handed her friend a small,
ornately wrapped present. “I meant
to give it to you earlier.” “Thanks, that’s really kind of
you! I’ll open it later, Di. Are you free right now? Good, I’m buying.” “Buying what?” “Tea, coffee, cake, ice cream,
chocolate – whatever you like.” “You come into some money, all
of a sudden?” Rhapsody teased.
Symphony was notorious for always being short of cash. “It’s my birthday and guess
who didn’t have time to buy me anything?
So, I have cash from Mr Svenson.
As an earnest of better things to come… he says.” “He spoils you!” “Yeah; ain’t I a lucky girl?
Come on, let’s go before the technicians come on their break and pinch all the
cream cakes…” Rhapsody laughed and followed
her friend to the canteen, where Symphony chose a large cream cake and a
cappuccino; Rhapsody followed suit and they found an empty table by one of the
small windows. They giggled
and toasted each other with their coffees, biting into the gooey cakes with
guilty pleasure. After a few mouthfuls,
Symphony said: “How’s Paul?” Rhapsody looked a little
embarrassed. “I thought the daily
bulletin said he was okay and recovering.” “Well, sure it did, but I
thought you’d have been to see him.” Rhapsody shook her head. “I’ve been too busy.” “Too busy to visit Paul? Since when?” “I’m not speaking to him at
the moment,” Rhapsody announced.
She saw the exaggerated surprise on her friend’s face and added, “You ought to
know all about not speaking to someone.” “I only don’t speak to…
someone, if he’s done something to upset me,” Symphony said. “Well, Paul’s upset me.” Symphony licked cream off her
fingers, stared at the ceiling for a moment with an air of intense thought and
then said: “I seem to remember a conversation that went something like this: ’how would you feel if you discovered Paul
had children? I’d be cross that he
didn’t tell me about them, but I know he loves me and one day I hope that my
children will be his.’” “Well, I was wrong. He did tell me and I am cross.” “Why?” “He slept with another woman
while he was engaged to me! Don’t tell me you’d let Adam off if he did that,
because I won’t believe you.” “I wouldn’t dream of telling
you that. But then I’m not supposed
to be the reasonable one.” “Huh.” “Di, we’re both sensible
women, right?” Rhapsody rolled her
eyes. “We’re intelligent, right?”
An emphatic nod. “And we know that
most men – bless their little cotton socks – are about as capable of eternal
fidelity as a fish is of riding a bicycle, right?” “We could hope they’d evolved
into something at least capable of restraint,” Rhapsody muttered. “My guess is Cadenza’s an
intelligent woman – she’s a sort of Svenson, after all – and, just in case
you’ve never met Blue’s sister, that probably means she is tall, blonde, sexy
and shaped like… this.” She waved an outline with both hands. “So, there she is, a long way from home
and possibly destined never to see her loved ones again, or able to stay
anywhere long enough to find new loves.
She meets a guy: a handsome, charming guy, with the deepest of sapphire-blue
eyes – am I right? – and he’s in the same predicament, missing the love of his
life. They hit it off. He thinks she’s ‘one of the guys’ and
she thinks he’s cute – and who wouldn’t?
A little companionship, mutual admiration and comfort turns into something… a
bit more physical. That’s human
nature, right?” Rhapsody glowered. “Right?” Symphony insisted.
Reluctantly, her friend nodded. “Right. So, you should be pleased Paul’s human
enough not to be capable of restraint.” Rhapsody snorted with
amusement. “That is about the most illogical piece
of logical thought I’ve ever heard.” “Makes sense though, doesn’t
it?” “In another universe it
might.” “They were in another universe,” Symphony reminded her.
“Look, I’m the last person to consider Paul doesn’t deserve to suffer for
playing away from home, but I also think he deserves a second chance.
Second chances are a whole lot of fun… believe me.” She winked.
“Besides, he loves you and you know it because you love him. Don’t argue with me, Di; you’re walking
round like the end of the world is nigh and that’s not like you. I know what I’d do, if I were
you.” “You are not me and Adam isn’t
Paul. You two play your mind games
to suit yourselves, but I thought Paul and I had no secrets from each other.” “Secrets? Oh, Adam has his secrets – by the
bucketful - and so do I. Secrets
are what keeps a relationship interesting.” “I don’t happen to think so.” “Neither did I, once upon a
time – well, I thought my secrets were exempt but that Adam ought to reveal all…
in more ways than one. Mind you, I
don’t think I would like a… blow-by-blow account of his past ‘amours’… There is only so much jealousy my system
can tolerate.” “It’s okay for you,” Rhapsody
protested. “You know he wouldn’t
look at another woman. I thought
Paul was the same, and now – this.” Symphony thought for a moment
and said, “You two are far too concerned with appearances. You pussy-foot about making sure no one
guesses how much you’d like to be tearing the clothes off each other and wearing
out some bed-springs. Adam wouldn’t
look at another woman because he knows that’d be the end of him causing any wear
and tear on my bedsprings… for a very long time.” Rhapsody chuckled. “Poor guy, you have him right where you
want him, don’t you?” “Not exactly, but I will do
very shortly. I’m off to find
him and do a little celebrating… just the two of us.
We haven’t done any celebrating since before Christmas.” She leant back in the chair and
stretched, languorously: a perfect example of a happy and healthy young woman. “I don’t expect Fawn will let Paul do
any celebrating until he’s out of Sick Bay, but you could always drop by and
give him a rain check.” “You have the broadest vocabulary for innuendo of any woman I’ve
ever met.” Symphony grinned.
“Why, thanks, Di,” she said. “Give
my love to Paul, when you drop by, won’t you?” “Oh… go and celebrate!”
Michael Turner’s recovery was
rapid, but it still took a few months before Fawn declared the youth totally fit
and capable of leaving his care.
During his stay, the senior personnel, the only people let into any part
of the secret about the youngster’s origins, brought him up to date with the
history and current affairs in the world he was now to call home. They found him a quick study,
quiet, a little reserved, but with a dry wit when he grew to know them. For himself, Michael was still
most relaxed in Captain Blue’s company, and, like his brother before him, he
grew fond of Symphony Angel who treated him like an indulged younger brother.
Captain Scarlet accepted this with resignation and spent what time he could
spare from a schedule that quickly became busy with duties and assignments,
getting to know his son. Rhapsody’s anger hadn’t lasted
long and with Symphony she undertook many of the so-called ‘adaptation’
briefings the colonel arranged for Michael.
No one knew details of the identity being created for him, but they
tutored him in British and American culture and ironed out some of the
differences between his home world and his new world. In doing so, they learned about Cadenza’s life and the
constraints her Spectrum operated under, which gave them both a better
understanding of the alternative reality the captains had experienced and – in
Rhapsody’s case especially - a new measure of acceptance. It was the week before Easter
when the colonel summoned his elite officers to an early morning meeting and
announced that Michael would be leaving Cloudbase to spend Easter in his new
country of residence and begin the process of melting into the general populace. “Who’ll look after him, sir?”
Symphony asked. “He will be handed over to
local social workers by the security service; but that won’t last for long.
His application has been accepted by a respected university and he will have an
interview to start there in September.
I don’t foresee any problems.” He glanced around the table
and could see the difficulties certain of his officers were having suppressing
their questions, but he did not volunteer any further information. “It just remains for me to
tell you that Michael Turner will leave Cloudbase at 1100 hours today, so I’d
advise any of you that wish to, to make your farewells.” “So soon?” Scarlet murmured,
dismayed. “He’s been here since
Christmas, Captain. The USS are
ready to set him up in his new identity, he is now well enough to leave us, and
Cloudbase is a military facility, not a convalescence home,” White replied.
“There is no reason for him to remain here any longer.” “Yes, sir,” Scarlet replied
unhappily. He had been expecting
this day for some weeks, but it didn’t make the announcement any less of a
shock. Colonel White was not as
unsympathetic as his pronouncements made him sound, but he was only too aware
that the ties between Michael and Spectrum had to be severed completely, in
order for the scheme to be a success and allow the youngster the freedom and
anonymity he craved. “I will just remind you, although I am certain you’re all well
aware, that no one is to attempt to
discover the new identity of Michael Turner once he leaves Cloudbase. There’s no point you asking him about it
either, he won’t be told the details until he’s left here. The time between now and his starting
college will be used by the USS to help him become familiar with his new life
history. Michael knows he is about
to leave and has asked me, on his behalf, to formally thank you all for your
kindness and your help over the past, difficult months. I want that minuted, Lieutenant Green,
along with my commendation to all of you who have helped the young man adapt to
this dimension.” “Thank you, sir,” the seven
voices around the table chorused. When the colonel closed the
meeting, Scarlet gathered his papers with some deliberation, thinking over what
he wanted to do between now and 1100 hours.
Suddenly there hardly seemed enough time. He found himself included in
the crowd of people heading for the Officers’ Lounge, where Mike spent a lot of
his time. As they expected, he was
there as they all walked in and he greeted them with a shy smile. Symphony flew to his side.
“We’ve heard that you’re to leave us!
That’s so exciting for you!” she cried, hugging him. “I’m a little nervous,” he
admitted, as Captains Grey, Magenta and Ochre shook his hand and wished him
well. “You’ll do fine,” Ochre
reassured him. “I don’t doubt it.” After a few more minutes,
Magenta managed tactfully to coax Ochre and Grey out of the Lounge and give the
quartet most closely involved with Mike time to be with him. “It’s hard to know what to
say,” Symphony said, voicing everyone’s inner thoughts. “I mean, we can’t ask you where you’re
going and all that, but we’d like to know – well, I would. I guess I’m just incredibly nosy, though?” “Not at all,” Blue
interjected. “We’d all like to
know, but for this to work we can’t be told.
The colonel’s ordered us not to try to find out; but you need to know
that wherever you end up, Michael, and whatever you do, you know where we are and if we can help – we will.
I think I speak for all four of us when I say that?” “Yes, of course,” Scarlet
agreed, and trying to reassure himself as much as Michael, he added, “But I’m sure Mike won’t need to ask for
our help – he’s going to be fine.” “Of course he is,” Rhapsody
said, putting an arm around the youngster’s shoulders. “He’s a talented chap and I’m sure he’ll
succeed at anything he undertakes.” “I can’t thank you all
enough,” Michael said, blushing slightly.
“It’s been… difficult to get used to… to the way things are now, but
without all of you, I’d have found it much,
much
harder.” “You’ve coped very well,”
Rhapsody assured him. “You’ll fit
in without any problem, wherever you go.” “I’m sure it’ll be hard
getting used to not being on Cloudbase, but I’m looking forward to it. I want to spend some time travelling, if I
can, seeing all the places I’ve only ever read or heard about, and just being
one of the crowd.” “Sounds like a fine ambition,”
Blue said, smiling. “I envy you the
pleasure of discovering all the wonderful places there are.” Having hit on a nicely neutral
topic of conversation they spent some time discussing their favourite places and
before they knew it, Colonel White came into the Lounge with an unknown man
dressed in a dark suit. Everyone stood up. “At ease,” the colonel said.
“Michael, this is Major Opal, of Spectrum Intelligence.
He has come to escort you to your rendezvous with the USS operatives who will be
responsible for your safety and teaching you all about your new identity.” “Hello, sir,” Michael said
politely. Opal gave a friendly smile and
said, “We’ll have to leave pretty sharply to make the rendezvous; are you ready
to go, Michael?” “Yes sir. All my gear – such as it is - was taken
down to the hangar decks earlier. ” “Oh,” Symphony whined
excitedly and threw her arms around him.
“Take care, Mikey, and all the very best with everything!” Rhapsody hugged and kissed him
too, and the two women stood aside as he turned to the captains. Blue stepped forward and shook
his hand formally and Scarlet did the same, placing a hand on the youngster’s
shoulder. “All the best, Mike,” he said.
“I hope the future brings you everything you hope for.” “Thank you, Captain.” He hesitated, looked intently at Scarlet
and then said, “Thank you for everything… Paul.” Scarlet smiled and patted his
shoulder affectionately. “Take care
of yourself.” Michael turned to leave; he
saw Opal smiling and the colonel opening the door from the Lounge. He took two steps, hesitated and
then suddenly panicked, turning to throw himself into Blue’s startled embrace. “It’s okay, Michael,” the
American reassured him. “Everything
will be fine.” He hugged the boy, and added astutely, “Your mom would be proud
of you.” Michael looked up at him,
doubt in his eyes. “Would she? How can you be so sure?” “Because I am proud of you.
Think about it, Michael: your father wanted you to have this chance, and I have
no doubt that he knew – as I do – that Eva would want it to. She’s lost one son to the Mysterons; I’m
sure she’d do anything necessary to save the other.” “She’ll never know…” “Don’t be so sure,” Blue
replied. “Stranger things have
happened. Four years ago we never
thought we’d see her again.” Michael thought for a moment.
“I guess you’re right… Adam.” Blue grinned at this first
tentative use of his Christian name.
“Hey - you know I’m right.
Now, off you go; you can’t keep the colonel waiting. There’s a whole lifetime of new experiences waiting for you…
you don’t want to be late.” Michael gave a shaky smile and
turned to walk from the room again.
He clasped Scarlet’s hand as he passed by and received a heartening squeeze in
response. As the door closed behind the
trio, the four friends avoided looking at each other and stood in silence for a
while. “You think he’ll be all
right?” Scarlet asked eventually. “Damn sure he will,” Blue said
firmly. He looked at Scarlet and
saw him blinking rapidly as if to hold back tears. He knew how much Paul would hate to realise any one had
noticed, so he gave a mischievous smile, adding, “If he’s a little bit you and
little bit me, Paul – how could he fail to be the best there is… sugar?” Scarlet looked at him with
such an astonished expression that Blue averted his face to hide his snigger of
amusement. Scarlet watched him
until his need to laugh grew too extreme and he started to chuckle too. “You know, you’re right,” he
said. “Come on, heartface, I’ll buy
you a cup of coffee and then we’ll spend a little quality one-to-one time down
at the poolside… I just love those new Speedos you got…” “For just one cup of coffee?”
Blue quavered. “What kind of a boy
do you take me for?” “One of the best, heartface,”
Scarlet replied. Watched by the open-mouthed Angels, Blue flicked back his long
fringe and they both tossed back their heads, sucked in their cheeks and then,
camping it up like troopers, they minced arm-in-arm out of the Officers’ Lounge. As the door closed behind them
Symphony muttered, “Crazy guys…” “Stark, staring bonkers,”
Rhapsody agreed. They looked at each other and
giggled. “I’m so glad they’re back to
normal,” Symphony said. “Yes; if anything those two
ever do can be called normal,” said
Rhapsody. “Come on, if we hurry, we’ll be in time for Paul to buy us coffee
too.” “And to spend quality time at
the pool… now that’s what I call worth celebrating…” Laughing, the two young women
hurried to the door and raced after the two men.
Author’s notes Wikipedia’s
definition of a tesseract: A
tesseract is used to imply the existence of a physical fourth dimension to the
inhabitants of the third and as shorthand for something strange or unknown. And
that’s why I chose it as my title for this story. I suppose in a way, it is a follow on from my story
‘Synchronicity’ although I have tried not to make it necessary to have read that
story to follow this. The idea for
creating the possibility for future repercussions (in the form of unexpected
offspring) for Scarlet, following his adventures in alternative dimensions, was
something that occurred to me while I was writing ‘Sync’, but it did not make
the final cut, for various reasons.
Having decided that it might be fun to resurrect it, I hope it seems
plausible. This story began life as
a ‘short’ birthday story last year (2008) and rapidly grew into something that I
wasn’t going to be able to finish in time.
It missed the 2008 Christmas deadline too, and has almost missed this
one! But, with the encouragement of
my Beta-reader, the estimable Hazel Köhler, I managed to get it finished. As usual, I owe Hazel a big vote of
thanks for her help, tolerance and plot advice.
Any mistakes that you find lurking in the text are my fault. A further
vote of thanks is due to Chris Bishop, the colonel of the Spectrum HQ website.
Chris devotes so much of her time to helping other authors and preparing stories
for the site that she is in danger of neglecting her own writing!
While I appreciate all she does, such as the totally brilliant title
artwork for this story, I also appreciate her marvellous stories – long may they
continue to appear to entertain and delight us all! I will just
add that while I, personally, do not subscribe to the idea that there is a ‘gay’
relationship between Scarlet and Blue, I am not averse to using the idea or
allowing my characters to acknowledge that the possibility exists. Indeed, it something I have made
occasional reference to from as far back as my second Christmas Challenge story
in December 2002. In my
writing, the two men have a close - even intense - relationship, built on what
they’ve been through together and Scarlet’s reliance on Blue’s emotional support
at times. However, for my
characters that stops well short of a physical or sexual relationship. I know that others will disagree with me
and I do not dispute their right to do so.
It is the myriad diversity of the characters in the Anderverse that keeps
the fan fiction fresh and interesting.
The rights to
Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons ™ belong to Carlton Media, as far as I
know. They do not belong to me.
The credit for creating the characters from the show belongs to Gerry and Sylvia
Anderson, the production team of the original shows and the writers of the
annuals and comic books. All the other characters in this
story are mine. The story is
written with all due acknowledgement and respect to the rights of the creators
and owners. I hope you
enjoyed reading it. Marion Woods January 2010
OTHER STORIES FROM MARION WOODS Any comments? Send an
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