Would the real Captain Scarlet
please stand up?
A “Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons” story
By Devon ‘Ricco’ Ricks
This story is a loose parallel to 'Toughest Uniform'. It shows more of Cijay and those around her
with an odd situation.
*****
Captain Scarlet looked at Captain
Black in surprise. The latter turned around and hit the red clad Captain,
sending him to the ground several times, Scarlet attempting to resume their
confrontation, rising to continue the fight. Black finally was forced to jump him,
their fight continuing on the ground as they pounded on each other viciously.
Black slugged him in the face and Scarlet went limp. Captain Black got to his
feet, breathing heavily, and looked down at the unconscious Spectrum officer,
while he got his breath back. Black straightened and drawing his weapon, shot
him. The unconscious body shuddered at the impact. Two lights played across
Scarlet’s body and another Scarlet stood beside Captain Black The renegade Black took aim on the replica
Scarlet beside him and fired on him as well. The second Scarlet dropped to the
floor. With that, Captain Black's Mysteron masters pulled him out, just as
Captain Blue reached the door. He was brought up short, and gasped. His cap
mike swung down into position.
“Colonel White, Scarlets been
injured again, but there’s a problem this time,” said Captain Blue.
“What kind of problem?”
asked Colonel White.
“They
duplicated him again,” Captain Blue informed his superior. "And sir, both
of them are injured, laying side by side. I can't tell them apart."
“I’m sending extra security,” responded Colonel White.
"SIG," Captain
Blue acknowledged.
Captain Blue, to be safe, tied
both Scarlets up and waited for the medical copter. Neither man seemed to be
waking up. Finally the copter arrived with a medical team as well as a security
team. They entered and several of the medical team blanched when they saw not
one, but two Captain Scarlets. Both were secured to stretchers and loaded into
the copter. The return to Cloudbase had everyone very antsy, wondering which
was the real one.
The copter landed and was lowered
to the loading bay near Sickbay, and the wounded were moved to high security
rooms. Instead of nurses taking care of the newly arrived patients, Security
officers placed them in sleeping garments and took anything that could be used
as a weapon from the room, leaving both rooms with nothing. Dr. Fawn looked at
both unconscious captains and frowned. Colonel White entered the room and Dr. Fawn looked at him.
“This is not going to be an easy
task,” Dr. Fawn remarked.
“I’m aware of that. There must be
some way we can tell them apart,” replied Colonel White.
“I’ll do what I can Colonel. I'm
certain we can figure this out,” said Dr. Fawn.
*****
“What, do you call that?” asked
Terry Metcalfe, staring at the gargantuan cup that was placed nearby him as his
stepdaughter joined him in the den.
“I… call it a cup of
coffee. I don’t know what you call it,” Cijay Westlake chuckled, replied as she sat down.
“That looks more like a pot in itself. No wonder you’re
always keyed up,” he said to his daughter.
“Dad, this works for me,” the female major across from him replied,
taking a sip from the cup. “I have one cup and that’s it. I don’t need
any more than that.”
“I expect not. How much does it
take to fill it?” Terry grinned.
“Not sure. I never tried to
measure how much I pour into it,” she laughed.
As they spoke Brighton Stewart,
the Earl of Warbrook's, chief aide, knocked on the door and entered the room.
“Major?” both turned to look at
him. “Sorry. Terry, there’s a problem. The Colonel is on the phone for you.”
“I’ll take it here”, Terry
replied, and reached across the desk
for the phone. Brighton nodded and left the room. “Metcalfe here.”
“Major, we need you to return to Cloudbase, immediately”, came Colonel White’s voice.
“May I
ask why sir?” he inquired.
“You’ll
see when you get here.”
“I’ll leave right away.” He hung
up the receiver and looked at Cijay.
Just as Cijay lifted the cup to
her lips, her COM band chirped.
“Go,” she said, activating it.
“Skip, we have to make a rush flight. We’re inbound. Small squad run.”
“Okay,
I’ll be ready”, she said.
Both
looked at the other.
“Gotta
go Dad. I’ll try and get back, if this doesn’t last too long”, she sighed.
“I hope
so. This was supposed to be a family get together,” he groused.
“You
know how hard that is to accomplish for any of us these days”, she chuckled,
grabbing the jacket off the back of the chair and pulling it on. Her father only
nodded.
She
headed outside and saw a large sleek jet in approach over the private runway.
As it landed, she wondered what kind of assignment they had drawn. It couldn't
be too serious or they would be using the herc.
“Devil, wait up!” someone
shouted behind her. Turning, she saw her twin and grinned.
“What?”
she asked.
“I’m
coming too. If there isn’t going to be anyone around, I’m not going to sit and
twiddle my thumbs,” said Angel Westlake.
“Okay,
okay, but I'm having you guarded. I don’t need you getting into trouble or Dad
will shoot me,” Cijay replied.
The jet
drew near and both sisters could see the Phoenix with the shooting star on the
tail for Firestar. It stopped and the hatch swung open, two of the team, Guppy and Spook looked down and reached
for them. They were helped into the bird, the hatch was sealed, and the craft
was quickly maneuvering to take off again. Cijay went forward, and Angel sat
down beside Guppy. He patted her hand and grinned.
Cijay
sat in the copilot’s seat and looked at her TWIC, who was piloting the jet.
“Okay,
what’s going on?” she asked.
“Control
called us an hour ago. We’re heading to the ‘Loft’ for some reason,” said Major
Chris Linnager.
She
looked at him in surprise. “I guess I should have offered my Dad a lift if I’d
have known. He was called back as well.”
“Yeah,
well Control was a bit put out over this. Apparently we have been especially
‘summoned’. No idea why,” replied Chris.
The
flight went quietly and Cijay switched with Chris and took the helm.
“Chris,
activate the radar blocking unit. I want to test it, ” she grinned.
“You
got it Skip,” he chuckled, reaching up and flipping several switches.
"System on line. Everything's
reading… green," he told her, examining the unit.
"All
right, let’s see what happens. Get ready to squawk though, just in case."
"All
set," Chris remarked, his hand at the radio controls.
The jet
encountered Rainbow airspace and slipped past the ever vigilant watchers of
Cloudbase, the Angels. Chris relayed their positions and the jet wove, and
dipped slightly on its inbound course, so far, completely undetected. They drew
closer to the massive hovering carrier that had appeared ahead and Cijay
positioned the jet right above the
Spectrafan.
“Cloudbase,
this is Phoenix One, requesting permission to land,” she said.
“Phoenix
you have permission to land,”
came a choked voice.
Cijay set the jet down smoothly
and Chris chuckled. "I think it passes the test don't you? Do we get to
keep the prototype?"
"I wish," Cijay grinned
while she flipped switches, the jet being grappled by the undercarriage to
secure it in place while it was being lowered into the hanger below. "Well
at least it's only for the military. God only knows what civilian applications
it would hinder. Spectrum’s gonna love this for their birds."
The jet was lowered into the
hanger section and security guards came out to the jet and boarded it to secure
it. Cijay watched them as they checked the jet over, proceeding to frisk the passengers as well.
“Devil, I’m starting to
think I shouldn’t have come,” groused Angel.
“Angel, give it up. This is
normal,” Cijay replied. "You should be used to it at any rate, you and the
admiral go through this all the time."
“Come with us please,” said one
security man.
Everybody disembarked from the jet
and followed him to the tower and into a conference room. They all sat down and
waited for their ‘host’ to arrive. As he entered, the members of Firestar that
were present shot to their feet. Colonel White nodded and looked the group
over.
“At ease”, he replied, and
everyone resumed their seats.
He sat down behind the table there
and looked at Cijay, an eyebrow raising when he saw Angel nearby.
“An extra passenger I see,” he
commented, looking at Cijay. "We'll discuss that radar blocker later, Commander."
"Sir," Cijay remarked,
nodding.
Angel could only shrug.
“Alright Colonel, you called Beret
Control, I assume and asked for us. We’re here. What is going on?” she asked.
“Actually, I called for the team
that was in Melbourne earlier this year, the ones involved with a ‘deserted’
warehouse”, he replied. “It might be a good thing that Angel came along with
you as well. She can help sort this out.”
“We’re all ears,” Cijay remarked.
"Come with me for a moment
and I'll explain. It's you I needed to discuss this with at any rate.
Gentlemen, Angel, you can relax for a while. We won't be long," said the
Colonel. They left the room and entering a large clear tube, walked down to
Command. The Colonel sat behind his desk and motioned that Cijay be seated on a
chair that was now rising from the floor.
“At the warehouse, you had
dealings with Mysterons, one of your own men being replaced by them. We have
another kind of problem, touching on that ‘replacement’. One of our men was
‘replicated’ by them and he is now here. So is the original man. He’s still
alive. We can’t tell the difference. You seemed to be able to detect some kind
of a difference there, Commander. I’d like you to try and discern, who the real
one is for us,” Colonel White said.
“Who’s your man?” she asked.
“Captain Scarlet,” he told her.
Cijay looked at him, and nodded.
“Let’s get a gander at him then,”
she replied. She was worried now. What had been done to her cousin?
"We can rejoin the others and
go from there. Angel being a doctor might be able to help. I noticed you have yours along as
well," the Colonel remarked.
"It's normal for small team
ops to have him with us," Cijay explained.
The Colonel and Cijay headed back
to the conference room and had just arrived back when Terry entered the room.
All eyes swung to look at him. He returned their gaze and imperceptibly
flinched when he saw both his daughters there.
“Major, We're heading to Sickbay”,
Colonel White instructed.
"SIG," remarked the
Cloudbase security chief.
“Richards, keep close to Angel
would you, just in case,” Cijay said quietly to the Aussie.
“Gotcha Skip”, came his reply. He
grinned at his charge. Hello, Winged One, he thought to himself.
She looked at him and winked.
They followed Terry to Sickbay and
when they reached it, were surprised to see several more guards surrounding the
high security containment area. Looking through the windows, Cijay saw two
identical men, looking back at her and her group. One grinned slightly. Dr.
Fawn came over to the newly arrived group. Cijay shook her head
in dismay. Angel looked on in surprise at their cousin, looking at one and then
other.
"Oh my god…" Angel
groaned.
“Well, Commander, what do you
think of our dilemma?” Fawn asked.
“Impressive to say the least. I
suppose you’ve examined them over from top to tails?” she asked.
“Most assuredly and they match up,
perfectly,” said Dr. Fawn.
“Angel, care to have some fun?”
she asked her twin.
“Depends on what you have in
mind?” she replied, looking at her sister, then at the two men locked up. Paul…
a twin now. How was something like that possible? “Dr. Fawn, Angel here is a
qualified physician and she likes a challenge. It comes with her naval
background, I'm afraid. Now seeing as one of those two is really family to us,
I’d like her to have a go at physical exams. Something else,” Cijay said.
“What?” Fawn inquired.
“If there’s any other tests you’d
like to run, now might be the perfect time”, she grinned, causing Angel to
snicker.
Both Captains looked back at her
and lips pursed. Neither one seemed impressed by the suggestion.
“Skip, you’re mean,” chuckled the
Aussie accented voice.
“I’m not that mean, Dev,” she
said, looking back at him, then turned back to face both men. “Chas, you can
help her.”
“Okay Skip”, came the reply from
the team doctor.
Cijay watched as her sister went
in and began taking blood samples to compare. She looked at the two men who had
her cousin’s face and sighed. She could see no real difference right away. She
decided to have a question and answer session with them as well and see what
they could come up with.
“Commander, we need to talk about
something,” said Dr. Fawn.
“Of course. What?” she asked.
“Come to my office for a few
minutes”, he said.
They walked down a hall to his
office and entered it. Fawn closed the door and she sat down across from him.
“Tell me what you saw after your
man was killed in Melbourne,” Fawn inquired.
“It’s rather hard to describe. It
looked like a pile of ‘goop’, black and evil. It made me rather nauseous. That
guy in the black uniform looked like a cloud was surrounding him, almost like
there was nothing real there. Why?” she asked.
“I want to make sure we get the
right man back. I’d like you to see something,” said Fawn.
He showed her a tape showing the
dead body of her cousin, after his return to Cloudbase. Cijay looked back out
at the two men, one really being family to her, the other, she didn't know
what.
"One of Paul's tricks gone
wrong?" she asked.
"No. He was dead," said Dr. Fawn.
"Was?" she was confused
now. She looked at the doctor and then turned when the door opened behind her.
The Colonel had joined them.
"I know this is confusing
Cijay. It's very hard for us as well. Doctor, please explain. Commander this is
strictly need to know. Do you understand?" Stated Colonel White.
"Aye sir," she
responded.
Dr. Fawn proceeded to explain the
situation as it has occurred, how the Mysterons had taken him and another
officer, now dead, over and had used them. The kidnapping and subsequent rescue
of the World President at the Car-Vu. How another Captain had had to shoot
Scarlet and his fall to what everyone had assumed his death, and the amazing
recovery on Cloudbase later. Dr. Fawn explained about his healing ability
sketchily, giving her enough to know how it functioned for him to recover from
wounds. Cijay looked back out at the two, amazed that he could appear without a
scratch in mere hours. She wondered how he felt over it, but knowing him as she
did, it would be duty first. She turned back to Dr. Fawn and Colonel White.
"You know how far fetched
that sounds I gather?" she remarked. She was still startled over the
information.
"Needless to say, though,
it’s fact," said Dr. Fawn.
"Commander, we still have
this problem. Can you help us with it or not?" Colonel white questioned.
"Let me see that tape
again," she suggested. Cijay viewed the tape intently once more and
finally nodded slowly. She looked at Colonel White. “There is a way,” she
replied.
“He displays some kind of difference?”
“He does. If you still want to
make some tests, it is a good time,” she grinned.
They returned to the high security
area and Cijay looked at the two Scarlets again. Angel stared at her sister,
questioning, then suddenly started snickering. The doctor from Firestar also
snickered. Dr. Fawn looked at Cijay.
“Yes Doctor?” she asked.
“You have a mental link to your
twin?” he asked.
“Most twins do, whether it becomes
strong or not depends on if it’s used and we have used ours quite extensively.
I can ‘talk’ to several of my team, they themselves also being a bit
sensitive,” she replied quietly. “I’ve used it with a few others as well.”
“Who else?” inquired Dr. Fawn.
“Oh, mostly family, my brothers,
another set of twins, my cousin, and my fiancé,” she told him. “My godfather as
well, but that was a long time ago.” Colonel White raised an eyebrow at the
statement.
“Interesting,” Dr. Fawn commented.
“Who is your fiancé?”
They both heard the door to the
Sickbay opened and close; Cijay turned to face someone. “Him.”
Dr. Fawn looked at the new
arrival. He stood just inside the door, grinning at her. She grinned back and
raised an eyebrow. Captain Ochre smiled happily. He nodded.
“You’re talking with him?” Fawn
looked back and forth between the two.
“More like yelling, Doc. She’s mad
I shave now,” Captain Ochre said, humor in his voice.
“How far away do you need to be to
have contact with him?” asked Dr. Fawn, curious now.
“I’m not certain. We never tried
that,” Cijay said. “When he ‘died’ I got an impression of him here if you
recall.”
Dr. Fawn nodded.
She looked back at the Captains.
Angel came out and stood beside her, both of them talking, nothing being heard
though. Abruptly one captain jumped in surprise. He looked at the two
conversing and frowned. They both snickered, Cijay looking at him. The other
captain jerked spasmodically and glared at them.
“Well, looks like we can’t use
that method. They both feel it,” Cijay commented.
“Yes, but which one doesn’t mind
it, is what has me curious,” Angel said.
"You would think that way
Ang. Honestly!" Cijay carped.
“What were they feeling?” asked
Dr. Fawn.
“They were getting a bit hot under
the collar,” Angel snickered.
“Oh.”
Cijay looked at Angel and grinned
suddenly. She removed weaponry from all over her person, entered the one room
and sat talking with one of the Captains. Dr. Fawn watched and suddenly the
Captain she was speaking to grinned and chuckled over something. She nodded and
left the room, going to talk with the other one. She ran her hand over the edge
of a table there and spoke with him quietly; this one only nodded and kept an
impassive face. She exited the room and rejoined them.
“Well?” asked Angel.
“The day he admits to that, I’ll
certify him nuts myself,” she chuckled. “We’re talking stiff assed Brit here,
remember?”
“Admit to what?”
“Painting a goat.”
“A goat?”
“Doctor, he’s got a few things
that would be embarrassing to the General if they became known,” she grinned.
“Ang, should I hit him with that low blow?”
“Oh go for it. I want to see one
of them blush. It might even be the real one.”
Cijay went back into the room she
had left and spoke to the Captain there. He developed a very slight smile and
only nodded. Going into the next room, the second captain smiled broadly and
appeared to make a pass at her. She came back to the group.
“Well?” inquired Angel.
"I don't know. We’ll have to
do this the hard way I think. Doctor Fawn, we need to talk," she sighed.
The two of them walked to his
office. He looked at her expectantly. "Is there someplace where I can
shoot them?”
“Shoot them?!”
he questioned.
“Certainly. What I observed, might
only be visible when he’s been injured,” she commented.
“Let me check with the Colonel,” Dr. Fawn went back to where the
Colonel stood and they conferred momentarily, then both joined her in the
office.
"You think this is
necessary?" the Colonel asked.
“It might be the only way,” Cijay replied.
Dr. Fawn nodded. “The Colonel has
suggested the gym. How accurate can you be?”
“I'm fairly accurate," Cijay
asked, looking amused. "Where do you want them shot?”
“Someplace that won’t make a huge
mess,” said Dr. Fawn.
“Okay,” she replied simply,
replacing her ‘arsenal’ back onto her person. "No head shots." Dr.
Fawn stared at her.
The security team assigned
escorted the two Captains to the gym, Cijay behind them. Cijay waited, eyes
downcast while a covering was paced on the floor to contain any blood spilled
while both men stood in front of her, waiting. The guards positioned them on
the covering and stood back.. She sighed, then started to stare at them both.
Her face didn’t change and she pulled out a shinzu from a hidden holster on her
back. Both men were looking back at her calmly.
“This is hard for me, Paul. I
don’t want to do this, I think you know that, but if it helps figure out which
one you are, I’ve got to do it. Don’t be too angry with me?” she said, looking
at them.
Neither one made any movement. She
fired at the first one, then quickly shot the second one. Both fell to the
floor with wounds serious enough to render them unconscious, but not bad enough
to kill. She put her gun away, and then
knelt watching them. She didn’t move for several minutes, looking at or for
something unseen to the doctor, then pointed. “Him.”
Dr. Fawn looked at her and then
had his medical team pick up the fallen Captain.
“You might want to use this one
for research Dr. Fawn,” Cijay said quietly, pointing at the remaining body.
“Get rid of it," remarked the
Colonel. “I don’t think we need a twin of him wandering around. One's bad
enough.”
Security came and took the body
and hustled it off. Cijay, and Dr. Fawn returned to Sickbay and looked in on a
now conscious Captain Scarlet. He grinned.
“That was not nice,” he
complained, seeing her enter.
“Sorry, but shooting you was the
only way I could find out for certain. How long will it take for that to mend
up?” Cijay asked. She moved over to him and gave him a hug. He returned the
hug, single armed, his other arm in a sling for the moment.
“Long enough. How did you know?”
he asked.
“Dr. Fawn showed me the tape of
you after Captain Blue shot you at the Car-Vu. I could see a ‘halo’ if you want
to call it that. When it shows, there’s another feature to it though. It’s like
a shell around you. The other one didn’t have that, although he does certainly
have the glow around him,” she explained. “Dr. Fawn didn’t explain what
happened to bring it about though, just gave me the clue to getting rid of the
counterfeit.”
“I’m glad he did. Thanks Brat,” he
said, smiling.
“Oh God, he’s smiling! Look out,”
Angel chuckled, teasing from the doorway.
“Angel, shut up,” said Scarlet, he
growled at her playfully.
“Make me,” she retorted.
“Cousins!” he remarked,
exasperatedly, then chuckled.
“Twin sister? Hmm, Charlie, what
else do I need to know?” came a quiet voice behind them. Scarlet looked to see
Ochre in the doorway looking at Angel.
“We’ll have to discuss that,
unless the Colonel could surrender you for say a week,” Cijay said, grinning.
“Explain this to me Cijay,” said
Scarlet looking at her.
“What? I only gave him a touch to
tell him I was here," she said.
“That was more than a little touch
Charlie,” Ochre commented. "I have a headache because of it."
“Okay”, she chuckled. “So maybe my
control isn't perfect yet.”
“Riight," Scarlet chuckled.
“Commander, you and I need to
talk,” came a crisp voice from the doorway. Cijay spun to see Colonel White.
“Sir?”
“Captain, I'm glad we have you
back among us. How are you feeling?" Colonel White inquired.
"I'm fine, sir. I should be
up and around in no time," said Scarlet to his commanding officer.
"Commander, Come along”, he
insisted. He led Cijay back to Fawn's office once more. They entered Dr. Fawn’s
office and the Colonel closed the door
after she entered. “So what do we do with you? I appreciate the fact that you
gave me back my best man, I hope you realize that.”
“Do with me?” she asked.
“Yes. Do with you. I don’t want a
repeat of this scenario again and you’re the best one to be able to help me in
this regard,” he replied.
“Anyone could tell Colonel,” she
remarked.
“No, not anyone. Your twin, maybe.
You, certainly. Who else?”
“Maybe one or two of my team, I’d
have to ask,” she replied.
“Alright”, he looked at her and sighed. “What else can
you do these days that I’m not aware of?”
“Um… well... you really want to
know?” she asked.
“I do, yes. Out with it,” he told
her.
Her brows furrowed and she sighed.
“Well, I suppose you know I can shoot well. I can help it along a bit. I could
pop into your head and look out of your eyes if need be. I can make you physically ‘feel’ my touch, and
yet not touch you. I still get my premonitions. They’re stronger so I have a
better chance of giving a warning now,” she said, looking down at the floor.
" Then of course there's my basic skills as a beret, but you're aware of
all that."
“I see. Anything else I should
know about?” he inquired.
She sighed. "No, but I do
have some things I'm working on. We just found out about them recently."
"Alright. I'll expect to hear
about them later, you know," the Colonel commented.
"You will, I assure you," she said looking at him.
"Question. Why didn’t you
ever mention it to anyone?”
She laughed cynically. “What kind
of response do you think I’d get if I did? It’s odd enough I can do it. Add to
it I didn't know how it could be useful, until now,” she remarked.
“Quite true. I want you to
consider this request for now. Come here. Join us. We can use you and you know
it. I can use you. As a beret, your life is in greater jeopardy and I don’t
want anything to happen to you. Don’t think it’s because I’m trying to protect
my godchild either. I know what you’re capable of doing, I’ve been watching you
for a while, although I don’t think a certain person realized why. Scarlet told
me about you being at that warehouse debacle. It bothered him. I believe it
also had Captain Ochre concerned as well. I was informed you had something to
do with it, through other channels of course, but was not told in what
capacity. That voice synthesizer certainly threw us off, and the clothing
concealing certain features helped as well.”
She looked at him, her face
holding an expression of a guilty child. “I felt I had to. We had enough flack
when it was learned a female was in the ‘Blacks’. To be Flight Commander would
have really made it a problem,” she commented.
“How long have you been with
them?”
“Since about September of 66. Polar
Ice considered me suitably vicious.”
“Pendergast would only tap you if
you were, Cijay. I take it you were angry over Commander Fraser disappearing?”
“Of course. We get engaged and he
disappears a week later, right as I’m arranging a transfer,” she replied.
“Knowing he was out there somewhere was the worst part of it.”
“I see. When did Firestar come
into it?”
“When Firestar lost their previous
flight commander, Rev. I was their top choice. There was no short
list or anything, just the notification of a tap order,” she explained.
“And you’ve taken care of them
very well. No deaths. Skimmers death wasn’t your fault by the way.
It was mine. I wasn’t aware that Captain Black would show up.”
“You had us sent in?” she asked,
incredulous.
“Yes. I wanted to see if you could
take on an odd situation. You performed admirably,” he commented.
“Have I been your ‘performing rat’
for a long time Colonel?” she asked, eyes blazing.
“No, not really. I wanted to see
what I was going to get,” he replied, coolly. “The Committee has been looking
you over as well. That also includes Firestar. I like to know if I’m going to
get my money’s worth from my people.”
“Do you ‘test’ everyone?”
He smiled. “Of course I run tests
on everyone. That included your cousin and fiancé too, by the way, so don’t
think I’m picking on you specifically. I was also interested to see if you
could shoot Captain Scarlet if the need arose.”
“Making sure I could do it, no
matter who it might be, I suppose?”
“I have to be certain. Especially
these days.”
“Uncle Charles, you are mean,” she
said, her voice quiet.
“Cijay, I have to make sure of the
people I get before they even step one foot onto this base. You make certain of
your own people, don’t you?”
She chuckled slightly and nodded.
“Certainly.”
“Then you understand why I’ve done
what I have,” he told her. “Will you consider it?”
“I need a bit of time. I do have
one request though.”
“You would like to have your
fiancé for a while to yourself, I imagine”, Colonel White grinned.
“Of course”, she sighed. “I knew
Dad had this placed wired, I just didn’t know to what extent.”
“Well enough. He knows his job.
Captain Ochre has a fortnight coming up I believe. Will that do?”
“Might I assume he’s to be my
‘snake’?” she asked.
“Call him what you will. Are you
two still intending on marrying?”
“I believe so. He might have
different plans though.”
“Somehow I doubt that. Your father
had to make a security sweep through all the living quarters last month. He saw
a picture of you by the Captain’s computer and informed me of it,” White told
her.
“Good”, she sighed.
“His holiday starts in three days.
Since I know you and your team were on a vacation as well, I’ll send him to the
island, if you want to meet him there.”
“You’re going to make this as hard
as you can, aren’t you?”
“Hard for who? Josh is going to be
the one howling for my head in the same time period. I have no doubt he’ll try
and convince you to stay there, but he will be more angered when Firestar
becomes tapped don’t you think?”
“That’s blackmail. Firestar for me?
Come on,” she groaned.
“Cijay, Firestar has been one of
the top teams for several years, even before you came along. We’ve been tapping
them constantly. Consider them the proving ground. The same applies with the
Red berets as well as any branch we tap from. Spectrum has to
have the best.”
“So I qualify too, do I?” she
asked.
“Only if you want to. I always
hoped, but I didn’t dare want to pressure you. I never wanted you to feel
obligated, or have anyone yelling nepotism. The first indication I got, was you
overcoming your mal de mer,” he chuckled.
“Just what have you been doing,
watching my every move? That got straightened up just last month!”
“Near enough. You’re my godchild,
the closest I’ll ever have to a family of my own. I wanted to see how you would
turn out,” he grinned.
“I suppose that means you’re
suitably impressed,” she stated, smiling.
"If you transferred to the
Navy, I would be," he told her.
“With all due respect sir, no
thanks. Lex and Angel can handle that area,” she replied.
He grinned. “Fair enough. How does
Angel’s godfather feel about her being Navy?”
“Same as you feel about me being
WAAF,” she chuckled.
“That bad, eh?”
“That’s about it,” she replied,
grinning.
“So will you consider it?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Good. Let’s go see how your
cousin is doing,” he replied standing and giving her a hug. She looked at his
uniform.
“Do they have left handed
holsters?” she asked.
“Not yet,” he replied. “It
wouldn’t take too much to adapt. You could shoot right-handed however.” She
looked at him. “I told you I’ve been watching. I know you can shoot quite
accurately with either hand. You’ll probably be the only ambidextrous marksman
we have. And it could be a big help if your one arm is injured.”
They left the office and returned
to see Dr. Fawn examining Captain Scarlet.
"You know that is totally
unnerving. I know the wound I gave you wasn't a bad one, but it should take at
least a week to heal," Cijay commented.
Scarlet grinned and looked at the
Colonel.
"Colonel, I'd like to talk
with the duplicate," Cijay stated suddenly. "There's something I want
to find out."
The Colonel nodded approval.
*****
They left Sickbay and after a
short walk, entered the security section. One of the security team led them to
where the Mysteron lay on a bunk now. He opened his eyes as he heard them
approach and watched as Cijay removed her weaponry. Colonel White motioned the
guard to let her in and she entered to sit on a chair just a bit out of reach
of him. He looked at her and said something. She only looked at him and nodded,
then the two began talking in earnest. Whatever they were discussing, she
seemed to take the answers in stride and nodded several times. A sudden move on
her part and she broke the Mysterons neck. Colonel White flinched and stood watching
her. He wasn't ready, however, for the effect that happened next. From where he
stood, he could see a dim glow, around the body of the Mysteron agent.
"What the?"
It winked out after a moment and
she walked over to the door of the cell , was released, and moved to stand before him.
That’s what you see?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“Jason is right. You are suitably
vicious,” commented Colonel White.
“I’m a beret. We’re supposed to be
vicious.” She looked at him through worried eyes.
“What did he say?”
“He asked if he’d been found out.
You saw my answer.”
“It bothers you, doesn’t it?”
“Certainly. He looks exactly like
Paul. Voice, manners, everything. Of course this one’s inner thoughts are more
American thinking than British, so his mind set is a bit looser. It's like
seeing a younger version of him, prior to when he went to the Point. They went
a bit overboard in duplicating him. They wanted him to fit in badly.”
“I’m glad Scarlet is as strict in
his thinking as he is, or we would have killed the wrong one,” said Colonel
White.
“I’m just glad the General didn’t
see this guy. We would have had some very rough times.”
“Why?”
“So we
would be duped by the phony easier.
When we were younger, Paul always had a fun streak to him, and this guy is
stuck in that mode. This is like looking at a younger Paul, more like when he
was just entering West Point. The pranks and outrageous things he would do for
the heck of it. When he started up the ladder in the WAAF he lost some of that,
or buried it deeply, I don’t know which. The General would have liked this
version,” she commented.
“Not if he was supposed to harm
someone down the road,” said Colonel White.
“How about harm Spectrum. That’s
what I as able to pick up. In a way, it worked,” she said.
“How do you figure that?”
“How many people saw both of them
brought in? There are going to be those that might have a bit of a mistrust of
him, and me as well, I think. It’s rested on my shoulders if he’s the right one
or not,” she sighed. “You better take that into consideration about me joining.
If anything goes wrong for him, I’ll be one to feel the displeasure of everyone
here.”
“Sometimes the toughest choices
are for the best of everyone,” her godfather told her.
“I know. I’ve had to make some
others as well. This has been the toughest to date. Do me one favor?”
“What?”
“If they ever try and get me, make
sure neither myself nor my ‘replacement’ are allowed to survive.”
“Would they do that?”
“I don’t know. They did it to
Paul, what’s to say they won’t try it on someone else,” she said, as they
walked down a corridor.
“I don’t know if I can do that,”
he told her.
“You might have to. You know what
I can do. I wouldn’t want to have an ‘evil’ twin running around. Promise me.”
“Cijay… I… ” he started.
“You just said it… tough choices
for the good of all. Please,” she said.
He looked at her.
“You’re not getting hints at all
are you?”
“No, just making sure. I like to
cover all my bases,” she replied. “I got that from you.”
“Alright, I promise. Take note
that I do this under duress as well.”
She nodded. “Duly noted. So how do
they choose the colors?”
He looked at her.
“Is this an affirmation of your
intent?” he asked.
“I still want my Commander for the
fortnight, Colonel. Then, I’ll give you my answer”, she grinned.
“Cijay, if he was sent out and
didn’t come back, could you handle it?”
“I’d have to, wouldn’t I? I’d just
want proof of his demise, is all.”
“Understandable, I stole him
once”, he grinned.
“You could have told me,” she
groused. "I wasn't exactly 'tickled' when I found out you had him."
“And have something less than
believable at the funeral? I think not,” he replied.
“Covering all your bases, right?.”
“Of course.”
They entered Sickbay and found
Angel and the others waiting. Captain Scarlet was gone. Dr. Fawn approached
them.
Chas came over to her and handed
her an apple. She grinned and started to eat it.
“What’s this about?” asked Colonel
White.
“I need to eat a bit after I play
around with my ‘talent’. If I don’t, I get a bit peaked. I did pass out once,”
she said, after swallowing a bite of the apple.
“I see. All right. I think Dr.
Fawn would want to find out how extensive your ‘ability’ is but that will have
to wait. I think we’re finished and you’re probably thinking of heading to the
island for your ‘working holiday’. How did Josh ever allow it?” asked Colonel
White.
“The normal way. He wanted me to
take charge of the guys and wanted me to get to know them, find out about them
and their skills. I asked for a month and started the ‘working holiday’. We do
it every year now and as you can tell, they’re turned out pretty good. Josh got
a broken jaw out of it though,” she said sheepishly.
“How many times is that now?”
asked Colonel White.
“Eight times. Chas figures if I do
it again, he won’t be able to fix it, his jaw is that shattered,” Cijay
reported.
“If the circumstance does present
itself, don’t think I would accept that behavior from you,” he commented.
“I’m aware of that sir,” she
grinned. “You don’t behave much like Colonel Gray however, so I don’t think
there will be a problem in that regard.”
“Thank goodness for small
miracles?” asked Colonel White.
“Um… yes sir,” she replied,
flushing slightly.
“Just what has he done to earn
your ire?” asked Dr. Fawn.
“Oh, where to start? I know. You
saw Commander Richards I believe." Doctor Fawn nodded." When I met
him, he had a full beard and looked exactly like Captain Ochre as he was when
he was Detective Commander for the WGPC. Exactly. I’ve since made him
keep a mustache so I don’t get unnerved by his appearance. Colonel Josh Gray
thought he was taking my mind off personal problems when he brought the
Commander around. He got a broken jaw and Commander Richards almost lost his
life,” she said grinning.
“You went a bit overboard I take
it?” asked Colonel White.
“Sort of. The biggest problem with
Richards is his team nick. I had to change it from Ricco, to Guppy after I saw
the Commander and we talked. He and the Commander have both shared the same
nickname as well,” she groused.
"I can see why you changed
it. Do you still refer to the Captain as Ricco?" asked Colonel White.
"Most of the time. You might
find if I get angry at him, I call him Fraser," she stated.
"I'll remember that. Now,
tell me about the radar blocker. We know it works, obviously," Colonel
White remarked.
She looked at the Colonel, then
grinned. "Got that right."
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