This
story is set during the new CGI version of Captain Scarlet ©. Captain Ochre and
Lieutenant Green are female characters, Captain Grey is Scottish and Captain
Magenta is Italian. Doctor Fawn has been replaced with a new character called Doctor
Gold and is Austrian. Symphony and Harmony have also swapped nationalities, so
Symphony is now the Asian member of the Angels.
I do not own any of Gerry
Anderson’s shows or characters so please don’t sue me. The only character I
technically own is Rio-Jade Younger (Eternity Angel).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A ‘New Captain Scarlet’
story
By Kelly Winkworth
Winter 2068...
The skies above Europe...
The winter sun hung low in the sky, illuminating the huge metallic aircraft carrier that the Spectrum’s “Swift” passenger jet was approaching. Its passenger, Rio-Jade Younger, was less than thrilled to be back. Angel pilot and friend nursing a broken heart, she was returning to Spectrum Skybase after a six month mission with the Federal Agents Bureau. Commonly known as “FAB” to those in the know, it was a spy organization originally set up and run by Lady Penelope Crighton-Ward. It had eventually disbanded but the organization had recently been set up again and Rio had been one of the first former spies they had contacted to help get things started and solve one final case. Her dark brown eyes hidden behind her dark glasses, Rio watched Skybase grow bigger in the jet’s windscreen, the winter sun gently shimmering on her jet black hair.
Glancing over at her colleague, Symphony Angel thought about asking Rio how she was feeling, just to make conversation and to break the painful silence that had settled between them, but she knew that it would be a stupid question. It was pretty obvious how Rio was feeling. Symphony had been the one who had volunteered to tell Rio what happened to Captain Black on the return trip to Skybase. As much as she had hated to do so, she felt it would have been better coming from her as Symphony had been given the duty of collecting Rio for the return trip to their headquarters. Rio would have found out eventually, as it would have been hard for her not to notice that her best friend was missing. Everyone had agreed that it was better for Rio to find out sooner rather than later.
Lieutenant
Green’s voice spoke through the radio system, bringing a welcome break to the
silence between the two women. “Swift Passenger Jet, you are clear to land.”
“S.I.G,” Symphony
replied, putting the jet into its landing sequence.
The Amber Room
was brisling with anticipation. Melody Angel had been the one who had initially
seen the passenger jet approaching through the portal shaped window and
couldn’t resist making a comment.
“It looks like
miss Dark Angel is back,” she said with a grin.
Rhapsody and
Harmony tried desperately to stifle their giggles. “You are so mean, Esther,”
Rhapsody said, trying to look all serious. “You just can’t resist giving her a
hard time, can you.”
“Don’t get me
wrong, Caroline, I like Rio. I really do,” Melody paused for a moment and look
back out into the sky. “But I just wish she would open up to us a bit more,
that’s all, and didn’t hide behind her uniform quite so much”.
Rhapsody joined
her counterpart at the window. “Just don’t go giving Rio any grief, okay, not
today anyway. Chances are Yoko’s told her what’s happened and Rio’s going to be
feeling pretty cut up about it.”
Melody gave her a
mock salute and grinned. “Yes sir!”
“I mean it Esther! If anything she’ll be
needing some space right now.”
“Okay,
okay, I promise. But only if she doesn’t give me any grief first”.
Out of all of the
Angel pilots, Rhapsody Angel probably knew Rio best. They had worked together
in FAB, Rhapsody Angel had been her boss at the time and she knew all about
what had happened as regards to her mother’s unfortunate demise. It was her who
had given Rio compassionate leave to be with her mother when she was really ill
and was on her deathbed. Rhapsody knew what it felt like to have a family
member who had suffered serious illness, as her own mother had battled against
cancer.
The piece of news
that Symphony had no doubt delivered by now would definitely shake Rio to the
core. Captain Black had been her closest friend and confidant and Rhapsody
realized that Rio would be devastated knowing that he had been taken by the
Mysterons.
The Angels
weren’t the only ones had noticed that Rio was on her way back to Skybase.
Captain Scarlet was in the Officer’s Lounge and had noticed the jet from where
he was sitting. Although he was glad that he would finally be getting to see
his friend again, he was still feeling anxious all the same. He knew that Rio
had been close to Captain Black and no doubt she would be devastated about the
fact that he had been lost to the Mysterons.
Captain Scarlet
leaned forward towards the glass table and put down the book he had been trying
to read for the past hour. He decided it was best to stop fighting the
restlessness that had been threatening to overwhelm him. Rubbing his temples,
and trying not to let the oncoming headache get the better of him, he stood up
and made his way over to the coffee machine. He had been so caught up in his
own thoughts that he hadn’t even noticed that he had since gained some company.
“I’m sure
Eternity Angel is going to be fine, she’s a lot tougher than we give her credit
for.” Captain Scarlet inclined his head around to find the voice belonged to
Captain Blue. The one thing Scarlet had noticed about his friend was that he
seem to have a knack of knowing exactly what he was thinking.
“That may be so,
but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s lost her best friend. You know as
well as I do that Eternity had a tough time fitting in when she first joined Spectrum.
The last thing she needs right now is this.” Scarlet picked up his coffee and
turned back around to face his American colleague properly.
“This may not
mean much coming from me but, if it helps your mood better, Eternity always
seems her happiest when she’s with you. She likes you a lot, that much is
obvious.”
Captain Scarlet
couldn’t help but smile a little. It was true, Rio always seemed to be a lot
happier whenever she was in his company. From the first time they had met,
something had clicked between them and they had remained the firmest of friends
ever since. Some even suspected that their friendship might grow into more than
that one day. Captain Scarlet knew all about those rumours and he couldn’t help
but find it ridiculous. At least, that’s what he always insisted whenever his
colleagues mentioned the subject; they were just ridiculous rumours, he was
just friends with Rio and wouldn’t ever see her in any other light. Yes, she
was a very attractive woman, but there was so much more to her than just a
pretty face.
“Why don’t you go
and talk to her when she lands,” Captain Blue suggested. “I’m sure she could do
with a friendly face to talk to right now. If anything it might stop you from
driving the rest of us crazy.”
Captain Scarlet
raised an eyebrow. “Meaning?”
“You mean apart
from being a pain in the butt to the point of me wanting to slap you?”
Captain Scarlet
laughed as he remembered the last stupid argument that had kicked off between
himself and Captain Blue a few days beforehand, and all because his anxieties
over Rio had gotten the better of him. It seemed so stupid now when he thought
back to it. He couldn’t even remember what it had been about.
“Okay, fine, I’ll
see her. But you do realize there’s a possibility that she may not actually want to talk to me right now.”
“Won’t know until
you try,” Blue added before Scarlet could argue any further. “What’s the worst
she could say?”
Rio was grateful
to be in the relative solitude of her private quarters. As much as she liked Symphony
Angel and enjoyed her company, Rio wanted some time on her own. She felt so
upset that the people she had seen as friends had kept something so big from
her for six long months. Symphony had tried to make it easier on her friend by
explaining to Rio that they had only done so because Colonel White had felt the
news would affect Rio’s judgment on the spying mission she had been working on
at the time the incident had happened. Despite understanding why the colonel
had decided to do so, but it didn’t stop Rio feeling very hurt. Did they honestly think she was that fragile that she
wouldn’t be able to cope?
The lights of her
quarters were on low and classical music played softly in the background in the
silence of her room. Rio stood in the middle of the room for a brief moment,
contemplating everything she had been told about the Mysterons and Captain
Black. Just thinking about the name made Rio want to cry. In an attempt to try
and stop the oncoming flow of tears, Rio forced herself to unpack her suitcase,
which she had abandoned on top of her bed. At least it would give her something
else to think about for a while.
Opening the lid,
she began to pull out the contents, piling her clothes into those that needed
putting away and those that really needed to see the inside of a washing
machine. Pulling a pair of trousers out of her suitcase, Rio found her framed
photo of herself and Captain Black and picked it up. It had been taken the year
before on the day when Spectrum had been officially launched: July 10th 2067.
This was the one
thing that proved too much for Rio and she sat down on her bed, unashamed of
the tears that now flowed down her cheeks as she looked at the picture. How she
bitterly regretted not telling Captain Black how she felt about him, that her
feelings for him were starting to go beyond friendship. But her loyalty to
Destiny Angel had stopped her from doing so. Rio knew, deep down in her heart,
that she wouldn’t have been able to live with herself if she had wrecked their
relationship.
Rio was so caught
up in her own musings that she didn’t even notice that the chime to her
quarters was ringing. It wasn’t until it hang rung for a third time that Rio
snapped out of her daydream like state, dried her eyes and answered it. Seeing
the face her friend, Captain Scarlet, was probably the nicest surprise she
could have hoped for, even if she didn’t really fancy the idea of visitors at
that moment in time.
“Paul!” She
exclaimed, greeting him with a hug.
“Thought you
might fancy a coffee,” Captain Scarlet said, pulling back and showing why he
hadn’t been able to return her hug properly. In his hands were two mugs of hot
coffee.
“Are you sure
you’re not just using that as an excuse to come and check up on me?” Rio asked,
eyeing him suspiciously.
Giving her a mock
hurt look, he replied “me? Checking
up on you? As if I would do that.” He handed her the coffee as Rio moved to one
side and allowed him to enter. With a gentle whirring sound, the door slid shut
again.
“No need to ask
what’s been going on while I’ve been away,” Rio started.
Captain Scarlet
grimaced at the comment. He hadn’t really wanted to have this conversation,
even if Rio had started it. Seeing the pain on his face told Rio all she needed
to know so she decided that maybe it was best not to continue with that
particular conversation.
Looking at her
for a moment, Captain Scarlet asked, “stupid question, but have you been
crying?”
“It’s nothing, I
think I’m still getting use to the idea of what’s been going on. I’ll miss
Conrad, that’s for sure.” Rio had hoped that the low lighting would have hidden
her red, puffy eyes.
Sitting down on
her sofa, she invited Captain Scarlet to sit down too. Apart from her bed and a
coffee table, the sofa was about the only other piece of furniture in the room.
Catching up with him after six month away made Rio feel a little better about
her return and seemed to make the situation feel not quite so bad after all.
There was something comforting about Scarlet’s presence. But that wouldn’t
bring Captain Black back again, not in the way that Rio was use to anyway. The
two officers made a point of not talking about their fallen friend.
Their
conversation was brought to a close when Rio had another visitor. The face that
greeted her that of a Spectrum cadet. Rio recognized the young man as Grant
Mayall, a recruit who had been training at Spectrum Koala Base the last time
she had seen him. His blue eyes studied her with a certain apprehension, the
setting sun glowing on his sandy coloured hair.
“Sorry to disturb
you ma’am, but Colonel White wishes to speak to both Captain Scarlet and
yourself in the control room.”
Rio couldn’t help
but smile at his nervousness, surely I’m
not that scary she thought to herself. But to the recruit she said, “no
problem, we’ll be there shortly.”
“I think that’s
my cue to go,” Captain Scarlet said, picking up his empty coffee mug and
heading towards the door. “And no doubt you’ll be wanting to get changed too.”
At that comment
Rio suddenly remembered she was still wearing the civilian clothes from her
trip back to Skybase. Colonel White certainly wouldn’t be impressed with her
turning up in jeans and black skinny tee shirt.
“Thanks for the
coffee...and for the chat, it was nice to talk to somebody.”
“No problem,”
Scarlet said with a smile. With that he headed off in the direction of the
control room, the young cadet heading in the opposite direction with the empty
coffee mug. Rio stifled a laugh, it just so like him to pull rank and delegate
a trainee to get rid of his coffee mug for him. She watched her British
colleague disappear around a corner before retreating back into her quarters.
Shutting the door
and walking the short space between the door and the built in wardrobe on the
other side of the room, Rio typed in the code, opened it and pulled out the
Angel uniform. She laid the uniform down on the bed and took off her top,
revealing a bandaged stab wound on the right side of her ribcage. She had
received the wound during the last two weeks of her mission, when a captured
terrorist had decided to attack her with a hidden knife whilst he was being
taken into custody. Rio ran her fingertips across the bandage. The FAB medical
team had wanted her to stay on for a little longer so that they could keep an
eye on the wound, but Rio had convinced them to let her go with the excuse that
Spectrum Skybase had a more than capable doctor who would look after her. Her
stitches were due out that day and Rio intended to go down to sick bay later
that day to sort it out.
Slipping off her trainers and jeans, Rio put the Angel pilot uniform on. It felt strange to be wearing it again after a six month absence. She pulled her long black hair up into a high ponytail, secured it there with a pink hair tie and placed the radio earpiece into her right ear, making sure the tiny microphone was positioned correctly by the corner of her mouth. It made her feel like she was wearing the earpiece of a cell phone’s hands free kit. With one last glance in the mirror on her en suite bathroom wall, making sure everything looked okay, Rio left the confines of her quarters and headed towards the control room.
Washington
DC......The heart of the World Government. Every country in the world had its
own president, prime minister or royal family which passed and enforced their
own laws. Presiding over all of them was the World Government, lead by World
President Younger. He was the most powerful man on the planet. If anything were
to happen to him, the world would be thrown in complete and utter chaos.
A young woman
headed down the corridors of the White House, her blonde hair flowing out
behind her. Tara Mai was so glad she was finally getting a break, she had been
working her feet off all morning. It wasn’t always an easy job working as the
World President’s personal aide but Tara wouldn’t have it any other way, even
if it did occasionally meant working until late into the evening. Despite its
occasional difficulties she enjoyed the job. World President Younger was a
good, kind man but Tara had the feeling that he was hiding a dark secret. She
had noticed, on her first day, the framed photo of him with a beautiful Spanish
woman and two young children. Tara hadn’t dared to pry as to the identity of
them as she got the impression it was personal and he didn’t want to talk about
it.
One thing she
didn’t like was having to wear a suit. Tara Mai frowned as her blue eyes saw
her reflection in a window and saw her grey suit. She quickly carried on
walking. As she walked across the car park, Tara rummaged through her handbag,
trying to find her car keys. She found them as she reached her car, which was
parked on the far side of the car park, partially hidden by a huge oak tree.
Tara had been so busy looking for the keys that she hadn’t noticed the man
following her. The stranger was dressed from head to toe in black. Pulling out
a hidden gun, he silently approached the woman and shot her in the back with
the silenced weapon. Tara Mai’s back stiffened and she slumped to the floor,
seconds later two mysterious green rings glowed across her. Footsteps alerted
the dark stranger to the fact that he wasn’t alone anymore, as a blonde woman
appeared at his side but she didn’t so much as glance at the dead body on the
floor.
“You know what
you have to do. Find out where they are hiding,” Captain Black told the
Mysteron agent.
The replacement
Tara Mai nodded. “Don’t you worry about that, I can find out where he’s hidden
them.”
Tara Mai kept up
with her usual routine of visiting a local delicatessen for a coffee and
sandwich, which she didn’t eat, but returned to the White House and hid the
food in her office. The more she kept to her routine the better, the last thing
the Mysteron agent needed was to be suspected of anything. Gaining access to
the World President's office and breaking into his personal files, she began
searching for the information the Mysterons needed.
Taking up the
offer of a seat from Captain Blue, Rio sat down. Her wound was still sore and
had decided to start giving her grief again. No doubt it was because she had
just had the stitches taken out by Doctor Gold, the Chief Medical Officer of
Spectrum. They weren’t the only two in the control room. Captain Scarlet and
Captain Magenta were also there. Lieutenant Green was sat in her usual place at
the communications console.
Colonel White
looked up from his control panel. “It’s good to have you back, Eternity Angel,
I trust that the mission was a success.”
Rio nodded. “Yes
it was. The United Asian Republic shouldn’t be getting any more trouble from
that particular band of terrorists, not for a while anyway. The last I heard
their butts were all in jail.”
“Doctor Gold
informs me that you were injured.”
“It was just a
flesh wound. One of the terrorists didn’t take kindly to getting arrested by a
woman.” Rio didn’t want to be reminded of that, she was already in pain as it
was.
Before anything
else could be said, the familiar sound of the Mysterons broke through the
Skybase radio system.
“This is the
voice of the Mysterons, we know that you can hear us Earthmen. You will pay for
your act of aggression. Our next target will be to kill the World President.
The youngest of three will pay a high price for their part in the attack on our
Martian base. All those closest to the president will suffer.”
The voice disappeared
as quickly as it came. Rio felt light headed and she thought for one awful
second she would be sick. Putting her head in her hands, Rio tried to ignore
the feeling of nausea. Feeling a hand on her shoulder, Rio looked up and met
Captain Scarlet’s gaze.
“Are you feeling
okay?” He asked, his stunning blue eyes glinting with worry.
“It’s
nothing.....really,” she emphasized,
noticing the funny looks she was getting from her male counterparts. She hated
having to lie, but she couldn’t tell them what it was about the threat that was
bothering her. They didn’t know that there was a possibility she could get
dragged into this threat on a more personal level than they could ever imagine.
She couldn’t put them through that just yet, although she knew that they would
probably find out eventually. That was a prospect she wasn’t looking forward
to.
In an effort to
divert attention away from Rio, as it seemed obvious she wasn’t enjoying the
close scrutiny, Colonel White coughed gently and said “well, gentlemen, it
looks like Eternity Angel will be getting her first taste of the Mysterons.”
“Gee, lucky you,”
Captain Magenta added. “You get to be one of us now!” Rio answered the comment
by elbowing him hard in the ribs.
“Any ideas what
this threat might be about, Colonel?” Captain Blue inquired. “Okay, so the bit
about the World President is pretty obvious, but what’s with this whole
‘youngest of three’ business?”
Colonel White was
silent for a moment. “My only assumption is maybe it is a reference to the
president’s family. He has three daughters, one of whom works for Spectrum.”
Nobody doubted this statement from Colonel White, he had known the World
President for a long time and knew more about him than most people.
A silence settled
in the control room for a few brief moments. The colonel dismissed the three
captains but requested that Rio stay behind. As he was leaving, Captain Scarlet
glanced over his shoulder at her. Rio noticed the look in his eyes, they both
knew that when Colonel White wanted to speak to somebody alone, it was usually
very serious.
Colonel White
leaned forward so that only Rio could hear him. “Well, you heard the threat.
There’s no way you can keep it a secret from the others now. As much as I hate
to say this, you’ll have to tell them who you really are.”
Rio nodded
feebly, avoiding his eyes. “I don’t have much choice in the matter, do I? The
Mysterons have forced me into a corner.”
It seemed
incredible to Captain Scarlet that Colonel White had come to a conclusion as to
what the Mysterons were going to do so quickly. But he didn’t know what the
colonel knew. Along with Rio, Captain Scarlet was now in the Spectrum
“Hummingbird” Helicopter and heading towards Portsmouth, England to collect the
president’s two eldest daughters. It didn’t take them very long to get there,
especially when Skybase was floating in the skies just over France. Their
instructions were to collect the two women and return with them to Skybase.
Scarlet couldn’t
help but notice that Rio seemed extremely preoccupied during their flight,
almost like she was dreading something truly awful. He had tried to coax it out
of her but she only clammed up even further, so he had given up. If she wanted
to tell him, she would do so in her own time. Scarlet knew better than to try
and force it from her.
The helicopter
landed with a gentle bump in Gunwarf Quays Plaza and Captain Scarlet powered
down the engine as Rio jumped out of the passenger door and took a few steps
around to the front of the helicopter. It had been a long time since Rio had
been in her home town and it felt weird. It must have been the best part of
twelve years since she had left home to join the armed forces and Rio had only
made brief visits to the city since then. Captain Scarlet got out of the other side
as several security men and women came running over to them from the direction
of the East Side Plaza.
“Are you the
Spectrum officers?” The woman nearest to Rio asked. She was a petit oriental
woman with green eyes, which Rio found extremely unusual. Oriental women didn’t
usually have green eyes. The woman was dressed in black trousers, white shirt
and a black waist coat style piece of clothing that looked almost like a bullet
proof vest that police SWAT teams wore. A radio was strapped to her waist band
and crackled away quietly.
Rio nodded as the
woman took in her Spectrum Angel uniform. “Yes, I am Eternity Angel and this is
my colleague, Captain Scarlet. I do believe you were informed of our arrival by
Hampshire Police Force.”
“Yes, Chief
Inspector Malley did inform us. Do you have ID?” She asked.
Rio pulled out
her Spectrum ID and Captain Scarlet followed suit. The woman checked over their
ID cards and then handed them back. Rio explained to the security that they
were there on Spectrum business and had been sent to collect two civilians.
“We have good
reason to believe they still live in the apartment block on the front there,”
Rio said, nodding in the direction of the apartment blocks next to Gunwarf
Berths.
Satisfied that
they were who they said they were, the security personnel allowed them to
continue on their mission. Before they got too far out of earshot, Captain
Scarlet spun back around and asked “could you keep an eye on our helicopter?”
“No problem,”
said the nearest male, a tall burly man with short black hair who looked like
he should belong in a rugby team with his slightly off centre nose. He too,
like his female colleague, was also dressed in black trousers, white shirt, the
black vest with a radio hanging at his side. With that the security team formed
a human barrier around the craft and made sure the newly formed crowd of
civilians stayed back.
“What is it with
us always causing a crowd?” Captain Scarlet asked as they walked off across the
complex.
Rio looked over
her shoulder at the intrigued shoppers who were gathering by the craft,
pointing and talking excitedly, and shook her head with a smile. “I’m surprised
they find us so interesting with a naval base so close by. I thought people
around here would be use to aircraft landing in strange places.”
“Maybe they think
Spectrum are far more interesting than the navy,” Scarlet added with a grin.
Walking along
City Quay, Rio told him as much as she could remember of her home. The city;
it’s navy; the Gunwarf complex and how it had been a site owned originally by
the Royal Navy and the controversial Spinnaker Tower, probably the most loathed
building in Portsmouth apart from the Tricorn Centre, which had once stood in
Commercial Road before it had been demolished in 2004 and that had since been
turned into a new shopping and housing complex. There was also the successful
football team, who had recently become premier league champions for the seventh
year in a row
Spectrum weren’t
the only ones who knew where the president’s two eldest daughters were living.
Tara Mai had also found out where the World President’s children had been
hiding. Using their powers, the Mysterons had transported Tara Mai to
Portsmouth so that she could kill them first. The president would have to wait,
attacking him so quickly would ruin the whole plan, especially with Spectrum
being so closely involved. No, the Mysterons would strike at the those closest
to him first and save him until last, his death needed to be planned properly.
The World President was surrounded by security day and night, even more so now
that the new Mysteron threat was out. He had also been taken to Spectrum
Skybase the moment the threat had been announced, so the Mysterons wouldn’t be
able to get to him.
Tara Mai’s car
pulled up at the traffic lights just outside the Vernon Gate of Gunwarf Quays.
From her view point, Tara noticed that Spectrum were already there and, no
doubt, had found the targets. Tara cursed inwardly and drove straight through
the red lights and turned into the road for the underground car park. Several
cars swerved and beeped their horns in anger at her. Tara ignored the angry
drivers as she drove away, she was determined not to lose her opportunity to
the enemy.
Meeting her
sisters again after such a long time was the strangest thing for Rio, and the
hardest thing too. Captain Scarlet hadn’t taken long to work out that she was
hiding something and, unable to keep it from him any longer, Rio had yielded to
her feelings and had told him.
“You’re the World
President’s daughter?!” It didn’t
seem real to Captain Scarlet. The two of them were stood out on the balcony of
her middle sister’s apartment, waiting for her sisters to get themselves
together. “Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were friends.”
“How could I say
anything? You would have all held it against me. You would have thought that I
had used my father’s name to get into Spectrum. I couldn’t take that chance,
plus it would have been dangerous to broadcast such a fact to just any old person.”
Captain Scarlet
leaned against the railings and looked out over the harbour. Even though he
felt hurt that Rio hadn’t told him about her true identity, it made sense at
the same time. As somebody who was so closely related to such a powerful
person, it would have been dangerous for Rio to mention it, as it would make
her a target for assassination attempts. An evening breeze had begun to pick
up, the setting sun illuminating the complex in a red glow.
Resting her back
on the railings and gently placing her hand on his arm, Rio said “I’m sorry if
you feel I lied to you, but please try to understand it from my point of view.
I wanted you to accept me for who I am as a person, not because of who my
father is.”
Placing his hand
over her own, he looked at her and smiled. “No, I’m the one who should
apologize, I’m being a idiot!”
The chime of the
door announced that Rio’s two brother-in-laws must be back with the children. A
barrage of noise confirmed as much as three young children, two girls and a
boy, came running out onto the balcony. All three of them had dark hair and
tanned skin, like Rio, and were dressed in the black and red uniform of
Portsmouth Grammar School.
“Aunty Rio!!”
They cried in unison, as they flung their arms around her waist.
Nearly collapsing
under the enthusiasm of the group hug, Rio laughed. “It’s nice to see you too.”
The two girls,
twins, extracted themselves from their aunt and stared in awe of her uniformed
Spectrum colleague, their dark eyes studying him with some curiosity. It was
the little boy who spoke first. “Wow, you’re a Spectrum officer!”
“Yes I am,”
Captain Scarlet replied. “I’m Captain Scarlet.”
The boy’s face
split into a huge smile. “I want to be a Spectrum agent one day, like aunty
Rio.”
“Well, I can’t
promise that will happen,” Scarlet said, “but you might get part of your wish.”
The boy looked puzzled and looked at Rio for an answer.
Rio leaned
forward so that she was looking him in the eye. “I want you to listen
carefully, Steven, and you too,” she said looking at the twins. “There are some
nasty people out there who want to hurt you. So I’m taking you all to Skybase
with me, we need to hide you away for a little while.”
Much to Scarlet’s
surprise, they didn’t seem very frightened. A tall, slim woman appeared in the
doorway of the balcony. It was Rio’s middle sister, Paris. She had black hair,
cut to a length lying just under her jaw line. She looked very much like Rio,
except for the fact she had grey-blue eyes instead of dark brown. She was
dressed in the shortest white summer dress that Captain Scarlet had ever seen.
“Serena and Venus
aren’t bothering you, are they?” She asked.
Rio shook her
head. “No, they’re fine, it’s Steven we’re getting the ear ache from today.”
“We’re ready to
go now, if you’re finished out here. Phoenix is here, she’s gotten her stuff.”
Looking over at
Captain Scarlet, Rio nodded. “Yes we’re finished....for now at least.” The
three children ran back inside.
It was at that
moment that Captain Scarlet was hit by an awful feeling of nausea. He hesitated,
catching his balance on the railings. It could only mean one thing, Mysteron
agents were near by, and that could only mean trouble. He didn’t need to say a
word as Rio had already guessed what was happening, especially now that she
knew of her friend’s uniqueness. Looking over the railings they both recognized
the figure lurking on the walkway below them. It was Captain Black.
Great, that’s all we need! Scarlet thought
angrily. He grabbed Rio by the arm and dragged her back inside. This was the first
time he had seen, or met, Rio’s brother-in-laws and they seemed slightly taken
back by his rough handling of Rio. They were naval officers, dressed in full
uniform on that day. Turning around to shut the balcony doors, Scarlet looked
back at them and said “I’m going to need your help. A Mysteron agent is here.
He will no doubt try to prevent us from leaving and will most probably try to
kill us. Are you armed?”
“No, but we soon
will be,” one of them answered. The officer who had spoken was Paris’s husband,
Lieutenant Chris Leyton, the taller man of the two with short dark blonde hair.
Lieutenant Commander Harry Martin also had short hair, but it was auburn and he
had bright green eyes.
As the officer
opened a drawer on a nearby chest of drawers, Captain Scarlet looked over the
lieutenant’s shoulder and noticed it contained several weapons and guns with a
clear panel over them. A keypad was built into the screen, the “locked” light
was on at that moment. It almost looked like it had been engraved into the
glass itself. Keying in a code the panel slid back and the lieutenant took out
two guns, one for himself, the other he handed to Lieutenant Commander Harry
Martin. Captain Scarlet knew that the guns wouldn’t do much harm to Captain
Black, but hopefully they would slow him down long enough for them to escape.
“Eternity, we’ll
go first and make sure the area is clear. I’ll radio when it’s time.”
Rio nodded,
making sure her radio earpiece was still secure and the tiny microphone
attached to it was still positioned correctly. This was it, it was now down to
Captain Scarlet to protect all of them or, at the very least, the women and the
three children, as it seemed that the two officers seemed willing to fight
along side Captain Scarlet. Opening the door, Scarlet nodded at the two men to
join him.
Captain Black
knew he wouldn’t have much chance to get close enough to the group to kill
them, not while Captain Scarlet was with them. Which was why he was hoping plan
B would work. All Tara Mai needed to do was keep them in the building long
enough for him to set up the explosives to the base of the apartment block and
prime them. Then all he had to do was quietly slip away while the whole block
disappeared, along with the Mysteron targets, Tara Mai and Captain Scarlet.
Captain Black liked that idea. If he was blown to pieces, there would be no way
that Scarlet would be able to come back from the dead, and Tara Mai would have
served her purpose by then. Captain Black planned to kill the president
himself. As a former Spectrum Agent, Captain Black knew better than anyone
which maximum security hide out he would be hiding in.
Activating the
remote and attaching it to the bomb, Captain Black left the apartment block
without so much as a challenge. With the detonator hidden in his pocket,
Captain Black headed along the path way along the front of the apartment block
and towards the Wight Link ferry port car park.
Captain Scarlet
peered around the corner of the corridor to check that the coast was clear. He
looked over his shoulder and gave a quick, silent nod to let the other two know
it was okay to proceed. This was proving way too easy and he didn’t like it one
little bit. What were the Mysterons up to?
Scarlet radioed
Rio. “Eternity Angel, it’s clear. Proceed to lifts at the end of the corridor,
the lifts we used to get here.”
“S.I.G Captain,”
Rio’s voice crackled through the radio.
In the distance,
Captain Scarlet heard the faint click of a door closing. Within a few minutes
Rio, her sisters Paris and Phoenix and the three children were with them, along
with four medium travel bags. Rio was armed with her standard Spectrum gun and
looked like she was willing to use it too. Pressing the button to call the
lift, the group waited in silence. But what met them when the doors opened was
not what they expected or needed. It was Tara Mai.
“Stay where you
are, Earth man. You won’t get to play the hero this time, Captain Scarlet. I’m
here to make sure of that.” Tara Mai’s eyes flashed green for a brief second as
she pointed her weapon at him.
“Eternity, I want
you to get everybody back, find another escape route if you have to,” Scarlet
said, not daring to take his eyes off the Mysteron whilst trying desperately to
ignore the wave of nausea washing over him again. The group backed away.
Tara Mai flashed
a wicked smile. “So, you want to be first, do you?” She asked Captain Scarlet.
“How heroic of you. That’s fine with me, I can kill the others without anyone
to stop me.”
A gunshot rang
out. Scarlet opened his eyes to see Tara Mai lying on the floor. Turning to see
where the shot had come from, he saw Rio lowering her gun, smoke emanating from
the barrel. “I think it’s time to get going, that bullet won’t stop her for
long” she said. With that, the group got into the lift.
Rio and Captain
Scarlet hurried the group across the complex back to the helicopter. With both
Captain Black and a Mysteron agent loose in the area, they couldn’t afford to
hang around. Rio strapped herself in as Scarlet powered up the engines. The
blades began to spin and they slowly began to raise into the air, the security
guards keeping people back.
Sat in his car in
the ferry port, Captain Black had no idea that they had escaped. He took out
the detonator and looked at his watch, it was time. He pressed the button and
took great delight in hearing the proceeding explosion. The car door opened and
Tara Mai got in. Captain Black looked across at her. She seemed to know what he
was about to ask.
“They escaped,”
she admitted quietly.
Looking out of
the side window of the helicopter, Rio saw the building come down and become
nothing but a pile of smoking rubble and fire. If they had been there any
longer, Rio knew they could have been killed in the explosion.
Down on the
ground Captain Black saw the “Hummingbird” helicopter leaving. He looked over
at Tara Mai and said “this is not good enough, the Mysterons do not tolerant
failure. How could you let them escape?”
Without giving
her a chance to answer him, Captain Black promptly shot the Mysteronised aide
through the head and pushed her body out of the car door. As he drove away,
Tara’s body dissolved into thin air. From now on, Captain Black decided, he
would do things himself.
“Sounds like you
had some excitement in Portsmouth,” Destiny Angel said as Rio went into the
Amber Room. The pilot was sat with her feet up on the sofa, reading a fashion
magazine.
“You could say
that.” Rio paused and sat down on a nearby armchair before going on. “Captain
Black was there, he was behind our ambush.”
Destiny didn’t
react to the name but that didn’t fool Rio one bit. Rio knew all about
Destiny’s relationship with Captain Black, mainly because he had never really
kept it a secret from her....or anyone else for that matter. Part of Rio had
always felt envious of Destiny’s closeness to her friend. Not that she would
ever admit that, as it would mean having to admit how she had really felt about
him. Rhapsody, Harmony, Melody and Symphony all came bursting into the Amber
Room, talking quickly and making no effort to keep their voices down.
“The colonel
wants us all to go to the Conference Room. Says you’ve got something to tell
everyone,” Harmony said in her strong American South accent, looking over at
Rio as she said it.
“I think that’s
our cue to get moving,” Rio said, getting up from the armchair she was sitting
on. She had wanted to tell Destiny personally about them all going to the
Conference Room but Harmony had saved her the trouble.
“It must be
important for you to want all of us to go to the Conference Room,” Destiny
added.
The six women
walked in silence. Doctor Gold and the captains were already in the room when
they arrived. Rio met Captain Scarlet’s gaze for a brief moment as she walked
into the room and took her place beside Colonel White. Now was the time that
she would reveal her secret to her colleagues. Breaking eye contact with
Scarlet, Rio looked around the room, her Angel colleagues had settled
themselves either in the nearest vacant seats or were standing up. She hoped
and prayed that they wouldn’t hate her for what she was about to say, hoping
that her fellow pilots and the other officers would understand why she had kept
it quiet for so long.
“So what’s this
big piece of news you want to tell us?” Captain Magenta asked, “you’re not
pregnant, are you?”
Rio didn’t feel
much like laughing at his joke, although any other time she probably would
have. Either that or she would have hit back with a comment of her own. Part of
her wished she was pregnant, at least
that would seem like an easier alternative to deal with.
“It’s far more
serious than that,” she shot at Captain Magenta, harsher than she had intended.
Taken back by her mood, Magenta kept quiet. Whatever it was, it must be serious
for Rio to snap at Captain Magenta.
Captain Scarlet
came to her rescue. “I think we should give the lady a chance to talk, it’s
something we all need to hear.”
A silence settled
over the room as they all looked expectantly at the Angel pilot standing next
to Colonel White. Rio took a deep breath. “I’m more involved in this Mysteron
threat than anyone could possibly imagine......” She looked around at her
colleagues, “My name isn’t Rio Phoenix, it never was......it’s Rio
Younger....I’m the World President’s daughter. I’m the youngest of three the Mysterons
spoke of.”
The looks on the
faces of her colleagues said all she needed to know. They were obviously hoping
this was some kind of sick joke. Rio wished she was joking but it wasn’t to be.
Fighting the overwhelming feeling that she was going to cry, Rio backed away a
few steps and walked over to the other side of the room, keeping her back to
the other officers. It was Colonel White who spoke first.
“Due to this
unfortunate turn of events, Eternity Angel will be going into hiding with the
World President. Her family will be kept in a separate security strong hold for
their own safety.” Looking across the table at his top officers, Captain
Scarlet and Captain Blue, Colonel White added, “I want the two of you to
accompany the World President and Eternity Angel to the Canadian security
strong hold.”
Rio heard the
movement and footsteps of the Spectrum officers leaving, but she didn’t turn
back round. None of them spoke as they left. The silence from them was
unbearable. She became aware of a hand resting on her shoulder.
“That was a very
brave thing you did,” Colonel White’s voice said gently.
“Part of me
wishes I hadn’t now. They probably hate me for lying to them.”
“I doubt if that
is true,” Colonel White added with a knowing smile. “If anything, the male
officers on Skybase are smittened with you. Nothing you could do would put them
off.”
Rio tried to
laugh but the weight of impending doom seemed to drag her mood further and
further down with each passing minute. She knew that her commander in chief was
trying his hardest to support her but it wasn’t working as well as he obviously
hoped. Colonel White gently turned her around so that she was now facing him.
“When I found out
you were going to be asked to join Spectrum, I made a promise to your father
that I would look out for you. That’s why I want you to go to Canada for your
own safety. It’s a lot more secure than Skybase. You also have my two best
officers with you.”
With a feeble
nod, Rio replied “thank you.”
Once again Rio
was in her quarters, packing her small suitcase. But this time she wasn’t
leaving to deal with terrorists, she was leaving because she was the target and
was most certainly going to put her colleagues in danger. Given the choice Rio
would rather she was leaving to deal with Asian terrorist groups again. Leaving
the bathroom with a very full toiletries bag, the framed photo of herself and
Captain Black that was sat on her coffee table caught her eye. Feeling the
tears fighting their way to the surface, Rio laid the photo face down and
pushed the toiletries bag into her suitcase.
She walked alone
along the corridors of Skybase towards the hanger where the Albatross Special
Deployment Craft was held. Word had spread around Skybase like wildfire as to
the true identity of Rio. Staff huddled in groups, whispering to each other as
she passed. Rio hated it, it made her feel like some sort of circus freak. The
sooner she got on that Albatross, the better.
Captain Scarlet
was waiting for her when she arrived. He seemed to be the only person in
Skybase still talking to her, everyone else was giving her the silent
treatment. Not that Rio blamed them after what she had told them. Rio took
comfort in the fact that maybe Scarlet had gotten use to the idea quicker than
the others.
“Everyone else is
already onboard. Once we get on, we’ll be going,” Captain Scarlet informed her.
Before the two of
them could take another step, Destiny’s voice rang out across the hanger.
“Eternity! Wait!” The young woman was running across the hanger towards them
and stopped in front of Rio.
“What is it,
Destiny?” Rio asked.
Rather than
answering her with words, Destiny just hugged her. “Be careful, Eternity, I
want you to come back in one piece.”
Rio was touched
by Destiny’s kindness. Letting go of Rio and walking over to stand in front of
Captain Scarlet, Destiny pointed a finger at him and said “I want you to look
after Eternity, she’s one of my best pilots and I don’t want her to come to any
harm. Otherwise, indestructible or not, you’ll have me to answer to!”
Captain Scarlet
cracked a smile and nodded. “I’ll take good care of her, Destiny.”
Rio didn’t feel
much like talking and allowed Scarlet to continue speaking as they climbed
onboard. He told her that the Maximum Security Vehicle that was onboard would
be used to take Rio, the World President, Captain Blue and himself to Canada
once they landed at their destination. Another MSV would be waiting at the
rendezvous point to collect the rest of her family to take them to another safe
house that had just been built in Ohio.
It all seemed so
surreal, like some horrible dream. Rio couldn’t stand the thought that her best
friend, Captain Black, was under Mysteron control and now was intent on harming
her. Walking into the Albertross passenger hanger, Rio encountered her father
for the first time. He was tall, greying man who defiantly had that air of
authority about him. He had broken off his conversation with Captain Blue and
was watching her intently, which made Rio feel nervous.
All of the
stories her mother had told her about her father came flooding back to Rio’s
mind. It seemed so strange to Rio, for as long as she could remember she had
always wanted to meet her father, but hadn’t done so due to the fact that her
mother had always warned her not to. Her mother had told her that they had
gotten divorced before Rio had been born and he hadn’t had any contact with
them ever since. The danger involved with his job had been the main reason
behind their split. He knew that, if his political career ever went any
further, it could become more dangerous for him. With so many cranks in the
world, what would stop them from harming his family too?
As much as he
cared about them, president Younger hadn’t wanted his family being put in
unnecessary danger. After the split her mother had immigrated to England and,
six months later, brought Rio into the world. That had been thirty years ago
and Rio guessed that this was the first time the World President had seen her.
“I don’t believe
we’ve had the pleasure of meeting before, although there’s no doubting who you
are of course,” president Younger said. He reached out a hand, which Rio
promptly shook, although she didn’t really mean it. “You look very much like
your mother. How is she these days?”
Rio swallowed hard,
trying not to let the tears overwhelm her again, and dropped her hand from his
grip. It was only three years her mother had died and Rio still hadn’t properly
gotten over her death. Part of her wanted to shout at him for being so
insensitive but, at the same time, she knew that due to the non existent
contact between them since their divorce he probably didn’t know she had been
ill in the first place, let alone died of breast cancer.
“She died three
years ago.....cancer,” Rio finally managed to force out.
President Younger
seemed to grope for words. “I....I’m sorry to hear that....I had no idea.”
“I don’t expect
you would have.......” Rio’s voice trailed off.
Rio’s sisters,
Paris and Phoenix, looked at each other. They obviously wanted to say something
but thought better of it. Rio glared over at her sisters, how could they have not told him, they had been in the
Albatross with him longer than she had, they could have at least had the
decency to tell him. Not wanting to cause an argument in front of her sisters’
children, Rio chose to keep her emotional state to herself and sat down in the
nearest vacant seat, and remained silent.
After the detour
to Ohio, it was late by the time they reached Canada. It was cold and a thick
layer of snow had settled, hiding everything in a glittering sheet of white.
Stepping out into the moonlight, the occupants of the MSV shivered. Rio and
President Younger hadn’t spoken for the entire journey. To Captain Scarlet and
Captain Blue, it almost seemed like Rio had taken her father’s comments over
her mother very personally. The news had come as a shock to them too, as
neither of the two men had known her mother had succumb to cancer. The reasons
behind why Rio had never spoken about her family were all beginning to finally
make sense.
Captain Blue
radioed through to Skybase to let them know that they had arrived safely at the
hideout and, with that transmission, the MSV began to slowly sink under the
ground. Once the trap door pulled itself back over the top of the vehicle, it
looked exactly as it had done, like nothing had ever happened or existed there.
So much had
happened that Rio didn’t think it was possible for it to have happened all in
the space of one day. She shivered and pulled her coat closer around herself,
trying to keep the cold out as her mind worked on overtime. It didn’t help that
she only had her Angel uniform on under the coat, making everything seem a lot
colder than it probably was. At any other time she would have loved being out
in the snow under a clear moonlit sky, but she was tired due to the changing
time zones and Rio didn’t much feel like star gazing. It was only just becoming
nighttime in Canada
“I think we
should be getting inside, sir,” Captain Blue said to the president.
Rio noticed somebody
place their hand on her arm. Rio looked away from the starry sky and took
comfort in realizing it belonged to Captain Scarlet. Knowing he was around made
her feel a little safer. “Come on, we’d better get inside. It’s cold out here,”
he whispered.
The group made
their way towards the log cabin, fighting their way through the thick snow. The
cabin sat near the edge of a mountainous cliff by a pine forest. From the
outside it looked like any other cabin, just an innocent looking building sat
in the snow. Scarlet looked over at Rio but she wasn’t looking at him anymore.
She was looking down at the ground, not paying attention to the fact that he
was looking at her. Captain Scarlet wasn’t the only one who had noticed that
Rio had withdrawn into herself, Captain Blue glanced over his shoulder at Rio
then at Captain Scarlet. They entered the cabin in silence. Moving a secret
panel on the wall on the right hand side of the door, Captain Blue entered a
code into the keypad. On the other side of the room a bookcase moved to one
side, revealing a secret lift.
The lift took
them down half a mile underground to the secure secret hideout. As she stepped
out of the lift, the Angel pilot thought the open plan lounge and kitchen
looked like it went on forever. The room was decorated in deep reds and dark
browns and had wooden floors. There was a a soft faux leather sofa, matching
armchairs, a beautiful log fire that Rio could definitely get use to,
accompanied by a harthrug. The kitchen gleamed.
“There’s also six
bedrooms over in that direction, all en suite,” Captain Blue said, nodding
towards the door on the left, as if he had read Rio’s mind. “And through door
number two,” he continued, walking towards a door on the right, “there is a
multi gym and a library. The library also is fully equipped with various
communication equipment. You don’t have to worry about the Mysterons picking up
on the radio frequencies, our Spectrum engineers made sure the equipment has
been properly coded.”
“At least I can
keep things running whilst I’m not in the office,” president Younger added with
a slight smile.
Without so much
as a word, Rio split away from the three men and headed off in the direction of
the bedrooms. Everything felt so crazy, how could so much have happened in one
day? All Rio had wanted to do when she returned to Skybase was to have had a
hot bath and spend the rest of the day with her feet up. But that hadn’t
happened. Instead she was hiding from a dangerous enemy that had control over
matter itself. This was the one thing that scared her, knowing that a faceless
enemy that could take the disguise of anything or anyone was after not only
herself, but her entire family. Rio wasn’t use to such personal threats. Part
of her wanted to hide in her room forever, not wanting to face what was going
on or face her father. The father she had never known or met in thirty years.
Rio couldn’t figure out which one she was most afraid of, the Mysterons or
president Younger.
Rio heard a
gentle knock on the door and it creaked open behind her. Captain Scarlet’s head
appeared around the door. “You okay?” He asked gently.
“What do you
think?” Rio said, as she threw down her suitcase in a fit of frustration and
sat down on the end of the bed.
Captain Scarlet
let out a bearably audible sigh. “I wish there was something I could do to
change all of this. With everything else that’s happened, you don’t deserve any
of this.”
“Nobody has
deserved what the Mysterons have done to them. All of those people the
Mysterons have harmed or killed for their own ends....it isn’t right!”
Letting himself
in, Captain Scarlet closed the door behind him and sat down with her. “If the
Mysterons want to hurt you, they’ll have to go through me first. I won’t let
them harm you all the time I have breath left in my body.”
Rio didn’t need
to ask if he meant that, she knew him too well to ever doubt his word. Rio knew
she could trust him. Feeling herself getting emotional all over again, Rio
stood up and took a few steps across the room. Captain Scarlet stood too and
turned Rio around to face him. The warmth of his embrace made Rio feel
reassured as she rested her head against his chest, letting the tears trickle
down her cheeks yet again. Eventually he released her from his hold, held her
at arm’s length and smiled sympathetically.
“Why don’t you
join us for something to eat? Adam’s cooking!”
Rio couldn’t help
but smile at the thought. Captain Blue was the most unlikely candidate when it
came to such things, especially when he had insisted for months that he couldn’t
cook. Drying her eyes, Rio nodded, “okay, can’t wait to see this.”
The wintery
conditions hadn’t hindered Captain Black in the slightest. Now that he was this
close to the two prime targets of the Mysteron threat, he wasn’t about to let a
little thing like snow get in his way. He had abandoned his car from the outset
and had made most of the journey to the Spectrum maximum security hideout on
foot.
Rio couldn’t eat
another thing. If nothing else, Captain Blue was a good cook when he put his mind
to it. She refilled her glass with more of the non alcoholic white wine and
looked across the table at the American, making a mental note for herself to
let the other Angels know about Captain Blue’s secret talent.
“So, captain,”
president Younger said, looking over at Captain Scarlet, “have you ever thought
about settling down after your career comes to an end?” This was the current
subject of conversation for the dinner table, instigated by Rio, who had been
curious about some of her mother’s life before her time in England.
Captain Scarlet
seemed to hesitate before he answered. “Well, there is a woman I care
about.....but I’m not sure if she feels the same about me.” He glanced in Rio’s
direction as he said it.
“I’m sure she’ll
realize soon enough, given time,” Rio commented, meeting his gaze, feeling her
heart racing.
She couldn’t help
but feel he was talking about her. Why else had he looked at her in that way
when he had said it. But wasn’t he in some sort of relationship with Destiny?
At least, that’s what she had heard from the other Angels when she had come
back to Skybase. The last thing she wanted was to get tangled up in a messy
love triangle.
President Younger
leaned back in his chair and looked at his watch. Tiredness was getting the better
of him so he excused himself and retreated to him room. The remaining three
Spectrum agents agreed that maybe it was a good idea to follow suit and get
some sleep. Rio wasn’t fully convinced she would be able to though. Leaving the
men to worry about the washing up, Rio disappeared to her room. She had been
awake for nearly twenty three hours, thanks to the changing time zones, and it
was beginning to get to her. Rio collapsed on to her bed, fully clothed, and
kicked off her boots. Getting changed into her night dress seemed far too much
of an effort. Closing her eyes, Rio’s body finally gave into the fatigue and
she fell into a restless sleep.
Having given up
trying to sleep, Captain Scarlet was sat on the faux leather sofa, watching the
flames of the log fire burning low in the grate. Apart from the low glow from
the fire, there were no other lights on in the room. He was on his own with
only his thoughts for company, as Captain Blue was above ground keeping watch
and, Scarlet assumed, both Rio and the president would be asleep by now.
Sitting back in
the sofa, Scarlet drained his coffee mug, and went back to his brooding. He
really didn’t want to be there. Not that he didn’t want to be protecting the
president, far from it, he just hated the idea that Rio was in such terrible
danger. He was going to stick to the promise he made to Rio earlier that
evening. The Mysterons would have to kill him first if they wanted to take
Rio’s life.
Hearing footsteps
behind him made Scarlet leap to his feet and very nearly made him draw his gun.
His sudden movement made Rio leap back, startled, and she looked like she was
about to land a punch on him.
“Hey it’s only
me. Geez aren’t you the jumpy one!” She joked once she’d recovered from the
surprise.
Feeling foolish,
Scarlet looked at her slightly sheepish. “I’m sorry, you just startled me.” He
sat back down.
“Don’t mind if I
join you, do you?” Rio asked, walking around the sofa. “I couldn’t get back to
sleep and I was getting fed up with looking at the ceiling.”
Scarlet shook his
head to indicate that he didn’t mind. “Sure, I could do with some company. Good
to know I’m not the only one with insomnia tonight.”
Rio sat down and
curled her legs up onto the sofa. There was a moment of quiet before Rio asked,
“so.....how’s things with you and Destiny? I’ve been hearing whispers from the
other Angels.”
Scarlet smiled
good naturally. “No....it kind of fizzled when we realized that, maybe, we just
weren’t meant to be. It became obvious that our hearts belong elsewhere.”
Rio seemed to
ponder something before she spoke again. “In that case.....What you said
earlier, about the woman you care about. Were you talking about me?”
Scarlet continued
to watch the flames in the fireplace, not wanting to make eye contact. “I’m not
sure if now is the time to talk about this. My priority is to protect you and
the president. How I feel about anyone isn’t important.”
“Is that a yes or
a no?”
“Neither. Lets
wait until this is all over.”
It was obvious
that he didn’t really feel like talking about it. Rio decided to take the hint
and ended her persistence in the conversation. She, too, began to watch the
flames. There was something comforting about them, as the flames danced around
the glowing logs, bathing everything in a golden light.
“You cared about
him a lot, didn’t you,” Scarlet suddenly said, breaking their quiet
contemplation.
Rio dragged her
eyes away from the flames and looked at him. “Who?” She inquired, unsure of
what he was talking about.
“Conrad.”
Rio lowered her
eyes. “Yes, he was my friend, of course I cared about him.”
Scarlet shook his
head. “No, I mean more than that. There were times when I couldn’t help but
feel you wanted it to be more than friends.” He locked her gaze with his sky
blue eyes.
Rio answered his
meaningful look with a smile. “If I didn’t know any better, Paul, I’d say you
were jealous.”
The realization
of how stupid he was sounding dawned on him. But he wasn’t about to tell Rio
that he felt strongly for her, that his heart felt empty when she wasn’t
around. He also wasn’t going to admit to the fact that she had been the very
reason that he and Destiny had become estranged emotionally. They had both
realized that Scarlet’s heart really belong with Rio and that wasn’t going to
change anytime soon. Now wasn’t the time to discuss it. Yes, maybe he was
jealous. Jealous of how close Rio and Captain Black had become before his
“death”.
“Yes, maybe I did
care about Conrad, a lot. And yes,
part of me wishes I could have been more than a friend, but Destiny is my
friend too and I wouldn’t ever do anything that cruel. The Conrad I knew and
loved is gone and I have to live with that now. I lost my chance, perhaps for
good, and I can’t go back and change those decisions. I just hope that, with
time, my heart heals.”
Admitting all of
this was making it easier for Rio, easier for her to accept what was going on
and how she was feeling. It was the first time she had admitted out loud to
anyone that, just maybe, she had been in love with Captain Black. Rio saw that
Scarlet was watching her with mild interest. Leaning forward, Rio gently kissed
her protector and friend. Scarlet’s guard dropped for the briefest of seconds,
forgetting for those few moments that he was locking lips with the World
President’s youngest daughter. She moved away and gently brushing her hand
across his cheek.
As she stood to
leave, Rio added, “thank you for listening. I think I needed to get that out in
the open.”
“Sweet dreams,
Angel.” It was about all that Scarlet could manage. He was so startled by Rio’s
goodnight kiss that he had nearly lost the power of speech. They held their
gaze for a few moments longer, before Rio disappeared into her room.
It was a good ten
minutes before Captain Scarlet regained his senses and remembered that he
should have radioed through to Captain Blue by now to get an update on what was
happening above ground. It would be his turn to keep watch soon and Scarlet
wanted to know how things stood half a mile above their heads. But his radio
signal gained no response. Scarlet tried again, to no avail. It wasn’t like
Captain Blue to ignore him, not without good reason.
Taking the lift
back up to the surface, Captain Scarlet stepped out into the cabin. “Adam!
Where are you?”
It was clear to
Scarlet that he wasn’t in the cabin any longer. This was completely out of
character for Captain Blue, he would never disappear without warning. Captain
Scarlet stepped out into the cold night air and glanced around the immediate
area, hoping that maybe the American officer had only gone outside for some
fresh air and had suffered some sort of radio failure. At that moment, Scarlet
heard the feeble groan of a person in pain. Walking over to the nearby trees
directly ahead of the cabin with his gun drawn, Captain Scarlet could make out
a shape, it looked like a person. But in the darkness of the trees it was hard
to tell from that distance. It wasn’t until he got close enough that he
realized it was Captain Blue.
“Adam!” Scarlet
said, kneeling down to roll him over and shaking him awake. “Adam! What
happened?”
“Got
jumped.......” Captain Blue struggled to force out.
Radioing through
to Skybase, Scarlet said, “we have a problem, Captain Blue has been attacked by
an unknown assailant.” The familiar wave of nausea hit him within seconds of
him saying that. “It’s the Mysterons, they’re here...they’ve found us.”
Looking around
the corner of the front of the cabin, Captain Black was pleased to see that his
plan was working. Knowing that Scarlet couldn’t ever resist helping the fallen
or generally playing the hero, Captain Black knew that he would be too occupied
to worry about what the Mysteron agent was about to do next. Pulling his head
back into the shadows of his hiding place behind the cabin, Captain Black’s
eyes glowed green.
“Eternity Angel,
can you hear me? I need to see you......to speak to you......please......help
me...........”
Rio woke with a
start. She was sure she had heard Captain Black’s voice calling to her through
the darkness. But he couldn’t possibly be in her room. Had it just been a
dream? The voice had seemed so unsure, scared even. She heard the voice again.
This time more distinct, sounding more urgent and insistent. Rio couldn’t help
but feel compelled to follow it, to help Captain Black. She couldn’t stop
herself. Pulling on her boots, Rio took the lift to the surface.
“Eternity, please
help me!”
Rio didn’t even
notice the cold as she stepped out into the snow. She didn’t notice Captain
Scarlet a few yards away with Captain Blue, neither did they see her as she
disappeared around the building. Rio couldn’t fight this almost magnetic hold
that the voice had over her. She had no control over her feet. Stopping at the
back of the building, Rio stood looking at the thin patch of trees, beyond them
was a cliff edge. Rio came to her senses and suddenly realized where she was.
She shivered, feeling stupid and puzzled and unable to explain to herself what
had just happened.
Captain Black
grabbed the unsuspecting woman from behind, wrapping one arm tightly around her
waist, pinning her arms against her sides, and clamping a hand over her mouth
before Rio could scream. Rio tried desperately to struggle free.
“If you do as
you’re told, you may just live to talk about it,” Captain Black’s cool husky
voice whispered in her ear.
“Where the hell is she?! You were suppose to
protect us, captain!” President Younger was so angry that he could hardly stop
himself from laying into Captain Scarlet.
Scarlet had
returned to the below ground with the now conscious Captain Blue, who was still
nursing a sore head, and the three men had since discovered that Rio was
missing when Scarlet had gone to check on her. The captain knew that he made a
terrible error and Rio could now be in danger. But he couldn’t abandon his
colleague either, Captain Blue had also needed his help.
The lift whirred
into action and a few seconds later, they were joined by four Spectrum security
officers, who had been stationed nearby at check points should Captain Scarlet
and Blue had needed any assistance.
“Eternity Angel
has gone missing. We need to search the immediate area,” Captain Scarlet told
the four officers. I just hope she’s safe
and hasn’t gotten too far, he thought to himself, remembering the promise
he had made to her.
Leaving two of
the men behind to protect the president, Scarlet, Blue and the remaining two
officers went above ground. The search seemed to take forever and turned up
nothing. Captain Scarlet could feel himself become more frantic, surely Rio
couldn’t have gotten that far. But then again, nobody could be sure how long
she had been gone before they had noticed she was missing.
A gun shot ran
out from the nearby cliff top trees, killing the security officer that was with
him. Spinning on his heels, Scarlet ran towards the trees from where the bullet
had come from, his Mysteron sixth sense screaming in his head. Captain Black
was through those trees and no doubt he would have Rio. Why else would he be
hanging around, apart from wanting to get the president?
The branches
seemed so stubborn and made his progress difficult. The cliff top seemed
deserted when he got there, maybe his nemesis was still hiding out the forests?
Captain Scarlet had no time to ponder on the thought or turn back as he was
confronted with the sight he hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with.
“Captain Scarlet,
so nice of you to finally join us.” The shadowy shape emerged from the trees.
It was Captain Black and he had Rio with him, a gun pointed directly under her
chin. He still had an arm tightly clamped around her waist. Scarlet had never
seen Rio looking so terrified.
Captain Scarlet
took a step forward but Captain Black pushed the gun into the woman’s chin for
emphasis. “Take one more step, and she dies.” With an evil grin he added, “and
I wouldn’t want to damage such a beautiful face.” He ran the barrel of the
weapon across Rio’s cheek.
“What do you
want?” Captain Scarlet asked, but he knew this was probably a stupid question.
“The World
President. Bring him here, now!”
“No!
Paul, don’t!” Rio cried. “Don’t do it, I’d rather die than let the Mysterons kill my
father.”
“Rio?” Scarlet
asked uncertainly.
“You know the
score. We’re Spectrum agents, we knew when we accepted this job that this could
happen to one of us one day.” Rio’s eyes were filled with a determination that
Scarlet had never seen before. She meant every word of what she had said, Rio
would rather she sacrificed her own life if it meant that the president would
be safe.
“Wise words,”
Captain Black’s voice added from behind her, “shame they won’t save you.”
“Yes they will,
captain, let her go.” Captain Black snapped his head around and saw that the
new voice belong to the one target he truly wanted. The World President. “I
asked you to let my daughter go. You have what you want.”
Rio felt the arm
holding her prisoner loosen up from around her waist and push her away towards
Captain Scarlet. Scarlet caught her before she tumbled over the edge of the
cliff. The winds were whipping up around them, the cold tearing through them.
Rio clung to Captain Scarlet, watching helplessly as Captain Black held her
father at gunpoint. It all felt so wrong, her conscious was gnawing away at
her. Suddenly, completely on impulse, she ran forward and turned herself into a
barrier between herself and the president, pushing her father out of harm’s way
as several gun shots rang out. All Rio felt was intense pain as the bullets
torn through her body. She was sure she heard a voice cry out “no!” as her vision blurred and she
crumpled to the ground. What she didn’t see was that her father had been
dragged to safety by Captain Blue.
Captain Scarlet
felt numb, unable to move. It had all happened so quickly. He stood where he
was, looking at Rio’s lifeless body lying in the snow. He looked at Captain Black
and for the briefest of seconds, he was sure he saw a flicker of regret cross
his face. It passed so quickly that he couldn’t be sure. The red mist then
descended over him and Scarlet went after Captain Black, as he disappeared into
the shadows of the trees. So angered was he by Captain Black’s assault on Rio
that Scarlet wanted make him suffer. But it didn’t look like Captain Scarlet
was going to get his wish, as it seemed that Black had disappeared.
He stood there in
the darkness of the trees for a moment and suddenly it hit him; Rio was still
lying where she had fallen. Was she still alive? Scarlet turned on his heels
and ran back to the clearing, falling to his knees at Rio’s side.
“Rio?” He asked
gently, cupping her face in his hands. “Rio...please talk to me. Please be
alive.” He looked for a pulse. Her Angel uniform was now the same colour as his
tunic, as was the snow where she had been lying.
Rio suddenly took
a huge breath and opened her eyes. “Paul,” she whispered.
“Rio,
you’re alive.” Captain Scarlet lifted her up into his arms with great tenderness and
held her close, holding her gaze, “stay alive, Angel, just stay alive. We’ll
get you back to Skybase, doctor Gold will help you.”
Rio shook her
head, fighting against the pain. “No, Paul, he can’t. I--I won’t make it that
far.”
“But you have to.
I won’t let you die.”
The dying Angel
placed her hand on his face, “let me go. I’ve lost too much blood....I’ll die
before we get there.” Her hand lowered and she closed her eyes.
“Stay awake!” Scarlet
begged, shaking her gently.
He could feel her
breathing getting shallow, her pulse getting weaker by each passing second. She
was becoming cold but he couldn’t be sure if it was the cold weather or her
blood lose that was causing it. Like it or not, she was going to die there in
his arms, but he just couldn’t accept it. Rio forced herself to open her eyes
once more.
“You’re a good
man, Paul. You’ve been a great friend to me...I want you to know that.” Pulling
him closer with her remaining strength, Rio gently kissed him one last time in
way of a good-bye.
Scarlet hoped
desperately that it wouldn’t end but her lips began to move away. Her eyes lost
their focus and, after taking her last breath, Rio’s life slipped away. Scarlet
was sure his heart was about to break, as he held Rio tightly in his arms,
resting his face against her own.
“I’m sorry, dear
Angel, please forgive me,” he whispered, regretting that it had been Rio who
had been shot and not himself. “I failed you.”
It was a cold,
dark day when Rio’s funeral took place, reflecting the mood of her Spectrum
colleagues. On the wishes of her sisters, her body was to buried next to her
mother in Kingston cemetery in her home city of Portsmouth. Acting as paul
bearers Captain Scarlet, Blue, Magenta and Grey carried her coffin across the
cemetery towards the plot where she would be laid to rest. The Angels,
Lieutenant Green and Captain Ochre followed behind, unashamed of the tears that
they shed for her. Even Colonel White was unusually quiet and somber.
President Younger
himself had also attended the funeral, wanting to say good-bye to the daughter
he hadn’t had the chance to know until recently. He placed a single white rose
on her coffin lid as it was gently lowered into the ground.
Captain Scarlet
stayed at the grave as the others filtered away. Captain Blue stopped and
looked over his shoulder, noticing his friend hadn’t left with them. His
shoulders relaxed with a certain understanding.
“You guys go on,
I’ll catch up,” Blue said to the rest of the group and walked back to join his
friend.
Without so much
as looking at Captain Blue, Scarlet whispered, “I broke my promise, I failed
her.”
“Don’t talk
stupid, Paul, you didn’t fail,” Captain Blue said. “Rio chose to give her life
for the president, you couldn’t know what she would do or stop her from doing
so.”
Turning his head,
Scarlet added, “it should have been me taking those bullets, not her. It was my
job to protect her but now she’s dead. It wasn’t meant to be this way.”
The following week.......
A sadness had
settled over Skybase every since Rio had been lost to the Mysteron threat.
There was a strange emptiness in the Amber Room, despite the presence of the
five remaining Angel pilots. As a result of Rio’s death, Colonel White had decided
to go ahead with his plan of starting to train more pilots as replacements
should anything happen to the existing Angels.
Rhapsody stepped
into the room and looking directly to the spot where Rio had usually sat. But
the couch directly in front of the Amber Room’s door was empty. Rhapsody
couldn’t get use to that. Rio had always liked sitting there when she was on
duty, as she was able to greet her fellow Angels whenever they came in.
Harmony, Melody and Symphony had been given a few days of off duty
compassionate leave, on the condition they get straight back to the Amber Room
should there be an emergency. Unaware of the fact that Destiny was already in
the Amber room, Rhapsody was startled when she suddenly appeared at her side on
the way out of the room. They silently looked at each other and Destiny went
into the corridor.
Captain Scarlet
stood by the huge windows of the Promenade Deck, resting his hand on the frame
and staring out in the clear blue sky. If this was what grief felt like, he didn’t
like it. He looked down at the photo of Rio in his left hand. Rio had given it
to him the day she had left for her journey to the Federal Agents Bureau, so
that he could remember her when she was away. On that day he hadn’t had any
idea that picture would end up meaning so much to him.
The Promenade
Deck had become his new favourite place over the past few days. It seemed like
the only place on Skybase where he was able to have time to himself, to deal
with his emotions on his own in peace. He felt so empty and lost without Rio,
it almost felt like his soul had left him. Resting his forehead against the
glass, Scarlet closed his eyes, wishing the ache in his heart would stop.
Everybody had
noticed Captain Scarlet’s change of mood. While they all knew that people often
changed during such a stressful time, Scarlet seemed more grief stricken than
most. Worried for his friend’s mental stability, Captain Blue took his concerns
to doctor Gold. Walking into sick bay, he was grateful to see that doctor Gold
was in his officer alone. He really didn’t want to discuss this in front of
anyone else. He had made sure that he got there before Melody was due for her
medical and, thankfully, she hadn’t got there early.
Doctor Gold
looked up from his computer console and smiled. “Ah, captain, I believe you
wanted to speak with me.”
The American
nodded and sat down in the nearest vacant chair. Captain Blue got straight to
the point. “I’m worried about Captain Scarlet. He hasn’t been completely all
there for days.”
With a
sympathetic smile, Gold said “Captain Scarlet has just lost somebody he cared
about. You know as well as I do that he was very close to Eternity Angel. Maybe
he’s just having a hard time accepting she’s gone.”
Captain Blue
sighed. “I guess so.” They were all finding it difficult to get use to what had
happened.
“Just give him
some time. I know from experience that everybody has their own way of dealing
with the death of a friend or a loved one. Captain Scarlet will need his
friends around him. Make sure you’re there for him when he needs that friend.”
Their
conversation was cut short by the entrance of Melody Angel, who had arrived for
her quarterly medical examination. The looks on their faces told her that she
had interrupted something. She grinned sheepishly as she backed out of the
office.
As Captain Blue
went to leave, doctor Gold caught his arm and added, “unfortunately, captain,
there’s no cure for a broken heart. Let Captain Scarlet make the first move
when he’s ready to talk.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note from the author:
I
just thought I’d better add this to say a quick thank you to Ladyhawke, who I
met through the ‘Spectrum Headquarters’ fan fiction web site. She helped me
come up with the original concept for this story and for Rio Younger (Eternity
Angel). We came up with these ideas way back in 2001 but I have only recently
had the chance to sit down and work on them. This story was going to be set during
the 1967 series but, when the recent CGI series was released, I decided that my
ideas would be better suited to the new series. The web site for the new
Captain Scarlet series can be found at: www.captainscarlet.com
I do have a slightly bias reason behind why I included Portsmouth in my story and bias reasons behind the inclusion of Gunwarf Quays and why Rio Younger hails from Portsmouth. I’m a Portsmouth girl myself and I use to work in Gunwarf Quays in a shop called “Bookends”.
Anyone
wanting to know more about “Gunwarf Quays” should check out the following web
site: www.gunwarf-quays.com
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