This story takes place approximately a year after the War of Nerves started, and
shortly before Captain Scarlet and Rhapsody Angel became a couple.
A “Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons” story
By Chris Bishop
CHAPTER 1
It wasn’t really a typical
mission.
At
least, that was what Captain Scarlet was thinking as he gazed distractedly
through one of the cabin windows of the helicopter, watching the white clouds
passing by in the clear sky.
He
wasn’t seated in a Spectrum helijet; he wasn’t in the company of his Spectrum
colleagues and he wasn’t even wearing his usual Spectrum uniform. Like his
companions riding in the helicopter with him, he had donned a woodland
camouflage uniform, distinguished from the others only by the black armband with
the black, white and grey Spectrum emblem stamped on it.
His bright red Spectrum uniform was deemed far too conspicuous for this
operation, and besides, it would not really have been practical or even
comfortable for the terrain they were about to survey.
Regular combat boots are much better for walking in muddy water,
Scarlet reflected, looking down at his feet. He
had not worn these for years, it seemed to him. They were his own boots from his
time in the WAAF, not those from the Spectrum combat uniform that had been
issued to him when he had been given his commission, a couple of years ago.
The occasion to wear those other boots had never presented itself, not in a
field situation, anyway; they were far too new to be comfortable when he had
tried them on the previous day, before he was to leave for this mission.
Fortunately, he had kept his old boots, and they were similar enough to
Spectrum’s to swap them, without anyone even noticing the difference –
especially not Colonel White. He wondered if the old man would approve
of the exchange; he preferred not to ask him directly.
Scarlet looked again out through
the window he was sitting next to. There was a white jet flying nearby, matching
speed with the helicopter. He smiled inwardly; the Angel fighter was actually
the only thing that indicated that this was a Spectrum mission. The fighter was
close enough for him to be able to make out the outlines of the pilot through
the canopy, with her long red hair emerging from beneath the helmet. Almost
despite himself, he waved a discreet salute in the jet’s direction.
He saw the pilot wave back, and was almost surprised to realise she had actually
seen his gesture.
“Is it true what they say, Captain?
All the Angel pilots are women?”
The young commando seated by
Scarlet’s side was peering through the same window, towards the Angel fighter.
The Spectrum officer wondered if he had seen the wave back from the pilot.
Not that it was of the utmost importance. He nodded at the question.
“Yes, Lieutenant, it’s true.
They’re all women.”
“Pretty?” the commando asked.
Scarlet was rather amused by the
young man’s question. “Yes, they
are. They suit their codename very well.
And they’re amongst the best pilots in the world,” he added quickly.
“Either male or female.”
“Yeah, so I heard,” the commando
said. “I guess they would have to be, or they wouldn’t be part of Spectrum,
would they?” He paused, looking
again towards the Angel interceptor through the window. “I always wanted to meet
an Angel pilot,” he added thoughtfully.
“Lay off, Mahoney,” one of his
companions told him, teasingly.
“Stop bothering the captain.
He has other things to think about than answering your silly questions.”
“I’m not bothered,” Scarlet
replied.
“You might not be, Captain, but we
hardly can say the same.
Mahoney has been bothering us forever about Spectrum, and their
pilots, how great they are and how he would like to meet one of them. He’s been worse since he learned about
this mission and that one of the Angel craft would be escorting us. Ask Major
Montgomery,” the commando concluded. “He will tell you about it.”
Scarlet turned to the man seated
nearest to the open door leading to the cockpit. The major was a tall, slim man with blue
eyes blazing in the middle of a craggy, exceptionally tanned face, which was
already half-shadowed by a black cap covering prematurely greyish short hair. He shrugged indifferently and offered a
thin smile to the Spectrum officer.
“Our young lieutenant’s dream is to
join Spectrum one day,” Montgomery explained. “He’s a good officer, all right,
and I’ve no doubt that one day, he’ll be able to fulfil that dream. But he’s
still a little green around the ears and needs to gain more experience.
So for now, he’s kind of stuck with us.”
“And us with him!” another commando
added mockingly. His remark caused his companions to laugh and exchange jokes at
the expense of Mahoney who reddened violently and lowered his head. He didn’t
seem to mind their teasing though, despite the fact he outranked most of them.
He obviously was the rookie of the team. He noticed Scarlet pensively looking his
way.
“I would like to fly an Angel jet,”
he said to Scarlet, by way of explanation. “I signed up for the flying course… I know the Angels are women-only, but…”
“So far,” Scarlet remarked, “but
who knows if you might not get your chance in the future? Spectrum is an equal opportunity
employer, Lieutenant. If you’re good
enough, you might get to be chosen. But you have to know that Spectrum only
takes the very
best.”
“I know that, Captain,” Mahoney
answered, smiling. “And I intend to
become one of them.”
“Good lad.” Scarlet smiled back.
“But if you are ever chosen, won’t you feel a little alone if you find yourself
the only man in a squadron full of women?”
“No… I’ll be the envy of the rest of ‘em,
Captain,” Mahoney replied.
“Especially if these girls are as pretty as they all say!”
Scarlet chuckled. “Clever guy.
That’s what I call planning!” He glanced through the window, thoughtfully. “In
the meanwhile, would you really like to meet one of those Angel pilots?”
Mahoney’s eyes lit up. “Are you
serious, Captain?”
“Of course. That way you’ll be able
to judge for yourself how pretty they really are.” He jerked his thumb towards the window. “I’ll ask Rhapsody if she would accept a
date with you.”
There were whooping sounds from all
around, coming from the rest of the commandos. Mahoney reddened anew. “You think she would accept, Captain?”
“I don’t know yet, but I can always
ask her. If you’re free after this
mission…” Scarlet glanced towards
Montgomery who shrugged again.
“I’m sure it can be arranged,” the
major answered.
“Then I’ll try my best to convince
Rhapsody,” Scarlet said with a new smile.
“Rhapsody,” Mahoney repeated
dreamily. “What a lovely name…”
Scarlet’s smile turned to a grin.
Rhapsody was, indeed, a lovely girl.
“Great,” one of the other commandos
muttered. “Think it was bad before,
guys? Wait ‘til Mahoney finally gets
to meet one of them. We won’t hear the end of this.”
Chuckles and laughs filled the
cabin and Scarlet’s ears pricked at some of the jokes he was hearing, no doubt
aimed at teasing poor Mahoney. He feigned not to hear them; he had no doubt the
young man was big enough to be able to take them. He took an instant liking of
the young man, having been in similar situations before during missions, with
companions much older and far more experienced. He imagined the lieutenant would have his
revenge, anyway, when he told them all about his date with the Angel pilot. Mahoney was probably around Rhapsody’s age;
perhaps a year younger, if Scarlet was any judge.
He returned his attention back to
the window, looking down to the ground over which the chopper was flying. It was
wilderness, as far as the eye could see: a devastated territory of swamps, woods
and greenery that spread for miles around. Amongst the dense tree cover, Scarlet
could see broken and dead trees, covered with moss, scattered here and there all
around the ground; driftwood floated on the muddy water and though the
vegetation was very dense in some areas, he thought he saw what was left of a
couple of destroyed houses, standing as proof that this region had not always
been as it was today.
Already covered with patches of
wilderness in the recent past, this part of Louisiana had been, over the years,
stricken by a series of tornadoes from inland and hurricanes coming from the
Gulf of Mexico, which had destroyed nearly all habitations, and driven most of
the population away, reclaiming the land to expand the wilderness of woodlands
and swamps over a far larger territory than it used to be. Since those
tumultuous times, most Louisianan people had elected to settle in the more
protected big cities, like Baton Rouge and New Orleans, but even to this day,
there still remained a few towns scattered through the now wild area, inhabited
by those who obstinately refused to give in to Nature and leave their homes.
Those people still living there
were stubborn, proud people, who had chosen to defy the elements that, even
today, were repeatedly trying to claim a land that they had lived on and worked
on all their lives. The folks from some of these mostly isolated towns lived as
a close society, away from what was called ‘civilisation’, often not even
benefiting from the latest that technology and science had to offer. The surrounding area was untamed and
inhospitable. Not only was the land itself dangerous ground for people to live
on, but it now offered better
protection to the animal kingdom, permitting beasts living in the existing
wilderness to multiply and increase their natural habitat. Wild creatures like
bears, snakes and alligators were now roaming free on this new enlarged
territory, claiming it as their own, and there had been a number of fatal
outcomes for human beings who crossed their paths.
Which, Scarlet mused, could add to
the danger of their present mission.
“All right, men,” he heard the
voice of Montgomery say. “We’re approaching the search area. Prepare for landing.”
Everyone around Scarlet muttered
their assent and then got busy.
He made a careful check of his gear.
To tell the truth, he didn’t feel completely at ease in the company of
these men, despite having been a WAAF soldier himself some years before, and a
member of similar groups of commandos during various missions. Perhaps, he
considered, he didn’t feel like a part of these men, because of the very nature
of this assignment; he was to only accompany them to the base of operations, but
his
job was to be slightly different from theirs. He had his own search to make, and for
security reasons, he was not to share it with them.
Montgomery knew that much, but no
more than that; and it was more than probable that he hadn’t even confided any
of this to his men.
Scarlet knew Major Philip
Montgomery by reputation; he was a highly experienced, efficient WAAF commando,
who had participated in many successful missions. Having received his own orders from the
WAAF, he knew better than to ask any questions about the Spectrum officer’s
assignment, but it was plain by the way he was looking at the latter that he was
still somewhat bemused by Scarlet’s presence in his team. Perhaps he was
wondering why he was coming with them instead of being part of a whole
Spectrum party. Like Scarlet, he was English, which, the Spectrum captain
presumed, was probably the reason why he had been chosen to lead this expedition
in the first place. He knew that the wreckage they were to search was from a
British craft, which had crashed in these wetlands more than twenty years ago.
But for the rest, he probably had no idea.
And quite frankly, Scarlet
reflected, it was much better that neither Montgomery, nor any of his
companions, knew. They were honest
men, good officers, but that wasn’t enough to put them in the know, considering
the nature of this search. And
specifically
regarding the secrecy surrounding his mission, which was ordered by
Colonel White, and passed down from the World President himself.
Considering all this, Scarlet
couldn’t help but feel ill-at-ease…
“In September 18th, 2046, the A67-Z
private jet out of Heathrow, England, made its last layover at St.John’s
International Airport, in Newfoundland, before taking off two hours later,
towards Bermuda. That was the last
time it was ever seen.”
Colonel White turned away from the
screen behind him and looked at the two English officers seated with him in the
Conference Room. Both Captain
Scarlet and Rhapsody Angel were listening with attention.
“Tropical storm Diego, which was
wreaking havoc in the Gulf of Mexico during that time, had evolved into a
hurricane and struck the coast of Florida in the hours following, moving along
the south coast, and then striking the Bahamas and Bermuda. While most flights had been called off, A67-Z
continued its course, and was believed to have been hit by the hurricane. It vanished without trace.” He turned
back towards the map, as his finger pointed a spot on the digital pad upon his
desk, on which the same map was drawn, on a smaller scale. A luminous dot appeared on the large map,
where his finger had landed. “Two days ago, wreckage of a small plane was found
here, in the middle of Devil’s Bayou, in Louisiana, by a local hunter. According
to what could be seen of the markings, it could be A67-Z.”He turned again to his
officers.
Scarlet was nodding slowly.
“So that’s where the storm would have taken the plane then, some twenty years
ago. Quite a long way from its destination, I must say.”
“Apparently,” White agreed. “Diego
hit this wide area hard, for three consecutive days. It travelled deep inland
into Southern United States, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. The strong winds obviously carried the plane
further west of its destination, and it’s quite possible that, in those
circumstances, while trying to battle the force of the storm, the pilot
completely lost track of his trajectory.
The last message from A67-Z was received from the Miami Tower, with the pilot
saying he was caught in the wind with no idea of where he was.”
“So the plane crashed in
Louisiana,” Rhapsody said in turn.
“In the middle of the wilderness, away from civilisation… And during the storm, there were no
witnesses to the exact location of the crash.”
“It’s the wilderness all right,”
White confirmed. “There are no major
cities around that area for kilometres – only a small town or two, barely
inhabited. At the time of the storm,
the people of the area had probably been completely evacuated. The others who
might have been left behind had other problems on their minds, obviously. The plane might have sunk deep into the
swamp. Never to be found until two
days ago.”
White pressed a button, and the
image on the screen disappeared, before the screen itself, slowly, started to
rise towards the ceiling. The
colonel addressed his officers again: “A team of WAAF commandos will be
dispatched to Devil’s Bayou tomorrow, to mark the place, recover what they can
of the wreckage and bring it back to civilisation, so an investigation will take
place to establish the cause of the crash.”
“Isn’t it obvious it was the
storm?” Rhapsody asked with a slight frown.
“It would appear so, but it could
very well be that the plane had been sabotaged in the first place, and the World
Government would very much like to know if that’s the case.”
“Sabotaged?” Scarlet echoed,
puzzled by the use of the word. “Why would the World Government be interested in
a plane that crashed more than twenty years ago?”
“I don’t have to remind either of
you what the situation in Britain was, back in 2046,” Colonel White sourly
continued. “Those were the last days
of the Military Regime and the world at large was growing rather concerned about
the intentions of the… British leaders of the time. Not without reason, I might
add. The World Government was keeping a close check on Britain back then. The Universal Secret Service had a ring
of highly trained agents which operated from a secret London office. There were
spies at every level of the British Government.”
“Can’t say I blame the World
President of the time wanting to keep an eye on what was going on in our
country,” Scarlet said darkly. “Bandranaik was nothing, if not a very careful
man.”
“At some point,” White continued,
“the U.S.S. came into possession of some important information that they
obtained from a very high-ranking official of the British Government.”
“Obtained?” Scarlet asked with a
raised brow.
“That’s spy lingo for ‘stole’,”
Rhapsody clarified.
“Thank you, I think I got that.”
“The information in question was
contained in one microchip,” White moved on, “and was considered so vital that
it was deemed necessary to smuggle it out of Britain without delay, to be handed
over to the World Government.”
“So a U.S.S. agent left England
aboard the A67-Z,” Scarlet concluded, catching his commander’s drift. “And the
microchip was lost during the storm.”
“But now, the plane has been found, after all these years. And it’s
imperative that this microchip is recovered,” White confirmed. “By direct order
of the World President.”
“If it still exists,” Scarlet
remarked with a frown. “What does the chip contain exactly, sir?”
“At the moment, Captain, I’m not at
liberty to tell you. Either of you. Suffice it to say that this is a matter
of World security. What this chip
contains must not fall into the wrong hands.”
“Of course, sir,” Rhapsody
concurred.
“I chose the two of you,” White
continued, “because this affair is closely related to something that happened in
our country. Not only is this a
demand from World President Younger, but I will feel more comfortable not asking
non-English members of Spectrum to get involved with this, if I can avoid it.”
“We are not particularly proud of
this specific part of our history, are we, sir?” Rhapsody said. “It still too
close for comfort.”
“You probably remember very little
of it, Rhapsody,” Scarlet remarked quietly. “After all, you were probably still
in nappies around the time the Military Regime ended.”
He saw her straightening up on her
chair as she turned a withering look at him. He quickly hid an amused smile behind his
hand. He knew her so well; she had
such a fiery temper, and it was so easy to set her off, he couldn’t resist doing
it whenever he had the chance to.
Obviously, references to her age were still a sore subject, ever since
Captain Black had raised questions about it at the start of Spectrum just a few
years before. Not that her age had ever been viewed as a setback within Spectrum
– only by Captain Black, really, as he saw her as nothing more than a
thrill-seeking, little rich girl.
That was a situation that didn’t sit too well with her at the beginning, and she
had made a personal point to prove to the most senior of the captains that she
was anything but a kid and an amateur.
Gaining Black’s respect had not been easy, and although Black had finally
conceded that Rhapsody was quite able to perform her duties as well as any of
the other Angels, he still was unable to see her as anything other than the
‘baby’ among the senior staff.
Of course, for Scarlet it really wasn’t an
issue, as he had experienced many similar reservations about his age during his
career. Truly, Rhapsody should know that he would never think badly of her,
especially in that respect; but yet again, her anger was blinding her to the
obvious.
Sure enough, the comeback wasn’t
long in arriving.
“First of all, Captain Scarlet, I may have been very young when the Military
Regime fell, but I was
far
from still being in nappies. Secondly, I imagine
you were not much older yourself, at the time, and too young to actually grasp
the gravity of the situation in our country. After all, you grew up within a
privileged military family, were you not?”
He gave her a fake wounded look.
“Ouch. I’m sure you meant for that to hurt,
Rhapsody.”
Rhapsody never noticed the raised
brow on Colonel White’s face as she addressed Captain Scarlet anew, still in the
same incisive tone: “Last of all, Captain, I’ll thank you not to raise the
subject of my ‘relatively young’ age again. I grow quite tired of these
assumptions that I won’t be able to do my job properly, based solely on the
pretext that –”
“Hey,” Scarlet defended himself,
“calm down a little. I never implied
that you –”
Colonel White loudly cleared his
throat. “If you two have quite finished sniping at each other…” he said without
raising his voice. His interruption
brought an abrupt end to their exchange and, as if suddenly electrified by his
words, they turned to him; he was looking straight at them with glaring eyes,
under very furrowed brows. “I swear,
at times you sound exactly like an old married couple,” he mumbled in the
following silence. “Perhaps we can now continue this briefing? We have an upcoming mission to discuss,
and I won’t tolerate any more disruption from either of you.”
“Of course, sir,” Scarlet
apologised. “Sorry about that.”
“My apologies, Colonel,” Rhapsody
added in turn.
“Right. Let’s get on with it then.
Captain Scarlet, you will join the WAAF commandos who will be leaving tomorrow
for Devil’s Bayou. Your mission: to
recover the microchip, if it still exists.
This must be a discreet operation that you must not share with the
commandos.”
“S.I.G., sir.”
“Rhapsody Angel, you will escort
the commandos’ transport. You will
serve as back-up for the mission, in case Captain Scarlet needs you.”
“Do you expect something to go
wrong, sir?” Scarlet asked.
“Quite frankly, no, I don’t,
Captain. But I don’t want to take
any chances. After all, we all know
that anything can happen, don’t we? So it’s better to be safe than sorry. Now prepare yourselves, both of you. You are to leave for Miami in two hours.
From there, you will proceed to New Orleans, where you will meet with the WAAF
commandos team. And remember –
extreme discretion is called for in this operation.
If the microchip has not been destroyed in the crash, it must be
recovered… and brought back to Spectrum.”
* * *
“Landing zone approaching. Prepare for landing.”
The voice of the pilot drew Captain
Scarlet out of his fugue.
He finished checking his gear and sat back to wait, while the helicopter
slowly started its descent towards the ground below. The pilot had found a piece
of dry land, near the location of their search, and steadily, he landed his
craft. As soon as the floats touched ground, Montgomery slid open the door and
motioned to his men. Everyone quickly got to their feet and stepped outside.
Scarlet left just before Montgomery himself. The pilot, still at the helm, shut down
the engines.
The chopper blades
slowed down over their heads, as the seven men jogged away from the craft with
their gear, to a safe distance.
Montgomery made a mental count of his commandos, making sure that
everyone was present for the briefing.
They had eaten onboard the craft on their way over to their present
location, and he seemed eager to get on with business, and not waste any time.
“All right, men, you know the
drill: fan out and start the search.
You are to pick up every transportable piece of debris you find and bring it all
here. Mark the precise location of where you find them. If the pieces are too
big to be carried, simply mark their co-ordinates on the electronic map.
Remember that, more important than anything else, you are to find the plane’s
black boxes, if anything’s left of them.
If they’re not too damaged, they should give us details about the plane crash.”
“I still wonder why
we
have been assigned to this
mission,” one of the commandos complained. “It doesn’t seem like a suitable job for
us, Major. We’re highly-trained soldiers after all. And we’re talking about a
civilian plane, right?”
“You have your orders, Palmer, and
I have mine. If the brasses think
we’re more useful searching for the debris of old planes and bits of corpses,
that’s their decision. I’m not going
to argue with them, and you won’t either.”
“Of course not, sir,” the commando
said, with a slight blink of surprise at the force of his commander’s
remonstrance.
“You’ll be working in teams of two.
Keep radio contact with me. And keep your weapons ready. In case of… surprise
encounters.”
“What kind of ‘surprise
encounters’, Major?” Palmer asked suspiciously.
“There’s quite a few alligators in
the area,” Montgomery explained. “They might welcome a free meal, if you
bump into any.”
“Great,” another commando muttered.
“Alligators… I hate those slimy things.”
“Cheer up, Baxter,” the man closest
to him said cheerfully. “I’m sure they’ll be more scared of you
than you are of them.”
“Shut up, Williams.
The first alligator that crosses my path, I’ll make me a pair of cowboy boots
with it.”
“They’re protected animals, you
know,” the last man of the team piped up with a mocking smile.
“Perhaps, Petroski, but I have every intention of protecting
myself
first.”
“Captain Scarlet,” Montgomery
asked, ignoring his men’s antics to turn to the Spectrum officer standing by his
side. “Will you need assistance? It would be safer for you to team up with
one of my boys.”
Scarlet hesitated. Of course, it certainly would be safer.
He didn’t care much for encountering an alligator either, or any other beast for
that matter.
He didn’t think that his
retrometabolism could protect him to the extent of recreating any pieces of him
that had been eaten and digested. “Thank you, Major,” he answered. “I accept
gladly.” In any case, the man
assigned to team up with him would not know what he was looking for. He scanned the assembly. “Maybe Lieutenant Mahoney can come with
me?”
He saw the face of the young
lieutenant light up with a wide smile. Montgomery approved of the choice with a
nod. “Go with him, Mahoney. Try to bring him back in one piece, Captain.”
“Don’t worry, Major. I don’t intend
to put him in any danger. He’ll just have to cover my back – in case we meet
alligators,” Scarlet added with a wink addressed to Mahoney.
Montgomery narrowed his eyes; he
was probably still wondering why the presence of the Spectrum officer was deemed
necessary for this otherwise ordinary mission. “What direction do you need to go?”
the major asked carefully.
“I just need to know the
approximate location of the passenger cabin debris,” Scarlet answered. “I know
it was found nearby.” He had read
the report of the surveillance plane that had overflown the area two days
before, and knew perfectly well that Montgomery had received a detailed briefing
on the findings. The major pointed in a general direction towards the south.
“It’s about a mile from here,” he said. “You can’t miss it, it’s resting against
a copse of trees, half buried in the mud.
The cockpit,” he continued, moving his finger, “is more to the north, and
half of a wing was seen floating around there too. That’s where most of my men will be
searching, while I’ll go to the west, where other debris has also been spotted.”
“You’re going alone?” Scarlet asked
with a raised brow.
“I studied the terrain carefully,
Captain. And I know this kind of
swamp. I’ve never been to Louisiana, but the ones in the Florida Everglades are
quite similar. Of all of us, I’m the
one running the least risk, I can guarantee you.”
“If you say so,” Scarlet replied
with a shake of his head. Montgomery’s statement sounded terribly arrogant.
But he wasn’t in any position to argue.
“According to earlier reports, what
was seen of debris is scattered of about five miles around the area,” Montgomery
continued. “We should be able to find the most important parts easily enough.
It was a rather a small plane.”
“It was indeed,” Scarlet mused.
“I hope you’ll find what you’re
looking for and that you didn’t come here for nothing.” Scarlet kept silent at this remark and
watched thoughtfully as Montgomery turned his back to him to address his men.
“All right, men. Let’s get a move
on! I don’t have any intention of
staying in this hell-hole longer than necessary. Fan out – and report every hour.”
* * *
In the minutes that followed,
during their walk towards the location of the passenger cabin, Lieutenant
Mahoney took the opportunity offered to him to ask Captain Scarlet various
questions concerning Spectrum. However, he showed himself sensible enough not to
overwhelm the Spectrum officer, and knew exactly when and where to draw the line
between being naturally curious and plainly inquisitive. As much as the young
man was obviously very much fascinated with Spectrum, he was also enough of a
professional to know when it was time to perform his job effectively and how not
to show himself as an annoying nuisance to a superior officer.
Following Montgomery’s
instructions, Scarlet had reached the co-ordinates where the cabin had been
located. Indeed, it wasn’t that hard
to find, when you knew where to look; from the ground, anyway. It was so covered
with mud and wild vegetation that it was effectively camouflaged from the sky.
No aircraft would have been able to spot it. If not for that hunter finding it a
couple of days ago, no-one would have ever known that A67-Z possibly had crashed
in this area. The plane could have
been missing for still many years to come. If not indefinitely.
What was left of the cabin was half submerged in the dirty water. The side had
been entirely ripped open during the crash years ago, and nearly all of its
contents had spilled all over the place, completely disappearing into the wild
nature. This isn’t going to be easy, Scarlet
contemplated gloomily.
It’s quite possible that what I’m looking for has
been swallowed by the swamp – and can’t be retrieved.
“Mahoney, you can start looking
around and proceed with your mission,” Scarlet instructed. “I’ll inspect the
immediate area of the passenger cabin.”
“You need any help, Captain?” the
lieutenant offered.
“No.” There was no discussing this.
Scarlet had instructions to pursue his search completely alone. It was a matter
of extreme security.
However…
“If you should come across any
remains of the unfortunate people who were in the plane, or find any of their
personal effects, call me right away,” Scarlet instructed the young man. “But…
don’t touch anything.”
“Right, sir. Good luck in your search.”
Mahoney walked away, leaving the
Spectrum officer alone. Scarlet watched him go, then, when he considered the
young man had gone a reasonable distance, he returned his attention to the
gutted cabin. He heaved a deep sigh, as he removed his rucksack from his back
and put it against the foot of a tree, on dry land. He took his communicator
from his pocket, and activated it, in order to contact Cloudbase and inform the
colonel that he had reached the location of the cabin and was about to commence
his search.
Strangely enough,
he could only get static from his communicator.
From above his head, he could hear
the sounds of jet engines passing at slow speed, and saw, through the branches
of the tree hanging over him, the outlines of the Angel fighter.
He quickly changed channel on his communicator.
He changed channel. “Scarlet to
Angel Three.”
“Go ahead,
Captain,”
he heard the voice of his
compatriot over the speaker.
“Rhapsody, I can’t seem to be able
to reach Cloudbase.”
“I know. I’ve been informed by
Lieutenant Green that there’s a violent storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico.
It’s scrambling communication with Cloudbase. That was the last contact I had.”
“A
storm?” Scarlet asked, slightly alarmed. “Are we
in any danger of being hit?”
“No, apparently it’s travelling
North-East, towards the Atlantic.
Louisiana should be safe. This part of it, anyway.
You won’t get wet, Captain, don’t worry.”
Scarlet looked down at his legs,
almost knee-deep in the water. He didn’t need that storm to get wet. He already felt damp enough as it was.
“Cloudbase has moved into a higher position, and is trying to avoid the storm,”
Rhapsody added. “If
I climb high enough, I should be able to contact them.”
“Good. In that case, can you forward a message
to the colonel for me?”
“Of course.”
“I have reached the location of the
A67-Z’s passenger cabin. There’s not much left of it, I’m afraid, and it looks
completely empty, of either the people or anything else it was originally
carrying. I’ll search it, though, and the immediate area as well, as thoroughly
as I can. But I don’t think there’s
much chance of me finding the microchip. It might be lost forever in this swamp.” He shook his head. “The only chance we
might have of ever finding it would be to send a special unit down here, to
search the swamp from the bottom up.
I’ll be marking the location of the wrecked cabin very carefully, so we can find
it again, in case it should come to that.”
“No need to, Captain,”
the voice of Rhapsody answered.
“My onboard computer already saved the position,
based on the signal it’s currently picking up from your Personal Tracker.”
Scarlet grinned.
“Resourceful as ever, Rhapsody. I
see you’re keeping your eye on me.”
“Well, that’s my job, isn’t it?
Don’t forget that the tracker you’re wearing only works over a very short
distance. So don’t go running off
this swamp and out of the county without telling me, while I’ve gone to relay
your message. I might have trouble finding you again.”
“They don’t call them ‘counties’ in
Louisiana – they’re ‘parishes’,” Scarlet informed her. “An old legacy of the State’s French
origins.”
“Whatever. You know what I mean.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t
go away. I have my work cut out for me right now.” Scarlet paused a second, as a
sudden thought crossed his mind. “Rhapsody… when this mission’s over… are
you busy?”
“What do you mean?”
she asked with
curiosity. “Why the question?”
“Well, I reckon that we’d be entitled to
some time off afterwards… So I was wondering… How would you feel about going out with
someone?”
“You mean… is this an
invitation?”
Scarlet could hear the surprise – and doubt – in Rhapsody’s voice.
“Yes, sort of… What do you
say? You’ve certainly earned a
break. I can ask the colonel. I’m
sure he won’t say no.
We’ll be returning to New
Orleans after the mission, and there’s some rather nice neighbourhoods there.”
"You mean, like the New French
Quarter?"
"Yes - it's amazing what they've
done with the city, since they rebuilt it after the last big flood, twenty years
ago... Really, you can’t pass up the opportunity to visit.”
There was a silence
over the radio. Scarlet frowned.
“Rhapsody, are you
still there?”
“Yes, I am,”
he heard the female
voice again. “I’m sorry, I was
thinking. This is quite unexpected,
Captain. Thank you.”
“Is that a yes,
then?”
“Why, yes.
I’d be glad to!”
Scarlet smiled.
“Splendid! I’ll tell Lieutenant Mahoney that everything is settled, then.”
He thought he heard a
hiccup. “Who?”
“Lieutenant Mahoney,”
Scarlet explained. “He’s dying to
meet a real Angel pilot. I told him
that I would do whatever I could to introduce him to one. Well… you actually,
since you were there.”
“You plan to take
this Mahoney on a date – with us?”
Rhapsody asked, her voice betraying her
incredulity.
“Of course not!”
Scarlet protested. “Three’s a crowd, Angel. You and Mahoney won’t need me. He’s about your age and he’s a nice man. I’m sure you’ll appreciate his company. You’ll
get along together fine without me.”
There was a pause yet
again, during which Scarlet heard a very audible breath exhalation.
“Of all the unfeeling –” Rhapsody kept the rest to herself, and her voice
suddenly became very cold when she spoke again: “You don’t know how LUCKY you are to
be down there and me up here, Captain Scarlet! If you had been in front of me
when you made that… ‘invitation’, I would have punched you in the mouth!”
“What’s the matter?”
Scarlet asked in bewilderment.
“DON’T play the
innocent with me, it doesn’t become you!
Next time you want to have a joke at my expense, be VERY SURE to keep
your distance!”
“But –”
“I’ll be back in half
an hour after I had made that call to Cloudbase. You won’t be able to reach me
in the meanwhile. I’ll make contact
with you when I’m back. Angel Three out.”
That said, very
abruptly, Rhapsody cut communication. Seconds later, Scarlet could hear the
engines of the fighter, as it made a last pass over his position and headed in a
westerly direction, climbing as it did.
Scarlet heaved a deep sigh and closed the
channel.
Even if he were to live a hundred years, he would never understand
that girl.
He liked all the Angels – they were
agreeable women, smart and witty… and not at all unpleasant to look at. He would
pass a good number of hours in their company, either in the Amber Room or the
Officers’ Lounge, or anywhere else on Cloudbase. If it happened that he and an
Angel had furlough at the same time, he would invite her out to dinner. He
appreciated each of their individual qualities, but for some reason, it was
Rhapsody he felt the closest to. Closer than Symphony, with whom he shared so
many traits he had come to consider her as a younger sister; or even closer than
Destiny, with whom he had shared an intimate relationship a few years before. He
couldn’t exactly explain why he felt so close to Rhapsody. Perhaps it was
because they were compatriots – but he felt there was more to it than only that.
Rhapsody was the youngest of the
Angels – and the fiercest amongst them. For someone so young, she had
accomplished so much already in her life. He could relate to her in that aspect,
knowing exactly how it had been for her during her career. In his time, he too
had to face contempt from far older colleagues in the WAAF, when he rose through
the ranks to become a high-ranking officer before the age of thirty. ‘The
youngest colonel in the WAAF’, he had been called; but there was no denying he
had won his rank through hard work and successes – not because, as most people
were too happy to gossip about, of his social standing and his family history.
He could almost see himself in
Rhapsody – more so than in Symphony, perhaps. They were more alike than he was willing
to admit. Their social upbringings, although different, had points in common –
she was from an aristocratic family and he grew up in a very strict, reserved
military environment. They shared
the same set of moral values.
Perhaps, Scarlet reflected, it was what
actually appealed to him in her. They were, as they say ‘good for each other’s’.
What is it exactly with me about that girl?
he asked himself. Do I fancy her or
what?
There were times, he had to admit, where he
did feel attracted to her; but in view of unique condition, he also didn’t feel
that it would be a good idea to get involved that way with a woman. Not that he
didn’t have many opportunities lately; he was still interested in girls – was he
glad to know he was still very much of a man because of that fact! – and they
were obviously interested in him. Which was making his situation even more
difficult for him.
His last attempt to get closely involved with a woman had been disastrous
for her – as well as for him. After that, he didn’t feel that it would be fair
to renew the experience with anyone else. Not as a long-standing relationship
anyway.
Having changes of mind is normal for a
human being,
Scarlet reflected, looking up to
the sky. Maybe it’s time for me
to re-evaluate my decision.
After all – I am still as human as I was before this business with the
Mysterons started…
“Captain Scarlet?” The voice of Mahoney made Scarlet turn
abruptly on his heel. The young
lieutenant was standing behind him, just a few metres away. He looked a little uncertain.
“What is it, Lieutenant?”
Mahoney shook his head. “Sir, I don’t know
what it is that you’re looking for… I just imagine that it must be something
very important for the World Government to ask a Spectrum colour-coded officer
to join us in a survey mission to inventory the debris from this crash. And I
know you said you didn’t need any help, but…”
Scarlet sighed. “Please… to the point, Lieutenant.”
“I might have found something of interest
for you, Captain.” Mahoney jerked his head in the direction from which he'd
come. “It’s over here.”
Scarlet had to admit he was a little
curious about what Mahoney could have found that he thought would be important
for him. He gave a last glance at the eviscerated passenger cabin in front of
him and then slowly turned to join the young lieutenant, splashing the muddy
waters as he did so.
* * *
“This is disgusting…
I really didn’t sign up for this.”
WAAF Sergeant-Major Sam Baxter
wasn’t a very happy man, as, with Sergeant Palmer, he was squelching knee-deep
in the sludgy waters, grumbling with disgruntlement and sharing his disapproval
with his companion. They had been searching the area for hours, gathering tiny
bits of what looked like remnants of a crashed aircraft, that they both
carefully put in marked plastic bags, before placing them in their backpacks.
There was not a single soul around,
not any trace of civilisation. Nature really had claimed the area back, erasing
with time all signs there might have been of any previous passage of man. As the
two soldiers went deeper into the swamp, it became more creepy and murky – even
threatening, as they noticed a faint mist slowly starting to surround them.
Sounds of animals echoed in the distance – birds singing a disturbing mantra
that sounded like an ominous laugh, mocking them on the futility of their
labour.
“I don’t like it anymore than you
do,” grunted Palmer at his companion’s comments. “Mind you, I’ve been in dirtier spots
than this one. And certainly as sticky as here,” he added, as he pulled his left
foot out of the muddy hole in which it had become stuck. “At least in this place, we don’t have to
worry about the enemy emerging from behind the trees to attack us.”
“What about beneath that mud?”
Baxter replied. He was holding his automatic weapon at the ready, trailing it
around, directed at the surface of the muddy water. He grimaced.
“I worry enough about alligators at the moment, you know.
I wouldn’t want to see one of them appear suddenly and snap at my legs.”
“We haven’t seen any yet,” Palmer
remarked. “You know, Williams might be right: those alligators might be more
afraid of you than you are of them.”
“Oh yeah? What about if they’re hungry enough? A hungry beast ain’t afraid of nothing,
Jim.”
“Wherever did you learn that, Sam?
I bet you’ve been reading National Geographic again!”
“Well, there’s nothing wrong in
reading informative stuff! You should try it some time! That is, if you know how to read.” Baxter
heard sounds of disturbed water from his right and turned sharply, weapon at the
ready. His movement was welcomed by
a loud curse.
“Je-sus, Baxter!” the voice of
Williams shouted as he and Petroski, appearing from behind the trees,
approached. “Will you please put that
thing away? What are you trying to
do, scare us to death?”
Baxter lowered his weapon, exhaling
with relief. “I thought you might be one of those damned alligators, Williams.”
“Well, obviously, I ain’t,” the
other WAAF soldier grunted.
“Though with that skin condition of
yours, I wonder…” Palmer said with a thin smile.
“What skin condition?” Williams
protested. “I don’t have a skin
condition!”
“Have you looked in the mirror
lately?” Petroski said in turn, joining in the fun. He left his companion to stand by the
other men, who had stopped their advance.
“How come you’re here, you guys? I thought you were searching east of our
landing position.”
Baxter and Palmer exchanged a quick
glance. “We thought YOU two were
searching west,” Baxter replied.
“The major sent us north shortly after you left.”
“Ain’t so,” Williams insisted. “We
were instructed to follow a northerly direction. Which brought us here, obviously. The
major told us he'd be searching west. Ask Petroski, he’ll confirm.”
To that, Petroski answered with a
vigorous nod of his head.
Baxter groaned loudly. “Oh
great,” he muttered. “Don’t tell me
we misunderstood the chief’s instructions.
We won’t hear the end of this…”
Sounds of broken branches made the
four men turned on their heels. They found Major Montgomery watching
them, very relaxed and holding his automatic weapon down, standing just a few
feet away on the mounded bank of the swamp they were squelching in. A
still-nervous Baxter had instinctively raised his gun; he rolled his eyes at his
own foolishness.
“Actually, you men followed my
exact directions,” Montgomery said very quietly. His eyes fell on Baxter, who was slowly
lowering his weapon, in the vain hope that his commander would not have noticed
his previous gesture. Baxter felt himself reddening to the roots of his hair
when he saw the smile on Montgomery’s thin lips.
“Sorry, sir,” he said
apologetically. “We didn’t hear you come.”
“You thought I might be an
alligator or a bear, did you, Baxter?” Montgomery remarked, still smirking.
“Yeah – that was very stupid of me,
wasn’t it? But this place… it’s giving me the creeps.”
Montgomery’s eyes rose and he
looked about their surroundings, slowly, as if attentively assessing the place.
“Yes, it is a little… sinister around here, isn’t it?”
“It is indeed, Major,” Petroski
agreed.
“Don’t worry, men. You don’t have
anything to fear from alligators or bears around these parts. Does that reassure
you, Baxter?”
“It sure does, sir,” Baxter said
with just a hint of assurance in his voice and a grateful smile. “But how come
you sound so sure? You said yourself that we might encounter some.”
“Did I say that?” Montgomery said
in a detached tone. “Oh, then, my mistake, I suppose. They won’t hurt you, that
I can assure you. As for the reason why I’m so sure…” His hand, which was
holding his automatic weapon pointing down, rose suddenly, and he turned the
barrel directly at the four men standing knee-deep in the muddy waters.
“… It’s because I know the danger will come from elsewhere.”
A cold edge suddenly replaced the
good-natured tone of his voice, and his face became a hard expressionless mask.
Surprise barely had time to register on the commandos’ faces as Montgomery’s
finger squeezed the trigger. The gun was equipped with a powerful silencer so
that the sound of the hail of bullets emerging from the barrel was barely heard…
and was effectively covered by the cries of pain from the WAAF soldiers as one
by one, they fell like trees being mercilessly cut down.
A very cruel smile appeared on
Montgomery lips, as, lowering his weapon, he looked down coldly at the four men
now lying dead in the water.
The mission could now proceed
according to plan…
* * *
Captain Scarlet couldn’t believe
his luck.
Lieutenant Mahoney and he were
standing in front of a copse of trees, about thirty metres away from the
position where they had found the main wreckage of the passenger cabin. Mahoney
had discovered the cabin door, half buried in the mud, nearly intact, if
slightly distorted on one side.
By the look of it, it had probably been torn from its hinges during the
crash, perhaps on impact, as it was not that far away from the cabin.
It wasn’t the door itself that Mahoney had found interesting – but rather, what
he had found
beneath
it.
There was a body lying there, nearly hidden by dirt and half-sunken in the mud,
crushed between door and trees.
Half
of a body actually, reduced
to a skeleton by the passage of time, with one of its legs gone, either severed
by the crash, or taken away by hungry predators, it was impossible to say. The
clothes were but dirty rags, but still, it was possible to distinguish that they
had once been a fashionable man’s costume. Only a handful of blond hair was
hanging from the skull now; his face having gone, it would have been impossible
to identify who that man was – short of using dental or DNA analysis, that was.
Scarlet’s first reactive thought
upon discovering the corpse was to mutely recommend his soul to whatever deity
the dead man might have believed in. He caught sight of Mahoney crossing
himself, almost without thinking about it. It was never pleasant to find a dead
body, especially in this state of decomposition, years after the person’s death
– even for hardened soldiers. He hoped this man’s death had been a
quick one, and that he wasn’t still alive when he had been ejected from the
plane and crushed underneath the door.
That moment past, Scarlet’s interest was drawn by what was left of the man’s
left hand. A handcuff encircled the skeletal wrist, attaching to it a black
briefcase – covered with mud but otherwise apparently intact. Scarlet’s eyes
narrowed.
Could it be…?
He lowered himself to his knees and
carefully searched what remained of the corpse’s clothes; there were no papers,
nothing to say if it was the U.S.S. agent Colonel White had told him about. Not
that Scarlet imagined he would find anything of the sort; he was just looking
for…
There.
In the inside pocket of the man’s
vest, Scarlet found a key, that shone between his fingers as he examined it
closely. Obviously, it wasn’t a key for those handcuffs the dead man was wearing
but perhaps…?
He looked in the direction of the
briefcase.
“Lieutenant Mahoney,” he said in a
very even voice to the WAAF soldier standing behind him, “would you leave me for
a few minutes, please?”
“Of course, sir,” Mahoney answered
with only a hint of hesitation. His voice betrayed the disappointment he felt
over the fact that Scarlet was trying to get rid of him when it was beginning to
become really interesting. The Spectrum officer noticed that, and
turned to the younger man, offering him a grateful smile.
“You have been most helpful.
Thank you for your help.”
“My pleasure, Captain,” Mahoney
answered with a smile of his own. Just at that moment, the communicator hanging
from his belt beeped, attracting his attention. He glanced at it for a second,
then addressed Scarlet anew: “If you’ll excuse me, sir – I’ll take the
opportunity to answer this call from the major.”
Scarlet answered with a distracted
nod; he barely paid attention as Mahoney splashed away from his position, all
the while attaching the communication device to his ear.
The Spectrum officer turned his
attention back to the briefcase hanging from the dead man’s wrist; he wondered
if the key he was now holding would be able to open it – and if indeed, the
briefcase contained what he was looking for. It was almost too much to hope for.
Still in a crouched position, he
went around the dead body, and approached the briefcase to pick it up from the
ground; it came out with a sucking sound as it disengaged from the mud. Mostly,
as Scarlet had ascertained, it was intact, aside from a large dent on the lower
side. Scarlet carefully checked the security lock, brushing the multiple dials
to remove the dirt covering them; like the rest of the briefcase, it was also
intact, having withstood the crash of long ago and its prolonged submersion in
these dirty waters. He imagined that the security combination within the lock
must still be working; Colonel White had explained that if the briefcase were to
be forcibly opened, without using the proper combination, a security device
would automatically set off a small explosive charge that would destroy the
content of the briefcase… and probably take off the hands of the unlucky person
who had tried to open it.
Blasting the handcuff attaching the
briefcase to its owner would have the same effect, Scarlet recalled Colonel
White’s warning; it would be easy enough, however, to
blast the dead body’s hand, take it off and carry it away. But Scarlet, after
considering this for a few seconds, decided against it.
The dent he could see on the side of the briefcase worried him; even if it
apparently hadn’t been enough of a shock to either open the case or set off the
explosive device inside, he wondered if the impact had not damaged it in some
way. Transporting the case might prove a
hazardous business; the thing might explode at any moment, taking away whatever
secret it was holding – and even claiming victims in the process.
The bumpy ride back to New Orleans
in the helicopter might not be a very safe one…
No, the safest solution was to open
the case right here and now.
Fortunately, Colonel White had been informed of the proper combination used at
the time and had given it to Scarlet.
However, the question still remained: was
the lock still working after all these years?
Only one way to find out…
Scarlet slowly inserted the key in the lock, and turned it without much
difficulty, listening closely as he did so.
He heard a click from the lock.
So far so good. The first step has been completed. Now to the next, more dangerous one…
Carefully, Scarlet turned the
dials; there were five of them, and he had to apply three series of number to
them, one by one, and in the right order. Some of the dials were a little difficult
to operate, clogged with dirt and water, but Scarlet painstakingly persisted; he
had the impression that long minutes passed by, during that time, while he fully
expected an explosion to occur at any moment.
When for the third time he turned
the last dial and stopped it on the last digit, he heard a very faint click from
within the case.
Wiping a brow wet with
perspiration, he blew a deep sigh of relief and opened the case.
There wasn’t much in there; mostly,
it was filled with some greyish foam rubber, in the middle of which a very small
hole had been cut; inserted into that hole was a tiny, metallic case, even
smaller than a jewel box.
Scarlet removed the box from its
place and held it in the palm of one hand, while carefully opening the lid with
his other hand; inside, resting in the middle of the box, was the microchip,
shining exactly like a diamond ring.
Scarlet grinned.
He closed the lid, and then slid the small box into the large pocket on his left
thigh, taking great care to close the zip tightly; he certainly didn’t want to
lose it, now that he had it!
He then activated his communication
device.
“Captain Scarlet to Cloudbase…” The
static sound that screeched in his ears reminded him, almost instantly, that
Cloudbase couldn’t be reached at the present. He grimaced and changed channel,
trying to contact Rhapsody instead.
“Angel Three, do you copy?” He
received no answer. She must still be out of reach, he
thought.
Well, she should be back soon enough…
As he was thinking that, just at the limit of his hearing, Scarlet could detect
a whisking sound coming not that far away, from a direction behind him.
Helicopter blades,
he realised instantly, and
from experience, he knew it was the very specific sound of a WAAF chopper.
He would recognise it anywhere.
“Captain Scarlet?”
That was the voice of Mahoney that Scarlet heard as he got to his feet. The
sound of the helicopter was growing nearer.
“What is it, Lieutenant?” As he
turned around, he discovered the young man, standing only a few feet away from
him – and holding his weapon on him.
“I’m sorry, Captain.
I have my orders…”
Scarlet frowned, upon hearing the
genuinely apologetic tone in Mahoney’s voice.
“Lieutenant, what
is
the meaning of this?” he
asked angrily.
“I can’t even offer you an
explanation, sir,” the lieutenant answered. Behind Mahoney, in the sky, Scarlet could
see the helicopter approaching. It was the same one which had brought him and
the WAAF commandos to the Bayou. “The major just told me to apprehend you – as
soon as you opened the case.”
“The major?” Scarlet’s surprise and anger rose. “You
told
him about the case,
Lieutenant?”
“The major already knew about it,
sir. I only had to confirm to him that –” Scarlet stepped forward and Mahoney
backed off a step. “Please, Captain, don’t make a move! I don’t want to shoot
you, but I have orders to do so if you resist arrest!”
“Lieutenant,” Scarlet growled, stopping in his tracks, “you are making a
big
mistake!”
“I’m just following orders,
Captain. I was told that everything will be explained once we’re back in the
chopper. Please, stay where you
are.”
Scarlet gave up trying to convince
Mahoney that something was wrong; he kept totally still, under the young man’s
vigilance, and gritted his teeth as the helicopter approached their position. It
didn’t land but instead, hovered overhead, just a few feet above the treetops,
and he watched as the belly hatch slid open. Mahoney came over to him and, still
keeping him covered, swiftly relieved him of his handgun. Lines were thrown down through the
chopper’s hatch; Scarlet looked on as two men swiftly slid down.
A defenceless and nauseous Scarlet,
still covered by Mahoney’s weapon, didn’t make a move as Williams snapped a
security hook from one of the lines to the ring attached at the front of his
belt, while Palmer was fastening a metal hand-grip to the same line. He firmly
took one of Scarlet’s hands into his own and put it on the grip, smiling coldly
at the Spectrum officer. “Hang on tight, Captain… we wouldn’t want to lose ya.”
Scarlet just had the time to grab
the handle with both hands before he felt the sudden jerk and his feet left the
ground. He was hoisted upward at such a
speed that, nauseated as he already was, he nearly felt his stomach coming to
his lips. He held on for dear life
and a few seconds later, he had reached the helicopter. Hands pulled him inside,
none too gently, and pushed him to his knees, beside the opened hatch.
“Put your hands on your head,” a
rough voice told him, as at least two gun barrels appeared in his line of
vision. “And don’t try anything
funny!”
Scarlet obeyed, trying desperately
to dispel the violent nausea he was feeling. For him, there was only one explanation
possible for all that was happening right now.
A pair of combat boots appeared
before Scarlet and he raised furious eyes upward to meet the cold stare of Major
Montgomery.
He saw Palmer and Williams being
heaved inside the helicopter by the same motorised winch that had pulled him up.
Mahoney appeared a second later; the first thing he noticed was Scarlet being
held at gunpoint. The young man’s brow furrowed and he quickly unhooked himself
from his line to walk straight to his commander.
“Major…” Mahoney seemed rather unnerved by all
that was happening and obviously didn’t understand any of it. Scarlet could see he clearly had had
nothing to do with it. “Sir,” the lieutenant continued, “What’s happening? Why did you tell me to arrest Captain
Scarlet?”
Suddenly, upon seeing the hardened
expression on the major’s face as he turned toward Mahoney, Scarlet felt very
concerned for the young man.
“Lieutenant, you’d better be care–”
A brutal shove from Palmer interrupted Scarlet, and threw him forward; he fell
on his hands.
Mahoney turned in anger. “Stop
that!” he admonished Palmer, before turning again to Montgomery. “Why are you
treating him like a criminal?” He gestured toward a grim-looking Scarlet.
Montgomery raised an eyebrow. “You demand an explanation from
me,
Lieutenant?” he asked in a detached tone.
“You owe me that much, sir,”
Mahoney insisted. “You did say earlier that you would tell me what it’s all
about once we were back in the chopper. Now we are.
Please, tell me. I don’t
understand.”
“Oh yes, I remember saying that,”
Montgomery continued quietly. “Well, Lieutenant, there’s really only one answer
I can give you, actually…” Calmly, the major un-holstered his handgun; Mahoney
looked down with surprise obvious on his face at the weapon now aimed right at
his heart.
“What –” Mahoney never got to
finish his sentence, as Montgomery coldly pulled the trigger three consecutive
times, without even blinking.
Lieutenant Sean Mahoney was thrown
backwards by the impact of the bullets; he was dead before his body even hit the
floor, just in front of a still kneeling Captain Scarlet.
For a moment, the Spectrum officer
looked down on the still face of the dead young man; then, he carefully raised
his eyes and glared at each of the five men surrounding him, with their weapons
trained on him. His eyes rested lastly on Montgomery. The major’s expression was
as cold as those of his men as he gazed impassively at Scarlet. His gun was
still smoking in his hand.
“Murderer,” Scarlet growled between
his teeth.
Quietly, Montgomery re-holstered
his gun.
“You’re Mysterons,” Scarlet
continued. His nausea wasn’t as strong as it had been previously, but there was
no denying what it was telling him.
He looked all around again, dejectedly. “All of you… you’re all
Mysterons.”
“You are right, Captain,”
Montgomery answered quietly. “I’m surprised you didn’t suspect anything before
now… Or is your much vaunted sixth
sense highly overrated?”
“You were not all Mysterons
when I boarded this chopper in New Orleans,” Scarlet replied harshly.
“I’m sure I would have felt something.”
“You are still right,” Montgomery
answered. “Only I had been taken over by the Mysterons at that point.
Well me and the pilot. The others… joined us later on.”
“You mean you killed them in the
swamp,” Scarlet realised. He looked down with anger at Mahoney’s body. “Except
the lad. That’s why you had to kill
him now. He was with me, when you
dispatched the others.” He made a move to get up, but suddenly, Montgomery
pointed his gun directly between his eyes.
“Stay on your knees and don’t make a move, or I
won’t hesitate to kill you right away.”
He motioned to Palmer, standing
nearest to Scarlet, and the man swiftly searched the Spectrum officer for any
weapon on his person. Scarlet didn’t so much as bat an eyelid as Palmer relieved
him of his Swiss Army knife, that he found in one of his trouser pockets. He
thanked his lucky stars that the case containing the microchip was so tiny and
thin that it escaped the search.
Scarlet kept his eyes on Montgomery, standing in front of him.
“No other weapon on him,” Palmer
told his commander. He pocketed Scarlet’s knife, wickedly grinning down at him.
“Thank you for the gift, Spectrum.”
“Hang on to it,” Scarlet icily
replied. “I’ll reclaim it soon enough.”
Palmer scoffed mockingly at the
implied threat.
“I would advise you to keep very
quiet, Captain,” Montgomery said quiet.
“I haven’t heard a threat from your
masters yet,” Scarlet hissed between his teeth. “Did they decide to change the
rules of their own sick game this time?”
“You know the Mysterons better than
that, Captain,” Montgomery replied. “They are always true to their word. At the
moment, they are simply putting the pieces in place, for their next act of
retaliation.”
Scarlet slowly nodded his
understanding. “Of course. Like they often do. I should have realised that.
Well, if you ask me, it’s still cheating.”
“You are not really in any position
to make that kind of comment, Scarlet. Be careful with your words.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Don’t you know?” Montgomery presented his opened hand. “We want what you retrieved from the
wreckage of the plane.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play games with me,
Scarlet,” Montgomery replied harshly. “I know all about the orders you received…
to find the microchip that was onboard that plane.”
Scarlet’s expression hardened.
He had no idea how Montgomery had learned about that, but when it came to the
Mysterons, he wasn’t all that surprised that they should know, probably very
precisely, and better than himself, all the details of the microchip and exactly
what it was. They had a way of knowing some of those nasty little things, and to
act upon them. Now would not be any different from any other time.
If the Mysterons wanted this
microchip, Scarlet considered, then it was even more important than he imagined.
Probably potentially dangerous.
“I don’t have it.”
“Now, Captain,” Montgomery demanded
more insistently, “the Mysterons need that chip. I know you found it.
Lieutenant Mahoney was kind enough to tell me. You will give it to me.”
“Like Hell I will.”
Scarlet lowered his eyes for a
brief instant, stealing a glance at his breast pocket, and raised his head half
a second later to stare back into Montgomery’s face. The Mysteron agent had obviously seen the
almost imperceptible movement of his eyes; a smile crossed his lips. “So that’s where it is, is it?”
Scarlet kept silent, lifting his
chin in defiance.
“Major, the Angel jet is coming
back,” the voice of the pilot then said, coming through the opening leading into
the cockpit. “She’s at four
o’clock.”
Montgomery turned to look through
the nearest window, in the direction indicated by the pilot. Scarlet’s gaze
followed the same direction; he could see Angel Three, coming their way from a
higher position, its pilot unaware of what was going on.
Scarlet’s heart started beating
faster when he heard Montgomery’s next order:
“Blow her out of the sky, Whitaker.
Before she realises something’s wrong.” The major swiftly turned to face Scarlet
again, his expression even colder than before. “Williams, search his breast
pocket. Give me that chip.”
Eager to obey his commander,
Williams leaned in front of Scarlet.
The latter didn’t wait a second longer. As soon as the man was within
reach and he felt his hands on him, he swiftly attacked with a headbutt. Hit on
the chin, Williams saw stars and
bent over with a muffled cry of pain; Scarlet roughly pushed him to one side,
sending him reeling into the legs of Baxter and Petroski, standing to his left,
while hitting Palmer, on his right, with a violent uppercut where he knew it
would hurt him the most. The yelp
coming from Palmer’s lips reached a height that Scarlet never knew could come
out from the throat of a man.
Scarlet was on his feet in a
fraction of a second, as Montgomery was barking orders to his men to stop
fooling around and stop him. Himself
did try to reach the Spectrum officer, raising his gun as he did, but he was
stopped in his tracks, as Scarlet threw the still-incapacitated Palmer in his
way, sending the major sprawling on the floor.
Thinking very fast, the unarmed
Scarlet knew there were too many opponents surrounding him to tackle all at
once. His only chance, while he
briefly had the upper hand, was to get away as fast as he could. He turned to the still-open hatch close
to him; one of the lines was within reach, not completely rolled back into its
winch. Kicking the winch into motion
would be a piece of cake and he would be out of the chopper in no time.
He grabbed the line with one hand,
while with the other, activated his communicator that Palmer had neglected to
take from him. He had to warn
Rhapsody of the danger.
“Captain Scarlet to Angel Three!”
he barked into the mic.
“S.I.R.! Rhapsody, get the hell away from –”
He was interrupted by a loud
detonation, that resonated through the cabin; at the same time, he felt as if
his skull had exploded from inside, and he let go of the line. His knees buckled
underneath him and he toppled forward, straight through the opening at his feet.
His mind numbed with pain, he felt
himself falling toward the tree-covered ground so far below, the helicopter
having gained height since the commandos had picked him up.
His world became dark as he finally
gave in to the pain.
Any comments? Send
an E-MAIL
to the SPECTRUM HEADQUARTERS site