A “Captain Scarlet & the Mysterons” story
By Chris Bishop
“This is the voice of the Mysterons…
We know that you can hear us, Earthmen…
We have not forgotten your unprovoked attack on our Martian Complex. Our next act of retaliation will be to
destroy one of the Seven Kingdoms. Before the day is over, fire will destroy the
Realm of the Great Ruler. Earthmen…
You have been warned.”
The announcement had come unexpectedly, at the end of the afternoon, and
it took everyone on Cloudbase by surprise.
Now on his feet, Colonel White looked up to the speakers on the wall,
waiting in anticipation, wondering if there would be more; but the speaker was
now silent. The Mysterons had made
their point; their voice was now silent, until the next time they chose to
pronounce a new threat. White sat
back, blowing out a dejected sigh.
“I hate riddles like that,” he
grumbled, looking into empty space, past Captain Magenta, who was seated at
Lieutenant Green’s usual place in front of the computer, looking at his
commander with probing eyes. White
was thoughtful, looking particularly gloomy, as he contemplated what it was the
Mysterons intended to destroy this time.
So, they have made their move, he reflected grimly. One of the Seven Kingdoms.
The Realm of the Great Ruler. That
could have been difficult to pinpoint if Spectrum had not known about the
Mysteron activity in Dorset, concerning that isotope that had been stolen from
the Culver Atomic Centre by Captain Black.
That was obviously where they intended to strike.
‘One of the Seven Kingdoms…’ That could only be in reference of
England’s old Heptarchy of centuries ago…
The Realm of the Great Ruler…
Alfred the Great. King of England. Ruler of Wessex –
which comprised a vast territory, from
the southern coast of England to the Cotswolds – from the frontier of Cornwall,
nearly to London.
‘Destroyed by fire’. The Mysterons could mean they were planning to use a nuclear weapon to
carry out their threat.
And there was a perfect place where they would be able to do that.
“That means they must have the isotope now,” White reflected sombrely.
They had probably acquired it very recently, then.
That was all the delivery of this threat could mean.
Captain Scarlet and Symphony Angel had not given any sign of life since
they had left for Stone Point Village to try to find Giles Hansen and possibly
retrieve the isotope. It was all
too obvious that their mission had failed.
The Mysterons had not waited a moment to voice their threat. Probably, they were confident. “They surely know we’re on to them,” the
Spectrum commander continued. “ ‘Before
the day is over…’ They intend to strike swiftly. But maybe they don’t
realise that we might be ahead of them…” He raised his head to address Magenta.
“Captain, launch all Angels. Set
coordinates for the Aldermaston Naval Development Centre. Contact Captain Blue
there and instruct him to have his team ready for a Mysteron attack.”
“S.I.G., Colonel,” Magenta replied, swivelling his seat toward the
communication controls.
“And put me through to Lieutenant Green and Rhapsody Angel,” White
continued. “I want to know if
they’ve heard anything from Captain Scarlet and Symphony.”
He wasn’t really expecting that would be the case. But he had to give his agents the
benefit of the doubt that they might make themselves heard soon.
White feared that their silence meant that they had struck trouble
* * *
Since the Spectrum officers’ departure, director Alan Kierney had been
working uneasily in his office, ordering his secretary not to let anyone disturb
him under any circumstances for the rest of the day. He was anxious about the consequences
his recent inapt ways of dealing with the latest inconvenient situation would
have on the Culver company, the contracts he had gained for it, his position,
his entire career. He had had no choice but to talk to Spectrum, he reasoned to
himself. Those officers already
knew more than enough to work out that Culver had been hiding things from them. So he told them just what they needed to
know. Enough to keep them off his
back. No more than that.
At least, I hope it was enough, he mused, putting down his pen next to the report he
was busy composing. Surely they
didn’t need to know everything about
that isotope, and how, and where it
could be used. It was bad enough
that it had been developed here, in Dorset, surely there would be a whole lot
more serious trouble if it was to be found that it could also be utilised in the
nuclear reactor of this plant.
Kierney rubbed his temple, groaning.
No, if Spectrum was involved, and if it meant any danger on a large scale
– and God could bear witness that Kierney KNEW it could be the case – he
couldn’t very well not tell them.
They had to know. He would have to
contact his superiors on that particular subject, ask for their instructions,
try to convince them, if they should fail to see the urgency, that he had to
talk.
He reached for his phone and was about to dial a number when his door
opened and a uniformed man entered.
Kierney’s brow furrowed when he recognised one of the centre’s security
guards – one of those who had been the most closely involved with the break-in a
few days ago, and who had even been wounded by the culprit.
“Harris, what are you doing here?” he asked. “I thought I had told Mrs. North that I didn’t want to be
disturbed…”
Harris looked through the open door, toward the empty
desk he had just passed. “Mrs.
North is gone, Mr. Kierney,” he announced courteously.
“It’s rather late, you know. Haven’t you noticed the time?”
“Mmm?”
Kierney checked his watch. It was
indeed very late, and the regular personnel must have left for the day,
including his secretary, obviously.
He gave a sigh and put the phone receiver down. “So it is,” he remarked,
watching Harris as he closed the door behind him and entered his office. “What can I do for you, Harris?” he asked, as Harris stopped
in front of his desk, staring down at him.
The man was one of the company’s most devoted employees, totally reliable
in his work. Indeed, he had returned to work much earlier than expected after
receiving treatment for his head injury, claiming to have made a full recovery.
Truthfully enough, Harris didn’t seem to be suffering any after-effects from his
ordeal; his head injury seemed to have totally disappeared.
A thought came to Kierney’s mind and, not waiting for Harris to answer
his previous question, he suddenly said:
“It is a good thing you came in, actually. We may have to increase
security around the Centre for a time.
Would you arrange that?”
“Increase security?” Harris queried, tilting his head
to one side with curiosity. “Do you
expect another break-in, sir?” He
gave it some thought. “I heard
Spectrum paid you another visit today.
Did they ask you to do that or…”
“No, no,” Kierney replied, with a dismissive gesture.
“Spectrum has nothing to do with it.”
He rose from his chair, tiredly, and walked to the window to look outside,
thoughtfully. “I just thought that, considering the circumstances, we ought to
keep on our toes. Preventing any risk of another surprise,
like that first time, you understand?”
“I understand, sir,” Harris said coolly.
Kierney smiled to himself. With increased security around the Centre, he would feel
better – until he had reached his superiors in London and spoken with them
concerning the present situation.
“So I can count on you to arrange that as quickly as possible, Harris?”
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to do that, sir.” That quiet answer from the security
guard stunned Kierney. He frowned,
unsure if he had heard properly. He
turned on his heel to face the man, making ready to ask him what he meant by
that. He froze upon seeing that Harris had
taken his gun from its holster and was now threatening him with it. “You see, Mr. Kierney, I have other
orders…”
“Harris…”
Kierney swallowed hard. All
the colour had drained from his face.
“What’s going on… Is this
some kind of joke?!”
“It’s not a joke, Mr. Kierney.” Harris’s tone was very cold. He extended his free hand in a demanding
gesture. “I want the key.”
“The key?” Kierney repeated, hoping he was mistaken in
his assumption of what it was that Harris was asking for. “What key?”
“You know very well what key I’m talking about, Mr.
Kierney,” Harris seethed between his teeth.
“THE key you keep in your security safe. The one I need to access the reactor.”
“W-what do you want to do with it?”
“JUST give it to me!”
Harris cocked the hammer of his gun, and Kierney became even paler, if it
was possible. “Or else…”
“All right, all right!” Kierney urged him, very nervously. “I’ll give it to you.”
His hands well in view, he left the side of the window and rushed to the
nearest wall, where he nervously removed an awful still-life painting hung
there. It crashed at his feet, but he took little notice of it, as his fingers
worked feverishly on the dial of the safe embedded in the wall. “Just…
just let me open the safe…
It… it won’t take long.” It took
him double the time it normally would to finally get the lock to click. Harris had silently approached him from
behind, keeping his gun steadily trained on him.
Kierney opened the safe door and reached for a little
metallic box inside; when he turned around, it was to discover Harris close
behind him. The security guard
snatched the box from Kierney’s trembling hand and opened it to give a somewhat
detached look inside. A small,
half-metallic and half-plastic key was resting on the velvety interior of the
box. Harris gave a brief nod, his features
otherwise not displaying any of the satisfaction he was experiencing from having
put his hand on the object he wanted to acquire. His fingers slowly closed the box, as
his eyes rose to stare coldly at a nervous Kierney.
“Thank you, Mr. Director. This was the last missing piece for our plan to work....”
With those words, he implacably pulled the trigger of his gun twice. At point blank range, Kierney never had
a chance to escape the bullets.
With a low grunt, he fell at Harris’s feet and lay there motionless.
The security guard briefly looked down at his victim
before re-holstering his weapon.
No-one would have heard the shots.
This wing of the building was empty.
And there soon would be so few personnel at the Centre that there would be no
risk of the plan failing. Only six
other security guards were working on the premises tonight.
Two were at the entrance, and two others patrolling the grounds. One other was standing watch in front of
the monitors of the various security cameras, unaware that they had been
tampered with. And the last guard
was patrolling the other section of the building.
“The Mysterons’ orders must be carried out,” Harris
murmured callously.
He turned around and left the office, turning off the
lights and closing the door on his way out, ignoring the faint glow coming from
the small desk lamp that Kierney had left on earlier.
* * *
“No, Colonel White.
No news from Captain Scarlet or Symphony Angel yet. They should have
called two hours ago.”
Lieutenant Green was seated in front of the portable
computer, with Rhapsody standing behind his chair, both of them watching the
screen where they could see their commander.
Colonel White sat back in his chair; his expression was grave, but didn’t seem
to display any emotion as he registered the news.
“If they missed their last check-in call, then we might
conclude that they encountered trouble,” he answered to Green’s report. “Well,
we have no time to wait for them. We have a Mysteron situation, and we might not
have much time to resolve it.
If the Mysterons have announced
their threat, then it must be because they have got their hands on the
isotope and are ready to make their move. They did say that they will strike
before the end of the day. I
have already dispatched Captains Blue and Grey to Aldermaston – which is most
likely the Mysterons’ actual target to carry out their threat. The isotope was created for the nuclear
reactors built there – but in its present volatile state, introducing it into
those reactors would cause a catastrophe of unthinkable magnitude… The whole south of England might be
wiped out in a nuclear explosion, and the radioactive fallout would be even more
devastating.”
“Is there another target that might interest the
Mysterons, sir?” Rhapsody asked with a frown.
“According to the information on our database, only
Aldermaston corresponds to the criteria necessary for the Mysterons to destroy
the whole area that used to be known as Wessex. Of course, we’re still checking it out. Just in case something might have escaped us.”
“What about Rhapsody and me, sir?” Lieutenant Green
asked. “What are our orders?” He
was obviously eager to go into action – and probably he was thinking that now
would be his first chance in a long time to actually be in the middle of it. The colonel’s answer disappointed him
greatly.
“You’re to stay where you are,” White declared, much to
Green’s annoyance. “You’re on
stand-by, should we need back-up
for this operation. In the
meantime, I want you to retrace Captain Scarlet and Symphony Angel’s steps. By
finding out what has happened to them, maybe we’ll also find out where to find
the isotope, and thus stop the Mysterons before they can strike.”
“Of course, sir,” Green agreed with a slow nod, trying
hard not to show his dissatisfaction.
“Should we go in search of them?” Rhapsody asked in turn.
“No. If
you find anything of interest, contact us right away.”
“But…”
“…If the Mysterons have the isotope, and Scarlet and
Symphony were close on its trail,
then they are certainly in trouble.
And if they are in trouble, Rhapsody, I don’t want either you or Lieutenant
Green attempting some kind of heroics that would also put you in danger. Our
first priority is to find the isotope, and stop the Mysterons. We can’t afford to get distracted by
missing agents. If you do find out where they are, you only need to contact me
with the information and I’ll dispatch a ground team to do the rest.”
“But Captain Scarlet and Symphony Angel could still report in, sir,” Green
proposed.
“Let us hope so, Lieutenant,” White replied. “But frankly, I’m beginning to doubt
that very much. They did miss their
last check-in. Either
something did happen to them, or Captain Scarlet’s
still so angry with me that he blatantly ignores mission protocols.”
“That would surprise me, sir,” Rhapsody then swiftly replied, in defence
of her absent compatriot. “Captain
Scarlet knows how serious this mission could be, and how dangerous
it could become if the Mysterons are involved.”
“And Symphony is with him, too,” Green added. “Surely, she would
follow protocols and make the check-in call…”
Rhapsody nearly scoffed.
“Even without Symphony, Captain Scarlet is too much of a professional to let
himself be distracted by whatever personal feud he might have with…” She stopped herself, when she noticed
the hard stare White was addressing her through the screen. She lowered her head uncomfortably and
shuffled her feet. “Anyway, I do
think they are both in trouble, sir…”
“Indeed,” White replied slowly.
“That seems to be the logical conclusion…” He leaned toward his screen.
“What did Scarlet tell you about this ‘personal feud’ he has with me,
Rhapsody?”
The young woman looked directly into the screen, her eyes bright with
something akin with defiance. Yes,
White realised. Scarlet had talked to her… And it was obvious where her
sympathies lay. He gave a low, disgruntled mumble. “He told you about the
‘Scarab Protocol’… How
unfortunate.”
“Sorry, sir… ‘unfortunate’?”
By her tone, Rhapsody obviously didn’t want to sound brazen, but the words she
had pronounced were only one step away from it.
“It’s unfortunate that I should
know about it?”
“He shouldn’t have told you,” White said with a frown.
“He knew that the ‘Scarab Protocol’ was top secret information.”
Rhapsody felt a wave of rebellion hit her. Sure, there were
good reasons to keep that information secret!
“Maybe he needed to confide in someone,” Rhapsody answered promptly.
“I can certainly understand how upset he must be by the thought that a
bomb may be planted somewhere in him. I would be upset too.”
“Rhapsody.” White gave an
almost tired sigh. “Now is not the time to discuss it. We have a Mysteron threat to attend to. When this is settled, I will have a talk
with Captain Scarlet and defuse this situation between us. Whatever he told you,
Rhapsody, I can assure you, it was
not complete. Captain Scarlet
doesn’t have all the data.”
Rhapsody lowered her eyes, to encounter those of Lieutenant Green, who
had turned to look at her. That was exactly what he had said himself earlier.
The young man had a faint, but encouraging, smile on his face.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said, returning her gaze to the screen. “It’s just that this… ‘Scarab Protocol’
seems so unfair on Captain Scarlet. After all he’s done to prove himself over
the past few weeks…”
She left the rest hanging. White kept silent a short moment, before nodding briefly. “Your concern is noted,” he said. “And your loyalty to Scarlet is
appreciated. But this will not be
discussed again – not until I settle things with him.”
“S.I.G., sir,” Rhapsody murmured.
“Good. Now
let’s concentrate on this Mysteron threat, shall we? We have a job to do, don’t forget that. Countless lives are at stake and that takes priority over
everything else.”
Rhapsody nodded grimly, and Lieutenant Green with her.
White signed out, the image on the screen turning black when he pushed a button.
Green turned to the young woman, almost making a face.
“Legwork,” he muttered. “I finally get a chance to be on the ground, where the action
is and I’m ordered to do legwork, while the Mysterons plot to destroy an entire
area. I could do that on
Cloudbase…”
“The difference is that we’re stuck dead centre in the
danger zone,” Rhapsody retorted.
“So we’re really in the thick of it, Lieutenant.”
“You sound upset, Rhapsody. Still angry at the colonel about Captain Scarlet?”
“Yes – and no, Lieutenant.” Rhapsody hesitated.
Of course, she was upset. Upset
that Colonel White could show himself so cavalier regarding Scarlet’s situation.
Upset that he seemed ready to abandon both Scarlet and Symphony if they were in
danger, and would not allow her and Green to get more involved in this mission.
And upset because something else was bothering her
deeply.
“Isn’t Aldermaston too obvious a target for the
Mysterons this time?” she asked
Green. “Surely, they won’t go
there, if they know all of Spectrum’s forces will be present to stop them?”
“Who knows, with the Mysterons? If they want to destroy the target they
designated, using that isotope they stole from Culver, then Aldermaston is the
only place they can go. You heard
the colonel.”
“I know but…”
Rhapsody frowned, thoughtful.
“What about Culver?”
“What about it?”
“They developed the isotope there. Don’t they have a
reactor the Mysterons might use to trigger the meltdown they plan?”
“Not according to our data,” Green said, shaking his
head. “Their reactor is certainly
not powerful enough to destroy the intended target.”
“What if the information in our databank is wrong?”
Rhapsody reflected. “What if indeed there might be another place around this
area where the Mysterons can use that isotope?”
“You want to tell the colonel that the Spectrum
databank is incomplete?” Green asked with a frown. “He wouldn’t like to hear
that…”
“Maybe all the right data has not been given to us,”
Rhapsody remarked with a dismissive wave of her hand.
“Yes… that’s
what he wouldn’t want to hear!”
“You want to take the chance that I might be right,
Lieutenant?”
Seeing the stern expression on the young woman’s face,
Green permitted himself a smile.
“I’d swear I’m hearing Captain Scarlet,” he said with a sigh. “All right.
Let’s suppose that you are right.
That we don’t have all the information and that there might be a possible
target, other than Aldermaston…
What could it be?”
“I don’t know – but maybe someone can tell us? How about the director of the Culver
plant?”
“Kierney?
Well, he probably knows where all the atomic installations are around
these parts…”
“And he did
already lie to us about the disappearance of the isotope,” Rhapsody noted. “He only came clean with it when we
discovered it ourselves. What if he
is hiding something else from us?”
“Careful, Rhapsody…
we don’t want to make groundless accusations. We would need more than
hypothesis right now. Mr Kierney
certainly realises that he’s in deep enough trouble as it is right now. So we have to assume he came clean with
his earlier statement.”
“I don’t like to
assume
anything, Lieutenant.”
“We have to make sure before telling the colonel.”
“Sure. Simply talking to Mr Kierney should provide the answer.” Rhapsody grabbed the phone. “So do I call him or do you?”
Green hesitated a little; then the smile reappeared on
his face, with fondness and amusement obvious in it. Rhapsody was in ‘detective mode’ and there was no stopping
her now. She might as well indulge
in it. Besides, hearing the young
woman’s pleasant voice might put Kierney sufficiently at ease to open up to
them, if, as she suspected, he was hiding something.
“Be my guest,” Green answered quietly. He watched with attention as Rhapsody
keyed the number of Kierney’s office at Culver.
* * *
When Captain Scarlet awakened, he could feel his
shoulders ache. The ache wasn’t
from his recent injury; it was something else.
His now-healed muscles were sore and cramped, from having kept the same
position for too long. His arms
felt heavy, as if his whole weight was pulling on them. And indeed, he realised almost right away, that was the case.
He was standing, slumped against an
irregular surface he could feel grating against his back, his feet barely
touching the floor. He could hardly
move his arms; they were outstretched on either side of him and shackled to the
surface he was leaning on; his hands were so numb he could barely feel them.
When he shifted to get a better position on his feet, he felt a fiery pain
shooting through his wrists, and heard a rattling sound.
He opened his eyes and assessed his situation. The surface against which he was resting was a large metallic mesh fence, and
each of his hands was secured to it by a strong pair of handcuffs; the metallic
bands were so closely encircling his wrists that they bit into his flesh,
cutting off his blood circulation and causing that painful numbness in his
hands.
It took Scarlet a few seconds before he actually
recalled his last conscious thoughts, in a flash of memories.
Mysterons… They had trapped him in Dalton’s
flat, where he and Symphony had thought to find Giles Hansen.
Giles Hansen, who had been killed and Mysteronised…
He looked around and saw her immediately, seated only a
few feet away from him, on a low stool, with a grim-looking face. She was apparently unharmed, and she
wasn’t restrained, but behind her was the Mysteron duplicate of Doctor Willard,
aiming a gun close to her head, with Giles Hansen, his expression cold, standing
only a couple of feet behind, keeping a close surveillance on her. That was as effective in keeping her
subdued as if she had been physically restrained.
Neither of them seemed to have noticed he had awakened; they were too
busy looking in the same direction, to their right. Scarlet followed their gaze.
The room in which he was being held prisoner was very
large, dimly lit, and he could see electronic devices on almost every wall.
Straight in front of him, on the far wall, he could see a very complex
computerised control panel, in which a few lights were flashing regularly.
This section of the room was presently inaccessible, as it was protected
by a wall of Plexiglass-like bars.
A small console was set next to those bars,
and a man dressed in black was presently standing in front of it,
operating the controls with silent attention, turning dials and pushing buttons,
his back turned on Scarlet. A
shiver ran up Scarlet’s spine when he recognised that man.
Captain
Black.
Whatever he was up to, he didn’t seem to have noticed that his prisoner
was awake – or maybe he didn’t care,
since he was so busy at the moment. The panel in front of him was slowly
coming to life with more flashing lights; a humming that didn’t sound like a
good omen in Scarlet’s ears made itself heard. It was coming from behind him; he
twisted in his bonds to look over his shoulders, gritting his teeth against the
pain in his wrists. Through the
mesh fence, he could see what looked like a large engine steadily coming to
life.
The humming increased and seemed to propagate through the room. Scarlet looked up front. Now a different humming was coming from
a large, lead container set to his left, standing almost in the middle of the
room, beyond the Plexiglas bars. It
looked like a huge tube, at least ten feet in diameter, that seemed to pierce
the floor and roof of the room.
Rings of multicoloured light were circling around it, with a regular, very quiet
beat that seemed to follow the humming cadence.
Scarlet watched silently, as Black made a step back,
all his attention still set on the controls he was working on. That was only at that moment that
Scarlet realised that Symphony was looking in his direction, apparently having
noticed he had awakened. He looked
straight at her and addressed her a silent nod, very slowly mouthing the
question ‘Are you all right?’ She answered with a brief affirmative nod of her
own. She looked as if she was indeed all
right, but deeply worried if he was to judge by the look in her eyes. Which was
normal, considering the situation.
That reassured Scarlet. But with
both of them subdued as they were, he was wondering how they were going to get
out alive from their present mess.
A door at the far side of the room slid open, and
automatically, both Scarlet and Symphony turned their heads in that direction;
so did Willard and Hansen, as a man, dressed in a uniform, entered the room.
Only Captain Black ignored the newcomer’s arrival. Scarlet’s eyes narrowed as he recognised the uniform of a
security guard from the Culver Atomic Centre – and the man as being the guard
who had been attacked that first night, when Black had broken into the plant. Harris… Considering
that neither Black, Willard nor Hansen seem distressed by the man’s presence,
and seeing that he didn’t look too bothered by their presence, he was obviously
a Mysteron too.
Is this the
Culver Atomic Centre? Scarlet wondered. It certainly looked like it, although
he had not visited this section personally. Then it would be here that the Mysterons intended to carry
out their threat this time – whatever it might be, as Scarlet had no idea what
they were preparing. He simply
imagined that since they had found the isotope, the Mysterons had voiced their
threat and were now acting on it.
He just was very aware that it could only be something terribly bad, if they
were dealing with nuclear energy.
And if he didn’t miss his guess – then that huge object
in the middle of the room could only be encasing the centre’s nuclear reactor.
It was much bigger than he had been led to believe it ought to be. Of course, Kierney had not mentioned
that Culver could be a liability in view of a possible threat from the
Mysterons. None of the information
Spectrum had on the Centre mentioned anything that would lead to that
conclusion. Scarlet knew, he had
checked that information a few days ago, when they were looking for Black,
wondering what could have brought him here – and still yet again recently, when
it had appeared obvious that the Mysterons wanted to use the isotope for their
misdeeds.
No doubt it meant trouble…
With his eyes, Scarlet followed Harris’s progression
toward Black. The latter had turned
around to face the approaching Mysteron agent, and Scarlet was able to finally
see his face. He could see it was
definitely Captain Black… yet, even from a distance, it was obvious that there
was something different about him. His face was ashen and unshaven, without any
expression at all, as hard as if it had been carved from a piece of white
marble. A new chill ran along
Scarlet’s spine. That was exactly
the face Symphony had described a few days ago, and that seemed to have made
quite an impression on her. He
could see why. Scarlet wondered, if
Black was a Mysteron agent, like Harris, and as Willard and Hansen now were
themselves, why he looked so different from them.
So different from any other Mysteron agents Spectrum
had encountered so far.
Harris had stopped in front of Black; there wasn’t a
single word exchanged when Harris gave something to the ex-Spectrum officer.
Scarlet recognized it as some kind of
key, attached to a red ribbon.
Black turned to the small console, inserted the key into a lock and turned it. The Plexiglas bars started to rise steadily. Black entered with Harris, and the two
Mysteron agents made their way towards the now accessible larger console.
Under Scarlet and Symphony’s scrutinising gaze, Black
started working on the new console.
He inserted the key into a new slot, and a small panel opened up, to reveal a
blue lighted keypad which rose from the console.
Harris came to type a series of numbers, as Black walked toward the huge
encased nuclear reactor. A small
panel was sliding out of it, following Harris’s command on the console, and a small, rounded, empty compartment
appeared. Black took something from
his shirt pocket; it was a small lead case, that he opened to reveal a short
metallic tube, of about six inches long.
With his gloved hand, he carefully took it out of its box.
The isotope, Scarlet realised, watching with growing anger as Black slid the object into the small
compartment and snapped it into place.
The panel slid closed, hiding the isotope from view. Black stepped back, as Harris keyed a
new series of numbers onto the keypad and turned the key once more. Above the console, for everyone to see,
the checking monitors came to life.
A horizontal gauge marked ‘coolant water temperature’ was brightly illuminated, with a multicoloured measurement
line starting from green, and going all the way through yellow, orange and
finally red. A monitor set over the
gauge was displaying the words ‘temperature normal’.
Scarlet had a feeling that it wouldn’t stay that
reassuring for very long. The temperature was steadily rising on the line, going
slowly toward the yellow.
As Black turned to Harris and the two of them started
talking in tones so low that they couldn’t be heard, Scarlet and Symphony
exchanged worried glances. They
didn’t have to strain very hard to imagine what would happen in a short while…
They had to do something – but what?
Scarlet’s head
shot up at the sound of that sepulchral voice addressing him. He saw Black now looking toward him,
leaving the controls to slowly walk
in his direction, followed by both Harris and Hansen.
Scarlet stood up straight, meeting the cold gaze of the Mysteron agent
with a determined face of his own.
Even Black’s eyes were without any expression, other than dark and total
iciness. During his time in
Spectrum, Captain Black hadn’t been the most expressive of men, but this new
‘incarnation’ of his was completely different.
There was something alien coming from him, even at this distance, that
Scarlet could feel in the marrow of his bones.
That was definitely unsettling.
Black stopped in front of Scarlet, merely a foot away and stared at him
with something akin to logical, scientific curiosity in those alien eyes.
“You are an
enigma…” Black continued, his voice
retaining the same aloof, unemotional tone Scarlet had heard previously. It certainly wasn’t Black’s real voice; it was tainted with the Voice of the
Mysterons, that Scarlet had heard through the radio, more often than he would
care for.
“Am I?” Scarlet replied in an abrupt tone. “Well, we know who we should thank for that, don’t we, Conrad?” Beyond Black, he
could see that Symphony was watching the exchange with growing unease. Yet, she made the effort to stay as
apparently composed as she could, mimicking his own defiant attitude.
“You tell me, old
friend. And then I’ll be able to tell you.” With affected coolness, Scarlet pointed a finger toward the
nuclear reactor, the best he could, considering his restrained position. “What are your masters up to now? Looks
like they’re planning something big…”
“The
Mysterons’ next act of retaliation will be to destroy the area once known as
Wessex…” Black’s answer sounded like
one of the Mysterons’ announced threats.
It was as if he was reciting a learned mantra. Scarlet took note of this only for a second, before starting
to compute the extent of the threat.
It was huge. A dubious frown
appeared on his brow.
“Wessex…?
That would take an enormous amount of energy…”
“The Culver Atomic Centre provides us with all the tools needed to carry
out our plans,” Harris then said, attracting Scarlet’s attention while Black
stood silently contemplating him. “They were using that clandestine nuclear reactor over there
to test the efficiency of the isotope they had created for Aldermaston’s subs.
By itself, because it is protected by this lead casing, if it were to overheat,
or meet ‘unlikely problems’ that might cause a nuclear accident, the reactor
would devastate the surrounding neighbourhood only.”
“What’s a few
villages, when the Mysterons could destroy the whole area?” Scarlet retorted
sarcastically.
“But if you introduce the special isotope they created into the core of
the reactor… the results would be
far different. The reactor temperature will increase, and the coolant water will
overheat beyond the point of no-return.”
Harris smiled thinly, seeing Scarlet’s grim expression. “Of course, you surely know now that the
isotope is a very powerful component – and that it is highly unstable… That’s why the people responsible for
security equipped the reactor with enough failsafe security measures to prevent
the eventuality of a meltdown – or so Culver is convinced.” Scarlet looked down at the key dangling
at Harris’s belt, understanding, by what he had just witnessed, that the ‘security failsafe’ resided in
it. He looked beyond the two
Mysterons toward the temperature gauge.
The line was now in the yellow, with the words ‘Temperature increasing’
displayed on the monitor.
“In two hours, there will be nothing
to prevent the reactor from exploding, wiping out the entirety of the
surrounding area,” Black
pursued. “Nuclear fallout will take care
of the rest of Wessex.”
Scarlet’s doubts turned into utter shock – and anger. “Black, that would mean millions of
deaths and suffering… including my parents in Winchester. You can’t really want to have
that
on your conscience!”
“What I want is irrelevant. The Mysterons’ orders must be carried
out.”
“You son of a…” Angrily, Scarlet pulled on his restraints, attempting to
make them give way, so he would be able to reach for Black. Of course, they
held, the metallic bands of the handcuffs biting deeper, more painfully, into
his wrists. All he could do was
stare at Black with a fiery contemptuous glare. A glare to which Black was
responding with an icy stare of his own.
“Killing me wasn’t enough for you,” Scarlet spat.
“You have to go and kill millions of other to satisfy your masters’ bloodlust.”
“The Earthmen started this war.”
“No, ONE man started it. YOU, Conrad. And you intend to finish it properly for your new masters,
don’t you?” A growl emitted from
his throat. “Damn it,” he added in
a low tone, “where is your much-vaunted will of iron, Conrad? You should be able to break free from
these monsters’ influence! Fight
them!”
“Your protests are meaningless.”
“So you will sacrifice yourself in a nuclear explosion for the Mysterons?
Is that how they intended to punish you?”
“My punishment… is beyond your comprehension.”
Scarlet thought he heard a note of regret in the monotonous tone. Was it his imagination? He was about to continue his harangue,
when a contemptuous scoff coming from Harris interrupted him. “Do not concern yourself with Captain
Black,” the Mysteron agent said in a mocking tone. “He will be far gone and out of reach when the explosion
occurs.”
“… And so will you,” Black added, still staring coldly at Scarlet.
“Oh, I’m touched, really, that you should look after me,” Scarlet
retorted with a thin, unhappy smile, “old
friend.”
“Friendship is an unknown concept.
It has nothing to do with your fate.” Black came a step closer, to look even more closely into Scarlet’s angry
and grim features. “You and you abilities can be useful to us.”
“Is this a job offer?” Scarlet scoffed mockingly.
“I offer nothing. You were created by the Mysterons. You’ll be brought back under their
control. Where you belong.”
The fire in Scarlet’s eyes grew hotter with burning rage and revolt. There was no way he would allow the
Mysterons to take him back under their control. He would gladly prefer a definitive death over such a fate. Outraged, he pulled on his restraints
once more. He felt his muscles
strain painfully, his shoulders almost snapping under the effort. “Never!
You hear me, Black?! I will NEVER go back under their
control! You can go straight to HELL with your Mysteron masters!”
Black remained unemotional, but Harris, stepping forward, violently
backhanded Scarlet, sending his head sideways.
From where she was watching the confrontation, Symphony jumped to her
feet. That was more than she was
able to endure. “Leave him alone!”
She made a step forward, as if she wanted to intervene, but Willard’s
hand caught her by the arm and she turned back angrily to him. He shoved the barrel of his gun into her
side, making her gasp. Enraged at
seeing the young woman manhandled, Scarlet turned to Willard specifically,
ignoring Black and the other two Mysteron agents closer to him. “Don’t you hurt
her, you…”
Black’s hands suddenly grabbed hold of Scarlet’s face; almost despite
himself, the Spectrum officer found himself staring straight into the
inexpressive features of the Mysteron agent.
Gritting his teeth, he first tried to pull back, but Black’s hold was
like iron.
“As you were once of the Mysterons,
so you will be once more. It’s just a matter of re-establishing contact.”
Scarlet felt a cold sweat running
down his spine. Even as he tried to
escape, he suddenly discovered that he couldn’t detach his eyes from the cold,
deep darkness that was Black’s stare, so alien in that human but impassive face,
so – enthralling. A feeling of
panic clutched Scarlet’s soul and mind, as coldness started to engulf him.
“LEAVE HIM ALONE, BLACK!”
The voice of Symphony reached Scarlet, and for a brief instant, he felt
free and drawn by the sound of her angry tone. With an obvious, but fleeting expression of frustration
on his otherwise aloof face, Black briefly shouted over his shoulder. “Silence the woman!”
Harris swiftly came to Willard’s side to help his fellow Mysteron agent,
who was apparently having trouble keeping the Angel pilot in line. He caught Symphony, wrapping his arm
around her and pinning her arms
against her body. She struggled,
but he was holding her in a iron-like vice hold.
She was about to shout again, when Harris’s hand clamped on her mouth,
smothering her cry. Black
turned his attention back to Scarlet.
“Look into my eyes and you’ll see
what I see.” At first, Scarlet tried to escape, but after a few short seconds,
Symphony saw his eyes opening wide; despite his best efforts to visibly resist
the urge, once again he gazed deep into Black’s eyes. He shivered, trying once more to pull away, but to no avail. Black had him within his clutches and
wasn’t about to let go. Whatever
the Mysteron agent was trying to do to him, Scarlet seemed powerless to avoid
it.
Reduced to silence and helpless to help, Symphony watched with horror and
growing concern for her fellow Spectrum agent, wondering what terrible fate the
Mysterons could have in store for him.
* * *
For Scarlet, there was nothing to see at first. Black’s face was still without any trace
of emotion, and that chilling image
was but a weak reflection of what he could see in his eyes – a deep dark abyss devoid of all
feelings, so cold it was freezing him to the bone.
It was a total blank, where no feeling, no passion, could find a place.
It felt as deep and cold, empty and vast, as space itself – in the darkest
recess of it, without any star to illuminate it.
He felt nauseous. The kind
of sickness he had felt often when he was in the vicinity of a Mysteron. Only this time it was even worse. As if the presence was closer. Very much closer.
He started feeling a pull on his mind…
an irresistible pull, that wanted to draw him into the deepest part of
this darkness. Black’s face slowly
faded from his view, until he could only see his sinister eyes. Then even those eyes disappeared, first
appearing as two weakening stars, that finally died out. Now the blackness was
total, and continued to fill his mind, slowly but irremediably emptying it of
all thoughts, except of that deep darkness itself – and that terrible pull.
No… there was still a single thought, a unique feeling left in his mind
beside that.
Fight!
He heard a murmur at the limit of his hearing. Barely audible, with words unrecognisable to him. It was a deep, low voice, that sounded
like the hush of a powerful wave. He tried to force himself to close his mind’s
eye but that didn’t stop the wave from growing more powerful with each passing
second, crushing into his brain, invading it with despair and helplessness.
The words were still indistinguishable, but he just knew, deep inside of him,
what they were and who was speaking them.
He was all alone to face them, and he
almost despaired.
No!
Fight!
He saw the first white light as a beckoning star in the darkness. Hope, he thought, desperately clinging to
it. A single sign of hope in all
that blackness.
Then the second appeared, very similar to the first, seemingly detaching
itself from it. They approached
him, as the rhythm of the crushing wave grew in intensity. With eyes wide-opened with dread and horror, he saw the stars
transforming into rings of pure light, pulsating as if they were animated by
their own true life, and coming straight at him. He then realised that both rings were pulsating at the rhythm
of his own heart, pounding with an unknown terror. Hope dispersed from his heart
as he realised these lights were anything but salvation.
They exploded into a blinding light, engulfing him totally, making him
gasp as if he was out of breath.
The nausea was becoming worse.
The presence was overwhelming…
as if coming from inside of him.
The murmur clogging his mind was still intensifying, pervading his
thoughts. He desperately tried to close his mind to it.
Keep fighting! Resist!
Do not LISTEN! Don’t let
yourself be drawn to them!
Why? Why keep fighting?
Scarlet pulled in a short intake of breath. Those words in his mind were not pronounced with what he knew
as the Voice of the Mysterons – but with his own voice, as if coming from far,
far away, from an intangible, nearly unreachable corner of his mind.
They do not trust me… They think I could turn on them.
He closed his mind’s eyes again, frantically arguing the point, knowing
full well to whom the ‘they’ referred.
But that was before… I’m not under
the Mysterons’ control anymore.
Didn’t I show them I could be trusted?
They planted a bomb in me – they could detonate it at
any time…
If I turn on them, they will… Better
death than a becoming a Mysteron drone again
– The Mysterons can order me to die in their service any time.
So can Spectrum…
Panic was threatening to overcome Scarlet, as he kept fighting to keep
control of his own fears, the turmoil brewing inside of him, as the nausea was
still mounting and his self-defences were eroding, giving way to doubts, that
were slowly instilled into his mind.
He struggled frantically, refusing the argument.
The Mysterons are evil – they want to
destroy all life on Earth…
Who started the war?
It was all a mistake – a terrible
mistake. Now we must suffer the
consequences…
Why do I care?
Scarlet’s determination wavered ever so slightly, and he marked a second
of hesitation.
Because I’m human?
That was a pathetic argument.
I was created by the Mysterons.
Am I myself or the shell of a man who
died weeks ago? I can’t believe that…
Maybe it is my fate to serve the Mysterons…
I can’t believe that…
Who am I?
I am Paul
Metcalfe…
I was a Mysteron agent.
Scarlet’s mind rebelled. He
knew he shouldn’t listen to this voice – he was unsure if it was his own inner
self, trying to argue the point of his existence, or if these doubts presently
assaulting him were coming from the Mysterons, trying to break his will, in
order to take control of him again.
Yes… it was the Mysterons. They wanted to weaken him – and they
were enhancing his own doubts about himself, about his life and his whole world
in order to obtain that objective.
I am a Spectrum officer…
I am Captain Scarlet.
I am Captain Scarlet.
Why do I resist?
Because I’m human.
I have to believe that.
He struggled again, desperately pulling away from the Voice and the
blinding light. He felt pain. Real physical pain, as if his arms were
dislocating from his shoulders, and his numbing wrists seemed to crack. He had the impression that something hot
was trickling down his arms. He
grunted loudly. The beating of his
heart increased, as did the rhythm of his rapid breathing, and that awful
nausea. He called on every reserve
of will and strength he still had within himself to make one last stand of
resistance against the invading thoughts threatening to break him.
I can’t resist…
Yes I can! My mind is my own.
I MUST believe that.
Why do I continue to fight?
Because I choose to. I can make the choice. I am free. This is the right thing to
do. They can’t control me.
They will never control me again.
They are strong…
Their commands await.
My will is stronger… I can’t answer.
I must NOT answer.
Give in…
I WILL not
surrender!
So hard to resist…
NEVER!
Can’t…
NO!
The light exploded again, more intensely, and all thoughts left Scarlet’s
mind, as darkness engulfed him yet again and he plummeted completely into it.
* * *
For what seemed like an eternity, Symphony Angel had witnessed with
utmost dread the battle Captain Scarlet waged against Captain Black’s attempt to
take control of his mind. For most
of it, it had been a silent fight, with neither of the opponents saying a word,
punctuated only by Scarlet’s laborious gasps and grunts. He was in pain. Whatever Black was doing to his mind, it was hurting him
badly. His face was pale, as if he was sick,
covered with sweat and contorted with the efforts he was obviously displaying to
resist. Gritting his teeth, he was
writhing and pulling so hard on his restraints that the metal bands encircling
his wrists were cutting deeper into his flesh, and blood had slowly started
trickling down his forearms.
He was fighting with a strength born of desperation to escape the
horrible fate promised to him by Black – and Symphony, unable to do anything to
help him, feared that it was a
hopeless battle, as she watched the fight becoming fiercer, sapping Scarlet’s
energy as the seconds – the minutes – passed, and he grew obviously weaker.
Symphony’s blood curdled in her veins upon hearing the terrible scream
that escaped Captain Scarlet’s throat at the end of the intense session. He then muttered a low groan and
collapsed, his restrains keeping him upright.
Only then did Captain Black release his hold on him and back away a step,
his eyes gauging the half-conscious man hanging against the mesh fence in front
of him. Symphony, only a few
feet behind, was also watching, deep worry obvious in her green eyes.
Paul… Did those monsters get their hands on you again? She could only imagine how horrible that would be for him
if it was the case. Finding himself
back within the Mysterons’ clutches probably was his worst fear – and now… she was fearing it had come to pass.
“It is done,” she heard Black say, and the words froze her blood and
sent a shiver down her spine. “Contact has
been re-established. Free him.”
Hansen came closer to Scarlet and released the shackles, one after the
other. The Spectrum officer
crumpled to the floor with a loud huff, directly at Black’s feet. He stayed there, breathing hard, apparently too weak to
move, his face unseen by the witnesses surrounding him. Symphony swallowed the lump forming in her throat, a faint
sob escaping her. Harris had let go
of her to take one step forward, and Willard was barely holding her by the arm. All their attention was drawn to the man
lying on the floor, slowly starting to get his bearings back.
Black looked down at
Scarlet, with the same coldness his eyes had displayed all along. He had no emotion, no second thoughts
concerning what he had done. Just
the inner certainty that he had served to do his masters’ bidding.
“Get on your feet, Captain Scarlet.”
Scarlet did try to obey, but obviously, he was still very weak from his
experience; his breathing still irregular, he succeeded in raising himself on
his hands and knees, with great effort.
Black addressed a brief nod to Hansen and the latter crouched down, to
grab Scarlet’s arm and pull him up.
Slowly, the Spectrum officer
rose, his body shivering. His face
was still very pale, haggard and covered with sweat, and he was still struggling
to stand up straight with Hansen’s help,
when Black addressed him again, stepping forward to grab his shoulder.
“Now, you are back under the Mysterons’ control, Captain Scarlet. You will follow the Mysterons’ orders. As you were meant to. You know what you
must do.”
What followed next happened very fast.
As he was leaning against Hansen and straightening up, Scarlet’s hand
suddenly shot straight out and hit the Mysteron’s throat with a forceful karate jab, making him
wheeze and stumble backward. Then
Scarlet grabbed Black’s jacket with both hands, and jerked his shoulders
forward, striking him with a vigorous headbutt that took Black completely by
surprise and sent him reeling onto the floor.
Half stunned by the attack, his nose bleeding, Black looked up, to stare
at Scarlet. The latter was still staggering on his feet, but managed to look
down at Black with fierceness and defiance all too obvious on his face.
“Drop dead, you bastard!” Scarlet yelled in a strained voice.
He still felt nauseous, and his mind was still reeling from the mind
torture he had suffered and the effort he had just displayed – okay, a HEADBUTT wasn’t REALLY the best of ideas under the circumstances… – but he could still detect the total surprise
in Black’s eyes – as well as another emotion.
They weren’t as cold as they had been before. They seemed… fearful…
It was only a brief observation, as a second later, Scarlet saw Harris
diving on him like a raging bull.
The Mysteron tackled him furiously, pushing him against the meshed surface
behind him, while trying to subdue him.
At the same moment, Willard had raised his gun, aiming it at Scarlet, completely
dismissing Symphony.
It was a mistake that the young woman quickly used to her advantage.
Grabbing Willard’s fist, her hand swiftly pushed his arm upward, forcing his
shot to go wide, and the bullet
lost itself in the ceiling. In the fraction of a second that
followed, her kneecap had risen to hit Willard’s groin with force, forcing his
knees to bend and his fingers to release the butt of the gun that she took
effortlessly. Symphony Angel wasn’t
a woman to do things by halves when on a job:
as soon as the weapon had changed hands, she used it – before he could
get his bearings back, she shot the half-kneeling Willard between the eyes with
one clean shot, without batting an eyelid, almost dispassionately.
She briefly watched as the Mysteronised doctor fell on his back, like a
rag doll, then turned her immediate attention to the fight in which Scarlet was
involved. She squinted her
eyes as she raised the gun, trying to get a shot at Harris, but she hesitated;
she was a good shot, but the battle was just too confused for her to be sure of
her aim; she might hit Scarlet instead of the Mysteron agent.
Black was slowly getting back on his feet, wiping his bleeding nose, when
Scarlet, in a supreme effort, finally managed to pull free from Harris.
He violently pushed him into Black’s path, momentarily throwing both of them
off, stunning Black and sending him back on the floor, while Harris struggled to
keep on his feet. Scarlet quickly turned in Symphony’s
direction; she was stunned to see how sick he looked.
“Symphony!” He threw
something at her, and instinctively, she caught it with her free hand. She only glanced briefly at the contents
of her hand, but she had already guessed it was the key that Scarlet must have taken from Harris. She raised her eyes and met Scarlet’s
wary but definitely human gaze. “Go!
Shut down the reactor!”
Symphony’s slight moment of doubt and hesitation disappeared instantly at
that order. Her heart filled with
relief that Scarlet was still himself and somehow had successfully resisted the
Mysterons’ attempt to take him back.
She turned on her heels and ran toward the large main control console,
trying to ignore the fact that Scarlet had stayed behind to cover her – and was
presently fighting off the attack of both Harris and Hansen. Each of them had a
task to accomplish, and hers was of the utmost importance.
She stood in front of the console and quickly assessed it. She wasn’t an expert, but she had
watched Black’s action very closely earlier, when he had entered the sequential
commands he needed to initiate the operation, so she had a good idea of what
needed to be done.
Except… According to what she was reading, the command was accessible
after entering a numeric code. One
that she didn’t know. And she also
had to remove the isotope from its compartment in the reactor before shutting down the whole system and stopping the reaction – or
whatever she would do would be useless. She looked up at the temperature gauge.
The line had crossed the whole of the yellow section and was now starting to
enter the orange one. The words ‘Temperature increasing to
danger level – caution’ was displayed on the monitor overhead.
Okay, first things first then. I’ll worry about the shutting down
later. It wasn’t as if she had any time to spare to study this panel too
closely.
She pressed the command sequence and moved in front of the lead-encased
reactor, watching expectantly as the small compartment opened. She waited nervously as the isotope rose
from it – too slowly, for Symphony’s taste.
When it finally came into a stop, she eagerly reached for the isotope and
snapped it out of its stand. A
series of indicators died out on the panel and Symphony breathed a sigh of
relief.
One step done. Now to shut down the reactor.
Quickly coming back in front of the central controls, she glanced over
her shoulder. Scarlet had his hands
full fighting off Hansen and Harris;
he was so busy that he had not noticed Black finally getting back to his feet
and sneaking up on him from behind,
holding a gun. Symphony felt her heart miss a beat when she saw him raising the
weapon high. “Captain! Look out!”
To her dismay, her call arrived too late: the butt of Black’s gun violently crashed down on Scarlet’s
head and he sank to his knees, with a grimace and a loud groan. With a brief last glance at the fallen
captain, the Mysteron agents turned their attention to Symphony. While both Harris and Hansen were
leaning over the half-stunned Scarlet, pulling his arms behind his back and
holding him down, Black started
walking toward the Angel pilot, with a decided step.
Alarmed, she briefly looked down at the panel in front of her, and
slammed a protruding red button.
The Plexiglas bars started descending between her and the others. Black quickened his pace; but he arrived
too late, just as the bars snapped into place, preventing him from reaching
Symphony.
She only glanced once at him before turning to the panel, intent on
finding a way to stop the nuclear reaction now threatening to begin.
She realised she didn’t quite know what to do next…
“Symphony…”
She turned on her heels.
Black was standing just on the other side of the bars and was watching her
intently; he had his gun in his hand, but held it down by his side. Yet, she could feel the inherent threat
emanating from him. She tried to
ignore him and turned again toward the controls.
“You can’t find the right sequence to
stop the reaction. Open that door.”
She turned a fierce glance at Black.
Like Hell I will…Did Black think her so stupid?
Behind Black, she could see Hansen and Harris forcing Scarlet to his feet
and dragging him forward. He still
looked stunned, weakened by his recent experience, the nauseating Mysterons’
presence and the knock he had sustained to the head. A new patch of blood was staining the collar of his shirt.
Yet, he was still struggling to break free from his opponents’ clutches.
He was pushed down at Black’s feet and forcibly held there; coldly, Black
cocked his gun, and pointed it at Scarlet. “Open the door, or I’ll
kill him where he is.”
Symphony shivered; still resisting and trying to get up onto his knees,
Scarlet raised furious eyes toward Black, before glancing at Symphony. “DON’T
give in!” A violent blow to the back of his head silenced him and made him
groan; he fell to the floor.
Symphony stiffened; she addressed an outraged look at Black.
Scarlet was roughly pulled to his knees and a strong forearm suddenly
pressed against his throat, while a hand pushed against the back of his head.
He gasped, nearly strangling in the strong hold, and still fighting to free
himself. His arms were firmly held behind his back, his wrists twisted
almost to breaking point. He
heard the voice of Harris hiss close to his ear,
“Shut up, Earthman!”
“You don’t know how to choose your hostages, Black,” Symphony said
swiftly, trying to render her voice as cold as possible. “You can’t kill him…” It was hard trying to sound callous
about it. Knowing that Scarlet was indestructible and would likely revive after
being struck by a bullet was one thing.
But looking on as he was killed in front of her eyes, because she refused to
obey, was quite another. Yet, it
didn’t look as if she had any choice but to refuse.
She was just hoping that Black wouldn’t see how uncomfortable the
situation was for her. The fact
that Scarlet chuckled despite himself at her remark helped comfort her in her
position.
“You always were a poor strategist, Conrad…” he said under his breath.
Black pressed his gun against Scarlet’s temple. The latter gritted his teeth. “I
can injure him badly…” Black declared, still looking coldly at Symphony. She was glaring at him fixedly, trying
not to show any of the emotions that were going through her mind. Then, as if he had reconsidered his
options, Black raised his gun and aimed it at Symphony.
“…Or I can shoot you.”
She stiffened. Black was a
good shot; he couldn’t miss her at this distance.
She had no doubt he would pull the trigger, but she had no intention of
surrendering to his threats and
allowing him access to the reactor to replace the isotope. She nervously and briefly glanced at the
still increasing temperature gauge.
The line was halfway into the orange section… There was little time left. At least, she reasoned, now that the
isotope had been removed, when the reactor overheated, the lead case would be sufficient to contain the full
strength of the explosion. The
Culver Centre would be obliterated, of course – and she’d probably die – and
there would be fairly extensive damage to the immediate area. But the Mysterons would have failed to
destroy the larger region of Wessex, and countless other lives would be saved.
“Open that door and you’ll live.
Or you’ll die – and we will enter anyway.”
Symphony blinked. Now what was that supposed to mean? Her eyes were set on the gun aimed
at her; Black’s hand was still, not the slightest shudder in it – and the cold
expression on his features left little doubt that he would indeed kill her. To what purpose, she considered? For revenge? She suddenly contemplated, in a fraction of a second, that he
might kill her, and that she would be recreated as a Mysteron agent for the sole
aim of putting the isotope back from where she had taken it. She shivered with horror at the thought;
she would become the Mysterons’ instrument of vengeance, and there would be
NOTHING she would be able to do to prevent it.
“Conrad…” The protest emerging from Scarlet died on his lips when Harris
tightened his hold on his throat.
“Don’t hurt her…” he managed to finish in a strangled groan. His eyes were looking straight at
Symphony, with obvious worry and distress.
“I’m giving you one chance, Symphony
Angel.”
That sounded suspiciously like what Black had told her, only a few days
ago, when he had put her in that SPV and sent her as a decoy to make good his
escape. He had used her then, for his own purposes. It wasn’t a generous gesture, she knew that – just as she
knew he would not be magnanimous this time either.
Symphony’s eyes briefly fell on the still obviously concerned Scarlet,
then moved to stare at the control panel, where the key was still inserted into its lock. Then she noticed the electronic waste
incinerator unit embedded in the front of the console. A solution instantly
imposed itself to her mind; she knew
exactly what to do.
She casually put the isotope down on top of the console, leaving her hand
to rest next to the disposal unit control button; then she turned to Black once
again, her eyes burning with defiance, as her other hand grabbed the key and
removed it from the lock. She kept it inside her hand, as if to protect it from
the Mysteron agents’ view.
Black held out his hand in a demanding gesture.
Perhaps he was thinking she would give him the key so he could open the
barred door himself?
He was deadly mistaken.
“We played this game once before, Captain Black,” Symphony remarked icily. She showed her hand, the plastic head of
the key protruding from it, a tiny metal part of it shining in a almost
tantalising way. “Do you think I
would give in to your demands?”
“Give me
that key or…”
“…You’ll shoot me? Right…”
She pressed the small button, opening the waste disposal, and then, with one
swift movement, tossed the key into the unit.
The door closed and a faint humming made itself heard. Black watched the red light over the
machine, announcing that the object tossed into it was being disposed of. No emotion appeared on his face as the
light turned green and he turned to face Symphony again. She was looking at him, her chin up, still standing
defiantly. “Go ahead,” she
challenged. “Like Captain Scarlet said earlier… drop
dead.”
A heavy silence followed her gesture and words. Scarlet had opened his eyes wide with
amazement at what Symphony had dared to do.
He felt proud, and at the same time terribly concerned about what would
happen next. He watched
apprehensively as Black lowered the gun. Nothing seemed to pass through the
former Spectrum agent’s facial expression, except for some kind of a ominous
flash in his eyes. He made one step
forward towards the bars separating him from Symphony and stopped. Scarlet
struggled again, his eyes riveted on Black, his concern growing.
Through the distance separating them, Back was looking straight into
Symphony’s composed expression. She stayed where she was, not moving, staring
back with a brave façade. “Without the key, you won’t be able to stop
the meltdown.” That was a
statement, more than anything else.
“And without it, you won’t be able to enter or to insert the isotope back
into the reactor,” Symphony answered back sharply. “The reactor may still explode – but the
damage will be considerably less.”
“You are trapped. You sacrifice yourself needlessly.”
“Perhaps. But if this is the
price to pay to stop you… No
matter what you do, your masters’ plans won’t succeed now. You lost this round.”
Black was still looking straight
at Symphony, his lips pinched. Briefly, they were taken back a couple of years
into the past, during an exercise assignment – where Black had played the part
of the enemy agent on the loose, challenging all the recruits under his charge
to catch him. Symphony had found
herself facing his gun – daring him to shoot her, without even knowing it was
loaded with blanks, or what his reaction would be. The situation now was somehow similar – and yet, so
deadly different. Black shook his
head briefly. “This isn’t a game anymore, Symphony.”
Was it Symphony’s imagination?
She thought his tone had something melancholic in it…
He raised his gun. Symphony’s eyes widened. “This is war, and I play to win.”
The next second, his index finger had pulled the trigger. The single detonation echoed loudly into
the large room.
With a brief and muffled cry, Symphony swivelled under the violent impact
and crashed roughly onto the floor.
* * *
The first call to the office of Alan Kierney being fruitless, Rhapsody
Angel had tried to reach the man at his home in Stourford, to learn from his
wife that he had not come back from work yet, and that, in all probability, he
was still at the office – where he would often stay late to work. However, a further call to the Culver
Centre still remained unanswered.
Considering the events of the day, it was conceivable that Kierney wasn’t that
eager to talk to anyone – especially Spectrum – so he could be avoiding
answering the phone. Neither
Rhapsody nor Lieutenant Green had reason to believe that Kierney’s wife had lied
about her husband’s whereabouts. So the two Spectrum agents had decided to check
for themselves if he still was at the Centre.
Green and Rhapsody presented their Spectrum passes at the gates of the
Culver Atomic Centre and entered the premises without question from the guards
at the entrance. Then Green drove
the car to the almost empty parking lot and parked next to the only luxury car
presently there. A check on its
license plate indicated that it was Alan Kierney’s.
They had confirmation that the director was still at the Centre, probably
in his office.
They left their car there and entered the principal building. It was deserted that evening, much
quieter than it had been earlier in the day, when they had come for the first
time. Almost all the workers had
gone back home, and only a handful of security guards were now left to make sure
the place was secure.
“It’s so silent, it’s creepy,”
Green noted, addressing Rhapsody, as their steps echoed down the darkened
corridor they had taken to access Kierney’s office.
“Yes,” she agreed with a brief nod.
“It’s exactly like walking in a tomb.”
They had reached the door leading to Kierney’s office. The door was closed, but there was a
faint light inside. It seemed that Kierney was there all right. Rhapsody knocked quietly on the door.
“Mr Kierney?” Receiving no answer, she tried the handle; it turned in her
hand, so she pushed it. “Mr
Kierney?” she called again,
glancing about. “It’s Lieutenant Green and Rhapsody Angel…”
She opened her eyes wide when she almost immediately found the man, lying
on the floor next to his desk, in a pool of blood. Hurriedly, with an impending sense of
doom, both Spectrum agents entered and rushed to Kierney. They gently turned him on his back, to find the gaping hole
in his chest.
“He’s been shot, nearly point-blank range,” Rhapsody said urgently.
“You were right about a tomb earlier,” Green muttered dryly.
Rhapsody checked for a pulse on Kierney’s neck and frowned. “My God, he’s still alive!” She barely had said the words when
Kierney gave a low moan, and his lips started moving slightly. Green rounded the desk to reach for the
phone. “I’m calling for an
ambulance – and security. Then I’m contacting the colonel.
There’s something going on in here – and I would bet my next pay it has
something to do with the Mysterons.”
Rhapsody didn’t take the bet.
She busied herself to make Kierney comfortable, putting a cushion under
his head and trying to staunch the flow of blood pouring from his wound.
“Hang on, Mr Kierney. Help
is on the way.” He moaned louder,
hearing the gentle voice. Then he
muttered something, so faintly that Rhapsody had to lean her ear over his lips
to make out what he was saying. He
was struggling to speak, and the words were stumbling hesitantly out of his
mouth, pronounced with great difficulty.
“Freeze!” The call from the
door made both Rhapsody and Green look up.
A man in a security guard’s uniform was standing in the doorway, brandishing a
pistol in their direction. He
looked a little taken aback to find both of them there, with Rhapsody leaning
over the wounded director. “What
happened here?” he demanded angrily.
“What have you done to Mr Kierney?”
“Oh, be serious!” Green
called sternly. “We’re Spectrum
officers and we just found him…” He held out his ID card. The guard, still warily keeping his gun
aimed at the young black man, approached cautiously to take a look. Green raised a brow. “I’ve got the hospital on the line and
I’m asking for an ambulance. You
want me to hang up?”
“Spectrum? Yes, I was told by security at the entrance that you were
coming here… But…” He finally lowered his gun and, with
eyes filled with obvious shock, looked down at Kierney, lying on the floor. “What happened to Mr Kierney? Who did that to him?”
“He just said a name,” Rhapsody answered. She was still listening intently to what Kierney was trying
to tell her. She raised inquiring
eyes toward the guard. “…Harris…”
“HARRIS?” the guard repeated, obviously not believing his ears. “No, you got to be mistaken. Harris would never…”
“H-Harris…” Kierney then repeated, his voice quivering but clearer than
before. “He… he shot me…”
“I can’t believe this,” murmured the guard.
“Quiet!” Rhapsody enjoined
him. “Mr Kierney, what did Harris
want? Where is he now? Do you know?”
“Key… Key to the reactor…”
“The reactor?”
“… Test reactor… Key for…
for controls…”
“The reactor at Aldermaston?”
“N-no…” Kierney shook his
head to the negative. He was
shivering violently, in obvious shock.
“H-here… the test reactor here…”
“Oh, Hell… I knew there was something wrong. Lieutenant, you’d better hurry with that call to the
colonel.”
“S.I.G.,” Green replied. His
call for the ambulance finished, he was already using his communicator.
Rhapsody shot to her feet and walked towards the guard who was still
looking down with incredulity at Kierney.
“Where’s that test reactor?”
“I-I’m sorry, ma’am,” the guard said hesitantly, surprised by Rhapsody’s outburst. “That’s a restricted area, and…”
“If you don’t cooperate with Spectrum, you may very well be charged as an
accessory to a terrorist crime,” the young woman snapped at him in a stern
voice. “You WILL tell me WHERE that
reactor is, and then you will gather a team of your colleagues to escort me
there RIGHT NOW! Every minute counts, mister. We have to STOP a disaster such as you
can’t begin to imagine from happening!”
Impressed despite himself with Rhapsody’s authoritative tone, the guard
nervously nodded his agreement. He
didn’t know how much truth there was in the Spectrum agent’s assertion, but she
sure as Hell sounded serious enough… and definitely angry.
And he didn’t want to cross her any more than he already had.
Symphony’s limp body had barely reached the floor and the echo of the
shot from Captain Black’s gun was
still echoing when a cry of utmost rage rose from Scarlet’s throat. Somehow,
his strength multiplied tenfold, and he finally broke free of the hands
now struggling to keep him down.
His right hand grabbed Harris’s gun in a vice-like hold and twisted the hand
holding it, almost effortlessly, just as the Mysteron was pulling the trigger.
The bullet meant to strike Scarlet missed him by a hair, the powder burning the
skin of his neck, and, at point blank range, struck Hansen, tearing half of his
face away. In the fraction of a second that
followed, the still fury-driven Scarlet wrapped his arms around Harris’s neck
and snapped it in a sickening crunch.
As the two Mysteron agents slumped to the floor, dead, Scarlet was rising to his
feet, with the full intention of throwing himself at Black.
Disposing of both Harris and Hansen had taken him barely a few seconds,
but Black had already turned on his heels and taken aim. Scarlet had but two paces left to reach
him when the first bullet caught him in the left thigh, halting his furious
charge. Unable to stand, he was already falling forward, when the second bullet
hit his hip. He hit the floor, and
was lying on his back, grimacing with pain, and clutching his heavily bleeding
thigh when Black casually walked the remaining distance between them…
And put a third bullet in his right leg.
Scarlet cried out in pain and frustration. He was pinned to the floor, bleeding and unable to rise, with
Black standing over him, his gun trained on him, ready to pull the trigger at
any moment. There still wasn’t any
emotion apparent on the former Spectrum officer’s face as he looked down at
Scarlet, seemingly considering whether to shoot or not.
Blinded by hate and pain, Scarlet turned his eyes toward the body of
Symphony, lying face down on the floor, on the other side of the bars. He could see a patch of blood starting
to form underneath her, and slowly enlarging.
“How could you?!” he raged addressing Black. “How
could
you shoot her like that? She
wasn’t any threat to you! What kind
of sick satisfaction did it give you?”
“This is war, Captain. She knew the risks of her trade. As do you.”
As Scarlet was trying to
raise, albeit unsuccessfully, Black pressed his foot to his wounded hip and pushed him down; he ignored the
muffled imprecation Scarlet directed at him and looked around at the dead
Mysteron agents surrounding them. “Impressive display of strength, Captain
Scarlet,” he said in a casual and dispassionate tone.
“You would have made a great asset to the Mysterons in this war against Earth…”
“GO TO HELL!” Scarlet
barked, surmounting the pain he was enduring.
His eyes momentarily left Symphony to stare up with hate at Black, beads
of sweat covering his face. He felt
hurt and sick at the same time. “I
SWEAR to you, Turner, when I get my hands on you…”
“You were created by the Mysterons,”
Black continued, seemingly not
hearing Scarlet’s threat. “How it is they were unable to re-establish
contact with you?”
“Don’t you GET IT?” Scarlet
yelled with frustration, on the verge of losing his senses against the pressure
on his open wound. He bit his lip,
grunting. “There’s NOTHING left for
them to make contact WITH! I am NOT
one of those droning replicates they create!
I have my OWN FREE WILL!”
There was a short moment of silence, during which Black seemed to look
thoughtfully down at his downed opponent.
They held each other’s gaze, Scarlet’s flashing with obvious disgust and
antagonism, his teeth clenched tightly.
If he had had the chance to jump at Black’s throat, no doubt he would
have done it. When he shifted ever
so slightly, Black pressed his foot harder against the officer’s wounded hip to
force him to stay put. A loud groan
escaped Scarlet’s throat, and he fought hard to cling to consciousness. He could see Black’s expression through
a haze – and his voice seemed to come from farther away.
“Indeed, your will is strong, Captain
Scarlet. And the powers you have
retained from your experience make
you a dangerous foe for the Mysterons.
You shall be destroyed.”
Realising Scarlet was within an inch of losing his senses before being
able to hear all he had to say, Black removed his foot; the Spectrum officer
gasped with relief at the release of pressure.
The pain continued, though, and his lower limbs were numb.
“Because of the Angel’s interference,
the ultimate aim for this mission may be lost for the Mysterons,” Black continued in his dolorous tone. “Spectrum has succeeded in saving Wessex. But the reactor will still explode. And I doubt, Captain Scarlet, that you will survive this.”
He moved away from his victim, keeping his eyes and gun on him. Scarlet followed him with his gaze,
barely able to move from his spot, as Black was backing away toward the exit.
“You are welcome to try and escape,” Black continued. “But wounded as you
are, you probably won’t get far.”
“We will meet again, Black!” Scarlet promised fiercely. “And I’ll make
you pay… For everything you’ve done.
To me, to everyone… To Symphony...” His voice broke as he turned his gaze to
the downed Angel pilot lying in her blood on the other side of the bars. He thought he saw a faint movement of
her arm. He blinked; surely, he had
dreamt…
“The future will tell us if you’re
right in your statement. Good bye,
Captain Scarlet.”
Scarlet’s head shot back in the direction of where he had seen Black
last; the former Spectrum officer had disappeared from his view, and the door
leading out of the room was slowly sliding closed. Scarlet was able to hear the echo of hurried footsteps
decreasing in the distance. The
sound died out when the door slid closed.
Scarlet looked around. He was
alone, in the room, with three dead Mysteron agents, abandoned by their masters
after their failed mission…
… And Symphony.
“Symphony!” he rasped. His
attention returned beyond the bars where Symphony lay. He thought he had seen her move earlier.
That meant she could be alive…
He couldn’t see any movement now.
“Symphony!” he called again, his voice stronger, hoping that his
assumption was right. “Please, wake
up! Answer me!”
Getting to his feet was nothing short of a torture, with his two legs
barely responding to his commands;
yet, he tried, gritting his teeth under the renewed pain. He couldn’t stay up
very long; the first tentative steps he made toward Symphony sent him falling
forward. He fell against the bars,
gasping, and hung on to them, as he sank to his knees. Nearly blinded by pain and salty sweat,
his eyes were riveted on Symphony’s motionless form.
“Symphony!” he bellowed desperately at the top of his lungs. “Karen, for God’s sake, wake up!”
He was starting to believe he had imagined things earlier and despair
started to fill his heart at the realisation that Symphony was really dead, when
he heard a faint moan from the young woman. He watched with renewed expectation. He saw her moving and trying to rise from her spot. She succeeded in rolling to one side; he
saw her beautiful face, deadly pale, deformed into a painful frown, and covered
with sweat that was matting her hair on her brow. The grimace accentuated when her right hand reached for her
side, just under the right breast, where blood was pouring profusely. Scarlet shivered at the sight of the
wound. She was badly injured.
“Karen,” he said, his voice tainted with a strange mix of joy and deep
worry, almost stunned to realise he had been right. “You’re alive…”
“Just…” she croaked,
glancing with concern at her wound.
She looked at Scarlet, noticed the expression of distress and helplessness on
his features, and the bars separating them.
She blinked several times, trying to get her mind and vision in focus,
searching around for the control panel.
She was lying just at its foot.
Grunting at the effort, she rose to her knees, hauling herself up on the
console. Once she reached the
controls, her hand produced a key; Scarlet’s eyes opened wide with astonishment
when he recognised the one she had supposedly thrown into the waste disposal.
She struggled to insert it into the lock, turned it and pushed the
button. The bars started to rise
toward the ceiling; Scarlet didn’t wait to pass underneath them, as soon as
there was enough space; as quickly as his wounds would allow him, he crawled the
distance separating him from the young Angel pilot sprawled against the console,
nearly out of strength. He reached
her as she was slowly sliding back to the floor.
“Karen!” He turned her on
her back and she gasped. Her closed
eyes fluttered and she looked up at him. “You had the key…” he whispered, almost
unbelieving. “I thought… you had
destroyed it…”
“Do you think I’m… stupid?”
She gave a faint smile. “It was the
car key… Black bought it, right?”
“He bought it all right,” Scarlet said with a smile of his own, totally
impressed by the young woman’s initiative and dedication. He frowned when he saw her grimace of
pain. “Karen…”
“Can’t stop the reactor…” she whimpered, looking toward the console.
“I don’t know the sequence…”
Scarlet looked up to the gauge monitor.
The indicator was now well into the red zone. The words ‘Critical condition’ were flashing on the screen
overhead. There wasn’t much time
left, before everything blew up around them. He had to do something to stop it… But how?
He frowned deeply, as something came nagging at him from the deep
recesses of his mind.
A series of odd numbers…
Which were now flashing in quick succession… seemingly coming out of nowhere…
Could it
be…? No, it was impossible…
And yet… what other meaning could those numbers have?
It could very well be their last chance.
“I… think I know it,” he murmured
in answer to Symphony’s last remark.
Symphony addressed him a questioning frown, wondering how he could know
the sequence. She didn’t ask and
simply watched with anguish as he raised himself to his knees and stood in front
of the controls.
Keeping himself upright and grimacing under the effort imposed on his
wounded legs, Scarlet lifted feverish eyes, and looked up again to the displayed
message on the monitor and on the gauge. Temperature was still rising toward its ultimate goal. There was a fair chance he could be
wrong, he reflected apprehensively.
That the Mysterons had again been playing with him, deceiving his mind… But what did he have to lose?
They were minutes away from death.
He closed his eyes and concentrated; he searched through his mind, trying
to get a grasp on that elusive memory, amongst his most recent ones, pushing
away all outside thoughts, trying to dismiss all distraction.
By trying to reach for his mind, to bring him back into their grasp, the
Mysterons had opened themselves to him through Black – or was it Black’s mind he
had been in contact with? Amidst
the coldness, he had seen nothing – except now there was that series of numbers,
apparently without any meaning. He
didn’t know where exactly they could be coming from, but he could only suppose
that, unknowingly, the enemy had left, lingering in his mind, the key to defuse
the present situation. Or that they hadn’t anticipated that he would ultimately
break free to use that key.
Either way, he had to use it to his advantage.
He just had to remember them correctly now…
They appeared in his mind’s eye, at first flashing through a thick haze;
they became more precise after a moment.
There were nine numbers.
With the assurance that they were the right sequence he needed, Scarlet started
typing them. At the end of the
sequence, he hit the enter button.
He looked up to the monitor.
For seconds, it seemed as if nothing had happened. The ‘critical condition’ message was
still flashing ominously. Then it
stopped. And with it, the moving
indicator on the gauge.
Slowly, it started diminishing.
The message changed on the monitor.
‘Temperature decreasing toward normal.
Danger prevented. Reactor
shutting down.’
Scarlet blew a deep sigh; strength left his legs and he allowed himself
to slowly slide to the floor, right next to Symphony, who was looking straight
at him with obvious confusion on her face.
“You did it,” she said in a near whisper. “How…?”
“Never mind how for now…” Scarlet moved to her side and took her up,
resting her head against his shoulder.
She grimaced under the stress imposed on her wound. Scarlet assessed it quickly; it was
still bleeding, and she was threatening to bleed to death. “Hold on…” He
pressed his palm firmly against the open wound, staunching the flow of blood. She gasped in pain; Scarlet addressed
her an apologetic look. “I’m sorry…
I didn’t mean to hurt you. And I’m
not trying to be too friendly with you either.
I have to keep the blood in…”
She blinked, and shook her head in acknowledgment. Her face was showered with sweat, and
she was obviously in terrible pain. Scarlet was looking down at her, trying to
present a reassuring façade.
“Karen, what
you did… it was incredibly courageous…”
“It was incredibly stupid…”
she groaned. “…but what else could
I do? I was so afraid… that I would be Mysteronised and be
forced to do what they wanted…” She
weakly lifted her hand and grazed Scarlet’s cheek, offering a very faint smile. “I’m glad you were able to resist them…
That must have been terrible… You
looked in so much pain…” She
groaned, her hand falling to her side, then she laid her hand over his as it
pressed against her wound. “He
isn’t Conrad, you know?”
Scarlet gave an almost imperceptible nod. “No,” he admitted in a very low tone. “He wouldn’t have shot you…”
“He shot you too…
You look fit to fall…”
“I’ll be all right… But you…
you have to stay calm…”
Symphony coughed, and that sent a shooting pain through her body; Scarlet
felt the blood rushing through the wound and pressed his palm firmer.
The young woman grimaced again.
“Ouch… Now that hurts…”
“Don’t try to talk,” Scarlet
urged her. “You need your rest…
I’ll get you some help… somehow…”
He didn’t quite know how he would do it, actually.
He couldn’t leave Symphony. He
couldn’t even remove his hand from her wound without leaving her to bleed to
death. He felt weak himself, from his own loss
of blood. He didn’t feel in as much
pain as previously. He felt rather
numb, feverish – in shock, obviously.
It wouldn’t take much for him to give in and let unconsciousness take hold of
him. But he wouldn’t allow it. He knew he had to hold on, for Symphony’s sake. As long as he needed to.
He held her close to him,
comforting her, shielding her shivering body with his own, trying to pass to her
what little was left of his own warmth.
God, she was so light… Her
heart was beating against his chest, regularly, if somewhat quickly. She was afraid. She whimpered, closing her eyes, and leaning against his shoulder. “Paul… If … I die… would you tell Adam…”
“I will tell nothing to Adam that you won’t tell him yourself,” he cut in
suddenly, and he was almost surprised by the sudden strength of his response. “I
won’t let you die, little sister…
I promise you that.”
Symphony felt so tired, but she blinked again, this time in surprise, as
Scarlet’s choice of words registered in her mind.
“I always wanted to have a big brother…” she slurred weakly.
“Well, we are so much alike, we could be siblings…” Scarlet replied in a
nervous chuckle, stroking Symphony’s damp hair. He noticed she was about to lose consciousness. “Hang on in there, Karen … You hear me?”
She nodded weakly, her eyes still closed, her head so heavy. His mind desperately seeking a solution,
Scarlet’s head suddenly rose in alarm when he heard hurried footsteps
approaching the closed door. He
looked with apprehension as it began to slide open, and hope flared up in his
heart as he saw Rhapsody Angel, followed by four security guards from the Culver
Atomic Centre, enter into the room hurriedly, guns drawn and looking around in
dismay at the bodies lying on the floor and the two people prostrated in front
of the reactor. Rhapsody motioned
sternly in direction of the three dead bodies.
“Keep your eyes on these ones and if they move, you shoot!”
“But they’re already dead…” one of the guards started to protest.
“Don’t argue with Spectrum,
mister!”
The guard looked at her as if she was out of her mind, and muttered
something; she ignored him – the important thing being that he was following her
instructions, and was now standing guard over the dead Mysterons. Without so much as slowing her pace,
Rhapsody approached Scarlet and Symphony, concern splattered on her face,
another guard from Culver in tow. She had to be blind not to notice the blood
surrounding them, and the sorry state in which both were. She shivered.
“Call an ambulance!” Scarlet shouted to her, his voice weak and cracked.
The demand was unnecessary, as Rhapsody didn’t need any incentive, and had
already taken her personal communicator out to call Lieutenant Green and urge
him to call for medical help.
Scarlet leaned toward Symphony, cradling her closer to him,
in a protective way. “Don’t you
dare leave me, Karen… You’re going
to be all right soon… But you’ve
got to hang in there… You hear me?
You’re going to be all right…”
Symphony heard his voice, filled with concern, through a deepening mist,
as if it was coming from far, far away.
She could hear his comforting heartbeat against her ear, beating strongly
and wildly over the fear he was feeling for her. She gave the faintest of nods in answer
to his request. She wasn’t about to
give up. Not after they had beaten
the Mysterons at their own game.
She wouldn’t give them that satisfaction…
That was the last thought in her mind, as she slowly drifted into sleep,
unable to keep awake much longer.
Any comments? You can e-mail them to the Spectrum Headquarters site