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A “Captain
Scarlet” story for Chrismas
By Flic City
These are just
some scenarios of Christmas on Cloudbase before the Mysteron threat. So don’t be
surprised by Captains Black and Brown being involved! (The lines are supposed to
rhyme with the official version of the carol, by the way. Any numbers
mentioned are purely coincidental!)
On the first day
of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
Kiss-chase around the fir tree!
Magenta grinned at Harmony. “So, what do you think of Christmas on
Cloudbase?” “It is certainly interesting,” she replied demurely. “At home, we
celebrate New Year instead of Christmas.” And not by behaving like children, she
thought to herself. Still, it was good to see everyone letting their hair down –
even Colonel White was less grouchy then usual, and there were rumours that he
had given permission for the Amber Room to be decorated. Magenta had taken full
advantage of the rumours to bring an enormous fir tree on board and into the
Amber Room, where he was now stood admiring it. “Have you received permission from the Colonel for that to be
here?” Harmony asked him. He looked shifty. “He can’t expect us to have a Christmas without the Christmas tree.
Where would we put the presents?!” “And what excuse are you planning on using for the other plants?”
she asked, indicating a huge pile of greenery in one corner of the room. “They’re traditional.” “Why?” she asked curiously. Magenta grinned at her, picking up a
piece of mistletoe from the top of the pile. “For this!” and he raised it over their heads, leaning down to kiss
her. Harmony sidestepped, smiling at him. He grinned back, and followed
her. She began to walk around the tree, and then to speed up as he followed her. The Angels walked into the room, and stopped to watch the two
chasing each other around the tree. “I think Harmony’s getting into the
Christmas spirit,” grinned Symphony.
On the second day
of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
Fake
snow stuff And
kiss-chase around the fir tree!
Ochre and Green shook hands, looking around them at the Control
Room with deep satisfaction. “Lieutenant, I do believe that we have covered
every work surface in the room with snow,” said Ochre gravely. “It’s a white Christmas on the ground, after all,” grinned Green.
“Why not on Cloudbase?” “Exactly!” The two conspirators chuckled together, then hurried to their
places as the rest of the personnel entered the room. “What the blazes is going on here?” exploded the Colonel, staring
at the snow-covered room. “Going on?” asked Green innocently. “Yes, why is there snow in here?” “Snow, Colonel? Inside?” asked Ochre, looking puzzled. Colonel
White looked at him suspiciously. “Are you playing some form of practical joke, Captain?” The other staff exchanged glances. “I have to admit, Colonel, I
don’t see any snow here either,” said Captain Brown, straight-faced. Captain
Scarlet raised an eyebrow at him, while Captain Black shook his head with a look
of mock-disgust. “Have you all arranged this?” asked White in amazement. “Oh, no sir,” said Captain Scarlet. Captain Blue forced down a
laugh – Scarlet might have difficulty lying, but he could do amazing things with
the truth! Colonel White studied them all silently, and everyone met his eyes
with an admirable pretense at honesty. He smiled faintly, and shook his head.
“Well, the snow that no one else can see had better be gone by the end of the
holiday period,” he warned them. “I’m sure it will be, sir!” said Ochre.
On the third day
of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
Two
drunk men Fake
snow stuff And
kiss-chase around the fir tree!
Adam Svenson grinned down at his friend Paul. “C’mon, lighten up,”
he slurred. “Have sum a da –” he paused, waving a hand in the air – “stuff in
the bar!” Paul grinned, shaking his head. “No, thank you,” he said. “And you
shouldn’t be having any more, either, if you’re that drunk!” “I’m drunk!” gasped Adam in shock. “Stand up!” Paul dragged himself to his feet, lurched, and toppled back onto
the couch. “See!” Adam crowed. “You can’ even stand up!” “But you can’t talk!” argued Paul. “Hey, the Colonel’s coming!” hissed Brad, running into the
unofficial party. The officers quickly tried to make themselves presentable. “Well, gentlemen and ladies, I trust that Captain Grey gave you
sufficient warning of my arrival,” said the Colonel sardonically as he entered
the room. He surveyed the chaos, and sighed. “Evidently not.” “S-sorry about the mess,” Adam said, trying not to slur his words –
with limited success. He offered the Colonel a salute. Paul started to rise from his seat, but the Colonel waved him back
down. “This is hardly a formal occasion, gentlemen,” he remarked with a wry
grin. “Nonetheless, I assure you that we will have the Amber Room in its
normal condition soon, sir,” said Paul. “Kiss-up!” whispered Patrick from a corner of the room. “That will do, Captain Magenta,” frowned White. He turned to the
other staff in the room. “I assure you that I do understand the urge to ‘cut
loose’ occasionally. However, such behaviour will only be tolerated if it is
occasional.” He relaxed, and smiled at them. “Enjoy yourselves.” As he was leaving the room, Patrick spoke up, “Does that mean that
we’re allowed to get drunk, sir?” There were a few stifled giggles around the room as Colonel White
turned back to stare at him. “Only in moderation, Captain,” he said, looking to
Adam, who blushed. “If you could keep your alcohol intake to a minimum, as
Captain Scarlet appears to have done, then I would be most grateful.” He left
the room with everyone staring at him. Adam broke the silence. “Three cheers, everyone! For the on’y man
who’s ever fooled the Colonel!” The sound of cheering reached the Colonel’s ears, and he turned
back to find out what was going on in time to see Paul leaning dizzily against
Adam while he said, “It’s all luck, I assure you. If the Colonel hadn’t stopped
me from standing up, he’d have realised that I’m drunk!” The Colonel raised an eyebrow, and decided to leave quietly.
On the fourth day
of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
Smoke-written words Two
drunk men Fake
snow stuff And
kiss-chase around the fir tree!
“So, what’s the ‘special training exercise’ that you’ve come up
with?” Symphony asked Destiny. The French Angel smiled archly. “We are all expert pilots, non?” she asked. The other Angels nodded
silently. “And we ‘ave all learned ‘ow
to ‘andle these Angel Interceptors, non?” Another round of nods.
Destiny’s smile grew wider. “Tell me, girls, do any of you know of
smoke-writing?” The Angels looked puzzled. “It’s a type of flight display,” said
Rhapsody hesitantly. “Oui, but can any of you do it?” “Oh, sure!” said Symphony confidently. “Certainly,” said Harmony. “Good.” Destiny looked at them all. “Now, how elaborate do you
think you could make it?” Her team looked at each other blankly. “What do you mean, Destiny?”
asked Melody. “You see, I ’ave found somezing I would like us to copy…” explained
Destiny, holding out a sheet of paper. The Angels gathered around, arguing with
each other over how to recreate what was on the paper in the sky. “Angels, prepare for immediate launch!” Destiny announced when
they’d finished their planning. The five pilots hurried into their aircraft,
pretending to ignore the sputtering questions coming over the radio channel. All of the Spectrum personnel hurried to the viewing ports, to see what the Angels were up to. So everyone on Cloudbase saw the Angels smoke write,
On the fifth day
of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
All
agents sing!
Smoke-written words Two
drunk men Fake
snow stuff And
kiss-chase around the fir tree!
“Remind me why we are doing this?” Paul muttered to his friend as
Spectrum’s officers gathered in the Amber Room to sing carols. “Temporary insanity?” suggested Conrad. “Well, it’s wearing off too soon,” muttered Paul. “More like not soon enough!” “Shh!” hissed Steve. “Do you want to get singled out for one of the
carols?” Conrad paled. “They wouldn’t.” “Oh no?” The two captains exchanged worried glances, and adopted a more
formal pose. “Hey, where’s Adam?” asked Paul, after they’d been stood for a few
minutes in silence. “I think someone locked him in the bathroom,” said Conrad. Patrick,
who’d been eavesdropping on their conversation, suddenly found the wall in front
of him very interesting. “Good!” The entire room turned around to stare at Brad, who blushed as he
realised how loudly he had spoken. “Much as we agree, perhaps you could keep your voice down a bit?”
murmured Paul. Brad glared at him, while everyone who was stood close enough to
hear looked away, hiding their smiles. “I have an announcement,” said Seymour. The officers looked at him
in surprise. He was the one who had arranged the sing-a-long in the first place.
“This concert was arranged as a deliberate attempt to prove to the Colonel that
it is a bad idea.” His audience looked puzzled and sceptical. “That way, we
should be able to get out of having to do this again next year.” Everyone’s
faces lit up with understanding, and they nodded their agreement.
“However,without Captain Blue to join in with the singing, we are missing our
greatest weapon.” There was silence. No one could pretend that they misunderstood
him, but no one wanted to have Adam singing, either. Finally, Patrick moved to
the door with a sigh. “I’ll let him out,” he groaned. “It means that he won’t have an excuse to sing Christmas carols at
us next year,” Seymour pointed out. “That’s the only reason we aren’t lynching you!” answered Paul
grimly. Seymour Griffiths smiled uneasily, and decided not to tell them
that the performance would be recorded…
On the
sixth day of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
What are they playing? All agents sing! Smoke-written words Two drunk men Fake snow stuff And kiss-chase around the fir tree!
The captains sat around the board, watching eagerly as Grey rolled
the dice. Black sighed when he narrowly missed landing on Piccadilly – the only
property Black had managed to gain. “Hey, Magenta,” he muttered, leaning over
the board, “Come up with a way of robbing the bank, huh? I’ll help, and we can
split the cash fifty-fifty!” The other captains sniggered. Captain Ochre sat up, and announced
in a loud voice. “Attention! A reward is going out for the capture of two
highly-suspicious individuals, who are charged with not paying attention to the
rules!” “Hey, don’t include me in that!” protested Magenta. “I didn’t do
anything!” “Yes, be fair,” Black agreed. “I should be the one to go to prison
for saying that.” The other captains looked at him suspiciously. “And your insistence
on that has nothing to do with the fact that you can’t make your next move
without landing on someone else’s property,” said Magenta. “Nothing whatsoever,” grinned Black. Ochre, who was bank, sighed and handed over a 500 bill. “That’s a
bribe to stop you from corrupting my partner,” he said. “Captain!” Black looked shocked. “I’d never accept a bribe!”
On the seventh
day of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
The
lights are dimming What
are they playing? All
agents sing!
Smoke-written words Two
drunk men Fake
snow stuff And
kiss-chase around the fir tree!
Captain Blue entered the Amber Room in time to see Scarlet looking
at the tree in puzzlement. “Is something wrong?” “Hmm? Oh, hello, Adam. The lights should be on, but it looks as
though one of the bulbs must have blown.” “Again?” asked Blue in disbelief. “I swear, it’s some kind of
tradition. Every time Christmas lights are put on the tree, they stop working!” Scarlet grinned. “Yes, but I promised Rhapsody that I’d make sure
the decorations were up by the time she got back –” “Oh, so that’s it!” grinned Blue. “Whatever do you mean?” asked Scarlet. “The reason why you’re seeing to the lights, of course!” “Really, Adam, just because I do Rhapsody one favour –” “More like one a week!” cut in Blue. “Here, I’ll help you,” he
offered quickly, seeing his friend’s eyes flash with irritation. “Thanks. I could do with it!” Scarlet admitted, looking at the
metres of fairy lights on the tree. Together, the two men began to unwind them,
unscrewing each bulb and checking whether it had any effect on the rest of the
lights. They had almost reached the end of the first metre, when – KABOOM! “What the bloody hell just happened?” asked Captain Scarlet in
stupefaction, staring at his and Blue’s blackened uniforms. Another flash drew their attention to the doorway, where Captain
Ochre was holding a camera. “Ha! Just wait till I show this to Magenta! We
caught two people with the lights, not just one!” he crowed. “ ‘We’?” asked Scarlet, his eyes narrowing. He looked at Blue. “I’ll go for the photograph,” whispered Blue. “You get Magenta.” “Right,” agreed Scarlet, and they both stood up. Blue started
towards Ochre, who stopped laughing and started to back away. “Hey, come on, can’t the two of you take a joke?”
On the eighth day
of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
Yes,
you are still thin! The
lights are dimming What
are they playing? All
agents sing!
Smoke-written words Two
drunk men Fake
snow stuff And
kiss-chase around the fir tree!
Dianne and Karen looked around cautiously as the door to the Amber
Room opened, then relaxed as they saw that it was Chan. “Oh, good, it’s you!”
sighed Karen with relief. “Who did you think it would be?” asked the oriental Angel in
surprise. “We were worried in case it was Juliette,” explained Dianne,
pulling a face. “Have you seen her?” “Yes. She is in the mess room, eating Christmas pudding,” replied
Chan. To her surprise, the on-duty Angels both groaned at the news. “She’ll be worse after that,” complained Karen. “Worse?” “You haven’t noticed?” asked Dianne. Chan shook her head silently. “I have noticed nothing to upset you both,” she said honestly. “Turns out Juliette has a real thing about Christmas food,”
explained Karen morosely. “She keeps thinking that it’s making her fat, so she
keeps asking.” “And asking, and asking, and asking,” sighed Dianne, shaking her
head. “She can’t eat a single mince pie without asking everyone if she looks
fatter.” Chan blinked at them both. “Surely you are exaggerating,” she said.
“Juliette is a very level-headed person.” “Hah!” was Karen’s retort. Before they could say anything else, the door opened again, and
Juliette came into the room looking surprisingly anxious. Before she could ask
them, Dianne and Karen chorused wearily, “Yes, you are still thin!”
On the ninth day
of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
Angels
entrancing Yes,
you are still thin! The
lights are dimming What
are they playing? All
agents sing!
Smoke-written words Two
drunk men Fake
snow stuff And
kiss-chase around the fir tree!
The captains all hurried into the Amber Room – and then stopped and
stared. “Wow,” breathed Captain Blue. Destiny smiled at them all. “You approve, non?” she asked,
pirouetting to display her new outfit. Several of the men nodded silently, while
Captains Scarlet, Grey and Black all seemed too startled to move. Magenta beamed
at her and the other Angels, who had dressed specially for the Christmas party. “You all look spectacular,” he said warmly. As if at a signal, the
rest of the senior staff hurried to voice their approval. “Much better then your uniforms!” “You’re beautiful!” “Entrancing,” said Captain Scarlet dreamily, staring at Rhapsody.
Blue cast him a look, smiling at the dopey expression on his face. Black elbowed
Scarlet, and he cleared his throat and said louder, “You all look entrancing!” “Better,” muttered Black. “If you’re going to make daft faces at
her, could you please do it in private?” Scarlet blushed, and glared at him. Blue remarked softly, “He does
have a point, Paul. Can you imagine the teasing you’d get if Pat or Rick saw how
she affects you?” “Exactly. Plus, it’s nauseating,” said Black, straight-faced. “Did you just call my dress nauseating?” demanded Chan, catching
his last comment. Black looked panicked. “No! Never!” “So you agree with Scarlet, then?” asked Magenta, seeing a rare
chance of teasing the solemn officer without being brought to task for it. “Uh – sure.” The Angels exchanged amused glances. “I think we want to hear it a
bit louder then that, Conrad,” said Symphony. Black looked even more panicked,
and cast a quick glance around for a way out. Seeing none, he swallowed and said
carefully, “I think you all look absolutely wonderful.” “I thought the word Paul used was ‘entrancing’,” pointed out Ochre
with a grin. “It was,” Scarlet confirmed. Looking as though his fingernails were being pulled out, Captain
Black recited, “You all look entrancing.” Glaring at everyone, he added, “Can I
just go and die somewhere quietly now?” Everyone laughed. “As long as it is quiet,” said Brown. “The last
thing we need is the Colonel complaining about the noise!”
On the tenth day of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
You
should be sleeping Angels
entrancing Yes,
you are still thin! The lights are dimming
What are they playing?
All
agents sing!
Smoke-written words Two
drunk men Fake
snow stuff And
kiss-chase around the fir tree!
Symphony sighed with relief as she made her way out of the Amber
Room without bumping into anything. “Maybe next time I should just put my
presents under the tree at the same time as everyone else does!” she muttered
ruefully. She paused, considering how much she was likely to be teased if
everyone saw that she’d bought a present for Captain Blue. “Or maybe not!” “Maybe not what?” came a familiar voice behind her. “Oh! Adam, you startled me!” she gasped, turning to smile at him. “What were you doing in there, anyway? Sneaking a look at your
presents when you should be sleeping?” teased Adam. “No, I was not!” she replied, nettled. “And it’s none of your
business, so there!” Adam raised his eyebrows at her, evidently surprised by her sudden
ill-humour. She sighed, and smiled wryly. “Okay, that is what I used to do at
home,” she admitted. “But I haven’t for ages, honestly!” “Ages?” Adam asked. “Years!” she insisted. Adam looked at her. “Well, not since I
reached – twenty…one…” she trailed off, embarrassed. Adam grinned, nobly
deciding not to tease her any more about it. “So you spend a lot of your Christmas leaves at home, huh?” he
asked instead. “The comment about being twenty-one gave me away, didn’t it?” she
asked rhetorically. “I try and alternate it. One year at home, one year on
business – it means that I get to see a lot of my family, and I don’t feel that
I’m avoiding my responsibilities.” Adam nodded, silently impressed by her ability to balance work and
family. “I wish I could do something like that,” he sighed. “Truthfully, I don’t
think my father would be very impressed, though. He’s never understood why I
can’t follow in his footsteps, working in a bank, making deals – he’d just be
annoyed that I didn’t show up every Christmas.” “I’m sure he’s proud of you really,” said Karen sympathetically. Adam looked at her, and smiled. “Would you be?” “Oh, I think so,” she said, avoiding his eyes with a smile of her
own. “Good. That means a lot to me,” he said. Karen met his eyes, and
saw the sincerity that she had heard in his voice. “Yeah, well,” she said, flustered. “Merry Christmas, Adam.” “Merry Christmas, Karen.”
On the eleventh day of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
It’s just a guy thing You should be sleeping Angels entrancing Yes, you are still thin! The lights are dimming What are they playing? All agents sing! Smoke-written words Two drunk men Fake snow stuff And kiss-chase around the fir tree!
Rhapsody looked puzzled. “Where is everyone?” she asked Melody. The dark-skinned Angel groaned. “At sickbay.” “Why? Is there some kind of bug going around?” asked Rhapsody,
feeling worried. “Mental bug, maybe,” muttered Symphony, glaring at her magazine. Rhapsody looked at her in confusion. “What?” “Maybe you should see for yourself,” said Melody, looking
disgruntled. Rhapsody gave them both a puzzled glance, and headed out to
sickbay, wondering what was going on. She found out that most of the male personnel on Cloudbase were
gathered around the sickbay, cheering about something. Shouldering her way
through the crowd, she found Doctor Fawn and Captain Magenta were at the centre
– with a set of toy racecars. “I’m so going to beat you on this lap,” Magenta told Fawn
excitedly. “You think so?” chortled Fawn, speeding his car around a bend in
the track. The other captains were cheering them on, and Rhapsody could have
sworn that she saw money changing hands. “What do you all think you’re doing!?” she cried. Magenta jerked,
sending his car off the track into the crowd. “Oh, come on, Rhapsody!” protested Ochre. “It’s just a bit of fun!” Rhapsody stared at them all. “Where did that – thing – even come
from?” she asked, pointing at the toys. “My nephew sent me the set for a Christmas present,” grinned Fawn.
“Great, ain’t it?” “No.” Rhapsody turned on her heel and left the room, hearing the
cheering start up again almost as soon as she cleared the threshold. “Men!” she exclaimed in disgust.
On the twelfth
day of Christmas, what did Spectrum see?
All
consoles humming It’s
just a guy thing You
should be sleeping Angels
entrancing Yes,
you are still thin! The
lights are dimming What
are they playing? All
agents sing!
Smoke-written words Two
drunk men Fake
snow stuff And
kiss-chase around the fir tree!
Lieutenant Green chuckled, looking around himself with pride. “I
managed it!” he laughed. “And all on my own, too!” His face glowed with combined
pride and mischief. “I can’t wait until the rest of them find out about this!” He didn’t have to wait for long… “Where is that report I asked for, Leftenant?” asked Colonel White
irritably. “Just finishing it, sir,” said Lieutenant Green cheerily. The colonel relaxed, and listened to the familiar humming of the
consoles – and then frowned. Something was different… “God rest ye merry?” he gasped in disbelief. “Sorry, colonel?” “The console. I could swear it’s humming a Christmas carol –” he
stopped, looking at Green’s face. “Leftenant, I hope that you haven’t been –
interfering – with the consoles at all.” “Oh, no, sir,” said Green innocently, turning away to hide his
satisfied grin. “Colonel?” came a sudden call on the intercom. “All of the
equipment just started – well, it sounds crazy, but it started humming!” “Did it, now?” asked Colonel White, eyeing Green suspiciously.
“Well, I’m sure that it will soon be back to normal – won’t it, leftenant?” Lieutenant Green jumped. “Yes sir!” he replied instinctively, then
looked at the colonel in surprise. “But how do you know that I’m responsible,
sir?” “I have had enough experience of being in command to understand
some body language, leftenant,” replied the colonel dryly. “Especially the body
language of a junior officer who has just pulled a prank on the base!” Green
smirked, half-embarrassed. “By the way, how did you know that my favourite carol
is ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen?’” The lieutenant shrugged, smiling. “I didn’t know it was a carol,
sir. You’ve been humming this tune all day for the past week!”
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