This story picks up directly after the events depicted in “Time of the Mysterons”.
October 31st 2072, 14:30 Greenwich Mean Time, Conference Room, Cloudbase
All of Cloudbase was brought to action stations in response to the cryptic message sent by the Mysterons. Colonel White summoned all senior Spectrum personnel to a meeting in the Conference Room. Present were the five colour-coded Captains: Blue; Grey; Magenta; Ochre; and Scarlet; four of the Angel Interceptor pilots: Destiny; Harmony; Rhapsody and Symphony; Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Fawn, and Communications and Technology Officer, Lieutenant Green.
As Colonel White was a stickler for operational readiness at all times, Melody Angel was on standby in Angel One, Doctor Gold was deputising for Doctor Fawn in Sickbay, and Lieutenant Flaxen was covering communications for Lieutenant Green.
Calling the meeting to order, Colonel White lost no time in seeking to unpack this strangest of Mysteron monologues. “Let me get this straight,” he began without preamble as he sat at the head of the table, “did we all hear correctly that the Mysterons’ war of nerves is over and that Spectrum agents were involved in helping to broker this?”
Heads nodded and murmurs of consent rumbled round the room.
“Well, whoever that was had better have a good explanation.” Colonel White glared like an angry bear.
The eleven seasoned and capable officers in the room sat open-mouthed, darting uneasy glances to one another, not daring to speak.
As was often the case, it was Captain Scarlet who broke the silence. “I believe that I am speaking for all of us here, Colonel, when I say that this message from the Mysterons has us completely baffled.”
White’s glare did not let up at Scarlet’s contribution. “The Mysterons have implicated some members of this organisation in colluding with them at worst, or at best, giving them some sort of reason to think that they can just minimise the impact of the carnage that they have inflicted on the people of this planet for the last five years.” He stared down every officer in the room. “I want to know who these rogue officers are, what they did behind my back and I want to know now!” he thundered.
“But, sir,” interjected Captain Blue, “there are some 600 people on Cloudbase alone and there are thousands of Spectrum agents worldwide. It could be anybody within the organisation.”
Colonel White narrowed his eyes, focussing on Blue as if he were taking aim.
Doctor Fawn gently broke the burgeoning tension. “Colonel, have you considered that this message could be a Mysteron plot to sow dissention in the ranks of Spectrum?” He took White’s silence as permission to continue. “The whole world has been given the mixed message of peace on the one hand and Spectrum collusion on the other.” He shrugged his shoulders. “What better way to defeat Spectrum than by tarnishing our reputation in the eyes of our peers and of the whole world?”
“I have already considered that possibility, Doctor Fawn,” said Colonel White in more conciliatory tones. “Thank you. Please don’t get me wrong... an end to this wretched war of nerves with the Mysterons would be a wonderful thing.” He paused, allowing the steel to come back into his voice. “But, if we do have a traitor in our midst, I am going to shoot first and ask questions later. Have I made myself clear?”
Mumbled comments of “Yes, sir”, “Absolutely, sir”, “Understood, sir” were heard around the room, along with bobbing of heads and sighs of relief.
“Right,” continued Colonel White in a more business-like tone. “Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue: I want you to oversee a full systems-wide check for any possible communications between Spectrum personnel and the Mysterons. Lieutenant Green, you will provide all technical assistance for them.”
“Yes, sir,” the three officers replied in unison.
“Captain Ochre and Captain Magenta: I want you to co-ordinate a review of news stories, reports, press photographs and videcaster bulletins... Look for anything that could be relevant to the current Mysteron message. Pull together a cross-departmental team of twenty Cloudbase personnel to sift through the material.”
“Yes, sir.”
White continued without missing a beat: “All of you will report your findings to Captain Grey. And Captain Grey, you will act as my personal liaison officer with Cloudbase staff, and you will screen all my calls and messages. Make sure that senior Spectrum leaders and only senior Spectrum leaders are able to get through to Cloudbase for the next 72 hours.”
“S.I.G., Colonel,” said Captain Grey.
“Right,” White intoned, indicating that the meeting was coming to a close. “Get to it. We will reconvene here in 48 hours. And make sure that you have some answers for me. Dismissed.”
November 1st 2072, 00:14 Greenwich Mean Time, Captain Scarlet’s Quarters, Cloudbase
Captain Scarlet wearily opened the door to his quarters, entered and groaned audibly, resting his back against the door as it closed, putting his head back and inspecting the ceiling. “Mysteron metabolism or not,” he thought dejectedly, “I am exhausted!”
For the last nine hours straight, Scarlet, Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green had screened several hundred thousand external written and audio communications from the 500 or so Cloudbase administration, ancillary and security personnel. They had so far not uncovered anything that even remotely looked like a misuse of the Spectrum messaging system, never mind anything untoward or suspicious.
Scarlet flopped down onto the bed with his arms outstretched and yawned, his mouth a chasm. Sitting up, he unzipped his boots and tunic and set them down on the bed before padding towards the kitchen for a nightcap. He considered a Bailey’s hot chocolate before settling on warm milk and nutmeg. He smiled to himself. That was his grandmother’s panacea for many a childhood ailment, including insomnia.
On his way to the kitchen, he noticed that the light indicating the receipt of written messages was flashing. He sighed. “This is the last thing I need right now,” he muttered irritably. He had been looking at screens for so long, he reckoned that his eyeballs must have dried up and regenerated several times over. There may have been nobody around to appreciate his vitriol, but it felt good to express it. He chuckled, though, at the plight of poor Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green labouring the same way without the benefit of Mysteron retrometabolism!
He padded on into the kitchen and fixed his soothing drink as the priority of the moment. Then he returned to the main living area and sat down facing the monitor. The room was not very well lit, so the light from the monitor bathed his face in what could have been seen as an otherworldly glow. There were three personal messages in total. One from Rhapsody Angel, another from his mother... He froze as he saw the name of the sender of the third message.
“Paul Metcalfe? Is this some kind of prank?” Captain Ochre was the joker in the pack of the colour-coded elite captains in Cloudbase. This was just like something Ochre would have done, knowing that Captains Scarlet and Blue were going to be working on the communications logs with Lieutenant Green.
“I’ll kill Fraser when I get my hands on him,” thought Scarlet as he clicked roughly on the Open icon, wondering what delights from Captain Ochre’s warped sense of humour awaited him. Then he started to read.
“What? This can’t be right...” said Scarlet out loud.
Dear Paul,
I didn’t really know how to begin this communication to you. I could have written Dear Captain Scarlet, but that seems a terribly formal way to begin a letter to yourself. Yes... I am you. Well, a version of you. You and I shared the same life up to 30th October 2072. But on 31st October 2072, the Mysterons embarked on an ambitious plan to destroy Spectrum “in time” that ended up endangering the whole space-time continuum. Since then, I have lived two further lives: one when the Earth was...
Scarlet stopped. He rubbed his eyes, not believing what he was seeing. He downed his milk and nutmeg in one gulp and looked again. Nope. Still the same. He ran a number of diagnostics on the message, making sure that the verification codes were valid and identifying the device that sent the message and wireless network on which the message was transmitted. Paris? That was strange. Bracing himself, he read on.
Ninety minutes later, he had read the correspondence. Twice. It was fantastic. One part was pretty much the story of his own life, with a few twists and turns thrown in for good measure.
And what unexpected twists they were! Captain Black time travelling. History being in a state of flux around another version of himself. Two Captain Blacks wiping each other out simply by having physical contact with each other within the same time continuum. And in the end, peace with the Mysterons... before it all had to be reset back to the war of nerves.
Captain Scarlet stood up and paced around the room. There were so many options banging around in his head like balls on a pool table. Making a decision, he stopped pacing and returned to his seat, his face once again catching the glow of the monitor before him. He knew what he had to do.
Printing off two copies of the message, he put one of them into an envelope and placed it in his personal vault within his quarters. He closed the vault and set the passcode. The control panel on the vault bleeped at him and went dark. He put the second copy into another envelope, put his boots on and threw on his tunic and left the room. It was 2:07 am. Colonel White was not going to enjoy having his sleep disturbed.
November 1st 2072, 02:19 Greenwich Mean Time, Colonel White’s Quarters, Cloudbase
Before Colonel White opened his quarters door, he combed his hair and donned his dressing gown. It might be after two in the morning, but he was still the Commander-in-Chief of Spectrum and he wanted to look the part, even in his pyjamas!
Opening the door, he started when he saw Captain Scarlet standing before him, looking ill-at-ease and holding an envelope in his right hand. His eyes narrowed. “Is everything all right, Captain?”
“Not really, sir... I mean... I don’t know for sure. May I come in, please? I have something that you need to see.”
Colonel White raised an eyebrow and said archly, “And all this could not wait until morning, hmmm?” He waited for Scarlet to justify wakening him out of sleep, but took his fraught facial expression as meaning that, well... it actually couldn’t have waited until morning. “You had better come in then,” said the colonel amiably, making space in the doorway for Scarlet to enter the room.
Colonel White’s quarters were so immaculately tidy and well-presented, Scarlet wondered absently if the colonel made a habit of being perpetually ready to receive visitors at any time, even half past two in the morning. White offered Scarlet a coffee, which he politely declined. As White looked at Scarlet, he decided that it might be wise to pour himself a coffee.
“Come on then, Captain, out with it. You would not be here at this time of night if it were not important.”
Scarlet sighed and sat down. “I don’t really know where to begin, sir.”
“I have always found that the most useful place to start, Captain, is at the beginning.”
Scarlet nodded and blew out the breath he had been holding. “Well, as you know, sir, Captain Blue, Lieutenant Green and I have been reviewing the communications logs of all of the Cloudbase personnel.”
“Yes, yes,” interjected White, a little bit of irritation creeping into his voice as he suppressed a yawn.
“Well, funny thing was, we didn’t check our own,” said Scarlet. “Well, I didn’t check mine until I got back to my quarters just after midnight. I was having a warm drink before turning in for the night when I saw the monitor light flashing that I had a message. When I opened the system to look, I found this.”
Scarlet opened the envelope and handed the contents to the colonel who started to read. After a few sentences, he paused, frowned and turned to the last page. Looking up with anger in his eyes, he growled, barely keeping the tiredness out of his voice, “Is this some kind of a joke, Captain?”
“No, sir, I wish it were,” replied Scarlet. “I did not write this, but it sounds exactly like how I write my reports. The writer knows things about me that very few people know, sir. And anyway, I couldn’t have written it.”
“And whyever not?” said the colonel accusingly.
“It was sent from a café in Paris just before fourteen hundred hours yesterday afternoon, when I was clearly on Cloudbase.”
White pondered that for a few moments, before answering decisively. “My gut reaction to this, Captain, is that it is an elaborate hoax. Probably undertaken by the Mysterons...”
“I agree...” began Captain Scarlet.
“Don’t interrupt me when I am speaking, Captain,” interjected the colonel. “Does anybody else know about this?”
“No, sir.”
“Well, keep it that way,” declared the colonel. “I will keep this copy and you will take steps to quarantine this message on the system. Nobody gets to see this without my say so. Is that clear, Captain?”
“Perfectly, sir,” affirmed Scarlet.
Colonel White’s demeanour softened. “Right,” he began afresh, “this needs to be investigated. This message mentioned a farmhouse. I want you to go to there... where was it again...”
“Normandy, sir.”
“Quite. I want you to go to that farmhouse in Normandy and see what is there. I want you also to go to that café in Paris and see what else you can find out about this message.”
“Yes, sir.” Scarlet paused. “Would it be all right if I took somebody with me?”
“Absolutely not, Captain Scarlet. I do not want Captain Blue or any of the others anywhere near this until we understand it ourselves.”
Scarlet nodded in assent, before he had another thought. “There would be value in another pair of eyes to look at this, sir.” He thought through the implications of this as he spoke. “I could be compromised a little because I know the content of the message and because this is personal. I might miss something.”
The colonel paused in reflection. “You could be right, Scarlet, but I do not want any of the senior staff involved at this stage. Destiny Angel would have been a useful asset for an investigation based in France, but as she is the Lead Angel...”
“What about Rhapsody Angel?” put in Scarlet.
Colonel White made a noise that sounded half scoff, half chortle. “Seriously, Captain?” he chided.
Scarlet looked surprised and raised an eyebrow.
“You think I don’t know about the little red trinket that Rhapsody Angel wears at all times under her uniform?” he said firmly. His voice turned less serious for the first time during their encounter and took on a decidedly mischievous edge. “I was young once... and in love.” He paused. He thought momentarily of his beloved Elizabeth, taken from him cruelly and far too early. He sighed. “And that is actually not a bad idea, Captain.” Regaining his full composure immediately, he added forcefully, “With one proviso. Rhapsody must not be informed of what is going on unless absolutely necessary. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
Making it clear that the meeting was over, White said: “Right. Off to the Room of Sleep with you for a couple of hours. I will ensure that the Angel Duty Roster is changed accordingly and contact Rhapsody and Harmony Angels to meet with you in the Departure Lounge at Oh seven thirty. They will be assigned as your pilots. I will only reveal to Rhapsody that she is accompanying you as you make your final approach before landing. Is that clear?”
“Perfectly, sir.”
“Now, did you check what the nearest airport to the co-ordinates of that farmhouse is?”
“Yes, sir. Dinard.”
White nodded. “Good. That is a small airport. We don’t really want to draw attention to a Spectrum Passenger Jet arriving at Charles de Gaulle or Orly.”
Picking up on the need for a more measured and stealthy approach, Scarlet asked, “I would assume then that travelling by SPV is not an option, sir?”
“Indeed not,” replied White. “Your informal cover is that you and your associate were delivering training on Cloudbase. Just use your civilian travel documents and hire a car the usual way.”
“Understood, sir,” said Scarlet.
“Hopefully, you will be able to find out a bit more about who and what we are dealing with here, Captain. We will proceed otherwise as agreed at yesterday’s briefing. Dismissed.”
Scarlet nodded. “Yes, sir.” He turned to walk out the door when he heard White speak his name. Scarlet turned round.
“It’s... Paul, isn’t it?” said the colonel.
“Yes, sir.”
“Well then... good luck, Paul.”
Scarlet smiled. “Thank you, sir.” He turned and the door to Colonel White’s quarters swooshed closed.
“I don’t like this,” said Colonel White to nobody in particular, “I don’t like this one bit.”
November 2nd 2072, 11:35 Greenwich Mean Time +1, Dinard Airport, Brittany, France
Captain Scarlet and Rhapsody Angel stood on the tarmac in front of the Dinard Terminal Building and watched as Harmony Angel taxied the Spectrum Passenger Jet towards the end of the airport’s solitary runway. Rhapsody waved as Harmony turned the sleek jet and, gathering speed, took off into the sunlight of the crisp autumn morning.
Rhapsody rounded on Scarlet. “OK, Paul,” she began, her intelligent eyes flashing angrily, “just what the hell is going on?”
Indestructible or not, Scarlet backed away slightly. “Rhapsody, I am so sorry, but I can’t tell you.”
“That’s nowhere near good enough, buster.” Rhapsody took a step towards him and poked him in the chest. “As if it wasn’t bad enough being drafted at the last minute onto babysitting duties for something that you are well able to do yourself, where does Colonel White get off telling me that I have to stay with you, then telling Harmony that she is confined to quarters for 48 hours until she comes back to get us?” Her voice dropped to a menacingly low level. “So then, what. Is. Going. On?”
“We are on a top-secret mission, Rhapsody, that is tied into the last message from the Mysterons.”
Rhapsody walked away from Scarlet, threw her arms in the air and made a cry of anguish somewhere between a ship’s foghorn and chalk being scraped on a blackboard. Composing herself and taking a cleansing breath, she calmed down and exhaled. “OK, OK, fine,” she said, “I’ll play along. For now.” Her eyes narrowed. “But this had better be worth it.”
Scarlet swallowed nervously. “I have taken the liberty of sorting you out some clothes...” Holding out a small valise, he stopped as Rhapsody put her hands on her hips and glared. “I’ll go and sort out some transport,” he said hastily.
Rhapsody snatched the valise and stormed off to the ladies’ room to get changed.
Thirty minutes later, they were seated in a hired Renault heading south on the D766 with a view to picking up the N176 eastwards towards Normandy. By now, Rhapsody’s icy demeanour had thawed significantly, and she was becoming more like her usual easy-going self. She reached over towards the steering wheel and touched Scarlet on the hand. “I’m sorry for earlier, Paul,” she said.
“Me too, Dianne,” he replied with relief in his voice, “but there was little I could have done about it.”
“Isn’t there anything you can tell me?”
“I can tell you a few things.”
“That’ll do.”
Scarlet sighed, then carefully gathered his thoughts. “You know about the Mysterons’ last message?”
Rhapsody nodded.
“Well, I found something. Something important.” He paused. “Something... quite crazy, to be honest. Something that Spectrum can’t afford to let out there until we understand a little bit more about it.”
“Sounds serious,” commented Rhapsody.
“It could be, Dianne, it could be.” A moment passed. “Anyway, I shared it with Colonel White and he ordered me to conduct an undercover investigation. It’s actually my fault that you are here, because I asked for somebody to come along with me.”
“Why not Captain Blue?” asked Rhapsody, genuinely curious.
“The colonel said no. He wanted me to go alone, but I made a case for somebody with me, somebody who could look at things with fresh eyes. I couldn’t believe my luck when he agreed to you coming along.”
Ignoring the last comment, Rhapsody asked, “What things?”
“To be honest, I have no idea,” said Scarlet. “We are going to a remote farmhouse in the commune of Saint-Brice-en-Cogles. I don’t know what will happen when we get there.” He let that sink in before continuing. “We will hopefully stay there tonight and after that, we go to Paris. We will have a night in Paris, then Harmony comes and gets us.”
“Well then,” Rhapsody giggled as she snuggled back into her seat, “this trip is starting to get better all the time...”
November 2nd 2072, 13:42 Greenwich Mean Time +1, Saint-Brice-en-Cogles, Normandy, France
Rhapsody looked dubiously at the dilapidated farmhouse and grimaced. “That’s the key to understanding the latest Mysteron threat?”
“Wait here,” said Scarlet firmly. “I will check it out to see if it is safe then I would like you to have a look around by yourself.”
“OK,” nodded Rhapsody.
Scarlet closed the car door, drew his weapon and stealthily approached the farmhouse. It was a single storey building from around, what... a couple of hundred years ago? He looked through the single ground floor window at the front of the house before trying the front door. It opened.
Rhapsody looked on in concern as Scarlet disappeared from sight. A minute passed. Two. She watched as the door opened again and Scarlet emerged and stalked round towards the back of the house. Rhapsody got out of the car as Scarlet reappeared from round the back of the farmhouse, smiled and waved for her to join him.
When Rhapsody reached the front door, Scarlet said, “The coast is clear. Have a look around and tell me what you find. I’ll wait over at the car.” Rhapsody nodded and pushed past him.
Two minutes later, the front door was flung open and Rhapsody stalked over towards Scarlet. She was holding something in her hand and thrust it into his face. “I want to know what this is all about and I want to know now!”
Scarlet looked at the item. It was a photo frame that Rhapsody had found in one of the bedrooms. In the photo frame was a black and white photograph that looked like it had been cut out of a newspaper. It was a picture of Rhapsody Angel.
November 2nd 2072, 18:07 Greenwich Mean Time +1, Saint-Brice-en-Cogles, Normandy, France
Around four hours later, Scarlet and Rhapsody had finished their thorough search of the farmhouse and were looking at the pile of papers and folders they had accumulated. They were mainly several scrapbooks’-worth of newspaper cuttings and computer printouts related to the Mysteron threats, and what looked like home-made personnel files.
“You know what all this means, don’t you?” asked Rhapsody. “I mean, these scrapbooks... whoever was living here knows all about us in Spectrum.” Rhapsody set the scrapbooks down and rifled through the files.
“And these files... they are about people actively serving with the WASPs and the World Space Patrol. Do you know those people are? I have never heard of either of them.” She looked Scarlet firmly in the eye. “You know how all this fits together, don’t you?”
Scarlet stood up and walked over to the window.
Rhapsody approached him, putting her arms around his waist and leaning into him. “Paul, please tell me what all this has to do with the Mysterons?”
She sighed as Scarlet offered no response. She released him and went over to the table and picked up one of the scrapbooks containing press cuttings about Mysteron activity. “This,” she said, “I get.” Indicating the personnel folders, she shook her head. “This... not so much.”
“It is starting to make sense,” Scarlet said pensively, “but please, be patient. I think that we will find the final piece of the puzzle in Paris tomorrow.”
“Can’t we go to Paris now?” said Rhapsody, looking uncharacteristically vulnerable. “I don’t want to stay here.” She had been spooked by finding her photograph in a remote farmhouse in the backside of nowhere and the fact that it was now dark hadn’t really helped her mood.
Scarlet nodded in agreement. “Let’s gather up all of this data and get out of here.”
November 3rd, 08:19 Greenwich Mean Time +1, Hotel Vivienne, Paris, France
Rhapsody emerged from the shower room wrapped in a bath sheet as she towel-dried her mane of long red hair. She smiled coyly at Scarlet, who was studying one of the personnel type files they had found in the farmhouse, the one referring to Colonel Steven Zodiac of the WSP. He returned her smile easily and said, “Did you sleep all right?”
“Eventually,” she said coquettishly. “Can we come back here again tonight? After all, Harmony isn’t coming back for us until tomorrow.”
Scarlet smiled ruefully. “I wasn’t aware that Colonel White was going to put Harmony into lockdown because of all this, you know? I have already checked in with the colonel and told him that we were already in Paris. So that’s a no on another night here. Harmony is picking us up at Charles de Gaulle at twenty hundred hours tonight.”
Rhapsody pouted playfully. She suddenly turned serious. “When we visit that café later on, you will tell me why my photograph was in the farmhouse, won’t you?”
“Yes, Dianne, I will,” said Scarlet resolutely. “Colonel White doesn’t want anybody to know anything about this until we get a firm handle on it, so until then, you won’t be able to talk to anybody about it but me.”
“OK,” said Rhapsody.
Scarlet looked chastened. “I had no idea that there would be a photo of you there... but I am really glad it was there.” He beamed at her.
Rhapsody looked puzzled but returned his smile. “I’ll go get ready.”
Within the hour, Scarlet and Rhapsody turned right from Rue Vivienne into Boulevard Montmartre, looking for Café Oz. Scarlet released her hand as they approached Café Oz. “We’d better look a bit more professional,” he said awkwardly to Rhapsody, who laughed girlishly.
Going into the café, Scarlet said to the waiter who met him, “Parlez-vous anglais?” When the waiter shook his head, Scarlet looked at Rhapsody, and added, “Je voudrais parler avec le directeur.” The waiter nodded and disappeared into the back room.
A striking French woman emerged from the back room as Scarlet flashed his Spectrum identification. “You had better come in, monsieur l’agent spécial, you and your pretty petite amie.”
Scarlet explained that he wanted to see the CCTV footage of the café at around 13:00 on 31st October.
The directrice eyed him strangely. “You are here about ze strange lights too, non? I have already spoken to ze Sûreté. Zey have already taken away ze ordinateur for zeir investigation.”
Computer? Scarlet made a mental note to tell Colonel White to relieve the Sûreté of this hardware and any other physical evidence related to this matter.
The directrice led Scarlet and Rhapsody into an annexe where there were nine television screens. She toggled a few buttons and within moments, they were looking at the events of Halloween. Scarlet remained resolutely tight-lipped as Rhapsody studied the screens.
“Stop there,” cried Rhapsody excitedly.
The directrice paused the flow of images as two customers entered the restaurant. Visible on the screen were two middle-aged gentlemen being ushered to their seats by a waitress.
“Can you give us a minute?” Rhapsody asked the directrice, who nodded and left the annexe. Looking at Scarlet, Rhapsody pointed at the man on the left and said, “Don’t you think that man looks a bit like Captain Black?” Peering right into the screen, Rhapsody asked, “And that other guy... he looks just like your Dad, doesn’t he? But that’s crazy, isn’t it?”
Scarlet stared but made no response either to confirm or deny.
Rhapsody paced up and down allowing the pieces to tumble into place in her mind, although it was beginning to feel so outlandish, it couldn’t possibly be true. Returning to the image on the screen, she looked round at Scarlet. “I think I am starting to see now why you couldn’t tell me anything. There is a man who for all the world could be Captain Black and a man who looks just like you, but older.”
Rhapsody paused. Thinking out loud she said, “But I don’t know what that means or how that fits with what we found at the cottage... unless...” She clicked her fingers. “They were living in the farmhouse, weren’t they... and that older you, did he cut my picture out of the paper and keep it by his bedside?”
Scarlet approached Rhapsody and took both of her hands in his. “And you have seen these men before, haven’t you?” he asked.
“What? No!” retorted Rhapsody, pulling away from him. Then she stopped as she remembered something.
“Wait... Captain Brown’s funeral, a few years back... I thought I saw you and Captain Black together standing over to the side. But I knew that it couldn’t be you because you were still recovering on Cloudbase following your fall from the Car-Vu. I never ever told anybody else about that, except Adam who came with me to check it out. He thought I was just seeing things. Did Adam tell you this?”
Scarlet pointed to the screen. “That older guy who looks like me? You’re right... he is me... an older me, who he reached out to me.” He paused. “He sent me a message and explained it to me. He told me about the Mysterons’ plans to destroy Spectrum using time travel... How Captain Black had interfered with the normal flow of time when he killed Spectrum personnel in their lives before Spectrum. They were replaced in the organisation by the people whose files we found, like Shore and Zodiac...”
Rhapsody covered her mouth with her hands, aghast.
“That’s not all. Apparently, in that so-called new timeline, the Mysterons were at peace with Earth. Black was their Ambassador to Earth. But his actions caused such serious damage to the timeline that he almost destroyed the space-time continuum. Posing as the Mysteron Ambassador, he worked with Spectrum to send that other Scarlet back in time to prevent the damage before it happened.”
He paused to give Rhapsody time to process as much of that as she could. “Apparently, they succeeded. Black and Scarlet, they holed up in that farmhouse, waiting almost twenty years for the timeline to heal completely. They only left the farmhouse twice. Once was when you almost caught them at the funeral. He told me that. The second time was when they came to Café Oz.”
“So, what happened next?”
“That’s what we’re about to find out,” replied Scarlet earnestly as he toggled the switch to move the images forward.
In silence, Rhapsody and Scarlet watched who they now understood to be older versions of Captain Scarlet and Captain Black enter the restaurant, sit down and order a meal. They watched as the waiter brought their food and a champagne cooler and looked on in horror as they clinked their glasses and disappeared in a flash of green light.
“Those poor guys...” Rhapsody’s eyes filled with tears.
“He had a personal message for me,” Scarlet went on, “about you.”
“Oh...” Rhapsody’s curiosity was piqued.
“He was crushed that day he saw you at the funeral, you know.” Scarlet paused. “And he told me not to waste the opportunity with you and what we have together...” He choked back tears. “Will you marry me?”
Rhapsody shrieked so loudly the directrice popped her head around the door of the annexe to see what was going on. She smiled as she saw the handsome agent spécial from Spectrum and his petite amie in a warm embrace. She gently closed the door.
December 12th 2072, 14:00 Greenwich Mean Time, Conference Room, Cloudbase
There was a hum of conversation as the senior Spectrum officers all filtered into the room. The announcement of Captain Scarlet and Rhapsody Angel’s engagement was already old news and speculation was rife about what else the pair had got up to on their special assignment to France.
Almost everybody had badgered and cajoled Scarlet, Rhapsody and indeed Harmony about what happened in France. Captain Ochre went as far as spreading the rumour that Scarlet and Rhapsody had staged a fake engagement to throw everybody off the scent from what was really going on.
Everybody, that is, except Captain Blue. Scarlet had not quite disobeyed Colonel White’s express directive not to discuss the matter with Captain Blue. Well, Scarlet could honestly say that he hadn’t discussed it... The colonel had neglected to mention anything about sharing the original message from the older Scarlet with anybody else! So, Scarlet had no qualms in letting his friend read what his older self had sent to him. He promised Captain Blue full disclosure when he could safely do so.
Colonel White strode into the room and the buzz of conversation died abruptly. He spoke crisply: “Members of Spectrum, thanks to the thorough investigation by Captain Scarlet and Rhapsody Angel into the last Mysteron... well, we can’t call it a threat now, can we... the last Mysteron message, I can confirm that the Mysterons are genuine in their offer of peace talks. I can also confirm that, following all internal investigations, that there is not, and there never has been, a traitor in our midst.”
He paused to give his officers a moment to let that sink in.
He continued, “What we do have now is an opportunity. The World President’s office has established open communication links with the Mysterons and a group of delegates will be travelling to Mars to begin formal peace negotiations.”
Colonel White paused again, giving the others an opportunity to begin quiet, but excited conversations with their neighbours. After a few moments, Colonel White called the room to order once again.
“I have been invited to be part of that delegation and I have accepted. Captain Scarlet has also been invited and he will accompany me. For some reason, the Mysterons have also requested representation from the World Space Patrol.” He paused before continuing: “If this mission is successful, it will pave the way for a senior Director General and others from World President’s Office to go to Mars. But that might take some time.”
This time, Colonel White did not allow the hushed conversations to develop: “Order, please, members of Spectrum. Order. In my absence, Captain Blue will have full delegated authority to act as Spectrum’s Commander-in-Chief in my absence.” Looking at Captain Blue, White added, “You will receive a permanent field promotion to Lieutenant-Colonel, effective immediately. Congratulations, Colonel Blue.”
Captain Blue uncomfortably accepted the congratulations of his peers and said, “Thank you, sir.”
“You have earned it, Colonel. It is anticipated that most of my time over the next twelve to eighteen months will be spent on the work of the Mysteron delegation. Captain Scarlet will be my adjutant. All of the day-to-day supervision of the organisation will fall to you, Colonel.”
“Understood, sir,” said Colonel Blue.
“This will be all, members of Spectrum. You are dismissed, except for Captain Scarlet and Colonel Blue,” concluded Colonel White.
The room emptied to a mumbled chorus of “Yes, sir”, “Thank you, sir”, “Good luck”, leaving White, Scarlet and Blue alone.
“Colonel Blue, Captain Scarlet and I leave for Space City at Oh-eight hundred hours tomorrow. I am transferring all command procedures over to you.” He smiled wryly. “Try not to burn the place down.”
Blue chuckled. “Don’t worry, sir! I’ll be careful and will keep things ticking over nicely until you get back.” Extending his hand to Colonel White, Colonel Blue added, “Good luck.” Looking over at his friend, he said, “To both of you.”
December 13th 2072, 11:29 Greenwich Mean Time, Landing Port 17, Space City
Colonel White and Captain Scarlet emerged from the door of the Spectrum Passenger Jet, descended the steps and approached the exit doors of the landing port. The doors swooshed apart and the two Spectrum officers were met by the commanding officer of the World Space Patrol.
Commander Zero was an athletic looking 60 year old with slightly greying hair and a wide smile. “Charles,” he beamed, “great to see you again.” He grabbed Colonel White by the hand and shook it vigorously.
Colonel White winced, forced out a smile and indicated his junior officer. “Commander Zero, this is my colleague, Captain Scarlet.”
“Pleased to meet you, Captain,” beamed Zero. “What do I call you?”
“Captain Scarlet will be fine, Commander Zero,” said Colonel White with more than a hint of irritation in his voice.
Commander Zero learned in towards Scarlet and hissed conspiratorially, “He’s such a stuffed shirt, you know. Known him for years.” Looking back at Colonel White, he sighed, “You’re never going to call me Wilbur, are you, Charles?” He shook his head and laughed. “Come on... let’s go meet your crew.”
Scarlet looked at White who said nothing but motioned that they should follow Commander Zero along the corridor.
Turning the corner, Scarlet saw an organisational logo he had never seen before. “Excuse me, Commander,” he asked politely, “I have never seen this symbol before. Can you tell me what it is, please?”
“That’s one of two relics left over from the olden days, Captain,” replied the commander amiably. “This is the last one in the Space City complex. I guess I just don’t have the heart to paint over it.”
Scarlet stepped back to study the image in more detail. There was an imposing black humanoid figure standing in a white circle. The figure cast a stylised shadow, under which were the letters S.H.A.D.O.
“SHADO?” inquired Scarlet, directing his question to Commander Zero.
“Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation,” interpreted Commander Zero. “Space City was developed on the site of the old SHADO construction site here in the South Pacific.” He chuckled. “Beats the main SHADO base. That was built underneath a film studio!”
Scarlet looked over at Colonel White. “I take it that you know what this is?”
“I do indeed, Captain,” replied Colonel White, visibly relaxing as he saw how easily Scarlet was able to relate to the commander. “Perhaps... Wilbur, here... would like to give you a history lesson.”
Zero slapped Colonel White on the back and proceeded to regale Captain Scarlet with the tale of how, beginning in 1947 at a small town in New Mexico, Earth had suffered numerous alien incursions from Unidentified Flying Objects. Most world governments had played down the significance of these incursions and the accompanying abductions, primarily because the intentions of the aliens were not particularly clear until the mid-1960s. By then, the discovery of several mutilated bodies in Morocco following an alien incursion led to the grisly conclusion that the aliens were harvesting human organs.
Zero explained that between 1970 and 1972, SHADO was constituted and from then, plans were developed under the inspirational leadership of Commander Edward Straker to protect the inhabitants of planet Earth from future incursions. It was in honour of him and the work he did that the leader of the WSP retained the title of Commander, which was historically lower than both Captain and Colonel.
Scarlet was enthralled as he gave his full attention to Commander Zero’s tale and was visibly impressed with the versatility of SHADO’s defence capabilities. Of course, he had heard about UFO sightings and alleged abductions, but he had no idea that the World Space Patrol was developed out of such exciting and crucial antecedents.
Scarlet had a sudden thought. “Commander,” he said, “you mentioned that there were two relics...”
“Yeah, the other one is SID...” Zero replied offhandedly.
Scarlet frowned to himself, wondering what the Speech Intelligence Decoder from Lunarville 7 had to do with any of this.
Commander Zero continued without missing a beat. “... The Space Intruder Detector. That is how we knew the aliens were coming. SID last spoke in 2009, when the last alien incursion took place. We didn’t have the heart to decommission him, so we towed him out to the edge of the solar system, just missing the orbit of Pluto. We keep him there using the free float technology used by the XL fleet. He’s still working and he’s still calibrated to detecting the alien ships. He sends through telemetry on a daily basis, but he hasn’t spoken in over 60 years.”
Scarlet looked up again at the SHADO logo, eyes wide, trying to process the prodigious amount of data casually thrust his way by the WSP commander, but his question about whether there was any relationship between SHADO SID and Lunarville SID remained unspoken as Commander Zero finished his story. There must be a similarity in technology between the two SIDs. Hard to believe that it would just be a simple co-incidence
“Sorry about that, Captain,” mused Zero, “I do get carried away when I talk about the history of the World Space Patrol.” He smiled apologetically.
“Please don’t be, Commander,” said Scarlet recovering, “I found that really interesting. I didn’t know any of that.”
Looking at Colonel White, who had listened to his friend’s tale with both patience and interest, Zero smiled, “Onwards and upwards, Colonel.”
Zero led the two Spectrum officers into a lift, which travelled upwards through forty floors. When the car stopped, it opened into a spacious lounge where three people were sitting, apparently waiting.
“Steve...” murmured Scarlet audibly.
Striding over to greet them, WSP Colonel Steve Zodiac smiled and said, “Pleased to meet you, Colonel White.” Turning to the other Spectrum agent, he raised an eyebrow and said, “You must be Captain Scarlet. Have we met before?”
Colonel White’s cough was positively menacing.
Instead of explaining that he knew the astronaut very well thanks to another lifetime and an unofficial dossier discovered in a remote French farmhouse, Scarlet stammered, “Erm... no, Colonel Zodiac. I am... erm... a huge fan of WSP and Fireball XL5 in particular.” Scarlet finished the sentence clumsily and it hung awkwardly between both men.
Zodiac paused, let the moment pass, and said, “Please... call me Steve.”
Motioning to his colleagues to come over, he introduced Venus, Fireball XL5’s Doctor of Space Medicine, and Professor Mat Matic, the Science Officer. After a moment’s polite conversation, the two members of the XL5 crew excused themselves to make preparations for Fireball’s lift-off.
Niceties out of the way, Zero ushered everybody over to the Conference table. “It’s your show, Colonel White, please take it away.”
Colonel White presented the background to the mission crisply and succinctly and outlined how and why Spectrum needed the assistance of the WSP to get to Mars.
Zodiac explained that they would travel to Mars in Fireball XL5, leave the main ship in free float in orbit around the planet, while the negotiation team would descend to the Mysteron Complex on the surface of the planet. “I take it that you want me to come with you as your security detail?”
Colonel White, Commander Zero and Captain Scarlet exchanged knowing looks which puzzled Zodiac.
“I don’t understand... have I said something wrong?”
“There is something Colonel White has told me, Steve,” explained Commander Zero, “but I requested that we kept it quiet until the mission briefing. Colonel?”
White looked intently into Steve Zodiac’s face. “What we haven’t told you, Colonel, is that the Mysterons have specifically asked for you to accompany Captain Scarlet as part of the negotiation team. I will be remaining on Fireball with your Doctor Venus and Professor Matic.”
Zodiac was perplexed. “Me?” He paused to gather his thoughts, “I am flattered of course, but I know nothing about diplomacy and even less about the Mysterons. What is all this about?”
White nodded to Scarlet, who spoke up. “The Zero-X expedition of 2068 was led by a former colleague of both of us. We knew him as Captain Black. You knew him as Colonel Conrad Turner of the WSP.”
“Wow! Didn’t know that. I wondered what happened to him. He left the service in 2064,” interrupted Zodiac. “What is he up to now?”
Scarlet continued. “Since the Zero-X mission, Conrad has been working for the Mysterons.”
“What?”
“Yes. And on the 31st October, as part of a Mysteron threat, Turner used time travel to strike at Spectrum personnel, but almost destroyed the space-time continuum. For around twenty years, there was a new timeline which was eventually ruptured, becoming yet another timeline.”
Zodiac’s jaw slackened but he said nothing.
Scarlet continued, “In that other timeline, a friendship treaty with the Mysterons was brokered by two Spectrum officers: Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue. In that alternate timeline, you were Captain Blue.”
Zodiac sat back heavily in his chair and thrust out his bottom lip. “Okay, I did not see that one coming.”
Scarlet carried on with his explanation: “The Mysterons seem to experience time very differently from how we do. They know what you and my counterpart in the other timeline did. They seem to believe that we should be the ones to do the same in this one.”
Zodiac stood up, walked over to the window and looked out over the launch pad where Fireball XL5 was sitting. He couldn’t imagine a life, any life, where he wasn’t a spaceman, flying round the universe in Fireball XL5.
“I know that’s heavy, Steve,” chipped in Commander Zero, “but you can do it.”
“So, I will actually be the one who is riding shotgun, as it were, Colonel Zodiac,” said White. “I will wait in your craft’s landing module and monitor, while you and Captain Scarlet enter the Mysteron Complex.”
Zodiac turned round, a resolute look on his face. “OK, Colonel White,” he said, “I’m in. But with your permission, Commander, let’s do lunch. All this has me very hungry.”
December 13th 2072, 17:41 Greenwich Mean Time, XL Preparation Lounge, Space City
Colonel White, Captain Scarlet, Colonel Zodiac, Doctor Venus and Professor Matic met up as planned in the XL Preparation Lounge in advance of Fireball XL5’s launch procedure at 18:00 hours.
Venus was a blonde, glamorous woman of around 40, dressed in a green tunic with matching trousers. Matic was a man in his mid-60s, who wore a similar uniform to Zodiac.
As Matic and Venus headed towards a hatch to the left, Matic spoke to the two Spectrum officers: “Heh, you guys had better come with me. We won’t be boarding the ship the way those two do!”
White and Scarlet took a double take as Zodiac and Venus climbed on to two Jet Mobiles.
“OK, Venus?” Zodiac looked over at his beautiful colleague.
“OK, Steve.”
“Right, let’s go!” The thrusters engaged, the Jet Mobiles rose into the air, turned right and headed towards the giant dorsal fin towards the tail of the sleek spacecraft.
“We have to take the low road,” chuckled Matic, as he led Fireball’s passengers to the lift that he and his transparent robotic companion, Robert, normally took. Robert was already stationed in the co-pilot’s seat, oblivious to how long he had been there or how long he had been alone in Fireball’s cockpit.
Zodiac and Venus travelled the length of Fireball’s fuselage before dropping into a hatch towards the back of the detachable command module, affectionately known as “Fireball Junior”.
The lift was actually quicker, so by the time Zodiac and Venus had dismounted the Jet Mobiles and entered the command module, White and Scarlet were already ensconced in their guest quarters. As Scarlet was familiarising himself with the facilities, Zodiac popped his heard round the door and said, “The colonel is talking with Mat in the Science Lab. You want to join me in the cockpit for take-off?”
Scarlet sat down beside Venus as Zodiac and Robert engaged the launch sequence. Fireball sat on a large booster rocket which fired first. Scarlet looked out the window and could see Space City’s T-shaped central building rotating in a clockwise direction.
Fireball picked up speed along the mile-long launch rail before the secondary booster rocket kicked in and, as she rose up the 40-degree sky ramp at the end of the track, Fireball’s main engine fired. Fireball gained altitude at a phenomenal rate before the sky faded in front of Scarlet’s gaze to a familiar starry scene. Scarlet had been in space before, but this was the fastest it had taken him to break out of Earth’s atmosphere.
“Take over control, Robert,” ordered Zodiac to his strange companion.
“Taking-over-control,” intoned Robert in a predictably robotic monotone before saying it again.
At Scarlet’s concerned look, Zodiac sniggered. “It’s OK. He does that. Set course for Mars, Robert.”
“Setting-course-for-Mars. Setting-course-for-Mars.”
“Space Velocity 7, Robert.”
“Velocity-7...”
As Robert repeated the command to himself, Zodiac turned to Scarlet. “Coffee? I wouldn’t mind a chat about what to expect when we get to Mars.”
“I’d like that, Colonel.”
“Please... call me Steve.”
“All right,” replied Scarlet. “Only if you call me Paul.” He smiled conspiratorially. “But not when the colonel’s around, OK?”
“OK, Paul, that’s a deal,” said Zodiac, extending his hand for Scarlet to shake.
December 13th 2072, 19:11 Greenwich Mean Time, Canteen, Fireball XL5
Zodiac and Scarlet sat opposite each other at one of the tables. Although the two men clearly got on well, the conversation between them was somewhat awkward. They began by discussing the merits and demerits of Fireball’s nutomic reactor that powered the rockets, then Scarlet asked how fast Space Velocity 7 was.
“So, you want to know how long it’ll take to get there, Paul?”
Scarlet nodded affirmatively. “I have never travelled anywhere near as fast as this before. I can’t begin to work it out. We are still sub-light, aren’t we?”
“It’s nowhere near the speed of light, Paul!” laughed Steve. “Velocity 7 is our maximum space speed. We can get to most places we need to quick enough and it takes us a couple of months to reach the outlying star systems in charted space.”
Scarlet nodded, impressed that he had never travelled so fast before in his life. “So how long till we get there? ”
Zodiac did a quick calculation in his head and said, “We’ll be there in just under ten days.”
“Not bad at all,” said Scarlet. “That’s a lot quicker than the Zero-X mission.”
After an awkward silence, Zodiac broke the silence. “So... maybe we had better get down to business?”
Scarlet smiled wanly. “The colonel wants me to brief you on the mission, Steve.”
“That would be helpful, Paul.”
Scarlet sighed. “It’s hard to know where to begin.” He laughed at that. In response to Zodiac’s quizzical look, Scarlet continued, “I said that to the colonel, and he suggested that the best place to start is the beginning.”
Scarlet leaned forward and started to tell Zodiac about the message he received from his older self, the visit to the farmhouse where he found, among other things, a fairly complete dossier on WSP Colonel Steve Zodiac, and the trip to the café.
Zodiac sat in concentrated silence as Scarlet told him about the other timeline, how Zodiac was in charge of the Zero-X mission and how between them, the Zodiac and Scarlet in that timeline brokered friendship with the Mysterons.
“Wow, Paul,” breathed Zodiac, “that is quite the tale, isn’t it?”
“Indeed,” agreed Scarlet. “I have no idea how the colonel convinced the higher-ups to go along with this mission to Mars.”
Zodiac noticed that Scarlet was slightly agitated. “How so?”
Scarlet scoffed. “The cost, Steve, the cost.” He paused. “Even in the first few weeks of the Mysterons’ campaign, there were 243 people working in the Maximum Security Building they blew up in New York. There were over 500 people killed on DT17, which was responsible for the death of the South East Asian DG. And over 400 people died in the riots that followed the assassination.”
Zodiac blew out the breath he was holding.
Scarlet took no notice and continued: “And to say nothing of the commercial damage. When I was under the control of the Mysterons, I took the World President to the top of the London Car-Vu...”
“That was wrecked, wasn’t it?” Zodiac’s eyes widened. “Did you do that?”
“Well, I was involved! And then there was a motorway bridge destroyed by one of the Angels. And the Maximum Security Building. And the underground bunker of the Naylor Civics Construction Company. The lawsuits still haven’t been resolved four years on.” He took a draught of his coffee. “And there are also victims’ groups agitating against peace with the Mysterons and even more litigations against the Mysterons by business leaders and corporations. I don’t even know if the Mysterons understand the impact of what they have done over the last four years.”
“So, what about you, Paul?”
“Me?” Scarlet was confused.
“Yeah, you. They tell me that you are indestructible.”
“A legacy of my time under the control of the Mysterons. It is useful, but it is not all that you might think it is...” His voice trailed off as he looked into the distance.
“So, you have died, then?”
Scarlet eyeballed his new friend. “Many times, Steve, many times.”
Zodiac was about to ask him what that was like, but the conversation ended abruptly as Colonel White and Professor Matic entered the canteen. Colonel White spoke first. “Colonel Zodiac, I take it that Captain Scarlet has brought you up to date with the issues of the mission?”
“He has, sir.”
White nodded with contentment. “I have been speaking with Professor Matic about the mechanics of the mission. Professor?”
“What we’re thinking, Steve,” announced Matic, “is that you and Captain Scarlet will go down to the surface in Fireball Junior. The radarscope shows that the Mysteron Complex seems to have a bubble of breathable atmosphere around it.”
“We have never understood that, Professor,” interjected Colonel White, “given that the Mysterons to all intents and purposes are non-corporeal and telepathic beings.”
“Well, I for one would be grateful if you found out why that is, Steve,” said Mat amiably. “Anyway,” he continued, “Fireball will remain in free float within the Martian atmosphere. Colonel White and I will monitor how things are going, while Robert will be ready to respond to any emergencies.”
“Are we expecting any emergencies?” asked Fireball XL5’s Doctor of Space Medicine as she entered the canteen.
“We are not expecting any challenges, Doctor,” replied Colonel White. “But we have to entertain the possibility of something going wrong as part of the risk assessment.” Turning his attention to Captain Scarlet, he said, “The only risk that we can’t mitigate is if anything untoward happens to you and Colonel Zodiac while inside the Mysteron Complex.”
“I have a suggestion about that, Colonel,” said Zodiac with a twinkle in his eye. “Captain Scarlet, how do you fancy learning how to ride a Jet Mobile? We gotta do something to pass the next ten days.”
December 23rd 2072, 06:00 Greenwich Mean Time, Science Laboratory, Fireball XL5, In orbit around the planet Mars.
Colonel White brought the final mission briefing to a conclusion, satisfied that all eventualities and risks that could be readily predicted were mitigated. “Well, good luck, Captain Scarlet. Colonel Zodiac.” He shook them both warmly by the hand. “This is not going to be easy, gentlemen, but there is much to be gained from peace with the Mysterons.”
“Please take care, Steve,” said Venus anxiously. “You too, Captain Scarlet, of course.” Her smile failed to cover her anxiety.
Zodiac gave her a warm embrace, totally ignoring Colonel White’s scowl of disapproval, then he and Scarlet left the Science Lab to relieve Robert in Fireball Junior. Zodiac gave Robert a final once over to make sure that he could safely leave XL5 in the robot’s hands.
“Robert, please report to your duty station in the Science Lab,” ordered Zodiac crisply.
Robert complied, repeating the command twice as he shambled towards the Science Lab, his metallic voice fading into the distance.
Zodiac gave the robotic co-pilot ten minutes to settle into the Lab with Matic and Colonel White. “Robert, please enter the Martian atmosphere and set Fireball into free float.” He chuckled. “I think that your Colonel White is going to find Robert’s repetition somewhat grating.”
December 23rd 2072, 06:42 Greenwich Mean Time, Fireball Junior, Mars.
Scarlet looked out at the Martian landscape, lost in thought, as Fireball XL5 entered the Martian atmosphere. This is where it all started. This is where it all went wrong. Can we really put it right?
Scarlet was jolted back to reality as Robert’s tinny voice reported, twice, that free float was engaged. He watched with interest as he felt Fireball Junior detach itself from Fireball XL5’s main fuselage as Zodiac manipulated the control columns. Within minutes, the Martian landscape quickly rose up to meet them and Fireball Junior nestled gently to the ground, not far from the Mysteron Complex.
Both men were mesmerised by the twinkling lights and the almost surreal shimmering effect that made the Mysteron Complex seem like it was both there and not there at the same time.
Scanners and antennae turned towards the Earthmen as Zodiac led Scarlet towards the airlock where the hover bikes were parked. “Mat,” he called into the intercom, “is it breathable out there or will we need Oxygen pills?”
“That won’t be necessary, Steve,” said Matic feverishly checking the various readings on the Astroscope dials. “I don’t know how the Mysterons are maintaining the atmosphere here, but it is a suitable Oxygen/Nitrogen mix for you and the captain. Just make sure that you take a supply of Oxygen pills with you, just in case.”
“Captain Scarlet and I already have them, Mat, thanks,” said Zodiac, signing off. Looking at Scarlet, he said, “OK, Paul. Let’s go.”
The airlock hatch on the roof of Fireball Junior opened outwards as the two figures astride the Jet Mobiles emerged into the pocket of atmosphere around the Mysterons’ iridescent, glistening buildings.
Scarlet’s epaulettes flashed white and his communicator dropped from his cap. “Yes, Colonel?”
“How is it looking, Captain?” asked White.
“So far, so good, sir. We have just left Fireball Junior and have parked the Jet Mobiles as close as we can to what looks like a door.”
“Excellent. Keep this frequency open, Captain. I want to know what happens in there.”
“Spectrum is Green, Colonel.”
A portal opened as the two Earthmen approached the lightshow that surrounded the Mysteron Complex. It was quite unnerving and disorienting until they reached the portal. On the inside, there was no shimmering effect. The Complex was like any other base, including Cloudbase or Space City.
“That was trippy, Paul, wasn’t it?” said Zodiac.
“Certainly was, Steve,” smiled Scarlet. “I’d better check in with the colonel and you’d better start calling me ‘Captain’, when he’s about.”
As Zodiac chuckled, Scarlet tried to raise his superior: “Colonel White, we are inside the Mysteron Complex.” There was only silence. Then, static. He frowned. “Colonel White, respond!”
An eerie monotone voice rang out. “This is the Voice of the Mysterons. Welcome, Captain Scarlet. Welcome, Colonel Zodiac. I am sorry, but your Colonel White and Professor Matic will not be able to hear you while you are inside our Martian Complex. Our telepathic field will interfere with all electronic communication devices. Come. Please be seated. We have much to discuss.”
December 23rd 2072, 08:07 Greenwich Mean Time, Science Laboratory, Fireball XL5, In free float above the surface of Mars.
“As far as I can tell, Colonel, there seems to be some kind of dampening field surrounding the Mysteron Complex,” concluded Matic.
“Is it intentional, Professor?” asked Colonel White archly. “Are our people in danger in there? It’s been over an hour, and we haven’t heard anything from them yet.”
Venus had a very worried look on her face. “Is Steve all right, Mat?”
“I believe so,” affirmed Mat. “From what you tell me, Colonel, the Mysterons are a telepathic race, aren’t they?” Mat waited for White to indicate agreement to the postulation. “Well, the effect of the dampening field is consistent with an intensity of telepathic activity.”
Without warning, Robert started gesticulating, his robotic voice shrilling with alarm. “Red-alert. Red-alert. You-Eff-Oh. You-Eff-Oh.”
“What is wrong with your robotic co-pilot, Professor Matic?” Colonel White asked, startled. “Do you understand what he is saying? Why is he behaving like that?”
Matic looked stricken. “Unfortunately, I do, Colonel. It is not something I ever expected to hear in my lifetime.” He punched several buttons on the neutroni radio and shouted, “XL5 calling Space City. XL5 calling Space City, Commander Zero, do you read me?”
December 23rd 2072, 07:53 Greenwich Mean Time, Main Control Room, Space City, Earth.
Captain Ken Ross yawned and stretched as he checked the clock for the fifteenth time in the last two minutes. The former commander of XL7 had taken on the Earth-based role of gamma shift Duty Commander for the last four years, following the destruction of his spacecraft by the Solars. Also, having crashed XL1 Alpha on take-off, he decided that it was time for a change. Gamma shift suited him just fine, although it was mildly irritating that Commander Zero and Lieutenant Ninety did not relieve him until literally one minute to eight o’clock.
Right on cue, Commander Wilbur Zero and Lieutenant Josef Nineski, affectionately known as “Lieutenant Ninety”, emerged from the elevator.
Ross smiled warmly at the prospect of getting back home to his bed. “Morning, Commander, Ninety. Nothing major to report, sir.”
Both men returned his greeting and Zero said, “G’wan home, Ken. Say, before you go, anything from Zodiac and the Spectrum guys?”
“They last checked in two hours ago, sir,” reported Ross. “They achieved orbit around Mars in good time and last I heard, Zodiac and Scarlet were on the surface in the Mysteron Complex. There was some talk of losing radio contact with Zodiac, because of the workings of the Mysteron base, but – what the hell is that?”
A deep, resonant voice boomed out: “Red alert. Red alert, UFO. UFO. UFO detected. Red alert. Red alert. UFO bearing 428-146 Green. Sol 1 decimal 4.”
Zero blanched. “That, Ken,” he said with horror in his voice, “is SID. He has picked up one of those UFOs that made incursions on Earth between the late 1940s and 2009.” Zero grabbed the microphone on his desk. “Tracking. This is Commander Zero. I want a full analysis on that flying whatchamacallit, stat.”
“Yes, sir!” replied the disembodied voice of Lieutenant Mariner, the duty officer at Tracking. “Telemetry from SID coming in now, sir. Stand by...” Mariner’s voice was unsteady as he finished his report. “Commander Zero! Bearing confirmed. The UFO is coming from bearing 428-146. They have always come from there. Sir, this is the first alien incursion like this for sixty years or more.”
“Steady, Jacob.” Zero’s measured, calm voice gave confidence to the younger man in Tracking, who had the misfortune to be the first person in the history of the WSP to make this report.
Steadying himself, Mariner studied the updated telemetry streaming in from SID. “Commander,” he shouted, “the UFO bearing is vectoring away from Earth. Checking destination...” His deft hands moved smoothly across the terminal, his eyes darting between points on the star charts.
His voice straining, Mariner finished his report. “Sir... the UFO’s destination is the planet Mars.”
At that point, Mat Matic’s voice crackled through the neutronic radio system. “XL5 calling Space City. XL5 calling Space City. Commander Zero, do you read me?”
“Gimme that mike, Ninety,” growled Zero. “Mat. Commander Zero here. What have you got there?”
Matic’s voice was professional and clear: “We have a UFO incursion, sir. But I think you might already know that.”
“I know that, Mat. How do you know?”
“I programmed Robert to receive any communication on SID’s wavelength,” said Matic smoothly. “I never expected to hear it. Do you need me to recall Steve and send XL5 to intercept?”
“No need for that, Mat,” laughed Zero without a trace of humour in his voice. “The UFO is heading straight for you.”
December 23rd 2072, 08:14 Greenwich Mean Time, Science Laboratory, Fireball XL5, In free float above the surface of Mars.
“What the devil is going on, man?” demanded Colonel White.
“In a moment, Colonel,” said Matic calmly. “Robert: discontinued warning message from SID.”
“Discontinuing-warning-message... Discontinuing-warning-message... Message-discontinued.” Robert stopped intoning warnings in his robotic voice and the silence was so welcome, it was deafening.
“The alien invaders from the latter part of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century... they’re back, and looking at this telemetry, they are coming straight for our position.”
Colonel White studied the read-outs. “I wonder,” he mused. “Are they coming for us... or for the Mysterons?”
“It can’t be the Mysterons, Colonel. They are incorporeal. They have no bodies. These aliens always harvested human organs.”
Venus spoke up. “Mat, Colonel. I have the ship on the Spacemascope.”
Three concerned figures huddled around the screen and looked at a spaceship of a design and configuration none of them had ever seen before. It was wide at the bottom, narrowing towards the top. At the bottom, there was a series of discs that revolved around the ship. Mat reflected absently that it looked just like his grand-daughter’s antique spinning top.
“Mat!” cried Venus. “Commander Zero is correct. Its trajectory puts it on a direct course with the Mysteron complex.”
They watched in horror as beams of light strafed out from between the rotating discs, pounding the Mysteron Complex mercilessly. The shimmering lights and colours that surrounded the home of the Mysterons died as they faded to black and white. Towers and other buildings collapsed under the weight of the onslaught, while the scanners high above the Complex tumbled to their destruction. When the dust cleared there was nothing left of the vibrant city that a few minutes previously had pulsated with life.
Venus put her hand over her mouth, as Mat looked aghast.
“These XL craft have strike capability, Professor, don’t they?” asked Colonel White with urgency.
Matic nodded numbly.
“Then, may I suggest that you use it.”
Matic signalled his agreement. “Robert. Lock interceptors, destroy the enemy craft,” he ordered.
“Locking-interceptors... firing-interceptors,” Robert intoned as White tried to ignore the robot’s infuriating repetition. How the blazes does Zodiac deal with that?
The UFO exploded silently in a blaze of light that was so bright, Colonel White had to shield his eyes. The debris of the UFO crashed just beyond the ridge behind what remained of the Mysteron Complex. A plume of smoke rose into the Martian morning.
Colonel White’s epaulette’s flashed red as his communicator dropped from the peak of his cap. “Colonel White to Captain Scarlet. Do you read me, Captain Scarlet? Come in please.” Looking imploringly at Matic, White demanded: “Professor, please do something, anything, to raise Captain Scarlet or Colonel Zodiac. I need to know what is going on over there.”
Matic had no opportunity to reply, as at this moment, Robert started to speak again.
“You-Eff- Oh. You- Eff-Oh. Youaiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...”
Robert flung his arms about wildly out of control as the mechanical shriek tailed off and smoke poured from Robert’s transparent chest. He slumped over the control columns.
Colonel White looked on in concern. “What happened to the co-pilot, Professor?”
“I don’t know, Colonel. It looks like his systems were badly overloaded.”
Venus was still monitoring the Spacemascope. She gasped in horror. “Mat! Colonel! Look! UFOs! There must be over a hundred of them!”