There were some days, Colonel White reluctantly concluded, when he could understand how the Mysterons had so easily come to the decision that wiping out humanity was the only logical option.
Today was one of those days.
Africa still was unsteady, the wounds of colonisation and conquest still festering and occasionally vomiting forth pus in human form. The man on the other end of the videophone was an example of that.
A stocky man with a ruddy face and built like a gorilla, he was a descendant of the Boers- Dutch farmers who had staked claims on South Africa over the dead bodies of the people who already lived there. His goal was to overturn the government and restore the apartheid that had let his people crush all others under their feet.
He’d captured a Spectrum outpost near Pretoria, potentially with inside help or at least a very intelligent subordinate, given how he was able to use the on-site equipment to communicate directly with Cloudbase. Now, he was demanding a ransom, paid in weapons and supplies, for the life of the visiting Cloudbase captains he had also captured when he took the facility.
Still prattling on and making his threats, he’d shifted to the side to display his prize: Captain Blue, slumped over unconscious and bound to a chair. Blood matted his hair, more ran down his too-pale face and a blood-soaked rag was crudely stuffed into a wound in his left thigh. Beside him, Captain Scarlet was just visible on the floor. His tunic was darkened with far too much dry blood, and he was sprawled with limbs akimbo in a way that proclaimed death louder than words could.
Then his head shifted slightly, and Scarlet winked at his commander behind his captor’s back.
“Spectrum does not negotiate with terrorists,” White cut through the man’s bombast with the icy declaration and motioned for Green to cut the call. It wasn’t much of a distraction, but it would hopefully be enough for Scarlet to capitalise on.
Eight minutes crawled past, then Green announced an incoming call from the outpost.
“Colonel White, I’m requesting backup and a med-evac for Captain Blue. The outpost is locked down and I have approximately fifteen hostiles trapped in the facility,” Scarlet reported. Blood that wasn’t his stained his hands. Behind him, White could see the furious, puce-faced terrorist gagged and tied to the chair Blue had occupied, blood on his face and nose askew. Blue was now laid down on the floor, a proper dressing on his leg.
“Well done Captain.” Colonel White glanced at Green who held up four fingers. “Help is enroute, ETA four minutes.”
“S.I.G.”