By Valuth
Part 4
Lieutenant Green pressed the start tab on the
recorder to play back the latest threat that the Mysterons had postulated to the
Captains assembled in the conference room.
"This is the voice of the
Mysterons. We will continue our acts of retaliation by destroying your more
EXTREME top warriors and their commanders to hamper Spectrum."
Having heard it, the Lieutenant turned off the
player and Colonel White nodded slightly, then looked at the group around him.
“Good one. How can they destroy totally unrelated
people to hamper us?” Captain Magenta asked of those at the conference table
with him.
“I can think of a couple reasons,” said Captain
Grey. “One, because there is so many of them and two, because some of them have
already been tapped to here. Hitting us that way is going to hurt.”
“Quite right, Captain Grey. There is more to it
though. If they attempt to hinder us, they could attack anywhere and we would
not be able to defend against them. We just can't be everywhere at a moment’s
notice yet,” stated Colonel White. “I want lists of who ‘the extreme warriors ’
are, and in what fields, gentlemen. We need it fast. I don’t believe we’ve had
this much ground to cover in one threat for some time.”
“Well, then hopefully they might be a bit
cooperative and give us some help. Some of them can be rather, um… contrary,” commented Captain Scarlet
with a wry smile on his face.
“And just who might those be, Captain Scarlet?”
asked Captain Grey. He knew, but it was better if they heard it from Scarlet.
“I know of some real winners that won't be any help
whatsoever,” said Scarlet. He ticked them off on his fingers. "We're talking
about commandos, pilots, some divers, and berets. I personally know some really extreme ones."
“Why not?” asked Captain Ochre.
“They’re unconventional,” Captain Scarlet commented, with a
grin. "They always try to push their limits."
“And they’re in the military?” asked Captain Blue.
Captain Grey nodded. “Call it a pressure release,
but some of them go out of their
way to pull extreme stunts.”
“Making them perfect targets,” Captain Blue
groaned.
“That's about the size of
it, yes,” affirmed Scarlet.
“Very well, find out where they are, and just what
they’re up to. Maybe we can slow them down,” Colonel White stated.
“I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for that to
happen, sir," remarked Captain Grey. He knew of a couple of people like that as
well.
At that moment, one such team was involved in
exactly that, hanging under an overhang on a cliff in Yosemite National Park.
The ropes linking them in their climb had been stretched around the roof of the
overhang and several men were inching their way to the edge to climb up. Several
climbers were stalled as the climber in front of them stopped mid-way under the
overhang.
“Move your ass,
Ricco! Quit dogging! The rest of us need to get up there while you hang
around!” snapped Stone, slapping at the man's leg. The
climber in question looked down, one hand wedged into the crack where the man needed to place his own hand.
"Yeah, come on, bail!" shouted another climber.
“Pull him off
Roller!” carped yet another.
“Just checkin' out the view,” the Aussie chuckled,
as he sucked in a deep breath of fresh air.
He looked up and moved upward and over the area
that had stopped him, climbed over edge, to stand of the top of the cliff, the
rest following a bit more rapidly since he was out of the way.
Finally they all stood on the top and looked
around. Ricco nodded approval of the incredible
view from where they stood. The others glared at him vindictively. Their Flight
Commander stood watching the situation as it developed, grinning.
“We’ve got nothing like this back home,” he said
quietly.
“Well, nothing this high at any rate either,” said
his commanding officer. “Next time you decide you’re going to hang around like
that, I’ll let you drop. Maybe I should let the guys throw you off.”
The implied threat had several of the team move
toward him, grinning wickedly. He looked at them, distressed, and tried to back
up. A crop of rock at knee level stopped him, throwing him off balance.
A warbling sound from eight wrists made them all
look at their Commander. Ricco relaxed
slightly. The Flight Commander raised his wrist Com to his mouth.
“Go.”
“In case you’ve forgotten we
have those war games to get to. Last one down buys the beer! Commander excluded
of course.”
The echoes of nine COM links echoed out over the
top of the cliff.
“Rodger transmission
Cat.
We’ll rendezvous with you shortly,” replied their Commander.
The team made a few changes to their gear and
looked at the Commander expectantly.
“What are you waiting for?” he asked. They paused, waiting for the order. “Well, move it!”
With that, the eight men turned and shot off and
out over the top of the cliff, each trying to make sure he would be clear from
the other man's chute when it deployed. Anyone on the ground, and unfortunately
in this case it meant a park ranger, would have assumed it was a mass suicide
jump. He could hear the yells and whoops above him and groaned. He saw the first
ram chute open, his legs buckling on him in relief. Other chutes deployed and
finally all of the team was on the ground, with the sole exception of the
Commander. He had decided to wait until it was clear to jump. Now they could see
him jumping and watched to see when his chute would deploy. The men on the
ground began to get a bit panicky in their own right and started yelling for him
to pull the cord. Finally the chute opened, the men breathing a collective sigh
of relief . When their Commander touched down, they saw the smirk on his face
and knew they’d been had.
“Are you cracked?” asked
Ricco, the Australians voice was wavering.
“Look who's talking? Just got a bit warm up there.
I just felt like cooling off a little bit,” he laughed. “Besides, I’ve opened
chutes lower than that.”
The team groaned and gathered up their things,
piling everything into the jeeps and heading back to where the big Hercules was
situated on a nearby runway. They reached the plane and boarded, both jeeps
being secured, several of the team securing their equipment, while the ramp
closed up. Once it was secure, the team strapped in and the Commander went into
the cockpit, sat down by the teams pilot, and prepared and for take off. The
Herc was given permission to take off from the field's controller and he watched
as the bird took off smoothly, the shooting star emblem overlapping the
accompanying Phoenix, emblazoned boldly on the tail.
***
“What results have you obtained gentlemen?” asked
Colonel White.
“Sir, it looks like the Black Beret teams are
preparing to participate in their
annual war games. Other than that, it appears as if there will be no other
groups doing anything, so we're assuming they are the target the Mysterons will
try and take out,” remarked Captain Magenta. "It looks to be a perfect setup as
well. The larger the group, the easier to take them out, something the Mysterons
would love."
“And where are these games being held?” the Colonel
inquired.
“Um, there’s a problem there, sir. No-one knows.
All we’ve been able to dig up are rumors,” Captain Ochre informed him.
“Where are the rumors situated?”
“Calgary, Sandhurst, Moscow and …Koala,” said
Captain Blue. He knew the Colonel would
not like this news.
“I've been expecting that.
Focus on
Koala Base.
The rest are blinds," said Colonel White.
"Sir?" questioned Captain Scarlet. He and the other
Captains were a bit surprised that the Colonel already knew where it was being
held.
"Relax Captain. Last night I received a message
warning of the impending attack.” He picked up a piece of paper from his desk
and looked at it. “ It goes "Requesting
use of FORT KNOX. Big Party and there are some
neighbors that don't want us to have
any fun. Will adhere to any restrictions placed. Party guests will be SIX…Pharaoh,
Aztec, Polar Ice, Taz, Lone Wolf, and
Firestar. Highland and Crest staying at home to
mind the store.” It is signed, Commander PITAC.”
"I thought our concern was to be on the Berets.
Those are aerobatic flying teams," said Captain Grey.
"Only superficially, Captain. When the 'Blacks'
were in their inception, it was considered giving them a cover. Bearing in mind
that ninety percent of them have flying skills these days, they blended the two.
Would you expect to see a group of showy pilots as the dirtiest fighters
around?" said Colonel White. He heard a soft groan from someone in the room.
"No sir," Magenta replied, surprised at the
information
"When do these…guests arrive?" asked Captain Grey.
"Soon," Colonel White said. “I want security on
alert at those two bases that are remaining on station, Crest in St Petersburg and
Highland
near Inverness.”
"SIG," replied the Captains.
“Sir, We’ve just had a breech on our perimeter,
five planes, all heading south,” Lieutenant Green reported.
“Launch the Angels,” he ordered.
Angel One launched and headed after the
interlopers, quickly overtaking them. Two jets broke off and harassed her,
forcing her away from the main group and diverting her, One of them actually
getting a tone lock on her, before breaking it off. Angels Two and Three
followed the other party and also found themselves in a tone lock after some
rather interesting aerial maneuvers.
“Cloudbase, Destiny Angel here. I think these guys
are part of a flight demonstration team. They haven’t harmed us, but they are
playing with us,” she reported.
“Can you
determine what team, Destiny?” came the
Spectrum Commander's voice.
“Affirmative. There’s an emblem of a Phoenix and it
has a wolf's head partially covering it,” she declared.
“Lone
Wolf I would imagine. They're one of six teams that will be arriving, Destiny.
Escort them to Koala's outer marker and return. Don't let their antics throw you
off. They're one of the more… flamboyant flight teams," said Colonel White.
“S.I.G.”
On board the larger plane that had come with them,
the teams Commander was grinning at the overheard communication.
“S.I.G… Isn’t that just… so…
cute,” he chuckled, acerbically.
“Hey, we got tone on them
Leader. You can’t get any better than that,” his Twic told him.
“Yes we can. We can take out
Trojan
and his team,” said Leader,
immediately growing surly.
“We’ll get them,” came the reassurance of another
of his people.
The Angels followed and saw the planes descend
nearby. They wondered how they had gotten approval to
be there. Koala Base's Commander would not be happy to have so many unauthorized
people on the base. Colonel White had already informed him and the Base
Commander had taken precautions, assigning the teams away from the main campus,
in barracks near the course. He had also restricted the cadets from going in
that area for the next few days. Colonel White had Captain Scarlet go down and
find out what teams had arrived. After an hour, he reported in that five teams
had arrived thus far, Lone Wolf
from South America, Pharaoh from North Africa, Aztec from Mexico, Taz from
Australia, and Polar Ice from Canada. Firestar, the team from the States, was
still absent. The Colonel asked Captains Ochre and Magenta to find the Firestar
Commander as soon that group arrived.
By now, the Firestar team was nearing Koala and
after several tradeoffs for pilots and several mid air refuels; the plane was
finally reaching its destination. The Commander was still seated in the pilot's
seat, but watching as they descended to land at the base. Glancing back into the
rear of the plane, the team was listening to some music and several of the team
juggling things. Trojan chuckled at
that, and looked at his copilot, Lieutenant-Commander Devon Ricco Richards. The Australian was a bit tense.
“Look, Angel's going to be fine okay? I know I
asked you to come, Dev; but you didn't have to now, did you? Geez, you’re
behaving as if you were going to bust,” Trojan laughed.
“Hey, just never been a dad before, is all,” he
grinned.
“Look, Jess has promised to keep you informed okay?
He’s good for that and you know it. Now relax. She’s not due for another month
at any rate, if you’re lucky that is. It's too bad this base is so high security
or we could have sweet talked her to come see you to calm you down,” Trojan teased him.
“Just my luck she goes into labor while we’re in
the middle of something. It’s not fair!”
Ricco
grumbled. "You better remember you promised that I'd be home in time for this.
I'm holding you to it."
"I know and we’ll both be there, now just relax
okay? Do some of that breathing she’s so fond of. Just be glad she isn't letting
you feel her false labor pains, its not fun and her cravings! GEEZ!" Trojan complained. "Be good and we'll
divert to Sydney after this is over so you can make sure she's okay."
Trojan
could understand the man's nerves were shot over this. The
fact that Angel was due to have twins didn’t help either. Dev was literally a
basket case. Trojan didn't really know how he was functioning because of it.
The plane landed with no problem after receiving
clearance, and was guided to where the other Beret planes were secured. Trojan shut down systems and looked back again, the team stowing
equipment and getting ready to be checked over by base security as was to be
expected, the high security checks being a major portion of their being given
access to the base. An eyebrow arched as
Trojan
caught sight of two Spectrum Captains boarding the Herc. Trojan undid the flight harness and stood, stretching slightly,
pulled on a team cap, then went to greet the new arrivals. A sleek silver and
black dog padded beside him.
Captain Ochre cast it a quick glance. The dog had sat down and had its right paw
in the air, as if it were saluting.
“Captains, may I help you?”
Trojan
asked.
“Maybe. We’re looking for the Flight Commander,”
said Captain Ochre.
“That would be me,” the lanky commando replied, the
pale eyes alert and checking Ochre and Magenta out.
“Would you please come with us?” requested Captain
Magenta.
Richards was exiting the cockpit and he looked at
the two Captains, Trojan observing a slight start on
Richards’s part.
“Its okay
Ricco. Go get settled with the others for now okay? Tell
Gander
I’m with these guys”, Trojan informed
him, smiling. “Keep Brown Eye's here. I don’t think she’ll want to fly anymore,”
He caught the unconscious flinch from one of the Captains at the mention of
Richards nickname as he leaned to stroke the elkhounds head.
“Confirm. Come on sweets,”
Ricco chuckled, and with a hand signal called the dog to his side, where she
sat down once more, then repeated the salute to Ochre.
Trojan
left the plane and went with
the two Captains to a copter that was waiting nearby.
After
looking it over appreciatively Trojan
smiled slightly at it, nodding approval.
“Very nice,” was the comment.
“You like copters Commander?” asked Captain
Magenta.
“Yes. Planes are a stop gap, but copters now, these
babies are the real workhorses,” the commando remarked, running a hand over the
side of the unique chopper. Captain Ochre got the impression the man would drool
any second. The way he was eyeballing the vehicle was so familiar. It was like
he’d seen this before.
They boarded the copter and headed to Cloudbase,
and after being checked through security once more;
Trojan
was shown to where Colonel White was waiting in a conference room. Trojan grinned and nodded as he entered
the room and removed the Firestar cap he wore. He saluted Colonel White. The
Colonel looked at him, and returned the salute a bit sharply. Trojan sat down running his fingers
through his hair after he had been seated.
“Commander, we need to talk,” White said,
irritably.
"Yes sir I believe we do," agreed the Flight
Commander.
“Thank you, Captains.”
Both men nodded and left.
“You get the impression he knows him?” asked
Captain Ochre.
“Looked a bit like it, didn’t it?” agreed Magenta.
“I wonder where from?” questioned Ochre.
The two men discussed the problem of the teams
being at Koala and Colonel White found himself agreeing with
Trojan
on why the base had been requisitioned with the advance knowledge of the threat
to come. The Colonel and Trojan went
to the Mess and had a light lunch together, still discussing the war games to be
held below them. Captain Scarlet observed the two surreptitiously, for
securities sake. The Colonel was in a seemingly better mood now for some reason.
Both of them seemed like old friends.
They returned to Command Central and the Colonel
called Captain Ochre to take the Commander back to Koala. Ochre went to get the
Flight Commander and the two walked side by side to the hanger, Ochre getting
the impression the man knew his way around the base, the Captain not having to
correct him on their destination as they made the turns to reach the hanger.
They boarded the copter and after launching,
Trojan looked at the Captain.
“Captain, would you mind if I tried to fly this
little darling?” Trojan inquired.
“These are highly complex machines Commander, and
very different from regular copters,” Captain Ochre said trying to dissuade him.
“Oh, I’m well aware they are not like normal
copters,” Trojan conceded. He watched the Captain
as his hands played over the copters controls while he flew them back to Koala.
Nothing more was said and they landed near the
Firestar Herc to find the team waiting and running through a practice of some
kind. Captain Ochre chuckled as two men worked out with swords. He glanced at Trojan.
“A bit archaic don’t you think?” he inquired.
“No. Anything can be a weapon. They use swords, but
they’ve used pipes as well. Anything in a pinch. That kind of thinking has kept
them alive Captain,” Trojan laughed.
"Our C in C is very happy they do know that there are more than just guns and
grenades. We even use the banned items list from several plane hijackings as
well." Captain Ochre nodded in appreciation. He would have never considered that
list as helpful in such a manner.
Trojan
slipped out of the copter and Ochre saw him take one of the swords and ‘fight’
the other man. Both men moved quickly and
Trojan got him in short order. Trojan
then handed the sword to another man and
walked off. Captain Ochre headed back to Cloudbase and when he landed,
Colonel White requested his presence. He hurried to Command and as he entered,
he saw Colonel White standing near the observation tube. Captain Scarlet was
with him.
“Captain Ochre, how many people did you see in the
Firestar team?” asked White.
“Ten, sir,” reported Ochre. “Why?”
“Good. That seems to be around their normal full
compliment,” he commented. “Are the other teams about the same size?”
“It does seem to be the average size Colonel,” said
Scarlet. "Several of them have a few more however."
“Excellent,” said Colonel White. “Trojan
informed me that the two other teams that are not participating, is due to the
possible chance of a situation arising while they are here. If all the teams
were present, there would be eight teams, and therefore a great deal harder to
keep an eye on these men. Security
was dispatched to watch the two remaining teams, and they are in place now.”
“Do you know
Trojan, sir?” asked Captain Ochre.
“I’ve met him before, yes Captain,” said Colonel
White. “I was able to obtain more information about what's happening with the
war games. Firestar is the top team this year, and as the top team, they set the
rules for the rest of the teams. Sadly, they cannot enforce the rest of the
teams’ agreement in letting us watch over them, but in bringing them here they took control of the situation and made
the decision moot. Trojan is willing
to have us watch over his team, and if the top team says its one way, the rest
normally follow suit. He won't vouch for the others so the two of you will still
go and talk with the other team commanders to get them to agree for us to levy
higher security about them. Let them know that Firestar has acquiesced to our
request if you need to. Trojan
believes that the others will agree but thinks there might be a bit of
resistance from Lone Wolf. He’s offered to help us convince Leader, if it comes to it. Gentlemen,
don’t let what you see deceive you. All of these teams are worried. They heard
the threat and none of them like it. They have a schedule of what they have
planned for their games, which the Commander gave me a copy so we can make
arrangements on how we’re going to keep an eye on them.”
“Why did they come to Koala, sir?” asked Captain
Scarlet.
“I asked that of
Trojan and he explained Firestar's
early warning system suggested it. As to how she knew about Koala is quite
beyond me,” said Colonel White. Captain Scarlet grinned and nodded.
“Sir?” questioned Captain Ochre, uncertain over the
reference.
“Where is she now, sir?” Captain Scarlet inquired.
“At Koala with the rest of the team,” Colonel White
replied.
“I didn’t see her.”
“Regardless of that fact, she is there. Trojan assured me that all
of the team members are present,” said Colonel White. “Get down there and talk
to the team Commanders and make certain they will cooperate.”
The two Captains left Cloudbase and headed back
down to Koala.
“I’m starting to feel like a yo-yo,” said Captain
Ochre. “What were you and the Colonel talking about anyway?”
“The warning system?” he chuckled wryly. “ My
cousin, Cijay. Remember the picture frame you made for me?" Ochre nodded. " It
was her. She has premonitions and had the wit to have the Beret teams placed on our doorstep
because she had one before the Mysterons made their threat,” said Captain
Scarlet." She's getting better; the last major one that I know about, she had on
the day her boyfriend died. Too bad it was as it occurred."
"So she sent the letter?" Captain Scarlet nodded. "I thought it was a Commander Pitac," said Captain Ochre.
"It was, sort of. PITAC is her term for 'Pain In The Ass Commando'."
“You know, I was on board the plane right after it
landed and I didn’t see a female there. Are you certain?” asked Captain Ochre;
his heart pounding, knowing Charlie was so close.
“If the Colonel says she’s there, then she’s there.
Why are you so curious about her? Don’t tell me you actually want to meet her,” said Scarlet.
“Why don’t you introduce us? I’m starting to think
she is interesting,” said Ochre, grinning at his friend.
“If I see
her, and If she’ll want to meet, and If we get the chance, then okay,” agreed
Scarlet. “Although why you would want to meet her is beyond me.”
“Curiosity. It seems to me she can handle a
motorbike pretty well. She avoided me and that takes a bit of doing,” Ochre
chuckled.
“Damn stupid if you ask me. She could have been
killed. Mind you it wouldn’t be the first time. Some twit almost got her killed
when she was thirteen.”
Captain Ochre looked at the man beside him and
wondered if he knew just
who the ‘twit’ had been. He had to
bite his tongue to keep from telling him exactly who had gotten who involved with that little episode.
The copter landed and they headed to see the base
Commander to learn exactly where he had quartered the Beret teams. Once they
knew where each of the teams had been lodged, they started to make the rounds to
discuss the situation with the remaining Commanders and their Twics. They
reached the barracks that Lone Wolf had been assigned, and they learned that Leader was in the Ranks club, and
unfortunately flirting with a couple of the female Spectrum cadets he had met
outside the barracks. This rankled both men, since they were aware that the
teams had agreed to stay out of the Ranks club, and away from the female cadets
to boot. They headed to the Ranks club, entering to see a large group at one
table. All were female, except for one man. They didn't hear the door open and
close behind them.
“One of these days… I’ll kill that SOB,” came a
soft, quiet voice behind them.
Both Captains turned and looked to see a Major
standing behind them, hands on her hips, a murderous look on her face.
“Cijay?” asked Captain Scarlet. This did not look like the cousin he had encountered recently on his last
trip home.
“What?” she snapped waspishly, glancing at him, the
anger on her ice-blue eyes unsettling to him.
“Hi?” he replied weakly, hands up in a warding
gesture.
She only nodded and walked over to the table and
grabbed the burly male seated there and started to reprimand him. As she did,
the cadets bid a hasty retreat passing by the two Captains and keeping their
heads down so hopeful neither Captain would be able to
tell who they were. Both Captains however, smirked at them as they headed out
the door. Scarlet looked at Cijay as she kept up the tirade on Leader.
“Are you absolutely
certain
you want to meet her?” he questioned as Ochre watched the now forceful Major,
his eyes going wide at the dressing-down she was wreaking on the man.
“There has
got to be a soft side to her under that,” Ochre said. He knew it was there,
somewhere. He had never seen her like this either
and it troubled him.
“If there is, I haven’t seen it so far," Scarlet remarked, in dismay.
“Neither have I,” came a new voice. They looked to
see Terry standing there. Watching her, his eyes reflected his alarm in her
behavior. He shook his head. “She's never been like this before.”
As they looked on, she pulled the Lone Wolf
Commander with her to meet with the Captains.
“Leader,
Captains Scarlet and …?” She stated, introducing them, virtually shoving the
Lone Wolf Commander in their faces in her anger.
“Ochre,” replied Ochre quickly.
“You need to have a chat with these guys and you
KNOW you’re not allowed in here!” she snarled at
Leader, shaking his jacket and thus forcing him to get her point across.
“That was part of the deal!”
“Trojan
has you playing cop, does he?” Leader
growled.
“Damn right. I know the places you pains in the
butts will hang out. Go with the Captains and I won’t tell
Trojan
you were here, but you come back again, or any member of your team and you’re
OUT for the year,” she hissed. “Then you stay on base the next time around for
cover.”
“You can’t do that. Only
Trojan
can!” he objected.
“I tell him you were here and he’ll back me up and
you know it!” she reminded him, her voice venomous.
“I refuse to take orders from a
female!” he snapped and made a move to attack her.
All three Spectrum men attempted to prevent
anything from occurring. They never had a chance to do a thing. Cijay grabbed Leader in a Sleeper hold and held him firmly, an arm around his neck
and her mouth close to his ear. From where Captain Scarlet stood, her eyes were
flashing in anger. Captain Ochre and Terry were truly startled at her behavior.
“Don’t mess with me
Leader, or I’ll break your neck. You know I’m
Trojan's
Twic. Gander even agreed to let me be
Second for this. So, do you want to head back home now or what?” she snapped.
“You bitch!” he started, she began to choke him
slightly. He felt his head being pulled back slightly, her arm tightening around
his neck. “Alright. We’ll stay out, but I want you, one on one.” His voice was
strangled sounding to the three men.
“Fine. After it’s all decided, one on one. You
really want to be brought down so far?” she asked, as she released him.
“I’ll wipe the floor with you,” he snarled as he
rotated his neck slightly.
“Only in your dreams,
Leader,” she said calmly. “Go talk with the Captains.”
“Fine,” he looked at the two Captains, then back to
her, and pointed at her. “You’re dead.”
They all left the ranks, Cijay walking along one of
the sidewalks to head back to her barracks when Terry caught up with her and
grabbed her arm to stop her. She turned to look at him and saw his concern.
“What do you think you’re doing here?” he asked.
“I’m with Firestar, Dad. I'm part of the team. I’m
supposed to be here,” she stated, matter-of-factly.
“When did this take place?” he asked, in shock over
the revelation.
“After Commander Fraser
vanished,” she said. He caught the glare in her eye. She was still angry.
“I’ve got to go. I have stuff that I have to do.”
He watched her leave, and let her go, not wanting
to make any further attempt to continue the discussion. Trying to talk with her
when she was angry never served any purpose. He'd hunt her down later on. He
returned to where both Captains were having little success in persuading Leader to cooperate. Before they could do anything a number of black
garbed men swooped down and took Leader
captive. One of the men looked at them from behind a balaclava.
"Captains, Major, we need to take our associate for
a discussion. He won't be harmed, although if you want, you can come along and
make sure as to the veracity of his safety. I know our Flight Commander won't
mind," he said as Leader glared at the
hooded commandos.
Captain Scarlet nodded and
they watched as Leader's eyes were covered. They were taken to a barracks near the
lake where Leader was quickly bound to
a chair. The trio from Spectrum was astonished to see rest of his team waiting.
They all looked as Trojan
entered the room with some papers in his hand. Trojan motioned they take seats to one side where they could observe
everything. He looked at one of the team and nodded.
“Well,
Leader, ole buddy, you’re at it again, are ya? Not going to do any more than
you have to, eh?” asked the man.
“Let me go. Snatches mean disciplinary actions!” he
snapped.
“I don’t think so.
Leader, your life’s in danger in case you haven’t realized it. Spectrum
wants to keep us alive, but you’re giving us all a bad name. You better
cooperate or it will go very hard on you,” said another man.
“Yeah, HOW?” he hissed in anger.
“This. We show it to them, you’ll never make it!”
came the reply.
The hood was pulled off and he was looking at some
paper. He groaned loudly.
“Recognize it don’t you? Thought you might. You
know they won’t put up with this kind of baloney from you once they know who you
are and we can tell them. You’ll never get in. The attitude you have sucks Leader. Disobeying direct orders from the Admiral of all things for
a start. No-one on the teams is allowed NEAR the Spectrum cadets, especially the girls! The Ranks is out of bounds! You know
that! All the teams do! All the team commanders agreed with the Admiral's
stipulations, even you! Two choices
are open. One, you behave and do exactly what you’re told, no
haggling, or two, you head home now and lose all points for the year. What’s
your choice?” snarled a male voice.
“Okay! We’ll cooperate,” he groused.
“One more wrong move on your part and you’re headed
home. Got me?” Trojan now snapped.
He grabbed
Leader’s shirt and leaned close to him, so he could see who was telling him
off. Leader didn’t respond.
“Do you understand, soldier?” Trojan reiterated, angrily.
“Confirm,” Leader
snarled. “Watch your back though, Trojan.
I can take you down. I plan on taking your
honey
down too.”
“You’ll only try once
Leader, on either of us. You have no idea what
Skip's
truly like. I heard about the Sleeper hold. A girl did that, Etienne, MY girl. Now get out of here. I only
want to see your face on the course,”
Trojan ordered, his eyes blazing at the man seated before him.
One of Firestar released
Leader
and he headed out the door and into the night. Captain Scarlet looked at the
team around him and slightly shook his head. These guys were not what he’d
imagined them to be. Moreover, Cijay was one of them? He was finding it very
hard to believe. What had happened?
Captain Ochre was looking at
Trojan, his stomach in knots. His
girl? I don’t think so, he thought.
Trojan
looked directly at him and a slight smile appeared on his face, a foreign
thought suddenly invaded Ochre's mind.
'I’m aware of that Commander Fraser. My girl in regard to being a member of my team is what I meant. I
know the lady is taken, and by who.'
Ochre looked at the man, startled.
He knew who he was? The only other person who had ever been able to pick up
his thoughts, or even send him thoughts that strongly was Charlie. Was the whole
team like that? There was something about his 'mental voice' that suddenly
nagged at him. Trojan only smiled
again. He then turned to look at Captain Scarlet.
“Captain, I hope you’ll understand our method of
discipline and not take offense," said
Trojan."
Leader has always been one of those
people that figures he should be top man on the totem pole. He didn’t like the
idea when I was assigned command of Firestar. He doesn’t understand why I’m in
this position and he isn’t. Unfortunately, I can’t explain it to him, or you
either for that matter. Accept our apologies if any of you were unduly
manhandled, it was not intentional by any means, and I ask you not to judge the
rest of us by Leader. None of us like this situation as
I told the Colonel earlier. We do intend on cooperating to the best of our abilities."
“I can understand the discipline, Commander, I’ve
seen it in effect before. We don’t judge and we do understand you don’t like
being in this position. One question I do have, is why and how a female got on
your team," said Captain Scarlet.
“She was tapped to us. Our C in C thought she had
some exceptional skills. Now she’s our good luck charm,” said Trojan, chuckling. “Since she’s gotten to Firestar, we’ve managed to
walk away from some really unusual situations and only lost one man in three
years. I think you know she’s just as qualified as any one of these guys. She
wouldn’t be here if she couldn’t handle the situation. Understand that. She gets
no special treatment whatsoever.”
“Somehow I don’t think she’d ask for it if she
could,” said Captain Ochre.
“Quite true Captain. She plays our cop at the games
and makes sure no-one gets too far out of line. The other teams respect her too.
I’ve seen a couple of the guys try and take her on in training scenarios and
seen them heartily regret it when she whipped their butts. She can put a cop to
shame, and with very little trouble at all. I don't know how we managed to
survive as long as we did without her,”
Trojan
grinned. “If you’ll excuse us, we need to get some sleep as lag is beginning to
make itself known.”
“Of course, Commander. The Colonel showed us a copy
of the plans. We’ll see you tomorrow," said Scarlet.
He turned and left, Captain Ochre and Terry behind
him. Once they were outside, He paused.
“Seems a decent guy, doesn’t he?” asked Scarlet.
“Yeah, for all the fact that he is forceful in
controlling these guys. Man has an iron will to keep them toeing the mark like
he does,” said Captain Ochre.
“Remind you of someone we know?” chuckled Captain
Scarlet.
“Yeah. Big time,” grinned Ochre.
" I wonder who the Admiral was he mentioned," Terry
wondered.
"I've got an idea of who it was," said Scarlet.
Terry left them, and headed to check on other
details that needed covering with his people while he was there. Captains
Scarlet and Ochre were heading back to the copter, discussing the events that
had occurred, when Ochre plowed into a soldier who wasn’t watching where he was
headed. He was looking into a bag, checking something. Ochre grabbed him to keep
him from losing his balance even more. A low growl caused him to look down and
release the major suddenly. It was the dog he'd seen earlier with Commander
Frazier.
“Sorry Major,” Ochre said, spotting the crowns on
his shirt.
“Quite all right, Captain, not to worry. I was
preoccupied and not really watching where I was going,” came the soft reply,
ice-blue eyes meeting his. His heart was in his throat at seeing her again. He
couldn't take his eyes off her, and he couldn’t find the strength to move a
muscle.
“Hmm. Cijay, are you following me?” asked Captain
Scarlet.
“Now why would I do that? I had to get something
from your PX,” she replied, looking at Captain Scarlet. She jerked her thumb
behind her at the building she had just left.
“What?” he asked.
“Floss, toothbrush, razor, razorblades, bootlaces,
some glue, and a few other odds and ends for the guys. Want to see? Are you sure
you’re not following me?” she inquired, extending the bag to her cousin and
smiling slightly, then cast a quick look to Ochre.
“Hard to tell right now. You heading back to the
barracks?”
“Yup,” she yawned. “Are you going to be around
tomorrow?”
“Never know. Why?” he replied.
“Nothing serious. I just wanted to know if you’d
put me onto the guy that made my frame. There's something I’d like to find out,”
she said.
“Oh well if that’s the case, that’s this guy right
here,” said Scarlet, motioning to Captain Ochre.
“Captain… Ochre wasn’t it?” He nodded, hesitantly.
“Would you be willing to make another frame with parts of the harrier this time?
One of my relatives birthdays is coming up and
he owns a harrier. I thought it might be good for a laugh,” she said grinning.
“A functioning harrier?” asked Ochre. She nodded.
“I’m at your disposal.”
“Good. How about we get together and talk over the
arrangements while I'm here?” she suggested.
“Fair enough,” he replied. “I’ll need to see the
picture so I can show it off for the best effect,” he said.
“Oddly enough, I have one with me. If I see you
tomorrow, remind me and I’ll give it to you,” she added.
“Okay,” he replied. His hand had surreptitiously
gone to her waist and remained there. His heart was pounding at seeing her
again.
“I better get a wiggle on. Nite guys,” she said,
her hand catching his for a moment and she was off. "Come on Kinza." The dog
trotted after her.
“Nice lady,” Ochre commented. He smiled to himself.
Now that had been his Charlie. He looked at
the dog beside her. Kinz? He
remembered the day he'd given the cute little puffball to Charlie for her
birthday. She'd still been a puppy when he'd joined Spectrum. She was a striking
animal now.
“You’re batty,” said Scarlet, shaking his head.
They returned to Cloudbase and made their reports,
informing the Colonel on all the events leading up to their return including a
mention of running into Cijay. The Colonel nodded with this bit of information.
They then headed to their quarters to get some sleep. Ochre undressed and placed
his uniform so it was ready for the next day and found some folded paper in his
pocket. He hadn’t recalled putting anything in it so he opened it.
“No more hide
and seek, okay?” he grinned as he read.
Promise he thought to himself.
He pulled on his pj bottoms and slipped under the
sheets when a sudden urge to check his clock overwhelmed him. He looked at it
and after making sure it was set, he hit the light controls, turning them off,
chuckling.
Nite, Sweets,
he thought to himself.
Merrrowf! He heard in his mind. He
smiled. He’d really missed her being able to touch his mind like that. Just as
he was dropping off to sleep, he got the distinct impression of someone giving
him a kiss.
***
The next day had its problems, regardless of all
the plans. There were some situations causing the better portion of Taz to have
to run around to correct details and straighten up some mix-ups as to who was
participating when. Through all of this the overlaying dilemma of the threat
aimed at the teams was paramount. Colonel White had instituted procedures that
helped a great deal. No observers were allowed from one team or another, only
teams that were in competition with each other were allowed access to the
venues. Various Captains were assigned to observe teams, and Security was
encompassing the base. Spectrum cadets were also requested to help with various
situations, but they were restricted to senior male cadets only, and that was
running messages from team to team. The cadets alone were permitted to let
various teams know who had done what on the course.
Trojan
or Cijay were allowed to oversee some situations, but not so much as to make the
other Commanders feel there was any favoritism by them not being kept in their
barracks, as with the other teams.
Colonel White kept in close contact with all his men. The reports coming back were favorable, to the point where he had begun to feel they might be able to ruin the Mysteron's plans. He also knew, that just because they had done nothing to this point, they weren’t beaten yet. This was all far from over.
Preliminary rounds were only just finishing. Other parts were about to
begin, one being with weapons.
Rifles and handguns had been checked by Senior staff and returned to their
respective participants The armourer at Koala
had supplied fresh ammunition so nothing would have been tampered with. To make
sure no teams were placed in jeopardy, the teams went out in twos, each with a
Spectrum Captain to watch them. When it came to Lone Wolf and Firestar's
competing, Captains Magenta and Blue drew the short stick. They had to deal with
a very surly Lone Wolf Commander and a seemingly relaxed Firestar Twic.
Both were stationed on site and left to fire in a
variety of positions, standing, seated, kneeling, and prone.
Leader
seemed to have the Twic beat, but the Firestar Twic had only fired half his
required rounds. Captain Blue watched as the Twic proceeded, taking some time,
but finishing in the required time allotted, his final firing position being
prone on the ground. When he finished, he stood up and calmly watching the
scorekeepers. Magenta looked as well. The Firestar Twic was shown a black flag,
for a perfect round. This got Leader
a bit more perturbed and the two left the field, others quickly coming to perform their rounds and try to nip
Firestar's now growing lead away from them; or at least narrow the point spread
from one team to the next. Magenta was shaking his head at the end of the round.
“What’s wrong?” asked Captain Blue.
“A perfect round? Geez. That’s the second one
today,” he commented.
“Who got the other one?” Blue inquired.
“The Commander of Polar Ice,” said Captain Magenta.
“I’d hate to have those two hunting me if they were cops.”
“Why? Did it ever happen before?” asked Captain
Blue.
“Yeah, and the cop that did it is
still
a thorn in my side. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that Commander had been
taking lessons from him too,” said Magenta.
“I’ll take that as a compliment
then. You don't know, he might have learned something that I taught someone
else,” chuckled Captain Ochre coming up behind them. Magenta jumped in surprise
at the sound of Ochre’s voice behind him, rolling his eyes in frustration.
Captain Blue chuckled at Magenta.
“Don’t DO that!” complained Captain Magenta.
“Do what? I just came to see how
things were going,” said Captain Ochre. “Also to tell you the Colonel wants to
know how they did, and who did what.”
“I’ll go report in with him. One
of these days you’re going to give me a heart attack, Captain,” griped Magenta
to a grinning Captain Ochre.
“Well if I do, do you want me to
give you CPR?” asked Captain Ochre.
Magenta looked thoughtful for a
minute and made a face.
“I’d take that as a 'no' then,”
replied Captain Blue. Both Captains chuckled as their friend stalked off.
“You’ve got to start making more noise when you come up behind him.”
“Do you know how long it took
for me to be able to sneak around like that?” complained Ochre.
“And neither one of you bothers
to listen. I could slit your throats and you’d be dead on your feet and still
have no idea,” came a new voice, startling both men. They turned to see Captain
Scarlet there, grinning. “I’m starting to think this was a good idea to have it
here. We’re really lax, it seems.”
“I don’t like the sound of
that,” groaned Captain Blue. “This wouldn’t happen to be old habits rising to
the surface again, would it?”
"It could be," the British
Captain grinned. “I think I need to talk to Terry. If Captain Ochre and I can
sneak around in broad daylight, what are these guys doing at night?” Scarlet
questioned. “Something to ponder.”
“They did agree to behave you
know,” Captain Ochre reminded him.
“We’re talking about some people
I would consider as seriously demented here Captains,” said Scarlet.
“Ohhh…come
OFF it! Since when? I thought the Reds had that nailed,” came a crisp
response.
They turned to face a shooter in
standard issue fatigue pants, regulation boots, and a black t-shirt with skull
and crossbones on the front, the back saying ‘sniper’. She looked at them from
under the brim of the Firestar cap she wore and raised an eyebrow, she was
shaking her head in, a broad smile on her face. Captain Blue saw her rifle shift
slightly as she crossed her arms.
“After seeing these guys, I can
honestly say the Reds have NEVER
behaved like you have,” said Captain Scarlet.
“No, and they don’t paint
statues or steal goats either. Riiight.
Why would we want to behave like the Reds? I’ve heard
about their ‘parties’. Ours are tame,
at least. Captain, no-one sneaks around when I'm here. They don't dare. Last guy that tried it found
himself glued to the ceiling of his barracks,” she snickered. “Oh, keep an eye
out on Leader. He still might try
something, and possibly tonight. Seems to be interested in one of the cadets. At
least I think she’s a cadet. Red hair, and she was wearing a tan jumpsuit.”
Captain Scarlet flinched.
"The
ceiling?" repeated Captain Blue. She grinned and
nodded.
“She’s not a cadet,” said
Captain Ochre. “More like one of the instructors.”
“Oh well warn her, okay? Leader will go after any female that has a set of bazzoons over size
34,” Cijay stated. “I’d like to stick him in a permanent cold shower.”
“Has he tried to go after you?”
asked Captain Blue.
“Yup. And was singing high
soprano for a week. I bruised more than his ego that day. One of the many
reasons he can’t stand me."
“I bet he’s got quite a list,”
commented Captain Ochre.
“Well, let’s see… Trojan bugged him once and teased him that I could outshoot, out fly
and generally outclass him at anything I set my mind to do. Not that it wouldn’t
be too hard. The man is full of himself. He also has no brain to speak of. It’s
unfortunate in a beret, but it happens. Reminds me someone else I'm acquainted
with,” She chuckled, looking right at Scarlet.
“And what do you think about
it?” asked Captain Scarlet, frowning at the remark and refusing to rise to the
bait.
She sighed. “What, about him
being an airhead?” Scarlet scowled at her continual attempt to get a rise out of
him. “I try not to. When the guys tell everyone 'Skips
so great at what she can do', it makes me uneasy. I’ll only go so far as saying
I'm okay at what I do. That’s about
it,” she replied.
“Uh huh… so was it or was it not
you that got that perfect round?” asked Scarlet.
“I haven’t even fired my rifle
yet, so how could it have been me? It might have been
Gander,” she commented. “I’m up almost last.”
“Funny, I thought it looked like
you,” said Captain Blue.
“Dressed like I am right now?”
Captain Blue nodded. “So are half a dozen other guys.”
“So you can actually fire a
rifle now,” teased Scarlet, finally deciding to have a bit of fun and get back
at her.
“Now,
yes. I had a few things I had to unlearn
after a West Point Grad supposedly
taught me a few things. At least I didn't have to unlearn anything my cop friend taught me,” she commented, grinning
impertinently. She swung the rifle off her shoulder to display it in the
“present arms’ position. "Like it? It’s a SIG Sauer 550. Better than your old
H&K PSG-1. It used to belong to a gent named Commander Richard Fraser."
Captain Scarlet looked at her, the suddenly grabbed
the rifle and inspected it. He grinned as he handed it back to her, giving her a
slight nod in approval. Captain Ochre smiled slightly. Now he knew where his
rifle had gone. He was starting to see where some of his things had vanished to.
“So who do you shoot against?”
asked Captain Scarlet.
“Some crook named Richards, I
believe,” she commented.
“Cij, you’re always making fun
of my unique ancestry. Be nice,” complained an Australian accented voice. She
turned to look at him, grinning as she did. Captain Scarlet's jaw dropped as he
turned to look at the man. He looked at Captain Ochre quickly.
“I’ll think about it Dev. I
think you know I can whip your butt, but I’ll let you shoot first,” she
sniggered.
“Oh that is just so sweet of
you,” groaned the Aussie.
Captain Blue looked at the
commando puzzled, then at Captain Ochre. He too, was staring at Richards in
surprise. Except for the hair color being a few shades lighter, and the
mustache, Ochre was looking at himself in military fatigues.
She blew a kiss at Richards and
let him start shooting. Watching him firing his C7, she waited till his scores
were tallied. Then she got ready for her turn. She turned the cap she was
wearing around, and began firing the 550. She shot quickly and lowered the
barrel when she was finished. Richards watched for her score then started
swearing. Both shooters had scored perfect rounds.
“Geez
Dev, you’re improving. Has Angel been telling you what to do?” she asked.
“Cij, leave off. I get enough
hassle from Angel. I don’t need it from you,” he protested.
“Awww, too bad. Get back to
barracks then Ricco,” she told him, slapping his
shoulder. "Actually, maybe we better change your nick… how about…um…Guppy. Angel likes small fish, and you were World Navy after all."
He gave her a bland look then
left. She looked at the Captains. They were watching the departing man with
interest, especially Captain Ochre. He wondered why she seemed so friendly with
him.
“If you’d like, you can come and
get that picture Captain,” she suggested to Captain Ochre.
“I think we can spare him for a
couple of minutes before we have to report in,” said Captain Scarlet.
“Okay then,” Ochre agreed.
They went to the barracks and as
they entered, the rest of the team looked up briefly and went back to what they
were doing, preparing equipment for the next event, that being the survival run.
Cijay went to one on the rooms and entered it, Captain Ochre behind her. He
closed the door and looked at her. She placed the rifle in a carry case and
turned to face him.
“So, let’s see this picture,” he
commented.
She dug into a bag and produced
a brown envelope from the bottom of it and removed the picture. It held an older
picture of a young man and woman.
“So who are they?” he inquired.
“William Jessup and his wife,
Lex Kristatos”, she chuckled.
“Good looking couple,” he
remarked.
“I’ll relay that next time I see
Jess,” she chuckled. “So can you plan on coming to Arizona next month?”
“I suppose so. Why?”
“Because there’s no way we can
talk this all out now. One thing I do need to ask you, though, and that is a
priority because it’s going to effect some decisions,” she said quietly.
“What?”
Outside the room, two of
Firestar were listening when Gander
came along and pulled them away from the door quietly.
“Would you two at least give her
a chance?”
“We are. We would have known
where things stand if you hadn’t pulled us away,
Gander. Now she’s going to have to tell us,” complained Tree.
“Let them work it out
themselves!” Gander admonished. “You better get your
stuff ready. I don't think Skip is going to want to see you guys missing
something for tomorrow. Go double check your gear.”
“Awww,” groaned the other man.
“Go,” he reiterated, softly.
They
were walking away from the door when Cijay and Captain Ochre exited, the Captain
carrying a brown envelope in one
hand. The Captain left the barracks and Cijay looked at the team, they in turn
were staring at her.
“Where’s
Cat?” she asked.
“Talking with someone named Father Ivory. He came for
a quick visit. Cat said they were in
seminary together, Why?” asked Gander
pointing to another of the rooms.
“Just something I need to
discuss with him. Nothing too earth-shattering,” she remarked. She walked over
and knocked on the door, then entered the room.
“Gentlemen, I think the time to
collect on those bets is drawing near,”
Gander chuckled, looking at the closed door. The men behind him sniggered
softly when he turned to face them, grinning.
***
The next day marked the start of
the survival part of the events. Two teams again went out, this time each had a
Spectrum observer to go along. Not surprisingly, Captain Ochre tried to bow out
of observer duty, asking instead to keep and eye on the remaining teams. His
fellow officers snickered at the request, knowing why he had asked for it.
Deserts just did not like the man, nor he, them.
Firestar and Lone Wolf were the
first teams up this time, as they were holding first and second place. Captain
Grey was observer for Firestar while Captain Magenta went with Lone Wolf. Both
teams were taken out and dropped off, their goal to make it back to the base
before sunset. Captain Magenta slogged along after Lone Wolf and found the team
extremely talented in survival techniques.
Firestar was making sure Captain
Grey managed to keep up with them. He too was impressed at the team's adeptness
for survival. Realizing they came from a desert state, he understood this was
easy for them and they could tolerate the heat better than himself. Firestar had
surprisingly stopped him just after they were dropped off and made him change
clothes, virtually stripping him from the dark garb he usually wore, to lighter
clothing that surfaced from various members of the team, and surprisingly
enough, in his color. They also gave him some equipment, one of the items being
a hydration system so he would have a water supply. Once he was in the new
clothing and with his gear, he felt better and the team made sure he kept up
with them, several of the team members keeping an eye on him.
Leader
didn’t like being saddled with an observer and at one
point, he, and five of his men slipped out of sight of the Captain. Others had
been detailed to make sure Captain Magenta had some ‘company’ and to make sure
he got back safely. The soldiers assigned to Captain Magenta had him fitted out
with a hydration unit as well, Skip having learned they were to keep
tabs on him.
The second group of the Lone
Wolf team, were following the same trail back, Captain Magenta a bit angry at
the fact that Leader had split the group into two, but
there was nothing in rules that stated they could not do it. They caught up with
the first part of the team at the rest spot, the first part of the team seated
and waiting for them. Leader, as surly
as ever, gave them ten minutes to rest and they continued on. They reached base,
most of the team quiet, but considering the heat of the day and the distance
covered, Captain Magenta chalked it up to weariness and went to make his report.
Lone Wolf went back to their billet to sleep.
The rest of the teams were sent
out over the next two days and they also returned quickly, all teams members
accounted for, none lagging behind. So far everything was fine.
***
Colonel White came down from
Cloudbase for the team warfare and to see first hand how things were going. As
yet, there had still been no sign of an attack on the teams and the Colonel was
now starting to wonder what the Mysterons were waiting for. The two teams that
had been relegated to standing at base instead of coming were still all right,
the security teams reporting in that all were safe. Firestar and Lone Wolf were
still one and two. They would go first once more. Both teams headed out onto the
obstacle course and Lone Wolf quickly disappeared from sight, among the trees,
shrubs, and bush strewn all around. Lone Wolf intended on ambushing Firestar,
especially their Commander. Unfortunately,
Trojan
had stayed in the barracks to handle some last minute business so Skip was delegated team Commander. Leader was going to love this, thought
one of the team members. He had been waiting for just such an opportunity, This
was one time observers weren't supposed to be with them.
Colonel White was not pleased
with the thought of there not being any observers with the teams during the
stalking event on the course. He instructed Captain Scarlet to attach himself to
one of the teams with each set of combatants that went out onto the course. His
background made him the logical choice to blend in with the combative teams.
Captain Grey or Captain Ochre would align with the other participating team to
further ensure their safety. All three would
be there for backup if needed and could defend if someone was in trouble. In a
quick discussion with Trojan, it was
agreed that Captain Scarlet would go with
Skip
and her group, due in part to the fact that Colonel White thought Leader wouldn't want an unknown man in
his team. Cijay nodded her own agreement grudgingly, and calmly walked over Trojan's foot, glaring at the commander, as she headed out the door. Trojan grinned at her. Scarlet groaned
inwardly at her behavior.
Both teams had split into
several groups. Leader, and two of his men went further
up the course and concealed themselves.
Skip
and her men were wary of the hidden group and detoured before they reached the
area, driving the Lone Wolf commander crazy. Somehow she knew where hot spots
were! She and her men moved along through the trees and brushes without making
so much as a sound. Leader delegated
his two men go after her two when they separated, and he went after her directly. Slinking along the course, he
saw her ahead of him through some brush and made his move. Grabbing her, he spun
her around and slugged her, sending her to the ground. She looked at him and he
pulled his weapon, not the paintball gun that was supposed to be used, but his
own, a real one with a silencer on the end. He fired. She fell back and he knelt
beside the body, checking to make sure there was no pulse. After a moment, he
stood and looked down as two green circles crossed over her body. He heard
someone approach and saw part of his team, and a man dressed solely in black. By
now, a twin of Cijay was standing at his side. The group proceeded to start on
the elimination of the Firestar team and to bring the other Lone Wolf members
that hadn’t been Mysteronized into the fold. Everything was going according to
plan.
Unaware of what was going on,
the rest of the two teams were still engaged in ‘combat’. Several of Lone Wolf
had been ‘killed’ and sent off the field, two of Firestar also being ‘killed’
and sent off. From an observation area, Colonel White could see that Firestar
almost seemed selective in who they were dispatching from the field. He saw some
movement to the back of the course and raising his binoculars to his eyes, he
could see two of Firestar with Trojan.
He and the two men were moving across the course stealthily and had dispatched
several of Lone Wolf with an almost surgical precision. As the Colonel watched,
he could see Cijay a prisoner of Lone Wolf members and they were forcing her
along as several of Firestar ‘fell’ to them. She resisted them as they pushed
until one put the muzzle of his rifle to her back.
Leader
reached the flag designating the end of the playing field and raised an arm.
Other Lone Wolf men were close behind him. A flare went up and the Firestar team
went to their knees for a moment, doing something with the weapons, then they
stood up and started to take aim on the Lone Wolf team. Colonel White thought he
caught a glimpse of Trojan
sprinting up the course, his two escorts, nowhere in sight.
In the same instance, Cijay looked at Leader and said something. The Lone Wolf team rushed to attack anyone that was at the observation
post, Colonel White included. Captain Scarlet spotted the incensed face of the
sprinting Flight Commander and saw the two escorts leaning over someone on the
ground further back on the course. Deciding that whatever had given
Frazier cause for alarm pertained to the threat, he followed him, reaching him
just in time to see Frazier jump the Lone Wolf Commander, sending both men to
the ground. Scarlet reached the
fighters, and grabbed at a soldier to move him out of the way when Cijay slammed
a fist into his face. He slugged her back, in an automatic reaction, and saw
Trojan fighting Leader on the ground behind her. She
attacked him again, forcing him to grab her in a headlock. He felt dizzy all of
a sudden and looked at his opponent, in dismay. He then felt a sadness cut him
like a knife. He shoved the emotions down, then broke her neck, wincing slightly
as he did. He let the body fall to the ground to go in pursuit of the man
fighting the Colonel. As Scarlet freed his Commander from the attack, the man
pulled a knife on Scarlet. The Spectrum Captain stopped it, clapping it in both
hands, and disarmed the man before pulling his weapon and firing it, killing the
man instantly. Some shots had been heard during this and several other men lay
on the ground, dead. All wore Lone Wolf patches.
No-one had interfered with Leader
or Trojan. The two were on the ground and Trojan had his arm against Leader’s neck, his body pinning the Lone
Wolf Commander. Colonel White had Captain Scarlet grab Leader and from nowhere Captain Ochre appeared with a detector,
Colonel White absently noting his combat gear had been struck by a 'bullet' of
mustard colored paint. Trojan was
getting to his feet, and getting his breath back as Scarlet took charge of
‘Leader’
. They used the detector and it proved
Leader
had been Mysteronized. Trojan was
staring at him and shook his head. Captain Scarlet was holding the Mysteron
firmly and several security men came and secured him.
“Where are the bodies, you piece
of shit?” Trojan demanded, angrily.
The Mysteron said nothing,
glaring malevolently at him, and then grinned as the guards hauled him away at
Colonel White’s hand motion. The Spectrum Commander looked at
Trojan. The Mysteron suddenly broke free from his captors and grabbed for
Colonel White. He held him captive, an arm around his neck, a grenade in one
hand. Scarlet motioned no-one move so as not to agitate the Mysteron. Colonel
White stood ramrod straight, not moving.
“We will be AVENGED Earthmen!”
he growled, his thumb getting ready to pull the pin.
A soft
pfft
was heard and the Mysteron dropped to the ground, dead. Captain Scarlet looked
around and saw a gun in Trojans hands.
He was just lowering it as he glared at the dead body. The Mysteron hadn’t even
had a chance to pull the pin.
“That’s what you think, mate,” Trojan muttered. He looked
at the Colonel.
“Good shooting Commander,” White
commented, looking at the dead Mysteron, then
Trojan. “I’d heard your specialty was close quarter engagements. I see the
reports were not exaggerated.”
“Thank you sir,” he replied. “I
didn’t get any blood on you did I?”
“It doesn’t appear that you
did,” the Colonel told him, checking over the tunic,
Trojan
nodded.
Captain Ochre looked at the
Mysteron body and saw that the bullet had pierced the mans left eye. He gave a
quick look in Trojan’s direction and wondered how many
hours the man spent on the target range to be able to shoot so precisely. He
wished, belatedly, that the marksmen for the WGPC were as precise, it could have
saved several unpleasant situations.
“Captain Scarlet, would you have
Security begin checking to see what has happened to the real berets, please? I
want them to go over everything that Lone Wolf has done during the contests so
far and where. Have them remove all the Mysteron bodies for destruction as
well,” Colonel White told him.
“SIG Colonel,” Scarlet replied.
He moved to speak with the security group that would handle the situation.
“Commander, we’ll find the real
ones if they can be found, rest assured,” said Colonel White.
“I hope so,”
Trojan
replied looking back to the Colonel.
Trojan watched as Ochre and Scarlet looked despondently at the Mysteron body
of Cijay on the ground before them. “They don’t look too happy.” Trojan considered that it was going to be
tough telling Josh he needed a replacement for Cijay.
“I expect not,” said the
Colonel. He was having a hard time keeping calm himself. The Mysterons had been
known to miss killing before, but that had been fluke.
Colonel White looked onto the course and saw the
two Firestar men that had been with Trojan
approaching them, carrying a third. The team doctor ran over to them and they
lay the soldier on the ground. Colonel White walked over to see the bloodied
body and sighed unhappily. It was Cijay. The team doctor felt her neck and then
her wrist, just in case. He looked over at
Trojan
and shook his head to the negative, the doctors own face, concerned. Trojan looked extremely distraught for a
moment, before his face suddenly became unreadable. Captain Scarlet and Captain
Ochre joined the growing group and saw her body. Both men were upset, Captain
Ochre’s face was extremely distressed. Colonel White decided to take her body
with him to Cloudbase and have an autopsy performed there, allowing for more
privacy, and the chance for Terry Metcalfe to make some decisions in private. A
copter arrived and he boarded it, Captains Scarlet and Ochre boarding the copter
with him, none of them saying a word. The body was placed aboard in a separate
compartment.
When the copter landed, several of Dr. Fawns people
came to take the body. They removed it to Sickbay and Dr. Fawn gave a quick
perusal of it. He looked up as Colonel White came in.
“I know it looks like she was shot, Doctor, but
there might be other underlying factors involved with this,” said Colonel White.
Dr. Fawn nodded and had two of his junior
physicians prepare her. One had started to cut off
her shirt and he looked at his partner. The latter gaped at him and cut the
shirt off as quickly as he could. Both men looked at her torso, puzzled. Looking
at her neck, one of the men saw something odd. He looked closer, puzzled, and
pulled at something. What looked like skin came away in his hand. He looked at
the piece and dropped it. His fingers went to her neck. Dr. Fawn, who was still
talking to Colonel White, noticed the activity and they went over to the two
assistants.
“What’s the matter?” Dr. Fawn asked.
“Sir, um, she’s playing possum,” said his
assistants. "She's got a pulse."
“What?” questioned Dr. Fawn.
“She faked it,” remarked the other. “Look under the
shirt.”
Dr. Fawn lifted the shirt and found the body armor
and a vest that had pouches of what looked like blood. Several of the pouches
were broken. Dr. Fawn looked at the Colonel. Colonel White smiled slightly in
relief. He realized all of Firestar would have the same equipment on,
remembering the threat to them. He wondered why the vest with the ‘blood’
pouches though.
"It would appear she isn't dead Colonel," said Dr.
Fawn, at a loss.
With the help of his assistants, they gave her a
perfunctory examination and then had a nurse change her into a hospital gown.
She was moved to a bed, Dr Fawn and Colonel White being forced to wait for her
to wake up to find out what had occurred. The monitoring systems showed she had
strong vital signs, but she remained unconscious.
Terry arrived and spoke with Dr. Fawn and Colonel
White briefly, and was assured his stepdaughter was alright, even though she
hadn't woken as yet. Fawn allowed him to look in on her. One of the newer
doctors slipped in briefly after both men had gone and looked at her then left,
grinning slightly.
By now, it was night and an off duty senior Captain
came into Sickbay and moved to where Cijay lay still asleep. He looked around to
make sure no-one was around and sat down on her bed, looking down at her,
wondering what was wrong that she didn't wake. He gave her cheek a caress and
watched her, still concerned. His hand slipped into one of hers and he gave it a
squeeze. He left after several minutes, but not before he'd given her a kiss on
the back of her hand.
Dr. Fawn had been curious about the contents of the
'blood' packets and had taken a pair of scissors to cut a piece of the destroyed
shirt and slipped the sample into
the analyzer to find out what the ghastly stuff was. The report came back and he
read it, frowning over the last item. He then went back to where Cijay lay
sleeping and checked her over again. There was some bruising on her stomach and
chest, and initial scans had shown no internal damage when they had determined
she was still alive. Oddly, the bruising seemed less than it had before, but
that could be his imagination. He left and went to file his report. He decided
to mention his findings to the Colonel later on, to see what he thought.
Colonel White took a few minutes and came down to
talk with Dr. Fawn, but found he'd gone to get some sleep. He saw the junior
doctor enter where Cijay was asleep and followed him. The man bent over her and
seemed almost to be whispering something. He started when he realized the
Colonel was behind him.
“I take it she’s done this before?” asked Colonel
White. He remembered the man slightly.
“Yes sir, several times in fact,” he replied. "Call
it part of the job description."
The Colonel
nodded and they both looked at her. At first, nothing seemed to happen, she then
took a deep breath, wincing as she did, and then opened her eyes slowly.
“Uhhh…,” she groaned. “Oh god… that hurts.”
“I would expect so,” commented Mat
Bones
Ryan, formerly Firestar’s field surgeon, as he grinned at her. "Ribs a bit
tender still?"
“Yeah,” she whispered. She looked at the Colonel
and sighed. "This might be a bit late, but permission to come aboard, Admiral?"
Colonel White looked at her. "Granted," he replied
irritably. “Just what other shenanigans
have you pulled?” he questioned.
“Colonel, you don’t really want to know,” she
replied, wincing slightly, as she slowly elbowed herself to a sitting position.
"If, however, you do insist, have you got a week?"
“I should have expected this from you,” he
commented, relieved she had done so. “I want Dr. Fawn to look you
over.”
“Fine…I’ve got no problem with that,” she replied,
wincing again.
Dr. Ryan
now looked at her wrists and removed similar strips of the skin-like covering
and set them on the table beside her bed.
Dr. Fawn was woken so he could examine her,
relieved at word she had regained consciousness. He gave her a thorough
examination and when he had finished, he exited the curtained room, looking at
the Colonel who had been nearby, waiting for his verdict.
“She’s going to be sore for a while, Colonel, but
there are no serious injuries. There are some nice bruises but that's it.
Strictly speaking… she's fine,” he announced, finally.
“You’re damn lucky,” Colonel White told her,
through the curtain.
“I know. One day, I won’t be. 'Til then though,
I'll do the best I can with what I’ve got,” she remarked, gingerly pulling on
her clothing that Ryan had brought to her. She finished dressing, slipped off
the bed, and moved to join him. The Colonel looked at her, concern evident in
his eyes.
“You’ve got to be more careful,” he said quietly.
She felt his relief even if he didn't vocalize it, and she nodded slightly, a
trace of a smile on her face.
“I‘m as careful as one can get considering the
nature of the beast here,” she stated. “I’d like to get back to my team if
that’s okay? It’s not that I’m not enjoying the company you understand, but I
have things that have to be handled.”
“I should make you stay here. I don't really think
you're ready to leave, but I’ll have a security man shuttle you down,” he
replied. “You get some rest though. I can tell you’re depleted.”
“I concur. You take it easy, when you get back
there,” said Dr. Fawn.
“I’ll think about it Doc,” she replied. “I'm more
hungry than tired, though.” The Colonel gave her a scathing look. She always
used that avoidance response if there was something she didn't want to do.
“Cijay. Don't dismiss this as trivial,” she looked
at the Colonel. “I want you to rest. That
is an order
Commander.”
“Aye sir,”
she replied. He knew her too well, and he
knew she would do exactly what he wanted.
Colonel White had one of Terry's people come to get
her and she was shuttled back to Koala base. As she entered the barracks, all of
Firestar looked up expectantly at her.
“I’ll live,” she chuckled, bringing sighs of relief
from all around.
“Nice to know our new armor works,” came a jovial
response. Trojan came over and gave her a cautious
hug. “Now if you don’t mind, would you
please
take this off? I can feel the rash already,” his hand motioning at his face.
She chuckled and began pulling at his neck to
remove a mask. Free from the mask, Devon Richards began to scratch his face and
he removed the voice synthesizer from around his neck.
“Sorry about that, Dev, they had to see all of us
there or someone would have gotten curious and we can’t have that yet. Why do
you think I asked you to come along?” she snickered, holding the mask up to her
face. All of Firestar chuckled. "Your Reds would never forgive me if I don't
give you back in one piece, and the very last thing I need is Excelsior on my back."
“Well you just about blew that by getting shot,”
said Spook.
“I’m just glad that this does work or you would be calling Josh again. We’ve gotten over the hump. It’ll be
fine now,” she said, looking at the mask in her hand. “Any word on the bodies?”
“They found them concealed in a cave not far from
here. They were all dressed in their survival gear. We’ve already started making
the arrangements for their return to next of kin,” said
Gander.
“To be
safe, I think it might be an idea if they were cremated. See if there are any
objections first though,” she instructed.
“You got it Skip. Thank goodness Leader doesn't like 'watch dogs' or you would be in some serious
trouble. I’m damn glad Leader ditched
Captain Magenta or it might have resulted in a Spectrum Captain being
mysteronized as well. God only knows how the Admiral would have taken that news. That would’ve been the last
thing he’d ever want. Think of the havoc a mysteronized Captain would cause
there,” stated
Gander.
She frowned suddenly, “Rest assured, when Colonel
White does finds out just what happened and
where, He will have me up on the carpet despite the fact that Captain Magenta
was nowhere near the mysteronized team
members and was alright. Who’s left from Lone Wolf? We’ll pull Prerogative on
them and bring them back with us.”
“Everett, Garneau and Blake,” said
Spook. “Gander already nabbed them
after they were checked out with that detector from Spectrum. Everett's a combat
specialist, Garneau is a wiz at languages, knows ten of ‘em. Looks like he'll
give Tree a run for his money. Blake
is a demolitions specialist. Good to have a
couple backups. ”
Cijay nodded approval. “Good enough. Get some
sleep, guys. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow,” she said. Wearily she headed
to her room, Spook tagging along to make his own assessment of her health. He
determined she was fine. The bruising was almost gone. Before leaving her room
he also insisted she rest. She just rolled her eyes and went to have a shower
before getting some sleep.
***
The deaths had placed a pall over the remaining
contests, and at the conclusion, Firestar had remained top team, the other teams
now glad that they were. The loss of Lone Wolf had upset them all, the ‘Blacks’ C in C sending a message that he too wanted to see
the Flight Commander of Firestar as soon as he was free, his presence required
at Futura a priority. Those who saw Skip
at that point, noticed she seemed to be a bit frustrated over something. Plans
were set in motion to pay condolence calls on the deceased soldiers' families.
Honor guards would also be arranged for the funerals that would occur. In Leader’s case the honor guard would be
all the teams' Commanders.
On Cloudbase, Colonel White was
looking out into the darkening sky. The Mysterons had won part of this round, it
seemed. They hadn't gotten their complete objective, at least that was his
fervent hope right then. Six men had died and it could have been much worse. In
not knowing just where the strengths of the team had lain, they might have just
succeeded in some small way. They wouldn’t know immediately. Firestar had
managed to help hold the rest of the teams together and
Trojan
had explained to the team's Commanders the problem as it stood. The
Commanders had been in accord and Trojan
had explained to them only after obtaining limited permission from Colonel
White. If they knew what they were
up against, it made for a larger group of defenders. It also meant that some new
people would come to Spectrum quicker, knowing the problems going in and with
the definite mindset to help stop them, some of those people already having
received letters. By the same token, with the team Commanders knowing which of
their teams would be leaving, said Commanders could begin checking on prospects
as replacements for those departing the teams. Trojan started to set up meetings with those Commanders to discuss
possible recruits for the teams. Those discussions would take place as soon as
they all returned to their bases, the Flight Commander knowing he would be
jet-lagged for the next while.
The Colonel went back to his
desk and opened a file there. It was the file on
Trojan, or Jean Charles Frazier as his real name appeared to be. Lex had
passed it along to him suggesting he might find it interesting reading. She’d
been right, but there was something odd about the man. He was thinking of seeing
if Captain Scarlet remembered him from West Point. After all, they had graduated
the same year before he'd gone World Navy for some odd reason. It wasn't normal
procedure to go through a military academy like West Point, then go World Navy
at the last moment, and the list of skills he had couldn't be found in one
place. It almost seemed as if he were more than one person. Maybe Scarlet could
shed some light about him. If the man made his decision to join Spectrum he
wanted a better idea of what he was getting. Frazier had been sent a letter at
any rate, but to date, hadn’t responded to it.
As she'd assumed, the Colonel ordered Cijay's
presence for a private discussion, which, in Lieutenant Green’s opinion got a
bit loud, the Colonel reprimanding her for almost getting Captain Magenta
killed. She stood quietly at attention, and watched
him yell at her as he paced, replying only 'yes sir' and 'no sir' when he was
catching his breath. The Spectrum Commander threatened to bust her and found
himself a bit amused when she told him to go ahead. All he could do was shake
his head.
***
Both Captain Scarlet and Captain Ochre had, by now,
learned the complete details of Cijay's
demise,
and Scarlet was a bit disillusioned over her pulling that kind of trick. Captain
Ochre was just relieved she was alright, and very glad she had resorted to the
trick she had played or the Mysteronized version of Leader might have shot her
again to make certain she was dead. They heard she had come back on board
Cloudbase the next day to go over a few details with Terry, dealing with some
security concerns that the Colonel wanted clarified, before she headed back to
Tucson with Firestar. The two men tracked them down, and found them in the Mess,
having coffee, the table having papers on it that both were looking over. They
moved to stand by the table where the two were seated. Terry looked up at them
and nodded. Cijay half turned gingerly in her seat to face them, Ochre seeing a
slight wince of discomfort.
“Morning, Captains, something you need?” Terry
asked.
“Someone is more like it. Major, could we have a
word with you please?” questioned Captain Scarlet.
“Which one?” Terry inquired. Scarlet pointed to
Cijay.
“Can’t it wait a half hour Captains? Dad and I are
almost finished. Then you can have my full attention,” she said.
“I suppose so,” Captain Ochre agreed. At least he
had finished his duty shift, and he didn't have to rush any place.
He sat down almost beside her at the next table.
Pulling out a book to read, Ochre constantly looked at her, while pretending to
look at the book and then proceeded to shift around a bit. He crossed his right
leg over his left knee and his foot seemed to be tapping in mid air. Then he
looked at his book once more, then at her. Cijay glanced over at him. He was
distracting her from what she and Terry were dealing with, and she wanted to get
this taken care of.
“Hang on a moment, Dad,” she asked. “Captain, is
your book interesting?” She looked at the cover of the book, tilting her head
slightly to read it.
“I think so. It’s a book on the
Arrow,” Ochre replied.
“Uh…huh. Clancy's I see. What part are you reading
about?” she asked, watching his foot ‘tapping’.
“About the tail assembly,” he remarked.
“Captain, now please don’t take this the wrong way,
but I think you just might be able to
read a bit better if you had the book open to the right page, and had it the right way up.
Of course, looking at the book instead of my tush might help too,” she said
acerbically. She took the book from him, turned it over, flipped to the right
page in the book, and returned it to him. He took it looking a bit mystified.
Captain Scarlet stared at Ochre in surprise, having just returned from getting
them both a coffee.
Captain Ochre looked at her, then the open book. He
sighed, grinning. She didn’t miss a thing. Cijay returned to talking with Terry.
Finally they finished and she turned to face Captain Ochre and her cousin once
more. Terry hung around to see what was going on.
“Thank you for being patient. Now, what’s this all
about?” she asked, looking at both men.
“Ask him,” said Scarlet, pointing.
“Captain?” she asked looking at Captain Ochre.
He closed the book and looked at her in silence for
what seemed like an interminable amount of time, his face unreadable.
“Well?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
He took a deep breath, and took her hand in his.
“Major, will you marry me?”
Captain Scarlet had been taking a drink of his
coffee and started choking. Cijay grinned as she had to lean across the table to
thump his back. Terry sat looking at them; his chin was cupped in his hand. He
took a drink of his own, now cold coffee.
“And just why would I want to do that, pray tell?” she replied, her other hand still hitting her cousin's back, Captain Ochre not letting go of her hand.
“Oh simple. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you manhandle that other beret. Got all shivery inside," he told her, his voice echoing his feelings.
“You just met!” protested Scarlet, recovering from
his coughing fit, and staring at Ochre in disbelief.
“Hey, sometimes it only takes a moment,” Captain
Ochre replied, glancing at his friend. Then his eyes went back to Cijay. “Well?
Must I do the ‘on bended knee’ routine? I will,” his question bringing a smile
to her face.
“A couple of questions first I think, then I’ll
reflect on it,” she commented.
“I’m all yours,” he replied emphatically, looking into her eyes.
“Hmm… yes…well,” she sighed, giving him a guarded
look over his remark. “What would you consider a good first date?”
“Oh, I don’t know, something exciting might be
good," he said. “Go flying maybe?”
“What kinds of clothing would you expect me to
wear?”
“Hmm, tough one. Jeans, western shirts, boots
maybe, or runners. A swimsuit can come in handy too. And once in a great while,
a slinky dress when I take you dancing,” he said, looking adoringly at her.
Captain Scarlet was staring at them, shock written all over his face. He liked
the clothes she normally wore? Oh this is
just too much, he thought.
“What's your best hitting on line?”
He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Want to come
check out my aircraft collection?” She grinned at the reply, nodding.
“You like animals?”
“Dogs or cats?”
“Both,” she said.
“Calicos and elkhounds are my favorites.”
“Any hobbies we might be able to share?”
“Model building?” he asked, looking optimistic. She
sniffed loudly. Captain Scarlet started to snicker and Ochre looked at him,
poutily.
“You might want to change glues from the one you’re
using. I was thinking more along the lines of paintball,” she said.
“I haven’t had a chance to play for a while, but I think I’m a fair hand at it,” he said. She was grinning with a predatory grin, Captain Scarlet realized.
“Can you cook?”
“No.”
You know how to make a good cup of coffee?”
“Nope, sorry.”
“Can you do
anything, aside from shoot a gun?” she asked, sounding frustrated. Scarlet
grinned at this. Ochre was losing ground with her.
“I have been reliably informed I give a mean body
massage,” he stated proudly.
“Uh…huh. By who?” she asked, looking at him warily.
“My last girlfriend.”
“What happened to her?”
“Not sure, we just seemed to lose touch. There was
a lot we left unsaid too,” he sighed sadly. Ochre's face showed his regret over
this. Scarlet thought his last girlfriend must have been something special.
“Are you a good kisser?” Cijay raised an eyebrow
over this question.
“Want to find out?” He puckered up. She smiled and
shook her head.
“Do you snore?”
“Only if I’m really tired, I’ve heard.”
“The old girlfriend again?”
“Yup. She liked it though. She said it reminded her
of her Dad,” Terry grinned slightly at the remark.
“Well, what's your name?”
“Captain Ochre,” he informed her.
“I mean the name your parents gave you,” she said,
an eyebrow arched.
“Oh… hey you!”
“Uh huh. Get real
Captain,” she snapped. She made a move as if to stand up to leave.
“Okay… okay… it’s Rick,” he said quickly, placing his hand on
hers to stop her from leaving.
“Uh huh. Practical joker huh?” He nodded, grinning
cheekily. “Well Rick, that’s an interesting proposal, a very interesting
proposal,” she remarked. “Marriage isn’t something you jump into though. I
should give this some
serious
consideration. Take time to get to know you better and all. Captain Scarlet is
right, we did just meet,” she sat
looking at Ochre, her eyes running over him appraisingly for several minutes,
then took a drink of her own coffee, still watching him. He shifted in his chair
a bit uneasily. “Okay, I think that’s long enough. Sure, I’ll marry you.”
Captain
Scarlet looked at them, his mouth open. “I don’t believe this! You’re NUTS! THE BOTH OF YOU!!”
Terry was shaking with suppressed laughter by now.
“Captain,
I’ve been looking for the Detective Commander for almost three years,” she said,
sharply, pointing at Rick. “I am not nuts. Richard Fraser, if you EVER try that again I’ll make sure they
never find any body parts because I’ll make certain it’s a car bomb that WORKS!” she was grinning wickedly at him
now. “Then I’ll just hold you incommunicado for myself.”
“I love you too Charlie,” he replied, smiling
happily. He pulled her chair to the side of his and hugged her carefully. He
knew she was sore.
“God, I missed you…” she said quietly, stroking his
cheek. “I’m going to miss the beard I hope you realize,” she hugged him back and
gave him a kiss that devolved into a serious liplock.
Uh, Charlie, that kind of kiss
is going to create problems, he thought.
So what?
She thought.
Riiight.
He thought to himself. He closed his
eyes and held her a bit tighter. I wonder
if Father Ivory is busy right now. She pulled back slightly and looked at
him, eyes wide.
Go find out bright boy.
She 'sent'. He grinned crazily.
Captain Scarlet just looked at them in surprise.
“They gotcha, Paul,” Terry told him.
“Looks like it. Here I thought Cij was bad by
herself, and Rick… we just won’t go there. The two together…this is not good,” Scarlet
groaned. “You’re
Ricco?”
Rick looked at Scarlet and nodded, grinning smugly,
then turned his gaze back to Cijay. “You’ll get me with a car bomb eh? If you ever do anything so stupid as sliding under a semi again
I’ll tan your backside within an inch of your LIFE!” he snapped back.
She grinned at him in retaliation, and then
cheekily blew him a kiss. “That was you, was it? Nice driving. You've improved
since you crashed that WGPC patrol car." Ochre looked at her and shook his head,
smiling slightly. Only she would remember
that incident.
“You did that, Cij?” Terry asked. Right now, nothing he heard would surprise him.
“I was trying to lead him around a bit so the guys
could get away. The semi, got into the way,” she snickered. “I didn’t get hurt,
though, if you’re wondering, but your flack jacket was a bit torn up.”
“You’ve been wearing my flack jacket?” he
questioned, incredulous at this news.
“Well, duh, yeah. I'm
surprised you didn't recognize it,” she replied. “At first, I didn’t know if any
of your … um ‘old friends’ would come after me because of your little disappearing act, so I wanted to make
certain I had some kind of protection. Now its just habit that I wear it. I
didn’t know at first what the heck was going on!”
“Careful, Cij,” said Scarlet.
She glared at her cousin for a moment before
looking back at Ochre. “Or what? I can kill him. Technically he’s dead already.
He knew I was arranging a transfer to join him in Chicago when he went poof, it
was his idea to rush it! All he needed to do was tell the Colonel.”
“And I did tell him, Charlie, but training took
priority. Then with one thing and another and the Mysterons showing up, its been
one set of circumstances after another. To top it all off, YOU turned around and
vanished from Cold Lake, just as I was able to come tell you where I was. Do you
know how hard it is to locate someone who’s vanished into
the teams, especially when you don’t have a clue as to their nick and Pendergast
wouldn't tell me a thing, the SOB! The first chance I had for ANY contact was the picture frame. Do you
have any idea how frustrating that
is?” He held her close to him and looked into her eyes, his own frustration very
evident over the circumstances that had occurred. “I didn’t want it to work like
this, it just did, okay? Now, seeing
as how we’ve cleared the air over certain details, how about we put this back where it
belongs,” he said, his eyes meeting hers while he slipped the previously lost
ring back on her finger, then grinned at her. She looked at the ring in surprise
and flung her arms around him tighter. He hugged her happily, grinning at
Captain Scarlet. He'd seriously missed holding her, he realized.
She then looked at her father. “And you didn’t tell
me, or let him know where I was, WHY?”
“I refuse to answer that question on the grounds I
might incriminate myself,” Terry replied, grinning.
“Pleading the fifth amendment huh? Dad, you're
British, I don't think you can use an American plea of innocence.
Khoritza.* I bet I
know whose idea that was,” she grumped.
"So, how's my Baby been?" Rick asked her softly,
his eyes dancing, his forehead resting against hers.
"Cranky, but she'll be find now," she chuckled.
"Baby? What baby?" Terry yelped, Captain Scarlet
looking at them, stunned. Captain Grey glanced in their direction and grinned.
Rick and Cijay started snickering. Terry and
Captain Scarlet just looked at each other.
"Dad, relax. Baby's his nickname for me," she
chuckled. "I'll let you know when you're going to be a grandfather. Would any of
you mind if I got something to eat? I'm a tad hungry."
"Go for it," said Terry.
Cijay went and soon returned with a tray containing
a hot fudge sundae and a large glass of milk. Captain Scarlet noted a small dish
on the side and looked at her as she sat down with the tray. Not saying a word,
she shook juice off of several pickles and put them into the sundae, then
stirred it up. Scarlet was looking a bit confused. Terry shook his head. As she
took the first mouthful, she noticed they were all watching her carefully, and
in her stepfathers case, a bit puzzled. She ate it, the men grimacing a bit as
she did. She took another bite and looked at Rick, then winked surreptitiously.
He chuckled.
"Um, Dad, remember I said I'd tell you if you were
gonna be a grandfather?" she started.
"Yeah," he replied cautiously. He looked at her,
then Rick.
"Not me!" she protested, looking at her stepfather.
"Angel. She and Dev are having twins," she added taking another mouthful of the
desert.
"When?" asked Terry, going pale.
"Next month," she said, finishing off the sundae
with its pickles.
"What… what does that taste like?" asked Paul,
pointing at the dish.
"Like a sundae, the pickles taste like pickles.
They get crispier being in the ice cream. The flavors don't blend so it's
actually pretty good," she told him. "Want to try it?"**
She waved the spoon under his mouth.
"No… that's uh… quite all right… really," he
replied.
Cijay snickered. "The iron gut has met his match! I
hope I don't have weirder cravings when I get pregnant, Angel’s are bad enough."
"You're picking up her cravings?" asked Terry.
"You think I'd eat
this on my own? Not! "
A new sound came from Cijay's side, similar to
laughter and they noticed Kinza seated by her owner.
Terry looked at Cijay and shook his head. "Even the damn dog laughs at me," he commented to Captain Scarlet, who looked at Kinza, the 'grin' on the dog’s face apparent. Captain Ochre leaned forward and petted her, Kinza in turn, raising her right paw to him.
* Phonetically spelt, but
translated from Russian. It means chicken.
** Considering the old wives’ tales
about cravings in pregnant women, Soft ice cream does work best and it was a hot
fudge sundae, with a side of pickles. They ones they gave me were the ones for
hamburgers. It actually is quite good.
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