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A “Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons” story for Halloween By Marion
Woods
Captain Scarlet avoided the
Halloween party-goers and slipped into his quarters with a deep sigh. He had waved goodnight to Blue a few
minutes ago and left the American planning to go along to the officers’ lounge
to see what his compatriots had devised this year.
He had invited the Englishman to come along but, mindful of the trick he
had played on them last year and the round condemnation he had received from
everyone – not to mention the good thumping from Blue – Scarlet had declined.
Anyway he was tired. He threw his cap
on the table and dragged off his boots, wiggling his toes in their red socks.
He grinned – it was a craze to have colour-coded socks – and quite daft because
no-one ever saw them, of course.
Dianne had given him these – she’d found them on a trip to Edinburgh and apart
from the little green & purple thistles around the tops they were exactly the
same colour as his tunic. Mind you,
they made you go cross-eyed if you looked at them for too long! He shrugged off
his tunic and hung it over the back of a chair. He knew he ought to put it away,
but what the hell? He picked up his newspaper, plumped up
his pillows and lay down on his bed to read the football reports. After a few paragraphs the words started
to dance before his eyes and he stifled a yawn.
Tireder than I thought, he
mused as the paper slipped from his hands. A few minutes
later a gentle snoring was proof that Captain Scarlet had fallen into a deep
sleep.
Captain Blue
walked into the lounge and received a face full of black confetti and strands of
silver tinsel from a giggling technician.
Tonight was the one night the technicians got access to the lounge and it
was liberty hall – no-one stood on ceremony. Blue smiled politely and removed several handfuls of paper
from the neck of his uniform tunic. Whilst he was doing this, Melody skipped up
and dragged him off to one side. “Come on, we need
you!” “Why and who?” “Pat’s set up a
séance…” “Oh no, Mags… I
hate those things.” “Hush, come on!
We need another to complete the circle.” She tried to drag him towards a poorly
lit alcove away from the main party area. “I don’t believe
in all this... especially when either Magenta or Ochre is involved,” objected
Blue as he reluctantly followed her insistent tugging. Magenta looked up
and waved a hand at the spare seat.
“Park your carcass and prepare to be scared….” He grinned mischievously
and carried on with setting out the table top with lettered and numbered cards
and the odd punctuation mark. “Pat, do you really think this is a good idea?” Blue began. He looked round the table. Magenta was sitting at the head, flanked by Destiny and Lieutenant Green with Melody and Symphony completing the circle. The spare seat was between Destiny and Symphony Angels. He tried to look under the table to see if someone was hiding beneath it. It wouldn’t be beyond Magenta’s imagination to dream up something like this with the intention of scaring the Angels – if no-one else. “I’m not sure I want to get involved in this,” he added. A chorus of protests rang out. “Oh, go on,
Captain!” Lieutenant Green pleaded. “Don’t be such a
spoilsport,” chided Melody with a sigh. Symphony looked
up at him from her seat and took control. “Just sit down and give me your hand.
Give Destiny the other one and listen to what you must do.” “But Karen…” he
protested. “Sit.” He sat and
delivered his hands to the Angels either side of him. Once everyone had
linked hands and the giggling had stopped, Magenta assumed an air of
concentration and intoned in a sepulchral voice, “Is there anyone there?”
several times. Nothing happened. Magenta repeated
his chant, adding, “One knock for yes, two for no!” Lieutenant Green
sniggered and Melody nudged him. “Concentrate!” she hissed. Suddenly there
was a thud and everyone jumped. The
glass in the middle of the circle of letters moved slightly. Blue scanned around the curtained
alcove, looking for Ochre with one of his radio control modules. Magenta asked,
“You wish to contact someone on this side? If the person is here, can you spell
the name with the glass and those letters?” The tumbler
juddered. After a couple of jerky
attempts and one instance when it fell over, it edged towards one part of the
circle and topped onto a letter. A - Five voices breathed. Destiny reached
over for the second time and placed the glass back on the spot in the middle of the circle of letters. She
took hold of Blue’s hand again and held on more tightly than before. The glass started
its slow progress to a second letter. D
Then the third
letter. A
Captain Blue was
already getting cross before the glass wobbled to a halt at the next letter –M. “Very funny, Pat,” he grimaced. He’d been right, this was some sort
of trick and he’d been set up. “Hey – it is not
me,” Magenta asserted. The glass
shuddered and moved again.
Laboriously it spelt out: WHERE AM I?
“This is Cloudbase and you are amongst friends,” Magenta said reassuringly. “Who are you and what’s your name?” he prompted. ITS ME PAUL
“Paul? Patrick, I’ll throttle you!” Blue
warned, trying to pull his hands free from the women. The glass rattled as if in
protest. DO NOT BREAK THE CIRCLE. The pace of its movement speeded up. ADAM?
HELP ME I CAN’T FIND YOU
“Adam’s here, Paul,” Symphony
said gripping the struggling Blue’s hand tightly. “Stop this – it
isn’t funny! Just like Paul’s daft
prank last year wasn’t funny!” Blue protested angrily. “Where are you,
Paul?” Melody asked. She was grinning at the excitement of it all, but she was
the only one who was still so light-hearted. ALL ALONE HERE
HELP ME “I’ve had
enough!” Blue tried to stand, but his hands were held firmly by the Angels on
either side. Destiny was struggling
to release her grip but her fingers were locked around the tall American’s
strong hand. She tried to let go of Magenta who was sitting next to her, but
that link too was forged solid. “Sacrebleu,”
she murmured suppressing the need to cross herself. “Is it Ochre under the table? If this is some prank…I will personally
kill the pair of you, Patrick!” Blue repeated. “Hey, I told you
– I am not doing anything and no-one is under the table,” Magenta said heatedly. “He is telling
the truth,” Destiny added. “We are all as surprised as you, Adam.” The glass was
still moving spelling out messages that spoke of bewilderment and fear. Green and Destiny concentrated on
spelling out the frantic sequence of letters,
as the rest of them struggled to make sense of the jumble, stammering out the
words the glass spelt. WHY CANT YOU SEE ME? WHY CANT I TOUCH YOU? HELP ME PLEASE The table shuddered and the glass rocked back and forward. The pace slowed and the messages became more cryptic. CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT I HAVE A FEELING THEY ARE ALWAYS WITH US The glass returned to the centre marker and remained still for a moment, before it began to skid around the table at great speed. THE CAR – THE TYRE HAS BURST WE ARE GOING TO CRASH FLAMES – FLAMES EVERYWHERE ADAM HELP PLEASE HELP ME CONRAD TAKE MY HAND SAVE ME FROM THE
FLAMES CONRAD? NO I WONT DO IT YOU CANT MAKE ME DO IT THE MYSTERONS ORDERS MUST BE OBEYED THE MYSTERONS ORDERS WILL BE OBEYED The glass rested momentarily before it began to spell out its message once more. YES SIR COLONEL I WILL TAKE THE PRESIDENT TO SAFETYTHE ANGEL INTERCEPTORS ARE ATTACKING US WE
MUST EJECT Another pause. “Almost,” Symphony whispered, “as if it is a conversation
with two voices.” NOW CLIMB THE TOWER AND RENDEZVOUS WITH
THE HELICOPTER THEY ARE FOLLOWINGGET OUT – GO OVER THERE AS FAR AS YOU CAN
FROM THE PURSUIT THEY ARE HERE – YOU MUST KILL HIM THE MYSTERONS ORDERS MUST BE OBEYED I SHOULD KILL BLUE? WHY? THE MYSTERONS ORDERS MUST BE OBEYED NO I WONT DO IT – WHY MUST I KILL ADAM? THE MYSTERONS ORDERS MUST BE – THE MYSTERONS ORDERS WILL NOT BE OBEYED ADAM – DON’T SHOOT ITS ME PAUL DONT YOU KNOW ME ADAM? THE MYSTERONS ORDERS MUST BE OBEYED THE MYSTERONS ORDERS WILL NOT BE OBEYED MY ARM –
THE GUN – I WILL NOT I WONT SHOOT MY FRIEND HE IS NOT YOUR FRIEND BUT YOUR ENEMY –
KILL HIM THE MYSTERONS ORDERS MUST BE OBEYED ADAM NO PAIN SO MUCH PAIN I CANT HOLD ON I AM FALLING FALLING
DIANNE DIANNE
Across the base
Captain Scarlet woke suddenly with a terrified scream. Beads of sweat drenched his face and he
was shaking. He swung his legs over to the side of the bed and put his head in
his hands. Whatever has brought that back on? he thought, trying to control
his shivering and feeling the rapid rate of his heart-beat begin to slow once
more. He hadn’t had that dream for some time now and he had almost forgotten how
bad it made him feel. Strange -
this time it had been slightly different – this time he could have sworn that he
saw his friends watching the whole thing unfolding, their surprise and anguish
written on their faces. A good job it is Halloween, he tried to console himself – no-one will take notice of any screams they
hear tonight!
The glass had
been shattered by the force with which it had hit the wall. The table tipped over and the circle of
officers broken and scattered. Blue struggled to
his feet and looked down at his red hands before reaching out gingerly to help
Karen. Destiny, sobbing quietly, was being comforted by a shaken Magenta and
Melody and Green were scrambling to their feet, both looking dazed and confused.
Melody looked across at him, her dark eyes brimming with tears.
Karen clung to him, her face buried against his chest. She was shaking. He stroked her hair whilst he struggled with his own emotions
then very gently he moved her to one side and stooped to right the table. He looked with distaste at the scattered cards
and broken glass. He glanced back into the lounge where the party-goers had all
stopped whatever they were doing and were staring at the group around the table
with concern. He gave a rueful
smile and said with a forced jollity, “You wait until I see Captain Ochre...”
There was quiet ripple of laughter from the room as slowly the party returned to
normal. Blue looked sternly at every one of the participants in the
séance as they made the attempt to pull themselves together. “Okay,” he said, “lets get this tidied up and
put to rights and no-one is to ever tell
him
about this – Understand – Never!” Symphony looked
at him and asked in a voice edged with fear, “But Adam… if that was Paul – is he
alright? Maybe he’s… he’s dead!”
She broke down again and covered her face with her hands. Magenta was on
his feet. “We ought to check – someone should go and check…” he looked at Blue. Captain Blue sighed, it was obvious from Magenta’s tone just who he thought that ‘someone’ was. “Clear all this up and see that nothing is left lying around, Pat.” He turned on his heel and strode through the door. Such was the expression on is face that neither of the technicians dared throw their confetti at him as he left.
Scarlet was very
cagey about admitting his visitor.
It was Halloween after all and he’d had tricks played on him before. “Who is it?” he
asked. “Me.” Captain Blue’s voice
was muffled by the door. “Me who?” Scarlet temporised as he went to peer through the
security peep hole. He wasn’t
letting Ochre in tonight - no matter how good an impersonation he did of Blue. “Svenson, Adam John…. Codename Blue. Do you want my ID number as well?” “Oh, that me… come on in,
me.” Scarlet went back to his chair and then, as the door swished open;
he suddenly swivelled round to hide his whisky glass. Blue came in, glancing across at his red-faced friend with some
concern. “Did I interrupt
something… personal?” “No, not at all,” Scarlet said airily. “What can I do for you? I thought you were going to the
party.” “Yeah, well it wasn’t up to much and I’m not in the mood for
practical jokes.” Blue could see Scarlet was hiding something. He began to suspect that his friend had
been playing another trick on them – as he had done last year. “What’ve you been doing?” Scarlet frowned. “I fell asleep, if you want to know. The football match was a 0:0 draw – so
the match report was hardly riveting.” He could see the answer had not satisfied
his friend. “Actually, I had a
nightmare – one I’ve had before but not for many, many months now. I was having a nightcap to soothe my
nerves.” He produced the whisky glass.
“Care to join me?” “What was the nightmare about?” Blue asked abruptly. “The usual – when I was Mysteronised. I wish I could remember it – it might help me remember my
lost hours – I only know it scares me witless and I always wake up as I’m
falling … from the Car-Vu.” Scarlet looked up and said with concern, “Are you
alright, Adam? You’ve gone as white
as a sheet. Sit down before you
fall down.” Blue shook his head. “No, I’m okay. If you’re okay I’d better get back. I only popped in to see
you were okay. You are okay?” “Yes… I am okay – not so
sure about you.” “I’d better get back…” “You already said that.” “To Karen… Yes to
Karen. Goodnight, Paul.” “Goodnight, Adam.
Thanks for… popping in.” Scarlet
watched as his friend turned and walked in a rather dazed state out into the
hall again. He really did not like Halloween at all
– far too many strange things went on and people often behaved as if they were
crazy. He shook his head as the
door slid shut and swigged his whisky.
Other stories from Marion Woods
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