Over the recent months it had been one thing after another: Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue had quartered the globe chasing suspected Mysterons and thwarting their stated plan to destroy all life on Earth. Scarlet had been injured to some degree every time, and twice he had died, leaving Captain Blue with the unenviable task of bringing him back to Cloudbase and the capable ministrations of Doctor Fawn.
Now, with the approach of the Christmas season, things seemed to have slowed down. Nothing had been heard from the Mysterons for five days and all reported sightings of Captain Black, the Mysterons’ premier agent on Earth, had stopped.
“Do you think they know it’s Christmas?” Captain Ochre asked his colleagues, as they were sitting together in the Officers’ Lounge on Cloudbase.
“I doubt it,” Captain Magenta replied, giving his field partner and close friend a pitying glance. “The religious traditions of certain sections of the human population have never bothered them before, have they? I mean, they didn’t stop making threats for Ramadan or Yom Kippur, did they?”
Ochre shrugged. “No, but this silence is making me nervous, especially after they’ve had us on the run around for months now.”
“Maybe they’ve just run out of ideas, for now?” Captain Grey suggested. “For my part, I’m just glad it’s stopped, Christmas or not.”
Captain Blue looked up from his book and said, “More likely we’ve just managed to put a dent in their preparations for more attacks. Scarlet made short work of that ammunition dump around Lake Maracaibo. If that’d gone up, the world would’ve lost the biggest oil reserves we still have left, not to mention the environmental damage.”
“True,” Ochre replied, shuddering at the very notion of the possible outcome if Spectrum had not been able to stop that threat from being carried out. He continued, “It’s amazing he got out of that with barely a scratch and then – whump! – he died breaking up an attack on the federal gold reserves.”
“Barely a scratch?” said Blue indignantly. “He had third-degree burns from when that oil tanker exploded.”
“Yes, you’re right. I’m sorry,” Ochre said with an apologetic smile. “It’s just that he manages to survive so much that what’d kill anyone else never seems such a big deal with him.”
Blue closed his book with a snap. “I hope you never have to pick up what’s left the next time he suffers ‘barely a scratch’.”
He stomped out of the Lounge, leaving his colleagues to share embarrassed glances.
“Well done, Rick…” Magenta muttered.
“I said I was sorry.”
“You know Blue’s always touchy when Scarlet’s dead in Sick Bay – at least until we know for sure that he’s on the road to recovery,” Grey, the eternal peacemaker, said. “He’ll be okay and it’ll all be forgotten by this time tomorrow.” He paused and looked thoughtful. “Mind you, it seems to me that, regardless of what the duty roster says, we should maybe consider giving Adam and Paul Christmas off this year. They’ve both had a few tough months. What do you say, guys?”
“Yeah,” the other two replied, nodding.
“I’m more than willing,” Ochre said. “Let’s speak to the colonel about it.”
“Thank heavens you’re here,” said Doctor Fawn as he let Blue into Scarlet’s recovery room, where his patient was complaining loudly of hunger and boredom.
“Hi, Paul. When Doc said you were awake, I took the liberty of ordering you a large helping of today’s culinary experience. It should be here in a few minutes.”
“You’re a life-saver, Adam. Fawn’d like to starve me until I faint just so he can run more tests.” Captain Scarlet’s expression wasn’t as disgruntled as his words, and Fawn shook his head and left them alone.
“What is today’s menu?” Scarlet asked, as he considered what might turn up from the canteen.
“Bulgogi with kimchi.”
“What with what?”
“Marinated beef with fermented vegetables.”
“Oh Gawd… you didn’t warn me the Chef’s been experimenting again! Good job I’m starving.”
“I quite liked it,” Blue reassured him, “but if you don’t, I’m sure they’ll kill a fatted calf or two, if you ask nicely.”
Scarlet grinned at him. “I’m certain it’ll be just as you said: ‘a culinary experience’!”
Blue grinned back. “Good to see you’re feeling fit enough to complain.”
“I ache a bit and I’m still parched. Would you fill the water jug for me, Adam?”
“No problem.” Blue picked up the 2-litre jug and went out to the water fountain.
Colonel White looked at the three captains standing around his circular desk and asked: “And this is what you all want to do?”
“Yes, Colonel. Scarlet and Blue have been run ragged recently and they both could do with a break,” Magenta replied.
White gave a slight nod of his head. “I agree, and as you are all happy to cover their duties over Christmas, I think we can sort something out. Leave it with me.”
“Thank you, Colonel,” the officers chorused. They saluted and left the Control Room together.
White considered the duty roster document on his desk screen and frowned. He knew only too well that events had left him no choice but to keep sending Scarlet out on missions, and that where Scarlet went, Blue went too; it was almost impossible to separate them. Not that he objected, the pair worked so well together that they often seemed to have some sort of telepathic link and instinctively knew what the other wanted or needed during a mission. He looked back at the mission log and grimaced. The last seven missions had been touch-and-go in more ways than one, and even though there was no guarantee the Mysterons planned a quiet Christmas, the pair deserved to get some R&R. He gave the problem his full attention.
Captain Scarlet’s first visit after his discharge from Sick Bay was the Control Room. He saluted Colonel White and reported himself fit for duty.
“Welcome back, Captain. I have read Captain Blue’s detailed report and it seems that once again we owe you our sincere thanks for your prompt and selfless actions.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“In fact, your fellow officers are so appreciative of your efforts that they have volunteered to cover all of the duty periods over Christmas to allow you and Captain Blue to take some much-merited furlough. Therefore, I have arranged for you both to leave Cloudbase on 23rd December and return on the 29th. I’m sorry, but I simply couldn’t cover the New Year as well, or I would have extended it until January.”
“Thank you, sir. That’s unexpected and… good news.”
“Would you tell Blue when you see him and then you can make your arrangements to go wherever you wish. I will sign the travel warrants for you both.” White gave the younger Englishman a smile. “I suppose you will both go back home?”
Scarlet shook his head. “No point in my case, sir. After decades of somewhat intense discussions, my mother finally convinced my father that what they both needed was a cruise in the Caribbean over Christmas. They sailed on 10th December for a month.”
“Really? That’s unfortunate; I suppose you won’t want to join them, as I know you’re not a… keen sailor, Captain.”
“I can’t imagine anything I’d like less, sir,” Scarlet admitted.
“Perhaps you could visit relatives, or friends?”
“Maybe. I might just go to a hotel and veg out. Sir.”
White’s right eyebrow gave a sardonic rise at that: Scarlet was the last person he could imagine would want to do nothing. “Well, the world is your oyster, Captain. Give it some thought, but, eh, you will let Spectrum know where you are, of course.”
“Of course, Colonel. Don’t I always?”
Blue’s surprise mirrored Scarlet’s. “Six whole days of furlough? That’s something not to be sneezed at. It was nice of the guys to propose it.”
“Yes, I wonder why they did it?”
Blue recalled with some embarrassment his over-reaction at Ochre’s unintended blunder, but he said, “I guess they felt as we’d borne the brunt of the Mysterons’ last offensive, we deserved it most.”
“I wasn’t planning to go off base with the parents away…”
“Dianne’s at home,” Blue reminded him, with a smile.
“Well, I can’t just invite myself to her parents’ house, can I?”
“Then ask her to invite you; I bet she would like a shot.”
Scarlet shook his head. “She’s supposed to be recovering from her appendix operation and I know she hasn’t seen her folks much this year, so I don’t want to gatecrash.”
Blue shook his head. “I’m sure they’d be delighted…”
“Hey, do I tell you what your girlfriend’s people would do?”
“No, but then I have an open invite to visit Amanda anytime I want to, so there’d be no point,” Blue reasoned.
“You’ll be going to Boston, I suppose?”
“No fear! Christmas with the Svensons is generally nothing but one long litany of grievances. I shall go to my place on Nantucket and pretend I’m at work, if they ask.”
Scarlet shrugged. “Oh, well of course, you have boltholes all over the place… S’all right for some.”
Blue gave an exasperated sigh. “Paul, do you really need telling that you’d be welcome to join me there if you’re at a loose end? I won’t be doing anything exciting though, just eating, sleeping and watching TV, punctuated by some walks along the beaches, if the weather permits.”
Scarlet grinned sheepishly and then remarked, “I think the idea is probably that we get a break from each other as much as from the Mysterons.”
“Please yourself,” Blue said amicably. “There are faces other than yours I can bear to look at…”
They both laughed.
“What’re we like? Arguing about where to spend Christmas. I’d love to visit Nantucket. Thanks, Adam.”
“Fantastic. I’ll order enough provisions to keep even your hunger at bay and get the Brownlows – my neighbours who keep an eye on the cottage for me - to warm the place up before we arrive; but even so – pack your thermals…”
Scarlet’s birthday celebrations were postponed this year, as he and Blue were in India on the trail of Captain Black. The elusive Mysteron agent managed to slip away again, but without accomplishing whatever he had been intending to do, which Spectrum counted as a win. They had spent several days investigating that there were no more agents in the vicinity when Blue came down with what Scarlet accurately, but somewhat indelicately, described as ‘Delhi belly’ and was confined to Sick Bay on their return to Cloudbase.
Then the World President revealed he would be holding a top-level defence meeting at Futura on the 20th December, and so Captains Scarlet and Ochre were sent to provide security cover.
Captain Blue, looking a little pale but recovered sufficiently for Fawn to allow him to leave Sick Bay with an additional 24-hours’ medical leave, was permitted to go to Nantucket early.
So, when Scarlet got back to Cloudbase he just had time to give the colonel a verbal report that the Futura conference had gone smoothly, before leaving Ochre to type up the full report, throwing his civilian clothes into his suitcase and rushing off to catch the last New York shuttle.
Colonel White watched the plane leaving Cloudbase and remarked to Lieutenant Green: “Let’s hope they both come back healthy, relaxed and rested.”
Scarlet managed to charter a plane to fly him from New York to Nantucket, and arrived at the beachside ‘cottage’ in time for the lavish dinner Blue had prepared.
“I thought you weren’t planning anything grand?” Scarlet said, as he sat at a dining table groaning with undeniably appetising food.
“This isn’t down to me; if it had been left to me, you’d be getting a microwave TV dinner tonight. But Martha Brownlow decided otherwise and brought it over, as she’s convinced that if I need feeding up – which she’s sure I do after I saw her yesterday – then so will you. All I’ve done is heat it up. If it matches her past meals, it’ll be great. So, tuck in!”
After they had eaten as much as they wanted, they sat over their liqueurs and watched the latest blockbuster movie on the large, wall-mounted entertainment screen, until Blue started nodding off to sleep.
“You should get off to bed, you look done in. I’m going to take a walk; I’m not tired yet,” Scarlet said. “Remember, it’s Christmas Eve tomorrow, and you’ll need to stay awake then so you can convince Santa what a good boy you’ve been all year. It’ll take some doing…”
“Very funny; but you might be right, I am tired. Watch where you go out there – don’t get lost. Goodnight, Paul…”
“Goodnight, Adam…”
Christmas Eve dawned bright, but cold. After a hearty breakfast they took a long, companionable walk along the beach for several hours and settled down to hot chocolate and cookies when they got back to the house.
“I should tell you now: I haven’t got you a Christmas present,” Scarlet confessed.
“No problem. I don’t want one.”
“I mean, I would have, but – well, as you know, we’ve hardly had chance to go shopping.”
“Apology accepted.”
Feeling that he was getting away with his omission too easily, Scarlet continued suspiciously, “You didn’t get me anything, did you, Adam? I’ll feel awful if you did.”
“Maybe.”
Grimacing, Scarlet muttered, “You know, you really are a sadist.”
Blue grinned. “It’s not really a present.”
“But there is a ‘something’?” Scarlet was confused.
“Just wait…”
“Patience is not my strong suit.”
“Don’t I know it?”
Irritated, Scarlet settled down to wait for whatever Blue had planned, and, luckily for him, he didn’t have to wait for long. A few minutes later, his sharp hearing heard the distant sounds of approaching helicopter blades.
“Incoming,” he said, tensing as he turned to look out of the window.
A helicopter with the unmistakable logo of SvenCorp flew towards the house and landed close by.
“Damn,” Blue said grumpily, “How did my mother find me?”
Scarlet chuckled. “Too late to hide now. She’s probably come to drag you back to Boston, you naughty boy…”
Blue stood and moved in front of the window, effectively blocking Scarlet’s view, so he finished his chocolate, still amused at the turn of events.
Blue went to the door and Scarlet heard the soft murmur of voices, which surprised him, as Mrs Svenson, whose bubbly, voluble and enthusiastic personality was almost legendary amongst her son’s friends, was not usually given to quiet conversations with her loved ones. For one brief moment he feared she might be the bearer of bad news. Then he heard her approaching:
“Hello, Paul. How nice to see you again!”
He struggled to his feet as Sarah Svenson threw her arms around him and he hugged her in return.
“It’s a wonderful surprise for me too, Mrs Svenson.”
“Sarah, please; it’s Christmas and there’s no need for formality, Paul. Besides, I’ve brought you a Christmas present, my dear.”
She stood aside and there in the doorway was Dianne. He momentarily stared at her in surprised disbelief, until a broad grin broke out across his face.
“Merry Christmas, Paul,” she said and opened her arms to him.
He left Sarah’s side and swept Dianne into his embrace, laughing in delighted surprise.
“How did you get here? What’s going on?” he asked nobody in particular.
“It was Adam’s doing,” Dianne explained, as soon as she had enough breath to reply. “He asked his mother to fetch me and then, after a few days in Boston, she flew me down here to spend Christmas with you.”
Scarlet turned to speak to his friend only to realise Blue had vanished. He called his name and moments later Adam reappeared, carrying his luggage.
“You crafty so-and-so…” Laughing, Scarlet punched his friend’s shoulder. “I just knew you were up to something.”
“Oh, sure you did.” Blue rolled his eyes. “Be honest; you didn’t have a clue, Paul!” He laughed and smiled before continuing, “Merry Christmas. I’m off to Boston with my mom, and Karen’s coming down tomorrow on a 24-hour pass.”
“Oh! Really? And how did you get the colonel to agree to that?”
“I didn’t; Amanda Wainwright did,” Blue explained, with a significant glance at his friend.
“Amanda’s spending the holidays with us,” Sarah explained, seeing the glance between the young men, but not exactly sure what it pertained to. “It was just such a perfect opportunity for Karen and Adam to join us, that I told Adam he ought to ask for leave and he said he was going to Nantucket instead. Well, he really couldn’t stay skulking here while Karen and Amanda were in Boston, and I told him so, but he said he couldn’t leave you to spend Christmas here alone and, then he told me to give him some time to sort things out and about an hour later, he called me to say he’d spoken to Dianne, who was in London – I can never cope with how you are always scattered around the globe - and could I go and fetch her and bring her here. Well, of course I could, I said.” She turned to smile proudly at her son. “Wasn’t that just a wonderful idea?”
To cover his embarrassment, Blue turned and hugged Dianne. “Have fun, Beautiful, and look after him. He’s supposed to be relaxing and getting some rest.” She blushed and smiled at him in response. “I hope Mom told you that everything’s sorted, you won’t have to cook, it’s all being catered.”
“Yes, she did. I have all the details. Thank you, Adam, for such a thoughtful and wonderful Christmas present,” she replied, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.
Scarlet nodded. “Yes, thanks, Adam. And thank you, Sarah; it seems none of this would’ve been possible without you!”
“Oh, you’re welcome, Paul. I was pleased I could be of help because I do so love a happy Christmas!” Sarah cried, beaming with delight.
“I’ll see you both on the 29th.” Blue said, as he put his arm across his mother’s shoulders and hugged her.
“A merry Christmas to us all!” said Sarah Svenson, as she smiled beatifically at the three of them.
Author’s notes:
This was one of the rare stories that seeped into my imagination, almost complete, while I was busy doing something else. It also, probably, holds the record for the fastest written, beta-read and submitted story I have ever completed. I sincerely hope these two facts have not resulted in a second-rate story and that you have enjoyed reading it.
My version of Sarah Svenson is based, with kind permission, on the character created by Chris Bishop, as is the briefly mentioned Amanda Wainwright. Both of these characters have appeared in several of my previous stories. The Brownlows are my own invention and originally appeared in my 2006 story “Sojourn”.
My thanks are due to Hazel Köhler for her expert beta-reading skills and advice, any mistakes in the text are my responsibility alone. I would also like to thank Caroline Smith, who took time from her own artistic endeavours to read the very first draft and reassure me that it was worth working on. Hopefully, this final version reaches her expectations.
Finally, and certainly not least, my unending thanks to Chris Bishop, whose website has provided me with decades of entertainment and information as well as being the foundation for many friendships and acquaintances that mean a great deal to me.
55 years ago, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, along with their talented crew, collaborators and colleagues launched a concept that is still going strong. Based on a mere 32 half-hour episodes, and supported by the Internet and Social Media, ‘Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons’ ™, has grown into a complex world through hundreds of fanfiction stories, fanart and projects. I, for one, am very grateful to everyone involved in keeping this particular Supermarionation flame alive.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone.
Marion Woods
27 November 2023