DANGER OF THE LIGHTS
By Helen Weber
 

      Looking through the window of the Control Room of Moonbase,
contemplating the beautiful sight of the Earthlight on the lunar surface,
she was so quiet and meditative that the radar tracker, Lt. Joan
Harrington, soon noticed. "Are you lost in your thoughts, Gay?"

      Lt. Gay Ellis, the base commander, waited for a few seconds before
answering as if she was just waking up from a serene sleep, lightly opening
and closing her eyes. "I was just remembering home."

"Are you okay? You look a little tired."

"No no, I'm fine." Ellis immediately went back to her normal self. "The
last few weeks have been very stressful with all those alien attacks."

"Yes," Harrington noted, "they have considerably increased their incursions
to Earth. What could they be planning?"

"I wish I knew," concluded Ellis with that musing statement returning to
her delicate face.
Observing the reaction of her colleague, Harrington tried to change the
subject they were talking about to avoid a depressing ambient. "I think
some leave on Earth would be very good for you."

"Oh, yes, Joan," Ellis smiled, "it would certainly be good for all of us.
The last days have been hard on everyone -"

"Red alert, red alert." The tranquil talking of the two women was abruptly
interrupted by the electronic voice of S.I.D. which echoed on the speakers
in Control. "Two UFOs 127 green speed SOL eight."
Immediately Lt. Ellis went back to her control console and Lt. Harrington
started monitoring the trajectory of the two incoming alien ships. Lt. Nina
Barry entered the Control Room quickly, going to her station with military
discipline.
In a few minutes the trajectory of the two UFOs were shown on a screen and
Ellis analyzed the information depicted on it. All the last UFO incursions
took exactly that trajectory so she knew they had something big in mind and
she wished she could know what they were planning. At that moment, there
was no time to figure out the aliens' plans, she had to think and act fast.
"This is Moonbase to
S.H.A.D.O.      Control, two UFOs on predicted trajectory the North
Atlantic, speed SOL eight." Ellis spoke into the microphone at her station,
then touched a button on her control console. "Interceptors immediate launch."

      The three pilots on duty were chatting when they heard Ellis' voice.
"Well, boys," Lt. Lew Waterman smiled while putting on his helmet, "time
for some action."

      "Those guys are persistent," Mark Bradley exclaimed.
The three astronauts slid down to the chutes to their crafts, fastened
their seat restraints, started doing the checklist of their controls, while
the powerful elevators were lifting up the three fully armed
Interceptors  from their underground hanger to the surface of the Moon. In
less then two minutes  the slim crafts were taking off for another hard
space battle.

    At the same time, 80 feet beneath the Harlington-Straker Film Studio
outside of London, England,
all sections of S.H.A.D.O. were on red alert. In the Control Room, the
staff was monitoring the UFOs and the action taken by the Moonbase
personnel. Commander Ed Straker arrived quickly in the Control Room,
stopping next to the radar screen. "Warn SkyDiver One," Straker ordered the
officer at the communications console. "Get Sky One airborne immediately."

      The communications officer spoke into his microphone, "Control to
SkyDiver, launch Sky One."
After hearing the instructions from Control, Captain Peter Carlin, who was
standing on the deck near the plot table, took his helmet and went to the
access tube to Sky One. SkyDiver stopped, got into launch position and the
powerful engines of the jet fighter seperated it from the submarine and
from under the sea into the starry night sky.

      Reporting the UFOs decreasing speed and range, S.I.D. relayed this
information to Moonbase and Headquarters. Lt. Ellis activated her
microphone "Moonbase to Interceptors, stand by to activate missile
control." Receiving the firing information, the pilots programmed their
ships' computers then fired. Silently each missile went in the direction of
the UFOs. Nobody on Earth could imagine that in the cold space above them,
a battle to save humanity was in progress.

      Two boys were sitting in the garden of their house, looking through
an advanced telescope at the stars and the beautiful sight of the Moon,
talking about walking on it one day. The sky was clear, the temperature was
nice, and the full moon reflected on the calm sea with its reflected
Earthlight illuminating the palm trees of the island. Suddenly something
strange happened in the sky, catching the attention of the two boys. Hadji,
an 11 year old turbaned Hindu, pointed to a spot in the sky and exclaimed
to his companion, "Look, Jonny, those lights again."

      "Yes, I'll go and get dad." The blonde haired boy stood and went to
get his father. Some minutes later, Jonny, his father, Dr. Benton Quest,
and their bodyguard, Roger 'Race' Bannon, returned to the garden.
"That's the second time I saw those lights, Dad, right there" Jonny pointed
to a spot in the night sky, "like fireworks. Ask Hadji, he saw them, too."

      "Yes, Doctor, I did. The lights were very brief," confirmed Hadji.

      Doctor Quest was thoughtful for a moment after looking through the
telescope and not seeing anything. "Maybe it was a meteor."

      "No," Jonny objected, "I know meteors, and those lights weren't meteors."

      "Well, I'll check tomorrow morning and see if there's any atmospheric
phenomenon, okay?" Dr. Quest promised. "Anyway, it's getting late and you'd
better go to bed, boys." All of them went into the house. Jonny knew his
father would certainly investigate, but his imagination was working
overtime trying to figure out what the lights could be.

      "n the Control Sphere, Lt. Ellis and her two officers were
apprehensive looking at their screens. The Space Intruder Detector
confirmed the detonation of the missiles. "We got one of the UFO's" Lt.
Joan Harrington re-ported, "but the second UFO escaped, maintaining the
same trajectory."

      As soon as the UFO entered the Earth's atmosphere, S.H.A.D.O.'s
ground forces tracked it and knew it was up to them to stop it. "Control to
Sky One, E-T-T of UFO is the Florida Keys, coordinates to follow." Captain
Carlin was closely listening to the instructions being relayed to him.

      At Headquarters, Straker and Colonel Alec Freeman were monitoring the
operation. Freeman frowned, "That's their fourth attack in three weeks
using the same trajectory termination."

      "Yes," Straker agreed, "it's strange they keep going back to the
Keys, but if the aliens have an interest in that area, so do I. Alec, find
out what's in that area besides tourist spots and wealthy home owners."

      The Australian kept his eyes on the radar screen. "Sure thing, Ed.
Maybe Sky One can find something this time."

      Sky One was flying at full speed with Carlin tracking the UFO and its
Estimated Trajectory Termination on his instruments. "Sky One to Control,
contact with the alien ship in three minutes."
The UFO was approaching the area of the Florida Keys when its crew detected
the oncoming fast aircraft. Immediately they changed their course to attack
the jet. In a rapid maneuver, Sky One avoided the energy beams. Carlin
leveled out Sky One, made an 180 degree turn, and got the UFO in the sight
of his head up display. The UFO tried an evasive maneuver, but Carlin was
quicker than it. The missiles Carlin fired impacted on the middle section
of the UFO,. The alien ship started to lose altitude and smoke started to
come out of its side. The aliens were able to level out and in a last
desperate attempt to avoid their imminent destruction, fired on Sky One.
Easily avoiding the beam from the dying UFO, Carlin fired again.

      Jonny Quest jumped out of bed when he heard the explosion that didn't
sound too far away from his island home. When he got out of his room, he
met his dad, Race and Hadji. Race frowned and remarked, "Something strange
is sure going on. First those lights the boys saw and now that explosion."

      "Yes," Dr. Quest agreed, "that could be an airplane crash or
something. Let's take a look around, Race, and see what we can find."

      "Can we come with you, Dad?" Jonny asked eagerly.

      "No, son, it's quite early yet so why don't you and Hadji go back to
bed for awhile, but if you want to stay up you and Hadji can keep a lookout
for anything unusual, especially if someone or something washes up on the
beach." The boys were a bit disappointed with this, but both knew that
something could happen while the adults were away.

      Later in the day, Colonel Alec Freeman was on his way to Commander
Straker's underground office. "In a hurry to see Straker?" asked Colonel
Virginia Lake. "You're walking a bit faster than usual."

      "I've just come from General Henderson. He's been gracious enough to
get some classified information that might shed some light on these attacks
in the Florida Keys."

"With something that hot, you'd better not keep him waiting, especially if
you got something good from the General this time," Lake said with a smile
Both officers knew Straker didn't like to be kept waiting and
that if the General, who headed the organization that funded S.H.A.D.O.,
gave something besides headaches to the command staff, it must be good.

      Commander Straker was in his office reading the reports from Moonbase
when Alec Freeman walked in. Ed looked up from the report and noted the
look on his officer and friend's face. "With the way you look, Henderson
must have been in a bad mood today."

      Freeman bit back the obvious retort about the General always being in
a bad mood and put his briefcase on the corner of Ed's desk. "Henderson got
us some classified information from the US government. One of the islands
in the Florida Keys is owned by a Doctor Benton Quest." Freeman opened his
briefcase, took out the file and held it.

      "What's wrong, Alec. That report can't be that bad." Straker noticed
the statement on his friend's face.

      Not quite sure how to start, Freeman decided the direct approach
would be the best. "Ed, before you look inside that folder, you'd best
prepare yourself. Dr. Quest was married, his wife died a few years ago, and
they had one son. Jonathan Quest, who prefers to be called Jonny, bears a
resemblance to your son." Alec held out the file and Ed took
it. Ed took a breath, let it out and opened the file. Silence reigned in
the office as Ed read the reports on Bannon, the Quests and Palm Key.
Freeman sat down on one of the chairs in front of the desk and lit up a
cigarette. The last page of each report contained a photograph of the
person. The last report was on Jonny Quest. Straker read the report, stared
at the photograph of the blonde haired, blue eyed boy who looked so much
like his own son and was about the same age  when John Straker Rutland was
killed in a road accident. After a few seconds, Straker closed the file and
looked at Freeman. "Are you alright, ED?"

      "Yes," Straker said quietly, then took a deep breath. "I have an
idea. I want to see you and Colonel Lake in an hour." Alec put out his
cigarette, picked up his briefcase as Ed pressed the button on his desk
that opened the sliding doors of his office.

Over the Florida Keys a customized jet was flying a search pattern looking
for any sign of a shipwreck or plane crash. Questar One was a supersonic
jet that contained state-of-the-art science equipment and a lab.
"I can't understand it, Doctor, we've been flying for hours and nothing."
Race Bannon was the pilot of Questar One.

      Next to him in the co-pilot's seat was Dr. Quest. "Let's take one
more turn around here, then head home. I'll contact the Air Force to see if
they had any experimental flights in this area and Intelligence One to see
if they know anything." Both Bannon and Quest were agents for this covert
American agency.

      "Well, those are the facts," Straker said to the two colonels seated
at the conference table in his office. "Quest is working on several
projects that would be of interest to the aliens, besides having some
devices ready for the marketplace, and I don't believe they would like to
see us have an ionic engine in our vehicles, especially the Interceptors."

      Lake expressed her opinion. "We could respond to incoming UFOs faster
and reach the planets in our own system in shorter time and maybe even
reach the aliens homeworld."

      "Right," Straker agreed, "so we'll concentrate our efforts on
protecting Doctor Quest. The next time the aliens attack, we'll be ready
for them."
Turning to Freeman, Straker told him to keep all installations on Yellow
Alert. To both officers he outlined his plan. "You, Colonel Lake, will go
to Palm Key and meet Quest. You're a scientist and your cover will be that
you're writing an article about Quest for an European Union science
magazine. Since Quest and Bannon are Intelligence One operatives, I want
both of you to make sure the cover story is airtight. According to his
file, Quest values his privacy and probably will check out the magazine and
you, Virginia. He may cancel the interview if he suspects anything, and
that's the last thing I want." The details were concluded and the officers
went to work.