Fission
By Captain Tourmaline and Scarlet Lady
Captains Scarlet and Blue were stood
outside of an old apartment building.
There had been suspected Mysteron activity in the area, and they were
checking a hunch. As he looked around,
Blue thought he saw a face at one of the windows. “This way, Captain!” he yelled, dashing through the main
entrance.
“Captain Blue! Wait!” Scarlet gave
chase.
Blue stopped suddenly, when he thought he
heard something.
“Adam! Look out!” Scarlet yelled from the
doorway. Blue stared at him. “Paul, what’s-” the floor beneath him gave
way.
“Adam, are you SURE you’re alright?”
Scarlet asked his partner, as they arrived back on Cloudbase and he helped him
into the lounge.
“Yes, I’m fine. Just a little sore.” He stumbled, hitting against the comm.
link. “Ouch!”
“Adam!” Scarlet steadied his friend and
helped him into a chair.
“What’s going on?” the angry voice of
Colonel White demanded.
“It’s alright, Colonel,” Scarlet assured
him, “someone hit the comm., that’s all.”
“WHO hit the comm., Captain?”
“Captain Blue, Sir. He’s hurt his leg.”
“Get him down to the Sickbay, then. It could be serious.”
“S.I.G., Sir,” he helped Blue to his feet,
and led him from the room. “OK, Captain
Blue, you heard the Colonel. You’re
going to the Sickbay.”
*******
“It turned out to be a broken ankle.”
Captain Scarlet informed his C-in-C.
“That was amazingly lucky, under the
circumstances,” Colonel White remarked.
When he noticed Scarlet’s expression, he added, “He did fall through to
the sub-basement.”
“Very true, Sir,” he agreed.
“Right.
I’d get some rest, if I were you, Captain. Seeing as the latest report was based on a false alarm, we have
to assume that the Mysterons’ next move shall come soon.”
Scarlet nodded his agreement and
left. He made straight for the lounge,
to finish reading the book he’d started earlier in the day.
Unusually, Captains Ochre and Magenta were
playing chess. Finally, Magenta
announced, “Checkmate.” This was even
more unusual than the two of them playing chess in the first place. He grinned smugly.
Ochre stared at
the board, trying to prove him wrong.
Scarlet put his
book down and joined them. “He’s right
you know, Rick.”
“Well, everyone
knows that Gangsters cheat!” Ochre turned to Scarlet, hotly, “And as I bet my
week’s pay...”
A voice interrupted him, “This is
the voice of the Mysterons, we have not forgotten your unprovoked attack on our
Martian Complex. Our next act of
retaliation shall be to decimate the Pacifica nuclear store at noon tomorrow,
with the U-235. We will be avenged!”
The Colonel’s voice came over the Comm.
link. “Now, as I am sure you are all
aware, Captain Blue is out of operation with a broken ankle. This means that one of Spectrum Head Quarters’
finest officer, Captain Tourmaline, will be stepping in for a short spell. Will
all Captains on duty report to the Conference Room immediately.”
* * * * * * *
Everybody was
seated in the Conference Room - Ochre and Magenta at opposite sides - but Tourmaline
was still missing.
Colonel White began, “As you are all
probably aware, the Mysterons have announced that they will decimate Pacifica
base. The strange part is that they have said that they will use the U-235...”
he glanced down at his notes, “The Indestructible.
Our plan is this. Captains Ochre and Magenta will fly out to Pacifica base,
while Scarlet, Grey and Tourmaline will rendezvous with the Indestructible. The angels will patrol the
base just in case…”
“Colonel,” Green
called, suddenly, “Captain Tourmaline has arrived.”
“Better late than never, I suppose!”
Scarlet remarked, beneath his breath.
“Thank you, Captain,” Colonel White
replied, sternly, “That’s enough.”
Tourmaline
entered saying “Sorry I’m late, Colonel.”
“At ease,
Captain,” White replied, trying to conceal his annoyance, “what happened to
you?”
“I... um, there
was a problem at the airport.”
“Well, at least you’re here now.” He
turned his attention to the group.
“Dismissed, except Scarlet and Tourmaline.” He gestured to Tourmaline to
take a seat. “The two of you are to
safeguard the Indestructible with
Grey. If anything out of the ordinary occurs, you are to notify me
immediately.” This was rather boring
for Scarlet who had already heard it in the briefing. He was relieved when the Colonel said “I expect you can tell him
the rest, can’t you Captain Scarlet?”
“Provided he can
understand ENGLISH!” The Captain muttered, under his breath, hoping that the
colonel wouldn’t understand him, but Tourmaline would.
“What do you
mean?” Tourmaline asked, puzzled.
“Sorry, you
sound a bit... It’s your accent…”
The Colonel
glared a silent warning at him. “Do you
have anything against Bristolians, Captain?”
“No, Sir, that’s
like saying you have something against the World Army. People like that really get my GOAT!”
“Scarlet, this
will be your final warning - this wouldn’t have anything to do with Blue, would
it?”
“You’d better
be.”
*******
Scarlet and
Tourmaline decided to visit Blue, before leaving. Blue looked up as they entered.
“Hi, Scarlet, got a new friend?”
“Hello,
Adam. Captain Tourmaline will be taking
over from you for a while.”
“Well, I guess
the old man wouldn’t want me following you about in a wheelchair-”
“OR crutches!
That’d be even worse!” Tourmaline put in.
“I can imagine that - ‘hello Sir, I’m here to take charge of security’!”
he hobbled round in a little circle to demonstrate. Scarlet and Blue stared at each other.
Scarlet
whispered, “Why couldn’t I have done myself an injury instead?”
“Sorry, Paul, I
should have realised that floor was rotten...”
“Don’t worry
about it, Adam.”
Tourmaline had
become dizzy, and was now on the floor laughing. Doctor Fawn walked over to him, and then turned to Scarlet. “Is this one for Doctor Weiss?”
“No. He’s just came up with a joke that only HE
understands.”
“West Country
sense of humour.” Blue added, as if that explained everything.
“You know – in
the West of England.”
“Careful, Paul,
remember he’s YOUR partner.” Blue pointed out.
“Don’t remind
me!” Scarlet sighed, “Come on, Tourmaline, let’s get moving.”
“Bye, Paul!”
Blue called out. He turned to
Fawn. “So, what’s the emergency?
Mysteron threat?”
“Captain Scarlet
didn’t stay long.”
On their SPJ,
Tourmaline asked “So... can I call you Paul?” as an attempt to start a
conversation. The last words spoken had
been ‘request launch clearance’.
“No, you may not
call me Paul.”
“Why? Your old
partner called you that in Sickbay.”
“Kindly don’t refer to Captain Blue as my
‘old partner’.”
“He’s not going
to be your partner for a few weeks - I am.” Tourmaline replied, “The sooner you
get used to that, the sooner we can start working as a TEAM!”
“Turn the
radio off, it’s frightening me.” Scarlet retorted. “I thought I heard a serious tone - and the worrying thing is
that I was sure it was in YOUR voice!”
Scarlet
sighed. “Well, what do I call YOU when
we’re off duty?”
“Most people
call me ‘Pete’.”
* * * * * * *
In a vast dockyard in San Francisco a
shady-looking person holding a small case walked through the shadows towards
the freighter Autonite that was going to drop off some nuclear fuel
at Pacifica. A member of the crew saw him coming and stepped off the
gangplank and approached meaning to ask for identification. But he didn’t get
that far. By the time his body had touched the water, two rings of green light
passed over it. Suddenly there were two mariners, owning the same identity- one
face down in the water, and one stood on the quayside facing Captain Black.
“This is all you
will need to carry out your mission.” Black told his newest agent. “You know
what you must do.”
Another
crewmember appeared on the gangplank.
“Just giving him
directions. He’s looking for dock 17.”
“Yeah, well
those signposts never were any good.”
Black nodded his
agreement, and turned to go.
“How did he get
past security, Phil?”
* * * * * * *
At Los Angeles airport, the three spectrum
officers had left their SPJ and entered the helicopter already waiting for
them.
“Luckily the
weather is alright at the moment. I wish we could get the sub to pick us up,
but you know how hard it is to get the navy to change their plans.” Scarlet muttered, remembering the last time
he had taken a helicopter across the sea. Grey turned to him. “It’ll be
alright, Scarlet.”
As the three men
were taking off, Captain black had ‘borrowed’ a boat from dock seventeen, and
was heading out to sea.
* * * * * *
They were only a
few miles out, when the captains noticed clouds building up. The helicopter was
going quite fast but the clouds built up faster still. A few minutes later Grey
pointed out the obvious fact that the storm wouldn’t hold off much longer.
Tourmaline asked.
“Can’t we radio the Indestructible
and ask them to surface so we can land?”
“No, they’re
still a few miles away, and I don’t know which direction they’re coming from
anyway. We’re better off waiting here.”
After a moment’s thought tourmaline asked,
“Do you know why lightning strikes?”
“I did go to
school you know!” Scarlet replied, almost shouting.
“Well, let me
remind you.” Tourmaline cleared his throat and put on his ‘science teacher’
voice. “A static charge collects in the cloud, and soon it needs to discharge.
It will discharge on the highest, or tallest object.” He glanced around
theatrically, “which appears to be us, at present.”
Scarlet looked a
little nervous. “Do you think I should decrease our altitude?”
“That sounds
reasonable.” Tourmaline replied keeping his acquired voice.
Grey nudged him in the ribs “Quiet!”
The three men
noticed a huge dark shape in the water slow to a halt beneath them, and then
rapidly surface.
“They’re here.”
Scarlet remarked, as the huge doors opened to reveal the flight deck. Before
they landed, Grey remembered to scan the sub with a Mysteron detector. “We are
clear for landing.”
They were just
landing when the rain began. A voice over the radio said. “Please remain in
your seats, we will bring you below deck.”
There was a loud
humming sound as the aircraft sank down on the lift it had landed on.
* * * * * * *
Meanwhile the Autonite was half way
to Pacifica base, and the small fishing boat that had mysteriously gone missing
from dock 17 was keeping close. Black pulled out a pair of binoculars to keep
an eye on things.
* * * * * *
On board the indestructible Scarlet,
Grey and Tourmaline were being given a guided tour.
“Here on the
bridge,” the tour guide said, “we control the whole sub. This is where the
primary radar, sonar and satellite navigation systems are kept.”
“What strike
capability has it got?” Grey asked.
“It’s got a store of twenty radar guided
torpedoes which can sink any ship or submarine”
“Only twenty?” Scarlet Sounded puzzled.
“We don’t need
many at the moment seeing as we’re not up against a huge army”
“What if they
don’t use subs?” Scarlet asked.
“We have other capabilities, but we’ll
come to that in a moment. Now to the engine room.”
They next entered a large room, which was
mainly filled with noise. The guide picked up four headsets, which people wear
to shut out noise but enable them to talk.
“What?” Tourmaline
shouted back at him.
“Put these on
Captain.”
“Ignore him!”
Scarlet advised.
Tourmaline
glared at him too, and put the headset on.
“As you know, this is the main motor.” The
guide continued, still glaring at Tourmaline.
“It is powered
by the nuclear generator, next door.
But we won’t go in there-”
“WHY not?”
Tourmaline demanded.
“It can be
dangerous, sometimes, but if you want I can get a pass.”
“Don’t worry
about it.” Scarlet replied, before Tourmaline could say any different. “We are really here to check security.”
Grey asked,
“What sort of speed can this thing get to?” it sounded as if he were the only
one interested.
“About 200 knots
on the surface, and 250 under it.” He turned toward the door. “Shall we go, everybody? I WAS going to show
you more, but it might be better if we moved on. Especially as the Captain wants to see you afterwards.”
“Yes, we’d
better move on.” Scarlet agreed, suddenly focusing on the job in hand again.
“Right, I said
I’d show you the rest of the strike capabilities and the next stop is the
aircraft hanger.”
“But we STARTED
there!” Tourmaline pointed out.
“But the TOUR
didn’t.” Scarlet was still annoyed with Tourmaline. They left the engine room, along with the headsets, and headed
down a corridor. When they entered the
hanger, Scarlet realised that they were in a different part. Instead of being surrounded by a few planes,
they were in the company of over fifty interceptors and nearly the same amount
of other fighters.
“The hanger you
came from is directly above us.”
“Hence the elevator.”
Grey commented.
“This hanger
houses the interceptors, the one below us is for bombers and torpedo bombers,
and then, of course, there’s the transporters’ hanger, situated above us. That’s the end of the tour. The Captain said he’d meet you on the
bridge. Think you can find it? ‘Cause
I’ve gotta go”
*******
Back on the
bridge, the Captain was waiting for them.
“Good afternoon, Captains.”
Tourmaline
glanced at his watch and realised the tour had taken longer than he
thought. “We are about to surface. As Colonel White told us to show you
everything about our sub, I’ve arranged a launch.” Scarlet was about to hit Tourmaline, should he make a daft comment,
and was surprised when he remained silent.
“If you’d like
to follow me, gentlemen,” the Captain continued, “We’ll go down to the flight
deck.”
They entered the
flight deck, which was a huge room with a curved ceiling and plenty of
lighting. Suddenly, an interceptor came
up on the lift and taxied over to the catapult, ready for launching. As they watched, another two came up. Within minutes, fifteen fighters and five
bombers were on the flight deck. Then
the speakers came to life. “We have
surfaced. Opening bay doors.” As the
doors opened and the light flooded in, the three Spectrum Captains realised how
dark it had been. Tourmaline turned too
scarlet, with a big grin on his face.
“I think the show’s about to start!” as one of the interceptor’s engines
began to glow. Suddenly, the catapult
fired it off the end of the deck. The
Captain turned to the Spectrum officers and said “This way we can launch all planes within two minutes of
surfacing.”
Captain Scarlet
had been watching with interest. “Very
impressive. What sort of armaments do
they have?”
“Well, it
varies. The interceptors carry air to air missiles and 30mm cannons, the
bombers at the moment have high explosive torpedoes”
Tourmaline
decided to get to the point, “Do you have any nuclear weapons on board?”
“No captain, we haven’t. Why do you want
to know?”
“We were NOT arguing.” Scarlet glared at
him.
“Just radio the Colonel before he gets
worried.”
Scarlet nodded his agreement.
Back on Cloudbase, Colonel White was
beginning to worry. Not one of his
members had called in for some considerable time. At last, a red light blinked on the console. “Have you anything to report, Captain
Scarlet?”
“Yes, Colonel. Nothing significant.” The
captain replied. “The Indestructible
has no strike capability, plus the Captain now knows what the Mysteron threat
is. He’s changed course so that we’re
heading away from the area.”
“How did he find out?”
“Um…It came up in a conversation, sir.”
“I wish you’d be careful, Scarlet.”
“I’m sorry, Colonel.”
“Is that all you were calling to say?”
“It was just a routine call, sir.”
“You call this a ‘routine call’ do you,
Captain?” Colonel White asked, in an unpleasant tone. “Aren’t ‘routine calls’ meant to be every half an hour? You were
ten minutes late!”
“Sorry, Sir.”
“So there’s nothing to report at all?”
White asked, deciding it was best to change the subject. “How strange.”
*******
At Pacifica Base, Captains Ochre and
Magenta were watching the unloading of the Autonite. The containers were taken out of the hold and
loaded onto automated guided vehicles.
They noticed that there were two men following one of the cars and
decided to follow. They wouldn’t have
been so suspicious if they thought that both men were crewmembers, but one
wasn’t in uniform. The AGV moved into a
storage building, and still the men followed behind.
“Do you think we should follow those two?”
asked Magenta, knowing shifty people when he saw them.
“Go ahead, if you WANT to.” Ochre
muttered, sulkily.
Magenta turned to him. “Aren’t you
coming?”
Ochre followed him, grudgingly, into the
main storage building. The men headed
down the corridor and came to a door.
Ochre turned to Magenta. “Hurry
it up, then.”
“I err… I haven’t got a pass for this
door.”
“What? If you need a pass, how did THEY
get in?”
An AGV stopped behind them, and started
beeping. They stepped out of the way,
so that it could move up to the door.
When the door automatically opened for it, they followed through, before
the doorway closed. They hadn’t got
very far, when they heard footsteps a short way ahead of them. Cautiously, they turned a corner, and
spotted one of the men they’d seen earlier.
He stopped when he heard them, turning round. “Can I help you, gentlemen?”
“Where’s the man you came in with?”
Magenta demanded.
“He’s just behind you.” He answered with a
smirk.
The captains turned to see Captain Black,
who was holding a can of teargas.
“Goodnight, Earthmen!”
*******
At 10.30 am, Captains Grey, Tourmaline and
Scarlet were sat in the mess chatting.
“When did you join Spectrum?” Tourmaline asked.
“Before it had officially started.”
Scarlet told him.
“Oh! You were picked by the selection
committee, like me.”
“What’s so special about you, then?”
Scarlet asked, in a half-humurous tone.
“I was the best saboteur in the World Army
Special Ops.” Tourmaline said, proudly.
He grinned slightly, “What’s so special about YOU, Scarlet?”
“How much do you want to know, Tourmaline?
I have PLENTY to tell.” He paused. “IF
I want to.”
Grey glared at him. “Scarlet…”
Scarlet stood up. “Well, I
suppose I should get up to the bridge, while the two of you are still sipping
coffee.” He turned a quick glance in Tourmaline’s direction. “Or SLURPING, as the case may be.”
Tourmaline glared back at him, angrily,
over his mug.
“Oh, come on! The words ‘inefficient’ and
‘suction pump’ come to mind!”
Tourmaline gave an especially loud ‘slurp’
and Scarlet left, slamming the door behind him.
“Why do you keep annoying him?” Grey was
livid.
“Well he STARTED it!” Tourmaline answered,
indignantly. “He called me a suction
pump!”
“You ARE a suction pump! I’ve never heard
anyone make so much noise drinking a cup of COFFEE! I mean, you can probably
measure it on the Richter scale!”
“OK, OK!” Tourmaline hung his head. “Sorry, I’ll try not to be annoying.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry too.” Grey blew out a
sigh, “I don’t USUALLY lose my temper like that – it’s usually Scarlet’s job.”
He decided to change the subject.
“Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk about?”
“The Mysteron threat. They said they’d use the Indestructible, so
they will. Now, the best weapons aboard
are the torpedoes, which would cause a lot of damage.”
Grey nodded. “But you’re missing something – they used the word ‘decimate’,
which means to destroy everything, leaving nothing standing.”
“Could they mean Scarlet?” Tourmaline
asked, unexpectedly, “I mean, HE’S indestructible.”
“No, they said U235. They didn’t use the word indestructible.”
Tourmaline thought for a moment then
shouted, “Oh PIG!”
“What?”
“I think I know what they mean. They mean URANIUM 235.”
“Nuclear fuel!”
“Right!” Tourmaline paused, to think, “You
tell the Colonel, I’ll call Scarlet.” he then ordered, momentarily resembling
his partner.
Captain Scarlet was on the bridge when his
epaulets flashed blue. “Yes, Captain
Blue?”
“My name is TOURMALINE, Scarlet, and I
have some news for you. We’ve worked
out that the Mysterons plan to detonate the nuclear fuel at Pacifica.”
“WHAT?”
“I know this isn’t the first time they’ve
tried something like this.” Tourmaline went on, ignoring him. “Just meet me on the flight deck as soon as
possible.”
Scarlet’s cap microphone flipped back up
and he told the ship’s captain “I’ve got to borrow a plane.”
On the flight deck, Captains Tourmaline
and Grey were already waiting. Scarlet
finally arrived and joined them. “We
have an X-120 waiting for us downstairs.
Tourmaline, you and I are going to Pacifica. Grey, you are to stay here, in case anything happens.”
*******
Captains Ochre and Magenta awoke in a
broom cupboard, handcuffed together.
“Well, Pat, this is another fine mess!”
“Ha! You didn’t see Black either!”
Ochre turned his head, slightly, in an
attempt to glance at his partner. “You
can get out of handcuffs, right?”
“Not when my hands are handcuffed to
yours, like this!”
“So how do we get out of here?”
“I wonder if he left the keys somewhere…”
“He probably left them in his POCKET!”
“Why do people ALWAYS insist on putting
locks on broom closets?” Magenta asked to change the subject, “Who’s going to
steal a BROOM?”
“Wait a minute!” Ochre almost yelled,
“This room hasn’t got a lock.”
“Someone got it right, then.”
The two men scrambled to their feet,
awkwardly. Ochre kicked the door,
thoughtfully. “How do we open this
thing?”
Magenta thought for a second then said, “I
think I should rephrase that question. What idiot puts a door handle only
on the outside?”
“We’re approaching Pacifica, Captain.”
Scarlet announced.
“Good.” Tourmaline peered through the
window next to him. “I’ll try to
contact Ochre and Magenta.”
Scarlet nodded. “Right.”
After a few moments, Tourmaline
frowned. “Paul, I can’t get through to
them.”
“Perhaps there’s too much interference,”
Scarlet replied, without looking round at him, “and don’t call me Paul. We’re on duty.”
“There’s no static. They’re just not answering.”
“You’re sure?”
“’Course I’m sure!”
“Then there’s something wrong.” Scarlet
summed up. “Alright, contact Colonel
White. I’ll take her down.”
“Owww!” Magenta gasped, “Was bashing the
door down a good idea?”
“Got a better suggestion?”
“Yeah. You could find a better battering
ram than me. Or we could try to find a way out of these cuffs!”
Ochre groaned. “How? I don’t think I’d like to use a cutting tool, with our
hands so close together, and no way of seeing what we’re doing!”
“If only one of us could contact
Cloudbase, or… someone!”
“Looks like we’re stuck here, then.” Ochre
sighed. “Got any good secrets to share?
This could be good bonding time!”
“OK…….hmmm…. I didn’t cheat during that chess game.”
“OK, OK! Sorry.”
“Good thing the Colonel didn’t over hear
it!” Magenta laughed.
Ochre winced. “I’ll say!”
There was a long silence. Then Ochre’s epaulettes flashed blue.
“Where are our caps?”
“Up on that top shelf.”
“Let me guess. Just out of reach?”
*******
At 11:03 Scarlet and Tourmaline climbed
out of the jet and at the same time checked their watches. “We’ve got about an hour -” Tourmaline
mused.
“You mean 57 minutes?”
“I’ve got 58.”
“Best make it 56 to be safe.” Scarlet told
him, grinning slightly. “Anyway, we’ve
got to find Ochre and Magenta. I expect
the Colonel has already informed them of the situation.”
“What about the Mysterons?”
“We’ll get Ochre and Magenta to help with
the search. We can cover more ground,
that way.”
After asking around for ten minutes they
still had no idea where Ochre and Magenta were. “I don’t understand it.
They must be around here somewhere.” Scarlet frowned, glancing up and
down the corridor. “Right. We’ll have to work it out with the
information we have.”
“OK.
They couldn’t have got into a storage building without a pass, and there
aren’t that many people on the base with a pass. Only inspectors, I’d imagine.
And we already have a list of them.”
“Yes, and Ochre and Magenta are not on the
list, so we know they haven’t checked that out.” Scarlet added. “Now, a shipment of nuclear fuel arrived
this morning, didn’t it?”
“Yes.
They’re just finishing with the unloading. Let’s get over there!”
After speaking to the captain of the Autonite,
they discovered that one of the crewmembers was missing.
“Where does the fuel get sent?”
“Follow these AGVs. They take the fuel to the storage rooms, in
the main building.”
They followed one of the robots to the
main storage building. The door
automatically opened for the carrier to enter. It closed just in front of them.
“So how do we get in?”
“We wait for the next one, and sneak in
behind.” Scarlet explained, patiently.
“Talk about high security!”
“That’s enough, Tourmaline.”
Ochre and Magenta were still discussing possible
ways of escaping. Suddenly, the door
opened and the mysteronised sailor stepped in, brandishing a gun. “You will come with me.”
They struggled to their feet again, and he
led them out of the cupboard, with the gun trained on them.
The two men were taken to a storage room,
where Captain Black was sat preparing the bomb. “Hello, Captains. I
thought you might appreciate witnessing our victory at close range – before you
perish.” He seemed to think about something, for a moment, then continued. “Come to think of it, with the speed of an
atomic explosion, you’ll probably perish at the very moment we succeed, so you
won’t be a witness of much.”
A voice outside the door hissed, “Hold it!
Did you hear something in here?”
Black snatched his gun, and Philip picked
up the gun he’d used before. Ochre had
an idea. “Hey! That’s mine!”
“Shut him up.” Black ordered.
“Come on, guys! Spectrum gave me
that. It comes with the job!”
“I am warning you, Earthman. SHUT UP.”
The door burst open, and Tourmaline stepped
in. “I believe you have two friends of
mine…” he glanced down at Ochre and Magenta, who were seated on the floor. “Ah! There they are.” He dived aside as
Black opened fire. Phil stood over him,
with gun at the ready. “Stand up,
Earthman.”
Black went to the door. “I know you’re out there, Scarlet. Drop your gun, and come in.”
“Why should I?”
“Do as he says, Scarlet.” Tourmaline
called out to him.
A gun slid to a halt just in front of the
doorway, and Scarlet walked in with his hands up. “Right. I want the four
of you over there.” Black gestured with his gun. They obeyed, although it was difficult for Ochre and Magenta.
Both Mysterons got back to what they were doing.
“Is it hot in here, or is it just me?”
asked Tourmaline, unzipping his top. Knowing
that he had a plan, Scarlet ignored Tourmaline as if he was being stupid
again. The Mysterons paid little
attention to the Spectrum officers.
They had a lot of work to do, if they were to make the deadline.
Captain Scarlet watched the two Mysterons
as they set up their equipment and didn’t notice Tourmaline take some objects
from various pockets and start screwing them together.
He didn’t seem to notice anything until a
shot sounded and Phil collapsed.
“Where did you get that?” Scarlet demanded, staring at his
partner.
“Always carry a backup weapon.” Tourmaline
replied, with a broad grin.
“Backup weapon?” Scarlet repeated as they
all ducked behind a crate, “I don’t know ANYONE who carries a backup weapon!”
“You do now”
Scarlet noticed Magenta’s gun on a table
nearby and decided to go for it. Tourmaline knew what he had in mind and ran in
the opposite direction. Black shot a few times but missed, and at the same time
Scarlet made a dash for the gun. Black hesitated and then shot Scarlet three
times. He collapsed.
Ochre looked at the clock “Only five
seconds left!” He shouted.
Tourmaline jumped up and shot at the
remote detonator in Black’s hand. He pressed the button on the remote, but
nothing happened. He pressed it again, then noticed the bullet hole and decided
to do a vanishing act.
“We did it!” Shouted Captain Tourmaline.
Ochre glanced at the clock again “A lot
can change in 20 seconds”
“Yeah!” said Magenta, who was still cuffed
to him. “20 seconds ago we were unarmed, and held prisoner by two armed
Mysterons who were about to detonate a nuclear device in a nuclear store. NOW one Mysteron is dead, the other’s
vanished, one of us is armed and another is dead.”
“You’ve missed one important fact.” Ochre
stated.
“What?” Magenta asked, “Scarlet looks
pretty dead to ME!”
“It’s NOW the afternoon.” He finished,
smugly.
Tourmaline hit him.
*******
Back on Cloudbase, at 13.00, Tourmaline
was waiting for news concerning Scarlet in the Sickbay. “How is he?”
Doctor Fawn shook his head. “No change, Captain. He’ll be out of it for at least four hours
yet.”
“It’s amazing, isn’t it? I mean, I’ve read
about his unique condition but…”
“Yeah.
It’s still hard to grasp.” The Doctor nodded.
“Will all available personnel report to
Control immediately.” Lieutenant Green called over the loudspeaker.
Captains Ochre, Magenta, Grey and
Tourmaline filed into the Control Room for the debriefing. The colonel gestured
for them to take a seat in front of his desk.
“Well done, men.”
The door opened again, and everyone looked
up to see Scarlet. Colonel White
frowned at him, with disapproval. “I
thought you were supposed to be in bed for another four hours, Captain.”
“Yes, but I’m feeling better.”
“Doctor Fawn was about to run some more
tests on me, Sir.” He replied, truthfully.
“Take a seat.” White decided to change the
subject, and leafed through one of the reports in front of him. “I see that there is a mention of a back-up
weapon,” he glanced up at Tourmaline, “aren’t our weapons good enough, then?”
“My Spectrum gun had been taken from me,”
He explained, carefully, “with my background, I always carry a back-up.”
“How exactly did you disarm the bomb?”
“I managed to shoot the remote detonator,
Sir.”
“I see.
You must have quite an aim, Captain.”
Tourmaline felt his face flush,
slightly. “Thankyou, Sir.” Scarlet,
seated beside him, smiled.
“Nobody cleared up how you – or the
Mysterons – managed to get into the storage area.”
“We just took advaaarrgh…” Tourmaline
began, as Scarlet stamped on his foot.
“What was that, Tourmaline?”
“I was going to say that we took advantage
of the robots going in.”
“Care to elaborate, Captain?”
“They got in without a problem, so we
followed, Sir.”
“I see.
Didn’t you bother with passes, then?”
“That’s the good thing about the good old
– OOH!” Scarlet jabbed him in the ribs.
“Are you alright, Tourmaline?”
“Just a pain in my side, Sir.”
“Get the Doctor to take a look at it
then.”
“I will, Sir.” Tourmaline assured his
commanding officer, grinning unpleasantly at Scarlet.
“Right.
That should be all. Thankyou,
gentlemen. Dismissed.” As the men stood
and began to leave, the colonel added “Captain Scarlet,”
He turned back, snapping to
attention. “Sir?”
“Return to Sickbay – and that’s an order.”
“S.I.G., Colonel.” He left with
Tourmaline.
Only Captain Magenta remained behind. “Colonel,”
he began, at last, “for arguments’ sake…”
“Yes, Captain?”
“How much does Captain Ochre get in his
wages?”
“That’s a strange question!” White
remarked, raising an eyebrow. “Why do
you ask, Captain?”
“It’s just to settle an argument, Sir.”
In the lounge, Captains Scarlet and
Tourmaline were chatting. “You should
be in the Sickbay, you know, Scarlet.”
“I know.” Scarlet replied, smirking. “But the mess is better.”
“I’ll have to get you to Sickbay soon,
though – I DID promise the Colonel!”
“You did WHAT?”
“You heard me. The Colonel told me to get the pain in my side checked.”
“VERY funny!” Scarlet rolled his eyes.
“I thought so.” Tourmaline paused. “Anyway, how did you know that I was going
to say about the ‘good old World Navy’, and taking advantage of their useless
security?”
Scarlet glanced about him, nervously. “I keep getting the feeling that the
Colonel’s listening…”
“Well, if he is, he can like it or lump
it!”
Scarlet shuddered, “Now, I REALLY hope he
isn’t listening!”
“Come on, Scarlet, you haven’t answered my
question.”
“I knew it was the sort of thing you’d do,
Brain of Britain! Did you know that Colonel White is from the Navy?”
Tourmaline blanched. “You… you mean I almost…? I could’ve been
sent to the lowest rank! No! I would’ve been kicked out! NO! I probably
would’ve been executed!”
“Don’t worry about it,” Scarlet told him,
“he won’t hear it from me – just DON’T say anything to Ochre or Magenta, and
you’ll be alright. Oh! And don’t
mention it to the Colonel, either.”
“Very funny, Scarlet.”
“I thought so.”
The end
