Captain Scarlet

and

The War of the Worlds

by Lee Homer

Disclaimer: All rights reserved. Captain Scarlet and The War of the Worlds belong to the respected properties of ITV and Anderson Entertainment and The Wells estate.

Earth: 2070 A.D.

No one would have believed in the last years of the 21st Century, that mankind would face an even dangerous threat from an intelligence that is greater than our own. The war of nerves with the Mysterons had ended yet we were still being observed like creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water. We knew that there was life out there on other planets. In fact, we often encountered them more times than we cared to think. Some races were peaceful and others were hostile but were easily dealt with. Then the Mysterons came and waged a war of nerves so great that they eventually terrorized the entire human race. The Earth's special organization, Spectrum fought valiantly to repel the Mysterons from Mars. The death count was high, the financial repercussions were devastating, but the war finally ended with a truce.

As mankind recovered from its ordeal with the Mysterons, they were blissfully aware that an even stronger presence was preparing to wage a war of their own. A war that would put the whole Human race on the edge of extinction. As we continued to live our lives and function as we always did, they drew their plans against us. My name is Paul Metcalfe, designated codename "Captain Scarlet." This is the story of that war.

One

On the night of the Twelfth of August, tracking stations across the English coast began to home in on a wave of unexplained signals that echoed from the surface of Mars. After a few days, the began to alarm the scientists who were observing them. This led to an emergency meeting with The World President, who in turn put both The World Space patrol and Spectrum into the picture. The next few nights were spent debating the notion that The Mysterons were planning a second attack. Not everybody had been convinced by our truce with them and felt that another assault could happen at any time, but the President believed that we were in no danger and so the people of Earth continued to go about its business, completely unprepared for the events that were about to unfold.

A week had passed when I had been called up to the Colonel's desk with Captain Blue. We had both returned from furlough when we were presented with a very concerning report. The Colonel sat there at his desk in a somewhat irritated state. His eyes met with mine as he gestured for us to sit down.

"Ah, Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue. Thank you for coming here so swiftly. I'm sorry that your vacation was cut short, but Spectrum Headquarters in New York has sent a very alarming incident to my attention."

"We heard the report from Lieutenant Green." Captain Blue replied. "What's happened exactly?"

"For the past Twelve hours, the World Space Patrol has been intercepting a series of unidentified objects that have appeared from the surface of Mars. Unable to determine their exact point of origin, they sent a small fleet of ships to take them out before they could enter the atmosphere. So far, they have lost contact with their fleet."

"Do they have any description of the objects themselves?" I asked.

"Visual contact had been made just seconds before Space City lost them." The Colonel spun round to face the giant monitor behind him. "The pilots said that they were metallic, cylindrical in shape and were traveling at a high rate of speed, spewing a trail of green smoke behind them. These satellite pictures were sent to us by Spectrum HQ."

My eyes widened as a slide show of images flashed before me. The quality was poor and hard to determine exactly what they looked like, but they sure made my stomach muscles tighten. While my body reacted, the Colonel continued.

"So far, scientists have confirmed that the flight path of these objects matches the same signals that were detected from Mars just a week before. This indicates that they have been given a set of coordinates to follow."

"What are our orders?" I asked as I swallowed my feelings that were unfamiliar to me.

"We do nothing except standby. Cloudbase will remain on red alert until we can track one of these objects as they enter the atmosphere. We predict that the first one will arrive in three days time. Until then, I want everyone to rest up and wait for orders. If this the work of the Mysterons, then we'll want to know why."

"And if it's not the Mysterons sir?" I replied.

"Then only time will tell." The Colonel frowned. "All right. Dismissed."

As I left the control room and headed for my cabin, I couldn't shake the feeling that our old foe was not responsible for the objects. The next three days would only reinforce my theory as I eagerly awaited the arrival of the first object. I didn't sleep as well as I usually would. However, everything continued as normal. The Angels performed Arial drills, The other Captains spent their time on the shooting range and those off duty would try and relax in recreational rooms. Time quickly passed by until the Fifteenth day.

Beginning his spell of duty, Lieutenant Green reacted to a call from the tracking room. Captain Magenta had picked up the first object on his scanner. It had now entered the atmosphere. I hurried to the control room with Captain Blue once the news had broke. As we entered the room, we saw the Colonel slumped over the Lieutenant's desk as they watched the information pile out of his console.

"What is it's heading and rate of decent, Lieutenant?"

"It's currently burning up at Seventy miles per hour. It'll pass Cloudbase fairly close to us." The Lieutenant replied as he read the readout. "It's heading for the United Kingdom."

"You better inform Spectrum Headquarters in London, Lieutenant," I suggested. "They'll need to prepare for an impact."

"Delay that order. We'll inform them once we determine a crash trajectory. We'll deploy as soon as it lands, Captain Scarlet."

"Yes, sir."

As we stood there in anticipation, I couldn't help but wonder. If something or someone was inside one of those objects, how could they survive such an impact? My train of thought was broken when Lieutenant Green barked out the results.

"I have a confirmed hit, sir. Tracking stations have reported that the object has crashed in South Eastern England."

Suddenly, The Colonel dished out his orders. "Right. Get onto HQ and have their ground forces evacuate the area around the crash site. We'll hold a meeting in a few hours once we learn more."

"S.I.G."

I just wanted to get down there and investigate. Something inside my head kept on telling me that this was something else. It felt like a warning, Like and instinct to take a jet down there check it out for myself. Soon, all of our officers had gathered in the conference room. The Colonel sat down at his seat with a folder of reports that had been sent to him just prior. Captain's Ochre and Grey conversed with each other, unaware of what we had just witnessed earlier. The girls just wanted to get out there and fly. I shared their optimism but not their eagerness. To be perfectly honest, I didn't really know what to feel. It just didn't seem relevant to the situation. It never does.

The Colonel began the meeting. "Members of Spectrum. At approximately Six Hundred hours this morning, the first of the unidentified objects crashed in the county of Surrey in England. Spectrum Headquarters, London has since confirmed that it is lying idle in an area of woodland known as Horsell Common in the town of Woking. Their ground forces have managed to evacuate most of the public, but it's said a small crowd has made it's way to the common. We must keep this under control at all costs. Captain Magenta, you will assist in crowd control and the press. Captain Scarlet and Captain Blue will investigate the object and report their findings. The Angels will patrol the perimeter and roadblocks have been placed at all roads outside of town. I need not remind you all of the possibility that this could be the work of the Mysterons, so keep a vigilant watch. Good luck and dismissed."

This was it. We were being deployed. Everybody scrambled to the hanger deck. Our Spectrum jets took off one after. The Angel interceptors took off ahead of us. We touched down in London around about lunchtime. All felt calm and normal as if the world outside the crash area was completely oblivious to the situation. The media crews had not gotten wind of the story which came at a huge advantage to us. After requisitioning one of our saloon cars, we set off for Woking. The roads had been cleared for our arrival as soon as we cleared the roadblock checkpoints. A huge plume of black smoke appeared over the tree line as we entered Woking. The streets were deserted, allowing us to access the backstreets as shortcuts. To my knowledge, Woking was a town that was used to the simple life. It was home to many industrial companies that manufactured computers and other components for big corporations. Nothing exciting ever happened there. This was a first for its people. As soon as we arrived at the common, we were greeted by a rather stressed Captain Magenta. He had gotten there ahead of us to help control the curious public. A task that was easier said than done.

"Is everything all right, Captain?" Captain Blue asked with a concerned look. "What's going on?"

"We've had to make a few arrests in the past few minutes." He explained briefly. "Some people have climbed into the crater to get a better look at this thing but claimed it was far too hot to get a close look. We were able to get them out of there, but as we did... well..."

"Go on, Captain. Let's have it?"

"Well that's just it... we heard something moving inside. Only problem was we couldn't tell what it was." Magenta continued. "We were able to keep the back way clear for you."

"S.I.G. Just keep them back as far as you can." I acknowledged as I turned to my colleague. "All right, Captain Blue. Let's go and take a look for ourselves."

Pulling up outside, we left our car and followed the narrow trail. We followed it into the isolated area. The Common itself sported a very sinister vibe. It was enough to make your hairs stand on end, but in my case, something was playing havoc with my senses. My head started to throb. The heavy sensation brought impaired my ability to think properly. I hadn't experienced the sensation since our last battle with the Mysterons only this time, it really hurt my head. My instincts kicked in and took over, leading us towards the direction of the smoke. We eventually came to a clearing ahead. Kneeling down behind an under-brush, we were able to appreciate the full details of the object.

A huge, metallic cylinder sat there in an upright position. It was thirty yards across, pure metal in composition and it was glowing hot. The crater in which it sat in was still on fire. Even at a safe distance, we could feel the intense heat of this thing touch our faces. How could anybody survive such an impact let alone the fierce temperatures? Captain Blue raised his scientific instrument and checked the object over.

"Incredible." He said as the readings flashed before him. "The entire object is in one piece and without a dangerous level of radiation. If it wasn't for the heat, I'd say it would be safe enough to go down there."

My friend was a brave man, but sometimes foolish. There was no way I was going to let him go down there. "I wouldn't risk it. You'd be burnt alive. We'll sit here and observe it for a while. So far I don't see any signs of movement."

Amazingly on cue, just as I had said that the sound of movement came from inside the cylinder. It sounded like somebody was trying to get out. Then suddenly, the top began moving, rotating, unscrewing, but it did this at such a slow pace. If someone or something was trying to get out, they were going to have a hard time doing it. I radioed into Captain Magenta at the checkpoint, updating him on the situation. There was nothing more we could do except wait. The question on everyone's mind was, what were we waiting for?

As hours rolled on, the afternoon sun hung over the town. I remained on watch while Captain Blue returned to the checkpoint to gather supplies. Cloudbase had sent in equipment and food deliveries to all our ground forces. I could hear the Angles whiz around the area at regular intervals. I just sat there and watched the object, hypnotized by the unscrewing of the cylinder. One by one, two feet of shining screw projected out of the top, crashing into the crater alongside. Captain Blue swiftly returned in time to witness this development. We stood there in complete silence when suddenly... the lid fell off. A cloud of dust billowed out of the cylinder accompanied by the sound of movement within. It sounded wet, slippery almost as if something was struggling to climb to the surface.

Two luminous disc-like eyes appeared above the rim. A set of slimy tentacles quickly followed. They fumbled about the rim of the cylinder as if to latch onto something. As soon as they did, a huge, rounded bulk, larger than a bear, rose up slowly, glistening like wet leather. Its lipless mouth quivered and slavered as it slithered and pulsated towards the ground. We watched on in silence as it explored the crater. It moved in a somewhat clumsy manner almost as if it was taken aback by our planet's atmosphere. A second creature then appeared. It was calling out to the first one, recalling it to the cylinder. The first creature latched onto the rim of the object and slowly pulled itself back inside. A few moments later, both had disappeared from view and all movement activity ceased.

"Now what do we do?" Captain Blue whispered as he fumbled about with his Mysteron detector. "What are those things?"

I couldn't rationalize it myself. As hard as I tried to, the reality was inescapable. They were not Mysterons, but beings from another world which had taken an interest in ours. Our attention was swiftly diverted to the far side of the crater where a small crowd returned to see what was going on. This time, Captain Magenta and the other Spectrum agents were not with them.

"This is getting out of control," I said. "We need to get those people out of there. This is very wrong."

"I'll radio, Cloudbase for instructions," Blue replied. "Then we'll go and look for Magenta."

Captain Blue left me once again for the safety of the roadblock. As I sat there, the creatures menacing appearance lingered in my head. I could hear them. Somehow. It felt like I had stumbled into a plot of theirs. A plot that mankind could never be prepared for. I just didn't know how right I was going to be, for what happened next would be truly devastating.

To Be Continued.