Sadly I don't own Captain Scarlet, or anything else written or produced by Gerry Anderson.
Anyway, please let me know what you think through constructive criticism.
After the Moon.
The final shudderings of the rocket take off were long since forgotten as was the total destruction of Lunarville 7, and as the rocket cleared away from the moons' gravity Captain Scarlet checked the controls and automatic readouts; compared to a conventional Spectrum jet or an SPV, learning how to fly a rocket was relatively simple.
"Course is set for Earth," he looked over his shoulder as much as he could, "we should be re-entering the atmosphere in another 3 hours. Fusion drive is on including the chemical engines."
"Good, that means we've got plenty of time to get everything ready for debriefing," Lieutenant Green commented; Scarlet and Blue couldn't blame or condemn the younger man for his attitude. They knew when they returned to Earth, they would face a battery of tests to see if they'd suffered any ill-effects from their time on the moon and they'd be kept under observation to see if they'd suffered from any long term effect not in the books before they ran into Colonel White who would demand a full report.
"Yes," Captain Blue agreed before he turned to Scarlet. "Is the artificial gravity online?"
"Fusion drive is on, so yes. In any case, we have time," Scarlet was already unbuckling his safety harness, and he got out of his seat and joined his friends and fellow Spectrum officers in the stern lounge of the rocket. Ever since fusion drive was invented, it had become easier for rockets to be equipped with facilities like this, since the rockets would be able to manage artificial gravity.
In the back, the three men took a look at the supplies while they prepared for their reports. All of them knew their reports would be given to Colonel White, who'd read them and sign them off for analysis at Spectrum Records.
"We only have concentrate foods and coffee cubes in this cupboard. Any water?" Scarlet asked.
"Er, yeah, here it is," Green replied and he went through another cupboard and he found a large blue cylinder. He opened it and took out a small bottle of water. He rifled through it again and pulled out a second. He passed one to Captain Scarlet and took the second and put it on the bolted-down table.
"Thanks," Scarlet busied himself by pouring the water which was thankfully liquid into the metal coffee pot over the cubes he'd thrown in and then he placed the pot underneath the plasma heater. In a few minutes, the cubes had transformed into boiling coffee. Gently Captain Scarlet put the pot on the table while Captain Blue found sugar and cream and milk and cups on the table, and he arranged the food concentrates on a number of plates. Once they were all comfortable, the three men started to work on their reports, and discussing the various points about their last assignment and helping each other out.
Their reports were essentially the same; the three Spectrum officers described their arrival in Lunarville 7 and their meeting with the Lunar Controller and his assistant. The three of them both agreed to put in the way the Lunar controller was very proud of the Lunar achievements to the point of lashing out, and they also added the way their room was bugged. Scarlet, Green, and Blue all knew there was a low-grade rivalry between the people who lived in the Lunar complexes and those on Earth, but the Controller had taken it to new heights with his paranoia.
Green looked up from his draft of his report, "Do you guys know what I don't get, how the Lunar Controller and Orton became Mysteron agents and when it happened?"
Scarlet looked away with a sigh. "We may never know. But one thing is certain, that complex. We have to do something about that and quickly; the Mysterons likely plan to use the moon as a funnel to attack Earth."
Blue shook his head. "I'd like to know how long this has been going on for," he said thoughtfully, "that complex could have been under construction since the first days of our war with the Mysterons and the controller and Orton might have discovered it before us, and the Mysterons realised they could serve as agents to prevent anyone from heading out to Crater 101."
"Hmm, that would make sense; Orton was determined to stop us going out to that crater when we toured the surface of the moon in the mobile," Green said thoughtfully.
"Trouble is, we can't prove anything," Scarlet rubbed his face, "but it does make sense. You know what you said earlier, Adam about the moon complex being under construction since the early days of the war?"
"Yes?"
"We'd better put that idea in the reports, although that complex was still being built so it's also possible the Mysteron presence was recent," Scarlet said.
Blue shrugged. He wasn't annoyed that his idea had been proven to be wrong, it had only been an idea which was just idle speculation since it could have gone either way; they had no idea how long it actually took the Mysterons to construct one of their complexes although it should not take too long since the Mysterons had the power to create matter from energy, since the complex was still under construction they could only have just started.
"It's academic now, all we need to do is work out what we're going to do about it," Blue said.
"There's a chance Spectrum will order the complex destroyed in Crater 101," Green looked between the two men.
"But would they? This whole mess of a war started because of Captain Black's attack on the Martian complex," Blue pointed out.
"I doubt another complex would make any difference, Adam, but you're right. I'm making a point of that in my report. How much more have you got to do?"
"Oh, I'm near the part where you woke me up and told me the Lunar Controller had ordered an evacuation of the lunarville. Actually, now I think about that, why did he do that? Declare a state of emergency like that," Scarlet said.
"I thought that was obvious. He was planning on dealing with all of us and then covering up the evidence."
Captain Scarlet shook his head. "No, that doesn't seem right somehow, it is logical, yes but there has to be more to it than that."
"Maybe it's one of the things we'll never know; this whole assignment to the moon has been one mystery after another. We don't know when the Mysterons travelled to the moon. We don't know when the Controller and Orton were both turned into Mysteron agents. And we don't have a clue what else they had in mind. There's no point making guesses, all we can do is just to write the reports," Green said.
"Mm, you're right, but it is a good idea to think things through now it's all over," Blue rubbed his chin, "but you're right, why would the Lunarville controller declare that state of emergency; usually Mysteron agents are more subtle."
"Don't remind me; when compared to DT-19, the lunar controller was like a hand grenade. I thought he was going to foam at the mouth when I revealed I took his ID tag and when he shot SID," Scarlet remarked.
"Yeah, that was scary. How does this sound? The Mysterons came to the moon and found the crater and believed it to be the best place to build a complex, maybe one of many, and they needed agents in authority to keep people away?" Green looked between his friends.
"Yeah, that's probably the best answer. But what about the message the Controller sent to Earth, was that only to get our attention?"
"That is a good point, and one that doesn't make any sense as far as I can see," Blue shook his head, "we'll definitely never know."
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