"Sit in the car Paul," he said, "Colonel Freeman and myself will take over."
"It's over there," Foster pointed in the direction of the body, before sighing and walking towards the car.
Straker and Freeman, followed by Jackson found themselves looking upon the mangled body.
"Dear God in heaven," was the response of Freeman, who had to steady himself against a nearby tree before edging out of sight. Jackson, meanwhile, was knelt beside the body. He was speaking quietly as if talking to himself,
"Mutltiple organ removal again...the major organs...also the brain," then getting up and turning to the Commander, "this body will have to be brought back to SHADO control, I cannot tell which, if any, other organs have been taken, I shall require the facilities to carry out a full autopsy."
"Very well Jackson," calling to a nearby operative Straker said, "Get this body into the mobile and a couple of you...try and...clean up some of the...blood." With that, Straker turned on his heel and swept out of sight.
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The trip back to SHADO HQ was a quiet one. Straker was pleased to see that some colour had been restored to Foster's cheeks. As they pulled into the Film Stdio car park, they saw the mobile with Jackson and the body continue through. Freeman broke the silence,
"Have we managed to identify them yet?"
"No, a group of operatives are working on it. Our job now is to find the two aliens before any more bodies turn up."
"Blood-bath" The two men faced, Colonel Foster, "how desperate must they be to carry out such an act of...of..."
"Butchery," was the response from the Commander, "butchery, callous mutilation all in the name of survival." The doors of the car opened and the three men alighted, making their way towards the studio and Straker's office. Late at night as it was, there were few people left working in the studio but the SHADO Headquarters underground was still a hive of activity.
"Any luck at finding the aliens, Ford?"
"No, sir, Sky-one is still out looking."
"Tell Captain Waterman to return to Skydiver and get the mobiles 1 and 2 to continue a radar surveillance."
"Yes sir."
"Alec, Paul, lets step into my office shall we?"
"Lets look at the facts, in the past 5 days there have been two UFO incidents. First a UFO gets past all the moonbase defence systems and sky-one, it lands, a few minutes later blows up, three hours later reports start to come in of a body found. The medical team reports a young male, multiple organs removed including heart and liver. Then today, another UFO through all our defences, another mutilated body. Of course, we shall have to wait for Jackson's reports to find out the full extent of the incident, but for now our main priority is to locate the two aliens.
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"Mobile 1 to SHADO control,"
"Go ahead Mobile 1," Ford's voice was as articulated as ever,
"Report possible sighting of aliens, am going in pursuit."
"Roger, mobile 1, I'll tell Commander Straker." Right on cue, Commander Straker, followed by Colonel Freeman and Colonel Foster rounded the corner from Straker's office, Ford brought them up to speed.
"Mobile 1 to control,"
"Come..." Ford was cut off
"Yes Mobile 1," Straker was back in charge
"Have lost the two aliens they headed into a wooded area, we shall continue on foot."
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She slammed her pen down in frustration. Two months it had been since she had written anything half decent. The publisher had been on the phone again demanding a completion date. Well they can whistle for it! She got up and crossed the room to the window. Outside it was still, clear sky. In the starlight the lake outside shimmered, the water still, calming. Sighing, returned to her desk, contemplating how her heroine was going to get the man of her dreams and be whisked off into the sunset. What garbage! Resigned to the fact that no more would be written tonight, she picked up her cup of tea and snuggled up on the sofa, gazing at the glowing embers. Her thoughts were interrupted by a knocking at the door.
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"Keep your wits about you, both of you." The three SHADO operatives had left their mobile and had followed a path into the trees. Not one of them had forgotten the events of a few hours earlier, nor the site they had been witness too. The torches they carried were of some comfort but every so often, the snap of a twig, or the hoot of an owl would make them jump. They continued to follow the path for half an hour until they came to a clearing. In front of them was a lake and beyond was a house. No lights appeared to be on inside. The three men looked at each other before walking around the edge of the lake towards the house. They found the front door to be slightly ajar, pushing it open, their knees almost gave way at the site that greeted them. The walls that had once been a clean cream colour were now spattered with blood, some was smeared on the floor, but it was the figure lying by the sofa that made one of them faint.
"This...is...Mmmm...Mobile 1 to...control,"
"Go ahead control,"
"There's been another incident...a woman..." Silence. One of the other operatives took over,
"It's carnige sir...she's...she's.."
"How bad is it Captain?" Paul Foster asked,
"The worst it could possibly be," the voice was now bordering on hysteria, "I can only describe it as...as...carnage..."
"What have they taken?"
"Her livelihood, the bastards have taken her..."