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A SAGA OF DESTRUCTION IN THE 21ST CENTURY As the sun rose Titan surveyed his triumph from the beach — a wicked gleam in his eyes. Even though he was a Mysteron recreation he still felt pride in defeating the Terraineans. 'This is the voice of the Mysterons! We know that you can hear us, Earthmen'. The sinister alien voice was broadcast from the loudspeakers of every radio receiver in operation on Earth. Forty thousand feet above the ground on the edge of space hovered Cloudbase — the mobile headquarters of the Spectrum Organisation now dedicated to fighting the Mysteron menace. Everyone on board the flying 'deck' was instantly alert. Captain Scarlet quickly put his boots back on and ran from his quarters, all thought of rest now banished from his mind. 'In retaliation for your unprovoked attack on our Martian complex we have waged a war of nerves against you which we will now escalate until Mankind is totally defeated. In twenty-four hours every major city on Earth will be destroyed, commencing with Unity. The Mysterons will be avenged!' With the threat given, the transmission ceased and everyone breathed more quickly as they began to digest what had been said. Tension rose; every major city? How was that possible? Scarlet reached the Control Room where he found Captain Blue temporarily in the hot seat at Colonel White's semicircular desk while the Colonel was away. Blue had already called a full alert and minutes later every active duty captain and four Angels sat around the desk. He addressed the assembly. 'You all heard the Mysteron threat!' he said tersely, 'and we can guess why they are bringing things to a head.' 'Yes — the Mysteron Research Group!' exclaimed Scarlet. 'They must see those scientists as a real danger to their existence!' 'The Group is meeting with the World President and Colonel White in Unity City at the moment to discuss its progress,' added Blue. '...but every major city on Earth?' questioned Rhapsody Angel in her unmistakably English accent. 'It's beyond belief' 'I know,' said Blue, 'but assuming such a threat is possible, where could the Mysterons launch it from, and why are they so confident we can't stop them?' 'They've given us twenty-four hours to find out,' put in Captain Ochre. 'That puzzles me,' added Scarlet. 'In twenty-four hours we could get the Research Group up to Cloud base. 'What's the point if we can't stop the Mysterons in the meantime?' questioned Grey morosely. 'Grey is right,' said Scarlet. 'We've got to concentrate on finding the source of the threat and eliminating it.' Has power been restored to all necessary systems on this base to allow my plan to proceed?' questioned the Lord of Titanica in the Planetary Defense Centre beneath Space City. 'Yes Mighty Titan,' answered his chief scientist. 'But— But this scheme is madness. Surely...' 'Silence, fool!' exploded Titan. 'You will obey me or die. Prime the planatomic missiles — every major Terrainean city must be destroyed, beginning with Unity, the seat of their so-called World Government. The missiles must be launched in twenty-four marine hours time. Do you understand me slave?' 'Yes, Oh Mighty One — but the radiation, it will pollute the seas. We will all die,' pleaded the chief scientist. 'Obey me'. 'No! I have bowed down to you all my life, but no more. Your mad scheme will kill everyone!' The scientist lunged towards Titan, a dagger in his hand. With amazing strength the Mysteronised Monarch grabbed the blade and plunged it deep into his attacker's chest. Within minutes another Mysteron recreation stood beside Titan, now more than willing to carry' out his orders — consequences be damned. Titan left the bunker and walked over to Space City's airstrip where twelve Backlash fighter 'planes had been rolled out onto the runway by a small army of Aquaphibians. 'Bring the Terrainean informant to me,' ordered Titan and one of the Aquaphibian guards ran off to comply. Within minutes the creature returned with Sergeant Mahoney — he had been subjected to the hypnobeam and instructed to answer all questions truthfully. He had disclosed everything including the Planetary Defense Centre, which had required Mysteron science to break the top security entrance codes to its tolenium reinforced underground bunker. 'Where are the pilots for these craft?' questioned Titan. 'They will be in the stand-by room trapped due to lack of power,' droned Mahoney. 'Lead a party of Aquaphibians and bring me twelve pilots — kill the rest,' instructed Titan. A sudden roar filled the air. The Lord of Titanica looked up at the source of the sound. 'A patrol ship is returning! It must be blasted from the sky before it sees us!' screamed Titan. 'I'm worried Ken,' exclaimed Fireball XL2's navigator and engineer, Lieutenant Al Stomper, from the ship's navigation bay. 'I know — it's strange all right,' responded Captain Ken Johnson from the control cabin of the World Space Patrol ship. 'There's no response to my calls for landing instructions. In fact Space City is completely radio silent on all frequencies.' 'Keep trying to raise them,' suggested Al. 'It's no good,' said Ken. 'I'm going in to land; we can't stay up here much longer. Suddenly all hell broke loose — interceptor missiles smashed into XL2's main body and Ken lost control of the ship. The missiles had been fired by Space City! Fireball XL2 was now in a crash dive and heading for certain destruction. 'Al! Shouted Ken into the intercom. 'Main motor assembly out of action — she's gonna crash. Come forward — we've gotta use Junior to escape. Someone's taken Space City!' Wrestling with the controls Ken waited for Al but thirty seconds passed, and then another thirty. 'Hurry up Al!' 'Ken — the telescopic tunnel's not working!' screamed Al over the intercom. 'I'm going to use the ejector tube. Get clear man — now!' Ken Johnson uncoupled the electromagnets and put Fireball Junior into a power dive. She pulled away from the main body; Ken brought the little ship's nose up and she swerved away from XL2 and then around to follow her down again. 'Come on Al! Eject!' shouted Ken. One minute before impact in the blue Pacific below Ken saw Al eject from XL2 — only to be hit by the ship's central stabiliser. Al Stomper's mutilated body followed his ship into the ocean. 'No! No!' screamed Ken as he pulled XL2 Junior up at the last minute, skimming the surface of the sea. Ken Johnson had lost his friend as well as his ship, and someone was going to pay... With his knuckles white on the controls he set course for mainland Astra Port K. 'You have failed to destroy the spacecraft completely!' screamed Titan to the Aquaphibians who had fired the interceptor missiles. He knew he must not fail the Mysterons. The Aquaphibians sent to fetch the fighter pilots now returned with twelve struggling airmen; Titan turned to them. 'Hold them still,' he commanded. Quickly he applied the hypnobeam to each one and the pilots' struggles ceased. 'You will follow only my commands,' ordered the Sea Lord. 'You will take these flying machines to Bermuda where you will destroy every airfield on the island, commencing with Unity Airport.' Page 3 Page 5 Back to Stories Page Back to Unity City Main Page |