Ouch! My Spaceship!

Wednesday 12 May, 0500hrs New YorkThursday 13 May, 1900 hrs Cloudbase

Kat was fuming as she juggled her bag, a much needed latte in a keep-a-cup, and her coat. Freeing up one hand, she punched her code into the keypad with a little more force than necessary. Last night, the editors had been informed that a legal challenge was being made to stop the second issue of her expose. She was incandescent! How dare that arrogant prick try to sink her report! Legal had taken it down to the microscopic level before it was released, there was no way they could stop the report without having to admit that every single word was true! Jo, her editor, was livid, as was everyone else who'd worked on it. Thankfully upper management had taken this all as a personal insult and an attack on the freedom of the press, otherwise they might have folded at the empty threat of legal action. 

Finally getting through the door, she threw her jacket at the coat rack, dumped her bag on her desk and was about to gulp down her latte when there was a polite clearing of a throat. 

“Ahem. Ms. Cavernaugh?” 

The latte almost went flying at them, but at the last second she recognised two of the three men standing in her office. It was Black Hair and Nordic! However this time the third man with them was not Scott. He was an older man with almost completely white hair, a stern face, and wearing the same  ‘doesn't quite sit right’, half-zipped, black windbreaker jacket as the other two. 

“Uh, good morning, how can I help you?” she asked, somewhat flustered and putting down her latte because of course she hadn't been about to throw it at them, don’t be silly. 

“I believe we can help each other, Ms. Cavernaugh.” The white-haired man came forward, taking a data stick from his jacket pocket. “The expose on Jeff Tracy was very good work, but the situation requires a certain acceleration of events. I believe this,” he handed her the stick, “will meet the threshold for a breaking news story.” 

“What is it?” Kat asked, itching to open it up and start digging, but her natural suspicion demanded caution. 

“A satellite phone recording and transcript of a conversation between Jeff Tracy and General Sandro Kus of Bereznik High Command,” White Hair explained as he stepped back, “discussing Jeff Tracy’s intention to purchase slave labour.” 

Kat felt the blood drain from her face at the same time the pieces clicked into place. The only reason why a higher up in Spectrum, (and from his age and the other two's body language this guy could only be their superior) would be here in New York with information like this would be to arrest Jeff Tracy. But why would they be leaking this to her unless…“...you don't just want to stop him,” she breathed, “you want to destroy him.” 

“We do.” White Hair nodded, grim-faced. “Too many people are still infatuated with him and will defend him with their power and influence. This knowledge, once made public, will make him too toxic for anyone with authority to risk associating with him.” 

“I'll get right on to this.” Kat promised. “Wait!” She held up a hand as the trio turned to leave. “Scott and the others, are they okay?” 

“They’re safe,” Black Hair told her. “That's all we can say. Goodbye, Ms. Cavernaugh.” 

“Goodbye.” 

Kat watched them go, then reached for her phone and dialled her editor. “Jo? Get to my office yesterday, I've got something you need to see.” 

T H U N D E R F A L L 

‘Okay, this is looking good,’ Jeff mused as he sipped his second coffee and combed through the notes he was making for the interview that Tobias had arranged as a follow up to yesterday’s presser. That idiot hadn’t been able to secure any credible voices of support yet, but this was something at least. ‘It’s ten fifteen and the interview is at two, I don’t have much time to polish it up, but I can make this work.’

BANG!

Jeff looked up from his notes as Lee burst into the office, the door bouncing off the wall as he charged in. 

“Jeff! Ya need to see this!” Lee said as he activated the holoprojector and set it to a news channel. 

“...eaking news story, by reporter Kat Cavanaugh on the leaked satellite phone recordings allegedly between Jeff Tracy and General Sandro Kus of Bereznik High Command,” the female presenter was saying. “We have an excerpt to play for you now.” 

The picture changed to a blank screen with a transcript scrolling as the audio played, and Jeff felt himself go cold and numb as his own voice rolled out of the speakers.

‘Good morning Kus.’ 

‘And a good evening to you, my friend. I see from the news that your plans proceed apace.’

‘That they do, Kus, that they do. So, to business?’ 

‘Indeed, to business. That is one of the things I like about you, Tracy, you never, what is that saying? You never let the grass grow under you.’

‘Heh, no I do not. You don't make money that way.’ 

‘No, and that is what we are to discuss, is it not?’ 

‘It is. I know you want top dollar, Kus, but top dollar is only for top product. I don't want the scrapings from the prison camps and the rejects from the army, I want strong, healthy people, seventeen at the youngest, twenty four at the oldest. They'll have plenty of work in ‘em and make plenty of babies. Skilled labour - electricians, plumbers, cooks - get an even better price tag.’ 

‘So you have said before, my friend. But with my country the way it is, we need those strong, healthy, and skilled young people too.’

‘You say that Kus, but just last week you mourned that your country has so many mouths to feed and so little food.’ 

‘That I did, that I did, but all the more reason to keep the cream of the crop to ourselves.’

‘You're talking like I'm after all of ‘em.’

‘You wish to buy two thousand, you might as well be! Bereznik is a poor country, my friend, we struggle every day.’ 

‘So think about how much the money for two thousand healthy young people will relieve that struggle, my friend, and how it'll help you raise the next crop of them.’

The screen cut back to the presenter. “Questions are being raised-” 

Jeff slashed his hand through the screen and dialled Tobias. 

“Goo-”

“Tobias! Get onto a news site, watch that and figure out how to fix this!” Jeff barked, then cut the call. “Lee, tell the lawyers to BURY that bitch!” 

There was a tap on his office door and Jennifer, his PA, hesitantly stuck her head in. “Ah, sir?” 

“What!?” Jeff thundered, not caring how he presented himself right now. 

“Sir, it's the board, the shareholders have called an emergency meeting.” 

“When?” Jeff forcefully took control of his temper. ‘If it's tomorrow or even tonight I have a chance to do damage control, call around and remind folks of what they owe me.’

“Ah, right now, sir.” 

T H U N D E R F A L L 

Quickly whipping his suit jacket on as he strode over to the boardroom with Lee two steps behind and a step to his right, Jeff reviewed what he was going to say, the arguments he could use, and if necessary the veiled threats he could deploy to get everyone back in line. Tobias was already working on the next press release and plan of attack, and he had the money to hire a legion of the most bloodthirsty lawyers he could find to stop that bitch in her tracks. ‘And if the lawyers don’t work, well, I have more than enough money for other options.’

The polished black double doors of the boardroom were shut, giving him enough time to paste a pleasant and unruffled expression onto his face as he pushed the doors open and confidently strode inside, letting them swing shut behind himself and Lee.

Seeing everyone already assembled he started with a friendly “Now what’s this about…” only to trail off when he saw who was standing at the head of the table with a sheaf of papers. 

It was his mother. 

Dressed in a dark suit, royal purple blouse, and wearing the pearl necklace and matching earrings that he and his father had picked out for her when she set up her own practice, Doctor Ruth ‘Sally’ Tracy looked every inch a corporate mover and shaker, confidently standing in the place he normally occupied and completely ignoring him as she passed papers to her left and right, plucking them from a folder in her hand.

And to his surprise she wasn’t alone. 

Lord Hugh Creighton-Ward and John Svenson were flanking her, the two giants of the world of finance standing behind her in obvious support. 

“Ma… what…” Jeff looked around the board room, feeling his fury starting to bubble as not one of the executives, people he’d carefully selected, nurtured and groomed for the positions he’d given them, dared to meet his eye. 

“Jefferson.” Ruth Tracy finally deigned to notice him as she put down the now empty folder. “You can send Lee away, he’s not involved in this.” She remained standing, looking at him with an even gaze. 

“Like hell!” Jeff spat, incensed at this betrayal from his own mother. “What are you doing?!” 

“With everything that’s been happening and how TI share prices have tanked, the majority shareholders,” she indicated herself, Lord Hugh and John Svenson, “have called an emergency meeting and unanimously voted to remove you from the position of Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Tracy Industries.” 

Hugh looked at him with disdain, as if the mere act of speaking to him was below his station.  “Your actions are untenable, and your ‘leadership’ is more than questionable. My only regret is not seeing your true self sooner.” 

“I built this company!” Jeff thundered, slamming his hands down on the table with enough force to make the people closest to him jump. “If you think you can just waltz on in and steal my hard work, you’ve got another thing coming!” 

“You might have built it, but you were foolish enough to sell it.” That was Svenson, his gloating only barely contained as he turned to the silent collection of executives in suits.

"I'm the majority shareholder!" Jeff shouted. Svenson raised an eyebrow. "You are, but you only have 35% of the shares. We," he gestured to Ruth and Hugh, "have 52% between the three of us. Which means if we want to call a vote, we will call a vote. With how you’ve mishandled things, I think that the board will agree that Tracy Industries needs new leadership and quickly, someone that the public already knows and trusts, who can hit the ground running and is well versed in managing a multinational corporation. We have the perfect candidate in mind: Scott Tracy. I understand he is not yet available, but Doctor Tracy is more than competent to handle things in the interim, a position she has held before.” He swept his glacier-blue eyes over the group. “Shall we put it to a vote?” 

“NO!” Jeff howled and started towards the head of the table, fists clenched and puce-faced, only to stop short when he picked up the muffled sound of several running footsteps a split second before the boardroom doors crashed open. 

“Jefferson Grant Tracy!” an authoritative voice barked out, “by order of the World President you are under arrest!” 

Jeff stopped and turned, feeling his heart stutter in his chest when he saw who it was. 

Charles Gray, wearing the full uniform of Colonel White of Spectrum, was striding into the boardroom like he owned the place, brandishing a piece of paper with a seal at the bottom. And he wasn’t alone. He was at the heart of a swarm of figures in colourful uniforms - which included Captains Scarlet and Blue - who spread out to block off the main entrance and the fire exit in the adjacent wall, cutting off every avenue of escape.

“On what charges!?” Jeff demanded, hastily backpedalling. All around him people were scooting their chairs back or outright getting up and backing away to get out of the crossfire. 

“Attempted murder, attempted kidnapping, attempted human trafficking, treason, espionage, and breaching the trade embargo with Bereznik,” Charles informed him, grim faced. “Those are just the ones we currently have evidence for, I am quite confident our investigation will turn up more. Surrender and come quietly.” 

Frozen in shock, his empire crumbling like a sandcastle before a tsunami, Jeff stared at his former friend, his mouth open but no words coming out. How did they know? This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen! None of this was supposed to happen! It wasn’t part of his plan! 

His hesitation was barely noticed though, as Lee seized the moment to act. 

“You lying BASTARD!” Lee roared and flung himself at Colonel White.

In a move so seamless it had to have been practised, Captain Scarlet placed himself between Lee and Charles while Captain Blue lunged forward in a lightning fast intercept, his fist coming up into a strike to the gut that left Lee curled up on the floor in the foetal position and gasping, the air knocked from his lungs.

“Copper, cuff him, we’ll hand him over to the NYPD for attempted assault,” Blue ordered as he knelt and flipped Lee onto his front so he could pull his arms behind his back. “They can hold onto him while we figure out how complicit he is with Jefferson Tracy’s crimes.” 

“S.I.G.” A man in an orange-red tunic was already pulling a thin, coiled cable with some sort of clip on it from inside his tunic. “Think he’ll take a plea deal?” 

“Only one way to find out,” Captain Blue answered, then looked towards the head of the table. “Is everyone all right?” 

“We are,” John Svenson answered for them all. There was a strange expression flickering over his face, but it was gone before Jeff could figure out if he could capitalise on it or not. 

“Good.” Captain Blue caught Doctor Tracy’s eye. “Apologies for the disruption, ma’am.” 

“Apology accepted,” Ruth nodded to him. “Colonel White, I promise that Tracy Industries will cooperate completely with Spectrum’s investigation.”  

“Thank you, Doctor Tracy.” White nodded solemnly to her. “Captain Copper and Lieutenants Flint and Pearl will be remaining here to begin the investigation, starting with Jefferson Tracy’s office and the penthouse suite. Flint, handcuff the suspect, if you please.” 

“I’ll have someone show them the way.” Ruth’s eyes met Jeff’s and for a moment he hoped that she wouldn’t betray him, that she’d reconsider, summon security or his lawyers or say something in his defence, he was her only son after all! But in her eyes he only saw disappointment and pity, then she was turning away from him. 

“Hands out, sir,” a man in a blue-grey tunic said as he marched up, one of those thin cable cuffs already in his hands. 

Jeff was extremely aware of Scarlet and Blue squaring up to assist Flint…and he was equally aware that this time Scott wasn’t around to rein them in.

Outclassed, outgunned, outnumbered and outmanoeuvred, Jeff meekly put out his hands. 

The looped cable was placed around his wrists with practised ease, cinched to just before ‘secure’ became ‘tight’, and he was passed into Blue’s custody, his right arm seized with a firm grip.  

“Get him up and get him to the local authorities,” White ordered Flint, gesturing at Lee. “Scarlet, Blue, update Cloudbase and get the suspect downstairs. We have work to do.” 

As he was hustled away, Jeff heard Svenson start to speak again. “So, ladies and gentlemen, that vote…” 

T H U N D E R F A L L 

Kat was one of dozens of reporters waiting outside of Tracy Tower, but out of all of them she was in the best spot. She'd gotten her prime location next to the door because she’d known when the breaking news was going to drop. There were looks of respect mixed with envy from her fellows since she was the one to break the story of the century. The arrival of three red Spectrum saloons had silenced the half-tamed pack of press along with the seven stone-faced colour officers that fell into formation around the eighth. Kat's heart missed several beats as the man in white, Colonel White himself, strode past. He was the man that had given her the data stick. No one would ever believe her. Hell, she didn't believe her!

"That was White, Holy Mother of God, that was Colonel White," Hollis Lent said in an awed voice. It took a lot to awe him, he was GN's action man. He covered wars and disasters, not politics. He'd been in town for something else, but the story of Jeff Tracy being a human trafficker was the story of the year, there was no way he’d sit this one out.

Kat nodded. "Arrest warrant?" She glanced away for a moment as two New York City police cars pulled up and four officers got out and hurried in - they weren’t the ones she was waiting for so she ignored them for now.

"It's Spectrum, it can't be anything else, Cavanaugh." He gave her a half smile. "Well done on that expose, by the way. Just the facts and no mudslinging, hard to do."

Kat basked a little from the praise, but only little. She was still airing some of the dirtiest of dirty laundry and it was hurting people that didn't deserve it. She gave herself a shake and turned to her camera drone. A quick reverse to make sure she was broadcast ready, then she took a deep breath and started to report. "Good afternoon viewers, this is Kat Cavanaugh live from outside of Tracy Tower. Just moments ago a contingent of Spectrum officers entered the building. We, as yet, have no word on why they are here…" Kat doing her job got a bunch of her peers working as well and the air was filled with a dozen people talking. Mostly repeating what everyone knew: Jeff Tracy, THE Jeff Tracy was accused, by his own words, of being a human trafficker with the possibility for worse looming. Spectrum didn't get involved in minor things. "Someone’s coming out!!" Kat spun in place, microphone out to catch even the barest hint of a comment, but that comment was not to come. This time the press erupted like a volcano, not that yelling questions would work, the colour officers of Spectrum never answered and the only things the cameras would show were blobs the same colour as the tunics. Kat's heart stopped as she caught sight of the red one escorting Jeff Tracy, that was Black Hair! Just behind him was Nordic! A beat and Colonel White emerged as well, two other officers bracketing him.

The sight of Lee Taylor being escorted out by the police was noted, but the bulk of her attention was on the main story that Spectrum was bringing out. 

She’d known that Spectrum had been in on this ever since Scott visited her, but this was proof of it! Proof that she was going to have to sit on for the rest of her life, yes, but that was a small price to pay for getting the story of the year in front of the public. Kat kept the camera trained on the red car that the two captains were escorting Jeff Tracy to. The man was seething, and Kat could only hope that the officers would be far enough away that the camera could capture some of that, it’d make a perfect title card image.