Running like clockwork...

Having captured Edward William Hughes and George Chatham, enhanced members of the now deceased Billy Hill's Eastcastle Street gang, MI6s team of enhanced individuals have return to Hanslope Park and are being grilled by Major Sawdon. Mimi had been absent mindedly inspecting the brass ball discovered by Sven in George Chatham's home when she heard it click three times. MI6s team consists of Alfie Baldrick, the one man rifle section; Mimi Dubois, maîtresse of skills; Madeline Forsyth, the living shadow; and Sven Hyse, the Norwegian shapeshifter.

London, England, August 1948

I held the brass ball very still in my hands. I had only a moment before hand told Madeline that I thought that it might be an explosive device, and within minutes there were eight Baldricks stood in a tight circle around me forming a human shield. Madeline transformed herself into a shadow and slid between them and reached out for the brass device in my hand. As soon as she touched it, it also transformed into a shadow and she moved away with it, out of the window and out into the open. Once clear of anything important she released it again and backed away, and once she had confirmed that nothing was going to happen, she became solid once again and moved forwards to pick up the brass ball once again.

Back in the London safe house the phone rang again, and when Isy answered he found that he was talking to Superintendent Chapman once again. The head of the Flying Squad was prepared this time for Baldrick's unique administrative style and launched immediately into his statement;

Tell your team that I wish to talk to them face to face as soon as possible.

And before Isy could respond, the phone was hung up on him. Isy relayed the message mentally to Alfie, who in turn let the rest of the group know and we agreed that after lunch we would let the Major know that we were requested back in London. However, when we returned back to Major Sawdon's office we were met with a very hostile Sawdon. He slapped a newspaper down on the desk in front of us, the headline read: Machine gun fire in the centre of London. But it was the picture below the headline that caught my eye. In the foreground of a photograph of Eastcastle Street you could clearly see myself and Alfie, and in the background of the photograph there was another Baldrick. Most annoyingly, they had not caught my best side.

It was clear that the Major was less than pleased, a fact that could be discerned by the shade of purple that he had once again obtained, but he refrained from giving us another tongue lashing mostly due to the others that were in the room. We had been joined by Professor Vincent and Doctor Tutt, both of whom had been working with Doctor Jakobi on the enhancement method. Professor Vincent informed us that the enhancement method used to enhance both Hughes and Chatham seems to be the third method discovered to date. The first being that used at Hanslope Park, the second the one used to enhance the invisible hound of Hyde Park, and now this method that seemed to make use of uranium 235 and iodine 129. Both of these components were far more readily available than the components for the previous methods, and could mean that the process would be far easier to achieve.

While we had their attention, I asked if they had been able to ascertain why my wounds had not healed while I had borrowed Chatham's enhanced ability. They said that they had not had a chance to review the data yet, but they had ascertained that most of the newly enhanced seemed to have something wrong with them. Doctor Tutt pointed out the fact that Edward William Hughes was missing his left hand, and that it did not appear to be lost to an injury, but as a birth defect. Madeline also hands Professor Vincent the brass ball and asks if he can have one of the boffins examine it, and the Professor says that he will get it x-rayed immediately.

As Tutt and Vincent leave the room we inform Sawdon that Chapman wishes to see us in London. The Major tells us that he would like to keep the Superintendent on side, but that we are still restricted by the official secrets act and we could not share most of the details. Yet another difficult task set before us.

While the others headed to gather kit and Madeline dropped in on Vincent's boffins to see how they were progressing with the brass ball, I headed for the medical building. The Doctor's were more than happy to have me assist in determining how the enhanced powers of the captured men worked and so did not stop me from entering Edward William Hughes' room. The criminal was heavily sedated and so I pushed out with my senses and borrowed his ability to read minds, I then attempted to read the mind of the Doctor stood next to me, but realised that I could not achieve it without the constituent skill. It was then that an excruciating pain shot up my left arm.

In another building the brass ball was handed back to Madeline, the boffins having found that it seemed to be completely a clockwork device who's use could not be discerned without further investigation. Madeline takes the device into one of the blast rooms used for testing enhanced powers and winds up the device. Click, click, click, click! It stops clicking after ten turns and Madeline places the ball on the floor and a heartbeat later it flies up into the air about six feet and lands back on the floor as an inert ball once more. Madeline performs her actions again and pays close attention, now that she knows that it isn't going to explode, and spots that the engraved 'H' is forced outwards and that is what propels the brass object into the air. But what it could be used for she does not know. Once it has performed this action the brass ball seems to reset itself.

As I scream in pain, and the Doctor rushes to my side, I watch as my left hand withers and disappears leaving behind nothing but a stump. And I was not the only one who was stumped, the Doctors had no idea what had happened, or how it could even be possible, and they spent a good hour running a batch of tests on me. While they were testing, a guard was dispatched to inform the others that there had been an incident in the medical facility. By the time that they all arrived, I was looking for an excuse to get away from the Doctors and so I reminded everyone that we were urgently needed in London. Alfie looked over and said;

Why Ma'am? Are they short handed?

I refrained from shooting him on the spot, mostly due to all of the paperwork that I would have to have completed. And ten minutes later we were racing towards London with Charlie at the wheel. Alfie contacts Isy and asks him to arrange a meeting with Superintendent Chapman, moments later he lets us know that we are to go straight to the Coroners Office in Scotland Yard where Chapman will meet us.

The Coroners Office was in the basement of Scotland Yard and we found Chapman drinking a cup of tea in one of the offices. Chapman lead us through into the morgue, with bodies in various states laying on gurneys with sheets draped across them. The smell was awful, and as we passed once again Alfie piped up;

Have we come to get you a spare hand Ma'am?

I just ignored him this time, but I will admit to a small smile curling my lips. Chapman leads us into one of the autopsy rooms and on the slab in front of us is the headless corpse of Billy Hill. Chapman gestures towards the body and says;

What do you make of that?

I step forwards and inspect the neck of the body, I take my time and make an act of my inspection, while I am there I push out with my newly gained power and read the Superintendent's mind. Chapman is wondering if I will spot that the neck of the body is showing clear signs of frostbite damage, and so when I stand up I draw attention to the frost damage and extrapolate back to the frost damage and large block of ice left behind at the Battle of Heathrow. Sven asks if Hill was found with anything on him and Chapman retrieves a box from a side table and shows us everything that he had on his person. There was no identification or any personal effects, but what caught Sven's eye was a golf ball sized brass ball sat in the bottom of the box.

Sven reaches in and hands it to Madeline, Chapman asks if we have seen it before but Sven tells him that we have not. Madeline discovers that it has the same key mechanism, but in place of the 'H' that was on the first brass ball, this one seems to have a counter that is set at '00'. Madeline convinces Chapman that the device be signed over to the team for further examination, and to our surprise he agrees with little pressure. And so we head back to Hanslope Park with the brass device, and while the rest of us retire for the night, Madeline works with the boffins to discover what it does.

The following morning Madeline informs us that after testing it seems that the second brass ball when fully wound counts down from ten to zero, but does not seem to do anything else. Alfie also informs us that Special Agent Philby has contacted Isy and ordered us to attend a debrief immediately. Madeline rings the smartly dressed man and lets him know that we are at Hanslope Park and we will be at Dorset Square by midday. 

When we arrive at Dorset Square we are told that Philby wishes to interview each of us individually, and that he will see Madeline first. Later Madeline told us that she told him everything and that she had informed him that we had used our enhanced abilities to tackle the situation and maintain contact with the hijackers. She also showed him a picture of the brass ball device. Next, Special Agent Philby asked me to attend him in his office. As I was sitting down I pushed out with my senses and made sure that there were not any unknown enhanced in the area, and I breathed a sigh of relief when it was only my team mates that showed up. As Philby is questioning me I attempt to read his mind but I realise that he has sensed that something is amiss when he looked up from his notes straight at me. And so in fear of being discovered I cease my attempt.

I am followed by Sven, who fills in the details of following the postal van and cars back to the criminals hideout. And finally, Alfie is summoned into Philby's office. Philby pushes him on the machine gun fire and Alfie replys;

They fired a machine gun at us sir! Hitting Miss Dubois sir!

Special Agent Philby leaps on this confession;

And then you returned fire! With a machine gun! In the centre of London! Endangering pedestrians?

Corporal Alfie Baldrick can do nothing but agree and Philby angrily tells him that effective immediately he is to hand in all machine guns in the teams possession. Alfie gets Charlie to get the guns from the back of the car and hand them into the smartly dressed man. When his aide tells him that the guns have been handed in, and Philby realises that Alfie has not left his office, he starts to press Baldrick on his abilities.