Ep 1

DI Nixon and his sidekick sergeant Percy were extremely worried men.
As they watched, the crowds gathering in Market Street the DI said quietly, “I hope the weather holds off. Damn rain would ruin everything.”

His sergeant nodded.

“Why the PM wants to come here baffles me sir.”

“You know what politicians are like Percy. They love to be in the spotlight.”

The DI thought for a moment.

“All the working girls have been removed?”

“Yes sir. They left easily enough. We also have sharp shooters on the roof. There is one fly in the ointment though.”

“Oh yes?”

Percy pointed across the street.

“Grant and Charly are here sir.”

“I suspect they just want to enjoy the event Percy. Keep an eye on them though.”

Within the crowds, Grant stuck out like a sore thumb. He was middle-aged and sported a long grey beard. His multi coloured poncho was his familiar trademark.

Charly stood to his right, as dark clouds rolled overhead.

“How long do you think she will be?” Grant asked.

“I suspect the glass blowers are keeping her fully occupied my boy.”

The distant wail of police sirens rent the air, indicating that Britain’s second female PM was en-route at last. As Charly watched, two police motorcyclists appeared, followed soon after by a gleaming black Mercedes.

“About ruddy time,” Grant grumbled.

The large crowd cheered, and flags were waived, as the PM’s driver brought the official vehicle to a halt. As she stepped onto the pavement, flash bulbs cracked as the photographers jostled to get a better shot. The town’s mayor waited patiently as the PM turned and smiled for the camera.

The sudden clatter of hooves took everyone by surprise. As eyes turned, a gleaming white charger thundered toward the startled politician. Upon that steed, and enclosed in black armour rode the Knight of old. As the security boys reached for their handguns, the knight raised the sword and expertly beheaded the PM with ease.
Before anyone could react, the terrible apparition faded from view.
Women fainted as the crowd surged against the barriers. The bloody head, with a surprised look upon its face, rolled into the gutter as DI Nixon and Percy grabbed the horrified mayor and led him rapidly into the waiting vehicle.

Charly and Grant stood aghast at the killing. Like everyone else that day, this was the last thing they had expected.

The crowds smashed the barrier down, trampling several children underfoot. The crowd ran for their lives as the crime scene was rapidly sealed off.

Only Charly and Grant stood their ground. When the DI returned, eyes gazing at the loose head, he spotted them at once.

“Grab those two now!”

Armed police ran forward and pulled the startled onlookers across the road, as the grisly head was carefully removed.

“We saw what you saw Nixon,” Charly said. “No need to grab us.”

“What about our civil rights?” Grant protested.

“Suspended,” the DI said. “I should have known that something crazy would happen by your very presence.”

“You are becoming paranoid,” Charly said. “I suppose you think we arranged all that.”

“Why else be here?” Nixon replied. “You are going into protective custody. Don’t bother asking for a phone call either. You ruddy well won’t get it!”

Protesting their innocence, the suspects were hauled into a waiting panda car and driven off at high speed toward the station. A moment later, an ambulance arrived, and Percy watched as the body was carried inside.

“What a bloody mess!” the DI yelled.

“You are not to blame sir. No one could have foreseen this.”

“I was in charge of security you clot. Who else will take the rap?”
Only a week before, Triad had warned him of certain consequences if anything went wrong.

“What are we going to do to Grant and Charly?” Percy asked.
Nixon’s face went bright red.

“Wring the ruddy truth out of them. Mark my words sergeant. Those two are up to their necks in this affair.”
 
Ep 2

Instead of being taken to the interview room, the suspects were marched straight to the cells and thrown inside. As Grant gave the door a hefty kick, Charly said, “There is no need for that mate.”

Grant swung around.

“That oaf should be struck off. If he has his way, we’ll be shot trying to escape.”

“They would not dare.”

“Oh yeah? Killing the PM is still a capital offence.”

Charly looked worried now. As Grant paced the squalid little cell, he said quietly, “I hope Christine is alright.”

“You are worried about the cat at a time like this?”

“I always worry about her. As for Nixon, well...He knows that we are innocent.”

Grant slammed the cell door with his fist.

“Tell that to the cleaner then.”

Charly sat upon the floor and started to think.

“Fancy a ghost doing a thing like that.”

As Grant joined him, he said, “You seriously expect me to believe that? Ghosts don’t kill.”

“I’m not so sure mate. That knight was certainly out of place you know. Appears from nowhere. Vanishes into nowhere. If you have a better explanation, let me hear it.”

“As a matter of fact I don’t. Hold up, someone is coming.”

They stood quickly as the door was unlocked. Percy and Nixon entered the cell looking quite grim.

“I want a full confession within the hour.”

“You must be out of your mind,” Grant said.

“A plea of insanity will not work now mate,” Percy warned.

“How could we have arranged that?” Charly asked.

“Oh I don’t know,” the DI said. “Perhaps you had help from your friends at military intelligence.”

Charly laughed.

“You are mad.”

“Just tell us how it was done. That’s all we want,” the DI continued.

“Charly thinks a ghost did it.”

The officers stared at Grant in mute surprise.

“That is the best explanation for what we witnessed,” Charly added.

“A ghost of a medieval knight returns to murder the PM?” Nixon asked. “That will never stand up in court.”

Grant stepped forward.

“The way that I see it. We will both be dead by then.”

The DI shook his head.

“Is that really the best you can come up with?”

“What’s your theory?” Charly asked.

“At the moment I don’t have one. Perhaps searching your flat will solve that little difficulty.”

Charly grimaced and reached inside his trench coat. He found the phone card and handed it over.

“Phone that number.”

The DI gazed at the card and then tore it up.

“If you think Triad can help you get out of this, I’m extremely sorry to disappoint.”

The officers left the cell, and the door was slammed shut.

“Were you serious about us being dead by then?”

“Deadly serious,” Grant replied. “He intends to dispose of us both now.”

DI Nixon and Sergeant Percy entered the flat slowly. Two armed officers had smashed the door open, causing the petrified cat to flee behind the lounge sofa.

“What are we looking for sir?” an officer asked.

“Any device that could create that apparition. Any files that show a design for such a machine.”

As the search got underway, Christine trembled, wondering where her loving daddy had got to.

Elsewhere that grim morning, events were turning truly hellish.

Ep 3

The modern baths were located on Tressle Street. A modern complex by any standard, it had recently been completed to commemorate the diamond jubilee of Queen Elizabeth the Second.

Zack was a plucky twelve year old kid who had thwarted a bank robbery the year before. For such an act, he had been awarded a bravery medal, and free use of the town’s pool. As he looked across the packed water, he grumbled.

“How can I swim with this lot?”

Mothers swam with children as the lifeguards watched for signs of distress or trouble. Zack wandered up to a familiar face.

“Pretty busy today Paul.”

The lifeguard looked down.

“Seems like it Zack. No space for your lengths today.”

“Perhaps I should dive bomb them?”

“Don’t you dare,” Paul replied. “That is banned. As well you know.”

Zack sat at the edge, his feet dangling into the lukewarm water.

“Can’t you raise the temperature?”

Paul chuckled.

“Afraid of the cold are we? Go on boy, get under.”

Zack slipped into the pool, feet treading the disturbed water. A young lad next to him, splashed water into his youthful face.

“Do you mind mate?”

“Sorry.”

Zack let go of the side and swam a short distance before stopping again. Here in the deep end, the floor was seven feet down. Zack was well out of his depth.

A family of four were playing around, the two kids wearing the orange armbands that kept them afloat. Usually this was banned in the deep end, but today the rule had been relaxed.

Zack managed to swim toward them, as the grotesque mother lifted her blubber-filled arm to smack her son. A dark sinister shape, unseen by everyone, swam from the pool floor and headed straight for her.
Zack was treading water now, unsure of how to get past when the woman let out a hellish scream. She suddenly went under as the water turned a bloody red.

“Crikey!” Zack yelled as her head bobbed up again.

“Help me!!!” she screamed.

Zack turned and made for the edge as teeth lined jaws surfaced. The mother’s leg was within its mouth as Zack glanced back. To his utter horror, the prehistoric shape of the alligator twisted in a death roll, as the mother was pulled under once more.

Pandemonium erupted at once. The lifeguards blew whistles to clear the pool as the helpless victim was torn to shreds. Zack made for the side, hauling himself out as the crowd followed suit.

When the pool was at last cleared, only blood remained. The gator had vanished from sight.

Ep 4

“We have searched the entire flat sir,” the officer reported. “Nothing unusual has been found.”

DI Nixon was livid.

“There must be something. My gut is telling me that those two are behind this.”

“We could search again,” Percy suggested.

“Do that. Take more care eh?”

Nixon heard his radio activate and answered it briskly.

“What do you want?”

The female dispatcher’s voice was trembling.

“A swimmer was killed by an alligator in the Jubilee pool sir.”

“What do you mean by gator? Don’t talk nonsense.”

“That’s the report sir. You had better get over there.”

Nixon deactivated it and took Percy by the arm.

“Keep them at it. I have to check out some damn silly report from the pool.”

When he arrived, only the lifeguards remained. Police divers had recovered the torn remains of the unhappy victim. Now covered with a sheet, the DI threw it back.

“What a ruddy mess.”

“Witnesses saw a gator tear her to shreds,” an officer told him.

“How is that possible? Where is it?”

The officer shook his head.

Nixon walked to the nearest lifeguard, who happened to be Paul.

“What did you see?”

“One moment, everything was normal. Then this woman started hollering. I blew my whistle and shouted for everyone to get out.”

“Then what happened?”

Paul was now visibly shaking.

“I saw this dark animal, a gator, break surface. It rolled and tore her leg right off.”

“How do you know what a gator looks like?”

Paul closed his eyes.

“I have seen enough of them on wildlife programmes.”

Nixon stepped away as the doctor approached.

“Can we talk sir?”

In a small corner, the medic gave his grim conclusion.

“No person did that to her. The bite radius, the savage attack, and the witnesses all point to one predator.”

“A gator?”

“Definitely. Though where it came from and how it escaped is another matter.”

“How long would you say it was?”

“Oh about twelve feet.”

Nixon stroked his hair in confusion.

“Such a thing is just not possible.”

“Tell that to the victim sir. She certainly did not do this to herself.”

As the medic wandered off, Nixon realised that his case against
Charly and Grant had completely collapsed. Something far more sinister was ongoing. He remembered tearing up the white card and quickly regretted it. He activated his radio and called the search off.
 
Ep 5

DI Nixon led the suspects from the cell himself. Once outside, the ashen faced officer said, “I have ordered repairmen to refit your door by the way. We will pay the bill.”

“I just hope Christine is okay.”

“Christine?” the DI asked.

“My cat.”

“We should sue the *** of them,” Grant suggested.

The DI gave him a withering look.

“What brought about the change in heart Nixon?”

“We had a gator attack at the pool.”

“Did you catch the animal?”

The DI shook his head.

“It vanished, just like the knight.”

“We need Triad,” Charly suggested.

“I don’t know how to contact her. Sorry about the card.”

“No worries. You know sir; this thing is bigger than the both of us.”

As they wandered off, Charly swung round.

“I promise you this. One day we will be forced to work together.”
As the DI entered the station, Grant asked, “What now?”

“Back to the flat to see the repair job and check on Christine. After that a coffee break.”

“I meant the strange events.”

Charly glanced at him.

“Someone is obviously warping reality. How we catch him is a bit of a problem.”

Charly found the new door fitted and once inside, the cat appeared from its hiding place.

“Hello darling. Sorry for being late. We were eh, out of touch. Fancy a coffee Grant?”

“I could kill for one thanks.”

Once the beverage had been drunk, the two friends started working on the perplexing mystery.

“How does one go about warping reality?”

Charly smiled.

“For a start it would need some serious tech. I don’t know anyone who could build such a machine.”

“Einstein did suggest that space and time can be warped by gravity,” Grant pointed out.

“I know that. Perhaps we are dealing with matter transmission?”

“If such a thing exists,” Grant added. “Only the military would own it.”

“I agree with you there. Point is though, why test it here?”

“After what has happened recently, this town would be perfect.”

As the two friends continued the discussion, the Russian space agency had problems of their own...
 
Ep 6

Nikov 2 was the latest in spy technology. Designed for the Russian military, it had been safely in orbit for more than a year. Only weeks before, a photo taken by the satellite had caused a global sensation. For the Whitehouse it was highly embarrassing.

The photo had clearly showed the president quietly sunbathing in the nude. Of course, denials were quickly issued. Until a second photo was published. A photo of his face!

In the control room, the project head was reviewing the latest photos when a technician shouted over.

“We seem to have a problem sir.”

Dimitri joined him at once.

“A thruster has activated for no reason. Our child is in de-orbit.”

“That is not possible,” Dimitri protested. “Countermand it.”

“I tried sir. Nikov 2 is not responding.”

As they watched the screen, the vector clearly showed an impact location. Somewhere in England.

“We have to warn the president now,” the technician said.

Dimitry knew why of course. This satellite was nuclear powered. He ran to the phone and snatched it up.

“Get me President Virkov right now!”

The technician watched as the satellite spiralled toward certain destruction.

Within the flat,the discussion was about to reach its logical climax.

“Look Grant, reality is a bit like snooker. We usually pot the red, but once in a while we pot the cue ball.”

“I follow that.”

“Since this morning we have been potting the cue ball.”

“So how do we reset the game?” Grant asked.

Charly was about to reply when the very air began to vibrate.

“Is that a quake?” Grant asked.

“I doubt it. Hear that?”

Christine pricked her fluffy ears and darted for the safety of the cat box as a roar filled the room. Charly dashed to the window and gazed out.

“It’s a ruddy fireball!”

As Grant joined him, the satellite smashed through the thin cloud layer and annihilated the monastery. As the mushroom cloud rose skyward, the two friends reeled back in shock.

“This is not happening!” Charly shouted. “Reality cannot be this skewed!”

He whirled around and saw his friend stagger.

“What’s up with you?”

“I really don’t feel well mate. I seem to be warming up.”

As Charly watched, his friend’s face started to become distorted. The skin seemed to liquefy and run down his trembling cheeks. A pool of goo began to form around him as his body disintegrated. Now left alone, Charly felt the onset of terror.

“I must stay sane!” he yelled. “Grant’s mini is still outside.
Perhaps I can get away!”

He picked up the keys from the coffee table and dashed for the front door. Once outside the block, he dashed into the open road. The sound of screeching brakes pierced his eardrums and he whirled around.

A low dark hearse was bearing down at high speed. Charly threw up his arms helplessly as it struck. He was tossed into the air and onto the cold concrete as the vehicle sped off into the distance. Residents dashed out and a kind old man felt the victim’s wrist.

“I’m afraid he is dead.”

It is a matter of fact, that hearing is the last sense to depart as the human body reaches the gateway to death. For Charly, it was no different.

Within that terrible, inky darkness, an alarm clock shrilled its warning...

Drama no 6, shall follow....

author's note...This is follow up to Killer in the night...Happy reading...

This story questions the nature of our reality..Should trigger a philosophical debate...Eagle eyed readers will easily spot biographic info in these dramas..Here is a clue..Christine now ex-wife..Cat description correct..Her name is viola...Flat description correct..Can you spot the rest..Not all of these dramas are fiction...