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Behind the Scenes of
All’s Fair
by Denise Felt 2011
I dedicated this story to Amelia Rodgers, who UFO fanfic writers know is the one who began the first ever UFO writers group way back in 2000, calling it The Write Mice. She loves mice, so I commandeered that for my story. It fit right in having a small white mouse running around HQ, so as a way to thank her for giving me the idea, this story is for her.
I don’t normally write monster stories, and here’s why. I think human beings can be monstrous enough for anyone to tackle in a lifetime. I don’t want to add superhuman baddies into the mix. However, this plot idea came to me last fall, although at the time I couldn’t get it to go anywhere past the first few scenes. Luckily for me, our wonderful forum leader issued a challenge to write a monster story for April. So I dusted off this idea and started over, keeping only the prologue and seeing where I could take it from there. To my surprise it flowed quite easily, and within just a few days, I wrote this tale. There are those who say a good story can’t be written in a short time, but to them I say, “Maybe you can’t, but I can!”
Prologue – I don’t tell right off where we are, so the reader isn’t sure who to root for here: the monster or Kardros. But I hope by the end of this short section, they are quite aware where they are. And maybe they’re wondering what can of worms Straker has opened this time?
Chapter 1 – My original storyline didn’t have Jimmy. And I think that’s where I went wrong, because he’s such a delightful part of this story. I raised two boys, and after their toddler years, their tween years were the best! So curious about everything, so adventurous, so full of pluck and fun! I tried to embody Jimmy with all of that, plus make him that extra bit special by being a role playing game nut. Jimmy’s name is actually taken from one of my sons, who is James Gerald. So Jimmy Geraldson works well here. And like this Jimmy, no one ever called him James. He had too friendly a smile for that kind of formality.
Children do not have the narrow thinking of adults. When confronted with the impossible, they’re much more willing to accept it at face value. I still recall the first time my family watched Babe. Afterward, my darling daughter (who was 11) asked me how they got the animals to talk for the movie. It was a moment I’ve never forgotten, and it made me realize anew how sweet the realm of childhood truly is. In this story, confronted with a creature that doesn’t exist, Jimmy just asks if it’s as fierce as he’s been told!
Enter Jimmy’s older sister, Shannon. I don’t state her age, but it’s obvious that she must be in her later teens by the comments she makes about what she thinks he’s up to in the woods. In the 1980's, those were about the worst things kids could get into trouble over. My, how times have changed! Jimmy tries to get rid of her, but when that’s unsuccessful, he abandons Xen in favor of saving his sister from her wrath. Such a good boy!
Next we see the truly fun part of Xen’s nature. She’s a shape shifter. I love words, and ‘chimera’ is a wonderful word that has really intriguing meanings, one of which is that it’s an illusion, a dream, or something from your imagination. So to me, the chimera of legend had to be a shape shifter, even though mythology never painted it that way. In this way, I could have a monster story without having some enormous unwieldy creature running about. It was a win-win situation.
Chapter 2 – Enter Straker, stage left. The poor man is going about his daily routine at the studio, little knowing the fate that is heading his way. But the reader knows! And we get an idea why the commander was so interested in a boy’s drawing of a rocket when he tells Miss Ealand his hopes for Billy. Perhaps Straker is being a bit ruthless here in appropriating a child’s imagination to help him with SHADO, but I think we would all agree that if Earth was ever threatened for real, it wouldn’t matter to us where the means to protect it came from – even if it came from the mind of a child.
In a few of the episodes of UFO, we get a glimpse of the types of movies Harlington-Straker puts out. I think Gerry Anderson had a great time mocking studio life when he showed the commander bored to tears over a fish documentary (Reflections in the Water) or dealing with prima donna actors in a weekly TV show (Mindbender.) I’ve never seen Straker as the sort of man who would allow his studio to be such a farce, so in my stories, the studio is doing a brisk business at a time when other studios were closing down. That sounds more like the commander to me. However, for this tale I wanted the studio to be doing just the types of awful movies depicted at the beginning of A Question of Priorities: B-rated horror and sci-fi. The title for the sci-fi movie Straker says the rocket will be used for comes from the name of the planet in the old Flash Gordon comics.
Everything’s going well, then the commander notices a small nose peeking out of Jimmy’s shirt pocket. Enter the small white mouse, Xen. Suddenly the scene has changed from a really sweet one where Straker is compensating Billy for his brilliant design – to something altogether different. Danger has entered the room, but still no one but the reader is quite aware of that (even Jimmy, who doesn’t know why Xen wanted to meet Straker.) However, the scene ends without bloodshed, and the boys go off to eat ice cream. And the commander goes down to his real job in HQ. Whew! Danger narrowly averted! Or is it?
I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it a hundred times more, but I love to write scenes between Straker and Freeman! They had such fun in the series bantering back and forth, exploring the dynamic of their friendship. I can’t help but continue in the same manner, making their interchanges just as playful and ornery.
In this scene, we hear for the first time that Straker has been in grave danger recently from the aliens. Is this a reference to his time on the alien planet? Will chimeras be mentioned? No. The commander in typical fashion waves away Alec’s concern, assuring him that he’ll be fine. Earth will be fine. But Alec and the readers know that he’s not seeing the whole picture. The aliens are craftier than he thinks.
I don’t know why Alec is afraid of mice. But for this tale at least, he wanted to be, so I let him. It added a touch of humor to a point in the story where the reader is once more aware that danger is present. And yes, when Straker says, “You’re safe now, Alec. The monster’s caught,” he is more accurate than he knows.
Then we find out that the commander isn’t truly as ruthless as he may have seemed. He doesn’t feel as though they’ve rewarded Billy as much as he deserves for his help to SHADO. But Alec is right there, defending his actions, and further shows us his knowledge of the commander by telling us what more Straker intends to do for the boy in the years ahead. And all the while they are talking, a tiny mouse is taking in every word.
The chapter ends with Xen revealing herself to him – this time in human form.
Chapter 3 – This is a subtle story, so it’s just possible that some will get to this chapter and not understand what changed Xen’s mind about Straker. But I hope that the majority of readers will have caught on to what Xen saw when she watched the commander with the boys and with his friend. He’s a good man, as the elderly lady in A Question of Priorities said in the original script. And Xen knows it now.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how the commander dealt with a naked woman in his office – especially a naked shape shifting woman! In true Straker fashion, he was (at least outwardly) calm and handed her his jacket. God, I could so see him doing that!
During the reveal, we see clearly the difference between Straker’s way of thinking and the aliens’. He would never have attacked such magnificent creatures, as he calls them, but would have enlisted their aid in the war. And here we see why the aliens won’t win this war; because they are nothing more than bullies, destroying everything in their path, and quite incapable of valuing anything for its true worth. They even fight amongst themselves. Short-sighted? Beyond that, Commander. They’re stupid.
Epilogue – This story is much shorter than my usual ones, but it didn’t need to be drawn out, so I didn’t. Xen says good-bye to Jimmy, and we see what sort of creature he flew on when he went to England: a griffin. I love griffins and always wanted one for a pet. But my mother could never find one for me, so I had to do without. In this story, I can fly with Jimmy over the ocean on the back of a gorgeous griffin (which is so much better than a cramped airplane!), so it’s almost as good as having a griffin of my own for a while.
We learn from Billy how he spent his windfall. Like the genius he is, he spent it in ways that would help him get better at what he does best: design rockets. And we also learn that he’s already working on another design. Is there another check from HS Studios in his future? Who knows.
Then we find out that Jimmy isn’t the only one who makes a new animal friend because of Xen’s visit. Straker has a pet mouse. Although that’s not who is running up his chest. *grin* This very risque ending to the story completely shocked my beta tester, who didn’t see it coming. But for me, it sets the seal on a very delightful romp – one that I thoroughly enjoyed writing from start to finish! Will there be a sequel? Probably not, since I don’t want to detract from the imaginings of my readers by telling them what happens next. *snicker* But I have found that it’s foolish to say ‘never’ in the writing world, so I won’t. Instead, I’ll say, “Stay tuned!”
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