Sapphire and Tully sit in the station, and Sapphire telepathically notices something. She goes outside and Tully asks her what's wrong.
On the platform, more flowers appear.
Sapphire tells Tully that there's something the matter with Steel. They go out on the platform, and Sapphire tells Tully to ignore them. The whistling starts and she tells Tully to ignore that we ll. Sapphire calls to Steel but gets no response, and the whistling continues. Tully wants to talk to the soldier, but Sapphire tells him to wait and telepathically tells Steel to try and tell her what has happened. There's no response, and she goes up the stairs and they hear a submarine ship's bell.
They reach the room and Tully insists on going in first. They enter the room but there's no sign of Steel, and Sapphire tasks Tully to check the other rooms on the floor for anything strange. Once he leaves, Sapphire touches the chair where Steel was. She finds the dead pilot that has possessed Steel, and Steel tells her to take time back. Sapphire takes his hand and does so, and Sapphire finds herself standing in mid-air holding the pilot's hands. Steel regains control of his body and Tully and Sapphire come in. Tully realizes what originally happened and goes to check the rooms, and Sapphire help Steel to remember. He jumps, startled, and Sapphire says that a new recruit was sitting in the chair. She describes the pilot but couldn't sense any connections between him and the station, and tells Steel that he almost died.
Tully returns and says that there are no lights. Steel says that it's time to get the lights working and tells Tully to light one light with a match and the others are waiting to be lit. Tully lights the lamp and nothing happens, but when he gets down all of the lights light up. Steel asks Sapphire if she sensed anything at all human, and she admits that there wasn't enough time. She thinks that the sound came from a compartment on the submarine, and Steel turns the tape recorder on and plays the sounds that it picked up. They listen to the two young men run out of air and Sapphire realizes that they're young sailors. She believed that they died earlier than what she and Tully experienced, when the electrical supply to the submarine failed. Steel points out that young men are expected to die in war so they can't be using that, and figures that it's allowing the ghosts to use it to fight them. Each one has his own individual resentment and the Soldier is acting as the spokesman for them. Steel points out that the Soldier hasn't asked anything from them... yet.
Sapphire remembers that the Great War ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day on the 11th month. There were four 11s written on the window, and Steel suggests that the ghost feels too sorry for itself. He figures that the Thing they're facing made the wrong choice with the Soldier, and that he can bring those feelings out by making things really irritating for him. Sapphire disagrees, but Steel just tells her to watch the platform and let him now when she see the Soldier.
Steel tells Tully to sing and cheer the place up a bit, and explains that they're going to bring the Soldier to them by singing his song, but liven things up a bit. Tully isn't interested, but Steel tells him that he can't do it without him and Tully reluctantly sings. Steel joins in, pounding on a metal bucket with a stick. The two men march out onto the platform
The Soldier appears in the station and goes up the stairs, then disappears. The lights go out and Sapphire, noticing, goes out in the hallway and watches as he lights there go out. The Soldier appears in front of her, then turns and disappears.
Steel and Tully continue singing, but Tully finally stops and whispers to the ghost, saying that he didn't want to do it. The Soldier appears in the station, and Tully asks it to bring back the flowers. A flare lights the platform, and a grenade rolls out of the darkness. A submachinegun opens fire and Tully runs inside and up the stairs. Steel realizes that it's Tully and calls to him.
Tully finds Sapphire unconscious on the floor, and his coat disappears. He collapses to the floor, gasping, and crawls to Sapphire.
Steel hears men laughing and investigates. An unseen figure walks past him and voices talk in the darkness. Steel goes upstairs and finds Tully and Sapphire unconscious on the floor. The Element holds up his hands, trying to sense a presence, and then removes his jacket and reaches out toward Tully. The jacket transforms into a sweater, and the Soldier walks past.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 24, 2018