Deep in the jungle of Papua New Guinea, the residents of a small traditional wooden-built village slept peacefully in their beds. It was as old-fashioned as it was possible to be. No street lights, no cars, not even a tarmac road leading into it. The residents didn't want to be a big part of the modern world so they travelled around either by foot or by horse and cart, sometimes even an ox.

For decades, this sleepy little village had been left in peace. No trouble from rival farmers or neighbouring villages of any kind. But on this particular night – that was about to change.

A lone bald-headed figure pushed his way through the bushes and trees that lined the small valley where the village was located and looked down at the houses below which were only just visible in the faint glow of the gas lamps. The figure was The Hood, and he wasn't there to buy some of the locally-grown products.

"Excellent," The Hood said out loud to himself. "This will do very nicely."

The communicator in The Hood's ear crackled. "Boss, it's done," said the voice of Transom. "The Eastern side of the valley is covered in oil."

"Well done, Transom," said The Hood. "Mullion?"

"All done, sir," Mullion answered. "Western side all covered. There's no way they'll be getting out of this."

"Good," said The Hood. "Get back to the Hubship and wait for me there."

The Hood then produced a long wooden stick with some oily rags wrapped around the end of it. Holding it firmly in his left hand, he took out a cigarette lighter and set the rags alight before throwing it down onto the ground in front of him. The flames caused a bush to go up in flames and thanks to the carefully laid oil trail along both sides of the valley, it spread out rapidly in both directions until it had surrounded the village.

Alerted by the night watchman, the villagers ran out of their houses to see the bright orange flames burning the bushes and the trees. There was no way they could get out. They were trapped.

Satisfied with his work, The Hood returned to his Hubship and rejoined Mullion and Transom. Once aboard, the ship lifted up off the ground before heading back towards their secret base in Malaysia. As they did so, they left behind a small black object with little rotor-blades and rocket engines.

"Do you think it'll work?" Transom asked.

The Hood chuckled. "Of course it will, Transom," he said with confidence. "They never fail to respond to those in distress."


Up in orbit, Thunderbird 5 was making one of its regular scans of the planet. Kaylee was sleeping whilst Becky and Katrina were having a rest in the lounge overlooking the Earth.

"It's so beautiful, isn't it?" Becky asked.

"All those billions of people down there," Katrina remarked. "Worrying about their jobs. Paying the bills. Cursing their next door neighbours' dog for barking all night. And yet here we are up here without any of those problems at all."

"Good jobs, good pay and no dogs," agreed Becky. "No dogs in space."

Katrina chuckled slightly. "There are cats on the Moon," she said.

Becky nearly spat her coffee out. "Say what?!" she exclaimed in astonishment.

"There are cats in Lunar-1," Katrina said.

"Shut up are you kidding me?!" said Becky wiping the coffee splashes off her uniform. "There can't surely be mice on the Moon?!"

Katrina laughed. "No, there aren't," she said. "But Commander Blake has cats. Three of them I believe. A male, a female and a young kitten."

Becky was at a complete loss for words. "Well…" she said once she'd found her voice. "Now I really have heard it all!"

Katrina just chuckled.

Kaylee wasn't having a good night. Normally sleeping was not a problem aboard Thunderbird 5, but tonight she was really struggling. She wasn't ill though, just having some bad memories flowing through her mind. She sat up, rubbed her eyes and pulled a photo out from her bedside table. It showed her with a blonde-haired woman and a dark-haired man. The man was wearing a military uniform.

Kaylee sniffed and a tear trickled down her cheek. "Miss you, Dad," was all she could say.

Kerry and Kelly were the only ones on duty at this moment in time. Kelly was monitoring radio frequencies and scanners when they detected something. "Kerry, I've got something," she said. "You need to see this."

"Where is it?" asked Kerry.

"Papua New Guinea," said Kelly. "Looks like a possible forest fire near one of the remote villages."

Kerry moved the holographic globe round so that she was looking at Papua New Guinea. She then activated the long-range satellite camera and gasped. It showed an aerial view of the valley with the village inside it along with the orange ring of fire that surrounded it.

"Oh, my God!" Kerry said. "This is serious. The nearest emergency services are miles away." She then pressed the IR symbol on her gold sash. "International Rescue, this is Thunderbird 5 – we have a situation!"

5! (DUN)

4! (DUN)

3! (DUN)

2! (DUN)

1! (RUMBLE)

*Thunderbirds theme plays*

"THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!"