THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO PT II
"London International Airport from International Rescue, I am approaching you from the East and request permission to land."
"International Rescue?" Controller Norman asked quizzically. "Who in blazes are International Rescue?" He then reopened the radio link. "International Rescue, what is the purpose of your organisation? We need more information before we grant you permission to land."
"Name kind of gives it away" Virgil muttered, causing Alan to laugh in the back, but Virgil continued. "London, there are 600 people up the air that you cannot bring down without causing a major emergency- you may not have the equipment but we do. We're the only hope of saving everyone onboard."
Norman took a moment to think, but soon came to his decision. "OK International Rescue, you have permission to land. What is your plan of action?"
"Before we begin" Virgil said, making sure he was in control, "I need your assurance that there will be no photographs taken of my organisation's aircraft. It is imperative that our operational details remain confidential. Secondly, I need an open link channel to Fireflash so that we can co-ordinate the rescue."
"Understood International Rescue." He turned to his colleagues. "Svensson, get airport police on the phone, make sure the International Rescue craft is protected at all times." He then turned back to his radio station. "Fireflash from London control, I am going to be putting you through to an open radio channel- we may just have a solution to your situation."
"Roger London." Hanson replied. "Fireflash standing by."
"Fireflash from International Rescue, can you give me a full overview of your current situation?"
"International Rescue?" Matthews questioned, but Hanson ignored him.
"I'm going to guess you know the main points of our situation: The main problem is our radiation shielding. Whilst we could stay up here for 6 months with these Atomic engines, our radiation shielding is going to need replacing in... 12 minutes, otherwise we're done for. We can't bring our landing gear down without detonating the bomb, we can't set up an emergency landing because the resistive friction will be enough to set off the bomb, and we can't stay up here for much longer either."
"If we were to land Fireflash on a set of moving platforms, and take away the resistive friction, would you be able to land without setting off the bomb?" Virgil asked, having now landed Thunderbird 2.
"I suppose it would be a better option than any of the others." Hanson conceded. "Is that your plan?"
"It's our best option." Virgil then turned to Alan. "Alan, head down to the control centre and set up a mobile control, I'll go configure the elevator car pods."
"FAB Virgil." Alan said, disappearing into the back of the craft as he made his way out.
The Hood had been waiting for this very moment. He opened up the bag he had stashed in the grass, and pulled out the guard uniform. They were expecting security to guard Thunderbird 1, but he was going to be doing quite the opposite. Quietly and inconspicuously, he made his way down to the cordoned off zone; With his uniform and mask on, nobody gave him a second look until he reached the entrance to the craft.
"Hey" The guard said, "I don't recognise you. You must be new here?"
"Yes" The Hood said, "Of course. I was instructed to stand guard, inside the aircraft by our superiors."
"Yeah, I don't think so. Show me your identification... Identi... Id..." The words trailed off as the guard started to lose consciousness, The Hood's yellow, piercing eyes draining his energy. As soon as the guard dropped to the floor, The Hood stepped inside, and took it all in.
"The automatic camera detector!" Scott shouted, "Somebody is photographing the instrument panels of Thunderbird 1!"
"Security we have a breach" Slater said down his radio, "Somebody is photographing the International Rescue craft, they must be apprehended immediately." Slater left the radio channel open for a response, when suddenly there was gunfire, the bullet noise echoing around the room.
"Dr Slater... This is Grobzcyk. The intruder, blasted his way past us and stole one of the research helicopters, heading North. We're 2 men KIA, Halstridge is badly hurt too..."
"Gordon!" Scott commanded, "Stay here and keep preparing the SRXE and cutting gear for rescue. We've got to stop the person who took those photos and make sure he can't cause any more damage."
"I'm going to take a team outside" Slater said, gathering men.
"What are the current Oxygen levels inside the chamber?" Gordon asked, before Slater had left.
"26%. And it's falling faster all the time."
Lady Penelope sat in her chair, cigarette in one hand and wine glass in the other, taking in her expansive living area. It had always amazed her how big it actually was, and she was forever finding new rooms or passageways, each with its own secrets. Life had been quite quiet recently- she hadn't had a visitor for a couple of weeks, and none of the organisations she was a patron for had required her for an activity in the same time. She was dying for some action soon.
"I 'ope I'm not disturbing you, m'lady?" Came a voice from the doorway. It was Parker, her butler. He was quite possibly the last person you would expect to be a butler, with him being an expert safecracker and burglar, but after she had caught him trying to break into her Mansion, she decided to give him a chance at redemption, and so far he hadn't let her down. Besides, his connections into the criminal underworld were invaluable.
"Not at all Parker" She said softly. "What is the problem?"
"International Rescue are calling for you m'lady, shall I let the call through?"
"Of course Parker." She switched on her pocket transceiver. "Lady Penelope to International Rescue, how may I be of assistance?"
"Lady Penelope" Came Scott's voice from the other end, "Somebody has taken off in a helicopter with photographs of Thunderbird 1 and is heading in your direction, request that you stop this person escaping at all costs."
Finally, she though, there was going to be some action. "Of course Scott, I'll be on it right away." She stood up and turned to Parker, stubbing out her cigarette. "Parker, get the Rolls. We're going on a little assignment."
Alan was now up in the control room of London Airport, with Virgil down in the pod finishing the setup of the Elevator Cars.
"How's it going down there?" Alan asked, impatient to get the rescue started.
"I'm almost there, the remote Elevator Cars need to configure themselves and then I'll be ready."
"Well hurry up Virgil, we don't have long left."
"I know. 4 minutes. I've been counting." There was a pause- Alan didn't know how to respond- but fortunately Virgil broke the silence, a triumphant cry as the Elevator Cars burst into life.
"Thunderbirds are go!" He screamed buoyantly as the cars drove out of the pod and onto the runway.
"OK Fireflash" Alan said over the radio, "The Elevator Cars are in place. Begin final approach to London Airport, use runway 2-9."
"Bring crash crews to the centre of 2-9" Norman added.
"Message understood" Hanson said, preparing the controls to land. "The radiation safety factor is down to just 2 minutes, so we only have one attempt at this. Our lives are in your hands now International Rescue."
Scott and Gordon emerged from the lab, packed with enough equipment to take down the entire building. Gordon, with a giant tank hooked onto his uniform, was carrying an industrial hose, whilst Scott had 3 gas canisters strapped to his back and 2 plasma torch cutters. Dr Slater had joined them with a battering ram, all 3 of them dressed head to toe in fireproof Hazmat suits.
"You ready to do this?" Scott asked Slater as they proceeded to the first door.
"You bet I'm ready."
"What's the Oxygen readouts now?" Gordon asked next.
"We're down to 8%. They're beginning to lose consciousness."
"Then we have to move quickly."
They got to the first blast door. It stood there, a dull silver block of pure solidity, standing between them and the trapped researchers. Gordon stood up first, angling the hose at the door.
"Do it!" Scott said, and Gordon unleashed the full power of the SRXE at the door.
"It's working!" Slater said triumphantly, thick white smoke filling the room as the chemicals reacted with the Technetium in the door, the structure weakening as the seconds went on.
"Hurry up, come on!" Scoot said, impatiently waiting for the smoke to clear. As soon as it did, he switched the gas tanks up to full burn, and blasted the door with over 5000C of pure thermal energy. As the metal began to give way, Scott started to draw an arc- a doorway large enough that they would be able to fit through.
"Now!" Scott commanded, and Slater smashed the battering ram through the door. The Aluminium, now no longer under Technetium support, shattered, and they could get through.
"International Rescue" Slater said once they were through. "We're down to 3%. We have just 2 minutes left."
"International Rescue from Fireflash, Air speed is 127 knots, crosswind 13mph, ETA 30 seconds."
"Virgil" Alan transmitted on reception of Fireflash's message, "Increase tracking speed to 109"
"FAB" He replied, kicking the elevator cars into another gear. He could hear Fireflash behind him as it got nearer, and nearer. Soon, its shadow had fallen over the elevator cars themselves.
"OK Fireflash" Virgil said, "Standby. Standby... Cut engines!" Up in the aircraft, Hanson and Matthews simultaneously hit their kill buttons, and Fireflash dropped on top of the elevator cars- "Fireflash, reverse thrust" Then, for effect, "Now!"
"We're still moving too fast, we're not going to stop in time" Matthews said, but Hanson remained determined. There was a sudden high pitched squeal as Virgil locked up the tyres on all 3 elevator cars, the brakes attempting to slow them down as much as possible. They slid down the runway, and it soon became clear they weren't going to stop before they ran out of tarmac.
"Brace yourselves!" Virgil shouted as they shot over the edge and into the grass. The sudden increase in friction vaulted the lead elevator car's rear into the air. Fireflash, however, kept going, showering the ground with sparks as the front end scraped against the vertically positioned elevator car. Then, just as the remote elevator cars hit the dirt, everything stopped. They were all still alive.
Somehow, the thick smoke was getting even thicker, but the progress was not getting any faster. Scott cut through the metal panel as quickly as he could, Slater waiting impatiently to smash it in.
"How much longer?"
"Now!"
They were onto the last door. As they entered the final chamber, Slater's watch started beeping.
"What is that?" Gordon asked.
"That's the Oxygen gauge. It's hit zero."
"Then we're going to have to move" Scott said, getting in position. Just as before, Gordon let loose with the SRXE and Scott torched his way through what was left of the door, when suddenly everything stopped.
"I'm out of gas!" Scott shouted. "We used so much on the other two doors that I have none left."
"We're going to just have to go for it." Gordon said, and Slater rammed the door. It cracked, but didn't break.
"Again!" Scott shouted, but again it didn't get through.
"One last time" Gordon said as he joined Slater in holding the battering ram. Taking a run up, they threw themselves at the door, and broke straight through it.
Scott ran into the room behind them, "Let's get these people out of here!"
The Rolls-Royce shot down the motorway, a pink blur amongst the trees that lined the roadway. Looking out of her window, Lady Penelope could see the helicopter, used by their unknown assailant in his escape, across the field from them but high in the sky. Thanks to the tracking device installed inside the chopper, she and Parker had been able to follow it all the way there.
"Are you able to get a shot Parker?" Lady P asked, growing slightly impatient. They had been following it for 15 minutes now, and she was sure that whoever was piloting it would realise something was up sooner or later.
"No m'lady" Parker responded. "I'm afraid he's too 'igh up to get a good shot."
"In that case Parker, I believe it is time for plan B"
"Of course your Ladyship." Parker agreed, pulling over to the side of the road. He popped the boot open, and pulled out a Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher.
"Parker! When I asked you to bring a missile, that's not what I had in mind."
"Sorry m'lady, but this is all I could find." Parker replied, kneeling down. He waited until the helicopter was just about to pass, tracking it carefully, then pulled the trigger, falling flat on his back as the rocket flew into the air. Penelope watched as it spiralled in flight; It got closer, and closer, then hit the helicopter bang on the rear rotor, the force of impact tearing off the entire tail section. It hit the ground with an almighty bang, and within seconds was engulfed in flames.
"Right Parker, let's see what we can recover from the crash site."
Controller Norman had been waiting patiently for everyone to return, but now they had he could get down to business. As Virgil, Hanson and Matthews walked into the room, he stood up to greet them.
"Gentlemen. I'm glad to see that you're all OK. I must commend you International Rescue on the fine job you did saving Fireflash. I'll admit I was somewhat sceptical at first, but you more than proved yourself. Now onto the second order of business. Whilst you were making your way up here, we had someone look over the bomb. They recovered a set of fingerprints." He pointed straight at Matthews. "They were yours." Suddenly, all eyes we on the co-pilot. He looked at all of them, but with no way out, he had no option. He reached into his waistband and pulled out his gun, and pointed it at his temple.
"Will no!" Hanson shouted. "Don't do it."
"Why not?" He responded, calmly. "I failed. It's over."
"Over? Will for god's sake, what could have possibly achieved by doing this?"
"What could I have achieved? That aircraft is a disaster waiting to happen! I've been in war, nuclear war. I've seen my friends killed by atomic weaponry, AND YOU PUT IT INTO AN AIRCRAFT!"
"600 people could have died, and you would have sacrificed all of them for this!?"
"Nobody cares when somebody dies at war, so I had to make a scene. I had to make sure people knew! They had to know!" He screamed, and pointed the gun directly at Hanson, fingers curled around the trigger. Two shots went off, and the whole room went silent, broken only with a thud as Matthews hit the floor. Everyone looked round to Virgil Tracy, his own gun shaking in his hands.
"I'm sorry" He said, "But I had to."
The sun was rising on Tracy Island, though naturally nobody had been able to get any sleep. The boys were all gathered in their living area, along with Jeff and Colonel Langley. John, not wanting to miss the party, was watching through his communicator.
"I want to thank all of you boys" Langley began. "What you did out there, both at my research facility and at London Airport are nothing more than heroic. You saved lives, and you should be proud of that. I didn't know what I was investing in when I helped you all set up, but now I do. Gentlemen, I believe International Rescue is now in business!"
"I can go with that!" Scott said, and they all cheered.
"I believe this is my cue to leave before people wonder where I am" Langley said, and both he and Jeff exited. That left just the boys.
"Well I don't know about you, but I feel this calls for a celebration" Scott said, heading over to his father's desk. He opened the top draw, pulled out a set of Cuban cigars and a bottle of whiskey.
"Well you can count me in" Virgil said, lighting his and the rest of his brothers' cigars with his handy pocket lighter. "You know dad's going to kill us when he realises we've stolen half his cigar collection."
"Not if we find a way to replace them first... Alan, Gordon. Can I tempt you with some of dad's finest whiskey?"
"No, we've got something much classier" Gordon said, pulling a bottle of champagne from behind the sofa. Scott grinned, impressed at Gordon's hiding skills.
"What about you John?" Alan asked to John on the monitor.
"I'm sticking to a good, old fashioned beer" He replied, holding up his bottle.
"I forgot you had a stash up there with you." Virgil said, saluting his brother.
"Well I think I should propose a toast" Scott said, climbing onto the table. "To International Rescue- we started our operation with a bang, and long may it continue!"
"To International Rescue!" They all chorused.
In that moment, they all knew they had started something special.