Lady Penelope was having her elevenses in the drawing room of her mansion. It had been a quiet morning so far and she was feeling a little bored. However, there were going to be some coach parties that afternoon so she would have something to occupy herself with.

"Oh, dear," Penelope sighed to herself. "What a rather dull day this is turning out to be. I do wish I had something more exciting to do."

The sound of the telephone out in the hallway started ringing. Penelope waited to hear the sound of Parker answering it. But to her surprise, it was a woman's voice who answered it.

"Yes, just a moment, hang on, please."

There was a pause before a knock on the door.

"Come in," called Penelope.

The doors opened to reveal Mrs Fiona Appleby, the mansion's housekeeper. "Excuse me, m'lady," she said giving Penelope a curtsy. "There's a rather urgent call for you."

"Put it through on the phone in here," said Penelope.

Mrs Appleby nodded and turned to head back out to the phone in the hall.

"Oh, Mrs Appleby?"

"Yes, m'lady?"

"Have you seen Parker around?" asked Penelope.

Mrs Appleby shook her head. "I'm afraid I have not, m'lady," she said. "Maybe he's out in the garden with my husband."

Mr Ian Appleby was the groundskeeper for Creighton Manor.

"Hmm," said Penelope thoughtfully. "Thank you, Mrs Appleby. Put the call through please."

Mrs Appleby curtsied again and closed the doors. Penelope picked up the receiver of the phone in the drawing room and waited for Mrs Appleby to put the call through.

"Lady Penelope speaking."

"Lady Penelope, this is Agent Z speaking," said the male voice on the other end of the phone. "I have information regarding Operation Penguin."

Penelope's eyes widened. "Go ahead, Agent Z," she said sitting down in a chair. "What have you got for me?"

"Penguin is heading to Port of London from Norway aboard the cargo ship The Final Offer," Agent Z said. "Our contact in Bergen spotted him but was unable to alert the authorities in time."

"When's the ship due to arrive in London?" asked Penelope.

"07:00 hours tomorrow," said Agent Z. "According to its schedule, it is due to be staying there until 23:00 hours. Your best bet would be to investigate after dark but it won't give you much time."

"I'll have plenty of time," said Penelope. "Thank you, Agent Z."

"My pleasure," Agent Z replied. "Oh, one more thing – The Final Offer is due to pass Flamborough Head, Yorkshire at around 21:00 hours this evening if you wish to grab and look."

Penelope looked at her watch. "21:00, got it," she said. "Thank you again." She put the receiver down and picked up her diary before checking her watch again. "The coach visit is due to end at 16:30 hours," she told herself. "That should give us enough time to get there. Now, if only I knew where Parker was."

What Penelope didn't know was that Parker wasn't doing his usual duties. He was in his bedroom having some private time with Annette Éclair. They had a very strong romance between them which was also very private and they wanted it to stay that way. Parker was afraid of what Penelope would do if she found out about it.

"More?" Parker said as the bed shuffled about.

"Oh, yes, more!" Annette said who was thoroughly loving the experience.

Just then Parker heard the bell ringing. "Oh, blast!" he groaned. "That means 'er Ladyship is h'in need h'of me."

"Can't she wait for a bit, Aloysius?" asked Annette. "Come on now. Just another five minutes? Please, please, please?"

Parker paused, then smiled. "H'okay, but h'only five minutes," he said.

Thunderbird 2 had reached the river near the village. It was a rather twisty river but it was just wide enough for it to swoop down and drop its scoops to collect more water. They had to make two runs in total before the tanks were full and they could return to the scene to tackle the fire.

The villagers were getting tense, they could see the spray from the Fire Truck and Fire Tender putting out the flames closest to the edge of the valley, but the Firefly was having trouble trying to break through some fallen trees.

"This is taking too long," Beth said. "I might have to use the cannon."

"Be careful, Firefly," Katie said over the radio. "The explosions could send some of the burning debris down into the village."

"I know," said Beth. She backed the Firefly away from the fallen trees and activated the nitro-glycerine shell cannon mounted in the nose. "Here goes," she said. The cannon fired a shell and the explosion broke up the trunks. Luckily, no debris landed in the village although the residents were startled by the explosion.

"Try not to do that again, Beth," said Laura, who was watching the operation from Thunderbird 1. "I don't think they liked that."

"Tough luck, Laura," replied Beth. "I'm no use to them if I can't get through."

"She's right, Laura," agreed Daniel. "It's a risk she's got to take. How we doing, Leanna?"

"Tanks are full and ready to commence dropping when you're ready," Leanna replied.

"F-A-B," said Daniel. "Adrienne, hope you've got an umbrella. We're about to start our retardant run."

"Go ahead, Dad," Adrienne replied. "I'm afraid to say that my progress is very slow at the moment."

"Same story on this side too," added Wizzy. "Fire Tender's really struggling to get through these trees. I can't imagine the environmentalists are going to be very happy with us."

"The trees are already beyond saving, Wizzy," Daniel remarked. "There's no point in worrying about it."

"Ready, Daniel," said Leanna.

"Okay, here we go," said Daniel. He turned Thunderbird 2 around and began making a bombing run towards the flames. Once in position, Leanna moved a lever and the freshly-made retardant dropped out. They were very effective and they were able to kill the entire outer section of the ring of fire in one sweep. This didn't however give them enough water to make another full sweep so they did a half circle on the eastern side instead. This left just the western side mostly burning now.

"Dad, shouldn't you be focusing on the flames at the edge of the valley?" asked Laura. "After all, that's where the main danger is."

"I don't want to cause any problems for the girls," said Daniel. "They've got enough to contend with as it is at the moment. Going back for more water."

As Thunderbird 2 headed off, the Firefly finally made it to the edge of the valley. "I'm through!" Beth said. "Now they have a clear path."

"Can you get rid of those flames first, Beth?" said Laura. "I don't think they'll be very safe until those are extinguished."

"I'll lead them out and spray the flames as I go," said Beth. "Tell them to head towards me."

Laura turned on the speaker again. "Attention, please! Attention, please! We have a clear path for you to get out. Please head to the southern end of the village and follow the yellow bulldozer. It'll lead you to a safe clearing where rescue teams can collect you. Quickly, but calmly now. Thank you."

The villagers did as they were told and started heading towards the south side of the village where the Firefly was heading down to meet them. The men formed a ring around the women and children to protect them.

Then there was trouble. As Wizzy pushed the Fire Tender forwards, she noticed a burning tree starting to topple over towards the valley. "Oh, no – guys, there's a tree falling!" she cried.

Laura looked round just in time to see the tree fall into the valley. It set the bushes alight and seconds later, one of the houses began to burn as well. The villagers began to panic and hurried towards the cleared path.

"Damn it!" said Laura. "I was afraid that something like that might happen."

"Now what?" asked Beth. "The villagers are panicking."

"We have to contain that fire, before it spreads any further," said Laura. "But Thunderbird 2's still at the river. Beth, you're going to have to do it."

"But what about the villagers?" Beth asked anxiously. "I'm supposed to be leading them out."

"Adie, can you take over guiding the villagers to safety?" asked Laura. "I'm going to need Beth to put out the fire down here."

"F-A-B, Laura," said Adrienne. She cut the spray from the Fire Truck and reversed back to the dirt roadway where they'd first started from. She soon found the villagers and began to lead them along it to safety. As they went, she used the rotating cannon to spray onto any nearby flames to put them out.

Once all the villagers were out of the way, Beth moved the Firefly down to the burning house. The fire was getting dangerously close to the neighbouring houses so it was imperative that it was dealt with.

"That tree appeared to have got wedged onto something," Beth said. "But it looks like it might fall down. Thunderbird 1, can you remove it?"

"Yes, I can, Firefly," replied Laura. "We can't have it falling any further. You get tackling the blaze."

"F-A-B," said Beth. She brought the Firefly to a stop and began to spray foam onto the house.

Laura brought Thunderbird 1 over the fallen tree and opened the large hatch doors before firing the grappling cable down onto the trunk. It was heavy, but she managed to lift it up off the ground and then hold it above the burning house so that Beth could then spray it with the Firefly. This would then allow her to drop it in a ditch by the side of the village where it couldn't set anything else alight.

With the tree dealt with, it didn't take Beth long to extinguish the flames on the roof of the house. "Phew, it's done," she said to Laura. "I'm going to go and help Adie with the villa…"

"Beth, get out of there now!" Laura shouted suddenly. "That house is about to collapse!"

Beth gasped and quickly drove Firefly backwards just as the house suddenly collapsed. In her haste, she accidentally reversed into the house behind her demolishing part of the wall.

"Did…I just hit something?" Beth asked.

At that very moment, Thunderbird 2 returned from the river.

"Yes, you did," answered Katie. "Another house."

"You've knocked part of the wall down," added Daniel.

Beth's face went as red as her sash. "They're going to bill us for that, aren't they?" she groaned.

"You'd better clear the remains of the fully collapsed house out of the way first," said Daniel. "Then you can go help your sister."

"Ready to commence dropping," Leanna said to Daniel.

"Wizzy, you'd better clear out," Daniel said. "We can take care of the rest of the blaze."

"Understood, Dad," said Wizzy. "Moving out, now."

Daniel and Katie waited until Wizzy was safely away from the flames before making their run. Leanna moved the lever and the retardant began to drop onto the flames. It took all they had, but once the last of the retardant was used, the fire was out. The village was safe.

Tiredness had caught up with Joanne, but she did not want to return to bed whilst Daniel was out, so instead she found herself sleeping on the large sofa having been given a large blanket by Zoë. Jodie and Karolina did not seem tired at all, probably because Jodie was fully concentrating on giving technical support to the others in the field whilst Karolina was watching out of the windows. As she watched, the night sky was starting to get lighter. The sun was beginning to rise bringing in the dawn of yet another day.

Karolina glanced at her watch. "05:00," she said. "I'd better go start my patrol."

"I've had MAX prepare Thunderbird 7 for you, Karolina," Jodie replied. "She's all ready for when you are."

"Thank you, Jodie," Karolina said.

Zoë then came over. "Make sure you've had plenty to eat before you head out," she said to Karolina passing a small tray with a glass of orange juice, a small plate of toast and a bowl of fruit on it.

"Thank you, Mrs Tracy," said Karolina, taking the tray. She sat on the windowsill as she ate the toast and the fruit in the bowl before drinking the orange juice down in one.

"How you do that, I'll never know, Karolina," Jodie remarked.

"Do what?" Karolina asked.

"That's a big glass and yet you managed to drink it all in one go," Jodie said.

Karolina looked at the glass. "It's smaller than what I'm used to," she replied as she stood up from the windowsill. "I take this back to kitchen and then I'll be on my way," she said.

"Have fun," Jodie said as Karolina left the room.

After returning the tray to the kitchen and putting the items in the sink, Karolina went for a quick wash before heading down to the subbasement. She had her own little cloakroom where her uniform and motorbike which was also the cockpit of Thunderbird 7 were kept. After putting on her uniform, big black boots and her helmet, Karolina climbed into the motorbike cockpit. The little elevator that it was mounted on then lifted her up through the floor into the silo where Thunderbird 7 was housed. Looking across to her right, Karolina saw the vast red shape that was Thunderbird 3 in its launching tunnel whilst further round was the empty space where Thunderbird 1 normally was. Now that the motorbike cockpit was locked into the main body of Thunderbird 7, the craft was moved backwards along its yellow circular launching pad along some rails. The tunnel tilted from horizontal to vertical taking Thunderbird 7 up backwards. Once it reached the correct position it came to a stop before the section of rock that it was on turned round so that now it was outside. The yellow pad then turned the craft 180-degrees clockwise so that it was now pointing upwards.

5…4…3…2…1!

The rocket engines of Thunderbird 7 ignited and the clamp that held it onto the pad was released. It dropped backwards remaining at its vertical position until it had passed safely over the mansion before spinning round into a horizontal position before rocketing away from the island.

"Thunderbird 7 is go!" Karolina reported over the radio. "Commencing patrol."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 7," Jodie acknowledged over the radio.

Joanne was awoken by the sound of engines roaring. She stirred and sat herself up. "Has something just launched or are they back?" she asked sleepily.

"Thunderbird 7's just launched," Jodie said. "The others won't be back for a while."

Joanne let out a soft moan and went back to sleep again.

Zoë returned to give Jodie another cup of coffee. "Poor dear," she said looking over at Joanne. "I don't understand why she gets up when the alarm goes off. She doesn't go out with the others."

"You don't have to get up, Mrs Tracy, but you always do," Jodie pointed out.

"That is true, my dear," Zoë admitted. "I guess I feel that I'm doing my bit by keeping those involved here properly fed and watered."

Jodie sipped her coffee. "There is that, I suppose," she said.

It wasn't just Joanne who'd been awoken by the sound of engines. Sian had as well. She moved the curtains a little bit so she could look aside. The sudden change in light then woke Cassidy.

"Sian, what are you doing?" Cassidy asked whilst letting out a massive yawn.

"I heard something," Sian replied. "Sounded like aircraft engines. Something must've launched."

"Or landed?" Cassidy asked. "Maybe Daniel and the girls are back?"

But Sian shook her head. "No, it was definitely leaving the island," she said. "Must've been Karolina going off on patrol."

Cassidy groaned and looked at the time. "God, it's only quarter-to-six!" she said. "Why does she have to go out this early?"

"Her craft, her patrol I guess," said Sian as she got back into bed. "No matter what time of the day it is, Karolina never seems to be tired. I don't know how she does it."

"I don't know how any of them manage," agreed Cassidy. "But I guess once our training is completed then we'll need to get used to uneven sleeping hours."

They said no more on the matter. Both were still very tired and it wasn't even a full minute before they were fast asleep again.

Parker brushed down his butler's outfit before knocking on the door of the drawing room.

"Come in," Penelope called from the inside.

Parker gulped. She sounded rather annoyed. "You rang, m'lady?"

"Parker, where on earth have you been?" asked Penelope. "You've never taken this long before. Mrs Appleby had to answer the phone."

"Sorry, m'lady," said Parker. "Nature called, I'm h'afraid."

Penelope frowned slightly, but decided it wasn't worth pursuing the matter. "Never mind, Parker," she said. "I just thought you should know that I want the car to be ready for me once the coaches have left this afternoon."

"Er, yes, m'lady," said Parker. "May I h'ask what the reason is?"

"Later, Parker," said Penelope, checking her watch. "The two coaches will be arriving in ten minutes. Please go make yourself useful."

"Very well, m'lady," said Parker. "I'll 'ave FAB1 ready for you." He closed the doors and then sighed. "Typical. Just when I was getting ready for a peaceful h'afternoon," he said to himself.

Penelope was still puzzled by Parker's delayed arrival, but now wasn't the time to investigate. The phone buzzed so she went to answer it. "Yes?"

It was Peter Griffiths – the gatekeeper. "Your Ladyship, the coaches have arrived," Griffiths said.

"Good, let them in, Peter," said Penelope. "Thank you." She put the phone down and headed out to the front of the house in readiness for her guests. At least having them around would take her mind off things for a while.

Meg the Border-Collie had been sleeping on one of the steps outside the mansion. An ear lifted up at the sound of approaching large vehicles. She opened her eyes and lifted her head to see two large blue coaches driving towards the mansion. Then the doors opened and Penelope stepped out. Sherbet the Pug came out at her feet. Meg then got up and walked down as well to greet the guests.

As the coaches got closer, Sherbet began to yap and growl. He didn't take kindly to guests. Then he scurried up to the coach and began scratching at the door.

"Sherbet, shush!" Penelope hissed. "Meg, remove."

Meg walked over to Sherbet and let out one loud WOOF which made Sherbet cower. Then he trotted away with Meg following to keep him in check, much to the amusement of the guests on the coaches.

When morning came, Rosie could set to work to try and determine the cause of the fire. As the others had said, it didn't appear to be a natural fire. A few experiments in the laboratory in Pod 5 soon provided Rosie with the answer.

"There are strong traces of petrol," Rosie told Daniel and the girls. "Looks like you were right then, Mr Tracy. This fire was indeed deliberate."

The Tracy's and Leanna were bewildered.

"But that begs the question, who could've started it?" asked Wizzy.

"It could've been anyone," sighed Rosie. "No traces of fingerprints or the actual starter. Whoever did it will be long gone by now."

"I'll have the crew of Thunderbird 5 keep a watchful eye on this area just in case something like this happens again," said Daniel.

"Agreed," said Rosie. "Not much else we can do now, I'm afraid."

Daniel nodded. "Pack up, girls. Our job here is done."

Having made sure, the villagers were in the care of the emergency services, Beth, Adrienne and Wizzy loaded the Firefly, Fire Truck and Fire Tender back into Pod 5 and the main body of Thunderbird 2 was lowered back down onto it.

With all their equipment safely reloaded, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 lifted off from the clearing that they'd been able to land in and headed off.

"This is Thunderbird 2," Daniel said. "Mission complete. We're on our way home."

"F-A-B," said Kerry. "Good work, guys."

As the Thunderbirds headed back towards the coast, they passed the same clearing that The Hood's Hubship had been. None of them noticed the strange black object that was still parked there. It had been stationary up until this point, but as the Thunderbirds passed, its rotors suddenly powered up and it lifted up off the ground before activating its rocket engines and heading off after them – and the crews had absolutely no idea that it was there.

Inside his temple, The Hood had been waiting for news of his device making a move. "Perfect!" he said to Mullion and Transom. "My drone has locked onto Thunderbird 2's heat signature. It will follow them right back to their base, and then we can follow it there. International Rescue's headquarters will no longer be a secret to us or the world. We will have them at our mercy!" He then broke out into a powerful laugh which made Mullion and Transom feel very uneasy.

"Let's just hope they won't discover it," said Transom.

"They won't discover it, my dear, Transom," said The Hood with confidence. "You really do worry too much. Now, let's have some breakfast, shall we?"

"Er, boss, shouldn't someone stay and monitor the drone?" asked Mullion.

"No, Mullion," said The Hood. "It'll still be there when we finish, now come along."

So Transom and Mullion followed The Hood out of the room and back to the main chamber where they could have breakfast at the temple's big banqueting table. The Hood had so much confidence in his drone that he was even entrusting it to do its work without supervision. Somehow, Mullion and Transom were feeling that this wasn't going to end well.

Thunderbirds 1 and 2 continued to make their way across the Pacific Ocean at cruising speed towards Tracy Island, completely oblivious that they were being followed. The Hood's drone had been built with stolen technology from various military forces. It was designed to be stealthy so that no form of radar could detect it – and so far, it was working perfectly.

"Jo, I hope you and Mum have got breakfast on, we're starving," Daniel said.

"Don't worry, hun, it'll be ready for you when you get here," said Joanne. "By the way, Cassidy and Sian will want to know all that's happened on your mission."

"Guessing you sent them back to bed after we'd left?" chuckled Daniel.

Joanne nodded. "You lot might be able to work at all hours, but they aren't able to yet," she said.

"They're lucky to be able to go back to bed," Wizzy remarked. "I wish I could right now."

"Agreed," said Leanna. "I could sleep for a week!"

"Now, now, girls, it's what we do," Daniel said. "Approaching the 100-mile perimeter now. How's the radar looking?"

"Radar shows clear," said Katie.

"I second that," said Laura from Thunderbird 1. "There's some ships off our starboard quarter but they are heading North-East so they won't pose any danger."

"Providing they're not warships," murmured Adrienne to herself.

"The island's radar shows no unidentified contacts either," said Jodie. "You are clear to enter our airspace."

"F-A-B," said Daniel. "How's it looking from Thunderbird 5?"

"Area looks clear," said Kerry, checking the radar scope aboard the space-station. "You're all clear to…" She broke off suddenly and frowned for she'd noticed something unusual on the screen. "What in the world…?!"

"Kerry, what is it?" Daniel asked. "Is there something wrong."

"Are you bringing a souvenir back?" asked Kerry.

Daniel and the girls exchanged puzzled looks. "No, why?" asked Daniel.

"Well my screen says there's something following you," said Kerry.

"What sort of something?" asked Katie.

"Can't tell for sure," Kerry replied. "It's about 1,000 yards behind Thunderbird 2."

Daniel and Laura both turned on their rear-view cameras. Everyone blinked in surprise. Kerry was right. There was a strange object following them.

"What the hell is that?" asked Beth.

"Is that a missile?" Rosie exclaimed.

"No, it's the wrong shape for that," said Daniel. He zoomed the camera in and could now see it more clearly. "It looks like a drone of some sort," he said.

"You both need to change your courses," Jodie said urgently over the radio. "It's probably locked on to one of your heat signatures."

Thunderbird 1 took a sharp turn to the right whilst at the same time Thunderbird 2 took a sharp turn to the left. They watched and waited to see what would happen next.

"It's locked onto us!" Katie said as the drone turned after Thunderbird 2.

"Where could it have come from?" asked Wizzy.

"The Hood I reckon!" said Beth. "He could've sent it out whilst we tackling the fire.

The others looked at her. "Seriously, Beth?" asked Adrienne. "You can't be saying that The Hood started that fire just so he could send a drone after us? That's just ludicrous!"

"We can worry about that later," said Daniel. "Right now, we need to get it off our tails. Hang on, this could get a little rough!"

Daniel began making some sharp manoeuvres with Thunderbird 2, but making sure he stayed away from the exclusion zone around Tracy Island. He tried sharp turns, changes of altitude and even managed to off a Crazy-Ivan at one stage, but nothing seemed to work. The drone kept following them.

"Can't we just destroy it?" asked Leanna.

"We wouldn't find out who sent it then if we did that!" Katie said.

"Who cares who sent it!" snapped Wizzy. "I'm starting to feel dizzy."

"So am I," agreed Rosie.

"Girls, quiet please!" Daniel barked. "Jodie, have you got any ideas?"

"Afraid not, Mr Tracy," said Jodie. "As it's not registering on our radar, I'm unable to hack into it to even search for a possible weakness."

"But it is registering on Thunderbird 5's radar," said Daniel. "Kerry, do you think you'd be able to try and disable it?"

"I'll have a damn good try," said Kerry determinedly. "But I think Leanna has a point. Maybe you should be ready to destroy it just in case I can't do anything."

Daniel glanced at the fuel gauge. "We can only keep this up for so long," he said. "We'll have to return to base for fuel."

"I'll try and destroy it," said Laura. She brought Thunderbird 1 in close to the drone and activated the machine-cannon located under the nose-cone. But to Laura's surprise, a large bubble appeared around the drone as the rounds from the cannon got close to it. "You've got to be kidding me!" Laura exclaimed. "That thing's got a force-field around it!"

"Maybe you just don't have powerful enough weaponry to penetrate through the force-field," said Jodie. "But Thunderbird 7 has. Karolina, do you read me?"

Karolina had been patrolling outside the exclusion zone. "Loud and clear. What's up?"

"We got a drone pursuing Thunderbird 2," Jodie explained. "Thunderbird 1's made an unsuccessful attempt to destroy it. Can you assist?"

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 5, I'm on it," said Karolina. She turned her craft around and raced off. "Hang on, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 - I'm coming!" she said.