The Dead Zone
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic
by TimeGuardian

Chapter Seven

In Thunderbird One, Scott breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Gordon's efforts play out below him. All of the sailors were safe and Alan was safe on Thunderbird Four. No loss of life - that was the type of rescue mission he liked the best.

It was then that he heard the distinctly female voice come through their communication channel.

"Hello out there. Do I have the pleasure of talking to someone in charge of International Rescue?"

Scott froze. The voice coming through was arrogant and matter of fact in tone. For the person to be on their communication channel was no small feat – he knew that Brains and John worked long hours to come up with variable frequencies so that they wouldn't be easily spied upon. This person was openly challenging them.

He took a breath to steady himself before he moved to reply to the transmission. "I am the field commander of International Rescue. Who am I speaking to?"

A torrent of laughter greeted his question. "Such arrogance – you are definitely the leader of this operation. No matter, I frankly don't care if you know my name or not – I am Lady Cassandra Worthington. Your London agent, Lady Penelope, knows me quite well, in fact."

Scott knew about Lady Penelope disappearing from John and their father. Lady Cassandra had to be involved in that considering the circumstances, but he knew he had to keep calm. He chose to keep his tone light. "So we know your name – are we supposed to be impressed or something?"

"Maybe not," came the reply, "but know one thing – I have quite an impressive record of sinking ships. I've watched your team's efforts to save lives on my previous scenes – quite impressive really."


In Thunderbird Four, Gordon and Alan listened in shocked silence to Lady Cassandra's conversation with Scott.

Gordon took a look at the enhanced sonar on his instrument panel and pointed to the extra reading that was showing beside the Argus. "For her to be able to keep an eye on us, she either has to be above the water or below it. Scott would have clued us in if she was in the air, so-"

"She's down here, with us," Alan finished. "Not that makes me feel any better. She said she caused the ships to sink - that requires quite a bit of power. Do we really want to go after her?"

"Considering that she has more than likely kidnapped Lady Penelope, then yes," Gordon replied as he studied the sonar. "For her to have a sub means she has a base that we can track her to. As long as we keep our distance-"

A new transmission broke into their planning.

"Now I tire of this conversation," Lady Cassandra stated with a yawn. "You've ruined this dead zone, so I might as well be off. I'm sure you and your team are planning to stick around until you can deliver the crew into safe hands. No matter, I can regroup but I would advise your sub to surface, because for one thing, your Lady Penelope is on board with us, and for another I'm not alone down here. Your sensors might not show it, but I have two robotic subs accompanying me and they are fully armed. Get my drift, Mister Field Commander?"

Gordon seethed as he listened to Lady Cassandra taunting them - he was sure they could sneak around this sub and follow it or board it somehow. Now that they had been called out like this though – he decided to venture the question over a transmission. "Commander?"

His brother's words came across the communication link low and even. "Stand down."

Gordon was seeing red - they were so close! "With all due respect-"

Scott's voice came through the transmission like a whip crack, cutting him off. "Stand down! That's an order!"

Gordon looked down at the sonar again. With the exception of the sunken Argus, he was still only getting readings from one other source. It had to be Lady Cassandra's submarine.

He felt a hand on his arm and turned to find Alan giving him a hard look. "Gordon, don't push it. We don't know what we are up against yet and this Lady Cassandra sounds even crazier than the Hood, if that's even possible. Let's regroup and fight this thing together."

Gordon took a breath before looking back at the sonar again and then through the view window.

With a muttered curse, he moved the controls to guide Thunderbird Four to the surface.


Scott grabbed his controls in a death grip as he questioned his order to have Gordon to surface. Every instinct told him that Lady Cassandra was not someone to be trusted, but something about her tone and the fact that she readily admitted to causing the ships to sink meant that she was a dangerous foe indeed. He couldn't risk those sailors or the lives of his brothers with the current odds – they needed to regroup.

He wasn't about to leave a situation like this without a parting shot.

Scott got back on the communication link and made one more transmission. "Lady Cassandra, we will stand down for now – we have innocent civilians to see to that you tried to destroy. Know one thing though - if you try to sink another ship or if you harm Lady Penelope in any way, there will be no hiding from us."

A short laugh greeted his declaration. "Challenge accepted, International Rescue. Goodbye for now."


Would you believe I found the perfect inspiration for Lady Cassandra? Not willing to give details, but being around the lady in question made the room feel ten degrees colder. Brr.

Till next time,

Timeguardian