The Dead Zone
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic
by TimeGuardian
Chapter Ten
Soon Lady Penelope stirred at the sound of voices.
Opening her eyes, she found sunlight streaming into her cell. Penelope found that the voices that roused her belonged to Cassandra and two of her guards, who were standing outside of her cell.
Cassandra's tone was strangely congenial as she unlocked the door. "Good Morning, Penelope. Ready to go on a hunt with us?"
As if I had a choice. Lady Penelope mustered up a smile as she mentally counted the numerous weapons that were being carried by Cassandra and her guards. She edged herself off of the cot and got to her feet. "Oh, so you are ready for another try, to show me how big and bad your submarine can be?"
Cassandra's demeanor didn't slip at all. "On the contrary, I like to abide by that old saying 'Keep your friends close but your enemies closer.' Now are you coming, or do my men drag you out of here feet first?"
Penelope glared at her and motioned towards the door. "By all means, lead the way."
In the end, Cassandra led the way while the guards kept Penelope sandwiched in-between. They led her out of the building and back to the dock they had arrived on. The submarine was still docked there.
The main hatch was open and Penelope could hear signs of activity inside. She watched as Cassandra easily maneuvered herself down and inside the submarine. Penelope nearly stumbled to the ground as the guards prodded her forward.
"Easy, boys," Penelope stated, forcing herself to remain calm. "I'm moving."
She carefully followed Cassandra's route, and moments later she stepped back on the main area of the submarine.
As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, Penelope heard the guards coming down behind her. As before, they soon prodded her along behind Cassandra until their group bypassed where Penelope had been tied up last time, instead going for the main bridge and control area.
"So you really do want me to see everything?" Penelope asked.
Cassandra motioned to her guards, and they soon had Penelope sitting down in a side chair just out of the range of any panels. Using plastic ties, the guards secured her to the chair by the armrests. Once they were satisfied with their work, they moved out of the way and out of her sight.
Cassandra sat down in an adjacent chair and glanced at her before turning her attention to the men she had manning the navigation controls. "Now that you are ready for departure, dear Penelope, let's get this show rolling shall we? Crew, prepare for departure."
As the morning sunlight gave way to the blazing strength of an afternoon sun, a ship made its way through the open ocean. The cargo ship Lucinda glided through the ocean waters smoothly and cleanly thanks to her state of the art engines and propeller. The Lucinda was also the only ship in the immediate area thanks to so some careful planning and timing.
The crew of the Lucinda was told to prepare for anything, that they were assisting the Thunderbirds to trap a dangerous criminal. Luckily, the ship itself was one of few that had so many automated advances to it that it could be driven with as few as a crew of five people, if it was necessary.
In the end, the captain chose the best five people out of his crew and gave the rest of them the day off with pay. There were fewer questions that way. Still, everything had to look as normal as possible, so the captain made sure that normal procedures were followed as their cargo was loaded and they quickly left their dock at the harbor.
Now two hours into their voyage, the captain stood in the main control room of the ship and looked out at the surrounding ocean. Normally on days like this, he would appreciate the serenity of a clear day and an open ocean, but not today.
He turned to face the only other person that he allowed in the control room. "Are all the preparations in place for our 'visitors'?"
The captain received a definite nod in response.
He sighed and stepped closer. "Make the transmission and then I will trust you with my ship as agreed to, Mister Hackenbacker. I know it is for the cause of justice and all, but please take good care of her."
From where he was sitting, Brains smiled and adjusted his glasses before answering. "Y-y-yes, sir."
John paced the deck of Thunderbird Five, keeping one eye on the communication panel and the other at the sensor panel. He had specific sensors targeted towards the area of ocean that the ship would be in. Since he knew what he was looking for, John knew that he would be able to pick up on Lady Cassandra quickly.
A beeping issued from the communication panel, a special signal that meant Brains and the crew was ready for the plan. John turned his full focus to the sensors - the key was picking up the sub and its robotic counterparts early enough.
Minutes later, he had his confirmation when the reading he was waiting for flashed over his sensor panel.
Gotcha.
John quickly made a transmission. "Thunderbird Five to cargo ship Lucinda – targets spotted in the water one hundred kilometers off of your stern."
He heard Brains reply. "FAB. E-e-electromagnetic p-p-pulse sent."
Penelope watched in interest as Cassandra ordered her men around, first to set the course and soon use their sensor readings to find the ship.
It wasn't long before the one of the men at the navigation controls reported that they were within a hundred kilometers of their target.
"Excellent," Cassandra declared, "close in and prepare to disable the ship."
No sooner than she issued the command, the deck shuddered. Lights from the various panels flashed erratically until they went out altogether. Emergency lighting flared on, casting everything in a bright red haze.
The shuddering of the deck gave way to an eerie calm as Lady Penelope watched Cassandra begin to panic.
The woman got to her feet quickly and began to pace wildly, running her hands through her red hair. "What happened? Swing us about."
One of the men at the navigation controls swung around to face her. "They've sent out some sort of electrical pulse, Lady Cassandra. We are unable to move."
"Damn it!"
Penelope fought the urge to cheer as she watched Cassandra stalk forward to scream at her crew. Now that things were going so wrong, she now had time to escape.
When she noticed that they were going to simply secure her to the arms of the chair earlier, Penelope made sure to stretch her arms out as far as she could without them noticing. Now that she focused on relaxing her arms and pulling, she was able to slip her bonds easily.
No one was currently facing her way; they were focused on the non responsive controls. Maybe if she could find an airlock that she could swim out of –
Decision made, Lady Penelope eased herself slowly out of the chair that had been her temporary prison and carefully headed towards the back of the submarine.
Gordon and Alan watched out from Thunderbird Four from their vantage point near the front of the ship. They had spotted Lady Cassandra by mere moments after John had.
Once Brains came across with the transmission that the EMP was transmitted, Gordon sat up and eased the controls forward. "That means we're up."
As they closed in on Lady Cassandra's position, Alan looked around the view windows nervously. "There's no sign of the robotic subs."
"Relax, Alan, will you? Lady Cassandra would have to control them from her sub, and with that electromagnetic pulse that Brains sent out from the Lucinda, they wouldn't be able to receive or act upon any instructions anyway."
As if to prove his brother's point Alan spotted two distinct submarine shapes sinking quickly in the water. They were slightly smaller than the final sub that they approached but even this sub was starting to sink.
Alan looked over at Gordon. "Any signs of power from the submarine?"
It took a few moments while Gordon checked the sensors, but finally he grinned and gave a thumbs-up. "Brains did it. Submarine shows no signs of power."
Alan breathed a sigh of relief and made the transmission his brothers were waiting on. "Thunderbird Four to Thunderbird One – we've been able to confirm it. Cassandra's sub has been immobilized."
Scott's voice came through loud and clear. "FAB, Thunderbird Four, you two know what to do now."
"FAB," Alan replied before turning to Gordon, "All right, I've got the controls - time for you to take a swim."
Gordon smirked as he grabbed for his scuba equipment. "Don't let it go to your head. One scratch on her, and I'll make sure you never forget it."
Alan gave him a mock salute. "Yes sir. Just come back safely, okay?"
"Count on it."
More soon.
Till Later,
TimeGuardian