Target Part II

Scott barely had time to see it before it hit them. But when the view of the sky was suddenly blocked out by a mass of burning rubble, he knew it was coming. The impact sent the cage sliding back down the shaft, with no way of knowing how far down they were going.
"The rubble is weighing you down, and it's pulling me down with you!" Virgil shouted over the radio. Scott could hear the strain in his voice. Eventually the cage came to a stop, but they had lost half their progress.
"This is inconvenient" Scott said. "I can't see a damn thing down here now."
"I'm sending a radio message back to the island" Virgil replied. "Hopefully Brains can think of something. I've still got hold of you for now, but no way can the winch haul up that weight of material."
"Yeah I understand Virgil" Scott said. "Just make it quick. Things are really beginning to warm up in here."

Jeff had almost trained himself to react when one of the boys' portraits began to flash. He could almost hit the receiver instantly, though sometimes he was so hasty that he would miss the button completely and have to do it again. When Virgil's eyes began to flash, this was no different.
"This is Tracy Island receiving you, how's it going Virgil?"
"Not good" Virgil replied. "The top level of Ashton Tower has collapsed, and I can't winch the cage out of the elevator shaft because of all the rubble that's on top of them, it's too heavy. The fire isn't letting up either. I could use an idea from Brains right about now."
Just as Virgil finished his sentence, Brains came running into the room, Tin-Tin in tow.
"You have to a-abort!" Brains shouted. "The top level of t-the building is going to c-collapse!"
Jeff look at Virgil, then back to Brains.
"Too late."
"Oh" Brains said, stopping his frantic train of thought dead in its tracks. "That isn't good."
"No it isn't" Virgil said. "And I'm struggling here to stop the cage from going straight back down. I can't use the winch because it isn't powerful enough, but I did have the idea of using the thrusters and just pulling them out using-"
"No Virgil" Brains interrupted. "Your thrusters are the reason the t-top levels of the building are collapsing. If you increase thrust, then the entire next two levels could come into a complete collapse. Not only would that put s-significant strain on the building, i-it would flood the elevator shaft and send the cage all the way back to the bottom, before b-burying it alive! Don't do it."
"OK Brains" Virgil said. "But I need a solution, and I need it fast."

"He wants me to what?" Scott asked, when Virgil relayed to him Brains' plan.
"He wants you to rock the cage" Virgil replied. "The cage isn't as big as the elevator shaft, so there's a good chance that you can dislodge some of the debris to fall back down. That way I can winch you up more than I can now."
"You still wouldn't be able to winch me up all the way. I can already tell you some of the things on here are massive and solid, they wouldn't budge."
"I don't need to take you up all the way, only as far as the next floor. You have the cutting gear, so you can cut open the door and then escape out of the building."
"Can't you just take us down a level?" Linden asked out loud, "Surely that would be easier?"
"That was my first thought" Virgil replied. "But the force of impact when the top level collapsed on top of you seems to have jammed my winch. It'll only come up now, it won't go down any further."
"OK then" Scott said, "Let's rock the cage."
Scott walked to the far end of the cage, then started trying to push it backwards and forwards. It was heavy, very heavy.
"Come on" Scott said to Linden and Randall. "You two aren't invalids yet. You can help."
Randall seemed to take the hint first, and began to help Scott shake loose some of the debris. Linden eventually joined, and between the three of them they managed to get a rhythm up. Soon, they had dislodged all of the smaller parts, and Virgil could begin winching them up.
"Alright, it's about time. Reeling in the cable. Tell me when you're level with the doors, then I'll stop."
"OK" Scott said, watching intently as the cage slowly gained elevation. "Steady... Steady... Stop! Good work Virgil, I'll get to work on this door and hopefully we can be out of here soon enough."
"Hey!" Linden shouted suddenly. "Who the hell is that?!"
Scott turned around and followed where Linden was pointing, down to the bottom of the lift shaft. He almost had to do a double take when he saw the man in some kind of robotic suit of armour stood below them. And then Scott saw the sniper rifle he was holding.
"Everybody down!" Scott shouted, practically pushing Linden to the floor as the first shot rang out. Randall then decided to jump on Linden as the second shot echoed through the empty space. Scott returned fire, but the bullets just bounced off the unknown attacker's armour, before he disappeared back into the shadows.
"Linden's been shot" Randall shouted. Scott could see two bullet wounds on his left side, one on top of the other.
"This is Thunderbird 1 calling International Rescue. This is a red alert. I repeat, this is a red alert. There is an unknown attacker inside the building. Linden Ashton has been shot."

John was on it as soon as the red alert had come through.
"Alan, pull up a map of Ashton tower and all life forms currently present."
Alan obliged, and soon there was a holographic map filling up Thunderbird 5.
"Scott" John said. "There is only other life form in the building except for the three of you in the cage, and they're currently making an escape out of the back of the building. I've alerted the police but right now you have to focus on getting those doors open and getting Linden Ashton outside. There are already ambulances outside ready to take him once you get down there."
John looked back round to see Lunar perched on the edge of chess table, looking nervous.
"This is serious, isn't it?" She asked, chewing on her lip.
"It's always serious" John said. "We rescue people from dangerous situations. But I admit, first an explosion and then someone infiltrates the building and shoots Linden Ashton Sr, one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. I'm really leaning towards this not being an accident anymore."

"I agree John" Jeff said, once the astronaut had relayed his thoughts back down to Tracy Island. "First the explosion, inside Linden Ashton's office, that takes the elevator out of commission. Now somebody walks out and brazenly opens fire on the rescue effort. It's too much of a coincidence for them not to be linked in some way."
"Do you think this could be SkyeTech?" John asked. "Linden Ashton is a powerful man, if they wanted to get him out of the way..."
"I understand what you're saying" Jeff replied. "And Ashton Enterprises is not under the SkyeTech umbrella so far as we can tell, which could make him a target. What I don't understand, at the moment, is if they wanted to kill Linden Ashton, then how did they get the timing of the explosion so wrong that they only managed to trap him at the bottom of an elevator shaft? Unless their plan all along was to just trap him down there so that they could shoot him. Even so..."
"Could they be trying to lure us down there again? It's not the first time they would have tried to draw us out by staging a rescue effort."
"I can't rule it out as a possibility" Jeff said. "Right now I think I'm going to get Lady Penelope on this. If anybody can figure out what is going on, she can. Keep an eye on the situation, and relay back anything important."
"Right father" John said. "Thunderbird 5 signing off."

Jeff took a moment to process his conversation with John, then turned to the painting at the back of the wall. Unlike the 5 Tracy brothers, Lady Penelope's portrait was situated next to Jeff and his desk, It wasn't the most convenient of places to put it, but it was the only place that it really fit, so it had to make do.
"This is International Rescue calling Lady Penelope, come in Penny."
"Why Jeff, it's lovely to see you" Lady Penelope replied, the live video of her appearing in place of the portrait. "I would guess that you're here about Ashton Tower. It's all over the news."
"You're right Penny. We're beginning to believe that the explosion at Ashton Tower may not have been an accident after all. Linden Ashton has been attacked and shot during the rescue, and that's too much for me to believe that any of this is a coincidence."
"I see" Penelope said seriously. "That means someone set up Linden Ashton's office to explode. And then, when he didn't die in that, they sent someone to finish the job."
"My thinking exactly" Jeff said. "I'm going to have CCTV footage of Ashton Tower sent over. I'd like you and Parker to look through it and see if you can find anything that'd help us in the search for whoever did this."
"Of course Jeff, I'll get on it right away. We'll find them, don't worry."

Lady Penelope pulled out one of her plush seats, then sat behind the desk filled with computer monitors. Her manor might look fancy and sophisticated if you take a glance at just the sections open to anybody's glare, but underneath there were several unseen corners filled with everything she needed to do her other job, working with International Rescue.
"Parker, we have an assignment" She called out as the system booted up. Sure enough, Parker was soon by her side, ready to have a go at cracking the CCTV footage.
"There is a lot of it 'ere m'lady. Anything in particular we are looking for?"
"Considering the blast originated inside Linden Ashton's penthouse office, it would make sense for us to begin there. I want you to look through the last 2 hours before the explosion- see if there's anybody in there that shouldn't be. The sooner we narrow this down, the sooner we can put an end to this."
"Right m'lady. I shall be on that straight away."
"Meanwhile, I will have a look at the cameras in the surrounding areas. See if the dots can connect. Someone, somewhere brought an explosive device into that office. I want to know who that was."

It took them over 40 minutes of scrolling through the footage before they finally found something. It almost looked as if they weren't going to get anything. Supposedly, nobody had been inside Linden Ashton's office, even when they sent the footage back even further. Eventually, however, little discrepancies started to appear, and the pieces started to fall into place. It was Lady Penelope who struck the first hit.
"Parker, come take a look at this for a second will you. That man there" Penelope pointed to the corner of the screen, where a man dressed in overalls was talking to the receptionist. "I missed him the first time because I didn't think to take a second look at someone doing maintenance, but I recognised that jacket. And there's one big problem with somebody from KGG Gas Services doing maintenance work inside Ashton Tower."
"Of course!" Parker's face lit up. "Ashton Tower is all powered by the sun! There aren't any gas appliances in there."
"Precisely. So I wonder what our friend was up to. He goes into the elevator after this, and I want to know just where he gets off."
Lady Penelope brought up every single floor in Ashton Tower onto the monitors, then replayed the tape. But as the elevator went up, floor by floor, the mystery man did not get out."
"That settles it. He must have gone all the way up to the office."
"I'm h'afriad not m'lady" Parker said. "I've reviewed the footage, and he doesn't appear here either."
"Well let's look at it together, maybe we'll spot something on another go."
"Right we are m'lady" Parker said, rewinding the footage. He started from the moment the man got into the elevator, and then watched it all the way through until he should have stepped off the elevator and into the office and then some more. But still nothing.
"Hang on a minute!" Parker suddenly shouted, midway through their second screening. "That fly!"
"Yes Parker, there is a fly in the office" Penelope said, "But I don't see what the fly has to do with catching our mystery man."
"Look" Parker said, rewinding slightly. When he played the footage, he kept his finger on the position of the fly, until suddenly, mid clip, the fly disappeared and reappeared on the other side of the office.
"I don't believe it."
"The footage m'lady, it's on a loop. No wonder we never saw him get out of the damn lift, he was fooling us all along."
"You're quite right Parker, but he won't be doing that anymore."
Lady Penelope went back to her monitor, and started going through the tapes again. Whoever this person was, he was very good at evading cameras. All cameras except one he hadn't bargained for. When Jeff had said that all footage was being sent over, he wasn't wrong. She had all of the footage, including the receptionist's shirt button camera.
"I've got you now" Penelope said. "I'm running his image through facial recognition."
"No need" Parker replied. "I know who that is. That's Dennis Vanderson, not that he calls 'imself that anymore. What does he go by now? Ah..."
"I can still run the image if your memory is failing you Parker?"
"John Colazo! That's it! He's a cat burglar turned contract killer. Last I heard he was living it up Stateside."
"Makes sense" Penelope said. She ran the image anyway, and got exactly the result she got from Parker. Not that anybody had seen Dennis Vanderson for 12 years, but it was definitely him. "Parker, how do you feel about a little trip to try and track down our contract killer here?"
"Oh I would love that m'lady" Parker responded. "I'll go get the car."

The giant steel elevator doors, once a dull silver in colour, now glowed a bright orange under Scott Tracy's cutting torch. It was slower than he would have liked, but these doors were state of the art.
"How much longer?" Randall asked, still holding the injured Linden Ashton. "Linden's beginning to fade."
"Not long" Scott replied. "These doors are solid, it's taking a lot of work to get through them."
"It's ironic" Linden said quietly. "I built those doors to be bombproof. Apparently they're not bombproof enough to stop the first explosion, but still stubborn enough that I might die trying to escape a bombing. And a shooting. I suppose this clinches it as my worst moment as CEO of this company."
"Stop talking" Randall hissed. "You need to save your energy."
"Since when have you ever been so sensible?"
"Since the man who writes my payslips is lying injured in my arms, bleeding all over my very expensive shirt."
There was a loud creak as the elevator doors split apart, but the noise signalled that they had a chance to finally get out of there.
"OK" Scott said. "The only problem we have now is the rather large gap between the cage and the floor. I could jump it, so could Randall, but Linden is not going to be able to do anything."
"One of us goes over, and the other passes Linden across" Randall suggested.
"I was thinking that too, but it's still a large gap."
"Well I'd rather not spend all day in here" Randall said. "I am dying for a cigar and a nice bottle of whisky."
"I'll go across" Scott said. He backed up to the edge of the cage, then sprinted like he was at the Olympics preparing for a long jump attempt, bounding across the gap and landing on the other side.
"Now Linden's turn."
Randall took Linden, then started to lay him out over the edge of the cage, holding onto his legs whilst hooking himself to the cage. Scott too stretched out, and grabbed hold of Linden's arms. Essentially, now they had made a human bridge across the gap.
"It's not going to work" Scott said. "My grip isn't strong enough haul Linden across. You're going to have to rock the cage to get him closer."
"Right then" Randall said, and began to rock the cage backwards and forwards. Scott went with the flow, until he had gauged the rhythm, and then on one of the forward thrusts he grasped Linden lower down, then hauled him over. Randall soon followed, and between them they started to get out of the building.
"Scott" Virgil's voice suddenly appeared over the radio. "You might want to get out of there fast. The building is coming down. Get out!"

Carrying Linden was no easy task, but Scott and Randall managed it between them. As they moved down the first flight of stairs, there was a violent rumble under their feet and a crashing noise from above them. Something big must have collapsed, because suddenly burning ash began raining down on them.
"How many more flights do we have to go down?" Randall asked, dodging out of the way as more debris came down on top of them. The stairwell was beginning to fill with smoke. Scott looked to the walls, picking out a glossy number 4 out of the now hazy area.
"Just a few more floors" He said. They began to pick up their pace, now with just the stairs to conquer. Soon they were on the 3rd floor, and then the 2nd. Another loud crash echoed through the building, this time bringing with it a large support beam that came flying down the gap in the centre of the stairwell. There was a creak as the stairway behind them buckled, threatening to collapse entirely.
"Come on" Scott said. "We have to get out of here, and we have to do it now."
"It's so hot" Randall said. "This is bringing back all kinds of memories. Not good ones either."
Now they were on the first floor. Almost at the bottom. Scott had to start kicking away burning pieces of what remained of the upper levels to clear their path. Eventually they managed to fight their way down to the ground floor.
"Where the hell is the door?" Randall asked, trying to wave the smoke away. There was just too much of it.
"I've got it!" Scott said. He quickly pulled the handle down and opened the door, only to be met by a giant fireball that sent them all flying backwards. Scott quickly picked himself up, just to see the entire lobby in flames.
"Virgil" Scott said, as calmly as possible. "We're trapped in the ground floor stairwell. As far as I can see, the only way out of here is to run through the burning lobby, but I don't know if the suits can stand up to it. Not only that, but Linden's suit has 2 bullet holes in it, and he's already in a bad way."
"This building is coming down any minute, Scott!" Virgil replied, a lot less calmly. "If that's your way out then you're going to have to take it!"
"You hear that Randall. We're going to have to make a run through the lobby. It's our only way out."
"Last time I'm pretty sure I'd already passed out by this point" Randall said. "But fine."
Scott and Randall put Linden between them, then stood by the door.
"On my signal" Scott said. "Now!"

They moved into the lobby, making sure Linden's body didn't drag along the ground as they went. Linden was not the lightest of people, and so it took all the effort of both Scott and Randall to keep him upright as they moved through. The heat was incredible, even in the suits. The air was so thick, it was as if they were moving through treacle.
"I don't see the exit!" Randall shouted, but Scott calmed him down.
"Just keep moving straight. It's here, just keep moving."
They kept moving, but it felt as if they were getting nowhere. Their movements were becoming lethargic, and even inside the suit it felt like 500 degrees. If Scott hadn't known better, he would have been content with just laying down and giving up, such was the strain on his body to continue. But he did know better. He was International Rescue, and people's lives depended on him. He put his head in gear and eventually, step by step, they walked all the way through and out into the open air. Almost instantly, once they had passed the fire safety barrier, Linden and Randall were whisked away by the medical staff on the scene, but not before Randall had a quick chance to send Scott a little salute.
"Nice to see you got out OK" Virgil said. Scott could see him hovering in Thunderbird 2. "Now get back in your craft and let's get out of here, before that building comes down for good."
"FAB Virgil" Scott replied, running round the back of the building to retrieve Thunderbird 1. "F. A. B."

Having contacts within the aviation industry was always a great help. Lady Penelope rarely had need to use those contacts, but sometimes when International Rescue came calling, they had to be put to good use. No sooner had they identified John Colazo as the mystery bomber than Lady Penelope and Parker found themselves onboard a Fireflash heading straight for LA. It took them just a couple of hours to arrive, but that was more than enough time for Lady Penelope to track down where John Colazo was now staying in the aftermath of his attack. A nice house in a suburban neighbourhood. Secluded, yet not somewhere anybody would look at and think of as a hideaway. It's no wonder he chose it.
"Are you ready Parker?" Lady Penelope asked, stood outside the front door.
"Oh yes m'lady" Parker replied. He attached a small explosive device, then stood back and watched at it blew the lock clean off the door. Now they could really get down to business.

"This is a nice place" Lady Penelope said, pushing the front door out of the way and walking into the bungalow. "Wouldn't you say, Parker?"
"Oh yes m'lady" Parker replied, swiping a gold watch off the hall table when he was sure Lady P wasn't looking.
"You check the kitchen, I'll take the front room. He's got to be in here somewhere."
"Right we are m'lady. He won't get away."
As they split off, Lady Penelope took a look around the pristine front room. Either nobody lived here, or whoever lived here took immaculate care of their property. It was also very... Feminine. Something told her that this was not where John Colazo spent most of his life. It also didn't look as if John Colazo was here at all, especially when Parker hadn't said anything. But then Lady Penelope took a cursory look at the bookcase, and spotted something. Something that shouldn't have been there.
"Awfully strange to have a doorway blocked off by a bookcase" She said quietly to herself, pushing the bookcase aside, with greater ease than she had expected.
"Now, let's see what's behind-"
The door flew open, knocking Lady Penelope to the floor as John Colazo burst out, making a run straight for the front door.
"PARKER!" Penelope shouted, picking herself up.
As Colazo exited the front room, he ran straight into Parker, sending them both crashing to the floor. Colazo tried to throw a punch as he got up, but Parker dodged it. Still, it put the butler on the back foot.
"'ere you cretin, stop!" Parker shouted, pulling his sidearm from his waistband as Colazo ran out of the house. "I will shoot you."
But Colazo kept going, sprinting across the road in his bid for freedom. Parker sighed, then pulled the trigger, hitting the hitman in his leg, sending him flying onto the ground.
"Good shot Parker" Lady Penelope said, having finally caught up with him. "Bring him inside. I think we have a few questions to ask Mr Colazo about what has been going on."
"Right away" Parker said, and began his walk across the street to John Colazo, who was still laying there, clutching his leg. Lady Penelope smiled. This was going well.

"John Colazo" Lady Penelope began, walking a circle around him. "How does it feel to be tied up in your own home? Not that I actually believe for a second that this is your home. I'm afraid we have a few things to go through, including your work for SkyeTech and the attack on Ashton tower, which we know you were behind. You are supposedly a very good assassin and saboteur. Parker here is a big fan of your work. So why is it that Linden Ashton was able to survive the bomb that went off in his office? A task as simple as that and you fail to kill him? I struggle to believe you would be so careless."
Colazo looked up at Lady Penelope and laughed shallowly, but he did not speak.
"Something funny?"
"I'll sort 'im out m'lady" Parker said, then slapped him hard across the face with his open palm. Colazo stopped laughing, and simply began to stare.
"You obviously disagree with something I've said" Lady Penelope continued. "What is it, that you never meant to kill him in the first place? Oh but why would you want that? Was it an audition to potential employers- look at me, if I can attack Linden Ashton, I can kill anyone you want? No, I know what it was. Linden said as much himself, that he was the most powerful man not in SkyeTech's clutches. It was a warning to everyone else. A very publicised warning."
Colazo continued to stare, but let out the weakest of smiles, something Lady Penelope picked up on.
"I'm right, and he knows it. So tell me, John, it was all going perfectly. Why then try to shoot him too? It was unnecessary, if all you wanted to do was shake him up. If you were trying to kill him, then it was a pathetic and quite awful attempt. I thought you were a better marksman than that."
"I didn't shoot him" Colazo said, the first time he had talked the whole time.
"Did you speak? I was starting to forget what your voice sounded like. Somebody took the shot, and you were the only person there. Come on John, admit that you failed."
"How dare you insult my skill!" Colazo erupted. "If I wanted Linden Ashton dead, then he would be dead. I wasn't the freak in a metal suit who got in the way of the operation! I was supposed to blow up his office, nothing more."
Colazo stopped dead, his face turning white as he realised what he had just let slip.
"Arrogance and pride, m'lady" Parker said. "Always one of those that makes them talk."
"Indeed. Now, I am very interested in this 'freak', as you called him."
"I've already said too much. You won't make me talk any further."
Lady Penelope looked over to Parker, who walked over and pressed his foot down hard on Colazo's gunshot wound. When Colazo remained silent, Parker pressed down harder, until Colazo could take no more.
"OK! OK! I don't know who he is, but he rocked up to Ashton tower just before the fireworks began. He made me, and he began to approach me so I bolted. I don't know who he is, but the guy walked in there with a sniper rifle, so if Linden Ashton was shot, then he's your guy."
"Very interesting" Lady Penelope said. "Thank you."
"What shall we do with him?" Parker asked.
"Well I'm sure the authorities will be very interested to know what our friend here has been up to. Let's take him for a ride downtown."
"Right m'lady" Parker said. "I'm certain this will be great fun."

"Linden Ashton is going to survive" Jeff proclaimed to the room, with everyone gathered round. Everyone still on the island, that was. Lunar, John and Alan were all still in Thunderbird 5, whilst Lady Penelope and Parker were busy handing John Colazo over to the FBI. For everyone else, however, it was time to celebrate another successful mission.
"How bad was it?" Scott asked. Having been fighting to get out of the building, he had never been able to properly assess Linden's wounds.
"The two bullet wounds themselves were not actually that bad, they were certainly not the fatal shots the assassin would have wanted, likely thanks to Randall and yourself. In the end, Linden Ashton actually suffered more from smoke inhalation because his suit was punctured. Aston Tower is still burning away, despite collapsing, but as there is nobody there who shouldn't be, that's a job for the fire service, not International Rescue."
"There's still the question of our mystery assassin" Gordon said. "If they weren't SkyeTech, who were they?"
"That we do not yet know. I've forwarded Scott's description on to Colonel Langley, and I'll see if he has anything. For now, they're not our concern."
Suddenly, John's portrait began to flash, drawing everyone out of the conversation.
"Oh come on" Scott said. "Not another rescue already?"
"What's up John?" Jeff asked, but John looked nervous. Unsure.
"We've just received a message father. Not a rescue call, but a message. A message that was sent using International Rescue's waveband. I... You'll just have to see this for yourself."
A hologram appeared in the middle of the room, depicting a man in a suit of armour. The armour was bulky, covering every inch of the person from head to toe. It was silver, mainly, but with streaks of orange across the panelling. A set of white rings seemed to spin on his right arm, growing and shrinking, spinning as he moved. The helmet was shaped like a skull, with a large scar running down the side, reaching from the scalp and down the right hand side of his face, going through his eye in the process. Scott's mouth dropped at the sight of him.
"No... That's him. That's the person who shot at us."

"I am Orion." The voice was deep, metallic. It had definitely been acoustically altered. "I am the hunter. I am the judge, jury and executioner of those who have committed heinous crimes to the people of planet Earth. The greed of Ashton Enterprises led to the defrauding of thousands of innocent people, and for that it was his time to be judged. The fact he survived means that he has been given a second chance. It is up to him what he does with that chance, but he will be judged again. It was not my intention to involve you in my mission, and for that I apologise, but I believe this chance meeting has given us an opportunity. It is my understanding that you have been fighting against SkyeTech International to continue with your organisation's chief aims undisturbed. SkyeTech is a conglomerate implicit in several major crimes, including racketeering, corruption, bribery, money laundering, espionage and murder. I have been attempting to track down and eliminate the key players of SkyeTech for several months, and I believe our common interest leads to an opportunity where we can work together, and finally end the conglomerate's tyrannical reign. You do not have to accept this offer, but I strongly suggest that it is in your best interests that we work together. You have 24 hours to decide. I'll be waiting."