Thunderbirds Are Go!

The Halloween Collection (2020 Edition)

by Lee Homer

Disclaimer: All rights reserved. Thunderbirds Are Go! Is the property of ITV and Pukeko Pictures. Rated T Any OC's are my own.

The Lake

By Kayo Kyrano

This encounter happened a few years ago in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. I was on assignment there for the GDF when they received a call about an alleged sighting of a man who had made the top of their wanted list. His name was Hans Godber and he was a terrorist who was even slicker than my Uncle. He escaped prison a few months back when used a carefully staged prison riot to help cover his escape. He managed to evade the authorities since, until one night when we received a call from Colonel Casey over a secure channel. She explained how she had stretched all of her forces to breaking point and needed the extra help to locate the mad terrorist. I was all too eager for the job. You see, Lady Penelope was away on an assignment of her own and things had gotten rather dull around the island. Casey cleared it with Mister Tracy who agreed to her request, but on the agreement that I'd report in every hour. Agreeing to his terms, I suited up and took off the rendezvous point in Thunderbird Shadow.

I didn't know what to anticipate as I arrived at the rendezvous point just a few hours later. As I came into land, I saw two GDF transporters below with a small encampment set up in between them. I immediately reported to the officer who was in charge at that point. His name was Captain Anderson. He was a tall, stiff, and starch man with a thick handlebar mustache and a chiseled jawline. I addressed him formally with a salute.

"Kayo Kyrano of International Rescue. I'm here to assist you in your investigation." I said. "Colonel Casey instructed me to meet you here."

The Officer scanned my appearance for a moment. "Ah yes. The name's Captain Tom Anderson, head of the GDF First Response Unit. Thank you for coming at such short notice."

"The pleasure is mine, Captain. Now fill me in on everything you have?"

The Captain showed me a hologram of the surrounding area. He explained to me how a resident spotted a man fitting Godber's description, steal a truck off of the interstate. He was immediately chased by the local authorities for a while before giving them the slip and disappearing into the woods. The Police gave the Captain his last known location. He didn't want to focus his forces on one spot, in case it allowed him to slip away again, so I offered to go in and investigate alone. After a lengthy debate, the Captain agreed against his bitter judgment. I programmed the co-ordinates before reporting to Tracy Island. I remember the chill that made me shiver through my suit. However, with daylight fading, I sped off into the Canadian countryside.

About half an hour later, I arrived at the location, pulling my bike over towards the side of the road. I didn't know where I was exactly, but I realized that I was miles away from civilization. I dismounted my bike and used my equipment to investigate the surrounding area. I didn't find anything at first upon inspection, but suddenly, my eyes noted a set of tire tracks that led into the trees. I left my bike and proceeded to follow them on foot. I'm not afraid to admit this now, but I had made my first mistake. I located the abandoned truck a short while later. It had been left there with the keys still in the ignition. A trail of footsteps ran from it, leading towards a small clearing at the other end of the woods. My instincts clashed with each other as I stood there amongst the wind and breeze. The trees clawed away at the thick grey sky. The ground smelt damp from recent rainstorms. The dark and oppressive atmosphere was palpable to say the list. Despite my instincts to leave, my gut cried "Proceed." I carried on, piercing the shadowy veil that lingered amongst the trees. I could see the light reflecting off a body of water in the distance. There was a lake on the other side of the treeline. Could Godber have gone for a swim? Perhaps he had taken a boat and traveled towards the other side of the lake.

I eventually stumbled upon an old log cabin that sat on the edge of the water. It looked old and unstable with a kicked indoor and a few broken windows. A small wooden pier ran alongside it, stretching into the water. I looked abandoned to me, but I knew it wouldn't hurt to check it out first before leaving the area. A thick pungent odor invaded my sinuses when I approached the entrance. It was a combination of damp, mud, and rotten fish. Perhaps it was a fisherman's cabin. I was always looking for rational answers. However, before I stepped inside, I could feel a pair of eyes pierce the back of my head. I wasn't alone. I was certain of that. I stepped inside the cabin, I took out my flashlight to examine the interior. What a mess. It looked as if it had been ransacked. There were bits of wood, paper, and garbage thrown about the place as if somebody was in a hurry to get out of there. I decided to stick around and report this to the Captain when I heard the sound of leaves crunching outside. Somebody was walking through the trees towards my position. I turned off my light and took up a defensive posture by the doorway. The footsteps grew louder and I heard a deep breathy voice mumble something. I couldn't make out the words, but I was able to interpret the tone. There was a man outside and he knew I was here.

Suddenly, after a few moments of intense silence, the footsteps moved away. I slowly emerged from my hiding spot and crept out of the doorway. I felt compelled to look towards the water as a mysterious presence made itself known to me. I could hear a dull hiss coming from the water. This was the moment where my nightmare truly began, as I turned to face the water, I was caught off guard by a sweep kick to the ground. I lost my balance and smacked the mud on my side. I was in too much pain to react to the environment around me. My head throbbed accompanied by a ringing in my ears. Suddenly I saw a muddied boot come down next to my head. I tried to move but I was unable to get a good look at the mysterious assailant. I heard him let out a sickening laugh as be pulled my wrists behind my back. I felt him do something to them. I couldn't believe it. He was tying me up. He spoke in a thick Eastern European accent. I didn't know who he was, but he knew me.

"I've been expecting you," he said as he crouched down to tie my ankles. "I should have realized that the GDF would send International Rescue out to find me."

I looked at him with a dazed expression. I should have been able to fight him off yet, I felt so weak. He paused for a moment to explain his presence. I heard him out. All the while my body remained in a temporary state of paralysis, it was all I could do.

"That's right. I know about you, Kayo. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Hans Godber. The man you are looking for. Oh, how do I know you? Well, it's quite simple really. I managed to hack into your pitiful encryption code. I was able to plan all of this and let me tell you something. You are so predictable."

"What did you do to me?" I spluttered. "I should have been able to...to...to..."

"Take me down? Ah, my dear Kayo, I took the time to study your profile. It's one of the perks of knowing your uncle." Godber snorted. "The moment you stepped into that cabin, you were hit with a colorless, odorless paralyzing gas. You stepped on a capsule that I had concealed in a pile of leaves. The minute you stepped on it, you were mine."

I could feel myself slowly regain my mentality and decided to press my captor for more information. I could feel Godber wrap more rope around my arms, securing me into a hog-tie. I felt humiliated by my predicament and began to work on an escape tactic. He soon finished his work as he knelt beside me and rolled me on my back. He felt his eyes burrow into mine.

"What are you going to do me?" I asked him. "Killing me won't solve anything. The GDF will find another reason to put you away."

"I'm not going to kill you. I'll leave your fate to the resident of the lake." He sneered. "Why do you think I've come here? Many years ago, I created a new breed of aquatic life. I was so happy, so youthful. The experiment went wrong and my beautiful creation mutated from the effects of radiation. One night, I returned to my lab to discover that it had escaped. I tracked it to this lake where it resides to this day. Now and again, I like to come here and feed her. Show her that I care about her. But every time I went to prison, she'd cry in despair. I haven't fed her in a long time. Tonight's the night when I'll give her the feast of her life."

I felt my stomach tighten as struggled at my bonds. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Godber looked upon me with a sinister look in his eyes. "She needs food to survive, Kayo. So I'm offering you."

I began to panic at this point. Was this maniac seriously about to offer me up as the main course to a giant fish!? I wasn't willing to believe anything. My main priority was to get the heck out of there. I tried to reason with him further, but Godber was having none of it. He pulled out a dirty handkerchief from his jacket and jammed, wrapped it into an oblong-shaped, and wrapped it around my mouth. He stifled my screams. I watched on as he walked off into the shadows. He left me at the mercy of the lake as the surface of the water started to ripple. After rocking my body back and forth in the mud, I managed to flip myself onto my belly. My eyes looked on towards the water. Something ascended to the surface. It was huge.

What I saw was so insane and terrifying. A giant, amphibious creature swam towards the shoreline. It's yellow luminous, frog-like eyes looked upon me with intent. It silently glided through the water towards me, like a hungry predator moving in for the kill. As it reached the shoreline, it changed shape. I watched as it raised itself on its hind legs, wading through the water. It had four long claws on each hand with webbed feet. Its body was coated in scales that shimmered under the moon light. Water poured from its body as it heaved. My adrenaline had kicked in. I could feel the ropes loosen around my wrists as I worked my way at the knots. I ran my face along the ground, removing my gag. As soon as I did, I inhaled deeply. The creature gave off a foul odor that made me want to vomit. I watched it hesitate for a moment as it observed my movements. It bought me some extra time.

Suddenly, it raised it's head and opened it's mouth, displaying an array of razor-sharp teeth. They were big enough to impale a person and I wasn't going to let that happen to me. It let out a deafening squeal that ripped through me like a knife. Fortunately, luck was on my side. I slipped my wrists out of the rope and untied my ankles. As I did this, the creature advanced towards me. I had little time to move out of the way. I rolled across the mud as the creature took a swipe at me. I scrambled to my feet, racing back towards the cabin. I could hear the creature chase after me as it squealed and hissed into the night. I hurled myself inside and took cover-up against the chimney stack. The sound of its footsteps bounced off of the walls. It was trying to flush me out. Each passing squeal was accompanied by a swipe at the walls. I could hear it run its claws along the surface of the wood. It was trying to get in. I figured it had caught my scent so it could follow my every move. For the next few minutes, I endured nothing but the enraged screams of the creature. My fear intensified. I couldn't handle it much longer. Each sound scarred me. The cries, the thumping, and the clawing. The relentless clawing.

Then suddenly, the sounds ceased and I quickly found myself alone in a seemingly quiet room. I could hear the creature shuffle back towards the water. It sounded like it had reacted to something which scared it away. I crept nervously towards the doorway again. I could see the beam of a flashlight, dancing through the trees. My initial thought was that Godber had returned to check up on his beloved pet, but I can't tell you how relieved I was to see Scott instead. He emerged from the shadows along with Virgil and Captain Anderson. As staggered out of the cabin and cried out to him. Scott caught me as I felt my legs give up on me. The last thing I remembered at that moment were the words;

"It's okay. You're going to be okay, Kayo. Let's get you home."

I awoke in my bed from a deep sleep a few days later. I had no memory of how I got there, but it would soon come back to me. Scott entered my room with his father. Between them, they explained everything to me. Scott sat next to me and held my hand while Jeff fluffed up my pillow. What happened to me? Was it all a dream?

"When you didn't check-in, Dad called Captain Anderson," Scott explained. "As soon as we got a fix on your position, We took off in Thunderbird Two. We took a pod in case you needed some equipment but instead, we saw this massive sea monster that was circling the cabin. The Captain tried to scare it off with lights but it didn't work so he fired a flare gun at it. That seemed to do the trick."

"What happened out there?" Jeff asked. "Take your time."

With a deep breath, I gave them the details of my encounter. I told them everything. Godber's trap, my sudden bondage predicament, the creature, everything. The pair of them shared a look of horror. They found it hard to digest. I tried to sit up, but doing so left me feeling dizzy. Jeff gently pressed on my shoulders, instructing me to get some rest. I didn't argue with him. I felt so safe in my room that I didn't want to leave. To this day, I still have vivid dreams from that night. I can still feel Godber's eyes on me as he tied me up, I can still smell the foul stench of the later but worst of all, I can still hear the creature's cries. As for Godber, he'll trip up eventually. And when he does, he'll suffer for it. I hope he rots in hell.

END