Unforgotten
AN – Well... I've now finished this story! So expect posts to come quite thick and fast now because I really want to see if you like the ending...
Disclaimer – I don't own Thunderbirds
Chapter Forty One – Bargains Made
John was woken from his sleep by a shaft of light coming through the open door of the small wooden hut and hitting him in the face. Yawning he stretched and sat up, regretting sleeping in his clothes now that he saw their crumpled condition. He left the hut to find that most of the inhabitants of the secluded valley were already going about their daily chores.
"John!" A voice to his right called, peering through the low morning light John could see Gordon and Alan sat around a small fire. He felt relief wash over him at seeing his siblings safe and well. He didn't believe there was any danger here, at least not to them, but with two brothers gone he wanted to keep the rest as close as he could. He joined them quickly, gratefully receiving a bowl of some rice dish with vegetables in a savoury sauce.
"Any sign of the others?" John queried, once he had managed to eat some of the food. Gordon shrugged, tearing off a piece of a flatbread to mop up the sauce in his bowl.
"I've seen nothing of Angel, I think Tintin and Brains are working somewhere with one of the monks. I saw them briefly this morning, apparently one of the monks thinks that Kyrano's brother slowly poisoned him with a special herb that weakened his mental defences before imprinting the control on him. There is something that Tintin can brew to reverse the process but it's very fiddly. They also think there must be some form of foci at the temple, for Kyrano to still be affected by it after all these years."
John whistled. "That's pretty rough. Why would the Hood be interested in Kyrano this way?"
"I guess we'll never know, maybe it was just to prove he could?"
Alan had stayed quiet throughout this discussion, causing John to turn to his youngest brother. "What about you Alan? Are you ok?"
Alan set his bowl down far harder than necessary. "I just don't understand all this waiting around!" He gestured around at all the figures working in the fields. "We're just sat here doing nothing, while anything could be happening to the others! What's the point of all this, why did we come here? You could be up on Thunderbird 5, finding out the information quicker than anyone can." Here Alan pointed accusingly at John, who rubbed his forehead.
"Except I couldn't Alan, I tried remember? We know where they are but not where it physically is. Very few people actually do and we're in the place where we might be able to get that information."
"Might is the correct term," a new voice came from behind John. Alan's eyes grew wide and he looked down at the ground, colour rising in his cheeks. Gordon sprang up, his natural energy making it difficult for him to sit still.
"Do you have anything?"
"Maybe, at least we have an idea. We've been requested to rejoin them to discuss the plan of action." Angel gestured towards the central building where they had convened the night before.
"Why are they calling the shots? We're International Rescue, rescuing people is what we do." Alan grumbled, kicking a stone as he rose.
Angel looked at him derisively. Before she could say anything that would antagonise Alan even more, John stepped in. "Alan, we deal with rescues, not kidnappings and criminals. And dad or Scott normally call the shots. Let's face it, we're out of our depth here and we need all the help we can get."
Angel caught his eye and nodded slightly, leading the way to the central building. Gordon jogged to catch up with her, asking some questions as he did so that John thought Angel might even be replying to. He turned to his youngest brother, who was evidently still sulking by the look on his face.
"Come on, let's go and see what they have to say."
Alan kicked another stone and started following, not saying anything to John. He resisted rolling his eyes as he followed his youngest brother. He knew the stress was getting to Alan but he stood by his words – they needed the help and Alan in a mood would only jeopardise it.
Gordon was talking to Angel ahead of them. "So, how do you know about this place?"
After a brief pause, when John wondered if she was just going to ignore the question, Angel finally answered him. "I was raised here." She said curtly.
Gordon looked around at the quiet plateau, monks working crops and completing manual tasks. "Really? Here?" Angel didn't reply, but gave him a flat glare. Gordon wisely didn't say anything further and soon they were at the central building.
A young man showed them in, bowing as they entered the central room. Master Tenshou was there along with two other monks wearing dark robes. Angel seemed to know them, she nodded briefly in greeting before seating herself on one of the cushions as they had done the night before. John followed her cue and also sat, Gordon and Alan choosing cushions spread around the room.
"I hope you have found your accommodations acceptable," the master started, speaking to the brothers. "It is basic here but we have everything we need."
Seeing that Gordon and Alan weren't likely to speak, John cleared his throat. "It was fine, thank you. We're keen to find out if you know anything about the place our family have been taken to."
"Of course," he gestured to one of the men wearing dark robes, who produced a paper chart and spread it carefully on the floor. John leaned closer, noticing that Angel was also doing the same. It was a map of the island of Borneo, a large area marked out with a couple of crosses in the centre. "The exact location of Gunung Suci is unknown," the man explained to them all. John felt Alan huff impatiently beside him and frowned at his brother. Master Tenshou ignored the noise and continued. "That does not mean we have no idea at all. The approximate location is known and is marked here." He pointed to the area marked on the map. "Then, based on some writings we have that describe the monastery in its prime, we have been able to narrow down the location to these few points." Now he pointed at the crosses. "Based on the advice of one of our monks who travelled to Gunung Suci many years ago, we believe it to be here." Now he pointed at one of the crosses in particular, which John noticed was also ringed in a different colour. "It is not completely accurate, but it is the best that we have."
"Thank you," John said sincerely. "It's much more than we had before."
The man nodded, gesturing again. A second piece of paper was laid on the floor, this time something that looked like a blueprint. "What we can provided is the layout of the temple. This will help you to locate the most likely places where your family will be held and allow you to find your way in." He nodded at Angel, who rolled up the blueprints securely.
"Finally, two of our monks will accompany you. You will need additional support for your quest." He gestured at the two figures in dark robes who bowed simultaneously.
John was about to thank the man when Angel held up a hand in warning, effectively silencing him. "What is it you want?" She asked suspiciously.
"Is it not enough that we wish to support you, my child?"
She shook her head stubbornly. "Maybe if it was just the information, but to provide two of your shadows… what is it you want?"
The old man steepled his fingers together under his chin. "You have always been astute. I want the man you call the Hood. He is responsible for the loss of Gunung Suci and we have unfinished business with him."
Angel gazed at him for a moment, quietly assessing. Eventually she nodded. "It is a fair trade. You have our gratitude."
"Excellent. I wish you luck. And Angelique, do us proud."
Angel didn't reply but turned and exited the room. John scrambled to his feet to follow her out, Alan and Gordon doing the same behind him. John found her standing in the fresh air, fingers clenched around the rolled up blueprints she held. There was movement behind him and he jumped when he realised the two monks in dark robes had followed them.
Angel looked sideways at John. "We will leave just before nightfall. Is there anything else you need?"
"I don't think so. I need to find out where Tintin and Brains are though."
"They will stay here, I think. The concoction Tintin is learning to brew is difficult and she will need more time to perfect it. If we can find the foci he must be using within the temple to control Mr Kyrano at such a distance then it will greatly help her efforts." Angel looked at the two men that had accompanied them. "We will go to the craft now, but depart at dusk. We will see you then." They nodded silently and departed. "They will gather their supplies," she explained to John's questioning gaze. "But I have received all I can from here."
"Are we going to be taking them with us?" Alan queried, looking around with a distrustful expression on his face. "Inside Thunderbird 2?"
"One thing you don't have to worry about is them stealing your technology," Angel told him wryly. "You may have realised that life is rather basic here – they will know more ways to kill you than you've even thought of but they probably wouldn't even be able to work a calculator. That's the irony of the training here."
She led the way back to the passage out of the mountain cavern, grabbing her small hold-all from the doorstep of a small hut as she did so. John pulled his and his brothers from the ground around the small fire they had sat at this morning. "What about Tintin?"
Angel paused. "Follow me," and she led them up a different path. John, telling Gordon and Alan to stay put, followed her to a cave slightly above the floor of the valley plateau. In the entrance she called out to the people inside. Tintin and Brains emerged, along with a wizened old man who was almost bent double on his staff.
"Tintin!" John exclaimed. "Are you ok?" The other girl looked tired, concern causing a slight frown in her expression.
She smiled gently at him. "Good morning John, yes I'm ok. It's just proving to be quite complicated."
"I-I am impressed you've f-followed it at all," Brains added, watching his girlfriend with more than a little awe. "I'm c-completely lost."
"She has a talent, this one," the old man said, cackling as he leant on his walking stick. "Come back when you're done," and he hobbled back into the darkness of the cave.
"We're going back to Thunderbird 2 to prepare," John told them. "We're leaving at dusk." Tintin looked upset. "We will be back to collect you before you know it." John added. "You won't even know we're gone."
"You will be careful, won't you?" Tintin said, looking between them fearfully. "Anything could happen… come back to us."
"We will do our best," John comforted her, knowing that he couldn't make any promises. Tintin knew it too, she nodded bravely and gave them both quick hugs. Angel looked surprised at the gesture but eventually returned it.
"I'd better get back in," Tintin said eventually, her voice wobbling slightly.
"I-I'll come down with you," Brians decided. "I can help you get t-the equipment ready."
"Thanks Brains," John replied. "Take care Tintin."
The trio returned to where Gordon and Alan were waiting impatiently. John pulled his small rucksack back on again. "Lead on Angel," he gestured for her to proceed him. Without a word she complied, disappearing into the darkness of the tunnel. The click of a torch lit their way and, as before, John passed torches back for the others too.
The sight of the Thunderbird machines still sat on the shale caused a weight John didn't know he'd been carrying to lift. He was about to comment on it to Angel when his communicator rang loudly. "Hello," he answered, seeing Penelope's concerned face appear on the screen.
"John, thank goodness!" She exclaimed. "I haven't been able to get hold of you, I've been so worried!"
"Sorry Penelope," John replied, gesturing to the others who crowded around. "We can't have had any signal. What's up?"
"We've had a message from the Hood," she stated, concern marring her expression. "He followed it up with some images… They are alive but they are in trouble. We did manage to fix the location based on the equipment that Brains left us, I'm transmitting it over to you now."
"I don't have anything to receive it with," John said in confusion.
"I-in the Pod," Brains interrupted. "I p-packed your communications console, for t-this very reason."
John nodded and they all hurried to the craft. Gordon entered the cockpit and started to raise the body, lowering the door of the Pod 5 as he did so. Brains led the way to the small laboratory where John saw that the engineer had somehow managed to relocate the entire console from the laboratory on Tracy Island.
Sure enough, the location from Penelope was received and displayed on the console screen. Angel immediately opened the charts they had received from the monks, cross referencing the location against the existing marks.
Gordon joined her at the map as she traced the coordinates on that John was reciting. "Yes, look!" He pointed at the new point superimposed on a marked cross. "They were right, it is this location in Borneo!"
"Well that confirms it," John stated, coming over to look at the map too. "We've found the temple Penelope and we have the blueprints for it, we will be leaving at dusk."
"You may need to go sooner," Penelope replied on the screen. "The Hood told me he would call again in six hours, which is now only five hours. If I interpreted correctly, if I don't have money ready to send at that time he is going to start brutalising them."
Gordon whistled. "Looks like our timeline just moved up then. We need to go in four hours."
Angel nodded. "I'll go and tell them." She left the laboratory to go back into the monastery. John meanwhile had turned his attention back to the other information Penelope had sent through. The images caused him to sit heavily on one of the stools within the laboratory – his father and brothers looked dirty and pale. In most of the photos they were in small rooms still clad only in their boxers, but there were a final few where they were chained to pillars in some form of hall.
He was still flicking through the photos when Angel returned, confirming that the two monks would be ready to depart at the new time. Her expression tightened when she saw the images on the screen, reaching forwards towards Scott involuntarily as his image came up chained to a pillar.
Turning from the screen, she walked over to a laboratory bench and frowned at the experimental equipment set up on it. "Can I move this?" Angel asked the room at large. Brains hurried over and began carefully moving the equipment out of the way, watching her warily as Angel looked as though she wanted to just sweep it all off. Eventually enough of the bench was clear for her to be able to unroll the blueprints onto it.
"Here!" Angel exclaimed after poring over the prints for a few minutes. "This is the room with the pillars – it appears to be one of the main rooms of the monastery." The former monastery itself looked like an ornate temple, it was built in a pyramid type structure. The room Angel had identified was at the ground floor, it would once have been the main hall of the monastery. As John scrutinised the plans he could see circular rooms in the basements which were divided into segments.
"This must be the cells where they were being kept," he noted, pointing it out to Angel who nodded in agreement. "Why would the monastery have prison cells?"
"I think they were probably the individual rooms of the monks," Angel replied with a shrug. "I imagine they didn't take a lot of conversion into cells, the monks would barely have spent time in them."
The shadows, the two monks in dark clothing who had been introduced to them earlier, arrived at that point. They didn't provide their names – although, now that John thought about it, no one in the monastery had been called by name except for Master Tenshou and Angel herself.
Gordon came over to the map with Alan and Brains, between them they came up with a plan to gain access to the monastery. There were service tunnels, likely long forgotten but drawn on the blueprints that may still be accessible. After all, the monastery was not built as a fortress but as a place of worship. Brains and John hacked into satellite imagery and found hot spots – areas where even in the dense surrounding jungle there was a noticeable difference in the atmospheric constitution. Brains theorised that this meant that the service tunnels were still passable as enough air was coming out to make a difference. He did suggest breathers though, to assist if the air was bad.
Angel agreed that she would lead with Gordon into the central room, the shadows following and helping to smooth their passage. They would then make sure that no additional guards would be able to join them in the room. Angel insisted that any resistance was not dealt with lethally – remembering the woman on the floor of the library she knew that not all would be there willingly. Gordon nodded immediately upon hearing her explanation and made sure his weapons were set to stun only. John wasn't sure if the shadows agreed, but they didn't vocally object either. In fact, they said nothing throughout the development of the plan.
Alan and John were given the task of monitoring communications and guiding them where necessary on an encrypted frequency. Gordon would be wearing an ear piece that would be near undetectable, another piece of technology that came from Brains.
Eventually they were ready to depart and Brains headed back into the monastery to rejoin Tintin. John took his seat in the cockpit, Angel remaining in the laboratory with the shadows.
"Are you ready?" He asked Gordon, sat in the pilot's seat.
"As I'll ever be," Gordon replied grimly, powering up Thunderbird 2 and launching into the air. Out of the window John could see Thunderbird 1 doing the same thing. "Let's hope they aren't expecting us."
They were well into their flight when Penelope called again. "I've been hailed by the Hood," she stated grimly.
John looked at his watch in alarm. "But it's far too early!"
"He obviously has no patience. I'll keep the channel open but muted at your end."
John rushed down into the laboratory, entering just as the voice of the Hood came through.
"So International Rescue, is my money ready for me?"
"As we told you before, it isn't possible." Penelope's clipped tones replied.
"Such a shame." There was a flicker, and they were suddenly looking at Scott, Virgil and their dad tied to the pillar. Gordon came rushing in at that point, mouthing 'autopilot' to John's querying glance.
"I tried to be reasonable," the Hood continued conversationally. "It's such a shame you've been difficult. For you, I mean. My associate here is only too pleased."
The shot panned and John flinched at the gleeful expression on the face of Ethan Grey. He barked some commands that John couldn't hear and suddenly Scott's figure was cut loose from the pillar he was chained to. He fell forwards onto his knees, his sudden freedom taking him by surprise. Angel moved closer to the screen, watching closely as a guard came up behind Scott and punched him forwards with the butt of a rifle.
The camera followed Scott as he stumbled through a maze of corridors and stairs, eventually ending in a room which, unlike all that came before, was filled with light. There, a single stone seat was placed in the middle. Scott was pushed into it and tied tightly to it, the figure of Ethan looming over him.
"I have been waiting for this," Ethan gloated, before backhanding Scott viciously across the face. John turned off the feed feeling sickened.
"Gordon, what's our ETA?" He asked tensely, having been shaken by the casual violence he'd just witnessed.
"Seven point five minutes, John. I'll need to prepare for landing now." Gordon had a determined look on his face, he either wasn't as fazed as John was by what they had seen or he was channelling it more productively.
Angel was busy tracing out lines on the blueprint. Eventually she tapped a room right at the top of the pyramid structure. "Change of plan. John, you need to hack into their system and cut that feed somehow. Gordon, you take the shadows and go and rescue your father and Virgil, remember that the Hood can incapacitate you if you make eye contact with him. Leave Ethan Grey and Scott to me."
"How are you going to get to them?" Alan asked curiously. Angel drew her finger up the side of the temple, along the giant steps that must each be at least ten metres high.
"I'm going up the outside."
With one glance at her, a cold fury filling her expression, John knew that nobody would be arguing with her. He nodded to his younger brother.
"Go and take us in, Gordon. Let's go and get dad and our brothers."
