Previously on Thunderbirds Are Go!
Jeff and Alan visit Base Endeavour on the Moon and get a close look at the newly discovered planet which has been named Traxton after the astronomer who found it.
After having his feeling hurt by Base Commander Gorski, Alan bumps into young medic Dr Sophie Telford who they both take an immediate liking to.
Thunderbirds 1 and 2 fly out to the Bonneville Salt-Flats where they save Team Speed and their car Speed-1 after its hangar catches fire.
Captain Rigby calls in Kayo and together they confront Colonel Casey who is acting strangely and under the belief that she's trying to release The Hood from Aquatraz.
Scott and Alan manage to move the Speed-1 out of its hangar allowing Virgil and Thunderbird 2 to remove the damaged roof without it causing damage to the car.
After arresting Colonel Casey, Kayo discovers that she is being blackmailed by Havoc who is holding her son and daughter captive to force her to release The Hood.
Having saved the Speed-1, Hayley Madison makes a discovery revealing there is a potential saboteur on the Speed Team and it is then discovered that the driver is missing.
Kayo comes up with a plan to use The Hood in an exchange swap and catch movement where they can rescue Noel and Rita Casey and capture Havoc at the same time.
With help from John, Scott finds Mike the driver injured in the salt-flats and after bringing him back learns that a reserve driver called Eddie caused all the trouble as he felt cheated for not being allowed to drive Speed-1.
Colonel Casey and The Hood meet Havoc outside the village of Clayton in England, but the swap turns out to be a trick as the Colonel's children are revealed to be holograms resulting in Havoc and The Hood escaping.
Without an official driver for Speed-1, Alan volunteers and ends up racing the car on its world-record attempt. He succeeds but the car's speed proves greater than he realised and only just manages to eject before it crashes.
Following a clue left by Havoc, Kayo, Lady Penelope and the GDF search two nearby Windmills and locate Rita Casey, but Noel is still missing.
Jeff meets Colonel Casey in London with Virgil and Hayley also in the same restaurant. But after Hayley leaves, Virgil is confronted by a horrifying sight when he comes back in and finds Jeff dying on the floor.
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"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"CONSPIRACY" Part 2
THE doors of the hospital burst open as Scott, Kayo, Alan, Gordon, John and Grandma all rushed into the foyer of St Thomas's Hospital in London located opposite The Houses of Parliament. They hurried to the Emergency department where they found a very concerned Virgil and Colonel Casey watching through a large window. They looked inside and saw a number of doctors and nurses around a bed with Jeff, still unconscious lying in it.
"DAD!" Alan wailed and tried to get in through the door leading into the room only to find it was locked. "OPEN UP! LET ME IN!" he begged.
"ALAN, GET BACK HERE, NOW!" barked Scott.
"BUT…DAD!" cried Alan.
Gordon grabbed his younger brother and dragged him away from the door. "You heard Scott," he said. "Let the doctors do their work."
Grandma stood by Virgil, staring with hands over her mouth at the sight of her son lying motionless in the bed. "Oh, my boy!" she sobbed, bursting into tears.
John and Scott stood by Virgil and Colonel Casey.
"What happened?" Scott asked, knowing everyone else had the same question.
"I wish I knew, Scott," replied Virgil. "I only popped outside the restaurant for a moment to say farewell to Hayley. When I came back in there was a commotion and when I got through the crowd I saw he was lying on the floor."
"He took a swig of his drink not seconds before," Colonel Casey said. "Next second he's coughing and spluttering and then choking before collapsing onto the floor."
"So he's been poisoned?" asked Kayo.
"No, I don't think so," said John, who had been looking over at his father. "His skin is still relatively the same color."
"Maybe he's had a heart attack or something?" suggested Gordon.
"Guys, there's no point in us trying to guess!" Scott snapped. "Let's just wait and see what the doctors have to say. If anyone can find out what's wrong with Dad, they can."
The doors to the room they were in then opened to reveal Lady Penelope followed closely by Parker. "Brains called us," Penelope said.
They walked up to join the others at the window. Penelope and Gordon grabbed each other's arms.
"Crikey!" exclaimed Parker when he saw Jeff. "Do we know what's wrong with Mr Tracy?"
"Not yet, Parker," replied John. "But hopefully we'll know soon."
It seemed like hours to Colonel Casey and the International Rescue team as they waited in the room outside the emergency room where Jeff was being worked on. Eventually the door opened and a female doctor walked out to greet them.
"Hello there," the doctor said. "I'm Dr Maria Wilkin. You must be Jeff Tracy's family and close friends I presume?"
"How is he, Doctor?" asked Scott. "What's wrong with him?"
Dr Wilkin composed herself before replying. "Good news and bad news," she said. "Good news is we have managed to stabilise him for now. He's not in any immediate danger."
"He's not going to die, is he?" asked Alan.
"Not for the moment," said Dr Wilkin. "But he will if we don't act quickly."
"Well that's the bad news," remarked Gordon.
"Not quite, Mr Tracy," said Dr Wilkin. "The bad news is the cause of his condition."
"Which is what exactly?" asked Kayo.
The doctor didn't answer for a second, like she was trying to think how best to describe it. "It's hard to explain," she said. "It's not something any of us at the hospital have ever seen before." She produced some sheets in a blue folder. "It might be easier to show you. Could one of you turn out the lights, please?"
John was closest to the light switch and he pressed it, turning the lights off. The only light illuminating the room now was the ones inside the one where Jeff was.
Dr Wilkin then walked over to a device on the wall and turned it on with its own white light. She then took one of the transparent sheets out of the folder and placed it inside the device revealing that it was an X-Ray of Jeff's upper body. At first they couldn't see anything wrong, until Dr Wilkin pointed her pen at Jeff's brain which showed a strange looking black splodge right where the brain was located.
"And…what exactly are we looking at?" asked Alan.
Dr Wilkin pressed a button that turned the X-Ray into a proper colourised photo of the inside of Jeff's body. She then pressed some more buttons to zoom the image in on the brain and then enhance it. Everybody stared in disbelief at what they saw.
"It's not the brain itself," Scott realised. "There's something attached to it!"
"Something?" repeated Virgil. "What sort of something?"
"Can you enhance this further?" asked Kayo.
Dr Wilkin did so. Now they could see the object very clearly.
"It…It can't be?" Gordon exclaimed.
"Is that a scorpion?" asked Alan.
"That's no scorpion, Alan," replied Scott. "It's a minute Scorpion-Mecca!"
"Scorpion-Mecca?" repeated Parker. "You mean like what The Mechanic used to use on h'us?"
"It's got the same markings, the same colour-scheme. It matches exactly like The Mechanic's!" said Kayo.
"But how is that even possible?" asked Virgil. "The Mechanic is a good guy now. He can't be behind it, surely?"
"And how did it even get inside his body?" asked John.
"There's only one way," said Colonel Casey. "Someone must have slipped it into his whiskey before he drank it."
"But the brain isn't connected in any way to the mouth," said Penelope. "This really doesn't make any sense."
"Like I said, it's nothing we've ever seen before," said Dr Wilkin.
"But you can save him, right?" asked Alan.
"I am a qualified surgeon," said Dr Wilkin. "I can operate on your father, but, I daren't risk trying to remove whatever that thing is off of his brain without knowing fully what it can do. And we have nobody who works in the hospital who can specialise in that."
Scott nudged Kayo. "Get Brains on the line!" he said. "He needs to know about this!"
Brains struggled to believe what he was hearing when Kayo called Tracy Island and told him what the cause of Jeff's collapse was. "A Scorpion-Mecca? That c-can't be right!" he said as he examined the hologram scan of the X-Ray. "The M-Mechanic hasn't made anything like that since I freed him from The Hood's control."
"Is it possible that The Hood's managed to regain control of him now that he's free?" asked Scott over the hologram-projector.
"Not unless Havoc was able to c-capture him before she made contact with Colonel Casey about her kids," Brains said. "There's only one way to b-be sure."
"What are you going to do, Brains?" asked Kayo.
"I will c-call The Mechanic and see if I get an answer," Brains said. "And if I do, I will make sure he is still the g-good man I know he is. I'll get back to you."
Kayo and Scott's holograms disappeared from the table as Brains went over to sit at Jeff's desk. MAX followed him, bleeping as he went.
"I agree, MAX. It's v-very strange," said Brains. "Not to m-mention alarming. Mr Tracy is potentially d-dying. We have to do something to h-help him." He pressed a special button that only he had to make contact with The Mechanic. He could only hope that The Mechanic would answer.
There were a few moments of beeping before there came a click followed by a hologram image of The Mechanic himself. "Brains! To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Mechanic, tell me something that only you would know?" Brains said.
The Mechanic was confused. "Er…you are allergic to popcorn?"
Brains let out a sigh of relief. He was positive that none of their enemies would be aware of that - and that included The Hood. "Thank you," he said. "I just needed to be sure you were genuine."
The Mechanic was even more confused. "Are you saying you've lost trust in me?" he asked.
"N-No, not at all," said Brains hastily. "It's just we have a situation. I'm afraid The Hood is n-no longer in prison and I had to be sure that he hasn't t-tried to contact you in any way?"
"He won't find me, Brains," said The Mechanic. "I am too well hidden. But what's the situation you need me for?"
Brains readied the hologram image of Jeff's X-Ray to show him. "It's b-bad, I'm afraid," he said. "Mr Tracy is currently d-dying in a hospital in London. He's got this attached to his b-brain." He set up the hologram so The Mechanic could see it.
The Mechanic stared at the image. "What?!" he exclaimed. "That looks like one of my meccas! Shrunk down to a nanotech version?!"
"It's d-definitely not one of yours though?" asked Brains.
"Certainly not!" said The Mechanic indignantly. "I've never made one that small before - let alone with the intention to insert one into a person's body! Who's behind this?"
"We d-don't know, Mechanic," said Brains. "But I reckon that The Hood m-must be involved somehow with it."
The Mechanic gritted his teeth. "I won't ask how or why he managed to escape from Aquatraz," he said. "But if you need me to help remove this device from Jeff Tracy's body, I will be more than happy to oblige. I want to know who's copying my tech!"
"I h-hoped you would say that," said Brains with relief. "Hold up. I'm going to get K-Kayo back on the line." He pressed another button on the desk.
Kayo's hologram reappeared. "What news, Brains?"
"Kayo, I have The Mechanic on the line. And before anyone asks, he is g-genuine. I am putting you through now."
Everyone in the hospital room watched as The Mechanic's hologram appeared alongside Brains' own from Kayo's wrist communicator.
"Mechanic," said Scott. "Glad to see you."
"Brains has filled me in and shown me what's on your father's brain," The Mechanic said. "If there is anything I can do to help, I will give it."
Scott had a quick idea. "Mechanic, this is Dr Maria Wilkin. She's a surgeon who's prepared to operate on Dad, but she is uncertain what to do with this mini-mecca device. I don't suppose you would be able to give her advice on how to remove it?"
"Actually, Scott, I have a better suggestion," said The Mechanic. "I would rather come to the hospital in person and help extract the device from within his body. Someone's copying my technology, and I do not like that at all!" He turned to face Dr Wilkin. "Doctor, with your permission, I would like to assist you in the operation if I can?"
"Do you have any medical qualifications?" asked Dr Wilkin.
"No, anything medical I would leave to you, Doctor," said The Mechanic. "But if you can give me the opportunity to open up Jeff Tracy's body so that I can examine the device, I should be able to find a way to disable it so that it will be safe for you to remove it."
Dr Wilkin looked at the others. "That sounds like our only option," she said.
"If that's what it takes to save Dad's life, please do it," said Scott.
The others spoke in agreement.
"Very well then," said Dr Wilkin. "We shall schedule the operation for eleven-hundred hours tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow?" said Gordon. "Why can't you do it now?"
"Gordon, in case you didn't notice, The Mechanic's not here with us," said Virgil. "And secondly, the hospital staff need to get the operating theatre ready before they can start working on Dad!"
"I also need to go home for the night," added Dr Wilkin. "I've been working for nearly twelve hours."
Scott looked over through the window at Jeff, lying on oxygen ventilators and other pieces of survival equipment. "He's safe here," he said. "I presume he'll be okay overnight?"
"There's no one-hundred percent guarantee," said Dr Wilkin. "But I'm afraid that the best we can do for him right now."
Scott nodded. "I understand, Doctor," he said. He turned to the others. "There's not much any of us can do to help, so I'm going to stay here with Dad."
"I am too," said Grandma. "I can't leave my poor boy like this."
"And me," said Kayo. "Someone needs to provide security in case whoever did this tries anything else."
"The Hood of course!" said Gordon angrily. "Who else would want Dad dead?"
"Gordon, we don't have evidence to prove this is The Hood," said Virgil. "He is the most likely suspect but without hard evidence-"
Gordon cut him off with a frustrated growl.
"Also, we need to get The Mechanic here as well," said John. He turned to the former villain's hologram. "I'm guessing your location is secret?"
"Lady Penelope found me before," The Mechanic replied. "I am at the same location. I have all that I will possibly need here."
"Then we'll come and get you right away," said Penelope. The Mechanic nodded and he signed off.
"Keep me informed of Mr Tracy's p-progress," said Brains.
"Will do, Brains," said Kayo as Brains signed off as well.
"Come along, Parker," said Penelope.
"Right h'away, m'lady," said Parker as he and Penelope headed for the door.
"Look after Jeff, Scott," Penelope whispered as she passed.
Scott nodded in a promise.
"What about the rest of us?" asked Virgil.
"We're staying here of course, Virg!" said Alan.
"Is that wise?" asked Colonel Casey. "I mean, he's your father and I totally get that, but what's going to happen if you boys get a distress call?"
The brothers all exchanged looks. It wasn't something they'd even thought about.
"They'll have to sort themselves out!" said Gordon. "Our Dad is more important than anyone else!"
"Talk about being torn down the middle," Virgil said to John. "I get where Gordon's coming from and I totally want to be here as well, but if there's a major emergency that nobody else can handle. The world will start asking questions if we don't turn up."
"Family emergency is all we need to tell them," said Alan.
Scott thought hard, then made a decision. "I hate to say this, but Virgil's right," he said. "Regardless of what happens, International Rescue has to carry on."
John and Virgil solemnly nodded in agreement, but Alan and Gordon were outraged.
"Scott, you cannot be serious?!" Gordon said, his voice raised.
"I'm sorry, Gordon," Scott replied. "I want you all to be here as well, but it's part of the choice we made when we swore in as members of IR."
"Dad dying was never a part of that!" Alan snapped.
"Guys, calm down," Virgil said. "This isn't going to help matters."
"STAY OUT OF THIS, VIRG!" shouted Gordon. Both he and Alan were on their feet, glaring menacingly at Scott.
"I get you want to be with Dad, but you can't help him right now," Scott said, trying not to feel like he was being intimidated by his two youngest siblings.
"STOP TALKING!" spat Alan. "WE'RE STAYING AND THAT'S FINAL!"
Scott began to get angry too. "Keep your voices down!" he hissed. "This is a hospital-"
"SHUT UP!" thundered Gordon. He lifted his right fist. "JUST SHUT UP!" He took a swing at Scott but was grabbed by John and Virgil. Alan too then lunged at Scott but was stopped by Kayo and Grandma.
"GET OFF ME!" Alan shrieked.
Scott got himself a clear distance from the others. He then noticed Colonel Casey and Dr Wilkin with shocked looks on their faces.
The doors opened and two Hospital Security Guards appeared. "Is there a problem?" one of them asked.
Those engaged with each other hastily let go.
"A minor misunderstanding," John said hastily. "Nothing we can't handle."
The guard hesitated, then nodded and left, closing the doors behind him.
"See what you've done?" Virgil growled at Gordon and Alan. "You've made us look like fools!"
"Well, sorry," said Gordon, "but if Scott wasn't being such a-"
"You finish that sentence, boy, and I'll make sure your father punishes you for it," Grandma said.
Gordon was stunned into silence.
Grandma folded her arms and glared crossly at the two brothers. "I am ashamed of you both," she scolded. "You know I was going to overrule Scott on this occasion and allow you to stay. But after what you have just done, you're both going back to the island with Virgil and John."
"WHAT?!" shrieked the two brothers, before gulping at realising they'd raised their voices.
"But, Grandma!" wailed Alan. "Why are you taking Scott's side?"
"Because unlike you, he's not caused a scene and embarrassed the rest of us," said Grandma. "Now, Kayo, Scott and I will be here so your dad isn't going to be alone."
Alan and Gordon looked at each other, both looked to be about to cry.
"Grandma, please, no," Gordon pleaded.
"We're not going because Scott's told us to go," said Alan, giving Scott a hateful stare.
"I didn't tell you to go," Scott began.
"SHUT UP!" Gordon yelled.
SMACK! Grandma slapped Gordon across the face. "Be…QUIET!" she scolded.
Gordon was in tears now. "Grandma…that hurt!" he whimpered.
"You needed it!" Grandma replied. "Now get out of here before you embarrass us even more! Go!"
With extreme reluctance, Alan and Gordon walked miserably out of the room.
Grandma then turned to John and Virgil. They could both tell she wasn't at all happy with how she'd spoken to them. "Take care of them, boys," she said.
"We will," promised John.
"Take care of Dad," added Virgil as he and John followed their youngest brothers out.
Grandma then turned to Scott, Kayo, Colonel Casey and Dr Wilkin. "I'm sorry, Colonel, Doctor, that you had to be witness to that."
"It's fine, Mrs Tracy," said Dr Wilkin. "I have two children of my own. They're both in their late teens and are a nightmare sometimes." She glanced at her watch. "There's nothing more I can do here right now. I will have my team monitor Mr Tracy throughout the night and get him ready for the morning. This will without a doubt be the trickiest operation that I will have performed."
"That's okay, Doc," said Scott. "You go get some rest."
Dr Wilkin nodded and headed out.
"I'd better get back to Rita," said Colonel Casey. "She's only a few floors up. Must be wondering why I haven't come back to her."
After she'd left, Scott, Grandma and Kayo were left alone. They stood in a line by the window with the two women flanking Scott's sides. They placed their arms around each other as they watched the doctors and nurses tending to Jeff in the special room next door.
"Hang in there, Dad," Scott whispered. "We'll save you."
John piloted the Tracy family jet on the long journey back to Tracy Island. Virgil sat beside him in the co-pilot seat whilst Alan and Gordon continued to sulk in the luxury passenger bay.
"That could have gone better," John remarked.
"You don't say," Virgil replied. "I mean I get why Alan and Gordon didn't want to leave Dad. I didn't want to either."
"Neither did I," agreed John. "But they were totally out of order by doing what they did."
Virgil nodded. "What do reckon Dad's chances are?" he asked.
John didn't answer for a moment. "Now we're alone, Virgil, I'll be honest," he said. "I've never known anything like this before. If he survives this, then miracles do exist."
"I'm with you there, John," agreed Virgil. "I'm with you there." He unfastened his seatbelt. "I'm gonna take a leak," he said. "Be right back."
"F-A-B," said John as Virgil left the cockpit.
Walking through the lounge, he found Alan laying out on one of the long sofas, sobbing into a cushion. Gordon was behind the bar, trying to drink an entire bottle of beer in one go it looked like.
Virgil snatched the bottle off of him. "I think that'll do you, Gordo," he said disapprovingly.
"Awh, Virg, give that back!" Gordon protested. "It's for-hic-medicinal purposes!"
Virgil raised an eyebrow.
Gordon quickly realised he wasn't going to win this argument. "Fine," he said in defeat as he walked out from behind the bar and sat down on the sofa opposite Alan.
Virgil went round and placed the top back on the bottle before putting it back into the cupboard. "Proud of yourself, are you?" he asked.
Gordon scoffed. "Hardly," he replied. "We wouldn't have lost it like that if Scott had just kept his trap shut."
"Scott never said anything to insult you, Gordon," Virgil said. "I totally understand your point of view, but what would being there with Dad have achieved?"
"Nothing," Gordon said. "And that's the whole damn problem, Virgil! We can't do anything for Dad! He is totally reliant on Dr Wilkin and…I can't believe I'm saying this…The Mechanic of all people."
Virgil sat himself down beside Gordon and put a comforting arm around him. "What would Dad want us to do, Gordon?" he asked. "Sit around in a hospital room just watching time tick slowly by - or be on hand to help someone who doesn't even have the chance he's currently got right now?"
Gordon thought about it for a moment. He lowered his head and let out a deep sigh. "He'd want us to carry on," he said.
"Exactly," said Virgil. "So do me a favor, would you? Cut Scott some slack when we next see him. Please?"
Gordon nodded. "Sure, Virgil," he said. "Now that I think about it, I was wrong to do what I did."
Virgil gave a small smile. "Thanks, bro," he said as he got up again. "I came out here for something and now I've forgotten what that was."
"Bathroom?" asked Gordon.
Virgil clicked his fingers. "That was it," he said. "Thanks, Gordo." He hurried off to the bathroom at the rear of the aircraft.
Gordon watched Virgil go before running a finger down his cheek which was still a bit sore after it had been slapped by Grandma. "I totally deserved that," he said to himself.
It was nearly midnight by the time Dr Wilkin's taxi dropped her off outside her house in Ruislip, West London. She thanked the driver and then walked up to the front door of the house. She used her keys to unlock the door and go inside. After closing the door she put down her handbag and removed her coat and shoes. Suddenly a hand came round out of nowhere from behind and clamped itself tightly over her mouth. She tried to scream but it was muffled as she then felt something get prodded into her back.
"Scream and they will die," hissed a woman's voice in her left ear. "Dining room. Move!"
Terrified, Dr Wilkin was marched along the hallway and into the dining room which was almost dark except for two candles that had been lit on the table. Her eyes widened when she saw her husband Marcus, son Adrian and daughter Mollie sitting at the table, bound to their chairs and with tape over their mouths. All three looked at her and tried to speak but couldn't.
Then she noticed a sinister figure standing in the darkness behind Marcus. As she was forced into the one remaining chair by Havoc, the figure stepped forwards into the candlelight. "Hello, Doctor Wilkin," said The Hood. "Nice of you to join us."