JOHN was alerted by the emergency siren aboard Thunderbird 5 and he hurried to the main control room to take the call. "This is Thunderbird 5. Go ahead, Lady Penelope?"
Penelope's hologram appeared on the projector. "John, I'm in Gibraltar. One of the ships has mysteriously exploded and is burning horrendously."
"What kind of ship is it?" asked John.
"A tanker," replied Penelope. "And by the look of it it must have been fully loaded."
John brought up some satellite imagery of the bay between Gibraltar and Spain. "Good grief!" he said when she saw the burning tanker. "This is serious. Okay, Lady P, I'll alert the others. This is gonna be a big one!"
"F-A-B. Thank you, John," said Penelope. "I'm afraid I'm in close proximity to my father so don't know if I'll be of any use."
"Don't worry about that," said John. "We'll handle it." He pressed a button to call Tracy Island. "Thunderbird 5 to International Rescue. Come in please."
Scott, Virgil, Alan and Gordon were all in the lounge when John's call came through. He showed them the video footage he'd picked up of the burning Liparus and they were just as aghast as he'd been.
"Great Scott!" exclaimed Scott. "That's a total disaster right there!"
"I've run a scan of the tanker," said John. "Looks like there's quite a few of the crew trapped below decks and the tanker's starting to sink."
"We have to get out there this instant!" said Gordon, jumping to his feet.
"I agree," said Scott. "Gordon and Alan, go with Virgil in Thunderbird 2. We may need Thunderbird 4 as well." He began to run towards the revolving wall-panel. "See you in the sky!"
The team split up. Scott went to the wall panel and was turned out of the lounge and to the express elevator that would take him down to Thunderbird 1. Virgil went to the painting of the rocket, leant against it and it tilted backwards sliding him into the harness that took him down the long twisty chute towards Thunderbird 2. Alan sat on his seat and was lowered down into the floor before heading to the changing chamber and Gordon ran around to just outside the lounge where the fish tank containing his prized model Stingray submarine was located and pressed his hand against the glass that recognised his handprint to activate his own express elevator like Scott's. As the brothers headed down and through their respective routes, robotic arms attached their uniforms to their bodies. Scott soon reached his destination and after exiting the elevator was taken out on the extending platform to Thunderbird 1. He climbed in and was raised inside the rocket whilst the platform retracted. The trolley that held Thunderbird 1 began to head up the diagonal tunnel towards the launch bay underneath the swimming pool. Meanwhile Virgil had arrived and dropped out of the harness into the cockpit of Thunderbird 2. He closed the hatch and hurried to his seat where he selected Module 4 from the list of Modules on the ship's computer. The conveyor moved Modules 1, 2 and 3 underneath the main body of the giant green ship before stopping with Module 4 underneath. At the touch of a button, the main body was lowered down onto the Module and locked into place. Just after this was done, Virgil was joined by Gordon and Alan who took up their positions in the cockpit. The hangar door opened and Thunderbird 2 taxied out onto the runway with the palm trees falling back to allow it to pass. It travelled along the runway before coming to rest on the launch ramp which rose up into position and the blast shield lifted into place behind it. At the same time, the swimming pool had finished opening for Thunderbird 1 which was just arriving into place in the launching bay. Now both ships were in position and ready to go.
5! 4! 3! 2! 1!
Thunderbird 1 was the first to launch, rising up through where the swimming pool had been with its thrust pushing away the sun-loungers…again. Thunderbird 2 followed seconds later, rising up into the darkened night sky above Tracy Island. The two ships formed up and began to head North-West towards Gibraltar.
"Thunderbirds are GO!" said Scott.
The Liparus was still burning ferociously. Those on deck lucky enough to have not been caught in the blast had jumped overboard as the ship began to list over to starboard. The thick smoke filled the entire bay and could be seen for miles. Fire Tugs were racing towards it and began spraying water into the flames in an attempt to try and get it under control, but it soon became clear that it was going to be a tough battle, one that they were not likely to win.
In the control room at the navy base, Admiral Hart and his team were busy trying to organise a rescue operation, but weren't having a lot of success apart from the ones the rescue boats were retrieving from the water. They were getting reports that several had suffered severe injuries and burns. Some life-threatening. There also came the reports of fatalities. And there seemed to be quite a few.
Tracci rushed in with some news for them. "Sir, I think you should see this," she said beckoning Admiral Hart over to a computer screen. Patrick and Penelope came over to join them. "We have some CCTV of the initial explosion," said Tracci. "Look at this."
The Admiral and the Creighton-Wards watched the footage of the tanker sitting at anchor in the bay. At first it was all fine and calm, but then there came two small explosions on the outside of the hull that were preceded by two small wakes in the water. The initial small blasts then triggered the much larger explosion that ripped a massive hole in the side of the tanker.
"Unless I am very much mistaken, those were torpedo strikes!" said Patrick, going pale.
"You're not wrong," said Admiral Hart. "It means one of those other subs is inside the net!" He turned back to the operators. "I want a full sonar sweep of the entire bay!" he ordered. "One of the Bereznik subs is out there hiding! I want it found!"
The smoke from the burning tanker could even be seen from the Dragonfly's group as they approached Gibraltar from the East.
"Sir, I think something's on fire," said Taylor who spotted the smoke first.
Captain Hart, Friend and Hayley all gazed out in alarm and looked through their binoculars. From their current position they couldn't see what was burning so it looked like The Rock itself was on fire.
"Something's not right," said Captain Hart. "Langford, get me the Admiral."
"Aye, sir."
"What do you think it could be, sir?" asked Willis.
"With that amount of smoke I'd say that's a fuel fire of some kind," said Hayley.
Friend went pale. "Erm, wasn't the Liparus anchored out in the bay?" he asked.
Captain Hart grimaced. "She was, Chris," he said.
"Sir, the Admiral," called Langford over the intercom.
Captain Hart took the call. "Sir, we can see smoke. What's going on?"
"It's the Liparus, Rob," answered Admiral Hart. "She's been torpedoed. There has to be another one of the submarines and it must have entered the bay before we set up the net."
"Are there any other potential targets in the bay?" asked Captain Hart.
"A few of the coastal freighters but nothing major," replied the Admiral. "I've ordered a full air, land and patrol boat sonar sweep. The Veronica is also in the bay so she's looking as well."
"Anything we can do to help?" asked Captain Hart.
"Have Verulam and Virginia continue to protect the Queen Alexandra," said Admiral Hart. "If there is a gap in the net and sub does somehow manage to escape we may need you to help hunt it down."
"Understood, we're on our way," said Captain Hart. he ended the call. "Langford, inform the others that we will be leaving them. Tell Virginia to take the lead. We're going sub-hunting! Full ahead, Willis."
"Aye, Captain. Full ahead!"
In the engine room, Chief Engineer Simon Merriett was getting concerned and he expressed them to Second Engineer Andy Berry. "IF WE CONTINUE THIS WE'LL BLOW THE NUMBER TWO ENGINE!" he yelled over the noise of the engine.
"WILL SHE HOLD FOR THE MOMENT?!" Berry bellowed back.
"FOR THE MOMENT, YES!" shouted Merritt. "I JUST HOPE WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE DOING ANY CHASING!"
With the engines at full power, the Dragonfly accelerated away from the Queen Alexandra and its two remaining escorts and hurried towards Gibraltar and the disaster zone.
Penelope secretly snuck away to pass the news on to John who then relayed it to Thunderbirds 1 and 2. "It would seem those missing Bereznik submarines are responsible for this attack," he was saying. "One already made an attempt to sink the cruise liner Queen Alexandra but was thwarted by its escorts. Now it would seem that a second was in the area and has fired shots at the Liparus."
"How many are still aboard the Liparus, John?" asked Scott.
"Difficult to say," replied John. "Most of the survivors appear to have been picked up by small boats but I'm detecting at least twelve more still aboard. Five in the superstructure at the stern and seven below decks. They're in a compartment towards the bow, sealed off from the fire. They're safe from getting burned but with the ship sinking the water's getting dangerously close to their position."
"An explosion that big surely would have broken the ship in two?" Gordon asked.
"The Liparus is a unique d-design of ship," said Brains who had been listening in. "Her s-storage areas were reinforced to help contain any kind of explosion as best possible."
"The ship hasn't sunk yet but it's getting close to," said John.
"Guess it didn't work then?" said Alan.
"N-No, Alan, it has," insisted Brains. "If it hadn't, the ship would b-be on the bottom of the bay before we could even have launched."
"Speaking of fuel, if it was full is it not leaking oil into the water?" asked Virgil. "Could we potentially have an environmental disaster on our hands?"
"Only six of the eight tanks inside the ship have actually exploded," said John. "All that fuel has been burned up already and the small amount that is leaking out is also burning. So long as we can arrest it, dowse the flames and make it safe we shouldn't have any problems."
"How do we save the crew?" asked Scott. "I'm open to any suggestions."
"The f-fire is covering the deck," said Brains. "To get those in the s-superstructure to safety is to get them to go to the stern of the vessel and simply airlift them off. But the f-fire is blocking their exit so it needs to be put out first."
"And those below deck?" asked Alan.
"Again, access is from the main deck but the fire is b-blocking the only way in," said Brains.
"There's also the problem of the tanker sinking still before we can get them out," said Gordon. "Should we not try and stabilise it?"
"Yes, G-Gordon," agreed Brains. "The remote airbags should be able to h-hold the tanker in place just long enough for you to get the remaining crew to safety."
"Okay, I'm getting a plan here," said Scott. "Gordon, take Thunderbird 4 down and supervise the airbags."
"F-A-B, Scott," said Gordon.
"Thunderbird 2 will need to use arresting foam to kill the flames. Virgil, you then land and rescue those trapped below decks. There may be other fires so I suggest you use that fire-protective suit of yours."
"You got it, Scott," said Virgil.
"Good. Alan, I'll need you to take control of Thunderbird 2 and airlift the crew from the superstructure first after I get them out of there. Then retrieve the ones that Virgil will be going to get."
"Piece of cake," said Alan.
"Sounds like a plan," said John. "What are your ETAs?"
"Three minutes," said Scott. "Just flying over the Mediterranean now."
"Thunderbird 2?"
"Just crossed the Suez Canal," said Virgil. "We're about eleven minutes behind Thunderbird 1."
"F-A-B," said John. "Good luck."
The Dragonfly soon rounded the southern tip of Gibraltar and the scene of devastation came into view. The crew stared in shock at the sight of the Liparus, completely engulfed in flames and with its deck nearly underwater. It had a strong list to starboard and the fire was beginning to spread onto the water as fuel leaked out of the vessel.
"Oh, my God…" Hayley said under her breath. She'd seen her fair share of scary sights in her time but this was by far the worst. In some ways it was more frightening than seeing the torpedoes heading through the water.
"What can we do?" Friend asked Captain Hart.
Captain Hart let out a sad sigh. "For them? Nothing," he said. "If there's anybody aboard, only a miracle can save them."
It was at that moment that they heard a shout coming from the rear of the destroyer. It belonged to crewman David Seaward. "THUNDERBIRDS!"
Captain Hart, Friend and Hayley spun to face the stern just as Thunderbird 1 came swooping down from above and passed right over the top of the Dragonfly.
"Woah!" exclaimed Willis. "Where did that come from?"
Taylor checked the radar screen. "It's…not registering on the scope!" she said in confusion.
Hayley had gone into an awed trance gazing in wonder at the sight of Thunderbird 1 which was now circling the burning tanker, much to the surprise of everybody who was in attendance.
"Is that International Rescue?" asked Admiral Hart. "What are they doing here?"
"I don't know," replied Patrick. "But my God am I glad to see that they are! Those men in the tanker may have a chance after all."
Nobody had noticed Penelope had slunk away out of the main building to where Parker was waiting by FAB1. He too had been watching the terrifying disaster unfold and was equally pleased to see Thunderbird 1.
"Parker!"
"M'lady?"
"Let's get down there," Penelope said as she climbed back into FAB1. "That enemy submarine might still be lurking. We can't let it interfere with the rescue operation."
"You h'are aware that if we go down from 'ere that we might get seen h'entering the water, m'lady?" asked Parker.
"Then we'll go somewhere where nobody will see us," said Penelope. "Now let's go!"
Scott was thunderstruck by the devastation on the tanker. "This is worse than I thought," he reported. "She's not far off going under. Thunderbird 2, how far away are you?"
"Approaching now, Thunderbird 1," answered Virgil.
Thunderbird 2 appeared from behind The Rock, flying down over the water between the shoreline of the navy base and where the Dragonfly was sailing. Her sight awed all who were watching her - especially Hayley. "Ohhhhhh, hello beautiful!" she gasped, unable to take her eyes of Thunderbird 2.
Virgil brought Thunderbird 2 over the anti-submarine net and began to hover over the bay. "In position to deploy module," he said. "Are you ready, Thunderbird 4?"
"Systems check complete," Gordon acknowledged. "Ready to go, Thunderbird 2." The clamps were released and Module 4 dropped out from the main body of Thunderbird 2 to land with a splash on the surface of the water. The door opened and the ramp holding Thunderbird 4 was lifted into place. Gordon fired up the thrusters and the small yellow craft darted down into the water submerging instantly. "Thunderbird 4 is GO!"
Diving down, Thunderbird 4 swiftly moved over to underneath the sinking tanker whose starboard side deck was starting to dip beneath the surface, something that wasn't visible topside because of the flames and leaking fuel.
"How does she look, Thunderbird 4?" asked Scott.
"Not good," replied Gordon. "Deck's coming under."
"She's forty-eight percent flooded," John said from Thunderbird 5. If she passes fifty the flooding will get worse very quickly and then she drops like a stone. Hurry, Gordon!"
Gordon hastily moved Thunderbird 4 around so that it was facing head-on to the starboard side of the Liparus. Using the target computer, he selected the two best points for the airbags locked them on. "Targeting complete," he said. "Launching remote airbags…NOW!" He pressed the button and two small pods were fired from the sides of Thunderbird 4. The clamps attached themselves to the bottom of the tanker and the bags were inflated. The tanker's slow descent stopped and gradually began to rise again as the buoyancy in the bags counteracted the flooding.
"It's working!" said John. "Thunderbird 2, time to deal with that fire."
"F-A-B," acknowledged Virgil. He guided Thunderbird 2 directly over the tanker and disappeared into the smoke. Nobody could see what was happening but Virgil knew the thick acrid smoke wouldn't harm his ship. He opened the underside of the module which he'd retrieved from the water following the launch of Thunderbird 4 and lowered a powerful hose from which he could spray an instant fire-killing foam down onto the deck. Starting at the stern and working his way forwards, the foam covered every point of the deck of the ship and smothered both the flames on the deck and on the surface of the water. The foam had a secondary role of arresting the leaking fuel that wasn't burned and making it safe from contaminating the water. "Deck fire out and spillage contained," Virgil reported.
"Good work, Thunderbird 2," said Scott as he donned his helmet. "Now let's get the crew out." The underside hatch of Thunderbird 1 opened and Scott dropped out of his seat, activating his jetpack and gliding to land on the deck of the tanker just beside one of the entrances to the superstructure. "Man, the fire's out but the deck is still red hot!" he said. "Good job my boots can protect my feet but I'm worried about the crew walking on this."
"There's another entrance round the back of the superstructure, Scott," said John who was checking the Liparus's schematics. The fire never reached that far, that would be a better place to airlift them off as well."
"Got it," said Scott and he made his way towards the back of the ship.
Virgil meanwhile had left Alan in control of Thunderbird 2 whilst he changed into his fire-fighting suit with the jaws of life. "All suited up," he said. "Ready to lower, me?"
"F-A-B, bro," replied Alan. "I've got Thunderbird 2 positioned over the bow. Just say the word."
Virgil watched as the hatch opened underneath him. He attached his harness to the winch and looked down at the blackened deck of the tanker below. "Okay, hold her right there, Alan," he said. "Position is perfect. Lower away!"
Alan activated the winch and Virgil began to be lowered down towards the deck of the tanker.
Having managed to leave the navy base without being challenged, FAB1 made its way down to the quietest area of coastline that Parker could find. "Will this do, m'lady?" he asked.
"It'll have to do, Parker," Penelope replied. "All the same, better engage stealth-mode until we've gone under. We shouldn't get noticed then."
"Right you are," said Parker. He activated FAB1's camouflage-mode before switching the engines to air-mode and moved off the shoreside before dropping down into the water and switching to submersible mode. Once safely below the surface the black camouflage disappeared and the normal pink paintwork returned. "FAB1 is h'off," said Parker.
Virgil landed on the deck of the Liparus and unfastened himself from the winch. "I'm clear, Alan," he said. "Get to the stern and be ready to help Scott evac the first members of crew. He'll free them sooner than I can free this group."
"F-A-B," said Alan and he began to move Thunderbird 2 away from the bow towards the stern of the ship.
"How are the airbags holding up, Thunderbird 4?" Virgil then asked as he began to cut his way through the hatch on the deck which had been melted shut by the heat from the flames.
From his position in Thunderbird 4's cockpit, Gordon was monitoring the airbags closely. "Airbags are holding steady," he said. "All looks good from here."
Just then Penelope appeared on the hologram projector. "FAB1 calling Thunderbird 4. Do you read me, Gordon?"
"Lady Penelope?" said Gordon, his heart fluttered as it always did when he heard Penelope's voice. "What can I do for you?"
"Nothing, we're coming to you," replied Penelope. "We're going to offer protection for you just in case the Bereznik submarine is still in the area."
"Is it likely to be?" asked Gordon.
"Well the torpedoes were fired from somewhere inside the bay after the nets were put in place," said Penelope. "Unless it's found a way to cut through then it's very likely."
Scott then came over the radio. He'd been listening in. "Gordon, did you check your surroundings as you came over to the ship?" he asked.
"Errrrr, no?" Gordon replied.
"Well take a sweep!" ordered Scott. "We can't have it attacking us mid-rescue."
Gordon turned Thunderbird 4 around and shone his lights out into the darkness. He couldn't see anything. "Nothing," he said. "Nothing on sonar either."
"Those subs are fitted with some pretty impressive stealth tech," John said over the radio. "Even I can't find any trace of it."
Gordon turned Thunderbird 4 back towards the tanker. "Hopefully it's trying to get out and leaves us alone," he said. He completed the turn and turned his attention back to the airbags. "How are you boys getting on?"
"I'm at the stern of the vessel," Scott replied. "I've found the way in and am cutting through the door. What about you, Virgil?"
Virgil had managed to cut open the hatch leading down inside the tanker and was beginning to descend down the ladder to the deck below. "I'm just entering the ship now," he said. "John, how far down do I have to go to reach the trapped crew?"
"Three decks, Virgil," said John. "But hurry, the water's starting to enter their compartment. They have not got much time."
Virgil reached the bottom of the ladder and looked for the set of stairs down to the next deck. "So long as those airbags remain in operation, we'll be fine," he said.
Suddenly, both Thunderbird 4 and Thunderbird 5's scanners began to beep alarmingly for they'd detected a fast moving projectile heading straight for the tanker.
"Uh-oh!" exclaimed Gordon. He turned his head sharply to the left just a small torpedo rocketed past Thunderbird 4 and slammed into one of the airbag holders. There was a loud BANG that rocked the tanker. Scott flew backwards, falling over the stern railing and dropping his laser device as he did so. He did however manage to grab the railing and save himself from falling into the water. Virgil lost his footing on the stairs and fell to the bottom and Thunderbird 4 was thrown backwards by the shockwave. As Gordon recovered his craft's spin, he glanced up in horror to see that the airbag had been destroyed and there was yet another hole in the hull of the tanker.
"Thunderbird 4, what happened?!" demanded Scott.
"Missile!" Gordon cried. "That sub IS here!" He then looked to the left and froze, spotting the culprit - a small jet-black submarine was just visible about five-hundred yards away. It was smaller that Gordon was expecting though. "What the hell?!" exclaimed Gordon. "I literally just turned and looked! He wasn't there!"
"Well he's there now!" said Virgil as he picked himself up off the floor. "The ship's shifted!"
"She's been holed again, guys!" John said looking over the holographic schematics. "She's taking on more water. You have to get those men out, now!"
Just then the mystery submarine launched a second torpedo, which Gordon quickly realised was aimed at the second airbag. "Oh…oh NO!" he cried. Without even thinking, he brought Thunderbird 4 upwards and right into the path of the oncoming weapon, which struck Thunderbird 4's left side instead. "GAAAARRGHH!"
Gordon's cry as Thunderbird 4 was hit by the torpedo was heard through the headsets of Scott and Virgil plus over the radios of Thunderbird 5, FAB1 and back on Tracy Island, sending chills up everyone's spines. "Gordon?" came several cries of alarm. "GORDON?!"