THUNDERBIRD 1 dropped out of the grey, menacing clouds and began to fly at about 1,000 feet above the North-East Pacific Ocean. Scott began looking around, searching for something when John called in from the space-station.
"Thunderbird 1 from Thunderbird 5. I see you're approaching the danger zone."
"Closing in on the emergency transponder beacon now, Thunderbird 5," Scott answered. "I just hope it is not what I think it is."
"Me too, brother," agreed John. "After all we've just been through, this cannot be what it might be."
"Switching to full-wide sweep," said Scott. "If there's anything out there, I'll find it."
For the next few minutes, neither brother said a word as Scott concentrated on the search. The sea looked deadly with its stormy-looking waves splashing about. As an airman, the sea looked more intimidating than to someone like Gordon would be. Many a sailor or airman had fallen victim to the unforgiving vastness of the seven seas and Scott hopped he'd never join them. Just like he was hoping the people he was trying to find weren't the Pacific's latest victims either.
Just then the scanners began to detect objects and life-signs in the water, a few miles off to the right. "I think I might have something, John," Scott said. "Multiple contacts. Life-signs as well. There's at least twelve I am seeing if not more."
"Are they grouped together or spread out?" asked John.
"A mixture," replied Scott. "Some are in groups. Others are spread out. This has to be them."
"I'll alert Tracy Island and see if Thunderbird 2's ready to launch again," said John.
"Good," said Scott. "There's no way I'm gonna be able to evacuate this many people!"
As he approached the scene of the disaster, Scott brought Thunderbird 1 down as close to the waves as he dared but not low enough to risk getting his ship caught by any. He slowed right down and then began to shine a powerful searchlight. What he saw sent a chill down his spine. Many people were in the water, all were wearing the unmistakable dark green and brown military clothing that was worn only by the GDF. they all appeared to be conscious in some form or another. Many were balancing on large pieces of debris whilst others were in the water holding on for dear life. As soon as they realised Thunderbird 1 was coming they began to shout and wave desperately trying to get Scott's attention.
"I've found them, John," said Scott. "It's a GDF crew alright, and there's rather a lot of them for just a single Flyer."
John grimaced. "Then you know what this means. Don't you, Scott?" he said.
Scott grimaced as well. "Yes, I do," he said. "Colonel Casey said she'd put more security on the Flyer carrying The Hood and Havoc to Aquatraz. Looks like it wasn't enough!"
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"BEACHED"
HAYLEY was struggling to take in what she'd just heard. "This is awful, Virgil," she said via the hologram projector that they were having their conversation through. "And this happened after I left you?"
"Pretty much directly afterwards," Virgil said. "Your dad's car had only just gone round the corner before I heard the commotion inside."
Hayley laid her elbows on her desk and placed her head in her hands. "If only I hadn't left when I did," she said. "I could have helped him."
"Hayley, even if you were there, there's nothing that you could have done for him than anybody else did," said Virgil. "Except maybe comfort me."
"That I'd have done for definite," Hayley said. "How is he now?"
"For someone who's had a miniature mechanic scorpion attached to his brain and indigestion caused by Thunderbird 4, he's doing pretty well," Virgil said.
"I still can't believe that," said Hayley. "The Mechanic created a technology that allows him to shrink objects and that he and Gordon saved your dad by going inside his body. That's just…my mind is blown!"
"I have to admit it was pretty incredible to see," Virgil agreed. "But it was incredibly tense, let me tell you. When we lost contact with Thunderbird 4, we had no way of knowing how they were getting on. Dad only just managed to belch them out before the particles wore off. Not to mention they also managed to knock down The Hood at the same time which was lucky for us."
"Where's your dad now?" Hayley asked.
"Believe it or not, not here," said Virgil. "He and Alan have gone to see Colonel Casey's dad - General Tim Casey who runs Base Cariboo in the Canadian Rockies. They're old friends and haven't seen each other since before Dad was lost in space."
"That's good," said Hayley. "Hopefully he can relax there and forget about International Rescue for a while?"
"Given how much those two have to catch up on, I don't think that will be an issue," said Virgil. "And they're in a remote location where nobody such as The Hood will be able to get to him. We hope anyway."
"And I hope The Hood stays locked up forever after the hell he's put you all through," said Hayley. "I've not yet encountered this nasty individual and I hope I never do."
"Yeah…I hope so too," Virgil said. "Especially as his and Havoc's current status is unknown."
Hayley frowned. "I thought you said the GDF had them in custody?"
"They did," Virgil replied. "But about twelve hours after we got back to Tracy Island, Thunderbird 5 detected an emergency beacon. Scott went to check it out and discovered it was the Flyer that was taking both The Hood and Havoc to Aquatraz. It had crashed into the sea. Gordon and I went to assist and we pulled about twenty GDF personnel out of the water. Another fifteen were unaccounted for. We searched for hours but we had no luck."
"And what of The Hood and Havoc?" asked Hayley.
"Amongst the missing," said Virgil. "Given that Havoc was bound and The Hood was unconscious I do not have a clue how they could have pulled off any kind of mistake."
Hayley was silent for a moment. "So they could be gone…along with some of our own?" she said.
"Possibly," said Virgil. "But we all have a feeling that we haven't seen the last of them."
Hayley looked sadly at her boyfriend. She wanted to cuddle him but she knew she couldn't. "Why do I have to be here right now?" she said with a sigh. "I should be there, helping you guys."
"Hayley, if you keep missing out on training then you'll never get your new position," said Virgil. "Plus it won't be long until you're back here again."
"It's still two weeks though," Hayley said.
"And each day is less time than the previous," Virgil said with a smile.
Hayley held up her left hand and held it out. Virgil held up his right and placed it right on where the edge of the hologram was. They couldn't physically touch each other but that was the closest they were going to get for a little while. "Miss you," she said.
"Love you," Virgil replied.
Virgil entered the lounge to find a tired and frustrated Scott sitting at Jeff's desk. With Jeff away it once again fell to Scott to take command of International Rescue - a burden Scott hoped he wouldn't have again for a while.
"Is the hot seat still warm?" Virgil asked.
Scott rolled his eyes. "This shouldn't be me, Virgil," he said. "Dad should be the one sitting here."
"You had around seven years of directing International Rescue before we found Dad and brought him home," Virgil said. "Leading International Rescue should be like child's play for you."
"I know, but," Scott sighed. "I don't know. I'd forgotten how heavy this burden can be!"
There came a beeping sound as John called in from Thunderbird 5. "Hey, guys. I've had an update on the crashed Flyer situation. One of the survivors has given a vague recollection of what happened, although it is a bit confusing to say the least."
"What did they say?" asked Scott.
"The soldier said everything was normal, then all the lights suddenly went out," John explained. "The emergency lights failed to activate straight away and when they did they discovered Havoc and The Hood were missing. Then both of the engines failed and they fell out of the sky, crashing into the ocean."
"They didn't see how they vanished?" asked Virgil.
"Afraid not," replied John. "Everyone was too busy trying to figure out what was happening with the plane and by the time they did it was too late."
"That makes no sense," said Scott. "People don't just disappear from aircraft into thin air! Has somebody been able to invent teleportation now?"
"But it confirms what we feared," said Virgil. "We haven't seen the last of them."
Scott growled. "No, Virgil. No we haven't," he said bitterly. "But when they do show up again, we won't be pushed about so easily!"
On a road near the sea along the coastline of North Wales, a small White Minibus was making its way from one of the inland villages to a idyllic fishing village for a day out. The bus was being driven by one Trevor Evans, and his passengers consisted of three mothers and their children. Bronwyn Jones and her twins James and Sarah; Helen Flood and her daughter Mandy; and Dilly Price with her troublesome son Norman. They were on their way for a day at the beach located next to the fishing village.
The journey from their village to the coast was a long one - nearly two hours to be exact, and whilst the twins and Mandy passed the time by playing eye-spy and their mothers admired the beautiful Welsh countryside, Norman was sitting at the back of the bus, sulking and feeling extremely bored.
"Are we there yet?" Norman called out to Trevor.
"Not yet, Norman," Trevor called back.
"Awh!" Norman groaned, folding his arms in a huff. Then he had a naughty idea. He waited for about a minute before saying "Are we there yet?" again,
Trevor sighed. "No, Norman."
Norman groaned again. Then he smirked wicked to himself and waited only ten seconds before saying "ARE…WE…THERE…YET?!" at the top of his voice which annoyed all the others.
Trevor lost patience at this point. "Norman, for goodness sake!" he snapped, turning his head to look at the troublesome child. "For the last time, we are not there ye-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"
"BAAAAAAAAA!" said the large woolly sheep that had escaped from its field and was standing in the middle of the country road.
Trevor turned the wheel hard over to the right and slammed on the brakes. He and his passengers all cried out in panic as the bus swerved and the brakes screeched as the wheels locked it. There was a hard BUMP as it collided with a dry-stone wall, knocking a chunk out of it and causing the vehicle to bounce back into the middle of road, narrowly avoiding the scared sheep which ran away - luckily back into its own field.
Trevor soon regained control of the bus and managed to get them back on a straight course. They had also slowed right down and came to a stop. Everyone was quiet apart from their heavy breathing.
"Is everyone alright?" Helen asked the others.
"I think so," said Bronwyn. "Kids?"
"We're okay, Mum," said Sarah and James.
"Me too," said Mandy.
"Ohhhh, I thought we were done for!" said Dillys, mopping her forehead.
Norman turned himself around and knelt on the seat before banging on the back window. "Stupid sheep!" he grumbled. "It might have caused an accident!"
Trevor was the last to get his breath back. "Don't worry everybody," he said. "We've stopped now. We will wait a few minutes to calm our nerves. I will then check the bus for any damage and then we'll be on our way again."
But James had noticed something that the others had not. "Errrrr, Mr Evans?" he said with a noticeable tremble in his voice. "I thought you said we'd stopped?"
Trevor looked and then he realised what James meant. The bus hadn't completely stopped. In fact, it was slowly creeping forwards."
"Why are we still moving?" asked Sarah anxiously.
Trevor pushed his foot hard on the brake pedal, but the bus was still continuing to move forwards. It was slow, but very gradually picking up speed.
Bronwyn then saw something outside her window and gasped. "Oh, my goodness! Trevor! Is that oil on the road?"
Trevor opened his driver's door window and peered out to see a trickle of fluid spewing out of a large gash in the side of the front of the bus where it had collided with the wall. He went very pale as he realised what it was. "Oh, no!" he cried. "That's the brake fluid!" And then he saw where they were and why the bus wasn't staying still. They'd originally come to a stop right on the top of a steep hill heading down towards the sea which they could see about a mile in the distance. The bus was just at the tipping point where gravity was making it start to roll down the hill. Trevor tried desperately to get something out of the brakes but it was no use and then they felt the bus start to pick up speed and go faster. "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, nooooooooooooo!" Trevor cried in horror. "I can't hold her. HANG ON, EVERYONE!"
Everyone, including Norman grabbed a hold of the seat handles in front of them and they all let out a simultaneous cry of terror as the bus began running out of control down the hill.
A short distance further down the road, Ned Tedford was heading to a beauty spot near the same fishing village in a vintage blue Beetle car. It was an antique and he had spent a lot of money and several years when he was not undertaking some unusual job working on asteroids, cleaning up litter from the ocean floor or manning the Global Seed Vault to restore the classic vehicle. He had finally finished it and was taking it for its first drive to have a picnic.
Ned hummed happily as they trundled along. The car's engine seemed to purr like a cat whilst his plant Gladys sat on the passenger seat. "Ahhh, what a beautiful day, Gladys," Ned said. "Absolutely perfect to take Wilson out for his first drive. Not far to go now."
They were coming up to a T-junction. To get to where he was going, Ned needed to go straight on whilst there was a road branching off to the left. Suddenly, the runaway minibus came rocketing out from the other road on its two left wheels, almost tipping over. It bumped into the wall and tipped back onto all four wheels again.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed the occupants of the bus as they saw the Beetle heading towards them.
WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA?!" Ned screamed as well, forcing the Beetle to swerve out of the way as the bus missed it by millimetres. He slammed on the brakes and came to a stop. He then threw open the door and jumped out before waving his fist furiously after the bus which was picking up speed again. "FLIPPIN' STUPID HOOLIGAN BUS!" Ned bellowed. "STOP DRIVING LIKE A MANIAC!" He was so angry that he did not even think that possibly there was a serious problem with the bus and that those on board were in grave danger. Instead he simply climbed back into the car and drove off again. "Phew, Gladys! That was a close one!" he remarked before caringly patting the dashboard of the car. "Sorry about that, Wilson. You need to be handled delicately. I hope the Police catch up with them before they cause any more trouble!"
Trouble was definitely what Trevor Evans and his passengers were in, and it was about to get worse. The road was still heading downhill and they had no way of slowing down without smashing into the walls on the sides of the road. The passengers screamed and cried as they swerved around the twisty bends.
"TREVOR!" wailed Dillys who was holding on for dear life and had her eyes shut for the majority. "DO SOMETHING!"
"I KNOW AN UPHILL SECTION IN ABOUT HALF A MILE!" Trevor shouted back. "WE CAN STOP BY GOING UP THAT!"
"Oh, I hope so!" said Bronwyn. "I'm not feeling too good."
Sarah and James huddled together. Helen and Mandy reached over each other's seats and grabbed each other's hands tightly. Norman meanwhile was sitting on his own and screaming louder than anyone else.
But they never got to the uphill section Trevor knew about. As they skidded around another bend they saw something even more terrifying coming directly towards them - a tractor! And it was only twenty metres away. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" they all screamed again.
The alarmed tractor driver slammed on the brakes and his large beast of a John Deere came to a sudden stop. Trevor saw straight away that the tractor was much wider than the Beetle had been and knew they could not get past. He then saw another side road leading off to the left and decided to try and go down it. The bus barely made the turn, hitting yet another wall and causing more damage to the sides.
They continued down yet another steep hill and saw another sharp left which looked much tighter than any they'd come across so far. "HANG ON!" Trevor shouted as he turned the wheel sharply to the left again. The bus spun round, but this time the momentum carried it on sliding sideways. There wasn't a wall to stop it this time. Instead there was a gate leading into a large grass field. The impact of the bus smashed the gate right open and they skidded across the field, which was a lot flatter than the road they'd been on and they began to slow down yet were still spinning around uncontrollably, its wheels leaving large grooves in the ground.
The spinning seemed to go on for much longer than it did to those inside the bus who were still crying out in terror. Then there came a hard jolt as the bus slowed right down and then came to a stop. The spinning and the friction caused by the wheels going sideways against the earth it was ripping up had managed to stop it from getting any more speed.
Everyone stopped screaming after realising that they had come to a halt at last.
"Oh, sweet mercy!" exclaimed Helen. "Thank goodness for that."
Trevor turned to face his passengers. "Is everybody okay?" he asked.
Everyone nodded to say they were.
Norman then spoke up. "WOW! THAT WAS AMAZING!" he said "CAN WE DO THAT AGAIN?!"
Everyone turned and glared at him.
"Norman PRICE!" scolded Dillys. "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT WAS FUN?! WE WERE ALMOST-" She never got to finish her sentence for the bus suddenly moved again. But it wasn't a forwards or backwards movement. It was a tipping movement. Dillys and Norman felt themselves going down whilst Trevor felt the front end of the bus going upwards. He then let out another gasp of horror as his eyes fell upon what was visible out of the rear windows. The Jones's, the Floods and the Price's also turned to see what Trevor had and they too all cried out in alarm. They'd come to a stop alright, but they had come to a stop right on the edge of a very high cliff, with an eighty foot drop down onto several massive sharp rocks below.
"We're right on the edge!" Mandy cried.
"Errrrr, okay! Nobody panic please!" Trevor said, whilst trying not to panic himself. "If we all stay very still then we shouldn't wobble."
"But how are we going to get out?" asked Bronwyn. "If we try and go out through the doors we will upset the balance!"
"And we'll go over the cliff!" said Sarah.
James began to cry. "We're DOOMED!" he wailed.
Even Norman whimpered with fear.
Trevor turned back to face the front of the bus. "It's okay! Stay calm!" he said, still trying his best to be reassuring. He then saw the bus's radio. "I'm going to call for help!"
John and EOS were busy looking at the big holographic globe aboard Thunderbird 5 and trying to figure out any clues as to what had happened to the GDF Flyer transporting The Hood and Havoc to Aquatraz. "There has got to be something, EOS," John was saying. "Either Havoc managed to free herself or someone else did something to make the aircraft come down."
EOS was about to answer when her systems detected something. "Hang on, John, I'm picking up a call for help," she said. "It sounds pretty urgent."
"Well all distress calls are urgent, EOS," John remarked with a raised eyebrow. "Where is it coming from?"
"North Wales," said EOS. "I'm putting them through now."
John prepared to take the call as a hologram of Trevor Evans appeared in front of him. "International Rescue receiving you. What's your situation?"
"International Rescue?! Oh, thank goodness!" exclaimed Trevor. "Please, you have to help us before we fall!"
"We?" John repeated. "Who are you, sir, and what situation are you in?"
"My name is Trevor Evans. The brakes on my bus have failed and now we're hanging over the edge of a cliff!"
"How many aboard?" asked John.
"Eight," replied Trevor. "Myself, four kids and their Mums!"
John's heart skipped a beat at hearing that. "Make sure you all remain as calm and as still as you can, Mr Evans," he said. "We're on our way!" He put Trevor's call aside and contacted Tracy Island. "International Rescue - we have an urgent situation!"
Scott, Gordon and Virgil were taken aback by John's call. "Aren't all situations urgent, John?" asked Gordon.
"A bus is stranded on the edge of a cliff after suffering a brake failure," John explained. "There are eight people aboard including some children - that's why this is urgent, Gordon!"
"Where is this?" asked Scott.
"North Wales Coastline," said John. "I've instructed the driver to keep everyone as still as possible."
"Then let's hope no sudden gusts of wind catch it," said Virgil. "We'd better get moving!"
"Agreed," said Scott. "You two follow me in Thunderbird 2. I'll fly ahead and assess the situation with Thunderbird 1.."
"F-A-B," said Virgil. "See you in the sky."
Scott went to the revolving wall panel which swivelled him around to the express elevator that would take him down to Thunderbird 1. Virgil ran over to the wall painting of the rocket and leant against it before it tilted him backwards into the harness before heading off down the tunnel to Thunderbird 2. Gordon went to his express elevator around by the fish-tank and headed down so he could make his way to Thunderbird 2. All three brothers had their uniforms attached to their bodies as they went. Scott reached his ship first via the extendable walkway and was hoisted inside Thunderbird 1 after sitting in the pilot's seat. As the walkway retracted the hatch was closed and the trolley began to convey Thunderbird 1 up the diagonal tunnel to the launch bay. Virgil soon arrived in Thunderbird 2 and dropped down before closing the hatch and running into his seat where he selected Module 2 before it was moved underneath the main body which was lowered down seconds later just as Gordon arrived to join his brother in the cockpit. Thunderbird 2 then taxied out of the hangar with the palm trees falling back to let it pass as it headed for the launch ramp. Thunderbird 1 had now reached the launch bay as the swimming pool finished opening. Thunderbird 2 came to a stop on the launch ramp which rose into position and the wings were folded out before the blast shield rose into place.
5! 4! 3! 2! 1!
Thunderbird 1 launched first, rising through the gap where the swimming pool had been. Thunderbird 2 launched moments later and the two ships climbed away from Tracy Island.
"Thunderbirds are GO!" said Scott.
Situated a few miles out from along the coast where the bus was stuck, a small fishing boat sat anchored near a pair of tall rocks. It only had a single person as its crew and that person was just finishing a dive down to a very old shipwreck that had recently been discovered. The frogman surfaced and climbed back aboard his boat before activating a special winch mounted to the stern. The electric motor strained as it lifted the heavy weight from the seabed. "Come on," urged Professor Harold. "Keep going! Almost there!" His greedy little eyes glistened as the object began to emerge from beneath the waves. It was an old chest, unearthed from an ancient galleon that had been shipwrecked off the Welsh coastline and lost to history. Professor Harold almost did his back in as he got the heavy chest onto the deck of the boat and prized open the lid. Inside was full of dirty old pieces of gold and silver, which caused him to giggle with joy. "YES!" he said triumphantly. "At LAST! Something worth my time and effort! Wait until World Heritage discovers this is in MY possession! That'll make them regret kicking me out!" A loud roar of engines filled the air as something rocketed overheard causing the Professor to cry out and fall onto the deck in surprise. He picked himself up and looked around, dazed. "What the dickens was that?!" he exclaimed. There was nothing in sight. "Oh, well," he continued. "Better get this beauty secure below decks."
Scott brought Thunderbird 1 around the headland and lowered towards the height of the cliffs. Locating the bus wasn't difficult because its white paintwork stood out against the grey of the cliffs and the green of the grass. As he approached, he noticed something underneath the bus that gave him cause for concern. "Thunderbird 5, can run a scan of the cliffs?" he said. "Looks like there's been some erosion, and it looks pretty recent."
"Stand-by," John acknowledged as he performed the scan. "Woah! You're right, Thunderbird 1. I am detecting a severe weakness in the cliff-face. And guess where it's strongest?"
"Right underneath the bus?" asked Scott.
"Bingo!" said John. "I wouldn't take Thunderbird 1 anywhere near the bus and definitely don't fly over it. The downdraft from your thrusters would send it over the edge."
"F-A-B," said Scott. "I'll land in the field and then run over to them. Then we can figure out how to get them out."
"Couldn't you just lift it off with your grapple, Scott?" suggested Gordon.
"Ah, good thinking, Gordon," said Scott. "I could try that. But I will keep my distance still." He moved Thunderbird 1 down as close as he dared to above the bus.
Hearing the sound of rumbling outside, Norman turned his head to look. He gasped in amazement at the sight that befell his eyes. "THUNDERBIRD!" he squeaked excitedly. "WE'RE GONNA BE SAVED!" And he jumped up and down with excitement, which caused the bus to shift and made everyone yelp.
"NORMAN, GET BACK IN YOUR SEAT!" bellowed Trevor.
Scott saw the bus shift. "Woah, that was close!" he said. "One of the kids must have spotted me."
"Quickly, Scott!" warned Brains, who had come up to the lounge following the Thunderbirds' departure and had been filled in on the situation. "That c-cliff isn't going to hold the weight much longer!"
"Preparing to grapple," said Scott. He opened the doors underneath Thunderbird 1 and aimed the grapple launcher at the roof of the bus. He got a lock and pushed the lever forwards. Nothing happened. "Huh?" Scott said, confused. "Come on!" He tried again. Still nothing happened. "Er, Brains. My grapple isn't firing!"
Brains scratched his head in confusion. "That's weird," he said. "There m-must be a fault in it."
"Great!" groaned Scott. "Now what?"
"I could try lifting it," said Virgil. "We're about fifty seconds out, Scott."
"Negative, Thunderbird 2," said Scott. "You'd have to fly directly over the bus and your thrusters could push it over the edge. I think we'll have to take this one on the ground. We can use a Recovery Pod to pull it back onto solid ground and away from the cliff-edge."
Gordon unstrapped himself and jumped out of his seat. "One Recovery-Pod coming right up!" he said as he hurried from the cockpit. He ran down into the module and used the hologram computer to select the tools and attachments required to set up the Recovery-Pod.
Scott landed Thunderbird 1 on the grass a short distance from the bus. Donning his helmet and jetpack he lowered his seat from the cockpit and jumped out before hurrying over to the stranded vehicle. Trevor and his passengers waved frantically at him as he approached. Trevor opened the doors of the bus as he reached them. "Hi there!" Scott called into the bus. "International Rescue."
"Oh, are we glad to see you!" said Helen.
"Is anybody hurt?" asked Scott.
Everyone shook their heads, except for Dillys, who had her eyes shut tightly and had her hands gripped on the handles of the seat in front.
Just then Thunderbird 2 appeared and began to descend over the field to make a landing.
"Okay, now everyone stay very still and calm, please!" Scott called. "We're gonna attach a tow cable and pull you back onto firmer ground."
Hearing this made the bus's occupants feel a little more reassured.
"It's okay, Mum!" Norman said. "Thunderbirds are going to rescue us!"
But Dillys didn't appear to hear her son and continued trembling. "No! I can't look!" she said.
Virgil guided Thunderbird 2 down onto the flattest part of the field that he could find. He then joined Gordon in the module and climbed into the seat behind him. Remotely lifted the main body clear of Module 2 and opened the door before Gordon drove them out into the open.
"Recovery-Pod is GO!" said Gordon.
Scott and the bus's occupants watched as the Pod got closer. Scott began to walk towards them for he had realised something. "Gordon, don't fire the magnetic grapples at the bus. The impact could knock it over."
"Okay, but how are we supposed to attach them?" asked Gordon.
"Manual attachment of course," said Virgil as he opened the roof of the cockpit and climbed out. "Scott, you take one and I will the other."
"Copy that," said Scott as he and Virgil took hold of the magnetic clamps. "Gordon, start the unwinding."
Gordon pressed a button and the winches began to slowly unwind as Scott and Virgil carried the clamps over to the bus before attaching them to the front.
"Clamps in place," said Virgil.
"Okay, Gordon. Commencing recovery."
"F-A-B!" replied Gordon. He put the Pod into reverses and began to pull. He made sure to be slow and gentle and inch by inch the bus began to move back towards firm ground.
Everyone inside was feeling more relaxed, apart from Dillys who was still refusing to open her eyes.
"Almost there!" Trevor said to the passengers. "We'll be at that beach before you know it."
Suddenly there came a rumbling sound and Scott and Virgil began to feel the ground shift from under their feet. Looking down they saw that a crack was forming in almost a perfect curve right around the front of the bus.
"SCOTT, GET BACK!" Virgil yelled as he jumped back across the crack.
Scott gasped and did the same, just as the ground began to give way underneath the bus. There was a hard jolt and part of the cliff fell away causing the bus to tilt back again. The occupants screamed in fright again.
"GORDON, STOP!" bellowed Scott.
Gordon stopped the Pod. the ground also stopped shaking but the bus was now dangerously hanging by a thread over the edge of the cliff.
"Okay…" Scott said when his heart-rate had slowed. "This just got a whole lot harder!"
"I think we'd better get everyone out before we make any attempt to save the bus," said Virgil.
Scott nodded. "Gordon, try and get it back level again so the doors are over solid ground."
"F-A-B, Scott," said Gordon. "I'll take it slow and steady though. That way we shouldn't disturb the cliff too much." Starting the Pod again, he gently drove it backwards, pulling the bus slowly back over the ground once more until the back wheels had reached the edge. The front doors were now over the grass meaning that those inside wouldn't be too close to the cliff when they evacuated.
Scott headed back to the open doors of the bus. "This cliff is unstable," Scott told the occupants. "You will be a lot safer outside rather than in. I need you all to evacuate and come to me. One at a time, please."
"Children first, please!" Trevor called back.
Mandy was the first to leave the bus, first with Scott lifting her down and then having her run over to where Virgil was standing around five metres away from the cliff edge. Sarah came next followed by a very frightened James who approached the doors whilst trembling like a leaf.
"This way, kid," said Scott holding out his hand. "You'll soon be safe."
But James merely whimpered, like he was too afraid to get off the bus.
"Oh, James, come on!" said Bronwyn in frustration. She grabbed her son and picked him up before she carried him out of the bus. "I'm so sorry," she apologised to Scott.
Norman then came out followed by Helen, leaving only Trevor and Dillys left on the bus. It was only now that Trevor realised just how bad a state Dillys was in. "Dillys!" he called. "Come on! We've got to go!"
But Dillys kept her eyes tightly shut and clung onto the seat, mumbling something that Trevor could not understand.
"What's wrong?" Scott called into the bus.
"It's Dillys!" Trevor replied. "She's too scared to move!"
Scott looked and could make out Dilly's unusual hairstyle inside the bus.
"COME ON, MUM!" Norman bellowed from where everyone was standing.
"It's okay, I'll get her!" Scott called over. "Sir, please exit the bus. I'm coming in."
Trevor didn't like to leave Dillys in the bus but he did as he was told. He stepped out of the bus and hurried over to the others whilst Scott climbed inside the bus and made his way towards the terrified woman.
"Dillys?" Scott said. "Can you hear me? I'm International Rescue. I'm going to get you out of here!"
"No!" Dillys quivered. "I can't move! I'm too purified!"
"Errrrrrrrrrrrrr," said Scott, pretending to understand what she meant.
Suddenly the bus shuddered as part of the damaged bodywork attached to the left recovery clamp broke away causing it to drop back a bit. Scott was nearly thrown to the floor and everyone gasped in alarm.
"Er, guys!" Gordon said as the Pod's tracks skidded, sending mud flying. "I'm not gonna be able to hold it much longer!"
"Scott!" Virgil called over. "You need to get out of there!"
Scott grabbed Dillys's hands. "Dillys, come on! I know you're scared, but I need to get you out of here. Take my hands."
Slowly, Dillys opened one eye, and then gripped one of Scott's hands. She then opened the other eye and took the other. Slowly, though she was still trembling, she managed to stand up and move towards the doors of the bus.
"He's got her!" cried Mandy with relief.
"YEAH!" cheered Norman. "GO, THUNDERBIRDS!"
But then another section of the cliff fell away from underneath the bus causing it to fall back again and making Trevor and the rest of his passengers cry out in horror as the sudden movement threw Scott and Dillys back down to the very back of the bus. Not only that but Virgil noticed another danger. The bus's weight was starting to pull the Recovery Pod, despite being fitted with tracks, towards the edge of the cliff.
"GORDON!" Virgil shouted. "YOU'RE LOSING IT!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Gordon cried. "I CAN'T HOLD HER! WE'RE GONNA GO OVER THE EDGE!"