Thank you all for waiting and reviewing. Things just sort of escalate don't they. Lol I hope your still enjoying this. I welcome all thoughts and ideas. I didn't plan this story to detail like the first one.

Chapter 8

John ran a hand down his face in a vague attempt to remain calm. Panic was not a feeling he either liked or was accustom to and he scolded himself for it. But the longer the silence lasted from Thunderbird 2 and now Tracy island, the more he could feel himself betraying his cool exterior. "Alan! Gran? Is anyone there? Somebody respond!" before I lose my God-damn mind!

The calming atmosphere created by the peace and quiet space could normally bring him, had rapidly become an eerily icy terrifying silence, and his chosen solitude was replaced with forced isolation. Besides Gordon, every family member was now missing. There was no one left to ground him as his panic threaten to steal his rational judgement. EOS was currently no help. She was still rebooting for next 12 hours.

"Ok let's just calm down. I can deal with this!" John told himself. The communication had been open throughout and the only clear thing was that they were under attack. Even though he knew it was impossible, paranoia set into the point that he was sure an enemy could be lurking in a dark corner, even on Thunderbird 5. Even though he had heard everything, could he have missed something? If he could just have a minute to go over the events that led up to everyone doing a vanishing act, maybe he could figure out what had happened to them?

Flashback.

Penny had reported a Power Plant going dark. But it wasn't just any power plant. It was the largest hydroelectric power generator in the country. Run from the factory built beside a dam. The turbines were generating enough gigawatts of power to light up a small country. Thankfully the staff had been evacuated, so no civilians had been in danger. That was when the reports of meccas had been spotted. This was the confirmation they had been waiting for. Someone with the dexterity of skill such as the Mechanic was very hard to miss. It was almost like he didn't care if he was spotted. As to why the Mechanic's motives for an aggressive takeover, Brains had guessed it was something to do with the high decadency super capacitors. Those cylinders could store the output of an entire hydroelectric power plant. Even if it wasn't at the demand of the Hood any more, a power source such as this in the hands of the Mechanic could not amount to anything good. His methods were not much better than the Hood's. But his motives were irrelevant as he wouldn't be fulfilling them anyway.

With Kayo flying ahead in Thunderbird Shadow, Scott, Virgil and Brains had been instructed to make a quick detour before following on. The Hood had instructed them to pick up a large 10 by 10 crate. It had taken up most of the space in the T2 hangar. Though the Hood had not been present at the pick-up, his hologram had left instructions that the contents of the crate was all the Thunderbirds needed to capture and imprison and even transport the Mechanic back to him. All they had to do was get him inside and the Mechanic would be neutralized. Well that sounded easy, apart from the 'getting him inside' bit. They guessed that the Hood had made a conscious decision to not dwell on that part and let them figure that out themselves. Fan-bloody-tastic!

John had scanned it to make sure it wasn't anything dangerous. Like a bomb for example. Whatever was inside was obviously dangerous for the Mechanic, but the brothers wouldn't put it past the Hood to give them something that was bad for their health too. But to John's dismay, the crate wasn't just made from metal. It seemed to have a lining inside that prevented it from been scanned. Maybe something like led? Was that just for the Mechanic's benefit or for theirs also? It would explain why it was so heavy. The Hood had certainly taken measures for his equipments anonymity, but this didn't help ease any tensions to an already hazardous situation.

What had they gotten themselves into?

The comms had been kept open all the way to the danger zone. John knew that Scott and Virgil hadn't exchanged two words to one another other than how they were going to trap the Mechanic? John could feel the tension in the cockpit from here. Brain's had done most of the talking, suggesting where the best place would be to set up the crate. Likely he was just trying to push out the awkwardness, but his best plan so far was just abandoning the Hood's plan and telling the Mechanic the truth. Scott, however, wasn't willing to gambol his little brother's mental health on a criminal who may or may not have a conscience on the part he played in the aquanauts decline.

Even after the Power plant was in sight, they barely had a rough outline resembling a plan. Many parts would need much further input before it could be called cemented. If only they had had more time to plan this? A month, or even just a week... but there was no time left, not for Gordon anyway. From here they were basically just winging it. But what were they meant to do? It might look a little suspicious, them turning up with a big metal box and asking him to just walk inside willingly. This was going to get violent and if last time was anything to go by, it wasn't going to be easy. Even though Scott could hold his own, he had got the impression that last time he and the Mechanic had done a round, the Mechanic had been holding back on him. This did not stand well for his pride. But the truth was, no matter how resourceful and creative the Tracy's were, the Thunderbirds were good at rescuing people, not kidnapping them. But they had no choice. The best chance they had right now was Kayo. Speaking of which, her hologram had appeared, slicing clean through the tense atmosphere that was currently choking the cockpit.

"I'm at the station." Caution was lacing her tone.

"Good. Any sign of him?" Scott asked, with a great deal of apprehension.

"I haven't seen him yet but there is a lot of activity going on. The generators are in full thrust so he can't be far away. I'll check around."

"Be careful," Scott said before she vanished into the building. He looked over at Virgil who seemed a little too focused on flying to the destination. He had to settle this before they landed. "I know this isn't right Virgil. I don't know how this is all going to go down, but I'm thinking of Gordon. I need you with me on this." There was more than a hint of pleading in the eldest voice.

Virgil glanced at him before looking back at the clouds ahead.

"If I wasn't with you, I wouldn't be here." He said glibly. "And I am here for the same reason you are. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

John sometimes felt that only having a virtual presents in the room instead of a physical one, his brothers had a tendency to forget he was able to watch and stare at everything close up.

"I know. I don't either." John remembered the look on Scott's face. He watched his big brother leaned back in the seat attempting to gather his thoughts, but that was hard to do sitting in what was normally Gordon's chair. He felt a strange kind of guilt even just sitting here, like he was trying to replace an empty spot that could never be filled. He caught Virgil in the corner of his eye, also looking at the chair Scott currently occupied. It was obvious that he was thinking over the lengths he was going to, just to see the blond sit here once again. With the knowledge of the aquanaut's slow decline into madness, the two seemed to have reached some kind of understanding, at least for now. Their destination was now visible in the distance.

Scott had just enough time to look back at Brains who was finding something very interesting on the floor. "Maybe after all this is over, we can explain to the GDF what really happened to the Mechanic? That he wasn't in control of what he was doing. They might go easier on him when they catch him eventually?" Scott spoke, trying to find some kind of consolation. Brains looked up sceptically.

"It m-may work a-a little in his f-favour, but the one thing I w-would even agree with the Hood on is that the M-Mechanic isn't exactly an in-innocent, harmless m-man before the H-Hood brainwashed h-him. It's hard to know w-who the Mechanic really is... But I h-hope I get the op-opportunity to find out." He said before looking back at the trap door behind him.

"I also w-wouldn't mind f-finding out what's in that c-crate before we try and lock him in with it."

John had remained listening and watching the uneasy look sweep over their faces before he was suddenly ripped out of T2 cockpit and back onto T5 by a sudden alarm sounding. Right away he saw that it was an emergency code! But when he saw who had sent it, he was caught off guard.

All in Thunderbird 2 could hear it echo from John's open frequency.

"John, what's happening?" Scott said. Had it not been for his seat belt holding him down, he would have jumped out of his seat.

John couldn't believe what he was about to say."Its Kayo! She's in trouble, and she's not answering her comms!" John spoke, not sparing a moment tracking her.

"Shit! What's our ETA?" The remaining colour from Scott and Virgil's complexion drained away.

"2.4 minutes," John said without looking. "It must be the Mechanic? But how did he get onto her so fast? Kayo is careful and she can handle herself, unless..." John trailed off as a horrible thought hit him.

"Unless he knew we were coming?" Scott sucked in a breath and then choked on it. Even from here, John could practically see a hundred thoughts crashing down on the leaders head. Had Kayo just been unlucky, or had this all been a setup? Did the Hood already have the Mechanic back under his control? Or did the Mechanic find them to be such a joke that he would just dismiss them as a threat? Or had all this time the trap really been for them? Everyone exchanged a look echoing the same thought. Scott could feel the sky falling in on him. Could he have been that stupid or that unlucky? He still had to find a way to help Gordon without endangering his family, but he wasn't going to leave Kayo either. If she had activated her code, then things were really bad. With not any other options presenting themselves, "Ok John, have the GDF on stand by. Give them our location and it's the Mechanic we are dealing with, but don't fill them in on what's going on... yet." What else could he do?

John nodded feeling his fear for his friend start to rise. By the time he had spoken to the GDF, Thunderbird 2 had landed and the crate had been deployed. He could still hear Scott and Virgil in the background talking as they tried to figure out a way to get into the main room where the turbine's resided. John had suggested the giant overflow pipe at the top of the dam. The pen-stock tubes seem to be the only entrance to the main floor of the engine room, as long as the water flow hadn't been released. But that wouldn't be much good for the crate. The two would have to get inside and release the main doors manually to allow entry first. Brains elected himself to remain behind with the dangerous cargo. They assumed he would be thinking of a way to open it and see just what the Hood was planning. John didn't know if the genius had come up with an idea yet. He was just about to contact the island when he heard Kayo urgently yell over the comms.

"Scott, Virgil he's coming! He knows! Get out of there!" She yelled, then the line went dead. John however had managed to pin point on her location. He would send the GDF straight for that.

"Kayo? Kayo respond! Are you alright?" John called but was again interrupted, this time by Brains.

"I know w-what's in here! Scott, we can't! W-we can't do this! It will k-kill him!" He yelled through the open frequency. His tone indicating that it was something almost offensive to him personally! "We can't use this -!" Again Brains was interrupted, this time by Scott and Virgil angry shouting, not at each other. Audio only, John had guessed it was the Mechanic as they were demanding where Kayo was. Then there was a loud bang, and both comms went dead. "Scott! Virgil!" John shouted. Nothing. Now both of John's brothers and his sister were at the mercy of a man who was only ever vaguely mentioned in fear by dark and dangerous people. Goodbye rising fear, hello full panic.

"No no no no no! Brains are you still there?" John yelled his hands flying across the keys so fast that they were only a blur.

"I'm h-here John. I t-think something h-has gone wrong." The bleak image of the scientist appeared. His voice was a little too controlled. That was a bad sign coming from Brains. Deliberately trying to keep calm and controlled only meant there was something really bad to panic about and Brains was going to be the next to vanish into the thick of it while John could only watch.

Not if he had any say in it. "I can't locate Scott or Virgil or even Kayo. The Mechanic must have got to them. I'm calling the GDF. Brains get back onto Thunderbird 2. I'll lock it down until help arrives."

"I'm afraid it's a bit late for that J-John. I think w-we will have t-to go with plan B."

Plan B? Wait did they even have a Plan A!? The redhead saw his friend looking off into the distance. Though he couldn't see what he was looking at, he knew it wasn't good. The forced calmness lacing Brain's features made the astronaut freeze as he didn't want anyone else to know he was listening in. A shadow cast over Brain's face... His fears were realised when the second voice joined them over the comms and John didn't need to see to know who it was.

"You lot thought you could sneak up on me? Seriously?" The voice almost laughed but then it changed when he saw what Brains was standing next to. "A Pandorica box!" He gasped. "My own personal prison, designed by the Hood himself... You brought that thing to use on me?" The unmistakable sound of the Mechanic said darkly. John could only watch the image of Brains back away as fear took over his face.

"Mechanic y-you don't understand. We don't have a ch-oice." The scientist said forcing forward the confidence John knew he didn't have. "Just let them go and I'll tell you -"

"It was the Hood who use this to capture me the first time. It almost killed me! Your working for the Hood?! You?" This time the Mechanic sounded confused which quickly turned to anger. John's heart was pounding so loud he was surprised the Mechanic couldn't hear it over the comms.

"I should just kill all of you and be done with it!"

"Mechanic please listen to me! You d-don't understand!" Brains yelled just before there was another bang! This time John saw a flash of bright light that accompanied the noise before his friends image was cut off and his readings vanished.

"BRAINS!" John shouted, instantly trying to get a fix on him, but like the others, he too had now vanished.

That had been 64 minutes ago and the GDF was still on their way.

Now he was in exactly the same situation again, this time on the island. Neither Gran nor Alan was picking up. He didn't know if his brothers, Kayo and Brains or even his Gran were still alive. Would...would the Mechanic really kill them if he thought they were working for the Hood? What the hell was a Pandorica box anyway? Obviously, only something that could have come out of the Hoods sick imagination. They should never have agreed to this. They should have just gone after the Hood themselves to save Gordon.

One thing was for sure, he couldn't just sit around up here. He had to get down there and find them. There was still Thunderbird 1 he could use if the others had been taken away somewhere. At the very least he had to go and get Gordon and bring him up here to safety. Just before leaving, however, a thought struck him. He wouldn't be much use to them if he walked into the same trap. He still had access to the islands cameras. He could look to see if the coast was clear or what had become of his family still on the island?

John started quickly flicking through the house, checking every room. But everything was still and in darkness... Until he reached the camera's that led down to the hanger.

That was when John's heart froze in his chest for the fifth time tonight. The Mechanic's ship was there! Right where Thunderbird 2 was supposed to be but wasn't. Gasping in horror when he saw the man himself heading back towards his ship and he wasn't alone. A deathly white Gordon was hanging limp and unconscious, bridle style in the large man's arms as he carried him back to his ship!

"NO!" This was NOT happening! The Mechanic was even going after Gordon!? Hell No! John anger and panic taking full control, he automatically activated Thunderbird 2 cave entrance, sealing them shut. The Mechanic was NOT leaving this island with his ill brother too. He would have to go down there and fight to rescue them himself.

To be continued

So who is a fan of Doctor Who? For those of you who are, you may recognise the description of the 'Pandorica' box. Obviously its not the same one, but perfect inspiration to trap someone like the Mechanic, don't you think? It just fits the story perfectly. Couldn't take credit for it though. For those of you who have no idea what a Pandorica box is, there will be more on that later.

Love to hear your thoughts on that :)