Chapter Two

Everything was...something.

Something that was Not Right. (No duh, probably because of the funny tasting stuff the goon sprayed in his face while yelling something about the dawn.) And he had no idea what was going on or who these crackpots were.

But he did know a few things.

He knew there were six of them, one of him, and John was down for the count- while he'd been trying to wipe the stuff out of his eyes (it really stung!) Big Bro #2 had leapt in like an avenging angel in a space suit, clobbered two goons and made a good start on a third before that guy from the landing pad got a cheap shot in and smacked John across the face with a chair.

In addition he knew he was really grateful to Gordon for teaching him the power of an unhinged-scream-and-throw-things-like-an-angry-chimpanzee routine. It made the goons fall back long enough for him to haul John over his shoulder and run. (Gotta love adrenaline and hysterical strength, am I right?)

He'd also realised that whatever it was they'd sprayed in his face from point blank range was making him start to lose touch with reality so he carried his fellow space-bro to a safe hidey hole to bunker down and wait it out. (Well, he hoped it was safe. It was a kitchenette with a door that he barricaded with a table, but it was dark and the round window in the door was giving him flashbacks to Jurassic Park and the kitchen velociraptors.) Kitchens meant weapons though, and he'd found a really big knife. That was useful.

Their other siblings had to be enroute, but the storm was going to make things dicey. (At least he hoped they were, John was the one who obsessively monitored them, but John was here and not on Five where he could call up their bio-monitors with like, a twitch of his eyebrow or something.)

Speaking of John, now lying on the floor, the lanky brother was still out to lunch and groaning softly. Blood stained his face, matted his hair and dripped on his uniform. Alan put his big kitchen knife to use cutting a tea towel to bits to make an improvised bandage and put John on his side. Clutching his knife and crouched beside John, there was little else he could do aside from tap at his useless radio and hope his hammering heartbeat didn't lead the goons right to them.

0o0o0

"I've informed the GDF but…"

"Let me guess, they can't fly in this weather?" Scott growled out the words as he tweaked the settings on Two's fuel pumps on the fly to eke just a little more speed from her. He knew Brains was going to give him hell for what it was going to do to the combustion chambers, but that was a later problem.

"Affirmative." EOS' clipped delivery spoke eloquently of her opinion on the matter.

"Any luck breaking through whatever is keeping the security system from showing you current data?" Kayo asked intently, glancing up from the plans of the facility she had hovering in the air before her.

"None yet, but I am working on it."

"Can you tell if it's a jamming bubble?" Was Kayo's next question. The middle of a storm was not the time to have a Thunderbird go dead under you.

A moment's pause, then "There does not appear to be a jamming bubble, I can still access the Pod's systems. Their block on the security system and our communications remains intact however. I have attempted to piggyback on the Pod's systems, but they are not powerful enough at this range."

"No bubble. That's something at least." Was Virgil's contribution. He grunted as he wrestled Two into staying on course, jaw clenched and shoulders hunched as they skirted the leading edge of the incoming storm, desperately hoping to beat it to the observatory. "What's the plan?" He flicked a glance at Scott in the co-pilot seat.

"Kayo, landing sites?" Scott asked, looking back over his shoulder at the other two, his brow knit as he considered their options. Leaving Two in a hover over the building was out of the question, and he doubted any of the flat roofs could take their weight.

"There's a secondary landing pad under the observatory." Kayo brought up the relevant section on the schematics. "Between the storm, some low flying and Two's electronic shielding we should be able to fly in without them noticing."

"That's going to require nape of the earth flying." Gordon pointed out as he brought up a topographical map of the area. "If you haven't noticed, Two isn't S, she doesn't have the same maneuverability your 'Bird does."

"Two can do it." Was Virgil's response, his tone brooking no opposition. "Scott, plot me a course and I'll fly it. It's not going to be exactly nape of the earth, but as long as it's close it'll get us there."

"F.A.B." Scott nodded, trusting his brother to know his ship and it's capabilities. "When we get there it's teams of two- Virgil and Kayo, me and Gordon. Split up, find them, get out. No unnecessary engagement. We have no idea who or what we're dealing with." He instructed. "The GDF know they're there, they'll be waiting to swoop in as soon as they can fly."

"Hopefully with sufficient proximity Two's superior scanning ability will allow me to detect John and Alan." EOS spoke up. "I may be able to direct you to them."

"Good." Scott nodded thoughtfully as he plotted the course for Virgil and flicked it over to him. "If you can reach them on comms, even better."

"I will attempt to do so." The A.I. promised.

"What about the Pod?" Kayo asked. "We can't leave it there."

"If we can grab it on the way out, we'll take it. If we can't, EOS- brick the POD before we leave." Scott ordered.

"Affirmative."

'Bricking' was one of several security features built into all of their vehicles after the TV 21, a transmitted command that would make the power supply invert and turn the circuitry and internal mechanisms into a pile of melted slag. It was expensive, but far less expensive than someone making off with their equipment would have been.

Faintly the shape of Puerto Rico appeared on the horizon, backed by a wall of inky clouds swooping in to swallow the island whole. "Okay, here we go." Virgil murmured, banking into a sharp turn to swoop around the island and find the river valley that would lead them most of the way to the observatory. He reached out and touched an overhead switch, then made sure he had a firm grip on the yoke. "Electronic shielding activated. Hold on."

For all the nicknames that the others dubbed Thunderbird Two with to get a rise out of Virgil, 'the big green bathtub' being a favourite, she had a level of raw power her siblings couldn't compare with and Virgil was completely in tune with her. Scott split his attention between watching the instruments and watching Virgil as he deftly flew between the shoulders of the riverbanks, Two's engines practically singing as he danced between forward thrust and spurts of VTOL for particularly tight turns. Two then swung above the forest canopy as the leading edge of the storm finished enveloping the island and draped it in thick curtains of driving rain. Guided by Virgil, Two pushed through the rain to circle just below the southern lip of the natural sink hole that held the great dish of the radio telescope. He slowly raised her up on VTOL to bring her belly level with the lower landing area and slid forward to touch down with barely a tremor to betray their arrival.

Virgil dropped his shoulders and grinned tightly as Two settled into place and quickly flicked through the shut down and lockdown procedure. "We're here, let's go." He said, standing to retrieve his exo-suit. He had a feeling the extra strength would come in handy.

0o0o0

Proximity did indeed work in their favour as EOS reached out through Two's systems for the familiar electronic 'scent' of International Rescue equipment while the others prepared themselves to approach the building. All of their equipment was designed to link up and their suits automatically first routed their signals through whatever Thunderbird was closest and the Thunderbird then bounced it through to Five. It was only when a Thunderbird was unavailable that the suit used extra power to boost the signal up through the atmosphere directly to Five and her flock of satellites, so if they could the bio-monitors would be searching for the big green transporter's systems despite the active electronic shielding.

Had she such human mannerisms, she would have cried out in joy as John and Alan's bio-monitors reached out for Two. They were alive, but the readings she was receiving did not indicate good health and that was cause for new concerns. But she'd found them and they were alive, the rest was details now.

The data was flicked over to the others moments later, red and orange markers huddled together in the main building above them, one floor down and a few hallways away from the control room where they'd been attacked. She acknowledged Scott's thanks and turned her attention to the next problems- somehow turning that link into communication and finding and destroying whatever was still blocking her control of the security systems. This close to the source the communications block read more as interference than a deliberate jamming, as if it was a side effect rather than the original intent. Perhaps it was a matter of finding the right frequency instead? EOS reached out again, seeking any indication that connection was still possible.

0o0o0o0

Their point of entry was a side exit into the lower section of the observatory. It was of course locked and the storm shutters had been lowered on that door and every other portal to the outside world that they could see from here. It slowed them by perhaps thirty seconds- Virgil simply ripped the shutters off the wall, frame and all, and stepped back to dispose of them while Kayo applied an electronic descrambler to the lock keypad. It beeped twice and the door popped open, swinging outwards as the lock disengaged. "Still want teams of two, Scott?" She asked as she pocketed the device.

"No, we have their locations, we're sticking together." Scott shook his head and led the way inside, carefully peering around the corner of the door frame before progressing inside the dimly lit hallway. He and Kayo took one side of the hall while Gordon and Virgil hugged the other, moving quickly and instinctively putting themselves into a half-hunch to better sneak about rather than walking tall and confidently as they normally did.

When they paused to listen at a T junction, spooked by what sounded like voices, Scott's right hand drifted to the weight at his hip. He blinked when he realised his hand had touched the blocky grapple launcher, not the butt of the pistol he was unconsciously searching for. Gordon looked over at him in that moment, instantly saw where Scott's hand was and quirked a little rueful smile at him, nodding to his own right hand that had done the same. Old training died hard.

He was just about to wave them forward when his radio crackled. "Commander, I've gotten in touch with John." EOS murmured in his ear. "It's not good."