Chapter 3 - An evil plot
On Tracy Island all looked calm and tranquil. As usual, Jeff Tracy sat at his desk from where he organised the world most famous rescue organisation. But right now he was worried, very worried about the security of IR. There had been only a few points of worry about security so far in the nearly 2 years that IR had been running. Once, a small boy had been taken to the Island by accident, and there were 2 incidents in which both TB 1, and TB 2 had been badly damaged and brought down. Only 1 man had caused a consistent worry to IR, and he went by the name of the Hood. The Hood had tried and failed to capture IR technology, but he was not a man to give up. Jeff Tracy was worried that he had plans for something now.
"International Rescue calling Thunderbird 3 and 5, are you receiving me?" Jeff's voice was strong, but there was an edge of worry coming through in every attempt to call the spacecrafts.
"Dad, something must have happened. The first call you made got though to both TB 3 and 5, but then both radios went dead before you finished telling them that someone knows their location." Virgil's voice was strong, as he perched on the edge of his father's desk, but his deep brown eyes showed great concern for his astronaut brothers.
"Dad, we can't just sit here and do nothing."
"Let Virgil and I take TB2 up to the edge of the atmosphere and try and locate them." Gordon pleaded with his father.
"No, until we know what has happened, I can't risk launching a Thunderbird." Jeff so desperately wanted to know what was happening on the perimeter of Earth where TB 5 was located, but he couldn't risk it.
"Brains, anything from either Thunderbird's control systems?" Brains looked bleak and everyone in the room could see it.
"It s-seems m-m-my t-t-theory w-was r-right M-Mr Tracy. TB5's systems are r-r-registering s-s-severe damage, b-b-but life s-s-support is f-functioning f-f-for now." Brains had tried to relate some positive news to the family of 3 Tracy men.
"So, what did TB 5 register?" Gordon asked in a worried voice, a total contrast to his usual upbeat self.
Tin-Tin showed Mr. Tracy the results from scanning TB5, done by using the other operation station there was on the Island. Tin-Tin had promised herself she was going to remain strong andto help as much with her technical skills as possible, as she had helped to engineer the Thunderbird machines, too. However, deep down she was petrified, not knowing what had happened to 2 men who had been her surrogate brothers, and the man she loved.
"Well, Brains was right. The small message, or what John thought was a message, sent to TB5 earlier was actually an energy beam.
"Y-yes, M-Mr. T-Tracy. I-I once read about a-a m-machine t-that w-was d-designed to sent a p-pulse of energy, t-that w-would cause g-great damage w-w-when it h-h-hit something. H-however, i-it was b-banned f-from b-being c-created, d-due t-to it b-being s-so d-dangerous t-to unknown s-ships or c-crafts. A-a s-single l-large p-pulse c-could d-destroy a s-ship."
Brains felt like he had fired that beam as the shock of what could have happened sunk in.
"We have to speculate that it locked on to its target appearing to be a radio wave, and somehow a energy signal was sent through it which caused the small amount of damage to Thunderbird 5's communication array." Tin-Tin had noticed with every word everyone was looking more concerned.
"So what's happened now? Alan and Scott went up to fix that fault, and they did." Virgil questioned, hoping the answer would help them find out why no one was answering their calls.
"We don't know." Tin-Tin said with a heavy heart.
"But it's highly likely whoever did this the first time, sent a stronger pulse this time."
Gordon looked at Virgil with a hint of panic in his eyes. Like all the brothers, each one tried to protect the one below them and look up to the ones above them, but right now Virgil and Gordon only had each other.
"So what type of damage could have been caused?" Jeff asked with his head in his hands, secretively knowing the answer, but praying he was wrong.
"I'm not sure, but we do know which Thunderbird the beam hit." Tin-Tin breathed deeply.
"And it has caused a great deal of damage."
"Could this have possibly gone any better?" The Hood asked himself as he sipped champagne.
"NO, ha, ha, ha!" An evil laugh was heard ringing around his vast temple. "Your end is near International Rescue. I am in control now!"
He put down his glass and walked over to the device which had served him well, a computer linked to a satellite, which had taken months to build, but even longer to detect where Thunderbird 5 was. The Hood was a clever man, and had in the last month caused vast amounts of disasters just so that messages would be sent to Thunderbird 5. And with every radio wave sent, the Hood had gotten closer to finding Thunderbird 5. They had hidden her well, he gave credit to International Rescue for that, but they were, the Hood thought, no match for him. Although the best bit was discovering that Thunderbird 3 made monthly visits to Thunderbird 5, transfering those sons of his to and from Earth.
"I picked the perfect time. I destroyed it. I'm sure of it." The Hood grinned.
"Master, there's no evidence you did destroy the ship at all." The Hood's 'servant' informed his master. He himself had been continually sent these past months to set the disasters into motion.
"SILENCE!" The Hood menaced, as he didn't know yet what had happened.
Up in the cold, black, expanse of space, gentle breathing was heard and slight movement from in the craft.
"O-h, G-g-god, m-my h-h-head." The blond lifted his head that had collided with the cold floor.
"W-what h-happened?" He asked to no one in particular, as his beautiful eyes tried to discover why his craft was blackened and silent.
On Tracy Island, Jeff Tracy sat at his desk with his head in his hands. On the other side of the room ,Virgil sat with an arm around Gordon. Jeff tried to stay positive and had asked both Tin-Tin and Brains to find the source of the beam, but all that he, Virgil, and Gordon could do was wait.
Jeff looked up at the portraits of his oldest, middle, and youngest and whispered, "My sons."