Chapter Twenty Four
Thunderbird Two
The Hood smiled evilly as Thunderbird Two crossed the British coastline and headed straight for London. They would arrive at their destination in mere moments. He was just sorry that Jeff Tracy was no longer alive to witness his triumph – according to Transoms calculations Thunderbird Five would have been out of power for over an hour now. The meddling of the kids on Tracy Island had robbed him of that pleasure. Still he was comforted by knowledge of the of the helplessness and anguish Alan Tracy and his friends would be feeling now even as they slowly froze to death.
"Sir we're approaching London," Transom reported as the outskirts of the British capital city came into view through the windows.
"Excellent Transom. Bring us in along the Thames. And Transom fly low."
"Yes sir."
Despite having been forewarned by Richie Static was still startled when Thunderbird Two came out of nowhere with a scream of jet engines and flying low over the rive that wound its way through the centre of the city.
He had been hovering here in the air waiting for the might machine to arrive for the better part of forty minutes. Not that he minded the wait as it had allowed him to see London from the air in away few people ever could. The skyline of London was quiet nice to look at in the way it showed the influence of centuries with structures like the Tower of London a medieval fortress standing along side sleek ultramodern skyscrapers whose glass windows shone like polished chrome in the brightness of the warm summer sun the shone down on the vast city.
The arrival of Thunderbird Two drew his gaze away from the skyline of London. And for a moment Static like anyone else who saw a Thunderbird was awed at the site of the magnificent machine as she moved effortlessly through the air despite her immense size. The fact that Thunderbird Two could move so quickly and so easily despite her immense size and weight spoke volumes about the advance nature of the technology that International Rescue possessed.
Static shook off his awe as he observed Thunderbird Two flying recklessly towards Tower Bridge on precisely the right level to slam into the road deck. Is this Hood suicidal, Static wondered knowing that a high-speed collision with the road deck would destroy both the elegant Victorian bridge and Thunderbird Two. A collision looked inevitable but then he saw the road deck split into its two parts and begin rising out of the way as bridge controllers worked frantically to prevent a collision.
Thunderbird Two screamed through the gap between the opening sections with just inches to spare.
Static pursued Thunderbird Two as she continued flying dangerously low over the Thames sowing absolutely havoc among river traffic as he passed. Then as she came towards the cities administrative heart the Palace of Whitehall and the Houses of Parliament she moved a little higher in the air and veered away from the river. She skimmed past the mayors building, shattering windows with the shockwave of air created by her passage. Static flinched knowing there would be casualties inside the building victims of flying glass. I've got to stop this guy, Static thought, before he kills somebody.
Thunderbird Two came to a dead stop over Jubilee Gardens. Her VTOL jets activated and the powerful hydraulic legs she rested on while landed deployed. As the huge aircraft began descending absolute chaos erupted in Jubilee Gardens as the who'd been enjoying the bright warm summer afternoon there raced to get out of the way of the landing Thunderbird.
Thunderbird Two settled down on the ground – a ice cream seller only just escaping death when one of the hydraulic landing legs crushed through the brightly coloured stand he had been at seconds earlier.
Then there was total silence and the crowd stared at the landed Thunderbird in shock and disbelief. International Rescue had never behaved in such a dangerous reckless manner before. They existed to save lives not put them in danger with such stunts as the one Thunderbird Two had just pulled.
Static lowered himself out of the sky so his disc was hovering barely an inch off the ground. He then glided towards the nearest policeman he had to alert the local authorities to the danger they were in. That it wasn't International Rescue who were behind the controls of Thunderbird Two and whatever machines she was carrying, but someone whose intentions were far more sinister.
"Excuse me officer," he said hoping he was calling the officer right. The British he remembered didn't call the run of mill policemen officers but something else. But he couldn't for the life of him remember what it was.
The policeman spun around at hearing his voice and the officer's eyes widened in surprise.
"Static?" he exclaimed in surprise. Static was known the world over not just in America, mostly from the times when he had helped the Justice League save the world.
"That's me," Static answered in a serious tone. "You need to get these people out of here," he said nodding to the crowds of spectators. "It's not International Rescue who are behind the controls of that Thunderbird."
"What do you mean," the policeman asked and Static found himself wishing that British police uniforms had name tags not just the symbol of the metropolitan police and a number on the shoulder tabs. Then he would be able to speak to the officer by name.
"Thunderbird Two has been stolen by a criminal called the Hood," Static answered. "International Rescue somehow knew I was here in London and called me to let me know. Their pursuing but they might not be here for awhile."
The young police constables eyes widened as the implications of the theft of a Thunderbird would have dawned on him.
"I'll let my…" the officer started to say only to stop when a loud bleeping warning buzzer sounded from Thunderbird Two.
Both Static and the police constable spun around to see movement from the Thunderbird Two. The machine was rising higher on her hydraulic legs while another part of the machine was lowering down to the ground revealing the primary pod bay doors.
Static moved high in the air again as the pod bay doors opened and a large tracked vehicle began to emerge from Thunderbird Two a vehicle topped with what was obviously a giant drilling machine of somekind going on the powerful looking cutting blades at the front. The name Mole was written on the side.
The Mole trundled forward for a short way then came to a stop. Then it began to move on a platform that began to pivot rising on one side dipping the nose of the Mole and its cutting blades to the ground. For a moment nothing else happened and then with a whirring noise the cutting heads began to turn and the Mole began to tunnel into the ground soil flying everywhere.
Knowing that he couldn't let it go Static sent a beam of energy at the Mole enveloping it in a corona of crackling purple-white energy and bringing the Mole to a jerking halt. Immediately he felt the power output from the Moles drive units increase and despite the powerful static cling that he was generating he felt the Mole begin to move forward again.
"Oh no you don't," he said to himself increasing the power in the beam he was using to generate static cling around the Mole. The Mole visibly jerked as its progress into the ground was again halted. Power in the Moles drive increased and beads of sweat began to appear on Static's forehead as he struggled to keep the machine from moving. He and the Mole were locked into a tug-of-war that Static knew he would loose.
The power in the Moles motors abruptly reduced and he started to pull it back out of the hole it had started to dig. Only for the rear drive that supplied the forward thrust to engage again at full power.
It was too much.
The Mole surged forward the static cling unable to restrain its power any longer. The sudden loss of the static cling acted like a snapping rubber band Static flew backwards tumbling helplessly out of control. Static managed to stabilise himself only seconds before he would have slammed into the side of Big Ben.
By the time he managed to stabilise himself the Mole had disappeared from his sight beneath the ground. And he like the spectators lining the river and the bridges that ran across it could see a line of muddy discoloration travelling beneath the river as the Moles passage threw up silt and mud from the floor of the Thames.
A line heading straight for one of the pylons that supported the recently completed London Monorail where it crossed the river. A carriage could be seen moving across the eastbound rail and it was just passing the midspan pylon that lay right in the Moles path. Oh no, Static thought in horror realising what was about to happen.
Even from here he saw the slim elegant concrete pylon suddenly shudder violently cracks beginning to ribbon across it surface. The shockwave visibly made the whole length of the heavy metal tracks running both east and westbound ripple like a plucked guitar string. One rail on the westbound side snapped in half immediately and dropped into the river. The carriage on the eastbound rail jerked to a stop as emergency breaks engaged with the loss of power in the rail.
Larger cracks ribboned across the surface of the midspan pylon as it began to come apart from the damage its underground support had sustained. The current of the river finishing the job the Hood had started when he'd driven the Mole straight through the reinforce concrete of the subterranean support column. In moments the pylon would break apart entirely and when it did both it and the carriage and the terrified, screaming passengers within would be dumped into the Thames.
Watching the unfolding disaster Static became even more determined to stop this Hood character. Anyone who would casually cause a tragedy like the one unfolding needed to be stopped and to spend the rest of their life behind bars where they could never again cause harm to anyone. Moving forward he started to head for the river. Maybe he could hold the pylon together long enough with his powers and provide power back to the rail so the carriages drive unit could carry it into an undamaged section. But he needed to get into range quickly before the pylon really began disintegrating. Already small pieces on concrete were breaking off the pylon as the cracks grew wider and moved closer together.
Before he got more than a few meters a roar of sound caught his and everyone else's attention. He instinctively looked in the direction the sound had come from. To see Thunderbird One dropping out of the sky its variable geometry wings spread wide into landing/gliding position and landing gear already deployed.
Static turned his attention back to the monorail as the midspan pylon's disintegration picked up pace with larger chunks breaking away and the monorail carriage now swaying dangerously as the rail warped and twisted. He shot closer to the pylon and again directed a beam of energy at the pylon and formed into a force field that he moulded to the pylon to try and prevent the pylon snapping in half. He couldn't stop the pylon's destruction that was inevitable but he could try and stabilise it long enough to allow the people in the carriage to be rescued. Now aware how bad the damage to the pylon was Static wasn't sure he would be able to hold it together even that long. He could feel the internal metal reinforcement rods in the core of the pylon twisting. In moments they would snap and the pylon would fall.
From behind he heard Thunderbird Two's engines start and knew that the Thunderbirds were coming to help. He just hoped they got here in time. With a roar of antigrav jets Gear appeared beside him.
"How long can you hold it together bro," Gear asked urgently.
"Not long," Static answered. "The damage is too heavy its going to fall. I can feel the metal reinforcement rods in the core twisting apart."
Gear nodded even as backpacks sensors scanned the pylon. He quickly calculated that they had no more than two minutes before the pylon fell. Hurry guys, he thought thinking of Peter, Alan, Tin-Tin and Fermat who'd raced to Thunderbird Two as soon as they'd seen the situation, those people won't be able hold on much longer.