A Hard Place part three: The Missing.

by Angel Mouse


Penelope sighed in soft frustration, looking down at the notes before her. It had been over eight hours now since John had been abducted. With the police's help they had been able to track nine of the flights out of the area and confirm that those flights were legitimate. The other three Penelope had been checking out since her arrival in the area. Two of them had checked out as well.

One of them had been a flight that was diverted due to engine problems, the other had to end up turning back because of a passenger being unwell. The third flight, the one that they hadn't tracked down yet, was turning out to be the most positive lead they had to John's location they had. The flight plan had turned out to be a false one, and upon request – sent through Captain Striker – they had obtained copies of the radar records for the area around the airfield that they think John's abductors had flown from.

The records were sent to International Rescue and its mighty machine had swung into action to try and narrow things down. Alan had begun the slow, painful task of tracing the flight paths of all the flights from the area that weren't covered by the flight plans that they had been given. That gave them a rather large search area to cover. Brains and his computers were crunching the numbers as well, trying to narrow down even further.

Scott, Virgil and Gordon were wading through the reports of their agents all over the world looking for little hints and clues that might help them in their search and Jeff was directing their efforts for his missing son from Tracy Island.

"Are you alright Milady?" Penelope looked up and gave Parker a tired smile. Such a good, kind person at heart, no one would have ever expected to find a heart of gold under that rough exterior of his.

"Yes Parker. I'm just worried about John." Parker nodded, behind the wheel of his beloved FAB1.

"As we all are Milady, but he's a Tracy. A quiet one, but he's got the Tracy steel running through him. I would worry more about the people that 'as him Milady." Penelope laughed softly; Parker always did have a way to cheer her up.

"True Parker. All too true. When Jeff and the boys get through with who ever took John there won't be much left for the police to take care of. And I for one wouldn't be to sorry." Penelope liked all the boys but John always intrigued her. Such a quiet and thoughtful boy, he was often a sea of calm amidst the craziness that was the Tracy family.

She knew from long talks with Jeff when she visited the island how had relied on his middle child a lot more than the others. Scott may be his right hand man, but John was often the voice of reason, calm and more often than not the one each family member turned to at one time or the other. Jeff had admitted to her one night after not a few drinks that he missed John quite a lot. More often than not John was immured up in Thunderbird Five for almost nine months of year considering the amount of times Alan managed to weasel his way out of duty.

Jeff had told her that he knew that Alan took advantage of John most of the time so he could spend time with Tin-Tin but most of the time John didn't mind. Sometimes John was to understanding for his own good Penelope thought to herself. Penelope looked down at the notes she had made after the last interview she had done in her efforts to track down the abductors and sighed again.

"Milady, I 'ave taken the liberty of booking us in a hotel nearby. Might I suggest that we retire for the 'evening? You'll be no good to Mr Tracy if you are 'xhausted." Penelope opened her mouth to protest but knew that Parker was right.

"Right you are Parker, as always. Please, let us go. I'll call Jeff and let him know what we've found out."

"Yes Milady." The Rolls Royce began to move out again and Penelope reached forward, pressing the button to call Tracy Island.

Tracy Island

Jeff rubbed at his tired eyes. It was now almost ten hours since John had been taken and they were still no closer to finding him. No ransom calls had come through. No leads other than the flights out of the abandoned airfield near where the police had found the abandoned van in which he was taken. It was a frustrating and worrying task and all the boys were feeling it.

Alan was working himself into a screaming heap, only the fact that he was spending hours talking with Brains and Tin-Tin were keeping him together as they fed information and data into the powerful computers on Tracy Island and Thunderbird Five trying to come up with something. Gordon had given up in frustration and worry about John about an hour ago.

Scott had recognised the growing signs of frustration in the red-head and knew it was literally seconds before he blew his top, so Scott had suggested Gordon go work off some steam and worry in the pool. Jeff stood and walked over to the balcony, looking down he could see Gordon swimming lap after lap after lap. That was his way off working off anger and worry.

Jeff leaned on the rail, sighing as he struggled with his feelings of helplessness and worry. Scott and Virgil were inside, jugs of hot coffee now gone cold sitting beside them as they went over maps and flight paths of the area. Then there were all the reports coming in from their agents all over the world. But nothing concrete or solid had come through for hours. And the tension was getting to them all.

Just then the portrait of Penelope - one of Virgil's finest Jeff privately thought - began to beep and pushing himself off the rail, Jeff moved inside and hit the button to open the channel.

"Go ahead Penny." The portrait changed to one of a more familiar site of Penelope sitting in the back of FAB1, the countryside speeding past in the background. Penelope gave Jeff a tired smile.

"Hello Jeff. I'm afraid I don't have much news for you." Jeff sat down behind his desk and nodded, he'd been expecting as much.

"I thought as much Penny. What do you have?" Penelope looked down at her notes and then back up at Jeff.

"All the flight plans bar one were correct. The last flight plan - flight plan Delta X-Ray Five Zero Seven - was a false flight plan. I managed to obtain, through that very kind Captain Striker, a copy of all the radar tracking of the flights out of the general area within a hundred kilometre radius and have transmitted that data to Alan. Hopefully by matching the correct flight plans against the flight paths that the planes actually took will give us an area to search for John in." Jeff nodded, understanding her reasoning.

"Good work Penny. Alan did say he was working on something when I checked with him a little while ago, so obviously he and Brains are on top of that. Did you manage to find anything else out from Captain Striker?" Penelope gave him a tiny little smile.

"Not a lot more than he already told Scott. What he was able to confirm for me though was that the tunnel underneath the rescue site had been there at least four months, which is when construction began on that building site. So obviously someone has been planning this for a long time. Has Brains been able to come up with an explanation for how they managed to create an earthquake of that magnitude?" Jeff shook his head.

"Not really. He muttered something about underground detonations or using soundwaves or some such thing, he'd have to check and let me know. But for the moment the most important thing is finding John."

"Has there been any ransom demand or anything Jeff?" Jeff shook his head in frustration.

"No Penny, not a peep and that's got me worried. Alan's got everything on Thunderbird 5 listening out carefully for any mention but nothing. It's like he's disappeared off the face of the planet Penny." Jeff let a little bit of the intense worry and fears for his son leak through his voice and wasn't surprised when moments later Scott and Virgil were standing behind him, offering their silent support. Penelope gave Jeff a soft, determined smile.

"Don't worry Jeff. John's a strong person and he'll probably find his way back to you before we even find him." Jeff smiled slightly at her words.

"You're probably right Penny. Where are you headed now?" Penelope gave him a wry smile.
"Parker has insisted that I get some rest, so we are heading to a nearby hotel for a hot meal and a good nights sleep. Something which I strongly suggest you and all your boys get." Jeff couldn't help the smile that appeared on his face and he could hear the muffled snigger from one of his boys behind him.

"All right Penny. I'll call you in the morning."

"FAB Jeff. Get a good night sleep, all of you. FAB1 out." The channel closed and Jeff turned around to see Scott and Virgil standing before him. Gordon was coming in the door, dripping slightly but wrapped in towel. He looked at Jeff.

"Any news?"

"Not a lot I'm afraid Gordon. Just Penny confirming what we suspected. That one of the flight plans that were logged for that area that we think they flew out of was a fake. Penny managed to get the radar records for all the flights from a large radius around that area and we're now trying to narrow it down and match the flight plans with the flight paths. Alan and Brains are putting that information in the computers right now. The computers will do the hard yards and give us some possibilities. Then we can start the hard task of narrowing it down even further and finding your brother."

Gordon had moved inside and stood next to Virgil as Jeff had been speaking. He looked down cast, they all did. Jeff looked at his sons and was opening his mouth to speak when Alan's portrait beeped. For an instant, Jeff's eyes flashed to John's portrait as more often than not it was his that would be calling from Thunderbird Five. Jeff reached over and hit the button.

"Go ahead Alan." The portrait changed to Alan's picture and his youngest looked back out at him.

"Father, we've finally gotten all the information Penny gave us loaded and the computers are running the comparisons now. But it's going to take at least six hours to go through them all, plus include the entire variable's we've had to program in." Jeff nodded.

"That's good work Alan. Both you and Brains have done well with this." Brains just walked in as Jeff said that and he glanced over and smiled at Brains. "But now I want you both to get some rest. All of us actually need some rest. We're all stressed out, worried out of our minds and tired after the long day we've all had." Alan opened his mouth to protest but closed it when he saw the look on Jeff's face. He sighed and nodded.

"Okay Father. As soon as I have something I'll call. Or you call me right?"

"You know it Alan. Get some rest." Alan nodded and sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Okay, good night all. Thunderbird 5 out." The channel closed and Jeff looked back at the rest of his boys.

"Right, you heard me all. We're no good to John if we're all exhausted." Scott opened his mouth to protest but Virgil put his hand on his shoulder and managed a tight smile.

"Dad's right Scott. John wouldn't want us to run ourselves into the ground looking for him. He'd want us to come and get him when we're all rested and raring to go." Scott sighed and nodded.

"Okay Virgil. Let's go. John will tear strips off us if we don't look after ourselves." The three brothers shared a small grin and moved off towards their rooms. Scott turned back and waggled his figure at his father. "And that means you to Dad. Night." Jeff watched his eldest led his other boys away and sighed. His eyes turned back to John's portrait and he took a deep breath.

He pushed away the fear and worry about his middle son. He knew that it wouldn't help in the long run. Once John was back safe and sound, then, then he would break down and deal with this situation. Holding the hope in his heart that his son was fine and safe, Jeff made his way slowly to his bedroom. Trying as hard as he could to hold onto that hope.

John looked at the meal cart before him and suddenly remembered something one of his old college professors had said long ago. A little knowledge in the wrong hands can be extremely dangerous, but a lot of knowledge in the right hands can be a powerful weapon. John remembered that lecture and had taken those words to heart. He had always been an inquisitive child and his family had always taken to heart that he was the bookworm, the science geek and the dreamer.

But John didn't mind. He loved learning and knowledge. But his love was the stars. And they always would be. And now, sitting here in this surreal situation he found himself looking from the meal cart upwards, hoping to see the more familiar stars. He missed the stars. His attention was drawn back to figure standing in front of the cart.

"Is something amiss my young friend?" John kept his expression neutral, like he had been keeping on his waking in this situation.

"Not really. I just am used to being able to see the sun and sky is all. It's been quite a few hours now and I find that I'm missing them most." Meriza nodded and gave John a fake smile that he'd been using since John had woken. John didn't believe it now even after all these hours.

"Well I'll see what we can do about that later. Now, please, I want you to eat up and keep your strength up." John raised an eyebrow and couldn't help the scarcasm in his voice.

"For your hunt right?"

"Yes. It will be held in four days time. So I don't want you to be anything but your best. People are going to be paying good money to come and see you John. I want them to get their monies worth." John sighed and looked at the food.

"I guess I should be honoured but you'll excuse me if I don't feel it." Meriza laughed and gestured to the food.

"Please, eat up and enjoy. I will be back in the morning with your breakfast John." Meriza went to move towards the door but John stopped him with one word.

"Why?" Meriza turned slowly and looked at him.

"Why what?" John just had to know. To him, not knowing was unbearable. He felt responsible for those men in that pit that were killed in cold blood before him.

"Why did Mason have to kill those men? They had done nothing." John's voice was soft and sad. Meriza just gave him a tight, stone faced smiled.

"I hired Mason to do a job. How he did it and what method's he used to bring you to me, I don't care." John sprang to his feet, his expression angry.

"I was there to save those men! They were my responsibility! I was there to save those men..." The last came out as almost a whisper as John stared into the unremorseful eyes of Meriza. Meriza just stared and him and then turned, heading for the door.

"I hired him to do a job. He did it. End of story." The guard closed and locked the door behind them both, leaving John alone in the room with the meal cart. In a fit of uncharacteristic anger John picked up the water pitcher on the cart and hurled it against the wall, falling back onto the bed.

The reality of his situation and how it had come about was finally sinking in with more finality that it had been before now. John pulled his legs up against his chest and rested his head on his knees. After a long time a soft whisper could be heard in the silent room.

"I was there to save those men."