Lightning

Part III

"Alan, Scott, listen carefully. I want you guys to blow up that mountain. After that, head to an abandoned farm just a couple of miles north of the mountain, park Thunderbird 1 and get to the city as fast as you can. Find yourself a place to stay, 'cause Lady P is not going to make it on time. Flat tire…"

Alan wasn't entirely sure he'd heard the last part right, but one thing was for sure: did he really heard his father say 'blow up that mountain'? 'Cause it was not like his dad to make decisions like that so quickly, without consulting involved persons first…

However, his deep thoughts were interrupted by Scott, who apparently had been thinking the same things as Alan.

"Now I'm actually starting to wonder what's down there, you know. It sure scared the living crap out of dad, since he ordered us to blow it up, without asking someone who's involved about it first…"

"I know," Alan replied. "It's just not like Dad to do something like that, unless…"

"Unless what?"

"You know, remember the 'Alan, Scott, I'll get back to you two as soon as possible. Right now, I have some other things to take care of?'"

Scott was getting more and more confused. "Yeah, and?"

"Well, what was the stuff he had to take care of?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"You shouldn't. But I wanna bet John does…"

"This is Thunderbird 5 to Thunderbird 1. Scott, Alan – what's up?" John said, as soon as he saw the faces of both his older and younger brother on screen.

"John – we wanna ask you a question," Alan answered truthfully.

"Sure, go ahead," John replied, not sure what to expect.

"What was it with dad, just a couple of minutes ago, when he said he had some other things to take care of?"

"Oh, that," John sighed. "I'm not sure whether I am the right person to tell you this, or not – maybe you should ask dad yourselves…"

"We will. After we've talked to you. And after we've blown up that mountain."

"Alright, fasten your seatbelts – Brains' sister used to work there."

"Sister?" Both Tracy relatives seated in Thunderbird 1 said in unison.

John laughed. "Actually, I was surprised about that one too. It's possible though, when does he ever mentions something about his family?"

Scott shrugged. "Never, I guess. We never asked him about it either, though. But what about Fermat?" The pilot of Thunderbird 1 looked at the youngest Tracy-sibling. "Has he ever mentioned something about any relatives at all, I mean, besides his father?"

Alan shook his head. "Never. But I've gotta admit I've never asked him about it either. I just assumed he didn't have any other family besides Brains."

"I think it's safe to say we all did," John said. "But – I know dad ordered you to blow up that mountain and though I'm curious to find out what's inside, I trust dad when it comes to things like these. I'm sure that whatever Brains has told dad about that mountain convinced him to make the decision. And believe when I say it must be pretty awful, 'cause otherwise dad would've thought about it a little longer."

For a moment, there was an awful silence, until Alan tried to cheer his brothers up.

"Oh, but I'm sure it can't be much worse than Scott's self-made macaroni."

John had to laugh, but Scott was not pleased. "My macaroni? What has that got to do with it? And what was wrong with my macaroni? Nothing! Nothing was wrong with it! Everybody liked my macaroni!"

"Correction, Scott," John interrupted. "Everybody was pretending to like it."

"Oh well," Scott admitted. "Okay, so I'm not the world's best macaroni-chef. Maybe I should try spaghetti next time..." He laughed when both blonde brothers shouted in unison: "NO!"

"Okay, okay, geez – relax guys! By the way, John – what's the ETA of that storm?"

"Twenty-nine minutes."

"FAB, John. Oh, and thanks for... updating us on the situation."

"Any time, Scott. Thunderbird 5 out."

"So..." Colonel O'Neill started. "Do I... have to wear this?" He held the – thing – that Carter had bought in front of him.

"It's called a raincoat, sir," Sam said, with a big smile on her face. "And besides, I had to buy food as well, so I had to save some on the clothes. Be thankful though, I could've also bought you a pink leather jacket."

"Watch it, Captain."

"I think you should be grateful for at least having a raincoat," Daniel said, while looking at the clouds above. "Some of us only have denim jackets and I'm sure you are well-aware of the fact that denim jackets are not as effective as raincoats when it comes to rain."

Sam nodded, as she looked at the clouds above. "We should get a shelter, I'm afraid that it'll start to rain... very soon."

"But it makes me look like some old pervert!" Jack complained as they made their way to a place they could avoid the rain.

"Oh," Daniel commented, as he looked at his own jacket. "I'd rather be dry than wet, no matter what I wear. But you know, just a thought."

Sam sighed. "Come on guys, Stop arguing." She looked across the street. "You know, let's go to that bar over there."

"Good idea," Jack said. "I could sure as hell use a drink right now."

"The mountain has collapsed. I repeat, the mountain has collapsed."

"FAB, Thunderbi-" Jeff answered, but was cut off by the sound of an incoming message – from Thunderbird 5. "Just one second, boys," he said to his sons in Thunderbird 1 as he switched channels to the massive communications satellite. "John, what's up?"

"Boys?" Jeff said, once again switching channels.

"Come in, dad. What's the matter?" Alan asked, curious to find out what exactly John had told their father.

"Scott – Alan. You've got to abort the mission. We've got an emergency situation in Belgium, the city of Antwerp to be precise. There was a complete electricity meltdown at the local nuclear power plant, shutting all systems down, including life support. Six people are still trapped inside a basement, and they can't get out because the door's jammed. We need to get them out of there before they run out of air."

"FAB, dad."

"What's your ETA?"

"Eighteen minutes." Alan replied.

"Okay, I want you and Scott to set up Mobile Control, and wait for Gordon and Virgil. They're already on the move and they got the Mole and Thunderizer with them. And boys?"

"Yeah?"

"Please, put on your uniforms."

"FAB, dad," Alan replied with a smile, though he thought it was a shame they didn't get the chance to interrogate their father about Brains – or Brains' so-called sister. "Thunderbird 1 out."

Meanwhile, the three remaining members of SG-1 were enjoying their well-earned rest. Well, enjoying was maybe a bit overrated, but they were glad they could sit down anyway.

Jack sighed as he stared at his empty glass. A minute before, it had still been filled with beer. Mind you, it was bad beer, and not very much either ('Gotta spare money on something', Carter had said), but it was beer nonetheless.

However, Jack's deep thoughts were interrupted as he saw a woman, possibly in her mid-thirties, soaking wet and out of breath, entering the bar.

"Hi Eve," the bartender said, "Sure looks like you're in a hurry."

"Not exactly," she managed to say in-between two deep breaths, "It's just- it's... the Thunderbirds – they're... on TV!"

Although the words meant nothing to the three SGC employees sitting at the bar; Sam, Jack and Daniel could notice that obviously, whatever those Thunderbirds were, they meant a lot to the inhabitants of this town.

"Come on, Lyle!" said an old man sitting next to Daniel, "Put that damn TV on. I wanna see what they're up to!"

"Alright, alright," Lyle, the bartender, returned, "Just one second."

Though the three SGC-members still had no idea who or what the Thunderbirds were, they were just as quiet as the rest of the people in the building, as the bartender turned on the TV. He raised the volume, so everyone could hear it.

"I wonder what this is all about..." Jack whispered, more to himself than to anyone else, but the man next to Daniel heard it anyway, and let out a loud "Sssshhh!", before fixing his eyes on the screen once again.

"...live at the scene." The newsreader said. "Ellen?"

A blonde woman appeared on screen, looking a bit like she'd just stepped out of bed, but all viewers soon realized that it was the heavy Belgium wind that caused Ellen's hair to be a total mess.

"Hi Chuck," the woman, or Ellen, said with a slight European accent, "As you can see behind me, the local firefighters and some volunteers are trying to get the six people, who are still trapped in the basement, out of the building, but so far they didn't have any luck. The help of International Rescue is obviously needed, and a distress call went out about twenty minutes ago. They should arrive on scene any moment now."

It remained silent for a few seconds, but then the blonde-haired reporter nearly yelled in her microphone, "And there they are!"

The camera turned around to view a large silver craft, closing in on the news crew's position extremely fast. In the far distance, there could be seen another craft. The closer it came, the better it could be seen that although this craft was not as fast as the previous, it's size was way bigger than the rocket. The massive green carrier, number 2, descended easily nearby the nuclear power plant, though instead of just descending it released a big pod first.

"Oh my..." Daniel muttered.

Jack looked at him. "God?"

"This is Mobile Control to the Mole. Come in, Gordon."

"Hey there, Mobile Control. I have visual range of the blasts doors of the basement, although it's pitch black in here. We're definitely gonna need the Thunderizer if we wanna get those people out of here in one piece... and better send it fast, 'cause I can't tell how much longer those people can last in there."

"FAB, Gordon. Sending Thunderizer now." Scott turned to face Alan. "Alan, you think you're up to it?"

"Always!" Alan replied with a big smile. "Tell Gordon I'm coming in!"

Meanwhile, in a random bar in Colorado Springs, Sam had turned to talk to someone about the magnificent machines the tv currently viewed.

"So... what are those things?"

The man in question raised an eyebrow. "What, have you been on another planet the last decade? They're the Thunderbirds of course!"

The captain sighed. "Sure, I know that, but-"

"Well, what do you want then?"

"Why are they so important to you?"

"Aren't they to you then? I mean, they saved this town – you remember that bald guy?"

Sam nodded, though she had absolutely no idea what the guy was talking about.

"Well, he and his men hijacked that Fireflash, – I mean, how original can you be – descended at the local military complex, hijacked yet another craft, this time that new type of military craft, Red Arrow. Anyway, he was planning to destroy city hall, and all kinds of other important buildings in Colorado Springs with the weapons aboard that plane. If it wasn't for the Thunderbirds we'd all be a pile of ash by now."

"So, they're like the good guys then?"

"Sure they are!" the man replied before fixing his eyes on the tv-screen once again.

After the brief explanation of what exactly those Thunderbirds had done for this town, Sam tapped Jack's shoulder, but she didn't get a response from him, so she decided to wait until the newsflash was finished.

As Alan directed the Thunderizer on the doors that lead to the basement, in which the six people were still trapped, he remembered his first time on the Thunderizer.

The Hood had infiltrated Tracy Island, and that guy and his two companions were send after him, Fermat and Tin-Tin. Alan grinned as he locked onto the door. "Time to Thunderize!"

Meanwhile, at Mobile Control, Scott was waiting impatiently for his little brother to respond. "Everything okay down there?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't rush it, Scotty-boy. That's the third time you ask me if 'everything's okay down here', and yes – it still is," Alan replied. "By the way, everyone's settled, we're heading towards Mobile Control. ETA 2 minutes."

"FAB, Alan," Scott said back, and went over to the local fire chief.

"Ah, International Rescue, is there anything else that we can do?"

"Yeah, actually, there is. Please get some of the paramedics ready. We have successfully managed to get the six people out, but I'm afraid they need some medical attention before they can be transported somewhere safe."

"Of course. And by the way..."

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Scott smiled. "You're welcome."

A loud applause sounded all over the bar in Colorado Springs, as they all saw the six people stepping out of the odd-looking vehicle; all safe and sound.

Jack couldn't help it but smile as well, before he turned to his 2IC. "Well Captain, I think we've found the computers you need."

Sam gasped. "What? The computers of the Thunderbirds? But Sir, how were you planning to do that? To even contact them? To..."

The team leader of SG-1 just grinned. "Oh, I think I have an idea..."