Disclaimer
Thunderbirds and all the characters etc. belong to Gerry Anderson and Working Title films, I'm just borrowing them.
Accidents
Chapter 3 – An Unexpected Rescue
"Are we ready to go again?" Colonel Roberts asked the busy Control room. The information transmitted to them by Thunderbird 5 had been very helpful and it had taken some time to get through it all.
"Almost sir. Launch Control is performing final checks on the missile and should be finished in a few minutes." A technician replied after listening to a message through a radio. "They are asking if the flight plan for this test is the same as the previous one" he looked up at the Colonel
"The missile will be headed 3 degrees to the north of the previous heading to avoid turbulence that has been detected in the atmosphere, but other than that, everything will be the same. Let's just hope that it goes as well as last time too."
"Right sir."
"Seems like they're getting ready for another attempt. If it goes as well as the last, they'll definitely have something to celebrate." John said over the link to base. The link to NASA had been put on standby for the moment until the launch preparations were complete.
"Celebrate, that reminds me." Virgil said, remembering "NASA Control gave us a bottle of champagne to share between us as a thank you for the help. Why don't we make a toast?"
"That's a great idea. Tin Tin, can you go and get some glasses while I round up Brains and Kyrano. They deserve to have some too."
"Yes Mr Tracy" Tin Tin said as she and Jeff left the lounge
"Dad agreeing to everyone having champagne. That sounds unusual." John said, amazed that Jeff had agreed.
"Don't worry John, you won't be left out" Scott remarked. John glared at him, but thought of a better idea
"I'll think I'll go and get a soft drink from the fridge. That way, we can all be involved." John disappeared out of the side of the screen.
"I don't know about this Mr Tracy, I don't usually drink…" Brains was cut off by Jeff
"Come on, just this once. You don't have to have much, just enough for a toast"
"Oh, all right"
"Here we are, 8 glasses." Tin Tin said as she came back in carrying a tray of glasses and a corkscrew. She put them down on Jeff's desk.
"Would you like to do the honours Virgil?" Jeff asked, handing him the corkscrew
"Why not" he said, and soon there was a loud pop as he pulled out the cork, then poured some in each glass.
"To…comrades, working together to achieve something special" Jeff said, raising his glass as everyone else did the same
"To comrades" they all echoed and drank from their glasses, except for Brains who only took the tiniest sip and John, who had a can of soft drink in his hand instead. He wasn't allowed to have alcohol on Thunderbird 5.
"Five…Four…Three…Two…One…Launch!" the same automated voice blared
"Missile away, speed climbing to escape velocity" a technician reported from his console
"It looks good" John said, before the Colonel had a chance to ask "Lift-off is again successful and the missile is now headed to detonation co-ordinates."
"Right, detonation in 3 and 1 half minutes from now" another technician added
"Okay, John. We'll give you a 30 second warning before detonation again" Roberts repeated what he had said earlier that day
"Sir, something's wrong" a technician said after a few minutes "The missile is veering off course, heading further south instead"
"Confirmed, the missile has changed its heading. It now appears to be on a collision course with a space satellite, 80 miles south-east of its original heading" Colonel Roberts shared a worried look with John and Scott on the screen, John also furiously tapping away at controls, before ordering what could be their only course of action
"Detonate the missile" he ordered the technician at the console beside him. They waited a few seconds, but nothing seemed to happen.
"Missile failing to detonate. We do not appear to be in control of its main operating systems any longer" the technician said sadly
"Jettison the warhead, it should stop it causing so much damage"
"Done. But that's about all we can do."
"I've just run a check" John said quickly, and stopping whatever Colonel Roberts was about to say "the satellite is a manned television relay station, 4 personnel on board. This missile looks to be on a direct collision course with it."
"John" Jeff's voice came from somewhere behind Scott on Tracy Island "Get contact with the station, see if they are able to move out of the way."
"F.A.B"
"International Rescue calling Television Relay Station 16, come in please" John's voice came through the radio on the control panel. The men, all of whom were looking rather bored, jumped up at the sound.
"Hey, that's us. Answer it will you Casey" one of them said, surprised
"Yeah, right." The one called Casey said. He went over to the radio and fumbled with the switch "International Rescue, this is Television Relay Station 16. Is something wrong?"
"I'm afraid there is, but I haven't got time to explain. How long would it take for you to move your station into a different orbit?" John asked, getting straight down to business.
"Err, I dunno." There was a faint voice from elsewhere in the station "Our mechanic is saying an hour, hour and a half at most." Casey said, trying to help.
"Right, thank you." John said hesitantly. That was far too long!
"I hope that helps. Station 16 out." Casey cut the channel, and looked towards the others in the cramped station "He didn't sound too happy, did he?"
"They said an hour, minimum" John relayed to NASA and base. There was a long silence after this statement, until Scott spoke up quietly
"And how long before the missile hits the station?" he asked, dreading the answer.
"5 and a half minutes"
"There has to be something we can do!" Gordon complained loudly, echoing what everyone else was thinking. The first space rescue in almost 4 months, and Thunderbird 3 is out of action.
"Brains, is there anything I can do to stop the missile? It is reasonably close to my position." John asked desperately, needing an answer and needing it fast.
"There could be one possibility, but it would take some very quick modifying, and it may not even succeed." Brains said thoughtfully
"Right now, I'm open to anything."
"Right that's the plan. John thinks it will take him about 3 minutes to modify the equipment, and about 30 seconds to charge the laser system itself. It's a wild shot, but it's the only plan we have." Scott explained to NASA Control while John modified the laser system. They, quite literally, didn't have a moment to lose.
"That leaves only about a minute for the rescue (they had been discussing the plan for about a minute as well). I hope your man's a good shot, because he's only going to get one chance at this. Good Luck." Colonel Roberts said from the now deathly silent Control room.
Modifying a space signalling laser-beam system, usually used to maintain Thunderbird 5's orbit, to knock out a missile's control systems has got to be one of the oddest rescues I've ever done. John thought to himself, while retrieving yet another tool from his toolbox and putting a wire back in place in the computer panel he was working on. I just hope Brains' idea works.
As he put the panel back on the wall, he activated the comlink in his watch. He was using his watch as there was no way he would have time to go backwards and forwards to the communications console and finish the modifications in time "Right Scott, I've finished. I'm starting to charge the laser now"
"Great time John. I'll tell the others. Colonel Roberts says good luck" Scott said, happy to know that the rescue was halfway there.
"Yeah, hopefully I won't need it. I'm preparing to fire now."
"John says he's getting ready to fire" Scott said briefly to NASA Control. Some of the worry immediately disappeared from Colonel Roberts' face
"Right, we've all got our fingers crossed down here. I hope it works"
"Okay. Firing!" Came John's voice over the speakers. Everyone held their breath as they waited to see if it had worked.
"He's done it!" one of the technicians cried out happily a few moments later "The missile's course has changed!" there was a cheer as they knew the 4 men in the station had been saved. John came onto the screen, but he didn't look too pleased.
"Base, we've got another problem" John said quietly. Scott just looked confused
"What's wrong John? It worked! The missile is no longer going to hit the relay station." Scott said, calming down when he saw that it wasn't really cheering John up at all.
"Oh yes, it did change the missile's course. I hit it dead on. But not only did it affect the missile's control systems, but it also acted like a homing beacon…" John closed and opened his eyes, before looking straight at Scott and carrying on "The missile is now on a direct collision course with…Thunderbird 5."
TBC…