CHAPTER FOURTEEN – The Dragon's Den

Slowly but surely they made their way down the slope, cautiously watching their footing as they descended. The slope wasn't too steep but it was slippery. At the bottom the ground leveled out onto the forest floor and they set off in the direction of the caves. The bottom of the slope was not far from the cave mouth and in a matter of minutes they were standing at its entrance.

Jeff narrowed his eyes as he looked into the dark cavern in front of them. There was no sign of life.

"Search team to Thunderbird Five. We found Alan's watch, but no sign of Alan yet, but we've located some nearby caves. We're going to check them out".

"His watch?" Gordon paused. The next words Gordon spoke were quiet, "Dad? I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this"

He could hear his son was worried and decided not to mention that the watch was broken. Jeff sighed, 'you and me both son'. "Stay focused Gordon, we'll find him soon".

"FAB search team. I'll radio base and update them on your progress".

"Roger Gordon. Search team out."

They each removed their emergency packs from their shoulders and fished out torches before pulling them back on. Jeff took the lead and slowly stepped into the cave shining the torch on the ground in front of him. The others followed suit keeping their eyes and ears open. Scott pulled down his hood and shook his head, grateful for the dry environment, the others doing the same.

"Stick together guys" Scott said quietly and followed in his father's footsteps heading into the pitch-black abyss.

The path ahead was wide and unobstructed and they covered ground quickly as they went deeper into the cave. They had only gone about 25 meters into the cave when the path opened out into a large cavern.

Tin Tin gazed round in awe at the giant cavern, her eyes following the beam from her torch. "Wow, look at this place".

"It's huge", Fermat added as they walked further into the large cavern coming to a stop near the center.

The cavern was roughly 35 feet high and 50 feet wide. The ground was flat with small rock formations around the edges of the giant space and the air was cold against their skin. It was almost like being inside a great hall.

Jeff pulled his hood down and gazed round at the cavern. "Scott, Virgil, see if you can find an opening anywhere".

Scott and Virgil nodded and walked off from the group.

Jeff did a slow 360 around the cavern, studying the walls around them before turning back to face the rest of the group. "John. Does this place look strange to you?"

John frowned at the question. Shinning his torch at the walls he copied his father's rotation. "Mmm…" suddenly it dawned on him "…It's a perfect circle". John looked back at his father in amazement.

Jeff nodded.

"Mining maybe?"

Jeff turned his gaze back to the cavern, deep in thought. "Out here?"

John also looked back at the walls. "It could be. Looks like there are heavy mineral deposits out here. Maybe Gordon can find out something".

Jeff agreed. "Search team to Thunderbird Five".

There was no response.

"Search team to Thunderbird Five. Come in Gordon".

Again no response.

Jeff glanced back at John who was watching him. "Thunderbird Five, come in!"

Nothing but silence.

John's frown deepened. Thunderbird Five was equipped with the most advanced transmitters in the world and could easily penetrate through solid rock at any depth. 'There must be interference coming from somewhere' he thought.

"Thunderbird Five, please respond…" Jeff heaved a sigh of frustration. "…there's too much interference!"

John turned his attention away from the cavern and onto the radio waves. Listening closely into his headset, he focused his hearing to try and pick up any trace of a response as he tried to contact the space station. "Thunderbird Five, come in". There was no response, no background noise, no static…nothing.

'I can't hear any interference,' John froze in realization. "Dad the signal's being jammed!"

"What? Are you sure it's not just interference?"

"No dad! The signal's jammed, nothing is getting through!"

Tin Tin and Fermat who had been standing close by stared at John in confusion. Scott and Virgil had also stopped their search and returned to the group.

"John, how can our signal be jammed? We're in a cave," Scott asked unbelievingly and tried to raise Thunderbird Five himself, getting no response. Scott glanced at John in confusion.

John was instantly on edge. Something wasn't right here. Trusting his instincts he swept his torch around the cavern again. "If we've lost total signal, the source of the signal jam must be close by".

"John, are you saying that we're being jammed by another signal?" Scott eyes widened incredulously at the idea.

"Scott, it's the only explanation!"

Virgil frowned at his brother's sudden anxiety. "John, no one else knows we're here!"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that!"

As one, they whirled around in the direction the voice had come from.

TBC

Yay! Thanks everyone for your reviews. I'm sorry its taken so long to upload chapters but I'm having to beat people back with sticks so I can use the computer! Who ever said student life was easy...eh,eh. I've got to catch up on my chapter writing but I'll put on the next chapter straight after this one cos I know you'll be biting your nails. I'll try not to leave it so long next time:-) Thanks again everyone and as always, reviews are much appreciated!