Okay, the penultimate chapter.Things are starting to come to a close. But might I suggest that those of you with a portable defib plug it in and charge to 300 before reading this! Glad you're having as much fun reading as I am writing.And many thanks for saying as much in your reviews.

Turning the small remote device over in his hands, Brains could feel anger welling inside him and the adrenaline was beginning to cause his fingers to tremble.

It was so stupid. Stupid and naive. He had all of their hardware and software integrated using the same scrambled transmission frequency. Once she had cracked the code, she had gained control of all of it. Of course, he had altered the frequency after the island siege but still there was a weakness in the link that all the equipment shared.

And he should have known better. No. He was better. Better than that. Better than her.

"Your designs have been copied by many different agencies." Transom offered carefully. "It wasn't hard to find all that had been stolen."

Brains closed his eyes and put down the transmitter.

"And recreating functioning replicas was easy once I had financial backing."

Brains looked up at her and frowned in intrigue. Her face told it all. She wasn't gloating in her confession. She was trying to apologise. And he suddenly wanted to laugh.

"I didn't know what he intended to do with all that I had created."

Brains watched her for a moment, his heart racing as he realised just who she was talking about.

"He offered a channel for my talents," Transom continued quietly, her nervous banter taking her down a path that she was somehow unable to stop. "And by the time I realised what his plan was … it was too late …"

Brains snorted in disgust and stood from his chair, turning away from her and heading for the door.

"Please!" Transom pleaded suddenly, "You have to believe me!"

"Why?" He turned back to face her, his pale face filled with contempt and increasing anger.

Transom looked away from the fury that was directed at her and stared down at her tightly bound hands. "Because I couldn't bear it if you - "

"Oh, give me a break!" Brains shouted suddenly, advancing on her and raising his fist as if to strike. Something stopped him and he paused before her, shaking his head in dismay.

"I didn't know." Transom repeated faintly, sniffing back tears. "I thought … I thought, after the tracing material on Thunderbird 1 led us back to the island that it would be a simple siege - "

"Simple?" Brains demanded angrily, "You nearly killed - " He stopped suddenly and closed his eyes, unsure why he was even bothering to continue conversing with someone so obviously far removed from sanity.

"But I didn't." Transom looked up at him and a thin smile danced on her lips. "I deliberately aimed the rocket a little off target … and I waited until the optimum moment to cut the station loose, to give them time, give you time …"

Brains stared at her incredulously. "You really th-th-expect me to believe that?"

Transom searched his face and shrugged slightly. "I didn't expose the children."

"What?"

Transom smiled nervously. "I heard John and Jeff talking about them, in the transmission I decoded and located Thunderbird 5 with. I knew your children were there."

Brains clenched his fists at his side and closed his eyes, desperately trying to stay calm and in control.

"It broke my heart to be forced to endanger them."

And that was enough. She had crossed the line. Brains advanced on her with a cry of fury and slapped her hard. So hard she almost toppled from her chair.

Brains watched her slowly right herself and he groaned in disappointment, both from his actions and from the fact that it had not helped. Perhaps he had expected hitting her to feel good but instead he only felt further anger. An empty anger that sat uneasily in his stomach.

Transom blotted her split lip with her bound hands and shuddered as she looked back up at him.

Brains raised his hand again and then suddenly sighed in dismay. "Ugh, you're not worth it!"

Transom watched him turn away from her and bit back the sob that rose in her throat. "What … what will happen to me now?"

"I don't give a cr-cr-cr - " Brains sighed loudly. "I don't care."

"He'll come after me."

Brains sniggered slightly. "I doubt that." He glanced back and saw her confusion. "He's dead."

Transom considered this for a moment, her horror growing. "Are you sure?"

"Very."

"Really?" Transom urged, "I mean, he was supposedly dead before and - "

"Not this time." Brains turned back to her. "A bullet through the br-br-br-head is pretty irrevocable."

It took a moment for his words to sink in and then slowly Transom smiled, her whole demeanour changing. She laughed gently and grinned in delight as she beheld Brains' sincere face.

And something behind him then stole her gaze.

Brains turned in intrigue to look at what she had seen and then gasped as suddenly she was on her feet and slamming into him. As he toppled, he caught sight of the figure at the door and groaned in dismay as he realised his error; it must have been her plan all along to keep him distracted, to let her accomplice approach unseen and wait for the opportune moment.

Brains saw the gun as her momentum shoved him off balance and he fell towards the floor. He then thought he heard Jeff in the distance, shouting a warning, but it was too late and the loud clap of gunfire reverberated through the small study.

The world had stopped spinning suddenly and it was making Alex's stomach churn. She swallowed back the nausea and held her breath as the angry, confused glares of all three men seemed to burn into her skin.

As if to ram home the point, the radio pinned at her shoulder on her Kevlar vest crackled a low whisper of betrayal and it seemed suddenly pointless to try and deny their accusatory stares.

"Okay," Alex nodded and closed her eyes. "I answered the hail."

"You did what?"

Alex couldn't bare to turn and face him, couldn't let herself see that John – who she could sense was backing away from her – was now also regarding her in disgust.

"You gave away our position!" Gordon groaned.

"They already knew." Alex countered, "This is all a trap."

"I knew it!" Gordon spat in fury, "Those god-damned sons of bitches! I knew it!"

Alex chanced a glance back up at Scott and Virgil and saw the hurt on their pale faces.

"Henry Shaw is playing both sides." She offered carefully, "He called Hanover. Hanover called me."

"Hey?" Scott urged quickly and shot a quick warning glare at Gordon who was snorting derisively.

Alex sighed heavily. "You were brought here to be neutralised. They couldn't risk shooting you down over the city so they brought you here to do it quietly. Henry made the call and then warned Hanover." She shrugged slightly, "Hanover decided we ought not to let you guys know … so that you would behave normally and not arouse suspicion."

Gordon laughed sarcastically and got another angry implied threat from his eldest brother.

"Go on." Virgil prompted quietly.

"They're waiting for authorisation but Henry is stalling. He told me to do the same. Taking care of the ambulance was the only way I could think of to - "

"Yeah, right!" Gordon groaned, "Like we're gonna believe anything you - "

"Gordon, shut up!" Came the annoyed reproach. This time from John.

Alex dared to look at him now. She turned and met the full pain of the doubt in his eyes and the slight tremble of his lips.

John shook his head slowly. "Please tell me you're not lying."

Alex gasped and felt tears brimming. She stood from the bed, noting the instant reaction from Scott and Virgil and knowing they could easily overpower her.

Slowing her movements, she carefully faced them and smiled thinly. "I'm sorry. I had to think fast and it was the best I could do. Henry said help is on the way. Personally, I don't think he would have warned us if he wasn't on your side." She watched them considering this for a moment. "I … I'm sorry."

Alex stepped away from the bed and turned to walk away from them. And she then gasped as she saw the figure at the far end of the cargo bay.

The two women reacted in swift, mirrored response and within less than a heartbeat had both drawn their weapons.

"No!" John shouted a desperate warning, his voice accompanied by the shocked gasps of his brothers.

The two women paused. Safeties off and guns aimed at each other's heads, they glared at each other angrily, barely nanoseconds away from firing.

"She's lying." Wellington offered carefully, her voice hanging in the otherwise breathless silence of the cargo bay.

Alex was watching her every move, ready for the slightest indication that the pilot might be about to squeeze the trigger.

"Alex?" Scott urged timidly.

"It's the truth." Alex replied.

Wellington shook her head slowly, "We were sent to provide escort."

"You were sent to execute them." Alex retorted icily.

"Or maybe you were." Wellington countered.

And there they remained. Locked in each other's sights and poised ready to strike, the four men looking on in horrified disbelief.

"Ladies …" Scott eventually ventured, ignoring the hushed warnings from Virgil and Gordon and taking a step towards Alex. "I see the dilemma here but, I must say, I'm not overly excited about you potentially putting a bullet into my ship – or each other. There must be a way to - "

And then the alarm sounded.

"Shit!" Gordon hissed and fled towards the flight deck.

Scott glanced back and saw his brother leave, hotly pursued by Virgil. John just looked ready to pass out. And the two women were still ready to shoot something, or someone, despite the shrill claxon that echoed around them.

"Missile lock!" Virgil was breathless and ashen as he stumbled back into the cargo bay. "They've got missile lock!"

Now all eyes were on Wellington and she suddenly seemed to falter for a second. Raising her free hand in a gesture of calm, she then reached down and pulled the radio from her belt. "Baxter this is Wellington. What the hell is going on?"

The radio hissed for a moment. "Just following orders, sir."

"What?" Wellington exclaimed, "Stand down, Baxter. I repeat: stand down!"

"Sorry, Serg." Came the crackled reply. "The order to engage comes from higher up."

"No!" Wellington gasped, shaking her head and lowering her gun with a groan of dismay. "Oh hell no …"

Landing heavily on the carpeted floor, Brains then grunted with the force of Transom falling on top of him and the wind was knocked out of him. It was a few seconds before he dared try to breathe and the world was spinning dizzily around him.

"Brains? Brains? Oh god, no!"

Jeff. Brains listened for a moment to the struggle that erupted in the doorway and then new voices began to call out from the hall beyond.

"Brains?"

Brains opened his eyes and gazed up at the panelled ceiling. Jeff's pallid face then loomed into view and he stared at his friend in shock.

"Are you …?" Jeff seemed hardly able to complete the query.

It was then that Brains realised that Transom still covered him, her weight preventing him from moving much more than his right arm and with this free hand he began to push her off.

Jeff quickly crouched beside Brains and reached out to help roll the woman away from his stunned friend.

Frowning in confusion and shock, Brains allowed Jeff to pull him up into a sitting position and they were both then relieved to discover that, aside from a growing bump where his head had met the ground, he was unharmed.

Brains looked across to see Parker and Penny firmly re-securing the man that had evidently escaped his bonds. He then turned back to Jeff and suddenly he knew his error. The events of the past few, seemingly endless minutes played over in his mind and he knew what had happened.

"Brains?" Jeff urged quietly, reaching out to place a hand on his friend's arm.

Brains looked up into Jeff's concerned face and swallowed back unexpected tears. "She … she s-s-save - "

The oozing bullet wound in the back of the pink silk jacket spoke volumes. There was hardly reason to confirm what was so blatantly evident but Brains somehow felt the need to regardless. He reached gently under her shoulder and found the hollow at the base of her neck and the thin pulse that flickered there.

With a gasp, Brains rolled her onto her back and heard her gentle groan of response. He watched her eyes flutter open and she stared up at him, unfocused and barely conscious.

"Th-th-thunder - " She coughed noisily and grimaced at the blood that filled her mouth.

"Easy," Brains soothed, placing his hand on her shoulder. The exit wound in the middle of her chest had now become apparent and the dark crimson puddle spreading across the centre of the jacket said trying to save her was pointless.

"Help."

Brains groaned in dismay, "I …" He glanced down at the darker blood welling up from deep within her and shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry."

"No." She smiled weakly and lifted her bound hands up to her right ear. "Help … coming."

And suddenly her arms sank to the floor and she was still.

"Oh crap." Penny stepped into the room and beheld the scene. "Well … there goes our only asset."

Jeff turned to her in concern, "But she gave you all she knew."

"She could have given me anything!" Penny sighed in annoyance. "And if the names are red herrings then …" She threw up her hands in disappointment and turned back to glare angrily at the bound man in Parker's firm grip. "Nice one."

"Yeah. Cheers." Parker growled and gave the man a sharp jab with his elbow.

Jeff watched the man in intrigue and saw the dismay in his flushed face. It was then that he understood what had transpired and whom the man had intended to sink a bullet into. He looked back to Brains and saw him gazing sadly at the woman's body.

"She kept trying to apologize," Brains began quietly, "I wouldn't li-li-li-didn't hear her. She was trying to tell me everything … trying to turn … to help us." He shook his head sadly, "And even after ever-ever-all that she and The Hood did … I think I almost believed her … but now …"

Jeff held his breath and let his gaze fall back down to the dead woman; his heart thudding against his chest as the truth slowly sank in. "Transom?" He muttered in disbelief, looking to Penny and seeing her reply in the dismay on her face. "But … "

"I'm so sorry, Jeff." Penny sighed loudly. "We thought it best."

Jeff stared at her in bewilderment and then turned back to Brains and watched him studying the dead Transom in interest.

Brains swallowed hard and carefully reached out to roll Transom's eyelids closed. He then frowned and gently turned her head. Sweeping her hair aside, he saw the small comm. device in her ear and pulled it free.

Brains placed the small device in his ear and listened for a second. Only a few words were spoken at first and he repeated them softly, his heart sinking.

"What?" Jeff urged suddenly.

"Thunderbird 2." Brains muttered in disbelief.

That was enough for Jeff. He was on his feet and rushing over to the comm. panel, calling up the location of 2 and opening a channel. "Gordon! Gordon, what's happening? What? Missile! What the f- Gordon, get out of there! You hear me? Get the hell out of there!"

Penny covered her mouth in shock and tears flooded down her cheeks and over her fingers. She looked away from Jeff's heart-breaking panic and her eyes fell on Brains' face. He was distracted, listening to the voices coming through the earpiece and then suddenly, rather oddly, he was smiling.

Tbc …