DISCLAIMER: Standard disclaimer applies. We don't own the Thunderbirds. Neither are we making any money off this endeavor.
Chapter 2 – Captives
The four Tracys were herded across the warehouse and into a fairly large furnished room. It would have made a nice studio apartment. It had a small kitchen area with a sink, refrigerator and microwave. It also had a small table with three swivel chairs. In the sleeping/living area, it had two beds, a sleeper sofa and a recliner. A small barred window let in some sunlight.
"The boss will be here shortly to see you." The guard said as he closed the door. The lock could be heard loudly as it clicked into place.
"Dammit." Scott yelled as he punched the wall.
"OK, settle down." Jeff said. "Somebody obviously planned this trap in great detail."
"Do you think it's the Hood?" Virgil asked.
"I haven't heard anything about him escaping from prison." Jeff said. "But I suppose that anything could be possible. He had set enough traps for us two months ago, so I wouldn't be surprised. Let's look around. We need to develop an escape plan and I want to know if there is anything here that we can use."
The boys began exploring the room.
"The window is barred on both the inside and outside." Scott said.
"The furniture is bolted to the floor." Virgil told his father.
"Whoever did this must be planning on keeping us for awhile." John said. "The refrigerator and cupboards are stocked with food."
"Are there any eating utensils?" Scott asked.
"Just plastic." John replied.
"How do they really think that they can keep us for long?" Virgil asked. "Gordon will start to get suspicious when he can't contact us."
"I'm sure that they have thought of that." Jeff replied. "We'll just have to play along until we figure out what is going on. Hopefully then we can formulate a plan."
"Well, I don't like it." Virgil said.
"Neither do I." Jeff said. Turning to John, he continued. "John, do you think that you could re-wire one of our watches to break through the dampening field?"
"I can try but don't hold your breath." John said. "The watches just weren't designed with enough power to break through a dampening field."
"Well, do your best. Without communications, it won't take long for Gordon to get worried." Jeff said. Turning to his other sons, he continued. "Any other ideas…"
Jeff stopped when he heard the door unlock. The three Tracy boys stood at attention in a line behind their father. They stood facing the door as it opened. Four guards with rifles entered the room along with a man who was carrying a portable radio.
"My, don't you make an imposing sight." The man said as he set the radio on the table.
"Who are you and what is the meaning of all this?" Jeff demanded.
"Patience my friend, all in good time." The man said. Reading Jeff's name tag on his uniform, he asked smugly. "Is it safe to assume that you, Jeff, are the leader of this 'band of merry men'?"
With anger flashing in his eyes, Jeff just stared at the man, refusing to answer.
"I'll take that as a yes." The man said in a condescending tone. He moved to the table and began to set up the radio while he continued to talk. "First things first. You may consider yourselves my guests. Now Jeff, if you would be so kind as to come over to the radio here. You will contact the rest of your organization and tell them that you will be unable to communicate for awhile but everything is under control and not to worry."
"No." Jeff said firmly.
Their captor sighed. "Please don't make this difficult. I don't want to hurt anyone but I will if you refuse to co-operate." He nodded to one of the guards who raised his rifle and pointed it at Scott's head. "Will you co-operate, or do I order him to fire?"
Jeff looked at Scott who stood at attention with defiance written all over his face. "I want your word that if I co-operate no harm will come to my colleagues."
That brought an instant reaction from his sons.
"No, you can't"
"What are you doing?"
"You can't make a deal."
Jeff broke in. "Quiet!"
Scott continued to press his point. "You can't trust him. He's already proved himself to be a liar when he put out that fake rescue call. Don't do this, not for us.'
Jeff turned to face his son. "I said quiet! I am the commander. It is my decision. Do you understand me?"
Scott swallowed hard and stared into his father's eyes. "Yes sir."
Turning back to their captor, Jeff asked. "Do I have your word?"
Their captor smiled at Jeff. "Of course, you have my word, as long as you co-operate."
Jeff sat down at the table and keyed the radio mic. "Commander calling Thunderbird 5. Brains, do you read me?"
Their captor grabbed the mic from Jeff. "Who is Brains? What are you trying to pull?" He demanded.
Jeff grabbed the mic back. "He is the operator of Thunderbird 5. We consider Thunderbird 5 the nerve center of International Rescue so we call the operator of it 'Brains'. Now do you mind?" He spoke back into the mic. "Come in Brains."
The three brothers realized what their father was trying to do. They hoped that Gordon would understand it also. They all breathed a silent sigh of relief when they heard their brother's response.
"Commander, this is Brains. What's going on? Where are you? Is the team all right? You guys just disappeared off the sensors, and I haven't been able to establish communication with you." Gordon was talking a mile a minute.
"Calm down Brains." Jeff broke in. "Everything is OK. There is a dampening field around the lab. That is why you couldn't reach us. I wanted to let you know that this rescue is going to take a while and we won't be able to communicate during that time."
"Do you need more help?" Gordon asked.
"That's a negative, Brains." Jeff replied. "We can handle this ourselves. Just let base know our situation."
"F-A-B" Gordon acknowledged the order.
"R-A-C. Commander out." Jeff said as he hung up the mic.
Their captor leaned next to Jeff. "What the hell was that last part about?"
"What do you mean?" Jeff asked.
"The letter thing, what did all that mean?" The captor demanded.
"Oh that," Jeff replied. "Those are our code letters. Each of us have a code and we use them to prove we are who we claim to be. If I didn't use it, Brains would have been suspicious."
"If I find out that you are lying to me, there will be hell to pay. I'll be back later." He grabbed the radio and left the room with the guards following behind him.
The three Tracy boys surrounded their father.
"Do you think he understood?" Virgil whispered.
"I'm sure he did. He caught onto the name thing pretty quick." Jeff replied.
"What was that R-A-C about?" Scott asked.
"Brains will understand. Now we wait for the cavalry to arrive." Jeff said.
"But will we have the time?" John asked. "Our captor may have other plans."
ON BOARD THUNDERBIRD 5
As soon as the connection to his dad was severed, Gordon called down to the island. "Thunderbird 5 to Tracy Island, come in please."
Tin-Tin's smiling face appeared on the monitor. "Hello Gordon, it's good to hear from you."
Gordon interrupted her. "I'm sorry but this isn't a pleasure call. Where is Brains? Why isn't he in the control center? I need to talk to him right now. It's an emergency."
Tin-Tin heard the urgency in Gordon's voice. "He asked me to watch the desk for a few minutes while he turned something off in the lab. I'll go get him right now. Hang on."
To Gordon, the wait seemed to be unending, but according to the clock on the desk, it was less than two minutes before Brains' face appeared on the monitor.
"Gordon, what's wr-wr-wr-up?" Brains asked.
"Brains! Dad and the guys are in trouble." Gordon said in a rush. "You need to come get me so we can help them."
"S-s-calm down Gordon." Brains commanded. "How d-do you know t-t-that they are in tr-tr-tr-need of help?"
"On the way to the rescue co-ordinates, the Thunderbirds just disappeared off the scanners." Gordon began. "Then Dad called up. He said that everything was fine, but he also said things that indicated to me that he was being forced to make the call."
"L-l-like what?" Brains asked.
Gordon sighed in frustration. "First off, when he called up he said 'commander calling Thunderbird 5'. Dad never calls himself 'Commander'. Second, he kept calling me 'Brains'. Dad would know who was manning Thunderbird 5 and even if he got confuse for some reason, he would surely recognize my voice. He wouldn't keep calling me 'Brains' unless he was trying to tell me something. Lastly, instead of saying F-A-B when he signed off, he said R-A-C. I'm not sure what he was trying to tell me, but it has to be a message of some sort."
Brains could hear the frustration building in Gordon's voice. He had to agree that Jeff was trying to send a message that they needed help. When he heard Gordon mention R-A-C, he knew exactly what Jeff wanted them to do.
"R-A-C was a m-m-message for me." Brains explained to Gordon. "RAC is an experimental d-device that I have been en-en-en-working on. It s-s-stands for radio amplifier and c-c-circumventer. If it works pr-pr-pr-as expected, it should c-cut through electrical i-i-interference or d-d-dampening fields."
"That's it Brains." Gordon exclaimed. "Dad mentioned something about a dampening field around the lab."
"OK G-G-Gordon," Brains said. "Tin-Tin and I will c-c-c-be up to get you. Then we can de-de-de-come up with a rescue plan."
Tin-Tin started at Brains' statement. "Me? I've never flown in Thunderbird 3."
"But you have practiced in the sim-sim-sim-computerized programmed ship." Brains argued. "I will do the p-p-p-steering, but I need a co-pilot."
"OK Brains." Tin-Tin said. "I just hope you know what you're doing."
"Thanks Tin-Tin," Gordon said over the vid-comm. "I'll make copies of the original call and Dad's call. Maybe you, Brains, can pick-up more clues than I did. I'll see you soon." Then he closed the link.
"OK T-Tin-Tin, Let's ta-ta-ta-go." Brains said, heading to Thunderbird 3's silo.
BACK AT THE WAREHOUSE
"How's it going, John?" Jeff asked his son.
"Well, I think that I have made some improvements," John said. "But the signal still isn't strong enough to break through the dampening field."
"Well, keep with it." Jeff said. "How about you Scott, did you find anything?"
Scott shook his head. "No, our 'host' seems to have thought of everything. There is nothing that we could use as a weapon."
Jeff sighed. "Virgil? Anything?"
"Well, nothing that they left." Virgil began. "But I've been watching John work with his tools." Picking up a small screwdriver, he continued. "Some of these are thin enough that I could probably pick the lock, but they will probably hear me."
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Their captor's voice came from behind them. "Did I hear that you have tools to pick the lock? I guess I was lax when you first got here."
"Damn" Jeff thought. "How did he get in here without us hearing him?"
Their captor turned to one of the guards and ordered. "Search them."
The guard emptied their pockets, confiscating their PDAs, Virgil's small sketch book, and John's tools. Holding up John's watch, the guard asked. "What about their watches?"
"Take all but Jeff's." The captor said with an evil smile coming to his face. "I have a feeling that he will need it soon."
Jeff was puzzled by that statement, but he refused to give their captor the satisfaction by asking for clarification. He stood at attention and stared at their captor. His sons followed his example and stood at attention behind him.
"Sit down Gentlemen." Their captor said. "Make yourself comfortable. Let's talk."
Jeff gave him a hard stare. "We'll stand."
"Suit yourself." Their captor said with a smile. "Now earlier you asked me who I was and what I wanted. Well I'm here to give you that information. Are you sure that you don't want to sit down?"
Jeff continued to stand at attention.
"Very well," their captor said. "My name is Dr. Donald Franklin, and I want the secrets of the Thunderbirds."
Jeff continued to stand, silently staring at Dr. Franklin.
"You don't seem surprised my friend." Dr Franklin said.
Jeff finally broke his silence. "You are not the first person to try to gain our secrets."
"I'm sure," the doctor replied. "But I intend to succeed."
Jeff continued his silent staring.
"Now my associates and I have tried to gain access to your Thunderbirds, but you already know how that turned out." The doctor was greeted by more silence. The doctor continued. "Well yes, obviously, we were unable to break through your security measures. Now you, my friend, are going to tell me how to deactivate those measures."
The three boys all reacted with a small start but Jeff remained stoically at attention.
"NO!" Jeff stated in his firm 'commander' voice.
Dr. Franklin sighed in frustration. He began circling the room, stopping to inspect each of the three Tracy boys. "Why must you make this so difficult?" He asked as he continued to circle the brothers. "If you refuse to help me, I can and will make it extremely difficult for you and more importantly your subordinates."
"It doesn't matter." Jeff stated calmly. "We all took an oath to protect the secrets of International Rescue, no matter what the cost."
"We will see about that Jeff. We will most definitely see." The doctor said as he made one more circle around the brothers. He came to a stop in front of the white-blond Tracy. "So John, did you swear the oath?"
John stared at the doctor defiantly. His heart was racing. "Why did this man single him out?" He thought. He fought to keep the fear that he was feeling from showing on his face. Unfortunately the doctor saw it flash briefly in his eyes.
"Your hair is an interesting shade of blond. Is it natural?" Dr. Franklin asked.
John refused to speak, but his thoughts were flying through his head. "My hair? What does the color of my hair have to do with anything?"
Dr Franklin saw the confusion and smirked. "Are you familiar with the old saying 'Blondes have more fun'? Have you found that to be true?"
John refused to look at the doctor. He stood at attention and focused his gaze at the wall ahead of him. His mind was trying to wrap itself around what was happening. He was sure that their captor was going to try to break him, but how?
Dr. Franklin motioned for two of the guards. Each guard grabbed one of John's arms and started to drag him toward the table. John struggled against their grasp until the guard on his left pulled his arm painfully up and behind him. He was forced into one of the chairs at the table. With his left arm still held behind him by one of the guards, the other guard stretched his right arm face up across the corner of the table. He pushed the sleeve of John's uniform up exposing his arm. John tried to pull his arm from the table, but the guard holding his left arm pulled up sharply. John gasped in pain and ceased struggling.
Dr. Franklin approached the table with an evil grin on his face. He pulled a syringe from his pocket and held it up for everyone to see. "Let's see how much 'fun' we can have?" He said as he brought the syringe down to John's arm, preparing to inject him.
"Wait. What is that?" Jeff demanded.
"Oh, this?" Dr Franklin said gesturing with the syringe. "This is just a little something that I designed to encourage your co-operation."
"You damn liar." Scott exploded. "You gave your word that no one would get hurt."
"Not exactly, Scott." Franklin said smiling ruefully. "I said no one would get hurt as long as JEFF co-operated. I wouldn't call this co-operation. Would you?" He repositioned the syringe against John's arm. "Do I get the secrets or not?"
"I won't let you hurt him." Scott growled.
Both Scott and Virgil made a move forward. The other two remaining guards brought their rifles up and took aim.
"Stop!" Jeff commanded. "Stand down. That's an order."
For one moment Jeff thought that his sons were going to disobey him. Scott gave him a sharp nod of his head and stood back at attention. Virgil followed his brother's example and stood at attention.
"Well, Jeff?" Dr. Franklin asked impatiently.
John met his father's pain-filled eyes. John gave his father a barely perceptible shake of his head.
Jeff ran his hand over his face. In a barely audible voice, he said. "No, I can't. I'm sorry John."
"Your decision is unfortunate but not unexpected." The doctor said as he injected the contents of the syringe into John's arm.
Author's notes:
Personal from Grumpy: "Be wery, wery, quiet. I'm hunting Convert. Huh-huh-huh-huh. (Think Elmer Fudd during rabbit season.)Personal from Convert: Ssh, don't tell Grumpy that I am hiding under HER rock. She isn't happy with what I have done with John.
Ok, that's just some on the silliness that we throw at each other when we are writing, but back to seriousness. We want to thank every one who has read our story and especially a HUGE thank you to those who took the time to review. We have reply to the individual reviews, if you haven't received a reply, let us know. It could be stuck out in cyber-space. If you enjoyed this chapter, please review. We love hearing from our readers. Thanks again.