John held his head in his trembling hands. His brain was throbbing with the mother of all headaches and his body was numb, frozen. Despite the calls coming in from his panicking family trapped within possessed Thunderbirds, the only thought that seeped through the chaos was 'so this is what it's like to have a total breakdown'.

It wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. He began to rock back and forth in his chair, reciting this new mantra over and over. It wasn't happening.

Chancing a peek out through parted fingers, John took in the locator maps and heard the incoming transmissions repeating the same confused, worried questions. He closed his eyes again tightly and covered his ears.

And then he knew. Knew with all certainty what had happened. It was so obvious. How could he be so stupid? He fitted the pieces together and saw the completed picture clearly in his mind. He sat up straight, ignored the noise around him and tried to follow the logical path through to find a way to solve the problem.

The answer came quickly. It would not be easy but it was the only way. He stood from his chair and gasped as trembling legs almost gave way beneath him. Groaning in dismay, he took a few uneven steps and then resigned to leaning against the bank of screens behind him.

Now this was a problem. Somewhere between knowing what he had to do and doing it was the small matter of a tired body that had been battered and broken and might not be capable of much more than sinking to the floor. Which was odd, given that he had actually felt much better that morning.

He paused there against the console, trying to figure a way round this new obstacle. And then he was aware of a strange wetness on his face. He licked at the moisture that tickled as it passed his lips and tasted the saltiness of tears.

How annoying. Brushing away the tears and telling himself to stop being so childish, he moved closer to the security substation and called up images from various cameras nestled within the complex.

And then the office door opened.

"John, we have a serious problem!" Penny blurted in a panic.

John couldn't help but laugh at what seemed the understatement of the century.

Penny took in his pale, tearstained face and his heavy lean on the console and hurried forward. "God, what's wrong?"

John tried to put his thoughts into words but it came out in an incoherent jumble, interspersed with the odd unstoppable sob.

"What?" Penny urged, stepping up onto the central platform and following John's gaze at the various computer screens. She then heard the frightened, garbled messages coming in from the Thunderbirds and she shook her head in disbelief. Slapping the transmit button on the comm. she called out to Jeff for some sort of explanation.

"Pen!" Jeff calmed at her voice and paused for a moment. "Pen, where's John? We lost contact."

Penny turned and watched John moving away from the console, shaking his head in despair. She turned back to the static-blurred image of Jeff and tears stung her eyes as she saw Virgil and Gordon scrambling in the background, hitting at the control panels. "Jeff, what's going on?"

"We … uh … we lost control of the craft a short while ago. Some sort of remote access, Brains tells me." Jeff began quietly, cringing as Virgil kicked at one of the hardware junctions behind him and cried out in pain and anger.

Penny watched Jeff turn from the camera and plead with his sons to please get hold of themselves. She then glanced at the location map and her heart sank.

"Scott's positioned over the Whitehouse and we're in stationary hover high above the Pentagon." Jeff continued, apparently finding it hard to believe the words himself. "There's been no contact from anyone. We don't know who or why or what the game plan is."

Penny looked across and saw John in the corner of the room, sinking down to his knees on the floor.

"I tried contacting you a moment ago and couldn't get through. Whatever is happening must have affected the entire network." Jeff sighed loudly, "God, Pen, I've been thinking the worst."

Penny closed her eyes and tried to calm her thoughts. Deciding that Jeff didn't need to know that she had brought a possible enemy into his home, she looked back up at the comm. and offered what she hoped was a reassuring nod. "I'll sort it, Jeff."

A brief smile washed over Jeff's weary face. "Brains thinks it must be the new components we fitted. He says there's a way to re-route the controls but he can't get through from here." Jeff frowned in concern. "We need John. Where is he?"

"Here." Sort of, she added internally and swallowed back the lump in her throat. "He is a little busy." She smiled thinly, "In the meantime, get Brains on the line. He can talk me through it."

"Roger that."

Penny left the comm. link open and then moved to the adjoining terminal. "Scott?"

"Hey, Pen. Thank god!"

Penny took in the sight of pale, frightened Scott and did not like the image one little bit.

"Any news?" Scott asked as calmly as he could.

"We are on the case."

"John?"

"Working on trying to sort out this mess." Penny smiled, unable to tell if her words sounded convincing.

"Pen …"

"Yeah?"

"Pen, I'm sitting over the Whitehouse with a whole arsenal nestled inside the underbelly."

"I know."

Scott closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out in a trembling sigh. "Okay … okay … I guess the fact that I haven't fired yet is a good thing."

"We will get you out of there." Penny cleared her tight throat, seeing the fear in his eyes and feeling her heart sink. "Promise."

"Base from Thunderbird 2?"

Penny moved back to the other terminal. "Tell me what to do, Brains."

"Shut it down!" Brains ordered quickly, "Close all the connections and lock out the computer."

"But - "

"There's a signal! Hidden inside our own transmissions." Brains continued rapidly, "Sever all the links and reboot from Five."

"But … how - "

"Just do it!"

Penny recoiled slightly at his sudden, out of character shout and glanced at an apparently also malfunctioning John.

"Pen," Brains sighed an apology, "Listen, whatever is c-c-c-corrupting our system is well fire walled and I can't access the mainframe from here. The ships are c-c-c-networked through the island computers and maybe if you break the link we can regain control."

"But what if it doesn't work?"

"John will know what to do."

And now she had no choice. "Brains, John is … " She shook her head slowly.

"I see." Brains nodded in understanding. "Then call my son."

Penny considered this for a moment.

"Shut it down Penny. Shut it all down. Now."

Penny closed her eyes and held her breath as she closed the transmission and entered in the sequence of commands. Three of the computer terminals before her flickered for a moment and then the comm. went dark.

The command and control centre was suddenly quiet. Penny dared not breath.

She watched the blackened terminals for what seemed an age and then one by one the stand-by logo flipped up onto the screens, password prompts flashing expectantly. She breathed a sigh of relief, entered the code and saw the island systems come back online. Not daring to send a signal out in case the corruption was re-sent with it, Penny guessed she could only wait for an incoming message. She turned to look at John and stood to hurry over to him.

"Should have seen it." John whispered to no one in particular. "Should have seen it."

Penny knelt before him and rested her hands on his shoulders. "John?"

"Should have known better than to base any reliance on undefined parameters." John continued quietly. "Illogical frames of reference with no scientific basis. Facts. Facts. Only ever believe the facts."

Penny blinked away tears and leaned in closer to him, trying to make eye contact but his gaze was distant, unfocused.

"Facts. Facts." John repeated insistently, "All else is irrelevant, fictional, biased. Only facts matter."

"John?" Penny urged, "You are not making any sense."

"Sense. Sensible. Nonsense." John mumbled and then suddenly laughed, "Makes sense now, doesn't it? Too late. Too late."

"John? Please …"

"Should have seen it." John stated again, a little louder this time, and suddenly seemed to acknowledge Penny's presence. He glanced at her and nodded. "Too much coincidence."

"What is?"

"Told him. Told him. Irrational use of important time. Didn't listen. Then there's the law enforcement links and the sudden transfer and the convoy." John shook his head in dismay. "Should have seen it."

Penny watched his agitation increasing and had never felt quite so out of her depth. She looked around the office for some sort of inspiration but came up empty.

"Convenient coincidences." John mumbled, "Conspiracies, plots, tactics, strategies."

"Okay, enough now." Penny gripped his shoulders and shook him gently. "I need you back now, John. You hear me?"

"NO!" John shrugged her off and clambered to his feet, swaying groggily as he stood upright. He stumbled and fell backwards, thudding against the wall with a groan.

Penny hurried to help steady him, ensuring he was safe in his leaning position beside the end of the window shielding.

"First the inclusion of the leader, then the change of account, then suddenly there in the darkness, then the new player and then the coded transmission." John continued wearily, closing his eyes and groaning softly.

"What?" Penny urged, "What are you trying to tell me?"

John looked up at her and was suddenly focused and calm. "Alex." He stated evenly, "Alex is evil."

Penny wanted to laugh.

"It's my fault." John continued, closing his eyes. "It's all my fault. Never should have let down the barriers. Stupid. Stupid!" He groaned and began to bang his head against the wall.

"Hey!" Penny grabbed the back of his head to stop him hurting himself and could feel more tears gathering. "John?"

John opened his eyes and turned to face her.

"Stop this. Please? I need you here."

A frown grew over John's troubled eyes. "Okay." He whispered in reply.

"Good. Now. Tell me. Why is Alex evil?"

John choked on a sob and again closed his eyes, his mouth trembling. "She - " he cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "She doesn't add up."

Penny waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts.

"It made no sense before and now it does and I should have seen it but I let things go because of some irrational emotions and now look what's happened. It's all gone wrong and I should have seen it – or maybe I did and I ignored it. I just don't know any more." John blurted out suddenly, his words barely parted enough to decipher.

"Okay." Penny moved before him and rested her hands on his shoulders, nodding in gentle reassurance. "Slowly. What's wrong?"

"She has links with the bad guys, Pen."

"What makes you think so?"

"She was in the convoy when - " John closed his eyes, shuddering as if even thinking the name caused him physical pain. "And she was there." He closed his eyes tighter, his body trembling. "There in the darkness. I thought I was dreaming but …" The first tears escaped and he hung his head.

Penny leaned forward and rested her forehead against his. "Oh honey … your mind is blurring the facts. You are not thinking straight."

"No?" John reached into his pocket and pulled out one of their modified wristwatches. "She took it off so I wouldn't know. Couldn't find her."

Penny took the sandy watch from him and turned it over in her hands, remembering Alex's surprise when she had told her about the locator chip and for a moment seeing her interest in a whole new light. And then she suddenly laughed. "She went for a swim! John, she took it off to go in the sea. I was with her!"

John nodded slowly. "Fine." He was suddenly upright and shoved her back from him. He pushed away from the wall and wiped his face with his hands as he hurried back to the central platform.

Penny followed him slowly, watching him hastily access the security feed that had remained online.

"There was an unauthorised transmission this morning."

Penny nodded, thinking back to helping Alex log on to the police network. She stepped up beside him and peered at the video feed, ready to quickly explain. Her heart then thudded against her chest as she saw the image and watched in confusion as she beheld the island runway. The floodlit footage showed her car and then focused in on the single occupant within.

John watched the film replay and turned to Penny, seeing the same horror in her face that he knew all too well.

"Who did she call?"

"MI5 London."

"And?"

"The message itself was too well scrambled."

Penny closed her eyes and recalled Alex watching Scott log on to the secure network on the car's terminal. And the excuse she had quickly devised when John had confronted her. "She called to check on her mother."

John shook his head slowly, "She was on the police band, Pen. In London. When we were hiding." John urged, strangely calm all of a sudden. "I defended her. I believed her. I told my brothers they were wrong about her."

"But …" Penny looked up into his sincere face and saw the anger waiting in his eyes. "I don't understand …"

"Neither do I. But you can't argue with facts."

Penny watched him as he turned back to the security footage and her heart sank. He was so certain. And so composed now. And a chill ran through her.

"He must have got to her." John shrugged, "It was all planned, right from the beginning." He turned back to Penny and smiled thinly, "Maybe it was the chance meeting it first seemed to be but … she's working for him now."

Penny had a flash of inspiration and suddenly smiled, desperate to prove him wrong. "But he's dead!"

"You willing to bet your life on that?"

And Penny had no reply.

"Where is she now?" John asked after a moment.

Penny groaned in dismay. "In your father's room." And then she gasped at the prospect of that and the hardware she had left in her company. She leapt down from the central platform and sped to the door.

The heavy, reinforced steel was hard to yank open quickly and she cursed in frustration as she made her way out of command and control. "Parker!" She called out frantically, guessing she would need his assistance.

Penny reached the top of the ramp and peered down through the lounge. Her eyes fell on the still form lying half hidden at the entrance to the kitchen and recognised with sadness the familiar grey suit of her driver and friend. She then acknowledged the absence of the guest they had brought onto the island and she groaned in fury before spinning back into the office.

John had switched to the current feed from the security cameras and suddenly stared in silent horror.

Penny knew instantly whom he had found. "We thought she could help you." Penny began, running to his side. "But I think I may have made a terrible mistake." She peered at the footage and watched the woman creeping along the corridor.

John glanced at her and sighed wearily; evidently very much wishing he was someone else right then. Penny could well understand the sentiment and then looked down at the current action within the house.

Finding the open door to Jeff's bedroom and peering inside, the woman smiled and changed direction.

John changed camera feed and the new angle brought from the other end of the corridor showed a closer image from behind her as she stepped into the room.

She seemed to be saying something and John flicked on the sound, waiting in silent dread. He felt Penny slip her fingers around his own and he squeezed her hand tightly.

Penny held her breath as she then made out Alex's legs in the top of the shot. She had evidently been standing at the window, waiting there just as she had been ordered and for a moment Penny saw a glimmer of hope that John was definitely wrong.

Alex turned and walked slowly into view, her expression unreadable as she stepped towards the visitor.

The visitor paused and seemed to laugh gently. "Thank you, Alex."

Tbc …