The heat from the burning motel was intense, even from the relatively safe distance Scott had assumed amid the tree line. He watched in concern as the fire-fighters tackled the blaze and paramedics were fussing over an elderly couple who sat huddled together on the back step of one of the ambulances.
Making his way to the edge of the complex, careful to stay in the shadows and out of the bright amber glow from the fire, Scott tried to listen to the shouted conversation a group of rescue personnel were having. He could only catch the odd word above the noise of the flames and powerful water jets and what he did hear he only partially understood. But it was enough.
Scott jogged back up through the forest and scrambled up the hill back to where he had squeezed One into a small clearing. He clambered back up inside the craft and shook his head in response to Penny and Alex's worried frowns.
"It was empty." Scott slumped into the pilot's seat and let his head fall into his hands. "They said it was empty."
Alex sighed in relief and closed her eyes.
"Then … where are they?" Penny wondered aloud.
"In the city." Alex guessed, looking down at her and shrugging slightly.
"But where?"
Scott lifted his head and frowned in thought. "What was Henry doing?"
"The last I heard, they had wired Ustin and were going to eavesdrop on the meeting."
"Meeting?" Scott urged.
Alex nodded, "The scientists were meeting to have a last look over the test flight plans."
Scott gasped, "That's it!" He fired up the engines and sighed in relief, "Wherever they are, I bet John and Henry won't be far. Where was the meeting?"
"At Ustin's hotel."
"Which one?"
"Excelsior." Alex turned and watched Penny entering the name into the search.
Penny nodded and called up the map onto the laptop screen. "But … Scott … we need to think about this."
"I have."
Penny smiled, "No, seriously, we can't just dive in there and - "
"Watch me." Scott retorted and guided One up out of the forest. He turned to Penny and she sighed in dismay, calling out directions into the city.
Darkness provided the perfect cover. The anti-detection skin of the craft absorbed any light that would ordinarily have glinted off the hull. Short of someone actually taking the time to investigate the small plumes of flame that erupted from the underside VTOL exhausts, they were invisible.
Scott engaged the autopilot and One hung in the blackness in a steady hover over the city centre. Switching on the audio sensors he then listened to the static and hissing that filled the cockpit.
Alex frowned in confusion. "What can you hear?"
"Nothing, yet." Scott smiled and changed frequency, locating a clear voice that seemed suddenly loud around them.
Penny listened for a moment to the Russian voice and leaned closer to the comm. "Bingo!" She declared merrily, "That's an IR frequency."
Scott glanced back at her with a cheerful smile. "Ustin?"
Penny nodded, "Could be."
Scott switched on the cameras nestled in the belly of the rocket and frowned as he focused in on the street below. All seemed quiet. Flicking the feed onto infrared, he scanned through the floors of the hotel.
Alex looked on in awe as the camera searched the building, bright white shapes indicating the people within and most of them lying still in their slumber.
The ground level was more active. Various humanoid white figures milled around or sat together in small groups.
"Restaurant." Penny offered, standing and holding out her laptop, showing Scott the blueprints of the hotel.
Scott nodded. "Conference room?"
"Pan left." Penny watched the camera image move and looked back at the schematic on her screen to confirm the location. "Empty." She sighed.
Scott swung the camera back and then frowned as he saw a number of people gathered in the room beside the lobby. "Bar?" He glanced back and saw Penny nod.
"Professor Andropov. It's good to see you again."
Scott was startled by the new voice and gasped in horror. He turned to Penny and saw the recognition and dread that filled her eyes.
"And you, Mr. Mudhar." Came the reply in Russian-laced English.
"Mudhar?" Penny frowned and entered the name into a new search. The file opened almost immediately and her heart slammed into her chest. "Oh good god …"
Scott leaned back and tried to peer at the image. He reached out and turned the laptop to see the photograph that Penny was staring at in horror. "Shit." He hissed. "Where the hell did that come from? No wonder John left like he did."
"What? Why?" Alex urged.
Penny turned the screen towards her.
"Oh hell, no!" Alex gasped, tears welling. "We need to get him out of there!" She urged in a panic.
"Hey …" Scott soothed, "We don't know he is in there. They might be surveying this from a different location."
"Yeah, right!" Alex scoffed, "You saw the state he's in!"
Penny placed her hand on Alex's arm and urged her to calm. "Henry's with him."
"You don't know that!"
"You remember my business partner, Mr Singh?" The Hood's voice continued, "And this is my accountant, Mr Barclay."
Penny entered the names into the search and called up the files.
"It's good to work with you again." The Hood offered offered lightly, "It's been … what … almost ten years?"
"I am excited about tomorrow, Mr Mudhar." Came Ustin's broken English reply.
"Indeed. Indeed."
Scott turned to Penny and saw her frowning in concentration. "Ranjit Singh, company director." She shrugged slightly, "Nothing flags up on him. And Arthur Barclay, United Bank. Again, clean." She looked up and saw the horror on Scott's face. "What? What is it?"
Scott managed to take a breath and signalled for her to turn the laptop around. He hardly dared look. Knowing what he would see, it was no less of a blow and he groaned in dismay.
"What?" Alex urged.
Scott closed his eyes and hung his head. "Oh god, no …" He looked back up and his eyes again fell on the smiling photograph of Ruth's husband.
"You know him?" Penny inquired.
Scott nodded. "Art. Ruth's husband."
"Ruth?"
"Jake's sister."
And Penny gasped as realisation hit.
"Who's Jake?" Alex urged.
Scott turned to her and shrugged an apology. "An old friend."
"Oh." Alex looked down at the laptop. "You think he knows who Mr Mudhar really is?"
"God, I hope not." Scott replied quietly.
Penny watched Scott in concern and reached up to place her hand on his arm. "This is too much for us, Scott. We need to call in reinforcements."
Scott nodded in agreement.
"What about John?"
Penny turned to Alex and smiled thinly, "We need to get him the hell out of there."
Faint sounds of an argument could then be heard in the background, behind the pleasantries that Ustin continued to exchange with the Hood. The fight seemed to attract their attention and they stopped talking.
Scott watched the infrared images and saw two of the figures scuffling together. The white shapes in the bar moved towards the fight and seemed to be watching. The angry shouting was just too far out of range to be heard clearly and Scott frowned in frustration.
And then a third figure joined the two in the lobby and the fight ceased. Now a calmer conversation ensued and then suddenly one of the figures was holding up one arm. The pose was unmistakeable and Penny and Scott gasped in horror as the new player held up its arms in surrender.
"John!"
The shout was suddenly clear and the three of them flinched.
"Shit!" Scott flicked off the autopilot and One sank lower over the city.
"What are you doing?" Penny urged.
"Setting down on the roof and getting my brother the hell out of there!" Scott replied quickly.
Alex stared at the feed in horror and then winced as the screen flashed with sudden white brightness.
Scott gasped as One swayed violently and he groaned with the effort it took to hold her steady. Pulling back up and clear of whatever had disturbed the still night air, he checked the systems rapidly and saw to his relief no sign of impact or damage. "What the hell was that?" He demanded breathlessly and glanced down at the building below them, his heart sinking as he saw the dust cloud and debris filling the street. "No …"
"Please tell me that didn't just happen." Alex whispered shakily.
Scott was lost for words and banked One hard left and clear of further danger. He took her high up into the sky and flicked the autopilot back on, his hands trembling.
"Oh god …" Penny closed her eyes, the first tears falling.
"Thunderbird One from Thunderbird Two."
Scott jerked his head up and stared at the comm. in uncertainty. After a moment he leaned forward and opened the link.
"Scott?" Jeff demanded angrily, "I thought I told you to get your ass home! What the hell are you doing in the Ukraine?"
"Dad," Scott began, his voice tight.
"Well?" Jeff barked.
"Dad, you …" Scott closed his eyes, "You'd better get over here."
Tbc …
