THE explosion wasn't huge. Only a small column of water lifted above the surface along the starboard side of the Keewatin's hull near the bow. The ship lifted slightly but not enough to be noticed. The only ones who were fully aware of what had happened were Penelope, Patrick, Lionel and Owen. They'd all managed to get clear in time before the bomb exploded and were now hurrying to escape from the Cargo Bay as water began flooding in. Once they'd all passed through the doorway, Owen tried turning the handle to lower the bulkhead that would seal the compartment off from the rest of the ship.

"Took a bit of a knock there, Lionel?" asked Patrick as he saw him placing a handkerchief on his forehead.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Lionel insisted. He turned to Owen. "Hurry up, man! Get the door down! We can stop her from sinking."

Owen was struggling. "It's stuck!" he said. "It won't go any further."

Patrick came over. "Allow me," he said. Owen moved aside to let Patrick have a go. But he couldn't get the wheel to turn either. "Lord, you're right," he said. "It is stuck!"

Penelope nipped back under the doorway and looked up at the mechanism where she immediately saw the problem. "It's not stuck, it's broken!" she said. "It's been sabotaged!"

"But if we can't close it-" Patrick began.

"The ship sinks!" finished Owen.

Penelope knew immediately what had to be done. "Alert the Captain," she said. "We have to get all of the passengers off!"

Lionel and Owen nodded and they hurried off to raise the alarm. Penelope and Patrick looked back into the Cargo Bay which was now slowly filling with water.

"What the hell just happened?" Patrick asked his daughter. "Why was the bomb set for eleven?"

"I don't know, Father," Penelope replied, a look of anger building inside of her. "But I would very much like to get my hands on that warning message!" She turned and hurried off towards the upper decks.

"Heavens above, Penelope!" exclaimed Patrick as he ran after her. "The ship's sinking and you want to see a damn message?!"

"Before I do I need to send one of my own," Penelope said. "Go and find Mother and tell her what's happened and get anyone still up to head for the boat deck. I'll be up shortly."

Patrick nodded and he hurried off. "Don't linger down here!" he called back as he followed Lionel and Owen up the stairs.

Penelope took out her compact and activated it. "Calling International Rescue. We have a situation!"

Jeff answered. "Go ahead, Penelope. What happened?"

"Jeff, I'm afraid we were tricked," Penelope said. "One of the bombs was set to go off an hour early and it has detonated."

"Is anybody hurt?" asked Jeff.

"No, but the hull has been breached and the bulkhead has been sabotaged," said Penelope. "We can't prevent the ship from sinking. Please tell me that the boys are nearby?"

"They've finished at the rig and are delivering its crew to hospital," said Jeff. "I'll have Thunderbird 1 come to you immediately. Penny, you need to get everyone off that ship as quickly as possible."

"F-A-B," said Penelope. "Have Scott come and find me when he does get here."

Jeff nodded and signed off. Penelope exhaled. "Now to find out the truth," she said to herself as she hurried towards the upper decks.

Thunderbirds 1 and 2 were now flying over mainland Russia on approach to the hospital where the oil rig crew were to be looked after. There was nowhere for Thunderbird 2 to land so Virgil lowered the rescue platform with Gordon and the six grateful crewmembers down to the ground in front of the entrance whilst Thunderbird 1 hovered nearby.

"More happy customers," Scott remarked. "Good job, Thunderbird 2."

Just then John called in. "Scott, Virgil, Dad's just had a call from Lady Penelope and I've picked up an SOS from the Keewatin. One of the bombs detonated early and the ship is slowly sinking. You need to get there fast!"

"I'm still unloading the rig crew, Thunderbird 5," said Virgil.

"I'll go on, Virgil," said Scott. "I'll make sure everyone gets off the ship safely. You and Gordon can pick everyone up once you get there."

"F-A-B," said Virgil.

Everyone on the ground including Gordon was surprised when Thunderbird 1 suddenly went to full power and rocketed up and away from the hospital.

"He took off fast!" remarked one of the crewmembers to Gordon.

Gordon felt a cold shiver down his spine. "Virgil, is Scott going where I think he's going?"

"He is," Virgil answered over the radio. "Get back on the platform, Gordon. We're going to Scotland."

Gordon didn't waste a second as he jumped back onto the platform and was winched back up into the module. Then Thunderbird 2 hurried off as well, leaving everyone below confused and worried.

The alarm was given. The ship's engines were brought to a stop. The order was given to dampen the boilers to decrease the chance of any explosions and the alarm bells were rung alerting everyone on board that there was trouble. The passengers were not told of the bomb or that the ship was flooding, only that they needed to get their life-jackets and hurry onto the Boat Deck to be loaded into the lifeboats.

Patrick entered one of the lounges and made his voice heard. "Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention, please? We all need to get off this ship. Please make your way to the Boat Deck as quickly and calmly as possible."

Despite their confusion, the passengers did as they were told. Patrick grabbed a discarded glass of whiskey and downed it whilst nobody was looking.

Patricia appeared moments later having heard his voice. "Pat?"

"Pat!" said Patrick as they embraced.

"What's happened?" Patricia asked. "I was on the top deck getting some air and thought I heard an explosion?"

"I'm afraid you did, my love," said Patrick grimly. "The threat Lionel got was real after all. Morton had placed two bombs aboard the ship. We found one and Penelope disabled it, but the second one was set an hour early and went off."

"Are we evacuating as a precaution whilst the repairs are made?" asked Patricia.

Patrick shook his head. "The bulkhead was sabotaged as well," he said. "The ship's going down, Pat. we have to get off."

"But where's Penelope?" asked Patricia.

"Calling Jeff Tracy's sons to come and assist," said Patrick. "Now come on, let's make sure everyone is getting off."

They headed for the exit of the lounge which had pretty much emptied. Then Anish appeared in the doorway. "Have you found Beth?" he asked anxiously.

"No, young man, I'm afraid we haven't," replied Patrick. "But there's still time. Can you help us get all the others to the Boat Deck?"

Anish didn't want to because all he cared about was Beth, but he had respect for the Creighton-Wards so he agreed to help.

Not everyone could get back to their cabins to collect their life-jackets so crewmembers handed out spares to those above the cabin decks. Some tried to pack all their belongings and take them up with them.

Penelope made her way to the communication shack located behind the bridge where she found the operator using the ship's wireless Morse-Code telegraph machine. The shipping agencies had allowed this to be kept as Morse-Code was still a requirement at sea.

"I've sent a distress signal," the operator said to Penelope.

"Don't worry about that, help is already on its way," Penelope said. "Can I see the transcript of the warning you received?"

The operator looked at her, puzzled. "Warning? What warning?"

Penelope rolled her eyes. "The one about the bombs of course?"

The operator was even more puzzled. "Bombs? I've not received anything about any bombs?"

Now it was Penelope's turn to be confused. "Are you sure?"

"Well yes, I'd have noticed something like that," said the operator. He almost looked frightened as if she was going to do something.

Penelope gave the matter a hard thought before a sudden realisation came to her. She walked back out onto the open deck. She was momentarily distracted by the launching of a flare fired by Captain Shaw.

Most of the lifeboats had already been loaded and lowered into the water and began rowing away. It was only once they'd gotten some distance that those aboard suddenly realised what was going on and that the Keewatin was slowly sinking.

Lionel was trying unsuccessfully to get Deborah into one of the last lifeboats. "Deborah, please, I am begging you," he pleaded.

"We can't abandon her!" Deborah stubbornly insisted.

Patricia and Patrick arrived. "Lionel, Deborah, please get on the lifeboat," urged Patrick.

"NO!" shouted Deborah. "Not without our daughter!"

Then Penelope arrived, and straight away they all noticed she had a rather angry expression on her face.

"Pen?" said Patricia, surprised. "Whatever's the matter?"

Penelope didn't acknowledge her, and then they all realised she was glaring directly at Lionel. "Lord Lionel, why didn't you show us the warning message?" she asked.

Lionel blinked. "What?" he asked. "Why are you bringing this up now?! My daughter is missing, my ship is sinking-"

"Penelope-" Patrick began.

"Because there IS no warning message," said Penelope sharply. She stormed forwards, grabbed Lionel by the arm and yanked him away from the lifeboat towards the funnel. "Lord Roystone here made the whole thing up!"

"GET OFF ME!" demanded Lionel. Deborah tried to go after them but Patricia held her back whilst Patrick chased after Penelope and Lionel.

"You set the bombs yourself!" Penelope said furiously.

"This is absurd!" spluttered Lionel. "Why would I sink my own ship?!"

"For the insurance money!" Penelope answered. "You spent almost your entire family's fortune on getting this ship built and seaworthy. The only way you'd be able to get all that back is if it sank and the insurers paid out."

Patrick suddenly began to realise what this meant. He turned to Lionel. "And you reported the threats to throw suspicion off of you?"

"Well, if I wanted to sink my ship, why would I have told you about the bombs?" growled Lionel, red in the face with fury.

"Because in this grand scheme of yours there was one thing you didn't account for," said Penelope. "You could not have known that Beth would disappear during the voyage. And when that happened, you needed us to find her before the bombs went off."

Silence fell as the redness in Lionel's face suddenly faded away and turned white instead.

Penelope then had another realisation. "Wait a minute. You didn't know where they were," she said. "You hired Neville Morton to plant the bombs!"

"Then you killed him to stop him from testifying against you," added Patrick.

"Why would I kill him if he's the only one who knew where the bombs were?" asked Lionel who was now sweating more than he'd ever done before.

Patrick and Penelope exchanged looks as Penelope realised something else. "You had an accomplice," Penelope said. "And…" she added, pointing an accusing finger at Lionel. "You weren't the only one who lied about the warning."

Patrick soon put two and two together. "Owen Matthews!"

Penelope nodded. "Correct," she said. "When we first asked to see the message you both looked very uneasy. I thought it odd that neither of you had it, but it all makes sense now. Owen's your partner. He's the only one who knew about your financial troubles. He hired Morton - an expert to set the bombs."

"But why would he kill him?" asked Lionel.

"Because Morton was witness to Owen's involvement," said Patrick.

"And Beth was below deck," added Penelope. "She must have seen what happened. That's the only way that the screwdriver could have ended up wrapped in the handkerchief you gave her, Father."

"But why would he set the bomb to go off an hour early?" Lionel asked.

Penelope looked at him dead in the eye. "So that the only other witness would go down with the ship," she said.

Anish had been nearby and he came forwards, stopping a few feet behind Penelope. He had heard all that had been said and his expression of pure horror matched that of both Patrick and Lionel's.

"Oh, my God…" Lionel said, as the realisation of all that had taken place hit him almost as hard as the bomb blast had been.

It was at that moment that his eyes caught sight of something behind Penelope. He leaned his head for a better look. Penelope and Patrick looked as well. At first, Anish thought they were looking at him, but then he realised they were looking at something behind him so he turned to look as well. It was Owen, who had come out from the staircase leading onto the Boat Deck. He stopped dead when he saw them all staring at him.

"He knows where she is!" Lionel realised. He stormed forwards. "OWEN!" he bellowed. "WHERE IS SHE?! WHERE'S BETH?!"

Owen suddenly now realised what was happening. He turned and began to run away with Anish in hot pursuit closely followed by Lionel, Penelope and Patrick bringing up the rear. Owen ran back through the doorway that he'd come through and tried to go down the stairs only to be grabbed by Anish and pushed up against the wall.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" Anish bellowed. "WHERE IS SHE?!"

"GET…OF…ME!" thundered Owen, shoving Anish back into the opposite wall. He turned to run on only for his foot to misjudge where the stairs were. "ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGH!" he screamed as he fell down.

As Lionel, Patrick and Penelope arrived they found a horrified Anish shaking at the top of the stairs. They then looked down and froze at the sight of Owen lying at the bottom of the stairs. He wasn't moving. His neck was twisted in such a way that they all knew immediately what had happened.

"Where is she?" Lionel asked, his voice shaky.

But Owen was dead - he couldn't tell them now.

Scott brought Thunderbird 1 in low near to the surface of the ocean as he neared the position of the Keewatin. Hardly any vessels came out to this area at night due to many concealed rocks so locating the stricken steamship wasn't difficult.

"Thunderbird 5, I have located the Keewatin," Scott reported.

"How does she look, Thunderbird 1?" asked John.

Scott noticed a red signal flare launched into the night sky from the bridge of the Keewatin. "She's stationary and down a little by the bow," he replied. "Other than that she looks stable."

"No listing?"

"Negative. And it looks like most of the lifeboats have already launched. Whoever the owners of this ship are, they're organised."

"You'd better get down there just to make sure there are no stragglers," John said.

"F-A-B."

The arrival of Thunderbird 1 came as a surprise to all the passengers and crew of the Keewatin. Deborah looked absolutely horrified at the sight of the strange rocket that was now hovering just off the port-side of the ship. For Patricia however, seeing it was a massive relief. She only wished that Penelope and Patrick were there to see it.

Scott put Thunderbird 1 onto automatic pilot to maintain position whilst he used his jetpack to drop down onto the Boat Deck. he was pleased to see not many people were about as the majority had already gone. He was even more pleased to catch sight of Patricia. At least there was someone he knew to talk to. "LADY PATRICIA?!" he called over.

"HEY!" Patricia called back as Scott came over. "Do forgive me, I know you're one of Gordon's brothers, but I can't quite remember your name."

"It's Scott, your ladyship, and I-"

"How DARE YOU LAND ON OUR SHIP!"

Scott blinked and turned his head to see Deborah glaring at him in disgust. "Excuse me?"

"You can't set foot on my husband's ship without an invitation!" snapped Deborah. "Especially in that abomination of whatever that is you're wearing!"

"Deborah, shush!" ordered Patricia,

"NO, I WILL NOT!" thundered Deborah. "I WILL NOT HAVE-"

SLAP! Patricia struck Deborah hard across the face making her shriek and fall over onto the deck.

Scott stood in a state of shock. He was somewhat confused by the whole thing.

"I'm so sorry, Scott," Patricia apologised. "How I haven't murdered her yet I do not know."

"I…see," said Scott. "Where's Lord Patrick and Lady Penelope?"

"Down below deck," said Patricia. "They're trying to find Beth."

"Beth?"

"Lionel and her daughter," said Patricia, indicating Deborah who was rubbing her left cheek. "She's been missing ever since late this afternoon. It's a long story."

"I'll find them," said Scott. He turned to hurry over towards a doorway that led inside the ship.

Penelope, Patrick, Lionel and Anish had gone to Lionel's suite to go over the plans of the Keewatin once again to try and get any clues as to where Beth might be. Every single area of the ship had been searched again and again throughout the hours she'd been missing, and yet they'd found nothing at all.

"Where could she be?" asked Penelope.

"She has to be below deck," said Lionel. "Everywhere above has been thoroughly searched."

"LADY PENELOPE?!"

The four looked up at the sound of a man calling Penelope's name.

"Who is that?" asked Anish.

Penelope recognised the voice at once. She ran to the door and looked round. "SCOTT?!"

Scott came running down the corridor. "There you are!" he said as he came into the suite. "Your Lordship."

"Scott, my boy!" said Patrick. "Are you a sight for sore eyes?"

Scott smiled then turned to Lionel and Anish who were somewhat startled by his sudden entrance. "Hi. International Rescue," he said.

"International Rescue?!" repeated Lionel. "Wow - I'd heard you were efficient but this is ridiculous! Come to think of it, I don't remember calling you?"

"I did," said Penelope. "I know International Rescue personally."

"Pleasantries later," said Scott. "I understand there's someone else missing. Your daughter, sir?"

"Yes," said Lionel. "We're trying to figure out where she might be."

Scott looked at the drawings on the table. "With respect, sir, those aren't going to help us," he said. "But I do know someone who can." He tapped his sash. "Thunderbird 5, come in."

"Go ahead, Thunderbird 1."

"John, the daughter of the ship's owner is still missing. Can you run a scan of the ship and try to locate her?"

John brought up a hologram of the Keewatin and began to run a scan of the vessel. "Scan in progress - stand by," he said. He started from the stern and worked his way forwards. He soon noted the positions of Scott, Penelope, Patrick, Anish and Lionel being in Lionel's suite as so far the only people left below deck. But then a final signature appeared on the scan. "I got something," he said. "A life sign. But you're not gonna like where it is."

Scott and the others all exchanged worried looks.

"Where is she?" demanded Anish.

"Where is she, John?" asked Scott.

"In the forward cargo hold, Scott," said John grimly. "The one that's currently-"

"Filling with water!" everyone else said in unison.

Everyone began to run out of the suite and down the stairs to the lower decks. Scott led the way with Penelope and Anish following close behind. Patrick and Lionel brought up the rear and soon got left behind as they weren't as young and fit as the others were.

Thunderbird 2 was now arriving on the scene. They could see Thunderbird 1 hovering close to the sinking ship whose bow was getting dangerously low in the water. "John, we've arrived at the danger zone," said Virgil. "Do we have anything else?"

"Only that Scott, Lady Penelope, Lord Patrick, the owner and another man are still below decks trying to rescue the owner's daughter who seems to be trapped in the flooding cargo bay in the bow," replied John.

"They might need back-up," said Gordon. "Can you drop me onto the deck, Virgil?"

"F-A-B, Gordon," replied Virgil. "I'll then drop the module a safe distance away and get all the lifeboats to row over to me."

Virgil brought Thunderbird 2 into a hover above the Keewatin and lowered Gordon down onto the deck via a harness. Then he moved away to a safe distance around five-hundred yards away from the ship before dropping the module down onto the surface of the flat calm sea. "This is International Rescue!" Virgil's voice came over the green goliath's tannoy. "Row towards the module I've just dropped into the ocean! We'll get you all back to shore safely!"

Gordon soon found Patricia still trying to coax a pride-wounded Deborah into the lifeboat. "Deborah, please. You have to go. They'll find Beth, I promise you."

Deborah seemed to be different following the slap she'd received by Patricia. It was almost like realisation had finally dawned on her about everything that was happening. "It's all my fault," she said. "I didn't give her the choice." She then allowed Patricia to guide her into the lifeboat.

"Lady Patricia!"

"Gordon!" Patricia hugged him. "Oh, God. I'm so glad to see you."

"Where are the others?" asked Gordon.

"Down below."

"Let's go and help?"

Patricia nodded and together they hurried off to help the others.

Deborah watched them disappear from view. She waited a few moments, then stood up and scampered out of the lifeboat to let some others on. She then stood by one of the ventilator shafts and began to sob.

Scott, Penelope and Anish soon reached the cargo bay to find the water had almost reached the bottom of the doorway.

"BETH?!" Anish and Penelope yelled as they ran into the water which was soon waist deep and began to search around.

"MISS ROYSTONE?!" shouted Scott. Then he activated the heads-up display in his helmet to have a look around.

A muffled squeal soon caught their attention and Scott's display soon performed an x-ray scan on one of the large trunks - the same one that Penelope and Patrick had caught Anish trying to break into earlier. The three of them swam over and managed to break open the trunk to find a terrified Beth trapped inside. The trunk had been flooding and the water was up to her neck.

"Oh, my Gosh! Beth!" Penelope gasped as she pulled the cloth out of Beth's mouth and began to help Anish to untie her hands. "Are you okay?"

"P-P-Penny?!" gasped Beth. "Oh, my God. Please get me out of here!"

"It's okay, Miss Roystone, you're safe now," said Scott as the trio.

Beth then noticed Anish and once her hands were free they began to embrace each other. Then Anish helped her across towards the doorway whilst Scott followed behind. Penelope went to put the rope on top of the crate only for the crate to overbalance and fall down on top of her. She cried out in alarm but nobody heard her.

Patrick and Lionel arrived just as Anish and Beth reached the doorway.

"Beth!" cried Lionel as he helped pull his daughter out of the water.

"Daddy!" Beth cried as they embraced. Both were weeping. "Daddy, I'm so sorry."

"Shh-shh-shh, it's okay," said Lionel. "You're back now." He then looked up at Anish and Scott. "Thank you," he said to them.

Together, Anish, Patrick and Lionel began to hurry Beth away towards the top decks.

Scott then turned back around and noticed something. "Penelope?" he asked. He looked around, but he couldn't see her anywhere. "Penelope?!" He then dived into the water to begin searching for her.

Patricia and Gordon encountered Lionel, Beth, Anish and Patrick down one of the corridors. They both were quick to notice two people were absent.

"Where are Scott and Penelope?" asked Gordon.

"Right behind us," said Patrick.

"Where?" asked Patricia.

Patrick looked around, and to his surprise found neither of them were. "What?! They were right behind us!"

"I'll find them," said Gordon. "You two get to the Boat Deck and get the last people off. Scott and I will get Penelope off."

Normally, a respectable parent would refuse to leave knowing their daughter was unaccounted for, but both Patrick and Patricia hurried after the others without question. They had complete trust in Gordon.

Gordon reached the flooded Cargo Bay and looked around anxiously. Surely he thought he couldn't have missed them? "SCOTT?! PENNY?!"

Suddenly the water erupted and there was Scott and a soaking wet Penelope having emerged from beneath the surface.

"Gor-gurgle-don!" spluttered Penelope who had a mouthful of salt water which she was quick to spit out.

"Thank God!" said Gordon as he hurried in to help.

"GORDON, WATCH OUT!" Scott shouted suddenly as another large trunk began to topple over. Gordon just managed to get clear as the trunk landed with a crash against another. Gordon was safe from getting hit, but now they realised there was another problem.

"It's fallen across the doorway!" cried Penelope. "We're trapped!"

"Never!" said Scott defiantly. "I have a back-up plan. Thunderbird 2, how's the evac going?"

Virgil had dropped down from Thunderbird 2 and was helping load the already evacuated passengers and crew as well as the lifeboats into the module. "Most of the boats are here. Only one left on the ship," he said. "How are you getting on?"

"Found the missing girl but Gordon, Penelope and I are stuck in the cargo hold," Scott answered. "A trunk has fallen and blocked the exit."

"Hang tight, I'll come over and cut you out," said Virgil.

"No, Virgil, stay with the passengers," said Scott. "I've got a plan to get us out. Are all the lifeboats away from the ship?"

Virgil looked across at the Keewatin. "There's one left," he said. "But it looks ready to launch."

"That'll have to do," said Scott. He turned to Gordon and Penelope. "Wait there," he said and then he dived under the water, leaving them to wonder what he was doing.

Patricia and Patrick brought Lionel, Beth and Anish back to the Boat Deck where they found the last lifeboat waiting for them. A very emotional reunion was had as Deborah broke down in tears when she saw that Beth was alive and Beth did the same as she had done with Lionel. Now Deborah needed no persuasion in getting in the lifeboat, apart from a minor hesitation when she saw Anish holding his hand out to offer her assistance. Normally she'd have slapped his hand away in disgust but having now realised that he'd helped save Beth, she took his hand and allowed him to help her after Beth had boarded. Patricia was next and then Patrick. Then Anish climbed in, leaving Lionel as the only person left standing on the deck.

"Come on, Lionel, let's go!" called Patrick.

But Lionel didn't move.

"Lionel, what are you doing?" asked Deborah, holding out her hand for him to grab.

"Daddy, come on!" urged Beth.

Lionel's lip trembled as he reached out and grabbed Deborah's hand before squeezing it tightly. However he did not step into the boat. Tears were forming in his eyes. Tears of regret. "I'm sorry, my love," he said to Deborah. "Beth…forgive me." He then released his grip on Debroah's hand and took a step back before taking out a small remote-control out of his dinner jacket pocket.

Deborah stood up. "Lionel, what are you doing?!" she cried again.

Lionel said nothing as he pushed a button. There was a whir of a mechanical mechanism and everyone in the boat felt a jolt as the davets that held it up began to swing them out over the side of the ship.

"Lionel?!" exclaimed Deborah in horror. "LIONEL!"

"DADDY!" wailed Beth.

Lionel was shaking as more tears fell down his cheeks. "I'm sorry," he said hoarsely as he pushed another button which caused the winches to start lowering the boat down towards the water. Deborah and Beth tried to reach out but the boat was too far away from the side of the ship for them to get to Lionel. Both wailed and cried as they were slowly lowered down with a distraught and broken Lionel disappearing from view. Twenty-four hours earlier this had been a man who had been full of pride and honour. Now he was a man who was broken, utterly dismayed at what he had done. It had been such a simple plan, to stage an accident that would cause the Keewatin to sink and he would have claimed the insurance money, and yet thanks to Beth and the way he and Deborah had tried to make her marry someone she didn't, it had all gone horribly wrong. Lionel was fully aware of what the consequences of his actions would bring if he left the ship. This would ruin him and his family's reputation. He wasn't man enough to face that.

The lifeboat reached the water and Anish and another sailor released the cables that freed them so they could row away from the sinking ship.

"Well don't leave!" cried Deborah. "We have to get him back!"

BANG! Everyone gasped and even Virgil and those inside the other lifeboats and the module all stopped to look back over at the ship. They all knew what that sound was. A gunshot.

The only person who could see what had happened was John, who had been monitoring them via the hologram aboard Thunderbird 5. He winced as he saw Lionel's body hit the deck and then the red heart symbol turned black. "Damn…" he said, shocked.

Gordon and Penelope huddled together against the crates as the water level started to rise quicker than it had done before.

"Gordon?"

"Yeah?"

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?"

"Many times. Why?"

"Well…it's just…"

Scott then resurfaced. "It's done," he said. "Gordon, do you have an underwater respirator for Penelope to use?"

"I think so," Gordon replied as he fiddled about in his sash. "Yes, here we are." He gave it to Penelope who put it in her mouth.

"Good," said Scott. "I've cut the hole in the hull larger so we can fit through. You two go first, then I will take hold of you and use my jetpack to get us to the surface. Go."

Penelope dived under and began to swim towards the large hole in the side of the ship. Gordon followed with Scott bringing up the rear. All three passed through the hole and were now out in the dark, murky water where visibility was next to nothing. Scott then grabbed hold of his brother and Penelope and set his jetpack to full power, shooting the three of them up and out of the water.

Their sudden appearance took those in the last lifeboat completely by surprise, but Patrick and Patricia let out massive gasps of relief as they realised Penelope was safe.

Scott flew over to the lifeboat and lowered Gordon and Penelope into the lifeboat before landing himself on the bow.

"Oh, Pen!" Patricia gasped, hugging her daughter tightly whilst Patrick squeezed his daughter's hands. Because she wasn't wearing a special suit, she was soaking wet and freezing cold so they wrapped her up tightly in a warm blanket.

Both parents turned towards the two brothers. "Thank you," they said.

"Any time," said Scott.

"Well I guess that's it," said Gordon cheerfully. "Everyone made it out safely."

There was a pause of silence before Patrick solemnly broke it. "Not everyone," he said sadly as he nodded over towards the back of the lifeboat. Penelope, Gordon and Scott all looked and froze at the sight of Deborah and Beth sitting right at the back with their arms around each other, both making little sobbing sounds as they looked over at the Keewatin which was now entering its final plunge.

Thanks to Scott making the hole in the bow larger, the flooding had accelerated and now the entire front half of the ship was completely underwater. The stern was rising up to about sixty degrees. The water then reached the power room and with a fizzle and a crackle all the lights went out before with a sad groan of dying metal, the replica Keewatin slipped beneath the waves and was gone, leaving only frothing bubbles of water on the very spot where it had been standing proud just an hour before.

Nobody said a word as the lifeboat was rowed over to where Thunderbird 2 was waiting. For the three Tracy brothers, this was just another mission that was coming to an end. But for the Creighton-Wards and the Roystones, the aftermath was just beginning.