KAYO placed one hand on a rock. Then she put the other up and then lifted her legs up as she climbed up the face of the cliff. "Come on, slowcoach!" she called cheekily down below her.

Scott was about ten metres further down and he was looking exhausted. "Gee, slow it down, Kayo!" he gasped. "Your leg has only just healed. You don't want to damage it again, do you?"

Kayo just laughed. "Excuses, excuses, Scott," she teased as she climbed further up. "I've never felt better." She eagerly went to climb further up, not paying attention to what she was doing. She missed her footing and slipped, losing her grip and began to fall. "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"KAYO!" cried Scott, jumping across the rockface and grabbing her just as she dropped past him. "GOTCHA!" Scott pulled her back up and round so she could grab onto the cliff face again. "Are you okay?"

Kayo gasped as she tried to get her breath back. "Thank you," she said. "Oh, God."

"Grandma warned you not to overdo it!" Scott scolded. "See what almost happened to you."

Kayo nodded grimly. "Yes, Scott," she said. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," soothed Scott. "Now come on, let's get to the top. But this time we will stay together. Got it?"

Kayo nodded and together they began to climb again.

Hayley was horrified by the time she got round on the site and around to the location where the accident had happened. Jack's Digger had not only toppled over, but had landed upside-down in one of the foundation trenches that Oliver's Excavator had dug out. Worse still was a huge amount of earth had also come down and had practically buried the machine. Only the arm and bucket of the actual Backhoe arm could be seen in the trench. Already Hayley could see that Jenny, all the workmen including Monty, the Foreman and about twenty of Lieutenant Pierce's soldiers were already swarming around the pile of earth digging frantically to clear it, but also carefully so that they didn't cause any damage to the Digger that might cause a greater risk to them all.

Pierce himself wasn't doing anything to help. He just stood nearby and shouted at his soldiers to work faster. "COME ON, YOU LOT! MOVE!" he bellowed.

The soldiers did it without question, but Pierce's voice was very quickly beginning to infuriate Jenny and her crew.

"Will you stop shouting at us, Lieutenant?" asked Jenny crossly. "You're not helping matters. And my people aren't yours to command!"

"You're on my base, Ms Packard," retorted Pierce. "Therefore you fall under my jurisdiction!"

Hayley decided this would be a good time to interrupt. "Sir, even with all these people it's going to take a while for us to get him out of there."

"And?" asked Pierce shortly.

"It's time he might not have," said Hayley. "I still think we should get International Rescue to help."

"Yes, please do," said Jenny.

"NO!" shouted Pierce, making both women jump. "We can handle this ourselves! Once the dirt has been cleared we can lift the machine out and get the young idiot out of there."

"But we can't get to Jack without lifting the Digger out, Lieutenant!" protested Jenny. "And please don't call him an idiot!"

"Of course he's an idiot, woman!" snapped Pierce. "If he wasn't he wouldn't have caused all of this now, would he?"

"That's besides the point!" fumed Jenny. "And besides we don't have anything to lift the Digger out!"

Pierce pointed at Kelly's Mobile Crane. "You have that!" he said. "We'll use it!"

Kelly, who had been helping to dig nearby, overhead and called over. "Pardon me, sir, but my crane is not strong enough to lift this kind of machine!"

Pierce snorted. "Then what's the point of you even having it?" he sneered.

Hayley saw how furious Jenny was getting with the Lieutenant. She noticed her fists were clenched as if she was ready to punch him. As much as she wanted to do that herself, she knew it would only do more bad than good. "Please, don't," she whispered.

"Why not?" Jenny whispered back.

"Don't focus on him. Focus on what's more important. Your man."

Jenny took deep breaths. "I'm sorry," she said. "You are right." She then went to help with the digging.

"I'm afraid she does have a point, sir," Hayley said to Pierce. "That crane won't be able to lift that."

"Of course it will!" scoffed Pierce. "It's a crane! It's what it's built for."

Hayley rolled her eyes. "Sir, with respect, only International-"

Pierce suddenly spun round and brought his face right in close to Hayley's. "For…the…last…time…" he hissed. "WE…DON'T…NEED…INTERNATIONAL…RESCUE! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!"

Hayley backed away, desperately trying to resist the urge to slap the officer across the face. "Sir!" she said, begrudgingly.

Pierce stood loftily before turning and walking away to continue yelling at the soldiers.

For Hayley, that was the final straw. She knew this task was beyond anything anyone there could do so she knew it was time to make a decision. She walked away hastily and concealed herself behind Jenny's small blue Land-Rover that was parked nearby. She then undid her uniform's left glove and removed it before pushing part of the sleeve up to reveal the watch that Virgil had given her on their first date. She took a deep breath. This is going to get me into big trouble, she thought to herself. But to hell with it! She then pushed the face to send out a distress beacon.

John was surprised to receive the emergency distress beacon. "That's odd," he said out loud. "Has Lady P got herself into another sticky situation again?" He checked the signal. "Hayley?!" he exclaimed. "Uh-oh." He then pressed a button. "Come in, Tracy Island - we may have a situation."

Jeff responded. "Go ahead, John. Are you getting the signal as well?"

"From Hayley? Yes," said John.

Virgil was already hurrying towards the Rocket Painting.

"Hold on, Virgil," said Jeff. "We don't know what the situation is yet?"

"Does it matter, Dad?" asked Virgil. "If Hayley's in trouble, I have to help her."

Jeff turned back to John. "Where is she, John?"

John used the source of Hayley's signal to build a holographic map of the area around where she was which he then relayed to the central table in the lounge. "Hmmm. This is very strange," he remarked. "She looks to be fine."

Jeff, Virgil, Gordon and Alan all looked at the hologram image. Hayley's life-sign was highlighted in green whilst all the others on the blue surface were shown in orange. It showed the terrain of the building site and what everyone was doing.

"Is she at an archaeology course or something?" asked Alan.

"Of course she's not, Alan!" said Virgil, crossly. "That must be the construction site she was telling me about where they're adding a new building to the site."

"But why would she be on the construction site?" asked Gordon, confused. "Shouldn't she be in training or something?"

"Whatever she's doing, she was hiding behind some kind of vehicle when she sent the signal," said John. "Maybe she pressed it by accident?"

"She can't have done!" insisted Virgil. "Hayley's not stupid, guys! There has to be something wrong!"

"Then why hasn't she contacted us directly, Virgil?" asked Jeff.

Virgil couldn't answer that question. "I…I…"

Jeff got up from his desk. "Seeing as she's not actually made contact I think it's safe to presume that it is a false alarm and she's pressed her beacon by accident. John, see if you can make contact with her and tell her to be more careful."

"Okay, Dad."

"But, Dad!" protested Virgil. "What if she's-"

"Virgil!" Jeff said sharply. "We're not launching unless someone's life is in danger. And that's final!" he added when Virgil opened his mouth again. "Now, excuse me. Nature's calling me." He turned and walked out of the lounge, leaving Virgil shaking with confused anger. He turned round and let out a frustrated roar as he slammed both his fists on the keyboard on the piano, almost breaking it.

"Woah, Virg, take it easy, big buy!" said Gordon. "Relax."

"Don't tell me to relax, Gordon!" snapped Virgil. "Something's wrong. I know it is!"

Alan had been observing Hayley's icon on the hologram. He was very intrigued by her movements. Also those of the other icons as well. He then turned to John's hologram. "Have you contacted her yet, John?"

"Not yet but I'm about to," said John.

"Before you do, can I suggest maybe you scan the ground where those people are digging?" Alan said. "Hayley's movements and the speed at all those guys are digging tells me maybe something is wrong after all."

"If you insist," John said, sounding doubtful.

Virgil and Gordon looked over as John performed the scan of the site. Almost at once they saw the scan pick up two things that it hadn't done at first.

"What is that?!" asked Gordon, pointing at the large yellow object that had appeared.

"Looks like some kind of vehicle," observed Alan.

"It's a construction vehicle!" John realised. "A Backhoe Loader…and it's upside down!"

"And it's buried under a big pile of dirt!" added Gordon.

"And look!" finished Virgil. "There's a life sign! Someone's trapped inside it! You see!" he added. "I told you Hayley can't have pressed her signal by mistake!" He began to hurry towards the Rocket Painting. "We need to get out there now!" he said. "I may need back-up. Alan and Gordon, see you in Thunderbird 2!" With that the painting tilted backwards and sent him off down his launch tunnel.

Alan and Gordon exchanged a look.

"Well?" said John. "Off you go then. Don't keep him waiting."

"But what about Dad?" asked Gordon.

"Leave Dad to me," said John. "I'll explain the situation. Now get suited up and be quick about it! We don't know what state this guy's in."

"F-A-B," Gordon and Alan said in unison as they hurried off to get changed into their suits.

Virgil dropped down into the cockpit of Thunderbird 2 having changed into his uniform on the way down from the house. He closed the hatch above him before running over to his seat and selecting Module 2 for the mission ahead. The conveyor moved Module 1 underneath the main body before stopping with Module 2 underneath. He then activated the hydraulic legs, lowering the large craft down over the module and locking it firmly into place. Alan and Gordon arrived straight afterwards and took their positions with Gordon sitting in the co-pilot seat and Alan in the one behind Virgil. Virgil then set Thunderbird 2 into motion taxiing forwards with the large rock concealing the entrance sliding down to allow them to exit the vast hangar and start heading down the runway to the launch ramp. The palm trees fell back to allow them to pass and soon they reached the ramp and came to a stop. The wings folded out as the ramp lifted upwards and finally the blast shield rose into place behind the two rocket boosters.

5! 4! 3! 2! 1!

Scott and Kayo were almost at the peak of the cliff they were climbing up when the peacefulness of the island was shattered by the roar of Thunderbird 2's engines as it soared up off the ramp and climbed away into the sky. The air then vibrated as a sonic boom was heard.

"Say, I wonder where Virgil's off to?" Scott wondered.

"That's quite a speed he's doing as well," added Kayo. "It must be something really urgent."

Scott looked back down the mountain. "I think perhaps we'd better get back to the house ASAP?" he said. "This might be serious."

Kayo agreed so together they began to make their way quickly but carefully back down the mountain.

Jeff had returned to the lounge just in time to see Thunderbird 2 launch. "What the blazes?!" he exclaimed. "I did not give them permission to launch!" He stormed over to the desk and punched the communication button. "Thunderbird 2, get back here at once!" he ordered. "Virgil, I did NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO LAUNCH!" It was then that he noticed something.

"He can't hear you, Dad."

Jeff looked up sharply to see John's hologram looking seriously back at him. "What do you mean?" he demanded.

"Dad, you need to listen," John began. "There's-"

"JOHN, WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!" thundered Jeff. "WHY HAS VIRGIL LAUNCHED BEHIND MY BACK?! WHY ARE YOU BOYS DEFYING MY AUTHORITY?! AND WHY CAN'T I GET THROUGH TO THUNDERBIRD 2?!"

"I've severed the link between the island and Thunderbird 2 so I could show you the situation," John said.

"What situation?!" Jeff snapped. "This better not have anything to do with Hayley sending her signal falsely."

"It wasn't false, Dad!" said John sharply. "Look what a more detailed scan brought up." He pointed at the hologram map.

Jeff looked at the map, and then his eyes fell upon the yellow shape of the upturned Backhoe-Loader buried upside-down and with the life-sign of a man trapped inside the cab. "Oh…my God…" Jeff said hoarsely, his anger disappearing and turning into shock instead. "There really is someone in trouble…"

"Dad, this guy could be in a critical state," John said. "Sorry we had to disobey you, but there was no time to wait for you to come back from the bathroom."

Jeff slumped back in his chair, now feeling rather guilty and bad for what he'd said. "Of course, son," he said sheepishly. He then sighed heavily. "I owe Virgil an apology."

"I'll re-establish the link," said John. he pressed a holographic button. "There. Communication is restored."

Jeff gave a weak smile. "Thanks, John."

Thunderbird 2 had already crossed several miles of Pacific Ocean by the time Jeff called in. "Thunderbird 2 from base?"

"Uh-oh, here we go," said Gordon quietly.

Virgil exhaled and gripped the steering console, readying himself for what expected was going to be a dressing-down. "Go ahead, base."

"Virgil, I'm sorry," said Jeff. "John's filled me in. I should have gotten him to do that, and that's on me. Good luck, boys. Godspeed." He then signed off, leaving the three brothers somewhat taken aback.

"Well, how about that?" remarked Gordon.

"You see, Virg?" added Alan. "I knew Dad would come round."

Virgil felt an immense weight lift from his shoulders. He managed to break a smile as he made a course correction. "Well in that case then," he said. "Thunderbird 2 is GO!"

Penelope and Patricia headed back to FAB1 having had some tea with Beth and Anish. They still felt very sad and also bad that things had gone the way they had.

"Thank you for everything," Beth said to them. "But I guess this is goodbye."

"Goodbye?" asked Penelope. "Are you leaving?"

"There's nothing left for us here," Beth said. "The press will continue to pester us for answers. We will be putting the estate on the market and then moving away."

"To where?" asked Patricia.

"India, I suspect," said Beth. "That's where Anish's family is."

Patricia and Penelope looked at each other.

"But what about your mother?" Penelope said. "She might have just been taken away, but you can't just abandon her."

"We won't be leaving immediately, Lady Penelope," said Anish. "We intend to make sure we know all that is wrong with Lady Deborah and then take her to India with us once she gets better."

"God, I hope she does," said Beth miserably. "She and Anish are all I have left now."

Penelope came over and pulled her friend in a hug. "You'll remain in touch with us, right?"

Beth nodded. "Of course," she promised.

They looked into each other's eyes, which instantly told Penelope she knew Beth meant it as well. She gave Beth a kiss on the forehead. "Stay safe," she said before heading back to join Patricia and Parker in FAB1.

"Where to now, m'ladies?" Parker asked once he'd gotten back into the driver's seat.

"Home, Parker," Patricia said. "There's nothing else we can do here."

The GDF Soldiers along with Jenny's crew had managed to dig away a significant amount of the soil enabling them to see the Backhoe Loader - or at least its wheels and underbelly. The cab was stuck down in the trench so it was impossible to get to the cab or even see what state Jack was in. At this point, none of them knew if he was even still alive.

"Get down there," Pierce ordered Hayley, pointing into the trench where the Digger's Backhoe arm was located. "See if you can get a visual on the guy."

"Yes, sir," Hayley acknowledged. At least that was one instruction of his she was prepared to follow. She climbed down into the trench and tried to peer in through the window of the cab. But try as she might, the machine's burst and damaged rear hydraulic systems prevented her from getting any closer.

"Do you see him?" Jenny called down anxiously.

Hayley shook her head. "I'm afraid not," she called back. "The window's are covered in muck and the broken equipment is preventing me from getting in any closer."

"Then we have no time to waste," said Pierce. He turned. "GET THAT CRANE OVER HERE!"

Despite numerous protests, Pierce was still very insistent on using Kelly's Mobile Crane to lift the JCB out of the trench. Whilst Kelly brought the crane into position, Alfie and Oliver attached strong cables from the hook and as best they could around the body of the Digger.

Monty and Max stood beside Max's Dumper Truck with a huge amount of scepticism inside of them.

"How long before it breaks?" Max whispered to his brother.

"Two minutes, tops," Monty whispered back.

"That soon?" Max replied. "I'll make it three."

"READY, KELLY!" Alfie called.

"RIGHT!" shouted Kelly. "EVERYBODY GET CLEAR!"

Everyone moved back to a safe enough distance whilst Oliver and Alfie stayed closer to the Digger in order to monitor the lifting progress.

Kelly put the winch motor of the crane into reverse. It took the strain and began to pull. Almost at once the unpleasant sound of the engine screaming under the strain.

"Come on, baby," Kelly urged her machine. "You can do this."

But it couldn't. The engine screeched and groaned and the Digger was barely moving.

"KELLY, STOP!" Jenny yelled. "YOU'RE GONNA BREAK YOUR WINCH-MOTOR!"

But it was too late. As Kelly pulled back the lever to shut the motor off, there was a sharp BANG which was followed by a huge plume of thick black smoke that billowed out from the engine. Kelly had to jump clear to avoid getting herself choked by it.

"DAMN IT!" cursed Pierce. "WHY DIDN'T THAT WORK?!"

"They did say it wouldn't, sir," Hayley said. "I didn't think it would either."

"I didn't ask for your observation, Madison!" barked Pierce.

"Too bad," replied Hayley sarcastically. "I gave it to you anyway."

Pierce spun round and glared at her. "What did you say?" he asked with gritted teeth.

"You heard," Hayley retorted.

Pierce began to slowly advance threateningly towards her. "You are treading on thin ice, Madison," he growled.

Hayley looked at the ground. "I'm pretty sure this is mud," she remarked.

"DON'T BE FUNNY!" thundered Pierce. "You are getting dangerously close to being put on a charge, Madison!"

"Oh, really?" said Hayley, her own anger starting to build. "That's rich coming from someone who can't come up with the right plan of action."

Pierce was outraged. "How DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT! I AM YOUR SUPERIOR OFFICER!"

"You're a Lieutenant. I am a Captain," Hayley said simply. This was strictly true anymore as she'd let go of her rank to become a Medical Officer but was potentially going to get the title back once she'd passed the training. She was secretly enjoying the mockery she was giving the arrogant officer - even though she was sure it was going to get her into a huge amount of trouble afterwards.

"Wait, you're a Captain?" asked Jenny, who'd overheard the argument. "Then why the hell have we been taking instructions from him instead of you?!"

"BECAUSE SHE'S NOT A CAPTAIN ANYMORE!" roared Pierce. "SHE'S A TRAINING MEDIC! Although not for much longer as I'm gonna have her thrown out for this insubordination!"

"To hell with your regulations, dude!" snarled Max. "Clearly this lady has the right mind whereas you don't!"

Pierce went as red as a London Bus, but before he could say anything else, Hayley spoke again. "It's okay, everyone!" she said. "We're gonna get your worker out. Or at least - they are!" She pointed up into the sky as the air began to be filled with the rumble of an aircraft approaching.

Everyone looked up to see the giant shape of Thunderbird 2 emerging from the overcast clouds and began to descend towards the site.

Pierce went even redder as she spun back to face Hayley. "You called them?!" he fumed. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU-"

"Oh, shut up, Pierce!" Hayley finally lost it. "Do whatever you like with me after this is over, but right now I am sick and tired of you and your idiocy! I think everyone on this damn base is!" She then stormed past Pierce and walked towards Thunderbird 2 which was just landing, leaving Pierce shaking with complete and utter fury. He was so angry that he couldn't even find the words to scream at her.

Thunderbird 2's main body lifted clear of Module 2 and the door opened to reveal Virgil in his Jaws of Life suit and he ran down the ramp followed by Gordon who was inside a green Bulldozer-Pod that he'd configured during the landing. "Everyone clear the area, please!" Virgil called via the voice-amplifier in his helmet. "Gordon, clear the soil between the mound and the trench. It looks like they've already cleared it on the other."

"F-A-B, bro," acknowledged Gordon. "And looks like you got incoming, too!" he added with a smirk.

Virgil looked to see Hayley running towards him. He opened his suit arms out so she could fling her arms around his neck. They couldn't kiss because of his helmet.

"Virgil!" Hayley said, shredding a few tears of joy. "Oh, gosh, I'm glad to see you."

"You too, beautiful," Virgil said. "Although can we do this when others aren't around perhaps?"

Hayley let go and glanced back over her shoulder to see the construction workers and GDF soldiers all looking somewhat surprised. Pierce on the other hand was still livid with her.

Gordon soon cleared away the remaining soil between the big mound and where the Digger was buried in the trench. He then climbed out and began to walk up the side of the mound so he could help Virgil guide Alan in who was piloting Thunderbird 2 and was going to lift the machine out with the magnetic grapples.

"Okay, Alan, you're directly overhead," Virgil said. "Can you get a lock on the Digger?"

"Er, that's a negative, Virgil," Alan replied. "The soil is preventing me from getting a solid lock."

"That's okay," said Virgil. "Just lower the grabs down to us. Gordon and I will attach them manually."

Gordon nodded in agreement and he scampered back down the soil to stand by the right side of the upturned Digger whilst Virgil waited on the left. Alan lowered the cables down from within the main body of Thunderbird 2, having left Module 2 on the ground. Virgil attached the two grapples on his side whilst Gordon did the same on his. They made sure one was attached to the middle of the large rear wheels and the other to the main bodywork towards the front as they were to be the strongest parts of the machine.

"I'm done," said Virgil.

"Me too," added Gordon.

"Take her away, Thunderbird 2," said Virgil.

"F-A-B!"

Alan carefully increased power to the VTOL jets and Thunderbird 2 slowly began to rise. Its presence had created quite a stir amongst those inside the main hospital building nearby. Staff and patients as well as all of the GDF personnel (except Pierce) and the construction crew all watched in awe as the great green leviathan effortlessly lifted the upturned Digger up out of the trench and over to the side opposite the mound before it was placed safely on the ground - still upside down as it would have been too risky to turn it back over again.

"She's down, Alan," Virgil said. "Release the cables."

Alan did so and winched them back up into Thunderbird 2.

Virgil then used one of his jaw arms to grab hold of one of the Digger's cab doors and pulled it off. Now they could see what state Jack was in.

"Stay back, everyone," Hayley said. "Let me see in there." She carefully clambered into the cab to check on Jack whilst everyone else waited anxiously outside. She emerged a few seconds later. "Good news - he is alive," she said, causing all of Jack's colleagues to breathe huge sighs of relief. "But he's losing a lot of blood," Hayley went on. "Someone get an Ambulance over here. He's gonna need urgent treatment."

Numerous GDF soldiers hurried off to get one.

"Well done," Virgil said, giving Hayley a proud smile.

Hayley broke a smile in return, but then she caught sight of Pierce who had been standing in the exact same spot where she'd walked away from him. He was still giving her a horrendously dirty look before he then turned and began to walk away in a manner that made Hayley feel very uneasy.

The Ambulance soon arrived to take Jack away once he'd been carefully removed from within the cab of the Digger. Hayley decided to hand care of him over to the professional Paramedics and those Doctors who would take charge once he was in the hospital.

"Well done, Doctor Madison," said one of Paramedics. "Thanks to your quick thinking, this young man has got a chance."

This made Hayley feel warm and a bit better than she had been when she saw Pierce walking away. He had not returned and she was feeling sure that he was quite likely doing some things to make sure she got into big trouble.

"Is something wrong?" Virgil asked when he saw Hayley's troubled face.
"Huh?" Hayley asked, breaking back to reality. "Ah, it's nothing, babe. I'm just hoping that he will be okay."

Virgil watched after the Ambulance as it drove away towards the hospital, taking Jack with it. "He's in good hands."

Alan then joined them. "Anyone seen Gordon?" he asked. "He seems to have disappeared."

"I sent him to examine the earth mound," Virgil said. "Just to make sure no more of it falls down on top of anyone."

Hayley and Alan looked over at the mound. "He must be on the other side then," Hayley said. "I can't see him."

As if on cue, Gordon's voice suddenly came over the radios. "Err, guys? A little help over here, please?"

Confused as to why he might need help, Virgil, Alan and Hayley hurried around to the opposite side of the large earth mound to see what was wrong. To their surprise they found him sitting on the soil about halfway down from the top with his legs straddled over a brown, mucky object that was poking out from within the soil.

"Gordon? What are you playing at?" Virgil asked.

"I'm not playing anything, Virgil!" replied Gordon indignantly. "No wonder that Digger went over, this part of the mound is completely soft."

"You mean you slipped and slid down?" Alan asked, who was trying his best not to laugh.

"Yes!" snapped Gordon. "And now I seem to be stuck on whatever this weird thing is."

Virgil shrugged off his own amusement and began to climb up towards his brother. "Okay, brother," he said. "I'll help you off."

But he'd barely got halfway between the bottom of the mound and the point where Gordon was when a very urgent call from John came over the radio. "VIRGIL, STOP! Gordon…do…not…move."

The brothers and Hayley exchanged puzzled looks.

"John, what's the matter?" asked Virgil.

"Come on, John!" added Gordon, irritated. "This thing's not comfortable to sit on. I need to get off."

"Gordon, you must stay very still," John said. His voice had a touch of what could only be described as fear in it.

Jeff then spoke up. John had left the communication link with Tracy Island open so that those who were there could also hear what was going on. "John, what is it?" he demanded. "Why can't Gordon be moved?"

There was a moment before John spoke again. His voice was very shaky. "Guys…there's no easy way to say this, but…Gordon's sitting on a bomb!"