BROWN eyes stared into blue eyes as Gordon and Alan went into battle. A staring battle at least. They were both standing on a long wooden log made out of a fallen tree-trunk that had been placed across the width of the Tracy Island swimming pool. The challenge, to keep eye contact with each other as well as maintain their balance on the log. The challenge was made harder by the addition of Kayo and Lady Penelope, who were to try and distract the brothers in an attempt to make them lose. As such Kayo was on the poolside behind Alan trying to trick Gordon into looking at her whilst Penelope did the same behind Gordon trying to catch Alan out. Grandma was acting as referee to make sure the brothers played by the rules.
Scott and Brains were in the lounge, observing through the big window. "W-Who do you reckon will win?" Brains asked.
"Alan," Scott answered.
"I say G-Gordon," said Brains.
To not lose, Gordon and Alan needed to stay still and stare into each other's eyes for a whole minute.
"And three, two, one, go!" said Grandma as she pressed the button on the stopwatch.
The brothers focused hard, staring into each other's eyes. They couldn't blink either otherwise they would lose. At the same time, Kayo and Penelope began to perform their distraction tactics trying to catch their opponents attention. Ten seconds in and already, Gordon was battling to resist the urge to look at Kayo who was doing cartwheels behind Alan whilst Alan was gritting his teeth trying not to laugh at Penelope who was doing rabbit-ears behind Gordon's head from a distance.
"Is that a smirk I can see, Alan?" Penelope teased.
Both Alan and Gordon could feel sweat from the pressure they were under starting to trickle down their faces.
"I say, Gordon, did they forecast rain in your hair today?" joked Kayo as the two brothers started to twitch.
"Thirty seconds gone," said Grandma. "Another thirty to go."
Suddenly the quietness was shattered when the Global Emergency Alarm went off. Everyone jumped and with a loud "WAAAGH!" between them, Gordon and Alan both fell off the log simultaneously landing in the water with two colossal splashes causing Kayo and Penelope to get soaked themselves.
"Ahh, so close!" said Scott.
"Come on you two, out of there!" Grandma called down to the two annoyed brothers. "Looks like we have a situation to deal with."
Penelope and Kayo gave towels to Gordon and Alan respectively after helping them out of the pool and they all followed Grandma back towards the house.
Scott sat himself down at Jeff's desk as John's hologram emerged from the eyes of his portrait. "Go ahead, Thunderbird 5. What have you got for us, John?"
"Urgent call from Mars, Scott," said John. "Brains, we need Thunderbird 4 transferred to Thunderbird 3 and for an immediate launch. Situation is critical."
Scott and Brains looked at each other. "Leave it with -mme, John," said Brains. "I'll start the t-transfer process immediately." He hurried away, passing the ladies and the still slightly wet brothers in the kitchen before disappearing off to his lab.
"Brains is in a hurry," remarked Penelope.
"Must be something big," agreed Kayo.
"Whatever it is, it had better be worth ruining our game for," pouted Alan.
Grandma led the others up the stairs and into the lounge. "Sorry we're late, John dear," she apologised. "Boys are a bit moist."
"So I can see," remarked John.
"This better be good, John," complained Gordon. "I was just about to beat Alan."
"No you weren't!" protested Alan.
"Enough!" barked Scott. "You boys can have a rematch when we get back from Mars."
Alan and Gordon's expressions changed suddenly. "Mars?!" they both said, intrigued.
"Is Captain Taylor in trouble again?" asked Alan.
"Big time," said John. "He and Dr Travers are trapped in an underground cavern and from what I can tell the only way to get to them is via an uncharted underground water network."
"There's water on Mars?!" exclaimed Penelope. "How fascinating!"
"Does this mean I get to use Thunderbird 4 on another planet?" asked Gordon, now excited.
"It does, Gordon," said Scott. "You two suit up and I'll meet you aboard Thunderbird 3."
"You're going too?" asked Kayo.
"This could be a big operation," Scott replied. "Might need any available hand that we can fit aboard Thunderbird 3."
"I'd better suit up as well then," said Kayo.
"Not so fast, kiddo," said Grandma. "I've not cleared you to return to duty. You're staying here."
"Aww, come on, Mrs Tracy," moaned Kayo. "I've been stuck on the island for over three months now! I'm itching to get back out there."
"I'll go with you," said Penelope eagerly. "I'd love to visit another planet."
"Shouldn't you ask your parents first?" asked Gordon.
"No, they don't need to be worried about that," said Penelope. "I've been in many dangerous spots before and they've not known about them."
"Very well," said Scott, uncertain, but he knew there was no time for a debate. "You go on the chairs with Alan. Gordon and I will meet you aboard Thunderbird 3."
Penelope almost ran to the chairs with excitement flowing through her veins. Alan sat down beside her and the chairs were lowered into the floor before being replaced by a pair of spare ones. Upon reaching the bottom of the shaft, the trolley took them sideways a short distance before a turntable turned them ninety-degrees to the right before they headed off down separate tunnels into changing rooms where Alan was given his regular suit whilst Penelope was given a second copy of her diving uniform. Meanwhile Scott and Gordon were making their way down their respective express elevator tunnels and having the robotic arms give them their own uniforms. Upon completing their gear-ups they left the elevators and swiftly made their way to Thunderbird 3. Alan and Penelope re-joined each other heading backwards in their chairs after completing their own gear-ups and were hoisted by the big yellow hydraulic arm towards the entrance hatch. As they went they were just in time to see the cargo bay doors of Thunderbird 3 closing, with Penelope catching a glimpse of a yellow object having just been loaded inside, which she quickly realised was Thunderbird 4. Upon reaching the hatch, the chairs moved forwards off the end of the arm and via the rails on the final few feet before coming to a stop at the control panel and joining Scott and Gordon who were already inside. The blast shield then sealed them off from the rest of the vast silo whilst the hatch above them underneath the Roundhouse opened up so they could commence their launching.
5! 4! 3! 2! 1!
Thunderbird 3's engines roared into life and the massive red rocket lifted up off the launch pad, rising through the exit of the silo and through behind the Roundhouse before climbing high into the sky away from the island.
"Say it, Lady P," urged Alan.
"Thunderbirds are GO!" said Penelope.
Soon Thunderbird 3 had left the Earth's atmosphere and got ready to commence its fast acceleration in order to get to Mars as quickly as possible.
"Is everyone strapped in?" Alan asked.
Scott and Gordon nodded.
"Aren't we already?" asked Penelope, confused.
"Yeah, but you might want to hold on for this bit," said Alan.
Penelope still looked puzzled.
"He means we're about to go extremely fast very quickly," Gordon said.
Penelope rolled her eyes and chuckled. "Oh, please," she said. "I've flown on Fireflash. This is nothing I can't handle."
Scott, Gordon and Alan exchanged knowing looks.
"Don't say you weren't warned, Lady P," remarked Scott. "Let's do it, Alan."
"Right then!" said Alan as he placed his hand on the throttle. "Firing ion engines in three…two…one!"
The ion-fusion engines in the back of Thunderbird 3 ignited and the rocket zoomed away from Earth at colossal speed. For Alan, Scott and even Gordon this wasn't anything they weren't used to. But for Penelope. This was absolutely nothing like what she'd experienced with Fireflash. The G-Force slammed her back into her seat. "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" she exclaimed, terrified.
Jeff and Virgil arrived at Base Weald, located at North Weald just outside London in the county of Essex. They had called ahead and like with Base Tangmere they'd been allowed to land purely because of Jeff being who he was. After landing the plane they were greeted by a Sergeant who led them to the office of Major Murdoch Hicks - the base commander.
"Jeff Tracy, as I live and breathe!" said Major Hicks as he shook Jeff's hand. "Haven't seen you for such a long time, old chap. How the devil are you?"
"Very well, thank you, Murdoch," replied Jeff. "You may remember my son, Virgil? Although I believe he was about three at the time."
"I have vague recollection of meeting two of your sons, Jeff," said Major Hicks. "Virgil, you say? Very pleased to meet you, young man."
"Thank you, sir," replied Virgil, shaking the Major's hand out of politeness.
"Now then," said Major Hicks after getting them to take a seat. "What brings you here?"
"We have a family acquaintance of whom we have been having a spot of bother getting in touch with," Jeff explained, not wanting to reveal too much about the relationship between Hayley and Virgil. "I believe you have had some medical students from Base Tangmere arrive this morning?"
"Ah, yes, we did," said Major Hicks. He looked at a document on his desktop computer. "Who would this person be? I could then have them brought here."
"Hayley Madison," said Virgil before Jeff could speak.
Major Hicks looked at the list of names of the medical students that had come to them from Tangmere. He began to frown. "Well…I'm sorry, gentlemen, but there's no person with that name on the list." He turned the screen round to show them.
Jeff and Virgil looked at the screen. Sure enough, Hayley's name wasn't on it. Virgil felt the knot in his stomach tighten. "Damn it," he muttered quietly to himself.
"This is most odd, Murdoch," said Jeff. "We've just come from Base Tangmere and we were told that she would be here."
"And who told you that?" asked Major Hicks.
"Lieutenant Pierce," said Jeff.
Major Hicks flinched. "Ugh - him!" he said in disgust.
Jeff and Virgil frowned at each other, intrigued. "Go on?" Jeff said.
"Probably not my place to say," Major Hicks said. "But honestly, Jeff, I would not follow any instruction that that man gives you. The man is a coward, a liar, and a damn monster! I have a massive respect for Colonel Casey - but the only mistake she's ever made was making that man a Lieutenant."
"You mean he's lied to us about Hayley's whereabouts?" said Virgil.
Major Hicks bit his lip. "I wouldn't want to speculate, Virgil," he said, "but it would seem that you two have been misled."
Now Jeff and Virgil were really worried.
Thunderbird 3 was now at its top speed and making its way on a steady course that would take it to Mars. Things in the cockpit had now adjusted to the speed and for the three Tracy brothers, it all felt normal. But for Penelope, it hadn't, and Alan and Scott could tell that she was looking a little off-colour.
"Say, Gordon," said Scott. "Why don't you show Lady P where the on-board bathroom is?"
Gordon frowned. "Why would I want to do that?" he asked. Penelope then made a slight choking noise which made Gordon realise what Scott meant. "Oh!" he exclaimed as he lifted the safety-bars on his seat. "Yes, of course." He floated forwards to Penelope's seat and lifted the bars off Penelope's seat. "Come on, Penny. Let me show you around Thunderbird 3," he said as he used the weightlessness in the cockpit to lift Penelope out and guide her towards the hatch at the back. The hatch opened and he quickly led Penelope, who had her hand over her mouth out of the cockpit.
Scott then came forwards from where he'd been sitting behind Alan and sat himself down in the one that Penelope had sat in. "How long do you reckon?" Scott asked his youngest brother.
"Count together?" Alan asked.
"Fine," said Scott.
"Five, four, three, two, one!"
As soon as they'd finished saying 'one' a loud retching sound was heard from the bathroom as the hatch hadn't been closed behind Gordon and Penelope. Scott and Alan tried hard not to wince or think about it too much.
"Ahhh, dear," said Scott sympathetically. "Poor Penelope."
"Well we did try and warn her," Alan said. "Hey, Gordon?" he then called back. "Make sure you clean it up afterwards!"
Gordon didn't respond, but both Alan and Scott couldn't help getting a feeling that a blue-gloved hand appeared around the corner of the doorway and giving them a rude-gesture before disappearing again.
Leaving Major Hicks's office, Jeff and Virgil made their way back to the Tracy Jet. It took off again and began to head back South.
Virgil was shaking with anger. "Wait until we get back to Tangmere, Dad," he said furiously. "Give me two minutes with him and I'll make him tell me what he's done to Hayley."
Jeff was quick to interject. "Don't even consider it, Virgil," he warned.
"WHY THE HELL NOT?!" bellowed Virgil. "DAD, MY GIRL IS MISSING! THAT MAN'S DONE SOMETHING BAD TO HER! I KNOW HE HAS!"
"AND HOW IS THREATENING HIM WITH VIOLENCE GOING TO SOLVE THE MATTER?" roared Jeff.
Virgil opened his mouth to give an answer, only to discover that he didn't have one. He slumped into a comfy chair and buried his face in his hands. "Dad…I'm scared for her," he said, trying to hold back his tears.
"I know you are, son," said Jeff, squeezing Virgil's right shoulder. "You don't think I am also worrying about her safety? I most certainly am. Now we WILL find out what's going on, but we're not going to get answers from Pierce. He won't give them to us. No, this is a job for someone who he cannot challenge or give false information too."
"Colonel Casey?" asked Virgil.
Jeff nodded. "Correct."
"But isn't she taking a vacation?" Virgil asked.
"She is, but she won't say no to us popping in for a visit," answered Jeff. "Plus if she thinks that one of her people is a serious danger to other members of GDF personnel, she'll want to know about it."
Virgil nodded before looking out of the window as they passed over London. He could only hope that Hayley was alive, and that she was unharmed if she was.
Sandra had sat Taylor upright and leant him back against a smooth rock whilst being very careful not to move his damaged left leg too much. She'd wanted to clear the splatters inside his visor but that would have meant removing his helmet which wasn't an option. He looked really poorly, the worst she'd ever seen anyone since arriving on Mars. "Poor man, you are in a state," she said. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick?"
"You have enough burden with everyone at the colony, Doc," Tayler said in a low voice. "I was never meant to stay here as long as I have. But I guess I just wanted to get away from it."
"Get away from what?" asked Sandra.
Taylor didn't respond for a few seconds. "From it," he said. "This blasted disease that mankind still hasn't found a cure for."
Sandra felt her heart skip a beat as she realised what he meant. "Oh, gosh…" she said. "How long have you known?"
"Since I returned to Earth following the loss of my Moonbase," replied Taylor. "I started feeling rather off and felt sick within a few weeks. I thought it was just having to acclimate to breathing natural oxygen, but soon it got worse so I went to doctors. That's when MRI and X-Ray scans revealed the damn thing. They gave me treatment but I didn't want to let it be the end of me. I'd been nearly due my last bout of treatment as they'd caught it early when I was called to help with your ship's journey here. With all the excitement of going back into space again…I guess I forgot about it. Hoped being away from Earth would mean no more problems, and for the past few years it's been no trouble. Until now, that is."
"Paul said you had a coughing fit at the end of his class yesterday," Sandra said.
Taylor nodded. "Ah, I knew the little man wouldn't be able to keep himself from telling you," he said with a chuckle.
"And he had every right to," said Sandra sternly. "You are no burden to me, Captain. No different to anybody else in the colony. It is my job to ensure that everyone's health and welfare is up to scratch. And we also have the equipment to help treat you as well."
Taylor let out a small cough, but nothing like the heavy ones he'd had before. He'd used up quite a bit of energy explaining his problems to Sandra.
Sandra looked at her watch before checking the oxygen levels. "Nine hours of air left," she said as she looked upwards at the roof of the dim cavern. "I hope International Rescue is close."
Thunderbird 3 was now halfway through its journey from Earth to Mars. Neither Gordon nor Penelope had returned to the cockpit as Penelope still wasn't feeling too good. She felt better than what she'd done following the sharp acceleration, but she was still recovering herself. They had gone down to the cargo bay of Thunderbird 3 where Thunderbird 4 was being held in place by the magnetic clamps.
Gordon was still fuming over Alan's remark about having to clean up the mess Penelope had made in the bathroom. "Honestly, I don't know why I put up with having brothers, I really don't!" he fumed, "This is Alan's ship. He should have been the one to clean it up!"
"Oh, give it a rest, will you, Gordon?" sighed Penelope after drinking half of her third cup of water. "I would have cleaned it up myself, you know. You didn't have to do it."
"Are you kidding me?" Gordon said. "You're a Lady. A high member of society in the English aristocracy! You shouldn't be cleaning up after yourself."
"And why not?" asked Penelope with a frown. "You might find this hard to believe, Gordon but I really do not like being waited on."
Gordon blinked in surprise. "You…you don't?"
"I pride myself as being a very independent woman," Penelope said. "Whilst I admit I prefer having my meals brought to me in a restaurant, I do feel bad for those who do it in somewhere like my home. It…it just doesn't feel right, having servants. I'd much rather do my own cooking, cleaning etc. I don't like being constantly fussed over. Why else do you think I joined International Rescue? To get away from the droll and horrendously boring lifestyle that a person of my stature would normally deal with?"
For once, Gordon had nothing to say. Instead he floated over to Penelope and put his arms around her. Penelope put hers around him and they hugged tightly. They rubbed their cheeks against each others until their lips then found and connected with each other. Soon they were both off the floor and floating, slowly turning around as they continued their loving embrace - one most magical, they both felt.
They had no idea that Alan and Scott were secretly observing them via a CCTV camera. "You know we shouldn't be watching this, Alan?" Scott said.
"Aw, come on, Scott," said Alan. "I'm just picturing that as-" He broke off, unable to finish.
Scott raised his eyebrows. "You imagined that as you and Sophie?" he asked.
Alan blushed, before turning the screen off. "I, er, um, perhaps?" he said, embarrassed.
"You two are still talking, if you don't mind me asking?" Scott asked.
"Er, yeah, we are," said Alan. "She says Base Endeavour's gonna be complete in a few weeks."
"So it is," said Scott. "Dad's got a personal invite from the World President to attend the opening."
Alan grinned. "Cool!" he said. "Maybe I can take him. Then Sophie and I could have some time together at last."
Scott smiled. "I hope you do, little brother," he said. "I really do." He looked out of the cockpit window and noticed a tiny red dot in the distance. "That Mars I can see?"
"It sure is," replied Alan. "We'll be there in a few hours."
Scott began to think back to the mission in hand. "Let's hope we're not too late," he said.
Colonel Casey's home ranch was located in Louisiana. She had been spending time with her daughter Rita who although had physically recovered from her ordeal at the hands of Havoc, was still recovering from the mental side of things. Colonel Casey had enjoyed spending time with her daughter, but the urge to get back to work with the GDF was very strong. She was almost waiting for an excuse to go back to it. And very soon she'd get one.
The Tracy Jet touched down with its VTOL jets in an open grass field on the edge of the ranch. Rita gave a frown. "Who are they?" she asked her mother, having not seen the writing and logo on the side of the aircraft.
"That's a jet from the Tracy Corporation, Rita," Colonel Casey replied. "I suspect it could be Jeff."
"So long as he's here for pleasure," said Rita. "You still have one day before you go back to work."
"And I won't go back unless it's majorly serious, my love," said Colonel Casey. "I promised you that, did I not?"
Rita nodded after a few moments. For several years things had been rather estranged between them as well as Noel. The Colonel's job meant that she'd be away for sometimes months at a time, and now their father was no longer with them, it fell to Colonel Casey to make sure that Rita was now being looked after, whilst also trying unsuccessfully to find out what had happened to Noel.
Colonel Casey and Rita walked towards the aircraft as Jeff and Virgil disembarked.
"Jeff? Virgil? This is a surprise," said Colonel Casey. "Whatever brings you out here?"
"To see how things are getting on with you, Martha," said Jeff warmly. He turned to Rita. "Miss Casey. How are you?"
"Battling on, Mr Tracy," replied Rita as Jeff kissed her hand.
"Have you met my son Virgil?" Jeff went on.
Rita and Virgil looked at each other. "I don't believe I have," Rita said. She held out her hand. "Nice to meet you, Virgil."
"Likewise," Virgil said, forcing himself to smile.
"Coffee?" asked Colonel Casey.
"That would be splendid," said Jeff.
"Allow me," smiled Rita and she hurried off to the house.
Jeff nudged Virgil. "Would you give her a hand, Virgil?" he whispered. "I'd like to speak with Martha about, you-know-what."
Virgil nodded. "Sure, Dad," he said, and he headed off after Rita.
As Colonel Casey led Jeff to some chairs and a table on the front lawn, she couldn't help but notice how troubled Virgil looked. "Something's wrong, Jeff," she said once Virgil and Rita had gone inside the house. "I had a feeling this wasn't a social visit. What's wrong?"
"It's Hayley, Martha," Jeff said. "I fear she's in grave danger from one of your officers."
Colonel Casey raised a concerned eyebrow. "Who?"
"Lieutenant Pierce," Jeff said. "There was an accident at the construction site. Pierce refused to let Hayley call us in. She defied his orders. When we turned up, Pierce went temporarily AWOL whilst we rescued the construction worker. Then Gordon found an unexploded WW2 bomb in the earth-mound that the diggers had created. We managed to get Gordon off and Parker disabled the main part of the bomb only for its second booby-trap trigger to set it off."
Colonel Casey was shocked. "Why was I not informed about this sooner?" she demanded.
"Because you're on vacation and we didn't wish for you to be disturbed," Jeff replied.
Colonel Casey frowned. "Jeff, with the greatest of respect, regardless of whether I'm on vacation or not, something like this needs to be brought to my attention. But why do you reckon Miss Madison is in danger?"
"When Pierce went AWOL, Hayley took charge of the base herself," explained Jeff. "Then when Virgil called to check on her, we got no reply. After a couple of days we began to suspect something was wrong when John could not trace her signal-watch. So Virgil and I went to Base Tangmere to investigate. Pierce was there and he told us Hayley had gone with some other students to Base Weald. But when we went there, Major Hicks said she wasn't amongst the students, and warned us that Pierce was not someone to be trusted."
Colonel Casey pondered the problem with a worried frown. "Pierce," she said slowly. "I have often suspected that he's power-hungry. Have had numerous complaints made against him by the hospital staff on the base. But I've never had any concrete evidence to make it official. Words aren't evidence."
Virgil placed four cups on a tray whilst Rita made the coffee. His attention was then grabbed by a painting on the kitchen wall. It showed a line of old Windmills from a flood-plain in Holland. He'd not seen it before. "That's a magnificent painting," he remarked. "Who did that?"
"I did," replied Rita. "My finest work in college when I studied Art."
Virgil was amazed. "It's beautiful," he said. "You got any others?"
"Sure. The house is full of them," smiled Rita.
Whilst she finished off, Virgil went for a look around the lounge area. There were three more paintings of Rita's that he could admire. One was of some Sunflowers. One showed a dark, stormy sky along a coastline. And the third was a family portrait of herself plus Colonel Casey and two men who Virgil could only presume were her deceased father and missing brother Noel.
Rita entered the room to see Virgil admiring the family portrait. "Oh…I forgot that one was there. I need to take that down?"
"Whatever for?" asked Virgil. "It's amazing."
"It's painful," Rita said as she got a small stepladder. "It reminds me of what we've lost. My brother still has not been found. And my father…well, I hope that despicable woman who murdered him is rotting away in a cell!"
Virgil could guess who she meant. "Havoc?" he muttered, thinking Rita wouldn't hear.
"Please don't say that name!" she said sharply.
Virgil coughed. "Oh, pardon me, Rita," he said. "I didn't meant to-"
"It's fine," Rita said as she took the painting off the wall. "I know my Dad will never return to me. As for Noel. Well, who knows? But I doubt he'll ever return."
"You shouldn't give up hope, Rita," Virgil said. "There's always hope."
"How can you be so sure of that?" asked Rita. "You have no idea what it's like to lose someone so precious to you."
Virgil's eyes suddenly narrowed. "Actually I do," he said firmly. "Dad is the perfect example. He was missing in the far depths of space for around eight years. My brothers, my Grandma and I all believed he was lost forever. And we found that he wasn't. You need to believe that your brother is still out there somewhere, and that he will return to you."
Rita didn't know what to say to that. "Oh…" she said, suddenly feeling guilty. "I'm sorry, Virgil. I…I didn't know."
Virgil was surprised. "I would have thought your mother may have told you?" he said. "Or you saw it on the news?"
Rita scoffed. "Mum never told us anything," she said, sounding slightly bitter. "These past two weeks are the most I've seen her in recent years."
Realising they had nothing else to add, they headed back out to the kitchen to take the freshly-made coffee out to Colonel Casey and Jeff who were waiting on the front lawn.
Gordon and Penelope had finally returned to the cockpit following their private time. As the minutes passed, they saw the large red ball that was Mars getting larger and larger until they were almost in orbit around the planet. For Scott and Alan, seeing Mars this close was nothing new. Even Gordon had seen Mars fairly close but not this close from the time when he and Alan had taken Thunderbirds 3 and 4 to Europa to rescue Buddy and Ellie Pendeghast. But for Penelope, seeing another planet was a whole new experience, and it made her initial throwing up earlier worth it. She was awestruck.
"Welcome to Mars, Lady P," said Scott.
"It's so incredible!" gasped Penelope. "How soon do we land?"
"Actually, that's a point," said Alan. "Where abouts are we going again?"
"I'll double-check with John," said Scott, opening the radio link. "Thunderbird 5 from Thunderbird 3. We're on final approach to Mars. Are there any updates, John?"
"That's a negative, Thunderbird 3," John answered after his hologram appeared from the projector. "Both the life signs of Taylor and Dr Travers are still in the same area."
"Where exactly is that again?" asked Alan.
"They're in an underground cavern underneath the Frazer Gorge Mountains," said John. "I've marked a suitable location in an open area beyond the mountains above one of the underground water channels. You will have to drill a shaft down to the channel and then lower Thunderbird 4 down into it so that Gordon can go and try to rescue them."
"Sounds straightforward enough," remarked Gordon.
"Don't get complacent, Gordon," warned John. "This is a very dangerous area for you to be in. we have no idea what kind of water that is or how Thunderbird 4 will react in it."
"But we have to try, right?" said Penelope.
"Agreed," said Scott. "International Rescue does the impossible all the time. We'll get them out of there one way or another."
"F-A-B," said John. "Good luck, and er, be careful. The locals may not take kindly to you if you disturb them. Thunderbird 5, out." He signed off.
The brothers and Penelope all exchanged puzzled looks.
"What did he mean by 'locals'?" asked Gordon.
"Search me," replied Scott. "I thought the colonists were the only ones living on Mars?"
The mystery continued to play on their minds as Thunderbird 3 entered the Martian atmosphere and began to fly high above the surface of the red planet towards the Frazer Gorge. Using the location marked by John on the radar screen, Alan guided the mighty rocket over the mountains and over the open area before tilting the nose down and deploying the grasping arms before gently guiding the ship down ready to land on the ground.
"Touchdown complete," said Alan. "Activating drill-head."
The nose-cone of Thunderbird 3 opened up and the powerful drill-nose got ready to burrow into the hard rock surface of the planet. But a quick glance up as he checked the instruments caused him to notice something and after letting out a gasp, he almost punched the power button and shut down the drill.
"Why are you stopping the drill?" asked Scott. "We have a rescue to complete, Alan!"
"Errrrrrrrrrrrrr, I've suddenly realised what John meant by 'locals'," said Alan, pointing to something outside.
Scott, Penelope and Gordon all looked to see what he was referring to. About forty metres away was a strange rock-formation that none of them had seen before.
"Are you serious, Alan?" exclaimed Gordon. "That's a damn rock-formation! How's that gonna be any problem for us?"
"That's not a rock-formation, Gordon," Alan said. "That's a Rock Snake!"