THUNDERBIRDS 1 and 2 flew low over the Pacific on their way back to Tracy Island following the completion of another successful mission. Scott flew alone in Thunderbird 1 as normal whilst Virgil had got the company of Alan and Gordon.
"Step on the gas, Virg!" urged Alan. "I need a shower."
"Wait, did I hear that right?" asked Gordon cheekily. "Alan actually wants to have a shower?"
"Hey, I do try and keep myself clean!" protested Alan indignantly.
"Knock it off you two," laughed Virgil. "We'll be home soon, Alan."
"I can see the island on the horizon," added Gordon, pointing ahead where the distant shape of Tracy Island could just be made out.
"If you boys don't mind, I'm gonna fly on ahead," Scott said over the radio. "I should have showered and gotten dry by the time you get back so Alan can have his turn."
Virgil and Gordon laughed whilst Alan fumed.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The brothers all jumped as something small, sleek, black and very fast overtook both ships and began to perform aerobatics in front of them.
"What the?!" exclaimed Gordon.
"It's Kayo!" gasped Alan.
It was indeed Thunderbird Shadow that was now flying ahead of them.
"Kayo!" said Scott. "You're flying again!"
"Very observant, Scott," answered a very happy Kayo. "Yes, everyone - I am back!"
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"EYE FOR AN EYE"
KAYO was happier than she'd been in weeks. Grandma was finally satisfied that her leg was fully healed after her ordeal at the hands of The Cabal and had cleared her to return to active duty. Kayo wanted nothing more than to get back into action - and especially to get back at The Cabal for what they'd done to her and Captain Rigby, who had also now made a full recovery and was back on duty. However, both Jeff and Grandma made it very clear that whilst she would be allowed to go searching for The Cabal if there were any leads to follow up on, she was not to engage them in any way. At least not until Brains had completed whatever mysterious upgrade he said he was making for her.
A full week had passed since Thunderbirds 3 and 4 had returned to Earth following their mission to Mars. Lady Penelope had since left and returned to England, and Scott had gotten Jeff to have a call with Captain Taylor where upon he learned the grim details about his friend's illness and crazy suicide attempt.
It was also a week since Virgil got the extremely relieving piece of news from Colonel Casey that Hayley had been found and released from her imprisonment and that the disgraced former Lieutenant Pierce had been arrested in her place. However, Virgil still hadn't gotten the chance to see Hayley because she had made the decision to spend her first week of extended leave with her parents before coming to spend two weeks at Tracy Island with Virgil. He had been counting down the days and it felt like forever, but the day finally came.
The entire family along with Brains and MAX watched as the GDF Flyer approached Tracy Island and came in to land on the end of Thunderbird 2's runway. Virgil stood in front of the others, trying hard not to jump up and down like a kid in a toy shop. As soon as the Flyer had touched down, the door ramp opened to reveal Hayley and Colonel Casey standing at the top. Hayley and Virgil immediately began to run towards each other before the ramp had even touched the tarmac and with an excitable squeal, Hayley jumped off the ground and into Virgil's arms. He spun her around and they embraced with lips locked together and tears of joy trickling down their faces. This warmed the hearts of everyone.
"Do you have any idea how much I have missed you?" Virgil whispered into Hayley's ear.
"Not as much as I have," Hayley replied. She then finally released herself from Virgil and began to greet and have hugs with the rest of the family.
"Welcome back, Hayley," said Kayo.
"Good to see you again," said Scott.
"I knew no villain could get the better of you," teased Gordon, resulting in Hayley giving him a playful slap on the arm.
"Great to have you back with us, kiddo," said Grandma.
"Thank you all," said Hayley. "I'm beyond overjoyed to be back with Virgil. But I didn't realise how much I've missed you all. You are family. No doubt about that."
Virgil then looked up at Colonel Casey. "I can't thank you enough for getting her out of this, Colonel," he said gratefully.
"I take matters regarding my people very seriously, Virgil," replied Colonel Casey. "And I am more than glad to have gotten a dangerous and unpredictable man out of my ranks."
"Another inmate for Aquatraz?" asked Kayo.
"I certainly expect so," answered Colonel Casey. "And I'm pleased to see that you're on your feet again, Kayo."
"Oh, you've no idea how good it feels, Colonel," said Kayo. "I just wish there could be something for me to do."
Colonel Casey pondered. "You know what, there might be," she said. "Jeff, would you mind if we borrowed Kayo for an important mission?"
Jeff frowned. "Is this to do with The Hood and his Cabal?" he asked.
"No, it's not," replied Colonel Casey. "Captain Rigby needs help with a surveillance mission."
"We haven't heard from The Cabal since Kayo was first injured," remarked Gordon.
"Yeah, and I'm not at all comfortable about that at all," agreed Scott.
Jeff pondered whilst Kayo looked at him eagerly. "Very well," he said at last. "But, Kayo, I want you to take no unnecessary risks. Got it?"
Kayo nodded. "Of course not, Mr Tracy," she said excitedly. "Thank you!" She then turned back to Colonel Casey. "Where am I going?"
"For now - GDF Main Headquarters, Washington," said Colonel Casey. "Captain Rigby is already there and together we'll fill you in on the details."
Kayo was buzzing. "F-A-B!" she said.
The Shadowbike zoomed down the long corridor from the changing rooms to the elevator at the far end which lifted it up into the main body of Thunderbird Shadow. Once locked into place, the yellow conveyor moved the small black stealth jet back up its unusual launch tunnel before stopping to allow the cliff to swivel around so that it was now outside. As the swivel ended the yellow turntable turned the ship around 180-degrees so that the nose was pointing towards the sky and the thrusters facing the ground.
5! 4! 3! 2! 1!
The twin motors of Thunderbird Shadow fired and the clamp holding it in place was released. The ship dropped away and passed over the villa before spinning around to horizontal flight and racing away from Tracy Island.
"Thunderbird Shadow is GO!" said Kayo as she headed off after the GDF Flyer which had left a few hours before.
"Good luck, Kayo," said Jeff over the radio. "And remember what I said?"
"No unnecessary risks, Mr Tracy," said Kayo. "Don't worry. I won't let you down."
Jeff smiled. "F-A-B," he said and signed off.
Kayo grinned like the Cheshire Cat as Thunderbird Shadow made its way across the Pacific towards the United States of America.
Scott and Jeff watched from the lounge window as Thunderbird Shadow disappeared into the distance.
"Do you think she'll keep her promise, Dad?" asked Scott.
"I honestly don't know, son," answered Jeff. "I hope so. But fate has a way of messing things up for her. If she does get into trouble, I can't be certain that it'll be entirely her doing. I must give her the benefit of the doubt no matter what happens."
They decided it would be best to leave Kayo to it and went down to the dining room where they found Hayley telling Virgil, John, Gordon and Alan about the meeting between her, Colonel Casey and Pierce and how the Colonel had caught him out with his lies by showing CCTV images of the rescue zone.
"Ha! What an absolute tool!" remarked Alan. "Did he seriously think he could have you put away for a thing like that?"
"In his own twisted mind, I think so," Hayley replied.
John shuddered. "The idiocy of some people will never cease to amaze me," he said.
"Yeah, add him to the list," said Gordon. "Lemaire."
"Fischler," added Alan.
"Brandon," Virgil piped in.
Alan snorted in disgust at the sound of the last name.
Hayley chortled. "That last one wouldn't be Brandon Beranger, would it?" she asked.
"Please…don't say that name in my presence," Alan said. He'd developed a strong dislike for Brandon after the way he had treated him during the time he, Scott and Virgil had had to rescue him from a snowy mountainside and Brandon had refused to include Alan in his blog.
"Alan's not had the greatest experience with him," Gordon said to Hayley.
"That makes two of us," agreed Scott as he and Jeff joined the table. "I still shudder when I think about the first time I had to rescue him."
"Aww, really, you guys?" Hayley said. "I thought he was cool."
"You wouldn't think that if you had to rescue him, Hayley, trust me," said Scott. "He does not take the danger he is in very seriously sometimes."
"Can we change the subject, please?" Alan asked grumpily.
Grandma then placed a large plate of spaghetti bolognaise on the table in front of him. "Or you can eat your lunch, young man," she said, rubbing her hand over his hair. Alan pouted as the others laughed.
Thunderbird Shadow touched down on the landing pad at the main GDF Headquarters building. Kayo disembarked from her craft and walked eagerly inside.
Entering Colonel Casey's office, she was delighted to see Captain Rigby there. "Rigs!"
Rigby turned and his face broke into a broad grin when he saw her. "Kayo!" he said happily as they gave each other a fist-bump. "Damn, it's good to see you."
"Likewise!" said Kayo. "You look well."
"So do you," said Kayo.
Rigby's smile dipped a little. "For the most part," he said. "However I am finding readjusting back to life is a bit of a struggle. There's more work going around and not enough of me to do it."
"Is that why I'm here?" Kayo asked. "As a means of support?"
"In a way, yes, Kayo," said Colonel Casey who had just got off the phone with someone. "It has come to my attention that global crime seems to be on the rise. My forces are becoming overworked and Captain Rigby is only one man. We need more like him to lead groups of personnel on assignments."
"Are you offering me a job?" asked Kayo.
Colonel Casey chuckled and shook her head. "Not quite," she said. "I am going over potential candidates, however we need a covert ops specialist for a specific mission that Captain Rigby has been working on. And you excel when it comes to that."
Kayo tried not to blush. "Why, thank you, Colonel," she said. "Who are the candidates?"
"You wouldn't know anyone," said Colonel Casey. "Except one if she chooses to change from what she is currently training for."
Kayo raised an intrigued eyebrow.
"I believe the Colonel dropped her off before inviting you here?" said Rigby.
Kayo swiftly realised now. "Hayley?"
"Correct," said Colonel Casey. "She's a gifted and natural leader. I am surprised she went for the role that she has done. I think a leader in an officer's role would suit her much more."
"Couldn't agree more," said Kayo. "Now, what's the business you want me to do?"
Rigby turned on a holographic monitor screen whilst Colonel Casey dimmed the lights. The screen now showed two men who looked fairly similar. One was slightly taller than the other with scruffy hair and a bear. The other was shorter with a completely shaved head and no beard. They looked mean. "Heath and Corey McGinley," Rigby began. "28 and 23 years of age respectively. Originally from Darwin, Australia. Now residing somewhere along the West Coast of the United States."
"Can tell they're criminals just by looking at them," Kayo remarked. "What do they do?"
"High-profile boat robberies," said Colonel Casey. "They like to attack and rob parties of wealthy folk on expensive yachts, then cause harm and mass panic by setting the boats alight as they leave whilst those aboard have to fight for survival."
Kayo grimaced. "How come International Rescue's never been called to one of these?" she asked.
"These take place just off the shore," said Rigby. "Not had one yet that's been too far out at sea for help to arrive. Also, it all happens so fast."
"By the time a call would go out to International Rescue, not only would these crooks be long gone, but also the situations do escalate out of control far too quickly," finished Colonel Casey.
"I see," said Kayo. "So what's the plan?"
"We've noticed a pattern in their attacks," said Rigby, bringing up a map. "These red dots mark all their known heists."
"From San Francisco right down to Long Beach," said Kayo.
"And we think they're still in the Long Beach area," said Colonel Casey. "Now businessman Warren Grafton is hosting a party aboard his yacht the Minerva tonight. The city's most wealthy residents are due to be in attendance. We reckon its highly likely that the McGinley brothers will put in an appearance. What they could gain from that crowd would probably give them enough reason to retire permanently."
"So you want me to board the ship and look for any signs of trouble?" asked Kayo.
"Not quite," said Rigby. "They don't board when the yacht's at the dock. They tend to attack via RHIB and board whilst out at sea. We need you to overfly the area in stealth-mode so that they shouldn't have any idea that the boat is being protected."
"And Grafton won't take kindly to non-members of his own security being aboard to keep watch," said Colonel Casey.
"And if they do attack?" asked Kayo.
"Then my squad and I will be waiting nearby to swoop in, board and make the arrests provided that it is safe," said Rigby.
"And if it's not?" asked Kayo.
"Then you'll have to take them out, Kayo," said Colonel Casey. "They'll be prepared and not afraid to take on the GDF. But they won't be expecting someone like you to take them on."
"They wouldn't even know what had hit them," added Rigby with a grin.
Kayo smiled as she looked at the image of the two brothers. "Bring them on," she said determinedly.
Hayley leant on the opposite side of the piano whilst Virgil finished off his latest piece of music. She felt completely enchanted by its somewhat hypnotic affect so much that she didn't even notice when he'd finished.
"What did you think of that?" Virgil asked. He looked at Hayley who had a big grin on her face but had gone completely blank and still. "Hayley?"
Hayley suddenly snapped back to reality. "Oh, gosh. You finished!" she said, going a bit red. "Sorry, Virgil. I was so into it that I thought it was still going."
Virgil laughed. "If only that could work on my brothers," he joked. "Might get them to keep quiet for more than five minutes."
Hayley raised her eyebrows. "That's a bit harsh on John and Scott isn't it?" she said with a smirk.
"Oh I wasn't referring to them anyway," Virgil chuckled.
Alan, who had been sitting playing his mobile game console on one of the seats let out an indignant huff and decided to leave the room.
"Aw, come on, Al, he's only joking!" Hayley called over.
"Hmph!" retorted Alan and he disappeared from the lounge.
Jeff, who had been sitting at his desk, turned to face Virgil and Hayley. "I know you didn't mean that to be offensive, Virgil," he said. "But maybe try and word what you say a little more carefully, would you please?"
Virgil and Hayley now looked ashamed of themselves.
"Yes, Dad," said Virgil. "Sorry."
"Sorry, Mr Tracy," added Hayley.
"It's fine," said Jeff. "Just make sure you say that to Alan when you next see him."
"Ah, no big deal. Two can play the joke game!"
They all looked to see Alan had returned with a mischievous grin on his face.
'Yes, well, just be mindful, all of you," said Jeff. He then stood up and walked out of the room with his hands behind his back. He walked along by the windows and as he left the lounge, let out a deep sigh.
"Is he okay?" Hayley whispered to Virgil. "He seems troubled by something."
Virgil was pretty sure he knew what was on Jeff's mind. "Either he's thinking about how Kayo is doing or how Captain Taylor's treatment is going to go," he said. "Safe to say he didn't take the news well."
"Captain Taylor?" asked Hayley.
"You've never heard of Lee Taylor, Hayley?" asked Alan, surprised.
Hayley pondered. "The name rings a bell," she said. "However I couldn't picture him."
Alan put down his game controller and hurried over to the bookshelf. He found what he was looking for and pulled out a large book which he brought over to the piano. He placed it down in front of Hayley who looked at the front cover. There was a photo of Captain Taylor with the Moon behind him and the title of 'HOW TO SURVIVE ON THE MOON' by CAPTAIN LEE TAYLOR.
"He does look familiar," said Hayley. "Did he used to work with your Dad, boys?"
"Yeah, he did," said Virgil. "He's Dad's best friend. But they've only seen each other once since he came back from the Oort Cloud."
"It's not easy to see someone when they reside on Mars," added Alan.
"Is that why he's worried about him?" Hayley asked. "Because he's so far away?"
Neither Alan nor Virgil answered for a second. Virgil gave an indication to Alan to tell her in a whisper. Alan beckoned Hayley closer and he whispered what they'd learned about Taylor after they'd rescued him. By the time he'd finished, Hayley's hand was over her mouth in shock.
"Oh, my God…" Hayley said when her voice returned. "That's horrible. Can they do anything for him?"
"Dr Travers does have the equipment to try and cure him of it," said Alan. "But the chances are at least fifty-fifty she reckons."
"Dad feels bad because he's not made more of an effort for them to meet and catch up since he came back," added Virgil. "And now he's worried that he may not get to see him again."
"Couldn't Alan take him to Mars in Thunderbird 3?" asked Hayley.
"If he'd allow Thunderbird 3 to be used as a taxi service, possibly," Alan said. "But he always worries a lot about leaving International Rescue…and us."
"But you guys were without him for eight years," Hayley said. "Surely he knows you're more than capable of taking care of yourselves?"
"He's never forgiven himself for being trapped out there for so long," said Virgil. "He feels like he needs to make it up to us."
All three fell silent as they couldn't think of anything else to add.
The Saucy Soo was the name of the large luxury motor-yacht owned by the wealthy and successful if somewhat controversial businessman Warren Grafton. This short and dumpy man had made a name for himself by creating business ventures focusing solely on profit without always focusing on safety. He had a few dealings with International Rescue and Jeff in particular in the early days of IR's operation, including a very unsafe and unmanned Monorail service that ended in disaster for Grafton and he spent some time in prison because of it. He served his time and was eventually released, but he still held Jeff responsible for it and had originally vowed to get revenge, that was until he'd learned of the Zero-X incident and believing that Jeff was dead, dropped all that he hated against him. He held no grudge against International Rescue because he didn't actually know that Jeff was the person behind it.
Grafton had made numerous friends in high and some low places and generally did have some kind of respect and following in recent years and had gathered a large group of them for a black-tie cocktail party aboard his yacht for the evening. It was because of the amount of wealth and valuable items that were going to be aboard the vessel that Colonel Casey felt confident that it would be the next target of the McGinley brothers.
As the Saucy Soo sailed south along a remote stretch of coastline of California, the sun was setting and the party was in full swing. Neither Grafton nor any of his guests had any idea that a small black aircraft was following them in stealth-mode. Thunderbird Shadow was flying just to the North-West of the yacht with Kayo keeping a very close-eye on the surroundings both visually and by radar. A group of five small hovercraft boats were on her screen hugging the coastline which were Captain Rigby's Capture-Squad craft. They were out of sight of the yacht so as to not alert them, and hopefully it would not deter the criminals from striking.
"Kayo to Rigby. I have a visual on Grafton's yacht. No sign of trouble yet."
"Roger that, Kayo. They might wait until its dark before they make their move. Be less easy to spot."
"Visually anyway," said Kayo. "But surely the yacht's radar would pick them up?"
"Highly likely," said Rigby. "But that hasn't stopped them before and they'll stop at nothing to achieve their goals."
"Well tonight we'll end that if they strike," said Kayo. but the words had barely left Kayo's lips before a new contact appeared on Thunderbird Shadow's radar scope. "Hold up, I might have something."
"Small boat moving fast?" asked Rigby. "Yeah, we see it too."
"It's coming directly from the South," said Kayo. "It's looking to pass between the yacht and your location. Should I intercept?"
"Negative, Kayo," said Rigby. "There are plenty of vessels that use these waters. It may not be them."
"Hold positions unless it actually makes an attack run on the yacht?" said Kayo.
"Correct," said Rigby. "You know you'd make an excellent GDF Captain if Madison decides to stick to her medical training."
Kayo chuckled. "Thanks for the compliment, Rigs. However, I love my current job far too much."
Both fell silent as they continued to observe the other vessel. It was another pleasure yacht, only five times smaller than Grafton's. It looked fairly innocent, Kayo originally thought as she flew over it. But then she saw an even smaller black RHIB attached to the stern. She could also see two men, one standing inside whilst the other was on the yacht handing some things to him. The one in the boat was bald and the other had scruffy hair - just like the McGinley brothers. Then she noticed what they were loading - large empty sacks and a pair of deadly-looking rifles.
"Kayo to Rigby. It's them!"
"Are you certain?"
"Positive!" said Kayo. "Black RHIB, two males - one bald, one scruffy, guns and empty sacks."
"And they've just changed onto an intercept course with Grafton's ship," finished Rigby.
"We can't let them get aboard," Kayo said. "Innocent people might get hurt."
"Agreed," said Rigby. "They'll see us coming but they won't see you coming. Go get 'em!"
"With pleasure," said Kayo as she turned Thunderbird Shadow round for an attack.
Heath and Corey were not alone in their criminal ventures. Their younger sister Isabella was also a part of their group as the getaway driver of the small pleasure craft they were currently travelling on. She would get her two brothers to within a decent position of the target vessel before they would then go and perform the heist by using the RHIB to cross between the two.
As they approached the Saucy-Soo, Isabella observed the large yacht that was brightly illuminated through her binoculars. "Alright, bros!" she called down. "Our prize is in sight. Hope you're ready for this?"
"Hell yeah, sis!" Heath called back. "Ain't nothing gonna stop us now!" He slapped his brother on the shoulder and they both laughed in fearless delight.
WHOOSH! A strong gust of wind struck the boat and caused it to sway suddenly, almost throwing the siblings off their feet.
"What in the hell was that?!" exclaimed Corey.
They looked around as they tried to see what had caused the sudden gust. Then suddenly a brief glow of light in the sky caught their attention as a small jet black stealth-aircraft appeared out of thin air and began to circle back around.
"What the hell is that?" Corey asked his brother.
Heath grabbed his own binoculars and looked at the mysterious aircraft. "I don't know, Cor. but it won't bother us again. Isa, how far are we from the target?"
"About two miles!" Isabella called back.
"Perfect," said Heath. "Cor, get the RHIB started. We're gonna make us rich!"
But as Corey went to climb in the RHIB he happened to look back up in the sky and froze. "Er, Heath? HEATH?!"
'WHAT?!" barked Heath who had been about to go inside to get his balaclava.
Corey pointed up towards the strange aircraft which was now heading on a direct course for them. "It's coming right at us!"
The three stared at the strange aircraft in confusion. Why was it coming back towards them?
From her position in the cockpit, Kayo smirked as she saw via long-range camera that they were just bewildered. "That's it, boys. Hold that pose," she said and pressed a button on the joystick.
A bright pulse of blue light shot out from the disrupter located in the nose of Thunderbird Shadow. It hit the small boat before the McGinley siblings had any chance to react. The shockwave that hit them as the pulse hit the boat knocked them all off their feet as with a cough, a splutter and a loud POP the engines conked out and it drifted to a stop. Thunderbird Shadow then zoomed overhead.
"Kayo to Capture Squad. The boat's been disabled. Come on in."
"Roger!" answered Rigby. "Rigby to all Hovercraft. Target vessel is down. Let's take them!"
Heath was the first to recover and he scrambled up to his feet. He then ran up to the bridge where he helped a stunned Isabella to her feet. "Why are the engines off?" he asked as he tried hard to get it restarted. "What the hell happened?"
"I-I-I don't know," gasped Isabella, her hand on her chest and she was hyperventilating. "Oh, God, my-"
"Shhhhhh!" said Heath, placing his hands on her arms. "Calm yourself, sis. Slow breaths. That's it. Try and get the engines going. I'll check on Corey."
Heath left his sister to try and get the engines restarted and he hurried back down to the stern where he found Corey nursing a nasty cut on his head from where he'd bashed it against a support beam. "You okay, brother?"
"I was better," answered Corey. "What hit us?"
"I don't know," said Heath. "But whoever is in that plane is gonna regret messing with us!" He began to scour the skies for the strange aircraft, but he couldn't see or hear it anywhere for Kayo had reactivated the stealth-mode.
As Corey got to his feet, he caught sight of several small objects hurrying across the water in their direction. "HEATH, WE'VE GOT COMPANY" he called.
Heath looked and saw them too. He grabbed his binoculars and had a look. He then swore loudly. "It's the goddamn GDF!" he cursed.
"What?!" exclaimed Corey. "But how could they have found us?"
Heath threw his binoculars down and jumped into the RHIB where he grabbed one of the pulse-rifles. "I don't know and I don't care," he said gruffly. "But they're not taking us!" He checked the weapon and raised it in order to fire at the Hovercraft.
Kayo was still flying above the scene and through a camera, she was horrified to see Heath getting his weapon ready to fire upon the approaching GDF craft. "Oh, no you don't!" she said angrily. She put her ship onto autopilot, opened the cockpit canopy and had Thunderbird Shadow tip over so that she dropped out after having unfastened her seatbelt. She then deployed her Air-Brake and began to glide down at high speed towards the disabled boat.
Heath was looking through his gunsight at the lead Hovercraft - which was the one commanded by Rigby. "One shot at that skirt and they'll sink like a rock!" he sneered.
"Go on, bro. Do it!" urged Corey.
"LOOK OUT!" shrieked Isabella suddenly.
Startled, the two brothers looked up and were stunned to see a figure in a blue uniform diving right at them. "WHAAAAAAAA-?!" exclaimed Heath. He tried to raise his weapon but Kayo got there first. She flew right into him and the momentum sent him flying out of the RHIB and straight into the cabin lounge where he crashed into the television. "GAAARGH!" he cried out in pain.
"Stay down, McGinley," warned Kayo. "Your days of robbing the rich are over."
Having gotten over the initial shock of Kayo's entrance, Corey tried to protect his brother by running up behind Kayo to grab her. But he made the mistake of yelling in anger as he did so which caused Kayo to hear him coming. She therefore performed a roundhouse kick which hit him in the groin and turned him into a soprano for a few moments before he too fell on the floor, winded and defeated.
"Hmm," Kayo said to herself. "That was easy."
The GDF Hovercraft soon arrived and surrounded the disabled boat. Rigby and the Capture Squad boarded and were initially surprised to find Kayo aboard but were soon delighted to see that she'd already taken the two targets out.
"Way to make our job easy, Kayo," remarked Rigby. "Well done." He then looked down at the two beaten brothers. "Cuff them and get them off of here!" he ordered.
Two pairs of soldiers moved in to place handcuffs on the two brothers and drag them out onto the after deck of the boat. Corey was still winded and therefore offered no resistance. Heath on the other hand became very vocal and aggressive. "GET OFF ME!" he roared. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"
"Be QUIET!" snapped Rigby, slamming his boot down in front of Heath's face as he lay down on his front. "You boys are in a lot of-"
BANG! A blast came from above, striking Rigby in the chest and knocking him back onto the deck.
Horrified, Kayo's eyes shot upwards to see a figure leaning over from the bridge holding another pulse-rifle. Without even thinking she grabbed her taser-gun and fired at the attacker.
Isabella shrieked in agony as she was struck by the taser blast and immediately collapsed onto the deck before falling deathly silent.
"ISABELLA?!" bellowed Heath. "SIS! SIS, CAN YOU HEAR ME!" He then began raging at Kayo. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!"
Kayo ignored the screeching criminal and went to check on Rigby whilst a second medic and two of the soldiers scrambled up to the bridge to check on Isabella.
"Rigs?" Kayo asked anxiously. "Wayne, are you hurt?"
Incredibly, Rigby wasn't hurt. He sat up to reveal his chest body-armour had absorbed the pulse blast. It left a black mark but hadn't penetrated at all. "Woo. That came out of nowhere!" he remarked. "What happened?"
"There was a third person up on the bridge who shot you," Kayo explained. "I took her out with my taser gun. She won't be a problem now."
Rigby picked himself up and looked down at Heath who was now being pinned down by four members of the squad. He was still swearing and cursing at them to let him go and even tried spitting at one of them. "GET THE HELL OFF ME, YOU MORONS!" he bellowed. "ISABELLA?! ANSWER ME, SIS!"
Kayo and Rigby looked up at the bridge where they saw the two other soldiers plus the medic who had gone to check on Isabella looking back down on them.
"Make sure she's secured!" Rigby called up to them. "We can't take chances with any of them."
It was then that they noticed the medic and soldiers were looking rather unnerved by something. "Errrrr, we can't do that, sir!" the medic called down.
"Why not?" demanded Rigby.
"Because she's dead!" said the medic simply.
The stunned silence that initially followed this revelation was shattered by the anguished scream from Heath that seemed to echo for miles around.