THE passengers on the ferry screamed again and again as the Kraken's massive tentacles splashed down in the water around the vessel. The Captain had the engines revving at full power in an attempt to and escape from the giant sea-creature, but the engines were overheating and it was in danger of burning out. He therefore grabbed the radio. "Mayday! Mayday! Staten Island Ferry calling Harbor Master! We need help! This creature's going to destroy us all!"

John intercepted the radio call and forwarded it to Thunderbird 1. "Did you get that, Scott?"

"F-A-B," answered Scott. "I'm going to attach a line to the ferry and tow it out of harm's way."

"Be careful," warned John. "That monster could easily destroy you and Thunderbird 1 as well."

Scott knew this but wasn't worried. "Relax, John. We survived monsters on Venus. This one won't be a problem."

John bit his lip and remained silent as he watched Thunderbird 1 move in towards the Kraken and the ferry.

Scott came in low over the ferry and used the targeting computer to attach a tow-line to the bow of the ship. "Staten Ferry from Thunderbird 1. Hold on tight. I'm gonna pull you clear." He then applied power to the engines and began to pull the ferry forwards. But it was going to be touch and go for the Kraken's tentacles were getting far too close for comfort.

Alan and Jeff arrived at the hospital in Sydney where Sophie was. She was in a special side-room away from the other patients due to the request of her family. Alan was worried that they would be there and give him and Jeff grief for allowing Sophie to be even in the state she was in. but when they entered the room they found only one nurse in there with her.

Sophie's eyes lit up when she saw Alan. "BABY!" she squealed and opened out her arms so Alan could give her a hug. She could not sit up but Alan did what he could whilst being careful not to move her.

"Hey, Soph," Alan said. "How are you?"

"Oh, you know, as well as someone with no legs can be,"

Alan gulped. "They've removed your legs?"

Sophie laughed. "No, they're still there. But they doubt I'll ever be able to walk properly again."

Alan and Jeff looked guilty.

"Sophie, you have no idea how ashamed I am of this," said Jeff.

Sophie blinked, having not realised Jeff was there. "Oh, hey, Mr Tracy," she said. "I didn't see you."

Jeff gave a smile. "Not to worry. Just glad to see you smiling again."

Sophie smiled too. "I have to," she said. "I can't spend the rest of my life being miserable despite my injuries. It hurts like hell for sure, but I'll get used to it."

Jeff and Alan were impressed. "You're one brave young lady," remarked Jeff.

"I'll say," said Alan. "Seems we Tracy's have a thing for finding girls who aren't afraid to get their hands dirty. First Gordon and Lady Penelope, then Virgil and Hayley, and now me and you."

"When you train to be an astronaut and work in an environment such as space, there's no room for cowardice, love," said Sophie.

The nurse that had been in there when they'd arrived had left to give them some privacy. Now there came another knock at the door.

"Come in," Sophie called.

The door opened and a young doctor walked in. Alan and Jeff both blinked in astonishment for she looked almost exactly like Sophie, only her hair was jet black like Hayley's was. The face however was pretty much an identical match. "Hey, sis."

"Hey, sis," Sophie answered and the two exchanged arm-links and forehead kisses whilst Alan and Jeff watched on in bewilderment. Sophie quickly saw this and decided to make introductions. "This is Grace. My twin sister," she said. "Grace, this is Alan and Jeff Tracy."

Grace hadn't paid much attention to the visitors when she'd first walked in but now Sophie had said their names, she looked up at them in awe. "Oh, my Gosh! Jeff Tracy! She held out her hand. This is an honour, sir."

"Miss Telford?" Jeff said.

"Ah, sorry. Dr Bristow," Grace said. "I got married last year. Call me Grace."

"My apologies," said Jeff. "And I must also apologise for what's happened to Sophie."

"Awh, sir, please," said Grace. "I don't blame you or International Rescue for what's happened. Every one of our family lives life dangerously whether in the medical profession or down on the farm. We're always ready to risk our lives for others." She then looked at Alan. "And you're Alan?"

Alan felt rather nervous. "Y-Yes, I am," he stammered.

Grace chuckled. "Lovely to meet you," she said. She held out her hand. Alan hesitated for a second but after realising Jeff and Sophie were looking at him, he did so. Grace wasn't offended though for she could tell if anyone had guilt over Sophie's accident it was him. "It's okay, lovely," she said. "No need to be afraid. I don't bite unless I'm hungry."

Alan gulped again and Sophie and Grace burst out laughing. Even Jeff had to chuckle a little.

Just then the nurse that had been in when they'd arrived poked her head around. "Hey, you guys might want to turn on the TV. New York's under attack from monsters!" She then disappeared again.

The two Tracy's and the two sisters exchanged puzzled looks. Grace picked up the TV remote from the bedside table and turned on the holographic TV. They all then watched on in shock at the sight of the Kraken in the Hudson River near Liberty Island.

"Good lord!" exclaimed Sophie.

"Heavens!" said Grace, whose hand was over her mouth.

Jeff began to adjust his watch. "Excuse me," he said. "I need to call the others and get them to offer assistance."

But Alan had spotted something that Jeff hadn't. "Dad, there's no need for you to do that."

"Why not?"

"Because Scott's already there," said Alan, pointing at the screen.

Jeff looked at the screen. The live footage was showing Thunderbird 1 towing the ferry away from the Kraken's tentacles. "What?" said Jeff. "I told him to-"

"Dad, leave it out!" Alan snapped. "Lives are at stake. Scott's probably the only one available. Gordon, Virgil and Kayo are already out if they still are."

Jeff looked at Alan, then at his shoes. "You're right, Alan," he said. "I just hope he's rested enough for this."

Thunderbird 1 had almost gotten the Staten Island Ferry out of harm's way, but Scott had begun to notice that all wasn't right - apart from the fact that there was a giant sea monster in the water. The further away he moved the ferry, the more he expected to see the Kraken follow. But it didn't and instead seemed to move off towards Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty.

"The ferry's safe, John," Scott reported.

"Good work, Scott, but we may have another problem," said John. "The Kraken's heading for Liberty Island and the Statue of Liberty's full of tourists even at this time of night. Looks like the GDF are moving in for an attack."

"What? No! They can't!" Scott cried. "If they miss they could destroy Lady Liberty and kill all those people."

"I think they're aware of that, Scott," said John. "That's why they're trying to block it off and take it out before it reaches there."

Scott looked over at the Kraken. It was getting uncomfortably close to the island. Then he remembered what had been bothering him during the rescue. "John, I think something's off," he said.

"Gee, you think?" retorted John. "These things are only seen in movies. No way could ever predict that they'd become reality."

"That's just it, John," said Scott. "I'm not at all convinced that this is real. Nor do I believe that the one that attacked Times Square was real."

"What makes you think that?" asked John.

"Simple," said Scott. "A monster the size of the one in Times Square would have crushed cars and left a trail of footprints in the road. There were none. Also, the Kraken had every opportunity to destroy that ferry. A single strike from one of its tentacles would have sliced it in half and sent everyone to a watery grave, and yet it missed every time. Monsters don't tend to play with their prey from what the movies show us. They only destroy."

John scratched his chin thoughtfully. "You maybe onto something there," he said. "But how do we prove it?"

"Simple," said Scott. "I'm going to try something." He pushed Thunderbird 1 up to full power and began to fly at high speed towards the Kraken. But before he could get there, the two GDF Flyers that were hovering between the creature and Liberty Island fired a salvo of two missiles each at it. "NO!" Scott shouted as he tried to get them on the radio. However he had no need to worry because the missiles ended up proving his hunch for him. As the missiles struck the Kraken's neck they did not explode. Instead they passed right through the creature which glowed a whitish-blue colour and then completely disappeared as the missiles crashed into the water and detonated in four great columns. "I KNEW IT!" Scott shouted. "JOHN, IT WAS A HOLOGRAM ALL ALONG!"

"Well I'll be!" said John. "That means the one in Times Square must have been too."

"All the carnage I saw wasn't caused by the monster itself," Scott went on. "It's all because people saw the hologram, thought it was real and panicked causing massive harm and destruction."

"Then somebody must be behind this," said John. "EOS, run a scan of the entire area and see if you can locate any unusual signals."

"Right away, John," said EOS.

"Could it be The Cabal?" asked Scott.

"Hmm. I doubt it," said John. "Doesn't seem like the kind of thing The Hood would do."

"Unless it's just a distraction," said Scott.

Before John could reply he was distracted by more Police radio traffic. "Scott, you'd better get back to Times Square," he said. "That first monster has reappeared!"

Scott pushed Thunderbird 1's thrusters to full again. "The Police and GDF there may not know that the other one was a fake," he said. "If they start attacking then innocent people could get hurt in the crossfire. I have to put an end to this now!"

Scott was back over Times Square in a matter of seconds. He looked down and sure enough there was the same grotesque monster that the news reports had shown earlier. It was slowly advancing on Times Square whilst the Police and ground GDF forces were preparing their arsenal of weapons to try and take it down whilst a group of civilians who had been forced back for safety watched on in fear. Scott was about to radio Captain West to warn him about it not being real when to his horror he saw one of the GDF Flyers hovering above the canyon fire a missile out at the creature - which if it passed through would go on to hit the civilians on the other side. "DAMN IT!" Scott roared and pushed Thunderbird 1 even harder. He had only seconds to act before an unthinkable tragedy would hit the people of New York. closing the gap between Thunderbird 1 and the missile, he aimed the small laser mounted in the front turret under Thunderbird 1's cockpit and fired. The laser struck the missile and it detonated, much to the shock of everyone present.

The monster let out a roar as Thunderbird 1 then appeared in view of everyone and came into an abrupt hover between it and the Flyer that had fired the missile.

"STOP!" Scott bellowed over the tannoy. "STOP FIRING! IT'S NOT REAL!" He did not wait for anybody to call him up and demand an explanation for he instead turned Thunderbird 1 to face the angry-looking monster and allowed it to come to him. As it made contact with the tip of the nose-cone, the same light that had emitted from the Kraken was seen before it too disappeared into nothingness, leaving the Police, civilians and GDF personnel in a state of shock at the realisation.

Scott left Thunderbird 1 hovering and used his jetpack to go back down to ground level where he found a confused Captain West hurrying towards him. "TRACY! WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!" he asked.

"Holograms, Captain," said Scott. "The one in the Hudson was as well. Someone's playing games with all of you."

West was one of New York's finest officers, and yet he found himself in a state of bewilderment for he did not know how to proceed following this revelation. Luckily he did not have to for John's voice then came over Scott's radio. "Scott! EOS has found the source of the hologram signals. There's a building just off to your right that's empty for refurbishment. I'm detecting two life signs in there. One is at a table with a laptop by the looks of it. The other looks like a cop…and he has his gun drawn!"

Scott and West began to look around to see who was absent from their view. Scott quickly realised there was one person he'd seen earlier that he couldn't see now. "Captain, where's your partner? Detective Graham was it?"

West looked around. "He was over there a few minutes ago!" he said.

Scott looked back up at the building. He fired up his jetpack and took off heading straight for one of the open windows. Given Julian's attitude earlier, he felt like he was a man who'd shoot first and ask questions later and he was not going to allow that to happen. West saw Scott fly off and ushered a group of other Officers to head after him and Scott.

Julian had made his way up to the tenth floor and slowly advanced towards where the culprit was. Despite the darkness of the building he could see a large office chair, a table and a small desktop lamp that was illuminating where he needed to head for. There was also the side of a laptop just visible on the table and in the glow of the lamp. He could see the arm of a person sitting in the chair but could not see anything else. He slowly advanced with his gun drawn and aimed at the chair. "NYPD!" he called out. "Come out with your hands up!"

The figure did not move and remained perfectly still.

"I won't warn you again!" said Julian, irritated. "Raise your hands and step out of the chair!"

Still the figure did not move. Julian lost patience and pulled the trigger.

BANG! The bullet left the barrel of Julian's gun.

CRASH! The window from the front of the building shattered as Scott came flying in. He rocketed across the room and grabbed the person sitting in the chair, sending him, the person and the chair spiralling out of the way just before Julian's bullet smashed through the laptop screen, destroying it. Julian jumped in shock by Scott's sudden appearance and how quickly the figure in the chair had been knocked out of it. He hurried over just as Scott picked himself up and pulled the person in the now broken office chair to his feet. Julian shone his torch at them and almost dropped it in alarm as he caught sight of the culprit's face for the first time. It wasn't some sinister criminal mastermind like he'd previously suspected. It was in fact a fifteen year old boy whose face was white and staring back at Julian in a mixture of terror and anger.

"You're…you're just a kid!" Julian exclaimed once he'd found his voice.

"Yeah, a kid you almost SHOT!" cried the teenager. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT, BUDDY!"

"Oh, I don't think so," said Scott. "You're the one who needs to pay for the hurt, torment and damage that you've caused to this city." He then shoved the teenager over to Julian who grabbed hold of him. "He's all yours, Detective." He then began to walk away.

"Hey, Scott?" Julian called. Scott stopped and looked back. "Thank you," Julian said.

"You're welcome," replied Scott as Captain West and the other officers arrived to find Julian struggling to keep the upset teenager at bay.

Bruce was the name of the young man who'd been behind the holograms of the monsters. He was made to sit on a long crate of tools whilst Captain West began to question him about his actions. "Forty-two people have been injured in the space of the past few hours," he said. "Thankfully no lives have been lost, but there could have been a huge amount of death if this had been left to continue. Whatever made you do this?"

Bruce shrugged. "I just wanted to feel powerful for a change," he said.

"And that did it?" asked West. "Scaring people?"

"Yeah," said Bruce. "Yeah, it did. You know the kids at my school? They tease me…every…day! I'm a weirdo there." He looked away as his eyes began to fill with tears.

West and Scott looked at each other. West then went and sat down beside Bruce. "Look, I know things can seem very messed up at your age, but trust me, things do get better."

Bruce shifted uncomfortably. "So what happens now?" he asked.

"Well, there will be consequences for what you've done and you're just going to have to accept them," said West. "But the more you accept them, the easier it will become for you. Be a man, Bruce. Show those bullies that you're better than them."

Scott turned away and began to make his way back towards the window. He'd heard enough. Whilst he did feel a sense of sympathy towards Bruce as he could remember him and his brothers being bullied when they were at school, he knew that what Bruce had done was not excusable. "I'd better go, Captain," he called back to West. "There's nothing more I can do here."

West nodded. "Thank you," he said. "This city owes you a lot of gratitude."

Scott nodded, fired up his jetpack once more and glided out of the window he'd entered through.

Scott returned to Thunderbird 1 to find holograms of Jeff and John waiting for him. "Ah…Dad," he said. "I can explain-"

"No need to, Scott," said Jeff. "John's filled me in and we watched your efforts on TV in Sophie's room at the hospital. Mighty fine work, son."

Scott was surprised, but pleased. "Thanks, Dad," he said. "Glad you understand that. I just hope I can make amends with Grandma after I hung up on her."

"She'll get over it," said Jeff. "Might take a while, but don't worry, Scott. I have your back on this one. I won't let her make your life a misery."

Scott smiled. "Thanks, Dad," he said again. "I just can't believe that all of this has been caused by a kid."

Jeff and John exchanged looks. "A kid?!" they said together.

"Yeah, a teenager if you can believe it?" said Scott. "And all because he wanted everyone to feel the same feelings of fear that he feels every day. That's not right."

"Damn, that's rough," said John.

"What of him now?" asked Jeff.

"He's in Police custody," said Scott. "I just hope he gets the help he needs. He should consider himself lucky that no lives have been lost."

"That is something," said Jeff. He was about to say more when Scott suddenly let out a big yawn.

"Tiredness has found you again, Scott?" said John.

"Guess my adrenaline's worn off rather quickly," replied Scott.

"Get back to base, Scott," said Jeff. "Then go to bed. This time you've earned the rest."

Scott smiled slightly as he nodded. "F-A-B, Dad," he said. "See you later." He signed off and began to fly Thunderbird 1 up and away from Manhattan to make his way back to Tracy Island.

Jeff re-joined Alan and Sophie. Grace had completed her visit and moved on to the other patients. "Well, Sophie, I think we've disturbed you long enough," he said. "Alan, we'd better get home."

Alan was disappointed. It hardly felt any time at all since they'd arrived. Sophie saw this and took a hold of his hand. "It's okay, honey," she said lovingly. "If I'm moved anywhere else I'll let you know."

Alan looked at her. "Promise?" he asked.

Sophie gave a sweet smile. "Promise," she said.

Jeff knew what was coming next and he moved out of the room to give them some privacy and Sophie and Alan's lips locked with each other and began to smooch. The love between them was without a doubt as strong as it was with the other partners in the Tracy family.

New York was now far behind as Scott made his way back across the vast continent of the United States towards the Pacific, or at least that's where he thought he was headed. He'd discovered after leaving that some of the systems weren't functioning. The navigation computer for starters was no longer working and without it, he couldn't operate the autopilot to guide him back to Tracy Island. He was therefore going to have to fly manually. This wouldn't have been a problem had he been fully awake, but the tiredness he'd felt after his many missions had returned with a vengeance and he was struggling to keep a track of what he was doing. Due to it being dark he found it difficult as well to get a fix on his surroundings. "Thunderbird 5? Do me a favor, please, John. My navigation seems to be down. Am I heading the right way to head for home?"

"What's your position, Scott?" asked John.

"I'm not entirely sure," replied Scott. "I can't tell where I am. I thought maybe you could tell me?"

John tried to find Thunderbird 1 on the holographic globe aboard Thunderbird 5 and frowned. "Sorry, Scott, but you're not showing up on my screen at all," he said. "Maybe give your systems a reboot? Something may have tripped?"

"If I do that, I'll fall out of the sky," said Scott. "Propulsion is fine and I have flight control but all my navigation and instruments seem to be down."

"Maybe use your lights to find your way?" said John. "Find a place to land and then try to correct the problem before lifting off again?"

Scott turned on the powerful searchlights underneath Thunderbird 1 and looked down. "Hmmm. I seem to be over a forest. I'll try and find a clearing to land in."

"Okay, Scott," said John. "Let me know when you're up and running again."

"F-A-B."

John signed off and Scott turned his attention back to what was below him. It was then that he suddenly realised the treetops seemed to have become a lot closer than they were before.

"What the?" Scott exclaimed and pulled back on the controls to try and regain some altitude. Thunderbird 1's nose began to lift up. However the tail section dropped down and then the bottom fins caught onto one of the trees. There came a sharp jolt as the speed of Thunderbird 1 ripped the top of the tree off but it also got entangled in the fin. The force then caused Thunderbird 1 to start spinning around uncontrollably. Scott tried hard to correct the spin but Thunderbird 1 was now ripping into the tops of the other trees. "Uh-oh!" cried Scott. "WoooooooooooooAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGHHHHHHH!"

Thunderbird 1 now tore through several trees, cutting them to pieces and was spun around violently as it clipped through more before breaking out into a clearing and then slamming hard into the ground, digging a trench as it went and then the nose became wedged between two more trees. The friction against the ground had slowed Thunderbird 1 down enough for the trees to be strong enough to halt it and bring it to a stop. Then with a groan and a hiss the engines lost power and shut down.

If it hadn't been for his seatbelt, Scott would have been thrown out of his seat but was saved. He sat dazed and confused as he tried to take in what had just happened. He unstrapped himself and climbed down to check the instruments. The first panel he opened he found everything inside to be broken up. At first he wondered how but then he remembered this was the same one that had housed the override system. On closer inspection, Scott realised that he'd also unintentionally damaged the power box that operated the navigation and other systems. They'd not been taken out straight away and had instead only just stopped working which was why he'd not been able to use the computer properly since leaving.

"Damn it," Scott said angrily. "What an idiot I am." He tapped his sash. "Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 5. Come in, please." He waited for a reply, but none came. "John, are you receiving me?" Still no answer. Scott swore under his breath and climbed up to open an emergency hatch in the roof. He poked his head out and took a look around. But apart from the Moon in the sky, he couldn't see a lot at all.

Scott climbed down and was relieved that the ground was solid. Taking out a torch he looked around. There were many trees, some of which had been severely damaged due to Thunderbird 1 crashing through them and there was now a long trench across the clearing caused by when the aircraft had hit the ground. He then checked the exterior of his craft. It was hard to be sure of what was damaged though. The worst was probably not visible due to it being in the ground.

Exhausted and without a clue what to do, Scott sighed and sat himself down against one of the trees that had stopped Thunderbird 1. He then slid down and buried his face in his hands. "Idiot," he said. "Stupid damn idiot!" The exhaustion then got the better of him and he slumped out, falling asleep right where he was - lost and alone.

Jeff and Alan arrived back on Tracy Island to find Grandma and Brains in the lounge along with Kayo, Virgil and Gordon as well as John's hologram. They were all looking worried.

"Evening all," said Jeff. "What's the matter?"

"Where's Scott?" asked Alan, noticing that his eldest brother was absent.

"We don't know, Alan," said Virgil. "He hasn't returned from New York yet."

"He hasn't?" asked Jeff. "But when I spoke to him he was about to leave."

"He was having some system problems," explained John. "I told him to find somewhere to land so he could try and fix the problem. But that was well over an hour ago now and he still hasn't reported in."

"Can you not get any trace of him at all?" asked Alan anxiously. "Not even his own personal locator?"

John shook his head. "That's not working either," said John. "It doesn't add up."

"I think I can account as to w-why his systems might be down," said Brains. "The control b-box that I put the override system in was in the same one where the system boxes for the navigation and other flight ones are located. When Scott disabled it, he must have unintentionally damaged the others."

"But he was still trackable for a while, even whilst he was in New York," said John. "Why would it have only failed after?"

"Maybe because they were only l-lightly damaged," said Brains. "The w-wires were probably loosened. If they were t-torn out they would have gone offline immediately."

"What are we sitting around for?" asked Gordon. "We need to get back out there and find him."

"Gordon, we have no idea where he even was when I last spoke to him," said John. "The US is a massive continent for even us to search through. He could be anywhere."

"Well he couldn't have gone North or East," said Virgil. "He said he was over trees, didn't he?"

"That rules out East for sure," said John. "But it doesn't narrow down whether he went North, West or South by mistake."

"We're gonna need help to find him, that's for sure," said Grandma. She was feeling rather depressed and ashamed of herself. "If only I hadn't been so hard on him earlier."

"No time for that now, Mother," said Jeff. "Kayo and Virgil. How long before your ships are refuelled?"

"About two hours for Shadow," said Kayo.

"Same for Thunderbird 2," added Virgil.

Jeff gritted his teeth. "Then let's hope Scott can hold out for that long. Wherever he is. I'll contact Colonel Casey and see if she can launch some patrols to search various areas."

"Maybe get our undercover agents to search as well?" suggested Virgil.

Jeff nodded. "My thinking exactly, Virgil. Between us all we should be able to locate him."

The others nodded in agreement.

Kayo looked out across towards the Pacific which was invisible in the night. "Where are you, Scott?" she asked, fearful for her adoptive brother's safety.

Colonel Casey was alarmed when she was informed of the situation. "Scott and Thunderbird 1 missing?" she said. "That's awful. How can we help, Jeff?"

"Our best guess is that he's somewhere in the Southern part of the US," said Jeff. "I know that's a heck of a lot of ground to cover, but if you can get as many air or ground patrols mobilised in each state, there may be a better chance of locating them. We'll be out as soon as Thunderbirds 2 and Shadow are refuelled."

"Of course," said Colonel Casey. "I'll have units deployed around the clock. We won't rest until Scott is found safe and sound."

Jeff gave a smile. "Thanks, Martha," he said and signed off.

Colonel Casey then called up various group leaders. "This is Colonel Casey. I want all available groups out searching the States for Thunderbird 1. Report anything that could lead us to it or if it or its pilot are located. That is all. Good luck."

The various leaders including Captain Rigby acknowledged this call and began to make the necessary arrangements. What nobody knew was there was one soldier who had taken a particular interest in this call and he'd snuck away to make a secret call to an unknown person.

Lady Penelope was sitting in the garden when Parker came out with a tray. "Tea, m'lady?"

"Oh, thank you, Parker," replied Penelope. "My taste buds were beginning to run dry."

Parker put the tray down on the table and Penelope closed the book she was reading. Parker picked up the pot and was about to pour into a cup when the teapot started beeping. Parker stopped and sighed. "H'Every single time," he said unhappily as he passed the teapot to Penelope.

Penelope turned the handle on the top of the cover. "International Rescue, England."

A small hologram of Gordon appeared from the tiny projector in the top of the pot. "Lady Penelope, we need your help. Please say you and Parker are free?"

"Of course we are, Gordon," smiled Penelope before looking up at Parker. "Cancel all my appointments for today," she whispered. "And get the car out."

"Yus, m'lady," said Parker, even more unhappily than before. He hated having to make the calls to tell people that Penelope wouldn't be making her appointments.

"What's the mission, Gordon?" Penelope asked.

"Scott's gone missing somewhere over the United States," explained Gordon. "The GDF are mobilising and we'll be as soon as Thunderbirds 2 and Shadow are ready."

Penelope's curious expression turned to one of concern. "Oh, my. That's very distressing news," she said. "Any rough idea as to where he might be?"

"Other than his last report where he said he was over a forest of some kind, no," replied Gordon. "I guess it's a case of picking a state and we have to search from there."

"We'll take the first one we come to," said Penelope. "Keep us informed of any updates."

"Likewise if you find him first," said Gordon. "Over and out." He signed off.

Penelope hurried to the house to find FAB1 already waiting outside its garage. "Is everything ready?"

"Ready h'and waiting, m'lady," said Parker.

"Good," said Penelope. "Now let's go and find Scott."

Meanwhile, in an unknown location, The Hood was sitting at his computer desk. He was bored. Nothing had come his way for weeks. He'd thought that getting the McGinley brothers to make a strike against International Rescue would have not only been a bit of fun for him, but also would have knocked International Rescue so bad that they'd have been easy to finish off. It had failed and since then things had been very quiet whilst the rest of The Cabal had been working secretly behind the scenes and off the radar to make their operation more efficient. But no matter what Techno, Silver Swan or The White Ghost had been doing, it hadn't been enough to make The Hood happy. However, that was about to change.

Silver Swan walked into the main control room of their secret underground base and walked towards where The Hood sat.

"What is it, Swan?" The Hood asked.

"A report from Agent 29 in the GDF," said Silver Swan. "Colonel Casey is mobilising a massive search party across the whole of the USA."

"And what interest is that to me?" asked The Hood.

"They're looking for Thunderbird 1," said Silver Swan.

That got The Hood's interest. He turned his chair around to face them. "Is that so?" he asked. "Most interesting."

"Shall I get the others?" asked Silver Swan.

"No, let Ghost and Techno continue with their own mission," said The Hood. "You and I can handle this one." He smirked evilly.

Silver Swan smirked too. "Let's catch us a Thunderbird," she said.