JESSIE and David were in the belief that Thunderbird 4 could not have survived getting hit by a torpedo even though they did not have any proof. They decided to celebrate their victory of capturing the Konovalov by raiding the submarine's galley for food and drink.
"Here's to victory, son," said Jessie as he and David clinked their glasses of alcohol together. They'd used the key from the deceased Captain to access the cupboard where the alcohol for special occasions was kept.
"What shall we do about the crew in the torpedo room?" asked David.
"Leave them where they are," replied Jessie coldly. "They cannot get out. Any that manage to survive by the time we reach our benefactor will be swiftly dealt with, I am sure of that."
David smirked.
Just then a beeping sound from Jessie's armoured suit caught their attention. He took out a small black communicator device and placed it on the table. He pressed a button to receive the message. "Kruger."
"Ah, Mr Kruger," said a voice over the device. "I presume all has gone according to plan?"
"To the letter," answered Jessie. "My son led the operation. He showed no mercy. The submarine is in our hands and heading for the rendezvous point."
"Excellent," said the voice. "And with the stealth technology of that submarine, nobody, not even the mighty International Rescue will be able to find it."
Jessie and David looked at each other.
"Is there a problem?" the voice asked.
"We did have a Thunderbird craft on our tail at one point," David said. "But we took care of it. You have no need to worry."
Their benefactor's voice suddenly turned aggressive. "IDIOTS! GET OUT OF THE AREA NOW!"
"What? Why?" demanded Jessie.
"IF INTERNATIONAL RESCUE KNOW WHERE YOU ARE, THEN YOU NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU ESCAPE THE AREA BEFORE THEY CAN RECLAIM THE SUBMARINE!" the voice thundered. "NO SUB - NO PAYMENT!"
"But we destroyed the International Rescue sub!" snapped David.
"I highly doubt that, Mr Kruger," said the voice. "International Rescue is extremely resourceful. They will most likely have found a way to dispose of anything you throw at them. However…" it added more calmly, "if you do manage to destroy a Thunderbird, AND provide evidence, or even kill a member of the International Rescue team, your pay will be tripled."
The sound of that made the Krugers' eyes glisten with greed.
FAB1 had managed to locate the Konovalov and was creeping in from the Port-side. "There it h'is, m'lady," said Parker. "Crikey. It's 'uge!"
"It certainly is," agreed Penelope. "Let's hope our plan works out."
Thunderbird 4 was at that point just underneath the surface of the water. "Okay, Thunderbird Shadow. I am ready to receive Electronic Disabler," Gordon said.
"F-A-B," said Kayo. "Here it comes." She pressed a button on the control console and it launched one of the small black discs in front of Thunderbird Shadow before it dropped down into the water.
Gordon saw the disc sink beneath the surface. He'd already activated Thunderbird 4's robotic arms and moved in to grab hold of the disc before it disappeared into the darkness. "I got it," he said. "FAB1, I have the disabler. Heading down towards you now."
"F-A-B, Gordon," said Penelope. "Parker - it's time for a distraction."
Parker smirked. "With pleasure, m'lady." He used the targeting computer to lock onto one of the peaks of rock on the opposite side of the Konovalov and fired one of the missiles. The explosion caused a minor shockwave that caused the Konovalov to be rocked a little, taking everyone aboard by surprise. A chunk of the rock then fell down and clipped the submarine's starboard side, damaging the caterpillar engine and causing it to lose power.
"What the hell was that?" asked David. "Did we hit something?"
Jessie believed otherwise. "No. Something hit us!"
The Pirate who'd been monitoring the cameras had begun frantically checking the area for any sign of what caused the explosion. He found himself unable to believe what he was seeing when it appeared on the screen. "Sir! There's something else out there."
"Is it the Thunderbird again?" asked David.
"Er, no," replied the Pirate. "I…I think it's a car!"
Jessie and David looked at each other, bewildered by what they'd heard. Then they realised that the sub was listing slightly to starboard. An alarm began to wail.
"Sir! Minor breach in the hull! Starboard side. The caterpillar has shut down!"
"Control - deal with that car!" David ordered. "Dad, we need to stop that leak."
"Right behind you, son!" said Jessie as they headed out to the compartment where the flooding was.
Thunderbirds 1 and 2 had joined Thunderbird Shadow over the location of the submarine. At Hayley's request, Scott guided Thunderbird 1 to hover over Thunderbird 2. He then had Hayley put into a special harness so she could be lowered down from the silver bullet into the green leviathan.
For Virgil and Hayley, seeing each other for the first time in months was quite emotional. It was made better that they were also alone in Thunderbird 2. "Oh, man. I've missed you, beautiful," Virgil said tearfully to her.
"Me too, love. Me too," Hayley replied.
Virgil then helped her to sit in the co-pilot's seat.
"This is a better view," Hayley observed. "Will be able to see the sub properly when it comes to the surface."
"Can never understand how Scott manages to fly Thunderbird 1 without any kind of window," Virgil said.
Before having had to run from the torpedo, Thunderbird 4 had managed to perform a scan on the Konovalov and it allowed Jeff, John, Alan and Brains to observe the interior of the vessel and see the positions of the people inside. It had also shown them about the damage that the submarine had sustained from the falling rocks.
"Good distraction, FAB1, but perhaps a little too excessive, Parker?" John remarked. "Those rocks have caused a breach in the hull and its starting to flood."
"Oh, dear," said Penelope. "How bad is it?"
"Not very fortunately," John said. "The hostiles will have it fixed up soon enough. I'm worried about the survivors in the torpedo room though. The sooner we can save them, the better. Thunderbird 4, how far away are you?"
"Almost there," Gordon replied. The headlights of FAB1 had helped to guide Thunderbird 4 to where the submarine was. "I see it. Closing in now." He brought Thunderbird 4 right in along the Port-side of the sub to then plant the electronic disabler onto the hull. "Electronic Disabler is in position," said Gordon. "All yours, Thunderbird Shadow."
"Thanks, Gordon," said Kayo. "Now to hack that sub's controls." She pressed a button.
The Pirate with the cameras was trying to guide the one operating the weapon computer to get a lock onto either FAB1 or Thunderbird 4, but it was proving a challenge as neither were keeping still long enough for them to make a contact. "Come on! Come on! Keep still, damn you!" cursed the Pirate.
Suddenly the screens all shut down.
"What the?!" exclaimed a Pirate.
"What's happening?" cried another.
Then the computers came back online, but with the IR logo on the screens instead.
"Hacking is complete," Kayo said. "Now let's get them to the surface." She pressed a button. "FAB1 and Thunderbird 4 - better get clear. Blowing emergency ballast."
From inside their respective machines, Gordon, Parker and Penelope saw an explosion of bubbles emerge from the Konovalov's ballast tanks. It then began to rise rapidly upwards towards the surface.
The sudden change in depth caused anyone standing to lose their balance and fall to the floor. It took place just as David and Jessie had finished fixing the leak in the hull.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" exclaimed David. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU MORONS?!" he yelled into his earpiece.
"WE'VE BEEN HACKED, SIR!" cried one of the Pirates in the control room. "SOMEONE'S TAKEN OVER AND BLOWN THE BALLAST TANKS!"
There was nothing any of the pirates could do as the Konovalov continued to rapidly rise towards the surface.
Thunderbird 4 and FAB1 were following up in gradual circles. "Submarine's heading for the surface," Gordon reported. "Thunderbirds 1, 2 and Shadow - you should see it anytime now."
Scott, Hayley, Virgil and Kayo watched from their respective ships as the slightly choppy waters of the North Atlantic began to bubble indicating that something was about to emerge from beneath.
"Here she comes," Hayley said.
There came a crashing and a splashing as the Konovalov broke the surface and came to rest. With its engines now disabled, there was nothing the Pirates could do to regain control.
In addition to disabling the engines and blowing the ballast tanks, Kayo had remotely locked the two access hatches that led into the compartment where Jessie and David were. Now they were trapped along with five other men trying to break out.
"Goddamnit!" cursed David. "Our benefactor wasn't wrong about them being resourceful!"
"They aren't the only ones who are though," Jessie reminded him. He brought out a cutting torch from within his suit. "So are we. Stand aside."
David and the other pirates moved back so Jessie could begin using the laser torch to cut through the steel bulkhead in order to free themselves.
David then spoke into his earpiece. "Alpha Team - we've hit the surface. Be prepared for hostile forces attempting to break in. shoot on sight. NO SURRENDER!"
"NO SURRENDER!" the Pirates shouted in unison. They checked their guns and began to spread out through the various sections of the submarine for any signs of trouble.
One pair of pirates were walking down the corridor from the control room towards the missile bay. Suddenly they heard a loud clunking sound coming from the hatch that led up to the deck about five metres in front of them. Both jumped back in alarm as the hatch cover itself came crashing down from above and landed on the floor. They looked at each other, unable to figure out what could have caused such a thing. Then they were even more surprised when a figure in a chrome-blue and black armour dropped down. They trained their guns, but despite having been instructed to shoot on sight, found themselves unable to do so.
Kayo stood up straight. She had her back facing the Pirates. Slowly, she turned her body slightly to the left so her head could turn to face them. "Hello, boys," she said in a flirty voice. "Permission to come aboard?"
The shocked pirates looked at each other again before finally deciding they should begin shooting. Bullets fired rapidly out of their machine-guns, but the nanites in Kayo's suit created a round shield which deflected all that hit it. With each strike, Kayo could also feel the energy level in her suit rising.
"Brains, why are these bullets making me feel stronger?" Kayo asked.
"It's the energy absorber, K-Kayo," Brains answered. "The n-nanites are designed to absorb hits and turn it into kinetic energy. Once the b-bar reaches full, you can release the energy as one massive shockwave to take down anyone in your immediate vicinity."
Kayo grinned. "Can't wait to do that," she said. She then decided she'd had enough of being fired at for the moment and released the shield from her left arm before throwing it like a frisbee at the two pirates. It caught their legs and caused them to flip over. They yelped and fell to the floor. The shield then bounced off each wall and came back to reattach itself to Kayo's arm. It then folded back in on itself now it was finished with. One of the pirates pulled out his side-arm and fired a shot at Kayo's helmet but it harmlessly ricocheted off before Kayo gave him a solid kick in the face to knock him out. She began to walk towards the control room only for the other pirate to grab hold of her leg and try to hold her back. Kayo looked down at him before shooting an electronic stinger from her right gauntlet which zapped him into unconsciousness.
Two more pirates then came charging through the bulkhead and began running at Kayo with their guns blazing. Kayo this time ran at them and leapt up to kick them both hard in the head and knock them down.
Realising something bad was going down to their comrades, five more pirates who'd gone to check the other sections returned to the control room and positioned themselves ready to perform an ambush. One however had already seen down the corridor what this mysterious intruder had done to four of their own and instead decided to hide behind the large door that led into the control room from the corridor. The others believed this was part of an ambush. But in actual fact, the man was terrified and thought he'd be safer hiding.
Kayo walked calmly through the bulkhead and into the control room. She looked around. The heads up display in her helmet showed her where all the pirates were hiding. She also therefore knew about the one behind the door. Before he or any of the others could react, Kayo reached to the side and shoved the door in the pirate's face, taking him out.
Three of the remaining pirates then launched an attack and began to barrage Kayo with bullets from their weapons. As each one hit her on various parts of the suit, she saw the energy level bar slowly creep up and up towards the full point. In the meantime, she went on the defensive, cartwheeling over to one of the pirates and jumped onto his shoulders, wrapping her legs around and using her weight to overbalance him. His bullets began hitting one of the other pirates, accidentally killing him.
Kayo hadn't noticed as she moved on to the next hostile. She jumped up on the navigation table and then kicked on the man's chest, knocking him down. She then backflipped away before landing a hard punch on the fourth pirate. The single punch to the left cheek caused him to stumble in the wrong direction and he bumped head-first into the periscope which knocked him out cold.
The pirate that Kayo had kicked the ground managed to get back up and seeing Kayo had her back to him, he saw his chance and lunged at her. Kayo was caught off guard as she turned round and was slammed into the sidewall of the control room. The enraged pirate began striking his fists against her helmet one after the other causing her head to go left and right for a few moments. Kayo felt jarred by her head going opposite ways until the suit was able to counteract as each hit made it stronger. Kayo was then able to hold her head still as the helmet became resistant to the punches, much to the bewilderment and eventual horror of the pirate. He stopped punching and the eyes in the gap of his balaclava widened in fear as he saw the eyes of Kayo peering back at him through the eyeholes of the helmet. He let out a little squeak before Kayo made her move, headbutting him into unconsciousness with her helmet. "Pathetic," she remarked. She then looked at the energy level. "Only 60%? Damn," she remarked.
"Kayo, are you okay?" Jeff asked over the radio.
"Yes, Mr Tracy. I'm good," Kayo replied. "Brains, this suit is totally incredible."
"Save the c-compliments for later please, Kayo," said Brains.
"He's right," agreed Jeff. "You need to get to the crew in the forward torpedo room. Get them out of there."
When the pirates had first begun their hostile takeover of the Konovalov, some members of the terrified crew had managed to escape the rampage of the attack and barricaded themselves in the torpedo room. They had achieved this by ripping a piece of thin but solid steel pipe off the wall and wedging it in the spokes of the wheel that opened the bulkhead door. In addition, they'd all grabbed sharp and heavy tools and anything they could find to use as weapons in case anyone got inside.
They watched on with growing fear as they heard the sounds of a fight going on before a red laser began cutting through the door. They quivered and held their weapons tightly, ready to defend themselves against whoever was cutting through the door. As the cutting stopped, the door fell away from them and the person behind the cutting was revealed. They realised at once that this wasn't one of the pirates and as the figure walked in, one of them recognised the logo on the armour. "My God! International Rescue!" he cried.
"It's okay, boys and girls," Kayo said. "We'll get you all off safely. Follow me, please."
The crew didn't need telling twice as they began to make their way up the ladder towards the top deck of the submarine.
"Thunderbird 2, prepare to pick up the survivors," Kayo said over the radio.
"F-A-B. Good job, Kayo," said Virgil. He turned to Hayley. "I'm going to give flight-control to you. Can you get her in position once I give you the instructions?"
"I have flown her before, Virgil," Hayley replied with a wink. "But you know where's best to put her."
Virgil smiled as he headed out to the module. "Love that girl so much," he said to himself.
The hatch on the deck of the submarine opened and the rescued crew began to come out. Following instructions, Hayley was able to position Thunderbird 2 over the Konovalov so that the Evac-Chairs could be lowered. Once the first ten were aboard, they were winched up to safety. The rest began to deploy the inflatable yellow life-rafts and dropped them into the water to save time rather than wait for Thunderbird 2 to lower the chairs each time.
Kayo remained below, ushering each of the men and women out of the torpedo room and up the ladder towards the deck. "Come on, guys. Keep going," she said. Soon there was only one more crewman left. As Kayo got him towards the ladder, John's frantic voice came over her headset. "KAYO, BEHIND YOU!"
Kayo spun round just in time to see a figure in black armour suit charging towards her, rapidly firing his machine gun and bellowing like an angry bull. One bullet hit the crewman in the shoulder and he fell to the floor. Kayo threw her arms up as the barrage of bullets forced her back into the torpedo room. She crashed through the metal railings and fell backwards down onto the floor below.
The attacker ran in after Kayo and jumped down to the same level. He looked down at Kayo who had yet to recover herself. She looked up at the man who now had his weapon aimed right at her chest. "You are messing up my operation!" David snarled. "You've taken my men out! I won't stand for that!"
Kayo swung her right leg up and kicked the machine-gun out of David's hands before rolling and flipping herself back up onto her knees. David activated the long sharp blade from his gauntlet, still stained with the blood of the Captain and he kicked Kayo in the back to try and keep her down but she rolled to avoid the blade and managed to flip herself back onto her feet. He pulled out a second blade from the side of his right leg and tried to shove it in her chest. But to David's surprise, the nanotech armour simply stopped the blade dead and did not penetrate due to how strong it was. David blinked and stared in disbelief. "Whaaaa?"
Kayo sniffed and then double-punched the blade with her fists causing it to snap in two. She then grabbed hold of David's armour and used the increased strength that the suit gave her to throw him around and down the room between the rows of stacked torpedoes.
"Guess you're the one behind this?" Kayo asked.
David was panting as he tried to pick himself up. He hadn't expected to get knocked down. "Nobody," he said. "Nobody can take me down!" He jumped back up and swung his left blade at Kayo again. Kayo dodged and then saw that one of the torpedoes wasn't fully secure. She grabbed it and swung it out into the path of David's head. He ran into it and fell backwards onto the floor with his head now pounding. "Owwwwww…"
"I don't know who you are, and in all honesty, I don't care," Kayo said. "You've killed innocent people today." She then stamped on the left blade and broke it off as well. "The blood on your sword proves that."
David groaned as he lay on the floor. Then they both heard a gun-cocking. Kayo turned to see another man had entered without them noticing. It was Jessie. And he had a grenade launcher in his weapon. Before she had a chance to react, he fired a shot right into her chest.
"AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGH!" Kayo yelled as the blast sent her flying backwards into the wall then crashing down face-first on the floor.
"KAYO!" shouted Scott, John, Alan, Jeff and Brains all at the same time.
But Kayo didn't respond. She lay on her front, motionless with smoke from the blast rising up around her.
David, who'd kept his head down whilst his father had attacked, looked round at Kayo's motionless body. Then he looked at Jessie, and the two exchanged satisfied smiles.
Scott began to unbuckle himself and grabbed his helmet.
"Scott, what are you doing?" demanded Jeff.
"Kayo's down!" Scott replied. "I'm going down there."
"NO, SON!" shouted Jeff. "YOU'VE GOT NO PROTECTION AGAINST THEM!"
"I DON'T CARE, DAD!" Scott bellowed. "I HAVE TO-"
"S-SCOTT, STAY PUT!" thundered Brains. "L-LOOK!"
Jeff, Alan and John looked back at the scan image of Kayo. despite her being down, the suit's integrity was still 100%.
"Woah…" gasped Alan. "She survived?"
Scott could also see it on Thunderbird 1's display. "But…that's not possible…" he said.
Hayley had been listening in. She was unaware of Kayo's new suit and was confused by what was being said. "Um, guys - what's going on?"
Kayo's hands started to move once more. Jessie was the first to notice and the smile on his face vanished in an instant. David saw the smile disappear and slowly turned his head back around to look. Both men watched on in disbelief as Kayo lifted her head and pushed herself up off the floor. With the smoke now clear they could see her fully. Despite being hit with an explosive shell, her suit was not damaged at all. Kayo then picked herself up off the floor and stood straight, her eyes staring menacingly at Jessie. "Okay…now you've pissed me off!" she growled. It was then that her suit began to glow with the mysterious blue energy that seemed to surround the armour whenever it got a strike. "Errr, guys….what's happening to me?" she asked anxiously.
Brains quickly realised what was wrong.. "K-Kayo! Your suit's at f-full energy capacity! You have to release it!"
"How do I do that?" Kayo asked frantically.
Brains tried to quickly think of how she could do it. "D-Don't just let it go!" he said. "You c-could set off the torpedoes! Err, c-clap your hands. L-Like the Hulk! Hurry!"
Jessie had begun to hastily reload his weapon with another explosive shell. But as he finished it and aimed to fire, Kayo let out a bellow and clapped her outstretched hands together. This released the surge of blue energy from her suit and sent it shooting forwards. David felt it push him into the floor but Jessie was hit full on and thrown backwards where he crashed into the wall. It was most unfortunate that he knocked into the torpedo that had swung back off its shelf and caused it to slip out of its chains. It fell and landed on top of his legs. Jessie let out an anguished scream of pain. "GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" yelled David in horror.
Kayo stared at David, and then at Jessie. "Dad? Ow," she remarked. She walked forwards, deliberately stepping on David when he tried to get up and stormed over to Jessie who was trapped under the torpedo. "That's your son?" she said, pointing back at David. "Shame on you!" She then punched Jessie in the face before heading for the nearby ladder to climb to the upper level.
"BIIIIIIIIIIIITCH!" screamed Jessie before firing his weapon at Kayo again. This time Kayo jumped back to dodge. Instead it hit the side of the torpedo room and the explosion ripped a hole in the hull.
FAB1 and Thunderbird 4 had remained submerged just in case the pirates had managed to get it back in their control. They along with everyone above were alarmed when they saw the explosion erupt out of the side.
"Kayo, what's happening in there?" Gordon asked anxiously. "Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Gordon," Kayo replied. "But I think this submarine's going to be heading back down rather quickly. You'd better get clear."
"Kayo, get out of there!" ordered Jeff.
Kayo was about to, then she saw David had come forwards trying to get the torpedo off his Dad's legs. "What about them?" she asked. On the one hand, she wanted to leave them to fend for themselves because they had tried to kill her. But on the other hand, International Rescue was an organisation who vowed to rescue anybody who was in danger. Even the bad guys.
Jeff looked at the footage from Kayo's helmet. He could now see David desperately struggling to try and free his Dad. Water was gushing in through the hole in the hull and very quickly the floor was hidden. This was one hell of a decision he was going to have to make. "Leave them, Kayo," he said, which took everyone by surprise. "The only way to save that guy is for Virgil to lift the torpedo off. And there's no way he could get down there in time before the sub goes down. Save yourself."
Kayo's heart was in her mouth. Even though both these men had tried to kill her, she did not feel right leaving them behind. But she also knew Jeff was right. Even with the strength of her suit, she could not lift the torpedo. She grabbed hold of the ladder and began to pull herself up whilst trying not to get pushed away by the flow of water.
"STOP!" David shouted. "WAIT! HELP ME! HE'S TRAPPED!"
Kayo did not respond and carried on.
"WAIT! NO! OI!" David shouted again. "YOU CAN'T LEAVE US LIKE THIS!"
Kayo finally stopped just before the top of the ladder. She looked down at David and Jessie who were now both waist-height in the water. She opened up the outer nanotech helmet to reveal her regular one underneath so he could see her face. He could now see the look of sorrow in her eyes.
"HELP ME!" David wailed in desperation.
"I'm sorry!" Kayo called back, she could feel her heart breaking. "But you killed innocent people. I can't help you." She then pulled herself up and disappeared from view.
David bellowed in frustration and began trying again to get the torpedo off Jessie's legs.
Alarms were wailing throughout the Konovalov and all the interior lights were flashing red warning of the danger. Kayo found the last crewman who'd been hit by one of David's bullets. To her horror, she found he was dead, having been shot again most likely by Jessie. This sent a wave of anger flooding through her veins. She looked back towards the torpedo room and listened to the sounds of David's frantic cries as he desperately tried to save his Dad. Kayo screwed up her eyes and punched a wall. "Damn you both!" she cursed before she scrambled up the ladder to the deck.
Kayo emerged just as the hatch was about to reach the level of the water. She decided to close it before grapple-launching back up to Thunderbird Shadow in order to prevent the flooding from worsening. As soon as she was aboard, she turned Thunderbird Shadow around and zoomed away from the scene without saying a word to anyone.
"Kayo, where are you going?" Scott asked.
"Leave her son," Jeff answered. "I don't think she's gonna want to speak to anyone for a while."
Scott's heart sank. He looked down at the Konovalov which was now starting to slip beneath the waves as the flooding worsened. "Thunderbird 2, is everyone out?"
"Kayo wouldn't have left without any innocent people aboard, Scott," answered Virgil. "I'd say we got them all."
The flooding had now covered the entire floor of the torpedo room. For Jessie it was almost up to his neck. "GET OUT OF HERE! I GOT THIS!" he yelled at David.
"SHUT UP!" David shouted back. "I'M NOT LEAVING YOU!"
Jessie reached out and grabbed his son by the arms. "HEY! HEY! YOU NEED TO LIVE! YOU NEED TO KILL THAT BITCH! NOW, GO!"
"NO!"
"GO!"
"SHUT UP!" David bellowed and tried once more to lift the torpedo. But it was too heavy for him to move. He then froze in horror as Jessie's right hand lifted out of the water revealing an explosive device. "No…NO!"
Jessie coughed and some blood came out of his mouth. "I'm not asking you, boy," he said. "I'm telling you." He then pulled out a pin.
David's shaking intensified as he realised what this meant. "DAMN YOU!" he screamed.
"I love you, son!" Jessie called. "Make me proud! GO!"
David had to force himself to do so. He struggled away through the water to the ladder and began to scramble up it heading towards the hatch that led into their manta-shaped craft that was still attached to the top of the Konovalov. No sooner was he out of sight when the water completely covered Jessie's head. Only his right hand remained raised above the water holding the explosive device. Soon his hand slipped off the trigger and it detonated.
David heard and felt the explosion just as he reached the airlock that led into his submarine. He stopped dead in his tracks, screwed up his eyes and began to cry. Then he recovered himself and began to growl as fury and anger began to boil through his body like a volcano on the verge of eruption. He scrambled up into his submarine, now being its only occupant due to all the others being taken out. He disengaged from the sinking Konovalov which was now completely underwater and raced away at high speed leaving the Konovalov to continue its sinking down to a watery grave - taking the bodies of Jessie and the rest of pirates with it.
Brains looked at the small nanotech device that had been attached to Kayo's regular suit. He did not know how to feel. "M-Maybe this wasn't such a good idea?" he said to Jeff.
"In what way?" Jeff asked.
"This s-suit was meant to protect Kayo, not take lives," Brains said.
"But it did though?" said Alan. "Kayo doesn't even have a bruise from that encounter. Even after the hit from that explosive."
"For the p-purpose of its creation, yes, it has proven to be most effective, Alan," said Brains. "But m-maybe I shouldn't have made it as p-powerful as it is."
"What happened to the pirate leaders was an accident, Brains," Virgil said. "That wasn't your fault. Or Kayo's for that matter."
Brains exhaled. "I know, V-Virgil," he said. "It's just-"
Jeff sat on the arm of the chair Brains was sat in and put his arm on the young engineer's shoulder. "Look, Brains," he said. "I get how you feel and I totally understand. Believe me, I found telling Kayo to leave those guys gut-wrenching. They didn't deserve to go that way."
"But it was the only option we had," Scott said.
Jeff nodded. "Precisely," he said.
"Speaking of Kayo," Penelope chimed in. "Where is she? I haven't seen her at all since we got back."
"She's out there," said Gordon, pointing out of the window. "She's been there for almost an hour."
Everyone looked out of the window. A small dot of light blue from Kayo's T-shirt could be seen sitting on a rock about half a mile from the ranch.
"Someone should go and talk to her," Grandma said.
"I don't think she wants anyone to talk to her," said John.
Scott stood up. "She can't stay brooding forever," he said. "I'll go and-"
"No, son, this is my duty," said Jeff. "I should be the one to do it."
"Or I could?" Everyone turned and looked at Hayley. "She might feel more open talking to me. At least let me give it a try. please?"
Virgil opened the front door of the house to let Hayley out on her crutches. They looked out across in the direction of where Kayo was sitting alone. They walked down to the front gateway and then came to a stop. "Are you sure about this?" Virgil asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, I am," Hayley replied.
Virgil gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck," he said.
Hayley smiled and returned the kiss. "Thanks." She then began to head off slowly because of not being able to go fast towards where Kayo was.
Kayo heard the sound of Hayley's crutches coming from some way off. But she did not move or say anything until Hayley got to her. "Hello, Hayley."
"Hey, Kayo. Forgive me for asking but, are you okay?"
Kayo let out a deep sigh. "Not really. If I'm honest," she said. "When I was fighting those pirates. The suit made me feel so powerful. I felt invincible. And yet, when all that energy built up after I got hit by that explosive. The sheer power that I had at fingertips…terrified me. And because I released it at the pirate guy, he ended up getting crushed by that torpedo. Then when the son asked me for help, I…I couldn't do anything. I felt so helpless. God, my head is spinning with confliction, Hayley! They killed innocent people aboard that submarine, and for that I wanted them to suffer. And yet I feel remorse for leaving them to die down there. That is not the way of International Rescue." She stopped ranting and began to catch her breath.
Hayley listened carefully before carefully sitting down beside Kayo and placing a caring arm around her. "I don't have an answer for you, Kayo. At least, there's nothing I could say that Mr Tracy or any of the boys would say to you."
"Who's idea was it?" Kayo asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Which one of the asked you to come and talk to me?"
"None of them," Hayley replied. "I offered. Mr Tracy and Scott were about to argue over who came out to you. I thought you'd rather have someone like me or Lady Penelope come talk to you."
Kayo finally lifted her head and turned to look at Hayley. Hayley looked at the tear-stained cheeks that Kayo had and pulled her in closer. "Thank you, Hayley," Kayo said gratefully. "That means a lot. Although I do need to stop distancing myself from the others when I get like this. It happens far too often and I think they're getting fed up with it."
"You are who you are, Kayo, and nothing can change that," Hayley said. "Trust me. You'll get over it."
Kayo finally managed a smile.
"Come on, let's get back to the house," Hayley said.
Kayo nodded and stood up first, helping Hayley up as it was slightly more awkward for her with her leg. They began to make their way back towards the house. As they did, they both noticed Virgil standing by the gate. He smiled at them, and they smiled back.
Kayo felt a lot better in herself after that talk, but knew it would be a little while before she could get the haunting image of the two pirate leaders struggling in the water and her having no choice but to abandon them. She like Jeff could only hope that their choice would not come back to haunt them in the future.