THE old elevator reached the bottom of the mine-shaft. The gates were opened and the last three people were ordered out at gun-point by the five armed men and women whose faces were concealed behind strange black masks with white symbols on.
"Move it!" one of the gunmen ordered, forcing the hostages out of the elevator and into the dark, damp and murky depths of the old coal mine.
The hostages did so without question. Two were male, one of which was a teenager. The other was a woman cradling her newly-born child. None of them spoke. They were all too terrified as they were sent deep into the tunnel where eventually they were pushed through a newly-constructed steel gate and then it was closed and locked behind them. The gunmen then headed back towards the elevator, leaving the family along with over fifty others locked behind the gate, trapped deep underground with no way of escape.
"This is an OUTRAGE!" bellowed the man in a strong Welsh accent who'd been forced in last. "YOU CANNOT DO THIS TO MY PEOPLE!"
The leader of the gunmen stopped and turned back. "Your village belongs to us now, Mr Mayor," he said. "And there's nothing you can do about it. Goodbye."
The gunmen then left, leaving the entire population of the village of Llewellyn trapped deep in the mine that had once been its lifeline.
The gunmen returned to the surface and stepped out into sunlight. They walked over to a group of others who, like them, were also dressed up with hoods over their heads and masks over their faces. Two were dressed somewhat smartly in suits. One male - and one female.
"Is that the last of them?" asked the man in charge.
"Yes, your lordship," said the man who'd taken the mayor and his family down into the mine. "The entire population is entombed below. The village is ours."
"Excellent," said the male leader. "Then it is time." He turned to the woman in the suit. "Give the word," he said.
The woman held up an old-fashioned walkie-talkie. "We are ready," she said. "Turn it on."
Located in the middle of the village square, the mysterious group had set up a very tall and unusual-looking device with a big satellite-like dish mounted on the top. At the woman's instruction, the device was turned on. A beam of blue light shot upwards from the dish to about 5,000 feet off the ground before stopping and then starting to spread outwards creating a large energy-dome that covered the entire village and completely sealed it off from the rest of the country.
"It is done," said the male leader.
"Do you think they'll come?" asked the female leader.
"The dome will attract attention," said the male leader with confidence. "Trust me, my dear. They will come. And then they'll be ours."
Whilst not seen, the woman smirked sinisterly under her mask.
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"ANTIQUATED"
THE sky above Caernarfon, North Wales was shattered by sounds of aircraft engines flying low and performing aerobatics. The annual air show set up in 2060 was proving as popular as ever with all sorts of planes and helicopters coming to perform their displays to the crowds.
Amongst the crowds were Lady Penelope and Parker along with Gordon who had come to stay with the Creighton-Wards on vacation. Gordon had been to air shows before, and he still remembered the one where he and the rest of International Rescue had showed off their ships by helping to rescue the Icarus. But he'd never seen what was currently performing over the bay - the world famous Red Arrows.
Five of the Arrows were flying level with each other whilst a sixth performed spiralling loops around them. Each was emitting their coloured vapor-trails of red, white and blue. Then the remaining three swooped in from the opposite direction and zoomed in between the others, colliding airways sending the mixture of coloured smoke spreading out in all directions.
"Woah!" exclaimed Gordon in awe. "That was awesome!"
"They're not done yet, Gordon," answered Penelope. "Watch the next bit."
The Arrows had now split into groups of three. One, Two and Three came in from the North. Four, Five and Six from the South-East and Seven, Eight and Nine from the South-West. One, Four and Seven were each emitting red smoke. Two, Five and Eight were emitting white smoke. And Three, Six and Nine were emitting blue smoke. The three flights raced in towards each other. At the speeds they were going, anyone watching could be forgiven for thinking there would be a mid-air collision. And yet there wasn't. The nine planes suddenly pulled up sharply once they were close enough to each other and then dived backwards to create a fountain-like effect.
The crowd cheered and whooped in admiration as the planes then regrouped to perform their final act of the day, performing a nine-plane formation arrow-shaped corkscrew climb high into the sky before spiralling back around and then burst through the smoke to end their display. The crowd went wild again as the Red Arrows then left the display area.
"That was simply amazing!" remarked Gordon. "What's next?"
The show commentator was the one to answer the question. "Well, folks, I hope you all enjoyed seeing the Red Arrows as much as I did. They are the more modern entries from the Royal Air Force this year. Next up, we will be welcoming the Golden Oldies of the RAF. A group of probably the most beautiful aircraft you will ever see. Even more than the Thunderbirds."
Gordon instantly huffed at that remark. "Whaaaa?!"
Penelope and Parker tried their best not to laugh.
"And here they come, ladies and gentlemen!" the commentator said. "Straight from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire - the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight!"
People in the crowd began pointing upwards excitedly as the sound of rumbling engines filled the air. The distinct sound of Rolls-Royce Merlin engines.
Gordon had failed to notice the sounds at first because he was still offended by the commentator's remark about the Thunderbird machines. "The nerve of that guy!" he fumed. "What aircraft could possibly be…" His voice trailed off as his eyes caught onto what was approaching. They went wide and his mouth fell open in awe as a four-engine Avro Lancaster bomber came swooping in over the bay escorted by a Hawker Hurricane on its port-side and a Supermarine Spitfire on the starboard-side. The rumble of their engines made for a spine-chilling moment as they passed over the bay before starting their display.
The Spitfire and Hurricane did their one first, individually and then together before the Lancaster came in to do its own bit, swooping low over the water with its bomb-bay doors opening to reveal four mock-up bombs inside of it.
"Magnificent beast, h'isn't she?" Parker said to Gordon.
Gordon snapped out of his trance. "Maybe," he said. "But it's no Thunderbird, Parker. It wouldn't be any good in a rescue situation!"
Penelope giggled. "Oh, Gordon. Of course it wouldn't," she said. "It wasn't built for that. It was built for…well unpleasant things."
"But necessary for h'our country's survival," Parker said.
"I couldn't agree more, Parker."
The trio turned around. They knew that voice.
"Colonel Casey?" said Penelope in surprise. "What brings you here?"
"Unfortunately not pleasure, Lady Penelope," said Colonel Casey. "We have a situation and could use your help."
"Of course," said Penelope. "Go get FAB1 and bring it to the flyer, Parker. Gordon and I will walk back with the Colonel."
"Right h'away, m'lady," said Parker and he hurried off to find FAB1.
The GDF Flyer lifted off from where it had landed with FAB1 and its passengers aboard. As it made its way over the castle, they spotted the Lancaster and its escorts heading off towards a nearby airfield.
"Where are they going?" Gordon asked with interest.
"They're doing another display this afternoon over Liverpool and then over to the East Coast," Colonel Casey said. "My guess is they'll want to refuel and check over the planes before doing so."
"So, Colonel, what do you need our help with?" asked Penelope.
"This is a hard one to explain, Lady Penelope," replied Colonel Casey. "Come to the flight deck. It'll be a lot easier to simply show you."
Intrigued by her words, Penelope, Gordon and Parker followed the Colonel up from the main deck of the Flyer to the cockpit at the front. Looking out of the windows, they were very surprised by what they saw. In the distance, gradually getting bigger as they got closer, was a mysterious looking dome-structure covering a vast area.
"What h'in the world?" asked Parker.
"What is it?" added Gordon.
"Looks like some kind of energy field," observed Penelope.
"That would appear to be accurate," said Colonel Casey. "Several hours ago, a person on their way to visit a relative in the village of Llewellyn found their path blocked off by this mysterious dome. They were too afraid to enter and called it in. Initial observations have told us that the entire village has been covered by it with the source being located from a large device located somewhere in the middle. Nobody has been able to make any kind of contact with anyone who lives there."
"Who could be behind this?" asked Gordon.
"That is what we need to find out," said Colonel Casey. "I'd normally ask Kayo to pull this kind of thing off as covert ops is her thing. But she's busy tracking down a lead on The Cabal. So I decided to ask if Lady Penelope and Parker would do it?"
"Seeing as we're already here, I don't see that we have much of a choice?" Penelope asked.
Colonel Casey shifted uncomfortably. "No, I, er, guess-" she began.
But Penelope chuckled and cut her off. "It's not a problem, Colonel," she said. "I've been itching for some undercover action for quite a while now."
"H'Indeed, m'lady," agreed Parker. "Although I reckon that h'I already know who is behind this."
The others looked at him. "You do?" they asked together.
"The 'as The Cabal's dirty fingerprints h'all over it," said Parker.
Penelope however wasn't convinced. "I don't often disagree with you, Parker," she said. "But this does not quite feel like The Cabal. They seem to try and commit their acts of atrocity in relative secrecy. They don't tend to make an expedition of themselves."
"Whoever's behind this wants to be noticed," Gordon said. "Even I can figure that out."
"Agreed," said Colonel Casey. "Even in this remote part of Wales, something as large as that isn't going to go unnoticed."
"We're on final approach, Colonel," said the pilot.
"We'll return to the deck and strap in," said Colonel Casey before guiding the others out of the cockpit.
The Flyer landed in a large open field about quarter of a mile from where the edge of the dome began. It had looked impressive from a distance, but up close it was somewhat intimidating, Gordon thought. He felt very uneasy inside. Only Penelope and Parker were going to be allowed in as they were trained with covert and dealing with potential enemies whereas he wasn't. Even though he'd fought against The Black Phantom in the past, he'd barely survived, especially without any of his IR equipment. "I really don't like this," he said to Penelope as they exited the Flyer, following FAB1 out.
"Gordon, I understand you feel that way, but we have a job to do," Penelope said. "Besides, you won't be left alone. You've got Colonel Casey for company."
Gordon shifted. Although he never said it, deep down he wasn't entirely trustful of Colonel Casey and this had been bolstered a little after learning about the new version of The Black Phantom and also the revelation of Fuse being in the GDF's ranks as Obsidian. Whereas Scott had harboured a strong distrust against The Mechanic, Gordon had actually held resentment for a lot longer. That was until after they'd brought Jeff home with The Mechanic's help. Gordon had resented him for destroying the previous Thunderbird 4 the first time before its second and permanent destruction at the hands of the Chaos Crew - especially as it was Fuse who had fired the missiles that had brought the rocks crashing down on top of Thunderbird 4. He had yet to learn that Fuse had actually shown concern for him after seeing him trapped in the wrecked craft when he'd gone to collect Braman.
However, his attention was drawn to a figure amongst a group of other GDF personnel who were already on site. A figure in a scarlet and red uniform. If he'd not seen her after her first deployment, he'd never have guessed who it was, but fortunately he could. "HAYLEY!" he called.
The figure turned around in surprise. "Gosh!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here, Squidward?" They fist-bumped.
Penelope and Parker hadn't seen Hayley in a very long time and therefore were surprised by her new look. "Captain Madison?" said Penelope. "Goodness! That's a striking look!"
"Hello, Lady Penelope," said Hayley. "Been a while."
"Indeed," said Penelope. "Have to say it suits you."
"Thank you," Hayley replied. "I guess you're the back-up?"
"As Kayo is unavailable, yes, Captain Madison," said Colonel Casey. "Have you been able to learn anything from our situation?"
"Not at all unfortunately," said Hayley. "We've tried making contact with the Mayor's office and the local Police but nothing. But I'm wondering if maybe it's some kind of jammer in there."
"How so?" asked Colonel Casey.
"Well the calls wouldn't even connect," said Hayley. "All we get is static."
Penelope frowned. She didn't say anything, but she had a strange feeling she'd experienced something similar before. However, guesswork wasn't going to help them in any way.
Colonel Casey turned to Penelope and Parker. "Well then, I guess it's up to you two," she said. "Go in, covertly search and report back your findings."
"Understood," said Penelope.
As Parker made his way to start up FAB1, Gordon grabbed Penelope's hand. "Be careful in there," he said in a concerned voice.
"Always, my love," Penelope said back before giving him a smooch on the lips.
Despite his fears, the kiss made Gordon more relaxed and feel somewhat fuzzy inside.
Whilst there was a road a few fields away from the one where they were in, it was decided that Parker should try and fly FAB1 in at low altitude in order to test whether it was possible to get through the dome or not. Once he and Penelope were inside, he switched the car to flight-mode and it lifted off the ground before making its way over a hedge into the next field where another group of GDF troops were stationed near to where the dome's perimeter was.
"FAB1 is h'off," Parker said.
Hayley could see how worried Gordon was and totally sympathised with him. She therefore gave him a caring pat on the shoulder for reassurance.
As FAB1 approached the dome, Parker brought them into a hovering position. "What's the plan, m'lady?" he asked.
"First we need to make sure that we can actually pass through the dome and its not a solid structure," said Penelope. "Try using the robotic arm and give it a prod."
"Right-ho," said Parker. He pressed a button on the dashboard.
The front grill of FAB1 opened up and the extending robotic claw arm extended outwards towards the dome. As it drew closer, Penelope and Parker braced themselves in case it shot a massive energy surge back at them in retaliation. The claw made contact, and passed right through.
"H'It isn't solid, m'lady," Parker said.
"Excellent," said Penelope. She opened up her compact. "FAB1 to Colonel Casey. The dome isn't solid. We're going in."
"Roger that, FAB1," replied Colonel Casey, "And remember, any sign of trouble, get the heck out of there, on the double!"
"F-A-B," said Penelope. She closed the compact. "Stealth-mode, Parker. Take us in."
"Right h'away, m'lady," said Parker. He pushed another button. The pink body of FAB1 soon turned into an inky-black colour making it look a lot more like a stealth vehicle. Then he gently eased the car forwards, passing through the dome and soon they found themselves on the inside.
Now they could see what the cause of the dome was. Just visible in the middle of the village was the tall structure with the dish on the top sending the beam of energy up into the sky and spreading down all around, covering the entire village.
"Coooooooooooor!" Parker exclaimed in awe whilst Penelope simply stared speechless.
Suddenly there was a lurch which snapped them back to reality. FAB1's controls were beeping in an alarming way. It juddered and shuddered and then began to fall.
"Parker, what's happening?" Penelope asked.
Parker tried moving all the controls. "What the dickens?!" he exclaimed. He looked up and saw the ground was rapidly approaching. "HANG ON, M'LADY! BRACE!"
Penelope braced herself along with Parker before the car hit the ground with a hard bump. Luckily they were wearing seatbelts otherwise they'd have thrown about like puppets.
Once they had come to a stop, the two gazed around, confused.
"What just happened, Parker?" asked Penelope.
Parker tried all the controls again. "What? I don't h'understand," he said. "We've lost h'all power! FAB1 is h'as dead as a dodo!"
"No power?" Penelope said. Then she realised something. She quickly snapped open her compact again. "Lady Penelope to Colonel Casey. Come in, please?"
But no reply came. All they got was static - just like when Hayley said it was all they'd heard.
"No h'answer, m'lady?" asked Parker.
"No, it would seem that Captain Madison was correct," Penelope said. "Which means…" She trailed off as something caught her attention. "Parker…I think we're in trouble," she said.
Parker turned to look in the direction that Penelope was indicating. About twenty metres away and getting closer were a group of people, wearing hoods and black masks with strange white symbols on them. They had a look that they recognised all too well.
"Blimey O'Riley!" exclaimed Parker. "H'It's the-"
"Parker, get us out of here!" Penelope ordered.
Parker tried starting FAB1 again, but it wouldn't respond. "H'It's no good, m'lady!" he said. "We're doomed!"
"Stop being defeatist!" snapped Penelope. "We'll just have to abandon FAB1. Use the manual smoke-release and make a run for it. That should stall them long enough for us to make it through the dome!"
Parker quivered but did as he was told. He opened up a small flap on the steering wheel and pushed it. This let out a massive cloud of dense white smoke, completely concealing the car from view of the incoming hostiles who immediately became disoriented and confused as to what was going on.
With the attackers lost in the smoke, Parker and Penelope pushed open the doors of FAB1 and made their exit before legging it as fast as they could back towards the dome which was about fifty metres away from them. They'd barely made it halfway before some of the attackers managed to escape from the cloud of smoke and caught sight of them again.
"STOP THEM!" shrieked a female voice from behind one of the masks as two of the others raised their weapons and began shooting.
Having not realised they'd been spotted, Parker was quickly hit by a tiny tranquiliser dart fired from one of the weapons. He fell to the ground instantly.
"PARKER!" screamed Penelope. She now knew that she couldn't leave him behind so she made a hasty plan. Diving behind a bush for cover, she only hoped that she'd have enough time. Pulling an empty water bottle out of her coat pocket, she then grabbed her notebook and quickly wrote something on it. She then put the message inside the bottle and threw it through the dome. It passed through and landed outside.
It was only just in time before the attackers appeared from behind the fence and trained their weapons on her. "FREEZE!" bellowed one of the men. "HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM! DON'T MOVE!"
With no choice but to obey, Penelope raised her hands in surrender. She could only hope that someone outside had noticed the bottle.
Gordon, Colonel Casey and Hayley were getting anxious. It had been five minutes since FAB1 had entered the dome and yet there'd been no calls whatsoever.
"Something's wrong," Gordon said. "I just know it!"
"Gordon, calm down," Hayley said. "They're probably just doing a covert search. Chances are they might not be able to say anything for a little while. Just be patient."
"Yeah?" Gordon replied. "Then why do I get the feeling he's bad news?" He pointed in the direction of the dome.
Hayley looked to see one of the soldiers that was stationed by the dome had passed through the gate that separated the two fields and was running up towards them. He was carrying something in his hand.
"What's wrong, soldier?" asked Colonel Casey. "You could have just radioed?"
"Sorry…Colonel…" panted the breathless soldier. "This…just came…through…the dome…" He then held up the water bottle with the piece of paper inside.
Colonel Casey exchanged puzzled looks with Hayley and the very concerned Gordon. She took the bottle from the soldier and opened the cap before taking the piece of paper out. She unfolded it to see what was on it. Hayley and Gordon noticed the colour begin to drain from her face and she muttered something that sounded like a swear-word.
"What is it, Colonel?" asked Hayley.
Colonel Casey said nothing as she handed the piece of paper to Hayley so she and Gordon could have a look. What they saw made Gordon squeak in horror and for Hayley to feel a chill run down her spine. On the piece of paper was written a single word.
"Luddites"