IN the cockpit of the Fireflash, the co-pilot and Captain Dubois had been keeping their eyes open for any potential danger. The co-pilot happened to look over to the right. Then he froze as he saw the small black weapon closing in rapidly on them. "Rene? Rene! Four o'clock!"

Captain Dubois looked and he froze as well. "Oh, my God! It's coming right at us! Hold on!" His days of being a fighter pilot kicked in, pulling back on the controls and causing Fireflash to rise in a steep climb as well as bank sharply to the left. The passengers screamed as the airliner turned to almost 90-degrees on its side as it moved to evade getting hit by The Buzzard.

The Buzzard passed right underneath the Fireflash having not quite been able to make the turn in time. It continued on for a short distance whilst Fireflash levelled out again. Then it turned around and began to close in again. Captain Dubois pulled off another manoeuvre, ducking the airliner down as the Buzzard zipped behind, missing the tail section by mere inches.

"WE NEED TO GET TO FULL SPEED!" the co-pilot yelled to the Captain. "IT'S OUR ONLY CHANGE TO-"

"WE'VE NOT BEEN CLEARED FOR SUPERSONIC!" Captain Dubois shouted back. "WE JUST NEED TO SHAKE IT OFF! HANG ON!" He flipped the controls again as the Buzzard charged in yet again and missed once more. "SEND OUT AN ALERT!" he ordered. "WE NEED HELP!"

The co-pilot activated the radio. "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is Fireflash 209 out of Dallas International Airport. We are under attack! I repeat - we are under attack!"

This message sent shockwaves through anyone who heard it. The Air Traffic Control at Washington heard it. The military stations in the area heard it. The controllers at Hunter Test Base heard it. And John aboard Thunderbird 5 heard it.

"Thunderbird 1 - the weapon's locked onto a Fireflash!" John said urgently. "You need to get there fast!"

"I have the position, John," Scott replied. "I'm closing in now."

There was absolute pandemonium inside the Fireflash's passenger cabin. Most hadn't even seen the Buzzard so the sudden evasive movements had to come as an even greater shock to them. The luggage compartments above several heads burst open and suitcases, coats and other items came tumbling out. Luckily everyone was still in their seats and strapped in otherwise they'd have gone flying as well.

After a few tense moments, Captain Dubois levelled the airliner out once more. He and the co-pilot began to scan the sky around them, looking for the mysterious weapon that had come out of nowhere. But it seemed to have disappeared. All they could see were clouds.

"Where did it go?" asked the co-pilot anxiously. "Shouldn't we continue evasive action, sir?"

"No," replied Captain Dubois. "Those attack drones lock on with a guidance system. If we start dancing around the sky, that little pest will get us when we can't see it. Let it make the next move."

Thunderbird 1 was now closing in on the Fireflash's position. Looking on his radar screen, Scott could see the airliner crossing his path. He decided to make contact as he felt sure that the crew would be on edge. "Fireflash 209, this is International Rescue, Thunderbird 1. We heard you're having a little trouble?"

"Oui, International Rescue," said Captain Dubois. "You could say that. I don't suppose you have a visual on the drone, do you?"

Scott looked around. "That's a negative, Fireflash," he said. "But I'll stick around in case it shows up again."

This made the crew of Fireflash feel a little better. The passengers however were by no means feeling any better. Several had begun holding hands or cuddling each other. Nobody spoke out of fear. None more so than Sarah, who was trembling as she peered out of the window trying to locate where the Buzzard might come from next.

Scott continued to watch his instruments for any sign of the mysterious weapon. "Thunderbird 5, this thing must have a radar-jammer. I can't see or locate it anywhere."

"I was thinking the same," John replied. "I've adjusted my scanners to cancel out any potential radar jammers. And done!"

Scott checked his instruments again. Then he let out a gasp when a new contact appeared, directly ahead of the Fireflash and charging straight for it. "Fireflash! Look out! Ahead of you!"

The co-pilot then spotted it as well. "There!" he said, pointing for Dubois to see.

Captain Dubois then pulled off his most daring manoeuvre yet. He made the Fireflash perform a complete barrel-roll with the airliner flying upside down for a few seconds. The Buzzard narrowly skipped along the outside of the fuselage and only just passed through the tail-frame at the back before passing out through the back.

"Woah!" exclaimed Scott. "I didn't know Fireflash could do that!"

"Neither did I," agreed John. "Although I'm not convinced that it's meant to."

Just then Brains appeared in a hologram. "Scott? J-John? I heard something about a Fireflash?"

"Yes, Brains, a Fireflash is under attack from a rogue drone," said John. "Take a look at the aerobatics they're performing to evade it."

Brains watched from the holographic projector in the lounge on Tracy Island. "Oh, m-my!" he exclaimed. "That's b-brave and highly dangerous."

"Guessing you didn't design Fireflash to pull off those kinds of stunts?" asked Scott.

"C-Certainly not!" said Brains. "If they c-continue to make the manoeuvres, they could cause s-serious structural failure."

"With the greatest of respect, Brains, you can't not expect them to not try and evade the drone?" John said.

"T-True," agreed Brains. "But s-someone needs to destroy that drone before the F-Fireflash suffers any catastrophic failures!"

Scott looked back at the Fireflash which was pulling off more turns and was now diving to dodge yet another charge of the drone. "Are there any Air Force planes nearby?" he asked.

"There's a couple of Navy planes headed your way," said John. "But it'll be another two minutes before they arrive."

"That's too long!" Scott said. "Fireflash can't keep pulling off these moves." He then made a decision. "Fireflash, this is Thunderbird 1. Head towards my position. I'm going to try and take the drone out."

"Roger!" said Captain Dubois. He adjusted the Fireflash's course to head up towards Thunderbird 1.

"What are you going to do, Scott?" asked John.

"Use Thunderbird 1's laser to destroy it of course," Scott replied.

"Scott, I h-highly suggest you d-don't do that," Brains warned. "The drone is p-passing far too close to Fireflash. If you miss you could hit it instead of the drone."

"I was going to fire after it had passed, Brains," Scott said. "But if you've got a better idea I'm all ears."

"T-Try and get the drone locked onto Thunderbird 1," Brains said. "You should easily be able to outrun it, then either double-back and destroy it once clear of F-Fireflash or lead it towards Thunderbird 2 for Virgil to take it out."

Scott looked up and saw that Fireflash was closing in on his position. "Let me try my way first, Brains," he said. "Then if it doesn't work I'll try yours."

"O-Okay," agreed Brains.

Scott readied the laser mounted underneath Thunderbird 1's nose-cone. The Fireflash was getting closer. He could feel sweat trickling down his face. He couldn't afford to mess this up. The Fireflash passed and the Buzzard came into his sights. He pressed the button. Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing happened, and then the drone disappeared from his sights. "Damn it!" Scott cursed. "Why isn't it working?!"

Brains ran a quick diagnostic. "Scott, your laser is registering a malfunction," he said. "You'll have t-to try Plan B."

Scott growled in frustration. "F-A-B!" He slammed the controls and Thunderbird 1 did what looked like a hand-brake turn before charging off after Fireflash and the Buzzard.

Fireflash was going into another barrel-roll to avoid getting hit by the drone yet again. Inside the cabin crew and passengers were screaming even louder than before as they found themselves upside-down yet again. Sarah, screaming along with the others, screamed loudest of all when she saw a flash of black as the Buzzard shot past her window.

"It's no use," cursed Captain Dubois after they'd levelled out again. "I can't shake it!"

But the co-pilot had seen something else. "Ten o'clock! Another Thunderbird!"

Thunderbird 2 emerged from a nearby cloud. Virgil had been listening in on all that had been said and had gotten his own attack ready. "Fireflash, bank right! Bank right!"

The Fireflash turned sharply to the right revealing the drone behind it.

Inside the control room at Hunter Test Base, Kevin, Dr Midler and the other controllers had not seen Thunderbird 1 via the drone's camera so it came as a complete surprise to them when Fireflash turned sharply away to reveal the green bulk of Thunderbird 2 heading straight for it.

Virgil took good aim and fired Thunderbird 2's laser. The red beam shot out of the end of the nozzle on Thunderbird 2's nose and struck the Buzzard. There came a thunderous BOOM as the drone exploded into thousands of tiny pieces. "Got it!" Virgil announced. "Drone destroyed!"

Sighs of relief were heard all around.

"Had to steal my moment, didn't you, Virg?" said Scott.

Virgil just rolled his eyes.

Seeing the camera screen go dead caused everyone in the control centre at Hunter Test Island to start cheering with delight and relief. Everyone that was except for Kevin and Dr Midler, who realised that their plan had failed. They had hoped that the Air Force or Navy planes wouldn't get there in time. They hadn't reckoned on International Rescue randomly appearing on the scene.

"Now what do we do?" Dr Midler whispered.

Kevin didn't answer for a moment. "Is that target plane still in the air?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," replied Dr Midler.

"Then that's our back-up plan," Kevin said. "See that it's done."

Dr Midler nodded and slunk away without anybody noticing.

Having realised that the mystery object attacking them had been destroyed, the crew and passengers aboard the Fireflash also erupted into a chorus of cheers and sighs of relief. All except for Sarah, for she now knew that her boyfriend was trying anything he could to stop her revealing his secrets. She therefore broke down and started crying heavily.

Thunderbirds 1 and 2 began to cruise alongside the Fireflash, one on each side.

"Thank you, International Rescue," said Captain Dubois. "I don't think we could have continued to pull off those manoeuvres if you hadn't shown up."

"All in a day's work, Captain," replied Scott. "What is your destination?"

"Charles de Gaulle," said Captain Dubois.

"Mmmm, Paris," Virgil said to himself. "I'd love to have a night out with Hayley there."

"Thunderbird 2, do you have enough fuel for a trip back to Paris and back?" Scott asked.

Virgil checked. "Sure do," he said.

"Great," said Scott. "Then we'll provide an escort for you just to make sure nothing else happens."

Captain Dubois was about to politely decline the offer but they were all interrupted by Brains who had some worrying news. 'C-Captain Dubois. This is Hiram K. Hackenbacker."

The two Fireflash pilots exchanged surprised looks. They knew of Hiram Hackenbacker but had never met him.

"Monsieur Hackenbacker?" said Captain Dubois. "This is unexpected. What can we do for you?"

"Captain, I'm with International Rescue," Brains said. "I've been monitoring your s-situation and I am afraid I have some b-bad news."

"What's the problem, Brains?" Scott asked.

"I've r-run scans of the Fireflash's fuselage," Brains said. "I've detected s-several weakened parts of the aircraft m-most likely caused by strains as you were pulling off those manoeuvres."

Captain Dubois sighed. "I was afraid that might happen," he said.

"At the m-moment she'll be fine," Brains went on. "But I would s-strongly advise that you don't continue your journey to Paris. The longer you stay in the air, the more d-danger you'll be putting yourselves in. I'd r-rather not say what might happen if any part of the Fireflash were to fail in mid-flight."

Silence fell for a few moments as everyone waited for Captain Dubois to make his decision. Turning back would probably result in a lot of paperwork and questions needed answering. But he was not prepared to put his passengers in any more danger than they'd already been in. He turned his head to look at the co-pilot. "Radio Washington ATC," he said. "Tell them we're heading back. I'll inform the passengers."

"Roger," replied the co-pilot.

With the news relayed, the Fireflash and its Thunderbird escort turned about and began to make their way back towards the United States. However, they had no idea that a new danger was heading straight for them.

Nina was marched back to her cell by the guards. "You're lucky you're not being called to the Warden's office for your outburst," said one of the female guards.

"As if I'd care about that?" Nina retorted as she walked into the cell. "Now get lost and leave me alone!"

The two guards looked at each other. "As you wish," they said and closed the door. Then they walked away.

Nina stood facing the back of her cell and banged her head against the wall. She heard the close and waited for the hiss and click that would follow from the locking mechanism. However, it didn't come. Nina very slowly turned herself around to look back at the door. Up at the top were two lights. One was green that would show the door was unlocked. The other was red, showing when it was. The green one was still on. Curious, Nina crept back to the door and cautiously tried to slip her fingers in where the door met the frame. It wasn't easy but she managed it. She then more cautiously pulled the door slightly to the side. It was heavy, but it moved. Once it was far enough, she poked her head out and looked around. There was nobody in sight. The guards had gone and there weren't any others that she could see. Realising that she now had a chance to possibly escape, she slipped through the gap between the frame and the door and began to make her way along the landing towards the door that led out into the next area.

She'd barely taken two steps when all of a sudden an alarm began to wail and red lights started flashing.

"Alert! Alert! Prisoner escaping! Prisoner escaping!" said a robotic voice. "Lockdown initiated."

Hayley ran into the control room along with the Warden.

"What the hell's going on?" demanded the Warden.

"We had a lock malfunction on Door C-8, sir!" said a controller. "Prisoner 25690 is out of her cell."

"Lockdown for that block is initiated," said another. "She's not going anywhere outside of it."

"Who is it?" asked Hayley.

"25690 is Nina Gallagher," said the first controller.

"Send Capture Squad in to get her back in her cell," ordered the Warden.

"Belay that!" Hayley ordered. Everyone fell silent and looked at her. "I'll handle this one myself," Hayley said as she stormed out of the control room.

Thunderbirds 1 and 2 were continuing to escort Fireflash back towards the US Coastline. The airliner was travelling at a much lower speed than usual as the weaknesses that Brains had warned them about were starting to reveal themselves. The airliner was making some unnerving creaking sounds. Occasionally it would vibrate or shudder, which caused some alarm to the passengers aboard.

"Fireflash, are you sure you're going to make it?" asked Scott.

"Not to Dallas, no," replied Captain Dubois. "We've been instructed to fly to Washington International Airport instead. They're sending out a fighter escort for us to guide us in."

"With those vibrations we're detecting, you might have to find somewhere nearer to land," Virgil said as he looked over the weakened joints on a hologram of the Fireflash."

"There's no other airports nearby that could accommodate Fireflash, Thunderbird 2," John piped in. "Washington is the only option."

"Say, Thunderbird 5, I don't suppose you found out where that missile came from?" asked Scott.

"It wasn't a missile, Monsieur Tracy," said Captain Dubois. "It was some kind of attack drone. It went off course from a testing area to the South. That's all we were told about."

John checked the area. "Interesting," he remarked. "There's no military test bases in the area. There's only one place it could have come from though. Hunter Island."

"Hunter?" said Virgil. "As in Kevin Hunter? The Aeronautical Tycoon?"

"But he doesn't make weapons," Scott added. "He can't be responsible."

Before John or anyone else could respond, another beeping sound caught their attention. "Er, guys? There's another contact heading straight for your position."

"Where?" asked Scott.

"On your left," replied John.

Scott, Virgil and the Fireflash pilots looked over to see a small orange aircraft heading towards them. It was coming in rather fast.

"What the hell is that?" asked the Fireflash co-pilot.

Before anyone could reply, the strange aircraft suddenly turned and began to dive directly at the Fireflash.

"FIREFLASH, LOOK OUT!" bellowed Scott.

Captain Dubois put the airliner into a steep climb, narrowly pulling up as the mystery aircraft darted between it and Thunderbird 1 which also had to make a sharp turn to avoid getting hit. Virgil also pulled Thunderbird 2 away to get out of the line of attack.

The strange aircraft circled around and began to climb back up towards them.

"John, what's going on?" demanded Scott.

"I don't know, Scott," John answered. "There's no recognition on that aircraft that I can see."

Scott chased after the orange jet aircraft and kept behind it whilst looking over to see if he could make visual contact with the pilot. To his alarm, there wasn't one. The cockpit was just a black dome near the front of the plane. "Guys, this plane has no pilot!" he exclaimed.

"It m-must be another drone of some kind!" Brains realised.

"Brains, can you and John hack into it?" asked Scott.

"Already trying," said John. "But these encryptions may take a while to crack."

"We don't have a while!" Virgil said. "Fireflash is already damaged from the other attack. If it keeps this up it'll break apart in the sky!"

The Fireflash was already making another dive towards the ocean below with the orange plane in hot pursuit and the two Thunderbirds chasing after it. Its fuselage was screaming under the strain it was under, almost as loudly as the terrified passengers were also screaming.

Captain Dubois flew down as close as he dared towards the surface of the Atlantic before pulling up. He had hoped that the attacking orange plane wouldn't be able to pull up in time and crash into the sea. To his dismay it did not and continued its attack.

Suddenly there came a sharp jolt and a BANG as something burst inside the airliner. Scott and Virgil saw a flash followed by a cloud of smoke which had begun to emerge from one of the Fireflash's engines.

"Ah, crud!" said Scott. "She's not going to make it!"

Nina pounded on the large metal door blocking off her exit. "LET ME OUT!" she shrieked at a nearby camera. "I KNOW YOU CAN SEE ME! OPEN THE DOOR NOW!"

"And go where, Gallagher?"

Nina froze. She'd heard that voice before. She spun herself around to find herself looking at Hayley. Hayley was alone. No other guards were in sight. Nina's face suddenly turned very ugly. "You…" she hissed. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!" she charged at Hayley, arms outstretched ready to throttle her. However, Hayley had anticipated that Nina would do this and therefore performed a forward roll along the floor, tripping Nina up and causing her to fall flat on her face. Nina picked herself up and looked back at the GDF officer, her eyes burning with hatred.

"Wow…that's a face and a half," remarked Hayley. "You also seem to have a dislike for me. May I ask why?"

Nina lunged at Hayley again and this time managed to grab hold of her and slam her against the wall. "You know DAMN WELL WHY I HATE YOU!" she screeched. "YOU TOOK MY VIRGIL FROM ME! I WILL KILL YOU FOR THAT!" She tried to tighten her grip around Hayley's neck, but found that Hayley was not choking. She then realised that Hayley had a protective rubber seal around her neck that prevented her from feeling Nina's fingers.

Hayley smirked as she brought her hands up and grabbed Nina's arms. She then pulled them off of her neck and squeezed tightly.

"OwowowowowowowOWOWOWOWOW!" screamed Nina. "YOU'RE HURTING ME!"

"My apologies," Hayley said. She then head-butted Nina, giving her a nose-bleed and also caused her to bounce back off of her before she kicked her in the torso, sending her flying back and landing on the floor. "But you should have stayed in your cell. Stay down before I make you."

Nina wiped the blood from her nose and got back to her feet. "You're a person of authority," she spat. "You won't kill me. And I won't stop until I kill you! RAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGH!" she charged forwards again. But this time, Hayley didn't hold back. She punched Nina twice across the face and then performed a roundhouse kick sending her flying back into the opposite wall. Nina was hurting. She was bruised and battered. She struggled to get back up but Hayley pushed her back down.

"I said…stay…down," Hayley hissed.

The door buzzed and opened allowing some guards to get in. Hayley stepped back and they restrained Nina. They picked her up and carried her away. "THIS AIN'T OVER!" Nina cried through sobs. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS! I SWEAR!"

"SHUT UP!" ordered the guards as they dragged her away.

The Warden then walked up to Hayley. "Are you okay, Captain?" he asked.

"Fine," Hayley replied shortly. "Just fine." She turned and walked away quickly. Ever since Virgil had first told her about Nina and what she'd tried to do to him, she'd felt a burning desire to meet Nina face-to-face and to give her a piece of her mind. Seeing Nina escape from her cell had given her the perfect opportunity for the two to let off steam against one another. She was much more skilled in fighting than Nina was and had only allowed Nina to grab hold of her in order to make her think she was the one in control. She'd thought that after beating Nina down that she'd feel better for it. But she didn't. Instead she was feeling a huge amount of regret. Why did I do this? she thought to herself as she headed for the bathroom. Virgil can never know about this. He'd never forgive me.

The Fireflash was in serious trouble. With one engine on fire she was starting to lose power. She could have carried on if flying normally, but the strain was becoming too much for her.

"It's no use," sighed Captain Dubois. "She's not going to hold out much longer. If only we could get that little-"

"Fighters!" shouted the co-pilot.

Two USAF Vampire Fighter Jets appeared into view and closed in on the Fireflash and its pursuer.

"Vampire 1 to Fireflash and International Rescue. Keep your distance," warned the pilot of the lead jet. "We're coming in to take out that rogue plane."

"You heard him, Thunderbird 2," said Scott. "Break off."

"F-A-B," replied Virgil as he and Scott turned their Thunderbirds away from the incoming aircraft.

Captain Dubois also turned Fireflash away and whilst the target plane began to close in for another strike, it presented itself a clean target for the Vampire Leader. A single missile was fired from the fighter and it scored a direct hit, destroying it and ending the threat.

"Target destroyed," said the Vampire Leader. "You're safe now, Fireflash."

But Captain Dubois knew that wasn't the case. "Negative, Vampire Leader. We're registering several structural failures in the fuselage. Fireflash cannot remain airborne for much longer."

Scott and Virgil felt their stomachs churn.

"Brains, is there any way we can get the passengers out before the Fireflash breaks apart?"

"N-Not in the way you're thinking, Scott," Brains answered. "However, Captain Dubois. I am registering m-minimal damage to the main cabin where all the passengers are located. I trust you're familiar with the Emergency Passenger Drop p-procedure?"

Captain Dubois checked the instruments. "Oui, I am," he said. "I believe you are correct, Monsieur Hackenbacker. It is our only option." He turned to the co-pilot. "Get the XO Suits," he said. "I'll alert the passengers."

The co-pilot jumped out of his seat and ran to the back of the cockpit to open a cupboard containing special flight suits and helmets.

Captain Dubois then grabbed the tannoy-microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen. Emergency Red. Repeat - Emergency Red. Prepare for Crash Procedure."

"What?!" exclaimed Sarah as the other passengers began to feel scared again.

The flight attendants began giving orders, making sure everyone was sat down and strapped in before strapping in themselves.

Thunderbirds 1 and 2 continued to flank the Fireflash from a distance as it was steadily losing altitude.

"What's the plan, Brains?" asked Virgil.

"For the m-moment, nothing, Virgil," replied Brains. "But be r-ready to recover the fuselage from the ocean once it has touched down."

Scott frowned. "But surely the airliner will break apart if it attempts a crash-landing on the water, Brains?" he asked.

"It w-won't be that kind of crash-landing, Scott," said Brains. "You'll see."

Scott and Virgil remained confused. They therefore stayed where they were and watched the Fireflash.

Captain Dubois and the co-pilot were now in their XO-suits and back in their seats. Their helmets were on and they were ready. "Captain to crew and passengers," he said into the tannoy. "Prepare for separation. God bless you all."

"Good luck, sir," said the co-pilot.

"And you, Bob," replied Captain Dubois. "Escape in three…two….one!"

At the touch of a button, two things happened. Firstly, the roof of the cockpit mounted in the tail-frame of the Fireflash opened and the pilots' seats were ejected out. Secondly, and much to the astonishment of Scott and Virgil, there came a series of small explosive blasts between the tail-section and the long forward section of the airliner. The Fireflash separated into two pieces. The tail section dropped straight down towards the sea. The passenger bay did the same for just a few seconds before two hatches opened in the roof and a pair of large yellow parachutes deployed, slowing the descent of the remainder of the airliner.

"Woah!" Virgil and Scott exclaimed together.

The tail-section of the Fireflash had no such features. It simply plummeted down and crashed hard into the sea. The impact caused a spark which ignited the fuel and caused a massive explosion that sent a column of water high into the air. However, this was of no concern to anyone. There was nobody in the water and everyone aboard the Fireflash was either inside the cabin being gently dropped down by the parachutes whilst Captain Dubois and the co-pilot's own seat parachutes had also deployed so they could have a smooth descent as well.

"Wow, Brains," said Scott. "That's impressive."

"T-Thanks, Scott," said Brains. "I'd hoped that I'd n-never get to see that."

"But it's good to know it exists."

Brains turned round to find Jeff standing behind him. "M-Mr Tracy?! How long have you been there?"

"Long enough, Brains," smiled Jeff as he clapped a hand onto the young engineer's shoulder. "You never fail to amaze us." He then turned to the holograms of Scott and Virgil. "Bring those people home, boys."

"F-A-B!" Scott and Virgil said in unison.

Both Thunderbirds came down low over the surface of the water where the cabin and pilots of Fireflash had now both splashed down.

"You take the cabin, Thunderbird 2," said Scott. "I'll pick-up the pilots."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 1!"

Kevin stared hard at the holographic figure of a man from the projector on his desk. "It's just a minor set-back," he was saying. "The Buzzard performed faultlessly. When will you be taking shipment and delivering my payment to me?"

"Never, Mr Hunter," answered The Hood.

"What?!"

"In case you didn't hear yourself, your Buzzard didn't perform faultlessly," The Hood continued. "It failed to destroy the target you fired it at."

"Yeah, well if International Rescue hadn't miraculously turned up it would have been," snapped Kevin.

"I am curious though, Mr Hunter," The Hood went on. "Why use it on a civilian airliner? That\s a lot of collateral damage. Even I wouldn't have gone that far."

"I had no choice!" Kevin said, beginning to sweat. "My girlfriend stole the documents and blueprints of the weapon from my house last night! She's probably thinking of trying to try and expose me on Global News. Traitor!"

"I see," said The Hood. "And you have a back-up plan?"

"I had my chief scientist send our target plane, the Buzzard's original target after the Fireflash," Kevin said. "It should have completed its task by now. And then you'll be able to take possession of as many Buzzards as you like."

The Hood didn't say anything for a moment. "That's the problem, Mr Hunter," he said. "You may or may not have succeeded in murdering your girlfriend and several other innocent people to protect your interests, but International Rescue's intervention and subsequent success in destroying your drone makes my interest in it obsolete. I cannot use a weapon against them if they already know how to counter it. Therefore, consider our agreement terminated. Goodbye!" He then signed off.

Kevin let out a bellow of fury and kicked his chair over. Then there was a knock at the door. "WHAT?!" he thundered.

The door opened to reveal Dr Midler. "Problem, Mr Hunter?"

"Yeah, you're damn right there is!" snapped Kevin. "Agent 79 has pulled out of our agreement. We've lost a customer thanks to those blasted International Rescue fools! You'd better have good news for me?"

"I do," said Dr Midler. "The signals have been lost from the Fireflash."

Kevin turned back around. "But that means?"

"The target aircraft is lost too," smiled Dr Midler. "It looks like we won, Mr Hunter."

Kevin broke into a small grin. "Fantastic," he said. "I feel bad for the innocent people aboard though."

"It had to be done, sir," said Dr Midler. "And the best bit is, nobody can trace either the Buzzard or the target plane back to us."

"I hope so, Doctor," said Kevin. "We may have lost a customer, but we still have our contacts in Bereznik who will still pay handsomely for our creation. Would you accompany me back to the mainland so we can celebrate our future success?"

"It would be my pleasure, Mr Hunter," said Dr Midler with a grin.

Rescue crews waited on the tarmac at Washington International Airport as Thunderbird 2 came in carrying the passenger cabin of Fireflash 209. Thunderbird 1 arrived directly after and landed nearby so that the pilots of the airliner could disembark.

Straight away the paramedics, of which there were many, began to perform examinations of the passengers and crew, sending those off to hospital who needed to be. Several were in states of shock over what had happened. Sarah on the other hand, refused to be seen and kept wandering aimlessly around the cordoned off area, holding tightly to the case containing the documents.

Scott and Virgil were in conversation with Captain Dubois over the whole incident. "I cannot thank you enough for what you did for us," Captain Dubois was saying. "A very good job you were in the area."

"We have a habit of being in the right place at the right time, Captain," replied Scott.

"Not all the time," Virgil pointed out. "But it does seem to occur fairly frequently."

"There's only one question remaining," Scott then said. "Where did that missile and plane come from?"

"It is believed from when talking to control that the drone originated from the test island of Hunter Aeronautics," said Captain Dubois. "Which makes no sense as Kevin Hunter does not create military equipment of any sort."

"Must have been a trial thing he was doing for the military and it suffered a malfunction," said Virgil. "It's the only explanation I can think of."

"Doesn't explain that orange jet though," Scott said. "I feel there's more to this than we know."

"Then you might as well know the rest."

The three men turned to look at the voice that had spoken. A rather glum and nervous-looking Sarah was approaching them. She had overheard them talking and had finally plucked up the courage to speak up about it.

"Pardon us, Miss, er?" Scott began.

"Brightly. Sarah Brightly. Global News."

The brothers and the Captain exchanged looks.

"Miss Brightly, what do you know about that device?" asked Scott.

Sarah didn't answer for a moment. She bent down and opened the briefcase, taking out the documents. "For the past eight months I've been in an on/off relationship with Kevin Hunter," she said. "He'd been working late last night and I went into his office to see if he was there. He wasn't, but it was then I spotted this on the desk." She produced a photograph of the Buzzard.

"That's it all right!" said Virgil, recognising the design of the weapon.

"Upon reading the documents, I found that he has plans to sell it to foreign anti-government groups," Sarah continued. She was beginning to become overcome with emotion. "I-I-I had to get this to someone *sniff* before he could do such a thing!" She then broke down and started sobbing her heart out, dropping the papers as she did so.

Scott hurried forward and began to comfort her.

Virgil and Captain Dubois picked up the papers and looked through them. Virgil then found the piece of paper showing the potential buyers for the Buzzard. "Scott?" he whispered and held the piece of paper near to Scott's face so he could see.

Scott stared at the piece of paper and the name Agent 79 clearly visible on it. "The Hood!" he hissed with gritted teeth.

Virgil then spoke to Sarah. "Miss Brightly, do you reckon Kevin Hunter launched this weapon directly at Fireflash because you were on it?"

Sarah nodded. "He sent someone to try and kill me in my car last night. I only managed to escape across the river on the ferry. That person must have seen me board the plane this morning. Oh, God!" She began sobbing hard yet again.

Scott felt anger burning inside of him. "Someone needs to get this guy and hold him accountable for this!"

Virgil nodded in agreement. He tapped on his sash. "Thunderbird 5, alert the GDF. They're going to want to hear about what we've just learned."

The Helijet carrying Kevin and Dr Midler arrived back on the mainland at a small airfield outside of Miami. The two men were at ease, confident in their success and their spirits were high as they exited the aircraft. However, that quickly changed to confusion when they saw a GDF APC waiting for them along with a group of soldiers.

A Lieutenant stepped towards them. "Mr Hunter?"

"Yes…?" Kevin asked, confused. "What's going on?"

"You're under arrest," said the Lieutenant.

"What the hell for?"

"For the attempted murder of the people aboard Fireflash Flight 209," said the Lieutenant. "And there's a lot of people who'd like to talk to you about your Buzzard creation."

Kevin's blood ran cold. He then rounded on Dr Midler. "You said Fireflash was destroyed?!"

"But it was, sir!" protested Dr Midler.

"Yes, it crashed, sir," said the Lieutenant. "Good job the cabin is detachable so they could ensure all the people aboard survived."

Kevin now felt sick inside. He realised now what this meant. "Damn you, Sarah," he cursed as he was put in handcuffs and taken away to the APC with Dr Midler being brought along behind whilst trying to protest his innocence. "Damn you!"

The series will continue after New Year. In the meantime, please enjoy the upcoming Christmas Special, which is canon with this series and will be set between this Episode and the next.