THE Conveyor was hovering over the crater. The cables had been lowered and were magnetically attached to the hull of the Sidewinder. "Conveyor to Sidewinder. We're ready to lift," said Reynolds.

"Received," acknowledged Hayley. "We're all set down here." She, Mendleson and The Mechanic were all strapped in. Mendleson kept double-checking his to make sure. "Hold tight, boys."

The Mechanic had his arms folded. "I predict no more than two minutes," he said, setting a stopwatch on his wrist-controller.

"Before what?" asked Mendleson.

"Before they realise they're not going to succeed," replied The Mechanic.

"Don't be defeatist, man!" snapped Mendleson. "Those guys know what they're doing."

"They do, yes, which is why they know it's pointless to try," growled The Mechanic.

"Okay, enough! Both of you!" Hayley snapped. "Let's just see what happens."

There was a jolt as they felt the Sidewinder shift slightly. The cables had tightened and the Conveyor was starting to pull. The engines whined loudly, so loud that Colonel Casey and Rigby had to retreat behind their Flyer and cover their ears as well.

Reynolds watched the instruments anxiously. They were all going up in the wrong direction. Soon red lights began to flash and alarms began ringing.

"Sir, the engines are beginning to overheat!" called one of the operators.

Reynolds cursed. "I knew this would happen!" he said. "Abort! Cut the engines!"

They did so and the engines powered down. The cables were also released and the Conveyor was swiftly moved away from the crater before it crash-landed lightly on the ground.

Colonel Casey and Rigby heard it come down and ran round to check what had happened.

"Sorry, Colonel and Sidewinder," Reynolds said over the radios. "Engines were overheating."

The Mechanic stopped the timer. "One minute, twelve seconds," he remarked.

"Oh, well that's just great!" snapped Mendleson. "Now how the hell are we supposed to get out?"

"With the right equipment," said Hayley. "Which I hope isn't too far away."

The Mechanic knew what she meant whilst Mendleson did not.

Colonel Casey paced about, cursing under her breath. "That should have worked!" she complained.

"With the greatest respect, Colonel, if anyone is going to know the limitations of those machines then it is The Mechanic," Rigby said.

"You think I don't know that, Captain?" Colonel Casey barked. Then she sighed. "Sorry. I'm feeling a bit stressed right now."

"It's okay," said Rigby. "I guess there's only one thing to do now?"

Colonel Casey nodded. "Yes, Captain. Go make the call."

Rigby was about to head back into the Flyer when he stopped as something caught his eye. "Okay…it looks like we won't have to," he said.

Colonel Casey frowned at him. "I beg your pardon?"

Rigby pointed up towards the sky. Colonel Casey turned and looked. She blinked in surprise at what she was. A small, rocket-shaped aircraft was approaching them. As it drew closer they began to hear its engine and recognised it instantly. It was Thunderbird 1.

"What?" exclaimed Colonel Casey. "How the hell did-" She found herself unable to say anything else as Thunderbird 1 swooped in and landed close to their position. They walked over as Scott disembarked from his craft. "Scott?"

"Colonel," said Scott. "What's the situation?"

"Situation?" repeated Colonel Casey. "I think the better question is what the hell are you doing here? We didn't call for you."

"We were about to though," said Rigby, before falling silent as the Colonel shot him an icy glare.

"We received a distress beacon from The Mechanic," said Scott. "John told us it was coming from this location so we came out to see what was happening."

"We?" asked Colonel Casey.

"Virgil and Brains are on their way in Thunderbird 2," said Scott. "They're about fifteen minutes away."

Colonel Casey sighed heavily. "Well seeing as The Mechanic isn't technically employed by the GDF, I can let this slide this one time. We were on an important secret assignment with our latest machine when it fell into this crater." They walked over to the crater and peered down at the Sidewinder. "We tried to lift it out with the Conveyor, but it was too much."

Scott looked down at the Sidewinder. "Hmmm. That's a lot bigger than I thought," he said. "Would I be correct in presuming that The Mechanic is inside?"

"Along with two others, yes," said Colonel Casey. "One's in bad shape so the sooner we can get them out, the better."

Scott nodded. "I'll go down there and inspect the exterior for damage," he said. "Do they have working communication?"

"Yes, we have been in touch with them," said Colonel Casey.

"Good," said Scott. "I'll make contact when I get down there." He activated his jetpack and dropped down into the crater.

Upon reaching the Sidewinder, Scott found himself in somewhat awe of its massive size. "This thing's a lot bigger than I thought," he remarked to himself. "It's impressive, but I can see why Dad couldn't find a use for it." He began to look around the exterior of the machine. Then he attached an amplifier to the side of the hull. "This is International Rescue. Can you hear me in there?"

"Scott!"

Scott blinked in surprise. He knew that voice. "Hayley?!"

"Yes, it's me! Oh, thank God. I am glad to hear your voice."

"I, er, didn't know you were in there?" Scott said. "Man, Virgil's not gonna be pleased."

"Is Thunderbird 2 here?" asked The Mechanic.

"Will be soon," said Scott. "About ten minutes away. Which one of you is injured?"

"Lieutenant Mendleson's got a bang on the head but otherwise okay," said Hayley. "Although the sooner we get out of here, the sooner he can get full medical attention."

"I've had a look around the outside of the Sidewinder and she looks intact," Scott said. "You sure build some tough machines, Mechanic."

The Mechanic managed a small smile. "Nice of you to say, Scott Tracy," he said. "Is Brains coming?"

"Actually he is," said Scott. "I'm sure he will figure out the best way to get you out. Unless you have any ideas, Mechanic?"

"Just one," said The Mechanic. "But I will need Brains' opinion before we put it into action."

"I'll have him talk to you once he arrives," said Scott. "I'm going back up. Will get back to you soon." He then zoomed back up and out of the crater.

"How are they?" asked Colonel Casey.

"They're fine," said Scott. "Although I am afraid of Virgil's reaction when he finds out who's down there."

"Hayley," said Rigby.

Scott nodded.

Colonel Casey scoffed. "Surely Virgil knows that being a part of the GDF is no more dangerous than the job that you boys do?" she asked.

"He does," replied Scott. "But that doesn't stop him from getting a little overprotective of her. Even Dad has told him to tone it back."

Colonel Casey and Rigby exchanged worried glances.

Parker groaned as he pulled himself out of FAB1. It was lucky for them that there had been no flammable materials in the building that they had crashed into, although there was a big mess caused with pieces of the building and the equipment that was stored in it.

"H'Are you 'urt, your Majesty?" Parker asked as he helped Perdita out through the door of the car.

"I don't think so," replied Perdita, although she was holding her chest. "Although all this is doing nothing to help my-"

A round of bullets suddenly came firing from near the entrance of the building causing both to duck down behind the bullet-proof door.

"I honestly expected this job to be easy. I guess I should have known better."

Parker slowly peered out from behind the door to see the assassin standing about ten metres away with one of his wrist-weapons aimed at him. "Aloysius Parker. I honestly did not expect you to come to the girl's rescue. I thought you'd packed it in."

Parker stood up defiantly. "I 'ave," he said. "Lawton."

The assassin reached up and touched the side of his helmet which opened up to reveal the man that he had seen at the taxi rank. "The name's Deadshot, old man," Lawton said. "And you're not in my contract. Now, I ask that you step aside so I can finish what I came here to do."

Perdita quivered with fear inside FAB1.

"To kill this h'innocent young lady?" Parker asked. "I don't think so. I knew that you would do h'anything for cash, Lawton. But to kill a kid?"

"Kid?!" spluttered Perdita indignantly.

"Apologies," Parker replied hastily before turning his attention back to Lawton. "And besides, don't you have one of your h'own?"

Lawton's face turned ugly. "DON'T MENTION HER!" he thundered. "Her toxic mother turned her against me! I will never get to see her again! Now, move aside before I put a bullet in you as well."

"Not h'unless I take you out first," Parker answered.

Lawton scoffed. "Yeah? With what? Your keys?" he asked, noticing Parker was holding the ones to the car in his right hand.

Parker then smirked. "H'Exactly!" he said and pushed a button without moving his hand.

Before Lawton had a chance to realise what was happening, the front grill of FAB1 adjusted to reveal the missiles. One rocketed out of the front and soared directly towards the startled assassin. He cried out in alarm and jumped out of the way as the missile slammed into the wall of the building and exploded. The shockwave knocked him right across the room and slammed into a pile of wooden crates which then began to tumble down on top of him. "GAAAAARGGH!" he cried as he became buried. Once everything calmed down, he found himself pinned front-down on the floor with both arms broken and trapped under the heavy equipment. He managed to peer up towards Parker who was just visible amongst some small burning fires between the two of them as several small fires had been started as a result of the explosion. "Damn you…Park…uuuuhhhh!" was all he could manage before he was overcome by the pain and passed out.

Parker then helped Perdita out of the car. She looked over at the unconscious Deadshot before turning back to Parker and giving him a curtsey. She then looked up at him and smiled warmly. Parker felt his heart flutter as he gave a bow in response.

"If you want something done right…you have to do it yourself."

Parker and Perdita turned in the direction that the voice had come from. A tall man with very short blonde hair and wearing a long green cloak had walked in through the large hole in the wall that had been destroyed by the missile. He looked at the two and smirked sinisterly. Perdita let out a gasp of terror and tried to conceal herself behind Parker's legs. Parker clenched his fists, readying himself for a fight. But the man came no closer. Instead he closed his eyes and placed his left fore-finger on a strange band-device around the top of his head. This released some kind of sonic beam to shoot out of it and engulf Parker and Perdita who both cried out and fell to the floor.

"W-W-What is t-t-t-this?!" Parker groaned as he tried to fight the dizziness he was experiencing. "V-V-Vertigo?"

"Count Vertigo to you, peasant," sneered the man as he turned off the device and walked over to them. He then pulled out a sword from a holster tucked inside his cloak. "Soon I will be King Vertigo. Once I have disposed of the little bit-"

WHACK! A large black boot came out of nowhere, striking the Count on the right side of his head and knocking him away from Parker and Perdita.

"AARGH!" Count Vertigo exclaimed as he fell over and rolled across the floor a few times before landing on his front. As he lifted his head up, he saw that the vertigo device had fallen off and was a few metres away back from where he'd landed. He tried to scramble forwards to get it only for the boot to then stamp down on and destroy it. He then looked up to see a furious-looking Lady Penelope standing over it.

"Get the hell away from them!" Penelope growled.

Vertigo also growled in frustration as he looked over towards Parker who was getting back up again, and Perdita, who was sitting up but watching him, terrified. "Enjoy your borrowed time, Perdita," he snarled. "I had hoped to end your suffering here and now, but it looks like you will have to suffer with your condition." He then threw a small light-ball up into the air which burst, creating a blinding white light that forced Penelope, Parker and Perdita to throw their hands over their faces. When the light faded they could look again, and the Count was nowhere to be seen.

Penelope growled in frustration before running back over to check on them. "Are you two okay?" she asked.

"I think so, m'lady," answered Parker. "Nice h'entrance."

"Why thank you, Parker," replied Penelope before turning her attention to Perdita. "Are you all right, your highness?"

Parker cleared his throat. "Majesty."

Penelope frowned at him. "Pardon, Parker?"

"Majesty, m'lady," said Parker. "She's a Queen."

Penelope blinked then looked back at Perdita who was now sitting on one of the crates. "Is this true?" she asked, stunned.

Perdita nodded as a tear trickled down her cheek. "That man you just saw was my uncle," she sniffled. "He had my daddy killed, and he won't stop until I'm gone as well and the throne is his."

Penelope took Perdita's hands in hers. "We are not going to let that happen, Perdita. I give you my word on that."

Perdita looked into Penelope's eyes, and managed a grateful smile as they heard the sounds of sirens outside announcing the arrival of the Emergency Services.

Colonel Casey, Rigby, Scott, Virgil and Brains looked down into the crater at the stranded Sidewinder. Virgil had not taken the revelation of Hayley being trapped aboard it well to begin with but became a lot calmer when he was told that she wasn't injured.

"What's the plan, Brains?" asked Scott. "How are we going to get them out?"

Brains scratched his chin thoughtfully. "This is n-not going to be easy," he said. "That machine weighs up to f-five-hundred tonnes."

"Thunderbird 2 would struggle with that," agreed Virgil.

"Could we not do a repeat of when we lifted the Crablogger?" asked Scott. "Use both Thunderbirds and drones?"

"That was only a short distance above the ground though, Scott," Virgil reminded him. "Looking down, I would say the Sidewinder's at least one-hundred feet down if not slightly more. I might be able to get it off its side and into an upright position, but to lift all the way out would put a horrendous strain on Thunderbird 2."

"It's a pity they can't just climb out of there," remarked Rigby.

A lightbulb suddenly turned on in Brains's mind. "Actually…they m-might be able to," he said. "Scott, I need to t-talk with The Mechanic."

Scott opened the link. "Scott calling Sidewinder?"

"Go ahead, Scott?" Hayley's voice answered.

"Brains needs to talk with The Mechanic."

"I'm here," said The Mechanic.

"M-Mechanic," said Brains. "What condition are the S-Sidewinder's propulsion systems in?"

"They appear to be fully functional when I ran diagnostics," The Mechanic replied. "But they're no use to us with us being on our side."

"But if we could g-get the Sidewinder upright, do you think you might be able to climb out?" asked Brains.

The Mechanic considered the suggestion. "It might be possible," he said. "How steep is the side of the crater?"

Brains glanced over the side. "N-Not massively," he said. "It's more angled so you might be able to c-climb up the side and out."

"It's worth a try," said The Mechanic. "Although we'll have to take it slow and steady. We cannot rush this."

"Not to alarm anyone, but I'm getting worried about Lieutenant Mendleson's head injury," said Hayley. "He's slipping in and out of consciousness. He needs to be checked over, fast!"

"Does the Sidewinder have a hatch on the side or roof?" asked Virgil?

"Yes, there's one on the port-side," said The Mechanic.

"But I wouldn't want to risk moving him with us at an angle like this," added Hayley.

"So if T-Thunderbird 2 can get the Sidewinder upright, we can evacuate Lieutenant Mendleson and have him airlifted to hospital," Brains said. "Then The Mechanic can attempt to climb the S-Sidewinder out of the crater."

"Sounds good to me, Brains," said Scott. "Virgil?"

"I'm in," said Virgil. "I'll get Thunderbird 2 in position."

Within a few minutes, Thunderbird 2 was airborne and hovering over the crater. Virgil opened the hatch on the underside of the module and lowered the large yellow magnetic grapple down into it. Scott also went down via his jetpack to help guide the grapple into place. "Left a little, Thunderbird 2." Virgil adjusted accordingly. "That's it, you're there!" said Scott. He then retreated to a safe distance.

"Okay. Hold tight, Sidewinder," Virgil said as he applied power to Thunderbird 2's engines. The green goliath began to move slowly across to the left, taking up the strain and pulling the Sidewinder. At first it did not seem to budge but after applying a little more power, it broke free and rolled upright. Everyone braced themselves for if it was going to roll over onto its other side, but fortunately it did not and landed on its four legs. "Did that work?" asked Virgil.

"It sure did," answered Scott. "Well done, Virgil."

"Great job, Virgil!" added Hayley. "Can anyone send down a stretcher or rescue capsule that we can put Mendleson in?"

"Thunderbird 1 has a rescue capsule," said Scott.

"I'll move clear so you can bring her in, Scott," said Virgil as he reversed Thunderbird 2 away from the crater.

Scott remotely launched Thunderbird 1 and brought it over the crater before opening the underside hatch and lowering the capsule down to the Sidewinder. Hayley opened the side hatch and helped guide the capsule into place. Then she and The Mechanic, who had carried Mendleson from the control room, placed him inside and Scott sealed it.

"Hold tight, Lieutenant," Scott said. "We'll have you out in no time." He then retracted the winch and the capsule was lifted out of the crater before he remotely landed it near the GDF Flyer. "You next, Hayley," said Scott, turning back to the Sidewinder.

"Me?" Hayley asked. "Shouldn't I-"

"No, Captain," said The Mechanic. "What I am about to do is highly dangerous. If anything goes wrong-"

"Don't say that," Hayley said. "Sure it's going to be a challenge, but we can do it."

The Mechanic was stubborn. "Colonel Casey may have put you in charge of the mission, but the Sidewinder isn't a GDF machine technically yet," he said. "Until it is, I am in control of it and its fate."

"Juan-"

"Hayley…please," said The Mechanic, placing his hands on her arms. "I'll see you at the top."

Hayley didn't want to leave, but she knew The Mechanic was right. With great reluctance, she allowed herself to climb into Scott's arms where he then carried her up and out of the crater whilst The Mechanic sealed the hatch and then made his way to the engineering room and began to set up the holographic equipment used to operate the machine's arms and legs.

Virgil raised his eyebrows when he saw Scott land with Hayley in his arms. "Trying to take her from me?"

Scott let her down rather hastily. "What, er, no-"

Virgil laughed. "Relax, Scott, I'm just messing with you."

Scott huffed indignantly whilst Hayley also giggled at his embarrassment.

Colonel Casey and Brains were in touch with the Mechanic. "Are you absolutely s-sure about this, Mechanic?" Brains was asking.

"I have to try, Brains," The Mechanic said.

"But you could be doing it from the safety of our position and doing it remotely?" Colonel Casey said.

"The Sidewinder can only be operated by an operator," said The Mechanic. "I designed it not to work remotely to avoid any attempts to hack its controls. And I'm the only one who it is programmed to recognise." He took a deep breath. "Right, I'm ready. Here we go!"

The Sidewinder's arms reached up the side of the crater and clamped on. Then using the foot controls, the vehicle began to very slowly and cautiously climb its way up the side.

The two brothers, Hayley, Brains, Rigby and Colonel Casey all stood around the side of the crater watching anxiously as it made its way up the side.

Parker and Perdita were being checked by Paramedics whilst the Airport Fire Department dealt with the fires before they got too out of control. The Airport Police had also been able to recover and arrest Lawton who after being stripped of his weapons was also going to be treated under guard for his injuries.

Besides a few bruises and the bullet wound in his leg, Parker was relatively fine. The bullet had passed right through so he did not require an operation to get it out. However he still would need to get it treated.

"H'I am sorry, m'lady," Parker apologised. "Both FAB1 h'and meself are out for a while."

"It can't be helped, Parker," said Penelope. "Looks like I'll be having to disappoint poor Gordon."

"Oh, yeah. Tis 'is birthday soon," said Parker. "Maybe we'll be h'up and running again by then."

Perdita then stepped out of the Ambulance where she'd been checked over. "You seem to be fine, Your Majesty," said one of the paramedics.

"Good to hear," said one of the reinforced security detail that had finally arrived to help protect Perdita. "Come, Your Majesty. We need to get you to a Safe House."

"One moment," Perdita said. "I wish to thank the man who saved my life." She then walked over, flanked by the four men towards Parker and Penelope. "Aloysious. I wish to thank you for saving me," she said. "When I get back to my country, I will see to it that you are awarded our highest honour."

Parker blushed. "Oh, please. I don't deserve h'any of that," he said. "But I do appreciate the h'offer, Your Majesty."

Perdita grinned. Then she ran forwards and gave him a cuddle, making his heart flutter.

Penelope couldn't help but love seeing this. She'd never seen this softer side of Parker before.

Perdita eventually let go after one of the security men coughed impatiently. She then gave him a little peck on the cheek before turning to walk away with them.

"I say, Parker," said Penelope with a grin. "You've gone bright red."

Parker blushed even harder.

"Should Gordon and I ever need a babysitter-"

"Woah there, m'lady!" exclaimed Parker. "Don't tell me that you h'and Mr Gordon are getting that far a'ead."

Penelope burst out laughing. "Calm down, Parker, of course we're not at that stage yet," she said. "But if we ever do, at least we know our children will have the perfect protection should we have to leave them in anyone else's hands."

Parker wasn't sure he was comfortable with that idea or not, but before he could say anything, a panicked shout grabbed both their attention.

"MEDIC! OVER HERE! QUICK!"

Looking across, they were shocked to see the security men bent down over someone on the ground whilst several others including a group of Paramedics were also rushing over.

"THE QUEEN'S COLLAPSED! SOMEONE DO SOMETHING!"

Shock and horror filled Penelope and Parker's veins. They tried to get over to assist but were kept back by the Airport Police as they watched Perdita, now unconscious, being loaded onto a stretcher and taken into the back of one of the Ambulances. It then raced away, sirens blaring.

"What happened?" Penelope asked one of the security men.

"I have no idea," the man replied. "She said she had some kind of chest pain, and then she collapsed."

No words could describe what was going through Penelope and especially Parker's minds right now.

Progress of the Sidewinder's climbing was painfully slow. The Mechanic was literally taking it one set of footsteps at a time and only moving one set of claws at a time to make sure it still had maximum grip.

Scott then asked the question that had been on everyone's minds for some time. "Where did this crater even come from, Brains?"

"I have been g-giving that some thought, Scott," Brains replied. "But I am afraid I cannot seem to come up with an answer."

"That's not like you, Brains," remarked Virgil. "You're usually pretty good with theories."

"If I was to g-guess though, I would say it may have been an open-cast mine of some kind," Brains said.

"He's almost there," Rigby interrupted. "Looks like he's gonna make it."

Everyone turned back to the Sidewinder. One of the claws had reached the edge of the crater.

"Keep going, Mechanic," encouraged Colonel Casey. "You're nearly-"

But suddenly one set of the Sidewinder's legs lost their grip and the legs all sprawled out. Before anyone could say anything, the claws also lost their grip due to the weight and it broke away, falling back down to the bottom of the crater and crashing hard at the bottom. It kicked up a huge cloud of dust forcing everyone to move away and shield their faces until it had passed. They then ran back over and looked down to see the Sidewinder stuck down the bottom with at least three of its legs now ripped off.

"Mechanic?!" Brains called through the radio. "Mechanic, do you read me?!"

The Mechanic had been thrown to the floor by the impact and his controls had gone offline. "Ow. Yes, I read you, Brains," he said as he struggled to get back to his feet. He looked around. The lights were dim, sparks were flying out areas that were broken and he felt the Sidewinder, though still upright, was still at an angle that it could not recover from. "I think she's reached the end of the road."

"Don't worry, Mechanic," said Scott. "I'll send the rescue capsule down so we can get you out."

The Mechanic was about to reply when the entire engineering room turned red as emergency sounds started wailing and lights flashed dangerously. He managed to get up some readings on his wrist-controller, and what he saw made all the colour drain from his face. "Scott? Brains? Listen to me. Get everyone in your ships and fly away, this instant."

"What? Why?" asked Scott.

"What's going on?" demanded Hayley.

"He's telling us to leave!" Scott said.

"Leave?!" repeated Colonel Casey. "We can't leave him down there!"

"Mechanic, what's wrong?" Brains asked.

"There's no time to explain!" The Mechanic barked. "Fuel cells ruptured. She's going critical!"

"Fuel cells ruptured?" Brains repeated. And then it hit him. "Oh, n-no. Mechanic, you have to get out of there!"

"No, Brains. You do," The Mechanic said. "There's no time for me to get out or you to get to me. It has been an honour to know you all." And with that, he cut the transmission.

"Mechanic!"

"JUAN, NO!" Hayley almost screamed as they all looked down at the Sidewinder. But now they could see that it was starting to shake and shudder with electricity bolts shooting out from its now damaged hull.

"EVERYONE, MOVE!" Virgil shouted, grabbing Hayley by the arm. "WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!"

Realising there was nothing they could do, everyone turned and began running towards their ships. Colonel Casey barked orders to the pilots of the Flyers to get clear. The Conveyor was first to take off followed by Thunderbird 1, then Thunderbird 2 with Hayley joining Virgil, Brains and MAX and Colonel Casey and Rigby were the last by boarding their Flyer which was airborne before the ramp was even finished closing. The four aircraft all banked sharply away from the crater and went to full power in order to get some distance.

There came a vicious and thunderous BOOM as the Sidewinder exploded, sending a huge fireball high into the air and ripping up the ground to make the crater six times larger than it already was. The shockwave just caught the ships although Thunderbird 1 easily shrugged it off.

Once they were certain the shockwave had passed, the ships stopped heading away and turned back around where they found themselves staring in silence at the huge column of thick black smoke rising from the ground beyond the jungle.

"Tell me he got out of there," Hayley said, her voice trembling. "Please tell me he got out of there!"

Virgil opened the radio link. "Thunderbird 5 from Thunderbird 2-"

"VIRGIL!" John exclaimed as his hologram appeared. "What's going on? My scanners just detected a-"

"John, scan the crater," Virgil cut him off. "Are there any life-signs? Or even any escape capsules in the area?"

John found the request unusual but he did so anyway. As he did so, everyone aboard the Thunderbirds and the Flyers waited anxiously for news. "That'll be a big negative," John said. "No life-signs or escape pods. What's all this about?"

Hayley fell back into her chair, shaking at the realisation of what this meant.

Brains was also shaking but he managed to find his voice. "H-H-He didn't m-m-make it," he said.

Scott sighed heavily. "We failed, John," he said solemnly. "The Sidewinder's destroyed. And it took The Mechanic with it."

Penelope and Parker had managed to go to the same hospital where Perdita had been taken to. Parker had his leg seen to and then he requested that Penelope take him via wheelchair to go and see the doctors who were checking on Perdita. The lead doctor agreed to come and speak to them after learning that they were the ones to save her from assassination.

"How is she, Doctor?" asked Penelope.

The doctor was grim. "Not good, I'm afraid," he said. "For now she is stable, but we found out what the problem is. She has a rare heart condition, and the only way to save her is a transplant."

"Can you give 'er one?" asked Parker.

"We'll look around," said the doctor. "But if we can't find one within the next week, I'm afraid that she won't make it."

Despite there being a massive distance between the two locations, the amount of hurt and pain that the International Rescue and GDF were feeling right now was extremely high.