KAYO let out an angry bellow and charged at her uncle. Strangely he made no attempt to try and dodge her oncoming attack, which became very clear after she jumped to knock him over. Instead she ended up passing right through him and landing face-first down on the concrete floor outside the cell.

The brothers had begun to make moves against The Hood as well, only for them to all stop dead in surprise when Kayo had passed through him. His entire body seemed to flicker like a TV image suffering from interference.

"Stow it, boys," said Jeff. "It's a hologram."

Gordon snarled bitterly. "Of course it is," he said. "Coward."

The Hood raised his eyebrows at Gordon but didn't retaliate at the remark. "Sorry I'm not there in person," he said. "The numbers are without a doubt in your favour right now, Jeff. so we decided to take our leave whilst we could."

Jeff walked menacingly towards the hologram. "You're despicable, Hood," he said. "What did you do to Colonel Casey?"

The Hood chuckled. "That's the best thing about this," he said. "Nothing. I only brought her here."

"You murdered the crew of her Flyer!" thundered Scott.

"Regrettable," said The Hood. "But necessary."

"NECESSARY?!" bellowed Scott before anyone else could speak their own disgust. "YOU CALL TAKING INNOCENT LIVES NECESSARY?! DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES IN THAT ICE-FORTRESS ATTACK OF YOURS?!"

"I'd rather not, if I'm honest," The Hood replied. "I've never wanted to do that. But sometimes I had no choice."

"There's ALWAYS a choice, Hood!" snapped Virgil. "You had a choice to become a criminal!"

"And if you didn't do this to Colonel Casey, then who else did?" asked Alan.

The Hood didn't answer. Instead he made a gesture with his head like he was beckoning someone to join him. Everyone recoiled in surprise when a hologram of Techno appeared beside The Hood's.

"Techno," hissed Kayo. She then noticed the looks on the Tracy's faces and became confused and a little concerned. She was looking at the holograms from behind so couldn't see Techno's face. Jeff and the boys however could and had all immediately noticed something different from the images they'd seen of him.

"No mask," said Alan.

"So that's what he looks like," murmured Gordon.

"You did this?" Scott asked.

Techno didn't answer. He just fixed Scott with a hard stare.

Virgil and Jeff on the other hand, were looking at Techno in absolute shock. "Wait a minute," said Virgil, taking a few steps towards the holograms and giving Techno a hard look. "Where have I seen your face before?"

"Never," said Techno sharply. "We've never met before and we never will."

For Jeff the penny then dropped as he suddenly realised who Techno was. "Oh, my God!" he said as he pushed past Virgil and stared hard at him. He then looked at The Hood furiously. "What the hell have you done?"

The Hood smirked. "Like I said before, Jeff…nothing," he said.

Colonel Casey was starting to regain her senses. As she looked up she spotted the holograms of The Hood and Techno in front of Virgil and Jeff. "Noel!" she said hoarsely.

The brothers all looked at her, and then back at Techno.

"Noel?" Scott, Gordon and Alan all said together.

"Noel?!" gasped Kayo.

"Noel!" Virgil said, the penny having now dropped for him as well. His expression then turned as angry as his father's, only his fury was directed at Techno. "Now I remember who you are. You're Casey's son! How could you?!"

Techno showed no signs of regret on his face as he raised his right arm to reveal what looked like a detonator. "Goodbye, Mother," he said. "You won't be missed." He pressed the button.

A series of flashing red lights of small grey boxes began to light up both in the cell and out in the corridor.

"What the hell?!" asked Scott.

A beeping sound was accompanying the flashing lights.

"This place is rigged to blow!" Virgil realised.

"Out! OUT!" thundered Jeff. He beckoned to Virgil to bring Colonel Casey.

Virgil spun around and with the help of Scott, got her out of the chair and onto his back. "Hang on, Colonel!" he said and began to run. They passed through the holograms of The Hood and Techno who turned and watched them go. The Hood laughed maniacally whilst Techno just stared after them.

Kayo led the way with Alan, Gordon, Virgil with Colonel Casey, Jeff and finally Scott hurrying back down the corridors towards the control room and the way they'd come in.

Obsidian, having dealt with all of the Hoodlums, was making his way back to see if he could assist when the devices had started to activate. "What's going on?" he asked when he saw them running back towards the door leading into the old control room.

"THE PLACE IS GONNA BLOW!" Kayo shouted. "FOLLOW US!" She then activated her helmet radio. "RIGBY! MADISON! PULL BACK! THE COMPLEX IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE!"

"But, Kayo, you're all still inside!" protested Hayley.

"HAYLEY, PLEASE!" shouted Virgil into his own helmet radio. "GET CLEAR!"

The Flyer pilots yanked back on their controls and began to pull the Flyers clear of the mountain.

From the safety of their submarine, The Cabal were watching the mountain via a camera mounted on a single Insect-Mecca that was sitting on the top of one of the neighbouring mountains about two miles away. There then came a thunderous roar as the detonators simultaneously exploded tearing the complex apart and literally blowing the mountain up along with it. The entire ground shook for miles around, causing fear and panic to anyone who heard the explosion or felt the accompanying earthquake-like rumbles.

"YES!" said Techno with delight whilst The Hood grinned maliciously and Silver Swan, The Shocker and The Black Phantom also shared their delight whilst The White Ghost remained silently watching the screen.

But the delight of their triumph didn't last for very long. Not even ten seconds in fact. Their happy faces turned into expressions of shock as a small black object suddenly emerged from behind the huge column of thick smoke that was rising like an erupted volcano from the partially destroyed mountain. The camera then zoomed in to reveal that it was Thunderbird Shadow. Obsidian was being held by its landing legs with Gordon and Alan clinging onto the legs themselves and Scott, Jeff and Virgil, the latter of which still had hold of Colonel Casey, were using their gecko gloves to hold onto the wings.

"NO! NO!" screamed Techno. "THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!"

The Hood's grin had turned into an annoyed frown whilst Silver Swan, The Black Phantom and The Shocker were cursing to themselves. The White Ghost continued to stay silent. At least to the others that was. That's my fate sealed, she thought to herself before turning to walk over to the side of the control room.

Techno was beyond livid at the failure. He let out a scream of rage and slammed both fists on the desk so hard that it not only left a massive dent but caused the screen to cut out. He stood for a moment, seething with anger before turning to storm away towards the exit.

"Hey, I only just installed that!" protested Shocker.

"SHUT UP!" bellowed Techno, punching the yellow-quilted villain in the face. This wouldn't have affected Shocker if he'd been wearing his helmet but he wasn't so he felt the punch and fell onto the floor. Techno then left the control room, kicking something as he went.

"Wow…" remarked The Black Phantom. "I never knew he had such a temper."

"Neither did I," replied Silver Swan. They turned to The Hood. "Is he going to be a problem, boss?"

"No, he won't," The Hood answered. "Just leave him be. He'll calm down when he's ready."

The Shocker managed to pull himself up off the floor. He too was furious. "Who does that guy think he is?" he asked angrily. "Just let me have two minutes with him and I-"

"You'll do nothing, Mr Schultz," said The Hood. "The dear boy has just been hit by a colossal amount of disappointment. Just leave him to brood and he'll be back again."

"You gotta admit, it sucks that they got away," said The Black Phantom.

The Hood sighed. "It's annoying, yes, Mr Kruger. But not unexpected," he said as he turned round to face them. "If there's one thing I've learnt about International Rescue, it's never underestimate them."

Colonel Casey was taken to a hospital at the GDF Base in Chile so she could be given a thorough mental and physical medical examination by the doctors. Jeff stayed with her whilst he sent Thunderbirds 2 and Shadow back to Tracy Island. Thunderbird 1 was given a special mission and soon it returned to the base with a passenger.

The doors of the ward opened and Scott entered a few paces behind his passenger - Rita Casey. "Where's my Mom?" she demanded.

"In there," Scott said, pointing to a nearby door that led into a viewing gallery.

Entering the gallery they found Jeff looking on as doctors and nurses continued to work over the Colonel.

"Hello, Rita."

"Mr Tracy!" Rita said, giving Jeff a big hug. "What the hell's been going on?"

"A long and unpleasant story, I'm afraid," Jeff answered grimly.

Rita turned to look through the viewing window at the sight of her mother, on a ventilator and with several tubes having been inserted into her body. "Mom…" she said. Whilst she'd still held a small amount of resentment towards Colonel Casey for not being there when she and Noel had needed her and for not being there especially to protect them from when Havoc had kidnapped them, to see her mother in the state she was in now shook her to the core. She eventually managed to turn herself around and face Jeff and Scott. "Who…did this?" she asked with gritted teeth.

Jeff and Scott exchanged uncomfortable looks. They'd been dreading this moment. "Rita…there is no easy way to say this," Jeff began.

"Was it the people who kidnapped me and Noel?" Rita asked sharply.

"Errr, partially," said Scott.

"What the hell does that mean?" Rita snapped.

Jeff exhaled. "Rita…I'm afraid we know what became of your brother."

Rita's eyes widened a little. "What's happened to him?" she asked, her voice shaking slightly.

"Well he's alive," said Jeff.

"But he's not their prisoner," said Scott.

Rita's eyes looked from one Tracy to the other and back again without moving her head. "I-I'm sorry, I don't understand…?"

Jeff tapped his wrist-controller and brought up the holographic profile image they had on Techno. "This is Techno. He's a member of The Hood's Cabal," he said. "Recognise him?"

Rita looked at the image. "What's this got to do with Noel?" she asked.

Jeff made some adjustments to the image, removing the goggles and voice modulator from Techno's face.

Rita's eyes now went from slightly wide to completely wide. "What…?!"

"The Hood's turned your brother into his new engineer and inventor," said Scott.

Rita was silent as she struggled to take in what was being told to her. "This can't be right!" she protested. "What kind of sick game is this?!"

"It's no game, Rita, I assure you," Jeff said. "And if you want definite proof…" He then played back some recorded video and audio of them in the holding cell where they'd found Colonel Casey so Rita could see and hear what had gone on. The sounds of Colonel Casey's, the brothers', Kayo's and Techno's voices could all be easily heard.

"Noel!"

"Noel?"

"Noel?!"

"Noel! Now I remember who you are. You're Casey's son! How could you?!"

"Goodbye, Mother. You won't be missed."

"If that isn't proof, I don't know what else we need to give you," Scott said to Rita.

Rita had gone very pale indeed. Her entire body was shaking. The sound of Noel's voice had caused it to start. "No…I can't believe it," she said. "I WON'T BELIEVE IT!" And with that she stormed out of the room.

Scott and Jeff looked at each other. "That wasn't unexpected, was it, Dad?" he asked.

Jeff shook his head sadly. "No, son," he replied. "No, it wasn't."

Rita sat on a bench outside the hospital building. She spent a long time sobbing into her hands. It wasn't until she felt the presence of someone sitting down beside her that she finally looked up to see Jeff had come out to sit with her. "I'm sorry," she sniffled. "I've made myself look stupid now."

"Never," replied Jeff. "There was no way you were going to take that revelation well."

Rita took out a tissue and wiped her eyes. "I just…don't understand," she said. "Why?"

"I've always asked myself the same question about The Hood," he said. "No doubt he's done to your brother what he did to The Mechanic. Some kind of mind-control chip implanted in his brain."

Rita stared at him, open-mouthed. "That's sick!" she exclaimed. "How can-?" She couldn't even find the words to explain her feelings. "We have to do something."

"For the time being they've gone into hiding once more," said Jeff. "Nobody knows when or where they will resurface or strike next. But when they do, we'll be ready for them."

Rita turned slightly on the bench. "And what can I do?" she asked.

Jeff looked her straight in the eyes. "Right now? Your place is here," he said. "Your mother's been through hell, Rita. I know things haven't been good between you two for a long time. She wasn't always there for you when you needed her. Be here for her now. Can you do that for me?"

A couple more tears trickled down Rita's cheeks as she sniffled and then wiped them away. "Yes," she said at last. "I'm not letting us get separated again."

Jeff smiled as he pulled Rita into a comforting hug. As she buried her face in his shoulder, he caught the eyes of Scott who was standing about twenty metres away beside Thunderbird 1. Scott didn't need to say anything. He knew what had been said and gave his Dad a nod of approval.

Rita watched and waved as Jeff and Scott climbed back into Thunderbird 1 and the sleek, silver rocket-plane took to the air before leaving the base and making its way back across the Pacific towards Tracy Island. She then went back inside the hospital and asked if her mother was in any state to have visitors. She was told that she could go into the room and be with her, but it might be some time before the Colonel would wake up from the sedatives she'd been put under to be made to rest.

Rita sat in the room for what felt like hours before she finally heard a soft moan as Colonel Casey began to stir. She turned and watched anxiously as the Colonel's weary eyes slowly opened to look up at the ceiling. "Mom?"

Colonel Casey turned her head to the right and her eyes caught sight of her daughter. "R-Rita…?"

It took mere seconds before the two were tearfully embracing one other, finally having a proper reconciliation for everything that had happened.

Four days have passed since the rescue of Colonel Casey. She was heavily affected by what had happened but fortunately did not suffer a full mental breakdown. She might have done if Rita hadn't been there for her. As for the International Rescue team, they found themselves in a state of very mixed emotions. A mixture of shock and anger was felt between them. Gordon and Alan were just in shock, unable to believe that Noel was willingly with The Cabal. Jeff, Scott, Kayo and Virgil were simply disgusted and furious. But they weren't sure whether it was to be directed towards Noel or The Hood. Virgil and Kayo were convinced that The Hood had brainwashed Noel into becoming Techno like he'd done with The Mechanic. Jeff and Scott however weren't entirely convinced. Jeff had only said he believed he'd been brainwashed to Rita so as to not tear her apart with the possibility that Noel was where he was willingly.

Gordon, Virgil and Alan became rather distant from the others, choosing the solidarity of their rooms. Virgil eventually pulled himself together and came out. He wished Hayley could be with him, and she likewise felt the same. But with Colonel Casey hospitalised, the responsibility of leading the GDF had currently fallen to both her and Captain Rigby. Nobody was sure how long Casey would be out for, or if she'd even return at all. As for Gordon and Alan, it took the surprise visits of both Penelope and Sophie to finally get them to open up and feel better in themselves.

Sophie came into Alan's room in her wheelchair. "Hey, love," she said cheerfully. "You got your TV on?"

"No thanks," Alan replied, sitting up in bed. "I've binge-watched so much lately I'm out of stuff."

"Ah, this is a special program though," Sophie replied. "The Odyssey launches today, remember?"

"Odyssey?" repeated Alan.

"Yes, you know - the manned mission to Traxton," said Sophie.

Alan gulped. "Aw, man! I'd forgotten all about that!" he said. "Wait, is that today?"

"Indeed," said Sophie. She looked at her watch. "And it's on right now."

Alan grinned. "This I have to see!" he said, switching his room's TV on as Sophie positioned her wheelchair beside his bed.

The rest of the Tracy's along with Brains, Kayo, Penelope and Parker were also watching the live broadcast of the launching of the Odyssey space-rocket which after many many months of planning was going to launch from a specially-constructed platform on the Moon located about five miles away from Base Endeavour and fly right across the Solar-System to the mystery planet.

A newsreader was in the control centre giving a full report on the launching. "What you see on your screens, folks, is the Odyssey. Fitted with a special ion-fusion engine that will send it hurtling at almost the speed of light towards Planet Traxton. This has never been fitted to a space-rocket before and will revolutionise space travel as we know it."

Gordon snorted. "Er, hello? Thunderbird 3 has one!"

"It's n-not public knowledge, Gordon," Brains answered quickly.

Gordon blinked. "It's…not?"

Scott decided to change the awkward subject. "Say, Dad, weren't you invited to go and watch the launch?" he asked.

"I was," Jeff replied. "But given all that's happened lately, I felt it best to stay down here."

"In case The Cabal tries anything else?" asked Penelope.

Jeff shrugged. "I guess," he said.

"We've not heard anything of them since," said Kayo bitterly. "The same as always. They stay hidden for weeks and then pop up out of nowhere."

"Guys, shush!" Virgil said. "I think it's time."

Everyone fell silent and turned their attention back to the holographic TV image. It showed the Mission Control room, the controller at their desks and a countdown until launch. There were two minutes to go.

On the launch pad on the Moon, the giant silver with black nose-cone Odyssey stood majestic as it awaited time to launch. Inside it's five-man crew waited with anticipation for the launch to happen.

Colonel Straker was in the Mission Control overseeing the launch. As he watched the clock, he began to address the controllers. "Odyssey Flight Controllers, listen up. The time has come. Give me a 'Go'/'No-Go' for launch. Booster?"

"Go."

"Retro?"

"Go, Flight."

"FIDO?"

"Go."

"Surgeon?"

"We are go."

"ECON?"

"Go, Flight."

"Guidance?"

"Guidance, Go."

"Go."

"GNC?"

"Go."

"Control?"

"We're go, Flight."

"Procedures?"

"Go."

"FAO?"

"Go, Flight."

"Network?"

"Go."

"Recovery?"

"We're go."

Straker pressed a button. "Odyssey, this is Mission Control. We are go for launch!"

"T-minus sixty second and counting," said the man overseeing the countdown.

For the next forty seconds, millions of people on the Earth and in the bases on the Moon waited with butterflies in their stomachs. Such excitement over a rocket launch hadn't been felt since the Sun Probe mission.

Alan and Sophie held hands. They could feel their hearts pounding in their chests.

It seemed like forty minutes rather than forty seconds, but at long last the time came.

"We are go for launch," said the countdown controller. "T-minus…fifteen…fourteen…thirteen…twelve…eleven…ten…nine…eight…seven…six…ignition sequence start…three…two-"

That was as far as he got. Suddenly there was a bright white flash of light that blinded everybody even though they were looking on the monitor screens.

From Base Endeavour, the occupants all turned to look out of the nearest viewing port and stared in alarm as a huge ball of burning white light rose up from beyond the horizon, with everyone having to turn away due to almost being blinded by how bright it was.

For those watching on Earth, the image had been completely cut off after the bright white light and now all they could see was interference.

"We apologise for the loss of your picture," said a News Anchor. "We don't quite know what's going on up there but we'll be sure to update you as soon as we get back in touch with our reporter Nick on the Moon."

"What's happened?" Gordon asked the question that everyone else was wanting to know.

Then John's hologram appeared. He looked very worried. "Guys…go take a look at the Moon…" he said.

Everyone got up and hurried down the stairs from the lounge, through the kitchen and dining area and out onto the lido. It was late at night on the island and so it was already fully dark. It was also a clear night so the Moon and stars were clearly visible. As everyone looked up at the Moon, they were stunned to see a small but clear orange glow coming from the right-side of it.

"H'Errr, that can't be good…" remarked Parker.

They were joined moments later by Alan and Sophie who'd come down. Sophie had no issues with stairs due to her chair being able to hover. "What's going on?" Alan asked.

"Nothing good," answered Virgil, pointing to the glow coming from the Moon which had started to fade away.

Jeff activated his watch-radio. "John, what's going on up there?" he asked.

"No idea, Dad," answered John. "Scans picked up a rather massive explosion originating from the area where that glow is coming from. I'm also picking up several frantic attempts by NASA to contact Endeavour. And there's no response. I can't seem to get a communication link through either."

Everyone turned to look at Jeff who was now looking very serious indeed.. He then made a decision. "Alan, launch Thunderbird 3 immediately. Scott, Virgil and Kayo, go with him."

Alan nodded determinedly. "On our way, Dad," he said.

Scott, Kayo and Virgil began sprinting back towards the house so they could suit up. Alan was about to head off with them when Sophie suddenly grabbed his hand. "Make sure Grace is okay, please," she said.

Alan nodded to show he would do so, and then Sophie released her grip so he could head off to get suited up.

In no time at all, Kayo and the three brothers were suited up and being loaded into the cockpit of Thunderbird 3. Alan and Scott took the main control seats whilst Virgil and Kayo sat in the rear passenger ones. As soon as the blast door was sealed in place, they were ready to go.

5! 4! 3! 2! 1!

Thunderbird 3's engines roared into life and the mighty red rocket soared up through the launch tube behind the Roundhouse, lighting up the night sky as it climbed away from Tracy Island.

"Thunderbird 3 is GO!" said Alan, a lot more urgently than he usually said. He also cut off the three main engines and ignited the ion-fusion engine so they could get all the speed they could in an instant.

Jeff and Grandma were the last to head back inside after watching Thunderbird 3 launch.

"What do you think has happened?" Grandma asked.

"I don't know, Mother," Jeff replied. "But I have a feeling the news will not be good."