Previously on THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!...
Having been captured by The Cabal, Colonel Casey is horrified to learn that her son Noel Casey is Techno.
The Hood uses the Colonel's signal-watch to lure International Rescue to their secret base in the Andes.
With the help of the GDF and Obsidian, Jeff, Kayo and the brothers find and rescue Colonel Casey.
The Hood and Techno reveal the truth via holograms and Techno sets off explosives to kill everyone.
Despite the explosives destroying the base and mountain above it, everyone escapes, much to The Cabal's fury.
Scott brings Rita Casey to see her mother in hospital and Jeff reveals the horrible truth about Noel.
Jeff believes that Noel is likely under The Hood's control and promises Rita to find and help her brother.
The Tracy's settle down to watch the launch of the Odyssey spaceship to Traxton only for it to be mysteriously destroyed.
Thunderbird 3 races to the Moon and rescues the survivors of Base Endeavour.
Whilst looking for Sophie's sister Grace, Alan learns the horrible truth that Grace was aboard the Odyssey.
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"BROKEN HEARTS" Part 2
IT was to be considered very fortunate that the glass that the windows of the Tracy Villa was designed to be as shatterproof and heat-resistant as possible. They needed to be in order to survive regular heat blasts and roar of the engines of Thunderbird 1 whenever it launched and landed on the island. If they'd been regular glass they would have all shattered due to the anguished scream that Sophie made when she was told the tragic news about her sister. She buried her face in her hands and bawled her eyes out whilst Penelope and Grandma tried to comfort her. In the end they had to remove her from the room so that Scott could continue giving his report.
"This is terrible, Scott!" said Jeff. "I didn't even know Dr Telford was even a consideration for the Odyssey mission?"
"That's what makes it kind of worse, Dad," said Scott. "She wasn't. Turns out the doctor who spent months training for this mission dropped out two days ago following a nervous breakdown. Grace volunteered to take his place."
"Without advanced deep-space mission training?" said Gordon. "What was she thinking?"
"The Space Agency deemed the mission too important to be cancelled," said Colonel Straker. "Believe me, Jeff. I wasn't comfortable letting the mission go ahead with an inexperienced crew member aboard."
"But her being aboard cannot be the reason for the Odyssey's destruction, Ed?" said Jeff.
"No, no, of course not," said Straker. "But in all honesty, Jeff, we haven't a damn clue what could have gone wrong with that rocket. All systems were positive. We did a full system check right before launch and all the lights were green. That rocket was in perfect flying condition!"
"And yet something went wrong," said Scott. "The question is…what?"
Straker let out a deep sigh. "The on-board instrumentation was destroyed along with the rocket," he said grimly. "I highly doubt we'll ever know."
"The people of Earth aren't going to accept that, Ed," said Jeff. "The Space Agency and the World President are going to want answers. And so will the next-of-kin."
"One of which being Grace's family," said Virgil.
Straker sighed again. "I know they are, Jeff," said Straker. "But what can I tell them if there are no answers to give?"
Jeff didn't know how to answer that, so he remained silent.
Alan sniffled and wiped some more tears from his eyes. Even though he'd only met Grace once or twice, the hurt he was feeling was mostly for Sophie.
Kayo rubbed his shoulders comfortingly. "Deep breaths, Alan," she said soothingly. "Take as much time as you need."
Alan sniffled and lifted his head. "I want to go home," he said miserably. "I need to be with Sophie."
"I think that's a good idea," said Virgil. "There's nothing more we can do here, and I expect Sophie's going to need a lot of consoling for this."
Scott nodded in agreement. "Do you mind if we leave, Colonel?" he asked.
"Not at all," replied Straker. He turned to Alan. "Please give your girl my condolences, young man."
Alan nodded, but didn't answer as Kayo helped him to his feet and walked him towards the airlock. Scott and Virgil followed close behind them.
Straker and Dr Russell watched them leave the room before exchanging solemn glances with one another.
Thunderbird 3 was resting upright in an open area close to the Command Centre of Endeavour. Due to its design it wasn't possible to dock on the landing pads. Alan and Kayo walked in front with Virgil and Scott bringing up the rear. As they went, different thoughts were going through their minds. Alan really wanted to get back to see and comfort Sophie, but at the same time he was dreading the state she was going to be in. Kayo too was thinking that, but was also thinking about Grace and the other astronauts and how there was going to be a very hard job of coming up with an explanation for what had taken place. Scott and Virgil were also thinking about that. Scott was toying with the idea of going over to investigate the newly-formed crater where the launch site had been located and checking to see whether by some chance anything had survived. But at the same time, he also knew that he couldn't prevent Alan from returning to Sophie. Virgil sensed he was thinking that and totally understood even though he didn't say it.
Kayo kept rubbing Alan's arms to comfort him. "Do you want me to fly us back, Alan?" she asked.
Alan looked up from having been head-facing the lunar surface up until now. "Huh? Oh, er, no, Kayo. I will be fine for this."
"You sure, little bro?" asked Scott. "You seemed very downcast back there."
Alan stopped and turned to face his two eldest brothers. "Yeah, I'm over the shock," he said. "I just want to get home."
"That's understandable," said Virgil. "But if you change your mind-"
"Nah, I'm good, Virg-," said Alan before cutting off suddenly. He had begun to turn back to Thunderbird 3 only to stop suddenly as something caught his eye. "Huh?"
The others looked in the direction he was looking. Located a short distance away on the neighbouring section to the Command Centre were several large white spheres on short support stands. There were the base's oxygen tanks, which luckily hadn't been damaged by any falling debris.
"What is it, Alan?" asked Kayo.
Alan pointed towards the nearest tank. "Is that someone on the support stand of that tank?" he asked.
The others squinted. The Sun was above and to the right of their field of view, making it hard to see. But then they noticed a figure in a dark suit on the support stand for the oxygen tank. They couldn't see what the figure was doing, but it appeared to be working on something.
"Probably just a maintenance man," said Scott. "Let's not disturb him."
Scott began to make a move back to Thunderbird 3 only to be stopped by Virgil's hand. Virgil had a stern frown on his face. "Colonel Straker said everyone was inside the base and accounted for," he said. "Plus I don't recall any of the crew's spacesuits being fully black?"
"They aren't," agreed Kayo. "They're silver with yellow helmets mainly."
Alan's eyes darted between the others. "A saboteur?!" he asked.
They looked at him. "A hasty assumption, Alan," remarked Scott.
"No, wait, think about it!" Alan said sharply. "The Odyssey explodes without any explanation. What if it was sabotage? And whoever was responsible for that is now trying to destroy Endeavour by blowing up its oxygen tanks?"
They looked back at the figure. It definitely looked like it was attaching something to the tank's support stand.
"I think you might be onto something, Alan," said Kayo. She moved around him and began to cautiously make her way towards the tanks. "Come on," she said. "And carefully."
Slowly they followed Kayo closer to the oxygen tanks. The clearer the figure's suit became as they approached. It wasn't completely black. It was a mixture of black and purple. Alan couldn't be sure, but the colour scheme looked somewhat familiar. "Where have I seen that before?" he asked himself out loud.
Scott decided they needed to inform Straker. He activated his sash radio. "Scott Tracy to Colonel Straker. Come in, please?"
"Go ahead, Scott?" Straker's voice answered. "Are you ready for take-off?"
"Actually, no, Colonel," replied Scott. "We could have a situation out here."
"What do you mean?" asked Straker. "We're already in one!"
"Sir, didn't you say everyone on the base was accounted for?" Scott asked.
"Yes. Why?"
"Well there's an unidentified figure working on the support stands of one of your oxygen tanks, sir," said Scott.
Straker hurried into Dr Russell's office and used her computer to access the CCTV cameras. He soon found one that overlooked the oxygen tanks from the front and soon caught sight of the mysterious figure. "What the hell?" he said out loud before activating his personal radio. "This is Straker! Red Alert! Red Alert! We have an intruder by the oxygen tanks! Security detail mobilise - on the double!" He then spoke to Scott. "Don't get too close, Tracy. We don't know who this guy is."
Before Scott could reply, several bright red lights began flashing on the walls of the buildings. There was no siren to be heard from the outside due to there being no sound in space. It did however grab the attention of the mysterious figure who seemed startled by the sudden flashing of lights and started to look around. Then it caught sight of the International Rescue team and froze.
Kayo noticed this and held up her arm to stop the others. "Guys, hold it!" she said. "Don't move. I think he's seen us."
It had. It suddenly pulled out what looked like a shiny silver laser-pistol and aimed it at them.
"DOWN!" yelled Virgil, grabbing Alan and throwing himself and his youngest brother to the ground. The figure fired a series of green laser bolts out of the pistol forcing Scott and Kayo to also dive to the ground to avoid getting hit.
The ground began to vibrate with the rumble of an approaching vehicle as one of the Moon-Rovers came around one of the buildings to make its way towards them. It was carrying a security team aboard.
The intruder made no attempt to try and take out the Rover. Instead it pressed a button on its left arm and rose suddenly away from the tanks. It was on some kind of grey surfboard, longer and thinner than Alan's astroboards. Before anyone could react it was up and out of reach, heading away from Endeavour.
"Dang it, it's getting away!" cursed Security Officer Svenson who was with colleagues Metcalfe, Taggert and McGee inside the Rover.
Alan had also seen the figure's quick escape. He knew full well that the Rover wouldn't be able to keep up with it. He then had an idea. He pressed his wrist-controller. The hatch on the side of Thunderbird 3 opened and an Astroboard came zooming out to his location. When it arrived, he jumped up and onto it before setting off in pursuit.
"ALAN, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" shouted Scott over the radio. "GET BACK HERE!"
"Scott, the base security cannot keep up with this guy whilst he's on an Astroboard!" Alan replied. "Follow my signal. I'll chase him down and see where he goes. Get the security guys to follow me!"
"No, Alan. To follow us!" said Scott. He activated his jetpack and got ready to rise up after his brother.
"Take me with you!" said Kayo.
Scott nodded and hooked his arms under Kayo's armpits so he could carry her as well as operate his jetpack.
"I'll see what the device he left was," said Virgil.
Kayo and Scott nodded. As they climbed away, Scott radioed Straker again. "Colonel Straker - the intruder is making a getaway on an Astroboard. We're in pursuit. Tell your security team to follow our signal."
"Roger that," said Straker. "I'll put you in touch with them and take it from there. Good luck."
Alan and the mystery intruder had already gotten a big lead over the others. They continued to race across the surface of the Moon away from Endeavour. The figure had realised that it was being pursued and made every attempt to try and lose Alan but wasn't doing well in that. Alan refused to take his eyes off the intruder and managed to slowly close the gap. "I don't know who you are, but you're not going to get away from me!" Alan said, even though he knew in his mind that the figure wouldn't be able to hear him.
Suddenly the figure stopped flying and spun its board around so it was now facing Alan. Before Alan had a chance to react he felt a sharp jolt as the figure reached out its right hand and grabbed him by the neck, causing him to become detached from his own Astroboard which tumbled away towards the ground.
"Arck!" exclaimed Alan. Despite the strong construction of his suit, he could still feel the figure's grip squeezing against his neck as it tried to choke him. "Man…you're…strong…"
Scott and Kayo were now getting closer. They both gasped in horror when they saw Alan being held by the figure.
"ALAN!" yelled Kayo.
"HEY, YOU!" Scott thundered at the intruder. "LET GO OF HIM!"
Even though it couldn't hear Scott's voice, it had noticed them approaching and therefore threw Alan right at them. Due to no gravity, Alan went spiralling towards them. "WOOOOOOOAH!" they cried. Scott let go of Kayo as she managed to grab Alan to save him.
"I GOT HIM, SCOTT!" Kayo called. "GET THAT CREEP!"
"F-A-B!" replied Scott setting off after the attacker.
The intruder held out its arms to the sides and two silver balls jumped up from the ends of the Astroboard into its hands. Pushed down on the tops causing a green light to glow before it threw them both at Scott. Scott ducked and dodged as the two balls detonated.
"BOMBS?!" Scott explained after recovering himself. "You gotta be kidding me!"
Kayo shook Alan to regain his senses. "Alan, can you hear me?"
"Ergh, yeah," said Alan. "Why is my head spinning?"
"We're spinning, Alan," Kayo said. "Both of us. Get your Astroboard up here."
"Uh, yeah, right!" Alan said, finally coming to his senses and pushing the button on his wrist controller to call the Astroboard back up to them.
The figure, not noticing Scott had managed to dodge the bombs had begun to fly away. Scott knew his jetpack had limited fuel and wouldn't be able to continue for much longer. Then he saw it dive down towards a nearby crater. Then as he squinted down, he spotted an object inside it. It looked like some kind of ship. "Got an escape route, have you?" Scott said out loud. "I don't think so." He grabbed his grapple-gun and took careful aim at the figure's Astroboard before launching it. It grabbed on and he stopped into a hover. The cable tightened and stopped the Astroboard close to the ground so suddenly that the figure lost its footing and fell off, landing head first on the lunar surface before rolling around and coming to a stop with its head in an uncomfortable-looking position. It then lay motionless on the ground. Scott didn't notice this at first and began to descend towards it. "Got you now," he said.
Suddenly he noticed a second figure emerge from the darkness of the crater. Before he had time to react fully it had fired its own laser pistol up at him. It missed his helmet only to strike his jetpack and damage it to the point that it shut down.
"NO!" yelled Scott as he began to spiral out of control. Through the many spins he noticed the second figure run to the first, pick it up and sling it over its shoulder before running back down into the crater. Scott knew he needed to get onto the ground for safety. He attacked another grapple pack to his device and fired it onto the surface of the Moon before winching himself down. Upon landing he fell to his knees and began panting to get his breath back.
"SCOTT!"
Scott looked up to see Alan and Kayo arrive having caught up via Alan's recovered Astroboard.
"Are you okay?" Kayo asked as they helped him to his feet.
"Yeah, thanks," Scott panted. "He got my pack."
"Where did he go?" asked Alan.
"Down there," said Scott, pointing to the crater. "There's two of them. And I think there's a ship in there as well."
As Alan and Kayo exchanged startled glances, they got a sense of something moving nearby. Turning to look they saw a small craft rising VTOL-style out from the crater. It was an advanced rocket-like ship that Alan recognised. But before he could say anything, a bright orange laser light shot over their heads and struck the rear of the mysterious ship, destroying its propulsion and causing it to drop back down to crash-land not far from where they were.
Looking round, the brothers and Kayo saw the Lunar Rover arrive. It was its disabling weapon that had brought the ship down.
After coming to a stop, the occupants of the Rover got out and came over to them. "Are you guys okay?" asked Metcalfe.
"Yes, thanks to you, Captain," replied Kayo. "Nice shot."
"You've got Adam to thank for that," said McGee, indicating to Svenson.
"Nobody tries to blow up our base and gets away with it," snarled Svenson.
"Blow up?" asked Scott.
"Yes, your brother reckons the device on the tank stand is a bomb," said Metcalfe. "Lucky for us our intruder friend didn't get the chance to activate it."
"Speaking of which," said Taggert, indicating towards the crashed ship. "Shall we?"
Brains stood like a statue almost with a most bewildered expression on his face as he looked at the scan of the device that Virgil had just sent him. "W-W-Where did you find this, V-Virgil?" he asked, stammering more than he usually did.
"That's not good," Gordon whispered to Penelope. "That means he's worried."
Penelope elbowed him to keep quiet although Brains was too stunned by the scan to have heard Gordon. Jeff did though and had thrown a scowl at his son but chose not to say anything.
"Attached to the support of one of Base Endeavour's oxygen tanks," Virgil said. "I've gotten it to the base's technicians and we managed to get it open. But I think I can speak for all of us by saying none of us have seen anything like this before."
"N-N-Neither have I," stammered Brains as he looked at the weird device more closely. "The w-wiring. The c-circuitry. The d-detonator. I have n-never ever seen anything as advanced as this before."
"The Cabal's doing?" asked Parker.
"N-No, Parker," said Brains. "Even T-Techno nor The Mechanic have m-made anything like this."
"So what do you think, Brains?" asked Jeff.
The engineer turned to face Jeff. a little bit of colour seemed to have drained from him. "M-Mr Tracy. We have b-both known each other long enough to know that I am n-not one for m-making random guesses," he said. "If someone were t-to tell me that this device had come from d-deep space, I would have told them that they were mad."
Jeff frowned. "What are you getting at here, Brains?" he asked.
Before Brains could answer, John's hologram appeared next to Virgil's. "Guys, the pursuit is over. Scott just reported to me. The intruder wasn't alone and tried to escape the Moon in some kind of advanced spaceship which the Endeavour team managed to bring back down. They're now moving in for a closer look."
Brains looked back at the hologram of the device. "Okay…now I'm m-more convinced," he said nervously.
"About what?" asked Jeff. "Brains, out with it. You're actually making me nervous."
Brains swallowed heavily and turned back to him. "I'd g-go as far to say that this device Virgil found is alien," he said.
The silence in the lounge was like nothing ever experienced before. Sophie in particular who had been keeping to herself just outside of the lounge, listened with complete shock running through her body.
Cautiously the group approached the mysterious ship. As they did so, Alan became more confident in his theory. "I thought as much," he said.
"How's that?" asked Scott.
"Do you remember that time I intercepted a mystery spacecraft and almost got blown up by the base's previous commander?"
"Ugh, Gorski," remarked Svenson. "We sure as hell don't miss that guy."
"Go on, Alan," urged Kayo.
"Well…" Alan said. "This ship looks exactly the same."
Everyone exchanged curious glances as they approached the downed ship. Metcalfe reached the cockpit canopy and peered inside. The two figures were still inside, sitting one behind the other in separate seats. Neither were moving. "I don't think they made it," he said.
Everyone's hearts sank. Not because the lives of the intruders appeared to be lost but because now any attempts of getting answers were likely gone as well.
"There's a handle beside you, Captain," Kayo observed. "Maybe it opens the cockpit?"
Metcalfe noticed the handle and moved it. Sure enough it did release the canopy which opened up. It also hissed with a decompression as it did so.
Everyone moved in closer while the security team kept their weapons trained just in case perhaps the figures were playing possum.
"If you two can hear us, do not move," Metcalfe called to them. "Raise your hands above your head and no harm will come to you."
For the next few seconds, nothing happened, leading everyone to believe both occupants had perished in the crash. But just as they began to lower their pulse-rifles, the figure in the cockpit suddenly jumped up with its own pistol in hands which it began to raise towards them. However the lightning reflexes of Svenson allowed him to shoot first and stun the figure causing it to drop its weapon and fall back into its seat.
"Nice shot," congratulated Scott.
"Thanks," said Svenson. "That's two on the money today," he added gloatingly whilst McGee rolled her eyes.
Straker gave Kayo and the Tracy's some cups of strong coffee. Not that Virgil needed one but Scott and Alan did and were grateful for it.
"That must have been intense?" Straker asked.
"You don't say, Colonel," Scott answered. "Whoever those guys are, they've got some serious tech."
"Even The Cabal hasn't advanced that much," agreed Alan.
Virgil, Scott and Kayo gave him sharp looks.
"What's The Cabal?" asked Straker.
"A few people we've tangled with in the past, Colonel," Kayo said, trying her best not to give much away. "Nothing the GDF can't handle."
They hoped Straker would accept that explanation which luckily he did. "Can't say I've ever heard of them before," he said. "But if they're no danger to us then I guess it's none of my business." Just then his personal radio buzzed. "Excuse me. Yes, Dr Russell?"
"Colonel…can you come to the Operating Theatre, please?"
"On our way," said Straker.
They headed out of Straker's office, concerned by the shakiness in Dr Russell's voice.
When they eventually reached the viewing room overlooking the operating theatre, they all were stopped dead in their tracks by what they saw.
"Holy-" Scott began but was too stunned to finish his sentence.
Four medics were inside the room along with one of the figures from the crashed ship lying on the table. It had been established that this one was the one that had been trying to plant the bomb on the oxygen tank and the one Scott had brought down off the Astroboard. They'd discovered it had perished due to breaking its neck. They noticed that the medics were looking unwell, almost sick by the sight of what they'd discovered after removing the helmet. Instead of a human head, what they saw was a bright green scaly-skinned creature with reptilian-like nose and head, looking slightly like the back of a triceratops' head. It also had a kind of human-shaped mouth but with jagged teeth inside.
"What the hell is that?" Straker asked.
Dr Russell then came in. She looked pale and a bit sweaty having just gone through a decontamination shower as a safety-precaution..
"Talk to me, doc," said Straker. "What kind of a joke is someone having with us?"
"I'm afraid there are no jokes, Colonel," Dr Russell replied. "What you see down there is genuine."
Virgil looked at the strange figure. "That looks like something out of a science-fiction film," he remarked.
"At first we thought the same," said Dr Russell. "We believed it was someone dressed up in make-up. But when we started the autopsy, God, how wrong we were."
"What are you saying, Doctor?" asked Straker. "Are you saying that thing isn't human?"
Dr Russell drank a cup of water almost in one go. "Yes, Colonel," she said. "The internal organs, bone structure and DNA are nothing we've ever seen."
Alan stared at the creature. "An alien?! A proper actual alien?!"
Scott ran his fingers through his hair. "Someone punch me," he said.
"Why?" asked Virgil.
"Because we have to be in a dream, Virg!" Scott snapped. "Aliens aren't real!"
Virgil looked back at the creature lying deceased on the table. "You might not believe it, Scott, but I don't doubt what Dr Russell is saying."
"What about the other one?" asked Kayo.
"That one's alive and currently sedated in the next room," said Dr Russell. "We have established by facial features that the one that's alive is female and the deceased one in there is male. But as to what they are or where they're from, I have no answers."
"We'll get answers," said Straker determinedly. "The live one will talk."
The news soon reached Tracy Island and they weren't quite as shocked as expected, partially down to Brains giving his theory following examining the explosive device.
"So aliens really do exist," said Grandma.
"You boys are acting like this is unusual," said Jeff.
"You're not freaked out by this, Dad?" asked Scott. "I sure as hell am!"
Jeff gave his eldest son a stern look. "Scott…you know damn well there's other life out there," he said. "The Rock Snakes on Mars. That jellyfish creature that Alan and Gordon saw on Europa. The Granitoids that we initially thought were legends also appeared on Mars."
"Those are different, Dad," said Scott. "They were encountered on other planets or Moons. We're on our own Moon! There cannot be alien life here and have not gone undiscovered for over a century!"
"Who says they reside on the Moon, Scott?" asked John who was also listening in. "I've gotten EOS to start scanning the crashed ship. If we can find the Flight Data Recorder, assuming it has one of course, we might be able to trace it back to its origin. How are you getting on, EOS?"
"Progress is slow, but I'm getting there, John," answered EOS. "There's a lot of unknown numbers to decipher before I can make more progress. I need some time."
"Take all the time you need, EOS," said John.
Jeff turned back to Scott. "What condition are the two aliens in, Scott?"
"One's dead, by my hands I'm afraid to say. I think it broke its neck after I knocked it off its board. The other is alive and sedated in the next room. Colonel Straker intends to interrogate it once it's regained consciousness."
"I want to hear this interrogation," said Jeff. "John, make sure we're patched through so all can hear it."
"If Straker allows that?" said Kayo.
"For you guys I make an exception for," Starker called over having overheard. "This is just as much your business as it is ours now."
It was at least two hours before the effects of the sedative had finally worn off and the mysterious alien had come round. All personnel were evacuated from the room beforehand after having moved it from the Medical Centre to the Holding Cells. With nothing but a chair for it to sit on, the creature had initially reacted badly to its surroundings, jumping about, trying to scale the walls and even clawing at the solid glass protecting those standing outside. Eventually it seemed to wear itself out and calmed down enough so that when Straker, Dr Russell, the Tracy's and Kayo came to stand in the interrogation room it didn't make any attempt to try and get to them.
"Hello there," Straker began talking into a microphone. "Do you understand what I am saying?"
The creature didn't respond. It just sat there, looking at the floor, breathing slowly.
"You know up until today I wasn't convinced that alien life existed," Straker continued. "I have been proven wrong. Here you are. Sitting in a holding cell on my base." He paused, waiting to see if the alien would respond to any of this. "Stay as silent as you like for now if you wish. But sooner or later, we will get you to tell us everything. What you are. Where you've come from. Trust me. We will learn the truth."
Just then the doors opened and Lieutenant Ellis walked in with two other men. Alan recognised them at once. "Professor Grissom and Dr Traxton!"
"Hello, young man," said Professor Grissom. "You're Jeff's boy, aren't you?"
"Yes, and these are my brothers, Scott and Virgil."
"Pleasure to meet you," said Professor Grissom.
"Err, likewise," answered Scott, sounding unsure.
"We got here as soon as we could, Colonel," said Dr Traxton.
"Good to see you both," said Straker. "Doctors found nothing wrong?"
"No, just some cuts and bruises," replied Dr Traxton. "Nothing to worry ab-" He broke off as his eyes fell upon the alien inside the holding cell. "Oh…my…goodness!"
"Is that an alien?!" exclaimed Professor Grissom.
"Yes, Professor," said Straker. "International Rescue discovered it and one other attempting to destroy our oxygen tanks."
"But why?" asked Professor Grissom.
Kayo spoke up. "It's just speculation, Professor. But we think they might have been the reason for the destruction of the Odyssey."
Professor Grissom and Dr Traxton exchanged startled looks.
"But this is impossible," said Dr Traxton, looking back at the alien. "That has to be a human in some kind of-"
"It's not, Doctor," said Dr Russell. "We've already performed an autopsy on the deceased one. They are not human."
The two elderly men were stunned into silence.
Kayo's communicator then beeped. "Go ahead, John?"
"Kayo, who else is with you?" asked John.
"Scott, Virgil, Alan, Colonel Straker, Dr Russell, Dr Traxton and Professor Grissom."
"Ah, good," said John. "Because EOS has just completed her scan of the alien craft and had managed to decode its flight recorder."
"And?" asked Scott.
John hesitated. "You might want to see for yourself," he said.
A hologram projection of the Moon appeared from Kayo's gauntlet. Then a red dotted line began to appear heading out into space.
"What you're seeing is the ship's last recorded flight pattern," John said. He then fell silent to allow the others to observe.
Eventually a large grey planet appeared on the projection with the dotted line ending at it.
"Good grief," said Virgil.
"It came from Traxton!" exclaimed Professor Grissom.
THUD!
Everyone yelped and jumped with Dr Traxton falling onto the floor in shock. They all turned towards the protective glass to see the alien right on the other side. It's reptilian-like hands pressed hard against the glass and its green slit-eyes stared hard at them. Its mouth was also open as it hissed and snarled like an angry snake. "You disgusting humans!" the alien spat in a female voice that had a distinctive hiss to it. "You DARE give our planet a name?!"
"Woah…" said Scott, staring dumbstruck at the alien. "It speaks English!"
Straker, recovering from the shock first did his best to stand defiantly up to the creature. "Who are you?" he demanded. "Why are you here?"
The alien took its hands off the wall and took a step back, fixing Straker with a hateful look. "I am Sub-14. I am a soldier in the Military of the Subterrains. Myself and Sub-25 were tasked with making sure your planned expedition ended in failure."
The alien's words were also heard aboard Thunderbird 5 and in the lounge on Tracy Island. Everyone listened in complete silence. None more so than Sophie, who was determined to catch every single word that it was going to say.
"But why?" asked Straker. "All we wanted to do was explore what the planet was and-"
"LIES!" shrieked the Subterrain. "We know all about you Earthlings. You do nothing but fight and bring war amongst yourselves. We know because in our old universe, there were others that saw us as a threat and tried to destroy us. We therefore keep a watch out for any planet that is deemed a threat to our planet and race and will not hesitate to destroy it at all costs! And we would have succeeded earlier had you pathetic creatures not stopped our tunnelling machine."
Alan then suddenly realised. "The Moonquaker! That came from your planet?"
"Yes, little one," hissed the Subterrain. "Clearly we underestimated your resourcefulness. Rest assured, we would not make the same mistake twice."
"There were good people on the Odyssey," Scott said. "Innocent people."
"And one was my girlfriend's sister!" Alan said angrily.
Hearing this made Sophie's heart break even more. She began to sob again.
The Subterrain moved over to Alan and pressed its face up against the glass in an attempt to intimidate him. "Then she paid for her treachery with her life," she hissed. "Just like the others. Hear me, Earthlings. Your attempts to visit our world have failed. The Subterrains are victorious. You will never set foot…on Planet-46!" And then a laser weapon suddenly emerged from within its right arm. It opened its mouth and aimed the end of the nozzle at it. Then before anyone could realise what was happening, the laser fired. Its body then collapsed back down onto the floor and lay motionless whilst the others tried hard not to throw up at what its action had created.
"Ugh…gross," said Alan.
The reunion between Alan and Sophie was more than a bit emotional. Sophie was a totally different person to what Alan had known when he'd left the island in Thunderbird 3. She was a wreck. Her eyes were red from all the crying. She kept hyperventilating whenever she tried speaking and her skin was going whiter and whiter the more the freaked out. In the end, Grandma had to give her a sedative and they placed her in a bed in the Sick Room so she could sleep.
"Poor Sophie," Penelope said to the others. "I can't even begin to imagine the pain she's in right now."
"What about her parents and husband?" asked Virgil. "Didn't you say she was married, Dad?"
"Yes…but I'm afraid that's not for us to do, Virgil," Jeff said sadly. "Straker needs to inform the next of kin himself."
"And say what?" asked Kayo. "That their daughter was killed by aliens? Do you really expect them to accept that?"
"He won't mention the aliens," said Jeff. "And nor shall we?"
"We're not?" Alan asked.
"No, son," said Jeff. "What happened up there has to stay between those involved. We cannot reveal to the whole world that the planet everyone was excited to go and discover is a hostile alien world."
"There'd be mass panic h'and 'ysteria," said Parker.
"Correct, Parker," said Jeff.
"But we can't just let these aliens get away with this," said Gordon. "They have to be held accountable for killing those astronauts!"
"And how do you suggest we do that, Gordon?" asked Scott. "Take Thunderbird 3 out there and ask them to accept what they did was wrong?"
There was an awkward silence before Alan finally broke it with a sentence that nobody was expecting. "Why not?" he said defiantly. "That's exactly what we're gonna do!"