June 11th, 2063 - 22:47 NZST
"You know what I hate more than anything?" Kayo muses, lying back on her bed while Alan gives her a foot massage.
"The Hood?" Alan guess and hands Kayo a chocolate bar when she sticks a handout at him.
"Good guess, but I was more referring to rescues," Kayo states.
"Oh," Alan says and thinks for a moment, "People being idiots in the first place and getting into trouble because of their own selfish acts."
"Exactly," Kayo nods and takes a bit out of her chocolate, "Gosh, Alan, you're really good at these massages."
"I've had to put up with you for 19 years," Alan chuckles, "I kinda had to learn."
"Hey!" Kayo states and gets up and lightly pushes Alan.
"I'm kidding," Alan laughs and raps and arm around her shoulders.
"Humf..." Kayo sulks, putting on an act, crossing her arms and looking away from Alan.
"Oh, come on, Kayo," Alan says gently, "I didn't mean it like that."
"You're mean," Kayo whimpers.
"I think what you need is to take that weeks' vacation I promised," Alan smiles, "How does that sound?"
"That sounds amazing," Kayo squeals and takes away her act and starts laughing at Alan's reaction, "Oh seriously, Alan. You really think a badass like me would act like that as easily. I'm a tough nut to crack."
"Why are girls so fucking complicated?" Alan mumbles under his breath.
"Let's leave tomorrow!" Kayo announces.
"Alrighty, then," Alan states and walks out of the room to inform Scott. As the events of tomorrow turn out, Kayo was glad that she and Alan left...
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
June 12th, 2063 - 10:21 NZST
Scott sits on his usual sofa, with Marion resting her head on his shoulder. Virgil stands to the left of the pair with his arms crossed as he studies the situation that John and Ridley are displaying on the table's holo-screen.
"International Rescue, we have a situation," John states.
"Two workers are trapped inside an Oxy-Baker Horizon Scrubber," Ridley explains.
"It was only a matter of time before something went belly-up inside one of those things," Scott states and shakes his head, "Oh, they should have been scrapped years ago."
"And now it's our problem," Virgil scoffs.
"We'd better take Thunderbird 1, 2 and 7 with us," Scott says, "This could get tight and messy."
"Like last night!" Gordon shouts from the kitchen.
"FUCK YOU, GORDON COOPER TRACY!" Scott yells back and is only met with a madly blushing Marion and the laughter from Gordon.
"I just waxed the hull, so I don't want any mess," Virgil says trying to keep a straight face.
"See you in the sky," Scott mumbles and gets up while Marion moves across to her chair, remaining silent.
7
Thunderbird 7 pulls out from a hanger underneath Thunderbird 1 to allow Marion to get inside.
6
A crane comes down and lifts Thunderbird 7 inside Thunderbird 1's cargo hold.
5
Virgil's rocket painting tilts backwards and Scott descends as they get suited up.
4
The pod equipment is loaded into Module 2.
3
The front doors close as Marion gets into the co-pilot seat.
2
Thunderbird 2 taxis down the main runway and comes to a halt allowing the ramp to raise.
1
Thunderbird 1 comes to a stop as the swimming pool above starts to retract.
Thunderbirds are Go!
June 12th, 2063 - 10:29 NZST
John and Ridley call the control centre of the Horizon Scrubber and start to butt-heads with the operator.
"Not sure how much more I can do here, mate," the operator, Fred, says as he taps a few controls, "It's not responding to my controls."
"Don't you understand? The crew are in real danger," John states.
"And like I said, I already submitted a Form M-55. That's S.O.P. here at Oxy-Baker. Standard Operating Procedure. Another maintenance pod will be dispatched in..." Fred trails as he checks the data on the tablet,"Three hours."
"I'm showing a major leak in the storage tank. Your crew may not have that long," Ridley complains, "Can you make it launch any faster?"
"Oh-ho..." Fred calls as he holds up a finger, "Mrs Baker wouldn't like that."
"Then please let us talk to Mrs Baker," John says.
"No one talks to the Boss, it's—" Fred starts.
"S.O.P. Right," John finishes for him.
"Is there any other way to turn off the turbine remotely?" Ridley asks.
"Well, you could use the digi-key," Fred says, indicating with a small card, "But that's definitely against S.O.P.!"
"Surely you could make an exception and let us borrow it?" John asks.
"Rule seventeen: 'Only authorised employees may handle digi-keys at any given time.' Doesn't get any plainer than that," Fred states and the pair look exasperated at each other having a silent conversation and think on an idea but Fred hangs ups.
"But—" Ridley sighs knowing its useless now and they connect to Thunderbird 7, "This operator's a real stickler. I'll keep at it."
June 12th, 2063 - 12:50 LINT
"Thanks, Ridley. We have visual on the scrubber," Marion says.
"Thunderbird 1 to Oxy-Baker Maintenance Pod. How's it going in there?" Scott asks.
"Could be worse," the female says, "The good news is that our masks will keep us breathing."
"But won't the tank's toxic gas seep in and eventually poison us both?" the male says.
"Well, yes, but I wasn't gonna put it like that!" the female replies.
"Hang on, we'll get you out," Scott says, "Virgil, are there any other entry points?"
"Negative," Virgil says as he looks at the data shown on the holo-screens in front of him, "Scans show no way in, but though the turbine. Except it's still on, and not responding to commands."
"Then we need options, fast," Scott says.
June 12th, 2063 - 12:53 LINT
"Penelope, we need your help," Ridley says over the coms.
"Oh, no... Ridley, I'm at a conference in Milan. I can't leave," Penelope sighs.
"Right, but secretly you're working undercover to unearth a sinister plot or something," Ridley says hopefully.
"No. Actually, I'm about to go on stage," Penelope states.
"Right..." Ridley trails.
"Sorry. I'm the keynote speaker. But I'll be back in London in an hour," Penelope says. Ridley looks over her shoulder to John, who's looking at the holo-screens, and he shakes his head.
"We don't have time," Ridley sighs.
"There's always Parker," Penelope says.
"He's not there with you?" Ridley questions.
"Oh, no. Sherbet hates public speaking," Penelope chuckles and ends the transmission. Ridley then calls FAB 1.
"Parker! We need your help," Ridley says.
"H'I'll be 'appy to 'elp," Parker smiles, "What seems to be the h'issue?"
"We need to gain access to a digi-key at Oxy-Baker so we can access one of their Horizon Scrubbers that has gone unresponsive," Ridley explains and hears barking in the background.
"Sorry, Miss Ridley," Parker apologies, "Someone h'I've been left to look h'after is making it difficult to 'ear you. H'I need h'a what? A 'skinny-bee'?"
"A digi-key," Ridley empathises.
"H'oh...! We'll 'ead to h'Oxy-Baker right h'away," Parker nods.
"One more thing, the control operator there is a real piece of work," Ridley points out, "You may have to use some of your... tricks to get what we need."
"Consider h'it done," Parker nods.
"Thanks, Parker," John interjects, "I'll gear up and meet you at the scrubber."
"I'm sorry, what?" Ridley asks as she watches John close the link.
"I'm sure you can handle a few hours without me," John says, "EOS, time to suit up!"
5
Thunderbird 5's rear access hatch opens.
4
A secret door in the control room opens and John floats through.
3
John starts to suit up.
2
John spins around as different parts of his exo-suit attach to him.
1
John watches as the airlock opens.
Thunderbirds are Go!
"Scott, I'm taking the elevator there now," John says as he makes his way to grab onto the cable, "When Parker arrives with the digi-key, I'll shut down the turbine with it."
"I'll take Thunderbird 1 initially in for the evac. If that fails, we'll use Thunderbird 7," Scott states, "Virgil, can you make an entrance for me?"
"You got it," Virgil says as he goes around the scrubber, "Hold there, Scott. Readying laser."
"FAB," Scott says and watches as Thunderbird 2's plasma laser starts up and fires at the turbine, cutting off the bottom. Thunderbird 2 goes around the scrubber again to complete the cut and watches as the bottom of the unit falls into the Pacific Ocean below.
That's gonna make one big splash," Virgil muses.
"Thanks, Virgil. We're going in," Scott announces and moves Thunderbird 1 inside the scrubber. Inside, Scott negotiates all the metal supporting structs which are all over the place due to the bad design of it. "Ugh... what a bunch of junk," Scott mutters as Thunderbird 1's wings get caught on some out of place wiring, he keeps pushing against them, but they refuse to give, "Come on!" Marion notices his frustration and reaches over to press the top bottom on theleft-hand side arm of his chair. The wings retract in, and Thunderbird 1 is able to move past and move back into place once clear. He changes to horizontal flight as he makes it to the waste tank section at the top of the turbine and sees a gap that is too small for Thunderbird 1 to get through. "We have eyes on the pod. Thunderbird 1 can't go any further. Thunderbird 7, ready for launch?"
"FAB, Scott," Marion says, "This is Thunderbird 7, launching in three... two... one." The bay doors of Thunderbird 1 open and a small blue streamlined aircraft drops down. Its wings expand outwards before rolling around to hover parallel with Thunderbird 1.
"Careful, Marion. There's no telling what that malfunctioning turbine will do," Ridley says.
"Understood. Going up now," Marion states as manages to squeeze through the tight gap that Thunderbird 1 wasn't able to get through, "Almost there." Marion takes her time to get into position beside the maintenance pod, not going too fast that she'd knock something and causes more of a situation, but quick enough to makes sure she is going to make it to the crew in time. Soon, she pulls up alongside the pod and looks through the window at the two crew, "Are you okay?"
"Not really..." the man coughs, "The air is nearing dangerous levels."
"Did you bring the digi-key to shut down the turbine?" the female coughs.
"Uh... actually, we're still working on that," Marion replies honestly.
June 12th, 2063 - 13:19 LINT
"I've reached the scrubber," John announces and the elevator starts to sway as it approaches the top of the turbine, "I'm getting some turbulence." Using his wrist controller, John navigates to Space Elevator to grab onto a raised bat at the top of the turbine. "Contact secured," John says and changes channels on his com-link, "Parker, any sign of that digi-key?"
"You mean 'his?" Parker asks holding a key up to show in the hologram.
"Great! Get it here as soon as you can," John smiles.
"FAB," Parker notes.
"Scott, the digi-key is on the way," Ridley states after receiving word from John.
"Good," Scott replies, "Marion, how's it looking?"
"Well," Marion says as she gets her helmet on and exist Thunderbird 7, walking across the left wing to get a closer look, "The pod will get sucked into the turbine if we don't do this right. John, are you in position?"
"Whoa! Oh! Nearly. This wind's becoming a problem," John complains as the force being generated beneath him pulls him to the ground as he struggles to make it across the platform. He reaches into a pocket and takes out a grappling hook and fires a line to the control panel on the other side of the station and pulls himself across, "Made it. Parker?"
"Nearly there, Mister John. "H'I can see the scrubber now," Parker says and Sherbet barks from the backseat. Suddenly, FAB 1's engines start to cut out and Sherbet whimpers from his seat, "H'oh...! 'Ang h'on, Sherbet. Full throttle should do the trick." He puts the throttle down and the engine restarts causing FAB 1 to pick up height again.
"Here they come," John says from his position at the control panel when he sees the engines start to splutter, "What's wrong, Parker?"
"H'I'm h'afriad h'I just remembered, FAB h'One's not supposed to be this 'igh," Parker sighs as FAB 1 starts to drop from the sky, "Ah! Come h'on, come h'on! Crash dive, Bertie! Crash dive."
"Parker!" John yells and looks over to his left,"Thunderbird 2!"
"On my way," Virgil replies and drops to follow FAB 1's decent. He catches up to Parker quickly and drops the module and opens to door. Tracking the predicted decent, Virgil angles the module correctly to get FAB 1's inside and deploys the module's airbags, "Got him!"
"We're saved!" Parker sighs and Sherbet barks in agreement. Parker turns and sees Virgil approach in his exo-suit, "Your digi-key, Mister Virgil, Sir."
"Good work, Parker," Virgil says and Sherbet barks again, "You too, Sherbet."
"Heads up, John. Sending the digi-key to you now," Virgil says as pulls up close to his location and drops the module again. John approaches and shields his eyes from the turbulence. The module door then opens and Virgil approaches John and hands the digi-key over to him. He then returns to Thunderbird 2 and the module closes up before Thunderbird 2 flies away. John shields his eyes again briefly before making his way back along the platform to the control unit but falls over again at the pull of turbine.
"Marion, the turbine's going crazy! It's picking up speed," John cries.
"Yeah, we noticed," Marion says from her open seat in Thunderbird 7 and watches as the pod shifts loose of its position in the toxic waste tank and starts to be taken upwards into the turbine. "Oh, no you don't," Marion says and fires a grabble from the front of Thunderbird 7 and attaches it to the back of the pod pulling it away from the turbine. Thunderbird 7 jolts slightly and Marion is force to fire another grapple from underneath and this attaches to one of the turbines walls.
John pulls himself up at the control unit, so he can see the controls. Below, the pod is still being pulled off and part of the tank is ripped off due to the increasing winds. It misses the pods and strikes the blades of the turbine rocking the whole upper platform that John is on. At the time, John had been reaching over to insert the digi-key, but the shaking of the platform had made him lose balance. "Argh!" John groans and watches as the digi-key that was once in his hand is flying lose above him, "No!" He activates the exo-suit and flies up to retrieve it, "Got ya!" Turning to face the platform, John fires a grapple that connects with the bridge and he pulls himself back down on top of the control unit and enters the digi-key, before radioing everyone in, "Shutdown complete."
"Our toxic levels are falling," the female crew member says.
"Unfortunately, so are we!" the male says, and they drop but only so far as Thunderbird 7 still has a grab on it.
"Don't worry, I've got you," Marion smiles but that quickly vanishes as the scrubber shifts.
"The scrubber's drifting," Ridley says over the communicators, "Everyone, get out! Now."
"Scott?" Marion says, "Move out the fucking way, we'll exit on our own."
"FAB," Scott says and dives Thunderbird 1 down and Marion follows, releasing the grapple attached to the side of the scrubber and pulling the pod in as far as she could.
"Thunderbirds 1 and 7 are away," Marion announces and they both exit the bottom of the scrubber.
"FAB," Virgil says and hovers Thunderbird 2 above the scrubber as he watches it tilt.
"Virgil, we can't let all that toxic waste reach the ground," Ridley says over the coms.
"The scrubber's too heavy for Thunderbird 2," Virgil argues.
"She didn't say lift the whole thing. The storage tank will do," John says.
"Got it," Virgil smiles, "More slicing and dicing coming up." He activates Thunderbird 2's laser once again as starts to cut through the side of the turbine allowing him to gain access to the two toxic waste tanks that are stored within the side panelling. Virgil carefully removes the panelling that surrounds it, "John, you're up."
John starts up his exo-suit and hovers over to the Space Elevator and uses his wrist controller to release it and guides it along the outside of the scrubber until he gains access to the tanks. John then manoeuvres the Space Elevator and gets onto the side of the tanks and connects with then, removing them from the collapsing structure in front of him, "We're clear."
"Where's it going?" Virgil asks as he watches John takes it up in the Space Elevator into orbit.
"Deep space, to freeze," John says and grabs onto the cable and powers off the exo-suit as they exit Earth's atmosphere, "That'll render it safe until it can be brought back to Earth for processing. How's the crew?"
"Ask them yourself," Marion says.
"We're fine, actually. Nothing to complain about," the male nods.
For once," the female chuckles, "Thanks, International Rescue."
"Yeah, thanks," the male says.
"We're just glad to know that everyone's alright," Scott says as the three Thunderbirds fly towards Hawaii to drop the crew off.