A little bit late, but this was a tricky one to write. Thanks to Loopstagirl for looking it over for me. A big thank you, too, to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, especially Whirlgirl who I can't reply to directly.

Chapter Eighteen

Sahara took a moment to enjoy the absolute silence which greeted her words. There was silence in the helicopter, too, Penny being too utterly stunned to utter a word. When the reply finally came, Alan did his best to rally, informing her that he got hundreds of calls from people claiming they'd identified the members of International Rescue and that none of them had been right yet. Jeff Tracy: astronaut, billionaire and all-round American hero, was a good guess, he told her, but still wide of the mark. Unfortunately, the tremor in his voice undermined his words.

Sahara, of course, was having none of it. "Sorry, Alan, I'm right and you know it. I'll give you fifteen minutes to pull yourself together and brief the rest of the family," she told him, and cut the link to Thunderbird Five.

"Oh, I wish I could have seen his face," she murmured, leaning back in her seat and stretching luxuriously. She was clearly pleased with herself. "Still, at least I got to see yours. Honestly, Penny, you should have seen yourself. The whole jaw to the floor look doesn't really befit a lady, you know. Still, I suppose right now you don't look like one and you're certainly not going to be treated like one. What I will treat you like, is an agent of International Rescue."

"I'm not..." Penny finally managed to speak, only for Sahara to cut across her.

"Like I said, I had plenty of time to think whilst I was getting my appearance altered. It was Parker who gave it away, you know."

"Parker?"

"Yes. I should have worked it out at the time. International Rescue came to Sir Reuben's island to take Thunderbird Four back. Parker was with them, and how could he have joined an International Rescue operation if he wasn't connected in some way?"

"It was a joint operation with MI5," Penny protested, feeling duty-bound to try to convince Sahara she was wrong, even though she suspected it was going to be a waste of time.

"No it wasn't. I've still got connections there and I know that the MI5 team didn't arrive till later. No, Penny. You and Parker had a link to International Rescue. It still took a while to find out who the others were, though. But once I worked it out it was obvious. Scott wasn't a military agent, was he? He was IR. He's a pilot - the pilot of Thunderbird One, I'm guessing. I noticed that 'bird was absent on the last rescue in Australia, by the way. I suppose he was too busy flying to your rescue. Though that hasn't turned out so well, has it?

"As far as identifying the rest of the family, well, the Thunderbirds have to be hidden somewhere, and where better than an island in the middle of nowhere? Jeff Tracy has certainly got the finances to fund the operation. Then of course, there's Brains. No wonder he found it so easy to reverse-engineer Thunderbird Four for Sir Reuben. I mean, he built it in the first place, didn't he? I knew he was a genius, but I never realised just how brilliant he was.

"Of course, then it all fell into place. A family rich enough to buy property anywhere in the world, to do anything they liked with themselves, but choosing to live in isolation on one tiny island. Two of them gave up successful sporting careers, too. Don't tell me that working for their father's company was more fulfilling than that, Penny. No, there had to be another reason.

"I did my research, you know. Every brother has his own set of skills that just happen to fit with International Rescue's needs. Aside from Scott, there's Virgil with his engineering background and Gordon, the ex-WASP man and submarine pilot. John and Alan have NASA training, which takes care of Thunderbird Three - unless Jeff Tracy is in charge of that, though I'm betting he's the man who oversees it all. And all such private men - abnormally so. No girlfriends, no one allowed to visit Tracy Island, and why not? In case they stumble upon anything they shouldn't.

"You see, it's obvious once you think about it." She shot Penny a satisfied smile. The woman's continued silence was confirmation enough, as far as Sahara was concerned.

She glanced at her watch. "Five minutes. I'd love to know what they're saying right now. I felt a bit sorry for Alan, actually. I bet he does get loads of calls like that, but he clearly wasn't prepared for mine. Now you're wondering how I knew it was him, aren't you? As well as hoping they'll trace the call and come rushing to the rescue. Well, as far as that goes, this helicopter is equipped with a useful little device that bounces signals between more transmitters than you can count before it gets to the other person. I don't doubt International Rescue will be able to pinpoint this location eventually, but we'll be well away from here by then.

"As for identifying Alan, well, that was easy. Basic voice recognition software. It was kind of the Tracys to have Alan on communications duty today - he was easy to match from all those interviews he gave in his motor racing days. It would have been a bit more of a challenge if someone like Virgil had answered - but then I think I would still have recognised him. After all, I've spoken to him once before. He's in charge of Thunderbird Two, am I right?"

"How would I know?"

"Oh, Penny, give up. I should thank you, you know. Your wedding gave me the perfect opportunity to make my move. It's a pity I didn't get Jeff Tracy too, it would have made this a lot easier. But, you know, I think Sebastian's love of the theatrical has rubbed off on me - this way is a lot more fun. He knows nothing about this, by the way. I did think about getting him to interrogate Parker, just to confirm my suspicions, but I really didn't want to risk him finding out what I was really up to. Anyway, I wanted to deal with you myself. I owe you, Penelope. I got Sebastian to programme Parker to kill himself once he'd done all I wanted, by the way, although you probably guessed that, didn't you?"

She smiled as Penny's gaze dropped. The woman looked utterly shattered. Well, why wouldn't she? Sahara's contact in MI5 had told her some time ago that the woman had lost her nerve and resigned. In some ways, Sahara was sorry - she'd have gained a lot more satisfaction from beating her when she was at the top of her game, but there was still a great deal of pleasure to be gained from seeing just how far the woman had fallen - and pushing her down even further. Penny had had her wedding day ruined, she'd been revealed as a liar to her unsuspecting husband, and now she'd lost her beloved Parker. Not that that was the end of it, of course, Sahara thought. No, she still had more in store for the woman.

Not that she could dwell on that right now. "You're wondering what I'm going to ask for, aren't you?" she went on. "Technology? An actual Thunderbird? Money? I could blackmail Jeff Tracy, I suppose. Or maybe I'll just sell the information. Not necessarily to the General, though. There are people out there who'll pay sums that he couldn't even try to match. Well, you'll find out, but all in good time.

"And talking of time-" She looked at her watch and smiled, then reached for the radio once again. "Here we go."

To say there was consternation on Tracy Island when Alan reported what had happened would have been an understatement, although the inhabitants might have suspected that there was more to it than just a rescue alert when Alan insisted that everyone gather in the lounge and that Scott be patched in on the conversation too.

Jeff had been just about to leave the island to head back to London in order to 'bail out Casanova' as a grinning Gordon had put it. He'd been delayed by an agitated Parker who had blocked the entrance to the hangar, insisting that he be allowed to go with him.

"H'I'll give myself h'up," he said. "H'it's not right that Virgil should be in jail because h'of me."

"Parker, it wouldn't make any difference," Jeff explained, not for the first time. He drew on all the reserves of patience he'd accumulated over the years of raising five stubborn sons. "They think you and Virgil are accomplices. All that would happen is that you'd both be locked up."

"H'I could break h'us h'out," Parker told him.

"No, Parker. We need to find out exactly what's been going on with you. Brains has given Scott the address of a lab which will analyse those 'vitamins' the boys found in your room. Until we know more, I don't want to risk you being anywhere but here."

"But Mr Tracy..."

"Parker, please. Let me pass. The longer I'm arguing with you, the longer Virgil will spend in jail." Not that Jeff had any hope that he'd be able to get his son freed, but what else could he do but send in a score of the most high-profile lawyers in London to back up Marsha Locke, whilst making as much noise and fuss as befitted an aggrieved billionaire, calling in favours from friends in high places and making the police's job as difficult as possible. Maybe he should even approach MI5, he thought, though the prospect of inadvertently giving his International Rescue connections away to anyone who might be working for the kidnappers made him wary.

Parker had just reluctantly stepped aside, his shoulders slumped, when Alan's call came through.

"Now what?" Jeff grumbled, dropping his bag and heading back to the lounge where the rest of the family were waiting, Alan surveying them via the vid-link. He didn't look relieved to see his father appear - if anything, his expression became even more apprehensive.

"What's up, Al?" Even Gordon was feeling the tension and his habitual smile was missing.

"You'd better listen to this," was the only response he got.

Alan relayed the recording of the brief conversation he'd had with Sahara, watching his family as he did so. The reactions could have been predicted: Grandma dropped her knitting, his father slammed a fist down on the desk and his brothers swore, kicked the furniture and pulled faces of shock and disgust. Brains went white and even the usually inscrutable Kyrano was affected, the coffee cup he'd just picked up falling to the ground and shattering into a thousand pieces.

Parker sank heavily into a chair. "H'is that my fault, too?" he muttered to no one in particular. Gordon reached out a hand to grip his shoulder, but no one offered any words of comfort, everyone wondering the same thing.

Jeff had rarely been so at a loss. All these years of secrecy, all the plans he'd made for this eventuality, and now it had happened, he didn't know what to do. He'd never anticipated anything like this. And for it to happen now, when there were so many other things going on... Or was it all connected? Surely it had to be - anything else would be too much of a coincidence. Was that why he had been marked down to be taken along with Penny? Why someone had been lying in wait for Scott? But what about the prince and the Archbishop and the others who had been kidnapped? He just couldn't work out what was behind all that - unless it was just a magnificent piece of misdirection...

"Dad?"

Scott's voice reminded him that the others were looking to him for guidance. He did his best to pull himself together. "Okay, it's happened. Let's not panic - at least not until we know there's something to panic about." He gazed around at the others. "Does anyone have anything to say?"

Only John responded. "Until we know more about who she is and what she wants, I don't see much point in speculating. Anyway, Alan hasn't admitted anything and unless she's got actual proof there's still a chance we can pull this off."

"That's true," Jeff said, finally gathering his wits together. "Well, done, Alan. It must have been a shock."

Alan nodded, relieved that no one seemed to blame him for not sounding more emphatic when he'd denied the Tracy connection. It certainly had been a shock, and he doubted anyone else - even John - would have done any better under the circumstances.

"Where is she?" Jeff asked. "Can we get an agent out there?"

"I can't trace her," Alan admitted. "The signal went crazy. She could be anywhere."

"She's got an English accent," Gordon pointed out.

"That doesn't exactly narrow it down," Scott told him. "There are quite a few million of them here, you know."

"Don't snap at your brother!" Grandma said, although her unusually sharp tone indicated her own concern.

"We can't even launch Two for a search," John mused. "Not if there's a chance she might be watching the island."

"There's no sign of any craft in the vicinity," Alan told them. "But if she can scramble the radio signal, she might have stealth technology too. You're right - we can't risk it."

"Dad?" John directed the discussion back to the leader of the team. "She'll be calling back soon. What do you want Alan to say? You can't speak to her. No matter what she says."

"I know. I won't. Alan, all you can do is try to stall her. See if you can draw a bit more information out of her when she calls in but don't get drawn into any discussion. Just keep telling her she's wrong and that you need to clear the airwaves in case of an emergency. I'm going to carry on as planned - England seems to be the place where it's all happening and Scott's going to need my help with Virgil out of action. Of course, I'll be going there as Jeff Tracy, concerned father, not as anything to do with International Rescue. Virgil's arrest might have done us a favour in that respect."

"Guess so." Scott didn't sound too certain. "What do you want me to do while I'm waiting for you, Dad?"

"What you were doing before. Keep trying to find Penny. This has to be linked to her disappearance - it's too much of a coincidence, otherwise."

He turned back towards the door, then his eyes fell on Parker.

"Parker, I've changed my mind. You're coming with me."

"Huh?" Parker looked at him with haunted eyes. Jeff could guess what he was thinking.

"Stop blaming yourself. We don't know that you gave anything away, and even if you did, you were under some kind of conditioning."

"'Oo else could h'it be?" Parker muttered.

John shuffled uncomfortably in his chair. "I hate to say it, but maybe it was Penny. We don't know what they've done to her in the time they've had her."

No one liked to consider that possibility and for a moment Jeff thought the suggestion was going to send Parker completely over the edge. Certainly the way his hands gripped the arms of his chair suggested that he was about to snap. But then he raised his head and looked directly at the head of the Tracy family. The misery was gone from his eyes and now they were hard and cold. Jeff knew that their enemies were going to be in trouble if Parker ever got his hands on them.

"Brains, you're coming, too."

"I-I-I am?"

"Yes. I'm going to drop you and Parker off at the new base. I want Thunderbird One operational again. We need to be prepared for all eventualities. You've got ten minutes to pick up everything you're going to need."

"Y-Yes, Mr Tracy."

Jeff waited for Brains to leave the room before turning back to Parker. "No arguments, Parker. If we can use you we will, but I want to be sure you're free from the influence of these people first. Help Brains - and keep him safe. If we're lucky, it's all about money, but if these people want our technology they might want the man who created it, too."

Parker considered this for a moment and Jeff wondered if he was in for another battle. But thankfully the man saw the logic of the suggestion and agreed.

"Okay, let's go," Jeff said. He looked around at his sons. "Good luck, boys. Alan, we're relying on you, so stay calm. Patch me in on the next transmission and I'll do what I can to help. John, if you can do anything to trace those transmissions, do it. Gordon, call all our agents and brief them on the situation. Anything they can find out - however trivial it might seem - I want to know."

"What if there's a callout?" Gordon asked.

"We'll worry about that if it happens." It was Grandma who spoke, her voice calm and matter-of-fact. It was the tone she'd always used when any of the family was stressed about something and as usual it did the trick. There was a tiny, but perceptible, lessening of tension.

Kyrano muttered an apology for the broken cup and left in search of a broom. Parker headed off to help Brains with his preparations, leaving the Tracys alone. There was silence for a moment, everyone wondering what the situation would be the next time they met, then Jeff forced himself into action, shaking hands with each of his sons, nodding at Alan and Scott via the vid-link and treating his mother to a rare hug before disappearing in the direction of the hangar.

"How are you feeling, Al?" John asked. "Ready for this?"

"No." Alan managed a smile. "I wish it was you up here, Johnny. A few more days and it would have been."

John felt the same way. It wasn't that he didn't trust Alan to do his best, but he knew his brother lacked his own deviousness. He couldn't help wishing for the old days when Alan had done everything in his power to avoid taking a full rotation up on Five. Of course, in those days Tin-Tin was alive and things were very different.

Too much had changed, he thought. They'd lost Penny, as well, although in a very different way. John decided he was damned if they were going to lose International Rescue, too.

"Here we go," Alan whispered, and John held his breath along with his brother, waiting to see what would happen next.