Chapter 18 - Trapped

They were about a hundred meters away from Thunderbird one when they began to run.

Scott knew the laser pistols they were armed with could stun a man, but judging by the noises behind them, there was definitely a group chasing them, and he didn't want to take his chances.

His father was close behind him, and they had a pretty good lead. They had made it to the clearing where Thunderbird One was when Scott heard a strange series of noises. Moments later a white fog surrounded Scott. It obscured his vision and when he breathed it in, he nearly choked.

Scott tried to move forward but found that his body was growing heavier with every step. He looked around and found that his dad had already collapsed. The men that had been chasing them had closed in, and through the haze of the gas he could make out men dressed in military type garb and gas masks.

One breath later, and Scott's vision started to waver. In the next breath he collapsed on the ground not far from where his father laid.

--

Alan opened his eyes and was surprised to find a strange lack of light. At first he wondered if he was still lying on the street from where he wiped out from his chase with Mr. Edwards until he realized the reason for the low light was because he was laying at the bottom of a very large pit.

"Are you all right?"

The voice had been unexpected, so Alan quickly scrambled into a sitting position. Unfortunately the move only served to make his head throb and he moaned. Looking around, he could just make out someone else at the base of this hole with him, and after a few moments he found that he was able to focus his eyes and make out who was in this predicament with him. "President Winters?"

Alan slowly picked himself up, wincing as he felt what he knew would be bruises soon enough. Sure enough, it was President Winters that sat across from him with a wry smile.

"Welcome back to the land of the living, son. I only regret that you had to join me like this." She stated.

He managed to get to his feet reluctantly. Checking his wrist, Alan realized that he still had his tele-com, which was totally odd. Both the Hood and this so called organization that he worked for were either getting stupid, or there was a reason that they wanted him to still be able to call out. Hoo boy, was this ever a mess.

"Is everything all right, young man?"

Alan was roused from his reverie by the president's question. Turning, he realized that she had probably seen quite a few hours of rough treatment herself. She was nearly covered from head to toe in sand and dust, and her jeans had rips and tears from what could only be a rough ride to the bottom herself. A cut over her eye was bleeding, so he instinctively grabbed for the cloth he knew he had in his pocket and reached forward to her forehead. "You are bleeding there a little bit."

She flinched instinctively. "Ow. Thanks, but I wonder how we are going to get out of here."

Alan replaced the cloth back into his pocket. He knew that the President was aware of International Rescue, but he was not quite sure how much to tell her. "It might be a little hard to believe, but I am an operative of International Rescue. I had found out about a plot to kidnap you, but unfortunately that organization decided to nab me at a bad moment."

Very bad in fact. Alan wondered if Fermat had been able to get a message to his brothers in time. It would make what he had to do a little bit easier but there was still the possibility that he was being monitored.

President Winter's face brightened some. "It is unfortunate that you were caught before you could report what you had found out."

Alan held up his wrist. "I do have a link home, but it will take time to get a message across."

Nodding, she chose to close her eyes. "Then by all means, go ahead and work on getting a message out. If you don't mind, I think I will rest my eyes for a few minutes while you do that."

As the president settled in against the opposite rocky wall, Alan positioned himself against the opposite wall and slid down into a sitting position. Tapping on his tele-com, he made the dial disappear and spoke quickly.

"Thunderbird Five come in. Thunderbird Five please come in."

Digital static greeted his hails, and Alan began to wonder if he had bitten off more than he could chew.

--

Gordon paced in front of the communication panel of Thunderbird Five and wondered how in the world John didn't go stir crazy. He knew John and Virgil were on their way back to Tracy Island. Scott and their dad hadn't been in radio contact since he made a scan of the Island over twenty minutes ago, despite the numerous attempts he made to contact them.

He had all but decided to try again when he heard a familiar voice come through.

"Thunderbird Five, please come in."

The communication had been loud and clear, and he instantly recognized the voice. Gordon scrambled back to his chair and activated the communications link. Alan's face came up on the video screen and a profound sense of relief came over him. "Thunderbird Five is here, and am I ever glad to see you."

Alan returned the gesture with a wry smile. "Likewise. Can you patch in Dad? I'd rather tell what happened only once."

He shook his head sadly. "No can do, I'm afraid. He's been MIA for close to a half hour now. He and Scott went out looking for you when we lost radio contact."

Alan's eyes widened in surprise. "The Hood has them?"

"I dunno Sprout, they landed at your location, they were surrounded, and then I lost them."

"Get John and Virgil on the line then," Alan insisted. "Tell them-"

Gordon hesitated. This was a situation that was going south fast and he sure didn't like the uneasy look in his brother's eyes. "Tell them what? What's wrong?"

For an answer, the view on the video screen changed and shifted until Gordon saw a black box on the rocky wall and what looked like two groups of dynamite attached to it. A timer with bright red digital numbers looked to be counting down from fifty-nine minutes.

Alan's voice came through in the background. "Tell them to hurry, will ya?"