Chapter 20 - Revelations
Jeff woke up first.
Opening his eyes, it took him a moment to blink out the haze, but he was eventually able to focus on the smooth grey walls of his prison. There were three of those, and the forth seemed to be made of glass or some sort of Plexiglas. The corridors beyond the Plexiglas wall were suspiciously empty.
He made a move to get to his feet and that was when he realized that his wrists were shacked slightly above his head. The headache that he was feeling was matched with general aches and pains of being physically restrained. Looking over beside him, he found that his son scott was bound in the same manner.
Scott's eyes were closed, but Jeff could see the rise and fall of his chest. "Scott. Wake up, son."
Moaning, Scott moved his head slightly and then winced. Opening his eyes, he saw his father sitting beside him. "I guess this means that we did not make it to Thunderbird One, hunh Dad?"
Jeff shook his head. "They were expecting us. If they wanted us out of the way this badly, they went to insane depths."
"Funny you should mention depths, Jeff."
The muffled voice had taken them by surprise. Jeff turned quickly and saw the one man he did not want to see standing on the other side of the Plexiglas wall. "Hood. We meet again."
"What have you done with Alan?" Scott shouted.
The Hood smiled, and made a move to lean against the Plexiglas as if he did not have a care in the world. "You see, that would be funny if you weren't so serious with that question of yours. For once I have nothing to own up to. I am not running the show here."
Jeff couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Oh, come on now. The Hood, a glorified sidekick? I know you better than that. Somehow I don't see you being so satisfied with the role."
He found himself mildly satisfied when the Hood sneered.
The Hood then let out a laugh that was condescending at best. "Jeff, Jeff. I made a promise that I would see you again. If this plan enables me to see you suffer, then I am not so put off by it. I am more than the sum of my power after all. There has to be someone here to unlock the world leader's minds, right?"
Jeff shook his head. Things were looking pretty bleak at best. "What did you mean earlier when you said depths?"
Smirking, the Hood turned his back on them. "Didn't anyone get a chance to tell you? You are in the headquarters of Shadow Force, positioned on an undersea plateau. Enjoy your stay, because I am sure that you will not be leaving."
And with that, the Hood walked off.
Scott looked down at his bare wrist. "Looks like they stripped us clean of devices. I'm not even sure if we could get a signal out even if we had our communicators."
However, Jeff wasn't listening. His attention was drawn to a monitor near the top corner of their cells.
"Scott-"
Scott saw the haunted look in father's eyes and followed his gaze.
On the wall, a large monitor was subdivided into four quadrants. Two of them were dark, but the last two were active. One of them showed what looked like a racetrack swarmed over by emergency workers.
"So that's how they have been able to keep ahead of us," Scott growled. "But why-"
The question died on his lips when he watched the second active quadrant focus on what looked like a small cave. A hole seemed to be in the center, and two people came into frame that seemed to be at the bottom.
Jeff recognized the President of the United States but the other-
"Dad-"
"I know, Scott. It's Alan."
--
"So, what is your name?"
Alan looked up at the President's question. He didn't know how much time had passed, and at last count she was supposed to be asleep. "Shouldn't you be resting?"
President Winters laughed. "Okay, fine, I will respect your privacy. However, I do think this is the worst spot of trouble I have been in since I have announced my reelection campaign.
He laughed, and then winced as he felt his ribs protest the move. Mrs. Winters got onto her knees and crawled over.
"Well you may be from International Rescue, but it looks like you are the one with trouble. Hold on."
Before Alan could protest and point out that she really shouldn't be moving herself she had taken up a seated position beside him and was feeling his ribs. "I think you are intact. You are going to be feeling this in the morning, but nothing a good rest wouldn't cure."
Alan was not sure how to react with all of the attention. "I didn't know you were a doctor, Madame President."
She laughed. "For you, considering the roughness of our current situation, it's Mrs. Winters. I will tell you something. When you grow up with two cousins who raise and run cattle, them coming home to bruised ribs are the least of my worries when I spend summers on their ranch. So were you able to reach your organization?"
He nodded, deliberately keeping his gaze low. Since he had decided not to tell her about the bomb, he certainly wasn't going to draw attention to it.
"You are probably wondering why they threw me down here." President Winters sadly looked at the ground. The goon that threw me in here basically told me in no uncertain terms that my Vice President was one of them! Can you believe it?"
Alan felt for her. He was frustrated too. He should have went with his first instinct and told Gordon everything that had been happening to that point, then maybe his father and brother wouldn't be in that trap then maybe- aww who was he kidding. He was a big kid getting his feet wet in a situation that he had stepped full into without even knowing it.
"You look like you have your own troubles," she quietly declared.
Alan shook his head. He knew the protocols, but at the very least he could unburden his mind with part of the story. "I had a chance to stop that main guy that had kidnapped you, but-"
She shook her head firmly and interrupted. "Don't. I have a feeling that you are suffering the same thing I went through. There was first a sense of betrayal, and then disbelief. We didn't want to believe that these people could be evil."
Once Marilyn saw him nod, she continued. "Well then, we can't feel guilty can we? All we can do is hope. If your organization has taught me anything, it's that."
Alan felt a new sense of pride in what she said. "Thank you."
--
Gordon paced the length of the Thunderbird Five communication deck. He did his best to keep up with the communications, but the notices were coming in left and right about new kidnapping attempts of world leaders throughout the globe. At least the authorities were able to head the recent attempts off, but he wondered how long their luck would hold.
He was not sure what else they could possibly do. They were a rescue organization for crying out loud, but there was only so much detective work they could do and now especially since they were short handed, it was just making things all the harder.
Now John and Virgil were on a desperate rescue mission for Alan and the President of all situations. The bomb that Alan had shown them indicated that a trap was very likely, but considering that the President was there, Gordon's mind was racing with questions. If domination was truly Shadow Force's goal, why wouldn't they want her?
Unless they already had someone on the inside working for them. That's the only thing that made any sense.
He turned back to his monitor and watched a live network news feed showing Vice President Prescott giving an impassioned speech indicating that they would be holding strong through this crisis and imploring the president not to give up no matter where she was. Yeah right.
Things were desperate, but with John and Virgil already on their way to Alan's coordinates and no other leads to follow-up with dad and Scott's disappearances, he had time on his hands.
Decision made, Gordon sat down in front of the main computer that he had only used hours earlier to make the search for Mr. Edwards.
Okay Mr. Vice President, I think it's time you sign in. Are you a member of Shadow Force or not?