Chapter Six
"I see it, ah, John. I can see exactly where the, ah, device that's blocking transmission is."
"Can you take it out, Brains?" came John's voice through the speakers.
Brains quickly tapped a few commands into the on-board computer of his prototype aircraft. "I just have to make a-a few adjustments."
"Well, for God's sake, Brains, hurry it up."
For just a moment, Brains' hand held steady over the computer interface. If the situation weren't so dire, he'd probably have laughed over how much John sounded like Scott just now. Instead, he muttered, "Don't have the damn voice i-interface in yet."
"It's okay, Brains, I'm sorry, it's just—"
"I know, John. They're, ah, my family, too." There were a few mechanical-sounding beeps and blips as the engineer's long fingers moved across the touch screen in a blur. "Yes, I-I believe this will do it," he breathed. "I'm not picking up any, ah, power signs still."
"Neither am I," John replied. "Do what you have to do, Brains, I'm ready to go on my end. You think this will work?"
"Not think. Know."
Brains could almost hear John's smile over the airwaves as Tracy Island appeared on the horizon. He felt beads of sweat gather on his forehead, eyes focused on that single point. He'd been about to get into the jet he'd flown to Los Angeles when John had practically screamed at him that he needed something faster.
That's when he'd gone to the privacy of Tracy Hangar at Los Angeles International Airport and hauled out the most recently invented vehicle for International Rescue. At first he'd thought of making it another Thunderbird craft, but it had quickly become apparent to him that International Rescue didn't need another Thunderbird.
So this little gem of his, which was the same length as Thunderbird 4 and only four inches wider, was a single-person flyer that could get into tight spots quickly when Thunderbird 1 was simply too large for the job. It had all come about the year prior when three mountain climbers had died in the Himalayas simply because Scott couldn't maneuver into the Kali Gandaki Gorge anywhere near where the men were trapped. There was no place flat enough for the big rocket plane to land. Thunderbird 2 with all the equipment she carried had gotten there in time, but the organization simply didn't have anything small or fast enough to beat the clock. It may have been made originally for mountain rescues, but now Brains was going to be testing his invention out on a rescue of a completely different sort.
Within a minute he was over top of the island. Using scanners he had the position of the small device locked in. "Firing," he said aloud as his finger hit the button.
"Yes!" John cried, bringing a wide smile to his friend's face. "Channels are open! Are the choppers still there?"
"Yes, a-and there at least a couple dozen men guarding them!"
"Not anymore," John growled. "I've checked the bio-feedback. There's not a Tracy among them. Sorry, guys, but we have to do what we have to do. Get 'em, Brains!"
Brains scanned the runway as he flew over it to verify that indeed there was no one there they knew, then quickly circled around and came at them from the southern edge of the island. Men scrambled for the cockpits of their helicopters or tried to run off the tarmac as he bore down on them.
Brains opened a hatch in the nose of his tiny plane and hit a button on the steering yoke. A white beam shot down, slicing through the choppers. Smoke billowed and sparks flew. When it cleared, nothing moved.
"Nobody survived that. I-I'm landing."
"Thank you," John said, closing his eyes in relief. "Now for God's sake, Brains, would you please get someone up here to bring me home."
"I-I'll do my best."
"You're armed."
Brains made a soft, short landing on the tarmac, unstrapped himself and pulled a small weapon from the holster on his belt. "You bet I am."
"Be careful."
"Just, ah, keep the comm-link open."
"Will do. In the meantime, I'm going to try to raise Dad."
Alan and Scott shared a look as they gauged the distance between the monorail track and the nearest soldier. Scott motioned for them to swing down from the metal rail and both men dropped with their hands on it. It was a good fifty foot fall to the loading ledge below and in the blink of an eye they let go. They hit at the same time and rolled into an easy somersault in tandem.
The man closest to them pivoted and leveled his weapon at Alan. Scott did a forward roll that would've made Captain Kirk proud. The soldier adjusted his aim. Alan went flying past his brother and lunged into the man just as he fired.
"Alan!" Scott cried, jumping to his feet as a second man appeared from behind Thunderbird 4.
"O-kay!" Alan grunted, grappling with his target for the gun.
Relieved, Scott ran for 4, vaulted himself up the side of it to the top and took stock of where the second intruder was. He jumped down onto him before he could even look up. One punch to the jaw was all it took to lay him out. Scott grabbed the laser rifle and clocked him on the side of the head. The man stopped moving.
Alan's struggle was only seconds longer as he managed to avoid the butt end of his soldier's gun, flip him over and wrench it from his grasp as he did so. As Scott raced over to help, a good whack to the base of the man's skull rendered him unconscious.
At that precise moment the power came back on and both men whooped with joy. "Get into 4, we may need her firepower," Scott ordered. "Pod 1's door is closed; I'd bet money that's where Virg and Gordon are."
"Right," Alan nodded as he headed for the small water craft's cockpit.
Scott made it to Pod 1 in short order and keyed a couple commands into the door. "Shit, why won't it open?"
As Thunderbird 4's engines whirred to life, there was a giant explosion and the most god-awful sound of ripping metal he'd ever heard. He yelped, falling to the floor as the pod's hatch started buckling outward. He managed to scramble away just in time for it to come crashing down mere inches from his feet. "What the hell?"
The rumbling muffler of Firefly was the next thing that filled his senses and he looked up to see it appear next to him through the smoke left behind from the explosion. Then a familiar voice yelled over the din.
"Scott?"
He leapt to his feet just as 4's motors and Firefly's engine cut out. "Gordon? Gordon, is that you?"
Before he could make heads or tails of the situation, he was enveloped in a bear hug that almost made him cry out in pain thanks to the bruised ribs he was sure he had. He wrapped his arms around his younger brother as another voice rang out.
"Scott! Al!"
"Virgil!" Alan cried as he ran over to the Firefly. "Gordo!"
"Thank God you're safe," Scott said quietly as Virgil made to give him a high-five but instead clasped Scott's offered hand.
"Where's Dad?"
"He—" Scott stopped short and drew up to his full height, turning to face Thunderbird 2. "He was supposed to be coming here with Grandma to rescue you two."
"What about Tin-Tin and Kyrano?"
"They obviously got the power back on," Scott said, looking around the well-lit hangar. He eyed each of his brothers in turn. "We've got to find them."
"I really hope we don't have to split up again," Alan almost whined.
"Sorry, Scooby, we Doo," Gordon grinned at the bad joke, ruffling his sibling's hair. "But this time you're stuck with me." He turned to face Scott and Virgil. "We'll head for C level, that's where the generator is."
Scott nodded. "Good idea. Virg, I think we should check outside and see if there are any more intruders, then head for the villa. Dad may be trying something else and just can't contact us."
The floor of the cavern hangar was actually level with B, which lay behind the rock at Thunderbird 2's tail. There was an access door not far away, and both Alan and Gordon took off at a run. Their brothers sprinted in the opposite direction, headed for the broken-out door that led to the runway.
"Man, it stinks in here," Gordon commented as he and Alan made their way through the B level passage toward the elevator.
"Yeah, it almost smells like…" Alan paused and sniffed the air as they stopped in front of the elevator. "Like something's burning."
The elevator reached them as though it had been working all along, and the men stepped in. Gordon jabbed the letter C on the panel and they waited as it descended. Alan looked down at Gordon's waist. "What is that on your belt?"
"Weapon of choice."
"You want this laser rifle?" Alan offered.
"Nope," Gordon replied, patting the nail gun affectionately. "She'll do just fine."
The doors opened.
"Tin-Tin!" Alan raced out of the elevator. "Oh my God, Grandma, noooo!"
"Alan, stop!"
It was their father's voice. Gordon stepped out, saw what was happening, and quickly stepped back in. He knew his father had seen him, but the bald man who was holding Tin-Tin in front of him had his back to him. He heard an evil laugh fill the air as the elevator doors slowly closed.
Having just arrived back at the point where he'd left his mother with Kyrano, Jeff was panting when he saw his sons step off the elevator. In shock himself at seeing his mother's lifeless body on the floor and Tin-Tin being held around the neck along with a gun pointed at Kyrano's head, the only thing he could think to do when his youngest darted toward them was yell for him not to. But it was no use; Alan was already halfway to them by that point. Luckily Gordon had gotten the hint and was undoubtedly on the way to get help.
"Well, well, well," Gaat said as he pointed the barrel of his snub-nose laser pistol right at Alan's head. "Since we've accounted for all the females, all I have to do is decide whether to make you watch as I kill your sons one by one, Jeff Tracy, or to make them watch as I take their father from them. What do you think?" he finished, looking between Jeff and Alan. "Get over there next to your father," he said, waving the gun in Jeff's direction.
Alan complied, placing his hand on his father's shoulder before turning to stand next to him.
"How touching," the Hood spat. "I suppose I should tell you that your technology will now be used to save people a different way: by bringing them all under my control!"
From his spot kneeling on the floor in front of his half-brother, Kyrano raised his head and looked directly at Jeff. "I'm sorry," he rasped. "Your parents love you and are very proud of you." He barely registered his employer's look of disbelief.
Belah brought the butt of his pistol down onto the back of Kyrano's head. As quickly as his body crumpled to the floor, Gaat had the gun pointed directly at the elder Tracy's forehead. "Now," he said, moving slowly closer, "what'll it be, Jeff? Do you go first? Or does your youngest?" He took aim at Alan but Jeff stepped in front of him.
"You don't need to kill them," Jeff said. "You have what you want. You have our island, our Thunderbirds, everything you need. I'll even give you money. But let my sons, Kyrano and Tin-Tin live. Let them leave Tracy Island."
"Oh, is that what you call this place?" the Hood asked. "I'll be more creative when I rename it."
"John Tracy calling Jeff Tracy, come in!"
Surprised by the interruption, Belah's finger moved to squeeze the trigger but stopped short. Jeff braced himself for death even as Alan tried to shove him out of the way. But there was a loud poof sound and Gaat's body stiffened, the laser pistol falling from his hand. His mouth opened and closed as both Jeff and Alan frowned, not understanding what had happened. As Gaat fell to his knees and Alan grabbed Tin-Tin from his grasp, Jeff grinned broadly at what they saw.
Standing not two feet behind the Hood was Gordon with his nail gun raised. "Told you she'd do just fine," he said to Alan.
The three men ran to one another then looked down at their matriarch's body on the floor. "What happened, Dad?" Alan asked, staring at his grandmother's unmoving form.
"Gaat nearly killed Kyrano," Jeff replied. "Grandma went through a wall of flames to help and I…well, I thought she was okay, but…" He faltered, completely unable to explain any of it. "I don't know," he finally said, taking a deep breath and looking at Alan. "Where are Scott and Virgil?"
"They were going to check outside where all the helicopters were to see if there were any more intruders," Gordon offered.
"Yeah, they, uh," Alan's voice faltered as he held Tin-Tin close. "After that they were going to look for you and…Grandma."
Jeff nodded. He raised his watch to his face. "John."
"Grandma?" John said.
"She's gone, son" Jeff said, squeezing his eyes closed for a moment. "Kyrano's unconscious, Tin-Tin's in shock. Get Virgil and Scott on the horn. I'd like their help moving everyone to the infirmary."
"Brains is there, he's probably met up with Virg and Scott," John quietly informed them. "I'll send them all down."
"Thank you, son."
"Now will someone please come up here and get me?"
Jeff nodded. "As soon as we can."
"Father?" Tin-Tin squeaked.
"He's okay, Tin-Tin," Alan soothed, stroking her ash-streaked hair. "And you will be, too."