Hour Two
The following takes place between 1:00 a.m. and 2:00 a.m. on the day Washington, D.C. was destroyed.
01:00:15
Jeff could only stare at the vidphone behind his desk as Acronym severed the connection. Words would not come. He felt Kyrano's hand upon his right shoulder, Ruth's upon his left. He felt them, yet felt nothing. Stone cold. Just like...just like when he'd been told his beloved wife Lucille had died. Thinking of her, thinking of the day she'd given birth to their son Alan...a day that should've been full of joy. A day that turned into the most hellish day of his life.
He closed his eyes as the memories flooded back to him. The helplessness. Just like now. Having to face his sons to tell them the news. Just like now. Not knowing where to go or what to do. Just like now. His world started crumbling again. The feelings he had shut off began returning in a torrent. He couldn't break down. Not again. He just couldn't. Rising to his feet, he vaguely felt his loved ones' hands slip from his shoulders.
"Jeff? Where are you going?"
Lost in thought, he didn't reply as he wandered out onto the balcony. Ruth and Kyrano could only watch in sadness and concern.
"Kyrano-"
"I will inform the boys," he interrupted.
A notification sound bleeped, and the two turned to find the eyes of Scott's video portrait lighting up in time to it. Kyrano moved behind the desk and opened up the line. "This is International Rescue," he said.
"Kyrano? Where's Dad?" Kyrano glanced toward the balcony, where he saw Jeff leaning against the railing. Scott knew him well enough to know something was up. "Tell me," he said simply.
"Scott, I am afraid I have grave news for you and your brothers. I would prefer to speak to all of you at the same time, so as not to repeat this any more than necessary."
"I'll hold on the line while you get Thunderbirds 2 and 5."
Scott fidgeted in his seat as he waited impatiently for Kyrano to reach his brothers. He heard Tin-Tin ring in on the communications console behind his father's desk.
"This is Ladybird calling Tracy Island. Come in, Tracy Island."
Ruth turned and answered the call. "We're here, Tin-Tin."
"Mrs. Tracy, something must be wrong with Ladybird."
"Why do you say that, dear?"
"Well, the GPS isn't picking anyone up where Gordon is supposed to be. I've searched a ten-mile radius, but there isn't anything except wildlife showing up on the thermal imager."
Ruth frowned as she replied, "Tin-Tin, please hold the line for a moment. Your father must tell you and the boys something. Ah, Kyrano's just gotten them all together."
"Hello, everyone," Kyrano began, seating himself in Jeff Tracy's chair. "I wished to tell all of you this at once, to avoid having to repeat myself."
"Come on, Kyrano, out with it! Does it have something to do with why Tin-Tin can't find Gordon?" Scott asked.
"What do you mean she can't find Gordon?" Alan nearly bellowed from his vid portrait.
Kyrano proceeded to relate the report by Ned Cook about Acronym's statements regarding Washington, D.C. and Southern California. He then came to the call Jeff had received from this Acronym and relayed the entire conversation.
"This man made it very clear that if your father does not reveal your identities to the world, Southern California will be destroyed and-" For the first time any of them had ever seen, Kyrano momentarily lost his cool composure. "And Gordon will be killed," he finally finished.
01:17:00
They all began talking at once. The Lounge was a mass of angry and frightened voices as the brothers and Tin-Tin contemplated their options. The men had all but decided to turn their air craft right around to begin searching for Gordon when their father, looking pale and drawn, entered the Lounge. Everyone fell silent as tension hung heavy in the air.
Ruth approached her son and placed an arm around his back. Jeff just stood in the middle of the room looking at each of the live feeds in turn. Scott. His eldest. Scott was the one who'd held the Tracy family together after Lucy's death. He'd been there when Alan was born. He'd been the rock of the family, its strength until Jeff had at last come back to himself. And now he was the one who held the family together out there, wherever International Rescue took them.
Virgil. Strong, brave and Scott's right arm. Of all his sons, Virgil seemed to have the biggest heart. He cared about everyone and everything. He took care of anyone with the tenderness of Lucille, yet never balked at putting his life in danger when the situation demanded. And he took care of Scott. After so many years of no one doing so, Virgil had taken upon himself the role of Scott's caretaker, something Jeff knew very well his eldest needed. Badly, at times. Virgil was the even keel that kept the family on its course.
Standing directly behind Virgil was Brains. Brains. Such a funny thing to call a man. And yet, there truly was nothing else to call him. Oh, sure, they could've called him by the name he'd been given back when he'd been found as a baby, but Brains had made it clear he preferred the childhood nickname over some false first and last names that held little meaning for him. His genius was unrivaled, his tenacity and courage matching those of the family he now found himself a part of. In the direst situations, Brains always seemed to be able to come up with some way to save the day. He was almost like...a sixth son.
John. John was graceful and intuitive, having fallen in love with the stars at an early age. He would spend hours peering through the telescope as a child, or talking with Jeff about space exploration and traveling to the Moon. Lucille had spent many hours with John, reading to him, encouraging his love of space and the stars, singing to him. Quick-witted and practical, he was an accomplished author and observer of the heavens. Being the middle child, John often found himself somewhat of an outcast while Virgil and Scott would go off and do one thing, and Gordon and Alan would go off and do another. But he was always the calm in whatever storm was thrown their way. Just like he would be now.
Jeff's heart sank as his eyes skimmed over the still video capture of Gordon that sat smiling lifelessly where his live son's face should have been. He came to Alan, whose mouth hung open slightly. Alan, the baby of the family. The one who could annoy each and every one of them with little or no effort whatsoever, yet also the one who was so endearing you just couldn't stay mad at him for long. Alan, who idolized his three oldest brothers and had always tagged after Gordon with such admiration and devotion, both of which continued to this day. Of all those in the family, Jeff knew Alan would be hardest hit if something happened...if something went wrong...
And then he thought of Gordon. Of how Gordon had almost died in the hydrofoil accident. Of how the doctors had told him his son wouldn't last through the night. Jeff had seated himself at Gordon's bedside and told him in no uncertain terms that he would survive. Even if he does, the doctors said, he'll never walk again. So Jeff had declared to Gordon, lying there so helplessly in the hospital bed, that yes, he would walk again.
And he had. Gordon had survived. Gordon had walked. And Gordon was now a fully functioning operative of International Rescue. Surely Fate wouldn't allow such a miracle, only to have him lose his life in some madman's senseless game.
Or would she?
Not if I have anything to do with it.
Jeff's back straightened. Eyes full of fire, he looked once more at his sons, who stared back at him from the wall. "That'll be enough of that now, boys," he said, speaking to himself as well.
"But Father, we have to find Gordon!" Alan said vehemently.
"We will, Alan. We will. But right now you have thousands of lives to save. That is what we're sworn to do. So get out there and do it! I will see to Gordon's safety."
"But Father-"
"No buts, Scott!" Jeff barked. "You do what you need to do. We'll do the same."
"How are you gonna find him if Tin-Tin can't?" Virgil asked.
Jeff's reply was interrupted by Tin-Tin's frantic voice coming over the console. "Aircraft coming at me!"
"What?" Jeff roared.
"Help! I'm under attack! I'm under attack!" she screamed.
Then the line went dead.
01:27:03
Gordon woke to find himself curled up on a cold metal floor. He opened his eyes, but there was no light shining wherever he was. His back ached like nothing, and he rose to his feet, stretching left and right, trying to ease the pain. "Hello?" he called out.
His voice seemed to fade before it was even out of his mouth. "Where am I?" he wondered aloud. Taking baby steps, and holding his arms outstretched, he began walking around. Before long he found a metal wall. He followed it to a rounded corner, and then felt along the next wall. He came to a second corner, and halfway along the new wall he felt a doorframe. He soon located the latch, but found it locked. He resumed his travels until at last he'd been around once more and was back to the door again.
"Hello!" he yelled as he began pounding on the door. "Hello! Can anyone hear me?"
He banged and banged, but to no avail. It seemed that wherever he was, he wasn't going to be leaving anytime soon. He clapped his hand to his left wrist, but found it bare. His communicator watch was gone. Crawling around on his hands and knees, he searched the floor hoping to locate the watch, his knapsack, or any of his other belongings.
But that search proved fruitless. There wasn't anything in this room but Gordon himself. Returning to the door, he leaned his back against it and slid down until he was resting on the floor. How had he gotten here? What had happened? He closed his eyes as he tried to recall.
He'd been having a fine time of it in the wilderness. He'd chosen the most remote spot he could find in New Zealand: Fiordland National Park. Prior to this excursion, he hadn't had a vacation in almost two years. What he'd wanted was peace, quiet and Nature. He'd found it, and had spent two days hiking through the woods admiring all that Creation had to offer, basking in the solitude and silence of his own thoughts.
At night he would build a fire and just sit watching the flames dance before his eyes. He'd set up his one-man tent, strip naked and slide into the electric sleeping bag, where he'd stay warm and cozy during the night. He'd seen almost every type of animal known to man, flora and fauna unrivaled by any modern city.
The birds had seemed to be singing just to him as he'd made his way up over hills and down through valleys. He would stop whenever he tired, or when his back would begin to hurt, and then continue at his leisure. There were no klaxons. There were no situations of peril or imminent danger. There were no lives to be saved, no brothers to watch out for. There was no one but Gordon.
By the middle of the second day, he'd finally begun to unwind and relax, starting to feel refreshed and more like his old self. His sense of humor had been dormant for some time thanks to exhaustion and near burnout. But now he'd even started cracking jokes to himself.
And then, while he'd been sleeping on the second night, he remembered being awakened by voices. Surprised to hear humans so close, he'd rushed to pull on his jeans and heavy gray sweatshirt. He'd just put on his socks and hiking boots when someone had ripped open the side of his tent with a knife. Yanking his own knife out of his bag, he'd asked, "What do you want?"
Four burly men ripped the tent open and brandished laser rifles at him. Ordering him to drop his knife, they approached him and he felt his stomach drop. One of them hit him. Hard. And then his world had gone black.
Gordon now rubbed the back of his skull and found a lovely walnut-sized knot at its base. Yes, he'd been hit but good, and knocked unconscious. No wonder his head hurt so terribly. He wondered how long he'd been in this place. And where was he? Then it dawned on him. That funny feeling he'd had since waking up.
He was underwater. He knew it as sure as he knew his own name.
But the biggest question was why. Why had he been captured and brought to this place? What on Earth could they want?
01:39:15
Tin-Tin fought the controls of Ladybird, but they were sluggish and unresponsive. That shot to the rear of the small airplane had most likely taken out her elevator control and flaps, not to mention her hydraulics. She tried to raise Tracy Island, but the radio had gone dead. She barely had time to activate her com watch's GPS beacon before the tops of tall pines began scraping the belly of the plane.
"Oh, no," she whispered. "Gotta keep her level. Gotta...keep...her...level..."
She was vaguely aware of another aircraft zooming over her as Ladybird began falling apart. The trees tugged at the steel, twisting creaks and groans filling her ears. "Hold it together, woman," she said, bracing for impact. "Hold it together."
A calm, loving feeling seemed to wash over her and she smiled...she actually smiled. "Father," she whispered.
Tin-Tin lurched violently in the seat as the plane's wings collapsed and the rear fuselage ripped off behind her. Her smile disappeared and fear gripped her heart. The cockpit windows shattered, showering her with bits of glass. She covered her face with her hands and held herself as steady as possible. The blood rushing through her ears mixed with the unmistakable roar of a crashing airplane. Ladybird took one last bounce into the air before diving headfirst into the forest.
Her last conscious thoughts were of Alan.
01:42:41
Kyrano's face had gone pale as soon as his daughter announced she was under attack. His mind reached out to her and he sensed her terror. For endless minutes you could have heard a pin drop as everyone watched him, waiting to hear what he was picking up from Tin-Tin.
At last he spoke, tears streaming down his weathered face. "She is terrified," he whispered. "She is crashing."
"Tin-Tin!" Alan yelled, practically jumping through the video screen.
"Father," Scott broke in. "I have arrived at Danger Zone. Dear God. It's gone. The entire city. It's gone. What do I do, Father? Should I land?"
"No!" Alan cried. "No, we have to save Tin-Tin!"
Jeff held up a hand to silence his youngest. "Yes, Scott, you need to get set up. We can't shirk our duty when peoples' lives are at stake."
Alan pounded his fist on the console back near Thunderbird 2's sleeping quarters. "But Tin-Tin's life is at stake!"
"I am very well aware of that, son!" Jeff snapped. "But you have a job to do! I'm going after Tin-Tin and Gordon myself."
"We're coming with you," Ruth said as she placed a hand on Kyrano's arm.
Suddenly Kyrano stiffened. "She's lost consciousness," he reported.
"Is she okay?" Brains asked.
"I do not know."
"But she is alive..."
"Yes, Alan," Kyrano nodded. "She is alive. She was thinking...of you."
Alan slumped back into his seat, wiping unshed tears from his eyes. "Thank God," he whispered. Then he sat back up straight. "But she could be hurt!"
"Father, I'm sixty-two minutes out from Danger Zone," Virgil reported, his face drawn tight. He wanted nothing more than to turn his ship away from the coast and head for New Zealand, but he knew his father was right. They couldn't just let more people die in D.C., not when they were so close and could potentially save them.
"Operate standard rescue," Jeff ordered. "Kyrano and I are heading for New Zealand now. John?"
"Yes, Father?"
"Once we're airborne, I want you to maintain an open line between Tracy One, Base and Mobile Control. We're to keep in contact at all times."
"What about me, Jeff? I'm going, too!"
"No, Mother. I need you here at Base. If that Acronym calls again, you need to be here to take it."
Ruth opened her mouth to speak, but thought the better of it. Her son was right. Someone did need to stay behind, and at nearly ninety years of age, it made the most sense for her to be the one to do it. "Very well," she finally replied.
Scott's feed had shut down as he landed and prepared Mobile Control. Jeff turned back to the portrait wall. "John, I also want you in constant communication with Brains. We need to try and figure out what those things were that destroyed D.C. I want to know where they came from and how we can stop them."
"Yes, Father."
"Kyrano, let's get down to the Maintenance Bay. We're going to need to take a few things with us." "Jeff!" Ruth called from where she was sitting behind her desk.
"What?"
"I'm picking up a signal. It's Tin-Tin! It's her auto-locator!"
"Yes, I have it too, Father!" John said excitedly.
"Keep a fix on her, both of you. Let me know the second it moves."
"F.A.B.," they both replied.
"Gordon," Alan whispered as Virgil, Brains and John's feeds winked out. "Tin-Tin."
Jeff stopped in mid-stride and turned to his son's sad face. "It'll be all right. We'll find them. You know we will."
Alan nodded and rose to his feet, his heart heavy. "Yes, Father."
"Kyrano? Let's go."
Ruth watched them leave the Lounge as Alan's feed closed down, and sat back in the chair. "There must be something more I can do," she said to the empty room. Turning to the left, she raised the volume on the television, so as to be able to monitor whatever information they might come up with. She picked up a pencil and began tapping it on the desktop. "Acronym," she said, thinking aloud. "Why on Earth would he call himself Acronym?"
01:51:59
Tin-Tin moaned as her mind struggled awake. The acrid smell of burning rubber and metal pierced her senses and she began to cough. Her torso ached terribly, but as she began moving around, she didn't think anything had been broken. Pulling her sweater up to cover her nose and mouth, she unbuckled the harness that held her in the seat. The plane was slanted downward, and as she stood and turned around, she found that the entire back half of Ladybird had been sheared right off.
"Boy," she said. "Am I lucky. Now to get out of here."
"Not so fast," came a voice just behind the open end of the plane.
Tin-Tin jumped, startled. It was pitch black outside. The only light was from the glowing console behind her and a small fire just in front of her. "Who's there?" she called out.
A large man dressed in black jeans and wearing a black coat pulled himself up over the twisted metal and into the fuselage. Tin-Tin backed away until she was leaning against the console. At first, a wave of relief washed over her. At least she'd been found, and wouldn't have to spend the night alone in an unforgiving wilderness.
But then a feeling of dread overcame her. She knew instinctively that this man was not here to help her. Her suspicions were confirmed seconds later when he moved toward her, and the light from the fire revealed a weapon in his hand.
"Well, young missy, who do we have here?"
"What'cha got?" a voice called from down below.
"A woman! She's alive!" the man yelled back. Returning his attention to Tin-Tin, he asked, "What are you doing out here?"
"Why did you shoot me down?" she demanded, raising her chin defiantly.
"I asked you first," he hissed, finger tightening around the trigger on his machine pistol.
"I was looking for a friend who's gone missing," she replied quickly.
"Well, well, well," he said. Then he noticed the watch on Tin-Tin's left wrist. He recognized it. It was the same as the one they'd removed from Gordon Tracy's arm. "Hey, Greg! Looks like we were right - International Rescue's on the scene!"
"In a little red airplane?" the man apparently called Greg shouted back. He then laughed. "And a woman, to boot!"
"Yeah, what a scream," the man watching Tin-Tin replied. "All right, little lady, let's get moving."
"Where are we going?"
"Well, you came out here lookin' for Gordon Tracy, didn't you?"
Her face paled, but she didn't respond.
"How about we take you to see him?"
Tin-Tin's heart leapt. That could only mean Gordon was still alive! At least, she hoped that's what it meant. She decided to go along willingly, for she knew something they didn't: her GPS beacon was still on. If Tin-Tin was with Gordon, Mr. Tracy and the others would find them, and all would be well. She walked forward and sat down at the edge of the broken plane. There were three men on the ground, about six feet below her.
"Jump," the man behind her ordered.
She took a deep breath and did so, landing in a crouching position. When two of the men tried to help her to her feet, she shook them off, growling a little. The one from the plane jumped down beside her, grabbed her wrist and yanked the watch off.
"No!" she cried.
He smiled evilly. "You won't be needing this," he said, and stuffed it into his pocket.
Tin-Tin's heart sank as the men led her away from Ladybird. She was dimly aware of the sound of a large helijet approaching, and soon it landed quite near them. She was herded into the belief and had to resist the urge to run. She knew she had to let them take her to Gordon. She had to know he was okay. Not only that, but she knew her father would soon be trying to contact her with his mind. If nothing else, they should be able to hone in on them through that alone, no matter where she was taken.
"Greg to Boss. Greg to Boss," the man in front of her spoke into a small walkie-talkie.
"Here!" a voice replied. "What'd you find?"
"A woman. She's from International Rescue, by the looks of her watch. She was lookin' for the other one."
"Ah, splendid, just as I suspected. Is she unharmed?"
"Yep, she's all right. Chaney's workin' on movin' her plane."
"Excellent."
"Looks like you've got yourself another bargaining chip, Sir."
"Indeed I do, Gregory. Indeed I do. What's her name?"
"Don't know, Sir. She looks kind of Asian."
"Ah. This must be the young lady Tin-Tin Kyrano. Interesting that Tracy would send only her."
Tin-Tin frowned. Who was this 'Boss' and how in the world did he know who she was? And how did he know a 'Tracy' was involved with International Rescue?
A frightening laugh rang out over the walkie-talkie as he continued. "Well, Jefferson, it seems the stakes have just gone higher."
01:59:58
01:59:59
02:00:00