Hour Fourteen
The following takes place between 1:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. on the day Washington, D.C. was destroyed.
01:00:48
Jeff and Penny made their way across the short distance between Thunderbird 4 and the submarine. Penny was having a somewhat tougher time than he, due to her inexperience with diving in general, and stuffed into a DSS in particular. But she fought hard to keep up with him, determined to do everything she could to be an aid and not a hindrance. Her back had begun to ache, though, and she started wishing she'd taken some sort of painkillers before leaving the safety of Thunderbird 4.
"You okay?"
"Yes. What's that contraption you have with you?"
"Inflatable sterozene airlock. One of Brains' finest. And an oxyhydnite cutter. We're going to have to set up the airlock, then cut through the hull."
"Will the airlock work this deep?"
"Brains says it'll hold up to six hundred feet. We're four hundred eighty-five down, so yes, it'll work."
They came around the side of the sub and Penny remarked, "Poseidon Seven. Isn't there an old movie about a ship named Poseidon sinking?"
"Yes. It's one of Gordon's favorites, actually."
She noticed the strangled sound his voice took on when he mentioned his son. "He'll be all right, Jeff. We're about to rescue him. He'll be fine."
When they reached the Crow's Nest, Jeff tried the hatch. Of course, he found it locked tight. Just then, three simultaneous bursts reached their ears through their helmets. They turned and watched as three small, round balls jetted away from the sub.
"What are those?" Penny asked.
"Escape pods," Jeff replied grimly. "The crew uses them to get out of a sinking sub."
"Do you think Gordon and Tin-Tin might be on one of them?"
"God, I don't know. If they are, that means they're safe for now. If they're not..."
"Right. Let's get in there."
Jeff opened the airlock case and flipped a switch. It inflated rapidly, taking the shape of an eight-foot by eight-foot square. It was made of a material Penny had never before seen. Once it was opened all the way, Jeff maneuvered them into it and activated the magnetic seal around its perimeter with a small remote, attaching it securely to the top of the hull. He then pressed another button, and a two-inch flap opened, a small but powerful vacuum inside it pulling the water out. Penny watched in fascination. Brains' inventions never ceased to amaze her.
"All right, stay behind me," Jeff said, readying the oxyhydnite torch. To himself, he mumbled, "Brains, I sure hope this sterozene is spark-proof."
01:11:08
As surely as he'd known Tin-Tin was with him before, that's how certain he became that she was no longer. It had been as though a wall went up between them, quite suddenly, and so violently that a sharp pain had pierced his skull. Now Kyrano, having been sedated by the nurses, lay in bed with tears streaming down his face. "Tin-Tin," he whispered, his heart breaking.
And then a thought occurred to him. Gordon. Tin-Tin had told him she'd reached Gordon's mind. Perhaps Kyrano could as well. He closed his eyes, fighting the medication as it took over his body's systems, shutting his brain cells down one by one.
Gordon. Gordon, hear me.
01:12:51
The world around him still black as night, Gordon continued feeling his way along the corridor, wondering why he hadn't heard Tin-Tin's voice inside his head since she'd told him she was on her way. He also wondered what had happened to the emergency lighting. Every sub had it. Could the darkness surrounding him mean it had been disabled on purpose? If so, by whom?
He knew there was a turn he had to make up ahead...he remembered it from when Greg and the others had taken him and Tin-Tin to the control room. But he had a hard time judging the distance he'd come, so he was uncertain as to his ability to find the right passageway.
Suddenly he felt something that he could only describe as strange. His skin began to tingle, almost like when he'd been mildly electrocuted while toying with one of Brains' inventions. He felt his arms become heavy, then his head, then it felt as though a great weight was pressing into him, pushing down on him, making him feel heavier than he was.
"What is this?" he breathed, leaning against the wall.
Gordon. Gordon, hear me.
"Who the-?" Gordon frowned and closed his eyes. Another voice in his head? "I'm going insane. That's the only explanation," he said.
I haven't much time. Hear me.
"Kyrano?"
Tin-Tin...is in danger...the Hood...Gordon, please, help my daughter.
"The Hood? Here? Kyrano, are you sure?" But he received no response. Pushing himself off the wall, he noticed the heavy feeling had left his body, as had the tingling sensation. "Tin-Tin!" he cried into the darkness. "Tin-Tin!"
And that's when he felt it on his feet. Water. The water had risen. He thought fleetingly of Paul and Greg, the two men he'd locked in that room in the aft section. If the water was already this high...he shuddered. Yes, they'd been the ones who'd kidnapped him and Tin-Tin for Acronym. Yes, Greg had been this close to killing him. But that didn't mean he himself could stomach the thought of being responsible for their deaths. Now he had that on his conscience as well as the myriad of images that filled his mind where the Hood and Tin-Tin were concerned.
"Dad," he whispered as he began trotting through the corridor. "Dad, where are you?"
01:15:30
"Swiss Army knife. Always comes in handy," Scott said, flipping the blade closed as he ushered Megan out of the closet.
"You're a regular Boy Scout," she intoned. "Would you look at this? That idiot Franklin left our guns right here on the shelf."
"No one said henchwomen were smart," he replied, taking his offered gun and sliding it into his sash.
"Lucky for us."
"Meg, get to the nurse's station. Have them inform Security as to what's going on."
"Right," she said, and headed around the corner.
Scott turned and ran for the stairwell, taking the steps two-at-a-time. He and Megan had been out of commission for so long...he hoped with every fiber of his being that Acronym's men hadn't gotten to Alan and Virgil yet.
When he burst onto the eighth floor, Nurse Blevins, seated at the station to his right, gasped and came to her feet.
"Has anyone been on this floor?"
She shook her head. "No, not since Jane, Maxie and Janet left after making Virgil comfortable."
Having started down the hall to his brothers' room, Scott came up short at her words. He turned and walked back toward her, his hand on the machine pistol in his holster. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, "How did you know his name was Virgil?"
Her face revealed nothing as she replied, "I heard you say it."
"No," he said, hand tightening on the butt of his gun. "I never said it out here. I never said his name."
"Maybe it was Dr. Crawford."
Now Scott knew something was wrong. How could this woman know Megan's last name? And that she was a doctor? His mind worked through it at lightning speed, trying to think if he might've said it himself. But no, he hadn't. He'd used only her first name when calling out to her earlier, when she'd been on the vidphone in the hall. He pulled the pistol from his side and pointed it at her.
"What on Earth are you doing?" she asked.
"Where are the agents that are guarding those men?"
"How should I know? Still down there, I suppose." Before he knew what happened, Blevins had whipped out a gun and pointed it directly at him. "Except for the one you call 98."
Staring down the barrel of her gun, Scott gritted out, "What about 98?"
"You know when you sent him to ask me about an incoming vidphone call?"
Scott nodded almost imperceptibly.
"Well, I gave him the last answer of his life."
"You killed him?"
She nodded. "Just like I'm going to kill you. Acronym will be pleased. I'm sure to get a bonus for this."
"Is that all you care about is money? You're doing this for money?"
"Makes the world go 'round, Scott. After all, not everyone gets to be the son of a billionaire."
And she knew about his father, about who they were...if she knew, how many others knew? He concentrated on her hand, on the finger she held over the trigger of her weapon. If she fired, could he fire back and duck in time to dodge the bullet? If he fired, it posed the same question...could he get out of the way in time to avoid her firing on him?
"You won't shoot me," she sneered. "International Rescue is about saving lives."
He clenched his teeth.
"I, on the other hand, have no such qualms."
Two shots rang out. And two people fell.
01:29:36
The Hood was more than pleased with himself. Here he was, walking side-by-side with his niece, who was completely under his control. Her mind was so easy to dominate. Much easier than her father's, his disloyal half-brother. She wasn't as powerful mentally, but he would teach her in time. She was his prize, his trophy. His triumph.
He led her to a room ten feet from the Crow's Nest, where a plethora of diving suits hung in rows. He instructed Tin-Tin to remove her clothing as he selected a suitable thermal suit and DDS. Then a sound caught his attention. He stepped outside the door and peered into the darkness. Above him, in the ceiling, he saw little sparks coming through the bulkhead. "Now, who could that be?" he wondered aloud. "Perhaps...International Rescue?"
01:32:14
"Nearly through," Jeff said. He'd begun sweating inside the two suits and was itching rather uncomfortably in places. "How you doin'?"
"It's hot as an oven in this suit, Jeff."
"I hear you. But you'll be glad for it once we hit the water again. Pull out your pistol, Penny. Here we go."
Jeff stomped on the three-foot square he'd cut. The metal clattered into the sub below. Opening the front of his DDS, he reached down and pulled his own gun out of an inside pocket. Then he knelt down and peered into the darkness. "Flashlight," he said, holding his hand up and back. Penny placed it firmly into his hand and he turned it on, scanning the area below.
"How does it look?"
"Well, this part isn't underwater yet. I don't see anyone. Let me go down first."
Hands on each side of the newly created entrance, Jeff used his arms to lower himself into the ghostly quiet vessel. Though it looked deserted, his gut told him something wasn't quite right. He removed his helmet and let it drop to the floor. Flashlight in one hand, gun in the other, he crossed them and turned left-to-right and back again, scanning for any signs of life. He saw none.
In spite of his unease, he said, "Okay, Penny."
She sat on the edge of the hole and jumped the seven-foot distance to the floor. Landing in a crouching position, she resisted the urge to groan in pain as it felt like the knife stabbed into her back all over again. Pulling out her own flashlight, she mimicked Jeff's stance, standing back-to-back with him.
"I don't like this," he said softly.
"Neither do I."
"But I do!" came a low voice.
Penny whirled around to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Jeff. The light from their flashlights revealed a man stepping out from a room roughly ten feet in front of them.
For the first time ever, they saw the true face of the Hood.
01:41:02
Megan flew through the elevator doors before they'd even opened all the way, four policemen hot on her heels. The sight that greeted her made her cry out.
"Scott!"
She rushed to his side, kneeling next to where he lay on the floor, a small pool of blood gathering next to his head. Fighting the tears stinging her eyes, she touched her fingers to his carotid. He moaned softly, head turning from side to side, eyes open, but unfocused, mouth working, but no words coming out.
Two officers knelt on either side of him as the two remaining International Rescue agents raced toward them.
"We heard shots!" 182 cried.
A third officer approached them. "The nurse is dead," he said. "How are the two you were guarding?"
"Fine. Still unconscious, but fine otherwise," 164 replied. "What happened?"
"Looks like they had a showdown," the fourth policeman said as he approached them. "How's he?" he asked, nodding towards Scott.
"We've got to get a doctor here, now!" Megan said, bending lower to examine the wound on Scott's head. She was so intent upon her task that she didn't notice one of the officers sneaking off down the hall...
01:43:33
"At last we meet face-to-face, International Rescue," the Hood said, his smile making Jeff want to vomit. His flashlight illuminated the faces of those before him.
"The Hood," Penny breathed.
He nodded in her direction. "Yes. You are Lady Penelope, are you not? I am very pleased to meet you at last. And you, Jeff Tracy."
"What are you doing here?" he ground out, his voice full of loathing.
"The same as you, I would imagine. Rescuing my loved ones!" With that, he reached into the room and yanked someone out.
Penny gasped, "Tin-Tin!"
Jeff swallowed hard, his gun never wavering even though Tin-Tin now stood between it and the Hood. "Loved ones? You're a coward," he spat. "Using an innocent woman to save your ass."
"No, using my niece where I could not use my brother."
His words hit Jeff's brain like a speeding train. "Kyrano," he breathed.
He laughed. "You fool! You never knew why Kyrano was having those attacks of his." He continued to laugh as Jeff's anger rose. "And now I have his daughter."
"Not if I have anything to say about it," Jeff menaced.
"Ah, but you don't. She has joined me. Haven't you, my lovely?" he said, stroking her long hair with his hand.
"Yes," was her monotonous reply.
"You've hypnotized her!" Penny exclaimed.
"In a manner of speaking," he said. He placed the gun he'd been holding to Tin-Tin's head into her hand, closing her fingers firmly around the cold metal. He whispered something into her ear, and slowly she raised the gun to her temple. "That's right," he said a little louder, so his audience could hear. "That's right."
"You fiend!" Penny cried.
Jeff fairly shook with rage, but he didn't dare fire on the Hood and risk hitting Tin-Tin by accident.
"Tin-Tin," Penny said softly, taking a step closer and lowering her weapon.
"Penny, no!" Jeff hissed.
"Tin-Tin, it's me, Penelope. Don't let him do this to you. This isn't you. Please."
"Penny..."
The Hood just laughed. He was rather enjoying this game. He whispered again and Penelope stopped short not five feet away as Tin-Tin slowly moved her hand until the gun was pointing straight ahead.
Jeff was nearly out of his mind. Now Tin-Tin was pointing the gun at Penny, and he still didn't have a clear shot at the bastard who was causing it to happen.
"You see, Jeff Tracy," the Hood said, a mirthful tone to his voice, "she belongs to me. She will do as I will her to do."
"She won't kill Penny. You can't change who she is inside."
"Can't I?" he asked, one dark eyebrow rising. He lowered his lips to Tin-Tin's ear again, and she moved the gun from Penny to Jeff. "If I tell her to shoot, your life is over."
"I don't believe that."
"Ah, there's nothing I like better than a challenge. Let's just see then, shall we?"
Penny turned her head to look at Jeff. He glanced at her and their eyes met. The scene from the lab ran through both their minds. Don't you dare, Penny, he thought.
The Hood whispered once more, and Tin-Tin's finger tightened over the trigger.
Jeff tore his eyes from Penny's and turned them to Tin-Tin. The light from their flashlights glowed against her large, green eyes, which stared straight at him but did not see him. She won't do it, he thought. She won't kill me. He didn't realize the Hood's attention had turned elsewhere.
Penny's jaw dropped as she looked into the Hood's eyes for the first time. They began to glow a soft yellow. A frightening feeling overcame her, like a fog descending upon her brain. She fought to regain control of her senses, but couldn't escape it...couldn't escape the black velvet curtain as it settled into place over the stage of her mind.
The Hood read her thoughts. "The closing act, your ladyship." Then he said to Tin-Tin, "Kill him."
"Damn you," Jeff whispered. He heard footsteps approach from behind him. "Who's there?" he called out.
"Father!"
Jeff gasped and turned his head. He couldn't believe his ears. "Gordon!"
"Dad!"
Relief surged through him as he heard his son's footfalls coming nearer. But he didn't get the chance to turn back toward Tin-Tin and the Hood. A shot rang out, and Jeff grunted as a bullet tore through his right shoulder. The force of impact threw him backwards, and he landed on the floor with a thud.
"Dad!" Gordon cried.
The Hood pivoted to look behind him, letting go of Tin-Tin, who still held the gun in her outstretched hand. But the bullet had not come from her.
"I don't know who you are," said a voice from the shadows, "but I must thank you for making my job that much easier."
A man stepped into a circle of light cast by the flashlight Jeff had dropped as he fell. "Who are you?" the Hood asked.
"I am Acronym."
Gordon knelt on the floor next to his father. "No, Dad, no," he whispered. He pressed the palm of his hand over the bleeding wound, applying all his weight to the effort. Jeff raised his head even as he began to lose consciousness.
"Son..." Jeff said, his voice barely audible. "So...glad...you're...okay..." Then his eyes closed and his head dropped to the floor.
"You are Acronym?"
"I am. And who would you be?" he asked, leveling his gun at the intruder.
"I am the Hood."
"Ah, yes. Master criminal. You've caused International Rescue no small amount of consternation these past years."
Lifting his chin, he stepped out from behind Tin-Tin and replied, "That is correct. And their secrets belong to me!"
"Somehow I doubt that, friend."
"You will not take that which I have worked so long for!" he spat.
Gordon looked up at them. Penny and Tin-Tin's bodies were rigid. Acronym was pointing a gun at the Hood's head...the Hood...Acronym...who had shot his father? Then he saw the gun in Tin-Tin's hand. Noticed how glassy her eyes were. It couldn't be. Had...had Tin-Tin shot him? If she had, Gordon knew it was only because the Hood had instructed her to do so.
Filled with unmitigated fury, Gordon roared to life. Within seconds he shot across the distance between them and tackled the Hood to the ground. Acronym jumped back in surprise as the two men wrestled in front of him. He looked to the right and noticed Jeff Tracy was not moving. Thinking he'd killed him, he considered his options quickly.
His attention turned towards the beautiful blonde. Her eyes blinked slowly. Whatever had been wrong with her, she seemed to be coming out of it. Similarly, Tin-Tin's eyelids began moving as the gun in her hand rattled to the floor. He smiled as the solution came to him.
He attached Penny's helmet to her DDS and followed suit with Tin-Tin before putting on his own. Waving his gun at them, he said, "Climb the ladder."
Still in a daze, the women complied without hesitation. Michael Canton II hesitated as he placed his foot on the bottom rung of the ladder leading to the Crow's Nest. He looked down and to his left at the man who lay there motionless; the man upon whom, it seemed, he had taken the ultimate revenge.
"Goodbye, Jefferson Tracy," he said. And then he was gone.
Finally winning the upper hand, the Hood hauled back and punched Gordon square on the jaw, sending him crashing back into the bulkhead. He heard the hiss of the airlock up in the Crow's Nest and fumed. But before he could come to his feet, the submarine gave one loud groan. He stopped moving and looked around in horror.
"It's breaking up," he said, scrambling to come to his feet.
The vessel shuddered, throwing the Hood off-balance. He landed on the floor again just as he heard the squeal of metal being torn apart. The sub tilted, sending his DDS helmet skittering just out of reach. He pushed himself to his hands and knees as the telltale hiss of leaking water reached his ears. Crawling to his helmet, he grabbed it and began lifting it to his head as he rose to his feet.
The ship's hull screamed in protest as the seam just above his head broke. Water rushed in, straining at the four-inch pipe that stood in its way. The pipe broke, one end falling...right into the Hood's head. He collapsed back onto the floor, the helmet flying from his hand, as blood trickled down into his eye. Dazed, he lay propped against the wall, water pouring in over him.
Gordon rose unsteadily to his feet and fought through a torrent of water to the room across the way. He'd seen Acronym escaping with Tin-Tin and Penny, but hadn't been able to gather his wits enough to do anything, and he cursed himself for it. Foregoing the thermal suit, he grabbed a DDS and hurried into it, fastening the helmet on as he emerged into the hall. The water rushed down toward his father, mixing with the blood he'd lost and carrying it down the hall.
Another suit and helmet in hand, Gordon raced to unzip Jeff's punctured DDS, yanking and pulling with all his might, working as fast as he could. He was on autopilot, the shock of recent events beginning to catch up to him. All he knew was that he had to save his father. The man who had come to save him...and now lay dying because of it.
It seemed to take forever, but finally Gordon secured Jeff into his suit. He hiked him up into a fireman's carry and headed for the ladder. But he stopped just as his hand reached out to grab one of the rungs.
The Hood was bewildered...he flopped about in the water, struggling to come to his feet, but not seeming to have the balance necessary to stay up once he'd gotten there. Gordon watched mesmerized as he floundered and suddenly realized something.
He held the Hood's life in his hands. And the world's better off without him. He turned to begin climbing the ladder as the ship groaned around him. It was clear the Hood wouldn't survive.
The back wall of the diving suit storage room blew outward, the force yanking the Hood inside. As Gordon looked back in surprise, the door clanged shut, and he heard the Hood's body slam up against it. The metal wall began to bulge from the weight of the sea trying to press in from the other side. Gordon knew he had no time left.
Steadying his father, he continued the ascent. The ship groaned again and he heard the door finally give way, water rushing faster into the space beneath him. Reaching the airlock, he opened it and hoisted Jeff upward before following himself. He closed the lower hatch and double-checked his DDS as well as his dad's. Then he pressed a button and the airlock flooded.
As he turned the metal wheel to open the hatch, the ship shrieked one last, loud objection to the strain on her hull. He pushed his father up out of the opening just as the sub imploded.
01:59:58
01:59:59
02:00:00