Hour Nineteen
The following takes place between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on the day Washington, D.C. was destroyed.
06:00:32
Brains jabbed the button and the door swished open. Penny and Gordon rushed inside, with Brains starting to close the door before they'd even made it all the way. The Hood lunged after them, but only succeeded in slamming himself against the two-inch thick metal. He moved to the side and glared at them through a window, his eyes starting to glow.
"No!" Penny cried, covering Brains' eyes with her hand and closing her own. "Don't look at him! Turn away!"
All four ran to Jeff's bedside. Gordon raised his wrist, upon which he now wore Penelope's watch, to his face. "John! Come in!"
"Gordon! Where are you?"
"In the Ward. John, the Hood's right outside, he's trying to...to do whatever it is he does with his eyes!"
"Don't look, Gordo!"
"We won't! We have our backs turned, we're over by Dad!"
"Braman's on his way! Is the Hood still out there?"
Gordon turned to glance behind him. Indeed, their archenemy still stood at the window. "Yes! He's right outside the main door! Why the hell is he just standing there?"
"Braman's got a laser rifle. We're almost there. Take cover! Get Dad back!"
"F.A.B.!" Gordon replied. He, Penny and Tin-Tin wheeled Jeff into the next room, a room normally used for lab tests run on patients...a room that had no windows.
"Brains! Where's Brains?" Tin-Tin exclaimed.
Gordon raced back into the main bay, then over to the bathroom, where he found Brains ripping a mirror off the wall. "What are you doing?"
Brains turned, mirror in hand. "I-I'm gonna give that guy a-a taste o-of his own medicine," he said.
Gordon watched in fascination as Brains approached the front wall, out of the Hood's line of sight. He'd never seen their engineer...his friend...sport such a set of steel ones. The rather small mirror was hidden behind his back, and suddenly Gordon knew what he was about to do. Seeking to distract their enemy, he made a great show of grabbing a scalpel and waving it in the Hood's direction. The evil man's only response was to laugh. It was a laugh that sent chills down Gordon's spine.
Suddenly Brains moved. He leapt to the window, mirror held in front of his face. He had no idea if this would work, but even if it worked a little, it might buy some time for Braman to get there.
The Hood was startled. He'd fully intended to mesmerize one of them enough to get them to open the door, but wound up with only a few seconds to process what was happening before his mind began to cloud over. The rage that began building inside him fizzled like a dud firecracker as he stared at his own reflection.
"It's working, Brains!" Gordon exclaimed, running to the engineer's side. "It's working!"
The Hood staggered back, then his body went stiff as a board. He just stood there in the middle of the hall. At last his eyes stopped glowing, and Brains lowered the mirror. Gordon clapped him on the back. "You did it!"
"Yes, but where's, uh, Braman?"
"There!" Gordon cried.
Penelope and Tin-Tin joined them, and together they watched Braman, with John's face looking out from his chest, approach the Hood's statuesque form.
"John!" Gordon said into the watch.
"What happened to him?" John asked.
"Brains gave him a dose of his own medicine," Gordon replied triumphantly. "Do you think Braman can get him down to Containment before he comes to?"
"I'll see that he does. Wait! Gordon! Call coming through from Thunderbird 1! I'll patch him through. Then Braman and I are getting the Hood locked away. Listening out."
"Scott?"
"Gordon? Gordon!"
"Scott!" Tin-Tin cried.
"Tin-Tin! My God, where are you?"
"We're home!" Tin-Tin said, smiling into the watch face. "Where are you? Where is everybody? Where's Alan?"
"Virgil, Alan and Grandma are in Thunderbird 2. I'm in Thunderbird 1 and we're on our way home."
"Everyone's all right?" Gordon asked.
"Yes, for the most part. We're all pretty banged up, and Megan's still unconscious, but Dr. Gray's looking after her in Thunderbird 2's Med Bay. They'll be taking off as soon as everyone's settled. Gordon, my God...you have no idea..."
"Yeah, Scott, I kinda think I do."
"How's Dad? And Penelope?"
"Right here, Scott," Penny said, moving slightly so she could see him. "I'll be fine. Your father seems to be recovering nicely. His blood pressure's returned to normal. Tin-Tin says he'll pull through."
"What's that John said about Braman and the Hood?"
"John's got control o-of Braman, uh, Scott. H-He's going to, uh, take the Hood down to Containment."
"How'd you keep hold of him long enough to do that?"
"I-I'll tell you a-about it sometime, uh, Scott."
"Okay, Brains, I'll hold you to that. ETA to Base exactly forty-five minutes. You gonna have that UH-3 counter agent ready for me?"
"O-Oh...oh, no, the counter agent!" Brains moaned. "I-I've been so...damn!"
"Brains, what do we need to do?" Tin-Tin asked.
"I-I'll need you and Gordon...and Braman, once John's, uh, finished with him...down in the Lab. I-I have no idea how, uh, far Braman got on the formula."
"Can we do it, Brains?"
"I have one hour?"
Scott nodded.
Brains looked at Gordon, who gave him the thumbs-up, then turned back to face Scott. "We can do it."
"What shall I do?"
"Penelope," Gordon said as they unlocked and opened the main door. "You stay here with Dad."
"But Gordon, I need to do something!"
Gordon thought a moment. "Where's Parker?"
"Oh, my goodness! He's still off the coast of California in FAB One!"
"What? What's he doing there?"
"Gordon!" Brains exclaimed. "I have it! Uh, give the watch back to, uh, Lady Penelope!"
"Here!" Gordon said, tossing the watch to her. He turned to look at Brains. "Now what?"
"Uh, Lady Penelope, get Parker to, uh, call California right away! And have him try to find, uh, Ned Cook. I just got it! Now I know w-why, uh, Jeff sent all the I-International Rescuees there to begin with! Make sure, uh, they're all i-in place. I-It's essential!"
Penny said, "F.A.B.," and turned to walk into the next room where Jeff still lay on his movable bed.
"International Rescuees?" Gordon and Tin-Tin asked together.
"Later," Brains said, rushing out of the room. "We've got to get that formula finished!"
06:30:29
Ned Cook realized rather quickly that he hadn't properly thought the whole thing through. Not only was the hydrofoil now out of fuel and stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but he'd spent the last hour emptying the contents of his stomach directly into said ocean. It hadn't helped that he and Barry had nearly come to blows when Ned had asked why the hell he hadn't been told how much fuel the hydrofoil held and Barry had retorted that he hadn't been told they were trying to get to Fiji.
Mrs. Turner approached him with trepidation. "Um, Mr. Cook?"
"What?" he heaved, willing his stomach to stop flip-flopping.
"Barry's just received a call. Someone from International Rescue is looking for you."
That got his attention. He stood up straight, took the bottle of water Rose offered him, and headed into the cabin. "Someone on the line for me?"
"Yeah, some guy named Parker. He talks kinda funny." Barry handed him the microphone. "Uh, you okay, Mr. Cook? You look...bad."
Ned gave him the look of death. "Thank you for pointing that out." Then he raised the microphone to his mouth. "This is Ned Cook speaking."
"Mister Cook, so there you h'are."
"Yes. Is this Parker?"
"Yes, Sir. I'm wiv H'International Rescue, h'in a liaison role, you might say."
"I see. What can I do for you?"
"H'International Rescue requests your h'assistance with the members h'of H'International Rescuees."
"Well, I'd love to help you out, but right now I'm stranded out in the middle of nowhere."
"Yes, I 'ave a fix on your position. I will h'arrange transportation for you h'and your h'escorts."
"Oh, thank you!" Ned cried, praising the heavens for his good fortune. "And when will this transportation arrive?"
"Just h'under twen'y minutes, Sir."
"Great! We'll be waiting!"
"Very well, Sir. In the meantime, h'if you wouldn't mind, please check in wiv your 'ome Base h'in Los Angeles to confirm placement h'of your group."
"Will do. Cook out." He turned to Barry. "How do I get my IRee Base on here?"
Barry flipped a couple of switches. "You're on," he said.
"This is Ned Cook calling International Rescuee Mobile Base. Come in, Mobile Base."
06:34:32
"All right, Parker, we'll stop and winch them up on our way back to Base. You sit tight."
"But Scott, what about the two people with Cook?" John broke in as Parker severed his connection. "How do we know we can trust them?"
"We don't," Scott replied. "But we can't just leave them stranded in the middle of the ocean. Where's Parker now?"
"Same spot, 200 miles off the coast of California."
"All right. I'll have Virgil pick him up on his way home. How'd it go with Braman?"
"Fine. We've got the Hood locked away in Containment 2, and I had Braman check on Dr. Otayuki in Containment 1. He's mighty pissed off, but otherwise none the worse for wear. Braman's gone to the lab to help out with the formula."
"F.A.B. Any more news on Dad?"
"No, Scott, he isn't awake yet."
Scott sighed. The day's events were taking their toll. His shoulder still hurt like hell. He cringed as he recalled the indescribable pain he'd felt when Dr. Gray had popped it back into place with a sickening crunch. His body was drained. And time was running out. Could they save Southern California? And where had Acronym gone?
His thoughts were interrupted by John's somewhat excited voice. "Scott? Get in touch with Virgil. Here's what Brains wants him to do..."
06:38:18
"Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 2."
"Here, Scott," came Virgil's tired voice.
"You okay? How you holdin' up?"
"I'll live."
"Well, that's good to hear," he replied sarcastically. "Listen, Virg, you've gotta make a few stops on your way home. You know the new Invisi-Shield Brains invented?"
"Yeah, there's a whole pile of about a hundred of those gadgets down in Thunderbird 2 Lab. Why?"
"You need to drop those off in San Diego, Los Angeles, Palm Springs and Barstow. Just drop them by parachute. From there, they'll be transported around the southern half of the state to all the groups of International Rescuees."
"Oh, I get it!" Virgil exclaimed. "Dad's a genius."
"No, Dad's the one who came up with the plan. Brains is the genius. He's the only one who figured out why Dad wanted those people there in the first place!"
"Gotta give the guy credit."
"Virg?"
"Yeah?"
"How's Megan?"
"Still unconscious, last I heard from Dr. Gray. Grandma's back there with 'em, she made Alan go back to the Med Bay, too. He started fading on us shortly after lift-off."
"Damn. Who's gonna help you get those Invisi-Shield units ready?"
"Don't worry. We'll have 'em ready."
"And your leg?"
"Still attached."
Scott shook his head. "You're a big help. After you're done with the Shield units, drop the Pod and pick up Parker. You should be able to get him on your scanners, he's a couple hundred miles off the coast."
"F.A.B."
"Virg?"
"Yeah, Scott."
"Never mind."
"Scott?"
"Yeah?"
"I told you, she'll be fine."
"I have to pick up Ned now. Goodbye, Virgil."
Virgil couldn't help but smirk as Scott cut the line.
06:43:22
Penny paced miserably to and fro the entire width of the room. Biting her lip, she checked in with John for the tenth time. He calmly told her...for the tenth time...to stay right where she was in case his father woke up.
"You should listen to John."
Penny nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned slowly to find Jeff sitting on the edge of the bed, legs dangling over the side. He'd pulled the sheet around his waist, leaving his chest...and the syntheskin covering the wound on his shoulder...bare. At first she couldn't do anything but stare at him. Except for being a bit pale and drawn, he looked as though nothing had ever happened...right down to the smile on his face.
"Hi, Penny."
"Jeff..." She walked up to him and grasped his hands firmly, trembling as she fought to control her emotions. "Jeff. How are you?"
"I feel like the hind end of a mule. How 'bout you?"
"Perfect now that you're back with us."
Jeff looked around the deserted room and asked, "Speaking of us, where's Gordon? And Tin-Tin? And Brains?"
"They're all in the laboratory trying to get that formula worked out. Scott's on his way home, as are Virgil, Alan, your mother...oh, Jeff!"
"Pen...what?"
"It was terrible! Acronym told us...when we were on the sub...he told us he'd...that he'd killed you!" Wrapping one arm around her, Jeff pulled her close. Her hands enveloped his neck as her cheek rested upon his shoulder. "I'm trying awfully hard not to cry," she whispered.
He chuckled. She knew tears were something the Tracy men didn't handle well.
"Jeff..."
"Yeah?"
"When you awakened here in the ward earlier...do you remember?"
He swallowed hard. "Yes. I do. I thought I was going to die."
"You did?"
He nodded.
"Is that why you...is that the only reason...Jeff, what were you going to say to me?"
He pulled her body away so he could look into her soft blue eyes. Images of the past came into his mind, memories of a time that seemed so long ago...a time when he'd spoken those words to only one woman...and vowed he'd never speak them to another for as long as he lived. His mouth opened...and he found he couldn't do it. He couldn't say it to Penelope. He felt it. God knew he felt it. But...he just couldn't.
At first, Penny felt hurt. But then, as she looked into his beautiful gray-blue eyes, the hurt simply vanished. She knew. And she understood why he wasn't ready yet. Well, it didn't matter if it took forever. She hadn't come this far just to discard him like yesterday's news. And a Creighton-Ward never gave up that easily.
Ever the Lady, Penelope smiled graciously. "I think we'd better tell the boys you're awake."
06:53:34
"You sure you're up to this, Alan?"
"Yes, Dr. Gray. I'm sure. We have to get these things bundled and ready to drop."
The doctor eyed his patient warily, and then turned his attention to the most energetic and unbelievable ninety-year old woman he'd ever met in his life. "What about you, Ruth?"
"One hundred percent!" she smiled, carrying a two-pound Invisi-Shield unit over to where Alan was stacking the triangle-shaped devices into a tarpaulin. "As my mother always used to say, many hands make light work!"
"I used to hate it when my mother said that."
"Why's that, Doctor?" Ruth asked, genuinely interested.
"Because that meant it was my turn to help with the dishes."
06:55:24
"Thunderbird 2 to Thunderbird 1."
"Thunderbird 1 here."
"Alan, Dr. Gray and Grandma are working on those Shield Units as we speak."
"Great! Ned and the two International Rescuees are on board and seated rather uncomfortably in the back."
"How'd they take to the ride in the harness?"
"Oh, Rose and Barry Turner loved it. Ned, on the other hand..."
Virgil chuckled. "I figured as much."
"Uh...Virgil..."
"She's fine, Scott. Dr. Gray said she broke her left ankle and left wrist, and she's got a whopper of a concussion, but other than that, from what he could tell she's all right."
"That's good," he breathed. "Has she regained consciousness yet?"
"No, Scott. Gray gave her a sedative to help with the pain."
"What about you? Did you get some of that?"
"While I'm flying? Not on your life!"
There was almost a full minute of radio silence before Scott spoke. "Virg?"
"Yeah?"
"Why is the channel still open between us?"
"Uh...I don't know. It's just...it's kinda quiet, that's all."
Scott frowned. "I know what you mean. Too quiet."
"Exactly. Makes you wonder when the other shoe's gonna drop."
06:58:15
Dressed in a HazMat suit, Gordon began pouring the perfected anti-UH-3 compound into a machine that would take the liquid, freeze-dry it and grind it into a powder. While he worked at that, Braman was mass-producing the liquid, working so fast it made the humans' heads spin. Brains tested the formula on his last sample of UH-3, praying the results were the same...neutralization.
At first, no one noticed that Tin-Tin had looked up from where she was preparing the membrane-thin sacks that would serve as transportation for the newly created powder. No one noticed that her eyes became glassy. No one noticed that she stiffened, that her eyes filled with tears.
"Father," she whispered inaudibly.
Gordon moved to take the first pan of yellowish powder over to her and stopped dead in his tracks. "Tin-Tin?" When she didn't respond, he placed the pan on a nearby table and closed his eyes. Could he do it again? Could he reach her?
Brains finally looked up from his microscope long enough to realize something was wrong. "Gordon?" he said, coming to stand next to them. "Tin-Tin?"
Suddenly their eyelids opened wide and they stared at one another. "No!" Gordon whispered. "It can't be!"
"What?" Brains asked, looking from one to the other then back again. "What can't be?"
"Tin-Tin?" Gordon said, taking a step closer to her.
Her jaw dropped and tears began running down her face. "No! Father!"
"Tin-Tin, what is it?" Brains practically shouted. "Gordon!"
"Father! Father!" she cried, stumbling back into a metal table. "No! Father!"
"Gordon!" Brains screeched. "What the hell is going on?"
Removing his HazMat helmet, Gordon looked at Tin-Tin for a few seconds before turning to meet Brains' eyes. "It's Kyrano," he said, voice full of anguish. "Acronym has Kyrano."
06:59:58
06:59:59
07:00:00