Cat and Mouse
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic
by Timeguardian
Chapter Eight
It was by the time John climbed and made it to the ledge that the gunshots began again which meant only one thing - his pursuers caught up with him.
Small beams of light swarmed around his position, seemingly from their position below him. Most of the gunshots were wide but a few came a little too close for comfort for him.
John kept low on the flat narrow piece of rock, his breath heaving from the stress and effort of his climb. This vantage point was only a mere twenty feet off of the ground, but it might as well been two hundred since they knew where he was. Despite the way his pursuers seemed initially, they effectively had him pinned down, there was nothing to fight back with, and he couldn't move.
He was desperately thinking of a new plan when a new yet familiar noise started to override the sounds of gunfire. John picked up on it quickly. Could it be?
The gunfire stopped and the noise that he hoped for grew in intensity. Wind began to pick up around him, but John decided to risk sitting up to check out the action.
There in the sky was one of the best sights he could hope for and the originator of the noise. Thunderbird Two!
John watched entranced as a search light swept from Thunderbird Two over the area until it found the two that had pursued him all this time. He couldn't see their faces from his distance, but judging how they dropped their firepower and took off in a run, they did not want to engage an opponent like this.
Heaving a sigh of relief, John gingerly pushed himself up and found that he could carefully stand on the ledge. He waited patiently – he knew that the scanners in Thunderbird Two would pick up on him soon enough.
It took a few minutes, but soon the searchlight from Thunderbird Two moved until it crept up the mountain and then finally rest upon his position. John shielded his eyes but managed to track Thunderbird Two as the craft gained altitude and moved closer to the mountain until it was right overhead.
It seemed like forever, but John managed to make out that the cargo area of Two was opening up and that someone was being lowered down on a rope to him. He couldn't see who it was until finally the rope lowered the person right beside him.
John felt like he could grin forever. "Am I ever glad to see you, dad."
Once they spotted John on the ledge on the side of the mountain, it was all that Jeff could do to hold his patience as he ordered Virgil into a high hover to allow him to be able to go down on a rope to get him.
Soon enough he had himself attached to the main rescue cable via a harness and had an extra harness hooked in for the journey down below.
Jeff tamped down any nagging fears he had as he was slowly lowered to where John was on the ledge. His son was covered in dirt and bruises along with what looked like streaks of blood on his hands and forehead, but he was alive – that was what mattered.
It was John's grin that lifted his spirits as he was finally lowered enough to be face to face with his son.
"Am I ever glad to see you, dad."
Jeff's voice was shaky in reply as he handed John the extra harness that was attached to the rescue rope. "Likewise, son. We don't have much time, so put this on and we'll get you out of here."
He watched as John quickly stepped into the harness and cinched the straps that would secure him into place. Jeff then double checked John's harness connections and was satisfied. "Okay, hold on to the rope as best you can."
Jeff then spoke quickly into the tele-com on his wrist. "Okay Virgil, take us up."
Virgil's acknowledged, and both of them were soon lifted in the air.
It wasn't until they were in the confines of Thunderbird Two's cargo bay and the cargo bay door closed that John could feel himself begin to tremble. The adrenaline surge that helped to fuel his escape was easing off, which didn't help as he fumbled at releasing the straps to his harness.
"Let me," His father ordered.
John dropped his hands and it was only mere seconds before he was freed of his harness. He finally relaxed as he allowed his dad to guide him from the cargo bay up into the flight deck.
Sinking into one of the available chairs, John closed his eyes briefly as he heard his father ask. "Virgil, were you able to triangulate Thunderbird One's position?"
"Due to the levels of magnetic interference in the area, it took some major collaborating with Gordon. We were able to pinpoint Thunderbird One, it's not far from here," Virgil replied.
"Good – get us there ASAP, Virgil."
"FAB"
John then felt a touch at his arm. He opened his eyes to find his father standing in front of him with a first aid kit.
"Your hands are badly scratched up and you have a gash on your forehead," his father stated, "Let me clean those up for you."
John wasn't going to argue with that and did his best to remain still as his father cleaned and dressed the scratches and wounds on both his forehead and hands. He was safe, but there was one thing that worried John. "Dad, where's Scott? Were you able to find him?"
His father put away the first aid supplies before answering. "We have his position pinpointed. As soon as Virgil swings back to allow me to pick up Thunderbird One, we'll get there."
Under the guidance of the armed helicopters, Parker guided FAB-1 in for a landing on the deck of the ship. Throughout the process, Lady Penelope kept her eyes open, noting the section of deck they ended up stopping on retracted down, lowering them into the heart of the ship.
There was an additional metallic clank and then FAB-1 shifted slightly. Sunlight gave way to darkness before finally evening out into the glare of lights positioned on the inner walls of the ship.
When they finally came to a stop, Penelope quickly assessed her surroundings, which seemed to amount to a glorified hangar of sorts. Along with a few helicopters, she spotted what seemed to be quite a number of exits.
It was only seconds before a dozen armed men surrounded FAB-1.
Lady Penelope sighed before directing Parker to get out. "Let's not keep our host waiting."
The scene is shifting to Lady Cassandra's base of operations…more to come of course. Still moving forward slowly but painfully. I'll have the next chapter up as soon as I can.