TWELVE

Not for the first time over the last few days, Jeff Tracy rubbed at his eyes to the point of inflicting pain. He replaced his glasses, his vision wandering to some photos in the open file on the touch screen in his desk. The project was an update to the Mole's security systems but the photographs had been taken whilst Virgil and Scott were in the hangar working on what looked to be one of Thunderbird Two's air filters.

Jeff tapped on one of the photographs to zoom in on the background. Scott and Virgil were both dressed in blue overalls. A small IR insignia was just visible over the chest on Scott's and Virgil's were tied scruffily at the waist revealing an off-white t-shirt. A t-shirt that, if his mother had been alive, would have been thrown out twelve months ago. Scott was handing his brother some kind of wrench and Virgil was grinning in response to Scott's smirk. Jeff doubted either of them realised how happy or relaxed they appeared. He felt a twinge as his heart ached in a way he never thought was possible.

This could be the end in so many ways.

His attention was diverted when a pop up materialised over the image of Scott's face. 'Penelope- 1 Msg', it flashed. When he opened it, it revealed the words: 'Do nothing. Will contact ASAP.'

With the slightest of hesitations he operated the in-house intercom to the laboratory.

"Lab."

Tin-Tin sounded flustered.

"Tin-Tin, could you tell Brains to take a rain check on that call I asked him to make, please?" He pre-empted any further confusion by adding, "He'll understand."

"Yes, Mr Tracy," came the reply, before a soft click signified that she'd closed the connection. Surprised but not at all offended, Jeff's eyes returned to the touch pad in his desk.

That air filter had been changed last weekend and Jeff found himself wondering if this image of his sons, in which they didn't even qualify for centre stage, could be the last he'd ever have.

XxxxX

Gordon shuffled uncomfortably in the passenger seat of Thunderbird Two's cockpit, listening to the conversation. It was clear that these two women had great respect for each other, but neither of them were fools. Even with his military experience, Gordon was confused with the politics they were discussing. He heard the term 'Operation Boomerang' and when mental images of a bright orange boomerang whipping around the Middle East had sprung to mind, he knew he should remove himself from the situation before he appeared unprofessional.

The ideal excuse arose as Thunderbird Two's control panel alerted him to the fact that Thunderbird One was in the vicinity. Miming his intentions to Penelope, who was still deep in discussion, he'd managed to stifle his amusement long enough to slip out from of the cockpit.

Striding further into the bowels of Thunderbird Two, Gordon headed to where he knew Alan would enter the mammoth machine.

"I don't think Virgil would like that." There was a hint of humour to Alan's voice as he spied Gordon walking towards them. "Tom," he pointed to the dark haired man alongside him, "Gordon. Gordon, this is Doctor Tom Jackson."

Gordon held his hand out in greeting, "Hi, nice to meet you…"

Tom grimaced as he offered a hand in return. "Maybe if it had been under better circumstances."

"Tom's ex-WASP," Alan explained, hopeful he was providing Gordon with some common ground.

"Me too," They started to walk. "When did you leave?"

"About five years ago," Tom filled him in as Alan took the lead through the maze of corridors. "Ironically, I took medical retirement. I developed a heart murmur; only a mild one but you know how it is."

Gordon scoffed with irony. "Yeah."

"Anyway, decided to see a bit of the world with my lump sum but then got caught in Somalia." He blew a breath out. "It's pretty shocking."

"I've seen," Gordon nodded. "You're a brave man."

Tom laughed, "I don't know about that, mate. What about you? When did you leave?"

Gordon shrugged off the query. "Medical discharge, nearly nine years ago."

"Not bad enough to prevent this job?"

"Do you want to see the Infirmary?" Gordon suddenly stopped walking and held a hand out to the door they had just passed, changing the subject.

"We can get you a change of clothes." Gordon directed them through the door and within half an hour, Tom was changed in to one of John's spare uniforms minus the sash.

"It's a good set up you've got." Tom was admiring the facilities. "You've got more equipment here than the entire hospital I was working at in Somalia." His attention was diverted as he examined the contents of a trolley.

Alan sidled up to Gordon under the pretence of fetching some bottles of water from the fridge. "You okay?" he asked softly. "You seem a little…. distracted."

"I'm tired," Gordon admitted, rotating his neck. "I think Penelope might be on to something. She's on the flight deck talking to one of her…" he raised his eyebrows, "contacts."

"Hmm," Alan leant against the counter and swigged from the bottle. "I hope so, we could use a breakthrough. After reading all those files … I just keep thinking about what they could be going through and ..."

"Don't. Try not to think about it," Gordon cut him off. "It won't do you or them any good."

"Do you think…" Alan swallowed. "Say we do get them back. Do you think it'll ever be the same again?"

"I …." Gordon was saved from answering the impossible as the on board communications panel lit up.

Alan was the closest.

"Infirmary."

"Ah, Alan," Penelope replied, her voice relaxed but her message alarming: "I'm about to make contact with Base and brief them on a development. I think it would be prudent for you to hear this too."

Alan and Gordon looked to each other uneasily.

"We're on our way up."

XxxxX

"Kill you?"

The Colonel's eyes met with Scott's somewhere above Virgil's head and in the look that passed between them, Scott suddenly realised that she'd had a good grasp of this situation the whole time. Because in that moment, the shock in her eyes and the sudden dilation of her pupils told Scott that this latest development was not something she'd ever expected.

"Hmm, death is so …" Kasim took a few steps into the cell and removed a firearm from his waistband to wave through the air, "… infinite. It is such an anti-climax."

"This isn't what it looks like." The Colonel's tone was calm but she held a hand out in supplication.

"Do not lie to me!" Kasim bellowed. Even the Colonel flinched as a situation Scott didn't think could get any worse, plummeted towards total chaos. He risked a glance to Virgil, who was slumped against the wall and appeared resigned to their fate.

"Do not lie to me," Kasim repeated, regaining control of his temper. He flicked the gun in the Colonel's direction. "Remove your weapons."

Scott watched her carefully, waiting on some kind of signal. This was their opportunity. There was two of them. Only one of him. This was their moment.

She met his eyes and looked away, crushed. Any fleeting hope died with her next words: "I'm sorry, Scott."

Scott's brow furrowed; why couldn't she see it? She was a strategist, wasn't she? His wide eyes burned into her, trying to convey the message, we can take him. He looked to his own weapon on the floor in front of him, within easy reach.

One almost imperceptible shake of the head and she folded. "It's over." She looked directly at Scott's weapon on the floor. "He'd have a bullet in Virgil by the time you got the safety off."

Scott glared at her for giving the game up.

He made a dive for the gun.

Sure enough, a sharp intake of breath from Virgil stopped him in his tracks as Kasim's gun was levelled straight for him.

"Please, Commander," Kasim was patronising as the Colonel merely hung her head. "Let us not make this any more unpleasant than it has to be."

"You're going to kill us anyway," Scott pointed out. "What have we got to lose?"

"Oh, I am misunderstood! I do not wish you dead. I wish for you to suffer. And you have much to lose. If you wish to know what is truly happened here, you would move away from the gun." Kasim stepped close enough to touch the weapon with his foot but Scott didn't move. "You would risk your own life, but not his," he calculated. "Do not test me."

Scott swallowed as he glanced at the Colonel's glare and Virgil's single shake of the head.

He made no attempt to stop Kasim as he kicked the weapon a few feet out of reach.

"You betray them so easily," Kasim's attention turned back to the Colonel. "Weapons," he directed again, louder.

With a deliberate lack of speed, the Colonel began to remove the weapons concealed about her person and place them, one by one, on the floor. Without prompting, she kicked them in Kasim's direction.

"All of them," Kasim pressed.

Reluctantly, she reached down to her ankle and withdrew another firearm and a knife.

Scott watched on with a mounting sense that he was so far out of his depth he wasn't sure where the surface was anymore.

"You were right, Commander." Kasim addressed Scott again. "A woman cannot be trusted. Did you think you had fooled me, Colonel?" he smirked at her. "You did not. It is I who have fooled you." Reaching inside her shirt, he withdrew another knife and sent it skidding across the floor to the small armoury now accrued.

"You…" her words trailed off as Kasim's open hand made impact with her cheek. The sound clashed with Scott's shout of 'Hey!'.

"You would not be so quick to defend her, if you knew the truth," Kasim's words were aimed at Scott. "Tell him," he ordered the Colonel. "Tell him who you really work for, hmm?" He reached in to his pocket and withdrew a piece of paper, thick and neatly folded.

The Colonel was stood absolutely still, feet slightly apart and was staring at a spot over Kasim's left shoulder. She didn't respond.

"Tell him." Kasim repeated.

Still, the Colonel did not respond.

Kasim fingered the paper, clearly enjoying the theatrics. "I can think of only one organisation in today's modern world who is so suspicious of everyone that they still rely on paper."

Scott was starting to realise what he was insinuating and turned to the Colonel, awaiting a response. He didn't need to look to know that Virgil had done the same thing.

"Tell him!" Kasim shouted.

The Colonel did not respond at first but slowly she glanced at Virgil and then turned to Scott, offering him a pained expression which clearly revealed this would not be welcome news. Her eyes flickered away once, then twice, and she finally spoke:

"Russia."

"Russia?" Scott's mouth fell open. His full attention was on the Colonel; a woman whose trust had been questionable at best but who Scott had come to believe was at least in part on their side.

Virgil was repeating the sentiment, his voice a whisper in comparison to Scott's. "Russia?"

A barely perceptible nod from the Colonel.

"So you see, Commander," Kasim scoffed before his lips curled in to a smug grin. "She does not want to stop a war, she wishes to create one…"