Dark Tunnels and Sunsets
"John?" A scared voice said in a hushed whisper.
"Kya? Are you okay? Where are you?" John asked, shuffling around.
"Erm. On the floor, I believe. Ouch..." She replied.
"Hold on..." There was a loud scattering noise, and rocks being moved made a terrible grinding on the stone floor.
"Where do you think we are?" Kya asked, attempting to sit up in the darkness.
"In one of the mine shafts I believe." John said, finally illuminating the small light on his watch. It was a miracle that it didn't break during the fall. He shone it over towards Kya, who's leg was buried underneath a small pile of rocks. As she moved them and stood up, it was obvious that it as very bruised.
"Now what?" She asked, looking up towards John, who shone the light down the tunnel.
"Well," he said, looking behind them, "There is only one way to go." And with that, they both began to walk into the darkness, guided only by a light that shone 2 meters in front of them.
"Where do you think they've got to?" Jeff said, peering out of the window on Thunderbird 2.
"I have no idea, Dad." Replied Virgil, who was still aboard Thunderbird 1 with Scott. "Do you think we should go and look for them?"
"Be ready in 5 minutes, boys." Jeff said with a tone of authority to his voice, "We can't be too safe around here."
"So... Kya..." John said, still walking through the shaft. "... Erm... So... What do you do, then?"
"What do I do? As in work?" She replied, smiling at the point in the darkness in which she thought he was. "I'm training to be a doctor."
"Cool. What's that?" John asked, stopping.
"What's a doctor? John I..." She began before being interrupted.
"No. That..." He shone the small light onto a solid metal door, almost carved into the rock, it looked as if it was there when the mine was first built, but it was obvious, upon further inspection, pretty new.
"I take it were going to be going through there?" Kya asked, attempting to budge the door open.
"Indeed. Since it seems to be the only plausible way." John replied, getting a broken credit card out of his pocket and sliding it into the gap between the door and the frame, he started to try and undo the lock. Ten minutes passed, with no luck.
"I give up!" John said, almost shouting. In a slight burst of anger, he kicked the door. To their surprise, the doors hinges broke and it fell down into the room that was hidden behind it.
"Someone's been working out." Kya laughed, before cautiously stepping through the door.
"John? Kya?" Virgil called, stepping into the entrance to the mine. "Come on guys were leaving." A few awkward seconds past, filled merely with silence. "John! Kya? Come on guys, now is not the time to mess about!" Virgil was about to shout again, but Scott interrupted.
"Hey, there's a tunnel." Each of the Tracy's there made a quick dash towards the place in which Scott was stood. "Gordon... run back to Thunderbird 2 and grab the ladders, we'll need to use something to get across this hole, wouldn't want to fall down it, even if it isn't very wide."
Each of the Tracy's took it in turns to cross the ladder and wandered further into the darkness.
"Where do you think this leads?" Scott asked, looking towards Gordon.
"I don't know, Dad?" He asked, then looking towards Jeff, who was leading them deeper and deeper into the mine.
"I suppose you could say, we're venturing deeper into Luther's lair. Lets hope we find the boys..."
Footsteps was the only thing heard in the mine, nobody talked. Minutes later, a door was seen through the darkness, its hinges glowing in a strange green glow. As the Tracy's grew closer to it, a thick green gas seeped from underneath the door. Immediately, as if instinct, they began to run, back the way they came, attempting desperately to escape the gas, which they knew would lead to their downfall.
Scott was the first to cough and trip over, leading to his disappearance. Virgil made a short dash back, in an attempt to help his brother, only to be grasped by the same fate. Gordon was next, the gas catching him up, forcing him into a coughing fit, before he finally went into the abyss of green. Jeff remained, running, years of experience of flying incredible machines flashed before his eyes, but in his vain flashbacks, he took a tumble and fell onto the ground, where he did not get up quick enough to avoid the gas. He too was consumed by the gas, a burning sensation filled his lungs, causing him to cough. His eyes began to burn, tears attempting to cool them, with no result. After little more than 12 seconds, he too, disappeared.
"John? Where do you think we are?" Kya asked, breaking the silence that had loomed over them for quite a while. The tunnel that lay behind the large door was very much different. The floor was covered in a shiny, metallic floor. The walls were covered in sheets of metal, some having ventilation systems installed. It was incredibly futuristic. Doors veered off in all directions, leading to different named places, Labs, Technicians,Computer scientists, Engine room, Ventilation room and Meditation Room were just a few of many they passed.
"I'm guessing were in Luther's Lair... If that's what you want to call it. Alan and Fermat must be around here somewhere..." he answered, finally. They carried on walking, until John pulled his arm in from of Kya, stopping her. "Shh." He said, pulling her quickly into an adjacent room. Two fairly bulky men walked past the door in which they were hiding behind. Close. They quickened pace, leaving the mild safety of the room behind them.
Other than the two men they had encountered earlier, the place was deserted. Everybody seemed to be interested in something else... They must be somewhere else...
Stairs was the next obstacle to meet them. Although, obstacle would be a stupid word to use, as the stairs were deserted. As was everywhere else they passed, empty room after empty room, for corridor after corridor. It was becoming quite unusual. Still they skulked around the corridors. Another staircase came into view, only this one was older looking, made of stone not metal. John and Kya looked at each other, then walked down the stairs, into what would pose to be the basement.
Sounds of heavy machinery echoes the open space in which they stepped into. Large machines filled most of it, creating large engines and manufacturing devices. Walking through the maze of wires we came across another room. Through the blue-tinted glass we could see the majority of the Tracy family; Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Jeff were stood in there, quietly.
"Come on." John said, dashing off into a nearby room, where they crouched behind a desk, peeking into the room next door. There gathered at least 40 people, all dressed in the same grey trousers and pearly white lab coats. They both crouched there, listening.
"Today..." Began a man, with a long black robe and a long charm hung around his neck, it was some sort of jewel.
"Today we will pull off one of the greatest crimes this planet will ever know. Using the Thunderbirds, we will invade NASA, and use their rocket expertise to fly ourselves to planets ans solar systems far beyond our own. We will become the very masters of space travel!" His speech caused an uproar of applause between the gathering.
"That must be why this place is deserted..." John muttered into Kya's ear.
"Got to be." She replied. "What about Jeff and the guys? Aren't we going to let them out?
"I'm not sure... We don't know how long there going to be in there, and we don't want to cause any unnecessary trouble... If we can somehow do it subtly, then I think that would be the best way." John said, leaning his back against the wall, underneath the desk.
"I suppose. Alan and Fermat have to be around here somewhere too..." Kya said, partially standing up, moving towards the door.
"Of course!" John said, in a triumphant whisper. He lead Kya out of the room and back into the workshop. "Kya, I need you to do something." Johns voice had changed from triumphant to deadly serious.
"Of course." She replied, listening intently.
"I need you to let them out of there, and get them back to Thunderbird 2." His voice keeping its serious tone.
"But, John! You cant leave!" Kya protested, before being stopped by John's hand carefully covering her mouth.
"You have to. I think I know where Alan and Fermat are... But they need to be let out too... and we cant let The Opal get hold of Thunderbird 2... Otherwise his plan will be set in motion." Kya gave an understanding nod, by which case John had removed his hand and stood up. "Good luck." John smiled, before giving Kya a quick hug and jogging off into the opposite direction.
Kya knocked on the glass,to get Jeff's attention. An extensive smile swept over each of the Tracy boys face when they noticed her stood there. Time to think fast. The Opal would be out of that room any minute. Kya frantically looked around the large workshop, to find something that might trigger the door to open. Finally, she found a small metal sheet, about the size of a credit card, and slid it between the locking mechanism and the door, thankfully it opened. Jeff was never so pleased to see her, let alone Virgil, Scott or Gordon.
"Come on, The Opal will be heading to Thunderbird 2 soon, we have to hurry up and find a way out!" Immediately, they began to run, in the vague direction in which Kya and John came in. She hadn't got a clue where she was going, but was determined to get out.
"Where's... John?" Jeff asked, catching up with Kya. But before she could answer, a loud warning bell sounded, flashing red lights all over the corridor. "They know we've escaped!" Their pace immediately quickened, running down whatever corridor they thought might be the right one, up several flights of stairs and through a few doors. It seemed that they had been running forever, and all began to tire. It wasn't until they heard voices that they sped up again.
The daunting sound of a large engine pierced the air. Following the noise, Jeff soon stumbled upon the ladders they had lay down earlier, to bridge the gap. They had no idea how they got there, but at least they were out. There in front of them, stood a rather large looking man, with piercing green eyes and a very smart looking black suit.
"Ah! Jeff Tracy. How nice to finally meet you." His voice bellowed, deep and strong.
"Who the hell are you?" Jeff spat, he was anxious to get past him, as in the background he could see The Opal boarding Thunderbird 2, in his black robe.
"Calm down, Jeff. There's no need to get excited. My name is Luther." His voice took on a mocking tone. "Quite a spectacular machine."
"And you have no rights to use it." Jeff shouted, running towards Luther. He poised to throw a punch, but stopped, when a much stronger, much bigger hand cupped over his fist.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Luther whispered into Jeff's ear. His grip tightened, causing great pain to Jeff, who by this point, was buckling and kneeling on the floor. The next moment seemed to blue in Jeff's eyes. One very clear, very well aimed shot flew over his head and directly into Luther's neck, causing him to fall to the ground instantly, unconscious.
Jeff lifted his head, his eyes cautioned by the glaring sun. Scott rushed towards him, helping him up, smiling uncontrollably.
"Its Alan, Dad! John found him!" At this point, Alan, Fermat and John came sprinting across the rock floor towards Jeff. Tears strolled down Jeff's eyes as his held his youngest son close to him. Fermat was receiving a rather large hug from Kya at this point, who was just glad to see they were both unharmed. Under the shadows of the reunion, none of the Tracy boys noticed Thunderbird 2 lifting effortlessly into the sky, The Opal and The Hood, quietly aboard. Gordon looked to the sky as it flew off, out of the canyon, into the distance.
"Now what?" He asked, looking gloomily towards Virgil.
"Well..." Jeff began, still recovering from the tears and the pain from his fist. " Were going to have to fly that then aren't we?" He laughed, pointing towards the abandoned helicopter John had landed earlier. "I hear John is an expert."
The Tracy boys clambered into the helicopter and took to the skies.
" Control, this is Jeff Tracy speaking."
"Control receiving your broadcast, go ahead Mr. Tracy."
"The Opal and The Hood are on their was to NASA in our Thunderbird 2 aircraft. I am afraid we were unable to stop them."
"Thank you for the warning, sir, we will attempt to block any attacks or penetrations to our airspace. Any assistance that can be provided would be appreciated."
"Right. Okay." The broadcast ended.
"I thought you said they were ready for them, Dad?" Scott spoke, putting his arm around Alan.
"I thought they would of taken me more seriously too, obviously not." Jeff said, flipping a map the right way up, trying to direct John in the right direction. "Right now, The Opal and The Hood are very high risk. I fear that if they make it to NASA, they will succeed in their mission. NASA are not ready for the attack from Thunderbird 2, its far too strong."
"So what can we do?" Alan said, leaning forward out of his seat.
"Whatever we can" Jeff spoke, heroically, "We are International Rescue after all."
YAAAYYY! Another chapter done:) I know I said that this would be the last chapter, but I decided to prolong it for just one more, since this would have been far to packed for one. So THIS was the penultimate chapter :) I hoped you liked it and please drop me a review if you have time :) Also, I would like to thank MEG! For constantly annoying me to get this next chapter up :) So there it was:)
Thanks guys :) Kim x