AT THE WAREHOUSE AT WINDSOR BASE – Lady Penelope and Parker, in FAB1, sat invisible on the roof of a warehouse, where US President Donald de Jersey and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ben Gurion had been forcibly taken. Through the listening device they'd attached to the roof, they listened.
"What's going on?" de Jersey demanded. "Where the hell are we?"
"I can answer that question," said a familiar British voice as the door to the warehouse opened. In strode Edward IX, the Galactic Emperor.
"What do you want with us?" ben Gurion demanded.
"To be rid of you, of course. You two – and the countries you lead – are the only thing standing between me and world domination. And, after that, galactic domination."
"It's all about control, isn't it?" ben Gurion shook his head sadly. "That was the whole point behind your stupid world and galactic government. Giving you absolute power over everyone, regardless of how many lives it cost."
"It preserves world peace!" Edward snapped, banging his fist on a nearby desk. "Or at least it would. Not only do you two insist on independence and freedom, you have, at times, intervened with your secret services to rescue and whisk away the dangerous, radical thought offenders known as Christians and Jews, and that stupid in-between one, Messianics or whatever they are. You have rescued some 300 in the 18 days since Unity!"
"And we're very proud of it," President de Jersey boldly replied.
"We'll see how proud you are when you find yourselves in a top-secret MARS PRISON!" Edward angrily shouted. Penelope and Parker both looked at each other in shock.
Edward motioned to the guards, who followed the Emperor through the back door of the warehouse.
IN SPACE – Eric Jarman manned a top-secret intelligence satellite. Put up 24 hours prior, it slowly circumnavigated every inch of the globe, watching every aircraft that took off or landed or simply flew through the area he scanned. Which was only a fraction of the globe at a time.
Jarman had been up and awake the entire time (in addition to 12 hours before that), searching carefully for International Rescue's aircraft. The operation was top-secret, and the World Government was determined to destroy the organisation. So far, he'd had no luck whatsoever.
He was tired. He decided he might as well head to bed. He fell asleep before his head hit the pillow, and would remain asleep for a long time.
AT WINDSOR BASE, SWITZERLAND – behind the warehouse – everyone stopped just outside the back door – was nothing but a large open space of ground. Nothing there. "What are we waiting for?" ben Gurion asked. FAB1 silently and invisibly hovered over the edge of the building.
Edward nodded at a nearby control tower. The man inside immediately pressed a button. The ground behind the warehouse shifted for a moment, seemed to drop every so slightly. Then, a crack formed a straight line down the middle as the ground opened up.
As the ground pulled away, they could see now a large space rocket beneath, beginning to raise above the ground on a movable platform.
IN THE NEARBY CONTROL TOWER – the operator switch to radar. Not just any radar, but a special new top-secret military radar that could detect objects that not even infrared could see. He scanned the area to be sure there were no unwelcome visitors – not during the launch of the top-secret spaceship!
He was sure this would be a regular "no one's there". But he was wrong. The radar detected a flying car – with two, no, three life signs inside – hovering right next to the rocket!
He grabbed his binoculars, and checked the spot. Nothing. Nothing visible, anyway. But someone invisible was spying on the top-secret operation!
The operator pressed a button. "Emperor, we have a serious problem."
BEHIND THE WAREHOUSE – Emperor Edward IX suddenly brought his hand up to the communications device in his right ear. "There's a what?" he said in astonishment, looking up in the sky above him, but seeing nothing.
"That's what the radar shows, Your Eminence. An invisible flying car with breathing occupants right above you."
"You know what to do," Edward replied.
The tower operator pressed a button.
IN FAB1 – Lady Penelope was concerned about the way the evil Emperor had just looked up in her direction while apparently talking to someone. Had they somehow been spotted?
They couldn't have been! Brains was very particular when he made the invisibility devices. Not even infrared could detect them!
Could the military have developed an even stronger infrared, or even a stronger radar? Should they take the risk of hanging around and finding out?
Her question was answered a moment later by an alarm blaring from the nearby control tower.
"Alert all fighter pilots," the operator said over the loudspeaker. "Unauthorised, invisible flying object over the air base."
"Parker, let's beat it," Penny said.
"I agree with you there, m'lady," Parker replied, before adjusting direction and zooming off.
Pilots raced to their planes. The control tower operator sent the radar readings of the vehicle and its direction of travel to the planes' navigation systems. They quickly took off after the pink Rolls Royce.
"The unidentified flying object has left the base," the operator reported in Edward's ear.
"Excellent," he replied, before directing the soldiers and captives on board the rocked, called Reptilian I. He lingered outside, quietly calling the Windsor II base in England. "Board the prisoners and head for your destination."
"Yes, sir," the radio controller there replied. The Emperor then boarded the spaceship.
The rocket took off.
IN FAB1 – Lady Penelope called Jeff on Tracy Island.
"Tracy Island," Jeff answered. "Any updates, Lady P?"
"President de Jersey and Prime Minister ben Gurion have been put aboard a rocket, Reptilian I, which is headed for Mars."
"Mars?!" Jeff exclaimed. "What on earth for?"
"Why on earth does he do anything? He says he wants to be 'rid' of the two leaders."
"Oh, they're in deep shit," Jeff muttered. "Any clue where on Mars they're being taken?"
"Afraid not," Penny replied. "Despite our invisibility shields, we were somehow spotted and are fleeing the scene."
"Fleeing the scene?" Gordon asked worriedly. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine," she replied. "We've only got 5 fighter pilots on our tail. Nothing to worry about."
"I hope," Parker put in. Then Penny hung up.
"Okay," Jeff groaned. "I'll alert our Mars base. In the meantime, Alan, take Thunderbird 3 and tail the Reptilian I."
"Okay, Dad," Alan replied, the seat he was sitting on already starting to lower.
IN FAB1 – "These are gonna be hard to shake off, m'lady!" Parker informed his employer. "What do you suggest?"
Penny looked out the window. "There, Parker! The sea! Dive in and switch to submarine."
"Perfect, m'lady!" Parker replied. He banked left, flying straight out over the ocean. When they were several hundred metres off shore, Parker pressed a button. The car dived into the ocean and switched to submarine mode, gliding away along the sea floor.
IN THE CONTROL TOWER IN WINDSOR BASE – the car disappeared from the screen. "What?" the contoller puzzled, then realised. "Oh, no. They've gone under the water. A pity we haven't developed that yet." He then radioed the fighter pilots. "Mission called off. The UFO has disappeared. Appears to have dived in the ocean."
"I thought I saw a rather large splash," one of the pilots replied. "Returning to base."
The control operator took a deep breath and called the Emperor on Reptilian I to tell him the bad news.
ON TRACY ISLAND – John's portrait beaped, then a hologram of him projected into the middle of the room. "I'm afraid we've got an emergency. A sinking oil rig. No-one else can reach them in time."
"Right," Jeff said. "Scott, head there in Thunderbird 1."
"Yes, father," his eldest son replied before heading to his notch in the wall which rotated and took him down to his 'Bird.
"Virgil and Gordon, follow him in Thunderbird 2," Jeff continued.
"Yes, Dad," they replied, before heading to carry out his instructions. "John, give them the coordinates and any other useful details once they're in flight."
A FEW MINUTES LATER, IN THE TOP SECRET SATELLITE – the satellite picked up the take-off of three successive Thunderbirds from a coordinate in the Pacific. All other vehicles where erased from the screen. While tracking the vehicles – two of which appeared to be headed to the same location – it displayed the latitude and longitude coordinates of the island, and a message appeared flashing at the top of the screen: INTERNATIONAL RESCUE FOUND!
Jarman, however, continued to sleep.