A/N: I hit a creative streak. posting this so soon kinda defeats the purpose of a cliffhanger. Oh well XD
Oh, and we are nearing the end of our journey together... I have just now decided how the story will end. Because writing with a plan is for the weak XD
Enjoy :)
The text in the 'Turing Machine' emulator paused. The astronauts aboard the craft had stopped talking, shocked by John's transmission. Slowly, another line of text appeared.
"Thunderbird 5, we have received your message and have engaged RCS thrusters. We have approximated your position based on the source of your radio signal and we are adjusting our orbit to avoid collision."
There was a pause, and John sobbed with relief. All of the muscles in his body, previously tensed, relaxed. John flicked the switch to turn off artificial gravity, allowing his muscles to relax even further. He let go of the console and floated freely. He spun slowly with respect to the console, so he was upside down by the time the next message from the Chinese station came through.
"You gave us quite a shock, Thunderbird 5. We have a visual on you through our docking camera."
John grasped the console and heaved himself around so that his feet were on the ground. He pushed his specially designed socks down onto the Velcro patches on the floor. This way, he would remain the right way up. He spoke into the microphone, in Mandarin.
"Thunderbird 5 to unidentified Chinese Spacecraft, recommend you make preparations for docking. Thunderbird 5 can accommodate whatever docking system you use."
An idea was beginning to seed in John's head. The Chinese mission was shot to hell. Vaguely John realised he had probably ruined months, if not years, of planning by the Chinese Space program, not to mention the billions of dollars they had probably spent. The craft would, in all likelihood, return to earth. If that happened, John intended to be on it.
New text appeared on John's screen.
"We're communicating with our ground control at present, Thunderbird 5. We will contact you again when we've finished and we'll see where we go from there."
John could see this exchange between the Chinese astronauts and their ground crew.
"I thought this signal was supposed to be encrypted?"
"It is, but this is International Rescue we're talking about. He was probably listening to us since you launched."
"I don't think that's true, Jiuquan, or he would have asked us to modify our orbit sooner. We were only a few seconds away from collision."
"Even so, there's no way to know how much he's heard. This mission is far too sensitive. No American can be allowed to know that this station exists.
John's blood turned to ice. He knew that the Chinese mission was obviously secret, but that last phrase from the Chinese ground control was dangerously sinister.
"Surely, Jiuquan, we can trust International Rescue?"
The text paused, and John waited impatiently for the reply.
"Afraid not, Wolf-Spider."
Immediately, John's heart rate accelerated. Wolf-Spider. The name was aggressive, after one of the most dangerous and deadly spiders. A new surge of adrenaline fired through his veins. He reached down and switched the artificial gravity back on. This mission must be a project by the Chinese military, notorious for its ruthlessness. John was already moving before the gravity was at full power. If he had stayed, he would have seen the reply from Wolf-Spider.
"Jiuquan, are we to understand that you want us to enact the 'bad neighbours' protocol?"
John dashed to his bedroom and scooped up his pink sash. From it, he pulled his custom International Rescue handgun. John's handgun was different from his brothers' in that his weapon had to work in microgravity, and even potentially in a vacuum.
"Wolf-Spider, you are cleared to use any and all force necessary to see that this mission remains secret."
John ejected the clip to check the load. A full magazine of hollow point rounds with self-contained oxidiser. John also used different ammunition to the rest of his brothers. Hollow point rounds, while forbidden by international law, were the 'safest' ammunition to use in space. Other bullets passed straight through a human body. Chunks of metal flying faster than the speed of sound are not something you want on a delicate spacecraft. Hollow point rounds expanded on impact, meaning that they caused significant internal damage, and that the bullet stopped in the body, preserving the spacecraft, if not the target. The self-contained oxidiser meant the weapon could be fired in a vacuum.
"Understood Jiuquan."
John shoved the handgun into the waistband of his uniform and rushed back to the console. He read over these last few messages. The latest one was directed at him:
"Thunderbird 5, we have been given the go-ahead to dock with you. We have sighted your universal docking port and will begin our approach."
John frowned, concentrating. He had hoped the Wolf-Spider would not have seen the docking port. It was located underneath the massive assembly that admitted the command centre of Thunderbird 3. Conventional spacecraft were much smaller than Thunderbird 3, and so it was easy to add a much smaller universal docking port to the station.
Brains had factored in an extra feature to this docking port. Brains assumed that any spacecraft that docked with Thunderbird 5 – with the exception of Thunderbird 3 – would be in trouble. Therefore, the docking adapter, once it detected that a spacecraft was safely moored, would automatically cycle the airlock and open the access hatch as quickly as it could. This was based on the idea that the faster the astronauts or cosmonauts of a damaged spacecraft could board Thunderbird 5, the better.
John knew this. He knew that if the Wolf-Spider docked with Thunderbird 5, its astronauts would board Thunderbird 5, and they would try to kill him.
There was nothing John could do to avert this docking. Thunderbird 5 did not have any Reaction Control System, that is, a system for generating the torque necessary to move a spacecraft in space. Thunderbird 5 was inert, hanging in space.
John was not used to being threatened by people. For as long as he could remember, he always had an older brother to watch his back, and younger brothers to endear himself to people. John had never been in a fight. He did not know what he would do if he were forced to defend himself. He fingered his handgun. He knew how to use a gun. He had trained with various firearms on Tracy Island, and was technically competent, though he held the lowest score on the family shooting range.
The gun felt incredibly heavy. John was always surprised by how heavy his weapon was. That was why he had not been wearing his coloured sash, he preferred to not have the gun pulling against his shoulder the whole day. John placed the gun on the console and looked at the screen.
"We have aligned ourselves with your docking port and are ready for final approach."
John spoke into the microphone, in Mandarin,
"Affirmative, Wolf-Spider, approach and the docking port will automatically begin docking procedures."
"So you have been listening to us. Sorry, Thunderbird 5."