FREIGHTER 7 was one of a fleet of unmanned supply rocket ships that travelled between Earth, the Moon and Mars on a continuous route. Even though the colonies and bases on both Mars and the Moon were well established, not everything they needed could be created where they were and still supplies needed to be delivered to them from Earth. The reason for them being unmanned was because it was deemed unfair to ask a person to spend several weeks alone in one of these ships as they made the long six-week journeys to Mars and week-long journeys to the Moon. They were not very fast.

In the recent months however, some problems had been plaguing the Space Agency and in particular these unmanned freighters. Some were failing to reach their destinations. Freighters 1, 4 and 5 had all been lost on their outward journeys to Mars. The cause was unknown but as Freighter 7 made its way along its pre-programed route, it too was about to run into trouble.

Inside the motor room, all was quiet and still. Lights flashed. The computers whirred and beeped as normal. Then BANG! A small but powerful explosion ripped through the main computer, disabling the power and cutting the main engine. Now it was drifting, helpless, alone and at the mercy of anyone with the wrong intentions who just so happened to come across it.

At Cape Canaveral, Commander Wilbur was alerted by an alarm on the wall as well as his second-in-command, Lieutenant Bell.

"The Freighter alarm's gone off, sir!" said Bell.

"I have ears, Lieutenant!" Wilbur answered. "Turn that blasted thing off!"

Bell cut the power and the alarm went silent. "What do you think has happened, sir?" he asked. "Could it be a computer malfunction?"

"You know better than that, Bell!" said Wilber sharply. "Those computers are top of the range! They're faultless. There's only one answer - SABOTAGE!"

5!

4!

3!

2!

1!

"Thunderbirds Are Go!"

"SABOTAGE"

A GOLDISH-brown and slightly rusty-looking spaceship made its way towards a second ship that appeared to be in trouble. This was the BSC Vulcan, belonging to the Briggs Salvage Company run by two brothers. Their names were Simon Briggs and his younger brother Joe. Simon, or Sim as he was known, was the brighter of the two and the one with the brains. Joe was the dimmer one and did all the main work because Sim made him do it and he wasn't bright enough to realise he was being taken advantage of.

Sim gave a cackle. "Heh-heh-heh. Right place, right time again, Joe."

"Yeah, Sim," answered Joe. "There's another freighter for us to salvage."

Sim adjusted the radio settings. "Take us in close," he said. "I'm going to call up our friends back on Earth and see if we can cut us a deal."

Lieutenant Bell observed Commander Wilbur tapping his desk impatiently. "You look as though you're waiting for a call, sir?"

"You damn right I am," replied Wilbur sharply. "This happened twice before whilst you were on leave, Lieutenant. Any moment now we'll be getting it."

"Salvage ship Vulcan to Cape Canaveral. Do you read me, Commander Wilbur?"

"Yeah, yeah, I read you, Briggs," said Wilbur in an irritated voice. |Don't tell me! You've stumbled across one of our Mars Supply Freighters that's drifting?"

Sim chuckled with amusement at the Commander's tone. "You're a mind reader, Commander. Yep. Freighter 7 is just ahead of us. Want us to recover the cargo for you?"

Wilbur growled to himself before speaking again. "Fine," he said. "But how the hell do you do it? This is the third time this has happened!"

"I guess we'll put it down to pure luck, Commander," said Sim with a slight sneer in his voice. "We'll be in touch." He turned off the radio before the Commander could reply. "Fire retros, Joe."

"Er, roger, Sim!"

Joe flicked a switch which fired the ships retro rockets. The Vulcan slowed and came to a free-float stop about fifty metres away from the freighter.

The two brothers put on their helmets and passed through the airlock. "You ready to go, Joe?"

"Sure, Sim."

The outer doors opened and the two men used their thruster packs to move across to the freighter. Sim used a special decoder device on the locking mechanism which found them the right code to put in in order to open the doors. Soon they were inside and looking around.

First they made their way to the power room where they found the main computer console completely wrecked. Something inside had exploded, disabling it.

"Perfect!" said Sim. "Now you fix the timer on your little bomb, Joe. I'll start shifting the cargo."

"Okay, Sim," replied Joe. "Two hours should do it."

Whilst Joe worked in the power room, Sim made his way to the cargo bay. His greedy eyes lit up when he saw the crates and boxes that were stashed away inside. "Cor!" he exclaimed with glee. "This ought to set us up very nicely indeed. Must be a few-thousand bucks worth here!"

The skyline of Chicago had come into view as Thunderbird 1 approached from the west. Scott checked his position with where he was going. "We're approaching Chicago now," Scott said to Alan who was sitting in the passenger seat behind him.

"Ah, thanks for the lift, Scott," said Alan. "Good job you're on hand when the family jet isn't."

"Brains said the jet's long overdue for maintenance," chuckled Scott. "It wouldn't do to have to go and rescue one of our own vehicles now, would it?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," Alan pointed out.

Scott had to admit Alan had a point. "True," he said. "And there's the landing pad for the hospital." He brought Thunderbird 1 down and landed on the pad leaving enough room for any Medical Helicopters to still land if they needed to. "Here you go. Do you need me to come in?"

"Nah, I'll be fine," answered Alan as they exited down the ladder. "Besides, it'll be the last visit I make here. I just want Dr Charles to see how much better I'm feeling."

"Fair enough," said Scott. "I'll wait here."

"I'll try not to be too long," Alan said.

"Take all the time you need," smiled Scott. "Not like I'm needed anywhere."

The two brothers fist-pumped and then Scott lent against one of the landing legs as Alan made his way into the hospital.

It didn't take long for Scott to become bored as he wandered around Thunderbird 1's legs. He'd noticed that it was getting a lot of looks from people passing. Several waved and he obliged by waving back. He soon found himself playing a game of how attractive the nurses that were working at the hospital were. "Mmmm," he said to himself as a pair of young student nurses gave him a flirty wave as they headed to work. "Hellooooo, ladies."

"Scott?"

Scott nearly jumped out of his skin. "Jeez!" he exclaimed. "John, don't scare me like that!"

"You? Scared?" said John mockingly via the hologram projector on Scott's left wrist.

Scott rolled his eyes. "What is it, John?"

"There's a situation literally a few blocks away from your position," said John. "The Fire Department has asked for assistance. As you're already in the area, it seems best that you take the job."

"Very well," said Scott. "No idea how long Alan is going to be in there so I could use a distraction."

"F-A-B," answered John. "I've been advised to tell you to keep Thunderbird 1 airborne and out of sight. You'll need to drop in from above and find the Fire Chief. He'll fill you in on the situation."

"Understood," said Scott. He climbed back into Thunderbird 1 and was soon airborne again, heading for the location that John had sent to him.

Dr Charles and Dr Reese listened with intrigue and curiosity as Alan recounted what he had experienced during the Dakar Rally and the confrontation that he'd had with what he'd believed to be Sophie's spectre.

"And you threw a stone at her and she vanished?" said Dr Charles.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it," said Alan. "The stone hit her and she turned to desert dust. I then felt a huge amount of weight lift from my shoulders, like a burden that I'd been unknowingly carrying was lifted."

"How did you feel after that?" asked Dr Reese.

"Well…apart from being almost dead from dehydration, I felt okay," said Alan. "It was a good job that Dad and Scott arrived when they did. I wouldn't have made it otherwise."

"And how many encounters have you had with Sophie's spectre since then?" asked Dr Charles.

"None," said Alan. "I've not been disturbed by her once, in my sleep or awake."

Drs Reese and Charles exchanged puzzled glances. "Do these kinds of traumas go in an instant?" asked Dr Reese.

"In my experience, never," said Dr Charles. "It takes a lot of therapy as well as having courage to get over something like what you went through, Alan."

"That's what I would have thought," said Alan. "But in all seriousness, was she ever really there?"

"What do you mean?" asked Dr Charles.

"Was I really haunted by her spirit or was I just imagining her the whole time?"

"Well she's not dead so you've not been visited by a spirit," said Dr Charles. "The only explanation that I can possibly come up with is that it was your guilt that was confronting you and it took the form of Dr Telford. But you decided to confront it and it would seem that you've conquered it."

Alan took a breath of relief. "Does that mean I'm able to go back on duty?" he asked. "I'm dying to get back to rescuing people and piloting my ship without being tormented."

"Hmmm," said Dr Charles, which made Alan uneasy. "Well, in my eyes you seem a lot better than you did when you came before. But I believe the final decision must be with your father."

Alan nodded. Then he let out a sad sigh.

"Are you okay?" asked Dr Reese.

"Yeah…" Alan replied. "Just thinking about Kenny?"

"Kenny?"

"My friend Kenny Malone," said Alan. "He was in the car with me when we crashed. He was badly hurt but by the time Scott and Dad got me back to camp they'd flown him away. I couldn't bring myself to face Russ and the rest of the team so Dad went and spoke to them. I believe he set things right with them."

Dr Charles and Dr Reese looked at each other again.

"Sorry, did you say your friend's name was?" Dr Reese asked.

"Kenny Malone. Why do you ask?"

The two doctors looked at each other again. Then Dr Reese stood up. "Follow me, Alan," she said. "I'd like to show you something."

"Okay…" said Alan as he followed her out of the office whilst Dr Charles watched on with a satisfied smile on his face.

It had taken the Briggs brothers around an hour and a half to transfer all the cargo from Freighter 7 to Vulcan. "How are you getting on, Joe?" asked Sim.

"It's too easy," Joe replied. "This stuff's as light as a feather with no gravity."

Sim laughed. "Another couple of jobs like this, Joe, and it'll be the life of luxury for us."

Joe snickered. "I cannot wait," he said as he brought the last of the silver boxes into the cargo hold. "That's the lot, Sim."

"Good," said Sim. "How long until the bomb goes off?"

Joe checked his watch. "About twenty minutes," he said.

"Then let's get going," said Sim. "We don't want to get hit by the debris."

The brothers returned to the cockpit after securing the cargo. Joe fired the main booster and they turned away from the freighter to start the journey back to Earth.

A short time later, the bomb that Joe had planted inside Freighter 7 detonated, completely destroying the ship to leave behind no evidence of them even being there.

Chief Boden kept his eyes firmly fixed upon the window where the gunman and hostage had been seconds before. He didn't like the amount of smoke that was escaping through it. Time was running out.

A whoosh from behind caught his attention as Scott landed nearby having dropped down from Thunderbird 1 via his jetpack. "You in charge here?" he asked.

"Yes," replied Boden. He offered his hand. "Wallace Boden - CFD."

"Scott Tracy - International Rescue. What's the situation?"

"Not good," replied Boden. "Young mother is being held hostage by her deranged ex-boyfriend."

"Mother?" Scott repeated. "Are there kids-"

"They're over there," Boden cut him off and pointed towards a nearby Ambulance where the EMTs were checking them over. They looked terrified by the ordeal they'd been through. "We manage to negotiate for their release but he's still got the mother in there," Boden continued.

"And I'm guessing the guy started the fire?" asked Scott.

"Correct," replied the Chief. "The Police are trying to negotiate with him through the door but all he's doing is freaking out."

"So what can I do?" asked Scott.

"She keeps getting back to the window periodically," said Boden. "Next time she does, see if you can get her out whilst we keep him occupied."

Scott nodded. "Understood," he said. "I'll go round the side out of sight and jetpack up to the roof. Then I'll make my way down to the window and take her from there."

"Sounds good," said Boden.

Scott began to move away.

"Oh, Tracy?"

Scott looked back. "Yeah, Chief?"

"Don't get shot."

Scott was slightly perturbed by this but didn't show it. "I don't intend to," he answered and headed off.

As he made his way up the side of the building using his jetpack, he used the heads-up display inside his helmet to scan through the wall. He could see the heat-signatures of the desperate gunman and his ex-partner. He could also hear via powerful microphones what was being said.

"I'LL SHOOT HER IF YOU TRY THAT AGAIN!" the man bellowed.

"LUIS, STOP THIS!" a Police Officer called from behind the door. "WE JUST WANT TO HELP YOU!"

John then contacted his brother. "Things sound a little hairy."

"That's an understatement," Scott replied as he landed on the roof. "John, I don't suppose you have any intel on this guy?"

Using the man's voice via the microphone in Scott's helmet, John was able to find a match and it soon brought up his background. "Luis Emanuel. Ah…not exactly a model citizen."

"He's taken his ex-partner hostage, John, that pretty much says it all."

"Well before then even," said John. "Drug abuse. Drug-dealing. Several muggings. Robbery in broad daylight."

Scott grimaced as he peered over the edge of the roof. He could see the open window about three levels down and the smoke coming out. For a brief second he saw the tops of the heads of Luis and Kasia before they disappeared back inside again. Through his radio network he could still hear the reports coming through between the officers.

"We're at the door, but he's not responding," the Police Officer reported to the Sergeant who was down with Boden and the other members of the Police and Fire Department.

Boden caught Scott's eye and acknowledged that he was clear to proceed. He then spoke to Hermann, one of the Fire-Truck operators.

As Scott got himself ready to abseil down, he noticed Hermann climbing up onto the back of one of the Fire-Trucks and turned the platform with a mounted water-cannon on it, pointing it directly towards the window. No idea what he's up to but so long as it doesn't interfere, Scott thought to himself. He readied himself and climbed over the edge to make his way down.

"Luis, talk to me," the Officer behind the door said.

"YOU'RE PUSHING ME!" Luis was heard to shout back. "DON'T PUSH ME!"

He had been by the window with Kasia only to disappear back inside when going to shout at the officer. However this time he did not take Kasia with him, leaving her terrified beyond words next to the window.

Boden noticed this and hand-signalled to Scott to let him know.

He must have left her by the window, Scott thought as he picked up the pace.

"YOU COME THROUGH THAT DOOR, I'LL KILL YOU!" Luis shouted to the officers behind the door. "I'LL KILL EVERYONE, I DON'T CARE! YOU HEAR ME?! YOU HEAR ME?!"

Kasia had by now looked up and noticed Scott approaching the window. He raised a finger to tell her to keep quiet. With Luis distracted, now was his chance to get her out.

"Be reasonable, Luis," said the Police Officer through the door.

"DON'T TELL ME TO BE REASONABLE!" Luis screamed. "IT WAS ALL GOOD UNTIL YOU SHOWED UP! EVERYTHING WAS UNDER CONTROL! I JUST WANT EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL AGAIN!" He began sobbing as it was all getting too much for him.

Scott reached the window, took hold of Kasia, and then swung himself away, pulling her out through the open window. Kasia whimpered as they went. "Hey. Shh-shh-shh, it's okay. I've got you," Scott said in a low voice so as not to attract Luis's attention. "Just hold on tight and don't let go. Can you do that for me?"

Kasia continued to whimper but nodded.

Scott then began to climb back up towards the roof. But he'd only taken three steps when he heard Luis shout again. "KASIA?! KASIA, WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Luis, come back and talk to me!"

The armed officers on the ground raised their weapons towards the window, ready to take Luis out if needed, but the smoke was obscuring his head from their view.

"I haven't got the shot," the main firearms officer said to the Sergeant.

Boden gritted his teeth. "Come on…come on…" he urged Scott.

Scott glanced back down towards the window right at the moment that Luis had appeared at the window. He tried to pick up the pace but it wasn't easy carrying Kasia and trying to pull them both up. He had a bad feeling that he was going to get noticed, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Luis looked frantically around below him, but all he could see were the Police and Fire-Department personnel and vehicles. He began to panic. "KASIA! WHERE'D YOU GO?!"

Kasia then made the rather daft decision to look down. Not only did seeing how far she was off the ground make her freak out but also catching sight of the top of her ex-partner's head also made her let out a frightened squeak.

Luis's head suddenly turned to look up. He saw Scott and his crazed hate-filled eyes stared hard at him for a few seconds. Scott felt his stomach churn as Luis pulled his gun out and pointed it up at them. He felt Kasia tighten her terrified grip on him and he turned his head away, shutting his eyes and waiting for the gun to go off.

But Luis never got to pull the trigger because suddenly there came a loud WHOOSH as a jet of high-pressure water came shooting out of the cannon on the back of the Fire-Truck and struck Luis, sending him flying back inside the apartment. "NO! NO-AAARCK!" Luis screamed as he was thrown into the far wall.

This was the signal for the Police to make their move. "TAKE HIM!" the Sergeant ordered.

The officers inside kicked open the door as the water cannon was switched off. They found Luis, slumped on the floor, the wind completely knocked out of him by the sudden force of water and the impact with the wall. He was in no condition to resist. Within seconds, they'd taken the gun off of him and placed cuffs on his wrists.

"He's secure. We got him!" the officer who'd been negotiating with Luis reported over the radio, which made everyone breathe huge sighs of relief.

Boden gave Hermann an approving thumbs up as he shut down the water cannon.

Scott was able to bring Kasia to the roof safely. "It's okay, ma'am. They've got him. He can't hurt you or your kids anymore."

Kasia sobbed and then hugged him tightly. "Thank you. Thank you," she said.

Scott managed a smile for the first time in what felt like days.

Dr Reese took Alan over to one of the Wards. "Wait here," she said as she went over to one of the booths and spoke with the Doctor who was outside.

Alan still wasn't sure why he'd been brought there. He couldn't see who was in the booth as there was a big curtain concealing the patient from view. Then Dr Reese beckoned him over as she pulled back the curtain. Alan gasped. "Kenny!"

Kenny opened his eyes. "Alan?" The two friends were soon hugging. "Oh, man. You're alive!"

"Yeah!" said Alan as he looked at Kenny's injuries. "Oh, Kenny, I'm so sorry."

"Whatever for?"

"For this," said Alan. "If I hadn't crashed-"

"Hey, hey, hey," Kenny cut him off. "Accidents happen, bro. It's all part of the Dakar. Don't blame yourself. I bet it was that damn Coldshock team that knocked us slightly."

Alan felt his stomach churn. No matter how much he wanted to, how could he tell his best friend the real reason they'd crashed? But he didn't actually care. Kenny didn't need to know. All that mattered was that he was alive and safe, and that he would recover from his injuries.

Scott soon had Kasia safely on ground level and taken to the Ambulance where she was reunited with her children. Scott smiled as he watched the reunion, and then observed with satisfaction as Luis was put inside one of the Police Cars and taken away. He shot Scott a dirty look, but Scott showed he wasn't intimidated, much to the deranged man's frustration.

Scott walked over to the Fire-Truck where Hermann was putting away some equipment. "You the one on that cannon?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's right," replied Hermann.

Scott held out his hand. "Nice shot. Thanks," he said.

Hermann shook it. "Thanks, kiddo. Nice save," he said.

Chief Boden walked over to him. "I second that," he said. "Good job, Tracy."

Scott felt humbled by the praise. "Thanks, Chief," he said.

"Hey, you wanna know something?" the Chief continued.

"What's that?"

"Don't matter what that fool Grafton says to try and discredit you, you boys will always be welcomed in Chicago," said Boden. "If we ever need back-up. You'll be the ones we call."

This really lifted Scott's spirits. His face broke into a grin. "You have no idea how good it is to hear that, Chief," he said. "Thank you."

"No…thank you," Boden said with a warm smile.

Commander Wilbur paced back and forth by the window of the control tower as he waited for the Vulcan to arrive.

"What are these Briggs brothers like, Commander?" asked Bell.

"Sewer rats, that's what they are, Bell," replied Wilbur. "Their appearances are as disgusting as their attitude and line of work. Hardly any accidents occur in deep space as there are no other ships around to hit. They have no other kind of work for them to do. Honest work anyway."

"So they've resorted to stealing from our supply freighters?"

"Correct," said Wilbur.

"Shall I alert the Base Police?"

"What for?"

"To arrest them for sabotaging the freighters when they land, sir?"

Wilbur spun on his heel and glared at the Lieutenant. "Use your head, Lieutenant!" he snapped. "We need to have proof that they've done it before we can do that! And besides, the only times they're ever on the base are when they've come to collect the cheques!"

The radio crackled into life. "Cape Canaveral from Vulcan. We're coming in now. Are we cleared to land?"

"I'll get it," Wilbur cut Bell off. "Yes, Briggs, you're clear for landing. Pad 3."

"Roger, Commander."

The Vulcan soon appeared out of the clouds. It lowered its legs and touched down on the designated landing pad.

After workmen from the base bitterly removed the cargo from the Vulcan, under the supervision but not assistance from the Briggs brothers, the brothers then made their way to the control building and up to the tower where they met with Wilbur and Bell.

"Well, there you go," Wilbur said as he handed over a cheque. "It breaks my heart, but there's what you need to take to the Space Agency HQ in Washington and you'll get your money."

Sim smirked triumphantly. "A pleasure doing business with you as always, Commander."

Bell found himself disturbed and disgusted by the two brothers' appearances and attitudes. Against his better judgement, he decided to speak up. "Okay, Briggs, we're on to you. You won't be able to keep this up."

"Proof, Lieutenant," snickered Briggs. "That's all you need."

Wilbur too was getting impatient. "Get out. Get OUT!" he thundered. "BEFORE I ARREST YOU FOR TRESPASSING!"

"Calm your head, Commander," said Sim as he and Joe headed for the door leading out. "We're going. Farewell, gentlemen. I'm sure we'll meet again soon." He then chuckled to himself as Joe led him out and the door closed automatically behind them.

Wilbur turned and fixed Bell with a stare.

Bell looked sheepish. "I'm sorry, sir," he apologised. "I should have kept my mouth shut."

"Yeah, you should have!" snapped Wilbur before changing his tone dramatically. "But I also fully agree with you. This has gone on enough. Once is nothing. Two is a coincidence. But three?! No, they're behind it, without a doubt. But unless we can prove it, our hands are tied."

"So what are we going to do, sir?" asked Bell.

"I'll tell you what we're gonna do, Lieutenant," said Wilbur. "Get me Base Endeavour. I need to talk with Colonel Straker."

"Yes, sir!"

Jeff lay back in his chair and listened as Scott and Alan filled him in on their respective parts of the day. Although Alan found it hard to make his sound good other than the positivity of how he felt and making peace with Kenny who didn't blame him for the accident. Scott's mission report was much more interesting, he thought.

"That was a close call, son," Jeff remarked when Scott had finished. "Were you worried?"

"Of course I was," replied Scott. "That guy was dangerously unstable. He had no hesitation to use that gun."

"Your suit would have protected you though?" Alan asked.

"Yeah, but if he'd hit the girl I was rescuing…" Scott said.

"Fair point," Alan admitted.

"But he didn't and he's in custody," said Jeff. "Very well done, Scott. Go to bed, you've earned it."

"Thanks, Dad," said Scott. "Goodnight." He turned and headed off.

Jeff turned to Alan. "Dr Charles thinks you're all good now?"

"Yeah, and I feel the same way too," said Alan. "All I want now is to get back into Thunderbird 3 and do my job. Helping people in trouble."

Jeff smiled proudly. "Well, I think then tomorrow we take Thunderbird 3 for a little trip around the Earth and Moon just to get you back into the swing of things," he said. "Let us prove that you can fly your ship without being haunted."

Alan grinned. "F-A-B!" he said.

"Go get some rest then," said Jeff. "Will see you bright and early for blast off."

Alan hugged his dad and then hurried off to bed with the expression of an excitable child.

Jeff shut down his desk and was about to head off to bed himself when John's portrait eyes started flashing with the beeping sound accompanying it. "Oh, boy…" he sighed as he sat back down. "Hey, John. Just about to turn in. What can I do for you?"

"Sorry to call so late, Dad, but I've got two people who urgently need to speak with you," said John.

Jeff's expression turned into a frown. "Not Grafton, is it?" he asked.

"Luckily, no," said John. "I'm putting them through now."

The hologram projections of two people appeared on Jeff's desk. He recognised them both immediately as Colonel Ed Straker from Base Endeavour and Dr Sandra Travers from the Mars Colony. "Ed. Dr Travers. This is a surprise."

"Hello, Jeff," said Straker.

"Good evening, Mr Tracy," said Dr Travers.

"Sorry to call like this, Jeff," said Straker. "I'm afraid this isn't a social call either. We have a situation on our hands."

"I see," said Jeff as he lifted his almost empty coffee mug to his lips. "What's the problem?"

It was Dr Travers who answered the question. "I'm afraid it's Captain Taylor, Mr Tracy," she said. "If we don't act fast, he'll soon be dead!"