THE Grand Canyon - a spectacular place for rock climbing, or at least Hayley thought so as she reached the ledge after the long climb up. "Oh, yes!" she said triumphantly as she adjusted her sunglasses. "Totally worth it. That was fun." She turned at the sound of grunting. Virgil was starting to emerge. He appeared to be struggling so she helped him for the final bit. "Come on, slowcoach," she teased.
Virgil rolled onto his back and puffed. "You have a strange idea of fun," he said breathlessly. "You know you're supposed to go slowly up a rockface?" Virgil wasn't puffed out for being unfit, quite the opposite. He liked to take his time whilst climbing. But Hayley as it turned out was very nimble and fast at climbing rocks. Very confident as well - and he'd been trying to keep up with her.
Hayley giggled. "Come on, Virgil. You have to admit it was worth the effort?" she said. "Look at that view?"
She turned to gaze out at just how spectacular the view of the Grand Canyon was.
It wasn't often that Virgil had time away from Tracy Island so he was making the most of every second. Now he'd gotten to his feet and his breath was back, he pulled out a small silver object from his rucksack. It was a camera. He looked over and saw how majestic Hayley looked even with her back to him, and especially with the view behind. "Hey, turn and hold that pose, would you?" he asked.
Hayley turned and saw the camera. "Ooooh, what's this? A new toy?" she asked.
"Indeed," said Virgil proudly. "It's the very latest of its kind." He held the camera up. "What is it they used to say? Watch the birdie?"
Hayley laughed as Virgil pushed the button. Suddenly there came a massive white flash of light which hit Hayley. "WOAH!" she exclaimed, throwing up her hands to try and protect her eyes. And in doing so she stepped backwards. Right off the edge of the cliff. "WAAAAAAAAAARRGGH!"
Virgil gasped in horror. "NO! HAYLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!"
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"ORDEAL"
VIRGIL darted forwards faster than he'd ever moved before and managed to grab Hayley's arm just as her feet went over the edge. She dropped down with a scream but he managed to save her. Frantically he pulled her back up onto the top of the cliff and both lay there for a few moments, gasping for breath. "Are you okay?" Virgil asked once he'd found his voice.
Hayley was blinking, not because of the Sun, but because of the bright flash. "Yeah…I think so," she said, sitting up. "Wow. what was that?"
"It was the camera," said Virgil sheepishly. He looked at it. "I hadn't realised the flash was so powerful. I am so sorry."
But Hayley wasn't angry. "It's okay," she said with a smile.
"No, it's not!" Virgil objected. "You almost fell to your-"
Hayley cut him off by locking her lips onto his. When she eventually pulled back she said with a smile, "I take it you've forgotten what's in the backpacks?" she said.
Virgil thought for a moment. Then he remembered. "Oh…yeah…" He then noticed a small flat topped rock nearby which was perfect for placing the camera on. "Good job I can turn the flash off," he said as he did so with the camera. He stood up and placed it on the camera whilst Hayley got ready for him to try again. He set a timer and then walked over to join her. "Smile," he said. The camera took the photo. He then did the same again three more times. One with their arms wrapped around each other. One of them standing back to back, and one with them kissing. "This is more like it," he said, feeling happy again.
Hayley watched him full of love as he went back to get the camera so he could take some photos of her. It was that moment that she felt her wristwatch start buzzing. She lifted her arm and saw on the face that it was Colonel Jennings calling. Even though she was technically off duty, she knew that the Colonel wouldn't be calling her unless it was supremely urgent. "Madison here."
"Madison. Colonel Jennings speaking. How's your leave?"
"Fantastic, thank you, Colonel."
"Excellent. Sorry to interrupt but I have some news for you."
"Oh, yes?"
"I've had a letter from the World Aquanaut Security Patrol. They have developed a new underwater surveillance craft with an experimental guidance system. They want to try it out on the best of the best. Seems you are at the top of their list. I know you have tasks with us, but if you'd like to go, we can cover for you. Are you interested?"
Hayley grinned broadly. "Can't wait! Thank you, ma'am," she said. "Today's our last day. I'll see Virgil off and then I'll make my way to Marineville. It'll be great to see everyone there again."
"I thought as much," smiled Colonel Jennings. "Best of luck."
"Thanks. Over and out." Hayley ended the call then turned to Virgil who was still taking photos. "Sorry, Virgil. We need to get going. Something special has come up. I'll explain on the way down." And before Virgil could say anything, she began to run towards the cliff edge.
"Hey! Wait for me!" Virgil called, putting the camera away safely before running after her.
Hayley jumped off the cliff, did a forward-roll in mid-air and then dropped down. Virgil dived after her and after falling down a few feet, they deployed the parachutes that were inside their rucksacks.
As they drifted down towards the canyon floor, Hayley filled Virgil in on what Colonel Jennings had said. "That's it. I'm their first choice."
Virgil felt disappointed that their vacation was being cut short by a few hours, but he was also pleased for Hayley. "You deserve it," he said proudly.
Several hours after seeing Virgil off, Hayley was driving down a dark country lane through a wooded area about thirty miles South of Marineville. She hadn't called ahead to let them know she was coming. Surely, she felt, she was expecting them to know she was coming. The powerful beams of the Cheetah's headlights shone along the long, straight road. It was a misty night and the only other light source came from the Moon. As Hayley looked around, she felt slightly uneasy about her surroundings. "Wouldn't want to be wandering alone out there tonight, or anytime," she said out loud to herself. She then passed a signpost. "Twenty-five miles. Will soon be there." She put on some music and began to relax. As she continued on, a large fog-bank seemed to come down and fill the trees. "Better slow down a little," she told herself and then drove into the fog. A few minutes later she emerged on the other side. Then slowed down as she approached a junction. The sign pointed to two locations. One was Marineville, dead ahead. The other was for a base located about fifty miles due East. Hayley stopped at the junction for a moment, then began to smirk before turning right to head towards the other base.
Commander Shore entered the control room in the tower at Marineville. "Good evening, Atlanta," he said.
"Good evening, Dad," answered his daughter who was sitting at the control desk.
"Anything to report?"
"No, sir. Everything's A-Okay," said Atlanta. "Stingray is due back around 14:00 hours tomorrow"
Commander Shore gave a chuckle. "Yep. Definitely A-Okay," he said. He was fully aware of the love his daughter had for Stingray's captain.
The communicator on the desk beeped. Atlanta pressed the button to answer it. "This is Marineville. Go ahead?"
A hologram of Colonel Jennings appeared in front of them. "Lieutenant Shore, this is Colonel Jennings from the GDF."
"Hello, Colonel. How can I help you?"
"I wish to speak to Commander Shore, if I may?"
"I'll take it, Atlanta," said Commander Shore. "I'm right here, Colonel."
Colonel Jennings hologram turned to face him. "Good evening, Commander. Just calling to check that Madison has arrived okay?"
But instead of getting an immediate answer, all the Colonel got instead was a pair of confused looks on the faces of the Shores.
"Madison?" said Commander Shore. "As in Captain Madison?"
"You know any others?" said Colonel Jennings.
"No…but what about her?" asked Commander Shore.
Colonel Jennings tried not to show any frustration. "She's supposed to be arriving this evening to try out this new craft you invited her to try out?" she asked.
This produced even more confused looks. "What new craft? What invitation?" asked the Commander. "We don't have any new craft in our fleet."
"And…we haven't invited Hayley here," added Atlanta. "I mean, she's always welcome here, but-"
"What's this all about, Colonel?" demanded Commander Shore. "What invitation?!"
"This one," said Colonel Jennings. "The one you sent to me asking whether Madison could be spared?"
Commander Shore and Atlanta stared at the letter. Sure enough, there was the W.A.S.P. logo and the Commander's name at the bottom, including his signature.
Shore almost exploded. "WHAT IN THUNDER?!" he roared. "WHO'S WRITING FAKE LETTERS WITH MY SIGNATURE?!"
Colonel Jennings stared at him, then at the letter. "So…you didn't write this?"
"NO, I HAVE NOT!" bellowed Commander Shore.
"Father, your blood pressure!" Atlanta said, trying to calm him down.
"NOT NOW, ATLANTA!" he thundered before turning back to Jennings. "COLONEL, WHO THE HELL IS BEHIND THIS?!"
But Colonel Jennings didn't know. Now she was looking rather concerned. "Let me get back to you," she said. "Maybe you need to check your staff as well?" She signed off before Shore had the chance to reply. She then pushed the button to contact Hayley directly. "Captain Madison, this is Colonel Jennings. Do you read me? Over." No response came. Now she was getting really concerned. She hurried to the main control room at the GDF's headquarters. "Someone get me Madison's locator tracker!" she barked. "She isn't answering and I need to know why."
The controllers worked quickly.
"Not detecting her beacon, Colonel," said a controller.
"It's not showing up at all," said another.
Colonel Jennings was now confused as well as concerned. "Where the hell is she?" she asked herself.
One controller had decided to take some initiative. She checked on her computer and then called out. "Colonel, I've got something!"
"What is it?" asked Colonel Jennings.
"Madison's ID card has been scanned," said the controller.
"Where?"
"The Trenzalore Missile Base," said the controller.
"I can confirm that!" said a male controller. "Her locator beacon might not be on, but the one for her Cheetah is. And it's coming from the base."
Colonel Jennings looked at the screen as it homed in on the large base. "What the hell is she doing there?"
The Cheetah slowly pulled up to the front gate at the Trenzalore Missile Base. The security officer on the gate stepped forwards as Hayley rolled down the window and handed her ID card to him. He put in a small device which read her credentials. After a quick glance at her to make sure her face matched what was on the screen, he took the card back out and returned it to her. Hayley gave a flirty smile as the gate was lifted and she drove through.
Hayley parked the Cheetah next to one of the large concrete buildings and looked up at the windows. She walked round out of sight of any guards into a blind spot for CCTV cameras. Then she pressed her suit's wrist controller and her entire suit changed from Scarlet to black. She then put on a helmet and some nanotech gecko gloves before she began to scale the wall of the building. At one point she had to stop as a security guard walked down the sidewalk and she kept very still so that his eyes wouldn't catch any movement. Luckily for her he did not and once he was gone she carried on.
Soon she reached a window on the fourth floor of the five-story building. She tapped the side of the helmet activating a special vision to allow her to see if any hazards were inside the building. And indeed there were. "Intruder detection systems," she said to herself as a series of red lasers moved around inside the room. She then took out another strange device which she ran along the edges of the glass. It did something to the glass turning it from solid to kind of a liquid feel. Once that was done she took a sharp knife with a heated end to it to cut through the glass. The glass slowly folded inwards until it was up high enough for Hayley to get in. She peered inside and looked around. A security camera was present in one corner of the room. She saw this, but was not remotely phased by it as she began to perform acrobatics across the main table in the room having to do a hand-stand in order to avoid the lasers. She then performed a double back-flip before landing upright in the middle of the room. On the back wall was a safe. She then took another device out of her tool-belt and attached it to the keypad of the safe. It then began to scan for the correct code to open it. Hayley had to backflip onto a handstand to avoid a laser then flipped herself back again once it was clear. The device then finished finding the correct code and the safe opened to reveal a file with some papers in and a small black metal box. It was this that Hayley picked up before closing the safe door again. She turned to head back to the window only for a laser to come up literally centimetres in front of her. She let out a small gasp but it missed her. She jumped up onto the table, did another flip and was now outside on the window ledge again. She picked up the device that was showing where the lasers were and switched it off. She placed it back into her belt and then peered down towards the sidewalk where she'd come from. Taking another device from her belt, Hayley placed this one on the side of the wall and opened it to reveal a long extendable cable which she attached to herself. She composed herself, took a deep breath and then jumped off the ledge before running down the wall of the building, the cable reeling out as she went. Soon, she reached the bottom and jumped down into a cat-like pose on the ground, detaching the cable as she did so.
"Put your hands in the air and don't move!"
Hayley slowly turned to look behind her. She hadn't checked to see if the sidewalk was clear. The security guard who'd walked through before had reappeared and was now aiming his automatic rifle at the back of her head. "Ahhhh," said Hayley, getting to her feet and turning to face him. "You'll be getting a bonus for this."
"What the hell are you talking about?" growled the Guard.
"This exercise was a test to check your security," said Hayley with a smile. "Here's my authorisation." She held out her ID card for the guard to see.
The guard started to lower his weapon, and that's when she struck. She jumped up and kicked him in the chest, knocking him to the ground. He dropped the weapon and cried out as he felt a rib go. Then she came down and grabbed his dropped weapon before using it to knock him clean out. Once he was out cold, she dragged him away into the shadows and left him hidden before deactivating her stealth mode and returning to the Cheetah.
Once inside the Cheetah, she put the box she'd taken from the safe and placed it in the glove compartment. She then drove back over to the main gate so she could leave the base. As with her arrival, she opened the window and handed the card so the security guard could check it.
But Hayley hadn't checked to make sure that the security guard she'd taken out was completely out of it. He wasn't quite unconscious. He was in extreme pain and was unable to move. But he managed to stay awake just long enough and muster what very little strength he had to be able to push the emergency button on his belt.
An alarm began to blare. All the lights that weren't on suddenly came on, illuminating the base so much that it was like daylight had suddenly come.
The security man at the gate handed Hayley's card back before he'd finished checking it. "Sorry, it's a security alert," he told her. "You'll have to wait here for a moment." He turned away and went to talk to his colleague in the booth to try and find out what was going on.
"Like hell I am," Hayley muttered to herself. She put the Cheetah in reverse and zoomed backwards away from the gate, much to the surprise of the security guards. They looked at each other, then both exited the booth, getting their weapons ready.
Hayley brought the Cheetah to a stop, then moved the lever that activated the flight-mode installed in the car. The wings folded out and the jet thrusters emerged from the back. The engine revved louder and louder before the rear wheels spun and then it rocketed forwards towards the gate.
"HEY!" bellowed the two guards and began firing as the Cheetah lifted up off the ground. The bullets bounced off the shell of the car and it landed with a bump on the opposite side before reaching the main road, swerving round to the right, retracting its flight gear and then speeding off into the night. And then, it vanished, with nobody on the base having a clue what had just happened.