TWO hours had passed since International Rescue had mobilised to join the GDF in the search for Hayley and Jeff was keen to get a status report from everyone. "Base to International Rescue. Sitrep, please?"
"Thunderbird 1, reporting in," said Scott from the Arctic. "Search so far negative."
"Thunderbird Shadow - nothing to report," Kayo said.
"Thunderbird 4 - ocean South of Tracy Island is clear," said Gordon.
"This is FAB1. The skies are empty," said Lady Penelope.
"Thunderbird 5 - have made global sweeps for any potential Cabal activity," said John. "So far there is nothing."
"Thunderbird 3 - no suspicious craft located in orbit around the Earth as yet," finished Alan.
Jeff wasn't surprised by this. "I figured as much," he said. "Okay. keep at it. This could be a very long day."
"Or months," Gordon remarked quietly.
"I heard that, Gordon," said Jeff sternly. "Let's try and make sure it isn't."
As everyone signed off, Jeff sank into his chair. Despite his words of encouragement, he couldn't help but feel that Gordon was right. But this had caused him to overlook something. Something that Brains and Grandma had noticed.
"Erm, Mr T-Tracy?"
"What is it, Brains?"
"I t-think we missed someone in that report," said Brains.
Jeff frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked.
Grandma put her hands on her hips and gave him a stern look. "Someone didn't report in like they were asked to," she said, and she pointed to the second portrait on the wall from the left.
Jeff looked over and his eyes fell upon Virgil's portrait. "Good grief…you're right, Mother. Virgil didn't give a report," he said. "Strange." He pushed a button on his desk to directly call Thunderbird 2. "Base to Thunderbird 2. Do you read me, Virgil?" They waited for a response. But nothing came. "Virgil, come in?" said Jeff again, this time sounding concerned. "Thunderbird 2 - do you read me?!"
Virgil didn't know how long he was out for. It hadn't been for long but he had a pounding headache when he opened his eyes. He blinked as they adjusted to the light and then looked around. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the six faces of The Cabal all looking back at him. The Shocker, Black Phantom and White Ghost had all removed their helmets so their faces could be seen whilst Silver Swan and The Hood's were already visible. For The Chameleon, his was permanently covered by the metal plating over his head. Then Virgil's eyes fell upon Hayley who was now securely tied to a chair nearby. He tried to sit up in anger but found he was firmly strapped down on the table where The Hood had been laying whilst disguised as Hayley.
"Hello, Virgil Tracy," said The Hood. "Welcome to our little house. Like what we've done with the place?"
"Release us at once!" Virgil demanded.
"Oh? And why would we want to do that?" asked Silver Swan slyly.
"It won't take long for the others to realise I haven't checked in and they'll come looking," said Virgil.
"I've no doubt they will," said The Hood. "Although by then it could well be too late." He tried to stroke Hayley's chin but she turned her head away grunting under her gag as he did.
"DON'T…touch her!" Virgil snarled.
The Hood just laughed. "You know, I thought you were the easy one of the family, Virgil?" he said. "It surprises me to see the aggression coming out of you. I kind of like it."
"He's aggressive all right," agreed The Black Phantom. "Our guys in the storeroom are beat up badly."
"Not so tough now though," remarked Shocker, indicating to the straps that were holding Virgil down.
"Do whatever you want with me, but let her go," Virgil said, nodding towards Hayley. "She's never done anything to you."
"Not to them, but to me," said The Chameleon, stepping forwards.
"Yeah, about that," said Virgil. "You've never been in the files of this group. Who the hell are you?"
"I am The Chameleon," he said. "We have never met like this. But you met me…like this before." He turned into his disguise of Lieutenant Pierce causing Hayley to muffle grunt again.
Virgil stared. "You…!" he hissed. "Now it makes sense!"
The Chameleon switched back. "Your girlfriend caused me my first ever failure!" he said. "I have been waiting a very long time to get even with her. I wanted to kill her but-"
"That would be too easy," said Silver Swan. "Much more fun to make her suffer."
Hayley made more noises as Virgil tried to pull his wrists out from the straps. "Whatever you're planning, it won't succeed, Hood," he said. "My brothers will find us and stop you. Just like we always do."
The Hood cackled again. "Not this time, I'm afraid, Virgil," he said. "We've never managed to capture any of you until now. Which means I finally have my hands on one of the things I've been denied for so long." He paused dramatically. "A Thunderbird!" He pushed a button that activated a monitor screen. Virgil and Hayley jumped in their restrained positions as the screen showed Thunderbird 2 sitting outside.
"You keep your filthy hands off my ship!" Virgil snarled.
"Oh, but it's already too late for that," said The Hood. "At this very moment, Techno is inside trying to connect his systems into Thunderbird 2. Once he succeeds, the ship will be ours and he will fly it away in order to convert it into our new Cabal Cruiser."
"NO!" shouted Virgil, struggling desperately to free himself.
Jeff was very concerned by the silence from Thunderbird 2. "Thunderbird 5 from base - John, I need you to look for Thunderbird 2."
John was surprised by the request. "Look for Thunderbird 2, Dad?" he repeated. "Why, what's wrong?"
"I'm a fool, John," snapped Jeff. "I didn't notice that Virgil didn't check in when the rest of you did. I cannot get an answer out of him. Brains has been trying to locate it but says the transponder beacon isn't showing up. He's gone to his lab to try and find if there's a fault in the system, but I want you to make a scan of the whole continent and locate where Thunderbird 2 is."
"F-A-B," said John.
Brains then joined in. "John, I'm c-calibrating your scanners to check only for the unique metal that Thunderbird 2 is m-made out of," he said. "No other machines are b-built with the same materials as our ships so it should hopefully be an easy t-task."
"Let's hope so, Brains," replied John.
"Okay. scanners c-calibrated," said Brains. "G-Go for it."
John waved his arms to start the holographic scan of the Antarctic region. "Scan commencing," he said. As Brains predicted, it did not take long for a contact to be made. "There she is!" said John. "Thunderbird 2 is on the Northern Coastline. But it isn't moving."
"Not moving?!" repeated Jeff. "Is it hovering or has it landed?"
"I can't quite tell," said John. "I'll need to move Thunderbird 5 overhead and get a long-range satellite image of the location to be able to answer that."
"Do it," ordered Jeff. "I'm going to join Brains in his lab."
"F-A-B."
Jeff left the lounge and hurried down into the depths of Tracy Island to join Brains in his lab. When he arrived, he found the young engineer frantically typing at different keyboards. He looked rather distressed about something. "Brains? What's the matter?"
Brains turned to him. He was looking slightly pale. "M-Mr Tracy! W-We have a s-situation!"
"What is it?"
Brains showed him the computer screens. It showed some unusual AI-like objects floating around like DNA bouncing off each other with some trying to bond and others trying to fight others off.
"What am I looking at, Brains?" Jeff asked.
"You're looking at the s-systems of Thunderbird 2," said Brains. "And the unknown f-force that is trying to take control."
"Take control?!" exclaimed Jeff. "You mean-"
"Y-Yes," said Brains nervously. "S-Someone is trying to h-hack into Thunderbird 2!"
Techno had found trying to hack into the systems of Thunderbird 2 a lot harder than he'd expected, but at long last he was starting to make progress. "My hacking tech is starting to take effect, boss," he said to The Hood. "I will have control in roughly ten minutes."
"Excellent," answered The Hood. "Once you're done, take her to Main Base and do all the work you need to on her. I want her to look the part when we rub salt in the wounds of the Tracy's."
Techno grinned. "I cannot wait for that day," he said.
"The day has already come, my boy," said The Hood. "We're about to administer the K-14."
"I wish I could see that," said Techno.
"Don't worry, the cameras will record everything for you to watch later," sneered Silver Swan.
As Techno signed off, the evil villain and villainess turned back to the struggling Virgil and Hayley, both trying desperately to free themselves.
The Chameleon stepped forwards. "Is it time for me to collect my reward?" he asked.
"Man, will you shut up about that, already?" complained The White Ghost.
"No, I won't!" snapped The Chameleon. "I don't do what I do for pleasure. I do a job and I expect to get paid." He turned back to The Hood. "And you still owe me for the job of posing as Colonel Jennings. You'd all still be in Aquatraz if it weren't for me!"
There was an awkward silence as The Cabal members looked at each other.
The Hood let out an annoyed sigh. "Of course, you're right," he said. "My apologies, Chameleon. It is time that you earned your reward. After all, you've done better than some others I could mention." He threw a dirty look at the others. The Black Phantom, White Ghost and Shocker seethed in silence. They didn't like being shown up like that. Only Silver Swan seemed unphased by The Hood's words. "Phantom," The Hood continued. "Once we're done here, I'd like you to take Chameleon to collect his reward."
"Of course," grumbled The Black Phantom.
Virgil was still struggling. "The only reward you'll all be getting is a return to Aquatraz!" he fumed.
Silver Swan moved in so that her head was a few feet from Virgil's. "Sorry, sweetie. But that's not gonna happen," she said. It was clear she was trying to be flirty, but all it did was make Virgil and Hayley sick. Even the Black Phantom, Shocker and White Ghost exchanged looks of 'What the hell is she doing?' kind of looks.
The Hood then pulled out a small test tube containing a red liquid. "Do you know what this is?" he asked Virgil and Hayley as he poured some into a syringe. "Ever heard of K-14?"
"K…K-14?!" Virgil repeated. "That's the deadliest virus ever created!"
"Exactly," said The Hood. "And thanks to our delightful White Ghost, we have a sample of it. "It may have been created by accident, and no human has ever contracted it. So let's see what happens to one that does." And before Virgil had a chance to protest, The Hood stuck the needle of the syringe into the side of Virgil's neck.
"AAARGH! GET…OFF!" Virgil yelled as he felt a horrendous pain start striking his body originating from his neck.
Hayley's muffled screaming intensified as she tried to yank herself free from the chair forcing The Black Phantom to have to hold her and the chair down.
"There. It is done," The Hood said. "Now I suggest we leave so that we don't get contaminated. I have been told that the virus is highly contagious." He then secured the syringe and the test tube and placed them into a small safe before closing the door and locking it shut with a code.
Hayley's eyes were wide with horror as she saw Virgil start shaking about like he was having a seizure. As The Cabal members left the room one by one, she began frantically trying to free herself again. After The Hood walked past, evilling winking at her as he went, she heard a voice whispering into her right ear. "Three…Five…Nine…Enter. The antiserum is in the green tube."
Hayley wasn't sure who the voice had belonged to as it had been so hushed and Virgil's cries of pain had made it uneasy to hear properly. She looked around, trying to see who it was who had spoken, but there was nobody there as the door to the medical room was closed, sealing them both inside. Still securely bound, all she could do was tug and pull at the ropes binding her and watch on in horror as Virgil continued to shake and jolt on the bed with only the straps preventing him from falling off.
The Hood led the other members of The Cabal into the main control room of the Ice Base. From here they could watch on a large monitor screen live footage of what was going on inside the medical room. They all watched as Virgil continued to make violent jerks with his body as the virus steadily began to spread through his body whilst Hayley was continuing to try and break free of her bonds.
"Oh, man, this is gonna be so good to watch," remarked The Black Phantom.
"Yeah," agreed Shocker. "About time those morons paid for all the times they've defeated us."
"I thought I was going to get my money now?" asked The Chameleon.
"Not until they're dead," said Silver Swan. "A few more minutes won't hurt you."
Not that the others noticed, but there was one of their group who was not enjoying what was taking place in the medical room. The White Ghost stood at the back of the group, using Shocker as a means to block out the horrible sight that was going on.
As Hayley tugged at the bonds, she suddenly realised something. The rope around her wrists didn't feel as tight as it had before. It felt like someone had loosened it. She gave a hard tug and managed to break free of it allowing her to first remove the tape from her mouth and then pull apart the other ropes that bound her to the chair.
"She's getting loose!" said Silver Swan and started to head for the door.
"WAIT!" The Hood shouted, stopping her along with The Black Phantom and Chameleon who had begun to follow her. "Do not do anything. The door is locked, she can't get out. Let us watch as she tries to save the one she loves the most." He began to laugh maniacally and soon Silver Swan joined in with The Chameleon, Shocker and Black Phantom also joining in as well. Only The White Ghost remained silent and none of the others noticed.
Now free of her bonds, Hayley ran over to the medical bed. "Virgil?! VIRGIL?!" she cried and then let out a horrified gasp. "Oh…OH, MY GOD!"
Virgil's face was almost unrecognisable. His skin had turned a pinkish-red colour. The whites of his eyes had gone black and his irises had turned from brown to bright blue. Clearly this was what the K-14 virus did to people. Virgil was in huge discomfort. He was coughing and choking and it was clear he wasn't going to last long unless Hayley did something.
Hayley was rarely scared, but on this occasion she was terrified. Her entire body was trembling as she tried to think of what to do. "Virgil, love, I'm gonna help you!" she quivered, still trying to think of a solution. "I-I-I need an antiserum…" And then she remembered the voice in her ear, and the numbers. She looked over at the safe and scrambled around to it. She looked at the keypad and tried to remember the numbers, but it was hard to remember with Virgil's agonised cries of pain coming from behind her.
"What is she doing?" The Shocker asked, noticing where Hayley was.
"Looks like she's trying the safe door," replied The Black Phantom.
"She can try all she wants," said The Hood. "She'll never be able to guess the combination."
But The Hood couldn't have been more wrong. Hayley tried hard to remember the numbers and decided to take a gamble. "Three," she said pressing the button. "Five. Nine. Enter." There was a beep and a green light came on as the door swung open. "Yes!" she said triumphantly as she saw the green device that held the antiserum. She grabbed it and began to hurry back to Virgil.
Meanwhile, The Cabal's smugness had been wiped out the second they saw Hayley get up with and reveal the safe door was open.
"WHAT?!" exclaimed The Hood.
"She's opened it?!" gasped The Black Phantom.
"But that's impossible!" cried Silver Swan.
"She's got the antiserum!" said The Shocker.
"STOP HER!" shouted The Hood.
The Black Phantom, Chameleon, Silver Swan and Shocker all sprinted for the door, with Shocker accidentally knocking The White Ghost over as he ran.
As Hayley hurried back to Virgil, she began to feel her throat starting to burn. Then she began to feel dizzy and a bit sick. Being close to Virgil whilst he'd been coughing had caused her to breathe in some of the germs that he'd been coughing out which contained traces of the K-14. "Shit!" Hayley gasped, her throat stinging as she spoke. "The Hood's right…that virus does spread…quickly!" She knew she had seconds to act. She took off the end of the green syringe and injected some of the antiserum into Virgil's neck. Then she turned and injected the rest into her own. Straight away she found herself becoming heavy and sleepy. She grabbed Virgil's hand and held it tightly. "It's okay…Virgil…hun…" she managed to say. "I'm…not…leaving…" That was all she managed to say before the effects of the antiserum plus the stress of what they were going through caused her to collapse onto the floor and pass out, her hand slipping out of Virgil's as she went. She was therefore unable to see that Virgil's seizure had stopped and he was now still. His body seemed to calm right down as the colour of his skin started to change back to normal, as did his eyes which then closed as he too passed out from exhaustion.
By the time the door had opened and The Cabal members (now with their helmets on in case virus spores were still in the air) were inside, they were already too late. The antiserum had done its work and neither Virgil nor Hayley were going to be losing their lives to it.
"Report!" The Hood's angry voice said over the intercom. "Are they alive?"
Silver Swan checked the pulse of Hayley whilst Shocker checked that of Virgil's both nodded begrudgingly.
"I'm afraid so, boss," said Silver Swan.
The Chameleon picked up the syringe that had contained the antiserum. "Empty!" he said. "She's used it all!"
The Black Phantom looked furiously at the open door of the safe. "She knew the code." He then rounded on the others. "WHO TOLD HER THE CODE?!"
"Don't ask me, I don't know!" snapped The Shocker. "I don't even know the code!"
"Nor do I," added The Chameleon. "I never even knew there was one there!"
"WELL, SOMEONE HAS!" bellowed Silver Swan.
"ENOUGH!" thundered The Hood over the intercom. He then lowered his voice. "Bring them to the control room. There's another way we can get rid of them."
John had now moved Thunderbird 5 into a position over Antarctica where he could now use a long-range camera on the bottom of the space-station to zoom right down and get a close-up look at what was taking place. As he waited for the image to be shown, John felt butterflies in his stomach. He was very fearful of what he was going to find. And when it did appear, it confirmed what he and he was sure Jeff and Brains were afraid of. He sighed. "Dad, Brains, I have a visual on Thunderbird 2. Its landed…"
"And?" Jeff answered, noticing John's voice had trailed off.
"See for yourself," said John, forwarding the live image to Brains's lab.
Both Jeff and Brains recoiled in shock at what they saw. There was the unmistakable shape of Thunderbird 2. But it was what was next to it that had cause for their concern.
"That's the C-Cabal's ship…" stammered Brains.
Jeff swore under his breath. "Damn it, Virgil!" he cursed. "Then we have our answer, Brains."
"Indeed," said Brains grimly. "It is T-Techno who is trying to hack into Thunderbird 2's controls."
"Hack the controls?!" exclaimed John. "Then Virgil-"
"Is their prisoner along with Hayley no doubt," snapped Jeff. "John, tell Scott and Kayo to get there on the double! And tell Colonel Jennings to send any available force she has that might be in that area!"
"I'm on it," said John and he signed off.
John soon relayed the bad news to the Thunderbirds 1 and Shadow.
"Are you kidding me?!" fumed Scott. "Why the hell did he land?!"
"I wish I could answer that, Scott," replied John. "But Brains is trying to secure Thunderbird 2's systems to prevent who we presume must be Techno from taking control."
"Like hell is he getting his hands on one of our ships!" Scott snarled as he violently changed Thunderbird 1's course. "I'm heading there now!"
"As am I!" said Kayo. "John, can you get us any GDF support?"
"That's next on my list," said John. "Get there as quickly as you can."
"For Thunderbird 1 - that's not a problem," said Scott angrily, pushing Thunderbird 1's turbo-jets to their limit.
Jeff was pacing back and forth whilst Brains frantically worked. The beads of sweat trickling down from his forehead were increasing. He couldn't remember being this stressed since he'd been trying to disable the Sentinel from The Mechanic's control.
Grandma came in. "Any word on Virgil?" she asked.
"No, but it's not good, Mother," said Jeff grimly. "Looks like he found The Cabal's hideout. And then they found him."
Grandma went pale. "Oh, no…Virgil!" She then turned red with fury. "If they so much as lay a finger on our boy, I'll-"
"NO!" Brains suddenly cried.
Jeff and Grandma spun to face him and then ran over. Brains had his hands over his mouth and his eyes were wide with horror.
"Brains, what is it?" Jeff demanded. Then he looked at the screen. The AI systems of Thunderbird 2, which had been green and trying to fend off the unknown grey icons had now all turned brown with some kind of crackling electricity in them.
"I'm s-so sorry, Mr Tracy," stammered Brains, tears almost appearing in his eyes. "I've f-failed…"
Jeff felt his blood run cold as he looked back at the screen. "Oh, hell…" he said in a low voice. "We've just lost Thunderbird 2!"
Virgil and Hayley were starting to come round as the effects of being knocked out by the antiserum were wearing off. Almost immediately they began to realise what had happened whilst they'd been out. Both were upright and had been securely bound by strong metal-like ropes to a pair of tall metal poles. They weren't in the same room they'd been in either. They had been moved to a larger room which judging by the number of control panels had to be the main control room for The Cabal's ice base. They tried to move, but the ropes around their wrists, torsos and feet were very secure and they could barely even wiggle to try and free themselves.
The Cabal were there too, and clearly things weren't well with them. A fierce argument was going on as they were trying to figure out which one of them it was who'd given Hayley the code for unlocking the safe.
"Like I was saying, I was never even told the code for that safe," said The Shocker. "I bet it was you, Swan! You're the loyalist, after all."
"DON'T you DARE ACCUSE ME!" shouted Silver Swan. "I WANT THESE PEOPLE DEAD JUST AS MUCH AS HE DOES!"
"Bullshit!" snapped The Black Phantom. "I bet anything it was the new guy."
"Me?!" exclaimed The Chameleon. "Why the hell would I tell the person I want to suffer the opportunity to free herself?"
"Because you want to be the one to destroy her, that's why!" snarled The Black Phantom.
"Wow…" Virgil whispered to Hayley. "They're really mad about something."
"There was a camera in the room where we were," Hayley replied. "I bet they were watching to see the virus take hold of us. They're going to tear themselves apart trying to figure out who it was."
"Who did tell you?" Virgil asked.
"Ah, now that would be telling," Hayley replied. "I'd rather let them figure it out."
Unfortunately for them, The Hood had noticed them talking. "Ah, you're awake," he said, starting to walk over to them.
The other Cabal members came over as well.
"Nice try, Hood, but you failed," Virgil said. "Have to hand it to you. That virus would have killed me if Hayley hadn't been so quick."
"Yes…" said The Hood slowly. "About that." He walked from Virgil over to Hayley and stood right in front of her. "I gave that code to nobody. How did you know?"
"Easy," Hayley replied calmly. "I had it whispered in my ear as you were all leaving."
"By WHO?!" The Hood shouted.
"I never saw them," said Hayley, continuing to keep her cool despite his intimidating face being right in front of her. "All I can tell though was it was female."
The Shocker, Black Phantom and Chameleon all turned sharply to look at Silver Swan. "I KNEW IT!" said The Shocker triumphantly.
"RUBBISH!" fumed Silver Swan. She advanced on Hayley and extended the razor-sharp claws from her hands. "HOW DA-"
But The Hood stopped her. "Stand down, Swan."
"But, boss-"
"STAND…DOWN!"
Silver Swan swore and backed away, reluctantly retracting the claws.
"I know it wasn't you," said The Hood. "You were a few places in front of me as I was leaving the room."
"But that means…" The Black Phantom began.
"You know, I'm amazed you haven't figured it out," Hayley said mockingly. "Have you not realised you are one short in your little group here?"
The Cabal members looked at each other, and then realised one of them was missing. They knew Techno wasn't there as he was aboard Thunderbird 2. Then, slowly, they turned back towards the control panels to see The White Ghost, helmet off, standing with her arms folded.
"You…?" The Chameleon asked. "Did you tell her?"
There were a few moments of silence before The White Ghost answered. "Yes…I did," she said.
The Black Phantom, Shocker and Chameleon all made angry advances towards her, but Silver Swan got there first by flying across the room, grabbing Laura and slamming her into the far wall. "WHY?!" she shrieked. "WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!"
"PAYBACK! THAT'S WHY!" Laura shouted back.
The Hood stormed over. "Explain yourself!" he demanded.
Laura fixed him with a hateful glare. "You took me in with the promise you'd fix my condition! You did not! Grafton found me after you were all arrested and he used his money and technology to start fixing me! But since you cut him loose I haven't been able to get more. My condition is worsening again. I needed him! And you threw away the one chance I had at getting my life back on track." Tears began to fill her eyes as she spoke.
Hayley and Virgil looked at each other, stunned at the revelation. Even The Cabal seemed to be surprised by the reason. At least, most of them anyway.
The Hood however was not remotely sympathetic. He moved closer. "If my memory serves, I said I would fix you once we'd achieved our goals, Miss McCullen. But let me tell you something…you NEVER SUCCEEDED! JUST LIKE HOW ALL OF YOU KEEP FAILING AT YOUR TASKS! Well, no more. I will not stand for disobedience or failure any longer. Fail me…and you'll pay with your LIFE!" He turned back to Laura who was still pinned to the wall by Silver Swan. "You were a useful asset, Ghost. But this betrayal has sealed your fate." His eyes turned to Silver Swan. "End her."
"With pleasure," snarled Silver Swan, fixing Laura with a fearsome glare. "I was the one who brought you out of the gutter," she hissed with gritted teeth. "Now, I'm gonna throw your lifeless body back-"
In an instant, The White Ghost showed them all just why she was so difficult to apprehend. Using her phasing abilities, she slipped right out of Silver Swan's grasp and was free. She did a cartwheel away from her before jumping up and double-kicking both Chameleon and Shocker. Shocker wasn't wearing his helmet and as such was knocked unconscious briefly whilst Chameleon's metal head protected him. He simply fell to the floor.
"GET HER!" roared The Hood as The Black Phantom and Silver Swan lunged to try and catch The White Ghost. But they failed as she was able to phase through them before performing a roundhouse kick on The Hood himself, throwing him back into the wall and sliding down, winded.
"BOSS!" cried Silver Swan, rushing to check on him. Then she tried to attack Laura again. "You're a-"
"Shut the hell up!" snapped The White Ghost, grabbing Black Phantom's helmet which had been placed on a nearby table and hitting her across the head with it. She then threw it at Black Phantom who failed to catch it in time and it hit the floor, tripping him up instead. As The Chameleon, Black Phantom and Silver Swan began picking themselves up as did The Hood, Laura knew she could not stay any longer. She looked over at Hayley and Virgil with a rather sorrowful expression on her face. "I'm sorry," she managed to say before putting on her own helmet and then phased down through the floor, disappearing from view.
The Cabal members looked around, trying to see if there was a way to follow her. Black Phantom put on his helmet and fired his omega beams into the floor.
"STOP!" roared The Hood. "You'll destroy the place if you do that!"
"But she's escaping!" protested The Black Phantom.
The Hood grimaced. "In case you hadn't noticed, genius…SHE'S ALREADY GONE!" He turned to the others including Shocker who was starting to wake up again. "Stand down…she's gone."
"Boss, we cannot let her get away with this!" said Silver Swan.
"And how do you suggest we do that, Swan?" asked The Hood. "If the GDF cannot catch her, what chance do we have? No. Let her go. I happen to know just how bad her condition really is. She'll succumb to it soon enough. That's the penalty for her betrayal."
"You're sick," Virgil remarked. "You never used to be this malicious, Hood. Sure you wanted wealth and power. But you never wanted death and destruction. You even saved Kayo from crashing once."
"That…was a long time ago," replied The Hood. "Things have changed. I'm not the man that wanted to own the world anymore. All I want is justice."
"Revenge," Hayley said. "Justice is for those who have been wronged. Revenge is for those who are in the wrong."
"SHUT UP!" shrieked Silver Swan.
"Tell me I'm wrong," said Hayley. "Please do."
"We've all been wronged," said The Hood. "I was wronged by Jeff Tracy and International Rescue have continued with that. Swan was failed by her brother when he chose to defect to the GDF. Phantom lost his father."
"Caused by your accursed niece!" fumed The Black Phantom, which The Hood chose to ignore.
"Techno was wronged by his mother for never being there for him," The Hood continued. "And Shocker lost both his legs to your equipment driven by your brother."
"Alan never meant to do that," Virgil said. "It was an accident."
"Do you really think I give a damn whether he intended to or not, Tracy?!" snarled The Shocker. "It does not change the fact that it happened, does it?!"
Virgil couldn't deny that was true.
"And me," said The Chameleon, moving towards Hayley. "My record of work was spotless…until she ratted me out to Colonel Casey who refused to believe I was right."
"Because she was a proper person, unlike you," Hayley retorted.
Chameleon roared and punched her.
"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Virgil shouted.
Chameleon stormed over to him. "And you as well! If you and your father hadn't come and stuck your noses in, she'd have still been in prison where she BELONGED!" He then punched Virgil in the stomach, but only succeeded in hurting his own hand due to the toughness of Virgil's flight suit.
"I think you've made your point," said The Hood, moving him away. He then turned back to the prisoners. "So you see. Are we really the villains? Or the victims?"
Hayley and Virgil looked at each other. "Your grievances are valid ones," Hayley admitted. "But you are going the complete wrong way about it. No matter how valid those are, you are still criminals. You have committed crimes. Murder. Sabotage. Theft. At the end of the day, you are the bad guys. And we're the ones to stop you."
There was a moment of silence. Then The Hood started to laugh, as did the other Cabal members. "I admire your courage and determination, Captain Madison," he said. "But, may I remind you, who here are the prisoners? I think you'll find it is the two of you."
Just then the hologram monitor on the main panel buzzed. A hologram of Techno appeared. "Boss, I have good news. Thunderbird 2 is ours!"
"What?!" exclaimed Virgil.
The Hood turned to face Techno. "Show us, my boy."
The hologram then changed to a large screen on the nearby wall. It showed Techno standing in the middle of Thunderbird 2's cockpit. Several umbilical-like cords came out of his back like The Mechanic used to have, each was connected to a different part of Thunderbird 2's control panel. All the lights were on and they were red to match Techno's energy. This meant he'd managed to bypass all the security systems that Brains had put in and gained control of the ship. "That's some hacking I've had to do," he told them. "But not impossible."
The Hood's face broke into a broad grin. "Finally!" he said. "I have a Thunderbird." He turned to Virgil. "Now you'll know what it's like to lose, Virgil." He turned back to Techno. "Take her back to the main base ready for conversion, Techno. We'll join you there soon."
Techno looked like a child on Christmas morning. "Yes, sir!" he said eagerly. "Is he watching?"
"They both are," said The Hood.
Techno chuckled. "Heh-Heh-Heh. Thunderbird 2 is GO!" he said, using his arms to give power to the controls.
There was nothing Hayley or Virgil could do but watch helplessly as the camera switched to one on the outside of the ice mountain showing Thunderbird 2.
"NO!" Virgil cried in despair as the VTOL jets fired and the green goliath began to rise off the ground.
The Cabal watched with delight, at the sight of a Thunderbird in their control and the torment on their captives faces as Techno began to guide the craft away from the base and out across the sea.
With Thunderbird 2 gone, The Cabal turned back to their captives who were both trying desperately to get free of their bonds.
"Struggle as much as you like," The Hood said. "You won't get free. At least, not here anyway."
"What does that mean?" Hayley demanded.
"It means the time has come to bring your little ordeal to an end," said The Hood. "Chameleon, you wanted to be the one to get revenge on the Captain. Would you do the honours?" He pointed to a red button on one of the control panels.
The Chameleon rubbed his hands with glee. "Oh, yes," he said. "Then can I have my money?"
Black Phantom, Silver Swan and Shocker all rolled their eyes, but The Hood nodded. "Yes, Chameleon, you may," he said.
The Chameleon walked over to the console and placed a finger over the button. He then looked back at Virgil and Hayley. "Vengeance is mine," he said before pushing the button.
Suddenly, Virgil and Hayley found themselves starting to rise upwards being carried by some slider on the outside of the poles they were tied to. They rose up to near the ceiling before the poles were moved off the bottom part and then tilted forwards to attach to two horizontal ones. Now they were suspended several feet off the floor with their bodies facing downwards on the undersides of the poles.
"Do not worry, Virgil," said The Hood evilly. "I'll tell Jeff it was quick and painless."
"Why, you dirty fu-" Virgil and Hayley's words were cut off by the maniacal laughter of the other Cabal members as the sliders started again, carrying them over the top of the control room and into two round tunnels where they not only disappeared from view, but also lost sight of each other as well.
"Let us go outside," The Hood told the others. "I want to see them fall to their dooms." He grabbed a winter coat and headed through a door on the opposite side of the control room with Silver Swan, Chameleon, Black Phantom and finally Shocker, who put his helmet on to protect him from the cold, followed him through.
John watched on his screen with a sickly feeling in his stomach as he watched Thunderbird 2 flying away from Antarctica. "Brains, please tell me that's you flying?" he said.
But it was Jeff who answered. "I'm afraid Brains is in no fit state to talk, John," he said grimly. "That is Techno in control of Thunderbird 2 now."
John gritted his teeth. "Damn!" he cursed.
"Where are Thunderbirds 1 and Shadow?" Jeff asked. "How soon can they get there?"
John looked at the positions of the two Thunderbirds. It wasn't a good answer. "They're nowhere near the area," he said gloomily. "Looks like we're gonna lose Thunderbird 2."
"We can afford to lose Thunderbird 2," said Jeff. "I just want Virgil and Hayley back! Tell Kayo and Scott to hurry the hell up!" And with that he cut off.
John looked back at the hologram map. He knew deep down in his stomach, the situation was hopeless. Only a miracle could save them all now.
For the whole time they were travelling along the tunnels, both Virgil and Hayley fretted about not only where they might be headed, but also whether they'd both see each other again when they reached the ends. A bitter coldness blew through the tunnels as they could see the ends were open. To their relief, as they emerged out into the open, both were still next to each other. But the relief was soon replaced by cries of horror when they saw what was below them. First there was a bit of ice towards the edge of a cliff and then came a massive drop down several hundred feet towards the freezing waters of the Antarctic Ocean.
"HAYLEY?!"
"VIRGIL?!"
"ARE YOU OKAY?!"
"NOT REALLY?!"
"GOOD! NEITHER AM I!"
The Cabal emerged from their tunnel to stand near to the edge of the cliff. The poles were above them, and the villains didn't need to do anything except stand and wait for their captives to plummet to their ends.
"How long do we have to wait?" The Chameleon asked.
"Not long," replied The Hood. "I suspect they're feeling the burn right now."
As they headed out across the edge of the cliff and over the water, Virgil sniffed the air. "Do you smell something?" he asked.
Hayley sniffed the air too. "Yeah…I do," she replied. "Smells like acid."
Virgil looked back, which wasn't easy given the position he was tied in. He couldn't see his own body, but he could see Hayley's. His heart skipped a beat as he saw little whiffs of smoke rising from around the ropes at Hayley's ankles. "You're right," he said. "Acid's burning the ropes." He then looked down at the sea far below. "There's no way out of this…we're finished!"
Hayley glared at him. "That's not the attitude of a Tracy!" she scolded.
Virgil swallowed, then thought hard about what she'd said. "You're right," he said. "You're right. But, can you imagine us surviving?"
Hayley tried to answer, but realised she didn't have one.
The Chameleon was getting impatient. "Come on, come on, fall already!" he complained.
Silver Swan stood very close to The Hood. "How long have you waited for a victory like this?" she asked.
"Too long, Swan," The Hood answered. "But in a few short seconds…a victory over Jeff Tracy will finally come true."
Neither Hayley nor Virgil had noticed they were being watched by The Cabal. It wasn't even on their minds. Virgil looked across at Hayley who was staring blankly down at the water far below. Then a thought struck him. This isn't the right time, he thought. But it's looking like the end. So I have to ask. "Hayley?"
"Yes, hun?"
Suddenly, the ropes around Virgil's feet got burnt through enough that they broke. "WOAH!"
"VIRGIL!" Hayley cried in terror.
Not all the ropes broke and Virgil found himself only being held in place by the ropes around his wrists and arms. He panted to try and compose himself. Then he looked back up at her. "I'm sorry I never asked this of you sooner."
"What?"
"If we somehow survive this…will you-?" He got no further. At that very moment, the ropes snapped and he started to fall. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!" Virgil yelled as he plummeted away towards the sea far below.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Hayley screamed.