PENELOPE felt like she was in some kind of weird multicoloured washing-machine. Everything seemed to be spinning. Eventually she began to regain her senses and her eyes snapped open. She was lying on her back and looking upwards at the sky. It was already overcast and grey but now an element of black had come to it as well. She sniffed the air and noticed the distinctive nasty smell of smoke. Sitting upright and looking to her left, she gasped at the scene. The cottage had been completely destroyed. Only part of the front wall remained. A load of GDF and Police were running around, calling to one another and the gunners in the field next to the cottage were scrambling around their weapons like they were trying to get them ready for a battle.
"Lady P!"
Penelope turned to the sound of the voice and saw Hayley, whose face and uniform were somewhat smudged with dirt, was scrambling to her feet. "Oh, my God - Parker!"
Penelope now looked to her right and froze. "P-PARKER?!" she cried.
Parker was also on the ground, lying face down on the lawn, a piece of wood from one of the window frames of the cottage lay nearby. As they rolled him over, they saw he was totally unconscious and bleeding, having been hit by the piece of wood.
"Parker, wake up!" Penelope begged, shaking her faithful driver. But Parker did not stir.
Hayley placed her hand on the back of Parker's head and then took it away when she saw the streaks of blood on it. "He's hurt!" she said. "That piece of wood must have hit him."
"Have you got a medic in your squad?" asked Penelope.
"Yes, but we'd best get him out of here first," said Hayley. "Give me a hand."
Together, they lifted Parker upright, placed one arm over each shoulder and then used their strength to lift him up. "Easy, Parker. We've got you," said Penelope.
They carried Parker out of the garden and Hayley opened the passenger side door of her new Cheetah. They put him in the passenger seat and Hayley waved for one of her team's medics to come over.
Knowing Parker was now in safe hands, Penelope then went to check on the bus and saw that Mrs Burtonshaw was now inside. The explosion of the cottage had thrown her to the ground along with her escorts. Luckily none of them were hurt, but Mrs Burtonshaw had frozen in shock. Several other villagers inside the bus were very fearful having seen the cottage explode and some of the windows had been broken by the shockwave.
"Is anyone hurt?" Penelope asked.
"No, but can we please get out of here?" asked a man.
"She's the last of the villagers we needed to get," said the minibus driver.
"Then you need to leave," said Penelope.
"But what about you?" asked a woman. "You can't stay here."
"There's no room for me," Penelope said. "I'll get a ride out with the GDF."
At that moment, Essex came running across the field and jumped onto the stone wall that separated the field where the guns were and the road. "LOOK!" he yelled, pointing towards the woods. "THERE THEY ARE!"
All eyes who heard his voice turned to look across the field. Then they froze and despite the heat of the flames from the wrecked cottage, Penelope felt her innards turn ice cold.
One after the other, the heads of four Rock Snakes appeared above the treetops. These seemed bigger than the one that had emerged from the cylinder. They towered above the trees as they pushed their way through the woods, knocking the trees over as they went. They carved a path until eventually they began to emerge from the trees and into the field.
Essex wasn't sticking around. He barged past Penelope and into the minibus. "GO!" he screamed at the driver.
The driver, having now seen the Rock Snakes, didn't need telling twice. "EVERYONE HANG ON!" he yelled as he revved the bus's engine and pressed down hard on the accelerator.
Penelope was almost knocked over by the rush of wind caused by the bus as it raced away. But she quickly forgot about it as she turned her frightened eyes back towards the Rock Snakes. She crouched down behind the wall, watching as the gunners lined up the six cannons and loaded them, ready to open fire on the oncoming creatures.
Hayley joined her to watch, having left Parker in the safe hands of the medics.
"How is he?" Penelope asked anxiously.
"The blood loss is minimal," Hayley answered. "He'll live. But we'd best take him with us. Can you drive FAB1?"
"Luckily I can," Penelope said. "Guess we'd better get out of here before-"
"SIR!" one of the gunners shouted to the commanding officer. "THERE'S ANOTHER ONE!"
On the other side of the country road was another field that sloped down the hill to a small river at the bottom. The river ran along the outskirts of the village and eventually flowed into the River Severn. As Hayley and Penelope turned to look behind them, their mouths fell open at the sight of a fifth Rock Snake that had appeared in the field having managed to use its great length to stretch across the river. It soon raised itself up to quite a height so that it towered over them all. It didn't appear to have noticed them, for its head was facing away, looking down towards the village.
Penelope then watched in horror as an orange glow began to seep through the cracks in the rocks that made up the snake's body. They seemed to have originated further down the body and were making their way up towards the head. Then came the orange glow inside the open mouth like the one from the cylinder had done before it had attacked. A quick glance towards Creighton made Penelope realise what was about to happen. "NO!" she screamed and tried to run towards the wall that separated the field from the road.
"PENNY!" yelled Hayley, jumping onto Penelope and forcing her down on the road to protect her.
A huge WHOOSH was heard as the Rock Snake produced a long beam of fiery heat from its mouth which struck the village. This was followed by a horrendous shaking of the ground and an almighty rumble as a big explosion tore through the entire village. Every single shop and house including the school, leisure centre and the church got completely vaporised by the intense heat and shockwave from the blast. In less than ten seconds, the entire village had been completely wiped out, leaving nothing but a massive crater and huge plumes of smoke rising into the air.
As Penelope and Hayley looked up, both could only stare in disbelief at the destruction that had just taken place. For Penelope in particular, the realisation of what had just happened took a few moments to sink in. Her local village had just been wiped out…literally.
The convoy of buses were now at the top of the hill, and all the villagers could do was gape down in horror at the scene of destruction as the realisation of why they'd been ordered to evacuate finally sunk in.
"She wasn't making it up…" Mr Mopp said quietly to himself as he thought about what Penelope had said to him.
Having exhausted its beam of fire, the Rock Snake turned its head towards the other four that had just emerged from the woods and made eye contact with them. Then together all five of them simultaneously let out a most terrifying howling noise which roared like thunder.
"ULLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! ULLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
The noise seemed to make the whole air vibrate which everyone in the vicinity felt. The noise itself was deafening and everyone had to throw their hands over their ears to try and protect their eardrums.
"Okay…" panted Penelope once the howling had stopped. "They didn't do that on Mars."
Hayley looked up and saw that one of the cannons was being hastily turned around to face the other Rock Snake. "We need to get out of here!" she said. "I'll take Parker. You get to FAB1."
"Okay!" Penelope said shakily.
Together they ran back down the road to their vehicles with Hayley activating her cap radio. "MOVE OUT! ALL GDF UNITS - MOVE OUT!"
All GDF and Police began running back to their vehicles to start the retreat. Hayley jumped into her Cheetah and led the way with three GDF trucks and five Police Cars following.
It was at this moment that the guns began to open fire. Five shot at the four from the woods, the sixth which was the one that had been turned, fired at the one that had destroyed the town. This turned out to be the only one with accuracy for it scored a direct hit on the Rock Snake right under its head. Its neck shattered, it was decapitated and the head spun away, falling to the ground with the rest of it falling down after it. After reloading, the other five fired a second salvo whilst the sixth was turned back round towards the other four.
Penelope got into FAB1, having gotten the master key off the still unconscious Parker. She started the engine and began to drive away.
Seeing one of their own get destroyed caused the other snakes to become enraged. They snarled and hissed loudly before opening fire themselves at the guns. Unlike the guns, their fiery projectiles could cover a much wider area and within seconds, the gunners and their weapons were engulfed in flames. Their screams went unheard as FAB1 raced past. The snake on the far left of the line-up fired a second blast from its mouth, this time at FAB1. it hit the road and the ground was ripped apart.
"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" screamed Penelope as FAB1 was caught in the blast. The car smashed through the wall and began rolling over and over, tumbling down the field and ending up crashing into the river, landing upside down with only the rear section just visible above the surface.
Thanks to the seatbelt, Penelope was saved from any injuries but she was incredibly shaken. Scared for her life, she unfastened herself and scrambled around inside the upturned car to get herself the right way up. It was down to their fear that instead of calling International Rescue for help, she instead opened the car door, allowing river water to rush in. she cried out in alarm as she was dragged out of FAB1 into the river and away from the vehicle. She spiralled around for a few moments before managing to get herself to the surface. She gasped for air once she'd reached it but was unable to prevent herself from getting swept away by the fast-flowing current.
Colonel Jennings was waiting at a GDF mobile camp when Hayley's convoy turned up. "Everything okay, Madison?" she asked.
"Negative, Colonel," Hayley replied. "We need a hospital bed for Parker."
"Parker?" Colonel Jennings looked as medics carefully moved Parker out of the Cheetah and onto a stretcher. "Wait, is that-?"
"Yes, it is, Colonel," said Hayley. "That's Lady Penelope's driver."
"Our instruments detected a large explosion not long ago," Colonel Jennings said. "What happened?"
"The Rock Snakes happened," said Hayley. "One of them completely destroyed the village of Creighton."
"Completely?!"
"Yes. The whole place was completely wiped out."
Colonel Jennings was stunned into silence for a few moments. "Where's Lady Penelope?" she asked.
"Should be right behind us," said Hayley, turning her attention to the trucks that were arriving.
Both women waited to see the familiar shape of FAB1 appear once the last truck was through the gate. But it wasn't there.
"I thought you said she was behind you?" asked Colonel Jennings.
"She's supposed to be," replied Hayley. She turned on her cap radio as it swung down. "Captain Madison to FAB1. Where are you, Lady Penelope?" There was no answer, which made Hayley tense up. "Lady P, can you hear me? Over."
"No answer?!" asked Colonel Jennings.
"No…" replied Hayley, now extremely concerned. "Where the hell is she?"
Penelope tried to think of how to escape from her predicament. The first challenge was to keep her head above the water. Eventually she saw a low-hanging tree branch reaching out across the river. "Got…to…reach!" she just managed to say before reaching up and grabbing the branch with both hands. It stopped her moving forwards but now she was trying to fight against the current. Straining hard, she managed to pull herself up and clung on tightly to the branch. Once her legs were out of the water, she pulled herself along and onto dry land before cautiously climbing down the tree trunk and settling on the grass where she lay on her back and tried to calm herself down. "That…was very…distressing…" she said, and then passed out.
The Tracy lounge was filled by the sound of Christmas music being played by Virgil on the piano. He was doing this to try and keep everyone's spirits up, but by now they'd all heard about the Rock Snakes having somehow managed to survive Thunderbird 2's attack.
Jeff noticed that Gordon in particular was pacing around, looking distressed. "Gordon, sit down, for Christ's sake!" he said at last.
"I can't," Gordon replied. "I just got a feeling something's wrong."
The beeping sound told them all a call was coming in from Thunderbird 5. Before John's hologram had even appeared, Gordon almost leap-frogged over Alan to be by the table.
"International Rescue - we have a situation."
"It's the Rock Snakes, isn't it?" mumbled Alan.
"What's Lady Penelope told you, John?" asked Gordon urgently.
John looked at him. "Lady Penelope? Nothing," he said. "And that's why I'm calling. I've just heard from Hayley. The evacuation of the village near the Creighton-Ward estate is complete…but the Rock Snakes attacked."
Everyone exchanged alarmed looks.
"Is Lady Penelope okay, John?" asked Scott.
"I'm afraid I don't know, Scott," John answered grimly.
"What do you mean by that?!" Gordon demanded.
"Because she's currently missing, Gordon, that's why!" John said sharply. "Hayley said that Parker got injured by flying debris during the attack."
This made everyone even more alarmed.
"How bad is he?" asked Virgil.
"Unconscious but the injuries aren't life-threatening or changing luckily," said John. "He's in the care of the GDF. But…Lady P…"
"Can't you just track her?!" Gordon asked frantically.
"I've tried that," said John. "But I'm not picking anything up from her. Her locator, phone, compact or even watch are registering. I've not been able to pick up FAB1's locator either."
Gordon pushed past Brains and Grandma and ran towards the revolving wall panel.
"And just where do you think you're going, Gordon?" asked Jeff.
"What do you think, Dad?" Gordon asked, spinning back around. "I'm going out there to find her! Scott, I'm taking Thunderbird 1." He began to turn to use the panel.
"Like hell you are!" Scott said defiantly, hurrying over and blocking his brother's path. "Not after last time."
"Scott, my girl's missing!" Gordon protested. "You can't expect me to just sit here!"
"No, I don't!" Scott replied. "Which is why I'm gonna take you. Use your own suit-up route."
"Fine!" said Gordon as he hurried out of view.
Scott looked over at Jeff. "Dad?"
"Seems like you don't have much of a choice, Scott," said Jeff. "But I agree we need to find Penny. Off you go."
Scott nodded as he pulled down the lamps and then disappeared from sight as the wall spun around.
"What about the rest of us?" asked Virgil.
"You and Alan go in Thunderbird 2," said Jeff. "John, see if you can do a satellite scan of the area and see if you can locate Penny or FAB1."
"Already begun that, Dad," said John. "EOS is doing the search right now. Hayley said that the GDF are also conducting their own ground and air searches for her."
"Let's hope they find her," said Virgil.
"And n-not the R-Rock Snakes…" agreed Brains.
"Get moving, boys!" ordered Jeff.
Virgil rushed to the painting whilst Alan went down on his chair to the changing room.
The peace and tranquillity of Tracy Island was soon broken by the sound of the two Thunderbirds as they launched from their respective take-off points.
"Thunderbird 1 is away!" said Scott.
"Thunderbird 2 - airborne!" added Virgil.
"Boys, listen up," said Jeff over the hologram projectors of both ships. "John's just heard from Hayley. They've found FAB1 upside-down in a river near the village. Seems the Rock Snakes must have attacked."
"NO!" wailed Gordon.
"What state is FAB1 in, Dad?" asked Scott.
"They're not sure, Scott," answered Jeff. "But they're unable to get it out of the river. They're gonna need it lifted out."
"Job for you, Virg," said Alan.
"I'd actually say a job for Thunderbird 1," replied Virgil. "FAB1's not very big. Thunderbird 1 should be able to lift it out easily. Plus you'll get there before we do, Scott."
"F-A-B," said Scott. "Hang tight, Gordon. I'm gonna push her up to max."
"That goes for you too, Thunderbird 2," added Jeff. "Lady Penelope is in real trouble, so those ships of yours need to go faster than they've ever done before. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Dad!" Scott and Virgil answered in unison.
Thunderbird 1's engines roared as it darted off into the distance. Virgil then applied all the power he could to Thunderbird 2's aft thrusters and rocketed on as well.
Penelope was slowly beginning to come around. She let out a soft moan and rubbed her aching head as she sat up. She looked around. She was on a grassy bank by the small river surrounded by trees and bushes. It wasn't a part of her area she recognised at all and soon realised that she was lost. "Oh dear me," she said out loud to herself upon realising just how soaked all her clothes were. She was also very cold and began shivering due to how cold it was. "This is quite the predicament. I'd better call for help." She reached into her pocket for her compact radio, only to realise that it wasn't there. She checked all her pockets but it wasn't in any of them. She then pulled up her sleeve to use her watch, but that wasn't there either. Only then did she remember that during the hasty rush that morning to get to the village, she'd forgotten to put it on. Worse still she realised that her locator broach wasn't on her jacket either. It was then that a horrible truth struck her. She had no means of communication on her and International Rescue had no means of tracking her. Now she began to feel scared, but knew she needed to get going and find somewhere to warm up otherwise she'd catch hyperthermia and freeze to death. Carefully getting to her feet, she began to shakily make her way through the woodland, using the trees to support her as she went, and hoped that assistance would be closer than it seemed.
Thunderbird 1 roared across the countryside of the United Kingdom towards where the GDF had located FAB1. The hovering GDF Flyers in the distance told them the exact location to head for.
"Approaching now, Gordon," Scott called over his shoulder.
"She's got to be okay, Scott," said Gordon with a shaky voice. "She's just gotta be."
On the ground, Hayley, Colonel Jennings and their troops looked up at the sound of Thunderbird 1's engines. They waved them in.
It was at this point that Gordon and Scott noticed the huge crater in the ground nearby.
"My God, is that where the village was?!" exclaimed Scott. "Those Rock Snakes are lethal!"
"You don't say!" said Gordon. "Where did they go anyway?"
There was no sign of the Rock Snakes anywhere, which they were glad about as Scott brought his craft down to land in the field.
Gordon didn't even acknowledge Hayley or the Colonel but had his helmet on before he'd even left Thunderbird 1 and sprinted towards FAB1. "HOLD ON, PEN, I'M COMING!"
"He's in a hurry," remarked Colonel Jennings.
"GORDON, WAIT!" Hayley shouted over.
But Gordon didn't wait and before anyone could stop him, he dived into the water and disappeared from view.
Scott came out. "I had a feeling he'd do that," he said. "Captain. Colonel."
"Glad you're here, Scott," said Hayley. "Is Thunderbird 2 coming?"
"Yes, but they're a good twenty minutes behind us," Scott answered.
"If Lady Penelope's inside she might not have that long if she's hurt," said Colonel Jennings. "We'd have gotten her out by now if we had the right equipment."
"Which is why we're going to use Thunderbird 1 to lift it out," said Scott. He tapped his radio sash. "Gordon, how does she look down there?" But Gordon didn't answer, which instantly raised some confused concern. "Gordon, do you read me? Gordon?"
"There he is!" said Hayley suddenly.
Everyone looked. Gordon had resurfaced, but they could tell immediately that something was wrong. He was walking very slowly. His head was hung down and once out of the water, he removed his helmet and then dropped down to his knees.
Concerned, Scott, Hayley and Colonel Jennings hurried over to him. "Gordon, what's wrong?" asked Scott anxiously.
Gordon lifted his head to reveal tears streaming from his eyes. "Sh…Sh…She's n-n-not th-there…" he whimpered before breaking down completely.
Hayley immediately wrapped her arms around him to comfort him whilst Colonel Jennings and Scott exchanged shocked looks with one another.
Penelope continued to make her way through the woodlands, but the cold running through her body was getting worse. She was getting tired and starting to lose the feeling in her legs. "I…have to…go on…" she groaned as she used all the strength she could muster. Then she noticed the trees seemed to end just ahead. "Oh…at last…" she said. "The end…of the woods…" She made her way towards where the treeline ended, expecting to find herself out in the open. It was out in the open, but not in the way she thought. "OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" she wailed as she lost her footing and began rolling down a steep embankment into a railway cutting before coming to rest at the bottom, close to the track. The fall caused her to become unconscious again, but fortunately she did not sustain any major injuries apart from a few cuts and bruises. It was also lucky for her that she did not land on the track and that she'd fallen down just as a slow-moving freight train was approaching.
The train was slow due to following a preceding passenger service and was being checked by an Amber signal. The driver was alone in the cab and was startled when he saw a blonde figure tumbling down the bank. "Good lord!" she exclaimed and applied to the brakes, bringing the train to a stop. She then climbed out of the locomotive's cab and hurried across to where Penelope lay. She did a double-take when she realised who the person was. "Oh, my God! Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward?!" She did a quick check for injuries. "I can't leave you here," she said. "Gosh, you're freezing! I'd better get you in the cab." So she picked Penelope up and with some difficulty managed to get her aboard the locomotive and put her in the second man's seat on the other side to where her driving seat was. She got a large heated blanket out of the store cupboard and put it around Penelope before plugging it in and turning it on. Then she returned to her seat and released the brakes, opening up the throttle gently allowing the train to start on its way again. Its destination - London.
It was most unfortunate that Thunderbird 2 happened to overfly the railway line just as the train was picking up speed, with Virgil and Alan not having a clue that Penelope was aboard.
Thunderbird 2 was now approaching the danger zone with Virgil gently losing altitude as they went. "Thunderbird 1 from Thunderbird 2. We'll be with you in two minutes."
"Okay, Thunderbird 2," answered Scott. "But I'm afraid the situation's worse than we thought. Lady Penelope isn't in FAB1."
Virgil and Alan exchanged a look. "She's not?!" said Alan.
"Gordon dived in to check on her only to find the car was empty," Scott explained. "We've got it out with Thunderbird 1 and the side-door is open."
"Then she must have been swept away by the current of the river," said Virgil.
"Agreed," said Scott.
John, who had been listening in from Thunderbird 5, now spoke up. "The river isn't wide, everyone. I would therefore suggest, Thunderbird 2 that you start following it towards the River Severn and see if you can find her? It's not deep and there are a number of rock-based obstructions so it's possible she could have gotten herself out."
"F-A-B," said Virgil. "Say, Scott, how's Gordon?"
"Not good, Virgil," Scott replied glumly. "He's a mess. Hayley's trying to comfort him." The hologram then revealed Hayley with one arm around behind a sobbing Gordon whilst stroking his left arm with her hand.
Seeing his fiance comforting his brother made Virgil want to cry himself. If this didn't prove how much he loved her, would. "That's my girl," he said proudly.
"Tell Gordon we'll do everything we can to find her, Scott," said Alan. "And more."
Scott nodded. "I will, Alan. Let us know the moment you find anything."
"F-A-B," said Virgil and Alan together as Virgil changed Thunderbird 2's course to follow the small river.
Penelope had begun to wake up again as the warmth from the blanket did its worth. She let out another soft moan as opened her eyes. She then blinked in confusion. "Wait…where am I?" she asked.
The driver looked across. "Ah, you're awake," she said. "That's a relief."
Penelope looked around at the cab controls. "I'm on a train?" she asked. "How did I get here?"
"You fell down the cutting," said the driver. "Lucky I was going slow otherwise I'd have missed you."
""Y-Yes…thank you…" Penelope said, sitting herself up but keeping the blanket wrapped tightly around her. "Sorry, you are?"
"Nicole," the driver answered with a smile. "Nicole Young. Always wanted to meet you, Lady Creighton-Ward."
"You know me?"
"Who doesn't know you?" Nicole replied. "Never thought I'd meet you like this though."
"No…" agreed Penelope. "Thank you, Nicole. And for the blanket. It's helping me fight this awful chill."
"How did you even get there?" asked Nicole. "I thought you always went around in a pink car?"
"It's…an awkward story," Penelope replied. She wasn't sure how else to continue, not wanting to alarm Nicole with the mentioning of the Rock Snake attack. "Where are we headed, may I ask?"
"London," said Nicole.
"London?!" answered Penelope. "That's where my parents are! I need to find them urgently as well as let my friends know that I am okay. Could you make a call to the GDF and tell them I'm okay, please? They're probably looking for me."
"Sure," said Nicole. "Although Abbie will probably give me grief for calling her whilst she's working but screw it."
"Abbie?"
"Yes, my partner," said Nicole. "She's in charge of the GDF."
Penelope's eye was then drawn to a photo on the control panel of the locomotive. It showed Nicole hugging another woman. It was a blonde-haired woman whose face Penelope instantly recognised. "Colonel Jennings?!"
"Don't worry, I'll let her know," said Nicole.
Penelope smiled. "Thank you so much," she said.
Colonel Jennings felt the vibrations of her phone ringing inside her pocket. It meant she'd received a text message. Taking it out and looking at it, expecting it to be nothing of interest, she was surprised to see that it was from Nicole and was even more surprised when she saw what the text read. Immediately she walked away from the others and called her. "Nicole, is it true?" she asked.
"Yes, Abbie is it," Nicole answered. "Sorry I have to keep this brief. Driving a train to London."
"Where's Lady Penelope?" asked Colonel Jennings. "International Rescue are here looking for her."
"She's in the cab with me," said Nicole. "I found her by the railway line. Looks like she fell. I'm taking her to London to get checked over. She says she wants to find her parents as well."
"Her boyfriend will want to see her too," said Colonel Jennings. "I'll let them know immediately."
"Okay, thank you," said Nicole. "She asked me to call you about her being here."
"I'm glad she did," said Colonel Jennings. "Keep her safe, Nicole. And…keep yourself safe. There's a big danger lurking around."
Nicole wasn't sure what Colonel Jennings meant by that, but decided not to ask. "I will, Abbie," she said. "Love you."
"Love you, too," said Colonel Jennings as she hung up and turned to the others. "Call your brothers to stand down, Tracy," she said to Scott. "I know where she is."
Scott, Gordon and Hayley blinked in surprise.
"WHERE?!" Gordon demanded, louder than he'd meant to.
"My partner Nicole has found her," said Colonel Jennings. "She's a train driver and found Lady Penelope by the railway track. There's one about three miles down the river from here. She's in the cab with Nicole and heading for London to find her parents."
"Well that sure is a relief," said Scott.
"I need to get to London to see her!" Gordon said, jumping to his feet. "...Please," he added hastily.
"Okay, Gordon, back to Thunderbird 1," said Scott. "I'll take you there." He tapped his sash again. "Thunderbird 2, good news. Lady Penelope has been found. She's on a train heading for London."
"How the heck did she manage that?" asked Alan in surprise.
"Never mind that now, little brother," said Scott. "I'm gonna take Gordon down to see her. Can you come back here and pick-up FAB1?"
"F-A-B," said Virgil. "We'll double back and take the car to Tracy Island. Brains will be able to fix it for sure."
"Good idea," said Scott. "See you later."
The freight train was nearing its destination. As Penelope looked out of the cab windows, the unmistakable London skyline was visible in the distance.
"Not far to go now," said Nicole. "Then we can get you to a doctor."
"I'm fine, Nicole, honestly," said Penelope. "I just need to find my parents."
"That was a nasty fall you took and you're only just drying out," said Nicole. "I'd feel much better to have you-" She broke off suddenly, her eyes catching sight of something in the sky. She eased off on the train's throttle and it began to slow down. "What the heck is that?!"
Penelope turned to look, and her eyes almost popped out. "Oh, no…" she said in a low voice as she stared in horror at the burning object that was falling from the sky, heading straight towards London.