GORDON did sleep better that night. He didn't have any bad dreams and he felt rather refreshed by the next morning. It was a beautiful sunny day, albeit still rather cold due it being winter. He therefore put on a warm coat and decided to take a morning stroll around the estate after breakfast. He was originally going to go on his own, but after reaching the bottom of the steps, found someone who wanted to go with him. It was Potts, the former sheepdog that Penelope had bonded with whilst surviving during the Rock Snake attack.
"Hello, boy," said Gordon, petting the dog. "You wanna come walk with me?"
Potts panted happily and together they set off across one of the lawns towards some nearby trees.
From inside, Penelope observed as Gordon and Potts headed on their way.
"How is he this morning?" asked Patricia, joining her daughter at the window.
"A lot better he seems," replied Penelope. "Potts seems to like him as well."
"He's a lovely dog," said Patricia. "Just what you needed after losing Sherbet."
Penelope felt her heart sink a little. It had been several months since she'd lost Sherbet in a tragic accident and it had hit her badly. However, she felt that Potts had filled in the missing gap in her life. The only difference being was she wouldn't be able to take him with her to special events. He wasn't a pampered pooch after all.
Gordon and Potts had neared the treeline along the edge of the estate. Behind the trees was the wall that separated it from the main road. A large oak tree stood out from the rest in the middle of the lawn. It still looked majestic despite having no leaves on it.
It was at that moment that Potts stopped dead in his tracks. As Gordon looked at the dog, he could see that its focus was solely fixed on one of the trees near the wall. "What is it, Potts?" he asked. "What do you see?"
Potts seemed to lower himself towards the ground a little before very slowly moving forwards. He then began to emit a low growl which made Gordon uneasy.
"What the hell are you growling at?" Gordon asked, looking at the tree in question. He couldn't make out anything that Potts could be growling at. Was there something or even someone there that wasn't supposed to be?
Before they could go and investigate, something else drew Potts's attention away from it. He turned his head and looked directly South-West of their position. Gordon was about to speak when he began to hear the distant hum of an approaching aircraft. Then the unmistakable shape of a GDF Flyer appeared over the treetops and began to descend down towards the estate.
"What are they doing here?" Gordon asked out loud as he began to walk towards the Flyer, closely followed by a cautious and suspicious Potts.
The rumble of engines had caused the Creighton-Wards to come out of the mansion to see what was going on. They all watched in bewilderment as the Flyer's undercarriage was deployed and it began to settle on the grass.
"Are you expecting a visit?" Patrick asked Penelope.
Penelope shook her head. "None at all," she replied. "But they wouldn't be here unless something urgent had come up." She started to walk towards the Flyer, closely followed by her parents.
As the two groups approached, the door ramp underneath the cockpit of the Flyer opened downwards and a woman in smart uniform walked down closely followed by a man in a red, white and blue suit carrying a shield.
"Good heavens!" exclaimed Penelope. "Colonel Jennings and Captain Liberty! I wasn't expecting you to come and visit."
"My apologies for uninvited presence, Lady Penelope," said Colonel Jennings. She looked at the two elder members of the family. "Lord Patrick and Lady Patricia Creighton-Ward?"
"You guess right," said Patrick. "What can we do for you, Colonel…?"
"Jennings. I'm afraid it's not a pleasure visit. I need the urgent help of your daughter."
Gordon then arrived with Potts. "Hey there, Colonel. Captain."
"Tracy," said Captain Liberty.
Colonel Jennings was surprised. She looked at him for a moment. "Gordon Tracy?"
"That's right, Colonel."
"Hmm," she said. "Okay, then I will more than likely need your help as well."
Gordon and Penelope looked at each other in confusion. However, before they could enquire as to why, everyone's attention was drawn to Potts who'd suddenly started barking and growling at the old oak tree.
"What is it, Potts?" Penelope asked.
"Looks like he's seen something in the tree," remarked Patricia.
Gordon was closest to the tree. He narrowed his eyes. "I don't see anything," he said. "Maybe a stray cat or a bird he's seen?"
Penelope, her parents not Colonel Jennings could see anything either. But Captain Liberty had just put on his helmet, which had a heads-up display built into the eye-holes. Now he was able to scan for things like body heat that the naked eye wouldn't be able to see.
"Pardon me, your Lordship," Captain Liberty said. "How old is that tree?"
"Ooh, I can't remember off the top of my head," replied Patrick. "A good few hundred years I reckon."
"Then I must apologise in advance," said Captain Liberty. Before anyone could say anything, he suddenly swung his body around and threw the shield at the tree. It entered the branches and they all heard a CLONK as it hit something.
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRGGGGHH!"
Everyone except Captain Liberty watched in astonishment as the figure of a man in a baize suit fell out of the tree and landed in a heap on the ground at the base of the trunk.
In an instant, Potts was charging at the intruder, barking loudly. The man looked back and saw the dog charging. He scrambled to his feet and tried to run away, only for the dog to pounce on him and knock him to the ground again. He then stood on the man's back before sitting, using his weight to pin him to the ground.
"GAAARGH! STUPID…DOG!" the man shouted in an American accent. "GET OFF ME! HELP!"
Everyone ran over.
"Potts, off!" Penelope ordered, clicking her fingers.
The dog obeyed, stepping off the man so Captain Liberty could roll him over. He had dark hair with black rimmed glasses - just like the man Gordon had briefly spotted in the silver car from the day before.
"Hey, you're the guy who was following us yesterday!" Gordon exclaimed. "And you have a camera!" He picked it up off the ground.
"Hey, you can't touch that!" protested the man. He tried to get up but Captain Liberty pinned him down with his foot.
"Who the devil are you?" demanded Patrick.
"I am Jack Ryder, New York Gazette," said the man. "I've come to cover the story of your daughter's new found love interest."
"That is none of your business!" snapped Patricia. "How long have you been following my daughter?"
"Since just before I arrived it seems," said Gordon. "I've gone through his photos. He followed us to the Windmill yesterday. And there's photos dating back to early last week here!"
Patrick and Patricia glared furiously at Ryder, but before either of them could say anything, Captain Liberty pulled Ryder to his feet.
"It's quite the story to be told," Ryder said, pulling out a recording device and holding it in the direction of Penelope and Gordon. "May I ask you some questions?"
The Creighton-Wards all opened their mouths to answer, but it was Colonel Jennings who spoke. "You won't be asking any questions, Mr Ryder," she said firmly. "You'll be answering them instead. Captain, take him on the Flyer and lock him up. I'll deal with him personally later."
"Yes, Colonel," said Captain Liberty. "Ryder, you're under arrest for stalking and trespassing."
"Hey, GET OFF ME!" Ryder protested as Captain Liberty dragged him effortlessly towards the Flyer. "YOU CAN'T DO THIS1 I'M A MEMBER OF THE PRESS! I HAVE RIGHTS!"
"You have only one right," said Captain Liberty as he dragged him up the ramp. "And that is to remain silent."
Colonel Jennings turned back to Gordon and the Creighton-Wards. "Looks like our arrival was timely," she remarked.
"I'll say," said Patrick. "We need to get our security systems checked over."
"Anyways, Colonel," said Penelope. "What do you need me and Gordon for?"
"Ah, yes," said Colonel Jennings. "Can we talk about it inside privately?"
"Of course," said Penelope. "I'll have Parker bring us some tea."
With tea having been served and the doors to the Drawing Room sealed and guarded by a returned Captain Liberty, Colonel Jennings began to brief Penelope and Gordon about the situation. "This is the St Georges. To the regular person, it's an ordinary fishing vessel based in Malta. On the inside, it's a GDF surveillance ship."
"Surveying for what?" asked Gordon.
"That, I'm afraid, is classified," said Colonel Jennings.
Of course it is, Gordon thought.
"It was sailing North of Malta when it was sunk after an old naval mine got caught in the nets," said Colonel Jennings. "Three of the crew were recovered. The rest are unaccounted for. Including my own people."
Penelope looked at the holographic blueprints of the St Georges. "Could they have been kept safe inside the sealed off section?" she asked.
"It's possible, but we've had no SOS transmitted from the vessel," said Colonel Jennings. "The amount of time from the mine hitting to the boat going down was less than three minutes. They wouldn't have stood a chance at getting out if the outer steel wall got breached."
"So you need us to go down and search for survivors?" said Gordon. "Even though this happened yesterday?"
"That's a reason, yes, Tracy," said Colonel Jennings. "At least, that's your job. However, it is pure luck for us that you are here, because I had a much more important job for you, Lady Penelope."
"And what would that be?" asked Penelope.
Colonel Jennings changed the hologram to an image of a strange-looking device that neither Penelope nor Gordon had ever seen before. "This is the main piece of surveillance technology aboard. It's revolutionary and it's the first of its kind to be tested. And we need it back at all costs."
"You think the ship may have been sunk deliberately?" asked Penelope.
"Given how the ship sank I feel it's unlikely," said Colonel Jennings. "Had it been torpedoed then yes it would have been and we'd have gotten out there ASAP. But an old naval mine getting caught in nets…it could just have been an unfortunate accident. Regardless, a wreck that is close to Malta and in fairly shallow waters, it could attract wreck-divers and bounty hunters."
"Who could start removing the vital equipment from the wreck and sell it to potentially the wrong people?" said Gordon.
Colonel Jennings nodded. "I know technically this is the GDF's mess and we need to be the ones to clear it up, however we need to keep this on a low-profile and done in a way the Malta Authorities don't become suspicious of GDF activity.
Penelope looked at Gordon. "Looks like we're going swimming," she said.
Gordon shifted uncomfortably. "One slight issue for me," he said. "I'm technically on vacation. My uniform is back on Tracy Island. I can't really call them up and ask Virgil to bring it all the way over here just so I can use it, can I?"
"Tracy…global security could be at stake," said Colonel Jennings. "I'm sorry it's fallen on a time like this, but we have to get this piece of equipment back. And if there's any chance some of my people have somehow managed to survive the sinking, I'd very much like to get them back as well."
Gordon relented. "Very well," he said. "I'll call base. But I really don't think Dad's gonna like this."
Gordon was nervous about what Jeff would say about the mission, so he was somewhat relieved when it was Virgil who answered the call. "Hey, Gordo. How's your vacation going?"
"Was going fine, Virg, although it just suddenly got interesting."
"Oh? How so?"
"Colonel Jennings has come to see us and wants me and Pen to go down to a shipwreck to recover a vital piece of surveillance technology," Gordon explained.
"But that's the GDF's job, not ours," said Virgil.
"Well the task of the tech recovery is for Pen to do," said Gordon. "Colonel Jennings also said there could still be some people trapped inside the specially constructed section of the ship."
"So you're gonna need Thunderbird 4?" asked Virgil.
"Well…my swim gear is what I really need," said Gordon. "However, maybe bringing Thunderbird 4 as well might not be a bad idea. Just so long as Dad's okay with us doing this."
"Well we can't exactly wait to ask him," said Virgil. "He's not here."
"He's not?"
"No, he's gone to Chicago with Alan to see the psychiatrist who helped him before."
"Jeez, has he gotten that bad?"
"It looks that way. I'll suit up and bring Thunderbirds 2 and 4 out. To save time we'll arrange a rendezvous if you and Penelope can take FAB1 somewhere?"
"F-A-B," said Gordon. "See you soon."
"Okay. Over and out."
Virgil hurried over to the rocket painting and rested himself against it. It tilted backwards and he made his way down the launching tunnel, getting his uniform put on as he went before dropping down into the cockpit of Thunderbird 2. He took up his position in the pilot seat and then selected Module 4 which was rolled into place underneath and he then lowered the main body down onto it. With the Module locked in place, Thunderbird 2 began to taxi out along the runway past the folded back palm trees and was then raised into position on the launch ramp.
5! 4! 3! 2! 1!
Thunderbird 2 roared upwards off the launch ramp and climbed high into the sky above Tracy Island.
"Thunderbird 2 is…no wait, Thunder-birds are GO!" Virgil corrected himself as he remembered that he was launching solo but with Thunderbird 4 aboard. This was a first, launching with Thunderbird 4 but not with Gordon with him. It felt kind of strange.
Gordon went back into the Drawing Room to see Penelope and Colonel Jennings. "Thunderbird 2 is on its way," he said. "Pen, we'll need to take FAB1 out to rendezvous with Virgil somewhere he'll let us know of."
"Excellent," said Colonel Jennings. "I'll leave you both to it. Remember, no matter what you find down there, get that computer out."
"We'll do our best, Colonel," said Penelope.
Having had the rendezvous with Thunderbird 2 in the South of France, Gordon and Penelope were now flying low over the Mediterranean heading towards the tiny island of Malta.
"Has Colonel Jennings given you the exact position of the wreck?" Virgil asked.
"An approximate one," said Penelope. "It's supposed to be located around ten miles North of the island."
"She also said we need to keep this as secret as possible," said Gordon. "In other words, we can't allow ourselves to be seen."
"Hmm," said Virgil, biting his lip. "That's not so easy when you fly such an obvious green ship. I guess I'll need to remain hidden far out at sea whilst you go down in Thunderbird 4."
"You can watch the area for any signs of trouble," said Penelope.
"I can," said Virgil. "But let us hope not. Just be as quick as you can down there."
"F-A-B," said Gordon and Penelope together.
It wasn't long before Thunderbird 2 reached their planned dropping point. Gordon and Penelope moved from the cockpit down into the module and then into Thunderbird 4.
"We've reached the position," Virgil said over the radio. "Stand-by for launch."
"System check complete," said Gordon. "Docking clamp released." He turned to Penelope. "You ready?"
"Mhm," she answered.
"Then we're go for module deployment."
The clamps were released and Module 4 dropped down onto the surface of the flat calm Mediterranean Sea. The door opened and the ramp with Thunderbird 4 mounted on rose upwards into position. The impellers fired up and it slipped down into water.
"Thunderbird 4 is GO!" announced Gordon.
As Thunderbird 4 dived down towards the seabed, Virgil retrieved the module back into Thunderbird 2 and then moved out of the area, using his radar to scan for any potential threats to the operation. "The area looks pretty clear, Thunderbird 4," he said. "Most of the shipping is over the other side of the island. There's a pleasure yacht a few nautical miles from where the wreck is meant to be but it's not going to affect the operation I don't expect."
"F-A-B, Thunderbird 2," answered Gordon. "We're tracking along the seabed now. Should have visual contact with the St Georges soon."
"F-A-B. Good luck."
Thunderbird 4 headed close to the ocean floor. Its powerful lights penetrated through the darkness. This wasn't the first time Gordon and Penelope had both been together inside Thunderbird 4. However it was the first that they could remember being in an Earth ocean. Last time had been when they'd gone to Mars to search for Captain Taylor.
"So beautiful down here," said Penelope.
"I know right?" replied Gordon. "I never get tired of doing this."
Penelope smiled.
Gordon looked round at her. There'd been a burning question he'd been wanting to ask her for a while now, but hadn't had the courage to do so. Yet now they were alone, he felt more comfortable with doing it. "Say, Pen?"
"Mmm?"
"Do you think we'd be able to get married like Virgil and Hayley are going to be?"
Penelope was surprised by the question. "What makes you ask that?" she asked.
"Well…you know…like would it work?" asked Gordon.
"I'm sorry, I don't get what you mean?"
"Like, would it work if we're married and live on opposite sides of the world?"
Penelope didn't answer for a second. "Not really…no," she answered.
Gordon's face fell. "Yeah…I figured you'd say that," he said sadly.
"It's not that I wouldn't if you asked," said Penelope, which caused his heart to flutter. "It's just…one of us would have to give up what we do. Could you ever see yourself giving up Thunderbird 4?"
Gordon felt his insides fall down with a hard bump. That wasn't something he'd even considered. He found himself unable to say anything. Before he could, a beep from the sonar caught both of their attention.
"We're getting close," said Penelope.
Gordon eased back on Thunderbird 4's engines and adjusted the lights. The shape of a shipwreck started to emerge in the beam of the lights. Straight away they recognised it as a fishing boat. It was sitting upright with its stern clearly visible to them. The name St Georges was clearly visible.
"There she is," said Penelope.
"Sheesh, and look at that hole," added Gordon as the lights moved along the Starboard side of the vessel to reveal the hole in the hull where the mine had struck.
"That's our way in," said Penelope. "Put her down here and we'll go the rest of the way."
"Should we tell Colonel Jennings that we've located the wreck?" asked Gordon.
"No, we'll keep radio silence," said Penelope. "Just on the off-chance there are hostiles nearby."
Gordon thought that was very unlikely, but he put Thunderbird 4 down on the seabed anyway. Penelope had already changed into her swimsuit before leaving Thunderbird 2, so it was a simple case of them both putting on their helmets and flooding the rear compartment of the small yellow submersible before the rear doors opened and they swam out the back.
Heading around the front of the craft, they made their way towards the St Georges. Even though it was a small vessel, it seemed huge underwater as they got up close to it. Penelope cautiously entered through the hole first. Using the light from her helmet torch, she could see the outer wall of the sealed off section where the A.T.A.C. was located. They could both see that it too had been breached by the explosion.
"Guess we can rule out the possibility of any survivors?" said Penelope to Gordon.
"Yeah," agreed Gordon grimly.
They moved inwards towards the breach, bracing themselves for whatever gruesome sight they might discover once they were in. However, it was something else that would get the drop on them.
"AAAAHHH!" Penelope cried out in alarm as a large grey object suddenly shot forwards out of the darkness and skimmed between them. It was a Great White Shark. But instead of attacking them, it instead swam out of the opening in the hull and disappeared from view.
Both had been startled by the shark's sudden appearance but it was Penelope who'd seen its face first and had had to move swiftly out of its way.
"Let's hope he was dining alone," joked Gordon, causing Penelope to roll her eyes.
With the shark now gone, they made their way inside the opening in the metal section inside the vessel. Gordon went in first, and straight away saw the floating bodies of the deceased GDF personnel. It made his stomach churn.
"Ugh!" Gordon groaned. He tried to avoid looking at them as Penelope followed him in.
"Oh, Goodness," Penelope remarked. "I do hope they can be extracted for proper funerals."
"They'd better," replied Gordon. He looked around at the specialised equipment that filled the secret room. "Now I understand why Colonel Jennings doesn't want anyone else to come diving to the wreck."
"Questions would be asked and this equipment could easily end up on the Black Market, or worse," agreed Penelope.
"Gee, could you imagine what might happen if The Hood was to learn of this?" said Gordon.
"I'd rather not," Penelope replied. "Come on, we need to find this piece of equipment. I'm getting creeped out here with these bodies."
"Ditto," agreed Gordon. He then noticed a door. "Through there?"
"I guess so," said Penelope.
They headed through the door after bypassing the floating body of Captain Mahoney and discovered the control panel with the A.T.A.C. on it. Beside it was the body of Mac. Gordon cautiously and solemnly moved the body out of the way so they could get to the controls.
"Okay, what do we do with it?" Gordon asked.
"First we disarm it," said Penelope. "Colonel Jennings gave me a list of instructions. Number one - is the self-destruct timer set?"
Gordon looked around until he found a timer and a lever. "Check. It is set for one minute," he said. "And yet the lever wasn't moved to activate it."
"The water must have claimed them before they had a chance to," said Penelope. "In that case, remove the top of the panel and cut the three main wires. Red, then blue and then green."
Gordon took out a screwdriver from his utility belt and unfastened the screws on the top of the panel. He lifted it up to reveal the three wires. "Hang on, might this not set it off?" he asked.
"Only if you do them in the wrong order, Jennings said," said Penelope. "You remember what it was?"
Gordon looked at the wires. The one on the left was red. The one in the middle was green and the one on the right was blue. "Red, Blue, Green?"
"Correct," said Penelope. "Now be careful, for heaven's sake."
Gordon was feeling the pressure as he took out some wire cutters. "Red," he said and cut the first wire. Nothing happened. "Blue." He cut it and still nothing happened. "Green." He cut it. All the lights that were still on with the reserve power went out. "There, it's safe," she said.
"Good," said Penelope. "Now, let's remove it from the AAAAARGH!"
Gordon spun round just in time to see Penelope get dragged away into the darkness by an unknown figure. "PENELOPE?!" he cried and swam frantically after her. He passed through the door only to get grabbed from behind by a strong hand. Before he had a chance to react, he found himself alongside Penelope being dragged at speed through the fishing boat and back out through the hole into open water. They were then taken at speed upwards through the water towards the surface. Seconds later they burst through the surface where they were then thrown forwards.
"WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRGH!" they both cried as they saw a large white pleasure yacht in front of them and they landed heavily on the deck with a pair of hard thuds.
The wind was somewhat knocked out of them but they both managed to turn their heads back towards their captor. They froze as they saw the familiar black armoured suit and glowing red eyes of the Black Phantom now standing tall over them.
Then a set of footsteps were heard in front and as they turned back to look, they saw a pair of shiny black shoes and the trousers of a familiar suit walking towards them accompanying an equally familiar and sinister cackle. They looked upwards at the face of the person they belonged to.
"Well, well, well," said The Hood. "Welcome aboard."