COLONEL Jennings paced around her office restlessly. Captains Liberty and Thompson were in there too. Captain Liberty was trying not to get irritated by the Colonel's constant movement.
"Shall I get you a cup of coffee, ma'am?" Captain Liberty asked.
"No, thank you, Captain," Colonel Jennings replied. "I'm too restless."
"I'm surprised we haven't heard anything from them," said Captain Liberty.
"I thought so too," said Colonel Jennings. "But I did instruct them to contact us so they will do it when they're ready."
"I shouldn't worry about them, Colonel," said Amanda. "They're probably tied up with what they're doing."
Little did they know how literal those words were.
Gordon and Penelope found themselves with their helmets off, standing on the very edge of the stern and bound tightly together with strong rope by Silver Swan and The Black Phantom. Their hands wrapped around each other's bodies, facing each other and the hands tied tight.
The Hood was observing the key part of the A.T.A.C. computer that The Black Phantom had been down to collect whilst Techno was up on the yacht's bridge keeping an eye on the radar for anything in the area.
"What's the game here, Hood?" Gordon asked. "You planning to torture us like you did with Virgil and Hayley?"
"Not quite in the same way, no," The Hood answered. "I'm not making that mistake again. This time, the deaths of you both will be slow and painful, and we shall enjoy watching it."
"You have no idea what the consequences of killing us will bring on you," said Penelope. "It's not just International Rescue you'll have to contend with. My father-"
"Is just another man to me, Lady Penelope," said The Hood. "And we won't be worrying about what he, the GDF or International Rescue will try to do to avenge their loved ones. With the help of this little gadget, we can remain invisible forever. We will strike wherever and whenever we want to, and nobody will even see us coming." He turned up towards Techno. "Once my boy here has unlocked the secrets of whatever it does."
"Oh, man," said Techno with delight. "I can't wait to find out what it does."
"You mean you don't know what it does?" asked Gordon.
"Do you?" said The Hood. The silence from Gordon and Penelope answered that. "I thought as much," he said. "All I do know is that the GDF developed it as a means of trying to locate us." He chuckled. "And how ironic it should backfire on them."
"How did you even know about it?" asked Penelope.
"Why don't you shut up?" spat Silver Swan.
"Come now, Silver Swan," said The Hood. "They won't be alive for much longer so they might as well know the truth."
"We need to kill them now," said The Black Phantom. "Every second we waste gives them the chance to escape. You remember what happened last time?"
"May I remind you both that I am the boss of this cabal?" The Hood said. "They die when I say so!" He cleared his throat before addressing Penelope and Gordon again. "My spies are everywhere, Lady Penelope. Colonel Jennings did a great job of flushing the ones I did have in the GDF out. But one still remains. And she is very reliable. I wonder whether that fool Rigby will find out before or after the wedding?"
Gordon and Penelope stared at each other. "Captain Thompson!" they said together.
"But you'll never get to see it," said The Hood. "And besides, everyone will be too busy trying to find us to notice. And thanks to her, we'll always be one step ahead." He cackled. He then nodded at Silver Swan.
Suddenly, Silver Swan extended the claws on her right arm and took a swipe at Gordon's face.
"ARGH!" Gordon cried as he felt the claws slice into his right cheek.
Penelope gasped in horror at the sight of three claw marks on Gordon's cheek and blood began to trickle out from it.
"YOUR MONSTER!" Penelope bellowed furiously. "YOU'LL REGRET THAT, SWAN!"
Silver Swan snarled and reached for her. "I still owe you payback for capturing me in London!" she spat.
But The Hood stopped her. "STOP!" he barked. "I'd rather her face be pretty until the end."
"Flattery will get you nowhere!" snapped Penelope.
"Maybe not," said The Hood. "At least you won't be the one to get the push."
"Push of what?" Penelope demanded.
"This!" said Silver Swan, and she jumped up with her suit-pack and kicked the side of Gordon. He topped over, taking Penelope with him and they both dropped over the stern of the yacht and landed in the water. Gordon immediately felt the stinging of salt water against the cuts on his face. Blood was seeping out into the water.
The Hood gave a signal to Techno who stared the yacht's engines. The yacht began to move forwards, the rope unwinding from the stern as it went.
Gordon and Penelope broke the surface and coughed and spluttered.
"Gosh, that looks so painful," Penelope remarked.
"I'm not dead yet," Gordon replied.
The rope suddenly became taught and they found themselves being dragged along through the water at high speeds. They went above and below the surface, caught in the wake of the yacht which was now doing up to fifteen knots. All the while, The Cabal members watched them eagerly to see what would happen.
"What do you reckon?" The Hood said to Silver Swan and The Black Phantom. "Will they drown first or will the sharks tuck in?"
"Drown I hope," said Silver Swan.
"Sharks will get them," said The Black Phantom. "They're already coming." His scanner had told him that a number of Great Whites were already closing in on their victims. The blood from Gordon's cheek was attracting them.
Penelope and Gordon felt like they were in a washing machine. They tried hard to hold their breath so as not to swallow any of the seawater, but it wasn't easy. Both were trying hard to wriggle their wrists to try and loosen the ropes.
The Hood walked inside the cabin of the yacht for a few moments just so he could put the A.T.A.C. down on the table. Then he went back to join Swan and Phantom. Techno was watching eagerly too from the bridge, and wasn't paying attention to where they were going.
Gordon struggled to get the ropes to loosen, but he did manage to find his wrist communicator. He gave it three hard taps which not only sent a signal to Thunderbird 4 to start coming to him remotely, but it also alerted Virgil in Thunderbird 2 and John in Thunderbird 5.
"What the?!" John exclaimed. "Gordon's emergency beacon? Virgil, are you getting this?"
"I am," Virgil replied from Thunderbird 2. "I was starting to wonder why it was taking so long. I'm going in to see what's wrong."
"Hold it, Virgil," said John. "Let me do an aerial scan of the area. We don't want you to fly into a trap." He adjusted Thunderbird 5's scanners and sent out an aerial wave to see what he could find. Straight away he picked up the yacht and then the yellow and pink icons of Gordon and Penelope being dragged through the water behind it. "Oh, no…" he said in alarm. "Thunderbird 2, they're in trouble. You'd better help them fast!"
"On my way!" said Virgil, activating Thunderbird 2's afterburners and rushing towards the location of the yacht.
The sharks were almost upon the helpless prisoners. Gordon and Penelope were so busy trying to free themselves that they failed to notice. However, a saviour was closer than they could have expected. A strange sonic screeching sound seemed to ripple through the water, causing them to screw up their faces in pain whilst the sharks were scattered into different directions.
Gordon couldn't be sure, but he thought he saw a jet black figure zoom through the water at high speed, but was so busy trying to save himself and Penelope that it slipped his mind almost as soon as he'd first seen it.
"What the hell was that?" said The Black Phantom.
"What was what?" asked The Hood.
"I just detected a strange signal in the water," said The Black Phantom. "The sharks have scattered."
The four Cabal members began to look around, trying to see if they could see anything unusual. They could not, but Silver Swan was getting the feeling that they weren't alone. "Something's out there," she said.
The Hood scoffed. "Nonsense. There's-"
SNAP!
The three were taken by surprise as the rope attaching Gordon and Penelope to the yacht had mysteriously snapped. Now they were no longer being dragged by it.
Coming to a stop, Gordon and Penelope breached the surface and gasped out loud for air. They looked around and noticed the yacht heading away from them whilst they were no longer moving.
"What just happened?" asked Penelope.
"Dunno," Gordon replied. "But I can feel this rope getting loose. Let's work fast."
The Black Phantom picked up the end of the rope and showed it to The Hood and Silver Swan. "It's been cut!"
"STOP THE BOAT!" The Hood bellowed at Techno.
Techno cut the engines and the yacht began to slow down. "WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?!" he called down.
"I told you there was something else around," said Silver Swan.
The Hood took no notice as he examined the piece of cut rope. He looked out across the water at Gordon and Penelope and could see what they were doing. "They're trying to free themselves," he said. "TECHNO! TURN THE YACHT AROUND! RUN THEM DOWN!"
"YAAAAAAAARGH!" THUD!
The three villains spun around just as Techno fell from the bridge and landed hard on the deck below.
"What the?!" exclaimed Silver Swan as she, The Hood and Techno looked back up at the bridge just as a large figure in a jet black suit like The Black Phantom's only with a regular round motorcycle-like helmet on that had built-in breathing apparatus dropped down and landed on Techno's stomach, winding him.
"Who the hell-" The Hood began to say only for the strange figure to shoot forwards at an incredible speed and literally kicked him off the back of the yacht. "AAAAAAAARGH!" SPLASH!
"BOSS!" shrieked Silver Swan as she extended her wings and flew off to rescue him.
The Black Phantom tried to lunge and fire his omega beams at the figure, only for it to roundhouse kick him off the side of the yacht and into the water as well. His omega beams did fire upwards into the sky, leaving a long red trail that could have been seen for miles around by anyone who happened to be in the area.
From his position in the cockpit of Thunderbird 2, Virgil saw the red flash of the omega beams and his heart skipped a beat as he knew instantly who it was. "No! John, alert the GDF! It's The Cabal!"
John's heart now skipped a beat. "On it!" he said. "Do whatever it takes to get Gordon and Lady P out of there!"
"Oh, don't worry, John," said Virgil in a tone John hadn't heard from him before. "Nothing's stopping me from rescuing my brother and Lady Penelope!"
John now felt a shiver down his spine. "Jeez…Virgil's pissed!" he remarked out loud to himself.
Silver Swan soon reached the struggling Hood, who couldn't swim, and lifted him out. "I've got you, Boss," she said. "I'll kill this creep for you."
The Hood's only response was to cough and spit out the water he'd swallowed. "Throw me…at him!" he spluttered.
Gordon and Penelope had now managed to untie themselves and were free.
"Are you okay?" Penelope asked, trying to delicately examine the scratches on Gordon's cheek.
"I'll live," said Gordon. "Are you okay?"
"I guess so," Penelope replied. "I figured we'd both be OH!"
A commotion soon caught their attention. They looked in the direction of the yacht and were surprised to see what appeared to be a fight going on aboard.
"What the hell's going on?" Gordon wondered.
Techno had managed to pick himself up and pulled out his taser-stick weapon to use on their attacker. But when he tried to strike, the figure countered and slammed him up against the edge of the cabin. The Black Phantom then emerged out of the water, using his suit's thrusters and was about to land on the deck when the attacker spun around and threw Techno at him. Both villains yelped as they were both knocked overboard into the water again.
Now Silver Swan and The Hood returned and Silver Swan used the momentum to throw The Hood, despite being in his now soggy suit, at the intruder. The Hood bellowed in a rage with his hands outstretched, but the mysterious figure moved quickly out of the way and his angry bellow turned into a scream as he crashed painfully into the table in the middle of the cabin. The table was fixed hard so the pain he felt as he bounced off it was excruciating. He also gashed the top of his head with some blood coming out.
Enraged, Silver Swan now attacked the figure and began trying to claw angrily at its helmet. "YOU WILL DIE FOR THIS!" she screeched. But to her shock, the figure's helmet was so tough that her claws weren't leaving any scratches. Then to her horror, it grabbed hold of her arms and began to pull them effortlessly away from it. "Wha…wha…WHAT?!" she cried before the figure headbutted her, causing her to get some major dizziness and feel light-headed. "Owwwww!" she groaned before falling to the floor, holding her head which was throbbing.
Penelope and Gordon couldn't see what was going on aboard the yacht, but they could tell things weren't going in The Cabal's favour. "They're getting their butts handed to them by the sound of it," remarked Gordon.
"Whoever it is, I hope they're on our side," agreed Penelope.
Both jumped at the sound of something coming up behind them. They turned sharply only to breathe sighs of relief as it turned out to be Thunderbird 4 surfacing.
"Now that's a pretty sight," said Gordon with a smile.
Then he heard his sash radio come into life with a rather frantic-sounding Virgil on the other end of it. "Thunderbird 4?! Gordon, come IN?!"
"Virgil! Oh, boy! Am I glad to hear you?"
"Where are you?!"
"Relax, bro, we've managed to free ourselves," said Gordon. "We're just getting back into Thunderbird 4."
"What about The Cabal?" Virgil asked. "I saw the Phantom's omega-beam shoot into the sky."
"They appear to be distracted at this moment in time by duelling with an unknown party," said Penelope. "And they don't appear to be winning."
"They're not our problem," said Virgil. "I'm closing in fast. Get inside Thunderbird 4 and I'll retrieve you before they realise what's happening."
The Black Phantom and Techno had now managed to get back on the deck. Both were now as enraged as The Hood and Silver Swan had been. They noticed that with both their comrades down, the figure was helping itself to the A.T.A.C. device.
"PUT THAT DOWN, IT'S MINE!" Techno bellowed and tried to attack. But the figure threw a flash grenade at him which temporarily blinded them both and when it subsided and they could see again, the figure had vanished from view. They heard a splash over on the Starboard side and ran to look over. But there was no sign of the figure or where it might have landed.
"NO!" screamed Techno whilst The Black Phantom growled in frustration.
The slightly winded and injured Hood then emerged, holding a piece of kitchen roll over the gash on his head whilst a sick-feeling Silver Swan slowly picked herself up off the floor.
"What…happened?" The Hood asked.
"He's gone," said The Black Phantom.
"HE TOOK THE GODDAMN A.T.A.C.!" roared Techno.
The Hood and Silver Swan looked at the place where The Hood had left it. Sure enough, it was gone. The Hood began to shake violently with rage. "Phantom…get down in the water and-"
"LOOK!" Silver Swan shouted, pointing out behind the yacht.
The others looked and saw Thunderbird 4 on the surface heading away from them. Then they heard a rumble of engines as Thunderbird 2 appeared out of the clouds and came down low to retrieve its much smaller sister-craft. Seeing it caused The Hood to become even more enraged. "They've surVIVED!" he realised. "STOP THEM!"
Without a second thought, Silver Swan and The Black Phantom activated their suit thrusters and took flight, racing at speed towards Thunderbird 2.
Thunderbird 2 was hovering above Thunderbird 4 and used its magnetic grapple to retrieve it direct from the water rather than dropping the module.
Gordon and Penelope were in the cockpit of Thunderbird 4 when they saw their enemies were heading towards them at high speed. "Virgil, we got incoming!" Gordon cried.
Virgil looked to his right and grimaced. "I see them," he said darkly. But instead of activating the thrusters to fly them away, he turned Thunderbird 2 around to face them.
"Er, Virgil? What are you doing?" Penelope asked anxiously.
Virgil didn't answer. Instead, he activated the drop-down turret and aimed it at the approaching villains.
"He's deployed his turret!" The Black Phantom said.
"Keep going!" ordered Silver Swan. "Techno upgraded our suits. He can't do anything to hurt us!"
But Silver Swan couldn't have been more wrong. Virgil fired up the EMP emitter from inside the turret and fired a blast at them.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHH!" they both cried as their suits were shut down in an instant and they fell helplessly towards the ocean.
Without his Vulture suit to assist, The Hood could do nothing but watch with Techno as their comrades plunged into the water, several hundred yards away from them.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGHH!" The Hood screamed up at Thunderbird 2.
But Virgil wasn't done. He then used the targeting system to lock onto the yacht and this time fired a demolition missile at it.
Techno saw it and let out a loud gasp of horror. "JUMP!" he screamed, grabbing The Hood and throwing them both over the side. They went under mere seconds before the missile struck, blowing the yacht to smithereens and whatever remained sank rapidly.
By the time that the four Cabal members had resurfaced, they found themselves riddled with shock as Thunderbird 2 roared away from them, stunned by what had just happened.
"Did a Thunderbird just try to kill us?" asked Silver Swan.
"Haven't we tried to kill them?" The Black Phantom replied.
Techno and The Hood managed to grab onto a piece of floating debris from the destroyed yacht. "They must suffer for this!" fumed Techno.
The Hood had no words. All he could manage were a series of enraged snarls and growls.
Gordon and Penelope finally managed to join Virgil in the cockpit. Like The Cabal, they too were shocked by what Virgil had just done.
"Virg…did you just blow them up?" Gordon asked.
"Only the yacht," Virgil replied. "I knew Techno would have the sense to throw himself and The Hood off before the missile struck."
"This isn't like you, Virgil," said Penelope with concern. "What's wrong?"
Virgil's anger and dark tone disappeared and he let out a mournful sigh. "I'm sorry," he said. "I guess I couldn't let what they did to me and Hayley be. I must have seen red and reacted irrationally."
"Hey, you got us out of there," said Gordon. "Thanks, bro."
Virgil smiled as he turned to look at his brother. "Always, Go-OH, MY GOD!"
"Wh-Wh-Whoa! What?!" Gordon asked, startled.
"Your face!" Virgil gasped, reaching out to touch his brother's cheek.
"Oh, yeah…that," said Gordon. His cheek was still bleeding a bit and very sore. "I'd almost forgotten about that."
"I'll get some treatment for it," said Penelope, going to get the First-Aid Kit.
"Silver Swan?" Virgil asked.
Gordon nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "Trying to attract the sharks as they dragged us behind their boat."
Virgil felt his stomach churn. "Monsters," he fumed. "They're getting worse every time!"
"We have a more pressing issue," said Penelope as she tended to Gordon's wound. "Get Colonel Jennings on the radio. We need to talk urgently!"
Colonel Jennings slammed her fists on the desk in anger. "What do you mean The Cabal knew you were there?!" she demanded.
"It's true, Colonel," said Penelope. "The Cabal knew about the A.T.A.C. on the ship. And they knew we were coming. Apparently it was all part of their plan."
"You still have a mole in your organisation, Colonel," said Virgil. "May I suggest you take care of it before our Dad finds out about it?"
"Can we not entrust you to-" Colonel Jennings started.
"Not since I've got this," said Gordon, joining the holograms of Virgil and Penelope and showing the cuts on his face.
"Jesus!" exclaimed Captain Liberty. "Did Swan do that?"
Gordon nodded.
Colonel Jennings was beyond furious. "What about the A.T.A.C.?" she asked.
"Colonel, with all due respect, I think you have bigger problems to deal with than a test piece of equipment," said Penelope sternly. "You'd better flush out that traitor of yours before they cause us any more problems."
"I have over twenty thousand people under my command, Lady Penelope," said Colonel Jennings. "Have you any idea how long that could take?"
"Who's in there with you?" asked Penelope.
"Just me, Captain Liberty and Captain Thompson," said Colonel Jennings.
Silence fell in both the Colonel's office and Thunderbird 2's cockpit as Gordon, Virgil and Penelope looked at each other whilst the three GDF officers exchanged confused looks.
"Why have you gone quiet?" Colonel Jennings asked.
"Well…" said Penelope. "If The Hood is to be believed, and I'd take it with a pinch of salt, Colonel…but the spy is standing on the right-hand side of where you're standing."
The awkward silence turned into a stunned one as Colonel Jennings and Captain Liberty turned to look at a now rather nervous-looking Captain Amanda Thompson.
Captain Liberty broke the awkward silence. "Amanda?"
Amanda pulled herself together. "Rubbish!" she said with confidence. "Lady Creighton-Ward is talking complete bol-" She was cut off by a very hard knocking at the door.
Before Colonel Jennings could even speak, the door opened and Hayley walked in. "Madison?!" she said. "Why did you-"
She too was cut off as a second figure entered behind Hayley. It was Amanda. Her hair was down, her uniform was dirty and her face had bruises where it looked like she'd been beaten up.
"What…?!" the Amanda , who had already been in the room said as all eyes suddenly turned sharply to her.
Captain Liberty grabbed his shield that was attached to his back. "YOU UTTER-" he began.
The fake Amanda suddenly ran for the nearby window and literally jumped through it, smashing the glass and the window-frame as she went.
"GET AFTER HER!" Colonel Jennings bellowed as Captain Liberty set off in pursuit, leaping out of the window after the spy. Colonel Jennings turned to Hayley and the real Amanda. "Thompson, are you okay?" she asked.
"Nothing broken, Colonel," Amanda replied.
"Good," said Colonel Jennings. "Now go after them!"
Amanda and Hayley were only too glad to as they hurried out of the office door.
Colonel Jennings grabbed her personal radio. "This is Colonel Jennings. Security Red! Lockdown! I repeat - Lockdown!"
Thanks to his special suit, Captain Liberty was able to leap down from the building and use his shield to cushion the impact and roll over before setting off in pursuit of the fleeing fake Amanda. She pulled out a gun and began to shoot at him, but he used the shield to block the laser blasts. "STOP! YOU'RE UNDER ARREST!"
"NO, I'M NOT!" the fake Amanda shouted back, shooting at his legs. He managed to dodge it and she growled angrily before disappearing round the corner of the building. "YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME, LIBERTY!"
Captain Liberty got his shield ready to throw once he'd turned around the corner. But as he was a few feet away, he heard a scream followed by a CLUNK and a groan. He turned the corner, got ready to throw the shield…and then skidded to a stop. The fake Amanda was lying on the floor, groaning in pain. Then her body flickered and then the hologram disappeared to reveal none other than…
"The Chameleon!" Captain Liberty said angrily. He put the shield on his back and grabbed some nearby cables that had been left over from some maintenance of the building. He swiftly moved in to restrain the villain with it.
By the time Hayley, Amanda and Colonel Jennings arrived with a number of soldiers, Captain Liberty had already secured the criminal, who had come to his senses and was now desperately trying to free himself.
"The Chameleon!" said Colonel Jennings. "Of course!" She turned to Amanda. "How long has he been impersonating you?"
"A couple of days I think," said Amanda.
"I found her tied up inside the same bunker where you were imprisoned, Colonel," said Hayley. "I often check it on my security rounds and I stumbled across Amanda when I did just now."
Colonel Jennings approached The Chameleon who was struggling fiercely against his bonds. "Chameleon…you're under arrest," she said.
"NO!" screamed The Chameleon. "I CAN'T FAIL! HE'LL KILL ME!"
"The Hood?" asked Colonel Jennings.
"He's got a zero fail tolerance now," said The Chameleon. "You've got to let me go!"
"No chance, pal!" snapped Captain Liberty. "You messed with my girl. You're gonna pay for that."
"NO!" screamed The Chameleon again before Captain Liberty knocked him out with a kick to his metal helmet.
"Dang it, I was going to do that," said Amanda with disappointment. She and Captain Liberty then had a chance to embrace whilst Hayley instructed the soldiers to take The Chameleon away.
"Are you okay, my love?" Captain Liberty asked.
"I am now," she replied flirtingly.
Just then they all heard a beeping coming from The Chameleon. It was originating from the communicator device on his wrist. Hayley removed it and pressed the button to receive the call.
"Chameleon! You missed your check in! Report!"
No hologram appeared but they all recognised the voice as that of The Hood's, and he was sounding extremely infuriated.
Hayley decided to take the opportunity to herself get back at The Hood for what he and The Cabal had done to her and Virgil several months back. She composed herself, and then spoke into the communicator. "You have reached the voicemail for The Chameleon. I'm afraid he's not in at the moment, please leave your message and he may get back to you from his prison cell."
Amanda and Captain Liberty began to chuckle whilst Colonel Jennings tried to contain her own amusement.
"WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWHAAAAAAAT?!" The Hood's voice screeched over the communicator. "WHO IS THIS?!"
"Come now, Hood," said Hayley. "Surely you haven't forgotten who I am? You did try to kill me and my lover with a virus after all."
A deep and sinister snarling sound was heard as the anger inside The Hood began to boil over. "YOU!" he rumbled. "CAPTAIN…MADISON!"
"That's right," said Hayley in a very serious voice. "We rumbled The Chameleon and he's in our custody. He will no longer be assisting you."
The Hood's growling continued. "Tell him he'll receive his severance package soon…" he hissed. "As for the rest of you GDF morons…YOU'LL ALL BE DEAD WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU! AND THE SAME GOES WITH EVERYONE AT INTERNATIONAL RESCUE!"
The sound of a fist punching the microphone was heard before the line went dead.
Hayley took a few breaths to recompose herself. Amanda, Captain Liberty and Colonel Jennings on the other hand looked rather disturbed by The Hood's outburst.
"Good God…" said Amanda. "I know you said he lost it when you and your man were rescued, Hayley. But I didn't think he'd gotten that bad?"
"He's losing his mind," said Captain Liberty. "All the failures he has endured over the years must be causing him to go insane."
"And the more defeats he suffers, the more deadly and dangerous he could become," said Hayley.
"He's still got many dangerous tricks up his sleeve as well," said Colonel Jennings. "Once again he managed to slip a spy in under our noses, and I failed to notice."
Amanda took a step backwards and almost fell over something. "Whoops!"
Captain Liberty grabbed her before she fell. "Woah, easy!" he said.
"Phew!" gasped Amanda. "Thanks."
But Colonel Jennings had noticed what Amanda had almost fallen over. "Why's that been left there?" she asked.
Hayley, Amanda and Captain Liberty looked down to see it was a large cardboard box. The top wasn't sealed so Captain Liberty opened the flaps to see what was inside. He then stopped dead in astonishment. "What the blazes?!"
"What's in there?" asked Colonel Jennings.
Captain Liberty reached inside, and lifted out the object that the box contained. He then showed it to them.
Colonel Jennings' mouth fell open. "The A.T.A.C.?!"
It was indeed. The very one that had been installed on the St Georges.
"But…how?!" asked Hayley in bewilderment.
Colonel Jennings took the device from Captain Liberty and tried to think hard of the answer. "I wish I knew, Madison…"
"Wait a moment," said Captain Liberty. "Didn't Lady Penelope say something about The Cabal seemed to be fighting with someone when she and Tracy were in the water?"
"She did…" said Colonel Jennings. "And whoever that was must have stolen it from them…and given it back to us." She began to look around at the various buildings around the site.
"And they must have been the ones to take down Chameleon," said Captain Liberty. "After he rounded the corner I heard him hit something."
"Or someone hit him?" said Amanda.
Unseen by the four senior GDF officers, a lone figure was standing on one of the old outbuildings several hundred metres away, observing them through the long-range vision inside his black helmet. "One down…five to go," it said to itself. "Your days are numbered, brother." And with that, it disappeared into the shadows.