THUNDERBIRD 1 took absolutely no time at all to reach the Coral Sea. Scott flew his ship to a position one-hundred miles South of Papua New Guinea. "Where should I be, Thunderbird 5?" he asked.
"Actually around there should be fine, Thunderbird 1," answered John. "Lower your sonar scanner into the ocean and let's see what we can find."
"F-A-B."
Scott brought Thunderbird 1 down to cruising speed and descended towards the surface of the ocean. He came to a hovering position a few metres above the waves before opening the underside hatch and lowering the sonar scanner into the water. Once in position, he tried a localised sweep, sending out a single ping to see if it could pick anything up.
"Anything?" John asked.
"Nothing," Scott grunted in response. "No vessels of any kind in the area."
"I'm patching your scanner through to Thunderbird 5," said John. "Yours has a range of about one-hundred miles. I can amplify it to one-thousand miles. Stand-by."
A loud PING sounded through the water, spreading out over a vast one-thousand miles in all directions. It soon picked up a small number of submerged vessels - one of which was much larger than the others.
"That has to be it!" said Scott.
"Gotta be," agreed John. "Literally one-hundred and twenty miles South of your position."
"Just out of my own sonar's range," mused Scott. "How typical is that?"
"Fifty-fifty chance," said John. "I'll inform the Indiana. Can you fill Thunderbird 2 in?"
Scott looked at his radar screen. "Sure. I think they're about to join me," he said.
"F-A-B," said John as he signed off.
As Scott retracted the sonar equipment back into Thunderbird 1 and began to rise away from the surface of the water, the great green bulk of Thunderbird 2 descended from the overcast grey sky.
"Hello, Thunderbird 2," said Scott. "Nice of you to join us."
"Any luck finding our friend, Thunderbird 1?" asked Virgil.
"We believe so," said Scott. "John's informing the World Navy as we speak. I'm gonna send you its position with predicted course and speed."
Gordon was unusually sitting at the console desk behind Virgil whilst Alan sat in the co-pilot seat in the cockpit of Thunderbird 2. He observed the holographic screen showing a map of the Coral Sea with their positions. Soon the data sent by Scott appeared showing the Tigershark's predicted position and course. Gordon made careful note of its position and direction. It didn't take him long to come to a realisation. "I think I know where they're going," he told the others. "Do any of you remember where we tested Thunderbird 4 after it was first built? The original one that is."
The other three tried to think back. It had been a very long time ago when the Thunderbirds had all been built. Alan certainly couldn't remember and Scott couldn't seem to think of it either.
Virgil on the other hand seemed to have a better memory than his eldest and youngest brothers. "Yes, it was the Graham Ridges or something like that, wasn't it?" he asked.
Gordon nodded. "Well remembered, Virgil," he said.
"What is this place?" asked Alan.
"The largest underwater mountain range in the world," Gordon explained. Its full of huge rocks and caves - some big enough to hide a sub of that size easily."
"So you think they're gonna hide there and let the World Navy sail right on by?" asked Alan.
"I believe so," said Gordon. "It's certainly what I'd do if I were the captain of that sub."
"Who do you think these guys even are anyway?" Virgil asked. "This kind of threat is very different to what we've encountered before."
"Aircraft sabotage isn't unusual, Virgil," remarked Scott. "Remember The Hood hi-jacking the Fireflash?"
"Yes, but I've never known anyone use a submarine to shoot aircraft down before," said Virgil.
"It's The Cabal I bet," said Alan.
"Alan, why do you always assume every threat we encounter is them?" asked Virgil.
"Because it's the kind of dirty thing they'd do to get at us!" Alan answered. "Think about it. By shooting those planes down, they know we can't respond quickly enough for us to mobilise to save the crew. It's a way of taunting us!"
"As realistic as that sounds, I'm not entirely convinced," said Gordon. "Whoever these guys are seem to know the ins-and-outs of how Naval warfare works, and I'm not convinced anyone in The Cabal has that kind of knowledge."
"Also the sub's painted black," said Scott. "The Cabal tend to paint their craft with Techno's colors."
Alan shrugged. "Maybe it's been gifted to The Black Phantom?"
"Well, we're not going to find out by guessing," said Virgil. "Let's get into position. Gordon, you're certain of where it's going?"
"It's present course would suggest that," answered Gordon.
"Good enough for me," said Virgil. He opened the radio link to Tracy Island. "Base from Thunderbird 2."
"Go ahead, Virgil?" answered Jeff whose hologram appeared on the projector.
"We believe the Tigershark is heading for the Graham Ridges, Dad," said Virgil. "We're moving into position so that Gordon can set-up an ambush."
"Copy that," said Jeff. "I'm patching Brains through to you now. Go ahead, Brains."
Brains's hologram now appeared. "V-Virgil, Gordon, I believe The Mechanic and I have found what we are looking for."
"Shoot, Brains," said Gordon.
Brains sent the hologram image of the Tigershark for the brothers to see. "There's some air-intakes on the s-sides of the submarine's hull," he explained. "It sends f-fresh water through to the power-core that it operates on. Take one of those out and it could c-cause it to overheat."
"Then they'll be forced to surface," said Virgil.
"If they have the sense to do that," added Alan.
Gordon got up from his seat. "Thanks, Brains. I'll see what I can do," he said as he headed out of the cockpit to head down to Thunderbird 4.
Aboard the Indiana, Admiral Jellicoe had received the information from Thunderbird 5. He was extremely grateful. "Thank you, International Rescue. I can't begin to tell you how thankful we are for your assistance."
"We don't tend to get involved in this type of situation, Admiral," John replied. "However, I don't think any of us want unnecessary death and destruction. You've lost too many people over the last couple of days."
"You're definitely not wrong about that, young man," agreed Jellicoe. "I've barely slept the past few days, grieving over their losses. It's not how I thought my first operation as Fleet Admiral would go." He cleared his throat. "Thank you again. Best of luck to you."
"And you, Admiral," said John. "International Rescue, out."
Jellicoe then looked at the chart on the display with Captain Peterson. "The Graham Ridges," he said.
"You gotta admit, sir. These guys aren't dumb," said Peterson. "Stupid, yes. Crazy, absolutely. But they're smart also."
Jellicoe nodded in agreement. "Send a signal to the fleet. Set course for the Graham Ridges. Best possible speed."
"Aye-aye, sir," said Peterson as he headed for the door leading to the bridge. "Let's hope International Rescue can hold them off until we get there."
Jellicoe didn't reply as Peterson left the control room. He looked back at the chart feeling more than a little worried for the young men of International Rescue. "Those Thunderbird pilots are barely out of childhood. Why am I asking them to put their lives in jeopardy for something that we should be doing? I do hope I haven't made a terrible mistake."
Thunderbirds 1 and 2 had moved from where the detection of the Tigershark had been to a location near to where the Graham Ridges began.
"I'm going to drop you off here, Thunderbird 4," said Virgil. "First we need to know for certain that it is the Tigershark that is coming our way before we set the trap."
"Understood," said Gordon. "If I get the chance, should I fire a sonic-amplifier to the hull then maybe we could listen in on those inside and find out what their intentions are?"
"If you get the chance, Gordon, go for it," said Scott. "Then we'll know for sure if we're dealing with The Cabal or not."
"F-A-B," said Gordon. "System check complete. Docking clamp released. We are go for module deployment."
The clamps holding the module in place were released and it dropped out from within Thunderbird 2 to land on the surface of the water. Virgil then moved Thunderbird 2 clear as the door of the module swung open. The ramp that Thunderbird 4 was mounted on tilted upwards so that Thunderbird 4 was pointing downwards towards the water. Gordon fired up the engines and it slid down into the water submerging immediately.
"Thunderbird 4 is GO!" announced Gordon as he dived down into the dark, murky depths.
Virgil then retrieved the module so that it wouldn't go floating off by itself and he positioned Thunderbird 2 into a hover with Thunderbird 1. All Virgil, Alan and Scott could do now was wait and see what would happen next.
Diving deep, Gordon manoeuvred Thunderbird 4 in a position between some rocks. He powered down anything that could potentially give him away and he turned off the powerful spot lamps on the front. He wasn't sure if the Tigershark had any windows for the crew to look out of when underwater but he didn't want to take the risk. Sitting quietly, he watched his sonar screen, waiting for some action. After about five minutes, something very large began to appear both on the screen and into his line of sight. Gordon gazed in awe as the unmistakable shape of the Tigershark emerged from the darkness, sailing across from his left to his right. "I see it!" he said quietly into the radio. "It's her alright."
"Well done, Thunderbird 4," answered Scott. "Now fire that sonic amplifier and let's see what we can get."
"F-A-B." Gordon pushed a button. A sonic amplifier was launched from the front of Thunderbird 4. It hit the side of the conning tower…and bounced off again, dropping to the seabed. "Argh, damn it!"
"What's wrong, Gordon?" Scott asked.
"The hull must be demagnetised," Gordon said with frustration. "The amplifier didn't attach."
"Ah, well, it was worth a try," said Scott. "Better recover that and then get into your ambush position if you have one in mind?"
"Actually, I do," said Gordon as he moved Thunderbird 4 in to recover the device. "I know the ridges like the back of my hand. They'll never know what hit them and they'll have a heck of a time trying to hit me."
"Be careful making statements like that, Gordon," warned Virgil. "You don't want Brains to give you a hard time if she gets damaged."
"Yeah…I don't need that," agreed Gordon. "Okay, the amplifier is recovered. Moving into position."
Gordon took Thunderbird 4 around behind some more high rocks keeping them between Thunderbird 4 and the Tigershark. Nobody on board the submarine had even heard the dull thud as the amplifier had bumped into the side of the conning tower. Nor did Barker or Corbett even think that anything could be there hunting them down.
It wasn't long before Thunderbird 4 had overtaken the Tigershark and was entering the ridges. He saw his ambush position - a small cave entrance right close to where the main entrance of the ridges began. He turned Thunderbird 4 around and then reversed into it, turning off the lights once more so as to not give himself away.
About ten minutes after he'd gotten into position, the large sinister shape of the Tigershark began to emerge from the darkness once more. To Gordon's surprise, the vessel came to a stop in the direct line of his firing sight. "Well…this makes things easier for me."
On board the Tigershark, Barker instructed Corbett to scan the area. "Is there anything in the area?" he asked.
"Actually, yes, sir," Corbett replied. "Picking up two contacts."
"Surfaced or submerged?" Barker demanded.
"Surfaced, sir," Corbett said. "Looks like an Oil Tanker and a Car Carrier. But they're well over thirty miles away to the North-East of us, sir."
"Good," said Barker. "No need to bother with them. Head into the ridges. I'm sure the Navy isn't too far behind us."
BOOM! A sudden explosion rocked the submarine causing it to shudder violently and roll from side to side a little.
"WHERE THE BLOODY HELL DID THAT COME FROM?!" Barker bellowed.
"I-I-I-I-I don't know, sir!" stammered Corbett, as startled as Barker was.
"THEN FIND OUT!" roared Barker.
Using the cameras mounted on the sides of the conning tower, Corbett looked at the great walls of rocks ahead and beside them. Then he noticed the cave entrance. He couldn't be sure as it was dark, but it looked as though there was something inside it. "Sir, I think there's something hiding in that cave," he said.
Barker came over to look. "I think you're right," he said. "Fire a shot into it. That'll flush them out if there is."
The explosion from Thunderbird 4's demolition missile had caused the Tigershark to swing round to the right. In doing so, he'd unwittingly allowed it to be almost directly facing him head-on now. There came a whoosh as a torpedo was launched from the huge submarine's bow.
"Uh-oh!" Gordon exclaimed as he realised what was happening. Instantly he put Thunderbird 4 into full forward power, the lights automatically coming on. He exited the cave and banked sharply to the right with seconds to spare as the torpedo disappeared into the cave. There was a big explosion as it impacted the back wall and blew a huge chunk out of the mountain above it.
Despite the quickness, Thunderbird 4 hadn't been quick enough to escape the notice of the two men in the Tigershark's control room. "Sir, it looks like some kind of mini-submarine," said Corbett.
"Lock on and fire!" Barker ordered.
"Lock negative, sir," answered Corbett. "It disappeared behind those rocks. It's using them for cover."
Barker gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. His eyes narrowed. "Then LEVEL it!" he growled.
Two torpedoes were launched in the direction of the ridges. Two huge explosions erupted taking chunks out of the rocks and causing them to fall to the seabed. A third was fired, destroying another section. And then came a fourth which destroyed the rocks that Thunderbird 4 was using for cover.
As the rocks fell away, Gordon found himself with nowhere else to hide quickly enough before the submarine could launch again. Even though he'd been warned against getting into a direct battle with it, he knew that the only way he could get out of this was to try and shoot it out after all. "Okay…take this as-" He pushed the button that fired a demolition missile at the Tigershark just as it fired another torpedo back at him.
Scott, Alan and Virgil looked down at the ocean below them. Everything looked calm but they knew full well that things were not. Their sensors were detecting numerous anomalies from under the surface and the sounds of explosions were registering.
"You think he's okay down there?" Alan asked Virgil.
"He'd better be," Virgil answered. "I think maybe we should check in with him?"
"Negative, Thunderbird 2," said Scott. "Don't distract him. He needs all the concentration-"
A sudden explosion erupted from beneath the surface, sending a huge column of water high into the air and almost hitting Thunderbird 1.
"YEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKES!" Scott exclaimed, reacting quickly and getting his craft out of the way just in time.
"HOLY-!" exclaimed Virgil, having to swiftly move Thunderbird 2 as well when Thunderbird 1 almost collided with it. "CAREFUL, SCOTT!"
Scott hadn't noticed Thunderbird 2 had been almost in hitting distance. He was still getting over the near miss. He then completely disregarded what he'd been saying to them and opened the radio link. "Gordon? What the hell's going on down there?!" he demanded.
"Not now, Scott!" came an abrupt reply.
The cause of the explosion had been the result of the last missile fired from Thunderbird 4 and the last torpedo launched from the Tigershark had made contact with each other and detonated. Now the two subs fired again with Thunderbird 4 shooting first with the Tigershark responding seconds later. This time the weapons narrowly missed each other. Gordon's eyes widened when he saw the much larger weapon from the big sub closing rapidly towards him. He let out a cry of frustration as he pushed Thunderbird 4 up to full power once again and dived down out of the way with it missing his starboard thruster by millimetres.
Two more powerful explosions rocked the area. The first was Thunderbird 4's missile striking the starboard side of the Tigershark with the second being the torpedo hitting the rock-wall behind where Thunderbird 4 had been. Rocks went flying in all directions and the shockwave caused by the explosion hit Thunderbird 4, sending it spinning round where Gordon found himself battling for control. As he battled bravely to correct it, he felt a sudden hard CRASH as Thunderbird 4 slammed into another large rock. Immediately a series of alarms began wailing throughout the cockpit as he began to receive holographic reports of damage through the on-board computer.
"God-DAMN IT!" Gordon roared angrily. "Scott, I've got a situation!"
"You think?!" Scott responded sharply. "What happened, Gordon?"
"The shockwave threw me into some rocks!" Gordon snapped. "She's got damage but I don't know how severe. I'm gonna have to surface!"
"F-A-B," said Scott. "Thunderbird 2, stand-by to retrieve Thunderbird 4."
"F-A-B!" said Virgil as he brought Thunderbird 2 around.
Gordon blew all the ballast out of Thunderbird 4's tanks and the little yellow submersible began to rise rapidly towards the surface. He was too concerned about his own craft to think about what his missile might have done to the Tigershark.
As it turned out, the Tigershark wasn't faring much better than Thunderbird 4. By a pure miracle, the demolition missile, which was considerably smaller and far less powerful than what the large submarine had in its arsenal, had scored a lucky hit on the starboard-side of the vessel, right by the water-intake that Brains reckoned was its weakness.
Inside the control room, Barker and Corbett were concerned by the amount of alarms that were going off around them. It seemed like every system was failing.
"MR CORBETT, REPORT!" bellowed Barker. "WHERE'S THE DAMAGE?!"
"SIR, THE POWER-CORE'S OVERHEATING!" yelled Corbett. "IT COULD EXPLODE!"
Barker wasn't a man who was prepared to sacrifice his life so easily. "GET US TO THE SURFACE! NOW!" he roared.
Corbett wasted no time in punching all the buttons to release all the water from the ballast tanks. A huge amount of bubbles erupted from round the sides of the Tigershark as it was filled with air and began to rise upwards.
Thunderbird 4 reached the surface first, popping out of the water like a cork in a bath. Once settled, Gordon hurried out to the rear door where he could climb on the outside and check the damage. What he saw made him sick to his stomach. "Shhhhhhhhhhhhi-" he hissed, kicking the side of his craft in anger.
"How does it look, Thunderbird 4?" Scott asked over the radio.
"Quite extensive damage to the port-side engine and thruster," Gordon replied. "She appears to have taken on a little bit of water as well as she's got a minor list on."
"Er, guys?"
"Brains is not gonna be happy about this, Gordon," remarked Virgil.
"DON'T FREAKIN' REMIND ME!" Gordon screamed.
"Gee, Gordon, calm down!" exclaimed Scott.
"Guys!"
"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM THE HELL DOWN, SCOTT!" yelled Gordon.
"GUYS!"
"What is it, John?" Virgil asked, acknowledging his brother's urgent cries.
Whilst his brothers had been distracted by Gordon's ranting, John had noticed a danger nearby. "You've got company!"
Scott peered out from Thunderbird 1. Virgil and Alan looked out from the windows of Thunderbird 2 and Gordon peered around the side of Thunderbird 4. All four brothers froze when they saw what John was warning them about. It was the Tigershark, settling on the surface about three-quarters of a mile away from where Thunderbird 4 was.
"Uh-oh…" said Alan. "That ain't good."
Corbett monitored the controls and systems carefully. He breathed a sigh of relief as things began to settle. "The power-core is stabilising, sir," he said.
"Good," said Barker, mopping his brow. "That was damn close, Corbett."
"Agreed, sir."
Barker puffed out his cheeks. "Now…where's that enemy vessel?"
Corbett checked the radar screen. "No contact, sir," he said. "Whatever that craft was must have better jamming equipment than we do."
Barker scoffed. "Impossible. We have the best there is in the world," he said. "No other navy ship has what's fixed to our ship, Mr Corbett." He then decided to open the viewing hatch at the front of the conning tower so he could see out of the reinforced window. He stopped dead as his eyes fell upon the small yellow craft drifting close-by. "There you are!" he sneered. He raised his binoculars for a better look. And it was only now that he could get a better look at their attacker. "You've gotta be kidding me?! A THUNDERBIRD?!"
"Sir?!" exclaimed Corbett. "You mean…International Rescue?!"
Barker turned sharply. "YOU KNOW ANYONE ELSE THAT USES THAT NAME?!" he bellowed. He then turned back, rage burning through his body. "Bring the guns online," he said in a low and deadly voice. "I want it destroyed!"
The alarm began to wail as the twin eight-inch guns began to turn to the left, raising upwards so that their angle of fire could be directed right at the immobile Thunderbird 4.
Gordon, who had retreated into the relative safety of Thunderbird 4's cockpit, watched with growing apprehension as he saw the guns turning in his direction. "Er, guys…a little help?!"
Scott had also noticed the danger, but Thunderbird 1 wasn't in the correct position to do anything about it. "Thunderbird 2! They're gonna fire at Thunderbird 4! Stop them!"
Anger now racing through Virgil's veins, he banked his green goliath around and began to charge down towards the large submarine. "Activating drop-down turret!" he barked. "Hang tight, Gordon!"
Gordon gripped the sides of his console and braced himself for the worst.
The guns of the Tigershark were now in position and ready to start shooting.
"Firing now, sir!" announced Corbett. He pushed the button.
BOOM! An explosion erupted in the water just mere metres from the submarine's port-side. It caused the Tigershark to roll over slightly to starboard just as the guns fired. This completely threw off the aim as the shells flew through the air and hit the water about twenty metres away from Thunderbird 4.
"NOW WHAT?!" bellowed the enraged Barker.
"Damn it, I missed!" cursed Virgil.
"You threw their aim off, Thunderbird 2, they missed Gordon," said John.
"I was aiming for the guns, Thunderbird 5!" said Virgil as he brought Thunderbird 2 around again. "But it's hard to fly your ship in a dive and use the turret at the same time."
"Let me have the turret, bro," said Alan. "You fly us in and I'll shoot. Besides, my aim's better. No offence."
"None taken," Virgil replied. "You have control of the turret. Hang tight. We're going in again!"
Thunderbird 2 banked sharply round and began to dive once more towards the Tigershark. Virgil kept his craft as straight and stable as he could during the dive whilst Alan used his sharp eyes to aim the drop-down turret's at the base of the conning tower. Once they were close enough, he pushed the button and fired a demolition missile before Virgil banked them sharply away to the left.
The missile struck the turret and caused a mighty explosion that almost lifted the whole submarine out of the water. It seemed to vanish in a blinding white light. For the men inside the explosion caused panic and terror as fireproof doors had to be hastily shut to avoid the fire spreading to the other weapons which would have resulted in the whole vessel's destruction.
The explosion also caused Barker, who for some strange reason hadn't chosen to sit in his chair, to be thrown across the room where he banged his head on an instrument panel and fell to the floor.
"CAPTAIN!" cried Corbett and ran to check on his skipper.
Scott looked down from Thunderbird 1 as he circled the scene. The Tigershark was still on the surface. The blinding white light had subsided but most of the craft was hidden by the thick plume of black acrid smoke that was billowing out from the mangled remains of the submarine's guns. They were no longer a threat to them or anyone else.
"Good shooting, Thunderbird 2," Scott congratulated.
"Thanks, Thunderbird 1," answered Virgil. "You think we need to go in again?"
Scott was about to answer, but it was John who did. "No need for that, Thunderbird 2," he said. "I think you'll find that the cavalry has arrived."
Looking out to the West, the Tracy brothers could make out the shapes of two surface vessels heading towards them. They were the two fastest warships in the World Navy - the missile cruisers HMS Vanguard and USS Sentinel. And flying above them, closing in even faster was a squadron of four Albatros fighter jets that had been launched from the Indiana.
The jets reached the danger zone first and began circling as the leader made contact with the Thunderbirds. "Albatros Leader to International Rescue. Who is your field commander, please?"
The Tracy's looked at each other, not having expected to be engaging in radio conversation with the Navy. "I think he's asking for you, Scott," remarked Alan.
Thanks, Alan, Scott thought to himself, annoyed. "This is Thunderbird 1. Go ahead, Albatros?"
"We have visual contact on the target vessel," said the Squadron Leader. "Permission to engage?"
"You don't need my permission, pal," said Scott. "She's all yours."
"With all due respect, sir. I was instructed to take our orders from International Rescue," said the Leader. "Orders of Admiral Jellicoe."
Scott failed to understand why a top-ranking Navy Admiral would want to let International Rescue be the ones to control what was strictly a Navy situation, but he decided it wasn't worth arguing about. "Very well," he said. "As I said, she's all yours."
"Roger," said the Squadron Leader. "Albatros flight. One at a time. Engage at will!"
The Squadron Leader's aircraft peeled off from the rest of the flight. He began to dive down steeply towards the immobile and slightly burning Tigershark. Once at the correct altitude and distance, he launched his missile. It struck the water right on the starboard side of the vessel causing some damage and allowing water to start flooding in.
The second aircraft now began its attack run. But almost immediately the International Rescue team noticed something wasn't right. This aircraft was attacking at a different angle to the first and its trajectory looked like it wasn't aiming for the submarine.
"Where the heck is he going?" asked Virgil.
But before anyone could realise fully, the aircraft fired its missile…at Thunderbird 4!
BOOM! The missile exploded almost right underneath Thunderbird 4 which almost caused it to capsize and sink. "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!" Gordon screamed. "WHAT THE HELL?!"
Scott quickly reacted. "ALBATROS, THAT YELLOW SUB IS OURS! CEASE YOUR ATTACK!"
"Oops…sorry!" said the pilot, having only just realised his mistake.
"YOU ABSOLUTE MORON!" Gordon bellowed.
"Gordon, be quiet," Scott cut in.
"SCOTT, HE ALMOST KILLED ME!"
"I SAID BE QUIET!" Scott bellowed back.
The Albatros Leader's aircraft quickly moved in to fly between Thunderbird 1 and its wing-man. "Allow me, International Rescue," he said. "Albatros 2, what the hell are you playing at?!"
"I, er, er…" stammered the pilot, unable to find the right words.
The Albatros Leader wanted to resolve the situation as quickly as possible. "Get back to the carrier and explain what you've done to the Admiral!"
"But, sir, I-"
"THAT'S AN ORDER!"
"Yes, sir…"
Despite the sorrow in the pilot's voice, Scott, Virgil and Alan glared at the aircraft as it climbed away from the scene to head back to the carrier with the pilot knowing full well he was going to get into serious trouble for his error.
Gordon was still fuming. He kept trying to speak but his rage prevented him from doing so.
The Albatros Leader then addressed the Thunderbirds. "I am so sorry about that, International Rescue. It will not happen again!"
"It better not, Squadron Leader," said Scott angrily. "I hope that pilot gets what he deserves!"
"I'll see to it personally," said the Leader. He then addressed the other two aircraft. "Albatros 3 and 4 from Albatros Leader. Commence your attack. And DON'T MESS IT UP!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Roger that!"
The pilots of Albatros 3 and 4 were deeply disturbed as much as the others by the mistake of Albatros 2 and were determined to win back the respect of International Rescue. Rather than attack individually, they both came in and dived together towards the Tigershark. Both fired their missiles and then pulled away. One struck the stern of the submarine, destroying its tail-fin and the other hit right on the top of the conning tower, destroying all the equipment that had originally been used to hide the vessel and blowing a hole in the top.
As Scott brought Thunderbird 1 round for another look, he noticed a hatch had opened in the starboard side of the submarine. Then two yellow inflatable rafts appeared as eight men were seen escaping from the wrecked Tigershark which looked as though it could sink at any moment. "Albatros Leader from Thunderbird 1. Stop your attack. Looks like they've had enough."
"Roger that," said the Leader. "Albatros Flight - return to base. We'll leave the retrieval to Vanguard and Sentinel."
As the aircraft formed up and flew away, Scott looked to see which of the two warships was closer. "HMS Vanguard, this is Thunderbird 1. There are survivors that need picking up."
"Copy that, Thunderbird 1," acknowledged the radio operator of the British warship.
Whilst all this was happening, Virgil had moved Thunderbird 2 over to where Thunderbird 4 was still drifting. It luckily hadn't been sunk by the attack but Gordon was still in an extremely foul mood. "Okay, Thunderbird 4. We'll pick you up with the grabs."
Gordon didn't answer because he was still fuming.
Virgil opened the hatch on the underside of Module 4 and began to lower the magnetic grab to retrieve its much smaller sistership.
"V-VIRGIL, STOP!"
"Huh? Brains?" said Virgil in surprise. "What's the matter?"
"I've b-been examining the damage that Thunderbird 4 has sustained on my computer system," Brains said. "The d-damage is more severe than we thought. Any attempt to recover Thunderbird 4 in its condition m-might sink it."
Gordon let out a groan of despair. Not only did Brains know the full extent of Thunderbird 4's damage better than he did, but now he was facing the possibility of losing another Thunderbird 4. That wasn't a thought he could bear thinking about. He got to his feet. "Come on, Virgil, at least try!" he pleaded.
But it wasn't Virgil or Brains who answered. Instead it was a voice none of them recognised. "Hello, International Rescue. Can we be of assistance?"
Those on the scene looked on in surprise as the USS Sentinel began to come around close to where Thunderbird 4 was.
"Erm, hello?" Gordon said.
"You look like you're having some trouble?" said the Commander of the Sentinel. "Are you unable to recover your craft?"
"It looks that way, Sentinel," said Scott. "Sounds like we might have to let it go."
"Nonsense," said the Commander. "Let us have a go."
Before anyone could say anything, the giant grey warship had pulled alongside Thunderbird 4. A crane swung out from its side and lowered a magnetic grab down which latched onto Thunderbird 4. Then it hoisted the damaged mini-sub out of the water before swinging it round and placing it safely on board.
"Wow…" said Alan. "That's impressive."
"I, er, thank you, Sentinel," said Scott.
"Thanks are not necessary, International Rescue," said the Commander. "You've done the World Navy a big favor today. This is the least we can do to repay you. We can take Thunderbird 4 to Sydney and you can pick it up from there if that suits you all?"
"Hold please whilst we consult our C-in-C," said Scott. He switched frequencies to talk to Tracy Island. "Dad…I take it…you know what's happened out here?"
As Scott predicted, a rather stern looking Jeff nodded. "Yes, son. Yes, I have," he said. "Is Gordon okay?"
"He's rather shaken up," said Scott. "Not surprising after that aircraft nearly blew him out of the water."
"Yes…" said Jeff, "you can be sure I'll be speaking to Admiral Jellicoe about that. As for what is going on at this moment, give the Sentinel Commander my gratitude and wish them safe passage."
Scott nodded. "Will do." He then switched back to the warship. "Sentinel from Thunderbird 1. Thank you and see you in Sydney."
"Copy that, Thunderbird 1," said the Commander. "We can be there at 09:00 hours tomorrow morning."
"Looks like you're getting a cruise, Gordon," joked Alan.
But Gordon wasn't in a joking mood and didn't even acknowledge his brother.
"We'll take care of him," said the Commander. "Sentinel, out."
Scott, Virgil and Alan watched from their respective ships as the Sentinel began to move off again with its special cargo aboard as it made its way South towards Sydney.
Whilst all this had been going on, the Vanguard had been taking aboard the men that had escaped from the Tigershark. Not taking any chances, the crew armed themselves to make sure that their prisoners didn't try any tricks. Among the survivors were Corbett and a badly injured Barker. His forehead was now wrapped up in bandages.
A sudden explosion caught everyone's attention. All eyes aboard the missile cruiser including the eight prisoners looked out across the water. Scott, Alan and Virgil also heard it and turned their attention as well. It was the Tigershark, succumbing to its wounds and sinking beneath the waves for the last time.
"Well…there she goes," observed Scott.
Nobody said a word aboard the Vanguard as the submarine disappeared from view. The crew of it felt helpless and sad at being unable to do anything to save the vessel they'd called home for several months. The black smoke that had been billowing out of it soon began to fade away as the water put out the fires.
Thunderbirds 1 and 2 left the scene shortly afterwards to return to Tracy Island whilst the Vanguard set off with the surviving crew to return them to Singapore.
Some time later, after coming to rest on the ocean floor, the seawater that had flooded the submarine caused the already unstable power-core to go critical once again…and then it exploded. The whole vessel was ripped apart and another massive column of water was created like a volcano erupting as its remaining armament went up as well.
As the waters calmed down and everything went silent once again, the ending had come. The hunt for Tigershark was over.