THUNDERBIRD 4 slipped beneath the surface and began to descend back down towards the tunnel. Gordon wasn't feeling as confident as he had before.
"Keep going, Gordon," urged John. "There's an exit about three miles further on. Hopefully he made it out there."
"I do hope so, John," answered Gordon. "Otherwise-" CLUNK! "Huh?!"
"What is it?" asked Virgil.
"I dunno," replied Gordon. "I thought I heard something hit the hull." He stopped Thunderbird 4's descent and looked around. He turned the searchlights on full to see if he could see what had caused the knock. Then he let out a gasp. There was a helmet, slowly sinking down past him. "No! Is that…?!" He quickly activated one of the grasping arms and grabbed the helmet before lifting it up into the full beam of one of the lights so he could get a better look. His eyes widened. There was no mistaking what it was.
"You found something?" asked John.
"Er…yeah!" said Gordon. "Scott's helmet!"
The others gasped. "But that means-" began Alan.
Gordon blew the ballast in Thunderbird 4's tanks. "It can only have come from above!" said Gordon. "Stand-by!"
Like a cork from a bottle, Thunderbird 4 burst out from beneath the surface. Gordon was out of his seat and climbed through a hatch onto the top of the craft. He looked around. "SCOTT?!" he called out. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"
No voice answered. But as Gordon looked around desperately, he thought he saw movement coming from behind a rock. Without thinking, he dived off Thunderbird 4 and swam as fast as he could to the edge of the water. He scrambled out and over to where he thought he'd seen the movement. Then he let out another gasp, for slumped down behind the rocks was…
"SCOTT! GUYS, I'VE FOUND HIM!"
This lifted everyone's spirits with hope.
"Is he alive?" asked Alan. "Please say he is."
Gordon clambered over the rocks and bent down to check on his oldest brother. "Scott? Can you hear me?"
Scott let out a moan and opened one eye. "Gor…don…?"
"My God, I can't believe it!" said Gordon, starting to shed tears of joy. "Guys, he's ALIVE! Someone tell Dad, please!"
"My genuine pleasure," said John, trying to hold back tears of his own.
"He's weak though," said Gordon. "I don't know how easily I can get him back to Thunderbird 4. I also can't tell if he's hurt."
"Don't move him, Gordon," said Virgil. "I'll come to you and lift you both out of that crater."
"F-A-B!"
Jeff fell to the floor and began to sob with relief when John told him the news. Grandma did as well. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that, John," said Jeff.
"Easy there, Dad," said John with a chuckle. "They'll get him back as soon as they've checked him over."
"We'll be waiting," said Jeff.
"I'll go and get the medical room ready," said Grandma. "There's only so much the boys can do for him in Thunderbird 2." She made a swift exit.
Jeff looked over at Virgil's wrecked piano. "John, remind me to buy Virgil a new piano," he said.
John looked puzzled. "What for? Oh…" he added when he saw. "Rage?"
"You could say that," said Jeff. "I take it you know that The Hood somehow managed to call me with gloats about Scott's demise. Man, I cannot wait to see his face when he realises Scott's alive."
"I may be able to help with that," said John. "EOS has traced The Hood's call to a satellite a short distance from Thunderbird 5. It's supposed to be a decommissioned one, and yet I'm detecting energy from it."
"Maybe The Hood's gotten Techno to work his black magic on it," said Jeff. "Maybe we could use that to our advantage?"
"If I can get over there, I might be able to make an adjustment so that when The Hood inevitably calls again, we can trace the signal back to its source and find The Cabal's location," said John.
"Okay, but be careful, son," warned Jeff. "If you think there's a chance that the satellite has defences, get the hell away from it! Understand?"
"Perfectly," said John as he locked eyes on the distant satellite.
Virgil had finished fishing Scott, Gordon and Thunderbird 4 out from the crater where Scott had been located. As soon as they were back on solid ground once more, it wasn't long before Alan, Brains, Kayo and Hayley came rushing in along with Toni and Bob to see Scott.
"Scott!" Kayo gasped, throwing herself on top of him. "Oh, my God! How are you even alive?!"
Scott only mumbled a response.
Virgil had to pull Kayo back. "Easy, Kayo! We haven't checked him for any serious injuries."
Gordon ran the scan over Scott's body. "My turn to do this to you, brother," he said. "Grandma, are you receiving this?"
"Coming through now, Gordon," Grandma's voice answered.
"Your Gran is involved with you?" asked Toni in amazement.
"We're all family," answered Alan. "Even those who aren't family by blood."
Bob looked at Brains and Kayo. "Guessing that's you two then?" he asked before getting a sharp elbow from his sister.
"I m-may not be related by blood, but what Alan says is very true," Brains said. "I l-lost my actual family long ago. Mr T-Tracy brought me in as one of his own. Just like he did with K-Kayo."
Kayo looked at him. She didn't say anything though. She closed her eyes as her mind went back to that day she and Kyrano had been recovered by Thunderbird 2. She remembered how she'd attacked Scott on their first encounter and what she'd said after the misunderstanding had been cleared up. She opened her eyes and looked sadly at Scott.
Hayley could see this and patted Kayo's arm which she gratefully accepted.
"Good news," Grandma said. "Despite having gone through what he has, I'm detecting only bruising both on the body and inside. Nothing is broken. He's not bleeding and there is nothing life-threatening either. He is very lucky."
"Thank God for that," said Virgil. He turned to the others. "Let's drop you two home then we can get Scott back home. He's gonna need a lot of rest after this."
Everyone agreed.
John had donned his space XO-suit and was cautiously making his way over to the satellite he'd traced The Hood's call to. "I'm approaching the satellite now," he reported to Jeff.
"Any sign of trouble?" Jeff asked.
"Not at the moment," replied John. "EOS, can you detect anything?"
"Negative, John," said EOS. "No countermeasures of any kind detected on the satellite."
John edged closer and closer, struggling to believe that The Cabal wouldn't have weaponised the satellite. And yet, he was able to reach it without any problems at all. "I've made it!" he said. "It's been left as it was."
"The Cabal are slacking clearly!" remarked Jeff.
"Or maybe they didn't think we'd be able to trace their calls," said John. He attached a portable EOS drive to the outer control panel of the satellite. "Okay, EOS. Do your thing."
"Hacking in progress," said EOS.
The doors to the secret lair control room opened to allow Silver Swan, Techno, The Black Phantom and Shocker to enter. The Hood sat in his control chair. He turned to face them with an expression on his face that was as smug as the ones they were wearing. "A good day for us all," he said.
"Hell yeah!" said The Black Phantom. "At long last we have successfully taken out one of the Tracy's!"
"About damn time, too!" agreed Techno.
"One down, four to go," said Shocker.
"How did the old man take it?" Silver Swan asked The Hood.
The Hood chuckled. "Jeff was in denial that one of his beloved boys could have bitten the dust," said The Hood. "I've given him twelve hours to accept the truth. Then we shall see what defeat looks like for the great Jeff Tracy!"
All members of The Cabal broke out in psychotic evil laughter.
Scott let out a moan and opened his eyes. His vision was blurry to begin with, but he could make out the distinctive shapes of several figures standing all around him. One by one they came into focus.
"Hello son," said Jeff. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
"Isn't…that supposed to be…my line?" Scott asked sleepily.
"Not today, Scott," chuckled Penelope who was standing beside Jeff.
"Lady…P…" said Scott. "Didn't know…you were visiting."
"When the Code Black was announced, Parker and I were straight on our way," said Penelope.
"H'Indeed, Mr Scott sir," said Parker. "We were h'on our way to the danger zone until we were told the good news that you'd been discovered. So we made h'our way 'ere instead."
Scott managed a smile. "Thanks, guys. I appreciate it."
"How do you feel?" asked Virgil.
"Like I've been blasted through a wall," remarked Scott.
"Well you were," said Gordon. "You can thank The Cabal for that."
"The Cabal…The CABAL!" Scott suddenly sat up. "Did they get away?!"
"Yes, but not for long," said Jeff. "John?"
"When The Hood called Dad to gloat about your supposed demise, I managed to get EOS to hack into the satellite they used to transmit the signal," said John. "So when The Hood calls again at the end of the deadline. Not only will we be able to find their location, but they're also gonna get an unpleasant surprise."
"Unpleasant surprise?" repeated Scott. "What would that be?"
"That you're still alive," chuckled Alan. "They're so convinced that you couldn't have survived that."
"They…weren't the only ones…"
All eyes turned to Kayo, who'd been unusually silent throughout the conversation. "I'm sorry everyone. After seeing Scott get blasted through that wall by Phantom and Shocker…I just found myself unable to believe that anyone could have survived that."
"That is a point," said Gordon. "Phantom's beams should have obliterated you."
Virgil turned to Scott. "I don't suppose you remember what happened, do you?"
Scott tried to think back. "Everything is a little hazy," he said. "I remember getting thrown through the wall by Shocker. I don't recall seeing Phantom's omega-beams though. All I remember is falling and then blackness. The next thing I remember is climbing out of the water and then everything went black until Gordon found me."
"He m-must have fallen clear before the Phantom's beams got to him," said Brains. "It's the only p-possible explanation."
"Well whatever happened, it's worked out well for us," said Jeff. "All that remains now is to give The Cabal their disappointment…and fix Virgil's piano."
"Why, what happened to that?" asked Scott.
"Let's just say my rage got the better of me," said Jeff, looking somewhat embarrassed and ashamed.
Surprisingly, Virgil wasn't mad about it. "My brother is more important than the piano," he said. "It can be fixed. But Scott can never be replaced."
Hearing those words sent a warm feeling through everyone.
"Well said, Virgil," said Grandma.
Jeff looked at his watch. "It won't be long before The Hood calls," he said. "I guess I'd better get ready to face that hideous-"
Scott cleared his throat. "Actually, Dad…can I be the one to break the news to them?" he asked. "If they see me like this, they'll know I'm genuine."
Jeff looked at the others.
"That'll make it even better," said Gordon.
Jeff smiled. "Very well, Scott," he said. "I've got a feeling we're gonna enjoy what's about to happen."
The Cabal reconvened inside the control room of their hideout. The Hood was once again sat in his chair with Silver Swan leaning against the control panel beside him. She was looking at him lovingly, but once again he'd failed to notice. Shocker, Techno and Black Phantom soon joined them.
"Is it time?" asked Black Phantom.
"Indeed, my boy," replied The Hood. "Let us rub our victory in the faces of the defeated Tracy family."
Techno rubbed his hands with glee, excited at what was to come. "I'm gonna enjoy this," he said.
"Not as much as we are," said Shocker with a knowing wink at Black Phantom who grinned in return.
The Hood pressed a button to send what he thought was a secure link to Tracy Island. "Cabal to Tracy Island. Are you receiving me, Jeff?"
After a few seconds, the hologram of Jeff appeared. "Hood."
"Jeff," smiled The Hood. "And how are you coping?"
"Excellent, thank you. How are you?"
The Cabal began to exchange confused glances with one another. Not only did Jeff not seem upset, but he was also smiling.
"What game are you playing, Jeff Tracy?" asked The Hood suspiciously. "You seem…unusually chirpy for someone who's lost a son."
Jeff gave a chuckle. "You mean him?" he asked.
A second hologram appeared from the projector beside Jeff revealing Scott, still in bed. "Hey, Cabal! What's up?"
The jaws of every Cabal member fell open.
"What?!" exclaimed The Hood.
"Impossible!" cried Shocker.
"HOW?!" screeched Black Phantom.
"This is a trick!" snapped Silver Swan. "You're trying to trick us into thinking we've failed to kill your boy, Tracy!"
"I'm no trick, I can assure you," said Scott. "I have to say, Hood. Your Cabal did well. That was one hell of a fight they put up. But next time, boys, if you're gonna try to blast me into a wall, make sure there isn't a cavern with water on the other side. I managed to fall away before Phantom's beams got to me. A little swim and I was out of there." Silence fell for a few moments before Scott spoke again. "Ha! Look at them. They're speechless." He burst out laughing.
The Hood was now up from his chair. "You DARE LAUGH AT US?!"
"Oh, hell yeah, Hood," grinned Scott. "Your little lap-dogs failed once again to end one of us. And let me tell you something. Should any of us die, it'll be in the line of duty, NOT at your dirty hands."
"What he said," said Jeff. "None of us are afraid to put our lives on the line if it means others get to live, Cabal. But we will NEVER fall to you."
Anger and fury was burning through each and every member of The Cabal. Their faces were ugly to the point that they were almost unrecognisable.
"You'll eat those words, Tracy!" snarled Techno.
"Yeah, we'll come and kill you all!" added Black Phantom.
"We know where your base is again!" added Silver Swan.
"Indeed, Swan," said Jeff. "And thanks to Thunderbird 5…we now know where you are."
The anger on The Cabal's faces vanished and turned to one of confusion. But before any of them could say anything, an alarm began beeping on the control panel. Techno rushed over to check.
"What is it?" demanded The Hood.
Techno jumped back in shock. "Impossible! GDF Flyers and Fighters heading in our direction!"
The Hood looked back at Jeff and fixed him with an icy glare. "DAMN YOU, JEFF!" he roared.
Jeff just smirked triumphantly. "You lose again, Hood. so long and have fun." And with that, his and Scott's holograms vanished from view.
The Hood let out a bellowing scream of rage before rounding on Shocker and Black Phantom. "You STUPID…DAMN…IDIOTS! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"
"What?!" exclaimed Black Phantom. "HOW THE HELL IS THIS OUR FAULT?!"
"YOU SAID YOU'D KILLED HIM!" roared The Hood.
"HE SHOULD BE DEAD!" bellowed Shocker. "WE BLASTED HIM TOGETHER!"
"CAN WE SAVE THE BLAME GAME UNTIL AFTER WE GET OUT OF HERE?!" shouted Silver Swan.
An alarm began wailing. The Hood, Black Phantom and Shocker looked round to see Techno pushing buttons so that timers were appearing on the screens.
"What are you doing?" The Hood demanded.
"We can't stay here, boss," Techno said. "We have to leave before the GDF gets here."
The Hood snarled. Then he pushed right through Shocker and Black Phantom, almost knocking them both to the floor. He said nothing as he stormed out of the control room in the direction of the Cabal Cruiser.
"Let's go!" said Techno and he and Silver Swan hurried after him.
Shocker and Black Phantom looked at each other before following. All of a sudden, they found themselves conflicted. They did not like having the blame of the latest failure put directly onto them.
The Tracy family, Penelope, Parker, Brains and Kayo were still laughing from seeing the looks of disbelief on the faces of The Cabal.
"That was brilliant!" said Alan.
"You got 'em good, bro," said Gordon with a grin.
"They were not happy," added Penelope.
"Good," said Jeff. "So they shouldn't be."
"Do you think the GDF will be able to c-catch them?" asked Brains.
"They have the location, but I highly doubt The Cabal will still be around when they get there," said Jeff. "It's a shame but…only we seem to be able to actually take them down."
"Hayley went to lead that group," said Virgil with a sigh. "She'll be miffed at losing them."
"Their time will come, Virgil," said Grandma. "I wouldn't be surprised if this latest failure causes a rift between them."
"Hey, that's it!" said Gordon. "A rift could cause them to disband! Then they wouldn't be a major threat anymore!"
"They'd still be on the loose and just as dangerous though, Gordon," said Penelope. "Regardless of whether they stick together or not, we still need to be on our guard at all times."
"We will be, Penny," said Jeff. "In the meantime though, I suggest we leave Scott to have some rest. He needs it."
"Thanks, Dad," said Scott gratefully. "Thanks, everyone."
One by one, the others left, each giving Scott a cheerful wave as they left. Jeff was last to leave, giving his eldest son a loving smile and wink before closing the door.
Scott lay down in the bed and was about to close his eyes when he realised not everyone had left. He looked to his left and saw Kayo had stayed behind. "Hey."
Kayo looked up. She then stood up and walked over to him before sitting on the chair beside him. "Hey."
"What's up?" Scott asked.
Kayo didn't answer. She wasn't even looking at him.
"Come on, Kayo. You wouldn't still be here unless there's a reason," said Scott.
Kayo let out a heavy sigh. "Something…hasn't been right with us for some time, has it?" she said.
Scott was quiet for a moment. "No…No, it hasn't," he said. "Not since…well, not since before the Rock Snakes came to Earth really."
"Right after when Hayley and Virgil were captured by The Cabal," said Kayo. "I wish I knew what this strange rift between us was all about."
"Me, too," Scott said. "But I'm afraid I can't remember what…" He broke off suddenly, as a memory suddenly returned to him.
Kayo finally turned to look at him. "What?" she asked. "What is it, Scott?"
Scott swallowed heavily. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was now or never. "Kayo…do you…love me?"
There was silence. Scott closed his eyes and waited for the slap that he was going to get from Kayo for asking such a silly question. But it didn't come. Instead, he began to hear giggling. Giggling that then seemed to get harder. He opened his eyes and looked at Kayo who had one hand over her mouth and seemed to be laughing. Then she took the hand away and erupted into almost uncontrollable laughter. So much so that she fell off the seat onto the floor. "Oh…Oh…Oh…Oh, my God," she said when she finally managed to pull herself together. She then picked herself up off the floor, tears running down her face from having laughed so much. "Oh, that's brilliant."
Scott couldn't see what was funny about the question. "Well…do you?" he asked nervously.
Kayo turned back to face him, still standing up. She started laughing again but this time managed to stop herself much quicker than before. "Oh, Scott, you silly billy," she chortled. "Of course I do! You're my brother!"
And with that, Kayo walked out of the room, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. The happiest she'd been in a very long time it seemed.
Scott had no words.