TONI and Bob Anderson's lives hadn't been the same since the day they'd learned the truth about their father. After having tried to hide it from them, their Mother was finally forced to reveal to them that he was in fact one of the world's most wanted criminals - the man known as Johnny Cuba. It was safe to say the revelation had hit them hard. Very hard. They had loved their father and now they hated him beyond anything they'd ever hated before. They even had resentment towards their Mother for having kept the secret from them. It wasn't until a news item about Cuba's capture in space had reached them that they had recognised him on the television and then confronted her about it.
Even though several months had passed since Cuba had tried taking them away on the little boat that caused them to almost be killed by crocodiles and rescued by International Rescue, the memories of that day still stuck hard in the kids' minds. They became distant with their Mother, but the unity between them was stronger than ever. Mrs Anderson eventually moved them out into the Australian outbacks, far away from the cities in the hopes that they could start a new life. However, things still remained frosty between her and the kids.
Toni and Bob did however soon adapt to living out in the middle of nowhere. They had a lot of freedom with rocks and mountains to explore that kept them occupied whenever they weren't in school. On this day, the Sun was beating down as usual, scorching the ground and making them sweat as they ran around the open ground playing 'It' and other 'Hide and Seek' games.
Bob was checking behind some rocks. "Not there," he muttered to himself. He checked behind another. "Nope." And then another. "FOUND YOU!"
"Argh!" cursed Toni, standing up. "How did you find me?"
"The footprints in the dirt looked fresh so I decided to follow them," chuckled Bob.
"Grrrr!" growled Toni. "Fine! Your turn to hide." She went down behind the rock to count to one-hundred whilst Bob ran off to find somewhere to hide. "One…Two…Three…"
Bob scrambled up a slope towards the nearby mountain. He could see the opening of a cave close by. He grinned. It was his favourite place to hide and he knew Toni was aware of it. However, there were so many places to hide in the cave, he could very easily move in and out of different places and drive Toni mad when she wouldn't be able to find him. He looked back to where he'd found her, gave a cheeky chuckle, and then disappeared off into the cave.
"Ninety-Eight…Ninety-Nine…One-HUNDRED! READY OR NOT - HERE I COME!" Toni picked herself up and hurried out to begin searching for her brother. She looked down at the ground. Sure enough, there was a trail of footprints leading up the side of the mountain. As she followed them up, she wasn't at all surprised to see where they led to. She sighed. "Really, Bob? In there again?" Annoyed already, she made her way up and into the mouth of the dark cave. She pulled out her phone and turned on the torch light. The cave wasn't massive to begin with but would get bigger the deeper she would go. "Okay, Bob. Maybe next time I shall be the one to hide in here. See how you like it."
But Toni didn't get far before something large fell from above and landed right in front of her. She let out a scream of surprise and jumped back. She stared down, wide-eyed at the piece of rock that was now at her feet. She looked up, shining the light from her torch. Then she began to feel the ground trembling along with a deep rumbling sound that came with it. The whole mountain started to shake as the rumbling grew louder. More pieces of rock broke away from the roof and began to fall around Toni. Panic-stricken, she turned and bolted for the exit, only just making it out before a huge rock-slide came crashing down. She tripped and fell over, scraping both her knees and cutting her face as she did so. She remained on the ground until the rumbling had subsided. Then she slowly, shaking like a leaf, picked herself up and looked around. Her mouth fell open. The cave was gone, hidden by a massive amount of rocks.
"Oh…my…Gosh…" she gasped. "That was too close." She sat where she was, panting, as she tried to get her breath back. And it was only then that she suddenly realised. "Oh, MY GOD! BOB!"
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"TRAPPED"
KAYO was unhappy. "I've said before, Mr Tracy. There's nothing wrong with me!"
Jeff frowned, unconvinced. "Well Penelope and Parker both said that you had some kind of fit whilst you were in the process of arresting Ms Higgins."
"Okay, one - I didn't arrest her. The GDF did," Kayo said. "And two - even if I did have some kind of fit, they have no right to-"
"They have EVERY RIGHT, KAYO!" Jeff thundered, jumping to his feet and catching her off guard. "From what Penny says, this Higgins woman found your little episode quite amusing and began mocking you for it. Is this true?"
Kayo didn't answer.
"And I believe this isn't the first time you've experienced this either?" said Jeff. "Some of the boys have said that they've seen you have something."
Kayo remained silent. Then she sighed in defeat and sat down on a chair close to Jeff's desk as he sat down again. "I can't explain it," she said. "I keep getting these weird flashes of something. Like I'm in a place that I've never been to. Seeing things."
"What kind of things?" asked Jeff.
"I don't know," answered Kayo. "But it's-"
A beeping sound cut her off. They looked over at the wall of portraits. John's eyes were flashing.
"Hold that thought," said Jeff. "Yes, John?"
John's hologram appeared. "Dad, we have a situation in Australia. I've just picked up a call from a young girl calling for help. Her brother has been caught in a cave-in in the outbacks."
"Didn't she say where she was?" asked Jeff.
"No. And I couldn't ask any questions, she was just transmitting."
"Someone in trouble?" It was Scott who had just entered the lounge after hearing John's call.
"Ah, Scott," said Jeff. "Yes, there's some kids in trouble in Australia. John, have you been able to trace where the call came from?"
"Fortunately, yes," replied John. "It's a very remote area. I can't see any local authorities getting to her anytime soon."
"I'll find her," said Scott. He began to head for the wall panel.
"There's more," said John. "My scans also detected some kind of localised earthquake in the same area," said John. "I'm trying to pick-up any life-signs but so far I'm getting nothing."
"How far away is Virgil?" asked Scott. "I may need back-up on this one?"
"He and Gordon are still dealing with that sunken submersible in the Caribbean," said John. "And Alan's still carrying out test flights with Brains aboard Thunderbird 3."
"Then I guess I'm on my own for now," said Scott.
"I'll come with you," said Kayo.
Jeff, John and Scott looked at her.
"Are you sure, Kayo?" asked Jeff. "We were discussing-"
"It can wait, Mr Tracy," said Kayo. "Lives are at stake. And they're children. Their needs are greater than mine."
Jeff was hesitant, but he knew Kayo was right. "Very well," he said. "But go in Thunderbird 1 with Scott."
"F-A-B," said Kayo. She hurried off to get changed into her uniform.
"John, see if you can get in touch with that girl and get any more information," said Jeff.
"I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything, Dad," said John. "If I do, I'll let Scott know immediately. Over and out."
Jeff then turned to his eldest son. "Keep an eye on Kayo, Scott."
"She had one of those attacks again?"
Jeff nodded. "Right on a mission as well. I'm worried, son. If Kayo's unable to do her job…"
Scott shared his father's worry. "I'll make sure she's okay," he promised.
Once they were aboard, Thunderbird 1 moved up the diagonal tunnel to the launch bay whilst the swimming pool was opened to allow it to take-off.
5! 4! 3! 2! 1!
The powerful rockets of Thunderbird 1 thundered into life, pushing the sleek, silver rocket-plane up into the sky, leaving a plume of white smoke in its wake as it climbed high into the sky above Tracy Island. "Thunderbird 1 is GO!" announced Scott. He adjusted the controls. "Changing to horizontal flight."
Thunderbird 1 levelled out and began to race at maximum speed towards Australia - which machine would take next to no time at all.
"Thunderbird 5, any updates for us, John?"
"Negative," answered John. "I haven't been able to make contact with the young lady at all. I can't even see where she is. There's some kind of interference covering that area that my scans can't seem to penetrate."
"That doesn't sound good," said Scott. "Can you at least give us a rough area to search?"
"Already sent the route data to Thunderbird 1's navigation computer," said John. "It'll take you right to where the transmission was picked up."
"But if there's interference, how did the transmission come through?" asked Kayo.
"Well, that's just it," said John. "There was no interference when it came through. It's only since I've been trying to locate her and her brother that it began."
Scott and Kayo both frowned. "Something's not right at all," said Scott. "You'd better alert the GDF, Thunderbird 5. I have a feeling those kids may have run into something they shouldn't have."
"F-A-B," said John.
Colonel Jennings and Hayley walked together down the long corridor of cells in the GDF's Maximum Security Holding Facility. They reached one labelled C-25 and Colonel Jennings looked inside. Charlotte Higgins sat at the table, looking extremely fed-up.
"Do you think she'll talk, Captain?" asked Colonel Jennings.
"She will when I'm through with her, Colonel," replied Hayley. "Parker might not be a Tracy or Creighton-Ward, but he's still a member of International Rescue - and any attempt on any of their lives is something I won't stand for."
Colonel Jennings was impressed. "You care for them all as much as your own man," she said.
Hayley looked at her and gave a simple nod in response.
"I won't come in," said Colonel Jennings. "But I'll be listening. Don't rough her up too much."
"I'll try not to," said Hayley. She then nodded at the guard who typed in the key-number to unlock the door.
The door slid sideways and Charlotte instantly got to her feet to try and make a run for it. However she stopped dead when Hayley came in and blocked the way.
"Where do you think you're going?" Hayley asked.
"Get out of my way!" demanded Charlotte. She shoved past Hayley, only to run straight into the door which had closed. She hit it with a bump and fell backwards onto the floor.
Hayley didn't ask if she was okay. Instead she just stood over her with her arms folded. "Painful?" she asked.
Charlotte groaned.
"Good," Hayley muttered to herself. "Get back in your chair, Higgins. We're gonna have a little chat."
Thunderbird 1 was now flying over the Australian outbacks. It came down low and slowed down so that Scott and Kayo could observe the landscape.
"We're approaching the area now, Thunderbird 5," said Scott. "Anything?"
"Still nothing," said John. "But you're approaching the edge of where the interference is. There's a chance we might lose contact. If you do, try and get out of it so we can establish it."
"F-A-B," said Scott. "Going in now." He moved Thunderbird 1 further on its course. Then the instruments on Thunderbird 1 began to play up, showing static.
"Scott, I've lost my holographic projection1" Kayo called from behind.
"Thunderbird 5, do you copy?" Scott asked. But all he got in response was static. "Looks like he was right," he said to Kayo. "Hang on." He pulled back on the controls and Thunderbird 1 lifted upwards to a higher altitude. He then tried again. "Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 5. Do you read me, John?"
"Loud and clear, Thunderbird 1."
"You were right. Something's jamming signals down there," said Scott.
John scratched his chin. "Strange. Very strange," he said. "I can't imagine anything in the area worth hiding."
"Or stealing?" added Scott. "There's nothing around here for miles."
"Could there be some old gold mines underground?" suggested Kayo.
"Actually, there could be," said John. "Even after they're closed down, not everything down there has necessarily been mined."
"We need to find this missing girl and her brother," said Scott. "But that means going back in there."
"The jamming device is most likely going to be out in the open," said John. "If you can find and disable it. That'll enable us to get back in contact and I can send Thunderbird 2 to assist you if need be."
"F-A-B," said Scott. He looked back at Kayo. "You up for this?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" Kayo asked.
"Just checking," Scott finished hastily. "Okay, Thunderbird 5. We're going back in."
"F-A-B," said John. "Be careful down there."
Charlotte had reluctantly returned to her chair. However, she sat at an angle from the table and refused to make eye-contact with Hayley.
"What was your game plan, Higgins?" Hayley asked as she stood against the door with her arms folded.
Charlotte remained silent and continued not to look.
"I've looked into your background," Hayley continued. "You had a clean record. Studied hard to become a nurse and carer. That is a noble cause. Why jeopardise all that?"
"When can I go home?" Charlotte asked.
"That depends on how co-operative you are," said Hayley.
"I want to go home now!" demanded Charlotte. "I've done nothing wrong!"
Hayley raised an eyebrow. "Evidence would suggest otherwise," she said.
"You have no evidence!" snapped Charlotte, still refusing to make eye-contact.
A sly smirk crossed Hayley's face. "Is that so?" she asked. She took a small device out of her utility-belt. It was a miniature projector - which she then used to play footage from a concealed camera in Lady Penelope's jacket. It caught Charlotte making her confession about trying to kill Parker.
"Turn it off," said Charlotte in a low voice. Hayley did not. "TURN IT OFF!" she screamed.
Hayley did so with a click. She put the device back into its holder and folded her arms again. She looked at Charlotte who now had her head in her hands. She then walked around the cell to stand opposite where Charlotte was facing. "I'd call that evidence…wouldn't you?" she said.
Charlotte slowly lifted her head and gave Hayley a hard and hateful stare.
Hayley wasn't remotely phased by this. "Now then…let's try this again, shall we?"
Thunderbird 1 was back closer to ground level. Contact with Thunderbird 5 and Tracy Island had now been lost and they were on their own for now. With the jammer making their instruments not function properly, Scott and Kayo were now relying on their eyes to check the area out. Kayo stood next to Scott as they looked down through the glass windows at the base of the cockpit.
"We're not far from where John said the distress call originated from," said Kayo.
"Then hopefully our friend is still out here," said Scott. Just then, he caught sight of a figure in a bright pink top on the ground below, waving frantically in their direction. "There!" he said.
Kayo looked. "I see her," she said. "Is there anywhere to land?"
Scott looked around. "That ridge looks flat enough," he said. "Strap back in whilst I put her down."
Kayo returned to her seat whilst Scott brought Thunderbird 1 down to land on the flat surface a short distance from the nearby mountain. To them it didn't look unusual as they'd never been here before so they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.
As they disembarked from the rocket-plane, they saw the young girl running towards them. Her face was streaked with tears.
"Hi there," said Scott. "International Rescue. You called for help."
The girl stopped dead suddenly and stared, not at Scott, but at Kayo. Then she ran forwards and threw herself onto Kayo, wrapping her arms around and bursting into tears.
Scott was taken aback by this, as was Kayo at first. "O…kay…"
"Shhh, it's okay, sweetie," said Kayo soothingly.
"I was hoping you'd come," Toni said between sobs.
"We picked up your distress call," said Kayo as she got her to let go of her. "Now what's your-" She broke off as she looked at the girl's tear-stained face and realisation dawned on her. "Wait a minute…haven't we met before?"
Toni nodded. "Yeah. You rescued me, my brother and Dad from being eaten by crocodiles," she said. "Before my Dad…" She broke off and began crying again.
Scott was confused. But Kayo wasn't. She bent down and pulled Toni into another hug. "I'm so sorry," she said. "But even we didn't know about him."
"Him?" asked Scott.
Kayo didn't want to mention the name out loud. So after she'd let go of Toni, she came over to Scott and whispered "Johnny Cuba" into his ear. Scott felt his stomach churn as it made sense now.
"Okay, Toni…am I right?" Kayo asked.
"You remembered my name?" she asked, surprised.
"I don't tend to forget names," said Kayo. "Where's your brother?"
Toni turned and pointed a trembling finger towards the mountain. "Under there somewhere," she said as the tears began again.
Scott and Kayo looked at the mountain. To them they couldn't see anything wrong.
"Tell us what happened," said Kayo.
"We were playing Hide-and-Seek," explained Toni. "Bob likes to mess with me by going to the cave in the mountain. I began to go in there to look for him. And then the whole mountain began to shake and the roof started to fall and I panicked and ran out and I-2
"Hey-Hey-Hey, it's okay," Kayo said.
"No, it's NOT okay!" whimpered Toni. "I ran away whilst my brother's probably dead in there!"
"Hey, don't think like that," said Scott. "There's every chance he could have survived. We just need to find a way to get inside. Where was the entrance?"
"Behind those rocks there," said Toni, pointing to the ones that were blocking the entrance to the cave.
"Alright. Stay here," said Scott. "I'm gonna go take a look." He returned briefly to Thunderbird 1 to grab his helmet and jetpack before flying over to the mountain to have a look at the rock pile. He landed on one of the ones at the top. "Hmm. These don't look too stable," he observed. "Perhaps I can use Thunderbird 1 to pull some of the larger ones away from below. That might give us an opening of which we can enter." He tapped on his helmet radio. "Kayo, do you copy?" But all he got was static which almost deafened him. "ARGH! Damn it, I forgot about that!" he cursed himself. Then he began to look around. "Jammer. It must be around here somewhere." His eyes then caught onto the peak of the mountain. "I wonder…" He began to fly up the side of the mountain towards the top.
"Where's he going?" Toni asked.
"Probably to see how stable the rest of the mountain is," Kayo replied.
Scott soon reached the top, and sure enough… "Bingo!" he said triumphantly, for sitting on the ridge was an electronic jamming device. Now came the problem of disarming it. However, he decided on a quick and simple solution. He picked out his multi-tool and activated the laser setting. He then blasted the device to pieces. "Scott to Kayo. Do you read me?"
This time there was no interference, but the welcoming sound of Kayo's voice. "Scott!"
"I found the jamming device," said Scott. "It's disabled."
"Ah, that's why you headed up there," said Kayo.
"Jamming device?" asked Toni.
"One moment, Toni, please," said Kayo. "How do the rocks look, Scott/"
"A little unstable," said Scott. "But I think I can use Thunderbird 1 to clear a path."
"Shouldn't we bring in Thunderbird 2?" asked Kayo. "Virgil's the expert when it comes to these."
"We don't even know if they're on their way back to base yet," said Scott. "And besides, the longer we wait, the less time Bob might have. We can't afford to wait."
Kayo wasn't too comfortable with this plan, but she also knew Scott was right about Bob. "Okay. Clear the rocks with Thunderbird 1 and then we'll come over once it's safe," she said.
"F-A-B," Scott acknowledged.
"What was that about a jamming device?" Toni asked again.
Kayo tried to come up with a simple explanation. "I don't honestly know, Toni," she said. "What do you know about this area?"
"Nothing really," Toni replied. "Bob and I have played in these caves many times. Nothing's ever happened before."
The rumbling of jets interrupted their thoughts as Thunderbird 1 fired up its engines, rising off the ground and then slowly making its way towards the mountain.
"How's it doing that?" asked Toni. "I didn't see your brother come back."
"He's not my brother," Kayo responded quickly. "He's…" She trailed off, words seemed to have escaped her.
"Boyfriend?" Toni asked.
Kayo stared at her. "Excuse me?!"
Toni looked away. "Guessing not," she murmured.
All sorts of weird thoughts were running through Kayo's mind now. Her eyes turned back towards the mountain…falling on the little blue speck that was Scott operating Thunderbird 1 remotely. What was he actually to her?