KAYO couldn't move. She was frozen in shock. This surely couldn't have happened? She barely even noticed the rocks falling from the ceiling as the cavern began to cave in.

"WE GOT HIM!" shouted The Black Phantom triumphantly. "WE GOT HIM!"

CRASH! A huge rock landed close to him and Shocker, making them fall back. More pieces fell, crashing all around them and the Cabal Cruiser.

"YOU MORONS, YOU'RE BRINGING THE PLACE DOWN!" screamed Techno over their radios. "LET'S GO! MOVE!"

Shocker and Black Phantom were about to run inside when Shocker spotted the unconscious Silver Swan nearby. He ran over, grabbed her and picked her up before carrying her back inside the Cruiser which was now starting to taxi out through the tunnel it had come in from. Once Shocker and Swan were inside, the rear hatch was closed by the Phantom.

Kayo looked down and saw the back end of the Cruiser disappear from view. "GODDAMN YOU!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS! IF IT'S THE LAST THING I EVER DO! I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!" That was all she had time to say before she finally realised about the collapsing cavern and she threw herself inside the small inlet that Scott and Bob had hidden inside earlier. With a final crash and rumble, rocks fell and sealed off the entrance, leaving her in complete darkness. She crouched down, trembling in fright. And then, when everything had gone quiet, she shakily reached for her distress beacon on her suit and pressed it. And then grief and exhaustion took effect and she passed out, slumping onto her right side.

"Kayo?" John's concerned voice came over the radio. "I'm picking massive tremors from inside the mountain and…you've activated your emergency beacon?! What's going on? Kayo? KAYO?!"

But there was no reply. Kayo couldn't answer.

John was feeling very concerned. "Kayo, why aren't you answering?" he asked. "Scott, I can't raise Kayo. What's going on down there?" He waited for Scott's reply. It didn't come. "Scott, are you there? Scott, ANSWER ME!"

There was still no response.

John turned to EOS. "EOS, scan the mountain. Find Scott and Kayo."

"Scanning," said EOS. "Scan complete. Only one life sign detected." John stared at the camera eye of the AI. It looked back at him. "John…why is your skin changing color?"

John was going very white indeed. He slowly turned his head back towards the mountain. "No…No, it can't be…" He then pushed a button and made an announcement that he hoped he'd never have to make again. "This is Thunderbird 5 to all International Rescue units. Code Black. I repeat - Code Black!"

John's call not only went to Tracy Island, but also to Thunderbirds 2 and 3 as well as FAB1 where Lady Penelope and Parker were driving down the M1 Motorway towards London. For Virgil, Alan, Brains, Grandma, Penelope and Parker, hearing John say those words instantly sent chills down their spines, as that's what John had declared when Gordon was trapped in Thunderbird 4 following the Chaos Crew attack. For Gordon and Jeff, this was their first time hearing it, but immediately they knew what it meant.

Jeff was the first to respond. "John, what's happened?!"

"There's been a massive earthquake in the mountain where Scott and Kayo are," said John. "And…" He couldn't seem to finish.

"And what, John?" asked Gordon anxiously.

"I'm…only picking up one life sign in there…" said John in a shaky voice.

Gordon and Virgil exchanged horrified glances with each other inside Thunderbird 2. Alan and Brains did the same in Thunderbird 3. Grandma fell to the floor, her hands over her mouth in shock whilst Jeff just stood dumbfounded by his desk. He began to shake like he was about to break down in tears. However he pulled himself back and with an extremely stern face, he gave an order that he knew would never be questioned. "Virgil…Alan…get to Scott and Kayo…NOW!"

"On our way!" said Virgil, sharply banking Thunderbird 2 to starboard to head towards Australia once John had sent them the location.

Thunderbird 3 had almost returned to Earth following its trials in space. "We're on our way too, Dad," said Alan as he adjusted the mighty red rocket's course to head down to the planet. The massive landmass of Australia was directly below them.

Penelope then spoke up. "Is there anything we can do, Jeff?" she asked.

"It'd take you several hours to get there, Penny," said Jeff grimly. "However, regardless of whether it's there or back here on Tracy Island, I feel your presence could well be needed. Please come."

"F-A-B," said Penelope. "Parker-"

"Already on h'our way, m'lady," said Parker. FAB1 was indeed already airborne and heading off at top speed into the sky, much to the surprise of the other motorists on the ground.

Hayley had just finished listening to the downloaded recording of Charlotte's tricked confession on playback with some technicians and lawyers. "There you go," she said. "I think that should be enough to convict her?"

"It is exactly what we need," said a Prosecution Lawyer. "Thank you, Captain."

"My pleasure," said Hayley with a smile. "If you need anything else, just let me know."

The lawyers headed for the exit under the accompaniment of a Guard. Hayley then turned to see Colonel Jennings enter from the other door. She stood to attention. "Colonel."

"Captain," answered Colonel Jennings.

Hayley waited, thinking she was going to be praised for a job well done. But she quickly noticed that the Colonel wasn't smiling. In fact, she looked extremely serious. "Is…something wrong?"

"You need to get to Australia immediately, Madison," said Colonel Jennings. "You're gonna be needed. I've already arranged a plane to take you there. Go. time is very short."

Hayley was confused. "Yes, ma'am," she said. She grabbed her hat and headed for the exit, wondering what had happened to cause the Colonel to look so concerned.

Toni and Bob looked at what remained of the mountain. There was very little left from when they had first gotten there that morning. They felt alone and scared. They had seen a mysterious aircraft fly away following the final earthquake that had brought the rest of the mountain down. The caves were completely blocked off and there was no sign of their rescuers.

"We've gotta do something," said Bob.

"Like what?" asked Toni. "There's no way in there!"

There then came the distant rumble of engines from above. At first they thought it was another aircraft, but then they realised the rumble sounded very different to what they'd heard before. They looked up, and were stunned by what they saw. A huge space rocket was coming down out of the sky. It then deployed three large grasping arms and began to move over to start to land on the opposite side of the mountain. A huge 3 on its hull told them immediately what it was.

"Thunderbird…3?!" exclaimed Bob.

"But that's a spaceship!" said Toni. "What's that doing here?"

"Look!" said Bob, now pointing to the North-East.

Toni looked, and there were three GDF Flyers approaching which were swiftly overtaken by the green bulk of Thunderbird 2 which was coming in to join its sistership.

"This can't be good," said Bob. He then began to hurry off to make his way down the mountain to meet the new arrivals.

"Wait for me!" called Toni, running off after him.

The vast cavern entrance that the Cabal Cruiser had used to get in and out wasn't affected by the earthquake and remained unblocked. Virgil led the charge in, armed with his Jaws of Life exo-suit. Gordon, Alan and Brains were hot on his trail whilst the GDF formed a guard perimeter outside.

Upon reaching the cavern itself, they found several large rocks and boulders blocking their way. "Oh, man. This is bad!" said Alan.

"Keep your head, bro," barked Gordon. "Need to think clearly here."

"SCOTT?!" Virgil called out, using the voice amplifier. "KAYO?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! CALL OUT!" No response came, but Virgil wasn't just relying on his voice. He was using the scanner inside his helmet to look for heat signatures. And very quickly he found one. "UP THERE!" he said, pointing.

"I can get up there with my grapple gun," said Gordon. "Can you clear me a path?"

"On it!" said Virgil, setting to work by moving the largest rocks out of the way. He turned with one and almost knocked Alan over. "WHOA! ALAN, STAY BACK!"

"I'M TRYING TO HELP, DAMN IT!" Alan shouted back.

"You can h-help by staying clear!" said Brains, pulling Alan away from his brother.

Soon, Virgil had cleared a path for Gordon to get through. "Go for it, Gordon!" he said.

Gordon moved in, took aim with his grappler and fired a line up to the ceiling. He then attached it to his toolbelt and began to climb up.

"B-Be careful up there, Gordon," warned Brains. "This whole c-cavern is looking very unstable."

"You're telling me!" replied Gordon as he reached the ledge. To his relief, it was largely clear of fallen rocks, apart from some that were blocking the inlet where the heat signature was coming from. He hurried over to it. Using his own scanner, he could see for himself that someone was inside. "I'm here!" he said. "These rocks aren't too big. I should be able to push…them…ASIDE!" He did so and the rocks fell away. He then shone his torch inside, and was stunned by what he saw. "K-Kayo…?"

It was Kayo, curled up in a ball like a hedgehog. She was trembling and making whimpering sounds. He'd never seen her like this before. Cautiously, Gordon made his way inside.

"Who is it, Gordon?" asked Virgil.

"It's Kayo," answered Gordon. "But…"

"But, what?"

"She's…she's terrified," said Gordon. He approached Kayo slowly and carefully. "Kayo? It's Gordon."

Slowly, but still shaking, Kayo began to lift her head up from under her hands. Her helmet was retracted, and her skin was extremely pale. Her eyes were red and bloodshot, having been stung with many tears. Gordon hadn't seen anyone like this since the passing of their mother.

Then Jeff's voice came over the radio. "Gordon, show me Kayo."

Gordon tapped the side of his helmet, sending a live video feed to not only Tracy Island, but to Virgil's wrist controller and Thunderbird 5. Jeff, Grandma, Virgil, Alan, Brains and John's eyes all widened in shock at the trembling mess that Kayo was.

"That ain't Kayo!" said Alan. "Kayo's tough!"

"Shush!" hissed Virgil.

Gordon reached out to touch Kayo's arms. "Kayo, it's okay. We're here. We're gonna get you out of there."

"Gordon…"

"Yeah, Dad?"

"Ask…" Jeff was struggling to speak. "Ask her…about Scott."

Gordon felt his stomach churn. He looked back at Kayo whose eyes were looking down at the ground. "Kayo…Kayo, look at me." Her eyes lifted to look at his. "Where's Scott?"

"S…S…S…Sc…Sc…" Kayo stammered, like a broken record player. "Sc-Sc-Sc-Scott-SCOTT! SCOTT! SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOTT!" She suddenly became hysterical and Gordon had to grab her to stop her throwing herself out of the inlet.

"WOAH-WOAH-WOAH! STOP!" Gordon shouted, pinning Kayo back down. "Take it easy! What about Scott?"

Kayo was lying on her back, her eyes turned slightly to the right, locking onto Gordon's eyes. They were filled with fear. "G…Gordon?!"

"Yeah, Kayo, it's me."

Then Kayo began to wail. "Oh, God…OH, GOD! THEY GOT HIM! THEY KILLED HIM! HE'S DEAD!"

Those words sent a feeling none of them had ever felt before. It couldn't be true, they all thought. Scott was…dead?

"No…" said Alan, gritting his teeth and shaking his head. "I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT!

"Alan…"

"NO, BRAINS! WHERE'S THE PROOF?! WHERE'S THE BODY?! RIGHT?! THERE AIN'T ONE! SCOTT AIN'T DEAD! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE IT!"

"Alan, WE'LL FIND HIM!" Virgil bellowed to stop his youngest. "We're not leaving here until we do. Regardless of whether he's…alive or not."

Silence fell. As much as they didn't want to accept the latter, they were all in agreement.

"Gordon, bring Kayo down here," said Virgil. "We need to treat her in Thunderbird 2."

"Okay," said Gordon. "Come on, Kayo." He then picked the still sobbing Kayo up and using his harness and rope, lowered her down to the others before following down himself.

"If he's dead…I won't rest until each and every member of The Cabal are in graves themselves!" said Alan with gritted teeth.

"Easy, little brother," said Virgil. "So long as there's hope…there's always a chance."

Alan turned away.

Virgil then turned to Gordon and Brains. "Take Kayo back to Thunderbird 2 and tend to her. Alan and I will start searching for Scott."

"You got it," said Gordon.

"Easy with her, Gordon," said Brains as they began to head out through the cavern tunnel.

The fast jet carrying Hayley was nearing its destination. Hayley was still in the dark as to why they were going. "Say, Chip? Do you know anything?"

"Negative, Captain," answered the pilot. "My orders are to take you to the scene as fast as possible. The Colonel didn't tell me why and I don't need to know."

Hayley sighed, annoyed. But as she looked out of the window, she noticed an unusual red object on the ground in the distance. She leant forwards and blinked. She wanted to rub her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming but the visor of her helmet prevented that. "I must be seeing things," she said out loud. "Is that Thunderbird 3?"

"Sure is, ma'am," replied the pilot. "Looks like the green one's here too. Oh, and the silver one."

Hayley stared down at the scene. Thunderbird 1 was sitting along on the nearby mountain ridge whilst Thunderbirds 2 and 3 were at ground level on the other side along with the GDF Flyers. She began to grow very concerned. "Thunderbirds 1 and 2 being here, makes sense of course," she said. "But why the hell is Thunderbird 3 here?"

"I'm sure you'll find out soon enough," said the pilot. "Taking her down."

The jet came and landed close to the entrance into the mountain. Hayley climbed out and looked around for any sign of the Tracy brothers. She spotted the elevator ramp of Thunderbird 2 rising upwards into its nose. She spotted the suits of Gordon and Brains and was curious now to why Brains was there. She was about to head over to Thunderbird 2 when one of the soldiers ran over from the tunnel entrance. "Captain Madison?"

"Yes?"

"There's two more International Rescue guys inside the tunnel," said the soldier.

"Which ones?"

"I don't know their names but one has a green colour and the other red-"

Green told Hayley all she needed to know. She then hurried inside.

"BE CAREFUL, CAPTAIN!" shouted the soldier. "IT'S NOT SAFE IN THERE!"

Hayley ignored him and kept running. Soon she reached the cavern. "Good lord…" she said when she saw the mess of boulders. She couldn't see Virgil or Alan anywhere though. "VIRGIL?! ALAN?!"

The brothers weren't far into the boulders and stopped dead when they heard their names called.

"Is that Hayley?" asked Alan.

"I think it is," said Virgil. He turned around. "HAYLEY?!" He turned and hurried back through the path he'd made. He came out just as Hayley was about to come in. "Hey!"

"Hey!" said Hayley. She wanted to hug him, but they both quickly realised that hugging Virgil with his exosuit on would be uncomfortable. "What's going on here? Colonel Jennings sent me but hasn't filled me in."

Virgil didn't answer. He just looked down at the floor with a rather sad look on his face.

Hayley frowned, confused. "Virgil, what's wrong, darling?"

"We're looking for Scott," Virgil answered.

"Scott? Why, what happened?"

"The Cabal happened," answered Virgil. "They caused this mess. Scott and Kayo were looking for a missing boy and stumbled across them digging for something. They managed to rescue the boy…but then a big earthquake caused the mountain to come crashing down."

Hayley looked around at the mess. "This has Shocker written all over it," she said.

"Yeah…" said Virgil.

"So Kayo and Scott are caught up in this?" Hayley asked.

"We found Kayo," said Virgil. "Brains and Gordon have taken her back to Thunderbird 2 to treat her. She's in a real bad way. Never seen her like it."

"And Scott?"

Virgil didn't answer. He turned away and closed his eyes before exhaling. "Kayo…says that they might have killed him…"

Hayley let out a gasp of horror. She tried to cover her mouth with her hand, forgetting once again that her protective helmet was on. "That can't be true!"

"You have no idea how much we want to believe that," said Virgil. "But until we find him…"

Hayley couldn't think of anything to say. Instead she grabbed Virgil's arm despite it being in the exo-suit. "You'll find him," she said, trying her best to sound reassuring. "Is there anything I can do?"

Virgil thought for a moment. Where they were was very dangerous and he didn't want her at risk unnecessarily. "Can you go help Kayo, please?" he asked. "And can you send Gordon back? We're gonna need him."

Hayley nodded. "Of course," she said. "Be careful."

Virgil gave a nod in return and went back into the rocks. Hayley watched him go, and then hurried back out towards Thunderbird 2.

Gordon had placed Kayo on a medical table and began to run scans which were sent back to Grandma on Tracy Island.

"Scan complete," Grandma said. "No injuries. You're lucky, Kayo."

Kayo scoffed. "Lucky, yeah right! I'm alive whilst Scott gets obliterated by two members of The Cabal DAMNIT!" She grabbed the monitor off her chest and threw it across the cockpit. Brains had to duck to avoid getting hit by it.

"Whoa, easy, Kayo!" said Gordon. "It's okay."

"NO, IT'S NOT!" Kayo bellowed furiously. She suddenly lunged at Gordon, grabbing him and shoving him up against the wall of the cockpit.

"Hey-HEY!"

"DON'T TELL ME IT'S OKAY, GORDON!" screamed Kayo. "SCOTT IS DEAD! I KNOW HE IS! I SAW THEM OBLITERATE HIM!"

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Gordon bellowed back. "YOU DIDN'T SEE HIS BODY!"

"THERE'S NOTHING TO FIND!" roared Kayo. "THOSE LASERS OF THE PHANTOM WOULD HAVE VAPORISED HIM!" She pushed herself off and walked away, bawling her eyes out before sinking onto the floor against the med-table. "He's gone…just accept it!"

Gordon and Brains looked at each other. But before either could say anything, the control console beeped. Someone was trying to call them. Brains pushed a button to accept.

"Thunderbird 2, this is Captain Madison. May I come in, please?"

"Let her in, Brains," Gordon said.

Brains nodded and pushed the button to lower the entry platform.

Once Hayley had stepped on, it rose back up, bringing her inside. She was shocked when she saw the state of Kayo. "Hey, guys."

"Hayley, are we glad to see you?" said Gordon.

"I've just spoken with Virgil and he asked me to help with Kayo," said Hayley.

Gordon looked at Kayo. "I'm not sure what help you can provide," he answered. "I've never seen her like this before."

"It's k-kind of scary," agreed Brains.

Hayley cautiously approached Kayo and bent down before putting a hand on Kayo's shoulder. "Kayo? It's Hayley."

Kayo slowly raised her head from behind her knees. Her eyes were now bright red from all the tears. She looked at Hayley, then began sobbing again, throwing her arms around the scarlet-suited officer.

Gordon looked at them both, almost offended. "She could have done that with me," he muttered.

"I think that is p-poor taste, Gordon," scolded Brains.

Gordon gulped. He hadn't meant for anyone other than him to hear.

Just then, Hayley communicator beeped. "Captain Madison?"

"Yes, go ahead?"

"There's two kids here wanting to know where the International Rescue guys who helped them earlier are and why more ships and us are here," said the soldier. "What should I do with them?"

Hayley had to think hard. "Kids…great," she said. "Send them to Thunderbird 2. They'll be safe here until we're done."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll bring them over."

"That's all we n-need," said Brains. He looked at the camera feed as the soldier approached Thunderbird 2 with the kids at his sides.

Gordon suddenly went pale. "Oh, no…"

"What is it?" asked Hayley.

"I know those kids…" said Gordon. "They're Johnny Cuba's!"

"And?"

"They probably don't know I'm the one who caught him in space," said Gordon.

"They d-don't need to know that," said Brains. "Also…I d-don't think it's a good idea for them to see Kayo in this state."

"Agreed." Hayley did some quick thinking. Then she had an idea. "I got it! I'll stay here with Kayo. brains, could you give them a guided tour of Thunderbird 3? They won't have ever seen it before, would they? Then Gordon, you could probably go back and help Virgil and Alan."

"That works for me," said Gordon.

Brains was hesitant. But he understood why Gordon wasn't comfortable about seeing the kids. "Of c-course I can," he said.

Brains exited Thunderbird 2 and approached the soldier flanked by Toni and Bob. "Thank you, officer. I'll t-take it from here."

"Uh, hello?" said Toni unsure.

"What's going on, mister?" asked Bob.

Brains had to be very careful with his answer. He couldn't let the kids know about the potential fate of Scott. "I'm a-afraid one of ours has gotten stuck inside the c-caves and wasn't able to get out," he said. "But we are going to g-get him out."

"Scott?" asked Toni.

"He only just managed to get me out," said Bob.

Brains nodded. "It's okay. We know where h-he is and the others will soon have him out." He paused for a second. "In the m-meantime, would you like to have a look inside Th-Thunderbird 3?"

The siblings looked at each other.

"Can we?!" asked Bob excitedly. "Oh, yes, please!"

Toni on the other hand was more concerned about Scott. "I, er, guess…?" she answered.

"P-Perfect," said Brains with a smile. "Let's go then." He led the way towards Thunderbird 3.

Gordon waited until they were far enough away before exiting Thunderbird 2 himself and hurried over to the cave. He kept glancing back but to his relief, the kids didn't seem to have noticed him.

Gordon soon found Virgil and Alan, still trying to clear a path through the boulders. "Any luck, guys?"

"Not yet," answered Virgil. "How's Kayo?"

"Not great, but Hayley's with her," Gordon answered.

"Good."

Alan looked at his brother. "What's up with you?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing."

Virgil tossed aside the rock he was moving and turned around. "I know that tone of voice, Gordon. It's the tone when someone's lying. What's up?"

"We'll find, Scott, okay?" added Alan.

"It's not that…" Gordon said. "Those kids that Kayo and Scott had come here to help. They just came onto the scene. They're Johnny Cuba's kids. I can't let them see me."

"Why?"

"Because I caught their Dad, that's why, Virgil!"

"They don't know that," said Alan.

"Yeah, but-"

"Gordon, drop it!" snapped Virgil. "We have more important issues than that right now!"

Gordon fell silent and let out a deep sigh. He looked up along the cavern walls. And then something caught his attention. "Hey, wait a minute. What's that up there?"

Virgil and Alan turned to look. It was dark so they couldn't see clearly. Virgil turned his shoulder torch towards it. Now they could see it. A hole that had been blasted through the rock.

"What's that?" asked Alan.

"Hey, this might be a clue," said Virgil. "Well spotted, Gordon. I'll clear a path so you two can get up there."

Once Virgil had cleared a path, Gordon and Alan used grapple hooks and cables to winch themselves up to the large hole Gordon had seen in the cavern wall. As they approached it, the two youngest brothers braced themselves. "Alan…"

"Yeah?"

"You do realise we might not like what we find…" Gordon said.

Alan tried to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach. "I'm prepared," he said bravely.

Gordon nodded. Both looked down at Virgil who remained at ground level. He gave a nod to them both. They took a deep breath and pulled themselves up to the hole, shining their torches through. But there was nothing there.

"What do you see?" asked Virgil.

"Nothing," grunted Gordon. "It's just another cavern. Whatever caused this blast has gone through to the wall on the opposite side though.

Alan peered over and shone his torch down. However it was so dark that he couldn't see the floor. "This must be really deep," he remarked.

Gordon found a piece of loose rock beside him. "Let's see how deep," he said, dropping the rock down into the darkness. Both brothers listened carefully and waited for the thud. But they were in for a surprise. Instead of a thud…there came a splash. They looked at each other, stunned.

"What is it?" Virgil asked.

"There's water down there!" said Alan.

Gordon was quick to call up John. "Thunderbird 5, we've just found some kind of pool down here. Could you run an underground scan and see if there's more?"

"Running deep ground scan now," answered John as he adjusted the controls. "Stand-by." He waited whilst the scanners did their work, and was very surprised by the result. "Holy-!"

"What is it, John?" asked Gordon.

"That's not a pool, Gordon!" said John. "There's an underground river under these mountains!"

"An underground river?!" repeated Gordon.

"Gordon, look at the hole opposite," said Alan, shining his torch across. "It's empty. There's nothing there."

"Right?"

"What if…" Alan paused and looked down into the darkness. "What if Scott somehow managed to avoid getting killed and fell into the water? Could he have been carried off by the current?"

Gordon considered the matter. "That's…possible," he said. "I need to get down there and check it out."

"I've made a 3-D scan of the underground river," said John. "It's quite wide down there. I reckon you could get Thunderbird 4 through there easily."

"Yes, of course!" said Gordon. "Find me the nearest entry point to take Thunderbird 4 in."

"Searching…damn!"

"Damn's not good," said Alan.

"The nearest entry point is over a-hundred kilometres away," said John.

Gordon punched the rocks with his fist…which he instantly regretted but fortunately no damage was done. "We need to make our own entrance," he said. "Virgil, do we have a Mole-Pod to hand?"

Virgil shook his head. "Negative," he replied grimly. "Thunderbird 4's the only vehicle we have in the module at the moment. We have nothing else with a drill."

There was silence as the brothers tried to think of what to do. And it was then that Alan realised something. "Yes, we do!" he said excitedly. "Thunderbird 3 has one! In its nose!"

"Gah, of course!" said Virgil. "Why the hell didn't I realise that?!"

Alan was quick to abseil back down to ground level. "If I can use Thunderbird 3's drill to bore a hole down to the tunnel, you can lower Thunderbird 4 into it and Gordon can begin searching!"

Gordon came down as well. "Yeah! That's the solution! What do you say, Virgil?"

Virgil tried to think if there were any flaws in the idea, but he could think of none. "Let's do it!" he said. "Come on!"

The three brothers raced out of the cavern entrance, to the surprise of the GDF officers as they sprinted back to their respective ships.

Virgil spoke into his radio. "Hayley, we need those kids and Kayo out of Thunderbird 2. We need to work fast."

"I can bring Kayo out but Brains has taken the kids into Thunderbird 3," Hayley answered.

"I'll attend to that," said Alan. "Be ready as soon as I'm done."

"We will be," said Gordon.

"Get that hole drilled ASAP," added Virgil.

They split up, and Alan called up Brains. "Brains, I need you to get those kids out of Thunderbird 3. We have work to do."

"What's wrong, Alan?" asked Brains.

"No time to explain, Brains. Just get them out of there."

"O-Okay," said Brains before turning to Toni and Bob "S-Sorry, you two. Looks like the tour's over for the m-moment."

Hayley and Brains stood with Kayo, Toni and Bob and watched from a distance by a GDF Flyer as Thunderbirds 2 and 3 began to take off.

"What exactly are they doing?" Kayo asked.

"Virgil didn't tell me," answered Hayley. They looked at Brains.

"Alan hasn't t-told me either," he said.

They watched on, intrigued by what was taking place.

Alan led the way with Thunderbird 3. Virgil followed at a safe distance with Thunderbird 2. "John, where do I need to go?" Alan asked.

"I'm sending you the location of where the river runs underground," said John. "Make sure you do it on the flat area."

The hologram map showed Alan exactly where the river was. "Got it!" he said. "Going in now!" Thunderbird 3 touched down on the ground about a mile from where they'd originally been. "Deploying drill!"

The nose of Thunderbird 3 opened up and the drill, which was several times more powerful than the ones used by the Mole-Pods, began to burrow into the ground. It kicked up a huge cloud of dust that almost covered the bottom half of the spaceship.

The dust cloud could be seen from where the others were watching.

"What are they doing?" asked Bob.

Brains used his glasses to zoom in and try to see what was going on. "It would appear that Alan is using Thunderbird 3's d-drill to burrow into the ground. I can't for a moment think why though."

The distance between the ground surface and the underground river was about fifty metres, so Alan was quite surprised how quickly Thunderbird 3's drill managed to get down to it. "I'm through!"

"Well, that didn't take long!" remarked Gordon.

"It's built to bore through space rock which is a lot tougher than this," said Alan.

"Cut the chat!" barked Virgil. "Alan, get clear. Gordon, you're up."

"F-A-B!" the two brothers acknowledged.

Gordon was already inside Thunderbird 4. As Thunderbird 3 rose up again, retracting the drill, Virgil brough Thunderbird 2 over to hover above the hole drilled in the ground. The hatch underneath Module 4 was opened and using the magnetic grapple, began to lower Thunderbird 4 down into it.

"Oh, my!" said Brains. "They're deploying, Thunderbird 4!"

"Thunderbird 4?" repeated Hayley.

"Isn't that the yellow submarine that rescued us before?" asked Toni.

"But there's no water out here!" added Bob.

Brains decided to find out. "V-Virgil? Alan? Can someone tell us what is going on, please?"

"Following a potential lead, Brains," Alan answered. "We found an underground river. It leads past the cavern we were searching in. There's every chance Scott could have fallen in and gotten swept away."

"I see," said Brains. "In that c-case, Gordon?"

"Yeah, Brains?"

"Good luck." Brains then turned back to the others. "There is water," he said. "An underground river." He walked up to Hayley and Kayo before saying to her in a low voice, "There's still a c-chance, Kayo."

But Kayo remained silent. She didn't know what to say or think.

Gordon cautiously manoeuvred Thunderbird 4 through the dark underground river.. It was very dark so he was glad this craft had powerful lights to show him what was ahead. "Making my way under the mountains now."

"What does it look like, Thunderbird 4?" John asked.

"Like piloting through a sewer…only…a helluva lot cleaner!" Gordon remarked. "I wonder how long this has been here."

"I doubt we'll ever find the answer to that," said Virgil. "Any sign of Scott?"

"Not yet," said Gordon. "I'm coming up to just under where we were in that other cavern and…" he broke off. "Hold it. There's something on the bottom. It's grey."

The others waited with baited breath. "What do you see?" Alan asked.

Gordon felt his stomach churn again. "It's a jetpack…it's Scott's!"

"That's good, right?" said Alan. "That means he did end up in the water."

"Yeah, but how far has he gone?" said John. "According to this map reading, that underground river is hundreds of miles long."

"The current isn't fast-flowing, and I'm heading in the same direction as it," said Gordon. "He can't be too far ahead. I hope."

Jeff sat at his desk, thumbs twiddling with unease. He wanted to call the boys and ask how things were going. He was desperate for news on his eldest son. Several times, he began to reach for a button to call them, then stopped himself each time. "No…No…Don't interrupt them. Let them contact you."

There then came a beeping sound informing of an incoming call. He looked eagerly at the wall of portraits, but none of the eyes were flashing. He then glanced over at Penelope's picture, but that wasn't flashing either. Someone else was trying to call them.

"This better not be another call for help," Jeff said to himself as he pressed the receive button. "This is Jeff Tracy of International-" He broke off and his eyes widened with horror as the holographic image of the one person he never wanted to lay eyes on again appeared from the projector. "YOU?!"

The Hood gave an evil chuckle. "Well, hello…Jeff Tracy. It's been a while."

Jeff tried his best to control his anger. "What do you want?"

"What do I want?" The Hood asked. "Isn't that obvious? I'm wanting to look at a grieving father who has just lost his eldest boy."

"You don't know THAT!" Jeff rumbled.

The Hood laughed again. "Oh, come now, Jeff. Black Phantom and Shocker told me everything. They blasted your boy Scott right into a wall. If Shocker's shockwaves didn't crush him in the rocks, then Phantom's laser-beams would have vaporised him."

Jeff was on his feet and slammed his fists on the desk. "YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" he bellowed furiously. "WHERE'S THE PROOF?! WHERE'S THE BODY?!"

"I highly doubt there'll be much left of poor Scott now, Jeff," said The Hood. "I mean, no doubt the rest of your boys are trying to locate whatever's left of him right now? Believe me when I say, they're gonna be left with broken hearts…just like yours."

Jeff's face went as red as Thunderbird 3. "I will not believe that my son is dead until I see a body," he said. "And if he is dead…then I'll personally come and hunt you and each member of your STINKING CABAL DOWN! And when I find you…you'll be next."

The Hood wasn't at all intimidated by Jeff's threat. "You have twelve hours."

"UNTIL WHAT?!"

"To accept that your son is dead, Tracy," said The Hood. "And when you are forced to admit the truth, I shall claim the victory I've been waiting so many years for. And believe me also when I say…I'm going to enjoy it…so very much." With a final evil cackle, The Hood ended the call, his holograph disappearing.

Jeff let out an almighty bellow of rage and threw his chair across the lounge, accidentally breaking Virgil's piano in the process. But Jeff didn't care about that. As he turned back, shaking with fury, he saw Grandma, standing stunned and shocked on the other side of the lounge. Neither of them had anything to say.

Thunderbird 4 continued onwards until it reached a large open with what looked like light shining in from above. "Say, John, there's an opening right here!"

John checked the scans. "You're right, Gordon. "How the hell did I miss that?!"

"Doesn't matter," said Gordon. "I'm gonna surface and see if I can find anything." He blew the ballast of Thunderbird 4 and it began to rise upwards. Soon it broke the surface and Gordon looked around. He could see that the opening above was a lot wider than the area of water was. There was a small ledge covered in rocks directly ahead of him. However, there was no sign of anyone.

"Anything?" Virgil asked.

Gordon sighed. "Negative," he said sadly. "He's not here."

The others also gave sad sighs.

"Keep going, Gordon," said John. "He may have been unconscious and got swept further on."

"Yeah, that's my thinking," said Gordon. "I just hope his suit's got enough air left. Diving now."

Thunderbird 4 began to slip beneath the surface, turning to the left as it did so for the underground river took a left below. If he'd stayed facing the ledge, he might have seen a hand slowly resting on top of one of the rocks.