THUNDERBIRD 2 came around the top of Kent and into the Thames estuary before heading over towards where the Medway flowed out into it. Not much had been said since Virgil's realisation of how the Rock Snakes had originally begun to multiply. Hayley had instructed him to carry on. Having managed to get Gordon to come out of his shell, she felt she was now going to have to do the same with Virgil.

"We're c-close now," Brains said, monitoring the holographic scan of the terrain underneath the surface of the rivers. "Let's get into Thunderbird 4, G-Gordon. Virgil, please drop us around here."

"Okay, Brains," said Gordon as he got up to lead Brains out of the cockpit.

Virgil just grunted in response.

"Be careful down there," Hayley said. "Make sure you don't disturb the wrecks."

"F-A-B," said Gordon.

With Brains having now vacated the co-pilot seat, Hayley moved into it to sit beside her fiance. "You okay, hun?" she asked.

Virgil didn't answer. Just grunted.

"Don't blame yourself for this," Hayley said.

"How can I not?" Virgil snapped. "I fired the cannon and blew up the cylinder with those snakes inside it! I pressed the button. I destroyed it. I destroyed them! Of course this is my fault!"

Hayley grabbed his arm. "Virgil…look at me," she said. Slowly, he did. "Did you choose to blow it up?"

Virgil tried to think back. "Errrrrrr…I can't remember…" he said.

"From what I recall, Colonel Jennings instructed you to destroy it," said Hayley. "You acted on her orders. It wasn't your call, Virgil. You remember that." She gave his arm a squeeze and then released her hand from him. "Nobody could have predicted this would happen. So stop blaming yourself."

Virgil nodded understandingly, but the guilt still lingered heavily on his mind.

"We're ready, Virgil," Gordon suddenly said over the hologram projector.

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 4," said Virgil. "Stand-by for launch."

"Systems check completed," said Gordon. "Docking clamp released. We are go for deployment."

The clamps were released and Module 4 dropped out from Thunderbird 2 to land on the surface of the Thames. The door opened and the ramp with Thunderbird 4 on lifted upwards into position. The thrusters fired and the small yellow submersible slipped down into the water.

"Thunderbird 4 is GO!" announced Gordon.

Virgil didn't fail to notice Gordon's tone was different to what it had been. "Guess you worked your magic on him?" he said to Hayley. "He sounds a lot more like his old self."

"What can I say?" Hayley replied. "Maybe I should become International Rescue's Counsellor?" She began to laugh, and Virgil soon started to as well.


Having spent the night in the farmhouse, and having done the honourable thing by burying the deceased owner in the back garden under the lawn, Penelope felt she needed to move on. But as she was packing what she'd managed to acquire into the Land-Rover, she turned to find herself looking at Potts who'd followed her back and forth between the barn and the house. He looked at her with great sad eyes. She knew he could tell that she was going to leave and the whimpering he made told her he didn't want her to go. "I'm sorry, Potts," she said. "I can't take you with me. I have nowhere for you to go." She bent down and stroked the sad dog. She gave him several pats and he rubbed himself against her. Then she got up and climbed into the Land Rover. She started the engine and began to drive out of the barn to head down the lane back to the main road. As she went, she looked to her left at the farmhouse. And it was then that she came to a stop at the sight of the Tabby Cat, whom she had named Pebbles, looking sadly back at her and constantly meowing through the window. She looked at Pebbles, and then she looked in the rear-view mirror at the sight of Potts sitting outside the barn after her. She looked at Pebbles, and then at Potts and back again. Seeing them broke her heart. "No…No, I can't," she said, tearing up. She opened the door and hurried back to the house. The back door was still unlocked as she'd not found a key. She went inside and into the living room where Pebbles started meowing at her. "Come on, Pebbles," she said, picking the shabby tabby up and slinging her over her shoulder. "You're coming with me." She took Pebbles out and around to the Land Rover where Potts had hurried over. "Come on, Potts, in there!" she said and Potts jumped up into the back of the vehicle. Penelope re-entered the cab and put Pebbles down on her lap. "This isn't going to be easy, but I'll manage," she said as they set off again.


Thunderbird 4 made its way through the deep water channel towards the River Medway. It was the route that small ships used to sail down it. Due to it being a lot narrower than the Thames, really big vessels could not go down it.

As they made their way, Gordon's scanners began to show a large object off to the right. "There's a large shipwreck off to the right," he said. "Guessing that must be the warship that the Rock Snakes destroyed?"

"N-Negative, Gordon," Brains answered. "The battle took place within the R-River Medway itself. This one is different."

"Hayley did say something about the wrecks rather than one," Gordon said. He flicked a switch. "Thunderbird 2 from Thunderbird 4. Hayley, how many wrecks are down here?"

"Only two that you need to be wary of," Hayley answered. "You're near the most dangerous one right now actually."

"Is it a hazard to shipping?" asked Gordon.

"It's got marker buoys to keep all people and ships as far away from it as possible," said Hayley.

"What makes it so dangerous apart from being near the surface?" asked Virgil.

"It's called the Richard Montgomery," Hayley replied. "It's a cargo ship from World War Two. and its still got explosives inside. A lot of them as well."

"What would happen if it did explode?" asked Gordon.

"The shockwave would create a mini tsunami that could potentially destroy all the towns on both sides of the river, potentially go up the coast of East Anglia and even down the Thames into London," said Hayley. "So stay the hell away from it, Thunderbird 4."

Despite them already being a fairly safe distance from the sunken Liberty ship, Gordon adjusted Thunderbird 4's course to ensure that they did keep clear of it.


Dr Sandra Travers, her son Paul and the remaining survivors of the colony sat on the floor of the cavern where they'd been imprisoned. Their captors had given them a large number of oxygen cylinders to keep them alive whilst forcing several of them to assist in their plans of constructing the launcher and then helping to sedate and gather up the Rock Snakes in readiness for their journeys to Earth. But the cylinders were getting low, and Dr Travers was more worried than ever for their safety. She stood up and looked up at the ledge above where two Subterrains were on guard duty. "HEY!" she shouted up at them. "WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO GIVE US MORE OF THESE?"

Neither of the Subterrains answered. They just stayed very still and didn't move.

"ARE YOU BOTH DEAF OR SOMETHING?!" Sandra shouted again. "LISTEN TO ME!"

"YEAH, COME ON!" agreed a man. "WE'RE GONNA DIE IN HERE OTHERWISE!"

One of the Subterrains looked down. "That's the intention, Earthman," it hissed. "Our work is almost complete. Once we're done, you'll be sealed in forever to die slow deaths, like your precious Earth will."

These words terrified the children who gathered up with their parents. Those who'd lost theirs had been taken care of by others.

Sandra seethed with anger. But before she could reply, a blast of blue energy shot out from behind the Subterrain that had been talking and struck the other one on the adjacent ledge. The Subterrain shrieked as it was zapped and then toppled over off the ledge and fell into the cavern, dropping its weapon as it went. Before the other had a chance to even realise what was happening, someone invisible ran up from behind and kicked it in the back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!" screamed the Subterrain as it plummeted down.

The colonists jumped back in surprise as the two Subterrains landed by them. Both landed awkwardly and Sandra was pretty sure she heard bones snapping. Everyone looked around in surprise. Both aliens lay motionless.

"Are they dead, Mum?" asked Paul.

But Sandra was more concerned by who had caused this to happen. "WHO'S THERE?!" she called up.

Everyone gasped as a woman in a black stealth suit suddenly appeared. "Please don't be alarmed!" Kayo said. "I'm with International Rescue."

"International Rescue?!" A series of angry shouts from various colonists erupted after this.

"WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU COME TO SAVE US?!"

"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?!"

Kayo wasn't surprised by this response, however she was surprised that it ended up being Sandra who stopped the shouting.

"THAT'S ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU!"

"But, Sandra-"

"But nothing, Stephen!" Sandra said. "Our captors have done many things to fool everyone on Earth that nothing is wrong. I fear something bad has happened on Earth for them to finally realise?" she added, looking up at Kayo.

Kayo nodded grimly. "I'm afraid so," she said. "But we'll explain everything once we get you all to safety."

"How are you gonna do that?" asked a woman.

"You'll see," Kayo replied. She then spoke into her wrist radio. "Alan, it's Kayo. The guards are down. You can come on in."

"F-A-B!" Alan's voice answered. Outside the cave, Alan checked his scanners to make sure no more Subterrain troops were headed their way. He then tilted the Mole-Pod downwards and started the drill before tunnelling down into the reddish rock underneath. "Mole-Pod is GO!"


Continuing on down the Medway, Thunderbird 4 soon located the wreck of HMS Verulam. Unlike the Richard Montgomery, which was still mostly intact, the Frigate was the complete opposite. There was hardly anything left of it.

"Jesus…" Gordon said.

"That's…h-horrendous to see," agreed Brains.

"You found the Frigate?" Hayley asked over the radio.

"Yeah," Gordon replied. "It's a hell of a mess."

"Can I see?" Hayley asked. "Please?"

Virgil, Gordon and Brains were surprised by Hayley's request.

"Sure…coming up," said Gordon. He turned on a camera on the hull of Thunderbird 4 so that Hayley could see what remained of the destroyed warship.

Virgil looked at his fiance with a concerned look. She didn't say a word. She just sat there, staring at the image relayed from Thunderbird 4. She then covered her mouth with her hand and let out a sad sigh.

"Oh…God…" Hayley said in a hushed voice.

"Did you know anyone on b-board?" Brains asked.

"Not of the recent crew, no," Hayley replied. "But I knew the ship. It assisted my ship in sinking the Bereznik submarine that attacked the Queen Alexandra near Gibraltar. She was an old ship…but…no ship deserves to go like that."

"No survivors from an explosion like that, I'm guessing?" said Virgil.

Hayley shook her head. "None at all," she replied.

"How much further are we going, Brains?" Gordon asked.

"Actually, we need to go around the other side of the wreck and take a l-look around there, Gordon," said Brains.

"F-A-B," said Gordon as he adjusted Thunderbird 4's controls.


With the camera now off, Hayley could ease off after seeing the wreck of the Verulam.

"You going to be okay after seeing that?" Virgil asked.

Hayley nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine," she said. She looked out across towards Shoeburyness and the Isle of Sheppey. "I wonder where Lady Penelope could be?"

"That's a million dollar question," said Virgil. "We couldn't even begin to guess where she may have ended up."

"Wherever she is, I hope she's okay," said Hayley. "Parker's been asking constantly about her."

Virgil gulped. "Oh, hell…Parker, of course! I'd completely forgotten about him!" he exclaimed, furious at himself for having done so. "How is he doing?"

"Recovering which is good," said Hayley. "He had to have some minor surgery on the back of his head but nothing serious. He was very lucky." She gave a smirk. "You want to know something funny?"

"Go on?"

"He's taken a shine to one of the Sisters on the ward he's on," Hayley said with a grin.

Virgil stared at her. "What? Parker?! No way!"

Hayley nodded. "Way," she said, grinning at the stunned look on Virgil's face.


Jeff and Taylor watched on a monitor screen that was scanning the area of space above their location.

"So what are we looking for?" Jeff asked.

"For the Mothership to pass over," Taylor replied. "Then we poke the Hornet's nest."

"What do you mean?" asked Jeff.

Taylor coughed before answering. "You'll see, Jeff. You'll see," he said.

Jeff looked back at the screen. Then a big contact started to appear from the left side of the screen. It was the Mothership that the Subterrains had used to travel to Mars from Planet-46. It was huge. At least twice the size of Thunderbird 3 if not three times the size. "Jesus…" Jeff muttered in disbelief. "But what do you mean by poke it?"

Taylor gave a chuckle. "I have a slight confession," he said. "When you arrived, the base's sensors mistook your Thunderbird for one of their ships hence why the missile was launched at you," he said. "So I used the ODDM to take it out. Like I take them out when they do come. No clue how the critters you dealt with got in though."

"Wait, stop, back up!" said Jeff. "Did you say ODDM?"

"Yer heard right!" chuckled Taylor before coughing again. "Did Scott ever tell you about his turn with it right before Alphie bit the dust?"

"He did, yes," said Jeff. "Man, the amount of times we had to clear the skies to save Shadow Alpha from danger."

"Mmm. those were the days," Taylor said with a look of remembrance on his face. He then gave a sad sigh. "What I'd give to turn back the clock right now."

Jeff solemnly agreed.

The console beeped. The Mothership was almost in the position that Taylor wanted it. "Perfect," he said. "Better take a seat, Jeff, and reacquaint yourself with the ODDM's controls. Things are about to get ugly."

With a slight feeling of apprehension, Jeff took his place in the seat near to Taylor and the holographic controls appeared around him. Taylor pressed a button and a missile was launched from a concealed silo. It climbed high above the complex and headed for space…and the Mothership.

"Does Dr Travers know about all this?" Jeff asked.

"Actually, no," Taylor replied. "I did suggest it but she said this complex had to be peaceful. However, I chose to construct it anyway in secret. I felt sure it'd come in handy some day."

"Well, you're not wrong there," said Jeff. "But how is the ODDM going to help us fight off that alien craft?"

"Oh, we won't be using it on that, Jeff," chuckled Taylor. "Watch this."

Jeff watched the screen as the missile approached its target.

A huge explosion erupted just out of the Mars atmosphere as the missile struck the forcefield that surrounded the Mothership.

"But…that did nothing?" said Jeff in confusion.

"Wait for it…" Taylor responded.

Jeff looked back again at the screen. Moments later, several smaller contacts began to appear from the Mothership. Turning to a long-range camera which showed the vast black and purple ship with glowing green lights all over its hull, Jeff's eyes widened when he saw up to at least fifty small one-man flying craft coming out of hatches on the sides of the Mothership which began diving down towards the planet below.

"That's what we'll be shooting at," said Taylor.

Jeff felt his stomach churn. "Oh…fu-"


Scott and John concealed themselves behind some rocks overlooking the launching site for the cylinders and took careful note of what they were seeing. Numerous Subterrain soldiers could be seen patrolling the area whilst others were forcing what looked to be at least a dozen captured colonists to work on transporting to and from and maintaining the launcher.

"Hey, Scott, look in that compound there," John said, pointing.

Scott looked. Inside were at least twenty coils of rock clearly visible. "Holy…Rock Snakes?"

"Has to be," John replied. "And those cylinders can carry up to five at a time!"

Scott looked at the launcher. The cylinder was being raised into position ready for launching. "Then there has to be another five in that one," he realised. "Five cylinders full of Rock Snakes to be launched at Earth."

"Not if we have anything to do with it," John said. "We have to stop them somehow."

"But how?" Scott asked. "There's only two of us and…God knows how many of them. We're severely outnumbered, John."

John didn't answer. He was doing some careful counting. "Twelve…Thirteen…Fourteen!" he said.

"Fourteen what?" asked Scott.

"Fourteen Subterrains," said John. "That I can see anyway."

"So? What good is that?" Scott said. "They still outnumber us!"

John hesitated before answering. "Maybe not…" he said.

Scott looked over to see what his brother was looking at. "You can't be serious?" he said.

John looked at him seriously. "Can you think of a better idea?" he asked.

Scott looked very uneasy. "You know how badly this could end?" he said.

"Oh, I do," said John. "But we want it to end badly…for them!"


Thunderbird 4 carefully moved around the remains of the Verulam and began to scan the seabed heading towards the shoreline. Gordon and Brains looked at the many rocks that littered the seabed. Some were a darker colour to the ones they were used to seeing.

"These don't look natural, Brains," remarked Gordon.

"Agreed," Brains replied. "See if you can p-pick one up."

So Gordon activated the robotic arms and reached out to pick up one of the rocks. It lifted up easily and Brains adjusted his glasses for a better look. It was a very odd shape indeed. It looked like something had tried to leak out but had solidified in doing so before it had completed whatever it was going to do.

"F-Fascinating!" said Brains excitedly. "It's like m-molten lava once it has solidified."

"Could that be from a Rock Snake?" asked Gordon.

"I'd say it's v-very like, Gordon, yes," said Brains. "Let's take a l-look around. If we can f-find the head of one of the snakes, it should provide the answer we're l-looking for."

"F-A-B."

Thunderbird 4 let the piece of rock drop back to the riverbed and moved around a bit further, its lights illuminating the way for them to see. And it didn't take long for them to find a piece of the unusual rock that was considerably larger than the others they'd found.

"There!" Brains said, pointing.

Gordon adjusted the lights to illuminate what he was pointing at. Sure enough, there was the severed head of a dead Rock Snake. Its eye was still open and it had gone a sinister pinkish-white colour which made both men shiver.

"That's really disturbing," Gordon remarked. "I don't like that."

"This is proof, G-Gordon!" Brains said. "Unlike the ones on land, the ones that were destroyed in the r-river haven't reproduced into new ones!"

"But…how?"

"Water!" Brains said. "The l-lava must have reacted with the water and caused it to r-rapidly cool and then solidify!"

"Meaning they weren't able to reproduce!" Gordon suddenly realised. "Now I get it!"

"Let's get b-back to Thunderbird 2," said Brains. "We need to t-tell The World President about this."


Thunderbird 4 headed back to the location of the module and surfaced ready to return to Thunderbird 2. When they did emerge, they were rather surprised by what they found. Both Thunderbird 2 and the module were barely visible in a huge amount of white that was swirling around them.

"What the heck?!" Gordon said in surprise. "Thunderbird 2, what's going on?"

"We seem to have been caught in a major snowstorm, Thunderbird 4," Virgil answered. "Can you see the module?"

"Barely," Gordon replied.

"Use the infrared v-vison in the glass, Gordon," answered Brains. "It'll help you to see better."

Gordon flicked a switch and the view outside changed as the infrared vision allowed him to see where both Thunderbird 2 and Module 4 were located. "Ah, that's better. Prepare for retrieval, Thunderbird 2."

"F-A-B, Thunderbird 4."


The colonists moved as far back away from the wall as they could as they could hear and feel the rumbling that was coming from within it. They all jumped in surprise as it then burst open to reveal the drill of the Mole-Pod. Alan opened the roof and poked his head out. "Okay, guys, listen up!" he said. "I've made this tunnel at an angle for you all to walk through easily. Wait until I back out and then follow me."

"Lead the way, Alan," said Sandra.

Huh. She has no trouble remembering people's names, Alan thought to himself as he put the Mole-Pod into reverse. It backed away and disappeared back into the tunnel it had made.

"Everyone out!" Sandra ordered as she and Kayo ushered the others into the tunnel. "Move!"

They did so, with Sandra and Paul being the last of them to go. Kayo made sure nothing could pose a threat to their escape and then followed Sandra. "Kayo to John and Scott - the colonists are safe. What's your situation?"

"We're about to put John's crazy plan into action!" Scott answered.

"Crazy plan?"

"It's fine, Kayo," said John as she cautiously made his way towards the compound. "Scott's being unusually pessimistic. We'll be okay."

"You'd better be," said Kayo sternly. "I am not telling your father that you've both been blown to bits!"

"It won't be us getting blown to bits," said John. "Gotta go." He'd reached the compound and snuck inside. He made his way through the lines of Rock Snakes until he came to the gate. The gate was open with a single Subterrain guarding it. It had its back to him and therefore hadn't noticed he was there. "Ahem!" John coughed. The Subterrain didn't move. "Hey there!" John called. Still no response. "Okay then." He bent down and picked up a small rock which he threw at the Subterrain. It hit right on the back of the helmet.

The Subterrain shrieked and jumped in the air before spinning around, aiming its weapon at John.

"Hello there," said John casually waving.

"INTRUDER!" shrieked the Subterrain and fired its weapon.

John activated his suit and shot upwards causing the laser blast from the Subterrain's weapon to miss him. Instead, it hit the Rock Snake behind him and the resulting explosion blew it to pieces.

John was lucky that his suit had incredible speeds as the now alerted Subterrains abandoned their posts and began shooting up at him. "I got their attention, Scott," said John. "Now it's up to you."

Scott now began his part of the plan. With the Subterrains distracted he could now dive in himself, out of sight and grab one of the colonist slaves. He took them to a nearby cliff where they could be put out of harm's way. "Stay here," he told them. "You'll be safe here." Then he went back and got the next one. And then the next one.

John soon joined in to speed up the process, but now the Subterrains had realised what was happening and two grabbed a colonist each to use as a hostage. "SURRENDER, EARTHMEN!" one of them ordered. "OR WE WILL KILL THESE TWO!"

"Yeah, I think you've got a bigger problem than us!" said John, pointing behind the enraged soldiers.

The Subterrains all turned to look. And then they froze at the sight of nineteen Rock Snakes now fully awake after the destruction of their comrade.

"Woah…they look pissed!" Scott remarked.

"No…" the Subterrain commander said. "NO!" All of a sudden, the Subterrains no longer seemed angry, but scared. Several began shooting at the Rock Snakes, others dropped their weapons and started running away. Only the commander, who had one of the hostages, seemed to have kept his head. "GET BACK HERE!"

Scott and John seized their chance. Scott grabbed the hostage that had been released after his captor had panicked and ran, then carried her away. John dropped down and kicked over the commander, causing him to release his hostage and fall to the ground, dropping his weapon also. "I got you!" John said as he carried the frightened man away.

"Th-Th-Thank you!" gasped the man.

The Rock Snakes were indeed angry. They began returning fire at the Subterrains. And as powerful as the invaders weapons were, it turned out the Rock Snakes' own fire-beams were even deadlier. Several of the Subterrains were vaporised in the fireballs whilst others were crushed after having large pieces of equipment knocked over as the snakes went on a rampage. Within moments it seemed, the whole launcher site was being blown apart by explosion after explosion. And whilst the Subterrains did manage to destroy a couple of the snakes, the snakes had the overwhelming numbers.

John, Scott and the colonists watched from the safety of the cliff as all hell broke loose. "All we need now is for one of them to hit the launcher," said John.

But Scott had noticed something in the commotion. It was the Subterrain Commander, clearly injured, but making his way to the launcher. "What's he doing?" he asked.

"He must be going to launch the cylinder if possible," said one of the colonists. "We were about to be made to set the countdown when you suddenly turned up."

Scott narrowed his eyes. He looked at the Rock Snakes. None were going for the launcher. "No, he's not," he said defiantly as he stood up. And before anyone could stop him, he activated the jetpack and was airborne again.

"SCOTT, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" John shouted as his eldest brother flew towards the launcher. "SCOTT, YOU'LL BE KILLED!"

But Scott ignored his brother as he flew over the carnage and soon reached the launcher. He saw a discarded weapon lying on the ground and dropped down to retrieve it. He had a plan for it. Soon he found the Subterrain Commander and barred his way. "You know I'm not going to let you do this?" he said.

"Get out of my way, Earthman!" demanded the Commander. "You can't stop what we have started!"

"Don't bet on that," said Scott. He turned suddenly to his right and began firing the weapon at a nearby Rock Snake. He watched as the angry creature sharply turned to face him after the shots landed on the ground around its body. Then he dropped the weapon and started waving his arms at it. "HEY! I'M OVER HERE!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" shrieked the Subterrain.

Scott didn't answer. He was getting ready to make his exit. With a snarling roar, the Rock Snake fired at him. He activated the jetpack and sped away faster than he'd ever gone before.

The Subterrain Commander saw his life flash before his eyes and let out an anguished scream as the fireball from the Rock Snake struck him and the launch tower.

There came probably the brightest, biggest and loudest explosion anyone had ever heard in their lives. The whole ground shook and from their position outside the cave, Kayo, Alan and the rest of the colonists were startled by the bright white light coming from the horizon.

"What the hell was that?!" asked Alan.

Kayo gasped as she realised. "Oh, my God!" She activated her radio. "John?! Scott?!"

"It's okay, Kayo, we're safe!" answered Scott.

"What was that?" asked Alan.

"That might have been me," said Scott with an embarrassed chuckle. "I may have tricked one of the Rock Snakes into destroying the launcher."

Alan and Kayo looked at each other, stunned.

John shook his head. "And you said I was the crazy one," he remarked.


Once Thunderbird 4 was safely inside, Thunderbird 2 picked up the module and Brains and Gordon returned to the cockpit where they relayed their news to Virgil and Hayley.

"So water's the answer?" Hayley said. "Destroy the snakes and then basically drown the remains in water to stop the lava from reproducing into more of them?"

"That would b-be the basic idea, yes," said Brains. "It would require q-quite a lot of organising though."

"I'll say," said Virgil. "Are you going to tell The World President?"

"Yes…but not just yet," Brains said.

"Why not?" asked Hayley.

"T-Two reasons," Brains replied. "One - to carry out such a m-monumental task in weather conditions like this would p-probably cause great difficulties for those carrying out the operation."

"And two?" asked Gordon.

"We have a p-personal mission to try and complete," Brains said, looking at him.

Silence fell as Gordon, Virgil and Hayley looked at each other. Brains didn't need to say what that was.

"Do you really think we'll find her?" Gordon asked, his voice quivering a little.

"We won't know unless we try," Virgil replied. "But I presume Gordon, you're aware that the chances of us finding her easily are extremely low?"

"A million to one, I'd say," Gordon replied gloomily.

"But we'll take a look regardless," Virgil said. "Here we go." He adjusted the throttle and Thunderbird 2 began to make its way down the Thames towards London, moving carefully due to how ferocious the blizzard coming in from the East was getting.


The squadron of Subterrain fighter ships began to descend towards the colony. Taylor and Jeff got ready to start engaging them.

"Here we go, Jeff," said Taylor. "Setting power to maximum."

Jeff was still apprehensive. "Okay…" he said after taking a few breaths. "It's just like shooting at meteorites. No big deal."

"Ready," said Taylor. "Aim…FIRE!"

The lasers from the two Orbital Debris Defence Module began firing into the sky once they'd been locked onto targets by their operators. To Jeff's surprise, he remembered exactly how to operate one of the lasers. They seemed to have a greater range too as none of the Subterrain fighter ships were getting into range before they were blown apart by the lasers.

Some got closer and did manage to start shooting, but they were quickly dispatched by Iron Monger who Taylor had programmed to go out and deal with the ones that were outside of the laser's reach.

"Come on there, dang it!" growled Taylor as he tried to shoot three ships in quick succession. The laser fired. A ship was destroyed. He adjusted it. Fired. It exploded. And then again. Fired. Ship exploded.

Jeff was doing well but not as good as Taylor. Although he could remember how to operate it, his reflexes weren't as good as they used to be. "Maybe I should have gotten Scott to stay behind with you!" he called to Taylor.

"WATCH OUT!" Taylor suddenly shouted.

Jeff looked and saw one of the ships getting dangerously close. Its lasers were firing. "Shit, it's heading for the oxygen tanks! No, you DON'T!" He targeted the ship and fired. There came a big BANG as the craft exploded in a fireball.

Despite the large number of fifty ships, it took less than five minutes for Jeff, Taylor and Iron Monger to wipe all of them out. Not one had managed to score a critical or even serious hit on Colony-1.

"Phew!" gasped Jeff. "Damn, that was intense."

"You can say that again, part-" Taylor cut off before he suddenly started coughing violently. So violently that he fell out of the chair and onto the floor.

"LEE!" Jeff exclaimed, jumping out of his seat to grab his friend. "Easy there! Easy."

Taylor stopped coughing at last. "Urrrrrrrrrgh…son of a…" he groaned.

Just then the radio started beeping a sound neither man had heard before.

"What's this?" asked Jeff.

"An incoming call…" Taylor replied. "From an unknown…source."

Jeff helped Taylor up and put him back in the seat. Then he pressed the button to take the message. Both men jumped a little as a holographic image of an enraged Subterrain appeared on the screen.

"This is Sub-92 aboard Mothership orbiting Mars calling Human Base. Are you receiving me?"

"We are," said Jeff, fixing the alien with a stern look. "I hope you're sorry for what you've done and are going to leave this planet, never to return?"

The Subterrain snarled viciously. "You dare mock me, Earthman?!" it spat. "Subterrains never lose. Your pathetic comrades might have rescued your fellow colonists and used our greatest weapon to destroy our launcher, but you have still lost!"

Jeff and Taylor looked at each other. "Then they did it!" Jeff realised.

Taylor broke into a small, relieved grin. "Ha! I knew they would," he said.

"As I was saying!" snapped the Subterrain, fuming at the interruption. "What success you have matters not. None of you will be leaving here alive!" And with that, it ended the transmission.

"Now what the hell does he mean by that?" grunted Taylor.

Iron Monger had returned from fighting the ships outside. Its sensors suddenly detected something and it beeped to get their attention. It then turned on the screen again, showing a room inside the complex. Both men stared at the sight of two Subterrains placing a rather sinister-looking device next to what looked like a power plant.

"Lee, that better not be what I think it is?" Jeff said.

Taylor grimaced. "Goddamnit!" he cursed. "That's the power room for the complex! And those damn lizards are planting a bomb!"

"Yes…" said Jeff, his eyes widening as he realised what type of bomb it was as well. "My God! It's a planetomic bomb! They're gonna blow up Mars!"