THE transporting of the nuclear waste was to take place exactly one week apart from each other provided each transport and detonation was proven to be a success each time. With the first having gone without incident, the go ahead was given for the second transport ship to sail from Sydney once again escorted by the Trojan. The two ships followed the same route as before across the Coral Sea before making their way towards the designated area in the Pacific.

Its route took it just beyond the outer limit of the exclusion zone around Tracy Island and Brains had sent Braman in flight mode out to keep an eye on the ship until it was beyond the zone. He kept out of sight of the Trojan so as to not alert the crew.

"They're looking good, Brains," said Jeff as he and the engineer observed the live video footage that Braman was sending back to them.

Brains watched the radar screen of the two ships with a curious frown. "Hmmm. They seem to b-be on a slightly different course from last time, Mr Tracy."

Jeff looked at the screen. "Hmmm. Looks like you're right. But they're well clear of our exclusion zone so I don't see any cause for concern, Brains."

But Brains did see a cause for concern. "You m-might be wrong on this one I'm afraid, Mr Tracy," he said nervously as he was afraid of offending the man he held deep respect for. "At a r-rough calculation, they will pass very close to the Grand Keys Reef."

Gordon, Scott and Virgil had been nearby as well. Gordon shuddered. "Gee, if that freighter gets ripped open…"

"That's n-not likely, Gordon," said Brains. "The t-transporter is made of extremely strong metal. Almost as strong as what the Th-Thunderbirds are made out of. The escort ship on the other hand…that is what I am concerned about."


Brains had every right to be concerned. Despite all of its high-tech scanning equipment, the instruments on the Trojan somehow failed to register the danger concealed beneath the surface. The transporter passed the reef by a few metres and carried on its course, but the smaller ship wasn't so lucky. The first that Spruance and Upton knew of anything wrong was when a sharp grinding sound and a shuddering as the ship collided with the coral. The bow rose up as the razor-sharp coral ripped through its hardened steel hull like a knife through butter. Alarms rang out as water came cascading into the ship.

"Upton! We're going down!" roared Spruance. "Switch on the emergency beacon!"

"But, sir! The explosives ship!" Upton cried back. "She's running on unchecked!"

Spruance glanced through one of the bridge's windows at the freighter which was now sailing away from them. "Goddamnit!" he cursed. "We can't let that floating bomb run wild! It's timed to explode in two and a half hours!" He thought quickly. "Upton, deactivate the automatic trigger mechanism. The explosives won't go off and it'll give someone time to locate and stop it before-AAARGH!"

The stricken ship suddenly listed violently to the left. Upton was thrown across the control room as he lost his grip on the controls. Spruance managed to grab onto one of the walls and saved himself from doing the same.

"UPTON!" Spruance hurried over to check on his colleague. Upton was out cold with a nasty bump on the back of his head, but luckily he was still alive. "Thank God, you're still with us, buddy." said Spruance with relief. He laid his colleague against the wall and hurried over to the controls. He tried to deactivate what Upton had been trying to do but found that the seawater had already short-circuited all the electrical systems. All power was failing. "Damn! They're all negative," Spruance growled. "I can't isolate the trigger. She'll go up in exactly two hours and twenty-six minutes!"

The ship lurched again and Spruance realised staying where they were wasn't an option. He left the controls and hurried back to Upton, doing his best to try and get him out of there.

He's badly hurt, Spruance said in his head, and the ship's going down any moment. We've got to try and get to the lifeboat.


Aboard Thunderbird 5, John had already picked up the automatic distress call from the Trojan. "That's not good at all," he said when he realised what it was coming from. He pressed a holographic button. "International Rescue - we have a situation."

"You picked up the escort ship's signal too, John?" Jeff asked.

"You guess correctly, Dad."

"Okay, alert the World Navy," said Jeff. "They're probably picking it up as well but tell them we're on our way to rescue the crew."

"F-A-B."

Jeff turned to Scott, Virgil and Gordon. "Get out there fast, boys. Those two men won't last long if they can't get out of that ship."

"We're on our way, Dad!" said Scott.

"Thunderbird 4 needed?" Virgil asked.

"Take her just in case, Virgil," answered Jeff. "You good to go, Gordon?"

"F-A-B," said Gordon. "Lucky we do have a spare."

None of them noticed Brains scowl at Gordon's remark. The spare parts that had been ordered for the main Thunderbird 4 still hadn't arrived due to complications and Brains had reluctantly had to move the one that was kept on Tracy Island into Module 4 at Jeff's insistence.

The tranquillity of Tracy Island was soon to be broken by the roar of engines as Thunderbirds 1 and 2 launched into the sky.

5! 4! 3! 2! 1!

"Thunderbirds are GO!" announced Scott. "I'll fly on ahead, Thunderbird 2. Get there as soon as you can."

"F-A-B," answered Virgil. He turned to Gordon. "Better get ready already, Gordon," he said. "This is gonna be a short trip this time."

"F-A-B," said Gordon.

"Try not to damage it this time," Virgil said cheekily.

"Oh, ha-ha!" retorted Gordon.


After watching the Thunderbirds disappear from view, Jeff turned back to Brains. "I owe you an apology, Brains," he said. "You were right about those ships being off course."

"I w-wish I had been wrong, Mr Tracy," replied Brains. "I j-just hope the boys can get there before it sinks."

"So do I," agreed Jeff. "But this time we have the advantage of it being only a-hundred miles away. We have a good chance of saving those men."


For Thunderbird 1, the distance covered from Tracy Island to the Grand Keys Reef didn't even take three minutes and soon Scott was slowing his craft down as he overflew the sinking escort ship. "Base and Thunderbird 2 - I'm over the danger zone. She's about to go down."

"Any sign of the crew, Thunderbird 1?" Jeff asked over the projector.

"Negative," replied Scott. "Thunderbird 5, can you-WOAH!"

With a great rumble and explosion of bubbles, the Trojan reared up so its bow was directly pointed at the sky before slipping straight down beneath the waves.

"Sorry, Thunderbird 1, could you repeat that, please?" John asked.

"Doesn't matter," said Scott. "She's gone."

"What about the crew?" asked Virgil.

Scott looked at the ocean and the bubbling water where the ship had been moments before. He couldn't see a lifeboat. But then John spoke up.

"Scott, I have two life-signs detected behind Thunderbird 1's current position."

Scott quickly turned his craft around. Then he noticed two figures in the water. One of which was waving in his direction. "I see them!" he said with relief. "Thunderbird 2, what's your ETA?"

"We're arriving now, Thunderbird 1."

Thunderbird 2 then came into view, coming down low over the ocean to retrieve the two crewmen.

"I'll pick them up and transfer them to the nearest hospital," said Virgil. "Gordon, get ready to bring them aboard."

"F-A-B, Virgil."

"Releasing module…now!"

The docking clamps were released and Module 4 dropped down onto the surface of the ocean. Once it had settled, Gordon exited Thunderbird 4 and the ramp door was opened. He hurried down and threw a lifebelt on a long rope out to the two men.

Spruance, who had been waving at Thunderbird 1, grabbed it and put it over the still unconscious Upton. He then held onto the belt as Gordon pulled them both in and onto the ramp.

"We got you guys, you're safe now," Gordon said.

"Thanks, pal," said Spruance. "You sure got here quick."

"Lucky for you, huh?" said Gordon.

The Captain nodded. He then looked down at Upton. "He needs urgent medical attention."

"So do you by the look of your arm, Captain," said Gordon. He tapped his sash communicator. "Virgil, pick us up and we'll take them to hospital. They both need it."

"F-A-B, Gordon," answered Virgil. "Oh, Dad has said can you ask the Captain what the situation on the runaway ship is?"

Gordon looked at Spruance who had heard the message. "The situation is bad, I'm afraid," he said. "It can't be diverted without the control systems on our ship. They all blew just before she went down."

"Did you all get that?" Gordon said into his radio.

"Yes, Gordon, we did," said Jeff. "Okay, boys, listen up. Gordon, launch Thunderbird 4 and head down to the escort. See if you can perhaps fix or even reboot the system. It's a long shot but worth a try."

"Okay, Dad."

"Virgil, as soon as Gordon has launched, take those two men to the nearest hospital."

"F-A-B."

"And Scott, you go find that ship and see if you can figure out where it's headed."

"I'm on my way, Dad."

Gordon got into Thunderbird 4 again and launched. Virgil then picked up Module 4 and headed off with Spruance and Upton and Scott headed off in the direction that the freighter had gone to see if he could track it down.


Jeff sat back in his chair at his desk. He wasn't expecting to hear from Virgil anytime soon but he was curious as to whether he'd hear from Scott or Gordon first.

Brains then came over. As it turned out, he'd already been working with John to figure out the runaway ship's course, and the news he brought wasn't good. "M-Mr Tracy…given the data I've received from Thunderbird 5 on the freighter's heading, I'm afraid we have another situation."

"Sure it counts as one and the same, Brains?" Jeff asked.

"Well…m-maybe," stuttered Brains. "If it continues on its p-present course, it will collide with Griffon Island in under two hours."

Jeff felt himself go numb. He pushed a button on his desk and a holographic image of the island in question appeared in front of him. "There's over twenty-thousand people on that island," he said. "We'll never be able to evacuate it in time!" He quickly opened the link to Thunderbird 4. "Gordon, you must try and stop that trigger mechanism. That freighter is on a collision course with Griffon Island. If it strikes the island and explodes, thousands of people will die!"

Gordon felt his stomach churn at those words and was determined to not fail in his task. As he looked out of the cockpit window, he saw a shape emerge out of darkness in the spotlights. It was the Trojan, sitting upright on the ocean floor. "I'm approaching the ship now, Dad. I'll do what I can."

Bringing Thunderbird 4 in close to the wreck, Gordon put on his helmet and exited the craft through the underside hatch. He then swam in the damaged bridge section of the sunken vessel and began to check all of the instruments for the trigger mechanism.

"Brains, it's Gordon. I don't suppose you could point me in the right direction, could you?"

"Of c-course, Gordon," answered Brains over the radio in his helmet. "Look for a c-console marked G-17 and you should find it."

"G-17," Gordon repeated and looked about. Then he saw it. "Got it!" He quickly swam over and began checking the equipment. But to his dismay, he found everything had been completely fried by the water. "No. It's impossible. The systems are out of commission for good! I'm sorry, guys. I can't do anything with this. It's toast!"

Jeff sighed heavily. "Okay, Gordon, you did your best. I'll have to contact Admiral Jellicoe. Thunderbird 5, get me Admiral Jellicoe at once."

"F-A-B, Dad," John acknowledged.

Brains could see how stressed Jeff was looking. A lot more stressed than he'd been when Gordon had been fighting the Tigershark.


Scott had managed to locate the runaway freighter. It looked so innocent and harmless from where he was. And yet he knew that concealed inside of it was enough radioactive material to wipe out a small country. His uneasy thoughts were distracted by an incoming call.

"Thunderbird 1, I have dropped off the crew at hospital in Port Moresby," said Virgil. "I'm on my way back to you now. What's the situation?"

"Not good, Thunderbird 2," Scott answered. "Brains has discovered that its current course is taking it towards Griffon Island and Gordon found all the systems aboard the escort ship to be fried."

"So what's the plan?" asked Virgil.

"Not sure at present," said Scott. "Thunderbird 4 is on its way to join me. I suggest you do the same. John says Dad is going to talk with Admiral Jellicoe and see what can be done."

"Let's hope they come up with something quick then," said Virgil. "There's a lot of people on Griffon Island and Thunderbird 2 won't be able to airlift a fraction of its population in time."


Jeff was in conversation with Admiral Jellicoe about the situation and were trying to find a way to resolve it. "The way I see it, Admiral, our only hope is to bomb the ship and destroy it before it can get anywhere near the island."

"That won't work, I'm afraid, Mr Tracy," said Jellicoe. "The explosives are in special fire and shock-proof containers. The freighter's construction is too strong for normal missiles to penetrate."

"Then what's the answer, Admiral?"

"We could try and divert it back towards the explosion zone," said Jellicoe. "So long as it's at least one-hundred miles clear of Griffon Island, the inhabitants will be safe."

"And I'm guessing there are no tugboats in the area?" said Jeff.

"Negative," said Jellicoe. "Your own ships could try and use missiles to divert it. I'll send a squadron from Indiana to assist you."


With the discussion over, Jeff contacted Thunderbird 1 to pass on the suggestions. "I've spoken to Admiral Jellicoe, Scott, and we have two options," he was saying. "One - blast the ship off course with demolition missiles. Two - try to put someone aboard to completely alter the master computer."

Scott was quick to decide. "The second choice isn't an option, Dad. That'd take far too long. It's got to be missiles."

"I thought as much," agreed Jeff. "Admiral Jellicoe has scrambled a squadron of planes from his carrier to assist you. When's Thunderbird 2 rejoining you?"

"Soon," Scott said.

"Someone say my name?"

Scott looked as Thunderbird 2 appeared from behind Thunderbird 1. "Right on cue," he said. "I'll go in first, Virgil."

"F-A-B, Scott," answered Virgil. "I'll come in once you're clear."

"Be careful, boys," said Jeff. "I know the admiral said that the ship is solid, but if you get the slightest warning it could explode, get the hell out of there!"

"F-A-B," the two brothers said together.

Scott turned Thunderbird 1 and began to dive towards the freighter. He launched a single demolition missile which struck the port-side of the ship with a big explosion. However it didn't alter its course in any way.

"Well that did nothing," said Scott. "Your turn, Virgil."

Virgil turned Thunderbird 2 and dived down, firing a barrage of five demolition missiles at the ship. They all hit in rapid succession and the ship momentarily vanished in the fireballs of the explosions.

The two ships circled round to survey their efforts. "Well, she's damaged," said Virgil.

"But still on her course," said Scott. Then his radar picked up four contacts closing in fast. "Here come the strike aircraft."

Planes from the Indiana arrived and began to follow the Thunderbird ships in attack after attack with missile after missile striking the ship from the side.

Gordon surfaced in Thunderbird 4 to be greeted with the unusual sight of seeing his brothers' two ships plus the Navy jets bombarding the freighter again and again. "Thunderbird 2, I've arrived. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Stay back, Thunderbird 4," warned Virgil. "We don't want to risk you getting caught in the crossfire."

"No…of course," Gordon said, remembering how one of the Albatros jets had mistakenly attacked him instead of the Tigershark. He therefore kept his position and watched the sight unfold in front of him.


The attacks on the freighter lasted a good twenty minutes and soon Thunderbirds 1 and 2 were almost out of missiles whilst three more groups of fighters from the Indiana had come, released their weapons and left again. And yet, the freighter stubbornly remained on course. But the danger was about to get a whole lot worse.

As Scott banked Thunderbird 1 around, he caught sight of something on the horizon. The unmistakable shape of a large island. "Virgil, I see the island! We've got less than thirty minutes!"

Virgil growled in frustration. "The missiles aren't working!"

"Er…guys?" Gordon said. "Was using missiles really a good idea?"

"It's what was suggested to us, Gordon," said Scott.

"Yeah…well, it was a bad idea," said Gordon.

"What do you mean?" asked Virgil.

"The ship's on fire," said Gordon.

Scott and Virgil looked at the freighter. Sure enough, it had suffered more damage than they'd realised…and now it was burning.

"Oh…shi…" Scott cut himself off. "This is hopeless. She's still heading towards the island - straight as an arrow. Nothing can stop her. We've failed!"