CHAPTER THREE

1961…Black Rock, Nevada…

Somewhere, in the vast deserts, was the secret laboratory belonging to Mike Mercury and his Supercar team.

Young Jimmy Gibson and his pet monkey, Mitch, were already seated at the table with Mike waiting for breakfast to be served. Both were growing a little impatient. "Hey, come on, Professor. I want to eat." Jimmy said, and Mitch pounded the table and screeched impatiently.

"I'm almost ready." Professor Popkiss called from the kitchen.

"You should you learn to have better patience, Jimmy." Mike said as he looked up from his paper. Jimmy apologized, but Mike understood. "Say, what's new in the paper today, Mike?"

"Oh, nothing much..." Mike answered "Just these things about people having seen mysterious lights in the skies over the desert last night."

"Last night? Gee! We must've slept right through them. What do you think they were?"

"Oh, probably nothing much for our concern."

"Oh, I don't know." Popkiss said as he came and served breakfast. "Zere were lots of people who saw zees lights. It can hardly be a coincidence. By zee way, where's Beaker?"

That's when Dr. Beaker came to the table and he looked a little groggy.

"Gee, Dr. Beaker. You look as if you haven't slept all night." Jimmy said.

"Oh... eh... well, as a matter of fact, Jimmy. I did not." Beaker replied and said that he was about to turn in when he caught a glimpse of the mysterious lights in the sky above the desert. "I found them to be interesting- Most interesting, but I couldn't seem to pinpoint their precise location, nor of what caused them."

Mike could see where this was going. It meant they were soon going to be off to investigate. "Well, let's eat up. The sooner we do, the sooner we can check out the place."


Everyone inside the Thunderbird base was still unconscious, but slowly Scott began to come too, and Madelynn was wide awake poking at his head. "Ohh! What the- Madelynn…?" he groaned as he shook himself awake and picked the baby up. That's when everyone began to wake up.

"Say... What goes on?" asked Virgil.

Gordon rubbed his head "Last thing I remember... the island was shaking and then next… nothing."

Brains and Tintin came into the room. Alan was happy to see his wife was okay, and Tintin took Madelynn from Scott. "She's alright." Scott said "Little rascal actually woke me up."

Grandma felt alright, "But gosh, someone turn up the air conditioning. It's positively boiling in here."

Everyone else felt the heat too. It had been hot on the island before, but never this hot before.

The power systems were still badly banged up, but the backup generator finally kicked in.

Jeff called into Thunderbird 5 and John answered. "Gee, father… I'm so glad you're all okay."

"Yes, Son… Are you okay?"

"Well apart from this lump on my head, I feel fine."

"Father!" Scott suddenly wailed "Come here, take a look at this!"

Jeff raced to the door and his eyes widened. "I see it… but I just don't believe it." Everyone gazed out and couldn't see the ocean anywhere; just miles and miles of hot and dry desert.

"But... this is impossible." remarked Virgil "It doesn't make sense."

Even Brains was flustered, but John was able to pinpoint their location and confirm that the island had landed smack in the middle of the Nevada desert in Black Rock, but also he couldn't seem to raise anyone else over his radios.

"Maybe we could fly around and take a look?" Gordon suggested, but Jeff was against the idea. "We don't know if anyone is in the area or watching us. If we make any attempts to take off, we'll get spotted and tracked. We just can't risk it."

Penelope then suggested that she and Parker drive around in FAB-1. It was small, and no one would suspect too much. "Right…! Good idea, Penny." Jeff said "But I don't want you to go too far and keep in constant contact at all times."

"Of course, Jeff…" Penelope said "Come along, Parker."

Soon, FAB-1 was tearing across the desert. Penelope and Parker were still confused at how they ended up there. So was everyone else.

However, eventually they came to a road and a small town was up ahead. "Right, Parker… We'll use the telescopic lenses to get a closer look. We don't want to arouse suspicion."

"Yes, Milady." replied Parker.

They scouted around and zoomed in close and what they saw confused them even more; telephones and petrol pumps, and even vehicles, all of which were horribly out of date. "What do you make of it, Parker?"

"Can't say so, Milady; I've never seen anythin' quite like it."

Suddenly, someone near them stopped and tooted their horn. "Hey, that's some ride you got there." he said. "Oh, uh… why thank you." Penelope responded, and as the man drove off in his car, Penelope and Parker got a gander at his licence plate "1961"

"Well, stone the crows." Parker said.

"Yes, Parker." Penelope said, but both of them were finding it hard to believe that a car like that was still working. "I think we've seen enough. We must get back to base and inform Jeff immediately."

"Very good, Milady…"


While all this was going, Mike, Beaker, Jimmy and Mitch were preparing to take off in Supercar. "Engines at fifteen-thousand!" cried Mike.

"Roger, Mike. Interlock on." called Popkiss.

"Fire both!" Mike shouted as he fired the rockets. "The roof-doors are open, Mike!" Popkiss hollered.

"Full-boost- Vertical…!" and Supercar took off. "Supercar to base- We're airborne, Professor. We're going to make a complete sweep of the entire desert. If anything's out there, we'll find it."

"Roger, Mike. Radio in again after zee first sweep."

"I should very much hope that we do find something." Beaker said.

As Supercar flew over the desert the team couldn't see anything at first, but Mitch began to hoot and screech. "Hey Jimmy, What's wrong with Mitch?" asked Mike.

"I don't know, Mike." answered Jimmy "Say, wait a minute. I think I can see something. Down below; it's a pink car."

"A pink car…?" Mike asked in confusion.

"He's right, Mike. Look!" said Beaker.

Mike looked down, "Yeah, I see…" it was hard to get a look at the car as it was stirring up a lot of sand, so they switched to clear-view. "Curious…! Most curious…!" Beaker said.

Mike the radioed Popkiss about the car "We're going to follow it, Professor. Maybe we'll find what we're looking for."

"Be careful, Mike. We don't know much of what could out zere."

"Right, Professor. Hold on, gang. I have a feeling that Supercar is in for one of the most unusual adventures ever."