January 14th, 2061 - 18:12 NZDT
The sun dips low in the sky, casting a warm glow over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. The mountains of Tracy Island stand tall in the fading light, a bastion of tranquillity amidst the endless blue. The silhouette of palm trees danced along the shoreline as the final rays of light kiss the surface of the water.
On the island, the day's activities have long since drawn to a close. It had been a quiet day for International Rescue. Everyone had gathered in the lounge having a normal family conversation. Gordon had been out since the New Year in Thunderbird 4, gathering data which had to be done every so often due to the rapidly changing climate that was the ocean. This evening is an important one as it is the grand opening of The Estrella Grand Hotel which Brains had designed using a new way of engineering. Lady Penelope and Parker's holograms then appear alongside John overlooking a holographic model of the hotel.
"Lady Penelope, how's the grand opening?" Marion asks.
"Oh, quite the scene, but it'd be better if the man who made it all possible could be here with me," Penelope replies looking over at Brains.
"Oh, I'm not much for p-parties," Brains says, "Even this is more than I deserve."
"Taking a bow may not be your style Brains, but you gotta admit that your nano-construction technology is a game changer," Virgil states, "The entire hotel auto assembled in a week."
"Well, you can't blame a girl for trying," Lady Penelope smirks, "I'll get you out of that workshop one of these days, Brains. Oh, got to go." Penelope is seen to turn away as her hologram fades out with the quiet sound of what seems to be a reporter approaching her. A hologram of the news then flies up on the table, showing the live interview with her.
"This is Kat Kavanaugh, reporting live from The Estrella Grand," the reporter states, "Let's see who's here."
"Nice place for a party, don't you think?" Penelope muses.
"I don't care about society events, Lady Penelope," Kat fires back, "I wanna know if you have any comment on the claims the hotel is unsafe."
"This dangerous, unproven technology has no place in our world!" a man claims from her earlier report, which causes Brains to give a few nervous glances at the others, "And using it for the first time in space is not only foolish, it's a recipe for disaster. Disaster, I say, disaster!"
"I've seen that press conference before," Penelope interjects as Max quivers in fear about the accusations put on his creator, "He sounds like a complete idiot."
"Yeah, you tell her," Alan says as everyone breathes a sigh of relief at her response.
I know the inventor personally," Penelope goes on to say, "And have every confidence that not only is it safe, but this kind of technology would inspire buildings that defy our wildest imagination.
Suddenly, the whole camera shakes before the live feed is cut out. John enlarges the hologram of the hotel that had been minimised so everyone could see the live interview. An explosion warning is shown.
5... 4...3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
John does a quick scan of the hotel to see what the damage is. The white hologram turns orange and it identifies a small leak near the top of the hotel, where a section is becoming decompressed. EOS then calculates the rate of the decent of the hotel and provides an estimated flight path and possible crash point.
"Thunderbird 5, what's going on up there?" Scott asks.
"Sounds like some kind of structural failure in the outer hull," John explains as he monitors the hotel's situation of on holo-screen in front of him.
"Structural failure? That can't be right," Brains says, "And even if it is, the nano-matrix should reassemble automatically... could I have done something wrong?"
"A bit of a wild ride here, but we're all okay," Penelope says over the comms.
"Urgh," Parker groans, "Speak for yourself, m'lady!"
"John, have you made any contact with the hotel?" Marion asks.
"They're reporting the manoeuvring thrusters were damaged in the blast. They can't control the spin," John explains.
"The force of the decompression has pushed the hotel out of orbit," Brains says changing the display of the holo-screen to show the hotel's trajectory, "Unless we can correct that, it's going to enter the atmosphere and crash."
"Wouldn't it burn up on re-entry?" Scott enquires.
"No Scott, I'm afraid not. The nano-matrix is designed to withstand that kind of heat," Brains informs as he stands up and manipulates the hologram, "Something this large hitting the ground... It would be c-catastrophic. What have I done?"
"Come on Brains, let's go down to that workshop of yours and think something up," Sally says, "What do you say?"
"Yes, good idea. We'll think of a solution," Brains nods as the pair start to leave and make their way down to the lab.
"I'll join you," Kayo calls and follows Brains and Sally.
"Ugh. We need to get that hotel back into a stable orbit," Scott sighs, "John, let them know that International Rescue is on the way."
"They should prepare the escape capsules just in case," Virgil says.
"Good idea, Alan, as soon as Thunderbird 3 is fuelled up, I want you to launch," Scott orders, "Let's try to use the manoeuvring thrusters to push the hotel back into position."
"I'm on it," Alan acknowledges.
"Lady Penelope, can you help reassure all the guests that we won't let anything happen?" Marion asks, worried about those onboard.
"F-A-B, Marion, consider it done," Lady Penelope nods hanging up again.
"Virgil, let's get Thunderbird 2 airborne and pick up Gordon, if those escape capsules start dropping into the ocean, we'll need someone to grab them," Scott says, "Take Marion with you."
"What about you?" Virgil asks.
"I'll ride up in the pod aboard Thunderbird 3 and take a look at the damage first hand," Scott responds getting up, "If we can get enough data to Brains maybe he can figure out what went wrong."
"Does everyone agree?" Marion asks as Alan gets up and starts walking over to his chair.
"Yep," Alan says.
"Agreed," Virgil nods.
"Sure," John smiles.
"Okay then. Thunderbirds are go!" Scott says.
5
Virgil's rocket painting tilts backwards as Scott, Marion and Alan descend to get suited up.
4
Module 4 is prepped for departure as a red pod is loaded into Thunderbird 3's cargo hold with Scott inside.
3
Marion boards Thunderbird 2 via the passenger elevator.
2
Thunderbird 2 taxis down the main runway and comes to a halt allowing the ramp to raise.
1
The blast shield rises.
Thunderbirds are Go!
January 14th, 2061 - 18:33 NZDT
In his mobile lab, Brains has taken a seat with Max working around him. Sally stands on the opposite side of Brains' desk. Kayo listens into their conversation, resting against the wall with her arms folded over and resting her right foot against it. A large hologram of the hotel is displayed on the table.
"If this was somehow my fault, I could never live it down," Brains says with Max whirring around in the background, "People's lives are now in danger."
"Brains, I've never met a more cautious, thorough person than you. I'd be very surprised if this was because of something you did wrong," Sally informs comfortingly, "What does your gut tell you?"
"I'm a man of science, Grandma Tracy. We don't typically consult with our guts," Brains states but pauses, "But I suppose I could give it a try. What do I do?"
"Close your eyes and listen to your feelings. What are your first instincts?" Sally enquires.
"The hotel structure should be indestructible by normal means. The molecular bonds are just too tight," Brains explains, "For a hull breach of this m-magnitude someone must have tampered with it. It's the only explanation! But sabotage? How could that be possible?"
"We have one way to find out," Sally says turning to face Kayo.
"I'm on it," Kayo replies and runs off in the direction of the lounge so she can get changed.
5
Kayo descends and start to get suited up.
4
Kayo is lifted on a crane from the bottom of the hanger into Thunderbird 3.
3
Thunderbird 3's blast door closes once Kayo has been lifted inside.
2
Kayo's chair roll up to the controls with Scott already in the passenger seat behind Alan.
"Refuel complete. Starting countdown to launch," Alan informs to Scott and looks over his shoulder only to gasp as Kayo enters Thunderbird 3 beside him, "Dah! Kayo!"
"I need a lift," Kayo states before smirking, "Surely you didn't think that you'd launch without your co-pilot beside you?"
"Uh, definitely," Alan chuckles nervously, scratching the back of his head, "Wouldn't dream of it."
"Brains thinks someone's up there poking holes in the hotel," Kayo informs.
"Well, I'm glad you could join us," Alan states, "Not very often when I have to wait for you!"
"Very funny Alan," Kayo says.
1
The rockets start up.
Thunderbirds are Go!
They rocket out of the Earth's atmosphere and into space. Alan plots an intercept course and they head directly towards the hotel that is currently heading over the American West Coast. They can see white smoke emitting from the roof that indicates where the problem is. Scott gets back out of his seat and into the cargo bay. The cargo bay doors then start to rotate as the airlock between the cockpit and cargo storage is locked. It creates a gap large enough that even Thunderbird 4 could fit through with plenty of room. A small red Rescue Pod is released from the cargo hold, with Scott at the controls.
"Thanks for the lift, Thunderbird 3," Scott says.
"Anytime," Alan says and watches as Scott head over for a close up on the hotel.
"Brains, I can see the damage now," Scott informs as he gets a good look at it, "Starting a molecular scan."
January 14th, 2061 - 18:50 NZDT
"Oh, my," Brains exclaims, waking Sally up from her nap.
"Find something?" Sally enquires.
"I'll say! Even with this preliminary data, I can see that the molecular matrix has been unzipped," Brains explains, "Something seems to have disrupted it."
"This is a pretty wild spin, I'm going to have to adjust it manually," Alan states and brings Thunderbird 3 in closer to the hotel.
"Sure, you can do that?" Kayo asks.
"Probably. How hard can it be?" Alan asks and loops Thunderbird 3 around to the base of the hotel deploying the grasping arms. He fires the retros as he approaches the hotel and slowly moves closer to the hotel. Using a hologram of the hotel that Brains had forwarded to him, he finds three contact points for the claws at the end of each grasping arm to grab onto. Alan manages to grab the hotel which stops the hotel's spin and stabilizes it. "Preparing for retro burn in three... two...one..." Alan pulls the control down from '100-80%' to '20-10%' which causes the hotel to be put back into place.
"Impressive Alan," Kayo admires.
"Thanks," Alan says with a light blush on his cheeks as Thunderbird 3 steadily pushes the hotel.
"Looking good Thunderbird 3," Scott calls, and brings the pod towards the hull breech. As he approaches there is another explosion that causes the pod to be thrown away from the hotel. Its alarms start to blare as it turns over repeatedly. "We have another hole breach."
"Scott, I thought you had this under control?" Penelope asks is a low voice as she enters the call.
"Sorry, Lady Penelope, I thought I did, too," Scott says as the Rescue Pod spins away from the hotel. The secondary breach meant that the hotel has started to move out of orbit again and Alan decides the best thing to do is disengage and circle around back to the front of the hotel where the airlock is located. "Thunderbird 5, you better get the hotel on the line. I think it's time to get the guests aboard the escape capsules," Scott says and immediately the escape pods start go flying, "Wow, that was fast."
"Yeah," John says with a weary voice, "Except I haven't called the hotel. I'm pretty sure those escape capsules were empty."
"This wasn't supposed to happen, right?" Alan asks.
"Someone triggered the manual override. All but one of them launched and that one shows a malfunction," John says.
"Thunderbird 3, how many people can we fit in your cargo bay?" Scott asks.
"I don't know... A lot," Alan says.
"Start docking with the hotel. I'll meet you at the airlock. We'll try to get everyone out in two trips," Scott says, "Virgil, as soon as you have Thunderbird 4, take Thunderbird 2 as high as she'll go. We'll shuttle down the guests for a high-altitude hand-off."
January 14th, 2061 - 08:14 GMT
"F-A-B, picking Gordon up now," Virgil acknowledges as he drops Module 4 into the Atlantic Ocean. Thunderbird 4 is then seen just below the ocean surface as the module door opens and the ramp is brought to a 45 degree angle. A cable is then fired from the back of the module and clamps onto the back of Thunderbird 4, pulling the submersible back inside. Virgil then fires the grapples onto the module as the docking bay door closes and hoists the module back into place.
"Ah, what's shaking bacon?" Gordon asks as he enters Thunderbird 2's cockpit.
"Gordon, you smell," Virgil states and Marion moves out of the co-pilots chair to allow Gordon to sit down.
"You try spending two weeks at the bottom of the ocean in one of these suits," Gordon says, "You have it easy in here. At least now it smells like hard work."
"I'm just saying. There will be a certain VIP on this flight. Name starts with Lady, ends with Penelope," Virgil trails.
"Now that you mention it, a three-minute shower and a clean uniform wouldn't hurt," Gordon announces and walks back out of the cockpit into the shower.
"Computer, disable shower controls," Virgil says with a grin when he hears the shower start.
"What the fuck! What happened to the water?" Gordon asks.
"Sorry, must be broken," Virgil says, "Guess you'll have to smell like hard work."
"Virgil, you suck. Computer, enable shower controls," Marion says before yelling over to Gordon, "Try now!"
January 14th, 2061 - 19:19 NZDT
Thunderbird 3 advances onto the hotel and prepares to dock with the docking station. Alan presses a few buttons to start preparing for guests to enter the cargo hold. An evacuation notice had been given to all the guests and they started to make their way toward the docking station/
"Okay Thunderbird 3, the hatch is sealed," Scott announces as Kayo unstraps herself from her seat and starts making her way towards the cockpit exit. Alan looks back at her, worried.
"You'll be careful right?" Alan asks.
"Of course, I'll be," Kayo says ruffing his hair.
"Hey! Watch my hair!" Alan exclaims as Kayo exists Thunderbird 3 giving Alan a smirk as she leaves.
"If they're still here I'll find them," Kayo calls as she climbs up a maintenance ladder. After a few seconds, she reaches the floor she is looking for on her hologram and jumps from the ladder. There is the sound of a door shutting which makes Kayo looks around before slowly making her way down the corridor.
"The hotel has two hulls. An outer and inner," Brains explains as Kayo calls him making him appear on her holo-screen as she walks through several doors, "You're walking through the b-bulkhead between them. The sealed compartments add an extra layer of safety."
"What happens if another crack formed while I'm here?" Kayo asks.
"Ordinarily in the event of a hull breach the nano-matrix would automatically repair itself," Brain explains.
Unbeknownst to Kayo, a man has climbed up the ladder behind her starts follows her as she goes through the door up ahead. "But that's not happening now, is it?" Kayo asks as she enters a compartment, "Okay, I'm entering Compartment A11."
"You'll be next to a compartment that's been breached," Brains explains, "It's still in vacuum, so I w-wouldn't advise proceeding any further."
"Thanks for the tip," Kayo responds as she looks over at the red beeping and flashing device on the wall, "Brains, I think I've found something. It's attached to the outer wall. I'm sending you a scan."
"Receiving," Brains says and there is a pause before a worried Brains responds, "Kayo, get out of there now!"
The device starts to beep faster. "This doesn't look good," Kayo remarks and roundhouse kicks it off the wall. It bounces along the floor and stops just outside the compartment. Kayo smirks happy that she has removed the devices but turns around as she feels her hair being pulled. A new breech is forming where the device was. Alarmed, she starts running as everything is sucked towards it, like a vacuum. Kayo barely makes it out of their as she struggles to leave, grabbing the door frame and pulling herself around it before pressing the close button and breathing a sigh of relief.
"Kayo? Are you alright?" asks Brains.
"I'm fine. I didn't find who did this, but I think I found the how," Kayo says and looks up to see the man from earlier appearing in-front of her and picking up the device before taking off, "I take that back I think I found both." She closes the link and runs after him, but Alan appears on the holo-screen whilst she's running looking quite worried.
"Kayo! We're loading up the last group of hotel guests you better get up here," Alan says in a hurry.
"Kind of busy. Leave without me," Kayo calls as she continues her pursuit.
"Kayo, this hotel is about to crash and burn," Alan cries, "Get the fuck off that thing and return. We need you back in one piece."
"I don't have time to argue Alan. Comms off," Kayo says ending the call.
January 14th, 2061 - 19:27 NZDT
"She hung up on me!" Alan says turning to Scott who sat in Kayo's chair, "We need to go and get her."
"Look Alan, if we can't make it back in time, she still has the pod. Punch it out of here," Scott says firmly. Despite how much he didn't want to, Alan brings Thunderbird 3 back and away from the hotel before activating the thrusters and heading towards Thunderbird 2 for a transfer.
January 14th, 2061 - 19:29 NZDT
Kayo chases the bearded man round a corner and up a ladder to the next level, with the device still in hand. She manages to keep up with him in hot pursuit until they enter the main control room. The man stops by the window and turns around to face Kayo who blokes the only exit.
"I won't let you keep that thing," Kayo says.
"So, you can prove all this is sabotage. Good plan," the man says indicating over to the window where the hotel continues to head towards Earth, starting to burn-up slightly as it re-enters the atmosphere.
"You were the one that launched the escape capsules. Probably not the smartest move for you know," Kayo states in realisation.
"I'll be perfectly fine on the one that malfunctioned. Amazing what switching a few relays can-do," the man chuckles.
"Who are you?" Kayo demands as the man reveals a device and presses a button. His face changes to the man from the interview.
"'This dangerous unproven technology has no place in our world'," he mocks the voice, "I'm merely a concerned citizen." He presses the button again to revels who he really is.
"The Hood," Kayo scowls.
"I do wish you would call me uncle," The Hood deadpans making Kayo scoff, "Don't worry. Your secret is still safe with me. For now."
January 14th, 2061 - 08:37 GMT
The hotel burns through Earth's atmosphere as Thunderbird 3 meets Thunderbird 2, dropping down to be just below it. The bottom of the module opens to reveal Gordon standing waiting as the top of Thunderbird 3's cargo bay opens. Penelope looks up at Gordon who salutes to her with a smile, dropping the rescue harness to pick her and the guests up. Once the transfer was complete, Thunderbird 3 heads back to the hotel.
"Fancy meeting you here, m'Lady," Gordon says with a smile walking over to her with Marion close behind.
"Gordon. What a surprise. Ooh! Glad you freshened up for the occasion," Penelope says with a smile.
"Thanks to me by the way," Marion smirks, "If I hadn't enabled the shower control again, you'd stink of horse shit." This causes the two and Parker to laugh while Gordon looks at Marion with a hard stare.
"At least I don't forget bags," Gordon says looking over at Parker whose mood suddenly changes to one of horror.
"Oh. I knew I forgot something," Parker sighs putting a hand to his head.
January 14th, 2061 - 19:48 NZDT
"International Rescue, this is Thunderbird 3. We got them all. Good work everyone," Scott says.
"We didn't get them all. Kayo's still on board," Alan exclaims worried for his co-pilot.
"She has the pod, Alan," Scott tries.
"That's not what I'm worried about," Alan explains, "She's not alone up there and still not picking up her comm."
"Hum," Scott thinks and looks over to where the hotel is at it enters Earth's atmosphere.
January 14th, 2061 - 19:49 NZDT
The pair circle each other, with The Hood holding the device in his clenched right hand and Kayo with both fists clenched, ready for a fight.
"What's your game, Hood?" Kayo asks, "Crashing a Space Hotel's a new low, even for you."
"I have nothing against the hotel, it's what it represents. This new age in building things would mean a quick death to the industries I worked very hard to control," The Hood explains.
"This would put you out of the construction business," Kayo realises.
"All I needed to do was sow the seeds of doubt and the world would reject the nano-construction that built this hotel," The Hood rants.
"So, you posed as a scientist to shout the sky is falling, then use that thing to actually make it happen," Kayo continues.
"I only meant to cause a panic. The imminent crash is simply a bonus," The Hood smirks.
"With all the guests onboard?" Kayo cries.
"They had plenty of escape capsules waiting for them until International Rescue decided to show up," The Hood says angrily, "I wasn't going to make it easy for you. You gave me no choice! Now maybe your failure here as will mean the end of International Rescue as well!" The hotel shakes a little as it experiences turbulence entering the Earth's atmosphere which catches The Hood off guard allowing Kayo steals the device from him. "Go ahead, keep it. Jump into your little spaceship and show the world your proof. But leaving now wouldn't be very fitting of an agent of International Rescue, would it?" The Hood says.
"Hmm?" Kayo questions.
"I don't believe your job here is complete," The Hood smirks.
"Comms on," Kayo says, "Thunderbird 5, do you read me?"
"Kayo, we've been trying to reach you!" John exclaims, "Brains has calculated the re-entry vector. The hotel is gonna crash in Central Florida."
"Good luck saving the world," The Hood says and leave the control room. Kayo looks over to the holo-screen and then back to the door with a smile just before the last escape capsule is launched.
"Kayo, I want you to try something," Brains says after a few moments of silence, "I want you to unbuild the station."
"You want me to what?" Kayo questions.
"If we can amplify the destruction signal from the saboteur's device, theoretically we should be able to c-completely destroy the hotel b-before it hits the ground," Brains explains.
"Tell me where to start," Kayo replies.
"You'll need to connect the device to a main power conduit," Brains says and Kayo proceeds to connect the device to the conduit.
"Right, I've attached it to the conduit," Kayo says bringing Brains up on her holo-screen, "Are you sure this will work?"
"My gut says yes," Brains responds.
"Has your gut ever been wrong?" Kayo asks.
"So far no. But I only started going with it today," Brains answers.
"It's charging. Time to go," Kayo says and makes a run for the pod and seconds before the hotel breaks completely, Kayo escapes in the pod and heads over to Thunderbird 3.
"Kayo!" Alan yells in relief as he sees Kayo comes out of the smoke.
"Wanna let me on board?" Kayo asks.
January 14th, 2061 - 22:12 NZDT
It is now late at night once everyone had gathered in the lounge once again.
"Good news. Word of The Hood's sabotage is spreading," Penelope says over the hologram, "Your technology still has a bright future, Brains."
"Stop that!" Parkers says appearing next to her as the sound of Sherbet barks in the background, "Got half a mind to send you into space, spoiled little shit!"
"That was some out-there thinking on your part Brains," Gordon says, "Nice work."
"Now that I know what The Hood was able to do, I can re-engineer the process to make sure it can never be compromised like that again," Brains says, "I never d-dreamed that some would do a thing like this. Guess I'll never understand p-people."
"It's because you always see the best in folks," Sally interjects, "Our world needs more people like you, Brains. You and your gut."
"But as long as The Hood is still out there, I'll need to be thinking three steps ahead," Brains says.
"And speaking of The Hood... any idea where that escape capsule took him?" Virgil asks, "You can't navigate those things from inside."
"True, he could have landed anywhere," Marion says.
"Maybe. It's amazing what switching a few relays can do," Kayo says.
"Huh? What?" everyone asks at once and Kayo laughs.
January 14th, 2061 - 22:14 NZDT
In Space, The Hood's escape capsule has run out of gas and is now spinning uncontrollably in space. The Hood still trapped inside.
"Arrrrrgh!" The Hood screams, "Work you piece of shit! Curse you International Rescue!"