May 24th, 2064 - 01:51 NZST
Alan sighs as he enters the kitchen and opens a cupboard door. He scratches the back of his head, scanning the cupboard for the fresh supply of cookies from the mainland. In the back corner, he spots it and smiles slightly and reaches to grab it and drags it onto the counter. Afterwards, Alan walks over to the refrigerator and takes out a bottle of milk to pour himself a glass. He then takes both the glass and cookies over to the main table and takes a seat in his usual place.
'Nightmares suck,' Alan sighs to himself and takes a bit out of a cookie. Deciding to be productive, Alan taps on the table to bring the holo-screen up and does some reading on a recent incident report that the Brazilian President is expecting in the next few hours. The report details the cost of repair to a bridge that got destroyed, linking an otherwise disconnected town in the Amazon to the outside world. Alan takes several minutes to read over the report and make the necessary changes and corrections to it before sending it off. 'That'll save Kayo some time tomorrow,' Alan smiles and gets back to eating his snack.
Suddenly, the stairs behind Alan leading to the lounge creak and Alan quickly turns to see Marion walking down.
"Morning," Marion smiles sadly, "Didn't mean to disturb you."
"No, no," Alan states, "It's fine. What are you doing up so early?"
"Same could go for you," Marion chuckles, "Luckily, I'm not Scott so I won't push."
"Nightmares," Alan sighs.
"Scott can't take a hint," Marion responds at the same time, "Wait... did you say nightmares?"
"What do you mean about Scott?" Alan questions.
"International Rescue," John calls, "We have a situation."
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
Alan, Marion and a tired Kayo enter the lounge and take their seats while John and Ridley project an image of the Sun and Mercury on the holo-table. Ridley explains that a vehicle known as the Crawler has broken down on the planet's surface.
"A day on Planet Mercury is two months long, with temperatures that vary over 1,000°," Ridley explains.
"That's why the Crawler is constantly moving," John adds bringing up a more detailed image of the vehicle, "They have to stay on the cool side of the planet at all times."
"So, with the Crawler busted, we've only got a sliver of time before the sum comes up," Kayo states.
"Otherwise, those miners are cooked," Alan says and takes a close look at the holo-image.
"You're correct there, Alan," Ridley replies, "But there's another problem. Thunderbird 3's life support can't handle the entire crew at once."
"You'll have to figure out a solution when you get there," John explains.
"Exactly why I've got Brains packing his stuff as we speak," Kayo says, "Hopefully, he is able to fix the Crawler, so we don't have to go through with an evacuation."
"We're on our way," Alan nods and picks up the glass of milk in front of him and drowns it.
Kayo gets up and makes her way downstairs to Brains' workshop and sees Max moving a tonne of boxes around.
"C-Careful, Max," Brains warns, "That's sensitive equipment."
"Uh, Brains?" Kayo questions and Max beeps and wonders off with another box, "Are you bringing every tool in the hanger?"
"I want to be p-prepared, Kayo," Brains responds, "As you s-stated, there's no t-telling what I'll need to fix the Crawler."
"Don't forget you have your brain, Brains," Kayo says, "We don't want to take too much stuff on Thunderbird 3."
"I might need p-plasma shielding..." Brains mutters to himself and then looks over to Max, "Oh, don't forget the p-plasma shielding, Max."
5
Alan and Kayo descend and start to get suited up.
4
Alan and Kayo are lifted on a crane from the bottom of the hanger into Thunderbird 3.
3
Thunderbird 3's blast door closes.
2
Alan and Kayo's chairs roll up to the controls with Brains in the passenger seat behind Alan.
1
Thunderbird 3's rockets start up.
Thunderbirds are Go!
May 24th, 2064 - 03:39 NZST
Thunderbird 3 travels through deep space towards the sun. It's a journey that it completed before, including the famous slingshot mission where International Rescue encountered Fermat for the first time in years. Only Brains has contact with him now, but even he hasn't received a transmission in several months. Kayo reads through the manual on the Crawler giving Alan those same flashbacks to when she did the same for the asteroid. Behind him, Brains is also going through the schematics of the Crawler and mumbling to himself as he does.
"Brains, you've been over those Crawler schematics ten times already!" Alan exclaims.
"Even the engineers on board the C-Crawler have no idea how to get it m-moving again," Brains states worriedly, "What if I can't f-fix it either?"
"I'm inclined to agree with Brains," Kayo interrupts, "We don't know that caused what I can only deduce as an explosion."
"Seriously? I've never known Brains not to be able to fix anything," Alan states and then lets out a small chuckle, "Remember my first moped?"
"The one that you drove into the ocean?" Kayo smirks, "I still don't know how you managed that when there's a twenty-foot-high seawall."
"Hey," Alan cries, "That just shows you that I have talent."
"Or a lack of brain f-function," Brains chuckles, "Though you make a g-good point, Alan. I'll do my best... And try not to worry. I just hope I brought enough p-plasma shielding!"
"Brains!" Alan smiles with a roll of his eyes, "Try and get some rest. We have a long ride ahead. You too, Kayo."
"I can handle myself just fine thank you, Alan," Kayo says and cuts the main engines, "Firing ion engines in three... two... one!"
May 24th, 2064 - 04:43 NZST
"Approaching Mercury now," Kayo announces.
"Switching to manual controls," Alan states and guides Thunderbird 3 towards Mercury's surface. He continues his way around the cool side of the planet to the coordinates that the Crawler is located.
"T-There it is!" Brains points.
"Good eye, Brains," Alan compliments, "Deploying grasping arms."
Thunderbird 3's arms extend outwards and latch onto the surface, next to the Crawler. Alan then opens the nose cone to reveal the drill and secures his bird.
"Textbook landing, Alan," Kayo states and turns to look over her shoulder, "Alright, Brains? You might want to get your tools out and we'll prepare for EVA."
"RAD," Brains nods and goes into the cargo hold.
"To the Crawler," Alan calls, "This is International Rescue. Do you copy? Repeat, do you copy?"
"Received," a male replies, "Glad to hear you voice, I'm opening the hatch to allow you guys in."
"FAB," Alan responds, "Ready, Kayo?"
"When aren't I?" Kayo smirks and the two put their helmets on and exit Thunderbird 3 to meet up with Brains on the planet's surface. They enter the Crawler with both Alan and Brains holding several boxes of tools while Kayo takes the lead and opens the doors of the pair. They soon bump into two people, one male and one female.
"You don't look like a Brains," the male says, who turns out to be the same one Alan spoke to.
"Why? Because I'm a female?" Kayo questions with raised eyebrows and a slight smirk.
"She got you there," the female smiles briefly.
"Erm... I mean..." the male stutters.
"It's fine," Kayo nods and extends her hand for the guy to shake, "I'm Kayo."
"And I'm Alan," Alan adds as he enters the corridor and places the boxes by the door and indicates to the figure behind him, "This is Brains."
"Hello. How do you do—" Brains starts but trips over the doorway and falls to the floor with a crash, "Agghh!"
"Ugh!" the female sighs.
"International Rescue, Bob Gray," the man says and puts a hand down to help Brains up, "Darn good to meet you."
"Oh!" Brains mutters a Bob pulls him to his feet.
"Chief Engineer, Andi Houseman," Bob indicates to the female, "Kid of my old partner, may he rest in peace." Brains smiles and extends his hand over to Andi. Andi looks and Brains then down to his hand before looking back at him and crossing her arms and glaring. "Andi..." Bob says sternly.
"Hiya," Andi smiles and grabs Brains' hand into a crushing handshake.
"Agghh!" Brains cries and recoils his hand, the action causing Kayo and Andi to go into a staring match making the men in the room quite uncomfortable.
"Right..." Bob trails and puts an arm around Brains before dragging him off further down the corridor, "Okay, well, we don't have a whole lot of time, so let's skip the chitchat. Show you the business end of this place."
Kayo fires one last glare before following Bob and Brains towards the control room leaving Andi and Alan with the boxes. Alan sighs as he looks at the now four boxes he has to carry. Andi extends her hand out towards Alan, who tentatively returns it, thankfully not getting it crushed.
"Need some help with the boxes?" Andi asks.
"That would be appreciated," Alan states and the pair take two boxes each and head to the control room and hear Brains explaining to Bob his analysis of the situation as they enter.
"Just as I suspected," Brains explains, "The p-payload capsule explosion was the result of a corroded seal."
"And how does that get our engines started, and this Crawler crawling?" Andi grunts as she places the boxes down.
"It, uh, d-doesn't," Brains stammers.
"Right," Andi deadpans.
"Repairing the launch tubes for evacuation isn't an option," Brains continues.
"So, we'll fix the engine," Bob interjects.
"We f-fix the engine," Brains agrees, "That will save your crew and your Crawler."
"All right," Andi sighs, "Let's see what you got."
May 24th, 2064 - 05:10 NZST
The group make their way down to the engine room and Andi leads them over to the engine itself and brings up the relevant documents on the holo-screen, next to the control panel. Brains goes down to the engine floor and walks around the structure.
"The capsule explosion caused a chain reaction that took out most of our systems," Andi states, "I fixed them all, but the engine still has me stumped."
"You've been using b-battery power to run your life support, then?" Brains asks.
"Almost every drop of it," Andi responds, "We're down to 15%."
"That maybe a big p-problem," Brains sighs and joins the group, "We need the battery at f-full power to restart the engine."
"We have a saying on this planet," Andi sighs, "A problem isn't a problem until you make it one."
"That sounds like a pretty huge problem to me," Alan interrupts, "Can Thunderbird 3 recharge the battery."
"No," Brains says with a shake of his head but smiles, "But I know something that can. Do you have solar p-panels in your spares inventory?"
"Uh..." Andi trails and checks her data pad before looking back at Brains, "Yeah. Lots of them."
"Then, Alan, Kayo, you're going for a d-drive," Brains points.
"Yes!" Alan exclaims.
May 24th, 2064 - 05:21 NZST
Alan and Kayo get out one of Thunderbird 3's pods and Alan drives it over to the Crawler. A crane on the side of the Crawler then starts to load the pod with the solar panels that have been taken out of storage.
"You know how much I love dangerous missions, but you do realise this is totally insane?" Alan questions.
"Actually, it's brilliant," Andi says over the coms.
"Oh, really?!" Alan cries while Kayo remains calm in the passenger seat monitoring the loading process, "Okay, well, let's review. We drive out to the edge of where the sun will rise, drop off these solar panels, then male it back here before getting totally scorched."
"Precisely," Brains says swinging his arm enthusiastically, "When the sun hits the p-panels, the power generated will be beamed back to the Crawler by tesla wave to ch-charge the battery."
"Uh-huh," Alan mutters, "I have one last question... How long will those solar panels last before melting into a puddle of goo once the sun hits? It's like 1,000° out here!"
"They have a saying on this planet, Alan," Kayo states from behind.
"All right, all right!" Alan chuckles and starts up the engines, "FAB. Space-Pod is go!"
May 24th, 2064 - 05:26 NZST
Alan drives towards the sunrise going as quickly but as carefully as he can. He lets out a small yawn causing Kayo to look up at him.
"Wow," Kayo chuckles, "So this is what happens when you are up a couple minutes before me. You get tired in seconds."
"Erm, actually," Alan stutters, "I was up a couple hours before you."
"What?" Kayo asks concerned.
"Nightmares," Alan sighs.
"Oh, Alan..." Kayo frowns and places a comforting hand on his shoulder, "What about, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Well—" Alan starts.
"Alan," Brains calls over the coms, "We've f-fixed the engine. It's up to you now. Get those p-panels as close to the sun as possible. And get back here fast."
"Sure, no problem," Alan replies, "Piece of cake. You forget to add, 'Try not to melt'."
"Alan!" Kayo cries and smacks his right shoulder. Alan laughs and looks up ahead to see a mountain range and a bright orange glow just starting to come over the top. He brings the Space-Pod to a stop and hops out. Kayo jumps out behind him and runs round to the back of the trailer and turns on the panels while Alan disconnects the trailer from the pod. Once completed, the pair get into the pod again and drive off at a slower speed compared to previously. "Come on, Al. Get moving," Kayo calls as the glow over the mountains gets brighter.
"I'm trying," says Alan as the pod starts to skid and stop completely, "Something's wrong! I'm not getting any traction."
"Shit!" Kayo growls, "We're stuck."
"Just my fucking luck. I'm going to let the Crawler know," Alan groans and presses a button to contact Brains, "Brains, it's Alan. The solar panels are active. The only problem is... we're not. The Space Pod is stuck!"
"Maybe I should get out and push," Kayo jokes and looks behind to see the glow of the sunlight getting almost blinding."
"Can you?" Alan asks.
"I was kidding," Kayo states, "It's happened to the Shadow Bike before. Here's what you've gotta do; put the pod into a low gear and slowly rock it up."
"Like this?" Alan questions as he follows Kayo's instructions.
"Yeah. Keep going," Kayo nods. Eventually, after several going backwards and forwards, the pod escapes what becomes clear as a small crater.
"Ha-ha!" Alan celebrates as he drives away as quickly as possible, just as the sunlight tips over the tops of the peaks, "It worked!"
"Of course, it did," Kayo responds, "Now, step on it, or we're gonna be a permanent feature of this landscape.
"Okay, we're moving again," Alan informs Brains and Andi, "Is it recharging?"
"We're receiving the p-power wave now," Brains informs, "If the solar p-panels last long enough to give the Crawler a full charge we're in the business. If not, we're b-back where we started."
"Solar panel temperature is rising. This is going to be close," Andi states. The two engineers watch the screens in front of them as the temperature line of the solar panels rapidly increase as the sunrise hits them. "Temperature critical," Andi notes, "How are we doing Brains?"
"The b-batteries at 70%," Brains responds, "Just a little more..."
Everyone watches as the holo-scan of the solar panels turn red and flash rapidly. A beeping noise gets louder and louder and, in a flash, the connection disappears indicating the solar panels have melted.
"NO!" everyone yells.
"On the bright side," Brains sighs, "We've bought ourselves enough power for 10 more days of life support."
"Yeah," Andi muses, "Shame we only have two more hours before we're baking in the sun. This is over, isn't it?"
"We have a saying at International Rescue," Brains says, "It's NEVER over. We always find a way."
"You really say that?" Andi questions.
"No," Kayo says over the coms as the Space Pod parks outside the Crawler, "But it is what we believe."
Bob then enters the control rooms with several crew members shouting at him, questioning what will happen to them seeing that the solar panel plan had failed.
"Look, will you calm down?" Andi calls over Bob's shoulder, "This is Bob's rig, and he's still in charge."
"Thanks, Andi," Bob says, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder before walking over to the control panels and reading off the screens. He takes and deep breath in and looks down with a distraught expression. The crew goes silent. "Right," Bob starts, "The way I see it, International Rescue still has time to evacuate at least some of the crew."
"That's NOT happening," Alan states entering the room with Kayo, "No one gets left behind."
"That's very brave of you, kid," Bob says turning to face Alan, "But the Crawler is stuck."
"You want me to get out and push?" Alan says turning to Kayo. Kayo looks at Alan and nods with a smile of approval, seemingly on the same wavelength as her partner.
"Good idea, Alan," Kayo says, "All we need is a be enough push."
"I don't follow," Bob interrupts, "Can you stop with your silent conversations?"
"We could use Thunderbird 3 to push start the engine," Kayo explains.
"The same trick that Parker taught me," Alan chuckles, "It basically just starting a car by pushing it down a hill."
"It's the m-miner spirit," Brain adds, "Make use of what you have. And what we have is Thunderbird 3."
"All right," Bob nods in agreement, "Let's try it."
"Yeah!" Andi states, "Let's do it!"
Alan and Kayo run back outside and use a hover board to get back into the cockpit. Alan starts up the Thunderbird 3 take-off sequence.
"R-Ready, Alan, Kayo?" Brains asks.
"Ready as we'll ever be," Kayo states. Alan fires up the engines and launches from Mercury's surface. He keeps the nose cone facing the ground and moves Thunderbird 3 carefully over to the side of the Crawler. Inside, Bob moves the crane on the side into position and opens the claw. "Come on..." Kayo mutters to herself and helps Alan manoeuvre Thunderbird 3 until they hear the noise of contact. Bob then closes the claw in on Thunderbird 3 and rotates the ship onto her side so the engines are firing in a direction away from the sun. Kayo then retracts the grasping arms.
"All right," Alan smiles, "I think that worked. Thunderbird 3 is secured."
"Everyone, h-hold onto something," Brains calls on the ships coms as he rushes to the engine room to meet up with Andi, "Okay, guys, we're ready. Go ahead and f-fire main engines in three... two... one!" Alan then fires up the engines and the Crawler starts to slowly move. Noticing this he adds more power into the engines. "C-Careful, Alan," Brains states, "T-Too much thrust on one side will tip us over."
"It's hard to be gentle when you're driving a rocket!" Alan exclaims.
"It seems to be working, Alan," Kayo smiles, "Brains, how's it looking inside?"
"The f-flywheel is turning," Brains replies.
"The engine's still not running," Andi interjects, "We need to go faster."
"Here that Al," Kayo says, "We need a little more speed."
"I'm not sure about that," Alan strains but does add a little more. The crane arms start to shake due to the pressure and the claw groans.
"We're almost there," Brains announces just as there is a click.
"Engine's running," Andi breathes. Suddenly, there's a loud bang from the caterpillar tracks and the Crawler starts to skid on the side.
"It's outta control," Alan cries, "I have to break off!"
Kayo grunts and manages to get Thunderbird 3 free from the claw but sends the ship into a flying spin away from the Crawler.
"Whoa!" Alan and Kayo shout. Alan deploys the grasping arms again in case of a landing and Kayo watches the alarms carefully and helps to guide Alan and Thunderbird 3 in hover just above the planet surface.
"Alan, Kayo, are you guys, okay?" Brains asks.
"Yeah, Brains," Alan sighs, "My eggs might be a little scrambled, but... I'll get over it."
"Did it work?" Kayo asks, "Is the engine running?"
"The engine's f-fine," Brains states, "But I'm afraid we have another p-problem."
May 24th, 2064 - 06:06 NZST
Alan and Kayo make their way back to the control room of the Crawler and enter to find Brains and Andi studying a holo-map of the Crawler.
"We're out of the f-frying pan, and into the f-fire," Brains cries, "This Crawler still isn't going anywhere."
"I can fix it, but it won't be easy," Andi groans as she faces Bob, "Especially with the sun closing in on us."
"I have faith in you, kid," Bob smiles pulling Andi into a hug, "All of us do. They just need a little reminder." Bob then presses down on the coms and broadcasts a message to the crew, "Everyone, listen up. We need to get out there and fix the cogwheel. Now, I'm looking around here, and I know you're worried. I know you are, but miners like us don't back down! We always find a way."
"That's the s-same as our line," Brains mumbles but with pride.
"Now, let's get out there, and get this done," Bob orders.
May 24th, 2064 - 07:18 NZST
Over the course of the next hour, the whole crew get to work at fixing the cogwheel. Brains works on the ground with Andi focusing on the minor details, Alan does the heavily lifting by placing the large parts in place for Kayo, in the Space Pod, and the Crawler's crane to move them into place. Brain closely watches as the sun's brightness gets closer and closer as what seems to be a lightning pace. Eventually, Alan has to retreat due to the sunlight getting too close. Andi and Brains fix the last few wires together and rush back inside the Crawler. Once they're safely in and the door shut, Andi radios Bob in the control room.
"All right," Andi breathes, "Let's move it forward. Crawler to speed."
"That's it," Bob says as he starts to move the Crawler forward, "Nice and easy. We're back on track, people. Now, let's kick this thing into gear, and find ourselves some midnight!"
"We need m-more speed," Brains calls as the holo-tablet starts to show a red flashing warning for heat. A crewmember next to Bob then presses down on the throttle and the Crawler starts to pick up the pace.
"Now you're talking," Andi smiles. After a tense few moments the warning slowly stops flashing then goes yellow, then green, disappearing.
"We're c-clear!" Brains celebrates.
"Yeah!" Bob yells.
"All right!" Andi cries.
"You can reduce speed to h-half max," Brains notes, "At that rate, you'll be in the dead centre of the d-dark side in three days. G-Good work, Alan, Kayo."
"Whew," Alan sighs, "No sweat."
"Erm... Al," Kayo raises her eyebrows, "You're drenched in sweat. There's even a fucking puddle on the floor."
"Kayooooo," Alan whines, "We're on coms."
May 24th, 2064 - 07:38 NZST
Thunderbird 3 leaves Mercury and starts its journey back to Earth. Brains comes back with only half of the boxes they left with, leaving them with Andi to help her out with the engineering work in the future.
"Are all you m-missions this exciting?" Brains asks the pair.
"Pretty much," Kayo says.
"Does this mean you don't mind getting sweaty from now on?" Alan jokes, "If Kayo gets bored, I may need a backup co-pilot."
"Hey!" Kayo scowls and punches Alan in the ribs.
"N-Not on your life, Alan," Brains smiles at the couple's antics, "There's only one thing I'm looking forward to more than getting back to Earth."
"What's that?" Alan asks as he rubs his ribs.
"Seeing Thunderbird 3's solar sails in action," Brains smiles and presses a button next to the passenger seat, opening Thunderbird 3's secondary grasping arms that are attached to solar panels, "Now, let's g-go home."
"FAB."