November 21st, 2065 - 15:06 NZST
Nina is sitting on the sofa that is located in the games room. In front of her are several wedding magazines for Scott and Marion's wedding that will be taking place next year. Marion has asked Nina to help her selected the cake design and other decorations, after inviting her be maid of honour. Obviously, Nina said yes and is delighted at the prospect and in taking her role very seriously. The game room, in a large unused room behind the stairs in the dining area that lead up to the lounge and due to International Rescue's duties is hardly used.
Virgil had found Nina a few hours ago and had taken several pictures of her to use as a reference for his new painting that he is undertaking. Scattered over the balcony were several sketches of his planned painting with several parts circled or crossed out on different versions. On the main canvas, is the final version and Virgil seems pretty pleased with it. He walks away to his room to grab his equipment before assembling it all on the balcony. However, before he can start the emergency alarm goes off forcing Virgil to run back inside and to the lounge area.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
When he arrives, he meets Nina and they see John and Ridley's holograms appear on the screen in front of them. On the table a large street map is shown with several buildings that are shown in orange. Except one that is displayed in red and has an explosion symbol on top of it.
"Sorry, to disturb you two," John starts, "But you better head over and launch Thunderbird 2."
"Lady Penelope's called in a building collapse in London," Ridley explains.
"Is anyone injured?" Virgil asks.
"Not sure yet," John replies, "It's early Saturday morning there, so the building could be empty."
"Best to bring Thunderbird 8 just in case," Ridley adds.
"Tell her we're on our way," Nina nods.
"FAB," John and Ridley respond.
8
Thunderbird 8 awaits in a small hanger, separate to the modules.
7
Nina jumps down a slide next to the stairs that go up to the living quarters.
6
Nina arrives at Thunderbird 8 suited up and drives down to the modules.
5
Virgil runs over to the painting of a rocket and gets suited up.
4
The heavy lifting equipment and Thunderbird 8 are loaded into Module 5.
3
Nina 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!
November 21st, 2065 - 04:20 GMT
Outside the building in question stand Penelope and Parker. FAB 1 isn't in sight after it had been stolen by Parker's old work colleagues, Fred and Gomez. They had robbed the building in question and used FAB 1 as a getaway car to flee the scene after luring Parker to meet up with them to give them a help. Penelope remains sympathetic to Parker as he thought he was genuinely going to help them out of the criminal business and get them on the right path. Penelope is currently in conversation with Ridley on her communicator.
"Virgil and Nina are on their way," Ridley informs.
"FAB, Ridley," Penelope replies.
"John is alerting the fire brigade," Ridley continues, "Should be on-scene very soon."
"Uh-huh," Penelope responds, "I'll do what I can here to help and report back."
"What h'about FAB 1?" Parker cries.
"What about it?" Ridley asks, not knowing of its current situation.
"H'it's been stolen!" Parker wails.
"John!" Ridley calls.
"I heard. I should be able to use the master override to disable the engine," John states and attempts to but then raises his eyebrows in surprise, "Huh? The master override control isn't... overriding."
"Ugh!" Parker groans, "H'it's 'he master key, Fred must 'ave swiped h'it. 'Hat's why John can't take back control!"
"Fred!" Penelope scowls.
"'Hey don't call 'im light-fingered Fred for nothing," Parker mutters and sinks to his knees in shame, hiding his head in his hands.
"I'll track FAB 1's location and report back," John reassures.
"Thank you, John," Penelope replies and ends the call.
"Fred was right," Parker murmurs, "FAB 1 h'is thee perfect getaway car. And they got away with Sherbet!"
"One thing at a time, Parker," Penelope says, worriedly and takes a knee to place a comforting hand on Parker's shoulder, "We need to make sure there's no-one in danger here first. Besides, I'm sure Bertie can take care of himself. He is a Creighton-Ward, after all."
The pair make their way inside the building and have a look around the entrance way. Surrounding them is pieces of rubble and debris that is blocking several doorways. Penelope gets out her communicator and uses it to scan the rubble to see if there is either sign of life or a way to get further into the building.
"We can't go any further into this building," Penelope declares as she finishes her scan of the building, "It's too dangerous without the right equipment."
"H'I h'agree, m'lady," Parker sighs.
"Parker see if there are any shut-off valves for gas, water or electricity," Penelope orders, "If the supply lines are broken we could be in even more danger."
"Right you h'are, m'lady," Parker replies and turns to leave.
"Help!" a voice suddenly crackles over the communicator in the reception area, "Help me. Please! Hello? Is there anyone there, please? Help, anyone!"
"Hello," Penelope calls as she tries to get the radio to work as it had been hit by some fallen debris, "Who is this? Where are you?"
"Davina Nicholson," the voice responds, "I'm in the sorting room, it's in Sub-basement 6 It's dark, I... I'm trapped."
"It's okay, Davina," Penelope reassures, "We're going to help. The ceiling might not be safe, so you need to find a big, heavy object to hide under. One that won't break. Can you do that for me?"
"There's a sorting table, but it's too far away from the intercom," Davina whimpers.
"You must take cover," Penelope orders, "International Rescue are on their way, and we'll have someone down there to you very soon." She waits at the radio for a few more moments but gets no response so safely assumes that Davina has gone for cover. Penelope then joins Parker outside of the building were a small crowd had started to form after being woken up by a large bang.
"At least she's safe for the moment," Penelope informs Parker.
"Good, m'lady," Parker says. The sound of sirens is then heard and 3 fire trucks pull up next to where the pair are standing. Several firemen then jump out and a female with a black chief's hat approaches Penelope.
"Cass McCready, fire brigade," the chief introduces, "What's the situation?"
"The building partially collapsed after a very unusual explosion," Penelope explains, "We've got a civilian trapped several floors down, Sub-basement 6. Name, Davina Nicholson."
"Have you located any electricity, gas or water controls?" Cass asks.
"None h'in thee h'immediate h'area, ma'am," Parker states.
"And Thunderbird's 2 and 8 are on their way," Penelope adds.
"Thank you," Cass smiles, "Lady Penelope, is it? You've done a very thorough job."
"Thank you," Penelope nods, "You should also know that this is a crime scene. My scan showed that this facility sorts diamonds. That must be what the criminals were after."
"Okay, I'll alert the Metropolitan Police," Cass replies.
"Good," Penelope responds, "Parker and I will start after them ourselves. This just got personal."
"But 'ow, m'lady?" Parker inquires and Cass walks away to bark orders at her team, "We 'aven't got h'any transport." Penelope then lets out a whistle and a London Black Cab pulls up on the curve and opens its door. Parker looks at the cab then Penelope before looking back at the cab is horror.
"Well, Parker," Penelope smirks, "What are you waiting for?" The pair get in the car and drive off.
"I want the collapse zone cleared," Cass shouts, "Jones, Roland, check the nearby buildings. Make sure everyone has been evacuated." As people got to work the sound of whirring engines are heard overhead and people watch as Thunderbird 2 arrives on the scene and comes into land. It disappears behind some buildings and comes to rest next to the Pool River.
Virgil and Nina then head into the Module and drive out in Thunderbird 8 back to the scene of the damaged building Virgil heads into the back and attaches his exo-suit on. When Thunderbird 8 pulls up, Nina looks up and squeals as she sees the fire chief and jumps out of the driver's seat and over to her.
"Cassy!" Nina cries, "Holy shit, you took my old job."
"Good to see you too, Chi— I mean Nina," Cass smiles and the pair share a quick hug as Virgil makes his way over. Cass looks over Nina's shoulder and sees him approach, "Your boyfriend has a cool suit, but it's probably a bit bulky for the cramped spaces down there."
"I like to come prepared," Virgil jokes and indicates over to Thunderbird 8, "We'll make it work."
"He's always one step ahead," Nina chuckles and the three makes their way over to the building entrance.
"As long as no walls are punched it should be fine," Cass states, "The whole building could come down."
"Don't worry," Virgil says, "I'll be careful."
The team make their way inside the entrance hall that Penelope and Parker were in earlier and Virgil removes some of the rubble so they could access the elevator shaft to head downwards. They are able to head down one floor and enter Sub-basement 1. In the centre of the room sits a large hole and Cass makes a look downwards.
"Hmm, with all this damage, it's going to be a tricky rescue," Cass notes.
"Agreed, it's hard to see anything at all," Virgil muses.
"So, we'll need to check even more carefully to make sure no-one else is trapped," Nina states and throws Cass her spare flashlight. She then walks to the back of the room and brings out her toolkit that she had brought from Thunderbird 8 and places it on the floor. As it opens up, it reveals several ropes and harnesses that would help the team go down the hole and try and reach Davina. They all attach themselves up and secure the ropes to a strong metal grating that is connected to one of the walls. Virgil gives Nina the nod and they start to slowly walk backwards before easing themselves down the hole. Cass and Nina descend with no issues but Virgil is yanked to a stop.
"Problem, Tracy?" Nina smirks.
"Okay," Virgil mutters, "This has never happened before." Virgil the uses the torch on his exo-suit and locates that his rope has been lodged between two bits of rock. He uses one of the arms to slowly chip away at the rock, being careful that he doesn't cut the rope. Once he gets free, the team continue heading down until they reach the bottom.
"Somebody help me! Help!" Davina's voice calls out, "Help me! Help!"
"That must be Davina," Cassy calls.
"You'll like this," Nina states and pulls something off her belt, "Laser amplifier, a new feature."
"It'll project voice patterns through thick debris," Virgil explains.
"Really?" Cass deadpans, not overly confident.
"Trust me Cassy," Nina smiles, "This thing will work!"
"Hopefully," Virgil mutters.
"What was that?" Nina asks.
"Nothing, babe," Virgil replies.
"That's what I thought," Nina glares and turns the device on that starts to project a green laser down another hole in the ground of the floor they were now on, Sub-basement 3, "Davina, this is International Rescue. We're here with the fire bridge. We're on our way down to you now."
They laser projects Nina's voice as if she was speaking through a megaphone. They hear that the yelling has stopped once again which indicated to Nina that Davina had heard her.
"Now, that, I like!" Cass points.
"Really?" Nina beams, "I'd be happy to get Brains to make some for the brigade."
"I want one for me!" Cass jokes, "It'd be great for calling my kids in for supper."
They continue their way further down the hole and reach another solid ground. The room they were in had completely collapsed and there is no clear way forward. Virgil quickly gets to work in moving the debris. Cass does a scan to make sure that the rubble is safe to move. Meanwhile, Nina presses a button on her suit which also deploys an exo-suit so she could help with the effort. It takes several minutes but eventually a pathway is cleared for them to walk down. Cass takes a lead with Nina's spare flashlight and goes down into a small clearing on the other side of the passage that had been made.
"Guys, have a look at this," Cass calls and the couple quickly make their way over to a wall that had been badly damaged in the blast.
"Huh?" Virgil questions as he takes a closer look at the wall, "I've never seen damage like that."
"It's no from any explosive I've come across before," Nina states.
"Lady Penelope did say the explosion was odd," Cass informs, "I wonder what caused it?"
"I know a man who could tell us," Virgil smirks and presses on his utility belt to contact Penelope and Parker. He gets through within a couple of seconds, "Parker, John told me you recognized the sound of the explosion at the building."
"No doubt h'about it, Virgil, Sir," Parker replies, "H'it was h'an SWD. H'a sonic wave device."
"Sonic wave device?" Nina queries, "I've never heard of it."
"'Hat's because h'it's very h'old tech," Parker informs, "'Hey can go off without warning. Typical Gomez."
"Thanks, Parker," Virgil responds and ends the call.
"Help! Please, help!" Davina calls again, but her voice is a lot closer this time.
"Listen!" Nina orders, "Davina must be close."
Virgil gets to work at removing some of the loose debris in front of him but when he removes a slightly larger chuck, there's a distant rumbling sound and soot and dust start to fall from the ceiling. Cass and Nina take a step back and look up to see rubble beginning to fall from the up above. A rock hits Virgil's right arm putting off balance and he collapses onto his back. Then another boulder flies down and lands on top of Virgil's exo-suit.
"Argh!" Virgil groans, "The suit's trapped!" Nina reaches out and pulls Virgil out of his exo-suit.
"Move!" Cass yells behind her as she drags him to safety before the whole thing comes down on top of it. The team breathe a sigh of relief.
"Uh!" Nina sighs, "At least you had the exo-suit on otherwise you'd broken your leg."
"Nut now we're stuck," Cass comments, "No way up and no way down."
"I think this was the vault room," Virgil states as he gets onto his feet again and has a glance around the room. He goes to give Cass a hand up when a beeping sound starts, and Nina stops something in the corner of the room.
"Don't move!" Nina whispers. They all turn to look at some sort of device with a red flashing light before it stops beeping and the light changes to green.
"Look like our criminals must have left a sonic wave device behind," Virgil mutters and contacts Penelope's communicator again, "Uh, Parker, what if we actually find a sonic wave device?"
"Get h'away from h'it, Master Virgil," Parker responds, "Carefully! You never know when a sudden movement h'is gonna set h'it h'off."
"There's a draft coming from under this slab," Cass indicates slowing with her hand as it runs over a crack in the floor, "I think I've found us a way down."
Nina uses her exo-suit along with Virgil's strength to get to work on moving the cracked slab while Cass watches to SWD. There is no issue with separating the slab and lifting it up. Virgil and Nina keep their movements small and do it as slowly as they can. They take small step away from where they lifted the slab to reveal a large enough hole in the ground for them to all go down.
"Nice... and... easy," Nina breathes as they start to place it on the ground. However, Virgil slips and the slab drops to the ground with a thud.
"Shit," Cass mutters as the SWD starts beeping again with the light going red. Everyone holds their breath for a few moments as the beeping continues but the SWD shuts down again going green once more. The team breathe a sigh of relief.
"Close," Virgil nervously chuckles.
Cass leads the way and slowly inserts herself into the gap and then drops down. Nina then follows her with Virgil being the last person down. On the wall of the room next to the elevator shaft there's a small mark with Sub-basement 6.
"This is it," Nina informs, "Now where is she." Nina places the hand of her exo-suit on the wall expecting it to be solid but much to her surprise, she quickly finds herself on the floor and a cloud of dust rises.
"Oh?" a voice says as Nina stands back up again coughing. Behind her, Virgil and Cass laugh at a very shocked Nina and shine a light into the room she found and see someone hiding under a table.
"You must be Davina?" Virgil states as he walks around Nina and offers the girl under the table a hand, "International Rescue, at your service." Davina accepts Virgil's hand and comes out of hiding.
"I always wanted to meet International Rescue," Davina breaths as she shakes hands with Nina, who is trying to get some of the soot out of her hair, "Just not quite like this."
"Yeah, we get that a lot," Nina muses.
"Let me do a medical scan," Cass states and gets a small device out of one of her pockets. Virgil takes a step back and tries to help his girlfriend out while Cass dealt with Davina.
"That was quite the entrance," Virgil chuckles, brushing off some dirt, "It reminds me of the story Gordon told us when he ventured down the Laughing Kings Tomb some years ago with Lady Penelope and Parker."
"You're never gonna let this go are you," Nina sighs.
"I'll keep it on the down low," Virgil smirks and Nina shakes her head in defeat.
"Mild shock," Cass calls, "But no physical injuries. You're in good shape."
"Oh, thanks," Davina nervously chuckles.
"We need to get out of here," Nina states.
"Difficult, Chief," Cass comments, "Unstable floors overhead, and an ancient explosive one level up, ready to go off at any moment."
"And we didn't bring Module 2 so we don't have any Pod equipment other than what Thunderbird 8 has," Virgil mutters before looking up at Davina, "Davina, what do you know about the building?"
"Well, it's hundreds of years old, used to be part of the underground, now we process diamonds here," Davina explains, "I'd just sent an order up the service elevator to the vault when, 'Boom!' Everything went black."
"Service elevator?" Nina quires.
"Over there," Davina points and Virgil makes his way over, "But we can't get out that way, it only goes up one level."
"Maybe," Virgil says as he moves some debris out of the way, "But there's a door here!"
"Did you just say this building used to be part of the underground?" Nina asks.
"Yeah," Davina replies.
"Must be an old service hatch," Nina comments. Virgil then starts to strain on the door with all his strength but it remains locked.
"No use!" Davina calls, "It's bricked up from the other side. There's no way out! We might as well be shut in the vault!"
"That may not be such a bad thing," Nina smiles. Everyone looks over at her in confusion and she quickly explains, "Cassy, can you inform TFL to stop all trains on the Bakerloo Line south of Elephant and Castle?"
"Yes, but why?" Cass asks.
"If we set off the second SWD we'd be able to break out into the underground safely without the risk of a train being involved," Nina explains.
"That's actually not a bad idea," Virgil smiles, "Let me contact Parker." He presses on his IR utility beat and makes contact with Penelope's communicator once again, "Parker, how do we safely set of a SWD to break into the underground?"
"You want to do what?" Parker cries.
"Set off the second sonic wave device," Virgil explains, "And break into the underground. Got any tips?"
"Underground?" Parker questions, "H'are you sure about 'his, Sir?"
"It's our only option," Nina interjects.
"Well, first, you 'ave to get near thee thing if you want to move it," Parker informs, "Without setting h'it h'off."
Virgil nods and exits the room that Nina found Davina in and makes his way back to the hole in the roof. He uses bits of rubble to climb back up and into the vault room. Virgil looks over to the SWD and takes small movements to make it over to it.
"'Hen sonic wave devices h'are used properly," Parker continues, "'Hey can be very effective. H'or else 'hey make h'a big mess."
"Great," Virgil sighs as he crouches down next to it, "And how often do they malfunction?"
"More 'han 'hey h'ought to, h'I'm h'afraid," Parker responds grimly.
Virgil closes his eyes and lets out a deep breath before placing an arm either side of the SWD and slowly standing up again. He shuffles over to the hole and lies down of the floor. Below him stands Nina who uses her exo-suit to reach up. Virgil lowers the SWD as far as he can, and it's just enough for Nina to grab onto it herself and lower it down to eye-level. She then tiptoes over to the service elevator and places it down.
"Now, how do we activate it?" Nina whispers as Virgil joins them.
"I'll ask Parker," Virgil replies and makes the call. A hologram of Parker is displayed from his wrist communicator and Parker has a very worried facial expression on him, "Parker, this may not be great timing, but we need your help again." The sound of screeching tyres are heard in the background and Virgil and Nina share a look.
"How do we trigger the SWD?" Nina murmurs.
"H'it's voice h'activated, Mistress Nina," Parker replies, "You say thee word, 'Detonate,' and count down from 5."
"Now, that, I can do!" Virgil smirks and approaches the SWD once again while Cass, Nina and Davina exit the room and get into the brace position.
"Detonate," Virgil says to the SWD and the green lights disappear and are replaced by red flashing ones. Virgil then starts to exit the room as he counts down from 5 making the SWD start beeping, "Five... four...three... two... one!"
The SWD goes off in a large explosion and everyone holds their breath for a second. When the shaking stops and the dust settles down again, the group stand up again and see that a perfect hole has been created leading into a brightly lit underground tunnel. They make their way out and are surprised to find FAB 1 at the foot of the rubble that had fallen onto the tube tracks.
"We've made a bit of a mess," Nina jokes as they approach Penelope and Parker and see two men on the floor.
"Not h'at h'all, Mistress Nina, ma'am," Parker chuckles, "You saved thee day."
"Glad to hear it," Virgil smiles and watches as Sherbet jumps from Penelope's arms and run over to the briefcase that is also on the floor, "Though, I think Sherbet might disagree."
November 21st, 2065 - 08:03 GMT
Virgil, Nina and Cass gather outside Thunderbird 8 and watch as both the police and fire service continue to have the area cornered off to make sure that it is safe for the public to approach the area.
"Well goodbye, Nina," Cass smiles as the pair share a hug, "Nice to see you, Virgil."
"It's been so good to see you again," Nina smiles, "I hope we can actually stay in contact now."
"Likewise, future Mrs Tracy," Cass laughs as she causes both Virgil and Nina to blush. Virgil then detaches part of Nina's exo-suit and throws it over to Cass, who's quick reflexes, manages to catch it.
"For calling the kids in for supper," Virgil salutes.
"Thanks!" Cass chuckles and salutes Virgil back.
"Home, Nina?" Virgil asks.
"Home, Virgil," Nina smiles and the pair hop back into Thunderbird 8 before driving off into the busy London traffic as they try and make their way back to Thunderbird 2. It certainly had been a long morning for them in the South of London.