March 15th, 2067 – 03:19 NZDT
In recent weeks, the GDF sector on Thunderbird 10 has been bustling with action. There has been a string of supply freighters that travel between the Moon and Mars that have been disappearing without trace. The remains of some are occasionally found floating and other times there is no trace of them or their crews.
As a result, steps have been put into place to provide an escort for as many of the transport ships as possible. This would be organized by the GDF internally before the information would be relayed to Ridley to inform her on which of the Thunderbird 10 staff has been assigned to fly the escort fighters. However, today she had been assigned herself to be the one who took a trip out due to her GDF history. As she boards her small yet powerful spacecraft and does her pre-flight checks before preparing to launch.
"Disengaging in three, two, one!" Ridley announces.
The clamp holding the fighter in place disengaged and Ridley fires up the engines. The craft races away from Thunderbird 10 heading to rendezvous with the space-freighter that she will be escorting.
The ship that Ridley is escorting is the Sentinel Shipping Cargo-Freighter Starchaser. It's piloted by Captain Lauren Knott and has a shipment of supplies destined for the colony on Mars. The incidents where the ships had gone missing have occurred between the Moon and the halfway point between Earth and Mars. Ridley is to escort the Starchaser from the rendezvous point to Companion 12, a newly built space-station located at the mid-way point. Most ships didn't have the range to get between the two planets, so it had been built as the first ever space fuelling station.
"Starchaser from GDFS-1," Ridley calls into her radio, "I am heading towards your location. ETA five minutes."
"Roger, GDFS-1," acknowledges Lauren, "I will fly on course and will wait for you to catch up to me."
"Roger," Ridley responds and turns her attention to another space-station that is in the area – Thunderbird 5.
"On escort duty are you, Ridley?" John questions as he appears on the holo-projector.
"You could say that my love," Ridley giggles.
"How long will you be away?" asks John.
"About two weeks, I'm afraid," Ridley sighs, "It takes one to get to Companion 12 and then I will be escorting another ship back from there."
"FAB," John nods, disappointed he won't be seeing Ridley for a while, "Have a safe trip."
"I intend to–" Ridley starts before being cut off by a large explosion. Her heart skips a beat as she tries to regain control of her craft. "Mayday! Mayday!" Ridley cries, "I'm under attack!"
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
"Ridley, do you read me?" John calls, horrified as he watches the scene unfold in front of him, not noticing a small grey ship chase after the Starchaser. However, all he gets is static.
"John," EOS states, "Ridley's ship will burn up if it hits the Earth's atmosphere. Her only chance is to eject."
"I'm going out there!" John declares.
5
Thunderbird 5's rear access hatch opens.
4
A secret door in the control room opens and John floats through.
3
John starts to suit up.
2
John spins around as different parts of his exo-suit attach to him.
1
John watches as the airlock opens.
Thunderbirds are Go!
John shoots out of Thunderbird 5 and races as fast as he can towards Ridley's fighter.
Inside the fighter's cockpit, Ridley gives up trying to gain control and to her relief catches sight of John approaching behind her. After putting on her own helmet, she flicks a switch and crosses her arms as the cockpit canopy flew off and the seat ejects her from the craft. John sees this and quickly zooms upwards to grab her and the seat before they spiral off in the wrong direction.
"GOTCHA!" John sighs in relief and helps unstrap Ridley from her seat. Once she is free, he uses the thrusters on the exo-suit to slow them to a controlled stop. Both then watch as the fighter spins away from them before exploding in a fireball as it reaches the upper atmosphere.
"Phew!" Ridley gasps, "My TB10 suit clearly needs an upgrade."
"Are you okay?" John asks.
"Ask me when I get my breath back," Ridley breathes with a chuckle as John fired up the suit and led them back to Thunderbird 5. Once they get inside, Ridley turns to John with a serious look, "We need to get after the Starchaser and make sure that it's okay."
"Could we get Thunderbird 10 to send another ship out?" John questions.
"No," Ridley states, shaking her head, "The Starchaser has too much of a head-start now, our ships would take several hours, maybe a day to catch up. That would burn precious fuel and they'd potentially not make it to Companion 12."
John ponders the problem for a moment before pressing down on his sash.
March 15th, 2067 – 03:52 NZDT
In Alan's bedroom, Alan and Kayo are sleeping peacefully with Kayo half on top of Alan, wrapped up in his arms. The sudden beeping of an alarm wakes the couple up with a start.
"Wakey-wakey," Ridley coos via a hologram projecting from the clock, "We have a job for you."
"We have a situation?" Kayo asks, as she quickly slips on a crop top.
"Potentially," John interjects, "Suit up and launch Thunderbird 3. Come straight to Thunderbird 5."
"Straight to Thunderbird 5?" Alan asks, rubbing his eyes but before he can continue, John ends the call. He turns to Kayo, "Why don't you send down the elevator?"
"Maybe he and Ridley need a lift," Kayo muses and throws a t-shirt at Alan's face, "Come on."
"Yes, darling," he yawns and follows her out of the room.
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.
1
Thunderbird 3's rockets start up.
Thunderbirds are Go!
March 15th, 2067 – 04:01 NZDT
It didn't take long for Thunderbird 3 to reach Thunderbird 5. Alan manoeuvres his rocket into position alongside Thunderbird 5's orbit.
"Okay, Thunderbird 5," Alan calls, "We're here."
"FAB," John replies. He and Ridley then exit the space station and make their way over to the red Thunderbird as Kayo opens up the airlock for them. John sits in the empty co-pilot seat behind Alan while Ridley takes one of the passenger seats.
"So, where are we going?" asks Kayo.
"Follow this flight path," Ridley orders, bringing up a holographic image on the control console, "It'll take us along the freighter route to Space-Station Companion 12. We need to locate and escort freighter Starchaser to at the very least that station if not further."
"Escort?" Alan questions, bemused.
"I was on escort duty from Thunderbird 10, but something caused my craft to explode and I'm certain it was no accident," Ridley explains, and brings up so data reports for Kayo to read, "There have been incidents where ships have gone missing without explanation. I'm certain my ship was attacked."
"And the Starchaser could be the next unlucky victim," Kayo matters to herself as she scans the reports and turns to Alan giving him the nod.
"FAB," Alan smirks, "Hang on tight. Firing ion engines in three, two, one!"
March 15th, 2067 – 04:12 NZDT
Thunderbird 3 arrive at the last known location of the Starchaser before picking up a distressing message that is coming from a few miles away.
"Mayday! Mayday! This is Captain Lauren Knott of Sentinel Shipping vessel Starchaser," comes the call, "Does anyone read me? Over."
Everyone's hearts skip a beat and Alan presses on the intercom to reply, "This is International Rescue, what's your situation?"
"Explosion in the engine room," Lauren explains, "Propulsion is down and my life-support is failing. I don't know what's caused it."
"Captain Knott, this is Captain O'Bannon of Thunderbird 10. I was similarly attacked earlier which is why you lost your escort," Ridley buts in, to explain the situation more clearly, "Do you know what caused the explosion?"
"Pirates," Lauren growls as she checks her radar scanners on the control panel, "They're long gone now and left me trapped with the airlock open."
At this point Thunderbird 3 arrives on the scene. Alan cuts the power to the ion engine and brings the giant red rocket to a stop alongside the Starchaser.
"I'm going across to find Captain Knott," John states.
"I'll come, too," Ridley says, "If the pirates are still in there, you'll need back-up."
Leaving Thunderbird 3, John uses his exo-suit to fly over to the Starchaser with Ridley holding his left hand. With both doors of the airlock open they were able to fly straight in.
"John, look!" Ridley cries pointing at the sealed doors. They could see Lauren pounding and yelling through the doors at them.
"Captain Knott?" John questions, "Hang tight, we'll get you out of there."
"THANK FUCK YOU'RE HERE!" Lauren screams furiously, "NOT ONLY HAVE THOSE PIRATES GOTTEN AWAY WITH SOME OF MY CARGO, BUT THEY'VE RIGGED MY SHIP TO EXPLODE!" She points over to a bomb left by the pirates. John and Ridley follow Lauren's gaze and sees a device with a red flashing light and a timer counting down just going past three minutes.
"Captain, get back from the door!" John instructs, "I'm going to cut my way in!"
"I tried!" Lauren interjects, "But my laser can't cut through fast enough!"
"Mine isn't something out of Star Wars," John replies, "Now stand back." He takes careful aim at where the two doors meet and activates the laser built into the exo-suit. It's a lot quicker than how Lauren was trying to do it, but it still takes him nearly ninety seconds to break right through. Ridley keeping back whilst frequently watching the countdown on the bomb.
Finally, the doors give in and open to allow Lauren to join them. Instead of making for the airlock, she instead heads over to the bomb.
"Can you help me get this thing out of here?" she asks.
"Captain, there's no time!" Ridley states and turns to John, "We have to get out of here before it blows!"
"FAB," John says and grabs both Lauren and Ridley by the arms and yank them both out through the airlock as the timer goes past fifty seconds. He manages to get them both inside Thunderbird 3 with time to spare. "Alan, get us away from here as fast as you can!" he orders, "That ship's going to blow up in thirty seconds!"
"Uh-oh!" Alan gulps, "Everyone hold on!" He fires up the engines and quickly moves Thunderbird 3 as quickly as she would go away from the Starchaser. The bomb detonates seconds later, completely obliterating the Starchaser into thousands of tiny pieces.
March 15th, 2067 – 04:23 NZDT
Once he felt sure they were safe, Alan brings Thunderbird 3 to a stop.
"Is everyone okay?" Kayo asks.
"I'm okay, Alan," John quickly replies.
"Me too," Ridley sighs, "That was fast moving, Alan."
"So much for my ship," Lauren mutters.
"Your life is more important than your ship," Alan states.
"I agree," Kayo nods, "Now we need to sort out where these pirates went."
"We need to find them then quick and bring them to justice then," Alan agrees.
"But we don't know what their ship looks like or even when it went," John interrupts, "Space is a big place for a small ship to hide in."
"Companion 12," Lauren interjects, "That's what I heard the wife say to her husband as they left my ship."
"Husband and wife?" Ridley scoffs.
"Yes," Lauren confirms, "Boris and Gloria Anderson, if your database has anything on them?"
"Of course!" Ridley realises, "The Space-Spies! They've been a thorn in my side for years! Alan, set a course for Companion 12. We have to catch them before they target anyone else."
"With pleasure," Alan smiles, "Companion 12, here we come!"
Thunderbird 3 turns forty degrees to starboard before firing its ion-engine once again and racing off to deeper space.
March 15th, 2067 – 06:29 NZDT
It takes around two hours for Thunderbird 3 to reach the sector of space where Companion 12 is located. After disengaging the ion-engines, the fuelling station comes into view. It's a strange-looking space-station that looks like a grey spinning top that has finished spinning and dropped onto its side.
"There it is," Kayo mutters, "Have to say it's smaller than I was expecting."
"It's bigger than Thunderbird 5," John says, "But I have to say I was expecting something else."
"It's mainly just fuel tanks," Ridley explains, "Has a small crew area in the middle."
"How many crew?" Alan inquires.
"Just one," Lauren answers, "My friend Commander Susan Henshaw is currently stationed there."
"Any sign of the pirates?" Kayo sneers.
Alana looked at the scanners. "Negative," Alan says, "But surely we got here before the pirates?"
"They had a pretty decent head start," Lauren muses.
"Better radio Commander Henshaw and alert her to our arrival," Ridley states.
"FAB," John states as he opens a com channel, "Thunderbird 3 to Companion 12. Come in, please." They wait for a response from the space-station. But there isn't one.
"Strange," Kayo says, "No response and there's no sign of anything wrong either."
"Susan never misses a radio call though," Lauren intervenes, "Something's definitely wrong."
Alan starts to move Thunderbird 3 around the space-station and taps Kayo's shoulder to get her attention. "I've got a pretty good idea," he starts and points over to the corner of his cockpit window, "And it's right there!"
Kayo follows Alan's gaze as he changes Thunderbird 3's course a few degrees to starboard. Sitting in free-float close to Companion 12 is another spacecraft – small, grey and menacing.
"That's them!" Lauren cries, anger starting to burn inside her once more, "That's the ship that pulled up beside mine."
"That's an old Firefly-class space-fighter!" Ridley gasps, recognising the design of the other ship, "They were decommissioned at the end of the Global Conflict in 2043. I thought they'd all be scrapped."
"Clearly one managed to escape the cutter's torch," John deadpans, "Alan, put Thunderbird 3 on free float. I would like to take a closer look at that ship before we go inside the station. You stay here aboard Thunderbird 3 and be ready in case we need you."
"Let's hope they're inside and not in the station," Kayo states and cracks her knuckles.
Everyone puts on their helmets and Kayo gets out the astro-boards. She and Ridley get on one while John and Lauren get on the other. None of them speak as they approach the enemy vessel. It had looked small from inside Thunderbird 3 but as they get closer it starts to look more and more intimidating to them. They could also now confirm that this ship definitely is in pirate hands as the Skull & Crossbones symbol and the name, Space-Spy Thor could now be seen.
"Woah!" John exclaims, "Take a look at those markings."
"Yeah," Ridley agrees, "They sure look mean."
"This is definitely the one," Lauren informs, "I remember the name S. S. Thor when they arrived."
"Let's check the cabin," John says, turning to Lauren, "See if anyone is inside."
"Be careful," Kayo warns, "I'll check the rear of the vessel."
They split-up with John taking Lauren to look at the cockpit while Kayo and Ridley going to look around at the stern. John and Lauren reach the cockpit and look inside. Sure enough, it's empty.
"Cockpit's deserted," John muses, "What do you see, Kayo?"
"No. Nobody here, John," Kayo sighs as she peers through a porthole at the stern.
"I feared as much," John sighs as he looks over to Companion 12, "Which means that there's only one place they can be."
"We should have gone straight there," Lauren argues, "I know Susan's a good fighter. I just hope she can keep them at bay until we find her."
"Sorry, Captain," Ridley answers, over the coms, "I wanted to make sure that we weren't in a position to get attacked on our way over. We'd have been sitting ducks out here if they'd opened fire on us."
As much as she hates to admit it, Lauren knew Ridley has a point. They regroup before making their way over to Companion 12. Again, none of them speak, but deep down inside they all felt apprehensive to what they might find inside. As they reach the airlock, Lauren leans over and enters the door code to open both the outer and inner airlocks. A light shows green, and they enter, taking off their helmets. They IR crew pull out their stun-pistols, and Kayo takes the lead down the corridor from the airlock towards the control room.
"Keep as quiet as you can," Kayo whispers, "We don't want to encounter the wrong person and be caught off-guard."
This leaves everyone feeling more and more uneasy as they head deeper into the space-station.
"Kayo, is everything okay?" Alan suddenly calls.
"Shut the fuck up, Al!" Kayo grits, "You could give us away!"
"Sorry," Alan answers, "Just checking to make sure you're okay."
"We'll be fine," Kayo responds, "Wait for me to call you."
"FAB," Alan says and ends the transmission.
"Thank god–" Kayo starts but is cut off by a sudden blast of maniacal laughter erupting out from the tannoy making all four freezes. They notice there are two separate laughs. One male and the other female.
"It's them!" Lauren gasps.
"It is no use," the male voice says, "You are at our mercy! Throw down your weapons!"
"Better play along," Kayo advices, "There's no telling what they have in store."
Ridley growls in annoyance and she drops her weapon along with John. The maniacal laughter started again as the group continues down the remainder of the corridor to the door that takes them into the control room. After opening the door, they find themselves facing a truly alarming sight. Standing on one side of the room by the control panel are Boris and Gloria Anderson with their own guns pointed at them. Standing between the two is Commander Henshaw, her hands bound together by a zip-tie and with a piece of grey tape over her mouth. She lets out a short, muffled cry when she sees Lauren.
"So, you survived, Captain Knott," Gloria glares, noticing Lauren, "That's disappointing."
"You'll pay for what you've done, Space-Spy!" Lauren growls and clenches her fists and moves to take a step forward.
"Ah-ah-ah!" Boris tuts as Gloria presses her gun against Susan, "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."
"Stand down, Captain," John orders, "It's the only way you can help her."
Lauren reluctantly relents as she sees the terrified expression coming from Susan.
"The Space-Spies," Ridley sneers, "You've got some fucking nerve trying to take over this station."
"Times up motherfuckers," Kayo deadpans.
"Times up?" Gloria scoffs, "Don't be so foolish. We have you as our prisoners. Not today, not ever will you or anyone else take us in.
"Yeah, we're too good for that," Boris adds.
"No criminals can escape justice forever," John interjects, "You may have us, but mark my words, you will be stopped eventually."
"Ha!" Gloria laughs, "Keep dreaming, orange-hair! Whoever you are."
"I am-" John starts with a scowl.
"Not interested," Gloria cuts in, "Boris, dear, we've been here long enough. Kindly make sure our guests remain comfortable before their time comes."
"Of course, dear," Boris says and uses his gun to signal to the group to move over to four metal pipes in the middle of the control room, "Get over there and no tricks!"
March 15th, 2067 – 06:54 NZDT
While this was going on, Alan, unaware of the situation inside, decides to take a short trip on his astro-board over to the S. S. Thor so he can have a look for himself.
"What a heap of junk!" Alan remarks. Then a small idea comes into his head. After quickly looking around to make there's no activity coming from the space-station, he takes out a small device from his sash and places it on the hull of the enemy ship. "There. That should do it," he mutters before turning and heading back to Thunderbird 3 to wait. As he gets back to Thunderbird 3, a hologram of Nina appears over the projector.
"Thunderbird 3 from Thunderbird 8, have you guys caught the pirates yet, Alan?" Nina inquires.
"Oh, hey, Nina," Alan replies, "We've caught up to their ship. The others, including the woman we rescued are inside the space-station now. But I have a feeling something's wrong. Kayo told me to wait but she hasn't called back for over ten minutes now. I think the pirates might have them."
"FAB, Alan," Nina notes, "But remember Kayo's been in tougher situations before. She's probably trying to use stealth to catch the pirates. She'll contact you when she can." Nina's hologram then disappears leaving Alan in silence once again.
After a couple more minutes, Alan notices some movement coming from Companion 12. He sees two people that he doesn't recognize exit the station and he immediately reaches for his com-link.
"Kayo? John, do you read?" Alan calls, "I see the pirates."
Alan gets no response. Knowing he needs to act quickly; he turns his attention back on the S. S. Thor. The Space-Spies have by now boarded and are starting up the engines. Thinking they might make a move on him; Alan places his hands on the Thunderbird 3's controls ready to take evasive action if necessary. He then sees the glow of the missile's tail-fire from the moment they are launched and immediately threw Thunderbird 3's engines into reverse. The rockets fire and quickly move backwards. With the missiles having no target lock, they zoomed harmlessly past and carry on into the vastness of space.
Thunderbird 3's main engines then fire up and it the large space rocket turns to face the pirates head-on. It charges towards the smaller craft that soon fires up its own engines and barely manages to dive out of the way before the two ships could collide. Within moments, both ships are racing in a large circle around Companion 12. After a few circuits around, Thunderbird 3 begins to close the gap and come in behind the S. S. Thor.
"Almost got you," Alan says to himself. He deploys the grasping arms and prepares to attempt to fire a grapple onto the S. S. Thor. However, before he has a chance to get a lock, the S. S. Thor turns hard to starboard and goes straight towards a head-on collision with Alan. Alan reacts quickly as having to deal with asteroids was much harder than this.
"Fucking yell!" Alan exclaims and lets out a nervous chuckle, "They're certainly spooked." He retracts the arms and continues on his course. He hopes to intercept the S. S. Thor when it came round again. Watching the screen, he sees it come into view and decides to try something else. The nose cone on Thunderbird 3 opens revealing the concealed laser. Alan takes careful aim and fires the laser, scoring a direct hit on the S. S. Thor's port engine. There's a small explosion and the ship shudders.
Alan watches as the two outer engines then shut down and the special pulse engine start to fire up – which is how the class of vessel earnt its name of Firefly. It glows a blinding bright orange colour before the craft rockets off into space and disappearing from Alan's view.
"Phew! It's gone," Alan sighs, relieved that he no longer has to dogfight with it. He checks the long-range radar and smiles to himself, "But it won't be for long."
He then exits his seat and grabs a spare astro-board before making his way over to Companion 12. He goes through the airlocks that have been left open and enters the main corridor. Knowing the pirates have left, Alan walks confidently down the corridor towards the control room. There's a small panel next to the door which he presses. After opening the door, he finds himself facing a truly amusing sight. John, Kayo, Ridley and the crew are still struggling to free themselves from the zip-ties.
"Alan!" Kayo exclaims.
"Kayo?!" Alan coughs back a laugh, quickly covering his mouth to hide the smirk, "Wow, you guys sure are in a bit of a–"
"No time for that," John barks, from next to her, "Just cut us free, would you?"
"Sure, sure. Keep your hair on, Johnny," Alan chuckles causing John to grimace. He approaches his brother and cuts around John's wrists and ankles then went to cut Kayo free whilst John freed Ridley before freeing Lauren and Susan.
"Oh, thank the stars!" Susan cries, "That's the first time I've been able to breathe properly for an hour!"
"Sorry we couldn't get here sooner, Commander," Kayo notes.
"Alan, how did the pirates not get you?" Ridley questions.
"Oh, they tried," Alan laughs, "But I guess they underestimated what Thunderbird 3 is capable of."
"Commander, apart from taking you hostage, did they do much damage to the station?" John asks.
Susan shakes her head. "Besides forcing me to refuel their ship for them and then ransack my kitchen for food supplies, no," she says, "Then they tied me up and about ten minutes later, you arrived."
"Too bad they got away again," Lauren mutters, "We'll never find them again."
"And more ships will be in danger," Ridley adds.
"Not exactly," Alan smiles and presses his wrist controller. It brings up a holo-map of the sector of space they were in. It shows Thunderbird 3 as a red dot, Companion 12 as a grey dot and a third brown dot moving at speed away from them.
"Alan, is that what I think it is?" Kayo smirks.
"Yep, after you'd gone inside, I decided to take a look at the S. S. Thor myself," Alan informs, taking out another of the devices that he'd placed on the hull of the pirates' vessel, "I decided to plant one of Brains' new multi-purpose devices onto the hull so that if they managed to run again, we can track them to wherever they go. That's also how I managed to get through the airlock, in case you were wondering."
"Fucking genius," Susan remarks.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ridley questions, "Let's get after them!"
"I'd better stay here and help Susan," Lauren says, "Good luck."
"FAB," the IR members say before hurrying out of the control room.
March 15th, 2067 – 07:20 NZDT
Alan brings up the holo-map on the control console as everyone gets back into their seats onboard Thunderbird 3 so they could see the location of the S. S. Thor.
"There it is," Alan points, "Looks like they're heading for the dark side of the Moon."
"Then let's go get them," John states.
"Punch it, Alan," Kayo orders,
"FAB!" Alan grins, firing the ion-engines once more.
March 15th, 2067 – 09:26 NZDT
Thunderbird 3 slows as it approaches the Moon, with Alan cutting the ion engines returning to cruising speed. In the distance, they can just make out the shape of another spaceship, which is easily recognised as being S. S. Thor.
"There they are!" Ridley exclaims.
"Easy, Alan," John starts, "Bring us up behind them slowly. We don't want them to run."
"FAB," Alan acknowledges, "But if they do, I have just the thing to stop them."
"And what would that be?" Kayo inquires.
"The device I planted does more than simply track and scan locks," Alan says smugly.
Suddenly, the remaining engines fire up and the S. S. Thor begins to race away from Thunderbird 3.
"They've seen us!" Ridley cries, "Quickly, Alan. We can't afford to lose them again!"
Relax, Ridley," Alan responds, remaining calm, "They're not getting away from us."
With that, he reaches out and presses a button on the control console. A large explosion rocks the S. S. Thor, ripping out a large chunk of the hall causing the ship to lurch and begin to drop down towards the Moon. After a few seconds, an escape pod ejects from the top of the pirate ship as it continues to plummet down towards the Moon.
"They've ejected," Kayo muses, "And scans show they're both inside."
"Good," John sighs, "Seems they have some sense."
"What about the S. S. Thor?" Ridley asks, "It's not going to crash somewhere it shouldn't, is it?"
"Negative," Alan replies as he checks his scans, "There's no lunar base for miles. However, the Moon is about to get itself a new crater I suspect."
The S. S. Thor continues on its downward spiral before slamming hard on the Moon's surface and exploding in a fireball. The wreckage is thrown in all directions and some of the smaller pieces float away due to the lack of gravity on the Moon. Any fires that have been caused by the initial explosion also quickly disappear due to the non-existence of any oxygen. The S. S. Thor is no more.
Thunderbird 3 slows as it approaches the drifting escape capsule. Alan carefully manoeuvres into a position so he can collect it.
"You know, I'm not so sure I want them onboard my ship," Alan notes, "I don't want them to be running loose."
"They won't be," Ridley states, "Just collect the capsule, Alan. Then take us to Thunderbird 10. We can let them out there."
"That I can deal with," Alan says, perking up, "Opening cargo bay."
The doors of Thunderbird 3's cargo bay open, and Alan positions the ship so that the escape capsule could simply drift inside. Once it is in and caught by a magnetic grab, he closes the doors and set off again on a course around the Moon before heading back towards Earth.
March 15th, 2067 – 09:33 NZDT
Upon docking at Thunderbird 10, the escape pod is moved from Thunderbird 3's cargo bay into the GDF sector. Alan, Kayo and John join Ridley and a squadron of GDF Soldiers in surrounding the capsule before opening it.
"All right you dirt-bags, hands up!" Boris yells as he jumps out of the capsule, only to then find that he is not the one who is armed and instead finds himself with six of the twelve soldiers surrounding him aiming their stun-weapons. So, he raises his hands instead. "Shit!" he curses as two of the soldiers pulled his arms behind his back and handcuff him. The remaining six soldiers soon force an unwilling Gloria out of the capsule and handcuff her as well.
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF ME!" Goria spits.
"Boris and Gloria Anderson, also known as The Space-Spies," Ridley announces, "I, Captain O'Bannon of Thunderbird 10, on behalf of the Global Defence Force, I place you both under arrest for the following crimes: Piracy, Illegal Boarding and taking of ship's cargoes. The loss of several crewmembers' lives. Kidnapping a GDF Officer and member of International Rescue. And resisting arrest. You do not have to say anything, but anything you do will be given in evidence. Lock them up, boys."
"Curse you, Captain O'Bannon!" Gloria snarls as she and Boris are dragged towards holding cells, "I will make you suffer for this! NOBODY ARRESTS THE SPACE-SPIES! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
"Man, she is seriously annoying!" Alan remarks as the criminals are marched towards their cells.
"You don't say," Kayo agrees before kissing Alan on the check, "Smart thinking of you back there."
Alan opens he mouth to reply but is interrupted by an approaching John and Ridley.
"That was kind of fun," Ridley chuckles, "I've always wanted to take down some pirates."
"Yeah, I don't think Reese and Dobbs fully qualify as real pirates," John laughs.
"Looks like International Rescue are more and more getting involved in the crime-fighting business," Kayo smirks.
"Scott's gonna be pissed," Alan states.
"Well, it is dad's call," John notes before turning to Ridley, "However what I'm about to ask you is my call."
"Oh?" Ridley questions. Before she can say another word, John gets down onto one knee and pulls out a ring from and small sash on his utility belt.
"Ridley O'Bannon, would you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?" John asks, going a bit red in the face from embarrassment.
There's a moment of silence before a loud squeal.
"YES!" Ridley cries and jumps into John causing him to fall over, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!"
"Awwww," Kayo coos as she watches John place the ring onto Ridley's left hand, "Congratulations guys!"
Alan stands not sure how to react, so turns around to look at the Space-Spies that are now being put in the cells. "Hey, Space-Spies!" Alan calls, "Answer me this. Why are pirates called pirates? Because they AAAARREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Alan howls with laughter. John and Ridley face-palm. Kayo raises an eyebrow before beginning to giggle. The Space-Spies just give Alan a look of disgust as their cell doors are slammed in their faces. To them, Alan has really just added insult to their injury.