September 16th 2067 - 00:09 BST
Calshot Station is a clean-energy power plant that has been used as a replacement for the decommissioned Fawley Power Station that once dominated the end of Southampton Water leading into the Solent. The once tall chimney and turbine hall has been replaced by a long, lower building with a single chimney that is half the height of the previous one. On the roof are many solar-panels that collect the sun's rays whilst a collection of eight wind-turbines located around the site catch the wind no matter the weather.
It's night-time and the power-station is still in operation. It only needs three people to work it at any time but there are always a small crew at night. Without them, the people of Hampshire would be without any form of electricity.
As the waves laps against the shingle beach of Calshot Spit, a strange figure dressed in a jet black armoured suit like something out The Mandalorian with two glowing red eyes emerges from beneath the surface. It walks up across the beach and conceals itself between some beach huts before looking over at the bright lights that light up the power-station. After scanning the area to make sure nobody is about, it then moves out from the huts to stand at the opposite side of the spit with a clear view of the station.
Inside the power-station's main turbine hall, several hidden figures watch as the people work inside. One launches themselves across the room causing a distraction for the worker at the main control panel. This allows another to jump down behind the man and take a swing, knocking him clean out cold. The final figure then works their way along to the turbine closing the hatch and sealing a female figure inside. She bangs desperately on the hatch door, but her cries fall on deaf ears.
The first figure then walks up a flight of stairs to another control room. Upon reaching the door, the uses an armoured fist to punch the door clean off its hinges. This causes the other worker to turn around it alarm but before he can react is hit hard over the head. He soon falls to the ground unconscious. The figure then proceeds to search through the controls before it finds a button marked 'Defence Shield'. It then pushes the button, and the light goes from Green 'On' to Red 'Off'.
"Calling Black Phantom," a robotic voice says, "All members of the staff are incapacitated, and the defence shield is down. It's all yours now."
"Received," responds the robotic male voice of the black-armoured figure standing by the spit, "Get yourself out. It is time."
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
September 16th 2067 - 06:44 BST
Scott takes off his helmet as he needs to wipe the sweat off his forehead. He then sits down on a smashed-up piece of rubble and sighs heavily. Nearby, Virgil, Nina, Gordon and Alan are busy helping the Police, Army and GDF troops with the huge task of searching for the final missing worker of the Calshot Power Station. So far, they'd found the deceased bodies of two male workers. Both had been crushed by falling debris when the building had exploded but as yet there is no sign of the female worker who was also meant to be on duty.
The Tracy's are certainly no strangers to dead bodies having had the horrendous task of finding their mother and grandfather in the remains of a holiday house in the Alps after it had been destroyed in an avalanche of snow when they were very young. There have been other occasions where they have attended a disaster to find not everyone had made it. It's tough and it would never get easier, but it is part of any rescue organisation's job. They have to accept it and carry on.
Alan sees his big brother taking five and walks over to make sure he's okay. "You okay, Scott?"
"Oh," Scott mutters and looks up realising who it is and hastily putting his helmet back on before standing up, "Alan, yes, of course. Sorry, just needed a few moments."
"SCOTT! ALAN! OVER HERE!" Nina's voice suddenly calls.
The eldest and youngest brothers run over to where Gordon is helping Virgil move a very large piece of concrete that had been part of the turbine hall's ceiling. Virgil uses his Jaws of Life mech-suit, but it still isn't quite enough to move such a huge piece of debris. Scott, Nina and Alan join in and after they move it did, they find what they are looking for.
"Ugh! Gross!" Alan exclaims, turning away.
Virgil let out a deep sigh. "Gordon, go tell Colonel Casey we've found her," he says solemnly.
Gordon nods and leaves without a word. Scott puts his hand on Virgil's shoulder as they look down at the lifeless body of the female worker lying in the rubble.
September 16th 2067 - 20:31 NZST
Sally puts the last of the dinner plates laden with mashed potato, peas, gravy and sausages on the table, but everyone just sits there. None of them are hungry. The day's mission weighing heavily on their minds.
"There's nothing you could have done," Jeff states, breaking the uncomfortable silence that fills the kitchen and dining area, "I suspect those poor folks were gone as soon as that station exploded."
Scott pushes his plate away from him. "I just want to know what happened, Dad," he mutters grumpily, "There has to be some reason for that station to have exploded the way it did."
"I'm sure the GDF will find the answer, Scott," Marion says as she gives Walter a spoonful of his meal, "But it may take them some time if there are no witnesses."
"Unless Brains and Moffy come up with a theory," Virgil remarks.
"I'm going to my room," Gordon sighs and stands up.
"Not so fast, young man," Sally says sternly, standing in his way, "You've not eaten any of your dinner."
"I'm not hungry, Grandma," Gordon protests.
"And you haven't eaten since breakfast," Nina points out, "And that was eleven hours ago."
"Exactly, my dear," Sally responds, "Now I know what's happened today isn't something we can simply push aside, but you still need to eat. Now eat."
Gordon groans as he reluctantly sits down and does his best to eat the food on his plate. Only Virgil, Nina and Marion manage to finish what is on their plates. For Virgil, his stomach had felt empty despite feeling down about the incident. Alan manages a bit but not much whereas Scott and Gordon can hardly eat anything at all.
September 16th 2067 - 20:46 NZST
Jeff goes down to Brains' laboratory where he sees him and Moffy checking through a set of holographic blueprints.
"Did you find anything?" Jeff asks.
"I'm afraid n-not, M-Mr Tracy," Brains replies, "We've checked the schematics of the C-Calshot Station and have found n-nothing that could have c-caused it. The design is p-perfect. There are t-thirteen of t-these stations located in d-different locations around the w-world, and not once has there ever b-been a c-catastrophic accident. Until n-now at least."
"You're presuming of course that it was an accident?" Jeff pushes, "You don't think it could have been sabotaged?"
"It's possible, Mr Tracy," Moffy says, "But the security of those power-plants is top notch. Amongst the best in the world. Everyone is checked five times before they can even enter the building. And the building's protective invisible shield that originates from the top of the chimney keeps the site safe from any kind of outside attack."
"Well, something caused it," Jeff deadpans, "And I sure would like to know what it was."
September 17th 2067 - 07:18 NZST
Inside the International Headquarters on board Thunderbird 10, John and Ridley are having a conversation over some general maintenance that needs to be done. The huge space hub has now been operational for eighteen months and there are certain safety checks that are due to be completed. As they go through some of the schematics an alarm goes off and a red warning flashes across the holo-projector. John and Ridley get up in a hurry and charge over to the main control centre as the audio of the distress call is picked up.
"OH, GOD!" wails a terrified woman's voice, "THE DAM IS BREAKING! SEND HELP, PLEASE!"
"Ridley, run a scan," John orders.
Ridley quickly traces the source of the call, and it pings the Merthyr Tydfil Hydro-Electric Dam. She does a live scan of the dam, and her hand quickly covers her mouth in shock.
"Holy shit!" Ridley mutters causing John to look over. His eyes widen in alarm before pressing down on his satchel communicator.
"Come in, Tracy Island," John calls, "We have a situation!"
"Go ahead, John!" Jeff replies.
"Hydro-Electric Dam near Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales has got a breach," John explains, "Cause is unknown. Picked up a distress call from somewhere nearby. A panicked woman. Didn't give any details."
Jeff looks at the hologram showing the damage to the dam. "Details or not, I've seen all I need to," he states, "Team, get going! All of you!"
"FAB!" Scott, Virgil, Nina, Alan and Gordon all respond together.
5
Virgil's rocket painting tilts backwards and Scott, Nina, Alan and Gordon descend to get suited up.
4
The pod equipment is loaded into Module 2.
3
Nina, Alan and Gordon board 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
Thunderbird 1 comes to a stop as the swimming pool above starts to retract.
Thunderbirds are Go!
In the lounge, Brains has joined Jeff, leaving Moffy in his lab. He looks at the situation displayed in front of him and scratches his chin with concern.
"F-First a C-Clean-Energy P-Power-Station and n-now a Hydro-Electric D-Dam?" Brains muses, "This seems rather suspicious."
"You think there's a connection?" Jeff questions.
"P-Possibly, Mr Tracy," Brains replies, "M-Maybe we should get Lady P-Penelope to check it out?"
"She's currently in Hong Kong," Jeff sighs, remembering a conversation he'd had with Penelope the day before, "But we have Kayo!" He presses a button on the desk. "Base to Thunderbird Shadow."
"Go ahead, Mr Tracy," Kayo answers as her hologram appears from her portrait.
"Kayo, what's your location?" Jeff asks.
"Currently over the Sea of Japan," Kayo responds, "Is there a problem?"
"Head for South Wales and join the boys," Jeff orders, "There's a dam in danger of collapsing and they might need back-up."
"And k-keep an eye out for anything s-suspicious," Brains adds.
"Such as what?" Kayo enquires, confused.
"This is the second p-power-station to have had p-problems within the last two days," Brains explains, "I have a f-feeling there may be a c-connection. But I could also b-be wrong."
"Understood, Brains," Kayo nods, "Tell the boys I'll meet them there. Thunderbird Shadow, out."
Thunderbird Shadow takes a sharp turn to the right and starts the long journey to the United Kingdom.
September 17th 2067 - 18:36 BST
Scott flies ahead in Thunderbird 1 and gets in touch with Thunderbird 10 to try and learn more about the situation.
"Mission Control to Thunderbird 10," Scott calls, "John, Ridley, do you have any more information?"
"In regard to the cause, nothing, Scott," Ridley replies over the holo-projector, "But I've mapped out the site and can give you guidance of what needs to be done."
"First things first, any casualties?" Scott asks.
"I'm picking up six life-signs," John informs, "There's two in the office down at the side of the site. Two in the turbine hall where the roof appears to have caved in and the final two are in the elevator leading from the station to the top of the dam. Looks like whatever caused the breach has gone right through the elevator shaft and broken the cables. The elevators at the bottom of the shaft and is flooding."
"Okay, Thunderbird 10, thanks," Scott says, pondering over the problem, "I'll detail the others with the tasks. If you find out anything else, let me know."
"FAB," John and Ridley reply.
Their holograms are then replaced by Jeff's. "Scott, Brains thinks there might be a connection between this and the Calshot incident," he explains, "I've tasked Kayo with joining you."
"FAB, Dad," Scott acknowledges, "Looks like we'll need all the help we can get."
September 17th 2067 - 18:49 BST
It isn't long before Thunderbird 1 reaches the disaster zone. Luckily, there is a small distance between the power-station and the nearby village. The woodland between is flooding but it isn't at danger level yet. As for the dam, Scott knew that if it gave way entirely the entire valley and beyond would be swept away. He can already see some cracks forming from either side of the hole where the dam has been breached.
"This seems familiar," Scott remarks, remembering the time in 2063 when Professor Borender had attacked a dam for Project Sentinel, "Thunderbirds 2 and Shadow, do you read?"
"Strength five, Mission Control," Virgil acknowledges.
"Loud and clear, Scott," Kayo adds.
"Okay, everyone, listen up," Scott orders, "We have six people to save. Two are in an elevator shaft that is flooding, two in the turbine room and two in the side office. Kayo, can you check on the ones in the office?"
"On it, Scott," Kayo states.
"We need to fill that hole in the dam and stop the flooding before we can get to the two in the elevator," Scott continues, "Alan, Gordon, configure the Pods - one for air and one for water. Use the nano-crete to seal it up."
"FAB!" Alan and Gordon say together as they leave the cockpit and head for the Module.
"Virgil, Nina, the roof of the turbine hall has caved in by the looks of it," Scott goes on, "Looks like some heavy lifting is required."
"Music to my ears," smiles Virgil.
"We're on it, Scott," Nina adds, "What about you?"
"I'll get inside the dam and once the hole has been sealed, I'll make my way down to the elevator and check on the two trapped inside," Scott explains.
Thunderbird 2 soon arrives over the site, Alan and Gordon are ready in the Pods. The hatch underneath the Module opens and Alan drops out in the Air-Pod. As he moves over to the front of the dam, Virgil moves Thunderbird 2 over the water and drops the Aqua-Pod with Gordon inside into the water. Scott drops down from Thunderbird 1 using his jetpack onto the walkway on top of the dam before making his way to the lift shaft. He is forced to cut his way in using a laser before being able to gain access. Looking down, he can see water blocking the way down as it races through the hole in the wall.
"Scott to Pods" Scott calls, "You need to seal that hole before it gets any worse!"
"Just a moment, Scott," Alan responds, "I'm having a hard time getting near with that water shooting out at me."
"And I need to make sure I don't get pulled through like last time," Gordon chuckles.
"I don't care how you do it, just get it done!" Scott replies sharply, "Two people could be drowning down there!"
Alan positions his Air-Pod just above the jet of water and aims the cannon at the hole. "This should do for me," he says, "Gordon, I'm ready. Are you?"
There's a pause as Gordon didn't respond initially as he attaches the last of the mooring cables to the Aqua-Pod so he isn't pulled through by the current. "Cables secured. I'm ready."
"FAB," Alan says, "Applying nano-crete!"
The tanks either side of the Pods then start to be emptied as the nano-crete is fired out from the cannons onto the edges of the hole. It won't be enough to completely full the entire hole but it will be enough to make the dam safe and prevent it from collapsing as well as to stop the flow of water from the reservoir.
"It's working!" Scott informs, "Keep it up!"
Having geared-up with their Mech-Suits, Virgil and Nina lower themselves from Thunderbird 2 down to the damaged turbine hall. Once inside, Virgil turns on his LED shoulder light and begins shifting through the wreckage in search of survivors. Nina feels uneasy as they go inside. Not only is it dark, but the scene of destruction is reminding her of the Calshot incident.
"HELLO?" Nina calls out, "THIS IS INTERNATIONAL RESCUE!"
"IS ANYBODY THERE?!" Virgil adds.
"HELP!" a voice cries from across the hall.
The couple scramble over the debris until they find the source of the voice. They come across two men; one is trying to lift a large chunk of debris off the back of the other.
"Hi there," Nina introduces, "Are you okay?"
"I will be when he's safe," the man states.
"We'll get him out," Virgil promises, "What's his name?"
"Edward," the man replies, "I'm Robin."
"Okay, Robin, get ready," Virgil says, "I'll lift the wreckage. Nina you pull him clear?"
"FAB," Nina nods.
Virgil clamps the jaws onto the debris and gives a mighty heave. Despite its weight, he is able to lift it clear so that Nina can drag Edward clear before setting it down again.
"Scott, I've got the workers in the turbine hall," Virgil reports, "One was buried under rubble. He looks in a bad way."
"Can you get him to Thunderbird 2's medical bay?" Scott inquires.
"Should be able to," Nina responds, "We'll lower down a stretcher to winch him up."
"FAB," Scott says, "Looks like the flooding has stopped in here."
September 17th 2067 - 19:20 BST
After landing Thunderbird Shadow in the small car park beside the office, Kayo climbs out of the cockpit and hurries into the building. However, upon entering she finds something that makes her stop dead in her tracks. Instead of finding injured personnel like she expected, she finds the two female personnel sitting on the floor, tied back-to-back with zip-tied around their wrists and ankles and black gaffer-tape over their mouths. Kayo as she dashes over to free them.
"Are you guys okay?" Kayo asks, removing the gags, "What happened?"
"Don't know," one says, "I'd just got off the phone with the mayor of Merthyr when I was hit over the head. Next thing I know I'm down here with Cate."
"I was in the control room getting turbine nine under control," the other worker, Cate adds, "Then same as Karen I was hit from behind and I woke up tied up down here."
"You didn't see who did this?" Kayo questions as she cuts their ties, but the two women only shook their heads.
"Guys, it's Kayo," Kayo calls, "I found the two in the office. They were tied up. This can't have been an accident."
"So I was r-right," Brains mutters as he listens in alongside Jeff, "Sabotage! Whoever d-did this must have d-done the same at the C-Calshot Plant."
"Yes, but who?" Jeff questions, "It isn't The Hood or the Chaos Crew. They're in Aquatraz."
"We can worry about that later," Scott sighs in frustration, "I've got a bit of a situation down here."
"What's wrong, son?" Jeff asks.
"The elevators completely submerged," Scott growls, "Thunderbird 10, can you run a scan and see if it's flooded on the inside?"
"On it," John replies and runs a scan, "Okay. Good news is it's not completely flooded. I'm still picking up the life-signs."
"And the bad news?" Scott pushes.
"It's flooding gradually," Ridley informs, "According to my calculations we have about fifteen minutes before it is completely flooded."
"And the occupants will drown," Scott mutters, "Brains, what are our options?"
"First we will n-need to p-pump out the water from the shaft," Brains explains as he runs a simulation on the holo-projectors, "Then we need to g-gain access and assess any injuries t-that the occupants have sustained. If they're n-not too severe we can l-lift them out. Or if the elevator car is in b-better shape, we might have t-to lift that out instead."
Scott dumps his jetpack so that it doesn't get ruined by the water, and drops down beneath the surface to swim over to the elevator car for a closer look. "It looks battered, Brains, but mostly intact," Scott relays, "Are the occupants heads above the water?"
"For the moment, yes," John replies over the radio.
"Then let's see if I can talk to them," Scott says and attaches a small communicator to the roof of the elevator, "Hello, can you hear me there? Can you hear me? Can you hear me?!"
"Yeah!" a female calls back, "Who are you? Oh, God - the water!"
"I'm here to help," Scott replies, "How long can you hold out?"
"My colleague is in a bad way," the female informs, "I think she's got a concussion, but we're trapped and can't move. The water's at our chests! Whoever you are, please hurry!"
"I'm with International Rescue," Scott states, "Try to stay calm. We'll get you out of there."
Scott returned to the surface and relays the information over to Brains who ponders for a moment as he thinks of a solution.
"We'd better lift the car out," Brains finally says, "Providing it's not too damaged."
"Besides a split where the doors are it doesn't seem to be too bad," Ridley adds.
"But first we need to get the water out," Scott explains, "Thunderbird 2, we're going to need that suction hose of yours."
"FAB," Virgil replies, "Nina has Mr Thornton stable. Will move into position to lower the hose down to you."
"There's not enough room for me and it to be in here," Scott informs, "I'll move to one of the maintenance tunnels and wait there until you're done, Virgil." He puts his jetpack back on and zooms to a horizontal tunnel about halfway up the shaft. He then stands on the ledge out of the way and waits for Thunderbird 2 to drop the hose.
"In position," Virgil calls, "Lowering hose."
Scott had left the hatch on the top of the shaft open in case anything needed to be taken down to the elevator. It is just wide enough for the hose to be lowered from Thunderbird 2's Module into the shaft. At this moment, the hairs on the back of Scott's neck raise and he whips around to look over to a nearby door. A second later, the door is blasted off its hinges.
"EEEEEYYYAAAAARRGGGHHH!" Scott yells as is completely taken out by the door and goes crashing into the opposite side of the tunnel. His yelling sending chills down everyone's spines.
"Scott?!" Jeff calls urgently, "Scott, are you okay? What happened? Scott?! ANSWER ME!"
Scott groans as he regains his senses. He finds himself pinned to the floor by the door that had hit him. Everything in his body ached like mad. His vision remains blurred as he tries to shake off the mild concussion that he certainly received from the impact but manages to lift his head a little when the sound of deep breathing and metallic footsteps along with the whirr of hydraulics approach him. When his vision clears, he comes face-to-face with a tall figure in a black armoured suit with glowing red eyes walking menacingly towards him. It is nothing like anything he'd ever seen before.
"Who…the heck…are you?" Scott demands between twinges of pain.
"Your doom, Tracy," the figure says in a male robotic voice and a sharp blade emerges from its right arm, "I'm going to enjoy this. It will be slow and painful." He walks over the door pinning Scott to the ground who cries out as the extra weight puts even greater pressure on his body. Soon it reaches Scott, bent down and raises its right arm ready to slam the blade into Scott's neck. Then, it freezes. It seemed to look at him closely. "Fuck!" he curses, "You're–"
"GET OFF HIM!" a voice cries and the figure turns only to be struck immediately by Kayo, sending him flying off Scott and into the wall opposite.
"Son of a bitch!" Kayo mutters looking over at the figure before turning her attention to Scott, "Are you okay?"
"Behind…you…" Scott chokes.
Kayo whips around and sees the figure getting up from one side and Alan and Gordon charging from the other.
"KAYO! SCOTT!" Alan and Gordon shout respectively.
"GET BACK!" Kayo yells, "THIS GUY'S DANGEROUS!"
"DAMN RIGHT I AM!" the figure growls, "I ONLY CAME FOR THE ONE TRACY, BUT NOW I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!" The eyes glow as the optical blaster powers up for another attack. As it goes to fire at them, Alan grabs a piece of fallen rock and throws it at the figure. It impacts the helmet and causes it to stumble backwards as the beams fire, blasting right through the roof of the tunnel and up out the top of the dam wall.
"Fuckin' hell!" Virgil exclaims as the beams narrowly missed Thunderbird 2.
"What's going on in there?!" Nina cries from inside the Module.
Inside Kayo, Alan and Gordon managed to shield themselves and Scott from the falling debris. Once the dust settles, Kayo immediately gives chase to the figure as he tries to make a getaway. She knows that Scott is in the safe hands of Alan and Gordon so doesn't give it another thought. She is forced to shift through the rubble, but soon catches up to the mysterious attacker. The armour has taken a battering by the chunks of concrete that have fallen from the ceiling and not all of the systems are working properly.
"It's over. Whoever you are," Kayo growls.
The figure looks at her and scoffs. One of the red optic blast eyes has been smashed and Kayo can just make out a human eye glaring at her. "This isn't over!" the figure chuckles, "Mark my words, woman! The Black Phantom will have his revenge!"
Kayo lunges forward to grab The Black Phantom, but before she can, the jets from the armour fire up and he shoots upwards through the hole in the roof before flying away. "Oh, no, you don't!" Kayo mutters determinedly. She presses a button on her wrist controller before using a grapple to haul herself outside. She then runs to the edge of the dam and jumps off to land in the cockpit of Thunderbird Shadow which has remotely followed her signal up to her position. After the cockpit is sealed, she sets off in pursuit of the escaping Black Phantom.
September 17th 2067 - 19:45 BST
After bringing Scott back to Thunderbird 2, Nina decides it's her time to head back into action and leaves Alan and Gordon in the med-bay. Virgil has finished pumping out the water from the elevator shaft and Nina makes her way down to the car at the bottom. After opening the hatch, she quickly sees the situation that the two female workers are in.
"Hey there," Nina smiles as she drops down to have a closer inspection.
"Hi," the woman who spoke Scott earlier replies, "Is it just me or are you someone different?"
"Yes," Nina chuckles lightly that would be my future brother-in-law, Scott, ma'am. What's your name and are you hurt?"
"Heidi Rowley," Heidi responds, "Am a bit squashed but otherwise I think I'm okay. Can't speak for Millie here."
Millie is barely conscious with a nasty gash in her forehead which seems to be gushing quite a bit of blood as well as from another wound around her stomach where the metal bar is pinning the two against the wall.
"Millie, I'm Nina. Can you hear me?" Nina calls.
Millie opens her mouth, but nothing came out.
"Unresponsive," Nina mutters and presses down on her satchel, "Love, how's that grapple coming? This young woman's hurt bad by the look of it."
"Coming down to you now," Virgil answers as the grab is lowered from the Module down the shaft towards the elevator.
Once the grab is in position and locked onto the elevator. Nina checks again to make sure that the car won't fall apart when they try to lift it.
"Seems stable enough," Nina muses, "Okay, Thunderbird 2, take it away."
"FAB," Virgil says, "Hold tight."
"Hang on tight," Nina informs Heidi. Heidi holds onto Millie tightly whilst Nina uses one hand to hold herself to the side of the elevator and the other to hold one of Millie's hands. She hopes it would reassure her but isn't convinced she is able to understand what's going on.
Slowly but surely, the winch lifts the elevator up the shaft. They can't rush it in case the structure of the car failed. Fortunately, it did not and eventually it emerged from the shaft before entering Thunderbird 2.
"All right!" Alan says triumphantly as he watches them emerge.
Scott, still in pain, smiled with relief.
September 17th 2067 - 19:52 BST
By the time Kayo had caught up to The Black Phantom, they had crossed the coast and are flying out to sea. The Black Phantom realised that he is being pursued and tries his best to go faster. But the suit is too badly damaged to get any more speed. All he can do is try evasive manoeuvres to try and shake Thunderbird Shadow off.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" The Black Phantom roars as he tries shooting his remaining optic blaster at her. But the targeting system is damaged as well so he can't target accurately, not to mention Kayo's reflexes are next to none.
"So pathetic," Kayo muses, "You're mine, Phantom."
Suddenly, several bodies also in back suits land on Thunderbird Shadow and try to breach the cockpit. Kayo gasps in shock. None of the had been picked up by her advanced radar. There is no way that that should be possible. Kayo glances in the rear-view mirror as a couple alarms start going off and noticing that one is tampering with Shadow's engines. The two working on getting into the cockpit struggle to get past the reinforced glass.
"AHHH!" Kayo growls, "GET…OFF!" She spins Shadow in a barrel-roll several times in an attempt to shake the suited men off. After the fourth spin the G-Force finally does its work, and they go flying off. A couple of yells can be heard as they plummet towards the ocean below. The Black Phantom looks back around when he hears the screaming coming behind him.
"For fucks sake!" The Black Phantom mumbles and turns around and crashes into the waves below in an attempt to rescue his crew. They all sink out of Kayo's view and without a lock on them with her radar, she is forced to give up chase.
"Shit!" Kayo sighs.
September 17th 2067 - 19:58 BST
Some of the dam workers watch anxiously inside the Module as Virgil uses the laser cutter in his shoulder turret to cut a hole in the side of the elevator car. He then helps Nina remove the metal beam that has trapped Millie and Heidi against the wall. Millie had lost consciousness so Nina, with the help of Gordon, pick her up and quickly carry her over to the medical bay where Alan is tending to Scott. Edward also remains on a stretcher, unconscious as well.
Virgil helps Heidi out. She is too in pain from being pinned against the side of the elevator but after being checked over, is amazed to find she's not suffered any injuries apart from some cuts and bruises.
"You're very lucky, Miss Rowley," Virgil notes, "There's not many people who could get out relatively unhurt from a fall like that."
"I'll say," Heidi remarks and pulls a necklace out from under her work uniform revealing a four-leaf clover on it, "This is my lucky clover. I just pinned myself against the wall and held on for dear life. I felt a hard bump when we impacted the bottom and then the next thing I know, Millie and I were pinned together." She looks over at Millie on the neighbouring stretcher. "God, she's so young," she whispers, almost like she's about to cry. "I could never forgive myself if she–"
"Hey, hey!" Nina interjects, "Don't talk like that, Heidi. This was not your fault in any way."
"She'll be okay though, won't she?" Cate asks.
Virgil looks at Gordon who is tending to Millie. "Gordon?" he calls causing Gordon to look up, "Is she going to be okay?"
"I'm not a doctor," Gordon grimly replies, "I can't honestly say."
Heidi, Cate, Karen and Robin's hearts sink. That isn't the answer they were hoping for.
"Couldn't we get Grandma on the line?" Alan suggests, "She's a doctor and would be able to give us an opinion."
"Was a doctor, Alan," Gordon states, "Have you forgotten she's retired?"
"No," Alan says, "But she's our best medical expert."
"We need to get them to hospital," Scott comments as he sits up, "They doctors and nurses there will be able to look after them."
"And you need to rest," Virgil orders sternly before turning to the others, "I'll set a course to the nearest hospital. You should all get checked out." He then hurries back to the cockpit.
"I'll fly Thunderbird 1 back," Alan says, "With Scott here, I'm the best fit."
"FAB," Virgil nods before disappears out of the Module.
Scott lies on his stretcher and looks over at the dam workers. "Good job you called us when you did," he muses, "Any later and we wouldn't have gotten here in time."
Cate and Karen look at each other in confusion.
"We didn't call you," Karen informs.
"You didn't?" Heidi, asks shocked, "But you must have done. How else would they have known we were in trouble."
"We were tied up," Cate explains, "And knocked out beforehand."
"And Ed and I were trapped in the turbine hall," Robin adds.
"And Millie and I were in the elevator," Heidi finishes.
Alan, Gordon and Scott are now the ones to exchange puzzled looks.
"Then, if you didn't," Scott starts.
"Who did?" Gordon finishes.
"John, could you play back the call?" Nina asks as she taps on her sash communicator, "Our friends here don't seem to remember sending one."
"Coming right up," John's voice answers.
Everyone listens as they heard the distress call played back to them. "OH, GOD! THE DAM IS BREAKING! SEND HELP, PLEASE!"
The brothers then look back at the dam workers, who have gone very pale with shock. They all then look at Cate, who's the palest of all. It's her voice they have just heard making the distress call, but as she has already stated, she and Karen had been captured and had not been able to make any kind of distress call.
"That's…my voice," Cate mumbles, her voice shaking.
"But it wasn't you who made it?" Scott questions leading to Cate to shake her head.
Silence falls throughout the Module as everyone is deeply disturbed by what they have heard.
September 18th 2067 - 11:12 NZST
The International Rescue team regroup back at Tracy Island the following morning and begin to report the mysterious goings on that had taken place the previous day. All of which they found deeply troubling. The only piece of good news they received is that both Millie and Edward are expected make full recoveries and their injuries aren't as severe as first seemed. Kayo explains about the shocking news that whilst pursuing The Black Phantom his crew members, who were also flying in armoured suits, weren't picked up on her radar.
"This is m-most disconcerting," Brains mutters, "Looks like I'm going to have to upgrade T-Thunderbird Shadow's equipment w-which is meant to b-be further than any current m-military capabilities."
"Do you think you could even advance it further, Brains?" Alan asks.
"Without knowing the d-details behind how the technology works, I'm going to have to m-make an educated g-guess," Brains replies before leaving the lounge along with Moffy.
"Well, it's a fucking pain in my arse," Kayo states causing her to receive a couple of glares from Jeff and Sally.
"Maybe," Virgil muses, "But there are still so many unanswered questions here. Who the heck is The Black Phantom?"
"And what do they want with Scott?" Marion asks with worry evident in her voice, "That metallic monster almost killed him for no reason!"
Scott, who now has bandages around his broken left arm and leg, hasn't said much since they have returned to the island. But Gordon's words bring him out of the thinking trance he'd been stuck in for the last twenty minutes or so. "I'm not so sure it was me he was after," he announces causing everyone to look over at him puzzled.
"What do you mean?" Nina asks.
"When I was pinned under the door, he was standing right over me," Scott explains, "His blade was ready to cut me open. And yet, he hesitated and then cursed, like he was targeting the wrong person."
"If it wasn't you he was after then who could it have been?" Alan enquires.
"I don't care who," a stern voice booms. Jeff has been completely silent during the discussion. He has been listening to everything that is being said and has relayed it all to Colonel Casey so that they can look into it. "Whoever this creep is, he is not going to take any of my crew from me! We will carry on as normal but will be extra vigilant for when he strikes again. Kayo, I want the island's security bumped up another three levels. We cannot afford to let this monster track us to our home."
"Consider it done," Kayo nods.
"I'll contact Lady Penelope and get her to liaise with the GDF," Jeff continues, "We need to find out who these people are what they want with one of us."
"You don't suppose The Hood could be behind this in any way?" John asks.
"More than likely," Kayo suggests, "Especially as one of my uncle's aliases was The Black Phantom. It seems too much of a coincidence."
"I know it's probably a long shot," Jeff starts, "But maybe you should try and get some information out of him, Kayo. That's if you can."
"I will, Mr Tracy," Kayo confirms. "That's a promise."
Jeff stands and faces his International Rescue Team like a general addressing his troops. "Gentleman, Ladies whatever this Black Phantom throws at us, we will rise above it. I believe in you all. We will NOT BE BEATEN!"