February 13th, 2068 - 13:15 NZDT
Kayo and Captain Rigby walk through Aquatraz as they make their way to see its main prisoner. On the way they pass the cells containing Fuse and Havoc. Fuse watches them pass but gives no reaction. Havoc does her usual banging of her fists on the door and shouts abuse at them. Both ignore her, which only angers her even more for she hates not getting attention.
Upon reaching The Hood's cell, Rigby swipes his keycard into the control panel and the outer doors of the round steel container open to reveal The Hood behind reinforced glass. A walkway then extends from the gantry taking Kayo over to just beside the cell. As she does so, The Hood casually turns around to face her.
"Well, well, well," The Hood smirks, "What a pleasant surprise. How are you, Tanusha?"
"Fine, thank you, Uncle," Kayo says with a dark undertone, "I'm not here to see how you are though."
"Of course you're not," The Hood replies with a smirk, "If you were then I would say International Rescue has a problem on its hands."
Kayo grimaces. "I'm here for some information," she continues simply. "And you'd better give it to me."
"Ask away," The Hood shrugs without any concern.
"I need you to tell me everything about your newest employees," Kayo states.
"I... beg your pardon?" The Hood asks, confused. The smug expression quickly dissipating from his face. "What new employees?"
"Don't get funny with me, Uncle," Kayo sneers and brings up a hologram image that has been taken from her suit-camera. It shows a figure in a jet-black steel suit with glowing red eyes. "This is The Black Phantom. He and his buddies attacked International Rescue at a dam in Wales. They almost succeeded in killing us. I want you to tell me who they are and what their beef with International Rescue is? Unless of course it's your misguided teaching like what you did with the Chaos Crew?"
"The Black Phantom?" The Hood cries in outrage as he stares at the image, "How dare he use one of my former code-names?!"
"You mean you didn't allow him to use it?" Kayo frowns.
"Certainly not!" The Hood snaps, "I have absolutely no idea who this person is! But let me tell you if I ever get my hands on him, I'll teach him to use a name that I have used myself!" He looks at Kayo right in the eyes. "Tanusha, I can assure you that I have nothing to do with this new criminal, whoever he is. Whilst I have got to admit I like the design of that suit; it has nothing to do with me."
Kayo narrows her eyes. "Are you sure about that?" she questions, "You claimed to know nothing about The Mechanic when he first attacked and yet you were behind him the whole time, controlling him with that disgusting eye of yours!"
The cybernetic eye in The Hood's head flashes to taunt her. "Sorry, that was petty," he mutters a moment later, "But to the point, Tanusha. I did try and play innocent when it came to The Mechanic. But this Phantom, he has nothing to do with me whatsoever."
Kayo continues to eye him suspiciously for a few moments before turning to leave. "If you're lying, you will be sorry," she calls and with that she walks sternly away.
The Hood says nothing as Rigby closes up the outer doors of the cell as the gantry retracts.
"Still think the trip was wasted?" Rigby inquires as they make their way back to the Aquatraz Central Control.
"He wasn't lying," Kayo sighs, "I know how hard that is to believe, but I could tell. He knows nothing about The Black Phantom. I guess this battle is going to be harder than the rest."
"Excuse me," Rigby mumbles as his phone rings, "Rigby? Oh, yes, Colonel Casey? What's that? Prison breakout in London? I'm on my way."
"Prison break?" Kayo asks as Rigby puts his phone away.
"Yes," Rigby replies, "Three criminals have escaped from Brixton Maximum Security Prison. Colonel Casey is setting up a task force to help hunt down and recapture them. Wanna assist?"
"Certainly," Kayo smiles, "I'll have to get permission from Tracy Island but if you go on ahead, I can catch you up."
"Roger," Rigby salutes as they part ways, "See you there."
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
February 13th, 2068 - 03:37 GMT
"Light-Fingered Fred, Gomez and Higgins?!" Kayo exclaims as Casey fills her in on the details, "Those are Parker's former criminal friends!"
"Well, Light-Fingered Fred and Gomez are, yes," Casey confirms, "Higgins has no former acquaintance with any of them. He just so happened to be in the same cell as Gomez and Fred."
"And he's also the one who stole the Centurium Two-One from Professor Moffat but was tricked by Lady Penelope and Parker," Kayo informs, "They told us all about it."
"Higgins is a first-time offender," Casey argues, "And another victim of the Chaos Crew. He was a regular person who got manipulated into something for a lot of money. I suspect he didn't escape willingly."
"Agreed," Kayo sighs, "Colonel Casey, may I suggest we bring in Lady Penelope and Parker on the task force? Parker knows Fred and Gomez better than anyone. He could lead us to some potential hideouts?"
"Good thinking," Casey nods, "I need to set up a few things before heading out there myself. Can you contact Lady Penelope and ask her to join us in London as soon as possible. We'll be meeting in Trafalgar Square."
"F-A-B. See you there," Kayo responds and changes her call frequencies in order to call the Creighton-Ward Mansion.
"International Rescue," Penelope yawns, "Lady Penelope here."
"Lady Penelope, it's Kayo," Kayo answers, "Sorry to disturb you but we have a situation in London that will require you and Parker."
"I see," Penelope mutters, rubbing her eyes, "Can't the boys handle it?"
"It's not that kind of situation," Kayo admits, "There's been a breakout at a London prison and three, er, friends of yours shall we say have escaped."
"Which criminals?" Penelope demands, suddenly more awake.
"Light-Fingered Fred, Gomez and Higgins," Kayo states.
"Where are they now?" Penelope enquires.
"Not sure at the moment," Kayo states, "But Colonel Casey's putting together a task force to comb the streets of London and asked if perhaps Parker could lend a hand with narrowing down a few potential places they could be hiding."
"Tell Colonel Casey we'll be there right away," Penelope nods, "Where do we rendezvous?"
"Trafalgar Square," Kayo orders, "I'm on my way there now with Captain Rigby."
"F-A-B," Penelope acknowledges, "I'll wake Parker and we'll be on our way."
"Understood," Kayo replies, "Thunderbird Shadow, out."
February 13th, 2068 - 03:53 GMT
FAB 1 arrives at the GDF Mobile HQ in Trafalgar Square shortly after Thunderbird Shadow. With it still being the very early hours of the morning, the streets are empty so there are no cars or people about.
"Thank you all for coming," Casey says, "Now as you know, two of our targets tonight are professional criminals and one is what I suspect is a reluctant participant. Light-Fingered Fred and Gomez are dangerous men and should not be underestimated. All weapons are to be set to stun and to be used only if you are either threatened or they fail to comply with our demands for surrender. You all have your assigned areas. I will be monitoring all squads from here. You find any potential clue to their location, report it immediately. Get to it, and good hunting."
Whilst the various GDF Squads heading out along with several Police Patrols, Kayo, Penelope and Parker are left to talk with Rigby and Colonel Casey. Already Parker is seeing a flaw in the plan. "With h'all due respect, ma'am, checking the streets h'of London is h'a waste h'of time."
"And how so?" Casey questions, raising her eyebrow.
"When Gomez, Fred and h'I used to, ahem, work together," Parker goes on, "We used to 'ide from the authorities mostly h'in underground locations. H'And h'I also know the perfect place to start looking h'if h'I may lead the way?"
"You may," Casey nods, "Take Lady Penelope, Kayo and Captain Rigby's squad with you. The more back-up you have, the better."
"H'everyone to their vehicles, please," Parker orders, "Follow me to Lambeth."
Everyone gets into their vehicle and FAB 1 leads a small convoy, which includes three GDF Troop Trucks, to the derelict house in Lambeth where he feels the criminals might be.
"You think they're in there?" Kayo asks, from her seat next to Penelope, opting this rather than the Shadow Bike.
"H'If they h'aren't now then chances h'are they would have been, miss," Parker replies.
The group go inside the house. At first, they don't find much but once they are inside the old living room they find a light is on and several boxes scattered around.
"A-ha!" Parker cries, triumphantly, "Light! That means someone 'as been h'in 'ere recently."
"What a mess!" Penelope remarks, "How could anyone live in a disgusting environment?"
"We never used this place to live h'in, m'lady," Parker admits, "This was used for storing h'our equipment that we would use h'on the various jobs we did."
"By jobs you mean robberies?" Kayo questions.
"H'allegedly," Parker coughs.
"What is that smell?" Rigby calls, "Smells like garbage!"
"H'I think that might be these," Parker points. They follow his indication over to one of the discarded prison uniforms which still stank of rubbish.
Penelope and Kayo cover their mouths and noses. "Parker, get rid of them!" Penelope demands, "I feel like I'm going to be sick!"
Parker quickly gathers up the uniforms and buries them under some sheets as best he can.
One of the GDF soldiers then comes running up from the cellar. "Sir, we've found something," he says to Rigby.
"H'A door by h'any chance?" Parker deadpans.
"Er, yes, sir," the solder stutters, taken aback.
"H'I thought so," Parker chuckles, "This way." He then leads Rigby, Kayo and Penelope down to the cellar where another three soldiers are already examining the secret door.
"Where does that go?" Rigby asks.
"To h'a maintenance tunnel, sir," Parker responds, "I'll be my boots that is where they 'ave gone."
Rigby turns to the four GDF soldiers who had found the door. "You four come with us," he orders, "The rest of you guard the house. If they have gone somewhere else and then decide to come back, we ought to be ready for them."
Coming down the stairs from behind the secret door, the group now find themselves inside the maintenance tunnel. Kayo leads the way this time, using the scanning equipment in her helmet to look for any heat signatures. It's unlikely that anyone other than the three escaped criminals would be down there so finding them ought to be relatively easy she thinks.
"Anything, Kayo?" Penelope calls.
"Not yet," Kayo replies, "No, wait, hang on. I've got something! Three contacts about one mile ahead of us. They're moving slowly."
"Then let's get after them," Rigby shouts and leads the charge with everyone running along behind him which Parker is less than pleased about.
"Phew!" Parker pants as they sprinted along, "I'm h'afraid that I'm not h'as fit as h'I used to be!"
"Do your best, Parker," Penelope replies, and deliberately slows down to stay with Parker whilst the rest of the group run on ahead. As they get closer, they start to hear voices up ahead.
"Of course," a voice, Fred states, "There's only one person who would know to look for us down here. Nosey."
"That silly old fool?" another voice, Gomez, scoffs, "He's probably tucked up asleep in that cosy house of that no-good Creighton-Ward. The cops won't go asking him for help."
"And yet we did," Kayo smirks causing the three men to jump. They turn to see Kayo, Rigby and the GDF soldiers marching towards them, their guns raised and armed with stun ready to be used at a second's notice.
"Don't move!" Rigby orders, "Make a move and we'll drop you. Don't think that I am kidding either. You're all under arrest and going back to prison.
"Gaaah!" Gomez growls, "Like hell we are! How did you find us?"
"I told them," Parker smiles smugly as he and Penelope catch up, "Up to your h'old tricks again, Gomez?"
"You!" Gomez fumes.
"Told you," Fred deadpans.
"The game's up, gentlemen," Penelope announces, "Just come along quietly, please. I'd hate to see you get hurt by these nasty-looking weapons."
"Wait a minute!" Higgins cries, pointing at Penelope and Parker, "You're the ones who tricked me!"
"You know them?!" Fred and Gomez exclaim together.
"And you do?" Higgins asks, his voice starting to raise in volume. He goes red in the face and shaking with fury, "It's because of them that I'm in prison in the first place! YOU ROBBED ME OF THE CHANCE TO EARN A FORTUNE!"
"You committed a crime, Mr Higgins," Kayo sighs, "Crime doesn't pay."
"IF IT WASN'T FOR THEM, I'D NOT ONLY BE LIVING SOMEWHERE IN THE SUN, I'D ALSO STILL HAVE ALL MY FINGERS!" Higgins screams and holds up his right hand to reveal that both the index and forefinger are missing.
Penelope and Parker stare in shock as Higgins had a full set of fingers when they'd seen him last.
"Good heavens!" Penelope cries, "How on earth?"
"After you tricked me, that purple woman turned up," Higgins explains, "When we discovered the trick, she took out her frustration on me! She... she cut off my fingers!" He then breaks down, falling onto his knees and begins to sob.
"Havoc!" Kayo growls, "Captain, we need to add that to her list of crimes and extend her sentence."
"Consider it done," Rigby nods, "But for the time being, let's get these three back to prison."
"No, you're not!" Higgins snaps as the tears streamed down his cheeks and points at Penelope and Parker, "You're going to pay for ruining my life!"
"Us ruin your life?" Parker repeats indignantly, "As far h'as I can see, you're the h'one who did that!"
"Enough!" Rigby barks, turning to the soldiers, "Surround and cuff them."
"NO!" Higgins screams, and before anyone can stop him, he presses the button on the top of the SWD, "DETONATE!"
Everyone else's eyes, including Fred and Gomez's, widened in horror as the SWD's red lights start to flash as its countdown begins.
"GET BACK!" Parker shouts to everyone. He grabs Penelope and pulls her away. Kayo, Rigby and the soldiers sprint after them.
The SWD detonates and the shockwave shakes the tunnel so hard that it dislodges several bricks from the walls and roof causing part of it to collapse, creating a big pile of rubble. The shockwave sends everyone flying forwards in their respective directions of travel causing them to all fall flat on the concrete floor.
Once the dust had settled, Kayo clambers onto the top of the mound of rubble just in time to see the escapees running off down the tunnel and into the darkness. "They're making a run for it," she calls down to the others, "Come on, let's get after them."
But before she can climb down the other side, they are all stopped by the sound of a deep rumble coming from somewhere nearby.
"Er, what is that?" Rigby questions.
"Sounds like a train," Penelope observes.
Parker's heart skips a beat, and he shines his torch up at the hole in the ceiling. Looking up, everyone can now see the unmistakable shape of railway lines suspended in the air. And the rumbling is starting to get louder telling them there is a train heading right for it. A Bakerloo Line service is approaching. They see the bright light from the train cab and the sound of the emergency break being applied.
"RUN!" Kayo shouts at the others as she scrambles back down from the mound.
Everyone runs as fast as they can, just as the train reaches the hole between the tunnels. It has managed to slow down to not be going so fast, but the damaged track cannot take the weight. The rails buckle and snap causing the front carriage to crash down through between the two tunnels before slamming into the base of the bottom tunnel and then stopping after its front wedges into the wall on the opposite side.
The group have to throw themselves to the floor again to avoid the huge cloud of dust that now rushes through the tunnel. Once the dust settles again, Kayo, Penelope, Parker and the GDF squad run back to see the damage. It's a horrifying sight. The train is now stuck at a forty-five-degree angle. The front is buried in the wall on one side and the rear section still in the tunnel above.
"Well, this is rather distressing," Penelope muses, "I hope there's nobody inside."
"The driver will be h'at least!" Parker barks.
Kayo scrambles up and to peer inside. "There are people inside!" Kayo calls, "Captain Rigby! Contact Colonel Casey and get her to send Paramedics and the Fire Brigade!"
"I'm on it!" Rigby nods, "Men, with me!" He begins to lead the GDF soldiers back to the stairway.
"Lady Penelope, Parker, can you go after those crooks?" Kayo asks.
"But don't you need help?" Penelope questions.
"I'm getting it," Kayo responds, "Those three need to be caught for what they've done here. Now go!" She then speaks urgently into her wrist communicator. "Calling International Rescue - we have a situation!"
Realising now what Kayo meant by getting help, Penelope and Parker hurry off after Rigby and the GDF soldiers. They both have to admit Kayo is right. Fred, Gomez and Higgins definitely need to be caught now.
"Go ahead, Kayo," Sally replies.
"We have a situation in London," Kayo explains, "A bomb has gone off and a tube train has crashed in the tunnels. We need Thunderbird 2 and some underground equipment immediately."
"Well, that's a problem," Gordon scoffs, "Virgil and Nina have gone to The Bahamas on holiday."
"You've flown Thunderbird 2 before," Scott points out, "You can fly her."
"But not on an entire mission by myself," Gordon protests, "This sounds way too big of a job for just me."
"I'm already on the scene as Mobile Control," Kayo informs, "I'll assist you and so will the Fire Brigade. Just bring Thunderbird 2, Gordon. And get here as fast as you can. Kayo, out."
"I'll come too," John says. Since Alan and him had swapped Thunderbird 5 duties again, John is spending some time on Tracy Island once again. "Sounds like you'll need all the help you can get."
"Good luck," Scott nods.
5
Gordon descends and gets suited up.
4
The pod equipment is loaded into Module 2.
3
John 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!
February 13th, 2068 - 05:12 GMT
Kayo climbs onto the side of the crashed Underground Carriage and peers inside. She can see the shapes of four teenage girls sprawled out across the seats. They have been thrown about during the crash and all appear to be out cold. Kayo knocks on the window. "HELLO?!" she calls, "CAN YOU HEAR ME IN THERE?!"
One of the girls with dark brown hair begins to stir and lifts her head to look at Kayo. She clearly is disorientated as he looks around. "Where am I?" she mumbles to herself before noticing the state her friends are in. "Oh, God! OH, GOD!" she cries, scrambling over to them, "Jen? Rebecca? Hannah? Wake up, please!"
"CAN YOU HEAR ME IN THERE?!" Kayo calls again as she whacks on the glass again. Due to the thickness her words aren't easy to hear from inside, but the conscious girl seems to hear her and scrambles over to the window.
"HELP!" she cries, "PLEASE HELP US!"
"I WILL!" Kayo shouts through, "I'M WITH INTERNATIONAL RESCUE! HELP IS ON THE WAY!"
February 13th, 2068 - 05:18 GMT
After a few more minutes of waiting, Kayo soon finds herself joined by members of the Fire Brigade where they are led by someone whom she had heard of before.
"Cass McCready, Fire Brigade," Cass introduces.
"Kayo Kyrano, International Rescue," Kayo replies and shakes her hand.
"Wow, you got here fast," Cass remarks, "Where's your ship?"
"Oh, I was here when the crash happened," Kayo explains, "We were chasing down three escaped criminals when one of them set off an explosive and caused part of the tunnel roof to collapse. Then the train came along and fell down into this one."
"Anyone aboard?" Cass asks.
"At least four. Possibly five in this carriage," Kayo confirms, "I've not been able to see the driver or check the other carriages."
"Menkin," Cass barks as she turns to her men, "Contact the board and tell them to shut off the electricity in this section! Smith! Jones! Climb up to the tunnel and check the carriages for any casualties!" She then turns back to Kayo. "Is Virgil and Nina coming with Thunderbird 2?"
"Yes and no," Kayo replies and seeing the confused look on Cass face continues, "They're on annual leave but two of Virgil's brothers are bringing Thunderbird 2 with the equipment we'll need. I'll get an update from them." She activates her wrist-com. "Thunderbird 2, what's your ETA?"
"Just crossing the Atlantic Ocean," John answers, "ETA is fifteen minutes."
"F-A-B," Kayo nods, "Try and get here sooner if you can. The people in this train don't look too good."
February 13th, 2068 - 05:32 GMT
Thunderbird 2 is now on final approach to London. At Kayo's request, the Fire Brigade have cleared an area for the green leviathan to land safely.
"The house we used to get down here is too small to get the equipment through, boys," Kayo explains to Gordon and John, "You'll need to create a new shaft so the equipment can be lowered down."
"The Mole then Land Pod?" Gordon question, "Got it, Mobile Control."
"Put her down in the park, Gordon," John orders as he gets up from the co-pilot seat. "I'll go configure the Pods."
John heads down inside Module 2 and begins to assemble a yellow Mole-Pod. As the familiar shape of The Mole starts to come together, John runs over to the holo-pad on the other side of the module and selects the green Land Pod. He stands back and watches as the different pieces of equipment are put together. He feels Thunderbird 2 come into land and hears the sound of Gordon coming down the maintenance steps to join him on the ground. John then gets inside the Land Pod whilst Gordon positions himself to drive The Mole. Once the main body of Thunderbird 2 has lifted clear of the module and the door is lowered, they head out towards the danger zone. Gordon leads the way with John following and Thunderbird 2 automatically closing itself up and going into sentry-mode to ensure nobody tries to board it.
"In position," Gordon announces, "Get everyone clear down below." He tilted the Mole-Pod downwards and began to burrow into the road leaving a big hole behind him.
The maintenance tunnel isn't that deep down, so it takes no more than twenty seconds for Gordon to burrow his way down to it. He'd also made sure there are no underground cables or water pipes in his path. The last thing they want is to send the whole City of London into darkness and without any kind of power. With the shaft complete, Gordon reverses the Pod back up and onto its trolley before moving it out of the way and then joining John in the Land-Pod so they can travel down the shaft together.
Within moments they are inside the tunnel and are faced with the crashed Underground Train.
"Fucking hell!" John remarks as he and Gordon join Kayo and Cass, "How are the passengers?"
"One's conscious and scared," Kayo informs, "The other three are still out cold."
"What's the plan then?" Gordon asks, "Can we lift it back into its proper tunnel?"
"Not with the current equipment we have," Cass replies as she shakes her head, "We'd need several hydraulic jacks as well as a rescue locomotive to pull the train back onto the tracks. There isn't time for that right now. My crew have confirmed there is nobody else on the train."
"It's the driver I'm worried about," Kayo states, "The front of the train is completely buried. I cannot see him at all."
John observes the train carefully. "Then I'd say we cut open the doors and remove the casualties," he muses, "We can access the cab from inside once we've got the passengers out."
"I'll get the cutters," Gordon nods, hurrying back to the Pod. He rushes over to the back seat and reaches under it, pulling out a large box of equipment. As John approaches from behind Gordon seems to feel his presence and without looking throws one set of cutters at him as he continues to rummage for the other. While he does that, John goes back over to the Underground Train and starts cutting through the passenger doors. Gordon soon joins him and helps with the other. Once they finished cutting through the doors, the brothers climb inside with the help of the Fire-Brigade. Cass and Kayo soon join them inside. Across from them they see two girls now conscious, including the one Kayo spoke to earlier. The girls remain huddled in one corner with the other two still out cold.
"What are your names?" Gordon asks gently.
"Charlotte," says the one that Kayo had spoken to.
"Hannah," replies the other.
"Okay, go with my colleagues here," Gordon points, indicating to Kayo and Cass, "They'll get you out. Then we'll get your friends out."
"It was my birthday yesterday," Hannah sobs, "It wasn't supposed to end this way!"
"Hey, hey, hey, shhhhh!" Gordon comforts, "You didn't cause this accident so don't blame yourself for it. Now, come on, off you go."
Kayo and Cass help Charlotte and Hannah respectively out of the train whilst John and Gordon check the other two girls who names they learn are Rebecca and Jenny from Kayo.
"They don't look good, do they, John?" Gordon mutters.
"No, they don't," John agrees, "But they're alive and that's what matters. CHIEF! WE'RE GOING TO NEED SOME SPINAL BOARDS FOR THESE TWO!"
"COMING RIGHT UP!" Cass' voice calls back from outside the train.
Gordon then pulls open the door leading into the cab of the train. He finds it is almost completely crushed and he can't see the driver. "Shit!" he sighs, heart sinking, "John, I can't see the driver."
John comes to look. At first, he thinks Gordon is right, but then he looks at the floor. "There he is!" The driver is in the cab after all, but he had thrown himself to the floor before the crash. Now he is pinned down under the crushed control console. "Hello, sir?" John calls as he checks for a pulse, "Can you hear me?" The driver lets out a groan. "He's alive," he muses, "Gordon, go get Chief McCready and tell her we're going to need one of the Fire Brigade's Jaws of Life seeing as we can't use Virgil's."
"F-A-B," Gordon nods and hurries out.
Having gotten Jenny and Rebecca out of the Underground Train on spinal boards and hoisted up the shaft dug by The Mole, John, Gordon and the Fire Brigade work quickly and carefully to remove the injured driver from the crushed cab. Once out on another spinal board, a male Paramedic gives him a quick body-scan.
"Two broken legs. Fractured ribs. Concussion to the skull. Yes, he needs urgent treatment," the paramedic confirms, "He's lucky to be alive though."
"Let's get him out," Cass orders, "Carefully now."
Great care is indeed taken to remove the driver from the train. A winch has to be fastened to the front of one of the Fire Engines on the street above and that is used to hoist the board up to where more Paramedics are waiting to take over and get him into an Ambulance.
"What about the train?" Gordon asks afterwards, "Anything we can do with that?"
"Too dark and too heavy for our equipment," Cass responds with a shake of the head, "We'd need a rescue locomotive to help pull the train back onto the rails as well as use powerful jacks to lift it. That'll take a lot of time and work."
"And not something we'd have time to help with," John adds.
"Yeah, I guess," Gordon sighs as he looks back at the train, "I'd say that's a write-off."
February 13th, 2068 - 06:01 GMT
Meanwhile across town, the Police and GDF soon has Gomez, Fred and Higgins out of a stolen Ferrari. They are dripping wet from when they went crashing off Tower Bridge just as it is being raised and into the River Thames. Lucky for them, the water level never got too high before FAB 1 came along and winched the car out whilst in flight mode. Higgins has been truly terrified by the ordeal and is shaking all over as they are wrapped in blankets and taken towards some nearby Police Vans.
Gomez on the other hand is fuming. "If you hadn't turned onto the bridge, Fred, we'd have gotten away with it!"
"Oh, shut up!" Fred snaps.
"You three are lucky that Lady Penelope and Parker's car is able to fly and go underwater," Rigby states, "If I were you, I'd be thanking them."
"Go to hell!" Gomez spits, spitting on the ground at Penelope's feet as she and Parker walk past him.
"Charming!" Penelope scoffs calmly as the Police drag the now swearing Gomez to one of the vans.
Higgins is the next one to pass them. Despite being cold and frightened, he still gives them an unhappy look. "Still don't like you," he mutters as he is taken away.
"You're welcome," Parker snorts sarcastically.
Finally, it is Fred's turn to pass them. Unlike Gomez and Higgins though, he stops and looks at Parker right in the eye. Parker waits for the abuse, but both they and Rigby are very surprised by what Fred did say.
"Thank you, Nosey," Fred nods, without even a hint of hatred in his voice, "I'm sorry, old friend."
The Policemen then move him on towards a van.
"Blimey!" Parker stares in shock.
"That was unexpected," Penelope agree, "Maybe he'll think about going straight?"
"H'I do 'ope so, m'lady," Parker mutters.
February 13th, 2068 - 06:04 GMT
Charlotte and Hannah sit on the steps of one of the Ambulances, wrapped in blankets and given hot drinks to help them get over the shock of their ordeal. They watch as Jenny, Rebecca and the train driver are loaded into other Ambulances and driven off. Fortunately, Jenny and Rebecca's injuries aren't deemed as severe as the ones suffered by the driver, so they are assessed at the scene before being taken on to St Thomas's Hospital whereas the driver had been taken the moment he was loaded.
Gordon, John and Kayo, having come out of the tunnel with the Land-Pod, go to see how the two girls are doing.
"Hey," Gordon says, "You two, okay?"
"Been better," Charlotte mumbles sadly.
"Will be much happier when we know more about Jen and Becks," Hannah adds.
"They fared better than the driver of the train," Kayo informs, "From what the Paramedics told us they are confident they'll pull through."
"That's good," Charlotte smiles.
"Excuse me," Kayo says as her communicator beeps and walks away.
"This is not how I wanted my birthday night to end," Hannah sniffs.
"Don't blame yourself, Hannah," Gordon replies softly as he squats down to her level and squeezes her hand, "None of this was your fault. Promise me, you'll remember that?"
Hannah looks at him in the eyes. "Thank you," she says and before Gordon has time to move, Hannah then leans forward and gives him a kiss on the right cheek.
Gordon gulps and blushes whilst John blinks in equal surprise.
"Good news," Kayo calls as she walks back over, "That was Lady Penelope. They've caught them."
"Phew! That's a relief," John sighs and turns to the girls, "You hear that? The nasty men who were responsible have been caught. I promise you that justice will be served for you and your friends."
This makes Hannah and Charlotte feel a little bit better. They both manage a small smile each.
Gordon turns and walks over to The Mole nearby. As he does so, something catches Kayo's eye. She is about to speak when John shushes her and then winks. She quickly catches on and lets out a small giggle.
February 13th, 2068 - 06:24 GMT
The International Rescue team regroup back at Thunderbird 2. Gordon and John have finished loading the two Pods back into Module 2 and Kayo has remotely piloted Thunderbird Shadow to the park. FAB 1 arrives soon after which is the first time Gordon and Penelope have seen each other all evening. On past occasions they try to keep their affection for each other a secret, but since the incident with Hooper they make no effort to hide it anymore. From the moment they see each other, they embrace each other with a kiss. Kayo whispers something to Parker which makes him give her a surprised look.
"Glad to see you, beautiful," Gordon smiles after they break away, "I was getting worried that we wouldn't this time."
"I'll always have time for you, my love," Penelope sighs happily before noticing something that causes her to giggle, "Oh, I say."
"What is it?" Gordon asks, confused which only causes Penelope to giggle more.
"Were there ladies aboard that crashed train, Gordon?" Penelope questions.
"There were," Gordon replies suspiciously, "Why?"
"I see one of them took a liking to you," Penelope laughs.
Gordon is getting more confused by the second. He looks at John, Parker and Kayo only to find that all three of them are also smirking. Parker points to his right cheek as though he is trying to indicate to something. He then makes a kiss gesture with his lips.
"Ewwww!" Gordon exclaims, taking a step back, "Parker, that's disgusting! I'm not kissing you!"
Kayo and John burst out laughing.
"That's not what he means, Gordon," Kayo chuckles, unable to control herself anymore.
Gordon stares at her. Then at Parker, and then at John. All of them are laughing at them. "What is going on here?!" he demands, starting to get angry.
Penelope calmed herself enough to take her compact out of her coat pocket. "Take a look, hun," she says and opens it up and holds it out.
Gordon looks at himself in the compact's mirror. And then he sees it, on his right cheek, the same one that Parker had been indicating to, is a mouth-shaped mark of bright pink lipstick, which is identical to what Hannah had been wearing.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Gordon screams in horror, "I'VE BEEN POISONED! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"
And before anyone can stop him, he turns and bolts into Thunderbird 2 and locks himself in one of the bathrooms. Penelope, Parker, Kayo and John cannot contain their laughter. After some time, Gordon comes out of the bathroom and is surprised to find that Thunderbird 2 is on final approach to Tracy Island and John is at the controls in Virgil's seat. "Wait, what?!" Gordon exclaims, "How did we get here?"
"Ah, you're finally out," John laughs, "You've been in there for over an hour, Gordon. We had to leave."
"But I didn't get to say goodbye to Penelope!" Gordon whines.
"Finally out then, Gordon?" Kayo asks cheekily via the hologram projector as Thunderbird Shadow flies alongside them.
Gordon sits in the co-pilot's seat and sulks. "Why didn't you tell me that was on my face?!" he demands, crossly.
"I hadn't noticed until Penelope pointed it out," John muses.
"Don't bullshit me, you saw it!" Gordon glares. He isn't fooled that easily.
"Yeah, I was," John says, "Sorry."
Gordon huffs and folds his arms. John glances sideways at his younger brother and smirks. "By the way, you've missed a bit!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Gordon snaps, furiously, "If either of you tell ANYONE about this...I will kill you!"
"Duly noted," Kayo says slyly and she signs off. They watch as Thunderbird Shadow races off ahead to land on the cliff face whilst Thunderbird 2 moves to land on its runway.
February 13th, 2068 - 19:10 NZDT
Gordon is still sulking when he and John enters the lounge.
"Been looking at horses, Gordo?" Jeff jokes, "Your face looks long."
"Really, Dad," Gordon groans as he takes a seat next to him while Jeff laughs at his son's misfortune.
"How about you two tell what you and John were doing with Thunderbird 2?" Jeff enquires.
"You better not have scratched her," Virgil calls, over the holo-screen narrowing his eyes at Gordon in particular, "I will be checking."
"I have not!" Gordon cries indignantly.
"Give him a break, love," Nina smiles from the same holo-screen.
"I agree," John adds, "He's had a bad day."
The others except for Kayo look confused.
"Oh?" Scott questions, "Is he still mad over losing the Jenga game earlier?"
"Which I had to clear up," Sally scolds, although she is secretly joking.
"No, not that," John smirks, "He had a little encounter whilst we were out."
Gordon then clocks on to the direction John is taking the conversation. "Don't!" he says sharply, "I said, DON'T tell them, John!"
John put on a very convincing face of innocence. "I wasn't going to."
Gordon's eyes narrows as he fixes John with a very hard stare.
Suddenly, there is an explosion of laughter from the others. Gordon spins round to find Scott and Marion howling with laughter. Scott has fallen off the sofa he and is rolling on the floor. Sally has her hand over her mouth trying not to laugh and Kayo has both hands over her mouth to cover her giggling. Even Brains and Jeff are looking amused at something but are trying not to laugh themselves. It is then that Gordon finally sees it – projected from the middle of the table is a selfie that John had secretly taken of him and Gordon with the lipstick mark clearly visible on Gordon's right cheek. Gordon's face goes as red as Thunderbird 3. He clenches his fist and spins round so he can punch John in the face but ended up hitting thin air and losing his balance to fall flat on his face for John has legged it out of the lounge.
"JOHN GLENN TRACY!"