JOHN Tracy had been relaxing aboard Thunderbird 5. Things had been relatively quiet but that was all about to change when an alarm began sounding. "What the?! A personal alarm?" John exclaimed. He ran from his room to the main control one where the holographic globe was located. "EOS?"
"John, you heard the alarm."
"Kind of hard not to. What's happening?"
"It's a personal alarm coming from the Creighton-Ward Mansion," said EOS.
"Creighton-Ward?" said John. He pushed a button. "This is Thunderbird 5. What's the situation?"
A hologram of Parker appeared. He looked terrified. "Oh, Mr John, sir! Send everyone on the double! We've been attacked!"
"Woah-woah-woah! Slow down, Parker," said John. "What's going on?"
"There he is! Get him!"
Parker's eyes widened. "Oh, no! Mr JOHHHHHHHHHHHN!" And the hologram cut out.
"Parker? PARKER?!" John shouted. But there was no answer. He turned to EOS. "Find his locator and track him!"
"Yes, John!"
John then pushed the button for Tracy Island. "Tracy Island, come in. we have a situation!"
Jeff answered immediately. "What is it, John?"
"Dad, we've got trouble. There's been an emergency alert from the Creighton-Ward Mansion. I managed to get hold of Parker but something's very wrong. Sounds like the house is under attack."
"U-Under attack?!" It was Brains who now appeared. "But w-what about all the security measures that I have p-put in place?"
"Sorry, Brains, I have no idea. But it sounds like Parker was discovered by someone," said John.
Jeff was stern. He pushed a button on his desk. "Boys, I need you all to get to Thunderbirds 1 and 2. No time for explanation."
"Yes, Dad," came a chorus of tired responses. The rest of the brothers had been asleep.
Kayo then appeared. She'd been about to go to bed when she'd heard John's call come in. "What's going on?" she asked.
"Something's wrong at the Creighton-Ward Mansion," said Jeff. "You'd better get out there as well, Kayo."
"Understood, Mr Tracy," said Kayo and jumped into her seat ready to go down to the floor.
At that moment, Scott entered in his pyjamas, followed by Alan, Virgil and then finally Gordon. All of them looked tired. They'd all pretty much gone to go to bed.
"What's occurring?" asked Alan.
"Explanations once you're airborne, son," said Jeff.
"What module do we need?" asked Virgil.
"I'm still trying to get information," said John. "I should have it once you're airborne."
The brothers and Kayo were soon on their way. Virgil down the chute to Thunderbird 1. Scott and Gordon in their express elevators. Alan and Kayo down on the chairs and through the changing rooms. Once they were all in uniform, Scott crossed the extendable walkway into Thunderbird 1 before heading up to the launching bay. Virgil landed in Thunderbird 2 but did not immediately select the module. Kayo climbed into the Shadowbike and raced down to be lifted up into Thunderbird Shadow.
John's hologram appeared from the projector on Thunderbird 2's control panel. "Module 2, Virgil. And make all speed to England."
"Module 2 it is," said Virgil. "As usual…" he added to himself. It always seemed to be Modules 2 or 4. It was extremely rare that Modules 1, 3, 5 and especially 6 got used. 6 hadn't been used since they'd gone into space to rescue Jeff from the Oort Cloud. He flicked a switch. The conveyor moved, bringing Module 1 underneath Thunderbird 2 before stopping with Module 2 underneath. Another button pressed and the main body was lowered down onto it.
Alan and Gordon arrived moments later and took their seats behind and next to Virgil respectively.
"So where are we going?" Alan asked as Thunderbird 2 began to taxi out onto the runway.
"England," said Virgil. "But that's all John said."
"England?" said Gordon. "It'll be around midnight there. Maybe we could pop into Lady Penelope's party once we're done?"
"No, thanks," said Alan with a yawn. "When we're done with this, I'm going back to bed."
Thunderbird 2 reached the end of the runway and the ramp lifted it into position whilst the wings folded out. Whilst all this had been happening, Thunderbird 1 had moved into position in its launch bay with the swimming pool having moved back, and Thunderbird Shadow had been taken up to its launch position which had now swivelled around on the cliff-face so it was outside and turned to face upwards.
5! 4! 3! 2! 1!
The rocket engines of all three Thunderbirds roared into lift and they each lifted off their respective launch positions, climbing high and away from Tracy Island. Thunderbird 1 took the lead with Thunderbird Shadow behind and Thunderbird 2 bringing up the rear.
"Thunderbirds are…" Scott began but ended up yawning. "Oh, sorry. Thunderbirds are GO!"
Kayo, being the most awake out of all of them, decided to see if John had got any further information for them. "Thunderbird 5 from Thunderbird Shadow. Anything for us, John?"
"Actually, yes, you just beat me to it," John said, his hologram appearing in all three ships. "You need to get to the Creighton-Ward Mansion on the double. The GDF will meet you there."
"Lady Penelope's house?!" exclaimed Gordon, suddenly now wide-awake. "What's happened? Is-"
"Gordon, hold it!" John cut in.
"Let him finish, Gordon," added Scott. "John, what's happened?"
John hesitated before answering. "Er…see for yourselves," he said. His hologram moved to one side to then reveal a satellite image of the Creighton-Ward Mansion.
Kayo and the other brothers stared in disbelief. The brothers were suddenly all now wide awake. "What the hell?!" they all said in unison.
"Why is there an ICEBERG in the house?!" exclaimed Gordon.
"Is this some kind of joke, John?" asked Alan.
"No, Alan, it's not," said John. "I got an emergency alarm from the mansion. Parker answered my call but something happened to him. I heard the voice of another man there."
"You mean they've been attacked?" said Kayo.
"Yes, but I can't think of anything that could have caused that," said John, pointing to the mansion with the enormous iceberg-like shape protruding out from the middle section.
"Brains, have you got any thoughts?" asked Scott.
Brains and Jeff had been listening in as well.
"W-Whatever has caused that is m-most impressive. And quite f-frightening at the same time," remarked Brains.
"You can say that again," agreed Alan.
"There's n-no way that this is a natural phenomenon," Brains continued. "So my best g-guess is that whoever is behind this attack has some k-kind of cryogenic weapon."
"But who would want to even do this? That's the more immediate question," said Jeff.
"Hopefully the GDF can catch whoever is responsible for this," said Virgil.
"Are you kidding me?!" Gordon burst out. "They couldn't catch one cow running in a goddamn field!"
Everyone went quiet and looked at him.
"Does that include Hayley?" Alan asked, sensing the opportunity for a tease.
Gordon went suddenly pale. "She…heard that…didn't she?" he said nervously.
"Actually, she's still in bed," said Jeff. "I'd say you got away with that one, Gordon."
Gordon breathed a sigh of relief. "Everyone in the GDF except her," he said hastily.
Scott quickly returned to the situation. "John, are you getting any life-signs from inside the house?"
"Several, but they're gradually getting weaker," said John.
"What about Parker?" asked Kayo.
"EOS is trying to get a lock on his locator," said John.
"And Lady Penelope?" asked Gordon, his voice a little shaky.
"Inside the main Drawing Room towards the front of the house," said John. "There's others in there with her but they aren't moving. None of them are."
Then Alan noticed something on the satellite footage. "Wait…is that smoke?" He pointed towards the East Wing of the mansion.
The others looked. There was. Thick clouds of smoke were starting to appear from behind the building.
John made a quick scan and gasped. "Oh, no. Those attackers are starting fires! They're spreading rapidly!"
"Turn on the gas, boys!" Jeff snapped. "Stop these guys, FAST!"
Scott, Kayo and Virgil all threw the engines of their ships into overdrive, rocketing to cover the world in as little time as possible.
Bird, the senior of Cobblepot's henchmen watched with satisfaction as the flames began to flicker out from several broken windows. "Nice one, lads," he said. "Real nice. The boss will reward us well for this." He looked up into the sky as one of three Helicopters was flying away. The man in the mechanised suit was holding onto the side of the open doorway as he was too large to fit inside. Bird then looked into the second Helicopter when a bound and gagged Parker was being forced inside. "And he's the icing on the cake. The boss said nothin' about him, but I'm sure he'd be more than happy to have some words with him. Let's go."
The Helicopter with Parker aboard lifted off and headed after the first one. Bird stayed until they were out of sight and once the last of the henchmen had returned, following the completion of setting the fires. "COME ON! LET'S GO! LET'S GO!"
The men scrambled into the Helicopter one after another.
Suddenly they were hit by a powerful searchlight from above.
"WHAT THE?!" exclaimed Bird. He ran out from behind the Helicopter to try and see what it was. He froze. A GDF Flyer was coming in above them.
"THIS IS THE GLOBAL DEFENCE FORCE!" boomed the voice of Captain Rigby over the tannoy. "STAY WHERE YOU ARE!"
Bird sprinted into the Helicopter. "GET US OUT OF HERE!" he shouted.
"ARE YOU CRAZY?!" the pilot shouted back. "THERE'S THREE OF THOSE THINGS!"
"JUST GO!" screamed Bird.
With extreme reluctance, the pilot pulled back on the joystick. The Helicopter began to rise up. But it had barely gotten ten metres off the ground before a disruptor missile was launched from one of the Flyers. It detonated right above the Helicopter and the resulting shockwave it produced caused its engines to shut down. It dropped back down to Earth with a crash. Nobody was hurt. But Bird was furious. He grabbed his weapon, ran outside and began firing up at the Flyers. The other henchmen scrambled out and the majority joined in whilst a few others tried to run away. Their efforts were pointless though as regular bullets would have had no effect at all on the Flyers.
Captain Rigby watched on a monitor screen with a mixture of amusement and annoyance. "Why are criminals so dumb?" he asked himself out loud. He then pushed a button. "Rigby to Flyers. Activate sonic cannons. Take them down."
All three Flyers activate sonic cannons mounted in the fuselages under the cockpits.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGHH!" screamed Bird and the other henchmen as they were all forced to cover their ears and drop their weapons. One by one they fell to the ground.
"Take them!" Rigby ordered.
The cargo hatches were opened and a total of thirty soldiers, ten from each, dropped down from the Flyers. All were wearing ear protectors so that they wouldn't be affected by the sonic cannons.
Alexa Lavender was in command on another Flyer whilst Amanda Rigby was aboard the other. They along with Rigby himself dropped down after their troops to take charge on the ground. They worked swiftly to arrest all twelve of the henchmen who'd run from the Helicopter as well as secure the pilot who, unlike the others, surrendered without fuss.
With everyone secure, the three Captains turned their attention to the mansion. Both East and West wings were ablaze whilst the central section remained wrecked by the giant ice feature.
"That heat's intense!" said Amanda. "What can we do?"
"Nothing," said Alexa. "This is beyond us."
"International Rescue are coming," said Rigby. "I just hope they can make it in time."
Inside the Drawing Room, the fire hadn't quite yet taken hold. Penelope and her family remained frozen in the ice. Penelope was the only one still able to see fully what was going on. She was terrified. She was trying to break herself free but the ice was too thick. She could only move her eyes. The flames were going up the walls. The curtains and carpet were catching alight and all the wooden furnishings were about to go up as well.
"Oh, G-G-God…Oh, G-G-G-God…" Penelope whimpered. "H-H-Help…s-s-someone…"
Most of the henchmen were ushered away into the Flyers which had now landed without much fuss. Only Bird was causing them some issues.
"GET YOUR STINKING HANDS OFF ME, YOU BUNCH OF FU-"
"SHUT UP AND GET IN THERE!" one of the Soldiers smacked him across the face to make him quiet.
A rumble of jets made the three officers look up. Thunderbird 1 had arrived and was circling around the building. Scott stared down at the Creighton-Ward Mansion. He was stunned. He'd seen this building so many times, and to see it on fire and smashed with ice made him sick to his stomach.
"Scott?" Jeff's voice brought him back to reality. "Are you at the mansion?"
"Yes, Dad," replied Scott. "This is getting worse. Thunderbird 2, how far away are you?"
"About ten minutes, Thunderbird 1," Virgil answered.
"Do better," snapped Scott. "The mansion's almost completely ablaze."
"You gotta get to Lady Penelope!" Gordon pleaded.
"I'll do what I can, Gordon," Scott promised.
"Scott, no!" Virgil said firmly. "You don't have a fire-proof suit. I have to be the one to go in there."
"But-" Gordon began to protest.
"No 'Buts', G-Gordon, he's right," said Brains. "Virgil's the only one with a suit that can withstand that k-kind of heat and fire."
"And what the hell am I supposed to do, Brains?!" snapped Gordon. "My girl's in that fire!"
"You've g-got a job to do as well, Gordon," said Brains. "Whilst V-Virgil is going in to locate and find the Creighton-Wards, you will need to find some water to p-pour onto the mansion."
"There's a reservoir about a mile away outside the village," said John. "Drop Virgil and Alan off and then go get the water."
"NO!" shouted Gordon. "I ALMOST LOST HER LAST YEAR! I CAN'T GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN!"
There was an awkward silence.
"I can do the water drop," said Alan.
Virgil looked at him. Then at Gordon. "Fine," he said. "Alan, take the controls. I'm gonna suit up."
"F-A-B."
Scott had landed on the ground near one of the Flyers. Thunderbird Shadow was also arriving. Scott and Kayo exited their ships and ran over towards the mansion where they found the Rigbys and Lavender.
"Kayo!" said Rigby. "Are we glad to see you?"
"Please tell me you've got the people responsible for this?" said Scott.
"Yeah, we got them," said Alexa. "We've detained them all."
"Have you got Parker?" asked Kayo.
"Parker?"
"Lady Penelope's assistant and driver?"
Alexa and the Rigbys looked at each other. "No…?"
Kayo and Scott now looked at each other. Scott then called Thunderbird 5. "John, the GDF have managed to catch some of those responsible. Parker isn't here though. Do you have a fix on him?"
"Not sure why it's taken so long, but yes," said John. "He appears to be aboard a Helicopter heading South-East towards London."
"Don't lose him," said Scott. "We need to rescue him as soon as the Creighton-Wards are safe."
"I can head after him now," said Kayo.
"Not yet, Kayo," Jeff cut in. "Kayo and Scott, I'm speaking to you two only. Gordon's insisting on helping on the ground. I think we all know what that means?"
Kayo and Scott looked again at each other. "Yes, Dad," sighed Scott.
Another rumble of engines announced Thunderbird 2's arrival. Alan was at the controls as the green giant began to descend towards the lawn. Virgil was in his fireproof suit with the Jaws of Life attached. Gordon was beside him, badly fidgeting. "Hurry up, Alan!"
"I can't do this any faster, Gordo!"
"DON'T CALL ME GORDO!"
"Gordon, ENOUGH!" Virgil snapped as the elevator began to lower. "I've already told you. Leave this to me. Just be ready to help once I get them out."
The ramp was now coming out into the open.
"You get the others out," Gordon snarled. "I'm getting Penelope."
"Gordon…NO!"
It was too late. The split second that he could, Gordon leapt off the elevator and began to sprint towards the mansion.
Scott was already in the way, ready to intercept him. "GORDON, STOP!"
"MOVE!" Gordon bellowed, shoving his eldest brother out of the way. He continued to run, faster than he'd ever run before. His mind was focused on one thing and one thing only. And nothing was going to stop him. Nothing. Except Kayo.
Because Gordon had gotten past Scott, he saw nothing that could stop him from reaching the house. He therefore failed to notice Kayo leap out from behind a bush and use her foot to trip him up. "YAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed before landing heavily on the gravel path by the side of the house.
Kayo and Scott swooped in, grabbed him by the legs and then dragged him backwards away from the burning building whilst he was still dazed.
Virgil then caught them up. "Keep him away!" he ordered. "Scott, I will need your assistance."
"You got it, Virgil," said Scott. "Can you keep him here, Kayo?"
"He won't get away from me," Kayo said.
Virgil reached the windows by the Drawing Room. The flames were all around the window frames. But he scrambled up and through the smashed window regardless. He looked around, and was shocked by what he saw. He'd been expecting to find the Creighton-Wards possibly tied up or unconscious due to the smoke. But no. Instead they were all frozen in blocks of ice, which was starting to melt due to the heat from the flames.
"VIRGIL!?"
Virgil looked towards the back of the room and could see Penelope. "LADY PENELOPE!" he cried. He ran over. "Hold on, I'm getting you out of here!"
"Get them out first, please!" Penelope said. "I think I can break out of this!" The ice she was trapped in was melting quicker than the ones trapping her parents and Aunts. Virgil nodded and hurried around to Patrick and Patricia. The ice was melting on them but they were still encased.
"Brains, any ideas on how to thaw them out?"
"Thaw them out?" Brains asked.
"Yeah, they've all been frozen in ice," Virgil said. "The fire's actually melting the ice, but I'm not sure if it's fast enough."
"Use the heat pads in your g-gloves, Virgil," said Brains. "That'll break the ice and f-free them as well."
"Okay," said Virgil. He removed the Jaws of Life from his arms and placed both his gloves around the ice that was encasing Lord Patrick. "Here we go." He heated up the pads in his gloves. The ice temperature rose. It cracked and then broke away, freeing Patrick who fell to his knees with a loud gasp of air. "I got you, Your Lordship," said Virgil. "Now I'm getting you out of here." He turned to face the window. "Scott, are you there?"
"I'm here!"
Virgil used his shoulder-mounted foam cannon to spray the window-frame, killing the flames. "I got one coming out to you." He hurried the slightly shivering and still in shock Patrick over and out of the window.
Scott took hold of him. "I got you, Your Lordship. Come on!"
Kayo felt it was now safe to release Gordon. "Over here, Scott!"
Gordon got to his feet and hurried back towards the window. Scott and Kayo did not notice him. "VIRGIL?!"
"Gordon? Don't you da-"
"I'M NOT COMING IN!" Gordon yelled "JUST PASS SOMEONE OUT TO ME!"
Penelope then broke free of the ice and fell to the floor, dangerously close to some of the flames.
Virgil rushed over. "Cover your face!" he ordered. Penelope did so and Virgil sprayed the flames, putting them out. He then got her to her feet. "Gordon's outside. I'm going to pass you to him."
Gordon waited nervously for something to happen. Feeling the heat from the flames, he'd quickly come to the realisation of how stupid he'd been for running towards the house with the intention of going inside. To his relief, Virgil and Penelope appeared at the window. "PENELOPE!"
"GORDON!" Penelope cried. She leapt down from the window and into his arms before he quickly whisked her away to join her father who'd been taken to Thunderbird 1 to be checked by GDF Medics.
Kayo and Scott were on their way back, but seeing that Gordon was being sensible now and had got Penelope, they decided to leave him to it. They both rushed to the window to await for Virgil to pass the next person out.
Virgil used more foam to put out as much of the fire inside the Drawing Room as he could, especially around the three remaining frozen blocks. He worked on freeing Patricia next and got her out before then getting Aunt Sophia and then Aunt Rosamund freed. Kayo took Patricia. Scott took Sophia and Virgil brought Rosamund out.
"That's everyone!" said Virgil. "Alan, what's your status?"
"I've filled the module up with water," Alan answered over the radio. "I'm on approach now."
"We'll be clear by the time you get here," said Virgil.
Alan looked down from Thunderbird 2's cockpit as he approached the mansion. Despite the sky around him being black, the orange flames made his target very visible.
Brains appeared on the holo-projector. "Be c-conservative with the water, Alan," he warned. "Don't use it all at once. Half should be enough to p-put out the flames on each side of the mansion."
"F-A-B, Brains," said Alan. "Going in now."
Virgil, Kayo, Scott and Gordon made sure the shivering and scared members of the Creighton-Ward family kept well clear whilst they were checked over by the medics. They then all looked up and watched as Thunderbird 2 flew overhead to over directly above the burning West Wing of the mansion. Alan opened the hatch on the underside of the module. The water dropped like a waterfall, splashing through the roof and into the many rooms of the building. Alan made sure to only use half of the water in the module before closing the hatch and moving over to the East Wing before doing the same until the module was empty. It didn't completely extinguish the flames, but it certainly dampened things down and put the majority of them out. They then heard the sound of sirens as Fire-Engines began racing up the drive, having finally arrived from the nearest station over ten miles away.
Now that everyone was safe and the fire was being dealt with, Kayo slipped away to go after Parker. Alan landed Thunderbird 2 on the lawn again and the Creighton-Wards were moved into the module where its heaters would warm them up. They'd all been wrapped in self-heated blankets as well.
"Thank you, boys," said Penelope. "I really thought we'd had it."
"What happened, Lady Penelope?" asked Scott. "Who did this to you all?"
"And where did all that ice come from?" asked Alan.
"Who froze you in the ice?" added Virgil.
"The men in GDF custody are henchmen of a man from Parker's past," explained Penelope. "A man called Oswald Cobblepot. He's known as The Penguin. He wasn't with them. They were however with someone in a powerful mech-suit. It was he who had a cryogenic gun which froze us all and did the damage to our house. I expect the burning of the house was an order from Cobblepot himself."
Patricia was inconsolable. "Our house," she sobbed. "Our beautiful house. It's ruined."
Patrick was doing his best to comfort her. Only he was close to tears as well. Rosamund and Sophia were too shocked to even say anything.
"At least we were able to get to you in time," said Gordon. He then turned to his brothers. "Guys, I'm sorry about earlier."
"Forget it, Gordon," said Scott. "You had a natural reaction. We get it."
Penelope looked between them, confused, but didn't ask about it.
There then came a knocking sound on the side of the module. Alan went to answer it. He opened an access door in the side of the module to allow Rigby to enter. "How are they doing?" he asked.
"Shaken, but they'll be okay," answered Scott. "Although I think psychologically they'll be out for a while. That was quite the ordeal they went through."
"Did you get anything out of those henchmen, Captain?" Virgil asked Rigby.
"Not a lot," Rigby replied. "We're working on it. But I just hope Kayo can get your manservant back without too much trouble."
There was a clatter as Penelope suddenly dropped the cup of hot chocolate she'd been given by Gordon. It spilled out over the floor but nobody paid it any attention. Penelope's eyes were wide. "What did you say?" she asked.
"Kayo's gone to rescue Parker," said Alan. "That's why she's not with us currently."
Penelope looked around the module very quickly before clapping both her hands over her mouth in horror. "Oh, my God! Parker!" she gasped. "I hadn't even realised he wasn't here!"
"We did get one thing out of the henchman we interrogated," said Rigby. "They were sent here by their boss, someone called The Penguin, I think he said, to assist in the abduction of Bertie Doyle by someone called Mister Freeze."
"Mister who now?" Gordon asked.
"What kind of a name is that?" asked Alan.
"That must have been the guy in the mech-suit with the cryo-gun," said Virgil.
"Freeze?" repeated Penelope. "Bertie said Freeze when he grabbed him."
"Who's Bertie Doyle?" asked Gordon.
"The man we were hosting the party for," said Penelope. "He won the Humanitarian of the Year award and we presented it to him right before the attack."
"Clearly this Mister Freeze has something against him," said Scott. He tapped his sash. "John, do you have any updates on Parker?"
"The signal has come to a stop but is still active," John answered over the radio. "He's been taken to an area of London near to Paddington Station."
"That's where Bertie's headquarters and factory is located," said Penelope. "I need to get there fast."
"Woah, Lady Penelope, not so fast," said Rigby. "You've been through hell, if you don't mind me saying so? Leave this to us. We'll bring them in."
But Penelope was very stern. She fixed Rigby with a stare almost as cold as the ice she'd been trapped in. "Firstly, Captain, I do mind you saying so. And secondly, these people I've encountered before and know how to deal with. I'm going to London to help Kayo, and if none of you are prepared to help me, get the hell out of my way!" She threw her blanket to the ground and stormed towards the hatch.
Patrick finally looked up. "Penelope…where are you going?" he asked.
"To make Cobblepot and Freeze pay for what they've done to us and Bertie, Father!" said Penelope without even looking back. She exited the door and slammed it behind her.
Scott could see that Penelope's mind was made up, and there was nothing any of them could do that was going to make her change her mind. Gordon had started after Penelope but Scott stopped him. "Let me handle this," he said.
Penelope was already a good thirty metres away from Thunderbird 2 before Scott caught up to her. "Lady P, wait there."
"Scott, I've already said. Do NOT TRY AND STOP ME!"
"I'M NOT GOING TO!"
Penelope stopped and after a second turned around. "Excuse me?"
"I'm not gonna stop you," said Scott. "I'm gonna take you there myself. Now let's go before anyone else tries to stop us."
Penelope was surprised that Scott was so willing to do this, but quickly followed him to Thunderbird 1 without a word.