ATLANTICA was one of the World Navy's premier Missile Bases, located deep in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It had a one-hundred miles exclusion zone around its perimeter preventing any aircraft, surface vessel or submarine from getting too close to it.
Today the base was on red alert. Not because there was a threat to the base itself, but because there was a threat to the planet. A large meteorite that was only slightly smaller than the Moon was heading through space getting dangerously close to the Earth. It was not on a direct collision course but with its current trajectory, it was going to be passing between the Earth and the Moon. World scientists predicted that there was a chance that if the meteorite got caught in the gravitational pull, it could either enter its own orbit or even get pulled down to Earth itself. The consequences of either were unthinkable.
On one of the missile platforms on the surface at Atlantica, a Hydraulic Missile was standing on its pad waiting to be launched into space where it was hoped it would intercept the meteorite and destroy it. All systems had been checked and double-checked. The missile was fully prepped and ready to go.
"Attention. Attention. All systems are green. Stand-by for auto-sequence start," said a male voice over a tannoy. "Five…Four…Three…Two…One…Ignition."
There was a deep rumble as the missile's boosters ignited. The umbilicals were released and it began to rise upwards into the sky, leaving a long trail of smoke behind it as it climbed. Higher and higher it went. Soon it had broken free of the Earth's gravity after leaving the atmosphere. A guidance computer built into its nose was able to guide it in towards the target.
In the control room and in the President's Oval Office in Unity City, everyone waited anxiously for the news. "Missile is on course," reported the Base Commander from Atlantica over the radio. "Predicted impact in forty seconds."
From aboard Thunderbird 5, John Tracy could see a tiny orange glow in the very distance through the telescope built into the top of the space-station. Unlike everyone on Earth, he had a front-row seat to what was going to happen next. "Any second now," he said to himself.
There came a bright white flash of light as the missile impacted the meteorite and exploded. The power in the warhead was more than enough to completely break up the giant space rock into several hundred smaller pieces which began to scatter in all directions.
World President Younger could feel his foot twitching until the call from Atlantica came through. "Impact positive. Meteorite destroyed. Repeat - Meteorite destroyed."
There came a large number of cheers, applause and sighs of relief from everyone assembled in the room. Younger slumped back into his seat and mopped his brow. "These things always come so close," he said to himself.
Once the light had subsided, John returned to the main control room aboard Thunderbird 5 and pushed the holographic button to call Tracy Island. "Thunderbird 5 to base. Meteorite interception has been successful," he reported.
Jeff's hologram appeared. "Good news, John," he said. "Now you'd better move Thunderbird 5 out of there. The Space Agency has declared everything in that area a no-go zone until all fragments of the meteorite have either burned up or passed on without incident."
"F-A-B," said John. "There's only myself and the Worldwide Space-Station in the vicinity."
"They should have gotten the warning then," said Jeff. "Get moving, son."
John turned to EOS. "EOS, let's get out of here."
"Course to safety-zone has been calculated," said EOS. "Activating lateral thrusters."
The thrusters at the rear of Thunderbird 5 came to life and began to move the space-station to a planned safety-zone out of the way of any fragments from the destroyed meteorite.
But as they were on the move, John noticed something concerning the scanners. He was tracking the many fragments of the meteorite and the trajectories of where they were going. One cluster was heading straight for the Worldwide Space-Station, which did not appear to be making any attempts to get clear of the danger zone. "That's weird," said John. "EOS, is there any movement coming from the WSS?"
"Negative," EOS answered. "They're still on their designated orbital path."
"And if they continue as they are, they're gonna be right in the path of the fragments!" said John.
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"DEBRIS DANGER"
VIRGIL pulled back the curtains and looked out in awe at the sight that befell him. The skyline of Paris, dominated by the Eiffel Tower. Even after so many decades, it still looked as magnificent as ever. Virgil had seen the tower before when having had to fly over Paris in Thunderbird 2. Fortunately, no emergency had taken place that would have made International Rescue need to come to the French capital, but it was somewhere that Virgil had always wanted to visit.
Virgil couldn't have said how long he'd been gazing at the magnificence of the city for. But his trance at its beauty was finally broken by a pair of arms coming around him from behind. It was Hayley. "Bonjour, mon amour," she said, giving him a kiss on the back of his neck.
Virgil gave a chuckle. He turned around to face her. "Okay, who are you, and what have you done with my fiance?" he teased.
Hayley gave him a punch to the arm. "Trying to spoil my fun?" she asked.
"What? No, no-" Virgil began, worried he'd offended her. But then he saw she was laughing.
"Oh, you big silly," she teased. "I'm just messing with you."
"Oh…" said Virgil. Then they both laughed before kissing.
Within the hour they were out exploring. They'd only arrived late in the evening the night before and it had been 11pm by the time they'd gotten to the hotel. The curtains had even been drawn when they'd arrived so neither had seen the view from the window.
Being tourists, they went straight to the Eiffel Tower, took several photos of both it, each other and themselves with it and then decided to go in. And straight away there came a choice. After paying to get in, they found themselves facing two options. The elevator or the spiral staircase.
"How many steps are there?" Virgil asked, looking up directly through the metal skeleton of the tower.
"Six-hundred and seventy-four," Hayley replied. "I did it once when I was a child. I've been itching to do it again."
Virgil really wasn't keen on that idea. "That's a helluva lot," he remarked. "Wouldn't we be better just taking the elevator?"
"Nah, that's cheating, hun," said Hayley. "You don't get the views if you're in the lift. Come on, it'll be fine."
Virgil looked up at the tower again. "That's still a lot of steps…"
"Oh, come on!" laughed Hayley. "Don't tell me that Virgil Tracy has been defeated by some flights of stairs?"
Virgil gave a snort of indignation. "Certainly not!" he said. "I bet I can get up there in half the time that you can."
Hayley grinned. "You're on," she said and began to run up the stairs.
Virgil smirked. "Yeah, right," he said and began to follow but at a much slower pace.
His prediction was right. He got up four flights of the stairs before he found Hayley taking a breather. "Looks like I'm gonna win," he teased as he walked past.
Hayley panted. "I kind of deserved that, didn't I?" she said to herself. She then began to follow Virgil at a much more leisurely pace than she had been before.
The Worldwide Space-Station was the successor to the now decommissioned International Space-Station. It wasn't quite as large as its predecessor but it was far more advanced and sophisticated. With its solar panels and enough supplies, its crew of three could go for up to five months without needing to have a visit from a resupply or repair ship. However, crew turnarounds were every month with each astronaut doing three months of duty rotating between a group of four.
The present three-person crew was made up of Commander Pauline Striker with her subordinates Ivan Vanko and Susan Jones.
Vanko was in the control room alone when a call came through. "International Rescue calling the WSS. Do you read me?"
"This is the WSS. What do you want, International Rescue?"
John had to do his best not to react to this. He'd been hoping either Striker or Jones would answer. But Striker was off-duty and Jones was busy in the galley. "I've noticed that you're still maintaining your orbit, Vanko," he said. "You are aware about the meteorite that's just been destroyed."
"I have eyes, Tracy," growled Vanko. "Bit hard to not see it, no?"
John was fully aware that Vanko hated working on the WSS. But that didn't mean he needed to have the attitude that he did. "This area has been declared a no-go zone due to the meteorite being destroyed," he said. "There's a number of fragments heading your way. All traffic and satellites were instructed to clear the area until the danger was over."
"Look, Tracy, this station survived a gravity well," said Vanko sharply. "We can handle a few small rocks. Now, I have work to do. Goodbye." And with that he ended the call, leaving John speechless.
"Vanko? Vanko! Damn it! He's cut us off!"
"John, the fragments are getting closer!" said EOS.
John looked at the screen showing the red icons of meteorite fragments closing in rapidly on the WSS. "Damn it, Vanko!" he said angrily. "You've just put yourself and your crew in mortal danger!" He pushed the button to call Tracy Island again. "International Rescue - we have a situation!"
Eventually, after climbing several fights, Virgil and Hayley both made it to the top of the staircase and could look out at the amazing views of the city. They were both puffed out, but seeing the views made them relax a bit.
"Okay…that was worth it for that view," said Virgil. "But can we take the elevator back down, please?"
"Sure," said Hayley, still a little bit breathless. "We should have come up in the lift and gone down the stairs. That would have been the sensible thing to have done."
Virgil nodded in agreement. The pair then took some time to take more photos, both of the views and of each other with the views. There were many other tourists up there with them, yet nobody seemed to know who Virgil was. That didn't bother him though. He didn't want to be recognised as a member of International Rescue otherwise he'd have hundreds coming up and asking him for his autograph or something.
"Where to next?" Virgil asked once they'd finished.
Hayley smiled as she took his arm and walked him to a different viewpoint on the balcony. "Next we will go to my favourite place in the city," she said.
"Is this not it?" Virgil asked.
Hayley shook her head. "Nope," she said. "That is."
Virgil looked across. In the distance amongst the many other buildings he noticed a large cathedral. One that he recognised at once. "Ahh…" he said. "Notre Dame."
Jones entered the control room with a plastic cup in each hand. "Soup, Ivan," she said.
"Da," replied Vanko, taking the cup and having a swig. But he went back to his work without even saying 'thank you'.
Jones was used to this and therefore didn't pay it much attention. "Did I hear you talking to someone through the bulkhead?" she asked.
"Just that annoying bird man in his silly rescue station," grunted Vanko.
"What, John Tracy?" asked Jones.
"Da."
"He's not silly, he's lovely," said Jones. "You weren't rude to him, were you, Ivan?"
Vanko was about to reply when suddenly there came a loud THUD and the entire space-station rocked. Alarms began wailing and lights started flashing in an alarming way.
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Vanko. Both he and Jones began checking the controls which were now going haywire. The whole station was now spinning around after getting struck by one of the fragments. Then another came in. It was only small, but was enough to knock the communications antenne off the top of the hull.
"That was our comms dish!" cried Jones after seeing it floating away through one of the portholes. "We've been hit by fragments!"
Striker suddenly came in through the bulkhead. "Ivan, report!"
"We have been struck by some kind of debris," said Vanko. "I don't know where it has come from!"
Jones could see the fragments. "Its fragments from that meteorite that was destroyed," she said. "We must be right in the path."
"And why the hell are we in their path?" snapped Striker. "We had orders to clear the area! Why haven't we been?"
Vanko did know that such an order had been given, but had decided he couldn't be bothered to carry it out. "I did not know we had such an order," he lied.
Striker rounded on him. "That's bullshit and you know it, Vanko!" she barked. "Give me a system check. I want to know what we still have! Jones, send out a mayday. Maybe someone will hear us."
"We can't, Striker," said Jones. "Our antenne's been destroyed."
"Then use the back-up one if it's still working!" snapped Striker.
Scott and Alan hurried down the stairs into the lounge after getting a beeper alert from their watches that they had an emergency mission.
"I wonder what we have this time?" said Scott out loud.
"The fact I'm being summoned suggests its big," answered Alan. "I just hope it's a space mission. I'm sick of just doing Earth-based rescues now."
"What's it been, three months since Thunderbird 3 last did a rescue?" asked Scott.
"It was before Christmas, that's all I can remember," replied Alan.
"Sheesh," Scott remarked to himself. He couldn't remember any time where a Thunderbird hadn't seen any action for that length of time.
As they entered the lounge, both brothers were quick to notice the absence of either Virgil or Gordon, meaning the mission had to be for just them.
Jeff was behind his desk talking to John via the hologram. "Ah, boys, good," he said.
"Is it a space rescue?" asked Alan before Jeff could say more. "Please say it's space."
"Then its your lucky day, Alan," said John. "The WSS is in danger and the crew need saving, pronto."
"What's happened to them, John?" asked Scott.
"The space-station's failed to comply with the instructions to clear out from the destruction of that large meteorite," explained John. "It's already been hit but the damage is minor. There's a much larger debris storm on its way and their thrusters have been taken out. You need to get the crew out before the fragments hit."
"Sounds like we'd better get up there fast," said Scott. "Let's go, Alan."
"Be careful, boys," warned Jeff. "As strong as Thunderbird 3 is, I'd rather you not be caught in that debris field when it hits."
"F-A-B," said Alan and Scott together as the chairs they were sitting in began to lower down into the floor.
After passing through the changing rooms, Scott and Alan were lifted up on the yellow hydraulic arm to the open hatch that led into the cockpit of Thunderbird 3. The arm pulled away and the hatch closed as the seats moved them into position at the controls. Then the blast door swivelled round to seal the giant red rocket off from the rest of the underground chamber where it shared with Thunderbirds 1 and Shadow.
5! 4! 3! 2! 1!
The three chemical rockets of Thunderbird 3 thundered into life, lifting the monstrous spaceship up out through the silo concealed behind the roundhouse on the tallest mountain peak on the island.
"Thunderbird 3 is go…FINALLY!" said Alan as they accelerated towards the upper atmosphere.
Gordon was standing on the patio near the swimming pool. He watched as the smoke trails of Thunderbird 3 receded as it climbed higher into the sky.
Grandma then appeared. "Scott and Alan going to space?" she said.
"Looks that way," replied Gordon. He gave a sigh.
"Are you okay, kiddo?" asked Grandma.
"Not really," said Gordon. "I know its been a couple of months since that whole business over New Year with Lady Penelope's house getting wrecked and all that. But I'm actually more concerned at how short-handed we are right now."
"I get what you mean," said Grandma, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "But from what I hear, the Creighton-Wards are doing just fine, and the repairs to their mansion are coming along just fine. As for us, we will manage. Just leave Virgil and Hayley to enjoy their vacation. They sure as hell have earned it, that's for sure."
That was something Gordon couldn't disagree on.
Virgil and Hayley had left the Eiffel Tower and made their way to the next tourist attraction. The magnificent cathedral of Notre Dame. As he took Hayley's photo with the cathedral behind, Virgil found himself in awe of just how amazing the building looked. Or maybe he was dazzled by Hayley's own beauty and the cathedral just added to it. Either way, he was going to keep it to himself.
Once Virgil had finished taking the photos, he handed the camera to Hayley so she could take some of him. "Oh, wow!" Hayley said as she looked at the camera screen. "And here I thought I'd seen the most beautiful sight in the world."
Virgil looked around, confused. "What's that?" he asked.
"My man in front of the best building in the world," Hayley replied with a grin.
It took a second for Virgil to realise what she meant. "Oh…OH!" he said before bursting out with laughter. "Sorry. I, er, may have had a similar experience when I was taking your photos."
Hayley giggled and they kissed each other. Both turned and looked at the cathedral.
"Can we go up there?" Virgil asked, pointing to the bell towers.
"I'm not sure," Hayley replied. "We can definitely go inside. We can find out."
They began to walk towards the cathedral, but their attention was soon caught by a man in a cream-coloured trench coat and a brown hat. He had a little black moustache and seemed to be having some trouble with the pigeons.
"Oh, merde! Shoo! Shoo! Sacrebleu!" the man was saying, waving his arms around like a windmill.
Virgil gave a chuckle. "Ah, some people will do anything for attention," he remarked.
But Hayley wasn't so sure. "He's not an act, Virgil," she said. "But he must have something that the pigeons want." She walked over towards the man and spoke to him in French. "Pardonnez-moi, monsieur. Avez-vous des graines pour oiseaux sur vous?"
I wish I knew what she was saying, Virgil thought to himself.
The man fumbled in his pocket. "Oui, Madame," he said, producing a bag that was larger than what Hayley was expecting to see. The pigeons seemed to get very excited and began swarming around his hand, making him cry out in alarm.
"Passé-le-moi," said Hayley.
The man threw the bag to her. It was already open so Hayley threw a large amount of the bag onto the ground away from the man. The pigeons immediately began swarming around it, leaving the man alone.
"Oh, merci, merci, Madame," said the man, removing his hat and mopping his brow.
"You're welcome," said Hayley, then cupped her hand over her mouth, realising she'd spoken in English rather than French.
But the man seemed pleasantly surprised by the revelation. "You are from England, madame?" he said, also in English with an accent.
"Yes," said Hayley, also surprised by this. "Yeah, I'm on holiday with my fiance," she beckoned Virgil to come over.
The man smiled warmly. "Ah, that is wonderful," he said. But before he could say anything else, the sound of a mobile phone rang in his pocket. "Oh, pardon me," he said as he turned to leave. "I'm afraid duty calls. Au revoir, madame, monsieur." He turned and scurried away, placing the phone to his ear. "'Allo. This is Chief Inspector Clouseau speaking on the phern."
Virgil and Hayley watched him go before exchanging some rather bewildered looks with one another.
"What a strange guy," remarked Virgil.
"I've seen stranger things," Hayley replied.
Virgil raised an eyebrow. "You have?"
"Of course," said Hayley, hiding a cheeky smirk. "I once saw a Pink Panther." She then took Virgil by the hand and whisked him away towards the cathedral without another word.