View Full Version : Thunderbirds: Big Trouble
Chapter One - Pamela, Pamela
The summer afternoon at the Pfhister Mall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin was perfect, save for the occasional sight of teenagers and the obstinate giggle of a girl or two.
A large female figure (5'10" to be exact) stood by the clothes store where another group of teenagers were. Dressed in a traditional green army skirt suit with a khaki blouse, brown combat knee high boots, a brown belt and a black scarf, wearing dark sunglasses, carrying a black backpack and a gun slung behind her back, she took out a pair of binoculars and studied the store that was only three yards away from her position.
Colonel Pamela Bordeux knew her mission was clear. The victims should be shopping for clothes. She would turn them into terrorists then she would help rule the world as her employer had requested.
She stashed the binoculars back into her pack and put her sunglasses down to her nose.
Time to get the job done. Her troups broke into a full run until they reached the shop were Pamela's subjects were.
The security systems were easy enough to infiltrate. The army found the boxes around the perimeter of the mall and disabled each of them. Pamela came back around to the east wall, and using a grappling hook she had in her pack, climbed the
the wall with ease, and made her way to the loudspeaker.
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The floorplan the redheaded woman had studied indicated that her victims were now surrounded by troups. They carefully crept across the floor and slowly near the teenagers. As soon as they were caught, the teenagers found a few large combat officers in front of them.
"Dude, this totally sucks." said one teenager looking at the officers
Then, another teen said "I totally agree that this whomps!"
Looking the teenagers and her troups over, Pamela walked over to the teenagers, who were now yelling and screaming, through her loudspeaker.
Pamela stood by a dark haired moronic security guard and unsheathed her gun. She placed it at the guard's left temple, ready to start the first part of her mission and told him "You better be a good boy and not raise the alarm if you wanna make it out alive."
It was then the 'Criminal alert' alarm went off. Taken by
surprise, everyone in the store stumbled and fell to the ground.
Pamela was none to pleased and attempted to turn the alarm off.
"Attention, all teenage shoppers," her voice was low and menacing in the loudspeaker. "You are all due to be my new army officers and help me destroy International Rescue."
But the teenagers would have none of that. Continuing to yell and scream, the teens gasped as soon as the chief security guard identified her and the shop disappeared right away.
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24 year old Scott Tracy was, by all means, a mall rat and it took a few moments for his 'focused on pretty babes' brain to register that he wasn't alone in the record store in the biggest mall in Los Angeles. Walking quickly, he scrambled up to his brothers Virgil, Gordon and Alan and their friends Tin Tin, Lady Penelope and Fermat taking in the scene of his scanner goggles scanning a few girls. He madly scrambled for the girls who giggled as soon as he made male model moves towards them as soon as he heard Virgil yell "Scott, we're going now and I got John that new 'Babes 'R' Us CD."
However, his frustration mounted when he couldn't get a clear shot at the girls who continued to stare at his 'big bubble butt'.
"Coming, Virg and you know I prefer Chick Patrol to Babes 'R' Us!" Scott yelled. However, the effect he got wasn't quite what he expected.
The girls looked on in amazement as they saw Scott leave almost in reply to the look they gave him. Seeing an opportunity on Scott's face, Gordon crept toward him slyly but was met with a look from Scott saying 'You are so dead if you do that again'.
Gordon said "Sheesh, Scott, I think you've had enough time with your girlfriends so let's just go home."
As the girls waved goodbye to Scott, Alan heard Pretty Fly (For A White Guy) from Scott's mobile phone. He picked it up and said "Yo. Uh huh? Okay, Dad, I'll tell him." then, he turned to his oldest brother and said "Scott, Dad wants to talk to you!"
Scott snatched the phone from his youngest brother. Walking over to the elevator, he said "Yo, Dad, what's the haps?"
The voice of Jeff Tracy spoke quicky "Scott, this is an emergancy, there was a vicious army attack at the Pfhister Mall in Milwaukee."
Scott gasped and kept speaking "Does John even know who did that kind of thing, Dad?"
He walked back over to where the girls were a minute ago as Jeff said "Yes, Scott, it was your former USAF colonel Pamela Bordeux!"
Scott carefully walked back to the elevator and let the gang in as Fermat pressed a button which might have lead the gang to Tracy Island. "Well, what's that gotta do with us Tracys?"
Jeff told his oldest son "I dated Pamela as soon as you joined the Air Force and I knew you were close to her but I only dated her for 3 years!"
When he had first heard of Pamela Bordeux, Scott remembered that she was an old friend of his mother's from the Space Academy and by now, the elevator landed at Tracy Island.
"Wow, guys, that was one heck of a r-r-ride." Fermat said as the gang fell out of the elevator.
"I usually like to believe that women are better than men but I'd like to know who Pamela Bordeux is." Lady Penelope said.
Brains touched more controls on the table.
"SARAH, extrapolate DNA of one C-c-colonel Pamela Bordeux and compare with known database archives," he commanded
the computer. After another thought, he added, "Also implement security percaution l-level 2."
"No problemo," came the monotone feminine voice from the computer.
Thinking why this woman would do this, Tin Tin held on to Alan and turned to snuggle close to him. The level 2 security
protocol would lock down the compound enough to get a good night's sleep. Usually if SARAH had to search all of the available DNA databases, it would take all day.
A completion tone issued from SARAH and Brains turned in some surprise.
"That was quick, SARAH. Can you display results on monitor one?" Tin Tin asked SARAH.
Brains turned to the far wall as it switched on- and promptly staggered back.
"I dated Colonel Bordeux for 3 years, Brians!" Jeff told his scientist partner.
"SARAH," his voice has half astonishment, half anger. "Enough with the jokes."
"Okay, take it easy, DNA study completed," came SARAH's curt reply, "sample matches 99.9% with subject are on file."
The team felt the blood drain from their faces. No way, thought Scott.
Numbmess washed over him. His last question would erase any doubt in his mind, but he was afraid to ask it. So many years of trying to get a girlfriend...but he had to find out.
"Probability is that the DNA was cloned?" John choked out from Thunderbird 5.
There was a pause before SARAH replied, "Sheesh, John, it's just 10.654%. Age of sample and genetic markers inidcate that this sample's legitimate, for Pete's sake."
He hung his head, completly overwhelmed. Years of not seeing Pamela came back to the surface in an instant. If what he was seeing was true-
Spurred into action, Jeff dropped back into the seat at the edge of his desk and handed the gang their usual gadgets.
"SARAH, Priority One. Send us straight to Milwaukee." said Scott as the gang boarded the Thunderbirds.
Chapter Two - One Of Our Heroes Is Missing
The Pfhister Mall in Milwaukee was shocked as Gordon made his International Rescue report as Channel 6 news' International Rescue and Thunderbirds corrispondant.
"Good afternoon, Milwaukee. I'm Gordon Tracy coming to you live from the Pfhister Mall where there has been a rash attack by Colonel Pamela Bordeux." said Gordon like his 'co-worker' Chet Youbetcha.
Alan turned the camera away from Gordon and in Tin Tin's direction. Gordon knew his younger brother had to keep the camera pointed at Gordon at all times...but Tin Tin looked so cute. "Hey, Kubrick, I'm over here." scolded Gordon.
Alan pointed the camera back to Gordon who said "As I was saying, the mall has been invaded by Colonel Bordeux and I have but one witness- a security guard who has decided to keep his identity secret."
The security guard looked at Gordon and remembered that he had the same hair color as Pamela. Listening carefully, he looked at Gordon as he said "Pardon me, Sir but did you see any fights on your shift?"
The guard said "Yeah, Gordon, it was so terrible that Pamela told me not to raise the alarm!"
Gordon ran a hand through his red hair and pondered his options. This security guard tended to be a bit stupid but he had answered Gordon's questions easilly.
Sweet mother of Moftan, thought Gordon, what the void was that about?
Alan stopped short as Scott and Virgil lead the gang into a record store. Scott spotted what looked like the new Chick Patrol CD. Virgil reminded his brother that they were on a mission not a shopping spree.
"Hello, Earth to Scott, are you there?"
He had looked worried since he found out that his old USAF colonel was an evil cow, but he recognized Virgil's voice easily.
He smiled faintly, “Sorry, Virg, I didn't hear you. Can you tell the others to hurry up?"
Lady Penelope came over quickly. "I'm glad you called us, Scott. Gordon's finished doing his live report and Alan kept screwing it up a bit."
"No need, I'm right here with our report." said Gordon calmly.
Lady Penelope jumped at the sound of Gordon's voice. She turned around and started looking at Gordon's camera.
"I'm sorry, Gordo, I should have focused the camera on your face." Alan told Gordon.
"It's Okay, Al," he said quietly, taking the device out of his younger brother's hand, "would you and Tin Tin lile to help me on my next report?"
"We'd really love too, Gordon!" Tin Tin said.
By the time Alan held Tin Tin's hand, the shop was beginning to move.
Fermat groaned worriedly. He and Alan have had this conversation more than once, and it was starting to get thin. "Alan, don't d-d-do thi-"
Fermat was cut off by Virgil and Scott yelling "Move, move, move, move, move!!!!!" shoving Fermat, Tin Tin, Alan, Gordon and Lady Penelope out of the store before Virgil rolled out and Scott, who was guarding the people in the store, heard Colonel Pamela Bordeux's words. "Hear me out, people. You will be attacked by my army. Luckily, I'll need my old charge Scott Tracy as my commanding officer or I'll probably be without a man right now. In all the chaos, my boss's face was revealed to me and he let me make my escape from jail. I got a real good look at his face but I know he'll make sure I take real good care of Scott."
Scott's eyes widened. After all of these years... "Pamela, wait 'til I get my hands on you."
"You're not going to, Scott because you're going to help me." Pamela smiled.
"That's to be expected 'cause my dad once dated you," Scott shot back. He noticed Pamela cringe at his voice. "I'm sorry. Is the boss the only thing you've got?"
"And my army! You're real clever recognizing me, Scott. At first when I saw you entering, I thought you were attacking the guard but he must have recognized your scent. The voice I heard from you just now wasn't one of danger but of joy," Pamela replied with eagerness Scott hadn't heard in some time.
Scott stared at Pamela in astonishment. He knew his former commanding officer easily recognized him but after two years?
She sighed before speaking again. "I've got to admit that is pretty compelling evidence. So, say for the sake of argument, I'll tell your old man you were kidnapped."
Scott growled, "You're dead, Pamela."
"To keep this quiet, I could easily get rid of your dad as I'd manipulate you,” Pamela finished. "Is that what you are thinking?"
Scott stared at Pamela. "That's totally out of the question. I've seen some fine people corrupted before and sadly it won’t be the last time either."
A man's voice was tinged with anger. "The agency was clean with Scott, Pamela. He was your finest agent you have ever had the pleasure of working with."
"Why did he get me fired then, Hood? They cleared him of any wrongdoing- Scott and his dad knew I did nothing wrong."
Scott looked down and noticed his trembling hands. "But you're a dead man, Hood and Pamela only got fired 'cause she ran the General's pants up a flagpost!"
"SHUT UP!" Pamela screamed, "The investigators did discover that it was fired from a considerable distance with a high powered rifle. There was no way to have known."
Scott cleared his mind, and focused on his breathing, until he was able to still his hands. He waited a few more moments before asking.
"I got you sacked and you want me back?"
"Please, Scott, I'm not above begging, but I know you're the man for the job and I can think no one better to put my trust in right now. I've followed your career as a pilot for the past two years and know you've kept your skills sharp. You've also got knowledge of the men that were investigating the case at that time. So what do you say, honey?" Pamela urged.
Scott paused, then stated with determination, "If you want me back, Pamela, you'll have to gas me first."
The voice of the Hood piped up from behind them. "That could be arranged, Scott."
Scott didn't even bother turning around. He figured the Hood couldn't resist listening in. "YOU!" he growled.
Pamela smiled. "Hood, you're welcome to come, of course." Scott then saw Pamela's face grow solemn. "Okay, troups, take Scott Tracy and the rest of the snot-nosed teenagers to the planes."
The 'Criminal alert' alarm then went off again.
Pamela stood and turned to face her employer. "Better send Big Daddy a reminder, Hood. We'll be at my hideout in two hours."
Chapter 3 - Two Heads Are Better Than One
Scott came round to find himself lying on a steel board dressed in a combat pants suit, a khaki shirt, brown combat boots, a brown belt and a black tie. His condition allowed him to find out where the heck he was and according to Jeff, it came in handy. He was trying to quiet the frenzied thoughts that ran through his head.
Why couldn't I save the people in that record store? thought Scott in puzzlement, I also remember Pamela's title in the USAF. It was so familiar and somehow, I also remember what she called us. How can this be?
He looked up the second he saw that he was chained to the board before Pamela and Transom.
"I can't believe we only got Jeff Tracy's oldest son, Colonel Bordeux." Transom told Pamela.
Pamela ran a hand through her red hair cooly. She looked at Transom and said "Well, Jeff's eldest son would do quite nicely for now."
Transom spoke quickly. "Should I tell Mullion to hand me a mind control collar?"
"Yeah but let me get aquainted with this one, thank you!" Pamela told Transom.
Scott cringed, remembering the voice of his former commanding officer.
"Hi, Scott, how are you?" asked Pamela.
He could remember hearing Pamela's voice and asked "What do you want, Pamela?"
"An offer your dad can't refuse!" Pamela replied absently. Scott kept playing back the whole incident in his head, questions still rolling around in his mind.
"Don't talk about a Tracy like that. My dad'll stop you, do you hear me?" he asked her.
Pamela looked at Scott and laughed. "I won't let anyone else fail me anymore. When the time's right, I WILL kill your dad if it's the last thing I ever do."
Laying down on the board, he breathed a sigh and thought
about the encounter he had with Pamela. His mission was clear but for some reason he still couldn't get that encounter out of his mind. However, the events of what ahppened at the Pfhister mall caught up with him. His eyelids drooped and soon was fast asleep as Transom put a mind control collar around his neck.
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Gordon and Fermat came into the lab to find Brains working on a project which involved mice under mind control. He was seated at the main table intensly focusing on the contents of a computer screen in front of him.
"What's got your interest, Brains?" asked Gordon.
Brains looked up from the screen. "I'm using a program I borrowed with the permission of a forensic artist friend of mine. It ages USAF pilot's pictures based on input of attributes from the p-p-parents, Gordon." Brains told the redhead.
"Dad, you've already scanned in pictures of Mr Tracy, the guys and their m-m-mom." Fermat piped up.
"Gordon, would you mind making a few a-a-adjustments while I speak to Fermat?" Brains said.
"No problemo, Brains!" Gordon said as he put a lab coat on and typed in calculation after calculation and soon a 3-D image appeared on the screen. It held the basic contours of a face, but lacked features. To the side of the image, the program offered three different options for each facial feature, including the hair.
The program offered me these options based on the attributes of the photos Brains scanned into it, he thought out loud, quickly tapping in some options, now if I remember right, Brains told me to type in this command and-
He pressed the final button in the series. The program sprang to life trying different facial feature combinations until the program stopped.
"Sweet mother of Moftan."
Brains and Fermat came over behind the redhead to take a look at the screen. The face that stared back at them was complete, and with the exception of the blue eyes, bore a striking resemblance to Jeff.
"Pretty uncanny, eh?" Gordon quietly asked.
"I agree," Brains replied as he took a seat beside Gordon, "now that we have an i-i-idea of what the might may be like if they were human, we will need a plan."
Chapter 4 - Jeff's Good Idea
When Jeff came round after Virgil pulled him out of the deep freeze, he found that he and his third son were both in his office.
He felt a pang of worry as he caught sight of Virgil. It had been
20 years since he had first clapped eyes with Virgil but not much of him had changed.
After being buzzed through the memory of Pamela Bordeux, he got off his own couch. The incident of what happened to Scott was caught on camera and was being sent to Thunderbird 5. The message to Thunderbird 5 always claimed it gave the Thunderbirds atmosphere when actually all it did was set SARAH off.
The buzzing of the Vid-COM broke Jeff out of his slumber. He sat up and flicked a switch near his desk. "John?"
"Bad news, Dad," John announced from the Vid-COM, "Scott's disappeared."
"I know, Colonel Pamela Bordeux captured him." Virgil told John.
John looked up as Gordon's report was sent to Thunderbird 5 and the rest of the gang came into the room.
"Gordon, for an airhead, you're not half stupid." John said.
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The way Alan saw him, Gordon could barely hold back his surprise.
His sources had told him that International Rescue had done well but judging by their now missing eldest brother, International Rescue was doing pretty bad.
"So, Gordon, to what do I owe the report you sent John?" Jeff asked lightly, "has one of your zany schemes gone right for once?"
Gordon crossed his arms, "I think you know why I sent it, Dad."
"Has your time away from us made you lose all of your charm, Gordo?" Alan asked jokingly.
"Not when I think that Scott's abduction was mishandled," Lady Penelope stated cooly. From her locket, she showed everyone in the room a photogrph of Scott. "Pamela's recieved new evidence
indicating that he's working for her now."
"I can assure you all avenue's were considered and explored that were concerning Scott's w-w-whereabouts. We even had the dart that hit you analyzed, but nothing panned out, Mr Tracy." Brains replied, pocketing the disc. "But Gordon gave me give this disc as a favor to you."
Tin Tin bit back a retort. She knew to expect a chilly reception, but
at this rate, Jeff felt like Scott would be kiiled.
"So how do we stop Pamela?" Tin Tin asked idly.
"The only way possible!" Jeff replied simply, "I have a plan, we'll go to the Pfhitser Mall in Milwaukee and split up in groups!"
Fermat shrugged. "It works for us."
Jeff leaned across the desk at him. "Good idea, Fermat. As a former USAF colonel myself, I never blamed Scott for that General with his pants on a flagpost incident and besides, we could use all of the manpower we can get."
Brains flinched in anger. To have an event like that reduced to what Jeff and Scott told him about Pamela's little prank.
He stood, then leaned over until he was mere inches from Jeff. "Gee, Mr Tracy, I made a promise to SARAH that I i-i-intend to keep. We'll get to the bottom of Pamela's crazy scheme and right now that's my only priority."
"That didn't seem to be your priority two years ago when Pamela got fired, Dad." Alan quietly replied.
The gang fought to keep Jeff's temper in check as he answered "Things change, Alan. What about Scott? I noticed he could be under the Hood's mind control."
"Not Brains's call, Dad. The prank caused you two to break up and now she wants to kill you. We still keep an eye on the bad guys every so often to make sure their work isn't being affected." Gordon said and Virgil looked at him as if he had been clever for the first time in his life.
Jeff stared at him in stony silence until it was broken by the ringing of his office phone.
His voice was much more worrying. "People, please, I have to get that if you don't mind. Now get out before I have you thrown out."
"We'll be in touch, Dad." Virgil replied simply. He lead Lady Penelope, Tin Tin, Gordon, Fermat and Alan out of Jeff's office and closed the door.
Chapter 5- Next Stop: The Pfhister Mall
"There it is, Dad, the Pfhister Mall." Virgil told his father.
Jeff sighed. He had phoned Colonel Tim Casey to tell him what they had discovered about Scott and he insisted on coming right away.
"I'd rather you didn't, Tim," he replied with worry in his voice, "I had a close shave and besides, we don't know what Scott's been through yet. He could just as easily come back and try and kill you too."
"My duty's pretty much ended at Fort Springfield. I was gonna use the free time to visit my daughter Sharon in Springfield before she goes back to UWM but this is more important," Colonel Casey stated, "and you can't talk me out of it, Jeff. I'm helping and you know what they say, two heads are better than one."
Jeff laughed, "Try Eight, my three younger sons, Virgil, Gordon and Alan are helping and they've bought Lady Penelope, Tin Tin and Alan's friend, Fermat along."
"You talked Lady Penelope herself into helping you?" Colonel Casey replied in astonishment. "This is really important. My troups'll be the first ones there before that bunny boiler you call an ex-girlfriend shows up."
Jeff heard the click at the end of the line and put the phone back in it's cradle. Immediately, the phone rang and he picked the receiver back up.
"Hello?"
"It's Brains, Mr Tracy. I thought I'd check in to see how your mission's g-g-going."
"Our plans so far are coming together nicely, Brains. Colonel Tim Casey'll be at the Pfhister Mall when Pamela shows up again but at least he'll be able to find Scott. How about you, were you able to reach Tim yet?" Jeff asked.
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Brains leaned against the phone booth near SARAH. "I called him just before I called you. He's in the air and on his way b-b-back now."
He heard Jeff pause for a moment. "I promised Tim that I'd come to give a lecture to Sharon's aerodynamics class in the next month or so. Her father wanted to meet her this afternoon to plan it out. If you'd like, you can let me go to Springfirld and let her ride in Thunderbird 2."
"I'll have to call her, Mr Tracy." Brains complained.
He was cut off by another call on the other end of the line.
"Hey, Prof. Hackenbacker, tell Mr Tracy I'll be fine in Springfield." said the voice of Sharon Casey.
"Figures," he groaned, placing the receiver back on the cradle, then broke into a frenzy when SARAH finally located where Pamela would strike next.
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As soon as he was told by Sharon Casey that she would still be in Springfield, Jeff gestured for Virgil to land at the Pfhister Mall. His next attack on Pamela would be a really tough one and by the looks of things, it would be tougher with Scott working for her.
Pamela had just finished cocking her gun when she spotted Scott rushing out of the plane and quickly got into the mall.
Before he could ask about the mission, he took a gun out of his pack and held it out for her inspection.
"Let's go," she said hurriedly.
Scott was shocked because he knew that his own team were coming. "The Thunderbirds are here." he told her.
"I'll deal with them and while you're in the mall, Major Tracy, make sure no one raises that 'Criminal alert' alarm." she explained.
"Not a problem!" Scott said as he put a pair of sunglasses on his face.
Chapter 6 - Every Good Term Deserves Another
Jeff wasn't in a good mood to begin with so when he had arrived at the mall only to have learned that Alan grabbed potential evidence, he nearly lost it.
He followed his second oldest son and the guard Gordon interviewed earlier on to the book store were Pamela may strike next. They were waiting for another guard to arrive but there were more pressing matters on his mind.
"John, remind me to ground Alan for the next week." Jeff told John as they sat down.
John groaned, "Dad, at least let me explain."
Jeff's hands started to tremble, so he took a quick deep breath to calm himself before he continued. "John, you're very clever and rather quiet. Because of my absence, Scott's disappeared and I don't want to lose you too."
He felt a hand on his arm. "Mr Tracy, your son's all right and here with us now. Let's let the guy explain."
Jeff fell silent for a moment, then sighed. "Go ahead, John."
John gave his father a worried glance, then started recounting what happened.
"As I was leaving Thunderbrid 5, Brains asked me to take some paper work to your office. I went and started talking to him and that's when I saw a soldier that looked a lot like Scott."
Jeff was taken aback. "Scott? You saw him? Are you sure?"
"He was an extremely close match to picture Brains generated from that software," John replied, "Anyway, he was in the left wing of this mall talking to Mr Nowak who owns the record store that vanished. I couldn't catch much of the conversation, but I noticed an open backpack propped against the door. I asked Mr Nowak and he verified that it belonged to a man named Diabolik. When he had his back turned, I took a quick look inside the bag and spotted a gun. I made a split second decision, made sure no one was looking, and that's how come I have it."
Jeff shook his head in amazement. "I appreciate your eagerness to help, John but what you did was very dangerous. If Pamela knows that we are onto her-"
Virgil, Gordon and Alan arrived before Jeff could finish his thought.
"Dad, there's been a pretty bad incident and Pamela's invovled."
Jeff got to his feet. "Come on, John. We'll finish our conversation later."
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The Hood sat in his mountaintop hideaway and surveyed his surroundings. It was easy getting into the Pfhister Mall but with the right officials on his payroll and a disguise, he was able to get through with minimal effort.
His contact had set up the place so he could be close at hand when his plan was executed.
The technology Brains developed could easily be adapted to carrying out cyber attacks, plundering the worlds markets and crippling their defenses. He new Pamela's commanding officer will kill Jeff when he got his hands on him and steal the technology for him-and who better to be the commanding officer than Jeff's oldest son Scott?
He turned to a nearby console. After adjusting a few settings, a section of wall slid open, revealing a communications screen showing a familiar face.
"Hood! It's a pleasure. I trust you found the accommodations appealing?" Pamela asked him.
"They're adequate," the Hood conceded, "I wish to check the progress of our operation. When will your new commanding officer complete his task, Pamela?"
"He has infiltrated that moronic security guard I cornered. We'll get him then, and secure the technology for your use," came the reply.
"Excellent. Have you had to use anymore of the drug on him?" the Hood asked Pamela.
"No, Sir, for the last few hours, he's proven himself loyal to us, so the drug's proven unnecessary. He's even stopped asking about his name."
The Hood smiled at the screen. "He has no idea his father is here and is completely bent to our will. Everything is falling into place. Keep me informed."
"F.A.B, Sir." Pamela told the Hood.
Pamela closed her communication screen when the Hood's image disappeared.
Pamela had invested a lot of time in Scott Tracy. She had put him through training that most men don't go through until they are much older.
Combat scenarios, martial arts, endurance training, sensory depravation, it had all been necessary to break him, to make Scott totally reliant on him and him alone and ready him for the mission at hand. As a master stroke, she even conditioned Scott to call himself Major.
If that bunny boiler I call an ex-boyfriend only knew... thought Pamela.
Everything was being going as well as Pamela planned. Once the plan played out, she would finally have been able to fulfill the Hood's purpose and gain her freedom.
Now all she could do was wait on Major Scott Tracy.
Chapter 7 - Jeff's In Trouble
When they reached the army of Colonel Pamela Borduex later that afternoon, Lady Penelope, Fermat and Tin Tin went to a book store while the security guard followed the Tracys into the survailance room.
Virgil whistled in appreciation when he saw what looked like Scott in the middle monitor. What advancements he had seen from the guard were surpassed here easily.
"You've been busy, Dude." Virgil told the guard. "The computer equipment you've got here makes the lab on Tracy Island look like a kid's toy box."
Jeff placed the laptop on one of the wooden work tables and took a seat to the side as the rest of the boys sat down in front of the unit. The guard powered on the laptop and tried a typing in a few commands before sliding the unit over to John in frustration.
"Impressive security. Password and encryption protection all the way around. It'll probably take a couple of hours for us to crack." John told the team.
Gordon sighed, pointing to a nearby computer panel. "We better get started then. Hook the laptop up to that interface on the panel and we'll let my computer have a go at it."
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Lady Penelope noticed Major Tracy standing before her, pointing a gun near to her face like a mobster in a black and white gangster movie. The people in the store looked rather shocked.
"Scott, Scott Tracy, is that you?" Lady Penelope asked.
Pointing the gun at her, Major Tracy said "Where's Jeff Tracy, Lady?"
Fermat monitored the decryption process while Tin Tin worked with some equipment in the far corner to pass the time.
After a half hour had passed, Fermat got to his feet and ran to find Alan. He noticed that Major Tracy looked a lot like Alan's oldest brother Scott.
"So What's the big project your working on this time, Major Tracy or should I say, Scott Malcolm Tracy?" Tin Tin asked.
Major Tracy looked at Tin Tin right away. "A fully great plan to get rid of Tracy before he kills Pamela."
A loud beep from the computer interrupted him.
"Wow, SARAH must have made some progress. What's the haps, SARAH?" asked Lady Penelope.
The smooth computer voice was quick to reply. "Level one's been complete. Thirty percent of data now accessible. Do you want me to do Level two decryption?"
"Yes, SARAH, also go ahead and show us the data decrypted thus far." said the English blonde woman.
A panel inset into the counter slid back revealing a computer touch screen.
"Now let see what we here," Jeff mused as line after line of data came across the screen as soon as the Tracys and Fermat showed up, "Looks like we got the email for the past week or so."
"Well, at least we can get a trace off the IP addresses in the headers, but that usually takes time, especially if they do not want to be found. There's quite a few emails here and they look pretty much the same." John told his father.
Jeff started reading one of them, but when he finished his eyes grew cold as Major Tracy stood above him.
Virgil noticed the change and leaned closer to the screen. "What's the massive problemo, Dad?"
"Well, well, Mr Tracy, we meet at last." said Major Tracy as he swun the gun around until the butt of it hit Jeff round the back of his head causing him to pass out.
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Jeff opened his eyes to find both Pamela and Major Tracy, who shackled Jeff just five minutes before he woke up, staring at him.
"What happened to the rest of the wolf pack, Jeff? I thought they'd never be so stupid to forget their leader." said Pamela.
"They left, Pamela. I tried yelling but I don't know how I got here." Jeff told her coldly.
Scott could hear the anger in Jeff's voice. "Don't speak to Pamela in front of me like that."
"We're always at risk. As an International Rescue leader, I kept a pretty tight hold over the Thunderbirds. I discovered that one of the younger pilots dared Pamela to do that kind of thing but instead of looking at this evidence, they discounted it and made Pamela feel like she failed, Scott."
Pamela realized how bitter his voice sounded. She stood up straight and watched Scott keep guard of Jeff in the cell he was dumped in.
She sighed. Her tiredness allowed emotion to creep into her thoughts. I'm not gonna miss him, thought Pamela. We became fast friends the day Scott joined the USAF. When I got fired for that stupid prank, Jeff tolde me we were through, my troup disbanded and Scott joined International Rescue.
"Scott Malcolm Tracy, I can't believe Pamela would turn you against me and it looks like she has help from the Hood."
Scott walked towards a window at the far side of the cell to look out the window. Outside, the turbulent ocean seemed as chaotic as his thoughts. He thought once he knew who his opponent was, things would fall into place but instead, it only fueled his feelings of helplessness. The brainwashing his son must have went through for five minutes.
Scott's angry voice broke through his thoughts. "Listen to me, Tracy, leave Pamela and the boss out of this. I just peeked at his training schedule and the stuff they are having him do would break your troop. It's brainwashing pure and simple. Pamela wants you dead for a reason and that's the break up."
Jeff turned him around. "I promised you that I'll snap you out of that trance."
"Damn you." Scott clawed at Jeff's face.
Jeff tried in vain to escape from his bonds. "Let me finish. I want ALL of us there. Since John spotted you, I knew that was where you'd stike at me."
"Well, you desrve it."
Okay, Scott, Jeff thought as he managed to grab hold of the Hood's mind control device that Pamela left despite his eyes welling up. "Scott, please don't hurt me, I love you."
Scott suddenly looked at Jeff crying, snapped out of his trance as he felt the collar around his neck losing control of him, hugged him and said "I love you too, Dad."
----------------------------------------
Pamela looked out the window and noticed the Thunderbirds had showed up.
"Looks like the troops are here. Think we should press for details?"
The Hood stretched, got to his feet and headed for the stairs.
"It's the right time for getting revenge on the Tracys by turning their oldest brother against them."
She gave a wry smile. "Whatever."
Chapter 8 - Bring It On, Pamela
"Yo, Dudes and dudettes, this looks like the way he ran." Virgil told the rest of the gang.
Shivering with cold, the team ran along the dark metal corridors, twisting and turning along with every bend.
There just had to be a chance for escape. The alternative was unthinkable.
John turned the final bend that led to finding his father and that's when he ran into trouble.
Terror and revulsion threatened to overwhelm him as Pamela's hands grabbed at him, pushing and holding him to the ground. Voices came from all around threatening to drown him in a sea of noise.
"Hold him down!" Pamela's voice said but as soon as the soldiers held John down, the collars around their necks stopped working and the guards let John go.
"This is the third time this has happened, Pamela." the Hood replied.
"That won’t affect Major Scott Tracy, will it?"
The Hood gasped at the mention of Scott's name. He saw two shadows and Virgil looked closly to find out that they were his father and Scott. His reasons for wanting to find his oldest brother were slowly slipping from his mind.
He struggled to hold onto what happened...the last thing those guards holding John were doing.
Ever since Pamela had brought him here, forcing him through physical stuff that Jeff wouldn’t even make him do, Scott held onto the last piece of info that made him who he was and took the sunglasses Pamela gave him off.
"That's it, Pamela, your time's up!!" Scott and Jeff said together.
The voices surrounded her again.
"Look, guys, I can explain starting from scratch." Pamela said as the two older Tracys looked at her.
"You can forget the entire army 'cause I turned them back to normal using your mind control device." Scott told Pamela.
"You will follow my orders, Major Tracy."
Scott's voice sounded much more angry than when ne saw Pamela last, even to himself.
"I will not follow orders from you, Pamela."
------------------------------
"Scott!!!"
Lady Penelope ran to where the Tracys were and found Scott due to strike at Pamela.
The nightmare was coming regularly since Pamela abducted Scott but the most frustrating thing was that she could barely remember him or his family once he hit her. At the same time, he could barely remember his early Air Force days with Pamela and the training he went through.
"Scott Malcolm Tracy," Pamela said angrilly. "Didn't your father tell you not to hit members of the opposite sex?"
Lady Penelope checked the gun in her leg holster.
8:15pm, thought Lady Penelope. Oh no, Scott's going to be under Pamela's control forever if I don't do something.
She jumped out from behind the doorway. Grabbing at her gun, she quickly ran towards Pamela and told her to leave Scott alone. There was a job to do and she didn't want to let the Tracys down. Pamela almost yelled in a panic as Lady Penelope attacked her but was afraid that the Hood would take this news as a failure and punish her.
I can't fail...not after all the work and training that I was put through, thought Pamela.
Quickly, the two women aimed their guns at each other and then started shootong. From what Lady Penelope had gathered from the bag Jeff had given her, Pamela looked like she was at her worst.
Before she fell to the ground after Lady Penelope hit her, she chose her weapons carefully. Packed in-between her make up kit and perfume were a dagger in a sheath and a machine gun with a scope and silencer.
John could tell that the fight was over. Plenty of time to psych himself up and prepare to stop the fight.
He zipped up his backpack and rushed towards the two women.
-----------------------------------------------
Gordon and Alan went in to the monitor room to check on Fermat and Tin Tin when the two youngest Tracys heard the familiar theme of The Simpsons come from the cell phone on Gordon's belt.
He unclipped the phone and quickly answered it. "Yo."
"Gordon, it's John, Scott's back to normal."
"Are you sure?"
"One hundred percent. I saw him give Pamela a piece of his mind."
"Good going, Dude. When it comes to you and Pamela, Dad might want you to take a position off to the side of the auditorium and watch the people going in. We'll set you up with one of Brains's micro-communicators so we can keep in touch. I've got a feeling the Hood might show up but it can't hurt to try for a little warning."
"F.A.B."
"And promise me no matter what happens, you won't let Virgil leave that spot. Can I speak to Virgil?"
"No prob."
"This is going to be dangerous, Virg. We don't need to give Pamela any chances to take any more hostages. Until we can determine the extent of his brainwashing, we're going to have to treat her as an enemy. Okay?"
He could hear the frustration in his third older brother's voice. "I got it, Gordo. I better go or I'm gonna watch Scott kick Pamela's butt again."
When he heard him hang up the phone, Gordon closed his cell phone and clipped it back on his belt.
Gordon found his younger brother and friends sitting in the corner of the room, looking at what looked like Pamela's 'big bubble butt'. Alan looked up at him in anticipation. "Well?"
Gordon sighed. "Scott kicked Pamela's butt. Look, Al, are you sure we are ready for this? I mean she could very well mow us down where we stand before we even get within spitting distance of her."
"I've got a plan that should buy us enough time to get close. Fermat's gathering the computer equipment that we need and we should be able to leave soon." Tin Tin told the redhead.
-------------------------------------------------
The man stepped into an awaiting private jet, and took a seat in the passenger area. Strapping in, he flicked a speaker switch beside his seat.
"Take off immediately and head for Thunderbird 5." Mullion yelled.
"Yes, Sir." Transom said.
She flicked the switch back off, and settled back. By her calculations, she would arrive just before Pamela came too. Then they both could-
The cell phone in Scott's pocket buzzed harshly against his skin. Taking it out, he quickly pressed the talk button.
"Hello?"
A girl's voice grated against his ears. "Scott, it's Vicky, you know I don't like being kept in the dark. I've been looking forwards to this date for two weeks and I hope you show up on time."
Scott expelled an uneven breath. Thinking of what to tell Vicky, he verified what Pamela already knew.
He nervously put the phone back to his ear. "Okay, Vicky, I won't be late this time, I promise, Honey."
"I'm sure you will because as your butt's a bit big, I wanna make sure my dad sends his plane."
He felt time stop for precious moments before he finally replied. "Sure."
He hit the talk button to quickly sever the connection, then put the phone back in his pocket.
A brief moment of regret came to him at the thought of stopping Pamela. She put in a lot of work and time putting him through intensive training. She even entertained thoughts of taking Scott along with her once the mission was over. However, if she wanted to be free from the Hood's influence, she'd have to follow orders one last time.
From the holster at his side, she drew out her weapon and checked it over thoroughly.
When the time came, she would be ready.
---------------------------------
It was then that Jeff and John noticed that Thunderbird 5 was in trouble.
Scott had managed to lead his brothers and their pals on this mission, keeping his head low and avoiding eye contact with Pamela. A few hours ago, he tried everything to get official
permission, expressing every interest in martial arts that he could but both Jeff and Pamela flatly refused, telling him his moves were too noticable to them and that he was already a bit heavy handed.
If anyone asked, he was simply here to retrieve his backpack that he left with Transom when he was captured - which he now had back.
While in Thunderbird 3 with Alan, he noticed Transom, Mullion and Pamela already hard at work on targeting Thunderbird 5 with Brains inside, explaining and displaying figures on a screen behind him.
As soon as he was beamed aboard, Scott stayed low and near the Vid-COM crawling until he reached Brains.
Feeling behind the scientist, he dragged out his backpack and quietly unzipped it.
After securing the dagger at his side, he saw Pamela (who had already been beamed aboard) take out her machine gun and attached the scope and silencer. He knew once she took her shot, Scott would be there to kick her butt again.
------------------------------------------
Brains crouched in fear as Pamela showed her face to him using heat sensitive goggles that Transom gave her. She was able to see many faint blue/green heat signatures him but so far nothing else.
Scott had ensured that Brains was in deep trouble and there was danger of a hostage. Scott walked before Pamela and stared at her. He hadn't heard anything from his brothers which meant that either the Hood didn't come or-
He suddenly heard a whistling sound, then a cry of pain.
Scott whispered harshly into a micro-communicator clipped to his combat jacket.
"Public Enemy to Aquaman, Shooting Star, Spaceman and Rosutabout, are you dudes Okay?"
He heard Virgil reply. "This is Roustabout, Public Enemy, we're Okay, just found out that Brains got shot in the arm from a gunshot. Look near him, Pamela's aboard Thunderbird 5."
Scott turned his gaze upward to where Brains indicated. Sure enough, there was a hot spot, about the right size for a human being.
Oh bummer, there she is! thought Scott to himself.
He shouted into his communicator. "Hit the lights!"
The lights of Thunderbird 5 blazed to life as Transom quickly pocketed the goggles and rushed to where he had spotted the heat signature.
Nothing. Not a trace. He looked all around him before calling John.
"Spaceman, this is Public Enemy, has anyone gone out of Thunderbird 5 in the last few min-"
Scott didn't get to finish his sentence.
Pamela came at him from behind with a flying tackle that caused the two of them to tumble to the floor. Scott landed hard against Brains and went down. Dazed, he didn't have time to react to Pamela swinging the butt of her machine gun down hard against his head.
Pain clouded Scott's senses as his vision blurred then faded to black.
--------------------------------------
Brains and John all crouched low behind the projection screen. From what the computer could tell, the bullet had only struck a glancing blow off Scott's arm but it was bleeding badly.
John quickly found his waist length scarf and bound his older brother's arm as the micro-communicator clipped to his jacket blared to life.
"Roustabout?? Aquaman?? Shooting Star?? Can anyone hear me?"
Gordon spoke quickly and quietly. "This is Aquaman, Spaceman, keep your position. we've got things taken care of."
"But, Guys."
"This is Shooting Star, you promised us, Spaceman," Alan hissed into the communicator, "Stay there."
Brains stole a quick glance from behind the screen and saw Pamela bring down a gun against Scott's head.
I've got to do something, thought John.
Grabbing for a tranquilizer gun he had hidden near the screen, he stuffed it into his pants pocket and stepped from behind the screen.
"Don't hurt my older brother!" John told Pamela.
Pamela turned and stared at him. "If you don't want Scotty Boy hurt, you'll have to be a good boy and come to me with your hands in the air, Johnny."
John did as he was told, stepping carefully towards her and Scott.
"John, you h-h-have to keep him talking." Brains told John.
"Pamela. Please, whatever you do, don't kill Scott."
Pamela whipped the gun up and pointed it at him. "Why are you looking at me like that? You don't know me like your dad and Scott do."
"You're right,” he replied, advancing closer, "You dated my dad and were the youngest female USAF colonel 3 years ago but you were dumped and fired for that 'General's pants up the flagpost' prank."
Scott thought John saw pain on Pamela's face but it disappeared quickly under a mask of anger.
"You are a liar." Pamela snarled at John as Brains got Scott away from her.
The three of them stopped within mere inches of Pamela. They lowered their hands slowly and John went for the tranquilizer gun in his pocket.
"Oh no you don’t!"
Pamela leapt at him and they both went down.
Scott was amazed at the power Pamela always possessed over men. It took all of her strength to keep her three captives at arms length but John and Scott took hold of Pamela and bought her back to Earth.
----------------------------------------
Jeff saw that Pamela's anger was building. She was so close to killing Brains and her ex-boyfriend's two oldest sons were putting up a strong struggle.
Dropping her machine gun, Pamela managed to twist Tin Tin's arm, making her and Alan cry out in pain and fall to the ground. By twisting and pulling around, she managed to hook an arm around Jeff's neck and squeezed. The strength training she went through came in handy.
Gordon saw Pamela feel Jeff struggle in her grasp for many moments. As soon as he saw Pamela's strengh, he decided to pounce on her like a panther.
"Time to finish the job of kicking your butt, Pamela." Gordon told Pamela.
Lady Penelope's scream stopped them in their struggle. Whipping her head up in surprise and recognition, Pamela recognized the blonde woman who walked onto the argument.
"You, what are you doing here?" Pamela told Lady Penelope.
Lady Penelope told Pamela "The Hood'll very disappointed in you, Colonel."
As soon as Pamela left, the team were all leaving the Island and went straight for the Pfhister Mall in Milwaukee.
"Dad, I'm really sorry." Scott said looking rather upset.
Jeff looked at his oldest son and said "Don't feel sorry, Scott. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out sooner from the laptop you had stolen from Brains."
Chapter 9- Everything's Back To Normal
As they arrived back at the Pfhister Mall, Jeff struggled hard against Scott's tight grasp. (Okay, it was a hug but Scott hugged his father pretty tight)
"I've figured out enough. What did Pamela promise us, Dad? To give the Thunderbirds to the Hood?" asked Scott.
"It's not that simple, Scott" Jeff replied laughing, "Pamela was involved in a Grade School-related prank that went badly. I thought you would have been convicted of treason but I was able to cover it up. General Fisher threatened to fire all pilots unless somebody confessed and Pamela did so."
He stepped closer and stood up straight until his face was mere inches from Scott's.
"And now for my last task, your old man's ordered me to snap out of Pamela's control." said the security guard who was under Pamela's control.
---------------------------------------
Scott gaped, he couldn't have heard right.
"Look, Dude, after you were told not to raise the alarm, I was about to kill my dad while Pamela manipuliated me and-"
"Look, Pal," he heard the guard say, "Your collar thing failed when your dad told you that he loved you. All of that training was a wasted effort. Maybe she might have killed you instead of kidnapping you. You're a pretty tough guy with all that training while being brainwashed by Pamela turning you into the perfect assassin to kill your old man where she wanted him dead. You even forgot your name, didn't you, Buddy?"
His own capture rushed through his mind. It can't be..., Scott thought.
Virgil fought the revulsion that surged within him. He could have only guessed at what Scott went through, but to totally strip him of his real identity...
He felt the grip of his two younger brothers loosen. Looking around, he saw that Gordon got to his feet and had turned his camera on.
"Okay, Al, I'm on in ten seconds." Gordon told Alan.
Tin Tin, Fermat and Lady Penelope all stood beside Virgil and smiled.
"You see? Scott doesn't even remember. The 'drug cocktails' Transom and Pamela injected him with made sure of that, but I guess they weren't enough. We decided to abort the asssination because Pamela's a power mad she-devil." Lady Penelope said.
Alan chuckled and then pointed the camera at Gordon's face.
"This is Gordon Tracy of the Channel 6 News."
Virgil and Scott raised thir heads and looked at each other hitting each other in the shoulder and almost making Jeff lose his view on Gordon.
"We're live at the Pfhister Mall where."
Out of the corner of his eye, Gordon saw the security guard walk over to the camera and take the mcrophone out of Gordon's hand.
"Where we, the security of this mall, have heroicly assisted International Rescue on solving the case of the army attacks."
"They helped solve?" asked Tin Tin.
"Are we sure that those guys are b-b-better than us?" asked Fermat.
Alan kept the camera on Gordon and guessed his friends were behind him. "Bunch of creeps, those dudes are."
The security guard turned to the camera. "And that's how I stopped the mall army, all in a day's work."
Taking his microphone back, Gordon said to his co-anchor, Trent Brocklestein "...hmm, I would call that a checkmate, wouldn't you, Trent since you're back in the studio?"
"And we're out, Gordo." Alan told his older brother.
Gordon motioned to him quickly. "This is totally over. Maybe we should continue shopping."
The team decided to make it so and ran to different parts of the mall.
------------------------------------------
Back at Tracy Island that night, Jeff sat quietly in Scott's bedroom and watched his oldest son sleep.
In his hands, Scott clutched a framed photo of himself taken five weeks ago along with his brothers. It had been the only thing he responded to when he first woke up on the Island.
The quiet chirping of his cell phone grabbed his attention. He took it out of his pocket and answered it quickly.
"Talk to me."
A familiar voice greeted him. "Scott, it's John, Dad wants to know who turned you against us. Seems that Colonel Bordeux was more evil than when I last heard of her. We seem to think she can clean her act up a bit."
Scott gave a quiet laugh. "Dad's got a lot of faith in you, Johnny, plain and simple. So what did he tell ya?"
"He told me she was just recently arrested and now we can get back to normal."
"Well, we could use a space monitor aboard Thunderbird 5 now your shift's up."
Scott heard a chuckle at the other end of the line. "You do it. I've gotta go let Dad pick me up in Thunderbird 3."
The conversation over, he shut off and pocketed his cell phone then Jeff moved closer to Scott's bed.
In the hours since Scott woke up, Brains tended to his gunshot wounds and did CAT scans to check for brain damage from the drugs he had been given. The tests came back all clear, but the doctors warned him that Scott might never regain all memories of Pamela.
Jeff ran a gentle hand through his son's hair.
"Good night, Scott."
He resumed his seat beside Scott's bed and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.
THE END
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