#dd07

He veered to the right as he fell from the seat and landed with a thump on the bottom of he boat. Kayo about lost her balance as the boat took off in the unexpected direction but grabbed the seat and pulled herself into it—taking the steering wheel and correcting their heading.

She slowed the boat down and checked the fuel—it was about out, but there were a couple of fuel containers on the floor behind the seat so she didn’t have to worry about that.  

The man next to her was starting to stir so she had to deal with him first. She found some more rope and went to work on tying him up. She then pulled him back and covered him with the tarp she had been hiding under.

The man had regained consciousness—Kayo hadn’t wanted to kill the man after all, just gain the advantage—and was staring at her in anger. "When we get to land you will be arrested—unless I decide to call my friends, I’m sure they’ll want to know their spy escaped."

"You say one peep and I assure you, you will regret it." Kayo waved the wrench in front of his eyes and his lips pinched closed. She had found a roll of duct tape and decided to make sure he didn’t speak up before she was safe.

She sat back down in the drivers seat after taking care of the man and the gas and started the engine back up again. She wasn’t quite sure where she was going, but any place was going to be better than on that ship.  

As she got closer she started to see more and more boats and ships—some sailing vessels and others fishing boats coming in for the day.  

She found a small marina and brought the boat up to one of the docks. She searched the small vessel for anything that might help her, but came up with nothing. Though she decided to pull off the top part of her jumpsuit, letting it hang at her waist. No one needed to know that she was part of International Rescue—it would raise too many questions.

The sun was getting low in the sky, but she knew she still had a few hours of daylight left to her. She left the boat and its driver behind and made her way down the wood planks toward land.

Scott’s voice was in her head again, scolding her for leaving the man, so she stopped by the guard’s shack just long enough to let the attendant on duty know that there was a strange speed boat parked on the far side of the marina.

She quickly faded into the bustle of people coming in from a day at sea and followed them into town.

Town consisted of a small main street with a few touristy shops and small cafes that sold local specialties that could be found just about anywhere in the world. Golf carts puttered their way up and down the street ferrying the tourists from the closest resort that fed the town.

Kayo ducked between two buildings and took in her appearance. She looked a mess and she wasn’t going to be able to cover that up easily. Her wrists were the biggest issue though, they would bring about too many questions so she tore a strip off the bottom of her tank top and cut it in two, tying each piece around her wrist. It wasn’t the best solution but it would do.

She then made her way down the street looking for a small hotel or shop that wasn’t overrun with tourists that might lend her their phone. She took in everything she saw and was able to make a good guess as to where she was—the Maldives.

Finally near the edge of town was a dodgy little place that advertised paddle boarding, kayaking, and a place to sleep between the two. She wondered if they even had two rooms to offer, but it was something at least.

"Excuse me." She walked up to the open window that served as their reservations desk. "Do you speak English?" Kayo was activity learning languages, but wasn’t sure if Maldivian had ever been on her list to begin with.

"Oh! Yes, yes! Speak English." The man behind the counter smiled. "You Kayak? Paddle Board? Yes?"

"No." Kayo shook her head and held up her hand to her ear gesturing a phone call. "I need to call someone. Can I borrow your phone?"

The man looked confused for a moment before understanding dawned on him and he shook his head. "Phone, no public."

"What if I rented a room?" She pointed to the room rate on the board next to him.

"No public."

"A paddle board?"

"No public."

Kayo sighed. "Fine. Where public?"

"Resort." He leaned forward and pointed down the road.

Kayo sighed and stepped away from the small shop. At least at the resort she could find someone that spoke English—though she wasn’t quite sure what she was going to give as an excuse.

It took her an hour to walk the road to the closest resort—golf carts puttered back and forth never offering her a ride, their occupants too engrossed in their own conversations and plans for the evening.

When she did finally arrive there was a rush at the front desk as new guests arrived for paid time in paradise. Kayo took the moment to rest and waited for the crowd to clear up a bit.

It took a long while but when the last person finally walked away she made her way to the desk. "Excuse me, could I possibly use your phone?"

"Are you a guest at the resort?" The desk clerk was looking at her disapprovingly, his nose slightly in the air.

"No, but if it will let me use the phone, I’ll rent a room." Kayo was getting tired of the runaround. What ever happened to helping a person in need.

"I’m afraid that we are booked for the night." The clerk then turned to deal with his work.

"Look, my plane went down a ways off—I’m not even sure which island this is and I need to contact my family. I’m sure they’re worried."

"I’m sorry, that is our policy. If what you say is true you should go to the local authorities." The clerk then left ending the conversation.

Kayo turned around quite frustrated. She didn’t want to get the authorities involved—that guard was sure to find the man tied up in the boat and then they would be looking for her and she wasn’t exactly inconspicuous in her blue jumpsuit.

"Excuse me, miss?" An old lady ambled up to Kayo and laid a fragile looking hand on Kayo’s wrist.

Kayo jumped at the light touch that seemed to cause her wrist to burn even more.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to over hear, but if you need to call your family you are more than welcome to use my phone. It doesn’t have video capabilities but it is something, yes?"

"Yes it is. Thank you so much." Kayo beamed down at the old woman. She then turned and gestured to the desk clerk. "This nice lady is a guest of your resort correct?"

"Yes, Mrs. Baker is a valued guest here." The clerk was frowning at her and glancing at the old lady with a look of concern.

"Then I would like to pay for her room tonight. Kansas State Bank. Account number 00388746, access code 5837." It was a secure account Jeff had set up for use in emergencies only. Kayo didn’t know if any of the others had ever used it, but this was her first time and she hoped it worked okay.

"Is there a name on the account?" The clerk was quickly entering the information into the computer.

"No, I’ve given you what you need."  Kayo waited for a moment, watching the man’s face. His mouth changed from a frown to an annoyed pinch.

"Fine. It has been taken care of."

"Thank you." Kayo turned her back to the clerk and smiled at the old lady.  "My thanks for your generosity."

"Oh, you didn’t have to do that." She was holding out her old phone with a bright smile on her face.

"It was the least I could do." Kayo took the offered phone and walked a few paces away for a little bit of privacy.

She dialed the number for the public line to Tracy Island. The phone wasn’t used much, but it was there for those old friends that sometimes wanted to reconnect with the family from time to time.

The phone rang once and then beeped a few times before a message came across that the call could not be connected. That could not be good. She punched in a different number and waited as the phone rang.

"Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward’s line, how may I help you?"

"Parker!" It was such a relief to hear a familiar voice. "It’s me, Kayo. I need to talk with Lady Penelope."

"Miss Kayo! My it is good to hear from you. We have been quite worried."

"I know, I’m sorry." Kayo cringed a little knowing that Scott would be giving her a lecture as soon as she got back. "I tried to call—home, but the line couldn’t be connected."

"Yes, we have been trying to call the…umm…family as well." They had to keep the descriptions vague since they were on public lines and not the secure lines of IR. "We were just packing up to go see if everything was okay."

"Look, I’ve umm—crashed my plane. Could you come by and pick me up on your way?"

"Parker, who is that?" Kayo could hear Lady Penelope in the background.

"It’s Miss Kayo. She seems to have crashed her plane and needs a ride."

"Of course. Find out where she is, we’ll be there shortly."

"I’m just outside off—" Kayo turned to look at the lady who mouthed the name of the small town. "Jahada?"

"Jagaha, perfect." She could hear Lady Penelope confirm. "The family has a summer home near there. Have her make her way to the local airport. And then call them to let them know she’s coming and to expect us."

"As you wish, M’lady."

"Thank you Parker, and tell Lady Penelope thank you as well."

"Just try not to get into any more trouble, alright?"

"I’ll try." Kayo couldn’t help a small smile.

Kayo turned back and handed the phone back to Mrs. Baker and thanked her again. "Could you possibly tell me the way to the local airport?"

"I need to apologize once again, I’m so bad at over hearing things. Get’s me into trouble sometimes. But you need to get to the airport as soon as you can yes? It would take you much too long to walk there." The lady turned back to the desk. "Tom, will you arrange a boat for the young lady and myself. Just charge it to my room and be sure to change the account number back after you’ve charged her account for the night."

"You don’t need to do that." To be honest Kayo didn’t want to have to return to the town in case there was an issue with how she had arrived, but she felt a little bad about taking advantage of this nice woman.

"It is my pleasure. Offering someone in need a way to call their family should be a free charge regardless of where they are. Since you so kindly paid for my room tonight I’ll pay to get you to the airport so you can go home." She took Kayo’s arm in hers and held her hand gently pulling the taller woman down a little. "Plus I just enjoy helping people. Sometimes I pretend that I’m part of International Rescue."

Kayo couldn’t help but smile and wished she could let her know that she was in fact helping the organization out tremendously—but with so many things unknown at the moment keeping her own membership in the organization quiet was of great importance. "Then I accept your help, my hero."  Kayo took Mrs. Baker’s hand and bowed to it like Lady Penelope had taught her.

"Oh my. You do know how to flatter a lady." She giggled like a little girl, her eyes twinkling. "Come now, I’ll take you down to the docks.

Kayo allowed herself to be led through the lobby and down to the resort’s docks, listening to the lady chat about the guests that have stayed at the resort and the employees—apologizing for Tom’s behavior because he was always a little prickly at that time of day because of the influx of guests.

She told Kayo that she was at the resort almost more than she was at her own home in England—the weather at home just wasn’t good for her joints anymore.

For the moment Kayo felt safe but a tickle in the back of her mind warned her to keep her guard.

It took a half hour for a boat to arrive and another half hour to make it to the airport. Mrs. Baker insisted on walking Kayo to the terminal and waiting with her.

"I’ll make sure they treat you properly." Mrs. Baker patted the hand gently that she had kept hold of. "How long did you say it would take your family to arrive?"

"Actually it’s a friend of the family that’s coming. The line home seems to be having some issues so she’s agreed to pick me up."

"I see, even in this day and age things still break down. I can remember when I was young our lights would go out every time a storm came through—so annoying. But at the same time I quite enjoyed some of those blackouts." She smiled up at Kayo her eyes twinkling again. "Now, I apologize again, but did I hear right? You called your friend Lady Penelope?"

"Umm—yes." Kayo was hesitant to give any more information that may lead their conversation to dangerous ground.

"As in Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward?"

"Yes, do you know her?" Kayo wasn’t sure why she was surprised. The woman had already told her she was an aristocrat from England, so she would be in the same circles as Penelope.

"I do. I was friends with her mother and father for many years. They were the ones that first brought me to the Maldives. Her daughter is quite the mysterious young woman."

"Mysterious? What do you mean?" Kayo forced out laugh but that tickle in the back of her mind was starting to grow into a worry.

"Oh, she’s out in public all the time, represents her family well, but I just get the feeling from the way her father talks about her is that she has other responsibilities. I have no idea what those could be—maybe she’s out in the field helping those more unfortunate than ourselves. She does have all the time in the world on her hands." Mrs. Baker chuckled a little.

Mrs. Baker led Kayo away from the ticket counter and toward an administration office and walked straight in. The woman behind the desk was surprised but smiled when she saw the old lady.

"Mrs. Baker, are you leaving so soon?"

"No, no not me my dear. I’m just accompanying my friend here. Penelope should have called, I believe."

"Yes, she has. Is this the young lady she is picking up then? I’ll send word her way that she has arrived safely." The woman smiled warmly at the two. "You’re welcome to stay here if you’d like. I believe her ETA is about two hours."

"I’ll take her up to the lounge. Get a nip to eat and wait with her."

"You don’t need to do that. You’ve been such a huge help already." Kayo took her arm back and started for one of the nearby chairs.

"I will not take no for an answer." Mrs Baker was surprisingly nimble for someone who had arthritis. She had Kayo’s arm tucked back into hers before she could move an inch. "Come now, the lounge is this way."

Without much of a choice she allowed herself to be dragged through the small terminal, up a flight of stairs and past a security checkpoint to a private lounge on the second floor.

The lounge was mostly empty with the exception of a couple near the windows watching the planes and a couple of men in business suits at the bar. Mrs. Baker pulled Kayo to the far corner and to a small grouping of plush chairs. She sat Kayo down in one of the chairs and then bustled over to the bar.

Kayo wanted to tell her not to worry so much about her, but she had already been told off and decided not to argue. That and she was starting to get very sleepy. It had been a long and difficult day—the only sleep she’d gotten were the moments of uncontioustess she had received thanks to the men on the ship.

Mrs. Baker reappeared next to her with a small tray that she laid down on the round table that sat in the middle of the cluster of chairs. She poured some tea into a cup with lemon and added some honey to it.

"I don’t like honey in my tea." Kayo tried to lean forward to pour her own cup but Mrs. Baker pushed her back in her chair and handed her the cup she had just poured.

"You may not like it, but you need it from the looks of you." She shook her head at Kayo and then disappeared again.

Kayo frowned a little and looked down at herself—she didn’t look that bad, did she?

Mrs. Baker reappeared with a small white box and pulled one of the other chairs up next to Kayo.

Kayo dimly thought that not only was the old lady nimble but strong, did she really have trouble with arthritis like she said? She sipped at her tea obediently and even with the honey in it, it tasted good. She hadn’t realized just how long it had been since she had had something proper to drink and had drunk the entire cup in no time.

Nodding happily Mrs. Baker took the cup from her and replaced it with a small sandwich. She then took Kayo’s other hand and started to unwrap the torn fabric from it.

Kayo jumped and pulled her hand away. "No, I’m fine." She put down the sandwich and chastised herself for taking food and drink from a stranger.

"Calm down." The woman cooed a little as she took Kayo’s hand and placed the sandwich back in it and then took the other hand back and continued to take off the fabric.

She pulled out some alcohol and dabbed at the rough broken skin trying to clean it up a bit and making Kayo hiss a little in pain. She then sprayed it with some antiseptic all the way around before wrapping it neatly in a bandage.

"Eat up." She gave Kayo a look had a commanding note about it. She wasn’t used to being disobeyed.

Kayo obediently ate the sandwich in a few bites and once she was done chewing Mrs. Baker took her other hand and applied the same treatment.

"I was a nurse when I was younger." She had finished bandaging Kayo’s other wrist and was deftly putting the things back into the white box. "Married a doctor. He was of the aristocracy and it was expected of me to stop working and have children. Never happened for us. I continued to work, though secretly mind."

"Secretly?" Another sandwich was pressed into her hand and since she hadn’t blacked out yet, she deemed that this woman wasn’t trying to drug her.

"Vacation." She beamed. "We would travel all over the world and no matter where we were I would find a local charity hospital and volunteer my time. The people in our circles would never think of going to them so I was never found out."

Mrs. Baker told Kayo of her adventures in helping people while trying to maintain her image as an aristocrat, though because her husband’s money was rather new he had never received a title, but was accepted into their world because of his deeds. She told her of her service during the Global Conflict and Kayo could only wonder if it was because of people like her and Jeff Tracy that had kept the world from completely falling apart.

Kayo tried to stay awake, but the room was cool, the chair was comfortable, she had food in her stomach and Mrs. Baker made her feel absolutely safe. Soon enough her eyes had drifted closed and she slept.

"Wake her up, Parker." Lady Penelope’s voice was sharp and a little stressed.

"Must you, Penelope dear? Couldn’t you wait till tomorrow to leave? She looks like she’s had one horrible day."

Kayo could feel a shadow over her and stirred a little, but her eyes just weren’t quite ready to open.

"I’m afraid we still haven’t heard from her family and I am getting quite worried."

"How long as it been?"

"Too long." Lady Penelope sighed.

"I’m sure the boys are fine."

Kayo felt a hand on her shoulder shaking her a bit. Everything seemed to come into focus all at the same time. She sat up quickly her head colliding with Parker’s.

They doubled over in pain as Penelope huffed in annoyance. "We do not have time for this."

Kayo blinked the tears from her eyes. "We don’t." She forced herself to her feet and stumbled a little as she made her way to Mrs. Baker. "Thank you for staying with me."

"It was my pleasure, my dear."  She squeezed Kayo back and then turned to Penelope. "Do say hello to your father for me, dear. And your Aunt Sylvia while you’re at it."

"Of course Mrs. Baker. And thank you for taking care of Kayo."

"No trouble at all, none at all."

They were out of the terminal and on their way to the private hangers in no time. "How long will it take us to get to the island?"

"In FAB1 almost seven hours." Penelope frowned as she followed Parker to her precious car.

"Isn’t there any way of going faster?"

"I’m afraid not. We’ll be going at top speed as it is." Parker was at the car already, the door open for the two to step in.

Kayo frowned as she situated herself in the luxurious leather interior that was FAB1. What could be causing the black out on the island and Thunderbird 5—though she had a good hunch as to what be causing Thunderbird 5’s silence, but she didn’t want to voice her concerns until she had more proof.

It was fully dark when FAB1 took off from the small airport in the Maldives and headed east.

"Lady Penelope?" Kayo turned a little toward her neighbor as they flew deeper into the night and the unknown.

"Yes?"

"About Mrs. Baker. I have the feeling there was more to her than what she let on."

"Do you now?" Penelope smiled and let out a small chuckle at the confused look on Kayo’s tired face. "She is quite the mysterious woman."

"That’s what she said about you."

"That’s our little nick name for each other. Mind you nobody in her family knows, but she was also in the espionage service when she was younger."

"The same you were in before International Rescue?"

"Precisely. She went on quite a few missions with my father back in the day. She also knows about International Rescue and my part in it. You can’t pull a fast one on her, trust me, I tried."

"Then did she know that I was also?"

"Probably not at first since you hid your badge."

"Precautionary measure." Kayo shrugged.

"Understandable, an International Rescue member suddenly needing to call the Tracy family might raise some questions. However, once she heard you call me though, she probably put two and two together."

Kayo looked away from Penelope and into the darkness outside the window. "Do you think they’re alright?"

The amusement in Penelope’s voice disappeared at once. "I don’t know. We shall see when we get there and no sooner." Kayo felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned back to look at her friend. "Get some sleep. You’ve had a long day. I’ll wake you as soon as we arrive."

Kayo didn’t argue, though she wasn’t sure she’d get much sleep with the way her mind was running. However, after a few minutes she found her self sliding down in the seat a little, her head leaning on the window and her heavy eyes closed as she drifted once again into sleep.

—

"Kayo, it’s time to wake up."

Kayo rubbed at her eyes and blinked. It had taken them exactly seven hours to reach the island and now the sun was up and the island quickly approaching.  "Can you see anything yet?"

"It doesn’t look like there is any drama—" Parker paused and leaned forward a little. "Actually, it does look like the Island’s comms array is gone."

"That would explain why we couldn’t get in touch with them." Penelope was leaning over and looking out her side of the vehicle.

"But how?" Kayo didn’t want to voice the questions, it would just make things a little too real, but she needed to know. "The comms array is on the highest peak."

"Kayo, it doesn’t do us any good to worry about what we don’t know. Yes, it could be a clue to something more serious or it could be a simple malfunction that Brains is trying to fix."

"Uh, M’lady." Parker coughed to clear his throat that was suddenly tight.

"What is it Parker?"

"I think you and Miss Kayo should look to the left." His voice was soft as he banked the car to give the two in the back seat a better look.

Kayo gasped and Penelope mouthed an 'oh my' at the sight below them.

Thunderbird 3 was sitting with her nose wedged between two jagged rocky peaks on one of the smaller islands that surrounded the larger one on which the Tracy’s lived.

Parker brought FAB1 down farther so that they could have a look.

The sides of the spaceship were scrapped and bent where they had been forced between the rocks. The carbo bay was gapping open, the pod inside still securely locked in place, but there was water inside and a few birds were starting to make themselves at home.

There was a large blackened area of the hull where it was obvious a fire had broken out. It had been a hot one but it looked like it hadn’t spread too far.

"You don’t think anyone’s still onboard do you?" Kayo’s voice cracked a little as Parker took them higher so that he could adjust his angle for an approach on the runway.

"The cargo bay is open, dear. I imagine they did that to get to whoever was inside." Penelope’s voice was soft in Kayo’s ear, clearly still in shock herself.

"Alan—" Fear settled back into her bones. He would undoubtedly have been the pilot, but he was a brilliant pilot.  What could have happened to have caused this?

"I’m sure he’s fine." Penelope pulled Kayo into a half hug. She knew just how important those boys were to her—they really were her family. "We would have heard something on the news. Plus Brains has always put safety first. Alan would survive a landing like that. I’m sure of it."

"M’lady." Parker’s voice was shaking this time.

"Yes, Parker? Why haven’t we landed yet?"

"The right side, if you would." He once again banked so that they could get a better view of what was troubling the hardened older man.

"No—" Kayo almost whimpered.

"Parker, land us now. I don’t care if you scorch the grass just do it."

They had seen the devastation on the runway. What was left of Thunderbird Shadow was laying at the end, head down in the water, the remaining wing sticking out, and the grappling cables still attached.

The trees that normally fell back upon Thunderbird 2’s approach had mostly made it down in their normal positions but a few had been caught and forced to their sides, pulling up the metal platforms they were attached to.

Thunderbird 2 was sitting quietly, its side flush with the hanger door—it’s wing forced into its up position, a large ugly scratch down the side, and one thruster obviously damaged.

Parker maneuvered FAB1 down to to the largest spot on the main bit of land in front of the house, scorching not only the grass but a bit of the garden nearby.