Cat and Mouse
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic
by Timeguardian

Chapter One

Jeff Tracy sat at the activated command and control center in his study and worried.

Four hours ago, his boys had returned from the scene of a vicious wildfire that had trapped thousands of people in a theme park – all except for Scott and John who were supposed to be riding back in Thunderbird One.

Another distress call had come in on their way back from the scene and after talking it over with Gordon on Thunderbird Five, Scott and John decided to tackle the situation. It seemed like a simple one – two hikers boxed in by a landslide. They had climbing equipment in Thunderbird One if it was needed, but the plan was to extract the hikers out by lowering ropes and lifting them out of the situation.

On the far wall of the study, one of the video screens held a live feed from Thunderbird Five. On the screen, Gordon Tracy was a hive of activity as he worked between panels and checking sensors.

Gordon contacted him when he heard nothing from Scott and John and they did not respond to any of his efforts to reach them. Jeff ordered him to double check the communications and sensors and was waiting on him to finish.

Five minutes passed as Gordon did his checks and was silent for nearly a minute more before he looked up from his work and declared. "I'm sorry dad. There's still no sign of them and no answer to anything I've sent out."

Jeff looked up at the screen. "There's no sign of Thunderbird One's signature at all, Gordon?"

Gordon shook his head emphatically. "None at all, dad. The last reading I have was when Scott, John, and the others left the scene of that wildfire. There's also no sign now of those hikers that radioed in – it looks like that distress call was fake."

Jeff got to his feet. The implications were all there. With Brains' help, he was the one to ensure that each Thunderbird vehicle had a distinctive signature that would transmit on a special frequency that Thunderbird Five could track in case of emergency. For that to be blocked or disabled meant something serious happened to Thunderbird One.

Another thought quickly came to his mind. "What about their tele-coms?"

"No go on that either - that was the first thing I checked on when they were overdue in checking in with me."

Jeff sighed. Frustration and worry churned at his gut. He was a man of action but without a direction - how could they even begin to find Scott and John?

Twelve hours later -

Lady Penelope came downstairs feeling refreshed from her bubble bath. Dressed in pink cropped pants and white blouse, her first thought was to go out and relax in her rose garden.

It was four months ago since she encountered any major action that called upon her services as an agent. It was not entirely an unwelcome situation, but despite what she tried to do to put it out of her mind, Penelope's mind kept returning to the events of four months ago.

A rouge agent by the name of Lady Cassandra Worthington was sinking cargo ships for personal gain. When Lady Penelope tried to investigate, Cassandra captured her and continued a reign of terror.

It took the efforts of International Rescue to put a stop to Cassandra's efforts, but in the end she escaped. This irked Lady Penelope to no end, despite being injured during their last encounter. I should have stopped her.

During her recovery time, Lady Penelope made it a point to keep an eye on the media and her sources. It was because of those to begin with that she got on Lady Cassandra's trail – so far though, those efforts amounted to nil.

She heard the gentle tinkle of the front door bell as she entered the main entryway. Seconds later, Parker appeared from the sitting room and went to answer the front door.

Lady Penelope stretched her arms overhead – her rose garden sounded like the perfect place to relax and clear her mind.

She heard the front door close and soon Parker was at her side, handing her a thick envelope. "A packet has arrived for you via special courier, milady."

Lady Penelope took the envelope from Parker. "Thank you, Parker. If you need me, I will be in the rose garden for the rest of the afternoon."

"Yes, milady."

Parker left her side, and she turned her attention to the envelope. The front of the envelope bore the name of a popular shipping company, the address field filled out in neatly printed block letters – no clue there.

She took the envelope over to the table she had in the entryway, and grabbed for the dagger she had there. A gift from the German ambassador, it served her better as a letter opener more than anything else.

After carefully slitting the top of the envelope open, Penelope withdrew a sheet of paper, a photo, and what looked like two watches. Setting the rest of the contents on the table, she took a look at the paper.

The words on the paper chilled her to the bone as she read them: The game is not over yet. I have been watching and waiting - my time is now. Come find me if you can.

The distinctive scrawl beneath the brief note was Lady Cassandra's signature – Lady Penelope could recognize it anywhere.

Eyes wide, she turned and picked up the photo from the table. It was of Scott and John - both were heavily bound by rope to chairs and both of them seemed to be unconscious. At the center of the photo stood Cassandra, arms crossed and with a smirk that seemed to scream come find me if you can.

Maybe this is a trick – a joke.

Lady Penelope's hopes on that aspect were dashed when she looked at the watches resting on the table, realizing that they were tele-coms, only used by members of International Rescue. The meaning of them being included in the envelope was crystal clear – Cassandra wanted her to know that Scott and John were taken hostage.

Lady Cassandra had no regard for anyone or anything but herself. Now Scott and John were in danger because of a mad woman's need for revenge. This time, there could be no mistakes – Lady Cassandra had to be stopped once and for all.

Dropping the letter and photo on the table, Lady Penelope shouted. "Parker!"

Parker came back into the entryway quickly. "Yes, milady?"

"Prepare FAB-1 for immediate departure."

"Right away, milady."

As Parker headed towards the garage, Lady Penelope walked into her sitting room, and grabbed for her special portable phone. Reluctantly Lady Penelope dialed the number she knew by heart and slowly walked back into the entryway and back to the table. She picked up the photo again as her connection was made. "Jeff? It's me. I have news that you are not going to like."

Lady Cassandra was first introduced in my story 'The Dead Zone.' She has decided to strike back in the worst way imaginable. As always, standard story disclaimers apply – not sure how quickly I can get the updates out, but I promise to try and make it worth your while if you stick around.

More later,

Timeguardian