Chapter 5

The three men slowly advanced towards the fallen plane.

The leader of the group was tall and muscular, and his short black hair rustled in the breeze that had stirred up around them in the canyon. His voice was low but held an impatient tone. "Mac, Rogan, did you get the intruders?"

Mac stood on the left side of the leader, his laser scope rifle at the ready. Slightly shorter and thinner, his long brown hair was slicked back and the black t-shirt he was wearing was already plastered with sweat. He sneered before checking his scope again. "I know I plugged one of them in the shoulder, boss."

Rogan stood on the other side of the leader. He too was armed with a laser scope rifle but where Mac short and thin, Rogan was much stockier and his black hair was tied low into a ponytail.

He wiped his brow and gazed out over the wreck. "Well, I dunno about that, but there's no movement now."

The leader motioned forward. "C'mon, the quicker we can get that cargo, the quicker we can get out of this hole and get paid."

They advanced forward. Mac and Rogan held their weapons at the ready. All seemed quiet.

"I surrender!"

The trio halted in their tracks at the unexpected shout. Mac aimed his weapon at the wreck in a reflex motion.

"Wait," motioned the leader. "Stand down. Let's see who emerges from the wreck."

A moment later, they watched as a man emerged from the wreck. Dressed in a red shirt and jeans, Rogan recognized him as one of the intruders that they were trying to drive away.

Smiling now, the leader stepped forward. "This area is not safe for you, friend. Where's your buddy that you climbed down with?"

The man stepped closer to them. He looked truly nervous, and his voice wavered. "Your goons shot him. He's unconscious back there. All we were looking for was some fun climbing and repelling. I don't even know what all of this is about."

Rogan laughed as the leader asked. "What's your name?"

The man thought for about a minute before replying. "John."

The leader's smile never wavered. "John? Well John, you and your friend have climbed into an issue that you can't leave from."

--

John Tracy swore up and down that he would never underestimate the power of time again. He had hoped playing the part of an innocent mountain climber would buy some more time, but judging by the murderous look on the faces of the two men carrying guns, his chances were quickly dwindling down to nothing. He had one option left, and if he had remembered the information correctly about the laser that Brains had given him, it meant that he had to get closer to them.

Channeling the nervousness he felt into his act, John took a step forward, letting the tarp he had been holding drop to the ground. "Surely we can work this out. My father is quite wealthy and-"

All three men had stepped forward until they were within ten feet of him. The man in the center of the group sneered. "Ready to die, John?"

Forcing himself to take a deep breath, John checked his watch. Two minutes left until help arrived. He had once made fun of his brothers for watching classic Japanese anime where the average five minute battle lasted ten episodes. Now when it mattered, time did seem to slow to a standstill. At the least, they didn't seem to know that he was a Thunderbird. John was pretty sure he would have already been dead if the men had suspected that of him.

John hadn't been this nervous since his first trip into space.

Stick to the plan. Virgil and Gordon will make it in time and Scott will be okay.

Keeping that mantra running through his mind, John took a slight step forward and lowered his arms. He had to time this just right.

John eased his hand down into his jeans pocket until he felt his fingers close around the barrel of the laser. The men were now less than ten yards away, well within the range of the laser per Brains' specifications. "You know, I'll have to thank you for walking closer. It will make it all the easier to take you down."

John quickly brought out the miniature laser and fired, striking the man closest to him.

--

When John had approached him, Mac was ready to carry out his orders to the letter. He was tired of the great outdoors anyway.

When John had gone for his pockets, Mac wasn't sure what to make of it. This hiker didn't SEEM to be armed.

When Mac saw the metal barrel of something in John's hand, he knew that he needed to act. He swung his rifle back up to a firing position.

That was when he saw a quick flash, then a searing pain along his gun arm. Screaming in pain, Mac grabbed for his arm, which was now pointed in the wrong direction. As he dropped his weapon, Mac heard the sound of his weapon firing. He fell backward to the ground in defense, hoping that he took out that crazy hiker.

When he heard Rogan scream and curse in pain, Mac knew that he was a dead man.

--

John smiled in grim satisfaction. Only mere seconds elapsed between his firing the laser and the two armed men going down hard. Both of them were on the ground writhing in pain, but the leader of the group had ducked out of the way and rolled out of the range of the gunfire.

John tensed and prepared to fire again, knowing that the leader only needed to dive forward and pick up one of the rifles to make his victory a short lived one.

"John!"

John cursed inwardly as he heard Scott cry out, realizing that his brother had come out of hiding. Keeping the laser aimed on the leader, he backpedaled for a few feet until he nearly collided with Scott. John was angry at his brother for putting himself into the line of fire, but the leader didn't know how badly Scott was hurt, so maybe he could play this up to his advantage. "Scott, hold this. It's the little red button on the top and make sure you point it at them, okay?"

John slapped the laser into Scott's good hand and then ran back towards the group, quickly picking up the discarded rifles and directing a cold smile at the leader. "Don't even think about trying anything," he warned with a chipper edge to his voice, turning to point at Scott. "See that guy back there? He's my brother and when your guys shot him, you made a very bad enemy. He'd probably would have shot you long before now if I wasn't here, right Scotty?"

Scott was pale, but judging by the firm nod his brother gave, John felt relieved to know that he was still coherent.

Seconds later, John turned around and listened, noting the sounds of helicopters along with a familiar whine of engines that seemed to be coming their way. The leader of the group quickly scrambled to his feet and smiled. "That would be the helicopter that put us here. They are well armed, and will kill you. You will regret crossing us."

John shook his head in disbelief. He had heard the helicopters, sure, but he also recognized the engine noise as soon as he heard it. "You really need to get out more in the great outdoors or at least hang around more flying machines. That would be MY ride."

Sure enough, Thunderbird Two's looming form cast a long shadow over the canyon. Two Helicopters flanked her, which John assumed was the authorities that Alan had called.

Eyes wide, the leader fell back down to his knees in shock.

--

Three hours later, John found himself in a small hospital room in a nearby town watching Scott sleep off the effects of the sedation from the surgery to stitch up his shoulder. A lot of things had gone wrong today, but luckily a lot of things went right.

After the authorities arrived and explanations were made, paramedics checked on the pilot and found that with the exception of some broken ribs and a broken leg, he was basically fine and would be quickly on the mend. Brains would be happy to find out that his restraint system worked to save the life of one of their father's employees.

The authorities had arrested the three men and were holding them on numerous charges, including the attempted murder of the pilot and Scott. They had also managed to track down the helicopter that had delivered the three men into the canyon and arrested them.

"John?"

The question was weak, but John felt immense relief when he saw Scott's eyes staring up at him. "Yes, I'm here. To answer any possible questions you might have: yes we got the bad guys; the pilot is okay, save for a few broken bones. We managed to secure the fuel, the doctor used a twelve inch needle on you to knock you out for surgery, and after an hour of nervous pacing on my part, you are now properly stitched up. Oh, and Alan called to say that father said that you were to follow my orders for the next few days, since I have been given the dubious honor of watching over you and taking you home to dad and grandma, who will probably ply you with enough pie to make you gain five pounds."

Scott tried to chuckle, but he ended up wincing instead. "Okay, I get it and I'm sorry. You have to admit, it was dicey there for a while. When I heard those cries of pain, I feared the worst."

John sobered at the comment. Leave it to Scott to get to the point.

Sighing, he sank into a cushioned arm chair that was placed right by Scott's bed. "It was the longest ten minutes of my life, I'll say that much."

Scott closed his eyes and slowly nodded in agreement. "Mine too. But you know what? As soon as I recover, I want to go mountain climbing with you again."

John smiled warily. "Really? Well, after a day like that one, I'm in the mood for something a little safer. Scott, how do you feel about swimming with sharks?"

--

And this was the other part of NANO 2007. I hope you have enjoyed the ride. :)