Searching For A Doorway

"Base from Thunderbird Two. Base from Thunderbird Two, do you read? Come in, base," Mae's voice droned, each attempt at making contact with Tracy Island engendering a bit more concern in her tone, until she sounded as if she were near hysteria. "Come in! Oh, Daddy! Please!"

"Forget it, Mae," Christa said flatly. "We're cut off from base and have been ever since that temple place came into view."

Mae moved over to the view port and gazed out at the dark jungle with the old stone temple rising from it, the contours of which were outlined by the light of a half moon. "I don't like the look of it. Reminds me of that old Indiana Jones flick that Daddy showed us."

"It just came out of nowhere," Christa said, gesturing toward it. "I didn't get any readings that it was even there. Look!" She pointed now. "The helijet is landing!"

Indeed, a set of doors were opening to the left of the temple, opening upward and revealing a hidden hangar, lit from within. The helijet maneuvered until the girls could see its silhouette over the gaping hole. They watched as it lowered slowly into the hangar. The doors moved smoothly back down, erasing the signs that there had ever been an entry there at all.

"Can you raise JC?" Christa asked. "I need to know if she saw that, and ask her what our next step is."

"I'll try. Thunderbird One from Thunderbird Two. Come in, Thunderbird One. Can you read me, JC?" Mae shook her head in disgust. "I can't, Christa. Whatever's cut us off from base is also messing up our communication with each other." She tapped a fingernail on her perfect chin. "I wonder how he or they are able to communicate?"

"I wouldn't know. Do you have any suggestions? I've given this place as wide a berth as I could without losing visual. I really don't want to set down there."

"Oh, but you should!" Mae exclaimed. "We're going to have to go in there and get Sally out anyway. If you park Two on that clearing, there's no way he can get away by helijet."

Christa mulled over Mae's proposition. "Y'know? That makes a weird kind of sense. Okay. I'm going back and I'm going in." She nodded at Mae. "Better strap in."

"F-A-B," Mae said as she took her seat again.

"Base from Thunderbird One! Come in base!" JC called into her communicator. She frowned, then tried another tactic. "Thunderbird Two from Thunderbird One! Come in, Christa. Do you read me?" She waited, and when there was no answer, swore under her breath. Touching a switch, she opened the view ports on either side of the cockpit.

"What the...?" she cried as the stone temple came into view. "Where the hell did that come from?" In the distance, she saw the running lights of Thunderbird Two approaching from port. Changing course, she made a wide turn around the ancient structure and pulled up next to Thunderbird Two, matching altitude and speed. I hope that Christa gets the idea that I want to talk to her. We all know sign language; if I can get her or Mae to the side port... ah! There's Mae now.

Putting the craft on auto pilot, she made quick gestures to ask the question: "Where is Sally?"

Mae, looking out the port, squinted, then replied, "Inside the temple. What should we do?"

"I don't know. Land and we can talk," JC replied with her hands.

"F-A-B," Mae signed. "Follow us."

Follow them? JC thought with a frown as Thunderbird Two banked and headed back to the temple. Her eyes widened as Christa boldly landed the cargo carrier in a clear area next to the enemy's lair. Damn! What does she think she's doing?

A quick turn over the site revealed that there was enough room on the far side of the clearing for her to land Thunderbird One. Christa better have one damn good reason for parking her butt there! JC groused to herself. She gritted her teeth and began to descend toward the empty space. "Easy... easy does it, girl... don't screw this up... Sally will have your hide if you do!" she muttered as, white knuckled, she maneuvered the silver rocket into position next to Thunderbird Two. She put the starboard strut down a second or two before the port strut, then pulled up a bit again to trim the craft, and managed to get both supports down at the same time. Once One was firmly on the ground, JC blew out a sigh of relief and her shoulders relaxed. That was nerve wracking, she thought wryly as she went through the shutdown procedures. Then she grabbed a flashlight and a tool kit and left Thunderbird One's cockpit.

Climbing out through the lower hatch, she used her wrist telecomm to activate the inner winch and retract the rope ladder. Nothing happened. Sighing, she grabbed the ladder and tossed it back up into the cockpit, then stood on her tiptoes to push the button that closed the hatch. Then she headed over to Thunderbird Two.

The body of Thunderbird Two lifted off the pod, and the small access door opened, revealing Christa and Mae. As they walked clear of the green cargo carrier, Christa turned and fiddled with her telecomm watch. A frown creased her delicate features when nothing happened.

"The jammer is working on our remotes, too, Chris," JC explained as she joined them. "We have to shut it down somehow."

"What am I going to do about Two?" Christa asked. "I can't leave her open!"

"Let me take care of it," Mae said calmly. She went back to the pod and opened the access door.

"What's she doing?" JC asked, puzzled.

"Oh no! She's going to activate the hydraulics manually from inside the pod!" Christa gasped. "She could be crushed when Two's cockpit comes down!" Christa began to run toward her Thunderbird, but JC tackled her to the ground when she saw the body of the craft coming down over the pod. Looking up from the grass, she saw a flash of blue and violet heading for the other side of Thunderbird Two just before the fuselage hit the grass.

"Let me up! Let me up!" Christa cried. "We've got to help her!"

"I don't think she needs our help, Chris," JC said mildly, rolling off of Christa, rising, and pulling her sister to her feet. "You forget that Mae's sport is track and field. I'm sure I saw her dash out and clear Two's body just in time. Come on. Let's get around this green behemoth of yours and meet up with her on the other side."

Christa nodded, and they hurried around. As they did, JC asked, "What possessed you to put down here, in full view of this guy's base?"

"You didn't see the helijet land?" Christa asked.

"No, I didn't."

"Well, it landed in a hidden hangar just below our feet. Mae thought I should land here so the helijet didn't go anywhere."

"Hmm. Sounds like Mae's brain is working on all eight cylinders this morning."

They made their way under Thunderbird Two's nose and found Mae waiting for them, her uniform covered with grass stains. She grinned at them. Christa stepped up and shook a finger in her face.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again!" she yelled.

JC moved quickly to clamp a hand over Christa's mouth. "We don't need to advertise our position any more than we have already," she hissed. "Now, any ideas for getting into this place?"

"The front doors are over there," Mae said, pointing helpfully toward the front of the structure.

"You'd go through the front doors? As what, a house guest?" Christa scoffed. "You'd be captured before you took your seventh step."

JC looked from one sister to another, and shook her head. "Look, we need to split up and find a way inside. God only knows what this creep is doing to Sally."

"You're right, JC," Christa said with a sigh. "I guess we split up. There have got to be other entrances."

"Yes, but be careful. We don't know how many people are here, and what kind of surveillance they have going," JC warned. "I'll go around back. You two go around front and we'll meet up on the other side to compare notes. Got it?"

"F-A-B," Christa said. She tapped Mae on the arm "C'mon."

JC scuttled up close to the brick walls of the temple, heading for the back of the structure. Christa did the same, going toward the front. She looked back to see Mae gazing at the temple and hurried back to grab her sister's hand, dragging her along.

"I don't know why you're in such a hurry," Mae groused. "We can't see much of anything anyway. The moon is going down. And sunrise is only an hour or so away. Then we'd be able to see better."

"JC is right about Sally. We just can't wait!" Christa whispered. "Just follow me."

"Okay, okay."

They cautiously made their way to the front of the building, looking for any signs of odd openings. The moon shone down on their position, which made things easier. Christa stopped when she found a thick, straight crack in the golden bricks that made up the base of the temple. There was another similar crack at a right angle at the top, and one at the bottom running parallel to the top one. Christa followed them with her flashlight to find another up and down fissure.

"Mae, look at this," she called quietly. "It's a big door set into the bricks here. Where do you suppose it leads and how could we get it open?" She turned around to see Mae standing some yards away, gazing at the front of the temple with a thoughtful frown on her pretty features.

"Mae! Get over here!" Christa hissed. Mae walked toward her, not taking her gaze from the building's front. Or more precisely, the building's roof.

"What are those funny looking things on the roof called?" she asked.

Christa looked up to see what her sibling was talking about. "Those are pagodas, I suppose," she answered in a near whisper.

"They look like they have doors on them. And are those stairs leading up to that snake and shell thing over the front door? Why do you suppose they're there?"

"I dunno. But look here! Here's some sort of entrance, I think. We just have to get it open." Christa put her booted foot on the outlined rectangle and pushed. Nothing gave. "Come on and help me, Mae."

She looked up again to see that Mae had disappeared.

"Uhhh." Sally's eyes opened slowly and she blinked. Then she closed her eyes and opened them again. There was no difference between closed and opened. Wherever she was had no light. She tried to wave her hand in front of her face, but found that she couldn't move her hands. They weren't where they were supposed to be either. Finally, the fogginess in her mind cleared and she realized her predicament. She was bound hand and foot in some dark room somewhere.

Last thing I remember was dropping into the Crablogger... then... those eyes! She groaned again. How could I let that guy get the drop on me? Dad is going to be furious! I'm supposed to be the responsible, military-trained one!

She wriggled her fingers only to find that they were numb. So were her feet, though not as badly since she had boots protecting them from the actual ropes. Using her other senses, she tried to discern where she was.

Smells dank and musty in here. And it's quiet, very quiet. I seem to be lying on a stone surface; there are little bits of sand digging into my cheek. She felt around for her telecomm watch. Damn. It's gone. I've got no way to contact base or the other girls now. She sighed heavily. The sound was louder than she expected but welcome to her ears. At least I'm not gagged. Maybe I'd do better sitting up. With agonizing slowness, Sally began the painful process of moving herself into a sitting position.

The Hood laughed as she faced the statue of her nephew, Tin-Tin.

"Such a pity, my nephew, that you cannot answer me now. I know your father has had you sedated. But he cannot keep you so forever. And when you wake, I will enter your mind just to torment you. And to torment my brother, who is too weak to withstand me!"

She considered pulling off the mask, but remembered that there were three Tracy daughters outside her lair. It is better to let them think I am a man than to show them that I am a woman. I will gather up my other hostages, and then contact their father. The two Thunderbirds that are here are on top of my helijet hangar. But that is of no consequence. I have other ways to escape this place should I need to do so.

Bowing once to the statue and pulling the curtains across the alcove, she made her way back through the opulent main hall to her communications room. I must determine where my victims are at this moment. Her hands danced over the computer keyboard and the images from her security cameras appeared on a bank of screens before her.

The first screen showed JC in an infrared picture, hugging the back of the temple, prodding for some kind of entrance. There is the cunning one, trying to find an entrance at the back of my temple. She will not find one, unless I open one to her and trap her with it. Turning to another screen, she saw Christa looking around and calling, then stamping on the brick wall with her foot. The Hood laughed again.

"The weak one tries to open my missile bay! Perhaps I should oblige her!"

Now the Hood looked at the last screen. She frowned and changed the image. Again and again she flicked through the bank of cameras. Finally she stood up straight and wondered, Where is the stupid one?

The sun was up at Tracy Island, and Jeff Tracy stood on the balcony as the sky around his home brightened and the sea took on an aquamarine hue. He had come out there to escape the confines of the lounge, to escape the expressions of the others as they looked to him for guidance and answers. For once, he had none for them. All he could do was wait.

Kyrano came back up the path from his garden, refreshed in mind. He had gone there again to meditate, to try and strengthen himself by stretching his mental muscles. His half-sister was powerful; of that he had no doubt. But he was skilled, and he hoped he could pass both skill and power on to his son so that Tin-Tin would not be a life-long victim to his aunt's cruelty. Looking up at the villa, he saw Jeff standing on the balcony, his eyes closed and his face etched with sadness. Kyrano's heart went out to him, and he knew he must do something to help.

"Jefferson."

Jeff started, then turned his gaze to his retainer as the Malaysian approached. Kyrano stood with one hand on the rail, while Jeff leaned with both forearms on it, hands clasped as if in prayer.

"Jeff. I may be able to find the girls."

Jeff stood up and faced Kyrano. "How?" he asked, bewildered.

"By reaching out to one of them with my mind."

Jeff stared at his old friend. Suddenly, Kyrano seemed to be a different person, one who Jeff didn't know anymore. But that's not true! he realized. He's still Kyrano. Just... deeper, that's all.

"What do you need?" he asked.

Kyrano smiled slightly. "Nothing I do not already have. Except... your mind."

Jeff looked shocked at this. "My mind? What do you want from me?"

"I propose to search for Sally. Of all of your daughters, she is most like you. From you I would take an image, a description if you would, of who I am looking for." Kyrano cocked his head slightly. "Do you understand?"

Jeff nodded slowly. "I think I do. When do we start? Where do you want to do this?"

"We should do this in my suite and we should go now. It will take but a few minutes to prepare."

Jeff took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. He straightened his shoulders. "Let's go."