48 hours without a major global emergency.
This must be an International Rescue record!
The record's 51.
We haven't just hung around the house like this since we were kids.
Brains, don't you ever take a break?
Of course. Max and I were using my infrared chamber to make biscuits.
We do have an oven, Brains.
Proper baked goods can only be prepared under laboratory conditions, Alan.
Well, this has been fun.
Hey, John, where are you going?
- It's hard to think with all of this... - Noise?
Gravity. I'm going to the office.
I told the Life Support System you wouldn't last three days on Earth, John.
Looks like I was right.
Just retract the space elevator, please, EOS.
I'm amazed every time you trust your life to that tiny cable.
The slightest failure and, splat! You're a little dark spot on Tracy Island.
Everything Brains designs has a huge safety margin - and you know it.
Sure you're not still an evil computer program?
Ask my programmer! No, wait, that was you.
Nasty hurricane brewing over the Indian Ocean. Must be where CIRUS is.
Those clouds aren't even remotely cirrus.
Not the cloud type. It stands for "Climate Research of the Upper Stratosphere",
another project of Langstrom Fischler.
He means well, but he has a tendency to get himself into trouble.
Langstrom sounds like a challenging human.
That's a good way of putting it.
They may not be entirely in space, but they are our closest neighbours.
Better check in.
- International Rescue to CIRUS station. - Hello, International Rescue.
How are the studies going, Mr Fischler?
Very well, thank you. We've determined it is indeed a storm down there. A big one.
Well, that's sure to rock the scientific community!
Yes, I think you're right.
Did I mention we've also broken the altitude duration record?
Another first for Fischler Industries!
You there, whatever your name is! What's going on here? Are we falling?
No, Mr Fischler, we're rising out of the atmosphere.
And... we have no way of stopping.
Who employed you lot? Oh, it was me.
I must have had the day off that day.
- EOS, try to boost the signal. - Too much interference.
They just had a sudden change in altitude and not in the direction you'd expect.
Contact Tracy Island. We may have a situation.
5...
4...
3...
2...
1.
Thunderbirds Are Go!
- Confirm. It's going higher? - Confirmed. CIRUS station is rising.
I have no explanation, but I have managed to regain the signal.
International Rescue to CIRUS. Can you explain how you're falling up?
CIRUS stays in place by a rather ingenious balance of hydrogen-filled balloons
and downward-pushing heliblades...
Which the electrical storm has shorted out.
And without them, the balloons are pulling you upwards.
Once they reach critical altitude,
the balloons will rupture and the station will drop like a rock.
We will experience a marked change in direction.
Tracy Island, did you get all that?
I worked briefly with Fischler after university.
He had a tendency to compromise safety for the sake of pretty much everything.
Brains, keep troubleshooting from the ground.
Virgil, Gordon, take Thunderbird 2 to rendezvous with CIRUS.
Use a repair pod to fix those rotors. I'll follow you there.
- Let me guess - I stay here? - In case we need Thunderbird 3 as backup.
I was taking advantage of the downtime to do deferred maintenance on Thunderbird 1.
I just need a few minutes to put it back together.
- Come on, Max. - I'll launch as soon as the ship is ready.
There goes our three-day streak.
5, 4,
3, 2,
1.
Thunderbird 2 is go.
En route to CIRUS. I'm plotting a course to stay well above that hurricane.
Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on it.
You know, because hurricanes have an eye at the centre.
I get it. It just wasn't funny.
- Go configure the pod, will you? - Aye aye, Cap'n.
OK, Fischler, walk through the steps. Back-up systems?
Rather redundant, don't you think?
That's k-kind of the point. What about restart?
Start something that's already started? Sounds daft to me.
- Slow-release valves? - We do have those.
We didn't install them, though. We found them too...
Slow?
Brains, Brains, Brains.
You can't invent things if you're going around all worried about safety, can you?
Actually, you can.
We're a little past Thunderbird 2's operational limits,
but she should hold long enough for us to repair the station.
Dr Gordon, your patient is ready.
Repair arms in place. The doors, please, Dr Virgil.
Don't let them hit you on the way out.
Whoa, rough skies! OK.
I've located the access panel.
The patient's being uncooperative!
No way I can perform a repair with all this turbulence.
Stand by. I'll use Thunderbird 2's forward landing struts to steady the station.
Struts deployed.
Wow, the static dampening plates are so well designed, I can't even see them.
- The... dampening what nows? - You don't have them?
Contact in 5... 4...
If Thunderbird 2 makes contact, it will be electrified! Abort!
Ahh... that's bad.
All panels dead. Response negative.
CIRUS has just sent the energy of 100 lightning bolts
directly into Thunderbird 2's systems.
I'm going down! Repeat, Thunderbird 2 is going down!
Virgil, status?
Thunderbird 2 unresponsive. Control systems are completely fried.
Hang on, Virgil!
I'm attempting a redock.
Magnetic dock engaged.
Tying my pod systems into Thunderbird 2.
Virgil, I've slaved your console to mine.
I now have control of Thunderbird 2.
Thanks, Gordon. Now let's get back up to CIRUS.
Negative, Virgil. You're just a flight hazard now.
- I've got it from here. - F-A-B.
Thunderbird 2 breaking off.
- Take it away, Gordon. - F-A-B.
CIRUS, I'm on approach to you now.
Can you give us a status report?
Well, so far, your rescue attempts appear to be unsuccessful.
International Rescue? Hah! International slowcoach, more like!
I meant a report on your status, not the...
Never mind. The only choice now is evacuation.
You'll have to use your escape pods to get clear.
If you eject at an angle of...
Let me guess, the escape pods took too long to manufacture?
Yes, that's right. We do, however, have these high-altitude jumpsuits,
with rather nifty Fischler Industries logos.
Parachute into a Category 5 hurricane?
You'll look very stylish as the gale-force winds tear you to pieces.
I've mapped CIRUS's position. Setting autopilot to maintain distance.
Thunderbird 2 absorbed the static charge, you should be safe.
- How sure is "should be"? - 99 per cent.
And what happens if it didn't absorb all of the charge?
- Let's focus on the positive, shall we? - Yeah.
- I'm coming aboard. - Right, I'll put the kettle on.
I'm aboard. OK, what was that?
- Sprites. - As in pixies?
High-energy plasma discharges.
- They only occur in the upper atmosphere. - Wonderful!
OK, inform the crew to make their way up as quickly as possible.
Engines are stalling!
Scott, the air's getting too thin! You have to break off!
CIRUS is at 100 kilometres and rising.
No balloon should be able to fly that high. Unless...
Unless you fill them with super-hot hydrogen ions!
- Extremely clever, don't you think? - Extremely dangerous!
Those balloons won't just burst, they'll explode!
Thunderbird 1 failed.
OK, they may be beyond the limits of our aircraft.
- But we have a rocket. - Alan, you're up.
That's awesome! I mean... um...
Thunderbird 3 is go!
5, 4,
3, 2, 1.
Thunderbird 3 is go!
Careful, Alan. That altitude is prone to atmospheric tides.
Completing my suborbital approach.
You can't risk b-bursting those balloons.
You'll have to approach the station from below and pull it downward.
All right, no problem.
Latch onto the uninhabited support module at the base of the station.
Deploying grasping arms.
I see it. Contact in 3...
2...
Got ya!... Engaging retros.
It's working! CIRUS is lowering in altitude!
The tri-grapple has broken away!
And I've lost my No 0.2 engine!
- Alan, you're rolling like a log. - I've got to try again! CIRUS...
It's too fragile now! You can't risk any more damage to it!
But...
F-A-B.
Engaging emergency thrust-vectoring to compensate.
We can bring in Kayo.
She's still tracking down a lead on The Hood.
Besides, Thunderbird Shadow could never reach that altitude.
Can they risk using those helosuits?
I'm sorry, but the chance of survival is exactly zero.
Maybe we can create a slow leak.
Yeah, use a smart projectile, hit those balloons with a scatter shot of needles.
The slightest perforation and they explode.
- Do you have to shoot down every idea? - I'm not shooting things down!
- At least he's trying! - We're not giving up!
- Who are you saying is giving up? - Since when did you call the shots?
Quiet, everyone! As much as we hate to admit it,
International Rescue may have met its match this time.
We've exhausted all our vehicles. There's no one left to save them.
Actually, there may be someone who can save them.
- Who? - Me.
John, how can you save them? You're 22,000 miles in orbit.
Exactly!
Did someone invent a teleporter without telling me?
Thunderbird 5 has p-powerful thrusters.
John can slingshot to a position directly above CIRUS.
Then I can use the space elevator's cable and mooring claw to latch onto CIRUS.
Once the balloons burst, I'll lower it to the ground.
Physics - couldn't be simpler.
Hold on, you're gonna go fishing from space?
Cool!
I only have one concern.
Aside from having to hit a moving target from orbit,
the cable wasn't intended for that kind of weight.
Everything you design is over-engineered, Brains.
Safety and excellence first, remember? We'll push the limits.
- It's just physics. - Do it.
No... No, we're too heavy.
EOS, dump all non-essential equipment and supplies from the cargo bay.
I hope you're happy. There go my spare processors.
Yes! Orbital vectors calculated. Firing thrusters...
Maximum burn in 3, 2, 1...
We'll be in position above CIRUS in 3.2 minutes.
Get ready, it's gonna be a rough ride.
- Braking manoeuvres complete. - John, at that distance, are you sure
you can operate the mooring claw with enough p-precision?
You've obviously never seen me on the claw machine at the local arcade.
This is just one more stuffed toy.
Targeting sites aligned.
No...
Er... hello? You're too late! The b-balloons, they're...
You know... bursting!
Steady!
The accelerating cable.
Got ya!
Preparing to lower CIRUS to clear ground.
The hurricane has doubled in size. There is no clear ground.
- If down's not an option... - You go up.
Good thinking, John. It might just work.
Reversing cable. I'm pulling CIRUS into space.
The winch is slipping, John. You're going to need a bigger reel.
My thoughts exactly.
He's using the gravity ring like a spool!
- He can't, can he? - Looks like he can.
- Careful, John. - I almost can't bear to watch.
You lot, this is your fault!
Hey, everyone else but me, this is... this is on you!
- 3 Gs. - That much gravity?
- 4 Gs. - Can Thunderbird 5 take the strain?
- Can John? - Thunderbird 5 is losing its orbit.
6 Gs.
8...
10...
CIRUS still hasn't cleared the atmosphere.
15 Gs...
20... 25...
John, Thunderbird 5 is venting atmosphere.
We need to get your helmet on.
- John? - EOS.
Ah, he did it! It's been pulled into space.
John, you can stop the ring.
The momentum will carry it now.
John?
John, respond!
John, CIRUS is still heading toward you with no way of stopping!
Initiating thrusters.
- Yay! - Right!
That was just about the slickest manoeuvre anyone's ever seen.
- My subroutines are killing me! - Begin docking manoeuvres.
I'm just gonna drift for a while.
Physics - couldn't be simpler.
Cycle airlock, please.
Two doors on an airlock, Mr Tracy? That's a bit excessive, don't you think?
What, do you like the sound of the airlock, do you?
- Welcome aboard, Mr Fischler. - You, there - take note.
My next project is to be a space station. We'll want it lean and mean.
- Yes, Mr Fischler. - And staff, you're all dismissed.
I'm gonna go with monkeys from now on, a lot easier. Monkeys with helmets.
Actually, no helmets, we'll just put the logos on the monkey's forehead.
- Tracy Island? - We've already contacted Global Defence.
They've revoked Fischler's space operations permit.
Fantastic.
Now, please get this man off my station,
before I have a sudden unexplained airlock failure.