Commencing landing sequence. Stand by for final approach.
There it is, Alan - QUARC. Quantum Research Centre.
Home of the Supreme Hadron Collider.
It's like a giant theme park of science.
Cool! Where are the rides?
This is the epicentre of leading edge research into spin-2 bosons.
- Spin-who-Watsons? - Gravitons.
The superglue of the universe.
My old lab partner at Cambridge, Professor Moffat, is leading the team.
It's been years since we've seen each other.
We've got so much to catch up on.
Oh, great. I have to listen to you and some nerd buddy
reminiscing about Bunsen burners and advanced algebra.
Wait.
Brains, is that cologne?
Hiram.
Nice to see you again, Moffie.
Looks like someone just spun your bosons.
I know how busy you must be with International Rescue,
but I'm so glad you could come.
There's simply tons to show you
and I need to pick that big brain of yours about some questions we've been having.
Well, pick away. It really is lovely to see you again.
Hi. I'm Alan, by the way. 'Oh, hi, Alan. Lovely to meet you.'
Well, here it is.
You've got the TR-4500.
And an intersecting synchrotron!
Wait. Is that a...?
Yes! A thurbilapse impulser.
D76!
Yawn. I thought we were gonna smash some atoms.
You know, pound some gluons, crunch some neutrinos.
Boom! Crash! Kapow!
- Yes, let's see the Collider in action. - Of course.
Graviton generator operational. Building up injection reserves.
- Who would like to do the honours? - Ooh, ooh! Me! Me! Me!
Initiating atomic collision.
Er... maybe it's broken.
Atomic collision complete.
What? That's it? No mushroom cloud? No mega boom? Nothing?
Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it isn't powerful.
Some of the greatest forces in the universe are completely invisible.
And completely boring.
Just when I thought physics was gonna be fun.
Calling International Rescue.
I'm tracking a magnitude 3 meteorite passing through the earth's atmosphere.
Hold on.
Stand down, IR. It's heading for an unpopulated region in Southern Berekhstan.
What? Scratch that. International Rescue, we have a situation.
5...
4...
3...
2...
1.
Thunderbirds Are Go!
The meteor has impacted in downtown New Geneva.
Sounds like this is going to take some heavy lifting.
Copy that, Thunderbird 2. Just the person for the job.
Until local authorities ask for help, I'll assess and report back.
F-A-B, Virgil. I'm ready if you need me.
There's something highly peculiar about the trajectory of that meteorite.
Giant hunks of space rock don't just change direction on their own.
Thunderbird 2, I advise you to take care.
Arriving in New Geneva now. It looks like they've got those fires under control.
Local emergency services are taking care of the evac and fires,
but they need someone to go into the impact zone and check out that meteorite.
- Can you see where it impacted? - Yeah,
I think I've got a pretty good idea.
I'm going to put her down and go in on foot.
OK, Thunderbird 2.
You might wanna take added muscle of the mechanical kind.
F-A-B.
Are you guys seeing this?
- Coming in loud and clear. - We're right there with you, Virgil.
Er... Do meteorites usually have antennas and solar panels?
Not typically. Can you get a closer look?
Well, Brains, what do you think?
- What is it? - It's a satellite.
- A satellite! Crashed to earth. - Why? Did it run out of gas?
No. Something must have caused it to fall out of orbit.
Something... or someone.
I'm calling sabotage.
And if you look up sabotage in the dictionary,
you'll find a picture of The Hood.
Mayday, mayday! This is Flight VT-G45 out of Tokyo. We're losing altitude fast.
Another falling plane? What are the odds?
The controls aren't responding. I've tried everything.
It's like something's grabbed hold of us.
And it's right above Alan and Brains at the Collider.
Thunderbird 1 responding. I've got this.
Flight VT-G45, this is International Rescue.
We're on our way.
5, 4,
3, 2,
1.
Thanks for the visit, Professor Moffat, but we really gotta go.
- But we only just got here. - Brains, The Hood crashed the satellite,
and now he's trying to bring down a jet plane.
We gotta get where the action is.
Alan, we simply don't have enough data to implicate The Hood yet.
Besides, I haven't shown you the results from lead nuclei test.
They're truly fascinating. Hmm?
Ah, OK. You can look at your numbers but then we are out of here.
- Fantastic. - Spectacular.
Oh, brother.
It's no use. It's not responding.
Flight crew, initiate emergency protocol. Prepare for full impact.
- Did someone call for a tow? - International Rescue, thank goodness.
Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 5,
I'm going to try to grapple the jet and yank it out of its dive.
Ah, almost had it! Going in again.
Got it!
International Rescue, I've got a problem.
I'm losing control!
Thunderbird 1 is going down!
- Thunderbird 1, give me your situation. - Altitude boosters are ineffectual.
Retros firing at maximum. Controls aren't responding.
Thunderbird 1 is in serious trouble.
- The Hood's got Scott! - Negative.
This diagnostic scan shows all systems operating as normal.
There's no sign of sabotage.
Then it's the jet. It's dragging Thunderbird 1 down.
It doesn't compute. That's a Skyliner.
Which if I recall correctly has a gross operating weight of 318.7 metric tons.
Thunderbird 1 is in an incline dive of approximately 6.7G.
But it has a vertical thrust of 470,000lbs,
which is enough to tow 6.4 Skyliners.
- In English, please. - Something really weird is going on.
But if it's not The Hood and it's not the jet, then what is it?
- Gravity! - Of course. Why didn't I think of that?
The jet weighs 318 tons under normal earth gravity.
But what if gravity isn't normal?
Thunderbird 5, please run a gravity scan on Thunderbird 1.
Already on it.
That's strange.
Scott, you're caught in a gravity well.
- How improbable! - A gravity what?
A gravity well. It's like a whirlpool sucking him down to earth.
Sounds really neat, but what do I do about it?
I calculate you don't have enough engine thrust to climb out of it.
But gravity can make him go faster.
It's like in Thunderbird 3 when I went round the sun.
That could give him the thrust he needs to break free, right?
Excellent thinking, Alan. Grandma Tracy has been making you do your homework, I see.
Thunderbird 1, accelerate to 9Gs.
In an incline dive? Are you crazy?
Trust me, I've done this before.
Of course, that was in space and I wasn't towing a jet plane, but...
F-A-B... I guess.
Flight VT-G45, set thrusters to full.
- We're going for a ride. - Wait till you reach 9G.
7.5.
8.2.
.6, .8.
- 9G! - Now hit it!
- Looks like you're good to go, guys. - Thank you, International Rescue.
Anytime. Ah, that was close.
- Yeah! - Yeah!
That was some quick-thinking, Alan. I'm impressed.
Ah, it was Brains. He taught me all about it.
International Rescue would be nothing without him, you know.
By the way, have you ever seen him without his glasses?
Stop it.
Well... All we need to do is f-figure out what caused this gravitational anomaly.
I think I can hazard a guess.
Ever since the Supreme Hadron Collider went online
we've been registering localised gravitational anomalies.
And that's why I asked you here.
But the idea of a graviton generator inducing a gravity well is only a theory.
All right, imagine for a second that we don't all have PhDs in particle physics.
A gravity well is like a giant vacuum cleaner.
Sucking everything down to earth. But it's only a theory.
Until now. When you activated the Collider,
there were just the right conditions to generate the gravity well.
And it pulled down the satellite.
What? So this wasn't The Hood? This was my fault?
Well, you did touch it last.
Then shut it down! Shut it all down!
Supreme Hadron Collider offline.
That... that should do it.
Thunderbird 5, please re-run the gravitational scan.
Bad news. The gravity well is still active and it's growing.
But... but we shut it down.
It's become self-sustaining.
It's out of our control.
It will be looking for something to grab on to.
John, scan the area overhead for any potential hazards.
- You got it, Brains. How far up? - All the way.
Clear up to 1200 metres. Stratospheric region is A-OK.
I've got something. And it's big.
Oh, no. It's the Worldwide Space Station.
WSS, this is International Rescue. Are you experiencing any problems?
Howdy there, neighbour. Negative. Everything here is A-OK.
International Rescue, we have a whole new situation.
International Rescue, we're being pulled out of orbit.
It's gonna burn up like Grandma's cooking.
I'll tow it out, just like I did with the jet plane.
Negative, Scott. It's too massive. It will take you down with it.
We need to stop the Supreme Hadron Collider physically.
That's the only way to restore gravity to normal.
We can't do it by remote. We'll have to do it onsite. From there.
- Fine. I'll go do it. - No. Gravity may be lessening here.
But out there it's increased a hundredfold.
Well, maybe I could get to it in the pod.
The pod's hull won't be able to survive the intense gravitational pull.
- It'll be crushed like a tin can. - What about Thunderbird 3?
Thunderbird 3 is built for space flight.
A procedure like this would require a vehicle
that's been structurally reinforced.
Something compact, built to withstand environments of extreme pressure.
I know just the thing!
The gravity well is like a tornado. It's calmest at its centre.
You've got to make sure Thunderbird 4 doesn't deviate from its path.
You ready, Gordon?
You do know Thunderbird 4 is a Class C submersible, right?
That means it operates best under water.
Thunderbird 4 is the only craft with a chance of
withstanding the intense forces you'll encounter.
Did you say 'a chance'?
But first we need to get inside.
OK, here goes nothing.
We're through!
Thunderbird 2 is in position. Preparing for payload drop.
- It'll be like fishing in a barrel. - And I'm on the end of the hook.
I'm glad my suit is able to counter the pressure of the gravity.
I must weigh three tons.
- Yeah! - Yes!
Bad news, guys. I'm caught in the gravity well.
Increasing to maximum vertical thrust.
Hey! Keep it steady up there!
I might not be able to fly into the heart of that gravity well,
but at least I can help Thunderbird 2.
I'm taking a pod.
Alan, the pod's thrusters won't provide enough lift.
Well, it's better than being stuck here.
Hold on, guys. I'm coming.
Let's try that again.
Hiram, I'm scared.
I find at moments like this it's best to recite my fractal tables.
You're such a nerd. And I like it.
2x times p is z.
3x times p is z squared.
4x times p is z cubed.
Hey, bro. Thought you could use a little help.
Ha! From that tiny thing?
Hey, you're not in a position to be choosy.
Hey! Watch it! Thunderbird 4 isn't insured.
- Ah, it's not working. - I told you, that thing's too tiny.
Maximum thrust.
Whoo-hoo! It's working! I did it!
Nice try, little bro. Nice try.
Burning... up.
Thunderbird 4, what's your progress?
OK, I'm here. What now?
Perhaps if he disconnects the power cells completely.
Not possible, I'm afraid. They're housed internally.
What if he inverts the graviton processor unit?
Negative. It won't halt the flow.
Maybe if he uncouples the induction capacitors?
What about changing the poles on the shield?
Ohh! We don't have time for a debate.
We've gotta do something fast.
I know. Maybe this'll work.
I thought I was fried for sure.
Big thanks, International Rescue.
Good work. The gravity well has dissipated.
Normal gravity is restored.
Boy, I'm glad that's over. I thought I was going to be squashed.
Now that you mention it, you do look a little shorter.
Oh, Hiram, the Supreme Hadron Collider is ruined.
- My life's work. - Don't worry, Moffie.
I've been thinking and I'm pretty sure I've worked out where it went wrong.
With a few improvements it can be rebuilt even better than before.
And, of course, I'll help.
- It'll be... - "Ultimate Hadron Collider".
Well, I was thinking "The Superlative Hadron"...