There has been a fire at an oil well and International Rescue on on the scene. As Scott watches, Virgil uses the Firefly to destroy a structure which has been set ablaze. When he shoots it, it erupts with a large fireball that pushes Firefly back.
However the fire then fizzles out and the danger has passed. Virgil tells Scott he's heading back to Thunderbird 2, whilst Scott says he'll head back to Thunderbird 1. Meanwhile, two guys who work for a news station aren't very happy. Ned Cook, a presenter, thinks that this could have been the biggest story of the year, but because of International Rescue's "No pictures" policy, he and his cameraman Joe can't do anything about it.
Thunderbird 2 takes off and heads back to base. Ned has a great idea -they are going to film Thunderbird 1 taking off and get into position. Joe starts shooting as Thunderbird 1 blasts off, but as soon as he does the aircraft's automatic camera detector system alerts Scott. Scott lands Thunderbird 1 back down near Ned's van.
Scott reminds them that he said no pictures, but Ned says he has a job to do. Scott asks him to destroy whatever pictures he has taken but Ned refuses and drives off. Joe tells him to stop but Ned refuses, saying that this is the biggest story they've ever had and there is no way he's going to lose it now. Scott takes off again and follows them.
Ned and Joe notice a blue light on their van and Scott tells them that he has electromagnetically wiped their video tapes, so there is now no longer any footage on them. Scott then says so long and heads away, whilst Ned stops the van. He gets out and tells Joe that he must have been bluffing, but Joe confirms it -the tapes are useless.
Scott contacts Virgil and tells him that he take off was delayed but he is now away, he'll fill him in on the details later. At Tracy Island, Jeff is getting Tin-Tin to type up a reply he is sending. He was invited to witness a construction project in New York, but he has had to decline going. He does wish everyone the best of luck with their scheme though -they plan to move the Empire State Building. Virgil then phones home and says he and Scott are on their way back. As he ends the transmission, he sees something on radar moving at a very fast speed.
The something is the USN Sentinel, the US Navy's newest strike vessel. And the Captain of it is told that there is something very large up in the skies moving at 5,000 miles per hour! The Captain finds out that that there was meant to be no military aircraft in this area and it could be an enemy attack. He tells the crewmen to stand by with their interceptor missiles. Virgil doesn't want to be tracked back to home base and tells Scott that he is going to change course slightly and try to get out of range of the Sentinel. Scott says he'll do the same when he gets closer.
The Sentinel Captain sees this and finds out that now the object is heading on a course to New York. They don't know what it is and are baffled, as it seems to slow to be a missile but to fast to be an aircraft. A message then comes in to him from central control -there are meant to be no aircraft here, so they must treat this object as hostile. The Captain sounds the battle alarm and soon the missiles are prepped for launch.
The first two missiles are launched. Virgil finds out that he's got trouble and opens up a transmission with Scott and Tracy Island, stating that he's under attack. Scott tells him to use Thunderbird 2's jammers, but they fail to throw the missiles off so Scott tells him to pull up and gain altitude. Virgil does so and the missiles explode underneath the ship -Thunderbird 2 suffers from slight damage at the rear, but it can still fly. However, the Sentinel is ready to release more missiles.
Missiles 3 and 4 are launched, with their frequencies changed so they won't be so easy to jam. As Virgil picks up the two new missiles, he tells Scott. Scott tells him to try the jammer, but it fails thanks to the changed frequencies and Virgil hasn't got time to change it. Scott tells him to climb and try and suddenly pull up one second before impact. Virgil starts to gain altitude...
...but it isn't enough and this time the missiles explode right under the back end of the ship, badly damaging it. As Virgil frantically tries to use the non-responsive controls, Thunderbird 2 is going down!
Scott has nearly caught up with Virgil and contacts Tracy Island, telling his father that Thunderbird 2 must be on fire as he can see smoke in the far distance. He can't get through to Virgil though. Jeff says he's been onto Washington and hopes they can stop the Sentinel's attack. A message comes through to the Sentinel informing the Captain that their target is actually a machine of the International Rescue organization and he must stop his attack immediately. Two more missiles had been launched, but the Captain has them self-destruct.
Virgil has passed out but thanks to Scott yelling for him to pull up, he wakes up just in time to stop Thunderbird 2 from crashing into the sea. He thinks he should be able to make it back to Tracy Island, but he isn't definite. Meanwhile, Jeff tells the others that Thunderbird 2 has been badly damaged and they need to be ready. He tells Gordon and Alan to stand by with the fire fighting equipment.
On the runway, two rows of fire extinguishers pop out of the ground as everyone gets ready in a room located above Thunderbird 2's hidden hangar. Virgil arrives and manages to land Thunderbird 2 on the runway.
However the wheels collapse and Thunderbird 2 skids to a halt on the runway. Foam is released all over the aircraft. When Virgil wakes up, he's in his own bed in his room where Jeff and Scott are. He wants to know what happened to Thunderbird 2, but Jeff tells him not to worry about it. Whilst it has been badly damaged, it will be OK and Scott says that it just needs a few weeks of repairs to put right. Virgil thinks that is terrible because what will happen if they need Thunderbird 2 for a rescue? Jeff says to just hope that won't happen.
Thunderbird 2 has been put back into the hangar and Brains has already started some repair work on it. Scott and Jeff look at the vehicle from above and Scott says what a mess it is in. Jeff tells him that once the new components are in they'll have to work around the clock to get them installed. Each component has been ordered from a different aircraft organization to maintain secrecy.
A few days later, the Tracy family is taking a break to watch a special report hosted by Ned Cook. Today is the day that the Empire State Building is going to be moved 200 yards and Ned explains how this is going to be done. The area around the building has been demolished to make way for modern development, but the Empire State building itself was seen as to great to destroy. Ned says that after tunneling under the foundations, hydraulic jacks were placed to raise the building. A heavy duty track was then constructed, part of which was placed between the jacks and the building whilst the other part was made for the building to be moved. An animation shows the building moving across the track
Ned says that whilst this sounds easy, it took 10 years of planning and 2 years of construction to get this far. The giant scaffolding tractor on the Empire State Building then stars to move, taking the building with it. Ned excitedly reports on this, but then he says that something has gone wrong as the tractor stops. It has moved the building slightly, but not all the distance as the ground begins to shake. Ned says it is like an Earth tremor beneath him. On the track, the ground begins to fall apart slightly, but then gets worse and worse.
The ground Ned is standing on begins to give way but he says he won't move as he wants to bring up to date news on this story. The tremors seemed to have stopped and the tractor and Empire State Building stay in place. Ned starts to say that they won't be moving again today as Jeff thinks he is crazy for staying there. Ned then says that he has been ordered to leave by the police as there is a real danger of the building falling over. However before he or Joe can leave, the ground beneath them suddenly opens up and they both fall.
They both survive the drop and thankfully neither of them have any major injuries. But Joe says they need to get out of here fast as the Empire State Building may fall on top of them if they don't hurry up. Meanwhile, the ground beneath the tractor and building continues to fall away. Ned and Joe look up at the hole they fell through in terror as the Empire State Building falls down over it!
A few minutes later, another camera is put into place as a different reporter says that they are viewing the rubble of the Empire State Building, which is no more. Ned Cook's voice can then be heard -he still has his microphone. Jeff and the others are watching, but there is nothing they can do for him -without Thunderbird 2 being available to move their rescue equipment, they can't help get Ned out. Ned says that he and Joe are somehow alive, but are stuck in a hole which seems to have water seeping into it. When Brains hears this, he says he now knows why what happened happened.
Brains says that there must have been an underground river right beneath the Empire State Building. If this river had been undetected, it would explain why the ground gave way when the building was moved. If water keeps seeping in to where Ned is, he'll drown. Scott says they need Thunderbird 4 to go and rescue them but it won't get there thanks to Thunderbird 2 being out of action. Gordon and Virgil then appear, having seen the whole thing, and Gordon says he'll have to go from here. Jeff and Virgil tell him that plan would never work, he'd only get to New York in time for Ned Cook's funeral. Virgil has a much better idea and says they should get the Sentinel to pick up Thunderbird 4 and take it as it can go so fast. Jeff likes this idea and goes to contact Washington whilst telling Scott to head to New York in Thunderbird 1.
Jeff successfully arranges it with Washington and soon Thunderbird 4 is launched. Gordon is told to go and meet up with the Sentinel so it can pick Thunderbird 4 up and transport it to New York. In New York, some police men have been sent to the wreckage and have drilled a hole through the rubble to supply Ned and Joe with air and some other supplies they can send down like food. They contact Scott in Thunderbird 1 and tell him what they've done and also say the entire area has been evacuated. Meanwhile Thunderbird 4 reaches the Sentinel.
The International Rescue machine is picked up and Gordon tells Scott his estimated time of arrival -24 hours, which isn't good. Scott lands in New York whilst Brains is studying plans of Manhattan Island and tells Jeff that it is based in solid rock. Underground steams do exist there but they must have never been considered a threat before. He says that over the past 100 years or so, these minor streams must have eaten away at the rock until they meet up and become underground rivers. There has been no recent survey to find this river either.
Scott then calls and tells his father about the present situation. He's found out that Ned and Joe will be submerged roughly by the time Thunderbird 4 arrives. Jeff tells him to get breathing apparatus passed down to them so they can last longer once the water has risen that high. A few hours pass and night time sets in at New York. Scott has set up his mobile control center and he contacts Ned, telling him to stay with it.
Ned tells him that is easy enough for him to say but things are difficult down here. The water has risen considerably and it is also freezing cold, at this rate they'll be under within 10 hours. Scott contacts the Sentinel and finds out they'll be here within 10 hours -leaving things pretty tight for a rescue. More time passes and Ned says that at this rate, they'll be under by 9:00 pm. Gordon is going to arrive at 10:00 pm, so they are an hour out. However, the air tanks are sent down, which can last for two hours each. Scott still thinks this is going to be difficult as Gordon has got only one hour to find them. Out at sea, the Sentinel continues at top speed.
A few more hours pass and the water is close to filling the hole. Ned and Joe wait until the last moment to put on their masks and then do so. All they can do now is wait and hope they are rescued before their air runs out. Meanwhile the Sentinel has slowed down -they are nearly at New York but the Captain explains that they can no longer go at full speed due to all the other ships in the water around the port. Gordon says it would be quicker for him to go under them all in Thunderbird 4 and he tells Scott that he is going to have the Sentinel drop him off early.
Thunderbird 4 is put back into the waters and Gordon says he'll be there in about 20 minutes, he just hopes he can find this underground river. Scott tells him he hopes he can too because Ned and Joe only have about 20 minutes worth of air left in their tanks. Gordon finds the entrance but he still has to navigate the river, so Scott contacts Ned and tells him to also find the river so Gordon can find them faster. They need to find where the water started to seep in from. Gordon moves in to the entrance and, luckily enough, it is big enough for Thunderbird 4 to navigate through.
Ned and Joe start to swim through the river. Back topside, one of the police men gets more bad news: he tells Scott that the land subsidence has worsened and now there is a serious danger of the Fulmer Finance building falling down. This isn't good because if it does over, Scott points out, it will crash right over that hole Ned was in and send a tidal current that will hit the two men down there live an avalanche. He finds out that the building will collapse within the next two and a half minutes -Scott tells Gordon how much time he has. Gordon tells Scott to leave the frequency open, maybe they can guide him to where they are.
Ned sees a hole and realises that must have been where the water came in from. It is just large enough for them to swim through, but their air tanks are now nearly empty and Joe seems to be in a bad way. He helps Joe swim through the hole whilst Gordon keeps searching.
Gordon switches on Thunderbird 4's lights and as he heads down a dark cavern, he sees the two guys. They have just enough air to get inside Thunderbird 4. Gordon reports that he's found them but Scott tells him to get out of there -the Fulmer Finance building is going over!
The building hits the ground and sends a powerful current through the underground river, did Thunderbird 4 make it out in time?
The next thing we see is The Ned Cook Show starting. A presenter says to the audience that Ned Cook has not missed a performance in the last 167 weeks. A few days a go, Ned and his cameraman were involved in a disaster that there seemed to be no escape from. But that hasn't stopped him from being here tonight and the spotlight is then on Ned as he comes onto the stage via wheelchair.
Ned says that he has quite a show for everyone tonight, but first he has a message. The only reason he and his cameraman are still alive is because of the unselfish actions of an organization dedicated to saving lives. He thanks the great International Rescue for what they did and says that nobody knows who they are and where they come from, but he just hopes his words get through to them. Little does he know that they are in the audience -almost everyone from Tracy Island is there! As the rest of the audience starts to applaud, the episode ends.
NOTES
