 Crooks in International Rescue uniform steal the plans for the AL-4. This causes General Lambert, not realizing that the machine used was an EJ-2, to organize a search force, putting International Rescue temporarily out of business. Penelope searches for the fake Thunderbirds whilst Jeff Tracy has suspended operations. The Tracy family aren t the only ones with troubles, though: Space Observatory 3, the search satellite in their area, has shut down for 4 hours. Even worse, a man on the search force, Elliott, has accidentally launched himself into space, meaning Jeff must decide between Elliott s life and the lives of the 500 people who could suffer from International Rescue being put out of business. He launches a rescue simply because Penelope is close to clearing them, but can she manage in time?