A Collaborative Development of a Supercar Storybook within the Internet Community.Storyline suggested by Austin Tate.
Story outline (below) by Austin Tate.
A Collaborative Development of a Supercar Storybook within the Internet Community.Storyline suggested by Austin Tate.
Story outline (below) by Austin Tate.
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The "Supercar: Take Two" project ("Take 2" for short) is a
collaborative venture involving a number of Supercar enthusiasts and
those with an interest in Gerry Anderson productions. Its aim is to
develop an on-line multi-media presentation of a new Supercar storybook.
More details are available in the Introduction.
You are encouraged to contribute materials to this project. Use your
imagination. Contact Austin Tate
(a.tate@ed.ac.uk) to offer your
contribution and to say which part of the story you believe your
work could fit into.
The moon shines through ribbons of high level cloud in the night sky above Black Rock Desert in Nevada. The dark outline of the Black Rock Laboratory is sillouetted against the sky. All is in darkness except that every few seconds there is a bright white flash of the signal beacon light on a pole over the roof of the Laboratory which illuminates the surrounding desert landscape.
Two shadowy figures are slinking away from from the lab towards a pickup truck. As the truck's engine is heard starting up in the distance, Jimmy Gibson is awoken by "uuh, uuh, uuh, eeek, eeek" from Mitch. Jimmy goes into Mike Mercury's room and wakens him saying he heard something outside. "Go to sleep Jimmy" says Mike, "you are just dreaming". Then both turn their heads as they hear the truck in the distance on the dirt track leading to the highway.
Mike gets up and goes into the Supercar hanger area. All seems to be in order. Then Mike notices the forced side door. Professor Popkiss and Dr. Beaker have been disturbed from their sleep and come into the lab in their pyjamas. Popkiss asks "What is the matter Mike". Beaker goes into his laboratory area and sees that the lab safe is open with papers scattered on the floor. He shouts out that "The Supercar plans are missing!".
Speeding down the highway in their pickup truck, Zarin boasts about the success of their theft of the Supercar plans. "Idiot" says Masterspy, "we are not yet clear of the reaches of that accursed Mike Mercury and his Supercar". They zoom across the Stateline just as Mike is speaking with the State Police in the border post to report the robbery.
3 months later. Saturday working at Black Rock Laboratory. Dr. Beaker is replacing a gauge at his console desk. Popkiss is cooking a Swiss speciality in the kitchen with his chef's hat on, assisted by Jimmy. Mitch is playing and making a mess with a bowl of flour off to the side. Mike is leaning over the port fin of Supercar looking through the rear engine inspection hatch. Suddenly the wings of Supercar start to extend, knocking Mike off his feet, and he falls heavily with a crash of the toolbox on the floor. Popkiss, Jimmy and Mitch come through to see what is going on. Dr. Beaker puts down the gauge and proceeds to check all the switches on his console. All appear to be in the off position. The wings slowly and smoothly retract before their eyes! Dr. Beaker says "Curious, most curious".
Popkiss and Beaker go into the main control room to examine the state
of the controls and are discussing the matter, just as the wings once
again start to extend without any activation by the scientists. Mike
jokingly says "Its as if someone was using a remote control for
Supercar". "That's it" declares Popkiss. "Remember the plans that
were stolen 3 months ago. Someone must have used them to build a
remote console to control Supercar. After a moment, he says with a
strident voice "Oh dear, imagine how that could affect the operation
of Supercar! It would be very dangerous indeed". Dr. Beaker adds
"Someone may be planning to steal Supercar!". If only the team had
known that the situation was worse than that - much worse!........
At night in a remote mountain location deep in the Rockies, there is a small level area surrounded by dark craggy cliffs topped with ice and snow. A large warehouse building and a number of smaller huts and storage areas are off in the shadows. Blown snow spindrifts waft across the ground. Bright arc lights around the area cast strong shadows as they illuminate the sleek outline of the results of 3 months hard work by the team of Eastern European engineers brought into the country by Masterspy.
They have constructed an exact replica of Supercar! Except that the craft is finished in a glossy black and gleaming white, with slate grey engine cover hatches, headlight cowlings, supercharger cooling vanes and nose cone. On the side the legend reads "_Mastercar_"! Masterspy stands in the clearing under the bright lights admiring the craft and gloats over his successes. Comment by Zarin, put down by Masterspy [please suggest a suitable exchange]. An engineer comments that the earlier successful hydraulic tests means they can now test the engines for the first time. Masterspy climbs into the cockpit, while Zarin walks over to and sits at the remote console desk (which is a replica in slate grey of Dr. Beaker's console in the Black Rock Laboratory). Masterspy calls out "Charging port engine ...".
Back at the Black Rock Laboratory, the light streams out through the window slats in the hanger area lighting the surrounding foliage. Inside, the Supercar team are at work. Mike is near Supercar's nose working on the avionics within it. Beaker is working to the rear of Supercar, examining the ceramic material used for the blast deflection wall. They react with a shock when Supercar's engines suddenly come to life and the engine revs rise. The rev. counter dial climbs, five thousand, eight, ten, twelve, fifteen thousand, ... seventeen thousand! Mike has already leapt into the cockpit and hits the Supercar master switch to kill all power to the craft. The revs die away gradually. Beaker declares "Thank goodness the interlock mechanism on the engines would not allow the engine to fire. Its a good job that we added that safety feature after we had completed Supercar".
Back in the remote mountain location, the night time testing of
Mastercar continues. Mastercar has its port engine running
successfully and stabilised at 15,000 revs. Masterspy calls out from
the cockpit "Charging starboard". The rev counter on Mastercar climbs
slowly. Masterspy calls out "five thousand, eight, ten, twelve,
... fifteen thousand!". Zarin flicks a switch on his remote console
and shouts out "Interlock on". Masterspy exclaims "Fire two" and the
engines blast into life. The engine tests are successful and the
engines are closed down.
Assuming a replica remote console is being used to threaten Supercar, Dr. Beaker works out a new control frequency for Supercar that will not be affected by the original remote console. The Supercar control radio and the console radios are quickly altered to the new frequency. "That should prevent interference from now on" says Beaker. "But we need to trace the source of the transmissions and find the culprits".
By the next morning Dr. Beaker has designed a warning indicator tuned to the original remote control frequency and he has installed this with a directional indicator inside Supercar's cockpit. Mike is at Supercar's controls while Beaker stands to one side of the cockpit. He explains to Mike that the instrument will operate with the Clear-vu map and coordinate system to help in locating the source of any transmission on the original control frequency. As Dr. Beaker is explaining the operation of the instrument to Mike, the red warning light starts flashing. Beaker exclaims "An attempt is being made to operate Supercar again!.
"Right!" shouts Mike, and immediately begins an emergency Supercar power up sequence. Beaker begins to climb into his seat next to Mike. Mike calls out "Charging both. Five thousand, eight, ten, ...". "Roof doors opening" says Popkiss from the main control room. Mike continues "twelve thousand, fifteen thousand!". Popkiss calls out "Interlock on Mike". "Fire both" declares Mike as all the engines blast out. Mike selects vertical boost and lifts off gently through the open roof doors.
Supercar is seen from above the Laboratory climbing through the roof doors, and as it climbs, the wings are smoothly extended as Supercar slides into horizontal flight.
A close up of the cockpit interior shows Dr. Beaker looking at the new directional indicator instrument and the animated map images on the Clear-vu. Dr. Beaker declares "The location is 400 miles to the South". Looks like the Mount Whitney area Mike. Mike calls out "Full boost horizontal".
Supercar climbs rapidly under full power leaving the Black Rock
Laboratory below, as Mike sweeps Supercar in a wide fast arc and
streaks South.
Supercar closes in on the indicated area after just 15 minutes of flight and from a great height the Clear-vu shows the scene as they approach. There is a cluster of small prefabricated industrial units and storage areas, barrels, etc. A large warehouse in the centre of the site has some of its corrugated roof panels removed. Mike and Beaker watch the gap in the roof on Supercar's Clear-vu...
Masterspy is in Mastercar's cockpit having run through the engine start up procedure. He calls out "Select vertical boost!" and is gleeful as he feels the car sway and gently begin to lift up. The car rises up towards the gap in the warehouse roof.
Mike and Beaker are still watching the warehouse roof on Clear-vu, and suddenly Mastercar comes into sight! Mike quickly pulls Supercar across into a sideways dive to avoid being seen and exclaims "Gosh Beaker, they have a second Supercar - in black and white!.
Mastercar lifts up away from the roof of the warehouse and its stub wings start to extend as it moves into a slow forward horizontal flight.
Thinking quickly, Dr. Beaker hatches a plan. Beaker calls Popkiss who is still at the main console in the control room back at Black Rock Laboratory. Beaker explains the plan, tells Popkiss to select the original control frequency on the console and to select the high gain antenna. The large communications antenna on the roof of the communications building alongside the Black Rock Laboratory swings around to point to the South.
Masterspy is at the controls of Mastercar, when he suddenly gets a
shock as the car lurches forward. He is thrown back in his seat with
his hands flying off the steering control. Mastercar swings around
and goes upside down. Masterspy is seen hanging in the cockpit and
being thrown around and looking very uncomfortable! He calls out to
Zarin to stop this - assuming it is Zarin who is affecting the
controls. Zarin has his hands in the air and pleads that he is not
touching anything at all. "But but Masterspy...!" he exclaims.
Mastercar continues to jump and swing around crazily. Twisted contrails caused by the wing stubs criss-cross the sky. Mike is laughing as he watches the action on the Clear-vu. Back at Black Rock, Popkiss is seen moving the control joystick around in sweeping circles as he watches the remote camera video image on his console. Masterspy exclaims "This cursed craft has a life of its own!" and bails out through the open top of the cockpit as Mastercar turns over on its side. As he floats down on a parachute, Mastercar streaks down into the snowy Rockies landscape and explodes with a huge fireball.
Masterspy lands in a snow bank surrounded by police cars with headlights glaring towards him and flashing lights. Mike has radioed ahead to ensure the police would be there.
Zarin is caught and is being led out of the warehouse by the police. Supercar is located just off to one side of the warehouse. Mike, standing near Supercar, looks on. The plans are recovered by Dr. Beaker, who emerges from the warehouse with the rolled up plans under his arm.
Masterspy and Zarin are led off in handcuffs by the police. Remarks between Masterspy and Zarin to finish off [the remarks will be chosen by nomination and vote of all those involved in the project].
Mike and Beaker lift off in Supercar. They fly majestically over the
summit of Mount Whitney and head off into the distance over the snowy
and rocky landscape as the sun sets with a red glow in the West.
Mike Clark of Los Angeles suggests:
But what weapons would be used by Mike - electric stun maybe:-)? I know that Supercar was once armed to shoot down a rogue Army balloon, but normally it is without weapons. Mike would probably have to use his piloting skill and aerobatic maneuvers to avoid the Mastercar in the air, and take the chase underwater and through tunnels...in hopes that he could lead the villain into making a mistake and crashing.
Masterspy is hardly a qualified pilot...supposed he hired a test pilot who has some motive of revenge against Mike (Kind of like the competition between flyers in the movie "Top Gun"). That way, it would be a more even fight, and Mike could even rescue and rehabilitate the guy after the Mastercar is destroyed. And Masterspy can continue his evil plans.
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© 1998-2006. The copyright in all materials displayed and provided is that of the originating author or artist. Such materials should not be used without permission.
All official material on Supercar is copyright by Carlton International Media Ltd. This is a fan maintained page intended to promote the shows of Gerry Anderson. The materials are provided for your enjoyment, but should not be used for any commercial purpose. Care has been taken to avoid the use of copyright images and other materials, but concerns over unsuitable use of materials, or suggestions for improvement on this page should be sent to Austin Tate (a.tate@ed.ac.uk).