"Any more of those and it'll be all over before International Rescue get here!"

When bad weather threatens to destroy a road his company is building, Tin-Tin's old friend Eddie Houseman puts himself in danger to clear a way through some mountains. Soon his truck is stuck on the edge of a cliff and International Rescue must save him even though he could identify them...

At the edge of a mountain range in Asia, a truck is firing explosives at the peaks. Eddie Houseman who is supervising the operation, tells his assistant, Cheng, to fire the remaining to explosives. Eddie sees through his binoculars that a way has been cleared through. Eddie, Cheng and Taylor drive into the cutting but are forced out by a rockfall.

They return to a roadbuilder belong to the Gray & Houseman Construction Company in which Eddie is a partner. This huge, multi-storey vehicle flattens the ground and lays out a freshly-tarmacked road behind it as well as being a base for the company. Trees and rocks are beginning to get in the way but they are disposed of with a cannon. The explosives truck is stored within the roadbuilder's hold.

Eddie is congradulated by his partner, Bob Gray. They are under contract to finish building their road through the mountains soon. All is currently going well as long as they do not get caught in the monsoon season. Bob wishes Eddie a happy vacation.

Eddie flies to Tracy Island looking for his old friend Tin-Tin, forcing Jeff to engage Operation Cover-Up. That night Eddie takes her on a boating trip round the island while an irritated Alan is teased by Virgil and Gordon. Tin-Tin wishes Eddie success for his company.

Back at the roadbuilder, Lester shows Bob a forecast of earth tremors in the mountains. The two of them go to investigate in a helijet and discover that the walls of the cutting are dangerously unstable; as son as the monsoon comes it will be totally destroyed.

Recieving the news, Eddie immediately heads back to the road, without saying goodbye to Tin-Tin. Bob wants to wait until it is safe to continue construction in the Spring and risk losing the contract but Eddie wants to set some charges and blast the peak in the opposite direction. Bob vetoes the idea for being too dangerous. Meanwhile, Alan is finding it difficult to get along with Tin-Tin but Grandma promises to help.

In the night, Eddie drives off in the explosives tractor, even though the rains have already started. Lester alerts Bob to some particular tremors in the cutting and they discover Eddie's absence. He drives out onto a narrow ledge on the side of the cutting then, using a harness, drills several holes in the rockface further up the mountain and fills each with an explosive.

Eddie returns to the truck and Bob warns him over the radio that the landslide will come at any minute. This only makes the desperate man fire the explosives while still on the ledge. Much to Bob's joy the plan works and the cutting is now safe. But there has been one side-effect; a rockfall has knocked the truck so that it is now teetering over a cliff and if it goes over, the remaining explosives on board will kill Eddie. Because of the delicate balance, he cannot get to the door.

Bob calls International Rescue and John answers him in Thunderbird 5. Jeff is aware that rescuing someone known to them could result in their cover being blown but sends Scott in Thunderbird 1 and Virgil and Alan in Thunderbird 2 anyway. The rockfall is meanwhile continuing, however, and the truck is still very much in danger.

Grandma convinces Tin-Tin that Alan insisted on going on the rescue despite an illness. Thunderbird 1 arrives at the cutting and, to prevent any more rocks from hitting the truck, Scott fires several steel spears into the rockface to catch them. Thunderbird 2 arrives and lowers its magnetic grabs to pick the truck up but as it approaches, its jets cause the truck to tip dangerously. To prevent it tipping over, Scott flies Thunderbird 1 under the truck and supports it.

This time Thunderbird 2 is able to take the truck successfully. However, it soon becomes apparent that it is too heavy and the grabs will soon fail. Scott tells Virgil to hold it near a ledge so that Eddie can jump to safety. Virgil and Alan try to get the truck to the ground but it slips out and falls to the ground, exploding but harming no one. Eddie's partners thank him for saving the road but he is unable to thank International Rescue as they are already leaving.

Jeff is pleased that their cover was not blown. Tin-Tin contacts Alan and tells him that he should not have taken the chance, much to his confusion. They agree to have a talk when he returns.

Notes: Extensive footage from this episode is used as a flashback in Security Hazard.

Verdict: The tense ending, with well-filmed rockfalls, is very good. Unfortunately, the plot cannot sustain the whole 50 minutes that well, although the resulting increase of characterisation is in no way a bad thing.

Broadcast information: Broadcast on BBC 2 on Tuesday 28^th November 2000 and Saturday 2^nd December 2000 at 3:10 pm.

DVD availability: On Volume 3 and the Complete Box Set.

VHS availability: On the Pod 1 Box Set and the Complete Box Set.

Photonovel availability: In the 2001 Top Secret Annual as part of the Security Hazard photonovel.