Thunderbird 1 slowly changed from horizontal to vertical flight and slid
effortlessly into the hole vacated by the swimming pool. "Thunderbird 2 is
18 minutes behind me." Scott called over the com and he shut down her
engines. He did his post flight check so that he was sure she would be
ready instantly for the next rescue. He couldn't wait to hit the showers.
This was a messy rescue, a mudslide started when the big tanker planes
dropped water on a fire on a hillside. So he had to deal with smoke, soot
and mud to help get several people out of a building that slid down the
hill. As he entered the lounge on the way to his room, he could feel
Thunderbird 2 engines vibrating through the floorboards of the house. It
wasn't strong, but he recognized the feeling.
Virgil landed Thunderbird 2 with the precision a surgeon uses when performing microsurgery. He was very comfortable with TB2, and he flew her by feel, not just instrumentation. He always hated when one of his brothers needed to fly her. They couldn't feel her like he did. He always thought they handled her too rough, jarring her during landings and flying her over or under the correct power needed for the job. He kept his thoughts to himself though because he didn't want Gordon and John upset with what he thought about their flying. He lifted her up off the pod then powered down. He couldn't wait to get into the shower. He felt disgusting. He looked at his two brothers and they looked like he felt. Gordon wrinkled his nose when he took a deep breath. "I can't even stand the smell of me....aim me towards the showers". Good thing they all had private showers. In this business, you could find all the showers going at once when then returned from a rescue. The three brothers walked past their dad, waved, and said, "see you after we have cleaned up." Jeff just nodded.
When all had showered and been refreshed, they piled into the lounge. Jeff started the conversation. "This is one of the smoothest, albeit messiest, rescues we have had. No loss of life and the injuries were minimal. There weren't even any close calls or near misses."
"Except when Gordon fell on his ass and started to slide towards that huge mud puddle. That was a close call! He stopped inches away." laughed Virgil. They all had a good laugh on Gordon. Being good-natured as he was, Gordon took it all in stride.
Jeff continued, "Is there anything you need or want to discuss? Any problems nagging you, anything stressing you?"
There was a silence and slowly each son just shook his head no. This was not one of their more stressful rescues. There were no mistakes, no missteps, no wrong guessing. Like Jeff stated, it was one of their smoothest rescues. He wished that all rescues went that smoothly. It went smoothly because each of his sons was doing what they do the most and have the most practice in. This thought led to another though that they just don't switch around enough. When they have to take another Tbird other than the one they are used to they feel uncomfortable. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind. He watched his sons head off to bed. It was late, he decided to head there too.
**************************************************************************** **********
Jeff looked up from his paperwork and at several of his sons relaxing in the lounge. He has to send someone to Tracy Industries for a week to put in appearances and do paperwork. International Rescue does not survive on good wishes alone. He knows Scott will fight tooth and nail, Virgil has already gone the last 3 times because he was more willing to do it than any of his brothers. He hated sending Gordon because if Virgil doesn't go, Gordon is the one that ends up going. John is getting ready to replace Alan tomorrow in TB5....and Alan, he hates to admit it, but Alan just doesn't have the maturity to make the right decisions. He has cost the company plenty of money more than once. International Rescue depends on the money from Tracy Industries. Sometimes he wished Virgil wasn't so mature about things. Virgil usually ends up with a lot of the shit-work because he doesn't complain and still does a good job. Gordon is not far behind Virgil in this respect. To be fair, he should send Scott and just prepare for the long fight he will get. He looked up at the portraits of his five sons. His eyes came to rest on John. His eyes then shifted to where John was sitting. He never gets to go to Tracy Industries. And even though it is a desk job and work needs to be done, it is still in the city and away from International Rescue. But he is due to go up to TB5 tomorrow. Alan would have a fit if asked to stay up there longer. Gordon doesn't do well up there. He has come back more than once sick. The old astronauts have a term for it, 'space sickness'. He then came up with an idea.
He looked to Virgil. "Virgil, when was the last time you were up in Thunderbird 5?"
"Hum, what? Me? Uh." Virgil stammered. John looked up from his book at the mention of TB5.
Jeff said, "I thought so, it has been so long you can't remember. John needs some more earth time and he only gets to be with Alan when they are meeting for an exchange. I want you to go up tomorrow for two weeks to replace Alan." Jeff continued after a pause to listen to Scott snicker softly, "Scott will replace you for the second two weeks before Alan goes back. This gives John some earth time, time with the one brother he doesn't get to be with, more rescue time, more practice time in Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 4 and time at Tracy Industries. John's smile which been growing wider and wider as Jeff spoke, suddenly broke with the last statement. Jeff suddenly heard a cacophony of complaints. Both Scott and Virgil were voicing their dislike about going to TB5, but Scott definitely over powered Virgil. And John complained about 'going to the office'.
Jeff held up his hand and silenced the throng. "Scott, would you prefer to go to the office?"
"Uh, no father." Scott replied.
"Virgil, do you want to go for a forth time in a row to the office?"
"No, father, 2 weeks in TB5 will be fine." Replied Virgil.
"John, you don't think 1 week at the office is a good trade off for 3 months down here?"
"No problem, dad, I will go to the office, just say when." John said blushing slightly at his complaint. He got a good deal.
The only voice who did not complain was Gordon, he had his face buried in his magazine and the broadest smile he could muster. No office duty, no TB5 duty and he gets to tease his older brother mercilessly for 2 more months. Because John doesn't spend as much time with them, he is easier to play jokes on. It takes almost the whole month before he starts to catch on, and even then, he is still an easy target.
The next day, Jeff told Alan to expect Virgil and to remain there for a couple of hours to make sure Virgil was refreshed on everything up there. John will be ferrying Virgil up.
Virgil was packed and ready to go. He walked past Scott who was wearing a Cheshire grin. "You know Scott, you're going up in 2 weeks when I get back." Virgil quipped. That studded Scott's grin quickly. He headed for TB3. John was already inside doing the pre-fight check. "Hey Virg, I do appreciate you taking a turn up there, I really would like to spend more time on actual rescues instead of constantly listening to them from miles above the earth. I hate it when you guys need help and I sit helpless up there."
"I guess I will find out soon enough how you feel, huh?" Replied Virgil knowing full well that he wasn't going to be able to handle it very well sitting up in TB5 listening to his brothers on a rescue. Good thing it was only 2 weeks.
John said over the intercom to Virgil who was on the lower level, "Strap in Virgil, we are going for launch in a moment." Virgil asked, "Mind if I sit up with you? I don't often ride in TB3, and it would probably be a good idea if I get refreshed on how she runs." "Yeah, sure, come on up, I usually am with Scott or Alan who know all about flying TB3."
"TB3 to base, ready for liftoff." John said into the microphone. There was a pause. Then Jeff replied, "all clear John. Good luck Virgil, see you in 2 weeks." And with that TB3 blasted off.
Meanwhile, Gordon was plotting with Scott to pull a trick on John when he returned with Alan. He was on the comlink with Alan before John and Virgil got there. He wanted to make sure Alan was in on the plot. Alan didn't have to do anything but go along. Scott said, "Gordon, there is one huge flaw in your plan. How are you going to convince father, Kirano and Grandma to join into this? Everyone has to be in on it if we are to let John think he was abandoned."
"Aw, Tin-tin will get Kirano busy in the garden, Brains will join in on the fun, and I think I can convince Grandma to hide. Father is going to be the difficult one. Can't you help me with him? Can't you bring him into the hanger of one of the Tbirds? Or how about taking him out in one of our jets for a spin. Something, anything!" Gordon said. "Say, isn't Virgil's birthday next month? Why not convince dad to go shopping now that Virgil is on TB5. Say you have to go now, because heaven knows when we will get a call."
Scott thought about that. "Dad would probably want to wait until John and Alan returned so that we have a crew here for an emergency. But I bet Grandma can get him to go to the mainland sooner than I can."
"I'll go talk to her now." Gordon squealed with delight.
Scott waited for what seemed to be an eternity when Gordon came back into the room with a mean glint to his eye. "She said 'yes'. I didn't tell her everything, I just explained that I wanted to pull a joke on John but didn't want dad around. I convinced her that I never pull anything that hurt anyone. She thought about it a while and said that when John and Alan call in to say they are leaving TB5, she would ask dad to take her shopping over at the mainland. She won't even have to give him anymore information. Just that she needs to go shopping. Ok, let's go get Brains and Tin-tin in on this."
As the two brothers were scheming away, Alan was on the com to Jeff, letting him know that he had gone over everything with Virgil; where emergency equipment was, where spare parts were, what backups are for what and that he and John were going to leave in about 15 minutes. Grandma walked in just as Jeff was signing off with Alan and said, "Oh good, perfect timing. Now that the boys are on their way back home, can you take me to the mainland? I need to pick up a few things. I have been waiting and waiting to try to pick a good time, but you know, in this rescue business, it just doesn't happen. So can you take me now, Jeff?" Jeff looked up, thought about it a while and said, "Ok. John and Alan will be back here in a couple of hours, it won't hurt to leave Scott, Gordon and Brains in charge for a couple of hours. I will let Scott know that we are leaving."
Jeff and Grandma had just taken off in his private jet when Virgil's portrait started blinking. Scott was hanging around for a little while before he needed to go into hiding. The two brothers in TB3 are due in little over an hour, they are half way home so he had time before he disappeared. He answered Virgil's call just as Gordon stepped into the lounge. "Hi Virgil, lonely already?" Scott asked.
Virgil said, "Not yet, give me another hour. Anyway, I have an alarm going off up here. It is one of the newer items that Brains had put it since my last visit. Alan pointed it out, but didn't say what to do if it went off. I need to know what it means." At that moment Scott watched as an explosion came from the right side of the portrait, blowing Virgil out of the picture before it went dead. Scott and Gordon had a blank portrait to stare at. No video, no audio.
Virgil landed Thunderbird 2 with the precision a surgeon uses when performing microsurgery. He was very comfortable with TB2, and he flew her by feel, not just instrumentation. He always hated when one of his brothers needed to fly her. They couldn't feel her like he did. He always thought they handled her too rough, jarring her during landings and flying her over or under the correct power needed for the job. He kept his thoughts to himself though because he didn't want Gordon and John upset with what he thought about their flying. He lifted her up off the pod then powered down. He couldn't wait to get into the shower. He felt disgusting. He looked at his two brothers and they looked like he felt. Gordon wrinkled his nose when he took a deep breath. "I can't even stand the smell of me....aim me towards the showers". Good thing they all had private showers. In this business, you could find all the showers going at once when then returned from a rescue. The three brothers walked past their dad, waved, and said, "see you after we have cleaned up." Jeff just nodded.
When all had showered and been refreshed, they piled into the lounge. Jeff started the conversation. "This is one of the smoothest, albeit messiest, rescues we have had. No loss of life and the injuries were minimal. There weren't even any close calls or near misses."
"Except when Gordon fell on his ass and started to slide towards that huge mud puddle. That was a close call! He stopped inches away." laughed Virgil. They all had a good laugh on Gordon. Being good-natured as he was, Gordon took it all in stride.
Jeff continued, "Is there anything you need or want to discuss? Any problems nagging you, anything stressing you?"
There was a silence and slowly each son just shook his head no. This was not one of their more stressful rescues. There were no mistakes, no missteps, no wrong guessing. Like Jeff stated, it was one of their smoothest rescues. He wished that all rescues went that smoothly. It went smoothly because each of his sons was doing what they do the most and have the most practice in. This thought led to another though that they just don't switch around enough. When they have to take another Tbird other than the one they are used to they feel uncomfortable. He pushed that thought to the back of his mind. He watched his sons head off to bed. It was late, he decided to head there too.
**************************************************************************** **********
Jeff looked up from his paperwork and at several of his sons relaxing in the lounge. He has to send someone to Tracy Industries for a week to put in appearances and do paperwork. International Rescue does not survive on good wishes alone. He knows Scott will fight tooth and nail, Virgil has already gone the last 3 times because he was more willing to do it than any of his brothers. He hated sending Gordon because if Virgil doesn't go, Gordon is the one that ends up going. John is getting ready to replace Alan tomorrow in TB5....and Alan, he hates to admit it, but Alan just doesn't have the maturity to make the right decisions. He has cost the company plenty of money more than once. International Rescue depends on the money from Tracy Industries. Sometimes he wished Virgil wasn't so mature about things. Virgil usually ends up with a lot of the shit-work because he doesn't complain and still does a good job. Gordon is not far behind Virgil in this respect. To be fair, he should send Scott and just prepare for the long fight he will get. He looked up at the portraits of his five sons. His eyes came to rest on John. His eyes then shifted to where John was sitting. He never gets to go to Tracy Industries. And even though it is a desk job and work needs to be done, it is still in the city and away from International Rescue. But he is due to go up to TB5 tomorrow. Alan would have a fit if asked to stay up there longer. Gordon doesn't do well up there. He has come back more than once sick. The old astronauts have a term for it, 'space sickness'. He then came up with an idea.
He looked to Virgil. "Virgil, when was the last time you were up in Thunderbird 5?"
"Hum, what? Me? Uh." Virgil stammered. John looked up from his book at the mention of TB5.
Jeff said, "I thought so, it has been so long you can't remember. John needs some more earth time and he only gets to be with Alan when they are meeting for an exchange. I want you to go up tomorrow for two weeks to replace Alan." Jeff continued after a pause to listen to Scott snicker softly, "Scott will replace you for the second two weeks before Alan goes back. This gives John some earth time, time with the one brother he doesn't get to be with, more rescue time, more practice time in Thunderbirds 1, 2 and 4 and time at Tracy Industries. John's smile which been growing wider and wider as Jeff spoke, suddenly broke with the last statement. Jeff suddenly heard a cacophony of complaints. Both Scott and Virgil were voicing their dislike about going to TB5, but Scott definitely over powered Virgil. And John complained about 'going to the office'.
Jeff held up his hand and silenced the throng. "Scott, would you prefer to go to the office?"
"Uh, no father." Scott replied.
"Virgil, do you want to go for a forth time in a row to the office?"
"No, father, 2 weeks in TB5 will be fine." Replied Virgil.
"John, you don't think 1 week at the office is a good trade off for 3 months down here?"
"No problem, dad, I will go to the office, just say when." John said blushing slightly at his complaint. He got a good deal.
The only voice who did not complain was Gordon, he had his face buried in his magazine and the broadest smile he could muster. No office duty, no TB5 duty and he gets to tease his older brother mercilessly for 2 more months. Because John doesn't spend as much time with them, he is easier to play jokes on. It takes almost the whole month before he starts to catch on, and even then, he is still an easy target.
The next day, Jeff told Alan to expect Virgil and to remain there for a couple of hours to make sure Virgil was refreshed on everything up there. John will be ferrying Virgil up.
Virgil was packed and ready to go. He walked past Scott who was wearing a Cheshire grin. "You know Scott, you're going up in 2 weeks when I get back." Virgil quipped. That studded Scott's grin quickly. He headed for TB3. John was already inside doing the pre-fight check. "Hey Virg, I do appreciate you taking a turn up there, I really would like to spend more time on actual rescues instead of constantly listening to them from miles above the earth. I hate it when you guys need help and I sit helpless up there."
"I guess I will find out soon enough how you feel, huh?" Replied Virgil knowing full well that he wasn't going to be able to handle it very well sitting up in TB5 listening to his brothers on a rescue. Good thing it was only 2 weeks.
John said over the intercom to Virgil who was on the lower level, "Strap in Virgil, we are going for launch in a moment." Virgil asked, "Mind if I sit up with you? I don't often ride in TB3, and it would probably be a good idea if I get refreshed on how she runs." "Yeah, sure, come on up, I usually am with Scott or Alan who know all about flying TB3."
"TB3 to base, ready for liftoff." John said into the microphone. There was a pause. Then Jeff replied, "all clear John. Good luck Virgil, see you in 2 weeks." And with that TB3 blasted off.
Meanwhile, Gordon was plotting with Scott to pull a trick on John when he returned with Alan. He was on the comlink with Alan before John and Virgil got there. He wanted to make sure Alan was in on the plot. Alan didn't have to do anything but go along. Scott said, "Gordon, there is one huge flaw in your plan. How are you going to convince father, Kirano and Grandma to join into this? Everyone has to be in on it if we are to let John think he was abandoned."
"Aw, Tin-tin will get Kirano busy in the garden, Brains will join in on the fun, and I think I can convince Grandma to hide. Father is going to be the difficult one. Can't you help me with him? Can't you bring him into the hanger of one of the Tbirds? Or how about taking him out in one of our jets for a spin. Something, anything!" Gordon said. "Say, isn't Virgil's birthday next month? Why not convince dad to go shopping now that Virgil is on TB5. Say you have to go now, because heaven knows when we will get a call."
Scott thought about that. "Dad would probably want to wait until John and Alan returned so that we have a crew here for an emergency. But I bet Grandma can get him to go to the mainland sooner than I can."
"I'll go talk to her now." Gordon squealed with delight.
Scott waited for what seemed to be an eternity when Gordon came back into the room with a mean glint to his eye. "She said 'yes'. I didn't tell her everything, I just explained that I wanted to pull a joke on John but didn't want dad around. I convinced her that I never pull anything that hurt anyone. She thought about it a while and said that when John and Alan call in to say they are leaving TB5, she would ask dad to take her shopping over at the mainland. She won't even have to give him anymore information. Just that she needs to go shopping. Ok, let's go get Brains and Tin-tin in on this."
As the two brothers were scheming away, Alan was on the com to Jeff, letting him know that he had gone over everything with Virgil; where emergency equipment was, where spare parts were, what backups are for what and that he and John were going to leave in about 15 minutes. Grandma walked in just as Jeff was signing off with Alan and said, "Oh good, perfect timing. Now that the boys are on their way back home, can you take me to the mainland? I need to pick up a few things. I have been waiting and waiting to try to pick a good time, but you know, in this rescue business, it just doesn't happen. So can you take me now, Jeff?" Jeff looked up, thought about it a while and said, "Ok. John and Alan will be back here in a couple of hours, it won't hurt to leave Scott, Gordon and Brains in charge for a couple of hours. I will let Scott know that we are leaving."
Jeff and Grandma had just taken off in his private jet when Virgil's portrait started blinking. Scott was hanging around for a little while before he needed to go into hiding. The two brothers in TB3 are due in little over an hour, they are half way home so he had time before he disappeared. He answered Virgil's call just as Gordon stepped into the lounge. "Hi Virgil, lonely already?" Scott asked.
Virgil said, "Not yet, give me another hour. Anyway, I have an alarm going off up here. It is one of the newer items that Brains had put it since my last visit. Alan pointed it out, but didn't say what to do if it went off. I need to know what it means." At that moment Scott watched as an explosion came from the right side of the portrait, blowing Virgil out of the picture before it went dead. Scott and Gordon had a blank portrait to stare at. No video, no audio.