Disclaimer: I don't own Thunderbirds, Gerry Anderson does. This is a nice little Christmas fic I'd thought you'd all enjoy. Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year. Mouse, December 2002.
An unusual request or how International Rescue saved Christmas Down Under
By Mouse
Thunderbird Five
It was Christmas Eve, and John was preparing again to spend a lonely, quiet day by himself, indulging in his favourite pastime of watching the stars. Scott and Alan had come up yesterday, with gifts and a traditional dinner from his grandmother for him. The gifts were sitting under the small plastic tree he had put up and the dinner was in the fridge, waiting to be heated. But right now he was getting ready for his favourite part of Christmas.
He had set the delicate receivers of Thunderbird Five to receive the broadcast of Carols by Candlelight from Melbourne, Australia. It was a tradition for the Australians going back almost a hundred years to gather at an open park called the Music Bowl, with their families, and sing Carols by Candlelight and listen to the band and singers.
The first ever Christmas John had spent away from his home and family was while he was studying Astronomy at University. He had taken a six month course on the southern hemisphere and had ended up in Australia, mainly to study the unique constellations seen from there. One of his classmates, an Australian called Barry, had practically dragged him to Melbourne to spend Christmas with his family, and they had gone along to the Carols.
John had been amazed by the thousands of people that had gathered. The official attendance figure was in the couple of hundred thousand. He'd never experienced anything like it before; they didn't have anything similar in the states. The Australian's sang with gusto and joy, the candle light adding to the festive atmosphere. And, the monies raised from the sale of the candles and song books went to charity, which was another good thing.*
John tuned the receiver in and managed to find the frequency the stage managers were using. He liked to listen in for a little while before the show started, as sometimes the show started at different times of the evening. What he heard caused him great concern.
"…..disaster. What the bloody hell can we do?"
"There's no way we can get equipment from interstate?"
"Not in time for the start of the show Mike. The lightening storm not only fried our equipment, it fried the main transmitters for all the television stations. At the moment, nothing from any channel in Melbourne is going out. We can't even get something shipped here in time from a regional station, nothing that will be strong enough to transmit the images all over Australia anyways."
"I can't believe this, for the first time in over 100 years, Carols by Candlelight will not be broadcast on television nationwide….. this is a disaster."
John just stood their, listening in shock. He couldn't' believe this, his favourite part of Christmas and he would miss it. Not only would he miss it, so would all of Australia. He quickly scanned news and weather reports and soon found the problem.
An unseasonable lightening storm had fried all the transmission equipment on site for the broadcast. New equipment to replace it couldn't' be there on time, so it was looking like the broadcast would be cancelled, unless someone could come up with a miracle. John smiled as an idea formed. Grinning, he reached for the button that would call home.
Tracy Island
Scott and Virgil were placing the last of the presents under the Christmas tree. Gordon was helping Grandma bring in the food and drinks for their evening of carolling. Alan practically had to drag Brains out of his laboratory and Tin-Tin was doing the same with her father in the kitchen.
All of the family had gather and Jeff was about to start with the first of the Christmas traditional toasts when John's portrait flashed. Jeff suppressed the spurt of sadness that his second eldest son wasn't with them, again, for Christmas.
"Go ahead John." The portrait changed to a picture of his blond haired, blue eyed son, the spitting image of his late mother. Jeff was expecting bad news, what he got was an unusual request from his boy.
"Father, the Carols by Candlelight Concert in Australia is in trouble. A lightening storm fried all their transmission equipment, and now they can't broadcast it to all of Australia. It's a huge tradition over their, and millions of people – young and old – will be disappointed if something's not done. New equipment can't be flown in quick enough to replace the destroyed equipment, not soon enough to matter anyway."
Scott looked at his brother, John had told him one day about his time in Australia, and had told Scott how much he had enjoyed the carols. Scott was the only one that knew John spent his Christmas Eve's on the station listening and watching those carols, it was what helped him cope with the isolation and loneliness' of Thunderbird Five. He knew his brother would keenly feel the separation from his family this year if he didn't have that to turn to. Scott turned to his father.
"Father, we can do it. Australia's only 62 minutes flying time away in Thunderbird Two. We could take the transmitter truck and set up a link with Thunderbird Five. That way, no one would miss out." Virgil stood next to Scott.
"Yes Father, it wouldn't take Scott and I long to get there. Think of the children, they'd be so disappointed." Jeff looked at his boys, then at John. He keenly felt the absence of not having one of his children home from Christmas, and being so far away as well. He smiled.
"Alright boys. Virgil, you and Scott go in Thunderbird Two, I don't' think we need to take Thunderbird one this time. Set up the equipment, enjoy the show, and then get back here. John, contact them and tell them we're on our way." John smiled and once again Jeff was reminded of his late wife.
"Thank you Father. Thunderbird Five out." His picture disappeared and shortly after, so did Virgil and Scott. The two remaining Tracy boys smiled warmly at their father.
"You did the right thing Father. They'll have a Merry Christmas now."
Melbourne Music Bowl, two hours before the show is supposed to start.
Mike Richards, the stage manager and person in charge of the organisation of the Carols this year, had just about resigned himself to the fact that the carols wouldn't be going Australia wide this year, for the first time in the entire history of the carols.
Mike was in for his own personal Christmas Miracle this year, a miracle called International Rescue.
His radio beeped and he sighed, most likely it was his assistant Cherry calling with more bad news.
"Roberts, go ahead."
"Mr Roberts, this is International Rescue calling." Mike was stunned, how the hell did they know about his problems.
"International Rescue? Is something wrong?" Mike just said the first thing that came into his head, he was that stunned. Soft laughter greeted his remark.
"Just the opposite Mr Roberts. We heard about your troubles with the transmission equipment, and there is no way we can let all those millions of Australian's miss out on this. So, in about forty minutes, Thunderbird Two will be arriving with a transmitter powerful enough to reach the satellites, and transmit the images of the carols around Australia for you."
Mike Roberts stood there stunned, unable to speak. After a moment he got his voice back and it was barely a whisper, but the joy was un-mistakeable.
"You'd do that…. You'd really do that for us? But I thought you only involved yourselves in rescues and dangerous situations." A small pause greeted his words, and then the voice on the other end spoke softly, but he could hear the gentleness and smile in it.
"Mr Roberts, I've been to the Carols by Candlelight, once, many years ago when I was in Australia. To say that it moved me and made me appreciate my family even more would be an understatement. Every year since then I have listened to them at my post. I may be separated from my family at this time of year because of duty, but the Carols are the one thing that makes it feel like Christmas for me. I couldn't stand by, knowing that you had problems and not get involved. So I persuaded my companions to help out. Enjoy your Carols Mr Roberts, I know I will."
Mike Roberts was stunned beyond belief to know how much the Carols meant to one person. What was that saying, one person can make a difference.
"Thank you. For helping. I can't say that enough." A small laugh came through the speaker.
"Believe me Mr Roberts, it will be our pleasure." The radio went dead and he stood their, staring at it in his hand, unable to stop the smile on his face. His assistant, Cherry came over and she looked at him, concern on her face.
"Mike, I'm sorry, but I can't get anything here in time…. Mike, hey Mike. You okay?" He looked up and she was stunned to see tears in his eyes.
"It's okay Cherry, it's going to be okay. International Rescue is sending the equipment they need. They heard about our plight, and they are helping us. They are helping us broadcast the Carols." Cherry looked at him, stunned herself, before she let out a small scream of joy and hugged him, hard.
"Oh Mike! It's a miracle! A Christmas miracle!"
Preparations were hastily made for the arrival of Thunderbird Two. By now, a huge crowd had gathered and had been told what was going on, so when the giant green transport appeared, a massive cheer went up. The police had set aside an area for them to land and made sure that they wouldn't' be disturbed.
Thunderbird Two landed and straight away it went up on its legs, so Virgil and Scott could come out of the pod with the equipment, as they had less than thirty minutes before they were supposed to start broadcasting.
Mike Roberts stood waiting for them at the edge of the broadcast area, Cherry standing next to him. The crowd was well back, as the Thunderbird had landed behind the stage. Scott walked over to him, smiling.
"Mr Roberts, I believe you're expecting us." Mike held his hand out, unable to keep the smile off his face.
"Yes sir. Your companion radioed your instructions in relation to your arrival, and that you were coming. I can't thank you enough for doing this." Scott smiled as he shook his hand.
"It's our pleasure, can't have everyone disappointed now can we? We'll set up our transmitter truck over there, have you got that power supply ready as a back up?"
"That we have." Scott smiled again as Virgil called out to him.
"Come on Scott, we haven't got that much time."
"Be right their Virgil." Scott turned back to Mike.
"You just let us know when you want us to start transmitting, and we'll do it." Mike sighed in relief, an enormous weight having been lifted from him.
"Thank you again. Is their anything I can do for you? A special Christmas Carol you'd like sung or a song dedicated to your families. Please, I have to thank you some how." Virgil had come and stood next to Scott by this time and he grinned at his older brother.
"Scott, what about something for John? After all, this was his idea, and he is stuck by himself. It's not right he should miss out." Scott smiled widely, his brown eyes twinkling at his brother's suggestion.
"Yes, actually, there is a song you can get someone to sing. Just tell them to say it's for John, from his family. Especially from his brothers this year." Mike just smiled.
"What would you like?"
Thunderbird Five
John had set up the relay to the satellites, and the transmission was coming in beautifully. The carols had been going amazingly well, with each artist thanking International Rescue for coming to the party for them. No pictures were shown, naturally, of them or their equipment, but the crowd loved it each and every time they were mentioned, as they would cheer greatly.
The show was coming to a close, night had fallen and the sky was clear. The stars twinkled with expectation of a beautiful day to come, the warm air filling the music bowl with the scent of wattle and gum.
A singer walked out on stage, a young country artist, called Kelsey Chambers*, and she smiled gently as the noise from the crowd died down.
"Thank you everyone. I'd like to sing a special request now, something to say thank you to our International Rescue friends. This is for John, from his family, especially his brothers. They are thinking of you and are wishing that you could be with them this evening."
John sat there, stunned, tears forming in his eyes, as he listened to her beautiful voice.
I'll be home for Christmas;
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe,
And presents on the tree.
Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love-light gleams.
I'll be home for Christmas,
If only in my dreams.
It really was going to be a special Christmas after all…
The End.
* - Each year, the Carols by Candlelight raises money for the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind. Last year, over a million dollars was raised.
* - Kelsey Chambers is the name of a current Australian country singer, who's pretty brilliant singer.