An Old Treasure, A New Secret Weapon For International Rescue
Disclaimer: All of the Thunderbirds and other assorted characters in that series belonged first to Gerry Anderson, r.i.p., and now belong to their rightful legal owners, not to me! Mr. Sunshine the Bunny Boy doesn't own them either, grin! There are several original characters that are my creation in this story. No money is earned from this story, it's for the readers' enjoyment. Rated T for safety's sake, but I try to write for most audiences. Enjoy!
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Ruth Tracy sighed as she tried to push herself up from her easy chair in the lounge. Ah, the old gray mare just ain't what she used to be, she ruefully mused. Her son, Jeff Tracy, billionaire entrepreneur and the head of International Rescue walked in on her at just that moment. Helping her to her feet, he squinted and said, "Mother, enough is enough! I'm ordering that lifting chair for you today, just pick out the color you'd like and I'll have the boys bring it home with them the next time they go to the Mainland."
"Can I get the reclining rocker model, in blue, Jeff?"
"Sure thing, Mom. It's about time you took things a little easier, I'm sure the chair will be a great thing for you."
"Hmmphh!" declared the seasoned citizen. "I can run circles around you any day of the week, boy!"
"Sure you can, Mother, because I'll always let you win." Jeff winked and hugged his mother. "What are you going to do now?"
"I'm off to the sewing room, again. Those grandsons of mine are bound and determined to keep me busy at that sewing machine, fixing their uniforms and making custom clothing for them to boot. I declare, I don't know how Alan thinks he's going to attract a young lady's notice by wearing a jacket with a cow print cloth!"
"Never mind, Mother. There's one young lady here who wouldn't care if Alan wore a jacket with hoofprints on it, she'd notice him all of the time, anyway."
Just at that moment the young lady in question appeared in the doorway. Smiling at the mother and son she informed them that she had finished all of her system checks on Thunderbird 2, and wanted to know if she were needed for any other work right away.
"Yes, dear, you can come help me in the sewing room. It's nicer when I have someone there to chat with while I sew. Of course, if you'd rather not…" she trailed off.
"No, Mrs. Tracy, I'd be glad to give you a hand," Tin-Tin said quickly. "Do you need me to get you some supplies?"
"No, Tin-Tin, and for the umpteenth time would you please just call me "Grandma" already!" Ruth's eyes twinkled mischievously. In her heart she felt that this girl would be the one to give her the much longed-for great-grandchild. "Tin-Tin, where are the boys?"
"They're all down by the pool, Mrs., er, Grandma."
"Good, dear. On second thought, would you get your father to bring us some coffee and pastries, please? It's going to take a whole lot of energy to get through the pile of repairs that await us."
"I'll be glad to bring the coffee and snacks, Grandma. Father is out in his gardens, and I wouldn't want to disturb him."
"Ah yes, the most beautiful gardens I've ever seen are right here on Tracy Island, thanks to Kyrano. It's a fine day, let him enjoy himself outside." That being said, the two ladies went off, ostensibly to meet a few minutes later in the spacious and very comfortable sewing and craft room. Ruth Tracy, however, stopped for a moment watching Tin-Tin hurry off to the kitchen. The older lady turned the other way and walked purposefully towards her luxurious suite of rooms. After about ten minutes of searching through an old sewing box in her closet, which she hadn't opened in many years, she found what she had sought. Tucking a delicate velveteen box into her pocket, Ruth then went as quickly as possible to the sewing room.
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"There you are, Grandma! I was getting ready to come down and see if you were alright," Tin-Tin spoke calmly, but there was worry on her face. Ruth Tracy may have been a strong woman for her age, but she was no spring chicken anymore.
"I just needed something from my room, dear. Now let's sort this mess out and see if we can salvage anything at all, or if we need to make all new uniforms for the 'Rag-Tag Brigade.'
Settling down to the job at hand, they worked and chatted steadily for almost three hours before Grandma Tracy declared a halt. "Time for more coffee, my dear. I have something I want to show you, too." Gently removing the jewelry box from her pocket, Ruth placed it in the younger woman's hands.
"What is this, Grandma?"
"Open it and see, Tin-Tin, and tell me what you think of it."
Carefully opening the fragile jewelry box, Tin-Tin gave a gasp of admiration when she beheld a gorgeous beaded pendant and a First Place Blue Ribbon from a County Fair, dated many years ago. "Why Grandma, this is magnificent! Who gave this to you?"
"No one gave me that, young lady, I made that myself!" chuckled Ruth. "I was very pleased when I finally won a Blue Ribbon at the Fair, and I've always kept that put away so the sun wouldn't fade it. Now, however, I think someone should wear it, and that someone is you, Tin-Tin. It's yours!"
"No ma'am, I couldn't possibly accept your pendant, it looks as if it took so much work to bead this!" Tin-Tin was quite moved by Ruth's gesture, and pressed her hand lightly.
"Nonsense, Tin-Tin. It's yours, and that's that! I'd be so happy to see you wearing it tonight at dinner, barring call-outs, of course."
"I don't know what to say, Grandma. 'Thank you' seems so inadequate…" Tin-Tin's voice trailed off, lower and softer.
"Wear it in good health, Tin-Tin, enjoy it! Do you want to hear how I became a beader?"
Tin-Tin nodded vigorously, so Ruth continued on. "I was about 14 years old at the time. My father and mother were both very busy with the farm. When Summer vacation started I was bored out of my gourd! Then at Church one day, I happened to sit next to a girl I'd never seen before. She was a Native American, a member of the Kiowa tribe. After the service was over, we went outside and talked and talked and became great friends, after a time. Her Indian name I never could pronounce, but everyone called her Peaches. She's gone now, I've learned. I've had her on my mind since I heard the news of her passing away recently."
"I'm so sorry, Grandma. I am just so truly very sorry."
"Well, Tin-Tin, she was 91, may she rest in peace. Before I get off on another tangent here, though, I'll tell you exactly how I started beading. I didn't have a whole lot of spending money available but wanted some nice jewelry. Peaches taught me how to loom beads, and a variety of off-loom stitches as well, in exchange for some of my used clothing. I was quite a bit taller than she was. I got the better part of the bargain by far, and kept on beading for a long time. Ruth kept her head high but her shoulders slumped as she saw the Kansas of her youth as clearly and brightly as this very day. "I used to enter my pies and cakes in the Fair. One day Peaches said I ought to try entering a piece of beaded jewelry I had made. I told her, 'What for?' I just knew it would never win a thing, but to please her, I entered it and won the Blue Ribbon!" Her wrinkled face grew animated, and the older lady continued, "It was a wonderful way for a young girl to be able to give lovely Christmas and birthday presents. Everyone always admired the work that went into each piece."
"I'm so grateful, Grandma, and I'll be careful with this always!" Tin-Tin swooped down to give Grandma a loving hug. "Why don't you work on more of these now? I'm sure Lady Penelope would adore something as unique and beautiful as this!"
Ruth Tracy threw back her head and laughed heartily. "No way, Tin-Tin, no way! The holes on those beads kept getting smaller and smaller until I could no longer see them. If, however, you'd like to learn, I could show you how, using larger-sized beads, of course."
"Would you? I'd be so happy to learn how to make such lovely jewelry!" Tin-Tin hugged Ruth again, very carefully.
"Tonight after dinner, then, we'll meet in the smaller TV room and we'll get started. Now I guess it's time we head down to the dining room to eat, or those boys of mine will eat us out of house and home." Grandma Tracy handed a pile of mended uniforms to Tin-Tin. "Please go and deliver these uniforms for me, would you, dear? That's a good girl, thank you."
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As Tin-Tin entered the dining room a short while later, Virgil Tracy, the middle son of the five, immediately noticed the lovely pendant which hung from a satin ribbon around her slim neck. "Wow, Tin-Tin, where did you get that? It's beautiful."
"Thanks Virg, Grandma gave it to me this afternoon. I'm so happy she shared it with me."
"Grandma, where did you get it from?" questioned Gordon, the fourth of the five Tracy sons.
"I'll have you know that I made that before you were even a twinkle in your father's eye, Gordon!" Amidst the ensuing laughter at the table, Ruth continued, "I won a Blue Ribbon with that at the County Fair. It meant a lot to me. Now it belongs to someone who will enhance its beauty!" At this, Tin-Tin blushed furiously, but said nothing. The others in the room smiled fondly at the two ladies.
After all of the inhabitants of the Island, including Brains, had feasted on a tasty dinner of prime ribs, baked potatoes and fresh from the garden salad, Ruth and Tin-Tin got up to leave before dessert. "Are you okay, Mother?" queried Jeff. "You haven't had dessert yet, and it's the blueberry pies you made this morning."
"No son, we gals have got important work to do. We'll have coffee and pie later. Enjoy the pie, everyone!" With that the smiling Grandma grabbed a bag she had left on an empty chair and walked out with Tin-Tin.
"What on earth are those two are up to?" Scott Tracy, Jeff's eldest son, wondered aloud.
"Probably to gossip about the rest of us!" quipped Gordon.
"No doubt, son. You always give everyone so much to gossip about! Now, John, which movie have you picked out for us this evening?" Chatting with his second son, a platinum blond man who was strong but a bit less muscular than his brothers, Jeff and the others strode down to the Island's movie theater. It had just been refurbished with stadium seating and Dolby 48 channel sound, and was the epitome of luxury and comfort. It was a nice place to unwind after International Rescue was called out to save people who other agencies couldn't assist, and to await the next call out.
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Two weeks later…
A 287 foot long, bright red rocket slowly turned around and descended backwards through a building known as the "Roundhouse," and disappeared amidst fluffy white clouds of steam. After the rocket had cooled sufficiently, two young men left the rocket seated on a couch which shortly rose into the heart of International Rescue's operations center. Rising to hug one and all, Alan Tracy, the youngest of the five sons of Jeff Tracy, searched for his friend Tin-Tin. After a minute she appeared, smiling at him and giving him a warm, welcoming hug and kiss. He was so glad to be home after working on Thunderbird 5, International Rescue's space satellite. It seemed there had been more calls for rescues in the past month than there had been in the previous four months combined.
"Well, little lady, I'm certainly glad to see you! We've been so busy lately we haven't had much time to talk, how about a walk on the beach after dinner?" Hugging his friend, he led her off to the dining room for dinner.
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Little could any of the members of International Rescue have foreseen the dangers they would soon be facing, nor could they have any way of guessing the dreadful repercussions of their actions–or their failure to act in time! For at that very moment, John, up in Thunderbird 5, received a chilling message:
"Internacional Rescue, ayudenos por el amor de Dios!" (International Rescue, help us for the love of God!)
"International Rescue receiving you loud and clear, please tell me the nature of your emergency," replied John in his fluent Spanish.
"My name is Cristobal Correa, and I am in a submarine off the coast of Ecuador, with 16 others, and we are trapped! We hit some kind of mine that exploded, damaged our sub, and now we are unable to surface! We have about 12 hours of air, and then we die! Help us, I beg you!"
"What Navy are you with, Senor Correa?"
"We belong to no Navy, this submarine is loaded with tons of cocaine, bound for the US and Canada. My boss, El Jefe, told me not to contact anyone for help, or he will kill all of our families, but we don't want to die! You must save us, and protect our families, have mercy!"
John froze, this was a dreadful conundrum. How could International Rescue save the families of these trapped drug runners? Should they even be saving drug dealers in the first place? Well, they were dedicated to saving human lives, and if they could, they would help. Tapping a control on the panel in front of him, John waited a second, saw the familiar face of his father at his desk at Command and Control appear onscreen, and quickly apprised him of the situation.
A look of horror appeared on the older man's face.
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A/N: I'll be updating this story as time permits before Christmas. I made the pendant which is the avatar for this story, and I need to make many more gifts before the holidays. Thanks for your patience and understanding!
