Revenge is Sweet
By Phoenix Sparrow
Chapter One – Fight for the Letter
Thunderbird 1 glided swiftly toward the rapidly approaching coast marking the beginning of the Pacific Ocean. In the cockpit, Scott Tracy yawned and looked through his view screen.
The ocean was calm, with only the occasional disturbance of a whale spouting water. The sky was cloudless and among the millions of bright stars, the round full moon shone clearly, casting its reflection on the hull of the silver craft.
He looked up at the sky remembering classes when he was younger which had taught him that the night sky was a map. He smiled at the memory. 'Yeah, the night sky's a map,' he thought, 'but like any map, you gotta learn how to use it first.' It had taken Scott quite a while before he got to grips with astronomy and his brothers never let him forget it, especially Alan, his youngest sibling, who'd had no trouble in astronomy.
He shook the thought from his head and tried shifting in his seat to get comfortable; a hard task when there are safety straps round your chest and ankles. He thought back to the rescue; it had been a tough one; after nearly 48 hours of non-stops rain, flash floods and mudslides had trapped the inhabitants of a small village situated in a valley. The incessant rainfall had weakened the dam and the evacuation had to be completed before it collapsed, totally submerging the village. There had been no loss of life, but now about 500 people were homeless due to the floods.
Scott shook his head again. He knew that the people would get emergency shelter, then permanent dwellings eventually, but he wished there was more he could do to help. He sighed. 'Oh well, at least I've left them in capable hands.' He looked out the window again and saw a small island on the horizon. It was lit up in select places high in the hills. Scott smiled. 'Dad's still up then.' He looked round his cockpit; his blue eyes taking in every minute detail until he found what he was looking for; a small clock in the corner of the control panel. He yawned again as he read the time: "04:37". He sighed again and activated the radio. "Thunderbird 1 to base."
"Go ahead, Scott," came the reply.
"Request permission to land."
"All clear. Welcome home, son," Jeff Tracy said.
On the serene island, something amazing was happening; the swimming pool of the luxurious villa was sliding back to reveal a large opening beneath it.
In the air above the pool, Thunderbird 1 was reverting to vertical mode for re-entry into the hangar, then with a sudden burst from its jets, lowered into the opening, the swimming pool sliding back into place behind it.
Back out over the Pacific, another machine was heading in the same direction, only where its top speed didn't match that of Thunderbird 1, Thunderbird 2's journey was much longer.
Inside the cockpit of the giant green vehicle, Virgil Tracy sat at the wheel staring out the windscreen, taking in the scenery as his older brother had done earlier.
He heard a noise behind him and hesitated to turn round, but eventually his curiosity got the better of him and he glanced quickly over his shoulder to see his brother, Gordon, lying on one of the passenger couches, snoring.
He activated his radio and requested landing permission in a similar fashion to Scott and received the usual reply of conformation. It wasn't often that Jeff refused his sons' requests, but it had happened on occasion.
Virgil eased the craft towards the long runway, then performed a rotation of 180 degrees so he wouldn't have to reverse out of the hangar before the next rescue, before finally landing completely. He reversed into the hangar, closed the doors and shut down the engines.
He got up and changed out of his uniform and back into his pyjamas. Like the others, he'd been curled up in bed, fast asleep when the emergency call was received.
He was tying the belt on his dressing gown when he decided he should wake his sleeping brother. He crouched down; inspecting the bright orange sash as he went then leaned in close to him. "GORDON!"
He woke with a start, causing his hat to fall off and ruffle his ginger hair.
"What? What's happening?" he asked, clearly disorientated.
"Oh good, you're awake," Virgil said, pulling his brother off the seat. "Come on, up. We're home."
Gordon looked at Virgil, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the light, then bent down and picked up his hat before changing back into his own pyjamas.
Jeff walked down the dark hallway, disturbing the silence as he shuffled along in his slippers. He glanced round seeing light coming from below one of the doors. He stopped and looked at the bar of light. It was below Alan's door. He stepped closer and knocked. Hearing no reply, he opened the door quietly and saw Alan lying on his bed, fast asleep but with his lamp still on. 'That's not like him; he usually turns his lamp off.' He walked across the room to switch the light off when he saw a letter lying on the table. It was from Colorado University as indicated by the heading on the personalised paper. He glanced at Alan then read a bit of it.
"Alan Tracy,
You are invited to a reunion on July 17th on the university grounds. It will commence at 10am and there will be a barbeque and fireworks display to end the evening. If you need accommodation please call this number..."
He put the letter down; realising there wasn't much point in reading any further as it was simply about details for arranging overnight accommodation for those who no longer lived near the university.
He looked round when Alan stirred in his sleep, turned off the light and left. 'Why didn't Alan tell me about the letter? The mail plane arrived long before the rescue so it can't be that he thought I was busy.' He continued to ponder the possibilities until he got to his room.
The following morning, Tin-Tin Kyrano was in the kitchen with Grandma Tracy, helping her make the breakfast. She didn't expect to see Scott, Virgil, Gordon or Jeff until a lot later in the day after the rescue yesterday. She picked up the empty egg carton and put it in the bin as Alan wandered in clutching a letter.
"What you got there then?" she asked, curiosity taking charge.
"Oh, it's just a letter."
"Who from?"
"Oh, uh, no one."
Tin-Tin put her hands on her hips. "Something I might need to know about?"
"Why would you think that?"
"Because you're hiding it from me."
"There's nothing that would interest you, I assure you."
"OK, fine." She walked away and turned to the pans on the hob. She glanced back round, Alan was reading his piece of paper, then walked across the kitchen and pretended to attend to some things on a work unit near where Alan was sat at the table.
Alan glanced up and she turned away. "I know what you're trying to do," he said, "and it's not gonna work."
"Is that so?" she said walking back towards him.
"Yeah," he answered looking into her eyes.
"Well, I hate to disappoint you, but..." She grabbed the paper from him, "...what I do always works!"
"Hey, gimme that back!" He jumped up and chased her round the kitchen, but she was faster. She ran to the other side of the room and turned round so Alan couldn't reach the letter as she read it. "Tin-Tin, give it back!"
"Yeah, alright. Nothing interesting in it anyway. Why didn't you tell me it was just a notification of some boring reunion?"
"Because I like chasing you round the kitchen!" he said, making another grab for the letter. She rose to the challenge and ran out the door.
In the lounge, Jeff was stood in front of his desk, sorting through the junk when Tin-Tin and Alan ran in giggling. He jumped out of the way as they charged past him.
"Whoa, calm down you two. What's going on?" They exchanged glances. "Well?"
"We, uh..." Tin-Tin started surprised to see Jeff up so early. She looked at Alan.
"We're sorry, father."
"Just be careful, please." He looked at the piece of paper in Tin-Tin's hand and recognised the letter heading. "What's that you've got, Tin-Tin?" he asked, faking his ignorance.
"Just some letter Alan got about a reunion next week."
"Yeah, and I want it back." Alan made a grab for the letter and Tin-Tin whirled to keep it away from him.
"A reunion? You gonna go, Alan?" Jeff asked.
Alan shrugged. "I dunno. I was gonna see what you thought first."
"I think it's a great idea. You could do with getting off the island for a while."
"Yeah, ok then, I think I will. I would ask Tin-Tin to come with me, but she won't give my letter back, so..."
"Here you go." She returned the letter and smiled.
On the other side of the world, a young woman of about 21 years of age, looked at a letter.
"So, there's going to be a reunion," she said to herself. "I wonder if Alan Tracy will be there. I haven't seen him for so long."
She looked around the dark room and glanced at the digital clock, the green numbers gave off a faint light. It read "00:15". She looked back at the letter and smiled, the green light glowing eerily on her face.
