THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO!
ABOVE MY STATION
WRITTEN BY ZARIUS
(Contains spoilers for "Impact")
Note: The "Hello Poetry" website and the poem used are real and all credit goes to the original author.
It never gets easier thought John.
"Do you know how much of a good thing I have going up here?" he said in a huff to his brother Scott over the com-link.
"That I do John, you just stick with the hard-earned play day with Commander O'Bannon" Scott replied.
"If she knew about the games you're playing with people, she'd be willing to wash her hands of me, what Kayo did was not how we ought to do business"
"It was necessary to keep Fischler out of our way" said Scott.
"Yes, but what if that disruptor virus she installed has a much more catastrophic effect on his business? If he joins the dots between her visit and his system crash, he'll report us to the GDF"
"Kayo was in and out of there without much notice. Fischler was too concerned with his own neck to notice a slight stab through the heart of his operation" Scott replied.
"This isn't like you Scott...this clandestine stuff, it's a little above our kind of station, it's certainly above mine" John responded.
"Sometimes you have to move things slightly to the edge before you pull them back from it, you should know from your experiences today" Scott said, trying to move the goal posts slightly and try to make John reflect on his own adventure in the past few hours.
"I went in to save Ridley because of a slight nudge of her own accord; she wanted a package deal, her station, as well as her life, spared. Her stubbornness wasn't going to boil down to my ultimatums"
"So you settled for her own" Scott replied, folding his arms smugly, "No arguments from you, even over life and death"
"That's not fair" said John, trying to keep his anger in check.
Scott saw what was steadily rising in his brother, and felt a small pang of guilt, he tried to smooth things over.
"Well it worked out didn't it? Ridley used the thrusters to move her station out of the way of the comet while Alan and Virgil broke it up, and you secured her for another play date...no one need ever know of what Kayo did, except for those who have to live with it"
"So why did you tell me about it?" asked John.
"Because I need someone to tell me when decisions like this are a step too far, that these choices are above my station, above and beyond anything International Rescue are capable of. Brains is ok with it, but he's an extension of dad's dream, we are the embodiment of dad's blood and boundaries. We all exist to keep all of us in check. You're the one who could have been affected the most by that asteroid tearing apart Ridley's station. Her life may have been spared, but her life's duty would have been ripped away from her, and that would have made you feel worse. That was my justification for giving Kayo that order, and it's my justification for why I just told you what my call was. Now YOU need to tell me if it was the right call to make"
John mulled it over. He steadily composed himself.
"I'll sleep on it" he said quietly.
Scott gave him an anxious smile, "Rest easy brother" he said, and left John ton his thoughts.
John spent a couple of minutes looking up poems online from a favourite website of his, "Hello, Poetry"
A pair of strong arms wrapped around his neck from behind him, John glanced over to see it was Ridley.
"Ready for that hand-ball blitz?" she said
"In a sec, I was just about to glance over a category on here" he said
"Oh, I love a good rhyme, any that go with your particular brand of reason" she said.
"Here's one that fits my mood at the moment" he said, referring to the works of Jennifer Perez.
"Read to me" Ridely commanded.
John obliged.
Into the vast emptiness I go
once again
trying to give my mind
and soul
time to recover from the mess
you have made of them
as you,
you walk away
unharmed
and carry on with life
