Prologue
Another day on Tracy Island was drawing to a spectacular close as the summer sunset bathed the calm shores in its red and orange hues. Another day in the lives of the Tracy brothers in their roles as International Rescue.
Today had seen its fair share of action and suspense with Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Alan involved in a difficult rescue involving a serious fire in the largest maternity hospital on the eastern coast of America. A major electrical fault had resulted in a complete power failure, and the overheating of emergency generators being used to keep premature babies alive resulted in a dire situation for the whole hospital. Four floors of the hospital had been alight and it had taken quick thinking and rapid action by International Rescue to avert a major disaster.
With Gordon working feverishly in the Firefly under Scott's direction to control and extinguish the raging blaze before it engulfed the major equipment on the top floors, Virgil and Alan had been kept more than just busy evacuating expectant mothers, mothers in labour, premature babies and newborns to nearby hospitals and emergency units.
The sweat poured from Gordon's brow as he worked knowing full well the survival of many new tiny Americans would depend on the retention of the millions of dollars worth of equipment on the floors above him. Some of it could not be found anywhere else in the world. It hadn't helped that Scott seemed on edge and seemed to be riding him harder than he normally did. On several occasions they had exchanged heated words, Gordon hating to be told what to do when he knew how to do it and Scott anxious that he wouldn't be able to do it. At least Gordon took comfort in the fact that Scott was giving his other two brothers the same treatment, barking instructions and demanding answers..
The fire had eventually been controlled but not before 19-year-old Alan Tracy had been given a massive dose of reality as not one but two of the mothers in active labour gave birth to their babies in the hull of Thunderbird 2.
Alan, so capable in most situations, despite his age, offered without reservation to take a back seat on this one, pleading with Virgil to allow him to take over the controls of Thunderbird 2 rather than be involved in the births. Virgil had yelled at him to grow up and get on with the job and after a few uncomfortable moments gave his youngest brother verbal instructions on emergency childbirth and cutting of umbilical cords. Taking off his jacket to receive the first baby, his shirt came off for the second, leaving him dressed only in his trousers. Lord knows what would happen if another of those women decided to deliver. Dear God he wished they would stop all that screaming and moaning about. Surely it wasn't that bad to give birth to a baby.
After the craft landed and the paramedics rushed to take over, Alan felt he was the one needing to be placed on the trolley, not the mothers. The young astronaut who could spin thousands of revolutions in space without nausea, sure as hell felt nauseous now. He felt that he would never be the same again after this rescue.
The same young man now walked along the darkening shores of Tracy island with the love of his life - Tin-Tin Kyrano, daughter of family servant and his Fathers confidante Kyrano. They walked together hand-in hand as they did most afternoons when he was not off with his brothers saving lives, but the last few months their relationship seemed to have become more intense. He had always liked and played with her as a child and had been physically attracted to her since he had been in his middle teens. However, whether he cared to admit it or not, Alan Tracy seemed to be now falling deeply in love with his childhood friend and the more he was growing to love her, the harder it was becoming for him to act as he always had towards her.
Tin-Tin too had sensed that their friendship had changed. The annoying little blonde boy who had hidden her dolls and the cheeky cocksure teenager with the "to die for " blonde curls and bluest eyes (who showed off on the diving board every time he knew she was looking in his direction) was no more. I shouldn't kid myself - she thought glancing sideways at him - he is still annoying, still cheeky, definitely cocksure of himself - but -she couldn't put her finger it - he was just………….. different now.
The waves lapped the beach gently and the tropical flowers from the garden his grandmother and her Father tended with such care, gave the air a sense of romance. Alan took the opportunity to put his arm around her shoulders and pull her closer to him. She was like a tiny china doll with her slight frame and beautiful features. He kissed the top of her head softly.
"You're quiet tonight Alan" she said gently slipping her arm around his waist. "Do you have something on your mind?"
Alan sighed a little. Tin-Tin was always on his mind but tonight, despite how he was feeling, despite the scent of her hair and her touch, he was preoccupied with other things. He let out a long, miserable sigh.
"Sorry honey I've got things worrying me just now."
She stopped walking and turned to face him. His eyes were sad, not sparkling with their usual mischief and love of life. He cast her a half smile that disappeared faster than it had arrived.
She took both of his hands and looked up at him earnestly "Can I help?"
After a short silence he shook his head.
"No" he said softly looking away from her deep brown eyes.
She continued to look at him with so much concern that he eventually admitted what was bothering him. She had never been able to get him to do that before. Lord he was a private, stubborn person - he always had been - so this was a real achievement.
"Tin-Tin …. It's my birthday tomorrow. And you know what that means".
She bit her lip and looked away awkwardly. Unfortunately yes she did know. Last year had been terrible for everyone. Every year on Alan's birthday everyone associated with the Tracy family was confronted with the naked pain of Lucille Tracy's death…. a death caused by an emergency delivery of her 5th son and a Caesarean section that wet horribly wrong. A death that no one talked about - of a person no one dared speak about around Alan's Father. Jeff Tracy only had one Achilles heel - that being his inability to deal with the abrupt ending to his relationship with his wife. He didn't talk about it - he had never talked about it- and he didn't intend to start now. It was so tragic that a man with so much love care and concern for his sons in every other aspect of their lives could still be going through and inflicting so much emotional pain.
Every year it was the same. John came from the space Station, leaving it unmanned on Autopilot for 72 hours. They laid flowers on her grave, his eldest three brothers moped about the house talking quietly amongst themselves and sadly for the past 9 years Alan had ended up in a blazing row with his Father over one trivial thing or another.
Last year was the worst and the closest the arguments had come to the root of the problem. Jeff had had one whiskey too many as he always did every time Lucille was on his mind and made the mistake of saying if Alan had not been born "my boys would still have their Mother". Alan, who'd also had one or two drinks too many had eyed him lividly and accused his Father of blaming him for what had happened to Lucille, reminding him that he had five sons and not just the four that had had a Mother. A dreadful argument erupted between Jeff and his hot-tempered and aggrieved son and to the horror of his older brothers; Alan had stormed off to the mainland, stubbornly refusing to return for several weeks. It had taken his Grandmother to implore him to return and make up with his Father before he had begrudgingly done so. Even so, it was quite a few months before Alan settled down again and the matter was forgotten. Somehow Tin-Tin feared it was not forgotten, even though Alan did not speak about it, even to her. She knew Alan well enough to know that he had just put it into the place where he kept his private hurts which had the habit of resurfacing at the most inappropriate times.
"Maybe things will be better this year Alan" she whispered.
He shrugged "Just one birthday I'd like to go to bed and not be angry at my Father" " He paused for a moment and sighed again "………………….or myself".
She nodded sympathetically. Taking his hand again she smiled and said in a bright voice.
"I have a gift for you."
The mischievous sparkle returned to his eyes. He prodded her nose with his finger causing her to wrinkle it up.
"Wrapping yourself up for me then? Don't bother …..I like my presents unwrapped.. but then I like unwrapping them too!!! "
He winked suggestively at her and quickly dropped her hand grinning from ear to ear and sidestepped the inevitable attempt to slap him.
"Alan!!!!" she said dismayed. "Don't!!!"
They both laughed but as they looked at each other his blue eyes held her brown ones momentarily as if for a split second the thought occurred to them both.
"What!!!"
She frowned and made a face.
"I'm going in to Dinner since all you want to do is make jokes."
"Who says I was joking huh??" he teased, pulling at her ponytail.
"Alan!!!!!! I said………………"
He swung her around to face him and drew her into a long passionate kiss. When breathless they broke apart they remained in each other's arms looking at each other in silence.
After what seemed a very long time Alan pushed her away teasingly.
"You said what?" he grinned, " Now you can't think of anything to say at all."
Another day on Tracy Island was drawing to a spectacular close as the summer sunset bathed the calm shores in its red and orange hues. Another day in the lives of the Tracy brothers in their roles as International Rescue.
Today had seen its fair share of action and suspense with Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Alan involved in a difficult rescue involving a serious fire in the largest maternity hospital on the eastern coast of America. A major electrical fault had resulted in a complete power failure, and the overheating of emergency generators being used to keep premature babies alive resulted in a dire situation for the whole hospital. Four floors of the hospital had been alight and it had taken quick thinking and rapid action by International Rescue to avert a major disaster.
With Gordon working feverishly in the Firefly under Scott's direction to control and extinguish the raging blaze before it engulfed the major equipment on the top floors, Virgil and Alan had been kept more than just busy evacuating expectant mothers, mothers in labour, premature babies and newborns to nearby hospitals and emergency units.
The sweat poured from Gordon's brow as he worked knowing full well the survival of many new tiny Americans would depend on the retention of the millions of dollars worth of equipment on the floors above him. Some of it could not be found anywhere else in the world. It hadn't helped that Scott seemed on edge and seemed to be riding him harder than he normally did. On several occasions they had exchanged heated words, Gordon hating to be told what to do when he knew how to do it and Scott anxious that he wouldn't be able to do it. At least Gordon took comfort in the fact that Scott was giving his other two brothers the same treatment, barking instructions and demanding answers..
The fire had eventually been controlled but not before 19-year-old Alan Tracy had been given a massive dose of reality as not one but two of the mothers in active labour gave birth to their babies in the hull of Thunderbird 2.
Alan, so capable in most situations, despite his age, offered without reservation to take a back seat on this one, pleading with Virgil to allow him to take over the controls of Thunderbird 2 rather than be involved in the births. Virgil had yelled at him to grow up and get on with the job and after a few uncomfortable moments gave his youngest brother verbal instructions on emergency childbirth and cutting of umbilical cords. Taking off his jacket to receive the first baby, his shirt came off for the second, leaving him dressed only in his trousers. Lord knows what would happen if another of those women decided to deliver. Dear God he wished they would stop all that screaming and moaning about. Surely it wasn't that bad to give birth to a baby.
After the craft landed and the paramedics rushed to take over, Alan felt he was the one needing to be placed on the trolley, not the mothers. The young astronaut who could spin thousands of revolutions in space without nausea, sure as hell felt nauseous now. He felt that he would never be the same again after this rescue.
The same young man now walked along the darkening shores of Tracy island with the love of his life - Tin-Tin Kyrano, daughter of family servant and his Fathers confidante Kyrano. They walked together hand-in hand as they did most afternoons when he was not off with his brothers saving lives, but the last few months their relationship seemed to have become more intense. He had always liked and played with her as a child and had been physically attracted to her since he had been in his middle teens. However, whether he cared to admit it or not, Alan Tracy seemed to be now falling deeply in love with his childhood friend and the more he was growing to love her, the harder it was becoming for him to act as he always had towards her.
Tin-Tin too had sensed that their friendship had changed. The annoying little blonde boy who had hidden her dolls and the cheeky cocksure teenager with the "to die for " blonde curls and bluest eyes (who showed off on the diving board every time he knew she was looking in his direction) was no more. I shouldn't kid myself - she thought glancing sideways at him - he is still annoying, still cheeky, definitely cocksure of himself - but -she couldn't put her finger it - he was just………….. different now.
The waves lapped the beach gently and the tropical flowers from the garden his grandmother and her Father tended with such care, gave the air a sense of romance. Alan took the opportunity to put his arm around her shoulders and pull her closer to him. She was like a tiny china doll with her slight frame and beautiful features. He kissed the top of her head softly.
"You're quiet tonight Alan" she said gently slipping her arm around his waist. "Do you have something on your mind?"
Alan sighed a little. Tin-Tin was always on his mind but tonight, despite how he was feeling, despite the scent of her hair and her touch, he was preoccupied with other things. He let out a long, miserable sigh.
"Sorry honey I've got things worrying me just now."
She stopped walking and turned to face him. His eyes were sad, not sparkling with their usual mischief and love of life. He cast her a half smile that disappeared faster than it had arrived.
She took both of his hands and looked up at him earnestly "Can I help?"
After a short silence he shook his head.
"No" he said softly looking away from her deep brown eyes.
She continued to look at him with so much concern that he eventually admitted what was bothering him. She had never been able to get him to do that before. Lord he was a private, stubborn person - he always had been - so this was a real achievement.
"Tin-Tin …. It's my birthday tomorrow. And you know what that means".
She bit her lip and looked away awkwardly. Unfortunately yes she did know. Last year had been terrible for everyone. Every year on Alan's birthday everyone associated with the Tracy family was confronted with the naked pain of Lucille Tracy's death…. a death caused by an emergency delivery of her 5th son and a Caesarean section that wet horribly wrong. A death that no one talked about - of a person no one dared speak about around Alan's Father. Jeff Tracy only had one Achilles heel - that being his inability to deal with the abrupt ending to his relationship with his wife. He didn't talk about it - he had never talked about it- and he didn't intend to start now. It was so tragic that a man with so much love care and concern for his sons in every other aspect of their lives could still be going through and inflicting so much emotional pain.
Every year it was the same. John came from the space Station, leaving it unmanned on Autopilot for 72 hours. They laid flowers on her grave, his eldest three brothers moped about the house talking quietly amongst themselves and sadly for the past 9 years Alan had ended up in a blazing row with his Father over one trivial thing or another.
Last year was the worst and the closest the arguments had come to the root of the problem. Jeff had had one whiskey too many as he always did every time Lucille was on his mind and made the mistake of saying if Alan had not been born "my boys would still have their Mother". Alan, who'd also had one or two drinks too many had eyed him lividly and accused his Father of blaming him for what had happened to Lucille, reminding him that he had five sons and not just the four that had had a Mother. A dreadful argument erupted between Jeff and his hot-tempered and aggrieved son and to the horror of his older brothers; Alan had stormed off to the mainland, stubbornly refusing to return for several weeks. It had taken his Grandmother to implore him to return and make up with his Father before he had begrudgingly done so. Even so, it was quite a few months before Alan settled down again and the matter was forgotten. Somehow Tin-Tin feared it was not forgotten, even though Alan did not speak about it, even to her. She knew Alan well enough to know that he had just put it into the place where he kept his private hurts which had the habit of resurfacing at the most inappropriate times.
"Maybe things will be better this year Alan" she whispered.
He shrugged "Just one birthday I'd like to go to bed and not be angry at my Father" " He paused for a moment and sighed again "………………….or myself".
She nodded sympathetically. Taking his hand again she smiled and said in a bright voice.
"I have a gift for you."
The mischievous sparkle returned to his eyes. He prodded her nose with his finger causing her to wrinkle it up.
"Wrapping yourself up for me then? Don't bother …..I like my presents unwrapped.. but then I like unwrapping them too!!! "
He winked suggestively at her and quickly dropped her hand grinning from ear to ear and sidestepped the inevitable attempt to slap him.
"Alan!!!!" she said dismayed. "Don't!!!"
They both laughed but as they looked at each other his blue eyes held her brown ones momentarily as if for a split second the thought occurred to them both.
"What!!!"
She frowned and made a face.
"I'm going in to Dinner since all you want to do is make jokes."
"Who says I was joking huh??" he teased, pulling at her ponytail.
"Alan!!!!!! I said………………"
He swung her around to face him and drew her into a long passionate kiss. When breathless they broke apart they remained in each other's arms looking at each other in silence.
After what seemed a very long time Alan pushed her away teasingly.
"You said what?" he grinned, " Now you can't think of anything to say at all."