Climbing Into Trouble
By Time Guardian
Prologue

Jeff Tracy was sitting by the pool perusing some reports when he heard a beep issue from the small video monitor he had positioned on the table beside him. Turning, he pressed a button near the bottom of the monitor, and the familiar face of Sir Jeremy filled the tiny screen. "Sir Jeremy Hodge, what a surprise. What can I do for you?"

"The new fuel being developed by our labs in the north is ready for testing, and I have a pilot taking off now that should arrive in the states in about a day or so. I'll can have them radio in to you as soon as they land, Jeff."

"That's fine. Brains will be coming back from a conference during that timeframe. Tell the pilot to radio his coordinates when he is ready to land, and I can have Brains meet the plane. Thank you, Sir Jeremy, this new and stronger compound will be a big help to our operation."

"Don't mention it. Sir Jeremy, out."

Sir Jeremy's face instantly disappeared from the screen. Jeff leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes. He decided on a quick nap, and then he would continue reading the reports. It was a quiet day, after all.

Chapter 1

It was a cool and sunny day on the island, and John Tracy was standing outside by the pool appreciating the elements. He had donned his favorite pair of jeans and red shirt, and was trying to figure out something to do with his time for the next few days. This was one of those rare occasions when he was away from Thunderbird Five, and he wanted to take full advantage of the time he had before it was time for the next rotation change.

What he really wanted to do was go mountain climbing, but finding someone willing to go with him was proving to be a challenge. With Alan on Thunderbird Five and with Virgil and Gordon out on a supply run, that just left Scott.

He found his brother in the lounge, poring over some papers that he had in front of him. When John brought up the question of going mountain climbing, Scott laughed sharply. "Come on John, mountain climbing? I have a lot of work to do now and besides, I had plans to relax for the next few days and soak up some sun."

John shook his head in annoyance. "That's just it. We get to be in our nice shells all day, protected from Mother Nature and her elements. Just for fun, wouldn't you like to feel the rush of air against your face, with nothing between you and the ground except for a rope tethering you to the side of a mountain?"

Scott shook his head in annoyance and gestured to the papers he had in front of him. "I have work to do, and besides, we get to do that anyway on rescues."

John crossed his arms and glared at him in frustration. When Scott was involved with his work, normally nothing short of a rescue could get his attention. He would just simply have to appeal to his brother's sense of competitiveness. "I'm beginning to think that you don't know how to have fun. Okay hotshot, I will make a bet with you: Go ahead and come climbing with me just this once just for fun and with no lives on the line except for our own. If you do not enjoy the experience in any particular sense of the word, I will stop bothering you about the whole thing. Deal?"

Scott smiled in return and arched a brow. "John, I am going to take you up on that bet just to see you eat your words. Have our climbing equipment prepped and I will meet you at Thunderbird One tomorrow morning. What should our choice of mountain be?"

He had him. John resisted the urge to celebrate as he pondered Scott's question.

"Okay Scott, I have the perfect place in mind that should be nice and easy for a workaholic like you."

Scott glared at him. "Just be prepared to eat your words tomorrow."

Undaunted, John grinned and turned back towards his room.

--

One day later -

The pilot of the Tracy Enterprises plane was nervous. Once he had reached the United States, he had refueled in New York and was planning to drop off his cargo in Florida. He supposed it was the nature of the cargo that left him more than a little nervous. Since it was considered highly classified, all he had been told was that if his plane was in any trouble, that he should parachute out as soon as possible.

Not a comforting thought when high above the ground. The quicker he could get a pickup of his cargo the better.

Time to let Mr. Tracy know where to pick up this stuff.

Before the pilot could activate his radio, a shudder ripped through his aircraft. He checked his gauges and sensors, puzzled. What? It's clear as day out there. There shouldn't be any turbulence.

Seconds later, the aircraft shuddered again, and that was when he spotted a helicopter streaking past him, spitting fire from two guns mounted on either side of it.

I'm being fired upon!

Cursing, he poured on the speed, hoping to evade his pursuers, but they ended up settling the matter. The pilot watched the helicopters turn around and fire at him again.

The shots found their mark once again, and the pilot cursed as all of the gauges on the panel in front of him started going wild. The plane dipped and bobbed heavily, and it was all he could do to keep it from dropping like a rock.

Below him, a mountain range passed him a dizzying rate, and he did his best to snap himself to attention. He was in a plane with state of the art protective devices, and he had been hired straight from his stint in the Air Force. He would land this plane safely or die trying.

He pulled back on the stick, and the plane groaned in response bringing its nose up slightly. Punching the controls for the landing gear and the underside jets, he found them to be in working order, much to his relief.

The clink of the underside doors made him breathe a little easier, and the jets helped to slow his descent some. However, he still knew that he was going in way too fast.

Ahead of him, he spotted a small canyon. It looked to be a large rectangular section cut out of the rock. The pilot had no way of knowing if the bottom was even smooth enough for a landing. The engines had been barely hanging in there by that point, but they both finally cut out on him, leaving nothing but the rushing air and the sounds of the underside jets.

He wiped the sweat away from his forehead and quickly pondered his options. Things just got a whole lot harder.

--

Okay, this should only have one to two more parts. It is a short one, I promise! More later.