Ok here's chapter 2, hope you like it, please review!
Fran Lavery, Juud18 and Eternal Density - Thanks for the reviews, please keep reviewing!
Keira looked at the notice on the railway platform. Apparently the tunnel was just opening again today after three days of maintenance work. She shrugged her shoulders and continued drinking her coffee. Her train wasn't due for another hour yet so she could relax for a little while.
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The alarm sounded throughout Tracy Island, signalling that someone had made an emergency call to International Rescue. The four boys and Jeff entered the control room, swiftly followed by Brains and Fermat. John was waiting for them via video-link.
"What's happening, John?" Jeff asked his second eldest son.
"Japan, one of the smaller volcanoes near Mount Fuji has erupted, there's a village nearby," The blonde-haired Thunderbird explained, "The flow of lava has cut them off from all the main transport routes, making it impossible for the local rescue services to evacuate them, they're not in danger at the moment but authorities are worried they soon will be if there is a second eruption."
"Ok boys, Thunderbirds are go!" Jeff confirmed as Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Alan stepped into the space behind their portraits and were taken to their associated silos.
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Thunderbird 1 was soon in flight and fifteen minutes away from the danger zone. Scott sat back in the pilot seat and drifted into thought.
Jeff had told him that Keira was visiting Penny and it had brought back all sorts of memories into his mind, some of which he thought he'd lost.
He smirked as he remembered when his family had first met Keira when she visited Tracy Island. John, Virgil, Gordon and even Alan all seemed to like her. For Scott it wasn't as straightforward…
When she walked into the room he'd be lying if he said she didn't take his breath away. She was slim, elegant and so beautiful. Her long brown hair reached just below her shoulder blades, her eyes seem to capture the deepness and mystery of the ocean that surrounded them and her smile…it was as if her smile could heal even the deepest wounds. It had a warmth and sincerity that captured your heart.
"Boys, I'd like you to meet Keira Renolds, International Rescue's newest agent." Scott watched as each of his brothers stepped forward and greeted her warmly. When it came to his turn she turned around to look at him and froze for the briefest moment, as if in a trance. Quickly breaking out of it she extended a cool and formal hand.
"Nice to meet you." Keira said calmly. A little put out by her warmness to his brothers and then her cool demeanour towards him, he took her hand shook it lightly and gave a curt nod. Sensing the sudden tension in the room, Virgil and Gordon quickly stepped forward and offered to give Keira a tour of the island before she got to work with Jeff. She accepted graciously, looking at Scott one more time before following them out of the room.
Later on in the early evening, everyone was outside by the pool, enjoying the last remaining orange glows of the setting sun. Scott and John were having a heated debate.
"They are not the best, Scott! They are very, very, very good but there are better." John insisted.
"Like who? Who could possibly beat the USAF Blue Angels when it comes to stunt flying? I bet you can't even name a squadron!" Scott insisted, confident he'd won the argument. John looked around for help and saw Keira sitting on a sun bed chatting with Tintin.
"Keira! Do you watch stunt flying? Ever seen the Blue Angels perform?" She nodded in reply, "Are they the best in the business?" John asked her. She sat thinking for a moment and John was worried she might agree with Scott. Maybe if she had it would have made things easier…
"The Red Arrows are better." She answered honestly. John winced. He was brave to argue with Scott but not brave enough to say that.
"…what?" Scott asked slowly in a low tone. Keira replied without hesitation.
"I've seen the USAF Blue Angels fly and I've seen the British RAF Red Arrows fly and I think the Red Arrows are better." She told him without fear. John and Tintin looked at each other with knowing expressions. This was going to get ugly.
"How the hell are the Red Arrows better than the Blue Angels? The Red Arrows are a load of pansies who take off and think a bit of smoke with some simple tricks will impress the crowd." Scott responded in an annoyed voice. John looked at Keira and winced again. She had not taken that remark well.
"Oh? Simple tricks? Then what does that say about your precious Blue Angels who are too chicken to even attempt those 'simple tricks'?" Tintin grinned. This woman could definitely hold her own against Scott.
"Chicken? How are fifteen pilots flying F/A-18A & F/A-18B Hornets, in tight formations, being chicken? We have a far more advanced plane than you." Scott stated rather arrogantly. If Keira wasn't annoyed with him before then she certainly was now.
"Yes, a far more advanced plane that completely lacks in manoverability! I'd love to see the Blue Angels try to do a nine plane formation in BAE Hawks! They'd crash into each other!" Keira retaliated, "Hawks allow RAF pilots to display the skill and daring that USAF pilots lack." Tintin flinched. That last comment had plenty of bite and she knew it would have hurt Scott. She turned to look at the eldest Tracy and bit her lip when she saw his face.
Scott looked like he had just been slapped.
He stood up and, without saying a word, walked back inside, hurt and defeated. Surprised by the sudden retreat, Keira looked at John for an explanation. The blonde Tracy reluctantly explained.
"Before he became a Thunderbird, Scott was a pilot in the USAF…he was decorated for valour." He told her. Keira moaned with guilt and frustration and hung her head in her hands. That must have hurt. She didn't want to hurt him. She quickly got up and ran inside to find him. She caught up with him just before he left the lounge.
"Scott, I'm sorry!" She called to him. Scott spun round and glared at her.
"Why?! Because you know I was a USAF pilot now?! That doesn't change your opinion does it?! You still think we have no skill or daring!" He snapped back, trying and failing to hide the hurt in his voice.
"I don't think that, I was just angry at what you said." She sighed. Scott's expression of anger softened a little and was replaced with curiousity.
"Why are you so bothered about what I said? Why did you take it so personally?" He inquired. Keira initially wanted to avoid answering but knew he wasn't going to let it drop.
"'Pansies'…that's what a US reporter said when he saw the Red Arrows fly in Belgium…his article was published all over America and reached Europe too…my elder brother was very upset by it…he was serving three years with the Red Arrows at the time…" Scott mentally kicked himself for being so unsensitive.
"Keira, I swear I never saw that article, it's just the first word that came to my head, and I don't think that about the Red Arrows, they're so popular internationally, so much that sometimes I think people don't appreciate other squadrons, like the Blue Angels…please believe me, I never meant to cause any insult, I'm sorry." He almost pleaded. She smiled softly at him and he got this weird fluttering feeling in his chest.
"It's alright, I believe you……we haven't got off to a very good start, have we?" She smiled again and he got that weird feeling again.
"Can I make up for it?" He answered without thinking or hesitating. "Maybe I should go and ask Brains about it later." He thought to himself in regards to the fluttering in his chest.
"I'd like that." She answered and he couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face. They walked further into the house, in no particular direction, but chatting and smiling as they went…
"International Rescue and Thunderbird 2 from Thunderbird 1, approaching danger zone, eta 1.3 minutes."
"Ok Scott, be with you in seventeen minutes." Virgil responded immediately.
"How's it looking Scott?" Jeff asked him from base.
"It's looking ok, Dad," Scott assessed once he reached the danger zone, "The lava flow isn't too close and the village is very small, evacuation shouldn't take long."
"Ok son, report back once the rescue is complete."
"F.A.B."
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"Chester, will you hurry up?!" The young man on the tracks hissed. He knew they should have got the work done sooner and had left it dangerously late. He and his two companions were dressed in constuction workers clothes and had fake I.Ds that allowed them to access the tracks of the London Underground. Chester was currently dislodging the remaining pieces of track that were left in the section they had been paid to sabotauge.
"Mingo will you quit panicking, three more minute and I'm done, besides, the first train doesn't leave for another fifteen minutes." The well built man replied gruffly.
"How the hell can you be so bloody calm?" Mingo snapped at him, "You do realise if we stuff this up then we're all dead men, he doesn't tolerate failure!" The third man groaned in annoyance.
"Why are we working for that guy anyway?" He moaned. This just irritated Mingo further.
"Because, Eric, Mr Wonderful here," He gestured towards Chester, "Thought it would pay nicely to work with a guy as dodgy and notorious as him."
"I didn't see either of you complaining when we were offered $20k each for the job, now quit moaning and help me get this last bit off." The three of them worked together to pull away the last piece of track.
"Dude…how many people are gonna be on that train? I mean…there's no way it's gonna survive this…" Eric looked over the track with a quietly nagging guilt.
"Too late to feel bad now, c'mon, let's get out of here, get our money and then get out of this damn city." Mingo ranted. With one last look over the mess they'd created, Eric quickly followed his two companions through the exit away from the tunnel.
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Jeff checked the reports over and over again. He hadn't misread them. Several pieces of equipment and over $500k were missing from his Tracy Industries plant in Osnabruck, Germany. According to the reports more and more had gone missing gradually over the last month. He immediately opened a communication link.
"Hello again Jeff." Lady Penelope greeted him.
"Hi Penny, I have a little problem I need to discuss with you…" He quickly filled her in on his discovery.
"What do you want me to do, Jeff?" She asked him while trying to hide the excitement. Penny always enjoyed doing a bit of detective work.
"I want you to try and find out what's going on, if I try to investigate myself I fear the people in question may take what they already have and run…seeing as Keira is going to be with you take her as well, she might have some insight as to what they're using the equipment for and what they might try to take next." He decided.
"Very well Jeff, I'll report back as soon as I find anything." Penny hung up and Jeff leaned back in his chair, wondering how the rescue was going.
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"Get the train now?" Keira was surprised, she hadn't been expecting to leave for another fourty minutes.
"Yes, I'm sorry, I know it's sudden but Jeff wants us to do some investigation work in Germany, we can take FAB 1 as soon as you arrive, is the track open yet?" Penny inquired. Keira looked at the television screen with the train times on it.
"The first train leaves in ten minutes, I can get that one if you like?" She talked back into the watch, again trying to stay unnoticed.
"If you could, Keria, that would be wonderful, I've already packed some things for you, you can freshen up when you get here and then we'll be off, alright?" Penny answered.
"Alright that's fine, see you soon." Keira hung up and hurried to the ticket desk to exchange her ticket for the train leaving in eight minutes…
Liked that chapter? Please review, I love reviews! Chapter 3 coming soon...
