Northwards
The Tracy boys had delayed the start of their exposition by a week in order to gather all the supplies that they needed. Thousands were spent on clothing and necessary equipment which will be needed to cross the ever-lasting ice flats safely. Thick coats that will keep them warm in negative forty degrees and snow boots, hats and goggles, large bags filled with provisions and generally anything that will keep them warm enough and alive. Gordon loaded the tents into the back of Thunderbird 2 along with the rest of the equipment before sitting down for the last time at the breakfast bar with most of the family... for now at least.
Breakfast was eaten in complete silence, not awkward silence but a heart-felt one. Each one of them sat and thought about the coming journey before them and how much they were missing their father. Yes, he was just like every father when it came to the nagging and the protection but as everybody would, they were worried.
"So." Kyrano finally said to break the silence. "What time are you leaving?"Scot piped up and smiled a reassuring smile to Kyrano:
"In about half an hour." He replied, glancing at his watch. There was a perfectly timed sigh from each of the Tracy boys in unison.
"Where's Alan? Come to think of it... Where's Fermat too?" Kyrano asked, clearing up the empty bowls and plates.
"Sulking." Kya said, walking into the kitchen.
"They really took it to heart, huh?" Scott mumbled, still staring at his watch.
"Understatement alert much? I wouldn't say sulking I would say... feeling completely disowned." Kya put extra emphasis on 'disowned' to get her point across more firmly. The older Tracy boys had refused to take Alan and Fermat with them to the North because they were lead to believe that their body's were simply too young to cope with the tremendous cold and sheer strain of the mission. Instead, they were told to stay behind and be the men of the house while they were gone, something they were not too pleased with. Brains would be staying in a small village in the North to await the boys return, which left Fermat as the next wise on the island, leaving Alan to play the big boss. Or so he had hoped, but it seemed the girls had everything under control between them.
"Ah well." Kyrano laughed. "I suppose they'll have to get over it." And with that, he walked off in the opposite direction. This left the silence again. Only twenty minutes...
Five of those twenty minutes passed and Gordon let out an exasperated sigh.
"Is it time to go yet?" He asked, a worried tone upon his voice. It was obvious that they were all nervous, but somewhere deep within each of them was the desire to find their Father.
"Come on you moping lot!" Lily laughed as she walked into the kitchen wearing her piloting clothes and a pink scarf. "Now listen." She spoke up, sounding slightly like Jeff, "No matter what, you guys have to do this. It's like you have been given your chance to prove yourselves. And I don't know about you, but this sounds like one of those pathetic talks a manager would give to their team before a match, so I'm going to cut it short. You will have abilities to contact us at any point to casually talk, update your status and then tell us when you need to come back. Simple. Now back here, the girls and I will continue to keep International Rescue running as smoothly as possible while Fermat and Alan will keep track of your progress. Kya has already changed the settings on Thunderbird 5 via the new software so now all distress calls will be diverted here." She took in a deep breath. "Any funny ones, we'll pass onto you guys." She was obviously trying to cheer them up and take their mind off the upcoming event, but it was proving to be a useless attempt, since each one knew it was inevitable.
Deciding that waiting and pondering themselves past worry and back was not very good for their health, they thought that it would be best to go early. Only ten minutes early, but early all the same. Each one of them clambered aboard Thunderbird 2 and sat themselves down, each with a sigh. So this was it. Thunderbird 2 began its launching process and after what only seemed a few seconds, they were high into the air and on their way across the crisp morning sky. John looked back at Tracy Island. He was going to miss home terribly, as were the other boys. John was usually used to being away from home for months on end, but this time it felt much different.
The trek seemed to take forever, but after only two hours they arrived at the north-most point they could reach by aircraft.
"Well," Lily began, setting the aircraft down on some of the more stable looking ice. There was a small village to the left of them and many of the people had come out to see what was going on. Supplies were offloaded the Thunderbird and placed onto the cold floor. "Amber will be with you in a moment." She smiled, gave Gordon one last hug, and went back aboard, a few tears in her eyes. John stood there in the cold, waiting for Amber to come from wherever she was. He couldn't help but feel like the odd one out, yes Charlotte was back on the Island with Kya and Virgil had to say goodbye then, but he just realised how much he actually missed Kya... His emotional thoughts were interrupted suddenly by excited barking. He rapidly span around to his left to see Amber being dragged along by 12 Husky Dogs and a local man dragging two sled's, muttering something in his native language.
"Heelllpp!" Amber cried playfully as she leant back and was dragged along on her ankles by the dogs. It was quite a funny sight. Scott immediately jumped up and ran to her 'rescue'. It was a bit of a struggle strapping the dogs to the sled but after masses of teamwork and a bit of calculations, it was done. This was actually it, the four brothers; Scott, Virgil, Gordon and John were about to cross the North Pole and attempt to find the legendary Elemental Angels, and hopefully their father. Their goodbyes were brief and before they knew it, Thunderbird 2 was on the horizon and they were left alone to cross the masses of ice before them. John paired up with Gordon and Virgil with Scott, planning to take it in turns of who gets to sit on the sled and who has to keep the Dogs going.
They were gone from the small village, sliding on the ice before them, towards the vague direction of the Cave, Brains was left waving far in the ditance, turning to find his cabin. Now it was up to the girls to run International Rescue...
What would happen?
