Be Careful What You Wish For
A Thunderbirds Movieverse fanfic
by TimeGuardian

Chapter Eight

Brains Hackenbacker was in his element. Plans, numbers, and calculations whirled in his mind as he sat in front of the NASA computer workstation that he had initially used to help Jeff contact his sons.

He leaned back in his chair after spending nearly an hour detailing to John and Gordon what he needed from Thunderbird Three before it could even attempt to destroy the asteroids near the sun.

When Brains initially helped Jeff design the laser cutting systems on Thunderbird Three, the intention was for making repairs to Thunderbird Five along with rescue work. Without knowing the composition of the asteroids, he knew that a lot going into the changes to the lasers would be guesswork – it couldn't be helped in a way, but Scott and Virgil promised to update him if they got any additional information on the asteroids.

What he had in mind would have to work.

Brains couldn't help but smile – being in the employment of Jeff Tracy meant that he had to think out of the box on a regular basis. It helped that the resources available were second to none and Jeff's sons were extremely talented pilots and engineers. Over the years he worked with them Brains grew to consider them as family, which made him reluctant to suggest his plan in the first place. He never wanted to deliberately place anyone in danger.

It was Alan who bought into his plan as well as suggesting that the laser cutters on Thunderbird Three be used to go after the asteroids. Jeff had the chance to veto the whole thing but deferred to their judgment in the end. It was a vote of confidence that Brains did not take lightly - now he just had to get Alan and the others to properly follow through on his plan.

With John and the others on Three already at work on their part, it was time to have Alan do his.

Tony left him a legal pad and pen at the computer station with a series of numbers – the last known transmitted coordinates of the Zeta 5 station.

Brains quickly committed them to memory and then made his call to Thunderbird Five. "Brains to Thunderbird Five, c-come in."

When he finally heard Alan's tired voice acknowledging him, Brains was concerned and asked. "A-Alan, are you r-r-ready?"

The reply he heard this time was full of determination. "Let's do this."


John sat in the copilot seat beside Scott and listened through the communication link to the exchange between Brains and Alan. There wasn't much more for him to do – the changes that Brains needed made to Thunderbird Three were being performed by Gordon and Virgil.

"Alan, have you f-f-finished that last b-b-burn?"

"Yeah Brains – I am ready for the next step – I have visual confirmation of the Zeta 5 space station. What's next?"

"P-p-perform a t-t-two minute burn with the boosters on the a-a-aft side."

Two minutes later, John heard Alan give a confirmation. "Burn complete. Corresponding orbit established with Zeta 5."

"K-k-keep an eye on your h-h-heading. This needs to b-b-be p-precise, otherwise-"

Alan cut Brains off curtly with what sounded like an angry retort. "I know, I know, we'll collide."

"Alan-"

John could hear a tired sigh from Alan. He never heard Alan sound so tired before. "I'm sorry – this heat is getting to me."

He couldn't stay silent. John activated the communication panel and spoke quickly. "Alan, check the repair room near the docking ring once you're done with the shield settings. There should be two space suits in there with internal environmental controls. The systems in them would only be good for an hour a piece, but please use them."

"FAB, John."


Scott overheard John's conversation with Alan – something about the way he was checking on the situation with Thunderbird Five made him concerned. He turned to John and decided to voice the suspicion he had. "He'll be all right, John."

For his efforts, John did not turn around, but Scott did hear his brother quietly reply with a question. "Are you saying that to reassure me or you?"

"That's not fair-"

"Ask Alan if it's fair that he's trapped on a station that is failing him."

Scott put a hand on John's shoulder. His brother finally turned around and glared at him. "What?"

He stared John down, his grip unrelenting. "I - no - WE need you here. Now. We're all worried for Alan, okay? He has faith in us, otherwise he wouldn't be there now or have performed three rotations on Five already. It was no different when you- you were-"

Memories of the attack on Thunderbird Five ran through Scott's mind. Even though it happened years ago, he could still remember the nervous energy that surrounded their rescue efforts as if it was yesterday. It was no different now but it didn't make it any easier – it still bothered him to bring it up to this very day.

Scott watched as John briefly closed his eyes before giving him a guilty look. "No need to say it, and I'm sorry, Scott. After the attack on Thunderbird Five, it was faith that kept me going until you guys got there. I just hate to see Alan having to go through something like this."

Scott smiled grimly. "He's a Tracy - knowing him, Alan's probably feeling on top of the world right now knowing that he's protecting the Zeta 5 station and ignoring that fact that the busted environmental controls mean that he needs to take it easy. Let's get this job done so that we can check on all of them, okay?"

John nodded. "FAB."

Relieved, Scott let go of his brother's shoulder and turned back to the flight controls. "Speaking of brothers, why don't you prod Gordon and Virgil? They've been at those changes now for close to an hour – we need to get moving."

Scott heard a noise and looked back to find the door to the control room opened. Gordon and Virgil walked in and took their seats behind Scott and John.

"We heard that," Gordon said pointedly, "We're ready though. The changes are done and we have the laser cutting controls routing through the control panel beside Virgil."

"Let's get this going," Virgil added with determination.

"Agreed," John stated before contacting Brains. "Brains from Thunderbird Three. We've made the requested changes and are ready for the heading that will get us in line with those asteroids."

Brains' reply was quick in coming. "A-a-firmative. T-t-transmitting c-c-coordinates now. Target one a-a-asteroid for n-n-now s-s-o we can check the l-levels."

Virgil worked on the information in front of him. "FAB Brains - we have received the coordinates. Feeding you the information now, Scott."

Scott checked his heading and the data Virgil fed to him. "Making adjustments-we're on our way."


Thanks for the reviews – I wanted to show brothers being brothers, which means a little bit of worry and emotion along with focusing on the task at hand so that was what this transition was all about. Next chapter? Breaking rocks, Alan finally gets to talk to Zeta 5, and NASA watches and waits. :)

Till next time,

TimeGuardian