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Chapter 9 – You shut up, no you!
...13 years later...
Tracy Island sat in motionless silence with nothing to be heard other than the lapping of the gentle waves and the wispy wind which would leave as soon as it came. Nothing had happened for nearly a month, and the Tracy boys were starting to enjoy the peace and quiet, however biting at the back of their heads was anxiousness. As soon as they would properly relax, they knew something would happen and then it would be back to square one. Not that they minded, they worked for International Rescue for a reason; they wanted to save and help people in distress. None of them were selfish and would never risk someone's life over a few more minutes in bed, although Jeff did wonder sometimes how different life would be just running Tracy Industry Corporation.
The sun hadn't even broken over the island as dawn was slow to show, when a small jet drew nearer the extinct volcano. Still, barely a sound was made as the plane squeaked against the tarmac and came to a halt. Not even a radio wave was shared between the pilot and ground control, as the mysterious arrival wanted their homecoming to be nothing special. They'd come home for a reason, they needed family not a celebration. And so they jogged across the runway, sneakily climbed the white stairs to the large villa and easily opened the heavily coded door and slipped in behind its glass form with a sigh of accomplishment at the empty living room presented to them. No one was around, and no one should be at 4:40 in the morning. The mystery guest slinked into the kitchen and sought the fridge and opened it to reveal a fully-stock heaven of bliss. Cheerfully, nimble fingers grasped an orange cartoon and gulped half its contents before swallowing a mouthful of desperately needed air. With the cartoon replaced, the cookie shelf was the next target. Like a heat seeking missile, said nimble fingers enveloped a large packet of biscuits which had clearly been marked 'John's'. Ignoring the claim, as per usual, teeth crunched the chocolaty oats as the brush of a tongue swiped crumbs from soft, plump lips. This was defiantly home. Nothing could beat it; it was a good cookie,
"Hey!"
The intruder turned like a deer in the headlights at the sudden burst of activity behind them swiped the evidence behind their back. John stepped more into the kitchen to catch the thief in action, when his frown moulded into a beaming smile,
"Ariel!"
"JOHHNY!"
John ran towards Ariel and threw her into the air as if she were as light as candyfloss, and grasped her slim figure tight. John kissed Ariel on the head as he put her down and looked her up and down, a habit all the Tracy boys had when it came to Ariel. Ariel rolled her eyes at the over-protective gesture and grabbed another biscuit from the pack as John twirled her on the spot,
"I can't believe how much you've grown! It's been like 8 months since I last saw you! You let your hair grow"
Ariel smiled sweetly as she swallowed her mouthful and grasped her hair and tied it quickly behind her ears with the hair tie she had round her wrist. Once she thought she was happy with the tension in which her silk strawberry hair was held she forcefully pulled it out and did it again. Huffing with impatience of perfecting how her hair was tied and looked to her uncle,
"Sorry, university is becoming such a pain! I have had no time to even bother with my hair. And I'm sorry for having broken in, but I was thirsty"
"I saw. I would have left you alone but you touched my cookies!"
Ariel smiled innocently as she passed over the evidence and John placed them on the highest shelf possible, away from nifty hands,
"But you love me really Johnny, I know you can't stay mad long"
Ariel fluttered her mascara covered eyelashes in a mock gesture which John laughed at and then turned to grab a glass of water. Ariel watched as John moved around the kitchen, he seemed too awake to be up at this time of morning. Considering Ariel had flown from America at a sensible time, it seemed ok for her to be up, but John?
"Hey Johnny?"
"Uh huh?"
"It's like 5 in the morning"
"I only got back yesterday about this time, so my sleeping pattern is out of sync"
Ariel nodded her understanding and jumped onto one of the breakfast bar seats. She happily watched her uncle circle the kitchen, searching for something. He turned on the lights which both he and Ariel flinched at the intensity but soon resumed to searching. Ariel picked at the fruit bowl in front of her and rearranged every piece till John wondered back over with a newspaper in his hand and flung it into Ariel's view. She read the headline which she had already seen but hadn't taken much interest into it,
"I saw about Dad's ocean-ological-thingy finding, I personally don't think it's that amazing. And that picture of him doesn't do him any justice"
John's smile dissolved as he detected sadness in Ariel's voice. He thought she would be proud of Gordon's world breaking discovery, yet he was left with a fruit-distracted teenager whose mind was clearly elsewhere,
"So you're not happy for him?"
"Oh I am! I'm just not that into it as he is, so I can't fully appreciate it"
"I understand where you're coming from on that one, but surely you're proud that he found a new hybrid of life-changing plant?"
"I'm guessing he and Brains have been testing it like there's no tomorrow then?"
Taking back with the blunt reaction, he replied "I haven't seen either of them since I got back. They said hello and then they were gone"
John straightened out his lose top and pyjama bottoms as he started to leave the kitchen, thinking about Ariel as he went. He paused at the door and turned back round to look at his niece. He could see from her posture something was on her mind as she sat slumped in her baggy hoodie on the chair. Although in a teen girl's mind it could have been anything on her mind, it may have just been the fruit's new arrangement. Not having much experience himself with teen girls and their ever changing emotions and moods, John combed his bed-head mop of blonde hair with his fingers and walked up behind Ariel and hugged her closely,
"I'm glad your home sweetie, it's not the same without you"
Ariel turned in her chair to hug her uncle properly and happily listened to the beating of his heart as her head lay against his chest. John rested his chin upon Ariel's head and pulled away to look at her again, but before John could continue Ariel spoke,
"I really have missed everyone, especially Dad"
"Why don't you go and tell him your home?"
"He might have a shock; I was supposed to be coming down next week"
John's eyebrow rose. It wasn't like Ariel to change her plans, especially as she knew that Jeff would have something to say about her arrival. He would most likely start with the 'flying solo' epidemic and then move onto how she had flown at night, and not to mention not contacting ground control first before even landing,
"Granddad's going to kill me" Ariel said with a sad smirk
"I doubt that, he loves you too much. And even then I don't think anyone would let him, I defiantly won't and as for your Dad? Well that's another story, but why?"
"John, how'd I get here?"
"Ermm. Oh."
"Exactly"
"Ok, tell you what, you go to bed now and I can log in and set the files so that it looks as though I gave you landing permission, oh but you flew without a co-pilot-"
"I'll handle that one, thank you Johnny"
"Not to worry twinkle toes, now hop it before the herd wakes"
Ariel kissed John on the check and left in search of her bedroom. Meanwhile John logged onto the computer in the office disguising command and control and set about changing the flight record. Jeff would never know about the change; he didn't know about previous ones. John nearly had the job half finished within a few minutes and looked up when Alan's portrait on the wall started to flash,
"Base to Thunderbird 5, everything ok Al?"
"Of course it's you playing around with the flight recorders, why you up this early!?"
"I could ask the same question"
Alan held up his hands in mock defence,
"You know this job just as well as I do. An un-registered plane landed on the island, know anything about it?"
John nodded with a neutral expression as he started finalizing the data and turned his full attention to Alan,
"Yeah, looks like Ariel couldn't take university anymore. She flew in"
Alan's eyes widened with excitement, and then dilated when his brain kicked into gear,
"Ariel's on the island? But she didn't call to say-"
"Hence why I'm up sorting the fly log. She didn't radio in to confirm landing, if Dad asks I was up to guide her in"
Alan turned to a console on his left and started tapping numerous buttons which John knew back to front. He almost knew what Alan was typing without actually needing to see the buttons themselves; it was unreal when he thought about how if he knew the entire layout of thunderbird 5, just why it may have been considered a little 'sad' when he dawned light on his knowledge behind the machine, far ahead of their time. Before John could finish the last bit of information, Alan had beaten him to it,
"Thanks Al, I forgot I'm a complete moron with today's technology"
"I'm just helping out a little, not like I got anything better to do!"
"Apart from maybe making sure 7 billion people are safe?"
John turned off the computer's screen and laid back in his father's chair, satisfied with his hacking skills, although he only had to log in and switch a few things around but still the great sense of rebellion sparked a dark happiness inside the usually angelic John. Alan, unaware of John's musings was pre-occupied with a typhoon in India, nothing to worry about but something to keep an eye on. Losing focus on the slowing storm, Alan's mind turned back to his niece,
"John, I thought Ariel wasn't meant to be coming home till next week? What's happened there?"
"Gotta say I don't know. I caught her almost sneaking into the kitchen and raiding the cupboards and my cookie supply"
"Never could share those pieces of gold could you? Well did she have any bags with her?"
John unravelled his memory of what he saw of Ariel. Other than her looking relatively healthy and normal, no bones poking out anywhere John hadn't thought about luggage, or the plane she'd come over in. He got up from the chair and circled round to the door where he half expected to find a suitcase of some kind. From his portrait, Alan too looked around the room for anything out of place; nothing.
"So she came without a case? How long she staying do you think?"
"I don't know, she didn't seem her usual self earlier though"
"Did you ask what was wrong?"
"I wasn't going to hit that landmine thanks"
Alan rolled his eyes in understanding. He had Tin-Tin, he knew what it was like dealing with, girls but even he didn't like to kick the bees nest,
"I have to say Johnny, if anyone can help her out you're the man. Maybe Gordon's daughter, but he hasn't got the slightest clue"
"What makes you think I do? I've only ever had 4 girlfriends and other than that I live on a space station"
"She's not a girlfriend Johnny; she's your niece. I'll call you later, I need sleep"
"Alright Allie, night"
"Thunderbird 5 out"
John watched the portrait blinked out and starred at it for a moment before drifting round the living room till he reached the glass balcony door and walked out onto the cool patio. His warm feet settled on the marble and walked over to the stairs which he jogged down towards what he presumed was Ariel's jet. It was an old one of Scott's but was still just as good for a beginner pilot, she didn't need anything to complex to fly, just something that got her from A to B. Jeff had suggested a sped boat for his granddaughter to get from the mainland to the Island, but Gordon had refused knowing how dangerous the sea could be and after his hydrofoil accident, he couldn't bare the thought of something similar happening to Ariel.
John clambered on board and found the keys sat in the pilot's seat, which he soon plugged into the ignition,
"Seriously, it's just as well we're on an island, that girl could have lost her jet to a hijacker. Although they wouldn't have really jacked it, more have just taken it"
John started the jet and gently spun it round and pulled it into a siding, out the way of thunderbird 2's runway and powered it back down,
"Why the heck am I doing this? She should know not to leave a plane here, daughter like father much"
John found a couple of bags and swung them over his broad shoulders and went to leave. He paused and looked out over the sea as he saw the sun peeping up from just under the horizon,
"I'll drop these off and go play with some of 3's wiring I think"
The blonde shook his head at his own voice; he had grown use to talking to himself having to live on 5 for half a year at a time. But the fact that he did it even when on the island,
"I'll talk to Brains later if I get the chance. About what John? Talking to yourself or 3? Oh shut up John; no you shut up, no you! No you!"
John laughed at his own comedy show and soon found himself outside Ariel's door, he knocked gently and when he received no reply he carefully opened the door and slipped her bags inside before leaving quietly. Not wanting to intrude on Ariel's privacy John walked down to thunderbird 3's silo, were he stayed until his stomach growled loudly in which he soon returned to the kitchen.
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