Déjà vu
Rescue complete, thanks received, Scott and Virgil were wandering back to the collect "The Scoop."
"Boy, I've had a real feeling of déjà vu, throughout this entire rescue." Scott said.
"Yeah." Virgil's reply was non-committal.
Scott looked at his younger brother. "You don't feel it, do you." It was a statement, not a question.
"Don't feel what?"
Scott looked around; no one was looking in their direction. "I think it's over here."
"What is?" Virgil followed obediently as Scott lead him to the cliff face.
"It's around here somewhere... ah!" Scott wiped some snow off a rock.
But it wasn't the rock Scott was interested in. It was the plaque attached to the rock. The corner had been pulverised by previous rock falls but most of it was legible.
ory of
Tracy
nd
lle Tracy
19 October 2046
"Two more stars in heaven"
Virgil read it and re-read it. The meaning sank in. "Then this is where..."
Another man was coming towards them. "Good you haven't left. I just had to add my thanks." He saw what they were looking at. "Oh, I see you've found the plaque. That was my first big rescue. You know of Jeff Tracy, the astronaut?"
They nodded cautiously.
"It was his wife and father. A terrible tragedy. The whole family were going on holiday. These two were in the car in front with the two youngest children. Don't ask me how they survived. Tracy was following up in another car with his three older boys. The oldest was about 10, and the youngest, I think, five. When we got there the boys had started digging. Goodness knows how, but they'd worked out almost exactly to the foot where the car was located, and had managed to dig about two metres into the avalanche. They were lucky it didn't collapse on them. The 10 year old practically ordered us to continue and the younger two were digging like slaves. We had to drag them away.
"Tracy was practically a basket case. His wife had died just before we arrived on the scene. I fancy his astronaut career was finished at that point." He had taken a long look at the two International Rescue men as he was talking and now he looked around furtively. "I'm glad to see that he got his life back on track. How's John?"
Scott and Virgil both gave startled jumps. "What?"
"You've both grown and changed somewhat, but some rescues stick in the mind, and I've never forgotten those three boys who tried to dig their mother out." He laid his finger on the side of his nose and gave them a conspiratal wink. "I'm Dave."
Scott was unsure how to handle this new development. Play dumb, or go along with it.
Virgil decided that he had no such inhibitions. They'd trusted Dave then and he was willing to trust him now. "He's fine. Still playing with his radios."
Scott decided to protest. "Virgi..." he realised too late that by saying his brothers name he'd let the cat out of the bag. He sighed. "I guess secrecy's a waste of time now. How are you Dave?"
"Me? I'm great. Especially as you've rescued this family. It's always bad losing someone, but I don't need to tell you that. How's the youngest two? I've seen them mentioned in the papers. Didn't one of them win an Olympic medal and the other's a racing car driver isn't he?"
"Yep." Scott confirmed.
"Are they working with you too?" Seeing Scott's sudden frown, Dave backtracked. "No, don't answer that! I know, I know too much as it is, but don't worry, I won't mention this to a living soul. Just call it the brotherhood of the rescue services." There was a yell from over at his car. "Guess I've got to go."
Scott held out his hand. "I don't know if we thanked you properly back then, but the entire family's grateful for what you and the rest of your team did."
Dave shook Scott's hand before doing the same with Virgil. "Hey, not a problem. Just wish we could have done more." He looked back at the plaque, not seeing the look that passed between Scott and Virgil. "You know it's a shame your organisation wasn't around 22 years ago. Things might have been much different." He said a final good bye and was gone.
"Yeah," Scott said thoughtfully. "Things would have been much different."
They wandered back towards "The Scoop". "You know," Virgil said, "I still can't believe that this is where it happened."
Scott looked at his younger brother. Virgil was shorter than him, but not by much. "Well you have grown a bit since then..."
Virgil took the hint and stopped. He dropped to his knees as if he were fiddling with his boots. He casually glanced round and then leant on the ground for support as the memories came flooding back. "Now I know what you mean by déjà vu."
He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair, before smoothing it back into place. Scott was irresistibly reminded of his mother. "Gee, you're like Ma..."
It was an observation that Virgil had heard many times, usually pronounced in awed tones by an elderly Great Aunt or some old family friend. His stock answer was, "Not too much like her I hope." He repeated it now, automatically, as he followed Scott into "The Scoop".
"Hey, you don't have to convince me!" Scott grinned. "I'm your brother, remember. I know what you got up to at College."
Virgil grinned in return. "It was never as bad as some of the things you did, Scott."
"Such as?"
"Well I seem to remember something about Mary Fairweather and the Girls Dorm..."
They were interrupted by the radio. "Thunderbird Five to Mobile Control."
Scott answered the call. "Mobile Control. Go ahead John."
"You guys going to be much longer?"
"No we're packing up now."
"Great. I'll see you soon."
John switched the radio frequency to one that would contact home. His father's face appeared on the monitor.
"How's it going John?"
"Scott says they're just packing up."
"Good. As soon as you've got word that they're leaving you boys can come home."
"What's going on Dad?"
"All in good time son, all in good time."
As usual Scott was the first one home. By the time he'd completed the maintenance checks on Thunderbird One, Thunderbird Two was arriving. He went to Thunderbird Two's hanger to help Virgil with the cleaning up of "The Scoop" and other equipment. That finished they headed back to the main house.
They entered the lounge and were confronted with a pile of boxes, rearranged furniture and their father sitting at his desk reading a large file. He looked up. "Good you're finished. By the time you've had showers Thunderbird Three should be back."
"Thunderbird Three? Is everything okay?" Virgil asked concerned.
"Everything's fine."
"What's all this father?" Scott asked.
"I'll tell you soon. Go and get washed." He sounded as if he was telling two errant sons to get ready for dinner. They left the lounge meekly.
"Any ideas, Scott?" Virgil asked as he reached his bedroom door.
"I think I've seen those boxes before, but I can't place it. I guess the sooner we get freshened up, the sooner we'll find out."
Rescue complete, thanks received, Scott and Virgil were wandering back to the collect "The Scoop."
"Boy, I've had a real feeling of déjà vu, throughout this entire rescue." Scott said.
"Yeah." Virgil's reply was non-committal.
Scott looked at his younger brother. "You don't feel it, do you." It was a statement, not a question.
"Don't feel what?"
Scott looked around; no one was looking in their direction. "I think it's over here."
"What is?" Virgil followed obediently as Scott lead him to the cliff face.
"It's around here somewhere... ah!" Scott wiped some snow off a rock.
But it wasn't the rock Scott was interested in. It was the plaque attached to the rock. The corner had been pulverised by previous rock falls but most of it was legible.
ory of
Tracy
nd
lle Tracy
19 October 2046
"Two more stars in heaven"
Virgil read it and re-read it. The meaning sank in. "Then this is where..."
Another man was coming towards them. "Good you haven't left. I just had to add my thanks." He saw what they were looking at. "Oh, I see you've found the plaque. That was my first big rescue. You know of Jeff Tracy, the astronaut?"
They nodded cautiously.
"It was his wife and father. A terrible tragedy. The whole family were going on holiday. These two were in the car in front with the two youngest children. Don't ask me how they survived. Tracy was following up in another car with his three older boys. The oldest was about 10, and the youngest, I think, five. When we got there the boys had started digging. Goodness knows how, but they'd worked out almost exactly to the foot where the car was located, and had managed to dig about two metres into the avalanche. They were lucky it didn't collapse on them. The 10 year old practically ordered us to continue and the younger two were digging like slaves. We had to drag them away.
"Tracy was practically a basket case. His wife had died just before we arrived on the scene. I fancy his astronaut career was finished at that point." He had taken a long look at the two International Rescue men as he was talking and now he looked around furtively. "I'm glad to see that he got his life back on track. How's John?"
Scott and Virgil both gave startled jumps. "What?"
"You've both grown and changed somewhat, but some rescues stick in the mind, and I've never forgotten those three boys who tried to dig their mother out." He laid his finger on the side of his nose and gave them a conspiratal wink. "I'm Dave."
Scott was unsure how to handle this new development. Play dumb, or go along with it.
Virgil decided that he had no such inhibitions. They'd trusted Dave then and he was willing to trust him now. "He's fine. Still playing with his radios."
Scott decided to protest. "Virgi..." he realised too late that by saying his brothers name he'd let the cat out of the bag. He sighed. "I guess secrecy's a waste of time now. How are you Dave?"
"Me? I'm great. Especially as you've rescued this family. It's always bad losing someone, but I don't need to tell you that. How's the youngest two? I've seen them mentioned in the papers. Didn't one of them win an Olympic medal and the other's a racing car driver isn't he?"
"Yep." Scott confirmed.
"Are they working with you too?" Seeing Scott's sudden frown, Dave backtracked. "No, don't answer that! I know, I know too much as it is, but don't worry, I won't mention this to a living soul. Just call it the brotherhood of the rescue services." There was a yell from over at his car. "Guess I've got to go."
Scott held out his hand. "I don't know if we thanked you properly back then, but the entire family's grateful for what you and the rest of your team did."
Dave shook Scott's hand before doing the same with Virgil. "Hey, not a problem. Just wish we could have done more." He looked back at the plaque, not seeing the look that passed between Scott and Virgil. "You know it's a shame your organisation wasn't around 22 years ago. Things might have been much different." He said a final good bye and was gone.
"Yeah," Scott said thoughtfully. "Things would have been much different."
They wandered back towards "The Scoop". "You know," Virgil said, "I still can't believe that this is where it happened."
Scott looked at his younger brother. Virgil was shorter than him, but not by much. "Well you have grown a bit since then..."
Virgil took the hint and stopped. He dropped to his knees as if he were fiddling with his boots. He casually glanced round and then leant on the ground for support as the memories came flooding back. "Now I know what you mean by déjà vu."
He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair, before smoothing it back into place. Scott was irresistibly reminded of his mother. "Gee, you're like Ma..."
It was an observation that Virgil had heard many times, usually pronounced in awed tones by an elderly Great Aunt or some old family friend. His stock answer was, "Not too much like her I hope." He repeated it now, automatically, as he followed Scott into "The Scoop".
"Hey, you don't have to convince me!" Scott grinned. "I'm your brother, remember. I know what you got up to at College."
Virgil grinned in return. "It was never as bad as some of the things you did, Scott."
"Such as?"
"Well I seem to remember something about Mary Fairweather and the Girls Dorm..."
They were interrupted by the radio. "Thunderbird Five to Mobile Control."
Scott answered the call. "Mobile Control. Go ahead John."
"You guys going to be much longer?"
"No we're packing up now."
"Great. I'll see you soon."
John switched the radio frequency to one that would contact home. His father's face appeared on the monitor.
"How's it going John?"
"Scott says they're just packing up."
"Good. As soon as you've got word that they're leaving you boys can come home."
"What's going on Dad?"
"All in good time son, all in good time."
As usual Scott was the first one home. By the time he'd completed the maintenance checks on Thunderbird One, Thunderbird Two was arriving. He went to Thunderbird Two's hanger to help Virgil with the cleaning up of "The Scoop" and other equipment. That finished they headed back to the main house.
They entered the lounge and were confronted with a pile of boxes, rearranged furniture and their father sitting at his desk reading a large file. He looked up. "Good you're finished. By the time you've had showers Thunderbird Three should be back."
"Thunderbird Three? Is everything okay?" Virgil asked concerned.
"Everything's fine."
"What's all this father?" Scott asked.
"I'll tell you soon. Go and get washed." He sounded as if he was telling two errant sons to get ready for dinner. They left the lounge meekly.
"Any ideas, Scott?" Virgil asked as he reached his bedroom door.
"I think I've seen those boxes before, but I can't place it. I guess the sooner we get freshened up, the sooner we'll find out."