Disclaimer: I do not own Thunderbirds but thank Carlton and Gerry Anderson for letting me write stories containing them.
Gordon was standing on the balcony leaning with his hands on the railing, watching the sun burst up from the horizon. The seas became alive with reflective fire. He was usually a late sleeper, although not quite as late as Virgil, but he awoke early this morning for unknown reasons. He had been up for about an hour and started to hear the rest of the family stirring. Scott was the first. He had already helped himself to a cup of coffee and was back at his room getting ready for the day. He knew the sounds of his father by heart and knew that was him sitting down at the desk; the familiar clunk of the coffee mug hitting the cherrywood furniture.
With the sunlight now fully engulfing the island Gordon noticed a large blob on the sand, swaying to and fro as the surf hit it. It was probably half a mile away, but he knew instantly what it was.
"Dad, Hey Dad!!!! We got another one!" he called from the balcony.
Without looking up from his paper Jeff replied, "Another what, son?"
"Another gorgeous, 25 year old female spy has washed up on the shore. You know, she has three doctorates and can kick all of our butts in a fight."
Jeff looked up from his work. "Is she moving at all?"
"No, not yet."
"Well, I guess we still can't leave her. Go get her. By the time you get back, one of the boys will be at the pool to gawk and fall instantly in love."
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Gordon picked up the feather-light woman and noticed that yes indeed she was gorgeous. Her peaches and cream complexion was in stark contrast to her thick luxurious raven black hair, which hung tantalizingly down Gordon's arm.
When he approached the house, he didn't know if the sickbay was ready yet to receive the patient, so he gently placed her on one of the chaise lounges by the pool. Scott had been standing by the pool, back to them, contemplating improvements to the mechanism that opens and closes the pool for his beloved plane. As he turned to face Gordon and his charge, she opened her eyes briefly to reveal crystalline blue eyes full of the same fire the sea had reflected from the early morning sun. Scott took one look into those mesmerizing orbs and collapsed backwards into the pool.
Without a moment's hesitation, the woman leapt from the chaise and did a perfect 10.0 dive into the pool. With hardly a ripple to the surface of the water she chased after Scott. Using the lifeguard chin-hold to bring him to the surface, then the cross-chest carry, she towed the unconscious man to the shallow end into the waiting arms of a stunned Gordon.
"Wow, that was a flawless rescue!" He exclaimed as the two of them hauled Scott up onto the hard cement. She quickly checked his pulse and respiration and noticed he wasn't breathing. She instantly started CPR and mouth to mouth. With just a few breaths, Scott coughed up the water in his lungs and came around.
"You ok, Scott?" Gordon asked worriedly.
Sitting up, Scott answered, "Yeah, I don't know what came over me." Turning to the woman, he said, "I don't know how to thank you."
Before she could respond, she collapsed by his side. Her head resting on her magnificent mane, splayed about in a black sunburst framing her delicate face.
Turning back to Gordon, he said, "I think we had better hurry and get her to sickbay."
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Her eyes fluttered open and Tin-tin noticed first. She called over to Brains "she's seems to be coming around now."
"W-w-well, h-h-hello, M-m-miss….M-m-miss…." He stuttered.
"Please don't call me Miss, that's way to formal. Just call me Mary Jo."
"O-o-kay, M-m-mary Jo. How are you feeling? He asked.
"Just a little tired. My chest hurts a little from taking in all that seawater." She said sweetly as she fluttered her long lashes at the beleaguered scientist.
Tin-tin 6th sense was starting to tickle the back of her head. She had a bad feeling about this woman. She's a little too, too…..what is that word that she needs? Too….too perfect. That's it, she's too perfect.
As Brains was trying desperately to get his face to stop blushing so brightly Gordon walked in to check up on his patient.
"That was some rescue you performed out by the pool a little while ago." He said genuinely impressed.
"That?" she said innocently, "That was nothing. I used to lifeguard at the beaches in Queensland, along the Great Barrier Reef."
Tilting her head, her focused changed to a sound. She was quiet for a moment then said to Gordon, "If you have a basin wrench, some plumbers putty and a hairpin, I could fix that leaky faucet you have." She raised her hands and patted her hair in a searching pattern. Finding what she was looking for and pulling it out, she said, "Nevermind, I have the hairpin."
She hopped out of bed and headed to the bathroom and shut the door.
Gordon, Brains and Tin-tin just looked at each other with puzzled but amazed looks on their faces. At that moment Scott entered the sickbay. "So where's our patient?" he asked as he scanned the room.
"She's in the bathroom." Gordon remarked nonchalantly.
"Is she feeling ok?" Scott asked concerned.
"Yeah, she's fixing the leaky faucet."
"Wow!" Scott said with an air of admiration.
As if on cue, Mary Jo exited the bathroom wiping her hands on her jeans. "There, all fixed. Drippy faucets drive me nuts."
Scott noticed that she was still in the jeans that she washed up on shore in. He turned to Tin-tin, "Do you have anything clean that our guest could change into, Tin-tin?"
A little steamed that he should offer this 'guest' her clothing, she turned to Mary Jo, "What size do you wear?"
"Oh I can wear almost any size. I'm flexible." She said sweetly with a smile.
Tin-tin turned and left the room, steam coming out her ears.
"Oh, she is such a sweet person, she looks Malaysian." Mary Jo stated as Tin-tin disappeared.
Scott looked back to the visitor when he heard her speak. She looked directly at Scott with her cerulean eyes. When their eyes met, the world surrounding her disappeared. Scott could only see her with a veil of light as a backdrop. 'Is this what an angel looks like?' he wondered. He stood there staring at the ethereal beauty before him.
"S-s-scott? S-s-scott? Are y-you ok?" Brains asked, breaking the trance. Scott snapped out of the fugue, "Uh, oh yes Brains, I'm fine." Then turning to Mary Jo, "What did you say?"
"I said that Tin-tin looks Malaysian. Am I right?"
"Yes, she is. That is a very astute observation. Uh, are you hungry? Most everyone should be up having breakfast about now." He offered.
"That sounds wonderful. Yes, I am hungry." She hooked her arm around Scott's and they headed up for breakfast.
Brains looked after them thinking, 'I wonder if I have a chance? All those handsome Tracy men, would she even look sideways at me?' and he let out a big sigh.
Tin-tin and Alan were sitting at the table conversing quietly. Virgil had a mouthful of scrambled eggs and Gordon was just reaching for the last biscuit when the couple entered the dining room. When Alan looked up at them, his conversation came to an abrupt halt. Tin-tin noticed that he stopped in mid-sentence and looked to see what distracted him so much. A frown creased her brow at the sight of the other woman.
Sensing something was amiss, Virgil looked up as well and instantly choked on his food when he saw the eye-candy hanging off Scott's arm. The more he coughed the worse it got. Mary Jo sprang into action rounding the far side of the table in a fraction of a second. She wrapped her arms around Virgil from behind while still seated, made a fist and placed it just below his sternum and with all her might gave a mighty heave-ho. Out popped a plug of scrambled egg that landed on Gordon's plate.
"Blech!!" cried Gordon, as Virgil took a deep breath.
"Uh, sorry about that Gords, I'll get you a clean plate." He said. Then looking up at Mary Jo, "I don't know how to thank you, that was some rescue. I have never seen anyone work so fast."
Blushing deeply, she said, "Oh, don't worry about it. Happens all the time."
Virgil got up and took Gordon's plate away to replace it with a clean one.
Tin-tin looked to Alan whose mouth was stuck in the open position. She bopped his jaw from underneath to close it. It brought his attention back to her. Now blushing deeply himself, "Sorry Tin-tin. Where were we?" Before she could answer, Mary Jo spoke up, "Tin-tin, thank you so very much. I noticed the clean clothes draped over the banister for me. I will change as soon as I have had a bite to eat. That was very sweet of you."
Using all her mannered Malaysian upbringing she answered, "No problem. I hope everything fits."
"Oh I'm sure it will." She answered brightly.
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Scott and Mary Jo were the last to leave the dining table. Everyone had gone onto different chores around the house. Realizing that Jeff hasn't met her yet, he suggested showing her the lounge where he suspected his dad was probably at his desk.
They ran into Gordon in the hallway on the way to the guestroom where she would change first. A quick exchange of hi's and where are you going, startled Gordon into action. He waited until Mary Jo was out of sight and then sprinted towards the lounge. "Operation Coverup!" he yelled to his dad.
"Huh? Wha?" Jeff looked up confused.
"Scott's bringing the woman I found this morning up to the lounge. They will be here any minute."
As if on cue, Jeff could hear his son's voice mixed with that of a female's voice, whisper gentle like a soft summer breeze, coming from down the hall. He quickly pressed the button to do the picture switch. Just as the last picture thunked into place, in walked Scott and Mary Jo.
"Hi dad. I thought I would bring our little castaway in to meet you."
"Mary Jo, this is my father, Jeff Tracy." He said to the woman, then turning to Jeff, "Dad, this is Mary Jo."
"I am happy to meet you Mr. Tracy." She said with manners befitting someone who was brought up properly. Jeff caught the fact that he was Mr. Tracy instead of Jeff. He had found all too often that people of his sons' generation were too easy to call him by his first name. He liked this formality.
"The pleasure is all mine. How do you feel?" Jeff returned.
"Oh I feel just fine. Everyone is taking such good care of me. Thank you for asking."
"So, how does it happen that you have washed up on our little island?" Jeff asked conversationally.
"I don't rightly know. I just woke up here."
"Well what was the last thing you remember?" Jeff asked his curiosity growing.
"Going to bed." She said, a frown crinkling her delicate brow. "I was at home and just went to bed as I normally do. I can't remember anything other than that."
"What day was that?" Jeff continued with the questioning.
"The 5th."
Scott then joined in, "But that was 4 days ago."
She took a deep sigh, as she was trying to fill in the blank of the past 4 days. Her eyes then drifted over to Virgil's piano, and they lit up brighter than moonlight.
"A baby grand!" she exclaimed. "May I?!"
Jeff and Scott both looked at the piano and without waiting for an answer she went over and sat down on the bench. She placed her fingers on the ivories, closed her eyes and started to play a beautifully haunting melody. She was swaying to the notes of her own music when she started singing along with the music. Her lilting voice was almost as pure as the notes of a Stradivarius.
Virgil, deep in the bowels of his beloved TB2, could hear the music from where he worked. It called to him. Mesmerized him. Pulled him up by the collar and dragged him out of his bird. Completely forgetting that there was a non-IR member in the house, he used the pilot's entrance to the lounge. No one seemed to have noticed that he did this during Operation Cover-up. Since Mary Jo's eyes were still closed, she didn't see it either. Virgil swooned over to the chair nearest the music, sat down and closed his eyes. He was so caught up in it that in his mind all he saw were notes floating on invisible waves of wind over clouds that dotted a soft blue sky.
He snapped out of it when she finished.
Mary Jo was the first to speak, "Gee, that felt great. I haven't played the piano since I was 6." She blushed when all the members in the lounge, which now included almost the whole household, clapped at her performance.
During the impromptu concert, Grandma and Tin-tin were in the kitchen preparing lunch. Grandma noticed that Tin-tin was a bit out of sorts. "What's wrong, dear?"
"Oh nothing." Tin-tin said quietly not wanting to burden Mrs. Tracy with a silly school girl jealousy.
"Come now, Tin-tin, I know when something's bothering you." Grandma urged.
Tin-tin took a big sigh and reluctantly spilled her guts. "It's just that that girl upstairs is so perfect. All the guys are ogling her. She is so…so… Mary Sue-ish!"
"Oh no, Tin-tin, I do believe her name is Mary Jo, not Mary Sue. I am most sure of that. But anyway, don't you fret none. You know the saying, 'Perfect is what perfect does.' I believe that is it. From that old classic movie Forrest Gump."
Tin-tin shook her head in despair. "That's 'Stupid is what stupid does', Mrs. Tracy. But no matter. Why do they always have to wash up on OUR island?"
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As the men were standing around the piano asking Mary Jo more questions, she glanced over to a set of shelves on the wall and noticed several family photos. Her eyes pinpointed on one of Alan, in his silver and blue racecar suit, helmet under one arm, cradling a large trophy in the other. In the background was his winning car. The smile on his face was a mile wide.
She got up and walked over to the picture. She picked it up and studied it a moment. "Say, I know this race. This is the Dacona Grand Prix from two years ago, right?"
Alan, who was among the throng in the lounge lit up in surprise. "Yeah, how did you know that?"
"I came in second, right behind you. I was close enough to kiss your bumper. I had the #13 black car with the red flames along the side." She answered nonchalantly.
"That was you?!" Alan said incredulously. "I remember you! Wow, I can't believe it was a woman driving that car. Um, sorry. But that was one mean race. You scare the pants off of me a number of times."
"Well you drove one helluva race yourself. You did after all win. I was just borrowing my uncle's car for the race. I don't have one that I use normally. I just do it for kicks once in a while. Have you raced much recently?"
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At that moment the videophone rang. Jeff answered and John's picture came to view. John noticed the red light on TB5 indicating Operation Cover-up back home, so he had to dodge the normal alarm and contact Jeff using old fashion methods. Jeff told John to hold up a minute then turned to Alan, "Why don't you show her your cars, Alan?" Alan knowing perfectly well what Jeff really meant, nodded yes and ushered Mary Jo out of the lounge and into the lower level garage where he kept the cars.
"Go ahead John, what have you got?"
"We don't have anything just yet, but there is a large forest fire in Southern California. They haven't asked for our help yet, but since you have a, ahem….guest, I wanted to give you advanced warning."
"Thanks John. This will give me time to plan what to do with her if we are indeed called out. Jeff out."
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Even though Alan was showing Mary Jo his racecars, Gordon, Scott, Virgil and Brains were all tagging along.
"This is a very interesting setup you have here. What powers her?" Mary Jo asked.
"Brains invented a sub-atomic powered cell here. It is kinda like a miniature power plant. Even though it is more powerful than conventional combustion engines, due to its small size there is not that much more power. But enough to send me over the finish line first a few times." Alan bragged.
"So this sucker's nuclear?" Mary Jo exclaimed.
Turning to Brains she asked, "What is the angstrom measurement that you use to multiply against Avagadro's number?"
Brains, unaccustomed to conversing on his level, stammered a bit before answering. "W-well, actually, I-I didn't use an angstrom m-m-measurement, I used a guided w-wavelength in the light spectrum. It is a f-finer adjustment which a-allows for m-more stability in b-burning the fuel."
"What kind of fuel do you use?"
He continued, thrilled to be able to talk to her at his level, "Liquid helium. It can become a superfluid, that is, its viscosity vanishes at low temperatures. Atoms of the rare isotope 3He have to form pairs analogous with pairs of electrons in metallic superconductors. This order passes into chaos or turbulence, which is one of the unsolved problems of classical physics. But it is that energy output from that turbulence that powers the car."
No one noticed the loss of his stutter.
"Have you tried adding a 1:100 ratio of Neon to the 3He to stabilize the mixture? It would increase the torque by 0.01 nanometrons so that it could squeak out another 5 nwp of power?"
Brains stood there, chin in his hand, absorbing what she said, "I think you are correct!"
The brothers just hung back as Mary Jo spoke tech-ese to Brains at a level above them.
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After lunch the boys collectively showed her the rest of the house. Towards the end of the tour they hit the play area. The first room being the gym where the boys regularly work out and practice their martial arts.
"Wow, this is a state of the art gym. You must have every imaginable workout piece of equipment in here." She said as her eyes wandered around. They settled on the neatly hung martial arts weapons on the far wall: escrimas, shirikins, broad sword, sais, shinais and a variety of padding.
She quickly jogged over and picked out a bo. She slid into a front stance and started a very complex bo kata. She slid into a variety of stances and swung the 6-foot long staff with the grace and speed of a Grand Master. When she finished, she stood straight and bowed. Then looked at Scott, "Do you spar?"
Scott, caught off guard, stammered, "Uh, yes I do. In fact I generally give instructions the others."
"C'mon then, how about doing a round? Gordon would you referee?" she asked as she put down the bo.
"Sure." He pointed to a spot on his left indicating where he wanted Scott to stand. Then pointed on his right for Mary Jo then said, "Please bow to me." And they did, then he said, "Please bow to each other." And they did. He placed his arm straight out, in between the two combatants. Looked at them both, then sharply dropped his hand and yelled, "Oosh!" which is the command to start.
She shifted her weigh back into a tiger stance, her hands held slightly open. Scott opened with an ax kick to the head, but she quickly blocked it, taking the foot in a hold and swinging it over her head, then taking a step back, throwing Scott easily off balance, she then stepped in with a palm strike to his chest. He stammered back, took a quick cough then launched back at her. But instead of stepping away from the assault, she stepped into it. This move prevented Scott from using his powerful kicks, as she was now too close. With a sweeping motion of her two arms, she grabbed his wrist then swung her arms in the opposite direction and sent him flying. He quickly got back onto his feet but not before she crouched down and did a foot sweep, removing his feet from the floor and sending him crashing down with a thud. She got up, took a long step back and crouched down sweeping her arms wide and up, her hands in a claw. She crouched there in that position, hands clawed but held high, waiting. With the wind knocked out of him, he waved his arms in submission and Gordon yelled, "Oosh!"
Both combatants stood up. Gordon motioned Scott to stand on his left, and Mary Jo to stand on his right then said, "Bow to each other." They complied, then he said, "Bow to me." And they complied and he finished with, "Now shake hands."
After the handshake Scott just stood there amazed. "What style of martial arts was that?"
"Well, it is a mixture actually. I work mainly with Pai Te Lum Chuan Chiang Kung Fu, but I also threw in a little Aikido, Ninjitzu and Isshinryu Karate. I'm working on my 9th degree at the moment but I am a little out of practice."
"Out of practice? You could have fooled me!" Scott said as he blotted the sweat off his brow with a towel.
"I'm going to take a shower and freshen up a bit." She said then over heard Virgil ask Gordon, "What's for dinner?"
He answered, "I don't know, but I think Grandma and Kyrano will probably be starting it soon."
"Dinner?" Mary Jo asked. "Oh I would like to help. I will shower quickly and go to the kitchen to see if I can be of assistance for Mrs. Tracy."
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Jeff dug into the braised short ribs with balsamic demi glaze, French julienne root vegetables and Pommes de Terre Sautees Tata Boucher . "Mother, this is absolutely delicious, you outdid yourself this time." He exclaimed his mouth stuffed with food.
"Jeff, I didn't cook this. Mary Jo made the whole meal by herself. But I do have to admit, this is absolutely wonderful. It was nice to get out of the kitchen for once and still have a gourmet meal served."
There were nods and mumbles of agreement from around the table and they all dug into the lavish dinner. There was very little conversation, just the noise of silverware clanking against plates, and the sound of crystal ringing as it tapped other solid objects. Slowly one by one, as the plates emptied, they pushed their chairs away from the table and patted their overfilled stomachs.
Gordon was the first to break the silence, "That was one of the best meals I have ever had. I feel like I am going to burst."
Virgil joined in, "You're not kidding. That was fabulous, Mary Jo."
No one seemed to notice Grandma's eyes drift downward. No one ever complimented her cooking quite to that extent. Oh, she would receive compliments, a lot of them. But the boys were just ravishing praise upon this stranger. She now understood where Tin-tin was coming from earlier that day. Grandma glanced over to Tin-tin and saw a mix of emotion. She could tell that Tin-tin did indeed enjoy the food, and she must have thought highly of the cheffing abilities of the castaway. But at the same time, she could see sadness and a bit of jealousy leaching out of her gorgeous dark eyes at the way the men were just falling over themselves for this woman. She looked to the rest of the table and said, "My, that was an excellent meal. If you will excuse me I will start with the kitchen cleanup." As she started to push herself away from the table Mary Jo spoke up, "Mrs. Tracy, don't bother. I cleaned the kitchen as I was cooking. The only thing left to do is place the dishes on the table here in the dishwasher. The kitchen is spotless. Besides, we still haven't had dessert. I made Petits Fondants au Chocolat." With that she heard groans from around the table.
"I wish I had known you had dessert, I would have held back on the 4th helping." Moaned Virgil.
"Yeah, me too." Added Alan, quickly followed by a loud burp. Reddened, he apologized, "Oh, I'm sorry, it just slipped."
Mary Jo not feeling the effect of her meal like the others quickly got up and gathered all the plates. Within minutes she returned with the French dessert, and a bowl full of thick fluffy whipped cream on one arm, and the other she carried a pot of fresh brewed coffee. Once the men started to taste the luscious chocolate confection, then seemed to have forgotten all about their discomforts of overeating. They dove into it as if they hadn't eaten in days.
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Later than evening, she rose quietly from the sofa where everyone was commiserating on their stuffed discomfort and stated that she was going for a walk on the beach. The moonlight was full and inviting.
Although all of them wanted to accompany her, only Gordon seemed to have had enough energy to go with her.
They strolled along the surf, and it rippled ever so lightly. Almost as calm as a lake. The moon was brilliant, reflecting the sunlight hidden behind the earth. As they came to the spot where Gordon found her, he pointed to the sand.
"Here?" she asked.
"uh,huh." He answered.
"Well thanks for everything, but I have to go now." She said as she gave him a sweet peck on the cheek.
"Go? Go where?" Gordon asked surprised.
"Where ever I came from. I am sure if I head back out from this point, I will find it."
"You mean you are just going to go swimming out into the middle of the Pacific Ocean?"
"Sure. Why not?" She gave him another kiss on the cheek and entered the water. As she was swimming away, she turned onto her back and yelled, "Tell Tin-tin, I will mail her clothes back to her by the end of the week."
She turned and swam into the darkness.
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"Col. O'Neil?"
"Yes, Teal'c?" Jack responded.
"The object that we saw on the beach from those cliffs overhead has turned out to be a young human female…………."