Chapter Twenty Three

Richie listened intently to the conversation between Jeff Tracy and his youngest son and realised that hearing Jeff say those words 'thunderbirds are go' to Alan was very significant for the youngest Tracy. It was obvious to anyone who knew how to read people that being addressed as though he was a thunderbird was a proud moment for the younger metahuman – a moment he would probably remember for the rest of his life. He's probably dreamt about having those words addressed to him for years, Richie thought.

Richie knew that there probably wasn't a kid in the world who didn't dream and fantasise about joining the mysterious organisation known as International Rescue and becoming a thunderbird. Alan was luckier than most people his age were in that he now could and most likely now would leave that dream.

"F.A.B," Alan replied to his dad's words. It felt so good too finally be able to respond to his father in that way. He had wanted to for along time since International Rescue had first begun operating in fact but he hadn't been able to because he hadn't had the right to. Dad had never treated him like a perspective thunderbird before instead had still treated him like a child and he wasn't a child anymore. Well now dad was giving him the opportunity to prove that he wasn't a child anymore, as a child wouldn't be allowed to go after the Hood.

Alan silently vowed to himself that he would do everything in his power both as a normal person, a metahuman and a thunderbird – albeit not an official one yet – to not let his father down. He would stop the Hood. And he was fully aware of the price of failure. Not only would dad be disappointed in him again but also it would be the end of International Rescue.

From the communications screen Jeff smiled at his youngest son. He could tell the effect his words had had on Alan just as he could tell that Alan knew what was at stake should he fail. Jeff couldn't help but feel a little guilty about agreeing to let Alan go after the Hood – the responsibility was enormous especially for one so young. Peter would help Jeff knew that for sure, Penelope as well since she was bound to follow with Fab-01 and Parker even though Fab-01 was no where near as fast as Thunderbird One. But still he was putting a huge responsibility on his youngest son's shoulders. No second-guessing yourself Jeff, he told himself. Alan had earned the right to go after the Hood. To see the battle between the Hood and International Rescue end one way or another.

He could also tell though that Alan was worried about him being disappointed in him if he failed to stop the Hood. Jeff knew though that he wouldn't be because he would have known that Alan had tried his best and like all Tracy's Alan was no quitter. And at the end of the day International Rescue didn't really matter. What mattered most to Jeff were his sons as long as they were all right then the thunderbirds didn't matter. If International Rescue fell it wouldn't matter to Jeff as long as he still had his boys.

For a moment he contemplated saying something more to Alan to reassure him that he wouldn't be disappointed if he failed to stop the Hood. But he decided against it. Alan didn't need to hear anything vaguely defeatist at this moment. Instead he moved his hand to break the connection between Thunderbird Five and Tracy Island. Before he could do so however he heard Gear speak up.

"There is away that we can improve our chances of stopping the Hood," Gear said coming into range of the video pickup without his helmet on. And like Peter before him Jeff was startled to realise that he knew that face. They had never personally met until yesterday of course when Peter had brought Gear to Tracy Island he knew Gear's face and his real name. Richard Foley is Gear, Jeff thought, I would have never expected that. I wonder if he's Gear then is his friend and business partner Virgil Hawkins Static? Be very convenient for them if he is.

"What do you mean?" he asked hoping that Richard/Gear would get to the point quickly and not ramble on like Brains sometimes had a habit of doing when he got an idea. They didn't have a lot of time, as with every passing minute the Hoods lead grew greater and greater. And while Thunderbird Two was not the fastest of the Thunderbirds she was still a lot faster than any civilian or military aircraft, it wouldn't take her long to reach London. To stand any chance of catching and stopping her they needed to launch Thunderbird One now. And even now and with the power of Thunderbird One's turboscram jets it would be touch and go if they would catch Thunderbird Two before she reached London.

"Static is in London," Richie said then paused then took the plunge knowing that he could trust everyone in the room with what he was about to say. He just hoped that Virgil wouldn't be mad with him afterwards. He could always justify it by saying he hadn't had a choice now that Peter had figured out who they both were on his own. "Or rather Virgil is in London. He's there on business but he's always got his uniform with him. Just in case. If we call him he'll be able to help us with the Hood. The only problem is my shock vox doesn't have the power to send a transmission that far."

Inwardly Richie smiled at the though of a clash between Virgil and the Hood. It would be a clash of titans. One titan being one of the strongest metahumans in existence the other being a man with powerful psi abilities. Who would win the battle Richie wasn't quiet sure since he didn't know the full extent of the Hoods powers though he knew telepathically based attacks didn't work on Static as Madelyn Spaulding had learned in the past. It would certainly be an interesting fight.

Jeff considered the idea for a moment.

"Call him," he said at last. "Brains link that shock vox into our communications systems and use them to boost the signal."

"F.A.B Mr Tracy," Brains replied.

"Good luck," Jeff added.

"To all of us," Peter replied. Jeff smiled and broke the channel. Before turning to look at his other four sons.

"Come on boys," he said. "Let's get back to Thunderbird Three."

For a moment there was silence in the command centre as Jeff broke the communications link with Thunderbird Five. Then Brains turned to look at Richie.

"Y…you can use that p…panel to interface your s…shock vox to our systems," he told Richie.

"Thanks," Richie replied moving over to the indicated control panel. Though he wasn't familiar with the systems used by International Rescue it would only take him a minute or two to link his shock vox into their communications system. Once that was done the shock vox he had would have all the power it needed to send a clear transmission to Virgil's shock vox on the other side of the world.

"How long are you going to be," Peter asked like Jeff he was very conscious of the limited amount of time that they had to stop the Hood. Though if Richie was successful in his endeavour and contacted Virgil they might get to London to find that Static had stopped the Hood for them. It's strange, Peter thought thinking about Virgil Hawkins and Richard Foley, I've worked on a business level with those two for years. And I never once even suspected that they were metahumans. Let alone Static and Gear. But then I doubt the thought ever occurred to them that I'm part of International Rescue.

"Only about a minute or two," Richie answered absently his hands already dancing across the console while part of his mind came up with the right interface protocols for his shock vox and the communications system. At the same time another part of him marvelled at the complexity of the communications system that the Tracy's had set up. He had never seen anything like it. The power that the Tracy's wielded in they're adventures as the thunderbirds was nothing short of amazing. If the situation weren't so dire he would pester Brains with questions about International Rescue's technology.

Peter nodded then he turned to look at Alan, Tin-Tin and Fermat. All three kids looked nervous though Alan was hiding it behind the usual impassive always-in-control mask that Tracy's had this habit of wearing. It didn't work on Peter of course having known Jeff for almost thirty years and worked with him for all of that time Peter had learned to see right through it. He could understand the nervousness all three kids were feeling as it would be there first time in a thunderbird officially – though he knew that Alan and Fermat especially sometimes sneaked into Thunderbird One no matter how many times Jeff and Brains told them off about it.

"Come on," he said. "There's something we should do before we leave."

"What's that uncle," Alan asked.

"Well if your going to ride in a thunderbird don't you think you should look the part," Peter replied smiling. "Come on." He headed out of the control for a short trip to a hidden storeroom. A storeroom where spare uniforms were kept as well as his own uniform, he hadn't worn it for along time so he hoped the damned thing still fit. Alan, Tin-Tin and Fermat looked at each other for a moment then followed.

As they left Penelope turned to look at Parker.

"Parker back to the car," she ordered. "We're heading to London now." While Fab-01 wasn't as fast as Thunderbird One it would hopefully still get them to London in time to help stop the Hood.

"Yes my lady," Parker replied. Turning away Penelope also walked out of the room with Parker in hot pursuit.

Richie paid them no attention as he focused on his work. Linking the shock vox to International Rescue's communications system was proving more difficult than he had thought. There were more differences between the system he and Virgil used and the one used by the thunderbirds than he had thought. For one thing the International Rescue system was not only more advanced but a lot more powerful capable of punching a signal through just about any form of interference. He was having to build a sort of buffer between it and the shock vox as a straight link between the two would simply fatally overload the circuitry in his shock vox as it had never been designed to handle that kind of a load. And since the shock vox's worked perfectly well he had never gotten around to improving them. Though I will after all this, Richie thought. A look at the system in front of him had already given him a few pointers on how he could improve the shock vox's. But first he had to get the buffer in place and that was proving difficult the damned thing wouldn't stabilise.

"H…how are you d…doing," Brains stammered from behind him noticing that Richie seemed to be having some problems.

"Not too badly. I have to sort of build a buffer between my shock vox and your systems. The difference in power is too great for a straight interface. My shock vox would overload in thirty seconds if I even attempted it. Problem is the damned buffer would stay stable."

"Can I h….help?"

"It would help," Richie replied. Brains got up from the main console and came over to the console Richie was working on.

"I think I see the p…p…problem," Brains said making some adjustments on the console.

"That's it," Richie said smiling at the other man as the buffer stabilised. "We work well together," he commented.

"Y…yes we d…do," Brains agreed.

The sound of footsteps caught their attention and they looked up as Peter and the kids returned to the room. And Richie couldn't help but blink as they suddenly looked so different. Gone were the clothes they'd been wearing in their place were the familiar silver-white uniforms of International Rescue. Though unlike the ones you saw on the television these didn't have any separate colour coding instead they were all the block silvery white colour with a neutral grey in place of the different colours that there were in the thunderbird uniforms normally seen at a distance on television. I wonder if the different colour codes on the uniforms signify different Thunderbirds, Richie thought, is it one colour for Thunderbird One another for Thunderbird Two and so on.

"Are you ready Richie," Peter asked.

"Yeah the interface with my shock vox is ready," Richie replied taking his shock vox from its slot on his belt. "I just hope Virgil's remembered to keep his charged up. Its not like he has to plug it into the mains or anything."

"Charges them himself does he," Peter asked.

"Yeah. Doesn't take even a tiny faction of his powers to do it. He's always charged them. Right from when we first made them in science class. Believe it or not the shock vox's started out life as little more than a high school science project." Everyone in the room chuckled at that.

"We're wasting time that we don't have," Peter said as soon as he stopped laughing. "You'll have to call Virgil as soon as we've launched. Will that shock vox work over that distance."

"Now that the interface is ready yes," Richie replied putting his helmet on and immediately stopping being Richie and becoming Gear.

"Good come on." Peter walked over to the lifts. Two panels slid up and the overhead lights shinning down stayed blue as Peter and Gear got in one, Alan, Tin-Tin and Fermat in another. The panels closed immediately and both lifts dropped immediately heading for Thunderbird One.

"Good luck," Brains said softly at the now closed panels, which now again showed the pictures of Scott and Jeff in uniform.

"They are going to need it," Kyrano agreed softly. "I can guarantee you that Trangh will not give up without a fight."

"Trangh," Brains asked confused then realised. "That's the Hood's real name?"

"Yes." Brains could hear the embarrassment in Kyrano's voice as he spoke his brother's name. But he also distinctly heard a note of sadness in Kyrano's voice when he spoke about the Hood. There was definitely a story there. Trangh and Kyrano Belagant might be brothers but they were complete opposites of each other.

Kyrano was gentle, kind and somewhat mystical which wasn't surprising considering that he came from a very old Malaysian family with powerful traditions that could be incomprehensible to outsiders. Trangh on the other hand was ruthless and cruel though he had a mystical edge to him as well but his was dark and twisted. Hearing the note of sorrow in Kyrano's voice Brains couldn't help but wonder if the Hood had always been the way he was now. Or had there been a time when he'd been just like Kyrano. If he had been what had happened to make him so evil, that had made him so dark and twisted.

He contemplated asking Kyrano but decided against it as he wasn't sure he would understand even if Kyrano were to answer his questions. Though he had known Kyrano and Onaha for a decade there was still so much about them and the world of tradition and ancient far eastern mysticism they sometimes lived in that he could not – and probably never would – understand.

"Thunderbird One launch sequence initiated," the island's computer abruptly reported and Brains turned back to the main console to his duties.

Thunderbird One

Sitting in one of the passenger seats of Thunderbird One Gear felt a powerful vibration shaking the rocket as the engines powered up ready to launch. The whole machine was shaking with barely contained power as thrusters and turboscram jets finished the preheat sequence.

Sitting in the seat immediately to his right was Tin-Tin gripping the armrests of her seat tightly as Thunderbird One shook around them, and sitting in the rearmost seat directly behind him Gear was sure that Fermat was doing the same thing. Up ahead Peter and Alan busied themselves with the controls as they brought Thunderbird One's systems fully online. Through the cockpit's 360o windows he could see the top of the silo sliding back and he couldn't help but wonder what was sliding aside on the surface letting the bright tropical sun flood into the silo.

"What's sliding aside above us," he asked.

"The main swimming pool," Tin-Tin answered.

"A swimming pool sliding back I would love to see that," Gear replied speaking more like he would normally as Richie. It was okay to talk normally here he knew. Since they knew who he was he didn't have to put on the superhero act even though he was doing it reflexively and would continue doing so as long as he had his helmet on. Tin-Tin laughed understanding perfectly.

The engines fired and everyone was jerked back in their seats as Thunderbird One shot into the air climbing high into the sky in seconds. Recovering from the initial jolt of acceleration as inertial dampeners cut in preventing them from feeling gee forces Peter manipulated the controls and moved Thunderbird One into horizontal flight and set course for the United Kingdom.

"Call Virgil now," he called back to Gear/Richie.

"Sure thing," Gear replied taking his shock vox from its slot again and flicking it on sending a hailing signal first. Then speaking into it. "Virgil are you there?" When there was no answer he sent another hailing signal and silently preyed that Virgil was in his hotel room to hear the shock vox bleeping.

Queen Mary Hotel

London, That Same Time

Virgil Hawkins sipped quietly on a steaming hot mug of coffee before moving onto the next page of the document displayed on his laptop screen. The business fair that he had come here to London had ended this morning but he wasn't due to catch a flight home until six tomorrow morning. Now he was just going over the contracts that he'd secured for Transtech the company he and Richie had founded together. There were a lot of them and they would have to expanded there manufacturing operations to meet the growing demand but he didn't mind and neither would Richie. Transtech was going from strength to strength and he knew full well why that was.

It was because their biggest customer for the high-density rechargeable power cells and crystal state computer processors that Transtech manufactured – all of it secretly designed and invented by Richie taking advantage of his super intelligence – was Tracy Incorporated. The massive conglomerate of four companies all founded by Jefferson Tracy accepted only the best quality products from its suppliers. The fact that they did so much business with Tracy Inc acted as a powerful seal of approval for Transtech and a number of other companies now wanted their products as well.

Still despite being pleased with all the new orders Virgil couldn't wait to get back to Dakota. He had missed his dad and had worried about him especially since he'd had a nasty cold when Virgil had left to come to London. He'd missed Richie, he'd missed Sharon – as hard as it was to admit he missed his big sister, he'd missed Adam who was now his brother in law having married Sharon almost six years ago, and he'd especially missed little Jake Sharon and Adam's two year old son. He spoiled the boy every chance he got.

But he also wanted to return to Dakota for another reason, a reason that had to do with his alter ego Static. He couldn't help but wonder what the criminals of Dakota had gotten up to while he was away though he hadn't heard any major reports on CNN – which he could see through the satellite television channels that the hotel had – so he guessed that it hadn't been much more than the usual things. Drugs, muggings and the odd metahuman attack nothing that Rubberband Man and Gear couldn't handle if they had to. Still he worried what the crooks got up to while he was away.

A sudden bleeping from the direction of the bed made him jump. Getting up from the table by the window where he was working on his laptop he moved over to the bed and fished on his cases out from underneath as the incessant bleeping continued.

"Okay, okay Rich keep your shirt on," he said as he opened the case and moved the few clothes in there out before opening a hidden compartment in the bottom. A compartment which contained his Static uniform, mask, folded up flying disc and on the very top his shock vox which was bleeping away like no tomorrow. Whatever Richie wanted to talk to him about it had to be urgent for him to be calling on the shock vox in the first place, something urgent and something that couldn't be trusted to the telephone system.

Picking up the shock vox and turning it on Virgil tried to ignore the unease that he was suddenly feeling.

"Rich," he said into the shock vox even as he took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"Virgil at last," he heard Richie say back and from behind him Virgil heard what he was sure was jet engines of somekind. The transmission was also giving off a faint but unusual hum as if it had a lot more power behind it than normal. "Bro we need your help fast."

"Whose we Richie," Virgil asked mental alarm bells ringing at full volume. Something major was going on he could tell from the tone of Richie's voice. But how could he help Richie from here. He was thousands of miles away from Dakota, practically on the other side of the world. How could he help Richie from here.

"Me and some new friends of mine," Richie answered.

"What friends Richie," Virgil demanded to know simultaneously wondering if he was going to have to play twenty questions with Richie to get the answers he wanted. He heard what sounded like someone speaking to Richie in the background but the pickup on the shock vox could make out what was said.

"They're the Thunderbirds bro," Richie said at last. And Virgil gasped in shock and surprise. He was glad he was already sitting down or he would have surely collapsed from the shock. Richie's friends with the Thunderbirds, Virgil thought, how on Earth did that happen. The Thunderbirds don't speak to anyone outside International Rescue and that whole organisation is a mystery. How could Richie have made friends with them? And why did he never tell me?

"Virgil," he heard Richie say. Virgil came out of his stunned silence.

"I'm here bro. Did you just say what I thought you said."

"If you think I said the Thunderbirds then your right I did say it. There is no time to explain bro and no time to waste. Listen a master criminal called the Hood has stolen Thunderbird Two and is on his way to London with her. Virgil he's intends to use their technology to rob the biggest banks in the world starting with the Bank of England. We're a few minutes behind him. You have to stop him when he arrives."

"I'll try bro," Virgil answered in a determined tone knowing he could not allow the Hood to succeed. Not only would the Hood cause global financial chaos but he would also ruin the good name of International Rescue. He couldn't let that happen.

"Thanks Virgil. And Virgil watch yourself when you're face to face with the Hood. He's got some really powerful psychic abilities that put Madelyn Spaulding's to shame."

"He's like us?"

"No he's not a metahuman. I don't know how else he could have those powers but he's got them. Just watch yourself."

"I will bro."

"Good luck V I'll see you very soon."

"Thanks bro," Virgil answered before switching off the shock vox. Then he reached over to the bedside cabinet and took out the 'Do Not Disturb' sign. Getting up he walked over to the door and opened it before putting the sign around the outside handle before closing the door. Then for good measure he locked it.

Then he went back to the bed and took out his uniform.

Barely three minutes later Static took off from the balcony of his hotel room and headed high over the city to wait for the Hood to arrive.