A/N: having read your reviews (and thank you for them!) I think I ought to clarify that this is movie-verse and the movie was a prequel to the series, hence the characters here are still in the infant stages of IR. Still trying to find their feet, as it were. And so problems such as the ones here described are bound to crop up, the world being as it is, and I thought that it would be fun/interesting to see what might happen. This story is also building on the events of "Mayday".

"Nothing!" John urged in horror.

"Nothing." Penny repeated with a nod.

"But …" John flopped back against his chair with a sigh and shook his head in confusion.

"The buildings were there, just as Scott described them, but they were deserted and my man said they looked to have been empty for some time."

John frowned and leaned forward to flick up the live feed from the television satellite he had 'borrowed'. The image was clear. Four hangers in the forest clearing and a few trucks scattered among them, just as it had been for the past few days. "Did he go to the right place?"

Penny nodded. "The exact co-ordinates."

"I really don't like this."

"Maybe it was nothing, after all." Penny offered evenly.

"Oh, please! You don't believe that any more than I do!"

"Maybe not. But there's not a lot else we can do about it."

"I guess."

"It's probably best we don't get involved. It's not exactly a stable environment over there right now."

"Which would make it easy to hide any manner of things."

"Conspiracy theories, John? I thought you were more intelligent than that."

John's frown grew and he glanced back at the live feed and the blinking indicator on the communication console that confirmed the open VHF channel. The coded messages persisted but he still had no clue as to where they were being received. They were clever, whoever they were. The old frequency was hard to pin down and easily warped; the signal bounced about all over the place and he was yet to identify the other sources. It shouldn't be hard; there couldn't be many of the old style radios left now that practically everything was digital. But his searching thus far had been fruitless.

"John?"

John was torn from his musings and looked back up at Penny's concerned face.

"We're neutral, John. We have to be. Your father was right when he originally told you to ignore the call."

"Mmm."

"You're not convinced?"

John shook his head slowly, "I get all the political shit, Pen … I understand … but the war ended last week."

"It's still a precarious place to just pop into. Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture."

"Yeah?" John scoffed suddenly, "You try it, then! You listen to relief workers and UN personnel begging for help and then you do fuck all about it!"

"I know, it's hard but - "

"'Hard' doesn't even come close, man!"

Penny's frown grew and she waited patiently for John to calm. He was not one to anger easily but, as much as he was the embodiment of his quieter, calmer mother, the Tracy temper was there, always waiting beneath the surface. And more so since his near-death experience that spring.

After a moment John closed his eyes and groaned softly. "I'm sorry."

Penny smiled thinly, grateful that he was more at ease with backing down than his earthbound siblings. It was his softer temperament after all that won him the prize of a three-weekly stint in high orbit. "Let someone else worry over it."

"I guess."

"What is it, really? Hm? The fact that they were there or the fact that they shot at your brother?"

"Well, surprisingly enough, having these dicks taking pot shots at my family does have a tendency to piss me off!"

"It was just a warning." Penny offered, "And Scott shouldn't have been there."

"Yeah." John dragged a hand through his hair and yawned wearily.

"You look tired, darling. You due to come down from there anytime soon?"

"Day after tomorrow." John nodded.

"Good."

"Mmm." John mumbled, unsure if he was comfortable with not being near his equipment and able to keep an eye on the strange gathering in the forest.

"Well … I ought to go. Things to see, people to do." Penny chuckled and shook her head in dismay at her bad attempt at a joke.

"Sure." John smiled fondly at her. "See ya." He leaned forward to end the communication and then gasped slightly. "Oh, and Pen - "

"I know, I know." Penny smiled, "Mum's the word."

"Whatever." John laughed, "Just don't tell Dad."

"Yeah, that's what I – oh, never mind. Cheerio."

It felt wrong to be sneaking about and lying to the others. But it wasn't worth the hassle of them knowing. And besides, he was only looking into it. It wasn't like he was actually going to go to Russia.

But still John had a nasty taste in his dry mouth as he searched again through the station's systems to ensure he had erased all evidence of his surveillance. He'd transferred all that he had recorded onto mini-disc and had that well hidden at the bottom of his holdall. You could never be too careful where younger brothers were concerned.

"Thunderbird 3 to Thunderbird 5."

John hurried across to the comm. "Receiving."

"Howdy there, partner." Gordon laughed merrily. "Just in town for supplies. Oh, and to drop off the new sheriff."

"Okay …" John smiled and shook his head in dismay. "Whatever, dude." He looked out through the wide view port and saw the bright red hull of the approaching craft glinting in the sunlight. It was an awesome sight, no matter how many times he saw it.

Alan could be excitable at the best of times but today he was on form. The door to the docking tunnel had barely begun to open when a high-pitched poor imitation of a navy whistle screeched forth.

John winced and stepped back warily from the proximity of the door.

"Captain on deck!" Alan announced merrily and clambered through to the station.

"Dude!" John laughed in wonder. "How much fuel did you have to dump to get that lot on board?"

Alan frowned and looked down at the four bags he was struggling to carry at once. "What?"

"You're only here for a week."

"Six nights, seven days." Alan corrected indignantly.

"Yo, Captain Love Bunny!" Gordon suddenly hollered from the tunnel and soon emerged with a grocery bag and a large, unnecessarily cute pink teddy bear. "You forgot your supplies."

"Ooh." Alan enthused and dumped his luggage in the middle of the floor to hurry back and claim the rest of his belongings.

"Supplies?" John frowned in confusion.

"Oh, don't ask." Gordon sighed, amusement dancing on his face.

Intrigued, John followed Alan into the small kitchenette and gasped as he watched him begin to unpack the contents of the bag onto the narrow worktop. "What's all this?"

"What?" Alan defended, "You think I'm gonna eat that ration shit all week? Dude! I'll end up looking like you."

"Hey!"

"Leave it." Gordon cautioned wearily. "It's not worth the effort." He followed John's gaze towards the snacks and sweets that were ordinarily banned from the house, let alone the station. "I know. Onaha took pity on him."

Alan glanced back at his brothers and grinned mischievously. "Sometimes it's good to be the youngest." He turned to John and shrugged slightly. "Not my fault that you can't store stuff up here for more than a week."

"It's not just that." John countered, "You have to be careful what you eat up here because - "

"Let him be." Gordon suggested quickly. A little too quickly. He winked knowingly at John and turned back towards the docking tunnel. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

John bit his lip to hide his grin and backed away from Alan. He collected his bag and took a deep breath. "Well." He cleared his throat and smiled as he watched Alan already tucking into a chocolate muffin. "You want me to run through the systems one last time?"

"Nah." Alan mumbled.

John nodded doubtfully, remembering the serious lack of attention Alan had been paying on his first stay here the previous month. "Sure?"

"I'll be fine!" Alan managed between mouthfuls and waved towards the door. "Get out of here and stop fussing!"

"Okay." John raised his hands apologetically, "Just … you know where I am if you need me."

Alan groaned in frustration and pointed towards the door in annoyance. "Go, already!"

oooo

John watched in silence as the station moved out of view and Thunderbird 3 thrust forwards gently, pressing him back against the seat.

"He'll be fine." Gordon offered quietly.

John turned and watched his brother frowning in concentration as he guided the craft into its homeward descent. He nodded and took a deep breath. "I know."

"There's more to him than stinky feet and whining."

John laughed loudly. "Yeah. I know." He smiled and nodded slowly. "I'm just not looking forward to cleaning up after him."

"Mmm. Here's hoping he works out how to puke through the waste disposal hatch."

"What?" John gasped, "Ew! You don't think - " He grimaced at the idea and closed his eyes.

"He'll be fine!" Gordon laughed. "He'll just be buzzing with all that sugar and needing to pee every five minutes!"

"I tried to tell him." John agreed, "No one would eat that ration stuff unless there was a good reason."

"I know. We all know that. He'll just have to learn the hard way."

"And Dad will blame us for the consequences."

"Dude!" Gordon laughed, "For six nights and seven days free of my darling little brother, I'll take whatever Dad can throw at me!"

John smiled and nodded in agreement but his amusement faded as Gordon turned his attention back to flying the rocket. John let his gaze wander to the bag tucked safely under the seat beside him, suddenly knowing that if his father knew what he had been doing the past few days, Alan's sticky mess of his station was going to be the least of his worries.

tbc ...