Unwanted Sacrifice By Zeilfanaat
Disclaimer: The Thunderbirds are not mine, I'm just borrowing the characters. I might even return some of them. :evil grin: Anyway, they do belong to Gerry Anderson and Carlton Television, I think.
Summary: A 'friend' of the family is in danger, and one of our heroes might turn more blue than he already is.
Ratings: General.
Warning: Character Death. If you don't like those, don't read this story.
A/N: Please read and review. This is my first Thunderbird fanfic. Thanks to White Rose01 for pushing me... White Rose, you've just been given another means of communicating, and it's called 'review'.
Chapter 1: a friend of the family
"Calling International Rescue. Calling International Rescue. Please come in."
Alan hurried towards the control panel. He was only here for 10 minutes, and already there was an emergency. And Scott and John were barely on their way back to Earth.
"International Rescue here. Who are you, and what is the emergency?" Alan responded.
"This is Space Shuttle 278, we are on our way to Space Station 39, our craft is not responding to any commands and we are running out of oxygen."
"How many people are there on-board?" Alan asks, noting everything down. Something was familiar. If only he could put his finger on it.
"Five in total. Three men, two women. Can you help us?"
"We will. Don't worry, I'll come back to you on this frequency."
"OK, over and out."
The communications between the two crafts was broken and Alan called base, also having an open link to Thunderbird 3.
"Go ahead, Alan." Jeff said in his usual voice. Virgil, Gordon, Brains, Tin- Tin, Kyrano and Grandmother were all in the living room, since they were just having a cup of tea, so naturally, they all heard what was going on.
"I've gotten a call from a space shuttle that was on its way to their space station. Their shuttle doesn't respond to any commands and they are running out of oxygen."
Jeff thought about it for a short time, then said: "OK, John, Scott, turn Thunderbird 3 around."
John nodded, "F.A.B. father." And he turned the red space craft around. "You have all the equipment needed on-board, don't you?"
Again John nodded. "We have 6 space suits with oxygen bottles. I would prefer to have more, but it is sufficient."
Jeff nodded. Usually Scott was field-leader, but in space, when John was the one handling Thunderbird 3, John took over that role. They had talked about that, and found it was more logical, since John knew just about everything there was to know about space and space-rescues. Scott had had his share, but it was just more efficient to have John handle the rescues in space. However when Alan was the one on Thunderbird 3, Scott was still the field-leader. Alan was too impulsive.
"Alan, what's the name of the shuttle, where was it heading, and what course?" John asked in his professional voice.
Alan looked at his notes again. "Space Shuttle 278, heading towar- John? Are you all right?" Everyone had heard John suck in breath.
Scott looked at the pilot of the Thunderbird. "John?"
It only took a second for John to pull himself together, and with a monotone voice he said: "It's Nicole's transport."
Gasps throughout the whole family could be heard. John leaned forward a bit, and punched in a couple of co-ordinates. Alan got his voice back. "They were going to space station thir-" Again he was interrupted.
"Thirty-nine, I know everything to the detail Alan."
Alan swallowed and nodded. "OK, John."
Now the rest of the family had gotten over the initial shock too. Tin-Tin clung onto her father, as Alan wasn't there. Scott kept quiet as he watched his younger brother increase the speed of the Thunderbird. He couldn't decipher any emotion on the blonde man's face. It was probably for the best. John knew he had a job to do, so he forced all emotions back, and thought of the best way to do the job.
Jeff broke the uncomfortable silence that had fallen.
"John, are you OK with this?"
For a moment John let his emotions show and he answered in a soft voice: "No, I'm not OK with Nicole being on a space ship that is out of control and that is running out of oxygen." Quickly pushing his emotions back again he added: "So we'd better make sure they're out of there quickly."
Jeff nodded. "OK, keep me updated."
"FAB father." Scott answered.
"Base out."
A/N: hi, anyone out there? Anyone reading this? Well, if you are, I bet you're wondering about who this Nicole is. Please review and let me know what you think. (or where the mistakes are.)