DAY 2
The three Tracy brothers, and Brains were spending the day following the rescue by relaxing after the basic maintenance checks and refueling work had been carried out on the vehicles used as well as on Thunderbirds One and Two. Gordon's back was not badly bruised, and, as he predicted, once he had some rest it didn't give him any more trouble.
Scott was busy reading an account of the rescue in the newspaper. "It says here that the building was fifty storeys high," he said, "Why can't reporters print facts correctly?"
Virgil looked up from a magazine he was reading, "I guess it's to make the story a bit more sensational, sells more papers that way."
Gordon was waiting for Brains to make his next move at chess and added, "Or maybe
he just couldn't count, or didn't even bother looking so he plucked the number out of the air."
"Well I'm going to watch my new film," Scott said as he got up to go to his room. "At least the makers of documentaries get their facts reasonably accurate."
Scott went to his room and put the new documentary disc in the player. It was titled the History and Design of World War Two Aircraft. He'd seen it advertised in a magazine and decided to order it. He settled down to watch with a bottle of beer and some of Grandma's chocolate muffins that he had managed to spirit away from the kitchen after she'd baked them. He'd kept them in a storage box in his room for an occasion such as this, so he reclined on his bed and waited for the film to begin with eager anticipation.
Soon the film downloaded and the usual opening words about copyright appeared followed by a very familiar piece of music and then the opening titles. Scott looked in amazement at the screen and then realization hit him like a sledge hammer as he jumped up and switched the movie player off. "Gordon Tracy, so help me one of these days I'll kill you!" he said to the offending disc in his hand, "In fact I'd do it now if we weren't short handed with John being away."
He looked at the cover of the film he'd ordered and cursed himself for two reasons. First for mentioning to Gordon what film he'd sent for and secondly for letting Gordon go and collect the delivery from the mail plane earlier today. Thinking back on it, Gordon had been very eager to do that. He looked at the disc in his hand and wondered why he'd never noticed 'Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines' clearly written across the front. He checked the packaging and realized that it had not occurred to him that the sealing tape had been tampered with, so pleased he had been just to receive the parcel. He wondered where Gordon had put the film he'd ordered.
Scott returned to the lounge angrily to confront Gordon and found the only occupant there was Virgil who was about to begin playing the piano.
"Hi, Scott, I thought you were going to watch your film," he said.
"Where's Gordon?" Scott asked, ignoring Virgil's remark.
"He said he was going to help Dad over in the Round House," Virgil replied. "Brains won the chess game and he's gone down to the lab."
"Very convenient of him to do that," Scott said. "I can bide my time and wait until he comes back."
"Why, what's he done now?" Virgil asked
Scott proceeded to tell him about the film switch. "He'd better not have damaged my film wherever he's got it stashed. It won't be in his room, that would be too obvious for him. I was all ready to settle down and enjoy watching it."
"Got any ideas for a payback?" Virgil asked.
"I've got something in mind." Scott said a bit more cheerfully.
Scott waited until his father and Gordon came back from the Round House where they had been doing a routine roof inspection, checking the panels that protected the building whenever Thunderbird Three was launched from below. For reasons known only to himself it was a job that Jeff liked to carry out from time to time with the help of one of his sons and Gordon had been eager to assist this time.
Kyrano brought some coffee for them all and Scott noticed that Gordon was unusually silent for a change. He waited until they were all served and then he said to his father, "Dad, I think it's been a while since Gordon flew Thunderbird One. He suggested it yesterday after the rescue but he was tired and it wasn't a suitable time for him to fly her then. Seeing as it's quiet now I'd like to take him out on a test run."
"Seems a good idea to me, son. You're right he's not flown her for a while, and it's best to go around the area while it's quiet," Jeff said. "I'll give you air clearance when you're ready to launch."
Gordon looked surprised at this sudden change of plans. "I thought you were going to watch your new movie," he said to Scott. "Do we have to do it now?"
"I'll watch it later," Scott said with a smile. "Yeah, come on, let's go."
A few minutes later Gordon found himself in the passenger seat beside Scott in Thunderbird One. "I was only kidding yesterday, Scott. You know I hate flying unless I have to. Give me Thunderbird Four any day. Sailing's a much slower pace, you know, gives you time to see things," he told his brother.
"No, you reminded me yesterday that you need to be kept familiar with all the rescue vehicles," Scott told him. "You needn't do much today, just get the feeling of flying her again."
After getting clearance from his father, Scott launched the sleek rocket plane from beneath the swimming pool and they soared high into the air. He engaged the horizontal flight control and the seats swung down in motion with Thunderbird One.
"You know, the strangest thing happened to me earlier," Scott told his red-haired brother who looked as if he was clearly not enjoying the ride. Unlike Alan, he was not keen on speed (unless it was water based) or heights. He didn't mind Thunderbird Two and he had to admit to himself, Virgil was a good steady pilot of her. This particular Thunderbird was his least favourite to pilot or even be a passenger in and Scott knew it.
Scott continued talking, "I went to put my film on and guess what? Another film came on in its place. Not a bad choice of film considering, just not the one I ordered. Made me think of us, well not you much, 'cause you don't do a lot of flying but the others do. Then I got those words of the theme song stuck in my head."
Scott turned Thunderbird One around at a fast sharp angle making Gordon go pale a bit and then he continued. "Where was I now? Oh yes the words of the theme song, 'Up, down, flying around." With each word Scott changed Thunderbird One's direction and height at high speed. "Looping the loop and defying the ground." With that Scott rolled Thunderbird One over three times. Gordon was white as a sheet and looked as if he would throw up any minute, his hands gripping the sides of the seat tightly. "So are you ready to tell me now where you put my film?" Scott asked him.
"You mean you brought me out here just for that?" Gordon managed to answer after a few seconds. At the same time he thinking to himself 'How did I wind up in a job where big brother is Field Commander and father, Supreme Commander and why did I not keep my mouth shut yesterday and remind them both that it had been a while since I'd flown Thunderbird One.'
"No, not just for that," Scott replied. "I had a bit of trouble with the instrument panel showing a minor defect on the air-recycling duct when I was doing the checks earlier and fixed it. I wanted to check it out, now it's working just fine." Scott suddenly dropped the height of the craft again. "So where's my film Gordy?"
Fearing Scott would roll Thunderbird One again Gordon told him. "Okay I'll give it to ya', just take us back and lemme outa here."
"Why, don't you like my flying skills?" Scott asked him. "Okay then, you take her back, after all that's what Dad'll be expecting when you call to ask for clearance to get back in."
Scott put Thunderbird One on hover mode and vacated the pilot's seat. "Come on, let's go home."
Gordon took a deep breath to recover his senses then climbed into the empty seat and strapped himself in while Scott did the same in the passenger seat. He set the co-ordinates that would take them back to base and disengaged the hover mode. The machine moved swiftly forward. Gordon was determined to do this well and get them home without any problems by remembering all of his training. He knew he would never be as good a pilot as Scott, but he knew Scott would never make a good aquanaut either.
When they returned he handed Scott the copy of his film as promised. "Thanks, Gordon, I'll enjoy watching it even more now," he told him with a smile. "I might even enjoy the other one, too."
Alone in his room again, Scott settled down to enjoy his film once more. This time it was the right one. He brought a fresh glass of lemonade over but when he opened his food container to get out a chocolate muffin he found the box empty. Then he suddenly thought, 'Virgil! I haven't seen him since I got back. He knew I'd have something in here to eat while I watched the film.' He looked again at the empty food container and sighed.
John took his seat on the monorail along with other early morning travellers to Manchester. He'd bid farewell to his grandmother and Lady Penelope earlier after Parker had driven them all up to London and dropped John off at the station. Not long after the train had begun its journey, he'd been served with a cup of coffee which he was now enjoying as he read a newspaper account of the rescue in Toronto carried out by International Rescue.
A fellow passenger was also reading the same story and said to John with his index finger on the newspaper headline, "They won't be able to keep their identity secret for ever you know, somebody will find out who they are and where they come from."
John looked up in surprise at the man sitting opposite him. "They seem to have managed so far, what makes you say that?" he asked him.
"It's inevitable. Things like that always leak out in the end no matter how much they try to keep it secret. Somebody ruthless enough will track them down. You sound American, you don't know anything about them do you?"
John laughed, "Why should I know anything about them just because I'm an American? There are a lot of us over there you know."
"Yes, I suppose so," the man said dejectedly. "I just hate mysteries, that's all."
"I've heard it said," John said as he decided to humour the man and began speaking in a low voice, "that their base is situated in a jungle hideout in South America. Let's face it, a lot of that jungle has never been explored, and it's an ideal place to hide those machines."
"True, true I suppose some multi rich recluse could hide himself away there and have a little army working for him, a quick ride in a jet and they could be back in the States in no time when they've finished their stint. He probably made them sign some secrecy clause in their contract threatening to sue them for millions if they reveal their identity."
"Yeah, it's bound to be something like that, I mean they must get highly paid for what they do so they are not going to throw that sort of money away are they?" John continued. "My guess is that he's an oil magnate, I mean those machines must use a lot of oil to run them and he can get his hands on plenty of the stuff."
"Sounds right to me," the man answered.
John quickly moved the conversation on to other topics in the newspaper and the journey progressed swiftly to Manchester. There he bid his fellow traveller goodbye as he left the train to get the connecting train that would take him to Jodrell Bank.
Steve had asked him if he would mind giving a talk about his astronomical studies and experiences to some of the students tomorrow and John was only too pleased to agree to do this. As much as he loved doing the job he was doing now for International Rescue, he suddenly felt as if it were like old times and he was free to be himself again, no brothers arguing and teasing each other, no rescues and no space duty in Thunderbird Five. Here he was just John Tracy, ex-astronaut, author of four books on astronomy and ex-athlete. He smiled as he remembered the days at Harvard when he used to go running on the track with Steve and some of the parties they'd been to.
The pleasant little village of Goostry soon came into view and John knew he would be staying there this evening as a guest of Steve and his wife and family. Before long the train drew to a halt at the station and John took his overnight bag and emerged from the train in the late morning sunshine and hailed a cab to take him on the final leg of his journey.
Back in London, Ruth and Lady Penelope were having morning coffee in a restaurant in Oxford Street. Parker had driven them both around parts of the city so Ruth could see several of the most famous tourist attractions. Now he was busy taking their overnight bags to the hotel while they were having a little break before going to see some of the shops.
"So what do you think of London?" Lady Penelope asked Ruth.
"There's certainly a lot to see, and I can't believe I've actually seen Buckingham Palace it's so big. I think I really would get lost in there," Ruth replied. "Then the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, too, and you say I haven't seen half of the sights yet."
Lady Penelope smiled. "I'm pleased you're enjoying your visit. Now we can have a look at the shops and see some more things tomorrow. After dinner tonight we are going to see a nice show in Leicester Square. I asked Parker to book us a box to see that new musical 'The Flower Lady,' I've heard it's very good so we don't want to get too tired. I would like to visit one of my regular antique shops though, there are one or two little items I have had my eyes on for a while and the proprietor has telephoned me to say he has one of them for sale. So we will have a look at a few other shops and then have lunch at one of my favourite restaurants before going on there."
"I'd like to buy a few little souvenirs of my trip and some little gifts for the family," Ruth said. "I'm looking forward to going to see a show, too, I haven't seen one since I went to New York and saw Ned Cook's show that time. Thank you so much."
"It's my pleasure," she replied. "I want to see you enjoy yourself and you may like to come back another time. Now if you have finished your coffee, I'll call the waiter and get the bill and then we can do some shopping. I've given Parker the rest of the day off so we need to get a cab back to the hotel."
She summoned the waiter over and after the bill was paid they stepped out into the busy street.
"I don't think I need to worry about looking at too many clothes stores," Ruth said. "Where I live I don't need many clothes for evenings out much. When you get to my age comfortable clothes are a lot better than fashionable ones. I like nice cool cotton dresses or tops."
"I'm sure we will be able to find plenty of those for you," Lady Penelope reassured her, "These stores sell clothes to suit all tastes."
John looked with fascination as the giant shape of the Lovell Telescope came into view, indicating that he had ended his journey and he had at last reached Jodrell Bank.
He paid the driver and stepped into the reception of the visitors centre and approached a young woman at the desk.
"Hello, I've an appointment with Mr. Steve Sanders," he told her. "My name's John Tracy."
She checked through a few names on the computer in front of her and found his name listed. She smiled pleasantly and said, "I'll tell him you're here and get a porter to show you the way to his study."
Steve Sanders put his telephone back down after receiving the message from the receptionist. He did not wait for the porter to bring John along to his study. He went to meet him en route instead.
The two friends saw each other and shook hands enthusiastically. "John Tracy, it's great to see you again, pal. You got here okay then, no problems?"
"Hi, Steve," John replied, "It's good to see you, too, and yeah I got here okay with your instructions."
"Come into my study here and we'll have some coffee and catch up on things. You can leave your bag here until I take you home tonight. I'll show you around the place then we can have some lunch."
"Thanks, I'd love to do that," John replied as he was shown in to a room with various files and paperwork strewn about a desk along with what looked like photographs of various astral objects.
There were two comfortable chairs over in the corner with a pleasant view of the park from the window and it was here John was invited to sit down while Steve organized some coffee for both of them.
"So what exactly are you doing now, John?" Steve asked, "I was surprised you gave up working for NASA, to work for your father's business. I thought you would have stayed there longer."
John hesitated a bit then answered, "It's not so bad, I work on the communication side of the industry. You know I love anything to do with radios, my brothers and I get to travel around a lot. There's always plenty to do and when I'm not working I can still get my telescope out, so I'm still pretty close to the stars."
John thought to himself, 'Security, darned security. I'd love to tell him the truth. He'd love to know I have my very own satellite. He'd love to see it as well, but I guess it always has to be like this now.'
After the coffee was served John steered the subject into talking about old times while they drank it.
Later, Steve said, "Come on I'll show you around now. I guess you're just aching to see the telescope. By the time you've finished seeing that it will be time for lunch."
"You bet I am, I've longed to see the largest radio telescope in the world. You should see this old astronomy book I've been reading at the home of my friend in London," John laughed, "The theories they believed then, 'canals on Mars, nine moons for Saturn', Pluto wasn't even discovered when it was written. I'd love to know what they would have made of pulsars and quasars."
Steve smiled, "I know what you mean. It's like looking at ancient maps of the world, terra incognito, here be dragons, sea monsters and all that stuff."
On the way to see the telescope Steve showed him one of the lecture theatres that he would probably be using the next day to give a talk to the students. "Word has already leaked out that you're coming here and my guess is that you're going to be one popular speaker," Steve told him.
John raised an eyebrow. "Really? In that case I ought to get something prepared this evening. What do you think they would want me to talk about?"
"Oh don't worry about it too much, it's supposed to be informal," Steve told him. "Your life as an astronaut with NASA and of course your discovery of the Tracy quasar system should be enough. Then just answer some questions they may fire at you. It will only last for about an hour."
He led John from the lecture theatre to the building housing the telescope, eager to show his guest all that the great machine had to offer.
Ruth had enjoyed looking in some of the great London stores. She'd bought herself a nice outfit for the show later and Lady Penelope had bought a few small items for herself. After they had lunch, they then moved on to the antiques shop which was close by the exclusive restaurant.
"Ah, Lady Penelope, so nice to see you again," the owner of the store said as one of his most regular customers walked through the door with Ruth.
"Thank you, Julian," she replied. "I have a friend here who is staying with me, and she may like to purchase something, too. Now then I believe you have a Royal Worcester figurine that I have been interested in for a while."
"Yes, Madam, it has recently come in from one of the estates that is being sold off,
I managed to obtain it for you. I have it here ready for you to view," he told her.
While Lady Penelope was busy with looking at her potential purchase, Ruth browsed around the shop. She knew Jeff liked to keep a few antique items in the lounge behind his desk and thought she might get him something for a souvenir. Suddenly she saw the very thing that she wanted to buy for him.
Lady Penelope was satisfied with the figurine, "Yes, she is perfect for my collection," she told the shopkeeper. "Now can you have her delivered to my home as usual?"
"No problem with that, Madam, I'll arrange that now," he replied as he carefully put the expensive antique back into the box.
"I'd love to buy this for Jeff," Ruth said. "It'll match that other thing he has on top of the television behind his desk."
Lady Penelope looked at the small white marble sculpture and totally agreed. "Yes, he's got the 'Discus Thrower,' so I'm sure he'd love to have 'The Thinker' as well."
"An excellent choice, if I say so myself," the shopkeeper said. "It was made not long after the original bronze work was produced in 1882, a fine copy made by a little know English sculptor named Edmund Brown."
"I don't know about all that, it just reminds me of Jeff and how he's always thinking up something or other," Ruth replied.
"Can you arrange for it to be delivered to my home, too?" Lady Penelope asked Julian as she prepared to leave the shop.
"I will, Madam, goodbye to both of you," he told them as they left.
After an interesting afternoon looking around the buildings at Jodrell Bank, Steve took him for a walk around the park and arboretum. He pointed out to John the rare trees that had been planted for earth's sciences and the nature reserve.
Then later they went to Steve's home where he was introduced to Steve's wife, Helen and their two little boys aged four and two. The elder boy, Darren was fascinated with this visitor who sounded like his father when he spoke. Helen went to serve up the special dinner she had prepared for their guest. After John had been shown to his room and freshened up after his journey, Steve took John into the lounge to wait while he went to lend his wife a hand with the dinner. His two little sons had followed behind him.
"Now you stay here with Uncle John while I help Mummy in the kitchen," Steve told them. "He's been all he way up to the stars in a rocket ship and if you're good he'll tell you all about it."
This bit of news made Darren's eyes grow wide with wonder. His younger brother Paul was not impressed, however, and decided to play with his toy animals on the floor.
"I've been a good boy, Uncle John, Paul was naughty, not me," the small boy told him. "He threw his ball and knocked his juice over. How do you go in a rocket ship
all the way to the stars?"
John told him in simplified terms all about flying in a rocket and going to the stars watching with fascination as the child stood in awe.
"Have you been to the moon?" Darren asked him.
"No, but my Dad has," John told him and smiled at the boys expression of surprise.
"Your Dad has!" he answered. He then added a little dejectedly, "My Dad hasn't."
John looked down at Paul who was still playing with some toy animals on the floor. "You know we have lots of animals up amongst the stars, too. There's ordinary ones like dogs, a bull, a sheep and a goat. Then there are bigger ones like bears, and a lion and even a special horse that had wings once and could fly."
Darren was now wide eyed with interest and John proceeded to tell him in simplified words, the story of Perseus rescuing Princess Andromeda by flying to her aid on the winged horse Pegasus. By the time the tale was through, Helen came in to tell John
that dinner was about to be served.
"So you see, Darren, all those animals and people were put up in the sky by magic. We can still see them and tell everybody about them," John told him as he finished.
"I want to see the horse with wings on," Darren responded enthusiastically.
"It's dinner time now and I want you to come and ready for it now," his mother told him as she took him and Paul by the hand. Turning to John she added, "Thanks for keeping them entertained. I'm afraid Darren will want to hear a lot more of your stories before you leave."
John spent a pleasant evening with the family. Darren had wanted another star story from John before he went to bed. John was happy to oblige and afterwards he enjoyed talking to Steve and Helen for the remainder of the evening. Before going to bed, he had managed to jot down a few notes for the talk he would be giving tomorrow. He was looking forward to this and it took him back to the lectures he used to give before his life had changed for ever when International Rescue had been formed.
In London, Ruth was also about to go to sleep in the luxurious surroundings of the hotel where she and Lady Penelope were staying. She had thoroughly enjoyed herself today by seeing the sights of London. The shopping and the show were more than she ever hoped to see as a girl in Kansas. She put her hand on the silver locket she wore that contained her husband Grant's photograph and quietly whispered to him about all she had seen and done before eventually falling asleep.
Parker had enjoyed his night off, too. He had driven the Rolls-Royce back down to the mansion and spent a jovial evening in The Rose and Crown in Foxleyheath Village.
Something he'd heard though from his drinking companions was disturbing enough to sober him up, not that he'd drunk much to render himself intoxicated. He left the premises early to walk the short distance back to the home of his employer. He thought about the news he had heard and knew he was going to have to be extra alert over the next few days. Before going to bed, he read the local evening newspaper and there indeed was the article his friends had told him about. He then went into the library and found the traps set for the mice had not been sprung while he was out for the day. Then he carefully checked that all the windows and doors of the house were secure, he put on the alarm systems and retired to bed.
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