Well looky here - a rare crossover event!
I actually wasn't going to post this one until I'd finished Adversity but my friend convinced me that you guys may want something to read whilst waiting for the other story so I thought - yeah, why not?
If this story picks up momentum I'll get chapters up faster. Multi-tasking!
Hope you enjoy!
John yawned loudly.
As always, he'd spent most of the day sitting at his control panel on Thunderbird 5, monitoring the different channels to see if anyone was in need of assistance. It had been a pretty quiet day so John had been able to do a little bit of stargazing on the side, jotting some notes down in his journal to keep as a reference.
Yawning once more, John closed his journal and wheeled himself over to the consoles relaying radio traffic. As he got nearer, he discovered the sound of country and western blaring through one of the speakers. He frowned and tried using one of his dials go lower the sound, but the same awful noise continued blasting through.
"Geez, get a taste in music, you weirdos." he scoffed to himself, sliding back towards his other consoles. He listened to see if anyone was making a call, trying to ignore the dull drawls of the country singer.
"Calling International Rescue... Calling International Rescue... Is this what you're supposed to do? I can't hear anything."
John made his way over to the central control panel, flicking the controls off mute. He answered aimably. "This is International Rescue, how can we be of service?"
"And that, my friend, is checkmate."
"What do you mean checkmate? It's my fourth move." Alan spat, eyeing up the chessboard.
Gordon smirked as he removed Alan's pawn from the board. "You should know by now that I'm the master of chess, Al."
Alan just groaned in response, ruffling his hand through his hair. "That's just so unfair."
"Life's unfair, kiddo." Gordon laughed and narrowly missed being struck by a cushion, dodging at the very last second.
The blonde rolled his eyes and walked over to the balcony, wincing as the outside wave of humidity hit him. He soon smiled as the beautiful horizon came into view, perfectly framed by the palm trees. He sighed happily, taking in the smell of the sea.
Alan looked down at the terrace to see Scott and Virgil sitting by the pool, both enjoying the sunshine. Virgil was sunbathing on the lounger and Scott was next to him, reading his magazine, feet resting up on another chair.
Gordon soon appeared beside Alan and followed his gaze down to their older brothers. They both looked much too peaceful for his liking. His mouth widened into a cheshire grin and he turned to his younger brother. "Oh this is just too perfect. Want to ruin their day?"
Alan felt his mouth curve up into a smirk, "I'm game. Is dad about?"
"No, I think he's down in the lab with Brains and Tin-Tin." Gordon responded, recalling what Grandma had told him a few hours earlier. "If we get them now, we should be in the clear!"
"Alright, sounds like a plan. Speaking of plans, what do you have in mind?"
"I'm thinking the old one-two pool shove."
Alan chuckled, "Virgil?"
"Oh yeah, it's gotta be Virgil."
The terrible twosome made their way down the stairs via Kyrano's allotments, allowing them to sneak behind their unsuspecting brothers.
Virgil was dozing on the sun lounger, slightly shaded by the table parasol. With his sunglasses firmly in place on his eyes, the artist had no chance of sensing his two brothers until it was too late.
As quick as a flash, Gordon and Alan had seized the entire lounger, carrying it to the edge before unceremoniously dumping him in the pool. Virgil resurfaced coughing and spluttering, moving his sunglasses to the bridge of his nose to see the culprits. "You!"
Gordon and Alan laughed as they placed the lounger back down, Gordon quickly sliding onto it before Alan could. Alan rolled his eyes and made his way over to the bemused Scott, pulling out a chair.
"Hey Scott." he greeted calmly, as if nothing had happened.
"Alan." Scott nodded.
Virgil was still cursing at being pushed in the pool, the drag on his outfit making it awkward to swim. "I'll remember this, Gordon!"
"It was Alan's idea!" Gordon quickly shot back, causing Alan to pout.
"It was not, it was yours! You wanted to do the old one-two."
"Still makes you an accessory." Scott pointed out, causing Alan's frown to deepen.
"Hey, whose side are you on anyway?"
"Certainly not yours, mate!" Gordon laughed. "A surprise, really. We all know you're his favourite."
Scott frowned, lowering his magazine. "Now you take that back, Gordon Cooper Tracy. You know I don't choose favourites."
"Could've fooled me." Gordon quipped, looking over at the struggling Virgil. "Hey grumpy, need a hand?"
"Some help would be nice, yes."
"Coolio." Gordon hopped up and approached his stricken brother, holding out a supportive hand. Virgil reached up to grab it then yanked his brother into the pool with him. Gordon did a flip before submerging.
"Good one Virg'. I did not see that coming."
"I totally did. Not everyone's slow like you, Scott. Ow!"
Gordon kicked himself upright, shaking out his waterlogged locks. "Touché, oh brother o' mine."
Virgil heaved himself up onto the side of the pool. "That makes us even."
"No bother to me! I wanted a cool dip anyway!" Gordon beamed, beginning to do a backstroke.
Virgil remained on the edge of the pool, watching the swimmer at work. He turned his head around to briefly speak to Scott for a moment and when he turned back he was hit in the face by a soggy shirt. On removing the wet clothing from off his head, he saw a topless Gordon giving him the V sign.
A bleeping noise cut through their idyllic paradise, bringing them down to reality.
"We've got a mission, boys!" Scott quickly stood up, Alan and Virgil springing up immediately after. "Fish boy, get your butt out of that pool and follow on!"
Gordon quickly swam over to the edge and pulled himself up, catching the towel that Alan dutifully threw for him. He wrapped it around himself to dry the excess water off.
The four men rushed into the Tracy Villa, making a beeline for their father's desk.
Jeff was already sitting there. As soon as his four boys turned up, he activated John's bleeping portrait, allowing the feed to go live. "Go ahead, John."
"Three members of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol have gone missing in their vessel, father. It's believed to have been knocked off course by a Greek hurricane ravaging the area they were scouting. Marineville's last transmission with the submarine indicated that they were heading due north, in the direction of the Aegean Sea - straight into the eye of the storm."
"The WASPs?" Gordon gasped.
Jeff frowned. This complicated things. "Have they tried organizing their own search and rescue mission?"
"Lieutenant Shore informed me that their first aerial search failed due to the adverse weather conditions in the area. Furthermore, none of their other submersible craft have the capabilities or speed to reach them before their air supply runs out."
"Why would they willingly go towards a cyclone? I know they're underwater, but still! That's gotta be bad news all around." Alan noted, shaking his head.
"Marineville tracking stations recorded the vessel making some pretty erratic movements before it disappeared. Speed increased to 700 knots before suddenly being reduced to 200."
"700 knots?" Virgil looked over at Gordon. "I didn't think WASP submersibles were capable of speeds like that!"
Gordon frowned in thought. "I know they were developing a few projects when I was there but naturally they were all top secret. I heard rumours that the boffins up top were developing three new craft and their top speed would be 600 knots but I don't know how true that is."
"It still doesn't explain why they accelerated into a hurricane." Scott mused. "System malfunction?"
"Most likely."
"I get the picture. It's Fireflash 4 all over again."
"So, what's the action?" Alan inquired, "Thunderbird 4 will be needed, but this makes things a little difficult."
"Not necessarily."
"You forget, Gordon - you used to be a part of that organization." Jeff countered. "If the crew are alive and recognize you-"
"But what if they don't? We can't let three innocent people die over something as trivial as that." Gordon argued back. "I can perform the rescue remotely."
"Yeah, we managed alright with Houseman." Alan put in.
"What do you say, father?" John asked.
Jeff remained quiet for a few moments, making a decision. He looked up at his sons. "Alright. This is what I want you to do. Scott, take off for Greece. John will set you up with a viable place to land and set up mobile control. Oh, John? Have you monitored the path of the hurricane?"
"Yes, it poses no risk to the country itself. It's sea-going."
"Good. Off you go, Scott."
"Right." Scott crossed the room and stood in-between the lamps, vanishing behind the wall as he activated them.
"I'll tell Marineville you're on route." John said, dismissing himself.
"What about us, father?" Alan asked.
"Virgil, launch Thunderbird 2 and take Thunderbird 4 with you. Be mindful of wind shear. I know she's capable of flying through hurricanes but you never know when an issue may arise. Any problems and you contact Brains immediately."
"Got it."
"Off you go."
"Yes sir." both men chorused, one heading towards his own hidden entrance while the second headed to the lift which would take him down to Thunderbird 2's silo.
"See you in a sec, Virgil."
"Make sure you shower before coming up onto the flight deck. I don't want chlorine dripping everywhere." Virgil warned, before disappearing behind the wall.
Gordon rolled his eyes as the elevator doors closed.
Jeff and Alan exchanged a glance.
"I'll be monitoring their progress from afar, won't I?" Alan said, a little deflated.
Jeff smiled at his youngest son, placing his hands on his shoulders. "And monitoring the weather patterns."
"Greaaat."
Jeff smirked and led him onto the veranda. They watched as the swimming pool slid back, allowing Thunderbird 1 to launch into the sky. A few moments later, the powerful jets of Thunderbird 2 could be heard coming from the cliff runway. The green behemoth took off and followed its sister towards the danger zone.
Alan grinned, turning to his dad. "I bet the navy hated asking for help. Just shows how useless their craft are."
Jeff chuckled. "Come on Alan, you best get studying those weather charts."
The young man groaned, turning back into the lounge. His father remained on the balcony, looking into the sky. He thought about the type of rescue his boys would be facing. With Gordon potentially exposing himself to ex-crewmates, Jeff had a right to be worried.
He just hoped everything would go without a hitch.