Sorry about the little delay in posting this. I wasn't happy with this chapter so had to work hard to mend it until I was satisfied.

Hope you enjoy!

It was early evening on Tracy Island and the remaining members of the family were sitting in the lounge, trying to keep themselves occupied. Jeff was at his desk, studying his papers and the rest of them were sitting in silence on the sofa chairs next to the sliding glass doors overlooking the patio. They'd not long had dinner and were hopeful of a call from one of the boys relaying positive news.

Grandma and Tin-Tin were reading their magazines, Kyrano was sitting by the patio door, admiring the bright, evening sky, and Alan was idly rubbing his finger against his watch face, trying to resist the urge to contact his brother every two minutes.

John's portrait flickered into life, cutting through the silence. Jeff leant back in his chair and accepted the call, his ashtray turning up as a live feed of his son's face appeared in the picture frame. "Okay John, we're receiving you."

"I know this is probably the news you didn't want to hear right now, but we've just had an emergency call, father."

Jeff's heart sank. "Alright son. What's happened?"

"Two satellites have collided in space, causing them to lose power and uncontrollably drift away from Earth. NASA tells me that one of their new, unmanned Guardian probes was involved in the collision, and that they suspected the other satellite was manned when it collided with theirs, but they don't know who by."

"Sounds a little suspicious."

"That's what I thought. They reckoned the unknown party were attempting to steal the new probe but collided with it in the process."

"Space pirates?" Grandma cut in, shaking her head in disapproval.

"Space pirates." John confirmed. "They're the ones in danger by all accounts."

Jeff was thankful that the rescue would be up in space. "A mission for Thunderbird 3 then. Alan, you're up. Prepare for immediate launching."

"Yes father!" Alan leapt to his feet.

Jeff turned back to his second eldest. "Okay John. Tell NASA we're on our way, but there's no guarantee we'll be able to save their Guardian probe as the manned satellite comes first."

"Okay father, I'll do that. Good luck, Alan. I'll contact you again with further details after Three's launch."

"F.A.B Johnny-boy."

The video link to Thunderbird 5 disappeared.

Jeff turned to his loyal manservant who was now back on his feet. "Right. Kyrano, go and fetch Brains. Since Scott's not here, he can fill in as Alan's co-pilot."

The manservant nodded and went to fetch the engineer. Jeff turned back to his youngest. "Take it easy, Alan - you could be dealing with criminals up there. Gratitude is not something that comes easy to them."

"I understand, father." Alan made his way over to the couch which would transport him into Thunderbird 3's silo. He waited for Brains to arrive, and after a few moments, the genius, who had been briefed by Kyrano, was sitting next to him and ready to go.

"W-We'll be needing T-Three's recovery gear." Brains said. "I-It should already be o-on-board the r-rocket."

"Good luck, boys."

"Thanks dad. We shouldn't be too long. Ready Brains?"

"Ready, Alan."

With a flick of a switch, the couch they were sitting on dropped through the floor and travelled into the depths of the subterranean lair housing the large silos containing the Thunderbird aircraft. The couch propelled through Thunderbird 3's silo before raising up and into the bottom of the rocket. Once aboard, Alan and Brains got up and started preparing the rocket for launch.

Two minutes later, with Brains strapped in, Alan made his way up to the flight deck. Double-checking his consoles to see if everything was in perfect condition, Alan strapped himself in the pilot's seat and flicked the ignition switch.

4.5 million pounds of thrust blasted out of Thunderbird 3's boosters, lifting the sleek, red rocket through the Round House and into the evening sky. It created an explosion of bright light as it sliced through Earth's atmosphere, reaching space within a few minutes. Once the rocket was out of the planet's orbit and had steadied into a gradual flight, Alan unstrapped himself and opened the radio to the passenger cabin.

"Everything alright, Brains?"

"Take-off was A-OK, Alan. Have set a flight path towards danger zone. Should be there in about ten minutes."

"Thanks Brains, I'll be down shortly so we can discuss just what to do about these probes."

Switching the radio off, Alan momentarily lost himself looking out of Three's porthole into the starry sky consuming the rocket. His hand drifted towards his watch and he found himself in awe of the situation. He looked back to see Earth in his rear view, and the swirling grey and white mass devouring an area of the planet told him that they were currently flying over the cyclone his brothers were currently in the midst of.

He imagined Scott would be barking out his orders to the locals, trying to evacuate them to safety as he struggled not to lose his temper. Not out of anger, but out of worry, knowing that he'd want to do everything in his power to save as many civilians as he could. He'd blame himself if he didn't.

As for Virgil, well, Alan imagined he'd be having a stressed old time trying to manouevre his big, green lady through the unforgiving winds as he waited tensely for Gordon's word.

Gordon...

Alan didn't want to think about his immediate older brother too much right now. He needed his head in the game. He couldn't waste precious time worrying about Gordon - it would compromise him. Being the youngest Tracy, Alan was extremely conscious of his feelings and how important it was to remove them entirely from a rescue situation. He couldn't think about Gordon right now. He just couldn't.

"Snap out of it, kiddo! Time is money and you don't wanna waste that worrying about little old me! Get moving!" he heard Gordon chime in his head.

Alan snapped himself out of his reverie. He had work to do.