Repeat - never owned them, never will
Chapter Two – Taking the Lead
Jeff sighed. Listening to Kate and Scott, he began to wonder if the marriage would work long enough to produce the desired grandchildren. Maybe it was too much to ask that the couple work together and still just be a couple. Thank goodness their jobs within Tracy Enterprises rarely would cross paths or Kate would have already left.
The newlyweds were unaware that their argument was being heard all the way over at the main house. And by the pool. Virgil and Gordon had stopped their antics in the swimming pool when they heard raised voices. Gordon even snarked "Funny, I didn't think we'd here that much yelling until the Sprout comes back tomorrow."
Actually, that was a joke. Alan had calmed down a great deal. With all that had happened to the kid in the last year, it wasn't surprising. The youngest Tracy had helped successfully battle their nemesis The Hood, became a Thunderbird, did a 180 with regards to school and then was kidnapped. With all that had happened, the kid had done some serious growing up. Oh, he still had the infamous Tracy Temper, but the kid had learned to pick his battles. Heaven help you if you were the one Alan was battling though!
But right now, Kate and Scott were the ones yelling. While neither brother could hear the exact words, they were gathering the gist of it. Kate's loudest words carried, with "trust", "member of the team" and "capable" being the most often used. Scott's tended to be "responsibility", "protect" and "experienced". Virgil grinned over at his younger brother. "Twenty bucks Scott wins."
The copper topped Tracy laughed. "No way. I'm not giving you an easy bet."
"I'll take it."
The brothers looked up to see Tin-Tin, Onaha and Kyrano's daughter approaching the pool. She smiled down at the twosome. "I bet you anything Kate wins this argument. In fact, I want to bet something better than money." Frowning at the brothers she continued, "If Kate wins, you stop using the security cameras to spy on Alan and me, got it?"
As the pretty Malaysian girl spun on her heels and walked away, the two Tracys guiltily looked at each other and burst into laughter. "You think" Virgil sputtered "that Alan knows about that?"
Gordon kept laughing as he tried to answer. "I doubt it. We're still alive."
While the voices across the compound had gone back to conversational levels, another jarring noise soon burst across the island's calming air. With a sudden alarming motion, things began to rock and sway. Poolside furniture moved across the patio, some falling in. Hanging plants fell from their hooks, pots shattering as they hit the concrete. Continuing for almost a minute, the nauseating motion kept things in perpetual motion for nearly a minute. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, everything stopped.
Kate and Scott Tracy had been unaware at how long their argument had been going before Kate turned to Scott and stamped her foot. At one with that motion, their three bedroom villa began to shake, pictures dropping from the wall and a potted plant falling over. "OK" Scott thought, "I know Kate has a lot of lower body strength but…"
But Kate had lived most of her life in Southern California. She quickly recognized the shaking for what it was. Grabbing her husband's hand, she yanked him into a doorway, yelling "Earthquake!"
The couple clung to each other as their home shook. Once the trembling ended, they looked at each other and ran across the compound to the main villa.
Running into the main house, Scott and Kate ran through the villa, finally finding the other Tracys, as well as the Kyrano family and Professor "Brains" Hackenbacker, in Jeff Tracy's study. The study was already beginning it's transformation into Command and Control for the International Rescue.
Scott looked over at his father. "Did we get a call?"
Not looking up from the screen he was focused on Jeff answered "No, but if that shock was strong enough to get past the Island's buffers, it is bound to have caused damage somewhere. We need to be ready."
"Buffers?" Kate queried.
Brains answered her. "P-pa-part of the Island's de-de-fense system. This pa-pa area of the South Pa-pacific is p-p-prone to sei-seismic…"
Kate interrupted. "You designed a system to block earthquakes? Whoa. Now THAT is cool."
Brains smiled at her. "I try." He turned to Jeff. "In order f-for us to have f-f-felt that, it had to have been above 8.0. I would g-g-guess at least 8.7."
Jeff was about to respond when the signal from Thunderbird Five came through. The second Tracy son and the main operator of their space station appeared on the monitor. "Thunderbird Five to International Rescue. Come in."
"We're here John. What do you have?"
John answered his father "The International Seismic Studies Agency has reported an earthquake 200 miles off shore of Christchurch, New Zealand. The quake registered 8.7 on the Rictor Scale." John gave his sister-in-law an odd look as she started to giggle, wondering why Kate suddenly couldn't seem to look directly at the Thunderbirds engineer. "This is the worst of a series of quakes that have plagued the area for several days. The problem is that this last one has triggered a tsunami."
"When and where John?" As Kate watched her father in law interact with T5, she was amazed. No matter how often she saw this, it still awed her. Many would have used this sort of technology to make themselves wealthier. Jeff Tracy – the family as a whole – chose to make the world a better place. And she was a part of it. As the family reviewed this information, Kate remained silent studying all the monitors simultaneously. Suddenly, she interrupted. "No, no, no."
The room – even John in his fashion – froze and turned to Kate. Uncomfortable with the suddenness of their attention Kate was silent for a moment. Then she began. "I know I am new to IR, but" she glared at her husband's "har-rump" "I do know about allocating limited resources to maximize successful operations. Anyone who has worked for the government has to." John chuckled at that, recalling his days with NASA. "Now according to the data Five has sent, the main wave of the tsunami will hit the village of Akaroa about 82 kilometers from Christchurch. The village only has a population of about 500 and more than half of that has already been evacuated in preparation for this very possibility. Unfortunately, the peninsula that makes up most of the village has been cutoff in the last quake. If the Thunderbirds were to focus our efforts on rescuing Akaroa, the personnel handling the evacuation of the coastal towns will be able to focus on those they can reach by more traditional methods." Flustered at the silence Kate stopped talking and waited.
Jeff looked at Brains and John, and then all three men began to smile. Kate didn't know it, but they were all thinking the same thing. That kind of planning was pure Scott. Kate really was a perfect match for the eldest Tracy son. "Kate's right. John, contact the New Zealand Authorities. Tell them how we would be willing to assist." Jeff began to review plans with the remaining Thunderbirds, when John returned to the monitor. "Dad, the authorities in Auckland told me that the plan is perfect. With what they are already doing, if we can concentrate on Akaroa then they can evacuate the rest of the region within two hours – and the wave is expected to reach the region in less than three. It should be all clear."
"Hey, Dad, weren't you and Brains leaving shortly to pick up the kids?" Gordon asked as he began to turn to his portrait. Jeff thought about that. He wasn't needed in the field, not with Kate helping. But one of them had to stay and run Command and Control. Jeff sighed. "Brains take Tracy One and get the boys. I saw Alan a week ago when I was in the states for a meeting. You haven't seen Fermat since Spring Break. What with Fermat being on that trip with the Honor Society, he missed Scott and Kate's wedding. So you pick them up and bring them home. I'll see all of you soon."
With a nod to the rest of the room, the Kyranos returned to their tasks, Brains left to head for the hangers and the Thunderbirds moved to their respective portraits. Thunderbirds are Go!
A/N - So? How is it? Expecting Alan? Next chapter is all about my favorite Tracy. Review!!! Puh-lease!!!