'Commander,' Kallan couldn't stand still.

Every muscle and tendon in her body required movement to stop the distress she felt. She'd finally picked herself off the floor at some ungodly hour this morning, showered and changed into her Thunderbird uniform. The red and white gave her the impression she might be in control of her life. Then, after the young woman managed to recapture her equilibrium, Kallan called IRO headquarters. Demanding an immediate meeting with the head of her department, Captain James refused to say why.

Suddenly stopping dead, she turned to Commander Simpson and stated, 'I've placed the team in a terrible situation.'

Nodding, the older man indicated his female captain take a seat. He'd never seen one of his operatives so agitated. Needing her to calm down, Greg levelled a glacial stare at Kallan. It achieved his aim.

'Care to tell me about it?' He asked in a deceptively soft tone.

'Not really,' she placed her hands in her lap and allowed the right to strangle the left. Eyes downcast, Captain James sighted loudly. 'I guess I don't have any choice.'

'None,' Greg agreed softly, trying to make this easier for her. 'You were the one who asked for this meeting, Kallan. Tell me what's troubling you?'

'You know I was married, before coming to the team,' she stated, finally able to find a point to start her story.

'It's in your record,' the Commander stated. 'We did a complete physical, emotional and psychological assessment of each person vying for a position. You're case indicated unusual circumstances that needed further investigation.'

'I almost failed,' a shy smile encompassed Kallan's face, 'because of my previous relationship. It taught me a lot about survival and gave me a reason to rescue people in desperate circumstances.'

'I'm sure it did, but we don't need to go into that part of your life,' Greg announced, 'unless it has a direct correlation to this situation. I understand it's the reason you fought so hard to gain a place within the Thunderbird team.'

Swallowing hard, Kallan still carried the scars of her short lived romance with a man willing to use his fists to get his way. The six month courtship in her early twenties seemed like a fairy tale at the time. He'd been everything a young, slightly naïve girl wanted. The abuse started once the ring hit her finger. It took two years to have her three day marriage annulled and her ex-husband jailed for his crimes.

'I have to resign,' shuddering at the words Captain James couldn't see any other option.

'Kallan,' Greg forced the woman to look up at him. 'What has occurred to bring you to this conclusion?' Silently Commander Simpson's mind gave voice to the words he'd never say. I'd have expected any or all of the boys to offer their resignation before you. You're really worrying me. What's happened for you to feel this is the only solution?

So she told him. Starting with the events of tonight and working backwards. Forced to describe Jesse and Dylan's part in her dilemma, she looked ashamed for embroiling her teammates in what amounted to a love triangle. The fact she hadn't known of Jesse's feeling no excuse, Kallan blamed herself for the situation. Instead of the frown lines on his brow deepening as tale unfolded, Commander Simpson's mood seemed to improve. He understood more than she realised.

'So,' he tried to hide his amusement with a hand rubbing his chin, 'have you come to any decision?'

'Decision,' Kallan's astonishment coloured her voice and expression. He couldn't be asking what she thought, surely! It meant Commander Simpson suspected intimate relationships to form within the team.

'Jesse or Dylan,' Greg asked. It took an enormous amount of control to force the mussels in his body to relax. 'Given your previous history with men, I suspected you to be very cautious in matters of the heart. I'm not blind to the different types and levels of bonds within the team. I assumed you and Dylan had been involved for some time with the pair of you keeping the affair quite. Obviously I've read more into the friendship. It makes sense, for you to trust the people you work with, to become romantically connected with either Captain Beyda or Rigel.'

'I,' stuttering, Kallan couldn't believe Commander Simpson asked the question in a serious tone. Then again she'd left out one major incident which forced her hand.

'I think,' Greg, unable to hide his delighted expression any longer, stood and looked out the window at the rising sun, 'today is the start of a new day. I think both Jesse and Dylan have had a night to contemplate their feelings and actions and place them in perspective. I think the pair of them might just act more professionally on the job than you're giving them credit. I think you need to go home, pack a bag and take a week's break in some remote location to think about what's occurred and how it's affected you.'

Shocked, Kallan stared opened mouthed at her commanding officer.

'Be at TB1's docking bay in ninety minutes,' Greg announced, 'and I'll have Grant fly you home to England. Unless,' finally pivoting to face the woman, the older man asked in a paternal voice, 'there's somewhere else you'd rather go.'

'Yes,' Kallan found the adrenalin fuelled fight or fight response finally exhausted her energy reserves. Slumping into her chair, she felt exhausted and emotionally drained. Going to England held too many memories, none good. 'Anywhere, Commander, because England stopped being my home the day I left that sorry excuse of a human being to rot in jail.'

'We have IRO bases all over the world,' Greg offered, stunned at Kallan's venom. Then again he shouldn't be. It had taken months to consider adding Captain James to the team and seconds to understand her need when they viewed he police photos. 'Name you destination.'

'I'll go,' Kallan acquiesced, 'but let me take a commercial flight under my alias. I don't want the media following me. You know how intrusive they can be.'

'That, unfortunately is the price you pay for being the primary captain for Thunderbird 4.' Sitting back at his desk, Greg reached into the draw. Taking out an electronic travel coupon and identification documents, he handed them over to Kallan. 'I'll have an open return ticket amongst that lot and billeting within an IRO facility for seven nights by the time you're ready to fly. Present it at the boarding gate with your destination. Please hand in your locator to my assistant on your way out. While you are technically relieved of duty for the next week, Captain, please inform the base Commander of your real identity.'

Standing and taking the electronic envelope, Kallan saluted. 'Yes, sir,' she turned and marched out of her superiors office on shaky legs. Pulling off the bracelet taking up residence on her wrist for the last two years, Captain James felt her heart shatter into a million pieces. She'd only felt this low once before and promised never to return to the dark, depressing place. Dropping the plastic and electronics onto Lijuna's desk, she thought about Jesses comment.

'Captain Rigel's right,' Kallan's brain comprehended suddenly. 'I need to use my emotions to triangulate the shattered pieces of my heart into something resembling normal. It needs to be whole before I can begin to think about giving it away again. The one thing this situation has proved, it's not as mended at I'd thought. Getting into anything with either Dylan or Jesse wouldn't be fair to either of them or me. Besides, I don't know if I can forgive Dylan for the use of violence against Jesse a second time, especially after he assaulted me a month ago.'

Returning to her apartment, Kallan quickly packed a survival pack. Taking only the bare necessities, everything she needed fit into her official TB backpack. Ninety minutes later, she boarded a flight which would eventually end up in Lima, Peru with no intention of going near an IRO base in the next week. Catching a connecting flight to Iquitos, Kallan met a guide at the airport. Bargaining along with another young couple, they transferred to a long boat used by the native people for centuries. Paddling for the best part of the day, they finally reached the last remaining tertiary jungle on the planet. Almost a million square kilometres of pristine flora and fauna surrounded the visitors lucky enough to be accepted by the Waura tribe for a week's education on primitive living. Maybe here, surrounded by nature, Kallan could finally come to terms with her demons.

'Hey,' JJ looked between Jesse and Dylan as the pair finally entered the debriefing room just after ten in the morning. Both men looked like they had a good night out and were currently suffering the consequences. 'Glad you two could finally join the rest of the team. You know it's almost lunch time,' he teased easily.

'Is Kallan here,' Dylan found the terse question escaping before he could stop it. He wanted to make sure their female teammate had forgiven him for his actions the evening before.

'Rostered off,' Grant offered with a curious look between the two recently arrived men. 'You know Captain James has another day off. If she's got any brains, she'll be as far away from you two and Acrology as she can get.'

Dylan chanced a glance at Jesse. Captain Rigel reacted to the news with a slight stiffening of his posture at Grant's suggestion. Once again finding his hand's curling in fists, Dylan turned his back on the other men in the room. He didn't want the rest of the team to notice his response.

JJ eyed the pair who'd separated and took up positions as far apart as possible. They both looked exhausted and emotionally drained. 'Have a heavy night,' Johnny teased linking his fingers together and stretching is long arms above his head. Watching the pair's response, he noticed the glare they levelled at each other.

'Nice bruise,' Grant managed the mocking comment while examining the side of Captain Rigel's face. 'Looks like someone got through your defences and landed quite a punch.'

Glaring at Dylan, Jesse affirmed, 'someone got through my defences alright, but only because I let them. I promise you it won't happen again.'

'Want to tell us what this is all about?' Grant saw the underlying tension between the two and could guess they'd finally come to blows over the only female squad member. It had been two years in the making.

'Not really,' Dylan replied, turning professional. 'What do you have for us today, Grant? I'd like to get in, do our jobs and get out as soon as possible.'

'Not so fast,' Grant signalled for the team to sit. 'We're going to be running one short for a while meaning I'm going to have to change the rosters around. Commander Simpson's just informed me that Kallan's taken a week's emergency leave.'

'What,' Dylan leapt to his feet. An angry glare directed at Captain Rigel.

'Why,' Jesse followed a few seconds behind. Confused, he noted Dylan didn't have any more of an idea than he did.

'I'm guessing,' JJ stood against the wall in a casual pose, 'because of your reaction. What happen, Dylan, find your girl with Jesse last night. I'd be careful the next time you try to take him down. You're not going to come out unscathed forever.'

'Did,' Grant turned serious suddenly and pointed to Jesse's face, 'Kallan see this happen.' When both young pilots nodded, the senior captain cursed them under his breath. 'I'm guessing neither of you knew Kallan survived a domestic violence situation by the skin of her teeth before joining the Thunderbirds.'

Sending a sideways glance at each other, Jesse and Dylan coursed, 'No,' in unison. Guilt written all over their faces, they wore shamefaced expressions.

'Stay here,' Grant ordered, 'I'm going to see Commander Simpson. I bet Kallan left this little detail out of her resignation speech.'

'Kallan's resigned?' JJ asked the question more for the two men left dumbstruck by Grant's comment than his information.

'Yes,' Senior Captain Hanson grimaced, 'or at least she tried to. Commander Simpson placed her on emergency leave instead. He wouldn't have let her go if he knew she'd seen the two of you fighting. Your little stunt a month ago almost broke her Dylan. We've all noticed the distance developing between the pair of you. What on earth made you so angry you lashed out at a teammate?'

Shell shocked, Captain Beyda looked crestfallen. Kallan's reaction last night suddenly made sense. She ejected him for hitting Jesse. If there had been any chance, he'd managed to destroy it in a single moment of fury. The action might have cemented Captain Rigel as the object of her affections.

'This,' Grant pointed between Jesse and Dylan, 'coming on top of the assault is bound to cause her to relive the trauma she suffered at her husband's hands.'

'Husband,' Jesse's eyes bulged. 'She'd married?'

'Was,' Grant stated in a gravelly voice. He refused to elaborate further. 'Kallan's finally managed to feel safe here at Acrology and the pair of you may have undone two years' work. Didn't you wonder why she'd never taken her physical with us?'

'I always thought,' Dylan murmured, 'while Kallan acts flirtatiously, she's essentially very old fashioned in her views.'

'The sassy exterior,' JJ commented into the silence, 'is just a cover. Watch how seriously she takes her job. I hope you two clod heads haven't inflicted too much damage on her. I've kind of grown use to have a woman on the team.'

Leaving the remainder of his squad behind, Grant hurried to the command centre. He found Greg Simpson in his office. A perplexed look on the older man's face, Grant prepared for trouble.

'What?' Senior Captain Hanson demanded, feeling this had to do with his missing pilot.

'Kallan's gone AWOL,' Greg's eyes rivalled the frozen waste lands of a glacier. 'Have Captain's Rigel and Beyda report to me immediately so I can find out what the hell's going on.'

'No need,' Grant straightened to his full height of two point two meters. 'Jesse's impressive bruise might explain her behaviour. I believe Captain Beyda's caveman tactics weren't appreciated and may have brought up bad memories.'

'Keeping her past a secret from the rest of the team,' Greg sounded disappointed, 'was always a double edged sword. I gather this assault occurred with Kallan present?'

'Yes,' Grant offered. 'We've both seen Kallan cope with violence on the job, either against her, one of the team or someone we're trying to catch. It's the fact two of her colleagues, the men she trusts to keep her safe resorted to force for personal reasons, that caused her to react this way.'

'I made her leave her communicator,' Greg kicked himself. 'We've managed to track her to Lima, Peru on a commercial flight. Captain James must have paid with cash for the rest of her journey and used a false name. Kallan could be anywhere on the South American sub-continent and it's almost impossible for us to find her. I just hope she returns in seven days or she'll be facing the World Council to account for her desertion. I'm not even thinking about the media and what they'll make of this.'

'If,' Grant managed through gritted teeth, 'you can find her.'

It didn't take long for Grant to disseminate the information to the rest of his crew, or for a disaster call to come in. The space mining station on Dione, one of Saturn's' moon's had been hit by a meteor. By itself, the incident wouldn't need the IRO involvement. The fact it wiped out the power generating systems, all three of them, forced the station personal to raise the alarm. TB 17 fuelled and supplied with emergency equipment needed to be on station within twenty four hours to rescue the personnel trapped beneath the icy surface in the shelters. The long flight out gave Dylan and Jesse time to think about their behaviour and how it affected their teammate.

Four days in the jungle and Kallan understood modern living reached even this isolated village. Twice a week several canoes paddled three hours up river to a small trading post. They sold the fruit and vegetables she helped tend in the garden surrounding the small village. As the women got to know her, they told stories of the old days, before the outside world invaded this isolated and remote region. The Waura still hunted for meat but used power bows instead of spears. They cultivated the daily staples, gathering ingredients from the forest for special dishes used on ceremonial occasions. A hut to one side of the extended family dwellings held an autoDoc unit and communications centre for emergencies.

Still the quiet of the jungle, broken only by the sound of bird calls and insects soothed Kallan soul. She needed this, needed to get back to the basics of life. The Waura live simply, loved freely and welcomed her into their extended family. She shared her hut with the other single women. The tribe revered unmarried females, conferring a special place upon them. Unused to the company of so many women, Kallan enjoyed the foray.

Taking several hours each day, Captain James gathered her official Thunderbird backpack, a bottle of water and disappeared along one of the jungle trails. Using the low technology of a hand drawn map, she communed with nature, attempting to come to terms with the affects her past played on her thoughts and actions. The isolation gave her time to think about her past, present and future.

Returning in the middle of the day, she found the village in uproar. Stopping dead, she smelt the tangy, charred odour of smoke in the air. Looking around Kallan noted the plume of dark grey rising in the North West sky. Wind direction driving the fire directly towards the village, she knew they needed evacuation immediate.

Rushing to the communication hut, she burst into the small space. Three young men stood before the panel, arguing. Shaking her head, she wondered if they'd called for help. They turned to fact her with stricken expressions.

'May I,' Kallan pointed to the com unit in the young man's hand.

'It's not working,' he hesitated.

'Let me see what I can do,' Kallan instructed. Her voice icy, she'd automatically entered professional mode. Nodding at the authority in her voice, the young men moved in a hurry. Looking at the machinery, the model proved to be at least three decades old but she'd be able to use it. 'Get everyone in the village to congregate at the edge of the river. They need to take enough water and food for a day. Have each child attached to an adult and allow them one comfort object. I'm calling in the IRO. Hopefully they can stop the fire before it reaches the Village.'

Kallan initiated the emergency tracker while she used the ancient computer terminal to pinpoint her exact location. 'Mayday, mayday, this is IRO Thunderbird Captain Kallan James.' Sparing a look at her locator, she announced, 'sending my location via closed beam transmission. I need emergency evacuation for approximately one thousand people within half an hour. A fire front is bearing down on the Waura villages in the greater Amazon area. It's out of control and I'm expecting loss of life and property without immediate aid.'

'IRO control Georgetown receiving,' a polite, slightly accented voice stated. 'Captain James we have your locator beacon and are preparing a response. Unfortunately the Thunderbird team hasn't returned from their mission to Saturn, so it'll be the local boys to the rescue.'

'I'm sure you're more than capable of handling this,' Kallan offered.

'Do you have TB4 on location, Captain James,' the woman asked. 'I didn't think the Amazon deep enough that far inland to accommodate your vessel.'

'I'm on vacation and in the right place at the right time,' Kallan tried to supress a smile. 'It's a pity I'm not piloting TB1. The foam bombs would be appreciated about now. I bet they'd make fast work of this fire.'

'I'm going to contact IRO control at Acrology,' the woman added with a humorous note entering her tone, 'and see if we can't hurry the rest of the team to your location. Fire control has TB6 online. They've sent us a live feed. You have approximately forty five minutes before the front reaches you. Can you organise the locals, Captain, for evacuation.'

'Roger,' Kallan offered, about to leave the communications hut.

'Georgetown control, this is Senior Captain Greg Hanson,' a familiar voice echoed over the open line. 'We have docked at TB6 and been informed of the situation. ETA to the affected area fifteen minutes.'

'It's good to hear your voice, chief,' Kallan commented.

'It's good to have you on the ground, Captain,' Greg returned.