Hey, again! :) A little bit more, before Monday. FFN won't let me respond to reviews, for some reason, but thank you, Tikatu, Bow Echo, Thunderbird Shadow and Whirl Girl! Edits managed.

31

Tracy Island, a short time earlier-

As though a bubble had popped, or a stretched rubber-band had snapped loose, something sudden and total had just taken place. Sally Tracy stood before that swirling blue comm globe, in an all at once quieter room. She had the odd and confusing sensation that people and matters had changed, but couldn't be sure of which way.

Looking around at the ring, she saw that Max was present, with Brains, Captain Rigby and Lee Taylor, but that… that… somebody else? Many someones? …had vanished. Also, the main room looked tidier than it ought to have.

Doctor Hackenbacker, too, seemed unsettled; gazing around with a troubled expression, for someone he'd just been talking to. On the shimmering globe, meanwhile, that alien vessel had shrunk to near invisibility, then winked out of sight, causing fast-spreading tremors in spacetime. Distance and events would be disordered for weeks to come, with no one quite sure what happened when, or what situations might have provoked them (because under stress, time could flow sideways, too; allowing causes from one worldline to trigger effects in a far-distant other).

Worse than all that, Sally's three oldest grandsons had disappeared beyond kenning. The icons for Scott, John and Virgil had cut off, leaving only their wireframe outlines. She had barely reacted to that, when a flood of distress calls hit them, from Mars. Not just Olympos Mons, but the other huge Martian volcanoes… Arsia, Pavonis and Ascraeus… had roared to wild life. Now they shook the ground, and filled the pink sky above with ash and explosions of blistering steam. Colonists, explorers and artifact miners were all at risk; some of them with no way off planet.

Pushing her fears for the older boys to the back of her mind, Sally Tracy settled her glasses more firmly up the bridge of her nose, cleared her throat, and said,

" 'Pears we got work to do, Boys. Gordon n' Alan can't handle that mess by themselves." Turning to Lee, Rigby and Brains, she continued with, "Doctor Hackenbacker, that prototype o' yours…"

The slim engineer stepped forward, nervously brushing at his lab coat.

"Is, as one m- might put it, 'iffy', but, ah… but r- ready for testing, Mrs. Tracy."

Captain Taylor cracked a swift, mirthless smile.

"Trial by fire, huh, Doc? Well, anythin' you build, I c'n fly better. You, me, Riggins n' Mike, here, 'll go pick them folks up outta danger. Find Spencer, Jase n' Vic, too, while we're at it."

Max extended his camera mast, lifting his plastic 'head' proudly higher, and chirping a fast stream of beeps. He was ready to go, already contacting the prototype's systems. Sally nodded, then leaned over to kiss Taylor's unshaven and scratchy right cheek.

"You boys be careful, out there," she told them. "Get th' job done, but don't be sowing no more grief for a body. Folk 'll be waiting on ya ta come home safe."

Her blue eyes were wet, but her head erect, as she turned back to answer two urgent calls, pinging hot on the Island's private line. One was from Gordon, in Thunderbird 3, the other… from someplace called Wavey World, out in New Cali?

Captain Taylor gave Sally a quick embrace, and then left her to it, heading off with Max and Brains to suit up. They'd launch in twenty minutes… or ten, or thirty… depending on passing distortions. But get there, they would; loaded for bear, and ready for action.

XXXXXXXXXX

The Luddite Reservation, in Britain's beautiful Lake District-

Zara Herringford-Smith had risen early and made friends quickly, because that was her nature. She'd always been a remarkably fortunate, happy girl, with a life just adventurous enough. With a mum who loved her, and a sometimes available, business-executive dad. No 'someone special', though. Not yet. Only now, she'd fallen in with International Rescue, was actually speaking with Lady Penelope, her mysterious driver, and… oh, best of all… Sherbert! She'd even met Colonel Tracy and Clarence, her Ladyship's charmingly feckless young brother. No internship could have been better than this.

Now she was here, amid the gentle green fells and clear tarns of the Reservation, with mighty Skiddaw looming before her. Already, she'd seen curious red squirrels, bold sheep, wild ponies and gruff, wary people. Rain and wind had misted in a few times, but there was shelter beneath the tall oaks, and in Keswick's small guest house. There was an ancient stone ring, as well; pre-conflict. Zara would have snapped pictures, but by local law her phone was off, its battery removed and placed in the local chieftain's safekeeping.

Instead, the girl wandered about with Lady Penelope and Parker; sampling oatcake farls, cheeses and ale, and playing a bit with the children. They were delightful scamps, who'd never watched TV or heard a radio broadcast, and thought of play as something one engaged in through kicking a ball, or with some much-loved and patched plush toy.

"How extraordinary," she murmured to Penny, watching shrieking, half-naked children dash in and out of placid Derwent Water. "They seem to be thriving, Milady, without any sort of technology!"

"I should go barking mad, directly," Penelope whispered back, hugging tightly to Sherbert, who wriggled and yipped in response. "Fancy not knowing upon the instant, what they've decided to wear in Paris or Bonn? How should one contrive to remain at the forefront of style and glamour?" She was, after all, a much sought-after fashion model. Constant public attention was as vital to Penny as water and air.

Zara looked about them at people (primitive, to be sure, but quite content with their lot) who were dressed in whatever made sense, and ate what was natural.

"It seems perfectly charming to me, Milady. I believe I should love to visit here, again. If, well…" There was someone to visit here with, she did not finish, aloud. Her heart had grown lonelier, recently; her body beginning rather to yearn. But for whom, she had no idea, as yet. The thought made her blush like a schoolgirl, so it was quite a welcome development, when Thunderbird Shadow ghosted in over Skiddaw like a giant raven, making just about as much noise.

The Luddite children pointed and gaped. Aircars did not fly over the reservation, and visitors were few. As FAB-1 had arrived in the night and immediately plunged itself deep into Derwent Water, they'd not seen such a sight, in all their short, sheltered lives.

"Mummy!" shrieked a small, dark boy, hopping madly up and down on the strand. "A dragon!"

The local Eorl got his folk under cover, then stood glowering beside Penny, Parker and Zara as yet another invader came down from above, bringing with it a short surge of deeply painful electromagnetic disturbance.

Thunderbird Shadow did not settle, respecting the Reservation's laws as much as possible. Instead, the sleek black aircraft hovered in place, about five meters over the lake shore. The canopy caught midmorning sunlight as it lifted open. Then Colonel Tracy put his head out and waved.

"Heartland! Everyone!" he shouted in his deep and powerful voice, before signaling Kayo to seal up and move on, again.

Penelope nodded, lifting a slender hand in response. As Thunderbird Shadow lifted up and away, the burly Eorl shifted his stance to frown at his guests.

"You'll be leaving, then?" he challenged.

Penelope gave him a smile and brisk nod. He was, after all, local nobility; however far fallen. Courtesy to a peer was a matter of course.

"We shall, indeed, Lord Dunstan. Many thanks, for allowing us to remain these few hours; a visit we shall never forget, I assure you." Then, turning back to her waiting driver, "Parker?"

"Yes, Milady," he responded, stoic as ever, despite a cap-snatching back-blast from Shadow. One of the Luddite children brought the hat back. Cheeky tyke held out for a stick of gum, before he'd hand the precious, beat-up old topper back again, though. Penelope carried on as though nothing had happened; serene as a ship in full sail.

"Do bring the car 'round, Parker. We shall be setting off again, presently."

"Yes, Milady. Shall h-I pop off t' th' guvnor's place, h-and take back our batteries?"

Penelope made a slight, thoughtful moue with her lips.

"Perhaps someone had better, at that. There may be spares in the car, but I should rather not chance it. Zara, dear, be a love and fetch our things, would you? Batteries, purses, and such-like?"

"Yes, Milady," the girl replied, a bit breathless with finely-stretched hope. "Shall I be coming, as well?"

Lady Penelope cocked a slim golden eyebrow, before handing Bertie over.

"Of course," she responded, seeming amused by the question. "Whom else do you suppose the Colonel meant, when he said 'everyone'? These Luddites? However should we press them all into the car?"

Zara giggled, then swiftly controlled herself, and bobbed a quick nod. Bertie would keep licking her face as she said,

"Yes, Milady. Back in less than a trice."

Let 'Heartland' be ever so far and exotic. She, Zara H-S, was off to explore the unknown; heart pounding, hopes mounting higher than Skiddaw or Scafell. She'd have to tell mum first, of course, but that could surely be managed. Like a shot, Zara was off to the guest house, ready for whatever life had to offer her, next.