October 13th, 2064 - 23:11 NZDT
Thunderbird 5 is considered the most important Thunderbird due to it being the control centre of all incoming rescue calls that International Rescue will respond to. Always on the lookout 24/7. John takes pride in the work he does and previously enjoyed the isolation of his work, being up in space with no one around for thousands of miles. That was until he met Ridley and the pair now work together in perfect synchronization, having each other's backs and understanding their quick decision making which could be life or death for the person calling. Though John won't admit it, before Ridley, and even EOS, he struggled to keep up with the amount of rescue's that Thunderbird 5 had to deal with, especially in April. Even after so long on the job no one at International Rescue could understand why April is such a busy month for them.
John and Ridley's relationship is definitely still evolving, with the pair recently starting to date each other. Their shared love for Space and being cooped up together on the same Thunderbird for months on end was going to lead somewhere at some point. It had taken John all the courage he had to ask Ridley out and was massively relived when she said 'yes'. Despite this, as the weeks went by, John and Ridley continued their routine as normal and had no spear time to themselves, so it didn't really feel like they were in a relationship at all. That, however, was about to change.
It is late at night and John is preparing to go and have his eight-hour rest break, as he likes to call it, and enters the mission room in Thunderbird 5 to check in one last time. Ridley is currently in the kitchen probably talking to EOS, seeing as EOS' camera was nowhere to be seen.
"All right," John mutters to himself and does one last scan of the map, "Let's see if anything is going on." He does one last scan of the map of Earth and sees nothing that needs urgent response from International Rescue but points a couple points of interest for Ridley to check later on. John turns to head back to his quarters when an alarm goes off with an orange warning appearing on the holo-screen. Reacting quickly, John turns around and presses on the warning which displays two spacecraft that have crashed into one another. "Just my luck," John sighs.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
"This is International Rescue," John says, after contacting the spacecraft, "Is everyone okay?"
"Okay?!" a female voice responds, "Mr Bell here just crashed into me. Tell him I had the right of way."
"I meant is anyone injured?" John questions.
"You did not, Ms Martin!" Mr Bell fires back and a hologram of the pair appears in front of John, "And it was you who crashed into me!"
"We can sort this out later, but first—" John starts to try and mediate the situation but is swiftly interrupted.
"Orbital navigation code requires any freighter entering from spinward to yield!" Ms Martin declares.
"Okay," John tries desperately, "If you just let me get a word in here—"
"Tell this motherfucker she was supposed to look before entering a slight lane!" Mr Bell interrupts.
"Hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa," John states putting both his hands up, "There's no need to start insulting each other. If we could just start with a bit more information on your cargo—"
"In all my years at New World, I've never had a late delivery," Ms Martin says, "If this ends up on my permanent record—"
"It should be on your permanent record!" Mr Bell fires back.
"Fucking hell," John mumbles and mutes the pair and hears a whir as EOS' camera enters the room causing him to look over to his AI.
"Of all the strange human behaviours, I've never understood arguing," EOS admits.
"Me neither," John sighs, "I'm guessing these two aren't gonna be much help."
"I'm happy to assist," EOS says and projects her own hologram, "Here's a list of Ms Martin's cargo."
"Liquefied aluminium oxide. Nothing to worry about there," John states.
"Here's Mr Bell's," EOS continues and displays the new information.
"Rubber polymer. Okay, this is good. Neither cargo is dangerous," John nods and turns to the silent hologram of the two space pilots still arguing with each other, "Boy, they're still going at it."
"Maybe we don't have to turn the volume back on," EOS suggests.
"Yeah, EOS, I think we do," John sighs and EOS unmutes the pair for John.
"—and that's why you will never fly again!" Ms Martin yells and turns to John, "Tell him!"
"I'm not a traffic warden, I'm International Rescue, and my job is to get you both out of your current situation," John states.
"Then get me out of here!" Ms Martin demands.
"And me away for her!" Mr Bell orders.
"EOS?" John sighs and EOS mutes the pair.
"You want me to keep it on mute for good?" EOS asks.
"Just while I take to Alan," John winces just as Ridley walks into the room with a bagel in hand.
"What'd I miss?" Ridley enquires.
October 13th, 2064 - 23:27 NZDT
On Tracy Island, Alan enters the main lounge for the first time in a while. Since his journey to Mars a few months ago, there hadn't been any space rescues for him to attend to and without Kayo dragging him to do something, he has been unmotivated to do much.
"Movie time, I guess," Alan mutters as he takes a seat on the couch and puts his feet up, "With everyone else out, I suppose I get to pick the movie."
"Hate to interrupt movie time," John calls as he appears on the holo-screen in front of Alan instead of the movie. Next to John is the hologram of the two spacecraft that have collided with each other. "But you're needed in space."
"What's the situation?" Alan asks.
"Space freighter crash," John informs, "There doesn't appear to be any injuries, but they're tangled up pretty good."
"And they're beginning to fall out of orbit," Ridley notes as she appears on the screen next to John," You'll need to get to them before they come crashing down to Earth."
"Anything else?" Alan queries.
"They won't stop fighting," John deadpans.
"I live with three brothers on Tracy Island, two who have their girlfriends here," Alan chuckles slightly, "I think I can handle refereeing a little bickering."
"Yeah? Well, good luck with that," John smirks, "And if I were you, I'd bring Maximum Max along."
"FAB," Alan nods, "See you in space."
5
Alan descends and starts to get suited up.
4
Alan is lifted on a crane from the bottom of the hanger into Thunderbird 3.
3
Thunderbird 3's blast door closes.
2
Alan's chair rolls up to the controls.
1
Thunderbird 3's rockets start up.
Thunderbirds are Go!
October 13th, 2064 - 23:54 NZDT
Once Maximum-Max was attached to Thunderbird 3, Alan is soon on his way to intercept the two space freighters. It doesn't take him long to find them in the busy space lanes around Earth as other spacecraft had been notified of the incident and were avoiding the area.
"This is Alan Tracy," Alan contacts, "And I'll be rescuing you today."
"Me first," Ms Martin demands, "I would not in this mess without Mr Bell!"
"Give it a rest, Ms Martin!" Mr Bell cries.
"Oh, wow, Thunderbird 5 wasn't joking," Alan mutters to himself away from the speaker before turning back to speak to the pilots, "Look, I understand you're both upset, okay? I'll get you out of your freighters as fast as I can."
"I'm not abandoning my freighter!" Ms Martin states.
"Me either!" Mr Bell calls.
"You do realise you're falling out of orbit, right?" Alan sighs, "If you wanna save your freighters, we'll have to get you out of that spin first. I am going to need you to work together and follow my commands."
"I will co-operate if he does," Ms Martin says.
"Fine!" Mr Bell grumbles.
"Mr Bell, fire your starboard engine at 25%," Alan orders and watches as he complies and the spinning starts to slow down, "Here we go. Ms Martin, port engine, 10%." The spin continues to slow but it isn't enough. "Take it down a notch," Alan commands, "Steady. Steady! Now ease off." After a couple more seconds the spin comes to a complete stop and Alan breathes a sigh of relief. "There. Thunderbird 5, the spins under control," Alan informs, "What's next?"
"You'll have to cut the freighters apart and tow each one out separately," John explains, "But you'll have to be quick."
"Ooh, shall we get Brains in on this too," Alan asks as he gets the Max gloves on, "So he can see Maximum Max in action?"
"Let's not bother him," Ridley states, "Thunderbird 6 is currently dealing with a situation in South-East Asia."
"Okay," Alan states and turns both gloves on, "Deploying Maximum Max." A whirring sound similar to Max is heard on board Thunderbird 3. Outside, a camera opens up on top of the white cylinder, which shows Max's eyes. Max then releases the grasping arms, which have all been applied with new tools in order to cut the two freighters free. One had an arm of Max's, another had a circular saw, with the final grasping arm having a large version of a welding torch. Alan then manoeuvres Thunderbird 3 to be in front of the fall of the two freighters to assess the best place to start. "The freighters are connected near the cargo stations. I should be able to cut through them without endangering the pilots," Alan nods and presses a button on one of the gloves, "Extending cutting disc. This may get messy!" Alan then approaches the side of the freighters and turns the cutting disc on. Just as he's about to make contact with one of the freighters Ridley's faces suddenly appears on his control panel.
"Alan, stop!" Ridley cries, "The cargos may explode!"
"What?!" Alan shouts and quickly pulls away from the two freighters, "John said they were harmless!"
"On their own, yes," Ridley breathes, "But EOS just ran a simulation and if those two cargos are mixed together in the right conditions, they'll explode."
"So," Alan sighs as Max whirs in worry, "No cutting, then?"
"No cutting," Ridley agrees.
"Sorry, Alan," John apologies and looks over as the formally orange warning is now a flashing dark red, "But with or without Maximum Max, we've got to get them out of there. Your orbit is right on the edge of the upper atmosphere. Gravity is already starting to pull you to Earth."
"Okay, I've got it!" Alan states as he formulates another plan in his head and watches as one of the freighters starts to burn up due to re-entry, "I'll just tow them both out at once with my reverse thrusters." Alan then moves Thunderbird 3 back to being behind the fall of the spacecraft and positions Thunderbird 3 in order to have an accurate connection. "Activating towlines," Alan declares.
"That's a lot of mass to pull with just reverse thrusters," John notes.
"No other choice!" Alan states, "If I don't act now, they're fucked." He then turns on his reverse thrusters as slowly starts to pull back tensing his towlines. "Steady. Engaging throttle." Max whirs slightly as Thunderbird 3 starts to pull back but with little success. "Maximum thrust," Alan decides. He strains at the controls and puts all his effort into pulling the two large spacecraft back into Earth's orbit.
"Careful, Alan," Ridley informs, "You're burning up all your fuel."
"Yeah, I know, I know!" Alan sighs but doesn't give up and brings up the holography indicating the trajectory of the freighters as it stands. With one final pull the flashing dark red warning on the holo-screen turns to a normal red warning indicating the freighters where now being kept from falling down into Earth. "Oh, that's it!" Alan smiles, "Oh, come on! Just a little farther!" He continues to pull on backwards and watches as his fuel goes below 10% but doesn't give up. When is fuel reaches 7%, Alan hears a beep and looks over to the control panel to see the hologram of the two freighters now just had the original orange warning above them indicating they were now out of Earth's gravitational pull. "Yes!" Alan celebrates, "Re-entering low orbit. That should buy us a little time. Can we get a few more ships out here to help me tow?"
"Um..." John trails, "Actually, no. Your area of space has been declared a hazard zone."
"Oh, what?!" Alan groans, "Because of the debris from the collision?"
"Yup," John confirms, "And it's coming back around."
"Alan..." Ridley calls, "It's gonna crash right into you!"
"Everyone, hold on!" Alan orders to Mr Bell and Ms Martin.
"Aren't we back in orbit?!" Ms Martin cries.
"Yeah, but the debris from your little fender bender is on its way back around to say hello," Alan informs.
"If that debris hits us, it could tear us apart!" Mr Bell says with worry.
"I know," Alan mutters.
"No! No! No!" Ms Martin yells as a large piece of debris comes right at the centre of the two freighters. It hits and instantly a massive fireball erupts from the impact area. Thunderbird 3 is spun away from the spacecraft due to the explosion and Alan quickly sorts out his controls to get Thunderbird 3 back under control. Once he brings Thunderbird 3 out of her spin, he looks back over to the freighters and miraculously, they remained intact.
"Everyone okay?" Alan asks.
"I'm okay," Mr Bell confirms.
"I'm okay," Ms Martin says a few seconds later, "Not so sure about my freighter."
"Ugh!" Alan growls, "We're right back where we started!"
"By EOS' calculations, you don't have much time before the debris comes round again," John states.
"And it's a no-fly zone, so no-one's coming to help," Alan sighs, "Any other bad news?"
"Unfortunately, yes," Ridley informs, "Check your fuel indicator."
"Argh! Empty!" Alan states, "All I've got left is manoeuvring jets, and that's not enough!"
"The freighters still have plenty of fuel," John suggests, "You need to transfer some of it."
"Alan," Ms Martin breathes weakly, "You've got to get me out of here now. The last impact knocked out my life support. I only have a few minutes of air left."
"What are you waiting for?!" Mr Bell demands, "Go help her!"
"I'm on my way!" Alan stands and gets out of his chair.
"And so am I," John declares, "I'll meet you down there."
"John, what are you doing?" Ridley demands and watches as John gets his helmet on, "We cannot bring Thunderbird 5 into that path of debris! And I'm not letting you go."
"Ridley, people's lives are at stack here," John states, "You would do the same, but your exo-suit is under repair remember from that incident at the Thunderbird 10 construction site."
"But—" Ridley starts.
"I'm sorry," John replies and presses the button to bring him up to the control room.
5
Thunderbird 5's rear access hatch opens.
4
A secret door in the control room opens and John floats through.
3
John starts to suit up.
2
John spins around as different parts of his exo-suit attach to him.
1
John watches as the airlock opens.
Thunderbirds are Go!
October 14th, 2064 - 00:29 NZDT
Alan prepares his hoverboard and gets his own helmet on before exiting Thunderbird 3 and heading towards Ms Martin's blue spacecraft. He scans near the front of the craft and locates an airlock and opening it up. He floats off his hoverboard and brings it inside the freighter to prevent it from floating away.
"All right, I'm inside the freighter," Alan announces, "EOS, where am I going?"
"The main controls for the life support system are in the engine room," EOS informs. Alan crawls through the narrow passages inside the freighter until he comes across the airlock that takes him to the engine room and he tries to open it up but to no avail.
"Ugh!" Alan sighs, "This airlock's jammed. I'll have to cut my way through." He turns on his laser cutter and aims it to the side of the airlock and starts to make his way through the thick metal.
"Guys, it's Juliet!" Mr Bell calls over the coms suddenly, "You've gotta do something to help her!"
"That's..." Ms Martin starts start breathing heavily, "Ms Martin to you."
Alan ignores the pair and focuses on making his way through the airlock. He manages to cut through the rest of the airlock and make his way inside the engine room and starts to head over to the far corner. "I see the control panel!" Alan states. As he approaches, he notices the cover door to the side of it, clean off its hinges. Once he reaches the panel itself, he quickly floats backwards as some sparks come flying towards him. "The wires are all fried!" Alan sighs, "John, I don't think I can get the life support fixed in time. I'll need to run an umbilical from Thunderbird 3 to the cockpit."
"Small problem with that, Alan," John states. While Alan had been making his way through the airlock, John had arrived at the scene and had attached refuelling lines between Thunderbird 3 and the two freighters, "Thunderbird 3 is a little tied up with the refuel."
"Alan, use my freighter!" Mr Bell calls, overhearing the conversation, "I have enough oxygen for a temporary patch, and plenty of tools and cargo."
"Good plan," Alan nods and starts to make his way back out of the blue freighter again, "Hang in there, Ms Martin."
"Oh, please hurry," Mr Bell mutters. Alan gets back onto his hoverboard and flies out of the blue spacecraft. John checks the holo-map on his wrist controller to see where the collision debris are currently in Earth's orbit. He looks over at Alan with concern. The younger brother nods and locates oxygen tube on the orange spacecraft and brings to over to connect it directly to the cockpit where Ms Martin is. He secures it and checks the air flow going through and breathes a sigh of relief as he sees the oxygen counter inside Ms Martin's ship increase.
"You did it," Ms Martin breathes with a sigh of relief.
"Now what?" Alan asks and joint his brother next to one of the fuel lines.
"We should have enough fuel to get us free of the debris cloud," John states, "But not if we have to tow those freighters."
"So, we're back to cutting them out?" Alan sighs.
"What?!" Ridley interrupts, "I've already told you the repercussions of that!"
"It's risky," John answers, "But I don't see any other option."
"Your boyfriends right," Alan jokes to try and relieve some of the tension, "I'll look after him." The pair then start to head over to Ms Martin's ship and talk to her through the glass of her cockpit.
"Ms Martin, we're gonna cut you out," John states, "I need you to put your helmet on, try to relax, take shallow breaths." The brothers watch as Ms Martin complies with John's instructions.
"Okay, I'm ready," Ms Martin responds.
"Initiating pilot extraction," Alan says after John gives him the nod to start. Alan gets out his laser cutter again and starts to make his way through the front window of the freighter. He goes around on of the window panels slowly and just before he goes all the way around the sudden change in pressure causing the panel to go flying off into space with Ms Martin not too far behind. Luckily, John activates his exo-suit and goes flying after her.
"I've got you," John says and grabs her around her waist.
"Thank you," Ms Martin breathes. While John deals with Ms Martin, Alan makes his way over to the other spacecraft and starts doing the same.
"Extracting Mr Bell's window now," Alan informs.
"Two times for luck!" Mr Bell jokes as he gets his own helmet on. As previously, Alan manages to get most of the way around the panel before the change in pressure causes the panel to go flying off into space. However, Mr Bell gets suck and doesn't go through like Ms Martin did and gets stuck.
"Argh! I'm stuck!" Mr Bell complains. John and Ms Martin quickly make their way over to Mr Bell as Ridley continues to scream down John's ear about the impending debris.
"Come on, you can do this," John says and starts to tug at one of Mr Bell's hands. Ms Martin grabs onto the other.
"I don't fit," Mr Bell strains.
"I can't cut that hole any bigger," Alan sighs looking at his laser cutter, "Not with him stuck in it." The then quickly ducks as the first of the debris arrive again on the second orbit of the Earth.
"You can do it, Mr Bell," Ms Martin states with determination.
"You can call me Barrett," Mr Bell chuckles nervously. John then takes over and grabs onto both arms and starts using his exo-suit to give him and Mr Bell more pull. It doesn't take long for him to pull Mr Bell free and just in time. The group move out of the way to witness an explosion and the cockpit of the freighter disappear.
"Let's get out of here," John muses.
"Get fucking idea, John Glenn Tracy," Ridley calls over the coms.
"Looks like someone is in trouble," Alan chuckles and he and John fly the pilots of the freighters into Maximum Max's holding unit. Everyone gets into their seats and Alan starts to detach the cables that secured the freighters in orbit.
"Full throttle!" Alan announces and engages his thrusters. There's a brief stutter of power from Thunderbird 3's main thrusters before they shut down again, "Oh, the main thruster's offline." He then goes to check of the other engines and looks over to John, surprised. "All of the thrusters are offline! Are... Are you sure you put the fuel in the right port?"
"I'm positive, Alan," John glares and brings up Thunderbird 3's fuel supply.
"Shit, that debris has cut the fuel line!" Alan curses, "The tank has emptied out!"
"What have you two idiots done now?" Ridley scowls as she appears on the holo-screen.
"We need a plan before that debris swings back around," John says to Alan, deciding to ignore Ridley.
"Can we call in the GDF? Orbital patrol? Anyone?!" Alan lists to John.
"There's no time," John dismisses, "And they'd just get caught in the debris too."
"What if we fly the pilots out of here with your exo-suit and my rocket board?" Alan suggests.
"No protection," John sighs.
"Are you guys just going to sit there and wait for the freighters and Thunderbird 3 explode?!" Ridley demands.
"Yes," John deadpans and then a smiles forms on his face as he formulates a plan, "That's exactly what we're gonna do!"
"What?!" everyone cries at John.
"Well," John says and quickly backtracks, "Maybe not exactly, but close. We're gonna create a controlled explosion. Remember what happens if we mix the cargo of the two freighters?"
"Yeah, I remember!" Ridley cries.
"Boom!" Alan mutters.
"If we create a leak with just the right flow and set it off..." John trails.
"We've got ourselves a rocket!" Alan smiles. John gets his exo-suit back and heads back out towards Ms Martin's freighter and detaches one of the cargo holds. Alan the uses Maximum Max to throw it into the depths of space. Meanwhile, John goes over to Mr Bell's freighter and goes the same thing before flying back towards Thunderbird 3. Using Maximum Max, Alan then brings the detached cargo hold from Mr Bell's freighter and attaches it to the now empty one on Ms Martin's freighter. Inside Thunderbird 3, John grabs a hold of two new lines and brings them over to the blue freighter and attaches one to each of the cargos. He twists the first one and Alan monitor on his screen.
"We're venting aluminium oxide," Alan notes, "Now for the other cargo." John does the same and twist the second line before racing back inside Thunderbird 3, just in time for the debris to come back around again.
"Ten seconds to impact," John calls and straps himself back into the co-pilots seat.
"Okay, venting. Let's light this thing and get out of here," Alan states and fires a cable to attach to Mr Bell's freighter, "Cable's secure. Here goes nothing!" He then turns on the welder's torch attached to one of Maximum Max's arms and brings it towards the venting cargos. Just as he gets close enough, they ignite and sends the freighters and Thunderbird 3 into a powerful spin. "We're picking up speed."
"It's gonna be close," Ridley mumbles. Unlike the previous spin where the freighter where accelerating towards the Earth, this spin started to take then upwards towards the upper orbit. Just as Thunderbird 3 is about to clear the lower orbit of Earth, Alan grabs onto one of his control levers.
"Stand by for separation," Alan announces and detaches Thunderbird 3 from the freighters. This causes the red ship to spin out of the way in time for the debris field to arrive at the freighter's location with devastating consequences. A quarter of the way around the Earth in Thunderbird 5, Ridley watches in horror as a massive fireball erupts from the freighter, completely obliterating the two spacecraft.
"We made it!" Mr Bell and Ms Martin sigh.
"That was awesome," John smiles.
"Yeah, I was pretty awesome," Alan jokes.
"You know what you two are," Ridley seethes in anger, "Total imbeciles."
"You know, John," Alan says, "Why don't I monitor Thunderbird 5 for a while? Allow you and Ridley some time on Earth."
"I don't think—" John starts.
"That's a fantastic idea," Ridley smiles, "Your first good idea of the day."
"Well, it has just gone past 0200 hours," Alan chuckles.
October 16th, 2064 - 09:46 NZDT
"Okay, M-Max, activate the simulation," Brains orders. Max whirs and does so before the sphere in front of the pair explode. "Argh! Oh, dear," Brains sighs.
"No luck with your project?" Scott asks as he enters Brains' lab.
"Nothing but failure, S-Scott," Brain mumbles.
"Well, keep trying, Brains," Scott says, "I know you'll figure it out. The Mechanic may be safe with the GDF, but there's no telling for how long."
"You're r-right," Brains says with determination, taking off is tec-goggles, "I won't give up. After all, I made P-Professor Borender a promise — I will free him from The Hood's control..."