April 21st, 2067 – 05:40 NZST
The sun had begun to rise over the Pacific Ocean and a glint began to shine off the mountainous rocks of Tracy Island. The air around the island Is silent and almost still with just a mild breeze drifting on by. Things aren't as silent inside the villa. While pretty much the entire International Rescue team are still tucked up in their beds and fast asleep, three remained awake.
Inside Scott and Marion Tracy's villa, the lights are on. Scott is rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as an exhausted Marion rocks a crying Walter Schirra Tracy to sleep. Walter was born on Valentines Day much to the joy of the couple. However, the new parents quickly discovered the challenges of raising a child and were struggling to balance family life along with the duty of being apart of International Rescue. One would remain on the island with Walter at all times while the other would go out on Mission Control with IR were required.
After what seemed an age, the cries fall silent as Walter drifts off to sleep once again. As Marion places him back into his crib, Scott approaches her and gives her a light kiss in the crook of her neck. Marion lets out a brief sigh and leans back into Scott's embrace.
"I seriously wonder how your father managed five boys," Marion lightly chuckles turning her head to face her husband.
"Must've something to do with being a Colonel for the Air Force," Scott muses before kissing Marion sweetly on the lips. Marion hums in agreement before pulling out of Scott's grasp.
"Let's get some breakfast," Marion states.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
April 21st, 2067 – 06:00 NZST
Slowly but surely, everyone else starts to get out of bed. In the lounge, Virgil sits at the piano trying out his latest piece. Whilst between missions, painting and music are Virgil's favourite pastimes. It's rare for any of the others to get on and play it as they didn't grasp the same interest in the arts that Virgil did. Virgil always thought of his late mother whenever he played as he had picked up his taste in music from her and as he finishes playing the latest piece, a beam of light seems to shine down through the glass in the ceiling and onto Virgil and the piano. Virgil instantly feels some caring warmth swirling around his body and it brings a smile to his face as he allows it to embrace itself around him. "Thanks, Mom," Virgil whispers, "I love you too." The light stays for a few seconds before it then faded away and he feels normal again.
"Spirit visit, son?" Jeff asks, who had entered the lounge whilst Virgil had been playing.
"Oh, er, Dad, I, er, didn't hear you come in," Virgil replies sheepishly.
"It's okay, Virgil," Jeff laughs, "That sure was some sweet music. You know that's the thing I missed most whilst stuck out in the Oort Cloud. Not hearing music."
Virgil blushes and opens his mouth to reply but is cut off by a peck on the cheek and a steaming hot coffee being placed on the table mat that is placed on the piano. Nina then walks around and takes a seat next to Virgil and rests her head on his shoulder.
"I couldn't agree more, Jeff," Nina states.
"Thanks," Virgil mutters and scratches the back of his head, a little embarrassed by the attention. This is short lived as a loud voice screams through the peaceful environment.
"YeeeeeeeeeeeeeHAAAA!" the voice jeers. Virgil and Nina look around to see Gordon has entered the room.
"Morning, Gordon," Jeff sighs, getting up from his desk to greet his son.
"Morning, Dad," Gordon responds as Jeff hugs him before exiting the room to head to his old office to get some work done.
"You're in a loud mood," Virgil states as he lightly punches his fist against Gordon's arm as he goes past.
"Thanks, Virg. Didn't notice," Gordon jokes, "Where's Alan and Kayo?"
As it turns out, Alan and Kayo are still in bed. Alan is sitting up in bed doing some work on his laptop while Kayo clings onto Alan's left arm, snuggled into his side. Another consequence of Thunderbird 10 becoming operational, meant that Thunderbird 3 is also required less often. Most recuses that Alan used to go to were within a close proximity to Earth. These days, there are small crews that can operate the area and offer to assistance to anyone who needs help. In some cases, they provided a faster response time.
This worked out in the long term as with Jeff becoming retired officially and focusing on spending time with his family, Scott formally took control of International Rescue while Alan got control of Tracy Industries as no other brother was interested. Now he spends most of his time between the USA and Tracy Island. Kayo would often join him making her presence known at the company and helping with governmental contracts.
"You know you can take a break from time to time," Kayo mutters, her eyes remaining closed.
"And then sit around and do nothing," Alan scoffs, "I'd rather be doing something that sitting on my arse doing fuck all."
"Uhheem!" Kayo coughs and sits up to face Alan.
"What?" Alan enquires taking a moment to realise what Kayo is referring to, "Oh…"
"Yeah," Kayo sighs and gets out of bed making her way over to the bathroom, "I miss the childish side of you that you used to slip out."
Alan quickly acknowledges his mistake and hops out of the bed, placing the laptop down and following Kayo into the bathroom. The sound of running water is heard as the steam starts to build up around him. The distant sound of a fan in the background is hardly noticeable as Alan strips of his clothes and joins Kayo inside the shower.
"I'm sorry, my darling," Alan says as he reaches over Kayo's shoulder to grab her body wash and starts applying it to her back.
"It's okay, love," Kayo sighs.
"No, it's not," Alan states, "I've been putting myself under too much pressure lately and its starting to affect you."
Kayo turns around to face Alan, with a ghost of a smile forming on her lips. She leans in and Alan meets her in the middle. Their lips graze each other before Alan pulls away with a teasing smile. His eyes dance playfully between her shining gaze and her soft pink lips. Kayo lets out a slight pout as Alan brushes their noses together. He then lifts his right hand and brushes it along her smooth cheek. Kayo suddenly gasps as a shiver is sent straight through her body like a lightning bolt and Alan seizes his chance and captures her lips once again sliding his tongue inside. This causes Kayo to moan in satisfaction as the steam encases them in the shower cubicle.
April 21st, 2067 – 07:34 NZST
Nina walks along the vast hangar where Thunderbird 2 lives. She had just done some tests on Thunderbird 8 after its recent repair after it got heavily damaged in Japan after an earthquake. Over by Thunderbird 2, she sees Brains and Max busy working.
"How are you, Brains?" Nina shouts up.
"Oh, hello, N-Nina!" Brains calls, looking down from above the starboard air-intake where he's been working, "I am j-just m-making the f-final adjustments. Thunderbird 2 will s-soon be in t-tip-top condition once M-Max and I have f-finished."
Max is washing the hull above the port air-intake. As he picks up the bucket, he fails to see one small bit of water has not been properly washed away. As he rolls along, his wheels slip. His arms and legs flail about as he tries to steady himself before topping off the side and falls down several feet before he hits the hangar floor with a loud crash. To add to this indignity, the bucket of water that he'd been using falls after him and lands right over his head.
Hearing Max's shrieks and the crash, Brains grasps down from the other side of Thunderbird 2 and runs over with Nina in tow to see what had happened. "Oh, my! M-Max!" Brains exclaims, pulling the bucket off his head, "Are y-you h-hurt?"
Max whines and turns to show his back left leg has broken off in the fall.
"Not to worry," Brains sooths, "We'll soon f-fix that. Nina, could you pass me that spanner?"
Nina does so and within a minute Brains has fixed the leg and Max is able to stand properly again.
"There you go, M-Max," Brain smiles as Max beeps in gratitude.
"You make fixing things look easy, Brains," Nina remarks, as she looks up at Thunderbird 2, "Is it all done?"
"Oh, yes," Brains replies, "I f-fixed the vibrations coming from the aft t-thrusters and I double-checked the M-Module loading m-mechanism. All is A-Okay. T-Thunderbird 2 is approved for whenever she is n-needed next."
"That's good to hear, Brains," Nina nods as they walk round to the front of the ship, "Maybe I should've sent Virgil down here sooner to give you a hand. There's not much else going on around here."
Just then Sally enters the hangar. "Fresh cookies for anyone who wants them," she says.
"Ah, Mrs Tracy," Nina chuckles, "So this is what you've been working on since the crack of dawn."
Both Nina and Brains take a cookie each and bite into it. They are a little apprehensive at first due to Sally's cooking being rather iffy. But to their surprise, the cookies are not burnt in any way and they are actually edible for once.
"Mmmm," Brains hums, impressed, "These are delicious, M-Mrs Tracy."
"Lady Penelope gave me a recipe her Great Aunt Sylvia had for making cookies," Sally explains before turning to look at Thunderbird 2, "Will you or Virgil be taking her up for a test flight?"
"Hey, that's not a bad idea!" Nina cries as her eyes light up.
"Good!" Sally notes, "Then you can take me, too. I'd like a little excitement myself!"
Nina and Brains exchange a look. Nina herself isn't against the idea however, she isn't entirely sure what Jeff would have to say about it.
"Er, sure, providing Jeff agrees to it," Nina informs.
They head upstairs and find Jeff still in his office looking over some recent data reports form the GDF. Nina explains the idea to Jeff and Jeff looks between her and his mother with a frown developing on his face. Despite this, as soon as he is presented with two of her cookies he changes his mind.
Very well," Jeff says at last, "But only one trip around the islands."
"Understood, Sir," Nina replies and turns over to Sally, "See you down there!"
"Don't leave until I get there!" Grandma called back.
5
Nina jumps down a slide next to the stairs that go up to the living quarters.
4
The lifting equipment is loaded into Module 3.
3
Sally boards Thunderbird 2 via the passenger elevator.
2
Thunderbird 2 taxis down the main runway and comes to a halt allowing the ramp to raise.
1
The blast shield rises.
Thunderbirds are Go!
April 21st, 2067 – 07:48 NZST
As Nina brings Thunderbird 2 away from the island, she gets a waft of a mouthwatering smell and turns around to see that Sally had brought her cookies along with her.
"You brought the cookies?" Nina questions.
"Why not?" Sally responds, "It's for in case either of us get hungry during the flight."
"I…highly doubt that," Nina remarks quietly before pressing down on her com link, "Climbing to cruising altitude."
"Remember, Nina," Jeff's hologram replies over the holo-projector, "Just the one trip around the islands."
"FAB," Nina acknowledges, "Now let's get some speed up."
Thunderbird 2's engines roar as she accelerates to a higher speed.
"WOOOOOOO!" Sally yells in delight.
From underneath the veranda outside the villa, Jeff watches anxiously as Thunderbird 2 flies off into the distance. He lets out a nervous breath as Scott comes out to join his father, reaching his arms up and stretching, going onto his tiptoes.
"Everything okay, Dad?" Scott yawns.
"I don't know, son," Jeff sighs, "Your Grandma's getting on. I'm not overly keen on having her taking rides in fast-moving aircraft."
Scott understands what Jeff is saying, but he didn't entirely share his concern. "It's not the first time Grandma's flown in Thunderbird 2," Scott notes, "In fact, Grandma even flew Thunderbird 2 on a mission once to rescue Virgil and some trapped mine workers."
"I remember her telling me not long after I returned," Jeff replies as a small smile forms on his face, "Maybe I am an old fool for thinking that."
"Yes and no, Dad," Scott chuckles, "Yes for thinking that and no, you are definitely not a fool."
Jeff laughs too as the pair head back inside. They walk over to lounge and take a seat. The reason Scott had come up is because he is waiting for Brains to come and talk to him through some upgrades he'd got planned for Thunderbird 1. As he sits and waits with Jeff, they are started by the beeping coming from John and Ridley's portraits and seconds later they appear in hologram form.
"International Rescue, we have a situation," John informs.
"Go ahead, John," "Jeff orders.
"No time for explanations, Dad," John explains, "A man's life is literally hanging in the balance."
"We need Thunderbirds 1 and 2 in the air and heading for Australia," Ridley adds, "Fast response and potential heavy-lifting required."
"Good job Thunderbird 2's already airborne," Scott says, "But Grandma's still aboard!"
"Scott, gear up and launch Thunderbird 1 immediately!" Jeff orders, "I'll talk to Thunderbird 2."
"FAB," Scott replies as he hurries over to the revolving wall that would take him to the launching tube, "Tell Virgil I'll see him in the sky!"
Outside, Thunderbird 2 has completed its lap of the nearby islands and is now heading back towards Tracy Island.
"Thunderbird 2 returning to base," Nina announces, "Stand-by for touchdown."
"Base to Thunderbird 2," Jeff calls as he appears on the console projector, "We have a situation. Nina, what Module do you have with you?"
"I have Module 3, Jeff," Nina informs, "What's the situation?"
"Excellent!" Jeff says, "Set course for Australia. Scott's launching Thunderbird 1 now. Thunderbird 5 will brief you both. And take care of my mother. There's no time for you to bring her back."
"FAB," Nina nods, as she changes Thunderbird 2's course, "Looks like it's your lucky day, Grandma."
"I knew today was going to be a good one," Sally states happily.
5
Scott descends and get suited up.
4
He arrives at the bottom of his elevator and steps onto the moving platform.
3
Scott retracts the chair inside Thunderbird 1 and closes the hatch.
2
The launch pad starts to move.
1
Thunderbird 1 comes to a stop as the swimming pool above starts to retract.
Thunderbirds are Go!
April 21st, 2067 – 08:02 NZST
Once Thunderbird 1 had caught up to Thunderbird 2, John is able to fill them in on the situation. "EOS picked up a call from a man whose jeep suffered a tyre blow-out whilst travelling along the coast road," John explains, "The jeep's fallen a short way down the cliff and is balancing precariously on a tree."
"How stable is the tree?" Scott enquires.
"Not very, Mission Control," John replies, "The tree's old and appears to be dead. I suspect the weight of the jeep will only make it weaker by the second."
"How many are in the jeep?" Nina asks.
"Thunderbird 10 weren't able to speak to him directly," John states, "I've been trying to make contact but from what I'm picking up two life-signs in the jeep. Sending you the coordinates now."
"I'll fly on ahead," Scott muses, once he'd receives them, "If need be I'll airlift them out. Thunderbird 2, get there as soon as you can."
"FAB," Nina responds and watches as Thunderbird 1 rockets off into the distance.
April 21st, 2067 – 06:41 AEST
Thunderbird 1 rounds a headland and follows the side of the cliff. Scott opens up a speaker to see if he can pick up any voices and within seconds, he picks up a voice.
"HEY! HEY! OVER HERE!" a man calls, waving his arms frantically.
"This is Mission Control. I have a visual on the jeep," Scott calls, "Going to try and get in closer."
"Be careful, Mission Control," John warns, "My scans read the section of the cliff where the tree is getting worse by the second. The force of your thrusters may make it worse."
"FAB," Scott replies. He uses Thunderbird 1's cameras to zoom in on the jeep and frowns, "John, are you sure your scanners detected two life-signs? I can only see only one person waving at me."
"I've checked and double-checked," John answers, "Definitely picking up two."
"Hmm," Scott muses, "I'd better jetpack over there and see if the driver is injured. Thunderbird 2, what's your ETA?"
"Three minutes, Mission Control," Nina responds, "Do you reckon the jeep will last that long?"
"I'm going to jetpack over and take a closer look," Scott informs as he dons his helmet, "It had better."
After putting Thunderbird 1 on autopilot, the hatch underneath the cockpit opens and the seat lowers allowing Scott to jump out and activate his jetpack. He flies the short distance over to the tree so he can talk to its occupants.
"Hello there?" Scott calls as he arrives, "I'm International Rescue and-"
"WOOF-WOOF-WOOF!"
"SHIT!" Scott exclaims flying backwards a short distance in surprise. He quickly pulls himself together and looks back at the Golden Retriever which is now growling at him.
"Sorry, mate!" the man calls, "Sammy doesn't like strangers."
"Er, duly noted," Scott mutters and presses his helmet's radio, "Thunderbird 5, your scanners were correct. But one of them is a dog!"
"A dog?!" John repeats back in shock, "Well fuck!"
"I know," Scott sighs, "It's already taken a dislike to me." He hovers around to the cliff itself in an attempt to speak with the man without Sammy barking at him again, "Are you hurt, sir?"
"My arm is in great pain," the man replies, "Just above the elbow."
Scott uses his scanner to examine Roger's arm. "Looks like a minor fracture," Scott informs. "We'll get you to a hospital once we've lifted you and your dog out of here."
At that very moment, Thunderbird 2 appears around the headland. As it approaches, Sammy began to cower in his seat and whimper.
"Can they cut the engine sound?" the man enquires, "He's frightening Sammy!"
"Sir, we can't change the sound of her engine noise," Scott states, "Nina, hold your position!"
"What's wrong, Scott?" Nina asks as she activates the VTOL engines bringing Thunderbird 2 to a halt.
"We have a minor complication with this rescue," Scott replies over the holo-projector, "There's a dog in the jeep and your engines are scaring it."
"Shit," Nina mutters, "Well with all due respect, Scott, unless you can carry the dog out first there's no other option for me to lift the jeep to safety."
Scott looks at the terrified Sammy. "That's a negative," he explains and turns to the man, "He's already barked and growled at me. I think we're just going to have to risk it. What's your name, sir?"
"Roger. And this is Sammy," Roger says.
"Okay, Roger. If Sammy isn't going to trust me to carry him to safety first then I'm afraid Thunderbird 2 will have to lift you clear whilst he's still inside," Scott informs.
Roger hesitates but before he can answer, there's a crack and the tree shifts slightly causing him and Sammy to yelp in alarm. "I'll hold onto him," Roger says quickly, "Just please hurry!"
Scott nodded. "Thunderbird 2, we've sorted things out down here," he said. "Prepare for recovery."
"FAB," Nina acknowledges, "I'll be as quick but as careful as I can. Deploying magnetic grabs."
The doors underneath the module open and the large yellow magnetic grabs are lowered out. Nina then begins to cautiously maneuverer Thunderbird 2 over the jeep, keeping as much distance between the craft and it as possible so as to not frighten Sammy anymore. Scott watches as Roger holds tightly onto his dog who's trembling like a leaf leaving Scott to feel sorry for the animal.
Nina soon has Thunderbird 2 positions directly above the danger zone and the grabs clamps down onto the sides of the jeep. "Contact!" Nina cries.
Scott quickly checks to make sure the grabs are secure. "You've got it, Thunderbird 2. Take it away. And steady!"
Nina reverses the winch and begins to carefully lift the jeep up off the tree. The tree creaks as it's relieved of the heavy weight it has had to endure.
Sammy continues to whimper loudly despite Roger's best efforts to keep him calm. "It's okay, Sammy. International Rescue are taking us to safety." However, Sammy's fear soon got the better of him, and without thinking he slips out of Roger's grasp. Roger and Scott can only watch in horror as the terrified dog leaps right out of the jeep and lands back on the tree below. "NO!" Roger screams, "COME BACK, BOY!"
"Fuckin' brilliant!" Scott curses, "I was afraid that would happen!"
Thunderbird 2 clears the jeep of the cliff and brings it over safe ground before lowering it safely down. "Jeep secured, Mission Control," Nina says.
"FAB, Nina," replies Scott, "But I'm afraid the situation isn't over. The dog's jumped out and is still on the tree!"
"Shit!" Nina facepalms and gives Sally an alarmed look, "That's all we need!"
Sally looks out of the cockpit windows. She can just make out the shape of Sammy who had run right out to the far end of the tree and is hiding amongst the dead branches. He is much further out than the jeep had been.
"Nina, put us down," Sally orders, "I think I have an idea how we can fix this."
April 21st, 2067 – 06:57 AEST
Thunderbird 2 lands on the cliff road after safely putting the jeep down. Scott remotely lands Thunderbird 1 on Sally's instructions so that she can put her plan to save Sammy into action.
"Fine, now switch your engines off!" Sally instructs, "The poor creature's frightened enough as it is."
Scott runs over to the jeep where he found a frantic Roger struggling to get out.
"Please save my dog!" Roger begs.
"Roger, please stay as still as you can," Scott states, "You could be going into shock. I'm going to fix up your arm to make you a little more comfortable. My Grandma has an idea to get your dog back."
Roger looks at him in bewilderment before looking over at Sally who's making her way over towards the edge of the cliff and the tree where Sammy is crouching, terrified towards the far end.
"Careful, Mrs Tracy!" Nina warns, "Don't go too close to the edge!"
"I'll be fine, dear," Sally responds, "Now stay back. Too many of us will make him more nervous."
Scott, Roger and Nina can only watch in silence and intrigue as Sally carefully moves as close as she dares to the cliff edge. Sammy is watching her, still trembling. "There now. No need to be scared to be scared of me, Sammy," Sally says calmly and lowers a tray of cookies so that Sammy could see them.
Sammy suddenly stops shaking. His head lifts up, his eyes lit-up, his ears stop drooping and his long tail began to wag.
"Ohhh, I get it!" Nina smiles, "She's going to entice him with food."
"Hopefully he likes them better than we do," Scott says quietly.
"Sammy is like a garbage truck," Roger chuckles, "He'll eat anything!"
"Here's a little treat for you, boy," Sally states as she takes one of the cookies from the tray and throws it out onto the tree trunk, "Eat up."
Sammy looks at the cookie for a moment before moving cautiously forward towards it. The tree creaks under his paws but all thoughts of peril have vanished from his mind. He reaches for the cookie, sniffs it, and then nibbles before eating it fully. He then looks up at Sally with a look of happiness, so she throws two more out – one landing near the roots and the other on the ground. Sammy instantly moves to eat the one on by the roots but before he can even think about the other one there comes a terrifying creak and groan as the tree's roots begin breaking out of the ground as it starts to fall.
"IT'S GOING!" Nina cries.
"JUMP, SAMMY, JUMP!" Roger yells in desperation.
Thinking quickly, Sally grabs another cookie and throws it up in the air. Sammy looks up at it and then took an almighty leap into the air catching it in his mouth before landing safely on the ground just as the dead tree finally breaks away from the cliff and plummets down onto the rocks far below.
"Phew!" everyone exclaims.
"Fuck me!" Scott adds.
Sally drops one more cookie for Sammy at her feet. He immediately comes over and eats it before allowing her to pat him on the head leaving everyone else looking bemused. He's no longer afraid of her. "That's it," Sally says, "Good dog!"
"Wow," Scott breathes, "Cool thinking, Grandma."
"Now let's get Roger here to the hospital," Nina notes.
Sammy then comes bounding over to Roger and jumps up to begin licking his face. "Woah, easy boy! I have a bad arm here!" Roger says with a smile and turns to Scott, "Thank you,"
Scott smiles and nods.
April 21st, 2067 – 07:26 AEST
After dropping Roger off at the hospital and waiting for his wife to collect Sammy as he isn't allowed inside, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 begin to make the short journey back to Tracy Island.
"Good thing you came along, Mrs Tracy," Nina states.
"I enjoyed myself," Sally agrees, "And Sammy enjoyed my cookies, too."
Nina looks at the tray on Grandma's lap and sees that there are still two cookies left. "I never thought I'd ever say this," she smirks, "Could I have one?"
"Of course," Sally beams holding the tray over so Nina can take the cookie.
Suddenly, Thunderbird 1's engines cut out and it drops out of view.
"Scott?" Nina asks, "SCOTT?!"
After a few seconds, the silver rocket reappears and regains its original altitude.
"Scott, are you okay?" Sally enquires, as startled as Nina was.
"Er, yeah, I think so," Scott replies via the hologram, "But I'm more concerned about what Nina just said. Are you sure you're feeling, okay?"
It takes a moment but then Nina and Sally realise what he meant and begin to laugh. Nina then has an idea as she took one of the cookies. "I think I know who's having that last one, Mrs Tracy," she winks.
"Oh, yes," Sally grins wickedly before turning to the hologram of her eldest grandson, "Scott, dear, if you move Thunderbird 1 just above Thunderbird 2, I might be able to hand this to you."
Scott groans and gives Nina a look. "Youuuuuuuuu…" he starts with a powerful grimace and a pointed finger as Nina howls with laughter.