CORALVILLE Children's Hospital was situated just outside the State of New York. Whilst it had only been in existence for around eight years, its reputation for helping children get better had grown to be known globally. It was a reputation that spoke of the hospital and its staff in a very positive way. Whilst like any other hospital, it was not always possible to achieve success, but its success rate far exceeded those in other hospitals in the United States, let alone the world.
As Christmas approached, the hospital's committee held a meeting to discuss a audacious plan that would hopefully benefit them in the long run, one that had been spoken about a few days previously in the office of Harman's Toy Store.
Dr Pringle sat at the end of the table, listening whilst a number of his other committee members got into a bit of an argument.
"You're all talk, Saunders!" barked one of the members to a man in a white suit.
"All talk?!" repeated Saunders, indignantly. "Since when have you ever been one to get your hands dirty?"
"Well if you're gonna take that attitude," scoffed the first man.
"MY attitude?!"
Dr Pringle decided to intervene. "Gentlemen, please, please!" he said, getting them to fall silent. "This meeting isn't to discuss our attitudes or anything of the sort! We're supposed to be discussing getting the money for this new therapy wing at the hospital."
Saunders, as it turned out, was a man who actually worked for Tracy Aerospace. He was the trusted person who Jeff had placed in charge of it when he'd left to set up International Rescue. "If International Rescue are still willing to take part in this operation, I'm willing to put the full support of Tracy Aerospace resources into supplying the rocket."
"And Mr Harman's company will fill it with toys," said the other man, who was a representative of Harman. "On one condition though."
"And what is that?" asked Saunders.
"That it launches from the roof of the Harman Building on Christmas morning," said the representative. "Mr Harman said he couldn't quite remember if he'd spoken to Jeff Tracy about it, but he wanted me to mention it regardless."
"As some kind of publicity stunt?" asked Dr Pringle.
"Exactly," said the representative. "Then the hospital, Harman's Toy Stores and Tracy Aerospace get a great boost of publicity and support."
"Is International Rescue's involvement at this end surely enough to do that?" asked the fourth man at the table. He was Dr Lang, Dr Pringle's second man.
"For the hospital most definitely," said the representative. "But they wouldn't be helping to promote the Toy Store or Tracy Aerospace, would they?" There was a pause. Then the representative spoke again. "Mr Harman has also given me a cheque for $10,000 to kick off the project." He removed the envelope from the inside of his coat and placed it on the table in front of the two senior doctors.
Dr Pringle was at least satisfied. "Well, gentlemen. This project does have some exciting possibilities. However, how are we going to be positively certain that this scheme can be pulled off?"
"I may have a suggestion on that," said Saunders. "After getting the word from Mr Tracy, I took the liberty of having a prototype rocket made up, canister and everything. I therefore propose we do a test flight from Tracy Aerospace Testing Sites to the hospital. It can drop the canister loaded with valuables and if they are still intact by the time it lands, we shall know whether it'll work or not."
"That sounds reasonable to me," said Dr Pringle. "What do we think, gentlemen?"
Dr Lang and the representative both nodded in agreement.
"That's settled then," said Dr Pringle. "Project Christmas Rocket is a go!"
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"CHRISTMAS HEIST"
(Based on the original Thunderbirds Episode "GIVE OR TAKE A MILLION")
TWO nights had passed since the meeting between Dr Pringle and the representatives of Harman's Store and Tracy Aerospace. Now he found himself in the staff room of the hospital along with Dr Lang and the hospital's Head Nurse, Susan Pollard.
Dr Lang was looking outside the window. It was dark. Things were quiet. Visiting hours were over and there was only them, the night shift staff and the patients left inside the hospital. He glanced at his watch, then pushed a button which lowered the blinds. He then turned to Dr Pringle. "It's almost time, sir," he said. "Should we go outside?"
"Patience, Steve," said Dr Pringle. He then turned to Harman, who was also in the room with them. He was looking at his own watch. "The rocket should be blasting off any minute now," he said. "Saunders estimates it'll take ten minutes to get here."
Several miles away, at the Tracy Aerospace Test Facility, the outside areas had been cleared of all personnel. All was quiet except for the humming around the launch platform where a tall, grey, red and yellow rocket stood with a large square canister down towards its base. It was inside here that a number of valuable and in some cases fragile items had been wrapped up in paper and boxes and placed inside ready for the flight to Coralville.
Saunders was in the safety of the control building, about a mile away from the launch area. He glanced over at the clock on the wall. "Twenty seconds," he said. "Start the launch procedure."
A button was pressed. An alarm began to sound and the tall red gantry that the rocket was attached to began to tilt away from it. Once it was clear at a forty-five degree angle, the relative quietness was then shattered completely by the roar of the boosters firing. Huge plumes of smoke momentarily hide the rocket from view before it began to gracefully rise upwards into the night sky. Higher and higher it went until it had reached its pre-programed height and began to level out onto its flight-path that would take it to the hospital.
"Lift off is good," said Saunders. "Well, we've done our part. Now let's hope it can deliver."
The night around the hospital was pretty silent as well, except for the occasional hoot of an owl in the far distance. The hospital was located outside any major populated areas, making it remote, but somewhat peaceful for both the staff and the patients.
Dr Pringle, Nurse Pollard, Harman and Dr Lang were all outside now, wrapped in winter coats with hats, scarves and gloves to try and keep out the bitter coldness. The snow that had been falling for the past few days covered the ground, making it look magical. However, all their thoughts were on the experiment.
Dr Lang checked his watch again. "Almost ten, Dr Pringle."
"Thank you, Steve," replied Dr Pringle.
Harman checked his own watch. "You're a minute fast," he said. "We have to make sure that the timing is done right."
Dr Pringle nodded in agreement. "Relax, Mr Harman. This is only a test, remember? Saunders can make adjustments if need be."
"Yes, but this is the only chance we have of seeing whether this idea works or not," said Harman.
Dr Pringle decided it wasn't worth trying to change Harman's mind about it so he spoke to Nurse Pollard instead. "Is everything set, Nurse?" he asked.
Nurse Pollard had been given the task of making sure that nobody other than them knew about what was going to be happening. "Yes, Doctor," she said. "All blinds have been drawn and windows are covered. The soundproofing windows have been adjusted, too. Nobody should suspect a thing."
"Keeping the children in the dark is obvious," said Dr Lang. "But do we really need to keep the staff in the dark, as well?"
"Only for tonight, Steve," said Dr Pringle. "If this works, we'll have a big meeting tomorrow to let them all know what the plan for Christmas Day is."
"Hold up!" Harman suddenly cut in. "Do you hear that?"
They all listened. Very faintly, but gradually getting louder, came the humming of something coming through the sky. Then as they looked up, they could just make out the lights of a fast-moving object racing in the direction of the hospital.
"Here she comes!" said Harman.
The rocket flew right over the hospital grounds. The clamps holding the canister were released and it dropped out from the rocket, deploying its parachute and starting a gentle descent towards the ground. The rocket itself then disappeared over the top of the hospital and was gone. They heard its engines fire up again as it changed course and started to make its way back towards Tracy Aerospace.
The four watched as the canister drifted down to land on the snow-covered grass of the hospital's front lawn. They looked about to see if anyone seemed to have noticed what was going on. Nobody seemed to though.
"Okay then," said Harman. "Let's go take a look at what's inside."
Together they walked towards the canister with Nurse Pollard leading the way. The canister had landed upright with a pair of twin red sliding doors built into the top of it. Beside them were a pair of buttons that could open or close it.
"Okay, Nurse, open it up," said Dr Lang.
"Yes, Doctor," replied Nurse Pollard. She reached out and pushed the button. The doors slid open to reveal a large number of boxes all wrapped up in brown paper. She picked up one of the boxes, removed the string and then unwrapped the paper to reveal a plain white box inside. She removed the lid and wrapped the tissue paper that surrounded the object inside, which turned out to be a beautiful stallion made out of china. "Well, I'll be!" she gasped in astonishment.
"Still in one piece," said Harman triumphantly. "How about that?"
"That's fantastic!" said Dr Pringle. "Not even a scratch."
"Is it worth opening all the others to see if they all survived?" asked Dr Lang.
"No, I don't think that'll be necessary," said Harman. "The legs cushion the impact of any surface so I am told. I'd better get back to New York to start making arrangements with Saunders. And I probably owe him a drink for this. I, er, heard my representative didn't exactly treat him too well the other day for which I must apologise."
"That's not necessary, Mr Harman," said Dr Pringle. "No harm's been done. The experiment was a success. Now all we need is for definite that International Rescue will be on board."
"We should probably call them as well to tell them about this," said Dr Lang.
"Agreed," said Dr Pringle. "Go and do that, would you, Steve?"
"Certainly, Doctor," said Dr Lang and he hurried back towards the main hospital building.
Harman looked back at Nurse Pollard who was still admiring the horse sculpture. "You can keep that, if you'd like, Nurse?" he said.
"Can I?" she asked eagerly.
Harman smiled. "Of course," he said.
Nurse Pollard grinned.
Hot Sun and Christmas decorations were an odd mix unless you were part of the Tracy family. The house and the vehicle hangars had all been decorated with tinsel and other ornaments. A large tree sat in the lounge behind Jeff's desk and Virgil's piano.
Whilst the family were feeling festive, it wasn't quite the same as they knew the true Christmas experience was where there was snow. There was no chance of that ever happening naturally on a tropical island even if it was winter.
Jeff was just going through a report with Gordon when John's portrait started beeping.
Virgil had been busy tuning the piano but sighed when he heard the beeping and stopped. "Here we go again," he said.
"Good," said Scott. "I'm itching to take my bird out."
"Not so hasty, boys," said Jeff. "If this is what I think it is." He turned to the wall of portraits. "Go ahead, John?"
John's hologram appeared. Straight away they could tell he wasn't reporting in a distress call for he had a big smile on his face. "Dad, I have great news," he said. "I've just had a call from the Coralville Hospital. The testing of the rocket was a success. We are go!"
"Marvellous," said Jeff. "Tell them we shall see them on Christmas morning."
"Already have," said John. "Will you want me down on Christmas Eve?"
"Yes, to have you sleep here the night before would be a great help, John," said Jeff. "Then we can all head off early."
"Early? Ugh…" Alan shuddered, but he kept it to himself.
"F-A-B," said John. "Thunderbird 5, out."
BONK! "Ow!"
They all looked over in the direction of the piano.
"You okay there, Virgil?" asked Jeff.
"Yeah, I'm good," said Virgil, rubbing his head. "I should've moved out a little more before sitting up," he chuckled.
Once he was up, Jeff addressed them all. "Well, it would seem our mission to bring some Christmas joy to the children of Coralville Hospital is going ahead as planned," he said. "The children know nothing of this, so it's gonna be one heck of a surprise when they see us come in to hand out their presents."
"Shouldn't Santa Claus be the one to dish out the presents?" asked Gordon.
"If anyone asks, we'll tell them he's entrusted us with the task," chuckled Jeff.
Alan then raised a problem that had been bugging him for a while. "Just one thing, Dad…what happens if we get an emergency call that day?"
Kayo hit him on the arm. "Don't be so pessimistic," she scolded.
"That is a possibility, Alan, yes, and don't think I haven't taken that into consideration," said Jeff. "However, I would like to hope that on this occasion, nothing is gonna go wrong on Christmas Day this year."
"We all deserve a Happy Christmas this year," said Scott. "Especially after last year's."
Gordon shuddered. He did not want to remember the events of the previous year. "Damn those Rock Snakes," he fumed.
"Hey, they didn't ask to come here, did they?" Virgil pointed out.
Grandma was standing at the edge of the lounge and had heard everything. "I understand that this is all very important, but don't forget, we still have a big family meal to plan out," she said. "Am I right in believing that Lady Penelope is bringing her family over this year?"
"This is correct," said Jeff. "Lord Patrick and Lady Patricia have never visited the island before. Let's ensure we make it a Christmas to remember for them as much as for the children in Coralville."
Scott turned to Grandma. "There's quite a lot of us," he said. "Do we have enough food?"
"No, we don't, Scott," Grandma replied. "Which is why I'm gonna need someone to fly me out to the mainland to go shopping."
"Or you could spend your time prepping the food we have here whilst two of us go and get the food?" suggested Kayo.
Grandma considered the idea. "If you're sure, Kayo?"
"I am," said Kayo. "Scott and I will go."
"We will?" Scott asked, surprised.
Kayo paid him no attention. "Just write us a list," she said to Grandma. "We'll do the rest."
Grandma smiled gratefully. "Thank you, dear," she said. "I will start on the list immediately." She turned to head back down to the kitchen.
Scott felt awkward in asking his next question. "So…when were you planning to ask me if I wanted to do this?" he asked.
Kayo just smirked, and the others laughed too.
It took pretty much all day for Grandma to write the list of things they would need for the Christmas banquet that the family were planning to have. Scott spent time preparing the family jet that would take them to Sydney where they would undertake their mega-shop. Soon, he and Kayo were aboard the Jet on the runway outside Thunderbird 2's hangar. "Request launch clearance," Scott said into the radio.
"Permission granted, Scott," said Jeff. "Have a safe trip."
"Thanks, Dad."
The Jet rumbled forwards. It picked up speed and then lifted off the runway before turning sharply away from the island to head for Australia.
Once they'd levelled out, Scott spoke to Kayo who was sitting in the co-pilot seat. "Did Grandma give you the list?" he asked.
"Yes, she did," said Kayo. "We must waste time. It might take us more than a day to complete this."
Scott raised an eyebrow. "Why, is there a lot to get?" he asked.
Kayo held up the list. "Rather a lot, yes," she said.
Scott frowned. The piece of paper with the list fitted firmly into Kayo's hand. "That doesn't look like much," he said. But then Kayo allowed the list to unravel fully. "Oh…"
After Scott and Kayo had left, Jeff made a call to Tracy Aerospace. Saunders' hologram appeared from the projector on the table. "Mr Tracy! What can I do for you, sir?"
"Hello, Frank. I've been informed that the trial run of the Christmas Rocket was a great success."
"Indeed it has been," said Saunders. "It launched, flew to Coralville, dropped off the canister and then returned to the Test Site without so much as a hiccup. I am very pleased."
"And so you should be," said Jeff with a smile. "I'll make sure you and everyone who has worked on this project gets an extra bonus this year for Christmas.
Saunders beamed. "That is very generous of you, Mr Tracy," he said.
"When does the rocket get assembled properly?" Jeff asked.
"Christmas Eve," said Saunders. "So in two days time."
"Excellent," said Jeff. "I cannot wait to see it fly over the hospital and drop the canister full of presents."
"Everything will be checked, double-checked and then checked again, Mr Tracy," said Saunders. "There won't be a thing to go wrong on Christmas Day."
Jeff tried not to frown at this. He'd heard talk like this before and it usually resulted in something bad happening. However, he'd never known Saunders to make a mess of the work he'd been given, so he felt confident that he really meant it. "Make sure to pass on my congratulations to the rest of your team, Frank," he finished. "Call me if there's any problems."
"There'll be no problems, Mr Tracy," said Saunders with confidence. "You have my word on that. So long."
"So long," said Jeff as Saunders ended the call.
Gordon had been over by the piano with Virgil. "Isn't he sounding a little overconfident?" he asked.
Jeff turned to face his son. "I understand where you're coming from, Gordon, but I've known Frank Saunders for a very long time. I've never known him to mess up. I have faith in him."
At least one of us does, Gordon thought to himself.
"What do we do in the meantime, Dad?" asked Virgil.
"There's not much else we can do, son," Jeff replied. "The tree and decorations are already up."
"I've got a lot of food to cook," said Grandma. "I'd appreciate a hand with that."
"I thought Scott and Kayo had gone to get it?" said Alan.
Brains then walked in. "That doesn't mean we c-can't help with what we already have," he said.
"Exactly," agreed Jeff.
Grandma turned to Brains. "Would you and MAX feel up to helping me?" she asked.
MAX warbled excitedly.
"Um, y-yes, of c-course," stammered Brains.
"Alan can help, too," said Gordon.
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Alan, almost falling off the sofa he was in. "Why me?!"
"Go on, Alan," urged Jeff. "It'll do you good rather than just being a couch potato all day."
"Does it have to be just me?" grumbled Alan. "You gotta help too, Gordon!"
Gordon shrugged. "Sorry," he said innocently. "I'm already preoccupied."
Alan jumped to his feet. "No, you're not!"
"Yes, I am," said Gordon. "I'm helping Virgil tune the piano."
"A little to the left, please, Gordon," Virgil's voice said from behind the piano.
"Would seem he is as well," said Grandma as she started to follow Brains and MAX out of the room. "Come along, Alan."
"Arrrrgh!" growled Alan, throwing his headset down and stomping off to the kitchen.
The next two days passed uneventfully for the Tracy family. Jeff gave the boys permission to put decorations up inside their ships and by the morning of the 24th, all but Thunderbirds 1 and Shadow were decorated. They felt it best to let Scott and Kayo decorate their own ships. Even John had put some up in Thunderbird 5, although this was more for EOS than himself.
"There!" John said when he'd finished wrapping some tinsel around EOS's mobile unit. "Feeling more festive, EOS?"
"Thunderbird 5 is looking amazing, John," said EOS. "Thank you. I wish you could stay up here with me though."
"Believe me, EOS. I don't like to leave you up here on your own," said John. "Someone needs to keep a listen out for the world though. As you remember from last year, disasters and emergencies don't stop for Christmas as much as we'd like them to."
"I know," said EOS before letting out a sad beep.
John turned to look at her. "Something wrong, EOS? You're not usually this glum?"
"What? Oh, nothing," EOS said hastily.
John raised an eyebrow.
EOS let out a sigh. "I'm sorry," she said. "I guess…I wish I could be like you, John."
"What do you mean?"
"I wish I was more than just a computer," said EOS. "I wish I could move about freely. Like a human. I'd like to be able to feel things. See things. Smell things. If…that's even possible for something like me?"
John was taken aback. "You want to become human?"
"Well…not entirely," said EOS. "But I wish I was more than what I am, if that makes sense?"
"I guess so," said John, looking out at the Earth. "I mean The Mechanic is part machine."
EOS was quick to speak again. "Forgive me, John. I shouldn't have brought this up."
"It's fine, EOS. You have a right to voice your feelings."
"Impractical feelings, yes," said EOS.
John couldn't think of anything else to say.
Scott and Kayo had returned from their shopping trip with a cargo hold full of supplies which the others had to help unload. It was hard work, even with the help of Braman, MAX and The Mechanic. By the end of it, all of the humans were exhausted and needed a rest whilst the machines were perfectly fine.
The Mechanic felt somewhat amused at seeing everyone collapse out in the lounge. "I can't remember the last time I felt like that," he remarked.
"Don't you get like this when your power cells start to drain?" asked Virgil.
"Yes, but it's very rare I let them down that low," said The Mechanic. "They get charged each and every night."
"Wish we could do that," said Scott.
Alan then came in having helped Grandma with the last of the supply boxes. He walked over to the couch where Gordon was sitting with a book he'd just picked up. He literally collapsed into it and let out a yawn.
"What's up with you?" Gordon asked.
"I'm beat, that's what's up," said Alan grumpily. He was still somewhat ticked off with Gordon over being made to help Grandma with the cooking, even though Gordon had pitched in and done a bit himself too.
Gordon began to laugh. "Dear me, Alan," he said. "You help move a few boxes and then fall down exhausted. You're not fit, that's your trouble."
"A kid your age should be able to take that in your stride," added Scott.
Alan nearly exploded in a rage. "Argh, I've HAD IT!" he fumed. "You two just sit around waiting for the next damn meal to come to you, and you have the nerve to say I'M NOT FIT?!"
"Woah, Alan, easy!" said Virgil.
"Yes, that's enough!" added Jeff. "It's Christmas tomorrow. Let's not start falling out now, shall we?"
"They started it," grumbled Alan.
"Alan, you did a great job," said Jeff. "I'm proud of you."
Alan was taken aback by the compliment. "You…You are? Oh…thanks, Dad." He seemed to cheer up at hearing that.
"You done good, too, Scott," Jeff added. "Same with you, Kayo. That was one heck-of-a-haul you brought back with you."
Scott smiled. "Thanks, Dad," he said.
Gordon then waited to see what Jeff would say to compliment him. But he didn't say anything. "Errrrr, is there something I've done which is good lately?" he asked.
Jeff went to speak, but it was Virgil who spoke. "Well…I can think of something that you haven't done yet today," he said.
Gordon gave him a confused frown. "Which is?"
The others all looked at Virgil as well. "Isn't it someone's birthday today?" he asked. He then turned his head to look at the curved table by the edge of the lower section. A single framed photo sat on it with a very glamorous blonde-haired woman on it. In an instant, Scott, Kayo and Alan realised what Virgil was referring to.
"Oh, yeah!" said Alan. "You were gonna call her, weren't ya, Gordo?" He gave him a fist bump on the arm.
Gordon looked at his younger brother, and then at the photo. And then it hit him. He let out a loud gasp of horror and jumped to his feet, unintentionally throwing the book which Kayo caught. "PENNY!" he cried and sprinted out of the room like he was being chased by a ghost, almost knocking John over in the process. "SORRY, JOHN!"
John watched his brother disappear up the stairs. "Bathroom?" he asked.
"No, he's almost forgotten to wish someone a Happy Birthday," chuckled Kayo.
"Which we all should once he's finished," said Jeff.
"She is still coming, isn't she, Dad?" asked Scott.
"Yes, Scott, as are her parents," said Jeff. "But not until after we get back from Coralville. Speaking of which, why don't we switch on the TV and see how things are going in New York?" He reached over and pushed a button on his desk which turned on the hologram TV in the central table.
The screen showed an aerial view from a helicopter of New York City. The weather was still bad like it had been the week before. The fierce winds weren't so much an issue but there was still quite a lot of snow. Central Park in particular was a complete blanket of white.
"That looks so magical," said Kayo.
"I wish we could have something like that," agreed Virgil. "I can just about remember some when we were younger."
"Yeah, but it's summer here, Virg," said Alan. "No chance of us getting snow here."
"Shhh!" hissed Scott as a news reporter appeared on the image.
"I'm here on the roof of the Harman's Toy Store in New York where the final stages of the Christmas Rocket are underway ready for its flight tomorrow morning to Coralville Children's Hospital. This is the result of a three-way set-up between the hospital, the Harman's Toy Store and Tracy Aerospace, the latter of which are the ones who have provided the rocket. As you can see, it's only two-thirds complete. Only the nose-cone is yet to attach, and I have reason to believe it shall be arriving pretty soon."
"Hey!" said Alan suddenly. "Where did Brains go?"
The others looked over at where Brains had been sitting. Only now he wasn't there.
"The Mechanic's gone, too," said Scott.
"No, he left right after Alan sat down," said Kayo. "I saw him leave."
"I'm sure he has his reasons," said Jeff. "He always does."
"There's the nose-cone of the rocket," said John.
They looked back at the screen to see a twin-rotor helicopter bringing in the large white nose-cone for the rocket which was hanging underneath on a cable. It hovered for a few moments before gently lowering it down towards the rest of the rocket which was assembled on a specially assembled launch pad on the roof of the Harman's Building.
Scott leaned in to whisper to Virgil. "Have you heard from Hayley?"
Virgil solemnly shook his head. "No…I haven't."
"Gee…" replied Scott. "Whatever her mission is, it must be a big one."
"Whatever it is, it's her business and we're not asking," Kayo said, having overheard them.
Scott and Virgil knew she was right, but all the same, Virgil wished Hayley was with him.
Little could he, or anyone else for that matter, have predicted the events that would take place in New York that very night.