International Rescue: The Next Phase


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Re: The Call Goes Out [message #286 is a reply to message #197] Mon, 23 July 2012 18:59 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Tikatu is currently offline  Tikatu
Messages: 813
Registered: April 2012
Location: South Carolina
Karma:
Field Commander
Ubiquitous one
Kat was silent following this piece of news.

She opened the French windows leading to the balcony and John followed her. Resting her arms on the edge, she asked, "And just when were you intending to drop this bombshell on Nikki and Christopher?"

John was silent. Without turning to face him she said in a quiet voice, "They already know, don't they?"

She turned to face him. "I'm right aren't I, they know already?"

John nodded. "It was never my father's intention to tell them until they had accepted. But Nikki asked why did we need two nurses to help our doctor and felt he had to show her why."

Kat paced up and down. "Oh, I must have sounded so naïve talking to them on the plane coming down here. How thrilled I was getting a job as a mechanic and all the while they knew exactly what was happening."

John tried to stop her pacing, but she brushed him away.

"No, let me think, this has come as quite a shock. It's not so much knowing what happens here, as the fact that I didn't merit the courtesy of being told sooner," she said in a hurt voice. "Where does Lady Penelope fit into all this? No don't tell me. She knows all about it as well, doesn't she? No wonder she knew exactly what size of bedding I would need and what the apartments were like." John explained that Lady Penelope was their London Agent, and abided by the strict secrecy that surrounded International Rescue.

"So that explains some of her mysterious disappearances." Kat tried to keep her voice steady. "So why, when I have worked for her for four years, and we have become good friends, and Lady Penelope recommended me, was I not told at my interview? After all I must have been trustworthier than the others. Your father did know my background; we had met at Lady Penelope's New Year's Eve party. I was better known than the others."

He stared at this small angry looking young woman, tears threatening to fall from under her long lashes, and something inside him rose up in protest. He folded his arms and straighened.

"Hey!" When she turned her startled attention to him, he continued. "Listen to me, Kat, and listen good. You're not here to work on the Thunderbirds. You're here to repair and maintain the boats and planes and maybe some of the other equipment. If you think it's wrong that we didn't tell you before, think about this. Dianne, my stepmom, a physician who is sworn by various oaths to keep quiet on medical matters, wasn't told for six weeks after she moved to the island. Six. Weeks. She only found out because I got injured and she had to operate on me. Boy, was she ever hopping mad, and she had a right to be because she had children to think of."

"Dianne's mom, Grandma Parkhurst, who I think you haven't met yet, wasn't told for a long time after her first visit. We hid IR's existence from her... or so we thought." He huffed out a chuckle. "Turned out she'd found out on her own but kept it a secret." He unfolded his arms, spreading his hands palms up. "Hell, my dad has friends he hasn't told! Even Dianne's uncle, a man Dad has known for years, doesn't know about IR!"

He went over to her and held her arms and looked down at her. "The fact is, if we're not telling family members -- some of whom we've known far, far longer than you -- when they visit, why should we tell you?"

He jerked his head toward the balcony. "The others? They're here to work for IR. Their positions with the family or with the company are mostly cover stories. They had a right to know what they were getting into. Our telling you at all has to do with fairness and convenience. It's easier for you to know -- no matter when -- than for us to keep hiding it." He paused, giving her a chance to speak. The pause lengthened, then he spoke again. "If it's any consolation, Dad insisted on a tour as soon as you arrived, as a way of apologizing for not letting you know sooner."

Again there was a long silence. Kat turned away once more to look at the ocean. Yes, she was annoyed that she hadn't been told at her interview like the others had, but on the other hand, she had been accepted. Lady Penelope's hands, to a certain extent, had been tied, and she had gone out of her way to recommend her and help her with furnishings for the apartment. The others seemed nice and friendly. And, as much as she hated to admit it, she could understand the reasoning behind Mr. Tracy's decision. She glanced back at John, who was looking at her expectantly. Yes, I think I should like to stay. I would like to be friends with them all, but particularly John.

She turned back to where he was standing, watching her. Looking up at him with the beginnings of a smile, she said, "Did you say that I would be given a tour? Then let's get going."

John breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Then you will stay?"

"Yes, I will stay, but please no more secrets."

John nodded. "I think we can agree to that." He offered his arm. "So, let's get on with the tour."

They took the elevator down to the vestibule but instead of heading back out through the common areas to the patio, John took her out through the door at the end of the small waiting area. It opened up into a huge room. Kat gasped at the size of it.

"This is Thunderbird Two's hangar. It's not here right now because it's out on a rescue." Kat couldn't help but hear the worry in John's voice.

"Which of your brothers are on the mission?" she asked softly.

"Scott, and Virgil. Mom went along, too. Brains is holding down the command desk," he explained, his tone distracted.

"It sounds serious," Kat said, looking at him keenly.

"It is serious. It's always serious," John replied. He squared his shoulders and showed her to a monorail car.

"This monorail line is a branch off the main monorail, but a direct access to the lift that will take us up to the Villa. We'll follow the monorail down here first and then go up to the Villa later," he explained as the car took them through a small tunnel into the pod bay. "Here are the pods that Thunderbird Two uses to carry the auxiliary equipment as well as Thunderbirds Four and Seven. Pod Five is gone right now, as is the Mole. Brains may want to familiarize you with the auxiliary equipment later."

"It's so big and impressive!" Kat exclaimed. They came to the junction with the main monorail and John maneuvered the car onto it.

"I'll have to show you the planes later. They're kept in a wing off to the opposite side of Thunderbird Two's hangar from the pod bay."

The monorail made its way around a bend and began to climb. As they passed a large door and a set of stairs, John said, "That's the entrance to the lab, Brains's domain. It's a huge place and it has a repair bay for the auxiliary machines and the smaller Thunderbirds. You'll be spending quite a bit of time there."

"I'm looking forward to that," Kat said, her voice showing her excitement.

The monorail continued upwards and as it turned a corner, Kat could see a well-lighted building sitting back within a cavern. "What's that?" she asked.

"Our power plant. Runs the whole complex," John explained quickly. "The sewage treatment plant is beyond it in the lava tubes. The water desalination plant is beyond the lab. We used the lava tubes from this extinct volcano as much as we could. Saved a lot of excavation."

"That sounds sensible," Kat commented as the monorail entered a short, well-lit tunnel.

The tunnel opened up into another huge room, empty of any large pieces of equipment but impressive nonetheless. John smiled.

"This is Thunderbird One's launch bay. See that large opening over there? It's the bottom of a ramp to Thunderbird One's hangar. An automatic system brings the rocket plane down from there once Scott's on board. But you'll never guess what's above us."

Kat looked out the window of the monorail and looked upwards towards the roof. She came back in and gave John a puzzled look. "I don't know. What's above us?"

"The swimming pool," John said with a grin.

Kat gasped, then began to laugh. "You are joking!"

"No, I'm not. When Thunderbird One takes off, the pool draws aside and makes an opening for it."

Kat continued to laugh, "I won't believe it until I see it!" John joined her in her laughter.

The monorail continued through Thunderbird One's hangar, where John pointed out the light sconces high up on the one wall and told Kat where they led. She shook her head; it was all so hard to believe.

"Now, at the next stop, we get out and let you take a look at some of the vehicles you'll be working on at first," John told her. The little car came out into a large cavern that smelled of the sea. It was well lit, as everything else had been.

"Oh, my!" Kat breathed, "These are awesome!"

Kat looked at the seaplane, gently bobbing on the swell, at the boats moored alongside. "I shall have to help with these?" she asked incredulously. John nodded.

"This will be your domain. Or at least part of it."

She excitedly plied John with question after question, about the boats, asking some very technical questions that impressed him. Well, sounds like she really knows what she's doing, he thought to himself.

After she had looked at each and every boat, including the yacht, and had a good look at the seaplane, John coaxed her back into the monorail. "We need to finish our tour," he reminded her.

"Oh, yes! Of course," she said, blushing at being caught by her excitement over the boat pen. They got back into the monorail and headed along. There was a branch in the railway and John took it. The tunnel opened up to a large silo.

"This is Thunderbird Three," John said with a modicum of pride. "Our one space-going craft. Allows us to do rescues in space and on the moon and is our link to Thunderbird Five, our space station."

"Will I get to see Thunderbird Five some time?" Kat asked, looking with interest at the red rocket ship.

"Maybe. Depends on what Dad has in store for everyone."

They made one circuit around the silo and John explained that they were below the Round House and that the rocket ship entered and exited the launch pad through the center of the guest house. Kat laughed at that, too, but then wondered aloud how guests weren't alerted to the departure of the space ship when the building was occupied.

"When there are people here who don't know about IR, we go into Operation: Cover Up," John explained. "It was really tough at Dad and Dianne's wedding because there were so many guests. All of us prayed for days that there would be no emergencies then. Someone must have heard us because there were no emergency calls until after the guests were gone."

The monorail car now went back out into the tunnel and came out at the far end of the pod bay. Kat's face became thoughtful as they passed by the auxiliary equipment and the pods.

"You've told me about Thunderbirds One through Five, and a little about Thunderbird Seven. Where and what is Thunderbird Six?"

John laughed. "Thunderbird Six is a rebuilt Tiger Moth biplane. We use it if we need to put something lightweight on another flying vehicle. It's Brains's pride and joy, and the one Thunderbird you can count on maintaining."

"A Tiger Moth? I've heard of them, but have never seen one. I'll be interested to see it."

John maneuvered the monorail just past the connection to the Cliff House and the lift and stopped at the entrance to Thunderbird Two's bay. They took the lift down, and had made it to the floor when the cliff door began to open. John took Kat by the wrist and ran for the jet bay, pulling her along behind him. Her eyes widened as she saw Thunderbird Two back into its position.

"Wow!" she shouted over the noise of the engines. They suddenly cut off, and there was quiet again. John looked back at her wide-eyed stare and grinned.

"Impressive, isn't it? Scott must be late getting back or else he probably would have been in the launch bay or hangar when we went through." John tugged her arm. "Come on. Let me introduce you to the planes."

John led Kat to where the family planes and jets were. Again she asked many questions, and again he was impressed by her knowledge and obvious ability. I think Dad made the right decision in recruiting her, he thought to himself.

Kat turned to John. "This is going to take a lot of getting used to."

"I know. But I think you're up to the challenge," John assured her. His watch telecomm went off and Grandma's picture appeared.

"The boys and Dianne are back and it's time for some supper. You and Kat come on up to the dining room now."

"Yes, Grandma," John said, rolling his eyes a bit. He grinned and he and Kat walked across the hangar bay to the lift and up to the monorail.

"Maybe you can show me the stars, some night. I know most of the constellations in the Northern Hemisphere, but I'd like to know all about the ones in the Southern Hemisphere," Kat asked as they took the second lift to the Villa proper. John agreed that he would show her.

After dinner, Kat went back to her apartment and John walked down to the pool. Cherry climbed out of the pool and flopped down beside her elder brother. "Well, how did Kat take the news?"

"She was shocked and upset, and for a moment I thought she was going to demand to be taken back home. But after I explained a few home truths to her and she recovered from the shock she decided to stay." He paused, then added, "And I for one am glad she is staying, I think she is very nice and would make a good member of the team."

"Oooooooh," Cherry said, and laughed, then added, "I am glad she has decided to stay, too. Now I have someone else, other than the grandmas and my brothers, that I'm taller than."

"Yeah, but I'm taller, and bigger, and stronger than you, and for that crack, little sister, I'm going to dunk you in the pool!" John cried as he swiftly grabbed Cherry around the waist and, dragging her kicking and screaming, threw her into the pool.

Post by Tikatu and Tawnyangel22 on 29/06/2004

Jeff heartbeat Dianne plain My IR:TNP OTP!

[Updated on: Sat, 11 April 2015 15:13]

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