Home » The Archives » Chapter 5 » Learning to Live in Paradise
| Re: Learning to Live in Paradise [message #1398 is a reply to message #1397] |
Thu, 26 July 2012 21:01   |
artisticrainey
Messages: 1228
Registered: July 2012
Location: Northern Ireland
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Field Commander
Switzerland |
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Drew gasped, staring at the woman before him, trying to understand her presence in the Thunderbird.
She sighed again, then said, "Sit down before y' fall down, Drew."
He looked around and saw a co-pilot's chair. Turning it to face her, he dropped into it. "Dianne..." he began, his hands spreading out as he leaned forward. "How... when...?"
She held up her hand. "Look, Uncle Drew. Ah don't have much tahme, but before we go any further, you have t' make me a promise. What Ah'm gonna tell you, you can't tell to anybody else. Includin' Aunt Maggie. Ah have to have your word that you'll keep this a secret. The security an' safety of owah organization depends on it."
He shook his head. "Dianne... I..."
"You have to promise me, Uncle Drew. Or Ah can't answer your questions."
There was a moment of silence, then Drew nodded his head. "All right. I'll keep it to myself. I promise."
She looked at him gratefully. "Thank you. Now take a deep breath, then ask your questions."
Her straightforwardness caught him off guard, but he blurted out, "What the hell are you doing here?"
She looked surprised. "Ah would have thought that'd be obvious. Ah'm heah to rescue people, save lives."
"But..." He stopped for a moment, gathering his thoughts, beginning to frown as the myriad implications of her presence there and in that uniform began to crowd in and become clearer. "That nurse out there -- Angel -- she called you the CMO. The chief medical officer. Is that true? Are you the CMO of International Rescue?"
Dianne looked away for a moment, then took in a deep breath and huffed it out. Her eyes met those of her uncle and she said, "Yes, Ah am."
He paused. "How? How did you come to be the CMO of International Rescue? And what does Jeff have to say about all this? Why the hell would he let you go out and risk your life like this? Does he even know?" His voice began to rise in volume.
She waved her hands in a shushing motion. "Shh!" she said, frowning. "Theah are patients beyond that door." She pointed to the door between the control cab and the medical cabin. Taking a deep breath, she sighed again. "Of course Jeff knows, an' he's okay with it."
"But... I don't understand. How does Jeff have contact with...." Drew's voice trailed off as the logical conclusion to his question came to mind. "My God. Jeff's part of International Rescue, too."
"He's moah than that, Uncle Drew," Dianne said quietly. "Jeff - and the Tracy family - are International Rescue."
Andrew's eyes widened at this, and he suddenly sat fully back in his chair, stunned. "The family? The whole family? The boys? Cherie? Emily? Kyrano? Tin-Tin? Brains? Everyone?"
"No, not everyone," Dianne answered, slightly irritated. "Em and Kyrano are too old to be on active duty, and mah three kids are much too young. But the five oldest boys, yes. Tin-Tin, yes. And Brains... well, he designed all th' Thunderbirds. Jeff commands everything from th' island."
"Oh my God," Drew said, passing a hand over his face. He scowled and asked in an angry voice, "We've been friends for years; good friends. Why the hell didn't he tell me?"
"He has his reasons, Uncle Drew, and they are good ones," Dianne answered wearily. "The only reason Ah'm tellin' you now is that Ah knew you'd recognize mah voice, an' Ah figured that if'n you knew, you wouldn't be speculatin' about it out loud t' anybody. Ah 'spect t' heah from mah husband foah tellin' you when Ah get home."
She sat up straighter and put a hand to her ear when she heard Dom call, "Doc? We're ready for you."
"F-A-B, Dak. Ah'll be right with you." She turned back to her uncle. "Ah have a patient." Licking her lips, she said, "Listen. We may be needed elsewhere real soon. Go on ovah t' owah Mobile Control unit. It's a red computer thing. Scott -- whose code name is Maverick -- should be theyah. Coordinate things with him. If yoah people could take most of th' yellow tags off owah hands, that'd be a big help."
Drew sighed heavily. "All right, Dianne." Both of them rose to their feet. Dianne put her visor back on, but not her cap.
"Ah'm sorry we couldn't talk about this moah, Uncle Drew. But Jeff'll be in touch, you can be sure of that."
"If he's not, I'll be in touch with him," Drew warned, pointing an emphatic finger at his niece.
"Ah don't doubt it." She moved over to the cooler and grabbed two bottles of water. "Heah. Give one o' these t' Scott. An' tell him from me that he's not t' spread it around that you know. Tell him Ah'll deal with his father mahself."
Drew took the cold bottles. "I will, Dianne." He leaned over and gave her a small kiss on the cheek. "Be careful."
She opened the door to the medical cabin. "You too, Uncle Drew," she said softly. Then she stepped through and was gone.
Andrew shook his head for a moment. He glanced around the pilot's cabin, then turned and left, climbing down the rungs. Outside, he spotted Angel again.
"Where can I find... uh... Mobile Control?"
Nikki stopped long enough to point. "Over that way. Look for the green Thunderbird."
"Thank you, Angel." And with that he went off in search of his old friend's oldest son.
rewritten and posted by Tikatu
  
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