A New Road

By Sapphire

Disclaimer: in part 1

Part 3

Brains was talking with Mrs. Tracy when Scott's voice came from the loudspeaker.

"We're approaching the island now. Landing is in ten minutes."

Brains turned to the window to get a look at the infamous Tracy Island. In the infinite emptiness of the ocean he discovered a bright green jewel. Crowned by a small volcano, the island was covered with jungle. At one flank of the volcano was a modern looking house with a swimming pool out front. There was a second, round house a little bit off to the side. The perfect little island paradise.

Talking with Mrs. Tracy - or 'Grandma', as she had insisted he called her – had put his mind a little at ease. Maybe her view of her son was a little bit color blinded, but from what he had told him, Jeff Tracy seemed to be a good man. He had spoken of the many charities Jeff Tracy supported and all the good things he had done in his life.

The young woman at her side seemed to be part of that as well. She had told him that her own father owed his life to Jeff Tracy and that Mr. Tracy had seen to it that she had enjoyed an excellent education, first studying engineering in Oxford, and then an additional two years studying languages at the Sorbonne in Paris. More than that, she really seemed to be part of the family, as she had more or less grown up together with the Tracy sons.

She was a strikingly beautiful woman, her oriental features only adding to that beauty. Beautiful women usually brought out the worst of Brains' stutter, but for some reason he felt really at ease around her.

Mrs. Tracy had also managed to learn quite about a bit about his life. How he had been shuffled from one foster home to another until he finally had been adopted at the age of eight by Professor Frank Hackenbacker who had been the first to discover and encourage his burning, bright mind. How, after Professor Hackenbacker's death, he had tried to leave a mark on the world as well, but how nobody had seemed to understand. He hoped he hadn't sounded to whiny, but after the last couple of months, it was difficult to project a positive image of his life.

Scott Tracy landed the plane with a subtleness that Brains almost didn't feel the touch down. He then rolled the plane to one side, next to two other planes that stood there waiting.

Also waiting were three men, two older and a younger blond one, and a woman with blond hair and brown eyes. Scott appeared out of the cockpit and opened the door. They let the women leave first. Brains was witness how the waiting welcomed them.

He wouldn't have had much problem to identify Jeff Tracy, even if he hadn't seen several pictures of him during his net search. The man who embraced Grandma Tracy was simply an older copy of Scott with graying hair. He was powerfully built, obviously fit and carried an air of authority with him that seemed to be like a second skin. The woman at his side was probably his wife, though Brains didn't think he'd seen any pictures of her anywhere. There actually had been surprisingly few pictures of the family, when he thought about it.

The calm oriental man who had stood next to him was obviously Tin-Tin's father. After hugging his daughter, he bowed to the Tracys and then moved to the back of the plane where the younger man, who also had been waiting, already had started to unload the luggage.

"Dr. Hackenbacker," Jeff held out his hand with a smile. "I'm glad you were able to come that fast. Thank you."

"Mr. Tracy." Brains returned the pressure of Tracy's hand.

Surprised, Brains found that he liked Jeff Tracy. The handshake was firm, but not overpowering, the smile warm and welcoming. He thought of himself as a good judge of character and Jeff Tracy came across as honest and warm.

He then shook hands with Mrs. Tracy, her smile as warm as that of her husband.

"How about you freshen up a little, and we can talk a little bit later. We've readied a room for you," Jeff Tracy said.

"T-t-thank you, sir, but I-I-I rather would like to k-k-know why you have flown me a-a-around half the world."

"All right. Then lets go to the house and we can talk. I'll assure you that you won't regret it."

Brains noted that Jeff Tracy simply seemed to ignore his stutter, or that he just didn't care about it, a trait he liked. Too many people had ridiculed him because it was difficult for him to form a flawless sentence. He had noticed the same thing with Scott and Grandma.

They all walked towards the house. After they reached it, the women excused themselves but Scott remained with them as they walked up a flight of stairs into a large office. The office wall was lined with six portraits, five of young men who were obviously Tracy's sons as he did recognize Scott among them, and one of the lovely woman with the warm brown eyes, Jeff Tracy's wife.

An auburn-haired, young man waited for them already. He stood up as they came in.

"Dr. Hackenbacker, this is my son Virgil. He and Scott will remain as what we have to talk about affects them as well."

"It's a pleasure meeting you, Dr. Hackenbacker," Virgil said, shaking his hand. He sounded as if he meant every word.

They sat down around a small conference table.

Jeff Tracy took a deep breath. He looked at his two sons and then at Brains.

"Dr. Hackenbacker, I have a proposition for you. Whether you take it or not, is totally up to you.

"First of, for the last two days I've taken a look at your company and I know you are in trouble. You are trying to do a good thing, so I'm telling you up front, even if you shouldn't take me up on my offer, I will pay all of your outstanding debts and even will give you a substantial contribution that will keep your business afloat for a long time."

Brains stared at Tracy, his mind suddenly blank. There, on a silver platter, Jeff Tracy offered him his salvation. And that was when he said no to Tracy's offer. What was it Tracy wanted from him? His firstborn child?

"However," Jeff continued, "what I have to offer you might interest you even more. I want to start a rescue organization equipped with the best material money can buy and then some more. I have seen some of your designs, and they have impressed me, but I want to go even further. With this island as the central base, I want to build a fast and strong taskforce that will be able to help where local resources will fail. We will be committed to help anywhere we are needed, no matter where the people are or what they believe it."

Brains was enthralled. This was incredible.

"We currently plan on five vehicles, first a fast reconnaissance plane, that should be able to get everywhere in the world within one hour. Second, we want a heavy transporter, strong enough to bring any specialized equipment where we need it, but flexible enough to load anything we need quickly. We also need an underwater craft. Currently we think of just a small submarine, but maybe later we can upgrade it.

"Communication all over the world will be maintained by a small space station that can piggyback onto any satellite. To get to and fro the space station we need also a space capable ship. Better even if the space ship had a wider range, in case there is a space rescue."

"Manning those ships will be my five sons. We want this whole organization to be secret, as we would have equipment that could be used for war as well as for rescue purposes. And we'll never allow them to be used for anything but to help people."

Brains' mind started to reel with the possibilities. The scope of the project was immense. It would cost hundreds of millions just to design and build these machines Jeff Tracy proposed. But then, Tracy had money to burn. If somebody could afford it, it was him.

But why did Tracy want to do it? It didn't make sense. This was too good to be true.

Still, already Brains' brain started to come up with ideas on what the different machines had to be able to do in order to fulfill their function. All thoughts of his small little company in Chicago were out of his mind. He wanted in. Badly.

"Ehr, that sounds, eh, i-i-interesting," he said to buy time.

"I already have a couple of designs that may interest you," Tracy said, pulling out a roll of paper and spread them out at the table.

Topmost was the blue print of a slender looking rocket plane. In one corner was a list of the proposed specs and on top of the list stood a single name: THUNDERBIRD 1.

Brains' eyes flew over the blue print, soaking up the information. The engine design was fantastic, like nothing Brains had ever seen. The aerodynamics were amazing and when he saw the speed the plane was supposed to achieve he was simply stunned. He had dared to think about something like this only in his wildest dreams.

He turned to the next page, finding the design for the transport plane Tracy had mentioned. Interchangeable pods, vertical take-off and landing, an engine that seemed stronger than everything he had ever seen at a size that seemed unbelievably small. Brains quickly went through the other plans, getting more exited with everything he saw.

"W-w-where did you get those p-p-plans? They are, ehr, a-a-amazing."

He suddenly knew that whatever the answer was, he wouldn't be able to walk away from this. If they really were able to build these machines then the world would change, he knew that. Building them would be fulfilling his dreams a hundred times over. This was what he always had wanted.

Tracy exchanged a secret little smile with his sons. "Let's say, I have had some help from a source I can't disclose at the moment."

Brains did a mental step back. What if Tracy had stolen these plans? What if he wanted to help him to build these machines and then sell them to the highest bidder.

But his heart knew better. Come what may, he knew he could trust Jeff Tracy. He had come across enough people who tried to exploit him because they thought they could use him for their own gain. He had learned to trust his instincts and his instincts were telling him that Tracy was on the level.

"W-w-why me? W-w-why have you, ehr, c-c-chosen me?"

"You came highly recommended. In fact, Doctor, I know that without your help, I will not be able to pull my plan off. I need you."

Brains made up his mind. Come what may, he wanted to help Jeff Tracy.

He took a deep breath and said the words that would change his life forever.

"I-I-I am in. Ehm, I-I-I see you have a-a-already the names for the pl-pl-planes, so what do you w-w-want to call that organization of yours?"

Jeff Tracy grinned as he reached for Brains' hand and pumped it.

"I was thinking about calling it International Rescue!"

The end

AN: Yes, the plans Jeff pulled out are indeed from 'our' Thunderbirds World. How they ended up with this Jeff and why they decided to block the gateway between this dimension and the IR dimension I will explain in another story. The story is pretty much planned out, but nothing has been written yet.

The promised John story is moving slowly at the moment. It's already longer than 'Fork In The Road' and I guess I'll have to write at least three more chapters before I can wrap it up. Please be patient.