Thunderbirds: Welcome to Tracy Island

Chapter 1

Gordon stood on the edge of the pristine sea and stared into the beautiful vista before him. The sun was cradling over the milky coral horizon and he watched as it rose peacefully into the air, accompanied by the calming soundtrack of gentle waves lapping against the golden beach. The distant call of tropical birds from the jungle and seagulls over the ocean chirped their sunrise call, causing him to let out a contemplative sigh.

He was so lost in the moment that he didn't hear the light crunch of sandy footsteps behind him until a firm hand grasped his shoulder.

Gordon whipped around, startled. His mouth then warped into a smirk.

"Thought I might find you here." John smiled, turning towards the sea. "Sure is beautiful."

"Majestic." Gordon sighed with a smile, "I could get used to this, let me tell you."

John nodded. "And you will! It's exciting."

"Incredibly so." Gordon nodded. "Remind me to thank Scott for suggesting we fly here yesterday afternoon." he said, looking down at the quiet, sizzling waves brushing against his bare feet. "I definitely needed this."

"I think we all needed it." John grinned, patting his brother on the back.

The two admired the picturesque scene before them for a little while longer until John spoke up again. "So what's your plan of action for today then, kiddo? Scott's got me on radio installation duty."

"He wanted me to finish linking the swimming pool's filter system together. After that I'm thinking about going on a little boat trip around the island to establish the harbour boundaries."

"Sounds like a blast. Want some company?"

"I was thinking of dragging Alan along with me. You know how much he loves my nautical speak."

John laughed again. "Too right. To be honest he'd probably prefer that to what he's doing right now. Virgil's dragged him into Two's hangar to help him paint the Pod vehicles."

Gordon winced, "Ugh, I don't envy him one bit. Working for Virg is a nightmare. He stands behind you and watches you work like a hawk, then nitpicks your detailing until you let him take over and he just goes over what you've already done. I wouldn't mind but he did the exact same thing to me when I was painting Four, and she's not even his baby!"

John raised an eyebrow, "His baby?"

Gordon folded his arms. "Don't pretend you don't consider that tin can of yours your baby."

"Five's not a tin can!" John exclaimed a little too quickly. He went a little red when Gordon smirked at him and he gave in. "Alright, fine. I can't help but feel that way about her. She's going to be the reason I get to live amongst the stars!"

"She?" Gordon grinned.

"Shut up." John rolled his eyes and started walking up the beach towards their new home. Giggling like a hyena, Gordon followed.

The two navigated their way through the sand up to the artificial pathway Scott had freshly carved through the outskirts of the jungle, creating a new access point to the pool deck and patio which connected to the main living area of the island. The brothers made their way past the minefield of wires and tubing, pool equipment and flamingo-shaped floats strewn about on the poolside area, strolling towards the house.

Gordon found his eyes meeting the vast hole in the centre of the patio and let out a little sigh, pleased to know it would be soon be full of fresh chlorinated water.

"Were you going to start work now or were you planning on having breakfast first?" John asked as they made their way up the new stairway and past Kyrano's greenhouses.

"I'm a little hungry. Been up since three and all I've had to eat is a coconut."

"A coconut?" John raised his eyebrow.

"Yeah! After I'd set up the security lighting on the beach I lobbed a rock at one of the palm trees and one fell down. Made for a nice early morning snack!"

"How long were you waiting on the beach then?"

"Oh, just about an hour. Was low tide, too. Marked that down on my sea chart!"

John chuckled. "Glad to know you've had a productive morning."

"You'll be happy to know I had the stars above me to light the way." Gordon replied dramatically, earning himself a playful elbow from John.

The two ran up to the house and shortly found themselves in the kitchen, trying to find something to eat. Because the move had been such short notice, the family hadn't had any time to sort out their food situation. This was mainly because they were still working out the logistics of how they'd be receiving their shopping deliveries, as most supermarkets didn't tend to cover deliveries to tropical islands in the South Pacific.

This meant the cupboards were practically bare aside from the few random items they'd brought along on their flight.

Gordon rummaged around inside the cupboards. "Well, I've found some bread but that's not going to be much help without any butter."

"Or a toaster for that matter." John replied from across the kitchen as he searched for said appliance.

"Gosh darn it, I wanted some toast as well!" Gordon groaned from where he was standing with his head in the cupboard. "What else can I do with it?"

"How 'bout you try microwaving it?"

Gordon slowly turned his head towards his brother with a disgusted look. "See, this is why I don't trust you with food."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr 'let's try microwaving a cold egg salad to see if it makes the yolks runny'." John shot his brother a pointed look.

"That was only that one time, and to be fair, it was Alan's idea."

"Do you blame all of your ideas on Alan?"

"...yes."

After a fruitful search for the toaster, the brothers eventually found its hiding spot and plugged it in. Once their toast was ready and buttered, John plated it up for them and passed a plate to his brother. Gordon thanked him and started wandering around the kitchen and then spilled into the lounge as he ate, looking at the newly decorated room.

"I wish Dad had better taste in art." Gordon said mournfully through a mouthful of toast as he stared at a few of the oriental sculptures adorning the mantlepiece. "This is so ugly."

John smiled. "Kyrano had a massive influence on Dad when he visited Malaysia. He helped him import a lot of these statues."

"Each to their own, I guess." Gordon acknowledged.

"Yeah, I mean, we can't have everything with fish on, can we?" John smirked.

Gordon rolled his eyes then gasped. "Hey, that reminds me, I need to see if Alan managed to order those fish tanks like I asked him to."

"Fish tanks?"

"For my room, yeah."

John laughed. "Some things never change, do they?"

Gordon bobbed his tongue out. "Nope!"