Thunderbirds: Welcome to Tracy Island

Chapter 4

"She's looking good, Virgil."

Virgil beamed at his controls then stared ahead at the tropical vast horizon through Thunderbird 2's forward-facing cockpit windows, a feeling of elation rising in his chest. A hand clasped his shoulder, causing him to turn his head to see Scott standing there with an equally bright smile on his face. Virgil nodded in agreement.

"She handles like a beaut! Just listen to her, Scott!"

Scott chuckled at the childlike wonder in Virgil's voice. He looked back at Brains who was sitting in the co-pilot's chair, going through his checklist which was sitting in a clipboard on his lap. "Everything alright, Brains?"

"F-Fine thank you, Scott. Flight control diagnostics a-are all in r-running order. Engines sound healthy. Next up is the s-speed test."

"Do you want to take over for this?" Virgil asked Scott.

"Virgil, she's your baby. I'm just here to watch."

"Alright then. Initiating maximum thrust to the engines. Let's see what she can do!"

Virgil inputted a selection of commands into his controls and the green aircraft's engines whined in response, powering up to maximum. For a few moments the giant craft remained at a steady pace until it quickened and then raced over the endless sea. Virgil looped around the island several times, making sure to take a route over Gordon's boat. He tested the engines at full capacity and listened to the slight variations in the sounds the huge aircraft was making. Brains continued directing him through various tests, making sure his aircraft was in full, working order.

Down below in the Fisher King's wheelhouse, Gordon's eyes met the marvellous flying machine once more. "Looks like the big green bug's on its way back 'round." he commented.

Alan looked up from the island map. "Don't catch Virgil hearing you say that. You're his co-pilot, remember? You're gonna have to learn to drive that thing at some stage, anyway."

Gordon snorted but knew Alan was right. Gordon had been secretly dreading the moment he would have to step up to the challenge of learning to pilot Thunderbird 2. Although he had a pilot's license, Gordon wasn't a massive fan of flying. He couldn't do it for pleasure - he just saw it as a means of transport when he needed to get somewhere quickly. Flying Tracy One and Tracy Two was bad enough. How would he be able to manage flying something as humongous as Thunderbird 2?

"Here she comes! Virgil's really pushing her this time! Hear that?" Alan chimed, listening to the frightening force of her engines which sounded so loud, even when hovering at around 4,000 feet, a fair distance above them.

"Yeah, sounds impressive. I wonder if Scott's micromanaging him?"

"Probably. You know what Scott's like - especially when we're flying!"

Gordon chuckled. "How's your plotting coming along?"

Alan showed his brother the map he'd sketched. "We're getting there. I've outlined... a few things. You're obviously going to go over what I've done later and check this, right?"

Gordon nodded. "Don't worry about any mistakes. This is just a rough guide for me. I'll go over the finer details later."

"Good."

"You wanna soda?" Gordon opened the mini-fridge, offering a can to his brother.

"That and a lie down in the sun." Alan admitted, taking the can.

"Alright, I can see you're getting bored of helping me now. I can finish up."

"Are you sure? I can still help out if you want me to."

"Nah, it's cool. Go enjoy the sun for a bit."

"Sweet." Alan bounced to his feet.

"But Alan-"

"Yeah?" the blonde's curls bounced as he turned his head.

"Make sure you apply some more sun screen. Can't have you looking like a tomato later. You know they'll all blame me."

Alan rolled his eyes and headed back out onto the deck, grabbing his sunglasses as he left. Gordon slid into his brother's vacant seat and started studying the depth chart Alan had outlined. Gordon added his own adjustments to the map of the island and plotted several different courses that boats to the island were to take from now on.

He became lost in his adjustments and soon found an hour and a half had passed. Gordon yawned and leant back in his chair before pulling himself upwards, groaning as the feeling of pins and needles graced his lower half. He rubbed his eyes and grabbed his aviators from the table, placing them on the bridge of his nose. He walked onto the deck of the boat to see Alan laying on the sunbed, knees up and arms wrapped around the back of the bed as he snored lightly in the sun.

Gordon took a seat in the sun lounger next to his younger brother and stared at the tropical sea which surrounded them, letting out a happy sigh. The water was like a millpond - he couldn't even see the waves as they were so smooth. He smiled as he basked in the sunlight, watching the horizon. He spotted the faint outline of a ship on the horizon and garnered that the route it was taking was probably one of the primary shipping routes in the Pacific Ocean. He made a mental note to tell his father to get a ship AIS tracker installed on the island so they could see all the local marine traffic so they would know when to avoid it when taking off from the island.

"Would be a good idea." Gordon murmured to himself, not realizing that Alan was awake and had heard him.

"What would be a good idea?" Alan mumbled.

"Hey sleepyhead. I'm just ship spotting."

"Boring." Alan replied, kicking his legs out. "Do you still have that ship tracking app on your cell?"

"Yep. Not opening it now though; my phone is inside the cabin. Had a feeling if I brought it out here it would just melt."

"Fair enough." Alan said before yawning. "You gonna go back in the sea?"

Gordon looked overboard at the inviting sea and stood up, stretching his arms out behind him. "I may just do that..."