I've finally decided that it's time to upload my latest Purupuss epic: A Quiet Day - part of my "A Quiet" series (as found in the C2 of that name) and the sequel to "A Quiet Year." (Since when have the Tracys been able to have a quiet anything?)

As this is Purupuss length, and I like to have yet another proofread in FanFiction dot net to ensure that Gordon's gremlins aren't playing about with things (and expect to fail at finding all their little jokes), I'm only planning on uploading on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, New Zealand time. Of course there will be exceptions to this rule, for instance if I'm home on public holidays or not home over the weekend. Rest assured that the story is complete and will have been uploaded in full at some point in the future.

As usual, I would like to thank my proofreaders Quiller, Red Hardy, and D.C. for their assistance with proofing this story.

Also as usual, I will admit that none of the canon characters belong to me. The Thunderbirds cast and ships belong to ITV and I'm so glad that I get the opportunity to play with them. The ACE crowd and some of the pod machines are mine - although they will probably all regret that.

This story was published on Fan Fiction dot net. If you are reading it elsewhere, it is a stolen copy. I usually do not mind people displaying my stories elsewhere, but I do appreciate the courtesy of being asked if the site, or C2, it is being displayed on is acceptable. Thank you.

Dedicated to those affected by the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes. Especially those who are still dealing with the aftermath.

Enjoy?

FAB

:-) Purupuss

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on Earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."
- Thomas Jefferson

A Quiet Day

Chapter One: A Quiet Beginning

7:15 am

Bruce Sanders, tall, wiry and with a tan that had deepened his already dark complexion, pushed open the door to Aeronautical Component Engineering and turned right; heading for the locker-room. He entered and was greeted by a slightly younger and definitely stockier man.

"Ah, ha!" Louis Fleming crowed. "So, you've returned to the real world to slum it with the rest of us, have you? How'd you enjoy living it up with the rich and famous?"

Bruce chuckled. "I'd hardly call the Tracys the rich and famous… Well, not famous anyway."

"Apart from our boss," Louis corrected. "And Alan..." He nudged his workmate. "Did you hit Mr Tracy up for a raise?"

"No, of course not!" Bruce feigned indignation. "I was on vacation, and vacation means not thinking about work! I was there to visit Virgil, not talk about ACE with Mr T… I mean Mr Tracy. Gotta get out of that habit now I'm back." He picked up his navy overalls from where they were neatly folded in front of his locker and started putting them on.

"Mr T, huh?" Louis looked into the mirror in his locker and ran his fingers through his red hair to smooth it into place. "A pity. It sounds like you missed out on a golden opportunity."

"It was enough that Mr Tracy was feeding me and housing me for the week," Bruce reminded him. "Not to mention the flight out to their island and back…"

"…To enjoy his palm trees, golden sands and clear blue skies…"

"How do you know the skies were clear and blue?"

Louis indicated Bruce's skin. "You don't get a tan like that out of a bottle," he said before playfully punching his friend on the abdomen. "Looks like they fed you well."

"The whole family was very hospitable," Bruce agreed.

"Well, before you get sucked back into the real world," Louis smirked, "there's a surprise waiting for you out there." He jerked his thumb in the general direction of the door.

"Surprise?" Bruce looked intrigued. "Where?"

"At a guess; in the cafeteria… Having a cup of coffee."

Having a cup of coffee as fortification for the week's work ahead, sounded like a good idea to Bruce and, still mystified by Louis' hints, he went into the cafeteria, grabbed himself a steaming brew and retreated to his traditional table…

He stopped. "Well! Hello, stranger!"

Lisa Crump looked up from her seat at the table and grinned. "Hello, stranger yourself! At least I worked last week."

"Worked?" Bruce clapped her husband on the shoulder by way of greeting and sat down. He took in her navy overalls with the ACE logo on one side and her name stencilled on the other. "What's happened? Have you run away from home?"

"No," she responded. "Ginny's settled into preschool so I'm taking the opportunity to refresh my skills. Mr Mickelson's letting me work here part time so I'm at ACE for three days of the week, leaving the other two free to help out at Sunbeam Preschool."

"Great!" Bruce spooned a quantity of sugar into his coffee, placed the sugar bowl next to the condiments, and reflected that motherhood had done nothing to diminish Lisa's appeal. "Is that the one next door?"

"That's it and it's perfect. I can drop Ginny off in the morning and get her settled before I come here to work. When I've finished at ACE I've got plenty of time to collect her and take her home for her afternoon nap. By the time Butch has finished work she's awake again and ready to play with him."

"It does sound perfect," Bruce agreed. "You get to be a mother and a career woman."

"An' ACE gets its best welder back," Butch beamed. "Itsa win-win situashun."

"I'll say," Bruce teased. "It means I can look at something a darn sight prettier than your ugly face." Butch guffawed and Lisa blushed, heightening her beauty. She looked like a model kitted out for a safety apparel photo shoot; and he, with his broken nose and sole remaining tattoo bearing his wife's name peeking through his open overalls, looked like the reformed biker he was. Not for the first time Bruce reflected on what an odd, but devoted, couple they were.

"Well, that's our news," Lisa said. "Now tell us all yours. How's Virgil?"

Bruce cast his mind back over the past week. "He's fine. He told me to send the pair of you his best."

"How's Mrs T?"

"Delicious," Bruce chuckled. "That woman's a mean cook. She sends you her love and said that she can't wait to see her honorary grand-niece. Speaking of which, I was going to call in to see you guys after work because I'm under strict instructions that I'm to give Virginia a big kiss and a little present from her 'Uncle Virgil'."

Lisa gave a sigh of mild exasperation. "He shouldn't do that. Ginny's got enough toys. She doesn't need any more."

"Don't tell him that," Bruce insisted. "I think he gets a kick out of being an honorary uncle. And you know full well that it's not as if he's got any chance having kids of his own any time soon. Not when he's stuck out in the middle of nowhere."

Lisa pursed her lips in thought. "Is there any chance of Virgil becoming a real uncle? What's the situation with Alan and Tin-Tin?"

Bruce shrugged. "From what I could tell, it's the same as it was last time I visited. They're serious without being serious."

This time Lisa's sigh was full of exasperation. "What's wrong with Alan?!"

"Nothin's wrong with 'im," Butch protested. "'E's great!"

"Alan Tracy might be the fastest thing on four wheels, but when it comes to wooing women he's slower than Winston."

"Did I hear my name taken in vain?" Winston Patterson, ACE's draftsman, had been walking past and he stopped to greet his workmates, placing his mug on the table. Because he was stationed in the dust free environment of the computer aided design room of ACE, he wasn't required to wear the standard blue overalls of his workmates and today he was wearing a rainbow coloured shirt, deep purple trousers, and a badge which declared: I'm happy and gay… You're just happy. If he ever did have to venture onto the factory floor he did so with great reluctance and a dust coat wrapped tightly about his impeccable clothes. "Who is slower than moi?"

"Alan Tracy," Lisa explained. "He's been dating the same girl for years and they still haven't formalised their relationship."

A twinkle sprang to Winston's eye. "If I had Alan Tracy's looks I wouldn't think about settling down with a girl either."

Lisa matched his mischievous grin with one of her own. "You're just as good looking, Winston." She batted her eyelashes at him. "Any girl would be thrilled to be seen on your arm."

"Oh, sacrebleu." Winston fanned his face as if he'd come over all faint. "I shouldn't know what to do with her." He fixed Bruce with a beaming smile. "And how was the holiday at Maison de Tracy, Bruce?"

Bruce smiled up at Winston. "Fantastic. They really looked after me."

"Wonderful," Winston gushed. "And how is cher Virgil?"

"He's great. He said to say hi."

"He asked after me? Oh, be still my fluttering heart." Winston clasped his hands together in delight.

"Watch it, Winston, you'll make Rex jealous," Lisa smirked.

"Never!" Winston declared. "Rexy will always be top chien to me."

Butch frowned. "Top what?"

"Chien," Winston elucidated. "Dog. Rex is top dog."

"Oh..." Butch's frown cleared. "What's happened to ya? Y've gone all foreign."

"Rex has done his sums and we're off en vacances to France," Winston nudged Bruce. "You're not the only one who's going to get the opportunity to live it up."

"France," Lisa exclaimed. "For how long?"

"Two weeks," Winston sighed. "Rex and I have been together for ten years and we decided to celebrate by visiting gay Paree."

Bruce grinned. "You're a lucky chien, Winston."

"I know." Winston picked up his coffee and retired to another table where he started buffing his nails and humming Frère Jacques.

"Ten years..." Lisa mused. She placed her hand in her husband's. "We've been married ten years next year."

Butch gave a goofy smile. "Oh, yeah..."

"We should start thinking about a celebration of our own."

"Yeah. Somethin' special."

"A party?"

"Yeah…" Then Butch made a face. "But with no Skulz."

"Yes," Lisa agreed. "With no Skulz."

"Good idea," Bruce agreed. "My head hurts just thinking about it."

"Poor Bruce." Lisa gave him a sympathetic pat on the hand. "What else do you want to do for our anniversary, Butch? We should make it something romantic... Stop it!" She hit Bruce when he pretended to retch. "It wouldn't hurt you to settle down either."

"Slight problem there, Lisa," Bruce grinned. "Gotta getta girl first," he said and suddenly felt uncomfortable at the look Lisa gave him.

"If we're going to have a party," she mused, "we should start thinking about who we could ask. Virgil promised he'd play the piano... Rita Garrad thought he was cute, so we'd have to invite her. Then there's Flo... And Anne..." She eyed up Bruce. "And Georgia..."

"Why are you looking at me like that, Mrs Crump?" Bruce pretended to enter a text message into his phone. "Virgil," he quoted. "Warning from one red-blooded bachelor to another. Lisa's got us in her match-making sights. Run!"

"Is thisa celebrashun for us, or a lonely-hearts club?" Butch asked.

"If it's a lonely-hearts club, then you can count me out," Bruce warned. "I'm not lonely."

Lisa gave him a sweet smile. "We can discuss it later..."

A group of women entered the canteen, giggling together. They were a varied group; workers from the shop floor, stores' personnel, and administration.

Nancy from the paint bay planted herself next to Bruce. "Welcome home," she said.

"Uh, thanks," he responded, a little nonplussed by her greeting. Normally they weren't on much more than nodding terms.

"Maybe you can solve a mystery for us," Nancy continued.

Bruce frowned. "Mystery?"

"Yes. Olivia's got herself a boyfriend and all she'll tell us is that he's tall, dark, and handsome…"

Olivia, the General Manager's personal assistant, blushed. "Nancy…" she complained.

Nancy ignored her. "…And I'm guessing that it's one of Jeff Tracy's sons. You've just been to their island, Bruce. Which one is it?"

"Tall, dark and handsome, huh?" Bruce smirked at Olivia who turned a deeper shade of red. "Well… They certainly qualify for tall. Not so sure about handsome though…"

"Oh, they are," one of the ladies sighed.

"Definitely," another giggled.

"Top class eye candy," Lisa stated and laughed at her husband's subsequent expression. "Nearly as cute as you, Honey."

"Okay," Bruce conceded, "so from a female point of view they are handsome. What's the other criteria? Dark? Well, that counts John and Alan out; you can't get much fairer than that. Gordon's got a tan, but I don't know if that colour hair qualifies as 'dark'. Which only leaves Scott and Virgil…"

"I knew it!" Nancy crowed. "I knew it'd be Virgil Tracy."

"No!" Olivia protested. "It's not Virgil."

"Sure…"

"I think Olivia's telling the truth," Bruce informed her. "Think about it. Virgil invited me to visit him. Now, if he and Olivia were an item, don't you think he'd rather come here so he could visit her?"

"Oh…" Her theory blown out of the water, Nancy seemed momentarily downcast. "Well," she said, regaining some of her enthusiasm. "Then it must be the other one."

But Bruce was shaking his head again. "I doubt it. I didn't see anything to make me think that any of them have girlfriends… with the exception of Alan and Tin-Tin. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that I'm 99% sure they don't."

Nancy pouted. "You're no help, Bruce." She took the P.A. by the arm and dragged her away, closely followed by the others. "Come on, Olivia. You've got to tell us all about him! Why the secret? Who is he...!?"

"You know, I think Tin-Tin should give up on Alan," Lisa mused. "He's obviously hopeless, and he seems to be away more often than he's on the island. Tin-Tin would probably be happier with a man who's not always flitting about all over the world. And she wants someone with similar interests."

Butch gave his wife a sideways look. "Who ya thinkin' about, Liesl?"

"Well… Tin-Tin's an engineer… Virgil's an engineer… Don't you think they'd make a cute couple?"

"'N y'd start World War Three on one little island," Butch told her. "They's all gotta live togetha, rememba."

"I'm sure they could work it out between them..." Butch snorted his disbelief, so Lisa changed the subject. "Is Virgil still enjoying working for his father?"

"He says he is…" Bruce took a moment to line the salt, pepper and sugar side-by-side in a neat line as he thought. "I got the impression that he didn't want to talk too much about it... He said it was because he was supposed to be having the week off too." He leant forward. "When did you two last visit him?"

"Oh…" Lisa and Butch looked at each other and Lisa bit her lip in thought. "It must have been about three years ago…" she mused.

"Longa," her husband recollected. "We'd only jus' found out you was pregn'nt with Ginny."

"Yes," Lisa nodded. "That's right."

"I don't suppose you'll remember in that case," Bruce continued, "but every time I've visited, including this past week, I've had the feeling that Virgil's been…" he thought briefly, trying to find the right phrase. "…On edge? No… That's not quite right… As if he's trying to make me believe that everything's okay when everything isn't…"

Lisa was nodding as Butch agreed with Bruce's summation. "We noticed tha', didn' we, Liesl?"

"Did you get that impression when he's visited us here?" Bruce asked, and the Crumps shook their head in unison. "It seems to me as if he's only able to relax when he's away from the island."

"D'ya think Mr Tracy's a bit ova slave driver?" Butch asked.

"We all know that he expects his employees to work hard," Lisa said. "But he's a reasonable man. I mean; look at me and Ginny! Most bosses would expect me to work full time or not at all."

"Does he know you're working here?" Bruce asked. "Maybe Mr Mickelson hasn't told him yet. Or maybe Mr T's less lenient with his own sons? Maybe he expects them to live up to the Tracy name?" He rearranged the condiments, so they were standing shoulder to shoulder like miniature soldiers. "He was nice enough to me and made me feel welcome, but… I got the feeling that Virgil's brothers were a little uncomfortable too…" He nudged the salt closer to the pepper. "Something weird happened while I was there last week. There was some kind of catastrophe in the lab..."

"Catastrophe?!" Lisa's eyes were wide. "What happened? Is everyone all right?"

Bruce gave her a reassuring smile. "Everyone's fine. I don't know what happened; I just know that whatever the problem in the lab was, it must have been big, because all the Tracys were called in, including Virgil. He said that Brains needed his help. I suppose, if you think about it logically, that since Alan wasn't at home, they might have needed an extra pair of hands... But …" He frowned.

"You've got no idea what the catastrophe was?" Lisa asked.

"No idea whatsoever. And I didn't see anyone again for the next... um... five or so hours?"

The Crumps stared at him. "Five hours!"

"Yes. All apart from Tin-Tin."

"Odd..." Butch said. "So, ya didn' talk t' Alan?"

"No, he was away on business. So, I didn't get the chance to twist his arm to go racing again." Bruce gave a wry grin. "Sorry, big fella."

Butch responded with a genial smile.

"Mind you, they didn't tell me what the business was," Bruce added. "Maybe he's lining up another race? With another of Brains' cars like the one he used at Parola Sands?"

"Yeah?" Butch visibly brightened. "Hope so… Whatcha do while they was in th' lab?"

"Tin-Tin took me under her wing. I thought she was making a play for me, but no such luck." Bruce grinned at Lisa. "She said we could either go scuba-diving and search for something called a water mamba..."

"What's that?" Lisa asked.

"No idea," Bruce admitted. "I thought it was some kind of snake, but Tin-Tin assured me it was a friendly mammal." He screwed up his face. "I didn't fancy the idea of swimming through underwater caves on the off chance that we might spot a strange critter. My name's not Gordon."

Lisa giggled. "How is Gordon?"

Bruce shook his head in wonder. "He's amazing. You'd never guess that the guy almost died and then was paralysed five years ago. He challenged me to a race: four laps of their pool…" He gave a rueful smirk. "I thought we'd finished lap two neck-and-neck, and it turned out he'd done his four laps."

"So what didya n' Tin-Tin do?" Butch asked. "Since ya didn' see th' water mamba."

"We stayed in the theatre and watched a movie. Tin-Tin let me choose which one I wanted to see." Bruce shook his head in amazement. "Have you seen their play list? There's hundreds of them, in all genres... So many it's overwhelming; so, I chose the first one that popped up, which was some space doco… apparently John worked with some of the astronomers in it. We didn't get to see much of it though. Mrs T came in and said that there was a disaster happening in the Netherlands…"

"Where one of the dykes had breached and was threatening to drown an entire town?" Lisa nodded. "We heard about that on the news. International Rescue saved the day. Those people are miracle workers."

"I'll say. We switched off the documentary and watched the live coverage instead. Kyrano even brought our dinner into the theatre so we wouldn't miss anything. Tin-Tin and I were hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the Thunderbirds, but we didn't even see a wingtip…" Bruce took a sip of his coffee. "When you think how quick the world's media were to report Gordon's 'death' before the Tracys even knew about his accident, it makes it hard to believe that reporters would be so noble as to not video even the tiniest bit of International Rescue…" He shrugged. "Virgil and his brothers joined us just in time to hear the reporter say that International Rescue was leaving the scene. I thought they'd missed the action, but they'd had the TV going while they were in the lab and had lost track of time."

"Now that's an organisation I can see Virgil belonging to," Lisa Crump stated. "He'd be perfect! And much happier flying around the world doing rescue work. He's not cut out for being stuck in a lab all day."

Bruce laughed. "I said that to him. He just smiled and said that if I could find out where their headquarters were then he'd send in his résumé. It was the closest he came to admitting that he's not happy with his life at the moment."

Lisa looked concerned. "And do you honestly think he's not happy, Bruce?"

"To be honest, no I don't. Like you said, he's not cut out to be stuck in a lab all day."

"What abou' 'is brothas?" Butch asked.

Bruce tried to clarify his friend's remark. "Do I think they're not happy? That they're not cut out to be stuck in a lab? Or that they should belong to International Rescue?"

"Yeah."

Bruce was none the wiser, so he answered all three questions. "Well, as far as International Rescue was concerned, the only other comment the Tracys made was when Scott said that he'd love to fly in one of the Thunderbirds… But I got the impression that they're all like Virgil. They aren't content with their lives."

"Then why don't they leave?" Lisa asked. "Why don't they stand up to their father and tell him that they want to stop working for him and leave Tracy Island?"

"And then what could they do?" Bruce asked. "They've all burnt their bridges. Gordon can't go back to WASP because of his accident, both John and Scott would have to work for years before they would be able to get back the positions they held before they left, and what would you expect Virgil to do? He can't come back here to ACE. He'd only be working for his father in a different role."

"He should become a fire fighter or a paramedic like we told him!" Lisa asserted. "We're his friends, aren't we? We should be supporting him; not letting him continue to work in a thankless job." She slammed her hand down on the table. "As soon as I've got Ginny into bed this afternoon, I'm going to write Virgil Tracy an email and tell him he's got to start thinking about himself and not his family for once; and that the three of us are here to support him!"

"Whoa! Lisa!" Bruce held up his hands as if he were trying to stop her from sprinting out through the door to start typing. "We don't know for sure if he is unhappy. It's only supposition on my part."

"Supposition on our part…" Then Lisa paused. "Okay, I'll phrase it in such a way that he knows we're always here to help him if he wants to make a break." She waggled her finger at the two men sitting opposite. "Virgil Tracy spent one year pretending to be someone he's not," she stormed, "and I am NOT going to let him live his whole life like that! Not even if I have to tell Mr Tracy to his face that he's got to let Virgil go!"

"Lisa!" Bruce gaped at his friend. "You wouldn't!"

"Oh, yes I would."

"Yeah, she would," Butch echoed. "She don' stand for no baloney. Not from me. Not from Ginny. 'An not even from Mr Tracy. My girl would make him see sense."

"Well, don't do anything rash," Bruce begged. "Just in case I'm reading the situation wro…" A strange buzzing noise was heard; high pitched like an angry wasp caught in a jar. "What's that?"

"What's what?" Butch asked.

"Can't you feel the table shake?" Lisa asked. "It's kind of quivering."

Bruce had just narrowed down the sound to its source when it stopped. "Didn't you hear the salt and pepper rattling together?" Around them some of their colleagues were commenting on the same phenomenon. "Was it an earthquake?"

"Nah," Butch said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "This ain't a earthquake zone. We're 'undreds 'n 'undreds of miles from th' neares' fault line."

Bruce stared at him as Lisa explained. "Butch loves reading all about seismology, don't you, Honey."

"Yeah," Butch agreed, and his eyes lit up. "I read all abou' 'quakes, 'n volcanoes. Things that make th' earth move…"

Bruce cast an amused look at Lisa. "Oh, yes," he smirked.

"And you can get you mind out of the gutter," she scolded.

Butch missed the innuendo. "It waz only a truck goin' past," he hypothesised.

"Have you ever felt a truck vibrate the room like that before?" Lisa asked him.

"No…" Butch suddenly seemed unsure of his theory. "Mus' be a heavy one tha's real close."

The sound of a siren chased the mystery from Bruce's mind. "I guess vacation's over," he sighed.

-F-A-B-

"I guess I can finally have a break," Virgil Tracy sighed, as he placed a cool drink on the poolside table. He stretched out on a deckchair and sighed again in contentment. "This," he pushed the sunglasses back up his nose and closed his eyes, "is going to be a quiet day."

Gordon chuckled. "You shouldn't need a quiet day. You had last week off!"

"If you don't count a quick trip to the Netherlands," John teased from the comfort of his own 'chair.

"Don't remind me." Virgil looked at them over his sunglasses. "I've done all I have to do today and now I'm going to take the opportunity to relax. I hate to say it, but I'm glad Bruce has gone and things are back to normal. I was looking forward to having him come to stay, and as soon as I got here I couldn't wait for him to go again. I was on tenterhooks the entire time, in case International Rescue was called out."

"Which we were." Scott sipped at his drink. "It was the same when Brian visited. I just couldn't relax."

Virgil made no comment. Brian Daniels had been Scott's co-pilot when their Air Force jet carrying Red Cross supplies had been shot down. He'd also been partially responsible for Scott's enforced early departure from the Air Force, and Virgil had never forgiven him for making his brother's final days in his dream job end on a low rather than a high. He was the only one of the Tracys who knew the true story behind Scott's resignation, and he'd made no secret of the fact that he held Brian in contempt. That was until Scott had pulled him to one side and told him to get over it. After that Virgil had simply avoided the Air Force pilot as much as possible.

Gordon, unaware of all this, was agreeing with his elder brothers. "I'd love to be able to invite Rick and Diane to stay more often, but I don't think my nerves could stand it."

"With the trouble you three get up to, our nerves definitely wouldn't be able to stand it," John told him. "At least my friends are astronomers," he added. "They're more interested in getting a light pollution free view of the southern night skies than staying up all day seeing Thunderbirds launch."

"I nearly had a heart attack when Alan set off the alarm on my watch to warn me about the Netherlands job," Virgil admitted. He looked up when Tin-Tin joined them by the pool. "Just as well we've got you as a part of our team, Honey."

The pretty Eurasian smiled at him. "I am glad I was able to help, Virgil."

"Not nearly as glad as we are," Scott stated. "Having our guests watch a delayed feed of whatever rescue we're on so that when 'International Rescue' leaves the scene it's just after we've made an appearance back here, is a first-rate idea." He raised his glass towards her in a toast.

"Hear, hear." Gordon mimicked the gesture. "Thereby fulfilling the dual purpose of keeping our visitors occupied and out of the way, while stopping them from becoming suspicious about where we all are… I can see that we're going to have to watch you next April Fool's. It's a plan the equal of any of mine."

"More than that, it's a plan the equal of Scott's," John added. "I think we should get Tin-Tin on Mobile Control duty more often."

Tin-Tin dimpled at the compliments. "I got the idea when Mrs Tracy had one of her friends to visit and I realised that I couldn't take her scuba diving to see the 'water mamba'."

"What would you have done if one of us had been injured?" Virgil asked her.

"I do not know, and I hope none of you ever put me in that situation." Tin-Tin held out an envelope to him. "Mr Tracy asked me to give this to you. It was in with the mail from ACE."

"Thanks." Virgil took the envelope and started to open it.

"Snail mail!" Gordon exclaimed. "That's so 20th century."

"You couldn't send this electronically," Virgil beamed. He pulled a brightly coloured piece of paper out of the envelope. "It's a picture from Virginia."

"You do realise that you're the only person who calls her that," Scott reminded him. "Just because she's named after you it doesn't mean that you have to use her full name."

"Yeah," Gordon agreed. "I would have thought that you'd got enough grief growing up with Virgil to not want to lumber another kid with a variation of it."

Virgil, enjoying his examination of the drawing, ignored his brothers. "She's not a bad artist for a three-year-old."

John chuckled. "Takes after her Uncle Virgie, does she?" He held out his hand. "Can I have a look?" Virgil handed the drawing over and he examined the crayon sketches. "Well, you can tell what they're meant to be." He pointed out the various figures, as Scott and Gordon looked over his shoulder. "That's Butch, and that's obviously Lisa... I've never seen her in a skirt before."

"Except in that video of their fifth wedding anniversary," Gordon reminded him, and gave an appreciative whistle.

"I wasn't looking at her once Virgil started getting himself beaten up," John responded.

Scott pointed over John's shoulder at Virginia's picture. "I guess that little one's Ginny and she's holding..." he leant closer to read the crudely lettered name above the caricature, "...Virgil's hand?"

"Awww. Isn't that sweet," Gordon teased. "Virgil's finally got himself a girlfriend."

"That's not what she's written," John snickered. "She's written an 'N' instead of the 'L' and tried to correct it." He raised an eyebrow in Virgil's direction. "You know what that makes you?"

"She started to write Virginia," Virgil protested.

"May I have a look, please?" Tin-Tin asked. She admired the picture and then returned it to its owner. "You have a fan, Virgil."

"Yeah." Virgil looked at his treasure again before returning it to the protection of its envelope.

Gordon reclaimed his seat next to Tin-Tin. "You'll have to introduce me to this water mamba sometime. Do you know, I've been swimming in these waters for years and I've never seen one?"

"Sure, you have," John drawled, his eyes closed against the sun. "You can't miss it. Red hair, red eyes and it stinks of chlorine. You'll find it behind the mirror in the back of your locker in the changing shed."

Gordon threw an ice cube at him. It hit John on his bare chest and slithered off, causing the blonde to sit up with a startled yelp. "Gordon!" He took off after his younger brother.

Scott settled back onto his deck chair. "It's good to have things back to normal again."

Virgil agreed as he let the sun wash over him. This was going to be a quiet day…

-F-A-B-

7:32 am

Bruce, Lisa and Butch were sitting in the combined social club / ACE meeting room underneath the photo gallery that was generally called the Heroes Wall. These photos, all from five years earlier, showed two of the Tracy sons; the two men at this table; Greg Harrison, the charge hand; and finally, the General Manager shaking ACE's owner's hand.

Bruce, hating the photo of himself, preferred to sit with his back to the wall. Lisa liked to face it so that she should see the men who'd saved so many lives including her own. Butch was happy to sit anywhere where he had a clear view of Lisa.

Hamish Mickelson, the General Manager of Aeronautical Component Engineering, had nearly finished his monthly staff meeting. "…And, finally, I would like to welcome a valued member of the team back into our fold." He smiled over at Lisa Crump. "Mrs Crump, we're pleased to have you working for ACE again, even if it is only part time."

Lisa gave a shy smile in return as Butch gave her hand a squeeze. "Thank you, Mr Mickelson, I'm glad to be back."

"And now," Mickelson gathered together his notes, "I'll hand you over to Mr Watts for your assignments for…" He stopped when he heard a sound.

An excited murmuring filled the room.

"Did you hear that?"

"The glass doors in that cabinet were rattling together."

"It sounded like a cricket chirping, didn't it?"

"I've never heard a cricket that sounded like that."

"The table shook. I swear it! I felt it shake!"

"I felt it too!"

"Was it an earthquake?"

"Oh, my!" Winston Patterson exclaimed. "I've come over all a quiver." He attempted to take his own pulse. "My poor little heart's going boom-bitty-boom!"

"This ain't a earthquake zone," Butch told all who'd listen. "Tha' weren'ta 'quake."

Mr Mickelson held up his hand for quiet. "Ah, Mr Sanders…"

Bruce raised his head. "Yes, Mr Mickelson?"

"Does the social club's radio still work?"

"Yes."

Hamish Mickelson was an astute employer. He knew full well that his staff would be too on edge to work diligently until they knew exactly what had caused those unusual tremors. He looked at his watch. "Five to eight. I think we can delay the start of work until after we have heard the news. Would you mind, Mr Watts?"

Max Watts, the Production Manager, wasn't thrilled about losing precious production time, but he nodded his agreement. "As you say, Mr Mickelson, we have five minutes before the news is due to start and I'll use that time to give out everyone's assignments for the day... Bruce Sanders... Butch Crump... You are both with me. We're readying the crucible furnace before its next run. Lisa Crump; you're with Greg Harrison. He'll explain to you how to operate ACE's newest welder. Louis..." He continued, but may as well have saved his breath for the staff were more interested in watching Bruce slide back the glass doors that had rattled together only minutes earlier... They listened to the various squawks, bits of top ten hits, and inane advertising chatter as their colleague tried to find an appropriate radio station. He finally settled on a suitable frequency.

"The time is eight o'clock..."

"We know that!" someone complained and was shushed by the rest of the workforce.

"Time for the news…"

"Get on with it!"

"Shush!" "Shh!" "Be quiet!"

"A swarm of earthquakes have been felt in the vicinity…"

"Can' be," Butch stated. "This ain'ta earthquake zone." He was shushed by his colleagues.

"The largest of which has been reported by seismologists as being 4.5 on the Richter Scale…"

Butch snorted his annoyance. "They don' use Richter Scale anymore."

"Shh, Honey," Lisa scolded.

"Authorities wish to advise everyone that this is a minor occurrence and that there is absolutely nothing to worry about. This is not a seismic area…" Bruce looked at Butch as if expecting him to confirm the fact, but the big man remained mute. "…and any tremors are of no concern. Seismologists are investigating the phenomena and hope to have an explanation soon. Stay tuned to this station for further updates… In other news…"

"Thank you, Mr Sanders," Hamish Mickelson said, and Bruce shut the radio off. "Since we have nothing to worry about, it is now time to begin the week's work." He smiled. "Let's make it a good one. Mr Tracy has promised you all a bonus if we can get the Bell contract finished on time and under budget. So far we are on track and I won't hold you up any longer."

-F-A-B-

8:05 am

Keegan Clark signed the electronic clipboard and then pushed the button that closed the tailgate of his big rig.

"Where are you headed to next?" The inwards goods staffer asked as she checked the clipboard.

"ACE," Keegan responded.

"ACE! Aeronautical Component Engineering? That's a huge outfit. Do you deliver much to them?"

"A fair bit," Keegan boasted. "But don't ask me what." He patted the side of his nose. "I'm sworn to secrecy."

His comment elicited a laugh. "You mean you don't know."

"I know," Keegan lied. "But I'll tell you one thing about it, it's really heavy. Well over four tons."

The staffer showed some concern about the revelation. "And you've got all that weight at the back? Wouldn't it be better to spread the load more evenly?"

"Yeah, but it's not far to go and it's all downhill. By the time I've rearranged everything I would be there." He started walking towards his rig's cab. "See you next time," he called over his shoulder as he hauled himself up the side of the cab and into the driver's seat.

"Bye, Keegan," she responded. "Drive safe."

-F-A-B-

8:20 am

"So, they were earthquakes," Bruce commented as he and Butch got kitted up in their heat-resistant personal protective equipment. He zipped the silver coveralls up under his chin and folded the protective flap over to seal it. "It's a bit weird that they're happening if we're not in an earthquake zone."

"We're not," Butch reiterated. "Ya heard th' news."

"I know that they agree with you," Bruce pulled the silver hood over his head. "But don't you think it's odd that we're getting earthquakes in an earthquake free zone?"

Butch shrugged his big shoulders. "'Appens."

"Often?"

"Depends."

"Aren't you two ready yet?!" Max Watts stood at the door. He already had his supervisor's PPE on. "You're wasting time! I'm not going to let my team be the ones who let their colleagues down and stop them from getting their bonus... Come on!" he snapped again as Butch stopped to pick up a glove. "You can finish checking each other's gear when we get to the furnace building." He turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.

"'E's ina bad mood," Butch noted, as he followed the supervisor.

"He always gets in a bad mood when he's got to work with the crucible furnace," Bruce reminded him. "In some ways I don't blame him."

Lisa Crump and Greg Harrison were sharing a similar conversation as they watched the three silver-clad men parade past.

"I know Max and I don't always see eye-to-eye," Greg admitted, "but I do admire the way he has never let the fact that he nearly died because of that furnace stop him from working with it."

Lisa smiled at him; her image reflected in his spectacles. "It's thanks to you that he didn't die."

"It's thanks to Virgil Tracy," he corrected. "I only pulled Max to safety." Shadows shifted and moved, and he looked up. The hanging lights were swaying. "These earthquakes are starting to worry me."

Lisa gave an obvious shiver as she watched a bolt judder its way off a work bench. It landed on the floor with an ominous clunk. "Me too. Butch says they shouldn't be happening because we're miles from any fault lines." She picked up the bolt. "But he doesn't know what's causing them."

Greg grunted. "I'm sure that Butch knows what he's talking about..." he said, not really believing it. "Now, Lisa, the first thing we've got to do with this welder is warm it up. Enter this code into that keypad over there..."

-F-A-B-

8:27:05 am

Bruce and Butch stopped outside the relatively new building that held the crucible furnace, and finished checking each other's PPE. Max Watts entered a code into the keypad lock and then stood back. "Mr Sanders."

"Yes, Mr Watts." Bruce entered a code of his own, Watts turned the handle and the three of them stepped inside out of sight...

8:27:32 am

To be continued...