Foreward

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own or profit from the characters or settings of Thunderbirds. They were created by Gerry Anderson, and the copyright is held by Granada. This story is for my own entertainment and that of others.

The characters of Rebekkah T. Barnes, Terrence S. Barnes, Michelle (Chell) A. Barnes. Terrence (Terry) P. Barnes, Joseph (Joey) Stuart Barnes, Johannes Abt, Dr. Evan Longfeld, Dr. Mo Fan Huang, Sir James Masters, Ivan Virenov, Philip and Ellen Talmadge are my own creations and I lay claim to them.

Author's Notes: This story was first published at Fanfiction.net on March 23, 2003. It is my first adult attempt at fan fiction (my previous one being when I was roughly six, and wrote a story based on the 1966 Batman TV show). There are some portions of the story that now make me cringe, but I remember well my excitement in writing the story, and in wanting to share it with others. At the time, I had never heard of a Mary Sue, or a self-insert, and probably hit every other cliché (as opposed to every cliché) in the book while creating this--without the excuse of youth to explain my excesses. My one saving grace was that I could spell, and had a good grasp of the other mechanics of writing.

My original character, Bekkah Barnes, is admittedly a self-insert, though not as egregious a Mary Sue as others of her type. She is older, sticks to her professional abilities, has realistic looks, and a plausible entrance into the story. Where she gets to be a Mary Sue is in the romance department (having two much younger men interested in her) and by being a thorough-going damsel-in-distress. Still, I look back fondly on the experience, knowing both that there are some excellent ideas to be found in the story, and realizing how much I have progressed since those early days.

The story, when originally written, was actually fifty chapters long. However, as I realized that the chapters were very short, I combined them in groups of five to give the appearance of length, and posted them to fanfiction.net in that fashion. As I have taken my basic coding from that site--and I still wish to give the appearance of a lengthy chapter--I have reprinted the story here in the same fashion. I have not corrected any errors in punctuation that are extant; after all, this is my writing at its earliest, and most basic.

Despite its many flaws, I hope you will enjoy it.

Tikatu