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.

Many thanks to Rosemary Alcott and Lorraine Clarke for their advice, betareading, and encouragement.

Author's Notes: This was first published at Fanfiction.net on September 16, 2003, and it was completed on December 30 of the same year. It was the result of a challenge given to me by Rosemary Alcott. Having seen my first few long stories, with my obvious self-insert and damsel in distress, she urged me to write something along the same length using only the canon characters, with a few original creations in the background to help move the plot along. By this time, I had read just about all the fan fiction in the Thunderbirds category, and I found that Jeff Tracy was one of the most intriguing - and often maligned - characters in the cast. Few stories were written surrounding him, and he was often portrayed as an unapproachable, unsympathetic, martinet whose macho military experience made him demand everything from his sons. His relationship with the boys, particularly with John (who was in the space station more often than on Earth), was seen as dysfunctional at the very least. (Of course, John's near-perpetual exile to Thunderbird Five had nothing to do with the character of Jeff, but with Gerry Anderson's dislike of the character.) He usually caused his sons a great deal of anxiety as they strove to please him, often failing to meet his standards. Eventually, the story would come to a point where the writer would make Jeff sorry for all the misery he had heaped on the boys by having one or more of them chew him out in spectacular fashion.

I just didn't see Jeff that way. He was gruff, yes, often dominating, certainly, but I also saw a sense of humor, and that he really cared for his sons. His distracted pain on Scott's crash landing in the desert (The Uninvited), his desperate efforts to keep Alan talking and focused (Move And You're Dead), and his instant reaction to Scott and Virgil's collapse from the oxyhidnite gas (City of Fire) were only a few incidents that showed me Jeff's true feelings for his sons. He even showed compassion and care to his manservant, Kyrano, after Kyrano's collapse before the first rescue (Trapped in the Sky).

In Jeff, I saw an older man, one who, having made his mark on history in a manner heady with adrenaline, might look back on those bygone days with longing, wishing for that rush, that excitement and deciding to act so he could recoup those feelings. And so was born Father's Day. Not only did I want to show Jeff as a caring father - perhaps a bit out of touch with his sons' lives, yet no martinet - but I also wanted to turn the tables on those who had written him as such a poor excuse for a human being. I wanted the sons to angst over their dad, trying to find some way of spiking his guns as he went on with his plans, and finally watching over his bedside as his ideas came painfully crashing down around his head.

I did quite a bit of background research for the activities that the boys would enjoy, and on the vehicles they would use during the rescues, even creating a miniature version of the Mole, one that I would later christen the Micro-Mole. Since I now had a good deal more background material to work with, I paid particular attention to the layout of the island and its underground complex. I went so far as to smash the original, bulky Mobile Control unit, then created a new one. No longer would Scott have to ask for men to help him with his equipment.

The intriguing idea of building bases in lunar lava tubes came from: "Evolving Lunar Lava Tube Base Simulations with Integral Instructional Capabilities", a paper presented by Thomas L. Billings, Bryce Walden, and Dr. Jan Dabrowski to the Second Symposium on Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century, Houston, TX, April 5-7, 1988.

I'm very proud of this work. It has heavily influenced all my writing about the Tracys since its publication. True, it's dated; it has many errors, particularly scientific ones, but it opened up a new way for writers to think about Jeff Tracy. And for that alone, I think it's an influential work.

Enjoy!

Tikatu

Glossary of Terms

Lava tube--made by the flow of lava down to the sea. Sometimes runs underground for miles, sometimes the lava eats away at the surface downward, creating high walls that eventually close over at the top. Most volcanic islands have these.

Breakdown--bits of old lava and/or rock that have fallen from the ceiling

Welded breakdown--breakdown that has had lava flow over it again, welding the little pieces together

Lava falls--where lava falls from one level to another

Lava lake--a pool of lava that usually forms at the base of a lava falls

cutback--a part of a tube wall where the lava has melted an open channel in the wall, making that part of the tube wider