Foreward

Disclaimer: I do not in any way own or profit from the characters or settings of Thunderbirds. The original series and characters were created by Gerry snd Sylvia Anderson. This particular story is based on the 2004 live action movie, Thunderbirds, which was directed by Jonathan Frakes, and produced by WorkingTitle under the aegis of Universal Studios. This story is for my own entertainment and that of others.

Author's Note: This story was first published at FanFiction.net from May 20, 2005 and was completed on January 1, 2011. It was written in reaction to a story on fanfiction.net entitled "Wharton Rescue". That story, with its oddly-named students, its nigh on impossible rescue, and the totally indifferent attitude toward International Rescue security, frustrated me to no end. So, I decided to write a story, set at Wharton Academy, that not only rebutted "Wharton Rescue" but also gave more depth to the family dynamics as portrayed in the movie, and showed what the movie had not – an International Rescue out doing what they do best: rescuing people.

As I said in my author's notes at the beginning of chapter one, "Never, ever thought I'd be doing this, writing a movie-verse fic." I was, and am, a primarily TV-universe writer, but as I wrote more and more of the movie-universe, I found that there were huge gaping holes in plot and characterization that I could fill in and develop. The situations and characters took on a life of their own, particularly in the case of Sable de la Croix, who insinuated herself quite quickly into the plotline. The White Winds turned out to be my longest fanfic, clocking in at well over 300,000 words, and my most reviewed story as well.

Because it is so long, I have split the navigational include into two separate units. Each unit provides a link to the other, but the navigation buttons within the chapters themselves will take a reader to the previous or next chapter.

Many thanks to Elizabeth Beers, Susan Dahlin, and Lauren Letourneau for betareading and encouragement. Thanks also to Rebecca Balfour, Lorraine Clarke, Dena Lawless, Christine Shultz, John Shultz, Andrew James Williams, the folks at Yahoo's fanfic-law group, fanfiction.net authors cathrl and Digi-Girl101 for their advice, error spotting, and encouragement. Cover art is by Alessandra Bennett and is used with her kind permission. All original characters are copyright to me, and may not be used without permission.

I hope you will enjoy the story.

Tikatu

Chapter Notes:

Chapter 13: My information on heat stroke and heat exhaustion comes from these pages: University of Maryland Medical Center and Dr. Reddy's Pediatric Office on the Web.

Chapter 31: The question answered by Fermat is real, and I found it at the following page: Wolfram MathWorld. It states: If a circular pizza is divided into 8, 12, 16, ... slices by making cuts at equal angles from an arbitrary point, then the sums of the areas of alternate slices are equal.

Chapter 34: It's quite true that a high speed commuter rail was planned to link Pretoria and Johannesburg in time for the 2010 World Cup, but was not a maglev train. And I called Pretoria by the name "Tshwane-Pretoria" because - during 2006, when this chapter was written - there was a vote to change the city's name to "Tshwane". I decided to pretend that they came up with a compromise, when in fact, the name didn't change. To clarify further, Pretoria is the administrative capital city and considered South Africa's actual capital. However, Bloemfontein is the judicial capital, and Cape Town is the legislative one. All three cities play important roles in the governing of South Africa.

Chapter 49: The information on Voronya Cave (also known as Krubera Cave) came from Wikipedia, with special attention paid to the interactive slide show from National Geographic, May 2005.

Chapter 53: The Latin phrase to be translated is the provincial motto of Newfoundland and Labrador, according to Wikipedia. One quiz question – with answer – is based on a similar question my husband answered during his own days of academic quizzing (with the same results). The mention of Walter Schirra was written before his recent death. Steuart is spelled correctly.

Chapter 60: John Carter was named for Edgar Rice Burroughs's character.

Chapter 69: Thanks to the folks at fanfic_law for clarification on drug charges and sentencing. Also, Gillette Castle is real, and is as described.

Chapter 71: The castle mentioned, Searles Castle, is a real place, and currently houses a school, however, the school in the story is ficticious.