HOT WORK by PURUPUSS RATED FRC

For all those John fans, here's a quickie.

John Tracy turned off the motor of the machine that he'd been operating. Away in the distance, the sounds of birds could be heard now that the roar of machinery had been silenced. His blond hair was matted with sweat and stuck to his scalp. He removed his protective goggles and cuffed sweat from his brow. He could feel a layer of sweat beneath his eyes where his goggles had rested. Wiping that away, he surveyed his handiwork.

"Not bad if I do say so myself," he thought.

It had been hard work. Not has hard as some tasks he'd been assigned, but the hot sun beating down on him had made this job seem twice as hard and it had seemed to take twice as long.

He squinted up into the sky to approximately where Thunderbird Five would be circling in geo-stationary orbit. Could it be that it was only yesterday that he had completed his tour of duty aboard that craft, and had returned to earth. It seemed longer. He tried to imagine what his youngest brother, Alan, would be doing now. He surveyed his surroundings, reflecting on the fact that somewhere out there his other brothers were hard at work.

He gingerly rotated his shoulders, loosening up muscles not used to such hard labour. Thunderbird Five had a fully equipped gym, and John made a point of keeping his fitness level up. But somehow, these muscles seemed to have been missed in his daily workouts.

A beeping from his watch alerted him to the fact that someone was trying to contact him. He pushed a button and Jeff Tracy's rugged face beamed at him from the tiny screen.

"How's it going, son?"

"Great, Dad. I've just got to clean up and I've finished."

"Glad to hear it. I'm sorry you've been lumbered with this job your first day back. But since Brains hasn't had a chance to fix the robot..."

"Don't worry about it. I volunteered, remember?"

Jeff's face broke into a grin. "Anyway, Grandma's made some fresh lemonade and some of your favourite ice cream. If you hurry, you should be able to have your fill before your brothers get wind of it."

"Sounds great! I'll be there shortly."

Jeff's face disappeared from the watch screen to be replaced with an analogue dial.

Whistling quietly to himself, his mind filled with visions of lemonade, home-made ice cream and a nice cold swim in the pool, John quickly cleaned his equipment and stored it away. He bolted the door behind him and as he walked up the slight incline to his house, he hoped that Brains would have the automatic lawnmower fixed by the next time the tennis courts needed mowing.