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It all started with a basic call to International Rescue. Like always, John picked up. It was supposed to be a simple search and rescue. Alan went up in Thunderbird 3; after a while, the GDF also came to help. John hacked into sensors and used his own, but there was nothing.
The Santa Maria, a cargo supply ship for Mars, was gone, vanished. It became a ghost ship.
Everyone felt it. John had learned that there were 35 men and women on that ship. 35 important people from the small Mars colony. They didn’t stop looking for days. But then the GDF called it.
John had EOS keep a lookout, but he had to go back to work, taking calls, saving people. International Rescue continued to trek on.
It wasn’t until three weeks later that he got an odd call.
“This is International Rescue. What’s your emergency?”
A woman’s voice came through. She was soft-spoken. “Hello, International Rescue. This is Jessica Wren. We spoke a few weeks ago…the Santa Maria disappearance.”
“Yes, I remember. What’s the problem, Ms. Wren?”
“I know this might sound odd,” she said, “but the captain and communications officer aboard the Santa Maria had a daughter. We’ve tried, but there’s no one in the colony who can take her. So she has to be sent to Earth.”
John frowned, pulling up the data transmitted to him. “You need someone to escort her from the colony?”
“Yes. She’s two months out if we send her with the next cargo run. If you can spare the resources…”
“I’ll see what I can do,” John said, his voice softening.
He heard a sigh of relief on the other end. “That’s all I ask, thank you.”
He immediately got Alan on comms.
---
A few hours later, Alan reported back. “She’s quiet,” he said. “Doesn’t really talk. Just… stares out the window.”
John, making his way from his station, replied, “Alan, she lost her parents and pretty much was told she wasn’t wanted.” John looked out one of his windows, searching for the incoming ship. “She’s being forced to leave the only home she’s known.”
Alan nodded. “I’m going to give her a snack and try to make her comfortable.”
John got a chirp for a different call. “FAB, Alan. I’m getting another call.” Alan gave a thumbs-up. John hung up.
He switched lines. Virgil’s voice came through this time. “Hey, John, she was born on Mars, right?”
“From what I was told, yes. Why?”
Virgil cursed under his breath. “She can’t go straight to Earth. The gravity difference, it’ll kill her.”
“What do you mean?” John asked, sitting upright.
“John, Mars’ gravity, even if artificial, is lighter than ours. If she goes straight from there to Earth, her body won’t handle it.”
“We need to call Ms. Wren and Colonel Casey. We need to figure this out.”
They went back and forth for what felt like hours before it hit John.
“Thunderbird 5 has gravity controls. I can change it. What about keeping her here first? I can adjust it gradually, get her used to it.”
Everyone agreed.
When Alan docked, everything was sealed up. Alan floated out first, then a young girl, no older than five, floated out behind him carrying a small brown teddy bear. Alan turned and took off the girl’s helmet. Long black hair fell out. Her forest-green eyes looked around, then fell on him. Alan smiled softly.
“John, this is Amelia Jacobs. Amelia, this is my big brother John.”
She gave him a small, shy wave.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Amelia,” John said softly. “Would you like to look around with me?” He held out his hand.
She nodded and took his hand. He looked at her. She was so small, much smaller than his nephew. He pulled her along gently.
Thunderbird 5 had two rooms. John’s and an extra one for whichever brother covered his shift. For now, that room would be hers.
“I’m going to turn on the gravity now, okay?” John said softly.
She nodded again.
The two of them landed gracefully.
“You’ve done that before?” John asked.
She shook her head, voice quiet. “With Mommy.”
Tears welled up in her eyes.
John froze, panic fluttering in his chest. “Hey… hey, it’s okay. You want to meet someone?”
She looked up, with unshaded tears.
“EOS,” John called gently. “Come say hi.”
The AI wheeled over on her track, her voice kind. “Hello, Amelia. My name is EOS. I help run Thunderbird 5.”
Amelia’s eyes went wide. “You’re… alive?” she whispered, reaching up.
She couldn’t quite reach the camera, so John asked, “Can I pick you up?”
She nodded quickly. He lifted her, and she patted EOS with her small hand. “Hello, EOS.”
“Hello, Amelia,” EOS said softly as the ring around her camera glowed green.
---
Alan poked his head out. “I’ve got her stuff set up. I need to get going. Are you going to be okay?”
John nodded. So did Amelia. Alan smiled and made his way to Three.
John showed her around. He explained which rooms she could enter and which were off-limits unless he was with her.
He gave her a bagel and found one of her coloring books in her bag. Once he got her situated, he sat across from her. He started a list of things he needed for her. The gravity was light, great for her, less so for him, but he didn’t mind. He was going to have to lower it soon.
---
Over the few weeks, they fell into a rhythm. John worked. Amelia explored. When he wasn’t busy, they’d watch old shows and movies together like Captain Scarlet, Treasure Planet, and any others Scott recommended. He then would tuck her in bed, and then they would repeat.
Sometimes she’d float beside him while he worked, spinning lazily in the air until she giggled herself to sleep.
Once, she had gotten sick when he adjusted the gravity too fast, so he had to pause her adjusting for about a month.
Then, one night almost five months in, she had called him Papa. (He had been working and she had fallen asleep, so he carried her to bed.)
John froze.
He just tucked her into bed, kissed her forehead, and quietly left the room before he freaked out.
Later, after he had calmed down, he called Scott.
“I can’t do it, Scott,” his voice shook.
Scott frowned. “Do what, John?”
“She called me Papa.” His voice cracked. He was going to cry. “Scott, I can’t give her up.”
Scott was silent for a long moment.
“She only wears her hair in a low ponytail; a high one gets in her face,” John continued, voice trembling. “She loves playing chess with EOS, even if she really doesn’t know how to play. She only watches Captain Scarlet in the morning with breakfast, she says another time wastes it,” he laughed at the ridiculousness of that claim. “She can’t sleep without Mr. Bark and Ms. Cake. She’s my kid, Scott.”
He stopped. Tears slipped down his face freely.
“She’s my kid.”
Scott exhaled softly. “Okay.”
John blinked. “What?”
“I’ll call Casey, a lawyer, and her caseworker, see what we can do.”
“You’re… not upset?”
“Why would I be?” Scott smiled.
“When Aiden came into my care, he became my whole world in a few weeks. You’ve had her longer. I’m not surprised.”
John exhaled shakily.
Then Scott added some humor. “Never thought I would get a niece from you.”
John glared, but there was no malice behind it. Scott wasn’t wrong, romance was gross to him, so kids had never been in the picture.
“John, just work on getting her down to solid ground. Leave the rest to me, okay?” Scott said.
John nodded. “Okay.”
---
By the time she was ready to go to Earth. Three months after she called him Papa, but now she was saying it full-time, and he called her his Starbright.
“Starbright, get ready, Alan’s docking soon!”
“Okay, Papa!”
A crash followed. John winced. “You okay?”
“Yeah!”
She came running out wearing her tiny blue spacesuit (Brains had made it just for her).
“You ready?” he asked, checking her suit, deeming it okay. He took her hand.
She nodded quickly, clutching Mr. Bark and Ms. Cake.
---
As they descended, she rapidly fired questions at him.
“What’s Earth like? There’s water, right?”
John chuckled. “Lots of it. Oceans, lakes, and rain.”
Her eyes lit up in wonder.
When they landed, they took their time getting her down. Then she stepped onto Earth for the first time in her life.
“Wow,” she whispered.
John steadied her when she stumbled. “You okay?”
She looked up at him with the biggest smile on her face. “Yes, Papa.”
Virgil came over with a medical scanner. “Hey there, Amelia.”
It was the first time meeting any of them in person other than Alan.
“Hi, Uncle Virgil,” she said shyly.
“So far so good,” he murmured. “Some balance issues, but she’ll adjust.”
Next was to introduce her to the one other child on the island. Aiden, Scott’s seven-year-old son.
He was a shy kid too.
Scott stood behind Aiden; across was John and Amelia in the same position.
“Hi,” Aiden said quietly.
“Hi,” she whispered back.
“Wanna see my toys?”
Amelia looked up at John. He smiled and nodded. “Go ahead, Starbright.”
Then she took Aiden’s hand, and they were gone. Both fathers chuckled.
Scott nodded to his office. John sat across from him.
“So, your adoption is looking good,” Scott said, flipping through the files. “Her caseworker loves the match. She said give it a week and you’ll be able to sign.”
Scott got up and poured them some scotch and handed one to John.
John smiled softly and took the glass. He’d been working toward this since the night she called him Papa. Interview after interview, meeting after meeting. Luckily, everyone agreed she belonged with him.
Like Scott said, a week later, John sat in a small California courthouse, Amelia on his lap flipping through a picture book with Aiden as they waited.
The whole family was there; his dad, Grandma, his brothers and sister, and Brains.
Scott leaned over and squeezed his hand. “Same judge from Aiden’s case,” he whispered. “You’re in good hands.”
Judge June smiled warmly from the bench. “Tracy family, welcome back.”
John nodded.
The proceedings were short. At the end, the judge looked down at Amelia. “Sweetheart, do you want John Tracy to be your dad?”
Amelia smiled brightly. “Yes, ma’am. I want to be with Papa.”
And that was that. Papers were signed. John hugged her tightly.
“Amelia Tracy,” he whispered. “Sounds right, Starbright.” He kissed the side of her head.
That night, after the festivities, when he was tucking her into bed, she asked,
“Papa, when are we going home?”
John smiled, kissing her head. “Soon, little star. Very soon.”
As he walked away, she whispered, “I love you, Papa.”
“I love you too.” He stepped out and closed the door with a soft click.
He looked down the hall and saw Scott leaving Aiden’s room. They exchanged a smile. Scott pulled his arm around John, and they walked out of the hallway.
“She asked when we’re going home,” John said quietly.
“Brains is almost done with the space elevator,” Scott replied. “You two will be back up there soon.”
Later, John checked on her one last time. She was fast asleep, breathing softly. His daughter, he’d only had her for about ten months, but it felt like forever, and he couldn’t imagine it any other way.
When morning came, she’d jump on his bed like always. He’d pull her into a bear hug while she giggled. Then she would fall back asleep, allowing him to rest a little longer. He never thought he’d be a father, especially to such an amazing little girl, but he wouldn’t change it for the world.