Tracy Island

Tracy Island (COMIC: Solar Danger et al.) was an island in the Pacific Ocean (PROSE: Destroy Space City) and the base of the International Rescue organisation. It was also the home of all its personnel, which included Jeff Tracy and his relatives and Tin-Tin and her father. (TV: The Man from MI.5 et al.)
== Features ==
=== The villa ===
The island's most obvious feature from the outside was a villa where the International Rescue personnel all lived permamently. In the lounge, there were several chairs and a piano, as well as doors leading to a balcony area. Jeff's desk was nearby, which he always sat at while his sons were on rescue missions. The desk was fitted with an emergency code machine which enabled him to transmit messages in the form of a pattern of tapping sounds, similar to that of Morse code. It was attached to the underside of his desk and rotated by switch when needed. Behind it were shelves of books surrounding a television monitor which he could receive calls on if the signal was directed there. On the wall facing the desk were portraits of Jeff's five sons and Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward in their uniforms which doubled as communication screens, allowing direct audio and visual contact with any agent. Incoming calls were indicated by a beeping and the portrait's eyes flashing, although in Lady Penelope's case her necklace flashed.
Outside the villa was a large swimming pool, fully fitted with a diving board and adjacent tables and chairs for relaxation. (TV: The Man from MI.5)
=== Thunderbird hangars ===
Also features of the island, albeit normally hidden from view, were the hangars for Thunderbird 1, Thunderbird 2 and Thunderbird 3.
The hangars of TB 1 and TB 2 via a moving platform concealed by a revolving panel in the lounge. TB 1s launch site was situated under the swimming pool, fit for purpose after its water basin had slid to one side. Meanwhile, Thunderbird 2 saw daylight when a fake rock face was opened up like a hatch. It then travelled down a short runway and achieved flight after reaching a launching ramp. (TV: The Man from MI.5)
The hangar for Thunderbird 3 was located under a round building island with a hole at its centre, which the ship travelled through when it lifted off. (COMIC: Solar Danger, PROSE: Destination Sun)
== History ==
On a TV 21 front page dated to 20 February 2065, the World Aquanaut Security Patrol ship Stingray was pictured with Tracy Island in the background. The article was not about the vessel's specific visit to the inconspicuous island, however, and was instead concerned with Titan's attack on Marineville. (PROSE: Titan Declares War!) In the coming years, TV 21 featured the island many more times in its capacity as the base of International Rescue. (PROSE: Destination Sun, Operation Sunburst Begins! et al.)
In an account dated to 1965, John Tracy from Thunderbird 5 contacted Jeff on Tracy Island to inform him of MI5 agent Jimmy Bondson's emergency call regarding a stolen nuclear device before Jeff contacted Lady Penelope to ask her to investigate the matter. Just prior to this, Jeff had watched Brains test a model submarine in the swimming pool only for the experiment to be ruined when Alan jumped in. Later, Tracy Island received a distress call from a kidnapped Lady Penelope; Jeff used the emergency code machine to communicate with her and once the feed was lost, he sent Scott, Virgil and Gordon out to save Penelope and catch the culprits. (TV: The Man from MI.5)
In either 2066 (COMIC: Impasse) or 2089, International Rescue searched for a missing surgeon, Doctor Adams, who was urgently needed in order to save General N'Mobo, the President of Madagascar. (PROSE: Lhomel to go as freedom force hits Astra!) Scott requested the assistance of Thunderbird 2 in Kenya but even though that request was acknowledged by Tracy Island, the craft seemingly disappeared thereafter. This led TV 21 to speculate that the rescue machine had crashed, on 26 March 2066, and they accompanied this thought with a photograph of a battle-worn TB 2 in its hangar. (PROSE: Thunderbird Two)
On 14 May 2066, a photograph of Thunderbird 1 taking off from its hangar on Tracy Island accompanied an article detailing International Rescue's plans to hunt down the base of the United States Air Force craft TC 193. (PROSE: Search and Destroy)
During the heat crisis of 2066, International Rescue coordinated many rescue missions from Tracy Island when drought, earthquakes and floods occurred across the entire world. In an attempt to find a solution, Brains and Alan took Thunderbird 3 from the headquarters, first to TB 5 and the Moon and later, once World President Nikita Bandranaik had sanctioned the mission, to the Sun. Jeff maintained constant radio contact until they were out of range but consternation mounted when they failed to resume contact after the mission's success. Having been knocked unconsciousness by an explosion from the Sun for two days, Alan and Brains regained contact just in time to inform Jeff they were on a collision course with Venus. Jeff ordered that Thunderbird 1 and Thunderbird 2 be modified for space flight immediately and then sent Scott, Virgil and Gordon in their respective crafts to rescue their stranded comrades. After a journey of some time and two days on Venus repairing TB 3, everyone set course for Tracy Island. (COMIC: Solar Danger)
In 2067, the Hood was able to obtain the location of International Rescue's base, as well as photographs of the Thunderbird craft, by crashing a large passenger plane into Tracy Island. On 24 June, newspapers across the world carried devastating headlines such as "THUNDERBIRDS HIDEOUT EXPOSED!". That day's issue of TV 21 featured an image of Thunderbird 2 launching from the island. While International Rescue enacted Operation Cover-Up, a move to disguise the headquarters of the organisation, Jeff successfully appealed to TV 21 to help combat the Hood's blow in any way they could. (PROSE: Steve Zodiac Alive!)
In September 2069, Lady Penelope had recently defeated a Bereznik-sponsored plot by the Hood to destroy Tracy Island. (PROSE: Fireflash Mk II Bound for New York)
== External links ==
* Tracy Island at the Thunderbirds Wiki
Category:Earth islands
Category:International Rescue