#spacebears

As Two touched the tarmac with the barest of thumps, Scott ran through shutdown procedure before turning to his family and friends.

“Okay, we’re doing this with style and with as much impact as possible. Keep it decent.” He frowned at Gordon and Alan who shrugged innocently. “But shout loud. We need the world to know our opinion on this and that both Tracy Industries and International Rescue support this all the way.”

“FAB!” It was said unanimously and with many grins.

Scott rolled his eyes, but stood up with the rest of them.

This was going to be GREAT! Gordon bounced in his seat.

It took quite a bit to get themselves all down to the module. Grandma’s feathers got hooked on the hatchway between, but they managed to straighten her out.

Outside the crowds were swelling. The media was already there. Scott had arranged publicity for this arrival and they’d timed it perfectly as the sun was just hitting the horizon.

The city was buzzing.

Scott lowered the module and Two rose onto her struts.

As the ramp lowered, the thick curtains Virgil had hung behind it fluttered as the evening heat wafted in.

And yes, curtains in a cargo plane had prompted Gordon to declare that Virgil was finally a full-blown soccer mom with the van to match.

Virgil clapped him up the ear.

Gordon still helped him string them up in module two.

That was why they were more spangly than when Grandma first sewed them up. What’s a bit of glue, glitter and a few sequins between family?

Besides Scotty said to shout loud.

Gordon was good at that.

His eldest brother was the first to step through the curtains and into the spotlight shining down underneath Two’s nose. They had their own stage, Eos had it streaming to the networks and Brains had hooked up their collar comms to Two’s speakers.

The crowd muttered into silence; eyes wide.

Scott was dressed to the nines. Black tie, expensive everything, shoulders broad, expression as suave and energetic as ever.

He held his arms wide. “I am Scott Tracy, President of Tracy Industries and Commander of International Rescue. We are here to show our support of our LGBTQIA+ community.” He smiled. “And to have a little fun.”

He stepped back and to one side. “I’d like to present my family.”

Kayo took the first step. Dressed in heels and a slinky deep blue-grey dress, she slipped between the curtains and out into the spotlight. She said not a word, but her expression held threat and several in the crowd took a step back.

And were equally startled when she smiled and stepped over to stand beside Scott.

He whispered. “Keeping them guessing?”

Cherry red lips curved mischievously. “Always.”

Next was Grandma, not one for the spotlight and rarely seen by the public, she stepped through the curtains in heels as high as Kayo’s, but her dress was more purple feathers and sequins than anything else. She had the headdress of a Las Vegas showgirl and she wasn’t afraid to shake it around. Her hair had been curled beautifully on top of her head and its silver was echoed throughout the trailing dress.

A roar rose in the crowd and a grin as powerful as Kayo’s lit up beneath a pair of sparkling glasses.

A touch of a curtsey and she moved to stand beside Kayo.

Next came Dad. Where Grandma was the matriarch, Dad wasn’t afraid of his patriarchal duties. He stepped out in a dark pin-stiped suit and a full-on top hat. He could have owned the Las Vegas casino his mother was playing at, rainbow hat band included.

His grin was fit to burst as the crowd erupted into an even bigger roar – everyone knew Colonel Jeff Tracy, barely anyone had seen him since he had come back from the dead.

And he was just dapper.

He twirled his cane and stepped over to stand by Grandma.

Gordon couldn’t wait any longer and burst through the curtains.

Unfortunately, his plans involving sequins and glitter foiled his entrance a little as they caught on the sequins and glitter all over his body. There was a struggle for a few moments and the loss of several gold sparkly bits, but a large hand reached through from behind and finally King Neptune was free.

And mostly naked.

But then Gordon was used to being mostly naked and hey, he had extra sequins and shimmering body paint.

Glittery trident in hand, he danced into the spotlight and wiggled and jiggled, and hands raised yelled out “Good evening, Sydney!” at the top of his voice.

Sydney answered back with a roar.

It took a long time to die down. In the meantime, Gordon made a point of rushing to the edges of the crowd and shaking as many hands as he could, grinning like a loon. As soon as he stepped out of the spotlight, it became very obvious that he also had LEDs strung amongst the sequins and he glittered like the stars on the ocean.

Well, those were Virgil’s words, not his, but he was going to run with it anyway.

“Okay, so I guess you all know my brother Gordon.” Scott’s voice had a grin in it.

Sydney answered with a wave of laughter.

Sam and Liam used this moment to slip out between the curtains. Neither were dressed much out of the norm. Sam had his usual pink board shorts, but had put on some mascara and lippy for the occasion. Liam was sporting a smooth fedora and some of Sam’s lippy prominently on his neck.

It was fifty-fifty he was aware of it.

Gordon voted he was.

Liam was a quiet one. Like John.

Which is why you had to keep an eye on both of them.

Speaking of which, John followed them out. His space brother was being extremely tolerant for the cause.

He was simply wearing his uniform.

In truth he needed it having only come down from space a few hours earlier. It had been iffy any of them could make it and it had been close. Two was leaving a little bit of mud on the pavement tonight as Virgil hadn’t had a chance to clean her footings from the last rescue in Peru.

But he was determined they should all get there.

And they did.

But it meant John had to wear his uniform. In Gordon’s opinion it had been partly tactical. It wasn’t that John didn’t support the cause, it was more the glaring attention and ‘Gordon, if you think I’m wearing that, you’ve got another thing coming’.

John wasn’t really the costume wearing type.

Or it might be he wasn’t really the Gordon-type-costume wearing type, but Gordon hadn’t had a chance to experiment because Virgil had intervened and told him leave John alone or he’d pull his sequins off one by one without the glue dissolvent.

The glare from under those monstrous eyebrows got the point across clearly.

But despite everything and especially despite the uniform, John looked magnificent. He wasn’t wearing his familiar golden baldric. In its place was a voluptuous swath of billowing and glittering rainbow material. It was wrapped across his body, around his thigh, and pinched tight on his shoulder with a large silver pin sporting the IR logo. The material then swept over his back, billowing out behind him as he walked.

And to Gordon’s surprise, John had actually also put on some mascara, eyeliner, and swept his red hair back with some gel, smoothing it to his scalp.

If anything, he had an ancient Egyptian air about him, austere and regal.

Gordon approached him as he stepped away from the spotlight. “Nicely done, bro, nicely done.”

John’s lips twitched to side with a smile and Gordon’s eyes widened when he realised there was also lipstick and a little foundation happening up there on his big brother’s face.

“Worth the effort.” John smiled and turned to stand side by side with the rest of the family.

Gordon arched an eyebrow and smiled.

He didn’t miss the murmurings of the crowd either as the words ‘the voice who answers’ and ‘eye in the sky’ bounced around the darkening street.

Gordon smiled even more. The world knew all his brothers.

Which is why the crowd’s reaction was a surprise when Brains slipped through the curtains, possibly pushed gently from behind. He looked out, wide-eyed, through a pair of glasses Virgil had bought him specially for the occasion.

Dad had taken Brains shopping as well, and he was nicely dressed in a deep burgundy three-piece suit. He smiled hesitantly as Sydney rumbled and whispered about the creator of the Thunderbirds.

The internet had a way of leaking news into the world at large, and informally, many knew of Doctor Hiram Hackenbacker and his amazing achievements.

Rarely seen outside a lecture theatre, this was a rare opportunity for eyes to be laid upon the quiet man.

Surrounded by ferocious Tracys.

Of course, that was the moment Alan decided to jump through the curtains and turn ferocity into something more like a terrier chewing on ankles.

Dressed head to toe in a glaringly bright red suit, he had Brandon on his arm, dressed in an equally glaring white.

Gordon was getting Lewis Carroll vibes, complete with playing cards.

Alan wore no makeup and his hair was its usual pale blonde mess, but Brandon had obviously had a date with a comb and his red locks were tidied.

They were both wearing sunglasses at night.

Really, guys?

Brandon, likely with help from Alan, had upgraded his holocam and it was hovering at a distance no doubt broadcasting to several million followers.

Scott had allowed it. Scott wanted as much coverage as possible, so he wasn’t going to say no.

Brandon hadn’t shut up for over an hour after that.

Scott had left the room within five minutes.

Gords quite liked Brandon.

Alan and Brandon swept around the edges of the crowd swapping hoots and catcalls. Scott was seen to roll his eyes at least once.

But the crowd suddenly fell quiet as the light shining down from Two’s undercarriage dimmed all of a sudden.

In the module the curtains divided slowly to reveal shadows.

Multicoloured flame flickered in the darkness.

And Virgil stepped out into the night.

He was unrecognisable. Gone was the quiet brother Gordon knew and, in his place, stood a creature of fantasy.

All this was Virgil’s idea. He was the one who thought it was important they take a stand and support the cause. He was the one whose eyes lit with fire while watching the news.

Scott had had to intervene on several occasions which was not only weird because it was Virgil getting angry, but once the reason for that anger was communicated to Scott, the argument flipped and ninety-nine percent of the time Virgil then had to stop Scott from doing dastardly things.

Gordon suspected Virgil hadn’t intervened on all of Scott’s actions and there were a few Gordon actions that neither brother was ever going to find out about.

Certain things had to be done after all.

But tonight was about celebration and Virgil had gone all out.

Engineer plus artist plus heavy lifting?

Equals Virgil.

His brother was dressed in a flowing dress of iridescent green scales. Interspersed with billowing satin and tulle in varying shades of green, the skirt leapt out into an amazing train that rustled as he walked.

It all thinned at his hips and wrapped around him like a serpent, the scales following the flow of its body. It disappeared up and over Virgil’s left shoulder only rear above him.

Virgil’s right shoulder was bare except for a scattering of viridian sequins that Gordon was far too familiar with.

The green dragon’s long prehensile neck terminated in a beautifully detailed head with eyes of light and breath of rainbow fire. It ducked and hissed around Virgil, brushing across his fully mohawked hair.

Which glittered as much as the rest of him.

Virgil was also wearing makeup, lining his already dark eyes and bringing their edges to points. He stared out at the world with pools of sharp shadow and whispered with lips of green.

The crowd murmured as he shrugged his shoulders and two deep green, massive reptilian wings unfolded behind him. His arms glittered in the light from the flame above and as he stepped forward, the whole apparition moved with him.

He stood beneath his ‘bird, body ramrod straight, dragon hissing around him.

“The Tracy family supports Pride in all its forms. You should be proud to be who you are.”

Then he smirked and spoke into the silence suddenly possessing the Sydney Mardi Gras.

“Let’s party.”