Interlude (comic story)

Interlude was the second original comic story published in the Fireball XL5 60th Anniversary Comic Anthology in 2022. It contained elements from the Doctor Who universe.

As its title suggested, the story was a digression from the Fireball XL5 content within the anthology, instead focusing upon characters and settings from Thunderbirds. Narratively it was set shortly after On the Trail of the Kaplan's Killer..., the contribution of Lady Penelope to TV Century 21's (primarily-Fireball) multi-series Space War arc. Interlude featured an Astran; the species had been introduced in The Daleks comic Duel of the Daleks while their home planet of Astra was first namedropped in the Doctor Who television story The Rescue.

Summary
Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward finishes giving her report to Jeff Tracy on the Astran crisis over videolink. Jeff thanks Penny for the update and assures her that he personally approves of her actions despite it not being business for International Rescue. They both agree that no-one wants an intergalactic war, with Penny asking Jeff to say hello to his boys for her before signing off.

Later, Jeff talks to his sons, Tin-Tin and Brains in the lounge of their villa. He says they can now breathe a little easier but that they are still in "dark times", pointing out that a war would result in more rescues than they would be able to deal with. Scott expresses his hope for the war to blow over, a sentiment with which Jeff agrees. He firmly states "the World Space Patrol have just got to come up with the goods" but concedes that "at least this Zodiac guy sounds like he's kept his wits about him".

Meanwhile, near the Astran border, an asteroid drifts towards the remains of an Astran ship destroyed in the battle with the Solar System's Tenth Fleet. However, it is no ordinary asteroid. A sworn enemy of Earth makes their move; the ship is reconstructed and the Mysteronised craft begins a journey towards the Solar System for a deadly mission!

Characters

 * Jeff Tracy
 * Penelope Creighton-Ward
 * Parker
 * Scott Tracy
 * Virgil Tracy
 * Alan Tracy
 * Gordon Tracy
 * Tin-Tin Kyrano
 * Brains
 * Astran

Worldbuilding

 * Tracy Island is "somewhere" in the South Pacific.
 * Parker brings Lady Penelope a tray of tea.

Story notes

 * Interlude introduces the Mysterons to the plot thread which runs through the original fiction of the anthology, thus constituting a crossover with Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons.
 * This story depicts Lady Penelope as being a member of International Rescue at the time of the Astran Space War crisis. This is contrary to the original material from TV Century 21 where the Lady Penelope series presented her as a reporter for the in-universe TV21 organisation, not being recruited as IR's London agent until several stories later in The Vanishing Ray. However, it is worth noting that TV21 itself contradicted this account of the origins of Penelope's International Rescue career on two separate occasions: firstly several weeks prior in the two-part short story Lady Penelope Investigates Thunderbirds, and later as part of a feature entitled The Women for the Captain Scarlet and Thunderbirds Annual.

Continuity

 * Lady Penelope briefs Jeff on her actions during COMIC: On the Trail of the Kaplan's Killer....
 * Penelope communicates with Tracy Island via a handheld mirror, something she also did during TV: The Man from MI.5.
 * Jeff refers to the fact that the World Space Patrol's Steve Zodiac has been charged with finding the Kaplan's killer, which occurred on live television in COMIC: Assassination!.
 * The Mysterons reconstruct an Astran ship destroyed in a border skirmish with the Tenth Space Fleet, which was seen in COMIC: Space Border Battle.