No man alive knows the stars like John Tracy, Navigator of the good ship Thunderbird. She's the only twenty-gun sloop in the world to carry no armaments, and she's fast as a whistle in the hands of her crew. Their mission: search and rescue, pure and simple. Flying no country's flag, they offer assistance to anyone in need, regardless of origin or affiliation - tied only to international waters and each other. John couldn't be prouder, living his life beneath her sails.
He does spend most of his days below deck, though, away from the strong, harsh sunlight reflecting off the waves (as, personally, he'd rather not become just one big freckle, thank you). His place is in the dim candlelight of the chart room, surrounded by compass, sextant, parchment and birdseed. He's the quiet voice guiding their every voyage, highly attuned to the stars, charts and the shifting moods of his Father, Captain Tracy, and his eldest brother, First Mate Scott. If someone sends up a smoke signal, flare or coloured flag, John will have their location pinpointed with an almost scary degree of accuracy before either of them has even thought to ask.
(As for his round little bird, John picked her up early one morning on a tropical island in the South Pacific and, after she refused to leave him, named her Eos, after the goddess of dawn. Gordon likes to tease him that he sure picked a strange parrot, but John wouldn't change her little chirps for the world.)
At night, though, John often climbs the crow's nest to take watch shift from their cabin boy, Alan. They're training their youngest brother in helmsmanship and, though Sprout has a natural aptitude for it, he's simply had less time on the open seas than the rest of them. John's caught the poor kid dozing off at his post more than once, well in need of a good night's sleep, but... if he's honest, he also has ulterior motives. John's not just watching the waves for ships in need of assistance - he's up there for the great, glittering tapestry of constellations above their sails (and Alan's billion questions for him about them).
