The ceremony had finished and Jeff went over to the memorial plaque, listing all the names of the lives lost in the terrible attack that had happened fifty years ago that very day. He remembered watching footage at school in history class and thinking how awful it all was. Some of the other students had had to leave because of the disturbing nature of the footage.
He glanced over at where Scott was occupying his brothers and smiled. The world was improving somewhat since then but so many terrible things still happened. His gaze fell on his youngest son, seven-year-old Alan. He was running round Scott's legs trying not to be caught by Gordon and Scott looked like he was getting dizzy trying to keep track of them. John and Virgil were both nearby, talking quietly. He spent a short time just watching them, pride in his heart. Despite all they'd been through, they were all growing into amazing young men.
He looked back at the list of names again, sighing to himself. So much loss of life.
A hand reached out and brushed over the engraved list, making Jeff look round to see Scott stood by his side.
"Hey, Scott," Jeff said quietly.
"Hi," he replied, his gaze fixed on the flag fluttering above them. "All those terrible things throughout history," he said.
Jeff nodded, glancing round to see that John had managed to engage the attention of all of the younger boys.
Scott's gaze had moved back to the list again when Jeff looked back at him. His eyes were full of sadness. "This all happened before we were born and yet it feels, I dunno, like it still affects us now."
"Well, it does," Jeff said. "We continue to tell people about these events at school not to upset the students but in the hope that the same mistakes won't be made by the next generation. Who knows, perhaps yours will be the generation that finally learns?"
Scott glanced over at him. "Perhaps. But I worry that maybe we'll never learn." He looked down at the list again. "So many of these people died in the aftermath by not being saved in time. Even our rescue services aren't up to the standards they need to be."
He looked over at his father when he didn't receive a reply and was surprised to see a slight smile on his face. "Dad?"
"Well, it's funny you should say that."
"Funny?" Scott asked, confused by his choice of words.
"No, no, not in that sense. It's just there's something I've been working on for a while now and I think the time is right that I let you in on my plans. It has to do with rescue, that's why I found it funny that you mentioned it."
"Oh right. I see. I think."
Jeff put his hand on his shoulder. "Come on," he said gently. "Let's take the kids home. Then I think it's time you and I sat down and discussed a little project I've been working on. Codenamed Thunderbird."