Chapter 1
Scott did a final check of his instruments and flicked on his comms, "This is Tracy Two to Thunderbird Five, everything is normal, I'll call when I've landed."
John floated over to the comms unit, hand swiping aside the hurricane he was monitoring over the Atlantic to check the flight path of his brothers jet.
"FAB Tracy Two, have a safe flight. I'll continue to monitor your progress."
He knew what Scott's sigh was implying, constant monitoring of his flight wasn't needed but it gave John that piece of mind. It reassured John that they weren't going to just disappear as Tracy One had done, he wouldn't let them.
Scott shook his head and looked to John's hologram, "You were up all night monitoring this hurricane, get some sleep. I promise I'll check in when I land."
John folded his arms stubbornly, "I can manage another hour, then EOS will take over."
Scott sighed and looked back out of his front window, "I'm not going to win, am I?"
"I find the chances of you getting your brother to sleep are exactly three hundred and sixty seven to one." A chirpier voice cut in, making Scott smile, "I believe John is the most stubborn of you Tracy's."
Scott and John shared a knowing look, they were all equally as stubborn when it came to it. Though, none of them were as stubborn as their father.
"You- ot-ways-ight- E-S."
John frowned and turned to the control panel, "We lost you there Scott, say again?"
He groaned as the hologram of his older brother blinked and fizzled out, "EOS, can you try and-"
"I'm already working on it John," She responded, trying to get into Tracy Two's systems before John had even finished. He smiled briefly before turning to work on finding out what had happened to his brothers jet. It was probable just interference with the comms, nothing serious, easily fixed.
Though John felt much less confident when he found a wall of code trying to intercept the jet's systems. He ground his teeth as he worked to block it, trying to counteract its actions with his own work, "Oh no you don't."
"John," EOS interrupted him, "I have found a hole in the coding, would it be of use if I slipped into Tracy Two's systems?"
He paused in what he was doing, looking to EOS' camera with a frown. She was an intelligent being, surely she realised the risk that carried?
"EOS, you-"
Her lights flashed orange as she responded, "I am aware of the risk John, but if there is a chance of helping your brother I would like to take it."
John looked back to the scrolling code that was trying to take over his brothers systems, "Thank you EOS."
He started working again, "You'll have to be quick, I'm trying my best but this code is advanced, I can't hold it off for long."
But the AI was already gone, feeding herself into the lines of the virus that had just about overridden everything on Tracy Two. John looked to the tracker, praying it would stay blinking for just a little longer so he could get a secure lock.
The moment the thought entered his head, the little blue light blinked off and didn't come back on.
Shaking his head in denial, John flung his fist as the control panel, "No!" They couldn't be gone, not again. He'd done everything he could to stop it from happening again, but he had still somehow lost them. They were just gone.
Virgil was just finishing his breakfast as the call came through, he took the last slice of toast to the lounge with him as he joined his two younger brothers, "What's the problem John?"
"Is it a rescue?" Alan grinned, knowing that with their eldest brother away for a meeting, he was likely to be allowed to tag along.
Virgil just shook his head at his youngest brother, having already picked up on John's unease. The blue tinted hologram seemed whiter than normal, and John was preoccupied by something off of the screen.
"John?"
The second brothers attention snapped to the holocall as he took a jagged breath in, "Tracy Two has vanished." He paused and looked away from the call again as Virgil shifted, turning slightly towards his chute, "A virus of some description was trying to take control, I- I tried to hold it off, but it just-"
"Send the last known location to Thunderbird Two," Virgil cut him off, "We'll find him."
John shook his head in the slightest, catching Virgil's eye, "You can go and look, but I wouldn't be hopeful."
Virgil looked to Alan and Gordon as he headed to his chute, "We have to try."
Alan turned towards the bedrooms, "I'll tell the others, Kayo might be able to find something using Thunderbird S,"
John opened his mouth to argue, it was a case of deja vu and he knew that it would end the same way. This was Scott though. Their biggest, bravest, brother that they couldn't help but look up to. Alan looked up to Scott more than anyone, he worshiped the ground Scott walked on.
Not even John could dash his hopes so soon, even if the situation felt hopeless.
"FAB." John sighed as he turned back to his systems, "I'll keep running scans."
Kayo looked out to the vast expanse of ocean, three degrees south of her location was Scott's last known position. He wasn't there now.
With a heavyhearted sigh she opened a private channel to John, "How can he just be gone?"
If he was startled by her appearance by hologram, John didn't show it as she circled the site again, this time heading off in the direction Scott's flightpath should have taken him. She set her instruments to follow the path so she could focus everything on either looking, or talking to John, "Do you think it was him?"
John paused and took a moment to really look at Kayo, "This wasn't your fault Kay. If it was him, it has nothing to do with you."
He watched her as she avoided his gaze, looking past his hologram to the ocean, "What if he tells him?"
"We worry about that when it happens." John murmured to her, "You don't need to worry."
Kayo sighed and finally looked back to him, "Okay. Are you coming home tonight?"
He didn't hesitate at her question, he didn't feel like he really had an option. He felt he owed his family an explanation in person.
This time it was Kayo's turn to reassure, "John, you did everything you could. We put measures in place to try and prevent it from happening again,"
"Yet it still happened!" John snapped, "It shouldn't have happened again if-"
She gave him a look that would silence the loudest of the brothers, "You did everything you could, I'm sure EOS will back you up on that."
His shoulders dropped, and Kayo knew there was something more going on, "John?"
He seemed to shrink on the hologram, "I don't know where EOS is. She offered to get into the coding that was taking over the jet. Right now she's as lost as Scott."
Without saying any more, Kayo turned Thunderbird S, "Meet me at home." She ordered him before cutting the call. She couldn't let them crumble, not like they had last time. They were going to make a plan and carry it out. Kayo wouldn't let two members of the family go missing without a trace, and god help whoever it was that had done this.
Scott frowned as his brother's hologram blinked out, none of his other instruments showed any kind of malfunction. Once he landed he made a mental note to check the comms array, maybe something had hit it in the hangar. He flew in silence for a few minutes, hoping that John wouldn't be too distressed by his radio silence. At least his flight tracker was still active, so John would know where Scott was up to.
He smiled to himself as the comms flashed, maybe it had been a problem at the other end.
"Tracy Two here," He answered the incoming call, "Th-"
"Hello Scott," The once eerie voice greeted him, "Was there a problem with your comms?"
Scott smiled to the flashing circle of lights that had appeared on the hologram, "I'm not sure EOS, I'll have a look over it once I've landed."
"I'm afraid that will not be possible." EOS told him.
She didn't make any sense to Scott, "Of course it will be, my meeting isn't until this afternoon. I'll have plenty of time to check over-"
"I can't let you do that Scott," EOS interrupted, "I am sorry."
Scott frowned and swallowed, more than a little unnerved by the AI, "What do you mean EOS?"
"I am sorry, Scott Tracy." She repeated as a hissing mist filled the cockpit.
Scott's eyes widened in panic as he hit the comms channel in a last ditch attempt, "Tracy Two to Tracy island mayd-"
EOS blocked the comms to the outside world as the pilot's eyes slipped shut and she repeated once more, "I am sorry Scott."
