Whn to Comet Chasers.
It's not going to be fun.
And I totally suck at titles.
I don't own thunderbirds, I just want to play with them for a while. I do like Scott, I really do. It's just that to have the comforting Scott bit and really want to comfort him (it's wrong I know), we have to have the hurt bit. Sorry Scott but you are getting off lightly in this story.
Of all the bad luck. A journey that would have taken five hours, was now going to take thirty six due to damage to two of thunderbird three's engines. All caused because Lemaire didn't have the sense to stay out of the comets tail. It had cost half million dollars just to launch thunderbird three, then add to that the rest of the fuel costs, the damage to the engines, lost of the rescue pod and the lost of time whilst thunderbird three was going to be out of action, as well as international rescue being down to pilots while they limped back to earth. And to top it all off, just one hour in to the thirty six, Lemaire hadn't shut up moaning, plus he still wanted to send IR the bill for the very much destroyed solar wind. Let not even talk about the Mariana Trench (might be future start). Scott was fed up and had an almighty headache starting, Alan saving the world from the undead on his games console was not helping. It's could have been worse, he could have been stuck with Gordon, binge watching the squid favourite shows. Normally zero gravity didn't bother Scott but his increasing bad headache it was making him nauseous. Leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes, he couldn't stop a groan from escaping his lips.
"You ok there Scott?"
"Yeh, fine." Scott replied, rubbing his temples.
"Really, cos you don't look fine..." Alan said unconvinced.
"I'm fine, just a headache."
"you've gone the same colour as thunderbird two. You're not going to throw up are you, cos in zero g..."
"Alan."
"You need a bag?"
"Alan."
"Maybe I should call Virgil..."
"Alan."
"You need some painkillers? I can..."
"ALAN." Scott half shouted.
"Yes Scott."
"Some ibruprophen would be great."
"FAB, big brother, back in a tick."
Alan floated out of his seat towards the back of the flight deck. He glanced over at his big brother. If Scott wanted pain killers, his headache must be bad, Scott never admitted to pain. As Alan reached the medical kit attached to the wall, he looked back over his shoulder to Scott, who now had his arm over his eyes in an effort to block out the light. Instead of grabbing the med kit, Alan floated back towards Scott's seat to look for the helmet that lay just behind it. Alan could clearly see scratches long the left hand side of the helmet and towards the back of it, Alan spied what looked a lot like a small dent. Thinking back to what had happened on the comet, Alan recalled losing contact with pod for over a minute when it and the solar wind had crashed. Originally he had put it down to the interference with the comms system from the comet, but now he had a different theory. Worried, Alan headed to the hatch that led to the cargo bay. He needed to speak to John with out Scott listening in. As he reached the hatch Alan used the control panel on the wall to dim the cabin lights.
"Thanks al." Scott slurred.
Ok now Alan was defiantly worried.
Although Alan wanted to speak to John out of ear shot of Scott, he also didn't want their 'guests' to hear either, so Alan stopped just short of the cargo bay in the tiny area that held the thunderbird's bathroom and a very small galley. For here he could her Lemaire moaning to his wife things like "I'm bored" and "why can't they have proper food". Thank god I muted the comms, Alan thought, EOS was monitoring the cargo bay, so if there was a genuine problem, she would inform them.
"Thunderbird three to thunderbird five, you there John?"
"Of course I'm here, where else would I be squirt? Sick of your guests already, it's only been an hour." John answered, as his hologram appeared from the projector.
"Funny John. I'm calling about Scott, I'm worried about him."
"Why, what wrong?"
"He doesn't look well and when I asked if he was ok he said he had a headache. I think he may have hit his head when the pod crashed." Alan replied. "Oh and he actually wants some painkiller."
"Scott's actually admitted he was in pain. Ok Alan, go back to the flight deck, keep an eye on him and keep him awake."
"What if he's already sleep?" Alan interrupted.
"Wake him up. I'll call Virgil and get back to you."
"FAB John."
The majestic thunderbird five floated gracefully two thousand feet above the Earth in geo synchronous orbit. Inside the slowly rotating gravity ring John watched worriedly as Alan turn back towards the fight deck as his terminated the communication link.
"EOS."
"Yes, John?" The childlike voice of EOS replied.
"Could you please run a full diagnostic on the bio telemetry from Scott suit and helmet as well as the comms log from the pod explorer."
"Right away John. Is there a problem?" EOS asked.
"I hope not. EOS." Replied John, tapping the comms device on his sash.
"Tracy island, we may have a situation."
The sunset viewed from the tropical Tracy island in the South Pacific was a truly beautiful sight. The setting Suns Ray's danced over sea as the gentle waves lapped against the rocks and palm tree swayed in the breeze. Tonight however, no one on the island was interested in nature's great show, all eyes were on John's ghostly holographic form floating above the table in the den. All ears were listening to John's worrying call as he explain the situation. John had just finished filling his brothers in when EOS' hologram appeared beside him.
"I've just finished the diagnostics John asked me to run. Sensors in Scott's helmet show that the left side did suffer an impact, most likely with the side of the pod. There was a loss of communications with the pod for one minute and forty seven seconds, there was however no failure of either the pod or helmet comms system. Available data would suggest that Scott..."
"Hit his head and lost consciousness for nearly two minutes." Virgil interrupted.
"Symptoms would b..be consistent with a c..concussion. EOS, does the bio telemetry in Scott's s..suit suggest any other injuries? Brains asked.
"I was getting to that." EOS replied, childish irritation evident in her voice.
"EOS!"
"Sorry John. Suit data is consistent with an impact although there is nothing to suggest any significant injuries beyond bruising and soft tissue damage, particularly on the left hand side of the body. Oxygen saturation and respiratory rate did decrease slightly during the time the communications was lost. This would confirm Virgil's theory..."
"Thank you EOS. Please keep monitoring Scott's vital signs."
"FAB John." EOS replied, less then a second later her hologram disappeared.
"I think I need to speak with our idiot brother." Virgil the family medic said, laying a hand on his grandmother shoulder to offer some reassurance.
When Alan reached the flight deck, he found that Scott had indeed fallen asleep. Although Alan didn't want to wake him, he knew that until they knew what was wrong, it was dangerous to let Scott sleep. Gently Alan squeezed his eldest brother's shoulder. At first there was no reply, so this Alan used a little more pressure. This time he was rewarded with a groan as Scott opened his eyes.
"Ah Alan, why did you wake me" Scott slurred slightly.
"Sorry Scott, John said I had to wake you up."
"John?"
"Sorry big bro. I was worried about you so I called John. You really don't look very well."
"Al, it just a headache, no need to bother John..."
"Yeh well talking of John." Alan interrupted as John's and Virgil's hologram appeared above thunderbird three's flight controls. "Oh, hey john, Hey Virgil."
Scott looked up towards the two holograms. If his head wasn't hurting so much, he would have found it amusing that both John and Virgil were standing with their arms folded looking at him. Well John's probably floating. Of course he knew why they were calling, both together, at the same time. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Alan had contacted them. He knew the game was up, they knew about the pod crash and the loss of comms. Standard protocol meant that by now, they had seen the bio readings from his suit. So he was now on damage limitation, sure his head hurt, yes his brains felt like they wanted to leak out through his ears and the lights from the holo emitters was way way too bright. Few hours sleep and he would be fine. Absolutely no need for the smother brothers act.
"So Scott, how are you feeling?" John asked first.
"Me, oh I'm fine". Scott replied some what unconvincingly.
"Want to try that again Scott? We know you managed to knock yourself out when the pod crashed, so at the very least your head is sore." This time it was Virgil speaking.
"Ok, I may have backed out for a second."
"May have?" His bothers replied in unison.
"You win, I did blackout and my head is sore, but it just a little headache."
"A little headache, yeh right, you look the same colour as two, scooter." Scott could hear Gordon saying in the back ground. Judging by the ow that followed it, either grandma or Kayo had clipped gordon across the head.
Scott would have laughed but the truth was, over the last hour since his headache had gotten worse. He didn't know about looking the same colour as thunderbird two, but he certainly felt like it was sitting on his head. The light was boring into his eyes like the mole pod on overdrive and he was feeling a little nauseous, OK made that a lot nauseous. Realising that he was most likely going to be sick, Scott tried to move out of his seat. The pain in his head exploded, he closed is eyes, but could not suppress a groan. Right now he was seeing more stars in is head than what was outside the rocket. He could hear the concerned voices of his brothers but he was too busy trying to quell the nausea to answer.
"...tt, Scott." It sounded like Virgil, but Scott couldn't be sure.
A rushing sound in his head was making it difficult to filter out which of his brothers were talking and who ever had turned up the heat in the cabin, could get it back down. Oh hell, he was definitely going to be sick. In zero gravity, it was not going to be pleasant. Scott held his arm out feeling for his youngest brother. Finding it, he managed to gasp,
"sick."
Thankfully on his way back on the flight deck Alan had grabbed the medical kit. He as so glad he had done. Alan had just managed to hand over a sick bag in time before Scott was violently throwing up into it.
"I guess that answers our question, Virgil."
"It does indeed John, definitely a concussion."
Both John and Virgil looked at there eldest brother. It was so hard to be mad at him for being an idiot when he was suffering. 35 hours to earth in zero gravity with a concussion was not going to be a fun flight. They looked on in concern as Scott continued to retch into the bag. Alan rubbed Scott's back in an effort to give some comfort. After what seemed like an eternity Scott relaxed back in the seat exhausted, leaving Alan with the fun task of disposing of the bag. Before leaving the flight deck, Alan handed his brother another bag, just in case.
Alan floated back to the small bathroom, knowing that his other brothers would be keeping a close eye on Scott. As he reached the hatch, Alan could hear banging on the cargo back door. With Scott being ill, he had completely forgotten about their guests.
"Hello, where are you? I demand an answer. This is...".
Alan was just about to answer when Virgil's hologram sprang up before him.
"You ok al?" Virgil asked.
"Yeh, is Scott going to be ok?" He asked the family medic.
"Don't worry, our idiot big brother has a concussion from the crash that he decided to keep hidden. John's asked him some questions to test his response and memory. He answered them, a it sluggish but nothing to worry about."
"I'm sorry Virgil."
"What about?"Virgil asked.
"Well, I knew lost comms with him but with every thing that happened, I didn't think to check him out or contact you. The Lemaire would shut up and..."
"I think I can hear him now. Look Alan none of this is your fault, you are doing great and with rest Scott will be fine in a week or two. But the next day or so it's going to be fun, what with the zero gravity and nausea."
"Yeh I know. What do you need me to do Virgil?" Alan asked.
"We need to make Scott comfortable and he'll need to woken up every two hours for an neuro check. You remember what to do?"
"I think so. Can I give Scott some pain killer, he ask for ibuprofen before I called you?"
"Yes, but not that one, it can cause problems, give him so Tylenol or Advil. One of us will be monitoring your comms if you need us and EOS will be monitoring his suits bio telemetry. We'll keep in regular contact anyway". Virgil replied.
"Thanks Virgil."
"Your doing great al. Tracy island out." Virgil said, looking at his brother, nodding his head and terminating the call.
On the flight deck, John's holographic form watched his oldest brother. Scott was sat back in his seat with his eyes scrunched closed, clutching the sick bag as if it was a life line. John had already ran through the standard memory question and was satisfied that Scott knew who he was, where he was and why he was there? He could even recalled what was happening seconds before the crash, so John wasn't two worried. He couldn't see Scott's eyes clearly enough, so he would get Alan to check his pupil responses when he got back. Although he knew that with rest Scott would be fine, he couldn't help worrying, they were still over thirty hours way from Earth and John wanted to be there with them. All the brothers had some medical training and Alan was more than capable of looking after Scott, but still John wanted to be there. He could give advise but it wasn't the same as being physically there with both his oldest and youngest brother. He could hear a moan escaping his brothers lips, the light from the holo emitter was clearly bothering him, but until Alan came back to the flight deck, John needed to stay on the line to monitor Scott.
Scott moved in an effort to get comfortable, causing a spike of pain though his head. Opening his eyes increased his discomfort, he groaned in pain, not caring who heard him.
"You ok Scott?" John asked.
"Yeh, just great, n..ver better." Scott muttered in reply. "Where's al?"
"He's just gone to get you some pain killers, he'll be back in a moment."
Alan grabbed the painkillers from the cupboard along with a bottle of water. Ideally Scott could do with something like ginger beer to settle his stomach, but until they reached earth, water would have to do. He was about to float back to the flight deck when Lemaire started banging on the cargo bay door again. He was really starting to annoy Alan. This was all Lemaire's fault. Scott was hurt, thunderbird three was damaged, they were a day and a half way from home and the man would not stop moaning. Alan didn't have the time or the patience to deal with him, he need to get back to the flight deck and make Scott comfortable. Damm, Alan thought, to make Scott comfortable, meant getting blankets and a few pillows which were in a storage box in the cargo bay. Great, the cargo bay was where Lemaire was. He couldn't avoid it, he need those supplies. Just get in there, get what you need, ignore Lemaire and get back to help Scott. Yeah real easy Alan thought, while performing a near perfect copy of a Scott face palm.
With a deep breath to calm himself, Alan opened the cargo bay door and came face to face with Lemaire.
"Well it's about time you showed up. I've been calling you and no answer. This is outrageous. There's..." Lemaire complained.
"I'm sorry Mr Lemaire, but we have had other problems to deal with." Alan said calmly whilst trying to move past Lemaire.
"Well it not good enough. I demand to see that other chap, the one in charge." Lemaire insisted, putting hand out to stop Alan moving.
Alan looked down at Lemaire's hand and then up towards his face, taking yet another deep breath, Alan replied.
"I'm afraid he's busy at the moment. If you will excuse me, I have some things to attend to."
"Francois, please come back over here and sit down." Madeleine said, ah the voice of reason Alan thought.
"No I will not be ignored, if he won't come to me than I will..."
Lemaire went to push past, but Alan had had enough, he blocked the hatch with his arm.
"Scott can't come to see you right now, he was injured while saving your ass, because you were far too stupid to stay out of the comets tail. Thanks to you he has a concussion and we won't get back to earth for over thirty hours because our spacecraft was damage. Again all thanks to you. So sit back down and shut up. Be happy you're still alive and not squashed along with you ship. If your not happy with our service, feel free to leave, you could always try walking home." Alan said forcefully, trying unsuccessfully to the quell the anger in his voice.
Lemaire went to reply, thought better of it and floated back to his seat. As he sat down, his wife stared at him before addressing Alan.
"Is there anything I can do to help, Mr?"
"Alan."
"Alan, I do have some medical training, I was a nurse before I met Francois."
"Thanks Mrs Lemaire, I'd appreciate that. I need to monitor Scott till we get home. Thunderbird three's on auto pilot but do need to monitor her systems as well with all the damage." Alan replied gratefully.
"Please call me Madeline."