Right before Gordon got to the restaurant, he ducked down an alley and fired up the com in his watch. "Gordon, we just tried calling your sat phone. What happened?" asked Scott.
"Karen needed to check in with Alice about our layover. Apparently the fuel depot was out of rods for Tracy 2." he explained. "We're spending the night here in San Diego at my old apartment. I have a question for Brains, if he's around. Is the old com system for the island still working? You know, the one with the walkie talkies?"
"You mean the s-system from when we f-first moved here? N-not entirely, b-but I can add the f-frequency to our current one," said Brains.
"And we can carry dummy units," added Virgil. "Good thinking. We can give them live ones in case there's an emergency."
"I hope we won't need them for emergencies, but it'll be nice to be able to relay messages without obviously using our watches," pointed out Scott. "We'll just have to hold our handsets backwards so it looks like we're using them."
"Karen only has clearance for two weeks before she heads back. We'll be back to normal before long," said Gordon.
"I-in the m-meantime, I-I've been working on a communicator w-watch for, uh, Sarah after K-Karen leaves," said Brains.
"I'll go tell Father and Kyrano about your layover. Grandma and Tin-Tin were planning a welcome party for tonight but it looks like we'll have to put it off for now," said Virgil as the eyes on Alan's portrait started flashing and beeping.
"I'm guessing that's Alan with a mission. If you need Thunderbird 4, try not to scratch the paint. I just had her detailed," Gordon joked.
"We'll debrief you after the girls go to sleep," promised Scott.
"Have a good night and try to get some rest," said Virgil.
Gordon switched off his com and let out a heavy sigh as he thought about Sarah. Once she's told the truth, will she be able to handle the stress? The Tracys, as a unit, thrive on the pressure of rescuing people and rushing into the unknown. He admits to himself that he doesn't know much about what kind of abuse she endured, or even if she remembers it, being so young. As with a lot of things he never considered before now, he'll have to judge her reactions as they come. "What have I gotten myself into?"