When I woke up, most of the day was gone, but my back was loose and pain free. For that, I was grateful. I was all muzzy-headed though, so instead of immediately getting up and getting dressed, I staggered over to my desk and booted up my computer. I figured I'd talk to Alan while I was getting the cobwebs out of my brain.

As soon as the connection was made, Alan was there, giving me the stink eye. "Oh, I see you're calling to apologize."

That caught me off guard. I think I just blinked for a few minutes trying to think of anything I needed to apologize for. I came up empty. "I'm sorry you're ugly? I'm sorry TinTin thinks you're a loser? I'm sorry I called?"

"Did you tell Dad your back went out because we were up late last night?"

What? "No, I told him my back went out because I had a restless night."

Alan's eyes narrowed. I could practically see the little wheels spinning in his head. "Then how did he know I didn't get to bed until after midnight?"

I sighed. I really hadn't called to get into a fight. "I told him we were up late playing Shark Bait, which we were. I didn't say the back thing was related to it. What did you want me to do? Lie to him?"

"You could have left me out of it."

"Why? Did he ground you or something? It's not like you're a little kid anymore."

Alan looked uncomfortable. "No, he didn't ground me. He just gave me that look. You know, the 'I'm disappointed, but I'm not going to say anything' look. I hate that look, Gordy."

"Yeah. Look, I'm sorry. He had me cornered."

"Yeah, okay." Alan looked me over. "Are you all right?"

"I had to take the pill, but I'm fine."

"You look kinda flushed."

"I do? Well, I just woke up."

He peered closer at the screen. "No, I guess the monitor is acting up. You look all pink, but just from the neck down."

I looked down at myself. I hadn't put a tee shirt on yet, and the dye job just sort of glowed at me. "Actually, it's pink dye. Scott dumped it in the whirlpool."

"Scott did?" Alan started to grin. "And he did this because?"

My own grin answered. "Oh, well, you know. I had my toys with me, and there was this squirt gun…"

Alan barked a laugh. "THE squirt gun?"

"Maybe."

"Aw, damn. I wish you wouldn't do things like that when I'm stuck up here. I would have given good money to see his face."

"It was pretty classic."

"Worth pink dye?"

"Totally."

"Oh, man. Beer's on me when I get home."

"That's if you get home. As soon as I'm dressed, I'm going out and hunting down John. I'm gonna kill him, so you may have to pull a double shift."

"Really? Why?"

"He didn't come home last night. He promised me he'd be in by midnight. I covered his butt, and he left me flapping in the wind."

Alan frowned, pushing some buttons on his console. "I thought you said you didn't need to cover because Virgil took Dad down to Thunderbird Two."

"Yeah, but John didn't know that."

Alan shook his head. "According to the scans, Tracy One arrived back at the island at 2:47 am."

That stopped me in mid-pique. "That can't be right, I would have heard him."

Alan gave me his patented 'you poor idiot, you' look. "Hello? He was using the sound shield, wasn't he?"

I felt my cheeks color the same pink as the rest of me. "Aw crap. You mean to tell me I lost a damn day for nothing?"

"Well, you could still kill him on principle."

I scrubbed my face with my hands. "Forget the beer. I'm thinking tequila shooters."

"Tell you what. I'll short sheet his bed up here. Oh, and Move His Stuff."

That got a laugh out of me. John hated it when his things were messed with. Alan was a master at moving John's things around just enough so that John couldn't be absolutely sure they had been touched. It drove him crazy. I sniffed. "Thank you, Alan. I appreciate it."

"Anytime at all, Gordon."

We grinned at each other and signed off. I hit the shower then got dressed. By my watch, it was just about time for dinner, and I was ready to eat just about anything. I opened my door, and immediately heard raised voices. I peeked down the hall, and saw Scott had John cornered and was reading him the riot act. I very quietly withdrew and closed my door.

There's more than one way to skin an octopus, and I strolled over to my balcony. It overlooks the beach, and when we first moved to the island, I had a habit of hopping the rail and cutting through the bushes. After a while, Dad got all disgusted, and now, there was a gate and a groomed pathway. Worked for me.

I took it now, and made my way over to the main balcony overlooking the pool. As I entered the lounge, my dad looked up from his desk and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "I didn't know you were up, son. How do you feel?"

"I'm good, Dad. Anything happening around here?"

"There was a false alarm a couple of hours ago. It was called off before we launched. You didn't hear the klaxons?"

Now, that was disconcerting. The alert system was installed throughout the house and the sound it produced was piercing to say the least. I rubbed the back of my head, amazed that I had slept through it. "Wow. No, I didn't hear a thing. I'm sorry, Dad."

"You've got nothing to apologize for, son. If you'd shown up, I'd have sent you packing anyway. I would like you to run a test on the system for me, though. Your brother John didn't report either. It's possible there's a failure in the system."

I grinned. "Well gee, Dad, I've been sleeping all day, so I'll be able to stay up all night testing it out."

He gave me a look. "Uh-huh. You do that son. Of course, when your brothers come after you, I'll deny any knowledge."

I chuckled. Never let it be said I could get one over on the old man. I sniffed the air. "Is it dinner time yet? I could eat a horse."

"Why don't you go check. I have a few things to finish up here."

"Okay, Dad."

I wandered over to the dining room, but there were no plates on the table. Darn. I really didn't want to wait. I pushed through to the kitchen, and found both Grandma and Kyrano deep in consultation over something in the oven.

"Grandma? What time's dinner?"

They both looked over at me, and my grandma smiled. "It's just about ready, honey. How are you feeling?"

"Hungry."

She pursed her lips. "Well, it will be ready sooner if someone will set the table for me."

"I can do that." I moved to the cupboard to get the dishes. I'll admit, I was a bit hesitant reaching up. Sometimes if I'm not careful, my back muscles will kink back up after I take the pill, but I was able to get everything I needed without so much as a twinge. I love modern medicine.

It only took me a few minutes to get the table set, then to help Kyrano get the meal on the table. Grandma hit the switch that sent a tone throughout the house signifying dinner, and the ravening horde descended.

John was the last to appear, and he looked even worse than yesterday. So much so that Dad and Grandma were on him in a flat second. "John, honey, what's wrong?"

John shied away from Grandma's hand headed unerringly for his forehead. "I'm fine, Grandma. Don't fuss."

"You don't look fine, son. I'll want Brains to have a look at you after dinner."

Ah geez, I could tell by the look on Johnny's face that it was time to duck and cover. Sure enough, he stepped over the line without a pause. He ground the words out. "I said I was fine. I don't need to be 'looked over.' Don't fuss."

"Baby, let me…"

John pushed her hand away, probably more roughly than he intended. Grandma stumbled a bit back with a gasp. "Grandma, I said just leave me the hell alone."

Oh damn, he was having a major meltdown right before my eyes. The only question was who was going to take him down. I wasn't crazy about him mouthing off to Grandma, but I had the advantage of knowing he'd been sick for more than a day. I could cut him some slack. Also, I knew I was low man in the pecking order, and that there wouldn't be anything left by the time my dad and brothers nailed him.

Scott was the first up to bat. In a tone that could shatter diamonds, he said one word. "Apologize."

To my utter amazement, John didn't shrivel up and die right there. To the contrary, he looked at Scott with the most astonishing look of utter contempt. He threw down the napkin he'd picked up and said, "I'm outta here," then he just walked out.

Dad went uber-ballistic, turning bright red, and yelling at the top of his lungs, "JOHN!"

John was gone, and he didn't come back. I sat frozen, afraid to draw any attention. Dad got up and stomped after my brother. Scott sat there with his jaw clenched so tightly that I kept expecting to hear his teeth crack.

Virg was the only one with any presence of mind. He got up and went to my grandma who had been standing very still. It wasn't until Virg moved that I realized she had tears on her cheeks. The moment I saw them, my heart just seized up, and I jumped up to go to her.

Scott and I got to her side at the same moment. Both he and Virgil were better at hiding their distress than I was. They had manly faces on. I was practically in tears at the thought of Grandma being upset.

One thing about my grandma, though, she's never been one for self-pity. She always seems to handle her own unhappiness by taking care of others. She quickly wiped her eyes. "Now, you boys never mind me. Dinner's on the table, and I won't have it get cold."

"Grandma, he didn't mean it. I mean, he's obviously not feeling well." I was anxious to make her feel better, and if that meant defending John's inexcusable actions, then so be it.

Virgil and Scott were both grimly silent, but Grandma smiled at me, "I know that, sweetie. Now, you haven't eaten all day. You sit down here and have your dinner. Your father will talk to John."

I wasn't so sure talking was on Dad's agenda. He'd never been one for spanking us as kids, but from the look on his face, I was willing to bet he'd make an exception in this instance. I went back to my place, and sat down.

After a moment, Scott and Virgil joined me. The turmoil had pretty much ruined my appetite, and I stared at my dinner, not really wanting to eat. My brothers seemed to feel the same, and we all sat there, more or less just pushing the food around our plates.

Half an hour later, and neither my father nor John had returned, and despite Grandma's best efforts, the meal had grown cold. I was getting ready to make a break for it, when I heard, we all heard, the sound of a jet firing up. Oh, man, I couldn't think of a worse move Johnny could make. Cutting out after an argument just made it that much harder to come back in the end.

I heard heavy breathing and looked over and saw Scott. He looked about as angry as I'd ever seen him, and I swallowed hard. I caught Virgil's eye, and he just stared at me as if daring me to open my mouth. Not a dare I would take, I'll tell you. I sat doing my mouse impression.

A few minutes later, Dad walked in. He was all white-faced. I couldn't tell if he was still mad, or just upset. At a guess, I'd say he'd caught up with John and their discussion was not, um, successful. I can't remember the last time I'd sat through a meal as uncomfortable as this one. Not even Grandma said anything.

When it became obvious that Dad wasn't going to say anything, I made my excuses and got the hell out. Virgil was right behind me, and we both stood in the kitchen, rinsing off our plates before putting them into the dishwasher. "Gordon, do you know anything about what the hell is wrong with John?"

Although he said it mildly, Virgil's question stung like an accusation. "What makes you think I'd know?"

He paused and stared at me. Of all my brothers, Virgil was the most tricky. Sometimes it was like he could just read my mind. "If you know anything, tell Dad, okay?"

I didn't answer him. I just mumbled something about double checking the alert system, and left him standing there staring at me. I headed to the main computer room of the house, where the servers were. I've always liked this room, it was kept pretty cool to protect the computers, and it was just about science-y enough for me. Brains' lab was always overwhelming, but here in the quiet calm, I could feel like I was in control.

Don't mistake that to mean I'm a computer geek. I'm not, not by a long shot. If the computer suddenly displayed a message that said, oh, I don't know, 'destruction of island in 45 seconds,' about the best I'd be able to do is to run screaming. But I had enough training to do things like run diagnostics on house systems. Especially since there was a nice, big binder with step-by-step instructions sitting right there.

Usually, I found the quiet humming of the computers relaxing, but now, I couldn't concentrate worth beans. Virgil's words kept running through my mind. Like I said before, snitch isn't on my resume, but on the other hand, I had information that could explain John's behavior. Explain it, not excuse it.

Dithering about it, I missed one of the steps in running the diagnostic and had to go back to the beginning and start again. That was okay as far as I was concerned. As long as I was hidden away in here, I was out of the sturm und drang out there.

I was staring off into space when the computer monitor I was supposed to be watching blinked, and suddenly there was Alan. There was no getting away from the Big Eye In The Sky. The computers on Thunderbird Five would have told him I was signed on to this monitor. Anyway, the screen had barely cleared before he said, "Gordy, what's going on down there?"

I frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I mean I just had Scott calling demanding that I locate John's communicator."

"Demanded? A little peeved, was he?"

"Yeah, he was peeved like Mount St. Helens was a little earth tremor. What the hell happened?"

"Did you tell him?"

"What? Tell him what?"

"Where Johnny went. Did you tell him where Johnny went?"

"I happen to value my life, so yes, I told him. Gordy, what is going on?"

I sighed. "John lost it at the dinner table. He looked like hell, and Dad told him to have Brains take a look, and John basically said 'screw you' and left."

Alan blinked. "Wow."

"Yeah."

"Uh, do you think it's related to that woman he met?"

"Maybe. Partly. He's sick, that much I'm sure of. He felt like hell yesterday but he wouldn't give up his date, so I guess he's just so sick he's not thinking right. Where did you locate him? Australia, right?"

"Yeah. A town called West Wyalong."

"I don't know, Al. What am I supposed to do? If Scott goes out there, it's going to end badly, we both know that. But if I tell him about the girl, then I'm breaking a confidence."

Alan rolled his eyes, "You've already told me about her, you know."

"You don't count."

"Excuse me?"

It was my turn to roll my eyes. I shouldn't have had to explain it to him, but he was intent on taking offence. "Alan, did you immediately go to Dad and tell him John had a girlfriend?"

"What? No, of course not. Why would I do that?"

"You didn't because I trust you. Just like John trusts me. He knew he could tell me, because I wouldn't go to Dad and Dad Junior with the intel. And he knew I'd tell you, and that you wouldn't squeal either."

Alan pursed his lips, rolling his eyes, but I could see he was mollified. After a moment, he shook his head. "You want my opinion, I think you should let Dad know."

I wasn't convinced, but before I could continue the conversation, Alan looked to the side frowning. "Uh-oh, we've got something coming in. I gotta go."

"Yeah, okay." Alan was gone as quickly as he had come. I gave up the system check and headed for the lounge. If Alan was right, we had a rescue to handle.