my sincerest apologies, i know this took a while. my excuse is that my laptop was invaded by a rather unpleasant virus/scam which took some getting rid of. matters weren't helped by the fact that my nearest computer geek seems to have changed his mobile number, my uncle, the next nearest, was in america, and my dad, who knew exactly what to do, was at the other end of the country, and i'm not going home for another few days. no matter, however, 'tis sorted now. and i did warn you all about possible delays in uploading, so... -sticks out tongue like the mature student she is- =P
anyways, hope you enjoy. it's a bit shorter than previous chapters, but i think here we'll go for style over substance, yes? ;-P
All in the Mind
Tin-Tin struggled against the guard's grip as she watched in horror. Virgil was clearly in pain, trying to resist the attack on his mind.
"Stop it!" she screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Stop!"
"Will you tell me what I want to know?" The man's voice sounded odd, distant, as if he couldn't quite concentrate on both his attack and talking at the same time.
Tin-Tin just sobbed in reply, knowing she couldn't tell him anything.
Brains, however, bowed his head, and spoke softly.
"F-f-fine, I'll t-tell you."
Tin-Tin's eyes widened, and she stared at Brains in horror. The man stopped and turned around, eyes glinting eagerly. Virgil moaned.
"No, Brains."
"I'm s-sorry, Virgil." Brains straightened up. "The code is T5B4F3A2B1."
"Brains!"
The man grinned wickedly. "Return them to their cells."
TB
The helm was surprisingly quick to respond for such a huge craft, though Karen still felt some frustration as she went through the list of test programmes. In her ear, John murmured approvingly, dropping a useful hint here, advising her of possible improvements there. Outside the window, she saw Thunderbird One fly circles around her.
"Show off!"
"I haven't flown this 'bird in ages," replied John. "I need to get a feel for her again."
"By doing loop-the-loops around me as I try to master the simplest of manoeuvres?" she growled good-naturedly, turning as sharply as Two's bulk would allow and forcing John to move off to avoid a collision.
"Hey!"
"Sorry, John," grinned Karen, returning to the planned flight-path. "Guess I'm not quite there yet."
On ground beside the radio, listening to the conversation, Penelope smiled. Though she couldn't see John's face, she could tell by his voice that he was smiling. And not one of those tight, grim smiles he'd been giving her for the last few weeks. A proper, relaxed smile, as John finally felt he was doing something.
"Karen's doing well," Darren said approvingly. He'd had a turn in Two earlier that day, and hadn't picked everything up nearly as quickly as his girlfriend.
Penelope nodded. "She may do poor Virgil out of a job." She sighed, and looked back up at the two craft as they made another pass over the island.
"Thinking about them?" asked Darren.
"Yes... Jeff is a very dear friend to me... as are his sons." Penelope paused for a moment as John's voice floated over the radio.
"Penny, we're going to deploy the pod, do a circuit of the island, then return to collect it. Can you just double check there's no one approaching?"
"Penelope to John, you're all clear." A smile softened her face again. "It's so wonderful to hear him happy," she said to Darren. "Well... happier than he has been in months. I know he's still worried, but he's finally started eating properly again, he's getting stronger by the day, and he seems to be sleeping normally again." She wiped at a tear that had edged its way down her cheek. Darren tactfully looked away until she'd regained her composure.
"I knew he was involved with something that kept him away from his family a lot of the time," said Darren in a voice bordering on awe, "but I never imagined he was involved with anything like this."
Penelope chuckled ruefully. "I never cease to be amazed at how Jeff has managed to keep all of this a secret. Think about it; a reclusive billionaire ex-astronaut-turned-businessman with five, strapping sons- each with experience in a variety of fields- living on a remote island, far from visual contact. When we were framed for robbing those documents, I was sure someone would figure it out. Oh, he has his ways of hiding the visual evidence, but..." She shook her head. "Maybe it just seems obvious because I'm in the know."
"Like how a puzzle always seems so easy once you've got the answer," agreed Darren. His head jerked up sharply as the pod fell onto the sea with a loud splash. "I would hate to be in that thing when it drops."
"Yes, I have no idea how Gordon can do it." Into the radio, she said, "John, correct me if I'm wrong, but was that not perhaps a little too high?"
"Ah, it's been dropped higher," replied John nonchalantly. Penelope shuddered.
"My apologies if it wasn't to your liking, m'lady," said Karen, although there was no real malice in her voice. She'd taken up imitating Parker's address, and Penelope still wasn't sure whether to be insulted or not.
TB
Virgil groaned. Memories washed over him... his father had returned from the hospital with a tiny Alan in his arms, but not his mother... he was fifteen and he'd found his first girlfriend in someone else's arms... he was skiing, but he was losing control, plummeting... he was trying to land a damaged Thunderbird Two, but the wheels had collapsed, the cliff was rushing to meet him... he'd landed in the desert, found Tin-Tin staring into space, unable to hear him... he heard a bang and watched as a bullet punched its way into Scott's arm...
"Easy, Virgil, calm down, we're here," said a low voice. He felt a warm hand on his cheek, wiping away tears- he'd been crying? He opened his eyes.
Jeff was leaning over him, his smile not quite erasing the worry in his eyes. He realised his head was resting on someone's lap, then Gordon poked his head into his line of vision.
"You're upside down," Virgil mumbled, moving to sit up.
"Hmm, maybe he hit you worse than I thought," quipped Gordon, helping him to lever himself into an upright position.
"What happened, Virge? Your injuries weren't enough to knock you out."
"Who's the medic here, Alan, me or you?" Virgil slid over to the wall and put his aching head in his hands. He shuddered as he remembered those eyes, and that voice, and Tin-Tin screaming, and Brains... Virgil felt a jolt in his stomach.
"What?"
"Brains..." But, after a moment thinking about it, Virgil laughed. Gordon peered at him anxiously.
"That's it, he's lost it. Hey!" he exclaimed as Scott slapped him around the head.
"Boys..." said Jeff, though he really couldn't be bothered telling Scott off; he was starting to get a bit fed up with Gordon's smart-alec comments himself, although he knew that that was how his water-baby coped with stress. "What about Brains, Virgil? Is he alright?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, he seemed well enough, all things considered. They brought him and Tin-Tin into the room after they'd roughed me up, and this other guy came in too. Brains and Tin-Tin seemed to know him- I think he was the guy who attacked the caravan in the desert. Anyway, he started asking me for the codes, but it was different... he just looked at me... and I couldn't look away... and then..." Virgil shuddered as he remembered the memories and images that had coursed through his mind... the pain of losing a loved one... the horror of watching someone held at gunpoint... the reluctant realisation that a mission was unwinnable... He pulled himself together. "And then... Brains gave it to them."
"He what?" Scott's jaw dropped.
"It's okay, Scott. He gave them his one for the lab. They asked him for an access code, he gave them one- just not the one they wanted."
Scott relaxed, then he frowned. "Man, they're gonna be pissed when they find out."
"It won't matter. They don't know that they need one of us anyway, for the scan."
"Just as well," said Jeff. "That buys John a little more time."
review? maybe? i appreciate feedback... they keep me from wandering too far into the realms of melodrama... "too" being the operative word... doesn't mean i won't dip a toe or two in ;-P
cheers,
themusicain