10
Yokosuka, Japan, minutes later-
They were all of them battered, exhausted and emotionally drained, but the mission continued, for now there were a thousand-plus patients and hundreds of medical personnel to safely evacuate. Mostly the GDF's lookout, but International Rescue helped out where they could, after halting the spread of all those rapacious recycling nanites.
Lady Penelope's world-wide fame and instant recognition factor made her a natural to exhort, encourage and keep people moving. Captain Rigby and Lee Taylor were still in pretty good shape; physically capable of assisting with jammed treatment beds and confused, boisterous patients. On the brighter side, the sprinkler system had shut down, so at least they were drying off.
Scott had managed to find a brown custodian's coverall that he could pull on like a pair of tight pants and tie at his waist by the too-short sleeves. Not perfect, but at least he was more or less decent, if barefoot. After Doctor Hiro's rapid exam, he held John back, needing information; starting with where the h*ll he was, now.
Maybe because of his recent, painful Kansas-B experience, he couldn't help noticing John's unusual movements. His astronaut brother was fully ambidextrous but tended to favour the left. Now, though, he was using only his right.
"What's wrong with your arm, Little Brother?" Scott asked, squinting hard and leaning closer to the shirtless and wire-wrapped spaceman.
"Um…" John hedged, wondering where to begin. Seriously needed a bonfire at the beach, and a beer in his hand, for all this. "Well, we heard that Kayo found you and brought you here…"
"To a hospital? Why?" And why in a life-support tube? In his mind, the pilot had gone straight from lunch on the patio deck to sudden alert, to the situation in Kansas-B.
"See, you were… okay… I'll make this fast, Scott. Stay with me; it gets complicated. The Chaos Crew attacked Dr. Reeves' transport disk demonstration, just as he was sending Buddy and Ellie Pendergast down to Pacifica City. Their assault triggered an unscheduled earthquake, causing the disk to malfunction. Buddy and Ellie never arrived in Pacifica City, but an ass-load of seawater did, along with most of a very dead shark. With me, so far?"
Scott nodded, still not sure why his brother's arm wasn't working. Same one he'd broken in Kansas-B, which couldn't have been a coincidence… could it? John moved away to hold a door, or something, and then came back, raising his voice to be heard over public instructions and hurrying people.
"Right. So, Penny and I were down in the city ballroom, doing the publicity-stunt thing…" his tone of voice spoke volumes, right then. "And we got flooded with seawater. Hatches sealed, city listing badly, etc. Meanwhile, you took off in Thunderbird 1 with Captain Rigby, to handle the Chaos Crew, here in Japan, at the Kyoto Spaceport Tower end."
Japan? Well, that explained all of those polite, slim, dark-haired people and holographic guide-cats. They continued into the hospital proper as they spoke; John guiding his brother, when Scott was about to trip over equipment carts, or bump into racing medics. He was close to legally blind, John figured. For himself, he had a bit of tingling now in the fingertips of that arm (and anyplace else touched by his coiled electrical wiring lasso). Still couldn't move the lump of useless d*mn dangling meat, though. On the other hand, they were 4-F according to Doctor Shiro and Rigby: completely unfit for GDF duty.
"Got it so far," Scott told him. "What happened next? I got kidnapped, or something?"
They paused talking to help get an elderly couple and their frightened grandchild through the crowded exit, to safety. Ran interference like a couple of linebackers, basically. It was early evening, out there, and drizzling lightly, but emergency crews were already setting up tents. Then, after many thanks and a tight hug from the little boy, they went back inside, where John picked up the thread of his narrative.
"According to Rigby, you guys arrived to find the Tower damaged, but mostly evacuated, with Havok and Fuse busy disassembling the transport disk, and Reeves passed out unconscious. You fought the good fight, but then Havok threw a screamer-bomb, and that's when we lost track of you. Meanwhile, Virgil came back from his shopping trip with Grandma…"
"Did he pick up my protein shakes and barbecue sauce?" Scott interrupted, adding, "That way, Sir. South exit's less crowded. You're very welcome," when someone big and blurry stopped them to ask for directions.
"Dunno what they had time to buy before the alert," John resumed, carefully steering his half-blind older brother. "Hopefully beer and pizza… but Reeves got nailed pretty bad by the screamer, while Rigby recovered, thanks to his 'guest'."
"Uh-huh."
Explained why it was so hard to see and hear. John had to practically shout at him.
"Then what?"
"Well, Virgil picked Gordon up at home, and they took off for the Pacifica City danger zone. Um… Penny, Parker and me got everyone we could find out of the water and onto the false ceiling scaffolding, only Parker was too cold to climb up, so I went back down after him. Got him pushed up to safety, only… well… there was this flash of green light and, um… I got transported right the h*ll out of the city."
Scott's heavy dark brows lifted high in surprise.
"The transport disk works underwater?" he asked.
"Sure looked that way, to me. Anyhow, I turned up, um, somewhere else. Site B." Their boyish code name for an old cave system they'd been told to keep clear of, back home at the ranch. Too dangerous, and just right for secret club meetings.
"Ohhh." Couldn't see John's face very well but figured that the astronaut was euphemizing. Meaning someplace else he wasn't officially supposed to be messing. "Got it. Go on."
"So, Buddy and Ellie were already there… stuff happened… I lost my arm, got it back, then transported with, um… a friend's help... to Pacifica City in time to find Penny and them. Kayo was on her way to Japan by that time. She hooked up with Rigby to get help for Dr. Reeves and then go looking for you. They got a clue from a Tower security bot, about some kind of fortress. Does that make any sense?"
Scott stopped walking in the middle of a waiting room furniture group. He saw vending machine lights beckon seductively, and suddenly wanted peach tea, or a soda. Still thirsty.
"I dunno, John," he muttered, heading for a bright green-and-white drink machine. "I woke up in a life-support tube, which I got out of after, well…. I'll need time and beer to tell you what happened, Little Brother… but you were there. Everyone was, even Granddad and Mom… and you hurt your arm over there, too. Same one, even."
Scott waved his needle-tracked hand at the vending machine and made a selection, after peering real close. The drink dispenser read his biometrics and accessed the pilot's account, deducting three credits for anything wet that hadn't come from the ceiling. Some kind of fruit soda. Too sweet, but he chugged it down, anyhow, and then bought another. Sort of held his breath after that, because if he stayed thirsty, then maybe he hadn't got out of that nightmare, at all.
But no, that second flood of glorious wetness did the trick. Drank the rest so fast that he belched aloud.
"Excuse me. I was pretty thirsty, is all. Hungry, too… but I can wait."
Said John, almost casually,
"Looking forward to some more of Grandma's ketchup casserole, Scott?"
The pilot looked around for eavesdropping news drones. Checked his staticky wrist comm to be sure the d*mn thing wasn't transmitting. Then,
"Are you crazy?" he hissed. "That stuff's poison! She took ketchup, for God's sake… nature's perfect food… and turned it into bread-pudding goo, with brown rice, carrots and tuna on top!"
Then, catching on, Scott laughed. Leaned forward to seize and roughly embrace his younger brother, who was actually, definitely here, and utterly John.
"Had to be sure, huh, Buddy?" he joke-asked.
"Something like that," John admitted, pulling away. "It's been a long… h*ll, two days? Three?"
"Who's keeping score?" Scott grunted, disposing of his empty bottles, or trying to. Missed the rubbish bin and had to pick them up off the floor. He could hear the calm, soft music of Penny's voice giving instructions over the hospital intercom. Couldn't make out any words, though. Said John, changing the subject,
"So… you were here in the hospital, all along? See, at the 'fortress', Nijo Palace, Kayo got separated from Rigby, then called in to say that she'd found you, only… um… you'd been brain-scraped. Penny and I came here, because that's where Kay and Rigby brought their 'Scott'. We were talking to him, when Lee got a message from Dad about fakes or substitutes. After that, the VIP suite sort of… exploded. Kayo's gone, too, which makes me think you weren't the only one captured. Gotta come up with a plan to find her, too. And that's about it, Scott. All that I know. You were in the hospital basement, or something?" Because maybe, Kay was still down there, somewhere.
Scott pondered, as he lowered himself into a cushioned blue waiting room chair.
"No…" he mused. "I don't think so, John. I spent a long time feeling my way through a network of… tunnels, or something. Was loaded for Goddam bear, at first. Ready to fight… only I didn't have to, because no one tried stopping me. I ran into some people, but I mean that literally; they were obstacles, frozen like statues, once the air got thick and I started having a hard time breathing."
Jaeger, most likely; speeding Scott up, relative to everything else. His 'hour' might have been most of a day, subjectively.
"When did that happen?" John asked.
"Uh… after my wrist-comm came halfway back on. Static, only, and some kind of handy red guide-light. There were definitely tunnels, though."
"Sh*t," John muttered. "Must be some kind of catacomb system under the city. Old bomb shelters, or something. I'll get Eos to… F*ck."
"What?" Scott prodded, levering himself back up and out of his seat. People were coming.
"Eos is… temporarily out of service. Hang on, I'll see if Jaeger can build something for me, back in one of the labs."
And with that, the tall, redhaired astronaut turned his attention back to his own comm unit, stepping slightly away from Scott. A small herd of tittering teenaged girls was approaching, and he needed some privacy.
In the meantime, communicating via crystal-net, Nikorr Kyrano leaned away from the holograph cylinder. Freezing the video feed, he indicated that coiled yellow electrical wire and said,
"You would do better to place smaller, less obvious agents, Lord Hiro."
The shape-changer was present in image only, but reacted as though he were right there beside Niko; turning to face the younger man.
"Impatience leads to failure, Lord Kyrano, as we have witnessed. Those Kanni capable of very small shapes are also quite immature. They do not possess much 'common sense', as the Typicals phrase it."
He shifted forms smoothly. Never five seconds together in the same shape; often an unsettling blend of several.
"The quarter-breeds were not taken in by a false pilot or Tanusha, so my agents shall indeed be carried to the island in a less conspicuous form. To rush this process is to risk revealing our movements."
Nikorr's green eyes went blazingly narrow. He could have doused the other Lord's mind, had he chosen to… but the accord restrained him.
"We had an agreement, Lord Hiro," he snapped. "You would receive genetic material for valuable new shapes along with half of the Birds, in return for Tanusha…"
"Whom you have received," Hiro cut in, mostly great, shaggy bear, at the moment.
"…and the Mechanic, Evan Kane, dead or incapacitated and delivered alive. I'm waiting, Milord."
The Bear's leathery nostrils flared. It rose to a swaying upright stance, small, piggy eyes beginning to glow.
"Your tone is offensive, young psion," Hiro rumbled. "And your foolish haste will cost us all, if not curbed. Kane will fall, as will the quarter-breed Tracys and those who trusted them. Apologize, or I withdraw."
Niko blinked, there in his Antarctic cavern. Scores of psionic energy dampening spiders skittered about on his chest and shoulders, consuming a vicious flare of sudden emotion. Then, clenching his black-gloved fists, the Kyrano bowed slightly.
"Lord Hiro, kindly accept the apology offered by this young and imprudent ally. This one misspoke and regrets the unfortunate tone of its words."
"Forgiven," grunted the Bear, relaxing just a bit.
Sometimes one had to lower oneself, to achieve an important result. There was too much at stake to risk insulting his partner… and he could always force that apology back at a later time, with Tanusha there at his side.
Back in the hospital, meanwhile, John switched off his wrist comm and turned back around.
"Doesn't make sense, Scott," he mused. "If what you told me about that tunnel network is true… not doubting you, but you're partially blind; could've been going around in circles for an hour, till Jaeger caught up with you… if it's true, then whoever captured you 's got the run of underground Yokosuka and Kyoto, both. They know this place and should've tracked you right down again."
Scott looked around to peer at the blurred oval, dotted with sea-green, that was his brother's face.
"You think they just let me go?" he asked. "Why? What would they gain by asking a lot of d*mn questions, putting me through an alternate-past situation, then turning me right back loose?"
John shrugged.
"Not sure, but I think we need to call Dad, as soon as we're out of here with Kayo."
Like Scott, he tried to pull himself back into some semblance of order, before that horde of young females descended. Figured he looked like crap. Shirtless, with an image-blurring bow-tie, GDF dog-tags and a tattooed black '5' high up on his left pectoral, beside that still useless arm. Well, at least the dress pants and polished black shoes looked good, and that coil of wire covered some of him. Scott was equally tattooed and bare, but less self-conscious about it.
One of the uniformed girls, apparently elected as spokesfemale, scurried up to the half-naked Tracys. Giggling and ducking in many swift, birdlike bows, she said,
"Honored Sirs, if we may, for our school website, may we ask please for a holo with you? It would delight many hearts, from such generosity as yours!"
Well… sure. Why not? Public relations was part of their job, too, right? And no one would see John's face. So, the group shot was quickly arranged and taken, on…
"Ichi… ni… san!"
…which was the old Japanese counting formula (still in use, no matter what WorldGov had to say about it).
One of the schoolgirls was daring enough to tip-toe up and kiss both of their unshaven cheeks; covering her face and giggling with delighted horror at her own boldness. Then, the short-skirted imps scampered off, leaving Scott and John with small, stuffed school mementos. These they soon tucked away and forgot, precisely as intended.