Early update - it's a busy week so I'm taking advantage of a bit of free time. Hope you like it. Bee

Chapter Ten

As promised, Jeff joined Brains and John in the lab the following morning. Brains had offered no clue as to the invention he wanted to test, so it was with some surprise that Jeff saw a familiar object lying on a workbench. It looked like an oversized crash helmet, except that numerous wires and flashing lights covered it.

"You're working on the thought transmitter again?" Jeff asked. "I thought you'd given up on that idea."

A couple of years ago Brains had announced that he was on the threshold of perfecting a means of transmitting thoughts which would improve communications between the brothers whilst out on rescues. No one had taken him seriously, believing such a thing impossible, although everyone had enthusiastically joined in the testing - mainly for the delight of laughing at the ridiculous appearance of whichever brother was wearing the helmet at the time. It had never worked and although Brains had kept trying long after anyone else would have given up, eventually he had to concede defeat.

"Brains has made a few modifications," John said. "He's ready to have another go."

Well, there had been modifications alright, just nothing to do with the transmission or recording of thoughts. Brains and John had spent the previous afternoon converting the helmet into an MRI scanner. It would take a while, but they'd have the data they needed to determine whether or not Jeff did have a problem.

"So you want me to try it out, do you?" Jeff asked, taking a seat as he picked up the helmet and looked it over.

"I-If you w-wouldn't m-mind," Brains said, picking up another, apparently identical device and handing it to John.

John placed it over his head, wincing at the weight of it. It might have improved communications, but it would certainly have slowed down reaction time. He smiled slightly as his father, aided by Brains, positioned the scanner on his head and switched it on. Despite making a real effort to pretend he was taking the experiment seriously as he tried to project the shapes and colours on the cards Brains held up in front of him, John couldn't help the bitter thoughts about his father and Beth which kept creeping in. He really hoped the transmitter didn't suddenly start to work: if his father knew what he was thinking he'd be banished up to Five for the rest of his life – assuming he wasn't cast out of International Rescue completely!

Jeff began to get bored long before the scan was finished. Only Brains' pleading stopped him from pulling the helmet off, but his irritation was apparent. When Brains finally announced that the experiment was over and that, once again, it appeared the device had failed to work, Jeff had the helmet off and was out of the lab in seconds. Brains and John were glad to see him go, desperate to see what the scan had revealed.

John took his own helmet off and came over to stand beside Brains, who was studying the results.

"Well?" he eventually asked, since he could gauge nothing from Brains' impassive expression.

Brains finally shook his head. "N-nothing," he said. "H-he's p-perfectly healthy."

"Oh..." John said. "Well, that's that, then." Hating himself for wishing the outcome had been different, he left the lab to break the news to his brothers.

Alan was sitting on the edge of the pool whilst Gordon ploughed up and down. John had rarely seen him so deep in thought.

"Hey," he said, glad of the chance to talk to his youngest brother. Alan seemed to be taking Beth at face value, getting on reasonably well with her. That wasn't to say that he wasn't feeling the strain of her visit though, although all his bad feeling was directed at his father, who had upset Tin-Tin as well as his brothers.

"Where's Beth?"

"She went for a walk with Penny. She didn't look too keen actually, but Penny insisted. Said she wanted to get some exercise before she spent hours on a plane."

John wondered whether Penny had another interrogation in mind. It would be her last chance to delve into Beth's background before she left. It might all be a waste of time anyway, he thought. Beth seemed to be looking forward to going home and there was no sign of any attempt to find out about International Rescue. Maybe when she'd gone his father would settle down again. John hoped so. He couldn't wait to get back to the sanctuary of Five where the flick of a switch would cut off any of his father's rants. It wouldn't be so easy for his brothers though. At least if his father did take Beth back to London they'd all get some peace for a few days.

Glancing over at Gordon who showed no signs of slowing down, he finally stood up.

"John?"

"Yeah?"

"Is everything okay with Dad?"

"Of course." Glad he could at least answer that question honestly he looked down at his brother. "He's not been himself, but I guess it's just the stress of everything."

"I can't believe some of the things he's said lately. He should never have treated Virg and Brains like that."

"Guess not. He was pretty blunt about you and Tin-Tin too."

"Yeah, well, he's made a lot of comments like that since he got sick. He doesn't usually come out with it quite like that though. He's been worse since Beth came."

Alan looked unhappy and for a minute John considered confiding in him. Then he decided against it – his brother had enough to worry about for the moment. If Beth turned out to be genuine then it would be good to have one member of the family who didn't have to feel guilty about doubting her. And if their father ever found out they'd gone behind his back in order investigate Beth properly... well at least he'd have one son he could still trust.

"It'll be fine, Al," John said. "You'll see. Just a few more days." He was getting so tired of hearing that phrase and he'd long since stopped believing it. Still, at least Alan seemed a little more cheerful, smiling up at him as he left.

John finally found Scott and Virgil down in Thunderbird Two's hangar. They looked up expectantly as he approached.

"Dad?" Virgil asked.

"He's fine. No brain tumour. Brains says everything's normal."

His brothers were as unenthusiastic as he had been.

"So, he really means all the things he's been saying," Virgil finally said.

"Well, not necessarily," Scott told him. "Don't forget he's been under a lot of strain. He held it all together when things looked bad, maybe now he's just reacting to it. You wait, Virg. Give it a few days and he'll be back to normal."

Even as Scott spoke the words he couldn't help thinking they sounded pretty feeble. Virgil certainly thought so.

"You're a hopeless liar, Scott. You don't believe that for a minute." He got up. He couldn't cope with the conflicting feelings he had at that moment. Relief that his father was fit and well had given way to misery as he remembered all the harsh things his father had said and done recently. For a moment he wished that Brains had been mistaken in his diagnosis and then he was consumed by guilt.

"Where are you going?" John asked.

"Don't know." He stepped into the elevator to go back to the house, jabbing viciously at the button.

Scott kicked out at Thunderbird Two in frustration then looked back sharply at the elevator as he realised what he'd just done. But the doors were closed and Virgil was safely out of the way.

"Sorry, girl," Scott muttered.

John stared at him. "Good thing Virgil didn't see that. Do you want to push him over the edge?"

Scott made an effort to control himself. He looked at his watch. "I need to go and check the jet. I'm taking Penny over to the airport soon. Will you keep an eye on things here while I'm gone?"

"Sure. Dad's in a good mood so we should be okay. I'll see if I can cheer Virg up, too."

"If there's a callout..."

"I'll hold Beth's head underwater or something."

Scott laughed. "You can't – we need the pool moved so One can get out."

John pulled an exaggerated face of disappointment. "Oh well, I can dream, can't I?"

Laughing for the first time in several days, the brothers followed Virgil up to the house.

Penny left on time, saying a cheery goodbye to everyone, insisting that Grandma go ahead with her cruise and promising Beth she'd be in touch when the girl was settled in her new home.

"Now that we've met it would be a pity to lose touch," she told her. "I've so enjoyed getting to know you. Perhaps Jeff will bring you to Foxley-Heath for a visit."

"I'd like that," Beth told her, all the while thinking that there was no way that was going to happen. She and Penny were just too different. Let her go back to her idle, cosseted lifestyle. Beth might bump into her in a few exclusive fashion boutiques as she spent Byron's money, but that would be the extent of their future dealings. Waving at the departing jet, she felt relieved to see the back of Lady Penelope – her sudden desires for walks, talks and shopping trips had been a little unsettling. At least now she could have a peaceful couple of days before returning home. She entertained herself with thoughts of all the mischief she could cause before she left – accidentally setting fire to the piano and trapping Brains under the mistletoe were her current favourites - but she had one more task to complete first. She still needed to think of a way to get her uncle to settle some money on her – a pity she'd made such a big deal about being happy with her humble life, but she was confident she'd come up with something. If nothing else sprang to mind, maybe she'd just get him to make a donation to the charity he thought she worked for. Cash, naturally. She'd pay it in for him, of course she would.

In spite of everything, it was another pleasant day. Once again everyone went out of their way to be nice to Jeff and there were no more outbursts. Even Virgil forced himself to appear cheerful, determined that Grandma would leave for Europe without any worries about those left on the island. Sure enough, when the boys pressed her, she agreed to go ahead with her trip. Scott returned home to some good-natured teasing about the length of time he'd been away and the loneliness he was going to feel now Penny was gone, but as usual he just smiled and refused to rise to the bait.

The next day seemed to be going the way of the previous one. Lunch was a lazy picnic on the beach and Beth was half-asleep in the sun when her relaxed state was jarred as Alan, who had been lying next to her, suddenly jumped up, showering her with sand.

"Sorry," he said. "Got to go!"

Sitting up and wondering why he'd shot off like that, she realised that the rest of the boys had gone too.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Tin-Tin and Grandma were the only ones left.

"Oh, those boys," Grandma laughed. "They can't sit still for five minutes."

"I think Mr Tracy has some work for them to do," Tin-Tin said. "I'm sure he said something this morning about some project."

"They didn't mention anything earlier," Beth said, lying back down and closing her eyes. She was surprised when Grandma prodded her with her foot.

"Now don't you go wasting your time sleeping. You can't leave the island without seeing the caves."

"Caves?" Beth didn't want to see any caves. She wanted to stay in the sun working on her tan.

"Yes," Tin-Tin said. "You have to see the caves."

"Another time," Beth said. "I don't- ow!" It was Grandma's foot again.

"Oh, sorry, dear, did I hurt you? Come along now, Tin-Tin's dying to show you the caves. You go and enjoy yourself."

Not wanting to risk another jab in the ribs, Beth got to her feet. For once she didn't have her usual sweet expression, her irritation clearly showing. For her part, Grandma smiled innocently.

"That's it, off you go."

"I'm sure you'll like the caves," Tin-Tin said.

"What's in them? Stalac- things?"

"Well, no. But they're very... large. Very... er... echoey... Hurry up, they're not far."

Beth had never seen a less spectacular sight. Large and full of echoes, yes, but cold, damp and dark too. As if that wasn't enough, another seismic disturbance shook the ground and she stumbled, banging her knee against a jutting-out piece of rock.

"Can we go now?" she asked.

Tin-Tin hesitated for a moment.

"Well, if you're sure you've seen enough."

"Oh yes, more than enough."

They made their way out into the sun. Beth wondered why on earth Tin-Tin had felt the need to drag her into the caves. It wasn't as if the two were even particularly good friends. Tin-Tin had always been perfectly pleasant, but Beth had felt a definite coolness from her ever since she'd arrived on the island. Beth had put it down to jealousy – as the only girl on the island, Tin-Tin had obviously been spoilt. It must have been a shock to have to cope with the arrival of another attractive girl, someone who was actually related to Jeff Tracy, not just a hanger-on. Beth knew there had been no gift of her aunt's jewellery to Tin-Tin. No wonder the girl didn't seem to like her.

Grandma was still sitting on the beach. She'd been joined by Jeff.

"Well, what did you think of the caves?" he asked.

"Great," Beth said, rubbing her bruised knee. Jeff started to fuss and she pulled away. "I'm fine, Uncle Jeff."

"Well, if you're sure," he said doubtfully. He could see it was just a bruise, but he still had to stop himself suggesting a trip to the infirmary. That would have been a bit of a giveaway – Beth had no idea the house contained a first class hospital unit. But then, she had no idea about a lot of things. Still, Jeff consoled himself with the promise that Brains could take a look later – he was sure the genius would welcome the chance to get close to his niece.

"I've sent the boys over to the mainland," he told her. "Tracy Industries' business. They might be gone for a day or so, but I'm sure you girls can enjoy yourselves without them."

Deciding that her cousins must really hate her if they hadn't even bothered to say goodbye, Beth settled back down on her towel. It struck her that Tin-Tin was in a surprisingly good mood – if her boyfriend had disappeared without saying anything she'd have been pretty annoyed. Instead the girl was just smiling at Jeff who also looked pleased with himself. They really were a strange lot, she thought, half-asleep already.