INVISIBLE

by Spense

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Alan resisted waking up, but the shaking was relentless. "Wh-a?" He murmured, trying to turn away from the hand on his shoulder.

"Come on, Alan, wake up," a familiar voice urged.

"Go 'way," Alan muttered into his pillow, desperately working to ignore the annoying presence beside him.

"Wake up, Allie," cajoled the voice patiently.

Alan reluctantly opened his eyes to the dark room, and twisted back to see his tormenter. Rubbing his eyes as he craned his head back to see who was there. "John?" He said squinting. He turned over all the way to look at his brother sitting on the side of the bed, smiling at him.

"John? Wha'? It's the middle of the nigh'," Alan said with a huge yawn as he sat up.

"Well, technically, it's 1:30 in the morning," John said cheerfully, waiting as Alan slowly came to life.

"Close enough," Alan grumbled.

"Come on, I want to show you something," John said, standing up. He pulled back the covers and handed Alan his robe and slippers.

With the covers back, now Alan was chilled, so he quickly put on proffered garments, yawning again. "What?" Alan asked again, tired, and a little out of sorts.

John just grinned and ignored the petulant tone. He was dressed as Alan was, pajamas, robe and slippers, and putting a hand on his little brother's back John guided him out of the room.

"Is there a rescue? I didn't hear it," Alan said, waking up a little as he started moving.

"Nope. Believe me, you couldn't miss the klaxon. Even Virgil can't sleep through that thing," John answered as he directed Alan down the hall to the back of the house.

"Yeah, I guess," Alan said absently as John moved in front of him to lead. Alan really just wanted to go back to bed, but John was clear that they needed to go somewhere, so he followed obediently. They were in the back elevator, and going down, then walking again in the cool darkness of the labyrinth below the islands surface. Alan was too tired to think straight and not really coherent enough to care, and as long as he was following, John was content to move on in silence. Then they were back in an elevator, and moving up.

He was vaguely aware when the elevator stopped, and John punched a code into the key pad. But he woke up fast when the doors opened. He was in an observatory. You couldn't miss the huge telescope in the middle of the room, or the night sky gleaming above the opened roof. The room was cool and quiet, with the marble floor shining dully from the reflected light of the huge moon overhead. Alan's mouth dropped as he took in the round shape.

"We're in the round house," he exclaimed, now completely awake.

"Yep," John answered with a grin. "That we are," he confirmed, as he moved inside, pushing Alan on in front of him.

Alan wasn't sure which direction to look. This area had always been off limits to him. It was known as John's working area here at home, when he wasn't at his lab. Alan had always sensed that John's lab had something to do with IR, but he didn't quite know how or why. But he certainly hadn't expected this.

"I have an office in the house, just like Dad and Scott, and I have another on the floor below this one. But I wanted to show you where I really work when I'm gone," John explained. "And then you'll understand why I haven't been around as much as the guys."

"This is so cool," Alan breathed, not paying much attention to John's comments as he was too busy taking in his surroundings. There wasn't much else up here except the telescope, and the entrance to a spiral staircase going down on his right. The roof was clearly moveable, as he'd always seen it as a solid covering, but now it was retracted back, opening the room up to the stars.

John put a hand on Alan's back, and ushered him over to the telescope. Alan felt like his head was on a swivel, trying to take it all in. The sky seemed huge. A canopy of dark midnight blue velvet, scattered with tiny lights. Some looked close, some very far, and the moon looked so large that he felt he could reach out and touch it. Alan was amazed at the detail. "Wow," he whispered.

"The detail is so clear because we have no light around here except for the house. I can turn off the pool lights if I want to, and sometimes if I need to get a really close look at something, or a picture, I'll do that, but frankly, it's not worth the time since I can get a better shot from . . . Well."

Alan was enthralled. He knew that John was a well-respected astronomer, and like his father, had been with NASA. He was also aware that John had written several text books, and additionally, had written some science fiction that were pretty popular. He also knew that John was an IR Operative as well, and that was why he was always away at his lab, but he wasn't very clear on how it all worked together. And since IR wasn't his favorite organization, he hadn't tried very hard to figure it out. But this? This was amazing. He'd had no idea that this was even here. If this was part of John's lab, he wondered what the rest of it was like. This was like no 'laboratory' he'd ever seen.

"Here," John indicated to the seat at the telescope. "Sit here." With John's help, Alan got situated on the telescopes' seat. It was at an odd angle, but better to see up in the sky, Alan supposed.

"Now, put your eye here, and focus with this." John guided Alan's hands to the right knobs, and suddenly Alan's view became crystal clear, causing him to gasp.

"Yeah, it always gets me like that too," John said, knowingly. "Now, what do you see?"

"Space!" Alan exclaimed, excited. "And . . . something metal? A Satellite?"

"Zoom in or out with this knob here," John directed, "Then use your fine focus knob."

Alan fussed with the knobs a moment, and under John's direction, brought the object into clear vision. "It's bigger than a satellite . . ." Alan murmured, looking carefully. "And it has writing on it. Um . . . something '5'. Oh, there. 'TB 5'." His voice broke off suddenly, and he leaned back away from the eye piece to look at John, a myriad of emotions running across his face.

"Yes," John said quietly, leaning back against the telescope, elbow hitched on it, supporting him. "That is our communications space station. Having Thunderbird Three as a space rescue ship is great, but our main use for the rocket is to go back and forth to our orbiting space station. That's my 'lab', Allie."

Alan was silent. He hadn't had a clue about this. Questions raced around in his head, as well as his usual gut reaction to anything regarding International Rescue. He was completely confused as to how to even start. Luckily for him, John just smiled slightly, as though he understood completely, and tried to explain.

"Thunderbird Five isn't known to the public. The only reason you can see it is because this is a specially made telescope. To most telescopes, it just looks like space junk. This one is equipped with a special filter to read the lettering. I spend most of my time up there monitoring communications. Because it's so high, I have less interference. When we started, somebody had to be up there all the time, so the guys spelled me. Now, Brains has come up with technology that I can use to monitor communications from here on the island. My office at the house works fine, and the equipment on the floor below this one is even better. But there is so much more to see and do in regards to astronomy from the station, that I still spend at least half my time up there."

John continued. "I wanted you to know this, and to see it, so you can understand why I'm away so much. It's an expensive and complicated commute to get up and back, so we don't undertake it lightly. And the communications work is the heart of International Rescue. Unfortunately, it does mean that I don't see family as much as I'd like, and why I didn't get to Kansas all that often."

Alan was conflicted. He really didn't want to hear about IR, but this was John. John was always patient and open about things and always had time for Alan. So he guessed he could listen. Besides, a space station? International Rescue aside, this was really, really cool.

"So I'm gone a lot. And it's by my choice. I'm an astronomer. What better way to see the stars than be up among them? But I miss out on a lot of things. And time can run together, and day and night aren't quite so clear. I tend to miss important dates. Hence, I didn't pay much attention to what day it is, and I missed your birthday. I'm really sorry about that Allie. I just lost track of time, simple as that. You're very important to me, and I feel terrible that I missed the day, and with you right here and me on earth. I can't tell you how sorry I am for that."

John took a deep breath, blew it out, then continued. "And one of those other things I really miss is being able to see you. I hate it when I couldn't get down for your vacations, or to go to Kansas. I always felt like I missed out on so much. Hopefully that will change now that you're here on the island. When I'm dirt side, I can see you more often. Share in the things that you're doing."

Looking seriously at a riveted Alan, John went on. "I just want you to know where I am when I'm not home and I'm at my 'lab', and why I'm not around as much as the other guys. And I want you to be able to come here and see TB5 when you feel like it. It may seem like I'm so far away, but you only need to look through this," John indicated to the telescope. "Let me know when you're looking, and I'll send the antennae up and down to wave at you."

Alan had to giggle at that. John grinned, then continued once more. "Family is important, Alan. And maybe even more important to me since I spend so much time away. I hope, now that you know where I am, we'll be able to keep more in touch. At any time, day or night. The reception is pretty good up there."

Alan laughed, as John had intended him to.

"So why are you still down here?" Alan asked curiously. "I mean, you've been home for a while now."

John gazed up at the deep sky for a moment, then smiled back at Alan. "I told Dad that I wasn't going back up until I knew everything was okay with you. You weren't adjusting well to being on the island, and you were really missing Grandma. So I wasn't going to be anywhere but here until I was sure you were okay."

Alan looked surprised. "And Dad was okay with that?"

"Not only okay, but he agreed wholeheartedly. We're stronger together, Allie, stronger as a family. Grandma's death has been tough for everybody, we all miss her. But really, none of us have dealt with it all that well. But it's been hardest on you. The only good thing to come out of it is having you back here. That's helped the rest of us deal with it. We could always see that one positive."

"Are you going back up soon?" Alan asked in a small voice, trying not to betray his disquiet at the thought. He still tended to get nervous if any of them were away. Grandma had been there, then, poof, she'd been gone. He liked having the rest of his family in sight these days. And John was always such a comforting presence.

John just shook his head firmly, clearly understanding. "Nope, not yet. None of us are quite ready for that yet, least of all me."

That was one of the things that Alan liked most about John. He didn't have to spell everything out when he talked to him. John just always seemed to just know and understand.

"I know you've got questions, and will have a lot more when you can process the fact that I work on a Space Station," John exchanged grins with Alan, "And ask me anytime you want. I'll explain the best I can. But since we have a perfect night sky right now, do you feel like looking at some stars and planets, and a close up of the moon? I guarantee you won't get any better view than from here. Not even NASA can compete, not that they know that!"

"Yeah," Alan breathed, thrilled. John was right. He needed to think about all this, and put it together with what he already knew. He hadn't even guessed at this. A Space Station? He was already fascinated. He wondered if he could ever get to go up on it. He had no idea that space was so . . . well, big. He really wanted to go up there sometime, but for now, a really, good, close up look at the station and at the crowded sky would suffice.

"Okay, turn this knob here. This will move the . . . " And with John guidance, Alan spent a wonderful couple of hours looking up close at the stars, totally entranced, until the sun began to come up over the horizon.