Sorry this is so late - it's been a tricky chapter to write. Some characters are sulking and refusing to co-operate (no idea what I've done to upset them!) whilst others are doing things I didn't expect them to...
Chapter Twenty-Five
The events in this chapter take place at the same time as those in chapters 23 & 24
Whilst Penny tended to Scott as he lay on the floor of the tiny room in which they were being held, an oblivious Brains was in his lab pretending to be studying another component from Thunderbird Four. He'd just decided he might as well start to write up his 'findings', when Thomas appeared to tell him he'd been once again summoned by his new employer. Feigning frustration at the interruption, he placed his data pad down on the workbench and followed the security guard to the office.
Sir Reuben was in his usual place behind his desk, Sahara in a chair to his left. The pair of them studied him as he took a seat in front of them, feeling suddenly uneasy. For a long time no one said anything, the atmosphere becoming uncomfortably tense. In the end Brains did something he rarely did and broke the silence himself.
"I-is something wr-wrong?"
"Why don't you tell us?" It was Sahara who answered, her voice unusually cold.
Brains blinked nervously back at her. "I-I don't understand."
"I think you do." Sahara stood up and came to sit on the desk in front of him. "We know. Everything."
"E-everything?" Brains' nervousness escalated into panic . Everything suggested that they'd uncovered his link to International Rescue, but that couldn't be true... could it? "W-what d-do you m-mean?"
Sighing impatiently as Brains' stutter started to worsen, Sir Reuben got to his feet, manoeuvring his great bulk so that he was next to Sahara, the desk creaking slightly as he leaned against it. It was enough to make Sahara slide herself off it, just in case.
"You lied to us, Brains," Sahara told him. "All that rubbish about wanting to get away from Jeff Tracy and start over with Scott. We know now why you all came here. You and Scott… and Lady Penelope."
Brains couldn't hide his shock. His head shot up and he stared wide-eyed at the pair of them as they exchanged satisfied glances. Frantic thoughts raced through his head. They knew about Scott and Penny – but how? And now that they knew, what had they actually done to his friends? He'd bet everything he had that they weren't safely in London as he'd believed them to be.
Then, of course, there were the consequences for IR and the Tracys. What would Sir Reuben do with his knowledge? Brains guessed he'd be unlikely to broadcast his discovery to the world, not when he risked arrest for his part in the theft of Thunderbird Four, but he'd use the information to his advantage somehow, selling the secret to the highest bidder, most likely. Whatever he did, it would mean the end of the secret organisation.
He did his best to cover himself, stuttering more than ever as he swore he knew nothing about any 'Lady Penelope', or any undercover mission to track down the murderer of the old MI5 chief. He was overwhelmingly relieved that their focus seemed to be on this rather than International Rescue, though it didn't tell him anything about how they'd discovered Penny's true identity in the first place. Then they stated to ask about Scott, and Brains' look of confusion was completely genuine as he denied all knowledge of his friend's links to the secret service - not that Sahara and Sir Reuben appeared to believe him.
Eventually, Sir Reuben – who had never had much patience with Brains' stutter anyway – nodded to Sahara. She moved back behind the desk, pressing a few buttons on a laptop and turning the screen round to face Brains.
Sir Reuben leaned forward. "I'm not wasting any more time with you. Have a look at this and then we'll talk."
For the next fifteen minutes an increasingly distraught Brains was forced to sit through the footage of Scott's interrogation. He'd closed his eyes before the first blow connected, but he couldn't do anything to block out the sickening sounds. It was all he could do not to break down and scream at Sahara to stop the playback, but he made himself sit through it, knowing that he needed to find out exactly what had gone on. When Scott finally 'confessed', Brains understood why he'd been asked all those questions earlier. Knowing that his friend had endured all this suffering just to keep International Rescue safe, Brains managed to pull himself together enough to confirm the story, explaining that Scott had come to him to ask for help in infiltrating RMC, having remembered the company's earlier attempts to recruit him. Brains had felt honour-bound to help out the friend who had given him so much support over the past year.
"I see," Sir Reuben said, once Brains had finished. "No links to MI5 or the American agencies for you then?"
"N-no," Brains told him. "I-I'm j-just an eng-engineer."
"You're rather more than that," Sir Reuben said slowly. "Which makes it more difficult to decide what to do with you. But I really don't think I have much choice." He was back behind his desk now and his hand moved to open a drawer. Brains had been too scared to ask what had happened to Scott and Penny, but when Sir Reuben drew out a gun and pointed it at him, he had a horrible feeling he'd just discovered their fate – and his own.
An hour later, Sahara stood at the helipad waiting for Freddy to arrive. She knew the next few hours weren't going to be easy. Even though she'd persuaded Sir Reuben to keep her original betrayal of Freddy secret, there was no escaping the fact that she'd lied to him in order to get him to return. He was going to be devastated to learn that his uncle was fit and well - and then he'd have to actually face the man. Sir Reuben had torn into his nephew on numerous occasions, but there had never been a situation this serious before and his wrath was going to be terrifying. Sahara might have ordered Scott's beating - and watched via video-link as it took place - with barely a flicker of emotion, but one thing she couldn't face was watching Sir Reuben humiliate Freddy.
Moments later Freddy came bounding out of the helicopter, picking Sahara up and swinging her round before kissing her long and hard.
"Is he dead yet?" he asked eagerly. "Was it slow and painful?" He swung her around again and laughed as she tried to disentangle herself. "What was it anyway? Heart?"
"Freddy, don't. No, stop it! Put me down. Freddy! He's alive."
He almost dropped her, so great was his shock, and she had to clutch at him to stop herself from falling. She couldn't help feeling guilty as he turned away from her, staring out across the ocean, and she placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry... But you need to listen. There's something-"
Freddy ignored her, unable to think about anything other than his uncle's apparent recovery. All the grand schemes he'd worked out on the way home would come to nothing now. He supposed he should have known - his uncle always managed to spoil his fun.
"What happened? Don't tell me one of our resident eggheads found a cure." He groaned. "They did, didn't they? I bet it was Hackenbacker. No one else here would come up with anything that might actually help someone."
"Freddy!" The urgency in Sahara's tone finally got through to him and he looked at her uncertainly.
"What is it? There's something else?"
"Come and sit down." Sahara led him down a path to the garden. Sitting next to him on a bench, she reached for his hand.
"You're going to hate me and I'm so sorry. But I lied to you. Sir Reuben was never in any danger."
"You lied to me?" Freddy looked utterly confused.
"I had to find a way to get you to come straight home. We found out something about Scott and Lola. They're agents, Freddy. They're investigating the murder of Randolph Pemberton."
Despite his misery Freddy couldn't help but laugh. "Now you're lying, Sahara. Or joking - although I can't say I find it funny. Lola? An agent?"
"MI5. And she's not Lola Tracy, she's Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward."
"Lady Penelope? This gets better and better. I suppose Brains is really James Bond. No, hang on, with all the gadgets he'd be-"
"Freddy, it's the truth! Your uncle found out why Scott and Lola were here - at least, why we thought they were here. He wanted to send them away so that he could get his hands on Brains. He had the contract he signed and he planned to force him to work for RMC - that's why he sent you to London in the first place, so you couldn't interfere. But then Eric arrived and recognised Lola. Seems we've got the British and the Americans after us - they've linked us to those terrorist attacks last year."
He whistled as he tried to take this in. "Scott tricked us." He emphasised the us. "My uncle blames me, doesn't he?"
Sahara nodded, putting a comforting arm around his shoulders.
Freddy looked back to where the helicopter was just visible through the trees.
"Let's go."
"What?"
"I'll fly us away from here. You've got contacts. Let's start again with new identities. As clever as my uncle is, there's no guarantee he'll survive this. What do you say? You and me? I'll marry you if that's what you want."
And how long would that last? Sahara thought. I can still smell the perfume on you from whatever girl you picked up last night.
Her silence was enough for Freddy and he pulled away from her.
"Why did you make me come back? You know what he'll do to me."
"I didn't want to. He forced me to. He's got too much of a hold over me, Freddy. I couldn't go against him, not after I helped Eric kill Randolph. One word from him and I'd be finished."
"You could have warned me."
"I couldn't. He was listening in. I had to do what he said."
Freddy wasn't buying it. He knew full well how ruthless Sahara could be. "You think my uncle will look after you, don't you? Well, good luck with that, Sahara. You'll see. He only looks after himself."
The sound of the helicopter's engine starting up startled them both. Neither of them said anything as the machine took off. Only when it had completely disappeared from view did Freddy speak again.
"Well, it looks like I'm stuck here. Time to face the music with Uncle Reuben, I suppose. "
"Freddy!"
He was already on his way back down the path but he paused long enough to look back at her. She'd never seen such a bitter look on his usually cheerful face and she wondered if she'd ever be able to get him back on her side.
Sir Reuben had been expecting Freddy's knock at the door ever since he'd heard the helicopter land. He was looking forward to working off some of the anger and frustration he was currently feeling.
"Come in," he called out. Freddy opened the door and stood there, clearly steeling himself to step over the threshold.
"Nervous?" his uncle asked with a smile. "Yes, you probably should be..."
Twenty minutes later, Freddy sat red-faced and silently fuming. It had been even worse than he'd expected, which was saying something. He hated his uncle more than ever, not that he could really blame him for being so angry. Having heard the whole story, he couldn't believe he'd been taken in so easily. He'd trusted Scott - but then they all had. Sahara had checked Lola out and cleared her, but she didn't appear to be taking any of the blame. It wasn't fair that he should be held solely responsible. But arguing would get him nowhere - he'd learnt that years ago
"Haven't you got anything to say for yourself?" Sir Reuben asked, silently wishing his nephew would show some backbone for once and fight back. But, just as he had done since he was a boy, he just sat there and took it, as Sir Reuben had known he would.
"It's lucky for you we found out about this before any real damage was done. Our friends have been dealt with and we know they can't have found any hard evidence otherwise we'd have been raided by now. If we keep our nerve we can survive the investigation. As for you-"
The door opened and Sahara came in. She smiled sympathetically at Freddy but he stubbornly refused to meet her eye. "The news is out: Scott Tracy and his wife have been tragically killed in a helicopter crash along with Tracy Industries' top engineer. No mention of Lady Penelope, but that's to be expected. We should probably put out a statement, insist the helicopter was properly maintained, express our shock; you know the kind of thing."
"You can handle that," Sir Reuben told her. "I want to call my contact at MI5. I'm hoping he'll have some idea of when they're going to visit us. Is everything ready for lockdown?"
"All set."
"Good. Freddy, I want you down on the lower levels when we have visitors. The last thing we need is for you to say something stupid and give us all away."
"Shall I go there now?" Freddy asked, desperate to get away. He needed to think things through. He wasn't quite the fool his uncle took him for - he'd already worked out that if the investigation into Pemberton's death got too close to the truth, he'd be the perfect scapegoat. Most likely his dead body would be found along with some 'evidence' implicating him in the murder. His uncle would get away with it, just like he always did. But Freddy wasn't going to give him the chance. He made a silent promise to himself that one way or another he was going to get away - and then he was going to destroy his uncle.
"You stay here," Sir Reuben told him. He turned to Sahara. "Get me Jeff Tracy's private number."
"Why?" Sahara couldn't help being surprised.
"I want to offer my condolences. It's what an innocent man would do, isn't it?"
Freddy moved to stand at his uncle's side during the conversation. One of the many things the man had berated him for was his willingness to believe that the reclusive Jeff Tracy would really have a public slanging match with his son. Another example of Freddy's gullibility, Sir Reuben had declared scornfully, but Freddy wasn't so sure. There had been real emotion between the men he'd watched in the Vegas chapel, and, whilst he didn't doubt Scott could play a part, he wasn't convinced he was that good an actor. He stared hard at Jeff Tracy. There was no mistaking the fact that this was the same man he'd seen arguing with Scott at his wedding to Lola. He couldn't help wondering why Tracy should have got involved. He was an Air Force man so he'd want to support an investigation into RMC's illegal arms deal, plus Scott was his son so he'd want to help him out if he could, but even so... And why risk losing his company's best designer? Freddy couldn't shake the feeling that they were all missing something. He wasn't going to say anything though, not when it would only give his uncle another chance to criticise his judgement.
"Well?" Sir Reuben asked, and Freddy realised he'd ended the call. "Have you seen that man before?"
Freddy sighed and dropped his head, looking utterly defeated at yet another apparent failure on his part. "No. It must have been an actor, like Scott said."
Sir Reuben rolled his eyes and laughed. "Told you. You're too easy to fool, boy." He dismissed Freddy with a wave of his hand, turning to Sahara as he began to outline his plans to deceive the investigators.
Freddy let the door shut behind him then leaned back against the wall before sliding down to sit on the floor, burying his head in his hands for a moment. He'd never hated his uncle as much as he did at that moment. He thought of Jeff Tracy, grieving for the son he'd lost, and found himself thinking of his own father who'd died when he was just a boy. Tracy would give anything to find out what had really happened to Scott, he thought. Money, protection... all the things Freddy needed right now. If he could make a deal with Tracy he'd be able to bring down his uncle without talking to the authorities himself. He wasn't entirely certain he'd be allowed to go free, not after all the things he'd done over the years. But he'd had nothing to do with what had happened to Scott or Lola - Lady Penelope, he reminded himself - or Brains.
It was certainly something to think about...