Short, but a development that suddenly occurred to me after last chapter. You've probably thought the same thing. Please excuse the embarrassing shortness.

49

GDS Union Jack, the captain's quarters, out in the open south seas-

Emma Kraft surveyed the news feed and pop-chat network for just a few minutes longer. Then, frowning, the young officer sat back in her beat-up, comfortable grey chair. Weird, she thought, rubbing tired green eyes.

International Rescue had just wrapped up a major operation. Ordinarily, one or all of the big three… Scott, John or her Virgil… would have sat still for a short, good-natured interview with the press, explaining how they'd pulled it off, and what viewers could do to avoid such hazards, themselves.

Not this time, though. Kat Cavanaugh and her devious ilk waited in vain for contact from anyone official, because Taz was still flying, John had gone straight to Japan with Her Stuffyship, and Scott was… Well, rumours abounded, all of them bad.

Not the sole reason for Emma's concern, however. 'Celebrity Now!' had just featured a gushing, thirty-minute video of Lady Penelope and her handsome, heroic "date", John Tracy. There'd been numerous shots of the couple's arrival, their fancy-dress luncheon and build-up to the world's first human transmission. That hadn't come off as planned, but the pop news set didn't care. Not when the glitterati were present in force. Emergencies, like romance, just added spice.

Emma drummed her fingers on the desk for a moment or two. Sat there thinking, surrounded by the comforting rumble and hum of a vessel at sea. Kraft was a forthright sort. She tended to act rather than talk, and if Taz had carried on that way with his so-called 'date', she'd have relieved him of two of his three most precious possessions… the hard way. Still, O'Bannon was a big girl. A fellow GDF officer, and a friend. The best Emma had, next to Virgil.

Glancing around her small, spartan cabin to be sure that ship's comms were off, and the hatch closed, Emma switched channels, then typed in a memorized number. Call went through in just a few seconds, despite the great distance.

"Hello?" she heard, along with the noises you got from a station as old and immense as Global-1.

"Hey, Ree… it's me. You okay?"

At the line's other end, no doubt floating around in her own private quarters, Captain O'Bannon sighed.

"It's an act," she explained, sounding edgy. "Something Penelope thought up to increase publicity and attendance for those dumb charity events she likes to put on. Doesn't mean anything. Tracy warned me ahead of time."

But, judging from the tone of her voice, Ree didn't much like it. Said Emma,

"Okay, just checking, because I was going to offer to find us a couple of rusty knives, a tub of ice cream and a baseball bat."

O'Bannon laughed.

"Thanks for that, Em. If I thought there was anything going on, I'd take you up on it… but I think there's a different, worse problem. Have you heard anything from Virgil?"

Kraft shook her head, sending a loose strand of brownish-blonde hair floating into her face. Elbows on desk, she puffed it away with a pursed-lip breath, but the strand kept falling back down, again.

"Just a quick 'I'm okay' buzz. Why?" She and Taz had set up a system, meant to keep her from worrying too much, when the news feeds turned ghoulish.

"Scuttlebutt says Boss-man's in the hospital," Ridley told her, sounding concerned.

"Scott? Why? What happened?" Generally, the Tracys avoided hospitals like super-flu and weaponised rabies, combined.

"Don't know, Em, but it isn't good. John sent me an A-OK chirp awhile back… but he's been pretty busy, since."

That was for sure… and Ree was a saint. Kraft would've killed him. Creatively.

"Tell you what: I'll call Taz up and pry loose some answers. See if there's anything we can do to help. You got any leave coming up?"

Said O'Bannon,

"Uh… hang on… lemme check… yep. Sure do. Ten days. Why? Got something in mind?"

Emma nodded firmly, ready to mold fate like taffy.

"You better believe it, Chica. I think it's time we paid the boys another visit. Sometimes, outsiders see things that family might miss, y'know? And… I've got a bad feeling, Ree, like Taz needs me. You on board?"

With a little 'duh!' snort, Ridley said,

"Time and place, Em. I'll be there."

Because a best friend had your back; always and ever, no matter what.