Cards on the table…I don't know a single thing about building satellites…or computers come to that, so please excuse any errors in this chapter.
No Coffee.
Still no coffee. Pain, sickness, but no coffee.
Scott couldn't help feeling that if only the doctor or nurses would give him a mug of coffee, he could put up with the pain in his head, the incessant nausea, the endless injections and tests, examinations and scans without complaint. Just one, single coffee was surely not too much to ask was it?
His family were no help. John and Virgil merely folded their arms, grinned at him, and shook their heads. Gordon and Alan made jokes about being a coffeeholic. Kayo and Isla offered sympathy but no coffee, and his father, ever wise and all-knowing, sat beside him, drinking filter coffee that smelt heavenly and sweetly reminded him of his need to be able to sleep whilst he recuperated.
As for grandma, she clucked and worried over him, remonstrated with her son for drinking coffee in front of "the poor boy", and offered Scott a mug of cocoa instead.
Cocoa was nice, but it did nothing to quench his desire for a good cup of coffee. Perhaps he really was addicted to coffee? Well, Scott decided, if coffee was his only vice, he was doing well. No one ever died from overdosing on coffee, did they?
Did they?
He was in a lot of pain, and truth be told, right now the painkillers were not quite getting there, so being asleep was a lot more comfortable. Especially since much of his waking moments were spent retching and puking, perhaps he was better off without the coffee for the time being.
Thinking about how close he came to dying, made his heart pound. Thinking how he could have lost both Virgil and Isla made it pound even harder. No, given the choice, he was glad it was himself here in this bed, suffering the pain and nausea. At least his brothers…and sisters were safe. At that thought, his eyes popped open again, and he turned to Kayo, sitting in the chair to his left, equipped with a pencil and notepad, idly doodling. She looked up when she heard him move and put her implements aside.
"Scott, Sweetheart, how are you feeling?"
"Headache."
"Any nausea?"
Scott considered and was pleasantly surprised to find that for the first time, he was not feeling sick.
"Actually, no. Just the sore head. Kayo, I wanted to ask about…you know…"
"The man who shot you? It was the professor's missing son. The one Colonel Casey assured us was probably harmless."
Scott rolled his eyes.
"She never said he was harmless, Kayo. Just that there was no concrete evidence against him. What happened to him anyway? Did you get him?"
Kayo smiled grimly and shook her head.
"No, I didn't need to. When we arrived at the hotel, do you remember, you went up to our rooms with Virgil, and I said I needed a word with the hotel manager?"
Scott nodded, and winced. Kayo smiled sympathetically, then continued.
"I told him that you and I were acting as bodyguards for Mister and Mrs. Tracy, because we had received unconfirmed rumours that they might become the target of a kidnap or a murder attempt. I requested that he ask his hotel security men to keep their eyes open for anyone that seems out of place."
"Hmmm. And African security are always equipped with weaponry; and are never afraid to use it."
"Exactly. Just a second or two after you were shot, the hotel security shot him. Not to kill, just to persuade him to…er…drop his gun."
"I bet that worked."
Kayo nodded.
"Yup. And then Virgil hit him."
Scott's eyes widened.
"Virgil did? The marshmallow teddy-bear himself?"
Kayo grinned widely.
"The man went straight down. The GDF carted him off to the nearest GDF hospital to get his wound looked at, then straight into the cells. The Colonel took father down there."
"To the GDF gaol?"
"On a visit to the Hood, the professor and then the professor's son. They are being kept in isolated cells, on three separate continents. The Hood's electronic false eye has been removed and exchanged for a small, plain, glass camera-eye, and his cell is lined with a material that cuts him off from everything outside. Not even a television signal. The same goes for the professor. The son is going on trial next week…he's charged with the murder of Captain James, the attempted murder of Virgil and Isla Tracy and grievous bodily harm to Scott Tracy. The evidence they have against him now is unquestionable. He'll go down."
"Life?"
Kayo shook her head.
"He tried to get himself extradited to the UK, since the UK have always refused to reinstate capital punishment. Because the attempted murders happened here, this is where the local authorities are insisting the trial and punishment take place. The murder of the captain has been put in Colonel Casey's authority, and she has handed all the evidence to the local prosecutor's office."
"You mean he will be found guilty and sentenced to death?"
Kayo nodded solemnly. Scott was unsure how he felt about that. After all, the very basis of the existence of International Rescue was the love of life. The saving of life. True, the fellow had brought it upon himself, but the whole thing left a very bad taste in the mouth.
The sooner they got away from this continent and back to Tracy Island, the better he would feel.
The better they would all feel.
Isla rolled over onto her side, and stretched out her arm to her husband, only to find her hand patting cold, flat mattress. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and looked around the room. Virgil had pulled the curtain aside, and was standing at the open window, just staring out. The sun was just coming up, and a pink glow filled the room from the distant sun.
"Virgil? Are you alright Honey?"
He did not reply. He did not seem to have heard her. She climbed out of bed and grabbing her wrap, she tied the cord loosely over her rapidly expanding bump and crossed the room. Reaching an arm around his waist, she nuzzled her face into his side.
"What is it?"
With a sigh, Virgil turned away from the window, dropped to his knees and buried his face in her breast, his arms around her, holding her tightly. She could feel him trembling slightly.
"Oh my…"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the top of his head, then knelt on the floor in front of him. Here like this they were almost eye to eye. His eyes were dry, but slightly pink-rimmed, as though he had been crying. He looked so sad.
"I'm here." Was all she said, as she kissed him again and hugged him closer. "I'm right here. I'll always be here."
He raised his head to look at her, then kissed her full and passionately on the lips. His kiss was full of love and desire and need, then as they parted, she could see the despair in his eyes had deepened if anything.
He got to his feet and with a small smile, he picked her up and carried her to the bed, lay her on it, then lay beside her and took her into his still trembling arms.
"The nightmares have started again." He whispered at last. Isla responded by hugging him closer.
"Tell me."
"I don't remember them. I never do. I just know I wake up feeling terrified, sometimes…sometimes I wake up screaming or crying…but I never remember why. I started to get them when I was a kid…after we lost mom…after a few years they started to come less and less often. They came back when…when…"
"You mean when Connie was killed?"
"Yes." His reply was muffled by her hair. He pulled back slightly so that he could look into her eyes.
"After the last business we had with the Hood…we went away for a few weeks…my brothers and I."
"You said you went camping." She nodded. "To banish the nightmares?"
He nodded.
"We were all getting them by then, but we camped, we sat around the fire every evening and talked everything out; and came home nightmare free. All of us. But now…"
"The Hood, the professor and son…me…"
He shook his head.
"You're the one good thing to come out of this whole mess. I feel like in some ways I caused this whole thing because I was stupid enough to let myself get kidnapped…but if I hadn't, we would probably have never met…I hate to think of my life now without you in it babe…and yet I could've lost you the other day…I could've lost Scott. The whole thing is muddled in my mind, like a maze I can't find my way out of. If I believed in fate, that would perhaps help, but I don't. Do you?"
Isla shook her head.
"No. I don't believe in fate, but I believe in people. I believe in you, Virgil. I am glad all of this happened, because it means I am married to the most wonderful man in the whole world. I believe in you, and in all of your brothers too. None of you could have survived this long in International Rescue without each other. Scott saved us because he is Scott. You would have done the same thing for him, and even died for him, I know you would. Without thinking twice. Its that wonderful connection you all have, that I have been observing ever since I first met you all that makes you such a brilliant and successful rescue team. Sure, the cool gadgets help a bit, but it is you guys that do the actual rescuing."
Virgil let out a faint chuff of laughter.
"That's what grandma says too."
"Your grandma is the wisest person I know."
"I love you, wife."
Isla kissed the tip of his nose, then his lips, and smiled.
"And I love you, husband."
They lay together entwined in one another's arms until the hot sun rose high enough to shine through the window across their faces and make them squint.
"Time to get up I think. Come on sleepyhead."
Virgil grabbed his wife's hands and pulled her upright on the bed, Isla groaning all the while.
"Aah, I'm sleeping for three now, you know!" she protested, flopping back down sideways to the pillow again. Virgil laughed loudly.
"No way, you don't get that excuse! The twins can sleep in there for as long as they like, but you have places to be today!"
She turned her head questioningly.
"I do?"
He nodded.
"Scott's having his tests and scans today which will tell us whether he is well enough to be allowed to come home. And I have some scans booked for you, too my dear. Just to make sure that everything is going alright with you…and who knows, its been what…four months? The facilities at home are as good as any hospital, but…well…"
Isla rolled her eyes and got up and smiled at him.
"It's been a stressful two weeks since the shooting, and you are a naturally worried…almost paranoid father-to-be. And I adore you even more for it. So does that mean separates? It'll have to be the maternity trousers grandma bought for me. This thing feels like it has tripled in size since we left Tracy Island!" She peered ruefully down at her protruding tummy. Virgil chuckled.
"Whatever's comfy. Come on, race you to the bathroom!"
"Hey, that's not fair!"
Virgil paused in the doorway and laughed at her.
"What do you suggest then, oh fair one?"
Isla pouted at him.
"You try living every day with a medicine ball up your jumper and then see how fast you can run!"
Brains looked up as his companion and temporary working partner clattered down the stairs and burst through the lab doors. Taylor was beaming.
"It's heaving it down with rain up there, Brains!" he declared. Brains looked amused.
"You are excited about rain?"
Taylor shrugged.
"I ain't seen real rain in years! Spent most of my life in space on one posting or another. I weren't back on earth for more than a few weeks and somehow, I didn't get any rain. Snow, yes, but not rain. Then I was on Mars, and you don't get rain there either!"
Brains smirked and returned to his computer.
"Well this is a tropical island. We get plenty of rain. Mostly hot sun, yes, but plenty of storms and heavy rain. Unless the storm turns into a hurricane, it shouldn't affect the Tracys' return."
Taylor shook his head.
"Nah, it's not stormy. Just very wet. How're you getting on with that diagnostic?"
"Almost finished. I think I've found the problem, but Eos is going to take a look at it and report her findings to John when he gets back."
"So we're almost ready to start building the framework?"
Brains turned to look at him and nodded.
"So much of this design is for the purpose of keeping John safe, should the Hood or anyone else try to blow him up a second time. A revolutionary idea of Virgil's, so simple in concept, and yet the computer control for the separation sequence is incredibly complex. At the end of the day, it is likely to be Eos that controls the start of the procedure, but since the five sections will each be computer controlled whilst separated, they will need their own control matrices. Matching up the computer commands with the individual functions, whilst not difficult is terribly time consuming."
Taylor nodded in agreement.
"Whilst you, John and Alan and Eos have been working on all of that, the rest of us and those funny looking robots of yours have been building the separate components. What about the interiors? The walkways, the control interfaces, toilets?"
"The final phase. The most important thing will be to make sure the safety and defence protocols and procedures are all in place and working as designed. Once we are sure John will be safe, then we make it into a place he can live and work in."
"What about that orbital lift thingy you invented? Are you going to make another one?"
"Of course! Unless Mister Tracy vetoes it."
Taylor shook his head.
"No reason why he should do that. By the way, you've been down here for ten hours straight."
Brains looked surprised.
"Have I really?"
"Yep, and you need food. I made dinner. You coming up to eat?"
Brains grinned and nodded. Taylor had never given the impression of a man who would be interested in cooking, but it seemed that spending so much time in his moon base all on his own had forced him to hone his skills. While he could not be described exactly as cordon-bleu, rather more along the lines of Taylor's Truck-Stop; the meals he had produced since the Tracys had left the island had been good.
Brains and Taylor sat down to a plate of old-fashioned ham, egg and chips, and finished with a large slice of plum pie with ice-cream.
The rain kept going for the remainder of the day and most of the night. By the time The two Tracy jets landed on the island's runway and taxied into their hangar, the last of the black clouds were disappearing over the horizon.
Scott had been cleared to leave hospital, complete with a long list of strict instructions from his doctors, which grandma, a retired doctor herself, assured them she would make sure he followed to the letter. Virgil and Isla had attended a round of checkups, including scans of Isla's tummy.
"We're expecting twins." Isla had told the doctor happily, "but we want to keep the sexes of the babies as a surprise."
The doctor chewed her lip, frowning thoughtfully as she examined the images on the screen. Finally, she shook her head.
"Well, I can confirm that your babies are so far healthy and well." She told the relieved couple. "But I have to say, where did you get the idea that you were having twins?"
Virgil and Isla glanced uneasily at one another, neither of them happy at the thought of launching into a full explanation of the conception. Finally, Isla broke the silence.
"Um…we aren't? I was told by an…um…a professor that it was twins."
The doctor smiled.
"Well, it can be difficult sometimes, with the angles the babies are at. But you see here? And here? There are two separate placentas, but this one has two babies. Not just the one. Look, I'll show you."
She printed out a copy of the image and drew in three red pen marks, clearly showing three clear profiles.
"You're not having twins. You're having triplets. Triplets where two of them are identical twins is extremely rare and carries a lot of potential risks. Both to you and to the babies."
There was an electric silence, as they digested the news. Isla gulped, and gripped Virgil's hand suddenly. Virgil squeezed her hand and shoulder reassuringly, then nodded to the doctor.
"We have advanced medical facilities at home doctor, plus two doctors and one fully qualified advance-care paramedic who can keep a very close watch on her, to make sure that everything is okay."
The doctor nodded.
"That is good. As the pregnancy progresses, she will need to be within easy reach of a specialist hospital. It is very rare for multiple births to reach full term, and there may come to be a need for you to be induced early. Perhaps as early as thirty-three or thirty-four weeks."
Isla went pale and glanced at Virgil who nodded, smiling easily.
"Thank you, doctor. I can assure you my wife will be in the best of hands."
Now, finally home on Tracy Island again, Isla found her jittery nerves had returned, this time in full force. She had begged Virgil not to tell anyone just yet. She needed to get her head around it first, and then speak to grandma. Virgil had hugged her and promised her they would tell grandma together once they all arrived home.
But of course, on arriving home, there was no time. Everyone had cases to unpack, laundry to deal with, and news to give to Brains and Lee Taylor whom had been patiently working all this time on the new Thunderbird Five.
Captain Taylor had surprised everyone by having a meal ready for their arrival…a large chicken salad followed by ice-cream…and whilst everyone sat around the table and ate, Brains and Taylor relayed to them how far they had progressed, and what the next steps would be.
As he listened, Virgil bit his lip. He badly wanted to have a full part in the rebuilding of the new Five, but he was concerned about his wife. He wanted to be here for her as well. His promise to her to wait before telling everyone their news played on his mind. He could not possibly help with the rebuild in orbit with his wife on the island needing to be taken care of. He was beginning to feel a little alarmed at the size of the responsibility on his shoulders. The pilot of International Rescue's workhorse, Thunderbird Two, a major part in the Five rebuild, a husband and now a prospective father, not of one, not of two but of three. Three babies! Three children.
He suddenly found his food difficult to swallow. Scott, still suffering a lingering headache and loss of appetite was having a similar problem. As always, he noticed his middle brother's mental preoccupation.
"Virgil, is everything alright?"
Virgil jumped and nodded.
"Yes! Yeah, fine Scott. Thanks. Everything is…fine."
Isla glanced at her husband and repressed a worried frown. She knew…or thought she knew what was wrong with her husband. He was worrying about her. She thought she knew why, too. Her father-in-law caught her eye, and gave her a smile, and raised one eyebrow questioningly at her. She understood what he was asking her, and took a deep breath, swallowing her apprehension with difficulty. She was a Tracy now after all. She took Virgil's hand under the table and gave him a reassuring smile and a nod.
"I think we had better tell everyone sooner rather than later." She told him in a soft voice.
"Tell us what?" Gordon asked. Virgil flashed him a quick smile, then his eyes rested on his grandmother.
"Before Isla and I boarded my plane to come home, we went to a doctor, to get her checked over…we found out something…rather startling…amazing actually… no, actually, rather scary…!" he fumbled. Isla shook her head slightly, unable to stop herself from smiling in sympathy. For all his intelligence, bravery and strength, her husband was just a little boy beneath it all. At least she had the comfort of knowing that Virgil was feeling as overwhelmed as she was herself.
"The doctor told us that the professor got it wrong. We're not having twins. We're actually expecting triplets."
Once everyone got over the shock, they were all very supportive. Jeff and Grandma took Virgil and Isla aside to reassure them. Grandma was especially helpful.
"Doctors in mainland hospitals have to always give you the worst-case scenarios in order to cover themselves." She told them. "But the fact is, in this day and age, the risks, although they are the same as they always were, are much more easily handled than they ever used to be. Our technologies and diagnostics pick up any problems long before they actually become a problem. And if the worst comes to the worst, we have the ability to either help you here or get you to any hospital in the world within half an hour in Thunderbird One. Virgil, you can rely on me and Brains to take great care of your wife. Believe me boy, she will be absolutely fine."
She turned to her son.
"Go on Jeff, take Virgil out for that walk he needs, whilst I take care of Isla. What she needs right now is a soak in a nice, hot bubble bath, and a foot massage."
Virgil kissed his wife, then his kissed grandma; whispered "thank you" in her ear and followed his father out of the room. Isla smirked at grandma.
"I love the idea of a long, hot soak, but who is going to volunteer to massage my feet? Are you going to do it?"
Grinning, grandma shook her head.
"Nope. I'm going to massage your shoulders, get that tension out of them. Once you are ensconced in the bubbles, I'll bring in your masseuse."
"Masseuse? You mean Kayo has agreed to come in and massage my big, smelly, achy feet?"
"Kayo is an expert at massage." Grandma told her, leading her to the bathroom, running a bath for her and emptying almost half a bottle of scented bubble-bath into it. "…According to Scott anyway! You just get in and lie back and relax!"
Sitting side by side on the beach, Jeff Tracy and Virgil breathed in the usually fresh sea air.
"What is it, son?" Jeff asked him eventually. "It's not like you to get so tongue-tied."
Virgil shrugged.
"Just realising…everything I suppose. I thought I was fine with the thought of being a dad…when I knew we were expecting twins. Then suddenly, its triplets, and I am realising that I am going to be a dad of three all at once, and I'm suddenly feeling that I'm not quite grown up enough to deal with it all. If it had been Scott…but me? The last year or so dad, I…we have been through so much. Finding then losing Connie, getting you back, being attacked by the Hood, all that stuff he did, committing crimes in our name, almost getting us locked up, then attacking us all over again, John, Alan, Gordon and grandma all in comas, Kayo captured and locked up…and now all of this! Me being kidnapped and tortured, raped…as good as…its like we've been living our lives in a thick fog, or pitch darkness, without having any sign of the way out. And yet, through all of that I have Isla, and a family on the way… I…dad, is this a reward for all we've been through, or a punishment for…for I don't know what?"
Jeff clasped an arm around his son's shoulders and squeezed him close.
"It has been a tough year hasn't it? International Rescue has been out of action for about a year now. All the preparations for the new Five are completed down here as far as it is possible for now. Now the work begins in earnest up in geo-stationary orbit. We'll work up there in shifts, but the work will continue without let-up until it is completed. I estimated we'll be about ready to resume duty as International Rescue about a month before your three children are born."
He pulled away and took Virgil's chin and looked him in the eye.
"You've had it especially hard, boy, but you've come through it like the true Tracy you are. I am proud of you. Very proud of you."
Virgil wiped his eyes and hugged his father close. He truly had had a dark and horrible year, all told. Full of pain and fear and darkness. And yet he had triumphed. They had won out over the Hood, and his henchmen, the mad professor and his henchmen, plus the professor's murderous son. He had his new wife, whom he adored and who adored him, and he had three beautiful children to come. The darkness was finally pealing away, replaced with the light. From now on, he and his wife would go forward; onward, into the light.
THE END.
Please return for the epilogue…here in a few days! (Promise!)
Thank you for reading.