Chapter 2
Thirty eight minutes after EOS' discovery, having needed to confirm his findings and wait for everyone to assemble, John had everyone in the lounge to share the findings.
"Oh m-my." Brains adjusted his glasses as he peered at the code. "What a horrible thing to do." Coming from Brains, it was a deep condemnation. "Are you quite s-sure, John?" He asked, looking up at John's hologram.
"One hundred percent." Was John's crisp reply. "It's got the same signatures as the virus I pulled out of EOS after the Seed Vault. It's Havoc." If the room had been any more humid, there would have been frost forming on the floor from the ice in his voice.
"Where was the c-code buried?" Brains asked next.
"In the regulation system for the power supply." EOS spoke up. "I believe a full wipe of the suit's hardware and downloading a new copy of the software should take care of it."
"No. I say we scrap all suits from the new batch, continue refurbishing from the previous batch and fabricate a new lot as soon as we have all component manufacturing in house, I don't want to take a chance on any other surprises or a hardware backup we've missed." That was Virgil, the middle son looking uncharacteristically grim. "Just after Scott's call I strung up a clothesline in a corner of Two's hangar and pulled two dozen suits- space rated and terrestrial rated- from the new batch, ones that have been used already. I put them on coathangers, hung them up on the line and let them run as if they were in use to try and replicate the fault."
"And?" Scott queried from the bed, still cradling a sleeping Alan. The youngest had woken long enough for another dose of glucose, now he was asleep again.
"It looks like thirty hours is the trigger point." Virgil answered, his mouth set in a thin line. "Three of them have shorted just like Alan's did, right when they hit thirty hours of use. One blew up. Power supply inverted and overloaded the capacitors. I'm waiting to see what happens with the rest, they're not at thirty hours yet."
Scott carefully made himself set aside contemplating the 'what ifs' that sparked off from that outcome until a later time. Combined with the earlier events of the day, that point of 'later' was going to be busy, he mused to himself with a grim, almost gallows humour, then turned his attention back to Virgil.
"We buy that component from an outside company." Virgil went on. "If Havoc got into the factory, it means that every single suit from the new batch is compromised."
"Where did the spiked hardware come from?" That was Kayo, her simmering fury evident in her clenched fists and narrowed eyes. Havoc had just tried to murder them. This attack would not, could not, be allowed to go unanswered.
"Bayfield Electronics in C-California, b-but they have no idea we're p-purchasing from them." Brains replied, looking first at Kayo, then over John's shoulder to Scott to address IR's commander. "We'd have to b-buy the patent to be able to make their equipment, or I'll have to redesign the p-power system from the g-ground up."
"We'll deal with that later, Brains." Scott ordered, propping himself up on one elbow as he rapidly triaged the situation. "For now I want you to focus on refurbishing old suits and safely decommissioning the spiked ones. Virgil- help him. Gordon- call Lady Penelope and tell her what's going on, see if she knows anything about Bayfield. Kayo- I'd be surprised if this isn't a distraction of some sort. Activate all our security, put TI on red alert, update Colonel Casey, tell the GDF we're temporarily offline and they're going to have to go to high alert too, this'll be the perfect time for The Hood to pull something while we're offline. Once you have a suit go investigate Bayfield's factory and take Captain Rigby with you."
"Scott, I don't need a babysitter." She warned him, golden eyes blazing. "I can handle this."
"Havoc has to know we'd find her surprise and go looking there and the GDF has the power to arrest people. Don't argue with me on this. I don't want anyone alone right now." Scott didn't voice the real reason for wanting someone with Kayo- she was angry enough to take things too far, having Rigby present would hopefully keep her from crossing that line. While he had no doubt that Lady Penelope and Parker would end up at the factory as well, he had no illusions about either of those two stopping her. To be quite frank, they'd probably be more inclined to hold Havoc down for Kayo.
Kayo held his gaze for a long moment, then nodded curtly. "I'll contact them now." She replied, then turned and swept out of the projector's pick up range.
"Wait a second, Scott, John, your suits!" Gordon jumped to his feet. "New batch or old batch?"
"New!" John quickly stripped off his space suit and scooped up Scott's. "I'll jettison them now!" He said, dashing for the nearest airlock.
Scott swore softly under his breath. "Good catch Gordon." He said, trying to hide how much of a fright that had been. Their uniforms were so ubiquitous, they only really cared about how long they'd been using them when they needed a wash or repairs. "We're going to need suits for re-entry, how long before you can send up some on the elevator, Virgil?"
"A couple of hours." Virgil frowned. "I've got enough pieces to put together several terrestrial-rated suits, but space-rated suits are harder."
"I'll help once I've called Lady P." Gordon quickly volunteered.
"How's Alan?" Grandma jumped in, peering at what little she could see of the youngest.
"We got some more glucose into him about fifteen minutes ago. Core temp is… 33.7 degrees." Scott replied, taking a moment to check the readouts. "All his other vitals are good. We'll wake him for some warm drinks shortly."
"Frostbite?" She asked next, her voice crisp and clinical.
"I don't think so, haven't seen anything yet, but we'll check again and let you know." Scott answered. "If we run into any problems we can contact O'Bannon on Global One and ask to borrow their suits. If it really gets bad we can send Alan down on the space elevator, but that'll be a last ditch resort."
The elevator could only take one passenger at a time. No one wanted to risk sending a medically unstable patient down alone and unprotected should the worst happen, but it soothed rattled nerves to have a plan, just in case it was needed.
"Understood." Grandma nodded. "Don't forget to take care of yourself, young man, I know you've been on the go since this morning." She said, giving him a Look over the rim of her glasses as she did so to remind him that yes, she did know the predilections of her grandsons and how 'unimportant' things like 'eating' and 'sleep' fell to the wayside when one of their family was in trouble. "EOS, be a dear and let me know if they don't eat dinner." Her tone was not one to be argued with.
"Yes, Doctor Tracy." EOS chirped.
"Yes Grandma." That was all he could really say to that, she wouldn't tolerate any other answer. "I'll update as soon as we have anything new." He finished, then signed off as John padded back into the bedroom, wearing just his black undersuit.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, Scott was glad he'd retained the undersuit. The second-born had zero personal shame when it came to family and had no qualms about walking about in his underwear or less. They'd all very quickly learned to check John's location on Five before calling him when he was off duty- he'd answer their calls while showering and he'd forgotten to disable the visual pick up on more than one occasion.
"I've jettisoned your suit and all of mine. They'll be hitting the atmosphere and burning up shortly." John reported as he sat down on the edge of the bed and reached over to stroke Alan's head gently. "How did the rest of the meeting go?"
Scott filled him in, glad to have something to do to fill in the space as they waited for Alan to warm up some more or for a report from the family, whichever came first. The conversation turned to theories bounced between them and EOS as to what had happened and why, but with so little information it quickly became a conversation that ran in circles.
"We should try wake Alan again, he's almost at 34 degrees." Scott finally suggested it when he realised they were starting to repeat themselves. "Get some warm drinks into him."
"Yeah." John nodded his agreement, shifting back slightly so as to not crowd Alan.
"Alan?" Scott turned his attention back to the youngest, giving his shoulder a firm shake. "Alan, wake up now." He tapped on his collar bone, firm enough to wake but gentle enough to not hurt. He didn't want to do a trapezius squeeze unless he had to, that one legitimately hurt.
The teenager shifted and made a sleepy grumble, blue eyes cracking open. "Mmmphrph… sc't?" He mumbled, blinked, stretched as best as he could while bundled up as he was, then frowned at his eldest brother. "Why're you 'n bed w' me?" He asked drowsily.
"You got hypothermia." Scott told him with a faint smile of relief, glad to see he was awake and reasonably alert this time. "You're on Five now."
"Hey Alan." John reached over and patted his shoulder. "You feel okay to sit up and have a drink?"
"Nnn….guh…yeah…" With the help of both siblings, Alan was de-tangled from most of the blankets and sat up, Scott hovering behind him in case his blood pressure dropped.
Meanwhile, John took the opportunity to visit the kitchen and came back with a lidded cup. He knelt, carefully placed it into Alan's chapped and reddened hands and then put his hands over Alan's to help him hold it steady enough to drink.
"Mm… hot chocolate." Alan smiled as he paused about halfway through the contents, noticeably perking up. "'S good, thanks John."
"You're welcome." John smiled back and helped him finish off the rest of it. "Feeling better?"
"Yeah, the meatsuit is more functional." Alan joked tiredly as he borrowed one of John's favourite expressions whenever sickness or fatigue brought him down- 'my meatsuit is broken!' had been an irritated seven year old John's announcement to the family when he'd caught a nasty bug and he'd kept using it for the sole reason of how well the phrase expressed his disdain for being sick.
"Good, you gave us a scare for a minute there." Scott shifted to sit more comfortably now that he was reasonably sure that Alan wasn't going to collapse, his back against the wall and legs hanging over the edge of the bed, draping a blanket over Alan's shoulders as he did so. In response Alan scooted back so he could lean against Scott and rest his head on Scott's shoulder. The eldest automatically put his arm around Alan while John set down the cup and made sure Alan was snugly wrapped up, tucking a dislodged heat pack back into place.
"What happened out there?" Alan asked, still drowsy as he snuggled into his brother's warmth.
Scott grimly filled Alan in on what had happened. He didn't miss the tensing when he detailed what had been found and the full body flinch when he told Alan what had happened to the suits that Virgil had set up.
"So we're waiting?" Alan asked at last, frowning slightly. None of them liked sitting back and waiting.
"Pretty much. I've got EOS running an investigation into Bayfield, but we have to wait for the results." John confirmed. He'd moved to join them on the bed by this point, sitting next to Alan. "Once you're back up to temp and we've got suits, you and Scott will go back to the Island. Speaking of temperature," he picked up the medical scanner and ran it over both his brothers. "Scott, you need another coffee and food. Alan, you stay put, I'll warm up some soup for you and get some more heat packs. EOS told me what Grandma said. No arguing, EOS will tattle, and Virgil's messaged me an update- Grandma's gone into full blown Doctor Tracy mode."
Despite wishes to argue the contrary, they all knew exactly what that meant.
Doctor Sally Tracy née Farmer was where they all got their protect/care instincts from, most overtly expressed in Scott's smother-hen tendencies and whenever Virgil went into medic-mode. The other three were usually a little more subtle in their demonstration of the trait, but a particularly irritated Gordon had been known to channel pure Grandma and growl 'I get to pick where this needle will go and at this rate it's going into your ass' at an uncooperative family member.
It was critical to note that the five brothers' expression of the Farmer-brand protect/care trait was diluted by the Tracy and Taylor from their paternal and maternal sides. The full strength version expressed by Doctor Tracy in 'protect/care for my family' mode was not to be argued with- you'd have more success telling an earthquake to tone it down than stopping Doctor Tracy once she got underway.
"F.A.B." Scott nodded. "John, you're warmer, you take over here, I'll get food going." He said as he nudged Alan to shuffle forward so he could get himself free.
0o0o0
On the Island, Kayo took a moment to breathe after wrapping up the call to Colonel Casey. The older woman had been gravely concerned- she had a fair idea of the level of secrecy and security that International Rescue operated under, so for something like this to happen meant that something had indeed gone terribly wrong. Kayo then pinged Rigby to contact her ASAP, coding the message as the highest priority.
She'd barely hit 'send' on the message when her comm chimed for attention and Wayne Rigby's image stared up at her. "What's the situation?" The older man asked without any of the usual banter that had become a normal part of their interactions.
Kayo filled him in on the information that they had so far and he first paled, then reddened with anger. "We're going to stop them." He promised, looking as grim as death. "When will you be there?"
"Ten minutes after I get a suit." Was her reply, glancing over at her tablet and frowning when she didn't see a message from Virgil that one was ready for her.
"Can you fly without one?" Rigby asked, clearly eager to begin the chase. "I can be in Californian airspace in forty five minutes, give or take."
"Not in my Thunderbird." Kayo shook her head, ponytail swaying with the movement. "I'd pass out from the G-forces before I'd even cleared our airspace if I tried flying Shadow without a suit."
He frowned at that, calculating and considering the options. "I'll assemble a team and get airborne, let me know when you're en-route and we'll go from there. If I get there first I'll secure the perimeter and wait for you." He'd had the stuffing knocked out of him by the Chaos Crew enough times to not want to go in without her backup.
"F.A.B." Kayo nodded and signed off, then smoothly stood from her chair in the secure comms annex she used to contact the GDF. Perhaps she could help Brains and Virgil get a suit together faster.
0o0o0
"Oh my, that is distressing." Lady Penelope's features were blurred by the miniature proportions of the hologram, but Gordon could see the small frown of concern that marked her brow. "Is everyone all right?"
"Alan's okay, it was close, but the biggest danger from hypothermia is hypoxia and we've got a backup system for suit failures, it triggered and he got fed pure O2, and Scott and John had him in Three pretty quick after that so he's okay." Gordon found himself rambling in his nervousness and quickly reined himself in, trying to keep himself in something akin to mission mode where he could clamp down on his emotions and project the normal persona he presented on rescues- calm, collected and ready with a quip to lighten the mood.
He never really could stay fully in mission mode whenever it came to Lady P though, one glance from her and he could feel his carefully constructed defences crumble and leave his every thought and feeling bare to her. His usual tactic- hide behind a joke- wasn't really appropriate now. Despite what his family sometimes said, he did have a sense of timing, and right now wasn't the right time for that.
"So, uh, yeah." Gordon scratched the back of his head and leaned his elbows on the breakfast bar; he'd decided to call her from the kitchen for a little privacy. "That's where we're at. Kayo's going hunting as soon as she can take off, Scott told her to take Rigby with her but if he's not available she'll probably just go on her own, 'specially since John is busy helping with Alan and might not notice. We've told the GDF we're going dark and we're at red alert, the GDF hopefully will go to red too, we told them to anyway." He caught himself rambling again and made himself shut up.
"That's wise, The Hood must be using this as a distraction." Penelope mused, sitting back in the back seat of FAB 1 to contemplate the situation.
" 'e has to be up to something." An unseen Parker chimed in from the driver's seat. "All this can't be for nothing. It'd take something right cunning to do what she did, and places like Bayfield 'ave all sorts of security to prevent sabotage like that."
"Quite right, Parker." Penelope sat up again, a flicker of coldness in her expression that Gordon didn't recall ever seeing before. For a moment, just a moment, her own mask dropped and he could see the ruthlessness that formed part of the reason why his father had recruited her. "Leave this with us, Gordon. We'll contact you as soon as we have an update." She clicked her compact shut and ended the call.
Staring at the now inactive projector, Gordon drew in a long breath, held it for a moment, then slowly let it out. He wasn't exactly fond of being on the periphery of the action, much more accustomed to being right there in the thick of things, but this was a lesson he'd learned many years before and kept on learning- knowing when to wait was just as important as knowing when to act. Right now he couldn't act directly, but he could certainly help get ready for when it was time to do something.
Using that as a focus to calm his seething thoughts and emotions, Gordon headed down to join Virgil in Brains' workshop, determined to keep himself busy and productive until he could do something more.