Chapter 4
John was pulling up another holographic interface in seconds, rapidly scrolling through data and eyes widening when he found what he was after. "They use it in their vehicles and aircraft. All of them. Including space vehicles." He announced.
Scott was usually pretty controlled in his use of language. While some CEOs cultivated a 'devil may care', 'everyman' and 'cheeky larrikin' image and played rough and loose with their language in their efforts to be relatable, he couldn't afford that with his dual roles as not only the head of Tracy Industries but also International Rescue. His comparative youth meant he had to be mature and respectable to keep the GDF on side so they could keep International Rescue flying and also earn the trust of the different executives of TI.
Not to mention Grandma had opinions on proper language and freely enforced them.
But right at that moment, with visions of GDF fliers falling out of the sky and International Rescue unable to respond, he figured if Lady Penelope didn't turn a hair at the heartfelt 'Oh shit!' that escaped him, then Grandma would just have to deal with it.
"John, call them, now!" He ordered, seeing John clear his screen and open a comms channel as he spoke. "They're going to have to ground everything until they can sort out what's had recent maintenance and what hasn't. Update home as soon as you've told the GDF."
"Wouldn't the new stock be kept separate from the old?" Lady Penelope queried.
"No." Scott shook his head. "If the GDF mechanics are anything like the Air Force ones, all the new parts would have been dumped in with the existing stock as soon as they got their deliveries. It means they'll have to scrap all their spares and pull parts from every vehicle that they're not 100% sure hasn't been in the shop recently." He stepped back and leaned against the kitchen bench as he turned this new information over in his head, his heel absently kicking against the cupboard as he processed everything. The conclusion he quickly drew was one that he didn't like. "We were just collateral damage, this was aimed at grounding the GDF." He announced as he straightened, looking at Lady Penelope's image and knowing John was listening in even as he briefed Colonel Casey.
Over John's shoulder and despite the blurring effect of the mini-projector, Scott could see Val flinch and turn distinctly pale as John updated her.
"With the GDF out of action, the Hood and the Chaos Crew will have an almost completely free hand." Penelope's musings drew Scott's attention once again. "This is distressing, but there is at least one silver lining to this storm cloud."
"Which is?" Scott couldn't for the life of him see what possible silver lining she could be talking about.
"Parker, Kayo and I have been racking our brains over how and when the Hood could have gotten his hands on the necessary information to sabotage International Rescue's equipment like this." She explained. "The only possible opportunity we could discern would have been when the Hood invaded Tracy Island, but everything was locked down, including the launch tubes, computer interfaces, hangars and store rooms. The brief moment he did have full system control, he didn't have a chance to pull any data."
"Agreed, and in a way we acted as the canary in the coal mine." John added as he came back to join Scott. "Can you imagine the chaos if this had happened with zero warning?"
Scott couldn't help but grimace. "I'd rather not." He shuddered. Something like that would have crippled the GDF for months, if not years, as they rebuilt their fleets and trained up new recruits. "What's the word from Colonel Casey?" He asked next, belatedly realising he hadn't even thought about the security aspect, but that was why they had Kayo, it wasn't his job to consider that, it was hers.
"Casey is grounding everything, all shuttles are either being landed or diverted to the Space Hubs and put on autopilot at a safe distance and luckily a civilian freighter is resupplying Global One right now so they're evacuating the crew and shutting down the station." John reported.
"Captain O'Bannon?" Scott asked his brother with a little amusement, one eyebrow raised as he recalled what had happened the last time Global One was evacuated.
"Is getting on the ship this time." John flicked him a tight smile. "Her 2IC has orders to make it happen."
"Good." Scott looked back at Lady Penelope, realising something. "Lady P, your equipment?"
"My equipment is quite safe." Penelope assured him. "I wasn't due for replacements until next month, so I have a free hand at this time."
"That's a relief." Scott nodded. "Any other updates?"
"As far as I can tell, the owners of Bayfield are squeaky clean." Penelope advised. "John, has EOS discovered anything to the contrary?"
John paused and tilted his head to listen over his comms earbud as EOS, who was always listening in, spoke to him. "No, but she thinks she might have found when the sabotage occurred." He supplied after a moment. "There's a few suspicious glitches in their security that she's investigating. She'll forward you the data as soon as she's confirmed it."
"Understood."
Scott leaned back against the bench again, brow knitted, arms crossed and mouth pulling down into a scowl. Normally by this point they'd be launching, all kitted up and with a target in mind, but his normal thought process was completely derailed by the simple fact of the matter that they couldn't act. It was like he had a foot nailed to the floor and both arms tied behind his back, and the entire experience was uniquely frustrating in a way he'd never experienced before.
Every time he'd had to wait like this it was usually because of some third party- weather, rubble that needed clearing, water that had to drain, people that needed moving, something like that- but normally as soon as that was dealt with he was poised and ready to continue the mission. He was so used to having his Thunderbird and his equipment instantly available that it was jarring to not have it. He almost felt naked, not having the uniform that was practically his second skin with all the time he spent in it.
Complicating his feelings was the obscure sense of betrayal he felt when he considered how their gear had failed them.
The power supply for the suit and the associated wiring harness and control systems sat snugly between their shoulder blades, from the base of the neck to just above mid back. Brains, in his usual multitasking genius, had placed it there as additional spinal protection as the components were small enough but also strong enough to make a segmented section not unlike lamellar armour. Scott shook his head as his wandering imagination conjured up an image of what it would have looked like when Virgil's test uniform blew, an almost stab in the back from the uniforms that they trusted their lives to. He shoved those thoughts away to join the rest of the uncomfortable and distressing things that had happened today to be dealt with later.
'Later' was going to be an extremely not-fun time, but he was reasonably sure he could stave it off until it was safe to relax and process everything.
'Later' was also going to involve comfort food and alcohol. He'd already decided that after today a double scotch and an apple pie was definitely on the menu.
He looked up to find John and Lady Penelope's eyes on him- John's were understanding, he knew how his brain worked and what he'd be dealing with right now, Lady P's were patient, but curious.
"Okay. What can we do?" Scott asked them, temporarily stymied by his inability to do something more than mix up that cream for Alan.
"Threat assessment." Was John's quick reply. "The Hood has a veritable smorgasbord of potential options open to him right now, if we can rank his most likely targets, the GDF might be able to cover at least some of them with whatever they can requisition and local authorities."
"I agree." Penelope nodded crisply. "Parker and I will work on that, John, if I may borrow yours and EOS' assistance? We'll be back at the house shortly, my systems there are much better for this kind of work."
"I'll have the link set up shortly." John promised.
"While we take care of this, Scott, I would suggest that International Rescue focus on becoming flight ready as soon as possible." Penelope advised. "Kayo has advised me that she and Captain Rigby will be going to the factory as soon as she has a suit. It would be wise for her to focus on that mission so that the factory can be cleared of Havoc's tampering. International Rescue and the GDF need to have replacement components as soon as possible."
"Understood." His wings clipped and without the skills to participate in the threat assessment, Scott could only nod his agreement, seeing the wisdom in her words. "Good luck."
"To you as well." Lady Penelope gave them both a brief smile and ended the call.
Scott blew out a sigh and turned back to finish preparing Alan's cream, but a gentle hand on his shoulder stopped him.
John wordlessly tugged him to turn around and drew him into a comforting hug that Scott didn't realise he'd been needing until John initiated it. On second thoughts, John needed the hug just as much as he did, Scott realised as he returned the embrace. This was just as frightening for John as it was for him, if not more so because of how connected John was to them normally.
He knew of John's self-soothing habit of reviewing their bio-monitors and the promise of 'I'm alive, I'm okay' that each heartbeat held, using it to calm his fears whenever they were on a mission. Now that he'd been cut off from all of that, Scott could imagine it would be like losing an eye for his technology-reliant brother.
The two brothers simply held each other for a few minutes, drawing strength and comfort from each other. John wasn't quite at the level requiring a forehead press, but Scott could sense he was getting pretty close.
"You okay?" He asked when John eventually released him, searching his expression for confirmation that John was actually okay and not just faking it.
"I will be." John nodded, and Scott could see him ruthlessly compartmentalising everything for now. "You focus on Alan, I'll get targets lined up for the GDF." He instructed.
"F.A.B." Scott nodded, turning back to his work while John called up another interface to connect Five with the computers at the Creighton-Ward mansion.