Virgil stood overlooking the heated swimming pool of the hotel, his mind
elsewhere. It was different from the one he and his brother's had been
swimming in earlier that day and was usually occupied only by people who
couldn't bare the unheated waters of the other one. He glanced down at a
couple standing in the shallow end, discussing something with heated words.
Feeling as if he were spying, he quickly raised his head and looked out at
the ocean.
He was pushed forward a few seconds later and the rail of the deck dug into his torso. A pair of strong, large hands rested on his back and forced his upper body forward until he was leaning dangerously off the edge. Virgil kicked out, but the man holding him in the position was too strong. He whipped his head around, trying desperately to see his attacker but with no such luck.
The deck disappeared beneath him as Virgil began to fall headfirst towards the pool below. Instantly, his body took the form best to absorb most of the shock of hitting the ground as he had been taught so many years before. He closed his eyes, afraid he was about to meet his death, and was shocked into breathlessness when he hit the water.
Virgil had been lucky to have only been on the second floor and the fall had been a great one, but not enough to kill a person if they fell in a substance such as the one he had. He gasped and forced himself to breathe as he reached the surface. Water dripped from his hair and ran down his tanned face, creased with the pain that coursed up his left side where he'd hit.
A sound startled him and he turned around, treading water and still trying to get his bearings. The couple he'd seen were watching him in raw shock, wondering how he'd gotten there. He looked up and found his deck just in time to see a shadow disappear back inside. How the stranger had gotten into his room was another story, one Virgil didn't feel like thinking of just then. He heard his voice croak an excuse to the couple but he couldn't recall what he'd said.
Virgil pulled himself out of the pool and sat on the edge, staring at nothing until he got his thoughts collected. He stood up, his slacks hanging limply and his pale shirt sticking to his skin. He felt his legs move but had no recollection of making them do so. They carried him in the main doors and back into his room in a daze. He was lucky his keycard was water resistant, as it had been in his pocket when he'd fallen. It was only when he'd changed out of his soaking clothes and put on fresh ones that Virgil's brain cleared and he could think normally.
He inspected the door for forced entry, as he knew it automatically locked once closed. There was no lock, only a keycard sensor in which he and the hotel staff had a copy of. It hadn't been tampered with to the best of his knowledge so he closed the door and checked his carpet for footprints that might give him some clue of who his attacker could have been.
Someone knocked on his door for the second time that day and Virgil grabbed the closest thing he could find to a weapon - his dress shoe with a heel harder than rock. He raised it above his head and opened the door cautiously, ready to bring the shoe down on his visitor if he were provoked.
"What the. . .Virgil, what are you doing?" Scott yelled, seeing his brother about to club him with a shoe.
Virgil put the shoe down shamefaced. "Sorry, Scott. I thought you were my attacker."
"Your what?" He exclaimed.
Virgil invited him in and told him the whole story. Muttered comments about hotel security and words of surprise left his brother's mouth as he recalled what had happened to him.
"Are you all right?" Scott asked when he finished the tale. Concern shadowed his features as he looked at Virgil.
Virgil nodded. "I'm fine." He saw Scott's searching look. "Really, I am." He assured him. "But you have to leave because I have to get ready for dinner."
"Dinner? But we're not eating for another few hours."
Virgil glanced over at him as he picked out a crisp white shirt from his suitcase, a hint of pride in his eyes. "I'm playing the piano tonight again. The hotel has asked me to for a few hours every night until we leave. I'll be done by seven, just in time to join you for supper."
"That's great, Virg!" Scott clapped him on the back with a grin. He soon took on the worried expression once again. "Just make sure to watch your back, okay?"
"Yes, dad," Virgil muttered sarcastically. He shook out the shirt and held it up, making sure there weren't any stains on it so he would look presentable while he played the piano. Scott was just about to leave his room when Virgil stopped him. "Hey, Scott?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't tell father what happened, okay?"
"Where have I heard this conversation before?" Scott joked, remembering the one he'd had with his brother a few days earlier. He sighed. "Okay, I won't, but if this gets out of hand, I will. We can't be risking our safety without him knowing. You know he'd go crazy on us if he knew we were keeping something from him."
Virgil agreed and put his shoes, now considered by Scott as potentially lethal weapons, beside his black suit-coat. Scott said his parting words and left Virgil to get ready.
+++
The single spotlight fell on the pianist as Scott entered the dining room. He watched Virgil for a minute before his watch began beeping insistently and he hurried outside into the slightly frigid night air to see what was going on. When he was sure no one was around, he opened the signal and saw John's face flicker in the small screen.
"John? Is something wrong?"
"Wrong?" The oldest Tracy brother after Scott shook his head and smiled. "No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to ask if Alan had started back yet. He's due up here in six hours and I'm raring to get back to Earth. I don't want to miss that costume party tomorrow." John's words struck Scott's ears as he remembered that there was a masquerade the next night.
The transmission was lost for a minute and Scott shook his wrist out, wondering if John had disconnected or if it was just a fault in the system. Within a few more seconds, John's face appeared again, although rather blurry. The watch wasn't meant for long distance communication, such as the one happening now - Thunderbird 5, which was the monitoring station in space, to Scott on Earth.
Scott held the watch up to his face. "Alan left earlier this afternoon with father. They should be eating dinner right about now, and then dad's bringing Brains back with him. Try getting them there."
"I just did. I guess they're in the dining room and didn't hear me. Thanks, Scott."
"See you tomorrow, John." He turned the watch off and slid soundlessly back into the dining room, glancing around at the silent people watching his brother play soulful songs on the piano.
When Virgil finished and put his hands on his legs to allow himself a quick breath, Scott whistled loudly along with the polite clapping that followed the music. His brother raised his eyes and glared at him for making so much noise. Scott just whistled again in response.
Tin-Tin appeared at his side. "When's Alan coming back?"
"He just left, Tin-Tin."
"I know that," she said, "But how long will he be up there?" She couldn't say the rest of her sentence, in Thunderbird 5, in case somebody overheard.
"A week and a half. Dad let him cut it short this time because he didn't want to be away from you for so long," Scott answered, barely able to hide his amusement.
Tin-Tin hit him on the arm and walked into the restaurant as Virgil began serenading the crowd with another song.
+++
The next morning, Gordon sat bolt upright in his bed when he heard the sound of footsteps in his room. He'd heard what had happened to Scott and Virgil and didn't want anything of the sort happening to him.
His heart rate quickened as he saw a shadow fall in the doorway. It was oddly familiar, but he didn't want to take any chances. Instead, he pushed back the covers as quietly as he could and pressed his back against the wall, moving swiftly towards the door.
The shadow's owner stepped into the room and saw Gordon. Both men let out matching shrieks of surprise and fell back.
"Brains, what are you doing here?" Gordon cried, still feeling the effects of his suspiciousness. He took a deep breath to calm his heart.
"I d-d-didn't mean t-to wake you b-b-but I n-needed t-t-toothpaste." The engineer blushed and held up his toothbrush.
Gordon laughed. "You forgot to bring some?"
Brains, who was usually prepared for everything, nodded bashfully.
Gordon disappeared into the bathroom and came back with a tube of toothpaste and handed it to him. "Don't worry about returning it. I won't need it for some time." He yawned and then another question popped into his mind. "How did you get in here anyway?"
"T-there's not many c-c-contraptions that can s-stop me." Brains said honestly, not a hint of smugness in his stuttered words, and Gordon knew he was talking about the sensor on the door that identified the keycard.
"You could have knocked."
"I d-d-didn't want t-to, er, wake y-you."
"I'm glad you're here, Brains." Gordon said warmly. The scientist had almost become like a brother to him in the years he'd worked for International Rescue. He thought he detected the faintest hint of a smile on the man's face.
"T-thank you, G-G-Gordon." He left as quietly as he had entered and Gordon waited a minute before opening the front door and checking the sensor to see if there were any visible signs of Brain's entry.
There wasn't a scratch or spot to be found.
+++
John had traded spots with Alan late the night before and had traveled back to the mainland with Brains and his father sometime after midnight. The young space monitor looked around his room and breathed in the air. As much as he loved the tranquility of being all alone looking down on the planet, he didn't miss the buzz of the air filter that purified the oxygen in the cabin of Thunderbird 5.
A knock came at the door and he opened it. Without even having time to see who his visitor was, John was pulled into a large bear hug and from the dark hair in his face could identify Scott as the man let his brother go.
"Glad to see you too, Scott," John chuckled.
"So do you have your costume for tonight?"
John tried his best to look mysterious. "Maybe."
"Care to tell me what it is?"
"No, not really. You're going to have to wait just like everybody else. But I can promise you'll get a kick out of it."
Realizing he was still in his pajamas, John bid Scott farewell and pushed him back out into the hallway and shut the door. He had forgotten about the costume party but luckily had remembered to pack his outfit before he left.
Pulling it out of his suitcase, John grinned widely. He knew all of his brothers would love his original idea.
He was pushed forward a few seconds later and the rail of the deck dug into his torso. A pair of strong, large hands rested on his back and forced his upper body forward until he was leaning dangerously off the edge. Virgil kicked out, but the man holding him in the position was too strong. He whipped his head around, trying desperately to see his attacker but with no such luck.
The deck disappeared beneath him as Virgil began to fall headfirst towards the pool below. Instantly, his body took the form best to absorb most of the shock of hitting the ground as he had been taught so many years before. He closed his eyes, afraid he was about to meet his death, and was shocked into breathlessness when he hit the water.
Virgil had been lucky to have only been on the second floor and the fall had been a great one, but not enough to kill a person if they fell in a substance such as the one he had. He gasped and forced himself to breathe as he reached the surface. Water dripped from his hair and ran down his tanned face, creased with the pain that coursed up his left side where he'd hit.
A sound startled him and he turned around, treading water and still trying to get his bearings. The couple he'd seen were watching him in raw shock, wondering how he'd gotten there. He looked up and found his deck just in time to see a shadow disappear back inside. How the stranger had gotten into his room was another story, one Virgil didn't feel like thinking of just then. He heard his voice croak an excuse to the couple but he couldn't recall what he'd said.
Virgil pulled himself out of the pool and sat on the edge, staring at nothing until he got his thoughts collected. He stood up, his slacks hanging limply and his pale shirt sticking to his skin. He felt his legs move but had no recollection of making them do so. They carried him in the main doors and back into his room in a daze. He was lucky his keycard was water resistant, as it had been in his pocket when he'd fallen. It was only when he'd changed out of his soaking clothes and put on fresh ones that Virgil's brain cleared and he could think normally.
He inspected the door for forced entry, as he knew it automatically locked once closed. There was no lock, only a keycard sensor in which he and the hotel staff had a copy of. It hadn't been tampered with to the best of his knowledge so he closed the door and checked his carpet for footprints that might give him some clue of who his attacker could have been.
Someone knocked on his door for the second time that day and Virgil grabbed the closest thing he could find to a weapon - his dress shoe with a heel harder than rock. He raised it above his head and opened the door cautiously, ready to bring the shoe down on his visitor if he were provoked.
"What the. . .Virgil, what are you doing?" Scott yelled, seeing his brother about to club him with a shoe.
Virgil put the shoe down shamefaced. "Sorry, Scott. I thought you were my attacker."
"Your what?" He exclaimed.
Virgil invited him in and told him the whole story. Muttered comments about hotel security and words of surprise left his brother's mouth as he recalled what had happened to him.
"Are you all right?" Scott asked when he finished the tale. Concern shadowed his features as he looked at Virgil.
Virgil nodded. "I'm fine." He saw Scott's searching look. "Really, I am." He assured him. "But you have to leave because I have to get ready for dinner."
"Dinner? But we're not eating for another few hours."
Virgil glanced over at him as he picked out a crisp white shirt from his suitcase, a hint of pride in his eyes. "I'm playing the piano tonight again. The hotel has asked me to for a few hours every night until we leave. I'll be done by seven, just in time to join you for supper."
"That's great, Virg!" Scott clapped him on the back with a grin. He soon took on the worried expression once again. "Just make sure to watch your back, okay?"
"Yes, dad," Virgil muttered sarcastically. He shook out the shirt and held it up, making sure there weren't any stains on it so he would look presentable while he played the piano. Scott was just about to leave his room when Virgil stopped him. "Hey, Scott?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't tell father what happened, okay?"
"Where have I heard this conversation before?" Scott joked, remembering the one he'd had with his brother a few days earlier. He sighed. "Okay, I won't, but if this gets out of hand, I will. We can't be risking our safety without him knowing. You know he'd go crazy on us if he knew we were keeping something from him."
Virgil agreed and put his shoes, now considered by Scott as potentially lethal weapons, beside his black suit-coat. Scott said his parting words and left Virgil to get ready.
+++
The single spotlight fell on the pianist as Scott entered the dining room. He watched Virgil for a minute before his watch began beeping insistently and he hurried outside into the slightly frigid night air to see what was going on. When he was sure no one was around, he opened the signal and saw John's face flicker in the small screen.
"John? Is something wrong?"
"Wrong?" The oldest Tracy brother after Scott shook his head and smiled. "No, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to ask if Alan had started back yet. He's due up here in six hours and I'm raring to get back to Earth. I don't want to miss that costume party tomorrow." John's words struck Scott's ears as he remembered that there was a masquerade the next night.
The transmission was lost for a minute and Scott shook his wrist out, wondering if John had disconnected or if it was just a fault in the system. Within a few more seconds, John's face appeared again, although rather blurry. The watch wasn't meant for long distance communication, such as the one happening now - Thunderbird 5, which was the monitoring station in space, to Scott on Earth.
Scott held the watch up to his face. "Alan left earlier this afternoon with father. They should be eating dinner right about now, and then dad's bringing Brains back with him. Try getting them there."
"I just did. I guess they're in the dining room and didn't hear me. Thanks, Scott."
"See you tomorrow, John." He turned the watch off and slid soundlessly back into the dining room, glancing around at the silent people watching his brother play soulful songs on the piano.
When Virgil finished and put his hands on his legs to allow himself a quick breath, Scott whistled loudly along with the polite clapping that followed the music. His brother raised his eyes and glared at him for making so much noise. Scott just whistled again in response.
Tin-Tin appeared at his side. "When's Alan coming back?"
"He just left, Tin-Tin."
"I know that," she said, "But how long will he be up there?" She couldn't say the rest of her sentence, in Thunderbird 5, in case somebody overheard.
"A week and a half. Dad let him cut it short this time because he didn't want to be away from you for so long," Scott answered, barely able to hide his amusement.
Tin-Tin hit him on the arm and walked into the restaurant as Virgil began serenading the crowd with another song.
+++
The next morning, Gordon sat bolt upright in his bed when he heard the sound of footsteps in his room. He'd heard what had happened to Scott and Virgil and didn't want anything of the sort happening to him.
His heart rate quickened as he saw a shadow fall in the doorway. It was oddly familiar, but he didn't want to take any chances. Instead, he pushed back the covers as quietly as he could and pressed his back against the wall, moving swiftly towards the door.
The shadow's owner stepped into the room and saw Gordon. Both men let out matching shrieks of surprise and fell back.
"Brains, what are you doing here?" Gordon cried, still feeling the effects of his suspiciousness. He took a deep breath to calm his heart.
"I d-d-didn't mean t-to wake you b-b-but I n-needed t-t-toothpaste." The engineer blushed and held up his toothbrush.
Gordon laughed. "You forgot to bring some?"
Brains, who was usually prepared for everything, nodded bashfully.
Gordon disappeared into the bathroom and came back with a tube of toothpaste and handed it to him. "Don't worry about returning it. I won't need it for some time." He yawned and then another question popped into his mind. "How did you get in here anyway?"
"T-there's not many c-c-contraptions that can s-stop me." Brains said honestly, not a hint of smugness in his stuttered words, and Gordon knew he was talking about the sensor on the door that identified the keycard.
"You could have knocked."
"I d-d-didn't want t-to, er, wake y-you."
"I'm glad you're here, Brains." Gordon said warmly. The scientist had almost become like a brother to him in the years he'd worked for International Rescue. He thought he detected the faintest hint of a smile on the man's face.
"T-thank you, G-G-Gordon." He left as quietly as he had entered and Gordon waited a minute before opening the front door and checking the sensor to see if there were any visible signs of Brain's entry.
There wasn't a scratch or spot to be found.
+++
John had traded spots with Alan late the night before and had traveled back to the mainland with Brains and his father sometime after midnight. The young space monitor looked around his room and breathed in the air. As much as he loved the tranquility of being all alone looking down on the planet, he didn't miss the buzz of the air filter that purified the oxygen in the cabin of Thunderbird 5.
A knock came at the door and he opened it. Without even having time to see who his visitor was, John was pulled into a large bear hug and from the dark hair in his face could identify Scott as the man let his brother go.
"Glad to see you too, Scott," John chuckled.
"So do you have your costume for tonight?"
John tried his best to look mysterious. "Maybe."
"Care to tell me what it is?"
"No, not really. You're going to have to wait just like everybody else. But I can promise you'll get a kick out of it."
Realizing he was still in his pajamas, John bid Scott farewell and pushed him back out into the hallway and shut the door. He had forgotten about the costume party but luckily had remembered to pack his outfit before he left.
Pulling it out of his suitcase, John grinned widely. He knew all of his brothers would love his original idea.