WHUMP!
John's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. "ALAN!" he screamed, "You dropped your brother!!"
"Hey, I called to you for help! I couldn't help it, he's dead weight!" cried Alan.
John ran over to where Virgil laid on the floor. He examined him again, "Oh gees, lookit that goose-egg he's getting! Boy is he gonna be pissed at you." John said looking at Alan.
"John, we don't have to tell him. We can just tell him he got it in the explosion. Besides, he's the one who said he was ok and got up." Alan was rambling as the thoughts of Virgil coming after him flooded his brain.
"But Alan, did you have to drop him on his HEAD?!" John stated with a gleam in his eye, hinting of blackmail in the future.
"Let's just get him back into TB3 and on the way home, will ya?" Alan pleaded.
The two blond-haired Tracys gently picked up Virgil and carried him to the sick room of TB3. Alan belted him into the cot, checked the original scalp wound, then at the large swelling on the other side of his head. He felt sick to his stomach thinking of what Virgil will do to him if he finds out. He either has to bribe John with something irresistible, like, WHAT, he didn't know? Or find something on John as counter-blackmail. He has at least 2 - 3 hours alone with Virgil to try to think of something. He may have more time depending on when TB5's communications are fixed.
"John, will you be ok up here? Once TB3 is out of range, you won't be able to bounce off of her communications with your watch. You will be without communications for about 5 hrs as we do a round trip." Alan asked.
John replied, "Don't worry. I can work on getting the communications up here working again while you take Virgil home. I sure hope he doesn't remember where that lump on his head came from. So long ...have a safe journey."
As Alan closed the hatch as he heard a 'snork-snork' coming from John. "Oh man." He thought, "I'm NEVER going to live this one down." He could tell John was already planning something using this incident as fodder. As Alan set TB3 on course there was nothing more to do than to worry about what John saw him do to Virgil. He placed his forehead on his hand and just shook it from side to side.
Once Alan left, John completely forgot the incident and went about repairing the communications. That was his first priority.
Scott received the hail from Alan. "Base from TB3, come in Scott."
"Go ahead Alan" came the reply.
"I have Virgil strapped into the cot in the sick room. He passed out before we got him into TB3. I think he will probably sleep the whole way. He will need a couple of stitches or staples for the cut he has on his scalp. He didn't seem to have any other problems. No broken bones or anything like that." Alan hesitated...."Should he even mention the lump? Nah! They can see it when he arrives home." He thought.
Scott asked when he heard the hesitation in Alan's voice, "Was there something else Alan? Does Virgil have another problem?"
"Um, he also has a knot on his head too, probably from hitting the wall or the floor after the explosion" Alan lied. He sure hoped that Scott didn't notice how red his face was getting. He could FEEL it turning red. It was times like this that he hated being so fair. Turning red in the face has gotten him into trouble more than once.
Scott answered, "Ok, we will be expecting you in about 2 hrs then. Dad should be home by then."
"Phew! He didn't pick up on my red face!" Thought Alan.
Brains brought the gurney to TB3's hanger, then went to prep the sick room. Scott was apprehensive and kept contacting Alan every few minutes asking about Virgil. Virgil was still out cold and Alan was fretting more and more about what was going to happen to him when he finds out.
Jeff contacted Scott, "I'm 2 minutes away Scott, permission to land."
"Go ahead dad, TB3 is still about ½ hour out". Scott replied
When Jeff landed, he hustled to the lounge and contacted Alan. Between Virgil not waking up and the non-stop calls from base, Alan was turning into a basket case.
Alan finally reached home and slid TB3 into her hanger. Brains, Jeff and Scott were there ready to get Virgil on the gurney, while Gordon, Tin-tin and Grandma were in the sick room ready to receive him. While in transport on the gurney, Virgil woke up. "OWWW!" and he raised his hand up to his head and felt a large lump where there wasn't one before. He opened his eyes and immediately wished he hadn't as all he saw was the ceiling flying past him in a blur. He closed them again as he listened to his father say, "Just relax Virgil, you're back home and on your way to the sick room." When everything stopped and he was gently moved over to the bed, he tried opening his eyes again. He was staring at several worried faces. But why was Alan's face so red? He was distracted away by Jeff who was right beside him. He patted him on his arm and asked, "What happened up there, son?"
"I had just contacted Scott, to let him know that I was settling in when there was an explosion from my left. I believe John said it was oxygen tank #7. But truthfully that is all I know."
"Other th-th-than the knot and l-l-laceration on you head, d-d-do you hurt anywhere else?" inquired Brains.
Virgil turned to look at Brains. "My shoulder is a little sore from where I hit the wall, but other than that, no. But where did I get this goose-egg? I don't remember hitting my head." And he winced as he felt it.
"Hold s-s-still Virgil while I-I-I staple your h-h-head" Brains said and he got to work cleaning out and closing up the laceration he had. Once he had finished, he got out an old fashion ice bag, filled it with ice and placed it on the lump. "This s-s-should bring d-d-down the swelling a b-b-bit. But let m-m-me know if you g-g-get dizzy."
Scott stopped in to see Virgil before he went up to TB5. "Hey Virg, if you really didn't want to do time up on TB5, all you had to do was ask me to take it. You didn't have to go get blown up to get out of it."
"Very funny. Can't you come up with anything more original than that?" Virgil smirked holding the ice bag on his bump.
"It was all I could come up with in such short notice. I've got to run now, take it easy." Scott turned and left. Brains had finished with the doctoring part of his sick bay duties and Tin-tin took over while he went up to leave for work on TB5. He asked, "Do y-y-you need anything else b-b- before I go V-v-virgil?"
Virgil shook his head no. He just wanted to sleep.
Scott and Brains headed for TB5 to fix the damage and bring John back home. When they were 30 minutes away they heard a crackle over the radio and then John's voice came through. "TB5 to TB3, come in guys."
"Hey, John has the communication working" Scott said to Brains, then into the comlink, "John, good to hear from you. Is TB5 back online?"
"It's put together with spit and bubble gum, Scott. Brains and I will need to put some new parts into it." John replied.
Scott docked TB3 more gracefully than her previous docking several hours before. When Scott and Brains entered through the hatch they caught John just coming out from under the com. He was filthy, as he had been working underneath the console on his back trying to fix the com. Brains had with him several new pieces in the repair kit and a new oxygen tank. He instructed Scott to take out what was left of #7 and put on a new tank. He was to also check the valves and tubing to make sure that they weren't damaged as well. While Scott got to work on the tanks, Brains and John got down and dirty with the communications console. TB5 went off line again as they removed some of the re-wired parts and replaced them with new parts.
It took only a short couple of hours and TB5 was good as new. Scott stowed his stuff away, noting that Virgil's gear was still there. He picked up the bag and tossed it to John. "Here bring this back for Virgil. I don't know if he needs anything in it, and I also am not sure if he is coming back in two weeks or not, dad didn't say." John grabbed the bag and said, "Ok, have a good stay Scott and try not to blow anything up. Once is enough." Scott gave him a dirty look with a smile hiding behind it.
With that Brains and John left Scott alone in TB5. They were chatting quietly, there was only about an hour left in the ride. John was thinking of some of the things that he and Alan could do to spend some quality time together.
Back at base, Scott's portrait beeped and Jeff hailed him, "Hi Scott, what's up?"
Scott answered, "Nothing, dad, just checking in."..
John's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. "ALAN!" he screamed, "You dropped your brother!!"
"Hey, I called to you for help! I couldn't help it, he's dead weight!" cried Alan.
John ran over to where Virgil laid on the floor. He examined him again, "Oh gees, lookit that goose-egg he's getting! Boy is he gonna be pissed at you." John said looking at Alan.
"John, we don't have to tell him. We can just tell him he got it in the explosion. Besides, he's the one who said he was ok and got up." Alan was rambling as the thoughts of Virgil coming after him flooded his brain.
"But Alan, did you have to drop him on his HEAD?!" John stated with a gleam in his eye, hinting of blackmail in the future.
"Let's just get him back into TB3 and on the way home, will ya?" Alan pleaded.
The two blond-haired Tracys gently picked up Virgil and carried him to the sick room of TB3. Alan belted him into the cot, checked the original scalp wound, then at the large swelling on the other side of his head. He felt sick to his stomach thinking of what Virgil will do to him if he finds out. He either has to bribe John with something irresistible, like, WHAT, he didn't know? Or find something on John as counter-blackmail. He has at least 2 - 3 hours alone with Virgil to try to think of something. He may have more time depending on when TB5's communications are fixed.
"John, will you be ok up here? Once TB3 is out of range, you won't be able to bounce off of her communications with your watch. You will be without communications for about 5 hrs as we do a round trip." Alan asked.
John replied, "Don't worry. I can work on getting the communications up here working again while you take Virgil home. I sure hope he doesn't remember where that lump on his head came from. So long ...have a safe journey."
As Alan closed the hatch as he heard a 'snork-snork' coming from John. "Oh man." He thought, "I'm NEVER going to live this one down." He could tell John was already planning something using this incident as fodder. As Alan set TB3 on course there was nothing more to do than to worry about what John saw him do to Virgil. He placed his forehead on his hand and just shook it from side to side.
Once Alan left, John completely forgot the incident and went about repairing the communications. That was his first priority.
Scott received the hail from Alan. "Base from TB3, come in Scott."
"Go ahead Alan" came the reply.
"I have Virgil strapped into the cot in the sick room. He passed out before we got him into TB3. I think he will probably sleep the whole way. He will need a couple of stitches or staples for the cut he has on his scalp. He didn't seem to have any other problems. No broken bones or anything like that." Alan hesitated...."Should he even mention the lump? Nah! They can see it when he arrives home." He thought.
Scott asked when he heard the hesitation in Alan's voice, "Was there something else Alan? Does Virgil have another problem?"
"Um, he also has a knot on his head too, probably from hitting the wall or the floor after the explosion" Alan lied. He sure hoped that Scott didn't notice how red his face was getting. He could FEEL it turning red. It was times like this that he hated being so fair. Turning red in the face has gotten him into trouble more than once.
Scott answered, "Ok, we will be expecting you in about 2 hrs then. Dad should be home by then."
"Phew! He didn't pick up on my red face!" Thought Alan.
Brains brought the gurney to TB3's hanger, then went to prep the sick room. Scott was apprehensive and kept contacting Alan every few minutes asking about Virgil. Virgil was still out cold and Alan was fretting more and more about what was going to happen to him when he finds out.
Jeff contacted Scott, "I'm 2 minutes away Scott, permission to land."
"Go ahead dad, TB3 is still about ½ hour out". Scott replied
When Jeff landed, he hustled to the lounge and contacted Alan. Between Virgil not waking up and the non-stop calls from base, Alan was turning into a basket case.
Alan finally reached home and slid TB3 into her hanger. Brains, Jeff and Scott were there ready to get Virgil on the gurney, while Gordon, Tin-tin and Grandma were in the sick room ready to receive him. While in transport on the gurney, Virgil woke up. "OWWW!" and he raised his hand up to his head and felt a large lump where there wasn't one before. He opened his eyes and immediately wished he hadn't as all he saw was the ceiling flying past him in a blur. He closed them again as he listened to his father say, "Just relax Virgil, you're back home and on your way to the sick room." When everything stopped and he was gently moved over to the bed, he tried opening his eyes again. He was staring at several worried faces. But why was Alan's face so red? He was distracted away by Jeff who was right beside him. He patted him on his arm and asked, "What happened up there, son?"
"I had just contacted Scott, to let him know that I was settling in when there was an explosion from my left. I believe John said it was oxygen tank #7. But truthfully that is all I know."
"Other th-th-than the knot and l-l-laceration on you head, d-d-do you hurt anywhere else?" inquired Brains.
Virgil turned to look at Brains. "My shoulder is a little sore from where I hit the wall, but other than that, no. But where did I get this goose-egg? I don't remember hitting my head." And he winced as he felt it.
"Hold s-s-still Virgil while I-I-I staple your h-h-head" Brains said and he got to work cleaning out and closing up the laceration he had. Once he had finished, he got out an old fashion ice bag, filled it with ice and placed it on the lump. "This s-s-should bring d-d-down the swelling a b-b-bit. But let m-m-me know if you g-g-get dizzy."
Scott stopped in to see Virgil before he went up to TB5. "Hey Virg, if you really didn't want to do time up on TB5, all you had to do was ask me to take it. You didn't have to go get blown up to get out of it."
"Very funny. Can't you come up with anything more original than that?" Virgil smirked holding the ice bag on his bump.
"It was all I could come up with in such short notice. I've got to run now, take it easy." Scott turned and left. Brains had finished with the doctoring part of his sick bay duties and Tin-tin took over while he went up to leave for work on TB5. He asked, "Do y-y-you need anything else b-b- before I go V-v-virgil?"
Virgil shook his head no. He just wanted to sleep.
Scott and Brains headed for TB5 to fix the damage and bring John back home. When they were 30 minutes away they heard a crackle over the radio and then John's voice came through. "TB5 to TB3, come in guys."
"Hey, John has the communication working" Scott said to Brains, then into the comlink, "John, good to hear from you. Is TB5 back online?"
"It's put together with spit and bubble gum, Scott. Brains and I will need to put some new parts into it." John replied.
Scott docked TB3 more gracefully than her previous docking several hours before. When Scott and Brains entered through the hatch they caught John just coming out from under the com. He was filthy, as he had been working underneath the console on his back trying to fix the com. Brains had with him several new pieces in the repair kit and a new oxygen tank. He instructed Scott to take out what was left of #7 and put on a new tank. He was to also check the valves and tubing to make sure that they weren't damaged as well. While Scott got to work on the tanks, Brains and John got down and dirty with the communications console. TB5 went off line again as they removed some of the re-wired parts and replaced them with new parts.
It took only a short couple of hours and TB5 was good as new. Scott stowed his stuff away, noting that Virgil's gear was still there. He picked up the bag and tossed it to John. "Here bring this back for Virgil. I don't know if he needs anything in it, and I also am not sure if he is coming back in two weeks or not, dad didn't say." John grabbed the bag and said, "Ok, have a good stay Scott and try not to blow anything up. Once is enough." Scott gave him a dirty look with a smile hiding behind it.
With that Brains and John left Scott alone in TB5. They were chatting quietly, there was only about an hour left in the ride. John was thinking of some of the things that he and Alan could do to spend some quality time together.
Back at base, Scott's portrait beeped and Jeff hailed him, "Hi Scott, what's up?"
Scott answered, "Nothing, dad, just checking in."..