Participation II - Fifteen.

1 = first name

2 = last name

3 = salutation

5 = country

The ride home from 5 in Thunderbird Two was a sombre one. No one spoke much; we were all deep in our thoughts. The Tracy boys didn't communicate much with each other; Trixie was gazing sorrowfully at the damaged photo. And I... I kept on remembering that horrible voice, that face, that I'd hoped I'd never see or hear again. The memories rushed in and out of my mind in time with the pounding pain in my foot.

We arrived back at the same time as Thunderbird One. "Must have been waiting for us." Virgil commented.

We were all very quiet when we arrived back in the lounge at Tracy Island. Trixie quickly made her excuses and headed to her bedroom.

I rubbed at my arm. I was going to be very sore all over tomorrow. Then I stopped. Something felt strange about my sleeve. I inspected it and found a large hole. The edges were scorched.

A bullet hole.

I must have turned pale.

"1!" John said in concern. "Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah, yes. I've just found this." I showed him the hole.

"It didn't nick you did it?" There was a frown on his face.

"No, no. It's only my foot that's really sore."

"I'll help you to the sick bay." John offered.

"John," his father rumbled, "I'd like you to stay here for a debriefing."

Gordon, Tin-Tin and Brains had returned while we'd been away.

"I'll take you 1." Gordon offered.

"Gordon, I think you should stay too."

"But I didn't take part..." Gordon started to protest.

"Gordon!" Jeff put an end to the discussion.

"I'll help." Tin-Tin offered and then glanced at Jeff as if she expected him to protest again.

Brains examined my foot, and as expected found nothing seriously wrong. "I-It's only a bad bruise. If you'll find it easier to walk you can b-borrow a cane." He found one similar to Trixie's.

"So have you finished at my place?" I asked them.

"It looks wonderful." Tin-Tin enthused. "You wouldn't even know that we'd been there."

"There's o-one more thing to be done." Brains admitted. "B-But I only thought of the i-idea while we were there. S-So I didn't have the necessary equipment to make the adjustments. I-It'll take me a day or so to put it together and th-then, when we take you and Trixie home, I c-can install it. It should only take me half an hour... or so."

"Hop off the table 1." Tin-Tin suggested. "Let's see how well you can walk."

I managed a few faltering steps.

"R-Rest the foot as much as possible." Brains said.

I went and changed out of my newly ventilated top and then decided that I needed some fresh air and sun. The only way that I knew to get to the poolside, was through the lounge.

I was already in the room before I realised that a voice was raised in anger. Jeff Tracy was berating his sons...

I watched what was happening through a dividing trellis screen. Jeff was standing in front of his earthbound sons, his face red. I could see that Alan had joined in the debriefing via his portrait. All of the younger Tracy's looked uncomfortable and Scott looked particularly chastened over the ear bashing they were receiving.

"I don't understand Scott. I thought you had more brains than that. I can't believe that you let them go in alone..."

"I..." Scott started to say, but he was overrun by his father.

"...You knew there were dangerous chemicals in there, not to mention a dangerous villain and yet you did nothing..."

"He didn't..." It sounded as if Virgil was trying to stick up for his brother.

"I trust you all to behave in a responsible way, like responsible adults, and what do you do? You let a ninety four year old woman and a..."

I'd heard enough. I stepped into his field of vision. "It was our choice Jeff."

He froze. The expression of anger didn't leave his face as he turned to face me. "What?"

I swallowed. "It was our choice." I repeated. "We were only doing our job, just as your sons did theirs."

He looked as if he was physically trying to reign in his anger, and yet strangely I wasn't frightened. Then he spoke. His voice was dangerously quiet. "This is a personal matter, 1"

"Really? You were discussing the rescue. That makes it an International Rescue matter doesn't it? And I'm a member of International Rescue." By the look on his face I began to wonder for how much longer.

His son's shifted uneasily. Up on Thunderbird Five Alan pretended to read a printout.

Jeff took a breath. "3 2, May I remind you..."

This was a bad sign. He'd gone formal on me. I decided to repay the compliment. "Mr Tracy." I interrupted him. "As we explained to Scott before he agreed to let us go, you've paid good money to train us for this situation. It's what you hired us for. It's what you've given us the tools to deal with. And we HAD things under control, we did our job, we maintained International Rescue's security, we stopped the Hood. As you would have known if you'd included Trixie and me in your debriefing. It was only when the Hood knocked into a beam that we got into trouble. And that was when your boys..." I looked at the five younger men. They were hardly boys. "...Your sons did their job and rescued us from the collapsed building." I stopped and shifted my weight onto my good foot, leaning on the cane.

The younger Tracy's glanced at each other nervously. Gordon tried to suppress a cough.

Jeff Tracy smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. "Thank you for your input, 3 2. I'm sure that after your ordeal you would like a rest. Why don't you go and sit outside in the sun."

"Since you seem to believe that you don't need my services, I will do that." I squared my shoulders, and with as much dignity that I could muster, limped off down the stairs to the pool.

Despite the heat in the sun I shivered as I settled into a deck chair. I may have been International Rescue's newest agent, but I had a feeling that I was going to be their first ex-agent. I wondered what the practise was in neutralising people who knew their secrets. With all their advanced technology I wouldn't have put it past them to have a brainwashing or brain wiping machine. I shuddered again and laid my head back, trying to push away my fears and ignore my throbbing foot...