No, that last chapter wasn't the end. I didn't upload last night because ff.net wouldn't let me.
On with the story.
Purupuss.
Forty Six - BF
Two days later...
Jeff walked into the lounge, he had a couple of things he wanted to do at his desk before he finished for the day. A figure on the balcony caught his attention. Scott was leaning on the balustrade, his face turned out towards the Pacific Ocean.
Jeff walked over to him. "You look like you're deep in thought, son."
"I'm remembering." Scott said quietly. "At least I'm trying to."
"Remember what?"
"All this." Scott swept his hand out so that it encompassed the scene before them. "I'm trying to remember, where the palm trees are, the shape of the pool, the position of the diving board, what the house looks like... I don't want to forget."
"You won't I'm sure. Important memories stay with you forever. I can still see your mother as clearly as if I'd seen her yesterday."
"Yes. But you've got things to remind you. You see faces everyday to remind you. 'Two eyes above a nose above a mouth.' References to remind you of the basic proportions of a face. Heck, you've got Virgil..."
"You all have a little of your mother in you." Jeff interrupted gently. "Not only Virgil."
"But you also have photos to remind you. I don't have any of those references anymore. Nothing to remind me of what a face looks like, what a tree looks like, what colour something is. I suppose everything's got an orange glow at the moment."
Jeff looked about. The setting sun was indeed casting a glow over everything on the island. "It's closer to yellow tonight."
"See, at the moment I can picture that. While we were in rehab they got an old guy to come talk to us. He'd been blind for decades. He said people would describe things to him, for example say something was yellow. And he couldn't remember what yellow was like, he couldn't visualise it. At the moment I can see Thunderbird Four, or Virgil's sash, or the daffodils in Grandma's garden and I know what yellow is like. But will I be able to do that in fifty years? Ten? This time next year?"
It was something that Jeff hadn't thought about. The idea saddened him. "I wish I could do something to help. I'd spend every cent I have if I could bring your sight back."
"I know you would. I've just got to get used to the fact that I'll never see yellow again. Or my family."
They were silent for a moment.
"What would you say," Jeff asked quietly, "if I said I was seriously considering shutting down International Rescue."
"I'd say why didn't you have your head read while there were professionals about!" Scott exclaimed. "Why?"
"Can't you guess?"
"Because of what happened to me?"
"Because of what happened to you. And because both you and Virgil were nearly killed in Regnad. And because Virgil almost died later in hospital!"
"But he didn't. We're both still here. Maybe I'm not in one piece, but I don't want what happened to me to affect the work International Rescue does. And I know that if you asked Virgil he'd say the same."
"But if something happened to one of your brothers, I'd have to live with the fact that I sent him to his death."
But Scott was shaking his head. "No. He would have gone willingly, not because you gave an order. If it meant saving someone he would think sacrificing his life was worth it."
Jeff sighed. "I don't know."
"Well I do! Just before we started operations the five of us sat down to discuss this. And we all agreed that should something happen to one of us the other four would keep International Rescue going. We knew it would mean a major shake up, but we'd fight tooth and nail to keep the organisation operational. It's five lives versus, potentially, hundreds, and in the scheme of things one Tracy boy isn't that important."
"One Tracy boy is important to me though..."
"I know. And they're all important to me too. But we all agreed..."
A gull wheeled overhead as it headed to it's evening roost.
The sun dipped lower into the Pacific Ocean.
Father and son leant on the balcony, each wrapped up in their own thoughts.
"If I had a wish... if I could wish to see one thing or one person again... do you know what I'd want to see?" Scott asked quietly.
Jeff ran various scenarios through his mind. "No."
"Virgil." Scott said sadly. "I'd pick Virgil. Just to show him that I didn't mean what I said the other week... He did tell you what I said, didn't he?"
"Yes he did." Jeff was quiet too.
"He said you weren't very happy with me."
"That's putting it mildly. But I thought you'd both come to a reconciliation over that."
"We haven't really discussed it. We went into the afternoon session and I hit him. He said he's forgiven me for that... and everything seemed to be okay... but..."
"Yes?"
"He's never said anything, or done anything, but every now and then I..." Scott struggled to find the words, "...I sense that something's wrong. It's as if he's suddenly remembered what I said and draws back from me. It's only for a moment and I'm not even sure if it's real or I'm imagining it."
Jeff hadn't noticed anything amiss. "His arm's still giving him some problems. Maybe that's it. You should talk to him about it."
"And if I am imagining it? I might re-open old wounds and make him really hate me."
"I don't think Virgil could ever hate you. If it is eating at him he needs to get it out of his system. By the same token, if it's still worrying you, you should talk to him for your own sake."
Scott looked unhappy. "I couldn't."
"Scott..."
From inside the lounge they heard the piano start to play. Virgil had started his evening practise session.
"Well I'm not achieving anything standing here." Scott pushed himself away from the handrail. "I'm going to go and reacquaint myself with one of the hangers."
Jeff knew that Scott had made up his mind to ignore the problem, hoping that it would go away. "If you're going to do that would you mind getting Alan for me? I want to go over the specs for the new space rescue pods. I think he's in Thunderbird Three's hanger at the moment."
"Sure. Glad to do something useful."
***
"Is anyone there?"
Scott was looking for Alan in Thunderbird Three's hanger and was surprised to hear his brother's voice come from somewhere off to his right. "Alan?"
"Scott. Is that you?"
"Where are you Alan?"
"In the electronics room." Scott thought his youngest brother sounded a touch embarrassed.
"Well Father wants you. He wants to go over some design modifications in the space rescue pods."
"And he couldn't radio me?"
Scott was wondering why Alan didn't come out of the room. "I said I needed the practise finding my way about... Come on Alan. You know he doesn't like waiting."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"The electronic lock's fused on this side. I can't get the door open." Alan's embarrassment at being trapped was plain to hear now. "Can you get Virgil or Brains to open it up?"
"Gordon's closer." Scott said innocently.
"NO! Not Gordon! Anyone but Gordon, if he find's out he'll never let me live it down."
Scott took sympathy on his brother. "Let me see what I can do."
"Wouldn't it be simpler if you got help? Like you said Dad doesn't like being kept waiting."
"Hang on Alan," Scott said lightly, "I'm not that hopeless that I can't remember how to punch in a key code." He found his way over to the panel and ran his fingers over it re-familiarising himself with the buttons positions. "Okay, fingers crossed." He entered the code and stepped back.
There was an optimistic hum, but the door remained closed.
"Sounds like you got the code right, but there's something jamming the door." Alan said.
"Hang on, let me check about." Scott used his cane to tap around the door. "Something's fallen in front. It feels like that filing cabinet Father's been at you to shift. Looks like it's finally fallen over."
"Can you shift it?"
"Alan! It's full of files and weighs a ton empty. I'll have to get help."
As if on cue a sound behind him made him turn. It was Virgil. "Have you found Alan? Father's starting to get annoyed."
"I'm in here Virgil."
Virgil looked at the filing cabinet. "Nice one Alan. Now you know why Father's been at you to shift and stabilise it."
"I know Virg. Just get me out!"
"Virgil!" Scott said. "You go get the pallet truck and I'll see if I can find the jack. That's if Alan's been putting his tools away in the correct places..."
"I have."
"I don't know Scott. Maybe we should let him sweat a bit longer. Make sure he's learned his lesson."
Alan wasn't impressed at the thought. "Come on guys, Dad's waiting."
Whistling lightly to himself Virgil went to get the pallet truck.
Scott moved to his left. If he remembered correctly the jack should be under a bench around about... "Here!" he said triumphantly as his hand closed about the handle.
He carried the jack back to where Virgil was waiting. "There you are Virg. Stick it where it's got to go. Then I'll operate the jack while you slip the truck under it."
"Okay." Virgil agreed. "You ready?"
"Yep." Deftly Scott operated the jack and slowly the cabinet rose high enough that Virgil was able to position the truck underneath.
"Right. You can remove the jack." Virgil said.
"Do I need to support the cabinet from this end as you pull it out of the way?" Scott asked.
"It would make it easier."
"Right." Scott collapsed his cane to a size where it would fit into his pocket and then felt his way around to the end of the cabinet and braced himself. "You steer."
Now the filing cabinet was easy to move and they quickly got it clear of the door.
"Now to enter that code again." Scott once again pushed the keys.
The door slid open.
"There you are." Scott said. "Easy!"
"Thanks fellas" Alan said gratefully. "I was thinking I'd have to radio for help. That would have been too embarrassing. Especially if Gordon had heard."
"Any time kiddo." Scott said smiling.
"I'd better go. Thanks again." Alan said as he jogged from the hanger. Scott followed at a slower pace.
Virgil watched them both leave, a thoughtful frown creasing his face. It might work. He'd have a word with Brains first.
On with the story.
Purupuss.
Forty Six - BF
Two days later...
Jeff walked into the lounge, he had a couple of things he wanted to do at his desk before he finished for the day. A figure on the balcony caught his attention. Scott was leaning on the balustrade, his face turned out towards the Pacific Ocean.
Jeff walked over to him. "You look like you're deep in thought, son."
"I'm remembering." Scott said quietly. "At least I'm trying to."
"Remember what?"
"All this." Scott swept his hand out so that it encompassed the scene before them. "I'm trying to remember, where the palm trees are, the shape of the pool, the position of the diving board, what the house looks like... I don't want to forget."
"You won't I'm sure. Important memories stay with you forever. I can still see your mother as clearly as if I'd seen her yesterday."
"Yes. But you've got things to remind you. You see faces everyday to remind you. 'Two eyes above a nose above a mouth.' References to remind you of the basic proportions of a face. Heck, you've got Virgil..."
"You all have a little of your mother in you." Jeff interrupted gently. "Not only Virgil."
"But you also have photos to remind you. I don't have any of those references anymore. Nothing to remind me of what a face looks like, what a tree looks like, what colour something is. I suppose everything's got an orange glow at the moment."
Jeff looked about. The setting sun was indeed casting a glow over everything on the island. "It's closer to yellow tonight."
"See, at the moment I can picture that. While we were in rehab they got an old guy to come talk to us. He'd been blind for decades. He said people would describe things to him, for example say something was yellow. And he couldn't remember what yellow was like, he couldn't visualise it. At the moment I can see Thunderbird Four, or Virgil's sash, or the daffodils in Grandma's garden and I know what yellow is like. But will I be able to do that in fifty years? Ten? This time next year?"
It was something that Jeff hadn't thought about. The idea saddened him. "I wish I could do something to help. I'd spend every cent I have if I could bring your sight back."
"I know you would. I've just got to get used to the fact that I'll never see yellow again. Or my family."
They were silent for a moment.
"What would you say," Jeff asked quietly, "if I said I was seriously considering shutting down International Rescue."
"I'd say why didn't you have your head read while there were professionals about!" Scott exclaimed. "Why?"
"Can't you guess?"
"Because of what happened to me?"
"Because of what happened to you. And because both you and Virgil were nearly killed in Regnad. And because Virgil almost died later in hospital!"
"But he didn't. We're both still here. Maybe I'm not in one piece, but I don't want what happened to me to affect the work International Rescue does. And I know that if you asked Virgil he'd say the same."
"But if something happened to one of your brothers, I'd have to live with the fact that I sent him to his death."
But Scott was shaking his head. "No. He would have gone willingly, not because you gave an order. If it meant saving someone he would think sacrificing his life was worth it."
Jeff sighed. "I don't know."
"Well I do! Just before we started operations the five of us sat down to discuss this. And we all agreed that should something happen to one of us the other four would keep International Rescue going. We knew it would mean a major shake up, but we'd fight tooth and nail to keep the organisation operational. It's five lives versus, potentially, hundreds, and in the scheme of things one Tracy boy isn't that important."
"One Tracy boy is important to me though..."
"I know. And they're all important to me too. But we all agreed..."
A gull wheeled overhead as it headed to it's evening roost.
The sun dipped lower into the Pacific Ocean.
Father and son leant on the balcony, each wrapped up in their own thoughts.
"If I had a wish... if I could wish to see one thing or one person again... do you know what I'd want to see?" Scott asked quietly.
Jeff ran various scenarios through his mind. "No."
"Virgil." Scott said sadly. "I'd pick Virgil. Just to show him that I didn't mean what I said the other week... He did tell you what I said, didn't he?"
"Yes he did." Jeff was quiet too.
"He said you weren't very happy with me."
"That's putting it mildly. But I thought you'd both come to a reconciliation over that."
"We haven't really discussed it. We went into the afternoon session and I hit him. He said he's forgiven me for that... and everything seemed to be okay... but..."
"Yes?"
"He's never said anything, or done anything, but every now and then I..." Scott struggled to find the words, "...I sense that something's wrong. It's as if he's suddenly remembered what I said and draws back from me. It's only for a moment and I'm not even sure if it's real or I'm imagining it."
Jeff hadn't noticed anything amiss. "His arm's still giving him some problems. Maybe that's it. You should talk to him about it."
"And if I am imagining it? I might re-open old wounds and make him really hate me."
"I don't think Virgil could ever hate you. If it is eating at him he needs to get it out of his system. By the same token, if it's still worrying you, you should talk to him for your own sake."
Scott looked unhappy. "I couldn't."
"Scott..."
From inside the lounge they heard the piano start to play. Virgil had started his evening practise session.
"Well I'm not achieving anything standing here." Scott pushed himself away from the handrail. "I'm going to go and reacquaint myself with one of the hangers."
Jeff knew that Scott had made up his mind to ignore the problem, hoping that it would go away. "If you're going to do that would you mind getting Alan for me? I want to go over the specs for the new space rescue pods. I think he's in Thunderbird Three's hanger at the moment."
"Sure. Glad to do something useful."
***
"Is anyone there?"
Scott was looking for Alan in Thunderbird Three's hanger and was surprised to hear his brother's voice come from somewhere off to his right. "Alan?"
"Scott. Is that you?"
"Where are you Alan?"
"In the electronics room." Scott thought his youngest brother sounded a touch embarrassed.
"Well Father wants you. He wants to go over some design modifications in the space rescue pods."
"And he couldn't radio me?"
Scott was wondering why Alan didn't come out of the room. "I said I needed the practise finding my way about... Come on Alan. You know he doesn't like waiting."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"The electronic lock's fused on this side. I can't get the door open." Alan's embarrassment at being trapped was plain to hear now. "Can you get Virgil or Brains to open it up?"
"Gordon's closer." Scott said innocently.
"NO! Not Gordon! Anyone but Gordon, if he find's out he'll never let me live it down."
Scott took sympathy on his brother. "Let me see what I can do."
"Wouldn't it be simpler if you got help? Like you said Dad doesn't like being kept waiting."
"Hang on Alan," Scott said lightly, "I'm not that hopeless that I can't remember how to punch in a key code." He found his way over to the panel and ran his fingers over it re-familiarising himself with the buttons positions. "Okay, fingers crossed." He entered the code and stepped back.
There was an optimistic hum, but the door remained closed.
"Sounds like you got the code right, but there's something jamming the door." Alan said.
"Hang on, let me check about." Scott used his cane to tap around the door. "Something's fallen in front. It feels like that filing cabinet Father's been at you to shift. Looks like it's finally fallen over."
"Can you shift it?"
"Alan! It's full of files and weighs a ton empty. I'll have to get help."
As if on cue a sound behind him made him turn. It was Virgil. "Have you found Alan? Father's starting to get annoyed."
"I'm in here Virgil."
Virgil looked at the filing cabinet. "Nice one Alan. Now you know why Father's been at you to shift and stabilise it."
"I know Virg. Just get me out!"
"Virgil!" Scott said. "You go get the pallet truck and I'll see if I can find the jack. That's if Alan's been putting his tools away in the correct places..."
"I have."
"I don't know Scott. Maybe we should let him sweat a bit longer. Make sure he's learned his lesson."
Alan wasn't impressed at the thought. "Come on guys, Dad's waiting."
Whistling lightly to himself Virgil went to get the pallet truck.
Scott moved to his left. If he remembered correctly the jack should be under a bench around about... "Here!" he said triumphantly as his hand closed about the handle.
He carried the jack back to where Virgil was waiting. "There you are Virg. Stick it where it's got to go. Then I'll operate the jack while you slip the truck under it."
"Okay." Virgil agreed. "You ready?"
"Yep." Deftly Scott operated the jack and slowly the cabinet rose high enough that Virgil was able to position the truck underneath.
"Right. You can remove the jack." Virgil said.
"Do I need to support the cabinet from this end as you pull it out of the way?" Scott asked.
"It would make it easier."
"Right." Scott collapsed his cane to a size where it would fit into his pocket and then felt his way around to the end of the cabinet and braced himself. "You steer."
Now the filing cabinet was easy to move and they quickly got it clear of the door.
"Now to enter that code again." Scott once again pushed the keys.
The door slid open.
"There you are." Scott said. "Easy!"
"Thanks fellas" Alan said gratefully. "I was thinking I'd have to radio for help. That would have been too embarrassing. Especially if Gordon had heard."
"Any time kiddo." Scott said smiling.
"I'd better go. Thanks again." Alan said as he jogged from the hanger. Scott followed at a slower pace.
Virgil watched them both leave, a thoughtful frown creasing his face. It might work. He'd have a word with Brains first.