Scott Tracy sat at the controls of Thunderbird One. His body was on automatic pilot as his brain tried to make sense of what had happened back at the disaster zone.What had happened to Virgil? What had caused his amnesia? And, more importantly, what was the cure?
Scott had had a quick flick through Virgil's medical file that they'd been given by Doctor Kershaw. He knew her name as it was lettered neatly at the beginning of the document. There wasn't a lot else that the papers had told him. No visible sign of any major injuries. Vital signs were normal. Everything was normal…
Everything except this inexplicable memory loss.
Another thing was worrying Scott. The way his brother had looked at him back in Thunderbird Two. Scott wasn't sure what that expression was, but he knew one thing…
Virgil wasn't happy to see him.
Gordon and Alan seemed to have a better idea of what Virgil was feeling. They'd talked glibly and they'd talked fast. They'd talked him out of staying with Virgil.Why?
They must have known that he'd willingly relinquish control of Thunderbird One in order to sit with his injured brother. It was a family joke how close the pair of them were. Someone was always commenting on the almost telepathic bond the pair of themhad.
Scott didn't know about telepathy, but he did know that he knew Virgil better than any of his other brothers. And now Virgil didn't know him at all. He didn't know himself either.
The thought sent a cold shiver down Scott's spine.
A proximity alarm told him he was nearing Tracy Island. In no time he'd reduced speed, rotated the rocket plane to the vertical and slid her home under the swimming pool. He took his time prepping Thunderbird One for her next flight though, unwilling to face his family and explain to them how little he knew.
It was going to seem an age before Thunderbird Two would arrive home.
As the peak of Tracy Island filled the cockpit windows of Thunderbird Two, Alan could see the Tracy Villa. Figures were standing on the patio watching him come into land. He counted five people before the scene slipped out of view behind the cliff face.
He'd taken extra care on this flight. Like his brothers, he knew how to pilot each machine in International Rescue's fleet, but he didn't have the experience in Thunderbird Two that he did in his own Thunderbird Three. While not unfamiliar, the placement of the controls of this plane were not as ingrained into his brain as those of the spaceship.
Despite the care he'd taken he'd still occasionally found himself losing concentration as he'd thought about his brother in the sickbay behind him.
Amnesia! That couldn't be right, could it? Virgil had amnesia?
Then Alan would remember the blank look that Virgil had given him. The look of absolute fear as his brother had realised that here was another stranger… One that he'd been told he should know.
Alan shook himself. He'd lost concentration again. This wasn't the time to do that, ten metres above the ground. He pushed his worries into the background and safely bought Thunderbird Two down to Earth. Following the laser guidance system he reversed the great plane back into her hangar.
The door to the hangar slid shut, hiding away its precious treasure. Alan turned on the intercom microphone. "We're here."In the sickbay Gordon and Virgil heard the announcement. Gordon undid his safety harness and stood up. "There you are. That wasn't too bad was it?" He started unbuckling Virgil's harness. "Here, sit up… take it slowly." Virgil complied.
"You're shaking! Are you cold?"
Virgil shook his head. No he wasn't cold. He felt sick.
Sick with fear.
Gordon sat back down in his seat so that he was at Virgil's eye level. "We'll take our time, okay. We won't leave until you're feeling ready. I've got plenty of time, there's no rush."
"Thank you," Virgil managed to say.
"Just remember that everyone here is your friend. There's only ten people on the island. We all want to help you."
Virgil nodded an acknowledgement.
"Do you want to ask any questions?"
"No."
"Can you remember everyone's names?"
"Yes."
"Don't worry. You'll soon be able to put names to the faces. And with any luck, seeing everyone will bring your memory back."
The thought bought a hopeful gleam to Virgil's eye.
There was a knock on the door and Virgil appeared to shrink visibly.
Gordon suddenly felt annoyed. He was trying to take things slowly and let Virgil proceed at his own pace. Probably Alan had got impatient that they hadn't left the sickbay yet. "Hang on," he said. "I'll go see who that is."
Virgil rubbed his sweating palms on the blanket that he wore about his shoulders and listened anxiously as Gordon answered the door.
"Oh!" Gordon sounded surprised. "It's you! I thought it'd be Alan."
A deeper, older voice answered. "No. I thought I should see him alone before we re-introduce him to the rest of the family." There was a pause. "Any improvement?"
"No," Gordon replied.
"How was the trip?"
"Uneventful. Do you want to come in?"
There was the sound of footsteps before the door slid shut. Gordon was the first back into view. "Virgil," he said uncertainly as an older man with greying hair and sombre eyes followed him in. "Do you know who this is?"Virgil looked at the stranger, who shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. He saw Gordon lay a reassuring hand on the stranger's shoulder. "No."
This one word had an effect on Gordon, who swallowed hard and appeared to suddenly find the top corner of the room very interesting.
"You don't know me, Virgil?" The stranger's voice was strong, but underneath Virgil could detect a tremor of disbelief.
"No… I'm sorry."
"Don't be. It's not your fault," the stranger told him. "… I'm your father."
Virgil looked at him blankly. "My father?"
Gordon nodded as Jeff replied. "That's right, Virgil. I'm your father. I'm Jeff Tracy."
"Oh." A quiet exclamation escaped Virgil's lips.
"Gordon," Jeff turned to the redhead. "Perhaps you'll give Virgil and me a few minutes alone."
Gordon glanced at Virgil before replying. "Yes, Sir," he said. "I'll only be in the corridor, Virgil," and he gave Jeff's shoulder a comforting squeeze before departing the room. Jeff sat on a seat on the far side of the room.Gordon escaped to the hallway and leant against the wall trying to regain a sense of equilibrium. He'd been there for about five minutes when Alan arrived. "Any change?"
"No."
"Oh, heck."
"Yes," Gordon agreed.
"Nothing at all?"
"Nothing, Alan." Gordon wearily passed his hand over his face and sighed.
"How are you?" Alan asked with genuine concern.
Gordon couldn't think of a word that would adequately explain what his feelings were, so merely shrugged.
Jeff came out of the medical room. He looked a trifle pale. "It's a strange sensation isn't it, talking with someone you know intimately, but they don't know you."
"Tell me about it," Gordon agreed. "I'd better get back in there."
"Hang on, Gordon," Jeff stopped him. "I've told Virgil what we're going to do. When he's ready, you and I'll take him up straight to the infirmary. Brains can check him over first. Once he's finished his examination, if necessary, we'll introduce Virgil to the rest of the family."
Scott strode up the hallway. "You're all still here? How is he?"
"No change," Gordon said succinctly.
"Scott. Alan. Take Thunderbird Three and go and get John," Jeff ordered. "Bring him back here. Virgil should meet all his brothers."
They nodded their agreement.
"If you'll excuse me, I'll see how he's getting on." Gordon slipped back into the sickbay. Scott looked after him as if he wished he could follow.
"Get going, Son," Jeff said gently.
"Come on, Scott," Alan tugged at his brother's sleeve. "The sooner we're there, the sooner we'll be back."
"Okay, Alan," Scott agreed reluctantly. He looked back at the sickbay door longingly. "Tell him…" he started to say, and then shrugged. "Tell him we'll be back soon."
"I will, Son. Get Tin-Tin to talk you through the launch."
"F-A-B," Alan replied.
Tin-Tin met them with the inevitable, "How is he?"
They replied with the inevitable, "No change."
"We're to go get John," Alan told her.
"I know," she admitted. "Your father asked me to help with the launch."
The two men took their seats on the couch. Alan looked down at his uniform. "At least I don't have to worry about getting changed, right, Scott?"Scott appeared to have woken from a dream. "Huh? What's that, Alan?"
Alan gave Tin-Tin an 'oh brother!' look. "Nothing. Don't worry about it," he replied. "Send us down, Tin-Tin."
She said a soft, "F-A-B" and they slid downwards out of sight. When they reached the lounge bay in Thunderbird Three Alan stood. "Buckle up! …"No response.
"Scott! Are you listening?" Alan touched his brother on the shoulder.
"Uh. Sorry, Alan. I was thinking."
"He'll be okay. Can you imagine Virgil giving in to this? He'll probably have a good night's sleep and wake up as good as new. Now buckle up!"
Scott gave him a wry grin. "Yeah… You're right. Just as well someone's got his wits about him. I'll see you shortly."
It wasn't until Thunderbird Three was powering out of Earth's gravitational pull that the two brothers came together again. "Have you spoken to John?" Scott asked."Yep. He's packed and waiting. He's already got Thunderbird Five switched onto automatic transmission."
"I hope we're not going to be needed for a while. Whatever happens, this is going to take the family some time to get over."
Alan agreed. They were silent for a moment."It was so weird," Scott suddenly said. "He hadn't said anything… I was starting to get worried… And then he looked at me and the first thing he said to me is, 'Who are you?' … Who are you! I've known him all his life!"
"I know, Scott," Alan said quietly.
"And he didn't know me!"
"I know," Alan repeated.
"You could have bowled me over with a feather!"
"I'll bet."
Scott bit his thumbnail reflectively. Then he looked up. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Why didn't you and Gordon want me to stay with him?"
Alan pretended to check Thunderbird Three's controls as he gave himself time to think. "It wasn't that WE didn't want you to stay with him…"
"Yes?"
"I think it was more that… Gordon felt that Virgil was… more comfortable with him at that point. He'd had an hour to get to know him. How long had he 'known' you for?"
"Maybe five minutes, in total."
"See? He'd been talking with Gordon for an hour. I guess that when you suddenly don't know anyone an hour must seem like a lifetime."
"Why didn't you tell me this? Why spin me all that blarney about me being a better pilot?"
Alan sought to move off the topic somewhat. "Does that mean you think I'm better?" he gave his most engaging grin.
"No it doesn't," Scott growled. "And don't change the subject."
"We didn't want to upset Virgil and… I guess we didn't want to hurt your feelings," Alan said lamely.
"I thought you knew me better than that."
"I thought you'd be glad," Alan admitted. "I didn't want to stay, I wanted to get out of there. I didn't care if I was flying Thunderbird One or Two just as long as I didn't have to stay with Virgil in the sickbay."
Scott looked at Alan with mild disgust. "You would have left your own brother alone?"
"He wasn't alone! Gordon was willing to stay… All right I'll admit it. I didn't want to face him. I was scared of what he was like. Gordon had to pull me into the room to say hello. I was glad it was Gordon staying with him. I didn't think I could cope."
"You would have left him? I thought you had more guts than that. I would have willingly stayed! And I would've if you and Gordon hadn't conspired against me." Scott folded his arms angrily and swung around in his seat so his back was to Alan.
"Try to understand, Scott," Alan pleaded. "We did it for Virgil!"
"Yeah, right," Scott said sarcastically.
"I would have felt the same if it had've been any of you guys. You've been there all my life… to have one of you not know me…"
"Shut up, Alan," Scott said.
"Scott…"
"Shut up," Scott repeated.
"Thunderbird Five to Thunderbird Three…"
Alan was relieved to hear John's voice. "Go ahead, John."
"I've got you guys on my scanners. You've made good time."
Apart from essential conversation the docking procedure was made in almost total silence.
John noticed the uncomfortable atmosphere when he boarded and felt a surge of alarm. "What's wrong? Is there something I haven't been told?"
"I've been told more than I wanted to hear," Scott snapped. "You can co-pilot, John. I'll be on the passenger deck."
"What?" John watched his departing back open mouthed. "What's with him? Is Virgil alright?"
"He's fine. Apart from the amnesia, he's fine," Alan reassured him.
"Then what's with Scott?"
Alan felt his face burning. "I told him that Virgil didn't want him to sit with him."
"You did what!"
"Well Gordon thought that Virgil would have preferred that he stayed with him. After all he'd kinda got to know Gordon. He didn't have that long with Scott."
"Is that what's upset Scott?"
"That… and I told him that I was relieved that I didn't have to stay with Virgil on the flight home," Alan said shamefully.
John rolled his eyes. "And you're surprised Scott's annoyed with you."
"Tell me, John. Are you happy about your upcoming reunion?"
"With Virgil?"
"Yes."
John thought for a moment. "I can't say I'm looking forward to it. I don't know what to expect."
"I didn't either. He looks like he always did, except that he's frightened. It sounds like him… Not that he said much."
"And you ran away?"
"Don't you start," Alan said testily. "I've just had the lecture from Scott."
"Well, what did you expect, Alan? You know how close those two are. Scott's thinking of Virgil. Rightly or wrongly, he thinks he could have helped. You're only thinking of yourself."
"Are you sure Scott's not doing that? Are you sure his pride isn't hurt because someone else was looking out for Virgil for a change?"
"Forget Scott and forget yourself for a moment. Think of what Virgil's going through. Try to imagine what it's like for him. I've been thinking of nothing else while waiting for you guys."
"I have been thinking about that!" Alan snapped. "I spent the entire flight home in Thunderbird Two thinking about that. And I can't begin to imagine what it's like. Why does that suddenly make me the villain? I'm trying to be honest and I'm being treated as if it's a crime!"
John held up his hand in a gesture of peace. "Okay, Alan. I'm sorry. I guess we're all on edge over what's happened. Let's get your 'bird underway then I'll go and talk to Scott."
"Right." The undocking procedure proceeded smoothly.
John took the lift down to the passenger deck. The door slid back to reveal Scott seated on the lounge couch gazing at nothing. He didn't acknowledge John's entrance.
John sat down and looked at his brother. "Hey!" he tapped Scott lightly on the leg. "Talk to me."
Scott looked at him dully. "About what."
"About what happened."
"I don't know what happened. He was fine. Maybe a bit tired, we all were, but fine. He was flying Thunderbird Two and he thought he saw something, so he went to check it out. About ¼ hour later he contacted Mobile Control. I went to answer and he said nothing. Just yelled. This awful yell."
"Was he in pain?"
"I don't think so. More like terror… or horror."
"Why?"
"I don't know. We found him unconscious near the bottom of the mudslide. He'd regained consciousness by the time we got him back to the field hospital. The doctor couldn't find anything wrong."
"How'd you discover that he had amnesia?"
"He was quiet the entire time he was conscious. Didn't say a word. Gordon and I were trying to get him to talk and then he looked at me…" Scott turned a pained expression to John, "… and asked me who I was."
"Can he remember anything?"
Scott gave a bitter laugh. "You'd better ask Gordon. I haven't been allowed near him."
"Come on, Scott. You know them better than that. They're thinking of Virgil…"
"Alan's thinking about himself."
"No he's not, not totally... I've just tried to explain to him things from your point of view, and now I'm going to explain to you Alan's... and to some extent mine.""Yours!"
"Think about it, Scott. None of us have come across anything like this before. If he'd been injured we'd be able to deal with it. There'd be something we could focus on. If he had amnesia due to a head injury, we'd concentrate on the fact that once the head injury was healed, he'd be okay. Heck, if he was dying, I'd be sitting here feeling utterly miserable, and trying to think of everything that I wanted to say to him before he went. But this is different. You've told me that there is nothing physically wrong with him and yet we know that there is something wrong fundamentally. And we don't know what is causing it. And I don't know how to deal with it."
"You face up to it!"
"When you're slapped in the face maybe. Like him looking you in the eye and asking who you were. For me, I've had hours of sitting there alone, thinking and wondering and working myself up into a lather over it."
Scott managed a chuckle. "John, I can't imagine you getting worked up into a lather over anything."
"We'll I've come pretty close this time. Now tell me what the real problem is."
Scott tried to look confused. "The real problem?"
"Yeah. The real problem. You wouldn't normally get so het up over Alan's scaredy cat admissions. You'd support him and try to talk him round. So what's the problem?"
"You'll think I'm being stupid."
"Let me make the decision on that."
Scott sighed, folded his arms, unfolded them, crossed and uncrossed his legs.
John waited patiently.
"I think… I'm sure that Virgil didn't want me to stay with him. That he didn't like me."
"What? Didn't the Sundance Kid want to play with Butch Cassidy?"
John was pleased to see Scott smile a goofy grin. He and Virgil had gone through a stint of always playing cowboys when they were kids and their father had given them that nickname. For a while it had stuck. Occasionally John had been roped into their game, literally, as they would tie him to a tree. John never complained about the treatment as long as they left his arms free to turn the pages of the book he would inevitably be reading.
He continued to try to boost Scott's spirits. "How can you be sure that he didn't like you? He didn't have long enough to 'get to know you' again."
"He gave me a look that said 'Oh no. Not you'. And then he relaxed when I agreed to fly Thunderbird One home."
"A look."
"Yes."
"You're getting upset over a look?"
"Come on, John. I know Virgil…"
"Yeah, and he doesn't know you, or himself, at the moment… When did you last get some sleep?"
"Uh, before we left on the rescue. We were woken up just before midnight."
"Right. That's getting close to 48 hours ago. And, apart from when he was unconscious, Virgil would be the same?"
"Well… yes."
"Okay. So you're tired. Virgil's tired. You're worried. He's frightened. Neither of you are thinking straight. Once you've both had a good sleep, maybe he'll be okay. If not you'll both be able to start afresh. So stop worrying about it for now."
Scott thought about what John had said for a moment. "Yeah," he eventually said. "Yeah, you're right, John. I'm worrying over nothing… Well not the important things."
"That's the story." John looked at his watch. "Look we must be nearly home. Why don't you join us up on the flight deck? You can pass the remainder of the time upsetting Alan by breathing down his neck and checking he's doing everything properly."
"Okay." Scott stood, stretched, and followed John over to the lift. "You know. That's got to be one of the strangest sensations I've ever experienced. To suddenly realise that he didn't know me from a bar of soap!"
"Well, try to remember not to have a shower with him. Come on, Butch."
Scott chuckled. "I thought you were the one getting into a lather."
Alan was surprised to see them both emerge from the passenger lift. "I was just about to page you."
"Saved you the effort then, didn't we?" John said easily.
"Alan," Scott began awkwardly. "I'm sorry… about before. I shouldn't have spoken to you like that. I guess we're both in shock over what's happened."
"Uh. Oh. That's okay, Scott. I understand," Alan stammered.
"Do you want to co-pilot?" John asked Scott.
"No. I'll sit over here and watch you both. You two get in some practise together." Scott turned and headed to a passenger seat off to one side of the deck.
Feeling relieved Alan mouthed 'thanks' to John.
John replied with a grin and a wink.