"What are you doing?"
Although unthreatening, Virgil jumped when he heard the unexpected voice behind him. He swung around quickly and tripped over one of the supports of the swivel chair. He fell into the seat.
Jeff Tracy looked at him impassively. "Well?"
"I… uh… I…" Virgil stammered.
Jeff looked from his son to the videophone and Virgil detected a saddening of his features. "You were going to try to 'phone someone weren't you."
Virgil decided that the safest option was to say nothing.
"You thought we'd all be elsewhere?"
Virgil looked at an ink spot on the desk.
"I didn't realise you remembered how to use a 'phone. Who were you going to call?"
Virgil examined the spot thoroughly.
"Were you going to press the re-dial button and take pot luck?"
Virgil looked at the older man sharply. How come he'd been so astute?
"Had you forgotten that the team has gone on a mission? I rarely leave me desk when any of you are on a rescue."
Not for the first time, Virgil mentally cursed his forgetfulness.
He wasn't startled when the eyes in Scott's portrait started flashing.
"Would you mind if I used my seat?" Jeff asked.
Virgil scurried out from behind the desk and then stopped, unsure of what to do next.
Jeff reclaimed his chair. "Go ahead, Scott."
Scott appeared to be relieved to see Virgil in shot, but stayed businesslike. "As we suspected it was a hoax."
"Any idea who the perpetrators were?" Jeff asked.
"Would you believe that it was some film company who thought that a real rescue, by International Rescue, would be good publicity?" Scott said bitterly. "Apparently the climax of the film involves the hero being stuck down the side of a cliff in a car. They'd even gone so far as to position one of their prop cars and a couple of stunt men on a cliff face for us to rescue. They were never in any danger. I reminded them that while we were off on phoney rescues, someone in genuine need could die because we're not there to help."
"What did they say?" Jeff asked.
"They hadn't thought of that," Scott said ironically. "They were most apologetic."
"You're on your way home then?" Jeff said.
"ETA 17.67 minutes." Then Scott lost his official tone. "How are you, Virgil?"
"Okay," Virgil said briefly.
"Brunch'll be ready when you get home," Jeff said.
"Great. I'm starving."
"When are you ever not hungry?" Jeff chuckled. "See you soon, Son."
"F-A-B, Father."
Jeff wrote something on a piece of paper. Then he swivelled around in his chair and examined his other son reflectively. "I think we'd better continue our conversation in my study, Virgil. We won't be disturbed there."
Virgil reflected that so far it had been a pretty one-sided conversation.
"Are you coming?"
For a moment Virgil realised that he didn't have to do as this man asked. He could hold his ground. He was a free individual. Well… as free as he could be in his present situation.
But for some reason following Jeff Tracy into the study seemed to be the right thing to do.
Jeff strode easily into his room, circled his desk and sat down in his chair. "Have a seat," he indicated the variety of seating about the room.
Virgil hesitated.
"Don't worry. They're not electric and none of them are fitted with manacles."
Virgil, reluctantly, chose a soft seat near the door. He waited to see what Jeff Tracy had to say to him.
For Jeff it was a strange sensation looking at this son whom he knew intimately, and yet hardly at all. He was looking at the face of someone he cared for and yet, at the same time, was a complete stranger.
Virgil looked at Jeff and wished he hated him instead of liking him. He didn't want to upset him and yet he didn't trust him.
Silence filled the room as each man thought his own private thoughts.
Jeff looked at his son speculatively and made a decision about how to handle the situation. "I guess you're finding things pretty tough at the moment, Virgil."
Virgil had been expecting some kind of explosion and was surprised by the quiet tone. "Uh… Yes."
"Tough enough that you wanted to try to escape?"
"I guess."
"Did you know who you were going to call?"
Virgil shook his head.
"You were just going to push the re-dial button and try to make the person at the other end understand your situation?"
Virgil nodded.
"And your situation is that you're not 100 convinced that we are who we say we are…? Or that you are who we say you are?"
Virgil nodded again, this time more reluctantly.
Jeff sighed. "I'm trying to think who I last called on that 'phone. I think, fortunately, that it was Penny… Lady Penelope. She wouldn't have posed a threat…" He sat back, trying to remain calm and non-threatening. "I can see you're struggling with living here. Would you be happier somewhere else? Somewhere away from us? I could arrange something?"
Virgil looked at the other man. This wasn't what he expected. "I-I don't know."
"I'm sure Penny would be more than happy to accommodate you. Though I don't know that being confined within the walls of a stately manor would give you any more freedom than being on a tropical island." Jeff looked at Virgil earnestly. "I'd let you go anywhere you wanted to in the world if I could be sure that you wouldn't betray International Rescue. What you obviously don't realise is that what you were going to do could have been disastrous to us all… I don't just mean that International Rescue would have to be shut down, which would result in the loss of innocent lives, but the life of every person on this island could have been put in jeopardy."
"How?" Virgil asked. "Just by one phone call!"
"There are large rewards out there for anyone with information about us. Not everyone feels loyal to International Rescue. Did anyone tell you why we're a secret organisation?"
"Gordon said that it was to stop 'bad-guys' getting hold the equipment. I'll admit that I've got a better idea now of what equipment he means, but, honestly, is it that big a deal?"
"You haven't seen most of our equipment in action have you? You don't know what The Mole, The Firefly, The Excavator and our other auxiliary craft are capable of. No other organisation in the world has machinery even close to ours."
Virgil was wearing his 'I'm confused' frown.
Jeff continued on. "Think about Thunderbird One. You've seen how fast she can fly. She's equipped with low yield missiles…"
"Why?" Virgil asked.
"Self defence. And they have been used in emergency situations to divert rivers and create dams. Imagine if someone wanted to take over the World Government. Replace our missiles with something with a little more firepower and Thunderbird One could be used to blow up the seat of Government. She'd be in and out of there before any conventional fighter craft could be scrambled to the World President's aid. Then a militia could be flown in onboard Thunderbird Two. And that's only one scenario. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Virgil nodded.
"Do you see why secrecy is absolutely vital?"
Virgil nodded again.
"I won't mention what nearly happened today to your brothers. There's no need for anyone else to know. And I'm going to try to trust you like I used to be able to. But, please, Virgil, don't force me to password protect every 'phone on the island. Do you understand?"
Virgil nodded a third time.
"I wish I could understand fully what you're going through, but I can't really know. It's not like you're blind or deaf and I could wear a blindfold or earplugs. I can't begin to imagine what it's like for you. I thought you were doing so well, accepting it, accepting us... I guess we haven't known the strain you've been under."
"No," Virgil said quietly.
"So tell me."
"Huh?" Virgil looked at the man he'd been told was his father.
"Explain to me what it's like."
"What it's like," Virgil repeated. "Well…"
Jeff waited patiently.
"It's… like… I've suddenly been transported to another planet. One totally different to the one I know. I'm almost inclined to believe Gordon!"
"What did Gordon say?"
"That you were members of an alien race who'd kidnapped me and wiped my memory."
Jeff grinned. "And why had we done that?"
"Something about taking over the world?"
Jeff laughed. "That sounds like Gordon. He watches too many science fiction movies."
"I can't say what having amnesia is like, because I don't know. I don't have anything I can relate it too. And if I do, I can't remember it!"
Jeff nodded sagely and then thought for a moment. "Are you happy here?" he eventually asked.
Virgil shrugged. "Sometimes."
"Would you rather try living somewhere else?"
"Yes…" Virgil thought a moment. "No… I don't know… I don't fully understand what's going on here… but the idea of going somewhere totally new…" He shivered.
"Well, let me know if you change your mind. The only thing holding you prisoner, Virgil, is your amnesia. That and your unwillingness to trust us… I used to be able to trust you, and it hurts that I can't now. If the old you knew what you were going to do you'd be horrified"
Virgil looked at his hands.
There was a knock on the door.
"I won't mention the 'phone call again," Jeff said, and then, before Virgil had a chance to comment, called out, "Come in, Scott."
The door slid open revealing Scott, clean and in his civilian clothes. "I got your note."
Virgil looked accusingly at Jeff.
"I want you both here to explain to me what happened this morning," Jeff explained.
"Is Gordon asleep?" Scott asked as he settled in a chair on the other side of the room from Virgil.
"Last time I looked in he was dead to the world," his father told him. "Now, Virgil, perhaps you'd like to tell me your side of the story."
Virgil decided he should at least try to explain his case. "I heard Gordon get up this morning. I didn't know what the time was so I thought it must be time for me to get up too. I went into the kitchen and Gordon and Scott were talking. When I realised that they were talking about me I waited, and listened."
"What did they say?" Jeff asked
Virgil gave him a rundown of Gordon's statements that morning.
Jeff looked at Scott.
"He's right," Scott confirmed. "Gordon did say that."
"Why?" Jeff frowned.
"He was tired. He was letting off steam. You know how he gets."
Jeff nodded. "I do, and you do, but Virgil doesn't."
"He said you were living a lie," Virgil accused.
Jeff looked back at his son. "What Gordon said about 'living a lie' is perfectly true. I used that phrase myself in a letter to your… in a letter the other day."
Scott stared at his father wondering if he knew what he was doing.
Jeff continued with his explanation. "What I meant, and I'm pretty sure Gordon meant the same thing, is that we're trying to continue to live as if nothing's wrong… As if nothing's wrong with you…"
Virgil gave an unintelligible grunt.
Scott nodded slowly in agreement. "He is right. We are. And as John said, we're making a hash of it."
Virgil looked doubtful.
"I wish I knew what evidence you need so that we can convince you that we haven't lied," Jeff said. "I even asked Brains if he had anything that could give me temporary amnesia so I could find out."
Virgil stared at him. "What!"
"You too?" Scott asked. "I did as well. Shame he didn't have anything… well anything he felt safe using on us."
"Why?" Virgil asked. "Why would you want to put yourself through this… this… torture?"
"I want to know what it's like for you," Scott explained. "If we knew, perhaps we'd be more understanding towards you."
"How stupid can you be? That has got to be one of the most idiotic ideas ever! That anyone would willingly try to get amnesia…" Virgil threw up his hands in exasperation. "You don't want to live through this! I don't want to live through this! I don't want you to live through this! You mean too much to me…" He finished this seemingly contradictory statement, looked at the two surprised faces, frowned in confusion, and looked away.
"I don't fully appreciate what it's like," Scott explained. "I want to understand it better."
"Virgil told me that it's like being taken to another planet," Jeff said.
"Another planet?"
"And we're an alien species who have wiped his memory so we can take over the world."
"Aliens?" Scott said, astounded, and then grinned. "Gordon?" he guessed.
"Gordon," Jeff confirmed.
Scott chuckled. "Typical. Trust him to come up with something like that."
Virgil had been listening to the pair of them in astonishment. Now he was getting angry. "What are you laughing at? Do you really want to know what I feel? To not know your own past? To not remember your own family? Your own life? Do you know that I wake up every morning and have to make a conscious effort to remember? 'Who am I? – Virgil Tracy. Where am I? – At home on Tracy Island. Who else is here? – My family – my brothers – my father – my grandmother – my friends.' I have to tell myself this every day. Do you know that every day I have to have faith that you are who you say you are? But I don't KNOW that you are my family…"
"Virgil," Jeff said soothingly.
By now Virgil was shaking with emotion. "I've seen the family photos and videos, but it would not be difficult for you to make up this history… my history. I've seen that you have the technology to create those photos and videos." He could see frowns on their faces as he leapt to his feet and walked over to the desk where he picked up the family photo that resided there. "I don't know that you've done that. But I don't KNOW that you haven't. Every day I've got to face these doubts and tell myself that they are groundless."
"Virgi…" Scott started, but Virgil continued on as if he hadn't heard him.
"You've told me what International Rescue does, what its goals are, but it's only what you've told me. You go off on a rescue and the only evidence I've got that it was a genuine rescue were your radio reports. How do I know you weren't working off a script?"
"I guarantee that we weren't," Jeff said calmly.
"I've got this nagging sensation that something's wrong and I can't shake it. It's probably only that my head is crazy, but that feeling is there…"
"You're not crazy, Virgil…" Jeff tried to say.
"I can't trust what I've been told to remember. No matter how much I want to, no matter how much faith I want to put into what I've been told. I don't KNOW!" Virgil made a decision. "I didn't know until now! Until this morning! Now I know the truth! You've been lying to me!" He slammed the photo, face down, back onto the desk.
There was the sound of breaking glass.
"We haven't lied to you!" Scott protested. "Gordon didn't mean it the way it sounded!"
"Why didn't you stop him then, if it's not true?" Virgil asked.
"Because it's easier to agree with him than start an argument when he's that tired," Scott told him.
"Even if he might be overheard?"
"It was five o-clock in the morning. You were supposed to be in bed!"
"In bed, ignorant of the truth."
"Virgil! We have told you the truth!" Scott exclaimed.
"You don't want me to know what's really happening, do you! What would I have learnt if Gordon hadn't seen me?"
"Probably nothing. There was nothing to learn. And I would have convinced Gordon to go back to bed."
"We've told you the truth all along, Virgil," Jeff reiterated.
"I don't believe you..." Virgil looked him in the eye. "And I don't believe that you are my father."
"What!" For the first time there was a sign that Jeff was struggling to maintain his composure.
"I don't believe you," Virgil repeated. "I don't believe that you are who you say you are. I don't believe you are what you say you are!"
"But we've told you the truth," Scott protested.
"That you're my family? I don't believe that," Virgil reiterated.
"Why?" Jeff asked.
"Why? You're too perfect. A loving, caring, selfless family… But the cracks are starting to show."
"Cracks?" Jeff repeated.
"Yeah," Virgil said animatedly. "Cracks. I mean, look at you all. Living out here, alone, on an island in the middle of the ocean. And yet you try to tell me you care about people!"
"We can't live anywhere near populated areas," Scott started to say. "We'd…"
"Break your cover. So I keep on hearing," Virgil snapped.
"What other cracks are there?" Jeff asked.
"You're supposed to be this super rich billionaire, living on your 'tropical paradise' with your five sons. And yet you've only got one servant…"
"Kyrano's hardly a servant," Scott interrupted.
"Exactly!"
"I haven't always been rich," Jeff told him. "I brought you boys up to help around the house. You still do. Just because I've money now there's no reason to change the habits of a lifetime. It's helped keep us a close family…"
"So close that you'll send one of your sons into space, alone, for a month at a time!"
"We've explained why!" Jeff said.
"For 'International Rescue'. So that he can listen in on every person in the planet. Is that what International Rescue is? Some kind of spy outfit?"
"No," Scott protested.
"Some kind of illegal operation?"
"No," Scott repeated, struggling to stop himself from yelling.
"Is that the plan? Were John and Alan like me once? Have you brainwashed them into taking on that role? Were you going to brainwash me too?"
"No," Jeff tried to remain calm. Any other emotion wouldn't help at this point.
"Why would we do that?" Scott asked. "What is International Rescue for if it's not to help people in emergencies?"
"You tell me!"
"I can't because there's no other reason. International Rescue exists solely to help people. You can't hide from that fact," Scott explained.
"Just like Gordon was hiding from me yesterday!"
"He was what?" Jeff asked. "I didn't know this," he looked at Scott.
Scott shrugged in bewilderment. "This is news to me too. How'd you find this out? Gordon didn't say that this morning."
"Alan told me," Virgil said stubbornly.
"Alan," Scott sighed. "Figures. The kid can't keep his trap shut when it matters. When did he say this?"
"Right after he told me to keep my hands off Tin-Tin. I haven't been near her! I wouldn't touch her! I only wanted to draw her!"
There was a collective "ah," of understanding from Scott and Jeff.
"Is that all you can say? I was threatened! Alan threatened me…"
"I've spoken to him about that…" Jeff started to say.
But Virgil was continuing on. "Also, if you really cared about me, you would have got me proper medical treatment…"
"We have, Virgil," Jeff tried to tell him.
"Really? What?" Virgil asked sarcastically. "A doctor in a hospital made out of a tent! And since then an Engineer with a 'medical degree', who puts these things on my head with lots of wires and pretty flashing lights that do absolutely nothing! Come on! I might be as good as born yesterday, but I'm not stupid. Couldn't you have got someone more believable and less of a stereotype?"
"Brains is a genius. He's got multiple degrees. He can't help what he looks and sounds like. He's been doing his best for you…" Scott said.
"And 'Grandma'!" ignoring him, Virgil mimed the quotation marks. "She backs away as soon as she sees me. If her apron so much as brushes against me she's apologising as if it's a capital offence…"
"She doesn't want…" Scott began.
"And you!" Virgil pointed at Scott. "All you do is spend your day in the gym. What are you trying to do? Prove that you're some kind of brain dead muscle man?"
"Hey…" Scott leant forward to protest.
"What is your role in International Rescue? Are you the enforcer, to make sure none of your 'brothers' step out of line? Is it your job to intimidate everyone? Because I'll tell you 'pal', you don't intimidate me!"
"I don't try to…"
"And when you're not in the gym, you're avoiding me! Everyone tells me that we used to be 'so close'. That's a laugh. You don't want to talk to me!"
"Because I don't want to upset you!"
"Upset me? You've never given me the chance to get upset!"
"I thought you didn't like me!"
"And you wondered why? How could I like you when I didn't know you! You haven't exactly been helping me!"
"Don't blame me for this!" for a moment Scott lost his temper. Then he brought it back under control knowing that anger would only aggravate the situation. "I thought you wouldn't want to be near me! Every time I'd go near you I'd cause some kind of adverse reaction…!"
"That wasn't your fault! If you'd taken the time to ask me I would have told you that! You never gave me a chance to get to know you! Even when I tried!"
"You tried? When…?"
"Several times! And every time you'd make an excuse and run away."
"Run away…" Scott stared at Virgil and then flopped back in defeat. "I'm an idiot," he said quietly.
Virgil had finished with him. He rounded on Jeff. "And you! You've made it clear that you don't want me about! You no sooner start tutoring me when you've got to do something else!"
"I'm sorry, Virgil… I've been busy…" Jeff tried, and failed, to excuse his behaviour.
"Busy! You spend all day behind your desk, lording over everyone as if nothing's wrong. And something IS wrong! Something is definitely wrong. Your plan, whatever it is, has gone wrong."
Jeff could sense that the situation was slipping way beyond his grasp.
"So!" Virgil continued on. "In short! According to what you've told me I've got a brother who spends most of his time alone in outer space – spying on everyone on the planet. One who thinks I'm hitting on his girlfriend. One who's hiding from me when he's not saying things he doesn't mean about me, and one who avoids me at every opportunity. On top of that we've got an Engineer who's a part time doctor, a servant who's not a servant, a grandmother who's scared to go near me, and a father who cares only about his work!" He folded his arms firmly. "What a close family we are," he said his voice dripping in sarcasm.
Scott looked at his father. "You know, put that way I've got to agree with him. Even I wouldn't trust us." He turned back to Virgil. "What about Tin-Tin?"
"I hate to think of her involved in your schemes, but I guess she must be. What is she? Camouflage?"
"She's our friend." Scott explained. "She's like a sister to us all – and that includes you, Virgil… Calm down. You know why we're behaving the way we have been. We don't know how to behave around you, how you're going to react…"
"So all this is my fault is it?"
"No, but you're the cause. Now calm down and get a grip on yourself…"
"A grip on myself! Let me tell you, 'Scott'. You've lost your grip on me! Whatever you wanted me for, you're not going to get it! I want off this island and I want it now!"
"We can't now, Virgil," Jeff tried to sound calm. "We've got to make arrangements first…"
"NOW!" Virgil slammed his fist down on the desk. The damaged photo jangled unnervingly.
"Virgil…" Scott began. "You must be hungry. Let's have something to eat and then we can discuss this more rationally."
"Something to eat!" A thought occurred to Virgil. "I'll bet you're tampering with my food. I'll bet that's what's causing my amnesia! Well in that case I'm not eating another thing. Not until I'm as far away from 'Tracy Island' as it's possible to get."
"Virgil!" Scott protested. "You can't starve yourself."
"I won't be starving MYSELF." Virgil leant on the desk and stared Jeff Tracy in the eye."It's your decision whether or not I eat. If you 'care' for me as you say you do, you'll do everything in your power to take me somewhere safe today. Get me off this island and I'll enjoy a good meal." He lowered his voice dangerously. "Do you understand me?"Jeff schooled his face into a neutral expression. He returned his son's gaze impassively. "I understand, Virgil. If you want to leave home I'll make the arrangements for as soon as poss…"
"NOW!" Virgil repeated. "And I'm not having anything to do with any of you again."
"Virgil…" Scott tried again.
Virgil swung back to Scott. "None of you! And you can tell Gordon thanks for nothing!" He stormed out of the room.
Scott stared after him. When he looked back at Jeff, his father was entering something into the desktop computer. "Well?"
Jeff watched a blip go down the hall on the computer's map, and turn into a room. "He's gone back to his bedroom and locked the door," he said quietly.
"Now what do we do?" Scott asked. "Do we let him go? And if we do, where to? How can we convince him that we're telling him the truth…?" He looked closely at his father; despair turning to anxiety. "Are you alright?" he stood and quickly went to Jeff's side.
Jeff was pale. "To think that my son has doubts about the authenticity of his own family…" he placed his elbows on the desk and rested his head in his hands. "I feel sick."
"Do you want some water?" Scott didn't wait for an answer, and soon returned carrying a tumbler of clear liquid. "How's that? Can I get you anything else?"
"Just give me a moment, Scott. I'll be alright." Jeff took the tumbler. The water sloshed out of the glass. "Look at me. I'm shaking like a leaf!" He managed to sip a mouthful before he placed the tumbler on a coaster on his desk.
"Do you want me to get Brains?"
Jeff shook his head. "No." He picked up the family photo. It's glass was shattered; a star of broken shards radiating out from Virgil's face.
"You bottle things up too much," Scott opined. "It worries me sometimes…"
"Don't worry. I have my outlets." Jeff carefully placed the damaged photo back in its place on his desk and looked at his eldest. "What do we do now, Scott? How can we convince him we are who we say we are?"
Scott settled on the edge of the desk and looked down on his father. "If he could see you like this, he'd know," he said in concern.
"We can't give him what he wants. He doesn't know what it is himself."
Scott gave his father a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. "I hate to say this about my brother, but he's a fool."
"No, he's not, Scott. He's frightened. I thought he was getting over that, but obviously he isn't, and what's happened over the last few days hasn't helped."
"Alan!" Scott growled. "I'd like to get my hands on him and…"
"It's not only Alan," his father interrupted. "John was right. We're each as much to blame for this as anyone else in the family. We've all behaved foolishly." Jeff started punching keys on the videophone.
"What are you doing?" Scott asked.
"Password protecting the 'phone," Jeff said briefly and wrote the word 'Kansas' on a piece of paper before sticking it to the face of the phone. "I'll do it to all the 'phones. Make sure everyone knows will you?"
"Why? You don't think Virgil would try to ring anyone do you? Who would he ring? He certainly can't look up any 'phone numbers. Do you think he even knows how a 'phone works? You're getting paranoid, Father."
"He's desperate, frightened, and confused, and we both know that when a man is like that he can behave in uncharacteristic ways." Jeff concentrated on the videophone.
Realisation dawned. "He's already tried, hasn't he? That's why you're worried."
Jeff looked up at his son. "I promised him I wouldn't discuss it with anyone. I'm not about to break that promise, Scott. I've got to win his confidence back somehow. So you're not to say anything… to anyone!"
"He says he's not talking to us anyway." Scott groaned, rubbing his face with both hands and then pushing them through his hair. "What do we do?"
Jeff raised his own hands in defeat. "I don't know. Penny's somewhere in the Mediterranean at the moment and I don't know who else I'd be willing to trust. The mood Virgil's in, he'd be likely to talk about International Rescue to the first person he meets."
"Do you think he's serious… about not eating?"
"Do you?" Jeff asked.
"Yes," Scott grimaced. Then he slapped his thighs decisively and stood. "Right! I'm going to do something! I'm not going to let him starve himself."
"What," Jeff asked warily.
Scott was heading towards the door. "I'm going to convince him that it's safe to eat… One way or another."
"Scott," Jeff warned.
"If he thought I was intimidating before, he ain't seen nothin' yet."
"I hope you know what you're doing."
"If I knew what I was doing I would have done it weeks ago. If it goes wrong I'll pay the psychiatrist bills... for both of us. I've got preparations to make. I'll see you later."
The door closed behind him.
Jeff sat in silence for a moment. Then he unlocked a drawer and removed a folder. He stared at it briefly before forcing himself to open it.
He tried to read the first page.
He slammed the folder shut.
"I hope your plan works, Scott."