Thunderbirds and its characters don't belong to me, only the ones I made up.
The phone on Jeff's desk rang and he stared dully at it for a moment. The phone never rang. If the boys needed to reach him, they used their communicators. Even Penny had one.
It rang again. Must be the office. Jeff thought, thinking of the Tracy Enterprise headquarters in Boston. He picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"I'm looking for Jeff Tracy?" The voice on the other end asked.
"This is Jeff Tracy. How can I help you?"
"Sir, my name is Dr. Steven MacLeod. I am calling from Boston General Hospital. Do you know a man named Aloysius Parker? We found your name and number in his wallet."
"Yes, he's a close family friend." Jeff felt a chill along his spine. "Why? Has something happened?"
"Sir, I'm afraid there's been an accident. Apparently the car he was driving seemed to go off a cliff near the coast. He has internal injuries and a compound fracture of his left leg. He's still in surgery."
Jeff's grip tightened on the phone. He never looked up as Virgil entered the room. Sensing something wrong, Virgil stood rock still, watching his father. "Was—was anyone else injured?" Jeff asked.
"No sir."
Jeff sighed in relief.
"Mr. Parker was the only one in the car."
"Dad, I'm going with you." Virgil stood in the doorway watching his father pack.
Jeff shook his head. "I want you here."
"No." Jeff looked up, his brown eyes angry. Virgil met his gaze fearlessly. "He's my brother. I'm going with you. Gordon can handle things here." He said firmly.
Jeff sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. "God Virgil…"
Virgil knelt down on one knee in front of his father. "Don't Dad, don't even think it. I'm sure they're all fine. Gordon and Brains are working of finding them now. They all have communicators and they're sure to pick up one of them."
Jeff nodded, regaining his composure. "You're right." He sighed. "If you're coming, pack a bag. I'm leaving in twenty minutes."
Virgil quickly got to his feet. "FAB Dad. I'll let the others know. Gordon's going to get in touch with John and Scott. Maybe John can find them."
"NO."
Virgil turned, startled at his father's tone. "What?"
Jeff shook his head. "I said no. I don't want John anymore upset than he already is."
"Dad, they need to know."
"I'll call them myself as soon as we know more."
"But Dad…"
"Virgil, if you're coming, get ready to leave." Jeff's tone booked no argument.
Virgil sighed. "See you in twenty." He strode out the door. When he got to his room, he quickly threw a few changes of clothes in a duffel bag and hurried down to Brain's workshop. The scientist and Gordon were bent over the computer. "Gord!"
Gordon looked up and waved his brother over. "Did you find anything?" Virgil asked.
Gordon shook his head. "Nothing yet. Weird…"
"The equipment is working fine. I can't fig-fig-fig-understand why we can't pinpoint their location." Brains mused.
"I'll call John, maybe he can find them." Gordon turned back to the screen.
"Don't Gord." Virgil said, his voice strangely guarded.
"What?" Gordon asked, confused. "Why not?"
Virgil glanced over his shoulder. "Dad doesn't want them to know. He doesn't want to upset John." He told them quietly. "I think Dad's afraid it'll push him over the edge."
"And not telling him won't? What happens when he finds out we hid this from him, because we thought he couldn't handle it?" Gordon turned back to the computer, scowling.
"Gordon, your f-f-f-Jeff knows what he's doing." Brains said. "I should go give him an u-u-update." Brains hurried out the door.
"This is bullshit!" Gordon exploded.
"I know it is." Virgil sighed. "Look, I happen to disagree with Dad. I think they should know what's going on, and I think they might be able to help." Virgil glanced over his shoulder again. "At least try and wait until we leave." He said winking.
Gordon broke into a devilish grin. "FAB Virg. Fly safe."
A soft beeping caused John to look up from his book. He picked up his communicator from the nightstand. "Thunderbird 5, go ahead."
"John." Gordon's voice sounded odd.
"Gordon? What's up? Why didn't you call over the main channel?" John asked puzzled.
"Listen bro, I don't have much time. There's been an accident. Parker and FAB 1 went off a cliff near the Massachusetts coast. He's been taken to a hospital in Boston. Alan, Fermat and Lady P. are missing."
At that moment, Scott walked into the room. "Hey Johnny, I'm making lunch, want anything?" He stopped short at John's stunned expression. "What is it?"
John waved at him to be quiet. "Where's Dad?"
"He and Virgil are getting ready to leave for Boston."
John thought quickly. "Have you searched for their signals?"
"Brains and I have been working on it and we've come up negative."
"That doesn't make any sense." John frowned.
"Tell me about it. Look, Dad's coming, I have to go. See what you can do!" Gordon cut the connection.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Scott asked again.
Instead of answering, John pushed by his brother and out to the main computer console. His fingers flew across the keyboards.
Scott followed at his heels. "Dammit John! What happened?" Scott demanded.
John quickly filled his brother in. "I'm trying to see if I can find them."
"What can I do?" Scott asked.
"Conduct a full perimeter sweep. I want to knowif there's anythingout there."
"FAB. What are you doing?" Scott bent over one of the computers.
"Tracing the comm signal. Even if Alan's not wearing it, I should be able to pick up a signal." John replied.
"John, you don't think…" Scott's voice trailed off.
"No. Not with Parker driving. We'll find them." John answered instantly.
Scott sighed. "I hope to hell you're right John."
Jon looked up a moment and sent his brother a quick grin. "I'm always right. Now shut up and run those scans."
Chuckling, Scott got to work.
Hours passed and John continued to pour over data from his computers. Scott had run the sweep and found nothing and had been idly watching his brother for the past hour. Finally John sat back in his chair, unconsciously gnawing on a chocolate bar and staring thoughtfully at the computer.
"Well?" Scott asked. John jumped. "Did you find anything?"
"No…well, not really." John replied.
"What do you mean 'not really'?"
John punched a few buttons on the keyboard. "See these dots?" He pointed to a series of blinking lights. "These four are our people on Tracy Island. And Gordon." He grinned and pointed to another set. "And this is Dad and Virgil en-route to Boston." He punched another key. "And here's us."
Scott tried to look like he knew what John was getting at. "So what is all this supposed to mean?" He asked finally.
"That I can't find a sign of Alan, Fermat or Penelope. Even if they were dead, the comm would still be sending out a signal. Even Parker's is still there, weak like it's damaged, but there." John replied pointing to another light.
"So, where are they then?" Scott asked after the silence had gone on too long.
John shook his head. "Not where they appear to be, that's for sure." John pushed another set of keys. "Here's where Parker allegedly went off the cliff. It's no where near the roads he takes when he picks up the boys from Wharton."
"Short-cut?"
"Only if he wanted to add a hundred miles to the trip. The data I downloaded from FAB 1 shows he was traveling at a high rate of speed and the safety protocols weren't on. Seatbelts weren't even activated. Does that sound like Parker?"
Scott shook his head, amazed as his brother continued.
"Also, it only registers one person in the car at the time of the crash. It did show that they stopped for a half-hour, shortly after picking up the boys. Only one person, who we can assume is Parker, resumed the trip. The accident, if that's what you want to call it, happened an hour later."
"I take it you don't think it was an accident?"
"The Hood escapes from prison and now our brother's missing?" John shook his head. "No way." He stared back down at the computer screen.
"How do you do it?" Scott asked a few minutes later.
John looked up in surprise. "Do what?"
Scott waved around the bridge. "This! You downloaded info from thousands of miles away, out of a destroyed vehicle! And in less than three hours. Brains and Gordon haven't even gotten close."
John blushed. "I didn't do anything really." He muttered.
"Like hell you didn't! You found where they weren't. Now we can concentrate on where they are." Scott's forehead creased in thought. "Have you sent this to Brains?"
John nodded. "Yes. He's looking over it now."
"I'll get in touch with Virgil, he'll pass it on to Dad." Scott leaned towards the viewscreen.
"Wait, I…" John hesitated.
"What?"
"Let Gordon tell him. I don't think Dad wanted me to know." John said quietly.
"What are you talking about? Of course he wanted us to know." Scott snapped.
"Then why did Gord call me over his communicator instead of the main channel? And why did he cut off when he heard Dad coming?" John sighed and looked away. "He thinks I've lost it doesn't he, that I can't handle anymore stress."
Scott was still a moment. "John, no one thinks that." He said, shaking his head.
John turned and faced his brother, hurt evident in his eyes. "Then tell me something Scott, why has Alan been missing for almost eight hours and Dad hasn't called once?"