Happy New Year!
Jeff was staring out the window when his eldest son entered the room. "Dad? Anything on Alan?" Scott asked.
Jeff shook his head and sighed. "No, nothing. I thought Brains would have found something by now."
"Don't give up Dad. John's still working on it."
Jeff sighed and leaned on the window sill. John…there's another problem.
"Dad?"
Jeff turned and Scott was shocked at how old his father looked. Jeff was pale with dark circles under his eyes. It was evident that he hadn't slept in days. "It's going to be OK Dad. We'll get them back."
Jeff didn't reply, but turned back to the windows. Sure it will.
"Dad, there's something I need to talk to you about…" Scott started.
Just then the door opened and Virgil walked in. "Hey, Brains said to tell you that he thinks he and John might have something. He wouldn't go into detail, but our two favorite geeks are down in the lab right now working on it."
"Where's Gordon?" Scott asked.
Before Virgil could answer, they all heard a splash. "Guess?" Virgil walked over to look out the window. His younger brother was doing laps in the big pool. It was Gordon's way of relieving stress, swim. They all stared down for a few minutes before Scott and Virgil walked back and began shuffling papers on the desk.
Scott turned to his brother. "You've seen John this morning?" He asked quietly.
Virgil nodded and glanced up at his father. Jeff still stood at the window, staring down watching Gordon. "He's not good Scotty." Virgil's voice was nearly a whisper.
"What do you mean?"
"He's got a pair of broken ribs."
"What!" Scott yelped.
"Shut up will you!" Virgil hissed. He glanced at his father again, but Jeff seemingly hadn't noticed the outburst. "I went to see him last night and noticed the bruising. I bullied him into X-rays this morning and my suspicions were right, he's re-cracked two ribs. Probably from the crash."
"Damn." Scott muttered. "Anything else I should know about?"
"He also asked me for something to help him sleep." Virgil's amber eyes bored into Scott's grey ones.
Scott cursed again. "Did you tell Dad?"
Virgil shook his head. "Not yet. I was on my way to do it now. I was going to tell him last night, but wanted to wait until I actually saw the X-rays."
They both glanced up at their father again. "Don't tell him Virg." Scott held up a hand to stall the inevitable argument. "Not yet. We can take care of him; make him stay here with Brains until we get Alan back."
Virgil arched one eyebrow. "Really? And how are you going to do that? Lock him in the closet?"
"He'll listen to me."
Virgil snorted. "Sure he will." They went back to looking at the reports.
Jeff's grip tightened on the railing. Contrary to what his sons believed, he had heard every word of their conversation. He glanced down and watched Gordon do laps around the lower pool. Gordon's movements were choppy and not as smooth as they usually were. Finally, the young man hoisted himself out of the pool, and sat on the edge, his head resting on his knees. Jeff was trying to make up his mind about going down to him when Onaha came out of the house.
Spying Gordon, she walked over and said something to him. Gordon looked up and smiled tentatively. She patted his shoulder and he got to his feet and followed her inside.
Jeff sighed. This is getting to us all.
"Dad?" Scott called out. Jeff didn't answer.
Virgil walked over to his father and placed a hand on his arm. "Dad you need to get some rest." He said softly.
Scott nodded in agreement. "We all need to be in top condition when this finally goes down."
The long strain of holding in his emotions finally got the better of Jeff. "You're a fine one to talk." He growled angrily.
Scott looked at his father in surprise. "What?"
Jeff whirled on his son, his temper snapping. "You! If you had only been here, none of this would have happened!" He accused. Before Scott could say anything, Jeff turned on Virgil. "And you, when where you going to tell me about your brother, huh? When he's lying in the hospital? Again!" Virgil stood stunned, his eyes wide in shock.
Scott found his voice first. "You have no right to say that to him, or to me for that matter." His face was flushed with anger.
"And why not? If you had been here, you would have gone on the rescue, and I would have been able to go get Alan. Instead, you decide to take a vacation up in space, totally disregarding your responsibilities here, and your brother gets kidnapped by a killer!" Jeff yelled.
Scott's hands clenched into fists and he stepped forward. Virgil placed a restraining hand on Scott's arm. "That's out of line Dad. Scott had to go up there for John's sake. Hell, John shouldn't have even been up there in the first place!" Virgil said, trying to be the peacemaker.
"When did you become such an expert? You can't even handle this! You want me to hire on a doctor for Christ's sake!" Virgil, speechless, paled at his father's tone. "You two have been babying John since this incident started a month ago." Jeff accused.
"None of us have been babied a day in our lives." Scott stepped back in. "Virgil's right. John wasn't ready to go back. Maybe if you were more concerned with your family than with International Rescue, you would have noticed!" Scott's eyes glittered dangerously.
"Don't you dare talk that way to me Scott." Jeff said in a deadly voice.
"Why not? Face it Dad, like I said before, you care more about the world than your family. Or is it not Alan and John your worried about. You're precious Penny's missing too!" Scott snapped.
In a flash, Jeff had stepped forward and slapped Scott hard across the face, causing the younger man to stumble backwards. Scott fell against the table, knocking it to the ground, but in a heartbeat was on his feet advancing towards his father, fists clenched.
Jeff met his son with fists of his own. "Bring it on boy."
Virgil grabbed his brother by the arms. "Scott, don't!"
"Like hell I won't!" Scott snarled, trying to shake himself free. "It's true, he cares more about her than he does his own sons!"
"Maybe I would care if my sons were actually capable of doing their jobs! But no, what do I get? I get a pilot who refuses to obey orders and a mentally unstable astronaut who can't even take care of himself!" Jeff hollered.
A strangled gasp from the back of the room had them all turning.
John stood in the doorway, his face pale, and his eyes wide with shock. He took a deep breath and walked forward, throwing a folder on the floor at his father's feet. "I was able to get a lock on Fermat's homing signal. They're in Malaysia, in Hood's old diamond mine." His voice turned cold. "Good luck getting them out." John turned on his heel and marched from the room.
"John!" Scott started after his brother, but stopped in the doorway. He turned back to his father, his grey eyes filled with hate. "Damn you Father. Damn you to hell." He marched out the door after his brother.
Virgil stood there, staring at his father, his eyes full of something Jeff couldn't read. Without saying a word, Virgil followed his brothers.
Jeff stood for a moment, then sank to the floor, his head in his hands. My God in Heaven, what have I done? What have I done?
Alan and Fermat raced through the corridors of the mine, often stopping to listen for pursuit or to climb over cave-ins and other debris. Suddenly, Alan pulled up short. "Wait, can you feel that?"
Fermat stood next to his friend. "Wind…Fresh air!"
Alan nodded. "We must be near the surface. Even if we can't get out, we should be close enough for your Dad to pick up the homing signal."
Fermat nodded. "So now what do w-we do?"
Alan settled himself down behind a large jumble of rocks and broken beams. He motioned for Fermat to join him. "We wait."
Gordon was about to step into his father's office when the door burst open and John rushed out, nearly crashing into him. "John?" His brother didn't answer but broke into a faltering run down the hallway out of sight.
Before Gordon could recover, the door opened again and Scott marched out, his face black with anger. "Where did he go?" Scott growled. Gordon didn't answer, but pointed down the hallway. Scott took off in a run.
The door opened again and this time Virgil came out, his face devoid of emotion. Spying Gordon, he grabbed him by the arms and dragged him down the hallway and outside the villa.
"Want to tell me what that was all about?" Gordon asked shrugging off his brother's grip.
Virgil shook his head, and continued down the steps to the beach. When they were well away from the house, he let go of his brother's arm and paced a short length of the beach. "Virgil, what in hell's going on?" Gordon demanded after the silence had gone on too long. "I heard yelling, so I went to check it out. Then John comes out looking like he just lost his best friend, Scott a moment later, ready to kill someone, and then you drag me off here. I want answers and I want them now!" He folded his arms across his chest.
"John figured out where Hood's keeping Alan and the others." Virgil said finally.
"And this is a bad thing?"
Virgil sent his brother a scathing glance and proceeded to fill Gordon in on what had happened up in their father's office. By the time Virgil had finished speaking, Gordon was seething. He picked up a rock and threw it as hard as he could into the sea.
"Damn Dad. He had no right to say those things." Gordon growled angrily.
"Why not? Weren't you, just last night, calling John a liability?" Virgil snapped.
Gordon whirled on his brother, fists clenched. "I didn't mean it like that and you know it."
Virgil sighed. "I know. I'm sorry Gord." He looked out over the beach. "Scott's probably gone to find John. And knowing Kyrano, he's already in there with Dad."
Gordon hurled another rock. "So, when do we leave?" He asked a few minutes later. At his brother's confused look Gordon rolled his eyes. "Alan? Remember him?"
Virgil glared. "Of course I remember him." He sat down heavily in the sand. "What do we do Gordy? I doubt Scott's speaking to Dad at the moment, I know I'm not. Who knows what John's thinking? We need all of us to pull this off." He sighed again. "And what if Scott can't get through to John? Think they'll take off on their own?"
They both looked up as Thunderbird 1 went roaring across the sky.
Gordon grinned devilishly at his brother. "I'd say there's your answer." They took off back towards the house.