Hey Everyone! I apologize! Katya andI've had this chapter ready for awhile, but my computer decided it didn't like to do certain things on the internet and I found it difficult to do much on But with my new and improved computer, which has decided to behave,I think we can finally get down to some serious work. Hope you guys didn't want to kill me as I really left you hanging with this last one (penitent look). Katya and I will be working on getting more chapters out to you since school has finally released us (to an extent, since we're both working there this summer). Hope you enjoy, and yes, I promise, there is more coming. Miss Elizabeth and Katya (aka Lady Arwen of Gondor)
Chapter 14: The Cost
Alan woke up sometime later, only to find himself lying in his own bed. As his headache was now only a dull pain, he slowly raised himself up to a sitting position. Instantly, his older brother John was at his side.
"How are you doing, kiddo?" He gently ruffled the tussled, blond hair. He wished to show brotherly affection, but it was tempered by his desire not to cause his brother more pain. Alan shrugged; then his eyes grew wide.
"Brains! Is he…?" John quickly shook his head.
"He's fine. His shoulder will be out of commission for awhile, but he'll soon be good as new. We were more worried about you. The way you kept slipping in and out of consciousness. Dad about drove us all insane, he was so worried." He paused, then nudged his younger brother's arm and said, "You did good, kid."
Alan's face broke into a huge smile. It always made him feel so good when his hero brothers were proud of him. Sometimes he felt he just didn't measure up to them. Then a thought brought a frown to his face.
"What about Scott? Did you find him?" John's shoulders slumped, and Alan had his answer. For several minutes, neither one said a word. Then Alan hazarded a question.
"How is Virg handling this?" John sighed.
"I'm not sure. Sometimes he seems great; other times he hides himself away in 2's hanger or spends countless hours playing insensible music on the piano. He keeps begging Dad to let us go back to Malaysia, but Dad won't let us. He wants to make sure the base is safe before we go back. Plus, with Brains and you out of commission," Alan began sputtering out a reply, but John stopped him, "You are not at 100, and you know it. With the two of you out of commission for awhile, some of us will have to stay, and that means less people searching for Scott. Penny has stayed behind and is working to find out more about the Hood. She and Parker are hoping to discover the location of his hideout by the end of the week. Then we will go back and resume the search; that should give us enough time to make the base safe. And no, you can't come! You're still unsteady on your feet. Now get back in bed before I get a needle and make you sleep!" Alan quickly climbed back into bed. John was the quiet brother, and when he threatened, the others generally believed him. Before he knew it, he was asleep.
Jeff sat on a sofa thinking about the Hood operative that had jumped over the cliff before John and he could reach him. He had pulled the man off Alan, and the man had push away from him. Both he and John had chased him to the cliff. Then, with an insolent salute, the man had thrown himself from the cliff, depriving the Tracys of his knowledge. Jeff remembered how John had turned pale and lost the contents of his stomach. He himself had felt nauseated. What kind of man caused such misguided loyalty or pure terror to cause two men to kill themselves rather then allow his secrets to fall into the wrong hands?
Jeff looked over at his second oldest son. Virgil was tunelessly hammering away at the piano. After all day of this, Jeff's nerves were at the breaking point. So far, he had held his temper, knowing this was the only outlet his son had for his frustrations. Being around the machines was too painful for him right now. After a particularly harsh and trying chord, Jeff snapped.
"Virgil, are you trying to kill the piano and our ears, or are you just inventing another form of torture?" He was immediately sorry that he had said anything. Everyone was worried sick about Scott, and Virgil had lost his main way of relieving his fears and frustrations with his disappearance. Virgil stood up and slammed the cover of the piano down as hard as he could. Then, without so much as a glance at his father, he stalked out of the room. Jeff looked up and saw Onaha, Brains, and a newly arrived John staring at him as if he had grown six arms. Without saying a word, John ran after his brother while Onaha gazed reproachfully at the Tracy father as she left the room. The head of the Tracy family fell back into his chair and let his head fall into his hands. How could he have been so uncaring? He should have been helping Virgil, letting him vent his frustrations to him. Instead, he had snapped at him and ridiculed him in front of his family.
A strong hand on his shoulder brought him back to his senses. Brains was resting his good hand on Jeff's shoulder and waiting for his employer to speak.
"How could I have been so unfeeling? This whole situation is killing him inside; we all can see that. And instead of helping him, I deride him and take away the one outlet he has left. What kind of father am I?"
"A human one." Jeff's head shot up to look at his good friend, for there had not been a single stutter in the sentence. When Brains focused on his words rather then who he was talking to, his stutter all but disappeared; you also knew he meant business when it happened. Brains was looking at him with kindness and…understanding in his eyes.
"This situation is killing you, too. Every one of us is extremely worried and lessened with Scott's disappearance. Each one of us has a different way of dealing with these feelings. It was inevitable that we would try one another's nerves. However, understanding that and acting on it are two different things. Talk with him, tell him you're sorry, and let him talk to you. I think he has been giving us a plea for someone to help him, but he's Virgil; he won't ask for it outright." Jeff nodded. The young scientist knew his son well. Without a sound, he got up from his desk and began his search for his son.
It did not take long, for Jeff had known from the beginning where his son would go. Yet, when he entered THUNDERBIRD 2, no one was there. He quickly contacted John on his watch.
"John, could you connect with THUNDERBIRD 5 and locate Virgil's signal?" John logged in on his computer and within minutes was accessing the satellite's tracking station.
"Here it is…it shows him in his room." Jeff shook his head.
"I looked there right after I found THUNDERBIRD 2 empty." John looked his father straight in the eye.
"Did you check in THUNDERBIRD 1?" The older man started. No one had gone near the sleek ship since Gordon had flown it back to the island the day Scott had disappeared. Every time the father thought of his eldest son's ship, his stomach clenched painfully. He could not bear the thought that Scott would never see his beloved ship again.
"Why on earth would Virgil be there?" John shrugged.
"Just a thought. Knowing his mood these last couple of days, I'd say he wants to be as close to Scott as he can. What better place then TB 1? I…I've been in there a couple of times, just to get away…" Jeff stared at his son. The normally assured young man was not there; slumped shoulders and frightened, evasive eyes had replaced him.
"Son…" John shook his head as if trying to shake off a mantle of despair.
"Just find Virg, Dad. He needs you." Jeff gazed at the blank screen. He was losing his sons; one by one, they were drawing into themselves and allowing their pain to control them. A wave of panic filled the father as he felt his helplessness drown him. He had not been able to be there for his sons when his wife Lucille died, as he had sustained a complete breakdown. It had fallen on Scott's shoulders to aid, heal, tend, and care for four heartbroken children, with one of them barely in school. Jeff had been proud of his son and been…well, thankful was not adequate. Yet he had never told him, never thanked him for shouldering a man's burden at such a young age. Walking quickly to THUNDERBIRD 1's hanger, Jeff vowed that if…when they got Scott back, he would tell him…tell him how much he appreciated him.
Virgil sat in Scott's chair, his hands running repeatedly over the controls. His face and shirt were drenched with tears, yet his eyes were dry. He had no more tears; he had cried them all. Now he just sat there, emotionally and physically spent. He did not want to face his family especially his father. He just…he just.
Warm, loving arms encircled his tense shoulders. Virgil struggled at first, not wanting any of his family to see him like this. Then, of its own accord, his body melted in the embrace. Shoulders shaking, dry sobs echoed through the cockpit. His eyes may not have had any more tears, but his heart and spirit needed to cry.
Onaha, Tin-Tin, Fermot, Kyrano, Gordon, John, Brains and Alan raced or attempted to race into Jeff's office. They found Jeff sitting in his chair behind his desk with Virgil sitting beside him on the desk. John was pleasantly astonished to see Virg looking so…normal. His eyes were two pieces of brown swimming in a sea of blood, but his face was calm and had a look of peace on it John had not seen for several days. The old Virgil was not back, but this was his closest kin.
"Thank you all for coming as quickly as you did. We have to make a decision. This could be the toughest one we have yet had to make. I know all of you want to go back and rescue Scott, but we have all seen what happened the last time we all left Tracy Island." Everyone glanced towards Brains and Alan. "I know that normally I would be the one to make this decision, but this isn't a normal situation, and it is unfair to ask any of you to go against a matter of the heart. Therefore, I'm going to have each of us vote on this. This is a secret ballot. No one has to know what you decide; but your belief, your opinion is wanted. I…I can't make this decision on my own. I can't decide between the almost certain death of one and the possible deaths of more sons and family. I…I can't." Everyone watched in awed silence as the brave, strong astronaut and commander of the secret International Rescue organization broke. He had not broken during the fiasco with the Hood a year ago, nor when faced with the knowledge that the organization he had given his all to was about to be destroyed. He had not broken even with the news that Alan and Tracy Island were in danger. Yet, so much had happened, all of this and more, and now the toughest thing he had had to face yet was here. Could he doom a son to certain death with the knowledge that they would never see Scott again, alive or dead? Maybe it was not so surprising. He was, after all, a father too. Before anyone could move, Virgil leapt off the desk and raced around. He knelt beside his father and enveloped him in his arms. He turned to the rest of the family.
"On the desk are the data sheets. Each one has a name on it. Go to your rooms, ships, anywhere on the island and write out what you think. Dad will carefully read each one and then reconvene this meeting. Then the…the decision will be made." Turning his face from the stunned group, he rested his head against his father He alone knew what this decision had cost him. What he might have to pay for it later if…well, he thought as he squeezed his father's shoulders, best not to think about that now.