It was not as hard as one might have assumed to steer clear of each other on a small island. And before she knew it the sun was setting and the approach of darkness drew her back inside. Not that she had ventured very far in her avoidance/exploration. Beach, yes. Bug infested jungle? Hell, no.
Her skin was tight and hot and her head pounding from too much sun as she slid beneath the sheets and lay back in the bed. She had sought shade in as far as she had dared to venture beneath the trees and Penny and Scott had repeatedly ventured down to offer her chaperoned passage back into the house. But the truth really was a strong desire to be alone. Plus the added fear of more questions about her bruised face and the risk of bumping into a severely odd-acting John. In fact, alone was not quite enough. Getting the hell out of Dodge had seemed a very good plan for most of the afternoon.
Alex lay in the dark bedroom in silence only broken by the gentle presence of air conditioning whispers. She was sure he would seek slumber elsewhere in the house and was content with the idea of being left to be. And it would make her mission far easier to complete.
22:19. Alex watched the LED figures transform as the minutes passed, her heart racing as she calculated an appropriate time to sneak out.
Three hours later and she was still wide-awake, both from the discomfort of apparently scorched shoulders and the adrenaline high of anticipation. John had never ventured into the bedroom and she held her breath as she padded over to the door and peered into the empty hallway.
Access to the lounge area was easy and possible detection simple to explain through thirst or hunger. But the path was clear, the lounge empty and only the low noise from the office disturbing the stillness. She glanced up towards the gentle glow from the open door where Scott had said he would again be keeping watch and then heard an unfamiliar voice. Unfamiliar in that she had not heard it as often, at least. The scientist. Alex smiled in delight, realising that this was at least one possible hiccup out of the way.
So where was John? Alex paused for a moment at the entrance to the lounge and frowned in frustration. If she met him elsewhere then she would have to think damned fast. Deciding it was a risk worth taking, she headed down into the lower levels.
It had taken Jeff hours to get to sleep. Penny lay in the gentle first light of dawn and watched him in his slumber. She had listened to his worries, offered what little advice she could and massaged the knots from his shoulders. Eventually he had succumbed to his exhaustion and had apparently stayed not only in the same position but blissfully snoring for most of the night.
Penny reached out and stroked her fingers along his cheek, smiling as he murmured appreciatively at her touch. Or was that just another snore? Her smile grew at the thought and she sighed in contentment.
Glancing at the clock, Penny carefully slid off of the bed and pulled on her robe. She took another long look at his peaceful form and stepped quietly from the room.
"Hey."
It was husked and half-asleep but it startled her nonetheless and she spun to see Alan trudging along the corridor.
"Oh, please." Alan yawned wearily, waving off her apparent alarm. "We all know you're banging the old man."
Penny stared at him in disbelief.
"And we think it's cool." Alan added with a bleary-eyed grin and continued out towards the lounge.
Penny watched him disappear and was lost in bewilderment. The long awaited surrender to the inevitable union that had her walking on air one moment and fretting over the next had been reduced to the vulgar analogies of a teenager.
And then she smiled. "Cool." She whispered into the empty corridor and her smile grew.
Having found a coke and then collapsed on one of the couches, Alan seemed oblivious to her as she wandered into the lounge. Penny smiled as she saw that, unopened can in hand, he had actually fallen back to sleep there and she wondered if perhaps his sleepwalking days of early childhood had returned. The thought hung in her mind as she ascended the ramp and headed towards the office.
"Hey there." Scott smiled merrily and glanced at his watch, evidently pleased to discover that time had passed faster than he had imagined.
"Any news?" Penny wandered inside the office and headed round the desk to look at the computer terminal.
"Oh, man!" Scott sighed, "It took ages to convince John to let me take over from him."
"Oh."
"Yeah, he and Brains were deep into some shit about something or other and I'm sure had been drinking way too much caffeine. I mean, they talk fast and crazy at the best of times but …" Scott saw the concern filling Penny's eyes and trailed off.
"Did you speak to her?"
"Just. It was a close one. They'd only just left when she came through a little after 3am."
"And?"
"She wants to help." Scott nodded, "She gave me co-ordinates of a safe place for you guys to meet."
Penny considered this for a moment.
"You can call in some back-up, check out the place, have some protection just in case." Scott offered, "And maybe we ought to run it by Dad."
"Already have." Penny smiled. "Plan A: Eva. Plan B: Dr Hawthorne."
Scott nodded slowly. "Plan C: both of the above."
"Mmm." Penny combed her fingers through her hair and sighed. "We will see. He seemed fairly normal yesterday evening."
"He was lost in a world of scientific mutterings with Brains." Scott laughed.
"And Brains seemed to think he was fine?"
"I'm sorry? Just whom are we consulting regarding normalcy now? The man's a crazy on-another-planet genius!"
Penny smiled fondly and shrugged agreement.
Scott stood and arched his back, stiffened from sitting too long in the same position. "Nah, you're right. This place did kinda feel back to usual last night. Even the annoying return of junior shithead and his 'I'm so full of it' was strangely welcome."
Penny giggled at the memory. "Now who would have thought that childish bickering would be so very missed?"
Scott paused at her comment and regarded her in suspicion. "You insulting me?"
Penny laughed loudly. "God, would I even dare!" She retorted and wandered from the office.
Alan was still sprawled out over the sofa and Penny yawned as she watched his peaceful dreaming. She headed down the ramp and was surprised to then see John heading in through the glass doors.
John glanced up at her. "Morning." John whispered, nodding a smile towards his slumbering brother.
Penny returned the greeting and followed him into the kitchen.
John pointed to the kettle and turned to watch Penny nod an affirmative. He sought out the teabags, wincing as he reached up into the cupboard.
Penny watched him press a hand against his side and she reached out to touch his arm, noting his small smile of gratitude and reassurance.
"Just a bit stiff." John explained quietly.
Realisation dawned on Penny and she glanced out towards the pool.
"Guess I drifted off while star gazing."
Penny watched him avoiding her gaze but could still see in his tired face the rest of the story that he was not telling her. She let it go and smiled a reply.
John poured their tea and gestured for her to follow him outside. He sat down on the bench that had evidently been his bed for the night and waited for her to perch beside him.
"Sorry about yesterday." John began after a moment, a brief smile brushing across his pale features. "I think … well … Dad suggested talking to Bob Hawthorne."
Penny listened in silence.
"I think perhaps I ought to." He watched her nodding and confusion darkened his face. "At least, I think …"
Penny placed her hand on his arm and smiled up at him. "You need to talk to someone, John. Anyone would … if they had been through what you have." She squeezed his arm gently, "It is not a failure to ask for help."
John contemplated this for a minute and sipped at his tea. "I don't think I do need help, though. I just want everyone to get off my case."
Penny's heart sank.
"There's nothing wrong with me. And the sooner you all acknowledge that, the sooner we can all move on."
Penny watched him in silence, realising that Plan A was perhaps exactly what he needed.
Jeff rubbed at weary eyes and slowly sat up. He leaned back against the headrest and sighed heavily.
"I am sorry." Penny offered again.
Jeff yawned and shook his head slowly. "No. You were right to wake me." He rubbed his face with his hands and groaned. "It's worse than we thought, then."
Penny nodded.
"There's no way he'll go with you to see her. And he'll be suspicious if we try to coax him off island." Jeff contemplated aloud. "Short of drugging him, I guess the only thing is to bring her here."
"And the other boys?"
"I'll have to get them off the scene somehow." Jeff shrugged, "Give John and Eva some space." He pondered on the idea for a moment. "I could send two of them to go and pick Bob up."
"Mmm."
"And your story?"
"Clothes." Penny replied.
Jeff grinned, "Good one."
"For Alex." Penny tutted, swatting his arm playfully. "She cannot keep wearing his old jogging trousers. I mean … assuming she is staying a while longer."
"Of course. She stays until it's safe for her to venture out." Jeff replied quickly, "Any idea how long that might be?"
"Our team is on the case. Parker has been keeping tabs but it is a big operation to co-ordinate and we still need to find a few more players." Penny sighed wearily and snuggled down beside him, resting her head in his lap. "I will be glad when this is all over."
Jeff stroked his hands through her hair and over her shoulders. "Yeah …"
Alex wandered out into the apparently empty lounge and then smiled in greeting as she caught sight of Onaha clearing away what was left of lunch.
"We thought it best to leave you sleeping." Onaha offered, hurrying over to her. "Lady Penelope told us of your tumble on the beach yesterday." She began, peering at the bruising. "How do you feel now?"
"Fine." Alex nodded. "Thank you."
"I was worried when you never came in for supper and they told me I fuss too much." Onaha sighed, "But look! I had cause to be worried."
"No, I'm okay." Alex smiled, glancing around for a change of topic. "Hey, where is everyone?"
"Lady Penelope went to the mainland to go shopping and the boys are all on the beach." Onaha replied, "Well, all except John." She nodded up towards the office and sighed.
Alex shrugged slightly, "It is his job."
"Hmm. It can be shared while he is here." Onaha retorted, mumbling something under her breath as she turned back to the kitchen.
Alex followed her, grabbing a plate and some of the left over food. She sat down at the table and munched on a sandwich, aware of Onaha still mumbling about John needing to be looked after. Glancing up towards the office, Alex considered going up to talk to him and frowned in thought. A shrill, now familiar alarm then suddenly ended all possibility of a chat and she continued with her lunch, knowing that to do anything else would only be a nuisance.
All personnel to command and control. All personnel to command and control.
Brains was the first to respond, tearing up from somewhere deep inside the complex, flushed and gasping. A few minutes later and the rest of the family burst into the lounge, leaving a thin trail of sand in their wake.
Alex listened to what she could make out of the hurried orders and continued with her lunch. There was the sound of elevators whirring into life and then silence for a moment.
The warning claxon heralding imminent movement of the pool was shortly followed by automatic closing of the lounge doors and Alex watched in amazement as the bright blue and silver rocket ascended from deep within the mountain. A cloud of grey smoke hung beyond the doors long after the deep booming roar of the engines had faded and Alex shook her head in wonder.
"It is impressive." Onaha agreed, "No matter how many times I see it."
Alex nodded in enthusiastic agreement.
"And then I start praying."
Alex looked up at Onaha's worried face but she then shrugged and returned to her cleaning. Turning back to the now dissipating smoke cloud, Alex could make out a familiar shadowy figure approaching from beyond the pool and she watched in interest.
Penny entered the code to unlock the lounge doors and hurried inside. She shot Alex a smile of greeting and nodded firmly.
Alex abandoned what remained of her lunch and her eyes followed Penny's dash up to the office. There had been so much conveyed in a simple smile and nod; Penny's expression spoke of confirmation, reassurance and yet also a slight trepidation. Alex turned back to look out by the pool and was unsurprised as Parker ascended the steps up from the beach. And he was not alone.
The strengthening breeze had blown away all remnants of smoke and Alex watched the pair perch on one of the poolside benches, evidently waiting for the all clear from Penny. But, with a mission now in progress, that might be a while yet.
Alex stood and began towards the open doors to greet the guest but halted suddenly as she watched the woman looking around in interest. Her head spinning and her heart racing, Alex backed up and retreated into the protective shadows of the corridor.
Alex closed her eyes and forced her breathing to slow. "Oh crap." She breathed into the empty hallway. "Be wrong … please be wrong …"
John watched the trailing locator IDs as the two craft sped across the American mainland. With a frown, he recalled Penny's strange behaviour of a few minutes ago. She had wanted information on the rescue, which was understandable. Parker had been forced to make a beach approach to avoid the flight paths of the rapidly launching rescue craft and John had guessed that Penny would make a beeline for him to find out more details.
It wasn't that. There was something more. Something unspoken in her anxious face. Turning his focus back to the unfolding mission and deciding that all other worries needed to take a back seat, John shook his head clear and called up a satellite image of the danger zone. The tanker was still, the bow unusually high in the water and the stern submerged. The first signs of an inevitable black slick of oil were spreading out like a dark cloud over the surrounding sea where the ruptured vessel was spilling its guts out into the water.
John checked again the approach of the two craft and sighed in relief, Scott was crossing the Canadian Rockies and not five minutes out with the others close behind. Opening the comm. to report as much to both the panicked crew of the rock-grounded vessel and the civilian rescue craft already on the scene, John saw again the brief flicker of interference and sighed in annoyance. Everything was running a little slower and John reminded himself to run a diagnostic on the systems once the rescue was complete and he could chance the potential pause that the investigative programme may cause.
He had told Brains of the running glitch and the scientist had been about to run through the systems just moments before the call had then come through. And now Brains was aboard Thunderbird 2, his expertise needed with the rapid control of spreading oil. With the recent updates to the craft and Five not yet converted, there was no back-up programme to access and so, making a mental note to sort out the problem as soon as possible, John worked as best he could with the nanosecond of delay in the processing power.
"Base from Thunderbird 1."
"Yeah, Scott."
"John, are you testing remote access, or something?"
"Huh? No."
"She's real stiff today." Scott continued, anxiety obvious in his quiet voice. "She doesn't feel quite – shit!"
"What?" John demanded urgently.
"John, I just lost control! I'm changing course! She's not responding! John!"
John's heart was racing as he watched the blue locator ID making a sharp right turn and suddenly Thunderbird 1 was racing down the East coast.
"John? What the hell?" Scott called out in a panic.
"I don't know!" John replied urgently, "I'm working on it!" He moved along to a separate console and called up Thunderbird 1s schematics, his throat tightening as he saw the first indicators of what looked like a viral infection jumbling the code. "Oh god …" He groaned.
"Base from Thunderbird 2."
John closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable words from Virgil's anxious voice. When they came, his only reply was to insist on speaking with Brains and perhaps spoken a little too harshly.
"Shut down the EM programme." Brains ordered hurriedly.
John quickly accessed the new sub-routine, ordering a complete stop and waiting for a response.
"Well?" Brains urged.
"Nothing." John gasped, "It's not even acknowledging me. Brains, what's wrong with it?"
"I d-d-d-don't know." Came the quiet reply, "It's the only mod-mod-mod-change I've recently made. I'm guessing."
John nodded in understanding, trying to stay calm and ignore the panicked chaos on the flight deck that he could hear in the background.
"Base from Thunderbird 1."
"Scott?" John swung back to the other comm. and the location map, frowning in confusion.
"I've stopped."
John peered closer at the map, his hand trembling as he reached out to touch the screen.
"John?" Scott continued, his voice thin and shaken. "Oh god, John … I'm hovering over the fucking Whitehouse."
Tbc …