Chapter 12

Brains sat at the SEM computer, and worked the controls to focus on the blood sample from Alan that Tin-Tin had taken for him. Scott and Gordon stood behind him with bated breath.

"Oh, dear!" said Brains.
"What is it?" asked Scott.

Brains stood away from the screen to allow the others to see.

"Oh my God!" said Scott, and clasped his hand over his mouth.

"What is it?" asked Jeff. He slowly shuffled over to the screen, holding on to the wall for support as he went.

"Alan has been infected with nanobots, Mr. Tracy."

"Like John?"

"Yes, Mr. Tracy."

"So now he's going to go demented on us too?" asked Gordon, angrily.

"I don't know, Gordon," said Brains. "I need to interface with these nanobots too."

Brains removed the phial from the machine and took it over to the other computer to interface with the new nanobots. This did not take as long as the previous time, as he now knew exactly what he was looking for.

"They have the same information up to a point. But these ones contain more information about Thunderbird 5. The second attack was launched because John was taking too long. That's why they infected Alan!" stammered Brains.

"Can we help Alan?" asked Gordon.

Brains was silent for a few minutes, and Gordon waited for his answer; he could see that Brains was deep in thought.

Finally, he spoke. "I have reprogrammed these nanobots to destroy the others. Once they are all deactivated, they will self-destruct," said Brains.

"So we can give them to John?" asked Gordon, with his arms folded.

"I don't know if it will work. They could make it worse!" stuttered Brains.

"How could it possibly get any worse?" asked Gordon.

"For all I know, this could kill John. I have no way of testing it. Give me some time, and I might be able to run some simulations."

"Alright, Brains," said Gordon, and smiled at him.

Virgil groaned as he woke up. Scott ran over to him.

"Are you okay, Virg?" he said, putting his arm on Virgil's shoulder.

Virgil flinched. "I'm okay," he said. "But that isn't helping."

"Sorry!" said Scott, and took his arm away.

"Any news?" asked Virgil. He seemed to be holding his breath in between speaking, and his jaw whitened as he clenched it, tightly.

"Are you in pain?" asked Scott, concerned.

Virgil exhaled almost explosively. "I've been shot. Twice! What do you think?" he growled.

"I'm sorry Virg. Brains? Can we get him any pain relief?"

"I'm afraid not, Scott. We only grabbed a few medical supplies when we left the sickroom," replied Brains.

"I'll be okay," said Virgil, through gritted teeth. A tear rolled down his dirty face, and his hands shook with pain and concentration.

Scott ruffled Virgil's hair, and winked at him.

Virgil smiled, weakly. He looked over at Jeff. "How is he?"

"I think he's okay." Jeff was conscious, and was sitting on the floor next to his mother with his back against the wall.

"What about Alan?" asked Virgil.

Scott looked over at his youngest brother. Tin-Tin was holding his hand. Alan was deathly pale, and shaking uncontrollably.

"Brains!" cried Tin-Tin. "He's stopped shaking!"

Alan's arm hand gone limp, and Tin-Tin was holding it to her. Brains strode over to check on him, and Tin-Tin had to be extricated from him by Kyrano. Brains felt for a pulse, and found Alan no longer sweating. His skin was mottled and dry. Scott shook his head at the amount of time Brains was taking to find Alan's pulse.

"I have a pulse!" said Brains. "But it's very weak." He leaned over Alan and held his ear over Alan's face, with his hand on his chest. "He's barely breathing!" he stammered. "I think that the fever and other symptoms are an immune response- Alan's system is attacking the nanobots!"

"What do we do, Brains?" asked Scott.

"He needs some advanced life support, or he'll die!" stuttered Brains.

"What do we do?" said Scott. Brains simply looked back at him, open mouthed. Scott stared for a few seconds at everyone in the room in turn, as if asking for advice. Finally, his eyes fixed on his father.

Jeff hauled himself up the wall, stood, straightened himself, and tugged at his pullover to neaten his demeanour.

"Take Alan and Virgil to the sickroom!" announced Jeff.

"But, Father, what about John?" asked Gordon.

"John is trying to get here to take control of the power grid, is he not, Brains?"

"I think so, Mr. Tracy," said Brains.

"You see," he said, pointing to the handheld canner. "John's still busy in the Thunderbird 1 hangar. You can help Alan out, give Virgil some painkillers, and work on your nanobots if you take the computer with you."

"But John will come here?"

"I know. I'll stay here."
"But you need medical attention too, Father!" said Scott.

"Somebody has to stay here," Jeff replied, and leaned against the bench for support as he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

"He's not breathing!" hollered Brains, and he rolled Alan onto his back. "Scott!" Brains stammered, and Scott joined him. Brains knelt up on the bench, and with all his might bashed on Alan's chest with his fist. Scott sealed his lips over his brother's mouth and breathed into him. He stopped while Brains punched Alan's chest again. "I have a pulse!" he announced and Scott confirmed that Alan was breathing on his own, though shallowly.

"Take him to the sickroom!" ordered Jeff.

"But, Father!" protested Scott.
"No time to argue, Scott. You take Alan, Gordon, take Virgil. Tin-Tin, Mother, Kyrano, you go too."

Scott swallowed and nodded. Brains picked up the tower unit of his computer and unplugged it. Tin-Tin took the phial and a few other pieces of equipment and put them in a box.

"I'll unlock the doors between here and the sickroom. Call back as you go through each one and I'll lock it behind you." Jeff staggered. Scott had to stop himself from grabbing his father and holding him upright. He knew he would not want that. "Kyrano, you-"
"I will stay with you, Mr. Tracy," said Kyrano.

Jeff was about to argue with him, but the loving look in Kyrano's eyes told him that it would be pointless to do so.

"I thought communications were out!" said Grandma Tracy.
"Only communications via the satellite, Mother."

"Are you going to be okay, Jeff?" she asked quietly so that only he could hear her.

"I'll be fine, Mom. Just take care of those boys." Jeff kissed her on the cheek, and then took up position by the power management computer.

"Go!" he said. They left. Jeff sank into the chair by the computer.

"Kyrano?" he said.
"Yes, Mr. Tracy?"

"Arm yourself."

"Yes, Mr. Tracy."

"Now, we wait."