Chapter 15

"Dad?" said Scott. He and Gordon entered the smoky laboratory, and waved their hands in front of them to clear the air. They put their cutting tools down, and noticed the hole in the door opposite.
"Hey, that's just like the stuff we found on Thunderbird 5!" said Gordon, as his feet crunched on the debris from the dead Infiltrators.

"Ssh!" said Scott. He rounded the corner and found his father, sobbing, over the pale, blood-soaked body of John.
"Oh my God! Dad!" said Scott, and bent to put his arm around Jeff. Gordon checked John's neck for a pulse, and shook his head at Scott.

"Brains! John's down!" said Gordon into his watch.
"I'll be right there!" was his reply.

"Kyrano!" cried Gordon, as he spied the fabric from his coat under one of the benches. "Are you okay?" Gordon bent down and lifted his upper body.

"Thankyou, Gordon. I am fine. Your father needs your assistance."

"Scott's with him."

Brains and Tin-Tin entered.

"Father!" she cried, and knelt down next to him, kissing his face.

"I am fine, Tin-Tin," he said, in the same calm, quiet voice he always had.

"My God!" yelled Brains as he surveyed the scene. "Is-"

Scott shook his head, and Brains hung his. Then his scientific mind took over. He went over to Kyrano, and looked at his neck. There was no wound.
"Can you make it to the sickroom, Kyrano?" asked Brains.
"Are there any more of those things around, Brains?" asked Gordon.

"No, Gordon. They would show on the scanner if there were any more on the island."

"What about the nanobots?" asked Gordon.

"Let's get everyone to the sickroom, and I'll run some tests," stammered Brains.

"I'll help him," said Tin-Tin, and she and Kyrano set off.

"Mr. Tracy, are you alright?" asked Brains, bending over him.

"I don't know, Brains."

"Come on, Dad, let's get you to the sickroom," said Scott.

"I'm not leaving John."
"He's dead, Father," said Scott.

"I'm not losing my son twice in as many days. I'm just not!" said Jeff indignantly. "I'm just not." As he spoke, his voice became quiet and incoherent, and Gordon caught him before he collapsed completely to the floor.

"Dad! Dad!" called Gordon, and shook him. "He's out cold!" he said, and lifted him over his shoulder.
Scott looked at Brains. "What shall we do about John?" he asked.

"Can you carry him?"

"I guess so."

"Then bring him too. But put him in the operating room, would you?"

"Why?"

"I need to check him for nanobots."

Scott nodded and complied, and the four men, and John, left for the sickroom.

Brains started to work on Jeff, and Tin-Tin bandaged her father's shoulder wound. When she had finished, she resumed her vigil at Alan's side. She was surprised to find him lying with his eyes open.

"Alan! You're awake!"

He spluttered and his lips shook.

Tin-Tin planted a kiss on his forehead, and Alan blushed inside, though from his extreme pallor, it was not visible.

Brains stepped over. "When I say, blow out hard, Alan. Do you understand?"
Alan nodded, and when he blew out, Brains pulled out his breathing tube. Alan coughed and spluttered, weakly, and Tin-Tin held his hand.
"That was so nasty!" whispered Alan, and Brains hooked up an oxygen line to his nostrils.

"Are you alright, Alan?" asked Tin-Tin.

"Oh, never felt better!" he whispered, wheezing. "Tin-Tin, I- " He smiled and closed his eyes. His blonde hair looked dark against his pale skin. He fell asleep, and Tin-Tin stroked his arm, gently.

Brains took a needle and pricked Alan's finger. He squeezed it onto a microscope slide, which he covered and placed in a glass box. He threw the needle into the sharps bin, and then went to do the same operation on Jeff. He was mumbling quietly, filling his oxygen mask with condensation. Brains further took blood from Virgil, Tin-Tin, Scott, Gordon, Kyrano, Grandma, and finally himself.

"Why us, Brains?" asked Scott. "They didn't get anywhere near us!"

"I'm not taking any chances, Scott!" stammered Brains. "I need to run these on the SEM in the lab."
"I'll help you!" said Scott, and the two departed.

Brains pored over his equipment for several minutes, and then rose to look at Scott. He smiled.

"Out with it, Brains!"

"Everyone is negative."
"Everyone?"
"Except Alan."
"Oh, Lord!"

"I think it's okay, Scott. I think that they're my nanobots. I'll check it out though."

"What about John?"

"Back to the sickroom. I left my equipment up there. I'll analyse Alan's first, and then we'll get to John," stammered Brains.

Scott and Brains went back to the sickroom to announce the good news.

Brains drew a blood sample from Alan's arm, and placed a phial of it into the computer interface apparatus. Scott stood behind him with his hand on his chin.
"Yes, it's all my code!" said Brains, relieved.

"Does that mean he'll be okay?" asked Scott.

"I'll give him another dose to make sure. But I think so, Scott!"

"Woot!" said Scott, and punched the air with his broken arm. He winced.

"Brains!" said Grandma. "Look at this!"

Brains and Scott went over and looked at Jeff. Blood and clear fluid was leaking from his ear. Brains rushed away and returned momentarily with a penlight. Silence reigned as he carefully opened each of Jeff's eyes and shone his light into each in turn.

"His pupils are unequal!" said Brains, nervously.
"What does that mean, Brains?" asked Grandma.

"It isn't good news, Mrs. Tracy. Mr. Tracy has a serious head injury." Replied Brains, stumbling over his words.

Grandma sniffed, but otherwise remained stoic.

"Can you help him, Brains?" asked Scott, pulling him to one side.
"Like I say, Scott, I'm not a doctor."
"Can we call the doctor?"
"I think that with the Infiltrator threat dealt with, we can, yes."
Gordon jumped up. "We'll need a cover story, Scott!"

"Pirates!" said Scott.

"Pirates?" asked Gordon in disbelief.
"You bet your ass!" said Scott. "Several gunshot wounds, head injuries, etc etc. A fight with pirates!"

Gordon snickered. "Will he buy that?"

"He'll have to!" said Scott.

Another sound from Grandma brought Brains to check Jeff again. He frowned. "He's getting worse, Scott. I don't think we can wait for the doctor. We can take him to Auckland," stammered Brains.

"How?" asked Gordon.

"In Dad's jet!" said Scott.

"So we take Virgil, Dad, Kyrano and Alan."

"Right!" said Scott. "And I guess Tin-Tin and Grandma will want to go."
"What about John?" asked Gordon.

"I'll take care of him here, if I can," said Brains, sadly.

"I'll stay too," said Gordon, touching Brains' arm.

"Who's going to fly the plane?" asked Scott, holding up his plaster cast.

"I will," said Tin-Tin.

"Can you handle it, Tin-Tin?" asked Scott.

"With both eyes shut!" she said, and glared at Scott; he knew very well what an experienced pilot she was.

"Okay, get ready, everyone!" said Scott.
Tin-Tin hurried to the jet, and carried out pre-flight checks. Kyrano, walking wounded, was helped to the plane with Grandma holding his hand. Gordon and Brains stretchered Virgil aboard, and helped Tin-Tin to remove some of the seats to fix it to the wall. Alan was taken next. Scott waited with Jeff for them to return. He took his father's hand.

When Brains and Gordon returned, they found Scott struggling to release Jeff's grip on him. Jeff had tensed all of his muscles and was squeezing Scott's hand very tightly. Brains gently squeezed Jeff's wrist and his fingers relaxed long enough for Scott to get free. He looked at Scott gravely.
"I'll call Auckland ahead of you. Waste no time, Scott!" he said.

Scott nodded, and held on to the edge of the stretcher while Gordon and Brains put his father on it, although this action served no useful purpose. They laid him on his side, and more liquid ran out of his ear. Scott closed his eyes and breathed out, and then followed as Brains and Gordon took him to the plane.

"Tin-Tin, as fast as you can!" yelled Scott as he pulled the cabin door closed. The giraffe automatically drove itself away, and Tin-Tin taxied to the runway. Scott crossed his fingers as the whirring of the jet engines built up to a climax and they hurtled along the runway and into the sky.