"International Rescue, we have a situation."
"Have you ever thought of spicing that up a bit?"
"Have I...spicing?" John looked at Gordon, completely bemused, wondering just what his brother was talking about.
"Yeah, you know, maybe saying something a little different, mixing it up a bit," Gordon elaborated, clearing his throat before attempting his own version of John's standard greeting. "Thunderbirds crew, we have an emergency. Or Tracys, we got a problem."
John gave him a look that clearly said if he'd been on earth his brother would have needed to run, and fast. As it was John was far away in space, it would take him eight minutes to get home and that would give Gordon ample time to make his escape, so he simply sat there, baiting his brother with an evil grin.
"Fine," John narrowed his eyes but gave in for now. "International Idiots of Tracy Island, we have an urgent request."
"No, John that's not what I mea-"
"What's the request, son?" Jeff asked from his desk, having been listening in. He knew from experience that it was better to cut them off before they really got going, if he waited for them to stop he would be waiting forever. One lot of baiting led to another and another, their competitiveness extended into all areas of their lives, even if it was just a competition to see who could be the most annoying sibling.
"The mars colony called. Their ECLSS, Environmental Control and Life Support System, has developed a malfunction in the water recovery system, more specifically the urine processor assembly has broken. They can't understand how it could have happened as they only upgraded it a month ago, but it's failed now and they need it replaced ASAP. They have more than fifty people on that planet and only a limited supply of processed and bottled water to last them."
"What can we do?" Gordon asked. "Do we need to pick up a spare and take it to them?"
"We do, that's why I called Brains," John told him. "It's the same technology that we use on Five, designed and produced by Tracy Industries and used by the Global fleet, the Interstellar Space Hospital, the World Space Patrols orbiting stations and many others. It shouldn't have broken at all, let alone after only a few weeks."
"So, am I right in thinking that you suspect there is more than one factory that has been or is still producing inferior products for us?" Jeff asked, his tone grave.
"I wouldn't want to suggest anything," John hedged, "other than that it wouldn't be too terrible an idea for Kayo to conduct an unannounced inspection."
"Yeah," Gordon scoffed, "because that went so well last time."
"The fact that she found nothing told me more than if she had," Jeff informed him. "There should have been some minor violations at the very least, that would be normal in a working factory, nothing is ever perfect. But the fact that she found nothing, combined with the high staff turnover tells me all I need to know. That's why she's continued to investigate higher up the chain and why she's going to pay these other clowns a little visit later today."
"Gotcha," Gordon nodded, understanding perfectly what his father meant. "Want me to alert Alan and Scott?"
"No need," John replied distractedly, his eyes focused on something off screen. "I've already called Scott and told him to divert on his way back from Puerto Rico to pick up the part from our development center where we know it will be fully functional and tested. Once he's back he and Alan will head off."
"No, they won't," Jeff said softly but firmly. John frowned, not knowing what to make of their dad's little announcement.
"May I ask why?"
Jeff pushed his chair back from his desk and got to his feet. "Lee told me all about this colony and the work he did there, I'd be interested in seeing it. Besides, it's been a while since I've been further than Five and I'm starting to get itchy feet."
"You want to go with him?" Something in John's tone must have conveyed his surprise at that announcement even though he tried his best to hide it.
"Yes, is that not allowed?" Jeff's tone was light enough, but it held just the tiniest edge of steel that no one wished to argue with.
"Of course it is," John answered instantly, "in fact I think that is a good idea. It's a long enough flight that you have time to slowly accustom yourself to the climate of space but not too far that it would put a strain on your body. Since you're working with the GDF at their training facility it's only a matter of time before you are required to do a little more than theory."
"Glad I have your permission," Jeff chuckled, the tension in him draining away, he hadn't been in the mood to argue with any of his sons but especially not John. John was not easy to argue with, he wasn't softly sensitive and placid like Virgil or fiery and impulsive like Scott. He was a mixture of them both, cool and calm until you pushed him too far and then he wasn't. That was the time you stepped back. "Now, someone prepare Alan while I fetch a few essentials."
"On it!" Gordon said, scrambling up from the couch and heading for the staircase that led to the sleeping quarters.
"Do you need anything from me?" John asked, bringing the conversation back to the point at hand.
"I don't think so."
John nodded. "Alright, I'll pop back when Scott gets home and give you all the full details."
-x-
"Me and Dad?"
"Uh huh."
"Just me and Dad?"
"Yep."
"Just the two of us, no one else, in space, for days?"
"Yes!" Gordon huffed, getting a little frustrated with the constant rephrasing of the same question, how hard was it to understand?
"Damn." Alan sat down heavily on his bed, his face a picture of disbelief.
Gordon frowned, unsure what exactly was going on.
"Do you not want to go?" he tried. "I'm sure Scott and Dad can handle it on their own if you don't feel up to it."
"No, of course I want to go," Alan protested.
"Do you not want to be alone with Dad?" Gordon guessed again.
"No, I do, I really do."
"Then what's the issue? You hang out with us all the time, it's no different."
"It's totally different." Alan dropped his head into his hands, groaning under his breath.
"Why?" Gordon asked, sitting down beside him on the bare bed, the blanket having been left on the floor in front of them.
"I just…" Alan paused, unsure how to put his thoughts into words. Gordon waited patiently, allowing him the time to try to make sense of how he was feeling, not rushing him. "I've never really been alone with him before."
"Sure you have," Gordon laughed, what a ridiculous thing for Alan to say. It was their dad.
"No, I really haven't, not really," Alan said quietly. "We got him home and he had all his rehab, and then Sel's dad died. Then, when things started getting back to normal a little Dad went off on his power trip and Scott, John and I quit. We got that worked out but since then he's been away for weeks on end with Uncle Lee at the GDF and now I just feel like I don't really know how to act around him."
There, he'd said it. He'd verbalised the thoughts that had been plaguing him for a long time. When their dad had been missing, presumed dead, they had all grieved for him in their own ways. Although, truthfully Alan felt that had grieved the idea of him more than the actual person. He didn't really remember that much and over time the few things he did remember had faded to the point that the great Jeff Tracy had no longer felt like a father to him. He'd felt abstract, like someone Alan had known as a child and could kinda recall but not in any real way, like a half forgotten favorite movie or TV show. Something comforting, familiar and safe, but still distant and unreal.
He remembered talking to Scott and Selene a few weeks before their mission to bring their dad home, confessing how he felt then, and they had understood. But that was then and this was now, he shouldn't still feel like that, should he? The others didn't seem to have the same problem and the longer it had gone on the less he felt able to bring it up with anyone.
Sure, he loved his dad and felt more comfortable with him now, but that had always been with another family member there as a buffer. What if they had nothing in common? What if they had nothing to talk about? And, most worrying of all, what if Alan did something wrong and his dad was disappointed in him? Their dad was a pioneer of space travel, how could Alan even hope to live up to that?
"Is that all?" Gordon scoffed lightly. "Don't worry about that, there's nothing to stress out over. Dad's dad, just be yourself, that's all you need to do. You don't have to do anything special."
"It feels like I do," Alan mumbled, not wanting to look up and see the accusatory look he felt sure he would find in his brother's eyes. Instead he felt the soft, comforting touch of Gordon's hand on his back.
"Al?" Alan ignored him, so Gordon tried again. "Allie? Come on, don't ignore me."
Slowly Alan lifted his head.
"You have nothing to worry about, I promise you, you're awesome. But I know how you feel. I was never that close to Dad, I always felt like a bit of a disappointment, you know? Not as studious as the others, being more about the sea than the sky or space, we didn't have that much in common when I was growing up."
"What did you do?" Alan asked quietly, beginning to calm down now that he realised he wasn't the only one to have felt that way. Gordon wasn't usually the one he went to to dispense pearls of wisdom but he'd take what he could get.
"Nothing," Gordon said with a careless shrug. "I just continued to be myself, and if Dad didn't like that, that was on him. I wasn't going to change who I was or what I liked just because I wanted to fit in better."
"Really?"
"Yep."
"And did it work?"
"It sure did. And look at John, he likes space, just like Dad, but in personality he's nothing like him. Dad was always really confident, he was used to being the center of attention, the life of the party, John...well he's John. Yet Dad never tried to change him, he just let him do things his own way."
Gordon paused to make sure that Alan was listening to him before he continued. "Virgil is nothing like Dad either, he's more like Mom and Grandma, caring, a bit sensitive and very creative, as you know. Dad never tried to change him, he never tried to make him more manly as Grandpa Canning did, he just let him be. Now, obviously, Scott is very like him, but Dad still didn't force anything on him, he let him make his own decisions with his career and life. Dad loves us for who we are, and all you're telling me is that he's not had time to see who you really are yet."
Gordon got up from the bed, always being one to say what was on his mind, be it good or bad, then leave the person to their own thoughts. "Our family is full of big personalities, it's easy to feel overshadowed and like you're going unnoticed, so think of this as the perfect time to show Dad who you are away from us."
"What if I don't know who I am away from you all?" Alan whispered, so low that Gordon barely caught it.
"I know who you are," Gordon said, rocking back on his heels, his hands in his pockets. "You're a Tracy. You're one of the best pilots in the world, you've got your own rocket, you're the person that everyone wants to be. You're far more capable than you believe, you're much deeper than you will allow yourself to see and you have more potential than you could possibly dream."
Alan smiled, just a tiny one, his cheeks pinkening with embarrassment. He hadn't been sharing in an attempt to get praise and compliments, but he'd be lying if he said that they didn't help a little.
"So, you're gonna take your big, fancy rocket, you're gonna go with Dad and you're going to save the day, again. And you're going to have a great time. Just relax, don't think, you're good at that, and let all that awesome Alanness shine through. OK?"
"OK," Alan nodded, there wasn't much else he could do.
"And if you tell anyone I said all of that I'll deny it and next time we're in Four I'll open the airlock."
"Good to know."
"Get packing, Squirt, I think I can hear Scott's motors." Gordon didn't give him any more time to think, he simply left, leaving the door swinging in his wake.
-x-
"Gone?"
"Yep," Gordon answered.
"Gone to space?"
"Yes."
"For days?"
"Yes!" What was with everyone in his family making such a big deal out of simple information?
"But I brought a big batch of food home, I promised Alan his favourite bolognese."
"The way I see it," Gordon started, settling back in his seat, "you have a number of options. You could put some in the freezer for him and Dad to have when they come home. You could dish us up extra and we never tell them, or you can just make some more next week and we'll have it again. I'm leaning towards option number two but three is also acceptable."
Selene lifted an eyebrow in silent question.
"You're going with option two, good call."
"I never agreed to that. Besides, Alan already knows I made it."
"Then it's option number three, which still involves me getting to eat extra, so I'll call it a win." He grinned innocently at her, knowing she couldn't hold out for long, she could never resist a Tracy in full charm mode.
"Fine. I'll make another batch when they get back."
"Score!"
Selene dropped down beside him on the couch. "Why are they in space, anyway?"
"Some problem with the pee pots on Mars."
When would she learn not to take a sip of coffee when talking to Gordon? Apparently today was not that day, she thought as she wiped her chin.
"Di..did you just say pee pots with a straight face? Were you being serious then?"
"Yeah, I was," Gordon sniggered. "It's the urine filtration system at the colony, something's gone wrong with it even though they only upgraded a month ago."
"Oh," Selene paused, not sure what to make of that. "And I assume that's a bad thing?"
"Well, they don't exactly have sewer systems on Mars, so yeah, nowhere else for it to go. Plus they have the issue of no running water, so whatever water they have must be produced on site or shipped in. They've got a regular supply run in place for the first ten years, after that they are supposed to be self-sufficient, but that doesn't mean they can go without their own equipment. There's just no way they can ship enough water to supply the entire colony, they need to recycle."
"So basically their water filter is screwed? Gotcha."
"Yep, Kayo is looking into it now," Gordon stretched out a foot, poking the holoscreen controls with his toe to turn it on.
"Wait, if Alan and Jeff are on it why is Kay involved?"
"Because the malfunctioning part is a Tracy Industries product."
"Ah." Now that made more sense. Kayo had been doing her fair share of investigating into the space laser cannon incident, while Scott and Jeff had spent many nights combing through the employee files, looking for anything or anyone suspicious. Something wasn't right, they just knew it. The hard part seemed to be in proving it.
Gordon didn't add anything else, he just turned his attention to the show he'd turned on, dismissing both the problem and Selene.
"Guess I'll go sort dinner then."
-x-
"They could have at least waited to call until after Sel made her Bolly … Bognees… boganays… whatever it is, I don't get why she has to give spaghetti such a fancy name," Alan grumbled as his stomach rumbled.
His dad didn't answer him. Two hours, they had been in space for, and in all that time his dad had barely said a word.
Alan glanced across to the other seat and couldn't help the small smile that escaped. He knew the look on his dad's face, he'd seen the same look on John's and knew that he had worn it a time or two himself.
The wonder of being up there, surrounded by millions of stars, stretching out into infinity, mostly unexplored, making you feel small, insignificant in relation to the universe around you.
Alan bit his lip, holding in a relieved laugh, maybe Gordon had been right, maybe he did have something in common with his dad after all.
"Have you missed it?" Alan asked, surprising himself, not even realising he was about to speak. "Or did you see too much of it, you know...out there in the oort cloud?" He stuttered to a halt, wondering if he had said the wrong thing.
Their dad never talked about it, no one asked about it, it was a subject that was never broached, it just hung there, an unspoken presence that he couldn't stop thinking about.
He didn't even know what had made him ask such a question.
Selene would have said it was fate guiding him to say the right words at the right time. He didn't know if that was true, if they even were the right ones, they had formed in his mind and flown out of his mouth before he was even aware that he'd thought them.
Jeff jumped slightly, as if he'd forgotten Alan was even there. Alan tried not to take it personally, he was sure the stars were better to look at than he was anyway. Jeff blinked a few times, mentally rewinding to remember exactly what it was that he'd been asked.
"I have,"he eventually answered. He shook his head lightly to clear his thoughts, dragging his eyes away from the spectacular display that surrounded their ship and onto one of the other spectacular things in his life, his youngest son.
Out of all of his boys, he felt like he'd missed Alan the most. Not out of any kind of favouritism, but simply because he'd never gotten to know him as well. He'd watched Scott, Virgil, and to a certain extent John and Gordon, grow up into exceptional young men, but Alan he'd missed out on.
He hadn't had anywhere near as many years of memories to look back on, no way of holding his youngest son as close in his mind as he had the others, and that had been the hardest to bear. His older sons hadn't changed much, they had just gained a few years, matured a little in the face and filled out in the body, going from young men into full grown adults. But Alan, he had been left behind as a little boy and he'd grown into a young man. It had been hard to picture him, hard to imagine how he would look as the years had passed, and that made it all the more difficult.
The miracle he had prayed for had come true, he was home, had been for two years, but they seemed to lurch from one crisis to another or simply be too busy for him to be able to spend any quality time with his boys one on one. The older ones were fine with it, they just took everything in their stride, but Alan was different. Alan was the one that still seemed to be just out of his reach, something he was desperate to change. This mission had come at the perfect time, a golden opportunity, and he wasn't about to waste it. He just wished he knew how to start, he'd been staring out of the cockpit window since they had left Earth's atmosphere.
Alan was watching him, waiting for him to elaborate further. It was hard, trying to figure out what to say to him. Not enough and Alan could feel like he didn't want to share with him, too much and Alan might see him in a totally different light to the one he wanted to show. It was a delicate balancing act, something he was consciously working on with all of his family, but especially his impressionable youngest.
"Space has been a big part of my life for as long as I can remember," Jeff started, amused to see the way that Alan unconsciously settled deeper into his chair to listen, just like when he was a child and was readying for storytime. Jeff smiled a little at the memory, something he hadn't thought of for a long while. Alan had always loved a story, he would demand at least three a night before he'd even think of lying down to sleep. Whenever he was home Jeff would take over from Lucy or whichever brother had been drafted in to help that night. Alan was a snuggler, you'd have to sit on the bed with him and let him cuddle under your arm for the first story, letting his eyes follow the words just in case you skipped a part. He'd done it on purpose more than once, skipped a sentence or two, just to hear the indignant way that Alan would yelp and point out that 'Daddy, you missed some, you missed some!' Jeff could imagine him doing it now, pointing out if he misses a part of his story, just as he had as a child.
"I've always felt comfortable up here," Jeff continued, "like I belonged, even though I've been in some of the harshest conditions and most dangerous situations."
Alan, flicked Three onto autopilot, their course already set. It was a long way to Mars and they had nothing but time, he didn't need to fly himself, he didn't even need to pay attention, it had just been something to occupy his mind while his dad was literally staring off into space. But now he had something more important to focus on and he didn't want to miss a second of it.
"I'd never, ever felt truly scared or alone until I felt that rocket blast off, heading to parts unknown, taking me with it. It was a matter of seconds and the earth was gone from my sight, but it felt like hours, like the world had started moving in slow motion. Everything I knew had fallen away beneath me and even though it felt like it took forever, it wasn't enough time to say goodbye. I saw the flames erupt around the craft from the engines and, for a moment or two I truly believed that it had killed me and that I was still conscious, trapped in some purgatory of an afterlife. "
Alan kept quiet, knowing that his dad very rarely spoke about how he had felt that day, about what had happened. He'd heard Scott and Grandma questioning him about it when he had first come hom, even uncle Lee and John had tried, yet his father had brushed it off like it was nothing. Either to keep them from worrying, or to keep his pride intact. Yet here he was, opening up to him in a way that Alan didn't know what to do with. How did you respond to that kind of information? Luckily it seemed that his contribution wasn't needed as his dad plowed on.
"I did, you know, I said goodbye," Jeff mused, his eyes straying from Alan back to the heavens. So much for not telling Alan too much, he just couldn't stop the words from flowing. It was like a floodgate had opened, one that had been barely holding out against the relentless push of the water and now it had broken through.
"At that moment I was fully prepared for death. I said to myself, Tracy, you've had a good run, you've done your bit, that's enough. Imagine my surprise when the shaking of the rocket stopped, not when it broke apart, leaving me to drift in space to slowly suffocate, but by coming to a halt when it smashed into that desolate rock you found me on. The bottom half crumpled, the nose cone smashed, but the middle was surprisingly sound. That middle, with the crew compartments, became my home."
Jeff paused, closing his eyes for a second as if the memories hurt him. Truth be told they hurt Alan too, the thought that their dad had gone through so much while totally alone. He wanted to reach out to him, to do something to help ease some of the harsher emotions the memories must be bringing up for his dad, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. It didn't feel right, not with his dad talking to him so openly, talking to him man to man, like he finally saw him not as a kid but as a grown up person. Alan didn't know how he felt about that. A little bit proud that his dad saw him that way, but also sad that for most of his childhood he'd been without his immediate parents and now that childhood was gone.
"I left the nose cone, badly shaken and a bit battered, but alive and still kicking. Actually I was lucky to have gotten out of the nose cone at all, it folded like a sardine can. Once again, fortune seemed to favour me, at least a little. It had already been prepared for the maiden flight and so everything inside was fully stocked. With rationing and careful maintenance I knew I could survive, the question was, would I want to?"
It was Alan's shocked intake of breath that finally made Jeff look at him. "I'm not proud of that thought, son. I never would have believed I was capable of it, especially after we lost your mother. If there was ever a time that I wasn't sure I could go on it was then. But I had you boys and you were the best incentive to live that any man could ever have."
"So, why did you think it?" Alan asked quietly. He couldn't imagine anyone, let alone his mythical god of a father ever coming close to making that kind of decision, even to be thinking about it was an alien concept to him. When they had discovered the distress call they had all believed he was out there, alive, still fighting until his last breath. To think that he might have seriously contemplated being the reason for that last breath, that he would give up fighting, when they had never doubted for a second that he would survive if there was any possible way, it just didn't compute.
"Because you boys weren't there," Jeff answered simply.
"Oh." And that was all he could say. There was no other response.
"I'm not gonna pretend it was easy to survive out there, but the hardest thing was being out of contact with home. I'd been away from home a lot when your brothers were younger, and there were times that I was out of contact for one reason or another, but I never once thought that I wouldn't get back to you, that I wouldn't see you again. This time I did, and that was the thing that finally broke me."
"I'm sorry it took us so long to find you," Alan whispered, feeling almost like the bottom of his world had fallen away. He didn't know how to process this information. He was used to his families 'never give up at any cost' attitude, something that their dad had drummed into them from such a young age.
He had a dim recollection of before the accident, seeing his dad sitting at his desk, talking Scott through his first rescue, having to go out in Jeff's place after he'd dislocated his shoulder two days previous. Alan didn't remember much of the day, the rescue or what had happened after, but he could still hear, as clear as day, his dad's voice, telling Scott firmly 'Remember the code of International Rescue, never give up at any cost,'. Scott had finished the rescue, come home filthy and tired, but in one piece, as had the person he had saved. And that had been all that mattered. His dad's words were something they had all lived by, even after his accident in the Zero-X, the words echoing around Alan's head on more than one occasion, giving him the strength he needed to keep fighting when he wanted so badly to give up. Now, to know that his dad had actually thought of giving up, that was hard to wrap his head around, like being let down by your all time hero.
"No need to be," Jeff told him in the most matter-of-fact tone Alan had ever heard him use. "Everything in this world will work out as it should do."
"What do you mean?" Alan asked hesitantly, almost a little afraid to hear the answer. He didn't know if he believed in fate, not in that way. He didn't like the idea of everything being predetermined by some unseen entity, like he wasn't in charge of his own life. He had been brought up to believe that you could do anything, get anywhere in life, so long as you worked hard enough. Live a good life and good things will come to you. The thought of nothing you did mattering was a disturbing one, to think you had free will and then to realise you didn't.
"I had it all planned out from the start, you know," Jeff said in a casual tone, almost as if he were discussing the weather or what to have for breakfast. "And every time I thought to myself today is the day, something stopped me. Until that last day, I felt the ground shaking beneath my feet and knew that my time was up. I'd been living on borrowed time anyway, so I figured I had to make a choice, risk a slow and uncomfortable end or go on my own terms. I was moments away when I saw the most wondrous site, kind of like the sun coming out after a hurricane, when everything in the world feels right again."
"What did you see?" Alan couldn't think of anything as amazing as his dad had described, he'd been there, it had been a desolate wasteland of nothing, no stars that made sense, nothing to look at but the rocks on which they stood, nothing but blackness.
"I saw you."
"Me?"
"And then Scott, but I saw you first. I thought I was imagining it, imagining our machines in the air, a last attempt at comfort from my mind. But I had to know for sure, and there you were, my boys, in the flesh. That's the thing," Jeff paused to stretch out a hand towards Alan's arm, the only contact he'd initiated the entire journey, "you didn't just save me physically, you saved me mentally too, and oftentimes that's the most important one."
Alan nodded, a little too choked up to know what to say. So that's what he meant by everything happening for a reason. Now that his mind was calmer he was able to think back to a conversation he'd overheard late one night between Selene and Kayo. The girls had been watching some TV show that he hadn't been paying attention to but their words had broken through enough to make him pause his hand-held game and listen.
Kayo had argued that there was no such thing as fate, only free will. Selene had argued that free will was part of fate. She had said that certain things were predetermined, like meeting specific people and being in a certain place at a certain time, those things you couldn't change. Free will,she had said, comes from how you get there. You'll get there no matter what, but your choice is in how you do it. You can be a good person, you can be happy and positive, or you can be miserable and mean, but either way you'll be born the day you're supposed to, you'll meet the people that you need and you'll die when your allotted time is over.
But what about us, he'd asked. We save people every day, what if we're changing fate? You can be, she had assured him, it's not on you, it's on them, they make the choice to call or not, that's free will, you just respond as you're supposed to. If it's meant to be, if that person is meant to live, they will, if they aren't, they won't, but either way they'll know that someone cared enough to try to help, that's their free will, to call and try. You guys are so important, because you make sure that people have the chance to exert their free will and make the choice. That's all you can do, and it's more than enough.
At that time he had thought she was just talking her usual wishy washy witchy wisdom, trying to make him feel better for the fact that just the day before he and Virgil had been unable to help a trapped man in a small plane. But now he realised what she had meant.
"You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all of this and not one of your brothers, aren't you?"
Alan nodded again. He had been wondering that. No one ever told him anything, they never actively sought him out to explain things or catch him up on the latest news, he usually had to find out by accident or by asking for himself. To have someone choose him to talk to over everyone else was unheard of.
"It's because I feel you need to know."
"Why?" Truth be told, if anyone needed to know just how much their father had suffered and how much they had saved him that day it was Scott. He had been the one that had decided to continue International Rescue, their dad's legacy, without him there. Scott had been the one that had been so completely focused on living his life just the way he thought their dad would have wanted him to, sometimes to the detriment of himself. Scott had been the one that had needed to find him so badly, had focused on nothing else for the months leading up through the construction of the Zero-XL and the launch. Scott was the one that had done the most adjusting after. If anyone needed to know that he'd done something so good, it was Scott.
"Because I never got to give you much wisdom while you were growing up," Jeff sighed, his hand tightening on Alan's arm. "And I regret that. I missed so much with you, like starting highschool, your space training, your first flight, so many birthdays and milestones that I wish I could have been there for. Yet you are the only one, other than maybe John, who might actually be able to understand me the most."
"But Scott-"
"Scott doesn't do space the way that you and I do space, son. Sure, he'll come up here now and then, he'll get involved, but it's not his domain. John loves it just the same, but he's less of an adventurer, he doesn't have the same urge to explore, he's happy to stay close to home and help in his way. But I feel it in you, just as it was in me. I'm right, aren't I?"
"Yes, sir." Alan didn't bother trying to deny it.
"And that's why you needed to hear that."
"Because I might one day end up somewhere, lost in space, just like you did?"
"Well, let's hope not," Jeff chuckled, "I was thinking a little less dramatically. But essentially, yes. Space is the loneliest place, even in the depths of the ocean you find life, but in space, nothing has been proven to be out there, not yet. You can travel millions of miles and find nothing but more space. I just want you to remember that you always have a home, that you're always wanted and that, unlike me, you should remember the code-"
"Never give up at any cost," Alan quoted, cutting his father off, although Jeff didn't seem to mind.
"Even when a situation seems impossible, you boys have proven that nothing is ever hopeless. And that no matter what happens in your life, good or bad, we'll be there for you. And, more importantly, I'll be there."
"Th-thanks, Dad." Alan swallowed hard, not knowing what else to say. He wanted to say something meaningful, as his father had just done for him, something that would make his dad feel as special as he himself did right at that moment, but there were no words in his head, just a blank, emptiness.
"So," Jeff started, clearing his throat, "we've got a long way to go yet, I've told you my story, now it's your turn to tell me yours."
"Huh? What story? What do you want to know about?"
"Anything. What games are you playing at the moment?"
"You want to know about my games?" Alan couldn't have been more surprised if Jeff had announced he was taking up Zero-G tap dancing on the moon.
"I want to know everything, son. I missed out on a lot and we've got time."
"Well, I have been working through the latest expansion pack of this really cool pirate game called Red Sails."
"Sounds great, tell me all about it."