'I think we need to address the elephant in the room.' John's voice, so calm and collected. Scott stared at him as if he had grown an extra head, suspicious in the extreme of his holographic brother, while Gordon and Alan just cracked up entirely.
He wasn't sure how it had happened.
He wasn't sure he wanted to know how it happened.
But it had happened.
Scott needed to address the elephant in the room, but he was completely unsure how to do so.
Of course, Virgil was absolutely no help, just as shocked as he was, if not more so, mumbling under his breath something about murdering little brothers. And both Gordon and Alan were pleading ignorance and dancing around the hangar as if all their Christmases had come at once.
He looked to Virgil, who shrugged. He looked to John, who also shrugged.
Looked like he was going to be addressing this elephant himself.
Right on cue the elephant, spooked by the two youngest' antics, roared and ran towards him, literally bowling an even more shocked Virgil over in his haste to get away from Gordon, and stamping on Scott's foot as it passed. Scott barely managed to stifle a bellow of pain, and he hobbled over to Virgil to help him up.
Gordon and Alan, of course, gave chase, and the baby pygmy elephant showed just how small a gap it could squeeze through by running through the service tunnel and into the main hangar.
There was a squeal of horror and the sound of crashing.
This was not going to go well.
Seconds later Brains came haring through the tunnels, glasses skew-whiff and panic in his eyes. He stopped right beside Scott and Virgil, resting his hands on his thighs and panting.
'E…E…E…E…' was all he managed to get out. Virgil, supporting Scott because he can't put any weight on his foot, reached out for Brains – and froze as something twanged in his back.
All the while they could hear MAX's excited beeping and the elephant crying. And Gordon and Alan running around and yelling. And lots and lots of crashing.
Scott pinched his nose and frowned. He was getting a headache on top of everything else. As he was helped over to a chair, he called John for ideas. His brother frowned, disappeared for a couple of seconds and simply said: 'Kayo will sort it. She's inbound.'
Kayo, having been off on a perimeter search when Two came in, had been warned the second they knew that somehow Two had managed to bring a baby elephant to the island. She immediately wheeled away, watching as John searched and flicked information her way.
It didn't take long to get in touch with the Borneo Elephant Sanctuary in Sabah, and they had given her brief directions on how to persuade the calf back onto Two, while they would prepare to receive it once she had popped over and picked up the needed equipment.
Thankfully Shadow's landing platform was outside the hangar so she had no problem landing, and as her 'bird retracted into the base she looked at the disaster below her.
There was mess everywhere. Brains' tool station was strewn all over the floor. MAX was currently trying to keep the elephant from crossing the small rocky outcrop that separated Three from the hangar main floor. There was a suspicious looking dent in one of Thunderbird One's tail fins that made her cringe.
As she watched while Shadow locked into place, the elephant decided that his was a good time to go. And go and go. Kayo had never seen such a small animal pee so much…there were noises of disgust from the boys present.
'Virgil, are you still with Two?' she asked as she dismounted and pulled out her secret weapon. The was an affirmative shout. 'Get the pod ready, I'm going to bring the elephant back through to it.' There may have been some grumbling and John popped up in front of her.
'You may want to give it a bit, both Scott and Virgil are not moving at their usual speed.' Kayo nodded in acknowledgement, making sure her weapon was prepped and ready. Hopefully it would mean a quick end to this ridiculous saga.
She didn't have long to wait. Virgil, having deposited Scott at the side of the hangar, stretched out the kink in his back. That would hurt for a while, but it didn't really stop him from working, and between him and Brains they emptied the module, Virgil climbing back up to the cockpit to get her ready for leaving.
John gave the all-clear signal, and Kayo hopped down off her yellow platform and held out the weapon. She squeezed it and sprayed some of the liquid over the floor. And to her delight, and the boys' amazement, the elephant came running.
Curling its' trunk around her hand as it drank the milk from the huge bottle the sanctuary had provided, she slowly led it back through the tunnel and up onto Two's module. Once safely inside Virgil closed the door, lowering Two until they connected.
And they were off.
Brains assisted Scott through to the main hangar, both men dreading what they would find. They were right to be anxious. What a mess! Scott's glare stopped the two youngest Tracy's in their tracks. Two sets of shoulders dropped as the Commander issued orders while hobbling looking around. And then he saw One.
Virgil swore he could hear Scott's shout from the middle of the Coral Sea.