Out Of Place

AN – Thanks again to all who reviewed! This story doesn't have much left now, but it's been fun to write it and share with you all.

Disclaimer – I don't own Thunderbirds

Chapter Twenty Two – Accusations

Scott stared with mounting horror at the fast disappearing cargo ship as Thunderbird 1 soared higher. The enormity of what he'd just done dawned on him. He'd literally just stolen Thunderbird 1 from under the nose of the other Scott. The rightful Scott. He abruptly let go of the controls, lifting his hands up in a placating gesture, but no one was there to see it.

Just to add to his horror, upon letting them go they didn't just remain stationary. The handles started moving as Thunderbird 1 began to slice through the sky.

"Whoa!" Scott cried, grabbing hold but unable to alter course. "Hold on a minute!"

A hologram of Eos appeared in front of him. "Hello Polite Scott, I have taken control of Thunderbird 1 in order to return you safely to base."

"Eos what… hang on, you took control of Thunderbird 1?"

"Affirmative. I was preparing to control it remotely to prevent it from falling into the water when to my surprise you came on board. But now you appear to be unable to fly the craft correctly so I will return you to base."

"Control it remotely?" Scott's voice was getting more high pitched with every statement he made. "You can do that?"

"Normally John does," Eos confirmed. "In his absence I have managed to adjust my subroutines to perform the function myself."

"So I didn't need to save Thunderbird 1."

"Affirmative. But I'm sure your efforts will be viewed as heroic."

Scott gulped. "Eos, if he kills me, can you make sure that my body is returned to my wife?"

The lights flashed around the rim of the camera while Eos paused for a moment. "I assume you mean the rude Scott?" Another pause while she considered. "I calculate there is only a twenty three percent chance of him causing you physical violence. You are unlikely to be killed. Possibly maimed in some way."

"That's not very comforting," Scott told her. "When are we going to get back to Tracy Island?"

"I calculated our estimated time of arrival as twenty six and a half minutes from now, Polite Scott." Scott leant back against the seat, unable to do much more than look out at the skies rushing by.

"Can you… explain to them?" He started, then shook his head. "No, never mind. I should explain, it was my mistake." He idly thought about what Angel would say if she saw him now – she would probably laugh at him. He fingered the well worn claw nestled up to his wedding band around his neck and sighed deeply. He missed her so much it was almost a physical pain, a deep ache in his centre that time only made worse. He consoled himself with the fact it wouldn't be long now until he could see her again.

Eos programmed the landing on Tracy Island, Scott realised that actually there was very little he had to do. The gantry that was extending to meet him was very similar to the one he used to access Thunderbird 1, although there wasn't usually a lift up to the lounge. When he finally spun into the main villa he was greeted by a small audience comprised of Jeff, Sally, Tintin and his brother Alan.

Scott simply stood there for a moment, still wearing the uniform of his counterpart and having flown home in a Thunderbird that wasn't his.

"I've just heard from Scott," Jeff started calmly. "He's rather… put out, that you stole his aircraft."

"Would it help if I said I didn't mean to?" Scott offered, trying to ignore Alan's sniggering and Tintin's amused face.

"It might, though I'm not sure he's in a mood to listen to you. Why did you fly it home?"

Scott sighed wearily and dropped into one of the seats. "I didn't know Eos could control them remotely. While we were out there, one of the chaos crew – well I think it was the chaos crew anyway – had a device that sent out shockwaves. It damaged the integrity of the cargo ship and Thunderbird 1 was at risk. I didn't really stop to think, I just jumped into the seat and activated the thrusters to try to lift it out of danger before it fell into the sea. It was only on the way home that Eos told me it had been completely unnecessary."

"I see," the stern expression on Jeff's face gave way to amusement. "I'm not sure many people have managed to steal one of the fastest craft this world has ever seen by accident, so well done!"

Scott rested his head on the back of the seat and stared up at the ceiling as Alan's sniggers broke into full scale laughter. "Lucky me."

"Oh Scott, these things do happen to you!" Tintin's voice also carried traces of her amusement, but as she obligingly brought Scott a cup of coffee he wasn't going to complain. "It will all be ok, I'm sure the other Scott will forgive you soon. It's very hard to stay cross at oneself."

"I don't know Tintin," Scott replied, sipping the coffee. "I can tell you I'd be pretty annoyed if the situation was reversed."

She hummed in response as she retook her seat and picked up her own drink. A hush fell over the room while they waited on the arrival of Thunderbird 2 and her passengers.

A hush that didn't last for long. The heard the other Scott before they saw him, his voice echoing out around the villa.

"He stole my thunderbird!"

Scott winced and Alan started sniggering again, earning him a punch from Tintin. Sally just pretended she couldn't hear anything while Jeff busied himself with his paperwork.

The tall, striding figure of the other Scott came barrelling into the room. He was wearing his customary jeans and shirt, belatedly Scott realised he was still sitting in the lounge in his, no Scott's, uniform.

"You stole my thunderbird!" The other Scott accused again, waving a finger threateningly at his counterpart. "Who do you think you are, swaggering in here with your girlfriend and your shooting skills and STEALING MY THUNDERBIRD."

Scott raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't mean to! I thought it was going to fall off the deck, then Eos took over and flew it home."

"You stole my thunderbird!" The other Scott was on a roll now, a slightly manic gleam in his eye. Virgil, who had obviously come up from the hanger with his two brothers and therefore was close behind Scott, now came forwards and lowered his brother's arm down.

"Why don't we all settle down a bit," he suggested calmly, but leaving no doubt as to the consequences if he wasn't obeyed.

"He stole my thunderbird," the other Scott now muttered petulantly as he was ushered into a chair.

"Yes, and he explained why," Virgil replied. "It sounds like an honest mistake. I'm sure it's back here safe and sound, right?" The last word was directed pointedly at Scott, who gulped and nodded.

The other Scott frowned. "If there is a single scratch on it…" he left the threat hanging.

"There isn't," he was quickly reassured.

"So what were you both up to on the ship anyway? We didn't see you for the whole rescue." Virgil asked curiously. All eyes, particularly Jeff's, now scanned between the two doppelgängers.

Scott hesitated, waiting to see if the other Scott would take the lead. Sure enough, he stepped forwards and started to brief, the question distracting him from his anger although he still threw the occasional glare at Scott.

"I found Havoc and Fuse in the hold, trying to steal some of the cargo." He started. "I followed the, in to try to find out what they were after, but then they changed positions and I was stuck behind a large container. Eventually, something happened to Fuse and it distracted them both enough that I could get out. I climbed up onto the deck to see my thunderbird being stolen." Another glare at Scott.

"Did you see what they were after?" Jeff asked calmly, having decided to ignore the tension.

At that, the other Scott frowned. "That"s the strangest thing, it seemed to be scrap metal of some kind. Really old stuff, from the turn of the millennia. I have no idea why they might want it."

"What kind of scrap metal?" Tintin asked curiously from her seat in the lowered section.

"Old mobile telephones, the type with the big screens they used to use. Plus some of the large computer things, when you still needed a large physical computer."

Tintin nodded at the response and sat thoughtfully.

"What about you?" Virgil asked Scott, when it was clear that his oldest brother had finished. "You also disappeared for a while before you decided to go joyriding."

"I didn't exactly plan it," Scott replied with a sigh. "Let's see… once Scott disappeared into the hold I ran into a ship, literally. I've got the bump to prove it. It was using some strange cloaking technology that I've never seen the like of before. I eventually found a way in and left one of the trackers Eos told me you always carry." He paused in his narrative as he was unsure of how to explain the next bit, to realise that the whole room were gaping at him. Well, except for Tintin and Alan. Tintin was still obviously thinking hard, whereas Alan just looked confused.

"You planted a tracker on the Chaos Cruiser?" The other Scott asked incredulously. "When we've been trying to do that for a couple of years now, on your first time out with us you just sauntered up and did it?"

"I guess?" Scott wasn't sure how to respond to that. "Anyway," he carried on quickly. "When I left the ship I realised that one of the Chaos Crew, I think they're called, had spotted that Gordon and Virgil were rescuing the crew. He was a man, dark skinned with braids, and he used a large motorised arm thing to send a shockwave through the deck."

"Fuse." Virgil confirmed with a dark face. "That explains the ship beginning to break up! It had me really worried for a moment, I thought it must have been hit by a bad wave. I wasn't sure it was going to survive another."

"We're lucky that Fuse only decided to punch it once then," Gordon said, relieved.

Virgil looked confused. "But why would Fuse only punch it once? That makes no sense. He's not exactly shown restraint before."

"He was planning a second punch," Scott interrupted quietly. "But the ship looked as though it couldn't take it and lives were at risk, so I shot and broke the motorised arm."

"Seriously?" Gordon's mouth was hanging open. "You just shot at him and broke his arm thing? Just like that?"

"Gordon," Virgil warned.

"I mean… that's, like, completely badass!"

"Gordon." Virgil said a bit more firmly this time, managing to distract his brother. Virgil not so subtly nodded in the direction of their Scott, who had crossed his arms and had a face like thunder.

"Sure, big up the guy who shot someone and stole an aircraft!" He flung his arms up into the air. "This is ridiculous. If anyone wants me, I'm going to be in the hanger making sure that MY thunderbird hasn't been damaged in this fiasco." He stormed off, not even taking his chute down as he made sure to slam the hall door.

There was a hushed silence after he left. Scott felt awkward, Virgil and Gordon were slightly embarrassed and the rest just slightly shocked.

"Gallium!" Tintin exclaimed suddenly, breaking the silence.

Everyone turned to look at her, causing her to blush and try to shrink into the sofa. "Um, sorry. But I just realised what they were probably after with the scrap."

"Excuse me for being a bit out of the loop, but what is a Gallium exactly?" Sally asked curiously.

"It's an element," Tintin explained. Looking around, she realised it wasn't just their grandma who didn't know – Jeff and Virgil looked like they understood but Scott, Alan and Gordon all just looked confused.

"Say, why would they want this gallium thing Tintin?" Alan asked, forehead crinkled in thought.

"It's a component of gallium arsenide, a semi-conductor." Tintin told him. "The same semi-conductor that a lot of that strange device that brought us here is made of."

"So they obviously need it to make another device," Gordon mused. "But why do they need to raid scrap for it? Can't they just buy some?"

"No," Tintin shook her head emphatically. "That's the thing you see, from about 2030 onwards the worldwide supply of gallium was exhausted. In our dimension, and I think it's the same here based on your technology that I've seen, we've had to adapt and use different materials for semi conductors. But they don't quite have the same properties and doping ability."

"It is the same here," Virgil confirmed. "I'm not sure I've even really seen a gallium arsenide semi conductor."

"But in technology from the turn of the century, there would be a lot of it," Tintin continued. "In very small amounts, but if you had enough scrap and were prepared to pull the very small amounts together…"

"…you'd get enough for a large range of uses!" Jeff concluded. "That's clever deducing."

"It might not be right," Tintin admitted. "There are a lot of other rare elements in old technology too, but gallium seems the most likely target given than gallium arsenide is a crucial component of the device that crosses dimensions."

"Luckily, you've been able to modify the one we already have!" Jeff stated proudly.

"Wait…" Scott interrupted. "Did I understand you right? You have managed to modify it? You can get us home?"

"I think so," Tintin confirmed. "But it will take some working out, we'll need to coordinate exactly with the other dimension and only be able to send one person at a time. Before we can do any of that, we need to find the Black Phantom as well if we want to swap him over with the Hood."

"If you did manage to place a trace on the Chaos Cruiser that might not be as hard as we thought." Virgil said as he walked past Scott, slapping him on the back with enough force to nearly knock him flying. "I'll go and tell our Scott the good news, it might break him out of his mood."

"Rather you than me," Gordon muttered.

Scott looked down at his uniform. "I need to get changed," he told the room at large. "I guess we can check in with Eos later to see if she has a location for us."

Gordon also left to get cleaned up after the rescue, leaving Alan and Tintin sat with Sally and Jeff.

"I bet you'll be pleased to get home dear," Sally said to Tintin kindly.

"Oh yes!" The girl exclaimed. "Not that I haven't enjoyed staying with you," she added quickly. "It's been lovely and you've all been so kind, but I miss home. Yes, I'll be pleased to get home." Tintin rubbed her ring finger as she did so, twisting the engagement band around. She would be very pleased to get back to Brains.