18

Scott was filing back into the house with his grandmother, trailing behind John. "What do you mean you've found dad's plane? How?"

"It's easier to show you come on."

They all quickly ascended the stairs, Scott only pausing politely at the top to wait for his grandma to catch up although he was itching to find out more. John was usually incredibly private about his room so it was a bit of a shock to find his three other brothers squeezed onto Johns bed, hovering around the screen. Grandma sat on the small space that was left whilst Scott stood with his arms crossed directly behind John's seat.

"Can you show us now?" pleaded Alan.

"Yes, now you are all here." John hands flew over the touchscreen as he entered a complex password. He had learned early on they were the best protection from prying brothers, they had yet to be hacked.

John's set up was far from amateur. He had constructed his first hard drive at the tender age of eleven and had been computer programming just before that. If ever they had an IT problem in the house John was the first and only point of call. John's desk was a sleek smooth pine construction with drawers down the right-hand side and enough space to sit three large screens comfortably in a crescent shape. Another desk sat next to it to form a large L-shaped desk space. On here was a 3D printer and a complex radio system which he had been constructing all summer.

John's face was illuminated by the blue of the screens as he quickly swiped several tabs off onto the monitor on the left out of the way. He then opened a web browser that brought up a satellite image of the pacific. He used his fingers in a pinching motion on the screen to zoom in on the edge of a coastline. The picture quality was crystal clear; the resolution was high grade. So high grade that as he zoomed in you could see the individual tiles on roofs and names of the boats.

"Well this isn't google maps is it?" questioned Scott suspiciously. John's shoulders were tense but his voice calm. Out of all of them he knew Scott and maybe Gordon would recognise the satellite imagery for what it was due to their professions.

"It's a new software being developed by a civilian company to rival the more sophisticated satellite imagery." Scott smelled bullshit but he wanted to see where his brother was going with this first so he remained quiet. John knew silence from his big brother usually resulted in trouble further down the line. He would deal with it later, he needed to show them this. To hell with the aftermath.

He finally located the grid coordinates he was interested in and zoomed in on what appeared initially to be a red streak on the beach. As John pulled up the image and manipulated it to zoom in everyone gasped in the room. It was quite clearly a plane, specifically a red jet with the familiar Tracy industries logo on the side. There was no mistaking it; this was their fathers' plane!

"Oh, my look at how damaged it is! How would Jeff have survived?" Grandma teared up as she took in the debris spread across the beach and the obvious missing wing. Virgil pulled her under his arm tucking her head under his chin for comfort.

"May I?" Scott gestured to the seat. John vaulted out of it keen to let Scott look at the images, if anyone could determine what kind of chance of survival their father would have had from such an accident Scott would. Not only was he a fighter pilot, he also had some expertise in aviation collision investigation which was one of the fields of specialism he had taken on within his role in the air force. He deftly pulled up the image as much as he could and began to take in radius of the debris, how structurally sound the cockpit was as well as other factors to formulate a quick mental assessment.

"What do you think? Asked John.

Scott spun round in the chair to face his family. "It looks bad but it may not be as bad as it seems. Most of the damage you see was actually sustained after the crash and not during the descent. It's hard to tell from the picture and the fact that half the jet is buried in the undergrowth but the aircraft canopy appears to be missing which suggests the emergency procedure was activated, that and the fact that the pilots chair is missing so we can be confident that dad ejected prior to the crash."

Virgil felt his Grandma's breathing start to regulate which was good. He was worried about her heart rate which he was sure had been racing too.

"That's good news, right? Dad might have made it?" Asked Alan in excitement.

"It is promising but let's not set our hopes too high, for whatever reason he hasn't been able to make contact with us which would suggest that he is still in some kind of trouble if he has made it. I know dad's chair would automatically eject at 14,000 ft. or below but it depends when he ejected and where. Looking at this he most likely ejected over land and not sea which means he would have fallen into that canopy and that's not great. It's very easy to get snagged in the trees or the parachute torn on the way down which can really trash your landing. At least the pilot remains with the seat in a protective case these days. Back in the old days you used to get rocketed up and the seat would fall away once you were clear and it was just you and the parachute which could twist easily and you'd have to fight to untwist it." Scott frowned at the screen. He had so many questions he didn't know where to begin. He was pretty sure his dad would have had a reasonable chance of survival but the jungle looked remote and he would have had no communications on him to radio for help. He didn't want to admit it but they could still easily be looking for a body here. All this did was help narrow the search area but it was better than nothing.

"So, what do we do now, at least we can contact the authorities now and tell them where to look specifically." Virgil reasoned.

"No, we can't" said Scott making eye contact with John.

"Not exactly…." Grimaced John.

"Why not?" asked Grandma.

"Because this isn't exactly legal is it John?" Gordon supplied. He had guessed what his older brother had been up to too.

"Seriously John! Hacking military satellites is a serious crime!" Scott stared at him angrily.

"They're not military! There government and no one will know." These were just enhanced copies of the original feed which he had long since disconnected from.

"So, you've still committed a federal crime! That comes with serious consequences John! Do you know how long inside you can get for shit like this?" Scott was furious and stood out of the chair fully, quickly cornering John. John refused to back up he held his chin high; he was the only brother that reached near Scott's Height and held his gaze. The tension was palpable as they faced off.

"You asked me to keep an eye on communications and to look for dad so I did. I thought you would be pleased or at least grateful! It's not easy to get that kind of intel you know."

"You know I meant sourcing the information WITHIN THE LAW!" Barked Scott.

"Yeah because that was really working for you." Quipped John his voice laced with sarcasm.

Scott looked ready to grab him by the scruff of his collar. Grandma quickly slipped in between them putting her hands out to either side. Virgil was off the bed and ready to assist if needed.

"Boys that's enough! What's done is done. At least we know more now we will just have to think about what we do with this information carefully. The most important thing is we find your father now." Scott was still seething and John kept eyeing him with a look of defiance which was not helping the situation.

"I agree but that still doesn't mean there won't consequences to this. What if they trace your hacking back here? Do you realise what would happen to me and Gordon if it's discovered you've been hacking government property!" Scott hissed at him. The implications were obvious.

Gordon and Alan stole a glance at each other on the bed, it looked like they had got off lightly with their antics from a few nights ago. Oh well at least this took the spotlight off them thought Alan, they were no longer in the shit that was for sure. A bit of underage drinking and a brawl was trivial in comparison.

"Seriously Scott! I'm not fucking stupid! I wouldn't have hacked them if I knew I wasn't capable of getting away with it. These images are copies, it's not real live time feeds. I brought a laptop with cash, got it delivered to a parcel pick up point in the next state, drove out to an internet café over 200 kilometres away from that yesterday, bounced the signal around so many addresses I'd be amazed if they could trace it back as well as set several traps with coding that will effectively go off like a virtual bomb if they so much as try to back trace my steps and that was before I infected the computer with the nastiest virtual virus you ever did see and torched it before dumping it in a garbage lorry as it passed and I ditched the hardrive separately. Trust me, it's safe."

Gordon whistled as he made a mental note never to piss John off again. He was pretty sure he could get away with murder.

"Oh well I am so pleased to hear that you are so fucking competent in your hacking skills and elaborately covering up your crimes! It really gives me peace of mind to know that your ego is big enough to endanger all our reputations as well as yours!" His grandma put a restraining palm on his chest as he pushed into her to get at John. Scott wasn't going to give this up.

"Boys! Language!" their grandma reprimanded them sharply. They both looked contrite briefly (For upsetting their grandma) before reverting back to glowering at each other.

"Right, the rest of you could you please go and lay the table" (She drew some cash out of her top cardigan pocket) "Virgil be a dear and order some pizzas." He squeezed her shoulder and pecked her on the cheek as he ushered Gordon and Alan out.

"Sit down both of you." Grandma used her firmest tone although she would never raise her voice to her grandchildren.

Both of them obliged sitting on the bed at each end for maximum distance between them. Scott focused solely on their grandmother; he couldn't even look at John right now. His fists clenched and unclenched at the proximity as it was.

John took in Scott's clenched jaw and tense body; he knew the only reason he hadn't been lamped was because his grandmother was here. There was a reason he had wanted her and Scott present. He anticipated this might happen. He knew it was a risk but it had been a calculated risk, he thought Scott knew him better than to think that John hadn't accounted and planned for every possibility. He was well aware of the risk! He had got out unscathed and had evidence that their dad was definitely in Malaysia, how was that a bad thing? It meant they could now narrow their search saving precious time that they could ill afford to lose. They were one step closer to getting to dad, he knew it!

Grandma pulled the swivel chair up and sat in front of them eyeing them appraisingly deciding how best to diffuse this situation. Five boys were always going to be a handful she had told Jeff, especially when they were all as willful as their parents. When they were younger there wasn't a day without a scrap, of course they loved each other dearly and would be the first to stand up for each other in school but at home it was a different story! It always had been. The worst two for coming to physical blows were Gordon and Alan but it was only ever rough housing really. Virgil as the middle child often ended up siding with a team but rarely fought. Scott and John however had come to more blows than the lot of them combined constantly jockeying for position being the eldest and second eldest respectively. John was quiet and pragmatic whereas Scott had always been quick thinking and reactive. They were very close at times but they were also essentially chalk and cheese so when they did clash, they really clashed.

"John; I am so pleased to have some news about your father I really am and the way you have been working so hard to find the information should be commended. (She could see Scott ready to protest but silenced him with a look) I know you are really worried about your father and want to help locate him as quickly as possible but you really shouldn't have infiltrated the government satellites like that. Its incredibly dangerous, your father wouldn't want you to risk yourself or the rest of your family in such a way. Imagine if we did find him only to tell him you'd been imprisoned for life!"

"I was aware of the prison time but I assure you I was in no danger but if I was, I would accept full responsibility in a heartbeat."

"I know you would dear but I'd rather you didn't put yourself in that situation in the first place. Promise me you will not do it again and you'll wipe those photos once we have found your father."

"I promise."

She turned to Scott. "Remember the conversation we had in the orchard about overburdening yourself with responsibility?"

"This is different Grandma; we're not talking underage drinking or joyriding. He's been hacking the damn government! The trouble he could get into! and there would be nothing I could do about it to get him out!

"I know this anger stems from worry and your right in that John's actions were unlawful but he did it with the best intentions Scott. He just wanted to bring your father home as much as you do, surely you can understand that."

"I can but I don't view myself as being above the law. There's always another way!"

"I don't view myself as above the law! I just wanted to help! We weren't getting anywhere! I didn't know what else to do!" interjected John angrily.

"Boys, please don't let this get between you. John had promised not to do it again so let's draw a line under all this and think about how we can use this information to find your father." There grandma said sternly.

"Fine" growled John.

"Fine" Scott said through gritted teeth, almost in unison.

Grandma sighed. It was going to take more than pizza to settle this one.