Gordon drives straight through to California and attends his first W.A.S.P training selection having got through the first stage of the application, having submitted his initial application online via email, and been subjected to theory and practical tests of his physical strength, his leadership qualities, and his intelligence.
Now it is judgement day, a week after arrival he has been invited to meet Commander Shore, a man who has dedicated his life to both the submarine service and to W.A.S.P. A man with little patience for time wasters, insubordination, and the inability to follow orders. While on duty he always ensures that he is properly dressed in full uniform and there is an air of formality about everything he does.
He is hoverchair bound following an accident several years before and he has never let having a disability get in the way of protecting those who serve under him.
Gordon has no idea what to expect when he gets to the main building, and is trying to keep an air of confidence as he is waved through security on production of his temporary pass and escorted to the main office where Shore is waiting for him.
"Mr Tracy! Glad you could make it I know its not an easy drive over from Kansas, and a week with our recruitment team has some of the boys running back to mommy at the first hurdle! Have a seat. I have your application form here and your grades, and I have to admit I was impressed, as well as all the results from your tests here" Commander Shore tells him.
"Really? But I didn't get straight A's?" Gordon asks confused, grades were all his father cared about.
"You don't need to be a straight A student Tracy you passed every subject and your list of extra curriculars is impressive. Let's see if I have this right. Lifeguard every summer at your local pool since you were 14, one Olympic gold medal, 12 world championship swimming medals and you were in the school chess club. Your SAT scores show the basic level of intelligence that would have got you into any college in the country if you had focused purely on grades and not your swimming. I know your father Tracy; he is a good man. He must be so proud of you."
Gordon can't help the tears from spilling down his face.
"Gordon?"
"He's not he's not" Gordon cries, it doesn't matter how far away he gets he can't escape the great Jefferson Tracy.
Commander Shore presses the button which causes the door to lock and the blinds to fall automatically to give them some privacy.
"He's a monster" Gordon tells him. There is no bitterness behind his words, just hurt.
"Gordon, what are you talking about?"
"I have no idea where to start sir" Gordon replies.
"How about from the beginning? What has he done to you?" Shore is confused, but more than that he is concerned.
They sit there for hours while Gordon tells him about the whippings, lifting his shirt to show him the scars from the belt and from the surgery. About how he nearly died at his fathers hands, how his father covered up scandals with bribes buying even his children's silence with holidays in the Caribbean and Europe and Australia, expensive summer camps, all designed to show the world that he was a family man and a brilliant father who loved his children and only wanted what was best for them but behind closed doors ruled with an iron fist. He tells him about the fireworks and the barn, and how his father has cast him aside without a penny and he has nowhere else to go, so he is following the only dream he has ever had.
"Does he know where you are?" Shore asks when Gordons story has finished.
"No. Only Virgil knows I am trying to join W.A.S.P, he has agreed to be my emergency contact."
Commander Shore's eyes are dark with anger and he cannot believe that anyone could justify being so cruel to someone they claim they love. He has a daughter; he knows that he will murder anyone who dared to hurt her with his bare hands in a heartbeat. Which is why he was ecstatic when she finally grew tired of Troy Tempests womanising, two timing, string along with him and Marina and kicked his sorry ass to the curb. Marina following shortly leaving him sad and alone!
He has no idea what to say to this copper haired, skinny, pale faced young man who is not even old enough to drink alcohol, this survivor who has fought back from the brink of death who showed up in his recruitment lecture and aced every test they gave him both theory and practical. Any parent in the world would be proud to have him as a son, yet here he is alone and terrified for his future. If W.A.S.P don't want him, then what?
Deciding to get back to business, Commander Shore delivers the news he has been waiting for, that he has made it and will join as an officer and not in the junior ranks as he expected. He goes through Gordons career goals, the degree in Oceanography he can study for while working his way up the ranks. Gordon even remembers to ask about the Bathyscape mission he has been reading about for the last 4 months, desperate to be allowed to take part. To be told it is possible, as the project is expected to last for 6 years and he can sign up for up to a year, any longer than that and he would grow gills!
They go through his basic training programme and he is given a schedule rigidly dictating his life for the next 8 weeks. A schedule which will include stints onboard Stingray, and piloting lessons.
Learning to fly, trips onboard the best submersible in the world, a free college education and freedom from his father. Gordon only has one question now: When does he start?!
*TB*
Having spent his life being rigidly dictated too, Gordon finds the strict discipline of basic training comforting, he doesn't mind being shouted at knowing that's the worst they can do to him, and takes even their most harshest criticisms in his stride.
The food is disgusting, the barracks are drafty and cold at night and the hot water only works when it feels like it, but it feels more like home than the farm in Kansas ever did. He misses his brothers and would love to know how Alan is getting on, but he knows Jefferson can't find him.
Officer Duncan is the officer in charge of knowing the recruits into shape. Standing over 6 feet tall, he has hair as black as Scott's but keeps it cropped as close to his skull as possible before being completely bald. He believes in the value of hard work and hazing the new recruits. A ritual designed to weed out those he does not consider good enough for W.A.S.P. Subjecting Gordon to a run around the base with no clothes on.
A challenge Gordon accepted and rose to magnificently. He has never been shy about showing off the muscles gained from his years of swimming, and he has not embarrassed about the scars. He got a day in the W.A.S.P jail for his troubles, but he gained the respect of Officer Duncan, and now the two are good friends.
His passing out parade after he has successfully completed his basic training takes place on the first official day of summer, and he wakes up to a cloudless sky, visible from the window from his bunk. There were 16 fellow recruits in his group and only 10 have survived the initial training, and as they have left the remaining candidates have found themselves spreading out across the room and Gordon now has an entire bunk to himself.
Leaping down from the bed Gordon throws his pyjamas in the laundry basket and jumps into the shower, humming the one song he remembers Virgil playing on the piano in the hours they snatched for fun while their father was out of the house.
He knows he will be the only one there without any family, but after today he is an official W.A.S.P. Commander Shore has promised him that he will be there as his surrogate family. Every minute of his free time he has spent with Commander Shore, and when off duty he has even been permitted to call him Sam. Gordon loves this man who in 2 months has been more of a father to him than Jefferson managed in 18 years.
Stepping out into the bright morning sunshine, Gordon sighs happily at the thought of another day in paradise. The salty scented air blowing in from the coast assaults his nostrils, and he can't wait until this afternoon when he is free for 2 weeks before he gets his first official assignment, as he and his fellow recruits have been invited to the W.A.S.P barbecue on the beach. A celebration for the recruits and for the start of the summer.
As promised Commander Shore is there for him, alongside a pretty young woman with short curly red hair who Gordon has not met yet. And they both cheer for him and him alone and make him feel for the first time in his life that he is the most important person in someone's universe, and it is a feeling he likes.
"Gordon, this is my daughter Atlanta, she is recently single" Commander Shore tells him, dropping the least subtle hint Gordon has ever heard!
Her cheeks flush bright red in embarrassment as she gently cuffs her father around the back of the head but she is smiling, and eyeing up Gordon who is also smiling, and they make tentative plans to meet up on the beach.
The party lasts all night, and Gordon can't believe he ever had another life. That life of pain and fear is so far away from this world. Walking along the beach barefoot in the sand, one hand clutching a hotdog the other has his fingers entwined in Atlanta's.
*TB*
Under the watchful gaze of Commander Shore, Gordon starts to date his daughter. She has been played by Troy for so long that she is as deeply scarred as he is. Her marks are all in her heart. The kitten he once gave her is the only thing she has kept from their relationship and has taken to sleeping on Gordons lap whenever he pops round for a visit.
They talk, they laugh, they go bowling, they go for meals. He tells her what it was like growing up with 4 brothers in an old non-working farm in rural Kansas. The good parts and the bad. She tells him what it was like growing up on a military base, and that she loves her life here but has often wondered just how different things would have been if her mom hadn't died when she was just 5. She had her own hopes and dreams, dreams to travel and see the world above sea and not just below it!
Gordon can't help but fall in love. This is a kind, caring and compassionate woman and he has fallen hard.
Running into the apartment with his post one morning Gordons face is flushed with excitement waving a letter about calling her name.
"Gordon, calm down. What's happened?" she asks him.
"I GOT IN!" He shouts happily. The cat startled from sleep hisses at him and stalks out of the room haughtily with his tail in the air.
"The underwater farming project?" Atlanta asks. Even though this will take him away from her for a year she is thrilled for him, this has been his goal all along.
"YES" He shouts.
His excitement is contagious, and she throws her arms around his waist and pushes him down onto the sofa where she starts to pull his shirt off, frantically undressing him in a frenzy of passion as she gently bites down on his shoulder. Nothing she will do will hurt him; she can never hurt him.
They have been together for 3 months, and Gordon has never been happier than he is right now. Lying on the sofa together, Atlanta wrapped up in his arms her head resting on her shoulder. "How long until you leave?" She asks him.
"Next Monday. I won't be under water for the whole 12 months, it's a rota of 6 weeks under the sea then 2 weeks shore leave, and we have internet down there now so we can video chat all the time and email." Gordon tells her trying to reassure her that this separation won't be as bad as it first sounds.
"I love you" Atlanta tells him quietly, vowing silently to herself to let him go, he needs this.
"I love you more" he replies smiling. He hasn't told her the best bit, he is going to be leading the project, and it comes with a decent pay rise!
*TB*
The day Gordon leaves for the bathyscape is a bittersweet day, happy to be following his ultimate dream, but he can't deny that allure of staying above sea level with not only the love of his life but also a man who is quickly becoming a real dad to him.
Commander Shore highly approves of the match and would love Gordon Tracy as a son in law one day.