Chapter 14 – Blowing over

"Come on Virgil, come on." Jeff muttered to himself as he watched the views on the two screens, Thunderbird Three getting steadily closer to the Scorpion ship, but not fast enough for a man with two sons out of touch with him.

"Quickly Virgil, I don't like it, they might be hurt."

"FAB. I'm going to get suited up and go look for them." Virgil pulled on his space suit as quickly as he dared. He talked himself through the checks, trying to remain calm as he realised that every second could be a matter of life and death. Once he had donned all but his helmet, he returned to the control desk to bring her in closer to the ship with the yaw jets. As he tapped tentatively at the controls, a silver something caught his eye on the visual monitor.

"There they are!" He shouted, "Father, I can see them. They're together, but…"

"What, Virgil?"

"I don't know Father. I can't really see, but they're not attached to a line or the ship or anything and they're not using their packs, it's like they're just floating. I'm still open on their channel. I'm going to try to pick them up." Leaving the channel open and the feed to his suit radio live, Virgil pulled on his helmet and hurried to the airlock. Operating the manual controls inside, he de-pressurised and opened the outer hatch. Around thirty feet away, the forms of his brothers could be seen, floating freely in space, gently drifting away from the Scorpion ship. Scott's back was to Virgil, he seemed to be chest-to-chest with Alan, but Virgil couldn't think why. He pressed his controls and a jet from his back propelled him forwards towards them. As he neared, he let off further bursts to come in alongside, and at last grabbed hold of Scott's arm, stopping their drift. The material crackled in an unfamiliar way and Virgil looked down to see Scott's hasty repair. He let go and held Alan's arm instead, guessing that there could be an injury there. Pressing his helmet close between theirs' he squinted through the visors. The closed eyes of each and their slack faces caused a chill to run through him. There was no time to waste, that was clear. Firing another burst of jet, Virgil dragged his brothers back to Thunderbird Three's airlock, trying not to think about what he might find when he got them back inside. He could hear his father over the comms link, asking him what was going on, but a choking lump was stopping him speaking and he didn't trust himself to try.

The outer hatch shut and the moment pressure was back to normal, Virgil ripped off his helmet, opened the inner hatch and pulled his brothers inside. He scrabbled at the clasps holding their helmets on and pulled them back, hearing the faint hiss of the breaking seals. A gentle rise and fall when he placed his hand on Alan's chest was reassuring, but Scott was unmoving. Willing his hands to stop shaking, Virgil felt for a pulse and felt a gentle fluttering, close to nothingness. He felt the increasing adrenaline of a life-or death rescue as he ripped at the seals on Scott's suit and hauled him out onto the floor. Nothing went through his mind, nothing at all. He was trained for this. Too many times he had crouched over bodies at the scene of a disaster, found them wanting and begun the desperate race to save them.

This had to be the same. This had to be just another rescue, or Virgil couldn't do it. So his brain closed off everything except what he needed to know, and he settled himself next to Scott's body. He had done this before. In fact, now, they had all done it at some point, revived one or more of their brothers, or at least kept them alive until better help came. Picking up his helmet, he spoke through the comms link to his father while he prepared Scott.

"Sorry Father, I was too caught up to speak. Alan's unconscious. I'm letting him be for the second, I've got no respiration on Scott. I'm going to start work, I don't know how long he's been out. Get John to bring us in to Five, we'll need the medical bay. Virgil out, I've got to work."

"FAB Virgil." Came back the crisp reply, a little too crisp. Virgil had heard that tone many times before and it was never a good thing.

Flooded with thankfulness that he was not facing the almost hopeless prospect of full rescuscitation, Virgil started work. See the chest rise, see it fall, rise, fall, rise, fall, just another 'rescusci anne', just another unknown body, just another life. Breathe, breathe, breathe…

Thunderbird Three's jets had fired, she had turned, they were moving back towards Thunderbird Five, breathe, breathe, breathe…

Virgil's back was aching, his lips dry, his head spinning. And Scott breathed. As Thunderbird Three jolted to lock into the space station's docking ring, the airlock opened and John come running in. Virgil nodded with relief at his brother and together they pulled Alan and Scott into Thunderbird Five and through to the medical bay.

In the lounge of the Tracy Villa, all was silence. Tin-Tin gazed out of the window, her hands folded in her lap, unmoving. Jeff paced still more furiously, every ounce of his will going into not firing questions at Virgil or John while they were so fully occupied. Gordon was back at the comms panel, his face set in an uncharacteristic frown as he waited for the university to get back to him. Occasionally, they heard a thumping, banging coming from along the corridor. Clearly Ned Cook had discovered that he was a prisoner in Scott's room and wanted out.

"Can't we tell him, Mr Tracy?" Tin-Tin asked tentatively, feeling that nothing he could do was bad enough to not tell him that the love of his life was near death. Jeff turned to her, a look of fury melting to pity as he saw her face.

"No Tin-Tin. I'm not dealing with him now. I have more important things to worry about. It wouldn't do anyone any good. I'm certainly not telling anyone up there what he's done, so I don't see why he should get any information."

"But what if we're wrong, Mr Tracy?" Jeff barely heard her, he waved her away.

"Leave it, Tin-Tin. I need to concentrate." He turned back to the screens. In the panic, no-one had thought to flick the view back to a cabin interior, so he could only see the two craft, now locked together. Over the speakers, they could hear a low muttering, electronic sounds, and…a half-shout of joy.

A muttered 'At last.' from behind them turned Jeff and Tin-Tin's attention back to Gordon. He was explaining the problem to someone who replied through the headphones so they could not hear. His face was turned away from them, but they could see the back of his neck turning bright red, till the contrast with his auburn hair was frightful to look at. He was shaking and his responses to the caller were getting terser and more carefully controlled.

"You don't know?… But something did… And how could we do… You mean we have risked… No, no, of course not, but someone must… I understand that, but… Right. Thank-you Sir. I look forward to it. Yes. No. Thank-you. Goodbye."

Gordon ripped off the headset and turned to look at the other two. Staying a good distance from his father and looking both scared and furious, he reported his findings,

"Father, there was…nobody on that ship."

"What?!" Jeff's shout echoed round the room, his furrowed brow giving him a look to match his son's.

"They haven't sent anyone up yet. The secretarial team had heard about the group that was scheduled to go up in a couple of weeks' time, but no-one had actually gone up yet, it was still being prepared and the people fixing it up are all safe on Earth."

"Then what…?"

"He doesn't know. He says there shouldn't have been anything up there. The radio shouldn't have been on at all. All he can think is that there was some electronic fault. But as to what caused the explosion…"

"But we got a clear distress call."

"I know. He says they had a bank of presets for signals and distress calls because it would largely be an inexperienced crew, one of them must have been triggered."

"So what are they going to do about it? I have risked two of my sons' lives for nothing."

"He's going to 'look into it'. I guess it's not their fault. Maybe a little carelessness, but, well, these things happen."

"Not when it's a matter of life and death they don't. I'll get them back to Earth, then we can think about what to do."

"Scott?" John asked the gently moaning form in front of him. Scott's eyes fluttered open, closed again, then opened more slowly and he looked at his brother.

"Wow!" He croaked, struggling to focus on the blond mop of hair that half-filled his field of vision.

"You with us?" John asked again, relief and concern each struggling to find the upper hand on his face. Scott swallowed back a wave of nausea, thought for a second and smiled sheepishly.

"What was that?" He asked, his throat starting to get used to the idea of speaking again. John grinned,

"You were trying to spend a little time in the land of still waters. You've pretty much done for Virg by the looks of things Scott. Move your arms and things for me, lets check you over." Scott complied and John nodded as he gave him a couple of medicaments to straighten him out,

"Do you know what happened?" Scott screwed up his face, thinking. The last few minutes were a total blank, not surprisingly, before that though…

"I ran out of air." He admitted, bringing his hand up to rub his forehead where an almighty headache was threatening. "And I guess I panicked. Not sure which did for me."

"Well you sure as hell weren't looking to stay with us." Virgil said wryly from his position by the wall, where he was now checking Alan over. "Sorry to butt in on your recovery time Scott, but do you know what happened to Alan?"

"Not really. He was out cold when I got to him after the explosion; we both were initially. Then I got him awake and we went to take a look in the ship. I knew my air was pretty low, but I think my dials were broken, I'd almost bet they don't match the ones on the cans. I lost a lot through that gash on my arm. I said we should take a look so I could get back to Three with some info. Alan was ahead with the life-scanner, then I saw he wasn't moving himself, so I checked and he was out again. I tried to get him back to Three, then I found out about the air situation and that was my lot."

"Okay. Let's hope it's just a precaution his body's decided to take." John took a breath, stood up, helped Virgil get Alan out of his suit and fixed him up to the computers by the bed.

Virgil picked up his helmet, suddenly realising that it had been a while since they'd checked in.

"Virgil to base, we've got Scott back and awake"

"Well done Son. How is he? How's Alan?" Jeff said, purposefully keeping his voice calm as the waves of relief he felt at his son's recovery battled with the fury and concern at what might have been avoided.

"Scott seems okay. Alan…I don't know. John's checking him over. Dad…uh, did you tell Ned?" Scott shot him a look partly of irritation, partly of longing need. Virgil held his hand out flat at him, calming him.

"Er, not yet." Jeff replied, not wishing to give his sons any more to think about than they had to. Certainly not until they had ascertained Alan's condition. John called from the other side of the room.

"He's awake. I put him through the scan and his head's fine, just didn't want to deal with it I guess. Anyway, I gave him a shot of Brains' super-juice and he's back with us. I'm linking him up to the mobile unit so we can put him back on Thunderbird Three and get him home, I'm sure he's safe to fly. Besides, I don't want him moping around up here." He added, grinning.

"Good." Said Jeff, ignoring John's last comment, "Once you're certain they'll both be okay, I want Thunderbird Three back here if Virgil's alright to pilot her."

"What about the scorpion ship?"

"Leave it. Nothing is more important than to get you all home right now."

"But the people? There might still be…I could go in myself, there's no reason why…"

"No Virgil. I am calling the operation off. That's an order."

"FAB. I'll call in when we leave. Out."

Virgil put the helmet down on a bench and went over to Alan who was lying staring morosely at the ceiling.

"Alright kid?" Alan grunted.

"You heard that, yeah?" Alan grunted again.

"Hey, you couldn't do anything. You were hit by an explosion."

"I was in there. I could have helped. I'm alright now. Why did I have to black out then?"

"Happens to the best of us. It knocked out Scott too, you know. You can't expect to be superhuman just because you're on the rescuing team."

"I know that. I just can't believe we're leaving them. What's Ned going to think of us?"

"Why do you care? I thought you hated him?" Virgil spoke quietly to avoid Scott overhearing.

"No. He's alright. I guess I overreacted a little at first. Does he know what's going on? Scott wouldn't think about it, but I guess he'll be worrying if he does know."

"I'm not sure. I know Dad wasn't going to let him in on any rescues, but he might have told him just where we are I guess."

Half an hour later, Alan and Scott had made a rather shaky way along the corridors and through the connecting tube into Thunderbird Three. Virgil called base as they pulled silently away from the docking ring and fired the yaw jets to turn them back towards Earth.

Jeff was still pacing the living room, his problems with Ned almost forgotten as he considered the ramifications of the nearly disastrous false alarm they had just encountered. Tin-Tin had gone to her room now that she knew the boys were on their way home, and Gordon was picking at the seat of the couch, trying to look occupied.

"Get off the couch." Jeff said quietly as the jets of Thunderbird Three roared over the roundhouse. Gordon got up as Jeff set the mechanism into action to retrieve the three astronauts from the rocket.

Two tired and battered looking heads emerged up through the floor, leaning uncharacteristically against the shoulders of a more alert, if no less drained-looking Virgil.

"Are you alright boys?" Asked Jeff, concerned, trying not to show his additional worries until he was sure they could cope.

"I'm fine Father." Said Virgil, "These two need a good sleep and Alan needs keeping an eye on, though he's been alright all the way back." Jeff nodded

"Right, Scott, Alan, off to bed. And I don't think bed would be amiss for you either, Virgil."

"Where's Ned?" Asked Scott, surprising Alan and Virgil who hadn't heard him mention him once since the rescue attempt. Jeff looked slightly embarrassed, but quickly recovered himself,

"Scott, he's… Alan, go to bed. Virgil, take him."

"But…"

"No buts." Virgil saw the dangerous look in his Father's eye and pulled Alan up to standing and walked him briskly out of the room, throwing a worried look back at Scott."

"Scott. I wasn't going to tell you till you'd had a rest, but since he's in your room, I guess I'll have to."

"What?"

"Earlier on, at Tin-Tin's request, I let Mr Cook come and sit out of sight in here so that he could know what was going on with you. Tin-Tin said it wasn't fair to keep him in the dark. A few minutes afterwards, he left the room. Gordon was walking along the corridor and he heard him in your room, making a report. Broadcasting. Telling the world our secrets. I locked him in your room and blocked transmissions. I know you'll understand." The look of shock on Scott's face was paralysing,

"What do you mean, broadcasting?" He could feel cold fear running through him from that dark store of dread where it had been locked since his earlier conversation with his father. Gordon spoke,

"He was in there talking, Scott. I could hear him. He said..." Gordon's voice was shaking, "He said he was in the bedroom of the man who usually oversees rescues on the ground. He said what an amazing place this was, he said...he said..." He trailed off. The look of horror on Scott's face was unbearable as he crumbled back onto the couch. His whole frame seemed to fall in on itself and his mouth hung open. He raised his arms as is if to hide his face, but the pain of using his damaged arm shot through him like lightning and it fell slackly to his knee, making him wince in pain as it hit. His other arm was suspended in mid air, and as he tried to get his thoughts in order, what little resistance he had left gave way, and a single tear rolled from the corner of his eye and travelled, cold and wet, into the black hole of his gaping mouth.

His brother and father looked at him, not knowing what to do. Gordon sat down heavily on the edge of his father's desk, his anger at Ned a forgotten mote in his worry about his brother. Jeff looked around, hoping for help from anywhere; but he was on his own. He stepped towards his motionless son and crouched in front of him, his hands on Scott's knees, avoiding knocking the damaged arm. Like Gordon, his rage at Ned was currently eclipsed, albeit that he knew this was Ned's fault. This was not a Scott he knew. This Scott could not exist. It simply wasn't possible that anything in the world could do this to his oldest son. Nothing.

He looked into Scott's eyes, Scott stared at him, eyes blurry with tears, and the corners of his mouth pulled themselves down in a spasm of grief, before a horrible sob wrenched him back into the couch, echoing round the room like a death rattle.

"Scott?" His father ventured, unable to think of anything else to say. Scott took a deep, halting breath and closed his mouth. He licked his lips, and as his mouth pulled itself down again at the corners, he struggled to stop it, and shook his head.

"Scott, what do you want us to do?" Jeff tried again, feeling wholly inadequate. He wasn't trained for this. He didn't have a clue what he was doing. All he knew was that he had to stop his son hurting like this. He gripped Scott's knees tighter, trying to stop them shaking so uncontrollably. Scott shook his head again, closing his eyes, he couldn't think, there was nothing there in his head, no thoughts, no ideas, nothing but a great aching void of betrayal and loss. The pain in his arm was nothing. He didn't feel like this would ever change. This was eternity.

Jeff sat back on his heels, looking at his son with painfully dry eyes.

"Gordon, go and fetch Virgil, then go and unlock Scott's door and get Ned in here."

"Are you sure, Father?" Gordon asked, a note of panic in his voice,

"Yes, go on." Jeff said softly. He didn't know if this was the right thing to do or the worst, but he had to do something. He felt rage starting to rise in him again and his face contorted as he remembered what had done this. He pushed himself back up off Scott's knees and paced the room, his mind racing with a thousand things he could say to Ned. The door opened and Virgil and Gordon entered, looking pale, on each side of Ned who stood there between them, a mixture of sorrow and fury on his face. Jeff strode up to him, and while his two sons held Ned's arms, he positioned himself just inches from his face.

"DAMN YOU!" He shouted, his voice breaking. "DAMN YOU, NED COOK!" Ned tried to speak, but the weight of Jeff's passion hit him like a tidal wave and he stepped back out of range, feeling two sets of thumbs dig deeper into his arms. "I LET YOU STAY HERE IN GOOD FAITH. YOU PROMISED. YOU SWORE YOU WOULD STICK TO THE RULES. YOU, YOU COULDN'T HAVE DONE MORE DAMAGE IF YOU'D...YOU, YOU'VE PUT MILLIONS OF LIVES IN DANGER, DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT? BUT TO HELL WITH THAT, TO HELL WITH IT ALL, YOU, YOU...LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY SON..." Jeff was shaking uncontrollably, spit flying from him, his voice rasping and incoherent, his rage increasing as he realised that he had lost his temper, his nerve, his control, in a way he had never thought possible. He staggered back across the room, away from Ned and sank into a chair, breathing hard.

Ned stared back in silence. He may not have known Jeff Tracy very long, but he had heard enough and worked out enough from the way the family worked together, to know that he had just witnessed something nigh on impossible. The room was silent, except for five sets of heavy breathing. Then Ned shook himself. He turned to look at Virgil on his right. He looked into deep brown eyes and muttered,

"Let go. Please. Please." Virgil looked at him hard and slowly let go of his arm. He glanced over at Gordon and signalled him to let him go, then they stood in readiness to grab him again if need be.

Ned walked slowly over to Jeff and stood in front of him, then knelt down in front of him. Jeff was still breathing hard, but he was spent, too far gone to stop Ned now.

"Mr Tracy. What have I done?" He stopped. Virgil and Gordon looked at him in disbelief,

"What have you done?" Gordon asked incredulously at last, "You've broadcast our secrets to the world. You've broken our trust. And we liked you." He said this last bitterly, as though this was the greatest cost. Ned looked up in amazement,

"I what? No. No, I didn't. I wouldn't...couldn't...ask Scott, I couldn't, why do you think I...?" He stopped as realisation hit him, "Oh." He sagged, "You overheard me in Scott's room, yeah?" Gordon nodded. Ned shot a look at Scott, whose eyes had just shot open, then turned back to Jeff,

"Mr Tracy, I swear, I didn't broadcast a word. I was scared. I knew Scott was in space, I knew he was in danger, and I found that I couldn't cope. Well, when things are tough at a disaster area, the only way I can cope is by getting on with my job. It takes me out of it, distances me. Stops me feeling. So I went and pretended that I was broadcasting a report to take my mind of things, to make it alright. That's all. Surely you didn't think I could ever...but you must have known I wasn't broadcasting. I mean, Scott hasn't let on much about this place, but I gather your security is pretty tight here, and I reckon you've got the gadgets to spot a transmission going off, haven't you?...haven't you?" Gordon nodded, his shoulders sagging, he hadn't even though about that. Ned saw him and his mouth fell open, anger starting to take over from his calm explanation, "You mean you didn't even check to see if I had?...you just assumed? You just screamed me into the wall and you haven't even checked? You've done that to Scott, and you haven't looked to see if maybe I wasn't a filthy underhand little traitor?" His mouth hooked up in a sneer and Gordon ran to Jeff's desk, slamming his hand down on the switch,

"Base to Thunderbird Five, come in John..." John's portrait bleeped on and before he could get a word in, Gordon gabbled at him, "Check the read-outs for during the rescue of transmissions leaving this island. What is there? Quick John." John turned from the monitor and his hands flashed over the controls behind him. He turned back,

"Well, there's the stuff from Dad, nothing else."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. All scanners were operational right through and there's nothing but Dad's standard comms link. Why?"

"Never mind. Call you later. Out." Gordon pressed the switch again and John's confused face was wiped from the screen by his usual serene portrait. Gordon looked up at Ned, guiltily flicked another switch and spoke,

"Brains?" He heard the scientist start to speak and cut him off, "Was there any transmission or recording going on in this house just before you shut down external transmissions – apart from Dad?" There was a pause, then,

"N-No. Nothing unusual."

"Okay." Said Gordon and closed the link without another word.

Silence returned to the room. Jeff's breath was slower now, a general air of embarrassment started to pervade the room. Ned got up, went over to the couch and sat down next to Scott, who was staring at his father blankly.

Jeff looked over at his son and Ned, He took a deep breath and blinked a couple of times. He suddenly looked very, very tired. His jaw worked soundlessly as he tried to figure out what to say, eventually he grasped the thin thread of energy he had left and spoke, he voice low and apologetic,

"Hell, Ned, I'm...I'm sorry. Truly, sorry. I guess, we were so caught up in the rescue, I, I was scared, scared for my sons' safety, and I guess I wasn't even really thinking about you. Gordon told me what he'd heard, and I just...I don't know. It's tough when your boys are out there and you don't know what's going on. We'd just lost contact with them. There was an explosion. Then when we got them back they were injured and I was still worried. Hell Ned, I'm not a young man. I get set in my ideas. I'd got it all set up that you were a good guy, but when it came down to it, it was easy to believe you'd fooled me. It never occurred to me to check. I made a mistake. Sorry Scott."

"Hey. Dad." Scott murmured softly from the couch. He went to put his good arm around Ned, but Ned got up, walking briskly back to where Jeff sat, ignoring the concerned looks on Gordon and Virgil's faces. He put out his hand,

"I'm sorry too. I shoulda known better than to do that, without telling you anyway. Of course you were preoccupied. I'm glad you were. You were doing more for Scott than I was. Shake and make up Sir? I don't want to end this here." Jeff took the hand and shook it.

"You're a good man, Ned Cook." He said, "Don't ever let yourself be otherwise. Let's put this one down to experience and say it never happened."

"Right." Said Ned.

"Thanks. And, uh, keep an eye on Scott for me will you? That was a pretty bad shock I just gave him, I don't think I can make it up, but you can have a go for me." He gave a half smile, "I'm going to bed, before I do anything worse." He got up slowly, as if it was a great effort, and left the room, straight backed and marching as ever. Some things could not be changed.

Ned went back to Scott,

"How's your arm? It looks pretty painful."

"I've had worse." Scott replied, "It's not broken, I've just torn the muscles badly I reckon, and it's a bit of a gash to go without stitches.

"Can you get it seen to here?" Scott nodded and Virgil stepped forward,

"We'll go down and get Brains to look at it. Gordon, will you go and check on Alan?" Gordon nodded, but didn't move. Scott pushed himself forwards on the couch, looking composed, but as he got shakily to his feet, his mouth twitched again. As Ned reached out to him, he put his arms around him. Burying his face in Ned's neck, Ned's arms wrapped tightly round him, he thought hard:

'Scott Tracy, what's happened to you? This ain't part of the deal. You may have been through a lot today, but it's nothing you can't deal with. Remember who you are. You are an officer, a trained man. You are the pilot of Thunderbird One. You go out there and you save people's lives. You are your father's number one, the one he calls on when he can't do it on his own. You are the role model for every one of your brothers and they respect you. Like hell is all that going to disappear just because you've taken an arrow in the heart and had it twisted around a bit. Pull yourself together. Who wants to see you in this kind of state? Nobody. You are an officer. You are a member of International Rescue. You are Scott Tracy.'

Scott pulled his face out of Ned's neck, put his good arm up behind his head, pulled him close and kissed him.

"Thanks Ned." He said with feeling. His tone was steady again, there was no sign of a tear in his eyes, which sparkled with red-rimmed pride as they looked at Ned. Although he was still a little unsteady on his feet, he put one arm round Ned's shoulder and gestured Virgil out of the way when he stepped in to support his other side,

"I'm fine, little bro. Go get some shut eye. See you in the morning. 'Night Gordo." He and Ned sped off down the corridor to see Brains, leaving Virgil and Gordon staring at each other, grins slowly spreading across their faces as Gordon hit the comms-link to the space station.