Jeff awoke to the westering sunlight in his eyes. He squinted in the warm afternoon light and checked his chronometer. It was still set at Tracy Island time and he had to think for a moment to translate. When he realized he had slept for over four hours, he sat up quickly, rubbing his eyes.

He listened for any sounds in the household, but all was quiet. Getting up, he slipped on his shoes and headed for the door. As soon as he opened it, he could smell the rich scent of his mother's brownies. With a smile, he headed quietly past his son's closed door and down the stairs, skipping the squeaky fifth step almost without even thinking about it.

He found Ruth in the front parlor, working on some stitchery. Keeping his voice quiet, Jeff greeted her. "Mom? Is Gordon still asleep?"

Looking up with a smile, Ruth gestured to the easy chair across from her. "As far as I know. Did you sleep well, dear?"

"Yeah. Didn't expect to sleep so long, though."

"Well, you must have needed it." Ruth set aside her needlework. "Now, are you going to be able to have those robots of Brains' up and running quickly enough to let John stay on Thunderbird Five?"

Jeff shook his head ruefully. "I don't know, Mom. I suppose I half expected to come up here and get Gordon and put him straight to work. I just assumed he was in better shape than he is."

"I'm glad you recognize that he's not, dear. That young man won't let on, but he is far from well. I suspect it will be a good two months more before he is back in top shape."

Jeff ran his hand through his hair. "And that's about how long it will be before the first of the new robots will be online." He shook his head. "You know, John offered to cancel his observations. Told Gordon there were plenty more magnetars where this one came from."

"Oh, honey," Ruth said sadly.

"I know. Well, if we do bring him down, it won't be until we've exhausted every other possibility. When Gordon told us yesterday what was on your mind, I told the boys I needed suggestions, and look at what they came up with. It was amazing to listen and watch them." Jeff shook his head fondly at the memory.

"Well, I don't know that you should be as amazed as all of that. Not one of those boys is a dummy, and they've pulled together as a team all of their lives." Ruth replied acerbically.

"I know." Jeff looked up at a sound. "Well, look who's up."

Gordon padded into the room, hair awry. "You shouldn't have let me sleep so long, Dad."

"I've only been up a few minutes myself, son."

Ruth stood up. "Well, let me just get you those brownies and a thermos, and you can be on your way."

"No hurry, Mom. I want to take a shower before we hit the road."

Still half asleep, Gordon nodded. "Yeah, me too."

"All right then, you two go have your showers, and I'll get those brownies wrapped."

Jeff followed his son back up the stairs. He had long ago added a heavy-duty industrial-sized water heater to the home, so there was no need for either of them to wait. Jeff wasted no time in stripping down and standing under the streaming hot water. It felt good, and the cobwebs remaining from the midday nap evaporated.

Ten minutes later, he was dried, shaved and dressed. He headed out the door, and found Gordon just leaving his room. "How do you feel, son?"

Gordon looked up with a crooked grin. "Pretty good. Needed that shower."

"Know what you mean."

The two men trotted down the stairs and found the front door open. Jeff went out on the porch to find his mother carrying a large picnic basket down the steps. "Here, Mom, let me get that for you."

"Thank you, dear."

Hefting the basket, Jeff remarked in consternation, "What have you got in here? It weighs a ton."

"Gordon, be a dear, and go into the kitchen and fetch the thermos on the counter," Ruth instructed, then turned to her son. "You certainly didn't expect me to send you back empty-handed, now, did you? Your brownies are on the top, oh, and a couple of ham sandwiches too. On the bottom, I've put a freeze-all with a couple of apple pies. Kyrano will know how to bake them. The rest is just some pickles and jams. I put up a lot of corn relish this last month, and we had a canning bee and trade off last week at the church. Now, be careful, there's glass in there."

Jeff licked his lips. "Corn relish? Did you put any of that in here?"

Ruth pursed her lips. "Yes I did, and before you get any ideas, I've already emailed Kyrano with the exact contents of this hamper."

Gordon had come out on the porch and heard this last. Signaling his father where his grandmother couldn't see, he mouthed, "Spoons?"

Under the guise of smiling at his mother, Jeff nodded an emphatic yes, and the young man disappeared back into the house. Jeff slid the hamper onto the back seat just as Ruth turned back to the house. "Now where is that boy?"

As if summoned by the question, Gordon reappeared, carrying the thermos. Jeff smiled, seeing that he had hidden the spoons he carried well, and Ruth was none the wiser. As he came up, Gordon bent over to hug his grandmother. "Bye, Grandma. Thanks for taking care of me."

Ruth stood on tiptoe to kiss her grandson's cheek. "You be safe now. I don't want to come down there next week and find you've pushed yourself too hard."

"I won't, Grandma. I promise."

With one final caress, Ruth turned to her son. Arms lifted in invitation of a hug, she said, "Tell Tin-Tin to come on Monday, if she can. I've been away from my boys for far too long."

Jeff held his mother in a strong hug, kissing her cheek. "Okay, Mom. I love you."

"I love you too, baby."

The two men got into the car and drove off. Jeff saw that his mother stood and watched until they rounded a bend and were out of sight. Gordon sat watching the fields go by, and Jeff said, "We'll be home by lunchtime."

Gordon breathed deeply, and asked, "We going to wait?"

"Hell, no. As soon as we're airborne we'll break out the corn relish."

"What about that email?"

"Son, where corn relish is concerned, it's every man for himself."

Gordon laughed, and in no time they had reached the airstrip. As the car pulled into the hangar, Gordon asked, "You want me to start the fueling robot?"

"Not necessary. I've got her fueled and ready to go." At Gordon's raised eyebrow, Jeff continued. "Thought I might need to make a quick getaway."

"Yeah, I kinda thought that too," Gordon nodded. "I was expecting all out war when you came. Kind of a let down, actually."

"Yes, I was ready to bring out all of the big guns," Jeff responded ruefully. "I think she does things like this just to make me crazy."

"It works real well."

Jeff chuckled. "It surely does, son, it surely does."

The two men completed their loading of the small jet and boarded the plane. As he was buckling in, Jeff asked, "You have got your sunglasses? We'll be heading straight into the sun."

"Yeah. You want me to fly her for a while? Four hours isn't much rest after a ten hour flight."

"Thank you for the offer, but I'm fine. Maybe later." Jeff said it casually, but the truth of the matter was he had no intention of turning the controls over to his son. It was not that he didn't trust the younger man, it was more that he simply preferred to keep control himself, and of course, he found flying more relaxing than tiring.

Jeff taxied to the end of the airstrip, and pointing the little jet's nose to the west, powered up and sent her into the air. As soon as he had filed his flight plan with Rocky Mountain Flight Control, he turned to his son. "I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. What do you say we break out the corn relish?"

Gordon grinned and pulled two tablespoons out of his back pocket. "Works for me!"

Starting to reach behind the seat, Gordon hissed briefly in pain, then tried to cover it with a grunt. Jeff felt his heart sink at the sound, but kept his eyes forward, not letting on. After a moment, Gordon moved again, this time more gingerly. He pulled up the picnic basket lid, and froze. "Ah, rats."

"What's wrong?"

"She left a note."

Jeff sighed. "Damn. Well, you may as well read it."

"It says, 'There is corn relish in the yellow container. Stay out of the jars. And I want my spoons back.'"

Jeff sighed, then chuckled. Gordon heaved his own sigh, shaking his head. "You know, I kind of miss the old days when I was young and stupid and thought I could outwit Grandma."

"Ah, those were the days." Jeff smiled. "Well, what are you waiting for? It's in the yellow container."

Gordon grinned. "Geez, she's got a bunch of stuff in here. Oh, she gave us some cucumber salad. I want that. Here, you can have the corn relish."

Setting the autopilot, Jeff took the container and spoon that Gordon handed him. The two men dug in, eating the homemade goodies with enthusiasm. When he had downed about half of the corn relish, Jeff looked over, eyeing the cucumber salad. Gordon glanced up and seeing his father's look, held out his container. The two men swapped and went back to eating.

When every last morsel was gone, Jeff sat back with a sigh. "Oh, I'm going to pay for this."

Gordon chuckled. "You? What about me? I'm stuck in this tiny little cabin too."

Jeff turned a gimlet eye on his son. "What are you insinuating, Gordon?"

Unrepentant, Gordon grinned. "Five bucks says I can belch louder than you can fart."

"I do not fart," Jeff replied loftily. "I relieve intestinal tension."

Gordon barked a laugh. "Good one, Dad."

Smiling, Jeff looked over at his son. Seeing the pale face, his smile faltered for a moment. Turning back to his controls, he tried for a casual tone. "Why don't you just kick back and take a nap, son? We've got a long way to go, and there's not much to see."

"Would you stop? I'm fine, Dad. I don't need another nap."

Jeff raised an eyebrow at the tone. "You're sure, there, boy? Not like you to snap at your old man."

Sighing, Gordon shook his head. "Okay, Dad, the truth is I feel like hell. But I am sick of being sick, you know? I want just to be treated normally. I want just to be me, and not some damn invalid that has to be treated like a porcelain flower. You and Grandma look at me like I'll keel over in a fair breeze."

"That's not true, son. I'm pretty sure it would take a strong breeze to knock you over."

"Gee, thanks."

"Think nothing of it. Gordon, we've got a lot on our plates when we get home, and I'm going to have to rely on you for some of it. I understand you're not up to rescues yet, but you're going to be busy enough to wish I was treating you like a piece of porcelain. You might as well rest up now, because, believe me, you're going to need it." Jeff kept a stern edge to his voice, knowing Gordon would realize his intent.

The younger man relaxed next to him, and Jeff knew he had been right. His son needed the rest, but hadn't wanted to appear weak in his father's eyes. Jeff's statements gave Gordon what he needed to permit himself to settle down and sleep. "Well, as long as you put it that way. You're sure you don't need me to keep you company?"

Jeff smiled. "I've got Don Henley to keep me company, son. You just settle back and sleep."

Jeff reached over and hit a button on the console and the opening riff of an Eagles song softly filled the cabin. Gordon wrinkled his nose at the old fashioned music, but leaned back and within a few minutes was fast asleep.