Chapter 3

Two months later

Breakfast on Tracy Island was not as formal as dinner and everyone wandered in and out of the kitchen when they wanted to. That morning, Scott was eating a raisin bagel while pretending to read a hardware manual but actually his eyes were fixed on Virgil who was across the table from him, his head bent low over a bowl of cereal. This was not unusual as Virgil was not a morning person but the fact that his hair was almost touching the side of the bowl was strange even for him.

Jeff joined them, placing a healthy breakfast of fresh fruit, yoghurt and granola on the table.

"Father," said Scott, "Virgil and I are going over to the desalination plant after breakfast to do the monthly check, okay?"

At the sound of his name, Virgil raised his head slightly and looked at Scott in surprise. He certainly hadn't remembered any conversation with Scott about that but his big brother's blue eyes had a determination about them so he decided not to argue and continued to shovel cereal into his mouth.

"I thought it was Alan's turn?" replied Jeff.

"Yeah, but he's really busy with that software upgrade for Five so we said we'd do it."

"Okay, that's fine," said Jeff, lifting his spoon.

Half an hour later Scott and Virgil were heading across the Island, using a mixture of hover bikes and walking to get to the other side where the desalination plant was. Another of Brains's brilliant technical masterpieces, the small plant ensured fresh, clean drinking water from the surrounding ocean. Despite the remote control panel and alarms in Brains's lab that warned him of any problems, there was still a rota in place to physically check the equipment.

As the two brothers walked up to the plant Scott decided to open the conversation he wanted to have with Virgil. "So, how are things going?" he asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Virgil misunderstood him on purpose. "Things are going great with the plant. Can't see any problems from here but we ought to check around the back."

"I meant, how are things going with you?" said Scott evenly.

"Fine," came the short reply as Virgil started to pull back some vegetation from the side of a water silo.

"Only the last few weeks you've not been…"

"Been what?"

"You seem a little unhappy."

"Really?"

Scott huffed in irritation. "Yes, Virgil, really. Do you want to talk about it?"

Virgil's reply involved attacking a green plant and pulling it out by its roots with some force. Scott gave a hand. "Alright, I know you don't but you're wallowing in something and not coming out of it and it's pissing me off. I want to help."

The swear word from Scott made Virgil stand up and look at his brother. Scott could swear in a way that only military men knew how but he very rarely directed it at Virgil.

"You can't help," he said, trying to sound less argumentative, "But I appreciate the thought. Let's see how that mend on the pipe around the side is doing."

They walked further on and Scott tried again. "Before that you were really cheerful. You had such a twinkle in your eye I thought you might be dating someone and then I was worried she'd dumped you or something or…." He trailed off.

Virgil was leaning over the pipe. He examined it for a moment and then stood back up and looked Scott straight in the eye. "Actually, I dumped her. Satisfied now? There is nothing you can do, it's over. The patch up is working well. Alan can take another look next month but I think it's going to hold."

"I'm sorry. About the girl, I mean."

"Thanks. Have you got the PDA? We need to enter the data in a minute."

Scott followed Virgil further around the plant, pulling a small device from his pocket. "No, I'm sorry, I just don't buy it. You dump a girl, it's bad for a couple of weeks and then you move on. Why haven't you moved on?"

"It's a long story and, for your information, I have moved on. Well, Sophia got over me pretty quickly, let's put it like that."

"But you'd like to get back together with this Sophia?"

Virgil stopped and thought for a moment. "No, it wouldn't work out with her."

"Why not? Look, I'm up for your long story. There's no-one here but me and the wildlife."

"And I always thought the wildlife around here was trouble. Let it go, Scott, I have."

"Have you?" asked Scott but Virgil had walked briskly on and Scott realised that he was going to get no further by pressing the subject that day.