All Expenses Paid
Okay I apologise….again….for the dumb delay. In all honesty I have no feasible excuse for it therefore I must inform you I was held hostage by a team of evil raccoons who denied me access to a computer until I signed over the ownership of the cheesecake I had in my neighbours fridge….man I'm gonna miss that cheesecake.
Anywho…here is the much delayed update…based upon characters from Thunderbirds which unfortunately I still do not own…damn raccoons….
Chapter 5
John had been standing next to the door for almost an hour, waiting for someone to enter the small room, one of the coffee table legs held tightly in his hand. Whilst listening for movement outside the room he kept an eye on Virgil who had been drifting in and out of consciousness for the past twenty minutes or so.
As he saw his brother sway dangerously close to falling off the stool and catch himself just in time to avoid meeting the cold floor, he heard footsteps outside the room. Forcing himself closer to the exposed concrete wall he listened as the lock opened and the door slowly swung open. He held his breath. He saw two large shadows enter the room. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest. One of the shadows moved towards where Virgil was sat.
He slowly raised the table leg and kicked the door exposing him to the two guards.
They had arrived back at the island over four hours ago. But neither Scott nor Jeff had spoken a word to each other since Jeff had told them they were leaving the offices. Upon landing Jeff had gone straight to Brains with what remained of Johns' communicator, whilst Scott had headed to the control panel to update Gordon and Alan on the lack of progress.
Now Jeff was sitting on the balcony over the pool with a double scotch in his hand - his third in an hour. He had put his phone on silent shortly after returning to the island, ignoring the various calls from reporters who had been slipped his number by soon to be unemployed managers.
He heard it vibrate on the table next to him. He gave it glance, surprised to see Lady P appear on the screen. He didn't answer it. Probably just to say how sad she was to hear what had happened he thought as he drained the glass. He knew he had to speak with Scott, reassure him, be a father.
He poured another glass.
Scott watched his father staring into nothingness. He was angry. But not at the man trying to drink himself numb whilst watching the sunset. He was angry that he hadn't realised something was wrong the moment his watch had started beeping at him that morning. It was his fault, if he had followed his instinct…but he hadn't. He looked back towards the sunset.
The first day Alan had boarded Thunderbird 5 with Gordon he had spent ten minutes staring in awe at the Earth beneath them. Now as he watched the blue planet it seemed different, less homely. He knew it was dusk back on the island, and those on the island were being graced with one of the most miraculous sunsets of the year right now.
He could hear Gordon yelling at the control panel. Ever since Scott had sent the communication Gordon had been focussed on the panel. He wished he had something to focus on.
He kept staring out the viewer. He didn't know how long he stood there, seeing nothing except the speck he thought to be the island. His shallow concentration was broken by a triumphant yell from the control panel and his brother grabbing him into a bone crushing hug.
Virgil didn't know what was happening. He could see John in the corner holding what appeared to be a table leg or club of some sort. Man he wanted to go to sleep. Maybe if he rested his eyes for a few seconds…
John threw himself at the closest guard, swiftly bringing the table leg down on his head. The effect was instantaneous. The guards knees crumpled and he dropped to the floor. Wasting no time John rolled across the floor and pulled himself into a crouching position.
As regained his breath he kept a keen eye on the other guard now approaching him. The man was about two inches taller and a foot wider than him. He could see the table leg in his peripheral vision on the other side of the room. He didn't stand a chance.
Gordon continued to laugh as Alan tried to recover from the hug he had just been attacked with. "Gordon, what the freakin' hell?" Alan yelled at his still hysterical brother. Gordon just stared at his younger brother, his face resembling that of a child at Christmas. "Is this about the toaster?"
This just set Gordon into a new fit of laughter. Finally composing himself, he picked himself up off the floor and stood directly in front of Alan. "I know what happened!" he declared, then grabbed Alan by the wrist and dragged him over to the control panel. He tapped a few buttons on the console and then gestured towards the screen as though it were about to reveal the meaning of life.
Alan looked carefully at the console, still confused as to his brothers' sudden glee. Then he saw it. A small blip on the screen, "What the hell…?" he muttered, carefully adjusting the screen. It was a digital planet map, normally used to locate the Thunderbrids during rescues. There were four stationary markers in the middle of the pacific ocean and one other.
The extra marker was located on the east coast of America. Its' light pulsing occasionally but considerably weaker than those on the other side of the map. "I don't get it…all the Thunderbirds are accounted for on the Island" Alan said, turning questioningly toward his sibling.
"Exactly! Which means something else is transmitting to us" Gordon clapped his hands and then pulled Alan into a hug akin to a head lock "And whoever's transmitting knows the exact frequency this bird picks up! So little brother, here's the million dollar question, who on earth could possible know such a top secret yet absurdly obscure piece of information about our tincan in space?"
Alans' face remained blank for a few moments longer. Then, suddenly "Holy crap…!"
Scott lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. He had heard his father stumble to bed almost an hour ago. He couldn't stop his brain. It was in overdrive. Carefully analysing every movement, every decision, every seemingly insignificant thing he had done that day. It kept jumping to the same conclusion – he should have done something.
He sat up and punched his pillow until it was no longer flat. He could hear his father's guttural snoring in the next room. He didn't lie down again; instead he got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. He wasn't thirsty and was pretty certain that even if he were to eat anything he wouldn't be able to keep it down. So he just sat at the counter and watched tap drip, hoping that it may ease him of his guilt.
Brains hadn't left the lab in over twelve hours. He was under no obligation to stay and if he were honest with himself, a short break may be what he needed to solve this conundrum. But he wouldn't leave. He owed it to them to figure it out.
The analyses of Johns' communicator had taken almost five hours, but there was something missing from the device, and despite his efforts Brains just couldn't begin to fathom what it was.
He had approached it from every angle both literally and figuratively and yet it still managed to elude him. He had put it back together and taken it apart on more than one occasion. He had even managed to get it working again, with everything functioning, well everything except the digital clock.
He looked back to the row of clocks on the wall; it was almost 2am according to one of the clocks, the others all being set to other time zones across the world. That was the real core to what was making Brains stay until he figured it out, the fact the clock on Johns watch still wasn't working. It was definitely not the most high tech part of the device without question. All it did was use tell the time; admittedly by bouncing a signal off Thunderbird 5 and locating itself within the required time zone to do so, but that was relatively simple in comparison to some of the gadgets Brains had made over the years.
He ran a frustrated hand over his face and what remained of his hair. He needed a coffee. Slowly he made his way to the kitchen. He could think better after a coffee he thought to himself.
End of Chapter 5
Have you figured it out?
50 Awesome points to anyone who has! I do have to point out though that there is no prize in exchange for Awesome points…only glory…eternal glory
RussianKat