Chapter Two – Alan I

AN – Thanks for all the support for the first chapter! This story will jump around through points of view, and slightly through time as well. I plan to label the rough dates on the chapters so that it makes sense, though there are details in the chapters that will place them in relation to each other. If you like it, or think you need it to be clearer, please review and let me know.

Early October

It was raining, of course. It was something Alan had come to associate with the UK, the rain. But it seemed particularly drab today as they pulled up at the side of the tiny one-way street that they'd been directed down. A couple of pedestrians scowled as they hurried past, waterproofs pulled up over their heads. Yet another took a photo, gesticulating and chattering to their friend excitedly in a language Alan didn't understand.

He thought maybe it was too much to ask to turn up to university unobtrusively, so as to not stand out from the crowd. But when he'd voiced his choice of college, Lady Penelope had enthusiastically offered to drop him off. So here he was, the only freshman arriving in a huge pale pink Rolls Royce.

Though it wasn't freshman here, was it? He'd have to work out what they used instead.

"Here you h'are, Master Alan." Parker bowed as he opened the door with a large umbrella in his hand, having already taken Alan's bag out of the trunk. Alan shouldered his backpack, preparing to step out into the rain.

"You will call us if you need anything?" Penelope told him. "We are but a small trip away, after all. We can come and visit next weekend if you like?"

"Um, no thank you Penelope. I think I need to do this by myself for a bit." He fidgeted with his shoulder strap, looking up at the umbrella sheltering him from the rain. "In fact… I might just head off by myself now, if that's ok?"

"Oh no dear, you must let Parker help you with your bags!"

"Nah, it's cool." Alan picked up his large holdall that contained everything he thought he needed for the next eight weeks. "It's just around the corner, right? Besides, you're holding up the traffic."

The small road was far too narrow for anything to come past the large pink car, and there was a line forming. Luckily, most seemed to be other new arrivals so they were just unloading where they queued.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Thanks Penelope, Parker." Alan smiled at them, trying to quell the nerves he felt. "I'll see you at Christmas."

"Well, I suppose so. Good luck with it all Alan and stay in touch." Parker closed the car door on Penelope and pulled Alan into a hug, using the hand that wasn't holding the umbrella to slap him firmly on the back.

"Best o' luck, Master Alan. You stay out of trouble, you hear me? Or don't get caught h'anyway." With a final nod, he stepped back into the driving seat of the car. Alan waved as the Rolls surged forwards, before it turned the corner and disappeared out of sight.

Once it had gone Alan adjusted his grip on his bag and straightened up. "Right Alan, you've got this." He muttered to himself in an impromptu pep talk. He walked to the end of the road, turning the opposite direction to the one that FAB1 had disappeared in. A few yards further he saw a set of stone steps leading up to the right, where a large wooden door was open invitingly. Taking a deep breath, Alan started up the stairs.

"Hi! Welcome to Queen's." He was greeted by a cheery girl waving a clipboard once he got through the doors, standing in a covered walkway. "What's your name?"

"Oh – Alan, Alan Tracy."

The girl scanned the clipboard. "Alan… Alan – ah, here we are. FQ53b." She pointed to his left, along the covered walkway. "The porter has your key, but it's the second door on the side of the quad there. Then up to the top floor."

"Thanks."

"Not a problem." She smiled sunnily at him. "I'm a member of the Exec, there's a few of us floating around today to help. Just shout if you need anything."

Getting the key from the Porter just required his signature on a couple of pieces of paper, before Alan was free to go and find his room. Luckily the staircases were numbered, and it wasn't difficult to work out where he was going. The stairs were steep so he was thankful he'd packed light as he climbed to the top floor of the building.

Alan took a deep breath once he found the room, the number in black plastic lettering screwed into a painted white door. It took a bit of effort to unlock the door but eventually he was able to push the door open. He took a minute to stop and survey his home for the next nine months.

The room was small and oddly shaped. The ceiling sloped down along the far side, meeting the wall at about waist height. The only exception was where a dormer window provided some extra headroom, and it was beneath this window that a small desk was placed for working. An uncomfortable looking armchair was next to a small bookcase, opposite a boarded-up fireplace. But that was it. There didn't seem to be a bed, although an open archway led to a second, smaller room. A narrow single bed lay against the wall with the low ceiling, another dormer window providing some much-needed light above the bed, and on the wall opposite stood a small wardrobe and a sink.

Alan stood staring at it for a while, letting it sink in. This was it. His home, now. There wasn't even a bathroom.

The homesickness was nearly crippling.

He dropped his rucksack on the small chair and dumped the holdall in the bedroom, given that it was full of clothes and toiletries. It took a couple of minutes to nestle the books he'd brought on the bookshelves, which still looked very empty. He put his holotop on the desk and sighed.

"That's a deep sigh."

Alan spun around to see a boy leaning against his doorframe, arms crossed in front of him and a small smile on his face. He had dark, tousled hair and stylish glasses and was wearing a shirt and a pair of chinos. In his favourite green T-shirt and pair of cargo shorts Alan felt really underdressed.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry." He gave a sheepish smile whilst rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh my, an American! How exciting. I'm Monty, Monty Levin." The boy gave a genuine smile, lighting up his face and displaying a dimple in his right cheek. He came forward and extended a hand that Alan shook hesitantly. "I'm your neighbour." He gestured over his shoulder towards another open door.

"Oh hey, I'm Alan. Alan Tracy."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Alan. What are you studying?"

"Physics. The four year course." It had been a difficult decision, but realising he could specialise in astrophysics from his third year onwards is what had swung the decision in Alan's favour. He was lucky to be here at all, Oxford University was famously hard to get into and he'd scrambled for a place last minute. Luckily, Penelope had pulled some strings and called in a couple of favours to get him a spot on the course.

"Oh that's wonderful. I'm studying Maths with Philosophy. I wonder if they will be any overlap?" The boy seemed to think for a moment, before he brightened up again. "I say, did anyone from the exec give you a fresher's timetable?"

"The… exec?" Alan turned the unfamiliar word over, wondering where he had heard it before. Then he remembered the friendly girl in the front of the college. "The exec! I met someone, but they didn't do anything. Just directed me up here."

"Well then Alan, are you up for an adventure?"

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Monty's idea of an adventure didn't quite match with Alan's. But, to be fair, that wasn't so surprising given that Alan was a qualified astronaut who routinely took part in space rescues as part of International Rescue. Finding a timetable for his first week didn't quite compare.

It still took Alan quite some time to realise he was having fun. He wasn't really sure what he'd expected, but he found himself giggling over Monty flirting outrageously with an amused looking representative of the student committee (the elusive Exec). Then he was dragged back to his tiny room, but this time clutching a piece of paper, to find that there were more people arriving on the corridor. He ended the afternoon sitting on Monty's floor, drinking cheap red wine for the first time in his life out of his favourite old mug he'd brought with him whilst listening to another new neighbour – a polish girl named Rosa studying PPE, which apparently stood for Philosophy, Politics and Economics and not Personal Protective Equipment – telling a humorous story about getting hopelessly lost in the one way road system on the way to the college.

Of course, that would be the moment that his watch beeped to indicate an incoming call. Alan checked out who it was to see that it was John calling from Thunderbird Five.

"I'd better get this," he said sadly, standing up with a small wobble.

"Careful!" Another girl called as she steadied his leg before giggling herself.

"Thanks," Alan smiled at the blonde, whose name he really couldn't remember, and headed back to his own room. He stumbled in the doorway, cracking his shoulder against the frame. In trying to catch himself, he managed to answer the call by accident.

"Alan!" John's familiar figure hovered over his wrist. "How are you?"

"I'm fine!" Alan beamed. "But what's up? Do you need anything? Is it a rescue?"

John laughed. "Settle down, squirt. No, I just thought I'd check up on you. Your big first day and all. Made any friends yet?"

"Yeah, I guess. There's this guy across the hall called Monty, he seems alright."

"That's good to hear."

"Yeah. Hey, how was your space symposium thingy?" Alan giggled as he said that, for some reason finding the fact that he couldn't remember the name of it quite funny.

John's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "It was ok. I did bump into someone I knew in the end – Ridley O'Bannon, who used to be stationed up on Global One."

"Oh hey, I remember her!" Alan dropped heavily into his seat, banging his arm against the wooden arm rest. "Ow. Wasn't she the one who nearly totalled Five when she wanted you to tow her spaceship."

"That's not quite what… you know, never mind." John peered suspiciously at him. "Al, are you drunk?"

"What?" Alan said loudly. On reflection, probably far too loudly. He looked around to see if anyone noticed then remembered that he was in his room. Even so, he brought his voice down to a whisper. "I'm not drunk! I only had, like… two mugs of wine?"

"Two mugs! Alan, you've never drunk wine before. It's gonna go to your head! Have you eaten yet?"

"No, dinner's in… actually, I dunno. I'd better ask Monty." Alan shot up again, swaying slightly as he stumbled across the room and pulled open the door. "Hey, Monty! What time's dinner?"

He could see the other boy through the open door. Monty waved a mug back at him. "It's in half an hour. It's only across the quad so we can leave in twenty. I'll knock on."

"Thanks!" Alan slammed the door shut again and grinned at John. "See?"

John rubbed his brow. "Can you do me a favour and drink a glass of water before you go? And lay off the wine for now, you don't need any more. You'll thank me in the morning."

"Sure thing." Alan said with a shrug. He wasn't quite sure why John was being such a downer, but if it made his brother feel better he'd do it.

"Thanks Alan. I'll leave you to it then, but get in touch if you need anything at all."

"Sure John. Thanks!"

And then John was gone. Alan sat for a moment and gazed into the empty space above his watch, feeling the homesickness creep back in. But before it could get a firm hold he remembered what he promised John, fetching a glass of water and making sure he rehydrated. He did feel better afterwards; his tongue feeling much less furry and his mind slightly clearer. He pulled on a smarter outfit, remembering that dinner was meant to be formal.

Monty collected him as he promised to, leading him around the edge of the grass lawn in the central courtyard of the quadrangle. The entrance to the dining hall was almost diagonally opposite from the staircase his room was on, a fairly large crowd milling around the entrance. Monty dragged him straight over to a small group which contained Rosa and a couple of the familiar faces, immediately starting up a conversation and encouraging Alan to get involved.

That first day set the tone for the whole next week. There was a set of timetabled events just for the first years, who had arrived at the university a week before everyone else. Monty was a social butterfly, but luckily for Alan he seemed fond of his new American neighbour and had taken him under his wing. This meant that Alan got to meet a lot of new people in a short space of time, not including his classmates whom he met on one of their inductions. It was a whirlwind of social activity (with more than a little drinking) and he had never been so relieved to get his brothers' advice as it kept him able to cope with the festivities.

One of his brothers or his father called nearly every day, and if they didn't then Lady Penelope did. From something Scott had said on one of his calls, Alan thought Kayo had probably been added to the 'Alan rota' too. However, for the first time in a long time she had gone back to Malaysia and was out of range.

It was at the end of the first week, when Alan was packing his back with the books he would need for his first day of lectures, that he looked around his pokey attic room with a view out across the rooftops of Oxford and realised, possibly for the first time, that this might be a lot of fun after all.