The Ransom (Part 10)

By Jenny Taylor

In the medical room in the Hood's ship, the owner sits on his chair, which is next to a medical bed, with his hand on the forehead of his blanket wrapped, restrained, slowly recovering and calm prisoner.

At the moment, Virgil tries to figure out how and why he's involved in one of his father's discarded and unwanted project, which his captor is interested in and possibly, although unknown how, has possession of the project.

Is it just me that's involved in dad's project? Even though the Hood says that I am, but…This project that the Hood's on about only involves me. But… Where there any projects that involves my brothers as well, which too has been rejected by dad? What this project that dad started to work on and then rejected and discarded it during the early stages of IR?

Was this project part of the IR program and then dad decided not to include it? Did it involved all 5 of us and only my part of the project survived? Or was it just based on me as an individual? So many questions and not enough answers. (Sigh) I wish dad was here to answer these questions.

I know that I'm not going to like this but… I believe that the Hood has some of the answers… and that means that I have no choice but to ask him. But…Can I trust him with the answers he's given so far? Can I believe in what he's saying? He's still hasn't given an explanation to why his goons dumped the iced-water on me a few…what was it… A few hours ago?

How long have I been on his ship? How long have I been in that cell? Am I still in the cell with portable medical equipment attached to me? No… I can't be in the cell… because the medical bed has pillows and mattress, plus… the bed is flat, while the cell bed is cold and hard, and now icy wet, plus… the head of the bed was up in an angle and it has chains and shackles…and the cell room was small and dark.

This means that I'm in some-sort of infirmary aboard his ship. Seriously? An infirmary? On the Hood's ship? What's his game? But… Has he contacted my family? Was the ice-cold water torture part of a threat if my family didn't give him what he wanted? Was the water incident for just for show for my family to see?

Oh God I hope not! I hope they haven't seen it. That incident was horrible! But… (Sighs) Blast! I can't stand not know what's going! (Snorts) I'm going to ask him. I WILL ask him and I WILL get the answers that I deserve!

The shaking head and the long, slow sighings is a signal to the Hood that the confused, second-born Tracy brother doesn't have a clue in what's going on, that is, until the short, quick sighs and snorts, plus the tension in the muscles indicated to the villain that the victim is determined. Determined are you? Of what I wonder? The villain's mind wonders on the possible, incoming questions and awaits for Virgil to speak his mind.

"WHO THE HELL TOLD YOU THAT LIE?" A red-faced and anger-filled doctor shouted at Alan, making Scott and Gordon jump, stopped what they were doing and turned to face a very angry doctor, a terrified Joe and a shocked Alan. John, who's in Thunderbird 5, had his comms. on to Scott, stopped dead at the shouting coming from the medic, in confusion.

"Huh? What do you mean a lie?" Alan asked, with a hint of panic and confusion as Scott and Gordon approaches the group, both looking concerned and confused. "Colonel Casey…"

"THAT WITCH TOLD YOU THAT FALSE AND HORRIBLE LIE?" Jaycee cuts him of in mid-sentence, staring at him in anger, hatred, shock, sadness and despair, breathing deeply trying to control the emotions that had welled up inside.

Alan, Gordon and Scott looks at the doctor, the anger they had just witnessed has just turned into despair and sadness. Scot can see that tears are filling her eyes, threaten to drop, she's on the verge of crying and it has something to do with their god-mother, family friend and ally Colonel Catherine Casey, and not it a good way either.

"Move Alan." He commanded to which Alan obeyed and moved away from the emotional doctor, then Scott positions himself next to Jaycee and behind Joe, whom is still leaning on the doctor's chest.

Scott decides to use his big brother smoother talk, to try and find out what made Jaycee explode the way she did, who's now sobbing and squeezing a confused Joe with her left arm and she uses her free hand to try and remove her helmet. Scott decides to help her in removing her helmet, trying not to dislodge her small, rectangular, thick-rimmed, dark-blue glasses.

"Thank you." Replied a quiet, crying doctor.

"You're welcome." Smiled Scott, as he hands her helmet to Alan, before turning back to Jaycee, so he can gently coax the info out of her. The last thing anyone needs is a broken down medic in a middle of a rescue, so Scott stays calm and asks her the vital question. "Now can you tell me what's going on?"

Jaycee nods, still crying, but slightly calmer now, removes her glasses with her free hand so she can wipe away the tears from her eyes and then begins to answer his question. "It started when I got rescued from an island in the middle of the Pacific 10 years ago,"

Oh boy. This is going to be a long one. Alan thought as he looks at his intermediate older brother, who's looking at him, thinking the same thing. Normally they let traumatised rescuees' stories just wash over them so that the rescuees can calm themselves down, while they focus on their duties.

But, this time, it involves Colonel Casey and Dr. Jaycee Anderson, so they feel that they must listen carefully to this story, because the doctor knows something that they don't which it's upsetting her, badly.

So Gordon, Alan, Scott and John, via the comms., watches and listens with a confused and worried Joe, still wrapped in the emergency thermal blanket, wearing a respirator connecting to the pain killing gas ENTONOX and currently leaning on the emotional doctor's chest and held in place by her left arm, as she begins her story.