As Thunderbird 2 started to close in on Tracy Island, it was morning on that side of the globe with the weather cheerful and sunny. Virgil had been day-dreaming as he looked out of the window but then a dent creased his forehead as he frowned.
Something was wrong. What was it?
He then realised that he hadn't seen Thunderbird 1. Even when he left the Danger Zone first at the end of a rescue, Thunderbird 1 inevitably caught up and passed him, with Scott tipping a wing to him in acknowledgement as the rocket flashed across in front of Two's cockpit windows. It was a gesture which raised a smile from Virgil, however hard the rescue had been.
Virgil decided that Scott must have got caught up talking to the Harbour Master back in Bristol but thought he would contact him anyway. Just as he reached for the comms unit on the instrument panel it jumped into life. John was looking stressed.
"Thunderbird 2, do not land on the island. I repeat, do not land!" John cut the connection leaving Virgil more than a little puzzled. The fact that John hadn't realised that he was several minutes off thinking about landing anyway worried Virgil. John always knew where everybody was all the time when he was in Thunderbird 5.
Virgil waited patiently for an update, just double checking that everything was showing green on his status screens. If he had to turn around in a hurry he wanted to be prepared. He didn't have to wait long for John to come back to him.
"Virgil. I need to tell you something and I need you to react calmly as that's a big aircraft you're in charge of."
"Okay, John. What's up?"
"It looks like Dad has had a heart attack. We haven't time for you to land and turn around, we need you to get him to hospital right away. They're putting him on a stretcher and bringing him to the poolside. Just drop the cage and Alan will come up with him."
Virgil had about 50 questions at this point but decided to just go with the ones that needed to be answered straight away.
"FAB. Is Kyrano coming too?"
"Gordon is already prepping Tracy 1 and he's going to fly Kyrano, Grandma and Tin Tin to the hospital. I'm sending you the co-ordinates. I'm in contact with them so they'll be ready for you."
Virgil forced his mind to concentrate on the manoeuvres rather than his Dad's health as he slowed his speed, placing Thunderbird Two over the pool area. He had already begun to lower the cage as he approached so it didn't take long to reach the ground where Virgil's monitors showed Alan loading their father in.
"John, have you spoken to Scott? Will he meet us at the hospital?"
"Negative. I haven't been able to get hold of him."
Virgil had even more questions but, instead, waited for Alan's acknowledgement that he was ready and started to retract the cage. As the island dropped away at this point he slowly started to move Thunderbird 2 in the right direction whilst the cage was rising. As soon as it was on board he told Alan to move their Dad to the sick bay and he accelerated his craft in the direction of the hospital.
After ensuring that all systems were go making the best speed in the right direction he switched to auto-pilot and went to the sick bay. He was expecting to find drama but he just found his Dad asleep, with Alan, white as a sheet, sitting next to him.
"What the hell happened? How is he?"
Alan sighed. "I don't really know. He'd been complaining about indigestion and Kyrano was worried that he was unwell and kept checking on him. He found Dad at his desk in a lot of pain, sweating and not breathing properly so he called Tin Tin. She was amazing and just took over. She gave him some pain relief, an aspirin and did a heart trace and said he had to go straight to hospital. He didn't want to go so she put this drip in him to give him some fluids and then added some sedation. I don't think he's known much since then."
"That why he's so still, then? The sedation?"
Alan shrugged. "I guess, I don't know. It looks pretty bad, Virg, especially if we don't get him to hospital in time."
"Well, at least I can do something about that. Stay here in case he wakes up and I'll make sure Two's at full throttle. Oh, and grab a uniform since we're technically on official business."
Virgil went back to the cockpit and started working the instruments to get the best out of his craft. Then he contacted John.
"Thunderbird Five, come in."
"Hey, Virg, how's Dad doing?"
"Well, he's not dead yet so let's hold onto that. Have you gotten in contact with Scott, yet?"
"No, I haven't. It's really odd. He's still shown as being near One on the ground at the rescue zone but he's not moving around much and won't answer any comms. I guess the storm must have knocked something out on One's antenna unit. Anyway, he can look after himself. Let's concentrate on getting Dad to the hospital. They have a helipad on the top of the building. Obviously you're too heavy to land on that but if you send the cage down, there'll be someone from the cardiac team to meet it."
"FAB."
It wasn't long, although it felt too long to Alan and Virgil, before they were over the hospital and the cage was nearing the helipad on the top of the hospital building. John had spun the hospital a story and they knew they were receiving esteemed astronaut Jeff Tracy but thought International Rescue were just doing a transfer as a favour to the family.
Virgil managed to keep his eyes on several monitors at once, making sure that the cage arrived in the exact centre of the helipad. He saw hospital staff run to it and Alan appeared and helped them load Jeff onto a hospital trolley. The plan was for Alan to stay at the hospital until Gordon and the others arrived and so Virgil was just waiting for everyone to be clear before moving off.
"Thunderbird 2 from Thunderbird 5. We've got a problem."
Virgil frowned. "No, we're good. Dad's with the doctors now."
"Not Dad," countered John. "The problem's with Scott. I need you to get Alan back on board and then go back to the rescue zone. I'll explain on the way."
Virgil gave a huge groan. Now what was wrong? He looked back to the monitors and saw Alan listen to his wrist comm, presumably in contact with John as then he promptly turned and ran back to the cage and leapt in.
"Al, are you secure?" asked Virgil?
"FAB."
Virgil started the winch for the cage. He couldn't begin to move away due to the tall buildings of the city around them and it seemed forever before the lights on the panel confirmed the cage had engaged inside Thunderbird Two. John had re-downloaded the co-ordinates for Bristol and Virgil started the navigation as they moved off. Until they were clear of the city he had to fly slowly. He let rip as Alan made it into the cockpit and stood by his shoulder.
"What's wrong with Scott?" Alan demanded.
"No idea. We're waiting on John."
John soon came back on the comms. "So the situation is this. The staff at the port of Bristol couldn't work out why One was still on the ground. They went to ask Scott but couldn't find him but Mobile Control was still assembled so they looked around a bit more. Eventually they found his wrist comm and a bit of light blue material that sounds like it was ripped off his sash. Both were found among some containers, trapped in a corner by the wind."
"So where the hell's Scott?" protested Virgil.
"For God's sake, I'm not psychic, Virgil, that's why you guys are going there. I need you to check out the whole area and One. They won't go into One because every time they go near it, the alarm goes off and they get the automated "Keep clear of the aircraft" warning announcement. So Scott at least set that before he disappeared."
"How can he have disappeared? That makes no sense." The furrow in Alan's brow had deepened even more.
"You know, it was a pretty bad night out there," said Virgil. "I could hear the noise of it all just via the comms. Perhaps he got blown against a container or building by a gust and got knocked out?"
"Then what about his wrist comm?" shot back John. "They said it wasn't cut or damaged in any way, it just wasn't on his wrist. Like he took it off."
"God dammit, I'm not psychic either, you didn't say that before!" replied Virgil, his voice starting to sound angry.
"How is this helping?" shouted Alan in despair. "Stop arguing the two of you!"
There was nothing like their youngest brother trying to tell them what to do, to unite the older ones.
"Shut up, Alan!" they said at the same time which cheered them both right up. Alan was about to retaliate when Virgil spoke to him more kindly.
"Sit down, Al. We need to get there fast and I'm not going around any storms so it might get bumpy. John, let us know if anything changes with Scott or Dad."
"FAB".
Virgil sat back. This was turning into quite the day.
Ted couldn't help but grin widely as he took it all in. "I can't believe we finally pulled this off."
Charlie was trying to act cool but he, too, was smiling happily. "We put in the time with planning and preparation so it finally came together. It had to happen, mate and, with a bit of patience, it did."
"How much do you think we'll get?" Ted couldn't help but ask.
"Look, we did our homework, right? We know that there are several interested parties in what we have to offer. We start to make contacts and get ourselves a bidding war. I'll tell you what, though, we're going to be rich – richer than the bleeding King."
He clapped an arm around Ted's shoulders. The two of them continued to stare, almost unbelievingly, at the floor where lay a bound, gagged and unconscious Scott Tracy.
