I watch as he pulls the trigger…
Nothing happens.
Not even a bang as a split-second afterthought.
Nothing.
I watch as the man pulls the trigger again, then with a snarl, throws the gun aside, and pulls another from his pocket. Someone grabs him from behind.
"That's enough Mister Parker. You've proven your point."
The man…Mister Parker…grips my right hand harder as he throws off the person trying to hold him back.
"It's your lucky day Master John." He says softly to me, then lets himself be pulled away. The dry, slightly greenish bread is removed, but the water is left in its place, the door closes behind them and I am alone once again.
I look down at the small object the familiar-looking man called Parker had pressed into my hand.
It was pale blue, kind of long and thin with rounded ends.
A tablet, I remember. Something you take when you are sick. I am certainly that. Can I trust him? Should I swallow this thing?
Those men had told Parker to kill me, I remember that clearly. He had pulled the trigger without even a pause. But instead of being killed or terribly injured, nothing happened.
No bang.
No bullet.
No searing pain, or blood…
I had stared straight at him while he pulled the trigger. Why did I do that?
He had closed his eyes. Why, if he had been as eager to kill me as he seemed?
What was it he had said to me?
"It's your lucky day Master John."
John. He called me John. What a boring name. I don't feel like a John, somehow. Still, I suppose it could have been far worse. I could have been called Aloysius or Jefferson…
Wait…Where have those names come from? They seem familiar, like Mister Parker…the man with the large nose. Nose...Nosey…Nosey Parker…Aloysius Parker…his name is Aloysius Parker! He is an old friend…
I screw my eyes up, as my jumbled thoughts struggle to assert themselves in proper order. Things were starting to come back to me…Jefferson…Jefferson…Jeff Tracy! Jeff Tracy killed in an explosion caused by the Hood…and I am John Tracy! John Glen Tracy, operator of Thunderbird Five!
Suddenly everything is flooding back to me. Dad, mom, my brothers, Kayo, Parker, Lady P…Eos! It feels almost overwhelming.
How long have I been here? I have no real frame of reference. It still feels like forever. Everyone will be going frantic searching for me. I groan at the thought of the smothering I am going to get once I get home again.
I look down at the tablet in my hand. I remember now. One of Brains' new edible transmitters. Each one set up on its own unique frequency to identify the user. I swallowed the tablet whole with a drink of the freezing cold water still sitting nearby waiting for me.
Then I am forcibly reminded of the pain in my shoulder as I move the wrong way putting the glass back on the floor.
I gasp in silent agony, and everything goes black.