Categories > TV > Thunderbirds > Repercussions
Repercussions
0 reviewsAU/Missing Scene for Move and You're Dead. Alan and Grandma have to deal with the consequences of being left to die on the bridge of San Miguel.
0Unrated
Consequences
Repercussions
Authors Notes: This is my idea for a missing scene from the episode Move And You're Dead, it always struck me as odd that Alan and Grandma would be able to walk away from there experience without any ill-effects from being out in the sun so long.
Since no one really knows what Grandma's name is I've given her the name Rose.
Alan Tracy was barely conscious when he heard the explosion behind them followed by the sounds of snapping steel, concrete and asphalt as the bomb planted under the bridge of San Miguel detonated, snapping the bridge in half and sending both pieces tumbling into the deep canyon below.
He was so hot, so hot and he felt so weak. It had taken every bit of strength he'd had not to succumb to the intense, never-ending assault of the midday sun and tumble off the bridge. Talking to dad had helped, had helped a lot, it had kept him focused, though everything was fuzzy and distant now. Background sounds were starting to fade away and despite his weakness and the pounding in his head Alan struggled to stay awake, he knew he couldn't go to sleep, he had to stay awake.
But he was fighting a loosing battle. All his strength was gone, he had no resources left to summon up and support himself with. Darkness raced up to embrace him and Alan felt himself tumbling helplessly down into it.
Then he knew no more.
***
Sitting on the edge of one of the Jet Air Transporters air jets Rose looked worriedly at the youngest of her grandchildren. Alan hadn't moved since Virgil had moved him into the passenger seat behind the control seat where he sat.
Feeling hot, tired, and sweaty herself she was deeply worried about Alan, as he had been even more exposed to the sun than she had. She at least had had a little bit of protection from the little bit of shade cast by the support column of the now destroyed San Miguel suspension bridge. But Alan hadn't even had that he'd been directly exposed to the merciless midday, desert sun from the moment Gomez and Galespie had left them on the bridge to die after stealing Alan car.
Rose looked up as a momentary roar of powerful jet engines caught her attention, in time to see Thunderbird One disappearing off in pursuit of the stolen car and those who had left them to die. Though Gomez and Galespie had a huge head start it would do them no good, the R2 might be the fastest racing car ever built but it was no match for Thunderbird One. She knew that Scott would run them down and stop them one way or another in short order.
Rose then looked back at Alan and her concern grew as she saw that he was still not moving, other than a breathing motion.
"Alan," she said hoping he would respond to her even as they entered the pool of shade cast by Thunderbird Two. Alan did not respond or even make even a slight movement to indicate that he had heard her. "Alan wake up."
Hearing the concern in his grandmother's voice Virgil glanced at his baby brother. And his brown eyes widened in alarm and concern when he saw that Alan had passed out. Given the amount of time he had been exposed to the harsh desert sun it was a very dangerous sign. But he couldn't react now, he turned his attention back to his driving as they were just starting to go up the ramp into Thunderbird Two's pod.
As quickly as he could Virgil parked the Jet Air Transporter next to the transmitter truck and powered down, switching off the engines and the antigrav jets that enabled the Jet Air Transporter to hover an inch or two above the ground. They touched down with a soft thud, but Virgil was already jumping off the Jet Air Transporter, and moving around to check on Alan.
Carefully Virgil turned his baby brother over so he could examine him properly and frowned worriedly when he saw that Alan had been badly burnt on his face and hands by the brutal desert sun. The burns were severe and would need immediate treatment but that was not Virgil's primary concern at the moment, the few area's of unburned skin that he could see were flushed red, but Alan was no longer sweating. Though the darkness of his clothing showed he had been sweating very heavily.
"Brains get over here," he called out even as he carefully checked Alan's pulse. Alan's skin was dangerously hot to the touch and his pulse was extremely rapid, going like a turbo pump. Virgil recognised all the signs of severe heat stroke, they had to act fast to get Alan's core temperature down or he could die.
Virgil inwardly shuddered at the thought of loosing Alan, though Alan could be a pain in the arse when he wanted to be his death would be a devastating blow. A blow that would tear the Tracy family apart, especially Dad, Virgil knew that even after all this time Dad had not really recovered from the loss of there mother. If Alan were to die as well then Virgil was not at all certain that Jeff Tracy would be able to withstand the loss.
"How is he Virgil," Rose asked hoping off the Jet Air Transporter with surprising agility for an eighty-two year old woman, but then Rose was still very fit. Having spent almost her entire life on a farm had that effect.
"Not good Grandma," Virgil admitted and Rose could clearly hear a note of fear in Virgil's voice that told her more than she had wanted to know. Alan was dangerously ill and you didn't have to be a genius to realise that it was severe sunstroke. The fear in Virgil's voice was understandable, as she knew that severe sunstroke could be fatal if not treated fast. "What about you Grandma are you alright?"
"I am a little hot, tired and very thirsty," Rose replied as she heard the sound of running feet. "But don't worry about me. Point me in the direction of the showers and I can take care of myself. Look after your brother."
Before Virgil could reply Brains finally arrived running up to them at full speed. Brains gasped in shock and horror when he saw that Alan was both unconscious and very badly sunburned.
"H...h...how is he Virgil," Brains asked though he could already tell that Alan was in a very bad way.
"Not good Brains," Virgil replied. "He's definitely suffering from severe sunstroke. We need to get his core temperature down a.s.a.p."
"I t...t...took the l...l...liberty of p...p...putting a c...c...cryo pod in the medical section of the pod," Brains answered stammering slightly in agitation and concern.
"That will do," Virgil said sliding his arms under Alan and carefully picking him up and grunting slightly under Alan's dead weight. Like all of them Alan was very fit and weighed a hundred and ninety five pounds, most of that being muscle, and with him being a dead weight Virgil noticed every pound of it. But it didn't matter he could carry Alan to the medical section of the pod. All the pods had one for field treatment of casualties or each other if they got injured while on a mission.
"I'll take Alan there and get started on treatment," he said. "In the meantime Brains can you show Grandma where the showers are?"
"F.A.B Virgil," Brains answered. "This way Mrs Tracy," he said to Rose and started to walk out of the pod towards the crew support areas behind Thunderbird Two's control deck. Rose gave Alan a last worried look and looked at Virgil once then turned and followed Brains.
Virgil didn't stick around to watch them go, instead he immediately walked across the pod towards the small medical room at the rear of the pod, right beside the small room that would house a lab.
***
Medical Bay
Thunderbird Two
Moving awkwardly in the unusually cramped confines of the medical bay, the portable cryo-pod took up a huge amount of space, Virgil laid Alan first on the diagnostic bed to confirm what he suspected. Forcing himself to act professionally Virgil scanned Alan and watched as the results appeared on the display screen of the diagnostic beds control panel.
Immediately Virgil's concern grew when the diagnostic bed flashed an alert message warning that Alan's core body temperature was forty degree's centigrade just one degree higher and Alan would begin suffering irreparable brain damage. The burns on his face and hand while serious were not life threatening unlike his body temperature.
Quickly Virgil stripped Alan of his clothes, leaving him only in his underwear and socks, before opening a drawer and taking out some anti-burn gel. Carefully he smothered the thick translucent gel over all of Alan's burns and watch it sink into the burned flesh. The gel would prevent any further damage and begin stimulating skin repair.
Then he went to the cryo-pod and switched it on before opening the lid. Despite its name cryo-pods didn't actually freeze a person unlike the ones you saw in popular science fiction, instead they were designed to reduce a persons core body temperature. Quickly he returned to Alan's side and picked his baby brother up once again, before carrying him over to the pod and gently setting him down inside, and closing the lid.
Then he just stood there and looked down through the window in the lid of the pod as it slowly misted over from the cold environment building inside the pod. He kept his eyes on Alan's face and felt reaction beginning to set in. Virgil felt himself beginning to shake even as he at last allowed himself to feel anger; anger at the two crooked supposed sportsmen who had done this to Alan. All because Alan had beaten them fair and square in a race, a race Alan had been looking forward to taking part in.
After a few moments he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looked over and was surprised to see Scott standing there, he hadn't heard Thunderbird One return. But that wasn't really surprising in here.
Scott didn't speak he just looked at Virgil and in his one older brothers blue eyes Virgil saw his own emotions, his anger at Gomez and Galespie, his concern for his little brother, his anger at this whole situation, reflected back at him.
"Did you get them," Virgil asked at last looking back at Alan who looked to be peacefully asleep now.
"Yeah I got them," Scott answered. "They crashed the R2 when I was chasing them, the R2 exploded immediately. They're dead."
"Pity. I would have liked to have broken their noses," Virgil replied and Scott laughed.
"I know Virg your not on your own," Scott answered. "But the crazy fools refused to stop. Their deaths are there own fault."
"I guess. But how could they do this Scott. How could they just leave Alan and Grandma on that bridge to either die from exposure or be blown to pieces by the bomb."
"I don't know Virgil," Scott said. "One thing is for certain they were not the sportsmen that they pretended to be, but greedy, ruthless and ultimately foolish men. The good thing though is that they've been stopped and Alan and Grandma will be okay."
"I know. We better head for home," Virgil replied. Scott nodded and turned and left the small medical room to return to Thunderbird One. Virgil sighed and for a moment looked back at Alan, unconscious in the cryo-pod, then he also left to get ready for departure.
***
Control Deck
Thunderbird Two
Virgil arrived on Thunderbird Two's control deck and blinked surprised to see Rose already there, her thick coat and hat had been taken off and she was just in a skirt and her blouse but she was there, with a bottle of water in her hand. She was looking better now and more comfortable, though the dark sweat marks on her blouse showed how much she had been sweating.
"How are you feeling now Grandma," he asked. Rose looked over at her second born grandson and smiled warmly, mentally commenting to herself how handsome Virgil looked in his International Rescue uniform.
"Much better thank you Virgil," she replied warmly. "That cold shower was just what I needed. How is Alan?"
"Not good Grandma," Virgil admitted as he went over to the pilots seat and sat down, before flicking the switch that would return Thunderbird Two to flight configuration.
"When I scanned him his body temperature was dangerously high," he continued over the humming of powerful motors as the main body of Thunderbird Two lowered to fully dock the pod. "He also has severe sunburn on his face and hands. I've put some burn gel on them to prevent further damage and start the healing process. I've also put him in the emergency cryo-pod to bring his core temperature down to normal." Rose frowned worriedly.
"Oh dear how awful," she said. "But he will be alright?"
"Eventually yes."
"That's good then," Rose replied as a series of thuds sounded. "What's that?"
"Docking clamps engaging locking the pod into the rest of the hull," Virgil answered even as footsteps sounded informing him that Brains was coming back onto the control deck. "We're ready to take off now."
"Then what are we waiting for," Rose asked. Virgil laughed and switched on the radio, noticing out the view ports that Thunderbird One was already airborne but had not moved, Scott obviously having decided that they would fly back in formation this time.
"Thunderbird Two to base," Virgil said into the radio. "Leaving danger zone. Mission successfully completed."
"F.A.B Virgil," Jeff's voice responded as his image flashed into existence on the communications screen. "How's Grandma and Alan?"
Virgil inwardly sighed he had known that one was coming. Calmly he explained first how Grandma was, then he explained about Alan and how his condition had been much more serious given that he'd been directly exposed to the sun for so long. He noticed a worried frown on his father's face as he explained how Alan was and Virgil knew that Dad would not stop worrying until Alan woke up and he was sure that he was alright.
"We'll be back home in about forty minutes Dad," Virgil finished as he did the mental calculations to work out there flight time.
"F.A.B I'll see you then Virgil."
"F.A.B Dad," Virgil replied and broke the connection before engaging the VTOL jets to get Thunderbird Two airborne to begin the journey home.
***
Tracy Island
A Few Hours Later
Alan moaned softly as consciousness returned at last. He wasn't hot anymore but he felt so tired and so weak. Slowly he opened his eyes and immediately closed them again as the overhead light sent pain blasting down his optic nerves.
"Easy Alan take it slowly," the familiar voice of his father said from somewhere near by. Slowly he opened his eyes again and ignored the pain from the light. Slowly the blurred image standing over him resolved into the familiar form of Jeff Tracy.
"Dad," he said weakly feeling more tired by the second. "Where am I?"
"The sickroom," Jeff replied. "How are you feeling?"
"Awful, so tired."
"That's natural you're body has been through a very bad and traumatic experience. You need to rest."
"Grandma?"
"She's fine," Jeff replied. "She's talking about making an apple pie later." Jeff almost laughed when he saw a smile appear on Alan's tired, sunburnt features.
"Gomez, Galespie?"
"Dead. They crashed the R2 when Scott was chasing them, the R2 exploded immediately there was no way they could have survived." Alan nodded strangely feeling a little sad about the fate of Victor Gomez and Jonathan Galespie. He hadn't known Galespie at all but he had known - or thought he'd known - Victor. Before he'd left racing Victor had been a good guy, who knew how to have a good time, someone you could easily be friends with. What had happened in the intervening two years to turn Victor into what he had become?
"I wish I knew what happened to him," Alan said softly.
"What do you mean Alan?" Jeff asked.
"Gomez. I knew him before, we were friends, and he really knew how to have a good time. I'd beaten him before and he always took defeat in his stride, I wish I knew what happened to that Victor. How he became such a stranger."
"I don't know Alan. People can change over time. Change sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. As to what caused Gomez to change we will never know."
"I guess," Alan replied.
"Go to sleep now Alan," Jeff said, "you need to rest and recover." Alan relaxed back in the bed knowing his father was right, his body was telling him that he needed to sleep. Slowly he closed his eyes and within moments was fast asleep.
Jeff watched Alan for a few more moments and smiled glad that aside from being tired his youngest son was fine. Then he sighed and turned and left the room, turning out the light as he did so, so Alan could sleep and recover in peace.
For a moment he thought about what Alan had said about Victor Gomez. Money does strange things to people, he thought guessing that it had been his constant string of victories and the huge amounts of prize money that he had gotten as a result was the reason but he couldn't be sure. Then he sighed. As he had said to Alan they would never know. Gomez was dead; there was no way they would ever know what had happened to change him into the man that had stolen the R2 and left Alan and Grandma to die.
All that really mattered was that Alan and Grandma were fine, that Gomez and his accomplice Galespie had failed in their diabolical plan. Jeff smiled glad at least that his mother and his youngest son were okay. At the end of the day that was all that really mattered to him.
The End.
Repercussions
Authors Notes: This is my idea for a missing scene from the episode Move And You're Dead, it always struck me as odd that Alan and Grandma would be able to walk away from there experience without any ill-effects from being out in the sun so long.
Since no one really knows what Grandma's name is I've given her the name Rose.
Alan Tracy was barely conscious when he heard the explosion behind them followed by the sounds of snapping steel, concrete and asphalt as the bomb planted under the bridge of San Miguel detonated, snapping the bridge in half and sending both pieces tumbling into the deep canyon below.
He was so hot, so hot and he felt so weak. It had taken every bit of strength he'd had not to succumb to the intense, never-ending assault of the midday sun and tumble off the bridge. Talking to dad had helped, had helped a lot, it had kept him focused, though everything was fuzzy and distant now. Background sounds were starting to fade away and despite his weakness and the pounding in his head Alan struggled to stay awake, he knew he couldn't go to sleep, he had to stay awake.
But he was fighting a loosing battle. All his strength was gone, he had no resources left to summon up and support himself with. Darkness raced up to embrace him and Alan felt himself tumbling helplessly down into it.
Then he knew no more.
***
Sitting on the edge of one of the Jet Air Transporters air jets Rose looked worriedly at the youngest of her grandchildren. Alan hadn't moved since Virgil had moved him into the passenger seat behind the control seat where he sat.
Feeling hot, tired, and sweaty herself she was deeply worried about Alan, as he had been even more exposed to the sun than she had. She at least had had a little bit of protection from the little bit of shade cast by the support column of the now destroyed San Miguel suspension bridge. But Alan hadn't even had that he'd been directly exposed to the merciless midday, desert sun from the moment Gomez and Galespie had left them on the bridge to die after stealing Alan car.
Rose looked up as a momentary roar of powerful jet engines caught her attention, in time to see Thunderbird One disappearing off in pursuit of the stolen car and those who had left them to die. Though Gomez and Galespie had a huge head start it would do them no good, the R2 might be the fastest racing car ever built but it was no match for Thunderbird One. She knew that Scott would run them down and stop them one way or another in short order.
Rose then looked back at Alan and her concern grew as she saw that he was still not moving, other than a breathing motion.
"Alan," she said hoping he would respond to her even as they entered the pool of shade cast by Thunderbird Two. Alan did not respond or even make even a slight movement to indicate that he had heard her. "Alan wake up."
Hearing the concern in his grandmother's voice Virgil glanced at his baby brother. And his brown eyes widened in alarm and concern when he saw that Alan had passed out. Given the amount of time he had been exposed to the harsh desert sun it was a very dangerous sign. But he couldn't react now, he turned his attention back to his driving as they were just starting to go up the ramp into Thunderbird Two's pod.
As quickly as he could Virgil parked the Jet Air Transporter next to the transmitter truck and powered down, switching off the engines and the antigrav jets that enabled the Jet Air Transporter to hover an inch or two above the ground. They touched down with a soft thud, but Virgil was already jumping off the Jet Air Transporter, and moving around to check on Alan.
Carefully Virgil turned his baby brother over so he could examine him properly and frowned worriedly when he saw that Alan had been badly burnt on his face and hands by the brutal desert sun. The burns were severe and would need immediate treatment but that was not Virgil's primary concern at the moment, the few area's of unburned skin that he could see were flushed red, but Alan was no longer sweating. Though the darkness of his clothing showed he had been sweating very heavily.
"Brains get over here," he called out even as he carefully checked Alan's pulse. Alan's skin was dangerously hot to the touch and his pulse was extremely rapid, going like a turbo pump. Virgil recognised all the signs of severe heat stroke, they had to act fast to get Alan's core temperature down or he could die.
Virgil inwardly shuddered at the thought of loosing Alan, though Alan could be a pain in the arse when he wanted to be his death would be a devastating blow. A blow that would tear the Tracy family apart, especially Dad, Virgil knew that even after all this time Dad had not really recovered from the loss of there mother. If Alan were to die as well then Virgil was not at all certain that Jeff Tracy would be able to withstand the loss.
"How is he Virgil," Rose asked hoping off the Jet Air Transporter with surprising agility for an eighty-two year old woman, but then Rose was still very fit. Having spent almost her entire life on a farm had that effect.
"Not good Grandma," Virgil admitted and Rose could clearly hear a note of fear in Virgil's voice that told her more than she had wanted to know. Alan was dangerously ill and you didn't have to be a genius to realise that it was severe sunstroke. The fear in Virgil's voice was understandable, as she knew that severe sunstroke could be fatal if not treated fast. "What about you Grandma are you alright?"
"I am a little hot, tired and very thirsty," Rose replied as she heard the sound of running feet. "But don't worry about me. Point me in the direction of the showers and I can take care of myself. Look after your brother."
Before Virgil could reply Brains finally arrived running up to them at full speed. Brains gasped in shock and horror when he saw that Alan was both unconscious and very badly sunburned.
"H...h...how is he Virgil," Brains asked though he could already tell that Alan was in a very bad way.
"Not good Brains," Virgil replied. "He's definitely suffering from severe sunstroke. We need to get his core temperature down a.s.a.p."
"I t...t...took the l...l...liberty of p...p...putting a c...c...cryo pod in the medical section of the pod," Brains answered stammering slightly in agitation and concern.
"That will do," Virgil said sliding his arms under Alan and carefully picking him up and grunting slightly under Alan's dead weight. Like all of them Alan was very fit and weighed a hundred and ninety five pounds, most of that being muscle, and with him being a dead weight Virgil noticed every pound of it. But it didn't matter he could carry Alan to the medical section of the pod. All the pods had one for field treatment of casualties or each other if they got injured while on a mission.
"I'll take Alan there and get started on treatment," he said. "In the meantime Brains can you show Grandma where the showers are?"
"F.A.B Virgil," Brains answered. "This way Mrs Tracy," he said to Rose and started to walk out of the pod towards the crew support areas behind Thunderbird Two's control deck. Rose gave Alan a last worried look and looked at Virgil once then turned and followed Brains.
Virgil didn't stick around to watch them go, instead he immediately walked across the pod towards the small medical room at the rear of the pod, right beside the small room that would house a lab.
***
Medical Bay
Thunderbird Two
Moving awkwardly in the unusually cramped confines of the medical bay, the portable cryo-pod took up a huge amount of space, Virgil laid Alan first on the diagnostic bed to confirm what he suspected. Forcing himself to act professionally Virgil scanned Alan and watched as the results appeared on the display screen of the diagnostic beds control panel.
Immediately Virgil's concern grew when the diagnostic bed flashed an alert message warning that Alan's core body temperature was forty degree's centigrade just one degree higher and Alan would begin suffering irreparable brain damage. The burns on his face and hand while serious were not life threatening unlike his body temperature.
Quickly Virgil stripped Alan of his clothes, leaving him only in his underwear and socks, before opening a drawer and taking out some anti-burn gel. Carefully he smothered the thick translucent gel over all of Alan's burns and watch it sink into the burned flesh. The gel would prevent any further damage and begin stimulating skin repair.
Then he went to the cryo-pod and switched it on before opening the lid. Despite its name cryo-pods didn't actually freeze a person unlike the ones you saw in popular science fiction, instead they were designed to reduce a persons core body temperature. Quickly he returned to Alan's side and picked his baby brother up once again, before carrying him over to the pod and gently setting him down inside, and closing the lid.
Then he just stood there and looked down through the window in the lid of the pod as it slowly misted over from the cold environment building inside the pod. He kept his eyes on Alan's face and felt reaction beginning to set in. Virgil felt himself beginning to shake even as he at last allowed himself to feel anger; anger at the two crooked supposed sportsmen who had done this to Alan. All because Alan had beaten them fair and square in a race, a race Alan had been looking forward to taking part in.
After a few moments he felt a hand touch his shoulder. He looked over and was surprised to see Scott standing there, he hadn't heard Thunderbird One return. But that wasn't really surprising in here.
Scott didn't speak he just looked at Virgil and in his one older brothers blue eyes Virgil saw his own emotions, his anger at Gomez and Galespie, his concern for his little brother, his anger at this whole situation, reflected back at him.
"Did you get them," Virgil asked at last looking back at Alan who looked to be peacefully asleep now.
"Yeah I got them," Scott answered. "They crashed the R2 when I was chasing them, the R2 exploded immediately. They're dead."
"Pity. I would have liked to have broken their noses," Virgil replied and Scott laughed.
"I know Virg your not on your own," Scott answered. "But the crazy fools refused to stop. Their deaths are there own fault."
"I guess. But how could they do this Scott. How could they just leave Alan and Grandma on that bridge to either die from exposure or be blown to pieces by the bomb."
"I don't know Virgil," Scott said. "One thing is for certain they were not the sportsmen that they pretended to be, but greedy, ruthless and ultimately foolish men. The good thing though is that they've been stopped and Alan and Grandma will be okay."
"I know. We better head for home," Virgil replied. Scott nodded and turned and left the small medical room to return to Thunderbird One. Virgil sighed and for a moment looked back at Alan, unconscious in the cryo-pod, then he also left to get ready for departure.
***
Control Deck
Thunderbird Two
Virgil arrived on Thunderbird Two's control deck and blinked surprised to see Rose already there, her thick coat and hat had been taken off and she was just in a skirt and her blouse but she was there, with a bottle of water in her hand. She was looking better now and more comfortable, though the dark sweat marks on her blouse showed how much she had been sweating.
"How are you feeling now Grandma," he asked. Rose looked over at her second born grandson and smiled warmly, mentally commenting to herself how handsome Virgil looked in his International Rescue uniform.
"Much better thank you Virgil," she replied warmly. "That cold shower was just what I needed. How is Alan?"
"Not good Grandma," Virgil admitted as he went over to the pilots seat and sat down, before flicking the switch that would return Thunderbird Two to flight configuration.
"When I scanned him his body temperature was dangerously high," he continued over the humming of powerful motors as the main body of Thunderbird Two lowered to fully dock the pod. "He also has severe sunburn on his face and hands. I've put some burn gel on them to prevent further damage and start the healing process. I've also put him in the emergency cryo-pod to bring his core temperature down to normal." Rose frowned worriedly.
"Oh dear how awful," she said. "But he will be alright?"
"Eventually yes."
"That's good then," Rose replied as a series of thuds sounded. "What's that?"
"Docking clamps engaging locking the pod into the rest of the hull," Virgil answered even as footsteps sounded informing him that Brains was coming back onto the control deck. "We're ready to take off now."
"Then what are we waiting for," Rose asked. Virgil laughed and switched on the radio, noticing out the view ports that Thunderbird One was already airborne but had not moved, Scott obviously having decided that they would fly back in formation this time.
"Thunderbird Two to base," Virgil said into the radio. "Leaving danger zone. Mission successfully completed."
"F.A.B Virgil," Jeff's voice responded as his image flashed into existence on the communications screen. "How's Grandma and Alan?"
Virgil inwardly sighed he had known that one was coming. Calmly he explained first how Grandma was, then he explained about Alan and how his condition had been much more serious given that he'd been directly exposed to the sun for so long. He noticed a worried frown on his father's face as he explained how Alan was and Virgil knew that Dad would not stop worrying until Alan woke up and he was sure that he was alright.
"We'll be back home in about forty minutes Dad," Virgil finished as he did the mental calculations to work out there flight time.
"F.A.B I'll see you then Virgil."
"F.A.B Dad," Virgil replied and broke the connection before engaging the VTOL jets to get Thunderbird Two airborne to begin the journey home.
***
Tracy Island
A Few Hours Later
Alan moaned softly as consciousness returned at last. He wasn't hot anymore but he felt so tired and so weak. Slowly he opened his eyes and immediately closed them again as the overhead light sent pain blasting down his optic nerves.
"Easy Alan take it slowly," the familiar voice of his father said from somewhere near by. Slowly he opened his eyes again and ignored the pain from the light. Slowly the blurred image standing over him resolved into the familiar form of Jeff Tracy.
"Dad," he said weakly feeling more tired by the second. "Where am I?"
"The sickroom," Jeff replied. "How are you feeling?"
"Awful, so tired."
"That's natural you're body has been through a very bad and traumatic experience. You need to rest."
"Grandma?"
"She's fine," Jeff replied. "She's talking about making an apple pie later." Jeff almost laughed when he saw a smile appear on Alan's tired, sunburnt features.
"Gomez, Galespie?"
"Dead. They crashed the R2 when Scott was chasing them, the R2 exploded immediately there was no way they could have survived." Alan nodded strangely feeling a little sad about the fate of Victor Gomez and Jonathan Galespie. He hadn't known Galespie at all but he had known - or thought he'd known - Victor. Before he'd left racing Victor had been a good guy, who knew how to have a good time, someone you could easily be friends with. What had happened in the intervening two years to turn Victor into what he had become?
"I wish I knew what happened to him," Alan said softly.
"What do you mean Alan?" Jeff asked.
"Gomez. I knew him before, we were friends, and he really knew how to have a good time. I'd beaten him before and he always took defeat in his stride, I wish I knew what happened to that Victor. How he became such a stranger."
"I don't know Alan. People can change over time. Change sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worst. As to what caused Gomez to change we will never know."
"I guess," Alan replied.
"Go to sleep now Alan," Jeff said, "you need to rest and recover." Alan relaxed back in the bed knowing his father was right, his body was telling him that he needed to sleep. Slowly he closed his eyes and within moments was fast asleep.
Jeff watched Alan for a few more moments and smiled glad that aside from being tired his youngest son was fine. Then he sighed and turned and left the room, turning out the light as he did so, so Alan could sleep and recover in peace.
For a moment he thought about what Alan had said about Victor Gomez. Money does strange things to people, he thought guessing that it had been his constant string of victories and the huge amounts of prize money that he had gotten as a result was the reason but he couldn't be sure. Then he sighed. As he had said to Alan they would never know. Gomez was dead; there was no way they would ever know what had happened to change him into the man that had stolen the R2 and left Alan and Grandma to die.
All that really mattered was that Alan and Grandma were fine, that Gomez and his accomplice Galespie had failed in their diabolical plan. Jeff smiled glad at least that his mother and his youngest son were okay. At the end of the day that was all that really mattered to him.
The End.
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