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Chapter Two

     “Down zero point five, Alan.”
     “Are you sure Virgil? Surely she won’t hover any lower than this?”
     “She can go three points lower. Water is a surprisingly tough surface. Just adjust the stabilisers.”
     “But Virg…..” began Alan again. His brother cut him off.
     “I said down point five. And check the stabilisers.”
     “FAB.” Alan pushed Thunderbird two’s control stick forward. The nose of the huge craft dipped alarmingly towards the sea.
     “Alan! Stabilisers!” roared Virgil.
     Alan quickly adjusted them, startled by the note of anger in his brother’s voice. Thunderbird Two settled level again. Virgil peered over Alan’s shoulder at the instruments.
     “Down point five again, Alan.”
     Alan hesitated. Always happy at speed, he found manoeuvring Thunderbird Two at low level both difficult and tedious. Hovering at low altitude over water was particularly difficult. To make matters worse his normally placid brother had been like a bear with a sore head for the last few days. Alan had tried hard to go with Gordon this afternoon, but Scott had wanted to spend some time getting used to the new rocket launcher in Thunderbird Four.
      “Alan, down point five.”
     Alan checked the stabilisers, pushed the nose forward and brought Thunderbird two closer to the surface. One mistake now and she would be in the drink before he had the chance to correct anything. He began to sweat.
     “Hold her steady there. You need to be able to hold her in any position for as long as is necessary. Keep an eye on the stabilisers, and don’t drift sideways.”
     Alan held her steady for five minutes. Then he pulled back on the controls and took Thunderbird Two back up to 5000 feet.
     “Sorry Virgil, I just couldn’t hold her there any longer. Can we go back now?” He glanced nervously at his brother. Virgil had been so unpredictable recently, shouting was not normally his line at all, yet both Alan and Gordon had been keeping clear for the last few days.
     Virgil nodded, and with a sigh of relief Alan slid out of the pilots seat.
Twenty minutes later, in the lounge of the Tracy villa, Virgil was giving his father a report of the training session.
     “Alan is fine at speed, and general manoeuvres, but it is the low level and slow speed stuff he needs more practice at.” 
     “Jeff Tracy nodded. “Right. You two had better both have another session tomorrow.”
     “Unless we get a shout of course,” said Scott walking into the room. “That new rocket launcher is great, dad. You get much better accuracy than the old one.” 
     Alan slipped out of the room. He found Gordon on his way up from Thunderbird Two silo, where he had been checking Thunderbird four before finishing for the day.
     “C’mon, Gordon. Scott’s given your report. Lets get Tin-Tin and go for a surf.”
     “Great, I’ll just get my wetsuit and I’ll be with you. See you at the wharf.”

     They came in just in time for supper, and successfully avoided Virgil for the rest of the evening. Very little escaped Scott Tracy’s notice however, and later that evening he knocked on Virgil’s door.
     “Come In. Oh! Hi, Scott.” He put down his book and looked at his brother. “Is anything the matter, I didn’t hear the alarm.”
     ‘No, nothings the matter,” answered Scott. “A least not in the way you mean. What I want to know is what is the matter with you.”
     “What do you mean,” snapped Virgil, immediately on the defensive.
     “I mean just that. Last week you would just have sat there and looked at me until I explained. You certainly wouldn’t have snapped at me. Have you realised Gordon and Alan are both avoiding you.”
     “Well I’m not surprised. Gordon played that stupid trick yesterday, and as for Alan, he could fly Thunderbird two at low altitude with ease if he wanted. The trouble with that boy is that if it isn’t going at mach 10 he’s not interested.”
       Scott leaned against the wall, and gazed at his brother. This was not like Virgil at all. 
      “Gordon has been playing stupid jokes since he was in diapers, so what’s different now?” he asked mildly.
     Virgil opened his mouth for a sharp retort, but closed it again. Scott was right, perhaps he had been a bit snappy recently, but he had things on his mind.
     “Well?” asked Scott.
     Virgil couldn’t help laughing outright. “You sound just like dad,” he said. “So I’ve been upsetting people have I?”
      “Do you want a list? Alan is rather sore about this afternoon, and even more so about having to repeat the training tomorrow, which means he’ll not be able to go to the mainland with Tin-Tin.”
     “I’d forgotten that,” put in Virgil.
     “Thought you might have. Gordon couldn’t understand the roasting you gave him about the bucket thing; Tin-Tin spent half an hour crying last night after you snapped at her after dinner, and it’s a good job Grandma found her not Alan, or the sparks really would be flying. Kyrano asked me if you were all right as he’d asked you the same question several times and you’d not answered. Even Grandma was upset that you’d not commented on her cake, and she’d made it especially for you, as you seemed a bit down. It seems the only person you’ve not upset is Dad.’
     “And you.”
     “I don’t upset easily. But I do want to know what’s going on.”
     Virgil sighed. “I didn’t know I’d upset so many people. Guess I’ve got few apologies to make.”
     “I guess you have. Now, lets have it.”
     Virgil knew from long experience that Scott would not easily be put off. “Its Lucy,” he began.
     ‘Thought it might be.” Scott flopped down into a battered easy chair. “Spill the beans, bro.”
     “There’s not much to say, that’s the trouble. We spent two hours stuck in a hole waiting to be dug out. It doesn’t sound long, but it was long enough. She told me her life story, and I told her bits of mine.”
     ‘Scott stiffened slightly. “What bits?”
     “Don’t worry, nothing that matters. She doesn’t know our surname, but she does know we’re all brothers. I told her bits from our childhood, that sort of stuff. She’s an only child. She thinks it would have been fun to come from a big family.”
     Scott laughed. “What did you say to that?”
     “That was before Gordon drenched me to the skin, so I said it was great!” 
     “And now you want to see her again.”
     “I do, but how can I? Its not as if I met her at a bar or something. She already knows me as International Rescue.”
     “Why don’t you ask her here. You can bind her eyes in Thunderbird Two, she’d never know where the Island was.”
     “And have the boys follow us around watching every move. You know how little privacy there is living on an island with four curious brothers.”
      “Point taken. We’ve not had this problem before because we’ve always met girls in our everyday life, as you say this girl knows you as International Rescue already.”
He thought for a minute. “I know, what about asking Penelope if you could invite Lucy there.”
     Virgil scowled. “No. I’m not taking a girl to Penelope’s house, and that’s the end of it.”
     Scott looked at his brother. There was more to this than met the eye, but now was not the time to go into it. He thought hard. “What about meeting somewhere neutral, take her on holiday.”
      Virgil brightened at once. “Now, that’s an idea, I’ve got some leave coming. If I could just get Alan sorted at this low level stuff, I could go next week. Is dad still up?”
     “He is, but if you want Alan on your side I would swap the training to Thursday if I was you. And don’t forget, you’ve not told Lucy’s mom yet!”

     Virgil soon had his father’s permission to take the following week off, and then he went in search of his two youngest brothers. He found them in the games room. Alan got to his feet as soon as Virgil came in.
     “I’ll be off then Gordon.” He made for the door but Virgil caught his arm as he made to pass.
     “Not so fast kiddo, its you I need to see,” he glanced up as Gordon began to move. “You too, Gordon.”
     Alan and Gordon exchanged glances, and then Alan sat down again. They said nothing.
     Virgil looked at them. He had always enjoyed a good relationship with his brothers. Now these two couldn’t wait to get out of his presence. “Look boys I think I’ve been a bit snappy lately,” he began. His brothers exchanged glances again, but still said nothing. He carried on, feeling the silence around him like a cloak. “I’ve had things on my mind, I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. I’m sorry.”
     He paused and then after a moment Gordon spoke. ‘You need a holiday.”
     “I know, I’ve just been to see dad. I’m off next week. Alan, I don’t need you for that training tomorrow, I’m going to overhaul Thunderbirds jets before I go, but we’ll have to do it on Thursday, OK?”
     If Virgil had hoped Alan would be pleased by this news, he was sadly mistaken. Alan received it in silence, and then asked, ‘Are you done? Can I go now?”
     Virgil sighed. “Yes, I’m through.”
     Alan left the room at once. Virgil turned to Gordon.
     “What’s biting him then?”
     “You really upset him this afternoon. He was trying his best. He really does find it hard to fly Thunderbird two at low levels. Give him speed any day.”
     “I know, but if I’m not here he’s going to have to fly her. You can’t be in the cockpit at the same time as you’re underwater in Thunderbird Four. Its not a problem if John’s down here, of course.”
     “You know,” said Gordon thoughtfully. “It would be much better if Scott flew Thunderbird two, if you’re not here, and Alan flew Thunderbird One.”
     “That’s probably true, but I can’t see dad allowing it even if Scott would. No, he’s got to learn to fly Thunderbird two and he’d better get on with it.”

On to Chapter Three.