Mole People

"S-Scott? Could y-you come down to the, uh, l-lab? I-I need a second, uh, o- opinion."

Scott was surprised to see Brains' frowning face on the miniature screen of his telecomm watch.

"Sure, Brains. I'll be right there."

Scott picked up the monorail in the Villa and set the controls to take him the shortest way to the laboratory block, passing through Thunderbird One's hanger and launch pad, coming out to an open area near the shielded power house with its atomic fusion reactor, then making a sharp right and going down a slight incline to Brains' domain. He stopped the monorail car there and disembarked.

As he entered the lab, he saw Brains in front of a large plasma computer screen. It showed the vast complex of hangars, passages, and storage areas that honeycombed this side of Tracy Island. Brains turned as Scott came up behind him.

"Th-There you are, Scott. W-We have a p-problem." Brains indicated a blank area to the northeast of the lab. "I-I'm not getting a, uh, signal from th- the atomic waste and s-sewer treatment plant. Th-there may be a s-serious breakdown or, uh, leakage there."

Scott thought hard to remember what exactly Brains was talking about. Then it came to him. The sewage and atomic wastes created by the complex that was his home were treated and broken down into harmless materials in a special machine that was in a cavern beyond the powerhouse. The leftover materials were shunted out through pipes into the depths of the dead volcano that made up Tracy Island. Eventually they leached through the rock and sand until, filtered clean and resalinated, they became part of the seawater that surrounded the isle.

"You're right, Brains. That would be a problem. But why come to me? Why haven't you told Father?" Scott asked.

"I told M-Mr. Tracy. He s-said someone has to go down there and, uh, take a l-look." Brains explained. "I th-think he wants m-me to go, but I-I'm not fond of caves and don't want to go alone." He gave Scott a hopeful look. "I w-was hoping to talk you into, uh, accompanying me."

"Well, Brains, I guess I could... hey! Wait a minute! This is in a cavern, right?" Scott sounded excited.

"Y-Yes."

"And it requires a bit of hiking and rappelling through other caverns to get to it, right?"

"O-Of course!" Brains' voice changed to a pleased timbre as he understood what Scott was getting at. "I-It would require caving! J-Just what John wanted t-to do with, uh, your father!"

"Caving? Isn't the term 'spelunking'?" Scott asked. Brains waved a hand as if dismissing the word.

"The t-term 'spelunker' has developed a n-negative connotation. I-It often denotes an amateur in c-cave exploration. A c-caver is someone who e- explores caves, but uses the correct safety, uh, techniques. L-like John. H- He would be considered a, uh, caver."

"Oh." replied Scott, taken aback by Brains' explanation. "I didn't know there was a difference." He took a deep breath, and let it out. "So, you let my father know that you've got the perfect investigator in mind: John Tracy. And mention the spelunk... uh, caving to him, too. Dad does like to rattle around in caves. I'll inform John so he can wheedle Dad into going along."

"F-A-B, S-Scott." Brains replied with a grin.

Jeff sat at his desk in the brightly decorated lounge, a sour look on his face. What a time for the treatment plant to go bad! How are we going to get parts on Christmas Eve? And there's so much work to do here if I'm going to clear my desk and enjoy tomorrow. My little foray back into space cost me some precious hours working on an expansion proposal.... but I wouldn't trade it for any hundred such opportunities. Why doesn't business break for the holidays?

Jeff looked up as John entered the lounge, wearing an old flight suit that had seen better days, a helmet with a light attached to the front, and carrying another flight suit draped over one arm and another helmet in his hand. He gave his father a questioning look. Jeff groaned.

"I wish I could, son, you know I do. I love caving and the lava tube caves around here are great to explore. But I have so much work to do....."

"Dad, what's the use of being the owner of the company if you can't put your work away and do something you love when you want to?" John asked bluntly. "Besides, what's going to happen to the Island if this problem with the treatment plant turns out to be serious? You know that it's no picnic getting down there and it takes skill to do it. Skill that you and I have in abundance. Now, just put up your desk and let's get going!"

Jeff sat still for a moment, his eyes closed. Then he sighed and opened his eyes. He shook his head as he looked over at a grinning John. "How do you talk me into these things?" he growled. Taking the stack of papers he was reading, Jeff tamped them down on the desk to make a neat pile, then laid them on the desktop. Turning behind him, he pushed a button, and the whole work surface rose up on thetwo floor-to-ceiling struts that held it in place to slide securely into a form-fitting groove in the ceiling.

Having done that, he took the flightsuit from John and disappeared into the small washroom off of the lounge. Within minutes, he returned, dressed in the grubby suit, and taking the second helmet from his son, led the way to the monorail car.

"I see you've been busy," Jeff said wryly as he saw the collection of caving gear neatly stacked on the floor of the monorail.

"Yep," was John's laconic answer. "I knew I'd have to whisk you away from that desk before you began to have second thoughts about taking the time. So I gathered up all the pertinent gear beforehand. Here are your knee pads. Brains said he'd meet us at the powerhouse to give us some tools we'll need to evaluate the treatment plant."

"I've done more maintenance around this place in the two weeks than I've done in the past two years!" Jeff joked as he started the monorail on its way to the powerhouse. Just before the track took the sharp right turn that would bring them down to the laboratory, Jeff stopped the car. He picked up the equipment he would need, as did John, and they joined Brains, who was waiting for them on the platform before the powerhouse.

"Brains, before you give us what we need for the job, let us get our caving and climbing gear on, okay?" John asked the scientist. "That way, we won't be jostling any of the instruments while trying to put on harnesses or other gear."

"S-sure, John. T-take your time," Brains replied, his words belied by his impatient bobbing up and down.

Jeff reached into his pile of equipment and pulled out a lower body harness. It was much like what he had worn climbing the rock face with Virgil, but the straps were wider. He put this on, then pulled out a chest- box, a small harness that went over his shoulders and fastened around his chest under the arms. He already had his knee pads on, and changed his house shoes for a pair of beat-up boots from his Air Force days, which he laced tightly. He checked the light on his helmet to see how bright it was and stood up, smiling as he saw John was ready, too.

"F-first you'll need to, uh, check the status b-board on the plant t-to see if that is the problem," Brains explained. "I-It would be the, uh, easiest thing to r-repair. I've included s-some spare p-parts for the areas o-of the board most likely to, uh, fail. If the status b-board is good, then, uh, do a visual sw-sweep of the plant and l-look for any leaks. I'm sending a-along a small l-laser welder." He handed a small clear dome to Jeff. "P- put this on over your telecomm face, M-Mr. Tracy. It will make y-your telecomm signal into a tighter, uh, beam that w-will penetrate to the lab so you c-can ask for advice should you, uh, need it."

"Hey, why can't we use those in rescues?" John asked, taking a good look at Brains' new device.

"You p-probably could in a situation l-like this. But a-although the beam is tighter, the r-range is reduced. This w-won't reach to the Villa. J-Just as far as the, uh, lab." Brains told him. "In a r-rescue, it probably would make it to Mobile Control."

Brains held out one more item. "You'll n-need this G-Geiger counter as well. Once you g-get past the spot where the, uh, main lines disappear, use it to see if there's a-any radiation l-leakage. If so, come back i- immediately. W-We'll have to use radiation suits to go i-in if this is the, uh, case."

John nodded in understanding. He checked out the knapsack with the equipment that Brains had given him, got the pack situated comfortably on his back, then put on some thick leather gloves. Jeff hefted another knapsack with caving equipment in it onto his back, then settled a length of rope over one shoulder. He also put on thick gloves, and John added a rope to his own burden. Both of them made sure their helmet lights were on, then waved at Brains and began their trek.

The caves and caverns on Tracy Island had been created mostly by the flow of lava from the extinct volcano. Some of the larger caverns had been carved out by lava pooling in them and had been further carved out by the hands of man. There were also a few sea caves that had been created by the tides and winds along the coastline on the other side of the Island from the Villa, but none of them connected with the lava tubes that honeycombed the rest of the islet. The treatment plant lay in a cold, congealed lava lake, which gave its builders a mostly flat surface on which to build. The lava lake was at the bottom of a tall lava falls, a place where the ancient lava flow had dropped off into a larger cavern before pushing and melting its way further down towards the sea.

To reach the lava tubes that led to the treatment plant, Jeff and John had to go around the powerhouse block, a huge shielded cement structure that held the atomic fusion generator which supplied power to the entire complex. The block very nearly filled the cavern, and in some places, the going was tight. It was pitch black back there; the only light that the two had was from their helmet beacons.

"I don't know if I can get through here, John," Jeff panted, trying to squeeze through an opening between cement and rock wall that even his more slender son had found troublesome. Now I really wish I had spent the time to build a more direct route to the treatment plant. I guess I went overboard with the idea of "caving gently".

"Hand me your pack, Dad. Then try again." John encouraged, holding out his long arm for the knapsack his father carried. Jeff backed out of the tight spot, removed his backpack, and reached as far as he could to John's outstretched arm. Then he took a deep breath, and began to try and edge sideways through the narrow channel. He was scraping through, but his face was turning red as he held on to his breath, sucking in his abs, and John became alarmed that his father would either pass out or get stuck or both. He took hold of the nearest of Jeff's arms and pulled, hard.

"Whew!" Jeff said as he popped out of the narrow spot. He leaned over, putting his hands on his knees to steady himself, breathing hard until the room stopped spinning and the spots left his vision. John breathed a quiet sigh of relief at seeing his father's too ruddy face turn back to a more normal color.

Jeff looked back at the crack, shining his lamp on it and giving it a critical eye. "Y'know, I think that I'd have better luck on the way back trying to get through under this cutback instead of squeezing between its edge and the powerhouse wall." John looked at what his father was pointing at and nodded. There was a wider clear space under the ridge of the lava cutback than the one they had just struggled through.

"I think you're right. On the way back, then." John remarked with a nod. He handed his father the pack in his hand, turned away from the lava cutback, and resumed his hike along the back wall of the cavern. Jeff put the pack on his back again as he followed his son's bobbing helmet light.

Eventually, they came to the right angle of the wall furthest from their starting point. John turned the corner and swore.

"What's the problem, son?" Jeff asked as he turned the corner. Then he saw for himself the obstacle that confronted them.

Two huge pipes, one from the powerhouse and one from the rest of the complex, blocked the way before them. The pipes were at least a meter and a half in diameter, and Jeff could feel the heat from the nearest one, the one that took the waste product of the reactor to the treatment plant.

Jeff frowned. "I thought we built a catwalk over these things so we could cross them easily?"

"I think that the catwalk got lost in the shuffle once we started operations, Dad." John looked at the conduits ruefully. "It would be a good idea to build one for future trips down to the treatment plant."

"I'll keep that in mind for an after-holiday project," Jeff retorted.

The two men approached the pipes. "That's lead shielded, John, so that we're safe radiation-wise. But it's hot in another way, isn't it?" Jeff asked. John nodded.

"The pipes go along one side of the lava tube, leaving just a small pathway for walking in. Then the tube narrows and the pipes go through the rock. That is, until we reach the treatment plant." John explained. Jeff looked at him, puzzled.

"It sounds like you've been down here before, John. I've explored some of the other lava tubes, the ones we're not using for storage or hangars, but not this one, not for a long time. I have a vague recollection of a lava fall and a lava pool, but that's all." Jeff told him. "When were you down here last?"

"Six or seven months ago. With Brains. He was doing some routine maintenance on the treatment plant and needed someone to go with him. The others were out on rescue so I was the obvious choice. I should have mentioned the need for a catwalk back then." John said distractedly, his gaze still fixed on the obstacle before them. "When we get to the treatment plant, the pipes will come out of the rock again and slope down to the machinery. That's where the lava fall is."

"How deep?" Jeff asked, fingering the rope on his shoulder. John finally turned to look at him and smile.

"About 10 meters. Really, not a bad rappel, but it's a bear to put an anchor in the floor. There's a pile of welded breakdown there that is really hardened. Hopefully the anchor we put in last time will still be sturdy."

"If not, we can use a stalagmite if there's one handy." Jeff said. John frowned.

"Not the best idea, Dad. Lava stalagmites are not the strongest formations in the world. If it broke while you were on the rope...." John warned.

"Point taken, John. I'll use the anchor if it's still in solid." Jeff assured him.

"Well, let's get going. We've got to cross these lines and then we can follow the lava tube down to our destination," John said with a sigh. He reached up and grabbed the top of the first pipe, the hot one, while Jeff made a cradle of his hands and gave John a boost. Then John sat astride the pipe and reached down to help his father up. One at a time, they jumped across to the cooler pipe, John teetering precariously as he made his leap. Once he had regained his balance, he was able to steady Jeff when the older man made his jump. Then they slid down the side of the second conduit to the ground.

"You know, that went well considering we did it in the light of the headlamps," Jeff mentioned conversationally. John laughed.

"We seem to have the habit of making the difficult look simple, don't we, Dad?" he riposted. Jeff chuckled.

The floor of the lava tube was flat and relatively smooth. It was sometimes difficult to keep track of both feet and head, but John went first and warned Jeff of obstacles in their way, either on the floor or hanging from the ceiling. Jeff was fascinated by the striations on the walls and the coloring that marked the high lava line.

I am certainly glad that our little volcano is extinct. The geothermal energy would have been great to have, but the dangers inherent in an eruption far outweigh the benefits of that power source.

Jeff's thoughts were abruptly interrupted as he bumped into John's back.

"What's the problem, son?" he asked, trying to peer around John to see why he stopped.

"Fresh breakdown, Dad. We'll have to do some digging to get through," John muttered in disgust. He moved out of his father's way so Jeff could see the passage blocked by loose rock from the ceiling.

"It doesn't look that bad, John," Jeff asserted. "Looks like the fresh stuff fell on some welded breakdown. We'll only have to shift the loose rock."

John nodded as he began to pull the pieces of old lava from the top of the pile. "I remember the welded pile now from my last visit. I wonder if this is blocking the signal from the treatment plant?"

"Let's clear it out and then I'll contact Brains and find out," Jeff said, reaching up to help his son clear the top of the passage. Within a few minutes, John was atop the pile and pushing the remaining rock down through the opening to the other side. Seeing this, Jeff activated his wrist telecomm.

"Jeff Tracy to Brains. Do you read me?"

The picture was fuzzy and the voice tinny. Jeff turned up the volume to maximum.

"I-I barely read you, Mr. T-Tracy. What h-have you found?" Brains asked.

"We've come across a fall of loose breakdown, and were wondering if this could be blocking the signal from the treatment plant." Jeff asked, unconsciously raising his voice to be heard.

"N-No, Mr. Tracy. I s-still have no signal from the, uh, plant." Brains replied. "Y-You'll have to k-keep going."

"F-A-B, Brains. We'll keep you apprised. Tracy out." Jeff shook his head as he turned off the telecomm. "If the reception's that bad just this far in, think what it will be like when we reach the plant."

"Hopefully the communications system at the plant itself will be working," John declared. He had already crawled through the opening at the top of the pile of welded breakdown and was looking back at his father. "Hand me your pack and come join me. We're about to lose the pipes."

Jeff handed his backpack up to John and slipped through the small opening feet first, dropping to the floor on the other side, losing his balance slightly on the loose bits of rock. His light followed the huge conduits for about three meters and he saw them disappear into the angled rock wall to his left. He shook his head in amazement.

"How did we ever do that?" he asked, more to himself than to John. John grinned at him.

"We used that miniature prototype of the Mole, Dad," John remembered. "It was just big enough to hold one of us if we were lying down. I remember Virgil and Scott worked on the first tunnel. Alan and I got to work on the second tunnel. I'll never forget Scott yelling into his communicator when he bored right out into the big chamber where the lava lake is. Good thing he stopped that prototype in time!"

"Hmm. Maybe we should get Brains to build us something like that again. But a bit bigger. The Mole is great, just too big for some jobs." Jeff looked over at John, noticing the smudged face. "Remind me to talk to him about it."

"Okay, Dad." John put down his pack and pulled out the Geiger counter. Turning it on, he waved it ahead of them. It beeped only occasionally. "Good news so far. No radiation leakage. We can go on."

"So, let's go," Jeff said, shouldering his pack again and grinning.

John took the lead again, Geiger counter in hand. The passage caused by lava flowing to the sea twisted and turned. Occasionally there were ridges along the bottom, or places that were made narrow by lava aprons or cutbacks. There were skinny stalactites protruding from the ceiling, and occasionally the roof dipped and the two cavers found themselves crawling through small tunnels.

At long last, John remarked, "I think the lava fall and the treatment plant are around the next bend, Dad." The Geiger counter had continued the steady "I'm working" beep.

"Looks like the problem is not a leak, at least not according to the Geiger counter. If it were, the counter would be beeping louder and faster," Jeff observed with a sigh of relief. Suddenly, the chamber where the treatment plant was situated opened up before them. Even though he knew approximately where it was, it still took John by surprise and he teetered on the brink of the large chamber.

"Whoa!" he shouted, surprised. Jeff leapt forward and caught John by the harness, pulling him back from the brink. His pull was so strong that both he and John overbalanced and fell to the cave floor, John landing squarely on top of Jeff.

"Dad? Are you all right?" John cried, concerned, as he rolled off his father and helped him to stand up. Jeff rubbed his abdomen and smiled ruefully.

"Guess the old man has some strength left in him after all," joshed Jeff. "You, John, are heavier than you look."

"It's all muscle, Dad," John riposted with a relieved grin, flexing one arm. Jeff rolled his eyes and advanced carefully to the edge of the lava fall to look down. His foot kicked something that made a metallic clank, and he looked down.

"There's that anchor of yours, John," Jeff pointed out. John nodded and squatted down to give it a good pull.

"Looks like it's in there good and solid. We'll be able to use it on our way down." John frowned as his light played over the treatment plant. "There's something wrong here. I can't put my finger on it just yet, but it will come to me."

Jeff played his headlamp over the plant as well and stopped when he saw something on the wall. "Aren't there supposed to be lights working down here at all times?"

John's face lit up with realization. "Yeah! That's what's wrong. The lights are out. Hmm. That indicates an electrical problem. Too bad we didn't keep an eye on the electrical conduit on the way out here as well. It would be a shame if we came all the way down here to fix a problem and have to back track to find a broken wire or something like that. It would be such a waste of time."

"Not at waste at all, John. We had to get all the way down here just to find out what happened. We wouldn't have realized the problem even if we had checked the electrical wiring on the way down," Jeff reminded him. "Now let's get down there and find out where this problem originated. You set up your rappel line while I try and contact Brains."

Jeff turned the gain all the way up on his telecomm. "Jeff Tracy to Brains. Do you read me, Brains?"

There was no picture at all this time, and the voice was broken up by static. "Brains to crackle T-Tracy. I b-barely pssssstbuzzzzzz you."

Jeff raised his voice. "We have discovered a problem. The lights are not working. We're preparing to see what happened to the electricity."

Brains responded. hmmmmmssssst "M-Mr. Tracy. Will a-await" clickclickbuzzz "repor..." pssssst

Jeff turned off his telecomm. "That went well," he said wryly. He shone his headlamp on John.

"I'm almost ready, Dad. Just one more adjustment," John said, slipping his rope through the same kind of belaying device that Jeff and Virgil had used for their rappel down the promontory wall. John tested the rope, the knot he used, and the anchor by tugging hard. Then he grinned at his father.

"Okay, Dad. Here I go!" he yelled as he jumped backwards off the edge of the lava falls cliff. His gleeful shout reverberated in the cavern as he jumped, and Jeff leaned over the cliff as far as he dared to watch John free-fall nearly to the cave floor, the belaying device slowing the fall but not stopping it. He shook his head at his son's risky antics.

"I'm down, Dad. Pull up the rope!"

Jeff took up the rope and pulled another belaying device out of his pack. He wove the thick cord skillfully through the crossbars, then attached it to his harness with a carbiner. He backed up to the edge of the lava fall, and turned his light and sight downward.

"Look out below!" he cried enthusiastically as he jumped over the edge.

Instead of a controlled free-fall, Jeff opted to jump. He let his body swing first outward, then back to the wall, flexing his knees and jumping again while letting out the rope. It took only three jumps for him to make it to the floor of the cavern. Once there, he unthreaded the rope from the belaying device, and put the device back in his pack.

"Aw, Dad! Live a little! You should have done the free-fall!" John told him jokingly.

"No, son. I intend to keep my skin, my legs, and my neck all in one piece," Jeff replied. "Now, let's get a good look at this monster."

Using their headlamps, they moved towards the control room of the huge tank that held the materials to be treated. As they climbed the stairs to the control room, John wrinkled his nose in disgust and remarked, "Whew! What a smell! It's a good thing those pipes are as long as they are or else we'd have a major back up into the house and the power plant. This doesn't seem to be working at all."

"Then let's try the main power box first, and go from there," Jeff suggested.

The door to the treatment plant would not open.

"Damn! I forgot that it's an electric door just like all the others!" Jeff swore. "One of these days I am going to put old fashioned hinge doors on every room in the house! Not only can you open them without electricity, but they are very satisfying to slam when you're frustrated." He pounded on the door, then added, "Like I am now!"

"Wait a minute, Dad! Simmer down. I have an idea," John said, an affectionate and amused tone in his voice. He removed his gloves and reached into his father's pack to pull out one of the spare lights, unfastening it from its battery pack. "Shine your light on the door button for me, please, Dad."

Jeff complied, and John used a screwdriver to pop off the cover that surrounded the button. Reaching in, he pulled out the wires, carefully following each one to see where it went.

"Okay, I'm going to splice the battery in and see what happens." His long fingers used a wire cutter to snip and strip the wires going from the button to the door, making the battery become the door switch.

"When I touch the battery's pole, the door should open. We'll need to wedge it in the 'up' position so we don't have to go through this again." John explained, looking at Jeff expectantly.

Jeff nodded. "I'll get a couple of pieces of broken rock to wedge into the track." He went back down to the floor of the lava lake and, after shining his light around, chose two thin lava stalagmites. He broke them off at the base and brought them up to John. So much for caving gently. But this is an emergency.

"I hope those hold, Dad. They look awfully thin." John said doubtfully.

"I hope we can restore power to this thing," Jeff replied fervently. "Then we can get out without using up the battery charge. We may need both batteries on the way back."

"I hope so, too." John turned his attention to the battery and the wire he held in the wire cutters. "Are you ready?"

"F-A-B, son. Go ahead."

John touched the wire to the battery pole, and a spark arced from the battery to the wire. The door slid open, and Jeff quickly stepped inside, stuffing the skinny spurs of rock into the tracks nearly all the way to the top. Then John let go of the battery and dove through the door. He needn't have bothered; the stalagmites proved to be stronger than they looked and the door stayed open.

Jeff clapped him on the shoulder. "Great work, John. That was fast thinking."

John colored pink with delight, though Jeff couldn't see it. "Thanks, Dad. I'm glad it worked," he replied modestly. He began to prowl around the control room, looking for the main powerbox.

Jeff searched the other side of the room, the two of them instinctively working their way from the door to meet in the middle of the room on the other side. Before he got a third of the way there, Jeff called out, "Here it is, John."

He opened the box with the power conduits running through it. The circuits were regulated by special switches, a newer form of circuit breakers. Each of the switches had a glowing green light next to it. Jeff shook his head as John joined him.

"I don't get it, John. The power grid is green across the board," Jeff said. John shrugged noncommittally, a gesture Jeff caught in his helmet's light.

"The problem is elsewhere, then. Brains did say that the control panel would be the most likely to go and the easiest to repair. The main board is over here." John pointed to a console on the opposite wall.

"Okay, then we need to look that over. But first, let's cut the power to the plant so we can work safely." Jeff suited his actions to his words by turning off the master switch. All the little green lights faded to black as the power to them was cut.

Jeff turned to see that John had already removed a panel from the front of the control console, and had his head and hands inside, poking about. "Whatever is bad in here is blocking power to the whole system," the younger Tracy explained. He pulled himself out far enough to speak to his father. "Now's the time to ask Brains what to do."

"F-A-B. I just hope we can get in touch with him." Jeff found his way out to the landing of the steps that led to the control room. He turned on his telecomm to voice only. Maybe that will do the trick.

"Jeff Tracy to laboratory. Can you read me, Brains?" He waited anxiously for a reply.

"Y-Yes, Mr. Tracy. I-I can read you. I t-took the time to, uh, increase the sensitivity of my antenna dish. I-I see you are using v-voice only; a wise move. Wh-What do you need?" Brains voice was clear though soft.

"Power is out down here across the board. The electricity is making into the main power board but something is blocking it from going to the rest of the system. What could be causing it?" Jeff asked succinctly.

"You s-say that power is going to the, uh, main switch b-box but not to the r-rest of the, uh, system?" Brains asked, seeking clarification.

"Yes, that's it." Jeff confirmed. He could hear his resident genius muttering in the background.

"O-Okay. It sounds l-like the main power director has a loose wire, or th- that the, uh, power distributor b-board is bad. More likely the board. Must have b-been a power surge r-recently," Brains explained. "T-try that first."

"F-A-B, Brains." Jeff ducked back into the control room. "He says that the power distributor board is probably bad," he explained to John.

"Oohh-kay." John replied wryly. "Now, just where is that board?" He moved around some wires and capacitor boards inside the console and found a large motherboard. "I think I found it, Dad." Carefully, John disconnected it from the wires that held it in and he pulled it from the console to show it to Jeff. One side was scorched and melted in two spots.

"Yes, a power surge for sure," Jeff agreed, nodding his head. "Question is, do we have a replacement for it?"

"I think so, Dad. Brains does tend to think of everything." John opened the pack of repair materials and took out a bubble wrapped circuitry board. He unwrapped the new board and compared the two. "Yes, they match. Now to install it. Dad, could you open up the other panel and shine your light in there? I'll be able to see what I'm doing much more easily."

"Sure, son." Jeff opened up the side panel of the console and shone his headlamp into the area where the new panel was to go. He had glimpses of his son's long nimble fingers through the wires and other capacitor boards as the younger man worked. He sure knows what he's doing here. Probably has made lots of repairs like this up on Thunderbird Five. I've got to think of a way to automate Thunderbird Five yet keep the human touch. People in distress want to hear a sympathetic voice. But I can't continue to leave John or Alan up there, even for a month at a time. I've got to have them down here if I'm going to groom them to take over when I'm.... gone.

He was lost in his thoughts when John's voice brought him back to reality.

"There, that's done." John said, satisfied, dusting off his hands on his suit as he came out from under the console. "Now to turn the power back on."

"I think we'd better turn it on system by system," Jeff suggested. "Don't want to overload it all at once." He stepped over to the main switch box and proceeded to flip all the switches to the "off" position. Then he looked over at John, who was still sitting on the floor.

"Ready, John?"

"F-A-B, Dad."

Jeff threw the main power switch and watched as the little lights inside the box began to glow red. Then, starting at the top, he went down the line, turning the toggles over to the "on" position, waiting moment between each one to see what would happen. The console itself came on first. Then, the noise of the treatment plant coming back online startled both men, and they grinned at each other. The lights went on outside, then inside, and the door whined as it tried to close. John got up and pulled the stalagmites from the door tracks and pushed on the door button to make sure they could get out with the power back on.

"I'll put the outside door button back together again," John offered quickly, disappearing to the outside.

The final switch showed a green light and the treatment plant was fully operational again. Jeff strode over to the communications panel.

"Jeff Tracy to Brains. Can you read me, Brains? Do you have a signal?"

The response came through the console's speakers, loud and clear. "Y-Yes, Mr. Tracy! I have a signal from the treatment p-plant again. And I-I read you five by five."

"Excellent! We'll be back to the Villa soon. By the way, it was the board that was bad. John replaced it. Looks like a power surge." Jeff chuckled. "Maybe all those Christmas lights caused the surge."

"I-I doubt it, Mr. Tracy. I-I'll have to run some, uh, diagnostics on the p- power plant," Brains radioed.

"Leave it until after tomorrow, Brains. Christmas Eve is almost upon us, and I won't have anyone working on more than absolutely necessary. So unless there's an emergency, you're to leave the lab alone and join the family for celebration," Jeff told him emphatically.

"F-A-B, Mr. T-Tracy," Brains answered, an amused tone in his voice. The door opened and John walked in.

"Hey, Dad. Let's take a break before we start back," John suggested, holding out a bottle of water.

"Okay, son. Brains, we'll be back within a couple of hours. Tracy out." Jeff took the bottle of water. "Thanks, John. Let's sit down outside."

The two men sat on the steps, John one step down from Jeff, and turned towards him.

Jeff took a swallow of water, and looked around the plant. John watched his father. But when his father looked at him, he looked away, taking a swallow of his own water. The only sounds in the cavern were that of the treatment plant and the hum of the halogen lights that surrounded it.

"John?"

"Yes, Dad?"

"How do you feel about your work in Thunderbird Five?" Jeff asked seriously.

John took a breath and blew it out. He was silent for a few minutes. Then he spoke.

"I love the opportunities for stargazing. I love being the lifeline for those who call on us, the first voice of hope that they hear. I don't even mind the quiet times when nothing is happening and no one is calling. I feel good when I can be a help to the others when they are on a rescue, but I hate it when something goes wrong and I am helpless up there. I hate it when Alan squirms out of his shift for one reason or another. When he is injured, that's one thing, I can deal with that; but so often he's got some lame excuse and that's when I get steamed about it.

"I like to pilot Thunderbird Three and wish I got more of a chance to do it. I also like going out on rescues when I'm home. I was really glad to be a help to Gordon on that last rescue; I'd like to learn more about what he does. I'd like to crosstrain with Virgil and Scott, too, for that matter. Learn to pilot Thunderbirds One, Two and Four. Learn to use Mobile Control. Be the 'jack of all trades' in the family." John's voice waxed enthusiastic when he spoke about what he wanted to do.

Then his tone turned thoughtful and he shrugged his shoulders. "It may be just a dream. I know I'm needed up there as the 'eye in the sky'. But I'd like to be more than just a... a... what did they used to call them? Oh yeah. A switchboard operator."

John found his father looking at him intently, nodding gently. The older man took another swig of water, then rested his forearms on his knees, the bottle dangling from his fingers.

"I never seem to get the time to talk to you like this, John. I see the others every day and often have conversations with them about such things, especially after a rescue. But not you. When you're home, I'm either too busy, or sometimes, I just don't want to intrude on your time of recharging and fun with your brothers. I just thought I'd take the opportunity now to talk to you and listen to what you have to say."

Jeff blew out a breath of air. "I'm finding myself looking more and more to the future of International Rescue. And to Tracy Industries as well. I've decided to send one of you... men... each month to Tracy Industries corporate headquarters to get your feet wet in our official family business. I... I'm not going to be around forever. And you all need to know your way around the business." Jeff gave his son a long look. "Would you be willing to be the first to go? During your month off? I know it would be keeping you from doing rescues, and you'd be away from the family again, but you'd be doing something different. Of all my sons, you seem to be the one with the keenest business sense. I haven't forgotten the little argument you and Scott had over the Ocean Pioneer II."

John grinned. "We weren't arguing, Dad. We were just... discussing. That's all." Then John's look turned thoughtful. "If each of us is going to spend a month in New York, won't that leave IR shorthanded?"

Jeff hemmed a little. "Well, no, not really. There is Brains. And Tin-Tin will be available, too, you know."

Yes, and you are counting yourself in there, too, Dad, aren't you? You just don't want to let on yet. John thought. He scratched his head. "If you think that they'll be good replacements for a seasoned operative...."

"They'll do. And they'll get more 'seasoning' the more rescues they work," Jeff said firmly. "Well, John. What do you say? Will you be the first to brave the wilds of corporate life?"

"Sure, Dad, sure. Thanks for the compliment about my business sense, too. I just cringed at the thought of that huge new ship blown to smithereens once we got the men off," John remarked. Then he grinned again. "I hope your estimation of my 'keen business sense' is the same after I spend a month at corporate."

Jeff laughed. "I'll be watching you carefully, and reaming you out when I think you need it, don't you worry." He looked around at the cavern in the halogen lights. "Our work here is through and Christmas Eve dinner awaits. What say we blow this popsicle stand and head for home?"

John drained his water bottle. "Sounds good, Dad. Let's go."