Hangin' Around With You

"Scott. All systems ready for launch."

"F-A-B, Alan. Thunderbird Three requesting permission for launch." Scott radioed to the lounge in the Villa nearby.

Jeff's voice answered, "Permission granted. Be careful and we'll see you in a few hours. Have Tin-Tin let us know when communications will be down. Virgil and Brains will be able to handle the recalibrating the masts down here."

"F-A-B, Father. Countdown to launch, T minus ten seconds. Ten... nine... eight... seven... six... five... four... three... two... one... liftoff!"

With a roar, Thunderbird Three threaded through the eye of the Round House, its rockets carrying it quickly out of sight. Virgil, in Thunderbird Two's hangar, felt the vibration of the spacecraft's departure. He had been working hard since early that morning, exposing the wheels of the cargo carrier in order to change the massive tires that allowed her to trundle down the runway to her launching point.

"This will take me the better part of a day," he muttered to himself. I hope I'll be able to get Dad out to do the climbing and rappelling we'll need to get up to the promontory and back. Brains has been really stubborn about faking an injury; he just won't lie to Father about something like that. Can't say that I blame him. He'd have to keep up the fakery for a couple of weeks at the least. Not a fun prospect, he mused.

He looked up into the wheel well, his gaze searching for wear and tear on the ball joints and the struts. There were none; the metals Brains had put into the suspension system were virtually indestructible.

Scott said that Kyrano had an idea on how to incapacitate Brains temporarily so that he couldn't go up to the promontory with me. I wish I knew what it was. And when he planned on putting it into effect.

Virgil picked up his pneumatic air wrench and started to loosen the lug nuts on the front starboard tire. They were on good and tight, Virgil noticed with satisfaction. But it meant more work to take them off. He smiled grimly and got down to business.

Jeff was enjoying the quiet of the house; it was a nice change from most days. Gordon had offered to take Grandma to nearby Moyla for some shopping, using the helijet as their transportation. Brains was working in the lab, as usual. Virgil was doing maintenance on Thunderbird Two. And Scott, Alan, and Tin-Tin were on their way to pick up John and do some recalibrations on the communications system to make the signal output clearer.

The upcoming holidays meant a little more juggling of schedules as far as Thunderbird Five was concerned. Both space monitors liked to be down on Earth for Christmas and New Year's, and since one of them stayed up there over Thanksgiving, the other would go up for a week in December to make up for the missed holiday.

This year, John had sacrificed his Thanksgiving celebration. So Alan would stay up for the next week and then John would fetch him, and they would both be home for Christmas, putting a newly reprogrammed Braman in the station for a week. Then Alan would start his new rotation on January 3rd, the day after Jeff's birthday. That big 6-0 again, Jeff thought wryly.

"Lunch is ready, Mr. Tracy," Kyrano's soft voice broke the quiet of the room. Jeff looked up from his Tracy Industries cost projections and smiled at his old friend.

"Thanks, Kyrano. Shall I call Brains and Virgil?" he asked. Kyrano nodded. Jeff reached out and toggled the switch to call the remaining denizens of the Villa to lunch.

Brains acknowledged the call, and slowly made his way up to the kitchen. Kyrano had approached him with his idea, saying that he would not attempt to put it into effect without Brains' full knowledge and cooperation. It would not be a deception, the retainer had stated, but a planned accident. Brains was still uneasy about it, he knew how dangerous it could be. But he had checked on the supplies they would need in the aftermath, and, satisfied that they were plentiful and easily accessible, agreed to the plan. He just hoped that Kyrano wasn't going to kill him with this scheme.

Lunch was delicious, as usual, and made more special by the fruit smoothies that Kyrano had prepared for the men who sat around the table.

"They are banana-strawberry smoothies, Mr. Tracy, Mr. Virgil. Mr. Brains, I made yours banana only, as you have so often requested." Kyrano said, a smile on his face but a concerned look in his eye as he watched the engineer.

"Th-thank you, K-kyrano," he said as he began to sip the fruity drink. It did taste like just banana, and for a moment, Brains thought that Kyrano had decided that the plan was too risky and wasn't going for it. But then he felt the familiar flush of his skin, the watering of his eyes, and the beginnings of the breathing difficulties that were part and parcel of his allergy to strawberries. As he began to wheeze, Virgil rose out of his seat in alarm, as did Jeff. The two men recognized the symptoms, the quickly spreading rash, the breathing that became more ragged as the allergic reaction continued. Brains stood up, and Jeff caught him before he could fall over.

"Virgil, the epi pen! Go grab it!" he shouted as Virgil scrambled from the kitchen, sprinting for the sick room. Jeff held Brains upright as the wheezing continued and less and less air was able to reach the engineer's starved lungs. Suddenly, Virgil reappeared, a pen-like syringe of epinepherine in his hand. Jeff grabbed it and jabbed it into the side of Brains' neck, where the carotid artery was found. The three men watched and waited for signs that the reaction was over, Kyrano wringing his hands, looking frightened and pale.

Finally, Brains' breathing began to improve and his face, deadly pale beneath the rash, began to show signs of color again. Jeff sighed with relief, and looked up at Virgil.

"Let's get him to the sick room," he commanded, taking Brains by the shoulders and motioning his son to take the engineer's legs. Together, they gently carried the sufferer to the small infirmary, laying him down on a bed and turning on the diagnostic panel above his head.

"Blood pressure looks good, respiration still up," Virgil said, his knowledge of basic emergency medicine coming to the fore. He searched around and found the blood oxygen level sensor, putting it over the patient's forefinger and hooking it up to the diagnostic monitor. "Blood oxygen levels are still low, though. You'll need to stay here for a while, Brains." He pulled an oxygen cannula out, fastening it around Brains' head and putting the ends inside Brains' nostrils, then attaching it to an oxygen bottle.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Brains!" Kyrano said as he came up to the semi-conscious scientist, his face full of anguish. "I made the smoothies for Mr. Tracy and Mr. Virgil first and must not have cleaned the blender of the all the strawberry residue." This was partially true. As a matter of fact, he had just rinsed the blender out quickly, an action that bothered him greatly, but not as much as inflicting this ordeal on Brains. At heart, Kyrano liked a clean kitchen, with sparkling clean appliances.

"I's s'okay, Krano," Brains slurred between his swollen lips. He hadn't had a reaction like this in a long, long time. He had forgotten how bad it felt, how bad he felt, and he had no desire to repeat the experience. Never again!

Jeff watched worriedly as Virgil did what he could for Brains. Once Virgil seemed to be finished, Jeff looked across the bed at his second-born. "Will he be all right?"

Virgil looked down at Brains. "He should be. We got the epi to him in time. Now we just have to wait for the swelling to go down and his blood oxygen levels to get back to normal." He gave Brains a wry smile, then looked over at his father. "He's not going anywhere today, I'm afraid."

Just then, Jeff's telecomm watch beeped. He raised his left forearm to see Tin-Tin's face in the miniature screen that replaced the watch face.

"Yes, Tin-Tin?" he asked.

"You asked me to tell you when communications were going down. They will be shut off in 90 seconds. Are Virgil and Brains ready to recalibrate the masts?" she asked.

Jeff almost hit his forehead. In all the excitement over Brains, he had forgotten about the communications upgrade. He frowned. How are we going to recalibrate those masts now without Brains?

"We have a problem, Tin-Tin. Brains has had an allergic reaction and is recuperating. He won't be able to help with the recalibrations," Jeff explained.

"Oh, no! Is he all right?" Tin-Tin exclaimed, a hand over her mouth.

"He will be, but there's no way that he's up to working on this project. Can we put it off until Gordon gets back?"

"I'm afraid......" Tin-Tin's face was abruptly replaced by Jeff's watch face. He groaned.

"Not now!" Jeff said, turning and leaving in a hurry for the lounge. Virgil looked at Kyrano, gave Brains' arm a quick squeeze, and hurried in his father's wake. Left in the sick room, Kyrano pulled a chair over to the side of the engineer's bed.

"Neva gonna led you do sumding like dis do me agin," Brains said slowly.

"Again, I apologize, Mr. Brains. And do not worry. I will not ask it of you again." Kyrano said with a small smile.

In the lounge, Jeff tried to raise John in Thunderbird 5, hoping that Tin-Tin's abrupt cut off was a malfunction in her watch. But John's portrait stayed just that, a portrait, as did Alan's and Scott's. Jeff sat down heavily at his desk, then turned to Virgil, who had been watching his fruitless actions.

"Well, I guess we'd better get Thunderbird Two airborne. I've had enough time in the simulator to pilot her for this little job." Jeff said, rising from the desk again.

"Uh, Dad. We can't use Thunderbird Two."

"Why not?" Jeff asked. Then he groaned as he remembered. "You're changing the tires today, aren't you?"

"Um, yeah. I've got the starboard bow tire done, but the port bow tire is off and waiting to be changed." Virgil explained.

"Well, then we'll use the helijet...." Jeff's voice trailed off as he thought about where that particular aircraft had gone. "Why did Gordon take that this morning?"

"I think he wanted the extra cargo space." Virgil answered. "Just to tease Grandma, you know."

Jeff nodded wearily. "How are we going to get up there without the aircraft?"

"Well, Dad. I can always climb up to the promontory. It's not that hard." Virgil offered.

Jeff thought a moment. Then he shook his head. "It might not be hard, but it's dangerous. Plus you'll have to climb the masts themselves to get to the frequency boxes." He rose from the desk again. "You really need a partner on this. I guess that means me." He looked at his chestnut-haired son. "Go get the climbing gear and the equipment we'll need for the recalibration and meet me at the hover bike shed in 20 minutes." He looked down at his neatly pressed slacks and button-down shirt. "I'll need to change into something more suitable for climbing."

"F-A-B, Father." Virgil saluted Jeff, and went off to find the gear and equipment he had already stashed in a convenient storage closet. On the way back, he took a detour to the sickroom and looked in on Brains and Kyrano. Brains was dozing, but his color was better and the swelling in his face and hands was going down. A quick look at the diagnostic panel showed Virgil that his blood oxygen levels were also improving. He gave Kyrano a sharp look.

"If I'd known that you were going to pull such a dangerous stunt, I would have objected. Loudly." Virgil said, a hint of anger in his voice.

Kyrano looked at him with a calm demeanor. "Mr. Brains and I discussed this stratagem in depth before implementing it. I did nothing to Mr. Brains that he himself did not approve of beforehand."

"Oh." was all Virgil could say for a moment. He paused for thought. "Then I apologize for my rudeness. I was not aware that Brains knew this would happen."

"I accept your apology, as Mr. Brains has accepted mine." Kyrano smiled, then stood and bowed. Virgil returned the bow and left the infirmary to wait for his father near the hover bikes.

When Jeff finally appeared, Virgil did a double-take. His usually well-dressed, well-pressed father was wearing a pair of bike shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. The muscles in his arms and chest were clearly in evidence, as were his trim thighs and calves. There was even a hint of the well-defined abdominal muscles beneath the shirt.

Virgil kicked himself mentally. We are so used to seeing Dad behind the desk that we think he's gone soft physically. I know I had forgotten how often he works out and how trim and fit he still is. Now that I see him in this light, I know how much harder it will be to keep going with Operation: Change of Mind.

"Ready, Virgil?" Jeff said as he strapped his climbing gear over the back of a hover bike.

"Ready, Dad," Virgil replied as he kicked his bike into gear.

They sped along the beach, heading for the promontory at the end of the island. The grade up to the site was too steep for vehicles to use without digging a long, switchback pathway up to the top. Jeff had considered cutting a stairway out of the rock, but that would have been just as or more difficult to build than the path. Besides, it was both good sport and good practice for the boys to climb the rock face and then rappel back down to level ground again. Jeff hadn't had time to do it himself, and he was actually looking forward to the challenge of the rock face.

For Virgil, this was old hat. He had climbed that rock face so often over the past three years that he felt he could do it in his sleep. He started to mentally plan the easiest way up to the top when Scott's comment about going easy on their father came to mind. Okay, Scott. I won't go easy on him. I know just the route to take.

Jeff slowed his hoverbike to a stop and waited for Virgil to catch up. He turned to his son and asked, "Okay, where do you want to start?"

Virgil looked at the cliffside as if determining the best approach and then turned his bike to the right. "Follow me, Dad. I think the best place is over here."

They reached the spot that Virgil had indicated. Jeff looked up at the cliff and frowned. You'd think he would make it easy on his poor old dad, wouldn't you? he thought as he gazed at what looked like a nearly sheer rockface.

Virgil started pulling out their climbing supplies. He looked over at Jeff.

"I've free soloed this face before, Father, and can do it quickly. If you like, I can get up there and anchor a rope. Then you can use it to come up. Or, we could lead climb and I'd belay you from the top of the cliff, while you belay me down here on my way up. Which do you think?" Virgil asked.

Jeff stared at his son at his mention of free soloing. "You have climbed this cliff without rope? Even for safety? That's pretty risky, Virgil."

"Well, yes, Father. I have. I know that free soloing is dangerous, but it's a big thrill! However, we usually free climb with harness and rope for protection. Scott and I have gotten very good at lead climbing together." Virgil said, an eager light in his eye.

"What would you do during a rescue mission?" Jeff asked.

"Oh, lead climbing for sure, Father. It's safer and still flexible," Virgil answered.

"Well, then. I guess we'll do that," Jeff said with trepidation.

Virgil nodded. "I've got the all equipment right here. Could you hand me the harnesses, Dad?"

"Here they are, Virgil." Jeff pulled out two climbing harnesses. They were different from the full body harness that Gordon had used on their last rescue in that they fit around the waist and thighs only. Virgil pulled on the straps that made up the harnesses, and satisfied to their soundness, handed one to Jeff while putting one on himself. Threading a rope through the loops of his belt, Virgil added a belaying device to the harness for use when he reached the top. He hung the other safety devices, hex and wedge protectors and quickdraws, to his belt with carbiner clips.

Jeff threaded the end of the long rope through a belaying device, creating a loop and hooking the resulting loop to his harness with a locking carbiner, a d-shaped ring with a small gate for admitting the rope. This would help him stop Virgil's fall should he happen to slip.

Finally, both men put on helmets and climbing gloves. Virgil took a moment to look down at his father's shoes.

"I didn't know you owned any climbing shoes, Father," he remarked. Jeff grinned at him sheepishly.

"I don't. I'm borrowing Scott's. We wear the same shoe size."

Virgil barked a short laugh, then turned and headed to the base of the wall. He looked upward and called to his father, "On Belay."

Jeff thought hard for the response. At last he said, "Belay on," indicating he was ready.

"Climbing!" Virgil called as he began to make his way up the rock face.

"Climb on!" Jeff responded with a grin. It had been a long time.

It didn't take Virgil too long to get to the top of the cliff. He set the hexes or wedges into the cracks where he felt they would be of most use should he slip. Jeff took up the slack on the rope as the younger man climbed, keeping the rope threaded through the belay device. Eventually, Virgil disappeared over the top of the cliff. Jeff waited for a few minutes, then Virgil's head reappeared.

"On Belay!" Jeff shouted up to Virgil.

"Belay On!" came the loud answer.

"Climbing!"

"Climb On!"

Jeff climbed carefully, trying to follow the path that Virgil had already taken, using the same hand and footholds. As he passed each hex or tapered wedge, he pulled it out of the crack where it had resided and fastened it to his belt by the quickdraw. At one point, his foot slipped, and he fell against the rock face, scraping up his elbows and knees.

"On belay!" he shouted again.

At the promontory, Virgil felt the shift in the rope's tautness and braced himself. The fact that the belaying mechanism tightened up told him that his father had not fallen far. He called, "Belay on!" telling his father that he was holding on and would not let him go.

Jeff lay against the cliff for a few moments, catching his breath. Then he felt around for another foothold. When he found it, he called out again. "Climbing!"

Virgil let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Climb on!"

It seemed an eternity to Virgil before his father's head came over the edge of the cliff. He hurried forward to give his dad a hand, but it was waved away and Jeff pulled himself up to the promontory. Jeff stood, leaning over, hands on his knees, breathing hard for a few moments. Then he looked up at his son and grinned.

"You cannot convince me that this was an easy climb, Virgil. You took me the hard way up, didn't you?"

Virgil sighed and grinned back. "Well, there are harder ones, Father. And... there are easier ones, too. But really, this is the shortest climb timewise," Virgil told Jeff.

Jeff looked at his watch and groaned. "Time. Communications have been down for nearly 50 minutes. There's not a moment to lose. We've got to climb the masts and get those boxes recalibrated." He looked over at the silvery masts at the top of the rise. "Let's go."

The masts themselves were between 30 and 50 feet high and although they looked easy to climb, they were still dangerous, especially the one that overlooked the straight drop down to the sea. Virgil came up with the idea of using the quickdraws as if they were hexes or wedges, and using the rope to keep them safe should they fall. Jeff fell in readily with the idea. Virgil climbed the first mast, placing the quickdraws around the crossed struts as he went up, while Jeff belayed him at the bottom of the mast. Then he pulled the safety devices off as he came back down after completing his task at the top of the mast. Virgil and Jeff alternated who climbed and who belayed so that neither of them would get worn out. At last, the final recalibration was complete. Jeff, atop the last mast, activated his telecomm watch.

"International Rescue base to Thunderbird Five. Come in, Thunderbird Five."

John's tense face appeared in the tiny screen. His expression relaxed as he saw his father's face. "This is Thunderbird Five. We read you five by five. Father! Where are you? We were getting worried!"

"I'm on top of the world, son. The last frequency box has been recalibrated, and I'm heading back down to the ground." Jeff sat on the edge of the mast's platform and prepared to climb back down.

"You mean you were up on the masts today, Father?" John asked with feigned surprise.

"Yes, John. The old man has some life in him yet. Though not as much as I did before Virgil took me up the cliff to the promontory!" Jeff joshed. "Is the upgrade working well?"

"F-A-B, Father. Now that communications are back up, Scott, Tin-Tin, and I will be headed dirtside. We'll see you in a few hours," John said with a grin.

"Looking forward to it, son. International Rescue base, out." Jeff lowered himself over the edge and began his final trip to the ground.

Once there, he dusted off his hands and faced Virgil. "Now what? How do you suggest we get off this piece of rock?"

Virgil gave him a very big, mischievous grin. "Dad, now comes the fun part. Now we get to rappel!"

Jeff finished his coffee in the lounge. Thunderbird Three was due back any minute and he was looking forward to seeing his third son after three weeks in space. He looked at his watch again. Almost time.

He sat back in his desk chair and put his hands behind his head. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the bandage Virgil had applied to his scraped elbow. Under his trousers were bandages covering his equally abused knees. But he felt good. He had climbed that rock face without embarrassing himself and Virgil had been right about the rappelling back down, it had been fun!

If the boys do this kind of thing all the time, no wonder why they are so eager to go out on rescue!

His musings were interrupted by the radio. "Thunderbird Three to International Rescue base. Request permission to land," Scott's voice rang out over the airwaves.

Jeff flipped a switch. "Base to Thunderbird Three. Permission granted, and welcome home everyone.

It was after supper when Virgil finally got back down to his Thunderbird. He had visited with Brains for a while when he had showered and changed from the climb, then Grandma roped him into unloading the supplies from the helijet when she got home. Once the supplies were all put away, Kyrano called them to supper. After he had eaten, Virgil took a tray into the sick room for Brains, and again kept him company while the engineer ate.

But now it was time to get back to work. Climbing the promontory with his father had been grueling, tough and fun all at the same time. He had been impressed with his father's perseverance and stamina; it was going to be hard to get Jeff to change his mind if going out on rescues was what he planned on doing.

Virgil looked at the port wheel well and sighed. He loved his big, green Thunderbird, but sometimes maintenance could be a bear. He moved over to the forklift so he could bring the huge tire to the changing apparatus. But before he could start the forklift's engine, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see his father, dressed in a work coverall, and behind him, his brothers, similarly togged out.

"Many hands make the work go faster," Jeff said with a grin. "Let's get this girl back in service, shall we?"

Virgil nodded and started up the forklift. Looks like I'll be seeing my bed tonight after all, thanks to my family.