Truths Revealed

"Hey, Penelope?"

"Yes, Virgil?"

"Would you come up to the cockpit and keep me company?"

Penelope sighed. She expected another scene like the one with Tin-Tin, full of questions to which she had no real answers. Still, he is a friend, and a good listener. And he would respect my desire to refrain from discussion of the matter. She got up from her seat, eliciting a worried glance from Parker. "I am coming, Virgil."

She went forward to the cockpit, closing the door behind her. Virgil gave her a welcoming smile, then turned back to the windshield as she settled herself into the co-pilot's seat and fastened the safety straps, then put on her sunglasses and headset. She risked a glance at her companion. Each of the boys have Jeff's stamp on them, but Virgil least of all. He makes me wish I had known Lucille so I could appreciate how much like her he is. I am certain he received more from her than just his looks and talent. She must have been a very good listener, as well.

The cockpit was silent for a time, companionably so, then Virgil broke it by asking, "So, are you looking forward to going to Bongo-Bongo?"

"I suppose so," she answered quietly. "I am sure that the police will find me there eventually, but better there than Tracy Island."

He nodded slowly. "Is everything ready for you there?"

"It will be. Parker called ahead to apprise them of our arrival." She could just imagine what her caretakers were doing to scurry around and prepare for her visit. It wasn't something that she usually thought about; for her, it was always call ahead, then go, leaving the preparations to others. I seldom get my hands dirty, in any sense of the word, she realized, looking at her actual appendages. Until Viktor asked me to hold that bandage... She shuddered, and tried to turn her thoughts elsewhere.

Virgil chose to misinterpret the shudder. "Is it too cold in here?" he asked solicitously.

"No, Virgil, but thank you for asking," was her reply. She glanced over at him again. "I confess to some curiosity. What did your father tell you about my departure?"

He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "He said that you needed space to decide what to do." Turning his hidden gaze to her, he said wryly, "I must admit that when he asked us all to leave I thought he was going to try and talk you into staying. But he said that was never his intention."

"No. He made it clear that if I needed the time to decide, I could take it and my place would still be available when I wanted to return," Penelope explained. She fell silent, not wanting to explain about her other reason for leaving so quickly. I made a big enough fool of myself with Jeff; I do not want to bruit it about. I hope Jeff was discreet enough not to tell anyone else.

How do I approach this? Virgil asked himself. I want so much to tell her, but is this the right time? I don't want to make the same mistake that Dad did, and yet... when else will I be able to tell her? Screwing his courage up to the sticking point, he began, "Ah, Penelope?"

"Yes, Virgil?" She sounded weary, and was struggling to keep up the veneer of politeness.

"I don't know how to put this really, but... Dad told me there was another reason that you were leaving, and why it was so sudden." Virgil flinched internally when he heard her groan softly.

"He did? That was rather impolite of him. I thought perhaps he would be gentleman enough to keep it to himself, not tell of my foolishness to all and sundry." Her voice had gone from soft and weary to soft and sarcastic. "Did he announce it over the loudspeaker so the whole household knows? What a laugh your brothers must be having at my expense."

"That's not fair, Penny, and you know it. He didn't tell everybody, and he won't. He only told me. He feels really bad about how things happened, too," Virgil replied stoutly. "You caught him off guard with that kiss, you know."

"Yes, I do. That was very clear from his reaction," Penelope shot back, showing a bit more spirit now. "I was in need of his comfort and what I received was less than comforting." She glared at Virgil now. "Why do you think he would refrain from telling the others? He told you, did he not? What makes you so much more special than your brothers?"

Virgil closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Then he opened his eyes, took off his sunglasses, and turned to her, his face as serious as his voice was soft. "He told me for the same reason he asked me to take you to Bongo-Bongo instead of Scott or Gordon or Alan. He told me, Penelope, because he knows how... how..." He swallowed heavily and glanced down, whispering, "He knows how I feel about you."

Penelope's mouth dropped open in shock. Virgil continued, gazing over at her again with his warm brown eyes. "I had hoped you would have seen it for yourself. There were so many little ways I tried to let you know. But I didn't dare come out and say anything because I... I saw the way you looked at Dad, the way you acted around him, and I thought that maybe, on some level, he was reciprocating. It all came to a head when he sent you to Unity City to look for that Franks guy. We argued, more than once, about putting you in danger, and he asked me point-blank if I... if I were in love with you." Another deep breath, let out slowly. "I said that yes, I was, and had been for a long time. I didn't understand how he felt about you until just a little while ago, when he told me what had happened, and I'm still not clear on it all. But he wanted to give me the opportunity to say my piece, if the time were right." He squared his shoulders, and reached over to cup her face in his hand, his voice rich and full of affection. "So, I'm saying it. I love you, Penelope."

Penelope's face had gotten progressively paler as he spoke. Her eyes had widened; they bored into his. Her mouth was still open, and it looked as if she were holding her breath. When he had finished speaking, she took in a deep breath and let it out through her mouth in a shaky huff. She brought her lips together and swallowed heavily, then shook her head quickly several times. "This is... no... this is just too much!" she exclaimed, her voice sounding as if she were about to cry. She pushed his hand away and began unfastening her safety straps and removing her headset with fumbling fingers. Now unencumbered, she rose, trembling, and blindly reached for the door to the cockpit. "I... I need to... get away, to think."

"Penny!" Virgil cried, reaching out to grasp her arm. But she was already out the door and back into the passenger cabin before he could catch her.

The hatch slammed shut, and Virgil faced forward again. He smacked his fist on the control panel. "Why did I even open my damn mouth?"

Jeff let himself into the Round House. When he had first built the place, it was supposed to be utilized at guest accommodations, in case they had some kind of big party and needed the room. The Cliff House had been constructed with a similar idea, but neither of them was being used for the purpose he had first envisioned. For one thing, they hadn't exactly been giving big parties since they had moved to the island. For another, there was no way to get to the Cliff House except from inside Thunderbird Two's hangar, which rather limited its use as a guest house. Still, the fire and flight control rooms were built beneath there, and the boys found the game rooms and the patio enticing enough to keep the building somewhat in use.

Not so the Round House. There was no access to that particular building except from the outside, down a pumice-covered path from the main villa. It was usually reached by a small golf cart which could pull one of the anti-gravity floats behind it, should luggage need to be hauled over there. Today, however, Jeff decided to walk. The afternoon was getting on, and he felt the need to stir his blood. Now sweaty and feeling very tired, he found himself in the air-conditioned common room that faced the main house.

He slumped down on a sofa, and rested his head against the back, letting his heartbeat return to normal after his brisk walk. Perhaps he had dozed off a bit in that position, he wasn't sure. He only knew that he came to his senses after a short passage of time, and remembered just why he had come to the deserted place. Drawing his phone out of his shirt pocket, he plugged in his earphone and speed-dialed Lou's number.

Lou was busy at her computer, writing warning emails to some of her friends, telling them about the man who might or might not be Franks, while keeping an eye on the anti-IR website she had come to loathe. She knew that it would take time for the altered termite to corrupt all the data while depositing its viral load into the operating system, and that there was no guarantee that the email scanning program they were using would pick up her time bomb at all. Just my luck that they'd be scanning for things with the words "International Rescue" in the title, she groused. I may have been too clever for my own good here. If I don't see results in twenty-four hours, I'll send it again with another header.

Her vidphone rang and she turned to it with irritation. "Cindy Lou Kellay, heah. Who may Ah ask is callin'?"

"Lou? It's me, Jeff."

"Jeff! Wait! Just a second." She dropped the drawl and hurried to finish the email she was composing. "There!" she said, turning to the vidphone screen. "You caught me in the middle of something. But it's done now and I can focus my attention on you."

"Your attention on me," he echoed. "I like that." He paused for a moment. "Anything I should know about? How's that business with the... with the... whatchamacallit website going?"

Lou frowned at him. "Jeff, where are you?"

He sighed. "In the Round House. Thought I'd have some privacy here."

Lou mouthed "the round house" to herself. Oookay, I think I remember seeing that building. "You look pretty rough," she commented. "Are you smashed?"

Jeff shook his head. "No, no. Not smashed. Just... feeling no pain, that's all."

"What brought this on?" she asked, leaning one elbow on the desk top and putting her cheek on her fist.

"Lots of things. Penny's being investigated. Damn detectives looking for her. She's had a hard enough time with Peter dying, for pity's sake! Then I go and be a bastard to her and off she goes! Just like a little bird!" Jeff's hand made a fluttery motion that carried off the edge of the screen.

"I can't see how you could possibly be a bastard to anyone, Jeff," Lou remarked, shaking her propped up head.

He pointed a finger at the screen that held her picture, and frowned at her. "You don't know me well enough, Lou. I can be a real bastard when I want to, and sometimes even if I don't want to. Like with Penny."

"So, what happened?" Lou coaxed, swapping her head from one supporting arm to the other.

Jeff sighed heavily again. "Well, we were going over what those damned detectives found out and she thought maybe she should just go away for a bit. She's got this ranch in Australia with tons of sheep. She likes to count them, don't know why. Well, anyway, we were talking and she was upset and she asked me to hold her and I did. But it felt kinda... I dunno... uncomfortable. Then she kissed me. Right on the lips! And what did I go and do?"

"I dunno, Jeff," Lou said, suddenly very interested in Jeff's reply. "What did you go and do?"

"Nothin'. Absolutely nothin'. Just stood there and froze up like a damn statue." Jeff was frowning now at himself. "I shoulda kissed her on the forehead or somethin', let her down easy. But no, I had to be a God damned icicle!"

Lou's voice became soft as she asked, "Why did you do that, Jeff?"

"Oh! You know! She's just too damned young. She's younger than Scott, fer pity's sake! I don't want no trophy wife!" He waved a hand to make his point. "Then there's Lucy. My beautiful Lucy. Oh God, how I miss her!"

"I miss her, too, Jeff. She was a good friend," Lou agreed, smiling slightly.

"Yeah." He fell silent for a moment, then he gazed straight at her. "Then... then there's you."

"Me?" Lou asked, sitting up sharply in surprise.

"Yeah. You, Lou." He pointed a finger at her. It loomed large on the screen. "I kissed you, and you kissed me, and... and I didn't have to think about it. It just... happened. Warm and nice. No icicle. And..." He squinted at her a moment, then dropped his head in his hands. "Oh God. I am drunk, aren't I?"

She gazed back at him with sympathetic amusement, her cheek in the palm of her hand. "Yeah, Jeff. I think maybe you are, just a little. Don't worry though. I won't take it personally."

"Shouldn't have had that last shot of Bushmill's," he groaned, shaking his head.

"Probably not," she agreed. This is no time to tell him about this guy who's looking for me, or about my little visit from "Dick the Hick". I can bring that up later, when he's slept this off. Though "Dick the Hick" might be better off if I didn't mention him! "Listen, Jeff. It's getting late here. I need some sleep and so do you. Go back to the house and sleep it off, okay?"

"Okay, okay. I get the message," Jeff said irritably. "When are you coming to visit?"

"Soon, Jeff. Gotta get my pilot's license back first."

"What happened to your pilot's license? Did it expire or something?"

"No, Jeff. The people who helped me create Cindy Lou haven't been able to put the license in her name yet." And they should have been able to by now! I'll rattle their cages in the morning.

"So? I can come get you," Jeff said stubbornly. "I'll come out tomorrow. I really want to see you."

"Jeff, tomorrow's not a good day. Spot and Moofums have appointments at their vet." She smiled at him fondly. "I'll tell you what; I'll call you tomorrow and we can make definite plans for me to come visit, okay?" She yawned, barely hiding it, hoping he'd get the hint. "But right now, I'm really getting tired..."

"Okay. You promise you'll call?" Jeff asked, still sounding stubborn.

"Yes, I promise," Lou replied, nodding. "You go back to the house and sleep this off."

"All right, Lou. Talk to you tomorrow." He yawned widely. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Jeff. Take care." She reached out and reluctantly ended the call, and sat staring at the screen for a few minutes. Whew! Sounds like he's going to have a bit of a hangover. I only remember seeing him like this once before. He got really stubborn and argued with Lucy about driving home. She was pregnant with Alan and hadn't been drinking at all, so she was able to bring him around to her point of view. It's so sad that he's still mourning her.

She began to close the windows on her computer, readying it for sleep mode. I feel badly for Penelope; she seems to be under a great deal of pressure, and Jeff's behavior probably made it worse. She sighed, feeling a bit uneasy and yet there was a certain thrill, too, when she thought over what he had said. How did I get to be so important to him all of a sudden? This is not the best time; I can't even be myself. I guess I'll have to wait to see what happens and deal with things as they come.

In the Round House, Jeff stretched and yawned. He was sleepy now, and didn't want to move. I'll just lie down here and take a nap. He shifted his position so he was on his side, one arm draped over his chest, and the other tucked behind a small plush sofa pillow. Within minutes, he was sound asleep.

Midnight in the Caribbean, and Alvarez was ready to call it a night. He ground out the fine Cuban cigar he had been smoking and finished off his glass of wine. As he put the goblet back on his desk, Ramirez came in, his data pad in hand.

"Are the preparations going as planned?" the minister asked.

"Si, your Excellency. Your belongings are being packed and are nearly ready for transport to your Unity City home. The computers are also being loaded onto the helijet."

"Very good." Alvarez loosened his tie and removed it. He glanced up at Ramirez, who was standing, looking uncomfortable. "Is there a problem, Fernando?"

His secretary sighed. "Si, Excellency. There is some question about what to do with... him."

Alvarez looked puzzled for a moment, then comprehension dawned. "Ah! Carlos. I suppose that if Jorge has done his job, I shall have no longer have need of him."

"I do not trust that Jorge has done as he said he would," Ramirez said flatly. "He said the encryption was difficult; perhaps he lied about being able to alter your files."

"Hmm. You have a point. Besides, if I leave Carlos here, he will eventually die anyway. Why waste a bullet that can be traced?" He unbuttoned his cuffs. "I will leave him behind, alive. Assign three men to guard him personally. International Rescue knows I am... not myself, and may decide to look into what happened to the real Alvarez. If they do, I want to be sure he does not live long enough to be rescued."

"Very good, your Excellency," Ramirez said, adding a note about the guard detachment. "And the other men?"

"I have handpicked several to come over with us as my personal bodyguards. The rest should remain and protect the property. The caretakers are not strong enough to do so."

"Si, your Excellency. I shall tend to it immediately."

Alvarez smiled slightly and shook his head. "No, Fernando. The morning is soon enough. Get some sleep and report to me at eight."

Ramirez nodded, relieved. "I will, your Excellency." He bowed formally, and left, taking his pad with him.

Alvarez picked up his tie and cuff links, gazing around the room. "I shall miss this office," he murmured to himself. "But it is only the stepping stone to bigger and better things."

Virgil put Tracy One down at the airstrip on the outer edge of the ranch. He had been silent the whole way since his talk with Penelope, internally going over in his head what he should have said, what he should have done, and kicking himself for what he actually said and did. Once he brought the plane to a halt, he saw the jeep approaching. The house was more than a mile away from the airstrip, over an unpaved road, and everything was dusty from lack of rain. He really didn't see why Penelope held on to this ranch; it didn't fit her at all. But she visited there four or five times a year, sometimes bringing out friends deemed in need of a "rest cure".

Maybe it's just a change of pace for her. Different weather than in England, he thought as he climbed out of the pilot's seat and unsealed the passenger cabin's hatch, pulling down the stairs. He didn't wait for Penelope or Parker to deplane, but went straight back to the cargo hatch and began to unload the luggage.

Mick Sullivan, husband of the couple who took care of Lady Penelope's ranch, came around and shook hands with Virgil. "Good t' see ya, Mr. V," he said. "I'll take her Ladyship's bags. Carrie's back at the house making some cold drinks. You staying for the evening?"

"No, Mick, I'll be heading home as soon as the plane's clear. But thanks for asking."

"Okay, mate. See you around sometime." Mick took over removing the bags from the cargo hold, leaving Virgil to head back and see to the passenger cabin.

"Mister Virgil," Parker called as he climbed back aboard. "Ay would layke t' 'ave h'a word wiv ye."

"Yes, Parker? What is it?" the pilot asked as he turned from stowing things that had been taken out. He was unprepared for the jab to the belly that bent him double, nor for the right cross to the jaw that sent him staggering. He fell backwards over one of the captain's style passenger seats and glared up at Parker, fingering his jaw, which had been hit again in nearly the same place where Scott had connected. "What the hell was that for?" he shouted indignantly.

"Fer Milady," Parker replied, glaring down on him. "Ay 'ave neveh seen 'er so h'upset h'as Ay did when she came flaying aout o' that cockpit. She sat h'in that chair an' 'eld 'erself h'as h'if she were cold an' would not h'answer me. Ay don't know what ye said t' 'er, but ye'd better h'apologize t' 'er straightway, afore Ay gi'e ye some more o' what ye deserve."

"Apologize? I have nothing to apologize for, Parker!" Virgil shouted, climbing to his feet. "Except perhaps for the timing of what I said to her. And I've been kicking myself over that ever since she left the cockpit! No, Parker, I will not apologize for telling her the truth! I will not apologize for telling her I love her!"

Parker's eyes went wide, and his jaw dropped for a moment. He recovered himself, and hemmed a little. "Well then, Mister Virgil, per'aps Ay've been h'a bit 'asty-layke..."

"Hasty-like? I'd say so! And it's obvious I made a big mistake in telling her when I did." Virgil made an angry sweeping gesture with his arm. "Just get out!"

The chauffeur opened his mouth to say something more, then snapped it shut and left the jet. Virgil pulled the steps up and closed the hatch, and climbed into the cockpit. He watched as the jeep, carrying three people, pulled away and drove down the road in a cloud of dust. Lady Penelope sat in the front passenger seat, her posture ramrod straight, her eyes hidden by her sunglasses and hair covered by a pink floral scarf. Parker sat in the seat behind Mick. Out of the three, only Mick raised a hand in farewell.

He started the jet, hearing the engines whine into life, then turned the plane around 360 degrees. With a terse radio warning to the house, he taxied down the runway and took Tracy One into the sky again, heading for home... and a stiff drink.