Explanations And Hearsay

"Uhhhh...."

Sally groaned and rolled over, smacking her hand against her alarm clock. She squinted at the digital readout, and flopped back onto her bed.

Damn. 1800 hours. Gotta get up and get dressed... for dinner with the Brit bitch.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Stretching, she yawned and stood, her silk chemise falling into place. Without a backwards glance at the comfortable bed she had just left, she shuffled into the bathroom.

Nine minutes later, the alarm rang again. Sally opened her bathroom door and threw her hairbrush at it. Her aim was good, the clock fell to the floor with a crash and the lighted display went dark. Smiling slightly, she returned to her ablutions.

Thirty minutes later, Sally, dressed in a sleeveless sapphire blue dress that set off her eyes, approached her father as he stood, leaning on the balcony rail, watching the sun set.

"Hey, Daddy."

"Hello, Sal," Jeff said, turning to her. He looked her up and down, then met her eyes, a puzzled expression on his face. "You look lovely, Sally. All dressed up and nowhere to go?"

Now it was Sally's turn to look puzzled. "Uh, no, Dad. I'm dressed for dinner."

The light went on in Jeff's mind, and he nodded sagely. "Ah! I see. Well, you needn't have. Lady Penelope is gone."

Sally's eyes went wide. "Gone? Just like that?"

Jeff turned back to the sunset. "Yep. Just like that," he said softly. Sally could hear the tinge of regret in his voice. She moved to stand next to him, leaning back on the rail and looking him in the face. Her heart constricted to see how worn and old and sad he seemed.

"I'm sorry, Daddy. Really I am. I should have just left things the way they were."

Jeff shook his head. He reached out and put a hand on Sally's. "No, Sally. It's okay. I'm just sad that I didn't see things clearly before. You and your sisters gave me plenty of hints on the way you felt about Penelope. I should have listened a little more closely." He took her hand in his own and squeezed it. "Your mother was a wonderful woman, one that someone like Penelope couldn't hold a candle to." He sighed, then smiled. "But perhaps there's another wonderful woman out there for me. Someone you girls will like and can look up to. Someone... more my own age."

Sally sniffled. She didn't know if it was the lack of sleep or the accumulation of so many hours of worry, but suddenly she found her eyes were wet, and with a sob she turned to her father.

"Oh, Daddy!" she cried as she put her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

Jeff put his arms around her, lacing the fingers of one hand into her thick dark hair. He held her tightly for a moment, then pulled back.

"Hey, hey now! What's this? There's no need for tears, Sally. Everything has worked out for the best. True, I wasn't too pleased with the way you girls went about this, but it's going to be fine, just fine. Now, dry your tears. It's time we went down to dinner."

Sally gulped some air and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. She smiled tremulously at Jeff, who smiled back and then kissed her on her forehead.

"Better now?" he asked as he saw her calming. She sniffled once more and nodded.

"Come on, Sally," Jeff said, offering his arm. "Let's eat."

"Okay, Daddy," Sally murmured. She took his arm and he reached over with his free hand to cover hers and together they walked down to the dining room.

JC turned as father and daughter walked in. She was dressed in a cool linen skirt and sleeveless blouse, the skirt in her favorite color, orange.

"Hey, where's Her Nibs?" she asked as Sally sat in her usual place at Jeff's side.

"She's gone," Jeff said simply.

JC frowned. "You mean I got all dressed up for nothing?" she asked, exasperated.

" 'Fraid so, Jerrie," Jeff replied apologetically. Mae and Christa entered the dining room together, looking around then glancing at each other. Christa shrugged, and took her usual place beside Sally. Mae slid into her seat beside Jerrie. All eyes turned toward the door as Ruby came in, an arm around Val's waist. The youngest Tracy smiled softly to see her family all gathered together.

"Brains said that Valentina could eat with everyone tonight," Ruby said firmly, escorting her youngest granddaughter to her accustomed seat.

"Where is Brains?" Christa asked as Kyrano came out with a warm plate full of fried chicken.

"Brains and Tin-Tin are still working in the lab," Kyrano answered. "I have taken a tray to them there."

"Uh... Daddy?" Mae asked as the chicken was passed to her.

"Yes, Mae?"

"Did you... look at the... you know...?"

There was a long, silent moment where the girls all looked to their father. Ruby looked at Jeff, too, but with a puzzled expression. Jeff's eyes roamed around the table, then he cleared his throat.

"Yes, Mae. I did."

"What's this all about?" Ruby asked sharply. "Does it have to do with the fact that our guest left, and in a hurry?"

"Yes, Ruby." Jeff said quietly. "It has everything to do with that." He took a deep breath. "Let's just say that I discovered some things about... Lady Penelope that I didn't like. The most disturbing one was that she was pursuing me for my money and not because she really cared about me. So, now she's gone. She is welcome here to visit Val with prior notice. And Val can go and visit her whenever she likes. But for the most part, she and I have parted company, at least on a social basis."

There was a longer silence greeting this statement. Finally, Christa spoke up. "Daddy? What does that mean for IR? Will she still be an agent?"

"Yes, she will be. She's in a financial pinch so I'll be paying her a stipend every month," Jeff explained. "She'll actually be on the payroll of Tracy Industries as a consultant."

"That sounds like a good idea, Daddy," Mae said, nodding. "Won't look compromising." She hesitated. "But... what if she decided to...." Her voice trailed off.

"To what, Mae?" Jeff asked.

"To betray IR," Mae almost whispered. The other girls glanced at her, then at Jeff, concern on their faces.

"Mae's got a point, Dad," JC agreed. "She's a spiteful b... woman."

Jeff smiled. "That's where Parker comes in."

"Parker?" Val asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Yes, Val." Jeff looked positively smug. "Parker. He is now an official IR agent. He'll continue to work for Lady Penelope but I am his real employer. His job is to keep us abreast of Penelope's activities and warn of us anything that she might do to compromise our security. Penelope knows that he's also on the Tracy Industries payroll, so that she doesn't have to pay him out of her stipend, but she has no idea of his upgraded role in International Rescue." He looked pointedly at Valentina. "And she won't, will she?"

"No, Daddy. She won't. Not from me, anyway," Val affirmed. The other girls murmured their compliance as well.

"Good. Now would someone pass the biscuits please?" Jeff asked. The conversation around the table turned to more mundane topics as the family got back down to the business of dinner.

"Mr. Tracy?"

Brains's voice over his telecomm startled Jeff. He had been dozing at his desk over some Tracy Industries paperwork. He rubbed the back of his neck, stretched his back, and responded.

"Yes, Brains?"

"T-Tin-Tin and I have finished our, uh, analysis. If you would s-step down to the l-lab?"

"On my way," Jeff replied. He stood, stretched some more, and headed to the lift that would deposit him at the monorail terminus. He entered one of the pod-like cars and started in the direction of Brains's hidden laboratory block. His eyes closed as he sat in the little carriage and he shook himself awake.

After this, I'm heading for bed. I've been up for thirty-six hours!

The monorail passed through Thunderbird One's empty launch pad, turned a corner at the power house block, then descended a slight grade, stopping midway down the slanted tunnel to deposit him at the double doors leading to the lab. The tunnel, dug from the volcanic rock of their island, was lit all along the way, but still it seemed dim compared to the bright lights of the lab as one of the doors slid open to admit him. He squinted for a moment, and blinked, then his eyes adjusted and he could make out his surroundings and the two people who waited for him.

"O-Over here, Mr. Tracy!" Brains called. The scientist stood before a laboratory table, examining a strangely shaped metallic object. Jeff moved over to give it a good look. He circled the table, inspecting the thing before him carefully before catching Brains's eye to ask, "Is this one of our culprits?"

Brains nodded. "A-As you can see, it took the i-impact with the sea at a considerable, uh, velocity to damage it in any way."

"What's it made of?" Jeff asked, leaning forward to scrutinize it again. He looked up to see the two engineers exchange glances.

Tin-Tin, who was sitting at the computer, was first to speak, "It's made of Formula C30/1. Brains's cahelium alloy."

"What?!" Jeff exclaimed, shocked. "That's been a top secret of ours...."

"We know," Brains said flatly.

"How? How did someone get their hands on this?" Jeff asked incredulously.

The two engineers exchanged a look again, then Brains said softly, "W-We d-don't know. Not for s-sure. Tin-Tin thinks it, uh, has something to do with his f-fits."

Jeff drew in a deep breath to calm himself down. His eyes flicked back and forth between the two scientists, who stood silent under his gaze.

"That's just peachy. There's no way we can know for sure how someone got hold of this, and more importantly, who." Brains began to protest, but Jeff held up his hand. "That's a leak we'll plug later, if we can. Right now I want to know just how Thunderbird Five was holed."

"Well, we have better news there, Mr. Tracy," Tin-Tin began, pulling up a window on his computer's plasma screen to show to his employer. "It seems that someone has hijacked one of the old orbital defense satellites and moved it so that it was aimed directly at Thunderbird Five. Whoever did that would have had to get up to the satellite to arm it with the projectiles and make some modifications so that it would fire solids instead of energy. But once that was accomplished, Thunderbird Five wouldn't have noticed it. There wouldn't have been enough of an energy signature and it could have been outside of the space station's sensor range anyway. Plus," here Tin-Tin paused, "since it was Formula C30/1, the sensors wouldn't have reacted. After all, that's what Thunderbird Three is made out of." He brought up another window. "I'm trying to track down any unauthorized space launchings in the past three months. Not having much luck so far."

"L-Looks like we have to do some fine t-tuning of the, uh, sensor array when we g-get Thunderbird Five back online," Brains stated.

"If we get Thunderbird Five back online," Jeff murmured, his memory of the fear and terror he felt for Valentina coming forward forcibly.

"If?" Tin-Tin asked, concerned.

Jeff looked at him keenly and nodded. "If. I may decide to automate Thunderbird Five instead of bringing it back online as a manned station again. The price would be too much to pay if one of my girls was... hurt."

There was a long silence, then Jeff sighed. "You two have been working hard. Wrap things up here for the night and get some sleep. Tackle the problem with a fresh perspective in the morning. I'm bushed and am going from here straight to bed."

"O-Okay, Mr. Tracy." "Goodnight, Mr. Tracy."

Jeff nodded at each of them then left the lab. The little monorail car waited for him, and he put it in reverse, retracing his route back to the terminus. As he took the lift back up to the main house, he pondered what Brains and Tin-Tin had told him. If these fits of Tin-Tin's are responsible for our secrets leaking out, how is it being done? Who has the power to drain information from a human mind? And how did they get hold of Tin-Tin? Why him and not Brains? For that matter, why him and not me? No. It just doesn't make scientific sense.

The villa was quiet and dark. Kyrano had just finished up his work for the day and was heading for bed. This was a difficult day for Mr. Tracy and his family, he thought as he padded downstairs to the suite he shared with his son. I have never seen Mr. Tracy so tense. I hope that tomorrow will bring better news and a lessening of his trouble.

He entered the suite and moved through it in the dark. The house was calm, but here in his suite there was a disturbance, one he could feel in his bones. He frowned and shook himself, trying to dispel the pressure he felt being brought to bear.

This feeling... this pressure... it is a compulsion I feel in the very air. But it is not directed at me. Where...?

Suddenly he heard a murmuring from Tin-Tin's room, a soft voice muttering things over and over. Kyrano listened for a moment, then slid his son's door open silently. The murmuring was louder now, and Kyrano called out, "Tin-Tin? Do you hear me my son?"

There was no answer, but the muttering continued. Kyrano stepped quietly into the room. A small light shone through the open bathroom door and showed the bed, its occupant thrashing about from time to time, tangled up in the sheets. Kyrano approached cautiously, the feeling of compulsion stronger than ever. He caught what sounded like a word or two, a word he felt he should recognize but could not immediately put a finger on. Sitting down on the edge of the wide bed, he listened for a bit more to the mutterings, then, as Tin-Tin's sudden motions rolled him in Kyrano's direction, he grabbed hold of his son's arm at the wrist, holding it in a strong grip.

"Tin-Tin!" he called now in a loud, commanding voice. "Wake up!"

The sense of compulsion abruptly ceased, dissipating like smoke in the wind. Tin-Tin blinked several times and finally opened his eyes. His face took on a confused expression.

"F-Father? What are you doing? Why are you here?"

Kyrano let go of Tin-Tin's wrist, and the young man sat up in bed. He looked around, puzzled, then ran a hand through his thick, black hair and began to untangle himself from the sheets. He glanced up to gaze at his father's worried face again.

"What happened, Father? You look... puzzled."

Kyrano nodded. "I am puzzled, my son. I came into our suite and found you thrashing around on your bed, muttering in your sleep. This is not your usual behavior."

"What is my usual behavior?" Tin-Tin asked wryly.

"Usually you sleep curled up around that teddy bear that Miss Valentina gave you and you think I do not know about and you are... how would Mr. Tracy put it? Oh yes. 'Sawing logs'."

"Hmm. I knew I snored. Va...," Tin-Tin saw Kyrano looking at him intently and decided to be honest with his father. He took a deep breath and confessed, "Valentina has told me I do." He saw Kyrano nod knowingly and went on. "But she's never reported that I talk in my sleep." Then he added quickly, "Nor has Mae."

That last admission had Kyrano raising an eyebrow, but he said nothing. Instead, he studied his son's face. Tin-Tin's dark, liquid eyes, so much like his mother's, brought forth Kyrano's memories of happier times. His work in the Kew Gardens, meeting Samari, their courtship and marriage, their happy days in Paris when Tin-Tin was born... all were gone now. He pushed away the memory of his wife's tragic death and brought himself back to the present as Tin-Tin asked, "Did I say anything coherent in my sleep?"

Kyrano frowned. "It sounded like there were words among the mutterings, but I don't know... there is something nagging at the back of my mind, a key perhaps to this mystery." He shook his head. "And there was a strange feeling... in the very air. As if someone was trying to compel something to happen." He gazed at his son again and Tin-Tin met his eyes. "It vanished when you woke...."

"I don't know, Father. It almost sounds like I had one of my fits or something. I don't remember any dreams or nightmares that would cause this."

The two sat silently for a moment, thinking, then Kyrano sighed.

"There is nothing we can do about this now. You should get some sleep. I believe there is still much work for you to do in analyzing the attack on Thunderbird Five."

Tin-Tin nodded. "You're right, Father. There is. And it's getting late for you, too. You work harder than anyone else around here."

Kyrano smiled. "I live to serve, Tin-Tin." He peered over the foot of the bed, then picked something off the floor and handed it to Tin-Tin. The young man rolled his eyes to see the black teddy bear with the plaid vest in his father's hand. He reached out to take it.

"Goodnight, my son."

"Goodnight, Father."

Kyrano left the room. Tin-Tin lay back, hands behind his head, turning over in his mind the things his father had told him. One thing was certain; this had not been a normal nightmare or dream. He hoped sincerely it wasn't another one of his fits.

On his part, Kyrano prepared himself for slumber, partaking of a small cognac, a habit left over from his days of living in Paris. He sat for a long time, sipping the wine, trying to pin down the clue that teased him with its elusiveness. Finally he finished his drink, and climbed into bed. Perhaps a good night's sleep would make things clear again.

In that distant Malaysian temple, the figure standing before the effigy of Tin-Tin cursed fluently. Kyrano's intervention had broken the mystic connection with the boy. But the enemy of International Rescue had learned one very vital piece of information: the team members were exhausted from their run-in with the projectiles and its aftermath.

This is an excellent time to strike, thought the villain. In this tired state, they will make mistakes. Mistakes I will use to my advantage.

A hand reached out to pluck a mask off of the rack, and the master of disguise left, hurrying to wreak destruction somewhere in the world. Destruction on a scale that would necessitate the call to International Rescue.