"Gaaaaaaaaahhhh!!"

Scott Tracy looked up from the workbench where he had been repairing the valves on a small but vital piece of International Rescue's equipment. His brother Virgil came storming out of another piece of equipment, the Firefly, covered in what looked like cobwebs.

"Scott! I'm going to kill him! I swear to God, this time I'm going to kill him!"

Scott had no doubt to whom his brother was referring. It was Halloween, and that was a holiday when their younger brother Gordon was in his glory. Privately, Scott was relieved that Gordon had been well enough to pull his pranks.

Earlier in the week, Gordon had been very ill with a case of the flu. All of the Tracys kept their immunizations up to date, but the newest strain of the virus had proved to be a killer around the world. The flu had overwhelmed Gordon's defenses and left him weak and miserable. Brains decided he had probably picked it up in Hong Kong during a rescue of people trapped in a burning high rise tower.

"Oh, come on, Virg, a few little cobwebs never hurt anyone. Besides, it could have been worse."

"Scott, the entire interior of the Firefly is covered in this crap. What if we had a rescue?"

"Then we'd have a rescue. Look, it's just a joke. Calm down, and we'll make him clean it up after lunch."

"That's easy for you to say." Virgil still looked disgruntled. "Have you had a chance to check out Thunderbird One?"

"No, but I have to say, even if he got in there and did something, I'd be okay with it. You know, that flu really knocked the stuffing out of him. The way he was on Monday, I was thinking we were going to have to fly him over to the hospital in Auckland."

"Scott, you're too easy on him. You know he's counting on just this kind of reaction. He'll play 'poor sick little brother' for as long as you let him get away with it."

"Well, let me put it to you this way. Grandma was up with him for three nights straight. What do you think she'll do if you clobber the 'poor sick little brother'?"

Virgil rolled his eyes, but didn't respond. Instead he looked to the workbench saying, "Have you got that valve on the remote camera unstuck yet?"

Scott looked down at the unit in his hands. "Yeah, it's good to go. Why don't we hit the undercarriage on the Mole next?"

"Yeah, fine. Listen, I'm going to go up and change. This stuff is making me crazy." Virgil turned and headed for the elevator, pulling the sticky web out of his hair as he went. Scott watched for a moment and then shaking his head and smiling, turned back to reassemble the housing.

Scott breathed deeply. The heavenly aroma of baking filled the kitchen. Scott loved the fall. It was true the air on Tracy Island never actually developed a nip, and the palm trees were the same dull green no matter what the time of year. But still, Scott's Grandma paid homage to the season by baking the same pies she had baked back in Kansas when Scott was growing up. Scott loved the cherry pies in the spring, and his Grandma made the best peach pie he had ever tasted in the summer. But it was the apple pies of fall that he most cherished.

In honor of the day, there were three pumpkin pies cooling on the counter, but next to them were three apple pies. Scott looked around and finding himself alone, headed for the counter. As much as he would have liked to steal an entire pie, fear of his sweet little old granny's reprisals had him reaching for a knife.

Scott rationalized that one little sliver would never be missed, but as he poised the knife over the pie, he heard a soft clearing of the throat behind him. Years of living with four brothers kept him from flinching, and he briefly considered brazening it out, but instead, he sighed and turned to find the family's manservant, Kyrano, watching him with a raised eyebrow. "Mr. Scott, luncheon is on the balcony. If you would join your family, the pies will be available for dessert."

Kyrano's soft voice held no rebuke, but Scott sighed again and nodding, left the kitchen. He strode through the lounge out onto the balcony overlooking the pool to find his father, and three brothers, Virgil, Gordon and Alan already seated and working their way through sizable portions of chicken salad. As he sat, Scott asked, "Where's Grandma?"

Alan answered, "Grandma and Tin-Tin have some kind of sewing project going on. They said they were going to skip lunch."

Scott helped himself from the huge salad bowl in the center of the table. His grandmother had struggled for years to get Scott and his brothers to eat healthy. It had been a losing battle until they had moved to Tracy Island. The lack of readily available fast food had given Ruth Tracy the upper hand. Scott didn't mind. The salads that Grandma trotted out anytime she baked pies were always as tasty as they were healthful. Still, it never hurt to tweak a brother or two...

"God, this salad looks good!"

Virgil sat back and threw his older brother a dirty look. Alan just rolled his eyes. Gordon grinned, "It's that piquant hint of ginger that does it."

"And the baby lettuces. Tender."

"The little chunks of avocado really add the right note."

"Yes, and who would have thought that kiwi would blend right in?"

By this time, Virgil was looking disgusted and Alan had started picking through his bowl, looking for the avocado. Of course, there was none, but neither Scott nor Gordon were inclined to let him know.

Virgil growled. "All right, you two. Enough. Gordon, you're on thin ice as it is."

Gordon had long since perfected a look of wide-eyed innocence. The fact that the look never fooled anyone didn't seem to faze him. "Me? What did I do?"

"You're cleaning it up, you know. As soon as lunch is over."

"Uh, okay. Sure." Gordon paused to chew for a moment. "Cleaning what up?"

Scott and Virgil threw each other concerned glances. Gordon's question implied there was more than one possibility. Virgil narrowed his eyes and said belligerently, "All of it."

"Sorry. Love to help you out, Virg, but Grandma says I have to take a nap after lunch."

"Hang Grandma, you're going to come down to the hangar and clean that mess up or else."

"Virgil!" Jeff shot his second son a quelling glance. With a hint of irritation he asked, "What mess?"

"Cobwebs." Virgil gritted out. "Cobwebs all over the interior of the Firefly."

"Gordon, after lunch I want you to go clean up the Firefly, but then I want you resting. Your grandmother is right, we can't afford for you to have a relapse."

"I'll clean it up for him, Dad."

Alan's offer brought a smile to Gordon's face, and a frown to Virgil's. "Thanks, Alan, I could use the help."

The exchange puzzled Scott, but before he could figure out what it was that bothered him, Kyrano appeared with a tray holding large wedges of pie. He offered the tray first to Jeff who snagged the largest piece of pumpkin pie. Scott eyed the two slices of apple pie critically before taking the piece that appeared larger.

"Now we're talkin'!" Virgil smiled as he took his share of the pumpkin pie. He pushed aside the salad and picked up a clean fork.

"Uh, no, Kyrano, thanks. I think I'll just have some apple pie." Gordon said it quietly, not looking at anyone.

Four sets of eyes were drawn to the redheaded family prankster. Gordon had often declared pumpkin pie to be 'food of the gods', and for him to turn down a slice was unheard of. With a frown, Alan took a piece of pumpkin pie from the tray and studied it suspiciously. "What's wrong with it?"

Gordon gave no sign of having heard the question, instead concentrating on his slice of apple pie to the exclusion of all else. "Yes, Gordon, what's wrong with the pumpkin pie?" Virgil demanded in a quiet, deadly tone.

Gordon jumped and with a too-innocent stare replied, "Nothing. I just wanted apple this time."

Alan screwed up his courage, and with a scrunched up face, took a small bite. He held the bite in his mouth for a moment then with a retching sound spit it out. He stared at his brother in disgust and said in an aggrieved tone, "You messed with the PUMPKIN pie? Are you nuts?"

Virgil looked at the pie, then at his brothers, then at the pie again. Like Gordon, Virgil loved pumpkin pie best of all. He looked over at Scott. "Can I kill him now?"

Scott frowned, realizing that if the pumpkin pie was ruined everyone would be eating his apple pie. "I'll help."

"Never mind boys." Jeff fixed his fourth son with a gimlet stare. "Punishment should fit the crime, don't you agree, son?"

Gordon swallowed hard. "Uh...."

"Virgil, you and Alan give Gordon your pie. He'll finish it up for you." Jeff said as he pushed his own slice to his red-faced son. "Every bite. Come on, boys, we'll go have some apple pie in the kitchen."

"Oh, no. I'm going to sit here and watch him. Make sure he doesn't miss any of it." Alan said vindictively. "And you can clean up the Firefly by yourself."

Virgil, Scott and Jeff got up and left the two youngest at the table, disappearing into the bowels of the house.

Gordon sat facing the three slices of pie, biting his bottom lip. After several moments, he looked across the table at his brother. "That went well."

"Heck yes!" With a grin, Alan pulled back his piece of pie and dug in. "You think we can get all three pies?"

"If we're careful, I don't see why not. The trick will be eating it all before Kyrano or Grandma throws it out."

"I've got to hand it to you, bro, this is one of your more brilliant scams."

"Yes, well, you did your part perfectly. I wonder if I could claim a bellyache, make Virgil clean out the Firefly. I was a bit surprised he'd get that hot over a few little cobwebs." Gordon said through a mouthful of pie.

"Well, I guess you could say I went a bit overboard on it. I used like three packages of it. Once you get going it's kind of hard to stop."

Gordon barked a laugh then grimaced remembering he was being 'punished'. "Three packages? Did you spray it with that adhesive like I told you?"

"Yeah. It looked great. You have to come see it before I clean it up."

"I'm going to help you, Al. It was my idea, after all."

"Sure, if you feel like it."

"Is there any of that spray adhesive left? I'm thinking we could spray the insides of their hats."

"Or maybe their seats!"

"Oh, good idea! No wait! How about if we spray the go devil?" 'Go devil' was the nickname Virgil had given the padded slide that carried him down a long chute to Thunderbird Two.

"Oh man! That would be perfect! Do you think it would work?"

"Hey, you never know unless you try."

"You know, this could just be the straw that breaks the camel's back. Virg was pretty mad..."

"It's like I've always told you, kid, life is nothing if you don't have fun."

"God, can you imagine? He gets on the go devil, and just when he thinks he's home free, he comes to a dead stop!"

"No, no, he hits the end of the chute, and he keeps going, but his clothes stay stuck!" By this time, the two brothers were laughing helplessly.

At the sounds of activity in the house they quickly stifled their laughter and gobbled down the last crumbs of pie. Picking up their plates, the two conspirators entered the house. Jeff, Scott and Virgil had been joined by Brains and were currently gathered around Jeff's desk consulting some charts.

Jeff glanced up and seeing his youngest sons, called out, "Gordon, come over here please."

Gordon and Alan exchanged glances, and Alan held out his hand, taking the plates and silverware that his brother was carrying. Gordon made his way over to the desk. His eyebrows went up as he realized the charts were of the ocean floor in the area.

"What's up, Dad?"

"Some of the remote sensors out on the Boranga reefs have picked up something. Have you done any diving out in this area here?" Jeff's finger jabbed at the chart.

"Uh, no. I've done a few dives on the reef itself, but nothing in that area. Is it a surface ship?"

"Uh, no Gordon. It appears to, uh, be on the seabed. The sensors have been unable to define it any more than to, uh, say that it appears to be m-m-manmade."

"You mean like a habitat or something?"

"It's impossible to say at, uh, this juncture."

"Well, why don't I just go take a look?"

A slow smile spread over Virgil's face. "Sorry. Love to let you go, Gordon, but Grandma says you have to take a nap after lunch."

"What? No, wait! Dad, I'm the best man for the job! You know I am!"

"Son, the fact remains that you haven't fully recovered from that flu. The last thing I want is for you to get sick three hundred feet below the surface. No, I agree with Virgil. You head on to bed, we'll let Scott and Brains take this one."

Scott jumped at the sound of his name. "Uh, Dad, can I have a word with you?"

The two men stepped to the back of the room for a private conference. "I think you should let Gordon do this."

"Son, let me remind you only yesterday he seemed fine then ended up sleeping most of the afternoon. Until I'm confident that he has his stamina back, I'm not going to let him out of this house, let alone diving."

Scott sighed. "I understand, but still, this is the kind of thing he lives for. It justifies his place in International Rescue."

"Justifies... ? Scott, Gordon does not have to 'justify' his place. He is a member of this family, and an integral part of International Rescue." Jeff spoke quietly but intensely.

"Whoa! Dad, don't get me wrong! I know just how integral Gordon is, and not just with water rescues either. But sometimes I get the feeling he questions his part. How about this... We send him and Alan. Gordon can direct things from the boat and Alan can do the diving."

"I'd rather you went along. I can't trust Alan to keep Gordon under control."

Scott shook his head. "I'd really rather not. If I go, it's like we don't trust him."

"Scott, he ruined the pumpkin pie. I'm not really inclined to reward him for that." Jeff glanced over to where Gordon was questioning Brains about the sensor readings. He sighed and said in a small voice, "I was looking forward to that pie."

"Grandma can always make another pie. And just think, you can make him sit there and watch you eat the whole thing."

Jeff chuckled. Rubbing his hand over his face he said, "All right. We let him go, but only if he stays in the boat." Jeff and Scott re-joined the group at the desk. "Son, Scott's convinced me that we really can't afford to keep you at home on this. But if you go, you go on my terms."

Gordon shot a grateful glance to his brother then responded. "Okay, Dad, whatever you say."

"Take Alan with you. He dives, you stay on the boat."

"Oh, but Father..."

"No buts, Gordon. I want your word on this."

"But what if it's something Alan can't handle? He shouldn't dive alone, after all."

"This is just a reconnaissance. Alan goes down, sees what it is and comes back. That's it. If you can't agree to this, then we'll go back to my original plan and let Scott and Brains handle it."

"Yes sir." Gordon's reluctance was plain, but he gave in rather than miss out altogether.

"Good. Now go get your brother and get going. Even with the jet boat, this site is over fifty miles out and the day is wasting."

"Yes sir!" Gordon left the room with alacrity.

Scott noticed Virgil's dyspeptic look and with a grin said, "Look at it this way, Virg. If he's out there on the ocean, he's not here playing dirty tricks on you."

Virgil raised an eyebrow. "I was planning on getting him alone and 'educating' him."

"Well, it looks like that'll have to wait. Come on, let's go work on the Mole. Brains and I have an appointment later to work on a project, and I don't want to miss it."

Scott threw a friendly arm across his brother's shoulder and led him toward the hangars. Brains wandered away toward his lab. Jeff sat at his desk and listened as the engine of the family's jet boat fired up and roared away into the distance. Thinking about his lost piece of pumpkin pie, he sighed and returned to his work.

Alan Tracy kicked back in the passenger seat of the jet boat. He loved being out on the ocean. The wind was blowing his hair into disarray, and the sun felt good on his upturned face. The only thing that could have made it better was if he was behind the wheel.

Fat chance of that happening. His brother seemed to think the ocean was his private property, and anytime they went out fishing or sailing or jet boating, Gordon just naturally took charge. Alan couldn't complain, though. The rare times they got a night out in town together, Alan assumed the right to drive, and Gordon was the passenger then. "How much farther?"

Gordon glanced at the in dash GPS unit. "Another five minutes should do it. Listen, why don't you start prepping for the dive?"

"Sure." Alan carefully stood up and moved to the back of the boat where the gear stood waiting. He knew the drill by heart, but still, he went over each piece of equipment to make sure it was in top shape. Before he was done, Gordon had powered down the boat and tossed the sea anchor overboard. The brothers raised the red and white dive flag despite the fact that there were no other boats within sight.

"You got your camera ready?" Gordon asked after Alan had donned his wetsuit and dive gear.

"Right here and ready to go."

"Okay, you know the drill. Go down, see what it is, and come right back."

"Yes, mother."

With an exasperated look, Gordon helped his brother to the gunwale of the boat. "Go. Have fun. Think of me."

Laughing, Alan jumped feet first into the water and disappeared. Gordon checked his watch, and headed for the communications console. As he reached for the microphone, the speaker came to life. "Base to Gordon, come in, son."

Gordon muttered, "Right on time." Flicking a switch, he said, "This is Gordon. We're on site, and Alan has just gone down."

"All right, son. Let me know what he finds."

"FAB, Father."

Gordon spent the next forty minutes wishing he was in the water. Finally, Alan poked his head out of the water. "It's a shipwreck. An old sailing ship." With a hand from Gordon, Alan climbed into the boat. "Check out the pictures I took."

Alan handed Gordon his digital camera. Gordon peered intently at the digital camera's tiny screen. The lighting was poor, but in several of the shots, he could make out a dark looming hulk. In one shot, he could see the name plate on the stern, but the quality of the light foiled his efforts to read the name. "I can't make this out here. Could you tell what its name was?"

"Uh, yeah. It's the L'espoir de Marie. That's French for Hope of Mary."

Gordon just stared at his brother. "Are you sure about that name?"

"As sure as I can be. It was pretty faded. Why?"

"Alan, L'espoir de Marie was one of the first French privateers to sail in the South Pacific. That ship is over two hundred years old."

"Privateer? You mean it's a pirate ship? Cool!" Alan grinned. "Maybe there's treasure down there!"

"I've got to go see it. Help me get my gear on."

"What? No way! Dad would kill you, and me too!"

"Alan, you don't understand. The L'espoir de Marie went down somewhere off of New Guinea in a storm. That's over 700 miles west of here. How could it have gotten here? The currents don't account for it. The sinking was well documented. There is no way that ship should be here. There is something not right about this, and I need to know what it is."

"Look, that ship isn't going anywhere. We can come back in a few days when you're better..."

"I'm fine now. And that's just the thing. Brains has had sensors in this area for how long, and they only picked up this ship now? It doesn't make sense."

"So what are you saying? If you don't go now, it's going to pull up anchor and escape? That's crazy."

Gordon frowned. He wasn't sure what he was saying, but he knew he had to see this ship. "Look, Dad sent me out here to evaluate the threat. I can't make that evaluation without seeing this ship."

"Fine. Then let's call him up and get permission."

Gordon smiled wryly. "It's always better to beg forgiveness than get permission."

"That's because you know what he'll say. And what about Scott? He really went to bat for you today. What's he going to say?"

Gordon had the grace to look uncomfortable. "He's just going to have to understand."

"This is not a good idea, Gordy."

"Look, are you going to cover my back or what?" Gordon stared a challenge at his brother.

Alan returned the stare for a moment then grudgingly replied. "Always."

Gordon stared a moment longer then nodded and said quietly, "Thanks, Al."

Alan shook his head, then turned to help his brother don his diving equipment. As he went over the hoses and tanks he muttered, "You drown, and I'm gonna kill you."

"Okay, I'm ready. Let's get this show on the road."

"You sure you won't reconsider?"

"Yup. All right then, first one to the bottom gets to kiss Tin-Tin!" With that, Gordon let himself fall backward over the rail.

"Hey!" Alan cried out then with an identical move, entered the water after his brother. The two brothers swam down following the line of the dive chain, a weighted cable that stretched from the boat all the way to the bottom. Modern technology made dives of even five hundred feet within the realm of the sport diver, and both Alan and Gordon were expert divers to even greater depths.

As they continued down into the deep, the light from the surface disappeared. Their facemasks were equipped with small but powerful halogen lights, and the brothers both turned them on, startling a small school of fish. The fish in turn startled Alan and he let loose a yell.

Gordon snickered. "What's the matter, Al? Nasty little fishies scare you?"

"Aw, shut up, Gordon. I was just startled, that's all. Come on, let's get down there." Alan suited actions to words and took the lead swimming strongly downward. Gordon was content to swim a few feet behind, but when they hit the 300 foot marker on the dive chain, he suddenly flashed past his younger brother, and within a few feet, lightly touched down on the sea floor.

Alan hid his disgruntlement and sniffed, "That was childish."

"Childish, but effective. I win. Is that it over there?" At the edge of the headlamps, a dark shape loomed. Gordon led the way, swimming just about the sea floor. They reached the shape which towered over their heads. Gordon reached out and wiped away a growth of algae covering the shape. "Wood."

"What did you expect?"

"I'm not really sure. Come on."

In mounting curiosity, they swam up the side of the hulk, which proved to be the stern of the old sailing ship. Finding a large metal plate on the stern, Gordon traced his hand over the engraved letters. "It's the L'espoir de Marie, all right."

"Okay then. What do you say we go explore? Maybe we can find some doubloons or maybe even triploons!" Alan's trepidation at disobeying their father had disappeared in light of their discovery.

"Wait Alan. There's something not right about this. We need to be careful."

"God, you're such a wuss. First you can't wait to get down here and see it, now you're afraid to look. Of course we'll be careful, now come on." Alan led the way up over the gunwale to the afterdeck. Despite the ravages of time, the ship was in surprisingly good shape. The rigging and cross spars of the main mast littered the deck, but that mast still thrust straight up into the murk.

Alan swam forward to find the ship's wheel still intact. Wiping off some of the silt, he called out "Dibs!"

Gordon came up beside him and spoke to him with exaggerated patience. "You can't just call dibs and take stuff, Al. This is an important historical site. It needs to be properly excavated."

Alan reached over and mimed knocking on Gordon's head. "Hello! Earth to Gordon! We can't tell anyone it's here. It's too close to the island, remember? Treasure hunters turn up and Dad'll blow a gasket. So I can too call dibs, and I just did."

"Tsk. Just because it can't be excavated now doesn't give you the right to rob the site. Get out your camera and take a few more shots, then let's get out of here. This place creeps me out."

"Creeps you out? Why?" Alan looked around as if expecting a ghost to pop out of the woodwork.

"I dunno. It shouldn't be here, okay? I don't understand how it got here and that bothers me."

"You've probably just got it confused with some other ship. Okay, we just get some pictures and head on back. I still want to try that adhesive on the go devil."

"Yeah, and I was thinking we could rig something up so that when Scott fires up Thunderbird One a spider drops down in front of him."

"Hey, look over there! A skeleton! That'd be so cool! Scott hits the ignition key, and down drops a skeleton! Let's take it with us, what do you say?"

"No. Leave it be. That used to be a person, you know. You don't want to disturb... What was that?"

Alan looked up. "What was what?"

"Uh, I thought I saw something move."

"Where?"

"Over there, in that corner."

"Probably just a crab or something." Alan moved toward the dark corner. His headlamp picked up another jumble of human bones, but then flashed off of something. "What's this? Hey, it's a ring. Look at this, Gordy. You probably just saw a stray reflection off of this ring."

Alan wiped the ring with his hands then impulsively slipped it on his finger. "Check this out. Kind of garish, but then, I'm a garish sort of guy."

"Put it back. I told you, we aren't going to rob this site."

"Spoilsport. I wasn't going to take it, I was just trying it on."

"Well, take it off. I want to get out of here. I'm starting to get tired." The plea in Gordon's tone brought Alan up short.

"Okay, I'll just snap a few shots for the ol' scrapbook and we're outta... hey, it won't come off."

"Quit clowning, Alan."

"I'm.... not... clowning. It really... won't... come off! Ow! It feels like it's shrinking! Gordy, it's starting to hurt!"

"Here, let me see. Geez, how did you get it on in the first place?"

"It went on easy, like it was a couple of sizes too big."

"Well, it's not too big now. I think we're going to have to use a saw and cut it off. Damn. I really don't want to disturb this site."

"Oh crap!"

"What?"

"Gordon, I swear! That skeleton moved! I saw it!"

"Oh. Now I get it. Nice try, Alan, but I'm not falling for it."

"No, I'm not kidding! It moved! Its head was facing the other way. Now it's looking right at us." Alan was breathing hard. "Forget the pictures, let's just get out of here!"

'Now who's being a wuss? They're just bones, Alan" To prove his point, Gordon swam over and kicked at the bone pile with his flipper. In eerie silence the bones toppled to the deck, but then rising through the water, began to reform in human shape.

The two Tracy brothers watched in astonishment as the bones became a complete skeleton and, arms outstretched, started drifting toward them.

"Uh... uh... Gordon?"

"Just back away. No sudden moves." With their eyes riveted on the approaching apparition, the brothers floated back.

They had only moved a few feet Gordon felt something brush the back of his neck. Jerking away, he spun to find another skeleton coming at them. "Jeezus! Al! Let's get out of here!"

In a full panic, the two brothers swam straight up for the surface, both afraid to look back for fear of what might be coming for them. A hundred feet up from the bottom and Gordon slowed.

Alan, who had been at his shoulder, continued on for a few feet before noticing. When he realized he was alone, Alan looked down to where his brother floated, looking back the way they came. "Gordon? You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, Alan, I think we've been had."

"What?"

"Think about it. Ghost pirates? Come on! I'll bet Scott and Virgil are behind this."

"But those bones..."

"Smoke and mirrors. Visibility down there is poor at best. It wouldn't take much to string a few bones together, make 'em dance. I'm telling you, it's a fake. Let's go back down and figure out how they did it."

"No! I mean, we can't. We need to report in. What if Dad calls and there's no answer? Come on, let's just get out of here. We can come back later and figure it all out."

Gordon floated staring down into the black water. Alan called out, "Gordon?"

Gordon shook himself then replied. "Okay, but I bet it all disappears before we can get back here."

The two brothers resumed their swim to the surface, this time at a much slower pace. The water was just beginning to lighten when their ears were assailed by an eerie wail. Almost against their will they paused and looked again into the depths.

Gordon gasped and Alan gave an inarticulate cry at what they saw. Rising directly toward them was a huge ghastly white skull, teeth bared in a soundless scream. The brothers bolted as the skull reached them. Where it touched they felt a clammy cold, but it seemed to take no further notice of them as it rushed by.

"Gordy? Gordy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just let me start breathing again. What the hell was that?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to find out. Let's just get back to the boat and go home, okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sure." The two brothers continued on, this time watching for any sign of any activity. They finally reached the boat and Alan climbed aboard then helped Gordon up. As soon as the tanks were off, both brothers laid down in the bottom of the boat gasping for breath and shaking.

Alan looked over at Gordon's pale face and asked, "You still think it was Scott and Virgil?"

"I dunno. I dunno what to think. I mean, it's one thing to wire up some bones, but how could they have done that skull thing?"

"Still, if it wasn't them, what happened down there?"

"I dunno. Maybe we imagined it."

Alan held up his hand. The ring was still in place, the finger it was on slightly swollen from the constriction. "This seems real enough."

"Yeah." Gordon got up off the deck. "You pull in the dive chain, I'll get the anchor. Let's go home."

Gordon reached down to help his brother up, then they set about preparing to leave. Once the anchor and dive chain were stowed, Gordon went to start the engine but as he did so, there came a thump and scraping on the bottom of the hull. Alan jumped to his feet. "What was that?"

Both brothers stared at the deck listening as the faint scraping came again. It sounded as if something was moving along the keel of the boat. Gordon and Alan stood rooted to the spot, their eyes following the sound as the scraping moved to the side of the hull.

The sound reached the side of the boat and still neither man moved. The hair went up on the backs of their necks as they could hear whatever it was making its slow way up the low side of the boat. Their breathing was coming in ragged gasps when suddenly, like a spider, a skeletal hand appeared and grasped the gunwale. With a shriek, Alan kicked the hand loose, and Gordon spun to get the boat started. The boat started with a roar.

As Gordon slammed it into gear, Alan looked over the side, to see a grinning skull looking back. He leapt back from the hideous sight and fell against the seat cushions as the boat sped away. The trip back to shore was spent in silence. Neither brother knew quite what to say.

Once they were in sight of the island, Alan spoke up. "So, what are we going to tell Father?"

"We tell him it's an old shipwreck."

"That's all? What about the skeletons?"

"What about them? Look Alan, if we go around spouting off about moving skeletons and flying skulls, they're going to put us both in the loony bin. I say we tell him the truth, it's a shipwreck and no threat to International Rescue. Pure and simple."

"What about Scott and Virgil?"

"We don't tell them either."

"Why not?"

"First, they won't believe us. Second, if they do believe us, they might decide to go out there, and I think whatever is going on out there is best left alone." Gordon throttled the jet boat back in preparation for docking. "And third, there's still a chance they were behind it all. I don't know how, but there's still that possibility, and I don't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing they spooked us. So we don't say anything to anybody."

"Yeah. Okay. Uh-oh..." Alan spotted Virgil waiting for them sitting at the edge of the dock.

As Gordon shut down the boat he muttered for Alan's ears only. "Stick with me, would you? He can't take us both."

Alan, tying the boat to the dock replied in kind, "You got it, bro."

With no way to reasonably stall any longer, the two brothers got out of the boat and walked over to where their older brother was waiting for them, eating a piece of pumpkin pie.

"Hey, Virg. So Grandma made another pie, huh?" Alan asked.

"No. Try again."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, let me tell you. After lunch, I was working on the Mole. You know how sometimes if you're used to doing something, it's almost as if your hands do it without you actually thinking about it? Well, there I was, and my mind was free to think. You want to know what I was thinking about?"

Gordon and Alan shared an uneasy glance. Gordon cleared his throat against the sudden dryness and said, "Uh, no, not particularly."

"I was thinking how odd it was for Alan to offer to clean up a mess he didn't make. It's just not his style."

"Hey, I was helping Gordon out. He's been sick, you know."

"And I thought 'now, just why would Alan do such a thing'. And you know what I came up with?"

"Because he's a generous guy." Alan said in a flat voice.

"I came up with the thought 'he wouldn't'. And that puzzled me. But I kept at it, and I had one of those lightbulb moments. You know, where you have that brilliant flash of insight?"

"This is all very interesting, Virg, but we have to go report to Dad." Gordon tried to step around his older brother, but Virgil blocked the way.

"Oh, but you must want to know about my brilliant insight. The reason Alan would offer to help clean it up was because he was in on it." Virgil smiled sweetly. "But that's not all. I was on a roll. I thought, 'if Alan was in on the cobwebs, why wasn't he in on the pumpkin pie? And you know what? I had a second flash! Isn't that amazing?"

"I don't know what you're talking about Virgil." Alan said primly.

"Oh, but I think you do. You see, I had this suspicion, and I went to the kitchen and there was that pie. The one you said was ruined. And you know what? I took a bite. And guess what I found?"

"All right, all right! Uncle! You found us out. So what? It was just a joke, Virg." Gordon was getting exasperated.

"Hmmm. Yes, a joke. You know, I like a good joke as well as the next person, and I have to hand it to you guys, you really had me going." Virgil's smile took on a hard quality. "Why don't we just go share it with Dad? Oh, and Grandma too. I'm sure she'll just love it. She spent the afternoon working on more pies instead of sewing like she wanted too."

"Okay, what's it going to cost us to keep you quiet?" asked Alan with a resigned air.

"Well, obviously, you're going to go clean up the mess you made in the Firefly. Before dinner."

"Yeah, fine. What else?"

"You're both going to develop a sudden aversion to pie."

"Oh, come on!"

"No way, Virgil!" The two perpetrators cried out indignantly.

"An aversion to pie that's going to last until after Thanksgiving."

"Two weeks. No pie for two weeks."

"Did I say this was a negotiation? You both agree here and now, on your honor, not to touch a single piece of pie until the day after Thanksgiving, or we go to Dad."

Gordon and Alan looked at each other. They were trapped and they knew it. Gordon looked down, "All right."

"Nice try. I want to hear it. Promise."

Rolling his eyes, Gordon said sullenly. "I promise not to touch...

"Or eat."

"Or eat any pie until after Thanksgiving."

"Your turn, Alan."

"Virg..."

"Now, Alan."

"Okay, okay. I promise not to touch or eat any pie until after Thanksgiving. There. Are you happy now?"

"Delirious. I know it's tough, but you guys have to learn you just can't put anything over on me. Or Scott for that matter." Satisfied that he had the upper hand, Virgil asked, "So how did it go out there? What was it? A habitat?"

"No, just an old shipwreck. Listen, we have to go tell Dad. We'll see you later."

Gordon and Alan slunk away headed for the house. As soon as they were out of earshot Gordon said quietly, "We need to figure a way to make the go devil stop halfway down the chute."

Scott leaned against the balcony railing enjoying the soft evening air. The moon had just risen and washed the ocean with light. The sound of a soft step brought Scott's head up as Virgil joined him. "Nice evening."

"Yeah, quiet." Scott replied. He looked his brother over. "You seem in a much better mood."

"Oh, yeah, well, pumpkin pie will do that to a guy."

"I noticed the terrible two didn't take any dessert."

"Yeah, I noticed that too."

"You wouldn't happen to know why, would you?"

"As it happens, I do know."

Scott waited patiently. Virgil looked out over the ocean for a bit then chuckled. "The little shits had it all planned. Gordon suddenly doesn't want pie, and Alan tastes it and spits it out. I fell for it hook, line and sinker. They would have gotten away with it, too, except Alan slipped up. When he offered to clean up the cobwebs, it got me thinking. I figured out he offered because he was in on it in the first place. Then I realized the bit with the pie was a setup."

"Yeah, I figured that out too. So what did you tell them?"

"I told them they can't have any pie until after Thanksgiving, or I'd tell Dad about it."

"That seems a bit harsh."

"Scott, they have to learn."

The two brothers stood in companionable silence for several minutes before Scott said, "Personally, I prefer the creative approach."

Virgil looked over at his brother and a small smile formed. "What do you mean?"

"Remember last spring, when Dad got that special delivery envelope?"

"The one with the doctored picture?"

"Yeah. The glossy eight by ten."

"Yes, I remember it well. You have to admit, it was a great counterfeit job."

"Too good. You weren't in the room when Dad first opened it up and saw this picture of his eldest and favorite son in stiletto heels and fishnet stockings."

Virgil couldn't help it. He started to laugh. Scott chuckled quietly. "It was a sight to behold, I have to give you that. But Dad about dropped dead on the spot."

"I always wondered how you got back at Gordon for that one."

"Well, I didn't. At least, not until today."

"Today? What did you do?"

"You might remember, Dad got that envelope at about the same time that Brains started getting all of those strange letters."

"Right. Because someone had registered him with the High IQ Sperm Donor program."

"Right. Anyway, he and I got together and we decided to get some of our own back."

Virgil grinned in anticipation, "What did you do? Come on, tell me!"

"An amusement park in Bolivia went bust, and one of the things that went on the auction block was this ratty old replica of an 18th century sailing ship. Got it for a song."

"Oh geez! That ship out there isn't real?"

"Well, it's real enough. We had it shipped out in three big pieces and sunk it. Then we wired up a couple of skeletons. I wasn't so sure they'd fool anyone, but Brains said in the water, with poor lighting, you'd never be able to tell they weren't real. I'll tell you, we tried them out, and they scared me, and I knew what they were. Then we rigged up some fake jewels and things. Doubloons that disintergrate when you touch them, rings that tighten up when you put them on, that kind of stuff. Then Brains came up with the piece de resistance. He built this holographic projector."

"Yeah? What did it do?"

"You know he's been fooling around with water dynamics, right? What he did was he built this airtight chamber in the hold of the boat. He covered it with this micro-thin sheet of polymer attached to this tiny little projector. The way it works is, the chamber opens up and this huge bubble of air escapes out and lifts this polymer sheet straight up to the surface. The projector uses optic fibers to distribute light across the surface of the sheet, and it projects a giant skull. Again, we tried it out, and it was fantastic. It looks like this thing is chasing you."

"God, I can't believe you went to all that trouble."

"It took a lot of time, but it really wasn't that hard. I mean we worked on it for months. Oh, I have to tell you about my contribution! I built this fiberglass shell. It fit right over the hull of the jet boat. It was so seamless you couldn't tell it was there."

"What was that for?"

"Just a little bite on the butt in case he didn't fall for it. It hid this animatronic skeleton. When it's triggered, it knocks on the bottom of the boat, then it moves around, then it tries to climb aboard."

"Wait a minute, he didn't dive today. You went to all that work, and he didn't even see it. Damn."

"Well, I figured Alan would tell him it was a shipwreck and he'd go back in a couple of days and we'd get him then."

"I want to be in on it, Scott. Maybe we could go with him."

"Actually, no. He went diving today." Scott's voice had grown cold.

"He did? Bastard! And after you vouched for him?"

"Yes."

"You can't let that pass, you know... Wait a minute, how did you know he went diving?"

"You didn't think Brains and I were going to set it up and not watch, did you? We had night vision cameras all over that wreck. And on the jet boat too. We saw and heard the whole thing."

"Tell me you taped it."

"Your copy is in your room."

"Damn Scott, you're good."

"Yes. Yes, I am, aren't I?"

"You'll let me be there when you tell him, won't you?"

"Count on it."

Virgil turned his back on the view, and leaned back with his elbows on the railing. "You know, I think I'm beginning to like Halloween."

The two brothers shared an evil grin and started to chuckle.