THAT DAMNED SHARK STORY by BOOMERCAT RATED FRPT

Sharks put the bite on the Tracy boys.

Author's Notes: This story began its life as a bedtime story. I was telling a couple of chapters live every few days to a group of friends in a chatroom. Unfortunately, one day, the story was lost when the chatroom crashed. I decided not to continue because I always feel I can't reconstruct properly when I lose my work. I had already started posting the story, so I pulled it, and set it aside, never intending to work on it again. But then, something very strange happened... People started asking me if I was ever going to finish it. I was surprised because I didn't see any worth in it at all except as an amusement. I told all comers that I had no intention of going back to it. I finished off "Whirlwinds" and got started on my next project. But I found the only story that wanted to be written was that damn shark story. I finally gave into the inevitable and finished it. WARNING: Major whumping alert. Only John escapes unharmed, and if I could have figured out a way to get a shark into a space suit, even he would not have been safe. ^..^

Not every day in paradise is perfect. On Tracy Island, a tiny tropical island in the South Pacific, the Tracy family could attest to that. Sometime during the night, the main server for the family's network of computers had gone down, and the family had slept the night unaware that Thunderbird Five where John Tracy currently stood watch was out of communication. When the problem was discovered in the morning, there was some unfortunate finger pointing caused, no doubt, by half-awake disgruntlement.

The entire family was upset and mildly annoyed with one another when the toilet in Scott's bathroom clogged up and overflowed. Scott retreated quickly, nose crinkled by the ungodly smell of raw sewage. He accosted his younger brother Gordon, who was on his way out the door to go to 'his' lagoon on the other side of the island. Gordon had spent a couple of summers in high school working as a plumber's assistant and had by default become the family plumber. Normally, Gordon was good-natured about it, not minding the stench and liking the feeling of doing something his very accomplished brothers couldn't do, but on this occasion, he wanted to get over to his 'garden'.

When the Tracy family had first moved to the island several years earlier, Gordon had become entranced by the lagoon that was nestled on the far side of the island. He had asked his father for permission to try his hand at aquaculture in the surprisingly deep waters of the lagoon. Because it was out of the way, and had no particular strategic value to Jeff's plans, he had said yes, and the area had been known as 'Gordon's Garden' ever since. His brothers rarely visited the area because it had no real beach, just sharp rocks and treacherous currents, but that suited Gordon fine, and after a few years, he started supplying a variety of shellfish for the family table.

Today, he had wanted to go over and collect some scallops that he had hybridized. The previous day, he had almost fallen from a rocky ledge during a mine rescue. He was saved from sure injury by his brother Virgil who had grabbed him and pulled him back. Gordon wanted the scallops, which were very large, but hopefully still sweet, to be a thank you to his brother.

After the problems of the morning, Gordon was in no mood to help Scott out. On rescues, Scott was his commander, no different from any commander that he had served under during his short tenure with WASP, but at home, Scott was just his bossy older brother. Gordon suggested to Scott that he locate a plunger, take it to the offending toilet, set it in place, drop his pants, sit on it and give it a ride.

Scott was disinclined to follow the suggestion.

Scott advised Gordon that if he didn't want the sewage to land up on his bed, he would stop screwing around and fix the effing toilet. Gordon would have just walked away, his usual answer to an argument, but Jeff came down the hallway frowning at the smell and asked Gordon if he had fixed the problem yet. While Gordon would face down Scott any day of the week, his father was a different matter, so he simply answered 'not yet.'

Scott was wise enough not to gloat, and told his brother if he would fix the toilet, Scott would do the messy clean up. Mollified, Gordon nodded and headed to the tool room to get his plumber's tools. When he got to the bathroom, he found that Scott had already cleaned up the spillage and left towels on the floor to soak up any additional mess. Gordon got to work, and had the line cleared, and the toilet working in less than half an hour.

Once he put his tools away, Gordon went in search of his brother. Finding him in the computer room working with Alan to get the server back online, Gordon called out to tell him that the toilet was fixed. Scott's appreciation cleared the lingering bad mood from Gordon's mind, but then Alan, distracted by the conversation cut the wrong wire. The computer room, deep in the bowels of the house went dark as the electricity was cut. There was dead silence for a moment, then Gordon started snickering as Scott started cursing, and Alan started weaseling out of the blame, claiming it never would have happened if Gordon hadn't been so loud.

The emergency lights winked on, and Gordon left his brothers to their bickering. Grabbing his daypack, the redheaded Tracy brother headed out overland. The island was small by island standards, and the family had explored virtually every nook and cranny, but still, it took Gordon over an hour to reach his destination. There was no beach to this bit of the island. The trees and scrub came right down to the shore. But in one spot, Gordon had cleared the trees, and built himself a small pier with a prefabricated shed at one end. It wasn't much to look at, but Gordon didn't really give a damn. He quickly donned his scuba gear and dove into the sheltered waters of the lagoon. With the surety of familiarity, Gordon swam down, down into the depths.

The reason Gordon didn't much care about the looks of his work area on land was because once he was under the sea, the true beauty of the area unfolded before him. He had in his travels gathered many specimen corals that now dotted the rocks of the lagoon. By temperament a naturalist, Gordon tended these corals as carefully as he tended his food 'crops' deeper down. As he swam through the coral garden, his eyes never stopped moving, looking here and there, watching for any signs of distress. He paused on occasion to take a closer look, but his care was better than he really knew, and the corals all were thriving. On occasion, Gordon would spend time just taking in the beauty of his garden of corals, but today he had more important things on his mind.

As he swam deeper, Gordon could feel the water cool around him. That was one of the things that so attracted him to the lagoon. In shape, it was typically circular. A two-mile long reef encircled a natural bay. But unlike most of the lagoons that dotted the islands of this area, this lagoon actually went to a depth to several hundred feet. Gordon utilized all the different levels in his ongoing work, exploring the potentials for food production in the sea. This day, he was only going about 80 feet down.

In the twentieth century when scuba diving had been developed, a dive of 80 feet would require extensive decompression in several stages. Gordon admired those hearty pioneers, but was glad that modern advances in both technology and medicine had made such nuisances unnecessary. Due to a tiny device implanted just under the skin in his left shoulder, Gordon was able to free dive to a depth unheard of by those early pioneers.

As he swam deeper, the color was leached from the water leaving even colorful corals looking like a bizarre moonscape of grays and blacks. Gordon continued on until he came to an area covered with a fine steel mesh. It looked somewhat like an aviary, and in truth, it served the same purpose, to protect and imprison the species that Gordon kept there. He entered through a double lock that insured none of his denizens could escape.

He went directly to one corner of the large enclosure where he found, as he expected, his current 'crop' of scallops. Like all of his crops, Gordon had read up on scallop farming before had bought his seed crops. He worked to breed a larger scallop that would retain the sweetness of its smaller cousins. He had recently achieved his goal, and now was working to breed enough of the new hybrid scallops to make them commercially feasible. He was working with some other species, but none had panned out quite as spectacularly as the scallops.

Gordon fully expected to approach his dad in a few years with the success of his venture and to turn the results over to the family business, Tracy Enterprises. He relished the surprise that would engulf his family when they discovered that the only Tracy boy not to have a college degree was able to contribute something so worthwhile. Only his younger brother Alan knew of the project, and he had little interest in it.

Gordon took a large mesh bag from his belt, and selected the largest, most perfect specimens he could find. He gave a thought to the loss of his breeding stock, but at the moment, pleasing Virgil was far more important in his mind. When he had gathered more than enough to feed even his hungry family, Gordon headed back to shore.

As he left the enclosure, he was surprised when a shadow passed between him and the surface. He looked up, but being close to the slope, he was too late to see what it was. Uneasily, he looked to the outer reaches of the reef, knowing full well that he could not see them even if the water was perfectly clear. One of the few demands his father had made before letting him roam freely through the waters of the lagoon was that a stout shark fence be constructed.

Gordon paused where he was, looking up, hoping to spot whatever it was that had caused the shadow. When nothing appeared, he started again for shore, this time much more warily. He hadn't brought a spear gun with him because he hadn't wanted any fish. The lagoon had been a haven to him for so long that he never even gave a thought to possible danger. Swallowing hard in his mask, he tried to convince himself that it was a sea turtle that had cast the shadow. As he came up the slope, he again entered the coral garden that earlier gave him such pleasure. He was less than 100 yards from his pier, when he froze. Ahead of him, swimming lazily, was a shark.

Gordon was, despite his relatively young age, a very level-headed young man. Although he sucked his breath in hard at the unexpected sight of the shark, he immediately started to consider his options. The animal was huge, and displayed the torpedo shape of a tiger shark. A definite man-eater, Gordon knew this shark represented a real danger to him. He considered just going about his business. Sharks tended to look for prey in distress, and there was a chance if he just swam on, the shark would ignore him. The shark turned, and Gordon got an eye on the mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. He quickly decided against attempting to brazen it out. He had no weapon to defend himself with, so attack was totally out of the question. Gordon considered retreat.

There were areas of the reef that were exposed except at the highest of tides. Gordon knew where the best of those areas were, but reaching them would entail swimming across the depth of the lagoon, and Gordon was loath to leave the scant security of the seabed. He wondered briefly how the shark had gotten in the protected lagoon, and that thought led to the more worrying thought of what if there were more? As he was weighing his options, Gordon had slowly drifted back, trying to put plenty of room between himself and the meat grinder swimming between him and shore. He froze again as the twelve-foot long shark turned in his direction.

Gordon cursed under his breath as the animal swam toward him. Looking around, he could find no shelter other than a brain coral that stood a good two feet above the seabed. For want of anything else to do, Gordon put the coral between him and the shark, and hunkered down. He resisted the urge to curl up in a ball and close his eyes, instead watching as the shark continued to head straight for him. Waiting for his chance, Gordon stayed still until the great beast was practically upon him. At the last possible moment, Gordon leapt up waving his arms, yelling at the top of his lungs. Startled, the shark darted away. Gordon knew that it was only a temporary reprieve. Sharks were easily startled, but they were also relentless in the pursuit of food. When the shark took off, so did Gordon. Gordon swam for all he was worth, headed for the safety of the scallop enclosure.

He sensed rather than saw the shark turn back toward him. Desperate, he grabbed up a chunk of reef rock and turned to face the menace again. The shark's movements still were almost lazy. Gordon got the sense that the shark was not really hungry, but just hunting out of instinct more than anything else. Gordon reflected that knowing it toying with him was absolutely no comfort, and he became determined to teach the damn thing a lesson or two about playing with it's food. He held the rock securely in his hand hoping to be able to smack the shark in the eye, or better yet, right on the nose, with its sensitive scent organs. The only problem with his plan was that the eye and nose were so damn close to those teeth.

When the shark closed with him, Gordon again yelled, launching himself toward the big thing, attempting to hit the brute in the eye. The shark again swerved away, quicker than Gordon could move, and the only result of his attack was a firm smack to his side by the huge sickle tail of the beast. The hit knocked the wind out of him, and for a few moments, all he could do was float in the water trying to get his lungs to work. When the spots before his eyes finally cleared, Gordon found himself facing away from the danger, and to his surprise, he found the lock for his scallop enclosure was just a few feet ahead. The site of the enclosure so close confused Gordon for a moment. He had no idea he had come so far. The confusion evaporated when Gordon's danger sense caused him to spin around.

The shark was coming, and this time it meant business. The movements had lost their lazy air, it was swimming with a purpose.

Gordon wasted no time in swimming for the lock. He reached the enclosure, and pulled open the outer door, and started to pull himself in when the shark hit the door with the force of a sledgehammer. Gordon screamed as the animal got a hold of his leg along with the steel mesh of the door. The shark, tasting the metal, immediately let go and Gordon pulled himself through the second door. He hung in the water for several minutes, barely conscious.

He came around when he felt a small sharp pain that somehow made itself known over the larger pain in his injured leg. Looking down, he found a small rockfish nibbling at his bleeding leg. He swatted the fish away and watched as it moved a short distance out of reach. He tried to be objective about the injury, but all he could see was a growing cloud of pink. He knew he was in serious trouble. The blood would draw the shark like a magnet, and though Gordon was confident that the brute couldn't get to him in the enclosure, he also knew he couldn't make it to shore without another attack that he probably wouldn't survive. The longer he stayed in the water, the longer he would bleed.

Gordon absently wondered if he would bleed out before his tank was empty of air. He was already finding it hard to concentrate. He looked up startled at a sound like a chain-link fence rattling. Only a few feet separated him from the shark, which had grabbed the steel mesh in its teeth.

The animal was throwing its head around trying to rip through the strange obstruction between it and it's prey. Gordon found himself backing away from the animal's ferocity. He swallowed hard even though he knew the enclosure could withstand the attack, at least for the time being. Gordon's eyes began to droop, and he recognized the first symptoms of shock. Shaking his head in a vain attempt to clear the muzziness, he fumbled around with his belt until he found his communicator.

Like the spear gun, Gordon had never expected to need the emergency communicator in the safety of 'his' lagoon. Unlike the spear gun, however, he kept the communicator with him at all times, not wanting to face his father's displeasure if he were to be found without it. Gordon shakily lifted the device and keyed it.

Almost immediately, the green light, indicating that the device was working faded to nothing. Gordon stared at it stupidly. He keyed it a second time, but this time there was no light at all. Gordon tried to remember when he last changed the batteries, and found to his dismay that he had no clear recollection of it. Realizing that help was not going to be forthcoming, Gordon slipped into unconsciousness.

Scott Tracy was sitting in the living room of Tracy villa watching his brothers Virgil and Alan horsing around by the pool. He would have gone to join them, if only to throw Alan into the pool, but he wasn't about to dignify Alan's comments about him smelling like a sewer by even talking to him. He turned back to his magazine just as his father said, "That's strange."

"What, Father?"

"One of the emergency communicator lights just flashed."

Getting up from the sofa, Scott walked over to his father's desk, frowning, "Whose?"

"I'm not sure. I just caught the flash out of the corner of my eye."

Scott reached into a back pocket and pulled out the small hand device. Pushing a button that turned green, he looked over his father's shoulder. "Well, it's not mine."

"Call your brothers up here, would you Scott?"

"Yes sir. Here's Tin-Tin. Maybe you should check hers too."

Jeff Tracy repeated the test with Tin-Tin, and then both Virgil and Alan when they arrived. Tin-Tin went out to the herb garden to get her father, and Alan went in search of Grandma while Jeff called Brains in the lab to have him test his communicator. Alan had a time finding his grandmother because she had decided to take a walk along the beach so it was a good twenty minutes later before her transmitter was tested. The only remaining resident was Gordon, but he did not answer when called.

Alan spoke up. "I'm gonna kick his butt. Ten to one he forgot to change his battery."

Scott and Virgil exchanged uneasy glances. Virgil gave voice to their unease. "Probably. But I think we better just go check on him anyway. What do you think, Scott?"

"I think I'm going to go get my scuba gear. I'll meet you on the path."

Both Virgil and Alan responded 'right' and turned to head for their rooms when Jeff stopped them. "Boys, it's probably nothing, but I want you to take the seaplane. It'll take you a good hour overland, and if there really is a problem, I want you to be there right away."

Alan looked surprised, but Scott nodded his head thoughtfully. "Let's get a move on, guys."

The three brothers were used to moving swiftly in an emergency, and in less than five minutes they were airborne, skimming the tops of the palm trees dotting the island. When they arrived at the lagoon, all was peaceful, no signs of any problems. Scott circled once while Alan and Virgil scrutinized the shoreline, then dropped the little Sikorsky lightly down on the glassy surface of the water.

"If that doesn't get him to the surface, nothing will." Virgil tried to keep the worry out of his voice.

The three brothers climbed out on the plane's pontoons and sat waiting for their brother to pop to the surface. When several minutes passed with no results all three, even Alan, grew restless. "Well, what could have happened to him?"

"Does it matter? He's in trouble, let's go." Was Scott's curt response.

The three brothers quickly dove into the water and spread out. It had been a long time since any of them had taken the time to dive in the lagoon, and all were taken by the beauty of the place. Scott in particular thought his little brother had been holding out on them, and snorted a laugh, shaking his head. Only Gordon would transform an entire lagoon into a place of wonder, then be content to keep it to himself. Scott led the way into the deeper water of the lagoon. The coral garden was fantastic, but he needed to be sure his brother was okay.

He could sense that Virgil and Alan had taken up flanking positions as they swam out into the depths. Scott felt a light shiver as the cooler water of the depths caressed his skin. He hoped they wouldn't have to plumb the true depths near the center of the lagoon. In their hurry, neither Scott nor Virgil or Alan had taken the time to put on wetsuits. That thought fled from his head, as the breath fled from his body at the scene of horror that suddenly presented itself out of the murk.

Ahead and below the three brothers was a large enclosure that Scott had never seen before. Standing a good ten feet from top to bottom and at least twenty feet long and twenty feet wide, the enclosure was like a kennel. Steel posts were sunk into the bedrock and the entire kennel was covered with what looked like steel mesh netting.

At one end there was a gate-like contraption that led into the kennel. But all of that was only noticed fleetingly. What grabbed Scott's full attention was the huge shark that had torn a hole in the mesh netting and was now lunging over and over trying to get through to the center of the cage where his brother Gordon floated in a mist of pink. With each lunge, it seemed as if the shark would surely reach its unconscious prey. But each time it fell inches short. Milling around the outside of the cage were several other smaller sharks, hoping their large brother would succeed in snagging the tasty morsel. Scott stared wide-eyed. The situation was impossible. How could they save their brother without becoming victims themselves?

Suddenly, Alan let out a cry and swam frantically for the kennel. In a panic, Scott lunged and managed to snag his impetuous young brother's foot. Virgil was suddenly there, and between them they were able to pull the struggling young man back. Alan was screaming into his facemask, "No! Let me go! I've got to save him! Let me go, dammit!"

Scott and Virgil just held on. Scott trying to divide his attention between Alan's struggles and Gordon's stillness held on to his brother with grim strength. He let Virgil talk, trying to calm the young man. "Alan! Alan, you can't save him by swimming into a crowd of sharks! And Scott and I can't save him if we're trying to save you! Alan! You have to calm down! Those sharks can smell fear, you know! We don't want their attention on us. Alan? Come on, little brother. We're going to save him. Don't you ever doubt it. Gordon's going to be fine. Scott will figure it out, just give him a chance."

"Oh, God, he's not moving! Virg, what if he's dead? What if he's dead already? What do we do then?"

Scott listened as his youngest brother voiced the fear they all held. The pink mist that seemed to surround Gordon was blood, and although the mist hid the injuries, Scott knew that a shark attack was frequently deadly.

He felt a second fear when he heard Virgil say with total confidence that Scott would figure it out. Scott never shirked his responsibilities as the field leader of the Thunderbirds. To date, he had always found a way to make things work. But that didn't mean he didn't suffer from doubts. And those doubts were never so strong as when one of his own brothers' lives were at risk. He felt a sudden wash of helplessness come over him. How could they possibly get to him?

Scott closed his eyes for a moment. Not looking at he scene below helped him center his thoughts. "Alan, you've been here before. What's in that shed on the pier?"

Hearing the command and control in his brother's voice gave Alan back his own control. "Uh, just stuff to build with. Shovels, plascrete, stuff like that..."

"Okay, if that's what we have to work with, that's what we'll use. Go get it. Virg and I will stay here and try to figure out what to do next." For a moment, it seemed as if Alan would argue, but then with a curt nod, he swam off at high speed.

Scott turned back to the grisly sight below. Virgil's voice was uneasy in his ear, asking, "Scott, how long do you think that cage will hold up?"

Scott tried to be objective, but it was hard as he watched the shark lunge yet again. It was so close, it was snapping its teeth bare inches from where Gordon hung unheeding. It was obvious that it was only the fins of the shark that were keeping it from pushing its way through the hole. In a sudden insight, Scott hoped the monster wouldn't give up. Any of the smaller sharks, a mixture of blue tip and tiger sharks, could fit through the tear in the mesh, and then it would be up for his brother. If he wasn't already dead.

"I don't know, Virg. We're just going to have to pray it will be long enough."

The two brothers watched helplessly at the big brute shoved again and again. It seemed to Scott as if each lunge was getting it closer and closer. Finally, he could take it no more.

"Virg, you stay here. As soon as Alan gets back, I want you to try and scare those sharks away."

"What? Are you out of your mind? You can't go down there!"

"Virg, I've got no choice! If I don't get down there, that thing is going to get to Gordon! I'm not going to let that happen. Now, you stay here and........."

"No way! No way in hell am I letting you go down there! Scott, it's like I told Alan. We can't save Gordon if we're too busy trying to save you!"

"Listen, they're all concentrated by the hole. If I'm careful, I can make it to the gate and get in without them being any the wiser."

"No. Scott, you can't take the chance. I won't let you! Those are man-eaters down there! Please, Scott! Gordon is safe enough for the moment. Let's wait and see what Alan can come up with. Scott, you can't do him any good if you're bitten too."

Scott closed his eyes against the fearful pleading in Virgil's voice. He knew his brother was right. He knew it was foolhardy to approach the enclosure. But he also knew without a single doubt that if he didn't get to his brother right away, it was all going to be for nothing. He put his hand on Virgil's shoulder and gave a squeeze. "Keep Alan safe for me."

"Oh God. Scott, please?"

Scott pushed off from his brother and headed for the enclosure. He knew without looking that Virgil wasn't following. He trusted his brother to follow what could possibly be his last order. He swam around to keep the kennel between him and the increasingly frenzied sharks. Breathing hard, he started his swim to the enclosure gate. He may not have been an Olympic class swimmer like his brother, but he was no slouch either. Pulling hard for the gate, he didn't see when one of the smaller tiger sharks broke off from the pack and headed his way.

"Scott! Look out!!"

Scott was within a few feet of the gate when he glanced up and got a faceful of shark less than ten feet away. Startled, he screamed and jerked to the side. His movement in turn startled the predator, and it swerved, catching Scott's arm in a long shallow cut. The pain was immediate in the saltwater, but Scott ignored it, grabbing instead at the gate and pulling himself through.

"Scott! Oh, God! Scott!!! Scott, hang on, I'm coming!!"

Scott's vision was obscured by the blood welling out of his arm, but he heard his brother's scream and yelled out, "No! Virgil! Stay where you are! I'm okay!"

"Scott, there's blood in the water!"

"Yeah, I know. Believe me, I know. It's just a cut. Not serious. I'm going into the enclosure now." Scott pulled open the second door, ignoring the sound of the second shark slamming into the mesh of the first door in an effort to grab it's escaping prey.

He swam directly to his brother Gordon. As he reached him, the first shark made yet another lunge. Scott pulled back involuntarily. As scary as watching this shark was from a distance, it was nothing like being within the range of the huge mouthful of teeth. Scott was glad that they were underwater, and Virgil was a good two hundred feet away. He had definitely wet himself on that one……... He reached out gingerly and pulled his unconscious brother back. Scott swam to the farthest point of the cage before checking Gordon's throat for a pulse.

Scott let out a breath, and sent a prayer of thanks heavenward. The pulse was there, and strong. "He's alive."

Scott ignored the cry of relief from Virgil and concentrated on finding the extent of Gordon's injuries. This close, it was obvious. Gordon's right leg had a series of ragged wounds. As far as Scott could tell, it looked as if the shark had grabbed him but then let him go for some reason. It was hard to tell in dissipating water, but Scott feared his brother had lost a lot of blood. Looking at the small cloud that had welled up in Scott's own wound, he became even more worried.

"Virg, he's been bitten on the leg. Looks like he's lost a lot of blood. We have to get him out of here fast."

"What the hell? How did Scott get down there?" Alan's voice was a mixture of anger and indignation.

"Never mind that. Did you find anything?" Scott looked up to where his brothers floated above him.

It was plain that Alan had not gotten anything of real help. The spear gun the youngest Tracy brother carried would only annoy the big brute that was currently trying to barge its way in. "I called Dad. He's on his way. He's going to bring shark sticks. For now, I found this spear gun."

Alan held the gun out for Virgil's inspection. Virgil's reply reflected Scott's own feelings. "That isn't going to do anything against that monster."

Alan replied, "Well, I know that! I thought maybe if we took out one of the smaller sharks, they'd all go after it and then we could get Gordon out."

Scott had a dumbfounded moment that he knew by the silence Virgil shared. "Good thinking, Alan! How close will you have to get?"

"This is meant for reef fish. I think I'm going to have to get pretty close for it to be effective."

Virgil spoke up. "Maybe you better let me handle it, Alan."

"What? No way! It's my idea!"

Scott tried from the cage, "Alan……..."

"No! Listen to me, Scott! I go snorkeling three times as much as you two. I've used these spear guns before. Have you? Have either of you speared a fish in the last three months? Six months? Well, I have! Forget that I'm your little baby brother. I'm the best man for the job. Even you have to see that, Scott!"

Scott frowned at the last remark, but decided not to challenge it. Alan's argument made sense. He looked over at the shark lunging again, trying to get into the cage, and that decided him. As much as he would have liked to have waited for the shark sticks, he couldn't afford the time it would take. If killing one of the animals that wanted to kill his brother worked, well, there was something to be said for symmetry.

"All right Alan, but I want you to hit one that's on the outer fringes. And then I want you to swim like hell away from there."

"Right, Scott." Alan replied.

Scott was distracted by a sharp pain on his arm. Looking down he found a small colorful reef fish nibbling at his arm. To his horror, he found more of the fish flocked around Gordon's leg. Frightened and angry, he flailed at the fish, sending them scurrying to cover in the rocks below his feet. He looked around at his surroundings, and realized that he had brought Gordon directly over a piece of the coral reef. The small fish living on the reef apparently couldn't pass up a free lunch so close by.

Scott looked around, but no safer refuge was visible. His attention was drawn irresistibly back to where the big tiger shark was still battering at the enclosure. Scott was frankly amazed that the steel mesh had lasted as long as it had.

"Okay, Scott, I'm in position." Scott looked away from the big predator lunging again at the fence, and saw his youngest brother not forty feet away, far too close for Scott's comfort.

"Alan, you're too close! Get back. We'll wait for Dad. It's safer that way."

"No way, Scott! Look, I've even picked out a target. It's that blue tip with the ragged fins. It just needs to come... a little... closer... GOT IT!!"

Scott watched at the spear struck a six-foot long blue tip shark. The force of the blow pushed the shark sideways and then a shiver ran through its body and it started to thrash in agony. The other sharks all turned as if pulled by a magnet. Their brother's thrashing had let loose a stream of blood that darkened the surrounding water. Scott watched in horrified fascination as first one, then another of the remaining sharks darted in to rip at their brother. Finally, the big brute halfway in the cage gave a wiggle to free itself and bee-lined for the feast a few yards away. Scott looked at the huge hole left in the steel mesh, and sighed with relief. "Okay, Virg, come on down and give me a hand here. Alan, you head topside and let Dad know what's going on."

"FAB, Scott." Scott turned back to his injured brother, only to find the reef fish were making another foray. Lashing out with his flippered foot, Scott put his arm around his brother's chest and swam with him toward the gate.

He could see Virgil swimming his way as Alan floated up towards the surface. He looked over to check the position of the sharks and his heart froze in his throat. One of the smaller sharks, apparently without enough seniority to get a whack at the carcass had turned and was swimming directly for Virgil. "Virgil!! Swim!! Swim for your life!!" Scott let go of Gordon, and frantically worked to open the inner gate. Virgil was a strong swimmer who could go all day, but he wasn't particularly fast.

Scott got through the inner gate and worked on the outer. Virgil was swimming for all he was worth, and just as Scott pushed the outer gate open, Virgil managed to swim through, and together they slammed the gate closed literally in the shark's face. It was smaller than the others were, but still it was a full five and a half feet long with a mouth large enough to take a substantial chunk out of anyone. The two brothers grinned in relief and turned to re-enter the enclosure. Their relief turned to horror as they realized that two more of the smaller sharks had already entered the enclosure through the hole and were swimming with a purpose to where Gordon floated undefended.

Scott and Virgil Tracy both moved to rescue their injured younger brother. For a split second, they jammed together in the frame of the inner gate, but both were so frantic that they pushed through almost simultaneously. Virgil grabbed onto Gordon as Scott screamed and waved his arms, momentarily startling the two five footers. Scott put his body between the sharks and his brothers, the adrenaline coursing through his mind and body preventing him from seeing the foolhardiness of his action.

Virgil pulled Gordon into the small space between the inner and outer gates of the enclosure and called to his brother. Scott never took his eyes off of the milling sharks, backing slowly and carefully through the inner gate. He pulled the gate closed, and only then fully realized their predicament.

The tiny space between the gates was intended for one person only. With the three brothers all confined in the space, Virgil was shoved up against the outer gate as Scott was shoved up against the inner gate. Gordon was sandwiched between them, and there was not much room for maneuvering. Scott slowly and carefully twisted around, coming facemask to facemask with his still unconscious brother. This close, Scott was frightened by the absolute lack of color in his brother's normally tanned face. Looking over Gordon's shoulder Scott said, "We've got to get him out of here. He's bleeding to death."

"Okay. How?"

Virgil's practicality could be annoying at times. Scott looked around for anything that could help their situation, but there was nothing. Scott felt a wave of hopelessness wash over him. He dismissed it with irritation. There had to be an answer. It was just a matter of finding it.

"Scott……..." Scott followed Virgil's line of sight and felt his heart climb right up his throat. The big shark had apparently not forgotten about them and was swimming their way. Scott looked at the tiny steel mesh box they were in and fought down panic.

"Okay, Virg, I want you to switch places with me." Scott was surprised at how calm his voice was.

"What? Why? What do you have in mind?" Virgil was plainly confused by the suggestion.

"Just do it, Virgil. You slide to the left, I'll slide to the right. On three. One... Two..."

"Wait, Scott! Tell me what we're trying to do. Why do you need to be on this side? Can't I do whatever it is you need done?"

Scott refused to be irritated by his brother's obstinance. The truth of the matter was, Scott was trying to put himself between the teeth of the big shark and his brothers. He knew if Virgil realized his intent, he would do turn mulish. Scott tried to think of a logical excuse for the exchange, but frankly, the big shark circling closer and closer was unnerving him.

"Virgil, please, just do as I ask. I need you over here, where you can face Gordon."

"Scott! Look out!" Scott startled and tried to turn, but was unable to in the confining lock. He felt the strike as one of the small sharks in the enclosure hit the gate at his back. He was still trying to turn when Virgil yanked him from the side, pulling and pushing so that Scott unexpectedly was where he wanted to be……... with his back to the outer gate. Virgil landed up facing the inner gate. As Scott watched, one of the smaller sharks attacked the gate a second time, striking where Virgil's hand was pressed up against the mesh.

Virgil snatched his hand back with a wordless yell, but not before the palm was sliced open by the tip of a serrated tooth. As Virgil grabbed at his hand, entire body curling up at the sudden pain, Scott cried urgently, "Virgil, get your back to the gate! Get your air tank between you and that gate, now! Come on, move, mister!"

Scott reached over and pulled Virgil upright. The two brothers looked each other in the eye, and as always, gained strength. Virgil's eyes were watering and he held his hand tightly as he gasped, "It's okay. I'm all right, Scott. The cut isn't that bad, it.…….. it just caught me off guard, is all." Virgil looked around at that pink murk in the water. "Scott, what are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Virg. We've got to think of something, though. We're running out of time here."

Scott looked up toward the surface of the water, hoping for some sign of his father's arrival, but instead a huge shadow crossed between him and the light above. He breath caught in his throat. It was another shark, and by the looks of it, even larger than the menacing tiger shark at his back. Scott had a fleeting memory of an old movie seen when he was little more than a toddler. It was about a Great White Shark that menaced some kids on some boats. He couldn't remember much about it, just that he had nightmares for weeks. He could still remember his mom scolding his dad for letting him watch such a scary movie. Well, now he was in the middle of his own personal horror film.

The shadow loomed up again. Scott had a sudden thought and frantically scanned the upper reaches of the water. Alan. Where was Alan?

"Alan! Alan, where are you? There's a Great White down here. If you can hear me get out of the water! Alan! Answer me!" Scott was aware of Virgil's startled movement. It pushed Gordon's limp body hard against him, but he had no time to worry about that now. For the moment, Virgil and Gordon were safe. It was Alan who was in danger now. Scott could see no sign of his brother. He tried to think how much time had passed. Was it enough for Alan to have made it to the seaplane? And where the hell was his father?

The hairs on the back of Scott's neck suddenly raised as he sensed a sudden stillness from Virgil. Looking over at his brother, he saw that Virgil was staring at something above and behind Scott's head. Suddenly breathing hard, Scott twisted his head around. In one part of his mind, he realized that the all of the smaller sharks had disappeared. The thought barely had time to register before his eyes took in a sight that made his blood run cold.

There was no mistaking a Great White Shark. It's blunt nose and dead black eye and huge two-ton body drifted effortlessly through the water. Even the twelve foot long tiger shark gave way before it. Scott found he could not take his eyes off of the brute. Its gaping mouth was at least four feet from one side to the other.

It was so close that Scott could actually see the rows of teeth in the mouth. The great animal was moving almost casually, but as it approached the trapped men, it flicked it's tail, and suddenly rocketed forward. Both Scott and Virgil screamed as the shark struck. It hit with such force, that the steel posts of the outer gate immediately bent inward. Scott was slammed into Gordon, who was slammed into Virgil, who hit the inner gate with such force that it popped open, tumbling the three brothers inside. Scott spun around, and slammed the inner gate shut.

He looked around wildly for the small sharks that had threatened them from within the enclosure. Scott let out a shaky breath as he realized the small sharks were nowhere to be seen. Apparently the prospect of a Great White had sent them scurrying.

Over his ragged breathing, Scott became aware of two sounds. The first was the rattling of the steel mesh fence. The Great White had gotten caught up by the gills with the outer gate, and was frantically trying to free itself. The other sound was much softer, but to Scott's ears, infinitely more frightening. His steady brother Virgil was whimpering "Oh God, oh God, oh God." It shook Scott to the core to hear the fear and defeat in his brother's voice.

Momentarily ignoring the death circling around them, he reached over and with a gentle hand on his brother's shoulder said, "It's okay Virg. We're going to be okay."

"Scott……..." Scott watched sympathetically as Virgil fought to compose himself. "I'm okay, Scott. I'm okay. It's still hung up on the fence. Do you think it will give up? I mean, if it realizes we aren't easy prey. Maybe it will give up and go after something easier. Do you think?"

Scott could hardly bring himself to even look in the direction of the shark that was still twisting and lunging, hung up on the ends of some very fragile-looking wire. A movement seen out of the corner of his eye brought his head whipping around. The tiger shark was back. Scott watched in growing horror as it began to nose around the tear in the side of the enclosure. He looked back where the Great White was destroying the lock in its mad efforts to free itself. There was no place to hide. No way to escape.

The utter hopelessness of their situation was like an iron band around Scott's chest. He knew what he had to do. He doubted he had the courage for it. His brothers were so dear to him. He felt tears well up in his eyes at the thought of how hard this would be on them. Virgil in particular would suffer agony. But there just didn't seem to be any other way. They had no weapon. Gordon had no time. The sharks weren't going to magically disappear. Only a sacrifice would pave the way to save two of the three.

Taking a deep shaky breath, Scott looked Virgil in the eye. "No, Virgil. The sharks aren't going to go away. Now listen. I'm going to go over by the gate. When I do, the tiger shark is going to come over there too. When it does, I want you to get yourself and Gordon through that hole and go."

For a moment, Virgil was confused. "What? Why is the shark going to go over there? Scott, what are you talking about?"

Scott shot his brother a pained look and suddenly Virgil's eyes widened. "No way! Not going to happen, Scott. You make a move to that gate, and I swear, I'll deck you!"

Virgil moved to position himself between his brothers and the gate. Scott knew his brother's mind as well as he knew his own. And when he spoke, he used the only argument he knew would sway him.

"Virgil, if we don't do something now, right now, Gordon is going to die. I couldn't live with that, could you? Could you face Dad, or John, or God help us, Alan knowing we let him die? Now go get hold of him. There won't by much time."

"You're faster."

"What?"

"I said, you're faster. If we're trying to save Gordon, then we need the fastest swimmer to take him. You're faster. You take him, I'll go over to the gate." Virgil had set himself in front of his older brother as if he was made of stone that extended to the center of the earth.

Scott had the thought that neither of them had actually voiced what would happen if either of them 'went to the gate'. He knew that he had made a tactical mistake. Once Virgil made up his mind, no reasoning, logic or threat would make him change it. And the days when Scott could just thump him into submission were long gone. Any fight now would be a very serious affair, taking far more time and effort than any of them could afford. Scott cast about for any argument that might make a dent in his brother's thick head.

Scott considered a surprise attack, just socking Virgil on the nose. But if he were successful, it would defeat the purpose. The two men were watching each other warily when with a loud screech, the Great White finally managed to pull itself free of the bothersome gate. Both turned their attention to see what the animal would do next. The Great White swam off into the murk. Scott wondered if Virgil could have been right. Maybe it was going to go away. Scott was startled when a crashing sound came from another quarter. In their argument, neither Scott nor Virgil had noticed a gentle current that had pulled Gordon away from them. But the tiger shark had definitely noticed, and had once again begun lunging at the hole. To Scott's horror, the ugly beast got hold of one of Gordon's oversized swim fins.

Their argument forgotten, Scott and Virgil lunged and grabbed Gordon by the arms. The short tug of war was vicious. The sharks instinct was to shake its prey, but with its head confined by the steel mesh bordering the hole in the fence, the shaking was short and hard. It tried to get a better grasp on its prey, but as soon as the grip lessened, Scott and Virgil pulled their younger brother to safety, minus a large chunk of the rubberized swim fin.

In shock, Scott watched as the shark gulped down the section of fin whole. Scott barely started breathing again when the entire enclosure shivered. Looking over at the lock, Scott saw that the Great White had returned. It had hit the gate with everything it had, destroying the steel posts of the outer gate, and buckling the posts of the inner.

The Great White was methodically shoving against the inner gate. Scott could see that it wouldn't hold for long. He tried to judge if the bloated body could fit through the badly bent poles, but realized it wasn't going to matter much. The enclosure had never been intended to withstand such prolonged battering and it was only a matter of a very short time before the whole thing collapsed on them trapping them under tons of steel mesh.

Still, he had to believe it would be a quicker death than being eaten alive by a shark. He looked down at a sharp pain in his arm. The reef fish had returned. Sighing, he brushed them away. Scott wondered if it was shock that was causing the almost peaceful feeling that he felt. He looked over at his brothers. He'd tried so hard to save them.

It was probably already too late for Gordon. And he simply didn't know what to do for Virgil. From the look in his brother's eye, he knew the end was near too. There wasn't much they could say and finally he just reached over and grasped his hand. Together they gathered Gordon into their arms and backed away from where the two sharks seemed to be engaged in a battering contest. First one would hit, then the other. The cage started groaning under the onslaught. They moved to the farthest corner and simply waited for what would come.

Suddenly there was a boom like the crack of doom and Scott instinctively flinched, throwing his body to cover that of his two brothers. He waited for the end, praying for his brothers' sakes it would be quick, but when nothing happened, he cautiously raised his head. The enclosure was leaning precariously and the mesh that had been ten feet above Scott's head now brushed his hair as he straightened up. The entire gateway was gone, and a gaping hole that even the Great White could cruise through laid directly before him. But the Great White was nowhere to be seen. Looking to the left, Scott could not find the tiger shark either. The visibility in the lagoon was good, but still, he could see less than a hundred feet into the murk. He felt rather than saw a shadow above him.

With a feeling of doom, Scott looked up at the shadow overhead. He fully expected to see a shark circling in for the kill, but what was visible caused his heart to race. Eighty feet above were two long sausage shapes. It only took Scott a single stunned moment to realize that help had finally arrived. The shapes were the undersides of the pontoons of the antique helicopter his father liked to fly. Scott had never shared his Dad's enthusiasm for the slow ungainly machine, but right now it looked like the Promised Land.

"Oh God, Scott, what do we do?" Scott heard the anguish in Virgil's voice.

It was a anguish he shared. If they left the protection of the enclosure, it wouldn't take much for the Great White to take any one of them. If they stayed and waited for their father, they could find themselves trapped in a small space with no escape. One look at Gordon's dead white face decided Scott.

"We're getting out of here. You take his left side and I'll take his right. C'mon." Scott had never been more unsure of an order in his life, but he projected confidence to his brother as he started swimming decisively. Scott sensed Virgil looking around trying to spot the sharks. That was fine, but Scott himself kept his eyes on the pontoons of the helicopter above. He vaguely wondered why his father had not yet entered the water, but it didn't really matter. What mattered was swimming as hard and fast as he could.

Beside him, Virgil suddenly gasped and cried out in panic, "Scott! It's coming!"

Scott refused to be distracted. He continued to pull hard for the surface, dragging his brothers after him. They had less than half the distance left when he felt a hard shove that broke his hold on Gordon's arm. Looking around, he was in time to see the Great White flick its tail as it swam off into the murk. Breathing hard, he realized the shark had bumped, but not bitten him. Scott had a very bad feeling.

He looked for his brothers, and found Gordon was a good five feet below and slowly sinking. He caught Virgil's frightened eye, and together they reached for their younger brother. Even more determined than before, Scott started again pulling for the surface. He could feel Virgil pulling next to him. They made almost twenty feet when the shark struck again, this time hitting Gordon so hard that Scott and Virgil both lost their hold despite their determination.

Scott screamed in anger and fear as his injured brother was pushed by the shark a good twenty feet before it again swam off. Again, the shark had not bitten. Scott was reminded of a cat toying with a mouse. Virgil was more practical. "It's trying to separate us."

Virgil swam in a panic toward Gordon who was again slowly sinking to the bottom. Scott's stomach lurched as he realized the slow sinking meant there was nothing to buoy his brother up. Either his tank was out of air, or he had stopped breathing. Scott was overcome with anger and grief. He pulled himself to his brother's side, but for Virgil's sake, said nothing.

"If it wants to separate us, it's going to find its work cut out for it." Scott said in steely tones.

With Virgil, he pulled again for the surface. They were within a few feet when Scott saw the shark coming out of the corner of his eye. He knew Virgil saw it too. In one accord, the two brothers locked their arms around Gordon and each other and awaited the attack.

Behind him, Scott heard a loud splash. Unsure of what it was, he concentrated on the rapidly approaching shark. He felt Virgil's grip slacken as the fearful vision grew larger. Scott hung on grimly, but then was startled by something that passed very close and took up station in front of him.

"Get your brother out of the water, boys." Scott could have cried for joy. Their father had arrived, and loaded for bear. Dressed in a full armored wetsuit, Jeff had a heavy-duty shark stick in one hand, and a spear gun in the other. Scott had never been so glad to see him in his life.

"C'mon, Scott." Virgil's voice was painfully close to a whine. Scott ignored him, instead focused on the developing confrontation.

After what seemed like hours of terror, the end was short and oddly anti-climatic. The shark zeroed in on Jeff, and Jeff almost casually reached out and triggered the shark stick right in the animal's snout. The shark stick, refined by Brains, was a CO2 cartridge at the end of a four-foot long pole. Stuck in the animal and triggered, it released an explosive shot of CO2 into the animal's body, and in this case, its small brain, causing immediate death. The Great White went from killer to killed in the space of seconds, and Scott could not help the feeling of justice served that raced through him.

Closing his eyes for a moment, Scott turned to make the swim to the surface. They were almost home. Suddenly behind him, Jeff cursed. Scott spun, to find the tiger shark had returned. Unlike the Great White, this animal was in earnest, and Scott saw in horror that his father was bleeding from a gash in his thigh.

The shark stick and spear gun were both slowly drifting to the bottom as Jeff held his leg in obvious pain. Scott had no time to think. His father and brother's lives were in danger, Scott did the only thing he could. He threw himself at the big animal, screaming. Whether by luck or design, he managed to strike the big beast hard on the nose.

The big predator darted off, giving Scott the chance to swim down for the spear gun. The shark stick he let go as its charge had been expended on the Great White. That shark had drifted to the seabed, followed by the still hungry pack of blue tip and tiger sharks.

Scott looked up at the surface just in time to see Gordon's feet, still clad in the half-bitten swim fin, disappear as he was pulled up onto the pontoon of the helicopter. Virgil, who had been floating next to Gordon disappeared next, and Scott felt an incredible sense of relief. Two down, one to go, he thought as he swam up to where his father was slowly pulling for the surface, trailing a cloud of blood.

Scott acted as rearguard, floating up beneath his father, eyes wary for any sign of the shark. When he finally reached the surface of the water, Scott was loath to lift his head free. His father had not climbed or been pulled up onto the pontoon, and Scott feared if he relaxed his vigilance, the tiger shark could make another attack. After a few minutes, he felt his father's hand on his arm, tugging him upward.

Scott broached the surface and pulled his mask up on his head. "Dad………"

"Son, the copter has a weight limit. Either you or Virgil will have to pilot it. Whoever stays will have to swim ashore with me."

There was no question in Scott's mind as to who would stay and who would go, but he could see a look of pure mule-headed stubbornness forming in Virgil's eyes. Brains, who had accompanied his father in the helicopter broke the impasse before it had a chance to get going. "Mr. T-T-Tracy, there's no time to change places. We m-m-must get, uh, Gordon to the sick room immediately. V-V-Virgil, let's go."

Brains' order galvanized the Tracys. Without another word, Virgil strapped himself in and started the engine. Scott and Jeff swam off to keep from being caught in the powerful down draft of the little machine. Within moments, the copter was skimming the surface of the water, heading on the most direct course for the Tracy villa. Scott and his father both watched it go, their eyes glued on the cage-like stretcher attached to the large pontoon.

When the helicopter was at last out of sight over the trees, Jeff turned to his firstborn and said, "Shall we?"

"Dad, I think we need to do this underwater. That shark is still out there and I'll feel safer if it can't sneak up on us."

For a moment, it looked as if Jeff would comment on the obvious fallacy of that statement. The visibility in the lagoon was good, but still limited to less than 100 feet. The moment passed, and Jeff simply donned his mask and air hose and dove back down under the surface. Once under the water, Scott took up a position slightly to the side and rear of his father, eyes watchful. The shoreline was less than a hundred yards away, but Jeff's injured thigh slowed their progress to a crawl.

The closer to safety they got, the more tense Scott became. He desperately wanted their problems to be over, but he had a hard time believing that they were. Finally the pilings of Gordon's pier came into sight, and the two weary men pulled for the safety of the shore. Scott felt the tension start to ease, as his father reached the diving stage and started to haul himself up.

Scott could never afterward explain what it was that warned him, but as his father finally escaped the water, Scott suddenly spun to find the tiger shark was upon him, mouth open, teeth forward to strike. With reflexes honed by years of flying jets, he swung the spear gun up and fired pointblank into the sharks eye. The animal's momentum slammed Scott into the pilings, but it was dead even as it struck him. The force of the blow stunned Scott, and his vision started to grey out around the edges.

Scott Tracy's next moment of clarity came as he heard his father's voice. "Scott? Scott, come on son, time to wake up."

Scott opened his eyes, to find himself lying on his back on the little pier, his fathers anxious face hanging over him. "Scott?"

"Yeah, Dad, I'm with you. Just give me a moment." Scott slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. His father was sitting next to him, pale and shaking. Scott could see his thigh was still bleeding. The shark had bitten right through the strong Kevlar material. The sight of the blood got Scott moving. He climbed painfully to his feet. "I'm going to get the first aid kit from the plane. I'll be right back."

His father hadn't moved, but he reached up his hand, and grasping Scott by the wrist asked in a vulnerable voice, "Scott? Son, where is your brother?"

Scott stared dumbly at his father, then the color drained from his face. "Oh God. Alan." Scott looked wildly around as if his youngest brother would materialize out of thin air.

"He was, uh, swimming for the surface before you got here. Virgil and I were helping Gordon. That was, oh God, before the Great White showed up. Oh dear God." Scott sat down hard as the strength left his legs. "I haven't seen him for at least the last twenty minutes."

"We have to go find him." Jeff said with determination as he reached for his mask.

Scott looked out over the placid water of the lagoon. The last place he wanted to go, or to allow his father to go was back into that shark-infested pool. "Wait. Dad."

"There's no time, son, we have to find your brother now."

"Dad, you're bleeding. You go back in that water and you might as well wear a sign that says 'shark smorgasbord'." Scott turned away to the plane, trusting his father to see the sense of his statement. Like all Tracy vehicles, the plane was equipped with a top rate professional first aid kit. Hauling the big tackle box from under the rear seat of the plane, Scott hurried back to where his father sat staring out across the lagoon.

"We'll find him, Dad."

Jeff continued to stare for a moment before slowly nodding. Scott saw his father swallowing hard, and knew better than to press. Instead he worked at disinfecting the series of puncture wounds showing through the torn wetsuit. He was relieved to find the wounds themselves were small, and though obviously painful, they were not deep. Scott finished cleaning the wounds and sealed them with synthetic skin before wrapping his father's thigh with a dense waterproof covering.

Satisfied that he had done a good job, Scott started to stand. "Okay, let's go."

Jeff stopped his son with a hand on his arm. "Hold up a moment. Let me take care of this for you." He gestured to Scott's forearm which displayed a shallow gash. Scott was mildly surprised to notice it. He had frankly forgotten.

He held his arm out for his father who liberally doused it with the same disinfectant Scott had used. Scott sucked in his breath at the cold sting. Frowning he said softly, "Owww."

Jeff paused in his work to look his son in the eye. With a twinkle in his own eye, Jeff laughed. "Scott, you threw yourself straight at that shark less than ten minutes ago. A little iodine should be a piece of cake."

Scott just threw his dad a look and waited patiently as the older man sealed and wrapped his arm. As Jeff completed taping his arm, Scott took his own turn staring out across the water. "Dad, I've been thinking. As soon as I saw that Great White, I yelled at Alan to get out of the water. He didn't answer, but it was about then that things got pretty dicey. I wonder if maybe he tried to cut across the lagoon to the reef?"

"I can't see your brother running away when you boys were in danger."

"I can't either, but he has to have gone somewhere, and frankly, I can't think of any place else he could be."

"All right, it's as good a place to start as any. Reach into the plane and get the life raft, would you? I'd rather not swim that distance if I don't have to."

Silently Scott moved to the airplane. He wondered why he hadn't thought to use the raft before. Why had he entered the water weaponless when he knew that something was wrong? He sighed, knowing that if he overlooked any of the many mistakes he had made this day, his father would point them out most forcefully in the briefing that would inevitably take place. He prayed fervently that all of his younger brothers would be there for that briefing.

Scott pulled the cord on the compact life raft and it immediately ballooned into a sturdy four man craft complete with eternal-battery motor. With the boat in the water, Scott helped his father get settled in the stern with the steering rudder of the motor at hand. As soon as Scott joined him in the boat, Jeff fired up the motor and the little craft moved across the water.

Scott hoped his youngest brother was just lying low and would surface as soon as he heard the boat. He squelched the thought that Alan would have surfaced when he heard the loud boom when the helicopter landed. It was only a matter of a few minutes for the little raft to reach the coral reef that defined the outer perimeter of the lagoon.

Both men stared at a series of poles that extended about five feet out of the water. For several yards, the poles were evenly spaced, standing straight and strong, but to one side, there was a gap of several feet and the poles on either side were leaning as if drunk. It was obvious that the breach in the fence protecting the lagoon had occurred here. Scott recalled that the series of winter storms that had occurred last month had been particularly fierce. He shook his head. Gordon was getting lax. They all were. One glance at his father told Scott that his dad shared that belief.

"All right, son. There's no point in us both getting wet. You stay here and I'll dive and take a quick look around."

Scott shook his head. "No, sir, you're not going alone. There could be more sharks down there."

Jeff cocked an eyebrow. "Scott, in case you haven't noticed, we are unarmed. That spear gun is useless without a spear, and the shark stick is long gone. I need you to stay up here to haul me out if I need to get out of the water in a hurry."

"That makes a lot of sense, Dad, but I think I should be the one to go. I'm faster in the water, and this little scrape is nothing. Your leg will slow you down, and you can't help Alan if you can't swim."

Jeff started to shake his head when a sudden splashing at the side of the boat startled both men. To Scott's amazement, he found his youngest brother struggling to get into the raft. Both Scott and Jeff reached over and hauled the younger man aboard.

Scott heard the relief in Jeff's voice as he yelped, "Alan! Are you okay?"

Scott didn't like the paleness of his brother's face, and he started checking for signs of wounds. Alan for his part, pulled his mask up, and said breathlessly, "Shark! Big, big shark!"

"I know, son. It's gone now. We killed it."

"No, Dad, not the one that was after Gordon. There was another one, even bigger. It's still down there. I thought it was going to get me for sure." Alan was calming down, and his color was coming back. "Dad, is Gordon all right?"

"I hope so, son. Let's get on back to the seaplane. You can tell us what happened on the way." Jeff suited actions to words, and started the small motor, turning the boat towards the shore.

Alan took a deep breath and spoke. "Well, I hit this blue tip with a spear, and all the sharks left the cage where Scott and Gordon were, so Scott called for Virgil to come help him, and for me to get to the plane and let you know what was going on."

Scott nodded, "Right. Go on."

"Well, I was almost to the surface when I saw this big gray thing. It was almost invisible it was so far away, but I got this really bad feeling about it. I decided I'd better find out what it was, so I started swimming toward it. It was like it was floating right under the surface, and it seemed to be drifting away from me. I'll tell you, I don't know what got into me. I just decided I had to get close enough to see what it was. I had this idea that you would want to know, in case it was dangerous."

Scott listened dumbfounded. His father seemed no less shocked at Alan's folly, but he cleared his throat and asked, "And did you find out what it was?"

"Yeah. I kept swimming after it, and it kept its distance. Scott, I heard you yelling something, but my communicator was full of static, then it quit. I think water must have gotten in and damaged it." Scott reached over and pulled a glob of sea trash from Alan's mask. Surprised, the youngest Tracy pulled the mask off and carefully checked around the circuitry for the advanced built-in communicator.

Alan continued as he pulled out more bits of slime. "Anyway, I suddenly realized I was almost to the reef, when the big gray blob suddenly stopped swimming away. It turned towards me, and it was a shark! When I was chasing it, a couple of times I thought it might be a shark, but I dismissed the idea because it was just too big. Dad, this thing was the size of Thunderbird Four, I swear! I dove to the seabed because I didn't know what else to do. I've been playing hide and seek with it in the reef ever since."

Alan shook his head and said sincerely, "Dad, I heard the copter hit the water, but I was just too afraid to leave the rocks. Every time I put my head up, that shark headed for me."

"Well, it's all over now. You just relax and we'll………." Jeff paused with a frown. Something had bumped the raft.

All three Tracy men looked at one another with identical frowns. As one, they looked over the side of the raft. There, less that five feet under the water, a flat black eye stared back at them. Scott's breath caught in his throat as the huge shark passed under their tiny flimsy raft. It seemed to go on and on forever, and Scott realized it was at least 18 feet long, and possibly more.

"I guess it's not going to just let me go." Alan's voice was strangely calm. Scott glanced over at the younger man and realized that despite the calm words, his baby brother was pale and shaking.

Scott automatically reassured his brother. "It's going to be fine, Alan. Just take it easy."

Scott continued looking over the side for any sign of the big brute, but it seemed to have disappeared. Scott hoped the animal thought its prey had escaped and wouldn't recognize the fragility of the rubber raft. His father spoke so softly that Scott barely heard him over the sound of the water lapping against the boat. "Son, get the flare gun out."

Scott looked up at his father, then gazed out across the water to see what his father was staring at. There, some hundred feet away a triangular dorsal fin lifted some six feet in the air. The shark was headed their way, pushing water ahead of it as a picked up speed for an attack.

Scott's eyes darted around the bottom of the life raft until he found the small metal case holding the flare gun. Flipping the case open, Scott worked feverishly to get the large manganese capsule loaded into the gun. It had to be done right or a deadly misfire could happen. Alan's tense "Hurry, Scott!" just seemed to magnify his fatigued fumbling. The flare, modified by Brains, would burn as effectively underwater as in the air. If he could hit the animal in the head, the flare would stick and burn white hot for several minutes.

The capsule finally slid home, and Scott snapped the gun shut, lifting it to point at the shark which was now less than twenty-five feet away. Just as Scott took aim, the animal dove down, the ominous fin sliding beneath the waves. The Tracys all knew what was coming and Jeff and Alan armed themselves with the raft's small emergency paddles. Scott maintained a firing stance, hoping to get a shot at the beast before it struck.

That hope was not realized as a few seconds later the raft exploded into the air when the giant shark hit it full force from beneath. The three Tracy men were thrown through the air into the water and the shark demolished the raft with a single bite. Scott screamed, "Get to the reef!" as he tried desperately to draw a bead on the huge predator.

This day had gone from bad to worse, and Scott's luck still hadn't changed. Before he could get the shot off, the shark slid back beneath the waves. At a tug on his arm, Scott turned to find his father pulling him toward the scant safety of the coral reef. Scott swam with a will, diving beneath the surface as soon as he pulled on his mask. "Dad, I just need one clear shot."

"We can work out a strategy once we're safe, son. For now, let's get in among the rocks before that monster returns. Alan? Where are you, boy?"

"Over here, Dad. To your left."

With his father, Scott looked to the left and saw his brother waving from behind a large coral boulder. Scott recognized the area as one where his father had insisted the reef be bolstered as a support for the shark fence that now stood in disarray near where Alan hovered. As his dad swam toward Alan, Scott again took up a rearguard position holding the flare gun extended and ready to fire.

When they reached the boulder, Alan patted the rock with a proprietary air. "This old rock has become a good friend. There's enough room back here for us all." Scott could see where a small cave was formed by three car-sized boulders.

"We can't stay down here forever, son. How much air have you got left in your tank?"

Alan checked a dial and his watch and said, "At least forty minutes worth, but so far that shark hasn't shown any desire to leave. Even the helicopter didn't faze it. It just went about its business……...Trying to make me an afternoon snack." The youngest Tracy brother shuddered expressively.

Scott said forcefully, "Well, it hasn't gotten you yet, and it won't if I have anything to say about it."

"All right, boys. Let's figure this out. We have the flare gun. Now we just need a way to get that brute close enough to make the shot effective."

"That's easy. Scott, give me the flare gun, and you just go stick your hand out there."

"Tell you what. You can stick your head out. You don't use it for anything anyway."

"Scott, that's enough. I want concrete suggestions here, not horseplay."

Both men murmured "Sorry, Dad." Scott looked around for some way to safely draw the shark close. Twenty feet away, Scott saw the cause of all their troubles. The shark fence was intact except for a breach some fifteen feet wide. Scott found himself wondering how the big Great White had even found the breach, let alone fit through it.

As he gazed at the open area, a germ of an idea took root. Thinking for a moment, Scott suddenly nodded. "I've got it. Here, Alan, you take the gun." Scott handed the flare gun to his surprised brother. "Dad, I'm going to head over to the shark fence. If you see that shark, sing out."

Scott made to leave the cave, but his father grabbed his arm. "Hold it, son, you're not going anywhere until I know what you're planning."

Scott nodded. "Okay, here's the action……...The shark fence is intact except for that one section, right? So what I am going to do is go outside the fence. The shark will see me and come after me. It has to go through that breach in order to get me, right? But sharks can't turn their heads more than a few inches. I stay out of its reach as it is swimming through, and then I pop back in. It can't get me because of the fence, and it will line itself up for Alan to take his shot."

Jeff Tracy slowly shook his head. "I'd rather we came up with a plan that didn't involve using any of us as live bait."

Scott marshaled his thoughts before taking up the argument. "Dad, we're only going to have one shot at this. We can't afford to have that animal take us by surprise. It's too fast and way, way too big. The way I see it, this is about the only way we can control where it is."

"I have to agree with Scott on that, Dad. Part of the reason I couldn't leave the reef was because every time I tried, it came out of nowhere and was on me before I knew it. This is a good plan. I think we should try it."

Scott and Alan both waited patiently while their father thought it over. With mildly surprised annoyance, Scott realized his father had deftly maneuvered himself so that he was between his sons and the opening of the small cave. Scott sighed, resigned to the fact that his father would forever try to protect him, despite his own injuries that had him unconsciously rubbing his bandaged thigh.

"All right, Scott, we'll do it your way. But I want you to hug the rocks as you swim over there, and both of you, keep your eyes open."

In unison, Scott and Alan agreed, "Yes, Father."

As Scott prepared for his dash to the fence, Alan cautiously poked his head up above the level of the boulders. "Okay, Scott, the coast is clear."

Scott pushed himself off the side of the boulder and swam hellbent-for-leather until he reached the fence. He swam through the wide opening and took up a position some six feet from the gap, and ten feet off the seabed. He looked back through the fence and waited for his trap to be sprung.

Scott expected only a short wait, and when the time stretched from one minute to five, he frowned. Could the shark have given up? It seemed incredible, but Scott started to wonder if biting into the raft had caused the shark to realize what it was after wasn't food after all. Floating in place, idly kicking his fins to maintain position, Scott allowed himself to relax.

His brother had been floating just above the cave, head swiveling as he tried to spot the shark. Finally he started to turn to Scott, shoulders shrugging, "Scott, I think we're wasting our……...Shit! Scott, behind you! It's behind you!"

Scott spun to see a distant gray shape resolve itself into a shark the size of a freight train. And moving just about as fast. In a flat out panic, Scott swam desperately for the gap in the fence. He made it to the gap and actually felt himself pushed through by the pressure wave preceding the giant predator. At the last moment, Scott grabbed the steel post of the fence and swung his body out of the way. The big Great White flitted by and turned quicker than Scott would have thought possible.

Scott saw it coming again and darted through the opening, again putting the fence between himself and the huge shark. Again the shark charged through the gap and seemed to turn on a dime. Scott began to wonder if his plan had been such a good idea after all. It was obvious he would never make it back to the cave, and he was already tired from the events of the day. It seemed just a matter of time before he didn't move fast enough and the shark took him.

"That's the way, Scott! You've got him on the ropes!"

Scott risked a quick look over to the fence on the other side of the gap. Alan floated there in a classic shooter's stance. "Any time today would be good, Al."

The shark was charging again. "Oh, you mean like now?" With that, Alan fired the flare gun. Immediately, the entire area was brightened by the flare which burst against the side of the shark near the gill slits directly beneath the large black eye. Alan's crow of success was cut off by a startled oath as the dying shark slammed into the fence barely five feet from where he floated.

The strike was so hard that the fence start to tumble directly on top of the young man. Alan for his part didn't wait to see what would happen, instead swimming as hard as he could for the cave where his Dad floated, waving him on and yelling encouragement.

Scott, in the meantime, had his hands full with the Great White. The animal's tiny brain had apparently not gotten the message that it was dying and so it continued to try to get to where Scott played a deadly game of Ins and Outs. Each time the shark charged, Scott pulled to get the fence between them. He knew he couldn't keep it up much longer. It was like something out of a nightmare. The animal didn't seem to notice the chunk of white hot light attached to its side, but the glare threw the area into a surreal landscape of brightly colored corals and flickering shadows.

Scott could hear nothing over his own tortured gasping for air. His couldn't afford to let his concentration slip. The shark was getting closer and closer to catching him, and Scott feared any slip which would mean the end of the game. The Great White didn't seem to slow at all. In fact, Scott would have been willing to swear that the animal got bigger each time it charged. Finally, the beast charged one last time, but the charge turned to a glide and much to Scott's amazement, the giant fish slowly sank to the seabed and moved no more.

Scott stared at the dead fish, trying to catch his breath. Instead of getting easier, breathing seemed harder. In a moment of lucidity, Scott checked the gauge on his air tank. It was empty. Scott looked up at the surface and then turned to tell his father and brother that he had to go. When he turned to the cave, his eyes widened. A section of the heavy steel shark fence had come down. Pinned beneath it, some few feet from the cave Scott saw both his brother and father.

Neither man was moving, and Scott immediately moved to go to their aid, but the he had taken no more that a single stroke when he realized he had no choice but to surface. In an agony of fear, Scott pulled hard to the surface of the lagoon. Ripping off his mask, he gasped for breath in the sultry air of the tropical afternoon.

With trembling fingers, he unbuckled his air tank. Flipping open a tiny panel in the side of the tank, he pressed a small button. A flotation collar immediately ballooned out of the tank, and an ingenious miniature engine started with an electric whine. Another of the many devices invented by International Rescue's resident genius, Brains, the motor would fill and pressurize the tank in just under ten minutes.

Scott had no intention of waiting that long. Breathing rapidly to saturate his lungs, Scott finally took a deep breath and dove under the surface. He reached the fallen fence and his father and brother, and began trying to lift the fence up. His lungs were on fire, and he hadn't been able to move the fence a single inch when he was again forced to surface.

Having no other option, Scott dove a second time, and then a third. Each time it seemed that no sooner had he reached the fence than the demands of his weakening body required that he leave. He dove a fourth time, but he exhaustion proved too much, and he didn't even make it as far as the fence when he had to head again to the air above. As he neared the surface Scott heard a whining, beating noise that seemed to get louder by the second.

Scott looked around, knowing in his heart that he couldn't handle much more when a shadow crossed over the surface of the water. With sudden hope, Scott realized it had to be his father's helicopter. The thought that rescue was near gave new impetus to Scott's swimming, and soon he was at the surface gulping air and looking around for the helicopter.

Seeing it was about to set down near the seaplane, Scott raised his weary arms in the air, waving to catch the pilot's attention. The copter set down, but immediately took off again and made a bee-line to where Scott clung to his floating air tank. The small machine landed near enough to throw spray into Scott's face. He wearily stroked to the machine and grabbed hold of the pontoon.

"Scott, where's Dad? And Alan?"

"They're trapped. Help me up, Virg."

Virgil reached down with his good hand and helped Scott up onto the pontoon. "What do you mean trapped? I thought you guys were going to head for the seaplane. What are you doing out here? Are you okay?"

Scott waved away the questions. "Long story. Listen, they're trapped under a section of the shark fence. Here's what we're going to do. I want you to dive down with the winch cable. Hook it on the edge of the fence, and I'll winch it up from here. Then you pull Dad and Alan out. Got it?"

Virgil had started strapping on his air tank when Scott started talking. "Yeah, I got it. Are you sure you're okay? You look about done in."

"I am about done in. That's why you're doing the diving. Just get going. The quicker we're done here the quicker we can all go home."

"Right." With no further word, Virgil dropped into the water. He swam under the little machine and popped up on the other side. Scott slowly climbed into the pilot's seat and flicking a switch lowered the clevis hook at the end of its cable. Virgil reached up and grabbed the hook, and Scott flipped another switch, releasing the clutch on the cable drum.

Virgil dove down leaving Scott to scrub his face with his hands. He told himself to remember the next time his toilet backed up to find a nice dark hole in the ground to curl up in. He watched the cable as it played out. After several minutes it seemed to shake back and forth, and Scott heard a tiny sound. Looking to the seat next to him, he picked up his scuba mask with its communicator and pulled it on. "Virg? Did you say something?"

"Yeah, Scott, I'm ready to go down here. Hoist away."

Scott settled the mask more comfortably on his face and started up the winch. His mind went back to a discussion he and his brothers had had with Brains over the need to put a multi-channel capability in the sport scuba masks. The more complete communicators like the mask that Gordon wore on rescue added a significant weight that the brothers had argued against for just diving around the island. Well, hindsight was always 20/20, and Scott intended to prohibit any sport diving until every mask was upgraded.

"Okay, Scott, that's good enough. Hold it there."

Scott locked the winch and checked his starboard pontoon. The pull had settled that pontoon deeper into the water, but Scott judged that it was well within specifications. "Virg, you need me down there?"

"Son, you stay where you are. Your brother and I can handle Alan." His father's voice lifted a weight from Scott's shoulders. He listened to the quiet back and forth between Virgil and his dad, hoping to get a sense of Alan's injuries.

His spirit soared when Alan suddenly yelped, "Owww! That hurt! Watch what you're doing there!"

Scott gathered that Alan had been pinned when the falling fence had dislodged some rocks which had caught the young man's legs. Scott listened in with a tight smile as Alan first demanded that Virgil take it easy, then insisted he was all right and needed no assistance in swimming to the surface.

He hesitated for a moment then reached out to communicate with the villa. "Tracy Seven to base."

Scott tried twice more, but there was no answer. Swallowing hard, Scott made an adjustment and tried again. "Tracy Seven to Thunderbird Five."

"Scott! Are you okay? Are Dad and Alan with you?" John's voice reflected all of the fears of the day.

"Yeah, John, we're all okay. I'll tell you all about it later. Listen, I can't get any response from the villa."

"Yeah, they're all in the sick room with Gordon. He's not doing so good, Scott. Brains is pumping him full of blood, but he isn't responding. Brains thinks his blood volume may have dropped too low to keep his brain oxygenated. He says there could be brain damage."

There was no accusation in John's voice, only a deep sadness, but Scott said quietly, "I did the best I could."

"Scott, this isn't your fault, son." Scott looked around to where his father and two brothers had finally surfaced.

All three had strained faces, attesting to the fact that they had heard what John had said. Jeff shook his head grimly. "We need to get home. Virgil, help your brother up onto the pontoon."

Alan disdained the help and with a strong pull, got himself out of the water. "All right, Virgil you and I will get on the other side. This helicopter may not be able to lift off with this much weight, but it can skim over the surface to the seaplane. Nobody, but nobody is swimming in this lagoon again."

Alan looked up sharply at the finality of that pronouncement, but seeing the warning in Scott's eyes, he said nothing. Their father climbed into the second seat and with Virgil and Alan riding the pontoons, Scott got the little copter going. His dad was right about the weight holding the machine down, it translated itself into a sluggishness in the collective that Scott handled with his right hand as his left worked the throttle at his side. He eased the motor up to enough power to skim across the surface of the lagoon and within a few moments he had sidled up to the far side of the pier..

"All right, Scott, you and Virgil take the Sikorsky. Alan, you're with me." With some juggling of positions, Scott found himself in the passenger seat of the seaplane as Virgil deftly taxied across the water. Scott waved to his father as the helicopter passed by, ten feet off the surface of the lagoon.

As the seaplane lifted off, and circled to head back over the island, Scott looked down at the azure waters. He shook his head at the complacency he and all of his brothers had shown this day. That complacency may have cost him a brother today, and Scott resolved here and now to insure it never happened again.

Epilogue

Two months later.

Scott Tracy wiped his hands on a rag as he finished up work on Thunderbird One's secondary winch. Hopping down from the scaffolding, he moved across the floor of the bay, then took an elevator that delivered him to the lower reaches of the villa proper. As he walked down the hall to his bedroom, he heard raised voices coming from one of the recreation rooms.

Scott changed directions and headed for what sounded like a fight. Reaching the room, he found his two youngest brothers standing nose to nose yelling their damn heads off. Scott reflected at least with his face flushed in anger, Gordon had more color than he had been showing a few weeks earlier after a too-close brush with death.

Scott thought he might just move on when it suddenly turned physical, Alan shoving his older brother. "I SAID, YOU'RE NOT GOING!"

"IT'LL BE A COLD DAY IN HELL BEFORE YOU CAN STOP ME!" Gordon shoved Alan back just as hard.

Scott had no choice but to enter the fray. "KNOCK IT OFF, YOU TWO!" he bellowed.

Scott's yell startled them and the two young men separated. In a calmer voice, Scott asked, "Now, what is this all about?"

Alan was all righteous indignation. "I caught him trying to sneak out to that damn lagoon."

Scott turned hard-eyed to Gordon. "Is that true?"

Gordon flinched at the tone, but stood his ground. "Look, Scott, I have a lot of work to do over there, and I can't wait around for someone to be willing to babysit me."

Scott shook his head. "You agreed, Gordon."

"Because it was the only way to get you all to shut up. I know what I'm doing, Scott. I don't need a buddy."

Alan threw his hands up in the air. "You're an idiot!"

Gordon glared at his brother for a second, then started to stalk out of the room. Scott stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Gordon, you know what Dad will say."

"Scott...I know you guys worry. I know that. And the last thing I want is to wake up and find anyone hurt on my account. But I can't live my life hiding. I just can't." Gordon said, then just shook his head sadly.

Scott looked away. To let Gordon go to the lagoon could mean another incident like the one that had almost killed him two months earlier. To put restrictions on him like he was a wayward child had its own problems. After a series of arguments between Gordon and virtually the rest of the family, the shark fence had be re-built and reinforced. The lagoon had been swept clean of the few remaining sharks. The communicators had all been upgraded. But Jeff had still insisted that Gordon only go diving with a buddy. A sensible precaution, but not very practical in a family of busy people.

Scott empathized with his brother. If he was forced to give up flying, or found himself restricted in any way, he would feel the same way. Scott had known this was coming. He was of two minds what to do about it. He considered the pros and cons before finally coming to a decision he hoped he wouldn't come to regret. "Okay, I'll tell you what. Give me ten minutes to change, and I'll come with you for today." Scott raised his voice to override the objection forming on Gordon's lips. "This evening we'll have a talk with Dad, okay? We'll see if we can get this restriction lifted."

Gordon's eyes filled with gratitude, and he smiled, for what seemed to Scott to be the first real smile in months. "Okay, Scott."

Alan frowned with barely disguised worry. "But Scott, what if something happens?"

"Alan, if something happens, we'll deal with it, okay?"

Alan's look was skeptical, but slowly he nodded.

Gordon looked from one brother to the other, the smile never dimming. The smile turned sly, and as he turned to leave, he said, "Oh, and Scott?"

"Yeah?"

"The next time your toilet breaks?"

"Yeah?"

"Fix it yourself." With that, Gordon disappeared out the door to the sound of Alan's snickers, and Scott's straight out laugh. It was going to be another perfect day in paradise.