OUT OF THE BLUE by CLAUDETTE RATED FRPT

When dreams seem to intertwine with reality, who can dispute either?

Winner of the 2005 Tracy Island Writers Forum Picture Challenge.

"Virgil, have you seen Gordon anywhere?"

The chestnut haired man reached the top step of the staircase leading up to the living area of the Tracy Villa as his oldest brother approached through the panoramic glass windows.

"No, not since breakfast. Why? What has he done now?"

Scott Tracy came to a halt beside him, shooting a quick glance down into the silent, empty swimming pool below them before replying. "Nothing as far as I know. Brains wants him in the lab and asked if I knew where he was."

"Tried his comm. link?" suggested Virgil as Scott leaned over the balustrade, craning his neck to see if their brother was on one of the loungers dotted around the pool. "He’s not there," he added helpfully, as Scott leaned further over. "I’ve just come up and Tin-Tin’s the only one still down there."

Scott pulled himself upright and gave his brother a rueful smile. "So I see. No, I haven’t. I was sure he said he was going swimming so when Brains asked I said I’d tell him as I was coming this way. Now he’s not here after all."

"That’s because he’s gone swimming in the sea-caves on the far side of the island with Alan. He wanted to get a closer look at the new cave that opened up after that bad storm we had last month. We’ve been so busy with call-outs since then, he hasn’t had a chance to go before."

Virgil grinned at the irritation showing on Scott’s face at the news, and turned to go into the villa as the older man lifted his watch to contact their brother. His movement was checked and his amusement replaced by puzzlement as Scott’s attempts to contact Gordon were met with silence. Turning back to the balcony he was in time to see Scott’s expression change as the oldest of the Tracy brothers raised concerned eyes to his younger brother.

Virgil shrugged. "Try Alan."

Nodding Scott turned back to his watch, but before he could make the call, the face of the watch came to life to reveal their youngest brother, diving hood pushed back, hair dripping and with wide panicked eyes looking back at him.

"Scott, Scott you’ve got to help. It’s Gordon; there’s something wrong with him. Oh God. Scott, he’s not breathing."

As they swam slowly and carefully through the small opening between the looming rock walls, Gordon marvelled again at the beauty of the sea that surrounded their island home. The water here was clear and relatively warm, filled with myriads of fish and other forms of marine life that created a continuous, ever-changing landscape of colour and movement that confused the eye and gave the impression that the water itself was a living patchwork of life.

The bright blue suffused everything, filling the horizon with a curtain of cobalt and disappearing below them in a well of azure. Emerging from the tight slit between the rocks, Gordon and Alan followed the wall of volcanic rock around to their right until they came to the massive opening they had found on their earlier excursion into this area the previous month. At that time they had been due back at the villa, and had not had time for more than a cursory examination of the new feature. Now Gordon was taking the opportunity of a lag in rescues to explore in more detail, once again taking Alan with him as his diving partner. Turning on their lamps as the ambient light coming down from the surface faded into a growing gloom, Gordon and Alan strained their eyes to see what the darkness held, cautious in case any large sea animals had taken refuge in this retreat. Sure enough, as the light penetrated the depths of the cavern, myriads of small moving forms darted away from them, disappearing deeper into the blackness or darting past them to escape into the vastness of the open ocean.

Separating slightly from his brother Alan followed a line up the centre of the cavern, eager to see how far back the cavern went and whether it gave any access to the main body of the island in the form of caves above the water line. Preferring to examine the marine life in more detail, however, Gordon glided to the wall of the cavern, following it around, his fingers trailing close to the growths of coral and other marine life that covered it, confirming his suspicions that the storm had only revealed the entrance to the opening rather than creating it.

A subdued glow emanating from the gloom ahead caught Gordon’s attention and drew him on. As he came up to it, the glow became a radiance that spread into the surrounding water, bathing it with an eerie luminescence. Intrigued, he moved closer, running his fingers over the wall where part of the rock seemed to be glowing with light. He watched in awe as the emanation seemed to increase in power, its radiance illuminating his face with an almost unearthly intensity, its brightness dazzling his near dark adapted eyes. There was a gap in the wall next to the glowing rock and Gordon’s fingers followed the contours of the rock into the darkness, his mind momentarily forgetful of caution. Of what happened next Gordon could not be certain but there was a sudden stabbing pain in his fingers and it seemed as if an electric shock passed through his hand and along his arm. Gordon snatched back his hand, disquieted when he found he could not feel his fingers. Checking further, he found a rapidly moving wave of numbness was rising up his arm and approaching his shoulder.

"Alan?" Gordon tried to keep his breathing steady and his voice calm as he called his brother. "Alan, where are you?"

The numbness had spread to the trunk of his body and Gordon was having difficulty maintaining his position in the water. His legs felt as if they no longer belonged to him, his vision was blurring and a strange buzzing was filling his ears. Down a long, twisted tunnel, he heard the voice of his brother calling him before his world fell into silence.

It was the sound of a voice that roused him. At first tinny and faint, the voice grew in strength and broke through the cloud of fuzziness that fogged his brain.

"Please, is anybody there? Can anybody help us?"

Opening his eyes Gordon found he was still suspended in water, floating limply in the darkness. The numbness, whatever it had been, had gone and he was left feeling light headed and disoriented. The water felt unusually cold and Gordon shivered in discomfort.

"Can anyone hear me?" The voice continued to come through his helmet, frightened and desperate. "Please, we need help. Somebody help us."

"Hello," called Gordon. "Alan, is that you?"

There was a momentary silence and then the voice came back, a little hesitant but with a definite note of relief.

"Help. We're in a cave, under the cliff. The path down collapsed and we're trapped. My cousin's hurt; I can't wake him up. Please help us."

The words didn't make complete sense to Gordon. What path? Which cave? Orienting himself he started swimming towards the top of the cavern, hoping there might be an air gap available as his mind slipped into rescue mode.

"Where are you? Have you called the authorities for help?"

"We're in a cave. I've been calling and calling, but nobody's answered except you. Please help us. You sound so clear you can't be far away."

Gordon had reached the surface now and was looking around him, the light from his lamp reflecting back off the water and illuminating the walls and roof of a fair sized cavern, the roof standing about twenty feet above water level.

"I can see a light." The voice coming through his helmet was excited now. "There's a light out on the water. Is that you?"

Startled, Gordon looked around. Surely the caller could not be here on Tracy Island? In this cave? The beam of light fell on a small rocky area at the far side of the cavern and he could just make out the small form of a figure standing by the edge of the water. Starting to swim towards the area Gordon replied, "Stay there. I'm heading towards you." Then, remembering his diving partner he called out, "Alan, this is Gordon. Where are you?"

Much to Gordon's surprise there was no response. Changing the frequency slightly Gordon called again and, still not getting any response, attempted to contact first his father and then John in the space satellite. By the time he reached the shore he was equally perplexed - at finding strangers here in a cave under Tracy Island, and alarmed - at being unable to contact any of his family. As he exited the water and removed his face mask, he took in the sight of a young boy, maybe about eight or nine, dressed in brown trousers and a blue pastel shirt, standing beside the still form of another larger figure lying on the ground close to the back of the area that was little more than a strip of rock.

As he approached them, the young boy stepped forward, his face dirty and stained with dust and lined with smudged, dried tear tracks. "Can you help him? Please?"

Sparing the boy only a quick, reassuring smile, Gordon knelt on one knee close to the still figure and checked for a pulse, already certain before his fingers closed around the limp wrist of the young man beside him that he would not find one. A large wound on the side of the man's head had poured blood over the rocks nearby. Quickly and professionally Gordon checked for all the vital signs of life, but they were negative.

A small sniffle caused Gordon to look up and meet the fear filled eyes of the young boy who now stood close to his shoulder.

"What's your name, son?" asked Gordon, visually checking the boy for any injuries. "Are you alright? How did you get here?"

"Ronnie," answered the boy with a tremor in his voice. "Can you help Josh?"

"I'm sorry," replied Gordon with a sigh. "No, there's nothing I can do for him."

At his words the boy's face paled and his bottom lip quivered. Standing up Gordon rested his hand on the boy's shoulder and gently turned him, walking with him a short distance along the spit of rock. Keeping the boy's back to the still form behind him and still resting a hand on the boy's shoulder, Gordon squatted down in front of the lad and looked into his face.

"Okay Ronnie, how did you and Josh get down here?"

The boy scrubbed his hands over his eyes and dropped his gaze as he began scraping a toe of his shoe over the rock before looking back up at Gordon.

"Down the steps. Josh said he'd bring me to see the cave – my Mum and Dad wouldn't let me come; they thought it was dangerous." The boy dropped his gaze again then looked back at Gordon. "I'm sorry. We should never have come."

Gordon cocked his head, listening to the boy's voice, a puzzled look crossing his face for a moment at the sound of the obviously British accent. As the boy stopped speaking he coaxed him on.

"What happened, Ronnie?"

"We were larking around in the tunnel as we came down the steps."

"The tunnel?" queried Gordon. "What tunnel?"

The boy raised an arm and pointed off to the right of where they were standing to a dark opening in the rock that Gordon had not previously noticed.

"Over there. It comes down from the cliff. We were shouting and screaming as we came down to hear the echoes. It was fun at first but then. . . ." the boy's eyes filled with tears and his lip trembled again, " . . . then the walls started to shake. Josh said it was only a small 'quake – he said they get them all the time here, but the roof started to fall in. We tried to go back, but more rocks had fallen down higher up so we came down here. Josh was going to call for help, but more rocks fell and hit him on the head and . . . and . . ."

The tears that had been gathering in the boy's eyes began to fall and Gordon squeezed his shoulder gently in sympathy. "Did any of the rocks hit you Ronnie?"

The boy shook his head. "No. They only hit Josh and then the shaking stopped."

Gordon stood up and pulled off his flippers. "Stay here Ronnie, I'll be back in a minute."

Before the boy could object, Gordon disappeared up the narrow passage where steps had been hewn in the hard rock. Rapidly he ascended them but after only a dozen steps the tunnel came to a dead end, completely blocked by fallen rocks and debris. After a quick examination Gordon shook his head, dusted off his hands and returned to the rock spit where Ronnie was waiting. There would be no escape in that direction. Stepping past the boy Gordon put his face mask back on and stood by the edge of the water.

"Alan this is Gordon. Come in please."

Gordon was starting to grow concerned about the absence of his youngest brother. The inability to contact his father or John spoke of a break in communications rather than anything else. However, Alan should have come looking for him by now and the failure of his brother to materialise from the water was unnerving. Although he didn't understand how Ronnie and his cousin had come here, the first priority now was finding Alan and getting the boy out of there. The boy had not complained of cold but Gordon's hand had detected the tremors that were already shaking the young boy's body.

"Alan! Respond!" Gordon called. "I'm in the cave above the cavern we were checking. If you can hear me, I need you to surface right now."

Anxiously he stood at the water's edge, looking out over the dark expanse but there was no movement and no sign of his errant brother. "Ronnie," he said as he pulled his flippers back on, "I need you to wait here for me. I'll be back soon."

Immediately the boy started to object, but resting his hand on Ronnie's shoulder and looking straight into his eyes, Gordon said clearly and slowly, "I promise I'll come back okay?" The boy just stood there and looked back at him wordlessly "I've got to go check on my brother. I can't just leave him. You understand?"

Slowly the boy nodded.

"I WILL come back," promised Gordon. "Just stay nearby and don't make any loud noises. I'll be back soon."

With that he pushed off from the rocks and re-entered the water. The temperature took him by surprise. It really did not seem like the same balmy ocean that he and his brother had been swimming in not so long ago. He had no idea where Alan might be or how he might find him. The water seemed to be a good deal murkier than usual and even with his lamp the visibility was severely restricted. After a few minutes of fruitless searching close to the edges of the cavern Gordon came across a hole in the cavern wall where daylight was filtering through from the ocean beyond. The opening was far smaller and more constricted than the entrance he had come through earlier with his brother and Gordon realised that Alan might have already returned to the surface to obtain help. Retracing his route, he returned to the spit of land where Ronnie stood waiting and hauled himself from the water.

"Ronnie," he called, "how did you contact me? What did you use?"

The boy reached into a pocket in his trousers and fished out a small pocket radio transmitter.

"You called the emergency services on this?" asked Gordon, taking the radio from him to examine it.

"Yes, but no-one answered except you." Ronnie replied as Gordon turned the item in his hands.

"Not surprising," muttered Gordon as he handed the item back to the boy. "It can't have a range of more than a few meters. Down here it would never get through the rock." He chewed his lip for a moment, looking thoughtfully at the boy. "Can you swim?" he asked abruptly.

Nodding Ronnie looked at the dark water beside them then back at Gordon. "Is it far?"

"A fair distance. Have you done any scuba diving before?"

The boy shook his head. "No but I've seen people do it on T.V."

"Right" said Gordon "Well, I've got a little attachment here that will let you share my air supply while we're swimming." While he was speaking Gordon reached round to a small device that was part of his breathing apparatus and started pulling out a long piece of hose with a nose and mouth attachment. "We'll need to swim close together when we're underwater but don't be worried about that, I'll keep you close by me. Now, sit down here and watch."

For the next few minutes Gordon took the boy through a quick lesson in breathing underwater using the scuba device. Just as he was finishing, the rock underneath them began to shake. Ronnie's hands gripped the rock tightly, cowering against Gordon in terror. Gordon threw his arms around the child, holding him close and covering his head with one arm as small rocks and stones fell from the roof and began to pepper the ground all around.

"Come on" shouted Gordon above the rumbling noise that was starting to fill the air "We've got to get out of here."

Rapidly he took to the water, encouraging the boy to follow then together they swam out across the surface. As they reached the place where Gordon judged the exit to the cavern to be located, the earthquake stopped and silence fell once more in the cave. Leaving the boy to tread water briefly Gordon submerged to confirm they had the correct place and then, with his arm firmly wrapped around Ronnie to keep him close by, Gordon started him on the secondary breather and led them down into the depths of the cold darkness, through the submerged opening and out into the brighter water of the open ocean. As soon as he could Gordon began the ascent to the surface, aware of the increasingly strong waves of shudders that were starting to course through the small form next to him. As they broke through the waves and into the sunlight above Gordon looked around for the nearest landing place and, spying a beach not far off, steered them straight towards the land. As his feet touched ground beneath them and Gordon began to wade through the water he found the boy's weight increasing in his arms. Gordon turned in alarm to find the boy's eyes half-closed and his face ashen pale.

"Ronnie, hey Ronnie, wake up," he called as he shook the youth. "Come on Ronnie; stay with me here. We're nearly there. Don't give up now. Just keep going a little further."

Briefly the boy responded; his eyes opened a little and he took a little more of his weight on his own feet but before the two of them had taken another dozen steps the boy collapsed as a dead weight in Gordon's arms. Dropping down to gather up the boy's legs with his other arm, Gordon lifted his weight and carried the child through the remainder of the surf and laid him gently on the beach above the water line.

"Ronnie, Ronnie, wake up. Come on kid, open your eyes for me," called Gordon as he rapidly checked the boy for any injuries that the boy might have acquired from the falling rocks. "Come on Ronnie, you're safe now. Wake up."

The boy was shaking with cold and his eyes remained closed as he moaned weakly.

"Cold. So cold. Sleep. Want to sleep."

"No, Ronnie!" called Gordon in alarm. "You can't sleep yet. Not 'till we've got you warm."

Lifting his watch, Gordon was about to try to contact his family again when a shout caught his attention. Looking up he saw a number of figures running quickly down a wooden stairway built down the side of one of the cliffs bordering the beach. Certain his brothers and perhaps even his father had come to assist Gordon stood and waved to the figures, who were nearing the bottom of the ladder.

"Come on fellas. He needs help. I'm going back for Alan."

Confident Ronnie was now safe Gordon put his mask back in place and waded back into the water submerging quickly to re-enter the watery world where his brother waited. The dark opening of the submerged cave was not far and soon the blackness closed around him.

Gordon couldn't remember how long he had been hanging here in the darkness, suspended in oblivion, unthinking, unfeeling. Something had disturbed him, touched his consciousness and brought him back to awareness. Something warm and familiar, like a sound hovering on the edge of perception. Unable to see anything he tried moving and the darkness shifted slightly, turning from inky blackness to deepest gloom, a minute difference in shade being the only indication that he had moved. Encouraged, he moved again and the gloom lightened again, gaining colour and becoming a rapidly growing tunnel of blue. He was swimming now, and the warmth and comfort had moved from the edge of awareness and was blanketing his body in an all-encompassing feeling of security and safety. He was swimming through the azure liquid, something beckoning him onward through the illuminated column of water to where bright sunlight shone down through the mouth of a sea cavern.

As his head exited into the rays of light, he became aware of voices. They were muted and distorted as if coming to him through water, but within seconds clarification came and one voice in particular came to him clearly through the light.

"Come on Gordon, it's time to wake up now. You can do it."

Wake up? He wasn't asleep. Was he? A second voice joined in, cajoling and encouraging him to respond.

"Gordon, can you hear me son? Try and open your eyes and look at me."

Open his eyes? When did they close? And why was his father here? Come to that, where was here? With the question came another awareness – pain. Someone was sticking white hot needles into the fingers of his right hand and his hand from the wrist down was tingling with pain. He tried to move his hand away from his tormentor but it was unusually heavy and stiff and the effort gained him only a spasm of heightened pain that forced a groan from him.

"Gordon! Gordon, wake up!"

The voice was becoming strident, insistent and Gordon knew from past experience that its owner would not let him rest until he had done as he was bidden. He tried to open his eyes and was shocked to find someone had pinned his eyelids closed with lead weights. However, his effort must have been noticed as his father's voice came again.

"That's it Gordon, that's right. Open your eyes and look at me."

Summoning as much determination as he could, Gordon concentrated all his effort on rolling back the shutters that blocked his view of the world. His first sight was the relieved face of his father, looking somehow more tired and old than he remembered, leaning over him. As their eyes met, a warm smile lit up Jeff Tracy's face and it seemed as if some of those years had been lifted from him in a fraction of a second. Jeff reached forward and ran his fingers through Gordon's hair.

"Welcome back, son." He smiled.

"Have I been away?" asked Gordon slowly, a frown of confusion creasing his face at the difficulty he felt in voicing those few words.

"I’ll say!" The other voice answered from his side and Gordon, with an effort equal to that of pulling a locomotive with only his neck muscles, turned his head a few degrees to find his oldest brother standing at the side of the bed on which he had decided he must be lying. "So far as we can tell, you took a bite from a cone shell. You’ve been out of it for over twelve hours."

"A cone shell?" Gordon's eyes went wide with shock. "But the bite of a cone shell is usually . . . . . . ." His voice faded out as he saw a shadow of darkness cross Scott's face.

"It nearly was." Scott's voice was gruff and tight to Gordon's ears. "You were lucky kid. Darned lucky." The final words were issued in a half-whisper that Gordon barely caught and a shiver of cold ran over his body, his hair standing on end.

"What . . . . . ?"

He wasn't sure he wanted to know and the question trailed off.

"Alan got you back to the boat just as you stopped breathing." Jeff answered quietly. "He kept you alive until your brothers could get to you and bring you back here. Brains recognised the symptoms almost immediately and administered the anti-venom but the toxin had already taken hold." Jeff's voice nearly broke and he stopped and looked away, taking a deep breath before continuing. "You took so long to respond I thought we'd lost you for sure."

"Alan?" Sudden remembrance returned. "Where is he? Is he alright?"

Gordon struggled to sit up but his body refused to co-operate more than allowing his head and shoulders to barely lift from the surface of the bed. The physical cost of doing so pushed Gordon beyond his limit, and he collapsed backwards in short order.

"Hold up there, Gordon; take it easy." Scott reached to the side of the bed and used the lifting mechanism to raise the head of the bed a few degrees. "The effects of that toxin are a little slow to clear, even with the anti-venom. Brains says you’re going to find it difficult to move for another few hours so just calm down and lay still. Alan's just fine."

"Where was he?" queried Gordon. "I couldn't find him."

"Find him?" interjected Jeff. "You were in no state to find anyone. Alan said you were hanging in the water like a dead fish when he got to you."

Gordon gazed back at his father, desperately trying to order the memories in his mind. "No Dad, that’s not right. I tried to call him but he didn’t respond. I got Ronnie out by myself then went back to look for him."

"Ronnie?" Jeff’s face creased in confusion. "Who’s Ronnie, son? I don’t understand."

Gordon looked from one to the other of his relatives, taking in the puzzled faces looking back at him. "Ronnie. You saw him on the beach with me. I left him when I saw you were coming and went back to look for Alan." Gordon stopped as he saw his father and brother exchange worried looks. "You don't know what I'm talking about do you?" he asked.

"No son," said Jeff. "We don't. Why don't you tell us?"

As Jeff pulled up a chair and Scott made himself comfortable on the side of the bed, Gordon went through the events he remembered, quickly covering his discovery of the cousins and his exit with Ronnie back through the flooded cavern to the beach.

"I left him there on the sand so I could go back to look for Alan. He was pretty cold, I thought he might be getting hypothermia, but I knew you’d look after him and I thought one or other of you would come straight after me. Where is he? Did you take him to the mainland?"

Jeff and Scott exchanged worried glances before Jeff turned back to Gordon.

"Son. We didn’t come down to the beach. None of that happened. Alan pulled you out and called Scott as soon as you stopped breathing. Scott and Virgil found him giving you CPR on the boat, and then they got you back here double-quick. Brains!"

Jeff turned his head slightly, his eyes never leaving his son’s face, and called for the young inventor.

"Yes Mister, uh, Mister Tracy?"

Brains stepped forward from the back of the room where he had been standing for the last few minutes and approached the bed.

"Brains, the toxin from the cone shell – could it cause Gordon to hallucinate while he was unconscious?"

"Uh, hallucinations are not generally a symptom of cone shell poisoning Mister, uh, Mister Tracy but cone shells deliver a whole, uh, cocktail of venoms. The anti-venom itself is non-specific and only acts in a - a - a general sense to bind the most common toxins found to be used by cone shells. It, uh, it is always possible that hallucinations may result in some individuals."

"I was NOT hallucinating," responded Gordon, before the Tracy patriarch could reply. "I was there, it happened."

"How could it have son?" countered Jeff. "Alan found you floating unconscious and took you straight back to the boat. You've not been alone since and no-one else is on the island. How could it have happened?"

"I don't know!" Gordon's voice was rising in mounting frustration. "but I KNOW it happened."

"Gordon," interrupted Scott, "You said you saw us coming down a set of wooden steps onto the beach?"

Gordon nodded.

"Gords," said Scott softly, leaning forward until his face was only a few inches from his brother's, his eyes soft with understanding, "Think. There's not a single cliff on Tracy Island where we've built a set of stairs down to the beach. We've left them all wild to discourage landings. The only readily accessible place is the access to the boathouse."

Scott held his brother's eyes for a moment and watched as realisation dawned and certainty gave place to doubt and confusion in Gordon's eyes, before he sat back, allowing his brother some space to sort out his jumbled thoughts. Gordon sat for a moment, his eyes still gazing at his brother but his mind re-playing his memories of his encounter, remembering the many unexplained points, not least of which was how the two cousins had come to be on Tracy Island in the first place. At last Gordon sighed.

"It seemed so real," he said in a soft voice. "It still seems so real."

"Hallucinations always do son," replied Jeff in sympathy. "That's why they're so powerful." Pushing back his chair from the bed he stood up. "It's late. You need to get some sleep. We'll see you tomorrow."

Scott stood up and walked to the foot of the bed, where he stood looking down at his younger brother. "See you tomorrow kiddo. Sleep well. I'm sure Alan will be in to see you before breakfast and Virgil as soon as he surfaces."

As father and son left the infirmary, talking quietly, Brains moved to his patient's side and went about getting him comfortable for the night.

It was late the following afternoon when the door of the sick room opened to reveal Jeff and Scott standing in the doorway with bemused expressions. Gordon looked up and lowered the book he was reading when he saw their faces.

"Father? Scott? What's up?"

"How are you feeling son?" asked Jeff, as he approached the bed.

"Fine." Gordon's reply was cautious as he watched Scott turn on the television set and set it to receive input from the orbiting space satellite far above them before coming to stand at the other side of Gordon's bed. "The effects of the toxin have worn off and Brains says I can get up in a couple of hours, after he's run a final blood test to make sure it's all gone from my system."

The television set came to life revealing the Nordic features of John Tracy looking down at him. "Gordon, hi there," his brother greeted him with a sunny smile. "Glad to see you looking better. You had us all really worried yesterday."

"Hi John" Gordon flipped a hand in greeting. "What's this all about? Has there been a rescue call?"

"John picked up a broadcast from one of the T.V stations covering the western Canadian seaboard area a while ago," answered Jeff, who was standing with folded arms by the side of Gordon's bed. "I think you should see it."

Bemused, Gordon looked from Jeff, to Scott, to John."Why do I feel as if this is going to be bad news?" he quipped nervously. "Okay, shoot."

John reached forward to touch a button and the screen changed to reveal a wind-blown, female news reporter looking back at the camera.

"Here on BC CTV we can report how a mysterious, heroic rescue yesterday prevented a local family tragedy from becoming an international family tragedy. Early yesterday afternoon, without the knowledge of their parents, two young cousins came out to Qualicum Beach to visit the old caves which have been closed for the last ten years because of safety concerns."

Gordon jumped in surprise at the announcers opening statement and snatched a quick glance at his father and brother who were watching the screen. Both were wearing flat, unreadable expressions and he turned back to the television set.

"The two boys slipped away from home and made their way through the barricades, which had been erected to keep out sightseers, and entered through the old stairway which leads down from the surface to the caves, some of which are partially submerged caverns. It was to one of these that thirteen year old Joshua Patterson was bringing his young cousin, eight year old Ronald Patterson, when a small earthquake struck."

At this Gordon sat up straight in his bed, a look of disbelief on his face.

"The boys were trapped in the cave and tragically Joshua Patterson was killed in a rockfall triggered by the 'quake. Ronald, who is visiting his cousin and parents for his summer break, tried to call for help on a mobile 'phone . . "

"Radio," muttered Gordon to himself. "It was a radio."

" . . . but the situation seemed hopeless until, out of the blue, a diver appeared and led Ronald to safety through a submerged entrance, just as the cave collapsed in a second 'quake."

The camera angle panned out, showing the reporter standing on a windswept beach.

"The mystery diver, who never told the young English boy his name, brought the child here, to this beach, where relatives were waiting."

In the background Gordon could see a wide, wooden staircase built onto the side of the cliff, leading down to the beach where the reporter stood.

"The diver did not wait to be thanked but disappeared back into the water, presumably to see if he could help Joshua. When rescuers finally entered the cave late last night, however, they found nothing but the dead body of the older boy. In an area as rich in diving as the Straits of Georgia, it appears unlikely the diver will ever be traced and we can but hope that he is safe and did not pay dearly for his courage."

The camera closed back onto the face of the reporter as she wound up her report.

"Young Ronald Patterson was in hospital today recovering from mild hypothermia and shock. He is expected to stay here with his relatives for another few days before flying back to Britain after his cousin's funeral. His relatives have issued a statement to thank the mystery diver for his actions in saving the boy's life, saying they will always be grateful to him, whoever and wherever he is."

As the report ended and the screen switched back to live feed from Thunderbird Five, the three older members of the Tracy family turned back to the bed where Gordon Tracy sat in stunned silence.