"H'I see something!" Parker cried. "Milady, steer a li'le to the left!" Parker watched as the yacht moved nearer the object he'd seen. "Oh...oh, no," he breathed. "Stop the boat!" He hurriedly stripped his jacket, shirt and shoes off, throwing them down on the deck. Without a second thought, he scrambled to the other side of the railing just as Penelope and Ruth scurried out onto the deck. The women could only watch as Parker did a perfect swan dive into the water.

"What is he doing?"

"He's found something, Mrs. Tracy," Penny replied, heart racing.

They raced up to the railing as Brains led Kyrano out to join them. "What is it?" Kyrano asked. "Is it my Tin-Tin?"

Ruth and Penelope exchanged glances but didn't respond. Penny went to the side of the deck and unfurled the rope ladder, which landed in the water with a splash. She climbed down and waited as Parker swam closer with his precious cargo.

"Oh, Tin-Tin," Penelope breathed as Parker brought her limp body closer. "Oh, no."

The sultan sensed Virgil's arrival. He rose to his feet and excused himself from the cockpit. The pilot turned and watched him walk back into the plane's huge cargo area, not realizing his king was not alone.

"Virgil, you are here."

"Yes. Kyrano, you're in terrible danger. We have to move, and fast."

"What has happened?"

"Your brother...he's here."

Kyrano's unseeing eyes widened. "I do not understand. Here at the airport?"

"No," Virgil shook his head. "I mean, the brother from...shit...Kyrano, he came through the same thing we saw in your room. The doorway back to where I'm from."

"That must be what I felt earlier," Kyrano breathed. "He has come here."

Virgil nodded emphatically. "Yes, and he's got the device that makes the travel possible."

"Where is he now?"

"I left him in the ocean. It looks like it's where Gordon shot him down after Two was fired on. He's floating on a wing, but he's got this device, the one...oh, God, Kyrano...I know what happened to me, but we...you've got to...we have to get out there!"

The sultan frowned at Virgil's increasingly agitated tone of voice, at how he stumbled over his own thoughts and words. "Please, Virgil, you must remain calm. First, you must tell me where we are to travel. I will have the pilot take off, and then you must tell me everything you have discovered."

Virgil nodded. "International Fix System 1423, Reference H." He watched as Kyrano disappeared back into the cockpit.

Within minutes he returned. The older man pulled down a jumpseat and strapped himself in as they taxied down the runway. "Now," he finally said. "You must explain what happened."

Virgil sat down cross-legged in front of his friend. "I asked to be taken to Gaat. I wound up on the ocean floor, I couldn't see a thing. When I went to the surface, I saw some parts of a plane floating, and figured Gaat must've been killed when Gordon shot him down. That's when I saw this cylindrical object bobbing on the surface of the water."

"The object which my brother uses to open the doorways to other dimensions."

He nodded. "Yes. I'm there looking at it, and suddenly someone comes sailing through me and splashes into the ocean. When he surfaced, I realized it was the Hood. He could see and hear me, but when he tried to grab me, he couldn't anymore than you can."

Kyrano frowned. "You say he splashed into the ocean."

"Yes."

"And he was able to grasp the object."

"Yes."

"Then...he is truly here. Not as with you."

"I think that's it, Kyrano. He came over for real. And he...he said..."

The sultan waited as Virgil composed his thoughts.

"He knew I was missing, Kyrano. He said I was the one they were looking for."

"Then our suspicions are confirmed."

"It's the only explanation. He said the device went off just as Two hit the water. I know I must've been ejected, I wasn't strapped in when we went down."

"But it still does not explain why you are not physically here. If you were transported to this dimension by that object..."

"What if..." Virgil stopped, afraid to give voice to the thought that would not go away.

"Yes?"

He swallowed hard. "What if I really did die in my dimension? What if this...what I am now, here...what if it's only my spirit?"

Kyrano frowned. "Is that...is that possible?"

"What, for my spirit to get sucked into another dimension?" Virgil shrugged. "Why not? A few days ago I didn't believe other dimensions existed. Yet here I am in a world where you're a king and I was never born. I can't discount the fact that the portal opened right as I died over there."

His tone of voice worried Kyrano. "Virgil, you must not give up hope. We will find my brother, and we will obtain the object. Then we will return you to your rightful place."

"But if I'm dead, what's to say this isn't my rightful place?"

"I thought you did not believe you were dead."

"Kyrano, how could I be alive? If I were, I'd have been able to touch and feel everything just like Gaat can."

Frustrated, Virgil rose to his feet and began to pace the length of the plane, even passing through the bulkhead and out into thin air before turning back toward Kyrano. He stopped and looked down at the man who could no longer see. "Maybe I'm here because I was meant to help you stop your half-brother," he whispered. "Maybe I have to do this one last thing before I can move on."

Kyrano shook his head. He couldn't believe Virgil was really dead. It just didn't feel like the right explanation somehow, yet he had nothing better to offer. Maybe Virgil was right. Maybe he had perished in the other dimension when Thunderbird Two crashed, and maybe he was here to help Kyrano, and not the other way around.

But whichever was the true answer, right now they had a more urgent matter to attend to. "Virgil, we must decide how we are going to retrieve the device. It is only my pilot, me and you. How can we get it from Gaat?"

Virgil frowned, thankful for something else to think about. This was a puzzle. How could a blind man and a ghost defeat someone as powerful as the Hood? And from way up high in a cargo plane?

That's when the answer came to him. He smiled, a genuine smile that lit up his face. "This cargo plane...what's it normally used for?"

"It used to be a military transporter," Kyrano replied. "It has only been recently decommissioned as such due to my cutting of the military budget. In our time of peace, the special guard is not as necessary as it once was."

"Recently decommissioned. Has it been stripped?"

"I do not know," Kyrano replied. "What are you looking for?"

"If this thing still has its full stock, we'll have everything we need to take care of Gaat and get our hands on that device."

Kyrano looked up toward the sound of Virgil's voice. "Tell me."

And for once, Virgil forgot about his own plight. Now there was something constructive to do. Now it was time to get the Hood. And reclaim his rightful place in his own dimension.

Whatever that place might be.

"How is she?" When he received no response, Kyrano's voice became louder. "How is she?"

"Kyrano, please, step back. Let Brains take care of her."

"No! Do not hold me back! She must have my energy!"

Tin-Tin had been taken to one of the yacht's several bedroom suites and stripped bare, with only a sheet covering her torso. Blood turned the white cotton bedding scarlet as Brains fought not only to stop the bleeding, but repair her damaged leg and stomach, where the second bullet had torn through.

"She must live," Kyrano said quietly as he felt his way toward the head of the bed. His mind reached out, his eyes closing in concentration. Ruth and Penelope stood by feeling helpless, tears in their eyes as Parker dried himself and put his clothes back on in the next room.

Tin-Tin. My daughter. You must remain here. You are needed.

At first, he could not sense her. Fearing she was already moving from this plane, he knelt on the floor next to the bed, his hands lowering to cover her face and head.

Tin-Tin, your work in this life is unfinished. Grasp the tether to your body. Grasp it and remain.

Ever so faintly, he began to feel the familiar sensation that was his only daughter. He felt her calling out to him, yet still floating further away.

"What is he doing?" Penelope whispered.

Ruth shook her head, unable to tear her eyes from the man she had so much respect for. "I'm not sure, but I suspect he's trying to keep Tin-Tin from leaving."

"Leaving?"

"Dying," Ruth whispered.

"But how can he do that?" she asked, genuinely perplexed.

"He once told me that our souls remained tethered to our earthly bodies until such time as the tie is meant to be broken," Ruth replied. "Maybe he's trying to keep Tin-Tin's soul from breaking away."

Penelope frowned. How she wished Jeff were here. Jeff was so level-headed. She could understand him. Unlike with Kyrano and his ways, which she neither understood nor really wanted to. And yet...when they'd been lashed together...she couldn't remember much of it, but she did remember being airborne, seemingly with no effort.

It had felt like...like somehow Kyrano was inside her. In her body with her. Like they'd become one person, one being. But it wasn't possible. It just wasn't! When you died, you died. You couldn't read other peoples' minds. You couldn't get inside their heads. The physical was just that: physical. Life was flesh and blood. You were born. You died. That was all there was to it.

And yet, as Kyrano began to whisper, as Brains worked with the yacht's medical supplies to keep young Tin-Tin alive, as Ruth stood staring in awe...as Parker entered the room and respectfully stayed near the door...Penelope began to wonder. Really wonder.

Had she been wrong all these years? Had her view of life been too narrow? Ruth had said Kyrano was on Tracy Island to protect Jeff and the others. And she herself had seen some of Gaat's power...and then that white light. The doorway to another dimension, Brains had said.

When Brains had opened it again, the Hood had disappeared. Completely. No trace left of him on board. She and Parker had searched every inch themselves. She suddenly realized she could no longer ignore the facts of the situation. She'd seen them with her own eyes. Indeed, had partaken in an event that she never would have believed possible. That vapor Gaat and Kyrano had thrown at one another. She had asked him what it was.

I think you know.

She swallowed hard as she watched Kyrano's forehead lower to touch Tin-Tin's. The girl's skin was so pale, so gray. Brains set up an IV with syntheblood, trying desperately to bring her back. To bring her back from death. The only sounds other than Brains' work to save her life were Kyrano's whisperings.

I think you know.

Suddenly Kyrano rose to his feet. Brains looked up and backed away. Everyone else's jaws dropped as a strange yellowish glow formed around Kyrano's body like an aura. He raised his arms in the air and with one quick motion, thrust them down toward Tin-Tin's head. The aura moved over his body, down his arms and to his hands. To the disbelief of everyone present, it shot out from the ends of his fingers and directly into Tin-Tin's body through her eyes, which had snapped open; through her nose and ears, through her now-open mouth.

As the seconds passed, her color began to return. The yellow aura faded, but kept pouring off Kyrano and into his daughter. Kyrano began to waver, swaying as the last of the light faded away. When the light disappeared completely, Kyrano's eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the floor with a thump.

For a moment, no one moved.

"Father?" Tin-Tin said, her voice cracked.

Brains finally snapped into action, running to Kyrano's side. He reached for his wrist, frowning as he checked for a pulse. He blinked and turned toward Penny and Ruth. "He..." He faltered, turning back to look at the fallen man. "He's dead."

I think you know.

Tears spilled onto Penny's cheeks.

"Yes, Kyrano," she whispered as Brains gathered Kyrano's lifeless body into his arms. "I do know."

"I'll be right back," Virgil said as he surveyed the items Kyrano had gathered under his direction. They were strewn across the back of the cargo area, very near the plane's rear exit. The pilot had been given his instructions, and Kyrano was practicing the use of the gear he would need, feeling out where things were, memorizing how to do the impossible he would need to do in order to make their mission successful.

"Where are you going?"

Virgil sighed. "If this works, I won't have another chance to see anyone from this dimension. I...I want one last look..."

Kyrano sensed there was something Virgil wasn't telling him. "Then go. I will be here upon your return. But do not be too long. The pilot said we will be over our destination within thirty minutes."

"I'll be back soon. I promise." He took a deep breath. "I wish I was with Scott."

He was surprised to find himself standing on the gantry leading to where Thunderbird One should have been. He let out a small gasp of surprise, as he'd been fully expecting to find himself back in the hospital. Scott walked right through him, and came to a stop in the middle of the gantry, his arm resting on the railing. He noticed the half-empty tall glass of whiskey in his brother's hand and cringed at the physical state Scott was in. There was no doubting he should never have left the hospital, but it was so much the brother he knew to not be there when he should've been.

"Nobody ever could make you stay in a bed, no matter how bad you were hurt," Virgil said aloud.

Scott wiped a hand down his face, and as Virgil got a good look, he felt physically ill at what he saw. His older brother's eyes were even more sunken. His complexion was pale, his eyes bloodshot. He knew he'd had more than his fair share of whiskey, but given the circumstances, he didn't blame him one bit.

This Scott's world had fallen apart. Two Thunderbirds gone. Their father dead. No one to talk to, no one to save him from the demons that Virgil knew were raging inside Scott's mind. He wondered if his Scott were going through the same thing right now. Had Jeff died in Virgil's own dimension? Had their brothers survived? And why had Gaat come to this dimension? Had he succeeded in Virgil's? Succeeded in killing all the Tracys and so come here to do the same?

Scott stood up and meandered further out along the gantry. His voice startled Virgil.

"It would be so easy, you know."

Is he talking to...to me?

"It'd be so easy to join Mom and Dad. So easy to join you, Virgil."

He is!

"Scott? Can you hear me?"

But Scott didn't turn around. All Virgil could see was his back as he went right to the edge of the gantry. Right to where Thunderbird One's doorway should've been. He watched as Scott took another swig of whiskey, then held the glass out over the gaping silo chasm.

"It'd be so easy to jus' let everything go," Scott whispered, opening his hand. The glass of whiskey fell through the air silently, until both Virgil and Scott heard it shatter on the concrete and steel below.

"My God," Virgil breathed, sprinting out to stand in mid-air in front of Scott. "You can't possibly be contemplating...no...you would never..."

Scott shrugged. "I mean, whassa point? John 'n Ben c'n run the companies. And there isn't any more International Rescue."

"Scott..." Virgil said warningly. "Don't."

Scott's shoulders sagged as he turned back toward the wall, his back to Virgil. "I guess maybe they'll need me to help destroy this place, though."

Virgil breathed a sigh of relief. "God, Scott. You had me worried there for a moment."

Scott turned halfway around, frowning. "Who's'ere?"

Virgil's jaw dropped. "Scott? Scott, it's me, Virgil. Can you hear me?"

"God, now my mind is playin' tricks on me. Too fucking drunk."

"I have to go now, Scott," Virgil said as his brother turned back around to face him. "I know you never knew me here, but there's a Scott who does know me. And I have to get back to him."

Scott rubbed his eyes, then stared straight ahead. Virgil could've sworn he was looking right at him. He started when Scott asked, "Who are you?" as he took a few steps forward, very near the edge of the gantry once more. "I mus' be goin' crazy."

"It's me, Scott. I'm your brother. I'm Virgil."

Scott's eyes widened as he peered into the darkness. "What?"

"Virgil. I'm Virgil. Your brother."

Can he really see me? Can he?

Scott swayed slightly, blinking his eyes. "Virgil?" he slurred.

"Yes!" Virgil cried, moving towards him. "Yes, it's me!"

Scott shook his head and snorted, turning his back on the apparition. "Bullshit. You died 's a baby. Jus' my mind playin' tricks on me."

"No! Scott, it's really me!"

As Scott made to turn again, a whirring sound told of the living room wall spinning, undoubtedly bringing someone else into the hangar. Virgil looked up as a figure stepped out onto the gantry.

"Scott!" the someone cried.

Scott stopped in mid-turn to look at the person calling his name. Just as he turned, he caught his arm on the gantry railing. Before Virgil knew what was happening, Scott had lost his balance and was teetering precariously on the edge of the gantry. His arms flailed to grasp something solid.

"SCOTT!" Virgil cried, desperately reaching out, but his hands and arms went right through his brother.

The other figure came running along the walkway, yelling Scott's name at the top of his lungs. Virgil registered that it was none other than Ben as Scott's fingers barely caught the railing. Sweating and gasping, he hung on with just the tips of his fingers and Virgil looked down into his eyes, his own wide with panic as Scott's mouth open and shut like a fish out of water.

"Virgil," Scott breathed.

With that, his sweat-soaked fingers slipped and his body went right through Virgil as Ben dove to the edge of the gantry, arms reaching for...and missing...Scott's legs.

"Scott!" Ben cried out, watching in disbelief as his brother fell into the darkness.

Horrified, Virgil yelled, "I wish I was next to Scott!"

With that, he found himself falling right next to him, right in front of his face, looking at him as Scott silently stared back.

"Scott," Virgil choked out, trying in vain to grab hold of him. "Scott!"

"You are real," Scott whispered. Then he smiled and reached out as though to embrace Virgil.

It was the last thing Scott Tracy would ever do.

"Nooooo!" Virgil cried as he watched the unthinkable happen. "NOOOOO!"

"He can't be dead," Tin-Tin cried, covering her father's body with her own. Brains had put him on the sofa and tried to resuscitate him, but it had been no use. Kyrano was gone.

"Father!" she cried, paying no attention to the pain she felt in her torso and leg. "Father!"

Ruth and Penny stood nearby, wiping tears from their faces. Parker and Brains were next to one another, both pale, staring at Tin-Tin and Kyrano as though they couldn't believe their eyes.

"He saved her life," Ruth whispered, sniffling as she looked up at Penelope. "He saved her by giving her his life."

"I didn't believe," Penny said, her voice breaking. "I didn't believe."

"Tin-Tin," Brains said, unable to keep the tremor from his voice. "Tin-Tin, you must lay down."

"No! You must bring him back, Brains! You must!"

"I can't," Brains whispered, turning away. "Everything I know, everything I can do...I...I would've lost you if he hadn't stepped in." He swallowed hard and turned back to face them. "I can't bring him back."

"Tin-Tin, Brains is right, you must rest," Ruth said, approaching the distraught woman.

"Mrs. Tracy, he can't...he can't..."

Ruth reached down and pulled Tin-Tin to her feet. "Oh, Tin-Tin," she breathed, gathering the taller woman in her arms. "Don't let your father's sacrifice be in vain."

Tin-Tin blinked and looked into the older woman's eyes. "I can feel him," she whispered, a small smile breaking through. "I can feel him with me." She turned to look down at her father's motionless body. "Oh, Father."

"We've got to see if we can find Virgil," Penelope finally said, coming to stand next to the two women. "I know this is a terrible time for you, Tin-Tin, but Mrs. Tracy is right. Your father saved your life for a reason. Perhaps it was to now help us save Virgil's."

Lower lip trembling, Tin-Tin looked at Penny, and rose to her full height. Nodding, she wiped the tears from her eyes. "Then I will not let him down, but...I cannot stay in this room."

Nodding, Ruth and Penny led her out of the bedroom and into one further down the hall. Parker turned to Brains, who still stood with his back to Kyrano. "You did h'everythin' you could, Master Brains," he said softly, reaching out to place a hand on the engineer's shoulder.

"No," Brains said. "I shouldn't have let him die. I should've done something."

"Wot, you can suddenly 'eal psychic maladies?" Parker asked, voice rising in pitch. "H'I don't think you're that much of a genius."

"I...I suppose not," Brains said, turning to face the butler. "I guess we'd better go see what they're discussing." He took one last look at Kyrano's body. "I couldn't save him. Maybe I can still help save Virgil."

"You migh', a' that," Parker clapped him on the back and the two men left the room.

As the door closed behind them, Brains let out a small sigh. "Good-bye, Kyrano."

"Where is he?" the sultan asked aloud for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Virgil, you must return. What could have happened to keep you?"

He seated himself cross-legged on the floor of the cargo area. Reaching far back into his past, he tried to remember how his mother had taught him to use his mind, tried to remember what it was like to reach out and grasp another's thoughts as you might grasp their hand.

"Virgil," he whispered. "Please, you must return. I need you here."

He tried to picture what he remembered of Virgil Tracy before he had been blinded. He pictured him in his mind, the tall, well-built man with tawny skin and eyes that had reminded him of the alder wood used to create his daughter Tin-Tin's bed back at the palace. Pictured him standing in his blue uniform, the yellow sash across his chest, running his hands through his dark auburn hair, causing it to stand on end.

"Virgil. Virgil, please. Come back. Return to me."

But would it work? Could he do what he had not attempted in more years than he could count?

Virgil stared stone-faced at the gruesomely twisted body of this dimension's Scott as Ben came running across the hangar floor, hurdling the metal tracks where One would normally rest.

"Scott!" Ben cried, kneeling next to him. His hands moved everywhere in the air, as though he wanted to touch his brother, but didn't dare. "Oh, my God..." he choked and turned away, shoulders shaking as Virgil looked up at him.

He knew this wasn't his Scott.

But it was a Scott.

His throat tightened as he fought to control himself. "Goddammit, Scott," he whispered. He turned away, unable to bear the image of his brother's broken and lifeless body.

Ben turned back around, looking down as tears fell from his eyes, landing on Scott's chest. "God, Scott...what have I done?"

Virgil frowned. "What do you mean, what have you done?"

"If only I hadn't said your name," Ben lamented, burying his face in his hands. "First Father and now you, I can't...I can't..." He fell to his knees, leaning over Scott and letting the tears flow. "We can't go on without you, Scott," he whispered. "We just can't."

For the first time, Virgil felt a kinship with this man he didn't know. It was more than obvious that he loved Scott deeply, he thought as he watched the large, sturdy man melt into a sobbing wreck.

If this were my dimension...that would be me.

"Ben," Virgil whispered. "I'm so sorry." But Ben didn't respond. "I'm sorry I never knew you." Ben laid a hand on Scott's chest, the one area of his body that was still intact enough to recognize. "I wish...I wish I could do something," he continued, biting his lip and looking away.

This isn't my Scott. This isn't my Scott. This isn't my Scott.

As Virgil was about to say something more, he heard another voice and his head whipped around. "Kyrano?"

There was no one there.

Virgil, please. Come back. Return to me.

"Oh, my God! Kyrano! I—I forgot!"

This isn't my Scott. And I have to get back to him. To the place I belong.

Virgil looked down at Ben, carefully avoiding having to look at Scott's body. "If I ever speak to Dad again, I'll tell him about you," he whispered. "I promise I will."

He turned his back on the scene, trembling as he thought of his own Scott. "Please let him still be alive," he whispered. "Please don't let me be too late."

He squared his shoulders. He wouldn't be too late. He wouldn't. "I wish I was with Kyrano."

Tin-Tin, still in some pain but miraculously seeming to heal right before their eyes, had told everyone what she'd discovered at both Thunderbird One and Two's crash sites. How she had destroyed the remainder of the 'birds and how Thunderbird Four had been blown to pieces. Penelope then told her everything that had happened aboard the yacht, including the fact that her uncle had been hurtled into what they now all agreed was another dimension.

"Your father kept calling out Virgil's name, Tin-Tin," Penny said.

"Yes, and the device fired just as Thunderbird Two, ah, crashed," Brains added.

"Do you think he is in the other dimension as well?" Tin-Tin asked, struggling to handle the situation without thinking too much of her father.

"I don't know," Penny replied honestly. "None of us found any trace of him. I just don't know where else to look."

Suddenly Penny's watch sprang to life. "Thunderbird Five to Lady Penelope! Thunderbird Five to Lady Penelope!"

"Alan?" Penny responded, raising the watch to eye-level. "Alan, I'm here, what is it?"

"I think I have a line on Virgil!"

"What?" everyone gasped.

"Is that...was that...Tin-Tin's voice?" Alan's own voice faltered.

Penelope smiled broadly. "Yes, Alan. She's alive. She's going to be all right." She watched as Alan seemed to deflate right before her eyes, sinking back into his chair. "Now, Alan, quickly, tell me, what's this about Virgil?"

"Well, I had the computer set to pick up anything about a stranding or a victim, filtering especially in a three hundred mile radius from where Two crashed. And it found a transmission from a fishing vessel called 'Kanoa' about eighty nautical miles northeast of your present position."

"What did the transmission say?"

"The captain was talking to someone on Hawaii, telling them that his men had found a man floating on a strange sort of chair in the middle of the Pacific. They picked him up, but have no idea who he is. He's been unconscious the entire time. They said...they said he was in a blue outfit, but had no identification on him. They're planning on dropping him off at Laniakea, in Kailua Bay. Their ETA is still over twelve hours."

"Did they say if he was injured?"

"The captain said there were some cuts and bruises, but I started losing the transmission after that. I got a fix on them, though. Penny, you should be able to overtake them pretty fast."

She turned to Brains. "Get this ship going, fast as you can."

"Yes, ah, Lady Penelope."

"Parker, I want you to try and contact the fishing vessel. I'll call and see if I can't get Jeff on the line."

"Penelope?"

"Yes, Tin-Tin?"

"What can I do?"

Penny gently pushed Tin-Tin back into the pillows of the bed she'd been sitting on. "You should rest for now. I think when the time is right, you will know what to do."

She smiled. "First, let me talk to Alan."

Penelope removed her wrist communicator and handed it to the younger woman. "Only for a little while. You're still injured, even though your wounds are healing."

She nodded. "Thank you."

With that, Penny left the room, and left Tin-Tin looking into Alan's eyes.

"How did you – I thought – Tin-Tin, what the hell happened?"

She smiled. "Oh, Alan. I'm so sorry."

"Sorry? For what? Being alive?"

"No. For not saying this earlier."

Alan straightened up in his chair, reaching out as though he'd be able to touch her tired face. "Tin-Tin, whatever it is, I—"

"Would you just hush and let me say it?"

His jaw snapped shut. Then he whispered. "Say what?"

"I should not have only told you to say good-bye to my father." Her voice caught, but she soon steadied it. "Alan, I ejected from Four with a small tank of oxygen just as the missiles hit her. It threw me quite a ways, but I finally made it back to the wreckage of Thunderbird Two. Then...I was hit in the leg, and realized I was being fired on. I tried to get away, but I couldn't move my leg..."

"Oh, Tin-Tin...oh, my God..."

"And then another bullet hit me, right in my stomach, I..." Her large hazel eyes looked directly into his blue ones. "I remember the last thought I had before I lost consciousness. It was of you, Alan."

"Me?" he squeaked, scooting closer to her image.

She looked away for a moment before looking back again, her eyes glistening. "We have a lot of talking to do when this is all over."

"We do?"

"Yes, Alan. We do. Because...because I thought I was dying, and all I kept thinking over and over was...that I love you."

He smiled, blinking his eyes rapidly, his breath coming out in small gasps. "Tin-Tin, I..."

"I didn't think I'd get the chance to say it, Alan. Ever again."

He reached up and touched his fingers to the monitor. She brought the watch face closer, touching a finger to the tiny image of the man she thought she'd never see again.

His smile broke into an all-out grin. "I love you, too," he whispered. "So damn much, Tin-Tin." She returned his smile. He thought he might just burst, lost in her eyes. "So damn much."

Hovering unseen just outside the bedroom door, Ruth Tracy clasped her hands together and smiled. "Finally," she breathed, turning to head for the bridge. "Finally!"

"What happened?" Kyrano asked as once again he sensed Virgil's presence.

"Not now, Kyrano. We don't have time. I take it we're in position?"

He nodded. "The pilot has been circling for twenty minutes, but he said he can see nothing except the wing you spoke of. He says there is no sign of life."

"Anywhere?" Virgil asked, frowning.

"That is what he said."

"Hang on. I'll be right back."

Just like that, Virgil was gone. "That is what you said last time," the sultan breathed in frustration.

But this time, he did return quickly. "He's not there," Virgil said in disbelief. "Sonofabitch!"

"But...where could he have gone? With no vessel here in the Pacific?"

"Oh, shit...I didn't even think of this..."

"Think of what?"

"He used the damn device," Virgil said, pounding his fist into his hand. "Goddammit, he used the device!"

"Do you believe he has gone back to your dimension?'

"How the—I don't know, I don't know!" Virgil began pacing once more. So lost was he in his own thoughts he didn't even realize he walked right through the sultan. Kyrano's gasp brought him out of his reverie. "What...are you all right?"

"What happened? Did you...what did you just do?"

"What did I—what do you mean? Nothing, I'm just pacing."

"No. I felt...I don't know...something...where were you?"

Virgil blushed. "I'm sorry, I seem to have just walked right through you."

"Do it again," he said quickly.

"What?"

"Do it again. Walk through me."

"I..." Virgil shrugged. "Okay. Here goes." He moved forward, walking right through Kyrano as though he didn't even exist. To his surprise, Kyrano gasped loudly, and he whirled to look at him. "What?"

"I can feel you. I can feel you! When you walk through me!"

"But...how?"

"I do not know. Do it again."

"Kyrano, this is bordering on...strange."

"And the rest of this is normal?" Virgil looked thoughtfully at him. "Walk into me again, only this time remain in me."

"Why?"

"Please, Virgil. Do it."

Virgil shook his head. This wasn't at all what he should be doing right now. And yet...with Gaat gone, what else could he do at this point? "Fine, okay, I'll do it." He walked toward Kyrano and stopped when he was right in the middle of him.

To his surprise, Kyrano began to shake and moan. It became worse and worse, almost like convulsions. He made to move, but Kyrano shouted for him to stay, and so he did, frowning as the man's arms waved around, as his legs finally gave way and he fell to the floor of the cargo area.

He thought how similar this was to the one attack he'd seen his own Kyrano have in his dimension, and wondered what was happening.

But before another thought could register, a brilliant bright white light appeared at the back of the plane. The white ball seemed to almost implode, then burst forth, bathing them all in itself. Kyrano stopped convulsing and sat upright, looking right at the whiteness. Virgil could not tear his eyes away as a shadowy figure appeared in the middle of it and walked toward them.

He stopped breathing as he realized who it was. "Gaat!"

Belah sneered, looking at his half-brother on the floor, then back up at Virgil. "I am so pleased to have found you," he said smugly. "Now you will come with me."

To Virgil's utter disbelief, Belah reached out...and grabbed hold of his arm.

"This h'is Tracy Six calling the Kanoa. Come in, Kanoa." Frustrated, Parker turned away from the radio, looking across the bridge to where Penny was seated at the weather station. He could see Jeff Tracy's face on the video monitor, but couldn't hear what either of them were saying. He sighed and turned back to his own task of trying to raise the fishing boat that might be holding the missing Tracy son. "Tracy Six calling Kanoa. Please respond."

Penelope had never been happier to see anyone than she was to see a fully alert Jeff Tracy looking back at her from a vid screen. "Jeff, I am ever so glad you're alive."

"That makes two of us, Penny. What's been going on out there?"

"Oh, Jeff, it's been...the Hood and—"

"The Hood?" Jeff asked, alarmed. "What about him?"

"He was here, he found us and...well, he's not here any longer."

"I think you'd better start at the beginning, Penny."

She nodded. "You see, Jeff, it all started when Parker and I returned from diving beneath the pod..."

"I...I don't understand. You couldn't touch me before," Virgil breathed, trying to jerk his arm away. "How is it you can now?"

Belah laughed. "How little you understand about inter-dimensional travel, Virgil Tracy."

Virgil looked at Kyrano, who was rising to his feet. "Radzi," he breathed, reaching out. But his hand went right through his half-brother.

"You, Meor. You are as foolish as he."

Virgil jerked his arm again. "Let go of me, Gaat."

"Oh, no. I do not think so. You see, I am your only hope of getting back to your body."

His eyes widened. "My body? You know where my body is?"

"Of course I do, fool. It is in your own dimension...our dimension."

Virgil looked back at Kyrano, surprised to find him looking right back. "You...can you see?"

"Yes," Kyrano replied. "I told you that touch was not needed to heal."

"Your sight will do you no good," Belah spat. "You see, you are dead in my dimension, dear brother. And with you, the white magick you used to keep me at bay."

"White magick? Why did I need magick to keep you at bay?"

"Ah, I see," Belah said thoughtfully. "I know in this dimension I was killed by Thunderbird Two after I damaged her tail section. I went to find my home, and discovered that I was not the same man here as I am in my own time and place."

"What do you mean?" Virgil asked.

"Here, I never practiced dark magick," Belah revealed. "I was simply a man, just like you."

"Not like me," Kyrano said vehemently. "You have a dark heart, and seek to do evil wherever you go."

"Evil, yes," Belah replied, narrowing his eyes. "But only the evil of man. Not the evil with which the true me is filled."

"You weren't the same here," Virgil said. "That's why this Kyrano isn't the same as mine. He became a sultan because he didn't have to run from you. You...you weren't as big a threat here as you are there."

"Sadly, you are correct," Belah acknowledged. "For some reason, I did not become here who I became in our dimension. Without the threat of my black magick, Meor had no need to practice white magick. And so now, with the Meor of our dimension dead, there is no longer anyone to stop me. And you, Virgil Tracy, are going to at last help me achieve my goal."

"Which is?" Virgil asked, stalling for time.

"Which is to kill your entire family, and take my place as ruler of the Earth with your own technology!"

"You're crazy. I'll never help you."

"Oh, but I think you will. You see, if you do not, then your friends will die."

"Friends?"

"I believe you would know them best as Lady Penelope and..." he paused for dramatic effect, looking over at his half-brother. "...Tin-Tin."

"Tin-Tin?" Kyrano breathed. "My daughter, what have you done with her?"

"Not your daughter," Belah laughed. "Well, not exactly. She is unharmed for the moment, and will remain so as long as you," He shook Virgil's arm for emphasis, "do as I say."

Virgil looked at Kyrano's stricken face, then back at Belah, contemplating what he could do to somehow get away from Gaat, but still get back to his own dimension.

"You see, Virgil, with each passing hour, your body grows weaker and weaker because its life force has been gone for so long. Eventually, if you do not return to your body, it will die, leaving you trapped here like this for all eternity."

Panic rose within him.

"I knew you would see reason. You will come back with me. You will do as I instruct, and be the bargaining chip I use to get to the one man I have been chasing for years. Your father, Virgil."

Hope rose within him. His father...he must still be alive. And that meant...that meant that Scott was probably still alive as well! "What makes you think I would rather help you than die?" he ground out, careful not to show his true feelings.

"Because you will foolishly believe that somehow you can stop me once we return to our dimension," he responded. "Believe whatever you will, I know you Tracys too well to think you'd just let me leave when there is the slightest chance you might be able to save your family."

Virgil felt anger rising in him. He wanted nothing more than to beat the living shit out of this man. But as much as he hated to admit it, Gaat was right. Never give up at any cost was a hell of a lot more than just a motto. It was the Tracy state of being.

"Fine. I agree to your terms. I'll go back with you."

"You must not go," Kyrano said softly from behind him. Virgil finally succeeded in pulling away from Gaat, turning to face the sultan. "For the sake of my gem, hear me."

Virgil frowned. Sake of his gem? He looked into Kyrano's eyes. He seemed to be trying...gem? Gem. He thought of the green gem in the sultan's turban...and then remembered that Tin-Tin's eyes were hazel...a dark green. His gem! Tin-Tin!

"Your gem is very precious," Virgil said, "but I don't see how it can change anything now."

"What is this folly?" Belah growled impatiently.

"My gem no longer needs to be in my possession. I trust that it will shine without me there to polish it."

"Shut up!" Belah said, moving to stand just behind and to the right of Virgil.

"Kyrano..." Virgil breathed, unable to believe what he was hearing. "But..."

"No buts," Kyrano replied resolutely. "Prepare for your journey."

"Shut up!" Belah repeated, advancing toward his half-brother.

The sultan chose that moment to move. He darted toward his brother, surprising Belah enough for Virgil to grab his arm. He twisted at the metal device, and Belah howled in pain as Virgil tore his shoulder right out of its socket. He swung with his good arm, but Virgil wasn't letting go.

"Virgil!" the sultan cried. "The doorway! It is closing!"

He cursed like a sailor as he rolled on top of Belah's shoulder, causing him to roar in agony. He felt along the metal object as Belah tried kicking and punching at him, but Virgil's bulk was larger, and he effectively held the man down. Finally his fingers touched something that made the object let out a hiss, then click open. Virgil grabbed it and slipped it off Belah's arm.

"No!" Gaat cried, struggling to his feet as Virgil ran toward the diminishing ball of light. Virgil turned and let his fist fly. It connected squarely with Belah's jaw, and the older man reeled back, falling to the cargo area's floor.

"Virgil!"

He turned toward Kyrano.

"Virgil, you must go! Now!"

"Kyrano, I...I can't leave you here with him. He'll kill you."

The sultan looked at where his half-brother...a different half-brother...lay moaning on the floor of the plane.

"You did say your gem would shine without you here to polish it."

"Yes..."

"We'll get you back. We'll figure out how to transport you back to your own dimension." Virgil glanced over at Belah, who seemed to be regaining his senses. "Please, Kyrano. I can't leave you here!"

Belah staggered to his feet. "You agreed to come back with me!"

"That's one agreement I don't intend to keep, Hood." With that, Virgil gave Kyrano one last look and ran into the ball of light. Kyrano hesitated a momentbefore following Virgil into the portal.

And just like that, it disappeared.

"No!" Belah yelled, running for the back of the plane. "Nooo!"

But the light...and his only way home...were gone.

He turned when he heard a gasp from the front of the plane. Sultan Kyrano's loyal pilot cursed in Malay when he saw who it was. Without hesitation he raised his pistol and fired.

The bullet went right through him. Belah sneered, advancing on the poor, shocked man. "They have not won yet."

to Part VIII: Affliction >>