#like. is it me. is it the file. i cannot ascertain what went wrong here klsfjklsfjű | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thunderbirdcarebear · 7 years

Text

The Eyes of the Beholder - chapter 5

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4

Chapter 5 - Helping the Helper

"Where am I? What…? Oh no." Kari was clearly disorientated. She was still pale and shaking.

"You're alright, Kari. What happened? Do you know?" Scott asked, crouching down. He somehow felt he should protect this young girl. He felt she was like the younger sister he never had. Looking at Virgil, he could see he was thinking the same.

"He is coming," she said. "He will come for me." She was becoming hysterical and started fidgeting about rapidly. Scott and Virgil put their hands on her shoulders to try and steady her, but she was strong for such a small girl. The two of them were actually having trouble.

"Calm down, Kari. Please, it's ok, we're not gonna let him get to you. You're ok." Virgil glanced over his shoulder to where his father was waiting in the lab. Jeff saw the trouble they were having and without hesitation came to help them.

"She's going into shock and convulsing," Virgil reported.

"Yes, I can see that." Jeff looked round. "Go and grab that fire blanket, that'll have to do." Virgil nodded and took off to the other side of the pod, weaving in and out of the Mole and Firefly.

Jeff lay Kari down with his hand under her head until Virgil returned with the blanket. He'd neatly folded it and held it while his father raised the girl's head. He slipped it underneath and stepped back. She was starting to calm down now, but still, they wanted to make sure she wouldn't hurt herself.

A while later, she came to again. She looked around but she could only see the one with the yellow markings stood by a door looking into the room on the other side and could hear voices coming from that general area. She got up and walked over carefully. Her head was hurting and she was still scared.

She slowed her pace as she neared them. "Hello?" she called.

The man in yellow turned round and the man in blue put his head through the door, his hat shifting and revealing his dark brown hair beneath.

"Are you alright, now, Kari?" the man in yellow asked.

She nodded. "I do not mean to be rude, but…" She paused and looked at them. "…You know my name…"

The man in yellow smiled as the blue man went back behind the door briefly. She heard him say something, though she couldn't hear what. She did know, however, there was someone else there. He put his head back round the door and grinned.

"I guess we can tell you our names, it'd be so much easier for all of us. I'm Scott and this is Virgil," the blue man said, holding out his hand. She took hold of it and shook it then repeated the procedure with Virgil.

"I am pleased to finally meet you. Not many people have the honour of sharing International Rescue's company, let alone sit in their Thunderbird."

The two men laughed. "It's a pleasure to have you here," Scott said. He put his head round the door again. Kari looked at him curiously and after a while, he looked back and glanced at Virgil. He nodded and stepped aside. "Our head wishes to see you."

She looked at him, wide eyed. "Your head?"

Scott nodded and stood aside so she could get in.

On entering, she saw an older man, in a similar uniform, who stood up and held out his own hand. "Hello, Kari. I'm Jeff. Please, sit down." He indicated a chair, which she sat in. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. You don't have to answer them, but they will help us help you."

She nodded and he took a breath. "Thank you.”

"My first question is; can you describe this man? The one who gave you your gift?"

"I am sorry to say I cannot. Every time I saw him he wore a different mask, but I knew it was him from his voice. When you contacted me, he came in without a mask on. That was the first time he has done that and I am sorry to say I ran before I could get a good look at him."

Jeff looked at the other two. "It's him." He turned back to her. "Ok, that's fine. How long have you been living on your own?"

"Since my parents were killed a year ago." She turned away. "That was he, too."

"If you don't mind my asking, why did he kill them? Do you know?"

She nodded. "It was an incentive to work for him. He believed that if he killed them he would have control over me, but…" Jeff saw tears enter her eyes.

"It's ok; you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. This gift of yours, when did he give it to you?"

"Just a week before he killed them. I have had many visions since. Things like I knew the Martian Space Probe would not make it across the Arlington Bridge. I knew, before it happened, that your Thunderbird One would be shot down in the desert and I regretted that I was unable to inform you just as I could not inform you of the near collision with the sun Thunderbird Three would suffer because he still had some control over me."

As she spoke, Jeff nodded taking in this information. "It's alright, I understand. You don't have to continue if you don't want to." 'This is amazing. No one outside our organisation knew that Scott had been shot down save for those two guys who found him.'

She nodded. "Thank you. It is hard for me. I do not want this gift. I see terrible things happen and up until now, I have had no way of warning the people in question."

Jeff turned to Scott and glanced briefly at the other side of the lab before turning back to him. Scott nodded his understanding and walked off. He turned back to Kari. "How do you feel now? You didn't look too good earlier." Just like with Scott and Virgil, he felt he was somehow responsible for this girl. 'You can't be,' he told himself. 'You've barely met her and…' His thoughts were interrupted as Scott walked over with a tray of drinks.

"Are you thirsty?" She nodded eagerly. She may have a special gift, but underneath, she was essentially just a child. Jeff looked at her and smiled. 'No, not a child. More like a young adult.'

"So, you're sixteen?" he asked as she drank.

"Yes, but I will be seventeen in April."

Jeff looked at her. She didn't look that old at all. She was very short for her age. Her dark brown hair reached just to the bottom of her neck at the back and her hazel-green eyes were constantly on the lookout, as if she were afraid he would come right into the pod and take on the three International Rescue members just to get her. He looked at what she was wearing. She had long blue jeans on, which were just longer than her legs were, meaning the bottoms were frayed and torn. Her top was a simple t-shirt. The clothes and her face were dirty with mud smeared on both. Amongst the dirt, however, he noticed she had a gold ring on her right middle finger and a silver bracelet on the same arm. He looked closely; they'd been kept in good condition while her clothes had been left.

"Excuse me for asking, but, your ring… How is it in such good condition?" Jeff asked.

She stopped drinking and put her cup down. "It was a Christmas gift from my parents the year before…" She sighed. "I keep it in good condition to honour their memory." She smiled, noticing he was about to ask another question. "The bracelet was from my brother. I have not seen him for years. It was also a gift."

He nodded. "Sorry."

"Do not be. You were simply asking a question. You were not to know."

He smiled. He liked the way she talked. It was clear and easy to understand. For him, at least.

Later, while she was asleep, Jeff and Virgil found a small scanning unit and took an image of her brain to try and ascertain why she could do what she could. They found no evidence, but they did find something else.

"Brains, come in. This is Jeff." He waited until their scientist answered the call.

"Uh, uh, hello, ah, Mr Tracy."

Jeff held a finger to his lips and glanced at the sleeping girl. 'Just in case,' he thought. 'Better to be safe than sorry.' "We've taken a scan of Kari's brain and found something very interesting. I'm transmitting our findings now. Can you tell me what the heck that is?"

Brains seemed to stop paying attention as he received the file. He opened it and looked thoughtfully at the image. There was a small object that looked like a chip implanted in her head.

"Well? What is that?"

"I-I-it's a chip, sir."

"I knew that much. Do you have any ideas as to what it's for?"

"It looks like a-a-a locator chip."

"That must be how he always finds her."

"S-sir?"

"Don't worry for now. I'll… wait a minute. Do you know how to deactivate it? Without surgery?"

"I-I-I think so, just a case of using…"

"Good. Send me the information. I think it's time we returned the favour."

Minutes later, Brains had transmitted the information to disrupt the signal being given out by the chip. Jeff reconfigured the scanner and woke Kari. "Kari? Kari? Wake up, honey," he said, gently nudging her. 'Honey? I just called this girl honey?'

She stirred and looked round, opening her eyes. "Oh, hello, Jeff, sir. What is wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. I may have some good news for you though." She sat up and looked at him expectantly. "We know how the Hood-" She looked at him, puzzled. "Oh, the man who did this to you." She nodded, showing her understanding. "We know how he can keep finding you."

Her eyes lit up. "How?"

"He implanted a locator chip when he hypnotised you. Now, I know how to deactivate it, and the procedure doesn't take very long, but it may give you a headache for a while afterwards. I'll only continue if you tell me to. It's your choice."

She looked at him. "I would be grateful if you could help me rid my life of this man."

He smiled. "Alright. Lie down then. And don't forget, a headache is perfectly normal according to our scientist."

She nodded and lay down. Jeff switched on the scanner-come-neutraliser and started.

#thunderbirds #fanfic #The Eyes of the Beholder #chapter 5 #old story #thunderbirds fanfic #thunderbirds fanfiction #fanfiction

0 notes