He's here. He's here with me. I can hear his voice, though I can't see him. "Alan!" I want to call out to him. "Alan, I can hear you!"
But while I feel like I'm speaking, shouting, in reality I can't hear that my voice is actually making it out of my mouth. Why? Why can't I see
anything? I feel…there! A touch! Someone's hand is on mine! I feel the fingers grip mine, squeeze mine, and then the voice again.
It sounds so far away.
Tin-Tin…I'm here…
It's Alan, it's definitely Alan. I open my mouth. Nothing's happening, why can't I respond?
Tin-Tin, don't try to speak, your vocal chords have been damaged…
He's speaking, but I can't…I can't see! Didn't I just open my eyes? What's happening? Why can't I see?
Tin-Tin, you need to remain calm.
Father. It's Father!
My daughter, hear me.
Adakah kerana saya telah mengajar kamu.Bermeditasi untuk tak sah itu.
What? Meditate to the Void? But…it's dark, am I not already in the Void? I don't understand! I think I have opened my mouth to tell him
so, but again, I can only hear vague voices. Brains. Jeff. Father. Scott. Alan.
Tin-Tin, the Void.
.
I have always trusted my Father. And so I allow my mind to travel…to go…
"Father!" I see him and run into his arms. "Father, you're here!"
"Yes, my daughter. As are you. You have remembered my teachings well."
"Father, what's happened? I remember I was on Thunderbird Five and there was a rogue satellite and then John was yelling and now I can't talk, I
can't see, I-"
"Tin-Tin," he says, wrapping his arms around me and sinking with me onto a huge pillow that's suddenly appeared next to us on the floor. "You were
injured when that satellite veered off-course."
"What? You mean Five was holed
again?"
"I am afraid so. Thunderbird Five sensed the incoming projectile, sensed your location and sealed it off to keep you safe from the vacuum of
space."
"That's the new device we installed after what happened to John."
"Yes. However, the space station's energy synthesizer was damaged, and the field protecting you began to deteriorate. By the time Thunderbird Three
returned to you, the station was spinning out of control away from Earth."
"Father? Am I dead?"
"No, no, Tin-Tin. You are not dead. You simply must allow yourself this repose so your body can heal."
"What happened to Thunderbird Five?"
"I am afraid that once the boys retrieved you from it, they had no choice but to destroy it, as it was on a direct collision course with the Bareta
Moon Colony, and would have caused severe repercussions to the entirety of the Moon had it actually struck."
"You mean…she's
gone? Thunderbird Five's gone?"
"I am afraid so. International Rescue has ceased operations because we simply no longer have the communications capabilities to pick up signals
from the entirety of the planet and the Moon and space."
"Oh, Father," I cry, leaning into him. To think that we aren't even operating now, that Mr. Tracy's dream has come to such an abrupt halt. And then
I think about what else Father told me. I wipe my eyes on my sleeve and look up at him. "Tell me the truth, Father. How badly am I injured? You
said my body needed to heal, and I know that I could not see or speak."
He's silent, and sad. He looks away, but I gently take his cheek in my hand and force him to look back at me. "Father?"
"You have been in the hospital in Manhattan for three weeks. They had induced a coma, from which you attempted to wake today."
"Three weeks!"
"Yes. My daughter, the doctors cannot be certain as yet, but they believe it is possible you…"
"Father, tell me!"
"You may never see again, Tin-Tin."
He's crying now. Me? I can't cry. I can't even
think.
All I can do is shut down. And so I leave my father's side. I leave the Void. I just stop, and I sleep. Because I can't fathom never being able to
see again. I can't fathom never being able to work on the Thunderbirds again, or see any of the Tracys or look at Alan's handsome face when he tells me he loves me.
So I just won't think.
And maybe I'll wake to find it's all been a dream…
