another small snippet, because Gordon had to go put his foot in it :)

Jeff still couldn't quite believe it. He was sitting by the pool, ice cold fruit juice in hand, watching the sun set. On Earth. With his family. Years of isolation and difficult living conditions had almost seared away any belief that this would actually happen, warped the memory of it to a dream. But here he was. Fresh air. Gentle breeze. Sound of the nearby ocean.

Perfection.

"Need anything Dad?" Scott said, appearing behind him.

"No. There is nothing more I need."

"Then I'll say good night. I think everyone else is in bed but if you need a hand to get upstairs" he was still adjusting to Earth's gravity, "give a shout for EOS – she can wake us up."

Jeff frowned, remembering something that soiled this perfection.

"Actually, there is something I wanted to talk to you about," he gestured to the lounger opposite where Scott moved to perch, and lowered his voice. "I want to ask you about EOS."

"What about her?"

"Gordon said something back on the Zero XL that concerned me so I dug out the mission report. I thought he was joking but," Jeff shook his head "that AI actually tried to kill John."

"Thanks Gordon," Scott muttered "Well, yes. In a manner of speaking."

"No 'manner of speaking'. She shut him out an airlock." And didn't Jeff know exactly what it felt like to be on his own without a comforting layer atmosphere around him. It has been his life for too long, nearly his death on a couple of occasions. "He was very lucky that he survived and even luckier he didn't suffer brain damage."

"I know. Believe me I know."

"Then why is it still on Thunderbird Five?"

"I thought this was coming and had hoped John would be the one that you'd have this conversation with." Scott shifted, nervous or uncomfortable.

"Look Scott, I'm so proud of how the family have pulled together while I was errr gone, but you were in charge. I respect almost every decision you've made - even if wouldn't have made quite the same ones – but this one I don't understand."

Scott gave him a steady look, jaw firm, nervousness gone. "I think what you don't understand how we've been working while you were away. There's been a lot less of 'in charge' than you suppose. If I had tried that we might have had an organisation but we sure as hell wouldn't have had a family left."

"There has to be some sort of command structure though..."

"We have it when we need it, but most of the time we don't need it. This was one of those times."

"So you just all decided to trust it five minutes after it tried to kill your brother."

"Not at all. Don't think we haven't had a hundred conversations about this. Don't think I haven't had sleepless nights. But in the end it just came down to trusting John, and his judgement. He made the call after he and EOS came to an understanding."

"An understanding? And you let it stay." Jeff said disapprovingly.

"She chose to stay. And since that day she's saved John's life several times, saved everyone I think. Without her we wouldn't have been able to bring you home."

Was that true? Jeff would have to spend a lot more time on the mission reports, paying particular attention to the AI's involvement.

"And I know what you're going to think next." Scott continued, passionate. "She could turn on us at any time. I've had that nightmare too. What if she logically decides we need to be eliminated? What if her programming gets corrupted or she gets a virus? But if you stop thinking of her as a machine and start thinking of her a person it becomes much simpler. She's not going to endanger us – endanger John – any more than Brains would."

"Brains is family."

"So is EOS."

"That's... quite a statement." Jeff said softly.

Scott gave a slight smile. "Sure is. Took a long time to get here as well, so don't worry if you're not in the same place."

Scott stood, stretching. "I need to get some sleep. John trusts EOS and that's rubbed us on the rest of us. Have a chat with them someday soon and you'll see." Scott gave a nod in good night, and sauntered back to the house, once again leaving Jeff alone.

Alone, but much less lonely than he had become accustomed to.

There was much he would have to become re-accustomed to, much to learn about how his family now worked and his place within it. EOS would be top of the list.