I don't own any rights to Thunderbirds, somebody else does.
Thunderbirds and the characters in the show were created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson.
Thanks to my beta readers for their help and suggestions.
*****
Gateway to Nowhere
John Tracy skillfully guided Thunderbird Three back into her launch bay beneath the Round House on Tracy Island. After setting the huge rocket gently down, he turned to Scott with a smile on his face and said, "That's it, home again for another month. Boy I can't wait to dive into that pool, followed by some of Grandma's home made lemonade and her home cooking again."
"Things have been very quiet lately on the rescue front so I guess this last tour of satellite duty dragged on for you," Scott replied getting up from his seat. "I'll leave you to do the post-flight checks while I go to find Brains to see him about something he suggested earlier today."
"Okay, Scott, after I've finished here I'm going to take a walk back in the sunshine to the house. Tell Dad so he won't expect me coming up on the sofa route. Will you take my suitcase back with you though, please?"
"Sure, John, see you later," Scott said as he picked up John's suitcase containing the
clothes he'd worn for his month long stay on Thunderbird Five. John watched him disappear from sight into the elevator that would take him down to the lounge below and from there travel back to the villa. Once he was alone, John got busy doing the very necessary post-flight checks on the space ship to ensure all would be well and it was ready for action if needed.
After he'd finished, he walked across the island in the late afternoon sunshine. It felt so good to see the crashing of the waves on the rocks and hearing the cry of the seabirds overhead again. He took some deep breaths to fill his lungs with fresh sea air and thought that as much as he loved being in space on board Thunderbird Five, he also loved to come home again to be with his family and to share in all the delights of their beautiful island home.
He was greeted in the lounge by the rest of the family. His grandmother as always gave him her usual medical opinion on how he looked after giving him a hug and a kiss. The same opinion was also given to Alan on his return from Thunderbird Five each month too. 'That he looked pale. That life in space for a month was unnatural for a man of his age. He was thin and needed proper meals, not the sort he ate up there that had been frozen and re-heated.' Finally, she always turned to Jeff and remarked. "I'm sure you could think of a better way to run things without having to send them up there for months at a time."
John gave his grandmother a reassuring hug as he always did after her usual tirade and told her, "I'm fine, Grandma, and looking forward to eating your cooking again and some relaxation around here."
"A package came for you on the mail plane today, John," Gordon told him.
"Great, that'll be some books I ordered to relax with while I'm here," John replied.
"Hey, don't get too confident about the relaxation, Johnny," Scott said. "Remember who you work for."
"Yeah, many a plan to do something in the name of leisure has gone up in smoke," Virgil reminded him.
"Or got washed away in a mud slide," Gordon added.
"Or blew away in a hurricane," laughed Scott.
"Well, however it goes, I just hope it's not tonight," their grandmother told all of them. "I want to see that John gets a decent meal inside him first before he goes anywhere."
"I'm all for that too, Grandma," John agreed. "Where's that package, Gordon? I'll take it to my room now and open it."
The evening passed away quietly on the island and with still no rescue calls coming in, John and the rest of the family were able to relax and have a good night's sleep.
*********
Keith Partingdon turned away from the window he'd been gazing out of and sighed.
"It's still raining, coming down even more heavily now," he said to his wife Ann. "At this rate we won't be getting many tourists here for the season."
"Don't worry too much," she replied. "Hartleburgh's had lots of wet starts to the season in the past and we've all survived. Remember that wet spring we had about four years ago that ended up with a long hot summer and tourists flocked here? We had so many bookings for accommodation we had to turn people away and they had to try and find places to stay in other hotels up and down the coast."
"I remember, but last summer was a bit of washout weather wise, so we need to make up for that," he answered as he came over and sat down on the sofa. "People want lots of sunshine to make a holiday by the sea enjoyable."
"Well we can provide them with good accommodation and food while they are staying here. Our rooms have a wonderful view of the sea from above the bay here. That's what they like too," she said to him. "So try and relax, Keith. Our place is the closest place for access to the beach and we are usually first choice for them to come to when the season begins."
"I hope so," he replied as he looked at her encouraging smile. He wished he could share her optimism.
They both woke up to yet another dark and wet spring day. Ann flicked on the radio next to the bed in time to listen to the Eight O'clock news.
'Due to the exceptionally wet weather and strong winds in the last few days accompanied by spring tides, a flood alert has been put out for the East Coast of England. A tidal surge is expected to hit the coast within the next few hours and house holders are urged to take as many precautions as they can to prevent their homes from flooding. Sandbags will be made available and some towns and villages that face the highest risk of flooding may have to be evacuated,'the news reader announced.
"Sounds serious," Ann said as she got out of bed and put on her dressing gown. "At least we don't have that worry up here but we may have to take in some people further down in the village if they get evacuated from their homes, just like last time."
"Best get prepared then," Keith said as he also got out of bed. "We've had this before so we know what to do about it."
Ann switched off the radio and went to open the curtains and look out of the window. Normally the view was a wonderful sight of the early morning sun over the sea. Today, however, it was one of dark storm clouds and rain beating against the glass as the wind blew it in that direction.
They had breakfast then went to the storeroom to get out the supply of camping beds and air beds along with the extra sheets and blankets in case they would be needed. Ann checked the food supply and found it to be adequate until the emergency was over and hopefully things would return to normal. They kept themselves informed of the situation by listening to their local radio station as they moved around their small hotel.
While all of this was happening the coast guards and emergency services up and down the coast were bracing themselves as the winds grew stronger, whipping up the waves on the sea to tremendous heights and forcing ferries and ships to abandon any ideas of putting to sea. Those already out at sea were struggling to make it into the ports and safety.
All around the little coastal village men, women and older children worked in the driving rain, piling up sandbags to protect their homes and those of their less able neighbours as fast as they could before the sea came in and threatened to flood them.
**********
Up in Thunderbird Five, Alan Tracy had been monitoring the situation and was relaying the messages he'd heard to his father before Jeff joined the rest of the family for dinner.
"Sounds pretty bad on both sides of the coasts there, Dad. England's east coast looks to be the worst affected with the strong gales blowing in that direction but the coasts in Europe are expecting problems too," he told him.
"Okay, son, keep listening in just in case we're needed to help. The emergency authorities may have everything under control," Jeff replied. "They've had these problems before."
"Will do, Dad," Alan replied.
Jeff cut the video link and went to the dining room to inform the rest of his sons about the possibility of them being called out to a rescue.
"Well, it's best to have a good meal inside you all," Ruth Tracy told them. "Those rescues take hours; I'll pack up some food for you to take just in case. It will save time if you do get called out."
"Thanks, Grandma," Virgil said as he helped himself to some extra food after his father filled his plate. ""We may not get called out until tomorrow but I'll take the food down ready inside Thunderbird Two. Scott will work better knowing food is not too far away."
.
**********
Keith and Anne worked all morning taking in people that the local authorities deemed most at risk in the area: the elderly, families with young children, pregnant women and those who lived closest to the sea. Volunteers helped to provide meals and drinks and make sure everybody was made comfortable until the danger was over.
As predicted the tidal surge did cause some major floods up and down the east coast and Hartleburgh got its fair share. All local fishing boats were being used to rescue as many people as possible from the floods. The harbour area got the most damage as was to be expected but homes around the little bay had been evacuated from that part of the town. The danger was not in that direction; instead, weeks of heavy rain and now the battering of waves against the cliffs had eroded the soil.
Those on the higher ground in the hotel spent a comfortable night. By next morning landslips on both sides of the bay were occurring and by early afternoon buildings at the top were now slipping down the cliffs. Including these was Hartleburgh's 'Cliff Top Hotel' now temporary home to many of the evacuees from the village itself where they had been taken to for safety.
Realising that they were unable to cope with this new emergency, the local authorities put out a distress call to International Rescue to help save the many victims now in grave danger.
*********
Alan received the call and relayed it to his father. "It seems that the town of Hartleburgh is the worst affected, Dad. They seem to be coping well in other parts of the east coast and the floods have not caused too many problems."
"Okay, Alan, tell them we are on the way and give the co-ordinates to Scott when he gets airborne," Jeff told him before cutting the video link to Thunderbird Five.
Jeff turned to his four other sons now in the lounge and told them, "It looks like you will only need winching equipment and laser cutters to help free people from the wrecked buildings. The other rescue vehicles will be unable to get down the cliffs or be any use. All four of you will be needed on this one. Tin Tin, you go too and operate the Mobile Control to free Scott up so he can help with the rescue. Brains, you will be needed to help attend the injured as they are winched aboard to go to the hospital."
Scott soon reached the danger zone and hovered around looking for a suitable place to land Thunderbird One where it would be close enough to the rescue site and be on stable ground. Seeing a large open field well away from the cliff face where several emergency vehicles were already parked he took the rocket plane down and was about to get out the Mobile Control Unit then decided against it. Tin Tin would be more comfortable inside Thunderbird One using the radio there. The wind and rain were still lashing the shoreline so he went to put on waterproof clothes and take out his hover bike while waiting for Virgil to arrive with Thunderbird Two and the rest of the team.
He was met by the emergency co-coordinator "We're pleased you got here so fast," he shouted to Scott to make himself heard above the howling wind. "The helijets are winching as many people away as possible but there are a lot still trapped in the hotel. The buildings have all crumbled and it's hard to get to them. We've managed to disconnect all of the utilities from the homes and the hotel."
"My buddies will be here shortly with the equipment we need," Scott shouted back at him. "I'll ride over and take a look at the situation."
Scott rode over to see for himself the plight of the buildings that had slipped down the cliff. He saw some smashed houses and adjacent to them was the larger ruins of what had been the hotel. Close by him more homes were still on the edge of the cliff and looked in danger of following the rest over soon. Large cracks had formed in the walls but the residents had already been safely evacuated.
Scott reported his findings to Virgil when he returned to Thunderbird One. "Set Two down in the field next to One behind the cliffs. It's stable enough here. You'll need weatherproof clothes. It's raining hard here and the wind is gale force. What's your ETA, Virgil?"
"Fifteen point six minutes," his brother replied.
"Okay, try and make it sooner if you can," Scott told him. There are a lot of people trapped down there."
Virgil arrived on time and followed Scott's instructions, landing Thunderbird Two in the field close to her sister ship. John, Gordon and Tin Tin got out the rescue equipment and put them in the carriers on the back of the hover bikes that would take them down to the danger zone.
"I think that will be all you need," Virgil told them as the carriers were closed and made secure. "I'd better be going now to get into a good hovering position to use the winch and rescue capsule. This wind is going to make things difficult though."
"Okay, Tin Tin, I'll leave you in charge of the radio in One," Scott told her. "No sense in getting the Mobile Control Unit in this wind and rain."
"Looks like you got the best deal," Gordon shouted after her as she went to board Thunderbird One.
Scott, John, and Gordon climbed on their hover bikes and rode the short distance over the field towards the cliffs. Behind them, they heard the jets of Thunderbird Two lifting off through the sound of the howling wind as Virgil launched her skywards towards the sea.
It was late afternoon and the heavy storm clouds made the day darker than it should have been at that time of year. As they were approaching the cliff edge, John who was behind his brothers, noticed an elderly lady watching the rescue attempts outside a small house that seemed to be unaffected by the landslip. She beckoned him over with a smile. Not wanting to waste too much time he rode over to her and asked her what she wanted.
"Please try and save my son," she pleaded. "He and his wife have put their life into that hotel business and have helped so many people caught in floods over the years. His name's Keith and his wife's name is Ann."
"We'll do our best," John told her. He was concerned about her being outside in the severe weather. "Now go inside where it's warm and dry. You don't want him to have to visit you too if you get sick and go to the hospital."
"Thank you, young man," she said. "I will now that I have spoken to you. I just wanted you to know how worried I am about them."
He watched her go back into the house and then rejoined the others at the top of the cliffs. Scott wanted to know where he'd got to.
"I was just giving a little old lady some reassurance of our abilities," he told his elder brother with a smile.
"Well come on, let's get started," Scott replied. "Those buildings may not last much longer."
Scott, John and Gordon boarded the hover bikes to glide down to where the damaged buildings were. Fortunately the land had slid down in a vast quantity so it was stable enough to work on for the time being. Teams of helijets had winched some people aboard already but the wind and rain were making the job very difficult. Virgil had already taken his place above them and put Thunderbird Two in hover mode ready to winch up a lot more people than the helijets were capable of carrying as soon as his brothers had freed them.
The exhausted men who had been desperately trying to free the victims were relieved to see International Rescue had come to join them.
"We've got everybody out of the houses," one of the rescue team told Scott. "We've just started on the hotel and gained access through the rooms on the top floor. There are three floors altogether." He then showed Scott a diagram of the room arrangement of the hotel. "This is the number of rooms. I know it's not much help but it gives us some idea of how the layout was."
Scott put the diagram inside a pocket inside his uniform. "Thanks, this will help a little, although I suspect most of the floors and ceilings have gone now. I'll study it once I get inside out of this wind. We'll go in through where you've made access with our equipment," he told the co-coordinator. "You and your men can stand by now to assist with helping my colleague to get the victims removed and winched on board Thunderbird Two. Do you know how many people were inside the building?"
"I suspect around the maximum number that fire regulations would allow. I'll get that checked out and let you know," he replied. "The full list of names of people taken there is with my colleague inside the hotel in the reception area. He's trapped in there too. He's been in contact by mobile phone saying he's not hurt but stuck under some debris. He can't see to read the names on the list."
"Well, that's good to know he's alive," Scott said. "We'll get to him as soon as we can. Tell him to hang on, we're on our way.
After hours of digging and crawling through the debris of the wrecked buildings the rescuers were only too pleased to let International Rescue and their specialist equipment help them free the trapped people.
The job was long, difficult and lasting several hours, but the mini-mole and cutting equipment were making the job a lot quicker than the conventional equipment used by the local rescue teams. The sophisticated scanners that Brains had devised located trapped victims easily. This enabled Scott and John to get straight to them and free them. After that they would hand them over to Gordon and the rescue teams while they worked their way through the rest of the building.
It was now late evening and bright arc lights had been brought to the scene. The wind and rain was gradually easing off now. This was something Gordon and Virgil were grateful for after winching several victims up into Thunderbird Two in the rescue capsule. Brains and Gordon made them as comfortable as they could, tending their wounds and keeping them warm while Virgil whisked them away to the nearest hospital. Then they returned for more victims and did the same. Other victims were still being winched up in the helijets while Thunderbird Two was temporarily away from the scene. After the evacuation the frail, elderly people had been taken up to the hotel bedrooms to rest after being moved out of their homes in the hope of keeping them safe during the threat of flooding. It was here that many of the fatalities were highest.
Most of the other people had been in the large communal lounge when the disaster struck in the early afternoon. Others had been placed in the equally large dining room and it was here now that Scott and John were now trying to locate more victims with the body detector scanners amongst fallen masonry and strewn tables and chairs. Always the local rescue teams were behind them to remove the casualties as soon as they were located.
"There can't be many more to find," John told Scott as they moved forward amongst the debris. "I estimate we've got well over a hundred out now."
"Well here's another one," Scott replied as he removed a fallen dining table that was covering part of a young woman's legs so he could examine her. The young woman was groaning softly in pain as Scott did this. "She's got a slight head injury as far as I can see and one of her legs looks broken, but she is still alive and by the looks of her, pregnant. Let's get her out now, there are two lives at stake here."
"Please get my little boy out too," she managed to gasp out. "He was right beside me when it happened. He's only three years old."
"Just relax, we'll find him," Scott assured her. "What's his name?"
"Luke, Luke Hutchinson," she told him. "I'm Sarah Hutchinson. My husband is helping people down in the bay with his fishing boat. He sent us up here for safety."
"Okay, Sarah, we're going to get you out and get you to the hospital now," Scott told her. "We'll find Luke next and he'll soon be joining you. You stay calm now and concentrate on getting better for him and your baby."
A stretcher was brought over by the local rescue teams and emergency first aid was given to the young woman. Soon she was out of the wrecked hotel and being winched to safety and en route to the hospital.
Scott and John searched around the area where the young mother had been found and soon found her three-year-old son. The child was unconscious but still alive. He had minor cuts and bruises too and was soon following his mother.
More families with young children were discovered in the room. The children with less serious injuries were comforted by the thoughts of being rescued by International Rescue and being taken on board Thunderbird Two to the hospital. Eventually the room was cleared of casualties.
"That's the two main rooms cleared now," Scott said to John. He pulled the diagram of the layout of the hotel out of his uniform pocket and shone his light over it. "If this was the dining room, I estimate that the kitchen will be over in that direction. Some staff will have been in there, no doubt. After that there is just the reception area and some outbuildings."
"The kitchen could have victims with more serious injuries," John remarked as he brushed more dust from his already dirty face and hair. "Scalds and burns on top of anything else they may have sustained."
"Yeah, once we get through in the kitchen, I'll see if I can locate that list of people taken here when we get to the reception." Scott replied looking at the diagram he'd been given. "Come on, let's get started. We'll get that door open that leads to the kitchen."
Thankfully only a few members of staff were found in the kitchen. Lunch had already been eaten when the disaster struck. Severe injuries had been caused to some by falling electrical appliances and crockery. Scott and John located all of the victims and were about to move on to the last remaining room of the main hotel building which was the reception area when one of the local rescue team members crawled back through the wreckage to join them after the last casualty was removed.
"I've got a message from the authorities of how many people were evacuated to the hotel," one of them told Scott. "It appears there are only three people not accounted for now."
"Well, let's hope they are in this last room," Scott replied.
The three remaining people were Keith and Ann Partingdon and a member of the emergency services evacuee team who had been in the reception area when the land-slip happened. They were all alive and had cuts and bruises due to being trapped under the reception desk. Keith still had the list of names and addresses of the evacuees on a clipboard in his hand when Scott found him.
"What happened? Was it an earthquake or something? " the hotel owner croaked to Scott as he was being freed from the wreckage.
"Bad landslip," Scott replied taking the list from the injured man, removing it from the clipboard before putting it inside his uniform pocket with the hotel diagram. "Take it easy now. We'll soon get you all to the hospital."
"What about the evacuees?" Ann also croaked as John was busy trying to free her. "Are they all safe?"
"Everybody is accounted for now," John told her without alarming her about the number of fatalities. "Let's just concentrate on getting you three to the hospital. The rescue team will be along any minute."
"Glad you freed us at last," the evacuation officer told them. "It was getting a bit cramped under there."
"My hotel's ruined. I thought this part of the cliff was stable. They assured us it was when I had a land survey done," Keith Partington gasped but managed to grab on to his wife's hand. "But at least we're still alive, thank goodness."
"Well your mother will be pleased to know that," John told him. "She was so worried about the both of you when I saw her earlier."
"My mother!" Keith exclaimed. "You must have been mistaken, son."
"Keith's mother died seven years ago when there was another landslip on that part of the cliff," Ann told John. "Her little cottage went over too. I expect it was somebody else you spoke to."
"Guess I was mistaken then," John replied disbelieving his own words.
The rescuers soon got the last three victims out of the wrecked hotel and Scott and John made their way out through the debris into the fresh air. It was late into the night now and the clouds had broken to reveal a glittering night sky and a calmer sea.
Tired rescue teams were gathering up all of their equipment. Virgil had sent Gordon back down to wait for Scott and John to put their equipment back into the carriers on the hover bikes.
"Glad that one's over," Gordon said as he rejoined his brothers. "I hate having so many fatalities to deal with, especially little kids."
"I know, Gordon," Scott replied. "We got a lot of live ones out though and that's what counts. We all did our best."
Scott then contacted Thunderbird One, "Okay, Tin Tin, we're all finished here and we're on our way back up," he told her.
Tin Tin was relieved that the long rescue was over. She was feeling tired and hungry just like everybody else and couldn't wait to get home. "FAB, Scott," she replied. "I'll inform Base."
When they reached the top of the cliffs the rescue co-coordinator was waiting to meet them again. He came over to thank Scott and his brothers. "You all did a wonderful job and so many people are still alive thanks to your organisation," he told them. On behalf of all of them, thank you so much."
"All part of the service, sir." Scott replied. "Your men have worked long and hard too. I guess we all could do with some food and sleep now."
"Yes they will," agreed the rescue co-coordinator. "Thanks again for your help."
"Let's get to Thunderbird Two and get cleaned up and have something to eat and drink," Scott said. "Then we can get back to Base."
Gordon and Scott again took the lead on their hover bikes as they returned to Thunderbird One. John was still puzzled at what he'd been told by Keith Partingdon regarding the message he'd conveyed to him. He was sure the elderly lady had said that her son and daughter-in-law were called Keith and Ann and that they were the owners of the hotel. He hung further back to survey the scene looking for the house he saw her going back into after she'd spoken to him.
John looked at the area along the cliff tops and was surprised to see a huge chunk of the land was missing and right beside the cliff edge was the remains of what had once been a painted white fence and a little gate. A gate that now opened to a sheer drop to the edge of the sea.
He stopped his hover bike and gasped in surprise as he recalled that the elderly lady had gone through the gate in a white fence and back into her home after she had spoken to him.
Scott noticed that John was not with him and Gordon again on the way back to join the others. He stopped to see where he was and spotted John staring along the cliff top.
"Come on John, it's too late to star gaze now," he shouted over to him. "You must be tired and hungry, as we all are."
"Guess I'm more tired than I thought I was," John agreed out loud to himself as he took a last look at the little broken white gate. Then he started the hover bike up again. "You're right," he shouted back to Scott. "Let's get back to Base."
The End.
.