I don't own these characters. I'm just taking them out to play.
Alan Tracy stared down the barrel of the gun with a fear he had never felt before in his entire life. He could feel the eyes of the rest of the passengers on him. They were relying on him to save them, no way was he about to let them down. He took a step backwards and held out his hands in a gesture of appeasement.
"No one is threatening you sir. Everyone just wants to get to safety before the cable snaps. That is why I'm here. If you put the gun away, we would all be a lot less jumpy."
He was surprised at how calm his voice sounded, for his heart was thumping so loudly in his chest he was sure the man could hear it. The man himself was shaking the gun from side to side. Someone from the frightened crowd behind Alan surged forward and started shouting in a loud belligerent tone.
"Put that thing away you idiot before you hurt someone! Here we are dangling from a single cable thousands of feet in the air and you start waving guns in people's faces! You need a….."
Alan could sense the situation slipping away from him and he turned and silenced the man with a fierce command.
"Stop it! That isn't helping! Everyone is coping with a terrifying situation in the very best way they know how. Just hush and we'll have you all out of here as quickly as we can."
He turned back to the man with the gun, who was now fingering the trigger with a nervous forefinger.
"Do you really want to hurt me? If we stay in this cable car much longer the cable is going to snap and everyone will be dead. You won't need to use that thing, but you'll be dead along with the rest of us. I'm from International Rescue. My name is Alan. We came to get you all out of this. Please will you let us help you? All of you?"
"Just you?" The man was clearly terrified out of his wits, and not thinking straight. "What can a kid like you do to help us, all on your own?"
"The others are close by, waiting for me to call them. I came alone to assess what damage had been done and whether the car is safe to lower to the ground with all of you on board or whether we need to get you all off. If you don't let me contact them soon, they'll be here to find out what the hold-up is all about. When they see you pointing a gun at us, they'll be calling in the GDF regardless of the circumstances."
"Even if it could mean your death?"
Resisting the impulse to swallow, Alan nodded.
"The choice is my life and your life against the lives of all of these people. We are International Rescue. We save lives, all the lives we can, whatever the cost. That is our policy. It's your choice. If you shoot someone, you know what will end up happening to you. If you put that thing away, or better still, throw it out of the window, everyone will know you were just very afraid and didn't know what else to do. Our organisation will not press charges if you hurt no one."
Alan stared silently at the man, hoping that none of the terrified people behind him would do anything to ruin things now. The man started to cry and turning suddenly, he hurled the gun out of the glass- less window. For a moment, Alan watched it fall until it eventually disappeared into the mists of the snowy valley below them. This time he did gulp, and clapped the man on the back.
"Thank you. Now stand back and we'll get things started."
Alan pulled himself up and sat on the ledge of the window, holding tightly to the window frame and looked anxiously upwards to the cable fixture on the roof of the cable car. It was jammed. No way would it ever move again without being cut, and clearly that was not an option. The broken fitting was rubbing against the chain as the car swayed in the wind, and even from here Alan could see the sparks flying, and the fact that the strain of the car with all its passengers were going to prove too heavy before long, and when that happened the chain holding the car to the overhead cables would part, and down they would go. He pressed his holo com.
"Thunderbird Two, come in."
The faces of Virgil and Gordon appeared, looking relieved.
"There you are Alan. What took you so long? We were getting worried. What's the prognosis?"
"No can do Virgil. We're going to have to use the rescue platforms. We have thirteen very frightened people here, and I would say that cable has about ten minutes life left. After that we all become smears on the valley floor below."
"FAB Alan, we're on our way,"
In less than half a minute, the familiar hum of Thunderbird two could be heard above the howling of the wind. Alan looked up anxiously at the sky, seeing black thundery clouds rolling in ever closer. "Quickly Virgil" he muttered under his breath, "the last thing we need now is for the cable car to get struck by lightning."
Alan fixed his personal line to the window frame of the car, ensuring that whilst he was hanging in the air, helping everyone to board the rescue platforms, he would not be in any danger of falling himself. A moment later the first of the platforms appeared outside the window. Alan grabbed its guiding line and fixed it to his own and immediately he felt the pull of the wind as the platform was buffeted. He knew that Virgil would be keeping Thunderbird Two above them at perfect station keeping, so any movement would be from the wind. He turned to the frightened people behind him. He held out his hand to the man who had had the gun.
"I need your help if you will." He said gently. "I want the women and young children to go first, but they need a man to go over first to show them how it is done, and to help them inside, and help them stay calm. Could you do that?"
The man almost smiled, realising he was being given the chance to escape first from this hell hole and at the same time of saving face after his terror had almost destroyed everything. He nodded and taking Alan's proffered hand, felt himself hauled up level with the window and he saw the rescue platform, like a small industrial elevator, of metal floor and side bars up to chest height, but without a roof. He stepped across the small gap and heaved a sigh of relief. He turned back and held out his hand. Alan smiled and turned to the crowd waiting behind him.
"If you don't push or shove, things will happen a lot more quickly. All the children please, with their mothers first."
Four children ambled up, pushed by three scared women, one of them carrying a baby in her arms. Alan helped the young children across, closely followed by the mothers, then he held up his arms for the baby.
"I'll take the baby first and then hand him over to you. Go on, ma'am, everything will be fine."
She let him haul her up then handed her baby to Alan as though afraid she would never see him again. The others on the platform hauled her eagerly across the gap, and Alan handed her baby carefully back to her. He pressed his holo-com.
"Take it away Virgil. Gordon, send down the second platform."
He jumped as a loud rumble of thunder echoed around them, reverberating off the surrounding mountains. He cursed under his breath and held out his hand for the next passenger. Altogether both the rescue platforms had to make two trips down to rescue all the stranded passengers. Soon only Alan was left behind. By now all the passengers were crowded safely inside the rear compartment of Thunderbird Two, waiting for Alan to come aboard and be taken down to the base of the mountain. Alan ducked involuntarily as lightening flashed overhead. Sheet lightening, showing up in a brilliant flash everything for miles around, then he aimed his secondary safety line at Thunderbird Two's cargo doors.
"Firing line now Virgil" he reported as he fired. The line shot out and grappled the secure hook easily. Securing it to his belt, Alan reached out to unhook his primary line. At that moment, a severe gust of wind shook the car violently and the whole cable assembly ripped apart and the cable-car plunged to the ground. The huge clamp assembly atop the car gave Alan a huge clout as it hurtled past him. Gordon looked out and saw his brother hanging in mid-air by the safety line attached to his belt. He fired his own secondary line which clamped itself tightly to the safety hook on Alan's safety harness and started to reel him in.
Eager hands helped in to haul Alan inside once he reached the safety of the ship, and the rescued passengers couldn't help themselves crowding round their heroic rescuer. Gordon waved them to stand back.
"FAB Virgil!" Gordon called out, and Virgil headed the ship down to the base of the mountain as quickly as he safely could. Gordon checked his younger brother's responses and sat back on his heels, breathing heavily. Alan had been knocked out cold, but did not seem to be hurt otherwise. He would have a sizeable bruise on his left temple though. The woman with the baby started to whimper softly. Gordon secured Alan in the medi-bunk and hurried to her side.
"Are you hurt ma'am?"
"No, we're all fine thanks to that young man. I've never seen anyone as brave as that… how old is he? Fourteen at the most? He will be all right won't he? I was so scared when he fell. Especially when that cable-car fell and hit him."
"I think it was more of a glancing blow, ma'am. He's been knocked out, but he'll be okay."
"Good. How he faced that gun without even flinching I will never know. He should get a medal for that. Thank you all so much."
At that moment, Virgil had dropped the pod on to the ground, and the rear doors were opening. Before Gordon had the chance to ask the woman any questions, she repeated her thanks and stumbled out, clutching her baby close to her breast. Virgil, the medic, came back to check on Alan. Already a lump was coming up on the side of his head, the size of an egg. He swiftly checked him over and allowed himself a slight smile.
"He doesn't seem to have sustained any lasting injury. He'll be out cold for a few hours though I reckon."
"Virge, one of the women said something about Alan being a hero, facing down a gun without blinking."
Virgil stared.
"A gun? Didn't she say any more?"
"Only that he deserved a medal for bravery."
"Remember there were a few minutes when we lost contact with him. That must be the reason why. We'll just have to wait until he wakes up before we find out truly what happened."
The communications relay bleeped. It was John in Thunderbird Five.
"Thunderbird Five to Thunderbird Two. Come in."
"Thunderbird Two. Hi John. Is everything okay? Due back at base in three point two minutes."
"Virgil, Gordon, I am getting media reports here of a member of International Rescue showing extraordinary courage in the face of terrible danger. The people you just rescued have stated in an interview that one member of their party, and they refused to specify which, by the way, lost all sense when the cable-car was in danger and started threatening everyone with a loaded gun, and threatened to shoot the rescuer and then all of the other passengers. Those interviewed stated that the young man from International Rescue faced the gunman without blinking and coolly talked him round, and even managed to enlist his help in aiding and calming the other passengers. They also stated that the young man concerned put his own life in danger, when the cable-car fell before he had managed to get himself clear, and at the last report they didn't know if he was dead or alive."
Virgil and Gordon stared in surprise. Alan facing a gunman whilst on a rescue?
"Er…Alan is still unconscious, John, he had quite a bad knock on the side of the head; but he'll be fine. He'll just have a bit of a headache when he wakes up, that's all. Has Scott heard all of this?"
Scott's three dimensional image appeared from the lounge on Tracy Island.
"Yes guys, Brains and I've been monitoring. Sounds like Alan's done a bang up job today."
Thunderbird Two arrived back at base right on time, and within a few minutes, the brothers and grandma were crowded round Alan's bed as he moaned and opened his eyes.
"Ooh…what truck hit me?"
"Alan, are you all right?" Scott asked in genuine concern. Alan's eyes creased slightly. He struggled to sit up, and leaned back against his banked up pillows.
"A huge headache, otherwise fine. What happened?"
"You don't remember?"
Alan shook his head.
"I remember we went out to rescue a damaged cable-car during a storm, but that's all. Did we save everyone?"
"Yep. Turns out you were something of a hero, Alan."
Alan laughed.
"What? All in a day's work for International Rescue."
"No, really Alan. The news is all over the media. You apparently faced a panicking gunman and talked him round. That's pretty amazing little brother."
Alan's eyes opened wide.
"Wow! Cool! What I wouldn't give to be able to remember that. When can I get out of bed?"
His brothers looked at one another, ruefully. Thanks to his knock on the head, Alan had lost his entire memory of that rescue, including his incredible heroism. They insisted he stay in bed for the rest of the day, and promised him breakfast in bed the next day as a reward for his bravery.
"What bravery? I don't even remember doing anything!" He protested as they all left one by one. When they were gone, grandma watched her youngest grandson give a private smile and pick up a comic. She sat on the edge of his bed.
"Alan, are you sure you don't remember anything?" she asked him softly. He caught the look in her eye and shrugged diffidently.
"Well grandma, the man was scared out of his wits…he was terrified and convinced he was going to die. Everyone was scared grandma, even me. I really didn't do anything but talk to the guy. Just another rescue really. All in a day's work."
Grandma squeezed his hand and left the room quietly. All in a days' work for International Rescue!