Thank you so much for taking the time to read, and for the lovely reviews as well *squishy hugs you all* feedback is always welcomed, good or bad :)
I am planning to update this every night - the nature of the story is quite short as you will see, so I may even be done by the end of the week!
Onwards we go...
58
No one spoke for a moment, shock stunning them all. Thunderbird 5 was meant to be the safe one, John was meant to be the safe one, tucked away in space. He was away from all the landslides, the earthquakes, the forest fires that were a threat to the others. Now he was just a target and a bargaining chip for their enemy.
57
"Get out of there John!" Scott was... well scared was the only way to describe his voice, something that was heard so rarely that John gave a quick glance at his oldest brother's icon before turning back to the display that EOS was in command of. His first thought had of course been to evacuate, but instinct told him that would not work, and cold hard facts backed it up.
56
"Negative Thunderbird One. It takes me at least 30 seconds to get in the exosuit if I was standing right next to it, which I'm not..."
55
"….so add another 15 seconds to get to it, and EOS thinks it will take at least 30 seconds to clear the blast radius and be safe from debris."
John was grateful to have EOS by his side for this – they had worked together long enough now that she was beginning to anticipate his requests so he had all the information he needed at his fingertips. That gratitude was almost enough to distract him from what he just said. Almost, but not quite.
Blast radius. Debris. Not debris, his Thunderbird damn it! His home away from home and a vital piece of International Rescue's operation. This was going bad and going bad quickly.
54
"There was never enough time for me to get clear." Trying to dismiss his fear, John bought up yet another screen and started scrolling, searching for one particular set of files.
53
"The space elevator, can't you...?" Alan's question trailed away and he sounded very young as he remembered that the capsule was no longer attached to the station, Brains having used it to sneak aboard the Sentinel. No space elevator, no time for the exosuit, no time for Thunderbird 3 or any other ship to get to him.
I really am screwed this time.
52
"Can't you just move out the way? You have some sharp moves for a space station. You've done it before." Virgil suggested.
51
"Not sharp enough. I would gain a couple of seconds if that. I might be maneuverable for a space station but that's not really saying much." It was a good idea, but it just wasn't going to work. He didn't stop his scrolling, if only he could remember where he'd saved the bloody things! He was surprising himself by staying focused. He hadn't had much practice at being threatened by an evil genius and he didn't like it so far. He felt a surge of adrenaline in response to the Mechanic's threat: his body was gearing up for flight or fight but right now neither of those were an option.
50
"So, what?" Gordon yelled, even though he didn't need to – his comm was coming through loud and clear. "You're just giving up? You're just going to sit there?" Gordon didn't take threats to his family easily.
49
"No, I'm not giving up Gordon!" John snapped back, not in the mood to deal with the volatile aquanaut. "Of course I'm not giving up, but options are severely limited. Brains?" John directed his attention to the engineer. "Can you hear me?"
48
"I can hear you John. I'm trying my best to break into the controls and take the laser off line but... I don't know... I just..." Brains was panicking, that was clear. He wouldn't be able to work without a clear head, so it was vital that John calmed him down.
"I have faith in you Brains. Just take a deep breath, think of something happy and work the problem. You can do this. You could do it before and you can it now. Shut it down." John reassured.
47
The sound of a deep breath came over the comm, and Brains, in a slightly steadier voice said "I'm working on it John."
46
John at last found the files he had been looking for. He had hidden them well to insure they wouldn't be found by anyone casually looking through his systems to save himself from some awkward questions. He just had to put them somewhere a bit more memorable next time. He hoped there was a next time. There were other things he needed to check on while Brains was working, but this was important. With a gesture in the holo-screen he threw the files at EOS – well at the camera that EOS was currently using.
45
"EOS, I need you to do something for me."