Chapter Three
Outside the main building John Tracy called out frantically to his brothers.
"Virgil! Gordon! Do you read me? Answer please!"
Silence was the only thing that came back to him from the microphones of the Mobile Control console as his throat tightened and a cold hand of fear closed around his heart.
"Virgil! Can you hear me? Are you OK?"
Against the backdrop of another explosion from one of the buildings of the laboratory and the wail of fire tenders and ambulances that were constantly arriving at the site John could hear only the silence that met his pleas for some sort of confirmation that his brothers still lived. Looking up at the complex his heart sank further as he took in the roiling clouds of smoke, laced through here and there with the red tongues of fire, that now rose above the ruined research facility. Walls were crumbling and caving in around the site of the first explosion. It would not be long before the remainder of the facility was in a similar state.
Returning his gaze to Mobile Control he noticed for the first time the protective suit that Gordon had dropped at his feet as he and Virgil had headed towards the building a few minutes before.
"Mobile Control to Thunderbird Five. Come in Alan."
"Thunderbird Five to Mobile Control. Go ahead John."
"Alan, I've lost contact with Virgil and Gordon. The complex is exploding but they're still in there. I'm going to put on a hot suit, take the Fire Fly and go in after them. Carry on trying to get them while I get suited up would you?"
"F.A.B. John. Let me know when you're in Fire Fly. I'll let Scott know what you're going to do."
As John turned from the console and started pulling on the protective suit he realised with a shock that he must now be experiencing what Scott had experienced so many times before – the position of the middle man. Although not as cut off from the situation as Alan now was, hanging above the globe in Thunderbird Five and totally unable to help, he was here, safe at Mobile control, while his two brothers were somewhere inside a burning, exploding complex, almost definitely hurt and possibly already dead.
Now he was beginning to appreciate the unenviable position Scott held. Oldest brother, field commander, mobile control anchor man, occasional emergency rescuer and all too often emotional support to his younger brothers. He was beginning to appreciate it – but he did not envy it at all.
.................... ......................
As these thoughts chased themselves through John Tracy's mind, in the shadow of Thunderbird One the four security men moved. From their belts they each took a small device capable of emitting and registering infrared light beams. The two officers stationed under the wings of the aircraft turned to face each other, in a direct line immediately under the widest part of the craft. One aimed his beam at the device held by the other. When it was registered as received the second man nodded success to his colleague.
The procedure was repeated between the remaining two sentries standing under the nose cone and the engines of the craft. When it too had been completed the officers returned the devices to their belts and turned back to their previous stances as vigilant guards of the International Rescue machines. John Tracy, now fully enclosed in his safety suit, jogging back towards the cordoned off car park to retrieve the Fire Fly, noticed nothing – his thoughts fully occupied with worry for his two brothers.
.................... .......................
Gordon groaned and rolled onto his back. Halfway over a solid object behind his back stopped him rolling any further or finding comfort. His decision to open his eyes to find out why his bed had suddenly become so lumpy was accompanied by an urgent voice sounding in his ears.
"Thunderbird Five calling Gordon Tracy. Come in Gordon, can you hear me?"
"Alan?" Gordon was confused and disorientated. Why was his brother in his bedroom?
"Thank the stars! You're alive" the relief in his brother's voice was clear "Are you Ok? How's Virgil?"
Memory flooded back into Gordon's mind. The rescue, explosions.
"Virgil!"
Gordon forced himself to his feet and, ignoring the heap of rubble on which he had been lying, began to look for the two men he had been with. Right next to him lay the figure of the scientist they had rescued, now starting to stir. A few feet further away Gordon caught sight of Virgil, face down in the middle of the passageway. Stumbling over Gordon gained his brother's side, knelt beside him and gently turned him over.
"Virgil? Virgil can you hear me? Come on Virgil wake up!"
As he watched his brother's eyelids flickered open and dark brown eyes fixed slowly on the anxiously watching Gordon.
"What happened?"
"The complex is going up" Gordon grabbed his brother under his arms and helped him to stand "Come on, we've got to get out."
The brothers made their way back to Doctor Brady who was now fully conscious and struggling to his feet. Gordon reached out to steady him and turned on the outside microphone that would allow him to communicate through the heatproof suit.
"Doctor Brady we've come to help you. Can you walk? We must leave now."
In return Gordon received only a look of complete confusion. Seeing that explanation would take longer than they had available Virgil reached out and grasped the scientist by one arm and tried to encourage him forwards. Doctor Brady, however, pulled his arm away and backed up against the wall of the passage, stumbling over pieces of rubble and almost losing his footing in his confusion.
"What.................what's going on? Who are you? What is happening?"
Virgil approached the scientist, his hands held out in front of him to show he was a friend.
"Easy Doctor Brady, easy. There's been an accident, an explosion. The laboratory complex is damaged and we've come to help. If you'd just come with us we can...."
"An explosion?"
The man looked around him, taking in the shattered corridor, the piles of rubble lying at their feet and at the rapidly thickening clouds of smoke and dust that were billowing around them. He put a hand up to his head, brushing over his face and hair.
"My God, I remember now. The controls, I moved them."
Gordon and Virgil shot each other a puzzled look.
"You moved the controls?" questioned Gordon, forgetting for a moment the need to leave in the surprise of what he had just heard. "Why did you do that?"
"I.......I......I don't know. I don't remember."
"Well, we'll sort that out when we get out of here. For now we have to leave."
Virgil moved towards the man and again grasped one arm and tried to encourage him to move forwards. Doctor Brady took a couple of steps and then again wrenched his arm out of Virgil's grasp.
"It's all my fault!" A combination of panic and despair filled the doctor's face. "Don't you see? It's all my fault. I did this."
His eyes were wide, the irises appearing as small islands of colour in a sea of white. He looked wildly from side to side as if seeking a way out of the panic of realisation that had caught him. "I've got to reverse it, got to fix it."
He stumbled away from his rescuers to the hole in the side of the wall. As Gordon and Virgil looked on in disbelief, too dumbstruck to move, the crazed scientist began to pick up pieces of shattered masonry and tottered back to the breached wall and tried to fit them back into the gaping hole.
"Virgil! Gordon! Where are you? What are you guys doing?"
The concerned voice of Alan broke in on them.
"Alan we're OK" Gordon pulled himself out of his abstraction to reassure his absent brother "We've hit a small delay here but we'll be out in a minute."
"OK Gordon, just see that you are. John's heading towards you in the FireFly so make your way back to the main entrance and he'll meet you there."
"F.A.B."
Virgil and Gordon crossed to where Doctor Brady was still trying to pack the fallen rubble back into the shattered wall.
"Come on fella, we've got to leave."
As Virgil once more took the scientists arm and tried to lead him up the passageway the other man turned abruptly away from him.
"NO! I MUST FIX THIS. LEAVE ME ALONE!"
The man was red in the face now from exertion and emotion and was starting to cough from the effect of the smoke he was constantly inhaling. A fine sheen of sweat covered his skin and his eyes were fever bright, the pupils just tiny pricks of black against blue. As he turned to pick up another boulder he seemed to have immediately forgotten their presence.
"Virgil I don't like this. There's something odd going on here."
"We don't have time for this Gordon." Virgil had half turned around to face his brother "It looks like we'll have to force him to leave. Come and......"
"LOOK OUT!"
At his brother's cry of alarm the older brother turned back towards the man they had come to rescue only to be met by a large lump of concrete smashing down towards his head.
.............................. ........................
The Thunderbirds characters belong to someone else – they do not belong to me. That includes both the main characters and anyone else you may happen to recognise. Anyone you don't recognise is doubtless a figment of my imagination.
I wish only to borrow said characters and will return them when I have finished with them.
Outside the main building John Tracy called out frantically to his brothers.
"Virgil! Gordon! Do you read me? Answer please!"
Silence was the only thing that came back to him from the microphones of the Mobile Control console as his throat tightened and a cold hand of fear closed around his heart.
"Virgil! Can you hear me? Are you OK?"
Against the backdrop of another explosion from one of the buildings of the laboratory and the wail of fire tenders and ambulances that were constantly arriving at the site John could hear only the silence that met his pleas for some sort of confirmation that his brothers still lived. Looking up at the complex his heart sank further as he took in the roiling clouds of smoke, laced through here and there with the red tongues of fire, that now rose above the ruined research facility. Walls were crumbling and caving in around the site of the first explosion. It would not be long before the remainder of the facility was in a similar state.
Returning his gaze to Mobile Control he noticed for the first time the protective suit that Gordon had dropped at his feet as he and Virgil had headed towards the building a few minutes before.
"Mobile Control to Thunderbird Five. Come in Alan."
"Thunderbird Five to Mobile Control. Go ahead John."
"Alan, I've lost contact with Virgil and Gordon. The complex is exploding but they're still in there. I'm going to put on a hot suit, take the Fire Fly and go in after them. Carry on trying to get them while I get suited up would you?"
"F.A.B. John. Let me know when you're in Fire Fly. I'll let Scott know what you're going to do."
As John turned from the console and started pulling on the protective suit he realised with a shock that he must now be experiencing what Scott had experienced so many times before – the position of the middle man. Although not as cut off from the situation as Alan now was, hanging above the globe in Thunderbird Five and totally unable to help, he was here, safe at Mobile control, while his two brothers were somewhere inside a burning, exploding complex, almost definitely hurt and possibly already dead.
Now he was beginning to appreciate the unenviable position Scott held. Oldest brother, field commander, mobile control anchor man, occasional emergency rescuer and all too often emotional support to his younger brothers. He was beginning to appreciate it – but he did not envy it at all.
.................... ......................
As these thoughts chased themselves through John Tracy's mind, in the shadow of Thunderbird One the four security men moved. From their belts they each took a small device capable of emitting and registering infrared light beams. The two officers stationed under the wings of the aircraft turned to face each other, in a direct line immediately under the widest part of the craft. One aimed his beam at the device held by the other. When it was registered as received the second man nodded success to his colleague.
The procedure was repeated between the remaining two sentries standing under the nose cone and the engines of the craft. When it too had been completed the officers returned the devices to their belts and turned back to their previous stances as vigilant guards of the International Rescue machines. John Tracy, now fully enclosed in his safety suit, jogging back towards the cordoned off car park to retrieve the Fire Fly, noticed nothing – his thoughts fully occupied with worry for his two brothers.
.................... .......................
Gordon groaned and rolled onto his back. Halfway over a solid object behind his back stopped him rolling any further or finding comfort. His decision to open his eyes to find out why his bed had suddenly become so lumpy was accompanied by an urgent voice sounding in his ears.
"Thunderbird Five calling Gordon Tracy. Come in Gordon, can you hear me?"
"Alan?" Gordon was confused and disorientated. Why was his brother in his bedroom?
"Thank the stars! You're alive" the relief in his brother's voice was clear "Are you Ok? How's Virgil?"
Memory flooded back into Gordon's mind. The rescue, explosions.
"Virgil!"
Gordon forced himself to his feet and, ignoring the heap of rubble on which he had been lying, began to look for the two men he had been with. Right next to him lay the figure of the scientist they had rescued, now starting to stir. A few feet further away Gordon caught sight of Virgil, face down in the middle of the passageway. Stumbling over Gordon gained his brother's side, knelt beside him and gently turned him over.
"Virgil? Virgil can you hear me? Come on Virgil wake up!"
As he watched his brother's eyelids flickered open and dark brown eyes fixed slowly on the anxiously watching Gordon.
"What happened?"
"The complex is going up" Gordon grabbed his brother under his arms and helped him to stand "Come on, we've got to get out."
The brothers made their way back to Doctor Brady who was now fully conscious and struggling to his feet. Gordon reached out to steady him and turned on the outside microphone that would allow him to communicate through the heatproof suit.
"Doctor Brady we've come to help you. Can you walk? We must leave now."
In return Gordon received only a look of complete confusion. Seeing that explanation would take longer than they had available Virgil reached out and grasped the scientist by one arm and tried to encourage him forwards. Doctor Brady, however, pulled his arm away and backed up against the wall of the passage, stumbling over pieces of rubble and almost losing his footing in his confusion.
"What.................what's going on? Who are you? What is happening?"
Virgil approached the scientist, his hands held out in front of him to show he was a friend.
"Easy Doctor Brady, easy. There's been an accident, an explosion. The laboratory complex is damaged and we've come to help. If you'd just come with us we can...."
"An explosion?"
The man looked around him, taking in the shattered corridor, the piles of rubble lying at their feet and at the rapidly thickening clouds of smoke and dust that were billowing around them. He put a hand up to his head, brushing over his face and hair.
"My God, I remember now. The controls, I moved them."
Gordon and Virgil shot each other a puzzled look.
"You moved the controls?" questioned Gordon, forgetting for a moment the need to leave in the surprise of what he had just heard. "Why did you do that?"
"I.......I......I don't know. I don't remember."
"Well, we'll sort that out when we get out of here. For now we have to leave."
Virgil moved towards the man and again grasped one arm and tried to encourage him to move forwards. Doctor Brady took a couple of steps and then again wrenched his arm out of Virgil's grasp.
"It's all my fault!" A combination of panic and despair filled the doctor's face. "Don't you see? It's all my fault. I did this."
His eyes were wide, the irises appearing as small islands of colour in a sea of white. He looked wildly from side to side as if seeking a way out of the panic of realisation that had caught him. "I've got to reverse it, got to fix it."
He stumbled away from his rescuers to the hole in the side of the wall. As Gordon and Virgil looked on in disbelief, too dumbstruck to move, the crazed scientist began to pick up pieces of shattered masonry and tottered back to the breached wall and tried to fit them back into the gaping hole.
"Virgil! Gordon! Where are you? What are you guys doing?"
The concerned voice of Alan broke in on them.
"Alan we're OK" Gordon pulled himself out of his abstraction to reassure his absent brother "We've hit a small delay here but we'll be out in a minute."
"OK Gordon, just see that you are. John's heading towards you in the FireFly so make your way back to the main entrance and he'll meet you there."
"F.A.B."
Virgil and Gordon crossed to where Doctor Brady was still trying to pack the fallen rubble back into the shattered wall.
"Come on fella, we've got to leave."
As Virgil once more took the scientists arm and tried to lead him up the passageway the other man turned abruptly away from him.
"NO! I MUST FIX THIS. LEAVE ME ALONE!"
The man was red in the face now from exertion and emotion and was starting to cough from the effect of the smoke he was constantly inhaling. A fine sheen of sweat covered his skin and his eyes were fever bright, the pupils just tiny pricks of black against blue. As he turned to pick up another boulder he seemed to have immediately forgotten their presence.
"Virgil I don't like this. There's something odd going on here."
"We don't have time for this Gordon." Virgil had half turned around to face his brother "It looks like we'll have to force him to leave. Come and......"
"LOOK OUT!"
At his brother's cry of alarm the older brother turned back towards the man they had come to rescue only to be met by a large lump of concrete smashing down towards his head.
.............................. ........................
The Thunderbirds characters belong to someone else – they do not belong to me. That includes both the main characters and anyone else you may happen to recognise. Anyone you don't recognise is doubtless a figment of my imagination.
I wish only to borrow said characters and will return them when I have finished with them.
