EOS, My Life is in Your Hands 3
By Crystalquirt
Thunderbirds Are Go fanfic. I don't own anything or anyone.
[[[[[THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO]]]]]]
"No! Get off!" Alan cried and kicked wildly, but a thick vine held onto his right ankle tightly enough to hurt.
"John, Alan is in trouble!" EOS warned. She showed John a Holo-image of Alan's struggle.
"Alan - get out of there!" John cried, using their short range comms.
"I'm trying! Naagh!" Alan cried out of frustration.
The vine pulled him closer to the other vines attached to the station. Alan aimed the laser at the vine near his ankle and activated it. When he cut the vine, the other vines made that high pitched screaming sound again, giving Alan goose bumps.
He yanked the rest of the vine from his ankle, but now it wrapped around his right hand and started up his arm. Another vine reached out and grabbed his other ankle.
"This stuff just doesn't give up!" Alan cried, trying to shake the vine from his arm.
"ALAN! Get back inside Thunderbird 5!" John yelled. He was already breathless as he jogged to the airlock. John put his helmet on his bandaged head on his way.
"I can't bring this stuff inside with me!" Alan cried. He fumbled a little with his laser as panic started to take over.
"I'm coming!" John yelled over the comm.
"Don't you dare leave Thunderbird 5! AND don't call Gordon! I'll figure this out!" Alan said. Even as he spoke, his laser came out of his hand and drifted out of reach. Alan muttered, "Crud!"
He reached down near his boot and got his knife. Alan carefully put the blade between his space suit arm and the vine, and twisted, cutting the vine. Both ends of the short vine shriveled up to strands no larger in diameter than a piece of yarn with a few dime-sized leaves.
Alan shuttered with the creepiness of it all and engaged his hip rockets, but he'd only made it a dozen feet before he was sharply pulled up again.
"Aahh! I don't believe this!" Alan cried.
He brought his leg up to his hand to cut the vine again, but another vine grabbed his hand - the hand Alan held the knife in. Alan whined softly and reached with his free hand for the knife.
While he struggled, the vines pulled him back to Thunderbird 5's hull and the largest concentration of the plants.
A third vine grabbed his ankle. Now both of Alan's feet were caught in the vine.
"Crud - Crud!" Alan muttered under his breath. He knew if he screamed John would try to come out of the safety of the station to help him or he'd bring Gordon in and get him and Thunderbird 3 contaminated for sure.
Instead, he said, "I'll just be a minute, John - Don't come out!" It took all the control he had not to start screaming hysterically.
Alan cut the vine holding his left leg, but right away the same vine grabbed his hand while another vine came and grabbed his leg again.
The four largest vines had Alan stretched spread-eagle between them, and more joined them, grabbing him everywhere.
They pulled him back against the hull, and he remained fairly quiet trying to think - until the vines completely covered his helmet and he couldn't see.
"This - Is - Sooo - Creepy! AAAhhhh! They've got me! EOS! Help!" He screamed.
Only small patches of blue space suit still showed between the vines.
The ends of the vines probed every inch of Alan's suit looking for a way to get to the meat inside.
Alan was too scared to hear the loading claw's motor as it came close. A light so bright that Alan could see it shone through the vines.
The Loading Claw grabbed at a collection of vines, breaking them. The vines grew back faster than one loading claw could keep up. More vines grew and pulled tightly across Alan's stomach and chest.
"Ahhh! It's too tight - EOS! It's getting hard to breathe!" Alan said, feebly trying to kick his legs out of the vines. Exhausted, he stopped trying.
"This is it - isn't it EOS? I'm gonna get killed in space by a stupid plant from Earth!" Alan cried desperately, not able to see through the green vines. He didn't even know if EOS could hear him.
The Loading Claw, precisely operated by EOS grabbed another bunch of vines without touching Alan's space suit. It pulled until the vines snapped and the broken ends drew back into the shadows.
Alan felt the vines pulling away, so he started struggling again.
Suddenly, he could see. There, right in front of him, his face framed by his helmet, with the bright lights behind, John was smiling calmly at him.
"Almost have you!" John said. "You will not be killed in space or anywhere else as long as I'm still breathing, little brother."
"John - you heard me say that?" Alan struggled as hard as he could, but many vines still had him tightly bound to the hull.
The loading claw stayed back once the bulk of the vines were gone, or retreating from the light. The lights on the claw continued to burn brightly while John cut and lasered many smaller vines off of Alan's suit.
When Alan was mostly free, John grabbed him around his waist with both arms and pushed off with his feet. With a burst of energy, his jetpack drew them both from the station, the last of the smallest clinging vines being pulled off of Alan's space suit.
In a moment, they were passing Alan's Space Board.
"John - I think we're out far enough," Alan said. When there was no answer and no change in velocity or direction, Alan looked up at John - and his eyes were closed.
"John!" he called and shook his brother, "EOS, John's fainted again!"
"The new controls for John's jetpack are in his gloves - along the sides of his fingers on his left hand," EOS radioed. Alan found the sensors among John's fingers and shut the jetpack off.
Alan turned so that John was behind him for the trip back. He held John's uninjured arm over his shoulder and used his hip rockets to get back to his Space Board. With his feet planted firmly on the board, and hanging tightly onto John, Alan shot back to the airlock only to find it covered in vines. "EOS? Can you help us get inside?"
"Understood Alan, one moment," EOS said and directed bright light at the hatch and the astronauts.
The vines pulled back from the door, and Alan shot quickly inside. Passing through the second doors, he realized that they were going too fast to stop in the narrow area.
Alan turned quickly to face John so his back would hit the wall, which he did. Then John smashed into Alan and the Space Board or 'Orbital Conveyance Platform,' slammed across John's back.
The hatch doors closed behind them.
Alan urgently asked, "John, are you okay?" as he shook him.
"Oh, Alan - are YOU okay?" I remember cutting you free and then nothing - you must have gotten us inside."
They took their helmets off. John found his helmet uncomfortably snug with the bandages wrapped around his head.
"We got inside with EOS' help, again," Alan said.
"Thank you, again, EOS," John said to the round lens hovering over their heads.
"You're welcome, John," EOS answered.
Even in zero G, John felt dizzy and he clung to Alan with his eyes closed. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"I hope you're okay - you shouldn't have come outside!" Alan scolded.
"As you say, I wasn't gonna let you have all the fun."
"Here - come back with me to the Ring where we can see what's happening outside," Alan suggested.
Once back in gravity, Alan held John's hand to lead the way, but John's knees seemed too weak to hold him up.
"EOS, please reduce gravity in the Ring for a moment."
The brothers floated around the Gravity Ring, with Alan using short bursts from one hip rocket to propel them to where some controls were still working.
"Thanks, EOS, we can use normal gravity again." As the gravity returned, Alan guided John back down to sit on the floor. John took it further and laid down on his back.
"My head feels like it might explode," John admitted.
"John, you should have listened," EOS scolded, "I knew Alan would be okay - and you are in no shape to go for a space walk or battle those out of control weeds."
Alan put John's oxygen mask back over his nose and mouth. While he counted John's pulse, he noticed that the splint on John's hand was gone.
Before Alan could scold him, John said, "Yeah, it kinda came off. That way I could use two lasers to cut you out."
"Your hand is broken! How did you do it at all?"
"Superhuman strength when my little brother was in trouble," John spoke through the oxygen mask.
"I guess I was in real trouble - Thank you for taking such chances to save me," Alan said, but John had passed out again.
10 GORDON'S MISSION
"Come in Thunderbird 5," Gordon called, "Did I see you two outside a minute ago?"
"You saw us, Gordon," Alan answered.
"What happened to 'we can't leave the ship?'" Gordon asked.
"We had a repair to do and we needed a sample of the plants."
"Now you're both contaminated - I hope you two know what you're doing!" Gordon said.
"We hope so too, Gordon," Alan said.
Gordon changed frequencies and called Thunderbird 2.
"Virgil! Scott - please come in! Has Brains found a way to kill those plants?" Gordon had asked before his call was acknowledged.
"Not yet, but it's good to hear you Thunderbird 3. You've got John and Alan - right?"
"John and Alan are still in trouble. Alan got Thunderbird 5 stopped, but it is contaminated by those killer plants. And now John and Alan are also contaminated."
"How?"
"Alan went out to get a sample, and the plants almost got him. John went out to help him."
"Are they okay?" Virgil asked.
"Alan says they are, but I'm worried. Those plants are continuing to disable what was left of Thunderbird 5! EOS has managed to keep life support going so far."
"What's John's condition?" Scott asked.
At the same time, Virgil asked, "Is Alan okay?"
"John was injured in the explosion and subsequent wild trip through space. He has a head injury and a broken hand. Alan had to do a little dental work for him." Gordon reported.
"Head injuries can be unpredictable without careful medical treatment," Virgil said with concern.
"EOS is sure that it is a minor concussion," Gordon offered to hope Virgil wouldn't worry.
"How can we help?" Scott asked.
"We need to know how to destroy those plants without hurting John and Alan. Does Fischler have any ideas?" Gordon said.
"Are you kidding? He's gone," Scott said, "Fischler slipped away from Captain O'Bannon after he and Kinnear went through decon."
"I'm surprised that you let him leave in one piece, Scott," Gordon said.
"I didn't let him - he slipped away like a scared rabbit."
"So, is Global One is still full of those vines too?" Gordon asked.
"Yes, but everyone, including Ridley are safe and no one is on board. We are monitoring the situation while Brains is working on it."
"I was hoping that you'd already have a way to get rid of the plants, I'll let John and Alan know," Gordon said.
"FAB - - Gordon? Take care of our brothers," Virgil said.
"FAB, I won't let anything else happen to them," Gordon promised, hoping it was a promise he could keep.
11 EXPERIMENTATION
"I'm glad you finally woke up," Alan said. "Your pulse is strong, and your respirations are normal," Alan said, "A little more oxygen must have helped.
"Well, that's something right? We better get to examining that sample you brought back." John sat up, putting his hand to the bandage around his head.
"FAB!" Alan said enthusiastically. He held John's arm to help him up from the floor.
"In the lab, there are incubators and several biohazard and quarantine environments we can use."
"FAB," Alan agreed.
Holding the jar, Alan followed John around the ring to the lab. John was out of breath in twenty feet. EOS was watching them and took it upon herself to lessen the gravity for John.
"Thanks, EOS," John said breathlessly as his feet left the floor.
In the lab, John went to the closest tank. He opened the top.
"Here, Alan put the jar in here."
Alan sat the jar inside, and John closed the lid, tightening the clamps. Then he put his hands inside heavy gloves mounted seamlessly to the side of the tank. He took the lid off of the jar and right away the end of the vine grabbed around John's gloved finger.
"The inside should simulate space right?" Alan asked.
"FAB Alan," John agreed. "We are already at zero G, but EOS, can you pump all the air out of enclosure #1?"
"Yes John, it is done."
John felt the pressure change in the tank though the gloves he wore. The vine seemed unchanged.
"John, when I was out there," Alan explained, "I used the laser to cut that sample, but it was still alive. When it had my arm, I lost the laser and used my knife to cut it off. It shriveled up to something like a piece of wet, green yarn and it seemed 'dead.'"
"That must mean that cutting them with the laser cauterized the ends and allowed the creatures to survive even when cut. " John said thoughtfully
"And cutting with a knife left the insides exposed to space, and the moisture evaporated instantly, killing them."
"Makes sense," John said.
"But we can't go around cutting all of them in pieces. I'm not sure we could find them all." Alan said sadly.
"And it would be too dangerous." John pointed out.
"Could EOS use the exterior lights to drive them all to one place and then she could smash them with the loading claw?"
"There are too many shadows. I'm not sure we even have the power to keep running all the lights we have on now," John said.
"There has to be something. Look at this, the place on this vine where you cut it with the laser is completely healed, and the end has become bulbous, rounded." John spoke while he examined it. "Alan, can you swing the magnification lens over?"
"FAB," Alan guided the arm with a square screen sized lens at the end so John could look through it at the vine.
"Set to five hundred times magnification," John instructed.
EOS compiled before Alan could reach for the dial.
"Just like I was afraid of, this piece is growing into a new plant - look there," John moved over so Alan could see.
"There are several buds starting new vines on the surface of the bulb," he continued.
"So now we have a full plant, not just a piece of vine," Alan said, sounding a little frightened.
"But there are no roots," Alan observed.
"These plants don't need roots. They are meat eaters." John pointed out.
Alan shuddered at the thought of that again.
"Let's see what happens if I cut this," John said.
"If you cut it with the laser - I think we know what will happen."
"FAB, but I'm using a scalpel," John said.
John held the vine in his fist, but trying to hold the scalpel with an unsplinted broken hand, and having no pain meds were starting to get to him, and he dropped it again, whining softly.
"Let me help you," Alan said. John removed his useless hand, and Alan put his hand in the glove and picked up the scalpel.
Alan cut the bulb off. The plant squealed, and Alan dropped the scalpel and tried to pull John away.
"It's okay Alan - were protected. The cut area is not healing - there is something like a heavy skin or exoskeleton covering these things. John dropped the cut vine, and it just lay on the bottom, deflating. In seconds it was just a tiny green strand, and the bulb shriveled up like a raisin.
"John! Borax or diatomaceous earth might dissolve the exoskeleton, just like it does on bugs!"
"FAB! The firefighting foam on Five and Three is made up of mostly Borax!" John said, sounding like he felt better.
"We should have plenty to cover the ship in!" Alan said, absentmindedly trying to scratch his ankle through his boot.
12 INFECTION
"I have such an itch - it's actually starting to hurt," Alan said. John turned away from the experiment to look at his brother.
"Alan, take your boot off!" John said more loudly than he meant to.
Floating in zero G, Alan pulled his leg up and took his boot off. John had his hands out of the gloves and was at his side, helping him pull down his sock.
"Oh Alan," John whispered with concern.
Alan hurried to look at his ankle too. Near his Achilles tendon, the end of a small vine stuck out, and more of the vine was faintly visible under Alan's skin as it followed a vein, on its way to Alan's heart.
"No-No-NO!" John mumbled sounding angry, but he was terrified for Alan.
"Ah, John? What can we do?" Alan asked, fear in his voice.
John grabbed a large hemostat and tissue scissors from a nearby covered tray attached to a stainless steel work table.
"You aren't going to cut my leg!" Alan cried, but then changed his mind, "Oh well - it might be worth it to get that thing out! Go ahead - I can take it!" Alan held out his leg and squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation.
"I'm not going to cut you," John cut a length of soft rubber tubing from a gas delivery system connected to an incubator. He floated back to Alan and hurriedly grabbed his leg.
"What are you doing?" Alan asked.
"Making a tourniquet to try and stop that thing from getting any farther up your leg."
"We need gravity, EOS!" John cried.
John and Alan slowly lowered to the floor as EOS restored gravity. John cut a line all the way up Alan's suit leg to his hip and cut off the excess. He threw the material into the chute for incineration.
John doubled the rubber tubing, wrapped it around Alan's leg, just below his knee and above the end of the vine and clamped it tightly. He scooped Alan up in his arms and put him on the nearest table, knocking a small incubator and several instruments off as he did. He racked his brain trying to think of what to do.
"We have to get the rest of your suit off, in case more are hiding inside. I'm so sorry I didn't have you do this right away!" John cried.
He threw all of Alan's space suit into the incinerator and activated it. A faint hissing sound could be heard as intense fire quickly turned the suit into a smile pile of ash.
Then John took his own suit off and destroyed it too.
"I'll be right back Alan," John said.
Next to the lab area was a booth for decontamination. John covered his eyes with special goggles that only covered his eyeballs and stepped in. His entire body was ground clean with a short burst of dust, like sand, that instantly removed the top layer of his skin. It was sure to remove any contaminants.
Decon didn't hurt, but John's skin was left a little red. He pulled another space suit from the closet near the lab and hastily put it on, forgetting his oxygen and tool belts.
While John pulled on his clean suit, he called Gordon.
"Gordon! Come in!"
"FAB John! I'm here." Gordon answered.
"Alan's been infected by those plants. One has entered his leg!"
"Oh no - I can come get you! We'll get him back to Earth - Brains will know what to do!"
"No no - stay back - we do have a plan to fight these things - - but you can't come over here yet without getting yourself and Thunderbird 3 contaminated."
"What can I do then?" Gordon asked.
"Leave all of the tanks containing firefighting foam and the chemicals we use to make it. Just shove them our way, and EOS will gather them up from space with the loading claw."
"How will that help? Is there a fire too? I don't see smoke!"
"The Borax we use in the foam will dissolve the plant's outer skin and kill them. We have to cover Thunderbird 5 and all of the free-floating plants in it." John explained coming up to Alan's side.
John had sterile wipes in his hand and began washing Alan's skin, including his hair, all the way down to his toes.
"But Fishler said it took the scientist who was infected six hours to die - and it takes from six to twelve hours for Borax to start killing insects," Gordon said, and Alan overheard. Alan looked away so John couldn't see his face.
"I know - and it will take you six hours to get to Earth and back, but I can't think of anything else to try. If we cut them with lasers, we just get more plants." John said.
"What are we going to do?" Gordon said.
"You're going to fly to earth, get Brains and anyone else available to help and bring them back - by then the Borax will have begun to destroy the vines, I hope."
"But what about Alan?" Gordon said.
Finished with the bath, Alan grabbed John's hand and pulled urgently.
"John, throw me into space and cut the part that is still sticking out of my leg - it will shrivel up, and you can just pull it out!"
"Being exposed in space will also kill you, Alan," John said calmly, frowning at his desperate brother.
"Not if I'm only out there for a few seconds!" Alan put his head back and screamed. "Ah - Ahghnnnnn! It's killing me already - get it out - Please!"
John kneeled next to Alan and looked closely at his little brother's leg.
"Ahhnnn! Alan screamed again and put his head back on the floor, arching his back.
John held his leg down and watched as the vine erupted from Alan's leg just below the tourniquet and then reentered his skin just over it.
"I don't believe this!" John cried.
"Aahnnnng! What's happening?" Alan screamed through his teeth.
"Nothing new. Try to relax Alan - stay as still as you can."
"It hurts!" Alan arched his back even more with the pain. John held his leg down.
He released the tourniquet and reapplied it over Alan's knee, about mid-thigh. He cranked it down tightly, and Alan groaned some more.
"Sorry Alan, I know it hurts," John said, thinking that seeing his little brother in so much pain might just kill him too.
EOS operated the loading claw to gather up the tanks and drums containing the fire fighting chemicals as Gordon used the grapple arms to send them Thunderbird 5's way.
"Is that all of them?" EOS asked when Gordon stopped throwing them.
Gordon said, "Yep, that's all - I'll be back as quickly as I can EOS - watch over John and Alan."
"Yes, Gordon."
"FAB," Gordon said and pointed Thunderbird 3 to Earth. He said,"ION engines firing," and Thunderbird three shot toward earth.
EOS started Thunderbird 5's firefighting system and aimed the nozzles back at Thunderbird 5. It came out as foam - but in the vacuum of space turned to dust instantly.
She covered the ring in the fine dust. Some of it clung to the hull, some puffed out in a cloud in space, where the plants were floating. EOS made sure with her scans that she got every nook and crack outside the station.
13 BACTERIA
Inside the Ring, even Alan noticed the usual starry view had changed to a bright white that reflected the light inside the lab.
"What's happening?" Alan groaned.
"EOS is spraying the ship with Borax," John answered.
"I hope it works - Aaagnnnn!" Alan cried with his eyes squeezed shut again. Tears rolled down his temples and into his hair.
"I think the vine is trying to move - I'm going to stop it!" John said.
"Can't you knock me out? Please!" Alan begged.
"No time to get you under, safely - try to hold still!"
"A hammer to my head would work!"
"Alan - I'm sorry!" John cried.
Alan put his head back and whined through his teeth when the vine moved again.
This time when the vine popped out to jump the tourniquet, John put an aluminum tray between the end of the vine and Alan's skin, blocking its path. The vine repeatedly tapped the tray and continued to grow longer intending to grow over the wide tray and enter his skin again.
John used the surgical scissors to cut the end of the vine off. The vine squealed and squirmed inside Alan's leg, his skin stretching with the vine's movements.
Arching his back, Alan threw his head back and screamed.
"Alan! The light!" John said suddenly. Using only his uninjured hand, he quickly reached up and turned two large, high powered surgical lights on. One at a time, he lowered them just above Alan's leg. The vine shrunk back - the light bright enough to penetrate Alan's skin.
"Ahhh! It feels like it's going deeper! Nnnnng!" Alan cried and moaned.
John was already back at Alan's side with a bottle and a needle and syringe in his hands, pulling clear liquid out of the bottle.
Alan didn't even notice the needle with everything else that was going on inside his leg. John expertly injected small amounts of clear liquid all around Alan' thigh in the muscle - and then a couple of more spots below his knee and at his ankle.
"There - you should feel some relief soon Alan. Try not to worry - I will figure out how to help you!" John said, sounding more confident than he was.
Alan didn't respond verbally - his breathing was very fast his rising and falling very quickly - his eyes were shut tightly, squeezing tears out.
"Alan? Alan?" It was killing John to see his little brother in so much pain. "Alan? Try to hang on!"
Another green vine shot out of the back of Alan's thigh, where the light was not as strong.
Alan screamed, sounding weak. He'd been fighting the pain - his body under attack for too long. John lifted his leg to find the offending vine and snipped it off just before it reentered Alan's skin.
EOS had full control of the Borax operation going on outside the station. While she made sure every spot was covered, she ran on her track to check on the brothers.
"John! He's in such pain!" EOS said after watching for a moment.
"Yeah - EOS do you have any ideas how to stop this vine inside his body?"
"Not currently, but I'm working on it too," EOS said. "Trying to remove it surgically would tear up his leg, even under the best of circumstances."
"FAB, EOS, keep thinking. I'm finding it harder and harder to concentrate."
John grabbed a mask at the end of a long clear hose from a tank and put it over Alan's mouth and nose. When Alan felt something covering his face, he opened his eyes.
"Easy Alan, it's oxygen," John lied a little. The gas was oxygen with a sedative mixed in.
"Try to relax and take deep breaths," John said soothingly.
Alan could smell something sweet in the oxygen and gratefully inhaled, knowing that John was doing all he could to help him.
He relaxed with the gas, and the local anesthetic began to work. John watched Alan relax. He repositioned the tourniquet hoping to prevent any further damage to Alan's leg.
14 GONE FOR HELP
Gordon suddenly pulled Thunderbird 3 into a circle, turning to head back to Thunderbird 5.
"Thunderbird 2 - I can't leave them out here alone! I'm afraid that when we come back, there will be no one but EOS left to rescue!"
"What else can you do alone - get yourself contaminated too?" Scott asked. "Come get us!"
"Fine." Gordon flipped Thunderbird 3 back around toward Earth.
"I want to go too," Captain Ridley interrupted on the same frequency.
"John doesn't need any more help from you, O'Bannon," Scott said decisively, with a little accusation thrown in.
"Look it's my fault that he and Thunderbird 5 and now Alan, are in trouble! I want to go!"
"No kidding, it's your fault!" Scott accused, "We could lose two of our brothers thanks to your inability to follow our orders."
"I'm sorry for what's happened. I was just so sure," Ridley said.
Gordon changed frequencies. "Scott, Where's Brains? Gordon asked.
"He's right here, the GDF brought him up to Thunderbird 2, so we'd be ready when you got here."
"Thanks, Scott, Brains, can you hear me?" Gordon asked.
"FAB Gordon, I'm here."
"John and Alan are spraying Thunderbird 5 and the plants with firefighting foam. They said the Borax in the foam would break down the thick skin that protects the plants in space."
"Makes sense!" Brains said excitedly, "Why didn't I think of that? Scott, the GDF should use their shuttles and firefighting equipment to do the same to Global One."
"FAB and the shuttles should be sprayed too, just in case," Scott said as he called Colonel Casey, instead of Captain O'Bannon to tell her.
"Your message was received by the GDF, Thunderbird 3. What is your ETA?"
"Looks like twenty-two minutes," Gordon replied, thinking that it would still be over three hours before they could get back to Thunderbird 5.
To Be Continued . . .
