Chapter Four
"Thunderbird 5 to Mole!"
"What is it, Alan?"
"I've lost Scott's GPS!"
"What?"
"I've been monitoring his position since I first got it. Virgil, it just...winked out! It's gone!"
Virgil ground his teeth together, his face set in steely determination. "Goddammit, Alan, a man's GPS doesn't just wink out. Where the fuck is he?"
Tin-Tin's eyes grew wide. If Scott's GPS wasn't sending out its signal, that could only mean that it had been disabled. And short of taking it apart in a lab, the only way to do that was getting hit by something hard enough and strong enough to smash it.
That information didn't bode well for Scott.
"I don't know where he is, Virg, I'm telling you, he's not registering! Find him! Virg, please!"
"I'm working on it. We're approaching the coordinates now. And Alan?"
"What?"
"Don't tell the others. I need them out there saving as many people as they can. I'll take care of finding Scott."
There was a pause before Alan softly replied, "F.A.B."
Within seconds Virgil had brought the gigantic Mole's trolley to a full stop and was leaping out the side hatch before Tin-Tin could even find out what he was up to.
She picked her way down over the caterpillar tracks and through several large pieces of what was left of an office building to where Virgil stood looking all around him. "He's not here," he finally said.
Tin-Tin stepped around him and continued on to where it looked like the building's edge had once been. With some difficulty, she stepped down from a fallen wall. As she turned, she saw something that almost made her scream. Instead, she choked out a gasp before crying out Virgil's name.
Lickety-split, he was at her side. He turned to look at where her eyes fell and a cold chill swept over him from head to toe. His heart very nearly stopped. For all they could see was the very twisted and broken lower portion of a red hover bike.
"I'm sure they're on their way, Jake. They would've picked up my GPS before my watch got smashed."
"I know what that is," the boy replied, leaning back into Scott's arms. Scott had moved so that his legs stuck out on either side of Jake's body. Just those few feet had been agony for him, but this way he had Jake's body from the abdomen up resting back against him.
"You do, huh? Okay, what is GPS?"
"It's a way to use satellites to figure out where you are anywhere on Earth."
"You're pretty smart for an 8-year old."
"I'm in the advanced classes at school."
"Oh, yeah? Say, Jake, can you tell me what your mom does here in this office building?"
"She's an accountant," the child replied. Suddenly his body stiffened and he cried out.
"What is it?"
"My legs."
"Well, I know it's bad that they hurt right now, Jake, but it's actually a very good sign that you can still feel them."
"I don't think so."
Scott couldn't help a small laugh. "You're being very brave. I know this is a pretty frightening situation."
"Well, it's easy to be brave when you're with a hero."
Scott smiled and ran his hand through the boy's hair. "I'll tell you something, Jake, I don't feel very heroic right now." He expected some sort of response, and was surprised when none was forthcoming. "Jake?" Scott cursed the darkness for about the fiftieth time since that last tremor. "Jake? Answer me, Jake."
The boy moaned as Scott gently shook him. His head rested just beneath his chin, and Scott leaned down to speak softly into his ear.
"Can you talk to me, Jake?"
"What do...you want...me to say?"
"Well, I'll bet your parents are pretty worried about you right now."
"But my mom...was in her office...did the whole building fall down?"
"Yes, it did, Jake."
"Do you think my mom is dead?"
"I don't know. I didn't see anybody up there, but that doesn't mean anything. After all, you were hiding down here where I couldn't see you, either."
"I hope she's not dead," Jake said as he began to cry again.
Scott knew he had to get the child's attention off what may have happened to his mother. "What about your dad, Jake? Where's he?"
"I...I don't know. I never knew my dad."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"That's okay. Do...do you know your dad?"
"I sure do."
"Tell me about him."
"You want me to tell you about Father?"
"That's...that's what you call him? Father?"
"Yeah, sometimes. I also call him Dad. We all do."
"We?"
"I have four brothers," Scott said as, internally, he begged them to hurry.
For he could hear the fluid building up in Jake's lungs again. He tried to keep his voice steady and upbeat so as not to frighten the child, but he recognized what was happening here. Not only was his breathing ragged, but his skin was cold and clammy, Scott noticed as he touched his face and forehead with his hand. His heart sank. Still, there was hope. If only Virgil and the others would find them...
"Tin-Tin, get the LSI. Now."
"Yes, Virgil," Tin-Tin replied, desperately trying to shake the dread from her heart. She raced back toward the Mole as fast as she could over the debris.
"Excavator to Virgil."
"I'm here, John."
Immediately, John knew something was wrong. Just the look on Virgil's face said it all. "What's happened?"
"We can't find Scott."
"What?"
"Tin-Tin's getting the LSI."
"I'm heading over there."
"No! John, there are people who need your help. You must remain where you are."
"But-"
"No, John. You keep doing your job. I'll find Scott."
John contemplated his options and decided that Virgil had enough smarts to call him in if it turned out he needed help. "F.A.B., but keep me up-to-date."
"I will. Virgil out."
Just then, Tin-Tin returned not only with the Life Sign Indicator, but also with a torn sleeve and a long, red scratch running down her arm.
"What happened?" Virgil asked, alarmed.
"Don't you worry about me. Find Scott!"
Virgil switched the LSI on and began scanning. It was able to locate body heat up to fifty feet down. Virgil tried hard to keep his hands from shaking as he swept outward from the crushed hover bike in concentric circles praying something would register. Anything.
But there was no sign of life. Taking a deep breath, Virgil continued his pattern. Scott had to be alive. He just had to. Besides, he reasoned, he'd know in his gut if he wasn't.
Wouldn't he?