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Alan was soon kitted up. He stepped into his harness, adjusted the straps and began his ascent.
It wasn't the highest climb he'd ever done, by any means. Heck the cliff they practised on back on Tracy Island was higher than this. The danger came in the precarious nature of the cliff. Alan had no way of knowing if it would hold his weight.
So far so good, he was at least half way there. Alan drove a chuck into the cliff, looped his safety line through the carabiner and looked around for his next foothold. Finding it, he crawled a little further upwards. Now for the left foot. That was holding. Now the right hand, left hand...
He felt about, trying to find the smallest ledge that would support his weight. There was nothing within reach. Looking past his outstretched arm he spied a good-sized, secure looking outcrop of rock. He could put all his weight onto his left foot and make a grab for it.
No that was too risky. Looking down, Alan found a ledge above the one that his left foot was standing on. He put his weight onto that and it held. His right foot found safety on another ledge and he found that the rocky outcrop was now within reach. His left hand closed around it...
The rock came away in his hand. Thank heavens he hadn't gambled on it holding. He remembered the training session when Neil had released the safety line. Alan had been annoyed at the time, but although he hated to admit it, it had been a good lesson. He dropped the lump of rock to the ground and continued his climb.
"How're you going?" Neil called up from below.
"Fine." Alan shouted back. "Only a few minutes more." His objective was only a couple of metres away. Those few minutes seemed to take forever.
At last he was able to touch the Herculerium. Alan cast an expert eye over the machinery. From this angle he could see nothing that would prevent the grabs from working. Once again he spoke into his intercom.
"Scott."
"Yes Alan."
"I'm going to have to climb out onto the grabs to get a better look. Make sure you've got them set at full extension. I don't want them suddenly collapsing on me."
"FAB. Be careful."
Gingerly he adjusted his angle so that he was actually clinging to the grabs. He then slowly started to climb along one set of jaws, trying to concentrate on finding what was impeding the grabs while at the same time trying to ignore the drop to the ground below him.
He reached the fulcrum. Each joint had a protective shield to prevent bits of debris jamming in the pivot point. It was unlikely, but it was possible that something had managed to work its way up under this shield. He took a tool out from a pocket and loosened the shield on his side. He was then able to raise it out of the way. Nothing. With a mild curse he reassembled the shield.
"Scott, I'm going to have to climb across to the other side of the fulcrum. Watch out in case my weight shifts things."
"Okay Alan."
Alan glanced down at the party below. They were bent over Mako. Neil was working on him and it looked as if he was installing another drip. They'd have to get him out quickly. Alan started his transfer from one side to the other.
"His blood pressure's dropping." Neil looked at the two Rangers. "We'll have to hope that that drip will keep him going until we get him to hospital."
"How long will that take?" Croft wanted to know.
Neil looked up to where Alan was inching across the grabs. "I don't know. It all depends on how soon we can get that hole big enough to lift him out.""
Scott was getting a different view of Alan's traverse of the grabs, his brothers blond head standing out clearly against the blackness of the hole below. "Found anything Alan?"
"Negative. So far everything is clean. There must be something under the other shield."
"I'd come down and give you a hand, but with this wind it's still too dangerous."
Alan looked up. The tree was flapping wildly in the wind. "No, you stay there and you and Virgil concentrate on keeping this thing as steady as possible until I'm well clear. I'm removing the other shield now." He lifted the shield clear. "Can't see anything... hang on, what's this."
"What?" Scott asked eagerly.
"It's a bit of rock, about 5 centimetres diameter. It's jammed in under the shield and stopping the jaws from closing." Alan tapped at the stone with his climbing hammer and it came free, dropping into his hand. He put both the stone and the hammer into a pocket and started to make his way back the way he came. Once he had a firm grip of the cliff face he readied himself to abseil down. "Right activate the grabs."
"Are you clear?" Scott asked.
"Clear enough. We haven't got time to waste."
The two jaws slowly came together and the grabs rose up out of the hole. Alan had to swing out of the way to avoid some falling rocks. His descent was much quicker than the climb.
"So you succeeded then?" Neil said when Alan had rejoined the group.
"Yep, not a problem." Alan told him.
They all looked up as the grabs took hold of some of the debris and moved it to one side. They could now clearly see the undercarriage of Thunderbird Two.
Neil turned back to Mako, checking his pulse, blood pressure and breathing. "Hang on mate, we're nearly out of here" he told him.
Mako's eyelids flickered and he groaned. "Hey that's a good sign!" Alan exclaimed.
The grabs took another bite at the rock pile and through the branches of the Rimu they were able to read the words 'Thunderbird Two' on the underside of the 'plane.
Virgil checked the weather gauge. "The eye of the storm is overhead, Scott. Now's the time to evacuate them, the wind's starting to ease off."
"We've got to get rid of that tree first." Scott reminded him.
"Okay. I'll move Two forward a fraction. Lower the grabs so that the tree brushes through the canopy. With any luck we'll be able to dislodge it."
Scott lowered the grabs so that they were nearly scraping along the forest floor. As Thunderbird Two moved forward the Rimu got hooked up in the limbs of an ancient beech.
"Hold it!" Scott ordered. He experimented with retracting the grabs slowly. At first it met with resistance but suddenly the Rimu slid off the cable and fell to the ground. A fountain of leaves and twigs marking its final resting place. The grabs retracted into the undercarriage. "Okay Virg. We're clear to continue with the rescue."
Scott repositioned himself so that he could operate the rescue elevator. He lowered it towards the ground, experiencing only a fraction of the wind interference that the grabs had had to contend with.
It was no sooner on the ground before Alan and Neil had Mako, still strapped to his stretcher inside. Alan stepped out again. "You two had better go first. I'll wait with these guys for the second trip."
"Okay." Neil shut the elevator door and sent the signal for the elevator to be lifted out. Scott activated the winch and the car started rising up through the hole.
The winds hadn't completely died down and as the elevator cleared the top of the hole a gust caught it and swung it against the cliff face. Neil was thrown against the wall. Mako let out a groan as he was forced against the straps that held him secure.
Down below Alan and the two D.o.C. Rangers crouched low, protecting their heads from the debris that pelted down onto them. When the shower of rocks subsided they stood up again.
"Hey!" Croft said pointing skywards. "That rock wasn't there before!"
They all looked up. Balanced on the very edge of the cliff was a large boulder about the size of the elevator car that had just left. Clearly it had been knocked loose during the last gust of wind. It would only take another knock and that boulder would come crashing down into the hole. And if that went then chances were it would take a large part of the cliff with it. For the three men trapped inside, there could be no escape.
Alan raised his microphone to his lips. "Calling Thunderbird Two."
Scott was assisting Neil with Mako so it was Virgil who answered his call. "Go ahead Alan."
"That cliff's looking mighty unstable. If the elevator knocks it again it could bring the whole lot down on us. You'll have to winch us up individually."
"Right. I'll get that sorted now."
The winds had died down enough that Virgil felt comfortable leaving Thunderbird Two hovering on autopilot. He descended to the bay that held the winch gear and had it prepared for their first airlift by the time Scott had returned.
"Aren't we using the elevator again?" Scott asked.
"The cliff's too unstable," Virgil told him. "We'll have to lift them out one at a time." They lowered the rescue harness at the end of the cable into the hole.
First Barry, then Croft were lifted out of the confines of the hole, into the open air and then into Thunderbird Two. Finally it was Alan's turn.
"Ready kid?" Scott radioed him.
"F.A.B."
Scott flipped the switch that set the winch in motion. Alan's feet left the ground and he found himself heading skywards. He couldn't help comparing the feeling with being launched in Thunderbird Three.
Barry and Croft were settled in the cabin adjacent to the sick bay, Neil was ensuring that Mako was prepared for the flight to the hospital, satisfied that everything was going according to plan Virgil headed back up to the flight deck. As he sat back into his pilots' seat he glanced at the weather radar. It clearly showed angry clouds heading in their direction at a great velocity. He opened the radio link with the winch room. "Storm's heading this way fast!"
Scott had had no time to digest the meaning of those words when the first storm surge hit. The wind grabbed at the cable that joined was pulling Alan to safety. The cable snapped like a whip against the cliff face. Alan found himself caught up in a mini avalanche of dust and stones. Temporarily blinded and choking on a lung full of dust, he found himself flung about like a rag doll. He was slammed against the cliff and had what little breath he had left knocked out of him. He was dimly aware of the unstable boulder being just above him and the thought flashed through his mind that it might come crashing down onto him at any moment.
Scott hit the intercom to the flight cabin. "Get more height! Fast!"
With the instinctive reaction borne of years of practise, Virgil pushed the throttle forward that sent Thunderbird Two heading upwards.
Alan's out of control legs were swung into the cliff, just below the boulder, knocking more rocks down. Unable to take the weight of the boulder any longer the cliff finally collapsed, just as the recoil from the cable sent Alan swinging away from the cliff. The boulder grazed its way past his legs on its way down to the ground below.
From his vantage point in the underbelly of Thunderbird Two, Scott was helplessly observing the drama as it unfolded. As soon as he was sure that his brother was clear of the hole he sent a message to Virgil to stop the crafts rapid ascent.
Alan was dangling limply at the end of the cable. Scott reactivated the winch and hauled him into Thunderbird Two. As the hatch beneath them closed Scott lowered his brother gently to the floor. "Alan! Can you hear me?"
Alan coughed, dragged in a ragged breath and replied. "'Course I can hear you." He shifted his weight. "Help me out of this harness, it's killing me."
*****
They unloaded Mako, Croft and Barry in the car park of the hospital where the injured man was quickly wheeled into the emergency room. He had regained consciousness during the flight and weakly grabbed at Neil's hand in gratitude. "Kai ora" he managed to gasp.
"Ae. No worries mate." Neil replied. He let go of Mako's hand and stopped trotting alongside the gurney.
As Mako disappeared through the hospital doors the Tracy brothers turned to Neil. "What was that little conversation about?" Virgil asked.
Neil shrugged. "Nothing much. He said 'Thank you'."
Scott laid a hand on his youngest brothers' shoulder. "Are you sure that you don't want to get checked over while you're here? That was quite a battering you took."
Alan shrugged Scotts' hand off. "Nah, I'm fine. Just a few bruises, that's all." He turned and walked stiffly towards the hospital entrance, aware that he would have a pair of multicoloured legs for the next few days.
Scott shrugged and raised his hands to Neil and Virgil in a 'what else can you do' gesture.
As they climbed back into Thunderbird Two, Scott had a thought. "Hey, Alan. What was that rock that jammed the grabs? It must have been pretty tough."
"Dunno. I have it here, hang on..." Alan felt in his pockets, "...here it is." He fished it out. "Seems to be some type of green stone."
"Here, let me see!" Neil took the stone. "You know what you've found mate?" Alan shook his head. "It's a piece of Pounamu, New Zealand Jade. It's tough alright, nearly as hard as diamonds. It's also sacred to the Maori."
"Sacred huh. Guess I'd better leave it here then." Alan took the stone from Neil and gave it to Scott. "Would you mind dropping this off for me when we get back to D.o.C. Headquarters?"
"Yeah, sure" Scott took the stone and examined it. Where the grabs had rubbed against it the surface was shiny. "Bet it would polish up well."
Neil fished around in his own pockets. "Sure does." He pulled out a small flat shape on a length of cord. The intricate carving was a highly polished dark green colour. "I carry it for luck." He explained. "It was a gift from my father shortly before he was killed." A look of sadness flashed briefly across his face to be replaced by his usual smile. "It hasn't failed me yet."
Alan was soon kitted up. He stepped into his harness, adjusted the straps and began his ascent.
It wasn't the highest climb he'd ever done, by any means. Heck the cliff they practised on back on Tracy Island was higher than this. The danger came in the precarious nature of the cliff. Alan had no way of knowing if it would hold his weight.
So far so good, he was at least half way there. Alan drove a chuck into the cliff, looped his safety line through the carabiner and looked around for his next foothold. Finding it, he crawled a little further upwards. Now for the left foot. That was holding. Now the right hand, left hand...
He felt about, trying to find the smallest ledge that would support his weight. There was nothing within reach. Looking past his outstretched arm he spied a good-sized, secure looking outcrop of rock. He could put all his weight onto his left foot and make a grab for it.
No that was too risky. Looking down, Alan found a ledge above the one that his left foot was standing on. He put his weight onto that and it held. His right foot found safety on another ledge and he found that the rocky outcrop was now within reach. His left hand closed around it...
The rock came away in his hand. Thank heavens he hadn't gambled on it holding. He remembered the training session when Neil had released the safety line. Alan had been annoyed at the time, but although he hated to admit it, it had been a good lesson. He dropped the lump of rock to the ground and continued his climb.
"How're you going?" Neil called up from below.
"Fine." Alan shouted back. "Only a few minutes more." His objective was only a couple of metres away. Those few minutes seemed to take forever.
At last he was able to touch the Herculerium. Alan cast an expert eye over the machinery. From this angle he could see nothing that would prevent the grabs from working. Once again he spoke into his intercom.
"Scott."
"Yes Alan."
"I'm going to have to climb out onto the grabs to get a better look. Make sure you've got them set at full extension. I don't want them suddenly collapsing on me."
"FAB. Be careful."
Gingerly he adjusted his angle so that he was actually clinging to the grabs. He then slowly started to climb along one set of jaws, trying to concentrate on finding what was impeding the grabs while at the same time trying to ignore the drop to the ground below him.
He reached the fulcrum. Each joint had a protective shield to prevent bits of debris jamming in the pivot point. It was unlikely, but it was possible that something had managed to work its way up under this shield. He took a tool out from a pocket and loosened the shield on his side. He was then able to raise it out of the way. Nothing. With a mild curse he reassembled the shield.
"Scott, I'm going to have to climb across to the other side of the fulcrum. Watch out in case my weight shifts things."
"Okay Alan."
Alan glanced down at the party below. They were bent over Mako. Neil was working on him and it looked as if he was installing another drip. They'd have to get him out quickly. Alan started his transfer from one side to the other.
"His blood pressure's dropping." Neil looked at the two Rangers. "We'll have to hope that that drip will keep him going until we get him to hospital."
"How long will that take?" Croft wanted to know.
Neil looked up to where Alan was inching across the grabs. "I don't know. It all depends on how soon we can get that hole big enough to lift him out.""
Scott was getting a different view of Alan's traverse of the grabs, his brothers blond head standing out clearly against the blackness of the hole below. "Found anything Alan?"
"Negative. So far everything is clean. There must be something under the other shield."
"I'd come down and give you a hand, but with this wind it's still too dangerous."
Alan looked up. The tree was flapping wildly in the wind. "No, you stay there and you and Virgil concentrate on keeping this thing as steady as possible until I'm well clear. I'm removing the other shield now." He lifted the shield clear. "Can't see anything... hang on, what's this."
"What?" Scott asked eagerly.
"It's a bit of rock, about 5 centimetres diameter. It's jammed in under the shield and stopping the jaws from closing." Alan tapped at the stone with his climbing hammer and it came free, dropping into his hand. He put both the stone and the hammer into a pocket and started to make his way back the way he came. Once he had a firm grip of the cliff face he readied himself to abseil down. "Right activate the grabs."
"Are you clear?" Scott asked.
"Clear enough. We haven't got time to waste."
The two jaws slowly came together and the grabs rose up out of the hole. Alan had to swing out of the way to avoid some falling rocks. His descent was much quicker than the climb.
"So you succeeded then?" Neil said when Alan had rejoined the group.
"Yep, not a problem." Alan told him.
They all looked up as the grabs took hold of some of the debris and moved it to one side. They could now clearly see the undercarriage of Thunderbird Two.
Neil turned back to Mako, checking his pulse, blood pressure and breathing. "Hang on mate, we're nearly out of here" he told him.
Mako's eyelids flickered and he groaned. "Hey that's a good sign!" Alan exclaimed.
The grabs took another bite at the rock pile and through the branches of the Rimu they were able to read the words 'Thunderbird Two' on the underside of the 'plane.
Virgil checked the weather gauge. "The eye of the storm is overhead, Scott. Now's the time to evacuate them, the wind's starting to ease off."
"We've got to get rid of that tree first." Scott reminded him.
"Okay. I'll move Two forward a fraction. Lower the grabs so that the tree brushes through the canopy. With any luck we'll be able to dislodge it."
Scott lowered the grabs so that they were nearly scraping along the forest floor. As Thunderbird Two moved forward the Rimu got hooked up in the limbs of an ancient beech.
"Hold it!" Scott ordered. He experimented with retracting the grabs slowly. At first it met with resistance but suddenly the Rimu slid off the cable and fell to the ground. A fountain of leaves and twigs marking its final resting place. The grabs retracted into the undercarriage. "Okay Virg. We're clear to continue with the rescue."
Scott repositioned himself so that he could operate the rescue elevator. He lowered it towards the ground, experiencing only a fraction of the wind interference that the grabs had had to contend with.
It was no sooner on the ground before Alan and Neil had Mako, still strapped to his stretcher inside. Alan stepped out again. "You two had better go first. I'll wait with these guys for the second trip."
"Okay." Neil shut the elevator door and sent the signal for the elevator to be lifted out. Scott activated the winch and the car started rising up through the hole.
The winds hadn't completely died down and as the elevator cleared the top of the hole a gust caught it and swung it against the cliff face. Neil was thrown against the wall. Mako let out a groan as he was forced against the straps that held him secure.
Down below Alan and the two D.o.C. Rangers crouched low, protecting their heads from the debris that pelted down onto them. When the shower of rocks subsided they stood up again.
"Hey!" Croft said pointing skywards. "That rock wasn't there before!"
They all looked up. Balanced on the very edge of the cliff was a large boulder about the size of the elevator car that had just left. Clearly it had been knocked loose during the last gust of wind. It would only take another knock and that boulder would come crashing down into the hole. And if that went then chances were it would take a large part of the cliff with it. For the three men trapped inside, there could be no escape.
Alan raised his microphone to his lips. "Calling Thunderbird Two."
Scott was assisting Neil with Mako so it was Virgil who answered his call. "Go ahead Alan."
"That cliff's looking mighty unstable. If the elevator knocks it again it could bring the whole lot down on us. You'll have to winch us up individually."
"Right. I'll get that sorted now."
The winds had died down enough that Virgil felt comfortable leaving Thunderbird Two hovering on autopilot. He descended to the bay that held the winch gear and had it prepared for their first airlift by the time Scott had returned.
"Aren't we using the elevator again?" Scott asked.
"The cliff's too unstable," Virgil told him. "We'll have to lift them out one at a time." They lowered the rescue harness at the end of the cable into the hole.
First Barry, then Croft were lifted out of the confines of the hole, into the open air and then into Thunderbird Two. Finally it was Alan's turn.
"Ready kid?" Scott radioed him.
"F.A.B."
Scott flipped the switch that set the winch in motion. Alan's feet left the ground and he found himself heading skywards. He couldn't help comparing the feeling with being launched in Thunderbird Three.
Barry and Croft were settled in the cabin adjacent to the sick bay, Neil was ensuring that Mako was prepared for the flight to the hospital, satisfied that everything was going according to plan Virgil headed back up to the flight deck. As he sat back into his pilots' seat he glanced at the weather radar. It clearly showed angry clouds heading in their direction at a great velocity. He opened the radio link with the winch room. "Storm's heading this way fast!"
Scott had had no time to digest the meaning of those words when the first storm surge hit. The wind grabbed at the cable that joined was pulling Alan to safety. The cable snapped like a whip against the cliff face. Alan found himself caught up in a mini avalanche of dust and stones. Temporarily blinded and choking on a lung full of dust, he found himself flung about like a rag doll. He was slammed against the cliff and had what little breath he had left knocked out of him. He was dimly aware of the unstable boulder being just above him and the thought flashed through his mind that it might come crashing down onto him at any moment.
Scott hit the intercom to the flight cabin. "Get more height! Fast!"
With the instinctive reaction borne of years of practise, Virgil pushed the throttle forward that sent Thunderbird Two heading upwards.
Alan's out of control legs were swung into the cliff, just below the boulder, knocking more rocks down. Unable to take the weight of the boulder any longer the cliff finally collapsed, just as the recoil from the cable sent Alan swinging away from the cliff. The boulder grazed its way past his legs on its way down to the ground below.
From his vantage point in the underbelly of Thunderbird Two, Scott was helplessly observing the drama as it unfolded. As soon as he was sure that his brother was clear of the hole he sent a message to Virgil to stop the crafts rapid ascent.
Alan was dangling limply at the end of the cable. Scott reactivated the winch and hauled him into Thunderbird Two. As the hatch beneath them closed Scott lowered his brother gently to the floor. "Alan! Can you hear me?"
Alan coughed, dragged in a ragged breath and replied. "'Course I can hear you." He shifted his weight. "Help me out of this harness, it's killing me."
*****
They unloaded Mako, Croft and Barry in the car park of the hospital where the injured man was quickly wheeled into the emergency room. He had regained consciousness during the flight and weakly grabbed at Neil's hand in gratitude. "Kai ora" he managed to gasp.
"Ae. No worries mate." Neil replied. He let go of Mako's hand and stopped trotting alongside the gurney.
As Mako disappeared through the hospital doors the Tracy brothers turned to Neil. "What was that little conversation about?" Virgil asked.
Neil shrugged. "Nothing much. He said 'Thank you'."
Scott laid a hand on his youngest brothers' shoulder. "Are you sure that you don't want to get checked over while you're here? That was quite a battering you took."
Alan shrugged Scotts' hand off. "Nah, I'm fine. Just a few bruises, that's all." He turned and walked stiffly towards the hospital entrance, aware that he would have a pair of multicoloured legs for the next few days.
Scott shrugged and raised his hands to Neil and Virgil in a 'what else can you do' gesture.
As they climbed back into Thunderbird Two, Scott had a thought. "Hey, Alan. What was that rock that jammed the grabs? It must have been pretty tough."
"Dunno. I have it here, hang on..." Alan felt in his pockets, "...here it is." He fished it out. "Seems to be some type of green stone."
"Here, let me see!" Neil took the stone. "You know what you've found mate?" Alan shook his head. "It's a piece of Pounamu, New Zealand Jade. It's tough alright, nearly as hard as diamonds. It's also sacred to the Maori."
"Sacred huh. Guess I'd better leave it here then." Alan took the stone from Neil and gave it to Scott. "Would you mind dropping this off for me when we get back to D.o.C. Headquarters?"
"Yeah, sure" Scott took the stone and examined it. Where the grabs had rubbed against it the surface was shiny. "Bet it would polish up well."
Neil fished around in his own pockets. "Sure does." He pulled out a small flat shape on a length of cord. The intricate carving was a highly polished dark green colour. "I carry it for luck." He explained. "It was a gift from my father shortly before he was killed." A look of sadness flashed briefly across his face to be replaced by his usual smile. "It hasn't failed me yet."