So, this is my flashfictionfridayofficial offering this week. This promises to be the start of a multi chapter fic, so I hope you enjoy the first chapter, coming in at 999 words.
John had been unsure when he had first suggested to Scott the space elevator. He'd seen how his big brother had been worn ragged between Earth rescues and Space rescues and knew that something had to give. Yeah, sure, Alan was coming on board, but he wouldn't be up to solo mission status for some time, and Scott needed the break.
So John had already discussed with Brains the idea, and the inventor was almost delirious with the idea. It would certainly help to sway Scott, he decided, and one early morning, when no-one else was around, John took the plunge and talked to Scott. His brother had listened attentively, asked lots of questions, and to John's surprise, agreed immediately with one proviso.
He wanted an emergency landing station on Mateo.
John had never felt so glad that Scott had insisted on that then he was today.
Rescues started early this morning. Virgil and Gordon had attended a capsized boat in the Indian Ocean and a small but fierce fire on the way home, both before breakfast. Grandma was spending a couple of days with Penny; Kayo was off doing Kayo stuff and Alan was called for a space rescue just as Two arrived home.
Scott, to his frustration, was grounded. A stray cable and a strong wind in the last rescue had conspired to break his arm, so while Grandma was off the island he was running base, especially since it sounded like Alan would need John's help with a shuttle on the far side of the moon.
No sooner had Two set down and refuelled then she was off again, this time to a twister in Oklahoma. Scott had made sure his two brothers had food to take with them.
Thus Scott and Brains were both present talking to John just after Alan arrived at Five to pick him up. No sooner had he boarded Three and they had left when suddenly the island went dark. But they couldn't leave those people on the shuttle, so Alan opened up Three much faster than he should have, while John and EOS attempted to clear the signal dampeners away from the island and re-establish comms.
Virgil and Gordon, worried on their side of the planet but no more able to help worked furiously to complete their rescue too. Tracy Island had been dark for almost half an hour when the last thing any of them wanted to hear came over all comms. Meaning that Penny and Kayo would know too.
'Code Theseus. All agents alert. Code Theseus.' The computerised voice was on an indefinite repeating loop.
John had to work fast and hard. Theseus meant unwelcome visitors. But more than that, it meant that Scott had locked down Tracy Island so none of them could return home, couldn't even fly over the island without the destruct sequence being activated. Damn
the blackout! What the hell was happening?
It turned out that the astronauts stuck on their shuttle about to crash into the moon were as surprised to see International Rescue and iR was to see a completely intact ship, and the two brothers were cursing themselves. Reporting back to Virgil and Gordon, Alan laid in a course for Five. There was going to be only one way they would get answers.
The elevator wasn't designed with two people in mind, but there was just enough room and Brains always over-engineered everything he made anyway. Besides, there was no way Alan or EOS were going to let John go alone. Three couldn't return home, but the emergency dock for the elevator was exempt from the kill code – no way Scott would ever strand his brother completely in space.
As the elevator descended through the levels of the atmosphere and the island became clearer and clearer it was obvious a full-scale attack had occurred. Both brothers paled as they stared at the thick smoke rolling above their home, and as the elevator came into land on Mateo, they could clearly see the roundhouse was no longer on the side of the volcano. No, it was now crushing the villa.
The tunnels linking the two islands together had been collapsed, and John had Gordon to thank for ensuring they still had a way to get home. In a covered dock sat a small speedboat, and the two jumped on board. It was only a short hop over, but it didn't bring any comfort.
Getting from the dock to the villa meant going up via the pool, but they couldn't even get close. There was debris everywhere, the path was covered with glass and stonework and…Alan let out a sob as they ducked under what would have been part of one of the balcony doors to find the pool was non-existent.
John stared, heart in his mouth. They could see some of the tiling from the pool in the hole, but what caused Alan's cry was the clear sight into the hanger. One was under the pool, which could mean that Scott had tried to launch her, but her nose was crumpled and she was crushed against the wall.
There was no way to get any further into the villa, and by now they were both coughing on the smoke. Tracy Villa was no more, the island was a ruined scene of utter devastation. So much had happened in the hour since he had been talking to Scott and Brains.
Suddenly Virgil appeared from John's wrist. Nothing was said as John showed Virgil what was remaining. Virgil sighed. The destruction was horrific and there was only one thing they could do now.
'We need to get to Penny's and reset the computer core before we can start sorting through that mess. Meet us at the rendezvous point and I'll pick you up in Two.' John nodded and they headed to the dock.
'What about Scott and Brains?' Alan whispered. EOS answered, 'there are no life signs on the island.'
So where were they?