"John we've-"
The aborted signal cut through Thunderbird Five like a knife. John pulled up Virgil's channel but before he could reopen communications Thunderbird Two launched broadcasting gamma protocol on their secure line.
John worked quickly. He glanced at the three other rescues, dividing his workspace so that each had its own separate holo. He knew EOS would keep monitoring them but he wanted to have a clear view should anything be needed there. Then he tried Virgil's comm. Unsurprisingly there wasn't an answer. He switched on the comm system inside Thunderbird Two giving him a clear view of the bridge. His heart dropped when he confirmed it to be empty. He flicked through the other monitors on the Thunderbird but found no sign of his immediate younger brother.
He pulled Thunderbird Two's external cameras, set them back fifteen minutes and put each on fast play. Instantly he dismissed all except the forward-facing camera four. John's features settled into stone as he watched Virgil's brief exchange with an unknown male. He then saw Virgil bolt for his bird only to be tackled. At this point gamma protocol was initiated but John still got a view of two people throwing off desert camouflage and restraining his brother before Thunderbird Two was too high in the sky to get a better picture.
John's first thought was the need to inform Scott but a look at his feed showed he was battling powerful winds in order to keep Thunderbird One from careening into the mountain he was trying to save people from. Gordon had no way of getting to Australia to help, of course, and Kayo and Alan were both EVA on Luna Base making repairs. But what could John do?
He rewatched his brother's capture, looking for clues. This time he saw it. Before Virgil had tried to run for it something had caught his attention. John called up the external cameras again, switching views until he found the plume of dust that had so alerted his brother. Even with Thunderbird Two's lift off he was able to get a clear photo of the jeep, it's licence plate and the two men in the front seat.
He set EOS on the hunt. She chirped an acknowledgment before setting Thunderbird Five's powerful scanners after the errant vehicle, working faster than he'd have been able to as she started simultaneously running facial recognition and tracking the licence plate.
Next, he overrode gamma protocol and stilled Thunderbird Two. If Virgil had been taken by the men - the far more likely option - then the big green machine would be of little use. But if he'd been left in the desert Thunderbird Two would be his only means of rescue. He turned the 'bird around and raised her altitude by a thousand feet so that she would be more easily hidden from the ground. Then he set her to return to her previous coordinates.
Virgil's locator beacon and vital signs mocked him. One returning no data and one returning a corrupted pattern that could mean almost anything. John grimaced at them but refused to shunt them aside. He didn't allow himself to think that Virgil had been killed. He had no evidence pointing to that, so it was an unnecessary distraction to think that way.
It was a mantra he kept up as he worked.
"Thunderbird Five from Thunderbird One."
John winced internally. He was, unfortunately, quite practiced at keeping things from Scott. It came with the territory. When on a rescue John checked out hundreds of things that Scott didn't need to know about. Usually, it was because these things were irrelevant or nothing Scott could do anything about, but sometimes he picked up on it anyway. He also had a damn radar for when something had happened to a brother.
"Go ahead Thunderbird One."
Thunderbird Two was five minutes from her destination.
"Rescue complete. Three unlucky mountaineers and one collie safely collected." From somewhere behind Scott the dog barked once as though agreeing, making the eldest Tracy smile. "No injuries to report. I'm going to set them down near the start of the trail. ETA to home is one hour."
"Negative Thunderbird One, I'm redirecting you to Australia. More details once you have offloaded your passengers."
John saw Scott's grip tighten on the controls of his Thunderbird. He might have been mid rescue but of course he'd noticed when John had split Virgil and Gordon.
"FAB" the commander said and cut the line. He didn't press for details and John hadn't expected him to. Unlike Thunderbird Two there wasn't anywhere contained to carry passengers where they wouldn't overhear the two Thunderbirds talking.
John took a steadying breath as he cycled through the worst part of his job - waiting. Two minutes until Thunderbird Two reached her destination. An indeterminate amount of time before EOS reported her findings. Approximately fifteen minutes before Scott would be back online. Two minutes suddenly felt like an eternity.
The moment Thunderbird Two was in range John switched on all ground facing external cameras and set the 'bird in a grid search. In seconds he found what he was both dreading and hoping for.
Far below the Thunderbird lay a crumpled figure in blue.
John tried again to pull vital signs but the data still came back corrupted. He made a decision. Hitting a few buttons on the control panel in front of him he turned to leave.
"EOS any signs of movement in the vicinity of Thunderbird Two?" He asked pushing himself round the gravity ring as fast as he could.
"Negative" she replied. "John why-"
"Land Thunderbird Two as close to Virgil as is safe" he cut across her. "I'm going down."
"Yes, John" she replied and John smiled at her efficiency. EOS was born curious, if born was the right term. She would want to know why John was suddenly taking an unplanned trip planet side. She would also have worked out that there was no one else who could get to Virgil as fast. He felt the thrusters fire on Thunderbird Five.
"Thank you, EOS," he said realising that he hadn't asked her to reposition the satellite but she'd come to the conclusion on her own.
It was usually a twenty-minute trip from the Thunderbird to the planet, though there was a protocol for this to be pushed to fifteen minutes in an emergency. John engaged that now as he checked the mandatory first aid pack and strapped in for launch.
"Thunderbird Two has landed" EOS said.
"Show me the best view you have of Virgil" he demanded only to suck in a breath as EOS did as asked.
Virgil was curled on his side but his head was up as he looked towards his 'bird. John watched as he coughed, tightening his arm around his stomach and pressing his head against the dirt covered ground. Ground that had an alarming amount of red splashed across it.
"Easy Virgil, I'm almost there" he said, checking the clock. Nine minutes. He tried to convince himself that nine minutes wasn't nine minutes too long.
On the screen Virgil picked his head up once again staring at his 'bird. John saw the moment a decision was made and, not a moment later, Virgil started to draw in his legs in an attempt to move.
No, no, no! John looked on for a horrified moment before accessing Thunderbird Two's broadcasting system.
"Virgil, help is on the way" he said wincing at the surprised flinch and the look of pain that passed through his brother. Virgil then shook his head as though trying to clear it and tried once again to get his legs under him.
"Please, don't move! I'll be there soon" John modulated his voice back into rescue mode, annoyed at the emotion that had seeped through. "Virgil, stay where you are. If you can, try to keep pressure on the wound."
"Thunderbird Five form Thunderbird One. John, what's going on? Has something happened to Virgil?"
"Virgil was attacked" John said. No time to soften the blow, just give out details as though it were any other rescue. As though he wasn't looking at a little brother writhing in pain and still six minutes away. "Shortly after he arrived at the danger zone I received an aborted call. Less than a minute later he initiated gamma protocol." John didn't look at Scott. He knew what he would see. He also didn't want to look away from Virgil, as though simply by watching over him, he was already helping. "EOS and I have been searching for him ever since and I've just located him. He was left in the danger zone. He appears to have lost a lot of blood."
Through Scott's comm John heard the tell-tale muted pop of Thunderbird One breaching the sound barrier. Several more pops sounded as she blasted her way up the Mach scale.
"Can you make any contact with him at all?" Scott demanded. "What about vitals?"
"His attackers have taken his equipment and" John hesitated. This next part was pure speculation and if he was honest, it was a conclusion he'd rather not have drawn. "I suspect whatever caused the wound has taken out his vital signs transmitter."
Scott snarled as he pushed more power from his engines.
"I'm still forty minutes out! Maybe thirty if I red line it."
"I'm two minutes from touch down" John said, breaking protocol by unstrapping himself and moving to ready the med kit. "He's moving, Scott" John said in a belated effort to offer some assurance to his older brother. He cursed the fact there wasn't a stretcher in the space elevator.
"John."
But then there wasn't a need for one. Either he was going up to Five where there would be no one around to load him onto it or he was coming home and if he needed one there would be one on hand in the landing bay.
"John."
Usually, Virgil would be there waiting for him. A steadying hand as he adjusted to gravity. John swallowed past the lump in his throat.
"John!"
John's head snapped round right into the worried blue gaze of his only older brother.
"John, take a breath" Scott said calmly. "I know it's been a while since you dealt with this first hand but Virgil needs you now. Do you have a plan?"
John scoffed at the idea that he hadn't thought this through and that was apparently all Scott needed.
The space elevator touched down and John was out without another word, racing across the hard packed earth to his brother who was now lying all too still in the Australian sun.
"Virgil?" John skidded to his knees beside his prone brother, the med kit falling open as he did so. John was relieved to see Virgil breathing and he hastily pulled on a pair of sterile gloves before manually checking his pulse.
"J'n?" Deep brown eyes opened half way but made no effort to focus on the astronaut.
"I'm here, Virgil. You're safe now."
He carefully tried to prise Virgil's arm away from his midriff but stopped when he saw Virgil's back. The bottom right-hand side was a mess of an exit wound and suddenly John didn't need to see Virgil's stomach to know what was there.
"EOS find me the nearest trauma hospital. Virgil has a gunshot wound to the stomach, lower right-hand side. You'll be piloting Two as soon as I have him aboard."
"Yes, John" came the succinct reply. Scott's response over the comm was not something that should have been broadcast and John could not have agreed with him more.
John tore into the kit, first using a laser to slightly widen the hole in the back of Virgil uniform then using the neoprene to hold a wad of sterile bandages in place. Virgil gasped as John applied pressure, his free hand scrabbling at the dirt as he tried to get away from the pain.
"I'm sorry" John said, his voice little more than a whisper. "I'm so sorry Virgil, just a little more." Once the neoprene was holding as many bandages as it could John relented. He needed to get to the wound on Virgil's front but the tears on his little brother's face stilled his hand. He shook himself. Objectively he knew that a little pain now would save Virgil's life in the long run. He prepared another stack of sterile dressings.
"You with me, Virgil?" He asked, gently placing a hand on Virgil's shoulder.
"St'p" Virgil moaned. "Please."
"We're nearly done, I swear" John said. "Then I'll get you to your girl and everything will be alright."
Virgil managed a nod and John pried his fingers away from his stomach long enough to press the gauze into them. He then pressed Virgil's hand back to the wound eliciting a high-pitched whine from his brother.
"Hold those there, I'll be right back."
John scrambled to get the remaining kit back together and raced for his brother's 'bird. A part of his mind noticed the machine raised up on her struts and module door open. The space elevator was also gone. Thank God for EOS.
John skidded into the module and threw the kit aside. Tearing the hover stretcher from the wall he was back by Virgil's side in moments.
"Okay" John said, lying the stretcher against his brothers back. "Okay Virgil, I'm going to roll you onto the stretcher and then we're getting out of here."
Virgil cried out as his back came into contact with the board. Keeping on hand pressed against Virgil's to keep pressure on the entry wound John activated the hover feature. With one hand on the stretcher and one on his brother John guided them into the 'bird. As soon as the stretcher slid into its port a host of alarms went off. John silenced them all. They weren't telling him anything he didn't know.
Thunderbird Two was already in the air, EOS managing to get them moving faster than Virgil himself could have - purely because it would have taken him time to reach the cockpit.
Virgil relaxed as the familiar thrum of his 'bird finally reached him through the pain.
"Virgil, I need you to stay awake for me" John said as he worked, setting Virgil up with an IV. To his credit he tried. Eyelids dragged themselves upwards and eyes cast about before settling on John. Virgil reached out as soon as John had finished settling the line. His fingers not strong enough to find purchase on John's wrist.
"J'hn. Thank you" he managed his voice thick with pain and exhaustion.
John caught the hand and held it gently. His other reaching up to cup his dark-haired brother's cheek. Virgil leant in to the contact, taking the comfort on offer and sighing slightly.
"You never need to thank me for this" John said, his emotions, usually held so closely in check, clearly on show. "Never."
Moments later John felt Two land and he gratefully handed Virgil over to the waiting medical professionals.
John took a moment for himself as he watched Virgil get hurried away. He braced one hand on the module wall staring out after his brother.
His little brother.
Who someone had shot.
Scott was suddenly standing in front of him.
Funny, he hadn't even heard Thunderbird One land.
Scott had his hands wrapped round John's biceps his strong gaze boring into John's.
"Come on, John" he said gently. "Let's go find out how Virgil is doing."
John shook off Scott's grip, his hand coming up to his face. He was startled to find it come away wet.
"I can't" he said turning back towards the depths of his brother's Thunderbird.
He had work to do.