Scott sighed with happiness as he saw the oil spill. He usually wasn't so
happy about arriving at a danger- zone, but anymore time cooped up with
Alan, would probably have killed him. Sure he loved his baby brother, but
the amount of talking he did. The whole 2 hour journey had been,
'Tin-Tin' this and 'Tin-Tin' that.. 'Motor cars' this and 'motor cars' that. Scott thought he'd never be able to shut the kid up. When he wasn't talking about Tin-Tin and cars and.. Tin -Tin, he'd asked continuous questions, 'what's that?', 'how far are we?', ' what time is it?', 'can I play with the com-link?' Scott had been ready to throttle the kid when he spotted the oil spill.
'TB1 to TB2' he spoke into the intercom, 'Go ahead Scott' came Virgil's voice, 'we are approaching danger zone' Scott answered, but turned in shock as Alan let out an excited squeal , pressing the intercom button on his chair, he shouted laughingly,
'You owe me 30 bucks Gordon!'
Scott frowned in confusion, as his auburn-haired brother muttered something about a control-freak.
'What?' Virgil's voice echoed.
'I don't know,what they're talking about Virg' Scott replied, 'what's your arrival time?'
'About 10 minutes Scott' Virgil answered.
Scott disconnected and concentrated on touching down on the small surface of the damaged rig, while Alan gave the co-ordinates. As the roar of the engine rumbled Scott, straightened the craft to a vertical position and cautiously brought her down onto the platform.
As soon as the engines quieted, he called base , 'We've reached the danger zone father' he reported.
'FAB Scott' Jeff answered.
Alan and Scott unstrapped and exited TB1, they had to check out the danger zone.
Gordon grumbled to himself as he pulled on his wet-suit, 'Could you not have gone any faster Virg?' he asked his brother.
'Gordo, it's that kind of attitude that almost got you killed in that hydro- foil accident' Virgil answered.
The comment earned him a glare from his usually easy-going younger brother. 'Yes Virg,' he answered 'but that accident never put me off going, OVER 5 MILES AN HOUR!'
'That 's a bit of an exaggeration Gordo' he replied.
Gordon sighed , 'just drop the hatch, please Virg.' He said.
'Fine' Virgil answered 'but you just remember, slow and steady down there, be careful'.
Gordon nodded impatiently, the constant advice, that was another annoying aspect of having three older brothers. There were times, when of course it was a good thing, like with women, but it could also be a major irritation.
'Sure I'll go slow Virg' he answered, 'but I'd better not go as slow as you or I'll reach the people in danger, in, oh let's see.. 7 hours!'
Virgil let out an exasperated breath, 'just be careful ok?'
Gordon caught the serious note in his brother's voice and turned smiling that, infectious grin of his , 'sure, I'll be fine, don't worry.' With that he disappeared into the pod.
Virgil watched him go, his heart pounding. He couldn't help worrying about his brothers. They were just young and reckless, hell who was he kidding. The truth was that he couldn't help feeling responsible for Alan and Gordon, even John when he was around. But he was always going to see the two youngest as kids. Kids he had read stories to, rocked to sleep after his mother died, and got out of more heart-stopping moments than he cared to count. He knew that it sometimes annoyed them but he knew that it was worse from Scott. He was everyone's big brother. Virgil didn't envy him being the eldest for a second. Oh alright sometimes when father let him go to really cool missions and have the desk when he was away, but other than that, he didn't envy Scott at all. Nor did he envy Gordon or Alan being mollycoddled, or John being piggy in the middle, with the irritating middle child syndrome. No Virgil was quite content being 2nd eldest, he could be responsible up to a point but if things got tough he could just pass the buck to Scott. That thought sobered Virgil as he dropped the pod and landed TB2 next to TB1. Who did Scott turn to when things got rough...
Scott watched TB4 move below the surface, the feeling he got every mission when his brothers had to do something dangerous, worry and foreboding swept through him, but the professionalism he had learned quickly concealed his emotions.
'Be careful down there Gordo' he told his brother through the intercom.
Gordon's voice sounded resigned as it came back through the transmitter 'yes ok Scott, I've already heard this from Virgil.'
Alan standing nearby, smiled knowingly and took the transmitter from Scott. 'Ignore the grannies Gordo', he said ignoring Scott's annoyed sigh, 'have fun down there and get those people caught in the submarine!'
'What?' Gordon's voice interrupted, 'there's people trapped beneath the oil?'
'Yes' Scott replied, 'the oil-spill was caused when the tanker hit the edge of the rig, and some rig-workers were trapped in a sub, beneath some debris'.
'FAB' Gordon replied, his tone grim.
'Go get em Gords' Alan said.
'Thanks Alan!' Gordon replied, his brothers upbeat attitude was a refreshing change.
Scott snatched the transmitter back from Alan, 'but Gordon, just watch those oil spills, they could ignite at any time...'
'Ok Scott'
'Gordon listen, I mean it, with this amount of oil, you'd be...' A loud static sound interuppted him , 'hey Gordon' he shouted. And realised when Alan started giggling that Gordon had cut him off.
Scott ran a hand through his dark hair, he had to keep his emotions in check. Gordon knew what he was doing. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Virgil, worry clearly present in his own eyes.
'He'll be ok' he said reassuringly. Scott nodded and turned back to the door of the rig.
Alan, who had been watchng this interaction with amusement smiled , 'Jeez, you'd think he was 5 or something, he knows what he's doing'.
Scott and Virgil exchanged a look as they headed back into the rig , Alan just couldn't understand.
And somewhere below the sea - surface, oil began to bubble with heat, and the Tracy's had no idea of the danger about to face them.
NEXT CHAPTER...
WILL GORDON SAVE THE TRAPPED RIG-WORKERS? WILL SCOTT AND VIRGIL CALM DOWN? WILL ALAN GET SERIOUS? WILL THE WATER IGNITE?
'Tin-Tin' this and 'Tin-Tin' that.. 'Motor cars' this and 'motor cars' that. Scott thought he'd never be able to shut the kid up. When he wasn't talking about Tin-Tin and cars and.. Tin -Tin, he'd asked continuous questions, 'what's that?', 'how far are we?', ' what time is it?', 'can I play with the com-link?' Scott had been ready to throttle the kid when he spotted the oil spill.
'TB1 to TB2' he spoke into the intercom, 'Go ahead Scott' came Virgil's voice, 'we are approaching danger zone' Scott answered, but turned in shock as Alan let out an excited squeal , pressing the intercom button on his chair, he shouted laughingly,
'You owe me 30 bucks Gordon!'
Scott frowned in confusion, as his auburn-haired brother muttered something about a control-freak.
'What?' Virgil's voice echoed.
'I don't know,what they're talking about Virg' Scott replied, 'what's your arrival time?'
'About 10 minutes Scott' Virgil answered.
Scott disconnected and concentrated on touching down on the small surface of the damaged rig, while Alan gave the co-ordinates. As the roar of the engine rumbled Scott, straightened the craft to a vertical position and cautiously brought her down onto the platform.
As soon as the engines quieted, he called base , 'We've reached the danger zone father' he reported.
'FAB Scott' Jeff answered.
Alan and Scott unstrapped and exited TB1, they had to check out the danger zone.
Gordon grumbled to himself as he pulled on his wet-suit, 'Could you not have gone any faster Virg?' he asked his brother.
'Gordo, it's that kind of attitude that almost got you killed in that hydro- foil accident' Virgil answered.
The comment earned him a glare from his usually easy-going younger brother. 'Yes Virg,' he answered 'but that accident never put me off going, OVER 5 MILES AN HOUR!'
'That 's a bit of an exaggeration Gordo' he replied.
Gordon sighed , 'just drop the hatch, please Virg.' He said.
'Fine' Virgil answered 'but you just remember, slow and steady down there, be careful'.
Gordon nodded impatiently, the constant advice, that was another annoying aspect of having three older brothers. There were times, when of course it was a good thing, like with women, but it could also be a major irritation.
'Sure I'll go slow Virg' he answered, 'but I'd better not go as slow as you or I'll reach the people in danger, in, oh let's see.. 7 hours!'
Virgil let out an exasperated breath, 'just be careful ok?'
Gordon caught the serious note in his brother's voice and turned smiling that, infectious grin of his , 'sure, I'll be fine, don't worry.' With that he disappeared into the pod.
Virgil watched him go, his heart pounding. He couldn't help worrying about his brothers. They were just young and reckless, hell who was he kidding. The truth was that he couldn't help feeling responsible for Alan and Gordon, even John when he was around. But he was always going to see the two youngest as kids. Kids he had read stories to, rocked to sleep after his mother died, and got out of more heart-stopping moments than he cared to count. He knew that it sometimes annoyed them but he knew that it was worse from Scott. He was everyone's big brother. Virgil didn't envy him being the eldest for a second. Oh alright sometimes when father let him go to really cool missions and have the desk when he was away, but other than that, he didn't envy Scott at all. Nor did he envy Gordon or Alan being mollycoddled, or John being piggy in the middle, with the irritating middle child syndrome. No Virgil was quite content being 2nd eldest, he could be responsible up to a point but if things got tough he could just pass the buck to Scott. That thought sobered Virgil as he dropped the pod and landed TB2 next to TB1. Who did Scott turn to when things got rough...
Scott watched TB4 move below the surface, the feeling he got every mission when his brothers had to do something dangerous, worry and foreboding swept through him, but the professionalism he had learned quickly concealed his emotions.
'Be careful down there Gordo' he told his brother through the intercom.
Gordon's voice sounded resigned as it came back through the transmitter 'yes ok Scott, I've already heard this from Virgil.'
Alan standing nearby, smiled knowingly and took the transmitter from Scott. 'Ignore the grannies Gordo', he said ignoring Scott's annoyed sigh, 'have fun down there and get those people caught in the submarine!'
'What?' Gordon's voice interrupted, 'there's people trapped beneath the oil?'
'Yes' Scott replied, 'the oil-spill was caused when the tanker hit the edge of the rig, and some rig-workers were trapped in a sub, beneath some debris'.
'FAB' Gordon replied, his tone grim.
'Go get em Gords' Alan said.
'Thanks Alan!' Gordon replied, his brothers upbeat attitude was a refreshing change.
Scott snatched the transmitter back from Alan, 'but Gordon, just watch those oil spills, they could ignite at any time...'
'Ok Scott'
'Gordon listen, I mean it, with this amount of oil, you'd be...' A loud static sound interuppted him , 'hey Gordon' he shouted. And realised when Alan started giggling that Gordon had cut him off.
Scott ran a hand through his dark hair, he had to keep his emotions in check. Gordon knew what he was doing. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Virgil, worry clearly present in his own eyes.
'He'll be ok' he said reassuringly. Scott nodded and turned back to the door of the rig.
Alan, who had been watchng this interaction with amusement smiled , 'Jeez, you'd think he was 5 or something, he knows what he's doing'.
Scott and Virgil exchanged a look as they headed back into the rig , Alan just couldn't understand.
And somewhere below the sea - surface, oil began to bubble with heat, and the Tracy's had no idea of the danger about to face them.
NEXT CHAPTER...
WILL GORDON SAVE THE TRAPPED RIG-WORKERS? WILL SCOTT AND VIRGIL CALM DOWN? WILL ALAN GET SERIOUS? WILL THE WATER IGNITE?