Chapter 11, here it is, by the way with college and everything I think I
deserve a medal for posting the chapters as often as I do.
'SCOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTT!' Virgil yelled, as the fireball continued to engulf TB1 and his older brother in flames.
'NOOOOOOOOO' he heard John shout through the transmitter. But all that replied to their cries was crackling static.
Scott stared in horror as flames seemed to cover the entire front window and heat immediately spread into the insider of TB1. He heard no sound from the radio and realised that the heat must have cut it off. Feeling extremely hot now, Scott began to sweat badly and feel faint.
'What am I going to do?' he said to himself. All he could think to do was to turn the cannons back on at full blast and try and keep the flame- covered TB1 in the air. As he struggled to see with flames covering the window, Scott tried to keep the nose up. He was starting to panic when he heard the roar of Virgil's engine and he realised what his brother was attempting to do. Knowing that it would be incredibly hot on TB1's roof, he grabbed a jacket and flung it on, put TB1 on auto-pilot, said a silent prayer that she'd stay in the air and climbed through the hatch.
Virgil swung TB2 close to TB1. He didn't know if Scott was alive in there but he had to hope he'd realise what he was trying to do.
He let out a sigh of relief as he saw his brother's familiar dark head pop from the hatch of TB1. Virgil attempted to get closer. He was hoping that Scott could jump onto TB2. As he moved closer he could only gape, and the fiery, twisted metal that was his brother's pride and joy and the rapidly melting water cannons that had been there only hope of putting the fire out.
John remained on his feet, eyes wide in panic.
'GET HIM VIRG!' he shouted
'I'm trying!' Virgil replied.
John listened frantically but even as he did so he realised their plan had failed, how would they stop the fire and get Gordo and Alan out now?
Scott crawled slowly towards the edge of the roof, fire was all around him, it spread swiftly and covered the hatch he had just got through.
'There's no going back now', he said to himself.
The fire was terribly hot and he knew he'd have some pretty nasty burns on his back, but he also new that he'd be dead if he didn't get off the burning time-bomb. Wriggling over to the edge, he looked down and saw TB2.
'It's now, or never' he told himself, and took a wild leap off the edge.
Meanwhile under the sea Alan stared in front of him.The fourth crew member lay in a pool of blood by the hatch entrance, his eyes stared straight ahead, and Alan knew without checking that he was dead. Where he lay Gordon's head was oozing blood and he was unconscious.
'GORDO!' Alan shouted and rushed to kneel at his brother's side, panicked when he received no response, he grabbed Gordon's wrist and desperately tried to feel for signs of life.
After a terrifying few seconds he felt Gordon's pulse beat.
'Thank God' he murmered.
Then leaning closer to his brother, 'Gordo, Gordo, can you hear me, wake up!'
'UHHHHHH!' groaned Gordon
'Yes!' cried Alan, 'that's it Gordo, come on wake up!'
Gordon's eyes fluttered open.
The last thing Gordo remembered was hearing Scott's voice screaming, 'THE RIG'S EXPLODED, MOVE!' Then crushing weight, the sound of twisted metal, and then nothing. Now as he opened his eyes he saw Alan leaning over him, his face pinched and strained.
'Alan?' he murmered, his head pounding.
'Oh Gordo, thank God' his brother babbled, 'I thought you were dead, we couldn't get a signal from you and then I saw the sub and I just thought, 'no-one could have survived that', and I got in and then I saw you and I thought this is it, my brother's dead....'
'Alan' Gordon said
'Jeez Gordo, I just thought you were a gonner..'
'Alan.' Gordon said firmer this time
'It was like mom all over again.' Alan continued rapidly
'ALAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!' Gordon yelled finally succeeding in shutting his brother up.
'Sorry' Alan said sheepishly.
'Wh..What happened?' Gordon said slowly sitting up, 'Did the rig fall?'
'Yep' Alan answered, 'and now the water's on fire!'
'WHAT?' Gordon shouted, 'ON FIRE?' Then when Alan nodded, 'YOU MEAN THE OIL'S ON FIRE?'
'I think so!' Alan replied
'OH NO!' Gordon murmered, as his eyes scanned the wreckage of the sub his eyes landed on the dead crew member, 'Damn!' he shouted, he hated losing people.
'It wasn't your fault Gordo' Alan mumbled placing a comforting arm around his brother, 'It's a miracle you aren't dead!'
'Yeah' Gordon whispered, 'But it doesn't make it any easier.'
'Gordo, he never stood a chance.'
'I could have done something Alan. I should have known the rig would fall, all those years on the water and I didn't even think...'
'Gordo!' Alan interuppted ' don't beat yourself up, I'm just glad you're ok..' he said as he pulled Gordon into a hug. 'And I have a feeling the others will be too.We're just gonna have to sit tight till they put the fire out!'
Gordon stared at Alan, hard, 'You do realise it could be days till they put the fire out?' He watched as Alan's face fell.
'I didn't think it would take that long' the youngest Tracy said, discouraged.
Gordon forced himself to sound like his usual, care-free self. It was his responsibility to keep his younger brother feeling reassured now. He didn't want to tell Alan that they only had enough oxygen left for a few hours at the most. He figured that he could do enough worrying for the both of them. Suddenly it dawned on him that Alan hadn't been with him when the rig fell.
'Alan, how did you get here?' he asked staring at his younger brother in disbelief.
Alan looked warily at Gordon with a frown, 'Geez bro, you must have taken more of a knock to the head than I thought. I just came through the hatch.' He said pointing at the hatch behind him.
'I know that' Gordon said with irritation, 'I mean you were in TB4.'
'Oh' Alan said realization dawning, he had never been the sharpest knife in the drawer. 'I swam to find you.'
'WHAT?' Gordon shouted,the older brother side of him coming out, 'Alan you could have been killed, how did you know there wasn't more debris coming down?'
'I couldn't leave you Gordo' Alan said softly, 'I thought something had happened to you. Plus I owe you one for that save from the ocean last year.'
Gordon tried to look fierce but couldn't and smiled instead remembering, 'you never could handle your drink you lightweight!'
'Hey, if you and Virg hadn't spiked the punch, I would have been fine!' Alan retorted good-naturedly.
Gordon sobered for a second, 'Thanks for coming to look for me Al.' He said softly.
'You're welcome Gordo!' Alan said grinning.
'Now..' Gordon said as Alan helped him stand, 'we can't sit around we have to do something.' Then his eyes flashed and he turned quickly to face Alan.
'What?' his brother asked, seeing the look on his face.
'TB4' Gordon said, looking worried , 'How is she?'
'Um.' Alan replied,thinking of a tactful way to break it to his brother, 'Do you want the bad news or the worse news?'
Up on the surface TB1 was in an equally bad state. Scott stared glumly from the window of TB2 as his flaming craft continued to circle the area on auto- pilot.
Virgil was attempting to put antiseptic on the burns on his back while Scott took TB2's controls. John's voice was constantly talking to them now through open radio where he could hear every transmission.
'What kind of state's she in?' he asked.
Scott spoke completely emotionless as he spoke to his brother.
'She's on fire' he said, 'Left wing completely engulfed, right wing partially engulfed, exterior charred, it won't be long till she burns completely.'
'I'm sorry Scott.' John murmered, he knew how every one of them felt about their crafts. They were almost a part of them.
'It's alright Johnny' Scott replied, 'we have more important things to worry about right now.'
'Yeah' John agreed, 'have you tried Alan again?'
'Yes' Virgil replied, 'there's still no answer.'
'Why don't you try Gordo again?' John asked, well known for being the sharpest knife in the drawer.
'Ok' Virgil answered, 'try it Scott.'
Scott picked up the radio, ' Gordo, if you're out there, come in please.' He said loudly, 'GORDO!!!'
Below the surface Alan and Gordon both stared at each other in amazement, they hadn't even thought about Gordon's transmittor and now they could hear Scott's voice loud and clear blaring from his watch.
'You must have been unconscious when they tried to radio you' Alan said gleefully.
'Never mind that!' Gordon said, and lifted his watch to talk.
'Scott?' Gordon's voice replied, 'Boy am I glad to hear your voice!'
'GORDO?' Scott shouted, in disbelief, as the other two Tracys whooped with joy.
'Yes it's me' Gordon said in response, then he got directly to the point , 'What's going on up there?'
However his brothers were too excited to hear his voice,
'Where were you?' Shouted Virgil
'Are you OK?' Yelled John
'Is Alan with you?' asked Scott
'In the sub, I'm fine and yes he's right here.' Gordon replied with a sigh.
Alan grabbed the transmitter and yelled, 'Hey Guys, you miss me?' down the line.
This received another whoop from the three eldest Tracys.
Gordon, never the patient one, wanted to know what was going on. 'Scott?' he said, he could always rely on Scott to tell him the truth.
'Ok guys, this is the situation' Scott said his voice business-like, but he knew he couldn't tell them the brutal truth, that they might not make it out of there. He was the one they looked to for reassurance.
'There's a fire all along the water, as far as we can see...' He paused wondering what to tell them, 'we're working on finding a way to put it out.'
In the sub Alan looked at Gordon and smiled, but Gordon just looked worried.
'What?' Alan asked
'Scott's not telling us everything' Gordon replied taking his hand off the intercom button, 'he's trying to protect us from something.'
Alan frowned as Gordon spoke into the radio addressing their eldest brother.
'Scott, cut the crap.' He said frustrated, 'we don't need protecting. Just give us the goddamn bottom line!'
The other four Tracy's were shocked at the edge in Gordon's voice, he had a mean temper but only when seriously provoked.
'What are you talking about Gordo?' Scott said doing his best to sound innocent but knowing his plan was foiled.
'I'm talking about you treating us like kids, who don't know the truth about Santa.' Gordon replied, 'What's going on Scott?' he said wearily, 'the truth.'
Knowing he had to tell them, Scott spoke softly,
'We were about to put the fire out with some water cannons when TB1 set alight, she's practically ruined and we have nothing else to put the water out with.'
Silence echoed down the transmitter and John, Virgil and Scott waited silently for a response from the youngest two.
Then Gordon's voice, 'Sorry about TB1 Scott.' He said gently, 'believe it or not I know how you feel, TB4's apparantly a mess.'
'OH Gordo!' Virgil said sympathetically, he knew how much his younger brother cared about his craft.
'It doesn't matter anyway Virg.' Gordon replied, 'we can fix the machines when we all get out of this, right now we've got to figure out how to put the fire out.'
Scott smiled, he suddenly remembered why they called Gordon the 'optimistic' one.
SO HERE GOES....
WILL THE GUYS FIGURE OUT A PLAN?
WILL JEFF PULL HIMSELF TOGETHER?
WILL TB1 GO DOWN IN A BLAZE OF GLORY?
WILL THE AUTHOR OF THIS STORY STOP WITH THE PREVIEWS?
WILL SHE BE ALIVE TO STOP THE PREVIEWS AFTER THE OTHER TB WRITERS CATCH UP WITH HER?
Find out in chapter 12 of 'The Trouble With The Tracys'
Woohoo, your favourite section.............
'Gordon' Scott said firmly, 'earlier you got mad at me for not being straight with you, now I get the feeling your not being straight with me. What's going on?'
Gordon sighed, his older brother could read him too well.
'Scott' he replied, 'I'm worried that Alan and I don't have an hour, the oxygen's running out, after that I don't think there'll be any real need to hurry and get us out.'
'Gordo' Scott whispered struggling to keep his voice steady, 'are you saying your tanks only last a couple of hours.'
'No Scott, that's not what I'm saying' Gordon said steadily, causing Scott to breathe a sigh of relief, 'we only have one tank, one being the operative word, it won't last us more than an hour', he said trying to sound strong, 'then it's thankyou and goodnight.'
'SCOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTT!' Virgil yelled, as the fireball continued to engulf TB1 and his older brother in flames.
'NOOOOOOOOO' he heard John shout through the transmitter. But all that replied to their cries was crackling static.
Scott stared in horror as flames seemed to cover the entire front window and heat immediately spread into the insider of TB1. He heard no sound from the radio and realised that the heat must have cut it off. Feeling extremely hot now, Scott began to sweat badly and feel faint.
'What am I going to do?' he said to himself. All he could think to do was to turn the cannons back on at full blast and try and keep the flame- covered TB1 in the air. As he struggled to see with flames covering the window, Scott tried to keep the nose up. He was starting to panic when he heard the roar of Virgil's engine and he realised what his brother was attempting to do. Knowing that it would be incredibly hot on TB1's roof, he grabbed a jacket and flung it on, put TB1 on auto-pilot, said a silent prayer that she'd stay in the air and climbed through the hatch.
Virgil swung TB2 close to TB1. He didn't know if Scott was alive in there but he had to hope he'd realise what he was trying to do.
He let out a sigh of relief as he saw his brother's familiar dark head pop from the hatch of TB1. Virgil attempted to get closer. He was hoping that Scott could jump onto TB2. As he moved closer he could only gape, and the fiery, twisted metal that was his brother's pride and joy and the rapidly melting water cannons that had been there only hope of putting the fire out.
John remained on his feet, eyes wide in panic.
'GET HIM VIRG!' he shouted
'I'm trying!' Virgil replied.
John listened frantically but even as he did so he realised their plan had failed, how would they stop the fire and get Gordo and Alan out now?
Scott crawled slowly towards the edge of the roof, fire was all around him, it spread swiftly and covered the hatch he had just got through.
'There's no going back now', he said to himself.
The fire was terribly hot and he knew he'd have some pretty nasty burns on his back, but he also new that he'd be dead if he didn't get off the burning time-bomb. Wriggling over to the edge, he looked down and saw TB2.
'It's now, or never' he told himself, and took a wild leap off the edge.
Meanwhile under the sea Alan stared in front of him.The fourth crew member lay in a pool of blood by the hatch entrance, his eyes stared straight ahead, and Alan knew without checking that he was dead. Where he lay Gordon's head was oozing blood and he was unconscious.
'GORDO!' Alan shouted and rushed to kneel at his brother's side, panicked when he received no response, he grabbed Gordon's wrist and desperately tried to feel for signs of life.
After a terrifying few seconds he felt Gordon's pulse beat.
'Thank God' he murmered.
Then leaning closer to his brother, 'Gordo, Gordo, can you hear me, wake up!'
'UHHHHHH!' groaned Gordon
'Yes!' cried Alan, 'that's it Gordo, come on wake up!'
Gordon's eyes fluttered open.
The last thing Gordo remembered was hearing Scott's voice screaming, 'THE RIG'S EXPLODED, MOVE!' Then crushing weight, the sound of twisted metal, and then nothing. Now as he opened his eyes he saw Alan leaning over him, his face pinched and strained.
'Alan?' he murmered, his head pounding.
'Oh Gordo, thank God' his brother babbled, 'I thought you were dead, we couldn't get a signal from you and then I saw the sub and I just thought, 'no-one could have survived that', and I got in and then I saw you and I thought this is it, my brother's dead....'
'Alan' Gordon said
'Jeez Gordo, I just thought you were a gonner..'
'Alan.' Gordon said firmer this time
'It was like mom all over again.' Alan continued rapidly
'ALAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!' Gordon yelled finally succeeding in shutting his brother up.
'Sorry' Alan said sheepishly.
'Wh..What happened?' Gordon said slowly sitting up, 'Did the rig fall?'
'Yep' Alan answered, 'and now the water's on fire!'
'WHAT?' Gordon shouted, 'ON FIRE?' Then when Alan nodded, 'YOU MEAN THE OIL'S ON FIRE?'
'I think so!' Alan replied
'OH NO!' Gordon murmered, as his eyes scanned the wreckage of the sub his eyes landed on the dead crew member, 'Damn!' he shouted, he hated losing people.
'It wasn't your fault Gordo' Alan mumbled placing a comforting arm around his brother, 'It's a miracle you aren't dead!'
'Yeah' Gordon whispered, 'But it doesn't make it any easier.'
'Gordo, he never stood a chance.'
'I could have done something Alan. I should have known the rig would fall, all those years on the water and I didn't even think...'
'Gordo!' Alan interuppted ' don't beat yourself up, I'm just glad you're ok..' he said as he pulled Gordon into a hug. 'And I have a feeling the others will be too.We're just gonna have to sit tight till they put the fire out!'
Gordon stared at Alan, hard, 'You do realise it could be days till they put the fire out?' He watched as Alan's face fell.
'I didn't think it would take that long' the youngest Tracy said, discouraged.
Gordon forced himself to sound like his usual, care-free self. It was his responsibility to keep his younger brother feeling reassured now. He didn't want to tell Alan that they only had enough oxygen left for a few hours at the most. He figured that he could do enough worrying for the both of them. Suddenly it dawned on him that Alan hadn't been with him when the rig fell.
'Alan, how did you get here?' he asked staring at his younger brother in disbelief.
Alan looked warily at Gordon with a frown, 'Geez bro, you must have taken more of a knock to the head than I thought. I just came through the hatch.' He said pointing at the hatch behind him.
'I know that' Gordon said with irritation, 'I mean you were in TB4.'
'Oh' Alan said realization dawning, he had never been the sharpest knife in the drawer. 'I swam to find you.'
'WHAT?' Gordon shouted,the older brother side of him coming out, 'Alan you could have been killed, how did you know there wasn't more debris coming down?'
'I couldn't leave you Gordo' Alan said softly, 'I thought something had happened to you. Plus I owe you one for that save from the ocean last year.'
Gordon tried to look fierce but couldn't and smiled instead remembering, 'you never could handle your drink you lightweight!'
'Hey, if you and Virg hadn't spiked the punch, I would have been fine!' Alan retorted good-naturedly.
Gordon sobered for a second, 'Thanks for coming to look for me Al.' He said softly.
'You're welcome Gordo!' Alan said grinning.
'Now..' Gordon said as Alan helped him stand, 'we can't sit around we have to do something.' Then his eyes flashed and he turned quickly to face Alan.
'What?' his brother asked, seeing the look on his face.
'TB4' Gordon said, looking worried , 'How is she?'
'Um.' Alan replied,thinking of a tactful way to break it to his brother, 'Do you want the bad news or the worse news?'
Up on the surface TB1 was in an equally bad state. Scott stared glumly from the window of TB2 as his flaming craft continued to circle the area on auto- pilot.
Virgil was attempting to put antiseptic on the burns on his back while Scott took TB2's controls. John's voice was constantly talking to them now through open radio where he could hear every transmission.
'What kind of state's she in?' he asked.
Scott spoke completely emotionless as he spoke to his brother.
'She's on fire' he said, 'Left wing completely engulfed, right wing partially engulfed, exterior charred, it won't be long till she burns completely.'
'I'm sorry Scott.' John murmered, he knew how every one of them felt about their crafts. They were almost a part of them.
'It's alright Johnny' Scott replied, 'we have more important things to worry about right now.'
'Yeah' John agreed, 'have you tried Alan again?'
'Yes' Virgil replied, 'there's still no answer.'
'Why don't you try Gordo again?' John asked, well known for being the sharpest knife in the drawer.
'Ok' Virgil answered, 'try it Scott.'
Scott picked up the radio, ' Gordo, if you're out there, come in please.' He said loudly, 'GORDO!!!'
Below the surface Alan and Gordon both stared at each other in amazement, they hadn't even thought about Gordon's transmittor and now they could hear Scott's voice loud and clear blaring from his watch.
'You must have been unconscious when they tried to radio you' Alan said gleefully.
'Never mind that!' Gordon said, and lifted his watch to talk.
'Scott?' Gordon's voice replied, 'Boy am I glad to hear your voice!'
'GORDO?' Scott shouted, in disbelief, as the other two Tracys whooped with joy.
'Yes it's me' Gordon said in response, then he got directly to the point , 'What's going on up there?'
However his brothers were too excited to hear his voice,
'Where were you?' Shouted Virgil
'Are you OK?' Yelled John
'Is Alan with you?' asked Scott
'In the sub, I'm fine and yes he's right here.' Gordon replied with a sigh.
Alan grabbed the transmitter and yelled, 'Hey Guys, you miss me?' down the line.
This received another whoop from the three eldest Tracys.
Gordon, never the patient one, wanted to know what was going on. 'Scott?' he said, he could always rely on Scott to tell him the truth.
'Ok guys, this is the situation' Scott said his voice business-like, but he knew he couldn't tell them the brutal truth, that they might not make it out of there. He was the one they looked to for reassurance.
'There's a fire all along the water, as far as we can see...' He paused wondering what to tell them, 'we're working on finding a way to put it out.'
In the sub Alan looked at Gordon and smiled, but Gordon just looked worried.
'What?' Alan asked
'Scott's not telling us everything' Gordon replied taking his hand off the intercom button, 'he's trying to protect us from something.'
Alan frowned as Gordon spoke into the radio addressing their eldest brother.
'Scott, cut the crap.' He said frustrated, 'we don't need protecting. Just give us the goddamn bottom line!'
The other four Tracy's were shocked at the edge in Gordon's voice, he had a mean temper but only when seriously provoked.
'What are you talking about Gordo?' Scott said doing his best to sound innocent but knowing his plan was foiled.
'I'm talking about you treating us like kids, who don't know the truth about Santa.' Gordon replied, 'What's going on Scott?' he said wearily, 'the truth.'
Knowing he had to tell them, Scott spoke softly,
'We were about to put the fire out with some water cannons when TB1 set alight, she's practically ruined and we have nothing else to put the water out with.'
Silence echoed down the transmitter and John, Virgil and Scott waited silently for a response from the youngest two.
Then Gordon's voice, 'Sorry about TB1 Scott.' He said gently, 'believe it or not I know how you feel, TB4's apparantly a mess.'
'OH Gordo!' Virgil said sympathetically, he knew how much his younger brother cared about his craft.
'It doesn't matter anyway Virg.' Gordon replied, 'we can fix the machines when we all get out of this, right now we've got to figure out how to put the fire out.'
Scott smiled, he suddenly remembered why they called Gordon the 'optimistic' one.
SO HERE GOES....
WILL THE GUYS FIGURE OUT A PLAN?
WILL JEFF PULL HIMSELF TOGETHER?
WILL TB1 GO DOWN IN A BLAZE OF GLORY?
WILL THE AUTHOR OF THIS STORY STOP WITH THE PREVIEWS?
WILL SHE BE ALIVE TO STOP THE PREVIEWS AFTER THE OTHER TB WRITERS CATCH UP WITH HER?
Find out in chapter 12 of 'The Trouble With The Tracys'
Woohoo, your favourite section.............
'Gordon' Scott said firmly, 'earlier you got mad at me for not being straight with you, now I get the feeling your not being straight with me. What's going on?'
Gordon sighed, his older brother could read him too well.
'Scott' he replied, 'I'm worried that Alan and I don't have an hour, the oxygen's running out, after that I don't think there'll be any real need to hurry and get us out.'
'Gordo' Scott whispered struggling to keep his voice steady, 'are you saying your tanks only last a couple of hours.'
'No Scott, that's not what I'm saying' Gordon said steadily, causing Scott to breathe a sigh of relief, 'we only have one tank, one being the operative word, it won't last us more than an hour', he said trying to sound strong, 'then it's thankyou and goodnight.'