Chapter Two: Rescue in Osaka
~~
Scott arrived at the damaged area and surveyed it. The dark destruction over the usually bubbly city of Osaka looked dormant, for the time being. He struggled to find a place to land amongst the debris, but was soon on the ground and looking for the person in charge, or at least anyone who could speak English.
'Hello,' a short, lithe Japanese man said. His black hair was dishevelled, and he had dark patches of black powder covering his face, suggesting that he had been close to the action. 'My name is Ai Akio. Thank you very much for coming to help.'
'Our pleasure, Akio,' Scott said in the contrasting American accent. 'More people will be along soon to help. For now, could I have a couple of people to help move some equipment? I need to set up Mobile Control before we begin.'
'Most certainly.' The man began barking orders in Japanese to fellow emergency services personnel, who quickly moved to help Scott.
Once Mobile Control was set up, Scott began to establish contact with Thunderbird Two, to ascertain a time frame for the rescue. 'Thunderbird Two from Mobile Control, what's your ETA?'
'Sixteen minutes, Scott,' Virgil said after a pause, looking at the appropriate device to verify this. 'I take it you've got everything set up. What does it look like down there?'
'Not great, but the emergency services are doing well. I've been informed that the fire department need to shift the rubble in order to tackle the fire, but they don't have the equipment to do that.'
'The Firefly should be the best vehicle for that,' Virgil said knowingly.
'Once Virgil's done that, Gordon and I can go in and get the kids out,' said Alan, showing that he wanted some say in the plan.
'Right,' Scott said, agreeing. 'Gordon, Alan, wear your fireproof gear in there, it could still be hot, even after Virgil's dealt with it.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Virgil finally found a place to land, at the edge of Osaka airport, five hundred yards from where Scott had set up Mobile Control. Whilst Gordon and Alan changed into their fireproof clothing, Virgil immediately started work in the Firefly.
Scott established communications with Virgil. 'How's it going?'
'Not so bad,' Virgil said, his voice faint over the rumbling and crackling noises of the fire. He manoeuvred the vehicle to one side of the room and began to attack another part of the blaze. 'This place doesn't look too stable, though. Where should the kids be?'
'In the back room, apparently,' Scott said, referring to the blueprints given to him by Akio.
'All right,' Virgil said, happy with the now smouldering pile of remnants in the corner of the main room. 'Another five minutes, and I should be done.'
'Keep at it,' Scott encouraged. He left the microphone and turned to see two white figures hurrying towards him. Alan and Gordon were dressed in their protective clothing and ready to act.
'How long?' Alan said, panting slightly due to the sprint from Thunderbird Two to Mobile Control in the heavy clothing.
'Not long now, a couple or three minutes,' Scott said, glimpsing at the disintegrating building to his right. 'Listen, you two, Virgil says the place doesn't look too stable in there. You both be careful, okay?'
Alan understood. 'We'll be fine,' he said reassuringly.
About a minute later, the three brothers, plus dozens of onlookers, saw the Firefly back out of the destructed building. 'Mobile Control from Firefly,' Virgil said. 'All clear, you can send them in now.'
Gordon and Alan headed hastily towards the building and disappeared into the smoke. Inside, it was dark, and everything was covered with dust. Using powerful torches, they searched the area, keeping their eyes peeled and their ears open.
'This way,' Alan said, directing Gordon towards the back of the area. 'I think I heard something.'
They arrived at a large, smoke-streaked white door. There appeared to be part of a finger-painting on the front of it, partly burned away. It showed a blue sky with a warm yellow sun melted into it. There looked to be green for grass, but nothing else was visible, save the brown burn marks framing the bottom part of the paper. Alan looked at it sadly, remembering pictures like the one before him that were put on the refrigerator at their childhood home, and were treated by their father as though Picasso had painted them.
'Hello?' Alan called loudly through the door. Muffled, high-pitched screaming voices were emitted from inside, indicating that there was life within.
Wasting no time, and without prior warning, Gordon used the combination of strength, power and anger, took two steps back and ran shoulder-first towards the door. The powerful slam took the door right off of its hinges and fell through, with Gordon still on top of it.
Alan stared in awe and amazement for a moment, and then stepped through the door as Gordon was getting up, refraining from asking about the feat, but instead concentrating on the task at hand. He found eight terrified children huddled together on the floor in the corner of the room. He took two of them and hurried out of the building. Gordon followed suit and did the same.
~~
Meanwhile, Virgil had just left the Firefly when he was almost knocked flying by a frenzied woman babbling at what seemed to be several hundred miles per hour in Japanese. 'English?' Virgil asked, not understanding a word the woman was saying.
She continued to speak speedily in the same language, before grasping his arm and dragging him over to a man that could translate. After a few moments of listening to the young woman, the translator turned to Virgil and said, 'Her son is stuck and needs help. Can you get him?'
Virgil nodded, saying, 'Show me where.'
~~
Scott waited anxiously outside the decrepit building, pacing the ground to relieve some stress. Finally, he saw Alan appear with a bundle of children. He reached Scott and carefully let them down to the ground. Akio began to make sure that the children were all right.
'How many more?' Scott said, brushing a large clod of dusty dirt off of Alan's white clothing.
'Four, once Gordon comes out,' Alan said, running back towards the building.
Gordon soon appeared with two children, carrying them both with one arm. Scott looked concerned, but his brother did not stop to talk, he hastened back towards the ever-crumbling building.
'Another after-shock and...' Scott trailed off, not daring to think of the consequences.
Alan returned with two more youngsters a minute later, this time more apprehensive than the first. 'He's not breathing!' Once Alan was far enough away from the building, he let one child crawl away to be with her friends, whilst he laid the other, a boy of about six years old, on the floor and began CPR. Scott ran over to assist with the chest compressions.
After a few tense minutes, Scott said, 'There, you've done it.' The boy's chest rose up and down jaggedly as he coughed and spluttered from the smoke he had inhaled.
'Phew,' said Alan, suddenly feeling exhausted.
Akio hurried towards them. 'Thank you,' he said earnestly, shaking Alan's hand.
Scott stood up, brushed the dirt off of his trousers and took a look around the site. As something suddenly occurred to him, he said, 'Hey, has anyone seen Virgil lately?'
Alan joined him, staring around the area, and suddenly exclaimed, 'Look!'
There, in a large willow tree not fifty metres from where the two aghast brothers stood, was Virgil, having just coaxed a five-year-old boy towards him. Virgil finally got the boy to him, and put him on his shoulders. He struggled to climb down the tree, but soon reunited the child with his fretful mother.
Virgil, the hero of the moment, shook willow seeds out of his hair as he walked back over to Mobile Control. 'What?' He said, seeing the two amused faces.
'What was that?' Scott asked in disbelief, gesturing over to the tree that Virgil had recently climbed down from.
'The poor kid was scared by the earthquake, so he did what every little boy would do and climbed a tree,' Virgil explained, shrugging. 'Come on, I couldn't just leave him up there, and hope he'd land on his feet. I had to get him down.'
Scott nodded, appreciating that Virgil had done what he and the rest of his brothers would have done in the same situation; rescued him. He patted him on the back and said, 'You did the right thing.'
Alan abruptly became concerned. 'Where's Gordon? He should have been out of there by now.'
On cue, Gordon emerged from the building, carrying one child under his arm and giving the other a free piggyback ride. He looked as though he was struggling as he made it to the group and let the children to the floor.
'Gordon, are you okay?' Scott asked. Blood was smeared on the inside of the clear plastic visor, and a wet red-brown coloured patch seeping through the white material covering his shoulder.
'Gordon?' Alan repeated.
Instead of answering, Gordon's eyes rolled back in his head and he began to crumple to the floor, saved only by Virgil's quick reflexes and outstretched arms.
'Pardon me, but is he all right?' Akio said, nodding towards Gordon who hung lifelessly in Virgil's arms.
Secretly, Scott's heart had leapt to his mouth when he saw Gordon collapse, but his concern was masked by humour and briskness. 'He's okay; he's just rusty at saving lives. If you'll excuse us, Akio, we'd better be getting back to base.'
'Certainly, gentlemen. My most humble thanks to you for saving these children.'
'Don't mention it,' Virgil said as he heaved his brother over his sturdy shoulder and took him to Thunderbird Two's sickbay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~
Scott arrived at the damaged area and surveyed it. The dark destruction over the usually bubbly city of Osaka looked dormant, for the time being. He struggled to find a place to land amongst the debris, but was soon on the ground and looking for the person in charge, or at least anyone who could speak English.
'Hello,' a short, lithe Japanese man said. His black hair was dishevelled, and he had dark patches of black powder covering his face, suggesting that he had been close to the action. 'My name is Ai Akio. Thank you very much for coming to help.'
'Our pleasure, Akio,' Scott said in the contrasting American accent. 'More people will be along soon to help. For now, could I have a couple of people to help move some equipment? I need to set up Mobile Control before we begin.'
'Most certainly.' The man began barking orders in Japanese to fellow emergency services personnel, who quickly moved to help Scott.
Once Mobile Control was set up, Scott began to establish contact with Thunderbird Two, to ascertain a time frame for the rescue. 'Thunderbird Two from Mobile Control, what's your ETA?'
'Sixteen minutes, Scott,' Virgil said after a pause, looking at the appropriate device to verify this. 'I take it you've got everything set up. What does it look like down there?'
'Not great, but the emergency services are doing well. I've been informed that the fire department need to shift the rubble in order to tackle the fire, but they don't have the equipment to do that.'
'The Firefly should be the best vehicle for that,' Virgil said knowingly.
'Once Virgil's done that, Gordon and I can go in and get the kids out,' said Alan, showing that he wanted some say in the plan.
'Right,' Scott said, agreeing. 'Gordon, Alan, wear your fireproof gear in there, it could still be hot, even after Virgil's dealt with it.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Virgil finally found a place to land, at the edge of Osaka airport, five hundred yards from where Scott had set up Mobile Control. Whilst Gordon and Alan changed into their fireproof clothing, Virgil immediately started work in the Firefly.
Scott established communications with Virgil. 'How's it going?'
'Not so bad,' Virgil said, his voice faint over the rumbling and crackling noises of the fire. He manoeuvred the vehicle to one side of the room and began to attack another part of the blaze. 'This place doesn't look too stable, though. Where should the kids be?'
'In the back room, apparently,' Scott said, referring to the blueprints given to him by Akio.
'All right,' Virgil said, happy with the now smouldering pile of remnants in the corner of the main room. 'Another five minutes, and I should be done.'
'Keep at it,' Scott encouraged. He left the microphone and turned to see two white figures hurrying towards him. Alan and Gordon were dressed in their protective clothing and ready to act.
'How long?' Alan said, panting slightly due to the sprint from Thunderbird Two to Mobile Control in the heavy clothing.
'Not long now, a couple or three minutes,' Scott said, glimpsing at the disintegrating building to his right. 'Listen, you two, Virgil says the place doesn't look too stable in there. You both be careful, okay?'
Alan understood. 'We'll be fine,' he said reassuringly.
About a minute later, the three brothers, plus dozens of onlookers, saw the Firefly back out of the destructed building. 'Mobile Control from Firefly,' Virgil said. 'All clear, you can send them in now.'
Gordon and Alan headed hastily towards the building and disappeared into the smoke. Inside, it was dark, and everything was covered with dust. Using powerful torches, they searched the area, keeping their eyes peeled and their ears open.
'This way,' Alan said, directing Gordon towards the back of the area. 'I think I heard something.'
They arrived at a large, smoke-streaked white door. There appeared to be part of a finger-painting on the front of it, partly burned away. It showed a blue sky with a warm yellow sun melted into it. There looked to be green for grass, but nothing else was visible, save the brown burn marks framing the bottom part of the paper. Alan looked at it sadly, remembering pictures like the one before him that were put on the refrigerator at their childhood home, and were treated by their father as though Picasso had painted them.
'Hello?' Alan called loudly through the door. Muffled, high-pitched screaming voices were emitted from inside, indicating that there was life within.
Wasting no time, and without prior warning, Gordon used the combination of strength, power and anger, took two steps back and ran shoulder-first towards the door. The powerful slam took the door right off of its hinges and fell through, with Gordon still on top of it.
Alan stared in awe and amazement for a moment, and then stepped through the door as Gordon was getting up, refraining from asking about the feat, but instead concentrating on the task at hand. He found eight terrified children huddled together on the floor in the corner of the room. He took two of them and hurried out of the building. Gordon followed suit and did the same.
~~
Meanwhile, Virgil had just left the Firefly when he was almost knocked flying by a frenzied woman babbling at what seemed to be several hundred miles per hour in Japanese. 'English?' Virgil asked, not understanding a word the woman was saying.
She continued to speak speedily in the same language, before grasping his arm and dragging him over to a man that could translate. After a few moments of listening to the young woman, the translator turned to Virgil and said, 'Her son is stuck and needs help. Can you get him?'
Virgil nodded, saying, 'Show me where.'
~~
Scott waited anxiously outside the decrepit building, pacing the ground to relieve some stress. Finally, he saw Alan appear with a bundle of children. He reached Scott and carefully let them down to the ground. Akio began to make sure that the children were all right.
'How many more?' Scott said, brushing a large clod of dusty dirt off of Alan's white clothing.
'Four, once Gordon comes out,' Alan said, running back towards the building.
Gordon soon appeared with two children, carrying them both with one arm. Scott looked concerned, but his brother did not stop to talk, he hastened back towards the ever-crumbling building.
'Another after-shock and...' Scott trailed off, not daring to think of the consequences.
Alan returned with two more youngsters a minute later, this time more apprehensive than the first. 'He's not breathing!' Once Alan was far enough away from the building, he let one child crawl away to be with her friends, whilst he laid the other, a boy of about six years old, on the floor and began CPR. Scott ran over to assist with the chest compressions.
After a few tense minutes, Scott said, 'There, you've done it.' The boy's chest rose up and down jaggedly as he coughed and spluttered from the smoke he had inhaled.
'Phew,' said Alan, suddenly feeling exhausted.
Akio hurried towards them. 'Thank you,' he said earnestly, shaking Alan's hand.
Scott stood up, brushed the dirt off of his trousers and took a look around the site. As something suddenly occurred to him, he said, 'Hey, has anyone seen Virgil lately?'
Alan joined him, staring around the area, and suddenly exclaimed, 'Look!'
There, in a large willow tree not fifty metres from where the two aghast brothers stood, was Virgil, having just coaxed a five-year-old boy towards him. Virgil finally got the boy to him, and put him on his shoulders. He struggled to climb down the tree, but soon reunited the child with his fretful mother.
Virgil, the hero of the moment, shook willow seeds out of his hair as he walked back over to Mobile Control. 'What?' He said, seeing the two amused faces.
'What was that?' Scott asked in disbelief, gesturing over to the tree that Virgil had recently climbed down from.
'The poor kid was scared by the earthquake, so he did what every little boy would do and climbed a tree,' Virgil explained, shrugging. 'Come on, I couldn't just leave him up there, and hope he'd land on his feet. I had to get him down.'
Scott nodded, appreciating that Virgil had done what he and the rest of his brothers would have done in the same situation; rescued him. He patted him on the back and said, 'You did the right thing.'
Alan abruptly became concerned. 'Where's Gordon? He should have been out of there by now.'
On cue, Gordon emerged from the building, carrying one child under his arm and giving the other a free piggyback ride. He looked as though he was struggling as he made it to the group and let the children to the floor.
'Gordon, are you okay?' Scott asked. Blood was smeared on the inside of the clear plastic visor, and a wet red-brown coloured patch seeping through the white material covering his shoulder.
'Gordon?' Alan repeated.
Instead of answering, Gordon's eyes rolled back in his head and he began to crumple to the floor, saved only by Virgil's quick reflexes and outstretched arms.
'Pardon me, but is he all right?' Akio said, nodding towards Gordon who hung lifelessly in Virgil's arms.
Secretly, Scott's heart had leapt to his mouth when he saw Gordon collapse, but his concern was masked by humour and briskness. 'He's okay; he's just rusty at saving lives. If you'll excuse us, Akio, we'd better be getting back to base.'
'Certainly, gentlemen. My most humble thanks to you for saving these children.'
'Don't mention it,' Virgil said as he heaved his brother over his sturdy shoulder and took him to Thunderbird Two's sickbay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~