Chapter Seven: Tempers Rising

Just under half an hour later, Virgil landed his Thunderbird in the deserted park opposite the shopping arcade. He quickly drove himself, Gordon and Tin-Tin over to Mobile Control in the Firefly, to meet with Scott and assess the current situation.

'Okay, these are the three officials of the teams we'll be working with,' Scott said, commencing the introductions. 'This is Matteo Cavallo, of the fire brigade, Lucia Felleti, Captain of the local police department, and Ricardo Migliore, chief of the bomb squad. All three speak English, so we should have no problem with communication.'

After a short discussion, a plan was formed. Scott went through the other side of the tunnel to assess the situation, and declared that it was now safe enough to take Mobile Control through to, as almost all of the roofing had been secured.

'Damn, I left the suits back in Thunderbird Two,' Virgil cursed, remembering.

'Tin-Tin, could you go back to Thunderbird Two and get the case containing the fireproof gear?' Scott said calmly, lifting one part of the mobile control console. 'We'll just be a second moving this, and then we can get this rescue started.'

Tin-Tin nodded and ran over to the great green craft. Gordon and Virgil returned to carry another part of the equipment, and all three set off through the tunnel.

Walking through the tunnel, the world around them felt as though it was rumbling. As the three dived for cover, instincts and the memories of the dream took Scott over, and he made an automatic leap for Gordon to shield him from falling rocks. Once the shower had subsided, Scott got off an indignant Gordon and looked around him. He gasped when he saw Virgil lying six or so feet from him, unmoving, with blood seeping through the fabric of one sleeve.

'Virgil,' Scott said in almost a whisper, shaking his brother's shoulders slightly. 'If you can hear me, open your eyes.'

Virgil did so, struggling for a moment before his eyelids slid back, revealing eyes filled with fear. 'Scott,' he said in a voice reflecting the pain he was in. 'My arm doesn't feel so great.'

'Okay Virg, I know, just hold still and I'll see what's happened,' Scott said, feeling as though he was talking to a young child that had scraped his knee. He hated to hear Virgil, his rock, sound so vulnerable. On further inspection, Scott found that there was a large bloody gash, accompanied by a purple bruise, where some concrete must have struck it. 'Virgil, do you hurt anywhere else?'

'My head, a bit,' he said, trying to manoeuvre himself into a sitting position.

'Gordon, tell Tin-Tin what happened, and then go and get the medical kit from Thunderbird Two.'

'I'm on it,' Gordon said, running speedily back through the tunnel.

'Think you can walk?' Scott asked.

'Yeah, just give me a couple of seconds for this place to stop spinning,' Virgil said jokingly.

'You've probably got a concussion,' Scott said.

'That wasn't exactly difficult to work out, Einstein,' Virgil said in a slow and irritated voice.

~~

'Don't fuss, Tin-Tin, I'm going to be fine,' Virgil said in an insistent voice. He felt much better since emerging from the tunnel, and had no desire to be fussed over once his arm was patched up. Besides, he had a fire to extinguish, and lives to save.

'Well, as long as you're sure,' Tin-Tin said reluctantly. Although the arm was not broken, it had taken quite a beating, and was in a susceptible state should anything force it.

'You okay, Virgil?' Scott said as he hurried over after just exiting the rock tunnel.

'I'm fine,' he said firmly, wishing that everyone would stop asking him that question.

'Good. Now, Ricardo has just assured me that there are no other bombs in the vicinity, and that the roof over the walkway has been secured, and so should now hold.'

'Okay. Say, where's Gordon?' Virgil said, looking around in search for him. His question was answered as the Firefly rolled through the hole in the debris and towards the burning building, where it proceeded to tackle the blaze engulfing the salon. 'He's driving the Firefly?' Virgil asked wearily, hoping that he had got the wrong end of the stick. Under normal circumstances, he trusted Gordon with his life, but lately, circumstances had not been normal. It was ever since Grandma won that sewing machine...

'Yes, he is,' Scott said, interrupting Virgil's thoughts. 'You certainly aren't, not with your arm strapped up, if that's what you were thinking. Don't worry, though, we'll be relaying instructions over the radio to him.'

Virgil accepted this, feeling some security knowing that he would have some control over Gordon's actions. A few minutes after Gordon disappeared into the burning building, he decided to radio Gordon. 'Firefly from Mobile Control, how's it going?'

'Not bad,' Gordon said, concentrating hard on working the vehicle he was not all that familiar with.

'About fourteen or so people are trapped people are upstairs, so try to work around that area first,' Scott said, feeling the need to say something.

'That's what I'm doing,' Gordon said in a singsong voice as he began to become irritated with his brothers constantly checking on him.

'Scott, look!' Tin-Tin gasped, all heads turning to where her slightly shaking hand was pointing. 'The fire's spread to the café, already!'

'Hey, Gordon, hurry and get to work on the left side of the building, the fire's just spread next door.'

'But you just said...'

'I know, I meant afterwards. Just be quick, anyway,' Scott said, feeling flustered. He realised what he had said, and he almost exclaimed out loud. Usually, Scott was the born leader, totally cool, calm and collected. At that moment, though, Scott felt that he had lost control over the situation, and it terrified him.

'If you don't mind, Scott, I'd rather do a thorough job getting fourteen people out of this place alive than worry about an empty building,' Gordon said through gritted teeth.

'Don't take that tone with me,' Scott snapped, angry at being talked to in that manner, even though he knew he deserved it. He watched as his control over what was going on slowly slipped away before him. He was mentally grasping for answers, a lifeline to get back in command in the situation, but they slipped through his fingers like the sand had done the day he had talked to Virgil.

'I wouldn't have to if you'd stop bugging me every three seconds,' Gordon retorted. 'You've been doing it all day, watching me like a hawk! And before that, you decide to wake me up at some godforsaken hour over some twenty-five dollars, which I never lent you!'

'Gordon,' Scott said, about to attempt to apologise and reconcile, but he was cut off.

'What is it with you?' Gordon said angrily, not giving Scott the chance to answer. 'Can't you trust me enough to keep my head and look out for myself? You think I take everything thrown at me as a joke and laugh it off, and that I could never take anything seriously, even on a rescue. If you think that, then I guess you don't know me very well.'

'Gordon, stop being immature and start concentrating on the rescue,' Scott said, almost growling into the microphone.

'Sure, Scott, I'll do just that. By the way, I work better without the constant distractions from a big brother who doesn't trust me.' With that, the radio crackled for two seconds before suddenly going dead.

'Gordon? Gordon, can you hear me? This is Mobile Control calling Firefly, do you read me?' Scott received no answer, and turned to Virgil and Tin- Tin, who had heard the entire episode, whether they wanted to or not. 'Well, how do you like that? He cut me off!' Both onlookers stood speechless. They had no idea what to say to Scott, and they would have had no idea what to say to Gordon.

~~

'This is Firefly calling Thunderbird Five,' Gordon said, praying that Thunderbird Three had not yet docked, or worse, left.

'Firefly from Thunderbird Five,' John said, wondering if there was a problem with the rescue. 'Gordon? Shouldn't Virgil be driving?'

'To cut a long story short, Virgil's arm is busted, so I'm driving,' Gordon said quickly. 'Listen, can you contact Mobile Control and tell them that the fire's out and that they can come in and get the people from the building whilst I start working on the café?'

'Is there any reason you can't tell them yourself?' John said, wondering why the transmission would go via him and not directly to Mobile Control.

'Well, to cut another long story short, Scott and I had an argument, so I cut him off.'

'Okay,' John said slowly, not sure quite what to make of the goings-on down at the danger-zone. 'Look, I'll pass on the message, and then I'll want to talk to you some more, all right?'

'Okay, Johnny, one more thing,' Gordon said hurriedly, almost stumbling over the words. 'How long before Alan arrives?'

'At least another twenty minutes,' he said before explaining, 'they had to detour to avoid a weather satellite. Why?'

'I don't want him and Brains to know,' Gordon said quietly, with a hint of meekness in his voice.

'All right, I understand. Just give me two seconds, and I'll get back to you.' After flicking a couple of switches on the colourful control panel, John said, 'Mobile Control from Thunderbird Five, anyone there?'

'Thunderbird Five from Mobile Control, Tin-Tin speaking.'

'Oh, hey, Tin-Tin. Listen, Gordon's contacted me and he says you guys can go in and get the people out of the salon now, because he's put the fire out.'

Scott overheard the conversation and said, 'Did he say anything else?'

John thought hard for a moment, knowing that there was indeed something else, before he remembered and said, 'Oh yeah, he said he was going to start working on the café next door. John out.'

After a moment, John reconnected with Gordon. 'All right, Squirt, what happened?'

Gordon concentrated for a moment on manoeuvring into the café before explaining all that had happened that day, starting with Scott waking him early that morning, and finishing with what was said during the argument. 'So, after all that, I got the impression that he doesn't trust me or something, and I told him so and then cut the communications,' he said, finishing the story.

John took in all that Gordon had told him, and thought hard about how to word his reply. 'Well, I wouldn't say he doesn't trust you, it's probably more likely that he's worried about you.'

'That's just a polite way of saying he doesn't trust me,' Gordon mumbled dejectedly.

'No, it's not. He's probably still scared that what happened to Virgil could easily happen to you, and he won't be there to save you this time. He's scared because he's got no control over you or what happens to you, and we both know what Scott's like when he's not in control,' John said, chuckling at memories of this. 'Of course, Scott would never admit to that, so you'll just have to take it from me.'

'Yeah, there may be excuses for him, but I just don't need all this right now,' Gordon sighed, before perking up and announcing, 'There, the fire's out.'

John could tell that something was troubling Gordon, something beyond the events of that day. 'What's on your mind, Gordo?'

After a moment, Gordon said, 'I got a letter the other day.' He was about to continue when a rumbling noise took place around him, and the Firefly began to shake and shudder. 'Whoa!'

John heard the loud noises along with Gordon's call, and desperately wishing he knew what was taking place, he shouted, 'Gordon!' Once the clamour had subsided, he tried again. 'Gordon! Answer me!'

Acting with great speed, John contacted Mobile Control. 'Mobile Control from Thunderbird Five, what just happened down there?'

'Thunderbird Five from Mobile Control, the ground here shook a little, and there was a loud noise, but I can't see anything, why?'

'I was just talking to Gordon when I heard a rumbling and then Gordon yelled and sounded like he was hurt or something but he won't answer now,' John said in one breath.

'Okay John, calm down,' Tin-Tin said reassuringly. 'Scott and Virgil will be out on the salon in a second, and as soon as they are I'll get them to see what happened to Gordon.'

'Thanks, Tin-Tin,' John said, cutting the communications. 'I just hope he's okay.'

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