Four
Virgil rounded the corner and skidded to a stop, before taking off at a run again. Ahead of him he could see flames shooting up on the other side of what he assumed to be a protective steel wall. But it wasn't the flames that worried him.
Scott was crouched down, obviously in agony, clutching desperately at his face. Even in the uneven, flickering light of the flames, Virgil could see that the top half of Scott's face was burnt. Horribly burnt. Virgil ran over to him and put his arm around his older brother. He could feel the heat from the flames behind them. "Let's get you away from here!"
"My face! ..." Scott gasped.
"I know. Hold on! I'll fix you up when we're out of danger." Virgil guided the injured man to the hoverbikes. "Sit here!" he ordered as he ushered Scott to the platform behind a hoverbike's seat. He pulled an anti-burn treatment from out of the storage container and sprayed it liberally on Scott's face. The spray set upon contact with the skin, cooling the burns and spreading a protective layer, like a second skin, across the damaged area.
Scott was shivering in shock.
"Hang on." Virgil ran to the other hoverbike. He opened the storage compartment and dropped in the spent burns canister. He then removed another canister as well as an emergency blanket; this was quickly wrapped around Scott's shoulders. "C'mon - let's get to safety. Swing your leg over and hang onto the back of my seat."
Virgil was pleased to note that Scott was able to accomplish this task without assistance. As soon as he was sure that his brother was seated securely he himself jumped onto the driving seat and fired the hoverbike into life. He needed to give Scott more first aid, but knew that it was imperative that they both got away from the blazing inferno.
***
"Thunderbird Five to Mobile Control... Thunderbird Five to Mobile Control... Come in Scott."
John frowned at the speakers that should have been replying to his call. It was unlike Scott to not respond promptly, especially as he'd been so confident that this rescue would be straightforward.
He decided to try one more time.
"Thunderbird Five to Mobile Control."
The speakers maintained their silent vigil.
"Okay Scott..." John said to himself "...If you're too busy to answer. I'll just have to try another tack." He changed frequency. "Thunderbird Five to Virgil..."
***
A couple of corners away from the site of the initial explosion, Virgil had decided that they were far enough that he could stop safely... at least in the short term.
He sprayed the contents of the second canister over Scott's face. "How's that feel?"
"Cold!"
"Good. That's what we want. How's the pain?"
"It's getting better now that the air can't get to it. I think that anti shock shot's starting to kick in too."
"That's good."
"How're you Virg.?"
"Me? I'm fine. Why?" Virgil was digging in the first aid kit for bandages.
"Well you're working in the dark..."
The dark? Virgil froze at the words. "The lights are still working, Scott." He said gently.
Scott looked at him. "Then why can't I see them?"
Virgil knew full well why. Scott's eyes were no longer clear and blue. They stared sightlessly out from his brothers injured face. Virgil did all he could do in the situation to protect his brother from the horror that he was looking at. He lied.
"You're eyes have swollen shut. I'm sure they're fine."
Scott raised a hand to his face to feel for himself. Virgil knocked it away. "Leave them alone! You'll only make them worse."
"You sound just like Grandma."
"Who's a very wise woman. Now hold still while I put the bandage on." Virgil began the process. It was at that moment that his watch communicator started beeping. "This is not a good time John. We're kind of busy."
"Ah." John said through the tiny speaker in Virgil's watch. "Is that why I can't get hold of Scott? You'll have to tell him then Virgil."
Virgil was still bandaging and ignoring his brother's video image. "Tell him what?"
"The scientists have all got out. They found a ventilation shaft and climbed out up the ladder."
Now Virgil looked at his watch face. John was surprised to see anger on his normally even-tempered brothers face. "They're all out?"
He sounded so angry that John was almost frightened to reply in the affirmative. "Ah - yes. They're on the surface and they're all fine."
Virgil glared at John before resuming his bandaging duties. "You mean we've wasted our precious time!"
John had never heard him speak this way before. Several times in the past International Rescue had been called out and started a rescue, only to receive the message that the victims had escaped themselves, or that it was a false alarm, or, occasionally, that it was a prank. Always in the past Virgil had taken the attitude that as long as no one was hurt, he was more than happy to waste his 'precious time.'
'Something's different this time.' John thought. Then he spoke up. "Oh by the way, you're probably already aware of this, but one of the generators has exploded..."
"Oh yes, we're well aware of that!" Virgil snapped. "It exploded in Scott's face!" He immediately regretted his outburst and looked at John's image. "Sorry John. I didn't mean to tell you like that." He removed his watch. "Scott, can you hold this, then I can talk to John while I fix you up." He guided Scott's hands so that he was holding the watch correctly.
John was pale. "Is he alright?" he asked anxiously.
"Are you going to tell him the truth?" Scott asked sombrely. "That I'm blind?"
"You're not blind Scott. Your eyelids are just swollen." Virgil tried to reassure him. But as he said the reassuring words he looked John, who if anything looked even paler, square in the eye and, using a form of sign language, signed *Can't see.*
"How's his eyes?" John asked, trying to keep his tone even.
"Swollen shut." Virgil lied. *Open. Red. Bleeding.* he signed.
"How bad are the burns?"
*Not Good*. "They don't look too bad. I've given him two doses of the treatment, an anti-shock shot and I'm bandaging his face now."
"Can you get out?" John asked.
"We can only use one hoverbike..." Virgil started to say.
"Obviously." Scott butted in.
Virgil ignored him. "...but we should make it back to The Mole okay. Sorry John, but apart from anything else, there's a whale of a fire going on down here and we want to evacuate a.s.a.p." He looked at John's video image sympathetically. "Can you let base know what's happened? I'll get The Mole to the surface then take Scott home in Thunderbird One. Then I'll bring Alan back and pick up Thunderbird Two."
"Okay Virgil. Keep in touch. I'll make sure everything's ready for when you guys get home."
"Thanks John." Virgil shut down the transmission.
"Yeah. Thanks John." Scott echoed, not realising that John couldn't hear him. He could feel Virgil finishing the bandaging off. "So Virgil." He said casually. "Are you going to tell me, exactly what you told John?"
"What do you mean?"
"Come on Virgil. I've known you guys all your lives and I can tell by the tone of your voices when you're trying to keep a secret from me."
"I'm not keeping secrets from you."
Scott grabbed Virgil's arm tightly. "I want the truth!"
Virgil took his watch back and reaffixed it to his arm. "The truth? The truth is that I don't know how bad you are. Apart from the fact that I don't have a medical degree, I've bandaged your face and I can't see the damage. Now don't worry. I'm sure everything's going to be fine." Virgil uncrossed his fingers.
Scott appeared to be satisfied with the statement for the moment. "Can you find your way back to The Mole?"
"The computer map's still working, and don't forget there's a whole lot of helpful little arrows to follow."
Scott gave a bitter laugh. "Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten about them. Didn't I say we'd been set up?"
Virgil set the hoverbike into forward gear in preparation for setting off homewards again.
As the vehicle started forward the motion was arrested by yet another explosion. Instinctively both men dove to the ground covering their heads with their arms for protection. Scott suppressed a yell of pain as his injured face banged into the ground.
A wall of dust and debris swept down the hallway, choking them, cloaking everything in a thick coat of fine powder. The hoverbike shut down...
Virgil rounded the corner and skidded to a stop, before taking off at a run again. Ahead of him he could see flames shooting up on the other side of what he assumed to be a protective steel wall. But it wasn't the flames that worried him.
Scott was crouched down, obviously in agony, clutching desperately at his face. Even in the uneven, flickering light of the flames, Virgil could see that the top half of Scott's face was burnt. Horribly burnt. Virgil ran over to him and put his arm around his older brother. He could feel the heat from the flames behind them. "Let's get you away from here!"
"My face! ..." Scott gasped.
"I know. Hold on! I'll fix you up when we're out of danger." Virgil guided the injured man to the hoverbikes. "Sit here!" he ordered as he ushered Scott to the platform behind a hoverbike's seat. He pulled an anti-burn treatment from out of the storage container and sprayed it liberally on Scott's face. The spray set upon contact with the skin, cooling the burns and spreading a protective layer, like a second skin, across the damaged area.
Scott was shivering in shock.
"Hang on." Virgil ran to the other hoverbike. He opened the storage compartment and dropped in the spent burns canister. He then removed another canister as well as an emergency blanket; this was quickly wrapped around Scott's shoulders. "C'mon - let's get to safety. Swing your leg over and hang onto the back of my seat."
Virgil was pleased to note that Scott was able to accomplish this task without assistance. As soon as he was sure that his brother was seated securely he himself jumped onto the driving seat and fired the hoverbike into life. He needed to give Scott more first aid, but knew that it was imperative that they both got away from the blazing inferno.
***
"Thunderbird Five to Mobile Control... Thunderbird Five to Mobile Control... Come in Scott."
John frowned at the speakers that should have been replying to his call. It was unlike Scott to not respond promptly, especially as he'd been so confident that this rescue would be straightforward.
He decided to try one more time.
"Thunderbird Five to Mobile Control."
The speakers maintained their silent vigil.
"Okay Scott..." John said to himself "...If you're too busy to answer. I'll just have to try another tack." He changed frequency. "Thunderbird Five to Virgil..."
***
A couple of corners away from the site of the initial explosion, Virgil had decided that they were far enough that he could stop safely... at least in the short term.
He sprayed the contents of the second canister over Scott's face. "How's that feel?"
"Cold!"
"Good. That's what we want. How's the pain?"
"It's getting better now that the air can't get to it. I think that anti shock shot's starting to kick in too."
"That's good."
"How're you Virg.?"
"Me? I'm fine. Why?" Virgil was digging in the first aid kit for bandages.
"Well you're working in the dark..."
The dark? Virgil froze at the words. "The lights are still working, Scott." He said gently.
Scott looked at him. "Then why can't I see them?"
Virgil knew full well why. Scott's eyes were no longer clear and blue. They stared sightlessly out from his brothers injured face. Virgil did all he could do in the situation to protect his brother from the horror that he was looking at. He lied.
"You're eyes have swollen shut. I'm sure they're fine."
Scott raised a hand to his face to feel for himself. Virgil knocked it away. "Leave them alone! You'll only make them worse."
"You sound just like Grandma."
"Who's a very wise woman. Now hold still while I put the bandage on." Virgil began the process. It was at that moment that his watch communicator started beeping. "This is not a good time John. We're kind of busy."
"Ah." John said through the tiny speaker in Virgil's watch. "Is that why I can't get hold of Scott? You'll have to tell him then Virgil."
Virgil was still bandaging and ignoring his brother's video image. "Tell him what?"
"The scientists have all got out. They found a ventilation shaft and climbed out up the ladder."
Now Virgil looked at his watch face. John was surprised to see anger on his normally even-tempered brothers face. "They're all out?"
He sounded so angry that John was almost frightened to reply in the affirmative. "Ah - yes. They're on the surface and they're all fine."
Virgil glared at John before resuming his bandaging duties. "You mean we've wasted our precious time!"
John had never heard him speak this way before. Several times in the past International Rescue had been called out and started a rescue, only to receive the message that the victims had escaped themselves, or that it was a false alarm, or, occasionally, that it was a prank. Always in the past Virgil had taken the attitude that as long as no one was hurt, he was more than happy to waste his 'precious time.'
'Something's different this time.' John thought. Then he spoke up. "Oh by the way, you're probably already aware of this, but one of the generators has exploded..."
"Oh yes, we're well aware of that!" Virgil snapped. "It exploded in Scott's face!" He immediately regretted his outburst and looked at John's image. "Sorry John. I didn't mean to tell you like that." He removed his watch. "Scott, can you hold this, then I can talk to John while I fix you up." He guided Scott's hands so that he was holding the watch correctly.
John was pale. "Is he alright?" he asked anxiously.
"Are you going to tell him the truth?" Scott asked sombrely. "That I'm blind?"
"You're not blind Scott. Your eyelids are just swollen." Virgil tried to reassure him. But as he said the reassuring words he looked John, who if anything looked even paler, square in the eye and, using a form of sign language, signed *Can't see.*
"How's his eyes?" John asked, trying to keep his tone even.
"Swollen shut." Virgil lied. *Open. Red. Bleeding.* he signed.
"How bad are the burns?"
*Not Good*. "They don't look too bad. I've given him two doses of the treatment, an anti-shock shot and I'm bandaging his face now."
"Can you get out?" John asked.
"We can only use one hoverbike..." Virgil started to say.
"Obviously." Scott butted in.
Virgil ignored him. "...but we should make it back to The Mole okay. Sorry John, but apart from anything else, there's a whale of a fire going on down here and we want to evacuate a.s.a.p." He looked at John's video image sympathetically. "Can you let base know what's happened? I'll get The Mole to the surface then take Scott home in Thunderbird One. Then I'll bring Alan back and pick up Thunderbird Two."
"Okay Virgil. Keep in touch. I'll make sure everything's ready for when you guys get home."
"Thanks John." Virgil shut down the transmission.
"Yeah. Thanks John." Scott echoed, not realising that John couldn't hear him. He could feel Virgil finishing the bandaging off. "So Virgil." He said casually. "Are you going to tell me, exactly what you told John?"
"What do you mean?"
"Come on Virgil. I've known you guys all your lives and I can tell by the tone of your voices when you're trying to keep a secret from me."
"I'm not keeping secrets from you."
Scott grabbed Virgil's arm tightly. "I want the truth!"
Virgil took his watch back and reaffixed it to his arm. "The truth? The truth is that I don't know how bad you are. Apart from the fact that I don't have a medical degree, I've bandaged your face and I can't see the damage. Now don't worry. I'm sure everything's going to be fine." Virgil uncrossed his fingers.
Scott appeared to be satisfied with the statement for the moment. "Can you find your way back to The Mole?"
"The computer map's still working, and don't forget there's a whole lot of helpful little arrows to follow."
Scott gave a bitter laugh. "Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten about them. Didn't I say we'd been set up?"
Virgil set the hoverbike into forward gear in preparation for setting off homewards again.
As the vehicle started forward the motion was arrested by yet another explosion. Instinctively both men dove to the ground covering their heads with their arms for protection. Scott suppressed a yell of pain as his injured face banged into the ground.
A wall of dust and debris swept down the hallway, choking them, cloaking everything in a thick coat of fine powder. The hoverbike shut down...