He sat at his favorite spot high on the hill overlooking the town of San Pablo de los Angeles. Miguel Velez often came here when there was trouble at home. Today was no different. So as he did so many times, he climbed the steep hill up and over the top and to the other side to sit on the large rock that jutted out over Muerte Ravine. There was no place for him to cross over to reach the town, but that wasn't why he was there. He came to watch the everyday life of the townspeople. There was hardly anyone left nowadays, they were all evacuated to Esperanza Nueva. But the army was still there helping to ferry those that were left to the town a few kilometers away. So he came to watch and forget his troubles at home.
He didn't realize he was in for a special treat today. He heard it first, then he saw a huge green bird float out of the sky and land in the field usually used for growing corn. He was held in rapt attention watching this giant. He was surprised to see uniformed men leave this great machine. At first he thought that the government had a new weapon. But upon more thought, he realized that no army would dress in such bright blue uniforms making for such easy targets. Who or what were they? He wasn't close enough to see their faces, but the more he watched, the more enthralled he became. At one point the great green machine rose up on four legs, leaving its body behind. Then the body opened up revealing another interesting piece of equipment. He had never seen anything like it. He had seen army trucks, and construction machines, but nothing that looked like this at all. He followed one of the blue uniformed soldiers who was driving it. He took his eyes off of that machine when he caught the large green one lowering itself back onto its body. It was fascinating. He saw two of the other blue soldiers headed for the church. He didn't remember the church being damaged the last time he was there. But, with the war going on, nothing is unexpected, except maybe these new blue people. He was frozen to his position watching what was unfolding before his eyes. In a matter of minutes he saw children emerge from the badly damaged church being assisted by the blue men. They must be special, he thought. They come in a great flying machine, bring children out from the ruins of a church, it was the only conclusion he could come to, that they had special magic.
Suddenly there was mortar fire. Even though he couldn't get to the village from where he sat, the mortars could still reach him. The 13 yr old got up and ran for home.
Even with a staff, Virgil found it difficult to walk near the stream. He had fallen several times already and was exhausted. But the forest was too thick, making travel through the undergrowth even more difficult than the bank of the stream. He stopped to rest sitting on a moss covered fallen tree trunk next to the water. He had trouble thinking straight, he had no energy left. He didn't remember where he had come from, or why he was in such bad shape. He was torn suddenly out of his thoughts by the sounds of something crashing through the forest. Whatever it was, it was big. The sound stopped, followed by the roar. There was no mistaking that what he heard coming was a bear. He had come face to face with a bear before and he knows not to be around them. So he got up and tried to hurry away. He half ran, half hopped using the crutch for support. He didn't make it far, when he stumbled and fell again. He stayed down for a moment to listen to see if the bear was coming in his direction. He heard nothing. He waited longer and was satisfied that it wasn't pursuing him. He still he needed to put more distance between him and the bear, so he got up and continued to run away. He fell once more. He landed in the stream and this time didn't get up. Even though the water was cold, he had no strength left to get up. His mind fell into the dark inky depths of unconsciousness.
As time floated by in the real world, there was no time where Virgil was visiting at the moment. There were no minutes or hours just oily darkness. As the water beat against his body, his face slowly slid off a rock and into the cold rushing water. That brought his mind out of the black depths. He raised his head and looked around. He was freezing and he noticed that it was getting dark. Shivering violently, he spotted a rock overhang just yards away and slowly and painfully crawled to it. The floor was littered with forest debris, which has a natural composting heat to it. Under the protection of the overhang, and lying on a relatively warm soft bed, Virgil curled up and fell back into the mind abyss.
Scott was at Esperanza Nueva in minutes. He was starting to get frustrated looking for a place to land the huge ship in the small town surrounded by thick forests. He finally found a small but adequate meadow to set TB2 down in. He called the local authorities letting them know where to pick up the children and injured. He and Gordon were offloading their living cargo and Scott was starting to get anxious waiting for the transport vehicles to arrive. He did not want to just abandon these people without some sort of help. But he needed to get back to San Pablo to look for Virgil. He knows something bad has happened to him. He would have contacted them somehow if he were near. Just as the last adult was taken off of Thunderbird 2, Scott saw the first of several vehicles emerge from the surrounding forest. A constable was in the first car, a beat up old American Buick station wagon. He got out and greeted Scott warmly. Scott did not want to risk being rude in a foreign land and was polite back to the officer. But he needed to convey to the local authority that he needed to go.
"Thank you Senor for bringing the children here. It is a great comfort to know that they are all safe and sound now." The constable said. Scott answered. "I'm glad we were able to be of assistance for you. I am sorry to be in such a rush, but we still have people in need of help back at the other village. Would you please excuse us?" And without waiting for an answer, Scott turned and trotted back to TB2. Once inside, he settled back into the pilot's chair, sitting there, impatiently waiting for the people to clear the area. He couldn't start his Thunderbird up without the thrusters hurting people. They had come too close when they arrived. Gordon came over, "What's the holdup, Scott?" "It's these darn villagers, they are taking their time moving away from TB2."
Gordon said, "I'll take care of that" and got onto the loud speaker. "Limpie por favor el área como nosotros preparamos para levantar lejos". Several of the people looked up at the great ship then hurried into their vehicles. They were away from TB2 within a minute. "What did you say, Gordo?" He answered, I simply said, "Please clear the area as we prepare to lift off".
"Ok, let's go" and Scott hit the thrusters.
"John from Thunderbird 2, can you read me John?"
"I gotcha TB2, what's your ETA?"
"We are only 2 minutes away. Any luck with Virgil?" Scott asked anxiously.
"No. The soldiers and I turned this town upside down. There is no sign that Virgil went into any of these buildings. Just before you land, do a thermal imaging of the town and surrounding area." John said.
"Already planned. In fact, we're doing it now." Scott answered as he watched a map printout pour out of the imager. He tore it off and handed it to Gordon. "See anything?" Gordon looked at the map while Scott set TB2 back down in the cornfield.
Back outside, the light was fading, so just before exiting TB2, Scott turned on the powerful halogen lights which lit up just about the whole town. He and Gordon met John just outside TB2 and all three of them studied the map. There were several images in the town but John was able to clarify that they were soldiers. He pointed to several other spots, "These are either too large or small to be human. We can probably forget these." Gordon pointed to several more "These could be human, but they are in the direction that the rebel attack came from. How would Virgil have gotten over there without us seeing him?" Scott answered, "Maybe he was taken captive and was taken there the long way. There is one more spot here." John and Gordon looked closely at it. "The thermal waves indicate that it is not hot enough to be human. I think the best bet is to see what those images on the other side are. Hopefully Captain Rojo will take us there in case they are rebels holding Virgil." Gordon said.
Scott went over to Captain Rojo and explained the situation. Captain Rojo said, "Normally I would not take you out as the sunlight is almost gone. But I know what you did for us by coming here and risking your lives for ours, so I will send an escort out with you. But you listen to them! Let them take the lead. I do not want to have the world knowing that Cumaguay killed International Rescue." Scott asked, "Do you think rebel soldiers could have captured him?" Captain Rojo responded. "I hope not Senor. But you will know soon enough."
Scott asked, "Why's that?"
"If the rebels captured him to keep him alive, it will be for money. They need money and will ransom him. Otherwise, they do not take prisoners." He said sadly.
"Thanks Captain" Scott said and went back to let the other two know the plan. But he didn't tell them about what the rebels would do if Virgil fell into their hands. "Let's get ourselves armed. By the time we come back outside, the escort should be ready. John, stay here in case Virgil shows up."
"NO WAY" complained John. "Uh, uh, I am not sitting here just waiting. There are plenty of soldiers around to help him if he stumbles his way back into town. If he is ok, he knows enough to stay with TB2 until we return. So, NO WAY am I not coming with you." Scott backed down quickly. He doesn't ever remember such a long diatribe from his quiet younger brother. "Ok, let's go, we are burning daylight." And off they went.
Two soldiers took the point and two took the flank position. The three Tracy brothers were hemmed in the middle. The soldiers looked at the coordinates on the imager map and knew where to head for the first group of images. As they approached the area, the sergeant in command signaled the group to get down and stay quiet. He then took 2 of the other soldiers and quietly slipped into the brush. There came a burst of screaming and shouting in Spanish, then silence. The sergeant then strolled back out of the brush. "Senor, they were just three village people who ran during the firefight. They were waiting until dark to go back home. They are some of the few that refuse to leave the town. Let's continue to the next location." And he signaled them to continue on. When they came to the next area, the sergeant once again made the Tracys get down, leaving just one soldier with them. The three Cumaguans slipped back into the bush again. This time, the only noise to erupt out of the forest was gunfire. It was furious but brief. The three brothers looked at each other. They were hoping that the sergeant would emerge triumphantly from the woods with their brother in tow. But, only the soldiers came back. "I'm sorry senor, your map was kind enough to show us where a small band of rebels lay sleeping. We did not see any American." Scott was sick when he realized his thermal imager just led to the death of several people. Rebel or not, International Rescue did not want their technology used for such purposes. This was exactly what they tried to avoid with all their secrecy.
"Senor, we have one more place to check. Por favour, let's go". At the last location, the same beginning scenario of getting down and staying behind occurred. But this time, the place was empty. "Senor, it seems that there were people here, but they are gone. There is no sign that any one of them was your friend. It is very dark now, and not safe for anyone to be out here, we should go back".
As the small troop of men returned to town, Gordon spoke up, "I think we should go back out. We have strong enough flashlights and small arms, we don't need any escort." The captain overheard him. "That is not a good idea. The rebels have set plenty of booby-traps. Your lights would just attract them to you as it would moths. It would be better to wait until morning."
Scott turned to his two brothers, "We are set up for night rescue, not night fighting. The captain is right. So do you want to spend the night here or at home?" "John answered, "That's a dumb question. Here, of course." Gordon nodded in agreement "Yeah, if he comes strolling back into town I want to be here." Scott said, "I didn't think you would have it any other way. I'll call dad to …….Oh my God, dad doesn't know yet!"