Forty Nine - BF
Everything had gone smoothly. Thunderbird Two's landing place, the position where The Domo had to operate from and The Mole's drilling place had been, in Alan's words, 'Spot on'.
Virgil was seated in The Domo. The Demolition and Object Moving Operator was doing its job well. The wall was gently being pulled away from the pile of rubble that it had threatened to fall on. Virgil used his left hand to adjust the tension on the artificial gravity suction pads. It was a constant challenge, keeping the tension exactly right, while his right hand operated the amount of thrust coming from The Domo's motors.
He'd been doing it for just on two hours and the muscles in his arms were starting to complain. Especially his left. His first job back on full duties wasn't physically demanding, but was still taking its toll.
***
Back on Tracy Island Jeff Tracy stared at the row of portraits and drummed his fingers irritability. He still wasn't 100 percent convinced that Scott was up to it, but as his other sons had been more than happy to have their big brother back on the job he'd kept his concerns to himself.
It was all that he could do to stop himself from calling Mobile Control every five minutes for a progress report. As it was he contented himself with calling John in Thunderbird Five every half hour, and beating a tattoo on the desk.
"Jeff will you stop that!" his mother finally said with a trace of irritation in her voice.
"Stop what?" he asked absently.
"That infernal noise."
"What noise?"
She stood up and walked over to the desk, before pressing his hand into the desktop. "Keep those fingers still!"
He looked at where her small, wrinkled hand covered his larger one. "Oh. Sorry Mother."
"He'll be fine." She said reassuringly squeezing his hand. "They all will. They know what they are doing. First sign of trouble and John will take over!"
"I know." He looked at her kindly face and then back at the portraits. "I think I'll give John a call..."
She gave an exasperated sigh. "You'll drive the poor boy to distraction. And Scott will think you don't trust him. And you do don't you Jeff... Jeff?" She peered closely into his face.
He looked away.
"Jeff Tracy!" she scolded. "You've never been happy with Scott being Rescue Co-ordinator again, have you!"
Somewhat shamefaced he managed to look at her. "No. Sorry, Mother." He repeated
"It's not me you should be apologising to. It's Scott! You realise that you're the only one who doesn't think he can do it!"
"It's not that I don't think that he can do it... It's that... I don't know... This whole rescue has got me worried..."
***
Alan and Gordon had broken through to the basement where the people were trapped. It had taken a long time for The Mole to reach its destination. They'd dug down deep to avoid the foundations and to reduce the amount of vibrations to the building. They were painfully aware of how tenuous The Domo's grasp on the wall was. The last few metres had been tunnelled at a speed that was little more than a crawl.
The door from The Mole slid open. "Come on." Alan urged "Lets go find them."
Gordon grabbed an oxygen cylinder and followed his younger brother out the door. Together they exited the room they'd surfaced in and made their way down a hallway to where they'd assumed those trapped would be.
The door was jammed shut.
"Better use the laser on it." Gordon instructed and Alan fired the tool into life. In a short space of time the door was falling away from them.
It landed in a cloud of dust.
Six pair of eyes blinked at them, the seventh was hidden behind some debris.
Gordon grabbed the oxygen cylinder and ran over to where one lady was being support by two of her colleagues. She was clearly struggling to breathe. "Just relax." He said kindly. "We'll have you out of here shortly." Deftly he slipped the oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. He watched her face start to relax as breathing became easier. "Feeling better?"
She nodded.
Alan was checking on the trapped man. "How're you feeling?" he asked. "Have you got any pain anywhere?"
"No, I haven't, young man. I just can't move my blessed legs. There's something holding them down."
Alan examined the chunk of concrete that lay across the lower half of the victim. "I'll need a hand for moving this. I'll get my colleague." He turned to where his brother was assisting the asthma victim over to the door. "Gordon! I'll need your assistance, and a couple of jacks."
"Okay. I'll bring them back with me." Gordon acknowledged.
Seeing that the other five victims were trailing after Gordon, Alan concentrated on clearing as much debris as he dared from around the trapped man. As he did so he kept on talking, engaging the victim in conversation to keep him calm. "So what's your role in the hospital?"
"I'm a mortuary attendant."
This floored Alan for a moment. "Oh... That would be... interesting. Is that where we are? The mortuary?" He tried not to imagine that he was surrounded by dead bodies.
The man chuckled. "No. This is a storage area. Things had been pretty quiet in my department, so I was helping out here."
"I would have thought things would always be quiet in your 'department'." Alan said.
The man chuckled again. He seemed to be way too cheerful a chap to be working in the mortuary. "True, we don't get too many complaints from our 'guests'." A shower of dust sprinkled down on them from the ceiling. "How safe is that roof?" he asked showing some concern.
Alan was reassuring. "Don't worry. We've got it under control."
"Well that's grand. I really admire you guys, risking your necks for people you don't even know. If only there were more people in the world like you. Unselfish."
"We just do what we can." Alan admitted looking at his watch. How long had Gordon been?
Gordon was making sure his charges were safely seated in The Mole. He also radioed Scott to check how things were holding up.
"Virgil's reporting that one of the suction pads seems to be coming loose," Scott's disembodied voice told him. "Better get a move on."
"F-A-B." Gordon acknowledged and once again left The Mole. He reached the door they'd just cut open when there was a rumbling sound from above them. Instinctively he crouched down to protect himself.
Alan was also aware of the rumbling. As debris started to rain down he threw himself over the sole remaining victim, becoming a human shield. Through his wristwatch telecom he realised that Virgil was yelling something about suction pad two having slipped. It was the last thing he was aware of before the chunk of concrete caught him on the head and knocked him unconscious...
Everything had gone smoothly. Thunderbird Two's landing place, the position where The Domo had to operate from and The Mole's drilling place had been, in Alan's words, 'Spot on'.
Virgil was seated in The Domo. The Demolition and Object Moving Operator was doing its job well. The wall was gently being pulled away from the pile of rubble that it had threatened to fall on. Virgil used his left hand to adjust the tension on the artificial gravity suction pads. It was a constant challenge, keeping the tension exactly right, while his right hand operated the amount of thrust coming from The Domo's motors.
He'd been doing it for just on two hours and the muscles in his arms were starting to complain. Especially his left. His first job back on full duties wasn't physically demanding, but was still taking its toll.
***
Back on Tracy Island Jeff Tracy stared at the row of portraits and drummed his fingers irritability. He still wasn't 100 percent convinced that Scott was up to it, but as his other sons had been more than happy to have their big brother back on the job he'd kept his concerns to himself.
It was all that he could do to stop himself from calling Mobile Control every five minutes for a progress report. As it was he contented himself with calling John in Thunderbird Five every half hour, and beating a tattoo on the desk.
"Jeff will you stop that!" his mother finally said with a trace of irritation in her voice.
"Stop what?" he asked absently.
"That infernal noise."
"What noise?"
She stood up and walked over to the desk, before pressing his hand into the desktop. "Keep those fingers still!"
He looked at where her small, wrinkled hand covered his larger one. "Oh. Sorry Mother."
"He'll be fine." She said reassuringly squeezing his hand. "They all will. They know what they are doing. First sign of trouble and John will take over!"
"I know." He looked at her kindly face and then back at the portraits. "I think I'll give John a call..."
She gave an exasperated sigh. "You'll drive the poor boy to distraction. And Scott will think you don't trust him. And you do don't you Jeff... Jeff?" She peered closely into his face.
He looked away.
"Jeff Tracy!" she scolded. "You've never been happy with Scott being Rescue Co-ordinator again, have you!"
Somewhat shamefaced he managed to look at her. "No. Sorry, Mother." He repeated
"It's not me you should be apologising to. It's Scott! You realise that you're the only one who doesn't think he can do it!"
"It's not that I don't think that he can do it... It's that... I don't know... This whole rescue has got me worried..."
***
Alan and Gordon had broken through to the basement where the people were trapped. It had taken a long time for The Mole to reach its destination. They'd dug down deep to avoid the foundations and to reduce the amount of vibrations to the building. They were painfully aware of how tenuous The Domo's grasp on the wall was. The last few metres had been tunnelled at a speed that was little more than a crawl.
The door from The Mole slid open. "Come on." Alan urged "Lets go find them."
Gordon grabbed an oxygen cylinder and followed his younger brother out the door. Together they exited the room they'd surfaced in and made their way down a hallway to where they'd assumed those trapped would be.
The door was jammed shut.
"Better use the laser on it." Gordon instructed and Alan fired the tool into life. In a short space of time the door was falling away from them.
It landed in a cloud of dust.
Six pair of eyes blinked at them, the seventh was hidden behind some debris.
Gordon grabbed the oxygen cylinder and ran over to where one lady was being support by two of her colleagues. She was clearly struggling to breathe. "Just relax." He said kindly. "We'll have you out of here shortly." Deftly he slipped the oxygen mask over her nose and mouth. He watched her face start to relax as breathing became easier. "Feeling better?"
She nodded.
Alan was checking on the trapped man. "How're you feeling?" he asked. "Have you got any pain anywhere?"
"No, I haven't, young man. I just can't move my blessed legs. There's something holding them down."
Alan examined the chunk of concrete that lay across the lower half of the victim. "I'll need a hand for moving this. I'll get my colleague." He turned to where his brother was assisting the asthma victim over to the door. "Gordon! I'll need your assistance, and a couple of jacks."
"Okay. I'll bring them back with me." Gordon acknowledged.
Seeing that the other five victims were trailing after Gordon, Alan concentrated on clearing as much debris as he dared from around the trapped man. As he did so he kept on talking, engaging the victim in conversation to keep him calm. "So what's your role in the hospital?"
"I'm a mortuary attendant."
This floored Alan for a moment. "Oh... That would be... interesting. Is that where we are? The mortuary?" He tried not to imagine that he was surrounded by dead bodies.
The man chuckled. "No. This is a storage area. Things had been pretty quiet in my department, so I was helping out here."
"I would have thought things would always be quiet in your 'department'." Alan said.
The man chuckled again. He seemed to be way too cheerful a chap to be working in the mortuary. "True, we don't get too many complaints from our 'guests'." A shower of dust sprinkled down on them from the ceiling. "How safe is that roof?" he asked showing some concern.
Alan was reassuring. "Don't worry. We've got it under control."
"Well that's grand. I really admire you guys, risking your necks for people you don't even know. If only there were more people in the world like you. Unselfish."
"We just do what we can." Alan admitted looking at his watch. How long had Gordon been?
Gordon was making sure his charges were safely seated in The Mole. He also radioed Scott to check how things were holding up.
"Virgil's reporting that one of the suction pads seems to be coming loose," Scott's disembodied voice told him. "Better get a move on."
"F-A-B." Gordon acknowledged and once again left The Mole. He reached the door they'd just cut open when there was a rumbling sound from above them. Instinctively he crouched down to protect himself.
Alan was also aware of the rumbling. As debris started to rain down he threw himself over the sole remaining victim, becoming a human shield. Through his wristwatch telecom he realised that Virgil was yelling something about suction pad two having slipped. It was the last thing he was aware of before the chunk of concrete caught him on the head and knocked him unconscious...