Chapter Twenty Six
Thunderbird Four
Alan was jerked against his seat restraints as Thunderbird Four hit the water with a sharp jolt. Not the gentlest of landings, he thought even as he manipulated the controls that flooded the ballast tanks and sent Thunderbird Four beneath the surface of the Thames.
A quick flick of a switch turned on the powerful searchlights, which punched through the murky waters of the Thames scanning the bottom for any sign of monorail. Assisted by Thunderbird Four's sophisticated sensors Alan soon found the monorail.
It was lying upright on the bottom leaking small streams of bubbles from around the door and window seals. Though the windows of the carriage he could see people frantically trying to find away out struggling through water that was already up to their knees and getting deeper by the second. Fortunately the major air vents were at floor level and those had disappeared beneath the silt and mud of the riverbed. Lying all around were broken chunks of the track and support pylon. But the bulk of the support pylon while broken away from its base was intact and lying right across the monorail carriage effectively pinning it to the bottom.
Alan sighed. Why couldn't this be easy, he thought realising he was going to have to move the pylon before he could bring the monorail carriage back to the surface. And while Thunderbird Four easily had the power to move the concrete pylon it would take time. Too much time.
"Alan how are you doing?" Uncle Peter's voice came over the radio.
"I've found the monorail but its pinned by debris. I could move it but it would take longer than the people in the carriage have. Can you get a line on the broken pylon and haul it up."
"Negative all the silt and mud thrown up by the Moles passage and the collapse is playing havoc with the targeting sensors. I could hit the passengers. Remind me when this is over to have a word with Brains about improving the sensors."
Had the situation not been so dire Alan would have chuckled at his uncles words but at the moment he realised that they were in something of a catch 22 situation. If he moved the debris with Thunderbird Four's manipulative arms it would take too long and the people in the carriage would have drowned by the time he could lift them to the surface, if he did nothing then the people in the carriage would drown anyway.
From the radio he heard what sounded like Tin-Tin speaking to his uncle but he couldn't make out what she said, as she wasn't actually speaking into the voice pickup. He heard what sounded like Fermat saying something back along with Uncle Peter answer though again he couldn't here what they said. Tin-Tin's voice spoke again and then disappeared and Alan heard his uncle sigh in exasperation.
"Stand by Alan. Tin-Tin is coming down with a line," Peter said at last.
"F.A.B standing by," Alan answered calmly though inwardly he was shocked by Tin-Tin's action. As far as he knew there was no breathing apparatus on Thunderbird Two in her size, but then again Tin-Tin could hold her breath for a heck of along time.
Alan looked back at the carriage the streams of bubbles were getting thicker as more air escaped from the carriage being forced out by rising pressure inside. The more water that got in the higher the pressure inside got. Come on Tin-Tin, Alan thought.
Tin-Tin swum into his view swimming passed the now stationary Thunderbird Four towards the broken pylon pinning the carriage. And she was towing a thin but heavy-duty cable with a clamp on one end.
Alan watched anxiously as Tin-Tin swum over to the broken pylon and quickly but carefully secured the cable to it. Then began swimming towards Thunderbird Four.
"The lines secure. Commence reverse thrust," Alan told his uncle over the radio even as he opened Thunderbird Four's airlock to allow Tin-Tin on board.
"F.A.B," Peter replied.
For a moment more nothing happened then Alan saw the wire go taught then pull the pylon off the monorail car and begin to tow it away. Simultaneously Alan heard the airlock cycling and an instant later Tin-Tin came and sat at the controls beside him her uniform dripping and hair dripping wet but she looked triumphant.
"That was amazing Tin-Tin," Alan said to her with feeling even as he deployed the contact magnets on the end of Thunderbird Four's robotic armed and guided the sub closer and closer to the monorail car. He meant what he said.
"Thank you," Tin-Tin replied blushing slightly at the praise and trying not to let Alan see it. Thankfully Alan was too focused on his task to notice because if he saw her blushing Tin-Tin knew she would never hear the end of it.
Thunderbird Four abruptly shuddered as the magnets made contact with the side of the monorail carriage. Tin-Tin watched as Alan manipulated the controls of Thunderbird Four like an expert though he'd never officially handled them. Thunderbird Four began to move back towards the surface bringing the monorail carriage with it.
They broke the surface in moments and a pair of police boats immediately raced up to pick up the people from the monorail carriage who although half drowned, cold and scared were all alive and happy to be so. Alan looked over at Tin-Tin and smiled. Tin-Tin smiled back and in unison they held hands, initially just to share their sense of triumph at successfully pulling off their first ever rescue. But they were both surprised that they actually liked holding hands.
"Tin-Tin when we get back onto dry land remind me to dry you off," Alan said grinning. "No offence but you look like a drowned rat." Tin-Tin laughed.
"You can count on it," Tin-Tin replied. "And no offence taken. You're right." She looked through the windows and noticed a certain red rocket standing in Jubilee Gardens. "Alan look. Thunderbird Three is here." Alan followed her gaze and smiled brightly. In a few minutes at the latest he would see his father and brothers again and would finally breathe completely easy when he saw that they were all right with his own eyes.
Thunderbird Three
A Few Minutes Earlier
Thunderbird Three vibrated violently as Jeff Tracy pushed the mighty rocket to its atmospheric flight limits. They had to get to London and they had to get their ASAP. The Hood had to be stopped.
"Brains what's the situation in London," he asked Brains over the communications link to Tracy Island even as Thunderbird Three shot over the British coastline.
"The Hoods c…c…caused a major disaster with the Mole," Brains answered. "The m…m…monorail is d…d…down in the Thames."
"Any casualties?"
"A f…fully l…loaded carriage is o...on the bottom of the Thames. A…Alan and Tin-Tin are trying to save the people t…trapped inside with Thunderbird Four."
"Where is Thunderbird One," Jeff asked.
"She's on the ground in J…Jubilee Gardens. Peter is in T…Thunderbird Two with Fermat."
"What about Lady Penelope, Gear and Static?"
"Gear and Static are h…heading for the B…Bank of England to d…deal with the Hood. Fab One has just entered L…London and is also heading for the bank."
"Understood."
Sitting in one of the rear seats away from the three command stations at the front John looked over at Scott and exchanged a concerned look with him. They were both worried about Alan being in Thunderbird Four and how he would react if he failed to save the people trapped in the sunken monorail carriage. Alan didn't tend to take failure very well – truth be told none of them did – but it was always a horrid feeling when a rescue went wrong or when you couldn't save anyone.
The guilt was awful you constantly asked yourself if there was more that you could have done or something you could have done differently. Alan was really too young to have to face that kind of guilt on top of everything else. Especially the turning out to be a metahuman thing. Despite what Alan had said without really saying earlier John personally still wasn't convinced that Alan had really come to terms with the fact that he was a metahuman. He would only really believe it when he was actually face to face with his baby brother and could really look him in the eye something that was almost impossible to do over a vidcom link. And John could tell by looking at Scott that the eldest of the Tracy brothers felt the same way.
"Dad we're approaching London," Gordon said.
"Prepare for landing. Set us down as close as you can to Thunderbird One," Jeff instructed.
"F.A.B," Gordon replied from one of the front stations.
In seconds Thunderbird Three was over London and making right for Jubilee Gardens. As soon as they were over the gardens Jeff rotated Thunderbird Three so her thrusters were pointed at the ground. Deploying the landing rings he guided Thunderbird Three to the ground himself and they touched down with barely a bump.
"We're down," Virgil reported even as they all started releasing their restraints and standing up.
"Come on," Jeff said heading for the hatch.
A few moments later all five of them were down on the ground courtesy of a lift that deployed from the side of Thunderbird Three. They immediately raced for the riverfront to see what was happening with Alan's first ever rescue. Thunderbird Two was hovering stationary over the river having just pulled the broken pylon off the sunken monorail car.
Like everyone else who was watching Jeff, Scott, Virgil, John and Gordon metaphorically held their breath waiting to see what would happen their eyes fixed on the location of the broken monorail. A section of the river surface was bubbling furiously and abruptly the familiar yellow submarine broke the surface holding the monorail car in its manipulative arms. And like everyone else they cheered when they saw it break the surface.
Police boats raced in and while Thunderbird Four held the monorail car stationary in the water the police forced open the doors to the monorail on one side and began to take the civilians inside to safety. While fully loaded it took the police less than two minutes to completely evacuate the monorail carriage and begin pulling back. As soon as they were clear Thunderbird Four released the monorail carriage and allowed it to once more sink beneath the Thames. A proper salvage team could recover it later.
Thunderbird Four then turned and made its way towards them. With so much traffic on the river it would have been difficult for Thunderbird Two to retrieve the little yellow submarine so Peter wasn't about to try. Instead they could later take ThunderbirdTwo down the river to where it joined the sea and pick it up there.
Jeff watched eagerly as Thunderbird Four got closer and closer to the closest boat quay where it could moor up until it could be recovered. A quay that was right near his position. He was prouder than words could say of his youngest son – he had carried himself so well over this whole affair from the start and now he had just saved the lives of the people in the monorail carriage, people callously put in harms way by Trangh Belagant or the Hood as he now called himself.
Thunderbird Four pulled up at the quay and the airlock opened allowing a completely soaking wet Tin-Tin to climb out and fasten a pair of mooring lines to Thunderbird Four while Alan held her steady. Then the engines shut down and Alan climbed out of Thunderbird Four as well and looked up right into Jeff's eyes.
Alan had to work hard to contain himself as he climbed out of Thunderbird Four and looked up to see his father standing leaning over the rail of the riverside walk looking right down at him. And he could see all his brothers there as well and looking perfectly well albeit a bit covered in grime from the damage to Thunderbird Five.
"Dad," he called in delight racing up the steps towards the riverside walk completely forgetting about the soaking wet Tin-Tin for a moment. Following at a more lady-like pace Tin-Tin didn't mind a bit she knew Alan was eager to actually be with his dad again and she would not deny him a quick reunion with his dad and brothers just because she wanted Alan to dry her off with his water manipulation abilities.
Alan reached the top of the steps and raced right into his fathers welcoming hug.
"Am I glad your alright," Alan said into his dad's chest.
"I could say the same," Jeff answered as he pulled back and gave his youngest a quick once over. He could see in Alan's stance that in the few hours that had passed since the initial attack on Thunderbird Five Alan had changed. Had matured. He now really did look like he belonged in the uniform he was wearing even though it was without an individual colour code. He's ready, Jeff knew, he's still younger than I would have liked but he's ready to wear the uniform of a Thunderbird now. He's earned it.
"Hi squirt," Scott said as he ruffled Alan's hair affectionately and like dad seeing the sudden maturity in Alan. Well at least something good is coming out of all this, Scott thought and looked briefly at Jeff then at Alan again and the uniform he was wearing. Then he noticed a soaking wet Tin-Tin coming to the top of the steps also wearing a uniform. "Hi Tin-Tin you look a bit wet." Tin-Tin chuckled. Alan also looked over and grimaced.
"Oh sorry Tin-Tin I forgot," Alan said remembering he was going to dry Tin-Tin off. He moved closer to her and like he had a few hours ago back on the island put his hand on the top of her head and imagined her dry.
Jeff, Scott, John, Gordon and Virgil all watched as Alan's eyes abruptly glowed blue and a pulse of blue energy passed down the length of his arm to his hand and then onto and down Tin-Tin's body drying her as it went. The water soaking her suddenly a puddle at her feet leaving the rest of her body completely dry. Alan withdrew his hand and the blue glow disappeared from his eyes.
As they watched both John and Scott realised that Alan really had spoken the truth earlier when he'd answered John's question if he was okay. He was comfortable with being a metahuman now.
"Wow," Gordon said grinning at Alan. "Now that was impressive."
Watching Alan use his powers to dry Tin-Tin off in away that was so incredible yet seemed to be so easy to him Jeff smiled happy that Alan really seemed to have accepted what he was. Just a few short hours ago Alan would have recoiled at the very idea of using the power that was inside him but now he obviously didn't. And Jeff was proud of him for accepting it. But he knew that as much as he wanted to let Alan know that he couldn't right now. The Thunderbirds still had work to do.
"We can't stay here all day," he said in a business tone even as he heard Thunderbird Two landing again in Jubilee Gardens. "We still have a dangerous situation here," he continued and looked at Scott, John, Gordon and Virgil in turn. "I need you boys to close down this accident scene. Alan you and Tin-Tin come with me to Thunderbird One. We're going to the Bank of England we'll pick up Peter and Fermat on the way."
Everyone nodded and while his four older sons went to help the police close down this accident scene Jeff started jogging back to Jubilee Gardens with Alan and Tin-Tin jogging with him. As soon as they picked up Fermat and Peter they would take Thunderbird One over to the Bank of England.
It was time for the final showdown with the Hood.