THREE
Scott was intent on the task at hand. He looped the lifeline around his arm and knelt down on one knee. The giant, metallic hulk was situated at an angle with the great jaw of the shovel slightly askew, while its huge main body was more vertical, but leaning slightly into the void at its heaviest point. It came down to a question of weight and balance. If Scott could tie the cable off on the shovel end and tip the balance, keeping it in place just so, then he could use the Digger's mass to lift the weight of the stone wall off Virgil. A great plan, if it worked. But if his calculations were off the mark by just a little, Virgil would certainly be crushed and he would probably be knocked off the ledge and down into a nothingness from which he would never return.
He squared his jaw. Now was not the time to start second guessing himself. He had to appear sure of himself, for Virgil's sake. His reverie was interrupted by a tortured cry of pain coming from behind him.
"No! Virgil...Don't! The walls...!"
He quickly ran to his brother and cupped one hand tightly over his mouth, stifling his screams. He spotted the offending arthropod and swatted it into next week with the other hand. He looked back to the wall of the cave. Gravel was raining down once again as the great machine slipped another few centimeters.
"No!" Scott cried, raising his voice to the heavens in frustration. "Please, give me a chance to get us out of here! Give us a chance to help ourselves, dammit!" As if in response to his pleas, all became quiet once again.
He sank to his knees, emotionally and physically exhausted, his head spinning.
"S-Scott ..."
He scrambled back over to his brother, fearful.
"Virg, speak to me! Are you okay?"
"D-Don't..."
He swallowed hard and began to shake uncontrollably. Scott had to lean down to him to hear him speak. He tried again.
"Don't want you...to die...because of me. P-Please, get yourself out...while you still can!" He dissolved into a paroxysm of coughing.
"No way am I leaving you, Virgil! No way!"
He forced himself to his feet and made his way to where the lifeline was tied to the shovel, making sure the cable was secure and would not slip off. He turned back to his brother.
"Okay Virg, this is it, When I give the word, I want you to try and roll to your right as fast as you possibly can. You're gonna need to move like you've never done before, understand?"
Their eyes met and Virgil's expression faltered. "I'm-I'm not sure if I can, Scott. M-My legs. C-Can't feel them."
Virgil licked his dry lips and tried to continue. Scott noticed the slur in his speech and realized that the scorpion's venom was probably beginning to affect him. His heart began to race. How could he get his brother out of this situation if he couldn't even get himself out of the way?
>>>>>+>>>>>+
"Alan Tracy to Base. Come in please!"
"Go ahead, Alan," came Jeff's reply.
"Father, we have Kauai in our sights and will be on the ground in approximately ten minutes."
"That's great, son! Let us know what you find A.S.A.P. Your grandmother is letting her imagination get the best of her and the sooner we know, the better."
"Okay, Father! Will do, Tracy out."
Jeff turned to his mother.
"Now Jeff, why did you go and tell him that? I just want to know if they're all right like everyone else, you know. I have a right to be worried too; they are my grandsons after all."
"I know, Mother, and I'm sorry. It's just that...it's just..."
Ruth Tracy came around to the desk to put a comforting hand on her son's shoulder.
"I know, son, I know. Don't worry; those two can make it through anything. Gordon and Alan will have them home in time for supper. Count on it!"
"Of course, you're right," Jeff conceded. "If anyone can get themselves out of a jam, it's Scott and Virgil."
>>>>>+>>>>>+
"Okay, Virg, here we go."
"Scott, wait!"
"Why, what's wrong?"
"I-I just...want you to know...you know."
"Yeah, Virg. Yeah, I know."
He smiled faintly and gazed into the eyes of the brother to whom he'd always been the closest. They exchanged a knowing look. He turned away from him a final time and closed his eyes.
"Please don't let me screw this up," he prayed softly.
The major logistical problem before him now was how to get the Digger to fall end over end into the void, taking the rock slab with it. Currently, it was threatening to fall over sideways, right on top of them. Scott's mind raced to try and come up with a way to tip the balance in the direction he wanted. As he glanced around the area, his eye once again caught the glint of metal. It was the piece he had used earlier to dig Virgil out from under the debris. A sudden inspiration struck him. He grabbed the makeshift shovel head and jumped a couple of feet off of the ground. As he did so, he embedded the piece of metal into the cavern wall. He hung from it for a brief moment and then pulled his six foot two frame up by his forearms. He waited. So far, so good. No disturbance in the surrounding soil. He let out a deep breath and reached out with his left hand to steady himself on a small outcropping of rock. With his right hand, he pulled the metal out again. He gained a little momentum by pushing off of the rock with his left hand and reached up as high as he could to plant it another 3 feet or so above him. Again, he pulled his body up to match the new height.
Virgil watched in fascination as his brother repeated the steps until he was high enough to use the rock outcropping as leverage to stand on. He began to realize what Scott's intention was as he was now almost even with the gaping jaws of the great bulldozer. The bottom of the huge shovel was angled backwards which meant it was facing toward him, providing a platform for him to stand on.
All he had to do was reach over a few feet and grab onto the shovel, while using the piece of scrap metal anchored in the soil to steady himself. Hope rose in Virgil as he watched his brother about to attain his goal. That's when it happened.
The piece of metal he was holding onto came loose. Virgil gasped as Scott lost his footing, about to plummet 10 feet to the ground, and a bit too close to the edge of the ledge.
"S-Scott!"
He swallowed hard and rested his head back on the ground as Scott grabbed a hold of the great shovel's edge and hung on. His eyes were clenched shut as he waited for his added weight to pull the whole thing over on top of Virgil. When it didn't happen, he opened his eyes once more and winked at his younger brother.
Virgil's expression was haggard, but he still managed a faint smile. Neither brother spoke as Scott gingerly made an attempt to find some secure footing. He could feel his heart thumping wildly as he slowly pulled himself up and onto the surface of the great shovel. He couldn't believe his luck as the whole contraption remained steady and all that was lost in the process were a few handfuls of earth and most of his wits. He moved forward with renewed confidence, testing the stability of the machine against the loosening soil of the cave wall. It was holding...for now. It seemed that given the location he was standing in, the Digger was now counter-balanced, meaning it wouldn't fall either way. The problem was, he needed it to fall or this nightmare they were trapped in was never going to end.Scott tried pushing his feet against the struts holding the shovel. Nothing happened. He thought furiously as he gazed upward at the main body of the great behemoth.That's when the idea struck him. The solution was so simple, so obvious. He silently cursed himself for not coming up with it sooner. A weak voice made him turn around. Virgil had apparently guessed what his brother was intending.
"Yes. Yes...It sh-should...work." Virgil coughed. "B-Be careful, big b-brother."
"I will Virg, I will," was his only reply. Okay, show time!
He remembered that the piece of metal he had used to climb up to the Digger had come loose and fallen to the ground, leaving him with no tools. All he had left were the 2 metal canisters contained in his utility belt. At least he hadn't lost them, he mused. They weren't as good as a shovel but they were better than nothing. He pulled out the one holding the spare laser clips for his blaster pistol. Not something one should be digging with, but better than using the cylinder full of stun gas. It would most definitely put a crimp in his plans if he were to be rendered unconscious right now. He reached as high as he could with the first cylinder and began removing soil just under the area where the machine's greatest weight was supported. He knew if he could get that part going, inertia would take the whole thing right over the edge.
>>>>>+>>>>>+
"There, Alan, look!" Gordon cried as he spotted the two Thunderbirds on the ground below them.
"I see them, Gords! I see them. Well, everything looks okay from up here..." Alan's face fell as they got closer and his eyes were able to focus on the huge, gaping hole coming into view below them.
"Thunderbird Two is still up on her struts with the Pod door opened, like they didn't get a chance to put the equipment away before..."
"...Before they fell into that?" Gordon finished.
The two brothers looked at each other, their expressions mirroring the fear they both felt.
"Get this thing down now, Al!"
>>>>>+>>>>>+
After digging for what seemed like forever, Scott was finally rewarded with the sound of creaking metal. He kept at it, even though he knew in the back of his mind there was a chance that the Digger would take him with it. The creaking sounded to him as though the machine was protesting, not wanting to be dislodged from its resting place. Dammit! Concentrate!
He wiped the sweat from his brow and felt another wave of dizziness wash over him. No, please! Not now! He shook it off as the main body of the Digger began to fall to his left.He tensed, but still kept digging, wanting to make sure it went over all the way.
"S-Scott! No, g-get off!" Virgil cried.
"Get ready, Virg!" He yelled back over his shoulder.
Scott jumped from where he was perched, just in the nick of time to narrowly avoid getting smacked by the hind end of the vehicle as it moved counter clock-wise. He hit the ground running and managed to push Virgil out of the way as soon as the shovel section lifted up, taking the attached slab of rock with it. The rotation of the vehicle caused the slab to then be slammed back down onto the exact spot where Virgil had been lying, with tremendous force. The screams of tortured metal resonated within the cavern as the Excadigger fell to its apparent demise, finally taking the rock wall with it over the edge. The noise and soon after, the impact of the machine against the sides of the crater caused the cave walls to again begin collapsing. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the echoes ceased and all was silent once again.
As the dust cleared around him, Virgil tried to get his bearings. The light was dimmer now, the illumination stick covered in a layer of soil and debris. He was free from his rock prison, but still felt a weight pressing on him. He was shivering violently from hypothermia and his motor functions were being affected as the venom from the scorpion bite reached its full potency. As he tried to focus above him and get his eyes adjusted to the new lighting he realized that in the melee, his brother had thrown himself on top of him in order to protect him from the falling debris. He smiled faintly and slowly shook his head.
"Sc-Scott, y-you can get up now, it's okay...y-you did it! We-we're s-safe! S-Scott?"
Scott's face was buried in Virgil's shoulder, his arms wrapped around his torso. Virgil took his head and tried to lift it up. His body was like a rag doll in his arms. His eyes were closed and he was as white as death. The panic rose in Virgil as he felt something warm and wet behind his right ear. He removed his hand and stared at it. His palm was completely covered in blood. Exhaustion and the strain of the past several hours had taken their toll. Virgil was beside himself with despair. He choked on the words as an anguished cry escaped from his lips.
"N-No! Oh G-God! No!"
He began talking to Scott and stroking his hair, trying to soothe him, even though he knew he probably couldn't hear him.
"I-It's gonna be...okay S-Scott. Please, p-please, you've got to t-try and hang on...Someone will f-find us...They have to!"
He wrapped his arms around his brother, surprised that they were still working, and held him tightly, keeping him warm and talking to him in soothing tones.
Meanwhile high up above, the events of the past few minutes had not gone unnoticed as the ground shook slightly beneath the two youngest Tracys.
"Al, listen, did you hear that? It sounded like a train wreck."
"Oh, Jesus, the Digger!"
They both hit the pavement at a dead run, and as they reached the edge of the crater, Alan almost fell in when a piece of it gave way. Gordon grabbed him by his uniform shirt and roughly pulled him back. He smiled slightly when he saw the paled expression on his younger brother's face.
"You okay?"
"Um, yeah, sure...thanks."
They both moved as close as they dared to the edge and squinted as they tried to peer down into the gargantuan hole.
"Scott? Virgil? Are you down there?" yelled Alan.
Virgil couldn't believe his ears. He let out a great, heaving breath. Thank God!
"Yes. Yes, we are, Al! Hurry! Scott's hurt bad. We need to get him out of here now!"
"Don't worry, Bro, we'll have you out in two shakes. Just sit tight," Gordon said.
Virgil felt woozy but relieved and just as his surroundings began to gray out, he had but one thought on his mind. It's gonna be all right…we're gonna be all right now.