The alarm had to be loud. She understood that. But did it have to be the exact pitch that could quite possibly shatter her skull into a thousand tiny pieces?
All personnel to command and control. All personnel to command and control.
Alex groaned and grabbed at her aching head. She was then aware of him laughing gently and she dared a peek through heavy eyelids into the bright room.
"I'd give you sympathy but it'll only encourage you." John smiled, pulling on jeans and a shirt as fast as his bruised body would let him.
"Oh god, who gave me alcohol?" Alex groaned.
"Penny did." John chuckled, "You want me to get her for you?"
"No. I'll deal with her later." Alex rolled onto her side and peered at the clock beside her. "What? It's six am!"
"I know. I'm sorry." He knelt on the edge of the bed and placed a kiss on her bare shoulder. "It kinda comes with the territory, babe."
"And, man, am I ever reconsidering my options!" Alex frowned angrily up at the unrelenting blend of siren and voice command. "Alright! He's on his way! Shut up!"
"See you later." John smiled and hurried from the room, laughing as he looked back and saw her pulling a pillow over her head.
He was pleased to discover that he was not the last to arrive. Despite the delay from his still healing injuries, he was still quicker than Penny at answering the alert. John smiled warmly as Penny rubbed at tired eyes and yawned loudly.
But was it simply part of the act? Did she need to be seen to be making her way through the house not at Jeff's side? And what was the problem with the others knowing about her and their father? John was lost in the contemplation of this and many other questions when Scott then turned off the signal.
Scott's face was sombre as he nodded to the comm. "Rincon de la Vieja volcano. Activity started yesterday, mainly volcanic ash and water vapour but the cycles are of greater magnitude than usual and the scientists on the field have ordered evacuation of the nearby families. The Costa Rican government just called for help."
John hurried round the desk and smiled at Scott. "Do they know we're coming?"
"Not yet. I was waiting for authorisation." Scott replied, glancing at their father and then indicating the blinking icon on one of the monitor screens.
Jeff nodded thoughtfully and turned to Brains. "One for recon and Two for evac?"
Brains nodded in agreement.
John sat down at the comm. station and opened the link. "Esté es Rescate Internacional. Estamos en nuestra manera."
Jeff marched across to the open elevator bay behind his portrait. "Gordon, you're with me and Virgil. Alan go with Scott."
"Yay!" Alan whooped in delight.
Scott laughed and hurried across to the access elevator that led down to Thunderbird One. "But I'm driving, Sprout."
"Sure. Whatever." Alan shrugged, grinning merrily.
John regarded the line of open hatches for a moment, the hair at the nape of his neck tingling with pride and excitement as he nodded eagerly. "God's speed."
"Affirmative." Jeff nodded sternly and the doors slid shut.
They headed east across the Pacific and within a few minutes were approaching Central America. They had barely time to suit up and Jeff was still pulling on his gloves as Virgil indicated a visual of the coastline.
Jeff turned and saw Virgil frowning intently. "Problem?"
"What?" Virgil spun at him with a slight gasp. "Oh, no. Nothing."
Jeff gave him a pointed look.
"Okay." Virgil sighed, "John."
"Go on." Jeff urged quietly.
"Did he seem … well … too 'normal' just now?"
"Hey?" Jeff laughed gently.
Virgil's frown returned. "Well … I get the quietness and the deep thought and all the 'John's working it out his own way' stuff but … cheerful and happy makes me nervous."
Jeff shrugged slightly, "You're just not used to him being there. Maybe he's just like that when he's on Five."
"Right." Virgil scoffed.
"Look," Jeff sighed and turned his chair to face Virgil fully. "He's dealing with a lot right now and it's to be expected that he'll be a little 'off-key' now and then." He watched the unconvinced concern remaining amid Virgil's serious expression. "Is there something else?"
"Alex."
Jeff nodded slowly, "It was a risk, granted, but he needs his friends around him right now."
"But what's with the open displays of affection?" Virgil pressed, "It's just not him."
"And how would we know that?" Jeff laughed. "We've never met any of the others."
"Precisely!" Virgil sighed and shook his head slowly. "Something's not right."
"Base to Thunderbird 2."
Virgil glanced at the comm. uneasily, silently sighing in relief as he confirmed that the open link was off. "Go ahead, John."
"Conditions update." John began. "We're fortunate there's no rain today but there's a south-westerly wind blowing the cloud towards Liberia and the airport. You'll need to approach from the north east."
"Understood." Virgil nodded. "Thanks, John."
"Don't thank me," John laughed, "Thank Brains – he's the weather girl this morning! Base out."
Virgil's frown had deepened. "See? He's never jovial during mission updates!"
Jeff smiled and shook his head. "You're reading too much into it."
"Maybe." Virgil sighed and then looked out at the landscape unfolding before them, whistling in awe as he saw the dark grey plume reaching up into the bright morning sky.
"Thunderbird 2 from mobile control."
"Yeah, Scott." Virgil responded quickly.
"The relief workers have already started gathering the families. It should be a simple scoop and drop but the scientists are a bit twitchy. They say they've not seen this much activity before, hence the rush."
"Okay." Virgil affirmed, "Where d'you need us?"
"They're just flagging up the main hot spots for me and I'll give you the co-ordinates shortly." Came the reply, "But a refugee centre is being set up in Cano Negro, north east of here to get people clear of the cloud."
Jeff made a note of the grid reference Scott dictated.
"Mobile control out."
Virgil made the necessary course corrections to arc around the volcano and well clear of the growing cloud that loomed ominously before them. He then opened the link to the cargo bay to check on his brother's progress.
"All set here." Gordon confirmed. "Ready to receive passengers."
"And the device?" Jeff urged.
"Online. If anyone boards with electrical equipment, they'll get a surprise when they try to use it."
Jeff smiled in relief and turned to Virgil. "Let's get in there, then."
Despite the early hour, the small village of Guanacaste was a flurry of noisy activity. Waking to find yesterday's small grey wisp of cloud had grown into an immense tower of dark ash and smoke had caused something of a panic and the local emergency services were having trouble co-ordinating the gathering of the villagers.
On the outskirts of the village, on the border of the national park, Scott and Alan were having a somewhat calmer debate with the scientists to identify which residents were most in need. Some of the dwellings were easily reachable by car and relief workers had already set out in 4x4s to collect the families but the main concern was the isolated few dwellings out in the forest.
"We can easily go round and pick up the families individually." Scott pointed out to the chief scientist.
Marcus Rodriguez. Late thirties, Scott guessed. And surprisingly normal for a science geek.
"I agree." Marcus nodded. "Your men can speak Spanish, I take it? They can explain to the families why they are being taken?"
Alan laughed and shook his head. "Won't that be enough?" He pointed at the cloud behind them and frowned in confusion.
"You would be surprised." Marcus replied, "Last time this happened was back in 1995. It took two days to move just 300 people."
"It'll be much faster this time, I can assure you." Scott smiled.
"I hope so." Marcus shrugged, "With all the seismic activity in the region, we are looking at a major event sometime very soon."
As if to prove a point, a gentle vibration rumbled beneath their feet and the three men paused for a moment, waiting for the crescendo of a shock wave. It never came but it was enough of a warning.
Marcus turned to look across at the vast expanse of low, green hills and the outline of the many craters that were almost obscured by the fringes of tumbling ash clouds. "I should have known …" he murmured softly, "She was trying to tell us something last week …"
Alan frowned in concern and watched Marcus gazing lovingly towards the volcano. "She …?" he inquired carefully. "You mean … you talk to the mountain?"
"No." Marcus turned to him and shrugged slightly. "Alas, no. I can only listen." He looked back out at the awesome height and depth of the cloud and shook his head slowly. "Le oigo, vieja muchacha."
Scott pulled his gaze from the ominous volcanic range to stare in confusion at Marcus. He then caught Alan's amused grin and it was all he could do not to laugh. So maybe Marcus was not so normal after all.
And then it happened. With a noise like a thousand cannons firing at once, the larger of the ten craters along the volcanic vista exploded.
They were far enough from the danger zone to not be caught up in the blast and supposedly at a safe distance from any fallout but Alan's cry of fear and alarm sent most of the scientists scrambling for cover and he and Scott made a dive for the shelter provided by their craft.
Marcus was staring up at the volcano in awe, seemingly glued to the spot. He watched the shower of blast debris falling and simply could not believe the amount of molten rock and gravel that had filled the sky. This had never happened quite so dramatically before and he wanted to watch and remember every detail. So much so that it simply hadn't occurred to him to move to safety.
It was mainly small nickel-sized crumbles of rock that soon began to tumble around them, ricocheting off the small research centre's outer walls and pinging on the sleek hull of Thunderbird One. Then the odd boulder began to thud into the ground and another loud bang warned of more sizeable chunks falling into the crater and being launched by the mounting pressure beneath them.
Scott winced as a large, steaming rock glinted off the Plexiglass shielding of his craft and landed with a thump beside them. He peered up at the underbelly and muttered a quiet prayer, hoping they were well out of the range of anything bigger.
"Marcus!" Alan shouted suddenly, "Dr. Rodriguez! Move, damn it!"
Scott frowned as he followed Alan's gaze and saw the scientist standing out on the open, gazing open-mouthed at the volcano.
Rocks and boulders were shooting forth from the crater as if shot from a baseball launcher, with a sound like fireworks igniting. The scientist was unperturbed, apparently mentally filing away all the new data.
Scott suddenly gasped and opened the comm. link at his wrist. "Thunderbird 2 from mobile control." He shouted over the noise, "Tell me you guys are clear of this!"
"Affirmative." Came Jeff's quick reply. "Are you okay?"
Another thunk against Thunderbird 1's hull and Scott cringed. "Just about. I think we might move clear pretty soon, though." He added, quickly calculating a safe escape plan. He signed off and turned to say as much to Alan.
But Alan was gone. Scott gasped as a flash of white uniform then revealed his brother's whereabouts. Alan was charging headlong towards Dr. Rodriguez and hollering a warning at the stunned scientist. He collided with the elder man with a thud and they were both launched sideways and falling towards the ground.
Scott moved a short way clear of the protection of Thunderbird 1 and saw the cause for Alan's rugby tackle of the scientist. A large chunk of rock the size of a small car was tumbling down through the grey, ash-filled sky. And it was coming directly at them.
Tbc …