No. 5 Running Out of Air

With thanks to Sineater for plotline help and MariaShades for help with air mixes

Characters: Virgil, Gordon

Warnings: Running out of air, dead bodies, drowning

Snow rescues were never a favourite for any of them, that unpredictability of snow-laden slopes wanting to sweep them away, finish the job of that first avalanche. But ice rescues could be equally as dangerous. Especially when on the edges of an ice shelf or a glacier.

Water may have been Gordon's element, but ice was not. He liked his wet to be warm, thank you very much. Still, Four was always warm, a cocoon protecting him from the icy waters outside.

Two had been called to a research station on the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica. It was an illegal station; nothing should have been on the shelf itself. Scott had sworn a blue streak when they realised this was Fischler's latest venture. But Scott was also out on his own rescue, promising to get there as soon as he could.

The station had been poorly put together, as usual, but it wasn't that which was causing them problems. Oh no, nothing so mundane as that. No, the 'scientists' had been boring into the ice too close to both the station and the edge of the shelf. Part of the station had collapsed into one of the holes.

Gordon had taken Four out under the ice. Two scientists were missing and he was searching for them, hoping that they at least had some form of protection but deep down he doubted that. Virgil and Kayo were topside, evacuating the rest of the scientists and securing the equipment before further damage could be done.

He had secured both bodies. Four was just breaking the surface when a panicked shout rang out.

Kayo and Virgil had their work cut out for them. The boring had weakened the ice drastically, and the sounds of new fissures forming was deafening and constant. Virgil had donned his exosuit to remove the debris trapping the scientists and Kayo was leading them over to Two once they were free.

Even with Brains' thermal suits they were beginning to feel the cold, but both were thankful for their helmets and the built-in oxygen supply that meant they weren't breathing in the icy air.

A shout and Virgil had freed the last man. Kayo was halfway back to Two with him as Gordon informed them he had breached the surface. Virgil was just climbing out of the hole when there was a massive groan followed by a cracking sound.

And a panicked shout. One minute Virgil was there, the next he was gone as the whole area dropped into the water.

John's fingers danced as he tried to keep track of his brother plummeting through the sea. Gordon had gunned Four back down below the surface but he wasn't quick enough to see his brother. He ignored John's voice sprouting facts and figures – he really didn't need to know that the Ross Sea was 3000 feet deep in some places – and raced towards the blinking life sign John had shown him.

It really didn't matter that the sea was that deep, by the time Virgil hit 70 feet he'd begin to get nitrogen narcosis. Virgil didn't have a tank with the right air mix for diving, he only had the very small amount of air his land suit carried, and the consequences of that was something Gordon was resolutely not thinking about.

The exosuit was weighing him down. Something must have hit it on the way because the release wasn't working. He couldn't get out of the mechanism, and for one wild moment the thought crossed his mind that the piece of equipment he used the most outside of Two was going to be the thing that killed him.

Virgil rolled his eyes. His brothers and sister wouldn't let him die, especially not Gordon, not in the element that he had made his own. So Virgil concentrated on not being hit by any further debris as he sank. He also kept up a running commentary. He couldn't hear anyone so his comms had been knocked out, but that didn't necessarily mean they couldn't hear him.

He hadn't been sinking long before he started to find it difficult to concentrate on what he was saying. Virgil stopped speaking altogether as he began to notice how gorgeous some of the blocks of ice were that were travelling with him. He thought he'd quite like to paint some of them, the shading was superb!

Those initial feelings soon dissipated into drowsiness and for the life of him Virgil couldn't quite remember why it was important to stay awake. Calling goodnight to his brothers and Kayo, he closed his eyes.

Virgil may not have heard anything over the comms, but his brothers and sister heard everything. Kayo, frustrated that she couldn't leave those injured in Two, had been quiet over the comms, leaving it to the three brothers to try and get through. Even if she could leave, there was nothing she could do.

John had patched Scott through immediately they realised there was a problem, and it was mostly Scott who was talking over the comms regardless of the fact that Virgil couldn't hear. His rescue complete, Scott was hot footing it over the planet.

Gordon stayed quiet too, his concentration taken up with finding his brother. Virgil was sinking fast, and it was a toss-up whether it would be the narcosis or the lack of oxygen that would get to him first. Virgil was fast running out of breathable air, and the deeper he fell the more the composition of any remaining air would change and become more toxic.

THERE!

A flash of green and yellow!

Gordon put Four on course to come up underneath his brother, but hearing Virgil calling good night he knew that he couldn't rely on him being aware enough to grasp hold of the sub, so a trip outside was needed. He handed his 'bird over to John and EOS and once more said a prayer of thanks to Brains for his insulated suit.

It didn't take long to catch Virgil, the water meant hauling him aboard even in the suit wasn't as awkward as being on land would have been, and he immediately set about removing his brother's helmet and replacing it with a mask and one of the diving tanks Four was equipped with. Making sure it was a tight fit, he ran the Medscanner over Virgil.

'Gordon, surface now. Kayo, get the decompression tank ready. John, nearest hospital. Now, boys.'

There was a chorus of 'yes, Grandma' and Gordon was moving.

Time was of the essence now to prevent any long-lasting damage.