It had been sheer, blind, unexplainable luck that had made Sam look out at the stormy ocean that had been battering the research facility for nearly an hour. Even more impossible was the chance he'd see the small vessel in the flashes of lightning as it rolled with a crashing wave against its side.
In a flurry of uncoordinated movements thanks in part to a nerveless prosthetic foot, the cetacean biologist spun, aiming for the door. The sub was still secured to the floating dock in the bay, too far for how his brain was screaming at him. WASP training, though incomplete, stealed his nerves and kept him calm enough to think through his plan.
The rain and wind that greeted him beyond the door, however, had him reconsidering. Mel was going to be pissed that he was even outside. The beach and the dock held their own levels of danger in a storm and the thought of being swept over the side, into crashing waves was not pleasant.
A flash and Sam could just make out the overturned boat, bright orange appearing at its side. People. There were people depending on him.
But how to get to them? The path would take too long, even at full run, which he knew better than to attempt on the best day.
Adrenaline was having an interesting effect on the scientist, his mind snagging on the supply line that they used to move shipments up and down the cliffs safely. Memories of flying fox runs as a kid almost brought a smile to his lips if not for the crack of thunder that told him this was nothing like a leisurely slide down a wire.
It was the best option, though, and Sam found himself hastily attaching one of the crate straps to the automated hooks. The next beat saw the straps wrapping around his torso, also not ideal, but the chair was more difficult to secure and buried under the more useful gear.
"Here we go!" The red-head shouted to no one and leapt off the platform. A huff of air left him as the straps tightened, but he ignored it as his speed began to increase, the sting of rain drops forcing him to shield his eyes. The ground flew by beneath him in a blur of dark green shadows that would be full of beauty on a sunny day.
The trip only lasted about fifteen seconds before he felt the emergency stop catch and his thirty meter ride slowed to a gut plummeting stop. The cables were off the moment Sam hit solid ground and his next challenge met him with white foam and the roar of rolling waves. The water was high, but he could make out the blue floating dock, donated by an aquanaut who'd had it with beaching his Thunderbird in order to visit. What would Gordon think about his plan? Sam was sure his friend had done worse, but he also had technology to back him up. Sam had one good foot and a killer fashion sense. Not great for open water rescues.
But it would have to do. He ran, water kicking up with each footfall until he reached the rolling structure. The dock clicked and groaned as the individual slats pulled against each other and Sam kept his sights on the rise coming at him from the next wave. One wrong step and he could lose his balance. Misjudge the water and he'd be in it.
Heart pounding, Sam stopped, riding the rise and fall of the dock before taking off once more. A few more beats and he repeated the motions, finally catching sight of the sub port still attached to the end of the structure. So close - running down the waves slope, Sam made it to the T and held tight to the bars lining the craft's entrance, waiting for the water to fall. A breath to steady himself and the red-head yanked open the hatch, deftly sliding inside and closing it behind him.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Sam's celebration accompanied the rush as he made it to the pilot's chair. "Promise to keep her in one piece," Burke would be pissed when she found out he'd taken the submarine without her, but there hadn't been time. But man, he wished the aquanaut had been in the living quarters and not buried in research. The storm had sent them all off in different directions, leaving Sam little else to do but watch the ocean.
A click of his lap belt and the instructions for engine startup were floating in his mind, hands hesitating over the controls. He knew the sequence, though, fingers clicking the first few switches.
A flicker of light and then, nothing.
"The hell?" Another flick brought no change. Fear and regret took hold and in a moment of panic, Sam's fist slammed into the console.
A whir of lights and engines as the ship came to life, stuttering as though it was barely hanging on.
"C'mon, just get me to them and back," Sam pleaded, forcing the controls forward without further thought as to why it had stalled. She lurched with the command, flying under the storm as her readouts faded in and out to show him his targets.
Lifesigns.
Three of them. Two in one spot while the other floated further away. Going for the two seemed optimal. Wouldn't want to risk a wave separating them before he could get the other one on board.
The HUD flickered briefly, a warning that Sam hoped wouldn't lead to a system shut down. Whatever was going on with the sub, it just needed to give him a few more minutes, then it would be Burke's problem.
On approach, the two figures were holding tight to the capsized boat, unaware of what lay underneath. He would need to be careful to ensure he didn't crush them against it when he surfaced.
"Alright, nice and gentle," Sam whispered to the ship, lifting the controls and watching the lights bounce off the boat. As he broke the surface, the waves became more pronounced, making it difficult for anyone to reach the hatch, much less someone missing an appendage. Catching himself against the wall, Sam lunged for the hatch, grabbing the handle and opening it with a hiss.
Rain and salt water immediately began peppering his face and he squinted to see the boat a few feet away, the bright orange of lifejackets visible in the lightning flashes. Without knowing their condition, Sam couldn't expect assistance, resorting to a magnetic grapple to attach the two ships. They were standard for anchoring the sub to the underwater research station, but he figured they would work here too. Quick aim and he fired, listening to the loud thunk as they hit, the gears turning to pull the boat and sub together. As they hit, Sam was met by one of the people he was rescuing, hands reaching blindly for assistance.
"Help! I can-can't see!"
"I've got you!" The red-head reached out and caught a flailing arm, pulling the man towards the hatch.
"My friend, he's hurt!" He shouted as he slid into the sub.
"Don't worry, I'll get him!" Now Mel was really going to kill him as Sam began edging towards the other figure, fully aware that he hadn't had time to put on a lifejacket. One wrong move and that would be it.
The figure seemed to pick up the same thought, reaching out to help reduce the distance. Sam had him in an iron grip, pulling him along the weathered underbelly of the ship until they were clinging to each other as a wave threatened to roll them.
The ride down the fluid mountain gave Sam the incentive to guide his charge into the opening, catching himself on the edge as he climbed in after and slammed the hatch shut, "You two alright? Sorry for the rough rescue. Not really my specialty." When he caught the face of the injured man, Sam's throat went dry, "Virgil?"
A sharp nod before a plea came tumbling past trembling lips, "My dad - he's still out there."
It was the red-head's turn to nod as his senses came back to him and he jumped into the pilot's chair, "I saw him, readings show he's not far." The sub shifted under his control, speeding towards the lone lifesigns in the water, "I'll have to come up from underneath. Can one of you grab him?" Because there was nothing to steady them once they broke the surface and letting go of the controls would be deadly.
"I ca-can," Brains, he knew the voice better than the face after listening to Gordon and the scientist discuss placement of the research equipment. If Virgil was hurt, then it made sense that their friend would be doing the rescuing. It also meant the engineer must be pretty bad if he wasn't already charging up the hatch entrance.
Seconds ticked painfully by as Sam slowed their ascent, not wanting to slam into the unsuspecting figure. As it was, the shock of something solid appearing out of nowhere would be jarring on its own. A breath and he whispered, "Steady as she goes…" Contact and something bounced off the sub's hull, sending an echoed thud through her. The red-head ignored it, slamming the hatch controls, "Go!"
The sound of the storm filled the cabin as Sam fought, keeping the sub steady as he imagined arms reaching and hands grasping as they worked to bring the older man inside. Jeff Tracy - impossible to imagine he'd been in space this whole time. And then shoes hit the metal floor, followed closely by a second pair, the rush of the sea cutting off as the door latched shut.
Sam's ears rang with the loss of the cacophony of sound, slowly gaining back the gasps as his rescuees collapsed into the relative safety of the submersible.
A long breath out and in, the ship turning back to the shore, and a laugh bubbled up from the red-head's chest, "Man! That was intense! Everyone okay back there?"
A relieved baritone chuckle from Virgil, "We've been better… Thanks, Sam."
"Hey, who would I be if I didn't put your family's donation to good use?" His smile split his face as he spoke. "Damn lucky I saw you guys when I did." A sobering thought brought the grin back a little, "What were you doing sailing through a storm like this?"
"Our home's been attacked," Jeff answered through breaths that didn't shake nearly as much as Sam thought they should. "We need to contact the GDF so we can explain the situation."
Attacked? Who would be dumb enough to go after the Tracy's? But then, the next situation snagged in his head, reducing the confused expression to a frown, "Slight problem… Our comms are down."
"What?" The shock in Brains' declaration made Sam wish he could take his statement back. "Your su-submersible, though, it's still fully functional?"
"Yeah, as far as I can tell," Sam frowned. "I mean, it did give me some trouble starting it up." Thankfully, she listened as he steered her back towards shore. Silence fell in behind him with a heaviness that spoke of more trouble to come. Why was it such a surprise for the submarine to be operational? And then Sam remembered, the boat - a sailboat. Why hadn't they taken a Thunderbird? "What's going on?"
"We'll explain later," Jeff cut in with an authority that rivaled Melissa's. "Right now, Virgil needs medical attention."
"Right," he pushed the sub a little faster, aiming to beach her in lieu of the treacherous dock. "Hold tight, this isn't gonna be gentle."
Timing was something Sam knew with great familiarity. Surfing a wave meant knowing when to start paddling, when to stand, and when it was safe to dismount. He was using the same strategy here, sending the sub with the rising wave, letting her ride the swell until it tumbled and the hull met sand. It was a smoother landing than he'd anticipated, but still elicited a startled yelp from himself and the scientist behind him. Virgil, however, answered the handling with a sharp cry that dulled into a low groan.
"That's as far as I can get her," which was only a few meters from the beach. They'd only need to get their knees wet.
Coming around the pilot's seat, Sam found Brains working to open the hatch, an older, gray haired man attending to Virgil. The cetologist had only seen photos of the former astronaut from before his disappearance, his hair darker against the blue of his iR suit. Sam had been fairly young when Jeff had disappeared, but he'd known of the rescue team - had played pretend often enough as a kid. It wasn't until joining Melissa on Raoul that he decided to investigate the man she'd worked with on arrival to Tracy island. Seeing him in person made the stories seem all the more real. Jeff Tracy commanded a room like none other.
"Help me get him up," Jeff had Virgil's arm over his shoulders as rain and ocean spray came in through the now open hatch. Sam moved as quickly as he could, mindful of his limited traction on the wet floor and the prosthetic that couldn't feel the slight shifts as he slid. Taking Virgil's other arm, they began moving him to the ladder and for a moment, Sam wondered how they would get him up.
Stubbornness radiated from the engineer as his arms jerked over Sam's head and steady hands clasped at the rungs. The red-head turned to see dark brown eyes peering upwards as Virgil focused on the task before him.
"Slow and steady, kiddo," Jeff encouraged from his side and with a grunt, Virgil began the short climb. The elder man followed him up, leaving Sam to finish securing the sub. Out of curiosity, he hit the comms and watched them flash for a moment, trying to connect with anything, but as expected, all he received was silence. For the first time today, he realized the reason could be more than just the storm.