Thanks for the kind words so far. Hope you enjoy this next bit!
Alan studied the world map with narrowed eyes as he plotted Stingray's position. John had just gotten back in contact with base and informed the remaining Tracys about everything he'd been told by the Marineville commander, including a rough location of the where the submarine was presumed to have gone missing.
Alan noted the ocean coordinates of the area Gordon would be canvassing down on the map, and had just relayed the same information back to his brother via his watch. Happy with the position, the redhead signed off, leaving Alan momentarily gazing at the watch face with a sense of dejection. There was nothing more he could do.
After signing off from talking to John, Jeff got up from his desk and walked over to his youngest son. "Everything okay, Alan?"
"Yeah, I've let Gordon know the position he'll be diving at and cautioned him of the underwater terrain he'll be facing."
"Good job Alan."
Alan closed the map. "I guess all we can do now is wait, huh?"
Jeff wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "They'll call us if they need anything else, son. Come on, your grandmother's waiting to serve lunch."
Alan stood up. "John have anything else to say?"
Jeff led his son towards the kitchen. "He told me he spoke to Commander Shore."
Alan's ears pricked up. "Commander Shore? Wasn't he there when Gordon was stationed at Marineville?"
"He was, but he wasn't Gordon's direct commanding officer. In any case, Gordon won't be communicating directly with Marineville. Transmissions from Marineville will come directly from Thunderbird 5."
"At least that's something, I guess." Alan sighed. "I feel like I'm worrying over nothing. I just hope the crew won't recognize Gordon..."
Gordon idly tapped his sub's steering wheel. He'd completed his final checks, confirmed his position with Alan, and was now awaiting Virgil's confirmation to drop the pod. He checked behind his seat to see if he'd remembered to install his diving gear. Although he wasn't planning on leaving his 'bird during the rescue, he liked having it close by in case he'd be suddenly called on to take a swim.
"You ready Gordon?" Virgil's voice finally crackled over the radio.
"I'm ready!" Gordon chirped back.
"Right. Dropping pod, now!"
Gordon braced himself as the stomach of the aircraft fell into the sea with an almighty splash. Once the Pod was buoyant, the door opened ahead of him, allowing him to get a first glimpse of the hurricane that had been battering Virgil's pride and joy for the past fifteen minutes.
The sleek pod slide followed the path of the door as it fell into the sea. Gordon ignited his jets which propelled his little submarine down the slide. With a moderate splash, Thunderbird 4 slid gracefully into the murky depths of the ocean. It quickly descended through the waves, its powerful halogen lights igniting through the darkness.
Even underwater he could feel the strength of the hurricane as it disturbed the seabed. Undersea ripples sloshed sediment against his submarine, making for limited visibility. He was practically travelling through a thick wall of fog.
"Thunderbird 2 to Thunderbird 4. See anything yet, Gordon?"
Gordon squinted as the lights of his sub pierced through the cloudy sea. He opened his radio link. "Visibility is practically nil down here, Virg. I can see nothing but sand."
"Alright Gordon. Just keep looking."
Deciding his best bet would be to dive closer to the seabed, Gordon descended his submarine until it was deep enough not to be disturbed by the hurricane. As he travelled downwards, the sediment cleared up a little, giving him a clearer view. He continued diving until he reached 10,000 feet, by which point the bottom of the sea came into view.
Everything looked so still at that depth, which Gordon found pretty amazing considering there was a Category 3 hurricane sitting on top of him.
A beep at his controls diverted his attention to the ground proximity scanner, telling him that his vessel had almost reached the seabed. Slowing his speed down, Gordon traversed the bottom of the sea, looking for any sign of the stricken submarine.
After searching for ten minutes or so, Thunderbird 4 came upon a looming shadow resting on a sandy ridge. As it powered closer, the shadow of the object became much bigger and soon the bulbous shape of the bow could be made out. The yellow submarine's lights illuminated the black writing emblazoned across the side of the bow, confirming the find as the missing vessel.
It was Stingray.
Gordon fired up his radio. "Virgil! I've found her! She's sitting on a ledge at around 10,765 feet! No signs of exterior damage so far. I'm going to move in closer to see if there are any signs of the crew."
"Good job Gordon! Hear from you in a bit then."
The aquanaut moved his vessel along the entire length of the large submarine, checking for any hull cracks. After confirming that there was no exterior damage, Gordon moved back to the front of the submarine. It was then that he noticed that the large glass panels making up the bridge windows were fogged up with what looked to be a strange green gas. Frowning, Gordon took Thunderbird Four in as close to the submarine as he could without colliding with the panels, trying to work out what the gas was. It didn't look like anything he'd seen before.
After failing several times to contact the crew, Gordon recorded his findings to his brothers, who were both as surprised as he was.
"And you say it's a green gas?" Scott asked.
"Yeah! Practically luminous green! I've never seen anything like it!"
"And you can't see inside the bridge?"
"No, it's too dense. I'm going to have to expel the gas using the paralyzer's reverse thrust function. Hopefully then I'll be able to see the crew. The fact I can't worries me."
"Yeah, me too. Expel the gas into one of your canisters and see if visibility improves. I'll report your findings to Marineville shortly."
"Thanks Scott. Will contact you both once I've completed the gas removal."
"Good luck, Gords." Virgil signed off, leaving Gordon alone with his dilemma.
"Right then. Better start making some arrangements."