NINA Gallagher quivered inside the cab of the crane as the metal arm began to fail at both ends. If they went before she had a chance to escape, she would have a ten-story drop down onto the street below. Somehow she'd managed to survive the initial topple of the crane, but it landing across two buildings had been pure luck. If she fell now, the end was a certainty. "HELP! THE DOOR'S STILL JAMMED!" she screamed. The crane shifted, it groaned metallically and shifted downwards. "AAAGH! IT'S FALLING!"
A few metres away, the hydraulic legs of Thunderbird 2 were lifting the main body clear of the Module so that Virgil could get access to his Jaws of Life equipment harness. Now that The Luddites EMP device had been disabled, everything was working again. Virgil hastily put the Jaws on and sprinted back down the ramp of the Module where Grandma was standing. He was about to run over towards the building that one end of the crane was resting on when the rumble of an aircraft engine made him stop and they both turned to see a giant and strange-looking craft rising up from behind some other buildings.
"That's The Hood's ship!" Virgil said, recognising it from holographic images he'd seen.
Then his radio started to beep and a familiar voice was heard. "Virgil? Are you there?"
"Lady Penelope!" Virgil said. "Are you alright-"
"Just listen to me!" said Penelope sharply. "The Hood's getting away with the Universal Grid Codex. Uh, there's no time to explain what that means but it's bad. Very very bad - for the whole world. You've got to stop him!"
Virgil didn't answer. He looked up as The Hood's hideous-looking ship was flying away leaving a trail of filthy smoke from its four VTOL engines as it went before turning his attention back to the reason why he'd suited up. The arm of the crane was failing by the second. Any moment now it could break and Nina would fall to her doom.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"
Grandma looked at her second-eldest Grandson and could see he had a hard choice to make. She decided to give him a little push. "Save one life - then save the world."
As it turned out, Virgil had already made up his mind. "All day I've been worried how I can solve problems without the help of my gear," he said. "But this is one problem I don't need any help figuring out the answer to. Don't worry, Lady Penelope. Whatever The Hood tries, we'll find a way to deal with him then. But there's someone right here who needs help right now. No way I'm walking away from that."
Grandma beamed proudly. "That's my boy!"
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" screamed Nina again.
Virgil didn't waste another second. He used a grapple mounted in the Jaws to winch himself up onto the arm of the damaged crane. He ran along it until he reached the cab. He looked down and saw the look of utter terror in Nina's eyes. "Get back!" he ordered. Nina flattened herself against the bottom of the cab as Virgil used the three-clawed left crab to catch hold of the jammed door and ripped it clean off. He then reached in, grabbed the Jaws and he effortlessly lifted her out. Together they then ran along the front part of the crane arm. They felt it lurch each time as the metal in the beams failed more and more. They soon reached the building on the opposite side of the building site and together they jumped off seconds before both ends of the crane failed simultaneously and fell to the ground with an almighty CRASH!
Virgil helped Nina down to ground level. "You're safe now," he said.
Nina was shaken, but very relieved. "Oh, thank you thank you THANK YOU!" she said as she threw herself into his arms.
Virgil froze, taken very surprised by this. "Ah, er, you're welcome," he said. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name?"
"Oh, sorry. It's Nina. Nina Gallagher." She let go and dropped back to the ground. She then looked into Virgil's eyes and placed her hands on the side of his helmet. "Could you take that off, please?" she asked. "I really wanna kiss you."
Virgil gulped and took a step back as he hastily tried to think of an excuse. "I, er, erm, sorry," he said. "I don't, er, normally get offered that." He then caught sight of Grandma. Then he remembered. "Oh, yes. You aren't the only person I've seen needing help. The whole of London is in chaos. I'm needed elsewhere. Nice to meet you, Nina." He turned to go.
"Wait!" Nina said, grabbing his hand. She then slipped something into it. It was a piece of paper. Virgil opened it up and looked. It was a number. "Call me, please?" Nina pleaded.
"Errr, sure," Virgil replied. "Like I said, nice to have met you, Nina." He turned and scurried off back to Thunderbird 2.
Nina watched him go, her heart was feeling huge and full of love. "Nina Gallagher…you've just met your future husband."
5!
4!
3!
2!
1!
"Thunderbirds Are Go!"
"OBSESSION"
NINA pushed open the sliding door and stepped out onto the balcony of her apartment overlooking the River Thames. The large accommodation building she now lived in was located in Chelsea, West London. She sipped her morning coffee and looked around at the boats moving about on the river below. A lot had happened since the night of her ordeal in the crane that collapsed. She had been traumatised by what had happened and had quit being a crane operator, sticking to work the machinery on the ground instead. However this hadn't lasted long as just seeing cranes caused her to have flashbacks. As much as she tried to put the events of that night out of her mind, it was impossible. She never forgot about Virgil either. Despite giving him her number, she'd spent several days checking her phone to see if he had left a text message or tried to call her. But there was nothing, and this greatly upset her. Every once in a while she'd forget about it, until she heard or saw anything in the news regarding disasters that International Rescue had attended, then she would think back to the man who had saved her life - one that she was still determined to thank him properly for.
As Nina came back into her lounge area, she turned on the holographic TV. Straight away she saw that there had been a major disaster in Cambodia. A river had burst its banks and massive floods had caused damage and devastation to the surrounding area. Nina was horrified and sat down to watch the live report.
"These are the harrowing scenes from Cambodia as thousands of people are left trapped on the roofs of their homes as millions of tonnes of water came sweeping through the villages after two months worth of rainfall caused the neighbouring river to burst its banks," the Newsreader was saying. "Ten years ago or more it would have been a monumental task in getting together a team of rescuers to come in and airlift these poor folks to safety. Lucky however, we have International Rescue who I've been told are arriving on the scene right now."
Nina's heart skipped a beat as a familiar large green aircraft appeared on the screen. It was Thunderbird 2 coming to rescue a family who were stranded on the roof of their house which was swamped by the water from the river. "Virgil…?" she whispered, eyes scanning the screen eagerly to see if the man she loved would make an appearance.
But as the newscast went on, Thunderbird 2 went from house to house, rescuing more people. Two in uniform were spotted making appearances now and then, but to Nina's disappointment, neither were Virgil for they had yellow and red sashes instead of green. These were Gordon and Alan, but Nina didn't know that. Virgil was the only one she knew about, and the only one she wanted to see.
"Come on, my lover, where are you?" Nina pleaded. "Please show yourself. I need to see you!"
But her wish wasn't granted. Thunderbird 2 picked up one final group of people from a house which got washed away moments later and then departed from the scene along with Thunderbird 1 and several GDF and other rescue helicopters that had been assisting in the operation.
"And that looks like it's over, folks," said the Newscaster. "International Rescue have led the rescue of the people of this village. From what I've heard, there have been very few losses. Once again, International Rescue has helped save the day."
Nina angrily turned off the TV. "Damn it!" she cursed, slumping back on the sofa. "Why do they taunt me with these news reports of his activities? WHY CAN'T I GET TO SEE HIM AGAIN?!" She buried her head in her hands and sighed heavily. She thought, and she thought. There had to be a way, she thought.
Whilst Nina was brooding, a few streets away, a large Industrial Dustcart was moving slowly along whilst four members of its five-man crew walked alongside, collecting the big waste bins and bringing them to the rear for it to pick up and dump the contents into its mega-crusher dumpster. It turned a corner onto the long street that ended at a T-junction opposite the tower block where Nina and over two-hundred others lived.
As the truck completed its turn, it reached another set of industrial bins and the driver put his foot on the brakes to stop so that the rest of the crew could bring the bins to the hydraulic loader on the rear. However, as he pushed down, nothing happened. The Dustcart carried on. He tried again. Still nothing happened. Shocked, the rest of the crew began yelling and running after it, but the driver didn't hear them because he was too busy trying to get his unresponsive vehicle to stop. It continued on down the road and by the time the driver realised where he was it was far too late to avert disaster. He let out a cry of terror and threw open the door before diving out onto the road. An oncoming car had to slam on its own brakes and managed to stop inches before hitting the driver. The Dustcart cut across the T-junction, narrowly missed an elderly couple who had just exited the foyer of the tower block and it slammed into the front of the building, demolishing the doors and windows around it before coming to rest in the reception area. Those inside panicked and managed to scurry around the side of the now stopped vehicle and only just made it out before a spark ignited the fuel in the tanks. There was an almighty explosion that ripped through the foyer and rocked the entire building. The shockwave shattered all the windows in a quarter-mile radius but the blast was felt from as far away as Westminster.
Nina's flat was on the opposite side of the building to where the Dustcart had crashed, however she still felt the entire building shake when it had crashed into it. And then she let out a cry of terror as the explosion tore through the base of the building and great jets of flame were shot through the ventilation shafts breaking out into the corridors, elevator shafts and even some of the flats on all floors. Within seconds, there were hundreds of fires raging throughout the tower block and spreading rapidly. The blast also damaged some walls and ceilings and caused some of them to even collapse, trapping over fifty people inside, including Nina.
Chief Cass McCready was just starting her day shift when the alarm bell sounded. "Oh, really?!" she said with mild irritation. "I barely got my coat off." But despite that, she hurried down to where the Fire-Engines were located. "What have we got?" she asked.
"Fire at Ockenden Tower in Chelsea, Chief," said one of the Fire-Fighters. "Runaway Dustcart crashed into the foyer and exploded. Now half the building's on fire!"
"Then let's get out there!" said McCready as she climbed into the cab of Fire-Engine A.
The doors of the Fire-Station opened up and the Appliances raced out with their sirens blaring to warn traffic to get out of the way.
When the Fire-Tenders arrived on the scene, the brigade were met with a scene of total horror and devastation. Seven other stations had also sent their own engines to the scene to help try and tackle the blaze and rescue any survivors. But as McCready stepped out of the Appliance, she could see just how monumental a task it was going to be.
"GET THE LADDER'S UP!" McCready started barking orders. "GET SOME WATER ON THOSE FLAMES. I NEED TEAMS TO GO INSIDE WITH EXTINGUISHER GRENADES!"
The Fire-Fighters began to follow the orders, but Jones came up to her. "Er, Chief? We can handle the fires on this side of the building but what about those on the other side?"
"Are there boats on the way?" asked McCready.
"They are, but they can only tackle the fires," replied Jones. "We may need some specialist help to get out any survivors."
Another Fire-Fighter came running over. "Chief! There are reports that several of the walls and ceilings have caved in! We don't have enough equipment to shift it all. Some heavy-lifting will be required."
McCready immediately had the answer to that. "Heavy-lifting?" she said. "It's a good job that I know who specialises in that." She pressed on her wrist controller. "Calling International Rescue."
Virgil entered the lounge and made his way over to the piano.
"Going to liven the place up with some tunes, son?" asked Jeff.
"Things are too quiet, Dad," replied Virgil with a grin. "It's about time it had some music to it."
"Ah, you said it now, bro!" joked Gordon from one of the sofas. "You said the Q-word."
"Yeah, we'll be getting a call within the next five minutes," agreed Alan.
"Five? I'd say less than that," said Gordon.
"Alright, what do you reckon?" asked Alan, eager to have a wager with his brother.
"I'll say three," said Gordon.
"Loser has to have a shower with cold water next time?" asked Alan.
"Deal," said Gordon.
Jeff and Virgil rolled their eyes but decided to let the two youngest brothers carry on with their bet.
"What are you going to play?" Jeff asked Virgil. "One of your own or a classic?"
Virgil scratched his head thoughtfully. "A classic I think," he said as he got his fingers ready over the keys."
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP
"HA!" yelled Gordon triumphantly. "What did I say, Virgil?"
Virgil groaned and turned as John's hologram appeared in the lounge. "International Rescue - we have a situation."
"What do you have, Thunderbird 5?" asked Jeff.
"Major catastrophe in London," explained John. "A refuse lorry has crashed into an apartment block in Chelsea and has caused a massive fire that's spreading throughout the entire building. The Fire-Brigade are on the scene already and are doing what they can for those on the land-based side of the building, but Chief McCready has called for us to back them up with rescuing those trapped on the river-facing side. Said she needed someone that specialises in 'heavy-lifting'."
Jeff smiled. "And who might that be?" he asked, looking at Virgil.
Virgil had perked up after hearing that Chief McCready was asking for assistance. "Tell her we're on our way," said Virgil to John. "Gordon and Alan, I'm going to need you both on this one."
"F-A-B!" Alan and Gordon replied eagerly as the three brothers headed off to their respective suit-up routes.
"Good luck, boys," said Jeff. "Thunderbirds are GO!"
Within minutes Virgil had arrived in the cockpit of Thunderbird 2 and selected Module 1 for the job. Once the main body was down over the Module and locked into place, Alan and Gordon joined him and took their places in the cockpit. Thunderbird 2 then taxied out through the avenue of folded-back palm trees before coming to rest on the launch ramp which rose up into position. Once the wings had folded out and the blast shield lifted into place, they were ready to go.
5! 4! 3! 2! 1!
The engines fired and the great green leviathan roared off the ramp before climbing away from Tracy Island and set its course to head for London.
"Thunderbird 2 is airborne," reported Virgil. "Changing to horizontal flight and engaging afterburners."
The ship soared away from Tracy Island and Jeff stood at the window, watching as its disappeared from view. He didn't say anything, but he was hoping that his sons would make it in time before too many lives were lost.
Nina didn't know what had hit her, but when she came to, she found herself surrounded by large pieces of fallen debris that belonged to parts of the wall that separated her apartment from the one next door. She was almost buried and she could also feel the heat from flames as they crept closer to where she was trapped. She began to panic and tried to push the wreckage off of her, but only some of the smaller pieces actually moved. "Oh, my God!" she gasped. "What's happened?" She had no idea about the Dustcart that had crashed into the building and that she was now stuck in yet another life-threatening situation. "HELP!" she called out. "CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?! HELP!"
McCready watched anxiously as her crew along with several others battled hard to fight the flames that were still raging throughout the North-side of the building. So far over twenty people had been found alive and had been brought out to safety either via Hydraulic Platforms, ladders or even the Fire-Escapes. But so far none had been able access the South side where Nina and several others remained cut-off from any form of escape.
Jones ran over. "Chief! We're starting to contain the fires on this side, but the boats are struggling with the ones on the other."
"Let's hope International Rescue gets here soon then," said McCready.
The words had barely left her lips when the rumble of engines made everyone look up to see Thunderbird 2 appear above the top of the building.
"Woah - talk about timing!" remarked Jones.
"I know, right?" replied McCready before getting on the radio. "International Rescue? Chief McCready."
"Hello there, Chief," answered Virgil's cheery voice. "I believe you called for back-up?"
"I sure did," said McCready. "We've got the North-side under control. Can you tackle the South?"
"F-A-B," said Virgil. "I'll have my brothers use Thunderbird 2 to tackle the blaze whilst I search inside for people that are trapped." He turned to Alan and Gordon. "Gordon, you have flight-control."
"F-A-B," said Gordon as he took the second steering console.
Virgil got up from his seat. "Alan, you handle the fire-fighting equipment. Oh, and try not to make a mess of my ship this time."
Alan sighed. "You're never gonna let me forget that are you?" he said as he went to take Virgil's place in the pilot's seat.
"Nope," replied Virgil simply but with a touch of teasing in his voice as he went to get changed into his Fire-Suit.
Once suited up, Virgil was lowered down on a cable from Thunderbird 2 onto the roof of the burning building. He took a look around. "Fire hasn't reached the roof yet," he said. "Thunderbird 5, where am I going first?"
"First floor below you," John answered. He was examining the building via a holographic scan. "I'm picking up three life-signs. Looks like a family."
"I'll get them to the roof. They'll be safe there until we get a group together so Thunderbird 2 can lift them off at once," Virgil said as he used a grab to pull open the door and make his way down into the building.
Using the heads-up display in his helmet, he used the body-heat scanner to look for those John was telling him about. Most of the flats here were empty as the occupants were out but he was soon able to locate the trapped family. He grabbed hold of the door and ripped it off its hinges. Looking inside, he could see that the living room was engulfed in flames. "INTERNATIONAL RESCUE! CALL OUT!" he yelled into the flat as he walked through the doorway.
"HERE!" cried a woman's voice. "THE BEDROOM! WE'RE IN HERE!"
Virgil checked and saw it. "I SEE YOU! HANG IN THERE!" He then used his shoulder-mounted foam cannon to put out what flames he could to clear a path to the front door. "Thunderbird 2, the fire's starting to spread through the corridor," he said into his radio. "Can you deal with the flames on this floor?"
"You got it, bro!" answered Gordon. He positioned Thunderbird 2 close to the building but not too close to risk a collision or more damage. "How's that for you, Alan?"
"Perfect," said Alan. "Lowering foam-cannons." He pushed a button. Two hatches opened underneath Module 1 and the two powerful foam cannons were lowered out to face the building. He then pressed another button that sent two jets of foam in through the windows and extinguishing any flames in the vicinity. "Fire is out. The path is clear, Virgil."
"Thanks, Alan," said Virgil as he finished making his path. He then pushed open the door to find the terrified young mother and three equally frightened children cowering in the bedroom. "Pass me the youngest," he instructed. "Take the eldest and hold onto me. Don't look at the flames and you'll be fine."
"Oh, God! Thank you!" gasped the mother as she handed her two youngest children to Virgil who carried them on each arm. She then took the hand of her eldest son and then grabbed hold of the back of Virgil's suit with her other hand.
Virgil quickly led the family back out of the flat and up the nearby staircase to the roof. "You wait here until I come back," Virgil told them. "I need to get more people out then we can airlift you off in Thunderbird 2."
"O-Okay," stammered the anxious mother as she held her children - the two youngest were crying. "And, thank you again."
Virgil hurried back down into the building. "The family is safe, John. Where to now?"
"Next floor down is clear save for fires," said John. "I think there may have been a life sign but that has faded."
Virgil sighed. "Damn it. So where to?"
"Two floors below you," said John. "I'm detecting two life-signs in neighbouring apartments. Both seem to be trapped under debris."
"On my way," said Virgil as he hurried down the next two flights of stairs. "How's the fire, Thunderbird 2?"
"Fires are slowly being put out," said Gordon. "Should we put out the fires where the life-signs are?"
"Around the edges but not the actual locations, Thunderbird 2," said John. "The foam might cause them more harm if they accidentally are smothered in it."
"Yeah, that wouldn't be good," remarked Alan.
Virgil soon reached the first one. "Okay, I'm here," he said. "Going in." He used the right claw of his Jaws of Life suit to punch down the door. He hurried in and found a bald-headed man in his mid-fifties trapped under a large piece of rubble. "Hey, buddy. I'm here to help," he said. "Try not to move."
"You took your damn time!" said the man rudely. "GET THIS THING OFF OF ME!"
"Easy!" said Virgil, trying to ignore the man's outburst. "You might have injuries. I'll lift this off first and then run a-"
"HEEEEELP!"
Virgil froze and turned in the direction that the shout came from. It was a woman's voice, and for some reason it sounded familiar.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" shouted the man. "GET ME OUT OF HERE!"
But Virgil didn't seem to hear him. The woman's cry sounded more familiar each time he heard it. He used his scanner to search and soon caught sight of the heat-signature amongst the flames. There were no flames around the trapped man near his feet but he saw this woman was almost completely surrounded by them.
"Virgil? What's wrong?" John's voice snapped him back to reality. "Why have you stopped?"
"Huh?" Virgil said. "Sorry, John. I thought-"
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" the woman cried again.
"HANG ON, I'M COMING!" Virgil said and he began to hurry towards the flames.
"OI!" bellowed the voice of the trapped man which was followed by a BANG and something ricochet off the partially collapsed wall between the two flats.
Virgil jumped and stopped dead. "What the?!" He turned back round and froze to see the trapped man had pulled out a hand-gun which was now shakily pointing directly at him.
"Get me out of here," the man ordered. "Or I'll shoot you!"