HAYLEY, Winslow and Peak had jumped out of their trucks and ran to the edge of the cliff on the side of the road. They could do nothing but watch on helplessly as the landslide continued for a few more seconds before subsiding. There was no sign of the Bulldozer-Pod or Virgil, which caused Hayley's heart to sink. "VIRGIL?!" she cried out in despair, her voice echoing all around.
Winslow and Peak exchanged surprised glances to one another. They hadn't expected Hayley to react like this. "Er, Captain?" began Winslow. "Do you-" He broke off as Hayley looked at him. She looked distraught and he couldn't tell what droplets on her face were rain or tears.
"HAYLEY?!"
They all gasped. The voice had come from directly below them. They peered over the edge and saw that Virgil had miraculously managed to escape and was clinging onto the rocks below.
"VIRGIL?!" Hayley gasped again. "Oh, thank God!"
Virgil scrambled up to them and they helped him up onto the road. "Phew!" he said. "Sorry about that, guys, I-" But he was cut off by an emotional Hayley embracing him.
"Oh, God. I thought I'd lost you, hun," Hayley said, weeping quietly.
Virgil normally would have gladly accepted an emotional hug from his girlfriend, but was very conscious of the fact the two Army men were watching them. "Er, Hayley? You know we have company, right?"
Hayley quickly realised what she'd done and pulled herself off of him. Her face turned red with embarrassment.
Winslow and Peak weren't fools and quickly put two and two together. However, Peak never got to say what it was he'd thought of saying for Winslow cut him off. "You two are together?" he asked. "Good for you."
Hayley and Virgil looked at him in surprise.
Winslow chuckled. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with us. Right, Peak?"
"Errr, yeah…" said Peak, although he didn't quite sound convincing.
Virgil and Hayley got to their feet. "How did you get out?" Hayley asked.
"I opened the canopy and then grappled out to the nearest rock I could attach to," Virgil replied. "Scott gave me one of his spare ones. Didn't think it would come in handy but...I guess I was wrong."
They then looked over at the landslide that had fully blocked the road again.
"Really sorry," Virgil apologised to them. "We'll never get that shifted, even with our equipment. We'd need it all to dry out and that'll take hours."
"Time we don't have," Hayley said. She then looked up at the side of the mountain next to where the landslide had taken place. This bit looked a lot firmer. It was almost like a roadway up the cliff. She then made a decision. "We'll try another way. As soon as it's light," she told the others.
By morning the rain had finally stopped and a plan was put into motion after a quick survey of the surroundings. Virgil had found an old tree on the road further up the mountain. It was dead, but seemed to be still firmly stuck into the ground, making it ideal for an anchor point. Having landed Thunderbird 2 on the very top of the mountain, he along with Peak worked to make a rope-pulley-system that was connected one end to the tree and the other to the front of Hayley's truck. With this they hoped that they would be able to drive the three trucks up the side of the mountain onto the road at the top which would then enable them to continue the rest of the way to Kachunga.
"There," said Virgil. "That should do the trick."
"Should?" asked Peak. "You're not sure?"
"Never sure when it comes to something new," Virgil replied. "But we've made the impossible happen before." He then spoke into his communicator. "Line is secure. Come on, up, 61."
"Roger," Hayley acknowledged over the radio.
Hayley revved the engine of her truck and slowly began to make the climb up the side of the mountain. Another rope was attached to the rear that Winslow had connected to the front of his truck. A third had also been attached between his and Peak's truck. That way the others could be used as additional anchor points to get the others up.
Nobody said a word as the truck made its slow ascent of the mountain. Virgil, Peak and Winslow knew that Hayley needed all the concentration to get up and they weren't going to distract her. They could feel the tension inside them all. If this failed, there'd be catastrophic consequences for them all.
"Easy, Captain. Easy," Winslow said, urging Hayley on, even though he knew she couldn't hear him.
Hayley kept a level head as she made minor adjustments to the truck's direction of travel. It seemed like an eternity, but eventually, she made it up to the top and onto the road again.
"Hooray!" cheered Virgil. "You did it."
Hayley breathed a sigh of relief. "Woo!" she said. "Okay, attach the second cable. The Sergeant is next."
"Right, Captain!" said Peak. Hayley had noted a change of tone in his voice. He seemed a lot more willing to do as she told him. She guessed the situation had made him see sense.
Hayley then spoke to Winslow who by now was inside his truck again. "Okay, Sergeant. It's your turn. Remember, take it slow and steady."
"Yes, ma'am," said Winslow. "See you in a few minutes. Here I come."
Putting his truck into gear, Winslow started his ascent. Like Hayley he took it slow and steady, making sure not to deviate from the makeshift dirt-track on the side of the mountain.
Hayley had gotten out of her truck and stood alongside Virgil and Peak as they watched Winslow's truck slowly rising towards them.
The tension was back again, like it had been before. However, maybe they'd become a little complacent as it wasn't as strong as it had been when Hayley had been climbing. They seemed more confident that the Sergeant wouldn't have any problems. That was until Peak thought he heard a cracking sound coming from behind them. Peak turned his head to look, and saw to his horror that the tree was starting to tip forwards in their direction. The weight of Hayley's truck had weakened it after all, and now the weight of Winslow's was becoming too much for it.
"The tree!" cried Peak. "LOOK!"
Virgil and Hayley looked and saw the danger as well. They knew in an instant what this meant.
"GET OUT OF THERE, SERGEANT!" Hayley ordered.
"SARGE, JUMP CLEAR!" cried Peak. "THE TREE'S GIVING WAY!"
"GET DOWN!" thundered Virgil, grabbing Peak and Hayley and throwing them out of the path of the falling tree before jumping clear himself.
With the tree now having been ripped out of the ground and fallen across the road, the tension on the cable between it and Winslow's truck slackened causing it to lose its grip and it began sliding uncontrollably back down the mountain.
"SARGE! SARGE!" wailed Peak in despair.
But there was nothing anyone could do. Winslow was unable to do anything to prevent what happened next. Instead of trying to escape, he tried desperately to save the truck and its dangerous cargo, but to no avail. The truck slid all the way back down to the road below and it slammed straight into Peak's truck. The sudden jolt as the vehicles hit each other instantly set off the U-114 causing two colossal explosions that ripped both the trucks to smithereens. The sounds of the blasts echoed all around them, making them seem even louder than they already were.
Once the noise had subsided, Virgil, Hayley and Peak looked back down over the edge of the road. Their hearts sank at the scene of devastation below. There were only two black scorch marks and some small pieces of burning wreckage left. Everything else was completely gone. They knew in an instant that there was no chance that Sergeant Winslow had been able to escape before the crash.
"SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGE!" screamed Peak. He then fell to his knees and burst into tears.
Hayley let out a deep sigh. Her first mission and she'd already lost a soldier under her command. He wasn't the first person she'd lost though as she'd lost several crewmates when the Ulysses had been attacked by The Black Phantom, but still, this was her first mission as a GDF officer, and in conducting the mission, she'd lost a man. This made her heart sink like a stone. But then she pulled herself back together, knowing that what had happened had happened and they'd have to accept it. "Come on, guys," she said to Virgil and Peak. "There's nothing we can do here." She began to walk towards her truck.
"What are you going to do?" asked Virgil.
"Carry on with the mission of course," said Hayley. "It's all we can do." It was only then that she saw Peak sobbing his eyes out on the ground. "Private Peak, come on, let's go." But Peak didn't seem to hear her. This infuriated her. "For GOD'S SAKE, MAN! GET ON YOUR FEET!" she barked, storming over to him. "WE HAVE A JOB TO-"
Before she could finish, Peak suddenly leapt up off the ground. He turned towards Hayley and let out a gut-wrenching bellow of rage before lunging at her. Hayley jumped back, tripped over a small rock fell backwards onto the ground.. "RAAAARGH!" Peak screamed, fury burning in his eyes. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
"DON'T TOUCH HER!" bellowed Virgil, grabbing hold of Peak and knocking him down to the ground as well. Peak then jumped back up and tried to attack Virgil but Virgil countered him and threw him across the road into the rock face on the opposite side of the road. "YOU ARE OUT OF LINE, SOLDIER!" Virgil thundered furiously.
Peak was too winded to get back up again, but not winded enough to have the energy to rant still. "Oh, yeah, go ahead! SAVE YOUR PRECIOUS GIRLFRIEND, WHY DON'T YOU?! JUST BECAUSE SHE'S A WOMAN!"
Virgil stared at him. "WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN?!" he demanded.
"I HATE WOMEN!" Peak screamed. "THEY DO NOTHING BUT BULLY ME!"
Hayley recovered herself. "I HAVE NOT BEEN BULLYING YOU!" she thundered.
"SHUT UP!" screeched Peak. "YOU BULLIED ME FROM THE MOMENT YOU MET UP WITH US! YOU MADE MY UNCLE PUT ME ON A CHARGE! THAT IS NOT COOL!"
"That's not a reason to hate her because she's a woman!" Virgil said angrily.
"It's EVERY REASON!" shouted Peak, tears flowing down his face. "I joined the Army to escape from the abusive relationship I had beforehand. The girl I had did NOTHING but mistreat me! I could NEVER do a thing that I wanted to. Whenever I tried to object, she'd hit me with anything and everything. In the end, the Police had to take her away. Ever since then, I vowed never to have anything to do with women ever again!"
Virgil and Hayley looked at each other, unable to believe what they were hearing.
"You disgust me," said Virgil. "One woman has made you hate all of them?"
"YES!" bellowed Peak. "AND NOW THANKS TO HER, MY UNCLE IS DEAD!" He fixed Hayley with a look of pure hatred. "My uncle is dead because of you." He then looked away, sobbing even harder.
Hayley stared at him. "Uncle?" she repeated. "But-" She broke off as the realisation dawned on her. She turned and looked back down the side of the mountain at where the trucks had been. "Winslow," she said in a hoarse voice.
"What about him?" Virgil asked.
Hayley looked at him, her face pale. "Winslow wasn't just his sergeant," she said, glancing back at the distraught Peak. "He was his uncle. And I made him put him on a charge for being incorrectly dressed." She fell to her knees and placed her hands on her head. "Oh, God…Virgil…what the hell have I done?"
"Hey, shush," Virgil said, trying his best to comfort her. "You can't blame yourself for that. How were you supposed to know they were related?"
Hayley thought back to after they'd crossed the river and when Winslow had asked Hayley to let him handle Peak after his panic attack. And that he often referred to Peak as Frank. Now it all made sense. "There were many times that I could have put two and two together," she said, starting to shed a few tears of her own. "But I didn't. These men were under my command. They were my responsibility as much as the cargo was. Now one man is dead and two truckloads have been lost. Under my first official GDF command. That's on me." She looked back at Virgil again. "I've failed, Virgil. I've really fu-"
Virgil hastily put a finger over Hayley's mouth to silence. "Please don't use that word," he said.
Hayley hung her head miserably. She really didn't see any point in continuing the mission now.
Just then, Virgil finally heard the sound of his communicator beeping. It had in fact been beeping a fair few times in the last minute or so, but due to Winslow's death, Peak's attack on Hayley and the private's revelation had caused Virgil not to hear it.
"Virgil? VIRGIL?!"
Virgil finally snapped to attention. "John? Yeah, sorry, I'm here. Go ahead."
"Virgil, you need to get off that mountain now!" John's voice said urgently. "That truck's gonna explode!"
Hayley's eyes snapped up to look at Virgil and the hologram of John on Virgil's communicator. Even Peak's attention finally seemed to have been grabbed as well.
"What do you mean?" asked Virgil.
John wasn't the one to answer the question. His hologram moved to the side to allow a second one to appear. It was Colonel Casey. "Virgil, where's Captain Madison?" she demanded.
Hayley quickly pulled herself together. "I'm here, Colonel," she said.
"ABOUT TIME!" thundered Colonel Casey. "The situation is worse than we thought!"
Virgil and Hayley exchanged worried glances. "What do you mean, Colonel?" Virgil asked.
"We interrogated Lieutenant Sinclair," said Colonel Casey. "He sabotaged the helijets. Those U-114 containers have been rigged. A drop in pressure above 5,000 feet will cause them to go off!"
Peak had heard everything and was shocked. He got to his feet. "Sinclair betrayed us?!" he exclaimed.
"What height are we at?" asked Virgil.
Hayley activated her own wrist controller to check the altitude. What it read made her blood run cold. They were over 5,200 feet. "Oh, hell!" she exclaimed.
"So you need to get your butts off that mountain now!" ordered Colonel Casey. "Having lost those other trucks, the mission is a failure. Am I clear, Captain?"
But Hayley did not reply. Virgil turned to look at her and blinked. Hayley had vanished.
"What the?" said John. "Where did she go?"
Virgil and Peak jumped at the sudden rumble of a vehicle's engine starting up. They turned and looked just in time to see Hayley's truck race off down the road in a cloud of dust.
"HAYLEY?!" Virgil yelled into his communicator. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"
"Getting this truck to safety," Hayley responded from inside the truck. "I've already screwed up on this mission. I'm not doing it again. Now nobody distract me. Out!" And with that she cut the communication link.
"Is she crazy?!" said Peak. "She'll kill herself!"
Virgil turned back to John and Colonel Casey. "I'm gonna call you back," he said before cutting them off as well and activating the remote control to start up Thunderbird 2. The green leviathan lifted off from the top of the mountain and hovered round above them. Virgil grabbed hold of Peak and then used a grapple to lift them both up into the ship. Once back in the cockpit, he set off in pursuit of Hayley.
The road was the downhill section of the mountain route. Hayley was driving the truck as fast as she dared so as to not go flying off the edge of the cliff or crash into the rocks on the other side. Every few seconds she would glance down at the altimeter in the truck's cab. Still the number showed over 5,100 feet and wasn't coming down quickly enough. She flicked a switch that activated the camera inside the cargo area of the truck. What she saw horrified her. The area was almost full of white smoke that was emitting from the U-114 canisters. This meant the danger of them exploding was very real. The worst part was there was no way of knowing if she had minutes or even seconds before the end came. But she wasn't prepared to just abandon the truck and its load. If there was any chance at all that she could get it back to safe levels, she would.
I need to get down faster than I am, Hayley thought to herself. Damn it. There must be a short-cut around here somewhere.
Rounding yet another bend, Hayley suddenly slammed on the brakes. She then reversed back a few metres and looked out. The mountainside was nowhere near as steep here as it had been earlier and it re-joined the road further down. It didn't look too rough either for it was mainly just mud and dirt instead of rocks.
It's risky, Hayley thought. But I have to try.
Without hesitating, Hayley drove the truck off the road and began to drive down the mountainside. But she quickly started to lose control and found herself unable to keep the truck in a straight line as it continued to slide on.
Thunderbird 2 swung around from the side of the mountain. From inside the cockpit, Virgil and Peak gasped and watched on in a mixture of amazement and fear as they saw Hayley's truck sliding down the side of the mountain.
"She'll set the U-114 off for sure!" Peak said.
Virgil was frantic. "Hayley? HAYLEY?! STOP THIS MADNESS! PLEASE!"
Hayley cursed inside her head. "Virgil, I said DON'T DISTRACT ME!" she ordered.
"YOU'RE GONNA KILL YOURSELF DOING THIS!" Virgil cried. "PLEASE STOP! I'M BEGGING YOU!"
"I'm nearly at the bottom," Hayley said in a lower voice. "I'll make it. You'll see."
Peak was flabbergasted by these words. As much as he'd had such a strong resentment towards her, he couldn't help but feel somewhat amazed by her words. "She's…brave…or stupid," he remarked.
"Brave!" Virgil said shortly. As scared as he was for Hayley, he still loved her more than anything and did not like hearing her be referred to as stupid.
Hayley soon approached the bottom of the slope. The road lay an almost perfectly horizontal position to her current direction of travel. What she hadn't taken into consideration was that on the other side of the road was another drop, and this one was very steep for it led into a canyon. Hayley quickly realised this and waited for the right moment. She slammed on the brakes again and spun the wheel. The truck skidded round to the left and screeched onto the road. Hayley then released the brakes and pressed hard on the accelerator. The spinning of the wheels caused friction that stopped the vehicle from sliding on further and instead it stopped dead for just a split second before racing on forwards down the road.
Virgil and Peak saw everything and were totally gobsmacked by Hayley's slick move.
"Wow!" gasped Peak. "I take back what I said. She really is brave!"
Virgil managed a relieved smile. "She's the best," he remarked quietly to himself.
"See, boys," Hayley said once she'd slowed to a gentler speed. "Told you I'd make it."
"Yeah, but you're still not safe yet," Virgil remarked.
Hayley looked at the altimeter. It was still over 5,000 feet, but a lot lower than it had been. She checked the inside of the truck again. It was still smoking. The extractor fan had managed to get rid of some of it, but the danger still wasn't over.
They came further around the mountain. They were almost at the safe zone when Virgil saw a new danger. "Err, Hayley. You might have another problem."
"Yeah, what?" asked Hayley, sounding irritated. But then as the truck rounded another corner, she stopped. "Oh," she said when she saw it.
Just ahead the road left the mountain entirely and continued on the other side of the ravine. There was only one way across - on a bridge, made entirely of what looked like long wooden beams. The wood looked rotten and weak. It had clearly not had any maintenance in a long time.
"Captain, I don't want to state the obvious, but there is no way you're going to make it across that," said Peak. "Even I'm not crazy enough to attempt that."
Hayley checked the map. Then she frowned. "Did Lieutenant Sinclair neglect to mention this bridge?" she asked. "It's not recorded on the map."
"No part of the route was ever shared with us," said Peak. "Do we know why he's betrayed us?"
"I'm sure Colonel Casey will provide all the answers when she sees us," Virgil said. "But I have to agree with him, Hayley. That bridge doesn't look safe."
Hayley looked at the bridge. "That wouldn't have held the weight of all three trucks," she said. "And to cross one by one would have weakened it for the others. I'll give it a try."
"Hayley…wait," Virgil said. "What if the bridge can't take the weight? What if it collapses…and takes you with it?"
There was a pause as the two men waited for Hayley's response. "Then I would expect you to catch me," she said.
Peak was at a loss for words. He couldn't believe that he was beginning to admire Hayley more than he had been resenting her for the whole trip.
Virgil quickly caught on to what Hayley had meant and flicked a switch which opened the underside of the module with a grapple hook ready to be launched at a second's notice.
Hayley cautiously crept onto the bridge. It creaked and groaned under the strain of the heavy truck. It also wobbled, making Hayley feel nervous as she made her way across. For the first little bit, all seemed to be okay. But then they heard the sound of wood splintering and snapping as some of the old beams broke and began to fall into the ravine below.
"She's going!" Peak said. "You need to get her off."
Virgil remained still. The bridge hadn't quite given out yet and Hayley was still going.
But the more Hayley went, the more the bridge rocked and continued to break apart. Soon she was almost at the three-quarter mark, but more of the bridge began to fall apart.
Hayley began to feel scared. "Errrrr, maybe this wasn't such a good idea," she said.
Virgil was done waiting. 'Hayley…brace yourself!" he ordered and fired the grapple. It locked onto the roof of the truck and Thunderbird 2 lifted the truck up and off the bridge. It wasn't a moment too soon for the old bridge then gave way entirely and crashed into the ravine ending up in a pile of rotten, splintered and smashed wood.
Virgil flew Thunderbird 2 over the road on the opposite side of the ravine and placed the truck back down safely onto the ground.
Hayley made controlled breaths to calm herself down. Then she looked at the altimeter gauge again. It had dropped below 5,000 feet. She then checked the camera looking into the back of the truck. The smoking had ceased and the canisters were stable once again. "Phew!" Hayley said with relief. "We're safe now."
Virgil and Peak were lowered down from Thunderbird 2 to greet with Hayley where she and Virgil embraced. "Please don't scare me like that again," Virgil pleaded.
Hayley sighed with a smile. "With our line of work. No promises, my love," she replied.
That wasn't the answer Virgil had hoped for, but he knew Hayley was right so he accepted it with a loving smile of his own.
Peak then cleared his throat, causing the two lovers to back their embrace. "Oh, er, sorry," Peak said. "I just had something in my throat." He looked at their slightly embarrassed faces. "It's okay, guys. I can keep your secret," he said. Then his face fell and he looked at the ground. "Uncle Winslow and I managed to keep ours."
Virgil and Hayley looked at each other before walking over to Peak.
"Do you mean nobody in your regiment knew you two were related?" asked Virgil.
Peak shook his head. "Nobody," he said. "Not even Lieutenant Sinclair?"
"No," said Peak. "It was our little secret."
Hayley now hung her head in sorrow. "Private Peak. Frank, is it? I'm really sorry about your Uncle."
Peak stopped her from saying anything more. "Please, Captain, don't apologise," he said. "If anybody here should be apologising, it's me. The way I acted. The way I thought of you. The way I spoke to you. You're right. I was out of line. I have been on this whole mission. I let my petty feelings of something that happened in the past cloud my judgment. Uncle Winslow was constantly telling me to drop it. I refused to let it drop. And now he cannot see that I have seen the light." He hung his head and shed a couple of tears. "I failed him. Never again can I make him proud."
"You still can," Hayley said. "You can complete the mission for him." She stepped back and gestured with her hand towards the truck.
Peak blinked. He looked at Hayley, then at the truck, and then at Virgil. Virgil said nothing, but he nodded in agreement. "You…want me…to take the truck?" he asked.
Hayley nodded. "This isn't an order," she went on. "It's an offer. And I will make sure that the charges I forced your uncle to put you on are never passed on to any of your superiors."
Peak's eyes lit up. He felt like crying again, but with joy. But he managed to pull himself together. He stood to attention and then made a salute. "Yes, ma'am," he said. "I won't let you down."
Hayley smiled as she returned the salute. "Good man," she said. "On your way now."
Without a word or hesitation," Peak climbed into the cab of Hayley's truck. He started the engine and headed off down the road on the final leg of the journey to Kachunga, determined to make amends for all of his issues and to make his uncle proud of him.
No sooner had the truck disappeared from sight when Virgil called up Colonel Casey. "The mountain has been cleared, Colonel Casey," Virgil said. "Private Peak is on his way to you with the last truck."
"I'm sorry, Colonel," Hayley said. "We lost two of the trucks in an accident."
Colonel Casey wasn't cross. "We'd been monitoring your progress via satellite," she said. "What happened couldn't have been helped, Captain Madison. All things considered, I think you did a splendid job."
"I agree," said Virgil. "Even if you did scare me a little."
Hayley blushed.
"By the way, Colonel," Virgil continued. "What was the reason for the helijets being sabotaged?"
"Blackmail, would you believe?" Colonel Casey replied. "Lieutenant Sinclair fell in with the wrong group of friends. Turns out they were a group that didn't want the Kachunga Tunnel project to succeed."
"Ugh, people," Hayley said. "Why can't everyone just get along in the world?"
"If they did, we'd be out of a job," Colonel Casey said with a chuckle. "But yes, that's the reason." She looked at Hayley. "Take the rest of the day off, Captain. I think you've earned a rest." She then looked between the two and smirked. "Make that three days," she said. "But no more. Virgil, I'm sure you can think of a place for Captain Madison to recover from this little episode?"
Virgil smirked too. "I sure can, Colonel," he said. "I sure can."
As soon as Colonel Casey had signed off, the two lovers wrapped their arms around each other and locked their lips together. At long last, they could have some time together again.