Gordon grabbed Alan and hauled him away from Scott as Virgil helped their oldest brother up. There was a moment of silence as Scott wiped blood from his nose, and Gordon held on tight.
'Guys, we don't have time for this now,' Gordon said, pulling Alan towards the lounge. His brother shook him off with a gruff 'I'm alright' and they all made their way to the lounge. Once they arrived Alan went to stand the furthest away from Scott. All four boys stood before their father, set expressions on their faces.
Jeff looked up as his boys filed in, Alan immediately making for the furthest point away from everyone. If he was surprised at that, then the sight of Scott trying to stem a bleeding nose explained everything, and once again he felt the rush of guilt. But this was no time for dealing with family matters, and he pushed it all to one side, resolving that this would be resolved as soon as the rescue is over.
'Right, go ahead, John.' Commander head on, Jeff listened as John outlined a sudden flash flood that had virtually swept a small city away. There had been little warning, but some had managed to get to relative safety in the local hotel, the highest building. However, the hotel was now in danger of collapse as the waters, still flowing, had damaged the lower floors.
Scott was already to his chute, about to pull down the handles when Jeff said, 'just a moment, Scott.' He stood still, wondering what on earth his father was going to say. 'Scott, I want you to find a suitable spot for mobile control, but I want Alan to man it for this rescue.' Scott nodded and pulled the handles down and disappeared.
Alan, anger now mounting again, opened his mouth to speak, but Jeff beat him to it. 'No, Alan. I want you to man mobile control because it seems to have escaped your notice that you are due to relieve John tomorrow. I can't have you too tired for that, and John is not staying up longer again.' Alan shut his mouth with an audible snap. He wasn't happy, but his dad had a valid point.
Turning to Virgil and Gordon, Jeff told them to take Four along too, the possibility that there would be more people to rescue was quite strong. Then they were all scrambling for their respective chutes. Before they had even reached them Scott was requesting clearance, and by the time Virgil was ensconced in Two his eldest brother was already half-way there.
The journey out for Virgil was unnaturally quiet, what with Alan still stewing and Scott maintaining an unusual silence over comms. Even Gordon wasn't attempting to make small talk. He was very relieved when John eventually called in. 'Thunderbird Five calling Thunderbird Two.' Virgil released a breath. 'Reading you strength four, Thunderbird Five. What's the situation?'
Thus the half hour remaining of the journey was passed with John filling in all the details he could. Scott had reported that there were lots of people taking refuge on roof tops and that the local military were in the process of airlifting these people. Once Two had finished the hotel rescue they would possibly be assisting these too.
Scott had called Five and Base to say that he didn't think that using mobile control was going to be a viable option. The sheer number of people in the hotel would be easier to manage if Alan was working with them, and he suggested Gordon worked the roof while he and Alan rounded up the stragglers. Jeff reluctantly agreed.
By the time Two arrived Scott had already made his way to the hotel, getting one of the aircraft to drop him off on their way. He was just about to start making his way down to collect people and direct them to the roof. It would take several trips to get everyone off safely, and Gordon helped those in most need to be taken first. There were some minor injuries.
Scott took Alan with him, and between them they covered the hotel floor by floor, directing scared people up to the roof, splitting up with Scott covering the left and Alan the right of every floor. There were a surprising number of people cowering in rooms, and Scott was very thankful for Five's powerful sensors locating life signs for them.
The rescue proceeded smoothly, despite the rain and the numbers of people. Virgil had needed to drop off two loads already, and this was going to be the last run. Thankfully, this group of passengers had no injuries at all. Scott had just reported that he and Alan were now only two floors above the floodwaters. They had not met anyone on the last floor and hoped that no-one had stayed this close to the waters.
Just as Virgil was in position to pick up the next load of rescuees, the building moaned and shifted slightly. There was a moment of silence, then the air filled with noise as the remaining people began screaming. Gordon, not seeing anyone coming up now, called for John to find out if there were any more he was waiting for.
Before John could check with Scott the building shuddered and one side dropped. It seemed to lose several floors at once, but thankfully it didn't fall to the side or collapse completely. Virgil lowered Two cautiously, and Gordon hurried the remaining people onto the carrier.
'John, what's going on with Alan and Scott? We're ready to ship out.' Gordon was securing the last person. There was no reply.
'Thunderbird Two to Thunderbird Five. Where are Scott and Alan?'
'I – I don't know, Virgil. They're not responding.'