SCOTT TRACY
Thunderbird 1 was soon thundering into Philippine airspace.
As Scott descended from the clouds his eyes cast downwards as he soared overhead. The grip on his controls tightened as his gaze narrowed. No matter how many disaster sites he went to nothing ever compared to the aftermath of a natural disaster. The scene that stretched on for miles below him could only be described with one word.
Devastation.
Where once there had been golden sand, green palm trees and sparkling blue water was a brown, watery wasteland. Piles of debris coated in mud littered the coastline, as inanimate objects floated on the surface of the murky water.
He flicked his sensors on, searching for any signs of life.
Nothing came up.
Scott powered Thunderbird 1 forward as his controls bleeped indicating his approach to the co-ordinates of Thunderbird 4's last known location.
He hit the com's.
"This is Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 4, do you copy?"
No response.
He flicked a couple of switches trying to enhance his signal, going to an open frequency.
"Thunderbird 4 do you copy?!" he repeated. "Gordon, Alan, respond!"
Again he was met with silence.
Dammit.
His gut twisted with agitated worry.
What he would give right now to hear the incessant raucous the rumbustious pair usually made.
A harsh loud bleep brought back his attention to the task at hand as he noted he was now directly at the co-ordinates John had uploaded into TB1's system. Two clicks out from land at the entrance of the natural bay.
No life signs were showing on his sensors.
He circled over the murky water as he tried to glimpse anything remotely yellow below the surface. He launched a probe from his machines underbelly down into the gloom. A few moments passed and the sonar readings came back as negative for this particular spot. If they weren't at their last co-ordinates then the wave certainly had swept them somewhere. He hauled up the probe back into place and his blue orbs tracked the water all the way to the coast.
He hit the coms to Five.
"John I need you to get me a schematic of the search radius from all angles that the wave could have hit this area, taking into account Fours trajectory, weight and the probably force of the wave."
"Already sent." came the response. Scott couldn't help but smile at his brothers efficiency, always a step ahead.
Within a second a map was before him, the red shaded areas indicating the radius. It was over 20 miles, including land and sea.
Shit.
Having no idea to the condition of Four nor his brothers time was of the essence and covering all that area would take too long for Scott's liking.
The land search was manageable for him to cover as he could easily go down on foot if needs be but the sea portion was going to be difficult with visibility under the water being near enough zero from his perch on board Thunderbird 1 and no diving equipment to go check anything he did pick up on sensors.
His mind starting racing for a possible solution.
An idea soon sprang to mind.
"John, I need FAB1." Scott declared his new plan beginning to formulate.
JOHN TRACY
To say John was frustrated would be an understatement.
He had the most powerful sensory and communication craft that mankind had ever built, yet he still could not locate his little brothers. No matter what frequency or channel he used, he received no answer. No matter what band he transversed, he picked up no signal. He'd even resorted to hacking into a couple of local satellites receivers that had luckily escaped the impact of the earthquake and subsequent wave to try give a more localized boost but even this has turned up nothing so far.
His eyes flickered to the icons of Virgil, Kayo and Scott, all inbound at various speeds. He had each of them on an open line, for the moment he wanted to remain aware of everything going on. Last thing he needed was to lose track of any other siblings.
His teal orbs darted to his eldest brothers icon as it flashed to indicate he'd arrived at his location.
John waited with bated breath.
As each second passed his worry intensified.
When his brothers form appeared he knew instantly he had not found them. So his mind went to the next step, analysing the sensory information from the area earlier as he sent Scott a probable search area before he had finished asking for it.
He watched as his brothers eyes cast over the map noticing how his jaw clenched tightly. The area was a sizable one. No doubt it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack with no signal to guide them to their quarry, something Scott would be acutely aware of.
Within a few moments however Scott's piercing blue orbs seemed to sharpen.
John new that look of clarity, the Commander had formulated a plan.
"John, I need FAB1." Scott stated.
"FAB1?" he inquired, hands already on the move to bring up the coms link to the flying automobile.
"I'm ill equipped for a water search, John." The elder explained. "I can search the coast, on foot if I must, but if Four has run aground underwater its going to take someone in the water to find them with visibility being zero from all this disturbed silt."
The astronaut followed his brothers assessment, as he then moved to his next question.
"Whose going to co-ordinate the relief effort on the ground then?" he asked, Scott's earlier commands coming to mind.
The Commander locked eyes with him.
The answer dawned on the middle Tracy. Even if he wasn't fond of gravity nor having to interact with people face to face instead of virtually, to help find his brothers he'd traverse the whole population of planet earth if that's what it took.
He turned to the ringed form of his surrogate daughter, noting how the colour was a distinct yellow indicating her own unease at the current situation. Even if she would never admit it, John knew how fond she was of his little brothers. They were the closest thing she had to playmates.
"EOS ignite Thunderbird 5's thrusters to move us above the disaster area and prepare the space elevator for descendant."
"Activating." came the childlike chime of the AI and within seconds he heard the distinct low hum as the engines awoke, propelling TB5 gently towards her new destination.
John turned back to his elder brothers hologram.
"I should be over the area in 15 minutes, another 15 to descend in the elevator." He informed Scott promptly as his hands flickered over various screens streaming new information to the other current situations on the ground.
"FAB." The Tracy Head replied. "I'm heading to land to start the search there. Let me know FAB1's ETA once you've spoken with Lady P."
The holographic feed cut as John saw Thunderbird 1 start to move inland. In the meantime the astronaut pressed the button to FAB1 and the porcelain face of the British socialite popped up immediately before him, her usual sculpted brow lined with worry.
"John, any news?"
He shook his head her shoulders dropping in response, as her grip on the small dog nestled in her lap tighten. It was fast becoming a known fact that her ladyship was extremely fond of their resident fish.
"Unfortunately nothing yet, however there has been a change of plan."
"Oh?"
"Scott need you to rendezvous with him. There is a section of water that needs searching for Thunderbird 4."
"Say no more, I'm on my way." She declared, back straightening as she looked up from her communication compact. "Parker!"
"Yes, M'lady." Came the dulcet tone of her faithful driver. "Be th're in 10 minutes Mr John, sir."
He shut the feed down as he checked to see that Thunderbird Two and Shadow had both now arrived at their locations too.
"EOS relay that time to Thunderbird One."
John spun around as he started to make his way towards the elevator, floating out into the ring from the central hub as EOS followed along her track behind him. It was time for him to get to his new location too.
"I want you to continue running all sensors and scans of the area. The moment you detect anything, notify Scott and myself immediately." He instructed her. "Please have all relevant data streaming to me of all incidents in the immediate vicinity. I'll need you to direct any other global emergency calls to local rescue and authority groups in the meantime."
He'd reached the elevator air lock and activated its opening sequence.
"Understood." The AI responded.
A couple of minutes later and John was sitting down in the elevator chair. He looked to his wrist device that EOS had data funnelling too. He could already see two more situations he was going to have to send Virgil to and one situation at his own landing point.
Looked like ground co-ordination wasn't the only thing he'd be doing today he mused.
He quickly checked the pressure on his suit ensuring that the physical enhancements that provided his body with extra stability were set accordingly. Last thing he needed was any stumbles.
EOS's voice cut through his checks.
"Thunderbird 5 is in position."
Good.
"Activate the elevator EOS."
GORDON TRACY
Gordon felt his stomach churn. The expression captured on the mans face was so painfully different then when he'd last seen him. The horror and fear was a stark contrast to the cheer and merriment he'd seen on it just a while ago. The man had died in absolute terror, that much was evident.
His thoughts were cut off however by the mumbled words of his brother.
"What's the point?"
Gordon's eyebrows furrowed his eyes tearing away from the disturbing sight as he looked down at Alan in concern.
"What do you mean?" he asked carefully.
"We saved him, only for.…for…."
A sob escaped the astronaut cutting off his sentence, but Gordon knew what he meant. They'd saved him. Only for Jared to perish moments later to a greater disaster. It was a cruel twist of fate.
"We did all we could Allie." Gordon said quietly. "Sometimes things are just out of our control."
They were words his older brothers had all said to him in the past after a bad mission when they'd failed to save someone.
His hand gently went to brush through Alan's hair, an act to try and soothe the youngest Tracy. Something he'd seen Scott do countless times whenever he was upset.
Those tear filled blue eyes looked up at him before they blinked, slightly widening in shock.
"Gords, you're hurt."
A quick glance at his reflection on the perspex glass behind Alan, and the aquanaut could see a large gash on the side of his head just above his left eye, blood silently trickling down the side of his face That least explained the splitting headache he had and the earlier dizziness.
"Just a scratch." He reassured the younger putting on a smile to try and ease his brothers concern.
"But it's bleeding!"
"I'll be okay. First we need to get all this equipment off you." He deflected indicating to the machinery pinning Alan in place. "Are you hurt anywhere?"
Silence.
"Alan?"
"My chest hurts." Came the quiet admittance.
"Hurts?" Gordon repeated his eyes glancing over him for signs of injury. Looking closely now Gordon could see his brothers breathing was very labored and shallow, his body shuddering ever so slightly with each breath.
"Is it difficult to breath?" he asked in growing concern.
Alan bit the bottom of his lip. The way he only did when he was unsure or hesitant to say something.
"Alan?!" Gordon's tone brokered no argument and a small nod as tears rimmed those baby blue eyes again was all the aquanaut needed to know. He had to get his brother free now.
He started to quickly assess the situation, amber orbs taking in the position of each object as to determine what was best to move first. He was soon moving into action.
First was some of the spare joints that had gotten loose from one of the cargo holds. He all but threw them into one corner as he turned to the two underwater sediment filters they'd been using earlier as they had cleared the mini subs propellers. He lifted one up, moving it to lean against the side of the main compartment wall as he then turned and did the same with the second.
That left just one last piece of gear left.
The metal claw.
It had been attached to one of Four's grapple arms to help dig the sub out. It was the heaviest piece of equipment that the yellow submarine carried and it was resting right on Alan's chest. It was no wonder his brother was having difficulty breathing with that pushing into him.
He bent his knees, arms getting a firm grip on the metal as he shifted to take the weight with the whole of his top body.
One deep breath and he lifted.
Alan had been very quiet throughout the whole procedure so far but as soon as Gordon shifted the claw he gasped in pain. It halted Gordon's movements instantly.
"Alan?!"
"I'm...ok." Though the fresh tears streaming down his face were testimony to the contrary. It pained him to see his fellow blonde [], but Gordon knew he couldn't stand here holding the Claw for much longer. His arms were burning under the strain of the weight. Last thing he needed was them giving way and it falling on top of his brother again.
"Just a minute and I'll have it off, okay?" He said.
Alan could only grunt in response.
He heaved the piece of machinery, dragging it along with his whole body until he was satisfied it was fully away from his brother. The loud clatter from its impact as he dropped it resounded throughout the small space.
A couple of black dots filtered over his vision he closing his eyes momentarily to banish them, before he turned round to check on Alan. The sight that met him however had his heart lurching in panic.
His brother was falling forward, unable to hold himself upright as a trickle of blood oozed down from the corner of his mouth, face deadly pale. Gordon dove forward, catching him just in time though the sudden movement brought the black spots back with avengence as he grasped the side of Thunderbird 4 to steady them both.
Gordon took a deep breath willing the speckled dots in his vision to dissipate. No sooner had they and he came face to face with something that made him curse under his breath and his blood run cold.
It hadn't just been the metal claw which had been pressing into Alan's chest.
The astronauts chest plate was crumbled inward. The impact needed to have done so was substantial given how reinforced that plate was. An order from their overprotective Commander when Brains was designing the uniform to add another layer of protection for the baby of the family when he started iR.
He held his baby brother in his arms, Alan's breathing ragged.
They all new basic first aid as it was a requirement as an operative of iR. Virgil put them all through regularly drills, to keep them up to date on any new procedures. Gordon could already conclude that there was at least one fracture underneath that plate if not more. Internal bleeding was a definite possibility, and the way Alan was wheezing for breath had the family prankster wondering about the condition of his lungs too. Though without a functioning medical scanner it was hard to know for certain.
With this uncertainty as much as he'd love to remove the crumbled chest plate pushing into his brother he had no idea if this would cause more harm then good. He couldn't risk it. His best option was to leave it be, until the full extent of his injuries could be assessed. For now Gordon would just do what he could.
He did not have the full medical equipment Thunderbird 2 flew with but he did have his underwater breathing apparatus and there were tanks of oxygen in the main store compartment which could help with Alan's breathing difficulty.
Gordon started to maneuverer the young pilot as he moved to position him against the side of Four so he could get to work. This movement however had those blue eyes slowly crack open with a mumbled groan.
"Hey," he said softly as those eyes shifted to him. "You passed out for a second there, bro."
"Uhm…"
Alan shifted groggily but Gordon halted his movements.
"Easy, best not to move right now. I'm going to get some things together to help, but I need you to stay still okay?"
He received another groan which he took as a sign of understanding.
Gordon got to his feet starting to undo the apparatus on his uniform. He unclipped it from his harness, swinging it over his shoulder to the front. Once off he went immediately to the store compartment.
A dizzy spell washed over him but he shook it off as quickly as he could though albeit not quick enough as he heard a whimpered call from his baby brother.
"G'rds?"
Damn.
"Fine, just tripped!" he said over his shoulder giving the best reassuring grin he could muster. He pulled the compartment door open, reaching inside for one of the tanks. Luckily they were relatively easy to carry. Small and compact.
He clamped the end of his apparatus onto the tank and turned the nozzle a quarter of the way. He took a quick breath of it himself as he tested the flow, turning the nozzle more as he got what he felt would be the right. Once satisfied he turned to Alan.
"Just going to put this on you, alright?" He said indicating to the mask as he approached the bench. He fitted it onto Alan quite easily and the youngest Tracy took his first breath.
"Bit better?"
Another small nod.
Gordon gave his hand a squeeze which the younger attempted to return but halted as he winced in pain.
Gordon already knew what he had to do next.
He headed over to the medicine cabinet as he shifted through finding the bottle of pain medication as well as a unused syringe needle. He got the needle out of its packaging before measuring out the right dosage. He picked up a cotton wool bud that he dipped in some antiseptic as well as a plaster.
"I'm going to give you some pain relief." He told Alan as he moved back to his side. "You'll feel a little drowsy as its the good stuff but I promise not to record anything weird you mumble this time and play it throughout the hanger for everyone to hear."
Alan smiled weakly at the usual banter.
Gordon dabbed the cotton wool on the spot in the crook of Alan's arm and soon inserted the needle, pushing the medication out with the syringed half into the astronauts system. Once fully administered he pulled the needle out, dabbing the area gently again as he placed a dolphin patterned plaster over the entrance wound.
"I'm going to get us out of here Allie." Gordon stated firmly, hand stroking his brothers hair lightly. "All I need you to do is concentrate on your breathing, okay? Can you do that for me?"
Alan meekly nodded his eyes already starting to droop.
"Good." He responded giving his brothers hand a squeeze before pulling himself upright again.
Gordon made his way back over to the medicine cabinet, plucking out some wipes and a bandage. He quickly wiped the blood on his face and head before tightly bandaging his open wound using the perspex glass as a mirror. It wasn't the best of jobs but for now it would have to do.
The aquanaut then looked around Four's main compartment, peering through the glass to get any indication to the entirety of their situation.
Now, how do I get us out of this mess.