Waking up in the five star hotel in Hawaii, Gordon yawns sleepily as he turns towards the window for a weather check. Atlanta is still on the Island, having decided to stay and help Scott with the finishing touches to the interiors. Smiling out at the calm blue ocean that stretches for miles in front of him. Even though it is only eight oclock in the morning there is not a cloud in the sky and it looks perfect out there for the Hydrofoil tests.
He is already in the shower, singing love songs from the nineteen eighties as the warm water beats down on his freshly shampooed hair. He curses loudly when there is a knock on the door, wondering if he ignores it for long enough then they will go away. But they continue to pound away and whoever it is is determined to get his attention.
Switching the water off and grabbing a towel which he quickly wraps around his hips he wrenches the door open, as Paul runs in laughing.
"HIDE ME!" He shouts, diving for the cover of his best friends desk.
"What have you done?" Gordon asks, trying to sound annoyed.
"Nothing, if anyone asks I have been here for hours" Paul replies breathlessly.
"I am not being an alibi without knowing why!" Gordon replies, trying to keep his voice stern but wanting to burst out into laughter at the scene in front of him.
There is another knock on his door. Looking down under the desk, Gordon grins at his friend. "Looks like we are going to find out what nothing is!"
Commander Shore is sitting on the other side of the threshold, his face is red with anger. "Where is he Gordon, he was seen heading in this direction."
"Who?" Gordon asks feigning ignorance.
You know who Tracy, I can see his feet sticking out from under the desk!" Commander Shore replies.
"I think he knows you're here Paul" Gordon tells his friend. "What did he do, he won't tell me?!"
"One of your old tricks Mr Tracy, organised a wake up call to everyone's rooms at four-thirty in the morning!" Commander Shore rages. "THIS IS NOT FUNNY!" he rages as Gordon and Paul both break into hysterical laughter.
"I want you both fully dressed and presentable and in my office in ten minutes" he barks at the two men. Before reversing back out of the room and slamming the door closed.
"Why didn't you do my room too?" Gordon asks.
"You were asleep and it would have been cruel. You are my best friend" Paul tells him, wriggling out from under the desk and climbing up onto his feet.
"Go and get dressed, I will meet you in Shores office. He isn't really angry, he's just nervous about the tests." Gordon insists. Closing the door behind him and focusing on his own outfit. Realising that his hair is still covered in shampoo, and it is making him shiver slightly from cold. Over two years of W.A.S.P service and eighteen more of fighting his brothers for the bathroom, Gordon is an expert of getting ready in minutes, and finds himself waiting for Paul outside of Commander Shores makeshift office within the hotel.
Paul makes it with seconds to spare still buttoning his shirt. "Phew made it!" he gasps laughing.
"Come on, let's get this over with." Gordon tells him, knocking on the door.
"Come in," Shore calls from the other side.
Paul, knowing that this is his fault, opens the door, before the two walk towards their fate.
"What am I going to do with you two?" Shore asks in exasperation.
"Gordon is innocent Sir" Paul tells him, determined not to let his partner in crime get punished for something that is not his fault.
"Innocent? Gordon Tracy will never be innocent!" Shore replies, spitting his coffee out in shock. "But for the rest of the exercise I will be waking you both up personally at three-thirty in the morning! Now both of you get out of here and get some breakfast, you have a long day ahead of you, and if I hear of either of you causing any more trouble I will have you both removed from the programme and you will not be allowed to test the Hydrofoils!"
Not stopping to argue Gordon and Paul flee the office, making sure they are well out of ear shot before they start to laugh.
"That could have been a lot worse, I was sure he was going to ban us from the tests. Did you see his face?" Paul says as they sit down for their breakfast. Filling their plates with eggs and bacon before finishing off with copious amounts of coffee.
"That would be the worst thing ever!" Gordon replies, "We have both worked so hard for this. The hydrofoil tests are going to be so much fun."
*TB*
The boat is only just big enough for its two crew members to sit in comfortably, Gordon at the controls. Spinning the steering wheel as fast as he can, feeling the wind rush through his hair laughing as the boat turns at his slightest touch.
"Stop playing with it and concentrate, or we will never be allowed to go out onto the open water" Paul tells him laughing and poking him in the back of the head.
"Okay fine. I have completed the final checks on my end, and everything looks good. The engine breaks working perfectly. We are just waiting for the green light and we are good to go" Gordon tells Paul before adding "I have everything under control. You just have to trust me"
"I trust you with my life Gordon" Paul replies smiling. "Look, green light! Let's go"
Gordon guns the engine, and the hydrofoil starts to move, comfortably moving up to sixty miles an hour in mere seconds, as they move out to open water.
The course has been carefully chartered and as Gordon told Scott there are marshals lining the course every few hundred feet. Gordon doesn't even get the opportunity to wave to them as the boat continues to pick up speed.
At these speeds, there is a wide turning circle, and Gordon takes the first bend easily, slowing down on entrance with a gentle squeeze on the brakes, just kissing the apex of the corner before accelerating away. "ALAN COULDN'T HAVE TAKEN THAT BETTER IN HIS RACE CAR!" Paul shouts over to him, but his voice is lost on the wind and doesn't even travel to Gordons ears.
The four hundred mile trip is completed in less than thirty minutes. Slowing the boat to a stop, Paul presses the release for the air brake, which they need in addition to the engine brake to stop in time.
"GORDON IT ISN'T SLOWING DOWN FAST ENOUGH" Pauls voice has flipped from jovial to terror, knowing that something has gone wrong and he has no idea how to fix it. The air brake pre test check was his responsibility.
Gordon tries applying the override from his control panel, and even though it activates the brake, they both know that it is too late to bail out.
They are going to crash.
The stress from the brakes being applied with maximum pressure is causing the boat to break apart, the wooden planks splinter, and the engine bursts into flames which shoot ten feet in the air. The last thing Gordon remembers is being thrown from the craft and his body hitting the water with enough force to knock him unconscious. An explosion rips the last remnants of the broken boat part causing debris to rain down on him like hailstones, a large flaming metal panel strikes his lower back with so much force he is dragged below the surface.
*TB*
Coming round Gordon is still in the water, the airbag built into suit is the only thing keeping him above service level. His whole body is screaming bloody murder at him. He can see the remains of the boat about a hundred metres away, still on fire. He has no idea what happened, but there is a nagging sensation at the back of his head, telling him that there was someone else out here with him, but he can't see anyone.
Starting to struggle to remain afloat, as the airbag surrounding him is starting to deflate, Gordon tries to get to a large chunk of drifting steel, hoping that if he can climb up onto it he will be safe. His instinct to survive drives through the pain he is feeling, as he treads water to get to safety. The muscles in his legs don't work anymore, but he forces himself to move through the water.
He is desperately gripping on to the one thing stopping him from drowning, and it is hurting every fibre of his being.
There is a distant call of "THERE" and "HE IS STILL ALIVE" before he feels hands on his back. Strangers hands, wanting to shout at them to leave him alone, and that being touched hurts, but his throat is raw with smoke from the nearby flames and his protests fade to whimpers.
"Come on Kid, let's get you out of here" The voice is distant, and scared despite the years of training he has received for these situations, and he has no idea if this is Paul or Gordon as the suits are damaged beyond repair.
"Grodorn" Gordon mumbles, trying to give them his name, but it comes out unintelligible.
More hands, more words. Gordon can't stand it anymore, he can't stay awake anymore.
Losing consciousness once more as he is slowly moved from his liferaft and onto a rescue boat.
He has no idea who it is that is saving his life, but the hands holding onto his left arm feel strange, not like human hands at all. Trying to force his eyes open doesn't work, and the longer he lies here the more aware of the pain he becomes. Apart from his legs.
Gordon can't feel his legs.
*TB*
Back on the Hawaiian shore, there is no sign of a panic, still unaware that anything has gone wrong. Commander Shore is laughing at a joke Leutenant Fischer is telling him. "That is the worst joke i have ever heard!" He tells him with a chuckle.
"Gordon told me it the other day Sir" Fischer tells him.
"What is the joke?" a young W.A.S.P cadet asks, having been invited to watch the tests.
"What do you call a laughing motorcycle?" Fischer asks.
"No idea?"
"A Yamahahaha!"
"That is not funny!" the cadet replies, laughing.
"Yet you are still laughing!" Fischer tells him grinning. "When are they due back Commander?" he asks Shore, getting back to the serious business.
Commander Shore doesn't reply, his attention being drawn away from them by the radio. His face is now deathly pale as he processes what he is being told.
"Sir?" Fischer repeats.
"Somethings gone wrong, no one speaks to the media, all press briefings will go through me" is all Commander Shore is able to reply before spinning his hover chair round and heading back to the command room. He should never have left the command room, he could have been able to prevent this from happening.
"What do you think he meant by that?" the young cadet, who has not even been introduced to Fischer asks.
"I don't know" he replies apprehensively.
*TB*
Scott is just about to go to bed, it has been a long day. He knows that Gordon is planning on calling in once he has finished the testing, but he is too tired to wait up any longer. The room he has picked out for himself has never looked so inviting, the king size bed in the centre of the room set on a dias and surrounded by soft velvet curtains. Stripping his clothes off and throwing them neatly into the laundry basket in his bedroom, he pulls on his favourite pyjamas before sinking down into the memory foam mattress and drifting into a happy and peaceful sleep.
Which he is torn from less than an hour later, by gut wrenching screams coming from the room across the hall.
Leaping out of bed, throwing the curtains aside, Scott races into his sister in law's bedroom, finding her sobbing in anguish. Commander Shore is on the video phone, his face is heartbroken and full of pity. Pity Scott knows is for everyone and not just his daughter.
"Sam?" Scott asks, his voice is barely audible and he isn't even sure he spoke the request for information aloud.
"There was an accident. Your brother has been severely injured and airlifted to our military hospital here in Hawaii for emergency surgery" Commander Shore informs him. His voice is devoid of emotion.
"And Paul?" Scott asks. He hasn't mentioned him yet and Gordon will need to know his best friend is okay.
"I am sorry Scott, he didn't make it" Commander Shore breaks down once again. Tears are flowing freely for all three people inhabiting the room, no matter how remotely.
"Tell him we are on our way" Scott tells Commander Shore. He has to get to his brother, he has to be with him no matter what happens, ending the call Scott holds onto Atlanta as she desperately clings to her brother in law.
Scott knows that it is his job to tell his brothers the news.