Disclaimer: Nope still don't own them after all these years.
A ficlet for MissSquidTracy on Tumblr, as she challenged me to Gordon and decompression sickness.
This takes place in the 2015 Thunderbirds Are Go realm. If you are familiar with my writing, you are used to me using the original series or 2004 movie as reference.
It was hard training my brain to call Virgil second oldest and Gordon a blonde instead of a redhead.
Mild cursing because sometimes life calls for it.
Hope you enjoy and sorry Gordo…..it's just not your day!
Chapter One
"Thunderbird Four to Thunderbird Five. John, do you read me?" Gordon called, as he continued to survey the disconcerting readouts in front of him.
"Reading you, Gordon. Aren't getting bored, are you?" the space monitor quipped.
"Not a chance," Gordon smirked at his older brother's holographic form. "John, can you do me a favor and run a diagnostic on Four?"
"What's going on?" John immediately was all business as he began pulling up his systems.
"I'm not sure," Gordon admitted. "My electrical board is going haywire."
John began scanning Thunderbird 4 while also alerting the Island of their situation. If something was wrong with Thunderbird 4, they needed to get Thunderbird 2 out to him right away. "I'm scanning now. Anything else I need to be aware of?"
"Everything else appears to be hunky-dory. I still had one more day out here before Virg was supposed to come to pick me up," Gordon frowned as he looked out into the vast ocean in front of him. He was enjoying some alone time along the ocean floor as he did some research of his own, testing out their equipment and ways to enhance water rescues.
"Looks like your trip is about to be cut short, Gords," John replied glumly. "I'm not reading any failures aboard Four. I should be picking up what you're seeing."
"John, what's going on?" Scott's voice commanded across the coms.
Gordon noticed the worried holographic forms of his two eldest brothers appear.
"Gordon is reporting what appears to be an electrical malfunction on Thunderbird Four," John reported as he continued to do a more in-depth scan of the submarine craft as well as any anomalies in the ship's vicinity.
"Gordon, are you okay?" Virgil's deep voice registered.
"I'm fine," the aquanaut responded as he eyed the instrumentation in front of him. "Ah, shit!" he exclaimed as the sub lurched forward, causing him to bump his head on the dash. It wasn't enough to give him a concussion, but Gordon knew that would leave a bruise. He groaned as the lights short-circuited for a moment before coming back on fully functional.
"Gordon, report! Can you hear us?" Scott's worried voice called.
Gordon only now realized the images of his brothers were gone. "I'm here."
"What happened?" Virgil asked as he and Scott boarded Thunderbird 2.
"Umm…I'm not sure," Gordon started. "Lights went out for a second, but everything is back up now." He searched the controls in front of him and cursed as he noticed that everything was indeed not back up. "Um, guys. I just lost navigation."
"Were on our way to you, Gordon. Just hold on," Virgil said as he willed the ship to go faster.
"John, are Brains and Alan on their way back from Mars yet?" Scott wondered, meeting Virgil's uneasy gaze.
"Negative, I've already checked. I haven't been able to reach them. Communications are still being affected by the dust storm," John said, looking at the images in front of him. "I'll keep trying."
"F.A.B," Scott replied.
"John, are you picking up my signal?" Gordon asked uneasily.
"Don't worry, kid. We've got your location," Virgil answered as Thunderbird 2 sped across the sky.
Gordon took in a sigh of relief. "F.A.B."
The swimmer's relief only lasted for a moment as his sub shuttered and lurched forward once more. Gordon quickly grabbed his helmet and placed it upon his head. Gripping the sides, he tried to stabilize himself as he felt the yellow sub lose power and lean toward the ocean floor several miles below him.
"Do you guys hear me?" Gordon called as he pressed the IR insignia on his shoulder. "I've just lost pow–" he stopped his words as life returned to his ship. "Ugh, just kidding," he groaned. Whatever was going on with his ship was fast becoming a tireless game.
"We're almost to you," Scott reported.
"Gordon, do you have full control?" John assessed. "You're going to have to climb higher if Thunderbird Two has to fish you out. You're too deep."
"Hang on," Gordon breathed with a sigh. "Let me see what's still functioning." Fiddling with the controls, he smirked as his baby responded to him. "I may not have navigation, but by golly, these hands still got the magic touch."
He earned a chuckle from each of his siblings as he climbed toward the surface.
Gordon's triumph was fleeting as his ship shook in his hands, and the lights went out once more. He was only a few thousand feet from the surface, which made it even more maddening to him. "Welp, fishing it is guys. Someone turned the lights out again."
"Too much partying, little tadpole," Virgil quipped as he hovered overhead.
"Some party," Gordon grumbled as he felt the grapple from Thunderbird 2 latch onto the top of the sub. He could feel his headache growing as he entered the body of Pod 4.
"Welcome back, lost fish," Scott smirked as he greeted his little brother inside the Pod.
"You know you missed me," Gordon beamed as he followed his oldest brother into the cockpit. "Thanks for saving me. Any word from Brains?"
John's holographic form popped up across the display. "I just heard from them. He's concerned and said he would have to take a look at Four to understand what's going on."
"Took you all but two months to bust this one," Scott teased.
"Hey! None of those are my fault, thank you very much," Gordon puffed, rubbing his forehead. His back began to ache, which he attributed to his tenure at sea the last few days.
"Is this the part where I tell you this is why we can't have nice things?" Virgil chuckled as he prepared for the final approach to the Island.
"Very funny," the aquanaut mumbled and closed his eyes as he felt sudden dizziness begin to take over.
"We're just teasing you, Gords. I'm sure Brains will get to the bottom of what's causing the electrical failure. Probably a faulty circuit board," Virgil reassured as he brought his 'bird in for a landing and allowed the green ship to be pulled into the hanger.
"Yea, hopefully," Gordon only replied as he suddenly began not to feel well. Feeling Two halt, he knew they were officially home. Standing, the blonde felt his world tilt as dizziness overwhelmed him.
"Woah!" Scott exclaimed as he caught Gordon, gripping his arms. "I see you still have your sea legs."
Gordon didn't respond as he suddenly realized something wasn't right. He tried to take another step forward, but intense pain gripped his body, and it took everything in Scott to not let him fall.
"Gordon!" the field commander yelled as he cradled his little brother in his arms.
Virgil shot up from his seat and immediately began inspecting the second youngest for an unseen wound. "Gordon, where are you hurt?"
"It's not…" the blonde tried to explain as he suddenly realized what was happening to his body. With no navigation and in a hurry to reach the surface before his sub lost all power, he hadn't focused on his depth and decompressing properly. Shit…
The realization of what was happening clicked to the field medic as he noticed Gordon began to take short breathes. "Gordon, did you decompress on your way up?"
"Did I… Did I mention I had no navigation left?" the swimmer groaned as his body ached, and he struggled to get a deep breath in. He knew he had to get his breathing under control.
"Gordon!" Virgil cursed as the reality of the situation hit him full force, and he grabbed the emergency first aid kit to his right. "Scott, grab that backboard," Virgil ordered as he placed an oxygen mask on Gordon. "We've got to get him on full oxygen and in the compression chamber immediately!"
TBC…