The episode this chapter is based on wasn't aired in the UK due to the horrific events at Grenfell Tower in 2017. Please feel free to skip this chapter if you feel uncomfortable reading due to that event or any other similar event. If you do skip, please read a summary at the end of the chapter that explains the changes to the story going forward as a result of this chapter.
July 22nd, 2063 - 22:00 BST
London's streets continue to be packed full of people as Big Ben chimes to indicate that it's 10pm. The Crystal Spire stands tall over the London skyline as the second tallest building in the world. At the bottom of the tower, the designer, Howard Yost surveys his work as a foreman approaches him with a tablet.
"Are the electro-jets ready?" Yost asks.
"In position and patched into the grid, Mr Yost," the foreman informs, "Just waiting for the all clear from the fire brigade."
"Technically, everything checks out," a certain Nina Gallagher says as she climbs up the ladder to join the pair on the platform, "This crazy plan of yours is ready to go."
"Crazy plan? Chief, this is the Crystal Spire! The world's first star-scraper! I designed the Spire to be the tallest man-mad structure in the entire world!" Yost cries angrily before turning to mutter, "And then they built a bigger one in Dubai. But tonight, The Crystal Spire will regain its crown, because I'm going to raise the entire building by seven record shattering metres." Yost takes the tablet off the foreman and turns to face Nina again, handing her the tablet, "Be my guest chief, head up to the observation deck and join the celebration."
"Thanks, but I prefer keeping my feet on the ground," Nina says and hands the tablet back out.
"Trust me, the lifting process is 100% safe," Yost informs.
"Trust me," Nina scoffs, "Nothing is a 100% were safety's concerned."
"Yes, yes, I couldn't agree more. Now," Yost mutters, taking the tablet back off from Nina giving it to the foreman once again, "Engage the electro-jets!" The jets that were under the building switch on and gradually start to lift the building. After a couple of minutes there's a slight shake and the tower stops rising.
"Congratulations, Mr Yost. The Crystal Spire is once again the tallest building in the world," the foreman states as Yost jumps around in excitement.
"Yes! Yes! Yes! Take that, Dubai! I want the entire world to see my triumph," Yost exclaims, "Oh, the lights! Turn on the lights."
"Uh... Are you sure, Sir?" the foreman asks, "We're already drawing a lot of power from the grid."
"Sure, I'm sure," Yost scoffs and takes the tablet off the foreman, "Here! I'll do it myself." He presses a button and suddenly the lights begin to turn on, gradually making their way up the tower. Nina does a double take as she realises what Yost had done and runs over to take the tablet off him.
"Turn those lights off! Turn them off!" Nina demands.
"Uh... you're kind of spoiling my moment here," Yost mutters.
"Your 'moment' is overloading the building's core power system!" Nina yells, "Switch those lights off now!"
"Hey!" Yost shouts as Nina takes the tablet off him and powers down the lights. They look up at the spire and notice flickers of red and orange show, "Huh... huh? W-What's that?"
"That, Mr Yost, is fire!" Nina growls.
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Thunderbirds are Go!
"This is Fire Chief Nina Gallagher broadcasting on the energy override channel," Nina says, contacting the observation deck at the top of the tower, "Do not panic. A fault in the Spire's electrical system has caused several small fires. The building's power has been cut for your safety. We're going to activate the Primary Fire Suppression System. It's a harmless gas. Everything will be okay. I promise." She closes the channel and walks over to two members of her crew.
"The gas has been released Chief. Some of the fires are out but the big ones are still burning," one says.
"Then we'll have to go in, and knock out the rest by hand," Nina mumbles before turning around, "Yost, we're going to extinguish those fires. Your job is to make sure those electro-jacks hold. If they fail, fire will be the least of our problems."
"Please, please, please! Save my building!" Yost cries.
"I think you mean save those people!" Nina growls and turns to her men, "Okay, Bluewatch, come with me."
They make their way several floors, realising the extinguisher gas by hand to deal with the fires. As they approach the twenty-fifth floor, Nina gets a call on her com.
"Chief Gallagher, this is International Rescue," John states, "We picked up your emergency broadcast. Do you need assistance?"
"Negative, International Rescue," Nina smiles, "John, is it? There's no point dragging your crew out here for a four pumper. If it gets too much for us, I'll let you know."
"I'll keep this frequency open just in case," John nods, "Good luck."
"We've got a long way to go. Let's move," Nina orders and they continue up the tower and round a corner to come face to face with another fire, "Give me two rollers."
"There you go Chief," the second crew member with her says.
"Okay, open it," Nina orders and the two prise open the door with their axes. Once the gap is wide enough, Nina activates the rollers and throws them into the room which is soon engulfed in smoke. She opens her scanner, and it changes to green, indicating the fire is out, "Another down. On to the next." They head up a flight of stairs and repeat the same process before heading up the next flight of stairs. After dealing with several small fires, they come to a door that when opened, the fire lurches out like an inferno throwing everyone back. The roller does nothing against this fire and the force of the fire brings some of the ceiling down. Nina and the first firefighter get clear and look back at where they were standing. "Bluewatch, report."
"I'm good," the first firefighter says. Nina turns around at a faint voice.
"Chief... my legs," the second firefighter groans from his position under the rubble, "I can't feel them!"
"Shit!" Nina mumbles, "Bill it's gonna be okay. We'll get you out."
"I'll radio base," the first firefighter says.
"Alex, it'll take too long to get lifting equipment up here. And every moment we're stuck, the fire spreads more. We can't do this alone," Nina explains, "Calling International Rescue. Come in, International Rescue?"
"International Rescue. Go ahead," John replies.
"It's Gallagher," Nina sighs, "That offer still good?"
"Absolutely Chief. We're on our way," John replies.
July 23rd, 2063 - 09:43 NZST
In the lounge, Alan stands on the table posing in his IR gear. Max whirs nearby and Kayo sits back at Jeff's desk, reading the newspaper. Virgil is currently painting Alan very carefully.
"Make sure I look cool," Alan states.
"We haven't got all day," Virgil sighs.
"No— And really heroic," Alan responds and changes his position.
"Yeah, sure," Virgil scoffs and Kayo chuckles, hiding her face behind the paper.
"Oh, and don't forget to show how totally good looking I am," Alan says smugly, flattening his hair. This causes Kayo to burst into giggles and leaving Alan raising his eyebrows in shock.
"I'd moving, Al," Kayo laughs, "Or you'll end up with three eyes and a nose on your chin." John appears in hologram form and notices Alan straight away. Virgil sees John and chuckles as Alan remains completely oblivious to John there. He remains completely still due to what Kayo had just said in fear that Virgil may actually paint that.
"International Rescue, we have a situation," John coughs, "Virgil, Alan, we'll need you both in Thunderbird 2."
"FAB," Virgil says and walks off.
"Alan! You can move now," Kayo shouts.
"Huh? Oh... FAB," Alan says and walks off to the passenger bay. Kayo could only roll her eyes at Alan's antics but holds a smile on her face as she watches him go.
5
Virgil runs over to the painting of a rocket and gets suited up.
4
The fire equipment is loaded into Module 1.
3
Alan boards Thunderbird 2 via the passenger elevator.
2
Thunderbird 2 taxis down the main runway and comes to a halt allowing the ramp to raise.
1
The blast shield rises.
Thunderbirds are Go!
July 23rd, 2063 - 00:58 BST
Thunderbird 2 arrives on the scene. Virgil circles around the top of the Spire to get an idea of how many people are needing evacuation. Alan gazes at the tower in wonder.
"Woah, that is one tall tower!" Alan states.
"Crystal Spire," Ridley informs from the mission control room as John joins her. In front of them is a holo-diagram of the tower showing the locations of all the fires, "1,125m, ground to tip. It's supposed to be some sort of 'architectural masterpiece'."
"It probably looks a lot better when it's not on fire," Virgil sighs and calls the fire chief only to be surprised at who it is, "Nina?!"
"Virgil!" Nina gasps, "Glad you could make it!"
"We've gotta stop meeting like this," Virgil chuckles.
"Oh, this is the girl you've—" Alan starts but receives a punch from Virgil.
"Too right," Nina says, "I was waiting for my date with you here. I guess now you have to join me on the forty-seventh floor and be prepared for some heavy lifting."
"Sure, thing Nina. I was made for heavy lifting," Virgil flirts and gets out of his seat, "There's no time for stairs. Take Thunderbird 2 to the forty-seventh floor.I'm going to configure the exo-suit for firefighting capability."
"FAB," Alan sighs and watches Virgil leave the cockpit to get changed, "Though it's not like they've got the floor numbers on the outside of the building." He takes the controls of Thunderbird 2 and flies to the bottom of the building before counting the number of floors by eye, "...Forty-five, forty-six, and... ding, forty-seventh floor." He brings Thunderbird 2 to a halt as Virgil comes back in and stands on the passenger lift. Virgil is lowered in his fire-proof exo-suit and looks at the raging flames in front of him.
"No way in. But as Dad always said, 'If you can't find a door...'" Virgil starts.
"'...make one'," Alan finishes and presses a button that lowers two water jets from beneath the module that turn on and spray a huge amount of foam. When the foam mist clears, the fire is shown to have gone out, so Virgil does a small run-up before jumping into the building and crashing through a wall before rolling into another room. "Hot enough for you, Virg?" Alan asks.
"Temp's up to fifteen hundred, but thanks to this suit I'm as cool as a cucumber," Virgil states and pulls out his scanner, "I'm going to rendezvous with Nina." Following the scanner, he walks into a large, central room, where Nina and Alex throw rollers in different directions. Bill is shown not to be in a good way under the rubble.
"Virgil, where are you?" Nina mumbles.
"Right here Chief," Virgil says, announcing his presence, "What do you need?"
"I need you to shift about eight tonnes of rubble," Nina gestures over to Bill.
"Eight tonnes? No sweat," Virgil says as he moves forward and begins to lift the rubble that is trapping Bill to get him free. When he does, the ground underneath him gives way under the weight and when Bill is carefully taken out the way, Virgil goes flying down a hole.
"Woah!" Virgil yells as he falls through the ground. Acting quickly, Virgil uses to the exo-suit to grab onto the edge of pars of the floor that hadn't gone with fire ragging below him. If he falls, death. The grip of the exo-suit slowly starts to give way and just before he falls off the edge, Nina comes charging in and grabs Virgil's hand. She is being supported by Alex and the pair gradually start to pull him back up.
"Hold on, we've got you," Nina states and eventually, Virgil is pulled to safety.
"Thanks Nina," Virgil smiles and brings her into a hug, which she happily returns.
"Bill needs evac," Alex calls, ruining the moment.
"Er... yes," Nina coughs and pulls back from Virgil.
"Thunderbird 2, how's it looking?" Virgil asks.
"Uh, well, do you remember that time you supercharged the barbecue?" Alan asks.
"Erm... sheesh..." Virgil mutters.
"You did that?" Nina smirks.
"What's our plan B?" Virgil asks her, changing the subject.
"We could use the building's emersion extinguishers to put out all the fires at once," Nina explains, "But it's a poisonous gas. We'd have to get people out of the observation deck first and that means going all the way to the top."
"The stairs are out," Virgil notes.
"Elevators too," Nina states.
"But we can still use the elevator shafts," Virgil notes and holds up his exo-suit, "And these."
"Er, Chief, how we gonna get Bill out?" Alex asks.
"Don't worry, we've got it covered," Virgil says, "Thunderbird 2, deploy the low frequency fire suppression system."
"Low frequency suppression coming up," Alan says and raises the module to allow the door to slide down and present some loudspeakers, which are unique to Module 1. Alan presses the sound button on the module control panel and some music starts to play, "Whoops! Sorry, wrong playlist." Alan pauses the soundtrack and changes to another before pressing play again. This time, a low frequency vibration sounds and the fires on the forty-sixth to forty-ninth get put out.
"Temperature's dropping. The vibration's disrupting the fire's oxygen. Any moment now and... now," Virgil says as they watch the fire extinguish.
"Woah! You gotta get us one of those," Nina smiles.
"I'm sure Brains could hook you up," Virgil says and steps back towards the way he came from, "Come on, Nina, let's get your crew member out." They head over to the window where Alan now stands on the passenger platform. He passes over a stretcher with Virgil uses to strap Billy down. When Billy is secure, Nina and Virgil slide him over to Alan who takes him back into the cockpit for treatment. As they need to get to the people in the observation deck, and no way of contacting them now, the rest head back into the building to climb the elevator shaft. This would enable them to get to the people directly. Virgil attaches everyone to a support rope, and he begins the climb.
"Next stop, observation deck," Nina says and Alex follows her and Virgil up the shaft.
"I'll go up and clear the way," Alan announces and takes Thunderbird 2 up ahead, taking out the rest of the major fires blocking the path. He gets up to the 176th floor when a fire busts forwards and strikes Thunderbird 2, causing Alan to yell and shield his eyes due to the brightness.
"Thunderbird 2, you okay up there?" Virgil asks as he feels the whole building shake due to the bust of flames.
"Yeah, nothing to worry about," Alan says and sees part of a black mark on the outside of Thunderbird 2 and adds with a mumble, "Nothing a re-spray won't fit."
"We better hurry," Virgil says, not hearing the last part of what Alan said.
"The elevator!" Nina cries. Virgil looks up and sees the impending danger.
"Brace yourselves," Virgil states and locks his exo-suit in place. The elevator hits Virgil with full force and everyone slides down the shaft with sparks coming from metal grinding on metal. As the exo-suit is locked in place, the elevator starts to lose speed, and everyone comes to a stop. "You, okay?" Virgil asks Nina.
"Hanging on," Nina chuckles as she dangles from the rope that is attached to Virgil.
"Looks like that's the end of our climbing expedition. What now?" Virgil wonders.
"We walk," Nina says.
"The fire is spreading fast. We won't make it in time," Virgil states, "This elevator would get us there in seconds if we turned the power back on."
"If we do that, this whole place will go up like a firework," Alex says.
"What if we could power the elevator independently?" Virgil asks as he looks down at a battery pack that is attached to his belt, "It's not like this battery's much use for anything else." Virgil then opens the emergency hatch at the bottom on the elevator and pulls Nina and Alex inside. Once inside, he closes the hatch and takes off the exo-suit, leaving him in the black fireproof gear. Virgil then plugs the battery in. "I'm sure Brains wouldn't mind too much," Virgil states, "The battery can power the elevator's magnetic levitators for about ten seconds. That should be long enough to get us to the top."
"Then what are we waiting for?" Nina says and twists the elevator key is starting it up and propelling them to the 260th floor, the observation deck. As the doors open, the elevator starts to drop as the battery runs out of juice. Virgil helps Alex and Nina out before Nina drags Virgil out just in time before the elevator drops like a stone. They walk around the corner and see everyone gathered. "Okay, we're here to rescue you," Nina announces.
"Hey, that's my line," Virgil scolds and chuckles.
"Sorry, Mr Tracy," Nina mocks, "What's the evacuation plan?"
"Good question," Virgil mutters as everyone suddenly turns to look at him. He turns slightly to shield himself so he could talk to Alan with a bit more privacy and fixes a confidence smile on his face for the people staring, "Thunderbird 2, what's the evacuation plan?"
"Well..." Alan trails, "Thunderbird 2 can't get close enough, and we can't exactly risk breaking the glass with so many people inside. I suppose a really big trampoline's out the question?"
"Everyone's looking at me, Alan," Virgil whispers.
"I don't know, we could always... take of the top," Alan suggests.
"Take off the top of the building!" Virgil yelps in surprise and Nina approaches him and claps his shoulder.
"Brilliant idea. Let's do it," Nina smiles and Virgil quickly masks his shocked expression and changes it to a smile.
"Okay, Alan," Virgil nods, "We'll give it a try. Well separate the observation platform from the roof. You ditch Module 1 and come back for us."
"FAB," Alan replies and flies away.
July 23rd, 2063 - 01:23 BST
"We have to sever the platform supports at these key structural points," Virgil says indicating on his holo-diagram that Ridley sent him, "These remote laser cutters will do the job. You ready for this Chief?"
"Absolutely. Where do we need to put them?" Nina asks.
"Out there," Virgil points. Nina nods and takes two of the four plasma cutters from Virgil. They attach safety lines to the inside of the building with Alex checks and then attends to the people inside the tower. Virgil and Nina make their way outside and start to put the cutters in place.
"How's the view?" Nina questions.
"Breath-taking," Virgil states in awe, "But not as good as you, Nina."
"Who knew Virgil Tracy was such a flirt?" Nina chuckles as she looks over to him. Virgil blushes slightly and checks the schematics again before moving to the second position.
"How you doing, Nina?" Virgil asks, changing the topic to the plasma cutters.
"Laser cutters in position. Now let's get back inside and—" Nina starts before a fire breaks out on the floor next to her causing her to fall.
"Nina!" Virgil cries and runs along the edges of the building downwards trying to grab onto her rope, "Nina!" Nina eventually reaches the end of her rope and is left dangling. Virgil reaches out and tries to grab her hand but fails to do so. Risking his life to the maximum, Virgil the unclips himself from his safety rope in order to allow him to reach further out to grab Nina. This time he does and pulls her to safety.
"Thanks, Virgil," Nina breathes.
"Don't ever scare me like that again, okay?" Virgil sighs and holds onto Nina for comfort. It's at this point, where Alan arrives with Thunderbird 2, minus the module and lowers over the top of the spire, attaching cables to it. Alex ushers people away from the centre of the spire, in case the chandelier.
"I got it, Virg," Alan states, "Cut the platform free."
"FAB," Virgil responds and activates the cutters from the holo-diagram on his helmet, "Thunderbird 2, take it away."
"FAB," Alan says and Virgil and Nina jumps as the top of the tower separates from the rest of the building leaving them hanging in mid-air.
"Evacuation is complete. Mr Yost, activate the extinguishers," Nina states over her coms.
"Extinguishers activated," Yost replies and they look back at The Crystal Spire seeing all the fires gradually going out. Alan flies Thunderbird 2 back to the ground and Virgil and Nina run out of the way once their feet touch the ground.
"Ground floor, everybody out," Alan announces.
"What did you do? What did you do to my Crystal Spire!" Yost complains to Virgil.
"Sorry, Mr Yost. I guess you don't have the tallest building in the world after all," Nina says sternly and Yost starts crying.
"Second tallest?" Yost mumbles to the foreman.
"Thanks for the assist, Virgil," Nina smiles, "Maybe I should finally take you up on that offer."
"Are you serious?" Virgil smiles brightly.
"Absolutely," Nina states.
"Great! I have some vacation time coming up where we can—" Virgil starts when he notices the right side of Thunderbird 2 is completely black and Alan is standing next to it looking very sheepish, "Alan! What did you do to my ship?"
"Urgh, it's not as bad as it looks. All it needs is a spot of paint," Alan chuckles awkwardly and waves over to the approaching Nina.
"Paint," Virgil muses then starts to drag Alan back towards Thunderbird 2, "That reminds me. Come on, Alan, we've gotta get back and finish your portrait."
"Just promise me you won't make me look too short. Or hairy. Or give me goofy teeth," Alan rambles as he gets dragged along with Virgil and gets no response but a smirk from his older brother, "Virgil? Virg! Oh man..."
For those who didn't read the chapter, the main change is that Nina is now joining International Rescue.