Author Note: This was meant to be posted just before Christmas haha. However family came first and we got super busy. Happy New Year everyone and hope you enjoy this chapter.
It had been a month since Ellie had gone and visited her parents and brother, Gordon has been given the all clear to begin rehab again and work on gaining back his lost strength. It had been a little over a month since Virgil had his cast removed and his collarbone was knitting together nicely. He had been given some basic exercises he could work on but he was still waiting on final clearance to begin full rehab to regain what strength and muscle he had begun to lose in that arm. They had all only just begun to sit down for dinner when John popped up on the holo, "International Rescue, we have a situation." In a flash dinner was abandoned as they all raced for the stairs to assemble in the lounge around the coffee table John had brought a holo map up on. They were already halfway through assessing the situation when Virgil came in, he had tried to run after them but the steps were still a bit too jarring for his shoulder. So he had opted to walk up the stairs as quickly as his shoulder would allow it. An oil rig had caught fire in the Atlantic, all attempts to control the fire and cut off the supply of oil had failed. As such the whole rig aside from a small crew that had opted to remain behind, had been evacuated. The only way to rescue them would be from the Helipad. The fire had not yet reached that area and if the winds were good it would be clear of the thick black smoke too. However to help stop the burn they would need to cut the oil source off. They had little choice but in this situation Gordon would ride along with Ellie in 4, he had the deep ocean experience she lacked. It would also be cut off quicker and fixed if Gordon was able to assess it himself. It was all under the proviso that Ellie remained in control of 4 at all times. They couldn't risk him straining his back again doing something he shouldn't. Scott didn't particularly like the decision but he needed Gordon's expertise with Ellie rather than trying to asses from a distance. Not only that but they were unsure of the depth of the rig's pipe and going down far enough could mess with the radio and their ability to communicate.
Alan would be riding with Lucia in 2 and Scott would fly ahead to assess the situation and pull out those he could reach before Lucia arrived. Virgil would remain at home with Brains and help provide advice from a distance if needed. Jeff was firm on those orders. With everything clear, they all departed. By now it had become routine for Lucia to give Virgil a little salute goodbye if he was there when they left. It had been long enough now that she could ace the landing into Thunderbird 2. There was little time to waste and they were crewed up and launching from the island in only a matter of moments. Thunderbird 1 streaked ahead of them once they took to the skies. They had no time to lose and Lucia pushed Thunderbird 2, to her limits to follow Scott. The last thing they needed was too long a delay between Scott arriving and needing 2's assistance. Besides they needed 4 there stat, to cut off the oil before the whole thing went up. Even with Scott ahead of them it wasn't long until they could see where they needed to go. A giant plume of thick black smoke rose from the direction of the rig and spread across the sky. "This is Thunderbird One, the helipad is clear of fire but with the wind I can't get close enough to land through the smoke. What's your ETA Thunderbird Two?" It was Scott's voice who came over the coms, and Lucia was quick to answer, "Not more than two minutes out Thunderbird One, I'll drop four and we will see what we can do about getting those men out of there." She replied. "FAB Thunderbird Two" was Scott's clipped reply as he circled the rig looking for hopefully another way to get Thunderbird 1 close enough to hopefully pick up some of the survivors.
Ellie and Gordon were already ready and waiting in the pod bay in 4, when Lucia's voice came over their coms. "Due to the oil spill I'm dropping you a little further south of the rig and upwind of the spill. Last thing we are going to need is a pod full of oil. Be careful out there and do what you can to stablise and contain the leak. While that oil is still pumping the rig is just going to keep burning." Her voice was steady and clear, it was perhaps their most dangerous mission yet and it was going to require every ounce of skill she and the rest of them possessed. "FAB Thunderbird Two, Preparing for launch sequence now." Came Gordon's reply as he sat near Ellie. "Pod's away, Good Luck guys" Lucia's voice sounded from the com's again after she dropped the pod. Within the pod, Ellie skilfully worked the control panel to open the pod door and release their docking clamp ready to launch them into the water. Thunderbird 4 propelled itself through the water and down deep towards the long pipe that ran from the rig to the ocean floor where it mined the oil, that would be stored on the rig before being transported to a tanker ship to be taken ashore for processing. Until either Scott or Lucia got in contact with the men on the rig, they had no idea how much oil she was storing on board. For the moment all they could focus on was doing their job and ceasing the flow of oil. They circled the pipe several times from the very bottom to as high as it was safe to do so. Assessing and formulating what would be their best plan of action. While they were closer to the surface they were able to contact Brains and work out the plans of the rig itself. However deep towards the bottom they were fairly well on their own. Quite honestly Ellie was glad Jeff had told Gordon to accompany her, while it did feel rather weird to be at the controls instead of him. She knew this was something she was not able to on her own. This was all well beyond her expertise and the scope of what she knew about the deep sea and ocean. It was decided that first they needed to try and stem the flow, Brains had loaded 4 with an experimental foam of his that would eat the oil and harden to become a plug preventing oil flow again. The only problem was they needed to cut off the flow to the rig itself first before they could try to plug the hole itself.
"It's okay, we got this."
Gordon said reassuringly as he placed his hand on Ellie's shoulder upon noticing her apprehensive expression as she tried to focus on the task ahead of them. Both of them completely oblivious to the chaos going on above them as they began to implement the plan of action they had formulated together. While Ellie had not done that many rescues in 4, all the extra practice she had been putting in to learn the controls had paid off. Hers cuts were smooth and the movements with 4 had now become precise. Even Gordon was coloured impressed by her proficiency with the controls now. She had been rather clumsy at first, but that reminiscing would have to wait until after they had done their job. For now he had to focus on getting this rig safe and the oil contained before enough of it built up within the rig for it to blow. Finally it became time to apply the high pressure foam. This was perhaps their trickiest part and Ellie manoeuvred 4 closer and into position so they could inject and apply the foam correctly to the area. With hope and fingers crossed it would do the job. Ellie took a deep breath, sweat beginning to form on her forehead as she concentrated on getting 4 as still as possible while she made to drill an ever so precise hole as directed by Gordon to apply the foam. Now all they had to do was sit tight and cross their fingers and watch to see if it would end the flow of oil as they had been hoping.
The wind was making it hard to get a good look at the helipad and count the number of workers that they needed to rescue. As it blew thick black smoke across every angle Lucia tried to steer Thunderbird 2 to look at from. Neither did she particularly want that thick black smoke anywhere near Thunderbird 2's engines if she could at all help it. "Not looking good Thunderbird One, I can barely see the helipad through the smoke," Lucia called over the coms to Scott, this was not boding well. "Keep trying Thunderbird Two, there's got to be an opening in there somewhere. I would try to get closer but I can't risk the smoke getting sucked up into One's engines," He replied, there was a worry in his voice she had not heard before. To be honest she was beginning to worry too. If she couldn't get a clear shot in the next few moments they would be forced to pull four from the bottom and try to perform the rescue from under the platform. But there in lie another complication as Four wasn't equipped to handle a mass rescue like Two was. For the longest moment it was not looking good for them at all until suddenly the wind changed and she saw an opening. It was really now or never, "Alan get ready with the hoist." It was the only warning Lucia gave him as she swooped in with two and hovered her above the platform. "Alright Alan, we don't have much time, get those workers on as quickly as possible." Lucia called over the coms as she held Two steady and silently prayed to herself that the wind would not change. Especially as they were now in the firing line of having the fire blown over them if the wind blew back their way again. "FAB Lucia" was Alan's reply. She had been apprehensive about sending him down at first, he was the youngest and more than anything she didn't want anything to happen to him. She had to remind herself though that he was one of them and had been trained the same as they all had. Though some of them had their specialities, they had all had the same basic training. He was also a Tracy and she had to remind herself of that too. If anything after having lived with them past three months, she had come to understand what it was to be a Tracy and the strength and resilience the family had.
Still it was hard for her to sit on the sidelines and watch, watch and pray the wind didn't change. "Lucia I got everyone but they said someone is still stuck. I'm going back for them." Alan's voice crackled over the coms and a sense of dread struck her in the chest like she had been hit by truck. She could hear Scott's objections over the coms about it being too dangerous. This time she couldn't and wouldn't sit on the sidelines. Turning Thunderbirds two over into auto pilot, she descended into the cargo hold and retracted the workers up into the safety of the hold. Once they were safe and clear she sent down a line after them and rappelled down at speed. "Lucia! What are you doing?" It was perhaps the first time she had heard real fear in Scott's voice, "It's far too dangerous for him to go alone and we don't have the time to argue on this." Her response was short and clipped as she landed on the helipad and unclipped herself. She fairly well took off at a run in the direction Alan had and through smoke and the heat of the fire she followed the sound of his voice.
"Don't worry I'll get you out. I just need you to relax for me." Lucia could hear Alan's voice getting louder but also progressively closer to the fire. Rounding one more corner and reaching the end of one of the buildings on the rig she finally had them in sight. Directly behind them however bloomed a tower of flame that threatened to spread closer to them. The man in question that Alan was talking to had what seemed to be his arm pinned by falling debris and was unable to move. "Alan, what's his status?" Lucia slid in to kneel besides the man and Alan who seemed to be having trouble with the debris. "Don't touch that!" Alan's voice was panicked as she reached towards the man's arm and the debris pinning it down. Lucia turned towards Alan and was about to ask why, when she saw the reason. The gloves on his hands looked a mess and she could tell from a glance he likely had some nasty but probably minor burns to them. She supposed now was the time she would finally get to use the handy little gadget that Brains had made for her. Reaching into her side pocket she pulled out a disk she managed to slide in beside the man's arm without touching the metal that trapped it. A few taps on her wrist pad and she watched as she disk began to expand and push the metal up and off the man's arm. Getting to the other side of him she gave him a tug and pulled him free. It didn't look good though and she was going to have to work fast as she went for the med supplies she carried on her and stemmed the bleeding best she could before firmly bandaging his arm up. "Hold out your hands." Alan almost gave her a 'I don't know what you mean.' Look until he realised she had seen his hands. Defeated he held out his hands to her, ignoring Scott's calls into her coms as she bandaged Alan's hands. A better job would have to wait until they were back on the island. "Help me with him would you." His hands might be burned but his arms still worked and Lucia needed the extra hand getting the injured worker on his feet and into a harness. There was a small pop and bits of burning debris fell at their feet.
Lucia realised they needed to go and they needed to go now. "Alan we got to move before this thing blows sky high." She urged them as a few more pops and cracks echoed behind them. For now the wind was still good and she could see Thunderbird 2 ahead of them hovering where she had left her. Her line still hung down into the middle of the Helipad and Lucia reached out for it as they came to a stop. A loud rumbling noise came from below their feet and looking into the eyes of both Alan and the worker, Lucia could see fear. In one deft movement she had attached both Alan and the injured worker to the harness. Before Alan could try and grab her, she hit the retract button on the line and gave them a push. "Lucia! What are you doing?!" It was Scott's voice that echoed in her ear again as she rapidly tapped on her wrist pad and had 2 begin to back off to a safe zone. There wasn't enough room on the line for her anyway without it being unsafe. She would have to find another way off the rig now. By now she meant right now. "Was saving your brother's life fly boy. So what do you say about coming to pick me up." Lucia couldn't help the joyous sarcasm that came across in her voice when she radioed Scott. She finally felt alive again, felt herself. The fact that it came on the brink of death was perhaps not the best moment but at least she finally felt free of her demons. "FAB Lucia, but when we get back you and I need to have a talk." She knew from the tone of voice it wasn't going to be a talk of the good kind.
Before Scott could manoeuvre Thunderbird One into place to pick Lucia up, there was a loud bang and a giant plume of fire rolled towards him. Pulling out evasive manoeuvres all he could do was watch as the wind changed and the thick black smoke obscured the helipad again. He wasn't even sure if there was still a helipad as there was another bang aboard the rig and parts began to fall off into the water. A very obvious lean had begun to develop in the remaining legs he could see below the black smoke. He had not felt terror strike his heart like that since he had seen Virgil take the hit on the plane. "Lucia!" he screamed into the coms, it was followed by Alan's equally frantic voice. "Scott! What's going on? Is Lucia okay?" The frantic voices of Ellie and Gordon followed. "John, can you find her?" It was Virgil's calm voice that cut through on the coms next. "FAB Virgil." Was all John could managed as he tapped and flicked away on his screens to try and locate Lucia. "Lucia, do you read me? Lucia, come in!" John's voice called into his radio as he tried to locate her. Getting more and more frustrated by the minutes as every attempt was failing. He couldn't pick her up on thermal either because everything where she last was standing was as hot as she was. "International Rescue, this is Thunderbird 5. I can't find her. Dad, Scott. I can't pick her up on the scanners or over the radio." John's voice sounded tired and on the verge of breaking down. "No!" Scott yelled punching the armrest of his seat. He swung Thunderbird One around the rig, trying to find a way through the smoke. He wasn't going to give up on her that easily, but with the thick smoke that continued to billow it was impossible to see anything. It was also impossible to see through the spray of the fire fighting tankers that were on scene with them doing their best to try and control the fire with their special foam.
"Scott, she's gone. We have to get those workers to safety and Alan needs your help." It was Virgil's clear voice that broke the silence that had befallen the cockpits of the Thunderbirds.