Chapter 28 - Saving a Life

Scott felt his heart drop when John nearly collapsed to the ground beside Alan. They were out of time - he had to move and move fast. With one desperate lunge, Scott rushed the remaining distance to reach the release valve.

The Hood turned at the sudden movement and roared. "What are you-"

Scott quickly turned the valve, not sure of what would be released from the pipe just behind the Hood. He did get his answer quick enough when he saw highly pressured steam escape from the vent.

The Hood screamed while trying desperately to avoid what looked to be extremely hot steam. Scott inwardly winced as he saw the man whirl and flail in obvious pain, and parts of the Hood's face looked beet red. After many tortuous seconds of the painful dance, the Hood finally turned and fled down the corridor, ignoring the world around him.

After the Hood fled, Scott quickly shut off the valve and ran back to his dad. Putting both of his hands on his dad's shoulders, Scott gave him a slight shake. "Dad, dad, please snap out of it!"

Scott watched as his father blinked his eyes furiously, and then finally focused on him. "Scott - the Hood - I couldn't move."

He nodded understandingly. "We better check on John and Alan."

Turning, the two men checked on John first, who had managed to stand back up and was shaking his head. His eyes were wide and fixed on Alan. "Scott, he looks like he's not breathing."

Scott dropped to his knees and checked for Alan's breathing, and then put two fingers on the side of his brother's neck. "You're right. There's no pulse either. John-"

John got back down on his knees opposite from Scott before he could even request the help. "I'm on it."

--

It took Virgil only five minutes to find where the missing dignitaries were being held. After freeing and reviving them, he led them back to the dock area where he had them board the remaining Shadow Force sub to wait. He had as a precaution electronically sealed the tube that led to the surrounding ocean so that the other craft could not return, but the quicker they could get this done, the better.

It was then that he checked his tele-com and realized that it had been nearly a half hour since Alan sent the signal for him. Simply put, they should have been back by now.

A rumble resounded through the area and it made Virgil nervous – either those charges he set had an unintended effect, or those idiots in the other subs were stupid enough to try and break back in. Neither possibility did their options any good.

He tuned his tele-com into the secondary frequency of the others, intent on warning them on how much time they had left. However, when Virgil heard his brother's frantic voices, he knew something had gone horribly wrong.

--

Gordon paced the confines of the communication deck of Thunderbird Five like a caged animal. He didn't know how John could stand it up here. Over the past few hours, he tried distracting himself by reading a science fiction novel that he had found in his brother's bookshelf, but even that was no good.

The advantage to be able to monitor everything meant that he knew that Scott, Alan, and their dad had been attacked callously by the Hood.

The disadvantage was not being down there able to help.

He knew that Scott and John were performing CPR on their youngest brother now, and it had been close to three minutes already. Silently praying, Gordon kept listening to the communications, listening for any sign of life from Alan.

Come on Alan. Come back to us and I promise, no more calling you sprout.

--

John performed the rescue breathing while Scott performed chest compressions. They had been working for close to five minutes now and had already checked Alan at least once. He was starting to give up hope when during their next check Scott exclaimed. "I've got a pulse!"

Jeff was beside them in an instant. "Alan? Please, open your eyes son."

Seconds later and much to their relief, Alan did open his eyes and winced as he brought up a hand to massage his throat. His voice sounded gravely. "Oww."

John let out a breath in relief before he felt another rumble, this one stronger than the last. He used his tele-com. "John to Virgil, what's your status?"

Virgil's impatient voice greeted his hail. "I have the dignitaries loaded, but this place is coming down. I estimate we have about ten minutes at best before one of these domes starts to crack and we do not want to be around when that happens. Hurry!"

John acknowledged Virgil's "FAB." He turned back to see that Scott and their father had lifted him up, and each man was bracing Alan under the shoulders. "We've got ten minutes, dad."

"Lead the way John, and we will be right behind you," his dad ordered.

They made it to the docking area in record time. While Scott and Virgil boarded Thunderbird Four, Jeff and John boarded the other sub with Alan. Jeff made sure the dignitaries were settled in, and then settled in a seat next to Alan. His son was pale, and considering what he had been through, it had been way too close.

John settled into the pilot's seat and called out. "All right, this is going to be a bumpy ride, so you guys better brace yourselves."

Jeff held onto his seat and held on as John submerged the sub and followed Thunderbird four out of the dock.