Ok, so here is Chapter 6. There are only 4 chapters to go (yes, I do know how this is all gonna end up for poor Gordon).
Just a note - I've updated the previous 5 chapters today (26-Feb) – just a few minor edits (eg, replacing your with you're, etc). There are no plot changes, so there's no need to re-read previous chapters (unless you really want to).
So, on with the story…remember Gordon got shipwrecked…
Chapter 6
The five castaways sat on the little rocky islet and waited. The sun had set. A disturbing blackness crept toward them from the east as the last of the twilight evaporated away to the west. Too soon they were enveloped in total darkness.
A breeze had risen at sunset, which soothed their reddened skins. Gordon just hoped the weather held out. He was confident that high tide wouldn't come before another six hours. Danno agreed but then said he wasn't sure.
So much for the expertise of a local seadog, Gordon thought.
The four of them shared the last dregs of the water and then fell silent. Gordon checked his watch, its fluorescent hands showed just after 8:00pm. He thought out the timeline – if John had contacted the local authorities immediately and it took them an hour to organise the search, then he reckoned they should be here in another hour at the very latest. If they didn't turn up by 9:00pm, he'd start panicking.
Gordon felt guilty about ordering John not to alert their father about his predicament, but he was also worried that John hadn't contacted the authorities right away. If John had delayed, even by fifteen minutes, he'd give him a piece of his mind when next they met.
As he ruminated on the exact words he'd use, Carl said he could hear something.
Gordon only heard the waves lapping the rocks. But then he did hear something.
Yes, there it was again. Engines. Definitely engines. Probably a helicopter. As it drew nearer he heard something more - a high-pitched squealing.
Not a helicopter. That was the squeal of a jet engine. A very powerful jet engine.
A light off to the east grew quickly brighter. Gordon knew what it was - the searchlight under the nosecone of Thunderbird 1. He also knew that Scott would be pinpointing their location using the inbuilt transmitter in Gordon's wristcom watch.
Danno started shouting as the light grew steadily nearer, then gave a shrill cry in pain, and then shouted some more. Gordon could tell, even in the darkness, that the skipper was standing up and waving his arms around. That won't help much, Gordon thought, but he joined the others and started waving and shouting as well.
The searchlight swung to and fro until it finally found them.
'This is International Rescue,' Scott's voice boomed out from Thunderbird 1's speaker. 'Another craft will be here shortly to drop a life bell to you. You will then be carried to the nearest shore where local authorities will assist you. In the meantime, I will drop you water and life-vests. Please put the vests on as a safety precaution. Wave if you understand.'
They waved and shouted madly.
Thunderbird 1 lowered a cable with life-vests. Carl said 'wow' as Gordon unclipped them, as if they were gold bars from heaven.
The 'bird moved away a few hundred metres. Gordon had forgotten how loud that craft's engines were. Brains was going to have to work on that. Scott turned the searchlight slightly away so the little group could still see but wasn't directly blinded by it.
They put on their vests and drank from the attached water bottles.
Soon after Carl pointed out another light in the east and they began getting excited again. The light grew bigger and a second set of roaring engines could be heard.
Thunderbird 2 flew in and hovered directly over them. Carl said 'wow' again. A slot under its nose opened and a rescue bell lowered on the end of a thick cable. Luckily, as there was no wind, it descended directly toward them without a waver.
Virgil's voice boomed out over his speaker.
'Everyone climb in and secure yourselves inside. When you're all secure, depress the speaker button and tell me you're ready to go.'
Gordon was relieved to see that Alan wasn't in the bell ready to stick his head out to ask him a dozen questions. Their father had probably thought it was safest to keep his two youngest and most talkative sons away from each other.
They were careful not to trip as they helped each other climb into the bell which was hovering about half a metre off the ground. Danno was hauled in last and Gordon noticed he had blood on his leg.
'Slipped on a rock when I jumped up to wave,' said Danno with a bit of embarrassment. Then he laughed. 'Lucky it's not me head.'
They attached themselves to the safety lines and held onto the inner rails just to be doubly sure they didn't accidentally pitch out as they travelled. Carl, who was closest to the speaker, hit a button and said, 'A.O.K.'
'Hold on,' Virgil replied.
They felt the 'bird move away and carry them aloft.
'How'd they find us?' Danno said out of the blue.
'May be they picked up your radio signal,' Gordon answered.
Carl shrugged, either meaning he had no opinion, he didn't know, or he didn't care.
Danno shook his head.
'But I wasn't asking for rescue. I was trying to tell the media we'd found where the whale was.'
Gordon didn't answer. He felt the urge to confess, but then reminded himself that he could hardly trust someone who thought it was fine to take four people out to sea with no radio and only two life-vests just to sell a story to the media. Who knew what Danno would do if he found out a member of International Rescue had been on his boat.
Within fifteen minutes the rescue bell was being lowered onto a beach. It touched the sand gently and Gordon gave himself a mental note to tell Virgil what a nice piece of precise work it was.
Virgil told them to disembark quickly, but safely, and then to move away immediately.
Gordon got out first. He looked around quickly and saw Thunderbird 1 resting on the main road just beyond the beach. It was surrounded by police cars.
Carl climbed out of the bell and looked for a moment as if he was going to kiss the ground, until Danno, coming out behind him, nearly tripped over him. He pushed Carl forward towards the waiting ambulances just beyond the sand. Both limped away.
Such gentlemen, Gordon thought as he turned to help Inga step out of the bell. She was holding her boyfriend's hand as if they were super-glued together. Once on terra firma the couple shuffled off awkwardly towards the waiting paramedics. Gordon attempted to jog after them, but his legs screamed out in protest and he, too, ended up doing a clumsy shuffle.
He caught a sudden flash of blue near one of the two ambulances. It was Scott. Gordon averted his eyes and limped to the other ambulance. He struggled into the back of it before the surprised paramedic had time to ask him how he was.
Gordon heard several 'wows' as people stopped to watch Thunderbird 2 rise up and arc away under full throttle, but he was too busy lying down on one of the trolleys. If Scott suddenly appeared for a talk, he could pretend to be semi-conscious.
A paramedic helped Carl into the back of the ambulance and then shut the door. As the man assessed them for injuries the ambulance took off, siren blaring.
It was a short ride to the local clinic. Besides, the nearest hospital was an hour's drive away and they weren't injured badly enough to need admission there. Gordon assumed the sirens were being sounded just to amuse the ambulance officers who probably didn't get to use them very often in this neck of the woods.
At the clinic the rescue 'victims', as the doctor called them, were quickly piled into three cubicles. Gordon and Danno shared one since Carl complained he couldn't stand to be near Danno's bloody leg. They were given water first and a nurse applied cream on their sunburned skin, while the doctor stitched up the cut on Danno's thigh, which turned out to be minor. They all got vitamin shots and painkiller tablets. Danno was also given a free cholesterol, heart and blood pressure check and much tut-tutting from the doctor and nurse about junk food and drink.
Gordon just wanted to lie down and sleep but the cubicle's narrow examination bed would barely accommodate him.
When the doctor left to attend to Carl, who they could hear complaining about a sore toe, Gordon turned to Danno.
'When do you think we can get back to Hervey Bay?' he asked.
'Dunno. Someone'll give us a lift. Maybe in the morning.'
A police officer walked into the cubicle.
She nodded at both men, and opened her notebook.
'Just a couple of questions if you feel up to it,' she said, all business.
Danno noticeably blanched.
'You the owner of the boat?' she pointed her pen at Gordon.
Gordon shook his head. Danno pointed to himself reluctantly.
The officer's 'couple of questions' actually turned out to be a barrage. Seemingly, Danno and the Chuckles, were famous in these parts. She wanted to know about the state of the boat, the state of its safety equipment, and why they had hit rocks.
Gordon kept quiet as Danno provided a version that painted the trip in better light than the reality.
She asked if they had contacted International Rescue.
'Dunno. Didn't you call them?' Danno said to her.
She looked momentarily confused and then realised he hadn't meant her personally but the authorities in general.
'No,' she said. 'They contacted us about an hour before they plucked you out of the water.'
Danno shrugged. 'Wasn't us – unless they picked up our radio signals.'
'I thought you said that your radio didn't work,' the officer said flicking through her notes. Gordon knew from experience that investigators in uniform were as sharp as tacks, and this woman was no different. She was looking for inconsistencies to pin on them.
'Maybe we could send out but not receive?' Danno almost pleaded. 'Although how they could pick it up and not you, I dunno…'
Gordon felt like a cornered rat. It wouldn't take long for someone to figure out that one of the 'victims' must've called International Rescue by some means other than the radio on the sunken Chuckles. He'd have to contact John and make sure that he'd convinced the authorities that Thunderbird 5 had picked up a call from the Chuckles. That might put to rest Danno's questions about how International Rescue knew they were in trouble before they'd struck the rocks.
The officer turned to him.
'And you are?'
'Gordon Bellary,' he lied smoothly. If Danno's memory for names was as bad as it was for basic boat maintenance, then he'd be safe. He was sure he hadn't mentioned his last name to any of the others.
'American?' the officer asked blandly.
'Yes,' Gordon said.
The officer looked at him questioningly.
'I'm here on a holiday. Just thought I'd go out to look for this whale everyone's been talking about.'
'Any ID?'
'I don't have any, sorry. It was on the boat.' He actually had a finance card in his shorts pocket, something he always carried with him in case, well, he got stuck in an emergency and needed access to cash or credit.
The officer seemed satisfied with that. He must look like any of the thousands of bedraggled American backpackers wandering the east Australian coast.
She asked him if he had anything further he'd like to add to Danno's statement. Gordon shook his head.
'Well, if you both can give me details where you can be found, there may be more questions over the next few days as we investigate further.'
Danno gave his address in Hervey Bay. Gordon said, quite honestly, he wasn't staying anywhere since he was in between lodgings.
'He'll be staying with me,' Danno offered helpfully.
The officer nodded.
'Can someone give us a lift to Hervey Bay?' Danno added.
'Sorry, you're on your own. There is a bus that stops about two kilometres up the road on the way north. You can get that first thing in the morning.'
She turned without a further word and left.
'A friendly sort,' said Danno.
They decided they would go to a pub that Danno had seen across the road as they'd arrived. If there was nowhere local for them to stay the night at least they might be able to get something to eat.
They found Carl who was still complaining about his foot. It couldn't have been that serious since the doctor hadn't even bothered to bandage it. Gordon followed Danno and Carl as they crossed the foyer to the exit. As Carl opened the door, Inga's excited voice drifted in from outside.
Gordon stopped dead as Danno pushed Carl out of the way and stepped through the clinic doorway throwing his arms up in welcome. In the car park a throng of people and news cameras turned towards the skipper.
Gordon moved to the window, peering through the blinds, making sure he kept out of sight. He watched Danno talking animatedly into microphones and could just hear his voice through the thick glass. He told the tale of how they'd chased Migaloo4 and were trying to help the whale when the boat hit rocks. He pointed to his leg to show where he'd been injured when the boat sunk. He told them about the arrival of International Rescue, adding embellishments as he went.
By morning, Gordon was sure, Danno would have them being saved during a cyclone with rabid sharks snapping at their heels.
One of the newshounds asked for everyone's names, and realising that there was one less person than name, asked where the other 'victim' was.
Gordon had heard enough. He retraced his steps to the back of the clinic. The nurse ignored him as he passed her on his way to the men's toilet.
He couldn't afford to have his face put on the airwaves. It wouldn't take long for someone to recognise him as Gordon Tracy, son of the Jeff Tracy, billionaire industrialist. That would go down well on Tracy Island. And what would Carol think when she saw him being rescued from the Pacific after chasing a whale, only days after he'd sat opposite her at lunch? The jetset are strange indeed, he imagined her telling Paul.
What was he going to do now?
His watch chirped, snapping him out of his reverie.
He hit the button to take the call, expecting to see John.
His father's face glared out at him.
'What the hell do you think you're doing?' Jeff spluttered out.
Gordon said nothing, just stared into the watch face trying to think of something intelligent to say.
'Why haven't you called? And how did you get to Australia?'
'I flew,' Gordon said redundantly, but he thought literal answers were the safest option at that moment.
'Why are you there? Don't tell me to save that damn whale.'
'Ok.'
If his father didn't want to know the answer he shouldn't ask the question.
'Where are you now?' Jeff ground out, looking like he wanted to put his hands through the watch screen and strangle him.
'In a clinic.' Now was not the time to tell his father he was hiding in a toilet while a rabid media scrum prowled outside.
'Well, get back to the jet and come back to the Island now.'
'No,' said Gordon.
'WHAT!'
'No, I'm going to go out tomorrow and find Migaloo4.'
Up until that moment Gordon hadn't actually known what he was going to do next, other than evade the press, get something to eat, get some sleep and get back to his rental car. But now he knew he couldn't leave until the fate of Migaloo4 was resolved, for good or bad.
'No, you will not, Gordon, you will come home,' his father said in his most commanding voice that warned he would brook no disobedience.
'No,' Gordon replied.
'Gordon, if you don't come home now, you won't come home at all.'
'Fine.'
Although it took several swacks against the side of the sink, Gordon managed to reduce the watch to a pulverised mess.