Lil' Sister part three

Rescues, he'd had drummed into him over and over from both his father and his short duty tour in the Air Force's Rescue Units, were always serious business. No room for playing or messing about either on site or on the way there – you took the time to mentally prepare yourself for whatever might be about to happen, or you may as well not bother going in the first place.

Scott knew this. Believed it with every fiber of his being, from the current split ends of his hair to his in need of a cut toenails. It had taken practice and time, but eventually he had developed the ability to shut any distraction away into a room inside his mind, only letting it out when the mission was over.

Very occasionally, though, a thought would fight its way out.

Which was why, without really noticing it, Scott was humming as he flew Thunderbird One screaming over farmland towards the Danger Zone. It had been twenty-two and one half minutes since the silver rocket had been launched, and he was, by his best estimate, another five to seven minutes from the rescue area. Plus maybe another five to find the exact location and a suitable landing zone for both his 'Bird and Virgil's.

H'mmm. Scott wondered if Virgil would be bringing Brains along with him, as well as Gordon. The family had decided recently that Thunderbird Two was always to be double manned on missions. Considering that Gordon only really got to go on the few water rescues they were called out to, he had seemed the most logical choice to be the second crew member aboard. Brains, for reasons of his own, had also started to take a more active role in the field, rather than just relay information from Rescue Command.

A fond smile flickered over Scott's lips at the thought of the thin, nervous engineer. It had taken long enough to admit to his self his preferences, and then he'd had to to keep them secret whilst serving. It wasn't that it was illegal, but it was still frowned upon. People and ideas take much longer to chance than rules and regulations. Oddly, it was the couple of years spent in that classified work where he had found acceptance – maybe because the defense work there was so intense, nobody cared what their partner's sexual preference was, just so long as they could be trusted to watch one another's backs.

A rapid beeping let him know that Thunderbird One had arrived at the site. Scott straightened and cut power to the engines, letting her lower to within twenty-five or so meters of the ground, landing gear lowered. Switching over to the AntiGrav Drive system, he pivoted her around in a circle whilst he looked for the signal blanket the girl was supposed to have placed on the ground --

A bright red flapping motion attracted his attention, and proved to be tablecloth wafting in the wind. A closer look revealed a small girl with matching hair jumping up and down and waving at him. Figuring that she had to be the one who sent the call, he allowed his 'Bird to gently drop the rest of the way down, landing with a soft thump as he felt her sink slightly into the topsoil. Scott's strong hands and fingers made a series of practiced motions, shutting the engines down, starting up the security systems and opening the small cargo hold containing, amongst other things, the mobile control console and his hoverbike.

The entry hatch on what was now the floor of the cockpit snapped open and his chair pivoted down to lower him. Unbuckling himself, Scott stepped aside to let it swing back up and double checked to ensure the hatch shut itself. He felt a small hand grasp his and tug.

'This way, mister! She's over this way!' Scott allowed his self to be guided at a half run by the girl – what was her name, Mary? Carey? Something like that – to the well where her sister had fallen.

Dropping to his knees, and mentally thanking Brains for the umpteenth time for designing uniforms with built in kneepads, Scott pulled a torch from his belt and tried to get a view down the hole. Leaning forwards he tried to angle both so he could see clearly, but the diameter was too small to let him do so. Flipping his visor open, he lent further down and put his ear to the shaft.

Scott listened carefully for a few moments, the tried shouting down the hole. A faint sobbing, just at the edge of hearing, was all the response he got. He crouched back on his heels and looked at the girl.

'Okay, then. I can't see her, so I'm going to get one of our really small cameras and let that fly down to get a better look. Thunderbird Two and the rescue equipment should be hear soon, and then it won't take long at all to get her out, okay?' Now that Scott finally had a chance to look at Mary properly, he could see that her eyes were reddened and puffy, like she'd been crying constantly for a while – which, he guessed, wasn't far from the truth. If it had been him up here, and one of his brothers down a hole at his age – well, he figured he'ld be just as upset as she was. Reaching out to Mary, he rested a hand on her skinny little shoulder and smiled reassuringly.

'Don't worry, Mary. We'll get her out safely, and then the two of you'll be back to running through the fields in no time.' He ruffled her hair and then drew his hand back in to tap commands into his wrist unit, then made himself relatively comfortable as close to the hole as he could.

Besides him, Mary wormed her way under his arm and lent against his leg.