A/N - I don't own Thunderbirds, but please let me know what you think.
Alan winced as Virgil fussed over him and put the salve over his cut. The good news was he wasn't badly injured after he'd lured the alligator away from the house, but he had been knocked out making Virgil and the others worry he'd gotten a concussion.
"Sorry," Virgil said.
"Virgil-."
"Don't," Virgil's tone was dark with anger. "What you did was reckless."
"I was trying to save lives, Virgil, we do it on a daily and weekly basis."
Virgil nodded. "I know," he replied, his tone making it clear he did not enjoy the manipulation, the excuse International Rescue took so many risks in saving lives. They had all done it to some degree.
Gordon and Scott walked in, both their faces grave.
"Did you get the phial?" Virgil asked Gordon.
Gordon held it up in his hand. "We told Blackmer and Orchard and McGill about recovering it, but when we heard about you they told us to see if you were okay. They wanted to make sure that no one else suffered more than what they had because of their drug," he said.
Alan had seen many acts of kindness in his career in International Rescue, but they still surprised him.
"How are you doing, Alan?" Scott asked.
"I'll be okay, it doesn't hurt as much as it looks. What's happening now?" Alan asked.
"Blackmer has called the river militia and given them a preliminary report. They're on their way," Scott replied.
"But it will take them ages to get here, even with Helijets," Gordon pointed out. "Blackmer has warned them of the alligators, but he left out the part about them being giants."
"Why would he do that?" Alan asked.
Virgil frowned. "To make sure there isn't another Culp, who could steal the drug."
Scott nodded. "Orchard and McGill are especially worried. They warned Orchard about giving the militia too many details, but they will when they arrive. They're also worried that more of the drug might have contaminated more of the swamp."
"They asked me if I could do another sweep in Thunderbird 4 to see if there are any more alligators in the river," Gordon added before he handed Scott the phial. "You'd better give that to them, Scott," he went on. "This isn't going to be an easy job; that drug might have gone further down the river, so I'm not entirely hopeful we've gotten every single giant animal."
None of the other three brothers was remotely surprised by the request. As the only submarine in this part of the river, it made so much sense for Blacker and Orchard and McGill to have an idea of the scale of the mess caused by the spilt Theramine. Local river militias used boats or helijets to move, but they didn't have any submarines at their disposal, so it made sense for them to see the benefits of having Thunderbird 4 on hand. Brains hoped it was a localised mutation, but given how quickly water can flow downriver, anything could have happened. Further downriver, more alligators or even snakes could have absorbed the drug, even if it was diluted, and grown bigger. They would have then become a bigger threat.
"Just do the best you can, Gordon, and you're right; the drug might have gone further down the river, but there's nothing more we can do about that now," Alan said.
"Mm, when the militia arrives, they can see the giant alligators as proof of what Culp did, and then try to mitigate the effects. But I think that drug will be kept under lock and key for a long time," Virgil commented.
"Is that what we think happened, Culp just poured some of it into the river?" Gordon asked.
"No," Scott, who had spent more time with Blacker, McGill, and Orchard out of the entire team, replied firmly. "Orchard asked Blackmer the details of what happened once McGill got him out of the water, and just in time before the alligators got him; Culp was as surprised as they were when the alligators showed themselves. McGill and Orchard found the Theramine beaker had been tampered with, some chemical was added that they guessed resembled the original liquid, but not well enough."
"So it was an accident? Culp must have made some kind of spillage when he was pouring the drug into the phial, it then ended up washed down the sink and contaminated the river and the alligators and god else knows what ended up growing to massive size," Alan said.
"It does fit. We can't prove it. But it does fit," Scott replied.
Gordon checked his watch. "I'd better get back out there," he pointed out.
"Okay. Keep in contact. At the first sign of trouble, call us," Scott ordered.
"I intend to," Gordon replied, and then he left.
Scott turned to Alan solemnly. "Are you okay, Alan?"
Alan nodded, but Virgil was not all for letting him off the hook. "I want to get him checked out back home. You took a nasty bump to the head, Alan, you might have something more serious."
Alan looked between Virgil and Scott, and he saw just by looking at Scott's expression that their eldest brother was not going to let him off either and that arguing was an unholy waste of time. Sighing, Alan just nodded.
X
Thanks to Gordon keeping in contact with Thunderbird 2 and Scott, Blackmer and Orchard learnt that while a few fishes were larger than they should have been, their worst fears about the contamination in the swamp were just confirmed for them. When he found no more signs of any alligators which had been unaccounted for during the battle to rescue everyone in the house although some could be on land and had missed the excitement, Gordon decided to take a closer look further down the river. He covered a very large area of the river, going down at least 5 miles, following the currents. As he travelled down, he came across large snakes that looked much larger put him in mind of the moray eels and the giant sea serpent he had seen and heard of from the World Aquanaut Security Patrol, and he had found alligators much larger than the norm. After taking detailed pictures, Alan returned and gave them to Blackmer and Orchard while they waited for the militia to arrive.
None of the International Rescue team was surprised by the shock the militia team showed when they saw the giant alligators and once they heard the story and saw the photos Gordon provided they knew they would have problems for years to come. River residents would need to be informed of the dangers and militia personnel had to be on hand to keep them from endangering others.
By the time Thunderbirds 1 and 2 returned to Tracy Island, the drug had already been placed under international control to prevent it from being misused again. While research would be ongoing, it would be carefully watched and when it was used fully after trial runs, then it would change the world.