Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Whirlgirl, as always I really appreciate your support.
This chapter wasn't supposed to end here but work has had to take priority over writing this week (unfortunately!). Hope you like it. Bee
Chapter Five
Naturally, Virgil and Gordon didn't let Tin-Tin and Alan enjoy too much time together before reminding them that there was a mission to prepare for. Alan grumbled for a moment, then made his way down to the pod to help Gordon ready the equipment. Tin-Tin went forward to the cockpit where she and Virgil discussed their own roles in the mission. After fixing the pilot a coffee - and promising herself that her days as the world's most over-qualified waitress would soon be over - Tin-Tin went down to join the others, calling a greeting across the pod before picking up a couple of backpacks and disappearing into a storage unit.
"You're really okay about her coming along?" Gordon asked his brother.
"Sure. Why?"
"Well, you're usually moaning about how dangerous it's going to be. What's going on?"
"Nothing." Alan was fairly sure Gordon wouldn't have much sympathy with his scheming and, after the way his brother had reacted when he'd pretended to be about to fall to his death, he wasn't going to give him anything else to reproach him with. "Okay, if Brains was fit then I'd have expected Tin-Tin to stay behind, but right now there's no one else who can do the job. Give the girl some credit, Gords, she's more than capable of handling this."
"She really has got you well-trained," Gordon laughed. "Well, it took her long enough."
Alan was saved from replying by Tin-Tin's emergence from the store room. "All set?" he asked.
Tin-Tin smiled. "All set. How much longer?"
"About twenty minutes. Scott should be landing round about now."
Sure enough, at that moment the eldest brother's voice came through on their wrist-comms as he announced that he was just approaching the danger zone. "Step on it, Virg," he ordered, and those in the pod grinned at each other as Virgil, as always, insisted indignantly that he was going just as fast as he could.
By the time Thunderbird Two came in to land, Scott had set up Mobile Control and established a plan for the rescue. Virgil and Tin-Tin already knew that they were to make their way down to the reservoir, under instructions to get it drained as quickly as they could so that the danger it posed could be eliminated. Then the pair could return to the surface and join in the efforts to rescue survivors. Scott had established that the tunnel which led directly to the control room had been destroyed in one of the blasts, so he and Alan would take them down to a small access corridor half a mile away - as close as they dared get in case the vibrations from the Mole damaged the retaining wall of the reservoir even more and let the water flood out. They would then return to the surface and dig another tunnel, this time in order to reach a small group of scientists trapped in one of the labs. In the meantime, Gordon was to fly over the complex, using Two's powerful sensors to seek out any hotspots where more survivors might be awaiting rescue - and to track the progress of the fire.
Tin-Tin tried not to look bored as Virgil turned Two over to Gordon with the usual threats and admonishments to take care of his 'bird. Did the brothers really have to do this every time someone else took control of their craft, she wondered. They knew each and every one of them was more than competent to pilot every Thunderbird in the fleet, yet still they insisted on having the same conversation, time after time after time... Maybe it was a brother thing, she thought. As an only child it was an unknown concept to her, but the boys seemed to get a kick out of it. She decided that, when she and Alan were finally ready to start a family, there would definitely be more than one baby. The thought made her smile and she leaned her head against Alan's shoulder for a moment, smiling at his half-pleased, half-embarrassed expression.
"Here we are, guys," Scott called out as the Mole slowed to a stop. "Time to get out."
"You be careful," Alan told his girlfriend, with a quick squeeze of her hand. Then, because he could see her tender look turn to one of frustration at the implication that she wasn't really up to the job, he quickly added, "Look after Virgil for me."
She smiled at him. "I will." Then, not caring that the other brothers were watching, she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before making her way out of the Mole. A few moments later she and Virgil were on their way.
Their trek to the room which housed the controls for the drainage system was uneventful but slow. The corridor was dark, the emergency lighting giving just enough of a glow for them to see where they were going, but the fire was nowhere near them and there was still a good supply of oxygen, even if the air did feel unusually damp and cold as they breathed it in.
Every now and again either Jeff or John would call in for a progress report. Scott and Alan had picked up the first group of trapped scientists and were on their way to rescue another lot. Virgil had felt duty-bound to remind them that they'd be putting themselves in danger if the reservoir gave way, since the tunnels they'd be heading for were directly in the path which the water would take. He wasn't surprised when both his brothers refused to abandon their mission. Tin-Tin added a gentle reminder to Alan to be careful, but the obvious concern she felt didn't stop her doggedly following Virgil towards their destination. Finally, they reached the reservoir. The access codes they'd been given unlocked the door to the control room, but it refused to slide open more than a few inches, having apparently buckled in the explosion. It took sheer brute force on the part of Virgil to open it enough for the pair of them to get through.
Whilst Tin-Tin headed for the control console to assess the damage, Virgil turned to the large plexi-glass window which looked over the reservoir.
"Look at that," he whistled.
Tin-Tin could see that the damaged wall wasn't going to hold much longer. There was a large crack running down the centre and water was spurting out, the rate increasing even as they watched.
"Come on," Virgil instructed. "We need to get this over with quickly."
Together they worked to get the drainage gates open. Both of them wished the founders of the complex had been persuaded to compromise on their insistence that the place should function with the minimum of technology. The drainage system was antiquated, the gates needing to be released manually, and it took them several minutes to get the first one open. Virgil couldn't help glancing out of the window every few seconds. The crack in the wall was getting larger and there were still three gates to go. It was going to be close, and his brothers were out in the nearby tunnels, in deadly danger if the wall gave way.
After dropping Virgil and Tin-Tin off, Scott and Alan had collected the three trapped scientists from their lab and returned to the surface in the Mole. By this time Gordon had landed, having completed his scans, the results currently being analysed by John up in Thunderbird Five and Brains on Tracy Island, still under orders to keep to his bed, but refusing to sit this one out completely.
"Okay," Scott said, looking at the results as they came through. "Looks like we've got three areas we need to get to. We'll take these two first." He pointed at two small red dots.
"That other group is bigger," Gordon said, craning his neck to get a look at the vid-screen. "They've got to be running short of air by now."
They're also further away," Scott said, and the lack of any emotion in his voice didn't fool the others into thinking that this was an easy thing for him to say. "There's that vein of rock to get through, too. It's going to take too long. The chances of them staying alive long enough for us to reach them are virtually zero. And if we do go after them, we risk losing the other two groups. The fire's getting close to the one lot and the others are right in the way of the water if that reservoir gives way."
There was silence for a moment before Alan and Gordon nodded their agreement, Brains, John and Jeff concurring. They all hated situations like these, but they'd learned the hard way on an early rescue that, however tempting it might be to try to save everyone, it wasn't worth risking the lives of those who had a strong chance of survival in favour of those whose lives were almost certainly going to be lost. After that disastrous chain of events when they'd lost fifteen victims, seven of whom they knew for a fact they could have saved if they'd only headed for them first, they'd all agreed on the need to prioritise. It was another argument for a second team, Scott thought. With double the manpower they could save a lot more people.
"Okay?" he asked.
"Okay," Alan muttered. He was thinking about the new team too. He'd never had to make the choice that Scott just had, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he, too, would have to make the decision which would condemn someone to death. It was yet another reason why he didn't want that responsibility full-time.
"Come on," Gordon said, ushering them back to the Mole. "Let's get going. If we can get to the first two groups quickly, maybe the others will have a chance after all."
Gordon took the helm of the Mole, plotting a course which would allow him to drop his brothers off near the rock fall which was trapping one set of victims. He'd then continue on down into the lower depths of the complex to pick up the second group.
"Be careful, Gords," Scott warned him, receiving the usual half-irritated, half-affectionate roll of the eyes in return.
"Hey, Al," Gordon called, as his younger brother prepared to follow Scott out of the vehicle, "Don't I get a kiss?"
Alan scowled, but before he could decide whether to ignore Gordon or to completely surprise him by doing exactly as he asked - just to see the look on his face - Scott grabbed the front of his uniform and pulled him out into the tunnel.
"No time!" he snapped. "Get moving, Alan."
Alan got moving. They made their way forward through the tunnel, occasionally stumbling over loose rocks. The vibrations from the Mole caused showers of debris to fall from the roof and it was a relief when eventually the rumbling died away and the area seemed to stabilise.
They were making good progress in clearing the rock fall which was trapping the men they were trying to rescue when Virgil called in.
"Come in, Scott."
"Go ahead, Virg."
"Mission successful. The reservoir's draining. I estimate it's going to take another twenty minutes or so, but the pressure's been released, I don't think there's much chance of it giving way."
"Good work," Scott told him. "You and Tin-Tin start making your way back to the surface."
"FAB."
Alan breathed a sigh of relief at the news that Tin-Tin's part in the mission had been a success. Now he'd just have to persuade her to stay up on the surface and take over Mobile Control, then he'd have no more worries about her. He'd just turned to Scott to suggest it when, out of nowhere, the explosion happened.
Alan was thrown hard against the wall, crashing to the floor where he lay in a daze for a moment. He was convinced he'd be buried under the roof as it gave way, but by some miracle nothing heavy hit him. Finally it was over and he lay there panting for a moment, unable to believe that he'd escaped unscathed. Pulling himself together, he opened his eyes. But he could see nothing. The emergency lighting had failed and he scrabbled around for his flashlight, calling out for Scott as he did so.
There was no reply.
Tin-Tin lay on the floor of the control room, pinned under the weight of Virgil's body as he protected her from the blast. He'd thrown himself at her the moment the ground began to shake, sweeping her into a corner of the room as the ceiling above where she'd been standing began to cave in. She'd yelled something out to him, she knew she had, but for a few moments the noise of falling rock was deafening and she couldn't hear her own words, let alone any reply Virgil might have made. A few rocks landed on her, despite Virgil's best efforts to shield her and she could only imagine what he was enduring as the debris rained down on him. For a few moments she was certain that this was the end, then the rumbling and quaking stopped just as suddenly as it had begun . The silence that followed was welcome - for a moment, at least.
"Virgil? Virgil?"