Hour Seventeen
The following takes place between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the day Washington, D.C. was destroyed.
04:00:26
Suddenly the Hood felt something hit his legs, taking them right out from under him. He fell backwards, hitting his head on the doorframe leading into Thunderbird 4's midsection. Then he didn't move. Deprived of the connection that had been so strong, Gordon hesitated, his finger hovering only millimeters above the firing button.
"G-Gor-Gordon-"
He raised his head. He knew that voice.
"Gordon!"
There was coughing coming from behind him.
"Gordon!"
Hand lowering back to his side, Gordon blinked. In a voice far too child-like to be coming from a grown man, he said, "Father?"
"Gordon! Gordon, it's me, John! What happened?"
Gordon turned slowly, his mind a jumbled mass of thoughts and images, ideas and feelings...few of which belonged to him. Then he felt something else...a calm, benevolent presence. He knew it to be Kyrano. His eyes focused as he looked down onto the floor.
Jeff had awakened to find the Hood towering over him, his eyes glowing as they bored into the back of Gordon's head. He'd moved as swiftly as possible, swinging his leg around to sweep the Hood off his feet. Now he lay propped on his elbow staring at his son. His face was anxious as he struggled to keep himself up.
"Gordon," he said softly. "Son."
"Father..." Gordon whispered. Then it hit him. His father was awake! "Dad!" He rushed forward and knelt by his side. "Dad, are you all right?" He turned to see the Hood lying unconscious in the doorway. "Did you do that?"
"Never...underestimate...a Tracy..." Jeff ground out, sinking back onto the floor.
John's voice interrupted. "Gordon! The sub! It's gonna fire!"
"Shit!" Gordon raced to the controls and jammed the yoke forward, causing Thunderbird 4 to dive nearly vertically into the depths. He heard a torpedo sail by and brought his sub out of its rapid descent.
Jeff fought to keep himself from rolling around the cabin as Gordon turned the ship this way and that. He felt his momentary strength slipping away. Things began to get fuzzy. "Gordon..."
"Hold on, Dad, just hold on..."
"What-Gordon..."
"Gordon! I have an idea!" John exclaimed.
"Now would be a good time to share!" Gordon retorted.
"Can you hit her jet engine? On the back?"
"You bet I can," Gordon replied. "But what if I misfire?"
"You...won't..." Jeff whispered. And then he slipped back into nothingness.
"Dad!" Gordon cried. He turned to leave the controls, desperate to make sure his father was okay.
"Gordon!" came John's agitated voice.
He stopped and gave his father one last look before returning to his seat. He moved Thunderbird 4 up, and was behind the subjet in no time. But he was suddenly mystified. Why would such a fast craft be sitting dead still in the water, just waiting for him to take a potshot? "John, what's going on with that subjet?"
"I don't know. Her weapons are still fully armed, but I can't figure what she's waiting for."
04:14:01
Tin-Tin had succeeded in using her hands to untie Penelope's bonds. Penny then reciprocated, and the two women looked around the small room for something to use as a weapon. Tin-Tin found a one-foot length of metal pipe, while Penny grabbed a sailor's knife she found in a cubby. They crept up to the door. Penny stood in front of it while Tin-Tin waited at the control panel. When she saw Penny nod her head, she jabbed a button.
The door slid open, revealing the sophisticated, yet small, cockpit of the subjet. In the pilot's chair sat none other than Acronym, who swiveled in surprise. "Very well done, ladies," he said as they rushed him.
Tin-Tin swung the pipe, connecting with Acronym's head and knocking him clean out of the chair. Penny dug her knee into his back as he groaned in pain. She held the knife to the side of his throat. "Just because we're not Tracys doesn't mean we're easy," she said bitterly, her mind straying to Jeff.
"Penelope, it's Gordon!" Tin-Tin cried, her eyes focusing on the readout next to the radar. "He's readied weapons!"
"John!" Penny cried into her wristwatch. "John, come in!"
"Penelope?"
"John, tell Gordon not to fire!"
"Gordon! Stand down! Penny's on the line!"
"Oh, thank God," Gordon breathed. "John, I've gotta get to Base now. Dad's started bleeding again!"
"Penny, you think you can make it to the island?"
Tin-Tin spoke next. "I think I can manage these controls enough to get us there, John. Tell Gordon we're right behind him."
"F.A.B.," John replied, breathing a sigh of relief.
04:10:44
Ruth and Megan had no trouble getting the female prisoner out of her room and into a stairwell, where she was able to escape under her own power. But the male prisoner was still unconscious. Piling the various IV lines and bags onto his torso, they raced his bed toward the elevator. But they could only stand there watching in desperation as it went from Floor 7 to Floor 6...Floor 6 to Floor 5...Floor 5 to Floor 4. Realizing they were out of time, they both took one more look at the large, unmoving man before turning the gurney and wheeling it toward the stairwell.
"We'll never make it!" Ruth had cried as they slammed the door open.
And then their world shook.
04:18:19
Virgil rolled off the gurney he'd been sharing with Scott and onto his working leg just as the corner of the hospital blew off behind them. He stopped and turned to stare as the first two floors of the wing they'd been in crumbled. Over the next several minutes, the third and fourth floors began sagging, until finally they gave way as well.
"Grandma!" he yelled. He was surprised when someone appeared beside him, a hand grabbing tightly to his arm. "Scott!"
"Virgil! Where are Grandma and Megan?"
He pointed wordlessly up toward the eighth floor. Fire billowed out from the ground floor of what was once the ER. Sparks flashed in the just-after-midnight darkness.
"No!" Scott cried, racing toward the hospital. "Grandma! Megan!"
Virgil began hobbling after him, gingerly using his injured leg more like a stiff crutch than a moving limb. He couldn't hope to keep up with his brother, who suddenly seemed awfully spry as he ripped the gauze from his head and tossed it aside. "Scott! Scott, come back!"
But he'd disappeared around the corner of the wing. It was only when Dr. Gray raced up from behind and said, "Uh, Sir..." that he stopped trying to follow him.
"Um, I'm Dr. Gray, and...well..." The doctor waved his finger at Virgil's backside. Blushing furiously, Virgil reached behind and pulled his gown together, covering as much of his exposed rear end as possible. "Here," Gray said, holding out a sheet.
"Thanks," Virgil mumbled, taking the offered piece of cloth. He hastily folded it into thirds, wound it around his waist and tied a tight knot, rather making it look like he was wearing a short skirt. "You watch after Alan!"
"I will!" Gray said. "I will!"
Virgil continued limping toward the end of the wing, pain causing him to break out in a sweat. "Dammit!" he cursed. "Scott!"
04:25:33
Scott jumped up and grabbed the fire escape ladder. It clanged downward. As he began climbing, he felt himself sway, his mind suddenly confused as the world spun. He shook his head, clinging desperately to the ladder, willing himself to go on. He had to. For Grandma. And for Megan.
He reached the first level of the fire escape just as the building shuddered. He heard a series of small explosions and held on to the metal railing as it moved beneath his feet. "Gotta...get up...there..." he heaved, starting for the first set of steps.
"Scott!" he heard from down below. He stopped and looked, only to find Virgil hauling himself up the ladder using his two powerful arms and one good leg.
"No! Virg! Stay back!"
"Not...on...your...life!" he ground out, moving upward rung-by-rung.
The building shifted again just as Virgil reached the landing, sending him sprawling onto his face. Scott was already up to the fourth level of stairs. He grabbed the railing and looked back down. "Virg! You okay?"
Virgil waved him on with his hand as he struggled to his feet. His mind seemed to be clogged; he was hurting so badly he couldn't even think straight. Up, he thought, heading for the stairs. Have to go up.
Scott continued to fight the pain coming from his temple and the dizzying fog that seemed to swirl before his eyes. He took the steps two-at-a-time, racing against the clock.
Megan. He thought of how they'd been tied together in the closet, of how she'd bit him...of how she'd spit the knife into his hands...God, she had to be okay. And his grandmother, the woman who had always been there, always been there for all of them. They had to have survived the blast. They just had to!
Virgil struggled up the stairs by hopping from step to step, his right leg now completely useless to him. He made it to the fourth landing just as he heard Scott break a window at the top.
"MEGAN!" Scott hollered as he stepped through the window. "GRANDMA!"
Please let them be okay, please let them be okay, Virgil thought as he continued his arduous journey.
04:35:26
Braman was waiting in the middle of Tracy Island's single runway with a hover stretcher when Thunderbird 4 came to a stop right next to him. The side hatch opened, and Gordon appeared, dragging his father through the door. Braman came forward and lifted Jeff into his arms, depositing him onto the stretcher and strapping him down.
Just then the subjet surfaced at a small dock to the side of the runway. "Get him to the Ward!" Gordon cried over his shoulder as he ran toward the water. "Tin-Tin!" he yelled. "Penelope!"
The top hatch of the sub opened and Tin-Tin squinted in the light as she raised a hand to shield her eyes. "Gordon!" she cried, scrambling out of the sub and skidding down its side to the dock. She raced up the stairs and met him at the top, enveloping him in a fierce hug. "Oh, Gordon, you're safe! You're safe!"
"Tin-Tin! God!" He held her tightly, then looked up as another figure picked her way over the subjet's hull and down onto the dock. "Penelope!"
"Gordon!" Penny joined them on the tarmac and was brought into the hug. She wrapped her arms around them both, then noticed movement in the distance. Stepping back, the others watched as she took in Braman, who was moving a hover stretcher into the elevator...a hover stretcher that held...
"Jeff!"
Penny sprinted toward the elevator with Tin-Tin and Gordon right behind her.
"Gordon, your father..."
"He's been shot, Tin-Tin. We've gotta help him!"
Tin-Tin nodded as they reached the elevator, which had already left with its cargo. Unable to wait, Penny ran through the small, open door into Thunderbird 2's hangar and headed straight for the elevator within. By the time it came to rest on the hangar floor, Tin-Tin and Gordon were on either side of her.
"He's not dead." Penny said, tears streaming down her face. "He's not dead!"
"No," Gordon replied as they began to ascend. "He's been shot, but he's hanging on."
"God!" Penny cried as Tin-Tin placed an arm around her. "Oh, thank God."
04:39:55
Scott found himself in a room that held nothing but the body of a dead police officer. He raced out into the hall but staggered as a wave of dizziness swept over him. He put his hand out and braced himself on the wall. "Not now! Not now!" he gritted through clenched teeth. Forcing his feet to move, he started down the corridor again.
Virgil had reached the top floor at last, but was having a hard time getting his bum leg in through the window. "Scott!" he called out frantically as he felt something trickling down his leg. He looked and saw the syntheskin over his wound had torn slightly, causing blood to leak out. "Dammit! Scott! Where are you?"
When he received no answer, he entered the building the only way he could...by diving headfirst through the window. It turned out to be an effective method for getting in, if not somewhat boneheaded, he thought, as sharp pain shot from his leg right up through the rest of him. Groaning as he pushed himself to his feet, he slipped and fell face-first into a body. It was only then that he realized the sticky substance he'd slipped in was the dead officer's blood.
Scott had picked up speed and rounded the corner, but saw no sight of his grandmother or Megan. "Grandma!" he called out. "Meg!"
The building shuddered again and he heard a loud crash. Assuming the fifth floor had just fallen to its doom, he spun around in a circle, trying to figure out where they'd be. "Grandma!"
And then he heard it. It was faint, but it was a voice. It was Ruth's voice! "Grandma! Where are you?"
"Stairs!" he heard her call out.
He ran to the stairwell door and pushed on it, but it wouldn't budge. "Dammit! It's been security locked!" he cried, banging on the door with his fists. He backed up and kicked it, then kicked it again, and again, and again, and again. It wouldn't give.
Panting now from the effort, he stopped to peer through the small square window. He saw Ruth down on the landing, halfway between the eighth and seventh floors. She was struggling to get out from under a rather large man and an upside-down gurney. "Grandma!"
Movement in his peripheral caused him to look right. What he saw made his blood run cold. "Virgil!"
Holding himself up with the railing, Virgil dragged his leg along beside him as he shuffled toward his brother. He knew he probably looked a sight, but why the hell did Scott act like he'd seen a ghost? And then he looked down. His entire front and left side as well as his arms and hands were covered in the dead officer's blood.
"Jesus! Virgil! My God!" Scott cried, racing towards him. He stopped him, hands on his shoulders. "What happened? Where're you hurt?"
"Not mine, Scott..." he said, sweat pouring down his face. "Dead cop..."
Scott closed his eyes for a second, trying to keep from either pulling his soaked brother into his arms in relief or slugging him. "Don't you ever do that to me again!" he bellowed, running back to the stairwell door. "I can't get the goddamn door open!" he roared, throwing his body against it. "Grandma's in there!"
Virgil was at his side faster than he thought possible, and before long the two brothers were taking turns slamming their shoulders into the door, one at a time. It began to creak and groan under their continued efforts until at last, when Scott gave it one more go, it broke wide open. He tumbled through, barely catching himself on the railing.
Ruth's legs were caught under the dead prisoner's weight. Scott tore down the steps and hurled the gurney to the side, then pulled the man off his grandmother. He helped her to her feet and she smiled her thanks.
"Are you okay? Where's Megan?" he asked as Virgil appeared at the top of the stairs.
The hospital moved beneath them again, and another loud crash told them the sixth floor had just given way.
"I'm fine, just a few bruises. Megan...she fell over the railing when the bomb went off!" Ruth cried, pointing down to the next landing. Then she looked up and saw her other grandson soaked in blood. "Virgil!"
"Grandma, come on, we've gotta get you outta here!"
"You're hurt!"
"No! It's not mine, come on!" he yelled, holding the railing with one hand and reaching out for her with the other.
"My God, Meg!" Scott cried as he took in her twisted body. "No!"
Virgil glanced over the side of the stairs and whispered, "Oh, no." His eyes met Scott's and he saw the same horror he'd seen when Alan had been hurt. "Go after her," he said. "I'll get Grandma out."
Scott went down the next flight of stairs so fast his feet barely touched the floor. He landed on his knees next to her body, his hand reaching out to touch her bruised face. He didn't actually understand why his gut was churning so badly. All he knew was that he didn't want her to be dead, and that's the only thing he could wrap his mind around at this point.
"Megan...God, Meg...no..."
04:50:06
Penny, Gordon and Tin-Tin burst into the infirmary, where Braman already had Jeff moved onto a bed. Tin-Tin rushed to Brains' side and checked his vitals. She had no idea what had happened to him, but he seemed to be fine. Then she headed over to the sink and scrubbed her hands.
"Gordon! Get over here and wash up! You too, Penny!"
They did as instructed while Braman removed the Grab-Jack and compress from Jeff's shoulder. Finally cleaned up, all three returned to his side.
"What do we do, Tin-Tin?" Gordon asked.
"We've got to get that bullet out. Braman, I need a scan of his shoulder, I need to know where the bullet is lodged and what's been damaged."
"F.A.B.," Braman replied, heading for the imaging unit.
"Gordon, get me a set of med tools from the cabinet." As he ran to the other end of the room, Tin-Tin continued. "Penny, pull out the syntheblood, the one marked with Jeff's name. It's in the cabinet to your right."
Penelope nodded. In the cabinet she found rows of what looked like real blood, but was in reality something Brains and Tin-Tin themselves had created. Keeping a fresh supply of blood on the island was nearly impossible without drawing attention to themselves, and so syntheblood had been invented. On the top shelf were the packages marked Jeff. Penny grabbed the tray and placed it on a metal table, then wheeled it over to the bed.
"Braman, after you scan his shoulder, set up the BTU!"
"F.A.B."
Pictures spit out of the scanner, and Tin-Tin hung them on an X-ray viewer on the wall, and then flipped the light on. She and Gordon studied them. To their relief, it didn't seem that any bones had been broken, but Tin-Tin knew it wouldn't be easy to extract the bullet. "Damn," she said softly.
Penny grabbed Jeff's hand tightly, and was surprised when his hand squeezed hers back. "Jeff!" she said breathlessly as his eyelids fluttered open. "Jeff, can you hear me?"
"Pen..." he whispered, his voice all-but-gone. "Have...to tell...you..."
"What, Jeff?" she asked, bending closer to his face.
Gordon and Tin-Tin watched as his lips moved but no sound came out.
"I can't hear you!" Penny exclaimed softly. "Jeff, please don't leave me. Stay with me. You're going to be fine. You will be."
"I...I-" He stopped as a wave of pain washed over him. Jeff squeezed her hand once more before his arm dropped to his side.
04:57:20
Scott gently turned Megan onto her back. He moved his hand in front of her nose and choked on the lump in his throat as he realized she was breathing. But how badly was she hurt? "Megan?" he said softly, gathering her into his arms. "Can you hear me?"
But she didn't stir. He stood and lifted one foot to place it on the step before him when, without warning, it began to shake. "Oh, no," he breathed. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, he leapt to the third step, but the building gave one great lurch, sending him flying back down to the landing with Megan still in his arms.
He moved out from beneath her as the floor continued to sway. Over in the corner he saw the concrete begin to crumble. "No!" he yelled. He lifted Meg up over his shoulder and took to the stairs again. But as he reached the landing, the gurney he'd tossed to the side earlier slid right into his legs, buckling them beneath him.
Scott and the gurney flew right back down the steps. It landed on top of him, pinning him against the wall. Megan had slipped from his grasp at the top and was half on the next landing, half on the stairs. He struggled to push the gurney off him, and wound up tossing it over toward the next set of stairs down. It was only when he didn't hear it hit them that he realized what was beneath.
Quite literally...nothing.
The gurney fell down into the darkness beyond until finally it crashed to the ground. Scott noticed for the first time the flames far below that were left over from the initial explosion. The concrete beneath his feet cracked, but he managed to throw himself onto the staircase as the floor crumbled. Crawling up the stairs, he grabbed for Megan's legs.
He reached one hand up toward the metal railing bars just as the stairs beneath him fell away.
04:59:58
04:59:59
05:00:00